13 April, 2016

SECOND EDITION

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

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Chaitra 30, 1422, Rajab 5, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 358

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

No Ilish in PM’s Pohela Boishakh menu n UNB

Two parents explain to their children the stories depicted in the newly painted murals on a wall of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Dhaka University yesterday. Drawing inspiration from Bangla folklore, fine arts students painted the murals in preparation for Pohela Boishakh celebrations tomorrow SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Biometric SIM registration legal n Tribune Desk The High Court yesterday declared the ongoing biometric SIM registration with fingerprints legal.

An HC bench of Justice Sayed Mohammad Dastagir Hossain and Justice AKM Shahidur Rahman gave the verdict, rejecting a writ petition that challenged the legality of collecting fingerprints of mobile phone users in the process.

The court also ordered the country’s mobile phone operators to ensure secrecy of the information collected by them for the purpose, reports the Bangla Tribune.

Additional Attorney General Murad Reza, Barrister Khandaker Reza E Raquib, and Barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain represented the

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Missing Shohag home after 16 days TONU MURDER CASE Hasan and n Kamrul Mohiuddin Molla in Comilla After staying missing for 16 days, Mizanur Rahman Shohag – the friend of Tonu’s brother – has turned up in a safe but disoriented state near his home in Comilla’s Narayansar village.

Shohag said he had no clue about where he had been kept during this time as his captors blindfolded him as soon as he was picked up and put in a microbus.

The local police, who were unable to locate Shohag during this time, said they still had no clue about where the 21-year-old had been held captive. They also did not speak to Shohag since his return.

A week after Sohagi Jahan Tonu had been killed, men identifying themselves as law enforcers picked up Shohag from his home.

“My arms and legs were tied and I was kept in a room. They would untie one hand during meals.

There were several people in the room but I could neither identify them nor the place,” Shohag said at his house yesterday.

“I did not commit any sin, so I was able to return [home]. Allah has kept me alive,” he added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has decided not to include Ilish in her menu for celebrating Pohela Boishakh this time, aiming to save the national fish during its breeding season.

According to a press release signed by PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim, the prime minister’s Pohela Boishakh menu has Khichuri, brinjal fry and chicken curry.

Currently, a ban on catching Ilish is in place for its breeding season.

To ensure safe spawning of fish and increase fish resources, a twomonth official ban on fishing took effect in five major rivers of six districts in the country’s southern region from March 1.

The ban covers around 340km area in Meghna, Tentulia, Bishkhali and Padma rivers at Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barguna, Munshiganj, Chandpur and Lakshmipur.

The government declared the areas as fish sanctuaries in 2006. l

RCBC found BB requests normal priority n Tribune Desk

Md Selim, Shohag’s paternal uncle, said he was returning from Fazr prayers when he found Shohag near Nazirabazar filling station. Shohag was neither tied up or blindfolded at the time, the uncle said.

“I called his name repeatedly but he did not react at all. Finally, when I hugged him he showed a little movement and could only say Kaka [uncle],” Selim added.

Khaleda Akhter, Shohag’s elder sister, said Shohag returned home wearing the same lungi he was wearing when he was picked up. “Shohag did not say anything about where he was. He just told us that he was fine and that he had to eat properly.”

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) of the Philippines has said that they could have immediately held the stolen $81 million if only the Bangladesh Bank sent “high priority messages’’ instead of “stop payment requests,” reports ABS-CBN News.

Macel Estavillo, head of legal and regulatory affairs of the RCBC, claimed that although Bangladesh Bank had sent three requests to freeze accounts of beneficiaries on February 9, the messages were “vague” and “ambiguous.”

Estavillo said the RCBC could have reacted promptly if it received an MT192, the code for a request for cancellation or stop payment order.

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Vehicle restriction on DU campus

Hill people celebrating Boisabi Utsab

Tulip introduces her daughter

Vehicles without Dhaka University sticker will not be allowed to enter the campus area until 8pm on Pohela Boishakh.  PAGE 3

Indigenous people yesterday began celebrating Boishabi Utsab, the largest festival for indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.  PAGE 8

Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, niece of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has uploaded a picture of her newborn daughter to her Facebook page.  PAGE 32

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Biometric SIM registration legal government in the hearing.

On Sunday, the court fixed the date following the final hearing on the writ petition to declare its stance. A lawyer filed the petition on March 9 which was heard by the HC bench on March 14. After primary hearing, the court issued a ruling asking the government as to why collecting biometric information of subscribers through a third party, the telecom operators, will not be declared illegal.

The law secretary, Election Commission, the telecom secretary, the BTRC chairman and the chief ex-

ecutive officers of Grameenphone, Robi Axiata Ltd, Airtel Bangladesh Ltd, Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd, Pacific Bangladesh Ltd, and Orascom Bangladesh Ltd were made the respondents to the ruling. They were asked to come up with explanations within a week.

The court held the hearing on the ruling on April 3 and 10.

The petition mentioned that collecting such private information of citizens by the mobile companies was not safe for people.

Except Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd, the owners of five mobile operators

are foreigners. So, there is a high risk of the collected information getting leaked out by them and it can cause a great loss to the people and the country.

The move would create a high risk if national and international criminal organisations, networks or syndicates get access to the database.

Collecting such information through biometric SIM registration should be stopped immediately, he said.

The government launched the mandatory biometric SIM/RIM registration on December 16 last year.

All biometric SIM registration

processes must be completed by April, or else, mobile operators have to face a $50 penalty against each unverified SIM, a BTRC official told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

According to the latest data from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, there are 131.4 million active mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh.

Ekram Kabir, vice-president (communications and corporate responsibility) of Robi said: “We welcome wholeheartedly the High Court verdict on biometric SIM card registration. After this verdict

the process of biometric SIM card registration will expedite.”

He said he hoped that those who had not registered their SIM cards yet would complete it by April 30.

Sayed Talat Kamal, head of the external communication of Grameenphone, said: “We expect to see a rise in the number of subscribers coming to re-register their SIMs as the High Court has declared biometric SIM re-registration legal. We strictly maintain that Grameenphone does not store any fingerprints on its own system and that the identity of the subscriber is always protected.” l

were close to Tonu.

The investigation officer of the case, CID Inspector Gazi Mohammad Ibrahim, expressed his hopes of reaching a breakthrough in the case soon.

Asked about when the report of the second autopsy was due, he quoted doctors as saying that more time would be needed.

Seeking anonymity, a source close to the investigation, however, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had doubts whether the second autopsy would be of any use.

Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a sec-

ond-year history student of Comilla Victoria Government College and cultural activist, was found murdered near her residence inside the cantonment area on March 20. Her father Yaar Hossain, an office assistant of the Cantonment Board, filed a case with Kotwali police the next day without naming anyone.

Investigators have so far failed to make any breakthrough. The Detective Branch of police was put in charge of the case on March 25, but the case was handed over to the CID the following day. l

mal priority” message, pertaining to the account of Michael Francisco Cruz, was read by the RCBC head office at 2:41pm.

She said that the message from Bangladesh Bank on February 10 read: “Please be informed that this is a fraudulent transaction and unauthorised access in our SWIFT system. So you are requested to stop the payment and if you have already made the payment, then freeze the account of beneficiary.”

Estavillo said that the message sent on February 10 was more direct compared to the messages sent on February 9, which she said “used very vague terms.”

“Perhaps it was also not clear to them what had happened on February 9, because it was not clear based on their emails sent. We have received many stop payment orders but never as ambiguous as these messages,” she said.

Estavillo stressed that because Go’s account was a private account, the RCBC did not have any authority to freeze the account and stop the withdrawal.

She also noted that the branch manager at RCBC Jupiter, Maia Santos-Deguito, could have also alerted the head office, but decided to push through with the transactions.

“Maia Deguito, when she received the first of these messages, rushed to expedite the withdraw-

als as well. At the end of it, she said, it is better for her to expedite than to have herself and her family killed. It is in that context that even if she received the freeze orders, she still continued to withdraw about $16 million afterwards,” said Estavillo.

Deguito is facing money-laundering charges filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Estavillo believes the Anti-Money Laundering Act should be amended to give banks “holding power” in questionable transactions.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla said that the RCBC may face a maximum fine of P30,000 (or around $651) per day or per transaction for failing to act on the order.

Aside from the monetary penalties, Espenilla said that the BSP may also impose non-monetary sanctions if the bank is found guilty of negligence.

Bangladesh Bank filed a case against unknown persons over the $101m scam on March 15, nearly 40 days after the money kept with the Federal Bank of New York was transferred to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

The Criminal Investigation Department of police is investigating the sensational case. l

Missing Shohag home after 16 days Shohag’s father Nurul Islam said some plainclothes men had identified themselves as law enforcers and picked up his son from the house on March 27.

“My son organised a protest in the locality against the killing of Tonu. I think this is why RAB picked him up,” he added.

Shohag’s mother Shahida Akhter said she was happy having her son back and had no complaints.

Tonu’s brother Anwar, who studied with Shohag at Kalakchua Kazim Uddin Khondokar High

School, said he was happy that Shohag was back home. Anwar said he often chatted with Shohag and received driving training from him.

Burichang police station Officerin-Charge Uttam Kumar Barua said they have been informed of the matter and police would visit Shohag’s residence soon.

However, as of filing of this report at 9pm, no law enforcers visited Shohag’s family yesterday.

Asked about the whereabouts of Shohag in the past 16 days, OC Barua said the police were clue-

less, and also did not know how he reached Nazirabazar – which has a police outpost in the area.

Shohag went missing as protests against Tonu’s death were at its peak. Many of the protesters told the Dhaka Tribune that they stopped joining demonstrations soon after, fearing that they would also be detained.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department yesterday interrogated several members of the Comilla Victoria Government College theatre, especially those who

RCBC found BB requests normal priority “In the case of the Bangladesh Bank, they did not send us any high priority message, they did not send us any stop payment order. They just sent us an unauthenticated free format message or a 999,” Estavillo told senators at the Senate Blue Ribbon investigation on the money laundering scandal.

Estavillo said that on February 9, the banking day after a threeday-long weekend, the RCBC received a total of 790 messages in the SWIFT system, but none of which was an MT192.

SWIFT, or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, is the messaging system used by banks worldwide to transmit funds.

Because there were no apparent red flags, Estavillo said all messages were deemed of “normal priority” and were thus opened sequentially.

She said that at 11:22am on February 9, the bank’s settlements department opened and read an MT999, or a bank-to-bank text message, recalling funds sent to the account of a certain “Alfred Santos Vergara.” The account was later discovered by the RCBC to be fictitious.

The MT999 was forwarded to the RCBC Jupiter, Makati branch.

Estavillo said the “normal priority” message from Bangladesh Bank read: “Please be informed

that this is a doubtful transaction.

You are requested to stop the payment and if you already made payment then freeze the account of the beneficiary for proper investigation. We think the transaction is contradictory with the anti-money laundering law.”

However, Estavillo said that three minutes earlier at 11:19am, $19.95 million was already transferred to the supposed account of William Go, which was also discovered later to be an unauthorised account.

Estavillo said a similar recall message from Bangladesh Bank was read by the settlements department at 11:25am in relation to the “Enrico Teodoro Vasquez” account. It was also sent to the RCBC Jupiter branch.

But, Estavillo said, at 10:24am, $15.216m from the Vasquez account was already transferred to another account. She said that the receiving account refused to sign a waiver, and therefore hinders the RCBC from discussing details of the transaction.

At 11:34am, or nine minutes after the message from Bangladesh Bank was received, another transfer from the Vasquez account, this time to Go’s account, was made for $9.76m.

The third freeze order request from Bangladesh was read at 11:30am on February 9 pertaining

to the account of a certain Christopher Lagrosas. But Estavillo said that the transfer of funds of $22.7m was already made from the Lagrosas account to Go’s account on February 5 at 3:16pm.

Another transfer of $7.23m was made to Go’s account five minutes after the bank read the freeze order request at 11:35am.

According to Estavillo, there was nothing to indicate that the messages were sent by the central bank of Bangladesh. “We didn’t know that they were the central bank of Bangladesh, we just thought they were a regular bank,” she said.

However, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officer for SWIFT messaging, Nenita Cadapan, said that RCBC should have opened the messages from Bangladesh Bank, regardless of the priority format.

Cadapan said because the RCBC and Bangladesh Bank have no relations, the latter could not send an MT192.

“The best option for Bangladesh Bank is to send free format messages, which is what it did … But this doesn’t mean messages from Bangladesh Bank are less persuasive.

[RCBC] should check it,” she said.

February 10 message Estavillo said that alarm bells rang on February 10, when the wording of the message from Bangladesh became clearer. The “nor-

POHELA BOISHAKH

No vehicles without DU stickers can enter campus n Arif Ahmed DMP Commissioner Md Asaduzzaman Mia has said vehicles without the Dhaka University sticker will not be allowed to enter the campus area until 8pm on the day of Pohela Boishakh.

The statement was made in a press briefing at TSC in the

campus yesterday afternoon.

The DMP commissioner also said the highest level of security measures had been taken to ensure a hassle-free celebration on the occasion.

A group of youths assaulted and sexually harassed a number of women at Suhrawardy Udyan gate during last year’s Pohela

Boishakh.

The biggest cultural festival celebrated by Bangalis was tainted by the incident.

It sparked a wave of protest throughout the country with people from all quarters including DU students’ organisations condemning the occurrence and demanding immediate arrest of the culprits. l

Sultana Kamal criticises restrictions n Tribune Desk Rights activist Sultana Kamal has demanded withdrawal of the restrictions imposed by the police for the first day of Bangla new year on security grounds.

From a press conference held yesterday at the National Press Club, she alleged that the government had given in to the threats of the radical Islamists and communal forces. Nari Nirapotta Jote organised the event where Farah Kabir and Selina Ahmed were also present among others.

“It is a fulsome step. On the other hand, the government is patronising the criminals by taking various steps

against the freethinkers,” Sultana, also a former caretaker government adviser, said, adding that everyone’s rights have been compromised for the threats of some criminals.

She demanded that the government lift the ban on gatherings in open spaces after 5pm, ensure safety of men and women in public places, take the issue of women’s safety seriously and bring to book the perpetrators of violence against women.

Also executive director of rights group Ain o Salish Kendra, Sultana alleged that the government was reluctant towards the persistent incidents of torture of women, rape and

anti-women activities.

“Rather the women are asked consistently to take care of themselves, hide themselves in a way that their female entity is not exposed. By imposing the ban, the police have hinted that the state will not shoulder responsibility for anything that may happen after 5pm. The culture of terrorising people has been supported through such step,” she added.

Her statement comes at a time when radical Islamist platform Hefazat-e-Islam and some other religion-based political parties have taken stance against the observance of Pohela Boishakh terming it anti-Islam. l

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CNG owners demand Former VP of AB Bank gets life n a price reduction Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

n

Aminur Rahman Rasel

The Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association has demanded the reduction of the price of CNG to lower the ever increasing air pollution in Dhaka, as well as across the country.

The association raised the demand after the government considered reducing the price of fuel oil in three phases.

Terming the goverment’s decision to cut fuel oil price a disaster for the CNG sector, Farhan Noor, general secretary of Bangladesh CNG filling station association, said the government’s move would lead to anarchy in the transport sector.

