October 18, 2016 by DhakaTribune

SECOND EDITION

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Kartik 3, 1423, Muharram 16, 1438

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 170

www.dhakatribune.com

32 pages

Price: Tk10

Old JMB gaining WB: Bangladesh still has much to do to beat extreme poverty strength Jamil Khan n Mohammad and Arifur Rahman Rabbi Members of the main Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) are now trying to come to limelight by resuming activities as they are inspired by the recent attacks carried out by a new faction of the

banned militant outfit, detectives say. “The outfit has started to re-organise its members and selected a new chief to conduct organisational activities,” Monirul Islam, chief of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Detectives produce Rashidun Nabi, a member of the banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team, in front of media yesterday after he was arrested Sunday night in connection with the murder of blogger Nazimuddin Samad

Killer regrets blogger Nazim murder Rahman Rabbi and n Arifur Md Sanaul Islam Tipu In an unprecedented development, a member of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team has apologised to the nation for his involvement in the murder of Gonojagoron Moncho activist and secularist Nazimuddin Samad six months ago. Rashidun Nabi Bhuiyan ali-

as Rayhan, 26, arrested by detectives from Sayedabad bus stand area on Sunday night, was produced before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Maruf Hossain yesterday afternoon with a 10day remand prayer. The judge granted the police three days to interrogate him. No lawyer represented Nabi during the remand hearing.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE

PM expects WB’s stronger role in BD’s development efforts

Two from DMCH ambulance syndicate sent to jail

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she expects the World Bank to play a stronger role in Bangladesh’s development endeavours as its leading development partner.  PAGE 3

A mobile court yesterday sent two alleged members of DMCH ambulance syndicate to jail after four people were killed on Saturday by an ambulance owned by a DMCH ward boy.  PAGE 32

n Jebun Nesa Alo

Bangladesh is doing better than many countries in alleviating extreme poverty, but it still has a long way to go to eradicate it by 2030, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said yesterday. “To reach its goal to become a middle-income country by 2021 and to end extreme poverty by 2030, Bangladesh must sustain its economic growth and

create more and better jobs,” he said at an event in Dhaka. The event, which took place at Osmani Memorial Auditorium, was organised by the Economic Relations Division in observance of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Addressing the event, the World Bank chief said Bangladesh should focus on developing energy and transport infrastructure and improving the

quality of health care, education and governance to strengthen anti-corruption measures. Putting emphasis on private sector investment and governance, he said the World Bank Group was looking forward to working with Bangladesh to promote such investment by strengthening governance and improving the investment climate.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

News

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Bangladesh to get additional $1bn WB fund for childcare n Asif Showkat Kallol

Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank Group president, yesterday announced an additional $1 billion fund for Bangladesh over the next two years as assistance for reducing malnutrition and stunting among children. He made the declaration at a joint press briefing after taking part in a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the Finance Minis-

try in Dhaka yesterday morning. The WB president said Bangladesh is one of the largest recipients of financial assistance from the International Development Association (IDA). “As the IDA funds will increase by almost 50% in next three years, we hope that Bangladesh will definitely get the highest funds during the next IDA 2018.” The IDA is a part of the WB that supports anti-poverty programmes in the poorest developing countries.

Informing that the WB has fresh commitment of $72bn, mostly soft loans, for the next IDA, Kim said at present the IDA fund stands at $52bn. He said: “We have taken a new innovation to use exacting IDA capital which already got permission by the board. We have a plan to raise additional $25bn of IDA from capital market.” Kim said the interest of the IDA credit is not fixed yet, but it will be soft for poor countries. Maturity

period of IDA soft loan will be 15 years with an interest rate of 2%, the WB president pointed out. According to the Economic Relationship Division (ERD), last year Bangladesh got $1.7bn assistance from the IDA funds, he said.

Jim lauds BD poverty reduction

Praising Bangladesh’s record in reducing poverty, Kim said the world could learn much from how Bangladesh had improved the livelihoods of

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Killer regrets blogger Nazim murder At one point, when the judge asked him about the murder, Nabi told the court: “I admit that we killed him [Nazim]. Please forgive us. We regret it and apologise to the nation. Please pardon me. We were misguided...” Nabi was arrested by a team of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit and the Detective Branch of police. Jagannath University master’s student Nazimuddin was hacked to death at Ekrampur intersection in

Old Dhaka’s Sutrapur area on April 6. He came to Dhaka in January and got himself admitted to the university in February and started living in Gendaria. Nazimuddin was the information and research secretary of Sylhet district unit of Bangabandhu Jatiya Jubo Parishad. He used to write against religious extremism and radicalism on Facebook. DB police in August claimed that a sleeper cell of the outfit from Sylhet targeted 28-year-old Nazimud-

tens of millions and empowered women despite facing persistent challenges, including those related to governance and climate change. He also said: “The reason we are here is that Bangladesh had tremendous success in reducing poverty in last 30 years. According to the latest World Bank report titled “Taking on Inequality,” the rate of hardcore poor in Bangladesh has cut down to 12.9% while this rate was 18% in 2009-10. l

din for his writings on Facebook, followed him and carried out the killing. The detectives also found that Ansarullah leader Saiful Islam masterminded the attack. DMP Additional Commissioner and CTTC chief Monirul Islam yesterday said that the militants linked to Ansarullah (now Ansar Al Islam) had planned to kill Nazimuddin three months back. “A few days before the attack, the militants had rented a house near Jagannath University. They fol-

lowed Nazimuddin’s movement and finally conducted the attack on April 6,” Monirul said at a press briefing. “Since Nazimuddin used to live in a mess house at Sutrapur of Old Dhaka, the militants thought that it will not be possible to kill him there. So, five militants led by Nabi attacked and killed him on the street.” Monirul claimed that Nabi had also confessed his involvement in the killing of LGBT rights activists Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub To-

noy, and the attempted murder of publisher Ahmed Rashid Tutul. Hailing from Comilla, Nabi joined Ansarullah Bangla Team last year, and so far inspired many youths to join the group. Since 2013, members of the militant outfit has killed 11 secularists, war crimes trial campaigners and teachers. Nabi has disclosed some names of the outfit’s members. “We are verifying the information and will launch drives to arrest his associates,” Monirul said. l

bility for the murder of Channel i presenter Sheikh Nurul Islam Faruqi, former PDB chairman Khijir Khan, Gopibagh pir Lutfor Rahman, and five others, and retired sergeant instructor of Kashimpur jail Rustom Hawlader. The JMB statement added that former JMB chief Maulana Saidur Rahman, who has been in jail since 2010, had accepted Salauddin’s leadership. A high official of the CTTC unit said that some trainers and members of the Old JMB had joined the New JMB, led by Tamim

Ahmed Chowdhury. The New JMB, which has affiliation with the Islamic State, has carried out 26 attacks since September last year and killed 45 people, mostly foreigners, non-Muslims and non-Sunni preachers, and law enforcers. Due to continuous drives against the New JMB members, the supporters of Old JMB are now trying to take the opportunity to regroup and resume attacks. Monirul said that the Old JMB members were trying to bring their top leader Abdullah Al

Tasnim out of jail. “We have information that the Old JMB has collected a large amount of money by conducting robberies, and a major part of the money has been spent to hire a lawyer for Tasnim.” Detectives arrested Tasnim on September 19, 2014. He took the helm when the outfit was facing leadership crisis. Monirul said that the Old JMB already had strong network in greater Mymensingh, as well as Jamalpur, Tangail and some northern districts. l

Old JMB gaining strength said yesterday. The Old JMB is now led by former Majlish-e-Sura member Salauddin alias Salehin, who was snatched from a police van along with two other top militants on February 23, 2014. The two others are Hafez Mahmud alias Rakib Hassan and Jahidul Islam alias Boma Mizan. Although Tangail police arrested Hafez Mahmud later in the day, the two others could not be arrested as of now. Detectives suspect that Salahuddin and Boma Mizan are now in West Bengal, India where they

have a stronghold. The Old JMB hinted about its regrouping process in a statement issued on June 27 this year by taking credit for more than 1,100 attacks carried out since 2000. The statement mentioned Salauddin as its leader and claimed that they had six active groups who have killed 11 people including pirs and law enforcers since 2013. In the last attack, JMB’s Abdul Awal Brigade slaughtered spiritual leader Mohammad Shahidullah at Tanore in Rajshahi on May 6 this year. They also claimed responsi-

WB: Bangladesh still has much to do to beat extreme poverty At present, foreign direct investment in Bangladesh is less than 1.7% of the GDP, which is far below than that of most countries. Kim highly appreciated Bangladesh’s effort to eradicate poverty, saying the country is a lesson for other countries in ending extreme poverty. “Bangladesh’s impressive record in dramatically reducing poverty gives us hope that this trend will continue and other countries can do the same.” According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, annual poverty rate has come down to 23.2% as of April-June 2016 from 48.9% in 2000. Extreme poverty stood at 23.2% from 34.3% during the same period. Kim said looking back at Bangladesh’s history, the educational attainment of Bangladeshi women was among the lowest in the world in 1991, whereas at present primary school enrolment for girls in Bangladesh is the same as in India and higher than in Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan.

