September 21, 2013

Special

5

United World College: Celebrating 50 years of diversity

Ashwin 6, 1420 Zilkad 14, 1434 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 180

International

8

Tehran thaw: warming relations between Iran and the US

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

Legal tangles stall stocks scam probe

14

Sport

Valdes showing Barca what they will miss

16 pages | Price: Tk10

CORNERED

Anti-Money Laundering Act 2012 needs to be revised for ACC to investigate

n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is unable to proceed with investigations of the 2010-11 stock market scam due to certain legal complications arising from provisions made in the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2012.

As per the 2012 Act the ACC is not allowed to investigate the matter because the scams occurred before the act was enacted, the commission’s Chairman M Bodiuzzaman told the Dhaka Tribune.

“In fact, the [money laundering] allegation is not a scheduled offence within the commission’s jurisdiction,” said the chairman.

“When the commission began investigation, we were informed by the finance ministry that the probe would create negative impressions on investors. We were instructed to handle the issue carefully.”

After the current government took office in January 2009, the share market saw a sudden rise, and it continued, with some fluctuations till January 2011, when the main index fell signif-

icantly, and raised concerns among small investors.

The ACC chairman said an alternative would be to conduct an inquiry under the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2009, but he said: “this act is not enough to take necessary legal action against the people who were behind the stock market crash.”

He said: “The commission and inquiry committee has discussed how best to deal with the allegations, but we have failed to find an answer.”

However, he assured that though there was no progress with investigating the matter, the ACC has been working on to find a solution to the problem so they can proceed.

On September 27 last year, the ACC formed a five-member probe team led

by Deputy Director Harunur Rashid to investigate the allegations of money-laundering.

In early 2011, the government constituted an investigation committee under former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Khandker Ibrahim Khaled.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

The photo of Rupnagar Lake taken recently depicts an idea of how a once free-flowing lake is slowly swallowed by encroachers and eventually killed. The picture shows a little patch of green among the dense shanties – a remnant of the lake as the rest is already encroached upon by local influential people SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

BNP plans to ‘paralyse’ Dhaka n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The BNP is planning to take advantage of the situation following October 25 – when, it believes, the government will have less control on the civil and police administration – to go for tough programmes, such as non-stop hartal and blockades.

Based on their experience in 1996 and 2006, when the party stepped down from office, a number of leaders said they had arranged the administration to get advantage in the subsequent polls, but it had not worked out as per their expectations.

The main opposition party is now planning to “paralyse” the capital if the government does not pay heed to its

latest ultimatum for holding the next parliamentary polls under a non-partisan interim government.

The opposition leaders said they wanted to “cash” in on the people’s sentiment.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has repeatedly urged the civil and police administration recently not to carry out the government’s “illegal and illogical” orders.

The BNP will wait until October 25 as Khaleda will be addressing rallies in Khulna, Sylhet, Chittagong and Dhaka. It is also against waging any tough movement before that time as two major festivals – Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja – will be observed between October 11 and 20.

“We have given the government time to accept our demand. If it does not meet the demand, we can tell the people that we do not have any other option except waging a movement,” Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, a member of the party’s Standing Committee, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“People will also support us because we had not gone for hartal or blockade since Eid-ul-Fitr although we had announced so.”

He said: “We will announce tough programmes, including hartal, blockades and sit-ins, after October 25.”

The party had given the government three ultimatums for realising its demand.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

RPO AMENDMENT

Haripur Power Plant misses production deadline

n Mohammad Zakaria

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Giving responsibilities of the ministries to the Election Commission during the parliamentary polls in the proposed amendment to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) was absolutely unconstitutional, said former adviser to a caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan.

“If the government wants to give the Election Commission responsibilities of the ministries, it has to amend the constitution,” he said at a roundtable yesterday, asking if that could resolve all problems.

He said a ministry was a part of the executive while the EC was a constitutional body.

Akbar also said the increase in polls

The 412MW (megawatt) gas-fired Haripur Combined-Cycle Power Plant, the largest public sector power plant built under the Awami League-led grand alliance government, could not begin its commercial operations yesterday, as planned.

The implementing agency of the plant, Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh’s (EGCB) Managing Director, Mostafa Kamal yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune, the steam turbine generator was not ready to run, and due to a damaged gas booster compressor, the plant could not start commercial operations.

“Commercial production will probably start next week,” Mostofa Kamal hoped. He urged the government to en-

Giving EC ministry job unconstitutional: Akbar Ali Khan

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

sure proper gas supply to the plant for full-fledged operation.

On August 24, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the formal operation at the power plant.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) sources said the government may shut down the inefficient 96MW Haripur Power Plant under the PDB, to supply gas to the 412MW Haripur Combined- Cycle Power Plant.

In addition, an EGCB official seeking anonymity said other gas-based power plants might as well face shortages in supply due to the new plant.

After Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had laid the foundation stone of the plant on March 20, 2011, the state-run EGCB constructed the plant with the  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

INSIDE News

International

of fertile land every day to brick kilns, housing projects, industrial structures and roads endangering its agriculture.

monitoring group was attacked along with nine supporters of an ethnic minority Tamil political party by a group of gunmen allegedly clad in military uniform.

6 Dhaka district is losing some 2.5 hectares

Nation

7 The Department of Narcotics Control in Cox’s Bazar is struggling with a shortage of manpower, with only 12 employees currently working at the department’s two circle offices in the district.

9 A member of a Sri Lankan election

Op-Ed

11 SA Mansoor: The government is all set to get a nuclear power plant built, using Uranium 236 as the reactor fuel at Rooppur in Pabna.

Sport

13 An unbeaten 148-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Nazmus Sadat and Sri Lankan recruit Angelo Mathews steered Brothers Union Limited to a six wicket win over Victoria Sporting Club, Gazi Tank Cricketers went past Kalabagan Krira Chakra by eight runs and Prime Bank Cricket Club thrashed Cricket Coaching School by 152 runs in yesterday’s Walton Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League matches.

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, September 21, 2013

EU starts observing EC’s polls preparations n Mohammad Zakaria A three-member European Union (EU) delegation has started observing the Election Commission’s (EC) preparations to hold the next parliamentary election, as well as from the secretariat, field-level officials, and collecting data on public opinion and mass media, confirmed EC officials.

Officials said the EU special observer team work that began working on September 15, would collect information on three phases from the field– election preparation, election management system and electoral laws. On September 17, the threemember special delegation went to the Commission and spoke with officials.

A report based on the teams observations and data collected would be sent to EU headquarters.

The team has engaged students from the University of Dhaka and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to monitor daily media reports and public opinion.

A senior EC official yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that whether the EU would send election observers to Bangladesh for the next parliamentary

election would depend on the outcome of the team’s report.

“The delegation wanted to know what kind of changes were needed in the electoral laws and the electoral code of conduct, they asked if polls were held under the ruling government, what would be the commissions role to ensure a level playing field, and how it would deploy law enforcement agencies during the elections,” said the official.

Meanwhile, sources in the commission said the EU delegation was unconvinced by the EC’s assurances about holding free and fair elections.

The EU will reportedly fund various election-related UNDP projects.

Earlier, on September 11, the delegation met with the EC about preparations for the polls, and back in August, the EC sat with foreign diplomats and donor agencies to discuss the issue.

An official from the EU Embassy in Bangladesh said five out of the eight members from the main delegation have left. The delegation members are helping with technical areas and security and logistic support for EU’s election observers. l

Section 144 as AL, BNP face off n Our Correspondent, Barisal Patuakhali district administration imposed section 144 on Hetalia Bandh Ghat area of the district town from yesterday 3pm for the next 24 hours after BNP and Awami League called counter rallies on the same venue.

Delwar Hossain Matubbar, additional district magistrate, said section 144 was imposed by the order of district magistrate and Deputy Commissioner Amitav Sarkar after the rival political parties called rallies at the same time and place.

Police were patrolling the area to maintain law and order, said Azimul

Huq, additional district police superintendent.

Golam Rahman, office secretary and spokesman of district BNP, said the opposition was supposed to hold the programme to inaugurate the party office in Hetalia Bandh Ghat area.

More than 20,000 BNP activists from six unions of Sadar upazila were expected to attend the programme.

District BNP President Altaf Hossain Chowdhury alleged that the ruling party called its programme out of sheer hostility and foiled the opposition’s programme through the imposition of section 144. l

Direct train service demanded between Dhaka and Sarishabari n Tribune Report

Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina exchanges views with grassroots leaders at Gana Bhaban

Government did more than pledged: PM n Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the incumbent government implemented more development activities than it pledged.

“If BNP had assumed office, the country’s development would have been hindered,” she said.

The premier hoped that the countrymen would elect the Awami League in the next general elections for the sake of the country’s development and peace.

AL always brought fame for the country while the opposition tarnished the country’s image, added Hasina.

The ruling Awami League president was addressing a view-exchange meeting with the party leaders from

495 acres CU land Illegally occupied n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong Nearly 495 acres of land worth around Tk20bn of the University of Chittagong (CU) have been illegally occupied because the authorities have been lax.

A section of officials and staff are allegedly involved.

According to sources, in 1966 the university was established on 1,753.88 acres of land but now there is around 1,259.12 acres under the university shown in survey records.

The university does not have any boundary wall demarcating the area it owns. The encroachment issue has been discussed in senate meetings several times but hasn’t been resolved.

Professor Badiul Alam, a former vice-chancellor of the university, has

built a luxurious home on the north of the campus on land he grabbed during his tenure, said a source on campus.

Land grabbers filed cases against the university claiming the land as their own and started constructions Several other teachers are reported to have grabbed university land as well.

Sources at the university’s estate department said the land grabbers filed cases against the university claiming the land as their own and started constructions on them.

Zaker Ahmed, Deputy Registrar of CU estate department, said a commit-

tee headed by Professor Mansur Uddin of philosophy department was formed to investigate the encroachment by Professor Badiul Alam. He said they had reclaimed 70 acres of encroached land.

Professor Mansur Uddin said without a surveyor it was not possible for them to determine if Professor Badiul Alam had encroached on university land.

He said: “We have asked concerned authorities for a surveyor.” A report would be submitted after a surveyor arrived.

CU Vice-Chancellor Professor Anwarul Azim Arif said he had directed the estate department to evict encroachers from university land and they had already started. l

Comilla (South and North), Chittagong (South and North) and Chittagong city unit, Pabna and Rangpur.

The meeting was a part of the series of meetings to be held with grass roots leaders to get their opinion about the party’s probable candidates for the upcoming national polls.

Describing all achievements of the incumbent government, the PM said Awami League was the only party that could do something for people.

She alleged that the main opposition BNP only knew how to thrive on corruption and loot.

Criticising her political arch rival Khaleda Zia, Sheikh Hasina said the opposition leader wanted to confuse people through falsehood.

The AL chief expressed her optimism that people would give their

mandate to rule the country again.

During the AL tenure, pass rate in education sector was increased, medicare and books were provided to the students free of cost and militancy subdued, she said.

If BNP assumed office, people would be deprived of these facilities, Hasina alleged.

AL senior leaders, including Abdul Latif Siddique, Kazi Zafarullah, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Satish Chandra Roy, engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Nuhul-Alam Lenin, Abul Hasnat Abdullah, Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif and Mrinal Kanti Das, among others, were present at the meeting.

After delivering her introductory speech, the AL president started a closed-door meeting with the district level leaders. l

Jamaat agitations on Monday n Tribune Report

Speaker goes to Kunming to attend International Day of Peace events

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday announced countrywide demonstration programmes on Monday to demand the release of its top leaders, including Quader Molla, from jail.

In a statement, Jamaat’s acting secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan said: “The government is hatching a conspiracy to stay in power. But we will not let that happen.” Jamaat called the demonstrations, protesting mass arrest, and demanding putting a stop to mass torture, release of its detained leaders and activists, withdrawal of “false” cases, cancelling “questionable” war crime tribunals and restoring the caretaker government provision in the constitution. l

Giving EC ministry job unconstitutional: Akbar Ali Khan  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

expenditure and the ceiling of donation to party funds would encourage the use of black money in the next parliamentary elections.

“No country in the world could control the use of black money in elections – except the Scandinavian countries as their political parties do not encourage use of black money in elections,” he said at the roundtable organised by the Election Working Group (EWG) at the Cirdap auditorium.

The cabinet on September 16 approved the draft of the amendment to the RPO, also excluding the EC’s proposal for its authority to monitor candidates’ polls expenditures.

Akbar Ali Khan, however, said the RPO amendment was not as big an issue now as that of an acceptable pollstime administration.

He said the ruling party had reiterated what was needed was strengthening the EC, not restoring the caretaker government system; the opposition, however, had been demanding restoration of the caretaker government system.

“But both the political parties are

yet to propose anything on the formation of the polls-time government and strengthening the Election Commission for holding free, fair and impartial elections,” Akbar said.

“We have been fighting in a shadow.

We want democracy in the country,” he added.

He also proposed appointing the returning, assistant returning and polling officers through a search committee before six months of the election.

M Hafiz Uddin, another former adviser to a caretaker government, alleged that the deputy commissioners had already been politicised. “How will the next general elections be held in a free and fair manner when the DCs would be given the charge of returning officers?”

The free and fair elections would not be possible under a partisan government, he said, adding that the increase of polls expenditure would encourage the use of huge money during the elections.

Hafiz said the commission should further strengthen the electoral code of conduct.

The EWG placed a number of recommendations for holding a free and

According to the government’s probe report, 12 people and two organisations swindled Tk4.6bn off the share market.

The report names HBM Iqbal, Lutfur Rahman Badal and wife Shoma Alam Rahman, Ahsan Imam and wife Mehjabeen Mustafa Imam, Yakub Ali Khandaker and daughter Sarah Khandaker,

Ghulam Mustafa and wife Nasima Akter, Amzad Hossain Fakir and wife Rukhsana Amzad, and Monir Uddin Ahmed for allegedly swindling Tk3.55bn.

Two organisations– Unique Hotel and New England Equity – are mentioned for allegedly swindling around Tk1bn from the capital market.

An official of the ACC’s probe team

n Tribune Desk Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury left Dhaka for Kunming, capital of Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, yesterday to attend events marking the International Day of Peace and a forum on regional peace and development.

She is accompanied by Chemon Ara Begum, MP. With the theme ‘Education for Peace and Cooperation for Win-win’, the threeday event began in Kunming on Friday, aiming to strengthen people-to-people pragmatic cooperation and to push for friendship between China and the South Asian nations. The event also includes several sub-forums on the peaceful development of China and South Asia

and other hot issues, a high-level dialogue and other commemorative activities.

Senior officials and experts from China, the South Asian nations and other areas are attending the celebrations.

The events are being jointly held by the United Nations System in China, the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament and the Yunnan provincial government.

The International Day of Peace was first established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 as an opportunity for people around the world to promote peace and cessation of hostilities in the conflict regions.

In 2002, the UN General Assembly officially declared September 21 the Day’s permanent date. l

BNP plans to ‘paralyse’ Dhaka  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

Akbar Ali Khan speaks at a roundtable discussion on ‘Review of the Amendments to the RPO’ yesterday at the CIRDAP Auditorium MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU fair election, which include considering the army as a law enforcement agency in the RPO, appointing EC’s own officials as returning officers, introducing the provision of “no vote,” and inserting a provision for making public the financial transactions of po-

litical parties.

Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Mujumder, former Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Ghulam Rahman, EWG Director Md Abdul Alim and EWG steering committee members also spoke at the event. l

Legal tangles stall stocks scam probe  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

PMO

A number of college and university students from Jamalpur formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding direct train service between Dhaka and Sarishabari.

Participants of the human chain said people living in Jamalpur were yet to reap the benefits of the newly laid rail tracks on the Sarishabari-Dhaka route in the absence of direct train service with the capital.

The United Peace Foundation, Nagorik Odhikar Shongrokkhon Forum, Gram Sangsad, Jamalpur Samiti and Sarishabari Samity have jointly organised the human chain.

Addressing the human chain, speakers said the trains that operate on the Sarishabari-Dhaka route travel via Mymensingh and take about seven to eight hours to reach the capital.

The government has constructed new tracks connecting Bhuapur of Tangail and Tarakandi of Sarishabari at a cost of Tk2.1bn, but it is of no use to Jamalpur people without a direct train service with Dhaka, they said.

If an inter-city train service is introduced on the route, it will cut the journey time by almost five hours, enabling Jamalpur residents to reach Dhaka within two to three hours, they observed.

The direct train link will also reduce population pressure of Dhaka city as many Jamalpur and Tangail residents would then choose to attend office at Dhaka from their native home, they added.

With Save the Environment Movement Joint-General Secretary Hafizur Rahman Moyna in the chair, the human chain was addressed by United Peace Foundation General Secretary Rasel Rahman, Gram Sangsad President Monjurul Hasan and General Secretary Shafiul Alam Palash and Jamalpur Samity Secretary General Shaiqul Islam. l

told the Dhaka Tribune that due to certain loopholes in the 2012 Act the commission was “barred” from conducting the inquiry.

“It was one of last year’s major cases when the commission began investigations. But after some work was done, we realised that we needed to have a ‘post-factor approval’ to conduct the

inquiry, which is the only way for the ACC to investigate the matter,” said the official.

He said for the ACC to investigate the scam under the existing money-laundering act of 2012, the government would have to amend the act, adding that: “if amended, we can carry out the inquiry into the scams.” l

Latest, at a rally in Rajshahi on September 16, Khaleda Zia gave a fresh ultimatum, asking the government to pass a bill on non-partisan interim government in parliament by October 25.

The leader of the opposition also urged her followers in Rajshahi and Rangpur to come to Dhaka to join the movement whenever she asked them.

At a public meeting in Narsingdi on September 8, she warned of enforcing nonstop hartal and blockades of roads and railways across the country if the demand was not met.

“We know how to carry out a movement. If the non-party administration is not restored, people will block all roads and railways, and sit there.”

The party leaders are now thinking that if the Election Commission announces polls schedule without resolving the issue of polls-time government, the ongoing movement

will turn one-sided.

They believe that public opinion is in their favour; the diplomats want an inclusive election, which also favours them, and all this will benefit the opposition camp.

“Madam [Khaleda] has already said what the party’s next course of action will be. Wait and see how we implement our movement strategy,” Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, a Standing Committee member, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

On the first day of the ongoing session of parliament, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said the session will run until October 24. To meet the opposition’s demand there is no alternative to amending the constitution by then.

As part of its ongoing mass contact programme to drum up public support for the demand, the BNP will hold a mass rally at the end of October in the capital. Announcements of non-stop hartal and sit-in programmes might come from that rally. l

Haripur Power Plant misses  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

assistance of Marubeni Corporation of Japan as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor.

The plant would require 64mmcfd gas to operate in full capacity while production cost of per unit of electricity here would be Tk1.7154.

The government has implemented the power project at a cost of $376m with financial support from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Sources at the PDB said, electricity generation in the country yesterday was about 6200MW against a projected demand for 7000MW. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Indian firm may get two shallow sea blocks Petrobangla, ONGC initial memo for PSC On April 2, US-based ConocoPhiln Aminur Rahman Rasel lips and ONGC participated in the bidPetrobangla and Indian oil and gas company ONGC Videsh Ltd have initialled memo for production sharing contract to explore gas in two shallow sea blocks in the Bay of Bengal.

“We have signed the initial with ONGC Videsh Ltd to explore two shallow sea blocks,” Muhammad Imaduddin, Director (production sharing contract) of Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) told the Dhaka Tribune Thursday.

“The signed copy will be sent through the energy division for vetting by the law ministry. After vetting, the cabinet committee on economic affairs will approve the signing of production-sharing contract (PSC),” said Imaduddin. The whole documentation process is expected to be completed by November.

Earlier, the cabinet committee on economic affairs had allowed Petrobangla to sign the initial for blocks 4, 7 and 9.

ding process for exploration in nine blocks. ConocoPhillips submitted tender for block 7 and the ONGC for blocks 4 and 9.

“We hope that the initial signing with ConocoPhillips can be done within a month,” the Petrobangla director said.

ConocoPhillips had got two blocks in the deep sea back in 2011 while India’s state-owned ONGC is going to operate in Bangladesh for the first time.

A government-formed evaluation committee put forward its recommendations to Petrobangla following the bidding, asking it to go ahead with the signing of the initials with the foreign companies.

India’s ONGC has reportedly offered to invest $38.4m to conduct 2D-seismic survey of 2700 line-km, 3D-seismic survey of a 200sq-km area and drill two wells in block 4.

The government’s profit-sharing ra-

‘Passport office harasses BNP men’ n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

n Tribune Report

BNP Standing Committee Member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy yesterday alleged that the government was getting in the way of BNP activists’ obtaining passports.

“Every citizen has the right to get a passport but the government is influencing the passport issuing authorities not to give them passports,” he said, addressing a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters in the capital.

Goyeshwar also alleged that not only he, but also some other leaders of BNP were harassed by the passport issuing authorities.

“I applied for machine readable passport and I followed all the procedures. I was supposed to get it on September 18 but they did not issue it,” he said.

