06 June, 2016

SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

|

Jyoishtha 23, 1423, Shaban 29, 1437

|

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 44

|

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

SP's wife killed The style bears the hallmarks of previous Islamist militant attacks Hossain and n Anwar FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong Three unidentified assailants took less than a minute to stab and shoot dead a senior police officer’s wife in front of her child in Chittagong city early yesterday before leaving the scene on a motorcycle, police said after scrutinising CCTV footages.

Mahmuda Khanam Mitu

Chittagong Metropolitan Police officials think that Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, 32, was killed by professional militants for her husband’s extensive activities against extremist activities in the region to demoralise him and also to create panic among the members of the law enforcement agencies.

Mitu, the wife of popular crime buster Babul Akhter who was recently promoted to superintendent of police and set to join office yesterday, was killed in the port city’s GEC area around 6:30pm.

She was walking to the bus stop with her second-grader son Akter Mahmud Mahir to drop him for the school bus.

The spot is only 100 yards from their house on OR Nizam Road.

Their daughter Tabassum Taznin was at home.

Mitu’s father Mosharraf Hossain is a retired police officer.

Babul was not in Chittagong  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

IS claims murder of Natore Christian grocer A Christian grocery shopkeeper was slaughtered by some criminals who came on a motorcycle to his shop in a locality that is thinly populated at Bonpara of Baraigram in Natore yesterday noon.

International militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murder of Sunil Gomez, 60, according to USbased jihadist monitoring website SITE Intelligence Group. It is the 19th attack since IS made the first claim in September last year after the murder of an Italian citizen in Dhaka.

IS said that their men had carried out the murder of five people since April when the militant organisation claimed

that they had established a base in the country with a view to attacking India and Myanmar to avenge the persecution on Muslims in the region.

The government, however, rubbishes the claim of IS activities in the country, and instead blames local banned outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for the recent targeted killings of non-Muslims and non-Sunnis, and attacks on their worshipping places.

Sunil used to stay with his wife at Christian Palli and ran his grocery shop beside the house in the area which is thinly populated. The place is half a kilometre from Lalpur-Bonpara road. His only daughter Swapna Gomez lives in the

GRAB YOUR RAMADAN SCHEDULE DhakaTribune has brought out a Ram-

adan schedule for 2016. Please collect your copy today from your hawker.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE

n K Kamal Mridha, Natore

Int’l Tribunal examines Niko’s corruption A tribunal will examine whether Niko procured agreements for Chattak, Feni gas fields through corruption.  PAGE 5

Rajshahi’s empty zoo Empty cages welcome visitors everyday at the Rajshahi zoo, where people once flocked to marvel at the grandeur of Bengal tigers and lions.  PAGE 7

Saudis propose 6% tax on remittance Bangladesh might lose Tk150cr a year because of a proposed 6% tax on remittance by expat workers.  PAGE 32

DT

2

News

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

IS claims murder of Natore Christian grocer same village with her husband.

SI Ashraf of Baraigram police said that they had detained one of the tenants of Sunil’s house, Sobuj, for interrogation. The other family residing at the house could not be traced.

Members of police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Detective Branch (DB) are dealing with the case. Senior officials of different law enforcement agencies

also visited the spot.

Meanwhile, members of Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad and other minority groups formed a human chain at Bonpara Bazar in the afternoon and issued a seven-day ultimatum for the arrest of the killers.

Family members and Christian community leaders said that Sunil Gomez was a very gentle and peaceful person. He had no enemy.

According to locals, Sunil

opened his shop after returning from the nearest bazar with some goods. Later locals discovered him throat slit with sharp weapons.

There is a two and a half feet high wall in the shop. Sunil was found holding Tk83 in his fist. For this, the investigators think that the killers first bought some products and then dragged him on the wall while paying the money to slit his throat.

A woman informed the locals about the murder while she was go-

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ing to some place on a rickshaw van.

The victim’s daughter Swapna said that his father had no enmity with anyone. She filed a case against unnamed persons with Baraigram police around 10:30pm, OC (investigation) Imran Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bonpara municipality Mayor KM Zakir Hossain echoed Swapna.

He demanded neutral investigation into the murder and exemplary punishment to the killers.

Father Bikash Hubart Reberu, the priest at the Dharmapolli Church, said that it was beyond his imagination why Sunil had been killed.

DB OC Abdul Hyi said that a wound of sharp weapon was seen on Sunil’s neck. He said that they had interrogated some locals over the matter but got no clue since no one witnessed the incident.

The body was sent to Natore General Hospital for a post-mortem examination. l

SP’s wife killed when the murder took place. He left for Dhaka on Thursday as he recently got promotion and attached to the Police Headquarters.

CMP Deputy Commissioner (north) Paritosh Gosh said: “In the CCTV footage, we found that three assailants took part in the killing and confirmed death within one minute.

“A person was talking over the mobile phone in front of Hotel Niribili on the opposite side of the murder spot. He crossed the road when a motorcyle carrying two others came to the spot and pushed Mahmuda from behind.

“As she fell on the road, they stabbed her indiscriminately and later shot her in the forehead before leaving the spot on the same motorcycle.”

The official said that one of the killers was wearing a helmet and fled to the direction of the city’s Golpahar area.

Paritosh said that the attackers stabbed on different parts of her body at least eight times with sharp weapons and shot in the forehead from a point blank range to confirm her death.

“She was shot twice; one bullet pierced her head and the other was misfired. Two live bullets were recovered from the crime scene after the murder,” Paritosh said.

Talking to reporters at the crime scene, CMP Commissioner Iqbal Bahar said that they would collect all the available CCTV footage to unearth the mystery.

“We hope that we will be able to nab the perpetrators within a very short time,” he said, adding that they suspect militants for the murder since the police officer had been credited with leading many a successful operations against the militants.

‘Attack on family members a new trend’

Talking to Dhaka Tribune, Additional Commissioner Masud-UlHasan said: “We have seen that the police members came under militant attacks in the past. But we are not familiar with the new trend of militant attacks on their family members.

“It was beyond our wildest im-

agination that the family members of the police officers can be attacked.”

The murder style resembles several recent killings conducted by militants. Babul Akter’s leading the port city’s DB teams against banned outfits is another reason why the investigators smell militant hand behind the murder.

Between October and December last year, Babul in drives arrested several leaders of JMB’s Chittagong unit and also seized sophisticated arms and ammunition.

Meanwhile on yesterday noon, a Christian grocery shopper was hacked to death at Banpara in Christian Palli under Baraigram in Natore. International militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murder in the evening – the 19th attack since its first claim in September last year.

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), which is believed to be represented by banned outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team in Bangladesh, claimed the murders of over a dozen secularists, teachers and LGBT rights activists, according to US-based jihadist monitoring service SITE Intelligence Group.

Refuting the claims as baseless and part of international conspiracy, the government claims that the killings were perpetrated by local banned outfits like Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansarullah.

Additional IGP Javed Patwari also visited the crime scene. He said that they were investigating the murder taking all possible motives into consideration.

At least 10 teams of the police’s PBI, CID, DB, RAB and the Counter-Terrorism and Transitional Crimes Unit are working on the case.

CMP strengthened security at the check posts of the city since morning while the law enforcers were conducting operations to nab the suspected militants, said sources.

Witness statements

Ansar member Mujibur Rahman, who saw the killers fleeing the scene, said that he heard two gun shots and “when I opened the door, I saw three men on a motorcycle going towards the direction of Gol-

Chittagong Superintendent of Police Babul Akhter breaks down in tears after hearing the news of his wife being killed by unknown assailants in broad daylight in Chittagong city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE pahar on a motorcycle. One of them was wearing a helmet while another person had a T-shirt on.”

During the incident, Mujibur was performing his duties at Premier University’s main gate which is around 30 yards from the murder spot.

Abdus Sattar, security guard of the building where the victim was living on the seventh floor, said that usually a constable takes the boy to his school, but no one came yesterday. “So madam [Mitu] left home on foot to drop her son for the school bus.

“I heard gunshots few minutes after she left the house. The son came to me crying and I went to the spot only to discover that she was lying in a pool of blood,” Sattar said.

Locals, who were outside for morning walk, said that they had seen a blood-soaked woman in burqa lying on the street.

She was brought to Chittagong Medical College Hospital around 8:45am. Dr Aminul Haque Sarker, emergency medical officer, said that the bullet injury she had makes it clear that highly professional killers shot her dead.

CMP Additional Commissioner (crime and operation) Debdas Bhattacharya told the Dhaka Tribune that the killers used a 7.65 bore pistol in the killing mission.

Abu Jafar Md Omar Faruk, in-

spector of Police Bureau of Investigation, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had prepared an inquest report after examining the body.

“The body bore marks of multiple stab injuries in the chest, hand, back and elbow,” he said.

A three-member forensic team headed by Dr Syed Md Quasem, head of CMCH forensic department, performed a post-mortem examination on the body. The other members were Dr Dev Pratim and Dr Jahanara.

The team, however, refused to make any comment on the matter.

Flanked by his colleagues, SP Babul came to CMCH at 10:40am.

He broke into tears and fainted several times at the hospital. Later, he was sent to his house where he met his children.

Mitu’s parents also came to Chittagong to take her body for burial.

The first namaj-e-janaza of the deceased was held at Dampara Police Lines in the city attended by senior police officials, city Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu MP, city Awami League President and former mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury among others.

Soon afterwards her body was taken to Dhaka where some relatives live, for another janaza, Majedul Islam, a cousin of Babul, told the Dhaka Tribune.

The family has not determined yet where she would be buried, he said.

‘It was part of the plot’

IGP AKM Shahidul Hoque in a statement expressed profound shock at the murder.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal claimed that militants had killed the wife of Babul Akter to dent his confidence and demoralise him.

“They [militants] might have carried out the murder for her husband’s expertise in curbing militancy,” the minister told reporters at BGB Training Centre and School at Satkania in Chittagong.

The minister later visited the house of Babul Akter where he reiterated that such types of target killings had been taking place one after another as part of a national and international conspiracy.

“We will arrest the killers after investigation. The police have already arrested many of the killers involved in targeted killings across the country,” he claimed.

“Earlier 37 similar types of murders have taken place in the country recently. We have been able to unveil the mystery behind 34 murders and arrested 144 persons while 49 of the accused have given deposition in the cases,” the minister added. l

3

DT

News

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Have militants changed modus operandi?

Al-Masum Molla n Mohammad and Adil Mahmood Babul Akter, a decorated police officer and a recipient of Bangladesh Police Medal in 2012 for bravery, was once introduced by the then inspector general of police at a government function as the most fearless and talented officer in his force for leading a good number of counter-terrorism operations against “homegrown” militants.

But such accolades, high praise, honour, and his own dedication to his job were not enough to save his own family. Akter's wife Mahmuda Khanam Mitu was stabbed and shot dead on broad daylight in downtown Chittagong's busiest area yesterday, apparently in the hands of those same militants.

Their seven-year-old son was a witness of the incident.

On the very same day, an elderly Christian shopkeeper was hacked to death in Natore's Banpara upazila, which has had a notorious history of militant activities for years.

Though the killing of the sexagenarian shopkeeper can be listed as one more tally in the ongoing killing spree, claimed by the so-called Islamic State or al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS) operatives, but the 32-year-old Mitu's execution

A family member consoles the children of Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, wife of Chittagong SP Babul Akhter who was killed in broad daylight by unknown miscreants, at their residence in Chittagong yesterday RABIN CHOWDHURY came as a shock to many, for the inconsistency in the known modus operandi (MO) of the militants.

Thus far, writers, publishers, online activists, teachers, priests, imams, LGBT activists and foreigners have been targeted in the militant killings.

It is safe to assume that Akter, for his direct involvement as a crucial part of state machinery in rooting out militancy, will be considered a highly-valuable target for the militants. But the killing of his wife demonstrates that the militants' MO has taken a drastically different

and dangerous turn. They are not only working to spread fear among the population, but also they will not hesitate to take the path of retaliation by killing family members of policemen, mafia style.

Security analyst Maj Gen (retd)

100,000 clerics sign fatwa against militancy n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

More than 100,000 Islamic scholars, leaders, thinkers and Olemas have finalised a “Fatwa of peace for human well-being” to curb militancy in Bangladesh.

The Khatib of Sholakia Eidgah, who took the initiative last year, said more than 100,000 Islamic religious scholars signed the groundbreaking fatwa against terrorism and militancy.

Last December, Fariduddin Masuud, secretary general of Jamaat-e-Ulema Maulana, first came up with the idea of using Fatwa to curb militancy and sought assistance from the police and other stakeholders.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, the Islamic scholar said the main theme of the fatwa was “Fatwa of peace for human well-being.”

Masuud said they would announce the fatwa on June 18 through a press conference in Dhaka city.

“We have prepared the main part of the fatwa with 10 questions that had been raised by the militant groups and we answered those

100,000 ISLAMIC SCHOLARS SIGN FATWA AGAINST MILITANCY THE QUESTIONS ADDRESSED BY THE FATWA: v v v v v v v v v v

Does Islam support crime and terrorism?

Did prophets, particularly Muhammad (SM), take the barbaric path to establish Islam?

Are Jihad and terrorism the same thing in Islam?

Does terrorism create a path to heaven or hell?

Will a suicidal terrorist's death be counted as martyrdom?

Is genocide allowed in the view of Islam?

Does Islam support the indiscriminate killing of people including women, children, and the elderly?

What sort of crime is it to kill a person while they are offering prayer?

Is it allowed to attack worship places of non-Muslims such as churches, pagodas and temples?

Is it not the responsibility of all – in the view of Islam – to create social resistance against criminals and terrorists?

questions quoting the holy Qur'an and Hadith.”

Masuud said 300 Olemas first

finalised the draft. “Then we finalised the copy and sent it to Olemas across the country and they sent

it back with their signatures. More than 100,000 Olemas signed the Fatwa.”

The Khatib of the country's largest Eid congregation said the primary target was to publish a pamphlet writing only the main part of the fatwa and to distribute it among 10 million people.

“It is our primary target. But we will not seek any assistance from the government, but if government comes forward we will welcome it.

If we can reach to 10 million people then it will reach 160 million people automatically,” he said.

Masuud said the Olemas who signed the Fatwa would also preach it in their mosques and madrasas.

“One cannot deny that in Bangladesh, Fatwas can have a tremendous impact. A statement against terrorism by clerics can be very effective,” he said.

The Khatib said online and social media would be used to spread the message and to sensitise the public. “We will use Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and so on. Because the young generation gets so much misleading information on online platforms, to counter this, online media should be focused on more.” l

AK Mohammad Ali Sikder said: “Earlier, militants attacked police officials, personnel but never a family member. It seems the militant groups have changed the nature of their targets. They are targeting the family members of the active and efficient police officials to break their morale and to push forward their own agenda.”

Mitu's execution method also sheds lights in other important factors. It cannot be considered a “stray incident” anymore, as the government mouthpieces prefer to put it, since the killers were apparently familiar with Mitu's routine.

This indicates that she was surveilled for days, probably weeks before the killers fixed a particular time and place to make it happen.

Such discipline demonstrates that not only the militants are highlytrained in modern-day covert operation techniques, but also have seriously high resources, hiding in plain sight, to conduct a long, wide surveillance operation on someone whose frequent movements are among the same group of people she and her husband belong, the police families.

“Militants frequently change their strategies in order to survive in ever-changing and challenging environment. Our law enforcement agencies, sadly, are yet to detect a pattern,” Ali Sikder said. l

Bernicat: Joint effort to tackle climate change, terrorism n Shohel Mamun The US is ready to provide Bangladesh the maximum support to fight terrorism and protect the environment that is continuously being damaged, US Ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat has said.

“No nation can face climate change and terrorism alone. These issues do have not any border.

Terrorism is a global crisis, to be solved by integrated initiatives.

A joint effort will be able to tackle terrorism,” she told journalists yesterday at the Independent University, Bangladesh, where she was the guest of honour at an IUB Environment Club event marking World Environment Day. Saying Bangladesh was particularly vulnerable to climate change, she said different natural disasters threatening the coastal zone were made worse by the changes in climate. “It is important to respond proactively to protect the people of Bangladesh and globe,” she said. l

DT

News

4

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

HC freezes Morshed Khan’s bank Licence cancellation of 20 pharmas sought accounts in Hong Kong n Asif Islam Shaon The High Court yesterday, ruled to freeze the bank accounts of BNP Vice Chairperson and former foreign minister M Morshed Khan, his wife and son in Hong Kong for ten days.

A High Court bench of Justices M Enayetur Rahim and Amir Hossain made the order and also issued a rule asking why the final report which recommended their acquittal in a money laundering case should not be rejected and why a fresh investigation would not be ordered in a money laundering case.

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) filed an application with the High Court against a lower court’s admission of the final report prepared by its investigators, which moved the court to issue the order and rule.

The court asked Morshed Khan, his wife Nasreen Khan, son Faisal Morshed Khan and the state to reply to the ruling within two weeks.

The court will hold further hearing into the matter on June 15.

The ACC had prayed to the court to throw out the investigation re-

port and to start fresh probe into the money laundering case against the family.

In 2008, Hong Kong police sealed the Standard Charter Bank accounts on money laundering charges and informed Bangladesh that they would allow reopening of the accounts if authorities do not take any step ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told reporters that ACC filed a case against the trio under the Money Laundering Control Act and filed final report in July 2015, saying no money laundering was involved.

The trial court exempted them from charges on April 15 this year.

The Hong Kong police had sealed the Standard Charter Bank accounts in 2008 on money laundering charges and informed Bangladesh that they would allow reopening of the accounts in the absence of any further steps by the Bangladesh authorities.

ACC then initiated steps to revive the case and sought the trial court’s permission for reinvestiga-

Raushan: Instability a major barrier to budget implementation Al-Masum n Mohammad Molla The Jatiya Party, on Sunday said that the government will not be able to implement the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2016-17.

