September 26, 2016 by DhakaTribune

SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Ashwin 11, 1423, Zil-Hajj 23, 1437

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 149

www.dhakatribune.com

Bangladesh tops countries to face Brexit impact n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi Bangladesh has topped the list of Commonwealth countries that would face the greatest absolute effects in terms of the extra import duty it would have to pay under possible new tax bill after Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU), or the so-called Brexit. The possible trade effects of Brexit on Bangladesh exports to Britain markets was forecast in research papers published by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Bangladesh is followed by India, Pakistan, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Papua New Guinea. “Bangladesh faces overwhelmingly the largest absolute hit, but proportional to current exports the worst affected state would be Seychelles, followed by Mauritius,” the report stated. Because this ranking focuses on countries with large exports to the UK, it can obscure serious relative impacts on small states, it added. This issue of Commonwealth  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

2.44 2

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2.76

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Overall exports value in $billion

2013-14

RMG exports value in $billion

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will have a crucial bilateral meeting with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on October 16 in Goa, India where they are likely to decide their attendance in the upcoming Saarc Summit. The meeting is likely to decide the fate of the summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan in November, a diplomat told UNB on Saturday. “There is already a doubt over the summit following recent tension between India and Pakistan, while the last two ministerial-level meetings witnessed poor rep-

resentation from Bangladesh and India,” said another diplomat, asking to remain anonymous. The recent interviews given by Syed Muazzem Ali, Bangladesh high commissioner in New Delhi,

to the Indian media also indicate that the importance of the meeting between Bangladesh prime minister and her Indian counterpart, the diplomat said. The prime minister will visit

n Mazhar Uddin

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3.52

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SOURCE: EPB ASMAUL HOQUE MAMUN/DT INFOGRAPHIC

Hasina-Modi crucial meeting in Goa Oct 16 n UNB

Narrow escape for rusty Tigers

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Price: Tk10

India on October 15 to attend an outreach meeting at Eighth BRICS Summit in Goa on October 15-16. “Perhaps, at the Goa outreach event, the two prime ministers [Hasina and Modi] can also discuss their attendance at the forthcoming Saarc Summit in Islamabad,” Muazzem told the Indian media recently. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has yet to take any final decision over her participation in the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit, though a section of media reported that she would not be attending, officials said.

3.20 2.60

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Afghanistan had the game in the bag till the last moment until Bangladesh dramatically snatched a rather tight seven-run win to lead the three-match series 1-0 in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. The visitors required 77 runs in the last 10 overs with eight wickets in hand and things looked clumsy for the Tigers but fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, making his comeback in international cricket, helped Bangladesh snatch a brilliant win. Taskin picked up two wickets each in the 48th and 50th over while fellow pacer Rubel Hossain provided valuable support as the Tigers snatched a hard fought win after playing their first ODI in nearly 10 months. But it was champion cricketer Shakib al Hasan who was really instrumental behind the win as the left arm spinner bowled superbly, bagging two wickets from his 10 overs giving away only 26 runs. In the process, he became the leading wicket taker in ODIs for the Tigers, leaving behind Abdur Razzak, who has 207 wickets. Shakib is now the leading Bangladesh wicket taker across all three formats. However, the Afghans gave a tough time to the home side coming into the chase of 266 with Shakib dismissing opening batsman Shabir Noori up front while Mohammad Shahzad scored a quick 31 off 21 balls but was dismissed immediately after smashing a brilliant six off skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza. But Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi took over control against the Bangladeshi bowlers as the pair added 144 runs for the third wicket and at one point, it looked like the batting side could easily chase down the target. Both the batsman struck fifties and were dominating the Bangladeshi bowlers as they also received some help from the Tigers fielders with Mahmudullah dropping an

BANGLADESH EXPORTS TO UK

INSIDE Faridpur newborn still in critical condition

The newborn baby girl, who was found alive when she was being buried in Faridpur on Thursday, now undergoing treatment at Square Hospital in Dhaka, is still in critical condition.  PAGE 3

People hail women traffic police deployment

The traffic department of Chittagong Metropolitan Police is going to deploy more female police personnel for managing traffic following the success of the newly-launched initiative in the city.  PAGE 7

In the land of red crabs

Beside the panoramic sea beach that makes Kuakata in Patuakhali such a popular destination among tourists, there are other hidden treasures that it has to offer. One of them is Lal Kakrar Char (Red Crab Shoals).  PAGE 32

News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Narrow escape for rusty Tigers easy catch off Hashmatullah in a vital situation. But Shakib gave the all-important breakthrough to the Tigers as he dismissed Rahmat, who made 71 off 93 balls with two fours and three sixes. Hashmatullah was the next to follow after scoring 72 off 110 balls as Bangladesh gained the much needed momentum. Skipper Mashrafe played his part with the ball and bagged 2/42 from his 10 overs while Rubel also bagged a couple. Earlier, Bangladesh posted 265, riding on half centuries from Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah. However, the home side ended up at least 20-30 runs short in the end. Captain Mashrafe opted to bat as Soumya Sarkar continued his poor run and gave a simple catch at mid-wicket trying to pull pacer Dawlat Zadran without troubling the scorers. But Tamim and Imrul Kayes held the ship and added 83 runs for the second wicket before the latter finally departed after scoring 37 off 53 balls to Mohammad Nabi. Tamim then paired up with Mahmudullah and added 79 runs as the left-hander reached his 33rd ODI fifty with a late cut through point region. The home side were in total control and were heading towards a big

total as Tamim slowly approached his seventh ODI century. However, he too departed after scoring 80 off 98 balls featuring nine fours to pacer Mirwais Ashraf in the 36th over. Shakib joined Mahmudullah as

the latter reached his 15th ODI fifty but he too followed Tamim just when the home side needed to blaze all guns scoring 62 off 74 with five fours and two sixes. Bangladesh were unable to uti-

lise the situation and apart from Shakib’s 40-ball 48 at the end, the Tigers middle order failed as the home side added 69 runs in the last 10 overs. Pacer Dawlat ended up picking

four wickets but he was expensive and gave away 73 runs from his 10 overs while off spinner Nabi and leg spinner Rashid Khan bagged two wickets each and managed to kept things tight for the bowling side. l

Allrounder Shakib al Hasan glides a ball to leg side during their first ODI against Afghanistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Bangladesh tops countries to face Brexit impact Trade Hot Topics analyses “Brexit” and shows that the effects for some Commonwealth countries may be severe unless specific actions are taken to avoid this, said the report. UK, the third largest single export destination for Bangladesh, is very important for Bangladesh as the exporters enjoy duty-free market access for all products under Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) under the EU trade agreements. It is apprehended that if Brexit is executed, Bangladesh may lose duty free access and have to pay tax in exporting goods to Britain. According to the Export Promo-

tion Bureau (EPB) data, in the fiscal year 2015-16, Bangladesh earned $3.80 billion exporting goods to the UK, of which a lions share cane from the RMG sector. Bangladesh exported clothing products of $3.52bn during this time. “If Bangladesh has to pay tax after the execution of Brexit, it will lose competitiveness in the UK market, which will cast shadow on the country’s industry especially the clothing sector,” Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told the Dhaka Tribune.

For keeping existing trade benefits from the Britain government and to remain competitive in its markets, “Bangladesh government has to negotiate with the UK government,” said Moazzem. The negotiation can be held in two ways – as an individual country and the government. Bangladesh can use the Least Development Countries (LDCs) platform to negotiate with the UK to enjoy benefits of the developing countries, said Moazzem, adding that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) could also be used in the negotiation. The Commerce Ministry has to

asses the probable effects on the industry and set the agenda for negotiation to remain safe, said Moazzem. According to the Commonwealth analysis, the major industries especially the export-oriented ones of the Commonwealth nations would have to face massive hits, if proper measures are not taken. The RMG sector may face trouble in export earnings as it enjoys duty-free market excess to the UK and earned $3.52bn in the last fiscal. “Since the UK government has decided to exit from the European Union, from now the government has to take preparation for bilater-

al negotiation to keep the existing trade benefits for Bangladesh in place,” Exporters’ Association of Bangladesh (EAB) President Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune. “But I think, the trade benefits will remain the same after the Brexit as we have good trade relationship with Britain,” he said, adding that the government should go beyond the RMG sector. “We have to look on the other trade relationships as there are many expatriates in the UK and we export consumers goods too,” he added. l

Zuma, said the source. Myanmar State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi is also expected to attend the outreach meeting. Sheikh Hasina had a meeting with Suu Kyi in New York yesterday. So she is unlikely to have another meeting with Suu Kyi during her India visit, the source said. On the other hand, foreign ministry officials said Chinese President Xi Jinping would be in Dhaka just before the BRICS Summit, probably on October 14, and the prime minister would have official talks with him in Dhaka.

Over 8,000 BRICS delegates are expected to take part in the event to be held on October 15-16. India is hosting the summit in its capacity as chair of the influential bloc. BRICS countries account for 42% of the world population and have a combined GDP of over $16 trillion. Both Bangladesh and India are members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), along with Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. l

Hasina-Modi crucial meeting in Goa Oct 16 Bangladesh Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan skipped the two Saarc ministerial-level meetings in Islamabad citing domestic compulsion. On September 19, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh “firmly stands” beside India at this difficult hour and expressed deep shock at the terrorist attack on the army base in Uri, Kashmir. “In line with its ‘zero tolerance’ policy against terrorism and violent extremism, Bangladesh firmly stands beside India at this difficult hour,” she wrote to

her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. Bangladesh officials said Bangladesh and India would continue to work together in their “common endeavour” to eradicate the menace of cross-border terrorism from this region and beyond and both the leaders would further discuss it in the Goa event. Diplomatic sources said four Saarc countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal – have progressed much with the BBIN initiative without Pakistan. In addition, these countries along with Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are exploring

options on how to proceed further without Pakistan. The prime minister is likely to have a number of important meetings with the leaders of BRICS member states – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are now working to finalise things to that end, a diplomatic source said on Friday. Bangladesh is giving importance to three meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Jacob

News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Minister: We will reply to Unesco’s concerns in a week n Aminur Rahman Rasel The government will explain within a week its stance in favour the 1,320MW Rampal power project as the Unesco has expressed concerns over the possible impact of the coal-based plant on the Sundarbans mangrove forest. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid yesterday said that the government had earlier informed the Unesco about the technical matters related to the project. Last month, the Unesco submitted a report on the project to the Bangladesh government, urging it to relocate the plant. After news on the report came in media, the state minister on Saturday said that the power plant project would continue as no decision had been taken by the government to stop it. The India-Bangladesh Maitree Super Thermal Power Project is being under construction on the bank of the Pashur River in Bagerhat near the Sundarbans, the delta region declared a World Heritage site by the UN body. Although many civic and environmental organisations have voiced their opposition to the project, the government remains firm on implementing the mega coalbased power plant, insisting that it would not adversely affect the delicate ecosystem of the Sundarbans. Talking to reporters after inaugurating a workshop at Bidyut Bhaban in the city, the state minister said that the government was working to create capability of adding 1,500MW electricity every year. “We do not want power cuts any more. We want power connections to all places within 2018,” he said. “That is why we will have to opt for mixed fuel. We will have to bring coal.” l

Nazrul Islam Medical College closed sine die n UNB The authorities declared Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College closed for an indefinite period on Sunday following a clash between two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). A chase and counter-chase took place between two factions of BCL over establishing supremacy on the campus on Saturday night. The college academic council sat a meeting around 12pm and took the decision fearing further deterioration of the situation, said principal of the medical college Prof Dr Ruhul Amin. l

A RAB mobile court yesterday slap a fine of Tk16,00000 on Padma General Hospital for selling date expired medicines and mismanagement

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Faridpur newborn Galiba dies n Arifur Rahman Rabbi The newborn baby girl, who was found alive while being buried in Faridpur on Thursday and later shifted to Square Hospital in Dhaka in critical condition, has died. Father Nazmul Huda told the Dhaka Tribune that the premature baby, Galiba Hayat, died around 10:30pm yesterday. He said that the body was kept at the hospital, and that they would take her to Faridpur this morning. Galiba cried out at the graveyard when her family members were preparing to bury her Thursday morning, six hours after a doctor pronounced her dead. He earlier said that Galiba, weighing only 700gms when she was born

on Wednesday, had been under the observation of Dr Ahmed Yusuf. “The doctors at the [Square] hospital are trying their level best to heal the baby,” he told the Dhaka Tribune in the evening. Nazmul, however, expressed frustration as her condition was not improving since Saturday when she had been brought to Dhaka on a helicopter and admitted to the hospital. “The doctors are pushing injections or something else to the infant on medical purposes. Already four bags of blood have been given to her. But her condition still remains critical.” The doctors earlier told the father that the newborn’s chance of recovery was slim.

Urging to people to pray for his child, Nazmul said that the man who had brought the child to Dhaka was also bearing the treatment costs. Naznin Akter Popy, the mother, felt labour pains around 9pm on Wednesday, and was taken to Jahid Memorial Child Hospital in Faridpur town. The hospital authorities first refused to admit her, saying there were no beds left unoccupied. When he requested Dr Rezia Alam to examine the mother, who was due in January, the doctor refused, saying she would “attend her later,” Nazmul alleged. Naznin gave birth to the premature baby around midnight normally in the doctor’s room, where she had been waiting all the while. After

sometime, Rezia came out of the operation theatre and declared the infant dead saying she had no pulse. The family members then took the baby to Faridpur Municipality Graveyard for burial. As it was still dark, an employee asked them to wait until the morning. They obliged, keeping the carton carrying the baby beside a concrete-made grave. In the morning, while reciting from the Qur’an imam Abdur Rab asked the staff to open the carton. As they opened it, the baby cried out and moved its limbs. Both the hospital authorities and the district civil surgeon have launched separate investigations on the matter as it created much hype. l

‘Why hasn’t the Faridpur doctor been fired?’ n Kamrul Hasan Speaking at a conference yesterday on urban health called “Urban Proverty” Dr Zafarullah Chowdhury the founder of Gonosasthya Kendra asked why the doctor from Faridpur was not fired for malpractice. A newborn girl on Thursday was about to be buried in Faridpur be-

cause she was declared dead by a doctor but she showed signs of life by crying out at the graveyard. She was flown to Dhaka on Saturday and admitted to Square Hospital. A pulse is the key indicator of life, the doctor could have used a stethoscope to figure out if the infant was alive, this is basic training in the medical profession which

he failed to practice, Dr Zafarullah said at the event held at LGED, Agargaon. He also asked what was the use of having establishments like Faridpur Medical College Hospital if people seeking medical treatment must travel to Dhaka. Zafarullah spoke of other medical malpractices such as the recent incidents at DMCH where victims

of road accident were killed after being treated by a cleaner with fatal injections. He said the on-duty doctors and nurses should be held responsible for letting that happen. For the betterment of Bangladesh’s health sector the DMCH should be made into a 700 bed hospital so that there is enough space for more people to be treated at a time. l

News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

MoU signed to engage young engineers in research n Aminur Rahman Rasel A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday to engage young engineers in research and innovation on power and energy sector. Saif Uddin Ahammad, secretary of state-owned Bangladesh Energy and Power Research Council (EPRC), and Mohammad Imtiaz Hasan, president of Engineering Students’ Association of Bangladesh (ESAB), signed the agreement on behalf of

the organisations at a function at Bidyut Bhaban in the city. The agreement will help operate and execute a number of joint initiatives taken by the government including “National Hackathon on power and energy,” “Green Energy Summit,” and “Youth Innovation Small Grant.” By participating in the programmes, the young talents would get an opportunity to contribute in national development initiatives. Nasrul Hamid, state minister

