03 Oct, 2016 by DhakaTribune

SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Ashwin 18, 1423, Muharram 1, 1437

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 156

www.dhakatribune.com

32 pages

Price: Tk10

Gulshan attack hostage Tahmid gets bail Sanaul Islam Tipu and n Md Mohammad Jamil Khan Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court has granted bail to Dhaka terror attack hostage Tahmid Hasib Khan, who was arrested under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) nearly a month ago. Metropolitan Magistrate Laskar Sohel Rana issued the order yesterday after Tahmid’s counsel Advocate Hamidur Rahman placed a bail petition before the court. However, the court fixed October 5 as the hearing of a petition filed by the case’s investigation officer to file another case against Tahmid for not cooperating with police during the investigation. In the bail petition, the defence counsel said since the investigation officer submitted an application to withdraw the charges against Tahmid, he could be granted bail in the case. The counsel also assured the court that Tahmid would not ab-

scond after getting bail and would appear before the court whenever he was summoned. The investigation officer of the case, Inspector Humayun Kabir of the Counterterrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit of police, submitted a petition before the court on September 28 seeking Tahmid’s acquittal from the charges against him. Police have not found any militant connection of Tahmid during investigation, which is why he is eligible to be acquitted, said the petition. The investigation officer further said Tahmid, who was held hostage with others at the cafe by the attackers, was rescued the next day by a joint commando force. The terror attack took place on July 1 night when militants stormed Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, Dhaka and massacred 21 people, 17 of whom were foreign nationals dining at the restaurant. The attackers took other diners

TIMELINE

Bashundhara Residential Area on suspicion of his involvement in the attack AUGUST 4 Police seek to place Tahmid on remand, alleging that he was an associate of Hasnat Karim, prime suspect in the attack. Tahmid is placed on eight-day remand AUGUST 13 Tahmid is remanded for another six days AUGUST 20 Second round of interrogation ends. Lawyer seeks bail for Tahmid, which court denies and sends him to jail

JUNE 30 University of Toronto student and Canadian residence permit holder Tahmid Hasib Khan arrives in Dhaka

es in Operation Thunderbolt, taken to DB office for interrogation

JULY 1 Tahmid goes to Holey Artisan Bakery with two friends and is taken hostage along with others by militants

JULY 8- 30 On several occasions, police give contradictory statements about Tahmid’s whereabouts while the family repeatedly claim that he did not return home

JULY 2 Tahmid is rescued with other hostag-

AUGUST 3 Police arrest Tahmid at Block G in

AUGUST 28 Lawyer seeks bail for Tahmid, court denies again SEPTEMBER 28 Investigation officer of the case appeals before court to acquit Tahmid of the charges OCTOBER 2 Tahmid is granted bail by a Dhaka court

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PM wants peaceful solution to Kashmir tension

‘I’ll retire happily if new leader is elected’

n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the governments of India and Pakistan to ease the ongoing tension between their armies created centring the long-standing Kashmir issue. “We are closely monitoring the situation [regarding Kashmir]. Certainly we do not want another fullscale war in this region. I hope the tension and the recent escalation of events will eventually end in a peaceful manner,” Hasina said yesterday replying to a query on Dhaka’s stance on the issue. She came up the remark during a press conference at her official residence on her recent visit to Canada and USA, nearly two weeks

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been serving the Awami League for the past 35 years as its chief, has said that she will be happy to retire from politics if the party councillors and delegates choose a new leader in the upcoming national council. She made the comment in response to a query during a press conference at Ganabhaban held yesterday to brief the media about her recent visit to Canada and the US. The Daily Samakal Editor Golam Sarwar wanted to know how the Awami League president had planned to recast her party at its 20th national council slated for October 22 to 23.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina briefs reporters at Ganabhaban

PMO

INSIDE Family murders on the rise On September 25, 65-year-old Momtaz Mondol was killed by his only son Umar Ali in Fuldah village of Bhatara Union of Jamalpur, apparently after he refused to give Umar the money to buy drugs.  PAGE 3

Over 80% women victim of marital violence

More than 80% married women in the country are abused at least once in their married life, be it physically, sexually, financially or emotionally, according to a survey.  PAGE 4

Fire blazes in Gazipur mill and Benapole godown

Two separate incidents of fire were took place in Gazipur and Benapole yesterday. Though the blazes damaged property, no casualties were reported in either incident.  PAGE 5

PM inaugurates smart NID card distribution

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the Election Commission to ensure the security of the data being used for preparing smart national identity (NID) cards.  PAGE 32

“Awami League is the oldest and largest political party in the country. Its leadership has been changed through councils. This year the new leadership will be elected through the votes of delegates and councillors at the council session. There is no alternative way,” she said. “I have been elected the party chief for the past 35 years. It is quite a long time. I am also tired now. I will be the happiest person if the party gives me the chance to retire,” said Hasina, who just observed her 70th birthday on September 28. The senior leaders of the party present at the press conference shouted “no, no” immediately after her remark.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

News

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Contrast in reactions on Tahmid release: Linguistic rift? n Tribune Desk A startling contrast in opinion concerning Gulshan attack suspect Tahmid Hasib Khan’s bail has been observed in social media yesterday in two separate posts by the Dhaka Tribune (DT) and its sister concern, Bangla Tribune (BT). DT and BT both carried the story of Tahmid receiving bail from a Dhaka court after spending months in custody and the narrative of both the article was rather straightforward. However, Dhaka Tribune’s social media curators found that netizens who reacted on DT’s Facebook post were rather supportive of Tahmid’s cause compared to netizens who posted on BT’s Facebook page. On DT’s post, some sounded relieved over Tahmid’s release, some thanked the law enforcement agencies for “coming to senses” and some seemed still sceptic about police’s true intention. Some of the comments are below:

On the other hand, almost all the netizens reacted on BT’s post suggested that they believe Tahmid had some connections with the actual perpetrators of the Holey Artisan Bakery attack and indicated that his privileged background and connections had some hand in his release. In BT’s post, one SK Aslam wrote: “I knew this would happen. Since he’s the grandson of a rich person.” [Translated] Zahid Islam wrote: “Everything’s possible in this country..” [Translated] l

Indian defence minister compares 1971 victory with ‘Lanka Vijay’ days before Bangladesh secured its n Tribune Desk victory. and before came in light, Indian defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday compared 1971 Liberation War with Ramayana, in which Lord Rama won Lanka and gave it to Vibhishana. “We did the same in Bangladesh. We do not want to harm anyone, but if someone harms us, a befitting reply will be given…Lord Hanuman did not know of his powers before going to Lanka, I made our armed forces realise their power,” he was quoted as saying. India played a vital role in Bangladesh Liberation War. India opened their border along Bangladesh so that refugees can have shelter food and live safely in and trained Bangladeshi fighters as well. Once Pakistan launch attacked in North India, India came in open and support Bangladesh with their military force. India sent their army troops at December 3, 1971, 13

BSF was doing the same thing under the dark. Then prime minister Indira Gandhi supported Bangladesh’s Independence movement at international level as well. Parrikar’s tough talk against Pakistan comes when New Delhi’s diplomatic encirclement of Pakistan seems to be paying off. The international community, including Pakistan’s traditional allies, has maintained a studied silence on India’s surgical strikes, while underscoring the need to act against terrorism, indirectly bracketing Pakistan. On Saturday, Indian army chief General Dalbir Singh also reviewed military preparedness at the northern and western borders. He visited the Udhampur-based Northern Command and interacted with the special forces men who destroyed seven terror launch pads in PoK, killing at least 35 terrorists and their handlers. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PM wants peaceful solution to Kashmir tension after the terrorist attack on an army base at Uri, Kashmir that killed 17 Indian Army soldiers on September 18. Hasina had condemned the attack and told her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi: “Bangladesh firmly stands beside India at this difficult hour.” In response to another query whether Dhaka is re-evaluating relationship with Islamabad over the recent developments regarding Saarc Summit and Pakistan’s comments over the war crimes trials, the Bangladesh premier said: “We always need to remember that we are the winning side here … I do not think we need to pay heed to

everything anyone says. “It is common that diplomatic relation between two countries may become bitter some time and after a certain period it also reaches a better position.” Hasina said that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman always wanted to maintain good relationship within the South Asian countries, “the current Awami League government wants the same.” She said that four members of the Saarc countries including Bangladesh would not join the summit. “Nepal, the present chairperson of Saarc, has disagreed to hold the summit in Pakistan for its present unrest

situation. What can we do here?” The premier said that her twoweek-long visit to Canada and the US was successful through her participation in the Fifth Replenishment Conference in Canada and the 71st General Assembly of the United Nations in the New York, US last month. She said that Bangladesh and Canada had agreed to find a way for the extradition of Noor Chowdhury, one of the condemned killers of Bangabandhu now living in Canada. “I met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who told me that an alternative path will be introduced through discussions for how to hand over Noor Chowdhury

after overcoming Canada’s asylum law,” she told reporters. The two countries reached the consensus during a meeting that aimed at strengthening bilateral relationship, business and trade among other issues, the premier said, adding that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to visit Bangladesh following her invitation. She said that at the UN general assembly and meetings with global leaders, countries lauded Bangladesh’s stance against terrorism, initiatives taken for ICT development and women empowerment, and to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change. l

Gulshan attack hostage Tahmid gets bail and restaurant staff captive and had confrontations with police, killing two police officials as a result. Next morning, a joint commando force stormed the bakery, killing all the attackers and rescuing the captives, ending the terror siege of nearly 11 hours. A case was filed with Gulshan police station in this regard, and the CTTC unit took over the investigation. All the survivors were interrogated by the Detective Branch of police and released afterwards, but only Tahmid and Hasnat R Karim, another survivor, was not released from the police custody, according to their families. Almost a month later, Tahmid and Hasnat were both shown arrested on August 3 for their “dubious roles” during the attack. They were arrested under CrPC Section 54, which allows police to arrest a person without a warrant if there is

a reasonable suspicion that the person is involved in a crime.

‘Tahmid uncooperative with police’

While Tahmid’s family claimed that he never returned home from police custody, Inspector Humayun Kabir claimed that he was released immediately after his interrogation was finished. The inspector said after interrogation with the detectives on July 2, Tahmid was taken in custody by another law enforcement agency for interrogation, but he was handed over to his family on the same day. As he was a witness of the attack and the hostage situation, the CTTC sent him notice twice – one on July 10 and another on July 21 – seeking information on the attackers, but Tahmid did not respond or contact with the investigators, Humayun said in the petition.

Due to his reluctance to cooperate with police, he was arrested under Section 54 and police investigated to see if he had any connection with militancy. “Since we found no such connection, we ask to release him from the charges,” the inspector said. But as he did not provide the investigators with information when they sought it, another petition was filed seeking the court’s approval to file a case against Tahmid under Section 176 of the Penal Code, he added. Section 176 states that a person who intentionally refuses to provide information to public servants, i.e. law enforcement officers, is punishable by law. “Police are saying that Tahmid did not cooperate with them. We will know more after the hearing on October 5,” said Hamidur, Tahmid’s counsel.

However, Tahmid’s family has repeatedly claimed that police never released him from their custody and campaigned for his release immediately. Meanwhile, Tahmid’s family claimed that they were always cooperative with police. “We have been cooperating with the investigation officer since the beginning of this ordeal. And we will continue to do so as long as they need us to,” said Hridoy, a family relative of Tahmid’s. He said the family was relieved that Tahmid had gotten out of prison on bail. “We are happy that the situation is starting to become normal again,” he added. Tahmid’s father Fazle Rahim Khan Shahriar was present at the hearing yesterday, but he did not speak with reporters. l

I’ll retire happily if new leader is elected’ Regarding the BNP’s call to reconstitute the Election Commission in a more transparent manner, Hasina said: “If you take a closer look at the BNP’s track records, they were the one who included approximately 13.1 million fake voters during their 2001-2006 tenure. I am certain that they are conspiring the same now.” She said that her government had introduced digital voter ID card with photographs and cancelled all the fake voters. Public Administration Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Engineer Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Prime Minister’s Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam were with the prime minister on the dais. PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim moderated the press conference. l

News

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Private helicopter services lack surveillance n Ishtiaq Husain

Viqarunnisa Noon School students block the Shantinagar intersection in the capital demanding cancellation of creative system yesterday

BNP: Gunfight now a game for law enforcers

n UNB

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday alleged that ‘indiscriminate’ killing of opposition leaders and activists in the name of ‘so-called’ gunfight has become a ‘game’ for law enforcers. In a statement, he said, “Savar Municipality unit Jubo Dal organising secretary Shah Alam Nayan was subjected to such a brutal game.” The statement was issued protesting the killing of Nayan in a ‘gunfight on Saturday night. “We don’t have any suitable word to condemn such a cruel murder.” Fakhrul demanded a neutral investigation into the Nayan murder and put the killers on trial immediately. He alleged that the government is immensely repressing BNP leaders and activists as there is no rule of law and accountability in the country. “The current regime which usurped state power by force has continued killing and oppression by its party cadres and law enforces to eliminate the opposition and perpetuate its power.” The BNP leader said Bangladesh is being labeled as a den of terrorism due to the government’s misdeeds and failures and repressive acts. He alleged that the government on one had is repressing the opposition leaders and activists by resorting to killings, enforced disappearances and false cases, and sending BNP senior leaders to jail on the other. l

MEHEDI HASAN

NATIONAL CHILD RIGHTS DAY

Family murders on the rise n Mohammad Jamil Khan On September 25, 65-year-old Momtaz Mondol was killed by his only son Umar Ali in Fuldah village of Bhatara Union of Jamalpur. Layla Begum, daughter of Momtaz, says her brother attacked her father with bamboo pole when he got denied the money to buy drugs. Umar’s mother Umme Kulsum filed a case against her only son with the Sharishabari police station the next day and Umar is now in custody. Just a week before, on September 16, 17-year-old Fardin Huda tried to kill his mother Silvia Huda and father ATM Rafiqul Huda by setting the house on fire after not getting the money to buy a new motorcycle. In critical condition, Rafiqul was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital burn and plastic surgery unit but he succumbed to the injuries. Such crimes appear to be happening almost every few days across the country. In this changing crime pattern, a growing number of people are losing their life in the hands of loved ones.

Sometimes parents are being killed by children and sometimes it is children who are being killed by parents. S Ahsan Habib, professor of Dhaka University (DU) Sociology, said demands made by youth on their parents were going out of control. “Parents of young children will get them anything no matter the cost, without a thought,” he said. “If a child gets everything without having to pay for it then the demands keep going up.” On the other hand, filicides were caused by parents’ frustration and personal degradation which create a social gap, the sociologist said. “People need to spend most of their time with near ones to develop mutual understanding and sharing,” he added. On September 27, Sayed Ali Farazi was killed by his son Monir Farazi in Uttar Charbishwas village of Patuakhali. Monir attacked his father when he tried to stop him from beating his wife. In Dhaka’s Banasree, 14-year-old Nushrat Jahan and 6-year-old Alvi Aman were killed by their mother Mahfuza Malek on February 28.

According to Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF), a children’s rights group, of the 266 children who were killed in 2015, 79 of them or about one-third were killed by parents. The number was 24 in 2014. Prof Zia Rahman, chairman of DU criminology department, says social changes are going on in our society as a result of massive globalisation. “Due to the massive invasion of western culture, people now getting many things without expectation,” he said. “It has become difficult for many people to became stable in this situation, which results in these kinds of criminal offense,” he added. Prof Dr Asoke Kumar Saha, chairman of psychology department at Jagannath University, says such problems do not develop in people’s minds overnight. “Different kinds of changes can be observed in behavior or activities when people become violent.” If such symptoms are noticed in a person they need to be engaged in immediate discussions about their ongoing problems and taken for consultation from counselors or psychologists if necessary, he added. l

Private helicopter service, introduced in 1999 in the country, is rising day by day, although the sector is still in need of strong surveillance of the regulatory authority. Uses of the chopper service, varying from commercial purposes to travel or medical demands, have increased a lot during the last few years Professionals now prefer the chopper service to avoid long travels and wastage of time, industry insiders said. Helicopter is now being rented on various occasions including marriage ceremony, film and advertisement shoot, political programmes or garment manufacturing factory visit outside the capital, as a method of quick movement saving time and long journey hassles. But due to the lack of surveillance by regulator Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) has posed severe threat to this newly emerging business sector. The recent incident of chopper crash in Cox’s Bazar killing one passenger has shed light on poor regulation and monitoring mechanisms by the regulator. CAAB sources said Meghna aviation helicopter R66 which crashed on September 16 at Ukhia had no permission to take off from Cox’s Bazar. It was only permitted to go till Cox’s Bazar, but after reaching the destination it took off to Inani beach under Ukhia upazilla of the district. It is alleged that the helicopter accident occurred as a consequence of regularly violating the rules. The surveillance is extremely weak, CAAB sources said. It’s quite tough job to inspect 18 helicopters for only one Inspector, they argued. At present, a total 9 organisations are renting over 20 helicopters for commercial purposes. Several other organisations are waiting to get license. According to CAAB rules, every helicopter company will have to receive fitness certificate before taking off. Helicopter companies have to take permission at least six hours prior to the take off. Sources said most of the helicopter companies submit ‘blank pad’ for the permission, where flying hour is put later after the flight, with the help of few dishonest CAAB officials. It is set rule that, helicopters must fly at least one thousand feet above which is often violated by the pilots, operating below 500 feet. Only two helicopter service companies are allowed to operate helicopter at night. But this law is also often violated . As per international Visual Flight Rule if any operator violates any rule, CAAB has the right to cancel the Airworthiness Certificate and the commercial license of the operator. l

News

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Over 80% women Award giving ceremony of victim of marital ‘Corporiddlerz-2016’ held at BUP n violence Tribune Desk