Opposition leader Raushan Ershad said the current political instability and the lack of infrastructure are the major barriers to implementing the budget.

“Last year, the government placed an ambitious budget that was attainable and this year the proposed budget is also highly ambitious which means the outcome will be the same,” she told journalists at a press conference in the parliament’s media centre on Sunday.

Just two days after the budget was proposed at the parliament, the opposition party, whose lawmakers are also in the cabinet, made a statement regarding their formal reaction to it.

She said the philosophy of the proposed budget is to

tion but their two petitions were rejected, which compelled ACC to move with the High Court.

build a digitised Bangladesh and to turn Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021.

The former first lady said the proposed budget has a huge deficit and she also said “There is no balance in income and expenditure, and lacks clear explanation.”

Raushan, wife of military dictator HM Ershad, questioned how the targets of the budget can be met if there is no foreign or local investment.

“Foreigners are not investing, local investors do not trust the market. In such an environment, how can the deficit be met? This is a big question.”

Raushan said that although budget allocation has increased in the education and health sectors, it is still negligible.

The opposition leader also ciritcised the government’s decision to raise the supplementary duty on SIM card based services by saying that most of the mobile phone users are from middle and lower middle class sections of society. l

The lawyer said that even though the ACC had submitted the report, they later found that there were materials which can be used to submit charge sheets against the family prompting the ACC to re-investigate the case.

He said that the accounts holds 16 million Hong Kong dollars, which were laundered from Bangladesh.

“This is the first time the High Court has given an order to freeze any bank account held in a foreign country. Our law authorizes the court to seal any property held in the country or abroad in connection with money laundering,” Khurshid said. l

n Ashif Islam Shaon

A human rights organisation yesterday filled a writ petition with the High Court seeking directions to cancel the licences of 20 pharmaceutical companies for producing substandard medicine.

The petition filed by The Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) said that a committee of medicine experts had advised a parliamentary committee in January this year to cancel the licences of these companies, but nothing has been done so far on this issue.

The companies are - Avert Pharma, Bikalpa Pharmaceutical, Dolphin Pharmaceuticals, Drugland, Exim Pharmaceutical, Globe Laboratories, Jalpa Laboratories and Kafina Pharmaceuticals, Medico Pharmaceutical, National Drug, North Bengal Pharmaceutical, Rimo Chemical, Rid Pharmaceutical, Skylab Pharmaceutical, Spark Pharmaceutical, Star Pharmaceutical, Sunipun Pharmaceutical, Today Pharmaceutical, Tropical Pharmaceutical and Universal Pharmaceutical.

The organisation’s counsel Manzill Murshid told reporters that the

petition was filed on the ground that the companies had failed to produce standard medicine, threatening the right to life of citizens.

The petitioner also prayed to the High Court to direct the government to stop 14 other drug companies from producing antibiotics.

On April 21, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim ordered the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to cancel the licences of these 20 companies, following a recommendation by the parliamentary standing committee on health ministry.

The panel made the recommendation after reviewing a report by an expert team that investigated the drug manufacturers.

The panel also recommended that licences of 14 companies to manufacture antibiotics (penicillin, non-penicillin and cephalosporin groups) be revoked and permission of 22 companies to produce drugs of penicillin and cephalosporin groups be suspended.

The health minister ordered the directorate in a meeting to provisionally accept the recommendations and implement them on review. The DGDA is yet to take any steps.l

5

DT

News

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

‘Monitoring by two ministries from FY17’ n Asif Showkat Kallol

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said both Finance and Planning ministries will jointly monitor government projects to increase the accelerate implementation rate.

The minister told reporters yesterday after a meeting on the problems of Sylhet Medical college and Hospital at finance ministry auditorium.

He said the implementation of development projects and their performance were not good in the outgoing fiscal year.

“The disbursement of funds to development projects is huge in the last two months.

“Quality of the implementation of development projects have been falling each fiscal year despite the release of more funds,” the minister pointed out.

“The planning minister is also concerned about the low rate of implementation in development projects,” he said.

Muhith said the two ministries would jointly monitor development projects to enhance the implementation rate. l

Even before its construction is finished, people have started to gather at the site of an amphitheatre in Hatirjheel that is being built with the help of the army. The photo was taken yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

International Tribunal examines Niko’s corruption n Aminur Rahman Rasel An international arbitration tribunal - International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) – has issued an order on May 26, 2016 that it will examine, on a priority basis, whether Niko procured a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) and a Gas Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Chattak and Feni gas fields through corruption.

ICSID is a part of the World Bank Group that facilitates the arbitration of legal investment disputes between international investors and host states.

The three-member tribunal constituted in 2010 for this claim is presided over by Michael E Schneider of Germany.

The tribunal suspended all further proceedings of two pending ICSID cases filed by Niko Resources (Bangladesh) Ltd. In 1997 Niko, a Canadian company, first participated in Bangladesh’s second round bid for Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) to develop oil and gas resources.

Niko was disqualified since they

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN MONDAY, JUNE 6

in order to further their business objectives.

In 2011, Niko entered into a plea bargain with the Canadian Crown Prosecution and admitted to some of the charges including proving a motor vehicle costing Canadian $190,984 to AKM Mosharraf Hossain, the former state minister for energy and mineral resources.

As part of the plea bargain, the Canadian authorities did not pursue other charges against Niko.

In 2010, in a writ petition filed

by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela), the Bangladesh High Court passed a judgment directing Niko to compensate for the blowouts and restraining Petrobangla from making any payments to Niko till settlement of the compensation claims.

In 2010, Niko filed two ICSID arbitration cases - one for the payment of gas supplied to Petrobangla and the other seeking a declaration of non-liability for the blowouts.

On March 25, 2016 Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) and Petrobangla gave ICSID the

got the lowest marks for technical and financial capacities. Having failed in the competitive process, Niko submitted an unsolicited proposal in 1998 which was rejected by the Bangladesh government.

However, Niko then allegedly proceeded to secure its business interests in Bangladesh by resorting to corruption.

Niko managed to secure a JVA for Chattak and Feni gas fields on October 16, 2003. When they started drilling the Chattak gas fields, despite not having adequate technical competence, two blowouts occurred causing significant loss and damages to the gas fields, to the environment, and to the health of the surrounding population.

Despite the blowouts, Niko also managed to secure a gas purchase and sale agreement with Bangladesh Oil Gas and Mineral Corporation or Petrobangla on December 27, 2006.

Canadian police conducted an investigation into Niko’s activities and charged Niko with directly and indirectly providing improper benefits to Bangladeshi public officials Dhaka

35

27

Chittagong

34

27

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:44PM

37

27

Rangpur

33

26

evidence from the Canadian police that showed Niko had obtained rights in the Chattak and Feni gas fields through bribery and corruption.

Furthermore, Bapex lodged a claim for US$137.4 million and Petrobangla sought US$1.05 billion as compensation for the blowouts caused by Niko.

As evidence of Niko’s corruption, Bapex and Petrobangla filed an affidavit from Corporal Duggan of the Canadian police who investigated Niko’s activities in Bangladesh.

Corporal Duggan’s investigation uncovered that Niko Canada used bribes in order to secure the rights in the Chattak and Feni gas fields, to influence an inquiry into the 2005 blowouts, and to further their other business interests in Bangladesh.

Bapex and Petrobangla also submitted a copy of a pay order showing payment of bribes to an influential lobbyist, who is currently serving a prison term for weapons smuggling.

The tribunals decided to make a full inquiry into Niko’s corruption in Bangladesh by stating that it was Khulna

33

25

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:10AM

37.4ºC Rajshahi

24.2ºC Rajarhat

Source: Accuweather/UNB

34

27

PRAYER TIMES

conscious of the seriousness of corruption offenses.

The tribunal noted that as a principle of international public policy, the prohibition of bribery overrides the general principle of party autonomy otherwise widely upheld in international and comparative law.

Being mindful of its responsibility for upholding international public policy, the tribunal decided to examine the corruption charges against Niko.

Bapex and Petrobangla are being represented by Foley Hoag LLP, a law firm based in Washington DC, which successfully represented Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal maritime dispute arbitration cases with India and Myanmar.

The Bangladesh co-counsel in the ICSID arbitration cases, Barrister Moin Ghani, told the Dhaka Tribune, “Substantial evidence of Niko’s corruption has recently been submitted to the ICSID tribunal.

This new evidence has prompted the tribunal to conduct a full inquiry. I believe that the truth of Niko’s corruption in Bangladesh will eventually be revealed.” l Sylhet

34

25

Cox’s Bazar

32

Fajr: 4:40am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:50pm Esha: 8:45pm Source: Islamic Foundation

27

DT

News

6

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Indigenous fish disappearing in Bagerhat n SM Samsur Rahman, Bagerhat Indigenous fishes are disappearing due to manifold reasons from the water bodies in Bagerhat causing much worries to the local people.

According to fisheries department sources, once the wetlands fulfilled with 260 species of fish now have become the land of few kinds of fishes.

Of the fishes, many had disappeared in the course of time, leaving 14-15 species on the verge of extinction.

Poor levels of water in rivers, construction of roads and houses by filling canals and water bodies and other human interventions, including use of harmful pesticides in farmlands and unplanned construction of dams and irrigation projects, and unplanned fishing through use of fine nets are the main reasons behind the extinction of the local fish species.

Besides, fish breeding is being hampered due to rampant netting of brood fish and fish fry.

A section of unscrupulous peo-

AL wins 171 UPs, BNP 33 n Tribune Desk

Awami League-backed chairman candidates have clinched victory in 172 union parishads while contestants from its arch rival BNP’s camp have won in 33 in the sixth and final phase lowest tier local government polls.

Thirty four Awami League candidates were elected unofficially in Comilla, 18 in Naogaon, 17 in Sunamganj, 16 in Tangail, 15 in Kishoreganj, 10 in Jhenidah, Savar, Pabna and Sylhet each, nine in Gaibandha, eight in Narsingdi, seven in Rajshahi, three in Rangpur and Panchagarh each and two in Sherpur.

On the other hand, six BNP candidates were elected unofficially in Kishoreganj and Sunamganj each, four in Rajshahi, Tangail and Naogaon each, three in Sylhet, two in Gaibandha and one in Comilla, Sherpur, Panchagarh and Pabna each.

Besides, 92 other chairman candidates won the elections in Narsingdi, Comilla, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Jhenidah,

Savar, Sherpur, Gaibandha, Panchagarh, Kishoreganj, Tangail, Naogaon, Pabna, Sunamganj and Sylhet.

Earlier, some 190 AL chairman contenders were elected unopposed in the first five phases of the violence-marred elections beginning in March.

Some 3,200 candidates contested the election for chairman posts, while some 30,000 others for member posts and reserved seats of the UPs. In the wake of election violence that killed over 100 people in the five phases of the UP polls, the EC had taken a few preventive measures for the final phase election.

Voting in the 6th and final phase election to 698 union parishads (UPs) of 82 upazilas of the country’s 64 districts was held on Saturday amid sporadic violence that left four people dead in Noakhali, Feni, Mymensingh and Sunamganj districts.

The balloting began at 8am and continued till 4pm without any break. l

BCL block highways Rahman Swapan, n Anisur Barisal

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) unit in Barisal blocked roads and highways in several points of the district yesterday protesting the murder of an activist.

Sources said the BCL activists blocked the roads and highways at Goriar Par point on the Barisal-Madaripur-Faridpur-Dhaka Highway, Karnakati point in front of Barisal University on the Barisal-Patuakhali-Kuakata Road and Kalijira point on the Barisal-Jhlakathi-Pirojpur-Bagerhut-Khulna Road.

Due to blockade, passengers of different transports

suffered much in adverse weather condition on 12 local and regional routes.

Sumon Serniabad, district BCL president, alleged that some influential corners trying to save the killers for using them as cadres to stablish supremacy in local politics in lieu of blood of slain BCL activist Reza and his associates.

Azad Rahman, assistant commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police, said they were trying to arrest the accused.

According to sources, Rejaul Islam Reja, the BCL activist, died after he and four of his friends were hacked in front of Barisal Polytechnic Institute around 9:30pm on May 27. A case was filed. l

ple catch fish by mixing poison with water in Sundarbans area causing threat to the fishes.

The fishes facing extinction are mola, darkina, napit koi, gutum, baghagutum, baligara, chapila, gojar and pabda. The endangered species of fish are bagha, rita, nandia, aiyr and mohashole.

Now foreign and cultured species of fish are dominating the local markets. Mainly carp (oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae) fishes are found in the markets now.

Only a handful fishes from wa-

ter bodies are available in the markets, which are also beyond the purchasing capacity of the common people.

At least 21 rivers in the district had dried up after 1971. The land grabbers occupied the government land of 83 canals only in Rampal upazila.

According to the sources of the department, there are 41 rivers, 34, 565 ponds, 547 canals and 22 beels in the district.

On inquiry, it was found that a few local species of sweet water

fish are there in the water bodies.

A total of 40,500 fishermen depend on the water bodies to lead their livelihood.

Total demand of fishes in the district is 29,500 metric tonne.

26,910 metric tonne shrimps and 45,696 metric tonne white fishes are produced where maximum of them are exported.

Narayan Chandra Mondol, district fisheries officer, said the fisheries department has undertaken various projects to preserve the local varieties of fish. l

7

DT

News

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Empty cages of Rajshahi zoo n Abdullah Al Dulal Empty cages welcome visitors everyday at the Rajshahi zoo, giving them little reason to revisit the place where people once flocked to marvel at the grandeur of Bengal tigers and lions.

The sorry state of Rajshahi city’s AHM Kamruzzaman Zoo has caused visitor numbers to gradually dwindle over the years.

Instead of showcasing animals, many of the empty cages are now being used to store and manage food for what little number of creatures are left there.

Among its exhibits in 2003, the Rajshahi zoo had two lions and a Bengal tiger – considered by many as the main attractions of the zoo; now there are no more left.

The number of other animals have also dropped drastically.

Compared to 194 Chitra deers in 2003, there are now only 44 left.

“I bought a Tk20 ticket to enter the zoo, but saw no tiger or lion. I had high hopes when I came here, but there is nothing worth seeing here,” said Sharmin Sultana, a class-ten student who was visiting from Joypurhat.

Several other visitors also expressed their disappointment to the Dhaka Tribune, saying that no one would visit the Rajshahi zoo any more if the existing conditions persisted.

On May 18, the acting mayor of Rajshahi, Nizam-ul-Azim, made an unannounced visit to the zoo to investigate long-standing allegations that the animals there were not being fed adequately.

During the drive, Nizam suspended the zoo pharmasist for negligence after finding that adulterated and rotten food was being served to the creatures.

He also issued a directive to can-

The photo which has been taken recently shows empty cages at Rajshahi zoo cel the work order for Sakib Enterprise, which supplied food for the animals. Orders were also issued to cancel its licence and seize its security deposit.

Two ward councillors of Rajshahi – Ward 4’s Ruhul Amin Tunu and Ward 6’s Nuruzzaman Tuku – were also assigned to supply zoo food from now on.

Visiting the Rajshahi zoo recently, the Dhaka Tribune found that most cages were empty.

The few exhibits that were still there for the visitors did not have any signs to display the identity or description of the caged animals.

The rabbit cage was found to be extremely dirty with the rabbits living in a filthy condition. There

was no food for the zoo’s solitary python inside its enclosure. The fishing cats as well the horses and the donkeys were found to be in skeletal conditions.

Asked for comment, the zoo’s assistant acting officer Abdul Hai said the rabbit cage was cleaned everyday, but the creatures themselves made a mess again within half an hour of cleaning.

The python was fed two chickens every eight or ten days, he said, adding that zoo authorities arranged for the food whenever the snake became hungry and slithered to the front of its enclosure as a sign of its hunger.

Dr Farhad Uddin, the acting officer of the zoo, said the mayor act-

DHAKA TRIBUNE

ed after zoo authorities notified him that the contractors were supplying low-quality food for the animals.

Now the animal food was above par as the city corporation itself was overseeing the supply, he added.

Asked why the zoo creatures were in such a famished condition, Dr Farhad said the size of the cages were inadequate and the animals did not have the necessary space to move around. As a result, the animals seemed weak and starved.

Work on enlarging the enclosures, however, would begin soon, he added.

Dr Farhad also added that the nameplates describing the species were removed recently as they were faded because of exposure to

sunlight. New signs were now being made and would soon go up in front of the cages.

The acting zoo officer also said talks are going on to bring new species of animals to the Rajshahi zoo.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi City Corporation Chief Engineer Ashraful Haque told the Dhaka Tribune that work of a 2010 project was still going on – with work on cages and landscaping still left. However, a further Tk5 crore was needed to complete the project, he said.

Ashraful added that the city corporation did not have enough fund to bring new exciting animals from abroad. However, like in the past, they would try to bring new animals from Dhaka zoo. l

BAN ON ISSUANCE OF PASS PERMIT

People depend on Sundarbans for livelihood suffering Hedait Hossain Molla, n Md Khulna People who depend on Sundarbans for livlihood are suffering imensely as forest department has placed a ban on issuance of all types of ‘pass permit’ for general people, on forest resource collection and on entry to the forest by all like fishermen, mowal and bhawali.

The ban came into effect on April 29 and will remain in force until further notice.

The fourth fire incident in four weeks at Chandpai Range in Sharankhola upazila of the Sundarbans has prompted the authorities concerend to impose the embargo.

But local people alleged that police were harrasing them as they were arresting people randomly.

Consequently, fearing arrest people specially male persons have fled from villages.

Union Parishad Member of Uttar Rajapur Md Jkir Hossain said a section of influencial quater was setting fire to the Sundarbans to do brisk bussines by illegal fishing, but general people were suffering a lot for their misdeeds.