“The passport office also delayed in delivering passports to the senior leaders of the party including Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Rafiqul Islam Miah, Mirza Abbas and Nitai Roy Chowdhury,” he said. l

Any attempt to hold the next general elections without restoring caretaker government system might provoke a civil war in the country, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury warned yesterday.

“Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will have to take sole responsibility if any such situation arises,” Prof Chowdhury said while addressing a party rally in the capital’s Kafrul area, according to a press release.

Reflecting on the current political situation, he said a fire was raging throughout the country as the ruling party wanted to cling to power.

“If Awami League assumes power once again, it will add fuel to the fire.”

“During this government’s regime, thousands of crores have been plundered from banks, massive corruption took place in the Padma bridge project long before its construction

ROAD IN DISTRESS

tio will be 60%-85% for gas and 70%90% for oil. It has also offered to invest $64.8m to conduct 2D survey of 2850 line-km, 3D survey of a 300sq-km area in block 9 and drill three wells.

Meanwhile, ConocoPhilips has offered to invest $23.5m to conduct 2D-seismic survey of 2347 line-km, 3D-seismic survey of a 500sq-km area and drill one exploration well in block 7.

The profit-sharing ratio for the government would be 55%-80% for gas and the same for oil.

Four foreign organisations – Chevron, Santos, ConocoPhillips and Tullow – are working in Bangladesh now.

On December 17, 2012, Petrobangla invited international tenders for exploring oil and gas prospects in 12 blocks under Offshore Bidding Round 2012. Of them, nine blocks are in shallow sea and three were in deep sea.

Earlier, international bidding was called under the PSC in 1993, 1997 and 2008. l

Polls without caretaker may lead to civil war: B Chy started and stock market has been looted, forcing many people to commit suicide. But the government did not heed that. If the Awami League assumes power again, the scale of their misdeeds and corruption will see a tremendous upsurge,” he told the rally.

Criticising Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Prof Chowdhury said she was killing the democracy bit by bit.

“Prime minister says one thing while her son says another. There is very little similarity between their words and actions, and they continue to speak at their own whims. If she thinks of running the country this way, her dream will never come true” he said.

Addressing the rally, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Kader Siddique said: “You can occupy shoals by brandishing sticks, but people’s hearts cannot be won that way.

“It is not possible to drag someone into your party by force,” he said. l

Three men struggle to move a loaded pushing-cart on the dilapidated and muddy Zia Sarani Road in Shanir Akhra at the outskirts of the city yesterday. Though the frequently used road has left the residents suffering for months, authorities concerned have taken no initiatives for its development SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

‘Communalism rooted in people’s minds, political parties’

10 injured as BCL factions clash n Our Correspondent, Noakhali

n

At least 10 people were left injured in a factional clash between two groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League at Companiganj Government Mujib College Thursday night.

Three people – Raju, 18, Chhotan, 19, and Ibrahim, 22, – were arrested by the police following the incident.

According to witnesses and students, a female student of the college was harassed by a group of BCL activists after which another a group of five to six activists led by BCL college unit Organising Secretary Md Abdullah beat up a first year student, M Pavel, for eve teasing.

The incident resulted in a verbal altercation between Abdullah and Abdur Rahim, who is also a BCL activist, later a clash erupted between the groups.

Later in the evening, an emergency meeting was called at the district’s Bashurhat AL office. The meeting headed by district AL member and Municipality Mayor Abdul Kader Mirza expelled Abdullah and Joy, a BCL upazila ward 3 member, from their current posts. Angered by the expulsion, Abdullah along with his associates attacked Abdur Rahim again. The locals intervened and caught Raju, Chhotan and Ibrahim and later handed them over to the police. l

Muktasree Chakma Sathi

Communalism in the present context cannot be eliminated from the society as it is very much rooted in people’s mind, political parties, administrative and statutory bodies, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.

They said the only way to deal with it is to turn the country into a secular state by building awareness among people.

Discussants comprised of columnist, academics, politicians and journalist made the observation at the discussion on a book titled “Ramu Sangkalan” (a compilation of writes up on Ramu) at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium.

Columnist Rahnuma Ahmed, lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua, journalist Udisa Islam and Snighdha Halder edited the book that feature the timeline of the atrocities inflicted on the Buddha minority people in Ramu last year along with a significant number of newspaper reports, columns, and analysis.

Discussing the book Rahnuma said: “We did this compilation since one can always find documentation prepared by the powerful people. But it is hard to find any documentation that contain

the voices of marginalized, powerless people and the victims.”

Academic Anu Muhammad said: “This compilation would help people to remember “strength gained from oppression and resistance”. There has always been a tendency from the part of the government to obliterate such tragic memories from people’s mind.”

Communal attack in Ramu did not take place only because of lack of communal harmony there was political reason behind the attack. Awami League, BNP and Jamaat – all these parties were involved in the attack

This book will help the oppressed people to learn how to build resistance when they face such inhuman and vicious attack in future.

Taking part in the discussion Nurul Kabir, Editor of New Age, said the book would be an example to look at an incident from different angles as long as

3

Saturday, September 21, 2013

such communal attack continues to take place in the country.

“Most of the time when a book is launched it is a moment of celebration.

But today we cannot do so rather we are in melancholy mood and feel concerned,” said Nurul Kabir.

Speaking on the occasion Progyananda Bhikku of Ramu Seema Vihara, that too was reeled by the wrath of communal attack on September 29 last year, said during the attack a total of 500 Buddha statues made of gold, bronze and white stone were looted.

Professor Salimullah Khan said, secularism is needed for the betterment of the country. “Even if there is no non-Muslim citizen living in the country the state should be a secular one.”

Communal attack in Ramu did not take place only because of lack of communal harmony there was political reason behind the attack. Awami League, BNP and Jamaat – all these parties were involved in the attack,” Salimullah further said.

Professor Geeti Ara Nasrin of Dhaka University, Swadhin Sen of Jahangirnagar University and Ganasanghati Andolan Convener Zonayed Saki also spoke on the occasion. l

Execute war criminals by Dec 16: Ganajagaran Mancha n Arif Ahmed The Ganajagaran Mancha has demanded execution of the verdicts of all the war crimes trial by December 16, the 43rd Victory Day of the country.

“We want to observe this victory day in a collaborator-free country,” said Imran H Sarkar, convener of the platform.

He made the remark while addressing a rally at the Shahabag intersection in the capital yesterday.

Speaking at the rally, writer Shahriar Kabir said Jamaat could be “banned” by staying well within the existing administrative order and the constitution.

“The accusations for lodging anti-state activities and breaching consti-

tution are enough to ban the anti-liberation organisation [Jamaat],” he said.

Shahriar Kabir alleged that Jamaat had strong links with international militant groups such as Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda.

He urged the government to investigate the matter seriously so that these groups could not turn Bangladesh into a militant state.

Bangladesh Chhatra Moitri President Bappaditya Basu said: “If the blood of our forefathers truly flows in our veins then we must not go back home until the war criminals are executed and Jamaat is banned.”

“We must not allow the funeral of Quader Molla on our land,” he said. l

11 killed in the capital n Mohammad Jamil Khan At least 11 people were killed in separate incidents in the city’s Mirpur, Jatrabari, Sutrapur, Rupnagar, Hazaribagh and Demra areas yesterday.

In Sutrapur, two construction workers were killed as a crane collapsed while bringing down embroidery machines from a multi-storied building.

The dead were Mohammad Habib, 25, and Nawab Ali, 25, from Pirojpur and Shariatpur districts respectively.

Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of the Sutrapur police station, said the crane collapsed from the 10th floor of the 13-storey Great Wall Market building, leaving the two workers injured critically. The duo later succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.

In another incident at Mirpur 2, a construction worker, Monirul Biswash, who hailed from Ishwardi of Pabna, was electrocuted while he was working in an under-construction building.

In Jatrabari, a speedy Laguna hit Abdur Rahman, 8, a student of Jabia Arabia Kafimul Kulum Madrassa in the area, while he was crossing the road.

The minor boy was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the on-duty doctors declared him dead.

Joti Begum, 65, of Gazipur was crushed under the wheel of a speedy vehicle around 11:30am while she was crossing the road at Rupnagar in the Beribadh area.

The body was sent to DMCH morgue.

Police recovered the floating body of a youth from the city’s Buriganga River around 4pm. The deceased was Robin,

15, a salesman of a cosmetic shop at Chawkbazar in the capital.

In Demra, a housewife was allegedly chopped to death in her house by her husband yesterday.

Sub-Inspector Shah Alam of Demra police station said they recovered the body of Afsana Begum, 26, from the house at Boxnagar in Sarulia around 8am.

There were several stab marks on the body, the police official said, adding that Afsana’s husband Abdul Karim fled after the incident. Police suspect the wife was killed by her husband over family feud.

The lawmen recovered the body of Ruma Akter, 25, a garment worker, wife of Jamal Hossain, from house No. 6/9/B, Tolarbagh area of the city.

Darus Salam police said the couple were locked in an altercation over family feud, and later on Friday morning, Ruma was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her room.

An unnatural death case was filed with the police station in this regard.

Police recovered the hanging body of Kajal Chandra Das, 26, a RMG worker, from the city’s Alordi area of Pallabi in the capital and sent it to the DMCH morgue.

Kamruzzaman, sub-inspector of Pallabi police station, said, Kajal was locked in a clash with his wife last night.

The victim might have committed suicide following the quarrel, he said.

In Hazaribagh, two youths were drowned in Buriganga River Friday evening when they went to immerse an idol.

The dead were Suvom Palmiki, 17, a student of University Laboratory School and College, and Sajal Das, 17, of Mukulika Kindergarten High School. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Malaysian traders urged to invest in Bangladesh n Tribune Report A visiting Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) delegation to Malaysia on Thursday called upon Malaysian entrepreneurs to invest in power, energy and infrastructure sectors in Bangladesh.

The DCCI delegation, led by its President, Md Sabur Khan, recalled the longstanding bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Malaysia, and said the investment will further enhance the trade between the two countries.

The delegation made the call at a meeting with Malaysia’s Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce Industry (ACCCIM), which was followed by a Business to Business (B2B) match-making session, a DCCI press release said.

Speaking at the meeting, DCCI president Md Sabur Khan urged Malaysian businessmen to import more from Bangladesh and expressed his intention to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ACCCIM and Expertise Resource Association (ERA).l

News

Saturday, September 21, 2013

No plan yet to raise retirement age of agriculture scientists n Tribune Report The government has no plan yet to raise the retirement age of agriculturalists in the manner it was done for the scientists of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR).

Food Minister Abdur Razzaque, at a function yesterday, said although the prime minister was willing to raise the age limit for agricultural scientists, it could not be done because of “various reasons.”

He, however, did not mention any of the reasons or anything that could be related to a possible development in the matter.

The government on August 26 decided to raise the retirement age of BCSIR scientists to 67 years, eight years up from the previous 59. About 300 scientists of the institute benefited from the decision which, however, frustrated those working in other organisations.

There are about 1700 agricultural scientists and agronomists across the country who were also expecting a similar raise, given their contribution in accelerating food security especially by developing climate-resilient rice varieties.

After the cabinet meeting which approved the draft BCSIR Act-2013, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the authorities of other organisations can also have tenures of their scientists extended by submitting proposals.

However, while speaking at the conference organised by Bangladesh Society of Agronomy (BSA), Abdur Razzaque was more focused on the government’s achievements in food security rather than on the matter of retirement age.

He said the government had taken a number of initiatives to bring down the poverty rate to 15% by 2021. “We’ve already attained food security as well

as achieving the targets of MDGs.” After assuming power, Razzaque said, the government in its first cabinet meeting reduced the prices of all nonurea fertilisers to help farmers increase agricultural outputs.

He urged the agro scientists to improve the quality of various products including salinity, cold and drought resilient varieties of crops and to make them popular among farmers.

The minister stressed the need for attracting “brilliant” students and professionals in agriculture sector to further enhance its performance. “Unless more brilliant people were brought into the sector, it would be impossible to develop the sector.”

The agriculturalists in their turn reminded the minister of the government’s assurance of increasing their retirement age, but he had no word of hope to offer to them.

He advised the researchers to make their inventions including new rice and

other varieties more production oriented so that the farmers can easily use them.

The available arable land in the country has been decreasing at 1% annually which is about 80,000 hectare, according to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (Bari).

It also estimates that Bangladesh will be in need of an additional 1.2 million tonnes of food by 2050, to meet the demand.

Besides cereal crops like rice and wheat, the demand for nutritious food has also been increasing in the country as people’s average income has also been increasing, said FH Ansarey, executive director of Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Ltd. The government must put emphasis on technology and high yielding variety crops so that more food could be produced using limited lands, otherwise the situation will go beyond control, he said. l

Ajit Sarkar presents his book to Hasina n Tribune Desk Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha City Editor Ajit Kumar Sarkar presented his book “Digital Bangladesh: Swapno Puraner Avijatra” (Digital Bangladesh: Journey Towards Materialising Dreams) to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.

He gave the book to the prime minister at her Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban office Thursday night.

PM’s Media Advisor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Secretary M Nazrul Islam Khan were present on the occasion, UNB reports.

The PM highly appreciated the publication of the book that highlighted the progress of digitisation in various sectors, including the introduction of digital system of service delivery that has put an end to the 200-year-old cumbersome method of providing services to the people.

Ajit said his book focused on how the people were being benefited following the launching of 4,516 union information service centres (UISCs) which have brought about radical changes in the livelihood of the rural people. l

RMG workers to stage rally today n Tribune Desk

School students have fun learning Liberation War history

Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan yesterday called for making today’s grand rally of readymade garment workers a success.

Garments Sramik Samannoy Parishad, an association of RMG workers, will organise the rally in the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan to demand rational minimum wages for the garment workers for their survival.

Briefing journalists at the temporary office of the association, Shahjahan Khan, also the convenor of Garments Sramik Samannoy Parishad, said the logical minimum wages for the RMG workers should be ensured for the sake of protecting the country’s garment industry, reports UNB. He said the grand workers rally will not be held for gaining any political benefit. The reactionary clique has become frightened seeing the enthusiasm among the readymade garment workers centering the rally.

“It is now the demand of time to forge a strong unity against the ‘conspiracy’ to confine women workers in the houses. The rally will be held protesting the retrenchment of RMG workers,” Shahjahan Khan added.

In the rally, the garments workers will place their demands for ensuring rational minimum wages, reinstatement of GSP facilities, and providing adequate compensation to the victims of Rana Plaza collapse and devastating fire incident of Tazreen Garments factory.

Shajahan Khan will preside over the rally scheduled to begin at 2 pm.l

For class III student Mumtazah Meem, yesterday was not like any other day.

All her knowledge about the Liberation War had so far been gathered from discussions, talk-shows, dramas and cinemas; but she had always found the sources complex and difficult for children to understand.

Yesterday, for the first time, she discovered a newfound feeling for the Liberation War when she prepared a wall magazine on war heroes.

“To prepare this, I read about war heroes and their lives touched me a lot.

Now I can feel their struggles,” Mumtazah, a student of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, told this correspondent while explaining her wall magazine.

Like Mumtazah, some 3,000 students from 15 city schools learned the history of the Liberation War in a lively way, at a programme organised by “71 Obinashi Sotta”, a club from Viqarunnisa Noon School and College - working to make school students learn the history of the Liberation War. The event, taking place at the Viqarunisa Noon School and College from 9am to 4:30pm yesterday, included quiz competition, wall magazine competition, and documentary screening.

Throughout the program, the participating students remained enthusiastic about their own individual efforts to showcase the Liberation War history.

WEATHER

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

Moderately heavy falls are 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 5:56pm today and rises at 5:48am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 35.6 degree Celsius was recorded yesterday at Rajshahi and lowest 24.7 degrees at Rangamati. Highest and lowest temperature recorded in some major cities yesterday were: City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

34.0 32.0 35.6 33.5 33.5 31.9 34.1 32.3

27.3 25.5 26.0 26.6 25.5 26.2 25.0 25.0

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:32am 5:46am 11:52pm 4:14pm 5:56pm 7:11pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

n Mushfique Wadud

Three students of Viqarunnisa Noon School in Bailey Road smile while they display a poster on freedom fighters which they made for a school competition yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU “This is a wonderful way to learn history of the Liberation War. I had not learnt history of the war earlier, which I learned here today,” Jannatul Ferdous,

a class IV student of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College said.

Nabila Tabassum Chowdhury, president of the “71 Obinashi Sotta” club,

SAUDI AMNESTY FOR FOREIGN WORKERS

Sponsors blamed for delaying documentation n Rabiul Islam Undocumented foreign workers in Saudi Arabia alleged that several sponsors was deliberately delaying the processing of relevant documents, blocking many expatriate workers’ way to legalisation.

“We have faced such problems and they happenedmostly due to information gap,” Bangladesh ambassador to Saudi Arabia Md Shahidul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

He blamed a section of unscrupulous middlemen were also creating problems for workers who were trying to become legalised.

“We have urged our workers to not to go through these middlemen,” Shahidul said.

Meanwhile, officials, who has worked in the KSA earlier, said without a huge sum of money, many sponsors simply do not agree on handingthe documents over.

Officials estimate, around 1.5 million Bangladeshis are working in Saudi Arabia.

Bangladesh ambassador had earlier told the Dhaka Tribune,around 30,000 undocumented workers are yet to be legalised.

The undocumented foreign workers, frustrated by delays in legalising their status, ahead of the deadline,

sought the Saudi government’s intervention to penalise those uncooperative sponsors, reported Arab News yesterday.

The concern grew, after the Saudi labour ministry warned that the current grace period would not be extended beyond November 3.

Ahmad Said, a Yemeni national, said he was offered a better job at a private company, but his sponsor was stalling and refused to co-operate in completing the process, Arab News reports.

Alaa As Samkari, an engineer at a contracting company, said: “My sponsor agreed to release my documentsonly after stalling them for more than four months.” l

said such programmes have been taking place since 2008, but this was the first time other schools attended.

The purpose of arranging such pro-

grammes was to let school students know about the Liberation War and to ensure they do not get any distorted history, she said.

A discussion was held in the final session of the program, attended by author Md Zafar Iqbal, freedom fighter and cultural activist Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu, cultural personality Hasan Imam, freedom fighter Shirin Banu Mitil, freedom fighter Lt. Col. (retd) Sajjad Zahir and others. The speakers shared their Liberation War experiences with the students.

Zafar Iqbal said the new generation can take the country forward if they love the country. “To love the country, you have to know the history of Liberation War,” he told the students.

Nasiruddin Yousuff said the new generation should work to create a non-communal, democratic and warcriminal-free Bangladesh, as many lives were sacrificed to achieve the country’s independence.

Shirin Banu Mitil said that without eliminating rajakars and war criminals, Liberation War will not be completed and the new generation will have to work to complete the “incomplete war”.

Along with the host school, students from Ideal School and College, Mogbazar Girls’ School, Siddheshwari School, Agrani School, Udayan School, BAF Shahin School, Residential Model School and some other schools also attended the programme. l

Lawyers urged to uphold public interest n RU correspondent The spirit of lawyering, the practice of law, as a humanitarian profession would be lost, unless lawyers work to serve and uphold people’s interests, said speakers at an event in Rajshahi University (RU) yesterday.

Observed speakers at the inauguration of a training programme on “Public Interest Lawyering” to launch the Rajshahi Law Clinic at RU, organised by the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST).

Vice-Chancellor of RU Prof Md Mizanuddin was the chief guest with Pro VC Prof Chowdhury Sarowar Jahan and executive director of BLAST Barrister Sara Hossain as special guests at the event where speakers urged

lawyers not to take advantage of the poor and under-privileged people instead to provide them with legal assistance.

Prof Mizanuddin said lawyering was reputed to be a humanitarian profession, but some lawyers were unscrupulous and cause for the change in people’s opinion about the profession.

The VC said every citizen should know about the laws to ensure proper implementation.

Barrister Sara Hossain said: “We have to give legal advice especially to the poor and helpless people who are deprived of justice because of financial and other constraints.”

She urged law students to have the mindset to serve and uphold public interest in their professional lives. l

Porous border gives easy access to small arms n Tribune Desk Smuggling of small firearms into Bangladesh, especially pistol and revolver, through three bordering districts has become rampant as the gunrunners have found the routes safe for their illicit trade.

The three districts are Chapainwababganj, Satkhira and Jessore.

Sources at the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told UNB small firearms, especially pistol and revolver, which are very easy to carry, are being smuggled into the country as professional criminals prefer using those for their cheaper prices, says a UNB report.

During interrogations in DB custody, some detained gunrunners revealed

the information. Among the three districts, most firearms are being smuggled into the country through different border points of Jessore, said a DB official.

According to DMP sources, a total of 59 foreign-made pistols and 19 revolvers were recovered by police from different parts of the capital in between January and July this year.

Information have it that the small firearms, reportedly manufactured in the Indian states of Bihar and Kolkata, are being smuggled into the country.