Oxfam: Corn is a nutritious staple for the poor n Tribune Desk

The future of agriculture lends itself to sustainable farming and efficient agricultural practices in a world with a population of 7 billion and rising. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more than 800 million people suffer from malnutrition globally and with the effects of climate change and income inequality leaving more people hungrier than before sustainable agriculture requires urgent attention with heavy investments into sustainable agricultural practices. Oxfam presented a paper yesterday called “Idea Generation on Maize Forward Market’, at the capital’s BRAC Centre Inn. Program Coordinator at Oxfam, Bangladesh, Anisur Rahman Chowdhury presented the key note paper in which he said: “Branding and promotional activities regarding the nutritional values and diversification of different maize products can contribute to remarkable increase the market.” Agriculturist Hamidur Rahman, director general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, said Bangladesh is greatly suitable for maize production. It can play a vital role eliminating hunger amongst people living below the poverty line. “In the next ten years, maize production could reach at 10 million tonne,” he said. He further stressed on research that could invent salinity tolerant varieties in the coastal areas. Speakers at a workshop said maize (corn) production could be higher than ever if

the storage system including the drying areas are available to the farmers. They also stressed on an easy leasing systems of the char lands to landless farmers for cultivating corn. There is a huge gap between supply and demand, where supply stands at least 35 per cent below the demand. Joint initiatives from both the government and the private sector could help brand the viability of maize cultivation, Anisur said. “Oxfam wants the Government to fix a minimum price for maize like it has done for rice and wheat. The government should also come forward to procure maize like they do with other major crops,” said Dr Md Khalid Hossain, manager, Economic Justice Resilience Program, Oxfam, Bangladesh. “The organizations involved in this sector and the farmers of all the maize cultivation locations need to collaborate and send the Government recommendations especially on pricing, procurement and capacity building,” said Mokbul Hossain MP, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture. “We will definitely take these recommendations under consideration and act on them upon review,” said Mokbul as the Chief Guest. Maize cultivators from the northern region of the country participated in the workshop. Representatives from Pran, ACI, ACI Godrej Agrovet Private Limited, Lal Teer, Spectra Hexa Feeds Ltd, BRAC, Krishibid Group also participated in the workshop. l

for power and energy, said: “In every step of the history of Bangladesh, the students’ community has played an important role. To take this country one step forward, not only the government but also the new generation has to take part.” Founder and Executive Director of ESAB Innovation Centre Md Arif Raihan Maahi said that the association was formed five years ago to unite the young engineers for the development of our country. “We are doing everything focus-

ing on that goal. Lots of initiatives have been taken in collaboration with the EPRC. This MoU will accelerate the initiatives,” he hoped. According to MoU, young students, especially the engineering students, will try to solve the social problems through their merit and knowledge. These initiatives can play an important role in public service and national issues. But due to the lack of inspiration, funding and specialist’s advice, these projects often ends abruptly, offi-

cials concerned say. While the council has been working to solve the problems in the power and energy sector, braindrain or lack of international standard researches hamper the initiatives. This agreement would address these issues, the speakers hoped. The programme was also addressed by Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Nazimuddin Chowdhury, Power Division Secretary Monowar Islam and EPRC Chairman Dr Ahmed Kaikaus. l

News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Swimming lessons yet to be introduced in all schools n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The government’s plan to introduce swimming classes in all schools and colleges has yet to see the light of day as it remains only on papers, reported due to lack of infrastructure. The Ministry of Education decided to introduce regular swimming classes at all educational institutions under the secondary, madrasa and technical education boards in March last year. The government took the initiative – a practice common in many developed countries – to reduce numbers of death from drowning, sources said. “When Nazrul Islam Khan was education secretary, a circular regarding that decision was published, but there has been no follow-up on that; we don’t know anything about the project,” said Farhana Haque, deputy director (physical education) at the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education. Implementation of the project is essential, she told the Dhaka Tribune. “But we don’t have any updates and don’t know who will monitor it.” According to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey 2005, drowning is the leading cause of death of Bangladeshi children, with 18,000 children dying annually from drowning.

limited the number of venues for swimming classes. Rajshahi district Education Officer M Rafiqul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that he had forwarded the circular to the upazila offices, but had yet to receive updates on its implementation. In fact, he thanked the Dhaka Tribune for reminding him about the circular. “We forgot about it. There are no ponds in the city; where will the students swim? The ponds that we have are not suitable for swimming. So the circular did not have much impact,” he said. Comilla District Education Officer M Abdul Majid said: “The reality is there are a lack of ponds in the city, so the initiative has not really taken off here. Some schools such as Comilla Zilla School have been able to implement it, but most school have not been able to due to lack of ponds.” However, schools in some villages have implemented the initiative, he claimed. “The government has taken a tremendous initiative, which has stopped suddenly,” said AKM Fazlur Rahman, executive director at the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh. “They should get going with the project because it is a severe issue as thousands of children drown every year.” l

The study was conducted by Unicef in association with the Alliance for Safe Children and Bangladesh government. Sources said the commendable initiative still remains on paper because most district education offices and their field offices have not paid heed to the instruction.

The government has taken a tremendous initiative, which has stopped suddenly According to the circular, all educational institutions under the education boards must ensure that ponds are used for swimming classes with all safety equipment in place to train the sutdents. In regions where there are no ponds – such as Dhaka – schools were instructed to coordinate with organisations that have swimming pools to conduct the swimming classes. The ministry assigned district education officers and upazila secondary education officers to monitor the swimming training and send a monthly report to the director general of secondary and higher education. However, when contacted, many field level officers said lack of ponds on school grounds had

Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus meets Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon at UN headquarters, New York on Friday

Yunus urges UN chief to continue leadership role n Tribune Desk Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has called upon Ban Kimoon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations to continue to lead world even after he leaves the UN position. The Bangladeshi social entrepreneur made the request while holding the UN SDG Advocates’ Meeting with the UN chief at UN head quarter on September 23, 2016. Besides Professor Yunus, other members of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) attended the last ever meeting chaired by the outgoing UN Secretary-General. During the meeting Professor Yunus thanked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for contributing uniquely in changing the world to move in the right direction, says a press release issued by the Yunus Centre on Sunday. Addressing Ban, the Bangladeshi Nobel laureate said the UN and the world would miss him after he leaves his position. “He’ll [Ban] be remembered in the world history for crafting the SDGs and steering them through the UN decision-making process to build a global consensus around them

despite many strong opposition to them.” “He’ll [Ban] have a permanent place in history for bringing all nations of the world to sign on the Paris Agreement to protect the world from global warming and adopting binding targets,” added the press note. During the meeting, Professor Yunus also proposed that he “lead a civil society movement to make sure SDGs are implemented with full vigour and commitment.” This civil society movement may organize two SDG summits every year, one for all civil society organizations, one for the youths of the world, added the note. According to it, other members of the SDG Advocates group supported expressed their support to professor Yunus’s proposal and congratulated the UN Secretary-General for securing the Paris Climate Agreements which he said is one of the historic milestone for human history. Later, Professor Yunus met the Crown Princess of Sweden, Victoria, at the Swedish UN Mission Head Quarter at her invitation. They discussed the proposal presented by Professor Yunus at the SDG group meeting. l

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu vists a photography exibition arranged marking the National River Day at the National Meuseum yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Dhaka

Chittagong

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 5:51PM

Rangpur

Khulna

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:49AM

35ºC Jessore

22.6ºC Dimla

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES

Sylhet

Cox’s Bazar

Fajr: 5:15am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 4:45pm | Magrib: 6:10pm Esha: 8:00pm Source: Islamic Foundation

News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Fishermen pocketing good profits with Ilish n Ibrahim Rony, Chandpur Fishermen of Chandpur are pocketing good profits, as a good number of Ilish are being netted in abundant number in the Padma and Meghna Rivers. A beam of satisfaction is seen in the faces of thousands of fishermen and they are now passing busy time with happy mood. Mizanur Rahman Kalu, president of Chandpur fish traders society, said: “Fishermen from the southern districts of the country

have been producing around about 3,000 maunds (37.4 kilograms) Ilish everyday over the last 30 days.” He said: “People from all walks of life are crowding at different markets of the district to buy Ilish, as the price of the fish is their purchasing capacity of the buyers.” Fishermen of Bhola, Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna and Laxmipur have been netting plentiful number of Ilish and they have produced them at Chandpur fish markets, however buyers have preferred Ilish from Padma River of Chandpur

than the others. Sujon Patowari and Ahmad Ali, fishermen of Chandpur Sadar upazila, said: “This year we have netted plenty of big size Ilish and we are happy with our incomes.” “We have already earned Tk5 lakh in this season so far,” they said. Zahir Ahmed, another fisherman of the district, said: “Sometimes, we get tired netting abundant number of Ilish.” Local sources said traders from across the country come to the market and buy fishes from there.

Some of the traders also buy Ilish to store for upcoming days as now the price of Ilish is lower compared to the previous years for plentiful supply of the fish at different markets of the district. Traders and fishermen told to the Dhaka Tribune, Ilish weighing around 1kg is sold for Tk1,200 to Tk1,300 while. Besides, experts hint that fishermen are netting bigger size Ilish than previous years and it has happened due to government’s step to prevent Ilish fry catching.

Dr Anisur Rahman, chief scientist of Chandpur Fisheries Research Institute, said: “Ilish travels in Padma and Meghna Rivers as part of their life circle for reproduction and to collect foods. In this year, a plenty of Ilish entered into the rivers thus fishermen enjoyed the netting of huge amount of Ilish.” “Plentiful number of Ilish are being netted in this year due to successful implementation of ban on Ilish netting allow proper breeding of Ilish that has boost its production,” he said. l

Outgoing Mymensingh DC facing the music for joining ‘royal farewells’ n Tribune Desk

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) will ask the Public Administration Ministry to take action against the outgoing deputy commissioner (DC) of Mymensingh, as he joined 35 ‘royal farewells’ and received gifts recently. The Commission yesterday decided to send a letter to the ministry asking it to take departmental action against Mustakim Billah Faruque, the outgoing Mymensingh DC, a top ACC official wishing anonymity. ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood has already instructed the director general of the commission (legal) to send a letter to the Public Administration Secretary in this regard, reports UNB. “The letter, signed by ACC secretary Abu M Mustafa Kamal, will be sent to the ministry soon,” the official added. He said such unusual farewells to a DC promote corruption, and this is why the Commission has decided to send a letter to the Public Administration Ministry as per section 17 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, seeking action against the bureaucrat. According to media reports, Mustakim has recently been transferred to the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry as a deputy secretary. Before joining his new assignment, he was accorded 35 lavish farewell parties arranged by upazila parisads, local educational institutions and cultural organisations from September 3 to 18 last. The reports said Mustakim joined the farewells wearing king’s costumes riding a horse cart. He was also learned to have received many gifts from the organisers. l

People from all walks of life in Jessore gather in front of deputy commissioner office yesterday protesting water logging in the district

Max Group lifting sand from Madhumati illegally Kumar Saha, n Manoj Goplaganj A private company in the district with the help of a section of local influential group and ruling party men is illegally lifting sand from the Madhumati River damaging the flood protection dam extensively. According to local sources, Max Group of Company Ltd is lifting sand from the river in Korfa, Charfukra, Joybangla ferry ghat and Charkalna ferry ghat in Sadar upazila violating the government rule. The company took responsibility from Bangladesh Railway to repair the Kashiani-Bhatiapara-Gopalganj route. The company started to repair the route with the sand of four sand quarries of Kashiani upazila after taking lease from deputy commissioner office. The sources said the company

people did not follow the government rule while they were lifting sand from the river. They had crossed the limit and lifted sand from another place of the river beyond their lease, added the sources. Locals alleged that the Water Development Board (WDB) has built town protection embankment which is now at risk due to random sand lifting. Executive Engineer of WDB Mohiuddin submitted a memorandum on August 18, to the deputy commissioner protesting illegal sand lifting by the company men. Max Group Surveyor Monwar Hossain was told to lift sand following the government rule. But the company did not follow the advice, said Mohiuddin. Locals also submitted memorandum to the DC protesting the illegal sand lifting.

Dabiruddin of Charkalna area said the company people were lifting sand in their area which was not taken as lease by DC office. Osman Ali of Charfukra area said flood protection dam in Shankarpasha and Fukra areas got damaged due to unplanned sand lifting from the river bed. Houses, schools, colleges, madrasas and many other establishments in the area were on the verge of extinction due to sand lifting, said locals. Locals and the company people got locked into clashes several times over the issue, said sources. Seeking anonymity, some people in the area said ruling party men were involved with the company men. When the local people protested the illegal sand lifting the ruling party musclemen including police personnel harassed them.

Selim Khan, a resident of Fukra area, of the upzila, said: “I have lost my cropland near the river due to illegal sand lifting. When I started protesting, police picked up me and tortured brutally.” Later, I got released in-exchange of money, he added. Firoz Khan, another resident of the area, said: “I am going to loss six acres of land for illegal sand lifting.” Kamrul Hasan, assistant commissioner of Kashiani upazila, said : “We have alerted Max Company project manager several times, but they did not pay heed to our appeal.” Abdul Ohab, manager of the company, said they would take steps if there was their fault. DC Moklessur Rahman said he could not say anything in this regard as he had taken charge only few days before. l

News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

People hail women traffic police deployment n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong The traffic department of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) is going to deploy more female police personnel for managing traffic following the success of the newly-launched initiative in the city. The CMP authorities claimed that the townspeople hailed the introduction of the female traffic police service in the city. Primarily, a total of 20 traffic constables have been discharging the challenging task of controlling traffic at eight strategic intersections of the city, including Dampara, Agrabad, New Market, Dewanhat, GEC, Alangkar and Shah Amanat Bridge. The female constables are performing their duties in two shifts – one is from 7am till 2pm and another is from 2pm till 10pm. During a recent visit to different intersections, the female traffic constables were seen performing their duties diligently alongside their male colleagues defying the scorching sun. Moreover, the valiant women were seen helping women-children and elderly commuters to cross busy roads. This correspondent talked to a number of newly-inducted female traffic police yesterday and they said that they were enjoying the challenging task. “It is naturally a challenging task to control the heavy traffic. At first, I used to feel shy but now I am comfortable with my job,” said Jobaida Khanom Poli, a traffic constable posted at GEC intersection. “People are not still familiar with watching a woman performing duties as a traffic police. So,

A female constable is seen controlling traffic at GEC intersection in the port city yesterday pedestrians and drivers often stare at us with curiosity,” added the female traffic constable. “Working such long hours out in the scorching sun is not easy task. However, I have found my male colleagues to be very cooperative,” said Rehana Akhter, a traffic constable posted at GEC intersection. Replying to a query, both female traffic constables said they did not face any gender-based discrimination while performing their duties. Supriya Deb, a traffic sergeant at GEC intersection, said pedestrians and transport drivers happily complied with directives of women traffic police.

“Sometimes the CNG auto-rickshaw drivers refuse to go by metre. The women commuters feel much comfortable with women traffic police for lodging any complaint,” said the traffic sergeant. Salma Sultana, a teacher of BAF Shaheen College, Chittagong, said it was really heart-warming to see women managing transport. Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Masud-ul-Hasan, CMP additional commissioner (traffic), said they had decided to induct 15 more female traffic police, including an officer as the initiative got positive response from the city people. However, inadequate wash-

St Martin tourism faces loss for suspended vessel service n Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar

All the hotels and motels in Saint Martin’s island were ready for welcoming tourists during holidays of Eid-ul-Azha, but they remained empty as the local administration did not give permission to carry tourists to the island. During monsoon every year, local administration does not permit any vessel to carry people there fearing accidents. The authorities withdraw the suspension of plying vessels as soon as the rainy season is over. But this year, they are making delay to give the permission. Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shafiul Alam said: “Plying tourist vessels remains suspended in the naval route due to bad weather. The permission will be given in due time provided that the weather is

good.” “Who will take the responsibility if any accident occurs? He told the Dhaka Tribune. Around six to seven tourist vessels, including Keyari Sindabad, Keyari Dine and Crews, LCT Kutubdia and Bay Crews, were ready to carry tourists to the island on the day after Eid-ul-Azha, as huge tourists throng the island during the vacation every year. This year, tourists and local businessmen both feel frustrated--the tourists being deprived of enjoying the natural beauty of the island and the businessmen being divested of profits. Shah Alam, in-charge of Keyari Sindabad, said: “Though application seeking the permission of plying the vessels was submitted in due time, the authorities did not allow them to ply. That is why

hundreds of tourists went back the day after Eid-ul-Azha though all the vessels were ready to give them service.” Nur Ahmed, union chairman of St Martin, said: “Locals of the island have been waiting eagerly for tourists and all the hotels and motels have been decorated well, but a few number of tourists have visited the island as the vessels’ movements remained suspended.” However, some tourists went to the island by small trawlers risking their lives, whereas most of the tourists, who could not go to the island, visited different tourist spots inTeknaf, reports our correspondent. The island is separated from Shah Parir Dwip in Teknaf upazila of the mainland by an 8km channel. Around 7,500 people live in the 8-square kilometre island. l

room facility is a major problem being faced by the female traffic police in the city. Finding no better option, the women traffic police go to nearby places of their duty stations. Jobaida Khanom Poli said she along with her other female colleagues were suffering severely in absence of washroom facilities. “The toilet facilities are inadequate. We have no choice but to go to nearby places whenever we feel the urgency during our eight-hour duty time. The authorities concerned should look into the matter seriously,” said Poli. “Inadequate washroom facility

RABIN CHOWDHURY

has turned out to be a matter of anxiety for us. We will be able to perform better if we do not need to worry about it,” said Rehana, echoing with her colleague. “The washroom facilities are not even adequate for male traffic police. The facilities should be increased for us too,” said Md Fakhruddin Azad, a traffic police sergeant posted at GEC intersection. Asked for his comment, Masudul-Hasan, CMP additional commissioner (traffic), said: “We are considering sincerely with regard to the humanitarian appeal and the washroom facilities will be increased very soon.” l