“It would also bring down the Tk6,000 crore investment in the CNG sector towards a disaster,” he said.

Farhan was addressing a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) arranged by the association. Other leaders of the organisation, including its Vice President Manoranjan Bhakta and Finance Secretary A K M Alamgir Khan, were present on the occasion.

“A total of 590 CNG stations

have been set up, following the government’s decision to reduce air pollution in Dhaka city through the use of natural gas in motor vehicles. The CNG sector consumes only 5% of the total gas use while it pays 22% of revenue to the national exchequer,” said Farhan Farhan said the government regularly increases the cost of CNG whenever petroleum prices are raised, keeping at least a 50% difference between the rates of the two fuels. If the price of CNG is heightened and liquid fuel is lowered, the gap will grow very narrow, causing the owners of motor vehicles to refrain from the use of CNG. The association convened a general meeting on April 23 to discuss the overall situation and make a decision depending on the government’s future steps.

Masud Khan, the president of the association, read out a written statement: “We humbly appeal to the government, especially Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to consider our demand for the sake of the sector which was launched during her government’s previous tenure in 2002,” l

Lt Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman, principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division, addresses an event at the IUB campus yesterday

IUB holds talk on ethnocentrism n Tribune Desk The School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) organised a talk on ethnocentrism, strategic culture and leadership language yesterday.

Lt Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman, principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division, was the keynote speaker at the event IUB Campus in Bashundhara.

IUB Vice-Chancellor Prof M Omar Rahman delivered the welcome remarks. Among others, IUB Board of Trustees Chairman Rashed Chowdhury, and Chittagong Independent University’s Board of Trustees Chairman Towhid Samad also spoke on the occasion.

The lecture was followed by a question-answer session attended by university trustees members of the faculty and the management and students. l

A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced former vice-president of AB Bank Shibli Sadek Chowdhury and his wife Kamrunnesa Chowdhury to lifetime imprisonment in a case filed for embezzling Tk6.74 crore.

Special Judge Court 10 Jalal Uddin

Ahmed delivered the verdict in presence of the accused. However, his wife has been on the run. The court also ordered the couple to deposit Tk67,493,297 misappropriated during the period 2008 to 2012, to the Pragati Sarani branch of the bank.

The court, however, acquitted Shibli’s brother-in-law Abdul Naser

and Shibli’s girlfriend Shahnaj Parveen as the allegations brought against them could not be proved.

According to the case document, Shibli Sadek Chowdhury embezzled the amount from the branch through loan sanction, money and cheque transfer against 17 clients, including his wife, brother-in-law and girlfriend. l

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BNP: GDP forecast unrealistic n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Terming the GDP estimation unrealistic, the BNP has alleged that government put pressure on the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistic to announce that the GDP would stand at 7.05% in the current fiscal year.

“According to the BBS estimate, the GDP growth will stand at 7.05% for 2015-16 fiscal year. But the World Bank says it will be 6.5% while the Asian Development Bank observes it will be 6.7%,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party, said at a press conference at the party chief’s Gulshan office yesterday.

He thinks the 7.05% GDP growth is not achievable because of undemocratic situation, social chaos, deterioration of law and order, and blanket corruption at all levels.

“Actually their [BBS] claim is not

The BBS hurriedly made its estimate on the GDP growth this year under the pressure of the government. “The country’s indicators of macro economy are not that much encouraging.”

Fakhrul said that the GDP growth projection increased as the salaries of public servants had almost been doubled this year. He said: “But it is a one-time rise. It can be labelled as true public welfare only by increasing salaries and related expenses. Most of the economic indicators that influence the GDP growth are not satisfactory.

“It is nothing but a statistical surprise of the government. As part of its evil plan to cling to power, we think that the government is making people puzzled with false statistics.

We ask people not to get confused by such amiable statistics as you know it very well how you are.” l

for the fiscal year 2015-16, up from 6.55% in the last fiscal year.

The BNP secretary general claimed that the BBS had published the data hurriedly.

true. When the BNP was in power the GDP was 6.7% in 2005-06 fiscal year and it continued to stand at 7.06% in the 2006-07 fiscal year,” he said.

At that time, livestock, fisheries, mineral water, internet cable services and many other economic activities were not included in the GDP. “Had those sectors been calculated, the GDP growth would have been over 7.06% in 2006-07 fiscal year,” the former state minister added.

Recently, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters that Bangladesh broke its economic growth trap of 6% for the first time since independence as it has already crossed 7% in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

As per the provisional estimate of the BBS, taking nine months economic growth into account, the GDP growth will stand at 7.05%

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‘As part of its evil plan to cling to power, we think the government is puzzling people with false statistics’ “In the previous years, the GDP was calculated after getting information of nine months [from July to March]. All the information became available at the end of April.

But publishing the data hurriedly this time is motivated.”

RAB will have eye in the sky on Pohela Boishakh n Arifur Rahman Rabbi A Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) helicopter will prowl the sky of the capital on the Pohela Boishakh which falls on Thursday.

RAB Director General Benazir Ahmed yesterday said a three-tier security would be in place during the Bangla new year celebrations.

The helicopter will fly over Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Udyan, Dhanmondi Lake and other important places, he added.

Benazir said RAB had set up check posts at various points with RAB patrols throughout Dhaka.

Dogs, bomb disposal unit and plainclothesmen will also be in the field.

“We are coordinating with other intelligence agencies ... I would like to reassure the people that there is no reason to panic,” he added. l

ROOPPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Credit deal with Russia to be signed by this month Rahman Rasel n Aminur back from Rooppur Science and Technology Ministry Yafes Osman will sign a state credit deal of $11.385 billion with Russia to implement the country’s first-ever nuclear power plant project by this month.

Bangladesh and Russia have signed a general contract on December 25 last year for the construction and commissioning of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) in Pabna, at a cost of $12.65 billion.

According to the deal, Russia would provide 90% of the funds on credit at an interest rate of Libor plus 1.75%.

Bangladesh will have to pay back the loan in 28 years with a 10-year grace period.

Bangladesh Government will provide the rest 10% of the fund of the project.

“We hope that we will sign a credit deal of $11.385 billion to implement the Rooppur project this month,” Science and Technology Secretary Mohammad Sirajul Haque Khan told journalists during their visit to the Rooppur

plant site on Saturday.

Anwar Hossain, additional secretary of Science and Technology and Engineer M Ali Zulquarnain, Chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission were present during the visit.

Sirajul said that 80 percent of the physical work of the first phase of construction has already been completed and the rest will be completed by December this year.

He said power tariff from the plant will be Tk3.50. The RNPP will be constructed within a kilometre of the Lalon Shaha Bridge on the river Padma.

The project site falls under the Pakshi union, and the plant authority has acquired around 105.2 hectares of land.

RNPP Project Director Mohammad Shawkat Akbar said they are working in full swing to complete the 2,400MW nuclear power plant (first unit) to go into operation by 2023 and second unit by 2024.

He said his Russian counterparts will be liable for any nuclear safety related issues at the plant.

The decommissioning cost

TEMPERATURE FOREC AST FOR TODAY

DRY WEATHER WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

Dhaka

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of the project has been fixed at $1 billion, Shawkat said.

The government had earlier revised the initial design of the project considering the availability of water for cooling the nuclear reactors.

He said the first phase of work, that includes earth filling, the gate, site office construction, and the boundary wall, is nearing completion.

Russian technicians and experts are monitoring other activities, including weather observation for the project.

Several hundreds of workers are working in the project and the project is being run through the project monitoring task force.

An additional 323.8 hectares of land has been acquired for the additional project purposes.

Project officials said they are hopeful of completing the formalities within this year to start the project from August 2017.

The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, under the Science and Technology Ministry, will implement the Rooppur project. l

Chittagong

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Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:20PM

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Rangpur

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Khulna

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Barisal 40

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:38AM

39.6ºC Chuadanga

20.3ºC Syedpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

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PRAYER TIMES

Sylhet

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Cox’s Bazar

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Fajr: 4:20am | Zohr: 12:00pm Asr: 3:27pm | Magrib: 6:22pm Esha: 7:49pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

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Representatives of jute mill workers scuffle at secretariat

Chittagong veterinary university closed indefinitely

CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad vows to continue blockade amount were allocated for moddistribute the money among the state-run jute mill workers who n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong n Shohel Mamun, ernisation of jute mills and purworkers following the approval of have been observing agitation proHedait Hossain from Khulna

Representatives of jute mill workers yesterday scuffled among themselves at the secretariat in the capital over a meeting with textile and Jute minister.

After the scuffle, Sohrab Hossain, convener of the CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad, said they would continue their agitation programme until their problems would be solved.

Textile and Jute Minister M Emajuddin Pramanik, State Minister Mirza Azam and Secretary MA Quader held a meeting with the representatives of 18 state-owned jute mills that are not taking part in the strike.

The the minister urged leaders of the CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad, a platform of seven

‘Customers do not know where customer service is’ n Aminur Rahman Rasel State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid yesterday said 80% of the customers of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited and Dhaka Electric Supply Company don’t know where to get customer service as both companies run their customer service on a piecemeal basis.

Narsul made the remark while speaking as the chief guest during a programnme organised at Bidyut Bhaban on the occasion of DPDC receiving ISO 9001:2008 certification.

Brig Gen (Retd) Nazrul Islam, managing director of DPDC, Mohammad Hossain, director general of Power Cell, and Monowar Islam, secretary of the Power Division also spoke on the occasion.

Nasrul said: “You bill the customers and make profit, but it’s your duty to provide appropriate services to your customers.”

The state minister also said the power distribution companies do not have any unit for ensuring customer service.

Nasrul had sent some people over to the power distribution companies disguised as customers to check the condition of the customer services. “I also sent people to sub-station but the status of the customer service frustrated me,” he added. l

grammes since April 4, to take part in the meeting, but they refused to join the meeting.

When representatives of the 18 jute mills came out from the meeting around 5:30pm, they had engaged in altercation with leaders of Oikya Parishad. At one point, representatives of the both groups were engaged in scuffle.

State Minister Mirza Azam said Textile and Jute Minister M Emajuddin Pramanik would hold a meeting with leaders of CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad today.

While conducting the meeting with representatives of 18 jute mills, the minster urged jute mill workers to withdraw their movement and join work from today.

After the meeting, the junior minister said: “A process is on to

the Finance Ministry.”

Meanwhile, the protesting workers yesterday continued their roads and railways blockade to press home their five-point demand.

In the wake of the strike by Khulna jute mill employees, the government on Monday allocated Tk1,000 crore for 27 state-owned jute mills of the country.

The jute mill workers will get their due salaries before Pohela Boishakh, State Minister for Jute and Textile Mirza Azam told the reporters on Monday.

But leaders of jute mill workers said they would continue the strike until all of their demands were met by the government.

They said the government had allocated only Tk300 crores to pay dues of workers while rest of the

chasing law materials for the mills.

The demands of the workers include adequate allocation for the jute industry, payment of their arrears, formation of a wage board and stopping the move to privatise the state-owned jute mills.

Md Nasir, workers’ leader of Platinum Jute Mills, said: “Four months back Jute minister assured us that Jute Ministry would provide Tk570 crores to meet the demands of jute mill workers, but the ministry has yet to pay a single penny.”

The CBA and non-CBA Oikya Parishad of the seven jute mills – Crescent Jute Mills, Platinum Jute Mills, Khalispur Jute Mills, Star Jute Mills, Eastern Jute Mills, Jessore Jute Mills and Carpeting Jute Mills – enforced the strike on April 4. l

The authorities of Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) have shut down the university for an indefinite period following a scuffle between two groups of students over playing cricket.

Prof Dr Goutam Buddha Das, vice-chancellor of the university, took the decision after holding an emergency meeting yesterday afternoon.

Mirza Faruk Imam, registrar of the CVASU, told the Dhaka Tribune that some sort of misunderstanding had been created between two groups of students over playing cricket.

The male students were asked to leave the dormitories by 3pm yesterday while female students will have to leave the halls by 10am today. l

CHT people celebrating Boisabi Utsab amid fanfare

Indigenous girls are seen floating flowers in the stream of a river in Rangamati as a part of Boisabi celebration . The photo was taken yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Tribune Desk Indigenous people yesterday began celebrating Boishabi Utsab, the largest traditional festival for indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

Every year, the people of three hill districts Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban celebrate the festival from April 12 to 14 simultaneously, and the CHT takes on

a festive look on the occasion of Boisabi.

The word “Boisabi” is comprised of “Boi” from Boisuk of the Tripura, “sa” from Sangrai of the Marma, and “bi” from Bizu of the Chakma community.

The first day of the festival is called “Phulbiju,” the second day is “Mulbiju” and the third day, or first day of the Bangla New Year, is called “Gojya Pojya Din.”

Eight indigenous communities Chakma, Marma, Tangchangya, Tripura, Mro, Khumi, Khiyang and Chak celebrate the festival.

Marmas celebrate Bengali New Year by holding the “Sangrai water festival” where young boys and girls sprinkle water on each other.

Our Khagrachhari correspondent reports, as part of the celebration, wearing traditional dresses Chakma people including young

ladies in Khagrachhari released flowers in the river with a view to removing frustration, sorrows and pains of last year.

Civil society leader Dr Sudin Kumar Chakma said Chakma community’s people organized a three-day long programme to welcome the new-year calendar.

In Bandarban, a 5-day long festival for indigenous communities in the district began amid great enthusiasm and festivity.

A colourful rally was brought out in the morning. Hundreds of people including women and children, took part in the rally that paraded through the main roads of the hilly town. Participants were seen dancing and singing songs with great enthusiasm.

State Minister for Chittagong Hill District Council Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, MP joined the programme as chief guest.

Brigadier General Fakrul Islam and Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman were present among others.

In Rangamati, in the morning, the indigenous people released flowers in the Kaptai Lake amid great festivity.

Lawmaker Ushaton Talukdar inaugurated a function at Rajbarighat.

Rangamati Hill District Council Chairman Brishaketu Chakma wished the new year at Garzontolighat.

Prokriti Ranjan Chakma, convenor of Boisabi celebration committee, said: “By celebrating the utsab, we want to establish a peaceful and prosperous society.” l

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Feature

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

Pohela Boishakh security concerns

Photo: Mainoor Islam Manik

n Saker Saqib The Bengali New Year has always been a festive time but the celebration has grown in size in the past decade. This is particularly felt in Dhaka for a number of reasons, with the main reason being the swell in population. The metropolis has also shrunk up as more and more buildings are filling up whatever empty spaces remain around the capital.

This is probably due to the sporadic nature of attacks in Bangladesh. “Yeah, there were attacks. But I don’t feel really threatened,” said Auvee, a lawyer by profession. “I suppose it’s because terrorism hasn’t been a recurring problem in our country,” Auvee said.

When he was reminded that despite the randomness, terrorist attacks have been continuously present Auvee said he is very optimistic. “But it doesn’t feel

You get a good vibe about our country, you know. Crazy people did crazy things but I believe it’s never going to get a hold in this place This means that the traditional “mela” (fair) is more difficult to accommodate without the availability of fields and parks.