Although law enforcers, including police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh, sometimes nab gunrunners and their cohorts along with consignment of smuggled arms, the local kingpins of the arms smug-

gling chain remain out of touch as they have links with influential political leaders, said the DB official preferring anonymity.

Intelligence sources said consignments of illegal arms through different border points - Benapole, Sharsha, Chowgachha, Satira, Debhata, Kaliganj, Kolaroa of Jessore, Moheshpur of Jhenidah, Daulatpur of Kushtia and various points of Chuadanga have shot up alarmingly in recent times.

According to the sources, illegal firearms brought by the gunrunners from India are supplied promptly to different parts of the country, including capital Dhaka.

According to information tricked down from across the border, Special Task Force, Patna and Nalanda police

in a joint operation unearthed a minigun factory at Kohna Sarai locality of Biharsharif (district headquarters of Nalanda district in the state of Bihar in eastern India) under Laheri police station and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition and equipment used in making illegal firearms early this month.

In April, Indian police unearthed another illegal mini-gun factory at Mirzapur village in Bihar’s Nalanda district.

On August 20, plainclothes police recovered one revolver, two pistols and 14 bullets and arrested three alleged gunrunners --Shipon, 39, Palash, 22, and Rasel Miah, 22, from different areas of Dhaka city.

On June 10, they recovered 10 firearms, including seven pistols, and ar-

rested five illegal arms traders from the capital Dhaka. On May 23, DB police recovered five pistols and one revolver and arrested five alleged illegal arms traders from different areas in Dhaka city.

On May 11, 2013 a Rab team arrested Momin and Shahidul along with one 9mm pistol from Kutipara in Chougachha upazila while Osman Kha with one pistol from Sharsha upazila of Jessore.

Besides, BGB members from Putkhali camp recovered one 9mm pistol, one shutter gun and three 303 rifles from Chhoto Achra on May 11.

On May 29, Rab-6 of Jessore camp arrested Hiru Mollah, son of Razzak of Boro Achra village, in possession of one 9mm pistol and one bullet from Old Kasba Lechu Bagan area. l

Special

DHAKA TRIBUNE

5

Saturday, September 21, 2013

United World College: Celebrating 50 years of diversity ‘The UWC experience was a journey, one that U I came across possibly at the most crucial nited World College (UWC) was founded in 1962 with the aim to unite the youth whose experience was of the political conflict of the cold war era. The movement’s purpose was – and has continued to be to – offer an educational experience based on shared learning, collaboration and understanding so that the students would act as champions of peace. While remaining committed to this goal even today, five decades since its inception, the movement has expanded its reach to embrace the tensions and conflicts existing within as well as between societies.

UWC has 12 schools and colleges, and its education has its roots in shared guiding principles. UWC short programmes offer a condensed UWC experience and take UWC’s mission and values to a wider audience. UWC schools, college and programmes all have distinctive characters yet share the same themes of UWC’s mission and values.

The movement depends on the dedication and expertise of an active volunteer based network called national committees.

National committees (NCs) operate in more than 140 countries to recruit, including Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi National Committee is run by a dedicated team of teachers, philanthropists and professors from various prestigious institutions. Today, there are at least 100 students who have gone from Bangladesh, and the National Committee here is dedicated to keep promoting the movement even further among Bangladeshis. l

point of my life’

A

Students form a human pyramid at the library lawn on the UWC Mahindra College (UWCMC) campus on a pleasant March afternoon in 2008

t 16, my entire perspective of the rest of the world came merely from the television and computer screens. But I wanted to know more. I was a little too used to my good old comfort zone, so the possibility of stepping out of it to experience something new and exciting simply intrigued me.

In 2010, I was granted a full scholarship to attend Lester B Pearson UWC of the Pacific, thousands of miles away from home on the west coast of Canada. I was heading towards spending the last two years of my school life with 199 other passionate individuals from all corners of the globe.

I was about to begin the best two years of my life.

Pearson College was a life changing experience. It was a place where everyone had a voice that mattered. The aim was to make education a force to unite people, cultures and nations for peace and a sustainable future, and the whole concept fascinated me. By the end of my two

years, I’d had roommates from Greece, Nigeria, Palestine, Bulgaria and Canada. The classes felt like global conferences and each new day was a new adventure. During meals, the whole world would be present under one roof, and the conversations we had knew no boundaries. I got to travel, explore my creative capacities, serve the community and become a true global citizen. I made some of my best friends in those two years, and today there are hardly any countries in the world where I don’t have a second home to lodge in.

The two brief years changed me completely as a person and drastically altered my perspectives about the world. The same world that seemed so big and mysterious just two years prior to my graduation had become my new comfort zone. l Chowdhury K Farabee is a sophomore at at Colby College in Maine, United States.

Application process: Start this October!

October Around this time of 10th grade, you start preparing yourself to apply to the UWC Programme. The National Committee shortlists candidates for interview based on his/her grades and extra-curricular activities. So, around October, start polishing both your grades and extra-curricular activities such as sports, crafts, community service etc.

Note: Find out if you school counsellor has any information about UWC. Some schools such as Schoalstica and Sunbeams hold information sessions about UWC for Grade 10 students that would be very helpful to attend. During those sessions you should also be handed the application that you need to fill out.

If your school is not involved in student selection then you should contact the UWC Bangladesh National Committee directly. Please visit the “contact us” page of our website (http://www.uwcbd.org) and call us to know about the important upcoming dates.

You should also download the applica-

tion form from the website and submit it to our office before the set deadline. We are working towards making it an online application for your convenience!

January Around January of your 10th grade, you should start your application process. You can find the form online and apply accordingly.

March Around March, NC will get back to you to let you know whether or not you have been shortlisted for the next stage of the process: an interview.

At the interview, you can share with NC your campus preference but there is no guarantee that it will be able to place you in your preferred campus. If you are selected, NC will try its best to accommodate your preference.

FAQs April Around April, NC informs you of its decision.

August If you are selected, this is when you start your journey into a UWC-experience!

Keep an eye out for meetings and/or gettogethers with alumni and/or co-years that may be taking place before you go - to know about what to pack, and any other information you may want to learn!

2. How many years is the UWC experience?

UWC comprises of 2 years equivalent to A levels/HSC.

How UWC shaped my career n Najmus Sakib Ahmed As a child, I loved drawing cartoons. My art teacher commented on the freedom of my pencil strokes. My sister would take my sketch book to school to proudly share my drawings with her mates. I was fascinated by the master Joynal Abedin, “This guy does not use color. One can do that? How convenient!”

Shishir Bhattacharya was more than a human being!

Soon, I lost track of my sketch books. I convinced myself, cartoonists cannot make a grand living and I need to live grandly. So I will study economics, go to my dream school— Dartmouth College, become an economist, join a big firm, drive a Porsche, start a company, make big bucks. Keep things simple.

While I was laying the roadmap from my glorious future, my English teacher at school started discussing UWC. I was sold. Everything about this Hogwarts appealed to me.

I had to go there. As it is I was convinced if I stayed in Bangladesh I would die an early death. That was the era of “back-up” and I was in the habit of saying whatever I wanted and getting knocked around.

So I went to Mahindra UWC of India. As the bus rolled into the compound, a featherweight Indian student with bed hair sipped a hot drink. I could see the steam rising from her drink from many metres away and the air was different. It was lighter. We were on a hill but I was breathing more easily than I ever breathed before. Everything was better.

Everything seemed to have more purpose.

I liked the place. Every moment was a discovery. The bloke from Bermuda was constantly cracking ‘momma jokes’ and I was supposed to be okay with it. The boy from Norway put some herbs in his water bottle because it would help with the heat. The guy from Swaziland was called Innocent! What fun.

I had ticked Film as one of my International Baccalaureate courses. So I went to my film class. No pressure. The course instructor asked the students to introduce ourselves and tell him what our favorite films were. The list went on as: “Godfather.” “Trainspotting.”

“Y tu mama tambien.” Oh dear, I thought.

These names sound so serious. What gravitas. So culturally significant they sound.

What should I say? Terminator Part II? Gladiator? I was so embarrassed by my inferiority I mumbled something. I probably said Braveheart but, to be honest, I cannot remember.

All I remember was that my ears were hot and everything was hazy.

In the coming weeks, we went to the Film and Television Institute of India to see films at the National Film Archives. We did so regularly. It was a part of the curriculum. The seats were big, plush red things that invited sleep. The films were difficult to follow with subtitles and all and they explored subjects that I had a hard time finding interest in. I saw Citizen Kane and concluded that filmmaking was some kind of exercise in physics and perfection that was way beyond me.

Then came the day when we watched Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard. It was a revelation. The editing was erratic but the story was breezy. The characters were charming and their situation and needs seemed so relevant. The ending of the film was a masterstroke. I was spellbound. More importantly, the moment Breathless ended, I said to myself, I can do this too. I can make films one day.

Today, as I write this article, I am making my first feature film — “Kora Rowd.” Records need to be checked, but if I can exhibit the film next year, I will probably be the youngest producer in Bangladesh ever. In the lull periods of production, I am writing the script for my directorial debut. I am also preparing myself to lead in a feature film. All these possibilities did not present themselves to me overnight. There has been years of struggle, failure, frustration, confusion and doubt but I have the courage to carry on. And I owe a large portion of this courage to my UWC background.

At UWC, I totally and wholeheartedly immersed myself in a sea of knowledge, learning and observation; in world literature, photography, printing, visual arts, installation arts, lighting, cartooning, quantum physics, graffiti, philosophy – you name it! I continued with my stage acting which I had started at a very early age. This exposure forms the bedrock of my crafts.

There is more to the influence. My days at UWC made me form opinions and questions about who I was as a human being and what the purpose of my existence was. It made me realise I had to pursue my dreams.

I learned to think freely. I learned to question things that did not seem right to me. I got the power to get in touch with a deeper part of my consciousness.

Ahmed is a filmmaker. He wants to identify Bangladesh with an era of filmmaking.

3. Who can apply to UWC? Any student of grade 10 who will be sitting for the O level or SSC public exam in June and is planning to go to a UWC in the upcoming August, is eligible to apply.

Participants at a meeting for national committees in the Middle East and North Africa

Students perform to welcome newcomers at UWC-USA

LPC UWC AND UWC AT-LARGE

A journey, an experience, a subtle idealism n Syed Mafiz Kamal I had the opportunity to attend the UWC in Hong Kong “Li Po Chun United World College (LPC UWC)” between 2005 and 2007.

In late 2004, I applied to UWC via “UWC Bangladesh National Committee” from India. After a grilling and eventful interview, I was selected to go to UWC campus in Hong Kong (out of 10 global campuses during the time).

Soon after the news of admission, me and my family were excited but simultaneously concerned because none of us knew where I will be going and what I will be learning. We knew very little about international schools or about International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum (the curriculum at UWC). I dipped into a sea of online research, which only provided infomercial knowledge about UWC or IB. Ill-prepared, I went to LPC UWC in fall of 2005. I was warmly welcomed. It was overwhelming but I made quick friends. Well everyone was superfriendly!

I realise I put myself into a pool of diversity that I couldn’t have imagined back then. I was among some amazingly smart people, different in so many ways: nationality, race, culture, language, political views and sexual orientation. For me it was a little shocking.

I met and made friends which people from countries like Israel (about which I had only heard negatively in the local media) and Lesotho (a country I never

heard about), and of course many from Hong Kong and PRC, our hosts. I met gay, straight, conservative, gothic, feminist, rastafari, and a whole range of people from 90+ countries who put on different hats at different times. In some ways I also added to the diversity of this 250 member community.

In LPCUWC, I was trying everything new. During my academic time there, I took Chinese, French, English literature, Visual Arts, Economics, Geography, Chemistry and Biology. I learnt about interdisciplinary epistemology course called Theory of Knowledge.

I conducted a ground research on Street Children of Bangladesh. I was involved in various co-curricular and voluntary activities known as “Quan Chai,” among which I taught Sex and HIV/AIDS education at local schools.

As part of my experience in LPCUWC, I visited China to teach She Tribe kids in northern Fujian and to Vietnam to volunteer with Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in HCM City.

On campus, I became politically vocal especially in forums we called “Global Issues Forum.”

My friends did other activities, some went surfing in Bali, others went on exchange in North Korea, some organised conflict resolution student forums called “Initiative for Peace” (between Indian & Pakistani students but the future programme when ahead to focus on other global conflicts) and some volunteered in orphanage in remote China.

Today, I look back at my UWC experience and there is much to reflect on, and even more to learn from. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity and also responsible to make the best of this opportunity. UWC has instilled a sense of universalism, idealism and leadership in me that I daily strive to live upto.

My interest in international affairs, which I have taken up as my academic and professional aspiration, derives its origins in UWC. Today, both I and my family understand that UWC movement is larger than personal aspirations, a notion we were indifferent to before 2005.

I am part of the UWC movement wherever I go – Dhaka, New York or Spain. Today when I hear about news from different corners of the world, I don’t think of them as distant people, rather as events affecting my friends: Yahia in Egypt, Pelin in Turkey or Chishio in Japan, and so on.

Living in New York, I am actively involved with the UWC movement here (alumni, students, well-wishers, etc). I will be actively celebrating UWC Day here with my peers from different UWCs. In the same spirit, I wish everyone: Happy UWC Day. Go, get some idealism and change the world! l Syed Mafiz Kamal is currently pursuing his Masters in Global Affairs at New York University (NYU) majoring in International Relations & International Political Economy.

Campuses across the world Africa: 

Waterford Kamhlaba UWC Mbabane, Swaziland

Asia: Li Po Chun UWC Hong Kong SAR, China  UWC Mahindra College Pune, India  UWC South East Asia Singapore 

Students celebrate cultural diversity on the campus of Lester B Pearson UWC in Canada

1. What diploma will I receive at the end my UWC years?

You will receive a diploma in International Baccalaureate.

Europe: UWC Adriatic Duino, Italy UWC Atlantic College Llantwit Major, UK  UWC Maastricht Maastricht, the Netherlands  UWC in Mostar Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina  UWC Red Cross Nordic Flekke, Norway  

North America: Pearson College UWC Victoria, Canada  UWC-USA Montezuma, New Mexico, USA 

Central/South America: UWC Costa Rica Santa Ana, Costa Rica



4. What subjects can I take in UWC? You have to take a first language, a second language, a math at Standard/higher/ studies level, a science subject, a humanities and a subject of your choice of field, which can either be arts or any of the fields mentioned above. Subjects will vary from campus to campus. Once selected you can visit the campus website of the respective school for more information.

5. Can I take Math HL (Higher Level) if I have done GCE O Level Pure/Advanced Math in Bangladesh?

You definitely can. However Math HL is very challenging so it is suggested that you initially take 4 HL subjects (including Math HL) so that you can drop to SL (Standard Level) any time you find it necessary.

Otherwise after a month of a semester when you are comfortable with Math HL, you can drop another subject to SL You are required to take at least 3 HL subjects and 3 standard level subjects.

6. How different are the studies in UWC from the studies in Bangladesh?

Studies at the UWC will include things like individual/group presentations, short papers to write, oral exams, interactive activities/simulations, detailed lab reports all of which you will be given instructions about before assigned.

7. What is CAS? CAS stands for Creativity, Action and Service. While at a UWC you must take at least 3 different types of extra curricular activities that fall under either Creativity, Action or Service. For example, a sport like basketball can be considered Action, Latin American Dance can be considered Creativity, and teaching English at a primary school can be considered Service.

8. Does every selected student get a scholarship?

No, every student is not given a scholarship. Since there are limited spaces for scholarship , when there are numerous students with good academic and standing, some of the students lower on the list are selected but they have to cover the whole cost.

9. What kind of food is provided at a UWC? UWC schools always provide with vegetarian and non vegetarian foods, with supplement like drinks, bread, fruits etc. The foods vary great from campus to campus depending on their location. You can talk to your second year or any alumna/alumnus for further specific information.

10. How many nationalities are usually represented in a UWC? Almost about 70 – 90 depending on the campus.

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Urban sprawl eats up Dhaka’s farmland Four upazilas and three metro areas of the district have lost 7,982 hectares of agricultural land from 2002 to 2011 pur and Gulshan have lost about 300 n Tribune Desk hectares and 500 hectares respectiveDhaka district is losing some 2.5 hectares of fertile land every day to brick kilns, housing projects, industrial structures and roads endangering its agriculture, according to officials at the Department of Agricultural Extension.

Agriculture officials in the district also said the loss of agricultural land has forced about 300,000 farmers of the district to change professions.

According to the DAE, four upazilas and three metro areas of the district have lost 7,982 hectares of agricultural land from 2002 to 2011.

Agricultural land in Dhamrai upazila came down to 23,518 hectares in 2011 from 25,581 hectares in 2002. Dhamrai is an upazila of 30,633 hectares of land.

In Savar, the agricultural land shrunk from 18,634 hectares to 17,580 hectares over the same period. The total land size of the upazila is about 28,013 hectares.

Keraniganj comprises of 16,997 hectares of and its agricultural land has reduced to 9,688 hectares from 11,380 hectares.

Nawabganj encompasses 24,481 hectares in total and it has also lost about 1,000 hectares of agricultural land during the period.

In the four upazilas, the total loss of agricultural land stands at 4,775 hectares.

Only in Dohar upazila, the agricultural land has increased by 379 hectares due to the formation of a new char on the bank of the Padma River.

In Dhaka metropolitan area, Tejgaon has lost about 2,500 hectares of agricultural land, while Mohammad-

ly.

11 students punished in Cuet

BCL drives out its rival from hall at CU

n CU Correspondent Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) authorities suspended nine students for different terms and fined two others for their involvement in factional clash of Bangladesh Chhatra League on the campus on June 15.

The decision was made in a meeting of Disciplinary Committee of CUET held on Thursday.

The suspended students are Md Mehedi Hasan of electronic and electrical engineering department, Shahriar Kabir of civil engineering department, Jakaria Nasim, Md Abdul Awal, Safayet Islam of computer engineering department, Mosleh Uddin, Manjur-e-Mehedi, SM Saniul Islam and Mobassarul Islam of urban and regional planning department.

All of them were fourth-year students.

Professor Asutosh Saha, director of Student Welfare Centre of CUET, said the students were suspended from the university for different terms as the disciplinary committee found them guilty of clash between two groups.

Besides, the university authorities fined Saifuddin Mohammed Furkan and Sajjad Hossain, students of mechanical engineering department, for the same charge. CUET was closed from June 15 to 25 due to the clash between two groups of BCL on the campus on June 15. One student Nayeb Hossain was critically injured following the clash. l

Tejgaon, Mohammandpur and Gulshan metro areas had about 9,790 hectares, 922 hectares and 843 hectares agricultural land respectively.

About 30.5% of the land in Gulshan area is rooftop garden, park, government office and cantonment. In Tejgaon and Mohammadpur, the ratio is 25%.

DAE’s Dhamrai Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdus Salam said most of the agricultural land in the upazila had lost due to the increasing number of brick kilns.

Besides, he said, Dhamrai has also fallen prey to new housing projects due to its close proximity with capital Dhaka.

Savar Upazila Agriculture Officer Rais Uddin Bhuyan said new industrial structures as well as brick kilns and housing projects are responsible for the loss of agricultural land in the area.

He said the government must take special measures to protect the remaining fertile lands in Dhaka. If not, there will be no trace of agriculture in the region in near future, Rais Uddin added.

According to a recent study of Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI), the area under agricultural land was 10.3m hectares back in 1976 that is 91.83 percent of the country.

This agricultural land has been decreased to 12.7m hectares with the annual loss of 23,391 hectares in 2000.

Again, with the annual loss of 56,537 hectares in 2010, the agricultural land area stood at 12.1m hectares.

n CU Correspondent A group of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Chittagong University unit, men beat up its vice-president and drove him out of the Shah Jalal hall early yesterday over previous enmity.

During the melee, one room of the dormitory was vandalised and two activists of BCL, the student wing of the ruling party Awami League, were also injured.

The injured – Rahat Hossain Himel, vice-president of CU BCL and Mehraj Hossain, a third-year student of Computer Science and Engineering department – received primary treatment at the university medical centre.

Campus sources said a group of BCL activists numbering 8-10 led by Mehraj and Rubel Dey loyal to CU BCL unit Organising Secretary Arifur Rahaman,

Agricultural land in Keraniganj, outskirt of the city, has been lost due to the increasing number of brick kilns The annual loss of agricultural land during the study period (1976-2010) was 46,948 hectares which indicates that the availability of agricultural

stormed into the room of Himel around 11:30pm. The activists beat up the vicepresident with iron roads and sticks leaving him critically injured.

Later, the followers of Himel saved him from the rivals.

At one point, the activists drove Himel out of the hall around 1:30am.

Being informed, police and proctor rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Himel said he had verbally complained to the proctor about the incident.

Professor Khan Tawhid Osman, acting proctor of CU, said they would take punitive steps after receiving written complaint from the victim.