“People whoever are trying to destroy the mangorve forest should be brought to the book,” he said.

He said ifluential people who were engaged in fishing often set fire to bushes and plants of the Sundar-

bans mangrove forest under Chandpai range as they thought that ashes of plants would attract more fishes.

The quarter torches bushes and plants of Chandpai range as this portion of the forest remains under water during the rainy season so that the ashes bring in more fishes in the area.

A freedom fighter who preffered to be unnamed said: “I have been collecting honey from the forest for long. But recently authories put an embargo on our movement in the forest area and they are not issuing pass to us, and that's why I am with my family are suffering a lot.”

Abul Aslam Tuhin Boyati, president of People's Forum, a paltform of Sundarbans professional, told

the Dhaka Tribune that the government should form a taskforce to patrol the Sundarbans.

Jakir Hossain, a fisherman, said they were always with the law enforcement agencies and still they were helping them.

Saiful Islam, a officer of East Zone, said they would not allow anybody to the forest untill the situtation became normal.

He said: “Law enforcers are active to stop subersive activities in the mangrove forest and local people are also helping them.”

Officer-in-Charge of Swarankhola police station Md Shahalam Mia told the Dhaka Tribune that police only trying to arrest culprits and innocent

people should not affaid of the drive.

“We will not arrest people without any specific chahges,” he said.

People who go to Sundarbans to livelihood are now frusted, but the situtation will be improve soon.

The Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a Unesco world heritage site, saw four fire incidents in April.

On April 30, another fire broke out in the area and firefighters managed to douse the fire after alomost two days' efforts. Following the fire incidnet, a station officer of Chandpai range in Sundarbans has been suspended.

Three cases were filed against 22 people in connection with the fire incidents. l

DT

8 World

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Taliban attack kills 7 at Afghan court Taliban gunmen stormed a court complex in a city south of Kabul Sunday, killing at least 7 people in the insurgents’ third so-called revenge attack for last month’s execution of Taliban-linked prisoners. The head of the court Mohammad Akram Nejat was among those killed in the attack. The attack in Pul-i-Alam, capital of volatile Logar province, also left 23 prosecutors wounded.

-AFP

INDIA

India, Qatar sign 7 agreements to boost bilateral ties India and Qatar on Sunday signed 7 agreements, including one on finance intelligence to check money laundering and terrorism financing. Cooperation and investment in areas of skill development and education, health, tourism and sports between the two countries were the other agreements signed by Indian and Qatari officials in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

-HT

CHINA

China hopes for counterterrorism intel sharing with France China hopes to establish counter-terrorism intelligence sharing with France as the Asian giant seeks greater international support for its anti-terror fight. Hundreds of people have been killed in the past few years in China’s western region of Xinjiang, home to the mainly Muslim Uighur people.

-REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Philippine president urges public to kill criminals The Philippine president-elect has encouraged the public to help him in his war against crime, urging citizens with guns to shoot and kill drug dealers who resist arrest and fight back in their neighbourhoods. In a nationally televised speech late Saturday, Rodrigo Duterte told a huge crowd in the southern city of Davao celebrating last month’s presidential victory. -AP

MIDDLE EAST

Iran rejects terror charges in US report Iran rejected terrorism charges raised against it in an annual US State Department report, Iranian media outlets reported on Sunday, saying the Islamic Republic merely supported nations fighting for freedom. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari in turn condemned “US military interferences and destructive support for terrorist groups in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Yemen”.

-REUTERS

ANALYSIS

Spooked by BB heist, Asian security summit works on cybersecurity n Reuters, Singapore The South China Sea dispute and worries about North Korea dominated an Asian security summit at the weekend, but cybersecurity was also in focus as regional officials sought to improve coordination amid a rise in high-profile hacks.

Alarmed by the theft of $81m from Bangladesh’s central bank in February, one of the world’s biggest ever cyber heists, cybersecurity was among the top concerns discussed at Singapore’s annual Shangri-La Dialogue. For the first time, the conference allotted one of its six special sessions to cybersecurity.

“It was indicative that cyber has converted from being a logical threat to a physical threat,” said William Saito, special adviser to the Japanese cabinet on IT strategy. For Japan, safeguarding critical infrastructure was imperative, especially since it is the host for the 2020 Olympics, and cybersecurity was a large part of that effort, he said.

“Cyber, because it is so cross-cutting, will just make existing threats worse,” Saito said.

Cybercriminals, whether from criminal gangs or rogue nations, usually operated beyond borders, the meeting was told.

“Where restrictions differ, they exploit these differences in order to take advantage of our national systems,” said David Koh, chief executive of the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore.

“We cannot defend or view cyber threats or issues within any national borders or within a regional border.”

In the February heist, hackers stole money from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Federal Reserve. One transfer to a Sri Lankan entity was reversed, but four transfers for $81m went to the Philippines and wound up with casinos and casino agents there.

Most of the money remains missing and the identity of the hackers is unknown.

India, with nearly 500m internet users, is preparing to set up an army of 500,000 cybersleuths within five years, a delegate from New Delhi said at the conference.

“That can provide a bulwark for global cybersecurity efforts,” said

BIGSTOCK

Santosh Jha, joint secretary for cyber issues at the Indian external affairs ministry.

Trust factor

Building a transnational cybersecurity defence system is hampered by differences between countries and a lack of trust, delegates said. For instance, Western nations were focused on safeguarding the infrastructure of cyberspace while China and Russia were concerned about content.

Also, rival nations use cyber techniques for espionage and potentially for sabotage. After years of acrimony and allegations of

cyber-spying, senior US and China cyber officials held their first meeting last month since the two countries struck an anti-hacking agreement in September.

“You have permanent members of the UN Security Council coming to the table with fundamentally different objectives, it probably isn’t a surprise that the accomplishments to date have been modest,” said Sean Kanuck, a former US National Intelligence Officer for Cyber Issues.

No country can achieve cybersecruity on its own, Singapore’s Koh said. l

INSIGHT

Diplomatic tag as countries find new ways of standing up to China n Reuters, Singapore When US Defence Secretary Ash Carter spoke at a key Asian summit at the weekend, he used the word “principled” 38 times, floating his vision of a US-backed “security network” of countries in the region.

Several delegations were quick to respond to the idea at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, but it seemed to evolve into a form of diplomatic tag-team wrestling as a loose coalition of nations lined up to criticise China.

Nations including Japan, India, France and Vietnam joined calls for greater respect for international law to resolve worsening tensions over the South China Sea, a dig at Beijing which has said it will not accept any ruling by a UNbacked court on the dispute.

Chinese officials, meanwhile, stressed Beijing’s commitment to being a peaceful, lawful and inclusive nation but said it would not be bullied.

BIGSTOCK

“No one has the right to point their fingers at China,” said Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the joint staff department of China’s Central Military Commission, as he faced a string of questions at one public forum at the summit on Sunday.

Concern at China’s assertiveness over the vital trade route was deepening, several envoys said on the sidelines of the summit, particularly given the prospect of Chinese military facilities on new artificial islands built by on reefs in the South China Sea.

Those concerns were forcing regional countries to band closer together to find new ways of standing up to Beijing.

Carter’s urging of greater regional efforts, particularly from China, to create his “principled security network” was underpinned by warnings that China risked isolating itself by its actions “on the seas, in cyberspace, and in the region’s airspace”.

Many militaries in the region, he said, were working closer together, both among themselves and with the United Sates.

Japan’s defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said Japan would seek to participate annually in naval exercises together with the US and India, similar to drills due to take place off the Japanese port of Sasebo later this week.

Great Wall of isolation

Carter’s warnings that China faced a looming “Great Wall of isolation” were rejected by Chinese officials,

but some analysts said an “us versus them” divide may suit Beijing in current circumstances.

Major General Yao Yunzhu, of China’s Academy of Military Science and prominent figure during the weekend sessions, acknowledged perceptions that some nations might be “ganging up” on China but said this did not represent “objective reality”.

“The South China Sea is not the only security issue in the region, and events like this one are not quite full reality,” she told Reuters.

“Each nation has to think of its bilateral relations with China as well, and many other security issues, that pull us closer together.”

Malaysia defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein spelt out the costs to smaller regional countries if great power rivalries escalate, however.

Whatever happens between major powers must not “leave us on the beach when the tide goes out.” l

9

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

ADVANCER

USA

California or bust? Clinton hopes to strike gold in pivotal vote n Reuters, California If Hillary Clinton ends up losing California to Bernie Sanders, it will be because of voters like Nallely Perez.

Perez personifies what a Clinton supporter was supposed to look like: a 24-year-old Latina who grew up idolising the former first lady as a groundbreaking woman in politics. But when she votes in California’s Democratic presidential nominating contest on Tuesday, Perez will be supporting Sanders.

California is the final big contest in the long, bitter fight for the Democratic nomination. Opinion polls show the Democratic race there tightening in recent weeks.

Where Clinton, a former secretary of state, once held a big lead over Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, the two now are nearly tied.

A University of Southern Cali-

fornia/Los Angeles Times poll released on Friday showed Sanders with a one-percentage-point lead over Clinton in the state, 44% to 43%, a swing from March when Clinton held a nine-point edge.

“Clinton would like to go to the nominating convention with the wind at her back and tamp down the perception that she doesn’t excite Democrats,” said Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic strategist in Washington.

A Sanders victory will not clear the way to his nomination unless it triggers a defection by scores of superdelegates - party office-holders and officials - from Clinton’s camp, an unlikely outcome.

Sanders has vowed to use California as a springboard to the party convention in Philadelphia in July. A win, especially a big one, would validate the self-described democratic socialist’s decision to stay in the race to the end and give

It’s a snapshot from another political era. Forty-one years ago, in Britain’s last referendum on Europe, Margaret Thatcher hit the campaign trail clad in a woolly jumper emblazoned with a Union flag.

But the 1975 poll, which saw Britain embrace membership of what was then the Common Market, has plenty in common with the current bitter and closely-fought debate.

It also carries lessons for politicians ahead of the June 23 vote on whether to stay in or leave the European Union -- not least that the referendum may not resolve the issue for long.

Labour prime minister Harold Wilson called the referendum on June 5, 1975, as a way of trying to appease the eurosceptic wing of his fractured party, and urged Britons to stay in after securing concessions from Brussels.

This time around, it is Conservative premier David Cameron who is holding a vote to try to heal party splits, and who is campaigning to “Remain” on the basis of a renegotiated EU settlement.

For Tim Bale, politics professor

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign stop in San Bernadino, California on Friday REUTERS him leverage to influence Clinton’s policies and cabinet picks.

At California events, Clinton has been careful to focus her criticism on Trump, not Sanders, while talk-

UK Common Market referendum 1975 Do you think the United Kingdom should stay in the E uropean Community (Common Market)?

YES

67.2%

32.8%

NO

Official referendum results, 5 June 1975

at Queen Mary, University of London, the lesson of the past is that a referendum cannot guarantee to put a contentious matter to rest.

“It will fail utterly to settle the Europe question ‘once and for all’,” Bale wrote in a blog post.

“As to whether, in a democracy, that kind of never-ending uncertainty is necessarily a bad thing, who knows?” he said.

Wilson secured 67% support for staying in the European Economic Community (EEC), which Britain had joined two years earlier -- a result Cameron would be very happy with.

Opinion polls currently show the race is close, although the “Remain” camp has a slender lead.

Back then, the left wing of Wilson’s Labour party wanted to leave the Common Market, among them current leader Jeremy Corbyn -who now advocates staying in.

Donald Trump reversed himself again on Libya on Sunday, saying in an interview that he would have authorised a surgical strike to take out Muammar Gadhafi, after months of telling voters the country would have been better off if the dictator were still alive. Trump has spent most of the 2016 campaign contending that a bungled Obama intervention in Libya is proof that the US should’ve stayed out altogether.

-POLITICO

THE AMERICAS

ing up her national security experience. She will almost certainly need the support of passionate Sanders’ backers to defeat the outspoken Trump in November. l

Brexit debate has echoes of 1975 referendum n AFP, London

Trump shifts position on Libya

Peru votes in tightening presidential race

INSIGHT

17 DAYS TO GO

DT

World

Meanwhile Thatcher, newly elected as leader of the opposition Conservatives, strongly defended British membership of the EEC, saying the country was “inextricably” part of Europe.

She would later become a heroine to Conservative eurosceptics due to her visceral declarations of opposition to Brussels when she became prime minister.

‘Not what we voted for’

Many older Britons who want to leave the EU argue that today’s bloc is not the same entity as the EEC they supported joining in 1975.

“When we voted in the Common Market, this isn’t what we voted for,” Lynn Everett, 62, who runs a football merchandise stall in Birmingham, said.

“I voted in. It was a totally different thing. If we don’t leave this time, I’m finished with politics.”

The Brussels landscape has changed in the last four decades as economic union has evolved into stronger political ties, although Britain has not joined the single currency, the euro.

The EEC had six founding members and membership had risen to nine by 1975. The present-day EU has grown to 28 members, with others knocking on its door.

The end of the Cold War in 1991 and the lifting of the Iron Curtain paved the way for eastern European countries like Poland and Hungary to join in 2004.

The free movement of EU citizens means many thousands of eastern Europeans have since come to Britain to seek employment, with no need for a work permit.

Over three million people born in other EU countries are now thought to live in Britain and immigration is one of the most controversial issues in the current referendum.

Cameron argues that Britain’s economy benefits from EU migrants who work and pay taxes.

But he has pledged to restrict welfare payments to some migrants under a renegotiated membership deal with Brussels.

Amid such a complex and changing picture, some argue that the premier faces a more difficult task than Wilson did in 1975. l

Peruvians were choosing between two conservative candidates in a tight presidential election on Sunday that has become a referendum on the legacy of imprisoned ex-President Alberto Fujimori’s iron-handed rule in the 1990s. Recent polls showed former World Bank economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski having erased the lead held by Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Peru’s ex-President Fujimori.

-AP

UK

Sadiq Khan could face Boris Johnson in EU debate Sadiq Khan could go head to head with his predecessor as London mayor, Boris Johnson, at the biggest EU referendum debate, just 48 hours before polling day.

Labour remain campaign boss, Alan Johnson, confirmed Khan would be making the case for the UK to stay in the EU, in front of an audience of 6,000 at Wembley Arena on 21 June.

-THE GUARDIAN

EUROPE

Russia: US refuses talks on missile defence The US has refused Russian offers to discuss Washington’s missile defence programme, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month warned Romania and Poland that they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of the missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security.

-REUTERS

AFRICA

West African leaders discuss setting up antiextremist force West African leaders discussed setting up a force to combat extremists in the region and will send an observation mission to Gambia before elections, the regional economic body said Saturday. The decisions were announced after presidents from Ivory Coast, Niger and Mali, met in Dakar at the Economic Community of West African States. -AP

DT

10

World

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

INSIGHT

Saudi Arabia expands its anti-Iran strategy beyond Middle East n Reuters, Riyadh Under King Salman, Saudi Arabia is expanding its confrontation with Iran well beyond the Middle East, no longer relying heavily on Western allies to smother Tehran’s ambitions outside the Arab world.

Since Salman came to power early last year, and Tehran struck a nuclear deal with world powers, Riyadh has adjusted its strategy for countering the efforts of its ShiaMuslim rival to build influence in Africa, Asia and even Latin America.

Most notably, the Sunni power has used Muslim networks to push states into cutting off contacts with Iran, including by creating an Islamic Coalition against terrorism without inviting Tehran to join.

“Iran is the one that isolated itself by supporting terrorism,” Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a recent news conference. “That is why the world reacted to Iran, and particularly the Islamic world, and basically said ‘enough is enough’.”

Tehran denies it sponsors terrorism, and points to its record of fighting the Sunni Muslim militants of Islamic State through backing for Shiamilitias in Iraq and President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Riyadh is alarmed by Tehran’s support for the Shia Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, and cut off military aid to the Beirut government after it failed to condemn attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. Likewise, Saudi forces have launched a war on Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen.

But all this is part of its long-standing diplomatic, economic and military efforts to contain what it sees as a pernicious expansion of Iranian activity in Arab nations. Now it is attempting to orchestrate support elsewhere, including from countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia through its creation last November of the coalition against terrorism.

“In many ways the dimensions of the competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia are beginning to go beyond the Middle East. This is an interesting development that historically hasn’t been the case,” said Mehran Kamrava, a professor at Georgetown University-Qatar.

Old order dead

The strategy partly responds to implementation of the nuclear deal in January. Riyadh fears this will give Iran more scope to push its interests internationally by releasing it from many of the sanctions which have crippled its economy.

With even the US now saying

Western banks can resume legitimate business with Tehran, the Saudis believe their main Western ally is gradually disengaging from the region.

“They understand the old international order is dead and they have to take responsibility,” said a senior diplomat in Riyadh.

But the strategy is also driven by King Salman’s belief that Iranian influence has grown only because nobody has stood up to it, said Mustafa Alani, an Iraqi security expert with close ties to the Saudi interior ministry.

The coalition against terrorism falls into this context. When chiefs of staff from 34 Muslim states met after a joint military exercise in late March, a cartoon in the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat, owned by the ruling family, showed a bomber dropping leaflets with a no-entry sign onto Iran.

The coalition, which caused some confusion as to its scope and membership when Riyadh first announced it, is now moving forward and work to establish a “coordination centre” may be formalised during the Muslim holy month which starts shortly.

“The next step is the meeting of defence ministers, perhaps during Ramadan. At the same time we prepare a coordination centre in Riyadh,” said Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asseri.

This centre will have permanent staff members from each participating country, Asseri said, and would be a place where states could either request help in dealing with militancy or offer military, security or other aid.

