18 Aug, 2016

SECOND EDITION

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

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Bhadra 3, 1423, Zilqad 14, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 113

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

PM: Formulate new township plan n UNB Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the authorities concerned to formulate any new township plan keeping in mind the context of at least 20-25 years and the country's population at that time to ensure smooth development and avert future complexities.

"Whenever you (authorities concerned) take any plan, you'll have to consider what will be the population in the next 20 to 25 years, what

Especially in cases of administration, health, education and in other services, then it would be easier to render better services to the common people will be the extent of economic activities and our needs? Now we've a mindset of thinking about the present context, but we'll have to think with farsightedness to avert future complexities," she said.

The prime minister said this in her introductory remarks at a meeting at her office relating to planning on the newly formed Mymensingh division.

Sheikh Hasina said whenever any new township will be built,

there should be enough provisions for water bodies and water reservoirs so that water is easily found in case of any fire incident, addressing water logging problem and protecting the environment.

Asking again the authorities concerned to think about the environmental aspects and geographical location before taking any development plan, Hasina said she has already given specific directives to keep the provision of water bodies or water reservoirs while establishing countrywide economic zones and any township.

The prime minister said now the country's total population stands at 16 crore, and there is a need of decentralising power further to reach the services to the common people.

She said once Dhaka was a big division with 17 districts, and it periphery has been trimmed by creating a new Mymensingh division.

"Perhaps, Dhaka Division will be further trimmed in the future."

Citing the example of fire incident in the city's Bashundhara City Shopping Complex a couple of years back, she said firefighters had to bring water from Sonargaon Hotel swimming pool to douse the fire for lack of water in nearby water reservoirs and water bodies.

Whenever any residential area is created, there must be lakes or ponds so that the rainwater could be harvested there, she said.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joins the development planning meeting of the newly formed Mymensingh division

Afsana’s family fears foul play n Kamrul Hasan

Afsana Ferdous

The family of Afsana Ferdous, the 24-year-old student who was mysteriously killed on Saturday, say they fear that the main suspect might try to influence the outcome of the police investigation as he was a leader of Chhatra League.

According to Afsana’s relatives, Afsana used to have a relationship Habibur Rahman Robin, the organising secretary of Chhatra League’s Tejgaon College unit, but recently the two had a falling out.

They also claimed that Robin’s family has been trying to intimidate and reach a settlement with them.

Afsana’s elder brother Fazle Rabbi said he has received phone calls from people identifying themselves as Robin’s family members.

He expressed his fear that Robin

might now try to influence the findings in the autopsy report.

Rabbi’s friend Abdur Razzak Raju, who also received similar phone calls, said a man named Dipu had identified himself as a cousin of Robin and asked Afsana’s family to a meeting in Dhaka so a settlement could be reached for not pursuing a murder case.

Raju said some of the phone calls included threats for dropping the issue.

Repeated calls to Robin’s family for comments went unanswered.

Asked when a case would be filed, the victim’s brother Rabbi said it would take until Friday to file the paperworks in Dhaka as his family lived in Thakurgaon.

However, police said an unnatural death case has already been filed with Kafrul police station.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PMO

Imam a beloved leader for NY Bangladeshis n Reuters, New York Imam Maulama Akonjee was a devout spiritual leader beloved by his Bangladeshi Muslim community, according to those who knew him in the New York City neighbourhood where he lived, worshiped and died violently.

Nearly everyone who knew the cleric and his religious associate Thara Uddin asked the same question: What reason would anyone have to gun down two revered, humble men as they left their mosque in the Ozone Park section of Queens on Saturday?

In a diverse neighbourhood with a reputation for tolerance and relatively low crime, the mystery has raised suspicions among many

residents that the brazen, daylight murders were inspired by hatred of their religious or ethnic identities.

An outdoor funeral was held for the two men on Monday.

Badrul Khan, founder of Ozone Park’s Al-Furqan Jame Mosque, said he had known Akonjee for a long time. The 55-year-old cleric, a father of seven, emigrated to the United States from Bangladesh several years ago, he said.

Judging from what he knew about the imam, Khan said he could think of only one reason the fatal shooting could have happened: “This is a hate crime, nothing else.”

Police say the gunman stalked the men, who were dressed in  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PM: Formulate township plan

Soon after flood water begins to recede river erosion takes a serious turn at Kalihati in Tangail. The picture was taken yesterday from Kalihati SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Afsana’s family fears foul play Kafrul police OC Shikder Md Shamim Hossain said Afsana’s uncle had filed the case on Sunday afternoon.

But the uncle, Hasanuzzaman Mintu, said he did not file any case with the police yet, but was planning to do so after receiving the autopsy findings.

OC Shikder denied commenting on the progress of the investigation, terming it a “sensitive” case.

When the Dhaka Tribune asked for details about the unnatural death case, the OC instructed his Sub-Inspector Aminul Islam to provide only the name of the complainant and nothing else.

The SI, then, refused to give the Dhaka Tribune the case number or details about when the case had been filed.

Police sources, however, said they were now analysing some footage from the CCTV cameras of Al Helal Hospital – the place where Afsana’s body had been dropped off by two young men.

The director of Al Helal Hospital, Dr Abu Shamim, was phoned for comments. But when this reporter identified himself as a journalist, the hospital chief said he was in his car and could not hear anything over the phone.

The Dhaka Tribune spoke with a female receptionist at the hospital, who on condition of anonymity said that the doctors who were on duty on Saturday were not present at the hospital yesterday. She, however, claimed that Afsana was already dead when she arrived at the Mirpur hospital.

On Saturday, the body of Afsana Ferdous, a final-year student of architecture technology at Mirpur’s SAIC Institute of Management and Technology, was dropped off at the hospital by two unidentified men who fled soon after.

SAIC Institute’s Vice-Principal Muhammad Shams-uz-Zaman told

the Dhaka Tribune that Afsana was regular in classes and her personal life never hindered her studies.

He said the faculty and students wanted justice for Afsana and would form a human chain soon.

Meanwhile, at least five Chhatra Union activists of Tejgaon College were injured yesterday when they were attacked allegedly by Chhatra League men.

The injured men were attacked while preparing to head to Shahbagh for a rally that demanded justice for Afsana’s killing, said Chhatra Union President Lucky Akter.

Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights also issued a press release yesterday, with its Chairman Sigma Huda demanding justice for Afsana. The society’s Executive Director Mostaque Sohel said such incidents were being repeated in the country as the perpetrators were not being convicted.

Desk: Shumanta Kafrul police OC Shikder Md Shamim Hossain said Afsana’s uncle had filed the case on Sunday afternoon.

But the uncle, Hasanuzzaman Mintu, said he did not file any case with the police yet, but was planning to do so after receiving the autopsy findings.

OC Shikder denied commenting on the progress of the investigation, terming it a “sensitive” case.

When the Dhaka Tribune asked for details about the unnatural death case, the OC instructed his Sub-Inspector Aminul Islam to provide only the name of the complainant and nothing else.

The SI, then, refused to give the Dhaka Tribune the case number or details about when the case had been filed.

Police sources, however, said they were now analysing some footage from the CCTV cameras of Al Helal Hospital – the place where

Afsana’s body had been dropped off by two young men.

The director of Al Helal Hospital, Dr Abu Shamim, was phoned for comments. But when this reporter identified himself as a journalist, the hospital chief said he was in his car and could not hear anything over the phone.

The Dhaka Tribune spoke with a female receptionist at the hospital, who on condition of anonymity said that the doctors who were on duty on Saturday were not present at the hospital yesterday. She, however, claimed that Afsana was already dead when she arrived at the Mirpur hospital.

On Saturday, the body of Afsana Ferdous, a final-year student of architecture technology at Mirpur’s SAIC Institute of Management and Technology, was dropped off at the hospital by two unidentified men who fled soon after.

SAIC Institute’s Vice-Principal Muhammad Shams-uz-Zaman told the Dhaka Tribune that Afsana was regular in classes and her personal life never hindered her studies.

He said the faculty and students wanted justice for Afsana and would form a human chain soon.

Meanwhile, at least five Chhatra Union activists of Tejgaon College were injured yesterday when they were attacked allegedly by Chhatra League men.

The injured men were attacked while preparing to head to Shahbagh for a rally that demanded justice for Afsana’s killing, said Chhatra Union President Lucky Akter.

Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights also issued a press release yesterday, with its Chairman Sigma Huda demanding justice for Afsana. The society’s Executive Director Mostaque Sohel said such incidents were being repeated in the country as the perpetrators were not being convicted. l

Soon after the country’s independence, she said, the Father of the Nation had initiated a process for turning all the Mohokumas into districts to render much more services through decentralisation of power.

Hasina said once necessary divisional infrastructures are established in Mymensingh, then it would be easier to reach services to the common people in a much easier way.

“We want to further strengthen the local government and for this… it’s essential to decentralise power,” she said adding if such thing happens in phases, especially in cases of administration, health, education and in other services, then it would be easier to render better services to the common people.

With the full establishment of Mymensingh division, she said, more services will be ensured for the common people, while a modern and nice city will be established on the other side of the Brahmaputra River.

Hasina said a new township will emerge as a modern and eye-catch-

ing one with a very open and nice environment keeping unhurt the main town.

Referring to her decision of constructing new office buildings and other establishments in the newly formed divisions like Rangpur and Sylhet, the Prime Minister said such decisions have been proved appropriate.

Directives have already been given to set up all the establishments and offices in more open and wider areas on the other side of the Brahmaputra River in the newly formed Mymensingh division.

Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Religious Affairs Minister Principal Matiur Rahman and State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam attended the meeting.

PM’s Principal Secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad conducted the programme while PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum and PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim as well as secretaries and officials concerned were present. l

Imam a beloved leader for NY Bangladeshis religious garb, as they left Al-Furqan on Saturday afternoon and then shot them point-blank in the heads before fleeing.

A man was being questioned by detectives on Monday, but he had not been charged in connection with the killings. A motive had not yet been established, and police had not discovered a connection between the suspect and victims.

Khan, who spoke at the funeral for the two men in Ozone Park on Monday, told Reuters that the imam was a man of simple routines who lived and breathed his religious faith.

“This imam is a speaker, a translator for us,” Khan said, referring to the cleric’s role on interpreting the Koran. “His whole life was his job, praying here, then going home.”

Akonjee never expressed political views in public, but instead was known for his kindness, humility and abhorrence of violence, Kahn said.

Rana Miah, 38, said he had known Akonjee since 2003. Miah’s brother is married to the imam’s daughter.

“He taught people at the mosque and visited them at their homes to teach them, with what time he had.

He also used to cook for his family,” Miah said.

Miah said Akonjee and Uddin used to walk together from the mosque to the block where they both lived. Akonjee had booked a ticket to return to Bangladesh at the end of the month to visit his mother, who is ill, Miah said.

Hasina Aktar, 33, a stay-at-home mother, said her father and husband both go to Al-Furqan mosque to pray.

She described the imam as a “nice, decent” man of strong faith, and she couldn’t imagine why anyone would target him.

“He never fought. He encouraged Muslims in the community to pray, encouraged us to pray five times every day, to come to the mosque, to remember Allah.”

Political overtones Absent any other good explanation for the crime, she said she was inclined to think the murders were motivated by hate. Aktar said she has become afraid to wear her hijab in public, not because of the killings but because of what she sees is an escalating national anger against Muslims.

The funeral took on political overtones given the circumstances of the killings. The mayor and other elected officials condemned the shooting, and dozens of men in a sweltering parking lot held placards demanding justice.

To be sure, not everyone in Ozone Park believed the murders were linked to the men’s religion or ethnicity.

Tyrone Fields, 51, who works at a nearby hospital, emigrated from Barbados but has lived in Ozone Park for years, he said.

“People really keep to themselves here. This is a nice neighborhood,” he said. “I think it must have been something personal.” l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

31 students missing from CU Arabic department

Fracas in caucus after AL MP calls Zia 1st president

Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

A meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertaking erupted in a shouting match yesterday after Awami League MP Subid Ali Bhuiyan claimed Ziaur Rahman was the first president of Bangladesh.

According to sources at the meeting, during a discussion on an incident in Dhaka University in which an anniversary souvenir claimed Zia to be the first president, Subid Ali supported the claim and said he had written the same in his book.

Awami League lawmakers Muhibur Rahman Manik and Nurul Majid Humayun locked into a heated debate with Subid Ali over the issue, calling him a BNP man and an opportunist. Subid remained rigid on his stance. At one point committee president Showkat Ali interfered and brought the situation under control.

Meeting sources said, the committee wanted to inquire from the Universit Grants Commission about the Dhaka University publication where Ziaur Rahman was mentioned as the country’s first presi-

A total of 31 students of Chittagong University’s Arabic department have remained absent for long, according to a list prepared by the department yesterday.

“We have handed over a list of 49 absent students [18 of them drop outs] from first year to master’s to Registrar Prof Dr Kamrul Huda,” department Chairman Prof Dr Ismail Chowdhury told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The vice-chancellor, Prof Dr Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury, asked for the list of absentee students of the department on Tuesday, after the identity of Gulshan attack operation commander Nurul Islam Marjan was revealed.

On Tuesday, the authorities also confiscated around 200 banned and controversial books – some of which are written by Jamaat-e-Islami founder Syed Abul A’la Maudoodi and its leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee – from the seminar libraries of Arabic and Islamic studies departments.

Marjan, a former Islami Chhatra Shibir activist and student of the Arabic department in 2012-2013 academic session, left the university during his second year final examinations on February 14 in 2014. His studentship was cancelled as he did not take re-admission.

However, Marjan was not on the list of six “missing” students provided by the university administration earlier on August 4, said police and university sources.

The university has been known as a stronghold of Shibir for the last three decades. The law enforcers since December last year have arrested six CU students for their alleged involvement with two outlawed groups – JMB and Hizb ut-Tahrir.

“The list is long as we have included the names of students who have remained absent for at least 10 days, as per the instruction of the Education Ministry.

“Around 15 to 18 of them mentioned on the list were dropped out,” Prof Ismail said.

“We have given the names along with their addresses and contact numbers. Now the administration

will scrutinise the list and inform the law enforcement agencies about those students.

“As we made the list hurriedly, we could not contact the students,” he added.

According to investigators dealing with the July 1 Gulshan restaurant attack, Marjan is the youngest militant commander of the new faction of banned militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is largely known as New JMB. He has close connections with the top leaders of the outfit.

JMB regional commander Raisul Islam Khan Rasel alias Fardin alias Noman had joined JMB and started to recruit members from Chittagong University after completing his graduation from the physics department in 2012.

In December, police arrested three students of the same department for JMB connection from Chittagong. Based on information they gave, the detectives recovered a sophisticated sniper rifle, ammunition, army uniforms and huge amount of bomb-making materials from a flat in Amanbazar area. l

n Mohammad Al Masum Molla

dent.

Muhibur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that when this was brought up, Subid Ali said Ziaur Rahman was the first president of the country and that he had mentioned this in his book.

Lawmakers lashed out against Subid saying he was “Zia’s soldier.”

One MP said Subid had joined Awami League because he could not get BNP’s ticket in his constituency, Comilla’s Daudkandi.

The lawmakers also said ‘Jamaat-Shibir’ leaders like Subid Ali had ‘infiltrated’ Awami League and its associate bodies just to take benefits.

Committee member Nurul Majid Humayun MP told the Dhaka Tribune: “Dhaka University authorities published the information by error but on what basis Subid Ali Bhuiyan thinks it is true, I cannot understand. He was a fan of Ziaur Rahman and did BNP politics once.

That is probably why he made such a claim.”

The claim that party founder Zia was the first president has been pushed by BNP leaders in recent times, starting with Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman. l

BD, India to share info to contain militancy n UNB

Four female JMB members remanded n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Bangladesh and India have reached a consensus to contain militancy and terrorism through exchanging authentic information.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said this yesterday while talking to reporters after a meeting with his Indian counterpart Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi, said a PID handout.

Inu said information ministries of the two countries will work together to resist distortion of history, falsehood, rumour, militancy, terrorism and communalism through the exchange of authentic information.

The two ministers agreed in principle for signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the information ministries of the two countries to enhance the exchange of all sorts of information and broadcasting related communication between India and Bangladesh.

Besides, Bangladesh and India will work together to make two documentaries on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 1971 Liberation War on the eve of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu in 2020 and the golden jubilee of independence of Bangladesh in 2021 respectively, he said. l

A Dhaka court yesterday placed four suspected members of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh female wing on a five-day remand in a case filed with Mirpur police under the Anti-terrorism Act. Metropolitan Magistrate Pranab Kumar Hui passed the order after officer-in-charge (operation) Md Shajalal Alam of Mirpur police, also the investigation officer of the case, produced them before the court seeking a seven-day remand.

The remanded are – Istisna Akhter Oishee, 23, Aklima Rahman Moni, 23, Israt Jahan Moushumi alias Mou, 22, and Khadiza Parveen Meghla, 23.

On Tuesday, Rapid Action Battalion detained the four suspected members from different areas of Dhaka. The elite force also recovered jihadi books, leaflets, documentaries and audio and video CDs from their possession.

Later on the same day, RAB 4 Senior Warrant Officer Md Alauddin Miah filed a case against the four alleged female JMB members with Mirpur police station under Anti-terrorism Act. l

Passenger vessels, speedboats and ferries were banned from sailing the Padma River yesterday due to strong winds. A few ferries that were allowed to operate were crowded MEHEDI HASAN

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Warrant issued against SOS Hermann Gmeiner College 67 leaders and activists Bogra achieves Institution of 20-party alliance Achievement Award n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday issued warrants for the arrest of 67 leaders and activists of the 20-party alliance including BNP’s Vice Chairman Selima Rahman in a case filed under Special Powers Act. Dhaka Senior Special Court 1 Judge Md Kamrul Hossain Molla issued the warrants after accepting the charges brought against 93 BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists in the case.

The warrants were issued as the BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists did not appear before the court during yesterday’s hearing in the case.

The court also directed the officer-in-charge of Motijheel police station to submit reports by October 10 on the execution of the arrest warrants.

The other accused in the case includes – BNP Joint Secretary General Barkatullah Bulu, BNP chief’s Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan, BNP chief’s Personal Assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, former Jatiyatabadi Chha-

tra Dal president Azizul Bari Helal, Swechchhasebak Dal President Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, its Secretary Meer Sharafat Ali Safu and Saiful Islam Nirob.