Rafiqul Islam, office–in-charge of CU police outpost, said additional police force had been deployed on the campus to avert further any untoward incident. l

nual loss of agricultural land in Dhaka Division during 2000-2010 was 0.65 percent while forest land decreased to 3.17% during the same period. The

rural settlements, urban and industrial area, and charland increased by 4.78%, 8.75% and 9.81 % respectively during 2000-2010. l

Drama festival starts in Barisal with

call to stop obsene culture

n Our Correspondent, Barisal A week-long drama festival started yesterday at the Studio Theatre Stage of Shabdaboli Group Theatre in Barisal city with a call to combat obscene culture.

They also urged the audience to be conscious and active in realising the human rights, maintaining healthy native cultural trend and history The festival was inaugurated by Shohidul Alam, deputy commissioner of Barisal.

Titled as Shabdabolir Natya

Milon-2013 the festival was organised

by Shabdaboli Group Theatre on the occasion of the group’s 35th anniversary and it was dedicated to founding member, theatre organiser, fine-arts artist late Enayet Hossain Milon.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony the speakers expressed their solidarity with the movement to fight against invasion of obscene cultural trends initiated by the festival.

They also urged the audience to be conscious and active in realising the human rights, maintaining healthy native cultural trend and history.

Presided over by Syed Dulal, president of Shabdaboli Gourp Theatre and convener of the festival, the ceremony was addressed by Dev

Prashad Devnath, secretary general of International Theatre Institute Bangladesh, Amaresh Chakraborty of Anik Theatre Kolkata, among others.

In the festival, eight-dramas would be staged by members of five group theatre teams. The dramas are – “Protik” by Anik Theatre Kolkata, “Protikkha” and “Nil Moiurer Joubon” by Shabdaboli Group Theatre, “Kaljatra” and “Ma Abong Amra” by Barisal Shishu Theatre, “Pancha Nari Akkhyan” by Dhaka Theatre, “Paap Punyo” by Nandikar Chittagong and “Lakhai” by Oikik Theatre, Narayanganj.

The dramas will be staged at the Shabdaboli Studio Theatre on first four days and at Ashwini Kumar Hall on the last three days. l

Independent University of Bangladesh holds first-ever Alumni Campus Day n Tribune Report

Eight more held in Chittagong for shooting at police n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Police nabbed eight people from different places in Chittagong’s Satkania upazila early yesterday, in connection with the shooting of a policeman during the first day of Jamaat’s 48-hour hartal.

On Wednesday, Police Constable Iqbal Hossain was shot in the chest allegedly by a group of 18-20 hartal picketers, who attacked a police patrol team. A case was lodged with Satkania Police Station against 25 named people and 50-60 unidentified persons in this regard on Thursday.

Abdul Latif, officer-in-charge of Satkania police station, informed that nine men were arrested on Thursday in this connection.

In a separate incident, police nabbed eight more people from different areas of the upazila, in connection with arson and vandalism committed on Thursday night on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway.

Filing of a case was under process in this regard, said the OC. l

land was in decreasing trend with much faster during the period from 2000 to 2010, added the study.

The study also revealed that an-

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid presenting medal to a student who obtained Golden A+ in the HSC examination this year DHAKA TRIBUNE

The first Alumni Campus Day of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) was held at its permanent campus in Bashundhara residential area in the capital yesterday amid much enthusiasm.

Festivity was in the air as several hundred alumni reunited with their friends, chatting and taking photographs during the programme that began in the afternoon. It was the first time the ex-students of the 20-year-old private university gathered on their permanent campus.

Saifur Rahman, the chairman of IUB

Founding Trust, delivered a welcome speech, while other guests and alumni also gave speeches on the occasion.

Saifur asked the students and the alumni to strengthen bonding among them, for sharing knowledge, practical experience and advices in the future.

He also urged the alumni to contribute to the development of the university.

IUB Vice-Chancellor Prof M Omar Rahman said the university always wants to stay connected with its former and current students. It will arrange get-together programs every year to keep the relationship alive, he added.

“We already have facebook groups,

Green University accords reception to HSC graduates n Tribune Report Green University of Bangladesh accorded a reception to the college graduates for their brilliant results in the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examination at Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium at Mirpur in the city yesterday.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid was present as the chief guest.

With Vice-Chancellor of the university Professor Dr Md Golam Samdani Fakir in the chair, the programme was also addressed by Chairman, Board of Trustees of GUB Mohammed Abdullah Al-Mamun.

Former Advisor to the caretaker government of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Rasheda K Choudhury, Editor and Publisher of the Daily Star Mahfuz Anam and Professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology M Kaykobad were present as guests of honour, says a press release. About 7,000 students have received medals for their brilliant results in the HSC examination this year.

The chief guest presented medals to 10 students from different education boards who obtained Golden A+. As part of the reception, special crests were presented to the best performing colleges of all education boards in Bangladesh. l

organisations of alumni and current students. The trend will continue,” the IUB VC said.

Showkat Aziz Russell, managing director of Partex Group and also an IUB alumnus, said there was a scope for the alumni members, who are in good positions in their careers, to contribute to the development of current students, who are more focused on good grades, jobs and salary.

After the welcoming session, alumni members went to their respective departments to meet the teachers. A cultural program was also held later in the day. l

Two bodies recovered n Our Correspondent, Narayanganj

Students of Independent University of Bangladesh rendering song at get-together programme in the city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Police yesterday recovered two bodies, including a woman, from Sonargaon and Siddhirganj areas in Narayanganj.

The deceased were identified as Manik Chand, 35, a fisherman from Shobujbag Takerhat village and Hoshneara, 45, a resident of Shimrail village. Sources at Sonargaon Police Station said Manik Chand went missing when he went to fish in the river Meghna on Wednesday. His body was found floating in the river yesterday.

Shiddhirganj Police Station sources said Hoshneara was found dead in her bedroom, but there was no sign of injury on her body. No case had been filed so far in this connection. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

7

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Manpower shortage hits Cox’s Bazar narcotic department n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar The Department of Narcotics Control in Cox’s Bazar is struggling with a shortage of manpower, with only 12 employees currently working at the department’s two circle offices in the district.

The crisis has become more acute, as employees of sub-inspector rank have to stay outside the district almost 15 days a month for testifying in cases filed at their previous workplaces.

Humayun Kabir Khandakar, assistant director of Cox’s Bazar sub-regional office of the narcotics department, informed that the number of employees at his office did not grow since its initiation, saying: “This is the underlying reason behind the manpower crisis.”

The workforce shortage has limited the department’s activities to some routine efforts, like conducting drives at a few locations, filing cases and arranging awareness-raising programmes.

Many key posts, including the post of assistant prosecutor, remain vacant at Cox’s Bazar sub-regional office. Sources said criminals often went free, as without the help of an assistant prosecutor,

the prosecution sometimes failed to place strong arguments before the court.

The Department of Narcotics Control has two circles in its Cox’s Bazar sub-region – Cox’s Bazar Sadar Circle and Ramu Circle, which only have 12 employees against 18 authorized posts.

The Ramu circle, comprised of Cox’s Bazar, Moheshkhali and Kutubdia upazilas, has only five employees – an inspector, a sub-inspector and three sepoys.

In the past one year, the department conducted 556 drives in the district, filed 123 cases against 125 alleged offenders, and confiscated 27g heroin, 11.5kg hash, two cans of beer, 28,529 Yaba tablets, 41 bottles of Phensedyl and 59 bottles of foreign liquor.

The officials manage to confiscate only a small portion of the narcotics that are smuggled from across the border, before the drugs are distributed to different destinations inside the country.

“We have left no stone unturned to fight the drug menace with our limited manpower,” Humayun Kabir Khandakar said, adding that a process is going on to form a separate circle at Teknaf upazila under Cox’s Bazar sub-regional office. l

Orao community members performing during traditional Karam festival at Gunigram under Godagari upazila in Rajshahi yesterday

Rakib Bahini’s drug den busted by Bottle gourd on swampy land makes farmers happy villagers in Lalmonirhat n Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat A drug den was busted yesterday by the villagers of Mohendranagar union in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila of the district.

The den was run in the name of “Maktab” (elementary school for Islamic education) by an influential gang led by Rakib in the village.

Sources said Rakib with his cohorts had long been peddling drugs and committing anti-social activities in the area, but the villagers dared not raise their voice against him.

The villagers said the gang built a tin-shed house beside the Lalmonirhat-Kurigram road a month ago, and to dodge the locals and the lawmen, it also hung a signboard that read “Maktab” where some local kids used to go to learn Arabic in the morning.

But at night the so-called teaching centre turned into a drug den where people used to come to take drugs, they said.

Sources said Rakib with his cohorts had long been peddling drugs and committing anti-social activities in the area, but the villagers dared not raise their voice against him Except some known people, no villagers were allowed to enter the room at night, said the sources.

Seeking anonymity, a villager said they went on the rampage through the tin-shed house after taking details about what happened there at night.

Following the incident, all members of the gang including its chief Rakibuz-

zaman went into hiding.

A local trader Afzalur Miah alleged that many villagers were forced to leave the village because of torture and threat by the Rakib Bahini in the last two years.

Local Union Parishad member Kashem Ali mentioned that the kingpin of Rakib Bahini was Rakibuzzaman who was a local AL leader.

He joined Jatiya Party two years ago, and recently BNP, he said.

Rakib used to change his political identity only to cash in on the situation, he added.

No case or complaint was filed with Lalmonirhat Sadar police station till yesterday afternoon, police said.

Abul Al-Asad Md Mahfuzul Islam, assistant police super of Lalmonirhat Circle, said police would take necessary steps after investigating the matter. l

n Tribune Desk

The new trend of cultivating bottle gourd in summer in Jalakathi has brought the farmers a noticeable success with the vegetable’s massive harvest.

Farmers in different villages of the district cultivated bottle gourd in various swampy land with stagnant water and reaped harvest of the vegetable, which is usually grown in summer, exceeding the target.

Under the BRAC Agriculture and Food Security Programme, 44 farmers of Baharampur and Basanda unions of Jhalakathi sadar upazila cultivated bottle gourd on 36 bighas of land and got bumper production.

This is the first time the farmers cultivated the vegetable in water logged land.

The farmers are getting good prices

Number of Hajj pilgrims on the wane n Our Correspondent, Barisal

The number of Hajj pilgrims under the government management in Barisal has come down drastically.

Pilgrims in the district put the blame on the mismanagement of the Islamic Foundation Bangladesh (IFB) The Islamic Foundation authorities, however, denied the allegation.

This year only eight pilgrims are going to perform Hajj under government management.

This number was nine in 2012, 13 in 2011, 38 in 2010, 53 in 2009, shows the Islamic Foundation data.

People who performed Hajj under government and private managements claimed the services and managements

were better in private sectors and the expenses were almost the same.

Delwar Hossain Rupak, who performed Hajj two times under a private Hajj agency, said he preferred private Hajj agency because officials of the government Hajj management remained indifferent towards solving problems of the pilgrims.

Moreover, they failed to rent comfortable houses and tents near the holy shrines.

Because of a competitive business mood, private agencies always try to render better service like camp and housing facilities near the holy shrines in Mecca and Medina, full time supervision and care of the pilgrims, said Mawlana Sahadat of Islamia Tours and

Travels Barisal.

Md Nizamuddin, deputy director of Barisal Islamic Foundation office, said:

Delwar Hossain Rupak, who performed Hajj two times under a private Hajj agency, said he preferred private Hajj agency because officials of the government Hajj management remained indifferent towards solving problems of the pilgrims “As I have never travelled with the Hajj pilgrims, I cannot say anything about the condition of services provided for

the pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.”

Md Shohidul Alam, deputy commissioner of Barisal, said local DC office only receives applications of Hajj pilgrims and forwards them to Dhaka.

Islamic Foundation bears all kinds of responsibilities.

Those who want to perform Hajj under government management, have to apply through deputy commissioner who later forward those applications to Dhaka Hajj office under the ministry of religious affairs.

However, if Barisal Airport is connected with Hajj networks of Bangladesh Biman, the number of Hajj pilgrims under government management from Barisal might be increased, said many locals. l

Two die in boiler explosion in Jhenaidah n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

Local people form human in Thakurgaon town yesterday, demanding exemplary punishment for a rapist

FOCUS BANGLA

Two day labourers of a rice mill died and two others sustained burn injury as a boiler of the mill exploded at Dakbangla Bazaar under Jhenaidah sadar upazila on Thursday night.

The deceased were identified as Shafi Uddin, 40, of village Naodapara and Aslam Hossain, 38, of village of Sailkupa upazila in the district.

Witnesses said the broiler of the mill exploded with big bang around 10pm, leaving Shafi and Alam dead on the spot and injuring two others.

Injured – Abdullah and Khairull – were rushed to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital at about 11pm.

Of them – Abdullah was later shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital as his condition deteriorated.

The bodies were sent to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital morgue for post-mortem examination.

Manager of Jhenaidah fire station Tutfar Raham said the blast of the boiler might have happened due to shortage of water in the boiler. l

as well as earning handsome amount of money from it.

BRAC has trained the farmers in cultivating different types of vegetables, including bottle gourd.

The farmers are getting financial benefit by cultivating different varieties of gourd.

Farming of bottle gourd needs small quantity of fertiliser and pesticides.

The growers use organic fertiliser and feramon sex to kill harmful insects.

As a result, the production cost is less.

Jhalakathi Deputy Commissioner Shakhawat Hossain along with Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rouf Mia visited some vegetable fields at Baharampur village in Binoykathi union and encouraged the farmers.

Union chairman Enamul Haque Elin Sardar and BRAC officials were present on the occasion. l

FOCUS BANGLA

Poster competition held in Rangmati n Our Correspondent, Rangamati Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Bangladesh organised a poster competition at Shilpakala Academy, Rangamati, yesterday addressing the upcoming “World Food Day 2013” on October 16.

The competition was for the age group of 5 to 17 and focused on the theme “Healthy people depend on Healthy Food System” that focused on sustainable food system for food security and nutrition.

Around 150 students from different schools participated in the competition. A prize giving ceremony was organised following the competition.

Fifteen students were awarded in the ceremony.

The Deputy Commissioner of Rangmati Mostofa Kamal, FAO Representative in Bangladesh Mr Mike Robson, and Joint Secretary of Economic Relation Division Ms Sutana Afroze were present. l

NEWS IN BRIEF 150 sued in Satkhira for hartal violence

A case was filed against 150 activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir early Thursday for unleashing violence during Wednesday’s hartal in Kadamtala area in the outskirt of Satkhira town. Satkhira sadar police filed the case accusing the Jamaat-Shibir men including district Jamaat secretary Nurul Huda.

Shajahan Khan, officer-in-charge of Satkhira Sadar police station, said on Wednesday, hartal supporters put up barricade on the road at Kadamtola bazaar and clashed with police when they obstructed the hartal supporters.

The pickets also vandalised eight vehicles in the area. Later, police brought the situation under control by firing shots. – UNB

Five pirates held in Bhola Police arrested five alleged pirates along with two weapons and a trawler from Char Nasrin area in Tajumudin upazila, Bhola early Thursday. The arrestees were Selim, Abul Kashem, Mainuddin, Md Safiq and Nurnabi, hailing from Tajumuddin and Borhanuddin upazila.

Police said a gang of 15 pirates coming by a trawler chased a group of fishermen when they went for fishing in the river at 12 noon. Hearing the scream of the fishermen, their fellows rushed in and caught five of the pirates while other gang members fled the scene leaving behind the trawler. Later, police seized two sharp weapons from their possession and took them to Tajmuddin police station. – UNB

Woman crushed under train in Comilla A woman was crushed to death under the wheels of a train at Nather Petua station on the Dhaka-Noakhali rail route in Manoharganj upazila, Comilla on Thursday. The deceased was Senoara Begum, 50, of Chooto Kachi village

in the upazila. Railway sources said the accident took place in the area around 7:30am when Senoara slipped and was crushed under the wheels of Dhaka-bound ‘Upakul Express’ train from Noakhali while she, along with her daughter, was trying to get into the running train. Mohammad Shahidullah, officer-in-charge of Laksham Railway police station, confirmed the incident.

An unnatural death case was filed in this connection. – UNB

Minor boy drowns in Sherpur A minor boy drowned in a pond at Kaunerchar village in Sribardi upazila, Sherpur on Thursday. The deceased was Sagar, 4, of Chakbandi village in the upazila. Police said Ibrahim along with his wife and son had gone on a visit to his father-in-law’s house at Kaunerchar village two days back.

Sagar, all of a sudden, fell into a pond adjacent to the house while playing on its bank around 12pm. Locals later spotted his floating body in the pond and recovered it. – UNB

Youth found dead in Jamalpur Police recovered the body of a young man from a pond at Baghadoba village in Melandaha upazila, Jamalpur yesterday.

The deceased was Sohagh, 35, a resident of the upazila. Police sources said being informed, police recovered the body of Sohagh, kept in a sack, from a pond around 8pm.The body bore several injury marks. Rima, wife of the victim, said some people had called Sohagh out of the house on Thursday night and since then he had not returned. Billal Hossain, officer-in-charge of Melandaha police station, said miscreants might have killed Sohagh after calling him out of the house. The motive behind the killing could not be known immediately.

Police sent the body to Jamalpur General Hospital morgue for post mortem examination. – UNB

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Tehran thaw: warming relations between Iran and the US n Reuters, Washington UN General Assembly meetings will offer US President Barack Obama a chance to extend a hand, both literally and figuratively, to new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The White House said on Thursday a meeting was possible, the first between US and Iranian presidents since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“It’s possible, but it has always been possible,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “The extended hand has been there from the moment the president was sworn in.”

Iran’s rhetoric has softened markedly since Rouhani took office in August. Recent gestures include a promise never to develop nuclear weapons, tweeted greetings on the Jewish New Year and the release of prominent political prisoner and rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.

For its part, the White House said this week Obama had written Rouhani to convey the message “that the US is ready to resolve the nuclear issue in a way that allows Iran to demonstrate that its nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes.”

Speeches by Obama and Rouhani, who address the United Nations next Tuesday, will attract scrutiny for signs of a thaw. Another closely watched address will be that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who views a potential Iranian bomb as an existential threat to Israel and is wary of Iran’s new tone.

Rouhani may extend what many analysts regard as a charm offensive by distancing himself from remarks by his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was widely vilified in the West for doubting the Holocaust and questioning Israel’s right to exist.

Obama’s speech must strike a bal-

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Look beyond pines: Rouhani n Reuters, Washington Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged world leaders on Thursday to “seize the opportunity” presented by his election to engage Iran in constructive dialogue and said his country was ready to facilitate talks between the Syrian government and the opposition.

In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post on Thursday in advance of the UN General Assembly annual meeting next week, the centrist cleric said nations needed to seek “winwin outcomes” instead of using “brute force” to combat terrorism, extremism, cybercrime and other challenges.

The piece appeared to be Rouhani’s latest signal that he plans to pursue a thaw in relations with the United States and other Western nations, which believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons and have imposed economic sanctions that have damaged Iran’s economy.

“To us, mastering the atomic fuel cycle and generating nuclear power is as much about diversifying our energy resources as it is about who Iranians

are as a nation, our demand for dignity and respect and our consequent place in the world,” he wrote.

“A zero-sum, Cold War mentality leads to everyone’s loss,” Rouhani continued in the Post. “Sadly, unilateralism often continues to overshadow constructive approaches. Security is pursued at the expense of the insecurity of others, with disastrous consequences.”

Rouhani said the people of the Middle East should be allowed to decide their own fate. “I announce my government’s readiness to help facilitate dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition,” Rouhani wrote.

He said Iranians had embraced his pledge to engage in constructive interaction with the world.

“As I depart for New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly, I urge my counterparts to seize the opportunity presented by Iran’s recent election. I urge them to look beyond the pines and be brave enough to tell me what they see — if not for their national interests, then for the sake of their legacies, and our children and future generations.” l

Israel talks conflict n Reuters, Jerusalem

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ance, analysts said, between showing a readiness to engage Iran - a message he conveyed in his first week as president in 2009 by saying he would extend a hand if they would “unclench their fist” - and stressing that talks could not be endless and Iran must curb to its nuclear program.

In so doing, Obama needs to keep the door open to talks while protecting himself from attacks from conservatives who may regard his willingness to talk as weakness, particularly after his recent decision not to bomb Syria.

Elliott Abrams, who served under former Republican President George

W. Bush and is now at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said: “What happened with regards to Syria (suggests) that the Americans don’t want any kind of military engagement, so all options are not on the table with regards to Iran.” .

Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said a genuine rapprochement between Iran and the United States was unlikely but that an Obama-Rouhani handshake “could open a path toward detente.”

“As long as Ayatollah Khamenei remains supreme leader of Iran, this is

Tunisian women waging ‘sex jihad’ in Syria: minister n AFP, Tunis

Egypt forces hunt down militants in Islamist bastion

Tunisian women have travelled to Syria to wage “sex jihad” by comforting Islamist fighters battling the regime there, Interior Minister Lotfi ben Jeddou has told MPs. “They have sexual relations with 20, 30, 100” militants, the minister told members of the National Constituent Assembly on Thursday.