Mohammad Jamil Khan

More than 80% married women in the country are abused at least once in their married life, be it physically, sexually, financially or emotionally, according to a survey. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) published the findings of the survey, Violence Against Women Survey 2015, at a programme held at the National Economic Council auditorium in Dhaka on Sunday. According to the survey, the abuse rate has decreased comparing to the previous survey conducted in 2011. In that year, the abuse rate was 87.1% which this year stands at 80.2%. Presided by BBS Director General Mohammad Abdul Wazed, the event was attended by Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal as chief guest, as well as State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki, UNFPA country representative Argentina Matavel Piccin, and European Union Ambassador Pierre Mayaudon, among others. Around 72.6% of married women in Bangladesh experience one or more such forms of violence at the hands of their husbands at least once during their married life, says the survey report presented by Zahidul Hoque Sarder, director of census wing of BBS. They are victims of intimate-partner violence, which is defined as violent acts by a former or current spouse. In case of women having lifelong marriage, controlling behaviour is the most common form of violence inflicted on them. Around 55.4% of lifelong-married women have been subjected to such violence while 49.6% of lifelong married women have suffered physical violence, 28.7% emotional violence, 27.2% sexual violence, and 11.4% financial violence. The survey was funded by United Nations Population Fund. The first survey on violence against women was prepared in 2011. The BBS prepared the 2015 survey by interviewing 21,688 women aged 15 and above. Among the interviewees, 19,987 have been married at one point in their lives, and 1,701 have never been married. Around 72.7% of the victims shared their experiences

with their neighbours, said the survey. The survey further stated that 34.2% of girls aged 1014 years have been raped at least once. The rate for the age group of 15-19 years is 39.7%. The survey also shows, of the victims, only 2.6% women in national level – 2.4% in rural and 3.3% in urban areas – have taken legal action. Although there is a government helpline to hear such kind of violence against women, only 2.4% women in national level, 1.9% in rural and 3.8% in urban areas knows about it. Addressing the occasion, UNFPA county representative to Bangladesh Argentina Matavel Piccin, said, “We have to understand that wives are not slave and it is an issue to fight back on such violence together. It’s time to have a national action against this issue rather than remaining silent.” The survey measured five forms of violence – physical, sexual, emotional, financial and controlling behaviour – based on the United Nations Statistics Division standards. The survey showed that lifelong partner violence rates (any form) were highest in rural areas (74.8% lifelong married women) while it was far lower in city corporation areas (54.4%). The rate stands at 71.1% in urban areas outside the city corporations. At the programme, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Chumki, said the state of violence is still not good but the good thing is it has started decreasing as comparing to the 2011 survey findings. In 2011, we found violence rate against women was 87.1% but in 2015 it stands at 80.2%. “The government is determined to stop the practice and many steps have already been taken including setting up victim support center, helpline, adopting policy, education system and mobile application. We are hopeful that reducing the rate of violence against women drastically, we would be able to make a better future for all soon.” she said. Addressing the occasion as chief guest, Planning Minister AHM Kamal said violence against women is not a local problem only; rather it is a worldwide problem. It can’t be stop completely but the rate of violence can be reduced. l

The prize giving ceremony of “Corporiddlerz-2016” was held at the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) in Mirpur Cantonment on Saturday. BUP Business and Communication Club and Sena Kalyan Sangstha jointly organised the final round of the competition, said a ISPR press release yesterday. A total 213 teams from 24 universities participated in the competition

where five teams –three from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of University of Dhaka and two from BUP – qualified for the final round. Team “Chemistry” of Dhaka University won the champion trophy. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed was present at finale as chief guest and distributed prizes among the winners where Major General Md Salahuddin Miaji was present as special guest. In his speech, Tofail Ahmed thanked BUP authorities for organ-

ising the competition and said “My heart goes out to BUP for making it possible for the youths to engage in such kind of meaningful and productive competitions and helping them to learn and grow.” BUP Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, representatives from different universities, invited guests, high officials of BUP, teachers and students of the elite university were also present in the programme. l

News

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

On left a fire blazes at a customs storehouse at the Benapole Land Port in Jessore yesterday. In the other image, firefighters try to dowse flames at Jamuna Spinning Mills factory in Kaliakoir, Gazipur that burned for over six hours. No casualties were reported from either incident DHAKA TRIBUNE

Government colleges yet to come under public universities n

Shohel Mamun

The process of bringing the government colleges under the authority of public universities, instead of the National University, has been delayed though Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave the order two years back. The matter has not been implemented as the government’s financial assistance has not been settled yet.

It is clear that we need extra funds to implement the scheme While visiting the Education Ministry on August 31, 2014, the premier also said that the private colleges would remain under the National University. The colleges – both government and private – were brought under the National University umbrella after it was established in 1992. Nearly two million students are studying at 279 government colleges and 2,154 private colleges. When contacted, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told the Dhaka Tribune that they were still working on the matter. “It cannot be done overnight.

n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

At least two been killed and another injured yesterday when a boundary wall collapsed and fell on them in Dhaka’s Nodda area. The incident took place near to 75 Nodda Siraj Garder yesterday afternoon. One of the deceased has been indented as Md Arefin, 28 while police could not confirm the identity of the other. Their bodies were taken to the morgue at Dhaka Medical College for an autopsy. The injured was a street-side fruit vendor has been admitted to The National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR). Gulshan police station Officerin-Charge (investigation) Salauddin Miah confirmed the incident, saying that the two died instantly when the wall collapsed when it was being taken down. Meanwhile, the Dhaka medical college hospital outpost Sub-Inspector (SI) Bachhu Mia said the deceased Arefin, a mason, had been identified by his wife Taslima. He lived Kalachadpur area with his wife and child. The identified victim was wearing a pair of black trousers and a white undershirt, said the SI. Police are trying to identify him, he added. l

“We have already sent letters to the public universities to prepare themselves for accommodating the colleges. “Dhaka University wants to know how much financial support they will get from the government. So it is clear that we need extra funds to implement the scheme.” The minister added that the public universities would need new infrastructure and additional staff after they incorporate the government colleges. Prof Md Aktaruzzaman, pro-VC of Dhaka University, said that they were ready to take the charge. “If the government wants us to affiliate the government colleges to conduct exams and publish results, we are ready for the job. We are capable to take the charge because we used to do the same before the National University was established,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. “But the process will require financial support from the government,” he added. Last year, when a four-member delegation of the University Grants Commission led by its Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan called on the prime minister at her office, she again asked the officials concerned to reduce pressure on the National university by changing the existing system of higher studies. l

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN MONDAY, OCTOBER 3

Two killed by a collapsed wall in Gulshan

Dhaka

Chittagong

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 5:43PM

Rangpur

Fire blazes in Gazipur mill and Benapole godown n Tribune Desk Two separate incidents of fire were reported in Gazipur and Benapole yesterday. Our Gazipur correspondent reports that a fire broke out at 5am at Jamuna Spinning Mills in Kaliakoir upazila of Gazipur yesterday. The mill’s security officer Hormoj Ali told the Dhaka Tribune that the source of the fire was the denim recycling section. He added that the fire had later spread across the entire first floor of the four-storey tin-shed building. The building collapsed with no casualties as the fire raged for about six hours. Apurba Bal,

Khulna

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:51AM

37ºC Syedpur

24.5ºC Sandwip

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES

Kaliakoir Fire Service and Civil Defence station officer said that 14 fire-fighting units put out the blaze around 11:25am on Sunday. Our Benapole correspondent reporta that godown 23 near Benapole port police station went up in flames at around 5:30am yesterday. The fire was reportedly caused by an electrical short circuit. Port Director Nitai Chondro Sen told the Dhaka Tribune that eight fire-fighting units successfully doused the fire at about 12:35pm. He said that the damages might have been around Tk50 crore. For each incident, two probe committees were formed to investigate into the incidents. l

Sylhet

Cox’s Bazar

Fajr: 5:20am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 4:30pm | Magrib: 5:56pm Esha: 8:00pm Source: Islamic Foundation

News

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

KUSHTIA ROADS TURN DEADLY

Accidents killed 115 in two and half years Khoda Sobuj, n Kudrote Kushtia Roads and highways of Kushtia district have turned deadly due to reckless driving, unskilled drivers, illegal unfit vehicles and dilapidated roads. With the increased number of illegal vehicles on roads and highways, the number of accidents have also been rising for the last two and a half years in the district. At least 115 people were killed in road accidents during the period. The number of death was 44 in last year and 44 in 2014 where 27 people were killed in this year, said police sources. Locals said, reckless driving by inefficient seasonal drivers, three-wheelers plying on the highways and untimely remedy of black spots were causing the accidents. As a large number of transports ply on the highways by the seasonal drivers, who might be very efficient on the highways, find it hard to keep pace with the highway drivers, they observes. Imran Hossain, traffic inspector of Kushtia, said: “Road accidents in highways and roads have increased due to plying of illegal vehicles like engine-run human hauliersand three-wheelers.” Md Musa, inspector of Bangladesh Road and Transport Authority (BRTA), said: “Police usually arrest illegal human hauliersand three-wheelers from the roads in aiming to reduce road accidents.” Drivers of these vehicles are child and have not any

proper documents of driving. Even drivers often provide wrong information about themselves while they were arrested. Nurunnabi Babu, general secretary of Nirapad Sarak Chai (We demand Safe Road) said: “Road accidents on Kushtia highways and roads have been increased due to reckless driving of unskilled drivers and plying of illegal three-wheelers and engine-run human haulierson the highways and roads.”

Police usually arrest illegal human hauliers and threewheelers from the roads in aiming to reduce road accidents To reduce road accidents he suggest to complete the works of Kushtia Bypass road as soon as possible. Office Secretary of Kushtia Truck Labourer Union Babul said: “He have informed local administration several times to stop plying of illegal vehicles on the highways but they did not take any action against them.” To reduce road accidents on the highways police have taken several steps. Assistant Superintendent of Kushtia police, Nur Alam Siddique, said: “We have taken necessary initiatives to stop three-wheelers’ plying on the highways.” Besides, Kushtia-Jhe-

naidah Highway has been in a run down state for long due to negligence of the authority which also responsible for road accidents. According to local sources, about 24 kilometres of the road damaged completely and potholes developed at several points of the roads as substandard materials had been used to repair it. The road becomes unidentifiable during the rainy season, when rain waters deposit on the potholed road making it invisible for road users, including drivers. Fatal accidents are daily incident in the district due to dilapidated situation of the road. Specially the passengers of local human hauliersand three-wheelers are the worst victim. Rafiqul Islam, supervisor of a private bus services, said the drivers of buses and small vehicles had to face critical situation as most portion the road remained in dilapidated state. According to Roads and Highways sources, Mrs Zamil Iqbql Enterprize, a construction firm had taken the charge to repair the road at cost of Tk7.80 crore in 2014. The firm was supposed to complete the work in June this year. In the meantime the enterprise had drawn Tk6 crore leaving the work incomplete, said the sources. Earlier, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader recently admitted that the government had failed to control reckless driving. He claimed that 50% of the 144 black spots identified so far had been addressed. l

Wild elephant dies in Sherpur n Shahriar Milton, Sherpur Villagers of Panbar found a wild elephant dead in a field of the village near Jhinaigati border yesterday morning. Locals said the villagers left their homes when a herd of 25 to 30 elephants entered the village from a hill and swooped on their crop lands at night. In the morning, when the villagers returned, they found an elephant lying dead in the field.

Officials of the forest department, Bangladesh Border Guard, local administration and Jhinaigati police station visited the spot in the morning. Md Ashraful Alam, officer of Taoakucha beat in Jhinaigati’s forest department, said it was a nine to ten years old male elephant, which was 14 to 15 feet long. Officials of the forest department could not ascertain the cause behind the death, as no injury marks were

found in the body of the elephant. They guessed that the elephant might have died of any disease. The body was buried in the field with the permission of the forest department. A herd of 30 to 35 wild elephants has been continuing destroying the crop lands in Kangsha union of Jhinaigati and some adjacent areas in search of food for last two weeks, according to the locals. l

A truck on the bridge over the Subarnakhali River at Nakugaon in Sherpur remains stuck after the bridge collapsed on Saturday DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Ivy likely to get AL’s ticket in N’ganj city poll Hossain, n Tanveer Narayanganj Selina Hayat Ivy, a popular figure in Narayanganj politics, may get nomination from the ruling party Awami League in the upcoming city corporation election. Local sources said the doctor turned politician had already gained confidence from party’s high-ups because of her development works and popularity in the city and she had been upgraded as deputy minister. Insiders of the Awami League said party chief might choose Ivy for contesting in the election, as the government had given Tk191 crore special allocation for city development which was a proof that Awami League decision makers had soft corners for Ivy.

In the previous city corporation election held on October 30, 2011, six candidates took part in the poll where Selina Hayat Ivy defeated Awami League-nominated candidate Shamim Osman by over 100,000 votes. BNP-nominated candidate Taimur Alam Khandakar withdrew himself from that election just seven hours before of the poll. According to the Election Commission, the commission will announce schedule of the election by the end of the month or first week of November. The election of Narayanganj City Corporation have to be held by December 27. Local sources said the incumbent mayor of the city corporation Dr Selina Hayat Ivy, Awami League city unit President Anwar Hossain, district unit BNP President

Taimur Alam Khandakar, former MP Abul Kalam, Biplobi Workers’ Party leader Advocate Mahbubur Rahman Ismail may contest in the upcoming city election. Shamim Osman, also an influential component in Narayanganj politics, has recently said he would support Anwar Hossain in the election, though Anwar worked for Ivy in the previous city election. There is also a speculation that Anwar Hossain may contest in the election from Jatiya Party (JaPa)’s ticket if he does not get ticket from Awami League, because Osman family will try to create obstacle for Ivy at any cost. Anwar Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that he was expecting that he would get nomination from Awami League. “I am a dedicated leader of the

party. I hope that the party will give me nomination in the upcoming city election, as party activists want me in the position.” Selina Hayat Ivy, however, keeps mum over the party’s selection. She said: “I want to finish development work first. Now, I am not thinking about the election. If I do my job sincerely, people of the district will evaluate my work. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is the owner of boat (symbol of the Awami League). She will choose who will be the boatman.” BNP sources said two leaders – Taimur Alam Khandakar and Abul Kalam – would seek nomination from the party. Taimur said: “I want to know why I was stopped in the previous election despite having over 100,000 votes.

“Party chief will select candidate. I do not want to take part in the election.” But party source, however, said Taimur had already started taking preparation for the election. “Both of them are now observing the situation. They do not want to approach themselves to the Chairperson Khaleda Zia because they do not want to take blame of defeat on their shoulders,” said the source who preferred to be unnamed. Leader of the Biplobi Workers’ Party Advocate Mahbubur Rahman Ismail has already started taking preparation for the election. Posters and festoons have been pasted in the city walls. Ismail said: “I want to take part in the election because I want to develop the city as a modern city.” l

Two more cases filed for threatening PM n Tribune Desk

Another two cases were filed against Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky, son of BNP leader Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, allegedly for making defamatory comments on Bangabandhu and threatening Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Facebook recently, in Jhalokathi and Jessore districts. Our Jhalokathi correspondent said Bani Amin Baklai, law affairs secretary of Jhalokathi Sadar upazila Awami League, lodged the case with a Jhalokathi court under Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT) on Sunday. According to the case statements, Irad threatened to kill Hasina on his

facebook status on September 25. The court ordered the officerin-charge of Sadar police station to take the case into cognizance and act accordingly. Public prosecutor of the district court Abdul Mannan Rasul confirmed the incident. Meanwhile, Mir Jahurul Islam, organising secretary of Awami League Jessore unit, filed a case against Irad for threatening Hasina and making defamatory comments on Bangabandhu on Facebook, said Our Jessore correspondent. Jahurul filed the case with Jessore Senior Judicial Magistrate Court on Sunday under the ICT act. Earlier, at least five cases were filed against Irad in different parts of the country over threatening the PM. l

The Anti-Corruption Commission arrests M Saifur Rahman, an executive engineer of Chittagong City Corporation, from Kotwali area in Chittagong city yesterday on charge of accumulating illegal wealth RABIN CHOWDHURY

Century old DC Road in run down state for long n Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar

The 100-year-old DC Road near Eidgah Bazar in the district, has been in run down state for long, causing sufferings to local residents. According to local sources, the road links Almasia, Jagirpara, Eidgah-Choufaldy, Kabi Nurul Huda, Eidgah-Eidgarh roads and these roads play an important role in running trade in the locality. The road has become unfit for vehicular movement, as big potholes have developed at several points. The road in many areas has become narrow as local influential groups as well as some government departments have built establishments beside the road. Union Parishad Chairman of Eidgah Jalalabad and the district unit

Secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League Imrul Hasan Rashed said the century old road had a great role as it had links many areas of the district with district headquarters. Imrul said: “People from all walks of life should come forward to start a movement to repair the road as it had a great role to run the trade and business in the district.” Every year, the government get a good amount of revenue from Eigah Bazar, but traders of the market cannot do their business smoothly due to the dilapidated road. “I will sit with other representatives of upzila soon in this regard,” he added. Imrul also alleged that development work of Eidgah Bazar also remained dead lock due to negligence of the authority. But more than 0.4

millions people depend on the kitchen market for their livelyhood. Local sources said police station, UP complex, post office, livestock office, clinics, hospitals, public library, schools, colleges, mosques, madrasas, banks, temples and several business institutions had been built on the government land nearby the road, hampering smooth playing of the vehicles. People living in these areas have termed the road a death trap as it has not been repaired for long. They say they are forced to make risky journeys on the road every day. The condition of the road worsens during the rainy season when the potholes are filled with rainwater. At the time, a 20-minute journey on the road takes around two hours. Also, medium- and heavy-duty

vehicles transporting goods often overturn because of the potholes. While visiting, the correspondent saw many small and big potholes developed on the road and bitumen was barely seen available on the busy road. A trucker named Mahabubur Rahman said: “The road is very important to go to other parts of the country. We have been compelled to use the road amid great danger.” A bus driver namely Shariful Islam said: “Let alone potholes, even we cannot properly see the vehicles come from opposite direction owing to the dense dust. The road costs around one hour to cross a distance of 20-minute. The road’s sorry state damage machinery and tyres of our vehicles and many people become victim of accident

there as well.” Locals Parvej, Liakat, Shafiul Ala, Ali said asphalt and gravel started getting loose just some days after the end of the carpeting and since then its condition on the track of worsening in course of time. So, accidents became prevalent on the road. During plying, drivers struggle to keep control over steering. Some passengers said they used to face dense dust while travelling on the road. DC Ali Hossain said most of the roads in the district remained unfit for plying vehicles due to heavy rain and shower. Lieutenant Forkan Ahmed, chairman of the district development authorities, said the drive against illegal establishments would be started soon. l