Rokeya University students on strike demanding re-evaluation of exam sheets n Liakat Ali Badal, Rangpur Students of Computer Science and Engineering department at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur went on indefinite strike yesterday protesting examination results. According to local sources, the result of the department was published before Eid-ul-Azha. Seven examinees failed and one got zero in the exam. In the morning, the students gathered in front of the department and locked the door and called the strike. Professor Faridul Islam, head of the department discussed with the agitated students and tried to man-

age them. But he failed. Mehedi Hasan, a student who is involved with the movement said he had got good marks in previous exams. But this time he had got zero. He asked the varsity authority to re-evaluate the exam scripts. The other students who are victim, also echoed the sound of Mehedi. The students alleged that they had informed the incident to the director of board and the head of the department. But they could not take any steps. When contacted, Faridul Islam could not be reached as his mobile phone was switched off. l

8 World

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Pilot killed in Pakistan fighter jet crash A Pakistan Air Force fighter jet crashed in the country’s restive Northwest, killing the pilot, the air force said in a statement. The fighter jet was on a routine operational training mission when the accident happened, authorities said. AFP

INDIA

India to ratify Paris Agreement on climate change

India will ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change on October 2. The country’s move will bring this global deal to fight the menace of global warming closer to enter into force later this year. The world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, will formally join the Paris agreement on climate change. India accounts for around 4.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. REUTERS

CHINA

China air force holds drills in Western Pacific China’s air force said on Sunday it had flown more than 40 bombers and other fighter planes through a strait between Japanese islands on their way to drills in the Western Pacific. Regular long range drills in the Western Pacific and patrols over the East China Sea air defence identification zone were for the Air Force to protect China’s sovereignty and national security, China’s air force spokesman Shen said. REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Taiwan asks Google to blur images of military outpost

Taiwan has asked Google to blur images of new military structures that have recently appeared on the hotly contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which is controlled by Taiwan but also claimed by China, Vietnam and the Philippines. THE GUARDIAN

MIDDLE EAST

Jordanian writer gunned down before trial over cartoon

A gunman shot dead Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar on Sunday outside the court where he was to stand trial on charges of contempt of religion after sharing on social media a caricature seen as insulting Islam. Nahed posted a cartoon on Facebook earlier this year for which he was facing charges in Jordan of inciting sectarian strife and insulting Islam. REUTERS

INSIGHT

Kerry's ceaseless diplomacy faces sternest test on Syria n Reuters, New York John Kerry had heard enough. After last week's bombing of a UN aid convoy in Syria dealt a death blow to a ceasefire deal in which he had invested all his diplomatic capital with Russia, the US Secretary of State tossed aside a page of notes and looked at Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov across the horseshoe-shaped table in the UN Security Council. "I listened to my colleague from Russia, and I sort of felt a little bit like they're sort of in a parallel universe here," said a visibly angry Kerry, effectively calling Lavrov a liar for blaming the United States for spoiling the ceasefire. The moment in some ways captured the former politician's time as the top US diplomat, which will end with a new administration in January. Not for the first time, Kerry had invested months of intensive diplomacy and tireless traveling on an issue only to end up feeling let down or deceived by negotiating partners. On Syria, Kerry has wanted greater US involvement than President Barack Obama was willing to support. In an interview on Friday, Kerry said Lavrov's "blatant obfuscation of reality ... took my breath away." The attempted Syria ceasefire was his most ambitious effort to fix what some argue was the biggest foreign policy misstep of Obama's administration, which began with the failure in 2013 to follow through on a "red line" threat against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the use of chemical weapons. Kerry hammered out the truce two weeks ago, but was left pleading in vain with Russia last week to halt renewed air strikes on the besieged city of Aleppo. From Kerry's perspective, it is better to fail than not to have tried. "The weakest hand of all would be to have another round of migrants going into Europe, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin do whatever he wants by dropping bombs and the United States doing nothing but pretending we're sending some support to people," Kerry said. "That is the weakest hand, and it is far stronger to stand up and find a way to leverage getting to the table and getting some kind of an understanding," he added.

THE CONFLICT IN SYRIA Monday September 12 The agreement takes effect: ceasefire between rebels and Syrian forces, Aid is to be delivered to civilians, A key road is to be demilitarised giving access to rebels in Aleppo 1

TURKEY

1 3

Aleppo

Raqa

Idlib

Friday 16 Trucks carrying aid for Aleppo are still blocked on the Turkish border Saturday 17 A US-led coalition raid hits a Syrian army post near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor. Damascus calls the attack an aggression Sunday 18 First air raids aimed at rebel districts in Aleppo

50 km

2 IRAQ

Deir Ezzor Homs

Territory: IS Group Influence Control Syrian regime and allies Rebels and/or Fateh al-Sham Kurds

Palmyra

LEBANON

DAMASCUS

Monday 19 Syria’s army announces the end of the week-long truce

JORDAN

Taking risks

In his nearly four years as America's top diplomat, Kerry has racked up more miles than any other secretary of state, sometimes appearing to rush in without a clear strategy. But some critics say Kerry stayed in the game too long in negotiating with Russia, which they argue manipulated his quest for a deal over Syria to strengthen its position. The Syrian conflict, with its shifting geopolitical forces, complex new alliances and new threats such as the rise of Islamic State, has tested Kerry like no other issue. After Obama declined to carry out threatened attacks on Assad's forces over chemical weapons, Kerry perceived an opening to work with Lavrov on an agreement to get Syria to turn over its chemical arsenal, he told Reuters. That deal struck in 2013 was considered a success, but the war has since deteriorated and grown more complex following Russia's military intervention backing Assad last year. Now the continuing ceasefire push by Kerry strikes some as hopeless gesturing.

Overreaching?

It's not the first time Kerry's been accused of overreaching. At the start of his term in 2013, Kerry vigorously pursued a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians. Kerry's biggest accomplishments came in 2015 with the Iran nuclear deal and the UN climate change agreement. In both instances, he had Obama's leader-

US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the International Syria Support Group meeting at the Palace Hotel in Manhattan on September 22 REUTERS

SYRIA AID CONVOY

TURKEY

Deadly air strike on aid convoy Monday, says monitoring group

Aleppo Orum al-Kubra

At least 18 trucks in 31-vehicle Latakia convoy were struck, according to Syrian Observatory for Homs Human Rights Convoy organised by UN and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) Due to deliver humanitarian assistance to some 78,000 people in the area

Raqa

50 km

IRAQ

DAMASCUS Daraya

JORDAN

ship and full support for the very visible US role. Last week's failure of a second Syrian ceasefire agreement brokered by Kerry unleashed a fresh round of stinging criticism of the administration's Syria policy. Republican Senator John McCain called Kerry "intrepid but delusional" for placing too much

faith in the prospect of cooperation with Russia. Hours after the tense exchange at the UN Security Council, Lavrov and Kerry met again. The Russian diplomat had brought a new proposal for putting the ceasefire back on track. Kerry looked at the sheet of paper, folded it tightly and stuffed it into his top pocket. l

World

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

USA

Barack

Obama reveals his presidential stature as he debates with his older rival

George

John n

Obama

McCain n

W. Bush

2000

2008

Jimmy

Ronald

Carter

TV debates that left their mark on US history

Despite a lead in the polls Al Gore comes across as arrogant and unsympathetic

Gore

Reagan Relaxed and in control, the former actor wins his duel with Carter

1980

Jimmy

Seized the initiative after Ford’s gaffe

Ford

1976

Richard Nixon The vice-président looked ill at ease. Refused to wear makeup

“There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe”

1960

More than 20 European business associations and companies say they back their governments’ position that UK’s banking sector can only enjoy EU market access post-Brexit if the country still follows the bloc’s rules. UK wants a trade deal that gives London’s financial district access to EU clients while allowing the government to restrict migration from the bloc, something at odds with the basic rules of the EU. REUTERS

CHRONICLE

Migrant disasters in the Mediterranean

September 21, 2016 Rescuers had recovered at least 162 bodies from a September 21 shipwreck off Egypt. Survivors said up to 450 migrants had been on board heading for Italy when it capsized.

June 3, 2016 At least 320 people out of some 650 on board a boat die when it capsizes while trying to reach Crete from the coast of North Africa.

April 20, 2016 Around 500 people die in the south Mediterranean when their boat from Libya sinks, according to the witness accounts of some 40 people who escaped, quoted by the UNHCR.

August 5, 2015 More than 225 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent drown when a fishing boat carrying more than 600 people capsizes off Libya. The tragedy happened when the migrants rushed to one side as an Irish ship drew near to pick them up. Rescuers managed to save 360 people.

April 19, 2015 Up to 800 people mainly from the Gambia, Senegal and Mali feared dead after their crammed fishing boat capsizes in Libyan waters. Just 28 people survive the worst Mediterranean disaster in decades.

April 12, 2015 Up to 400 migrants drown after their vessel capsizes off Libya, according to survivors who reach southern Italy.

February 11, 2015 More than 300 migrants from Africa drown after their overcrowded boats sail from Libya in atrocious

EUROPE

France: War crimes committed in Aleppo

LOST IN THE MEDITERRANEAN GREECE

ITALY SICILY Lampedusa MALTA April 12

TUNISIA April 19

800

May 26

400

Feb 8

500

April 13

469

Aug 22

LIBYA 2015

June 3

339

270

TRIPOLI

2016

Mediterranean Sea

Sept 12

300

2014

September 10, 2014 Up to 500 migrants drown off Malta after people smugglers ram their boat to force them onto a smaller vessel.

France’s envoy to the UN asserted that war crimes were being committed in Syria’s battered city of Aleppo as the Security Council meet for urgent talks on the escalating military campaign. “War crimes are being committed here in Aleppo,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters. AFP

AFRICA

150 km

EGYPT

Source: IOM, The Migrant Files, figures for drowned and missing

weather. Twenty-nine rescued people die of exposure before the Italian coastguard can get them to hospital.

Cuba and China signed thirty cooperation agreements to deepen the ancient and strong ties with the Asian giant island communist regime following the recent rapprochement between Washington and Havana. China has a long history of trade with Cuba, one of his communist allies and with which it has diplomatic ties for 56 years. REUTERS

European firms offer UK scant support in divorce talks

Sources : Commission on Présidential Debates, médias

The migrant disaster off Egypt this week adds to a relentless loss of life in the Mediterranean, where a single catastrophe killed some 800 people in April 2015. Following are despairing milestones in the ongoing migrant crisis. More than 10,000 dead in 3 years

Cuba, China ink deals to deepen ties with US

John Kennedy Looked perfect on television and his charm did the rest

1st TV debate

The New York Times endorsed Hillary Clinton for the White House, saying she was more qualified than Donald Trump to handle the challenges facing the United States. The newspaper described Clinton as one of the most tenacious politicians of her generation and said she had displayed a command of policy and diplomatic nuance while building a reputation for grit and bipartisan cooperation. REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

Record audience : 80.6 million

Gerald

Carter

NY Times endorses Clinton in White House race

October 3, 2013 At least 366 die when a ship carrying 500 migrants from the Horn of Africa begins to sink and then catches fire off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Many people trapped in the hold die from asphyxiation. The tragedy alerts the world to the unfolding humanitarian crisis. l

Source: AFP

African elephants suffer worst decline in 25 years Africa’s elephant population has suffered its worst drop in 25 years, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said Sunday, blaming the plummeting numbers on poaching. Based on 275 estimates from across the continent, a report by the conservation group put Africa’s total elephant population at around 415,000, a decline of around 111,000 over the past decade. AFP

World

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

INSIGHT

In Mosul battle, many forces with many motives n AP, BAGHDAD An unlikely array of forces is converging on the city of Mosul, lining up for a battle on the historic plains of northern Iraq that is likely to be decisive in the war against the Islamic State group. The tacit alliance, Iraqi troops alongside Shia militiamen, Kurdish fighters, Sunni Arab tribesmen and US special forces, underscores the importance of this battle. Retaking Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, would effectively break the back of the militant group, ending their self-declared “caliphate,” at least in Iraq. But victory doesn’t mean an end to the conflict. In a post Islamic State Iraq, the enmities and rivalries among the players in the anti-IS coalition could easily erupt. The battle, expected near the end of the year, threatens to be long and gruelling. If IS fighters dig in against an assault, they have hundreds of thousands of residents in the city as potential human shields. And as residents flee, they fuel the humanitarian crisis in Iraq’s Kurdish region around Mosul, where camps are already overcrowded with more than 1.6m people displaced over the past two years. Humanitarian groups are rushing to prepare for potentially 1m more who could be displaced by a Mosul assault. The biggest prize captured by the militants after they overran much of northern, western and central Iraq in the summer of 2014, Mosul has been vital for the IS. The reserves in its banks provided a massive cash boost to the group, and the city’s infrastructure and resources helped IS as it set up its caliphate across Iraq and Syria. Mosul was the location chosen by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to make his first public appear-

ance after declaring the caliphate, a triumphant sermon delivered at a historic mosque in the old city. For the past two years, much of the leadership seems to have operated from Mosul. If Mosul is retaken, it would be a nearly complete reversal of the jihadis’ 2014 sweep. The group would be left with only a few pockets of territory in Iraq. IS fighters have already responded to battlefield losses by reverting to guerilla style tactics or retreating into neighbouring Syria to defend the group’s territory there, which is also rapidly eroding. For weeks, the disparate forces have clawed back territory in Nineveh province, where Mosul is located, seizing villages and key supply lines. Still, the Iraqi military’s closest position is some 30 miles south of Mosul and there remain dozens of militant-held villages with civilian populations that the troops must take before reaching the city’s outskirts. Kurdish forces are closer, some within 10 miles of the city to the north and east. US-led coalition forces have sped up training for Iraqi troops and Kurdish fighters, condensing courses that once took more than two months into just four weeks. In July, the Pentagon announced that 560 more US troops would deploy to Iraq to transform Qayara air base, south of Mosul, into a staging hub for the final assault. Still, Iraq’s military is thousands of soldiers short of the estimated 30,000 troops needed to launch the assault, and the existing forces are stretched thin trying to hold other recaptured territory, particularly in western Anbar province. Iraq’s military fell apart when it fled Mosul in the face of the IS blitz two years ago, with a third of its troops melting away. In the ensuing

In this Saturday, August 13, 2016 file photo, a soldier from the 1st Battalion of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces listens to an address by his commander after a training exercise to prepare for the operation to re-take Mosul from Islamic State militants, in Baghdad AP

In this June 23, 2014 file photo, fighters from the Islamic State group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul AP months, it was revealed that tens of thousands of troops on the rolls did not exist- They were only names whose pay was pocketed by commanders. Since then, the military has been slowly rebuilding, while other armed forces such as Shia militias and Iraq’s Kurdish forces have steadily grown in strength. The rivalries within the alliance are already starting to show and are likely to come to a head once IS falls. The Kurds, who seized large swaths of territory during the fight against the militants, want to keep it. Iranian-backed Shia militias de-

mand recognition for the political and military strength they have garnered during the war. The Sunni minority is deeply worried about Shia domination and discrimination, and those fears are likely only to grow as the community tries to recover from Islamic State rule and return to their homes. The Shia-led government in Baghdad will have to balance among these factions. The most immediate question will be whether Shia militias and Kurdish forces will join the assault into mainly Sunni Arab Mosul.