From the security perspective this is not good news. In the wake of recent terrorist attacks, Boishakh 2016 seems ominously placed at the end of a series of horrifying atrocities.

But people are still not quite as worried as one would imagine.

that way (that terrorist attacks occur regularly). You get a good vibe about our country, you know.

Crazy people did crazy things but I believe it’s never going to get a hold in this place,” he added reassuringly.

The Additional Commissioner (AC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Monirul Islam provided the same assurance during a press briefing on Wednesday (6 April).

“There are no security threats on the Pohela Boishakh,” Monirul Islam told journalists at the Media Centre of DMP. “The bomb incident happened before I started to go to Boishakh fairs but it didn’t really scare me all that much before. I think that is because I was too young to understand the magnitude of the situation,” Nahla, a college student who is appearing for her HSC exam this year, stated. “I am a little afraid now, to be honest, particularly after what happened at TSC,” she said. When asked if she will go anyway Nahla said that she would still go if it wasn’t during her exams.

AC Monirul informed the press that additional security measures are being taken to ensure safety during the first day of the New Year. In conjunction with deploying the usual extra boots on ground, the police have announced a few other security plans including a ban on masks.

Wearing masks has been banned on Pohela Boishakh for security reasons. Since last week, there have been some protests against the ban on masks but Monirul says that this is an unnecessary protest. “People don’t really put on the masks they just carry them,” he said. “This is mainly targeted at miscreants

trying to hide behind masks at gatherings,” he added.

The DMP have also imposed a time schedule that will have to be followed by people at the Ramna Botomul and Suhrawardy Udyan area. “The entry gates will be closed by 4pm and the programs outside (of Ramna and Suhrawardy park) will need to be wrapped up by 5pm,” Monirul Islam informed the media.

The authorities are also going to impose a ban on vuvuzela (a horn instrument) sold at fairs.

“The sound annoys people and it’s very loud,” Monirul told the media.

The deadly Ramna Batamul blast 16 years ago, where eight people died, still propels the security concerns and shapes the discussion around safety in Pohela Boishakh every year.

The Additional Commissioner’s assurance of a peaceful Bengali New Year probably resonates with a lot of people like Auvee, who go to Ramna and other places to celebrate. But just a few weeks ago the people detained from Kollyanpur in Dhaka were alleged to have been plotting violent attacks during Pohela Boishakh.

Monirul Islam said that some of the arrested militants had been planning to conduct subversive activities by dividing into small

groups. The question remains, how many of them are still out there?

As part of the security enhancement a large number of plainclothes intelligence officials and dog squads will be deployed during Pohela Boishakh events.

The obscene sexual assault last year at TSC added a whole new dimension to the security issue. Although many feel that the sexual assault and public groping has been a problem for a long time, it only came to the forefront of security concerns because of last year’s events. The Additional Commissioner assured that there will be a large number of female police personnel at crowded areas to prevent any such incident.

Monirul Islam also sought cooperation from all visitors and the general members of public.

A lot of people like Nahla and Auvee are trying to stay positive and even impervious in the face of potential threat in order to celebrate Pohela Boishakh like they have done before, as is evident from the growing size of the crowd at Ramna and elsewhere. However, it seems that these security concerns need to be addressed more fully to really be able to reassure the general public, as well as tighten security forces with a full proof plan. l

DT

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Feature

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

A day at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum

I

n Mahmood Sadi

t’s not an easy task to explore the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC on a single day, especially for a World War-II enthusiast like myself who have the scope to see all the models of the aircrafts used in the Second World War with all the information and simulated videos.

Interestingly on a cold winter morning, when I went to the Smithsonian Museum for the first time in my life, it was not the World War-II section which grabbed my interest; rather it was the space section.

It started with the ‘Moon stone’ There was a reason though.

The person who took me there (a relative of mine who lives in Maryland) told me that in winter, most of the establishments in Washington DC go under necessary repair or renovation as the pressure of visitors and other people is usually low in this season. I found repair work going on at the Capitol Hill as well as at Lincoln Memorial.

Repair work was underway inside Smithsonian Museum as well. That’s why the rush of visitors was low at that morning.

Besides, the temperature in Washington was way below -10 degree Celsius because of a blizzard which took place a day before.

My relative told me to take a tour at the ‘moon stone’ section.

It was a real stone which the Apollo-11 ship brought back from the moon. Apparently that moon stone section is like the Mona Lisa section of Louvre Museum where you always have the biggest rush

of visitors. But I was told that as the number of visitors was very low at that day, I might have a shot at touching the Moon Stone.

I went there and after waiting for five odd minutes, I touched the real moon stone. The stone was wedge shaped, flat and very smooth. The size was only three or four centimeters in length. It was so artificial and just like ordinary stones, very different from what I had imagined. Anyway the very thought of touching the moon gave me chill through my bone.

The space shuttle section Right by the side of ‘Moon Stone’ section, there was the gate of space shuttle section. I entered there and a world of wonder was waiting there for me. Whoever said the passion and curiosity for space has fallen to the wayside obviously hasn’t been to the Space shuttle section of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

The best part of the place is that there’s so much to see and immense amounts of history not just to witness but interact with and read up on. My relative and I patrolled through here at a relatively quick pace, and we were still there for almost four hours.

Art, tools, newspaper clippings and photography, including moon boots, space suits and even artifacts dating from the first spacewalks by Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov and American astronaut Edward White were available to see inside the space section.

Close-up artifacts include delicately preserved space suits, what the section terms as the “personal spacecraft,” from missions including Gemini IX-A and Apollo 17, demonstrating

how these items have changed over time to better accommodate pressure constraints in space as well as temperature shocks inside suits.

During the first spacewalk, Leonov’s suit nearly killed him as it unexpectedly ballooned during the excursion. Later on, during a 1966 Earth orbital mission, fog clouded Gene Cernan’s visor because his suit wasn’t cooling properly. Mastering both these malfunctions have been key for developing the suit and insuring the safety of astronauts in later missions. Astronauts now have a rotary knob that controls the internal temperature of their suits, a uniform that can withstand everything.

Crisp, enveloping visuals of space were also on display, as well as some of the progressively less bulky cameras that captured them, another physical embodiment of how much space travel and the tools used during trips have changed.

Training day for a space enthusiast I had learned several interesting facts from the displays there.

I had learned that to date, 211 individuals have had the privilege of doing a spacewalk. Some of these excursions have taken place during several Apollo missions to the moon and shuttle trips to painstakingly repair the Hubble Space Telescope and construct and maintain the International Space Station.

I was enthralled to see the lunar module of Apollo-11 with which Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin first went to the moon. However I remembered that the lower body of the lunar

module still remains in the moon surface and the upper part of the lunar module is orbiting in the space. I asked one of the museum staffs and she told me that it was a replica of the original lunar module.

The relatively newer collection at the space section was the space shuttle Discovery. I was overwhelmed to see that because I remembered that I read in the newspaper in 2011 that the discovery shuttle was handed over to the Smithsonian museum for display.

Discovery is one of the most celebrated space shuttles. It was the first of three orbiters retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet. Its final mission, STS-133, launched Feb. 24, 2011, and landed March 9.It completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles.

A number of Discovery’s missions were associated with technological and scientific achievements, including the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit in 1990 and the deployment of the Ulysses solar probe the same year.

Discovery was also the first space shuttle to visit the International Space Station and delivered its largest laboratory.

After roaming around the space section of the Smithsonian for more than five hours, I realised one thing that for an aviation and space enthusiast this place is the ‘Mecca’. I understood why the Air and Space Museum is USA’s most visited museum and second in the world only to Paris’ Louvre Museum. l (April 12 is celebrated as the International day of human space flight)

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Editorial 11

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13., 2016

INSIDE

Bangladesh needs its own Linux operating system It’s time for Bangladesh to join the open source revolution PAGE 12

American Quakers and Bangladesh’s struggle Through the narratives of Richard Taylor, Sultana Alam, and others, Blockade provides a moving insight on the power of non-violent resistance

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PAGE 13

Pro-active measures are the best approach to security

But what do the workers want?

Bangladeshis looking for work abroad are too exposed to trickery and exploitation

by Bangladesh-based official and unofficial labour agents and adam beparis PAGE 14

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

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

I

t is welcome to see the government and Dhaka Metropolitan Police taking extra advance security precautions ahead of tomorrow’s Pohela Boishakh celebrations.

A pro-active approach to improving security is the best way to ensure celebrations run smoothly and increase assurance for the public.

With Dhaka University as the focal point of national celebrations for the Bangla New Year, it is right that DMP has set up extra watch-towers and increased CCTV monitoring around Ramna, Shahbagh, and Suhrawardy Udyan.

Following the despicable sexual assaults on women in crowds near the TSC area last year, the public needs to see the government taking security concerns more seriously this year.

Vigilance during mass celebrations is essential to help deter and diminish the higher risk of crimes taking place during large public gatherings.

In the light of intelligence reports of militant groups plotting terrorist attacks on Pohela Boishakh, it is welcome that the DMP is deploying its SWAT unit to provide extra security for Mongol Shobhajatra, the traditional rally on the morning of the New Year.

The DMP’s move to encourage indoor celebrations in the evening by banning open air concerts and mass gatherings after 5pm appears to strike an appropriate balance between the need to protect the public without damaging the spirit of this joyous and important national celebration.

Experience from recent successful art and music festivals proves that sensible security measures can help large events run more smoothly and safely, without diminishing enjoyment for large numbers of attendees.

The measures being implemented are the right approach, ensuring a safe, vibrant, and relaxing celebration of Pohela Boishakh. Authorities need to ensure they take a similarly pro-active approach on all such occasions.

Preparation and vigilance is the best way to ensure celebrations run smoothly

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

Bangladesh needs its own Linux operating system It’s time for Bangladesh to join the open source revolution

Security is only one of the benefits of going open source

n Zeeshan Hasan

A

fter the Bangladesh Bank hacking, the media was full of questions as to how IT security could be

ensured.

Initially, the hacking was reported as the result of a “zeroday” exploit, which means it was possibly enabled by using pirated versions of Microsoft Windows on Bangladesh Bank computers, as pirated versions of MS software can’t receive security updates and are vulnerable to hacking.

In general, computers which have the latest security updates for the operating system have much better protection from zero-day exploits.

Other governments have actively been looking for ways to improve their IT security for years. China’s approach should be mentioned here: Since 2013, the Chinese Ministry of Information Technology has co-operated with Canonical Software in the UK, which produces the popular Ubuntu Linux free/open-source operating system (www.ubuntu. com).

The result of this partnership has been Ubuntu Kylin, which is a version of Linux with all the Chinese fonts, etc required for use by the Chinese government.

Ubuntu Kylin gives all Chinese government agencies the opportunity to use an operating

system which is free of MS licence fee costs, which run to hundreds of dollars for each copy of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office.

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most secure of 10 different operating systems which it evaluated (http://www.zdnet.com/article/ uks-security-branch-says-ubuntumost-secure-end-user-os/).

Ubuntu is ready to be used with only trivial modifications such as installing Bangla fonts and keyboards.

Fortunately, open source Bangla

Bangladesh should also produce its own national version of the Linux operating system. Doing so only requires simple customisation of the existing Ubuntu Linux operating system, which can be accomplished by a small team of developers

Free/open source software such as LibreOffice (www.libreoffice.org) replaces Microsoft alternatives such as Office. Of course, any Chinese computer user can also choose to use Ubuntu Kylin by downloading it, since it’s free.

The development and adoption of a free/open source national operating system has the potential to save a country billions of dollars in software purchase costs.

Using Linux also provides greater software security compared to pirated Microsoft products, as security updates are available regularly for Ubuntu Linux (but not for pirated MS products).

It’s worth noting that a UK government review in 2014 found Ubuntu Linux to be by default the

Given all the benefits described above, Bangladesh should also produce its own national version of the Linux operating system.

Doing so only requires simple customisation of the existing Ubuntu Linux operating system, which can be accomplished by a small team of developers.

Kazi Farms Group, which already runs almost entirely on Linux on over 1,000 desktops, is in the process of setting up an open source operating system research fellowship at Central Women’s University (which also runs exclusively on Linux).

For the average government or corporate computer user who only needs to browse the web and type office e-mails, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations,

fonts have already been developed by www.ekushey.org and others, and open source Bangla typing technology has also already been developed (https://github.com/ mugli/Avro-Keyboard).

If the Bangladesh government was to take a stance in favour of using Linux on all government PCs, an “official” Bangladeshi version of Ubuntu Linux could be developed in days and standardised in a matter of weeks (since all of the hard work has already been done by the Ubuntu Linux open source community and is available for free).

The best way to facilitate this development would be for the Ministry of Education to require that all computers in all computer science departments

across Bangladeshi educational institutions be migrated to Linux before the end of 2016.

Those computer science departments have plenty of talented professors and students who can help answer any initial difficulties in learning and implementing Linux on their computers.

Within 2016, all government IT staff should get Linux networking and system administration training. Once that is done, within 2017 the goal should be to migrate all government computers to Linux.

This would entail just a few hours of re-training the average user to use LibreOffice rather than MS Office. Once universities and the government build awareness of Linux and open source alternatives, the private sector is likely to abandon Microsoft software simply to avoid licensing costs and piracy-related lawsuits.

It will, in fact, be quite easy for Bangladesh to improve its IT infrastructure at almost no cost and join the free/open source software revolution which has already overtaken most of the world. It’s time for Bangladesh to get involved in creating its own digital future. l Zeeshan Hasan is a director of Kazi Media, the company behind Deepto TV. He is also the managing director of Sysnova.

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

American Quakers and Bangladesh’s struggle The unlikely story of how two groups joined forces and saved thousands of lives

n Nadia Afrin

A

lthough small in numbers, Quakers have played a pivotal role in American history. Time and again, they have risen up against persecution and violence.

They have fought for the abolition of slavery and run the Underground Railroad. They have struggled for the equal rights of women, and have promoted peace.

But what do Quakers have to do with Bangladesh’s independence struggle? The documentary Blockade tells the David-versusGoliath story of how Bangladeshi expats and Quaker peace activists came together in 1971. Together, they changed US policy and stopped military aid to Pakistan.

The Blockade story

In March 1971, news broke about the campaign of atrocities the Pakistan Army had unleashed on its Bengali counterparts in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). A young Bengali expat in the US, Sultana Alam, was filled with anguish as she followed the news from afar.

She couldn’t delight in the newborn she had just brought home. After all, the rest of her family was in Dhaka, living in the midst of an unspeakable horror.

Meanwhile, her adoptive country was not only turning a blind eye to the massacre of Bengalis, the Nixon-Kissinger administration was, in fact, secretly supplying the Pakistani dictatorship with arms and ammunition.

Sultana felt compelled to do something about it. She decided to go through the telephone directory

Blockade captures the story of how Bangladeshi expats (like Sultana) and Quaker peace activists joined forces to stop US military aid to Pakistan. Armed with just canoes and kayaks, they blockaded Pakistani freighters carrying ammunition.

In cities across the US, they organised peaceful demonstrations. The lobbyists among them put pressure on congress to ban military aid to Pakistan.

Together they kept stories about Bangladesh alive in the media till public opinion began to sway. In the process, they saved thousands of lives half way across the world.