Referring to the contribution of organisations such as Brac and Grameen Bank in reducing poverty, Kim said large NGOs and private sector companies brought micro-finance, investments in female-owned small businesses and other initiatives to empower poor people. He said Bangladesh also recognised that investment in people is just as important as investment in so-called hard infrastructure like bridges, roads and energy. These investment in people support an educated and healthy workforce that can help Bangladesh compete effectively in the global economy, he added. Kim addressed the private sector’s role in eradicating poverty and said women’s employment more than doubled in the span of a decade: in 2003, seven million women were employed, which increased to 17 million by 2013. Some four million women, mostly from poor rural areas, are currently em-

ployed in the ready-made garment sector, he added. Kim said he was also impressed by the record economic growth and investments in Bangladesh despite many challenges. “Bangladesh, for instance, is exceptionally vulnerable to severe cyclones, accounting for 70% of all storm surge in the world, but with an active community participation, Bangladesh has adapted itself to climate threats, putting in place early warning systems, cyclone shelters, evacuation plans, coastal embankments and reforestation schemes.” Since 2000, the economy has been growing consistently at 6% on average every year, and that growth has lifted millions of people out of poverty, the World Bank chief added. Referring to World Bank data, Kim said 20.5 million Bangladeshis overcame poverty between 1991 and 2010. The poverty rate dropped to 18.5% in 2010 from 44.1% in 1991, he added. l

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

PM expects WB’s stronger role in Bangladesh’s development efforts n UNB Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she expects the World Bank to play a stronger role in Bangladesh’s development endeavours as its leading development partner. “The World Bank is our one of the leading development partners. I hope, it’ll play a more proactive role in our endeavours,” she told a function. The government and the World Bank jointly arranged the programme at Osmani Memorial Auditorium, marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The prime minister said the partnership with the world community will further be strengthened towards Bangladesh’s development endeavours. “All our development plans, are aimed at realising our Father of the Nation’s dream of building a hunger, poverty, illiteracy and exploitation-free Sonar Bangladesh.” Sheikh Hasina said the people of Bangladesh are very brave, committed and hard-working ones. The resilient people of this country are determined to change their future and build a better Bangladesh for the next generation, she added. The prime minister mentioned that the country has already been placed at the medium category of human development index and upgraded to a lower middle-income country according its per capita income level. “We’re pursuing an inclusive growth strategy to graduate from the LDC status shortly and become a developed nation by 2041 with a land of peace, prosperity and har-

News

Quader: Strong action against extortion for council Abu Bakar n Mohammad Siddique

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at the inauguration of a public event at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka yesterday. The event was organised by the Economic Relations Division in observance of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty BSS mony,” she told her audience. About the spread of terrorism across the world, she said: “Our government has adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards any kind of violent activities. We’ve been able to contain militancy in the country. We’ll further strengthen our drive to eliminate the scourge of militancy from the society.” She urged all to come forward to make the world a beautiful place which will be free from poverty and hunger. “Let’s work closely to make this world free from poverty and hunger.” Hasina said Bangladesh has experienced a robust progress in poverty reduction from more than 70% in 1971 to 56.7% in 1991 and 22.4% at present. She said her government’s de-

velopment has a human face and strives to protect and promote the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable groups. Social safety net programmes coupled with inclusive growth approach played a catalytic role in this regard. In this context, she acknowledged the contributions of all players – national, regional and international – in Bangladesh’s development. Hasina said Bangladesh has been quite successful in managing its macro-economy very prudently. While the average GDP growth rate for the last 10 years was 6.4 percent, the government has been successful in raising the growth rate to 7.05% in fiscal year 2015-16. The country’s power generation capacity also increased by three

times to 15,000 MW, she said adding that her government has ensured almost 100% enrollment at primary level, while a significant progress has been made in tertiary education in terms of reducing the gender gap. A significant progress has also been made in establishing “Digital Bangladesh” as the country is now exporting soft-ware and ICT services to about 30 countries, including some developed ones. Though Bangladesh has been acclaimed internationally for disaster management, it is still one of the most vulnerable countries that suffers and will continue to suffer from climate change issues. She hoped that the implementation of Paris Climate Agreement will ensure climate justice.l

Bangladesh Awami League will be holding its 20th council on October 22 and 23. Awami League leader Obaidul Quader declared that anyone involved in extortion in the name of the upcoming Awami League council will face the music. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Road Obaidul Quader spoke to journalists yesterday afternoon following a meeting with the council subcommittees. Quader said the expenditure of holding the council is directed by party president Sheikh Hasina. He added that the approved budget cannot be exceeded at any cost. When asked if the sum of the budgets proposed by the eleven subcommittees exceeded the approved budget of Tk 2.65 crore, he answered that the central committee has fixed the amount as per Sheikh Hasina’s directives. The minister also said that they are looking to cultivate the veteran experience and youthful experience in the leadership. The minister added that there will be seven guests from, as well as political leaders from around 15 countries have been invited. He also addressed the traffic issues during the council. He said since the council would host thousands of party activists, there can be no assurance of a congestion-free traffic. But, he added, there will be a roadmap to direct the traffic and minimise public suffering. l

Militants to wives: Choose your partner for cause of Jihad Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Arifur Rahman Rabbi

“If we do not come back, or disappear or are killed, then move on and choose a new partner from the group to marry, for the sake of further Jihad.” In face of law enforcers’ drive, the militant leaders before going into hideout, instructed their wives to act in this way. They advised their wives to marry any member of the group without judging qualification, said sources from law enforcing agencies after interrogating a number of female militants detained recently. A high official of Police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit, yesterday confirmed the news to Dhaka Tribune. He said they were instructed by

their husbands to teach proper militant lessons to their children while growing up and also to increase female members of the group. Meanwhile, three female militants – Afrin alias Priyoti, 25, Adedatul Fatema alias Khadiza, 35, and Shaila Afrin, 23 – who were arrested from a den of Azimpur of Dhaka on September 10, gave confessional statement in the court yesterday. In their statements, the female members said that they got involved in militant activities through their husbands. Getting instruction from husbands, they left their home and took shelter in the Azimpur den. Monirul Islam, chief of CTTC unit, said, “Females get involved in militancy holding hand of their husbands who instruct their wives to teach militancy to their children.

“We have got some sensational information after interrogating three arrested female militants, but we did not find any evidence regarding their direct involvement in any operational activities,” he said. An official involved in militancy investigation, requesting anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that involvement of women in militancy activities is not a new. Recently, it has been known that the new JMB is trying to follow strategies of the Islamic State and being inspired by IS, the local militants also are trying to keep women as ‘sex partner’. “For this reason, the militant leaders also brought women in their group from different social communication sites. We have succeeded making a big crack in the recruitment system of New JMB,” the official also said.

Sources in CTTC unit said the three detained females of Azimpur den told the law enforcers that Major (retd) Jahidul Islam’s wife Jebunnesa Shila was also staying with them at the Azimpur den, but she left away before the law enforcers’ drive. Ahsanul Haque, Assistant Commissioner of CTTC unit, yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “All the three females have confessed to court that they were involved in militancy. But, they have now realised that this is not a good path and they are sorry for it.” Regarding female militancy, a high official of Rapid Action Battalion, requesting anonymity, said on September 6, militant members Marjia Akther alias Shumi, her husband Shariful Islam, Nahida Sultana and her husband Aminul Islam were arrested from Farmgate

and Naraynaganj. “Some information has been found after interrogating the detainees. We are now checking the authenticity of their information,” said the RAB official. “It was learnt during interrogation from Marjia that she got involved in militancy from Facebook first, later she used to operate JMB “Thrima” and “telegram” mobile applications. She was shown different war videos of Middle East, pictures of some injured child and women and were given some information regarding Jihad,” he also said. “Marjia said in interrogation that watching the videos and pictures, she left her home on August 20 for Jihad and married Shariful in Signboard area of Gazipur as per organisational decision,” he added. l

News

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

TARIQUE’S MONEY LAUNDERING CASE

High Court releases full verdict n Ashif Islam Shaon The High Court, yesterday, released the full text of it’s verdict in a money laundering case that had sentenced BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman to seven years’ jail and slapped fine of tk 20 crores. The verdict also upheld a seven-year conviction for Tarique’s friend and business partner Gias Uddin Al Mamun, but lowered his fine to Tk20 crore, half of what was originally fixed by the trial court on November 17, 2013. The verdict by the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Amir Hossain was delivered on July 21 this year that scrapped a lower court verdict which acquitted Tarique in the money laundering case involving Tk 20.41 crore. In the 82-page full text, the High

Court commented on Tarique’s acquittal by the trial court, saying that the trial judge himself made a defense on behalf of the absconding accused Rahman and thereby committed serious error of law in acquitting the accused. Moreover, the lower court judge misread and misconstrued the definition of ‘Money Laundering’ as defined in the Money Laundering Act 2002, it said. The money laundering case was filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in October 2009 against them for laundering money to Singapore between 2003 and 2007 after illegally obtaining the money. From this amount, Tarique relied on “deceitful means” to use a supplementary credit card on different dates and spent Tk3.78 crore for his treatment and shopping in Singapore between 2003 and 2006.