In this September 6, 2016 photo released by the US Army, US Army Capt Gerrard Spinney, right, speaks to his Iraqi army counterpart from the Ninawa Operations Command prior to a security meeting at Camp Swift, Iraq. The disparate groups that make up Iraq's security forces are converging on the city of Mosul AP

Shia militias have been accused of abuses against Sunnis in other areas they have retaken from the IS. If Kurds capture parts of the city, it gives them a strong card in future negotiations over the territory they hold. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said all forces will participate in the Mosul operation, a nod to Kurdish and Shia militia demands. But at a news conference last week, he also said Iraqi military decisions must respect the delicate ethnic balance in Nineveh province, where most of the population is Sunni Arab, with pockets of Kurds, Shias, Christians, Yazidis and other minority groups. When asked what role Shia militias would have in Mosul, al-Abadi was circumspect. “I don’t want Daesh to make use of sectarian conflicts,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. Sunnis make up the vast majority of the 3.3m Iraqis displaced by the conflict. The treatment of civilians in Mosul will likely be seen as a test of the government’s commitment to lasting political reconciliation. The marginalization of Sunnis and increasingly sectarian politics under al-Abadi’s predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, fueled the rise of the IS in Iraq to begin with. For al-Abadi, retaking Mosul is a key political prize. In office just over two years, he has faced increasing anti-government sentiment fuelled by IS attacks in and around the capital and the failure to fight corruption or bring reconciliation. l

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

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12 Business

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

TOP STORIES CAAB: Passengers warned not to use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on planes Air travellers are being warned not to use their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on planes after the company recalled the devices over complaints the batteries can catch fire. PAGE 13

Bangladesh’s millennials assess future careers Telenor Group yesterday released the results of a pilot online survey across six nations in Asia, including Bangladesh, assessing millennials’ attitudes about their future career, technology’s impact and the skills they need to be best prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. PAGE 15

Capital market snapshot: Sunday DSE Broad Index

4,673.4

-0.1% ▼

Index

1,120.9

-0.1% ▼

30 Index

1,768.6

-0.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

5,765.5

10.3% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

217.1

22.2% ▲

All Share Index 14,329.4

-0.4% ▼

30 Index

-0.6% ▼

CSE

Selected Index

12,969.8 8,725.8

-0.4% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

545.5

63.6% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

20.9

60.4% ▲

Three more land ports in the offing under BBIN initiative n Kayes Sohel The government plans to set up three more land ports in boarder area under the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Initiative to bring dynamism in regional trade. BBIN is an initiative taken to promote safe, economical efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and to further help each country create an institutional mechanism for regional integration. The proposed land ports are to be established in Sheola at Bianibazar in Sylhet, Thegamukh at Barkal in Rangamati, and Bhomra in Satkhira. The detailed project proposal for the three ports has already been prepared and sent to the Shipping Ministry, sources said at Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA). Feasibility studies have already

PROPOSED NEW LAND PORTS

Sheola at Bianibazar in Sylhet Thegamukh at Barkal in Rangamati Bhomra in Satkhira been completed for setting up the three new land ports, according to the BLPA. The new Bhomra port will be very close to Kolkata in India. If the facilities of this port are developed properly, businesses of both countries will be highly benefited since import-export costs will go down considerably, said the land port authority. Earlier, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said the government will develop Sheola, Thegamukh, and Bhomra land ports to expand regional trade and economic activities. The World Bank has promised to

finance $142 million to Bangladesh to develop the ports, sources said. The WB Country Director Qimiao Fan had earlier said in Dhaka the Bangladesh Regional Connectivity Project-1 will help reduce time and cost of regional trade. The project has several components. First, it will support the investment to improve a couple of land ports under the shipping ministry and support the National Board of Revenue to set up a single window for trade. Second, the project will improve the capacity of traders by providing them with support and services.

A BLPA official said the decision to establish the land ports has been taken to increase economic activities in areas where these will be located. “With increasing economic activities, import-export costs will decrease. Local people will benefit from the project,” he said. Bangladesh has 2,400km land border, 92% of which is with India and 8% with Myanmar, Bangladesh border trade is looked after by 181 land customs stations. Some 22 of 181 land customs stations along with 4,246 kilometres of Bangladesh’s border with India and Myanmar have been declared as land ports, according to the land port authorities. Some of them are not fully functional due to lack of infrastructure. Of the land ports, 21 are along the Indian border, with only one being in the vicinity of Myanmar – Teknaf Land Port in Cox’s Bazar. l

Guidelines on commercial paper investment for banks n Tribune Business Desk Bangladesh Bank has issued a set of guidelines on commercial paper for banks, a new investment tool in the money market. Commercial Paper (CP) is a shortterm money-market security sold by usually large corporations for financing working capital such as account receivables and inventories.

Such investment tool is getting popularity among companies due to low cost and easy access, but there was no specific guideline about such investment. In this perspective, the central bank issued the guideline through a circular to supervise commercial paper investment, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank. Before investment in any CP,

banks should assess the issuer’s overall debt repayment capacity by taking into consideration the issuer’s liabilities with other banks and financial institutions to make sure that the issuer has the ability to repay, the guideline read. As per the guideline, the current ratio of the issuer must be at least 1:1 as per the latest audited balance sheet. The debt-equity ra-

tio of the issuer must be maximum 70:30 while banks investment in a single issue of CP shall not exceed 20% of the respective issue. Banks will have to maintain provisions against outstanding balance of defaulted CPs. The guideline also instructed banks to have written guidelines approved by their board of directors for dealing with CPs. l

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

CAAB: Passengers warned not to use Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on planes n Ishtiaq Husain Air travellers are being warned not to use their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on planes after the company recalled the devices over complaints the batteries can catch fire. Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) has also warned the air travellers to maintain some advice while they would travel with their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on planes. “In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, CABB strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage,” the CAAB said recently. Wing Commander Zia Ul Kabir, director (Flight Safety) recently

Sylvan to produce hi-tech electrical equipment

sent this warning to all the country managers and managing director of all local airlines in this regard. After the warning of CAAB, Samsung Mobile Bangladesh yes-

terday released a statement in this connection. The statement said: “Samsung is aware of the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) notice. Con-

Incomplete stock exchange demutualisation criticised

n Tribune Business Desk

Sylvan Technologies Ltd, a concern of PRAN-RFL Group, has signed an agreement with a Switzerland based multinational company ABB to produce world-class electrical equipments. ABB is a leading global technology company in power and automation that enables utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers. Engineer Mustafizur Rahman Khan, chief operating officer of Sylvan Technologies Ltd and Moshfeq Ullah Rafiq, general manager of ABB Ltd signed the deal on behalf of their respective organisations at PRANRFL Centre in the city yesterday. Sylvan Technologies will produce world-class medium voltage type tested panel and panel related electrical equipments with the technical support of ABB. Mustafizur Rahman said this is the first agreement of panel makers companies in Bangladesh with ABB. As part of the partnership, Sylvan Technologies can market these products at home and abroad. Sylvan Technologies Ltd assumed the combined assistance of two businesses group will give better service for Bangladesh as well as the global customers, he added. Eleash Mridha, director of PRAN, Harikishan Narayanan, managing director and Arifuzzaman Kaiser, assistant general manager of ABB, Shahadat Hasan, assistant general manager and Meraz Bin Mizan, assistant brand manager of Sylvan Technologies Ltd were also present. l

Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, blamed Finance Minister AMA Muhith for his “failure to complete demutualisation” of stock exchanges. He said this is causing lack of confidence in the country’s stock markets. “Muhith could not play role like Manmohan Singh, former prime minister of India, to set up a complete demutualized stock exchange,” Ibrahim Khaled said while addressing a session of an international conference in Dhaka yesterday. The two-day long conference titled “International Conference for Bankers and Academics 2016” was inaugurated by Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir. Mohammed Farashuddin, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, presented the key note paper at the event. The conference was jointly organised by Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) and the Australian Academy of Business and Social Sciences. BIBM Director General Toufic Ahmad Choudhury chaired the opening session. Referring to India, Ibrahim Khaled said while Bombay Stock Exchange failed to complete demutualisation, Manmohan Singh had set up demutualised national stock exchange that became successful. “I shared this instance with finance minister several times but he failed to play a role like Manmohan Singh and that’s why confidence in the market has never returned,” he said. He said demutualisation

means separating management of the market from investors. “But still 40% of the stock exchange board members are themselves investors but playing the dominant role in decision making.” The ex-governor also identified the image crisis of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) as another reason behind the ailing stock market. “The image of of the regulator is very important to restore investors’ confidence, but in Bangladesh some top managers of the regulatory body were found involved with the stock market investment.” Ibrahim Khaled suggested reorganisation of the existing BSEC board. However, he pointed out that although the regulatory body was reorganised after the 2010 market debacle, it didn’t work because the reorganisation was not done properly. Yasin Ali, a former member of the BSEC, said there should have more companies investing in the stock market. He said there is a rule that the companies having capital above Tk50 crore is mandated to register with stock exchange but the law has never been implemented. Yasin Ali urged the coordination committee of the BSEC and Bangladesh Bank to limit loan for big borrowers compelling them to bring good companies as they belong to the capital market. The country’s banking sector performance is at the satisfactory level and Bangladesh Bank has strengthened it’s effort to reduce non-performing loan, said central bank chief Fazle Kabir. l

Business

sumer safety and peace of mind are our top priority. Galaxy Note7 has not been launched in Bangladesh yet and we have delayed sales to alleviate any safety concerns.” Samsung has 490,000 people across 84 countries with annual sales of US$250 billion. The Galaxy Note 7 has turned into a significant embarrassment for Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker by sales, after multiple customers reported a series of fires after charging because of faulty batteries. The company has said it will replace all the devices at a cost expected to run to $1bn. In February this year, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the UN body that sets rules for international aviation, banned shipments of lithium-ion batteries on flights until the introduction of new, fire-resistant packaging. l

Banks restricted not to open LC against old machinery n Tribune Business Desk Bangladesh Bank has tightened up on opening LC (Letter of Credit) against importing old machinery. Exporters must submit the life certificate of old machinery to the respective banks through which they would make the import as old machinery pose threat to health and environment, said a circular Bangladesh Bank issued yesterday. Bangladesh Bank imposed the restriction following the decision of Commerce Ministry that no LC will be opened before getting life certificate of machinery as per the circular. Earlier on August 8, the ministry sent a letter to the central bank in this regard requesting that open of LC be restricted against old machinery. l

CORPORATE NEWS

Professional Advancement Bangladesh Ltd (PABL), a subsidiary of Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd (GDIC) has recently organised an awareness and rules programme for EPIC Group, said a press release. Chairperson of PABL, Nasir A Choudhury was present on the occasion

Meghna Bank has recently opened its 32nd branch at Zirabo in Savar, said a press release. The bank’s MD & CEO, Mohammed Nurul Amin attended the inaugural ceremony

Shariah supervisory committee of Standard Bank Ltd has recently held its 12th meeting, said a press release. The committee’s chairperson, Janab Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed presided over the meeting

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Business

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Telenor survey: Bangladesh’s millennials assess future careers, digital technology impact, robotic replacement risk n Tribune Report Telenor Group yesterday released the results of a pilot online survey across six nations in Asia, including Bangladesh, assessing millennials’ attitudes about their future career, technology’s impact and the skills they need to be best prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. The results indicate that the nation’s young adults see the importance of technology in their vocational paths, yet believe that career success requires both technical and human skills, even if results show that 100% of respondents think robots in the workplace will be a part of our future.

The multi-market ‘Jobs of the Future’ survey obtained 4,200 respondents aged 15 to 25, in Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Myanmar and Pakistan. It was conducted via targeting through the Telenor Group Facebook with a sample size of 700 secondary school, or university students per market used in the results analysis. “Our Facebook channel reaches an active, young – and largely Asian – following, so we felt that this would be a great place to pilot such a survey,” said Sheena Lim, director of Social Media, Telenor Group. “We thought this would com-

bine the fun, engaging side of social media surveys with potentially interesting insights into Asian youth attitudes on technology and their future careers.” In Bangladesh, 60% of millennials said they were ‘excited’ about future opportunities in the internet and digital sectors, with the largest majority (30%) saying they were ‘extremely excited.’ Additionally 59% in Bangladesh said mobile/internet technology will be ‘important’ in their career by 2020, mirroring the average of 63% of youth aggregated in all six nations who agreed with this. Indicating just how significant youth in Bangladesh think it is, only 1.4%

stated that technology is ‘not really important’ for their futures. The surveyed youth in all but one of the countries agreed that non-technical skills will also be important for jobs of the future. The highest numbers of Bangladeshi (34%), Pakistani (37%) and Indian (36%) and youth maintained that the most important skills to a great future job will be the ‘ability to inspire others, and leadership capability.’ More than one in four of the surveyed Singaporean youth regard ‘people management and emotional intelligence’ (27%). All of the Bangladeshi youth surveyed agreed that robots will replace humans in many future

professions, as did all the participating countries. On which jobs robots would most likely replace humans in, 44% of Bangladeshi respondents predicted that the manufacturing and engineering industries would see the most machine takeovers. Bangladesh’s millennials also appeared enthusiastic for a technology-driven future. Youth in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and India all agreed with the statement: ‘It’s important to understand all kinds of technology-I want to know as much as I can!,’ with Myanmar topping the scale at 34% of respondents while Bangladesh at 30%. l

Health

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

The difference between bodybuilding and staying fit nReaz Fiem Often the difference between the effort put and the results received show huge disparity because of a lack of understanding of the process itself. I can make this clearer with a better example. Lets say you want to play football for recreational purpose. What you regularly do is watch Messi and Ronaldo’s video in You Tube. There is of course, no problem in that if they inspire you to lead a better sports life. However, the problem is, you are not a professional footballer! You have got many other things to tackle down in life and playing football for an hour with friends is just a small part of it. Hence, you are never satisfied with your achievements. Sadly, this is even worse when it comes to the definition of staying fit. Whenever we tend to think of a fit life we imagine the extreme version of it and our progress becomes zero! So let us check out a few reasons why mimicking a bodybuilder’s lifestyle is actually detrimental for you.

The diet

The first thing we tweak when we mimic a professional bodybuilder is their diet. We try to eat relatively healthy throughout the week and have a cheat day during the weekend. Now let me discuss why there seems to be a problem with following this routine, in terms of body-building at least. Body-building is a sport and it requires a special diet. Every sport has its own diet guide and so does body-building. This particular sport requires lean muscle mass gain and thus in most cases, it requires the elimination of fats, various types of carbohydrates, salt, sugar and even pre-contest water consumption from your daily diet. Now, with no previous experience in this field, an abrupt attempt to follow this strict guideline as a regular person will invariably put your body in a miserable state. Also, when a professional body-builder follows this, he or she also makes sure to take various necessary supplements that are otherwise missing in the diet. Since most regular people are probably unaware of these essential supplements, his or her overall nutrition intake will remain deficient.

Photo: Bigstock

The training

Have you seen a professional body-builder train? It is intense, to say the least. When you watch them train even in their YouTube

injuries; they have overcome pain and persevered. Following such a lifestyle is actually unnecessary and unrealistic for someone who is just aiming to keep fit and look good. Hence, going to the gym

It is essential that you know what you want and then seek professional guidance

videos you will have an idea of the sort of rigorous training they undergo. They can train like that because they have been training for years and that is their work, or in simple English, their bread and butter. They have suffered

and using the wrong weights and wrong form will not get you any closer to looking like that bodybuilder you admire so much. Instead, it will probably end up in some sort of injury for you, which might invariably keep you

away from the gym for weeks and months. So it is essential that you know what you want and then seek professional guidance.

Chemical enhancement

Body-builders take many types of dietary supplements in order to maintain their aesthetics for winning or even participating in a contest. This practice is not exclusive to just bodybuilders either. There are many fitness models and even television actors who use them. When you see them on screen or even in person, you might feel demotivated over the fact that you are putting so much effort at the gym and still not looking anywhere close to them. The much sought-after answer here, is probably the chemical enhancement they undergo in the form of all those supplements. But you need to remember that if you also want to take that extra step, make sure to consult a professional who will prescribe

you supplements according to your body’s needs. Therefore, if you are not a body-builder, fitness model or action superstar, then you better think about fitness from a totally different perspective. For you, fitness should be less show-off and more of wellness in the long run. You can simply maintain a great shape by limiting or avoiding calorie-dense foods, eating a variety of whole foods, working out 45 minutes with good intensity, manageable weights and great form for 4-5 days a week and taking up a sport. l

Reaz Mahmud Fiem is a fitness enthusiast who wishes to help people stay healthy

Health

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Getting your groove back Tips on how to recover from a vacation and bounce right back into regular work-life mode

n Farina Noireet Vacations are meant to be that much-earned period of time, where you can get away from it all and just relax, do whatever it is you love to do, and basically bask in some well-deserved indulgence. Unfortunately, for most people, vacations may invariably end up doing pretty much the opposite, especially when travelling in a large group or with young children. Having to constantly work with and around the time and body schedules of too many individuals and/or looking after youngsters can pretty much sum up to be the exact opposite of a what was to be a relaxing vacay.

It is always a good idea to practice the art of having and doing everything in moderation

Which is why, regardles of however awesome or stressful your recent Eid vacation may have been, here are a couple of pointers that can help with bringing things back into order and get you feeling like your usual fabulous self.

Planning a smooth return

While the idea of already thinking about the end of your vacation before it actually ends, might not seem like a very desirable piece of advice, it can actually work very well in your favour. The entire process will not take too long of course, and can be specifically scheduled to be done during those pockets of time when you are waiting around being bored anyway. For example, why not get some of the tedious stuff like checking and answering emails out of the way while you’re sitting in transit at the airport lounge on your way back? Unless you find yourself in a particularly nondescript airport in some remote location, this task should not be too much of a problem, given that most modern airports have free wifi facilities, especially if travelling businessclass. Another way you can put that ‘waiting-around’ time to good use is by making a list of possible things to do immediately once you’re back, like scheduling meetings or making a grocery list to re-stock the empty fridge. These small details, when planned out

Photos: Bigstock

in a relaxed manner will not only help save time, but phase out way more efficiently than when having to do it all in the last minute.