Through the narratives of Richard Taylor, Sultana Alam, and others, Blockade provides a moving insight into the power of non-violent resistance. It recounts how young Americans from different faiths and backgrounds stood up against their government and coalesced to support the Bangladeshi cause.

Most of them had little prior knowledge of East Pakistan. Yet, many of them risked arrest and even death as they took on the freighters carrying ammunition.

The making of the documentary

The seeds of the documentary were planted in 2008. Arif Yousuf and his friends Mridul Chowdhury and Rashid Mamun Pallab read Richard Taylor’s book about the blockade movement. Arif was an IT specialist. He had no prior experience in film-making but had a keen eye for a good story.

Moved by Richard’s account, Arif and his friends decided to videotape interviews of several Blockade activists. This was no

Richard Taylor’s book made it possible to tell this story

Through the narratives of Richard Taylor, Sultana Alam, and others, Blockade provides a moving insight on the power of non-violent resistance. It recounts how young Americans from different faiths and backgrounds stood up against their government and coalesced to support the Bangladeshi cause

and make a hundred calls a day till a movement gelled. Eventually, she found allies in two young Quaker activists. Richard Taylor and Bill Moyer had been staff at Dr Martin Luther King’s civil rights organisation in the 1960s.

small task, given that the activists had long scattered.

They even tracked down Sultana Alam, who had ended up moving back to Bangladesh.

Over the next few years, Arif painstakingly collected Blockade-

related photographs, newspaper stories, and video clips from various news outlets and university archives.

After sitting on the footage for several months, he eventually teamed up with Washington DC-

based Tasbir Imam Shakkhar to edit the documentary. Shakkhar inherited his father’s film-making gene and was a self-taught jack-ofall-trades working on story-telling, video editing, animation, and sound.

Over the course of six years, numerous New York-DC trips, and countless Skype sessions, Arif and Shakkhar gradually pieced together a story from hours and hours of footage. A Californiabased musician, Sujan Bin Wadud, composed the score for the documentary.

The film-makers had day jobs and volunteered their time for this passion project. So there were times when the project stalled -- sometimes for months. Finally, after eight long years, the project

was completed in February 2016.

Since then, Blockade, the documentary has been screened in several US cities, including New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. A few of the Blockade activists, who are now in their 70s and 80s, attended the screenings and spoke to the audience.

One noteworthy screening was hosted by Philadephia’s Deputy Mayor Nina Ahmed on the occasion of Bangladesh’s Independence Day. In the months ahead, more screenings are planned in the US, Canada, as well as in Bangladesh. l Nadia Afrin is a Washington DC-based communications professional and the official “cha-wali” for the Blockade team.

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

But what do the workers want?

Migrant workers are willing to work hard in exchange for fair wages and decent working conditions

What about their rights?

Cox and n Simon Sumaiya Islam

B

angladeshis in Europe are invisible workers in the public space. Many of them are forced to remain invisible because they lack “legal papers.” Yet, they are very much part of the urban public spaces of Vienna, Rome, or Athens as streethawkers, in the service industries, or on farms.

They work to support themselves and families back home and to repay the enormous debt they have accrued just to get to Europe. Many are exploited by their employers.

More than 350,000 people born in Bangladesh live in Europe, according to data from Eurostat.

This week, Bangladeshi officials met to discuss this “situation” with their counterparts from the European Union -- the international organisation made up of 28 European states, including Germany, Greece, and Britain. EU says it wants to repatriate all workers without papers: “Irregular migrants.”

Bangladesh has asked the EU to change its rules so they can stay legally -- and keep working.

Southern European countries like Greece and Italy are often destination countries -- not mere transit points -- for Bangladeshi migrant workers. Thousands have lived, worked, and contributed to these societies for years.

The agricultural sectors of Europe rely on migrant workers. In Greece, local strawberry farmers depend on Bangladeshi workers to tend their crops. Often irregular migrants earn the local minimum wage of 22 Euros a day and live, sleep, and eat in the fields under

NASHIRUL ISLAM

crude shelters.

A month ago we met with dozens of these workers. They told us how three years ago, their employer had refused to pay them any of their wages, despite working for months. The Greek government and police did not help them.

When they protested, the employer shot at them, injuring many.

The employer was convicted, but still the workers have not been paid their wages. The appalling conditions in which they are forced to work remained largely unacknowledged. Now, 42 of these workers have taken their case to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that the employer’s treatment of them amounted to forced labour.

The case may push the government of Greece -- and those of other EU states -- to rethink labour engagement policies in the agricultural sector.

Bangladeshi and other Asian and African workers fill a gap in the European labour market.

Agricultural work is hard and low paid by EU standards. Picking strawberries is a back-breaking job. EU political leaders refuse to acknowledge their countries need and benefit from workers from outside of Europe. Instead, they maintain unrealistic immigration rules -- that fellow European employers ignore.

The lack of legal routes to work in Europe puts Bangladeshi workers into illegal immigration situations. Unscrupulous employers use this to scare workers with fear of arrest, detention, and deportation.

Some employers are keen to hire workers without residence status, hoping they can avoid higher wages and social benefits,

the worker has not been charged.

Bureaucracy must be kept to a minimum. Labour agents should be liable to the workers for any breach of promise by the employer. Labour attaches and Bangladeshi diplomats must prioritise the legal rights and needs of Bangladeshi workers and be held to account for inaction.

For a wide response that goes beyond the symptomatic, Bangladesh can start by establishing an investigative commission. This should be led by a retired Supreme Court justice and include migrant workers, trades unionists, academics, transnational legal experts, and migration experts.

The commission should be tasked with understanding the

Bangladeshis looking for work abroad are too exposed to trickery and exploitation by Bangladesh-based official and unofficial labour agents and adam beparis. Workers travelling legally to work in the Gulf or Malaysia are routinely ‘mis-sold’ the job, with inflated promises of pay and conditions and non-existent work contracts

and use the state to deport them if they protest. Employees know employers can exploit the “illegality” of their presence, but can be too afraid to demand their rights.

The Bangladeshi embassies are tasked with the promotion of labour migration and investment opportunities. Yet they fail to document violations by employers or to systematically respond to the growing injustice faced by Bangladeshi migrants.

Europe’s broken migration policy actually encourages recruitment and exploitation of irregular migrants. Human traffickers and labour agents feed off this market, charging high fees to bring Bangladeshis to Europe -- fees they must then work to pay off.

Deportation of workers cannot solve the problem, because it ignores the reality of Europe’s labour market -- and the ease with which the border can be crossed irregularly. Instead, the EU must change its approach in two ways.

First, it must open legal ways for people from Bangladesh and other Asian countries to do these jobs in Europe. A “lottery” like the US is one option. Second, the rights of migrant workers in Europe must be upheld, whatever their legal status. This is essential to end the cycle of illegality and

exploitation.

But this is more than a question of “migration management,” as it is often framed in Bangladesh.

Thousands of young, productive working class men are “willing” to take extraordinary risks to make desperate journeys (often lasting several months) across the Mediterranean Sea or the Bay of Bengal to find work so that they can support their families back home. This requires deeper reflection and response by the state and civil society.

Bangladesh must play its part by understanding the migratory aspirations of its populations, acknowledging the presence of transnational human trade networks in Bangladesh, and ensuring legal migration is fair and transparent for citizens.

Bangladeshis looking for work abroad are too exposed to trickery and exploitation by Bangladeshbased official and unofficial labour agents and adam beparis. Workers travelling legally to work in the Gulf or Malaysia are routinely “mis-sold” the job, with inflated promises of pay and conditions and non-existent work contracts.

Any deal with the EU must learn from these failures. Recruitment fees must be paid by the employer with independent verification that

migration routes, legal gaps, and the justice needs of the migrants at home and abroad. It must make clear recommendations of effective intervention strategies.

Bangladesh needs to provide more legal support to those workers who are bringing claims against employers, labour agents, and state actors and systematically track these cases to identify offenders. The EU should support this process as, in the long term, this benefits everyone involved.

The workers we met were willing to work hard to build better lives for themselves and their families. In return, they wanted a fair wage, to be paid on time, and decent working conditions. They wanted papers so they were not afraid of the police.

Bangladeshi workers make an important contribution to European and Bangladesh economies. The governments of Bangladesh and the EU should listen to workers, and change their rules to end exploitation and uncertainty. l Sumaiya Islam is a program manager with the Open Society Human Rights Initiative and the Open Society Justice Initiative. Simon Cox is the migration lawyer for the Open Society Justice Initiative.

DT

Business 15

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

INSIDE NARI training proposal goes to cabinet committee next week

A proposal to train and prepare 10,800 poor women from five Monga-affected districts in three years for garment sector jobs will be placed before cabinet committee on public purchase for approval next week. PAGE 16

Capital market snapshot: Tuesday DSE Broad Index

4,407.5

0.1% ▲

Index

1,067.3

0.2% ▲

30 Index

1,678.9

0.3% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

4,749.7

13.5% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

100.5 -10.3% ▼

CSE All Share Index 13,548.4

0.0% ▲

30 Index

0.7% ▲

Selected Index

12,443.4 8,233.0

0.0% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

243.4

-2.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

8.2

-8.7% ▼

IMF retains economic growth outlook for Bangladesh n Kayes Sohel The International Monetary Fund has also kept economic forecast for Bangladesh unchanged at 6.8% for this fiscal year after a same type of forecast by Asian Development Bank.

The IMF made in its latest World Economic Outlook released yesterday, that comes a day after the World Bank has downgraded this fiscal year’s outlook for Bangladesh’s economic growth to 6.3% from the 6.7% as forecasted in January.

However, the IMF’s projection is closer to the Asian Development Bank’s forecast of 6.7% and the government’s 7.05%. Recently, the government claimed that the GDP growth has already exceeded 7% in first nine months of the current fiscal year.

Retaining its last October forecast, IMF estimated the same GDP growth outlook for Bangladesh.

Rejecting the growth projec-

IMF economic growth forecasts by region 1.6 1.5 1.6 2.4 2.4 2.5

United States

2.5

3.1 3.5

Eurozone

Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved eight development projects worth Tk3,584 crore, including Jamalpur economic zone.

The Jamalpur economic zone will be established on 488 acres of land in Jamalpur Sadar at a cost of over Tk302 crore.

Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) will implement the project by 2017.

The approval came at the Ecnec meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the NEC conference room in the capital yesterday.

The Jamalpur economic zone will become an industrial hub to export light engineering, readymade garment, consumer goods and food items to northern-eastern states of India, said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal after the Ecnec meeting.

This is the second economic zone that got the Ecnec’s nod after Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone in September last year.

BEZA is expected to complete the project by this year to be set up on 774.25 acres of land at Anwara, Chittagong, at a cost of over Tk420 crore exclusively for the Chinese investors.

The above two economic zones are of the 17 economic zones proposed by the BEZA to be set up in the country, including three private zones, one in

Asian emerging and developing countries

Middle East North Africa Afghanistan and Pakistan

World

1.5 -0.1

-0.5 Latin America and the Caribbean

3.4

3

4

Sub-Saharan Africa

tion by the national agencies, particularity World Bank, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal firmly said the country must achieve more than 7% growth.

“Our agriculture and service sector showed strong growth, pushing up the economic growth.”

On the world’s overall economic outlook, the IMF cut its global growth forecast for the fourth time in the past year , citing Chi-

Narsingdi and two in Munshiganj.

The other 14 zones will be established in phases at Mirersari, Moulvibazar, Mongla, Sirajganj, Sreepur, Sabrang, Keraniganj, Narayanganj, Bhola, Ashuganj, Panchagarh, Narsingdi, Manikganj, Kushtia and Nilphamari.

Jamalpur economic zone will become an industrial hub to export light engineering, readymade garment, consumer goods and food items to northerneastern states of India

Of them, Sreepur economic zone like Anwara economic zone will remain exclusive for the Japanese investors.

The government plans to establish a total of 100 economic zones in the country by next 15 years.

If implemented, the projects would create employment opportunities for about 10 million people and produce exportable goods worth around US$40 billion each year.

Apart from Jamalpur economic

3.1

3.2

3.5

2015 2016* 2017* * Forecasts

Source: IMF

na’s slowdown, persistently low oil prices and chronic weakness in advanced economies.

The global economy is expected to grow 3.2% in 2016, only marginally ahead of 3.1% in 2015 and down 0.2 percentage point from the 3.4% forecast in January.

“Global growth continues, but at an increasingly disappointing pace that leaves the world economy more exposed to negative risks.

Ecnec approves Jamalpur economic zone n Kayes Sohel

6.6 6.4 6.3

GDP in percent

zone, the Ecnec also approved the National Agricultural Technology Programme-2nd Phase (NATP-2) with an estimated outlay of Tk1,878 crore aiming to improve the overall socioeconomic conditions of farmers.

The Planning Minister said: “Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Department of Fisheries and Department of Livestock Services will jointly implement the project in 270 upazilas of 57 districts by September 2021.”

The research activities under the project will be implemented through the participation of enlisted research organisations, universities and private organisations under the National Agricultural Research System through BARC. Kamal said over 28, 40,000 families of the farmers will be benefited from this project while it is also expected to help alleviate poverty once the project is implemented.

With the implementation of the project, the minister stated that paddy production in the country was expected to rise by 10%, wheat production by 14% alongside raising the production of fisheries and livestock.

The Ecnec meeting also gave nod to another project titled ‘Installation of some 70,000 overloaded distribution transformers under the operations of rural electrification’ with around Tk800 crore. l

Growth has been too slow for too long,” said IMF economic counsellor Maurice Obstfeld in a statement.

Growth in advanced economies is projected to remain modest at about 2%, according to the IMF. The recovery is hampered by weak demand, partly held down by unresolved crisis legacies, as well as unfavorable demographics and low productivity growth.

While emerging markets and developing economies will still account for the lion’s share of world growth in 2016, prospects across countries remain uneven and generally weaker than over the past two decades.

Growth in advanced economies on the other hand remains sluggish. Activity slowed during the second half of 2015, with asset price declines and far tighter financial conditions, and unfavourable demographic trends and financial crisis legacies continuing to hamper a more robust recovery. l

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NARI training proposal goes to cabinet committee next week n Asif Showkat Kallol A proposal to train and prepare 10,800 poor women from five Monga-affected districts in three years for garment sector jobs will be placed before cabinet committee on public purchase for approval next week.

In December, 2011 the World Bank and Bangladesh government signed a $29m agreement to fund Northern Areas Reduction-of-Poverty Initiative (NARI) project. As per the agreement, around 11,000 poor women from Rangpur, Gaib-

andha, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Nilphamari will be given technical and life-skills training, transitional housing, counseling and job placement services at training centres in three export process zones – Dhaka, Ishwardi and Karnaphuli.

According to the labour and employment ministry, the total project cost is estimated at Tk324 crore, of which, the World Bank will fund Tk240 crore.

“The delay to start the project was due to bureaucracies in both government and World Bank,” Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said.

He said the participants would receive $43 each per month along with lunch and dinner during their transition period to formal sector job.

Shipar said the garment owners outside the EPZs also showed interest to employ the women receiving training under the NARI project.