An Iranian cleric walks past the coffins of victims killed in Saudi Arabia in a stampede at the hajj pilgrimage last year, during their funeral in Tehran. More than 464 Iranian nationals were killed in that disaster in Mina, which also became a pivotal issue of the degredation of Saudi-Iran reltiosnhip since then REUTERS

THE SAUDI ROYALS

THE IRANIAN POWER HOUSE

Saudi King Salman

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Hasan Rouhani

“brotherhood” between Islamic states and was therefore concerned about the escalation in tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Beyond the coalition initiative, Riyadh is trying to win the support of India and encourage it to isolate Iran. So far it has achieved mixed results. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited both countries last month, Saudi energy sales to India grew but New Delhi also agreed to build a port in Iran.

Riyadh’s hosting of a summit of South American and Arab League states last year was also partly aimed at pushing back Iran, said a Saudi analyst who sometimes carries out diplomatic functions for the government.

Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador in 2012 seeking diplomatic support from the left-wing states, with little apparent success.

Taking the flag

Although not explicitly aimed at countering Iran, the coalition includes neither Tehran nor its allied government in Iraq. The alliance also aims to counter comment in some Western media that while Iran and its Shia allies are fighting Islamic State, Sunni Saudi Arabia supports jihadist militancy on some levels.

“This new coalition is basically to get the worldwide Islamic support for Saudi Arabia to lead the fight against terrorism and take the flag from Iran,” said Alani.

Whether the coalition members see it that way is another matter.

Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, praised Riyadh for setting up the coalition and said Islamabad would be happy to share expertise.

But he also said the arrangements would take time to develop and added that Pakistan sought

African rift

Some African countries have followed many Arab League states in recent months in cutting diplomatic ties with Iran. This followed the storming of Riyadh’s Tehran embassy in reaction to Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shia cleric in January.

On Monday, Zambia’s president appeared in Riyadh on an official visit soon after speaking out against Tehran.

Iran has devoted money to win-

ning friends across Africa, investing in local industries and paying to spread its Shia version of Islam in Muslim states. Playing on its anti-imperialist credentials, Tehran’s goal appeared to be winning wider support at the United Nations.

Not only is soft power at stake. In 2012 two Iranian warships docked at Port Sudan, just across the Red Sea from the Saudi coast, following years of close ties between Khartoum and Tehran.

Since then Riyadh has invested around $11bn in Sudan and ignored international arrest warrants on President Omar al-Bashir to allow him to visit the kingdom. In January, Khartoum cut off ties with Tehran.

Djibouti and Somalia did the same. A document revealed in January showed Mogadishu had received an aid package of $50m shortly beforehand. But Djibouti denied in February that its break was motivated by money and accused Tehran of spreading sectarian tension in Africa.

Overall, Riyadh believes its approach is succeeding. “Iranian expansionism is almost stopped,” an adviser to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said last month.

But at Georgetown University-Qatar, Kamrava said it’s too early to declare winners and losers.

“In international relations you can rent friends but you can’t buy them. For Saudi Arabia the longterm effectiveness of this policy is questionable because these alliances are based on purely tactical or commercial relations,” he said. l

11

DT

Advertisement

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

DT

12 Business

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

PAGE 14

Capital market snapshot: Sunday DSE Broad Index

4,425.9

-0.5% ▼

Index

1,088.5

-0.8% ▼

30 Index

1,747.3

-0.8% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

3,078.7 -37.6% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

93.3 -38.6% ▼

CSE All Share Index 13,616.9

-0.5% ▼

30 Index

12,502.9

-0.5% ▼

8,284.5

-0.5% ▼

Selected Index Turnover in Mn Tk

215.5 -44.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

8.9 -31.8% ▼

500000 400000 300000 200000 100000 0

2010-11

2011-12

Various think tanks including CPD recently criticised the government for the falling trend in job creation to lack of land, gas and electricity supply. As a result, the actual foreign investment fell to half in the current fiscal year.”

The actual foreign and joint venture investment dropped by over 47% to $223 million as of February of this fiscal year compared to $422 million in the last fiscal year, according to the report.

Country experienced sharp fall by 80% in foreign investment in fiscal year 2014-15 from US$2.12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

billion in the previous fiscal year.

However, proposal for registration of foreign investment was Tk29,619 crore as of February of the current fiscal year, far below from Tk80,619 crore in last fiscal year.

The lion share of foreign investment came in the service and engineering sectors which was 34.73% and 28% respectively.

The most of the foreign and joint venture investment projects came from East Asian countries. Investment from China was $20 million in the current fiscal year compared to $25 million in the last fiscal year followed by Japanese investment of $6.8 million, which was $7.22 million in the last fiscal and the South Korea invested $6.76 million in the current fiscal year, higher from $4.5 million in last fiscal year.

The investment from neighbor

1,46,353

600000

Bangladesh Economic Survey

OPEC looks to be in a happier place with oil prices recovering, but its inability to agree an output ceiling to restrain the flow of crude betrays lingering divisions that could spell trouble ahead, analysts warn.

TREND OF EMPLOYMENT GENERATION FROM PROJECTS REGISTERED WITH BOI

2,26,411

Oil price plasters over OPEC rifts for now

Job creation in the private sector slumped to over a decade low due to steep fall in private sector projects registered with the Board of Investment (BoI), according to the latest data of Bangladesh Economic Survey (BES).

The number of new employment generated from the projects registered with (BoI) dropped to 1,46,353 as of February of the current fiscal year (FY) 2015-16, a sharpest fall against 2,26,411 generated in FY2014-15 and lowest since FY2001-02, according to the available data.

After picking up employment generation in FY2010-11 with the total number of 5,03,662 new jobs, the growth continued to fall since then.

The countries various think tanks including CPD (Centre for Policy Dialogue) recently criticised the government for the falling trend in job creation while the country is experiencing a robust GDP growth of over 7%.

Employment is generated through industrialisation but all the business activities still remained almost stagnant in recent years amid political volatility, said a senior executive of Board of Investment (BoI).

Moreover, foreign investors were reluctant to invest in Bangladesh due to lack of infrastructure which also hurts the employment generation badly, he said.

He said: “Many foreign investors came up with investment proposal but did not start to work due

2,24,943

PAGE 13

n Jebun Nesa Alo

3,09,709

Business people yesterday threatened to resort to tougher programme if previous package VAT is not restored to small enterprises.

Job creation hits over a decade low 4,51,115

Businessmen warn of tougher programme if package VAT not restored

5,03,662

TOP STORIES

2015-16 (February)

country India and Thailand also dropped to $30 million and $15.62 million respectively in the current fiscal year compared to $34 million and 18.66 million in the last fiscal year.

The largest Bangladeshi labour market Saudi Arab invested $4.24 million in the fiscal year 2015-16 which was zero in last three fiscal years.

The investment from America in Bangladesh saw a sharp fall by 88% to $14.633 million in the current fiscal year compared to $121 million in the last fiscal year.

The local investment in the private sector sees moderate growth by 13% to Tk53,680 crore as of February of current fiscal year compared to Tk47,245 crore in the last fiscal year, according to the government data. l

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Businessmen warn of tougher programme if package VAT not restored n Tribune Business Desk Business people yesterday threatened to resort to tougher programme if previous package VAT is not restored to small enterprises.

They also demanded that the government incorporate the package VAT in the VAT act 2012 and make it permanent for small entrepreneurs.

Several business leaders from different associations came up with the call at a press briefing under the banner of Baboshayee Oikkya Forum in capital yesterday.

The briefing was arranged to tell the media about their reaction on the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2016-17.

The newly formed Forum is a platform for several associations that aim at putting pressure on the government to realise their de-

mand for the package VAT. “If the government does not meet our demand by June 20, all business people will take to the street, keeping their business establishments closed,” said Abu Motaleb, general secretary of the Forum.

Terming the proposed budget completely unfriendly to business as well as industry, Motaleb said 16 crore people of the country would be affected due to the budget for what he said the ‘unusual’ proposal for VAT that would lead to hike in commodity prices.

They claimed that the government has implemented around 80% to 90% provisions of the new Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty act 2012 under the proposed budgetary measures.

During the FY’17 proposed budget, the government has pro-

posed to raise turnover of Tk36 lakh as VAT-free while 3% VAT will be imposed on turnover between Tk36 lakh and Tk80 lakh.

The businessmen demanded to raise the VAT-free limit to Tk1.5 crore.

“However, it would be tough to get any business for those that will have turnover below the limit of Tk80 lakh,” they said.

The government has followed a tricky system to implement the new VAT law in indirect measures, they claimed.

They termed the new system faulty and disastrous for small businesses as the small traders have to pay apparently 15% VAT due to payment of doubled package VAT rate from the next fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) will call for

a National Dialogue in presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Business people will raise their concerns to the premier during the meeting.

At the dialogue, FBCCI on behalf of small traders will place demands of small and medium entrepreneurs to the prime minister regarding the package VAT and turnover ceiling, said Monjur Ahmed, adviser to the apex trade body.

The proposed budget is neither business friendly nor investment and industry friendly, he claimed.

He added that the finance minister did not include the recommendations of the NBR-FBCCI committee in the budget.

The committee recommended increasing VAT-free turnover ceiling to Tk36 lakh from Tk24lakh, and setting turnover VAT at 3% for turnover up to Tk1.5 crore. l

B2B e-commerce site sindabad.com launched n Tribune Business Desk

Zero Gravity Ventures Limited, an e-commerce company, has launched the country’s first B2B e-commerce website—sindabad.com—to provide one stop purchasing solutions to all businesses in Bangladesh, the company said in a statement yesterday.

It is one of the concerns of the country’s business conglomerates,

Ananta Group. sindabad.com is an online shop where offices, factories or any business organisations can purchase their regular consumptions simply by a few clicks, anytime, from any location, at their own convenience.

Orders are delivered at their offices or factory premises by sindabad. com on time.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid

Ahmed Palak inaugurated the website and said the government has taken a number of steps and projects to turn the IT sector into a $5 billion industry.

“Local e-commerce growth will greatly contribute to this journey, and with B2B sites like sindabad. com, businesses can bring far more efficiency, saving operational cost and enhancing skills.”

DSE, CSE unhappy over proposed budget n Tribune Business Desk The country’s two bourses— Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange— were unhappy with the proposed new budget that failed to meet their demands fully.

“Our demand was not taken into account fully,” said DSE Director Shakil Rizvi while giving formal reaction to the budget on the DSE premises yesterday.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday unveiled the proposed national budget for the next fiscal year beginning from next month in the Parliament.

However, the budget has allocation for infrastructure development, which will help make the stock market vibrant.

DSE Chairman Siddiqur Rahman Miah urged the gov-

ernment to re-consider at least two of their demands to bring dynamism to the stock markets.

The two demands include giving a five-year tax holiday for the post-demutualised stock exchanges and cutting tax at source on TREC holders’ share transaction to 0.015% from the existing 0.05%.

Later in the afternoon, CSE in its reaction called for re-consideration of its budgetary proposals. It also sought policy support to bring back confidence in the stock market.

“The stock market is now passing a hard time. So, it needs some short-term and long-term incentives to restore confidence,” said Saifur Rahman Mazumder, newly appointed managing director of CSE. Other than the above two

demands, the DSE and CSE put forward a number of proposals for re-consideration, including raising the tax-free dividend income to Tk1 lakh from the existing Tk25,000, withdrawal of stamp duty provision during transferring shares of demutualised stock exchange, bringing change to the definition of earning year and lowering corporate tax to 32.5% for listed banks, insurances and financial institutions and 37.5% for non-listed firms from the present 42.5%.

The national budget for the financial year (FY) 201617 has proposed no changes to existing tax provisions for the capital market.

The finance minister, however, has proposed to waive income tax charged on margin loans, including interests, up to Tk10 lakh for small investors. l

DT

13

Business

The site currently hosts nearly 6,000 products of five categories.

Business Customers can purchase stationary, office supplies, housekeeping items, electrical items, IT equipment, safety and security items from sindabad.com at retail as well as wholesale prices. More products and categories will be added in coming months, the investors mentioned. l

Budget fails to cheer investors n Tribune Business Desk Stock fell on the first trading day of the week as investors reacted negatively to the national budget announced on Thursday afternoon, the final trading day of the week.

Some analysts interpret the fall as a reflection of disappointment of stock investors toward the budget while others contend that correction was due to ‘profit booking’ mentality of investors.

After losing over 50 points in the morning, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) benchmark index, DSEX, lost 20 points or 0.5% to close at 4,425 at the end of the day.

The key index gained marginally in previous two sessions.

Some investors still preferred to stay on the sidelines as it was indicated in the shrinking volume of trade.

The DSE turnover stood at around Tk300 crore, sharply down more than 37% over the previous session. Fuel and power sector had the highest contribution of 22% in turnover.

“DSEX failed to cheer trading following the budget proposal for FY’17,” said Lanka Bangla Securities.

It said the market sentiments might have turned weak as investors expressed their concern over the 1.5% Tax at source on export proposed in the national budget for the new financial year.

“Stocks responded to the possible impact of major changes proposed in this budget.” l

DT

14

Business

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Finance Ministry’s intervention sought to collect over Tk13cr due revenue from Petrobangla n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has recently sought intervention from the Finance Ministry to collect its outstanding revenues from the state-owned Petrobangla.

NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman recently sent a letter to the senior secretary of the ministry, Mahbub Ahmed, seeking his support to recover the due revenue amount of Tk13,278 crore as Val-

ue Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (SD) from Petrobangla.

The Large Taxpayers Unit under the VAT wing of revenue authorities in 2009 found that Petrobangla and its gas distribution companies had been collecting VAT and SD from its clients, but deposited them to its parent organisation – Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation – popular known as Petrobangla, without sending it to the government exchequer, officials said.

By following this process, the companies have evaded VAT and SD. Later in February 2015, the LTU (VAT) demanded a total of Tk22,358 crore in VAT and SD, and penalty from the companies. It also filed cases against four companies for dodging the amount in between July 2009 and January 2015.

The companies are Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution

System Limited, Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited and Karnaphuli Gas Transmission and Distribution Company.

From the total amount, the original due revenue stands at Tk13,278 crore, and around Tk9,080 crore stood as cumulative interest for non-payment of VAT and SD in right time.

NBR earlier brought the matter into attention of the finance minister in order for a solution to the matter. Muhith later wrote the

Tk420cr released for land acquisition of Anwara economic zones n Asif Showkat Kallol The government has released over Tk420 crore fund to acquire land for an exclusive economic and industrial zone for Chinese investors, called Anwara-II Economic Zone, at Anwara Upazila in Chittagong.

Earlier on May 30, Finance Division allocated the fund under the revised annual development programme (RADP) of the outgoing fiscal year 2015-16 to establish the zone on a 774-acre land.

The land will be provided to Chinese investors on a long-term lease

basis. Chinese government-nominated firm China Harbour Engineering Company Limited has already been appointed to develop the zone. The zone, once established, is expected to create a large number of employments for the Bangladeshis.

The proposed site of the zone is 39 kilometres from Chittagong port, 28 kilometres from Chittagong city and 46 kilometres from Shah Amanat International Airport.

Four conditions have been attached by the ministry on the use of the released fund. The implement-

ing agency will have to follow all the relevant financial rules including Public Procurement Act 2006 and Public Procurement Rules 2008 while using the money, according to finance ministry documents.

The money cannot be spent on any other purposes, and if any money remains unused, it has to be returned to the government exchequer.

“The bill payment authorities have to take up all the responsibilities if there is any kind of irregularity in the use of fund,” the documents read.

The move for setting up an exclusive economic zone for Chinese investors was taken soon after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had made such pledge during her visit to China in 2014.

Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) had also signed an agreement with the China commerce ministry on the matter.

In September 2015, Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the proposal for establishing an exclusive economic and industrial zone for Chinese investors. l

Oil price plasters over OPEC rifts for now n AFP, Vienna OPEC looks to be in a happier place with oil prices recovering, but its inability to agree an output ceiling to restrain the flow of crude betrays lingering divisions that could spell trouble ahead, analysts warn.

Meeting in Vienna on Thursday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries expressed confidence that the crisis of the past two years that saw prices plunge and splits emerge was now over.

It said that since December, “crude oil prices have risen by more than 80%, supply and demand (has been) converging and oil and producer stock levels in the OECD have recently shown moderation.”

According to Helima Croft at RBC Capital Markets, the mood at the bi-annual gathering was a “lot more upbeat” than the acrimonious last meeting in December.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khaled al-Falih, newly appointed by the kingdom’s dynamic Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went on a “charm offensive” to “mend fences,” Croft said.

This was helped by the fact that

cerns about possible supply problems in the future.

“You have to have stronger oil prices. Investment is so low now, it has been shrinking for two years.

This has never happened before,” Bill Farren-Price of Petroleum Policy Intelligence (PPI) told AFP.

No dogfight

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister al-Falih talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna REUTERS OPEC’s Riyadh-driven strategy of keeping pumping oil at high levels in order to maintain market share and squeeze competitors despite low prices appears, at last, to be working.

With dozens of US shale oil producers going bankrupt, non-OPEC output is forecast to fall and prices have recovered to around $50, a six-month high, having tumbled from over $100 in 2014 to almost

$25 in January.

At the same time, the International Energy Agency predicts the stubborn global supply glut - which sparked the vicious price collapse would “shrink dramatically” this year. Demand also looks healthy.

This recovery is coming just in time, too, with years of low prices having hit investment in new wells and technologies, creating con-

The meeting also saw regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran - which is ramping up output after nuclear sanctions were lifted this year and adding to pressure on the price appearing to bury the hatchet, in Vienna at least.

Saudi Arabia “made it very clear that they have no intention of swamping the market with oil as a means of hurting Iran economically through a lower oil price,” said Bjarne Schieldrop at SEB Markets.

This signalled that there is no “internal dogfight,” Schieldrop said.