BNP Joint Secretary General Amanullah Aman, BNP standing committee member MK Anwar, Journalist leader Shawkat Mahmud and 23 other accused in the case are now on bail.

On February 1, last year, some miscreants hurled three petrol bombs and set a bus of Bagdad Express afire in Gopibagh area of the city during a countrywide hartal and blockade programme sponsored by the 20-party alliance.

Later, Md Shafiul Azam, sub-inspector of Motijheel police station filed a case against 67 people and several others unnamed persons on the same day with Motijheel police.

On March 31 this year, Md Shafiqul Islam Akand, sub-inspector and also the investigation officer of the case, submitted a charge sheet before the court against the 93 BNP-Jamaat leaders and activist in the case. l

n Tribune Desk SOS Hermann Gmeiner College Bogra has been selected for Institution Achievement Award 2016 by Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) under the Ministry of Education.

The prize money and the certificate will be handed over to the college authority on December 16 Victory Day ceremony.

Three educational institutions at upazila level receive this award every year, since 2014. This year, SOS Herman Gmeiner College Bogra, as well as two other institutions achieved this award.

SOS Herman Gmeiner College Bogra has been recognised as one of the best educational institutions in Bogra for its outstanding performance in the arena of best results, quality education, infrastructural development and other activities.

Also in this year’s National Education Week, Fouzia Ashrafi – assistant professor of SOS Hermann

Gmeiner College Bogra – has been selected as the Best College Class Teacher at upazila level.

Well organised management of SOS Children’s Village Bangladesh, proper direction of college gov-

erning body, continuous support of guardians, cordial and standard teaching technique of teachers and mostly the hard work of the students are obvious for this great achievement. l

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Verdict on MP Nizam Hazari's post deferred n Tribune Desk The High Court has deferred until August 23 the date of announcing its decision whether Feni 2 ruling party lawmaker Nizam Uddin Hazari will hold his office or not.

The bench of Justice Md Emdadul Huq and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir set the new date yesterday when the judges were supposed to deliver the judgement as per a previous order passed on August 3.

According to the lawmaker's counsels, the court sought the case dockets which had upheld his jail sentence in an arms case, to ascertain how many years he served in jail.

Feni Jubo League leader Sakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan filed the writ petition after a Bangla daily reported that the controversial lawmaker allegedly got released from jail illegally.

A relative of Joynal Hazari, Nizam was supposed to serve jail terms till September 13, 2010, and he would not be qualified to contest in the parliamentary elections the next five years as per the constitution. But he became a lawmaker participating in the January 5 election in 2014.

The petition mentioned that on August 16, 2000, a Chittagong court sentenced Nizam to 10 years in jail in an arms case. He, however, was released after serving only five years in prison.

Although he appealed against the verdict with the High Court and the Appellate Division, the appeals were dismissed, said the plea. Even his review petition was rejected.

Nizam was first sent to jail on March 22, 1992 in an arms case and was released on July 28 that year, according to the police. Nizam was elected the mayor of Feni in 2011.

On January 5, 2014, he took part in the national election from the Awami League, resigning from his post as the mayor.

On June 8, 2014, a High Court in a rule asked the government, the Election Commission and Hazari to explain in four weeks why the constituency should not be declared vacant.

During the hearing, two benches felt embarrassed to hear the ruling.

Finally, the bench of Justice Md Emdadul Huq and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir started the hearing on January 19 this year. l

Long tailbacks have become a daily scenario on Dhaka roads but yesterday, commuters suffered for several hours in traffic at different areas of the capital. The photo captures the state of dozens of vehicles stuck in a gridlock in Dhaka’s Paltan area yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

BCPCL plans another 1,320MW plant n Aminur Rahman Rasel

utive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on October 21, 2014.

The plant will be built in Payra on 397 hectares of land. To acquire the land from locals, the government transferred Tk69 crore to the deputy commissioner of Patuakhali on April 29, 2015.

The Bangladesh-China Power Company Limited (BCPCL) will build another 1,320MW coal-based power plant in Patuakhali's Payra upazila near the maritime port.

BCPCL Managing Director AM Khurshedul Alam said: “a deal has already been signed with an EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] contractor,” adding: “The new power plant will be built beside the under-construction power plant.”

“A file has been sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina [also the minister in-charge of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry] for approval in this regard.

Ultra super-critical technology will be used to build the new plant,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Work on the new plant will begin after approval from the prime minister, Khurshedul said.

The earth-filling work has been completed for the new power plant area, he added.

The land development and protection project involving Tk783 crore was approved by the Exec-

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‘A file was sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina [also the minister incharge of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry] for approval’ The BCPCL is a 50:50 joint venture between Bangladesh's North-West Power Generation Company Limited (NWPGCL) and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC).

On March 30 this year, the BCPCL signed a $1.56 billion contract with a consortium of two Chinese firms – NPEC and CECC – for en27

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gineering, procurement and construction of a 1,320MW coal-fired power plant in Payra.

The project will be implemented on a 30:70 equity:debt basis. It means the NWPGCL and the CMC will have to provide 30% of the total project cost and mobilise the remaining 70% from international sources.

The cost of generating each unit of electricity is estimated at Tk6.

China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation Sinosure, which is the financier of China's government projects, could invest in the project.

Officials implementing the project hope that it will start generating electricity in 2019.

They also hope the first unit will start commissioning on April 25, 2019 while the second on October 25 of that year.

So far, the NWPGCL has implemented two 150MW power plants – one in Sirajganj and the other in Khulna.

The government has a plan to set up a series of coal-fired power projects to generate 20,000MW electricity by 2030. l Khulna

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Lawyer seeks judicial inquiry in elephant death

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A legal notice has been sent to the government requesting it to form a judicial inquiry committee to probe into the death of an Indian elephant.

Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond sent the notice yesterday alleging that the elephant was killed by using excessive tranquiliser and thus irresponsibility and negligence by the Forest Department and other concerned persons should be investigated.

The Indian wild elephant, named Bangabahadur by forest officials, drifted into Bangladesh from Assam with flood waters and died on August 16 at Sharishabari upazila of Jamalpur.

Akond in the legal notice said that the judicial inquiry committee should be formed within 24 hours to find the reason behind the elephant's death and the responsible persons should be brought to justice.

Otherwise, the lawyer will file a writ petition with the High Court seeking remedy.

The copies of the legal notice were sent by post to the secretaries of ministries of Fisheries and Livestock, Forest and Environment, Ministry of Home Affairs and LGRD, Directorate of Livestock and the deputy commissioner of Jamalpur. l Sylhet

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Fajr: 5:00am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:41pm Esha: 8:30pm Source: Islamic Foundation

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Kaliganj residents deprived of healthcare Hossain, n Moazzem Lalmonirhat Residents of Kaliganj upazila in Lalmonirhat are deprived of basic healthcare services, as upazila health complex, close to the house of Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, lies in dire state for a long due to manifold reasons.

According to local sources, the 50-bed health complex was built up in the upazila many years ago.

Only 12 physicians are working now out of 28. Technician of only X-ray machine is not present. Crisis of nurses and 4rth grade employs is serious.

Local alleged that though the minister was the chairman of the managing committee, he was not aware of the situation of the health complex.

When this correspondent visited the complex recently, he found that there was no electricity and water.

The patients alleged that they

A man comes out of Kaliganj Upzila Health Complex yesterday after failing to get proper treatment were not interested to stay at the health complex due to mismanagement and lack of service.

Momenna Begum, a patient of

JU BCL leader held over forgery in job exam n JU Correspondent A leader of Jahangirnagar University (JU) unit Chhatra League has been arrested over forgery in a job examination in Dhaka.

Source said JU unit BCL deputy secretary of library affairs Deen Mohammad Shoaib was held in last week as he reportedly attended for a job examination on behalf of an examinee at Keranigonj in the capital.

“The exam inspector caught Shoaib during the examination and handed over to the executive magistrate while he was awarded 15 days imprisonment by the mobile court and sent to Keranigonj central jail”, JU

Chhatra League sources confirmed.

Chhatra League leader Shoaib was a residential student of AFM Kamaluddin Hall who recently had completed MSc programme from JU environmental science department, known as a follower of JU president Mahmudur Rahman Jony.

While contacted, JU unit BCL general secretary Rajib Ahmed Rasel told the Dhaka Tribune: “If the incident is true, the organization will take action against Shoaib.”

Proctor Tapan Kumar Saha said the authorities would take steps according to the disciplinary act of the university if such incident happened. l

Paturia-Daulatdia Two die in launch services lightening strike n Sazzadur Rahman Sazzad, suspended

n Motiur Rahman, Manikganj Ferry services on the Paturia-Daulatdia and Aricha Kazirhat routes were suspended on Wednesday due to tidal surge in the Padma River triggered by inclement weather.

Md Faridul Islam, deputy director of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), Aricha port told the Dhaka Tribune that the suspension would be continued till further notice. l

Panchagargh

Two people were killed and three others injured in a lightening strike at Hakimpur village, Tetulia upzial, Panchagargh on Wednesday.

The deceased are Azimul Islam, 25, and Shahriar, 9.

Local said, two people died after being hit by a thunderbolt while they were catching fish in a pond in the afternoon. Shahriar died on the spot.

Later, Azimul Islam died at Tetulia Upzila Health Complex. l

Gynecology department, said she had decided to leave the health complex as she did not get treatment.

Moniruzzaman, another pa-

DHAKA TRIBUNE

tient, alleged that if a well person came to the health complex, he will be ill due to unhealthy environment.

He said: “I came here on August 15, on the occasion of National Mourning Day, to take treatment without fee. Like me, many patients came to take free medical service.

But all they had left the place meanwhile without treatment.”

Another patient, seeking anonymity, said the authority took from them token money for treatment.

Dr Ahsan Habib, residential medical officer of the health complex, said the patients could not be given good service due to lack of staffs. He did not know about the token money, he said.

Rustam Ali, officer-in-charge of Kaliganj health and family planning, said no meeting of the managing committee had been held since 2011.

The power line at the health complex collapsed on August 6.

Since then, the hospital had been lying in sorry state, he said.

When contacted, the minister did not make any comment over cell phone. l

7

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News

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Dorm for female RMG workers yet to open

n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong The country’s first dormitory constructed for the apparel workers could not be opened even three years after its inauguration in the premier port city Chittagong.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the under-construction dormitory buildings on October 12, 2013.

Venting anger over the foot-dragging on the project, the labour rights activists demanded the dormitory buildings be opened for the workers without further delay.

The leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) also expressed their optimism that the dormitory was going to be opened for the workers within a couple of months.

According to the BGMEA, at least 4 lakh female apparel workers are now employed in more than 400 readymade garment factories of the commercial capital.

Chittagong Development Authority responded to appeal of the BGMEA to mitigate the acute accommodation crisis for thousands of women apparel workers in the city.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BGMEA and CDA was inked for constructing five six-storey dormitory buildings on June 26, 2011.

The CDA developed the dormitory buildings on a 35-katha plot at

a cost of around Tk30 crore at Saltgola Crossing near Chittagong EPZ. The BGMEA leaders and CDA officials said the newly constructed dormitory buildings with 244 rooms would provide accommodation to some 4,000 female apparel workers.

The dormitory buildings will also house waiting room, medical centre, prayer hall, shopping corner, cafeteria and common room.

Each of the rooms will provide accommodation to four to eight women with a common dining and bathrooms on every floor.

Abdus Salam, chairman of Chittagong Development Authority told the Dhaka Tribune that they had completed all procedures to hand over the dormitory buildings to the BGMEA. “Nothing is left. We have completed all necessary procedures for fixing a date for handing over

the dormitory buildings to the BGMEA,” said the CDA chairman.

Moinuddin Ahmed Mintu, first vice-president of the BGMEA said the initiative of constructing dormitory was a landmark for the country’s apparel sector.

“We are hopeful of opening the dormitory for the women workers within November of this year.

The five dormitory buildings have already been allocated among 10 apparel factories,” said the leader of the apparel sector’s apex trade body.

“The workers will be able to stay in the dormitory at an affordable cost. We are also considering taking up some other welfare projects like it for the workers,” assured the BGMEA leader.

The readymade garment manufacturers also said the dormitories near the workplace would help the female workers of the CEPZ to save

JnU students take to the street demanding allocation of land of old Dhaka jail n Rafikul Islam Students of Jagannath University (JnU) yesterday took to the street in front of the National Press Club, demanding allocation of land of old Dhaka jail to construct dormitories there.

The students also announced that they would go on a strike for indefinite period from today to press home their demands.

The agitators started heading towards the Education Ministry around 10am to besiege the ministry. They later took position in front of the National Press Club, as police barred them from going there.

The protestors said they would continue their movement until their demands were met.

Students of the university have been demanding construction of residential halls at the site to ease their accommodation crisis.

Vice-Chancellor of the University Dr Mijanur Rahman said he had sent a letter to the government seeking permanent ownership of the vacated land of Dhaka Central Jail.

The VC said: “We will utilize the land properly constructing halls in the name of national fours leaders and a museum.” He also urged students to go back classes and examinations.

Recently, authorities of the university made an appeal to the government seeking the land of old Dhaka jail to construct dormitories there.

The university authorities said a multi-storied dormitory, a cultur-

Students of Jagannath University yesterday took to the street in front of the National Press Club, demanding allocation of land of old Dhaka jail to construct dormitories there MEHEDI HASAN al centre, a research centre and a museum would be constructed at the site of jail and these structures would be named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and four national leaders – Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, M Mansur Ali and AHM Qamaruzzaman, if the land is allotted to the university.

Currently, about 20,000 students were studying at the university. The educational institution was transformed into a university in 2005 through pass of a bill named Jagannath University Act in the national parliament.

Students of the university often observe several kinds of pro-

gramme such as procession and rally demanding measures to ease their accommodation crisis.

In 2014, students of the university staged demonstration on the campus for several days, demanding measures to recover dormitories of the university grabbed by influential quarters. l

transportation cost alongside offering hygienic accommodation.

Terming the initiative a noble one, Tapan Dutta, president of Bangladesh Trade Union Centre (TUC), Chittagong said the construction of dormitory for female RMG workers was a long-felt demand.

“Every time there is a hike in wage in apparel sector, it is accompanied by a concomitant rise in the house rent. It is the spiraling housing cost for which compels the apparel workers to live in an unhygienic condition in the dilapidated slums far away from their workplaces,” said the labour rights leader, adding that the housing facilities would definitely enhance the efficiency of the apparel workers.

It may be mentioned that the apparel industry began its journey in the port city back in 1978 through Desh Garments Ltd owned by late Nurul Kader Khan. l

BTCL divisional engineer among 3 held n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

A team of Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday caught two BTCL employees red-handed and a divisional engineer on charge of bribery.

The detained are Pradip Das, divisional engineer (Internal), Md Gias Uddin, head clerk cum cashier and Humayun Kabir, telephone operator cum stenographer of the BTCL’s Nandan Kanan office in the city.

The ACC members detained the corrupt officials and employees after conducting a drive at the BTCL’s office.

Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan, director of the ACC told the Dhaka Tribune that they caught two BTCL employees red-handed while exchanging bribe.

According to the ACC, the BTCL employees were caught while taking Tk20,000 as bribe from Abul Quasem Bhuiyan, a retired sub-assistant engineer of the BTCL. Quasem said the BTCL employees were demanding Tk50,000 as bribe for withdrawing pension money.

Finding no other way, the retired official agreed to pay Tk20,000 in cash as bribe.

During the drive, the ACC members recovered cash Tk80,000 and savings certificates worth about Tk83,000 from the office room of Gias Uddin.

Later, the ACC members also conducted a search at the office room of Pradip Das and recovered cash Tk148,900 and two land purchasing documents worth about Tk2.40 lakh. l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Pakistan military kills 14 militants Pakistan’s military killed at least 14 militants in air strikes and a ground operation in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border on Tuesday.

The army offensive took place in the mountainous terrain of Rajgal in Khyber region, one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts where the military has been fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants for over a decade.

-AFP

INDIA

3 killed in militants ambush in Kashmir Suspected militants killed 2 soldiers and one police officer in an ambush on a military convoy overnight in Indian-administrated Kashmir. An unknown number of gunmen opened fire on the 2 army trucks and a police vehicle travelling through Baramulla district, 60km west of Srinagar.

-REUTERS

CHINA

US lobbies China again on missile defence system A decision by the US and South Korea to deploy an advanced anti-missile defence system is aimed at defending against North Korea’s missile threat and does not threaten China. The US has repeatedly tried to rebuff anger from China about Seoul’s move to host a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) unit with the US military.

-REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Australia and PNG agree to close refugee camp Australia and Papua New Guinea said on Wednesday they had agreed to close a controversial Australian-funded asylum seeker detention centre on Manus Island, but gave no timeline.

The announcement came after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm. -REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST

UN chief warns of catastrophe in Syria United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Syria’s Aleppo and urged Russia and the US to quickly reach a deal on a ceasefire in the city and elsewhere in the country. Fighting for control of Aleppo, split between its government-held west and rebel-held eastern neighborhoods, has intensified in recent weeks causing hundreds of deaths and depriving many civilians of power, water and vital supplies.

-REUTERS

NAMING THE NAMELESS

Experts struggle to identify drowned migrants n Reuters, Rome/Athens Mose tapped the screen of his mobile phone to zoom in on a photograph of his wife, Yordanos, pointing to a mole under her eyebrow.

“She has a recognizable mark here,” the 26-year-old Eritrean said in a park in Rome; after fleeing compulsory military service back home, Mose now lives in an Italian reception centre for migrants.

He has not seen Yordanos since May 26 when they left Libya, packed by people smugglers on to two separate boats bound for Italy.

He was rescued, but her boat sank in the Mediterranean.

Helping people like Mose find out their loved ones’ fate is becoming ever more pressing as Europe’s migrant crisis drags on in its third year and the death toll rises.

Teams of forensic scientists in Italy and Greece are painstakingly trying to identify the victims of drowning found at sea, washed up on shores or recovered from wrecks.

However, there is no common practice to collect information about these deaths between states or even sometimes within the same country, and a plan by the Dutch-based International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) to start tracing lost migrants is still awaiting funding.