Khadiza Islam, as a prosecution witness had told the trial court that Mamun demanded money to award a work order to M/S Harbin Power Engineering Company of China, where she was a local agent, for the construction of an eighty (80) MW capacity power station in Tongi. The awarding process was be done through Tarique Rahman. Khadija and three others transferred the money to Mamun’s account with the City Bank NA in Singapore on various occasions. In 2008 the then Ad-Interim Government of Bangladesh requested the assistance of the United States and US sent representative to Dhaka to obtain information regarding bribery cases. During the trial at the lower court, an FBI agent Debra La Prevotte had testified that two credit cards were found from two ac-

counts of Mamun in Singapore. One was in the name of Mamun and other in the name of Tarique Rahman. Photostat copy of Tarique’s passport was submitted to City Bank Singapore to obtain the second Visa Card. Tarique’s Credit Card was used to pay his travel expenses to visit Athens, Frankfurt, Singapore, Bangkok & Dubai along with shopping and meet medical expenditures. The High Court in full text of judgment observed that ordinary businessman Mamun had no authority to interfere with the internal affairs and works of the ministry. “Mamun made it possible as he was the close friend and business partner of accused Rahman and obviously, Mamun’s source of such ‘supernatural power’ was the accused Rahman, son of the then Prime Minister,” the court observed. l

BTRC asks citizens to be aware of fraud calls or SMSs n Tribune Desk

As allegations of massive frauds started to pour in, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in a statement issued yesterday asked citizens to be aware and not respond to phone calls and SMSs that are falsely using the telecom regulator’s name. The BTRC came up with the announcement after several incidents of frauds were reported where citizens were called on their phones or received SMSs asking for their personal and biometric SIM registration information. In the statement, BTRC Secretary Sarwar Alam said they had observed that some fraudsters were making phone calls and sending SMSs to customers using the name of BTRC, confusing them, and were collecting their personal information like SIM registration details and cash related information (PIN number of bKash and other mobile financial accounts). The statement further said the BTRC had found instances where fraud gangs were copying and using the BTRC land line number (+88029611111) and mobile number (+8801555121121) when making calls to customers. If any such call or SMS is found, citizens are requested to notify it to BTRC consumer complaint related call centre at 2872 or email to consumer.inquiries@btrc.gov.bd, the statement added. l

RAB Magistrate Sarwar Alam checks the expiry of medicines kept at a marketing agency yesterday during a raid in Dhaka’s Segunbagicha. The agency was fined Tk10 lakh for marketing expired medicines and storing them in an incorrect temperature MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Khaleda’s Niko graft case deferred n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday deferred till November 16 the hearing on charge framing against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 10 others in Niko graft case filed by the Anti-corruption Commission a decade ago. Judge Md Aminul Islam of the Dhaka’s Ninth Special Judge’s Court gave the order accepting a time petition filed by the defence counsels. During the hearing, Khaleda’s counsel Md Sanaullah Miah filed the time petition mentioning that she could not appear due to illness. The former prime minister appeared at the court on August 10. On November 30 last year, she surrendered before the court following a High Court order and secured bail in the graft case. The other accused include former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam and vice-president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd Kashem Sharif. The ACC filed the case with Tejgaon police on December 9, 2007 accusing Khaleda and others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko, when she was the prime minister between 2001 and 2006. In May 5, 2008, the anti-graft watchdog submitted charge sheet against Khaleda and 10 others. Two months later, the High Court stayed the proceedings following a petition filed by Khaleda. The High Court on June 18 cleared the way for the trial proceedings to resume against Khaleda and others. The court also directed the BNP chief to surrender before the trial court within two months after a copy of the order reached the lower court. l

TI: We are not the enemy, corruption is n Adil Sakhawat Expressing concern over the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Bill, top Transparency International official José Carlos said such a law would reduce space and possibilities for the civil society to combat corruption. Speaking at a press conference at the Senate building of Dhaka University yesterday, he said Bangladesh scored 35 out of 100 in the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index of the Berlin-based global anti-graft watchdog, which means the country has a severe case of

public sector corruption. “That is why Bangladesh needs comprehensive diagnosis and national-level planning for anti-corruption measures to change the situation,” he added. Carlos is currently serving as the chairperson of the international board of directors of Transparency International. The bill has a provision that allows the government to cancel registration of NGOs for making malicious and derogatory statements against the constitution and constitutional bodies, among other reasons.

Rights activists and groups condemned the passage of the bill, terming it repressive for the NGOs and the civil society and contradictory with the constitution. Carlos further said he expected space for the civil society organisations – which includes Transparency International itself – to fight against corruption, or else corruption would keep increasing in the society. “We are not the enemy here, corruption is.” He said Transparency International would support Bangladesh government in all its anti-corruption efforts, but they would not re-

main silent when “things are going wrong.” Transparency International will closely observe how implementation of this law pans out in Bangladesh, he added. Sultana Kamal, chairperson of Transparency International Bangladesh who was also present at the press conference, said: “Section 14 of the bill says if any NGO makes malicious and offensive statement, that NGO’s registration will be cancelled. But the law does not define how a statement would be considered malicious and offensive. So the law can be misused.” l

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Mobile court sends two from DMCH ambulance syndicate to jail

Anti-communal veteran Ajoy Roy passes away n Mohammad Abu Bakar Siddique

Ajoy Roy, The veteran anti-communal personality in the country, passed away at Birdem Hospital in the capital yesterday morning. The president of Sammilita Samajik Andolon died at the age of 88. He was suffering from breathing problems and other complications related to diabetes and kidney diseases. The body was kept at the mortuary of Birdem Hospital, former Chhatra Moitry President Bappaditya Basu told the Dhaka Tribune. Roy’s body will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar on Wednesday from 10am to 11am for a citizens’ tribute, Bappaditya informed. Roy left behind his wife Jayanti Roy, one son, two daughters and a number of political activists, followers and well-wishers. He will be buried at his ancestral home at Bangram village under Kotiyadi upazila of Kishoreganj district. The veteran politician had been involved in movements in establishing the democratic rights in the country. He fought against the communalism and fundamentalism throughout his life, Bappaditya remarked. Ajoy Roy worked with Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB). He left CPB in 1992 and formed Rupantorito Communist Party. Later, he formed Communist Kendra. He was president in both parties. He played a vital role in forming the 11-party alliance, an alliance of progressive democratic parties in the late 90s. Roy was more active in the social movements. He was the convener of Samprodayikota-Jongibad birodhi Moncho, a platform against communalism and militancy. Ajoy Roy was born in December 30, 1928 at Ishwarganj of Mymensingh. He got involved with Student Federation in the British period and came in touch with the communist leaders in that time and involved with Jugantor, an organisation against the British colonisation. In 1946, he took part in election from communist party from the constituency of Netrokona, Mymensingh, Kishoreganj. During the Pakistan period he was locked up in jail for many times organising against Pakistan rule and democratic right of the people. He took part in the 1971 Liberation War. After the liberation, 1973 he became the communist party’s central presidium member of CPB in the second congress of the party. l

News

Hasan and Aminul n Kamrul Islam Babu

A DMCH released patient is being boarded onto a CNG-run autorickshaw by her relatives as private ambulance services at DMCH went to strike yesterday morning. However, the strike was called off last night MEHEDI HASAN

Sender of SMS death threats still to be identified Chakma and n Muktasree Mohammad Jamil Khan

in the past as well. “We are checking whether there is any militant link behind the threats. If any militant link is found we will take steps against it. We will also act if anything else is found in this regard,” Monirul added. Since October 12, seven persons received deaths threats via text messages. All of these messages were sent from the same number (01629967551). The number is under the Airtel Bangladesh Ltd. network operator. The company declined to make any comments. The number belongs to one Fayzur Rahman, the central publicity secretary of Bangladesh Awami Olama League. An Islami outfit which recently gained publicity for making radical demands in April demanding the government cut down funding for Pahela Baishakh celebrations and divert the money to festivals like Eide-Milad-un-Nabi instead. They also demanded Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha be stripped of his position for being Hindu. The incident cause the ruling party Awami league to face huge criticism for its involvement with the outfit. On April 12, the ruling party general secretary Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif, said: “Awami League has no ties with the Olama League. Orders have already been given to take legal action against such organisations. ” Although the statement was made to outline the party’s stance on the outfit, many leading figures of AL were seen attending the outfit’s programmes since then.