8 World

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Pakistanis turn flag ceremony near Indian border into rally

THE RELENTLESS RISE OF CO2

A routine daily flag-lowering ceremony at an Indian-Pakistani border crossing became a show of strength and patriotism on Saturday. Thousands of Pakistanis thronged the border town of Wagha to watch their soldiers lower the flag. The ceremony takes place daily and features a formal set of handshakes between Indian and Pakistani soldiers. AP

INDIA

Pigeon with message for PM taken into custody A grey pigeon, apparently from across the border, was taken into custody after a letter written in Urdu and addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was found with it by BSF personnel at Simbal post in Bamial sector on Sunday. Police said the message written on a piece of paper read- “Modi Ji, do not consider us same people as we were during 1971. TOI

CHINA

Beijing issues air pollution alert Beijing issued its first yellow alert for air pollution in the second half of this year, forecasting that smog will continue through Monday. The alert means restrictions on work at construction sites, no straw burning of farmers. The smog began to envelop the capital and surrounding areas on Saturday. XINHUA

ASIA PACIFIC

Duterte apologises for Hitler remark Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte apologised to Jews worldwide Sunday after his remarks drawing comparisons between his bloody anti-drug war and Hitler and the Holocaust sparked shock and outrage. Duterte said his apology was intended only for the Jewish community. He lashed out again at Western critics and human rights advocates who have raised concerns over his brutal crackdown. AP

MIDDLE EAST

Gulf Arab states call on UN to intervene Aleppo The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) demanded on Saturday that the UN intervene in Syria to stop aerial bombardments of the city of Aleppo that it said were killing hundreds of civilians. The Sunni dominated council said a Syrian government offensive on the city was systematically destroying neighbourhoods and a flagrant aggression contrary to international laws. REUTERS

CO2-level at highest point ever n Tribune International Desk

Global carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have surpassed 400 parts per million, and will almost certainly remain there indefinitely, according to new numbers from the Scripps carbon dioxide monitoring program at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii. The 400-level has long been considered a benchmark of irreversible damage to the environment. “We’re really in uncharted territory,” said Ralph Keeling from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who directs the program. “It’s too bad we’re this deep into it already, but that’s the fact.” The level has swung above 400 parts per million before, but this is the first time it will have stayed that high for all 12 months of the year. While the year isn’t over yet, the month of September almost always has the lowest levels, because it comes at a time when plentiful summer plants in the Northern Hemisphere slow down their carbon dioxide uptake and begin to die off in the fall. Keeling said that sometimes October has a lower number, but it’s only happened four times since 2002. He said it’s unlikely that the number will dip below 400 parts per million this year. And to make matters worse, we’ve surpassed that benchmark more quickly than anticipated,

said Keeling. “It was first in 2014 that we had a monthly value that was above the 400 level. So it only took a year and a half or two years to overwhelm that natural cycle,” he said. The number is also unlikely to decrease. Keeling said that even if we implement the best environmental policies tomorrow, it would take hundreds of years to stabilize and then lower the levels.

40% rise since industrial revolution

Carbon dioxide levels can seem an obscure concept, making it difficult for people to gauge what, exactly, is going on. To put it into context, Danny Harvey, a professor in the department of geography at the University of Toronto, who teaches about climate change, explains that before the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels were around 280 parts per million. “So that’s about a 40% increase, and way, way outside the range of the last million years,” he explained. This, coupled with temperature increases, puts the planet on track to become ice-free at some point in the future. “It doesn’t mean all the ice is going to melt in the next 100 or 1,000 years, but it does give you a perspective on just how big these changes are and the trajectory of where we’re heading,” he said.

Harvey said if we do nothing, we’re on a clear path toward a climate that is between 1.5 and 4.0 degrees warmer, with carbon dioxide levels around 450 or 500 parts per million. In order to stop that increase, the world would have to eliminate fossil fuel emissions completely by 2060.

‘Status quo isn’t on the table’

But this latest benchmark is just one of many that scientists have been warning about for years. On Thursday, the Pembina Institute released a report saying that Canada is not on track to meet its 2020 or 2030 climate goals. “Climate change is a more difficult policy problem than anything we’ve ever faced before,” said Kathryn Harrison, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia who studies climate change policy. The intangibility of the problem makes it a challenge to address. “Left to their own devices, individuals will make rational decisions to use fossil fuels, because the benefits of driving your car to work — you get those,” said Harrison. “While the costs of driving your car are spread among everybody across the planet and to future generations.” Harrison said that’s where governments come in — she said leaders will have to be courageous in their plans.

“Because the option of staying the way things are now — it isn’t available to us,” she said. “The status quo isn’t on the table, and I think that’s a message that hasn’t come through loud and clear.”

Game not over yet

Harrison and Harvey both said that the costs of implementing policies that would reduce our greenhouse gas emissions would be about one or two per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Harrison said this could include making cars on the road more efficient, tightening environmental rules for new construction projects, and phasing out fossil fuel extraction. “Those things are not crazy and radical,” she said. Despite the glum news, Harvey said all isn’t lost. He said we’re in a position now similar to a hockey team that’s down a goal in the last two minutes of the third period. “You might still win the game, but you have to pull your goalie, put your best players on the ice, and then maybe get that goal and then win in overtime.” He said if we want a chance of winning the so-called game and limiting warming as much as possible, then “we have to go flat out.” l

[This is an excerpt of a CBC article, which can be found at http://bit. ly/2dgibyY]

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Social Security: Why it matters n Tribune International Desk More than 60m retires, disabled workers, spouses and children rely on monthly Social Security benefits. That’s nearly one in five Americans. The trustees who oversee Social Security say the program has enough money to pay full benefits until 2034. But at that point, Social Security will collect only enough taxes to pay 79% of benefits. Unless Congress acts, millions of people on fixed incomes would get an automatic 21% cut in benefits, reports The Associated Press. Most older Americans rely on Social Security for a majority of their income. Monthly benefits average $1,237.

Where they stand

The candidates have said little to acknowledge the issue, even though it’s a main driver of the government’s long-term budget problems. Democrat Hillary Clinton has proposed expanding Social Security benefits for widows and family caregivers. That would worsen the program’s finances. She says she would preserve Social Security by requiring

In this January 11, 2013, file photo, the Social Security Administration’s main campus is seen in Woodlawn AP “the wealthiest” to pay Social Security taxes on more of their income. Unusual for a Republican, Donald Trump has promised not to cut Social Security. His campaign has suggested he’d revisit the program after his tax-cut plan boosts economic growth.

Why it matters

Social Security’s financial problems might seem far off. But the longer Congress waits to act, the harder it will be to save Social Security without dramatic tax increases, big benefit cuts or some combination. Here’s why-Once Social Security’s trust funds run dry, the program faces huge

shortfalls that get bigger and bigger each year. In 2034, the program faces a $500bn shortfall, according to the Social Security Administration. In just five years, the shortfalls add up to more than $3tn. Over the next 75 years, the shortfalls add up to a staggering $139tn. But why worry? When that number is adjusted for inflation, it comes to only $40tn in 2016 dollars - a little more than twice the national debt.

Why is Social Security facing these problems?

In short, because Americans aren’t having as many babies as they used to. That leaves relatively few-

er workers to pay into the system. Immigration has helped Social Security’s finances, but not enough to fix the long-term problems. In 1960, there were 5.1 workers for each person getting benefits. Today, there are about 2.8 workers for each beneficiary. That ratio will drop to 2.1 workers by 2040. Despite the program’s problems, Social Security could be preserved for generations to come with modest but politically difficult changes to benefits or taxes, or a combination of both. Some options could affect people quickly, such as increasing payroll taxes or reducing annual costof-living adjustments for those who already get benefits. Other options, such as gradually raising the retirement age, wouldn’t be felt for years but would affect millions of younger workers. All options carry political risks because they have the potential to affect nearly every US family while angering powerful interest groups. Liberal advocates and some Democrats oppose all benefit cuts; conservative activists and some Republicans say tax increases are out of the question. But if Congress acts fast, changes can be made gradually, sparing current beneficiaries while giving younger workers time to adjust. l

Colombians vote on peace deal after polarised campaign n Tribune International Desk The guns have been silenced, the agreement signed and a historic handshake between former enemies made in front of the entire world. Now it’s time for Colombians to decide whether to support a peace deal with the country’s largest rebel movement, reports The Associated Press. Polls taken before Sunday’s referendum, in which voters were being asked whether they want to ratify or reject a deal ending a half century of hostilities with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, show the “yes” vote favoured by an almost two-to-one margin. But the government wasn’t taking victory for granted after a highly polarized campaign that has exposed how steep a challenge it faces implementing the 297-page accord and bringing about real reconciliation. Colombians overwhelmingly loathe the FARC, which the US considers a terrorist group, and many consider provisions in the accord that would spare the rebels jail time an insult to the 220,000 killed and almost 8m displaced by the long-running conflict. In the past month, ever since the deal was announced in Cuba after four years of gruelling negotiations,

the government has spent heavily on television ads and staged concerts and peace rallies around the country to get out the vote. It even enrolled the help of U2’s Bono and ex-Beatle Ringo Starr. And for the first time in an election, it’s making ballots available in Braille so blind Colombians can vote. For the referendum to be ratified, at least 13% of the electorate, or 4.5 million voters, must cast “yes” ballots. Turnout is expected to be low, no higher than the 40% seen in recent congressional elections, a sign to some analysts that Colombians’ enthusiasm for the ambitious accord is lacking. Also potentially affecting turnout, especially along the Caribbean coast, is heavy rainfall left by Hurricane Matthew, which has been parked off the northern tip of South America since Friday. President Juan Manuel Santos urged his compatriots to vote early and take inspiration from Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. The opposition, led by ex-President Alvaro Uribe, argues that the government is appeasing the Farc and setting a bad example that criminal gangs will seize on. But the Farc in recent days have made an effort to show its commitment to peace is real. Twice this

REFERENDUM ON THE PEACE DEAL Colombians to vote on the peace deal FARC-government peace accord Date: October 2 For the deal to pass Voters* At least 13% of registered voters 34,899,945 must back it: Voting stations: 11,034 (4.5 million people) In rural areas In urban areas Prisons Census offices

6,603 4,151 161 119

Source: Colombian Census Office

week leaders of the group travelled to areas hard hit by the violence to apologize for massacres committed by their troops and discuss with communities how they can compensate victims. “All of us in life have committed mistakes, some with consequences more serious than others,” Farc leader Ivan Marquez said Friday at a ceremony in a northern Colombian town where rebels in 1994 disrupted a street party with gunfire, killing 35. “There’s nothing to lose in recognizing it. Speaking the pure and clean truth heals the soul’s wounds, no matter how deep they are.” On Saturday, in the presence of

World

The question they will answer: “Do you support the final accord for the end of the conflict and the construction of a lasting and durable peace?” * Resident in Colombia and abroad

United Nations observers, the Farc voluntarily destroyed 620kg of grenades and light explosives. It also said they would compensate victims with financial resources and land holdings accumulated during the war. Although Santos wasn’t required to call for a vote ratifying the accord - some of his advisers and the Farc itself opposed the idea - the outcome will be binding. Only if it is ratified will the Farc’s roughly 7,000 fighters begin moving to 27 concentration zones where over six months they will gradually turn over their weapons to UN observers and prepare for their reintegration into civilian life. l

USA

Clinton resurgent, while Trump stalls Hillary Clinton has been rewarded with a sizeable poll bump on the heels of her commanding presidential debate performance, surveys showed on Saturday, while Donald Trump remained bogged down by his row with a former beauty queen. Trump had erased an advantage in polls enjoyed by his Democratic rival, but the latest average posted by RealClear Politics now shows Clinton ahead by three percentage points, 43.8% to 40.9%. AFP

THE AMERICAS

Mexico evacuates hundreds as volcano spews lava Mexican authorities have evacuated 400 people as a precaution as a major volcano spews lava. Authorities imposed a security perimeter of 12km around the Volcano of Fire in the western state of Colima. The authority said lava had flowed one mile down from the crater, which soars to nearly 3,900 meters. AFP

Britain to start EU exit process before April Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain would start the formal process for leaving the EU before April as her governing Conservative Party opened its annual conference on Sunday. Before Sunday, May had only repeatedly insisted that Britain would not invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty - starting a maximum two-year departure process - before January. AFP

EUROPE

Hungary PM banks on anti-migrant vote Hungarians voted Sunday on the EU’s troubled refugee quota plan, in a referendum aimed at boosting Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s campaign to defend Europe against the threat of mass migration. Orban warned that mass migration was a threat to Europe’s safe way of life and that Hungarians had a duty to fight the failed liberal methods of the Brussels elite. AFP

AFRICA

Libyan forces kill 10 IS fighters fleeing Sirte Libyan pro-government forces killed at least 10 Islamic State group jihadists as they attempted to flee their besieged stronghold of Sirte, the country’s unity government said Sunday. They said their fighters had recovered the bodies of at least 10 jihadists and were chasing another group that had fled the town, 450km east of the capital Tripoli. AFP

World

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Why the Indo-Pak war over water is so dangerous n Tribune International Desk Early on the morning of September 29, according to India’s Defence Ministry and military, Indian forces staged a “surgical strike” in Pakistan-administered Kashmir that targeted seven terrorist camps and killed multiple militants. Pakistan angrily denied that the daring raid took place, though it did state that two of its soldiers were killed in clashes with Indian troops along their disputed border. New Delhi’s announcement of its strike plunged already tense India-Pakistan relations into deep crisis. It came 13 days after militants identified by India as members of the Pakistani terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed killed 18 soldiers on a military base in the town of Uri, in India-administered Kashmir. Amid all the shrill rhetoric and sabre rattling emanating from India and Pakistan in recent days, including India’s home minister branding Pakistan a “terrorist state” and Pakistan’s defence minister threatening to wage nuclear war on India, one subtle threat issued by India may have sounded relatively innocuous to the casual listener. On September 22, India’s Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested, cryptically, that New Delhi could revoke the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). “For any such treaty to work,” warned Vikas Swarup, when asked if India would cancel the agreement, “it is important for mutual trust and cooperation. It cannot be a one-sided affair.”

Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)

The IWT is a 56-year-old accord that governs how India and Pakistan manage the vast Indus River Basin’s rivers and tributaries. After David Lilienthal, a former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority, visited the region in 1951, he was prompted to write an article in Collier’s magazine, in which he argued that a trans-boundary water accord between India and Pakistan would help ease some of the hostility from the partition, particularly because the rivers of the Indus Basin flow through Kashmir. His idea gained traction and also the support of the World Bank. The bank mediated several years of difficult bilateral negotiations before the parties concluded a deal in 1960. US President Dwight Eisenhower described it as a “bright spot” in a “very depressing world picture.” The IWT has survived, with few challenges, to the present day. On September 26, India’s government met to review the treaty but reportedly decided that it would not revoke the agreement for now. New Delhi left open the possibility of revisiting the issue at a later date. Ominously, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told top officials present at the treaty review meeting

that “blood and water cannot flow together.” Additionally, the government suspended, with immediate effect, meetings between the Indus commissioners of both countries’ high-level sessions that ordinarily take place twice a year to manage the IWT and to address any disagreements that may arise from it. These developments have spooked Pakistan severely. Sartaj Aziz, the foreign affairs advisor to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said revoking the IWT could be perceived as an “act of war,” and he hinted that Pakistan might seek assistance from the UN or International Court of Justice. If India were to annul the IWT, the consequences might well be humanitarian devastation in what is already one of the world’s most water-starved countries, an outcome far more harmful and far-reaching than the effects of limited war. Unlike other punitive steps that India could consider taking against its neighbour, including the strikes against Pakistani militants that India claimed to have carried out on September 29 cancelling the IWT could have direct, dramatic, and deleterious effects on ordinary Pakistanis.

Pakistan’s concern on IWT

The IWT is a very good deal for Pakistan. Although its provisions allocate three rivers each to Pakistan and India, Pakistan is given control of the Indus Basin’s three large western rivers- the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, which account for 80% of the water in the entire basin. Since water from the Indus Basin flows downstream from India to Pakistan, revoking the IWT would allow India to take control of and if it created enough storage space through the construction of large dams, stop altogether the flow of those three rivers into Pakistan. To be sure, India would need several years to build the requisite dams, reservoirs, and other infrastructure to generate enough storage to prevent water from flowing downstream to Pakistan. But pulling out of the IWT is the first step in giving India carte blanch to start pursuing that objective. Pakistan is deeply dependent on those three western rivers and particularly the Indus. In some areas of the country, including all of Sindh province, the Indus is the sole source of water for irrigation and human consumption. If Pakistan’s access to water from the Indus Basin were cut off or merely reduced, the implications for the country’s water security could be catastrophic. For this reason, using water as a weapon could inflict more damage on Pakistan than some forms of warfare. Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, with a per capita annual water availability of roughly 35,300 cubic feet, the scarcity threshold. This is all the

INDUS TREATY How it impacts J&K J&K loses hundreds of millions of dollars because of treaty

Pakistan gets 80% of the water in the 6 river Indus system

SIGNIFICANT POINTS

Pakistan: Indus, Chenab, Jhelum India: Beas, Ravi, Sutlej

Only pact compelling upper riparian state to defer to interests of downstream state

Gave green light Settled to irriagation of 12-yearalmost 30m acres long fight in India, Pakistan

WHEN THE TREATY WAS SIGNED TREATY RETHINK MAY CAUSE:

INDIA

Number of people expected to benefit then was 47m

Countries with water International Flooding in sharing arrangement with condemnation our cities India to become uneasy

more alarming given that Pakistan’s water intensity rate, a measure of cubic meters used per unit of GDP is the world’s highest. In other words, Pakistan’s economy is the most water-intensive in the world, and yet it has dangerously low levels of water to work with.

How does it affect Jammu and Kashmir?