“After the sexual liaisons they have there in the name of ‘jihad al-nikah’ – (sexual holy war, in Arabic) – they come home pregnant,” Ben Jeddou told the MPs. He did not elaborate on how many Tunisian women had returned to the country pregnant with the children of jihadist fighters.

Jihad al-nikah, permitting extramarital sexual relations with multiple partners, is considered by some hardline Sunni Muslim Salafists as a legitimate form of holy war.

The minister also did not say how many Tunisian women were thought to have gone to Syria for such a purpose, although media reports have said hundreds have done so.

Hundreds of Tunisian men have also gone to join the ranks of the jihadists fighting to bring down the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. l

Security forces on Friday hunted down militants in a village near Cairo amid a lull in clashes with gunmen, as Egyptian state media praised the “liberation” of Islamist bastion Kerdassah.

A police general was shot dead when security forces stormed the village near the Giza pyramids on Thursday in the latest crackdown on Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

n AFP, Cairo

The funeral of Giza deputy security chief Nabil Farrag was due to take place after Friday prayers – at the same time as fresh protests called by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group.

State television said they were hunting for those responsible for an August “massacre” of 11 policemen in Kerdassah.

The interior ministry said 68 wanted men have now been arrested along with their weapons in the operation launched after dawn on Thursday. l

the best group of interlocutors that the US will ever have to work with in Tehran, particularly Foreign Minister Zarif,” Sadjadpour said.

He argued that Rouhani and his foreign minister might succeed in impressing other Western nations with their more conciliatory tone and that could, over time, make it harder for the United States to sustain economic sanctions on Iran.

“I think the double-edged sword Rouhani and Zarif present to the United States and Israel is that Iran is now easier to engage, but more difficult to isolate,” he added. l

16 killed: Bagdad

n AP, Baghdad An Iraqi official says an explosion has struck inside a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad, killing at least 16 people in the latest outburst of violence to hit the country.

The deputy head of the municipal council in the city of Samarra says the blast went off around midday, during Friday prayers. The official, Mizhar Fleih, says at least eight people were wounded in the attack.

Samarra is a largely Sunni Muslim city that is home to a revered Shiite shrine. It is 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Iraqi capital. l

Yemen attacks kill 56 troops, police n AFP, Sanaa Suspected al-Qaeda militants killed at least 56 soldiers and policemen in three simultaneous attacks in southern Yemen on Friday, military sources and civilian officials said.

Two of the three attacks in Shabwa province, an al-Qaeda stronghold, involved vehicle bombs, they said.

The deadliest single attack was at an army camp responsible for ensuring security at oilfields in the region, where 38 soldiers were killed, the sources added.

“Troops clashed with gunmen at the camp entrance, before a suicide attacker in a bomb-laden vehicle forced his way into the camp where his car exploded, killing 38 soldiers,” said a government official in Ataq, capital of Shabwa.

Military sources confirmed the toll.

Simultaneously, “a suicide bomber in a car blew himself up before reaching his target – an army checkpoint” in the nearby Al-Nushaima area, a military official said, adding that 10 soldiers were killed in that blast.

“Soldiers were captured” in Al-Nushaima as others fled, witnesses said.

Around 15 kilometres away, suspected al-Qaeda gunmen targeted a special forces camp at Maifaa, also in Shabwa, killing eight police, military sources said.

The bloody dawn attacks in the province – an al-Qaeda stronghold – were attributed by the military authorities to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) – classified by the United States as the network’s deadliest branch. l

Iran is on course to develop a nuclear bomb within six months and time has run out for further negotiations, a senior Israeli Strategic Affairs minister Yuval Steinitz said .

“If the Iranians continue to run, in another half a year they will have bomb capability,” he said. Israel has dismissed overtures to the West by new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and his pledge in an interview on US television that Iran would never develop nuclear weapons.

“One must not be fooled by the Iranian president’s fraudulent words,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Thursday. “The Iranians are spin-

ning in the media so that the centrifuges can keep on spinning.”

Both Israel and the United States have hinted at possible military action to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. But Steinitz said a phrase used often in the past by US and Israeli leaders - that “all options are on the table” in confronting Iran - was not enough to persuade Tehran to stop its uranium enrichment.

“Today the Iranians take into account that they have room to manoeuvre, and that is the most dangerous thing,” he said. “It must be understood that no one will come to help us if, heaven forfend, we lose the ability to defend ourselves. Therefore we must do everything to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said. l

Pope says Church must end obsession with gays n Reuters, Vatican City Pope Francis said the Catholic Church must shake off an obsession with teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality and become more merciful or risk the collapse of its entire moral edifice “like a house of cards.”

In a dramatically blunt interview with an Italian Jesuit journal, Francis said the Church had “locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules” and should not be so prone to condemn.

Its priests should be more welcoming and not cold, dogmatic bureaucrats. The confessional, he said, “is not a torture chamber but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better.”

His comments were welcomed by liberal Catholics; but they are likely to be viewed with concern by conservatives who have already expressed concern over Francis’s failure to address publicly the issues stressed by his predecessor, Benedict.

Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, the first from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope, did not hold out the prospect of any changes soon to such moral teachings.

But, in the 12,000-word interview with

Civilta Cattolica, he said the Church must find a new balance between upholding rules and demonstrating mercy. “Otherwise even the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards.”

In the interview with the magazine’s director, Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro, he also said he envisioned a greater role for women in the 1.2 billion member Church but suggested it would not include a change in the current ban on a female priesthood.

In a remarkable change from his predecessor Benedict, who said homosexuality was an intrinsic disorder, Francis said that when homosexuals told him they were always condemned by the Church and felt “socially wounded,” he told them “the Church does not want to do this”.

He re-stated his comments first made on a plane returning from a visit to Brazil in July that he was not in a position to judge homosexuals who are of good will and in search of God. In the interview released on Thursday, he added: “Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free. It is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.” l

WORLD WATCH Elephant kills British bird watcher in India park

A British bird-watcher was trampled to death by an elephant near a southern Indian tiger reserve he had been visiting for years. The 68-year-old tourist was fatally injured by a charging tusker in the Masinagudi forest of Tamil Nadu state’s Nilgiris district on Thursday and was declared dead in hospital, area police chief T Senthil Kumar said. The district police chief identified the victim as Colin Manvell from the town of Havant in southern Britain.

Hollywood stunt pilot killed in China accident

A Hollywood stunt pilot and his Chinese translator were killed when their plane crashed in northeastern China during a practice flight ahead of a local air-show, state media reported Friday. The body of David Riggs, a US acrobatic pilot, was recovered in a lake where his plane crashed on Tuesday during the trial flight, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. His Chinese translator was pulled from the water but died later in hospital, Xinhua said. The cause of the accident was not clear.

‘Several people’ injured in Chicago shooting: police

A late night shooting on a basketball court has left several people wounded in Chicago, President Barack Obama’s adopted hometown that has been struggling to stem gang violence, police said.

The Chicago Tribune newspaper reported that 12 people were shot in all, including a three-year old who one witness said was hit in the face, in the shooting on a basketball court at a South Side Chicago park. The Tribune said the wounded were being treated at area hospitals. Three of the gunshot victims, including the child, were in serious-to-critical condition, the Chicago Fire Department told the Tribune.

Eight arrested in Britain over alleged Barclays theft

Eight men have been arrested over the alleged theft of 1.3m pounds by taking control of a Barclays (LSE:BARC) branch computer system, in a “rapidly evolving” field of cyber crime, British police said on Friday. The men are accused of stealing the money by using a hardware device attached to a computer at the bank’s Swiss Cottage branch in London after posing as engineers.

A white lion licks a pumpkin filled with chicken in Ouwehands Dierenpark in Rhenen on September 19. In order to stimulate natural behaviour of the animals, the zoo feeds them food which they have to work for AFP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

9

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Sri Lankan polls monitor, party workers, Tamil candidate flees mob ahead of landmark attacked in North Sri Lanka poll

n Reuters, Jaffna, Sri Lanka A member of a Sri Lankan election monitoring group was attacked along with nine supporters of an ethnic minority Tamilpolitical party by a group of gunmen who the victims said on Friday were clad in military uniform.

Sri Lanka’s military denied any involvement in the attack at around midnight on Thursday, at an office of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party outside the northern town of Jaffna.

Voters in northern Sri Lanka go to the polls today for a provincial election that threatens to stir up old animosity between the government and Tamils, four years after the military crushed separatist Tamil rebels and ended a 26year war.

Most voters in the north are Tamils and many of them are bitter about what they see as virtual occupation of the region by the army which they accuse of rights abuses in the final, bloody stages of the war.

They are expected to vote overwhelmingly for the TNA, the former political proxy of the defeated rebels, in the election for 38 provincial councillors.

Kanakaratnam Sugash, the Jaffna district legal adviser for the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) poll monitoring group said the attackers beat him with sticks and kicked him.

“I repeatedly explained that I am a lawyer for PAFFREL,” Sugash told Reuters at a Jaffna hospital where he was admitted for treatment.

He said he was made to kneel and had a gun pointed at him: “They threatened to kill me if I revealed the incident.”

The TNA supporters who also were beaten said the armed men told them

n AFP, Jaffna

A Sri Lankan election officer carries a ballot box past security officials as he heads off to his polling station on the eve of the northern provincial council election in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Today’s elections will create the first functioning provincial government, and is expected to give Tamils a limited say in their own affairs AP that they wanted to kill their candidate, Ananthi Sasitharan, 42, the wife of a Tamil rebel leader who went missing after surrendering at the end of the war in May 2009.

Sasitharan told Reuters that she believed she was a target because she had raised human rights abuses by the government at a meeting with UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, who visited Jaffna last month.

Military spokesman Ruwan Wanigasooriya rejected any suggestion the military was behind the attack and said

Taliban ambush kills 18 Afghan police n

AFP, Kunduz

Taliban militants in northeast Afghanistan killed 18 police in an ambush, the government said Friday, as security forces struggle against the rebels with decreasing assistance from international troops.

The police convoy was caught in a firefight on Wednesday in the remote province of Badakhshan when officers were returning from an anti-insurgent operation.

The attack will heighten concerns that Afghan forces cannot provide effective security across the country, where a US-led invasion ousted the hardline Taliban regime in 2001, in time for the presidential election due in April.

“The acting interior minister is deeply saddened about the killing of 18 policemen and wounding of 13 others in a terrorist attack in Warduj district of Badakhshan,” a statement from the interior ministry said.

“A group of Afghan police forces on their return from a clean-up operation on the outskirts of Warduj district faced

an enemy ambush and it resulted in the killing of brave Afghan policemen.”

Local officials confirmed the death toll to AFP. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Afghanistan’s mountainous northeast, a region far from the insurgents’ southern heartlands and generally relatively peaceful.

Taliban militants killed 17 captured Afghan soldiers in the same district in March. The men were taken hostage while guarding a convoy.

Afghanistan’s 350,000-strong security forces are suffering a steep rise in casualties as the NATO combat mission winds down and Afghan authorities try to bring stability ahead of the presidential poll.

Last month 22 police were killed when hundreds of fighters ambushed a police and military convoy in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

The Afghan government declines to release exact figures, but the US department of defence has said that about 400 Afghan police officers and soldiers are killed in action every month. l

the security forces were not involved in any violence.

Defeat for the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in today’s vote would be largely symbolic but victory for the main Tamil party could reignite calls for autonomy.

The chief TNA candidate, C.V. Wigneswaran, said he was worried the army might attempt to block people from voting.

“They want to reduce the vote for us,” he said.

Rajapaksa and his government have

come under international pressure to bring to book those accused of war crimes committed at the end of the war and to boost efforts on reconciliation in the polarised country.

The government has rejected accusations of rights abuses and Rajapaksa in July ordered an inquiry into mass disappearances, mostly of Tamils, at the end of the war.

The US embassy in Colombo said the Thursday night attack should be investigated and it called for a peaceful, free and fair vote. l

Indian honour-killer unrepentant

India Mujahideen terror suspect escapes from court n AFP, Mumbai

n AFP, New Delhi The Indian father who killed his daughter and beheaded her boyfriend after they eloped has declared he feels no remorse over the “honour killings”, media reports said Friday.

The young couple from India’s northern state of Haryana were beaten to death Wednesday by the father and other relatives of the 20-year-old woman “to protect the family and village honour”, police said.

After killing the man, 22, using sticks, the attackers beheaded him.

They also tried to burn the woman’s body but were stopped by police.

The woman’s family disapproved of the three-year relationship because the couple belonged to the same caste and were “considered brother and sister”, police said.

The father, who has since been taken into custody, showed no signs of remorse over the brutal killings as he spoke to local reporters in Haryana’s Rohtak district.

The woman’s mother and uncle have also been arrested over the killing and police said they were searching for a brother.

Police arrest the brother of the young girl killed and his driver “I have done nothing wrong. I have cleaned up a social wrong,” the father, Billu Pehlwan, a dog breeder by profession, was quoted as saying by the Times of India and other newspapers.

The NDTV network showed him saying: “I would do it again. I have no regrets.” India has for centuries seen killings that often target young couples

Cambodian prince on hunger strike over disputed polls n AFP, Phnom Penh A Cambodian prince – the cousin of King Norodom Sihamoni – went on hunger strike Friday in protest at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s disputed election victory, demanding “justice for voters.”

Prince Sisowath Thomico, who is a senior member of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), said: “I am on hunger strike until there is a solution to render justice to the people, who are the voters.”

Talking to reporters as he began the protest at a pagoda in the capital Phnom Penh, he accused the prime minister’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of “staging a cold coup” and seeking to create a conflict between the people and the king.

I am on hunger strike until there is a solution to render justice to the people, who are the voters According to official results of the July election, the CPP won 68 seats against 55 for the CNRP. The opposition has rejected the tally, alleging widespread vote rigging, and has warned it will boycott the opening of parliament on Monday unless the irregularities are addressed.

“We will not attend the meeting on

A Tamil candidate for landmark polls in Sri Lanka’s former warzone fled a mob attack Friday as the man tipped to become the region’s chief minister accused the army of intimidating voters.

Many Tamils complain they are treated as second-class citizens and face discrimination, and today’s vote is seen as crucial in reducing ethnic tensions.

Anandi Saseedaran, 42, told how dozens of armed men surrounded her house on the eve of the Jaffna region’s first ballot for a semi-autonomous council, forcing her to flee with the help of supporters.

One of the leaders of her party, retired Supreme Court judge K Wigneswaran who is expected to be elected the region’s chief minister, said security forces were trying to scare voters away from the ballot box.

“The army is going brazenly in uniform attacking people and saying they must not go to vote,” Wigneswaran, 74, said at the modest office of his Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the heart of Jaffna.

Jaffna is the capital of the battle-scarred northern province, home to over a million Tamils and also the Hindu cultural centre of Sri Lanka’s second-largest ethnic group.

Tamils say the poll is being held under international pressure on Colombo to share power with Tamils.

“They [the military] do not want us to have a clear-cut majority,” Wigneswaran said, while accusing the military of launching a pre-dawn attack on Saseedaran’s home.

Wigneswaran said dozens of armed men stormed Saseedaran’s home, out-

Cambodian Prince Sisowath Thomico lays flowers in front of a statue of King Sisowath during his hunger strike at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh AFP

September 23,” opposition leader Sam Rainsy told a news conference.

“If the meeting on the 23rd goes ahead and without the CNRP, it will totally violate the constitution.”

He called for more talks with the CPP to find a way to “expose the truth about who is the real winner of this election.”

Earlier this week the king wrote to opposition lawmakers appealing to them to drop the planned boycott of parliament for the sake of “national unity.”

Hun Sen, who has ruled for 28 years, has held several meetings with Rainsy in the past week to discuss the political stalemate.

The two sides remain at odds over the opposition’s demand for the creation of an independent “truth committee” to investigate the polls.

Violent clashes erupted in Phnom Penh Sunday on the fringes of a mass demonstration that drew an estimated 20,000 opposition supporters demanding a probe.

The opposition blamed the authorities for the death of a protester who, according to witnesses, was shot in the head.

The opposition said Friday it might hold more protests if the political crisis is not resolved.

Hun Sen, 61, has vowed to rule until he is 74. His government is regularly accused of ignoring human rights and suppressing political dissent. l

side Jaffna, and wounded at least eight people including a local election monitor. They have been hospitalised.

Poll monitoring group, Campaign for Free and Fair Elections, said the tyres of vehicles used by monitors were slashed, delaying transport of the injured to hospital.

“My supporters took me to safety when about 70 armed men surrounded my house,” Saseedaran told reporters.

“They said they were looking for me and they wanted to kill me.”

She said the attackers were led by ruling party men and backed by security forces.

The military denied the allegation as “baseless” and demanded a police investigation. “The security forces have no involvement in this election-related violent act,” military spokesman Ruwan Wanigasooriya said.

Wigneswaran said a large army presence was causing unease among the local population which he says lives under constant surveillance.

“This is an occupation army. They are here for a political purpose and not for security reasons,” he said.

The party leader said that after security forces claimed victory over separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009, there was no longer a threat of violence in the region and troops could allow police to maintain order.

A foreign election monitor said people appeared keen to vote but were nervous about the security presence.

“The overhanging army is causing a fear factor,” the monitor said, asking not to be named. He said they had found several instances of the military favouring ruling party candidates and disfiguring rivals’ campaign posters. l

AFP

who have relationships which are disapproved of by their families, clans or communities, particularly in traditional rural areas.

The killings are carried out by close relatives or village elders to protect what is seen as the family’s reputation and pride. The dead woman was studying to be an art teacher while her boyfriend was a student at a local college. l

An Indian terror suspect accused of involvement in deadly bomb attacks five years ago escaped from a court in Mumbai on Friday, sparking a massive manhunt, police said.

Afzal Usmani, allegedly a member of a home-grown Islamist group known as the Indian Mujahideen, was appearing in court to hear prosecution charges against him, according to local media reports.

“He has escaped. The police, everybody is looking for him,” Mumbai’s anti-terror squad chief Rakesh Maria told AFP. Usmani was arrested in 2008 for his alleged involvement earlier that year in serial blasts in western Gujarat state which killed 56 people.

He is accused of being part of another attempted bombing in the same state, reports said.

It was not immediately clear how Usmani had escaped amid heavy police security at the court. l

Pakistani sisters kill themselves over dowry n AFP, Multan Four Pakistani sisters killed themselves after a row with their father who could not afford dowries for them to get married.

The women threw themselves into a canal after arguing with their father in Mailsi, a town in the rural southern part of Punjab province. A fifth sister was pulled alive from the water.

“A poor farmer, Bashir Ahmed Rajput, could not marry his five daugh-

ters because he had no money to offer dowry,” Malik Daud Hasnain, a senior police official told AFP. “After an argument on the issue on Thursday, his daughters became desperate and jumped together into a water canal.”

The women were aged 45, 43, 38, 35 and 31. “We have rescued the youngest sister Fatima and also discovered dead bodies of two others. The search for the remaining bodies is on,” Hasnain said. l

3 preachers killed in Pakistan n AFP, Peshawar Suspected militants on a motorbike threw grenades at a mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least three Islamic preachers and wounding 18 others.

The attack happened on the outskirts of Peshawar, the gateway to Pakistan’s troubled tribal regions where security forces have been battling Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants.

“Two attackers came on a motorbike and hurled grenades at a mosque soon after a preaching group arrived there late on Thursday night,” Rahim

Shah, a senior police official, said.

“At least three people were killed and 18 others got wounded. Two of them are serious,” he said.

Shah said that a group of 25 preachers had arrived in the area to organise Islamic teaching sessions.

Many Pakistanis go on preaching missions in and outside the country to promote Islamic teachings among muslims and non-muslims. They travel in groups and stay at mosques for several days.

Another police official said that the attackers came from the semi-autonomous tribal region. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Rooppur: Our potential future disaster n SA Mansoor

T

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

T

H

E

O

T

H

E

R

S

I

D

E

Medical mistrust

F

n Matthew Islam

or any relationship to flourish, trust is one of those ingredients without which most would find it hard and difficult to relate to the people we encounter in our lives. Not that trust is easily acquired but there are matters in which trust is absolutely crucial and as such easily agreed upon; because the outcome of not having any trust could easily have life-threatening consequences.

It is far too often that I have had to prod my medical practitioner for information that should have been offered to me without me having to try so hard

I experienced one such occasion in my own life, several weeks ago at an OBGYN appointment for my wife’s impending childbirth. The doctor alluded to a story of an earlier couple she saw, who out of a combination of fear and mistrust of her advice took a crazy decision that ended up risking their child’s life. It’s a difficult but real problem.

Most of it at least in the field of

medical services, stems from paranoia resulting from the commercialisation of medical services, malpractice, lack of awareness from good briefing by the doctor and standard of solutions to common medical ailments in line with practice worldwide. Everyone I have met and asked to comment on this matter has had a horrifying tale to tell about a medical encounter gone wrong.