A consultancy firm will be appointed for the purpose. Labour and employment ministry which has prepared the proposal said Indian consultancy firm M/S Samahar attained the highest score in

technical and financial evaluations conducted last year among five companies.

In 2014, twenty companies submitted expression of interest and six of them were short-listed as per proposal evaluation committee and the World Bank’s no-objection letter. Of the short-listed companies, five submitted request for proposal in September, 2015.

They are M/S Samahar, M/S Max Well Stamp, M/S Management Consulting Service, M/S College of Fashion Technology and M/S Gano Unnayan Sang. l

Workers busy making account books at a factory in Chittagong expecting a sales boom as Pohela Boishakh approaches. Traders open new account books on the first day of Bangla New Year, known as Haalkhata, which has become a notable part of Bangali culture for centuries DHAKA TRIBUNE

NBR seeks support from secretaries to collect income tax of public servants n Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has recently sought support from all the secretaries of the respective ministries to deduct the income tax properly from salaries of all the public servants.

The tax authorities expect additional revenue of Tk100 crore as around 1.35lakh new public servants have come under the tax net with implementation of the new pay scale, said officials quoting an estimate.

NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman has recently sent a demi-official letter to all the 74 government secretaries of different ministries and divisions requesting them to instruct their offices for following the provisions of relevant income tax law and take necessary steps in deducting income tax at source from the salaries of the government officials.

Currently, people having annual income exceeding Tk2.5lakh have to pay income tax, which means people having minimum monthly basic income of Tk18, 000 have to pay the tax.

Currently, some 75,000 government officials pay income tax. NBR estimated that additional 65,000 taxpayers from the first-class government officials and 70,000 from second class will pay income tax in the wake of the recent pay hike.

As per the budget for fiscal year 2015-16, the government brings public servants’ bonuses and festival allowances under the tax net.

Earlier, civil officials used to pay tax only on their basic salaries. Income tax payment was also made mandatory in the Pay Scale-2015. l

HC likely to hear Robi-Airtel merger today n Ishtiaq Husain

The High Court (HC) is likely to hear on the Robi-Airtel merger today to settle the issue.

The Company Bench of Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed will conduct the hearing from the two parties.

On April 10, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) filed its Affidavit-in-Compliance to the High Court.

Barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain, one of the lawyers of BTRC, said: “After carrying out the necessary evaluation and taking into account all the reports and opinions, BTRC

has forwarded its recommendations to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication on 22 March 2016.”

“This has also been communicated to the High Court by filing an Affidavit-in-Compliance,” he added.

According to a Court order, 10 April was the last day for the government to submit its recommendations to the Court.

Before finalising its approval for Robi-Airtel merger, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had earlier asked the two cell phone companies to submit a set of documents relating to their properties and fi-

nancial health respectively.

Prior to dispatching the merger documents to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Post & Telecommunication Division added a recommendation to it.

On April 7, the division sent the report of Robi-Airtel merger to the PMO to get its final nod.

One of the major recommendations is to fix a merger fee charge.

A telecom source said the merger fee has been introduced following the example of the neighbouring country India.

The government considers that merger is very much reasonable as the two companies would be

benefited simultaneously. And the government can rather demand an extra charge for the merger of the two companies.

On January 29, Robi and Airtel signed a merger agreement in Kuala Lumpur to venture into a joint business operation in Bangladesh.

The joint venture will be named as Robi.

The two companies expressed to merge into a single entity in September last year in Malaysia.

Industry insiders said: “The merger is set to strengthen the industry structure, competitiveness, and more importantly, bring greater benefits to customers in terms of

network quality and coverage and an improved offering of data products and services.”

According to a recent Robi statement, the combined entity operating as Robi will serve approximately 40 million customers.

Upon completion, Axiata will hold 68.3% controlling stake in the combined entity while Bharti will hold 25%. The remaining 6.7% will be held by the existing shareholder, NTT DOCOMO of Japan.

It has controlling interests in mobile operators in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia with significant strategic stakes in India and Singapore. l

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Bank’s money loan disputes to Stocks inch up in volatility n be settled through arbitration Kayes Sohel

n Jebun Nesa Alo Money loan cases of banks will have to be settled down through arbitration under BIAC (Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC).

“A rule has been enacted in this regard mandating banks to come under BIAC to settle money loan disputes before going to the court,” said Muhammad A. (Rumee) Ali, chief executive officer of BIAC, at an exclusive briefing session over Alternative Dispute Session held in the city yesterday.

Already EBL and IFC bank have signed an agreement with the BIAC to settle the money loan cases and some other banks are underway for signing the contract, he said.

He added that huge money loan cases are pending in the court years after years. If banks come under the BIAC to settle the case, it will

be cost-effective and reduce time of dispute settlement.

Though, arbitration is the most cost effective process for the dispute settlement but organisations

Mediation is also very effective procedure to settle such dispute within very short time. A neutral mediator may settle a dispute even in a day do not show interest because of low confidence over the BIAC, he said.

Lack of awareness about the activities of BIAC is also the major factor behind such reluctance, he opined.

“Mediation is also very effective procedure to settle such dispute with-

in very short time. A neutral mediator may settle a dispute even in a day.”

Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of BIAC, suggested business organisation to include a clause in their contract paper that if any dispute arises, it will be resolved through arbitration.

He said as arbitration is held only when both parties agree, so businessmen should include the clause of arbitration at the beginning of their businesses. He sought government’s support to make the organisation more effective.

BIAC was established by three prominent business chambers of Bangladesh named International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICC)-B), Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).

BIAC is registered as a non profitable company and commenced operation in April 2011. l

Stocks inched up amid volatility yesterday, as late sell-off wiped off some of the early gains.

The market moved between negative and positive zones, leading to intra-day volatility. Rally in low cap scrips offset slight losses in large cap scrips.

After losing in previous two sessions, the benchmark index DSEX rose only about 5 points or 0.2% to close at 4,407.

The Shariah index DSES was also marginally down over 2 points to 1,067. The blue chip comprising index DS30 rose 5 points to 1,678.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX settled at 8,233, gaining only 1 points.

All the large cap sectors showed positive performances except market heavyweights—banks and telecommunication that edged lower.

Low cap engineering sector was the highest gainer with a rise of around 1%, followed by power

0.6%, pharmaceuticals 0.3% and food & allied 0.2%. Other sectors like non-banking financial institutions closed flat in green.

The DSE turnover stood at Tk470 crore, up 13.5% higher over the previous session’s value, largely contributed by Tk103.7 crore block trade in Olympic Industries.

The company alone accounted for more than 23% of the day’s total trade value.

Losers outpaced gainers as out of 316 issues traded, 123 advanced, 137 declined and 56 remained unchanged.

Doreen Power Generation and Systems Limited was the most traded share with a turnover worth Tk15.4 crore, followed by Aman Feed, LankaBangla Finance, Keya Cosmetics, BSRM Limied and The Ibn Sina.

LankaBangla Securities said stocks in Dhaka finished mixed on flat green zone, with investors digesting economic data and earnings declaration by listed companies. l

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Walton will participate at Canton Fair 2016 to explore new market

China first quarter GDP growth to be slowest since 2009

n Tribune Business Desk

Economists say that China grew at its slowest pace since the financial crisis in the first quarter, highlighting continued downward pressure on the world’s second largest economy despite some tentative recent signs of stabilisation.

Growth in first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) likely slowed to 6.7% from the same period last year, down from 6.8% in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to a Reuters poll of 64 economists.

That would be the weakest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2009, when growth fell to 6.2%.

China’s economy grew 6.9% in 2015, its slowest rate in more than

desh as a manufacturer of electronics products, according to a press statement released yesterday.

“Walton is manufacturing world-class products to grab significant portion of the world market.

“To learn about the global consumer’s choice and to show products, we are now taking part in the electronics goods’ fairs in different countries in Europe and US,”said Roqibul Islam Rakib, head of international marketing of Walton Group.

By attending the Canton Fair, Walton will brand the “Made in

Walton, a local manufacturer of electronic products, will take part at “Canton Fair-2016” to explore new global markets and consumers by exhibiting its electronics products to the visitors.

Canton Fair 2016, also known as China Import and Export Fair, is the largest biannual China trade fair scheduled to be held on April 15 in Guangzhou.

Walton, the first-ever Bangladeshi company will participate in the expo and show products with “Made in Bangladesh” level to promote and brand Bangla-

Bangladesh”products among the buyers and the visitors, said Rakib.

“As Canton Fair is globally known as a mega expo for electronics products, along with the Chinese brands, a large number of global brands of electronics products will take part in this expo,” said Mir Abul Hossain Liton, representative of Walton Group in China.

Walton authorities think that participation in this mega expo will raise the image of Walton as well as Bangladesh in the global arena as about three lakh people from more than 200 countries generally visit this expo. l

n Reuters

two decades.

Forecasts for annual growth in the first quarter ranged from 5.8% to 7.2%, with a median of 6.7%.

While downdrafts from uneven global demand, over-investment in several key sectors and weakening productivity among state-owned firms remain, recent signs of a tentative pick-up in real estate and industry provide some reasons for optimism.

Annual growth in fixed asset investment quickened to 10.2% in January and February combined from 10% in the whole of 2015, while industrial profits during those two months unexpectedly rose by 4.8% from a year earlier, ending a seven-month streak of declines. l

| workshop |

| offers |

Dhaka Regency management participate in leadership workshop

Pohela Boishakh Mela at Six Seasons Hotel

The management and associates of Dhaka Regency Hotel & Resort participated in a two days long training on Master Class Leadership and Management Development organised jointly by ILO B-SEP Project and Technical and Vocational Education Board, Government of Bangladesh.

A total of 37 participants from Dhaka Regency participated in this workshop as conducted

by Francis De Silva, Senior Specialist, BSEP project of ILO. At the end of the training, certificates were distributed to the participants by Shahid Hamid FIH, executive director of Dhaka Regency Hotel & Resort. l

| food |

| offers |

Dhaka Regency celebrates Bengali New Year 1423

SBARRO’s mocktail series for Pohela Boishakh!

This Pohela Boishakh, Six Seasons Hotel plans to uphold all the spirits, joys, and traditions of the Bengali New year through its one-of-a-kind mela. On April 14 a traditional Bengali mela will be held on the 2nd floor of the hotel. The mela will include over 60+ food items, folk music, face painting, mehndi utshob, cotton candy, jhalmuri, chotpoti and fuchka, pitha puli, handicraft stall, Jamdani stall, and many more.

Lunch is priced at Tk2,399 (net) and dinner is priced at Tk2,799 (net), per person. Special discounts are on offer for some credit and debit cards, and for Six Season’s Facebook members.

Additionally, there will be an authentic Bengali buffet lunch and dinner at Vinno Shaad Restaurant from April 15 to 20, 2016. Buffet lunch is priced Tk2,199 net and dinner is priced at Tk2,499 (net) per person. For more details or bookings, please call 01987009824 or 01987009810. l

| offers |

Dhaka Regency has arranged day long feasts and cultural activities to celebrate the Bengali New Year.

They aim to pamper city dwellers by offering conventional as well as lip smacking Bangla food at Grandiose Restaurant.

The restaurant will be transformed to promote different aspects of Bengali tradition. The celebration will be unlocked from 11:30am to 10:30pm on April 14 highlighting extensive deshi lunch and a dinner buffet of sumptuous indigenous delicacies. This includes a food spread of jhalmuri, fuchka and chatpati live stations as well as live local music from renowned artists, fortune telling with mysterious parrots, henna, face painting, magic shows and many additional arrangements.

Reservations can be made at 01713332661. l

SBARRO Bangladesh, an American franchisee located in Gulshan is offering a variety of pizzas and pastas to give Dhaka residents a taste of the dynamic flavours they endorse. The New York style pizzas have already created a unique place in the heart of foodies. Gearing up for Boishakh, they are introducing a few refreshing drinks. To welcome 1423 with thrills and squashes, SBARRO concentrated on providing a cool mocktail series which includes the energising Virgin Mojito, Sparkling Lemonade, Santorini, Kiwi Crunch, Hawaiian Island, and the Blue Lagoon. Contact them at SBARRO, 155/A, North Gulshan Avenue Road, Gulshan Circle 2, Dhaka. l

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

| appointment |

| offers |

Eugene Kaspersky joins Singapore advisory panel for cybersecurity

Celebrate Nobo Borsho with Meraki

The chairman and chief executive officer of Kaspersky Lab and one of the world’s top cybersecurity experts Eugene Kaspersky has been roped in as a member of the international advisory panel for Singapore’s National Cybersecurity Research & Development (R&D) Programme.

The program is a collaboration between seven Singapore government agencies: The National Research Foundation (NRF), Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Security Coordination Centre, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Cyber Security Agency and the Economic Development Board. l

| contest |

Enjoy the rich flavours of Bangla food in a traditional Bangladeshi buffet lunch on April 14, 2016 at Meraki.

The Boishakhi lunch menu for the Bengali new year 1423 will be priced at Tk1,423 per person, inclusive of vat and service charge.

For reservations, please call 01974268268,01973268268.. l

| award |

Singer Sewing Instructress Meet 2016 held

Photo Contest at Absolute Thai

Boishakh celebrations at The Peninsula Chittagong

For Pohela Boishakh, The Peninsula Chittagong will be decorated with paintings, masks, monochord and every guest will be received with local traditional sweets. The main event will start at the Laguna restaurant with a cultural program by local folk singers during lunch and dinner. 101 items will be served in the buffet and it will be specialised with different delicious food items. For details call: 01755554552 l

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This Songkran Absolute Thai is hosting a THAI-O-GRAPHY photo contest encouraging guests to get in touch with their creative side. The contest begins from April 8 till May 8, 2016. Thai food enthusiasts of Dhaka have a month long time to participate in this contest and win a 5 course meal for two. To participate in this contest simply take a photograph of the food you order at Absolute Thai and post it on your Facebook or Instagram page (@ absolutethaibd) with the hashtag #THAIOGRAPHY. The photo with the most likes and shares will win. l

Singer Sewing Instructress Meet-2016 was held at Proshika HRD Trust, Manikganj recently.

It was attended by sewing instructresses from all over the country along with Singer high officials. Singer Sales Director Mokbulla Huda Chowdhury formally inaugurated the event.

Among others, Singer arketing Director M H M Fairoz attended the event along with other high officials of the company.