At least 24 people have received death threats on their cell phones since last year. The law enforcement agencies’ personnel claimed that they are trying to figure out the sender of these messages that have been sent out since October, 13. They, however, admitted that they need more time to solve the mystery and do not suspect anyone as of now. Only the high profile citizens who had received death threats filed a general diary (GD) with the police while the others sadly refrain because they allege the law enforcement agencies do not take them seriously. An activist in exile lamented on the law enforcement agencies’ apathy, saying: “We know very well that police will not take such complains seriously. Neither ours nor those of the high profile individuals who received death threats for speaking their minds.” Dhaka Tribune found that at least 114 people – many of them intellectuals – have received death threats starting from May 2015 to April 2016. These threats were made mainly under the name of banned the militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team and Alkaida-A-Bangladesh Team 13. Chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit Monirul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that eminent citizens getting death threats is not a new development, these things have happened

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When asked is there any involvement of Awami Olama League, Monirul answered:“We suspect the original SIM card user is not linked with making these threats. Somebody else cloned his number and sent out those messages. However, we are still investigating and checking his activities too.” Meanwhile, Fayzur claims that he had been falsely implicated in such threat accusation. In a statement he alleged that one Abdul Haque was sending out those messages. Abdul Haque, however, is in custody and facing trial over using Fayzur’s number to threaten several ministers and MPs in 2013. The recent death threats via cell phone were sent to Prof Anu Muhammad, Prof Morshed Shafiul Hasan, Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and Prof Yasmeen Haque, secular writer and publisher Moinul Ahsan Saber, Imtiaz Mahmud and Director General of Bangla Academy Shamsuzzaman Khan. Most noticeably Prof Anu is the only one to receive this kind of threat, twice. l

Khulna

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Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES

A mobile court ran by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday sent two alleged members of DMCH ambulance syndicate to jail. The convicted ambulance syndicate members are – Mohammad Tanveer, 20, hailing from Comilla and Arif Hossain,22, hailing from Noakhali. Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) authorities formed two separate committees to investigate the ambulance accident on Saturday. Sarwar Alam, executive magistrate of RAB told the Dhaka Tribune that they received information from their civil team at the hospital that two ambulance syndicate members had stopped the relatives of a deceased from taking his body from the hospital using an outside ambulance. Gouropada Saha died earlier yesterday and the ambulance syndicate held the other ambulance for more than three hours and would not let it pass going as far as to threaten the driver with dire consequences and forced him to leave. DMCH authorities said they served notices to eight of its employees asking them to explain why actions would not be taken against them for running an ‘ambulance business.’ The action was followed by the death of four people being hit by an ambulance owned by a ward boy of the hospital. DGHS Director General Prof Abul Kalam Azad said two committees were formed to investigate the matter.” The committees were asked to submit the report within seven working days. l

Sylhet

Cox’s Bazar

Fajr: 5:25am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 4:15pm | Magrib: 5:41pm Esha: 7:45pm Source: Islamic Foundation

News

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Market on railway land in Comilla n Mohiuddin Molla, Comilla

A section of leaders of the ruling party Awami League have set up a market illegally on railway property at Laksham in Comilla after they grabbed the land using power. According to railway sources, more than 200 shops were built up between the main line and loop line at Daulatganj Railway Station on the Laksham-Noakhali Rail route in the upazila. Seeking anonymity, some railway officials alleged that the AL leaders have made the market forcefully defying law. This was the rare incident in the history of railway in Bangladesh, they added. When this correspondent visit-

Illegal structures on railway land at Daulatganj Railway Station in Laksham, Comilla ed the area recently, he found that the place had been filled up with the sand from the Dakadia River. Daulatganj Railway Station Master Abdul Mannan Chowdhury said after filling up the land with the sand between the two lines, train

plying the route is seriously hampered. If the situation is going on, the total system might collapse any time, he added. He claimed that the AL leaders had set up the market with the help

DHAKA TRIBUNE

of Laksham municipality’s authorities and they did not discuss with the railway officials. Some locals seeking anonymity told the Dhaka Tribune that the AL leaders and their people had set up the market in the name of Hawkers’

Market. But they took Tk50,000 in advance for a shop. When contacted, Mayor Abul Khaer did not want to make any comment about the incident. He also asked this reporter at his home. Mostafizur Rahman, executive engineer of Comilla Railway, said he had informed the incident to the higher authority. “In my service life, I have never seen such heinous incident,” he said. When contacted, Railway Minister Mujibul Haque said: “No one can grab the railway land.” “Like another parts of the country, the land grabbers at Daulatganj Railway Station will be evicted soon,” he said. l

31 fishermen jailed for catching Ilish n Tribune Desk

At least 31 fishermen were sent to jail yesterday in three districts for catching Ilish defying the ban. Our Faridpur correspondent said a team led by executive magistrate Mandip Ghorai conducted a drive in the Padma River, along different areas of Sadar upazila and arrested 11 fishermen. The team also seized 10 mounds of current nets and four and half mounds of the fish. Later, the detained fishermen were produced before the mobile court of executive magistrate Mandip Ghorai which sentenced each of them

to 15 days’ imprisonment. In Manikganj, two separate mobile courts sentenced 16 fishermen to one year imprisonment for catching Ilish from the Padma river in Harirampur and Shibalaya upazilas of the district, reports our correspondent. A mobile team led by Harirampur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Rubina Ferdousi conducted a drive in different points of the river and arrested seven fishermen with current nets and Ilish fish and convicted them. Another team led by Shibalaya Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Kamal Mohammad Rashed conducted a drive in the river and arrest-

ed nine fishermen. Later, the mobile court awarded each of them one year imprisonment. Besides, Fisheries Department conducted a drive in the Bishkhali River of Rajapur upazila in Jhalokati district and arrested four fishermen, an official of the department said. Later, the detained fishermen were produced before the mobile court of executive magistrate M Rafikul Islam which sentenced each of them to one year imprisonment. The government has imposed a ban on catching, selling, transportation and hoarding of Hilsa fish from October 12 to November 2. l

Traders tortured in Faridpur Wali Newaz, n Md Faridpur

A section of local influential tortured two poor traders, demolished their business centres and evicted them from trade at Gazna Bazar under Madhukhali upazila in the district yesterday. The victims were Nitta Gopal Sarkar, son of Surendranath Sarkar and Idris Molla, son of Khorshed Molla in the area. According to police sources, Idrish and Nitta had been running their business on khasland in the market for many years taking permission from AC land. But the miscreants involved with

The miscreants involved with ruling party men had been trying to evict them for grabbing the land ruling party men led by Toudur Rahman Tazit, Abdur Razzak and Maznu Sarkar had been trying to evict them for grabbing the land. On the day, they attacked the grocery shop of Nitta and

bicycle garrage of Idris. They vandalised the shops, looted valuables and tortured the duo mercilessly. On information, police officials from Madhukhali police station visited the spot. When contacted, Sub-Inspector Mostofa Kamal of Madhukhali police station, said a complaint was filed in this regard. Shah Kutubuzzaman, local leader of Communist Party of Bangladesh, said local people protested the attack and demanded immediate arrest of the miscreants. Motaleb Fakir, president of the bazar committee, said he was not present when the incident took place. l