Setting aside the real and pseudo analytical reasoning for this mistrust for a moment the truth is that in any society, anywhere in the world, people are hesitant of ceding intimate control of their lives to strangers. It’s been the case for decades of medical practice and therefore the above reasons I mentioned only add to this pre-existing suspicion.

The only way to combat them, as developmental evidence from decades past has shown, is to work on rapid trust building that can result from doctors who recognise the need and supply the requisite information in a manner which can promote it. I think that is the area of the problem that needs further addressing by both the government oversight authorities and private corporations.

Doctors need to have additional training to put at ease the mind of a distrusting patient, voluntarily and in a robust manner. It is far too often that I have had to prod my medical practitioner for information that should have been offered to me without me having to try so hard. Doing so is common sense and would reduce concerns. It’s that simple.

Additionally, it’s vital that our national medical code be updated along with laws that govern medical malpractice. It is absolutely necessary to mandate a system that leads to quick resolutions to claims for malpractice. That would bring parity to the perception and real balance of power between doctors and patients that has for far too long been unfairly advantageous to medical practitioners and medical service providers in Bangladesh.

It’s also important that significant campaigns are launched to promote awareness of the rights that patients have, when they seek medical help.

Not doing so risks the overall health of the medical services industry which has an immense growth potential in serving the unwell in a much more responsible, transparent and modern fashion.

Ensuring an environment where it’s easy to trust your doctor, will help save lives, avoid erroneous decisions, save our foreign currency and encourage medical professionals to not seek migration abroad, all the while building an army of competent, skilled, highly professional, interested, innovative and robust work force of medical practitioners in our country.

We are lagging behind and we need to do something about it as soon as we possibly can. l

he government is all set to get a nuclear power plant built, using Uranium 236 as the reactor fuel at Rooppur in Pabna.

Of utmost concern is that Russia, which is due to supply the nuclear power plant, experienced the biggest number of civilian fatalities, injuries and related radiation sickness following the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in 1986.

Officially, many hundreds of people were killed, while the injuries and radiation sickness infected many thousands over generations as radiation cannot be “wished” away. The affected area is still out-of-bounds and will remain so for many years.

A similar disaster here could very well contaminate a quarter of Bangladesh’s land area. That we are considering such a power source under loan financing at a higher interest rate than other international loans, makes matters worse.

We are moving towards a potentially deadly future misadventure.

Crudely stating realities, we are buying a “nuclear time bomb” that has the potential to make densely populated Bangladesh a hell on Earth in the decades to come, while its people are possibly still paying for purchasing this nuclear plant.

In an operational U236 nuclear reactor, many different types and quantities of both dangerous and harmless radioisotopes are produced from progressive nuclear mutation on the fuel elements. When the concentration of such radioisotopes increases significantly, the fuel rod is considered as “spent,” and is replaced with a fresh fuel rod.

cials at the last discussion meetings on the plant with our authorities, on June 10, 2013, stated this important fact.

They also denied the existence of any written agreement on nuclear waste management with Bangladesh. They said that only a “verbal

These harmful radioisotopes further decay into other products, and from these waste products come dangerous and fatal levels of radiation that, if not properly contained, can kill a person within seconds

guarantee” was given. Legally their law covers only import of waste for reprocessing, if that is even possible. Interestingly, Russia lacks the technical capability to reprocess waste generated by VVER-1000 reactors, which are to be built and supplied to Rooppur.

So how on Earth will Bangladesh be able to tackle this crucial radioactive waste disposal issue? This very important and critically vital question must be sorted out immediately before we even think of building the nuclear power plant; one that will produce sizeable quantities of lethal radioactive waste products which must be safely disposed.

This is not to say that a nuclear power technology, which is safer and can deal with waste issues, is not feasible. Studies by Fordham University, New York suggest that a preferred

Matthew Islam is a Barrister-at-Law, a textile businessman and a columnist at the Dhaka Tribune. He can be contacted on twitter via @matthewislam.

These harmful radioisotopes further decay into other products, and from these waste products come dangerous and fatal levels of radiation that, if not properly contained, can kill a person within seconds.

The potency of these various isotopes, both dangerous and harmless, such as strontium-90 and cesium-137, is determined by its “half-life” that is to say the time taken for the radioactivity to decrease to half the original level.

Some radioactive substances will be safe only after 1,024 years after it has been safely stored. However, some waste materials remain dangerous for hundreds and even for thousands of years. The most common hazardous substances in nuclear plants need the design to provide complete isolation for over three hundred years.

For this proposed plant therefore, our biggest concern will be nuclear waste disposal. According to existing Russian law, Russia cannot bring nuclear waste from other countries for disposal or storage. Senior Russian offi-

option to the Uranium 236 Roorpur reactor would be safer U238 fueled (91% U238 and 9% U235) nuclear power plants, which has the scope to provide safe control of 500MW capacity nuclear power plants.

The concept for such “Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors” has been around for decades, but save for projects in South Africa and China, they have not been used widely. In principle there is no problem of disposal for the spent fuel, which would be like hard unbreakable tennis balls and can be safely buried when needed. They are cheaper and would require less land.

However, such an option is not on offer to Bangladesh at the moment.

So the question has to be asked urgently. Are we buying long term radioactive poisoning and other deadly radiation related diseases? If this can’t be answered satisfactorily, the U236 nuclear plant at Rooppur should not go ahead. l

seed is grown in men over the years, which gives rise to this misogynist tendency, one that is nurtured and nourished by the family.

Add to that the relationship that exists between his parents, as he sees it

tionships or sexual partners he is termed as “the man,” the one who has conquered all and is applauded for his accomplishments. But if a woman does the same, she is called a slut and condemned for similar actions. It is

exclude men entirely, even the ones who fail to understand that violence against women is a crime. Rather, a change in upbringing trends and attitudes is necessary, so that men do not feel powerful simply because of their strength.

In a blog titled “Why one should not wear hijab,” Muhammad Bakht Jamshed says: “…Unless we change our male centric mentality and help develop better social norms we will not progress as a coherent and equal society.” If men all around the world feel the same way and realise that they are part of the movement against violence too, because their lives are affected by it as well, change is not far behind.

Let us start by teaching our children different lessons; let’s tell our boys that breaking things is a bad practice and tell our girls that accepting the fact that someone broke their things is not ok. Let’s all learn to be sensitive of each other’s emotions, and when violence occurs, let’s call a spade a spade. l

SA Mansoor is a retired engineer.

Calling a spade a spade n Syeda Samara Mortada

A

recent UN report suggests that one in four Asian men admit to have committed what can be termed as rape, although they do not call it that. The findings are based on a survey of 10,000 men in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. This fact, in most likelihood, points a finger at men, their mind frames and their attitude/perception towards/of women in this part of the world.

Men and women together make up society and it is not possible to exclude men entirely, even the ones who fail to understand that violence against women is a crime. Rather, a change in upbringing trends and attitudes is necessary

From very early on, men in our society are given the upper hand. They are told that they are more superior than their female counterparts. Little boys are given guns and bats to play with

in open fields, while girls play house inside the vicinity of their homes.

Often when boys use these same bats to break a girls’ house, his parents will say “boys will be boys,” thus expecting the girl to understand that this is completely natural and that she needs to live with it. Not once is he stopped or even told that what he did was wrong.

So, the first lesson many boys pick up from their own parents is that destruction and force are weapons that can be used to coerce women and tame them. By the time this child reaches an age of maturity, he is taught that he can force women to do as he pleases, and that there is no wrong in it; he may beat her, abuse her and rape her without realising the implications of his act or the effects it has on her.

For many women, refusal to do anything that a man has asked her to do, or turning down an offer for courtship or marriage may result in her losing her life, an instance that has occurred over and over again.

Even when a man performs as heinous a crime as murder, his own mother will often call him brave and innocent. Thus a deeply embedded

Let us start by teaching our children different lessons; let’s tell our boys that breaking things is a bad practice and tell our girls that accepting the fact that someone broke their things is not ok

and understands it. Very few husbands in South-Asia share responsibility of managing the household; and this is what the boy picks up.

He sees his father order his mother around like the leader of a flock of sheep, beat her if the food is not cooked properly, or not served in time and it is this that he learns to do also.

Educated women, working women, lower, middle and upper class women go through similar experiences and suffer the brunt of things without raising their voices.

When a man has multiple rela-

with these set beliefs that men grow up in society and decide that what is right for them is wrong for women.

The man becomes unable to adjust if he sees women wavering from his definition of womanhood. While upheaval rises at every case of rape or abuse all around the world, the underlying point goes amiss; that the problem starts in the raising of the boy-child, and attitudes can be reinforced so much that a man does not realise rape is a crime.

Men and women together make up society and it is not possible to

Syeda Samara Mortada is the associate editor of ICE Today, a lifestyle magazine, a freelance writer and a strong believer in all things equal.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Kichhu Asha Kichhu Bhalobasha in cinemas

n Entertainment Desk After a long time, the audience will get to see the two divas of Dhallywood Moushumi and Shabnur together on the big screen. Their new movie “Kichhu Asha Kichhu Bhalobasha,” opposite to Ferdous has hit the cinemas of the country yesterday.

The romantic and social cinema is directed by Mostafizur Raahman Manik and produced by M A Halim Kothachitro.

The audience, were hungry for this

old onscreen chemistry and in this movie, they appear before the public with new charm and twist.

About the film Ferdous shares: “I hope the audience will love the movie, as the plot of the film is really very different. I love the way, our director has tried to arrange and portray his creativity.”

“The story line has broken the norm of typical film scripts, it’s nice and different. On the other hand, I have worked with Shabnur and Ferdous after a long time, and have enjoyed my-

self a lot. I will request our fans to go to cinemas and watch the film,” shares Dhallywood diva Moushumi.

While talking about the film, director Mostafizur Raahman Manik shares: “I always love to go to cinemas with story based movies. In this film, three of the stars Ferdous, Moushumi and Shabnur worked really very well and I am happy with their contribution.”

Music of the film is directed by JK, Arifin Rumi and Ali Akram Shuvo. Lyrics is written by Sudip Kumar Deep. l

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Promod Dutta performs at IGCC today

18 Hours in 180 Seconds wins documentary festival

n Entertainment Desk

Star Cineplex and United International University (UIU) jointly organised a documentary festival, which was screened at the Star Cineplex on September 19. The theme was based on “Urban Transportation System” of Dhaka City and the long wait in unmoving traffic on streets every day.

Through this documentary competition, participants have tried to give various solutions to reduce the terrible traffic situation of the capital.

Around six universities took part in the festival. The jury board of the competition was formed with filmmaker Redwan Rony, Mohammed Mostafa Kamal Raj and national award winner and filmmaker Moushumi.

The handful of amateur filmmakers tried their best to portray the harsh traffic conditions of our county and the everyday struggle of common men to get basic public transportation.

Many gave solutions by showing a documentary of interviews of commoners, who gave their opinion on this pressing issue.

Besides, the frustration of the passengers in getting public transports was extensively explained in these short

Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in association with the State Bank of India in Bangladesh and Channel i as Media Partners is organising “An Evening of Rabindra Sangeet” by prominent exponent of Bangladesh, Promod Dutta at 6:30 PM on September 21, 2013 at the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, HNo 35, Rd No 24, Gulshan-1, Dhaka.

Promod Dutta, born in the year 1951 at Jessore, commenced his first music lessons under the tutelage of his father late Sri Amullya Dutta after which he trained under Pandit Gopal Goswami, Sri Haripada Das, Shri Bholanath Bhatta Charya, Pandit Bareen Majumdar, Sri Narayan Chandra Basak, Ustad Akhtar Sadmani, Ustad Mirkashem Khan, Abed Hosaain Khan, Hemayet Uddein, Fazle Nizami, Mrinmoy Dasgupta, Jahedur Rahim and Ajit Roy. He later joined the historic Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 when two of his songs “Narokiyo Hatyar Protibade” and “Shono Mahayatrar Aviyatree” were broadcast through the “Swadheen Bangla Betar Kendro.”

Dutta is an enlisted artist of Rabindra Sangeet in both Bangladesh Betar and Television since 1974.

Presently, he is a Special Grade artist and Special Grade Composer and Music Director in both Bangladesh Betar and Television.

He is also a theatre artist having performed for Dhaka Bahubachan.

He is a Special Grade theatre artist in Bangladesh Betar and a Guest Producer. Promod Dutta has released three solo musical albums and seven mixed albums till date. l

n Shadma Malik

flicks. The documentary “18 hours in 180 Seconds” won the competition.

The documentary was critically acclaimed, Dhaka Tribune caught up with director Zahid Gogon about his documentary: “The biggest challenge in making this documentary was the time frame. The issue of heavy traffic is one of the most pressing issues of the country and to portray all the challenges and difficulties of the situation in 180 seconds was a monumental challenge.”

“I have named the documentary ‘18 Hours in 180 Seconds’ because we had footages of 18 hours that we had to accommodate in 3 minutes only. The documentary is an effort to present that, though our mind is running, but for the transportation in Dhaka, we are physically halted in one place.”

The winner got fifty thousand taka as prize money.

The runner up documentary “Nogor Jibon” received thirty thousand and the third winner “Take Me Home” received twenty thousand taka as prize money.

Besides, all the participants received crest from Mahbubur Rahman. Through this competition, the enthusiastic young filmmakers participated and showed their potential to establish themselves as filmmakers in the country. l

Bruckheimer to end film deal with Disney n Entertainment Desk The Walt Disney Co and Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer behind the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and the summer flop “The Lone Ranger,” will end their long-running film deal next year, the media company announced on Thursday.

The company and Bruckheimer decided not to renew their current deal which gives Disney first-look rights to the producer’s films, according to a statement from Disney. They will continue working together on various projects, including a fifth installment in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.

Last week, Disney announced it would delay the release of the fifth “Pirates” movie, which had been scheduled to open in theaters in July 2015.

No new date was set.

Disney’s film studio will continue to focus on brands including Disney, Pixar animation, the Marvel superhero franchise, and “Star Wars” producer Lucasfilm, the company said on Thursday.

Bruckheimer “is looking to produce more mature films outside the scope of the Disney brand,” the statement said.

The partnership dating back to the 1990s produced 27 movies, including several big hits for Disney. The four “Pirates” films starring Johnny Depp have generated more than $3.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to the website Box Office Mojo. Bruckheimer also produced for Disney the “National Treasure” series and dramas including “Con Air” and “Pearl Harbor”.

Bruckheimer’s most recent Disney release, “The Lone Ranger,” flopped at the box office after its July release. Disney has projected it will lose up to $190 million on the film.

Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn said Disney and Bruckheimer “have had an incredibly successful collaboration over the past two decades”.

“We will continue to work together in the future, and we look forward to seeing more of the films that have made Jerry Bruckheimer a Hollywood legend,” Horn said. l

MTV Hits to air at midnight n Entertainment Desk “MTV Hits” airs in Bangladesh on Maasranga Television. The show is back to back and hour-long, featuring the latest and the most popular international music with full copyright video versions that went on-air from 14th September, 11pm.

Due to the live telecast of Champions League T20, the next episodes will be broadcasted on 12am September 27 and October 4, instead of the usual time. l

ON TV

Ekti Raat Otoppor Nishshunnota airs today on Channel9 n Entertainment Desk Telefilm “Ekti Raat Otoppor Nishshunnota” will be televised today at 2:35pm on Channel9. The emotional story is written and directed by Naznin Hasan Chumki. The main characters of the tele-film are played by Bijori Barkatullah, Intekhab Dinar and Elen Shuvro.

Plot of the tele-film revolves around a boy named Zeeshan who is from a well off family. After completing his higher education from abroad, Zeeshan spends his last few years confined in solitary.

DRAMA 6:00pm Zee Tv Qubool Hain

11:00pm Star Plus

Diya Aur Bati Hum

His father promises him that he will be allowed to spend a night out by himself and do as he likes. After getting the approval, Zeeshan becomes very happy and starts to explore the free and happy night.

He meets with a taxi driver named Sadek and a girl named Pakhi and starts his journey by exploring the night life of Dhaka with his new friends. Subsequently, the gifted night becomes action-packed for Zeeshan and he got to relate with Pakhi and feels her pain. He proposes to be with her, but Pakhi does not agree. Finally, Zeeshan comes back to his solitary life. l

Salman takes stardom to another level n Entertainment Desk Salman Khan is all set to take his mammoth stardom to another level. He will now launch his own production house “Salman Khan Productions” with a remake of Subhash Ghai’s “Hero,” which had launched Jackie Shroff ’s career as a leading man.

With this project Salman would finally branch out into independent production house separate from the film produced by his two brothers.

“Salman’s brothers Sohail and Arbaaz have their own production houses. While Salman would remain closely associated with his brother’s production, he would now launch his own production house ‘Salman Khan Productions’ with a remake of Hero. Salman secured the remake rights from his friend Subhash Ghai almost a year back and confided in him that he would start ‘Salman Khan Productions’ with ‘Hero,’” says a source.

Salman has also asked Subhash Ghai to compose the music of the new-millennium “Hero.” And since Ghai cannot say no to

Salman (nobody says no to Salman) he has agreed to officially turn composer. (A lot of Ghai’s music in the past was ghost-composed by him).

It’s reliably learnt that Ghai refused to part ways with the title Hero for Jackie’s son Tiger’s launch film. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala who’s launching Tiger had to settle for the title Hero-panti.

A source close to the project informs, “The people behind Tiger’s launch including his father Jackie, a close friend of Subhash Ghai, has earnestly requested for the title Hero. But Ghai had no choice but to turn Jackie down because he was committed to giving over the rights of ‘Hero’ to Salman Khan. Salman told Subhash Ghai he wanted to start his own production house with a bang. He also confided in Ghai that he would launch Aditya Panscholi’s son Sooraj and Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya in his home production.”

Both the youngsters are currently undergoing rigorous training to start shooting for “Hero.”

Sooraj’s proud father Aditya Panscholi said, “We couldn’t have hoped for a better launch for our son.” l

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition Bangla Terracotta 3pm to 8pm Drik Gallery House 58, Road 15A(New) Dhanmondi R/A

Conflict Within – Ascending Figures

by KS Radhakrishnan 12pm to 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, 60 Gulshan Avenue Road 131, Gulshan 1

Agony with Ecstasy

by Anisuzzaman Sohel 3pm to 8pm Dhaka Art Centre House 60 Road 7A, Dhanmondi

Unseen Splendour by legendary artist SM Sultan artworks 6pm (inauguration) Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts House 275/f, Road 27 (old) Dhanmondi

Festival North & South Indian Food Festival Seasonal Tastes restaurant The Westin Dhaka Main Gulshan Avenue, Plot 1, CWN (B) Road 45, Plot 1, Gulshan 2, Dhaka

Film Despicable Me 2 3D Oz The Great and Powerful Nishwartha Bhalobasa Jurassic Park in 3D Star Cineplex, Basundhara City

Did you know?

Barcelona star Lionel Messi scored his 4th Champions League hat-trick on Wednesday, surpassing Mario Gomez and Filippo Inzaghi to set a new all-time CL record

Sport

14 Good starts for English and Italian clubs

13

Saturday, September 21, 2013

DHAKA TRIBUNE

14 Platini backs winter World Cup in 2022

15 McLaren open to shock Alonso return

Reefat absence downer on tournament n Shishir Hoque Grandmaster Reefat Bin Sattar’s decision to not participate in the Berger Paints 39th National ‘A’ Chess Championship has shattered International Masters Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar and Abu Sufian Shakil’s hopes of garnering a Grandmaster norm from the tournament which begins today.

According to FIDE rules, a GM norm can be reached in a tournament where the average rating of the participants is at least 2380. Reefat’s presence would have seen that mark crossed, but in his absence, the tournament’s average player rating is 2374.

Despite Reefat’s absence, four of the country’s GM’s - Niaz Morshed, Ziaur Rahman, Abdullah Al-Raqib and Enamul Hossain Rajib - are taking part in the tournament. Today, Sagar, rated 2377, will face Grandmaster Zia while Shakil, rated 2354, takes on Sk Nasir Ahmed.

The Bangladesh Chess Federation said that they tried to ensure all five GM’s participated in the tournament but were unable to contact Reefat.

Abu Sufian Shakil was disappointed at the turn of events. “After a long time, we had a possible chance to earn a GM norm, but we lost the opportunity because of Reefat Bhai’s absence,’’ he said. l

Brothers Union middle order batsman Nazmus Sadat atempts a cut during their Dhaka Premier League match against Victoria SC at the SBNS yesterday

South African women beat Bangladesh n Ali Shahriyar Amin Host South Africa Women defeated Bangladesh Women by 6 wickets in the first One Day International (ODI) at Willowmoore Park, Benoni yesterday.

South Africa elected to field first after winning the toss and Bangladesh’s opening wicket put on 35 runs in 10 overs before Ayesha Rahman was run out for 13 from 43 balls. Thereafter, the middle order struggled and Fargana Hoque top scored with 63 from 108 balls (six fours) in the team’s 50 over total of 148/8.