Jammu and Kashmir too has not been able to harness the full potential of the treaty. In 2007, the Union Water Ministry had estimated Jammu and Kashmir can increase its Irrigated Cropped Area (ICA) by 4,25,000 acres. But today, Out of 6,00,000 Hectares of cultivated land in Jammu and Kashmir only 1,50,000 Hectares is under irrigation. This has also affected hydropower generation. Current estimates suggests there is a possibility of harnessing more than 20,000MW but today there is only an estimated 2,500MV being harnessed. It is revealed from the above analysis that the actual power potential of Jhelum, Chenab, Indus and Ravi are 3,560MW, 10,360MW, 2,060MW and 50MW respectively. Currently, the harnessed potential

of these river basins are 750.1MWs, 1563.8MWs, 13.3MWs, and 129MWs respectively.

Possible water war?

There are other compelling reasons for India not to cancel the IWT, all of which go beyond the hardships the decision could bring to a country where at least 40m people already lack access to safe drinking water. First, revoking the treaty, an international accord mediated by the World Bank and widely regarded as a success story of trans-boundary water management would generate intense international opposition. The IWT will bring global condemnation, and the moral high ground, which India enjoys vis-a-vis Pakistan in the post-Uri period will be lost. Also, the World Bank would likely throw its support behind any international legal action taken by Pakistan against India. Second, if India decided to maximise pressure on Pakistan by cutting off or reducing river flows to its downstream neighbour, this would bottle up large volumes of water in northern India, a dangerous move that according to water experts could cause significant flooding in major

cities in Kashmir and in Punjab state Third, if India ditches the IWT, then it could set a dangerous precedent and give some ideas to Pakistan’s ally, China. Beijing has never signed on to any trans-boundary water management accord, and New Delhi constantly worries about its upstream rival building dozens of dams that cut off river flows into India. The Chinese, perhaps using as a pretext recent Indian defensive upgrades in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China and is claimed by Beijing, could well decide to take a page out of India’s book and slow the flow of the mighty Brahmaputra River. What this all means is that India’s cancellation of the IWT would not produce New Delhi’s hoped-for result- Pakistani crackdowns on anti-India terrorists. On the contrary, Pakistan might tighten its embrace of such groups. The mere act of cancelling the IWT, even if India declines to take steps to reduce water flows to Pakistan would be treated in Islamabad as a major provocation, with fears that water cutoffs could follow, and thereby spawn retaliations. l

Sources: FP, TOI

SPAIN’S DEADLOCKED PARLIAMENT The parliament since the June 26 elections

176

Absolute majority

25 32

20, 201 5

26 40

ele c

137

ber cem

tio

350

123

seats

Unidos Podemos Far-left coalition (Podemos-IU)

Podemos and allies Radical left

PSOE Socialists

Izquierda Unida (IU) Ecologists-communists

Ciudadanos Centre-right

Source: Interior ministry

Popular Party Right Regional parties/ independents

Spain’s socialists oust party leader in bid to end deadlock n Reuters, Madrid The leader of Spain’s Socialists resigned on Saturday after losing a vote triggered by a party revolt, a step which could pave the way for the formation of a new government and end a nine-month political deadlock. Pedro Sanchez had been in a stand-off with acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party (PP), frustrating attempts to form a government after two elections left the conservatives with the most votes but shy of a majority. Members of the bitterly divided Socialist assembly met on Saturday to decide whether to open up a leadership race in October, as proposed by Sanchez, or oust him. Shouts from the meeting at the party headquarters in the capital Madrid were heard from outside as members argued over what the vote should be. One person stormed out before the end saying the party was “broken” and Sanchez eventually lost by 132 votes to 107 after a tumultuous 10-hour debate. “Today, following a day of intense debates, a vote was held on whether a party conference should take place on October 23 so that the grassroots could pick their leader ... Unfortunately, I have lost this vote and I have resigned as secretary general of the party,” Sanchez told a news conference. The departure of Sanchez, who became leader in 2014 and has presided over a slump in party support, means the Socialists can now try to find ways to avoid a third election, such as abstaining in a confidence vote to allow Rajoy a second term. The Socialists will be under

interim management until a party conference can choose a new leader. Party insiders say the powerful head of the Andalusia region, Susana Diaz, is the favourite though it is not clear when a new secretary general will be picked. The interim management will face one of the party’s biggest dilemma’s since it was founded in 1879: allow a conservative minority government or force a third general election in a year.

Third election?

Most observers and analysts believe the Socialists will go for the first option, to give them time to regroup and not run the risk of losing more ground in a third election in a year. “Overall, I believe it is now more likely that Spain will not need a third general election. The mutiny against Pedro Sanchez was at least in part due to his intransigence in refusing to let Rajoy form a minority government despite it being clear that the Socialist leader could offer no credible alternative,” said Vincenzo Scarpetta, a political analyst at the Open Europe think tank in London. “Furthermore, the Socialist Party clearly doesn’t look in an ideal state to fight an election campaign. The impression is it might need quite some time to regroup,” he said. If no government is formed before the end of October, a third election will be called in December. Although Spain’s economic recovery has weathered the political impasse so far, there are signs that further uncertainty could slow growth and hamper investment. l

World

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

12 Business

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Pvt sector active involvement needed to achieve SDGs Active involvement of the private sector is imperative to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh, civil society and business leaders said yesterday at an event. PAGE 13

China set to export corn, threatening global market China has given approval to at least two companies to export corn, trading sources said, in a radical move by the world’s No 2 producer to cut its ballooning surplus and unleash more supply into a saturated global market. PAGE 15

Capital market snapshot: Sunday DSE Broad Index

4,690.9

-0.1% ▼

Index

1,123.5

-0.2% ▼

30 Index

1,776.5

-0.1% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

5,312.4 -22.1% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

188.4

-3.6% ▼

All Share Index 14,400.4

-0.2% ▼

30 Index

13,026.1

-0.5% ▼

CSE

Selected Index

8,766.8

-0.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

302.8

-6.7% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

11.9

5.3% ▼

Lending rates move closer to single-digit n Tahmidur Rahman Banking lending rates have come down closer to single-digit rate following declining deposit rates in August, according to Bangladesh Bank. Average lending rates of all banks stood at 10.24% in August 2016 against 11.51% one year ago while weighted average deposit rates of all banks came down to 5.44% in August 2016 from 6.74% a year ago. The central bank posted the figures on its website yesterday. A turnaround of declining rates does not seem likely because the banks are witnessing healthy deposit growth at existing rates to fulfill credit appetite of the economy, said an analyst. According to a senior banker, banks are slashing lending rates due to pressure from business people. He thinks the rate should be reduced to single digit. Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal recently claimed that the lending rate in Bangladesh is the highest in the world. While addressing an event over e-GP, he was highly critical of bank owners saying that they were charging high interest from businesses for more profits. Private sector credit grew by 16.21% in August 2016 against same month last year and bank deposits grew 13.15% in July 2016 against same month one year ago.

AVERAGE BANKING INTEREST RATES OF ALL BANKS 15.0% 14.0% 13.0% 12.0% 11.0% 10.0% 9.0% 8.0% 7.0% 6.0% 5.0%

Jul-13 Sep-13 Nov-13 Jan-14 Mar-14May-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 Nov-14 Jan-15 Mar-15May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Nov-15 Jan-16 Mar-16May-16 Jul-16 Lending rate

Several banks have been on its front foot in the past couple of months fighting over grasping greater market share. Some banks have slashed its interest rate on personal loans from 14-15% to 11-12% while home loans have come down from 11-12% to 8-9%. Banks, however, are not getting the shorter end of the stick as overall banking spread did not see any drastic fall. Banking spread, which is the difference between lending and deposit rates, has come down to 4.80% in August 2016 from 4.84% one month ago.

Deposit rates

Source: Bangladesh Bank

According to a senior banker, banks are slashing lending rates due to pressure from business people. He thinks the rate should be reduced to single digit Investors eye banking equities

Banking stocks have witnessed a substantial increase in trade volume in stock market in recent months, showed data from the UCB Capital Management Ltd. Many banking stock prices have gone up by 15-20% in the recent market rally. Investors in stock market are

optimistic about banking equities in recent time eying higher credit growth, said Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, CEO of the UCB Capital Management Ltd. He added: “Banking stocks are also trading at a relatively low prices in comparison to other sectors, which has grasped attraction of investors.” l

Govt gives $50m for main phase of Rooppur power plant n Asif Showkat Kallol The government yesterday released $50m (Tk400 crore) for the unapproved project of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (main phase), official sources said. It also gave bank guarantee to the Russian joint-stock company Atomstroyexport for the fund. Rooppur plant is the first-ever nuclear power plant project in Bangladesh. Atomstroyexport is a key foreign trade engineering company of the Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom for construction of the nuclear power facilities abroad. Finance Division of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Finance released the fund from the block allocation kept for the Ministry of Science and Technology this fiscal year for construction of the project (main phase), according to a circular issued by the Ministry of Finance. “It’s unusual to disburse such a huge amount of funds without approval of the development project. However, we have set tough conditions for the disbursement of the funds,” said a Finance Division official. According to the summary of the conditions, the main phase of the plant needs to be approved from the Planning Commission within next one month and authorities concerned will be responsible once any irregularity with the fund is committed. Bangladesh and Russia signed a financial deal of $11.38bn in Moscow recently to implement the country’s first-ever nuclear power plant. Last year, the Rosatom hinted that the cost might go up to $10bn. A couple of years ago the government had estimated that the plant would cost between $2bn and $3bn. Russia will provide all assistance for setting up the plant, including providing the fuel and taking back the used fuel. Bangladesh is seeking 90% of the project financing from Russia. The loan will be repaid in 28 years with a 10-year grace period. l

SBAC gets new AMD n Tribune Business Desk Mostafa Jalal Uddin Ahmed has been appointed as Additional Managing Director at South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank recently. Earlier, he served Bangladesh Krishi Bank as Deputy Managing Director. He started his career with Janata Bank as Senior Officer in 1983. l

Business

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Pvt sector active involvement needed to achieve SDGs n Tribune Business Desk Active involvement of the private sector is imperative to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh, civil society and business leaders said yesterday at an event. But unfortunately, Bangladesh is lagging behind in terms of engaging the private sector in the SDG attainment, they observed. The observation was made at a seminar on “The role of private sector in implementing SDGs in Bangladesh” jointly organised by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) and Citizen’s Platform for SDGs Bangladesh at MCCI. Citing the examples of India, Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) first vice-president Md Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin sought the government support to ensure proper delivery of services to the private sector for implementing SDGs. Mentioning the government services, he said, “There are many officials who are not efficient (in service delivery). They should not be there.” The leader of the apex trade body alleged that syndicates pilfer the goods at ports because of inefficiency of the government agencies. He said the prime minister has the political will for the development of the country but those responsible for execution of her plans need high level of efficiency.

Speakers at a seminar on ‘Role of Private Sector’ in SDG implementation. The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries and Citizen’s Platfrom jointly organised the event COURTESY MCCI president Syed Nasim Manzur said the government is advising industries to go for new technologies, but in practice, it is discouraging them to acquire advanced technologies by imposing taxes. Citizen’s Platform convener Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya who is also a CPD distinguished fellow said MDGs were a business of only the government but SDGs are not a business only of the government, they are the affairs also of the private sector. He said Bangladesh is lagging behind many countries in engaging the private sector for the attain-

Stocks edge down n Tribune Business Desk

Stocks closed marginally lower amid volatility yesterday as late profit booking sell-off cut early gains. The trading remained in positive territory till mid-session but later started to decline staying in a limited range. The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange DSEX fell marginally over 4 points to 4,690. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, witnessed fractional was down over 2 points to 1,776. The DSE Shariah Index DSES also dropped 2 points to 1,123. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX moved down 19 points to 8,766. Trading activities declined significantly as the DSE turnover was Tk531 crore, down 22% compared to previous session. Textile sector was the day’s highest gainer with a rally of over

1%, led by Paramount Textile that surged nearly 8%. Telecommunications, engineering, food and allied, and tannery sector ended flat in green. On the other hand, non-banking financial institutions were the biggest loser falling 0.8%. Pharmaceuticals, power and banks closed flat in red. Out of total 322 companies traded on DSE, 137 moved up, 139 down while 46 remained unchanged. Index moved slightly lower with persistent volatility, said Lanka Bangla Securities. “Investors have shown profit taking tendency at the end of the trading session.” Mobil Jamuna Limited Bangladesh was the most traded share, followed by BSRM Steel, Paramount Textile, Bangladesh Building System, Lanka Bangla Finance, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Yeakin Polymer and Doreen Power. l

ment of the SDG goals. “82% of MDGs financing will come from the private sector. So, the private sector should be focused in achieving the SDGs. Seven of the 17 SDGs are directly linked with the trade, business and investment.” UNDP deputy Country Director for Bangladesh Sujana Pant put emphasis on ensuring transparent government policies. She said taxpayers need to know where and how their money is being spent. In response to the deliberations, state minister for finance and planning MA Mannan assured the leaders

from the private sector, officials from think tanks and non-government organisations of giving fair role. “You are talking about incentives and support. We are already offering incentives and support. But the government has resource limitation,” he said. Former DCCI president Asif Ibrahim presented the keynote paper at the seminar. CPD Executive Director Prof Mustafizur Rahman, former DCCI president Abul Kasem Khan, Green Delta Insurance Co Ltd Managing Director Farzana Chowdhury and Shaheen Aman of Manusher Jonno Foundation, among others, spoke at the event. l

Government bans hilsha netting for 22 days n Tribune Business Desk The government has imposed a ban on catching hilsha fish from October 12 to November 2 on a vast area of 7,000 square kilometres covering 27 districts in the country for conservation of mother hilsha during its high breeding season. The decision was taken in a meeting on ‘Mother Hilsha Saving Drive’ held at the conference room of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock yesterday, reports BSS. Apart from the hilsha breeding grounds, all activities including procurement, marketing, buying, selling, transportation and hoarding of hilsha would be stopped for 22 days across the country. Chaired by the Fisheries and Livestock Minister, Mohammad Sayedul Haq, the meeting was also

attended, among others, by Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Fisheries and Livestock Ministry Shawkat Ali Badsha and Fisheries and Livestock Secretary M Maksudul Hasan Khan. During the 22-day period, a massive combined operation would be carried out at all the fishery ghats, warehouses, hat-bazzars and chain shops across the country. The Fisheries Department, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Police, River Police, RAB, BGB, district and upazila administrations including the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry will implement the ban. The contribution of hilsha to the country’s total fish production is 11%, the highest as the single species of fish. A total of five lakh people are directly involved while 20-25 lakh indirectly. l

Business

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Advertising on mobile: It’s all about ‘stopping the thumb’ n AFP, New York Almost 80 years old, the deodorant Old Spice is learning new tricks for finding customers in the era of smartphones and social media. The Procter & Gamble product, having spoofed itself for years with advice on how to become more “mantastic,” posts to its 2.6 million Facebook followers a steady stream of video games, prize entries, and advertisements as short as two seconds. Creating “thumb-stopping” content is the goal, and marketers are doing everything they can to achieve it. That includes using neuroscience to study which visual and audio cues offer the best bet to grabbing and keeping an impatient smartphone user’s attention.

Estimates show that the average person looks at his or her smartphone as much as 150 times a day. The attention is there, but it’s just not long-lived. “You get the three-second audition,” said Frank Amorese, media director at Heineken USA. “If you are relying on the 14th or 15th second to do the heavy lifting of the ad, it’s not going to work.”

Ever-changing mobile landscape

Advertisers are in a dizzying race to connect with customers as new mobile-borne social media platforms emerge and evolve. “The landscape changes every six months,” Amorese said. “It’s changing at an increasingly fast rate.” Digital ad spending is projected to reach $72.1bn in 2016, growing at

India gets $8bn worth telecoms spectrum bids on auction’s first day n Reuters India started its biggest ever telecoms airwaves auction on Saturday, receiving 535.31bn rupees ($8.04bn) worth of bids on the first day of the sale, a senior government official said. Market leaders Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone’s local unit and Idea Cellular Ltd are pitted against new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd in the battle for airwaves to boost their high-speed data services in what is the world’s second-biggest market by mobile phone subscriptions. The total value of the air-

waves put on the block is estimated to be worth $84bn based on the auction reserve price set by the government, although industry executives and analysts expect only part of it to be sold. Data released by the government’s Department of Telecom (DoT) at the end of five rounds of bidding on Saturday showed carriers stayed away from the most-efficient yet pricey 700 megahertz (MHz) band of airwaves. The 1800 MHz band of airwaves that can also do 4G and are available at less than a quarter of the price of the 700 MHz band saw higher bidding. l

CORPORATE NEWS

Shakil Meraj has recently taken over the charge of general manager (public relations) at Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said a press release. Shakil Meraj has more than two decades of work experience in various capacities in airline management

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited has recently held its 8th annual general meeting, said a press release. The company’s chairperson, Md Faizur Rahman Chowdhury presided over the meeting

a rate of 21% and now comprising almost 37% of the overall market, according to eMarketer. Social media accounts for $15.4 billion of this. Heineken has doubled its spending on digital ads to 30% over the last five years. The dominance of smaller mobile devices has heightened the challenge of capturing the attention of potential shoppers. Ads must be tailored depending on whether they are being seen on a widescreen television, a tablet or a smartphone and must not demand too much time if a consumer is merely glancing at a feed and not planning on a lengthy stay. “We have to really identify how do consumers engage with every single platform and then what is the creative experience we need to

give them,” said P&G chief brand officer Marc Pritchard at the fourday Advertising Week conference in New York this week. “But it also has to look like one brand because people have 5,000 ads coming at them every day and that’s 10 times what it was just 10 years ago.”

Measuring ‘sharing velocity’

Anna Fieler, chief marketing officer at PopSugar, a women’s shopping and content site, said marketers are devising benchmarks like “sharing velocity” to monitor resonance. “Shareability is the gold standard of how engaged people are,” she said. “People like it so much that they want to share it with someone else.” Not all Ads place the brand front and center. Frito-Lay, which

spends about 40% of its advertising budget on digital media, offers tips on its Facebook feed on professional mentoring and networking, in addition to the usual fare of ads that aim to excite and amuse. “People are using social media to build their (personal) brand,” said Jeff Klein, vice president of brands and portfolio marketing. Sometimes Frito-Lay just “takes a little bit of a back seat.”