From group ‘A’ – Maya Rani Saha of Khulna obtained the 1st prize, from group ‘B’ - Salma Afroz of Dhaka obtained the 1st prize and from group ‘C’- Shahnaz Parvin of Dhaka obtained the 1st prize. In the Best Seller Category the Super group award was presented to Nawsaba Taslim of Chittagong, ‘A’ Group champion award was given to Sultana Popy of Dhaka, ‘B’ Group champion award was given to Shahnewaz Begum of Dinajpur and C Group champion award was given to Nayar Sultana of Dinajpur. l

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Insect (4) 4 Minute particle (4) 8 Weariness (3) 9 Walk through water (4) 10 Actual (4) 11 Replenish (5) 12 Time long past (4) 14 Pen point (3) 15 Strange (3) 17 Part of the body (3) 19 Church seat (3) 21 Dash (4) 23 Add luster to (5) 26 Weathercock (4) 27 Tolerable (4) 28 Speed an engine (3) 29 Pay attention (4) 30 Tear (4)

DOWN 1 Crudely colourful (6) 2 Absent (4) 3 Hooked claw (5) 4 Respectful fear (3) 5 Dance (5) 6 Lyric poem (3) 7 Gull (3) 11 Insurgent (5) 13 Mature (5) 16 Protect (6) 18 Non-verse (5) 20 Falter (5) 22 Part of a church (4) 23 Tree (3) 24 Female deer (3) 25 Fishing pole (3)

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

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

A B C DE FG H I J K L MN O P Q RST UVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SUDOKU How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016

INSIDE #PANAMAPAPERS LEAK

Mossack Fonseca docs show tax dodging trend like a cancer WB: India’s robust growth to hasten S Asia’s development India’s robust growth will make South Asia the fastest-growing region in the world, with economic growth of the region projected to gradually accelerate from 7.1% in 2016 to 7.3% in 2017, reports Press Trust of India quoting a recent World Bank report.

PAGE 23

Offshore companies

Country with low or zero tax rates for non residents and a degree of secrecy

May be legal but can facilitate tax evasion

= Tax haven

(Virgin Islands, Panama, Delaware, etc.)

Specialised law firm creates Fund holder seeks: anonymity to avoid taxes axesTaxes

Taxes

sets up shell companies

provides xx

Mr Xxx

Offshore firm

Tax lawyer

xx

Mr Xxx

“Nominees”

axesTaxes Taxes

manages without being identified

California or bust: Bernie Sanders charts a White House path Defying opinion polls and expert predictions, US Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders aims to seize the party’s White House nomination from Hillary Clinton’s grasp with a last-ditch come-from-behind triumph in California.

PAGE 24

UN lifts secrecy in secretary-general race, but backroom deal may still prevail In a departure from 70 years of secrecy, candidates for United Nations secretary-general will this week make campaign-style pitches to the General Assembly as it hopes to influence the private Security Council poll that picks the winner.

PAGE 24

Sources: ICIJ, Mossack Fonseca Group, ICG, médias

n Tribune International Desk Global leaders are scrambling to tighten rules on tax evasion this week as the Panama Papers data dump continues to cause political shockwaves around the world.

David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister, has announced measures to combat tax avoidance on Monday and meanwhile Germany and France’s finance ministers have vowed to tighten rules against tax havens.

The initiatives come as the European Union’s vice-president for Jobs, Growth and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen likened tax avoidance to a “cancer” that had to be tackled.

“It’s a bad disease, it’s a cancer of market economies,” Katainen said.

“The market economy is a fantastic tool to create wealth and to give all citizens the opportunity to distribute the wealth in a fair manner but if you only want to take the fruits and not pay your liabilities in terms of taxes then it’s not fair and it’s a cancer,” he said.

Katainen refused to comment on the circumstances surrounding specific leaders such as David Cameron, the British prime minister who is in hot water over his own tax affairs following the Pan-

buys/sells property

yachts

ama Papers leak.

“All tax avoidance is always bad but especially if you are a democratically-elected leader…

You are a leader of the people and you are playing with different rules than your own citizens. It’s a matter of confidence, it’s a matter of fairness,” he said.

Nervous leaders

Katainen’s comments come as European leaders move to calm growing public anger over alleged tax avoidance with the global scandal over tax evasion already claiming one victim, the Icelandic prime minister, his job last week.

At the weekend, UK Prime Minister David Cameron published a summary of his tax returns in a bid to try to clear his name after accusations of tax avoidance.

He also announced this weekend plans to set up a task force to investigate allegations of tax-dodging and money laundering.

The moves followed calls for Cameron to resign in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal in which millions of documents detailing the opaque offshore business dealings of an array of global political leaders, handled by Panamaniam law firm Mossack Fonseca, were leaked last week.

Cameron is under fire for fail-

carries out

Shell companies bury the origins of the funds even more deeply

bank transactions duced this year, Reuters said.

At the weekend, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to set up a task force to investigate allegations of taxdodging and money laundering

ing to previously disclose that he and his family had invested in an offshore investment fund run by his late father, which was exposed in this week’s massive Panama Papers data dump.

Cameron said he sold the shares before he entering Number 10 in 2010 and had paid all UK taxes due on profits from the £30,000 sale.

On Monday, Cameron is due to face fellow politicians in parliament and is also due to announce that new legislation making companies criminally liable if employees aid tax evasion will be intro-

German plan

Signaling that Europe’s leaders are worried about the public backlash against alleged tax evasion by the rich and powerful, as suggested by the Panama Papers, Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Scheuble also gave details on Sunday of a plan to combat tax havens.

His counterpart in France, meanwhile, said last week that Panama would be put back on a list of countries blacklisted as “uncooperative tax jurisdictions,” a move which Panama’s president said was “wrong and unnecessary,” according to media reports.

Showing that the Panama affair could still claim more victims, it was reported on Sunday that French tax police searched Societe Generale’s headquarters last week as part of an investigation into offshore accounts revealed by the Panama Papers.

The searches on April 5 were a “normal development in the context of such an investigation,” a spokesman for the bank told Reuters on Sunday but declined to comment further. l

[This is an excerpt of a CNBC article, which can be found at http://cnb. cx/1qGbYAF]

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World Bank: India’s robust growth to hasten South Asia’s development n Tribune International Desk India’s robust growth will make South Asia the fastest-growing region in the world, with economic growth of the region projected to gradually accelerate from 7.1% in 2016 to 7.3% in 2017, reports Press Trust of India quoting a recent World Bank report.

Given its weight in the region, India sets the pace for South Asia as a whole, the World Bank said in its latest twice-a-year South Asia Economic Focus report.

India’s economic activity is expected to accelerate from 7.5% in FY 2016 to 7.7% in FY 2017 based on the expectation of strong private investment, a push in infrastructure spending, an improved investment climate, and improved corporate and financial balance sheets, it said.

“South Asia has been resilient to global turbulence due to its limited exposure to slowdowns in other major economies coupled with the tailwinds of favourable oil prices, capital flows, and remittances,” said Annette Dixon, World Bank South Asia Vice President.

“However, fiscal and financial vulnerabilities remain and countries should strive to address them through generating revenue and creating more fiscal space,” it said.

According to the report, the GDP growth in India will be supported by a rebound in agriculture

REAL GDP GROWTH IN SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES Percent change, y-o-y 7

4 3 2

2015e Bhutan India

2016f Maldives Nepal

Pakistan

2017f Sri Lanka Source: World Bank

and stimulus from civil service pay reforms.

However, delays in the adoption and implementation of key reforms could affect investor sentiment, it said.

Favourable overall trends mask important underlying divergences: between urban and agricultural households; between domestic and external demand; and between public and private capital expenditure, which should be addressed, it noted.

In neighbouring Pakistan, growth is projected to accelerate modestly from 4.5% in 2016 to 4.8% in 2017, supported by growing industry and services and greater investment as well as buoyed by low oil prices and substantial remittances.

For sustained growth, Pakistan needs to address power cuts, a cumbersome business environment, and low access to finance through the successful implementation of tax and energy reforms,

the report said.

In Sri Lanka, the economic growth is expected to grow at 5.3% in 2016 and 2017 driven by increased public investment and postponed investments in 2015.

The challenging global environment has taken a toll on the economy with reduced exports and remittances; and significant capital outflows, leaving Sri Lanka with higher public debt, lower reserves and rising inflation, it said. l

Brazil House body for impeaching Rousseff

Afghan Taliban announce start of spring offensive

n Reuters, Brasilia

n Reuters, Kabul

A committee of Brazil’s lower house of Congress voted 38-27 on Monday to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014.

A vote in the full lower house is expected to take place on Sunday.

If two-thirds vote in favour, the impeachment will be sent to the Senate.

If the upper house decides by a simple majority to put Rousseff on trial, she will immediately be suspended for up to six months while the Senate decides her fate, and Vice President Michel Temer will take office as acting president.

It would be the first impeachment of a Brazilian president since 1992 when Fernando Collor de Mello faced massive protests for his ouster on corruption charges and resigned moments before his conviction by the Senate.

A former leftist guerrilla, Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and rallied the rank and file of her Workers’ Party to oppose what she has called a coup against a democratically elected president.

Caught in a political storm fueled by Brazil’s worst recession in decades and the country’s biggest corruption scandal, Rousseff has lost key coalition allies in Congress, including her main partner, vice president Temer’s PMDB party.

The committee vote is expected to sway undecided lawmakers to vote for Rousseff ’s removal, said Claudio Couto, a politics professor at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas think tank.

“It has a snowball effect. With each approval, the chances of impeachment clearing the next chamber increases,” Couto said.

“The wider the margin, the more momentum impeachment will gather.” l

Bus veers off Nepal mountain road killing 22 At least 22 people were killed Tuesday when a bus slipped off a mountain gravel road in eastern Nepal and rolled down a hill, police said. The bus plunged off the narrow road near Barkhetar, 200km east of Kathmandu, and rolled down a hill for nearly 200 meters, police official said. -REUTERS

SC: Temple ban on some women unacceptable

5

2014 Bangladesh Afghanistan

SOUTH ASIA

INDIA

6

1

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The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive on Tuesday, pledging to launch large-scale offensives against government strongholds backed by suicide and guerrilla attacks to drive Afghanistan’s Western-backed government from power.

The announcement of the start of “Operation Omari,” named after the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, came just days after Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul and reaffirmed US support for a national unity government led by President Ashraf Ghani. .The insurgency has gained strength since the withdrawal of international troops from combat at the end of 2014 and the Taliban are stronger than at any point since they were driven from power by US-backed forces in 2001.

As well as suicide and tactical attacks, the offensive would include assassinations of “enemy” commanders in urban centres, the Taliban said in their statement.

In line with recent statements, the militants also said they would establish good governance in areas they controlled as well as avoiding civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.

The seasons have long shaped violence in Afghanistan with fighting easing off in the winter, when mountain passes get snowed in, and picking up again in the spring and summer.

How far the announcement will lead to an immediate escalation in fighting, which caused 11,000 civilian casualties last year, remains unclear. However, Nato and Afghan officials have said they expect very tough combat in 2016. l

Temples that deny or restrict women’s entry undermine the fight for gender equality and have no constitutional right to do so, the Indian Supreme Court said, in the latest boost for women demanding equal access to places of worship. India’s highest court told the board which manages the popular Sabarimala Ayyappa Hindu temple in the southern state of Kerala to explain why it bans women.

-REUTERS

CHINA

China criticises G7 statement on maritime disputes China’s expressed anger on Tuesday after foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies said they strongly opposed provocation in the East and South China Seas. China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that G7 should focus on global economic governance and cooperation rather than hyping up disputes and provoking problems. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Secretive North Korea lifts veil on arms programme Ahead of a rare ruling party Congress next month, secretive North Korea is revealing details of its weapons development programme for the first time, showcasing its push to develop long-range nuclear missiles despite international sanctions. The reason for the revelations, many analysts say, is that Pyongyang believes convincing the world, and its own people, of its nuclear prowess is as important as the prowess itself.

-REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST

US leads 30-nation maritime exercise in Middle East The US Navy is leading a 30-nation maritime exercise across Middle Eastern waters which it says will help protect international trade routes against possible threats, including from Dae’sh and al-Qaeda. The exercise, which is partly being held in the Gulf, comes as tensions run high between Gulf Arab countries and Iran over its role in the region, including Syria’s civil war, Yemen conflict and for Hezbollah in Lebanon. -REUTERS

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USA

US, India agree to strengthen maritime cooperation US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Indian counterpart agreed Tuesday to strengthen their cooperation on maritime security, as concerns grow in Washington over Beijing’s growing military ambitions. Washington has increasingly turned its focus to Asia as it tries to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, and is eager for India to play a greater role in regional defence alliances.

-AFP

THE AMERICAS

Top Venezuelan court scraps opposition amnesty Venezuela’s apex court Monday struck down an amnesty passed by opposition lawmakers to free those they describe as political prisoners at the urging of President Nicolas Maduro who is fighting a bid to force him from power. The Supreme Court declared the measure - which President Nicolas Maduro had challenged - as unconstitutional in a ruling published on its website.

-AFP

UK

IMF: Brexit could deal hefty blow to UK economy Britain could deal a damaging blow to the fragile global economy if it votes to leave the European Union in June, the IMF said on Tuesday.

In a half-yearly assessment of the world economy, the IMF listed the June 23 referendum as a key risk alongside instability in China and other emerging markets. -REUTERS

EUROPE

2 more charged over Brussels attacks Belgium has charged two more men with terrorist offences linked to last month’s bombings in Brussels and also searched a house related to the attacks in Paris, detaining three people, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday. A judge charged the 2 men over alleged links to the rental of a property that investigators believe was used as a safe house before the March 22 suicide bombings in Brussels. -REUTERS

AFRICA

UN: Alarming rise in child suicide bombers used by Boko Haram The number of children used by Nigeria’s Boko Haram to stage suicide bombings has risen more than 10-fold in one of the most horrific aspects of the Islamist insurgency, the United Nations said on Tuesday. Experts said the group is now trying to spread terror by using children for attacks in crowded markets, mosques.

-AFP

INSIGHT

California or bust: Bernie Sanders charts a White House path n Reuters, New York Defying opinion polls and expert predictions, US Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders aims to seize the party’s White House nomination from Hillary Clinton’s grasp with a last-ditch come-from-behind triumph in California.

By far the most populous US state, California is the largest prize of the state-by-state nominating contests, and the vote on June 7 is one of the last before Democrats convene in July to select a nominee for the November 8 presidential election.

An aggressive schedule of large rallies is planned along with heavy purchases of TV, radio and online advertising in three languages and a “far, far more expensive” campaign effort than in any other state, Sanders campaign sources disclosed.

“I think they’re still riding rainbow unicorns if they think there’s a path,” said Steve Schale, a Florida-based strategist, of Sanders’ bid for the White House.

California has been a reliable source of campaign funds for Clinton, and opinion polls show her ahead there by as many as 14 percentage points. The statistical

ist’s firebrand speaking style championing the working class and vowing to erase economic inequality.

At a late March event in The Bronx, he drew 18,500 people.

Sanders has won seven of the last eight state nominating battles but faces a potentially rougher road in big states like New York, where Clinton was a US senator and which holds an April 19 primary.

‘Hugely expensive’ Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally for his campaign on Monday in New York AFP analysis media site FiveThirtyEight gives her a 91 percent chance of winning the state primary.

The Sanders campaign push aims to net as much as a 10-point win in California, helping him deny the front-running Clinton the 2,383 convention delegates she needs to clinch the nomination and give him the momentum to force a contested convention where he can try to win over the “superdelegates,” those not decided by a state nominating contest and free to support anyone, the campaign sources said.

Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, has eroded Clinton’s lead in California, according to a Field

Poll released on Friday. Clinton led Sanders by only 6-point in that survey, down from a double-digit lead earlier this year.

‘Barnstorm the place’

“With California what we’re going to do is something that (Sanders) really likes to do: Barnstorm the place,” said Tad Devine, Sanders’ senior adviser, acknowledging Sanders’ underdog status against Clinton, the former secretary of state.