Kathryne Bomberger, director general of the ICMP, said the problem was too big to be left solely to front-line countries such as Italy and Greece.

“This is a complex, international problem,” she said, as the task of identification and notification involves tracking down relatives who may be in their home countries, in refugee camps, or building new lives in the likes of Germany or Sweden.

“We are ready to go, we have the necessary database systems, we have an agreement with Italy, we have done our homework. We just need the financial support.”

The ICMP and International Organigation for Migration (IOM) are calling for a strategy to process the data, and a system for repatriating migrants’ remains.

Replacing numbers with names

Mose, who withheld his surname for fear of reprisals from Eritrean authorities, clings to the hope that Yordanos was rescued and that she could be recognised from the photograph.

MIGRATION FLOWS EUROPE: ARRIVALS AND FATALITIES SLOVAKIA AUSTRIA FRANCE

HUNGARY

SWITZERLAND

CROATIA

ROMANIA

1,011,712 arrivals in 2015 3,770 dead/missing

SERBIA ITALY

SPAIN

Source: IOM

BULGARIA

GREECE

Date for Italy and Greece 29/5/16 Data for Spain to 31/3/16

If she did not survive, and her body was recovered, her remains are likely to have been buried in one of hundreds of numbered graves in Sicily or the southwestern Calabria region for migrants who have drowned.

Both in Italy and Greece, which migrants have also tried to reach on a shorter but still dangerous sea crossing from Turkey, the forensic experts are trying to replace the numbers with names.

Sometimes they succeed, despite the practical and financial problems, as in the case of a baby boy found floating near the Greek island of Samos in January.

The child, no more than six months old, had been lost in a shipwreck on October 29, 2015 when 19 migrants drowned. For over two months, his body drifted more than 150km north until it was recovered from the water.

In the end, police identified the little boy from a DNA sample given by his Syrian father, who was among 139 people rescued when the boat sank in the Aegean off the island of Kalymnos.

“It is the least we can do for these people, under very difficult circumstances,” said Penelope Miniati, director of the Greek police’s Forensic Sciences Division.

For some, the tragedies recall Greece’s own history of migration, including in the 1950s and ‘60s when many escaped poverty for a new life in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia, breaking up families who sometimes lost contact with each other.

“We are Greeks, we also migrat-

ed and some people were lost in the journey ... and each time people wondered what had happened to them,” said Miniati.

Improvisation

More than three quarters of the 4,027 migrant and refugee deaths worldwide in 2016 so far happened in the Mediterranean, according to the IOM. Most died between Libya and Italy. Hundreds also drowned on the Turkey-Greece route, although arrivals have fallen sharply since a deal between the European Union and Ankara on curbing the flow in March.

Many shipwreck victims are never recovered, but about 1,500 have been brought to Italy since 2013. So far, just over 200 have been identified.

In a “policy vacuum” the action in Italy and Greece has been driven by “improvisation”, the IOM said in June in a joint report with City University London and the University of York.

The report praised a deal that Italy’s special commissioner for missing persons struck with a university laboratory, which provides free forensic work, and the interior ministry, to adopt a protocol to identify victims and inform relatives.

The commissioner records details of corpses and sends notices through embassies and humanitarian organizations asking survivors for photographs of the missing, and personal effects such as toothbrushes that could harbor DNA. In Athens, Miniati’s division has

TURKEY

CYPRUS

a database with information on 647 people who need identifying, about 80 percent of them the nameless dead of the migrant crisis.

People who drown and stay trapped underwater for months are often unrecognizable, so accounts of scars, tattoos and dental cavities help. Some people come to Italy to look for missing relatives in the commissioner’s files and some take DNA tests.

Values that count

Deputy Italian Commissioner Agata Iadicicco said a shared international database would make it easier to reach migrants’ home countries and diasporas across Europe. “We need money to standardize this model and to involve all the migrant communities that mainly live in northern Europe,” she said.

With no sign of a let-up in the perilous voyages from North Africa, Italy feels that fellow EU countries should pull their weight more in handling the crisis.

The issue of graves for the victims has become caught up in the ill-feeling. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he sent the navy to raise a ship that sank last year and bury the more than 450 people found in the wreck to “tell Europe which values really count”.

For Mose, whose young son is still in Eritrea, even being sure Yordanos had died would be some comfort. “If I find her body, I can find some serenity,” he said. “If my son asks whether his mother is, at least I can say where she is buried.” l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

USA

FACTBOX

Boko Haram and Nigeria’s missing Chibok schoolgirls Reuters n Thomson Foundation, Abuja The first of more than 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls to be rescued from Boko Haram after two years in captivity in northeast Nigeria said on Tuesday that she just wants to go home.

In her first interview, Amina Ali spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation in the capital of Abuja, where she and her baby daughter have been held by since her rescue in May for what the government has called a “restoration process”.

Ali said was not sure whether she would return to education and that she did not know when she would be able to go home.

Here are 10 key facts about the Chibok schoolgirls and the Islamist militant group Boko Haram: Ü Since 2009, Boko Haram has waged an insurgency to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria that has killed some 15,000 people and displaced more than two million. Ü The most high-profile attack took place on April 14, 2014, when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 school girls, from a secondary school in Chibok in northeast Borno state. About 50 of the girls escaped in the initial melee but 219 were captured. Ü Nigeria’s government and military, then under the command of former president Goodluck Jonathan, faced heavy criticism for their handling of the incident, with towns and cities across the nation witnessing protests. Ü The kidnappings prompted a

Ü

Ü

Ü

Ü

Ü

strong social media reaction, with the phrase #bringbackourgirls tweeted around 3.3 million times by mid-May 2014, and the campaign which followed backed by U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama.

Hope for the girls was briefly raised in April 2015 when the Nigerian military announced it had rescued 200 girls and 93 women from the Sambisa forest, northeast of Chibok. It was later revealed that the Chibok girls were not among them.

One of the Chibok girls, Amina Ali, was rescued in May. Held for months by the Nigerian government, she told her mother that the girls were starved and resorted to eating raw maize, and that some had died in captivity, suffered broken legs or gone deaf after being too close to explosions.

Boko Haram on Sunday published a video apparently showing recent footage of dozens of the Chibok girls, and a masked man saying some of their classmates had been killed in air strikes. In the video, unidentified bodies could be seen on the ground.

About 2,000 girls and boys have been kidnapped by Boko Haram since the beginning of 2014, according to Amnesty International, which says they are used as cooks, sex slaves, fighters and even suicide bombers.

Boko Haram used 44 children to carry out suicide attacks in West Africa last year, up from four in 2014, with some as young as eight, mostly girls, detonating bombs in schools and markets, according to the UN children’s agency Unicef.

#BringBackOurGirls Bombing at Nyanya Motor Park, Abuja 70+ killed Nigerian security forces fail to act on advance warnings about Boko Haram’s raid on the government college in Chibok

April 14

Defence Ministry announces the rescue of most girls. Statement is later retracted for being false NO OFFICIAL STATEMENT FR0M PRESIDENT JONATHAN

April 16

April 16: Unicef calls for immediate release of abducted school girls Parents abandon search in Sambisa Forest

April 15

April 15 -20: 53 abducted girls escape and make their way back to Chibok

April 18 April 19 April 21

House Representative, Abike Dabiri-Erewa calls on women to demand government accountability April 29: Reports surface that some of the girls are being sold into marriage & taken to neighboring countries Nigerian military asserts that it will not disclose its operational and tactical plan concerning rescue President Jonathan does not meet with demonstrators in Abuja

May 1 - PRESENT: Mass Demonstrations and Rallies worldwide denouncing the abduction and demanding action & accountability

April 23 April 25 April 29

Boko Haram releases video of 100+ abducted girls. Demands release of prisoners in exchange for girls

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima visits

April 15 -30 Continued confusion over the actual number of abducted girls STILL NO OFFICIAL STATEMENT FR0M PRESIDENT JONATHAN

Nigerian House of Representatives adopt a resolution calling for relief for victims and urging the govt. to seek foreign assistance

April 30 May 1

First Lady Patience Jonathan convenes unconstitutional inquiry of Chibok representatives. Orders their illegal detention alleging the abductions were politically motivated - designed to ruin the President’s image President Jonathan speaks directly to the

May 5 President Jonathan, faced with mounting pressure, accepts international asssistance to locate girls Attack @ Gomboru Market, Borno State 200+ killed

After 5 hours under siege, 276 Nigerian schoolgirls are kidnapped April 15 -19: Parents take up arms to search for girls in Sambisa Forest.

says “I believe we are succeeding”

May 6 May 7

Opening of the World Economic Forum in Abuja.

6,000 troops are deployed to protect delegates

May 13

STILL WAITING FOR THE #CHIBOK GIRLS

May 12

Ü Boko Haram, which last year pledged allegiance to Islamic State, controlled a swathe of land in northeast Nigeria, around the size

of Belgium, at the start of 2015 but was pushed out by Nigerian and regional troops, which are now in a final push to defeat the militants. l

Trump campaign shakes up leadership n Reuters, Washington, DC

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump overhauled his troubled campaign on Wednesday, hiring the combative head of a conservative news website as chief executive officer and promoting a seasoned political operative to a senior role.

Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart website, was named CEO, while Kellyanne Conway, who has been an adviser, will take on the role of campaign manager, the Trump campaign said.

The shake-up comes as Trump faces criticism from many Republicans over a series of controversial statements and opinion polls

DT

World

show him falling behind Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the race for the November 8 election.

The selection of Bannon suggested that Trump is aiming not so much to tone down his aggressive style but to be more disciplined in emphasizing themes that resonate strongly with the voters he is trying to court, such as his stances on immigration and criticism of Clinton.

“You’ve got a candidate who wants to win. This is a clear indication of that. It’s win at all cost,” Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, said on CNN. Lewandowski, who was ousted in June as the unorthodox Trump campaign tried to adopt more presidential posture, likened Bannon to “a street fighter,”

like himself. He said Conway, who had backed Trump rival Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries, could help Trump with “any gender gap problems that he has.”

Trump, a New York real estate developer and former reality TV star who has never held elected office, drew criticism for comments insulting women, Muslims and Mexican immigrants during the campaign for the Republican nomination, which he formally secured in July.

More recently, he has faced a barrage of criticism from Republicans over his free wheeling campaign style and his refusal to stick to a policy message.

In particular, he has been rebuked for his prolonged feud with the family of a Muslim US Army captain who was killed in the Iraq war, and for his unfound-

ed accusation that President Barack Obama and Clinton were the co-founders of the Islamic State militant group. Trump later backed off the comments about Islamic State.

Whatever it takes The campaign’s announcement on Wednesday quoted Trump as saying he was “committed to doing whatever it takes to win” the election. The campaign also said it would make its first major television commercial purchase later this week.

The staff changes, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, are the second time in two months that Trump has shifted his campaign’s leadership. In June, he fired longtime aide Lewandowski as campaign manager and handed more power to senior campaign aide Paul Manafort. l

More than 82,000 flee California wildfire A rapidly spreading fire raging east of Los Angeles forced the evacuation of more than 82,000 people as the governor of California Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency. Despite the efforts of 1,250 firefighters with more on the way, none of the inferno was contained as of late Tuesday.

-AFP

THE AMERICAS

Peru high court throws out Fujimori’s conviction A 5-judge Supreme Court panel on Tuesday unanimously overturned the embezzlement conviction of imprisoned former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was charged with diverting $40m from the military to pay for articles in sensationalist tabloids that maligned his political foes.

-AP

UK

‘IS needs to get round the table with UK’ Labour leadership challenger Owen Smith caused controversy after saying the UK government would have to negotiate with Islamic State to end the conflict in the Middle East. He made the comments during a head-to-head BBC debate with Jeremy Corbyn. Smith later rowed back on the comments, saying that IS would have to renounce all violence and commit to a peaceful settlement.

-THE GUARDIAN

EUROPE

Ukraine anti-graft activists protest gangster-style attacks About 200 people protested outside Ukraine’s public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday over the ‘gangster-style’ detention of 2 anti-corruption bureau (NABU) investigators which organisers said showed a lack of political will to eliminate graft. Demonstrators held “Save NABU” signs and 6 activists knelt on the ground with black bags on their heads simulating the ordeal of the investigators who organisers say were beaten while held in the basement.

-REUTERS

AFRICA

Zimbabwe police break up anti-Mugabe protest Zimbabwe police fired tear gas Wednesday to disperse around 200 protesters who had gathered in central Harare, carrying flowers for peace and holding posters reading ‘Mugabe Must Go’, in a string of protests over the country’s economic woes. Meanwhile, the government threatened to crack down on social media activists pressing to oust Mugabe’s government, and warned of the turmoil that followed the Arab Spring. -AFP

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

INSIGHT

Who is an extremist? UK faces legal challenge over strategy to stop radicals n Reuters, London To his detractors, including the British government, Salman Butt is an extremist whose views on Islam fly in the face of Britain’s values and help foster an atmosphere where young Muslims can be radicalised by militants.

Even though he is not accused of supporting militant groups or violence, the British authorities believe it is only by cracking down on activists like Butt and denying a forum for their ideas to be widely heard that the threat posed by jihadis and groups such as Islamic State can be countered.

But critics, ranging from civil rights groups to leading academics and lawmakers, say what the government is trying to do amounts to a curb on free speech which could drive a wedge between the authorities and Britain’s 2.8 million Muslims They argue if anything such plans will only make the problem worse and amount to an attack on the fundamental liberties the government wants to protect.

“Over the last few years the circle of who and what is considered extreme has been expanding slowly,” said Butt, 30, who is taking the British government to court over its counter-extremism strategy.

“Before it was just somebody committing crimes or calling for violence and then they expanded more and more to everyday people who happen to maybe criticise certain aspects of the government policy or hold certain conservative Islamic views,” he told Reuters.

The problem facing Britain and other Western governments is the same one with which they have wrestled since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States: how to stop their young citizens being radicalised without been seen to censor critics.

Thousands of Muslims, including more than 800 Britons, have left Europe for Iraq and Syria, many to join Islamic State (IS), while the recent deadly attacks seen in Paris, Brussels and Nice are a graphic illustration of the risk posed by some lured to a violent Islamist cause at home.

The revelation on Tuesday that Anjem Choudary, Britain’s most high-profile Islamist preacher, has been convicted for inviting his followers to support Islamic State has again brought the issue to the fore.

Choudary was convicted last month although this could not be reported until Tuesday to avoid prejudicing the jury in a separate case. It ended a streak of many years during which he served as the

leader of banned organisations but dodged prosecution by carefully managing his public remarks.

Critics questioned why it had taken so long to act against someone who had been a leading radical Islamist figure for two decades and whose followers had been involved in militant plots and acts of violence across the world.

“There should be zero tolerance towards any cleric - Muslim or otherwise - who advocates extremist views and rejects British values,” Britain’s top-selling Sun newspaper said. “Britain has been tolerant of men like Choudary for too long.”

Who is an extremist?

For those such as new British Prime Minister Theresa May, tackling extremism means no longer tolerating those who reject the country’s values: democracy, free speech, equality and the rule of law.

“Where non-violent extremism goes unchallenged, the values that bind our society together fragment,” May, who had been interior minister for six years before taking over the Downing Street reins, said in a speech in February.

“So while by no means all extremism leads to violence, it creates an environment in which those who seek to divide us can flourish.”

May, in her former guise as interior minister, was responsible for drawing up a proposed Counter-Extremism bill with bans for individuals or groups deemed extremist and closures of places where radicals thrive, including mosques.

However, there is still no sign of the legislation, with the Home Office (interior ministry) saying it would come in “due course”. One main obstacle is who decides who or what is extremist.

“Providing a clear definition of extremism is a difficult task and the government has yet to succeed in doing it,” said senior opposition Labour lawmaker Harriet Harman, head of the UK parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights which produced a critical report on the government plans in July.

Even Finance Minister Philip Hammond admitted in May the issue was “a minefield”: “The line between acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour is fine and fraught with dangers,” he said.

Hate speaker

Last September, Butt, 30, who runs a discussion website Islam21c, was one of the first to fall foul of the moves to clampdown on non-violent extremists after being identified by a secretive cross-govern-

from July 2014 to July 2015 Islamophobic crimeThe Metropolitan Police recorded. s between July 2014 to July 2015

This is up from Islamophobic crimes between July 2013 to July 2014

Details are provided in the map on the right,

by London borough. Each detail includes the number of incidents between July 2014 to July 2015, followed by the percentage increase of Islamophobic crime over the previous year (2013-2014) There are major increases across London, notably in boroughs with high levels of deprivation, where (according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales) residents tend to experience hate crime more frequently.

Source: Metropolitan Police Service

David Anderson, Britain’s terrorism law watchdog, has warned that plans to clamp down on individuals and organisations accused of extremism could backfire by playing into the hands of militant recruiters.

Free pass

Anjem Choudary, the leader of the dissolved militant group al-Muhajiroun ment Extremism Analysis Unit, established to pick out groups or individuals of concern.

The activist, who has a biochemistry doctorate, was named in a Downing Street press release on “hate speakers” as one of six figures who gave talks at university campuses and were “on record as expressing views contrary to British values”.

A later explanation given by the government to parliament said he had appeared to compare homosexuality to paedophilia and had spoken alongside figures from CAGE, a campaign group that gained attention for contacts with Mohammed Emwazi, the now-dead British militant known as “Jihadi John” who appeared in Islamic State videos beheading foreign captives.

Butt said the accusations against him were “complete rubbish”, and is now taking legal action to chal-

REUTERS

lenge the government’s way of identifying extremists and its “Prevent” strategy, its much-criticised policy to stop radicalisation.

“What has happened over the last 10 years of counter-terrorism policy is it’s completely going about it in a very destructive way,” he said.

“The government need to do a job to keep people safe but the way it’s being done, especially recently, not only are they looking in the wrong place ... but they are completely ignoring the negative effects it’s having on community relations.”

It is not just those like Butt who are targeted that are concerned. In January, Professor Louise Richardson, the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, said it was better to let extremists speak on campuses and challenge their views than to simply ban them.

But those who back the government’s intent say allowing extremists free rein in public forums or at universities exposes vulnerable people to their messages. They point out that graduates or students at British universities have been involved in numerous militant plots including Emwazi and Nigerian “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Rupert Sutton, director of Student Rights, an organisation that campaigns against extremism on university campuses, said people with controversial views were often given a platform where their opinions were not questioned.