‘Upload videos like crazy’

Much of the buzz at the Advertising Week conference was the wildfire growth of video streaming and broadcast of live events. Facebook vice president Will Platt-Higgins predicted video could comprise 80% of all smartphone content by 2020. l

Business

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

India’s lenders deserve to be rich global outliers n Una Galani

A harvester unloads corn to a cargo truck at a farm in Gaocheng, Hebei province, China REUTERS

China set to export corn, threatening global market n Reuters China has given approval to at least two companies to export corn, trading sources said, in a radical move by the world’s No 2 producer to cut its ballooning surplus and unleash more supply into a saturated global market. In what could be the first bulk exports in a decade, the Chinese government has issued permits to two state-owned companies, top grains trader Cofco and major processor and trader Beidahuang, allowing them to sell grain abroad, the China-based sources who were not authorised to speak to the media said on Friday. The green light was for around 2 million tonnes of corn to be exported by three state-owned companies, said one of the trading sources who had spoken to one of the exporters. A second source had spoken to a foreign company which is in discussions with one of the approved exporters. A representative of China’s commerce ministry said the permits were not its responsibility and directed questions to the state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The NDRC did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for COFCO did not answer his phone. A person reached at Beidahuang declined to comment. The US Trade Representative, which negotiates with foreign governments, told Reuters the move by China would not be surprising “given the high levels of domestic support China provides to its corn producers.” “China’s overproduction of corn has created a growing stockpile of corn that appears to have reached unsustainable levels,” agency spokesman

Matt Swenson said. “Chinese exports could negatively impact corn prices just as US farmers are harvesting their crops.” US officials will monitor whether Chinese exports may be subsidized, a prospect the agency finds concerning, he said. Traders and analysts said exports have been increasingly likely as China struggles with a massive grain surplus and prepares to harvest a bumper crop, its first in almost a decade without government price support. Chinese corn prices DCCv1 have slumped more than 20% in the past year and are expected to fall further towards international benchmarks. Even if quantities are limited at first, sales abroad would spook major exporters, such as Brazil and the United States, increasing competition at a time when record harvests are predicted in many regions. Five of the top 10 corn importers are in Asia, which may allow China to compete against the Americans and others with lower freight costs. The potential sales would also come amid an intensifying spat between China and the United States over trade in everything from grains to aluminium. On Sept 13, the United States launched a challenge to China’s price supports for domestic corn, wheat and rice at the World Trade Organization, charging that these disadvantaged US exports. China last exported significant volumes of corn in 2006/07, when it sold almost 5 million tonnes. It has since become an importer after a state stockpiling scheme pushed domestic prices way above the global market, stoking purchases of cheaper grain from overseas. l

India’s private sector lenders account for five of the ten most highly valued financial institutions in the world – and deserve their status as rich global outliers. Breakingviews looked at members of the Thomson Reuters Global Banks Index with a market value of more than $1bn. Among these, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, and Indusind Bank all trade at or more than four times book value. That stands in sharp contrast to global giants like Citigroup or BNP Paribas, say, which both fetch about 0.6 times book. The $50bn HDFC Bank stands out. Set up in 1994 by Citi’s former Malaysia head Aditya Puri, it is now larger than its parent mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp, which also features in the

top ten. By market value, HDFC Bank also dwarfs European lenders like Barclays and Deutsche Bank. Private sector lenders, like HDFC, account for barely one-quarter of total banking assets in India. But they are well-capitalised, growing fast, and rapidly taking market share from state-controlled rivals. They also earn double-digit returns on equity. Many Western banks, post the financial crisis, struggle to beat their cost of capital. Annual loan growth is around 20% at India’s private sector banks versus 1% for state-controlled peers, Credit Suisse data shows. The latter are capital-starved and loaded with dud advances to large corporations. That limits the universe of stocks available for investors that want exposure to a fast-growing economy – and, in turn,

further pushes up valuations. Part of the secret is in retail banking. Delinquency rates are much lower in consumer banking. Retail loans account for more than half of the domestic loan books at HDFC and Kotak, versus 23% at State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender. Banks could lower their credit standards as competition heats up but there’s little sign of that happening yet. The other big risk is a macro one. If the state banks that dominate the system are not lending, that will ultimately hurt economic growth and job creation, leading to social unrest. Barring such a dramatic meltdown, high valuations are here to stay. l Una Galani is an Associate Editor of Reuters Breakingviews, based in Hong Kong. The article was initially published at Reuters.

Health

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Bodybuilding as a profession nReaz Fiem When querying about bodybuilding, we tend to get a vast array of answers. Some say it is weightlifting and mastering certain maneuvers, while some say it is any type of physical training, and still others who call it a sport. It is, in fact a sport, which only a very few in our country truly understand. Thanks to globalisation and modern television, more and more people in our country are intrigued by this sport and are taking up avid interest in it. More and more people are actually considering becoming bodybuilding as a profession. I was lucky enough to get hold of Shumon Das Chowdhury, a well-known personality in the world of professional bodybuilding in our country. In an enlightening conversation with him, Shumon talked about how he came in to this profession and the emotional and physical hurdles he’s had to overcome to reach all that he has achieved today. Please enlighten our readers on what it takes to be a professional bodybuilder? The answer is ‘mindset’. If anyone wants to take up bodybuilding as a profession then he has to think and act like one. Just like any other sport, this requires hardcore determination. The person needs to set goals which are time specific and work extremely hard to achieve that goal. What, in your opinion, are the first steps one needs to take in the pursuit of bodybuilding as a profession? Well, honestly, the first step in itself has many steps. That is, the person has to hire a personal trainer with sound knowledge in diet, training and supplementation. Then the person must strictly stick to those and cannot cheat on either diet or exercise. If he can carry out his activities as per the instructions of the trainer, he should be able to see changes in his physique over time. Once he receives the desired weight and aesthetics needed for competing, he can look for and register in competitions. What are your personal achievements so far? In 2014 I won two competitions – Bangladesh Olympic Games Bodybuilding and the Olympic Day Bodybuilding. In 2013 and 2016 I became Mr. Muscle Mania

and in 2015 I won the Mr. Marcel title. Currently, I am training for the upcoming Mr. Bangladesh competion. They say that anybody can lift weights, but not all know how to follow a proper diet. Care to share a few personal diet tips for upcoming bodybuilders? My tip is simple. Diet starts with a proper understanding of one’s calorie needs. Once one knows how much calories he or she needs, then those calories should be taken from macronutrients. Thus, if we think of the diet as a pyramid, then a bodybuilder’s pyramid starts with protein, then carb and then fat. Along with this, we need protein supplements such as iso whey, glutamine, BCAA, fish oils, multi-vitamins, etc. When it comes to bodybuilding training, how is it different from the usual training at the gym? It is quite different. Simply exercising is not goal based. Even if it is, the goals are not time specific. In professional bodybuilding, we give preference to compound exercises and isolation exercises to a correct ratio. Also, we lift much heavier weights than a recreational bodybuilder and with greater intensity. One has to understand it is our job or work, thus we have to aim to be the best at it. I love my workouts and my all-time favourite is heavy deadlifts. Who has been your inspiration for bodybuilding? One of my bodybuilding inspirations is Phil Heath. He, in my opinion is a complete bodybuilder. His proportions are correct and that is what is needed for being a stage champion. The other “non-bodybuilding” inspiration is my wife. Without her support, things would be tough. As a professional bodybuilder and a trainer in Adonize Gym, I am always busy. And she is one understanding woman who manages the family in my absence. What do you think is the future of bodybuilding as a sport in Bangladesh? This is a difficult question. So far, unfortunately, the future seems quite bleak to me. Our field of sport gets the least attention from the government in my opinion. We have world-class athletes but we do not have sponsors. That is why many professional bodybuilders leave this field after a certain period of time. Also,

Shumon Das Chowdhury there are many who are interested, but refrain from taking it up as a profession when they see the dim prospects. However, athletes should not lose hope and keep working hard; perhaps a golden future could be awaiting us all after all. You are also a trainer in Adonize Fitness Center. So what is your fitness tip for our readers on a general perspective? To be fit you need to eat simple,

healthy home-cooked food. One should limit fats, which are calorie dense and increase the intake of protein. Along with this, if regular exercise is taken up, I see no reason why a person cannot stay fit. One common mistake I see at the gym is that people tend to buy a lot of supplements without a good understanding of it. I would say, rely on whole foods more. Nutrition from proper food consumption is the key to staying fit. l

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

Feature

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Easy ways to go green!

n Sabiha Akond Rupa It seems everywhere you look, people are talking about “going green”, so the concept of “green living”, or “sustainable living” is a well-known practice already. In fact, the act of completely “going green” and giving up on many indulgent luxuries takes a lot of courage and passion, which unfortunately, most of us are unwilling to go all out for. Here are a few ways on how to “go green” without having to feel like you are giving up on too much, because awareness and small changes can make a big difference in the way we live and let live.

Ditching bottled water keeps Mother Earth and your wallet green. How? Because only 1 out of 5 plastic bottles is recycled whereas more than 100 million plastic bottles are used worldwide every single day! The rest is littered or gets buried somewhere.

smart while buying something you need. Go for chemical free products, buy in bulks, and invest in high-quality, long-lasting products. You might pay a little more, but it can be a relaxing step in the long run as you don’t have to buy things frequently. It will save money, and packaging.

Save gas, decrease emissions and get healthy

Save energy

Reduce, reuse and recycle

Sustainable eating

Modern life doesn’t allow growing food for yourself; think again, humans have grown their own food for hundreds and thousands of years. Start with something simple such as potted herbs or a potato sack; it can be grown nicely on a windowsill. Always

Let natural lights come through your windows and doors. Use energy saving bulbs and décor items at home because they use less energy and last more than standard bulbs. It will also help you to save up with reduced electricity bills. Whenever you are done with your work, switch off appliances to save more energy. Also, think about installing a solar panel on the rooftop of your home – if you really want to make an impact on the environment.

Give up bottled water

Many people think that bottled water is trustworthy, more cleaner and better tasting. But it is not true; most of the bottled water you buy is just glorified tap water.

Save water

Only a little over 2% of the world’s water is fresh and only 1% is accessible drinking water. An estimated 50% of all household water usage is wasted; think about the water usage in your bathroom, personal care, kitchen and laundry. It is very important to conserve water in your home and outdoor as much possible.

Think about the alternatives; bicycling, walking, carpooling or riding the bus are the best ways to save gas which also helps to decrease emissions. The best part is, you will become healthier.

look for sustainable, fair trade and environmental friendly food that helps the economy. Avoid food with containers and unnecessary packaging. Look for farmers marker or local bazaar for fresh foods. Fill half of your plate with green vegetables and fruits.

Think before you buy

Your purchases have a real impact on the environment – for better or worse. Think how you can be

There are plenty of items in your household that you can modify, reuse, and recycle. We can always do more to consume less. Plus it is a great way to cut down on waste and it will also save your money. So look for having reusable and frugal products for living green. Having a green lifestyle doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive. Try the above tips and focus on how you can help to make a greener planet. Creating and maintaining green practices around the home and workplace can give us a sustainable lifestyle.l

Education

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

University Review:

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) This is the fourth in a five-part review series of top US and UK-based universities

n Sajid Amit and Parisa Shakur The London School of Economics and Political Science, known the world over as simply “LSE,” is a University of London powerhouse, dedicated to the study of social sciences. It is the only university in the UK to have such a focus and one of the leading institutions globally for the strength of its social sciences curriculum. Here’s an interesting factoid: 25% of all

Nobel Prizes in Economics have been awarded to LSE alumni and current and erstwhile staff ! Interestingly, while LSE is a constituent institution for the Federal University of London, it is still comparable with independently run universities in the way it is able to set strategy, make board appointments, and involve itself in the British political process. Founded in 1895 in a

historically significant moment during the Fabian Society movement, by George Bernard Shaw and his peers, LSE joined the University of London five years later. Over the last few decades, in particular, LSE has had a profound influence in British society and politics. In fact, LSE’s alumni include 28 members of the current British House of Commons and a staggering 46 members of the current House of Lords, not to mention several heads of state and government. LSE has also educated the most number of billionaires according to a 2014 survey of billionaires. The school’s strength in research is further underscored by the 2014 Research Excellence Framework where it was ranked second in the UK, beating both Oxford and Cambridge. LSE is considered to be a part of the golden triangle of highly specialist research-intensive English universities and the prestigious Russell Group. LSE’s student body is diverse, racially, ethnically, culturally, and particularly in terms of national origin. The international student body comprises 70% of the entire student population representing 155 nationalities. There is a huge

contingent of South Asians at LSE – Indians, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis – from their countries of origin as well as the Diaspora. This usually bodes well for undergraduate and postgraduate students from this part of the world, as they find large and small regional and national communities within which to socialize. Although several LSE graduates return home after completing their education, many find employment in Europe and elsewhere globally. LSE’s students are ranked the highest in the country in terms of employability. Common sectors of employment for LSE graduates are investment banking, finance, accounting, international development, NGOs, consultancy, education, central and local government. LSE offers much more than its classroom-based learning and any alumni of the School will agree to this. The LSE Alumni network is probably the biggest asset of its students who get access to the world’s brightest minds and the University makes a very conscious effort to facilitate such. The students, by the virtue of being in one of the most exciting cities and a fantastic global university, get to hear from world leaders in

politics, economics and all other social sciences through public lectures, workshops, seminars and networking events. The University’s student-first policy means that student voices are given utmost importance and its Students Union work works actively throughout to render the student experience an unforgettable one. For international students interested in using LSE’s reach to attain a more global educational exposure, LSE also has a host of international partnerships, e.g., with Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley, in the US; with Peking University and the National University of Singapore, in Asia; with the University of Cape Town in Africa; and with Sciences Po in Europe. l

Sajid Amit is Director, CES, University of Liberal Arts (ULAB). Parisa Shakur is Lecturer and Outreach Coordinator at the School of Business and Economics, North South University and an alumnus of LSE.

Biz Info

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

| event |

| agreement |

Panel discussion held on “Transforming Child & Youth Years – Reimagine Learning” at BRAC University

Payza Bangladesh and SSLCOMMERZ sign agreement to strengthen online payment gateway service

BRAC University, in collaboration with Ashoka Innovators for the Public, arranged a panel discussion on “Transforming Child & Youth Years – Reimagine Learning,” yesterday, October 1, 2016. The discussion took place at BRAC University auditorium, as part of the Ashoka Changemaker Week 2016. The collaboration aims to develop students as individual changemakers towards national development and progress. Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman, PhD, Dhaka University took part in the program as the chief guest and keynote speaker. Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb, PhD, vice chancellor, BRAC University was the special guest and one of the panelist. Shashikumar Velath,

Leadership Group Member at Ashoka, Runa Khan, ED and founder of Friendship and Ashoka Fellow (Bangladesh), Sujala Pant, Deputy Country Director, UNDP– Bangladesh, Asif Saleh, Senior Director (Strategy) of BRAC and Asia 21 Fellow (2012), attended the event alongside other panelists. “Youth should play the key role in changing the world,” said Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman, PhD, Dhaka University in his speech. “They should overcome all the challenges to make a better world for tomorrow,” he added. Syed Saad Andaleeb emphasized on developing creative and positive attitude among the youth of the country. “Our focus should be on making responsible citizens for the country,” he said in his speech. “Students must

possess critical thinking, good communications skills, empathy, global sense, and self awareness. The partnership with Ashoka can bring in the right tools for us to achieve that,” he added. Ashoka, an international organisation head quartered in Washington DC has been in Bangladesh since 1988, and supported over 85 social entrepreneurs through its Fellowship Program. “We should expose the youth to social problems and enrich their academic experience as active problem solvers,” said Abdullah Choudhury (Robin), Country Director of Ashoka Bangladesh. The weeklong Ashoka Changemaker Week Dhaka 2016 ends today October 2nd, 2016. l

Payza Bangladesh signed an agreement with SSLCOMMERZ, an online payment gateway service of SSL Wireless on September 29, 2016, at Casada corporate office, to offer an enhanced online payment solution in Bangladesh. This partnership will give Payza members access to over 400 different categories of local e-Commerce merchants of SSLCOMMERZ, such as lifestyle, e-shop, travel and aviation, hospital, digital services, online ticket, food delivery, universities, and others. Customers can enjoy easy and instant check out, while shopping online from hundreds of websites by simply logging into their Payza e-wallet through SSLCOMMERZ. Additionally, this will enable customers to use web based mobile top up services. “Our main focus is to grow and enhance online payments

in Bangladesh and that is why we are very excited to be in accord with SSL as it will create more options in the growing e-commerce industry of Bangladesh,” said Nafis Ehtisham, Head of Operations, Marketing and Sales. The agreement was signed by the Chairman, Intezar Ahmed on behalf of Payza BD (Casada Technology Bangladesh Ltd.) and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ashish Chakraborty, on behalf of SSL Wireless. During the signing ceremony, Nawat Abedin (Head of E-Commerce) and Shajidul Rahman Shajib (Business development) from SSLCOMMERZ were present along with Nafis Ehtisham (Head of Operations, Marketing and Sales), Kazi Faruki (Inside Sales Manager and Cards), Zainah Ahmed (CRS) and Deb Ranjan Saha (Manager Accounts) from PayzaBD. l

| food |

Thai Spaghetti

| hospitality |

La Villa Western Dhaka, a touch of elegant hospitality Hotel La Villa Western, is a boutique hotel located in the diplomatic zone of Baridhara Gulshan-2, Dhaka. It is situated in the most prestigious diplomatic zone of the city, providing you the best stay at a very comfortable rate with security and services. It is just a 20 minutes drive from the airport. The fully serviced Hotel La Villa Western, has an aristocrat look which complements the natural beauty and serenity of its surroundings. La Villa Western comprises of 30 spacious rooms and luxurious suites, in colourful and charming design, with all the facilities and latest amenities. The rooms are uniquely planned with an expressive interior, and advanced technology specifications. La Villa Restaurant is a special

multi-cuisine restaurant, where there’s always an array of food to cater to different tastes. Vintage Bar-B-Q, on the rooftop, is the ideal place for business

entertainment and leisurely relaxation. It is an idyllic venue for hosting any sort of barbecue or open airy party.l

Thai spaghetti conveys the authentic taste of traditional Thai cuisine. It is a perfect blend of looks and aroma. With a hint of vinegar, Thai fish sauce and fresh basil as well as a few squeezes of lemon which

brings out the freshness of each ingredient, the dish is a harmony of flavours for the tastebuds. Thai spaghetti at Absolute Thai is as good as you can find in Dhaka city and is a mouthwatering treat for anyone who loves Thai food. l

20 Editorial

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

TODAY

All hail the leaders What appears is that both parties operate with a mindset, at least in theory, that they will promote liberal market principles with democracy. Both parties support theories of democratisation on paper PAGE 21

Pakistan bites the dust Rather than dealing with the problem jointly, member nations are becoming increasingly isolated from each other PAGE 22

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got to be a better way

A writer and his libertine Even four decades later, Khelaram still manages to throw a wrench into our notions of what values a hero should encapsulate 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.

olding a port hostage, one that is responsible for 97% of all Bangladeshi export and import, is absolutely uncalled for. Until yesterday, for four days, Chittagong port came to a standstill as a result of the Chittagong Prime Mover-Trailer Owners-Workers Unity Council strike, leading to significant losses for businesses around the country. RMG has suffered the most, with a majority of the cargo moving in and out of Chittagong port belonging to the industry. No one is in the right in this conflict. We understand that both the government and the Chittagong container operators have issues theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to be addressed. With cargo often exceeding the weight limit, especially on roads which will not be able to sustain the weight, it is imperative that the container operators abide by the letter of the law. We cannot let the Dhaka-Chittagong highway deteriorate. But it is also up to the government that the issue of harassment via the facade of fines is addressed, among other issues such as the rate of taxes. What we need is dialogue, not ad-hoc bans and reactive strikes which end up harming everyone. We are glad that the strike has now been postponed while a solution is hammered out, but that is not good enough. We cannot allow the country to revert back to yet another standstill. It is especially concerning since it affects RMG, our biggest industry, and might cause irreparable damage in the long run, to say nothing of shortterm economic losses. This is even more galling since RMG is not one of the industries responsible for overweight cargo. Not only do we hope that this situation is resolved forthwith, let us take steps to ensure it is not repeated.