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Launch passengers suffer on Munshiganj-Narayanganj route n Tanjil Hasan, Munshiganj Launch services on the Munshiganj-Narayanganj route have been lying in dire situation for many years due to manifold problems including insecurity, low speed, old and unfit vehicles. According to the Launch Owners’ Association sources, a total of 22 small launches ply the route everyday in interval of 25 minutes. There have been no new launch on the route in last ten years for conspiracy of a syndicate. As launches are very small in size and unfit, commuters fear to make journey on it. Many accidents, big or small, take place everyday. On Wednesday night, Munshiganj-bound Khaja Express was hit by a sand-laden trawler around 9:45pm, leaving at least 25 injured. Md Chan Mia, master of Khaja Express, said: “The sand-laden trawler could not be seen as there was a lighter ship anchored in the river. As a result, the trawler hit the launch.” The route is very vulnerable in

terms of security. Although there is a ban of plying sand laden trawler or ship in the river at night, these trawler and ships are always plying in the river breaking the laws. The authority does not take any action against it. When asked, Sub-inspector Md Mosharaf Hosen, In-Charge of Mukterpur Naval police outpost, said: “We do not know about any accident on Wednesday. As we do not have logistic supports, we are not able to patrol in the river after 6pm. “But we try to reach quickly whenever we have any report of accident,” he added. About plying of sand-laden trawlers and ships in the river at night, he could not say anything. The speed of the launches is very slow though they have ability to ply fast. To have more commuters, they take 45 to 50 minutes to cross a distance of only seven kilometres. But, in the same river, the Dhaka-Matlab and Narayanganj-Matlab launches ply very fast. So, commuters believe that it should take only

25 minutes to cover the distance in Munshiganj-Narayanganj route. Commuter alleged that a syndicate has ceased the speed of the launches in the route. They claimed after banning these unfit small launches, new and fast launches should be introduced immediately. Shiplu Mandal, a passenger of this route, and also a college teacher, said: “We board these launches risking our lives. The old and unfit launches go very slow but sound much. There are not sufficient lifesaving-buoys in the launches.” Suvangkar Pal, resident of Narayanganj city, said: “Every day I have to go to Munshiganj for my job. I used the route earlier. But as it takes much time, I avoid this route and go by CNG-run auto-rickshaw to save my time.” Service holder Fatema Sharmin said: “The launches are very small in size and not safe. They have no fitness at all.” When this reporter visited Munshiganj Launch Terminal recently, he found that launches that can

News

carry 60 passengers have only 10 life saving buoys. Master of MV Khaja Chan Mia, said: “It is the order of the authority to keep one buoy against six persons.” Dil Mohammad Kompany, member of Munshiganj-Narayanganj Launch Owners’ Association, said: “New launch could not be introduced as there is no profit in this business now. Besides, route permit is not issued for new launch. It takes little time to go Narayanganj by road. So, passengers have decreased in this route. At present, maximum 10001200 passengers use this route.” He also said: “Every launch has fitness. They are all steel-bodied. It takes 40-45 minutes to go to Narayanganj by launch. To go faster, engines of the launches should be changed.” About the poor launch service, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Public Relation Officer Mobarak Hosen Majumder said: “We are going to look into the matter and discuss it in the next meeting to take necessary steps.” l

Farmers happy over jute production, fair price n Tribune Desk Farmers in Panchagarh district are happy over bumper production and getting fair price of jute this season. Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) office sources said that 6,000 hectares of land have been brought under jute cultivation in the district with the production target of 82,000 bales of jute. The DAE department has supplied high quality of jute seeds among the farmers, reports BSS. The department has also given modern technology training to the farmers about jute cultivation to boost bumper production. The jute plant was free from pest attack or any natural disaster. Now the jute is being sold at Taka 1700 to 1800 per mound (40kgs) in the local market. Farmer Sunil Kumar of sadar upazila said that he had cultivated jute on two bighas of land and he got 20-mound of jute. He has net profit Taka 24,000 after deducting all expenditure. l

Accused of journalist Osmani murder held n UMB Police arrested Saddam Hossain alias Tiger Saddam, the prime accused of journalist Fateh Osmani murder case, from Bandar Bazar area beside Hasan Market in the city on Sunday night. Tipped off, a team of police conducted a drive in the area and arrested Saddam, said sub-inspector Fayez Ahmad, in-charge of Bandar Bazar Police camp. The arrestee was wanted in four cases including for murder, the SI added. Later, the attackers stabbed Fateh indiscriminately, leaving him critically injured. l

As winter is approaching, date juice extractors have started trimming date trees to collect the sweet juice, locally known as ‘Khejur er rosh’ in rural areas. The photo was taken at Durgapur Chopukuria village in Rajshahi yesterday

Irregularities cripple Mother and Children Welfare Centre n Manoj Shaha, Gopalganj Patients have been going through immense sufferings at Gopalganj Mother and Children Welfare Centre, as irregularities have gripped the organisation. Though the Department of Family Planning established the centre at Gopalganj town aiming to provide local people of the district with various services, including family planning, consultation during pregnancy, safe delivery and service after the delivery,

at free of cost, nothing is available without money there now. Patients alleged that Tk5 thousand to Tk8 thousand is taken for a caesarian delivery though it should be free of cost. Besides, they are also deprived of free medicines allotted for the patients. Though the government has fixed Tk10 per kilometre as ambulance charge, the patients have to spend extra money to avail the service. Shilpi Majumdar, who had gone through a caesarian delivery there,

claimed that she had to give Tk5 thousand to Dr Udbhav Chandra Panday, medical officer (clinic) of the centre, for the surgery. “My husband had to go through lots of trouble to collect the amount, as his income is very low,” said Shilpi at Sachiadaha village in Terokhada upazila of adjacent district Khulna. Another patient named Shukhi Begum of Shankerpasha village at Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj said she had to give Tk8 thousand for her caesarian delivery. Besides, unhygienic atmosphere of the

centre and bad odour from toilets made the expecting mothers sick, she said. Seeking anonymity, a staff of the organization said the government fund for the male patients, who do vasectomy there, was also swallowed by Dr Pandey, who is in the charge of the centre. Though there were two more doctors besides Dr Pandey at the centre, no allegations had been raised against them, said the staff. During office time, the physician is also available for hire by other clinics.

Even, he uses the centre for his private practice, alleged several patients. He also does surgeries of male patients at the operation theatre of the centre illegally, they added. However, Dr Pandey refuted all the allegations raised against him. Sohel Parvez, deputy director of Gopalganj Family Planning Department, said if there was any irregularity at the centre, actions would be taken against the responsible persons after investigation. l

8 World

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Myanmar fires border police chief over deadly attacks

Myanmar has fired the police official charged with guarding its troubled border with Bangladesh, officials said on Monday, after deadly attacks that sparked fighting with insurgents. “Necessary action will be taken against the responsible police officials for their negligence, which led to the loss of the lives of police personnel and the loss of weapons,” said Major General Aung Soe, deputy minister for home affairs. REUTERS

INDIA

Rajnath to Pak: Close down ‘factory of terror’ Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said Pakistan should close down “factory of terrorism”, while offering India’s help to Islamabad in fighting terror. “India is ready to help Pakistan in taking action against terrorists in Pakistan. But for that Islamabad should close down factory of terrorism” Rajnath Singh said. TOI

CHINA

China defends Pakistan after Modi comment China sprang to long-time ally Pakistan’s defense on Monday after Indian PM Narendra Modi branded Pakistan a “mother-ship of terrorism” at a summit of BRICS nations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked about Modi’s comments, said “We oppose the linking of terrorism to any specific country, ethnicity or religion. This is China’s consistent position,”. REUTERS

Iraq launches Mosul offensive n Tribune International Desk

Iraqi government forces, with air and ground support from the USled coalition, launched an offensive on Monday to drive IS from the northern city of Mosul, the militants’ last major stronghold in the country. Helicopters released flares overhead and explosions could be heard on the city’s eastern front, where Kurdish fighters moved forward to take outlying villages. The US predicted IS would suffer a lasting defeat as Iraqi forces mounted their biggest operation since the US withdrew its own troops in 2011. Some 30,000 Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga militia and Sunni tribal fighters were expected to take part in the offensive to drive an estimated 4,000 to 8,000 IS militants from Mosul, a city of 1.5m people. “I announce today the start of the heroic operations to free you from the terror and the oppression of IS,” Prime Minister Haider Abadi said in a speech on state TV, using an Arabic acronym for IS. “We will meet soon on the ground of Mosul to celebrate liberation and your salvation,” he said, surrounded by the armed forces’ top commanders. The Mosul offensive is one of the biggest military operations in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. If Mosul falls, Raqqa in Syria will be IS’ last city stronghold.