That means two or three largescale rallies a day for weeks, possibly starting in late April to target early voters, he said. Such rallies are a sweet spot for the 74-year-old New York-born democratic social-

The campaign has yet to set a budget for California, but given the state’s size, the effort will be “hugely expensive - far, far more expensive than any other state that we’ve done,” Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver said.

In California so far, the campaign has raised about $9.8m from more than 26,000 donors, the most Sanders has received from any one state, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign finance disclosures.

Clinton has raked in significant sums also in California.

An analysis of campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission indicate her campaign raised $26,687,011.37 from donors in California from the time she entered the race in 2015 until the end of February. l

INSIGHT

UN lifts secrecy in secretary-general race, but backroom deal may still prevail n Reuters In a departure from 70 years of secrecy, candidates for United Nations secretary-general will this week make campaign-style pitches to the General Assembly as it hopes to influence the private Security Council poll that picks the winner.

The search for a successor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - a former South Korean bureaucrat who steps down at the end of the 2016 after two five-year terms - has also sparked a push by more than a quarter of UN states for the organization’s first female leader.

While the 15-member Security Council will formally recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for election as the eighth UN secretary-general later this year, the General Assembly vote has long been seen as a rubber stamp.

The council’s veto powers-the US, Russia, Britain, China and

France, must agree on the nominee. That effectively makes the five veto-power countries kingmakers - or queenmakers.

After changes instituted by the General Assembly last year, the list of candidates is for the first time public with nomination letters and candidate resumes posted online.

In another first, the eight candidates who have so far been nominated will hold town hall meetings with the General Assembly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They will each pitch their credentials and answer questions in a two-hour session.

On the surface, it is a shift towards democratisation of a secretive process controlled by the five veto powers.

But there is no requirement for the five to pay attention to the popularity of candidates with the General Assembly, and the winner could still be selected in a back-

UN secretary-general Selection process, based on a UN resolution adopted in September 2015

Member states present candidates with their resumes and vision.

Women strongly encouraged to apply

15-member Security Council nominates

General Assembly endorses candidate New secretary-general begins work on January 1, 2017 Source : United Nations/UNSG.org

room Security Council deal as has been the case for seven decades.

But there will be no vote or informal polls by the General Assembly to signal to the Security

Council who the favoured candidates might be.

The council will likely hold its first “straw poll” - an informal vote - behind closed doors in July and aims to have a decision by September so the General Assembly can elect the next UN chief in October.

At least 56 countries, led by Colombia, and several civil society groups want the world body’s first female secretary-general since its creation at the end of World War II. Even US President Barack Obama is being lobbied by a group of senators who want him to push for a woman.

Half the candidates nominated so far are women-- Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria; former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic; Moldova’s former Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman; and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who heads the UNDP. l

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INSIDE

Bangladesh pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman (C), making his Indian Premier League debut yesterday for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, celebrates the dismissal of Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman AB de Villiers (unseen) with team mates Eoin Morgan (L) and Shikhar Dhawan.

Mustafizur also picked up the wicket of the dangerous Shane Watson and ended up conceding only 26 runs in his quota of four overs.

However, the rest of the Sunrisers bowlers failed miserably as Royal Challengers posted 227/4 in 20 overs

Musa steers All Reds to nervy win A fine display by Nigerian forward Kolo Musa inspired Muktijoddha to their second victory in the KFC Independence Cup as they edged Mohammedan 2-1 at BNS yesterday. Musa designed the first goal, which was later announced as an own goal. PAGE 26

Ireland reveal Afghanistan series Ireland will face Afghanistan in a five-match one-day series at Belfast’s Stormont ground in July, officials announced yesterday. The teams are two of the world’s leading non-Test or Associate nations.

Afghanistan impressed again on the international stage during the recent WT20 in India. PAGE 27

–BCCI

Mahmudullah hopes for fans’ continuous support n Mazhar Uddin

Misfiring Barcelona seek response at ATM Barcelona can redress their stuttering domestic form by sealing their passage to the UCL semi-finals when they visit Atletico Madrid. Barca are in their worst run of form in La Liga since coach Luis Enrique took charge. PAGE 28

James Taylor forced to retire England and Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor has been forced to retire because of a serious heart condition. Scans have shown that Taylor, 26, has a condition similar to the one which affected footballer Fabrice Muamba. PAGE 29

Bangladesh’s most dependable batsman in recent times, Mahmudullah has come a long way ever since making his international bow nine years ago.

The 30-year old stylish right-hander transformed himself as an integral part of the Tigers set-up in the 2015 World Cup when he smashed back-to-back hundreds.

With the forthcoming Dhaka Premier League season 2015-16 season starting from April 22, Mahmudullah, who led Prime Bank Cricket Club to the title in the last edition, was the first cricketer to be called up in the recently held players’ draft.

Having been roped in by the same club for the upcoming edition of the premier 50-over competition of the country, the classical batsman, who spoke to the media yesterday for the first time since the 2016 World Twenty20, shared his thoughts on the recently concluded flagship event and the 2015-16 Dhaka League. Here are the excerpts:

You were the captain of the champion team, Prime Bank, in

the previous season of the Dhaka League. Did you expect that you would be the first player to be called up in the players’ draft?

No actually, I did not expect such things but obviously, it feels great to get the first call among the icon cricketers. I would like to thank Sk Jamal club for their trust in me.

What’s your take on the current Sheikh Jamal squad?

We are a young team and I think it will be a big challenge for me and

also for the club. But at the same time, it’s a great opportunity as well. I feel good playing with the young cricketers as they also want to face the challenge.

So hopefully we will be able to execute our game-plans which will be important.

Are you relaxed at the moment?

Yes I am as we have been in action in the last few months. We had a break of two weeks. Following the break, I came for training. As the league will start soon and it will be a long season I have to make sure I remain fit.

Any message for the Bangladesh supporters?

One thing I would like to request to all the fans is that we always try to win but at times we fail. With that said, we need to get the support from our fans which is very important. I expect those who have been supporting Bangladesh cricket will continue supporting us even if we fail. And I hope that we will play much better cricket in the coming days as we have a lot to achieve for Bangladesh.

It’s just the beginning and God willing, we will play much better cricket and move forward. l

Taskin to appear for bowling review after DPL n Minhaz Uddin Khan Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed will appear for the review of his bowling action following the Dhaka Premier League season 2015-16, beginning on April 22.

Taskin, who has already been provided with the guidelines by the national team management, will follow those while playing for Abahani Limited in the upcoming DPL. According to sources, the matches played by the right-arm speedster in the lone 50-over competition will be recorded as reference points before he undergoes the retest.

He is most likely to appear for a retest in Chennai, the same place that had termed his bowling action illegal.

Taskin, along with Bangladesh left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny were suspended from bowling with immediate effect by the International Cricket Council on March 19 after an independent assessment found their actions to be illegal. Both the bowlers underwent assessments in Chennai prior to being suspended from international cricket.

Both Taskin and Sunny’s bowling actions came into question following their 2016 World Twenty20 first round clash against the Netherlands in Dharamsala.l

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Musa steers All Reds to nervy win BJMC, Arambagh draw blank n Tribune Report

A Mohammedan defender puts in a last-ditch tackle to deny an Arambagh attacker during their KFC Independence Cup match at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

A fine display by Nigerian forward Kolo Musa inspired Muktijoddha to their second victory in the KFC Independence Cup as they edged Mohammedan 2-1 at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Following an uninspiring opening half, Musa designed the first goal, which was later announced as an own goal.

The Nigerian then doubled the lead from a lovely free-kick before Ismael Bangoura grabbed the consolation goal in the dying moments of the game. All the three goals came in the last half an hour of the tie.

The defeat has shattered the Black and Whites’ hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.

They have only three points from as many Group A matches while Muktijoddha, Chittagong Abahani and top-flight champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club all have three points each.

DHAKA PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 PREVIEW ABAHANI LIMITED The last time the legendary club took home the Dhaka Premier League title was way back in the 2008-09 season when they ended their league campaign with 28 points from 16 matches, including as many as 14 wins.

However, since then, their performance graph has gone downwards, similar to that of their arch-rival Mohammedan Sporting Club. Abahani plummeted to their lowest of lows in 2013-14 when they finished ninth, much to the disappointment of the club’s fanatic supporters.

This year though, the side have bounced back hard, as far as putting together a squad is concerned. Four early calls in the recent players’ draft gave Abahani the edge, according to one of the club’s officials.

And now, the Sky Blues are eyeing a foreign cricketer, preferably from England, Pakistan or the West Indies, who can bowl left-arm spin and also bat in the middle-order.

As far as local players goes, dashing Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal is the undoubted star of the side along with national fast bowler Taskin Ahmed. They also have all-rounder Shakib al Hasan in their ranks but then again, the southpaw will only be

available following the ongoing Indian Premier League.

RESULTS

(Last Three Seasons) 2014-15 (fourth), 2013-14 (ninth), 2011-12 (sixth)

PLAYERS TO WATCH Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed, Saqlain Sajib, Liton Kumar Das

SQUAD (so far) Tamim Iqbal, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Taskin Ahmed, Saqlain Sajib, Abul Hasan Raju, Avishek Mitra, Jubair Hossain Likhon, Tapash Baisya, Amitabh Kumar Nayan, Abu Bakar Siddique, Shakib al Hasan, Liton Kumar Das (retained), Mosaddek Hossain (retained)

MOHAMMEDAN SC One of the iconic sides in the Bangladesh domestic arena, Mohammedan have lost their charm over the last few years. Financially hit, the Black and Whites have failed to script together a formidable squad in recent times. In the last season, the Motijheel-based team finished sixth with a lowly 16 points, bearing in mind their decorated history. During that campaign, Mohammedan lost a staggering eight matches.

They tasted their last success four years ago when they lifted their second consecutive title.

This year, having secured the services of Tigers Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim along with a few experienced campaigners, Mohammedan have drafted a pretty balanced side.

And although they have also recruited Tigers pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman, the left-armer is barely likely to feature, given his IPL and English county season commitments.

RESULTS

(Last Three Seasons) 2014-15 (sixth), 2013-14 (fourth), 2011-12 (sixth)

The All Reds broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute through an own-goal from a goal-mouth scramble. Musa delivered a low cross from the right flank that deflected off Mohammedan defender Pouemi Landry before sneaking into the post.

Musa then further silenced the Mohammedan crowd with an amazing free-kick in the 82nd minute. The Nigerian unleashed a brilliant effort from more than 25 yards out that curved into the net, leaving the Mohammedan goalkeeper baffled.

Bangoura could only manage to reduce the arrears in injury time when his flying header found the back of the net following a corner by defender Bishwanath Ghosh.

Meanwhile in the other game of the day at the same venue, Team BJMC and Arambagh played out a goalless draw.

Both the attackers of the two sides missed out on a host of chances before eventually settling for a share of the spoils.l

No Windies series in AprilMay, says Jalal n Mazhar Uddin

PLAYERS TO WATCH Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Saikat Ali, Enamul Haque Jr

SQUAD (so far) Mushfiqur Rahim, Saikat Ali, Ejaj Ahmed, Naeem Islam Jr, Enamul Haque Jr, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Shuvashish Roy Chowdhury, Hamidul Islam Himel, Habibur Rahman Jony, Nazmul Hossain, Sayed Golam Kibria, Mustafizur Rahman, Naeem Islam (retained), Ariful Haque (retained) –MINHAZ UDDIN KHAN

Bangladesh Cricket Board’s media committee chairman Jalal Younus yesterday informed that the bilateral series against the West Indies will not take place this month or the next.

BCB president Nazmul Hasan earlier told the media that the Caribbeans proposed a Test series against Bangladesh in April-May this year but Jalal put paid to all the hopes of the Tigers fans who were eagerly waiting for a series against the reigning World Twenty20 champions.

“The West Indies Cricket Board asked us to play a series this November but as we will be hosting the Bangladesh Premier League at that time, we requested them to play in April-May. But their schedule did not match so the West Indies series has been cancelled as they did not want to play during this period,” said Jalal.

A few days ago, BCB chief Nazmul had said the Windies were interested in playing a Test series against the Tigers. Nazmul added that they also wanted to contest a ODI and T20I series, along with the Tests. l

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QUICK BYTES Sk Jamal lose four in four in AFC Cup Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club tasted their fourth consecutive defeat in the 2016 AFC Cup when they fell to a 2-1 loss against hosts Selangor FA at Selayang Municipal Council Stadium in Malaysia yesterday. Patrick Wleh frustrated the visitors with a late winner in the 88th minute of the tie. Sheikh Jamal’s prospects of an unlikely win rested on their foreign attacking trio of Landing Darboe, Wedson Anselme and Emeka Darlington and it was Gambian Landing who brought parity in the 36th minute after Ahmed Hazwan Bakri put the home side ahead in the 17th minute. Selangor held on to victory despite being reduced to 10 men in the 58th minute when midfielder Hafiz Kamal received his marching orders. Sheikh Jamal also lost Yeasin Khan to a red card dismissal in the 69th minute.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

AC Milan sack Mihajlovic, appoint Brocchi AC Milan have announced the sacking of coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, replacing the Serbian with youth team boss Cristian Brocchi until the end of the season. A statement from the struggling Serie A giants yesterday read: “Sinisa Mihajlovic has been relieved of his role as AC Milan coach. The club would like to thank Mihajlovic for the dedication and hard work carried out this season. Cristian Brocchi will now be in charge of the first team until the end of the season. AC Milan would like to welcome Mr Brocchi and wish him all the best.”

–AFP

Australia draw Japan in World Cup qualifying Asian champions Australia landed in the same group as heavyweights Japan yesterday as teams were drawn for the final stage of regional qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. Ange Postecoglou’s Socceroos will also face Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and minnows Thailand in Group B when games start in September. Sleeping giants China, who scraped into the third round after a stop-start qualifying campaign so far, have a tough assignment against Iran and South Korea in Group A. –AFP

Banned Indonesia eyes hosting 2023 Asian Cup Indonesia has thrown its hat into the ring to host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said yesterday, despite the country being under a FIFA ban. The AFC Competitions Committee also received expressions of interest from China, South Korea and Thailand. AFC in a statement said following the interest by the four Asian countries who met the March 31 deadline, they will now have to provide government guarantees to host the AFC Asian Cup. Indonesia was suspended from international football in May after the government attempted to replace the country’s football association.

–AFP

Terry pays for young Chelsea fan’s funeral Footballer John Terry has paid for the funeral of an eight-year-old Chelsea fan, who recently died from leukaemia. The former England captain donated £1,600 to the family of Tommi Miller, who he met last year. He told the Cambridge News he was “totally devastated” to hear he had died. Tommi’s mother Ruth Miller said she was “overwhelmed” by the gesture and is also planning to buy a “special headstone” with the money.

–BBC

A family friend contacted John Terry on Instagram to ask if he would like to contribute to the funeral costs

Afghanistan wicket-keeper Mohammad Shahzad gestures after collecting the man of the match trophy following the ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Namibia in Greater Noida yesterday. Afghanistan won by an innings and 36 runs AFP

Ireland reveal Afghanistan series n AFP, London Ireland will face Afghanistan in a five-match one-day series at Belfast’s Stormont ground in July, officials announced yesterday.