“I believe that this time there was a very good unity between OPEC members,” Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said, with no signs that any members would “do something against each other to destabilise the market”. l

prime minister’s energy adviser Dr Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury, hoping that the adviser would come up with initiative to resolve the issue.

Later on March 8, 2015, an informal meeting was held among Muhith, Dr Elahi, NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman and other highups.

Petrobangla markets gas for various customers through its marketing outfits and collects the VAT and SD while collecting the price of gas from its clients. l

Palak: Government plans to formulate e-commerce policy

n Tribune Business Desk

State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak yesterday said the government plans to formulate a comprehensive e-commerce policy to re-shape the traditional e-commerce system of the country.

The junior minister came up with the remark at a seminar on “Opportunities of e-commerce for small traders and wholesalers” organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the capital yesterday.

“Since the e-commerce is growing very fast in the country, the government is planning to formulate a comprehensive international standard e-commerce policy to reshape the traditional e-commerce system,” said Zunaid while addressing the seminar as the chief guest.

“If we can bring businesses of old part of Dhaka into the e-commerce system, it will save a huge working hours and cost of doing business.”

In the last seven years, Bangladesh’s ICT sector earned $400, exporting several services and products worth $26 million, said Zunaid.

To compete with the global market, the ICT State Minister stressed ensuring global standard of products, diversification and innovation.

He also said all kinds of policy support and logistic support will be provided by the government for the development of this sector.

The ICT sector can earn about $5 billion from export by the year 2021, said DCCI President Hossain Khaled. He also said in Bangladesh, concept of e-commerce came in 2010, and till this year, a market of Tk200 crore has been created.

It also widens the scope of export opportunities and investment of $50 million, Khaled said, adding that “if we are able to bring 50-100 small trading units into e-commerce platform every year, we will have a strong virtual platform of e-trading.” l

DT

15

Business

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Wal-Mart: Tech investments will boost online sales n Reuters

Wal-Mart Stores Inc executives touted the technology investments the world’s No 1 retailer is making to boost online sales, during the annual shareholder meeting on Friday.

Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon spoke about initiatives

like online grocery pick up, the retailer’s two-day shipping program and its mobile wallet, Wal-Mart Pay. His comments capped off a weeklong media event where the company displayed drones in warehouses and announced a partnership with Uber to deliver online groceries.

“We get to reimagine retail

CORPORATE NEWS

Old Faujians Association, Dhaka Chapter has recently held its annual general meeting, said a press release. Mohammed Nasir Uddin Chowdhury has been re-elected as president of the association at the meeting while Ziad Hossain as its general secretary for the years 2016-18

Hyosung Corporation has recently signed an agreement with DESCO on constructing five GIS Grid Sub-stations, said a press release. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid was present on the occasion as chief guest

Dutch-Bangla Bank has recently opened its 156th branch at Rajbari, said a press release. The bank’s deputy managing director, Md Sayedul Hasan inaugurated the branch

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently opened its 120th branch at Mothbaria in Pirojpur, said a press release. The bank’s directors, Md Abul Bashar Bhuiyan and Md Abdur Razzaque inaugurated the branch

again, and that’s what we are going to do,” McMillon said. He also said changes to boost e-commerce sales will take some time to show results.

Wal-Mart onlines sales growth has sharply decelerated for five quarters even though its overall performance has been better than most competitors.

In the first quarter, online sales growth was 7 percent, down from 8 percent, 10%, 16% and 17% in the previous periods. In 2015, Wal-Mart’s online sales rose 12.3% to $13.7bn, which was less than the jump of more than the 16% for market leader Amazon.com Inc to $92.4bn.

The meeting at the Bud Wal-

ton Arena in Fayetville, 30 miles from the company’s headquarters in Bentonville, was packed with 14,000 people, including workers from around the world and shareholders. Keeping with its practice of showcasing celebrities at the annual event, the meeting was hosted by talk show host James Cordon. l

DT

16

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Education

Top 20 universities in Canada for undergraduate studies n Nakib Ul Hoq You will find many university rankings available on the internet but from the QS Rankings to Forbes, rankings differ because of the methodologies each of them use. So when you run a search on Google, a multitude of different ranks turn up, leaving you confused.

Here we bring to you a comprehensive ranking of the top Canadian universities based on university web statistics. This has proven to be a reliable estimate for Canadian universities. Additionally, different universities are sometimes better for different subjects. For instance, while University of Waterloo may be the best Canadian university for Engineering at the undergraduate level, it does not come at the top of this list because University of Toronto rates the best cumulatively across all its disciplines. Not to create confusion, know that this list is for undergraduate level degrees only.

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

• University of Toronto, Toronto • University of British Columbia, Vancouver • York University, Toronto • McGill University, Montreal • University of Alberta, Edmonton • University of Waterloo, Waterloo • Simon Fraser University, Burnaby • Queen’s University, Kingston • University of Calgary, Calgary • University of Victoria, Victoria • Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Montreal • Universite Laval, Quebec City • University of Ottawa, Ottawa • McMaster University, Hamilton • Universite de Montreal, Montreal • The University of Western Ontario, Ontario • University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon • Carleton University, Ottawa • University of Guelph, Guelph • University of Manitoba, Winnipeg Article was reprinted under a special arrangement with www. grad-insights.com

IELTS

Writing Task

IELTS

dates and locations

Venue: Banani Test date: June 18, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: June 11, 2016 Test date: June 25, 2016 Module type: IELTS General Training Registration deadline: June 18, 2016 Test date: June 25, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: June 18, 2016 Test date: July 9, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: July 2, 2016 Venue: Dhanmondi Test date: June 18, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: June 11, 2016 Test date: June 25, 2016 Module type: IELTS General Training Registration deadline: June 18, 2016 Test date: June 25, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: June 18, 2016 Venue: Bashundhara, Baridhara

Write about the following topic: A person’s worth nowadays seems to be judged according to social status and material possessions. Old-fashioned values, such as honour, kindness and trust, no longer seem important.

Practice with us to step up your IELTS game.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Test date: June 25, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: June 18, 2016 Test date: June 25, 2016 Module type: IELTS General Training Registration deadline: June 18, 2016 Test date: July 9, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: July 2, 2016

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write at least 250 words.

Test date: July 16, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: July 9, 2016 Venue: Uttara Test date: June 18, 2016 Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: June 11, 2016

17

DT

Feature

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

You, diet and the love-hate relationship n Reaz Mahmud Fiem So you woke up one morning, turned the television on, and it’s a trailer of yet another superhero movie. Everyone in the movie is as fit as a Greek God. You put your hand on that little tummy of yours and felt the first signs of a pot belly appearing. You felt depressed, and a bit of guilt started working in you. Then came the decision making point, and you decided to turn things around.

You took the cell phone in your hand and Googled “best fat loss diet ever.” Hundreds of suggestions appeared instantly and you chose a few of the top sites. You entered the site and got some guy with a ripped physique handing out a diet chart. You happily jump aboard the fitness train. However, after a week or two, you started losing interest in that diet of yours and now you are eating even more. Familiar much?

Well I might not know you, but I might just be able to interpret some of the reasons why you cannot hold on to that diet. So, what could be the first reason?

The first one could be too much strictness. When you have been attuned to being a food addict for so long, you cannot just stop everything abruptly. This sudden change does more harm than good. However, you must follow that diet right? Just remember one size never fits all, neither does one diet.

Another problem that you might be facing with your diet is that it talks about a variety of foods, which are not even readily available in your country. For example, the diet says avocado is healthy. Avocado is definitely healthy, but where do you get this in Bangladesh? In any local fruit store, avocado is a wonder name, which would get your regular fruitmonger scratching his head. You might get that occasional piece of imported avocado at an upscale super market, but it may not be regularly available.

A mismatched diet can be quite a burden. It is not created for you and thus you find yourself eating totally different foods at different times. This may make you distant from your family and friends.

They may laugh at your choices.

Well, I do not blame them – if you are eating cucumber at lunchtime when all of them are having a real meal, it will appear awkward.

Hence, most likely we end up being unable to stick to things which make us a joke.

The diet may also keep you in a constant state of hunger. You eat but you feel like you haven’t.

Why is that? This is because the

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

meal plans are not your type. You are a big eater, but the plan says to have six small meals. In that case, it is most likely that you will force yourself into the diet. You are unhappy and grumpy all day and every night, you see food in your dreams!

A diet that you force yourself into will invariably make you lazy while following it. Suppose the diet talks about super clean food,

which requires meal preps and grocery shopping. That will sound like a lot of extra work, especially when your heart’s just not in it.

So how do you stick to a diet?

Much depends on your willpower first.

The most efficient thing to do when deciding on starting a healthy lifestyle and diet is to consult with an expert – could be a dietician, a fitness enthusiast

or even your gym trainer – one who is experienced in this field and understands your desires and needs when it comes to food.

A custom made diet chart, which is specifically based around important variables like an individual’s height, weight and age, is the best and only way to make sure things run smoothly as it is aimed to cater to your body’s needs.

And of course, remember to not be too hard on yourself, because the first steps towards a successful journey is bound to make you stumble. The key is to make the right choices and keep on moving! l The author is a fitness enthusiast, who wishes to help people stay healthy.

DT

18

Event

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

imPrint: Seven Masters’ Prints at Edge Gallery n Saqib Sarker

painting exhibition featuring some of the most iconic contemporary Bangladeshi painters is being organised by The Edge Foundation at Edge Gallery. Titled ‘imPrint Exhibition’, the event opened on June 4 and will continue for the following two weeks, ending on June 17.

The Edge Foundation describes the event as a rendezvous of “seven master artists”, and justifiably so. The seven iconic artists are Murtaja Baseer, Monirul Islam, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Rokeya Sultana, Shahid Kabir, Anisuzzaman and Rafiqun Nabi.

The displayed artworks exhibit the unique artistic identities of each of these veteran artists but at the same time they also complement each other. “As a group they complement each other and come together in this beautiful setting to treat Dhaka’s art lovers to a full range of printmaking techniques,” the Edge Foundation event description reads.

Murtaja Baseer says that “people and their struggles” inspires him most to create his art.

When he went to Italy for higher education in arts he found himself drawing the “working people and their lives” instead of drawing nature.

An aspect in Baseer’s work is the use of scripture. “I follow the metaphors used in scriptures with great care,” Baseer said.

Primarily recognised as a printmaker, Bangladeshi born Monirul Islam is based in Madrid and renowned internationally for his amazing crafts. Monirul Islam was born in 1943 in Chandpur.

In 1969 he was awarded a scholarship by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs under an exchange programme. His artworks have been displayed all over the world including in the most prestigious biennale and group exhibitions.

The Shadhinata Padak winning artist Shahabuddin Ahmed has won numerous awards recognising his extraordinary command of his craft. He was awarded the Chevalier de I’Ordre des Arts et des

Born in 1932, Murtaja Baseer has depicted his visions of the world in “realist impressionism.”

Considered one of the leading artists of his generation, Baseer has dabbled in other forms of art including poetry and story writing, as well as works in many different fields.

“As an artist, I prefer the renaissance outlook with an impressionist’s style. However, we must not confine ourselves to a certain period and must look forward,” Baseer told Dhaka Tribune in an earlier interview.

Lettres (Knight in the Order of the Arts and Literature) in 2014 for his contribution to art in France and globally. This is the highest civilian honour in France.

Among his most recognisable works are depictions of the 1971 Bangladeshi war of independence.

Ahmed says that he is an “emotional painter.” His active participation in the war left a deep impression and in addition to being a source of pride, the war also brings “memories of a nightmare.” In an earlier interview with Dhaka Tribune Ahmed said,

A

PHOTOS: COURTESY

“the legacy of the war will always be with him.” The legendary artist currently resides in Paris.

Born in 1958 at Chittagong, Rokeya Sultana completed her Masters of Fine Arts degree from Visva-Bharati University in 1983.

So far, she has arranged a total of 11 solo exhibitions and many group art shows. She is now the departmental head of print making in Dhaka University.

In 1995, Rokeya received the ‘Grand Prize’ from Bharat Bhavan Biennial of Contemporary Indian Art, “Bengal Foundation Award” from 14th National Fine Arts Exhibition of Bangladesh in 1999, “Honorary Award” from 9th Asian Art Biennial, “Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award” in 2002 and many more, both at home and abroad.

Graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University in 1969, Shahid Kabir has won a number of prestigious awards including the Best Award for Painting in 1975 at 1st Young Artists’ Exhibition, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka and Premes Carmen Arozamena in 1984 in Madrid.

A documentary film titled Shahid Kabir: Prantikotar Rupokar was released in 2014. Kabir’s work reflects a desire to study reality in the material world and in nature. Kabir believes that his work emanates from a higher inspiration.

Born in 1972 at Pabna Anisuzaman completed MFA in Printmaking from Tama Art University in Tokyo in 2008. He conducted research in woodblock print under the guidance of Prof.

Keisei Kobayashi in 2006. He has won numerous awards over the

years including the Grand Prize in 13th Asian Art Biennale and The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2008.

His works are being exhibited in many prestigious collections including in Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo; Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, Tama Art University, Tokyo, Bengal Foundation, Dhaka and Deputy High Commission, Kolkata.

Rafiqun Nabi is one of the rare artists who have reached a wider audience through his work. From 1964 to this day, his works have been showcased all around the world several times.

Some of the countries where he has participated in group exhibitions are France, Japan, Poland, and Germany. Born in Chapainawabganj in 1943, he retired as a professor and the Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts in 2010. Rafiqun Nabi was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 1993 for his contribution to fine arts. He is not just an artist and a teacher but also known as Ronobi, the creator of the famous (or infamous) “Tokai” cartoon.

The exhibition is open daily 10 AM – 9 PM, until 17 June at Edge Gallery, located at the ground floor of Bay’s Edgewater, North Avenue NE (N) 12, Gulshan 2. l

19

DT

Biz Info

MONDAY, JUNE6, 2016

| seminar |

| program |

Workshop on excellence in pedagogy held at UIU

Summer Soiree for kids held at Le Meridien Dhaka

A workshop on “Excellence in Pedagogy” was held at the United International University (UIU). The workshop was organised by the Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of UIU. Professor Dr M Omar Rahman, vice chancellor of the Independent University of Bangladesh (IUB) was the chief guest. He spoke on the active student learning and instructional design.

Professor Dr M Rezwan Khan, vice chancellor of UIU, spoke on the determinants of a good teacher. Dr Rezwan delineated the salient features of a good teacher. The domain constitutes in depth knowledge on the subjects, presentation sequence of the content, humane and impartial attitude towards the students and transparency in grading.

Professor M Omar Rahman, in his deliberation, focused on three aspects which help to bring

With the beginning of the summer holidays, Le Meridien Dhaka has arranged a carnival for families to kick off the vacation with festivity. As part of the hotel’s global programs, which aims to provide creative outlets for their littlest guests staying at the chain’s hotels worldwide, Le Meridien Dhaka hosted the LM Family Summer Soiree on June 4.

During the day-long event, the visiting families enjoyed three movies, including Up, The Good Dinosaur and Frozen at the hotel’s top floor ballroom.

Cultural shows included puppet skits and live music in the afternoon with local art college students.

out the maximum potential of a student. He emphasised on the inspirational role of a teacher in shaping a positive outlook towards learning.

The other two points he shed light on what enables the students to learn and reduce the

uncertainty in the academic arena.

In essence, effective teaching should be a collaborative effort.

The workshop was attended by the UIU faculty members from both the School of Science and Engineering and the School of Business and Economics. l

There were also various registered engagements throughout the day such as free eclair art tutorials, pasta making lessons, community art projects and tea parties for children below 12 years of age. Other fun activities included a variety of free games that were available throughout the day.

For parents and older kids, a number of fashion, food, gadget and comic book stalls were available.

Entry to the carnival and most of its engagements were complimentary. The event was co-organised by renowned children’s party organiser Fun Factory Rides. l

| meal |

Le Pizzaria’s iftar menu

| offers |

Ramadan specialities at Hotel Sarina Dhaka Hotel Sarina Dhaka has created a host of exclusive offers to commemorate the month of Ramadan, including a tantalising iftar cum dinner buffet at Amrit Restaurant, a special set menu during sohour at Summerfield’s Restaurant, a banquet menu and special room packages to enjoy throughout the month of Ramadan.

Iftar cum Dinner at Amrit Restaurant: The culinary teams have created a mouth-watering selection of dishes to offer an iftar cum dinner buffet. Stations will feature Ramadan favourites such as shawarma, manakish or lamb ouzi. The all time favourite Arabic Mezze corner will delight all palates, along with refreshing, colourful displays of salads, cold dishes. Moreover, desserts would include om ali, basbousa, and pistachio baklava.

The iftar dinner buffet at Amrit continues throughout the month of Ramadan at Tk2,999 (all Inclusive) per person.

Sohour at Summerfield’s: Sohour will be served in at Summerfield’s Restaurant in a set menu format with many options

to choose from. Guests can also book in advance and enjoy special deals during the sohour period (conditions apply).

Banquet offering: Choose Hotel Sarina Dhaka for private/corporate Events and enjoy complimentary venues with it. Our culinary team is all set to accommodate events with different iftar cum buffet dinner menus and pre-plated iftar menu options.

Special room rate: Throughout the month of Ramadan, guests can relax and unwind at Hotel Sarina Dhaka with special room rates starting from only Tk8,888 (all inclusive) per room per night (conditions apply). l

Le pizzeria has brought forward three iftar menus along with a couple set menu for their customers.

The couple set menu includes two mango drinks/coke, fruit salad, fried chicken (2 pieces), dates, jilapi, beguni, egg chop, and a medium sized pizza. It is priced at Tk700.