“They’re too often given a free pass,” he told Reuters. “If you put it as a dichotomy between either freedom of expression or ban them from speaking that is too binary.

What we need to think about is how we are going to make it so that when they do come to speak they face challenge rather than being banned.”

He said the focus should be on using existing legislation to tackle people like Choudary, even if he had long proved adept at ensuring he did not break the law.

“When someone is as effective at it as Choudary is, you are going to get people saying: ‘How is he allowed to go around on the street doing this?’” he said. l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

India,right,Pakistan

national

flags

REUTERS

India ready for Pakistan talks, UN alarmed by Kashmir violence n Reuters, Srinagar/New Delhi India is ready to send its top diplomat to Pakistan for talks focused on fighting cross-border terrorism, sources at India’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after a spike in tension in the disputed northernmost region of Kashmir.

Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was willing to attend talks on the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, the sources said, stressing that cross-border terrorism was central to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir state.

The olive branch comes after 40 days of violent protests in Indian-ruled Kashmir that were sparked by the killing by security forces of a field commander of Pakistan-based Islamic militant group Hizbul Mujahideen who enjoyed wide support.

At least 64 people have died and thousands been injured in clashes with security forces that have been denounced by Pakistan, which also claims the right to rule Jammu & Kashmir in a territorial dispute that dates back to partition in 1947.

The Indian sources, who declined to be identified, made it clear, however, that India “rejects in their entirety the self-serving allegations regarding the situation in J&K, which is an integral part of India.”

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is the name of India’s only Muslim-majority state that includes the disputed Kashmir region. No comment was immediately available from Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

A top UN human rights official expressed “deep regret” at the failure of both the Indian and Pakistani authorities to grant access to the separate parts of Kashmir that each run to investigate allegations of serious human rights violations.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement issued in Geneva it was unfortunate that sincere attempts by the United Nations to independently assess the facts in relation to reports of human rights violations had failed.

“Without access, we can only fear the worst,” said Zeid. l

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12 Business

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

APG meet to be updated about anti-terrorism measures

Citycell lenders, service providers fret over likely shutdown

n Asif Showkat Kallol

n Ishtiaq Husain

The government will inform the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering about anti-terrorism steps taken so far at the next meeting due on September 5-8 in Washington.

A meeting of National Coordination Committee on Anti-Money Laundering yesterday decided to update the anti-terrorism steps to the APG, said Bank and Financial Institutions Division sources.

The meeting, presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, was attended by Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, Senior Home Secretary Mozammel Haque Khan and Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.

According to the meeting sources, Law Secretary Mahmand Shadiul Haq was asked to prepare updates of actions taken by different government agencies.

Finance Minister asked the Attorney General’s Office and home ministry to expedite process of the anti-money laundering cases as the progress on the cases will be presented at the next APG meeting.

Home ministry, police and intelligence agencies will take necessary steps to prevent terrorist activities, according to the meeting sources.

The last APG meeting found the slow pace of anti-money laundering cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission. It also found lack of coordination between home ministry’s office and police administration.

According to the APG, Bangladesh’s performance to prevent money laundering is moderate.

After July 1 terror attack in Dhaka, APG postponed its 19th annual general meeting scheduled on July 23-28 in Dhaka. The venue was later shifted to the US and fixed new date though Muhith said the APG annual meeting would be held in due time. l

The lenders and support service providers for Citycell are worried as the government has begun its process of shutting down the mobile phone operator.

State Minister for Posts and Telecommunication Tarana Halim has already announced to get tough with the Citycell to realise its Tk477 crore dues.

“There is no doubt that the government would take a hard line on the collection of dues from Citycell. If need be, we will go for legal action which would be set as an example for others,” the minister said.

Despite her tough stance, lenders cannot feel assured that Citycell will pay its dues.

After the announcement, different vendors providing services for the cellphone company are still concerned to get back their dues.

Asking not be named, a software provider of Citycell told the Dhaka Tribune that for the last one year the operator did not pay any money.

Getting to know about the Citycell condition, software firms had stopped providing their services since January this year.

Meanwhile, Chinese Development Bank yesterday filed a case with the High Court bench against Citycell to realise its dues worth $36.6 million.

“The company bench of the High Court heard the petitioner – China Development Bank – and Citycell that sought more time.

The court granted an extension till September 4, 2016,” said Barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain, a BTRC lawyer.

The country’s oldest mobile operator got 18 days to repay its loan by September 4.

The High Court yesterday granted the operator’s appeal.

During this time if the opera-

Capital market snapshot: Wednesday DSE Broad Index

4,595.2

0.2% ▲

Index

1,122.6

-0.1% ▼

30 Index

1,771.6

-0.1% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

5,039.4

18.4% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

136.0

13.4% ▲

All Share Index 14,126.6

0.1% ▲

30 Index

0.2% ▲

CSE

Selected Index

12,920.8 8,597.6

0.1% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

254.8

20.7% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

9.1

14.4% ▲

Citycell employees demonstrate for their outstanding salaries and compensations in front of the mobile phone company’s head office in Dhaka yesterday as the operator started the process to close operations DHAKA TRIBUNE

‘The company bench of the High Court heard the petitioner – China Development Bank – and Citycell that sought more time. The court granted an extension till September 4, 2016’ tor can reach an agreement with the China Development Bank, it might get more time to repay its loan.

Earlier, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) asked the operator to pay all its dues, including regulatory fees and fines worth TK477 crore by August 16.

The regulator also ordered the operator to create an option for their subscribers to provide service through an alternative way, said the notice.

Later, State Minister for Posts and Telecommunication Tarana Halim on last Tuesday approved 7 more days for the Citycell subscribers to switch to alternative cellphone operators.

DSEX keeps rising marginally n Tribune Business Desk The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange continued to rise marginally yesterday while two other indexes closed flat in red.

The DSEX rose about 9 points or 0.2% to finish at 4,595, which is almost six months high.

However, the DS30 index, com-

prising blue chips, shed only 2 points to 1,771.

The DSE Shariah Index, DSES, witnessed a factional loss of 0.8 points to 1,122.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX rose over 8 points to 8,597.

Trading activities continued to  PAGE 13 COLUMN 5

Earlier, BTRC Chief Dr Shahjahan Mahmood said: “The government will make its final decision about the fate of Citycell as to whether it would be shut or let to continue its services.”

Shahjahan informed the journalists that the total number of Citycell subscribers is approximately 1,50,000 after the biometric RIM registration.

According to BTRC, Citycell has not paid the second and third instalments of the renewal fees of Tk229 crore for 8.82 megahertz spectrum since spectrum renewal in 2012, which has breached the licencing terms.

The other dues include Tk10 crore annual licence fees, Tk27.14 crore annual spectrum fees from

2013 to 2016, Tk27.84 crore revenue sharing from 2014 to 2016, Tk8.92 crore corporate social responsibility fund from 2011 to 2016 while Tk39.92 crore VAT and Tk13.5 crore late fees.

Citycell parent company Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited got licence for telecom services in 1989.

It is the only CDMA network operator in the country. It is currently owned by Singtel with 45% stake and the remaining 55% is owned by the Pacific Group and Far East Telecom.

The employees of the defaulter mobile phone operator raised seven-point demand including outstanding salaries and compensation for losing jobs.

To press home the demands, they formed a human chain in front of Citycell office yesterday.

Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited Employees Union president Ashraful Karim said: “All outstanding salaries, Eid bonus, LFA bonus, provident fund facilities, gratuity and full salaries of five years as compensation have to be paid by August 21.” l

Global stocks fall on British data, Fed rate hike talk n AFP

Global stocks retreated Tuesday as British inflation data stoked worries about Brexit fallout and a senior US central banker said an interest rate hike could come as early as September.

Equity markets were broadly lower, with bourses in Tokyo, Paris, London and Frankfurt all falling and US markets pulling back from record highs.

Britain’s 12-month Consumer Price Index rose by 0.6% in July as a pound weakened by the British vote to exit the European Union increased import prices.

Analysts expect British inflation to rise further in the coming months as the pound holds at multi-year lows against the dollar and euro.

On the positive side, investor confidence in Germany rebounded slightly this month, as the shock

over the June Brexit vote begins to wear off, a leading survey showed.

The ZEW investor confidence index gained 7.3 points to stand in positive territory at 0.5 points in August, recovering partially from a massive 26-point slump in July.

London’s benchmark FTSE closed 0.7% lower, while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 0.6% and the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.8%.

In the US, the S&P 500 lost 0.6% after William Dudley, head of the Federal Reserve’s New York branch, told Fox Business that a rate hike was possible next month and that Wall Street investors were too “complacent” about the prospect of higher rates over the next year.

The remarks show the US central bank anticipates hiking interest rates “more quickly than the market expects,” said Gregori Volokhine, president of Meeschaert Capital Markets.

Analysts also said US stocks were

due for a pause after all three major indices had surged to new records.

“Today is nothing more than taking a breather,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

In Japan, the Nikkei tumbled 1.6% after a sharp rally in the yen hit investor sentiment.

On the corporate front, shares in mining giant BHP Billiton closed up nearly one percent in London, despite announcing an annual net loss of $6.39 billion.

BHP’s worst-ever result was caused by a mine dam disaster in Brazil and weak commodity prices.

But investors were cheered by a larger-than-expected dividend payment.

And in Frankfurt, shares in German industrial gas supplier Linde soared 11 percent higher after it confirmed it was in “preliminary discussions” about a possible merger with US rival Praxair. Praxair rose 2.7%. l

A five-day exhibition of clothes, cosmetics and other fashion products began yesterday at Emmanuell’s Banquet Hall at Gulshan 1 in Dhaka. The expo will remain open for visitors from 10.00am to 9.30pm everyday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Grameenphone launches Xiaomi smartphone n Tribune Business Desk Grameenphone (GP) has recently announced to sell Xiaomi smartphones in the country.

The telecom company announced to sell three Xiaomi smartphones at an event with a distribution partnership deal with Solar Electro Bangladesh LTD. According to GP, they will sell Xiaomi Redmi 3, Mi

Max and Mi 5 smart phones at Tk16,900, Tk26,490 and Tk37,900 respectively with one-year manufacturer warranty.

Xiaomi is offering a 5000 mAh Mi power bank as a free gift during this campaign period with Grameenphone.

GP customers will be able to purchase any of the three Xiaomi smartphones at 12 months EMI with attractive data packages.

GP customers will be able to purchase any of the three Xiaomi smartphones at 12 months EMI with attractive data packages.

Customers can place their pre-orders online through www.Grameenphone.com/ shop/preorder anytime during the pre-booking period between August 11 and August 17 with a certain amount of down payment as confirmation. l

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Data Soft, Fyne Tech launch app Pay 365 n Tribune Business Desk Local Software Company Data Soft Systems Bangladesh Limited and Fyne Tech Limited have jointly launched the first payment app “Pay 365” for smartphone devices.

We are successful in making our mobile more secure than our physical wallet Junaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, inaugurated the app at a function at a hotel in Dhaka recently.

Dutch Bangla Bank Limited will be working as acquiring bank with Data Soft as merchant service provider or as payment aggregator.

With Pay 365, DBBL will have the first mover advantage in smart-

phone payment. Pay 365 is also the first mobile wallet of Bangladesh just like American mobile wallet Apple pay and Google wallet or Rupay and Paytm from India.

The purpose of this mobile application is to facilitate making payments by smartphone users at any retail outlet with their smartphones.

Debit card and credit holders simply can enter their bank card number once during Sign up and need not have to carry their cards at all.

About the use of App, Mahboob Zaman, managing mirector of Data Soft, said: “We have succeeded in making our mobile more secure than our physical wallet and the app will be automatically activated after signing up a card number.”

“Initially, we are in talks with a few merchants and e-commerce such as Meena Bazaar, Agora, Crimson Cup, Tabaq, Kobe, Tokyo Express, Hungry Naki, Bagdoom and many more.” l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Indian refiners switch to soyoil as palm prices rally n Reuters, Mumbai

The share of palm oil in India’s growing edible oil imports is likely to plunge to a record low this marketing year as a rally in prices slashes its discount over rival soyoil.

That shift in the world’s top palm oil importer could drag on benchmark prices for palm oil that have surged around a third in the last 12 months, while bolstering markets for soyoil.

Edible oils are a common ingredient in Indian cuisine, used in everything from curries to samosas, with soyoil seen as more healthy than palm.

“Palm oil discounts are consistently reducing over soyoil. At the current price level, Indian refiners are inclined to switch to soyoil,” said Govindbhai Patel, managing

director at edible oil trading firm GG Patel & Nihil Research Co. Palm’s discount to soyoil has more than halved to $70 per tonne, from $171 in August 2015, according to data from Mumbai-based trade body the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA).

India’s overall edible oil imports are expected to rise 1.4% in the 2015/16 marketing year that ends in October to 14.6 million tonnes due to rising consumption, Patel said, but palm imports will drop 12% to 8.4 million tonnes.

That will crimp palm’s share of total edible oil imports to 57% - the lowest since India eased restrictions on such imports in the early 1990s.

Palm oil’s share of India’s edible oil imports stood at 66 percent last year, down from 86% in 2007/08.

India’s monthly palm oil im-

Workers stand near palm oil fruits inside a palm oil factory in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur REUTERS ports fell to 570,051 tonnes in July, the lowest since February 2015.

And soyoil imports have jumped as palm purchases have faded.

The country has so far in 2015/16 imported a record 3.1 million tonnes soyoil and total purchases in the year to October are set to rise to 4.25 million tonnes, up 42% from last year’s 3 million tonnes, Patel said.

India mainly imports palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, while its soyoil comes from Argentina and Brazil.

“In coming months, palm oil prices have to fall to remain competitive against soyoil,” said an official with a leading edible oil refinery based at central Indian city Indore. He asked not to be identified as he is not authorised to speak with media.

“Otherwise palm oil exports will fall gradually and inventory will build up in peak producing months.” l

Dollar halts slide on Fed rate hike talk n AFP, Tokyo The dollar halted its slide in Asia trade yesterday after a senior US central banker said overnight that an interest rate raise could come as early as next month.

William Dudley, the influential head of the Federal Reserve’s New York branch, unexpectedly hinted that a rate hike was possible as early as September.

Analysts said the comments from Dudley - who remarked that Wall Street investors were too “complacent” about the prospect of higher borrowing costs over the next year - halted the US unit’s fall in Asia.

The greenback had briefly dived under the 100 level against the safe-haven Japanese currency in New York for only the second time this year, touching as low as 99.54 at one stage.

“While Dudley was at least able to stem the bleeding for the dollar index, price action is not encouraging for the dollar near term,” Sean Callow, a Sydney-based senior foreign-exchange strategist at Westpac Banking Corp, told Bloomberg News.

“Still, so long as a rate hike seems more likely than not as the Fed’s next move, we wouldn’t get super bearish on the dollar.”

In Tokyo morning trade, the greenback climbed to 100.57 yen from 100.30 yen Tuesday in New York.

The euro rose to 113.46 yen

from 113.10 yen in US trade, as another Japanese official hinted at a possible bid to weaken the yen.

Japan’s currency has been on a tear since wild market volatility at the start of the year pushed investors into the currency, seen as a safe bet in times of turmoil.

The rally picked up after Britain’s vote to quit the European Union sent shivers across world markets.

But a stronger currency is generally bad for Japan Inc’s profits.

The sharp rise has prompted a string of warnings from Japanese officials that they might intervene in markets to weaken the currency.

Japan’s top currency official, Masatsugu Asakawa, told reporters Wednesday that Tokyo could respond to the “excessive moves” in forex markets.

However, analysts said the bid to talk down Japan’s currency might be wearing thin, while a market intervention threatens to put Japan on a collision course with its G7 counterparts, which have pledged not to interfere with exchange rates.

“This morning, Asakawa was again dishing out the well-worn Japanese policymakers verbal intervention, ‘moves are rough’, rhetoric and hinting that the BoJ is in touch with other G7 sympathetic to Japan’s cause,” Stephen Innes, senior trader at forex firm OANDA, said in a commentary. l

DSEX keeps rising marginally improve as the DSE turnover in value crossed Tk500 crore for the second time.

The turnover is over 18% higher than the previous session.

During the session, out of total 323 issues traded, 139 scrips advanced, 141 declined and 43 remained unchanged.

UCB Capital Management Ltd said investors showed interest in banking stocks recently.

Banking sector contributed around 12% of the total turnover while it contributed only 7% of the total turnover last week, it said.

Pharmaceutical sector was the most-traded sector among all the sectors as it accounted for 18.7% of the total turnover.

Among the major sectors, textile sector was the top gainer, rising 1%, followed by non-life insurance 0.7% and bank 0.7%.

On the contrary, ceramics declined the highest over 1.2%, followed by telecommunication 0.5%.

National Tubes Limited was the top gainer, followed

by Rahim Textile Limited and In Tech Online Limited while Meghna Pet Industries Limited topped the losers table, followed by Zeal Bangla Sugar Mills Limited and BD Autocars Limited.

National Tubes Limited was the most traded stock, followed by Square Pharmaceuticals Limited and Apex Tannery Limited. l

CORPORATE NEWS

LankaBangla Foundation has recently held a tree plantation programme at Shahzadpur Upazila in Sirajganj, said a press release. Upazila chairperson of Shahzadpur Upazila, Prof Azad Rahman and head of HR at LankaBangla Finance Limited, Md Shariful Islam Mridha were present at the programme

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently extended financial assistance to its client, Md Mahfuz Alam for his treatment, said a press release.

Freedom fighter, Mahfuz Alam suffered injuries from a road accident.

The bank’s AMD, Ihsanul Aziz handed over the donation to Hazi Md Shahid Ullah, chairperson of Bangladesh Bir Juddhahato and Bir Muktijoddha Kalyan Parishad

UCB Capital Management Ltd has recently signed an agreement with Grameen Capital Management Ltd on providing stock brokerage services, said a press release. Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, CEO of UCB Capital Management Ltd and MD of Grameen Capital Management Ltd, Mohammed Ahsan Ullah have signed the agreement

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Feature

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Bangladesh: country with the highest population that never wins the Olympics in Manchester, Asif secured the gold medal while Indian Abhinav Bindra secured silver. In 2008, Abhinav became the first ever Indian athlete to win a gold medal in Olympic when he won the gold medal for the 10 metre air rifle category in Beijing Olympic 2008.