Dealing with jet lag

Jet-lag is very much an issue to be reckoned with when travelling long hours across the globe. When you’re travelling long distances across time zones by plane, you might suffer from jet lag, which disturbs your internal biological rhythm, causing you to be out of sync with the time at your destination. This can mess with your overall system and lead to a very stressful few days immediately following your vacation. A common rule of overcoming jet lag is to allow for one day of recovery for every time zone you pass through.

When we are on vacation mode, it is natural to go completely off the charts, in terms of regularity. We tend to drink more, pig-out at the hotel buffets, sleep till late, stay out in the sun until we begin to resemble a beetroot and basically engage in all sorts of unhealthy activities, because, why not? It is a vacation, after all, and what better time than this to indulge? This is precisely why it is always a good idea to practice the art of having and doing everything in moderation. It is always wise to be aware of the different effects of habits like excessive sleeping and alcohol consumption will have on your body. Even if it is for just the time period of your vacation, these affects may last for a while and contribute towards disrupting your

entire body and time schedule as a whole. Alcohol may make you fall asleep quickly, but you don’t get into the deeper stages, so you end up sleep deprived. If you watch the amount of alcohol and food you consume, and get to bed at a reasonable hour, and get some exercise, which will help you sleep, you might be able to get rid of your sleep debt. To help alleviate jet lag, stay hydrated; avoid excessive alcohol, caffeine and tobacco; avoid naps for longer than two hours when you reach your destination; and try to make some time for sunshine – spend a few hours outside in the afternoon or an hour outside in the morning to help you adjust.l

Feature

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

To tolerate or not to tolerate harassment in silence

n Farzana Hussain n overwhelming majority of women who step outside their homes in pursuit of education and livelihood, every now and then encounter some level of sexual harassment. In the wake of Risha’s unfortunate death, this article aims to define eve teasing, a euphemism for sexual harassment, so that the offence and its consequence consistently be explained to general people. Since 2010, June 13 has been designated “Eve Teasing Protection Day” by the education ministry in Bangladesh. The announcement itself reflects increasing concern over the worrying number of girls and women who have committed suicide in the country in past few years to escape “eve teasing”. Sexual harassment is a gender discrimination and human rights violation of women. In Bangladesh women are in a peripheral position in the society as it is governed by patriarchal attitude. The journey to ensure women empowerment in Bangladesh began since independence in 1971 by ensuring equal rights in the Constitution. The Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees equal rights for both men and women in all spheres of state and public life. Bangladesh has enacted a number of laws that aims for removing the immoral crime of Eve teasing from our society. Among them, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance of 1976 first addressed eve teasing directly. According to Section 76 of the Ordinance, eve teasing may be defined asi. willful and indecent exposure of a person in a street or public place within the sight of a woman, ii. willful pressure or obstruction on any woman in a street or public place,iii. insult or annoyance towards a woman by using indecent language or making indecent sounds, gestures, or remarks in any street or public place. The law provides that a person guilty of committing the above mentioned acts shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to two thousand taka, or with both.

Later, in 2000, the government enacted tougher law to protect vulnerable women and children of the country from various typical offences. Under section 10 of the Prevention of Women and Children Oppression Act, 2000, a person is punishable with rigorous imprisonment of 3-10 years and fine of an indefinite amount for committing sexual torture. After the amendment of The Prevention of Suppression against Women and Children Act, 2000 in 2003, there remained no legal provisions in the country addressing directly the problem of sexual harassment. But, newspapers bring out pathetic reports on sexual harassment every now and then. In this crucial situation, Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) filed a Writ Petition to the High Court Division. The Court, after examining the pros and cons of the problem issued their judgement giving the government an eleven-point directive which will fill up the legislative vacuum in the nature of law. In these directives the Court suggested a detailed definition of sexual harassment that included all other existing definitions of non-contact sexually connoting offences. It also incorporated the modern means of erotic insults against women that are prevalent in our present age of information technology. However, though the ingredients of the offence of eve teasing are easily distinguishable from the order, the court did not use the term eve teasing. Eve teasing, though commonly used and understood in Bangladesh, its legal definition is yet to be established. The government has already started the process of fulfilling the directives of the judgement. Complaint Committees have been formed in many institutions according to the decretive no-9 of the judgement. In addition, the Executive Magistrates were empowered to take legal action in the form of imposing punishment of imprisonment of one year or fine Tk5000 or both under the Mobile Court Act, 2009, on the spot against those who are convicted of stalking and harassing a woman. However, emergence and wide use of digital tools open new dimension of sexual harassment in cyber world. Cyber sexual harassment can range from creation of fake

Photos: Bigstock account on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media, uploading indecent content, vulgar comments, uploading a girl’s image or video on a public forum without her consent, from exhibition of unwanted sexual attention to distribution of pornographic materials online. Regrettably there is no comprehensive law adequately dealing with sexual harassment in social media and other digital platforms albeit cases can be filed under the existing Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 and the Pornography Control Act, 2012. Perpetrators can be prosecuted under section 8 of the Pornography Act and Section 57 of the ICT Act while S. 57 states that anyone can be penalised for “any false and obscene posts online” for a maximum of 10 years and maximum fine of 1 crore. However, it does not define what constitutes “obscene”. Nevertheless, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has a complaint mechanism on it’s web site i.e. btrc.gov.bd. Additionally, anyone can seek help by dialing 2872 (BTRC) during office time

or can email to btrc@btrc.gov.bd or through post to IEB Bhaban, Ramna, Dhaka-1000. The Government has also adopted National Women Development Policy 2008. In the said policy, the Government reiterated its position to comply with different international covenants and instruments to protect the rights of women. Being unaware about their rights and legal provisions against violence, Bangladeshi women are facing different kinds of violence in public and private spheres of their lives. In response, National Helpline Centre for Violence against Women and Children, a helpline centre for the Bangladeshi women and children victim was founded in 19th June, 2012 to provide the immediate service to victims and links up to relevant agencies. The helpline number is 10921. It is a toll free number and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is accessible from all parts of Bangladesh and all beneficiaries can make call from both fixed phone and mobile phone. It’s a confidential service that offers legal advice, police assistance, telephone counselling, referrals to other organizations service,

information regarding violence issues. Any women and children who are the victim of violence, their guardians, family members, neighbors, friends, colleague of the victim or any known person of the victim can call to National Helpline Centre for Violence against Women and Children. We may conclude here that given the traditional backdrop in Bangladesh where chastity in a women is of utmost importance, victims of Eve teasing suffer in silence rather than protest against such practice, which only invites unwarranted attention that would be socially demeaning. This lead us to assume that a proper deconstruction of Eve teasing is likely to help restructuring our social views regarding the offence. Therefore, Eve teasing requires an overwhelming antidote. l Barrister Farzana Hussain is Barrister at Law (Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn), a Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Northern University Bangladesh (NUB); Lawyer at Dhaka Judges’ Court; Legal Researcher and Human Rights Activist

| event |

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

| offer |

Apollo Hospitals Dhaka celebrates World Heart Day 2016

In order to celebrate World Heart Day on September 29, Apollo Hospitals Dhaka has arranged a variety of activities to reach out to the community and patients in collaboration with Jamuna Future Park and Renata Limited. A 3-day Health Awareness Program was held on the premises of Central Atrium, Jamuna Future Park from September 22 to 24. During the program, the visitors got their height, weight, blood pressure and pulse checked by the doctors and were advised upon their condition, free of charge. The

Biz Info

booth was inaugurated by Shibly Mohammad and Shamim Ara Nipa. A special heart check package at special concession was also launched during the event. There were also arrangements of different games and gift coupons. Ratnadeep Chaskar, the Chief-Operating Officer of Apollo Hospitals Dhaka along with other senior management were present at the program. A total of more than 1,000 visitors availed the service and received advise from Apollo’s dieticians and doctors.l

Enjoy the Puja Holiday with Hotel Windy Terrace, Coxs Bazar

Luxury boutique hotel Windy Terrace, Cox’s Bazar is ready to welcome guests this Durga Puja Holiday. After a long day of heavy rainfall, a sudden rainbow can magically flash across the sky to stimulate your imagination. To

experience a delightful stay with your beloved family in the city of the longest beach in the world, Hotel Windy Terrace is offering a 50% discount special as their ‘Puja Holiday offer’. This package offers a one night

and one day stay with exclusive breakfast for two adults and two children under five years, only for Tk4375. For more information please dial 01781200500, 01760243061 or 01966724625. l

| food |

| launch |

Tastebud’s latest tasty treat

Hotel Highgarden launches new conference hall

If you like their famous red velvet cupcakes, then you’ll surely love the newest addition to their dessert range – carrot cupcake. Fluffy and moist cupcakes with a tangy cream cheese frosting on top. Give it a try and we guarantee this will win you over. l

Hotel Highgarden’s new conference hall boasts a hosting capacity of 80-100 people comfortably. It promises all forms of modern equipment and state of the art fixtures and furnishings that allow for a flexible layout.

The conference hall also includes a multimedia projector and motorized screen. Book now for any sort of event including corporate conferences, trainings, workshops, or family parties.

For further information on booking, please contact: 01977712378-8, or Hotel Highgarden, House: 40, Road: 3,Sector:13 Uttara, Dhaka-1230; Email:info@hotelhighgarden.com, Web: www.hotelhighgarden.com l

20 Editorial

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

TODAY

The science vs art of politics There is also no doubt that Trump has successfully tapped into popular anxieties about the state of the world and politics in ways that professional political consultant had not even dreamed of PAGE 21

Plots, item numbers, or the navel? In current productions, the item number is more important than the movie or how the plot develops. If the storyline is peppered with flaws, the songs plus the item piece are given meticulous attention PAGE 22

REUTERS

Bangladeshi lives matter Big Oil must leave the table A few of the largest funders of COP21 last year together owned more than 46 coal-fired plants, and had investments in oil sands exploration in Canada and shale gas fracking in the UK 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.

he killing of another Bangladeshi, 30-year-old cattletrader Taharul, at the hands of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday makes it four people killed in two days. This is simply unacceptable. How much longer will this go on? How many times must this happen before the BSF is held responsible for such blatant indifference to the loss of Bangladeshi life? It beggars belief that over the last 10 years BSF has been responsible for the deaths of over 600 Bangladeshi citizens. The Indian government continues to claim that they are doing their best and that securing their border is a dangerous business. This claim is nonsense. Let us call a spade a spade. What is going on at the border is an extortion racket -implicitly sanctioned by the Indian government. Pure and simple. We know it, and they know it. Those who pay to cross the border, get to live, and those who don’t, or don’t pay enough, do not. It is as simple as that. Please save us the homilies about security. It’s not about that. The Indian government’s continued inattention when it comes to this issue is unfortunate in the extreme, especially considering the fraternal relationship between our two countries. It is in their power to end these killings, and to show to the Bangladeshi people that Bangladeshi lives matter to them. It is high time they did just that.

The Indian government’s continued inattention when it comes to this issue is unfortunate in the extreme, especially considering the fraternal relationship between our two countries

Opinion

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

The science vs art of politics With Trump in the picture, election campains have become a whole new ball game

The two most negatively perceived presidential candidates in modern times?

n Shafiqur Rahman

lot of people around the world are watching the ongoing US election campaign very closely. The type of feelings campaign watchers are experiencing is closely tied with their respective race, religion, ideology, even profession, among other categories. Among all the professionals who are monitoring the election campaign closely, no profession is more nail-bitingly anxious than the profession whose job is to manage and analyse election campaigns: Political consultants. Political consultancy in USA is now a $3 billion-a-year industry in a regular year and nearly double that in a presidential election year. Political consultancy is huge in Europe and in other countries of the world also, although not to the extent of the US. In many of those countries, US political consultants are often highly prized imports, bought with great riches to impart their arcane political wizardry to the natives. There has been a great transformation in election campaigns and general politics in the last two decades. In large part due to the IT revolution but also due to the conjunction of business and management with politics, a large and new professional group has risen composed of political, marketing, management, psychological, legal, data analysis, and network development experts, and many other professions. This group of professionals has been relentlessly applying modern business management techniques

into the traditional, thousands-ofyears-old art of politics to make a science out of it. Some of these techniques, although applied more methodically now, have been used in politics for a long time. For example, using focus groups to know what issues or messages connect with voters best -professionally crafted and tested brand marketing and attack advertising. A big change in scale has been at the ground level. Canvassing for candidates was traditionally a rollicking campaign activity participated in by thousands of political enthusiasts and mercenary louts. Now the “ground game” involves hundreds of thousands of paid workers and volunteers targeting all vital regions of the country with organisation and precision that will shame many advanced national militaries. But the biggest change undoubtedly is IT-driven data analytics. Developing a database of voters and using statistical methods have been part of campaigns for some decades now, but only in the 21st century have data analytics become the core of election strategies. The Obama campaigns of 2008 and 2012 are now regarded both as the harbingers and finest examples of IT-powered elections. In 2008, the Obama campaign developed a database on every voter in the US, based on survey data, voter registration records, consumer data, public records, etc. They said that the database had as many as one thousand data points for the profile of every voter. All

REUTERS

to concede the opposition not an inch of omission. Then Donald Trump happened. Ever since Trump announced his presidential bid in the gaudy atrium of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, he has been breaking political conventions and disproving political wisdom with wanton disregard. He began by promising to build a wall to keep Mexican “rapists” and “criminals” out of America, thereby irrevocably alienating the nation’s largest minority. He made fun of women professionals in the crudest ways, thereby making him tainted among the gender that votes overwhelmingly more than men. He has lied, flip-flopped unashamedly and serially. His nomination convention was a farcical parade of gaffes, mistakes, and cartoonish fear-mongering. He has spent very little money in advertising

campaign. It’s not a messed-up campaign. It’s not a dysfunctional campaign. There is no campaign. Everybody that’s done this for a living and got paid to do it is, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, suppose this works. We’re all rendered useless.’ He will have destroyed an entire profession.” What happened? There is no doubt that part of the answer lies with Hillary herself. She has shown herself as a very uninspiring candidate with a crippling baggage of past and current scandals borne out of an ingrained culture of secrecy and deceit. Trump and Hillary both have to be two of most negatively perceived candidates in the modern era. There is also no doubt that, by sheer luck or by flash of genius, Trump has successfully tapped into popular anxieties about the state of the

There is also no doubt that, by sheer luck or by flash of genius, Trump has successfully tapped into popular anxieties about the state of the world and politics in ways that professional political consultant had not even dreamed of before the present election cycle

these data points were used in statistical models to predict whether any particular voter will vote and for whom he or she will vote. The development of this database was supported by an enormous operation in every battleground state. Every week, campaign call centres completed five to 10 thousand interviews in each state to build up voter profiles. The Obama campaign of 2012 built on their database to develop a more proactive and technically sophisticated program. They used controlled trials to find what kind of voters were more persuadable in changing their minds about political preferences and with what type of messages. The new buzzword was micro-targeting -- developing small databases of particular voter groups and directing targeted advertisement and canvasing towards them. Both during 2008 and 2012, the Republican campaign tried to catch up with the Democratic campaign in organisation and technical expertise, but fell short. As for the 2016 campaign, both Democrats and Republicans geared up for an epic battle of science and organisation, fighting tooth and nail for every voter so as

and canvasing. Trump has already gotten rid of two campaign managers and his third manager spends more time in television studios than in the campaign office. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has tried to follow the Obama model as closely as possible. She has raised tons of money from big donors, opened hundreds of offices, and recruited thousands of campaign workers. She has already spent more than $100m in attack ads. Her campaign has also built a formidable data analytics and micro-targeting operation. Her campaign manager is so busy that he is almost never seen or heard in media. She has done everything required by the playbook. Yet, with barely six weeks remaining before D-day, Trump and Hillary are now almost even in the election horse race. Therein lies the source of all anxiety for the political consultant class. They are finding that the utility of the existence of their entire class is in question. James Carville, Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign manager and a legend among consultants, said this about the state of affairs in the New Yorker magazine: “The Trump campaign is not a bad

world and politics in ways that professional political consultants had not even dreamed of before the present election cycle. It turns out that management science does not always trump old-fashioned political intuitions and the art of persuasion. Even preparation for the most anticipated debate on Monday illustrates the two radically different approaches. Hillary has been cramming for the debate with help of a legion of experts to prepare for every kind of contingency in the debate. Donald Trump is taking minimal preparations, relying instead on his remarkable prowess as a billionaire salesman par excellence to sell his thin politics and policy to the people. We do not know which approach will eventually triumph in November. Both the unexpected outcome of the Brexit election and the success of Trump’s very unscientific and threadbare campaign so far have already reminded us once again that, despite all the sound and fury, the science of man, the political animal, remains elusive. l Shafiqur Rahman is a political scientist.