Syria security chief in first foreign visit to Egypt Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk met with Egyptian officials in his first public foreign visit in five years. “The Syrian and Egyptian officials agreed to coordinate on political positions and strengthen coordination on fighting the terrorism faced by both countries,” State news agency SANA said. AFP

The Iraqi Kurdish military command said 4,000 Peshmerga were taking part in an operation to clear several villages held by IS to the east of Mosul, in an attack coordinated with a push by Iraqi army units from the southern front. In its first statement on the Mosul operations, the Iraqi army media office said the advancing troops destroyed a number of Islamic State defence lines. Strikes carried out by the Iraqi and coalition jets hit an unspecified number of the militants positions, it said. “We are the real Muslims, IS are not Muslims, no religion does what they did,” said a young Kurdish fighter in battle dress as he scanned

Iraqi forces have begun an operation to recapture the city of Mosul, the last stronghold in the country of the so-called Islamic State Areas of control

Philippine leader open to war games with China, Russia

MIDDLE EAST

Kurdish fighters

BATTLE TO RETAKE MOSUL FROM IS BEGINS

Iraqi government

Mosul Dam Tigris River

Tal Afar

Kurds

Islamic State (IS)

Around 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga forces in tanks, heavily-armoured Humvees and other troop carriers advancing toward Bartella area

ASIA PACIFIC

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to hold military exercises with China, Chinese media quoted him Monday as saying on the eve of a state visit. Duterte also told Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television he was willing to hold joint military exercises with China and Russia. AFP

Iraqi forces deploy in the area of al-Shourah as they advance towards the city to retake it from the IS on October 17

Tall Kayf

Bashiqa airfield

Mosul Bartella Bakhdida

Kalak

Hamma al-Alil Nimrud

NINEVEH PROVINCE

I R A Q Mosul

Makhmur

Baghdad

Qayyarah

IRAQ 300km 200 miles

Qayyarah Air Base: Logistical base and collecting point for Iraqi forces

Source: Institute for the Study of War

UNHCR fears, seeks funds

The UN refugee agency said on Monday that up to 100,000 Iraqis may flee to Syria and Turkey to escape the Iraqi government’s military assault aimed at ousting IS from the northern city of Mosul The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued an appeal for an additional $61m to provide tents, camps, winter items and stoves for displaced inside Iraq and the two neighbouring countries. Early on Monday, Abadi sought to allay fears that the operation would provoke sectarian bloodletting, saying that only the Iraqi army and police would be allowed to enter the mainly Sunni city. He asked Mosul’s residents to cooperate with them. Meanwhile, Numan Kurtulmus, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, has said his country is ready for the hundreds of thousands who may flee because of fighting, although, he added, there will be no influx of refugees if the operation is run correctly.

Turkey to take part in the battle Bashiqa

Badush

Mosul battle expected to involve nearly 30,000 Iraqi and Kurdish troops, supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes

Zlican Camp

the plain east of Mosul from his position on the heights of Mount Zertik.

20km 12 miles © GRAPHIC NEWS

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday indicated that Turkey would play a role in the US-backed Iraqi offensive to retake the city of Mosul from jihadists, saying it was unthinkable that Ankara would stay on the sidelines. “We will be in the operation and we will be at the table,” Erdogan said in a televised speech. “Our brothers are there and our relatives are there. It is out of the question that we are not involved.”

Tactics of the battle

Iraqi forces will fight their way to Mosul and then seek to encircle the city before launching an attack inside it, tactics they have used in operations to retake other IS-held cities including Ramadi and Tikrit.

AFP

TIMELINE 04:55 Battle of Mosul begins 06:25 Iraqi PM promises the nation will ‘celebrate victory as one’ 07:06 Fighter jet engages Isis mortar positions 07:34 US-led coalition providing support for Iraqi and Kurdish fighters 10:08 Kurdish Peshmerga seize 7 villages east of Mosul 14:14 IS has counter attacked with suicide bombers 14:39 Shia militias will turn Mosul into a bloodbath, Saudis warn ***British Standard Time The eventual assault into Mosul will likely be led by Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism service, which has spearheaded most operations against the jihadists. To reach Mosul, Iraqi forces will have to advance through several dozen kilometres of IS-held territory, including multiple villages. IS will be vastly outnumbered in the battle and will seek to use hitand-run tactics, ambushes, snipers, bombs, berms and trenches to slow down and bleed Iraqi forces. The jihadists have littered other cities with thousands of bombs, placing them in roads, buildings and houses. The large civilian population inside Mosul may have limited the locations they could place explosives, but bombs will still play a major role in IS’s defences.

IS counter-attack with suicide bombers

An IS news agency says the group has launched a series of suicide attacks targeting Kurdish forces leading the assault on Mosul. The Aamaq news agency is claiming eight suicide attacks against Kurdish peshmerga and says IS destroyed two Humvees belonging to the Kurdish forces and Shia militias east of the city on Monday. l

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Why it matters: Race and policing 21 DAYS REMAIN

n Tribune International Desk Policing in the United States’ minority communities has been a flashpoint since the deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri, Tamir Rice in Ohio, Sandra Bland in Texas and others. The increasing number of graphic photos and videos depicting the deaths of black men, women and children at the hands of police officers has sparked unrest around the nation. The perception that law enforcement officers are rarely, if ever, punished for what some consider unethical behaviour, brutality and even criminal acts against black Americans has led to the rise of new social and civil rights movements like Black Lives Matter. Police in turn have complained of being unfairly stereotyped as the enemy by minority communities in which they serve. They have noted that they’ve increased monitoring of officer behaviour through cameras placed in their vehicles and carried by officers during interactions with the public and increased training for officers and personnel.

Where they stand

Hillary Clinton has been criticised by activists for some of her posi-

Protesters gather along Mollison Avenue to protest the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man on Tuesday by officers in El Cajon, California REUTERS tions- she once, for example, supported “super-predator” laws that were meant to combat a supposed wave of lawless children. During the Democratic primary she used the phrase “All Lives Matter” — words that some have invoked as pushback against the concerns of Black Lives Matter while others have uttered the phrase without intending to challenge the movement. She’s also expressed regret for talking about super-predators in the past. Clinton has offered proposals, such as legislation that would help end racial profiling, provide federal matching funds for more police body cameras and overhaul mandatory minimum sentencing. Donald Trump has described himself as the “law and order” candidate. He has said some of

the videos and photos depicting the deaths of people of colour at the hands of police were “hard to witness,” but has called police “the most mistreated people in this country.” Trump endorsed a former New York City police policy called “stop and frisk” after unrest in Charlotte, North Carolina, over the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. A federal judge ruled the procedure violated the rights of minorities.

Why it matters

The relationship between minority communities and majority-white police forces is turning into one of the most visible civil rights issues of this age. The US has a long history of using law enforcement to enforce now-illegal actions like slavery

and segregation, leading to distrust between law enforcement and some of the communities it serves. Increasing numbers of civilian video and photos showing questionable actions by police officers, sometimes contradicting the official account originally released by law enforcement, have eroded trust between law enforcement and parts of the growing diverse population of this country even more. In addition to sparking movements like Black Lives Matter, the debate over race and policing has helped usher in more monitoring of police through dash cams, body cameras and increased training for officers. Officials also have started pushing for more statistics about police shootings — fatal and nonfatal — in the United States, so the public can have an idea of the numbers involved instead of having to judge through anecdotal evidence. No matter which candidate wins the presidency, it is unlikely that there will be an immediate change in the relationship between people of colour and the police. A president can only do little to bring about a quick change in police-community relationships, given that it’s such a local issue. l Find more stories on US presidential election at www.dhakatribune.com

BRICS leaders vow to fight terrorism n Tribune International Desk

The leaders of five of the world’s rising powers ended a two-day summit Sunday with a pledge to speed global economic recovery as well as fight terrorism and extremism, forces that they said pose a threat to regional and international peace and stability, reports the Associated Press. Meeting in the beach resort state of Goa, the five countries known collectively as BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- adopted a final declaration endorsing their commitment to act against the financing of terror groups and their supplies of weapons and other equipment. “We agree that those who nurture, shelter and support the forces of violence and terror are as much a threat as the terrorists themselves,” the declaration said. Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Michel Temer of Brazil and Jacob Zuma of South Africa, and their host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also vowed in the declaration to tackle the global economic slowdown and reform the world’s financial architecture.