Determined to end the medal drought, Bangladesh’s Olympic association, before the beginning of the Rio Olympic 2016 this year, declared major incentives for its Games squad. Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA)’s Director General Fakhruddin Haider declared that anyone “who wins gold will get 10 million taka (around $125,0000), silver five million and bronze Tk2.5 million.”

The lure of big money barely helped in motivating the Bangladeshi athletes performing well at the Olympics.

a place at no 82 among 84 athletes competing in the qualifying round.

Interestingly, Bangladeshi shooter Asif Hossain Khan who

Why this performance?

Many believe that part of the reason behind Bangladesh’s struggles in events like the Olympic is because much of the nation’s sporting interest is focused solely upon cricket, which is not an Olympic sport.

International cricket matches in Bangladesh attract huge crowds and leading players are among the biggest celebrities in the country.

So as the big bucks and glamour lie there, the sports-minded young generation focuses on being cricketers instead.

participated in 2004 Athens Olympic ended up finishing at 35th position. Two years back in 2002 Commonwealth Games

Those accusing the craze over cricket as the reason behind this lack of interest don’t take into account the facts that Americans

Photos: Reuters

n Mahmood Sadi Bangladesh tops yet another list which it unfortunately doesn’t want to top.

Despite being home to nearly 160 million people, nobody from Bangladesh has ever even qualified for the Olympics - their competitors have all been wildcard entries - let alone being able to reach the podium. It makes Bangladesh the country “with the highest population which never wins a medal in the Olympic”.

Bangladesh is among the 75 countries out of 206 which have not yet managed to claim a spot on the Olympic medal table. The second most populous country which has never been able to secure an Olympic medal is Cambodia.

Cambodia’s population is 15.7 million, one-tenth of Bangladesh’s population.

To see this from another perspective, let’s take the fact that Kosovo, one of the world’s newest countries with a population of 11,485, have one medal after Majlinda Kelmendi won a gold in the women’s 52kg judo competition in Rio 2016 Olympic.

Bangladesh’s Olympics’ performance so far So far Bangladesh has sent a total of 43 athletes in nine Olympics from 1984 Los Angeles Olympic. The best performance came with the hand of golfer Siddiqur Rahman who clinched his spot in Rio by finishing 55th out of 60 in the final qualifying round.

This is the only time an athlete from Bangladesh went on to the finals. In the past Olympics, the only spots for Bangladeshi athletes came through the wildcard system, which offers places to countries that had not met typical qualifying criteria and otherwise would have no involvement.

This year, much hope was placed on the shoulder of shooter Abdullah Hel Baki who won a silver medal on the 10 metre air rifle silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He however, failed to qualify for the final round.

The first Bangladeshi athlete who went to compete in an Olympic event was Saidur Rahman Dawn. Dawn competed in the qualifying round of 100 metre sprint in 1984 Los Angeles Olympic. Dawn ended up finding

are crazy about NFL, NBA and MLB (but for basketball, the other two are seldom played elsewhere) and 90% of all sporting attention goes there. Michael Jordan is more easily recognised and has also far wealthier than 22 medal winner Michael Phelps.

But, American athletes and swimmers chug along fine. That doesn’t stop them from earning the most medals in the Olympics.

It proves that “some” games’ popularity doesn’t have much to do with success in others.

The problem lies elsewhere.

With steady economic progress, Bangladesh now has a healthy middle class who loves to take the “middle” path i.e. choosing a career that comes with low risk but greater surety of career benefit.

A career in sports doesn’t really fit into the middle path. That is why we see shooters, boxers, wrestlers and athletes hailing from poorer sections of society (generally not always). There may be potential Olympians in the “middle class” but they are diverted to more mediocre career options to be able to secure their future.

Besides, parents here have the authority to take the decisions in their child’s life. Bangladesh is obviously not a sports nation.

Especially post-independence, Bangladeshi parents gave a lot of importance to academics and sports was considered to be a way to “pass time,” meant for recreational purposes. Sport was never a priority for a majority of parents and their kids.

As this middle class rises in numbers, the potential pool of sportsmen will shrink further.

The problem of Bangladesh’s Olympic drought will not end in the near future unless Bangladesh picks one or two sports which are included in the Olympics and invests significant money and resources to bring out world class athletes.

For instance, Ethiopia invests in running, winning all 45 Olympic medals for the country in that sport, most of them in longdistance running. Jamaica has won all but three of its 68 Olympic medals in sprinting events. Cuba focuses on boxing, and has won 67 of its 209 summer Olympic medals in that sport.

Time has come for Bangladeshi policymakers to make a strategic decision in opening the tally in the world’s greatest sports stage. l

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A utility belt for writers Because even writers need a hand n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Writing professionally is both easier and harder these days.

Harder because there are more rules and expectations now, your readers are more diverse and more demanding. Easier, because there are so many tools and support groups and networks to draw from. What could the likes of Shakespeare and Hemingway have done with things like version control, one has to wonder.

Having said that, sometimes the sheer number of online writing tools on offer can be mindboggling. From prompt banks to version control, to distractionblockers, some people approach the art of writing as they would an Olympic sport, and enterprising tech geeks have answered with an abundance of apps and tools promising to turn you into the next JK Rowling.

For an aspiring writer, this can be really daunting. As an oldschool soul, used to banging out pieces the old fashioned way – by drafting things on old-fashioned pen and paper, and then writing out a more polished draft using the most basic word processor, yours truly can testify to just how intimidating the plethora of digital tools can be. Where my former challenges used to be finding an idea, and then writing about it and producing a final draft by deadline, I am now bombarded with ads that tell me I need special

writing software that formats my work for me, that I need version control software so I can keep all my drafts....aaargh! One can only imagine what this might sound like to the absolute beginner.

This is when Draft comes in.

How to describe Draft?

Here’s what the site’s creator Nate Kontny has to say: “You don’t need writing software; you need someone’s feedback on your writing.

You don’t need version control software; you need to find all the things you’ve written without fear.

You don’t need distraction free text editors; you need to find ways to write more concisely, more clearly.

You don’t need real time collaboration software; you need a bigger audience for your writing.

I’m working on Draft to provide what you need.

What I need.

We need to be better writers.”

Favourite Features Version control: This is particularly useful for collaborations. When multiple authors are working on one piece, Draft creates a copy for each author, showing a split panel with changes incorporated by each author in a separate panel. You can then accept or reject whichever changes you want for your own

copy, without having to redo everything.

Feedback: What budding writer doesn’t want some feedback on a project under construction? The problem with soliciting feedback is that you don’t always have a qualified first reader at hand, and sometimes when you do, they might be too busy to meet your deadline. This is where that “Ask

Photo: Bigstock

a Professional” button comes in as a lifesaver. With one click, you can send your draft to a team of reviewers who can suggest changes, which then you can choose whether to accept or reject.

All the control is in your hands.

Archiving: Draft has a great system that allows you to mark each version of the piece you’re working on as you go through multiple re-drafts. You can then recall all versions with a convenient search function and then put them up side-by-side to compare versions and see how your writing has evolved with time.

There are a ton of other cool features for this amazing tool.

You can import documents from Google Docs, Evernote, etc, and work on Draft, which will automatically re-sync the pieces back into the applications you pulled them from. It’s compatible with a number of social media sites, so you can use it for everything from Tumblr posts to Wordpress blogs.

From the beautifully minimalistic interface, to the intuitive functions and features, Draft really is one of the best things that can happen to a writer.

Do you really need another reason to try it? l

DT

18 Feature Face your problems, don’t Facebook them THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

The different kinds of oversharers flooding your newsfeed overcome. Harsh, but true.

The ex-cellent dilemma Don't we all just love to hate on love.

Love gone wrong, love going right, or love at war. The best kind of love is surely when exes decide to wage war on Facebook. Give it a couple of weeks and in comes the posts littered with Taylor Swift lyrics or Adele tunes. As one famous meme once put it, all these posts about missing your ex is making me miss him too. An inspirational "moving-on-withlife" status/post maybe inspirational from time to time, but when you overdo it, it just becomes a cliche that we can't help but shrug off with a grimace.

n Moumita Ahmed Facebook and other social media have always been a platform for us Millennials to share and overshare about our personal lives and the problems that we face every other day.

On average, we have more than 500 friends on Facebook, but soon we realise that out of those, only about 10 or 15 are from our inner, close circle. A very small minority consist of those that love us. And for a well liked person, it may be as high as 30. So it means that between 96% and 99% of your Facebook friends do not love you. By that measure, there really isn't too many people that will be rooting for you as you share how you've suffered through 2 hours of traffic in Mohakhali, or how you're wailing the death of your favourite pet cat.

Essentially, it seems, there are two kinds of oversharers on Facebook. One is that Facebook user who always uploads carefully thought out statuses, even more meticulously selected profile pictures or that perfect happy timehop photo to show that life is all happiness when it really isn't. Second, is that genuinely frustrated, always angry young

man/woman who can't stop ranting about the vices of the world. Hating, complaining, and firing away on the keyboard, it's almost as if rage is never real unless expressed on Facebook.

While we can sympathise from time to time, offer a helping hand in the form of likes or even that stray comment, after a while, lets put it simply: it. just. gets. suffocating. Who likes to scroll through Facebook and come face to face with a stream of sad, depressing statuses? These type of keyboard warriors can be further separated into smaller minorities of angry birds. We've all come across at least one of these types.

When inspirational posts are positively demotivating First, there's the victim. The phoenix that has risen from some form of life-changing situation, to rise above through your newsfeed, in all it's virtual glory. The lifechanging situation could range from anything like moving to a new city to moving on from having a 'back stabbing' friend. Whatever the case is, these one's love to document their inspiring journey from that 'dark' time in their life.

First they'll post detailed posts about the event that changed their

life. Then they'll proceed towards inspirational posts, sharing Bilal Philips statuses or other memes that show that they are getting by. We get it, you are strong, you are male/woman and you are surviving. Now please. Move on.

Survive beyond Facebook - that's possibly one struggle you need to

When your newsfeed becomes pet Photos: Bigstock cemetary We all love kittens and puppies and 9gag posts of animals doing cute things. Who wouldn't? We can't help but coo over the pups your dog gave birth too, or giggle about how your kitten is afraid of cucumber.

But wait until your pet is dead, your newsfeed becomes the pet cemetery with every other third

person on your distant friend list paying tribute to the great lives lived by your kitten. Remember the time I sat in your living room and your dog decided to show us tricks? Let's tell Facebook about it. Remember the time you posted a photo when your dog was a just a pup? Let's tell Facebook how we're reminded of that photo and how it leaves a hole in my heart.

Anytime a pet dies, there's loaded Facebooks statuses and some distant statuses remembering the good times. It's cute, but stop.

Ever heard the phrase "Rest In Peace"? These ones haven't.

Forgive me not Finally there's those sad ones that seem to be crumbling in this mosh pit of guilt and remorse. They take to Facebook to apologise, seek forgiveness, and to redeem themselves from whatever way they think they have wronged.

Sometimes these statuses are so lengthy, you want to forgive them just glancing at the length of the text. It must have been exhausting to write, and it sure is exhausting to read. For the sake of the world, we forgive you.

A recent study by the author Dr Dar Meshi found that people who feel compelled to share information about themselves online have heightened activity in a region of the brain responsible for social cognition and rewardrelated processing.

We keep seeing our friends and closed ones ranting about anything and everything, being the poets they could never be in real life, and praying to God, using Facebook as a medium (like God is monitoring Facebook). From constant updates about breakfast, lunch and dinner to relationship problems, some Facebook users just love to share every aspect of their lives with the world. While some statuses are welcome and bring us comic relief, some just add to the already depressing paradigm of the world. Some even argue that those that overshare on Facebook are somewhat weakminded or immature. While that is entirely debatable (expect another five fiery statuses about the previous sentence alone), one thing is true: those that overshare maybe lonely, maybe annoying but they certainly are brave to be able to put their heart out in public, open for scrutiny, open for the comments, be them good or bad.

So kudos to those of you who can, and also to those of you who put up with it. Happy Facebooking! l

19

DT

Biz Info

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

| discussion |

| event |

Discussion on Bangabandhu held at IUB

Projonmo 71 holds discussion session on Bangabandhu’s assassination and the rise of militancy Projonmo 71, an organisation run by children of martyrs, recently held a discussion on the assassination of Bangabandhu and the rise of militancy in Bangladesh on August 16, at the historical Liberation War museum in Shegunbagicha, Dhaka.

Notable personalities like Professor Anwar Hossain, Major General (retd.) Abdur Rashid, Maulana Farid Uddin Masud, Dr Sarwar Ali, Aroma Dutta and others took part in the discussion.

The event was chaired by Shahid Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta’s daughter, Meghna Guhathakurta and moderated by martyred journalist Sirajuddin Hossain’s son, Touhid Reza Noor and Shahid Munier Chowdhury’s son, Asif Munier.

Popular actress Shomi Kaiser, daughter of Shahid Shahidullah Kaiser, read out a speech on behalf of Projonmo 71 stating their position and proposals on fighting militancy in Bangladesh. l

Director General of Bangla Academy, Prof Shamsuzzaman Khan is speaking at the event held at IUB To observe the 41st martyrdom anniversary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National Mourning Day 2016, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) organised a discussion session on the glorious life and contributions of Bangabandhu.

The event was held on Tuesday,

August 16, 2016 at IUB campus in Bashundhara, Dhaka.

Director general of Bangla Academy Prof Shamsuzzaman Khan attended as chief guest and spoke on the versatile life and contributions of Bangabandhu.

Special guest Mafidul Haque, trustee member of Liberation War Museum, discussed the struggles

and roles Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman played and highlighted the significances of liberation war to the audience.

Prof M Omar Rahman, vice chancellor, IUB presided over the session while Dr Mahbub Alam, dean, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, IUB, delivered vote of thanks. l

| partnership |

HUAWEI Mobile signs their first online partner Daraz.com.bd ADA Trading Bangladesh Co, LTD is the sole distributor of HUAWEI Mobile Daraz.com.bd the leading online shopping platform in Bangladesh, adds another feather to its cap by signing on the sole distributor of HUAWEI Mobile in BangladeshADA Trading Bangladesh Co LTD. The signing ceremony took place at the Daraz Bangladesh Ltd headquarter in Banani, Dhaka and was commenced by Benjamin de Fouchier, managing director of Daraz BD and Wang GuoJuan (Joey), CFO, ADA, Bangladesh.

Wang GuoJuan (Joey), CFO of ADA states, “We are really happy to start business with Daraz Bangladesh. Huwaei has always been a prominent brand in Bangladesh’s mobile phone industry, now with our new

handsets we will soon become one of the top performing brands This partnership with Daraz will significantly help us to achieve our vision in Bangladesh.”

On the occasion, Daraz’s MD Benjamin happily states, “This is the first online collaboration of HUAWEI Mobile in BD and I am proud to announce that they chose daraz.com.bd a worthy platform to launch its online business on. We look forward to helping each other take our businesses to new heights with this partnership. The same way that HUAWEI projects itself as a trusted brand, Daraz is also synonymous with trust, reliability and authenticity and we aim to provide each and every client with an excellent shopping experience.”

Daraz is the leading e-commerce platform in Pakistan, Bangladesh

and Myanmar. The company started in Pakistan in 2012 as an online fashion business, but since then has expanded its business model to a general marketplace for quality brands within electronics, home appliances, fashion and many other categories. Daraz is owned by CDC Group – the UK Government’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) focused on supporting and developing businesses in Africa and South Asia – as well as the Asia Pacific Internet Group (APACIG), which supports some of the leading Internet companies in the region. Founded

by Rocket Internet in 2014, APACIG’s mission is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship throughout Asia and the Pacific and to support the development of a vibrant online culture.l

DT

20 Editorial

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

TODAY

Does society hate nerds?

The brutal ostracising of geeks and their lot is not a sign of hatred of intelligence, but perhaps yet another case of the majority harassing the minority for merely being different, and the misuse of wielding greater power PAGE 21

How Muslims won World War II There seems to be a tendency to forget that hundreds of thousands of volunteers from India joined the British forces. Many of them were Muslim, and were decorated and died in great numbers PAGE 22

Muhammad Ali’s words matter It was kind of ironic for that was the exact time when the Indian Union government functionaries were trying to play down the reports of racist attacks on black Africans living in the Indian Union 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.

BIGSTOCK

The two-finger test has no place in a civilised society

T

here is no way to justify its continued existence.

The so-called two-finger test used to attempt to determine whether a woman has been raped is a gross violation of an individual’s rights and privacy. This disgraceful practice needs to end without further delay.

Forensic medical experts were right to tell the High Court that the two-finger test was an unscientific method of ascertaining rape, and that the method needed to be discontinued.

Medically speaking, the test simply does not reliably answer the question of whether the victim has been raped or even whether she has engaged in intercourse.

Why, then, subject an already traumatised individual to even further humiliating tests? The practice is indicative of the utterly despicable way in which rape victims get treated within our legal system. Far from being protected, they are further victimised by those entrusted to help them.

It would be an important measure, long overdue, to make sure rape victims are treated fairly and justly. To that end, it must be ensured that law enforcement officers record a victim’s statement within three hours of being approached.

Hospitals must conduct a medical examination without a police report having been filed first. Scientific guidelines on how to treat rape victims with sensitivity during questioning and trials must be put into place.

The fact that Bangladesh has not abolished the two-finger test yet reveals backward and misogynistic attitudes embedded within our legal system and our law enforcement.

If we wish to call ourselves a civilised and progressive society, the barbaric practice on administering the two-finger test on rape victims must end right now.

If we wish to call ourselves a civilised and progressive society, the barbaric practice on administering the twofinger test on rape victims must end right now

DT

21

Opinion

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Does society hate nerds?

Plenty of our pop culture heroes use their brains

n Syed Raiyan Nuri Reza

N

ot so long ago, my cousin tagged me in a David Hopkins article titled “How a TV sitcom triggered the downfall of Western civilisation.” The claim is an obvious hyperbole, but it did lament the pervasive anti-intellectualism that seems to be dominant in the media and entertainment, or so was his take.

Hopkins’s argument hinged on his original view on the sitcom Friends, on how derision and mockery of Ross’s intellectualism at the hands of his idiotic companions is a symptom of cognitively defunct pop culture.