For the bowling side, off-spinner Sunette Loubser took three wickets for 28 runs.

In reply, South Africa made a solid 77-run opening stand which was broken by off-spinner Khadiza Tul Kobra removing Trisha Chetty for 39. Khadiza added the scalp of skipper Mignon du Preez LBW to give Bangladesh some hope, but opener Lizelle Lee stood firm to steer her side towards victory. Lizelle, who was later adjudged player-of-the-match, was eventually out for 77 off 130 balls and South Africa cruised home to a comfortable six wicket win.

For Bangladesh, Khadiza Tul Kobra took three wickets. l

Brothers, Gazi Tank and Prime Bank post wins n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Nazmus Sadat and Angelo Mathews’ unbeaten 148-run fifth wicket partnership steered Brothers Union Limited to a 6 wicket win over Victoria Sporting Club, Gazi Tank Cricketers edged Kalabagan Krira Chakra by eight runs and Prime Bank Cricket Club thrashed Cricket Coaching School by 152 runs in yesterday’s Walton Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League matches.

Brothers vs Victoria

After being put in to bat at the Sher-eBangla National Stadium, defending champions Victoria scored 213/9 from their 50 overs. Victoria were in trouble early on after losing a wicket without a run on the board and then four more wickets for just 11 runs but Jubayer Ahmed and captain Nasir Hossain did well to salvage the innings. The pair put on 47 runs before Nasir was bowled

by Sanjamul Islam for 35 off 49 balls (four fours, two sixes) Jubayer continued vigilantly and added 80 runs with Mohammad Sarif.

He eventually made 50 from 86 balls with five fours. With Enamul Haque

and Monir Hossain putting on an unbroken 45 run partnership for the last wicket, Victoria were able to reach a respectable score.

Imtiaz Hossain, Azhar Mahmood and Angelo Mathews all took two wickets for Brothers.

Brief Score Brothers Union V Victoria SC

Victoria: 213/9 in 50 overs Jubayer 50, Imtiaz 2/7 Brothers: 214/4 in 43.5 Nazmus 82*, Mathews 56*, Sajeewa 2/35 Brothers Union won by 6 wickets Prime Bank CC Vs CCS

Prime Bank: 249/8 in 50 overs Taylor 86, Bishwant 3/43 CCS: 97/10 in 36.3 overs Asif 27, Jeevan 3/43 Gazi Tank Vs Kalabagan KC

Gazi: 244/8 in 50 overs Tarik 50, Mahmudullah 50, Naeem 3/44 Kalabagan KC: 236/10 in 49.3 overs Jehan 65, Mahmudullah 2/13 In reply, Brothers were left staggering after Tamim Iqbal departed for 19 and three other wickets fell in the

space of five runs to leave the side at 66/4. Nazmus Sadat and Sri Lankan Angelo Matthews however, saw the side home with an unbeaten 148-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Matthews was 56 not out from 76 balls (four sixes) and man-of-the-match Nazmus scored 82 not out from 97 balls (10 fours, two sixes) at the end.

Gazi Tank vs Kalabagan

Gazi Tank opted to bat first after winning the toss at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium. With captain Mahmudullah scoring 50 off 60 balls (two fours, two sixes), Tarik Usman making 50 from 87 balls (two fours, two sixes) and useful contributions from Rakibul Hasan (39), Scott Styris (34), Hamidul Islam (23) and Imrul Kayes (21), Gazi posted a total of 244/8.

Naeem Islam picked up three wickets and Jehan Mubarak took two for Kalabagan.

Kalabagan were bowled out for 236 in 49.3 overs to lose by Chasing a target of 245, Kalabagan were all-out on 236 with three balls to spare. Sri Lankan Jehan top scored with 65 from 83 balls (three fours, one six)

MUMIT M

and his countryman Kapugedara Chamara made 60 from 53 balls (five fours, two sixes). For the bowling side, Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny and Mahmudullah each picked up two wickets.

Prime Bank vs Cricket Coaching

Batting first, Prime Bank scored 249/8 on the back of Zimbabwean Brendan Taylor’s 86 (seven fours, two sixes). A solid half-century opening stand between all-rounder Ziaur Rahman (18) and Saykat Ali (28) set the platform for Prime Bank and in addition to Taylor, there were useful contributions from Jeevan Mendis (22), Taiabur Parvez (22 not out) and Taposh Boishya (20).

Bishwant Halder claimed three, while Sujeet Parbatani and Imamul Mustakim bagged two apiece for the bowling side.

In reply, Cricket Coaching were bundled out 97 in 36.3 overs, with Asif Ahmed top scoring with 27 while Amit Majumdar made 24. The most successful bowler was Jeevan Mendis, who returned figures of 4-31 and he was ably supported by Enamul Haque Jr. and Mahmudul Hasan, both of whom claimed two wickets. l

Misbah stars as Faisalabad register consolation win n Agencies Already out of the main tournament, Faisalabad Wolves rode on skipper Misbah-ul-Haq’s unbeaten 93 to beat Kandurata Maroons by 10 runs and post a consolation win in an inconsequential qualifying match of the Champions League Twenty20 here today.

Sent into bat, Misbah led from the front with a strokeful 93 that came off just 60 balls to help Wolves recover from a precarious start and post a competitive 146 for six on the board.

Nuwan Kulasekara (2/34) and Dilhara Lokuhettige (3/21) inflicted the early damage on Wolves, reducing the Pakistani outfit to 56 for four.

Openers Ammar Mahmood (10), Ali Waqas (0), Asif Ali (10) and Khurram Shehzad (7) all departed cheaply.

While Waqas and Ali were dismissed in identical fashion - caught behind

by Kumar Sangakkara of Kulasekara’s bowling, Mahmood top-edged one to Upul Tharanga at mid-on off Lokuhittege.

But then came in Misbah and in Mohammad Salman’s (21) company, he resurrected Wolves’ innings with a 74run fifth-wicket stand.

Misbah paced his innings to perfection. He started slowly but pressed on the gas as the innings progressed and decorated his stay at the crease with six boundaries and as many as five hits over the fence to single-handedly take his side past the 140-run mark. l

‘Team selection was biased’ n Shishir Hoque Nurul Alam Chowdhury, the president of Sheikh Russell KC, slammed the national team management committee and coaching staff for being biased in team selection and blamed them for the national team’s performance at the recently concluded Saff Championship.

The former member of the national team management committee faced the BFF’s Fact Finding Committee at the BFF House yesterday where he spoke about his gave his views on the Saff debacle and offered suggestions to the committee.

“The national team management and coaching staff failed and should take the blame. I think the the way the team was selected was prejudiced. I don’t understand how a defender like Mamun Mia couldn’t get a chance in the squad. He was a member of treble winning team (Sheikh Russell). Rezaul also deserved a place in the squad, but

he was left out at the last moment. The team selection was biased,” said Nurul Alam.

Earlier on Thursday, Meshu and Waly Faisal criticized the fitness trainer and questioned his ability. Nurul Alam also believed extra fitness training was the cause of some players picking up injuries. “Every national player played under the best coaches in the premier league. For the whole season, they did fitness training with their respective clubs. There was no need for extra loads of extra fitness training for the players who were already fit. They said they would take players with the stamina to play 120 minutes but what we saw is that the players lost their stamina after 60 minutes.”

Nurul Alam also criticized the team management for failing to motivate the players to give their 100% on the field.

He disagreed with the decision of playing Mamun Khan instead of the experienced Biplob, thought Mithun should have been selected and was against the

nomination of Nasir as vice-captain.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Russell coach Maruful Haque and Mohammedan coach Saiful Bari Titu also faced the Fact Finding Committee yesterday.

Both attributed Bangladesh’s disappointing performance to fitness issues.

“I didn’t get a chance to watch the matches but what I got from newspapers and media is that we lacked fitness. I have known the players for a long time - if they were fit they would not get injured and would not perform like this. I think our main problem was fitness,” said Maruf, who was taking the UEFA coaching course in UK during the Saff Championship.

Titu wants to concentrate on the future and advised FFC to make the local league stronger.

“They wanted our suggestions on several issues. We suggested making the local league stronger. The stronger the league, the more capable the players will be. I agree with Maruf bhai - fitness was main problem,” he said. l

Bangladesh national football coach Lodewijk de Kruif kicks a ball during the opening day of the CMISD Inter School Football Festival at the CMISD campus yesterday MUMIT M

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Match Results 0-3

Valencia (ESP)

St Gallen (SUI) 2-0 Karanovic 56, Mathys 76

1-2

Zagreb (CRO) Fernandes 43

Swansea (ENG) Bony 14, Michu 58, De Guzman 62 Krasnodar (RUS) Odessa (UKR) Antonov 62, Dja Djedje 65

0-2

PSV (NED)

Ludogorets (BUL) Bezjak 60, Misidjan 74

Salzburg (AUT) 4-0 Elfsborg (SWE) Alan 36, Jonatan Soriano 44-pen, 69, 79 Standard Liege (BEL) Mujangi Bia 74 Waregem (BEL) Maribor (SLO) Milec 35, Fajic 73

1-2 0-0 2-5

Pandurii (ROM) Eintracht (GER) Kadlec 4, Russ 16, Djakpa 52 Maccabi (ISR) Kiev (UKR)

AFP

Thun (SUI) Schneuwly 35

Good starts for English and Italian clubs

Freiburg (GER) Schuster pen-23, Mehmedi 35

n AFP, Paris

Real Betis (ESP)

Swansea City produced a remarkable performance on their Europa League debut to thump Valencia 3-0 in Spain on Thursday, while Tottenham Hotspur also got their campaign off to a winning start.

Swansea’s Group A trip to the Mestalla was, on paper, the standout of all those played in the Europa League on Thursday, but few could have imagined it would be so one-sided.

A Swansea side coached by former Real Madrid and Barcelona star Michael Laudrup and featuring six Spaniards, including captain Angel Rangel, punished opponents who played 80 min-

utes with 10 men to run out thoroughly deserving winners.

Valencia were already wobbling before French centre-back Adil Rami was sent off with 10 minutes on the clock for hauling back Wilfried Bony as the Ivorian striker headed towards goal.

Soon after, the lively Bony converted a Michu cutback to give Swansea the lead, and Valencia, who have lost their last three matches in La Liga, never looked like recovering.

A section of the Valencia support staged a walkout in protest at their teams’ recent form at the start of the second half, before Spanish duo Alejandro Pozuelo and Michu combined for the latter to double Swansea’s lead after 58 minutes.

Mourinho seeks derby boost against Fulham n AFP, London Jose Mourinho finds himself in the unexpected position of attempting to turn around Chelsea’s alarming early dip when Fulham make the short trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Successive defeats by Everton and Basel have prompted some soul-searching at Chelsea with Mourinho claiming his squad’s lack of experience has been exposed.

Having started the campaign positively with the hard-earned point at Manchester United following on from victories over Hull and Aston Villa, Chelsea have since lost the European Super Cup on penalties to Bayern Munich before the latest painful defeats.

Without a win in four games and with goals proving hard to come by, the meeting with west London neighbours Fulham has taken on more significance, particularly given the Cottagers’ record of have drawn on their last three visits to

Stamford Bridge. Mourinho’s side have struggled in front of goal during their last two games, with Samuel Eto’o still acclimatising to his new surroundings following his arrival from Anzhi Makhachkla.

Fernando Torres and Demba Ba, Mourinho’s other strikers, have also failed to make a major impact.

Liverpool conceded their 100 percent record in Monday’s 2-2 draw at Swansea

Fixtures Chelsea Liverpool Newcastle Norwich City West Brom West Ham

v v v v v v

Fulham Southampton Hull City Aston Villa Sunderland Everton

City, but they remain top of the table by a point and will look to strengthen their position at home to Southampton on Saturday.

Southampton drew 0-0 at home to West Ham United last weekend and are bidding for a first victory since their 1-0 success at West Bromwich Albion.l

Waregem in Belgium in Group D. In other games, Fiorentina of Italy were too strong for Pacos Ferreira of Portugal, running out 3-0 winners in Florence in Group E with Giuseppe Rossi among the scorers.

Betis and Lyon drew 0-0 in Spain in Group I, while Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany thumped French Cup holders Bordeaux 3-0 in Group F, and Lazio and Sevilla were among the other winners on the night.

However, the 1988 European Cup winners PSV Eindhoven suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria in Group B, and an expensively assembled Dynamo Kiev side lost 1-0 at home to Belgian Cup holders Genk in Group G. l

Wigan (ENG)

Rubin Kazan (RUS) Gokdeniz Karadeniz 23, Marcano 27, R Eremenko 69, Rondon 90, Ryazantsev 90+3

Fiorentina (ITA) 3-0 Gonzalo Rodriguez 30, Ryder Matos 67, Rossi 76

Tottenham Hotspur's English striker Jermain Defoe scores their first goal during the Uefa Europa League group K match against Tromso at White Hart Lane, London, on Thursday

Esbjerg (DEN) Van Buren 63, Bakenga 90+5

Estoril (POR) Bruno Miguel 61

0-1 3-0 0-0 0-1 1-0 2-2 1-2 0-0 4-0

Ferreira (POR)

Dnipro (UKR) Rotan 38 Bordeaux (FRA)

APOEL (CYP) Genk (BEL) Gorius 62 Rapid (AUT) Liberec (CZE) Kalitvintsev 67, Rabusic 74 Sevilla (ESP) Machin 59, Gameiro 77 Lyon (FRA)

When Jonathan De Guzman beat Vicente Guaita with a stunning free-kick five minutes later, the home supporters could only applaud, and Swansea might even have won by a greater margin.

It was a stunning victory for a club that lost 8-0 to Monaco in their last European tie in the Cup Winners Cup in 1991.

The win was only the second by a Welsh side against Spanish opponents in European competition, after Cardiff City beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the Cup Winners Cup quarter-final, first leg, in March 1971.

Cardiff lost 2-0 in the return.

Having taken apart the 2004 UEFA Cup winners and two-time Champions League finalists, Swansea will next play

host to St Gallen of Switzerland, who beat Kuban Krasnodar of Russia 2-0.

Meanwhile, Tottenham also won by a 3-0 margin, although their victory against Norwegian top-flight strugglers Tromso in Group K was a little less dramatic.

A first-half brace by Jermain Defoe, which took him to within two goals of Spurs’ all-time leading European goalscorer Martin Chivers, effectively ended the contest inside half an hour.

However, Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen, a recent signing from Ajax, added a superb third goal late on.

Elsewhere, English FA Cup holders Wigan Athletic took time out from their bid to win promotion back to the Premier League to draw 0-0 away to Zulte

No love lost as Boateng brothers square off n AFP, Berlin

Valdes showing Barca what they will miss

Schalke 04’s Kevin-Prince Boateng has promised there will be no love lost when he comes up against his halfbrother, Bayern Munich centre-back Jerome Boateng, in Saturday’s Bundesliga clash.

Bayern, second in the table behind Borussia Dortmund, are at Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins Arena to take on resurgent Schalke, who have won their last four games after a poor start.

European champions Bayern will provide an acid test of Schalke’s winning streak, but there promises to be fireworks when the Boateng brothers clash.

“He is my brother, but there will be no love lost in the game,” said Berlinborn Kevin-Prince Boateng.

“I have already told him I would be disappointed if he didn’t go at me 100 percent during the game. I will be doing the same.”

The last time the brothers played each other was the 2010 World Cup group stage match when Germany beat Ghana 1-0 in Johannesburg. l

n Reuters Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has hit some of the best form of his career in the opening weeks of the season, making it all the more perplexing for the club’s fans that he appears determined to stand by his decision to leave.

The 31-year-old, a product of the club’s youth academy who made his first-team debut in the 2002-03 campaign, announced last term he was quitting because the pressure of being Barca’s first choice keeper for a decade had taken its toll.

He refused the offer of a contract extension beyond June 2014 and said he wanted to experience different cultures and different languages, prompting speculation he could accept a lucrative offer from big-spending Ligue 1 side Monaco.

Barca have made a solid start to the La Liga season under new coach Gerardo Martino and will be chasing a fifth win in five matches at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday (1800 GMT).

However, three of their four league

Fixtures Real Sociedad Almeria Rayo Vallecano Valladolid

v v v v

Malaga Levante Barcelona Atletico Madrid

wins have been by a single goal and Valdes has made a host of vital interventions that have helped avert an early setback to the club’s bid for a fifth title in six years.

He was also decisive in Wednesday’s Champions League Group H opener at home to Ajax Amsterdam, including

Guimaraes (POR) Ba 36, Plange 48, Maazou pen-68, Andre Andre 81 Limassol (CYP) Sangoy pen-18 Lazio (ITA) Hernanes 53 Tiraspol (MDA)

1-2 1-0 0-0 3-0

Tottenham (ENG) Defoe 21, 29, Eriksen 86 PAOK (GRE) Athanasiadis 75, Vukic 90+2 Maccabi Haifa (ISR)

2-1 0-1

Rijeka (CRO)

Trabzonspor (TUR) Malouda 20, Yusuf Erdogan 86 Legia Warsaw (POL) Makhachkala (RUS) Tromso (NOR) Karagandy (KAZ) Canas pen-50 AZ Alkmaar (NED) Gudmundsson 71

stopping Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s 77thminute penalty with a typically athletic dive.

Valdes has been praised by coach Gerardo Martino and team mates for his professionalism and his form has prompted calls for Spain coach Vicente del Bosque to give him the keepers’ spot ahead of captain Iker Casillas.

“I would be very excited to win this Champions League and I want to win it in whatever manner possible,” Valdes, who won the competition with Barca in 2006, 2009 and 2011, told reporters after the 4-0 success against the Dutch champions.

“I know that it will be the last one I compete in with Barca,” he added.

“I am very grateful for the people’s support. That gives me even more confidence.”

Barca are the only team along with Atletico Madrid with a perfect 12 points from their four La Liga games.

Atletico, who started their Champions League campaign with a 3-1 win at home to Zenit St Petersburg, play at Real Valladolid on Saturday (2000) and will have combative forward Diego Costa back after he was suspended for the Zenit match. l

Platini backs winter World Cup in 2022 n AFP, Dubrovnik

Wenger says Ozil doesn’t want easy’ Arsenal life

The 54 member federations of European governing body UEFA are unanimously in favour “in principle” of moving the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to a different time of the year, UEFA president Michel Platini confirmed on Friday.

The tournament, which is usually held in June and July, would run into scorching temperatures in Qatar and governing officials, including Platini and world governing boss Sepp Blatter, have entertained the idea of switching the tournament to what would be the European winter season.

“Concerning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there are two things. First the FIFA president (Blatter) will speak about 2022 at the next FIFA executive committee meetings. “Also, the European federations have declared unanimously to be in agreement on the principle that they are not against playing the 2022 World Cup in winter, I said in principle, full stop.” added Platini at the ongoing UEFA meeting in Croatia.l

n AFP, London

(L-R) Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino, Uefa President Michel Platini, and Uefa head of communications David Farelly attend a press conference following an executive committee meeting at the European football's governing body headquarters yesterday AFP

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has insisted club-record signing Mesut Ozil didn’t leave Spanish giants Real Madrid because he wanted an easier life with the north London club.

German playmaker Ozil left Spain for England in a £43 million move on transfer deadline day, with Ozil saying he no longer felt as involved in the plans of Real manager Carlo Ancelotti following Gareth Bale’s world record switch to the Bernabeu from Arsenal’s arch-rivals Tottenham.

However, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez subsequently said Ozil asked to leave because “he couldn’t handle the pressure at Madrid”.

But Wenger disagreed with Perez’s analysis, saying Ozil, who has impressed since joining the Gunners and is set to play his first home match at the Emirates Stadium against Stoke on Sunday, was well capable of handling

high pressure matches.

“No, I have not seen that at all,” Wenger said Friday when asked if Ozil looked like a player wanting a less stressful time than the one he’d endured in Madrid.

“He is 24, he has over 50 caps for Germany and when you play for Germany, you are under a lot of pressure. He won the championship with Real Madrid, and that is a club where there is a lot of pressure, but I could not detect that.

“Ozil has integrated well, and been well accepted.

“I think he is not at the top physically yet, overall we are very pleased to have him with us, but he will demand a bit of time to adjust to the vigorous body challenges he will face here in the Premier league.

“Once he has done that, he will be even stronger.”

Someone whose game certainly seems to be improving is Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Durham win County Championship title n AFP, London

Quick Bytes CMISD Inter School Football Festival gets under way The three day 1st CMISD Inter School Football Festival, organized by Cambridge Millennium International School Dhaka, got underway at the school’s campus yesterday. Many well reputed schools are participating in the festival.

Several renowned sports personalities -including Bangladesh national football team head coach Lodewijk de Kruif, former national footballer and Mohammedan coach Saiful Bari Titu, 1st Everest conqueror Musa Ibrahim, general secretary Bangladesh Football Federation Abu Nayeem Shohag, president of Bangladesh Sports Journalist Association A T M Saiduzzaman and Bangladesh Sports Press Association president Rana Hasan - were present on the occasion.