The group, which represents nearly half of the world’s population and a quarter of its economy, with a combined annual GDP of $16.6tn, renewed its commitment to speed global recovery by investing in infrastructure projects and the manufacturing sector. The BRICS leaders adopted three agreements, including two to set up separate research networks for developing agriculture and railways. They agreed to crack down on economic crime by fighting tax evasion, money laundering and corruption. “We have agreed to make the BRICS a strong voice on emerging regional and global issues,” Modi told reporters. The BRICs leaders stressed the need to strike a balance between economic development and environmental protection, and hailed the early entry into force of the Paris climate agreement. The BRICS nations agreed that the New Development Bank, which the group set up in 2014, should continue to focus on infrastructure, technology and renewable energy sectors, adding that “in order to further bridge the gap in the global financial architecture,

World USA

Trump pledges strong ties with India if elected US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pledged that the US and India would be best friends if he is elected and that he would boost intelligence sharing with India in the battle against Islamic militants. “If I’m elected president, the Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House, that I can guarantee you,” said Trump. REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

25 inmates killed in prison clash in Brazil At least 25 inmates were killed, including 6 who were decapitated and burned, in clashes between rival criminal factions at a prison in northeastern Brazil, local media reported. The confrontation was triggered when members of one faction invaded the prison wing where inmates from the rival faction were held, local news said. REUTERS

EU commissioner: Soft Brexit still on table The European Commission’s top euro official said Friday there is still a chance for UK to engineer an amicable “soft Brexit” departure from the EU, but stressed it is up to London to decide. Valdis Dombrovskis was told a day after EU President Donald Tusk said the only alternative to a hard Brexit, which would see Britain pull out of the bloc’s single market and impose tough immigration controlsis “no Brexit”. AFP

EUROPE

1 killed, 6 missing in German chemical plant blast

Left to right Brazil’s President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma pose for a group picture during BRICS summit in Benaulim, in the western state of Goa, India REUTERS we agreed to fast track the setting up of a BRICS credit rating agency.” “In a world of new security challenges and continuing economic uncertainties, BRICS stands as a beacon of peace, potential and promise,” Modi said. The thrust of the declaration reflected the flagging economic fortunes of the BRICS countries in recent years due to the global slowdown. In Russia, the decline in global oil and commodity prices coupled with biting Western sanctions have dealt a blow to the economy. The Chinese economy has slowed to its slowest pace in 25 years,

although its 7% growth rate still places it among the fastest-growing global economies. South Africa remains caught in severe economic turmoil, with the country’s credit rating at risk of being downgraded to junk by the end of the year. Brazil is only just emerging from months of the worst economic recession it has seen since the 1930s, a situation that was further worsened by recent political turmoil. India, although the fastest-growing country in the world at 7.5% annually, is grappling with widespread poverty and the challenge of strikes against militants in Kashmir. l

1 person was killed and at least 6 others were missing after an explosion Monday at a chemical plant at BASF’s headquarters in western Germany, the firm said, advising local residents to stay indoors. The blast triggered a huge fire, happened during work on a pipeline that transports raw materials, the global chemicals giant said in a statement. AFP

AFRICA

60 killed as fighting surges in South Sudan At least 56 rebels and 4 government troops were killed in heavy weekend clashes in northeastern South Sudan, in a worrying surge of violence in the world’s youngest nation. Sudan People’s Liberation Army’s spokesman Brg Gen Lul Ruai Koang said Monday that rebels aligned with former vice president Riek Machar attacked government troops near the country’s second largest city of Malakal. AFP

World

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

OPINION

Leaks not always good for politics or journalism n John Lloyd This column contains language that some readers may find offensive Both journalism and politics now live in the leak culture, and both professions will be forever changed by it. Both have always benefitted from leaks of some kind, from the officially authorised to the criminally filched. But today’s ability to download and disseminate vast banks of information constitutes a new chapter in journalistic and political practice. Wikileaks has put US diplomatic cables in the public domain, followed by the much riskier leaking of sensitive files from the National Security Agency and that followed by the leaking of the Panama Papers, which showed how the rich secretly contrive to get richer. The leak to the Washington Post of a video, made in 2005, of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump claiming, among much else, that “when you’re a star, you can do anything” to women differs in principle from the previous leaks. They were unambiguously about issues of public concern. The Trump leak reaches into his private life. It is, to say the least, an unedifying moment: It shows him as boastful, glorying in his fame because it allows him to assault women with impunity. It has allowed - indeed, compelled - Democratic presidential

nominee Hillary Clinton, her allies and supporters everywhere to frame Trump as a lewd, sexist brute, who in bragging about grabbing women “by the pussy” had confessed, if not in prosecutable detail, to a criminal assault. Yet suppose that someone had leaked details of the argument between President Abraham Lincoln and General John Fremont, commander of the Union Army in St Louis, Missouri, in the summer of 1861. Fremont, an autocratic man who rarely consulted higher authority, proclaimed that all slaves in Missouri were free. Lincoln, concerned that this would turn pro-union slaveholders against him, rescinded the proclamation and fired Fremont. The leak of a letter, an account of a meeting or of Lincoln’s private frustrations vented to aides or friends could easily have been represented as pro-slavery sentiments on the part of the president. In fact, it was a matter of calculation aimed at ultimate victory by one whose opposition to slavery had been constant since his youth, though only strengthened into a full emancipation conviction in the course of the Civil War. Publication of the leak could certainly have been justified as a matter of public interest. Yet it would have been wholly deceptive if used as an indication that Lincoln was pro-slavery. The Trump leak may have been a reasonable illumination of Trump’s

VATILEAKS January: Scandal breaks with publication of leaked letters from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano (left) to Pope Benedict XVI. Former deputy governor of Vatican City pleads not to be transferred to U.S. after exposing alleged corruption in awarding contracts to Italian contractors at inflated prices February: Leaked internal Vatican memo openly speculates on who JAN next pope should be – suggests he should be Italian. FEB Leaks seen as part of campaign against pope’s right-hand man, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (above) April 24: Pope appoints commission of MAR special three retired cardinals to probe Vatican leaks May 19: Publication of His Holiness, by journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi. Leaked documents in book blame Cardinal Bertone for problems and APR gaffes that have plagued papacy May 24: Ettore Gotti Tedeschi (left), head of MAY Vatican bank – Institute for Religious Works – resigns after vote of no confidence. May 25: Pope’s butler Gotti Tedeschi was placed Paulo Gabrielle (above) under investigation in 2010 charged with stealing following €23 million confidential papal documents money-laundering probe Pictures: Associated Press

The screenshot of a 2005 Entertainment Weekly footage shows, from left to right, former NBC host Billy Bush, Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump and model/actress Arianne Zucker character. Though it caused a wave of revulsion in Republican ranks, it didn’t seem to cause much surprise. It was the kind of revelation that, when put in the public domain, we feel we know in principle, if not in detail. But it cannot encapsulate the whole person. A leak of this kind allows no extenuating observation, of the kind Clinton herself proposed at the end of their testy second debate earlier this week. When asked what she admired about Trump, she said that “his children are incredibly able, and devoted. And I think that says a lot about Donald I do respect that.” Clinton’s generosity had changed the frame from enclosing a sexist brute glorying in assaulting women to an affectionate and responsible father who also glories in assaulting women. We are all, to use Walt Whitman’s most famed line from Leaves

of Grass, large and “contain multitudes.” Leaking isn’t, and doesn’t. The bragging Trump video, which had lain on a shelf at NBC for more than a decade, was leaked to Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold, presumably by an NBC employee.(Fahrenthold won’t say.) The network was itself about to broadcast the tape, but after the debate, when it would have had less impact of the kind the leaker - presumably a Clinton supporter - evidently wanted. Julian Assange, whose Wikileaks organisation has released, among other documents, Clinton, John Podesta and Democratic Party emails, has denied that he is dumping the data to help win Trump the White House. Nonetheless, Assange despises the liberal-interventionist record of the former secretary of state and has clearly signaled his prefer-

PANAMA PAPERS BY THE NUMBERS The publication of 11.5 million leaked records from Mossack Fonseca reveals that some offshore companies are being used for suspected money laundering, arms and drug deals, and tax evasion

Mossack Fonseca: Panamanian law firm which sells anonymous offshore companies around world

214,488

Law firm: Sets up shell company for client registered in tax haven such as British Virgin Islands. Company can be set up for as little as $1,000

Number of offshore companies, trusts, and foundations incorporated by Mossack Fonseca over past 40 years

Nominee service: Fake director appointed so owner’s name does not appear in paperwork

Shell company: Appears to be legitimate business but secrecy enables owner to cover up origin of money and avoid paying tax

Layering: Owner funnels money through multiple shell companies in different havens, each time making it more difficult to trace – process known as “layering”

$22.9 trillion

500+

Number of banks and subsidiaries that created 15,000 offshore companies through Mossack Fonseca

Number of national leaders among 143 politicians, their families and associates, revealed to have used offshore tax havens

Integration: Dirty money transferred to shell company is now laundered. Money is re-introduced into economy as legitimate and used to buy high-value items

Total sum estimated hidden away in tax havens globally – equivalent to annual economic output of United States and Japan combined Sources: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

ence for the property magnate. The Clinton campaign has fired back, with spokesman Brian Fallon calling Wikileaks “a propaganda arm of the Russian government, running interference for their pet candidate, Trump.” These leaks are more directly concerned with public matters but are still Clinton’s private communications about strategy and policy to her aides and her daughter, Chelsea. Such internal debates, when revealed, always make participants appear cynical and disrespectful of the electorate, whose opinions the campaign wishes to manipulate. Every political figure has had such conversations for centuries: See Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince” for advice on how to please the people and stay in power. During the debate, Clinton congratulated herself for following First Lady Michelle Obama’s advice on “going high,” while Trump went low. In fact, both candidates went “low” in using the garishly lit revelations of private behavior for political advantage. Trump’s parading of women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by her husband, Bill Clinton, was an attempt to win a battle on the same ground by claiming that Hillary Clinton threatened the women - a charge that, former editor of the New York Times Jill Abramson claims, is largely empty. The internet never forgets. It is a dark arsenal of incidents, from embarrassing to mortal, to be used against public figures. The news media have few inhibitions left about using private scenes to humble the famous. Trump, accustomed to taking the rewards of celebrity, is learning the old maxim that one must pay for everything. Clinton has known it for decades. l

John Lloyd co-founded the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. The opinions expressed here are his own.