He further bolstered his stance with his own experience as a chess coach back in 2004, and recalled his students being subjected to bullying.

I would like to make it a case that things are not as bad as he makes it sound, and given the writer’s stature, such claims can only be made if a substantial number of the population nod their head in agreement with him, and perhaps a few more decided to do so after reading that particular work.

Granted, geeks, nerds, and intellectual-types never fared well in popularity contests and in fact, as claimed by Hopkins, are victims of bullying -- where Hopkins recalled from his own experience, I can jibe in with statistics such as

audience of blockbuster film and highly rated television series adaptations, and contributes to some of their celebrated heroes and notorious villains.

The most recent successful attempts saw the string of box office hits by Marvel, starting off with Iron Man and continuing with Civil War, all of these constituting the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Here we witness Robert Downey Jr’s brilliance shine through in his role as Tony Stark, one of the techno-wizards of the Marvel universe and whose superpower is essentially his prodigious intellect, which he relentlessly uses to perfect and upgrade his Iron Man armour, more than living up to the fabled reputation of his alma mater, MIT. Then there is the Incredible Hulk. The polar opposite of the true persona behind it, Bruce Banner, whose genius level intellect, a trait very much aligned with his career’s demand in physics, and soft spoken mannerism contrasts sharply with the temperamental half-wit of a beast he becomes as the Hulk.

Not to forget Hank Pym, another brilliant scientist, bestowed with the gift of massive intelligence, who discovers the Pym particle to craft the sizechanging suit in the Ant Man movie.

Furthermore, the Marvel movie plot devices did borrow from the scientific lexicon. The

It’s OK to be a nerd in school

The brutal ostracising of geeks and their lot is not a sign of hatred of intelligence, but perhaps yet another case of the majority harassing the minority for merely being different, and the misuse of wielding greater power

that of the UK-based Anti-Bullying Alliance survey, which reported that 90% of British students were bullied due to their intelligence or talent (quoted in a Huffington Post article from November 11, 2012).

The research further continued that 27.3% of the 1,000 surveyed in the 11-16 age group quit an activity for fear of being bullied.

And despite all this, it seems to me that popular culture is not so derogatory of intelligence.

For a start, take comic books.

While reading comics falls under the category of nerdy endeavours, it reaches out to a sliver of the

alien Tesseract cube shown in The Avengers is not merely a fictional term that sounds cool.

It, in the dead serious field of mathematics, is the name of a four dimensional geometric shape analogous to a cube.

Even putting movies aside, video games have their touch of intellectualism.

The critically acclaimed and commercially successful BioShock Infinite has its story and plot rooted in American exceptionalism symbolised by World’s Columbian Exposition, with the manywords interpretation of quantum

mechanics serving as the crucial plot element.

The Valve’s magnum opus, Half Life, goes so far as to name Gordon Freeman as a homage to Freeman Dyson.

Or take Portal for instance. This classic by Valve corporation throws in an allusion to something as obscure as Russell’s Paradox, and there are scribbles of Schrodinger’s wave functions.

Not stopping there, the game depicts pastiches of Emily Dickinson’s “The Chariot,” Emily Bronte’s No Coward Soul is Mine, and Henry Wadsworth

BIGSTOCK

Longfellow’s “The Reapers and The Flowers.”

Even on the musical frontier, which does sink quite low with its obsession of unworthy topics, there seems to be a tinge of respect for worthier figures from the most unexpected of places.

In “Saint Pablo,” Kanye proclaims himself to be the closest thing to the legendary Einstein this generation has.

Ignoring the merit (or should I say lack of it) of this claim, it clearly reflects that people definitely pay respect to the scholastic titans.

So, I suppose a compelling case has been made thus far. Society does value intelligence and intellectualism.

It regards it as a desirable trait, one that they gladly confer to its fictional heroes.

Even rappers pay homage to those who possess it in abundance in their egotistical boosting and lyrical swaggering.

Is pervasive anti-intellectualism a delusion then? No. Given the plethora of

pop culture icons, only an infinitesimally small slice presented here are clustered in the relevant time frame of Friends.

These works of fiction venerate smart fictional characters and acknowledge the nobility of their real counterparts.

I would attribute the confusion over what constitutes as intellectualism as a failure to grasp it. The brutal ostracising of geeks and their lot is not a sign of hatred of intelligence, but perhaps yet another case of the majority harassing the minority for merely being different, and the misuse of wielding greater power.

And this is good news.

While the fierce wrath of antiintellectualism haunts society, its exorcism should now seem a lot easier -- the steps which Hopkins astutely identified as: “Read a book, learn something new, do not get sold to the consumerism culture, and protect the nerds.” l Syed Raiyan Nuri Reza writes from Tehran.

22

DT

Opinion

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

How Muslims won the Second World War Let’s not forget the millions of Muslims who chose to fight Nazis, or shield Jews in their homes

Each soldier is an untold story

n Azeem Ibrahim

R

ecently, I was lucky enough to attend the world premiere of the stunning film, Enemy of the Reich, about a young Muslim woman Noor Inayat Khan and her contribution to the Second World War. It’s a fantastic story and one which left quite a few of the audience in tears; I’ll admit my own eyes welled too. What really hit home with me, however, were the words of the director before the movie. He pointed out that in almost all World War II movies, you hardly ever see a brown face, let alone a Muslim one.

That’s despite Winston Churchill himself admitting the Britain could not have won the war without the Indian army.

Somehow, however, the fact that millions of Muslims chose to fight the Nazis has been overlooked. Likewise, very little is heard about those Muslims who offered shelter to Jews around the world. The story of Noor Inayat Khan goes some way to correcting this disparity.

A Sorbonne-educated child psychologist and children’s book author, Khan was recruited

to one of the most dangerous positions within the intelligence world, Churchill’s covert Special Operations Executive. Khan’s deep spirituality -- influenced by her father, a Sufi Muslim leader -- meant she believed in service for a greater good and couldn’t sit by while Hitler committed his atrocities.

Great Britain and France. David Cameron recently praised her “inspirational self-sacrifice” and “indomitable courage.”

As amazing as Noor Inayat Khan’s story is, however, hers is just one story. There are many others yet to be told, and many that have been ignored.

Hollywood still struggles with

British forces. Many of them were Muslim, and were decorated and died in great numbers.”

“There also seems to be a tendency to leave out of the narrative, the Algerians and the North Africans, all of who were Muslims and fought on the French side in the tens of thousands. In both cases, these were citizens of

There seems to be a tendency to forget that hundreds of thousands of volunteers from India joined the British forces. Many of them were Muslim, and were decorated and died in great numbers

Helping the French resistance, Khan evaded capture for four months, changing locations even while the Germans tracked her whereabouts. During that time, she helped to save Jewish lives as well as single-handedly arranging the rescue of downed British and American pilots, before being captured in October 1943 and executed a year later.

It’s no surprise that she received the highest honours for civilian service in war from both

its portrayal of Muslims, all too often reverting to stereotype, even when real-life roles include sacrifice, courage, and loyalty. The contribution of Muslims to our war successes is also glossed over in classrooms and in many history books.

As the film’s executive producer, Michael Wolfe told The Huffington Post: “There seems to be a tendency to forget that hundreds of thousands of volunteers from India joined the

countries who were under colonial pressure from the very countries that they decided to serve. It was a moral and ethical choice [for them] to look past their agony to serve a higher purpose.”

Muslim Lifestyle magazine, Emel.com, points out that more than 161,000 Indian army soldiers were killed in both world wars, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Forgotten Heroes -- The Muslim Contribution, Issue 62 of Emel.

com, recalls: “As Britain battled from the First World War to the Second, she became increasingly dependent on the Indian Army: The largest volunteer army in both World Wars, as men signed up to fight rather than being conscripted.”

Up to 40% of the Indian army were Muslim, even though they only made up about 25% of the Indian population.

Winston Churchill summed up the Muslim contribution in his letter to US President Franklin Roosevelt. He wrote, “We must not on any account break with the Moslems, who represent a hundred million people, and the main army elements on which we must rely for the immediate fighting.”

How sad that our close heritage has been neglected in recent times. Everyone fighting for freedom in those dark days deserves to be remembered, no matter what their religion. Doing so, might just help tackle prejudice today. l Dr Azeem Ibrahim is Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute US Army War College and International Security Lecturer at the University of Chicago.

DT

23

Opinion

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Muhammad Ali’s words matter The great boxer has a special place in this sub-continent to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again: The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people, or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom, and equality.”

On other ocassions, he put things much more concisely as he described US wars where “the white man sent the black man to kill the yellow man.”

Muhammad Ali was being disloyal to his government and the government’s army, but was being loyal to human values that predate all nations and constitutions and will outlive them too. In the sub-continent, all the existing armies are continuations of the British Indian Army and not those who actually fought the British colonisation of the sub-continent like the Azad Hind Fauj, which was not made part of the Indian Army

was the sense of regimental accomplishment in having been awarded Victoria crosses, barrah khana traditions, fake Sandhurstisms, subsidised liquor, that peculiar brown-skinned sense of pride of having served the House Saxe-Coburg Gotha and the House of Windsor by killing coloured people and their resisting forces in Iraq, Egypt, France, Belgium, Burma, Thailand, and, most poignantly, in the subcontinent, including Jallianwala Bagh.

If some Union of India citizen were to do the same today by making a career out of serving the House of Windsor militarily and then go on to claim loyalty to Bharatmata the next day, what would one say? The crucial difference however lies in the formal idea of loyalty to a state -often confused with the country.

Nationalism apart, there is another thing Bengalees call “deshoprem” or love of one’s own land. The definition of land is mostly left to the person. Which is why there can be deshoprem for a 30-square mile area around one’s home.

I don’t know if there is

It was kind of ironic for that was the exact time when the Indian Union government functionaries were trying to play down the reports of racist attacks on black Africans living in the Indian Union, claiming that they were small matters. Playing down its own crimes has been a traditional value of the Indian Union government

Ali’s respect for human rights led to his love for Bangladesh

n Garga Chatterjee

W

hen the American Black resistance icon, champion boxer Muhammad Ali died on June 3, there were widspread condolences among many all across the world, including certain sections of the citizens of the Indian Union.

Many remembered his defiant stance against Yankee militarism and white racism, and some of his now iconic quotes spread around social media like wildfire.

Such was the power of what

Muhammad Ali stood for in the US that even the US government engaged, at present, and, as usual, in multiple wars against coloured people across the globe, felt that it needed to own him, however awkward that manoevre looked.

It was kind of ironic, for that was the exact time when the Indian Union government functionaries were trying to play down the reports of racist attacks on black Africans living in the Indian Union, claiming that they were small matters. Playing down its own crimes has been a traditional value of the Indian

Union government.

When Muhammad Ali was forcibly drafted into the US Army to go fight against the Vietnamese resistance war for complete national liberation, he refused. Ali put the voice of a human being in an inhuman war-frenzy when he said: “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10 thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while socalled negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home

after August 15, 1947.

That is very revealing about the nature of institutions that exist around here.

When transfer of power from London to New Delhi happened on August 15, 1947 what changed?

Who fought Subhas Bose in Burma? Who fired the shots and destroyed Delhi in 1857? Who captured and killed Surya Sen? Which army? Who was it loyal to?

Who did it serve by killing Bagha Jatin? Did anything substantially change in that army on that fateful August day in 1947?

What did not change

a Hindustani word for it -“qaumparast” does not quite do it, which I reckon is nearer to nationalism. I am sure they too have a word or expression for it, for they too like everyone else came to know their own land before they came to heed the administration which told them what their nation ought to be, and how much does it extend.

Ideologies that reverse this sequence are sociopathic. l Garga Chatterjee is a political and cultural commentator. He can be followed on twitter @gargac.

DT

24 Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Kipyegon trumps Dibaba for 1500m gold

TOP STORIES

n AFP, Rio de Janeiro ECB delegation in town The three-member England and Wales Cricket Board delegation arrived in Dhaka yesterday for a routine visit that will focus on the country’s security situation. Reg Dickason, David Leatherdale and John Carr came here. PAGE 25

Jamaica’s first hurdles title Jamaica continued its assault on United States dominance of the Olympic track when Omar McLeod gave the Caribbean island its first 110 metres hurdles champion in Rio on Tuesday. The 22-year-old crossed the line in 13.05s. PAGE 26

Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon of Kenya celebrates crossing the finish line to win the women’s 1500m gold at Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday REUTERS

Sky Blues rescue point in BPL Abahani Limited came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against 10-man Brothers Union in the last match of the Bangladesh Premier League’s Mymensingh phase at Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium yesterday. PAGE 27

Aussies lose crown after SL whitewash Australia lost their crown as the kings of Test cricket yesterday after another devastating burst of spin bowling from the veteran Rangana Herath helped Sri Lanka clinch an historic series whitewash. Australia collapsed were all out for just 160. PAGE 28

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon produced a startling last-lap sprint to outpace favourite Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia to win the Olympic women’s 1500m gold on Tuesday.

Kipyegon clocked 4min 08.92sec after her burst over the last 250 metres, world record holder Dibaba taking silver in 4:10.27.

American Jennifer Simpson claimed bronze in 4:10.53.

“I knew it would be a fast race, I really had to kick on the last lap,” asid Kipyegon.

“I was well prepared for the race. I’m proud to win for my country. It’s just amazing, I’m very happy because it’s my first medal in the Olympics.

“It was a good race, a tactical race.”

Dibaba broke the world indoor mile record and won the world indoor 3000m title at the start of the year, but had to delay the start to her outdoor campaign with a toe injury.

The Ethiopian, who also made headlines when her Somali coach SJama Aen was arrested in Spain as part of a drugs-trafficking investigation, blamed her performance on lack of track time.

“I had some injuries in the last month and I was not able to train as hard as usual,” she said.

“I had a fierce competitor in Faith and I’m happy with my result.”l

Siddikur content with Rio display n Tribune Report Siddikur Rahman expressed satisfaction with his performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, bearing in mind the difficulty of the golf course. The iconic Bangladesh golfer said this after returning to the capital yesterday morning.

He is the first among seven Bangladeshi Olympians to return home.

It was Siddikur’s maiden appearance in the biggest and most prestigious sporting event of the world and the 31-year old made history by becoming the first ever Bangladeshi to qualify for the Olympics directly.

“Everyone had high expectations from me in the Olympics.

But I think I played really well, considering the golf course. The course is PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) standard and if

you look at the Asian participants, everyone performed almost the same,” Siddikur told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Siddikur finished his Olympics campaign scoring an overall 11-over-par 295 to finish 58th out of 60 participants. He scored fourover-par 75 in three rounds out of four. His best day in the office came in the second round where he carded one-under-par 70.

“Wind and rain engulfed the first three rounds. After the opening two rounds, I was a bit aggressive in the last two rounds. It was a totally different event where I gave my best and I’m satisfied about my performance. Playing there was a great achievement for me,” he said.

The two-time Asian Tour winner said it was “quite impossible to survive there” and informed that the Rio experience will prove

to be huge for his career.

“If I wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have understood who I am. I’m impressed after my experience there. I never realised what an honour it was for me,” explained Siddikur.

Among other events that Siddikur watched were badminton and the men’s doubles tennis final. “I watched [Rafael] Nadal’s game in the tennis final,” he said before adding, “When I went for the dinner, there were around 8,000 athletes in the dinning room. When I went to the gym, there were more than 400 players. The gym has world-class facilities and offers exclusive exercise. It inspired me in a way that I cannot express in words.”

Siddikur is preparing for the upcoming Omega European Masters in Switzerland, starting from September 1 to 4. He is scheduled to leave here on August 27. l

25

DT

Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

ECB delegation in town n Mazhar Uddin

The three-member England and Wales Cricket Board delegation arrives at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

The three-member England and Wales Cricket Board delegation arrived in Dhaka yesterday for a routine visit that will focus on the country’s security situation.

The ECB’s security advisor Reg Dickason, Professional Cricketers’ Association chief executive David Leatherdale and ECB director of cricket operations John Carr came here after completing their inspection in India where England will travel following their scheduled tour to Bangladesh.

“The England delegation arrived as per its routine visit ahead of the series. They will

inspect the hotels and practice facilities. They will also observe our security and medical plans which we are going to provide the team and they will talk with the concerned authorities,” said Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury.

Concerns were raised by the ECB after the Dhaka attack on July 1. Nizamuddin informed that the board will provide extra facilities if the security team wants.

“Whatever security measures are normally taken during a bilateral series we are going to provide that. But apart from that if they want any extra facilities we will try to fulfil that

according to our ability and we have received the instructions accordingly from the government. We are able to fulfil all requirements,” he said.

The security delegation team will visit Chittagong tomorrow and are expected to leave this Saturday.

“This is a normal procedure before every bilateral series as England are scheduled to tour India after completing the Bangladesh series. The delegation already completed its inspection in India and is expected to submit the report after returning to the country. We are hopeful of knowing everything soon,” Nizamuddin added. l

FOREIGN FOOTBALLERS IN BANGLADESH

From Shaker, Hejazi to Norde, Awudu n Shishir Hoque Since the introduction of the professional football league in Bangladesh nine years ago, only on one occasion did a local player become the top scorer. This was seven years ago. The rest of the time it has been the foreign forwards who have dominated this list.

Their overall supremacy is apparent when one looks at the squad of any club, be it a top one or a minnow. Every team fill their attacking options with foreign recruits.

Not only for the standard of the local stars but also in terms of the quality of foreign players, the 1980s marked a significant era in the history of foreign footballers in Bangladesh. It began with Abahani Limited signing the Iraqi duo Samir Shaker and Karim Allawi and Mohammedan Sporting Club bringing in the legendary Iranian goalkeeper Nasser Hejazi, who played in the 1978 World Cup. Hejazi also coached Mohammedan in 1988 before becoming the Bangladesh team head coach the following year. He also received an offer from English giants Manchester United after the World Cup and trained and played with the club for a month but the Iranian Revolution halted his move.

The two-time Asian Cup winner was ranked the second-best Asian goalkeeper of the 20th century by the Asian Football Confederation in 2000.

Shaker, then one of the best central defenders in Asia, and midfielder Allawi played for Iraq in their famous 1986 World Cup campaign. He also became infamous during the tournament after he spat at the referee in the game against Belgium. Along with a yellow card, he also received a one-year suspen-

and returned to the club as head coach in 2012.