For more information, contact 01735301215. l

DT

20 Editorial

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

TODAY

Ali will always be Bangladeshi Ali may have been slammed by the authority for not taking part in the Vietnam War, but his refusal won him millions of supporters worldwide, especially in developing nations which were forced to be pawns in the highly polarising Cold War machinations PAGE 21

A Jogi in search of Nirvana The transition of authority from Mrs Sonia Gandhi to her middle-aged son is stuck in uncertainty. Mrs Gandhi clearly wants to hand over the baton, but the party is not confident that the baton will be steady in the grasp of the heir PAGE 22

T

‘I am GPA-5’ Apart from the government’s inability to control the question paper leaks, we the teachers are largely responsible for teaching ‘I am GPA-5’ PAGE 23

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

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

Fix our broken education system

hough a recent news report -- showing the vacuous nature of a GPA-5 in the national board exams -- has gone viral, it provides us with a perfunctory understanding of what is really wrong with our education system.

The video footage, which shows several GPA-5 students being asked various questions from subjects ranging from science to general knowledge, only serves to humiliate those being interviewed, instead of focusing on the real problem.

Between 2012 and 2015, there have been 63 cases of public exams being leaked. This is a clear indication of how our youth are receiving education under a corrupt and faulty system.

As a result, more and more of those who can afford it are choosing to study in English-medium schools or are trying to find alternative avenues for education.

It has become clear that the Bangladeshi population does not trust the national education system that it has inherited.

The government needs to do more to ensure that those in charge of exam papers, and those who have responsibilities within the system as a whole, are properly monitored and checked to be trustworthy.

Though some measures were taken at the beginning of this year, such as conducting MCQs before the creative or narrative section and the question papers reaching the examination hall a half an hour ahead, this is clearly not enough, and is only a shortterm solution to a much bigger problem.

It is imperative that credibility is restored to our education system so that candidates coming through it and their credentials are given the respect they deserve.

Restore credibility to our education system so that candidates get the respect they deserve

DT

21

Opinion

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Ali will always be Bangladeshi Muhammad Ali was more than just a boxer citizenship, offered a piece of land by the beach in Cox’s Bazar, and, during a tour to a tea garden, had a mock fight with a child, in which, he valiantly fought but lost.

Since independence, plenty of celebrities have come to Bangladesh, but honestly speaking, no other person managed to get the whole nation into a frenzy.

From top to bottom, there was only one topic in February 1978: Muhammad Ali was coming to Bangladesh.

Won’t be wrong in stating that even the moon-conquering astronauts did not manage to create such mass hysteria.

Thousands lined by the roads, screaming his name as the motorcade carrying the boxer went by.

Ali raised the Bangladesh flag, expressed his deep gratitude when granted citizenship, unfailingly providing entertainment to the public with his wit plus spontaneous stunts.

By the time he left, the country had accepted him as a Bangladeshi.

The iconic boxer had come to a new country that was struggling to overcome countless complexities, expressing pride in taking her citizenship.

The nation was overwhelmed, to say the least.

For almost a decade, in Bangladesh, many youngsters harboured the dream of becoming a boxer. However, the appeal of the man went beyond the sport.

Honestly speaking, after a

No one saw him coming

n Towheed Feroze

T

he date October 3, 1980 will be etched in the minds of millions of people of Bangladesh, because, on that day, all politics and other activities were put aside unceremoniously for one event: The Muhammad Ali vs Larry Holmes fight.

It’s fitting that we remember that day as the great boxer has now left us all, not because he was the greatest of his time, but because Ali, as a visitor to Bangladesh in 1978, provided the inspirational tale of a man faced with countless social hurdles, overcoming all impediments to reach the top.

At that time, the triumph of one man, who incidentally had converted to Islam, could easily be used as a motivational template for the movement forward for millions of beleaguered people in a fledgling nation.

Bangladesh was just into its seventh year of independence, experiencing several tumultuous events in that short period that could have left any other country in a state of complete disarray.

The Ali visit was certainly the high point of boxing history in Bangladesh and, in less than 10 years’ time, Bangladesh would go on to win the first Asian Games medal, bronze, in boxing, in 1986.

At that time, when the medal winning boxer, Mosharraf Hossain, was asked about his relentless drive, he mentioned the visit of the great Ali as one of life’s most relished moments.

In fact, after the great boxer left Bangladesh, boxing as a sport came back here with a vengeance.

Even at local gyms, one corner was preserved for aspiring pugilists. The advent of the VCR age plus the release of the Rocky films only increased the popularity of the sport.

his refusal won him millions of supporters worldwide, especially in developing nations which were forced to be pawns in the highly polarising Cold War machinations.

Coming back to the 1980 fight with Larry Homes -- just two years earlier, the legendary boxer had visited Bangladesh and hence, the entire nation collectively prayed for him. I remember how Mr Allan -- an American missionary living opposite to our home -- was feverishly excited, inviting a whole bunch of Americans over to his place.

If memory serves, we saw the fight during the day, whether it was live or not I cannot recall, but the time was around 11am.

At that time, most supporters didn’t know that Ali had been diagnosed with early signs of Parkinson’s, a disease that wreaks havoc on the reflexes.

The medical condition was assiduously kept under wraps and the go-ahead for the fight was given. An aged war horse, Ali took on a very young Holmes at the prime of his career, and lost.

They do say, sometimes, there is indelible glory even in losing; especially when the fighter stands despite the odds stacked against him. Unknowingly, he or she becomes a gallant fighter who did not retreat.

For us who saw that match, Ali never lost. At the post-match analyses over tea, seniors within our area unanimously agreed: If this was five years ago (referring to 1975), Holmes would not have stood a chance, and then the

Ali may have been slammed by the authority for not taking part in the Vietnam War, but his refusal won him millions of supporters worldwide, especially in developing nations which were forced to be pawns in the highly polarising Cold War machinations

However, I don’t think Muhammad Ali held the Rocky movies in high regard, since, in one of his interviews with BBC, he tacitly slammed the formulaic approach to the Rocky franchise, denouncing the character, played

by Stallone, as a role aimed at lionising only white boxers.

Let’s not get into an argument over that now.

The great boxer’s Bangladesh visit remains memorable because he was awarded an honourary

certain time, the game, the tension in the ring, and the pre-fight bravado became secondary to his more trenchant social advocacy.

The venom against segregation in his own country was channeled into other human rights abuses, involving persecution of ethnic minorities along with the exploitation of poorer nations by richer ones.

Ali may have been slammed by the authority for not taking part in the Vietnam War, but

reminiscence of the past overtook the pain of the recent loss.

Won’t be wrong in stating that long before boxing became a celluloid staple, one man had made the sport plus the unwavering pursuit of human rights his mission.

The coveted “eye of the tiger” always belonged to Muhammad Ali! l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

22

DT

Opinion

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

A Jogi in search of Nirvana The prospects of a Congress comeback doesn’t look that great

Congress leaders remain where they are because they have nowhere else to go

REUTERS

The transition of authority from Mrs Sonia Gandhi to her middle-aged son is stuck in uncertainty. Mrs Gandhi clearly wants to hand over the baton, but the party is not confident that the baton will be steady in the grasp of the heir

n MJ Akbar

I

t is not difficult to define success in electoral politics; it is measured by objectives.

There are, broadly, two objectives: If you are in play for power, then you count the number of seats you have won.

If you are in play for growth, then you compare vote share, and check whether the graph of popularity is headed north, south, or remains flat.

Thus, Congress considers the general election of 2009 a success because it won 205 seats, and led a stable government; and 1989 a failure when it got only 197 MPs and had to sit in opposition.

If you examine these results in terms of vote share, you might, at the very least, be perplexed. In 1989, Congress got 39% of the vote and failed. In 2009, it got 28.55% of the vote and succeeded.

This is partly explained by spread. In 1989, Congress was in contest for virtually every seat in the parliament; two decades later, it had shrunk substantially and needed allies.

But the trick, if you are bidding to win power, is clearly to maximise the success ratio within a catchment area rather than to stand everywhere in an election and end up sitting nowhere in the parliament.

The interesting phenomenon taking place now is that both the catchment area and the success ratio of Congress are in continuous decline.

Of course, the party can delude itself with false analysis, but that does not really get you much further than the cold comfort of commentary.

The difference between analysts and politicians is that the latter respond solely to ground

reality. Number juggling is chicken soup for cheerleaders.

One would imagine that Congress would be most confident in a state where, as opposition, it is in a theoretical position to exploit anti-incumbency. But in a state like Chhattisgarh, Congress is crumbling.

Ajit Jogi, who is without doubt the most effective of Congress leaders, has rebelled and seems to be on the verge of setting up his own regional party.

There is speculation that he might only be threatening the high command, but that is probably even worse news for Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who run Congress as a fiefdom. Even two years ago, it was the high command which threatened regional leaders guilty of indiscipline, not regional leaders who accused their Delhi chiefs of poor judgement.

Why is this happening? The obvious answer is that the transition of authority from Mrs Sonia Gandhi to her middle-aged son is stuck in uncertainty.

Mrs Gandhi clearly wants to hand over the baton, but the party is not confident that the baton will be steady in the grasp of the heir.

Neither Mrs Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi has any program for a Congress revival beyond waiting

for anti-incumbency to take its toll on non-Congress governments.

This is a policy of stasis.

The first and most important imperative for any opposition party seeking power in a time when development has become the highest priority for the voter is to offer an alternative set of economic policies. Strangely, even this thought does not seem to have occurred to Congress leaders.

Their only strategy is a relentless, and rather over-loud, attack on anyone and anything.

You can get passing mileage out of decibels, but voters want to know what options you have to offer.

For all the rhetoric on the coating, democracy, in essence, remains a rational business.

Screaming for the sake of being heard is irrational.

Perhaps this has also been induced by the fact that the antiincumbency is just not happening.

Opinion polls done on the second anniversary of the Narendra Modi government confirm that the Prime Minister’s personal popularity remains extremely high.

There is a visible economic revival, reflected not only in statistics but also in the popular mood.

And in states like Madhya Pradesh, long-serving Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan continues to pummel Congress in by-elections.

Facts force most Congress leaders to retreat into silence, and take what comfort they can in helpless inertia.

But all leaders will not remain inert. Ajit Jogi is only the most recent prominent Congress leader to say that he has had enough.

Congress has split in most of the Northeast, including Assam, and Uttarakhand.

In some states, Congress leaders remain where they are only because they have nowhere to go. Ajit Jogi sees a better future for himself alone than as member of a party that once held sway across the country.

The current of an ebb tide runs below the surface, but that does not make it any less turbulent.

Those Congress leaders who believe that nothing is amiss because the surface is seemingly placid might find solace in delusion, but that is an unhappy epitaph. l MJ Akbar is an Indian journalist. He is the founder of The Sunday Guardian.

This article was previously published in The Sunday Guardian.

DT

23

Opinion

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

‘I am GPA-5’ Are our teachers sincere and committed to their students?

In our curriculum, the importance of literature is usually ignored

n Md Mizanur Rahaman

U

rged by watching the recent news report on Maasranga Television on the current state of our education, an uncharacteristic growth of GPA-5 students, especially in English, made me feel ashamed as a teacher of English.

The journalist asked: “What will be the translation of ‘I have gotten GPA- 5’?” They replied: “I am GPA5.” There were other answers that depicted our crumbling education system down to the letter.

It is undoubtedly admirable that the government has provided facilities to improve our education by offering educational incentives both for the teachers as well as the students with infrastructural development to ensure quality education to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The report may raise questions as to whether this was done to throw shade at our education system. From first-hand experience, I can say that the reality of our learning process is even more pathetic than the report showed.

For example, last year, some of my HSC examinees who were very weak in English, who did not even have the ability to write a correct and meaningful sentence, received

GPA-5s in English.

How is this even possible?

Considering the report, I was vexed enough to find out the exact reason for the current status of English language skills in our country.

BIGSTOCK

been newly introduced in the text are given less priority in the exam.

What we learned from “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Luncheon,” “A Mother in Manville,” still invoke in us pleasure, to be flourished, to beautify our inner self.

materialistic development -- it also needs art, culture, and social values. We must return that sort of learning into the curriculum.

On the morning of the “I am GPA-5” video, I delivered my lecture with Tagore’s verses from

Apart from the government’s inability to control the leaking of question papers, we the teachers are largely responsible for teaching ‘I am GPA-5.’

The guardians, too, need to be aware of what their sons and daughters are interested in I thought about the question paper leaks, shortcut suggestions-based preparation, ignoring thorough reading of textbooks, and teachers flexing their authority to garner students for their personal coaching centres.

The purpose of the board exam is only to pass, not to test the ability of learners. The topics that are taught at HSC level in English merely provide some basic information but never allow the intellect to bloom.

There is no scope for excavating new thoughts. We are merely producing robots for the corporate market.

Topics of literature that have

The moral lessons that we learned from our teachers are still alive.

The topics themselves would connect our souls with the souls of the books. We don’t just want good students, we want good thinkers who are mentally, morally, and intellectually sound.

Ignoring the sublimity of literature from our text, our policy-makers are indirectly fulfilling their capitalistic interests.

After a decade or so, we will realise the folly of having avoided literature. To our graduates, money will become the ultimate symbol of success.

Human civilisation cannot stand only on so-called

the memory of his life (Jibon Smrity): “The aim of education is not merely to make one understand about lessons but to strike one’s inner faculty to create, to grow, to think, to be innovative in thoughts and ideas for devising new knowledge.”

From Abdullah Abu Sayeed (the founder of Bisho Shahitto Kendro) I learned: “Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire inside the pupils.”

Influenced by his celestial speech, I arranged some sets of grammatical items in my class, tried hard to teach them the uses of it and told them to observe, to record, to use five common senses,

learn to see, and know that by practice alone.

In that one hour, they became experts at making new sentences.

Actually, everybody has the ability, we just need to fan the fire.

We, the teachers, cannot transmit wisdom and insight to our students. The seed is already there.

A good teacher touches the seed, creates an atmosphere for germination, allowing the seed to wake up, to sprout, and allows it to grow.

I ask myself: “Are we, the teachers, sincere and committed at all in our teaching?”

Apart from the government’s inability to control question paper leaks, we the teachers are largely responsible for teaching the likes of “I am GPA-5.” The guardians, too, need to be aware of what their sons and daughters are interested in.

Everybody has a natural talent and creative ability. But “if you want to judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Allow it to flourish in the water and you will see how beautifully it swims. l Md Mizanur Rahaman is a Lecturer in English at Kadamtala Purba Basabo School and College, Shabujbag.

DT

24 Sport

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

TOP STORIES

BCB awaits reply for bowling coach post The Bangladesh Cricket Board is expecting a reply from former Pakistan paceman Aaqib Javed in the next two days for the position of the Tigers’ pace bowling coach, according to the board president Nazmul Hasan. PAGE 25

Muguruza set to rule after French Open Considering she won her maiden grand slam title on the surface that suits her game the least, Venezuela-born Spaniard Garbine Muguruza is being tipped as the player who will end up ruling women’s tennis. PAGE 26

Bangladesh Amateur Boxing Federation yesterday expressed its deep condolences at the passing away of boxing legend Muhammad Ali

Ali found icon status in blending politics, activism, sports n AP, New York

Amir returns for England Tests Fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been named in Pakistan’s Test squad to face England in a four-match series starting next month, six years after he received a spot-fixing ban against the same opponents. PAGE 27

Serena not ready for final curtain Serena Williams is closing in on her 35th birthday and has just suffered back-to-back Grand Slam final losses for the first time.

Williams’s latest attempt to equal Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles was thwarted by Garbine Muguruza. PAGE 28

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

During the Beatles’ first visit to the United States in 1964, clever publicity agents arranged a meeting with Cassius Clay, then training for the bout that would make him heavyweight champion. The result was a memorable photo of a whooping Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali, standing astride four “knockout victims.”

They were two emerging cultural forces beginning their path to global fame.

But as popular as the Beatles became, it was Ali who went on to become the most recognized person in the world. That picture was among the first to show him growing into that persona alongside the major cultural, political and entertainment figures of the era.

For a generation that came of age in the 1960s and 1970s, Ali was far more than a boxer. With a personality that could deftly dance and connect politics and entertainment, activism and athletics, his identity blended boundaries.

He was an entertainer, a man at the center of swirling political and cultural change, a hero — and

a villain — to many for his brash self-assuredness.

“Part of Muhammad’s greatness was his ability to be different things to different people,” retired basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote on Facebook Saturday.

“To sports fans he was an unparalleled champion of the world, faster and smarter than any heavyweight before. To athletes, he was a model of physical perfection and shrewd business acumen. To the anti-establishment youth of the 1960s, he was a defiant voice against the Vietnam War and the draft. To the Muslim community, he was a pious pioneer testing America’s purported religious tolerance. To the African-American community, he was a black man who faced overwhelming bigotry the way he faced every opponent in the ring: fearlessly.”

The stoic generation that had fought World War II returned home to raise children who became defined by rebelliousness, impatience, an unwillingness to accept things the way they were.

Few people embodied that spirit quite like Ali. To his job, he brought a joy and brutal efficiency. Ali didn’t

just beat opponents; he predicted which round he’d deliver the whuppin’. He spouted poetry while mugging for the camera.

Ali talked trash before the phrase was even invented. “This might shock and amaze ya, but I’m going to destroy Joe Frazier,” he said. Much of it was goodnatured, although his battles with Frazier later became ugly and personal.

Ali wasn’t simply a loudmouth, since his beauty and grace within the ring delivered on the promises. He was like Michael Jordan became in another era, an athlete whose excellence could be appreciated by close and casual followers of his sport. But even Jordan, at the height of his fame, couldn’t reach the profile that Ali did.