Opinion

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Plots, item numbers, or the navel? For the Bangladeshi movie industry, violence and vulgarity have become the norm

n Towheed Feroze

angladeshi movies, especially commercial ones, have a special place in the lives of all those who grew up in this city in the decades after liberation. Featuring top-class actors, purely commercial ventures like Mintu Amaar Naam, Barud, Johnny, CID, Toofan, Pagla Raja, Love in Singapore, Challenge, and many others often did not have fully original plots. But if some of these Bangladeshi films were based on highly successful Bollywood flicks, then the redeeming aspects were that these had something uniquely Bangladeshi -- the songs, which are still used by advertisement makers and revived from time to time in the face of almost fanatical demand. Come to think of it, the item number, better known in the past as the vamp piece, was a regular feature of movies, though the songs/dances did not dominate the movies back then. The main focus was always the plot and never one item number or special scenes with the camera taking unnaturally close up flesh shots. Sexuality was deftly laced with the theme -- at times the titillation went over the top, though in most cases, there was a balance. At the same time, alongside commercial action films, an equal number of social movies labelled “shamajik chhobi” were made, which drew a large number of middle class people. These, however, never had any item numbers or the actresses presented in provocative outfits. Sadly, now, more than four decades after independence, the social film genre is deceased. In the process of celluloid evolution, we now stand at a time which can be defined as “stagnant silliness” fueled completely by blatant copying. That also includes songs, dialogue, and even posters. As a hobby, I write movie reviews for a newspaper, though those are published not as reviews but purely as humour pieces because, steeped in inconsistencies, anachronisms, factual flaws, and preposterous dialogue, the films can only fall in the slapstick comedy category. Also, 90% of the films that hit the screen now have so little shelf life that they are forgotten by the end of the running week. For about four to five years, all

Do we have any ‘bhalo chhobis’ left?

BIGSTOCK

I get a feeling that in current productions, the item number is more important than the movie or how the plot develops. If the storyline is peppered with flaws, the songs plus the item piece are given meticulous attention films have had one plot, with some minor variations, revolving around an underground killer or a mafia. In 75% of the films, we get murder, mayhem, braggadocio topped by plenty of flesh. Now I get a feeling that in current productions, the item number is more important than the movie or how the plot develops. If the storyline is peppered with flaws, the songs plus the item piece are given meticulous attention -- that means there is top class camera work, solid coordination, and exotic locations. All these coalesce to weave a web of large screen erotic fantasy made to perfection. The purpose is to provide sexual stimulation, otherwise no need for so many close up shots of the cleavage, navel, or the midriff. Interestingly, while thinking about the main focus of our movies, came across a much

talked about advert where we see a young girl from the rural areas coming to the city to work as a model and, finally, making it big without providing special favours to anyone. The question is what does this common line “chaar deya” or “relaxing one’s morals” mean? Does it only mean providing some sexual favour or does it also allude to the willingness of an actress to be ready to don revealing clothes at the nod of the director? “I won’t give in to special favours but am willing to bare almost all in front of the camera for millions to ogle at” -- can someone explain the rationale behind such a notion? How do you reconcile the two opposing stances and by what logic? There are countless instances where models, after winning regular pageants by TV channels,

ended up in film songs where the word vulgar is perhaps put to shame. You can take a guess at the names, all these are available on You Tube; some even have the teaser label “purai maatha nohsto” (you’ll lose your senses!). Each and every film actress working in the current film industry have, at one point or the other, appeared on screen in an explicit manner. In fact, some have allegedly said to reporters that being in that item number was a “high point” in their lives. For others, it was the apotheosis. By the way, the rather crude reality is that, one way or the other, some concessions are always made in the end, whether in private or in front of the camera by shedding inhibitions. Coming to the movies, it seems that current production, despite

the digital technology used for better photography, is eternally caught within a template. In that aberrant formula, the plot, if there is one, is third in the list of priorities. The first important factor seems to be the “item song” followed by action or violence of any sort. Against such a sordid backdrop, we find so-called film experts, cinema hall owners, and filmmakers talking about exporting these “bhalo chhobis” to overseas markets. Right then, in the evolution of celluloid, the definition of decent movies now means films based on stolen plots, featuring underground killers and actresses going into a sexualised item song frenzy. In an age of the “war on terrorism,” terrorists plus killers being glamourised on screen, with lead female roles almost always competing to be the most audacious in matters of showing the body -- the social film genre which draw educated people to the halls, appears so outmoded. Maybe one should ask the people from the film industry to clearly define decent movies in the current context. Any volunteers? l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Opinion

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Big Oil must leave the table Having oil drillers at climate change discussions is akin to hiring a fox to guard a hen house major oil companies sent to the UNFCCC last year, highlighted carbon taxes as one of the best ways for oil and gas companies to take climate action. Yet carbon taxes attempt to reduce emissions based on the market, not what is needed for the planet; and they moderate emissions, they do not drastically decrease them. The point is not to eat less fatty food, it’s to eat healthy food (ie renewable energy).

Fossil fuel industry frames Paris Agreement?

They knew what they were doing, they knew it was wrong, yet they kept on doing it

BISTOCK

Fossil fuel industry’s influence at the UNFCCC

A few of the largest funders of COP21 last year together owned more than 46 coal-fired plants, and had investments in oil sands exploration in Canada and shale gas fracking in the UK. Such funding gives the industry undue access to key players in the climate talks

n Meraz Mostafa

ow did the World Health Organisation (WHO) stop the tobacco industry from influencing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control? Simple -- they banned them from taking part. Now it’s time to do the same thing in climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should outright stop the fossil fuel industry from having a say in discussions. “Climate action should be based on the interests of citizens and the planet, not those of the [fossil fuel] industry,” argues Jess Bragg from Corporate Accountability International, further explaining that while “the private section will definitely have a role in climate

action. The question is whether it is also going to be allowed to write the rules for it.” Not only has the industry funded climate change denial for years and now are providing false solutions, their access to key decision makers in the UNFCCC is unprecedented and undue. For the sake of the people of Bangladesh, and other climate vulnerable areas, it is time they left the negotiations.

Fossil fuel industry funds climate change denial

The fossil fuel industry has been funding climate change denial for years, impeding international negotiations. The worst part is that the industry has known about human-induced climate change since the 1970s. Investigative reporting by InsideClimate News last year

discovered a presentation was given to Exxon heads in 1977, in which a top company scientist alerted them: “There is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels.” Instead of acting responsibly, Exxon, like many other fossil fuel companies, eventually decided instead to invest into spreading climate denial and skepticism through various PR campaigns. A Greenpeace report published in 2010 found that a well-known US oil company, Koch Industries, donated $48 million to think tanks from 1997 to 2008, to discredit climate change. Although they were mostly in the US, the US -- as the world’s largest economy -- has considerable discussions over the climate change.

The first year the UNFCCC started to accept corporate sponsorship was 2013; fossil fuel companies were only ready to oblige. A few of the largest funders of COP21 last year together owned more than 46 coal-fired plants, and had investments in oil sands exploration in Canada and shale gas fracking in the UK. Such funding gives the industry undue access to key players in the climate talks that many indigenous groups and other vulnerable peoples, including many Bangladeshis, do not have.

Fossil fuel industry provides false solutions

For the most part, fossil fuel companies no longer deny climate change is real. Instead, they offer false solutions. “These are the same companies that, for decades, have undermined attempts to find solutions to climate change, although they knew of its existence for so long,” points out Jesse Bragg. He explains: “Now that they are singing a different tune, we cannot just allow our memory to fall short.” An open letter written by six

Although the Paris Agreement made a lot of headway to push the international community to address climate change, the document never addresses the need to stop our reliance on fossil fuels. In fact, if you look through the agreement, the words “fossil fuel” never appear. Given that burning fossil fuels account for a significant percentage of emissions, it is curious the agreement does not address the need to reduce global dependence on fossil fuels. That’s like trying to put out a fire while others are still pouring gasoline. By no means can we directly link this to the influence of the fossil fuel industry, but given how much money they have provided to “support” the talks, and how much access they have to key players, this omission from the Paris Agreement does not come as a big shock.

Big Tobacco was banned, Big Oil can be too

If tobacco industries were banned from the WHO convention, then there is no reason fossil fuel industries cannot be banned from the UNFCCC. They knew what they were doing, they knew it was wrong, yet they kept on doing it. Evidently, the fossil fuel industry is not too invested in protecting the lives of millions of Bangladeshis who are already suffering from climate change, who themselves have little to no say at the UN talks. For their sake, we need to ban the fossil fuel industry. To paraphrase Patti Lynn, exectutive director of Corporate Accountability International, to allow the fossil fuel industry so much influence over climate talks is “akin to hiring a fox to guard a hen house.” It’s time we got rid of the fox. l Meraz Mostafa works in climate change and development in Bangladesh.

24 Sport

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Shakib, Tamim break unique records

TOP STORIES

n Minhaz Uddin Khan Rain mars NCL opening day Three out of four matches in the first round of the 18th National Cricket League had a delayed start due to wet outfield as the country’s premier first-class competition got underway yesterday. PAGE 25

Jamal edge Brothers in 9-goal thriller A 10-man Sheikh Jamal registered their fourth successive victory in the Bangladesh Premier League to remain at the top of the points table as they beat Brothers Union 5-4 in a thrilling encounter in Sylhet yesterday. PAGE 26

NZ on the ropes, India close in on win India set New Zealand an improbable 434-run victory target and then blew away the visitors’ top order in yesterday’s final session to close in on a resounding win in the first Test. Virat Kohli declared on 377 for five. PAGE 27

Totti reaches 250-goal mark Roma forward Francesco Totti, who will turn 40 next week, reached another career landmark against England ‘keeper Joe Hart yesterday when he hit his 250th career goal in Serie A. Totti came off the bench to help reduce arrears for the visitors. PAGE 28

Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal drives one en route to his 80-run knock against Afghanistan in the first ODI in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan has emerged as the highest wicket taker for the country in all three formats. On the other hand, opening batsman Tamim Iqbal became the first Bangladesh batsman to score 9000 international runs (Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 internationals). The duo reached the milestones in the first of the threematch one-day international series against Afghanistan yesterday in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Left-arm spinner Shakib reached the milestone with his two wickets. Shakib had already reached the top of the list in Tests and T20Is and needed only a wicket to go level with previous highest wicket taker Abdur Razzak, who has 207 wickets to his name. Shakib, who started the game with 206 wickets under his belt, first dismissed Afghanistan opener Shabir Noori to register his 207th wicket in the format. The Magura lad then dismissed Rahmat Shah for 71 in the 41st over of Afghanistan’s chase to surpass Razzak and make it 208 wickets in ODIs. He thus became the highest taker in all formats for Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Tamim became the holder of the most runs scored by a Bangladesh batsman across all three formats. The southpaw achieved the milestone when he crossed 15 runs. Following his 98-ball 80, featuring nine fours, the southpaw now has 3118 runs in Tests, 4793 runs in ODIs and 1154 runs in T20Is. l

Shakib throws down challenge to Tamim n Mazhar Uddin Once again it was Shakib al Hasan who came to rescue his side when it was needed badly as his allround performance with both bat and ball helped the Tigers to snatch a tight seven-run win over Afghanistan in the first ODI in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. The 29-year old first scored a quick 40-ball 48 with the help of three fours at the latter part of their innings and later contributed heavily with the ball, dismissing a set Rahmat Shah. He came back to bowl a superb 47th over when Afghanistan required 28 runs from the last four overs. He gave away only one run to bring Bangladesh back into the game. And according to Shakib, it was

a crucial moment when he was brought on to bowl in the death overs. “I think that my over of one run and then the breakthrough that I initiated was very important,” Shakib told the media. The Tigers looked rusty playing their first ODI in nearly 10 months but Shakib believes they will only get better in the coming days. “Actually, our job is not to think too much. We had to keep the belief that we could win the game. The belief was there. Because we are playing after almost a year it was a bit difficult. It was shown in the body language. Our fielding wasn’t that good,” said Shakib. “This will be okay soon. I think it was because we didn’t play for 10-11 months. No matter how much fitness you have, it’s a different aspect as far as match fit-

ness is concerned,” he added. Shakib reached yet another milestone yesterday, becoming the highest Bangladesh wicket-taker in ODIs. In the process, he emerged as the leading wicket-taker for the Tigers across all three formats. “It feels good to be the highest wicket-taker. It would have been good if I had scored the highest number of runs across the three formats. But since everyone is

MOST WICKETS IN ODIS FOR BANGLADESH Player

Ave

Shakib al Hasan 158 208 4.29 27.74 Abdur Razzak

153 207 4.56 29.29

Mashrafe

159 205 4.70 30.29

Rafique

123 119

4.39 38.75

Rubel Hossain

5.61 33.33

doing so well, I am not getting the chance to bat. It feels good but ultimately the focus is how much I can do for the team,” said Shakib. “If I was the highest run-getter and then the highest wicket-taker, then maybe it would have been a great thing,” Shakib said with his usual trademark style. When queried to share his thoughts after being adjudged player of the match, Shakib said, “Yes, Mustafizur is not there (laughter). It feels good. Any achievement feels good. “But the main job is to contribute. If we can contribute like this, it will feel good. No one can be the man of the match just by saying it. You always try to contribute. At the end of the day, if you contribute the most among your teammates, you will win the man of the match award.” l

Sport

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Come on Tigers! Vacation is over! n Ali Shahriyar Bappa Bangladesh managed a narrow escape against the visiting Afghanistan in their first one day international in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. The Tigers’ performance, especially ground fielding, was well below standard. Bangladesh made a good start batting first even though they lost opening batsman Soumya Sarkar early in their innings. However, the Tamim Iqbal-Imrul Kayes partnership proved to be promising. Later, Mahmudullah chipped in with a vital knock, playing some lovely shots. With that said, both Tamim and Mahmudullah failed to convert their good scores into the magical three figure mark. As a result, Bangladesh’s total of 265 was probably 20-25 runs short. If Tamim or Mahmudullah had reached hundred then Bangladesh could have easily crossed the 300-run mark. As it turned out, the Tigers lost their last seven wickets for just 62 runs in 9.2 overs. They will surely be looking to improve this aspect in the latter part of the series. But fielding is the main side where Bangladesh were lagging behind. Kayes dropped a sitter at first slip off only the second ball of the second over. The batsman in question was Mohammad Shahzad and the unfortunate bowler was Taskin Ahmed. Taskin was expensive in his first three overs conceding 28

runs and it was mainly due to the dropped catch of Shahzad. Shahzad later blasted a quickfire 31 off just 21 deliveries. The most number of runs from Shahzad’s willow came from Taskin’s bowing. He even hit three consecutive boundaries off Taskin. Eventually, he was dismissed by skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza but by then, Afghanistan managed to put up a brisk opening partnership of 46 in 6.5 overs. Afghanistan also crafted a brilliant partnership for the fourth wicket. Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi’s 144-run partnership was slowly snatching the match

away from Bangladesh’s grasp. During that time, the Bangladesh fielders were sloppy on several occasions; Shakib’s foot touching the boundary rope while chasing the ball, Tamim’s hesitant dive while saving a boundary and Sabbir Rahman’s fumble in the 30-yard circle were eye-catching to say the least. But when the partnership was broken, another set batsman Shahidi was dropped by Mahmudullah at deep mid wicket. It was a regulation catch for a good fielder like Mahmudullah. If that catch had been taken, Bangladesh could have brought an early end to proceedings.