Bangladesh football has rarely seen players of that calibre in the last decade. Before the start of the first professional league in 2007, Argentine coach Diego Cruciani took charge of Abahani bringing in three Argentine players along with him and one of them, defender Merino Caporale marked his name as the toughest defender to face at that time.

It was Nigerian striker Elijah Obagbemiro Jr who scored the first goal and first hattrick in Bangladesh’s professional league history.

There was absolute dominance of African players in Dhaka for a long

sion and would never play for his country again. Abahani were his first club after the World Cup. Shaker later became one of Bangladesh’s most successful coaches after leading the country to the runners-up trophy in the 1999 South Asian Football Federation Championship and the South Asian Games title in the same year. He also coached Abahani and Mohammedan.

Emeka Ezeugo was another vibrant presence who Bangladesh football fans still remember. The Nigerian defender Emeka, who was in the Nigeria squad for the 1994 World Cup, played for Mohammedan in the late 1980s

PROFESSIONAL LEAGUE TOP SCORERS SEASON

PLAYER

2006-07

Elijah Obagbemiro Jr (BU)

COUNTRY

GOALS

Nigeria

16

Nigeria

18

2007-08

Alamu Bukola (MSC)

2008-09

Enamul Haque (Abahani)

Bangladesh

21

2010-11

James Saeed Moga (MKS)

Sudan

19

2011-12

Ismael Bangoura (BJMC)

Guinea

17

2012-13

Osei Morison (MSC)

Ghana

11

2013-14

Wedson Anselme (Sk Jamal)

Haiti

26

2014-15

Wedson Anselme (Sk Jamal)

Haiti

18

time. Footballers hailing from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Morocco and Sudan flocked the capital city from the beginning of the season to get a shot at a club side.

The influence was so big that at the end of the 2011-12 season, there were no local players among the top 10 scorers in the league. Guinean striker Ismael Bangoura netted 17 goals for Team BJMC as the highest scorer.

The best foreigner in recent years has been Sony Norde, who played in the 2016 Copa America for Haiti. He brought glamour and colour in the Dhaka field, along with his vision, dribbling skill and finishing ability. The winger started with Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra where he won the club’s first-ever league title and the historic treble.

Then big-spending Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club snatched Sony for a record fee the following season. They were heavily rewarded as the club scored the most number of goals in the league’s history, reached the Indian Football Association Shield final in Kolkata and also won the King’s Cup in Bhutan.

It also marked the arrival of another Haitian, Wedson Anselme, who

WORLD CUP PLAYERS IN DHAKA LEAGUE

Emeka Ezeugo (Nigeria)

Nasser Hejazi (Iran)

Samir Shaker (Iraq)

Karim Allawi (Iraq)

Mohammedan (1989-90)

Mohammedan (1986-87)

Abahani (1987-88)

Abahani (1987-88)

1994 World Cup

1978 World Cup

1986 World Cup

1986 World Cup

scored 26 goals in his debut season and is the only player to become top-scorer more than once.

Sheikh Jamal currently have the best foreign attacking line-up in the league, namely Nigerian striker Emeka Darlington and Gambian midfielder Landing Darboe. Let’s not forget Haitian forward Leonel Preux, who is now playing for Sheikh Russel, and Abahani’s English playmaker Lee Tuck, this season’s top performer so far.

The name that should not be forgotten while talking about foreign footballers in Bangladesh professional league era is Ghanaian midfielder Awudu Ibrahim. Awudu and defender Samad Yussif are the only foreigners to be playing here since 2007. Awudu guided Abahani for a long time and played a vital role in the club’s hattrick title in the first three editions of the professional league. Awudu is now playing for Brothers Union while Samad left and rejoined Abahani.

The vast dominance of foreign forwards might have had a hand in hampering the growth of the national team’s local strikers. Recently, Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet showed a bit of frustration while watching the opening round of the Bangladesh Premier League this season after finding out a lack of presence of local players upfront.

He only found two clubs playing with local strikers.

To solve its striker crisis, the Bangladesh Football Federation even once planned to provide the naturalisation of foreign players last year to include foreign footballers in the national team.

Samad, Bangoura and Eleta Kingsley made headlines but the project later stopped due to criticism from media and former footballers. l

DT

26

Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

Ex-street hawker wins first Brazil boxing gold n AFP, Rio de Janeiro

MEDAL TALLY COUNTRY UNITED STATES

28 28 28

84

GREAT BRITAIN

19 19

12

50

CHINA

17

15

19

51

RUSSIA

12

12

14

38

GERMANY

11

8

7

26

ITALY

8

9

6

23

NETHERLANDS

8

3

3

14

FRANCE

7

11

11

29

AUSTRALIA

7

8

9

24

JAPAN

7

4

18

29

REP KOREA

6

3

5

14

HUNGARY

6

3

4

13

SPAIN

4

1

2

7

NEW ZEALAND

3

6

1

10

BRAZIL

3

4

4

11

KENYA

3

3

0

6

CANADA

3

2

9

14

Updated yesterday (9pm)

DAY THIRTEEN EVENTS TO WATCH CANOE SPRINT Men

Kayak Double 1000m 6:08pm

Men

Single 200m

6:23pm

Men

Kayak Double 200m

6:47pm

Women

Kayak Single 500m

7:11pm

TRIATHLON Men

Individual

8pm

BADMINTON Women

Doubles

8:50pm

ATHLETICS Men Men Women Men Women Men

400m Hurdles

9pm

Shot Put

5:30am

Javelin Throw

6:10am

1500m Decathlon

6:45am

400m Hurdles

7:15am

200m

7:30am

SAILING Men Women

n AFP, Rio de Janeiro

12:30am

Two Olympic athletes who helped each other across the finish line after an accidental mid-race collision in the women’s 5,000m have been granted places in the final, organisers confirmed.

Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino were praised for their sporting behaviour after they clashed during Tuesday’s heat.

The drama unfolded when American runner D’Agostino clipped New Zealander Hamblin with around 2,000m to go, sending both sprawling to the ground.

As Hamblin lay on the track distraught, her hopes for an Olympic medal seemingly evaporated, D’Agostino tenderly helped her to

Light Heavy 81kg 10m Platform

1am

Tournament

2am

WRESTLING Freestyle 53kg

2:05am

Women

Freestyle 63kg

2:50am

Women

Freestyle 75kg

3:35am

TAEKWONDO Women

57kg

7am

Men

68kg

7:15am

BEACH VOLLEYBALL Tournament

8:59am

of Americans.

It was the slowest winning time in an Olympic final since Canada’s Mark McKoy won gold in 13.12 in Barcelona in 1992 but that was never going to bother McLeod, who also won the world indoor 60 metres hurdles title earlier this year.

“I’m elated,” McLeod told reporters. “The feeling is indescribable. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be an Olympic champion and a world champion in one year.

REUTERS

“Hurdles is all about character.

I worked hard, prayed hard and seized the moment. I can’t get my mind around this. Is this real?”

Cuban-born Orlando Ortega was second in 13.17 to take silver for Spain, while Frenchman Dimitri Bascou claimed bronze in 13.24 ahead of compatriot Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.

Nineteen of the 27 previous Olympic high hurdles champions had come from the US but the event provided only disappointment for the Americans on Tuesday.l

Runners given final berth after crash drama in Rio

11:05pm

Women

Men

Jamaica continued its assault on United States dominance of the Olympic track when Omar McLeod gave the Caribbean island its first 110 metres hurdles champion in Rio on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old, the only man to clock below 13 seconds this year, exploded out of the blocks to take a lead that was never threatened and crossed the line in 13.05 to win a title that was once a virtual preserve

10:05pm

FIELD HOCKEY Men

n Reuters, Rio De Janeiro

49er (Skiff )

DIVING Women

McLeod wins Jamaica’s first hurdles title

49er FX (Skiff ) BOXING

Men

Jamaica‘s Omar McLeod (C) wins the gold during men’s 110m hurdles final at Olympic Stadium in Rio on Tuesday

her feet and encouraged her to finish the race.

“I went down, and I was like, ‘What’s happening? Why am I on

Hamblin of New Zealand stops running during the race to help fellow competitor D’Agostino of USA REUTERS

the ground?’ Then suddenly this hand on my shoulder, like ‘Get up, get up, we have to finish this’ and I was like, ‘Yup, yup, you’re right.

This is the Olympic Games. We have to finish this,’” Hamblin said.

“I’m so grateful for Abbey for doing that for me. That girl is the Olympic spirit right there. I’ve never met her before, like I’ve never met this girl before, and isn’t that just so amazing? Such an amazing woman.”

D’Agostino suffered an ankle injury in the collision, but Hamblin deliberately hung back in the field to offer encouragement as the two women completed the race.

However a statement by Olympic organisers late Tuesday said all three had been advanced to the final tomorrow. l

Robson Conceicao said he felt like he was still in a dream after he became the first Brazilian to win Olympic boxing gold on Tuesday in front of an exhilarated Rio crowd.

The man who sold vegetables and popsicles on the streets as an impoverished child is now a national hero after he defeated Frenchman Sofiane Oumiha on unanimous points in a thrilling lightweight final showdown.

The 27-year-old, who previously said that growing up he once feigned an arm injury so he could get hospital treatment and then used the bandages to tape his hands for boxing training, was a deserved winner.

“My life has changed with this, this is an incredible moment in my life,” he told reporters.

“I had a very difficult upbringing so this medal is not only a success for myself but a success for my family and all those people who took me to training, ever since I was a young boy. I am an Olympic champion so my life has changed for ever.”l

Biles signs off with fourth gold n Reuters, Rio De Janeiro No one would have guessed that Simone Biles’ “legs felt like rocks” as the standout gymnast of the 2016 Olympics soared higher and higher to win a record-equalling fourth gold on Tuesday.

A day after a slipped foot off the balance beam dashed the American’s hopes of leaving Rio with a record haul of five golds for a female gymnast, she was back to her hip-shaking best to clinch the floor title with 15.966 points, ahead of team mate Aly Raisman.

Biles was not the only one making amends for near misses and past disappointments on the final day of competition. If the 19-yearold could not have a gymnastics record outright, there was no way she was going to miss out on at least having a share of a landmark.l

27

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Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

QUICK BYTES Narail lift maiden baseball title

BCB to take ‘action’ against Kalpage n Tribune Report

Narail division emerged as the champion in the inaugural Walton Cup Baseball Tournament after beating Dhaka Commerce College 10-3 in the final at Bangabandhu Outer Stadium yesterday. Earlier in the semi-finals at the same venue yesterday, Narail defeated Dhaka Government Bangla College 13-3 while Commerce College got the better of Sirajganj Zila Krira Sangstha 20-3. Following the grand finale, FM Iqbal bin Anwar Don, chief of Walton Group’s Sports and Welfare division, distributed the prizes among the participants. On the occasion, Iqbal said, “We will always stand beside baseball. The national women’s baseball championship will be held in September this year while Walton will sponsor the national baseball competition, scheduled for this December.”

Bangladesh Cricket Board will take steps, according to the contract, against the Tigers assistant coach Ruwan Kalpage. Chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said yesterday that Kalpage missed the August 16 arrival date, which was set by the board.

Kalpage is the only member of

the Bangladesh support staff who has not returned to work. He told the BCB that he had safety concerns and wanted to observe the situation from Sri Lanka, following the July 1 Dhaka attack.

“All the members of the team staff have joined work but Kalpage.

He had asked us to give him some time. We gave him a deadline of August 16 but he did not contact

us back. Now we will look into his contract with the board and take the needed step,” said Nizamuddin.

Following the Dhaka attack, the Bangladesh cricket team’s foreign staff expressed security concern and soon the BCB gave them extra protection. Head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, trainer Mario Villavarayan and fielding coach Richard Halsall all returned earlier

Saintfiet set to sign deal next week n Tribune Report

–TRIBUNE REPORT

Barcelona’s Tello will stay on loan at Fiorentina Barcelona winger Cristian Tello will continue his spell on loan at Fiorentina, the Spanish La Liga champions announced on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old joined Fiorentina on a six-month loan deal during the January transfer market and made 13 Serie A appearances for the club, scoring two goals and providing three assists. A statement from Barcelona read: “Barcelona and Fiorentina have arrived at an agreement for the loan of Cristian Tello for the 2016-17 season.”

–REUTERS

Spurs captain Lloris out for four weeks Tottenham Hotspur expect to be without injured captain Hugo Lloris for four weeks, the Premier League side confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. The goalkeeper injured his hamstring and was replaced by Michel Vorm 35 minutes into Spurs’ opening 1-1 draw with Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday. Lloris is set to miss upcoming home games against Crystal Palace and Liverpool, as well as the trip to Stoke City on Sep. 10.

–REUTERS

DAY’S WATCH OLYMPIC GAMES STAR SPORTS 1 5:00PM, 12:30AM Rio Olympic Games 2016 Daily live coverage

CRICKET TEN 1 7:00PM India Tour of West Indies 4th Test Day 1

this month.

But Kalpage showed dissatisfaction with BCB’s arrangement and is apparently taking advantage of the situation by demanding a pay hike according to sources.

It was later revealed in the media that the former Sri Lanka coach was mulling an opportunity to join the United Arab Emirates as a coach. l

Abahani Limited’s Nigerian striker Sunday Chizoba skips past a Brothers Union player during their Bangladesh Premier League match at Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh yesterday BFF

Sky Blues rescue point n Tribune Report Abahani Limited came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against 10-man Brothers Union in the last match of the Bangladesh Premier League’s Mymensingh phase at Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium yesterday.

Nigerian striker Nkwocha Kingsley put the Gopibagh outfit ahead early in the second half before English playmaker Lee Andrew Tuck cancelled out the lead a few minutes later from a free-kick.

It was the first time in the country’s history that the professional football league has been played in Mymensingh. The rest of the matches of the first phase will be played in Dhaka and Sylhet.

After the end of the fifth round, Chittagong Abahani top the table

with 11 points while four clubs – Abahani, Muktijoddha SKC, Sheikh Jamal DC and Rahmatganj MFS – are joint second with the same number of points - nine. Brothers remain at 10th with four points only.

RESULT Abahani

1-1

Tuck 63

Brothers Kingsley 53 – P

TODAY’S MATCHES Muktijoddha v Sk Russel, 4:30pm BJMC v Sk Jamal, 7:30pm The Sky Blues could have taken the lead at the quarter-hour mark when Sunday Chizoba’s shot hit the sidepost following a long ball from Jewel Rana.

Kingsley broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second half

when the Nigerian successfully converted a penalty after Ghanaian defender Samad Yussif brought down his compatriot Awudu Ibrahim inside the box.

Brothers were then reduced to 10 men four minutes later when young forward Mannaf Rabbi received his second yellow card.

Tuck equalised the margin for the Sky Blues in the 63rd minute, curving home a free-kick from the edge of the box after the English midfielder earned the free-kick when he was brought down by Shafiqul Islam Shafi.

Abahani piled more pressure upon the opposition as Tuck created at least two decent opportunities for his teammates but Emon Babu and Nabib Newaj Jibon failed to make the best use on both the occasions. l

Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet arrived in Dhaka yesterday morning to take charge of the Bangladesh football team and immediately upon his arrival said he might announce the 32-man preliminary squad tomorrow.

Upon his return, Saintfiet informed that he is happy to be back and looking forward to the official signing as the Belgian is likely to sign a three-month official contract with the Bangladesh Football Federation at the start of next week.

“I’m very happy to be back in Bangladesh. After my vacation in Belgium, I told my wife I miss Bangladesh. I was looking forward to be back and now we can start working. The real work starts now,” said Saintfiet.

The 43-year old continued, “We will have the official signing and presentation. And I will see the last six matches of the [Bangladesh Premier] league’s sixth round. Soon we will start the national camp ahead of the important match against Bhutan. “[Tomorrow] I will announce the squad of 32. In general I’m satisfied with the players. I saw some new interesting players in Chittagong. There are players who are used to be selected and some new ones as well.”

BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag on the other hand said, “We tried to make it official [today] but we couldn’t make up the time as it is the last working day of the week. We hope we can arrange the signing early next week.”

Shohag also stated that the official signing of Saintfiet and Bangladesh’s new technical and strategical advisor Paul Smalley will be done on the same day.

Meanwhile, the national team will begin their residential training camp this Sunday ahead of the Asian Football Confederation’s Cup Qualifiers Play-off against Bhutan on September 6 and October 10.l

DT

28

Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

RESULTS FC Copenhagen

1-0

APOEL Nicosia

1-1

FC Rostov

Pavlovic 43

Ajax Klaassen 38-P

Dinamo Zagreb

Noboa 13

1-1

Salzburg

Rog 76-P

Lazaro 59

Steaua Bucharest 0-5 Manchester City Silva 13, Nolito 49 Aguero 41, 78, 89

1-3

Young Boys Sulejmani 56

M’gladbach Raffael 11, Hahn 67, Rochat 69-og

Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero scores their fourth goal during the UEFA Champions League qualifying play-off first leg against Steaua Bucharest in Bucharest on Tuesday REUTERS

Aguero hits City treble despite two penalty misses n Reuters, Berne Sergio Aguero missed two penalties in the first 20 minutes and then scored a hat-trick as Manchester City romped to a 5-0 win at Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of their Champions League playoff on Tuesday.

David Silva and Nolito were also on target against the crestfallen former European champions who were spared an even heavier defeat

as the visitors hit the woodwork three times.

Borussia Moenchengladbach also took a big step towards qualifying for the group stage with a 3-1 victory at Swiss side Young Boys.

Former European champions Ajax Amsterdam were held 1-1 at home by Russians Rostov while Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb also had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Austrians Salzburg.

Copenhagen beat APOEL Nic-

SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS 355 (D. Chandimal 132, D. de Silva 129; M. Starc 5-63, N. Lyon 3-110) AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS 379 (S. Marsh 130, S. Smith 119; R. Herath 6-81)

Total (8 wickets dec; 99.3 overs) 347

Marta in tears as Sweden dump Brazil Sweden ended a disconsolate Marta’s dreams of guiding Brazil’s women to a first Olympic football gold medal Tuesday with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win to set up a final with Germany.

The five-time world player of the year walked off in tears after the upset before 70,000 people in a stunned Maracana stadium.