Outside the ring, the court fight over Ali’s refusal to fight in the Vietnam War cost him three years at the peak of his career but earned him respect among the growing number of people turning against the war. His conversion to Islam, with his abandonment of the birth name Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., tested the deepness of Americans’ support for religious freedom, five

decades before a presidential candidate talked openly about banning Muslims from coming to the United States.

It all made Ali the subject of countless arguments in playgrounds, bars, living rooms and offices. Everyone took sides when Ali returned from his suspension for refusing to join the military to fight Frazier. Whether or not you rooted for Ali often had little to do with boxing.

And think of it: When’s the last time you argued with anyone about a heavyweight championship boxing match?

In a civil rights era when many Americans still denied the very humanity of black men, Ali became one of the most recognizable people on Earth.

“One of the reasons the civil rights movement went forward was that black people were able to overcome their fear,” HBO host Bryant Gumbel told Ali biographer Thomas Hauser. “And I honestly believe that, for many black Americans, that came from watching Muhammad Ali. He simply refused to be afraid. And being that way, he gave other people courage.” l

25

DT

Sport

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Positive football on the agenda, says De Kruif n Tribune Report Bangladesh’s temporary Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif said they would concentrate on putting up a positive display rather than targeting to overhaul the 0-5 deficit when they face Tajikistan tomorrow in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers play-off second leg at Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The Bengal Tigers lost the first leg in Dushanbe last Thursday.

“If you ask me, is it possible to overcome from 0-5. It is difficult but in football everything is possible. We need a magic to overcome.

But at the moment the most important thing is to play good football and show the people in the stadium and [watching] television that we have good players. We have to show that we are able to play good game with good pace,” De Kruif

told the media yesterday.

The men in red and green returned home last Saturday night and underwent a training session at the BNS yesterday afternoon.

On the other hand, Tajikistan arrived yesterday morning and practised later at the Buet ground.

The last time Bangladesh hosted Tajikistan was in June last year when they drew 1-1 in the 2018 Fifa World Cup second round qualifiers.

While talking about that game, De Kruif said, “What is difficult for me to understand is that, 18 (12) months ago we made a draw.

At the moment I know the quality of the players. Now the players are not as good as they were 18 (12) months ago.”

De Kruif brought in young midfielder Masuk Mia Jony for tomorrow’s match which he expects to be a “different ball game”. l

Uncapped Bangladesh footballer Syed Rashed Turzo (R) evades the attention of Mamun Mia during a training session at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Selection to be 3-step process n Mazhar Uddin

BCB awaiting Javed reply for bowling coach post n Minhaz Uddin Khan The Bangladesh Cricket Board is expecting a reply from former Pakistan paceman Aaqib Javed in the next two days for the position of the Tigers’ pace bowling coach, according to the board president Nazmul Hasan. The post went vacant last month after Heath Streak decided not to continue in his role.

Javed is currently working with Pakistan Super League side Lahore Qalandars.

“The board has contacted Aaqib Javed. By [tomorrow] we will get a decision from him, be it a yes or no.

And then we decided an alternate list as well so that we can contact them,” said Nazmul.

After Streak left this job, the board began looking through candidates like Javed, current Sri Lanka bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake, former Lankan bowling coach Chaminda Vaas and Venkatesh Prasad. l

The selection process will now be a three-step process with two bodies to do the selection and discuss the selection before gaining the approval of the Bangladesh Cricket Board president, said Nazmul Hasan. Discussions regarding the expansion of the new selection committee has been finalised and is awaiting the approval in the up-

coming board meeting.

Nazmul, along with some board directors, had a meeting with Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha yesterday.

“The selection panel will continue to have three selectors, one of the three would be the chief selector.

They will select the squad. There will also be a selection committee which will consist of the three selectors, the coach, the team operations

manager and the cricket operations committee chairman as the convenor of the selection committee.”

“The head coach would inform the selectors beforehand of his strategy and what type of players he would require for a particular series. The manager would be presenting the opinion of the captain and vice-captain. They will all sit in a meeting, in which they will sign off the team and send it to me. There won’t be any dis-

Three Super League spots up for grabs n Minhaz Uddin Khan Holders Prime Bank Cricket Club and Kalabagan Krira Chakra are up against a do-or-die situation while Abahani Limited will eye two more points when the final round of the Dhaka Premier League gets underway today.

Both Prime Bank and Kalabagan have five wins each, along with Gazi Group Cricketers and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. A win therefore, will be very much on the agenda when Prime Bank take on table-toppers Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club in Fatullah and Kalabagan face Kalabagan Cricket Academy at Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Abahani, meanwhile, will lock horns with second from bottom Cricket Coaching School in the other tie of the day in Savar.

However, a win today might not be enough for an automatic berth in the six-team Super League. In the event of two teams or more finishing with the same number of

points, head-to-head results will determine who goes through to the Super League.

If the head-to-head equation fails to separate the sides, then net run rate will come into effect.

Prime Doleshwar might have already qualified for the Super League but the side’s paceman Al Amin Hossain said they will not take things easy today.

“This is a direct league and every win or defeat will count at the end.

We are happy to have already qualified for the Super League but from here on in we have to work harder in the middle,” said Al Amin.

Abahani, in contrast, made a dreadful start to the season but came back strong with four consecutive wins.

And according to Abahani fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, the addition of all-rounder Shakib al Hasan has only served to boost the side’s fortunes.

“I think we got more balance since Shakib bhai joined us. We had missed the spark in the mid-

dle in terms of batting while he has also sharpened the spin bowling attack,” said Taskin.l

TODAY’S MATCHES Abahani v CCS, Savar KCA v Kalabagan, Mirpur Prime Bank v Doleshwar, Fatullah

POINTS TABLE Teams

M

W

L

T

Pts

Doleshwar

10

7

3

0

14

Victoria

10

6

3

1

13

Rupganj

10

6

3

1

13

Mohammedan 10

6

4

0

12

Abahani

6

4

0

12

10

Gazi Group

10

5

5

0

10

Prime Bank

10

5

5

0

10

Kalabagan

10

5

5

0

10

Sheikh Jamal

10

5

5

0

10

Brothers

10

4

6

0

8

CCS

10

2

8

0

4

KCA

10

2

8

0

4

agreements,” said Nazmul.

Earlier however, Nazmul said the coach should watch the domestic matches but yesterday he informed that coach is not bound to watch domestic matches.

“The coach isn’t bound to watch the matches. But if he is in Dhaka, he will watch domestic matches.

He wants to watch the (Dhaka Premier League) matches tomorrow,” he said. l

Chandan banned for two matches n Tribune Report Mohammedan Sporting Club defender Asaduzzaman Chandan received a two-match suspension yesterday for his unsportsmanlike behaviour towards two Bangladesh Sporting Club players.

The league committee of the Bangladesh Hockey Federation sat in a meeting last Saturday night where they also decided to warn Mohammedan captain Russel Mahmud Jimmy and goalkeepers Zahid Hossain and Russel Khan Bappi.

Earlier in a Green Delta Premier Division Hockey League match last Saturday, Chandan attacked Bangladesh SC’s Pakistani players Siraj Ali and Shahbaz Ali. Chandan was immediately shown a red card.

The committee has also decided to impose strict technical area guidelines. From now onwards, 18 players, four officials, including a coach, and staffs can stay in the technical area. l

DT

26

Sport

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Czech amateurs produce epic shoot-out n AFP, Prague A Czech amateur regional league game on Friday ended up in one of the world’s longest-ever penalty shootouts with 52 spot-kicks, video footage of the game showed on Saturday.

Playing in the fifth tier of the Czech league system, SK Batov 1930 beat FC Frystak 22-21 on penalties following a 3-3 draw after 90 minutes.

The longest shootout in a professional game registered in the Guinness World Records mentions 48 spot-kicks executed in the final of the 2005 Namibian Cup, in which KK Palace beat Civics 17-16 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

In the game pitting teams from two small towns in the southeastern Czech Republic, Frystak had three chances to win the shootout at 4-4, 11-11 and 14-14, but each time their players failed.

In the 26th round, Batov midfielder Petr Janovsky scored while Frystak midfielder Jan Hrebacka sent the ball over the crossbar, earning a relieved applause from 148 spectators, one of whom could be heard saying “at last!”.

The top-selling Czech broadsheet DNES quoted Frystak club chairman Vratislav Rudolf as saying he wanted to leave after the 20th round as “we had a barbecue at home”.

Hrebacka himself said his teammates did not blame him for the fumbled penalty.

“They were glad they could go home,” he quipped.l

Ecuador's Luis Antonio Valencia (R) vie for the ball with Brazil's Philippe Coutinho (L) during their Copa America Centenario match in California on Saturday

Brazil held, Peru down Haiti n AFP, Los Angeles A controversial refereeing decision spared Brazil’s blushes at the Copa America Centenario on Saturday as the five-time world champions opened their campaign with a goalless draw against Ecuador.

Ecuador looked to have taken

a sensational lead at the Pasadena Rose Bowl midway through the second half when Brazil goalkeeper Alisson fumbled a cross from Miller Bolanos into his own net as he stooped to gather at the near post.

But as Ecuador’s bench and players celebrated, the match officials whistled for a goal kick, after

ruling that the ball had gone out of play shortly before Bolanos crossed into the six-yard box.

In the day’s other Group B game, Peru got off the mark with a 1-0 victory over Haiti in Seattle which saw striker Paolo Guerrero surpass Teofilo Cubillas as his country’s leading international goalscorer. l

Muguruza poised to rule after French Open title n Reuters, Paris Considering she won her maiden grand slam title on the surface that suits her game the least, Garbine Muguruza is being tipped as the player who will end up ruling women’s tennis.

The 22-year-old Spaniard claimed the French Open by defeating Serena Williams in straight sets on Saturday, 11 months after losing the Wimbledon final to the world number one.

Today, Muguruza, whose hardhitting game is at its devastating best on fast courts, will be second in the WTA rankings going into the grass season.

“My dream is to continue and win more tournaments, similar tournaments, and to dominate,” the Venezuela-born Muguruza told

reporters after her 7-5 6-4 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“When I am on the court I want to dictate my game and bring more of these cups back home... This win is like a new pulse given to women’s tennis,” added the Spaniard, who became the second player after Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber to beat Williams in a grand slam final this year.

Muguruza, who had never won a title on clay before Saturday, proved that she had very few weak points as she kept Williams on the run throughout the final.

Muguruza also learnt to control her emotions, which overwhelmed her in last year’s Wimbledon final.

“I’m convinced she was panicking a bit in the inside, but she managed these moments very well,” said her coach, Frenchman Sam

Sumyk, who also guided Belarussian Victoria Azarenka to her first major title at the 2012 Australian Open, and to the top of the world rankings.

She had four match points on Williams’s serve, which the American saved, but Muguruza ended the contest on her fifth attempt with a lob that landed on the baseline.

“She’s number two after this, only one more step to be number one and I am sure she’s going to win many more grand slams,” former Spanish player Conchita Martinez, the 1994 Wimbledon champion and 2000 Roland Garros runner-up, told reporters.

“She’s a great player on any surface, she is a complete player.

Spain is very lucky to have this unbelievable tennis player.”l

AFP

COPA RESULTS Costa Rica Haiti

GROUP A

0-0 GROUP B 0-1

Paraguay Peru Guerrero 61

Brazil

0-0

Ecuador

FACT FILE Born: Caracas, Venezuela, on October 8, 1993 (Age: 22) Grand Slam career best results: Australian Open - fourth round (2014-15); French Open - winner 2016; Wimbledon - runner-up (2015); U.S. Open - second round (2015) Muguruza is the first Spanish woman to win the Roland Garros title since Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario in 1998.

Saturday’s match was her first claycourt final.

Muguruza dropped only one set in reaching the final, against Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in round one.

Muguruza was also the last player to defeat Serena Williams at Roland Garros, beating the American 6-2 6-2 in the second round in 2014.

Saturday’s title was just Muguruza’s third on the main women’s tour, after the Hobart International in 2014 and the China Open in 2015.

Serena Williams and Pete Sampras were her favourite tennis players as a child.

Won the title for the loss of only 1 set.

27

DT

Sport

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Giroud: Vardy wants to join Arsenal n Reuters, London

QUICK BYTES Dortmund confirm signing of Bartra Borussia Dortmund confirmed on Saturday the signing of Barcelona’s centre-back Marc Bartra as replacement for Germany defender Mats Hummels on a four-year contract. “We have agreed (terms) with the player and only a few details remain to be cleared up,” Dortmund’s director of sport Michael Zorc told German daily Bild. The club confirmed the transfer on their website.

Dortmund have actioned a release clause in Bartra’s Barca contract allowing him to leave for just eight million euros ($9m) having reportedly sold Hummels, 27, to Bayern Munich for 35 million.

–AFP

Federer, Del Potro to test injuries on Stuttgart grass

Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro will test injuries as the Wimbledon run-up period begins today at the Stuttgart Open grass event. The former clay week switched surfaces a year ago in an edition won by Rafael Nadal.

Though the Spaniard is out of action with a wrist injury and was not entered, his absence will be more than made up by the arrival of Federer.

–AFP

Leganes reach Spanish La Liga for first time

Leganes will play Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga next season after a 1-0 win over Mirandes on Saturday saw them promoted into the Spanish top flight for the first time in their history. The club were founded in 1928 and have an 8000 capacity stadium on the outskirts of Madrid.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL 5:00 AM Copa America Centenario Panama v Bolivia (Tuesday) 8:00 AM Argentina v Chile (Tuesday)

CRICKET STAR SPORTS 1 7:00 PM Royal Londan One Day Cup Sussex v Essex

BASKETBALL SONY SIX 6:00 AM NBA season 2015/16: Game 2 Warriors v Cavaliers

Germany's Mario Goetze and Hungary's Adam Lang in action during their international friendly in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on Saturday REUTERS

France and Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud has fuelled speculation that Jamie Vardy is on his way to the Gunners by saying he has heard the Leicester striker is keen to move.

“I have been told that Jamie wants to join us and it’s very good news for us,” the striker told Sky Sports after scoring twice in France’s 3-0 friendly win against Scotland on Saturday.

ESPN quoted a source close to Arsenal as saying Vardy was due to undergo a medical yesterday.

“I am happy with competition.

We have always had fantastic strikers at Arsenal and I want the best for this club. Hopefully he is going to help us win this title,” said Giroud.

“The boss (Arsene Wenger) wanted to sign at least one or two strikers, so I expected a top striker.” l

Germany finally keep clean sheet in win n Reuters, Gelsenkirchen

Germany kept their first clean sheet for nearly a year as they coasted to a 2-0 win over fellow Euro 2016 finalists Hungary on Saturday in the final warm-up friendly for both teams.

There was more encouragement for home coach Joachim Loew when midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger came on in the second half for his first match since suffering a knee injury in March.

An own goal by Adam Lang and a Thomas Mueller header gave the world champions victory against a disappointing Hungary who barely troubled Germany goalkeeper Ma-

nuel Neuer and struggled to get out of their own half.

Germany, who slumped to a 3-1 home defeat by Slovakia one week ago and had lost three of their previous four games, last kept a clean sheet in a 7-0 win over Gibraltar in a Euro qualifier, a run of eight matches.

“I think we can be satisfied. We played better than recently and the whole team helped to defend,” said defender Jerome Boateng.

Defensive duo Benedikt Hoewedes and Antonio Rudiger and forwards Julian Draxler and Mario Goetze were among the players given a chance to stake a place

in the team at this month’s finals in France. Germany went ahead six minutes before halftime when Draxler released Jonas Hector on an overlapping run and his ball across the goal was turned into the net.

Goetze, who had an unhappy season with Bayern Munich after being injured and then finding it tough to get in the side, initially seemed to be the scorer but replays showed the ball had gone in off his marker Lang.

Mueller grabbed his 32nd international goal when he headed in from a rebound after Hungary goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly could only parry Mario Gomez’s header. l

RESULTS Germany

2-0

Hungary

Lang 39-og, Mueller 63

Croatia

10-0

San Marino

Pjaca 20, Srna 25, Mandzukic 24, 36, 38, Perisic 40, Rakitic 50, Kalinic 59, 73, 84

Austria

0-2

Netherlands

Janssen 9, Wijnaldum 66

Slovakia

0-0

N Ireland

France

3-0

Scotland

Giroud 8, 35, Koscielny 39

Spot-fixing convict Amir returns for England Tests n AFP, Lahore Fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been named in Pakistan’s Test squad to face England in a four-match series starting next month, six years after he received a spot-fixing ban against the same opponents.

The 24-year-old, who also served a custodial sentence for the offence, is expected to receive his British visa in the next couple of days following a special request for leniency from the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Amir along with then-Pakistan captain Salman Butt

and new-ball partner Mohammad Asif, were found guilty of arranging deliberate no-balls in return for money during the Lord’s Test against England in August 2010.

In addition to receiving custodial sentences, all three players were banned for five years.

Since returning from his suspension last September Amir has been a regular feature in Pakistan’s one-day and Twenty20 sides but has yet to make his return to Tests. Pakistan’s batting will also be tested but the experienced Younis Khan

- who toured England in 2001 and 2006 - will be their mainstay.

Besides Younis, Azhar Ali and Hafeez are the only two who have played previously played Tests in England before.

Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez (subject to fitness), Shan Masood, Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan.l

Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni play in a charity football match organised by the Virat Kohli Foundation and Playing For Humanity organization in Mumbai on Saturday AFP

DT

28

Sport

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Novak wins French Open, seals career Slam n AFP, Paris Novak Djokovic captured a first French Open at the 12th time of asking yesterday, becoming just the third man in history to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.

The world number one downed old rival Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to claim a 12th career major and join Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver, in 1962 and 1969, as the only players to simultaneously possess the French Open, Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon trophies.

Djokovic, 29, also put himself halfway to the calendar Grand Slam, last achieved by Laver 47 years ago.