Bangladesh set a benchmark in every department – batting, bowling and fielding - in 2015. They played well in the 2015 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals. They beat Pakistan, India and South Africa comprehensively on home soil. However, Bangladesh have not played an ODI since last November. And following a six-month international break, the Tigers were a bit shaky in the fielding department. But it is prime time to return to the old and high standard again. The vacation is now over for the Tigers. Come on! Roar again. l

Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed celebrates after trapping Afghanistan’s Mirwais Ashraf in front during the first ODI in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Rain mars NCL opening day Three out of four matches in the first round of the 18th National Cricket League had a delayed start due to wet outfield as the country’s premier first-class competition got underway yesterday. In tier one, Dhaka Metropolis batted only 15 overs, posting 47 runs on the board for the loss of two wickets against Dhaka division in Bogra’s Shaheed Chandu Stadium. Opening batsman Shadman Islam was unbeaten on 18 while captain Marshal Ayub was yet to open his account. Veteran Dhaka pacer Mohammad Sharif bagged two wickets. In the second game of the top tier in Khulna’s Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, Barisal division took first guard and put up 165 runs in 43 overs losing three wickets against Khulna division before the game was stopped due to rain at 1:20pm. Barisal opener Shahriar Nafees was unbeaten on 76 off 111 balls with 11 boundaries. Nafees had put up a rescue effort, posting 146 runs

for the second wicket alongside Fazle Mahmud after the side lost opener Nuruzzaman with only 19 runs on the board. Fazle added 82 runs to the total with the help of a dozen boundaries and a six. Pacers Al Amin Hossain and Mahedi Hasan picked up a

18TH NCL, DAY 1 DHAKA METROPOLIS 47/2 in 15 overs (Shadman 18*, Sharif 2/18) v DHAKA BARISAL 165/3 in 43 overs (Fazle 82, Shahriar 76*) v KHULNA CHITTAGONG 294/5 in 87 overs (Rabbi 90, Tasamul 52) v RANGPUR RAJSHAHI 94/2 in 27.3 overs (Farhad 30*, Ebadat 1/15) v SYLHET

wicket each for Khulna. Elsewhere at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Chittagong division locked horns with Rangpur division in a tier two game. Rangpur won the toss and asked Chittagong to bat first. The port-city side had pulled up the innings well, scoring 294 for five, riding on Yasir Ali’s 90 runs featuring 12 boundaries and two sixes. Tasamul Haque, captain Mominul Haque and opener Nazimuddin added 52, 46 and 43 runs respectively. Alauddin Babu bagged two wickets for Rangpur. In the second tier two game between Rajshahi division and Sylhet division in Rajshahi’s Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium, only 27.3 overs play took place before heavy rain stopped the game in the afternoon. Rajshahi batted first after losing the toss and posted 94 losing two wickets. Junaid Siddique and Farhad Hossain were unbeaten on 26 and 30 runs respectively. Abu Hayed and Ebadat Hossain picked up a wicket each for Sylhet. l

B 98 3 53 74 40 7 5 8 9 2 1

Total (all out, 50 overs) 265 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-84, 3-163,4-203 , 5-215, 6-227, 7-246, 8-254, 9-260, 10-265 Bowling: Dawlat 10-0-73-4 (w5), Naveen-ul Haq 10-0-62-1(w2), Nabi 10-0-40-2(w1), Mirwais 10-0-51-1(w1), Rashid 10-0-37-2(w1) AFGHANISTAN Shabir Noori lbw b Shakib 9 Shahzad c Rahim b Mortaza 31 Rahmat Shah St Rahim b Shakib 71 Hashmatullah c Soumya b Taijul 72 Mohammad Nabi c Sabbir b Sabbir 30 Najibullah Zadran c Rahim b Mortaza 7 Stanikzai c Mahmudullah b Taskin 10 Rashid Khan b Rubel 7 Mirwais Ashraf lbw b Taskin 3 Dawlat Zadran c Sabbir b Taskin 2 Naveen-ul-Haq not out 0 Extras (b1 lb2 w13) 16

‘We failed to execute our plan’ n Tribune Report n Tribune Report Afghanistan’s Najibullah Zadran said their chase fell apart after they failed to act according to the plan, despite the Mirpur wicket being favourable. In pursuit of Bangladesh’s 265, the Afghans fought bravely before conceding a seven-run loss in the first ODI yesterday. “We played well and as you know, 265 was a chaseable target on this pitch. But we were not able to achieve that as our batsmen failed to act according to the plan and went for glorious shots. This is why we were not able to win the match. Bangladesh played well. Their bowlers bowled well and that’s why they are the winners,” Nazjubullah told the media. “The Rahmat-Hashmatullah partnership was very good. We lost the first two wickets early and then Shahidi and the other batsman started a good partnership. The remaining batsmen also had the same plan but unfortunately, we were not able to reach the target,” he said. l

SCORECARD BANGLADESH R Tamim Iqbal c Naveen b Ashraf 80 Soumya Sarkar c Shabir b Dawlat 0 Imrul Kayes b Nabi 37 Mahmudullah c Ashraf b Nabi 62 Shakib Al Hasan c Najibullah b Dawlat48 Mushfiqur Rahim b Rashid Khan 6 Sabbir Rahman lbw b Rashid Khan 2 Mashrafe Mortaza c Rashid b Naveen 4 Taijul Islam c Rahmat b Dawlat 11 Taskin Ahmed b Dawlat 2 Rubel Hossain not out 1 Extras (b1, lb1, w10) 12

24 21 93 110 24 6 10 5 3 3 1

Total ( all out, 50 overs) 258 Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-46, 3-190, 4-210, 5-230, 6-243, 7-245, 8-253, 9-255, 10-258 Bowling: Mortaza 10-0-42-2 (w1), Taskin 8-0-59-4(w6), Shakib 10-0-26-2 (w2), Rubel 9-0-62-1 (w3),Taijul 10-0-44-1(w1), Mahmudullah 3-0-22-0 Result: Bangladesh win by seven runs Series result: Bangladesh lead three-match series 1-0 Man of the match: Shakib Al Hasan

India thrash Oman in U-18 Asia Cup Hockey n Tribune Report Following their defeat against Bangladesh on the opening day, India returned to winning ways in style as they thrashed Oman 11-0 in their second Pool A match in the Under-18 Asia Cup Hockey at Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday. Captain Nilam Sandeep, forward Konjengbam Singh and Dilpreet Singh netted three goals apiece while Abhishek and Shivam Anand added one each for the winning side. Earlier yesterday at the same venue, Chinese Taipei earned a massive 9-0 victory over Hong Kong in a Pool B match. Tzu Yu Huang scored four goals for Chinese Taipei. Meanwhile, Pakistan are close to becoming Pool B champions after they registered a convincing 6-0 victory over China in yesterday’s other match. Amjad Ali Khan, Aziz Ali and Afraz netted two goals apiece for Pakistan. l

Sport

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Jamal edge Brothers in 9-goal thriller n Tribune Report A 10-man Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club registered their fourth successive victory in the Bangladesh Premier League to remain at the top of the points table as they beat Brothers Union 5-4 in a thrilling encounter at Sylhet District Stadium yesterday. The game between Sheikh Jamal and Brothers marked the first ever premier league tie played in Sylhet and it entertained the crowd a great deal. Haitian winger Wedson Anselme continued his amazing form by scoring a brace in the either side of each half. Wedson put the reigning champions ahead in the 28th minute before Gambian midfielder Landing Darboe doubled the lead at the half-hour mark. Young forward Mannaf Rabby pulled one back for Brothers four minutes later but Nigerian striker Emeka Darlington scored again for Sheikh Jamal in the 42nd minute. In-form Haitian striker Augustin Walson made it 3-2 moments before the first-half whistle from the penalty spot. Kingsley Chigozie brought Brothers back into the game with the equaliser in the 63rd minute but young forward Sarwar Zaman Nipu and Wedson netted one apiece in the 71st and 72nd minute to put Sheikh Jamal in the driving seat again.

The Dhanmondi giant were then reduced to 10 men in the 77th minute when Anisul Sweet received his marching order. Kingsley scored another two minutes later from the penalty spot but it came only as a consolation goal for the Gopibagh outfit. Sheikh Jamal’s newly appointed Swedish coach Stefan Hansson said following the match that he had never witnessed nine goals in a game.

RESULTS Sk Jamal

5-4

Wedson 28, 72 Landing 30 Emeka 42 Nipu 71

Abahani Jewel 84

Brothers Rabby 34 Walson 44 - P Kingsley 63, 79 - P

1-1

Sk Russel Rony 66

Meanwhile in the day’s other match at the same venue, Abahani Limited came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against struggling Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra. Shakhawat Hossain Rony put Sheikh Russel ahead in the 66th minute before Jewel Rana equalised the margin in the 84th minute. With the draw, Abahani are placed second in the points table with 16 points, two behind leaders Sheikh Jamal while Sheikh Russel remained at the bottom with only two points. l

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club’s Haitian forward Wedson Anselme (R) tries to hold off the challenge of a Brothers Union player during their Bangladesh Premier League match in Sylhet yesterday BFF

Ronaldo has to live with being subbed, says Zidane n AFP, Madrid

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (L) vies with Las Palmas’ Vicente Gomez during their Spanish league match at the Gran Canaria stadium on Saturday AFP

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane insisted Cristiano Ronaldo has to learn to live with being substituted after sulking off the field visibly frustrated in the European champions’ 2-2 draw at Las Palmas. Zidane replaced the three-time World Player of the Year with Madrid leading 2-1 18 minutes from time, but an unhappy Ronaldo watched from the bench as Sergio Araujo equalised to ensure Real dropped points for the second time in four days. “I have to take him off sometimes and tonight we did it,” said Zidane. “That isn’t going to change what we are going to do continue to do.” At the forefront of Zidane’s mind was Real’s huge Champions League clash away to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

However, Ronaldo endured a poor night in front of goal as he fluffed a great chance from Alvaro Morata’s cut-back before half-time and fired straight at Javi Varas in the build-up to Madrid’s second goal. “We have a game on Tuesday and I thought it was the time to

RESULTS Eibar

2-0

Real Sociedad

0-5

Barcelona

Illarramendi 57-og, Bebe 65

Sporting Gijon

Suarez 29, Rafinha 32, Neymar 81, 88, Turan 85

Athletic Bilbao

3-1

Sevilla

San Jose 26, Aduriz 90-P, Balenziaga 66

Nasri 55

2-2

Real Madrid

Las Palmas Tana 38, Araujo 85

Asensio 33, Benzema 67

take him off, 20 minutes from the end, thinking about Tuesday,” added Zidane. “I know he always wants to play and always wants to stay on the field, but I also have to think about the players and for me it was best to rest and think about Tuesday.” Ronaldo has completed 90 minutes just twice this season, though, as he was also replaced early on his return from a knee ligament injury against Osasuna earlier this month and missed last weekend’s win at Espanyol due to illness. Real’s lead over Barcelona at the top of the table now stands at a solitary point having failed to bounce back from a 1-1 draw with Villarreal on Wednesday that snapped a 16game winning streak in La Liga. Of most concern for Madrid is their leaky defence as they have now kept just one clean sheet in their last six games.l

Sport

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Kiwis on the ropes, India close in on win n Reuters, Kanpur India set New Zealand an improbable 434-run victory target and then blew away the visitors’ top order in Sunday’s final session to close in on a resounding win in the first test. Resuming day four on 159 for one, India’s positive batting over two sessions yielded 218 runs before home captain Virat Kohli declared on 377 for five at Kanpur. Needing to pull off the biggest successful chase in the

1ST TEST, DAY 4

INDIA 318 & 377/5 dec (Pujara 78, Vijay 76, Sharma 68*) v NEW ZEALAND 262 & 93/4 (Ronchi 38*, Williamson 25, Ashwin 3/68) New Zealand need 341 more runs to win

history of test cricket for an unlikely win, New Zealand wobbled early and were reeling at 93 for four at stumps, still trailing the massive target by 341. Luke Ronchi (38) and Mitchell Santner (eight) will return on Monday hoping to resist or at least delay India’s victory march in the first match of the three-test series. Ashwin (3-68), who dismissed four frontline Kiwi batsmen in the first innings, proved once again why he is considered India’s premier spinner. The off-spinner had Guptill caught at silly point for a duck with the first ball of his second over and trapped Latham (two) leg before with the fifth. Ashwin claimed his 200th Test wicket when he dismissed New Zealand skipper Williamson (25) leg before. l

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates with team mates after taking the wicket of New Zealand’s Kane Williamson during their first Test at Green Park Stadium, Kanpur, India yesterday REUTERS

Monaco beat Angers to go top n Reuters, Paris Monaco moved back to the top of Ligue 1 after a 2-1 comeback win on Saturday thanks to a late Angers own goal. Dickson Nwakaeme turned the ball into his own net in the 75th, some five minutes after he had replaced Famara Diedhiou who had opened the scoring for the visitors in the second half. Monaco, who were looking to bounce back from a 4-0 thrashing by neighbours Nice, had equalised through Kamil Glick in the 66th.

The result put the club from the Mediterranean principality on 16 points after seven games, two points ahead of Nice who travel to Nancy on Sunday. Angers, who are 12th on nine points, took the lead 11 minutes into the second half when Diedhiou latched onto a cross by Toko Ekambi. Monaco hit back quickly, Glick volleying home from a bad clearance by the Angers defence. Olympique Lyonnais’s stuttering start to the season continued as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Lorient that left them eighth on 10 points.l

2nd tier football begins Oct 29 tee meeting at BFF House. n Tribune Report A total of eight clubs – T&T The second tier football tournament, the Bangladesh Championship League, will kick off on October 29, confirmed BFF yesterday. The transfer window will be open from October 5 to October 12. The decision came after a professional league commit-

Club, Agrani Bank Limited Sporting Club, Victoria Sporting Club, Fakirerpool Young Men’s Club, Bangladesh Police Sporting Club, Kawran Bazar Pragati Sangha, Chittagong Mohammedan Sporting Club and Saif Sporting Club – will take part in the league. l

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL STAR SPORTS 4 1:00AM English Premier League Burnley v Watford

SONY SIX 12:40AM Spanish La Liga Alaves v Granada

SONY ESPN 1:00AM Italian Serie A Cagliari v Sampdoria

CRICKET STAR SPORTS 1 10:00AM New Zealand Tour of India 1st Test, Day 5

Pakistan seal T20 series n AP, Dubai

RESULTS 1-0

Lyon

1-0

Guingamp

Bordeaux

0-0

Caen

Dijon

3-0

Rennes

Lorient Cabot 51

Bastia Crivelli 79

Diony 6, 77, Marie 18

Monaco

2-1

Glik 66, Nwakaeme 75-og

Montpellier

Angers Diedhiou 56

0-1

Metz Erding 45-P

Pakistan withstood Sunil Narine’s late charge to beat the West Indies by 16 runs in the second Twenty20 international and win their threematch series on Saturday with a match to spare. Captain Sarfraz Ahmed hit an unbeaten 46 in leading Pakistan to 160-4. Khalid Latif (40) and Shoaib Malik (37) also made useful contributions to set up a strong target for the World Twenty20 champion in humid conditions. But West Indies’ top order stumbled for the second successive day,

and the target looked out of reach until No. 9 batsman Narine made a rapid 30 off 17 balls. But with 30 needed off the last over, West Indies fell short at 144-9 and Narine was out on the last ball. “There were some problems toward the end because of the dew factor, but we finished it well,” Ahmed said.l

2ND T20I

PAKISTAN 160/4 (Sarfraz 46, Khalid 40, Malik 37) beat WEST INDIES 144/9 (Narine 30, Tanvir 3/13, Hasan 3/49) by 16 runs

Sport

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Totti reaches 250-goal mark n AFP, Milan Roma forward Francesco Totti, who will turn 40 next week, reached another career landmark against England ‘keeper Joe Hart yesterday when he hit his 250th career goal in Serie A. Totti, who will celebrate his birthday tomorrow, came off the bench to help reduce arrears for the visitors when he beat Torino ‘keeper Hart from the spot with a 55th minute penalty. Two years ago Totti, three days after his 38th birthday, became the oldest player to score in the Champions League when he beat Hart to score a 23rd minute leveller in a 1-1 draw at Manchester City. It was the Roma icon’s 300th career goal and his first on English soil. Totti, who has played his entire career at Roma, is in his 25th and likely final season at the Serie A club. Totti’s goal, however, was not enough to claim a share of the points on this occasion. Hart, who was forced out at City by new manager Pep Guardiola, was in superb form as the hosts romped to a 3-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico.l

Juve edge past Palermo n Reuters, Rome An own goal by Palermo’s Edoardo Goldaniga was enough to give Serie A leaders Juventus a 1-0 victory in Sicily on Saturday and remain one point clear of rivals Napoli, 2-0 winners over Chievo Verona. Brazilian defender Dani Alves, who joined from Barcelona in the close season, fired in from 25 metres with the ball taking a wicked deflection off Goldaniga’s leg to hand champions Juve their fifth win in six league matches in a scrappy encounter. Juventus, who had crushed Cagliari 4-0 in midweek with Alves on target, struggled with a tight Palermo defence in the first half, with both Higuain and Mario Mandzukic failing to put them ahead with several good scoring chances. Alves finally broke the deadlock four minutes after the restart with his deflected strike beating Palermo keeper Josip Posavec to put the visitors ahead. The result marked the first time Palermo have lost their first three home games as Juve notched their ninth successive win over the Sicilians.l

RESULTS Palermo

0-1

Juventus Goldaniga 49-og

Napoli

2-0

Gabbiadini 24, Hamsik 39

Chievo

AS Roma’s forward Francesco Totti scores from the spot during their Italian Serie A match against Torino at Grande Torino Stadium in Turin yesterday

Arsenal’s Wenger happy to shed his Chelsea hoodoo n

Reuters, London

For five years, Chelsea were the nemesis of Arsenal and their coach Arsene Wenger so Saturday’s resounding 3-0 victory in the London derby represented a psychological boost for the Frenchman. The last time Arsenal beat Chelsea in the league was in October 2011 and for three years they had not even scored a goal against their cross-town rivals, not counting a 1-0 win in the pre-season Community Shield match in 2015. “I said before the game that we have some inconvenient facts. They were that we couldn’t beat Chelsea for years,” a beaming Wenger, who this week marked 20 years in charge of Arsenal, told reporters. “I think what was very important for me is that a psychological hurdle does not stand in your way,” he said. “We have not to make too much of it, but as well not ignore it.” When a reporter’s telephone began to ring, he joked: “It’s Jose,” laughing off his bitter rivalry with Chelsea’s former manager Jose Mourinho. Wenger’s side have looked physically intimidated by Chelsea in the past but they were in the driving seat from the start of Saturday’s