Not only do we hope that this situation is resolved forthwith, let us take steps to ensure it is not repeated

Opinion

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

All hail the leaders Is Bangladeshi politics becoming more ‘presidentialised’?

Politics is inescapable in a country like Bangladesh

n Mubashar Hasan

angladesh’s two major parties -- Bangladesh Awami League (AL) and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) are founded on the principles of democracy. For example, AL, in its manifesto, argues that it is founded upon four key principles: Democracy, secularism, socialism, and Bengali nationalism. In relation to upholding democracy, the party, in one of its manifestos published in 2009, asserts that it aims to develop a democratic system reflecting the spirit of section 11 of the Bangladeshi Constitution. In order to establish such a system, AL claims that: a. It will make sure freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, and freedom of religion for all citizens are ensured. b. It will ensure media freedom. c. It will protect universal human rights for every citizen and defend against any attempt to violate human rights. d. It will take action against corruption. e. It will keep working to establish good governance. f. It will keep parliament at the heart of any AL government’s structure. g. It will establish gender equality, ensure women’s empowerment, and increase women’s participation at policy level. In contrast, BNP, in its latest manifesto, argues that belief in

Islam, Bangladeshi nationalism, democracy, and capitalism are its four key principles. In terms of democracy, BNP states that “a healthy environment for democracy could only be established through parliamentary democracy” and it “acknowledges that a free market economy is essential for establishing democracy.” What appears is that both parties operate with a mindset, at least in theory, that they will promote liberal market principles with democracy. Both parties support theories of democratisation on paper. A key premise of the democratisation theory is that global trade is expected to create free markets, which would facilitate the creation of citizenship, a middle class, and a civil society in the developing world. The market would then act to limit state excess by creating rationales for individual economic freedom, legal equality, and judicial independence, thereby encouraging more social demands and democratic processes. Democracy, within this paradigm, indicates both an institutional process and a way of living where a political system would ensure citizen rights, competitive elections, representative institutions, an accountable government, an active civil society, and a religiously neutral state. However, we know that Bangladesh is not the best

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

example of upholding democratic values and principles. Evidence suggests that all major indicators for measuring a liberal-styled political context -- including electoral competitiveness, democratic quality, press freedom, religious freedom, civil liberties, and the rule of law -- indicate that “the country remains stubbornly beset by democratic deficiencies.” In 2014, Professor Ali Riaz reached such a conclusion about Bangladesh following an analysis on various acceptable surveys and indices to measure the democratic quality of a country, including Polity IV database, the index of democracy of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), World Value Survey (WVS), the press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House survey, and US State Department reports. So why is it that there exists a disconnection between theory and practice in the implication of Bangladeshi politics? One possible source is the lack of internal democracy within political parties. Even though, through party manifesto, both AL and BNP campaigns, for a democratic Bangladesh, Professor Rounaq Jahan, in her book Political Parties in Bangladesh: Challenges of Democratisation, identified that lack of internal democracy has been a persistent problem for these parties. Lack of internal democracy means that the decision-making

process and vital party policies are not framed through a bottom-up approach. Furthermore, leadership of front organisations of both parties are mostly hand-picked in lieu of putting the leaders of front organisations through a competitive process. A similar approach is applied in terms of choosing the top leadership. There is an unwritten rule that immediate family members of both parties will avail of top leadership positions. However, this is not unique in Bangladesh as we have seen in the case of Congress in India. Nevertheless, for a democratic system to flourish at its fullest potential, it is important that a greater mechanism of checks and balances are in place in selecting the party leadership and overseeing party operations. However, both leaders of BNP and AL are immensely powerful. They have written and unwritten mandates in running their parties, including selecting/hand-picking key committees of the party and front organisations such as Chhatra League and Chhatra Dal. Even though some of those leaders and party committee members are selected through an internal election, it is a well known fact that those who will not contest in internal elections would not get nods from high-ups. The extent of power of party leaderships is not only run in maintaining an iron fist over the internal party affairs, but it is a well known fact that many key decisions of the parties regarding

external affairs are taken with little or no accountability. It’s the leaders who matter the most among everyone else in the party, in regard to party affairs at least. Such a mind-set is further reflected through the nature of regimes and governments. To explain this particular pattern of leadership, political scientists Thomas Poguntke and Paul Webb coined the term “presidentialisation.” According to Poguntke and Webb: “Presidentialisation denotes a process by which regimes are becoming more presidential in their actual practice without, in most cases, changing their regime type. In other words, presidentialisation is the idea that leaders have more resources and autonomy within the institutional parameters of their regime than their predecessors.” Therefore, there is a chance

What appears is that both parties operate with a mindset, at least in theory, that they will promote liberal market principles with democracy. Both parties support theories of democratisation on paper

that the nature of the leadership of party and the government would be presidentialised even though those parties in their manifesto, like in the case of AL and BNP, position themselves as democratic. This is not unique to Bangladeshi parties’ leadership, as Glenn Kefford, in his book All Hail the Leaders: The Australian Labour Party and Political Leadership explains how the leadership of the ALP was presidentialised. l Dr Mubashar Hasan, PhD is an expert of Bangladeshi politics who teaches political science in a Bangladeshi university. He is also the founder of www.alochonaa.com, a non-partisan online platform to foster dialogue among cultures and civilisations.

Opinion

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Pakistan bites the dust And has SAARC been a complete failure?

Pakistan needs its neighbours more than its neighbours need it

n Nadeem Qadir

here is always a price you have to pay for the wrongs that you do. The next meeting for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), scheduled to be held in Pakistan, has been put off indefinitely, and for once we can say that the regional body is now prepared to be buried. It was created for promoting regional cooperation in various fields such as economic and social welfare. Yet, South Asia is one of the most illiterate and poorest regions of the world, even now. Ever since the formation of SAARC, numerous regional summits and agreements have been conducted, and yet there are no tangible improvements in this region. SAARC is definitely a failure but had been kept alive somehow anyway. The current situation is the result of Pakistan’s wrongdoings and they are now paying the price. That price is diplomatic isolation with only Nepal, where the SAARC

REUTERS

Rather than dealing with the problem jointly, member nations are becoming increasingly isolated from each other headquarters are located, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka agreeing to join the summit for now. But Bangladesh and India have refused. For Bangladesh, despite repeated requests, Islamabad has tried to spin the Bangladeshi war criminals as heroes. Pakistan has publicly commented on the execution of its 1971 collaborators and war criminals and even took the issue to its parliament. It appeared as if Pakistan had yet to realise that Bangladesh’s freedom-loving people had defeated it in 1971 and now stood proudly as an independent country in the comity of nations. Police investigations have proven Pakistan’s involvement in financing anti-government agents as well as Islamist militants. They have tried to use Bangladesh to score against India during the BNP-Jamaat rule between 2001

and 2006. There is ample proof to that effect. For India, it has been the victim of Pakistan’s terrorist attacks one after the other. The 2008 Mumbai attackers came from Pakistan. The latest was an attack on Indian security forces. If Pakistan thinks it can go scot-free after all that it has done, then it is not very far-sighted. Already said to be a “failed sate,” I think Islamabad needs its neighbours more than its neighbours need it. Coming to SAARC, it has created more problems than it has solved. This regional organisation has failed to address key issues in South Asia. Member nations have not been able to establish adequate trust or satisfactory trade agreements as a result of conflicts. SAARC has accomplished almost nothing other than SAPTA and SAFTA since its establishment

in 1985. It has done nothing to eliminate the problem of poverty in this region. It is due to the ineffectiveness of regional organisations such as SAARC that the long standing problem of poverty in this region has not been solved. Another goal of SAARC has been to strengthen the relationships and collaborations between countries on important social, economic, cultural, scientific, technological, and political issues. But the member countries have not been able to achieve significant cohesion and connectivity compared to other parts of the world such as EU. Another problem is that there have been no concrete steps towards major initiatives for peace and development in this region. SAARC has not been able to make

headway in key issues such as collaboration on initiatives to counter terrorism. It has not promoted peace and comity between member nations. The biggest problem is that the regional organisation has failed to promote trust and understanding. There is a sense of insecurity fostering between key members of SAARC. One expert opinion is that member nations are also accusing each other of abetting separatist and secessionist forces on their soil. Rather than dealing with the problem jointly, member nations are becoming increasingly isolated from each other. SAARC has failed to resolve the deadlock regarding several key issues and conflicts in South Asia. As Pakistan bites the dust in utter humiliation, SAARC too is getting ready to be buried unceremoniously. l Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism. He is the Press Minister of Bangladesh High Commission in London.

Opinion

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

A writer and his libertine In Babar Ali, author Syed Shamsul Huq drew a protagonist that questioned our society’s values

n Towheed Feroze

udacity is an essential quality in any writer, which means the courage to say something which will shake the foundations of society. As Syed Shamsul Huq passes away, I recall an early winter afternoon chat with him at his residence more than a decade ago. Working for an English newspaper, I was interviewing him and, obviously, the most notorious of his protagonists, Babar Ali, the inveterate womaniser with a tormented soul, came up. Babar, for those who are new to Huq’s works, is an anti-hero in what can be termed as Huq’s magnum opus Khelaram Khele Ja, which loosely translates to “player, keep on playing.” The other day, right after the death of this literary icon, I was having a discussion on the impact of Syed Huq’s works with Faroha Suhrawardy, a fellow communications expert and an avid reader. What he said, almost rhetorically, triggered some deeper thoughts. “Writers will always be defined by one or two of his most daring works; for Syed Shamsul Huq, the name that instantly comes to mind is Khelaram.” I am inclined to agree. Yes, there have been countless other work. Nuruldiner Shara Jibon is also an immortal piece which forever captures the defiant stance of one person galvanising thousands to break the shackles of slavery. But, for many lovers of contemporary work in Bengali literature, Khelaram will have special relevance because of certain reasons. The first being the book and the character’s penchant towards challenging an insipid, convention-following, Utopian idealism-delivering role. Babar Ali is not the middle-class poem-reciting leftist romantic, nurturing the notion of love laced with mushy visions on a rain-drenched afternoon. He is, instead, the aggressive lover, an incorrigible egotist, the fast-driving, whiskey-drinking, business magnate for whom lust is more lasting emotion than love. In 2016, such a character may not shock, but in 1970, in a society insulated by a thick layer of conservative values, the impact was almost seismic. At that time the book was

panned by many, especially the so-called vociferous crusaders of the moral brigade, although some enlightened few saw this as an honest narrative of an evolving society. Babar Ali was not just the creation of a writer’s imagination gone wild -- he was the reflection of a facet of society which no one wanted to talk about. Even four decades later, Khelaram still manages to throw a wrench into our notions of what values a hero should encapsulate. It seems, despite such social transformations, the ingrained belief in us asserts that any central male character in fiction must be a paragon of virtue. Hence, in our books and films, the villains drink and have multiple female partners while the hero is completely vice-free. Subconsciously, we expect the hero to be faithful, courteous, benevolent, and, well, very mundane. Why Khelaram Khele Ja retains its importance is because this book goes on to ask back: Why cannot a man of many vices and a little virtue be the protagonist? Many years after Syed Shamsul Huq wrote Khelaram, a similar novel, The Company of Women, depicting the life of a sex addict, was written by Khushwant Singh. In Singh’s book, the central figure, Mohan Kumar, is not too different from our own Babar Ali. For those who seek cheap thrills, the sex is there, though the lust in both the books is just a

Syed Shamsul Huq’s books dug deep into the very notions of tradition and morals

Even four decades later, Khelaram still manages to throw a wrench into our notions of what values a hero should encapsulate. It seems, despite such social transformations, the ingrained belief in us asserts that any central male character in fiction must be a paragon of virtue

salacious layer to hold the reader’s attention. It is, of course, easy to reject both works as cheap fiction, though a little attention reveals the characters far more closer to real life. And beyond the sex, there is the murky side of one’s past. Both Babar and Mohan have demons that relentlessly haunt them. Khelram, in the days prior to the 1971 Liberation War, gave us a man who maintains several sexual relations, with his life appearing to

be motivated by the sole desire to win the next woman. He is mean, selfish, understands the power of money and what it can get. In short, the recurring message is that all inhibitions can disappear once there is the lure of monetary gain and the promise of discretion. Perhaps, back in that time, such a character sent shockwaves; however, in today’s society, we have countless Babar Alis -- unfortunately, in our effort to maintain that image of the immaculate hero and the façade

of strict traditions, such people are no longer featured in fiction as the main character, but as the bad guys. With the death of the writer, I picked up the book one more time, read it in one go, and marveled at the prose that triggered the debate whether this was obscene or not: “There is only one thing that separates each woman: The unique smell of their naked bodies; some smell of lime, some of yoghurt, others of stagnant green water; some of fresh

newspapers, a few of sweet cough syrup, and others of fresh cheese.” Revolting? Like I said earlier, this is not just about one man’s quest to conquer a new woman, but a façade of frivolity to hide an inner failing. In the end, both Babar and Mohan Kumar redeem themselves. Pity, in assessing the books, these parts are hugely neglected, arguments almost always rage on about the fleshy bits. Syed Shamsul Huq is no more, but his Babar Ali in Khelaram lives on in the book and in real life, whether general society recognises him or not is irrelevant. Amidst a crowd of so many spotless heroes driven by lofty morals, someone with depravity manages to hold a place. In a make-belief credo of decency, Huq has given us an immortal character -- a debauched hero called Babar Ali. l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

24 Sport

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

TOP STORIES

Al Amin in for Rubel for first two ODIs Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday announced the Tigers’ squad for the upcoming first two ODIs against England, scheduled to be held on Friday and next Sunday at the home of cricket in Mirpur. PAGE 25

Spurs deal Guardiola first Man City loss Tottenham Hotspur advanced their Premier League title credentials with a superb 2-0 victory yesterday as Josep Guardiola tasted defeat for the first time as Manchester City manager. PAGE 26

Ricciardo wins Malaysian GP Daniel Ricciardo led a Red Bull one-two as a distraught Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of regaining the world championship lead went up in smoke at a dramatic, actionpacked Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday. PAGE 27

Club 11 lift inaugural Int’l Club 7s title Club 11 became champions in the International Club 7s after beating Amigos in the final at the Int’l Turkish Hope School ground. After the score was locked at 1-1 at the end of stipulated time, the eventual winners prevailed in the tie-breaker 5-4. PAGE 28

England cricket team train at the National Cricket Academy ground in Mirpur yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

England focus on cricket, not security n Mazhar Uddin The visiting England cricket team arrived at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday for their first practice session amid heavy security escort. Before training, interim England ODI captain Jos Buttler informed a press conference that they are focussing only on cricket and not any off-the-field issues. Here are the excerpts:

How does it feel to be in this environment with so much security?

Security is paramount when travelling to the sub-continent. We are always looked after well. Obviously there is a lot of security but that’s part and parcel of making the tour okay. Thankfully, now we are here. We will start practising [yesterday] and start thinking about cricket. I think those things will go back into the background. It will be a very competitive series. I think [yesterday] we start training and start gearing up for the matches.

How do you separate the security from the cricket?

Once we start playing cricket, those things will go into the background. Bangladesh have been playing well in their own condition. We need to be prepared. All

we want to do is play cricket. Once we start, it will be very refreshing to start talking about the cricket side of things.

What prompted you to tour Bangladesh?

Once the decision was taken by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board), the tour would go ahead. The players’ safety is paramount to them. The board has left no stones unturned in coming here. When you walk into a room full of people you understand the passion for cricket here. We want to be here and play cricket. We wish security was never an issue. It is fantastic for Bangladesh and England that we are here.

Are Bangladesh slightly ahead?