But he did it the hard way as the final reached a tense conclusion, being broken in the eighth game of the fourth set as he served for the title and then squandering two championship points in the 10th before he sealed victory when Murray netted a backhand.

“It’s a very special moment, the biggest of my career,” said Djokovic, one of only eight men to complete the career Grand Slam. l

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic kisses his trophy after winning the French Open men’s final against Great Britain’s Andy Murray in Paris yesterday

Serena not ready for final curtain n AFP, Paris

MOST GRAND SLAM WINNERS Player

Australian French Wimbledon US Open

Total

Steffi Graf (GER)

4

6

7

5

22

Serena Williams (USA)

6

3

6

6

21

Martina Navratilova (USA)

3

2

9

4

18

Chris Evert (USA)

2

7

3

6

18

Margaret Court (AUS)

4

3

1

3

11

Monica Seles (USA)

4

3

0

2

9

Billie Jean King (USA)

0

1

4

3

8

Venus Williams (USA)

0

0

5

2

7

Evonne Goolagong (AUS)

4

1

2

0

7

Justine Henin (BEL)

1

4

0

2

7

Martina Hingis (SUI)

3

0

1

1

5

Maria Sharapova (RUS)

1

2

1

1

5

Serena Williams is closing in on her 35th birthday and has just suffered back-to-back Grand Slam final losses for the first time, but the American superstar is not ready to be dethroned any time soon.

Williams’s latest attempt to equal Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles was thwarted on Saturday by Garbine Muguruza in the French Open final.

Back in January, Angelique Kerber pulled off a similar shock to snatch the American’s Australian Open title while in New York last September, Williams’s hopes of a calendar Grand Slam were upended by Italian journeywoman Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals.

So Williams’s Grand Slam haul has stalled at 21, but she will still start as favourite to win a seventh Wimbledon when the third major of the year gets underway in three weeks.

“The only thing I can do is just keep trying,” said Williams, who was attempting to win a fourth French Open after 2002, 2013 and 2015.

“In Australia, Ann Kerber made 16 errors in three sets, you know, so what do you do in that situation?

Today Garbine played unbelievable.

“It’s definitely something I want to dissect and see what I can learn from that and what can I do to get better from it.”

Williams has been down and out before and bounced back in style.

In 2011, she underwent two foot surgeries and fought life-threatening blood clots on her lungs.

Her absence from the tour saw her world ranking slip to 103.

In 2014, she lost in the fourth round at the Australian Open, second round at the French Open and third round at Wimbledon but hit back with the US Open.

In between, she won 11 WTA titles in 2013 and put together a 34-match win streak between Miami and Wimbledon.

Last year, when she collected a sixth Wimbledon, it allowed her to celebrate a second “Serena Slam” of all four majors at the same time.

She had already achieved a first Slam sweep in 2002.

Despite her record and status as one of the greatest players of all time, there were, however, obvious problems in a damp and chilly Paris, hinting that her sheer power is possibly being diminished.

Serena finished top of the pile for aces served at 36 and sent down the joint fastest serve of the event at 196km/h in Saturday’s final.

But she had one of the lowest first serve percentage rates at 60% and managed to convert only 30 of 73 break points over the two weeks.

Her team and even her rivals insist that the American is not finished as a force in the game. l

AFP

Messi won’t bother Chile, says Bravo n AFP, Palo Alto Chile captain Claudio Bravo says Lionel Messi’s fitness will have no bearing on how the Copa America champions prepare for today’s heavyweight showdown against Argentina in Santa Clara.

Bravo’s Barcelona team-mate Messi is uncertain to line up for the Argentines as he struggles back to fitness after suffering a back injury in a friendly against Honduras last month.

However Bravo said regardless of whether Messi plays or not, it will not affect Chile’s approach to a game that is a rematch of last year’s Copa America final in Santiago won by the hosts.

“Whether Leo does or doesn’t play, nothing is going to change our football,” goalkeeper Bravo told reporters on Saturday.

“Personally, I’d prefer it if he plays because he brings a lot to a game.” “Knowing Leo, he will want to play, particularly this game, because it’s the first match of the tournament.

“But we’re not going to change the way we play, we will do what we’ve always done,” Bravo added.

Chile defeated Argentina on penalties in last year’s Copa final, winning the title for the first time in their history. l

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Hasty (4) 4 Bitterly pungent (5) 9 Night bird (3) 11 Uncommon (4) 12 Unwanted plants (5) 13 English river (4) 14 Outlet (4) 15 table implement (5) 19 Citizens of Eire (5) 21 Prayer ending (4) 25 Hoar frost (4) 26 Nimble (5) 28 Leave out (4) 29 Golf mound (3) 30 Pale bluish green (5) 31 Of various colours (4)

DOWN 1 Arguments (4) 2 Respectful fear (3) 3 Glossy (5) 5 Longs for (6) 6 Utterly wild (4) 7 Metal (4) 8 Impressions left by blows (5) 10 On the move (5) 16 Advanced age (6) 17 Conclusive (5) 18 Chocolate substitute (5) 20 West Indies republic (5) 22 Mute entertainment (4) 23 Eastern ruler (4) 24 Pay attention (4) 27 Sheltered side (3)

DT

29

Downtime

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 2 represents F so fill F every time the figure 2 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

DT

30

Showtime

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Documentary on Nurjahan Begum premieres

Tom – Nicole’s daughter gets married

n Rupkotha Chowdhury n xxxx Model and actress Priota Iftekhar wanted to surprise her grandmother, Nurjahan Begum, on her birthday. Not with just any gift, but with a documentary she had made on the illustrious life and career of Nurjahan Begum, the first female journalist in Bangladesh.

However, Nurjahan Begum tragically passed away a few days short of the screening of her granddaughter’s work. After Nurjahan Begum’s demise on May 23, marking her birthday anniversary, the documentary titled Itihasher

Kinbadonti Nurjahan Begum premiered at the Star Cineplex on June 4. Prior to the screening of the 15-minutes documentary, a discussion conducted by Sara Zaker was held.

Poet Nasir Ahmed and TV drama director Chayanika Chowdhury spoke at the discussion about the influential work done by the late journalist.

Rasheda K Chowdhury, the former adviser of the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, also joined the discussion.

Chayanika Chowdhury mentioned how the Begum magazine, the first of its kind, headed by Nurjahan Begum as Editor, has been making differences in the lives of women

in the subcontinent for the last 65 years. She said, “In our youth, we had no Facebook or internet based activities back then. We only had Begum.”

A few other members of Nurjahan Begum’s family also attended the premier show to watch Priota’s first directorial venture. Priota said that if she can earn support, advice and recognition from people, she would try to exhibit the documentary at major film festivals around the world, especially at those which concentrate on films on women.

The documentary has been produced by rUpitra Productions In support with Channel i.l

Farhan Akhtar in the role a prisoner

Daughter of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, also known as Bella, got married this fall. Neither parent was in attendance, but Nicole Kidman was in London for the arrangements and had dinner with Bella Cruise and her new husband. Though neither Tom Cruise nor Nicole Kidman attended their daughter’s wedding, sources say the parents paid the tab and did not want to make Bella Cruise’s wedding a media circus, so they stayed away from London’s Dorchester Hotel.

By this time Bella has finally come clean on her relationship with parents Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, which had been

n Showtime Desk Farhan Akhtar made headlines once again by signing Nikhil Advani’s next production, where the talented actor of B-town will be seen playing the role of a man sentenced with life imprisonment.

The directorial debut of Nikhil Advani’s assistant Ranjit Tiwari is apparently titled Lucknow Central.

The film is set in a jail with music at its core, says reports published in Indian leading dailies. Farhan will be seen playing the lead in a completely new avatar and the music will be composed by maestro AR Rahman.

After recently getting out of a marriage of 16 years, Farhan created rumours with co-stars

strained by Bella and her father’s commitment to Scientology.

When Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman got divorced due to differences of opinion about Scientology, Bella Cruise and her brother Conor reportedly began referring to Nicole Kidman as a “subversive person,” a term used in Scientology about people to be avoided.

Recently Bella Cruise said in an interview that she rejects her mother’s millionaire lifestyle of jet-setting and glamour, though she did not mention her father’s billionaire lifestyle. Bella Cruise also said she preferred to live a modest life and rejects money from her “A-list” parents, though sources say that Tom Cruise and/ or Nicole Kidman did pay for a high-end London wedding. l

Aditi Rao Hydari and Shraddha Kapoor. However, this time the Dil Dhadakne Do actor, who is also a popular musician, is in the news for all the right reasons.

Lucknow Central is expected to go on floors by the end of October and the film will be shot in Mumbai on a huge set in a studio.

The film also stars Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli and Shashank Arora in prominent roles.

Moreover, there are speculations that Farhan will co produce the film with Ritesh Sidhwani. Apart from this film, Farhan will also be seen in the sequel of Rock On. l Source: Bollywoodlife

31

DT

Showtime

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

“TRESemmé presents The Lustrous Runway” held in Dhaka

n Showtime Desk TRESemmé, a premium brand from Unilever Bangladesh, has been the hair styling partner of the most prestigious fashion events in the world, including the New York Fashion Week. In its continuation, TRESemmé now brought its credentials as a backstage hair styling expert to Bangladesh with the most awaited fashion event of Dhaka’s fashion calendar, “TRESemmé presents The Lustrous Runway”.

The event took place on the 3rd of this month at the Sky Ballroom of Le Meridian.

As we know, hair styling is an integral part of fashion as it complements the attire as well as gives one the confidence to walk two inches taller. Since TRESemmé introduced its Ionic Strength range of products that prevent hair damage during styling, it also for the first time, showcased hair styles at Lustrous Runway alongside the

latest creations by local and international designers in all their glory.

Like every year, the organizer of the event was Infinity Event Management. Renowned fashion designers from Bangladesh and beyond in the event included Sarah Karim, Anokhi, Salita Nanda, Zurhem and Agnimitra Paul. The biggest attraction of the event was international celebrity Lisa Ray on ramp, who was adorned by the gorgeous creations of the famous designer Neeta Lulla.

As the title sponsor, TRESemmé left no stones unturned to make the event a successful one. The event was cosponsored by BMW, Kohler, City Bank American Express, Gitanjali, Oriental, Innstar. Event partners were Elite Force and Privé Spa & Salon, along with Banglavision as Media Partner. l

Jacqueline to judge Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 9 n Showtime Desk Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, India’s popular dance reality show, is coming around this season with some added glamour as Jacqueline Fernandez joins the judging panel as the third member.

This will be Jackie’s TV debut alongside Karan Johar and Ganesh Hedge who were on the judging panel with Shahid Kapoor on the latest season.

The actress often termed “hot” and “flawlessly glamorous” has already shot the promo of season nine of the show on June 3.

According to reports in a leading tabloid, “Jackie looked stunning in a golden gown. The promo is her introduction to the Colors family as well as an announcement for her TV debut.

It is expected to go on air in two weeks. She will soon leave for Miami to shoot for her next film so she wanted to wrap up the promo shoot before. The show is expected to go on air sometime in July.”

Alongside her latest movie Housefull 3, the Bahraini-Sri Lankan actress, former model, and the winner of the 2006 Miss Universe Sri Lanka pageant has a lot going on.

She also has Dishoom starring John and Varun that is set to release on July 29th. She has already wrapped up A Flying Jatt opposite Tiger Shroff.

So it looks like we are going to see lots more of Jacqueline this year. She is currently shooting the second instalment of the Bang Bang franchise opposite Sidharth Malhotra. l Source: Times of India

Back Page

JOB CREATION HITS OVER A DECADE LOW PAGE 12

ALI’S ICONIC STATUS PAGE 24

DT

32

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

DOCUMENTARY ON NURJAHAN BEGUM PREMIERES PAGE 30

Saudis propose 6% tax on remittance n Tribune Desk Bangladesh might lose more than Tk150 crore a year from its remittance income because of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia proposing a 6% tax on money sent out by the expatriate workers.

The kingdom’s Shoura council finance committee on May 2 proposed a tax on the remittances of expats, starting from 6% in the first year and gradually reducing to 2% permanently from the fifth year onward, reports Arab News.

Saudi Arabia is the largest employer of Bangladeshis abroad. If it approves the tax there will be a significant drop in remittance inflow from the country.

In 2015 Bangladeshi expatriates sent

Remittance from Saudi Arabia (USD in millions) $226.95

Apr 2016

$262.4

Mar 2016 Feb 2016

$230.33

Jan 2016

$223.57 0

20

40

60

80

100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280

$3,217.45 million remittance from there. In the last five months it was $943.25 million.

At 6% tax rate, the last year’s figure

would drop by $193.047 million or Tk151.39 crore.

The tax proposal was drafted by Hossam Al-Anqari, head of the General

Auditing Bureau and former member of the Shoura, who said this would be a way to force expats to invest or spend their money in Saudi Arabia.

The tax would be on all money transfers by expats, with the collection being done through financial institutions in the country, and deposited in a special government account, according to a media report on Thursday.

Abdur Rouf, a joint secretary at the Expatriates Ministry of Bangladesh, said: “We are still not aware of the matter, so we cannot make any comments about it.”

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on a five-day visit to Saudi Arabia.

Dhaka Tribune contacted some Ban-

gladeshis living in Saudi Arabia to learn their views on the proposed tax.

Billal ahmed said: “I’m curious to know, what are the investment opportunities for expats in the Kingdom?”

Another expatriate, Sannu Sheikh, said: “How can expatriates invest in the Kingdom when they need a local kafeel for any business??”

It is estimated that 1.28 million Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia, making it the largest destination for labour exports from Bangladesh.

As oil prices drop globally, the Saudi government has hastened to wean itself from petroleum, with attempts to diversify the economy and replace foreign workers with citizens. l

‘We are proud to be a HISTORY IN THE MAKING BGB welcomes first-ever batch part of BGB’ of female recruits n Mohammad Jamil Khan from Satkania, Chittagong

“It is an honour and a privilege for us as women to be able to guard the border of our beloved motherland.

We are proud to be a part of BGB and grateful to be able to serve our country.”

The heartfelt gratitude came from the newly recruited female members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Ninety-seven female soldiers along with 1,144 male soldiers officially joined the paramilitary force in an elaborate ceremony in Satkania, Chittagong yesterday after graduating from the BGB training school.

The Dhaka Tribune had the opportunity to speak with a few of the recruits, all of whom said they were thrilled to be a part of history – to be among the first female BGB soldiers.

“I have always wanted to do something for my country. When I saw the advert for BGB recruitment in a newspaper, I applied right away,” said Jahanara Akhter, who scored the highest in all fields of the training.

A native of Bogra, Jahanara was pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Bogra Azizul Haque College when she came across the advert. Her father, Md Zahirul Islam, who is a retired Bangladesh Army official, was her strongest support in this endeavour.

She said she appreciated the strict discipline of a BGB soldier’s life.

“The training was gruelling, but

it is worth it because that helped me become a member of this force.

“I urged all women in Bangladesh, who wants to lead a disciplined life and are eager to serve their nation, to join the BGB.” Ruma Akhter, whose father Mozammel Hossain is a farmer, said her willingness to stop drug smuggling drove her to join the BGB. “Drugs are destroying our country’s youth, our future. If we don’t come forward to stop this menace from destroying our society, who will?”

She said she received all kinds of support from her superiors during the training. “I imagine it will only get better.”

Srabonti Samaddar, a Barisal native, said she was thrilled to have graduated the training session and become a BGB soldier.

“I cannot begin to describe how I felt when I found out that I was one of the passing recruits in the training,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We took part in the passing out parade, and now we are a part of BGB. “I am looking forward to what this life has to offer and am proud to be able to serve my country.”

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who attended the ceremony, said: “This event proves that our country’s women will not remain backward. They are capable of walking beside their male counterparts.”

He further said it was the Awami League government that paved the way for such progress. l

Jamil Khan from n Mohammad Satkania, Chittagong

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) took a historic step forward yesterday as it welcomed its first-ever batch of female recruits at the graduation ceremony of BGB 88th batch in Satkania, Chittagong.

The ceremony took place at the BGB’s sole training school in the country, where 97 female recruits along with their 1,144 male counterparts officially joined the paramilitary force’s operational activities.

The new graduates took part in their “passing out” parade, led by Major Abu Rasel Siddique and the training school’s Assistant Director and Parade Adjutant Md Ali Azgar Sarder, which was attended by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

BGB Director General Major Gen Aziz Ahmed, training school Commandant Md Anwar Shafiq and several other BGB high officials in the Chittagong region were present at the ceremony as well.

The majority of the new female soldiers will be deployed at different check posts on the border, especially the smuggling-prone areas, sources at the BGB told the Dhaka Tribune.

The training school brought in 19 female Ansar commanders to train the new recruits as the BGB does not have trained female officer to conduct the training, the sources added.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal attends the ‘passing out’ parade of 97 female soldiers newly recruited in BGB – the first such batch in the BGB history – at BGB training school in Satkania, Chittagong yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE Addressing the ceremony, BGB chief Aziz said from now on, female soldiers will be recruited to the BGB on a regular basis.

“Female members are especially necessary for the body search of women who are caught on suspicion of smuggling, as female smugglers often hide their contraband goods – oftentimes drugs and yaba – by strapping them on their bodies,” the BGB chief said.

Addressing the parade, Home Minister Kamal asked the new recruits to perform their duties with utmost sincerity and give their best to stop border crimes, human trafficking and drug smuggling.

Lauding the recruitment of female soldiers, the minister said it is the beginning of a new era in the BGB, where both men and women will be working together in the force.

The country’s women played a remarkable role in the 1971 Liberation War; they are still playing vital roles in different sectors of the country, he added.

The minister also congratulated Fazlul Karim, the 88th Batch recruit who scored the highest in the training.

The parade was followed by a colourful display performed by the new recruits. A special display was also performed by the BGB dog squad. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com