POINTS TABLE P W D

L GD Pts

Man City

0 0 13 18

Tottenham

Arsenal

Liverpool

Everton

Man Utd

Crystal Palace

Chelsea

West Brom

Watford

Leicester

3 -3

Hull

3 -5

Bournemouth

3 -5

Southampton

2 -2

Middlesbrough 6

3 -3

Swansea

4 -5

Burnley

3 -5

West Ham

4 -6

Stoke

4 -11

Sunderland

5 -7

encounter, capitalising on dreadful defending by the visitors to storm into a 2-0 lead within 15 minutes. Last season, Chelsea striker Diego Costa was involved in the sending off of Arsenal defenders in both league meetings between the two sides. This time, by contrast, it was Costa who was frustrated as his markers Laurent Koscielny and Shkordran Mustafi snuffed out every chance that came his way, building a platform for Arsenal to punish Chelsea for their defensive shortcomings. By halftime, the game was over as a contest after Mesut Ozil raced into Chelsea’s half and bamboozled Cahill and fellow centre half David Luiz with a one-two with Sanchez before scoring Arsenal’s third. Wenger hailed his team’s firsthalf performance as “nearly perfect” and allowed himself to entertain the possibility of winning the title, despite Manchester City winning all six of their games so far to sit five points ahead of Arsenal. By contrast, Chelsea coach Antonio Conte was left in no doubt about the size of the challenge he faces to rebuild his team which last year finished a lowly 10th in the Premier League after firing Mourinho in mid-season.l

AFP

Bayern leave it late in Hamburg n AFP, Berlin Joshua Kimmich’s late winner preserved Bayern Munich’s 100 percent Bundesliga record in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Hamburg, but the leaders saw Mats Hummels limp off with a knee injury. With Bayern facing Atletico Madrid away in the Champions League on Wednesday, Germany international Kimmich converted a superb Franck Ribery cross in the 88th minute. Kimmich’s goal leaves Carlo Ancelotti’s Munich as the only team in Germany’s top flight with five league wins from five. They also have eight wins from eight matches in all competitions.l

RESULTS M’gladbach

2-0

Ingolstadt

Stindl 42, Wendt 76

Mainz

2-3

Malli 31, Bell 36

Hamburg

Leverkusen

Hernandez 32, 67, 90+2

0-1

Bayern Munich Kimmich 88

Augsburg

1-0

Darmstadt

Finnbogason 46

Frankfurt

3-3

Fabian 39, Meier 45, Hector 90+2

Werder Bremen

Hertha Berlin Ibisevic 19-P, 58, Esswein 65

2-1

Thy 86, Gebre Selassie 90+1

Wolfsburg Bauer 69

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Gem weight (5) 5 Good fortune (4) 8 Beginning (6) 9 Lowest point (5) 10 Frenzied passion (4) 11 Amounts owing (5) 12 Little devil (3) 15 Transmit (4) 18 Business transactions (5) 21 Female deer (3) 22 House cover (4) 24 Kill (4) 25 Rock shelf (5) 28 Harm (6) 29 Rind (4) 30 Seizing and lifting implement (5)

DOWN 1 Frank (6) 2 Slender stick (3) 3 Dry (4) 4 Weary (4) 5 Elevates (5) 6 As new (6) 7 Opener (3) 13 Myself (2) 14 Procession (6) 16 Denial (2) 17 Postpones (6) 19 Faithful (5) 20 Consequently (2) 23 Level (4) 24 Undermine (3) 26 Self (3) 27 Lair (3)

Downtime

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 18 represents R so fill R every time the figure 18 appears. You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares. Some letters of the alphabet may not be used. As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

PEANUTS

MONDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

Showtime

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Zafar Iqbal: A hero off-screen as well nHasan Dabir Uddin Zafar Iqbal, one of the most prominent actors in the history of the Bengali film industry, possesses a versatile career under his belt as a singer, guitarist and actor. This year marks the untimely demised actors’s 67th birth anniversary who was born on September 25, 1950. Before stepping into Dhallywood, a promising Zafar

Iqbal wished to establish himself as a singer. He established a musical group in 1966. Observing his deep enthusiasm in music, Robin Ghosh, a prominent music director in the industry, allowed him to play a few pieces of music in his film Pitch Dhala Path. Since his teenage years, he was a skilled guitarist. As a singer, he play-backed for popular songs including “Hoy Jodi Bodnam,” “Sukhe Thako O Amar Nondini,” “Je Bhabey Bachi Beche

To Achhi,” “Bidesh Theke Deshe Ele Bhai Bondhu Soboi Bole,” and others. After some time, he was selected for a film Aapon Por, a directorial venture of Khan Ataur Rahman. In the first film, his performance was highly praised opposite to Kabori Sarwar. He then went on to act in almost 150 Bangla films, some of them are Surjo Grohon, Shontrash, Noyoner Alo, Mastan, Mama Bhagne, Ferari, Ek Mutho Bhat, Chorer Bou, Bhai Bondhu, Abujh Hridoy, Grihalaksmi, Ogo Bidesini and so on. His on-screen partnership with Babita, with whom he had partnered in over 30 films, is one of the most illustrious on-screen chemistries in the history of Dhakaiya films. Motivated by the cause, he directly joined the Liberation War. His elder brother Anwar Pervez was a renowned music director and his younger sister Shanaz Rahmatullah is a favourite name for Bangali music lovers. Zafar was later married to Sonia. Zafar Iqbal was suffering from mental depression during his last days, when his heart and kidney

Politics and Hollywood

related diseases turned acute.He finally died in 1992 leaving behind his two sons, thousands of fans

and many eventful memories. Till this day, he stands out as a fashion icon to many. l

Moznu Kha’s woes

n Rayan Quddus The upcoming US presidential election has had a huge impact on artists across the world. Even non-US citizens are concerned, given America’s worldwide cultural and political influence. Politics is no stranger to Showbiz. After all, Ronald Reagan, the darling child of conservative politics, was an actor turned president himself. Apart from Reagan, there have been many actors in the US who ran for a smaller office – Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger, to name a few. Other than that, there have been some comedians who acted as a “type-of-commentators” through their crafts. People like

Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver have made careers out it. But recently, even “not so political” celebrities can also be seen raising their voices. Recently, President Obama announced that he is going to make sure that every American registers to vote, in order to prevent a disaster. As a result, viewers are getting to see videos which are more political than ever before. Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr along with several

other actors have filmed a viral video, which urges Americans to become registered voters. The most noteworthy was a Hillary Clinton interview with Zach Galifianakis, on his comedy show Between Two Ferns. The interview is noteworthy because it actually asked Hillary Clinton some real political questions, without making it too serious. It also passively hinted some anti-Trump rhetoric and simultaneously suggested that they agree Clinton is no saint, but is the lesser of the two evils. With the presidential debates knocking at the door, it could be possible that we might be seeing more political messages from members of the industry. l

n Rayan Quddus Artist Moznu Kha, is a tragic tale, directed by Md Mehedi Hasan Jony. It is about a widowed street performer, living with his son. As a starving artist, he cannot afford a proper meal for himself, let alone making ends meets. The protagonist was nicely portrayed by actor Afran Nisho. The film played homage to the works of the legendary Charlie Chaplin, in almost every other scene. The story is an experiment of putting Chaplin’s Tramp in a present day world. At the start it seemed like a comedy film, but the story turns out to be a depressing

one as it moves forward. However, the small slapstick skits every now and then made the film a lot more bearable by adding some much needed humour. It is a mediocre film which tried to do something really gripping. Had it been paced a bit faster, it might have lived up to the hype. The story seemed really predictable; a screenplay that had a lot of potential but a poor execution in the making did not do justice to it. Nevertheless, it has its own charm. Next time, the director can give a little more attention on the pacing of the film. l Rating- 2.5/5

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Seattle South Asian Film Festival to open with ‘Aynabaji’ n Showtime Desk The 11th Seattle South Asian Film Festival( SSAFF) is scheduled to kick-off on October 14 in Seattle, US. The festival’s Opening Night Gala at Seattle Art Museum will feature Bangladeshi drama Aynabaji. Amitabh Reza Choudhury’s debut film is a dark and engrossing urban thriller about an obsessive actor who gets paid handsomely to serve jail time for the rich and powerful of Dhaka. It’s a great gig until he falls for the girl of his dreams. The film’s director Amitabh Chowdhury and lead actor Chanchal Chowdhury will attend the festival.

A short Tamil film, A ride to Remember, will also be featured in the Opening Night Gala. At the Centerpiece Gala at Seattle Asian Art Museum on Thursday, October 20, SSAFF welcomes leading-edge Bangladeshi director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki with his acclaimed comedy Ant Story, a wry and fantastical comedy. Bangladesh is under the spotlight at SSAFF 2016 with an exceptional program of comedies, dramas, and shorts from one of Asia’s most dynamic and densely populated nations. Scheduled for October 14-23, 2016, SSAFF will showcase 23 feature films and 22 shorts from nine South Asian countries. l

Bollywood in turmoil n Showtime Desk Bollywood splits again with the issue of Pakistani actors. Some within the fraternity are nakedly blaming the Khans for allowing Pakistani actors to work in Bollywood. Some Bollywood celebrities are even calling Shah Rukh and Salman dalals or agents of Pakistani actors. Not only that, some of them are posting openly on social media that these Khans are funding terrorism alongside Pakistani actors. It all started with the recent terrorist attacks in India after which a few journalists wrote to Pakistani actors to return to their homeland immediately. Bringing in religion is making the situation even worse. A movie featuring Fawad Khan, Ae Dil Hain Mushkil directed by Karan Johar is nearing its release. Johar is known as Shah Rukh’s alliance, which makes him a target as well. Sadly, popular singer Abhijeet Bhattachary seems to be very vocal about the issue. This is not the first time Abhijeet asked Pakistani artists to go back. Years ago, he embarrassed Atif Aslam with uncomfortable comments on national TV during a reality show. He even dragged religion in at one point. Another artist posted that, “Also boycott them, who are with Pakistanis.”

There is another part of Bollywood which has a different stance on the issue. Producer Vashu Bhagnani feels that it’s not the right time to say anything. “We should understand that patriotic sentiments are hurt since our countrymen have been killed. If some people feel curbing Pakistani artists will make a difference, let’s stop it for a couple of years and see what changes.” Sharing a somewhat different opinion, singer Kailash Kher who performed in Pakistan back in 2012, says, “Banning or sending artists back to Pakistan won’t serve any purpose, unless they are provoking any unpleasant emotions. Nobody belonging to the field of art is spreading hatred.” Reacting to the ultimatum, Pakistani actor-model Veena Malik who resided and worked in India for three years, says, “Whenever anything happens, we (actors) become the soft

Showtime

WHAT TO WATCH

San Andreas HBO, 9:30pm

After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a massive magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot and his estranged wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter. But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning. Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, Paul Giamatti

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Movies Now, 11:20pm

A sequel to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, this film too follows the character Bilbo Baggins as he accompanies Thorinb Oakenshield and his fellow Dwarves on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and to steal the Arkenstonefrom the dragon Smaug. During the dangerous journey, they fight against giant spiders, Orcsand Elves. Meanwhile, Smaug is not easily deceived and flies to Lake-town to destroy the town and its dwellers. Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace

Ocean’s Eleven WB, 03:24pm

targets. Why does no one ever talk about the trade and cricket matches between India and Pakistan? I don’t remember if any (Pak) actor has ever attacked or threatened someone in India. It’s the extremists who portray us in bad light.” Things are getting critical with the release of Ae Dil Hain Mushkil especially after MNS threatened to stall the release of the film and Raees in Maharashtra which features Fawad Khan and Mahira

respectively. For those who do not know, after the Uri attacks in Kashmir, the Raj Thackeray-led political party MNS has issued an ultimatum to Pakistani artistes including Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Zafar and others, to leave India within 48 hours. l

Source: Hindustani Times

Daniel Ocean gets released from prison in New Jersey. His next big heist is already all mapped out along with his buddy Rusty Ryan. Ocean’s targets are three casinos at Las Vegas. The Bellagio, The Mirage and The MGM Grand. All of them belong to one man, Terry Benedict. By the way, the ruthless casino owner also is very much interested in Ocean’s ex-wife, Tess. Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts l

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Back Page

THREE MORE LAND PORTS IN THE OFFING UNDER BBIN INITIATIVE PAGE 12

SEATTLE SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL TO OPEN WITH ‘AYNABAJI’ PAGE 31

In the land of red crabs n Nure Alam Durjoy Beside the panoramic sea beach that makes Kuakata in Patuakhali such a popular destination among tourists, there are other hidden treasures that it has to offer. One of them is Lal Kakrar Char (Red Crab Shoals). Around 30 minutes away from the main beach, this wild part of Kuakata coast is termed shoals because they get submerged twice a day during high tide, and when they rise during low tide, they look like sandbanks. The only mode of transport available is motorcycle. Still untouched by modern life, the name of this side of the beach comes from its main inhabitants – the red crabs. From a distance, the chars look a blazing red under the sun because they are covered with thousands of red crabs. When undisturbed, one can observe the crabs moving around, going into the water, digging a nest in the beach. However, with the slightest movement on the outside, they will disappear into the sand in a blink. “The chars still have their wild charm intact because no tourists come here,” said Mamun Miah, a local fisherman. Although red crabs have been sighted in other parts of Southeast Bangladesh – mainly remote islands of Bhola district – experts believe that Lal Kakrar Char has possibly

the largest population of red crabs. Zoologists believe that these crabs are a vital part of the marine ecosystem in the area. “Red crabs are like earthworms – they dig up organic nutrients closer to the surface of the ground, which is essential for the growth of plants and trees on these shoals,” said Dr M Niamul Naser, professor of zoology at Dhaka University. Furthermore, some rare aquatic migratory birds feed on them during winter, and they cut up rotten leaves of mangrove plants into small pieces, which become food for shrimps and other crabs. “The ecosystem of that area de-

pends on this crab,” said Naser. Locals are concerned that despite the lack of tourist attention, the crabs may be under threat. Local fishermen said due to a high demand, local boys try to catch the red crabs in order to sell to tourists. Crabs are usually faster in getting away, but sometimes a few get caught, they said. In addition, some crabs manage to escape, but get severely injured in the process and sometimes die. “It is perhaps better if the environment of these shoals is not disturbed,” said Mamun Miah the fisherman. “It is better if these shoals are protected from people.” l

The very recent photo shows the red crabs dotting the Kuakata sea beach in Patuakhali COURTESY: FAISAL SHOVON

Ex-army man among 4 fake DB held in Dhaka n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Shirshendu Biswas, a fourth grader at Patuakhali Government Jubilee High School, sent a letter dated August 15 to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, requesting her to have a bridge built on Payra river in the district’s Mirzaganj upazila. In his letter, the young boy said: “I am a citizen of the country and my father’s name is Bishawjit Biswas and mother’s name is Sheela Rani Sonnamot. Abinash Sonnamot, my maternal grandfather, was a freedom fighter. My village home is in Jhalakathi and we have to cross the Payra river to go to my home. As the river has high waves, sometimes boats and trawlers sink in the river and many people drown. But I don’t want to lose my parents as I love them. Therefore, I request you to take steps to build a bridge on the Payra river.” In response, the PM appreciated the initiative of the school boy and assured him of taking steps to build a bridge on the river in his locality. The PM’s letter dated September 8, reads: “I praised your awareness regarding your parents safety and I understand your freedom fighter maternal grandfather has a big influence on you” FOCUS BANGLA

Members of police arrested four impostors, including a former army personnel, claiming to be members of DB of Police from Wireless Rail gate in capital’s Moghbazar area. “Acting on secret information, a team of DB conducted a drive at Wireless Rail gate in capital’s Moghbazar area on Saturday around 5.40pm and arrested Shafikul Islam Rana, Apple, Ibrahim and Emran,” said DB Joint Commissioner Abdul Baten, in a press briefing held in DMP media centre yesterday. “Rana was a suspended corporal rank staff of Bangladesh Army and he was the ringleader of the fraud

gang,” said the DB official. The Joint commissioner also said that the arrestees were used to hijack or extortion from the persons who withdraw money from different banks and they impersonated as DB personnel to shun any hassle in public place. The gang commits the crime with a microbus and drop the victim in an isolated place following snatching the cash. Its activities have stretched to Dinajpur, Bogra, Rajshahi districts as well as the capital, the official continued. A DB outfit, a walkie talkie, toy pistols, handcuffs and baton were recovered from their possession. l

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