It is great for us to be here for this three-game series. We have been playing really well in the last 18 months. Conditions will dictate how you can play. I will be asking the guys to take the front foot and attack. There may be different ways to do things here. Bangladesh have been very successful in their own conditions. But we generally try to focus on ourselves, what we can do well and how we can combat the opposition. We have a very talented side with some exciting young guys in the team. They are very hungry to push on. We want to become one of the best one-day

teams in the world. To do that, we have to adopt to conditions and play on all surfaces.

How significant will be your captaincy?

It is an exciting challenge and something that I have been looking forward to. I have been vice-captain for the last 18 months or so. I have a good relation with Eoin [Morgan], and I think we share very similar views on cricket and how we like the side to play. There’s going to be some great challenges as captain. The more experienced you get, the more responsibility you want. Being England captain is a great honour, something that I will try to enjoy as much as I can. It is very much a short term thing. The three games will be a great taste of what it is like to be a captain. It will be a great environment to play and captain in.

How will the replacements do in Bangladesh?

[Alex] Hales and [Joe] Root are two guys who have been doing well for us in the last 18 months or so. Guys not being here creates opportunities for others. There are some exciting guys coming in to the squad. There is great depth in England cricket at the moment. There are players missing out. Competition for places is fierce in

the team. Ben Duckett, who is yet to make his debut, has had a stellar year in county cricket and for the England Lions. There are guys like Sam Billings who has been knocking on the door and could have played for a long time.

How would the batsmen adjust to the conditions?

It would be a good challenge for the guys. We had a series in Dubai last winter on those pitches in which we played well. We have to learn to adapt and win in all conditions. We still want to be aggressive and bat as fast as we can, but conditions will dictate. From previous experience, I think it takes 10 or 15 balls. If you can get through that period, then you start to get used to the pace of the pitch and the timing. Rotation of the strike, and boundaries may be tougher to come by. We will play our brand of cricket but we will adjust it to conditions.

What will be the main challenges?

We will be playing against a confident team in their own conditions. If you look at the makeup of the Bangladesh side, their spinners have been doing well. We will be ready to get used to the conditions. We are focused on ourselves and what we need to prepare. We are a young athletic team and I will want us to play in the same way. l

Sport

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Saintfiet’s ‘personal ambition’ against Bhutan

Al Amin replaces Rubel for first two Eng ODIs n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report Bangladesh’s Belgian head coach Tom Saintfiet is desperate to win against Bhutan in the away encounter of the Asian Cup Qualifiers Play-off next week, admitting that it is his personal ambition and goal to do so when his side face their South Asian neighbours in Thimphu next Monday. The Belgian also hinted of making as less as two-three changes to the final squad, mainly in the forward line. After announcing the preliminary 33-man squad last week, Saintfiet has not got his full squad yet following the second day of the national training camp yesterday. He will reveal his final 23man squad by this Thursday as the team are scheduled to fly to Bhutan a day later. Following 12 players on the opening day, 25 footballers joined on the second day of the camp yesterday while the remaining eight players from premier league side Chittagong Abahani, who were in Sylhet, will join the camp today, hoped the 43-year old coach. Saintfiet, who experienced his worst result as national team coach when Bangladesh lost to Maldives 5-0 early September, is yet to win with his new side. He spoke about his desperation to win his third official match in charge. “I want to win against Bhutan. I need to win. That’s my personal ambition and goal. I promised to

Bangladesh coach Tom Saintfiet trains alongside his charges at Kamalapur Stadium yesterday president [Kazi Salahuddin]. I want to do everything for that,” said Saintfiet. Saintfiet’s major concern is regarding the finishing crisis of the team which prompted him to call veteran forwards Jahid Hasan Ameli and Enamul Haque. “I saw in the league that [Shakhawat Hossain] Rony scored two goals in the last three matches. I also saw [Saturday] Zafar Iqbal,

Abdullah and Jewel Rana scored. That is very positive,” he said before adding, “Ameli didn’t score but he started playing again. Enamul is playing in midfield for the club but he can score goals. I’m positive. We are going to train more tactically and also focus on scoring goals.” The experienced Belgian coach also informed that he doesn’t want to make “too many changes” to the squad which fired blanks at home

BFF

on September 6. “First of all, we didn’t play bad, we created about 22 chances but it was very bad that we didn’t score. The result was not good but we played good. But still, there could be some new names. Hemanta [Vincent Biswas] scored for his club last week and played not bad. He has an opportunity to start. Out of 11, two-three new names could be in the squad,” he concluded.l

Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday announced the Tigers’ squad for the upcoming first two ODIs against England, scheduled to be held on Friday and next Sunday at the home of cricket in Mirpur. Al Amin Hossain returned to the squad in place of paceman Rubel Hossain, who played the first two ODIs against Afghanistan recently. Al Amin was dropped from the squad for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan due to disciplinary reasons. However, the right-arm speedster made a comeback after some below-par displays by Rubel, who proved to be expensive against the Afghans. “Al Amin was in our national pool along with Rubel. Both the bowlers are of the same calibre in that they can bowl in-swingers. We have seen Rubel in the Afghanistan series and now we wanted to try out Al Amin as he bowled 17 consecutive overs in the National Cricket League. So he has no more fitness issues and is all ready for the England series,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Squad

Mashrafe bin Mortaza (C), Shakib al Hasan (VC), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, Al Amin Hossain and Taskin Ahmed. l

Ashraful bags three wickets n Minhaz Uddin Khan Barisal v Dhaka Metro (tier one)

Riding on Abu Sayeem and Sohag Gazi, Barisal posted 301 runs losing six wickets at stumps on day one against Dhaka Metropolis in the second round of the 18th National Cricket League at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna yesterday. Barisal won the toss and batted first but opening batsman Nuruzzaman and Fazle Mahmud’s departures with only 50 runs on the board had them on the back foot. Another opener Shahriar Nafees added 48 runs to the tally before the middle-order batsmen aided the side’s recovery with Sayeem and Gazi posting 139 runs for the fifth wicket. Mohammad Ashraful through the game for Dhaka Metro made a comeback to competitive cricket following his three-year ban for match-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20. The

right-handed batsman however, on the day led with the ball picking up three wickets conceding 49 runs. Arafat Sunny, who just cleared his bowling action cleared by the International Cricket Council, picked up two wickets.

18TH NCL, RD 2, DAY 1 BARISAL 301/6 in 88 overs (Sayeem 98, Gazi 87*, Ashraful 3/49) v DHAKA METROPOLIS KHULNA 172/1 in 50.5 overs (Anamul 84*, Mosaddek 71*, Shahadat 1/34) v DHAKA CHITTAGONG 141 in 54.1 overs (Irfan 28, Farhad 4/45, Saqlain 3/36) lead RAJSHAHI 121/1 in 35 overs (Mizan 71*, Junaid 45*, Ali 1/10) by 20 runs RANGPUR 191/7 in 75 overs (Dhiman 45, Kapali 3/37, Shahanur 3/49) v SYLHET

Dhaka v Khulna (tier one)

In Bogra’s Shaheed Chandu Stadium, Khulna were asked to bat first after losing the toss and posted 172 runs losing one wicket in 50.5 overs before rain stopped play at 1:48 pm. The side lost opener Mahedi Hasan with only 10 runs on the board. The loss however, was recovered as wicketkeeper-batsman Anamul Haque and Mosaddek Iftekhar added 162 runs for the second-wicket stand.

Rajshahi v Chittagong (tier two)

Rajshahi were lifted by the bowlers as they wrapped up Chittagong’s first innings for only 141 runs. Farhad Reza led the Rajshahi bowlers with four wickets conceding 45 runs in 14.4 overs.

Sylhet v Rangpur (tier two)

With a delayed start to the game at Sylhet International Stadium, Rangpur won the toss and batted first, losing seven wickets for 191 runs.l

BKSP GIRLS KEEP WINNING IN INDIA

n Tribune Report Following the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan boys’ title-winning campaign in the recently concluded sub-junior Under-14 category of the Subroto Cup, the BKSP girls began the Subroto Cup U-17 Women’s International Football Tournament brightly, registering consecutive victories in the group stage, being held at Dr Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. The junior girls from BKSP, representing Bangladesh in the tournament, kicked off their mission

with a crushing 11-0 victory over Maharashtra of India on Saturday before outplaying Chandigarh 4-1 in their second match yesterday morning to maintain their hundred percent winning record. The BKSP girls are now top of Group D. Sajeda, who scored four goals in the opening match, Rehana, Akhi and Ritu netted one goal apiece for BKSP. A total of 32 teams split into eight groups are taking part in the tournament where Bangladesh have been grouped together with Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Telangana. l

Sport

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Fourth draw in a row for Real n Reuters, Barcelona Real Madrid’s stuttering run continued as they were held 1-1 at home by La Liga minnows Eibar yesterday, drawing a fourth consecutive game in all competitions for the first time in more than a decade. Fran Rico stunned the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium by opening the scoring for the visiting side in the sixth minute, facilitated by some questionable Real defending and goalkeeping from Keylor Navas. Gareth Bale headed home a Cristiano Ronaldo cross to level in the 17th minute and score his 50th La Liga goal and the Wales international came close to grabbing the winner in the second half but headed against the far post. Real were jeered off the pitch at the final whistle, which signalled a fourth consecutive draw following stalemates with Villarreal and Las Palmas and their 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 2-0 earlier yesterday. Antoine Griezmann made amends for missing a second penalty in as many games by hitting the opening goal as Atletico were

RESULTS Real Madrid

1-1

Bale 17

Valencia

Eibar Castro 6

0-2

Atletico

Griezmann 63, Gameiro 90+1

made to sweat to take all three points at Valencia. The France hitman saw his firsthalf penalty beaten away by Diego Alves, who repelled another penalty from Gabi later on. But he finally blasted past the goalkeeper in the 63rd minute, while Kevin Gameiro sealed the points in injury time. Griezmann finished off a sweeping Atletico break after Yannick Carrasco had teed up substitute Fernando Torres, forcing Alves to parry, and Gameiro knocked the ball back for his fellow Frenchman to fire into the unguarded net. l

Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in action with Tottenham’s Victor Wanyama during their Premier League match at White Hart Lane yesterday

REUTERS

Spurs deal Guardiola first Man City loss n AFP, London

Tottenham Hotspur advanced their Premier League title credentials with a superb 2-0 victory yesterday as Pep Guardiola tasted defeat for the first time as Manchester City manager. An Aleksandar Kolarov own goal and a Dele Alli strike gave Spurs a third successive league win over City and manager Mauricio Pochettino could even afford for Erik Lamela to squander a second-half penalty. The result lifted Spurs to second, a point below City, and means the north London club, third last term, have made their best start to a season since their fabled 1960-61

title-winning campaign. Pochettino was left to celebrate only a second league win over Guardiola in 10 matches, and the first since Espanyol beat Barcelona in their first such encounter in February 2009. It was Guardiola’s first defeat in 12 games as City manager and following their mid-week 3-3 draw at Celtic in the Champions League, his side have now gone successive games without victory. City had won their first six league matches, but the last unbeaten record in the division now belongs to Tottenham. They were at it from the off, Son Heung-Min lashing a shot over the bar with barely 30 seconds on the

clock, and in the ninth minute they scored. Danny Rose hoisted a cross into the box from the left and Kolarov made a complete hash of his at-

RESULTS Leicester

0-0 1-1

Man United Martial 69

Tottenham

Southampton Stoke Allen 82

2-0

Man City

Kolarov 9-og, Alli 37

tempted clearance, the ball ballooning up off his left thigh and floating into the top-right corner. The white-shirted onslaught continued, City goalkeeper Clau-

dio Bravo blocking at his near post from Son and fielding a mishit Rose volley that threatened to dip beneath his crossbar. Meanwhile, an uncharacteristic error from Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea gifted Stoke City a point in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford yesterday that saw the visitors climb off the bottom of the Premier League table. Anthony Martial’s first goal of the season appeared to have given United victory. But his 69th-minute effort was cancelled out eight minutes from time by Joe Allen, with de Gea playing a key role in the equaliser for a Stoke side managed by former United striker Mark Hughes. l

Higuain scores brace as Juve win n AFP, Milan

Juventus’ Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain celebrates after scoring against Empoli during their Serie A match at Carlo Castellani Stadium yesterday REUTERS

Gonzalo Higuain hit a brace to help Juventus cement top spot in Serie A with a 3-0 win away at Empoli yesterday. Massimiliano Allegri’s men travelled to the Carlo Castellani stadium, where the hosts’ best result against the Bianconeri was a scoreless draw in 2008, confident of ensuring that they would remain on top of the table going into the international break. Yet the Turin giants missed a host of first-half chances before Ar-

gentine striker Paulo Dybala finally broke the deadlock on 65 minutes with a close-range strike. It opened the floodgates, Higuain pouncing on Mario Lemina’s precision pass only two minutes later to beat Lukasz Skorupski from the edge of the area. Three minutes after that, the Argentine cheekily dispossessed Marco Zambelli yards from the Empoli goal to round the Polish ‘keeper for his second of the day. Higuain moves on to seven goals in all competitions this season, including six in Serie A. l

RESULTS Empoli

0-3

Juventus Dybala 65, Higuain 67, 70

Atalanta

1-0

Napoli

Petagna 9

Bologna

0-1

Genoa Simeone 77

Cagliari

2-1

Di Gennaro 38, Padoin 56

Sampdoria Fernandes 90+5

Crotone Stoian 90+1

1-1

Palermo Nestorovski 60

Sport

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Ricciardo wins dramatic Malaysian GP n AFP, Sepang

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo of Australia celebrates on the podium REUTERS

Daniel Ricciardo led a Red Bull onetwo as a distraught Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of regaining the world championship lead went up in smoke at a dramatic, action-packed Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday. Hamilton was leading with 15 laps to go when his engine exploded at the Sepang International Circuit. “No, no,” cried the Englishman as flames appeared at the back of his car, leaving Ricciardo to take the lead ahead of teammate Max Verstappen. Championship leader Nico Rosberg survived a first-bend spin involving Sebastian Vettel and a 10-second penalty to take third place and extend the gap over Mercedes teammate Hamilton to 23 points with just five races remaining. Hamilton was almost in tears with his head in his hands

Rohit fifty sets up massive lead for India n Reuters, Kolkata Rohit Sharma’s masterful 82 and a seventh-wicket stand of 103 runs with Wriddhiman Saha put India firmly in the driver’s seat against New Zealand in the second Test yesterday after the hosts’ second innings had got off to a wobbly start.

DAY 3 INDIA 316 & 227/8 Rohit 82, Kohli 45, Henry 3/44, Santner 3/51 NEW ZEALAND 204 Patel 47, Kumar 5/48 India lead by 339 runs with two wickets remaining At stumps on the third day, Saha (39 not out) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (eight) were at the crease for the hosts, who lead the three-match series 1-0 and will reclaim top spot in the Test rankings from Pakistan with a win at Eden Gardens. India reached 227 for eight in their second innings for an overall lead of 339, a tall chase

already for the touring side on a deteriorating pitch. Matt Henry and Trent Boult had seemingly resurrected New Zealand’s hopes in the second session with some inspired fast bowling after India wrapped up the touring side’s first innings for 204 in the morning for a handy lead. Henry, who picked up three wickets in India’s first innings, added another three to his tally, with Boult picking up two more as India were reduced to 106 for six. India opener Murali Vijay (seven) fell to Henry in the first over after lunch, while the right-arm fast bowler returned in his next to claim the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara (four), India’s top scorer in the first innings with 87. Ajinkya Rahane (one) did not last long either, reducing India to 43-4, and it was left to captain Virat Kohli (45) and Rohit to rescue India with a fifth-wicket stand of 48. Kohli looked in good touch before he was out leg before to a Boult delivery that stayed low and went under his bat.l

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL

7:30PM Indian Super League 2016 Pune v Mumbai

BASKETBALL SONY SIX NBA Global Games 12:00AM

Real Madrid v Oklahoma City 6:00AM Denver Nuggets v Toronto Raptors

CRICKET

STAR SPORTS 1 9:20AM New Zealand Tour of India 2nd Test, Day 4

after the dramatic end to his race which has dealt a severe blow to his chances of securing a third drivers’ championship in a row. He had looked all set to snatch back the lead from Rosberg, who was relegated from second on the grid to 21st after he was hit by Vettel on the first bend. Vettel was forced to retire with a broken front suspension in the incident that also involved Verstappen. Hamilton had got away cleanly from pole position and sped off into the distance, clear of the trouble behind him. He looked to be heading for a comfortable win until his engine let go in the most spectacular fashion. An ecstatic Ricciardo celebrated his first win of the season on the podium with a “shoey” - drinking champagne from his driving boot. “It was a race of challenges,” said Ricciardo.