- FRM

School handball St Gregory’s High School, Play Pen and Wari High School posted victories in the boys’ Polar Ice Cream 21st School Handball Tournament, while Banani Bidyaniketon drew with Summerfield at the M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium yesterday. In the girls’ event at the same venue, BISC, Summerfield, Dhanmondi Tutorial and South Breeze won their respective matches.

- SH

Hamilton fastest in first Singapore practice Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton led the way in a fast first free practice for the Singapore Grand Prix Friday which indicated the five-year-old lap record will fall this weekend. Hamilton timed 1min 47.055sec in the largely experimental dusk session at the Marina Bay street circuit, less than two seconds off Kimi Raikkonen’s 2008 record of 1:45.599.

Mark Webber, counting down the races until he leaves the sport this year, was second quickest with 1:47.420, ahead of his Red Bull team-mate and championship leader Sebastian Vettel (1:47.885).

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, and Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean of Lotus occupied the next three places, ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who is currently second in the overall standings.

– AFP

Fulham to return Jackson statue to Al Fayed

Fulham are to return the statue of late pop star Michael Jackson outside their Craven Cottage ground in west London to the club’s former owner, Mohamed Al Fayed, the Premier League side announced Thursday. The statue was installed at the back of the Hammersmith Stand in 2011, a decision that baffled many Fulham fans but one which Al Fayed justified on the grounds that Jackson too was a supporter of the club.

– AFP

Cabaye punished over ‘strike’ Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye has been punished for refusing to play for the club after learning of interest in him from Arsenal, manager Alan Pardew revealed on Thursday. The 27-year-old France international missed Newcastle’s first three games of the season, after Arsenal had a bid in the region of £10 million rejected on the eve of the campaign. Cabaye made a public apology for his behaviour earlier this week and Pardew subsequently revealed that he had been disciplined by the club, although he did not go into detail. “He has also been disciplined for his actions this week and he accepted that in good faith, and therefore we move on now,” Pardew said.

“As far as I’m concerned, especially on Saturday, it would be nice if our 51,000, 52,000 (supporters), whatever it is, give him the support he now deserves for at least apologising for that and taking the punishment that came with it.

– AFP

Day’s Watch ESPN Barclays Premier League LIVE 5:35pm Norwich City v Aston Villa 7:50pm Liverpool v Southampton 10:20pm Chelsea v Fulham Star Cricket 2013 CLT20 LIVE 8:20pm Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians Star Sports 8:20pm Sunrisers Hyderabad v Otago Volts Ten Action 8:55pm French Ligue 1 2013/14 LIVE Bastia v Marseille

15

Durham's Graham Onions (L) and Paul Collingwood celebrate with the County Championship, Division One trophy after beating Nottinghamshire at Chester-le-Street on Thursday

McLaren open to shock Alonso return n AFP, Singapore McLaren confirmed Friday they are open to the shock return of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in what would be one of Formula One’s most sensational coups.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh said he would love to sign the two-time world champion, who had an unhappy season at McLaren in 2007, and even suggested the Spaniard could arrive as early as next season.

“Yes, if I could,” Whitmarsh told Britain’s Sky Sports News, asked if he would bring back Alonso. “Most teams up and down the pitlane would happily sign Fernando Alonso, he’s a very talented driver.

“I expect our driver line-up for next year to stay the same but we are open to anything and in the long term he would be a great asset.

“Fernando is in charge of his own destiny, but we’ll see.”

What started as a speculative rumour has gathered pace in Singapore after Whitmarsh and McLaren driver Jenson Button both sung the praises of Alonso, world champion in 2005 and 2006.

Alonso is reported to be unhappy at Ferrari’s decision to hire another former world champion, Kimi Raikkonen,

as his racing partner next season.

And McLaren are yet to confirm contracts for either of their drivers, Button and Mexico’s Sergio Perez, for 2014, although the Briton says his deal for next year is a formality.

Whitmarsh said both drivers were likely to stay with McLaren next year but he said it was not impossible that Alonso could be racing with the British team.

“Let’s be frank, people want to sign Fernando Alonso because he is one of the best motor-racing drivers in the world at the moment. He is an asset to any team,” Whitmarsh told Sky. “In all probability, we will have the same line-up next year. Being realistic that’s what I think will happen, but we’ll see.”

Alonso earlier dismissed suggestions that he’s unsettled by Raikkonen’s arrival at Ferrari after the Italian team decided to part ways with the inconsistent Felipe Massa.

“I was always informed about the team movements... when they decided to change Felipe they asked my opinion and I told them Kimi was the best out there in the market,” he said on Thursday.

Alonso had a difficult relationship with team-mate Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in 2007, a season which was also marked by the damaging “Spygate” scandal involving the leaking of technical information. l

Durham won their third County Championship title in six years after completing an eight-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire with more than a day to spare Thursday.

Rain washed out the third day’s morning session but when play resumed after lunch at Chester-le-Street, the hosts needed just 62 more runs to win with all 10 second innings wickets left.

They took just 16 overs to reach their target, and although they lost Keaton Jennings and Scott Borthwick along the way, Mark Stoneman’s 35 not out saw Durham to victory, the opener sealing the title in style with a boundary off Paul Franks.

Durham, captained by former England batsman Paul Collingwood – one of several locally-produced players in their side – bucked the trend among county teams by opting to do without an overseas star this season.

They were also without the input of long-serving coach Geoff Cook for much of the season after he suffered a heart attack.

Durham’s latest Championship title to set alongside their 2008 and 2009 triumphs continued a run of success all the more impressive given it is only 21 years since they played their first match as England’s 18th first-class county.

Cook also paid tribute to Collingwood’s input by saying: “We were having a bit of a rough period, the ship was rocking a bit halfway through last year.l

Bikini tensions mar Islamic games in Indonesia n AFP, Palembang The Islamic Solidarity Games open in Indonesia this weekend following a chaotic run-up, with controversy over female athletes competing in sports bikinis adding to the turmoil.

Some nations demanded that all women cover up for the beach volleyball, track and field, and swimming events, but organisers have refused to axe the two-piece sporting outfits.

“If some countries do not want to use the bikini, that’s fine, but if other countries want to, we will allow that,” senior organising committee member Djoko Pramono told AFP. “We agreed to apply international rules, including the dress code.”

Thousands of athletes from 44 nations with Muslim populations will come together for the games, but only those ruled by Islamic governments opposed the bikini, Pramono said, adding they complained collectively.

He did not mention the countries which complained by name.

This year is the second time the games have been held, the first in Saudi Arabia, where not only were there no bikinis, but men and women competed on separate days and men were barred from watching women swim.

Some countries also asked the organisers to again run male and female

events on separate days.

Pramono said he did not know which teams had decided to wear the bikinis.

Female players from Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei have worn them at previous international competitions.

The event has faced a string of other problems, in the latest chapter of Indonesia’s shambolic history of hosting of major sporting tournaments.

It is set to officially open Sunday and run until October 1 after months of delays and two changes of venue, now in Palembang city on Sumatra island.

Unpaid labourers shuttered the stadium in the original host city, Pekanbaru, with the governor embroiled in multiple corruption scandals unable to help.

It was moved to the capital, Jakarta, only to be shifted again to Palembang after Sumatran officials complained, giving organisers less than two months to move everything to the new venue.

Eyebrows have been raised over the Palembang complex, where parts of the ill-fated 2011 Southeast Asian Games took place.

Some facilities were not fully constructed as the 2011 event opened and scores of athletes suffered food poisoning there. During that event, two football fans were crushed to death in a stampede at a venue in the capital as security guards were unable to control a massive crowd.l

Seven positive tests at Moscow worlds

Mayweather fight richest in history n AFP, Los Angeles

n AFP, Paris

Floyd Mayweather’s win over Mexico’s Saul Alvarez has been confirmed as the richest fight in boxing history with nearly $150 million in pay-per-view revenues, US cable network Showtime said Thursday.

The revenues for Saturday’s unified super welterweight championship in Las Veges surpassed the $136 million that was generated by Mayweather’s 2007 showdown with Oscar de la Hoya.

Showtime said that the fight attracted some 2.2 million pay-per-view buys which is second all-time to the 2.48 million buys for the Mayweather/de la Hoya fight. Showtime said the numbers on the pay-per-view are still being added up but it has already beaten out the third most popular fight in history (1.97 million) between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson in 1997.

The fight, which had an average ticket price of over $1,200, also set a boxing record for gate revenues at more than $20 million. It established boxing television records in Mexico where Alvarez, whose nickname is “Canelo”, is one of that nation’s most popular stars.

The fight was watched by 22.1 million people and in 5.9 million households, making it the highest-rated boxing programme ever in Mexico.

Mayweather and Alvarez went the 12-round distance with the American taking the decision to improve his record to 45-0. Alvarez suffered just the first loss of his career, falling to 42-1-1.l

Seven athletes, including one finalist, tested positive for doping at August’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow, track and field’s world governing body, the IAAF, announced on Friday.

The IAAF said it took a total of 1,919 blood samples and carried out 538 urine test during the competition and 132 during the pre-competition period. Seven athletes failed urine tests, the IAAF confirmed, with just one having appeared

in a final: Ukrainian Roman Avramenko, who finished fifth in the men’s javelin.

The six others were named as Afghan Massoud Azizi (men’s 100m; nandrolone metabolites), Ukrainian Elyzaveta Bryzgina (women’s 200m; drostanolone), Kazakhstan’s Ayman Kozhakhmetova (women’s 20km walk; exogenous testosterone + EPO), Iran’s Ebrahim Rahimian (men’s 20km walk; EPO), Turkmenistan’s Yelena Ryabova (women’s 200m; methyltestosterone); and Guatemalan Jeremias Saloj (men’s marathon; EPO).l

Radwanska marches into Korea semis n AFP, Seoul Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland overpowered Russia’s Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-0 to secure a semi-final berth at the Korea Open on Friday.

The world number four will meet Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena, who broke local hearts by ending the run of wildcard entry Jang Su-Jeong 6-0, 6-4.

The third quarter-final also saw the end of an impressive run by veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, who will celebrate her 43rd birthday later this month.

Krumm, who had claimed the scalp

of second-seed Maria Kirilenko to reach the quarter-final stage, took that form into her match with Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, winning the first set 6-4.

But the former French Open champion hit back to take the next two sets 6-4, 6-4.

“It was very tough,” Schiavone said. “Date was really strong and she deserved to win the first set, but fortunately I managed to get back in the match.”

The Italian will meet third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semis after the Russian comfortably saw off Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-2, 6-2.l

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh, a cancer survivor, during a cancer awareness programme organised

by Indian Cancer Society in Bengaluru yesterday AP

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Japanese tourist injured in JamaatShibir’s violence n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Japanese tourist was injured as Jamaat-Shibir men allegedly hurled brick chips at a moving Chittagong-bound inter-district bus at Keranirhat area of Satkania upazila, Chittagong early yesterday.

The injured, Shiho Nishiyama, 31, came in Bangladesh on September 5, was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital in critical condition, said Nayek Abul Bashar of CMCH police outpost.

Police said some people hurled bricks targeting a bus of Hanif Enterprise, coming from Cox’ Bazar to Chittagong around 12:30am while a brick hit Shiho’s eye. Later, he was rushed to CMCH around 1:30am.

Abdul Latif, officer-in-charge of Satkania police station, said Jamaat-Shibir men vandalised several vehicles on Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway on Thursday night but he could not confirm that Shiho was injured in this incident.

“I heard about the injury of the Japanese tourist,” he said.

Niku Barua, vice president of a Japanese company in the port city, took Shiho’s responsibility and he would contact the victim’s family.

Shiho’s eye was critically injured. If needed, he would be rushed to Dhaka, said Niku Barua. l

Back Page

PM reaffirms Dhaka’s pledge for global peace n Tribune Desk

MOTHER UNDAUNTED

Rozina Begum, physically challenged since birth, roams the city streets in an improvised tricycle along with her three children as she cannot leave them alone at home. Abandoned by her husband, she has to ask for help from passers-by and shops to maintain her family. The photo was taken at Dhanmondi yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Government adamant on Rampal power plant Its explanation on ecological protection fails to convince conservationists

n Aminur Rahman Rasel The confrontation between the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports and the government over the proposed Rampal coal-based power plant looks set to reach a tipping point as the environmentalists prepare for a long-march towards the location.

An India-Bangladesh joint venture, the power plant project in Bagerhat’s falls in the vicinity of the Sundarbans, the world’s one of the largest Mangrove forests and a Unesco world heritage site.

The National Committee – a public platform, is preparing to hold its scheduled long-march from Dhaka to Rampal on September 24-28, demanding relocation of the proposed 1,320MW plant, as it would slowly destroy the already-vulnerable forest.

On the other hand, the government maintains that the project will not affect the ecology and biodiversity of the Sundarbans and its vicinity, and is adamant to begin the main construction as early as next month.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also in charge of the energy and power ministry, likely to inaugurate the project in the first week of October.

“They (the National Committee) should not hold the long-march bearing in mind the interest of the country. The government will act seriously if destructive activities are carried out in the name of long-march,” State Minister for Power and Energy Muhammed Enamul Huq told the Dhaka Tribune.

“Considering the ground reality of nagging power crisis, electricity production needs to be increased urgently,” he said.

However, Prof Anu Muhammad, a teacher of economics at the Jahangirnagar University and member secretary of the committee, told the

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Dhaka Tribune that they would enforce the long-march at any cost.

“The government cannot resist the programme.”

He demanded that the government shift the plant away from the Sundarbans area, and relocate it at anywhere else in the country. He, however, would not suggest any alternative location.

When asked about other coal-based the power plant to be set up at Moheshkhali Island, he said: “We have no objection to the site.”

Bangladesh and Malaysia is set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a 1320MW joint venture coal-fired power plant on equal share basis at Moheshkhali Island in Cox’s Bazar district.

The committee is supported by rights activists, environmentalists, professionals and students under the banner of National Committee to Protect the Sundarbans, which was formed in July and is headed by rights advocate Sultana Kamal.

The Rampal project was initiated back in 2010 during the prime minister’s visit to India.

Till now, military-run, BDP Limited has completed 90% of the land filling job at the main construction site at the 1,834-acre project area, which lies beside the Pashur River – a sanctuary of rare sweet water dolphins.

Defending the project, the government high-ups including the Department of Environment (DoE) have been maintaining that they will use all the latest technologies and good-quality coal while spending a lot for environmental management. Indian stateowned National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) will build and operate the plant.

The Power Development Board claims they will take adequate measures to cut emission of hazardous

carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and other gases, fine particles and fly ash, and will properly dispose the solid and liquid waste.

However, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, approved recently by the DoE elaborated on many adverse impacts of the project.

According to the document, the project area is in Shapmari, Katakhali and Koigordashkathi in Hurka and Gourambha union of Rampal – about 14km north eastwards from the Nalian Range of the Sundarbans.

The protesters rejected the EIA, terming it “unclear, inconsistent and having untrue statements and measurements.” They also rejected the EIA at a public hearing held in April.

Bangladesh and India on April 21 this year signed three agreements regarding the project which may start power production in 2017.

Earlier, the two state agencies signed a joint venture agreement on January 29 last year. Pankaj Saran, the Indian high commissioner in Bangladesh recently claimed that the project would not harm the Sundarbans.

Meanwhile, local administration has recently imposed a “ban on gathering” after the National Committee to Protect the Sundarbans and the local Awami League announced rallies in Rampal against and in favour of the project respectively.

The committee leader Anu Muhammad said: “The government is destroying an immense national potential by signing a contract against the national interest in the Bay while it is not producing electricity using the available gas.”

“At the same time, the government is destroying one of the world’s largest mangrove forests in the name of producing electricity.” l

Floating school educates haor children n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj “Shikkha Tori”, or boats of education, operating under the Brac Education Programme, are providing primary education to children in the Haor areas of Kishoreganj, who do not have any government primary schools nearby.

The boat education program, which inaugurated on September 5 last year in Kishoreganj, allows children of the Haor areas to avail lessons provided by skilled teachers.

Operating on the water bodies of Itna, Mithamain, Astagram, Nikli and

house. Now I am very happy with the other children of our village, who are also going to the floating school.

“This is really a beacon of hope for us, as means of communication in the area are complicated and government primary schools are so far for the local children,” he added.

Gita Ranee Das, a teacher of the boat school in Baksai, said the school starts from 9am and continues till 1pm, adding that the students are very happy taking their lessons.

Ramananda Das, former chairman of Dhanpur union in Itna upazila, said:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Bangladesh would continue to contribute actively to international peace by advocating for the renunciation of the use of force and for universal and complete disarmament as enshrined in the Constitution.

“A democratic, inclusive and participatory environment is absolutely critical for peace to prevail in any society,” she said in a message on the occasion of International Day of Peace.

At the same time, Sheikh Hasina said, there needs to be sustained investment in peace, tolerance and harmony by promoting quality and transformative education and a sound cultural orientation.

“I, therefore, find the theme - ‘Education for Peace’ - to be of utmost relevance for the observance of this year’s International Day of Peace.”

She said all must think of recalibrating traditional education methods towards promoting cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, and should also use social media and other education tools to propagate a culture of peace and non-violence among children.

“It is, therefore, of paramount importance to understand what afflicts our people, especially our youths, and to try to feel their needs and aspirations with empathy,” Hasina said in her message.

The prime minister said they continue to be inspired by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who firmly believed in democratic rights and social justice as the cornerstone for building a peaceful world.

In the days to come, the Prime Minister said, Bangladesh shall continue to remain on the side of any initiative to promoting peace as a fundamental premise for our pursuit of sustainable development in the post-2015 scenario.

“Our enduring commitment to global peace has been best exemplified through the ‘People’s Empowerment and Development’ model that I proposed to the UN in 2011, leading to its adoption by a consensus by the comity of nations last year.”

The prime minister reaffirmed, on behalf of the government and the people of Bangladesh, her unwavering commitment to peace and security across the globe. “This is indeed an occasion to renew and redeem our pledge to ensure a stable and peaceful world, as envisioned by the UN Charter.” l

UNFPA clarification

Karimganj upazilas of the district, the boats travel through the Haor areas from village to village, offering children their first lessons.

Md Ashraf Ali, the senior area manager of Brac Education Programme, said 38 education boats are now berthed at 38 villages, where 52 classes are being taken including double-shift classes in five upazilas.

Subrata, a 10-year-old boy of Baksai village in Itna upazila who studies at one of the floating schools, said: “I asked my father to send me to school but he could not, as there is no primary school within four kilometers of our

“It is a blessing for us. We have been urging the government for long to set up a school in the area, but nobody did so in this remote Haor area. As a result, scores of children remained without primary education every year.”

The boat education program was launched in Kishoreganj with 12 boats, each providing education to 30 children between the ages of eight and ten.

The large-sized boats are welldecorated with blackboards, various charts, and different education accessories, while students take their lessons sitting on mats in a disciplined manner. l

The UNFPA office in Bangladesh yesterday gave a clarification on a report titled “UNFPA for gay rights in Bangladesh” published in the Dhaka Tribune.

In a press release, UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh Argentina Matavel Piccin said the statements in the report “constitute a misrepresentation of UNFPA’s position” as the UNFPA office in Bangladesh has never voiced or written such pronouncements.

The UNFPA stands for the basic rights of all people, including those in Bangladesh, and of all population groups, she said. “Member States of the United Nations, including Bangladesh, decide whether and when to become signatories of the different Treaties and Conventions that enshrine these universal Human Rights.”

In assisting the national delegation representing Bangladesh at the Sixth Asian and Pacific Population Conference in Bangkok, the UNFPA provided information highlighting some of the areas on which the member states have had differing views in the past, and noted the importance of having a clear government position prior to the conference, she added. l

France charges Rwandan doctor over genocide “supervised witness” on the more serious n AFP, Paris charges of committing genocide and of comFrench judges have charged a Rwandan doctor for planning to “commit the crime of genocide” in 1994, a judicial source said, after Kigali issued an international warrant against him.

Eugene Rwamucyo is wanted by Kigali for having allegedly planned and carried out atrocities in the Butare region of southern Rwanda, but in 2010, a French court rejected a request to extradite him.

After probing the accusations, judges in Paris whose job it is to investigate crimes against humanity decided to charge Rwamucyo with “involvement in an agreement with a view of committing the crime of genocide”, said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

But they placed him under the status of

plicity, the source added.

The status of “supervised witness” means that Rwamucyo can be interviewed under caution and could face further questions -and possibly charges -- at a later stage.

“The fact that my client was placed under the status of supervised witness, and not under formal investigation, for ‘genocide’ shows the judges have doubts on this case and on the complaint that was made against him,” his lawyer Philippe Meilhac said.

The doctor is the subject of a complaint filed by the families of genocide victims for crimes against humanity.

Rwamucyo, who is in his 50s, lives in Belgium and used to work as a doctor in a hospital in the northern French city of Maubeuge. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed at Romask Limited, 184, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1215. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com