Germany also avenged a group

n AFP, Colombo

SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS R B (overnight: 312-8; D. de Silva not out 44, S. Lakmal not out 0) D. de Silva not out 65 74 S. Lakmal not out 4 18 Extras (b8, lb3, w1, nb 5) 17

AFP

stage defeat in the other semi-final.

Goals from tournament top scorer Melanie Behringer and Sara Daebritz confined Canada to a 2-0 defeat in other semifinal.l

RESULTS Brazil

0-0

Sweden

2-0

Canada

(Sweden won 4-3 on penalties)

Germany Behringer 21-P, Daebritz 59

ance and took the lead in between when Silva fired home after neat footwork by Raheem Sterling.

Aguero finally found the target four minutes before halftime when he sidefooted the ball in from 18 metres following another chance created by Sterling.

Nolito and Aleksandar Kolarov also hit the woodwork in the first half for rampant City.

New signing Nolito increased the lead for Pep Guardiola’s side

Bowling Starc 19.3-4-72-2, Lyon 37-7-123-4, Holland 20-4-72-2, Hazlewood 14-2-33-0, Smith 2-0-13-0, M. Marsh 3-1-3-0, M. Henriques 2-0-9-0, A. Voges 2-0-11-0 AUSTRALIA 2ND INNINGS (target: 324 runs) S. Marsh c Mendis b D. Perera D. Warner b D. Perera S. Smith b Herath A. Voges lbw b Herath M. Henriques run out M. Marsh c K. Perera b Herath P. Nevill c Mathews b Herath M. Starc c K. Perera b Herath N. Lyon lbw b. Herath J. Hazlewood st Perera b Herath J. Holland not out Extras (b4, lb6)

R

B

23 68 8 1 4 9 2 23 12 0 0 10

66 94 14 2 15 4 10 34 12 9 5

Total (10 wickets; 44.1 overs)

160

Bowling Herath 18.1-3-64-7, D. Perera 22-3-71-2, De Silva 4-0-15-0 Result: Sri Lanka won by 160 runs

four minutes after the restart when he beat the offside trap to collect Kevin de Bruyne’s pass and rounded Nita for his first goal since his move from Celta Vigo.

Aguero exchanged passes with Nolito before scoring the fourth with an angled drive and he then raced through the defence to complete his hat-trick with a shot off the post. Two goals in four minutes in the second half put Gladbach in command of their tie.l

Aussies lose Test crown after SL whitewash

SCORECARD

Brazil’s player Bruna (R) comforts teammate Marta after losing to Sweden in their Rio 2016 Olympic Games Women’s semifinal match at the Maracana Stadium in Rio on Tuesday

n AFP, Rio de Janeiro

osia 1-0 in the evening’s other match.

City’s visit to Romania got off to an extraordinary start as Aguero fluffed his lines.

The Argentine, who has missed four of his last five penalties in European competition, saw his first spot kick saved by Florin Nita after eight minutes and then shaved the crossbar with another attempt 12 minutes later.

Even so City found little resist-

Australia lost their crown as the kings of Test cricket yesterday after another devastating burst of spin bowling from the veteran Rangana Herath helped Sri Lanka clinch an historic series whitewash.

Set a formidable target of 324 in their second innings of the third and final Test, Australia collapsed were all out for just 160 as Herath took seven for 64 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

It was the third time in a row that the Australians had lost all of their Tests in away series against teams from the sub-continent and

allowed India to regain the number one slot in the world rankings.

And it was the first time that the hosts had ever recorded a clean sweep of a major cricketing nation since they gained Test status in 1981.

“It’s a hard one to grasp really, it’s been a very tough series again, that is the our third straight whitewash loss in the subcontinent,” a disappointed Australian skipper Steve Smith told reporters.

“Can’t fault the prep, got here early, worked as hard as we can.

Think Sri Lanka have played some great cricket, (it’s) disappointing but a great learning curve.”l

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Song for two (4) 4 Measures of length (4) 8 By way of (3) 9 Therefore (4) 10 Baulk (4) 11 Proverb (5) 12 Incline (4) 14 Transgression (3) 15 Tree (3) 17 Dry, of champagne (3) 19 Spirit (3) 21 Dash (4) 23 Stared openmouthed (5) 26 Jest (4) 27 Water pitcher (4) 28 Fate (3) 29 Table-shaped hill (4) 30 Repose (4)

DOWN 1 Postpones (6) 2 Wicked (4) 3 Roofing items (5) 4 Nourished (3) 5 Efface (5) 6 Incite (3) 7 Digit (3) 11 Abolish (5) 13 Ventilated (5) 16 Unassuming (6) 18 Sleeveless garments (5) 20 Army rank (5) 22 Musical sound (4) 23 Precious stone (3) 24 Respectful fear (3) 25 Period of time (3)

29

DT

Downtime

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 19 represents P so fill P every time the figure 19 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

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

DT

30

Showtime

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

New Bond, old Bond n Showtime Desk There are numerous sources which has already announced that Daniel Craig will be do one more James Bond film. But it seems that yet another possibility to change Bond’s face has arisen. Apparently Fernando Carrillo is one of the five actors being considered to play the iconic role. After the whole #oscarsowhite controversy earlier this year ahead of the Oscars Ceremony, where all the actors nominated where Caucasian, Hollywood has taken it upon themselves to open the doors to inclusion in the industry, with the Academy driving towards diversity now more than ever.

As a result, many artists from different backgrounds who work in the industry were invited to join The Academy, which is expected to help diversify

selections when the time comes to choose the nominees for future Oscars. Inviting Latino and African Americans into the academy not only will help with the votes, but will also give them a voice in Hollywood, hopefully starting a new era in the movie industry.

Another example of this opening in Hollywood is the fact that for the first time ever, there is a Latino actor and a black actor who are being considered to play one of the most iconic agents in the world: James Bond.

Initially, Ian Fleming’s saga was strictly played by British actors, but through the years, it has become a lot more flexible, with American actor Barry Nelson playing Bond in 1954.

Eventually, other foreigners followed, such as Australian actor George Lazenby in 1969,

and one of the most recognisable Bonds, Scottish actor Sean Connery, who played the agent between 1962 and 1983.

Irish actor, Pierce Brosnan eventually portrayed the role from 1994 to 2002, only to go back to a British actor, this time, Daniel Craig. However, the franchise is moving along with the times and there are major speculations that Idris Elba might be the next James Bond, and would become the first black man to play the role. Although that’s not set in stone, sources reveal that besides Elba, producers are also considering Venezuelan actor Fernando Carrillo, who could potentially become the first Latino to ever play the character, if he manages to beat actors like James Norton, Tom Hardy and Tom Hiddleston in snatching the role.l

Kim Kardashian: not a feminist n Showtime Desk Because she doesn’t want to be labelled, Kim Kardashian reportedly doesn’t want to call herself a feminist. The 35-yearold reality star took to her blog to share a lengthy column which she titled, “Why I Don’t Label Myself a Feminist.”

Kardashian has written the column following her admission at the BlogHer 2016 conference earlier this month.

“For me, feminist is someone who advocates for the civil and social rights and liberties of all people, regardless of their gender; anyone who believes that women should have the same choices and opportunities as men when it comes to education and employment, their bodies and their lifestyles,” Kim explained.

“Of course I want these things!

I’m all about empowering and uplifting women.”

“I’ll always fight for women’s rights. Always. I support women to the fullest. But, at the end of the day, no one should feel pressured to be labelled as anything just because they believe in certain

things and support certain values or ideals,” her column reads further.

The mother of two continued to explain that while many aspects of her life seemingly identify her as a feminist, she doesn’t want to be ‘defined’ by what she believes in.

“Obviously, there are things about me which, according to some people, might make me come across as a feminist: I work hard, I make my own money,

I’m comfortable and confident in my own skin, and I encourage women to be open and honest about their sexuality, and to embrace their beauty and their bodies,” she said. “But why do we have to put labels on things?

You’re Republican, you’re Democrat, you’re bisexual, you’re plus-size, you’re poor, you’re a criminal, you’re a mother, you’re a feminist. I’m a human being, and I have thoughts, feelings and opinions about a lot of different things.

“I don’t need to be defined by those beliefs, just as much as I don’t want to be set apart from – or viewed as being against – those who DO define themselves by those.”

Kim, the wife of outspoken rapper Kanye West, concluded by saying that she believes people who label themselves feminists are contributing to the inequality in the world.

“I feel that, being grouped or labelled can create separation between people who do (or don’t) fall into certain categories, when they may actually share many of the same beliefs and goals,” she finished. l

Kajol turns down Dabangg 3 offer n Showtime Desk The much awaited Dilwale didn’t do justice to the pre-release hype of the film. The only thing which was appreciated by audience was Kajol’s negative role.

Bollywood also thinks it’s time for the villain of Gupt to make a come back. Kajol has not signed any film post Dilwale, but it was recently reported that Arbaaz Khan has approached her to do a negative role in Dabangg 3.

However, reports suggest that the actress has declined the offer. A source says, “Kajol has a knack for refusing good films like she has previously refused

3 Idiots. She had told Rajkumar Hirani to make her role as strong as Aamir Khan’s.

It turns out that Kajol turned down Dabangg 3 because she wants role as strong as the main lead, Salman Khan. Apparently she told Arbaaz that the film can’t have two Khans!” Arbaaz, when contacted said that it’s not true.

The third Dabangg film has already created a lot of controversy till date.

Parineeti Chopra too, has been approached for the role of Sonakshi. Only time will tell which actress will be paired opposite Salman. l

Masud Hasan to direct a feature film

Gautam Chattopadhyay

Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah

n Farhan Shahriar For the first time ever, Masud Hasan has taken the initiative to direct a feature film. His film is about three late cultural influences, poet Rudra

Sanjeev Chowdhury

Mohammad Shahidullah; singer Sanjeev Chowdhury; and singermusician and the founder of the band Mohiner Ghoraguli, Gautam Chattopadhyay. The film titled, Maestro will be made in relation to their life and work. However,

the director said that the film won’t be biographical, rather it will be based on true stories from their lives.

Before making the film, the director has already has started to make three documentaries feathering the three legends.

The short documentaries are about 20 minutes each. The director also said that the work of the documentary on Gautam Chatterjee has already started in Kolkata in November last year, and the work on the second documentary on Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah has also started in July this year.

Moreover, the shooting of the final documentary on Sanjeev Chowdhury, will commence from this month.

The director admitted the reasons behind making these three documentaries. He said,

“The current era of information technology or art and literature review of reflection have reduced at an alarming rate. We are going through a kind of cultural risk, which is undoubtedly true. This powerful documentary films must be introduced to the new generation which will help the audience to connect with the original film.”

However, the big challenge for the film maestro will be to find accurate actors who will be fit to play the original characters. The good news is, the director has already selected an actor for the role of Gautam Chattopadhyay.

He is still holding screen tests for the role of Sanjeev while he further added that the actor who will play Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah’s role, will be kept as a surprise. l

London 1971: a historical photo exhibition on display n Showtime Desk London, the city set on the banks of Thames and the historical capital of England, has been a vivid witness to our country’s indelible memory, the Liberation War of 1971. From the development period of the independence struggles to during the war itself, every Bengali expat living in England raised their voices demanding their home country’s independence.

London 1971 is an exhibition of photographs and historical memorabilia from the early protesting days of the Liberation War in London to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 1972’s visit to the city on his way back to his homeland. During his visit, Rahman met the then British Prime Minister Edward Heath and addressed the international media at the Claridge’s Hotel.

The debut exhibition of London 1971 will be held today at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Ujjal Das, a convenor of the organising committee and coordinator of the event, has confirmed that Asaduzzaman Noor, honourable cultural affairs minister, will inaugurate the three-day exhibition at the 5th Exhibition Room at 4:30pm.

Followed by the inagural, a discussion on “London 1971: Victory of Bengali on Foreign Land” will held at 5:00pm, in which Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, honourable minister of finance, will grace the discussion as the

chief guest while Shahriar Alam, honourable state minister to the ministry of foreign affairs, will be present as the special guest.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, ex-secretary of the foreign affairs ministry and the second secretary of the then Bangladesh Diplomatic Mission established in London in 1971, and Nuzhat Chowdhury, a teacher at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.

The exhibition will run till August 20 with visiting hours from 3:00pm to 8:00pm everyday. l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016

WHAT TO WATCH

Around the World In 80 Days HBO 6:15pm A bet pits a British inventor, a Chinese thief, and a French artist on a worldwide adventure that they can circle the globe in 80 days.

Casts: Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Cécile de France, Jim Broadbent, Adam Godley

Titanic Star Movies 2:42pm A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

Casts: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher, Victor Garber Jumanji Movies Now 9:30pm 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.

Casts: Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Bradley Pierce

Orphan WB 5:15pm A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a nine year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.

Casts: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett

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Back Page

CITYCELL LENDERS FRET OVER LIKELY SHUTDOWN PAGE 12

SIDDIKUR CONTENT WITH RIO DISPLAY PAGE 24

NEW BOND, OLD BOND PAGE 30

Fed commits to help Malaysia’s manpower market eludes Bangladesh bring hackers to book n

Adil Sakhawat

Kuala Lumpur is yet to make it clear whether it will reopen its manpower market for Dhaka.

The doors to the lucrative market was shut on February 19, a day after the two countries inked a MoUto allow more Bangladeshis work in Malaysia.

“The Malaysian market is yet to open. We are in the dark about that,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam told reporters in Dhaka yesterday.

When the minister’s attention was drawn to allegations that various agencies were taking money from those planning to go to Malaysia for work, he said: “We will formally inform you when Malaysia starts importing manpower from Bangladesh.”

Malaysia, a rich Southeast Asian nation, is a popular destination for

expatriate workers, many of whom try to go there illegally sometimes risking their lives by travelling the high seas in rickety boats.

Around 300,000 Bangladeshis are believed to be working there and another 1 million are thought to be illegally staying in that country.

Minister Nurul said the government would not allow anyone to monopolise exporting manpower to Malaysia. “We have already sent a list of 735 recruiting agencies to Malaysia.”

According to government figures, expatriate Bangladeshis in Malaysia remitted around $1.4 billion last year.

On sending workers to Saudi Arabia, the minister said oil prices were gradually increasing in the world market, so there will not be any negative effect on Bangladeshi workers.

The government will fix a minimum migration cost to the Saudi

bound workers after consultation with the Bangladesh embassy there, he said.

Any recruiting agencies charging excessively for migration from aspiring workers in Saudi Arabia will face stern action, Minister Nurul Islam warned.

The embassy is also trying to arrange jobs with other companies for those workers. Nurul Islam and senior ministry officials recently visited Lebanon and Jordan.

Yesterday in the press briefing, the minister said the two countries would take more workers from Bangladesh for construction, agriculture and service sector as well as domestic work and the garments sector.

Lebanon will increase the wage of Bangladeshi workers, he added.

After implementing a new wage structure, male workers will get US$400 and females US$250 per month. l

n Jebun Nesa Alo

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has agreed to help towards bringing the hackers behind the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist under law as well as recovering the stolen money.

The assurance came at a tripartite meeting among senior officials of Bangladesh Bank, Fed and SWIFT held on Tuesday in New York.

NY Fed agreed to work collaboratively to recover the hacked money as soon as possible, said a statement from Bangladesh Bank yesterday.

All sides also put more importance on bringing the thieves under law with the help of law enforcement agencies, said the statement.

The participants remain concerned about this event and committed to working together to recover the entire stolen amount

as quickly as possible. They also committed to greater cooperation to protect the global financial system from these types of attacks in the future.

Around $81 million was hacked from Bangladesh Bank’s reserve account with the NY Fed in February. The reserve bank has not made any comments so far about its role during the heist. Bangladesh Bank is concentrating its efforts on recovering the stolen money, which was funneled into the Philippine banking system and then laundered through casinos there. But the main perpetrators behind the crime, one of the largest of its kind, are still unknown.

Bangladesh Bank is now at the final stage of bringing back a portion of the stolen money, $15 million, through the collaboration of the Philippine central bank and Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC). l

At least 11 killed in airstrike in Yemen n Tribune Desk Abs hospital, in Hajjah governorate, northwestern Yemen was hit by an airstrike on Monday killing at least 11 people and injuring at least 19.

The blast immediately killed nine people, including a MSF staff member, and two more patients died while being transferred to Al Jamhouri hospital. Five patients were hospitalised. Abs hospital, supported by MSF since July 2015, has been partially destroyed, and all the remaining patients and staff were evacuated.

The blast occurred even though the hospital’s GPS coordinates shared continuously and its location was well-known to all parties involved in the conflict-- including the Saudi-led coalition.

“This is the fourth attack on an MSF facility in less than 12 months.

Once again, we witnessed the tragic consequences of the bombing of a hospital. Once again, a fully functional hospital-- full of patients and MSF national and international staff members-- was bombed in a war that has shown no for respect medical facilities or patients. An aerial bomb hit the hospital compound, causing the death of 11 peo-

A crater caused by a Saudi-led coalition air strike is seen at the yard of a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres in the Abs district of Hajja province, Yemen August 16, 2016 REUTERS ple”, says Teresa Sancristóval, desk manager for the Emergency Unit in Yemen.

She added: “With the high level declarations of commitment to In-

ternational Humanitarian Law, the United Nations has called upon all parties to an end attacks on medical facilities but they seem to have done nothing to respect medical

staff and patients.”

Without action, these public gestures are meaningless. People in Yemen continue to be killed and injured while seeking medical

care. The violence in Yemen is having a disproportionate burden on civilians. We want to express our outrage at having to send condolences once more to the families of our staff member and patients who have lost their lives, who should have been safe inside a hospital, she went on to say.

MSF asks all parties, and particularly to the Saudi-led coalition responsible for the attack, to guarantee that such attacks do not happen again.

Since July 2015, 4,611 patients have been treated at the facility-the main hospital functioning in the Western part of Hajjah Governorate. It had a 14 bed Emergency Room, a maternity unit and surgery unit. In the last weeks the hospital had seen an increase in wounded patients, mostly victims of recent clashes and the aerial campaign in the area.

MSF is active in 11 hospitals and health centres, and providing support to another 18 hospitals or health centres in eight governorates: Aden, Al-Dhale’, Taiz, Saada, Amran, Hajjah, Ibb and Sana’a governorates. More than 2,000 MSF staff are currently working in Yemen. l

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