“Lewis got the lead and had his problems. It went the other way in Monaco, and I will take this today,” said the Australian, referring to his botched final pit stop which handed Hamilton victory in Monaco earlier in the season. “It has been two years since (my) last win, and it has been a bit emotional. I said two weeks ago we would win one and we did.” Verstappen, who turned 19 on Friday, celebrated his podium finish and his birthday by also drinking the sweaty cocktail. The Red Bull pair battled thrillingly wheel-to-wheel through six bends at one point, with Ricciardo just managing to hold off the teenage Flying Dutchman. The defensive move proved crucial as it gave Ricciardo track position at the final pit stop under the virtual safety car caused by Hamilton’s demise.l

Siddikur finishes 32nd in Taiwan Masters n Tribune Report Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman finished 32nd in the Mercuries Taiwan Masters after carding three-over-par 75 in the fourth and final round at Taiwan Golf and Country Club yesterday. Siddikur played two bogeys and a single birdie in the last round but a double bogey in the 13th hole pushed him to 32nd from 24th position. It was Siddikur’s third double bogey in the $800,000 event. The 31-year old golfer scored a total of nine-over-par 297 from four rounds of play and earned $6,560 for his efforts. Meanwhile, Lu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei won the title with a total aggregate of fiveunder-par 283. l

Sport

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Club 11 lift inaugural Int’l Club 7s title n Tribune Report

Champions Club 11 receive their trophy from BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman (C)

ITHS section head Zubeyir Beyram (L) presents Club 11’s Polin the best goalkeeper award FAHIM ARNOB

FAHIM ARNOB

Runner-up Amigos receive their trophy from Nuria Lopez (C), president, Spain-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and industry FAHIM ARNOB

Club 11 became champions in the inaugural International Club 7s after beating arch-rival Amigos FC in an intense final at the International Turkish Hope School ground on Saturday night. After the score was locked at 1-1 at the end of stipulated time, the eventual winners prevailed in the tie-breaker 5-4. The non-professional 7-a-side football tournament was competed by eight teams – Amigos FC, Apparel Industry FC, Club 11, ValueFirst & Friends, Lions United (Bangladesh), Turkish Hope FC (Turkey), Kolkata Parsee Club (India) and Spanish Leftovers (Spain) – and was played from September 29-October 1. Rony scored to put Club 11 ahead in the first quarter of the final as Amigos toiled hard and eventually came back in the second half with a calm header from Mridul. However, Mridul ended on the other side of the scoresheet as his strike during the penalties was deflected by Club 11 goalkeeper Polin, ensuring Club 11 the trophy. Polin, who also made superb saves in the semi-final tie-breakers against Apparel Industry FC, was later named player of the final and the best goalkeeper of the tournament. His teammate Raju played a vital role behind their success and the attacking winger was named the MVP. Captain of Amigos, Imranur Rahman finished as the top-scorer with nine goals while Rohit from India received the best foreign player award. Meanwhile, Turkish Hope clinched the plate category title after beating Kolkata Parsee Club 2-1. The tournament ended with a glittering gala night with Bangladeshi Idol singer Arif singing some popular tracks. Jointly organised by Leo Entertainment and Amigos Sports Management, the tournament was powered by Porcelanosa Nupami BD and co-sponsored by New Auto Galaxy. The tournament also had Sterling Stocks and Securities, Youth Group as associate sponsors, Dhaba as food partner, ITHS as venue partner, Doze as internet partner and Dhaka Tribune as media partner.l

Du Plessis lifts SA to big win over Australia n Reuters, Johannesburg A century from stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis lifted South Africa to a huge 142-run win over Australia and a 2-0 lead in the five-match one-day international series at The Wanderers yesterday. Du Plessis, who is leading the side in this series in the absence of the injured AB de Villiers, plundered 111 from 93 balls as South African posted a commanding 361 for six in their 50 overs having been asked to bat by Australia. The tourists lost regular wickets on a good batting track and were all

2ND ODI SOUTH AFRICA 361/6 (Du Plessis 111, Duminy 82, Rossouw 75) beat AUSTRALIA 219 (Head 51, Warner 50, Parnell 3/40) by 142 runs

out for 219 in the 38th over as the home side recorded their second biggest ODI win over Australia by runs, eclipsed only by a 196-run victory a decade ago in Cape Town. Australia captain Steve Smith inserted South Africa in the belief that bowling conditions would be best in the morning but the home side made a fine start, racing to 70 in the 12th over before Quinton de Kock, who blasted 178 in the first game on Friday, mistimed his shot and was caught for 22. Fellow opener Rilee Rossouw (75) and JP Duminy (82) made valuable contributions but the innings was steered by Du Plessis’s century as he struck 13 fours and manoeuvred the ball around with great skill. Australia gave debuts to opening bowlers Chris Tremain and Joe Mennie. l

FIFA Futsal World Champions

Argentina beat Russia 5-4 despite three Eder Lima goals in a meeting of two first-time FIFA Futsal World Cup finalists in Colombia while Portugal were pipped to bronze by Iran. Argentina defeated European opposition in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Portugal on their road to the final.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Loses colour (5) 6 Respectful fear (3) 7 Part of a shoe (5) 10 Sharp curved nails (5) 12 Soon (4) 13 Part of a coat (5) 15 Biblical garden (4) 16 Laundry item (3) 18 Corn spike (3) 20 Reduce to carbon (4) 22 Raised platform (5) 23 Singer (4) 25 Requires (5) 27 Of sound waves (5) 28 Fastener (3) 29 Comforts (5)

DOWN 1 Moving with ease (6) 2 Boring tool (3) 3 Merchant (6) 4 Imagine guilty (7) 5 Japanese currency unit (3) 8 Close friend (3) 9 Eternal city (4) 11 Bundle of notes (3) 14 Magnify (7) 16 Grooms the feathers (6) 17 Phantoms (6) 19 Afflicts (4) 21 Mature (3) 22 Male child (3) 24 Plaything (3) 26 Owing (3)

Downtime

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 15 represents N so fill N every time the figure 15 appears. You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares. Some letters of the alphabet may not be used. As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them. 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

SATURDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

Showtime

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

Daniel Craig is still the first choice n Showtime Desk Despite Daniel Craig being ‘over it,’ James Bond producer, Callum McDougall insists that the British actor is still the ‘first choice’ to play 007 in the next installment of the franchise. McDougall, who executive produced the last four Bond films, recently revealed that the other producers of the 007 franchise remain hopeful that Craig will eventually reprise the role. “We love Daniel,” McDougall said. “We would love Daniel to return as Bond. Without any question he is absolutely the producers’ first choice. I know they’re hoping for him to come back.” Unless Craig has a change of heart, the producers could be in for some disappointment. In October, the 48-year-old actor told TimeOut “it’s a drag” to play Bond. “The best acting is when you’re not concerned about the surface. And Bond is the opposite of that,” Craig said at the time. “You have to be bothered about how you’re looking. It’s a struggle. I know that how Bond wears a suit and walks into a room is important.” Craig has been playing the legendary MI6 agent for roughly a decade, but considers it ‘ludicrous’ that he was cast in the first place and has no strong feelings about who might replace him. “I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists,” Craig said about possibly playing Bond again. “I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.” l

Fashionista Kriti n Showtime Desk Dilwale girl Kriti Sanon, is the latest fashionista of Bollywood. Her beauty and fashion sense has already gotten her a fan base. But guess what! She also has her own idol. She says Bollywood actors like Kangana Ranaut, Deepika Padukone, and Sonam Kapoor, inspire her a lot in terms of fashion. Kriti added, she likes the way Deepika dresses. “I feel it is important to go out of the box and do something. I love the way Kangna experiments with her looks and fashion. And of course, Sonam Kapoor has a

Sina Hasan’s Last Bench

nShowtime desk Sina Hasan, a Bangladeshi independent singer, is to come up with his first solo album Last Bench this month, which will be released independently by the artist himself. Chirkutt’s Pavel Areen composed the music for all the songs. The album’s music

is composed by international artists, including guitarist Sanjay Daas, and bassist Mohini Dey from Mumbai, and Shankho from Kolkata, while Partha Paul from Mumbai played the accordion. Sina Hasan, Rajib Ashraf, Munna, and Tuhin Daas, penned lyrics of this Bangla rock and satire rock album. The album’s songs are centered on the middleclass crisis and sentiment, struggling with binary opposition like good versus evil or yes versus no, and of political influences on the nation. Talking about his independent run, Sina said,

“Major things regarding the music industry have changed during the last ten years as telecommunications and other non-music companies are controlling the scenario. Artists are deprived from their expected valuations. Distributing music is a big challenge for the so called ‘new comer’ even long after completing their album nicely.” “It’s like living in illusion to expect any money from this industry,” he added. Last month, Sina released his first single called Nyangto Pagol on YouTube and Soundcloud, without the help of any record label or sponsor. The music video garnered positive appreciation from a lot of people. The album’s second music video “Last Bench” will be released on October 7, while the full album will be out by this month.l

great style,” Kriti expressed. Not only does the admire the female actors, but she even follows men’s fashion and trend. She says, “Among men, I think there are lots of actors who are fashionable. I particularly like Shah Rukh Khan’s style. He is very laid back and very comfortable with whatever he carries.” The 26-year-old says that fashion for her is more about comfort. “Fashion is something that makes me feel good about myself. For me, fashion is an extended personality of what you are,” she said. Kriti will next be seen in Dinesh Vijan’s directorial debut Raabta, opposite Sushant Singh Rajput. It is scheduled to release on February 12, 2017. l

James, a living legend

nRumpa Farzana To some he is the “guru,” and to others, he is the boss; he is Faruq Mahfuz Anam, popularly known as James. The iconic singer celebrated his birthday yesterday with love and respect garnered from his fans and close ones. Yes, the evergreen “guru” has stepped into the 52nd year of being! From rock to playback, national stages to international arenas, he has been a successful name who has made Bangladesh proud with his musical journey.

James started his career as the vocalist of the band Feelings, from Chittagong. He transformed the band and later named it Nagar Baul. James made his debut in the music industry with their album Station Road, which was released back in 1987. In 1988, his single album, Anonna was released and gained popularity among the mass. James is also very popular in the music industry of West Bengal, which led to his meeting with Bollywood based Bengali music director Pritom, in 2004. In

2005, James made his Bollywood debut in the movie, Gangster. His song “Bheegi Bheegi” was a huge success and topped the charts in Bollywood for more than a month. Since then, James has frequently sung for Bollywood films. James has also been seen in a TV commercial, for Pepsi, and is famous for acting as the brand ambassador for an energy drink brand. Black Horse. Even James, at the beginning of his musical journey faced a lot of difficulties. Like every parent in the 80s, his parents wanted him to be a successful job holder, and not a musician. But he denied to be just an ordinary job holder, and followed his dream to become a leader. James was born in Naogaon, but was brought up in Rajshahi and Chittagong. His father was a government employee. From his teens, James developed an avid interest in music, an interest which his family did not accept or support. He first played guitar with his friends when he was in the seventh grade, in 1973. Following a huge dispute with his family, James left his house when he was in class eight. He started living in a dormitory called Aziz Boarding in Chittagong. This is the place where his musical career kick started and flourished, after he met the musicians to form the band Feelings. He later joined the band as the vocalist and lead guitarist. That little boy of great courage is now a 52 years old successful musician, who chose to live his life on his own terms. And this is the definition of a leader, a legend. l

Showtime

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

‘Pinked’ Bollywood nShowtime Desk Suddenly Bollywood has been coloured pink with Pink, and has made noise everywhere. Amitabh Bachchan starrer Pink, is enjoying a good run at the box office with a decent collection in week two as well. The film has completed 12 days at the domestic market and has taken its earning close to Rs55 crore. According to the critics of Bollywood, it’s a powerful, brave Hindi mainstream film which focuses on real young women who live real lives and deal with thorny day-to-day issues, which young women all over the world can identify and relate to. Story summary is, three men and three women meet for the first time at a rock concert in Delhi. An incident occurs which changes their lives forever. One of the male perpetrators

in this case, Rajveer (Angad Bedi) uses his political influence to make the womens’ lives a misery in a desperate attempt to prevent details of the incident from being exposed to the public. Minal (Taapsee Pannu), Falak (Kirti Kulhari), and Andrea (Andrea Tariang) refuse to accept victimisation against their innocence by fighting against the chauvinistic men. They decide to take the matter to court, where they are assisted by Deepak Sehgal (Bachchan), a retired lawyer with bipolar disorder. Pink starred Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Amitabh Bachchan, Angad Bedi, Raashul Tandon, Vijay Varma, Tushar Pandey, Piyush Mishra, Dhritimaan Chatterjee, Vinod Nagpal, Dibang, and directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. l

WHAT TO WATCH

The Incredibles Zee Studio HD 3:15pm A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world. Voices: Craig T. Nelson (Bob Parr), Holly Hunter (Helen Parr), Jason Lee (Buddy Pine), Samuel L Jackson (Lucius Best), Dominique Louis

Kung Fu Panda HBO 9:30pm The Dragon Warrior has to clash against the savage Tai Lung as China’s fate hangs in the balance. However, the Dragon Warrior mantle is supposedly mistaken to be bestowed upon an obese panda who is a tyro in martial arts. Voices: Jack Black (Po), Dustin Hoffman (Shifu), Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Jackie Chan (Monkey), Lucy Liu (Viper)

Anaconda Star Movies 2:30pm A ‘National Geographic’ film crew is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who takes them along on his quest to capture the world’s largest - and deadliest - snake. Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight

Ocean’s Eleven WB 10:29am Danny Ocean and his eleven accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously. Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts

Jumanji Movies Now 11:25am When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped for decades in it and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game. Cast: Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Bradley Pierce

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016

LENDING RATES MOVE CLOSER ENGLAND FOCUS ON TO SINGLE-DIGIT PAGE 12 CRICKET, NOT SECURITY

PAGE 24

JAMES, A LIVING LEGEND PAGE 31

PM inaugurates smart NID card distribution n BSS Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the Election Commission to ensure the security of the data being used for preparing smart national identity (NID) cards, saying that there should have firewall in such a digital project to check forgery. “I would like to request the Election Commission to ensure security of the data being used for preparing smart national identity cards ... there should have firewall and all kinds of security in every digital project so that none can misuse it,” she said. Sheikh Hasina added: “There are adequate technologies in the country and it’s very much necessary to use those technologies to check forgery in using the smart NID cards.” The premier said this while inaugurating the distribution of the smart NID cards as the chief guest at a function at Osmani Memorial Hall in the city. The Election Commission launched distribution of much-awaited machine-readable smart national identity (NID) cards among 10 crore citizens, replacing the existing paper-laminated cards. Sheikh Hasina formally opened the smart NID card distribution by handing over the smart NID card of President Abdul Hamid to Chief

CEC Kazi Rakibuddin presents Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with her smart NID at Osmani Memorial Hall yesterday. The PM launched the smart NID distribution at the event PMO Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed. Later, the CEC handed over the smart NID card of the prime minister to her. After that Sheikh Hasina distributed smart NID cards to members of the national cricket team including skipper and Brand Ambassador of smart NID cards Mashrafee Bin Mortuza and ace allrounder Shakib Al Hasan. Chief Election Commissioner

Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed was present at the function as the special guest, while Election Commission Secretariat Secretary Md Sirajul Islam delivered the welcome address. World Bank Country Director Qimiao Fan spoke and Project Director of Identification System for Enhancing Accesses to Services Brigadier General Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin gave a short presentation on the smart NID cards.

Ministers, PM’s advisers, parliament members, foreign diplomats, ex-CECs and election commissioners, civil society members, members of the national cricket team and high civil and military officials were present at the function. The prime minister also directed the Election Commission to stay more alert against duplicating the smart NID cards. “The smart NID cards are being prepared with the

world’s latest technologies and I hope that preparing counterfeit cards won’t be possible in any way,” she said. Sheikh Hasina hoped that with the providing of the smart NID cards to all citizens, a revolutionary change would take place in receiving government services. “Cheating and forgery would come down with the introduction smart NID cards and none would be spared after committing crimes,” she said. The prime minister said her government has taken a firm stance against terrorism and militancy and it won’t allow emergence of militancy in the country. She said that the smart NID cards would play an important role in identifying and arresting those who are engaged in militancy as well as anti-social activities. “Hunting down and nabbing any type of criminal would be very easier through this card ... So I think its more secure and multipurpose use would be possible,” she said The premier said the database of the national ID cards and smart national ID cards have received certificates of the international attestation authority and it (card) would be treated as the international standard national ID card including travel card. “The card would ensure state and social services and facilities for the citizens side by side with their identity,” she said. l

Syria conflict: Besieged areas of Aleppo a ‘living hell’ n BBC

Civilians in the rebel-held part of the Syrian city of Aleppo are enduring a “living hell”, the UN humanitarian chief has said, as fighting rages on. Stephen O’Brien urged the warring parties to allow the evacuation of hundreds of people who need urgent medical care. Rebel-held front-line areas were subject to dozens of Russian air strikes overnight, observers said. It allowed government troops to gain ground in the north of the city. Hours later, the Syrian army offered rebel fighters safe passage if they evacuated eastern Aleppo. “The army high command calls all armed fighters in the eastern neighbourhood of Aleppo to leave these neighbourhoods and let civilian residents live their normal lives,” said a statement, carried by

state news agency Sana yesterday. “The Russian and Syrian military leaderships will guarantee safe passage for the fighters and will give them aid as necessary.” The government made a similar offer in July, but the rebels ignored it.

‘Ferocious pummelling’

Syrian government forces have been trying for months to recapture the city’s eastern half, which has long been a major opposition stronghold. “I am deeply alarmed by the ferocious pummelling of eastern Aleppo city,” Mr O’Brien, UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement. “Indiscriminate bombing and shelling continues in a shocking and unrelenting manner, killing and maiming civilians, subjecting them to a level of savagery that no human should have to endure.”

The healthcare system in eastern Aleppo had been “all but obliterated”, he added. Yesterday air strikes hit Aleppo’s main trauma M10 hospital for the third time in a matter of days, medical workers say. “The hospital is now out of service completely,” radiologist Mohammad Abu Rajab was quoted by Reuters as saying. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition monitoring group, said dozens of Russian air strikes overnight had targeted front-line “fighting zones”. A correspondent with AFP news agency said the districts of Bustan al-Basha, Sakhur and Suleiman al-Halabi were all hit. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the strikes had helped pro-government troops to advance in the north of the city, reaching the outskirts of al-Halaq district.

“Regime forces aims to control Bustan al-Basha and Sakhur districts, to tighten the zones controlled by rebels,” he said. Ismael Abdullah, a volunteer with Syrian civil defence group the White Helmets, told the BBC: “The bombing started from the morning. There are air strikes in the al-Maja neighbourhood and rescue teams are there to get the people out from under the rubble.” Syrian government forces in Aleppo’s Suleiman al-Halabi neighbourhood on September 30, 2016Image Russia and the US are at loggerheads over ending the conflict in Syria, both supporting opposing sides in the five-year civil war. A US-Russia brokered cessation of hostilities recently collapsed and the US had threatened to end co-operation with the Kremlin unless Russia halts its military campaign.

For its part, Russia accuses the US of secretly supporting the powerful jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) in its attempts to unseat President Bashar al-Assad. It has emerged that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry talked again on Saturday about the situation in Aleppo. But there was still no sign of any diplomatic breakthrough that might end the bloodshed. Once Syria’s commercial and industrial hub, Aleppo has been divided roughly in two since 2012. At least 250,000 people have been killed in the conflict, with the observatory estimating the true number to be about 430,000. More than 4.8 million people have fled abroad, and an estimated 6.5 million others have been displaced within the country, the UN says. l

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