The teams are two of the world’s leading non-Test or Associate nations.

Afghanistan impressed again on the international stage during the recent World Twenty20 in India, where they caused losing finalists England to suffer a top-order collapse and beat even-

tual champions the West Indies in a group match. For Ireland, the July 1019 series will be their first five-match campaign and comes in a home season that also sees them playing two Test nations in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

“We’re certainly getting close to the amount and variety of fixtures we need to continue our international development,” Ireland coach John Bracewell said in a Cricket Ireland statement.

“The more games we play in varying conditions the more we learn and

grow as a cricketing nation.”

The former New Zealand off-spinner added: “I expect the five game series against Afghanistan will be tough and fiercely competitive.

“They had an excellent series win in both ODI’s (one-day internationals) and T20 against Zimbabwe last year, and continued that form in the World Twenty20, beating the eventual champions West Indies, which was a fantastic achievement for them and the Associate cricket cause.” l

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FC Barcelona's Daniel Alves (3R) goes for the ball alongside Javier Mascherano (C) during a training session at the Sports Center FC Barcelona Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi, Spain yesterday

AP

Misfiring Barcelona seek response at Atletico

Benfica coach faces another test

n Reuters, Madrid

n Reuters, Lisbon

Barcelona can redress their stuttering domestic form by sealing their passage to the Champions League semi-finals when they visit Atletico

FACTS 52% of teams who have won 2-1 at home in the first leg of a Champions League game have gone on to progress to the next round (11 out of 21), including the last four.

Barcelona have won their last seven games against Atlético Madrid in all competitions.

All three encounters between Atlético and Barcelona this season have all followed the same template: Atlético score first and Barcelona win 2-1.

Madrid today.

Last season’s treble winners Barca are in their worst run of form in La Liga since coach Luis Enrique took charge in August 2014, losing their last two games to Real Madrid and Real Sociedad and drawing with Villarreal.

Although those results have seen their La Liga lead over second-placed Atletico cut to three points, Barca are still on track to become the first Spanish team to win the treble two years in a row, with the King’s Cup final against Sevilla coming up next month.

The visitors take a 2-1 lead from the first leg into the return match at the Vicente Calderon, Luis Suarez’s double having cancelled out Fernando Torres’ opener after the former Chelsea striker was sent off

in the 35th minute.

“There’s no time for apologies or excuses, we need results. It’s not the time to sink low and think that we’re on a horrible run,” said Luis Enrique.

“There are reasons to be optimistic although the results have not been what we want.”

Thomas Vermaelen is out and Rafinha doubtful due to injury but Barca top scorer Suarez returns after the Uruguayan served a suspension.

Luis Enrique is also likely to recall Jordi Alba, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic after starting them on the bench in the 1-0 defeat by Sociedad at the weekend.

The plan to rest those players ahead of the trip to Madrid backfired when 18-year-old Mikel

Oiarzabal headed Sociedad in front in the fifth minute and Barca struggled to break down the opposition for the remainder of the game.

Despite having seven shots, Lionel Messi could not find a way through and the Argentine talisman has now gone 362 minutes without scoring, his longest drought with Barca since 2011.

Atletico are dreaming of a repeat of their 2014 quarter-final second leg against Barca when an early goal by Koke delivered a 1-0 win and 2-1 aggregate victory.

“The stadium will be buzzing.

I’m sure it’s going to be a great night,” said midfielder Koke.

“The other day we couldn’t win because of circumstances but at home we’re going to turn it around.”l

Benfica coach Rui Vitoria faces another test of his powers of improvisation as he tries to patch up a team without topscorer Jonas against Bayern Munich today.

The Portuguese champions and league leaders were beaten 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final last week, a narrow enough margin to give them a chance of producing a major upset at the Stadium of Light.

But with Brazilian marksman Jonas suspended following three yellow cards, the likelihood of beating Bayern for the first time after seven failed attempts and ending a 26-year wait since Benfica’s last semi-finals appearance looks more remote. l

Man Utd, West Ham in last chance FA Cup replay

Rooney unscathed on OT return

n AFP, London

England captain Wayne Rooney emerged unscathed when he played just over an hour for Manchester United’s Under-21 side at Old Trafford on Monday, having missed 12 first-team matches with a knee injury. The only goal came from Paddy McNair eight minutes after the overage Rooney’s planned exit.

Manager Louis van Gaal was among a 6,000-plus crowd who turned up on a cold, wet night to see the return of England’s 51goal record scorer as he began his comeback two months before their opening European Championship match against Russia in Marseille on June 11.l

Having each seen their Champions League qualification hopes fade at the weekend, West Ham and Manchester United approach today’s FA Cup quarter-final replay with special motivation to progress.

For West Ham, the competition represents a final opportunity to crown their farewell season at the Boleyn Ground, which stages its last ever FA Cup tie, with a piece of silverware. Visiting manager Louis van Gaal, meanwhile, may need to win the FA Cup, which his side hasn’t won since 2004, if he is to stand any chance of holding

onto his job, after Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur left his side four points off the Champions League places with only six games of the season remaining.

“It is the last chance of a title so it is very important for the players, for the club, for the manager, for the fans,” said the Dutchman, who is yet to win a trophy in close to two full seasons at Old Trafford.

“And still we have one day less than West Ham United, because that’s also important. But we have proved against Arsenal and Man City (in the Premier League) that in spite of less days to recover we could beat them. l

n Reuters, Manchester

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney in action Monday for the Under-21s REUTERS

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James Taylor forced to retire n BBC

CAREER STATISTICS

England and Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor has been forced to retire because of a serious heart condition.

Scans have shown that Taylor, 26, has a condition similar to the one which affected footballer Fabrice Muamba.

Taylor, who has played seven Tests and 27 one-day internationals for his country, posted on Twitter: “Safe to say this has been the toughest week of my life!

“My world is upside down. But I’m here to stay and I’m battling on!”

Taylor missed his county’s pre-season fixture against Cambridge MCCU with what was thought to be a viral condition.

However, his county revealed he has been diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Arrhythmia in a statement in which England team director Andrew Strauss spoke about his “shock”

Matches Runs

A referee had his hands full as he brandished six red cards during a fiery Oceania Champions League match that ended 4-3 and saw nine minutes of stoppage time.

The clash on Monday between Samoa’s Kiwi FC and Nadi FA of Fiji followed a match earlier in the day between Magenta of New Caledonia and Tefana from Tahiti in which three players were sent off.

Anish Khem was the hero for the Fijian team, scoring all

James Taylor shared this message and picture on Instagram as he revealed his retirement from cricket and “sadness”.

“Throughout his career, he has constantly impressed with his determination to make the absolute most of his ability,” said Strauss.

four goals.

It was a routine game until the 44th minute when a player from each side was given his marching orders by referee George Time from the Solomon Islands for their part in a fracas, with Kiwi FC leading 3-1, the Oceania Football Confederation said on their website.

There was little further drama until an 81st-minute melee resulted in another double sending-off - Nadi goalkeeper Vereti Dickson and Kiwi FC’s Lionel Taylor were both banished by referee Time. l

DAY’S WATCH

FOOTBALL TEN 1 12:45AM

UEFA Champions League Benfica v Bayern Munich

TEN 2 12:45AM UEFA Champions League Atletico Madrid v Barcelona

STAR SPORTS 1 1:00AM English Premier League Crystal Palace v Everton

STAR SPORTS 2 3:30PM AFC Cup 2016 Yangon Utd v Mohun Bagan

ODI

FC

LA

7

27

139

136

312

887

9,306 5,365

Averages 26.00 42.23 46.06 53.11

You’re off, Ref shows six red cards in fiery clash n AFP, Sydney

Test

CRICKET SONY SIX 8:30PM Indian Premier League Kolkata v Mumbai

HOCKEY STAR SPORTS 1 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2:00PM New Zealand v India 4:00PM Australia v Japan 6:30PM Pakistan v Malaysia

“It is immensely cruel that such a hard working player will be unable to fulfil his great potential in the international arena.”

Footballer Muamba’s heart

100s/50s

0/2

1/7

Top scores

76

101

20/47 15/30 291

146*

stopped for 78 minutes while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur in 2012.

He has since retired from the game.

Taylor made his first-class debut for Leicestershire against Worcestershire in April 2008 and joined Nottinghamshire before the 2012 season.

The Nottingham-born batsman played the first of his seven Test matches for England against South Africa at Headingley in 2012. He averaged 26 and his top Test score was 76 against Pakistan in November 2015.l

CRICKET REACTS Mick Newell, England selector and Nottinghamshire director of cricket “He’s a big loss to Nottinghamshire, England and a big loss to the game."

Jonathan Agnew, BBC correspondent “It’s easy to take a step back and be detached and say ‘thank goodness he’s been diagnosed’ and there isn’t a terrible tragedy for the Taylor family here to cope with."

Kevin Howells, BBC cricket reporter “This is sad and shocking. Everyone who knows him will tell you he’s the most fabulous man."l

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Kate Middleton and Prince William receive Bollywood welcome

Prosenjit marks premier of Shongkhochil n Promiti Prova Chowdhury Tollywood superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee, attended the premier of Indo-Bangla joint production Shongkhochil held at Star Cineplex, Bashundhara City in the capital yesterday.

Shongkhochil starring Prosenjit and Bangladeshi actress Kusum Sikder, is going to be released on April 15 on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh. Yesterday Prosenjit landed in Dhaka for the release as well as publicity of the film with his co-stars.

Distinguished film-maker Goutam Ghose, the director of the film was also present at the premier show and red carpet event, sources at Ashirbad Cholocchitro informed.

The film is centred on the 1947 partisan of India. It portrays

n Showtime Desk On April 10 Bollywood was taken by storm as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made a royal visit to India, mingling with Bollywood stars at a charity event. A recently released video footage shows Shah Rukh Khan providing a welcome address for the British royals. The high profile guest list included Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor.

Khan mentioned that his relationship with Britain has become “even closer” as his children now study in the country. He also joked that he might “get drunk and dance” for

the royals but was warned by the British Council to behave.

Jokes apart, he wished the duo a successful visit before concluding his speech.

Khan said: “I read Her Royal Highness say, ‘I don’t know if I have a favourite colour.’ I just want to assure you, Your Royal Highness, even though your stay is extremely short here in India, you will go back finding more than one favourite colour from this country. India, if nothing else, is the most colourful and the warmest of the nations that you will ever visit in your life.”

The Kensington Palace, too, posted a video had snippets that revealed that there was, in fact, a Bollywood performance organised for the duo. At the end of the gala event, the Duke of Cambridge stated: “When Catherine and I were married, India was the first place on Catherine’s list that she told me that she wanted to visit.

Two children and five years later, we have finally made it – and we are both honoured to be here.”

SRK’s Twitter saw him commending the couple for being “gracious and full of poise”. l

how people lost their loved ones, had to leave home and country as a result of the partition.

Ushasie Chakraborty, Arindam Sil, Anum Rahman Khan, Deepankar De, Priyanshu Chakraborty are other actors in the film.

The film was shot in border areas of both India and Bangladesh.

Impress Telefilm and Ashirbad Cholochhitro have produced the film. l

Cultural Minister Asaduzzaman Noor meets newly appointed Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla to welcome him to Bangladesh and discuss cultural exchange between the two countries.

PHOTO: CULTURAL MINISTRY

Supergirls to be aired from April 16 n Showtime Desk Mumtaheena Chowdhury Toya, Nadia Afrin Mim, Safa Kabir, Keya Rahman and Annesha – the five emerging female artists have been cast in Taneem Rahman Angshu’s upcoming TV series Supergirls.

Popular Indian TV actress and playwright Priya Wal has written the script of the play which is directed by Angshu and produced by Shahriar Shakil.

Supergirls will start airing from April 16 on Gtv. The series will be telecast from Saturday to Thursday at 11pm.

The five actresses will be seen playing the roles of model, TV show host, basketball player, actress and singer.

Tanim Rahman said: “I have tried to include all the materials needed to make a proper TV series.” l

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‘Jail ad’ triggers controversy Promiti Prova Chowdhury n and Hasan Mansoor Chatak The Bangladesh Jail AV, a production of Half Stop Down, has triggered manifold debate over how a prison should be portrayed.

The two minute 32 second long video released on YouTube on April 4, mostly shows how the inmates are engaged in various activities like praying, yoga, sports, making handicrafts, gardening, reading etc. It also showcases a peaceful co-existence among the inmates who are seen spending quality time by singing in groups and sharing meals.

Harmony is also found between the inmates and the guards.

The aerial view of the Dhaka Central Jail is also pleasing to the eyes, neatly maintained with greenery and balanced placement of the buildings.

The video ends with a scene where one inmate comes out of the jail after spending his term while a narration continues in the background: “Let this path of life carry me forward in life.”

Although the video is a short documentary made for the jail authorities, as explained

by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, managing director at Half Stop Down, many have found the depiction of the jail too cheerful.

A number of people have

flooded the comments section under the video that Amitabh shared on his Facebook profile on April 4. Some have mocked the video, saying that they felt like going to jail after watching the video and that the video missed out the part where convicts of severe crimes like rape and murder are punished inside the jail.

Some have even questioned the necessity of making the video.

“But why does Bangladesh jail

need an advertisement? It’s like advertising [to] people to go to a nice jail in Bangladesh.”

On the other hand, Amitabh explained that the video is not an advertisement rather is a short documentary for the policy makers and government.

“And we are trying to change the name jail, it will be correction centre,” he wrote.

Still, many have raised questions for showing such a “glorified” correction centre.

“A jail cannot be a happy place! It must show what government can do to improve current conditions (which is clearly absent in the ad) and how a jail can become a correction centre for those who want to change for future,” one comment read.

Some appreciated the work saying: “I believe in rehabilitation for small time criminals. And I think this type of CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES are needed for small

time criminals to go back into society.”

Tanvir Ahsan, the director of the video went on explaining that the authority want to let others know that prison is not just a place where criminals are confined - it is also a correction centre!

In plain and simple words, Amitabh stated that the jail authorities permitted him to shoot inside the jail for his film and in return Tanvir made this film, following their instructions. l

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Back Page

IMF RETAINS ECONOMIC GROWTH OUTLOOK FOR BANGLADESH PAGE 15

REF SHOWS SIX RED CARDS PAGE 29

‘JAIL AD’ TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY PAGE 31

Tulip introduces her daughter n Tribune Desk Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, niece of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has uploaded a picture of her newborn daughter to her Facebook page.

“Thank you to everyone for your kind messages and support.

Let us introduce you to Azalea Joy Percy!,” Tulip wrote as the caption for the picture that she uploaded yesterday.

Tulip and her husband Christian William St John Percy were seen in the picture as well. She gave birth to the baby girl at Royal Free Hospital in London on Sunday.

Tulip is the second of the three children of Shafiq Siddiq and Sheikh Rehana, and granddaughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Tulip Rizwana Siddiq was born on September 16, 1982 at Mitcham of London in England.

In 2013, Tulip married John Percy who is a Cambridge-educated company director and strategy consultant with a background in the British Civil Service.

In May 2015, she was elected a member of parliament from the Hampstead and Kilburn seat from the Labour Party. l

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