Dhaka Tribune

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

12 Business

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

TOP STORIES

Keraniganj apparel business nosedives Once a retail and wholesale apparel hub, the southwestern part of Kaliganj in Keraniganj on the outskirts of Dhaka, is facing the business downturn. PAGE 13

Finance Minister AMA Muhith addresses the media after a meeting with the visiting World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in the capital yesterday

The dismal art of forecasting sterling Currency strategists can be divided even when they agree. Forecasts for where the pound will be trading against the dollar in 12 months’ time ranged from $1.05 to $1.47 in a Reuters poll published on Oct 6. Even after a flash crash on Oct 7, it’s fair to say that most poundwatchers expect it to fall further over the coming months. PAGE 14

China’s risk clamp down hits commodity trades, niche broker business New rules in China aimed at curbing risk and speculation have triggered an exodus of institutional cash from the country’s commodities futures markets and hobbled a thriving niche business for brokers. PAGE 14

Capital market snapshot: Monday DSE Broad Index

4,692.9

-0.4% ▼

Index

1,116.1

-0.6% ▼

30 Index

1,754.6

-0.6% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

4,567.2

-5.6% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

162.0

-9.5% ▼

All Share Index 14,391.7

-0.7% ▼

30 Index

12,959.5

-0.9% ▼

8,757.5

-0.7% ▼

286.9

-8.1% ▼

CSE

Selected Index Turnover in Mn Tk Turnover in Mn Vol

11.3 -12.3% ▼

DHAKA TRIBUNE

WB hints at bigger project finances beyond Padma Bridge n Asif Showkat Kallol

Visiting World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has said it would fund bigger development projects, not the Padma Bridge project alone. “We understand the importance of Padma Bridge, but we are not funding the bridge as the government has already begun its construction,” Kim said at a joint press briefing after a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith at

the Finance Ministry yesterday. His comment comes about four years after the global lender canceled its $1.2 billion credit in support of the $2.9 billion Padma Multipurpose Bridge project after bringing corruption allegation over the project—the largest ever physical infrastructure of Bangladesh. The World Bank President said the growth of Bangladesh and all other aspects of the country’s development are extremely impor-

tant for the World Bank . “Let me say.. we will plan to aggressively funding into Bangladesh, specially climate change.” “We will discuss in next two days how World Bank can fund Bangladesh for tackling climate change.” Finance Minister Muhith said the problems with the World Bank for funding the Padma Bridge is over a few years ago. “Now, we have good relations… we expect more assistance from

the International Development Association of the World Bank,” he said. In response to similar query,Kim said the global lender will instead spend the $1.2 billion (alocation for bridge funding) for climate-related financing in Bangladesh. Muhith said: “World Bank is now committed to investing into other development projects .We hope World Bank assistance will be enhanced more than before.” l

Adaptive policy suggested to end extreme poverty n Jebun Nesa Alo Bangladesh needs to be more flexible and adaptive to policy making to end extreme poverty, said discussants at a programme yesterday. The suggestion came at a discussion session marking “End Poverty Day” to celebrate Bangladesh’s determined and sustained efforts to end extreme poverty. “Bangladesh is on the right track to eradicate poverty but will have to be more flexibile and adaptive to policy making,” said Paul Romer, senior vice-president of World Bank. He also suggested Bangladesh government focus more on rural areas to involve remote people in economy by introducing new plan. In response to a question of job

creation plan in rural area, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the government has already undertaken policy to invest in rural infrastructure, school etc. Social service sector, health, sanitation, health and environment are the priorities for the government to invest. Rubana Huq, managing director of Mohammadi Group, said private sector needs policy support and infrastructural support. “Still we have many things to do, but we are moving towards right direction,” she said. Lack of education is the main barrier to women empowerment and women leadership in the garment sector. She said women workers cannot dream beyond machine due to not having literacy. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, speaker of Bangladesh Parlia-

ment, said sustainability is the main challenge to women entrepreneurship. The government has undertaken many programmes to develop women entrepreneurship. Bangladesh Bank has a scheme to provide collateral free loan to small

women entrepreneurs. According to Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Bangladesh has a lot of potentials to move forward. He urged NGOs and World Bank to work together to make Bangladesh a hunger-free land by 2030. l

Business

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Keraniganj apparel business nosedives n Rafikul Islam Once a retail and wholesale apparel hub, the southwestern part of Kaliganj in Keraniganj on the outskirts of Dhaka, is facing the business downturn. The booming garment trade is just a near-forgotten past, so said the garment traders in the area who now count losses, but still sticks to their business legacy. Talking to the traders, it was evident that the sale has recently plummeted which has forced some shop owners to close their shops as they fail to pay their employees. They attributed an unfavourable business environment to the decrease in sales. Abdul Aziz Morol, proprietor of MR Garments and Chistia Garments, said: “I have been in the business over the last 25 years, but never faced such a situation.” “Once we made a sale of around Tk2-Tk5 lakh a day, but those are bygone days now.” “In the past three days I could not make any sale while Tk1 lakh is spent per month on shop rent. The country is developing but people are still starving here,” narrated the trader. Keraniganj cloth business made a silent revolution in the country, and still it meets 70% of the local market demand. The product items include different denim and woven items, including T-shirts, jeans, shirts, panjabi, borqua, undergarments and children’s wear. On condition of anonymity, a south Kaliganj wholesaler said the government has increased tax on garment products, which ultimately has shot up the prices of

Workers carrying jeans from a garment factory in Keraniganj on the outskirts of capital. Apparel sale has gone down in recent months. The picture was taken recently MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU garments. In the wake of high price, buyers don’t feel interest to buy from here, he said. Asked how long they are going through such recession, the trader said they have seen reduction in sale over the past two years. Visiting some apparel markets of the south keraniganj vicinity to justify their claim, it was noticed that businessmen were making chit-chat with others while some were taking a doze. Harassment of buyers by the leaseholders is another reason for the downturn in sale, said Md Mo-

Stocks edge lower n Tribune Business Desk

Stocks closed marginally lower yesterday as investors took modest profits. The market was in the positive territory briefly in the morning and later closed in red on profit booking. The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange DSEX fell over 16 points or 0.4% to settle at 4,692. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, lost 10 points to 1,754. The DSE Shariah Index was down 7 points to 1,116. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX shed around 60 points to 8,757. Trading activities also decreased as the DSE turnover stood at Tk456 crore, down more than 5% over previous session. Engineering had the highest contribution of 14.5% in turnover. Lanka Bangla Securities said

market moved lower in the morning, grounded to the day’s low-level in the afternoon. At the end of the session, stocks were mixed as investors digested positivity in market on the season of earnings declaration, it added. Banking sector that was the best performer in previous ended flat. Food and allied sector was the day’s best performer rising 0.6%, ending its falling trend over the last few sessions. Non-banking financial institutions and telecommunications sector remained almost unchanged. Engineering was the day’s highest loser declining 1.4%, followed by pharmaceuticals nearly 1% and power 0.7%. Out of total 322 companies traded on DSE, 93 moved up, 173 down while 56 remained unchanged. Doreen Power was the most traded share with a turnover worth over Tk18 crore. l

dle-income groups. “We sell a pair of normal jeans between Tk250 and Tk350 and quality ones at between Tk500 to Tk2,500,” said SK Jan-e Alam, proprietor of New Jetu Garments. The same products cost double or sometimes triple in various outlets in the capital, added the trader. “Actually we count on Eid ulFitr and Eid ul-Azha for making a good sale. Besides, winter session is also our target.” Traders also alleged that some local businessmen do not pay them on time. They purchase clothes on credit but later they do not communicate with the wholesalers. There are about 5,000 small factories and 5,500 showrooms in the apparel makets in Keraniganj and around two lakh people are employed there. The keraniganj products would become famous not only in the country but also in South Asia if the government patronised them. The trader demanded tax waiver, uninterrupted electricity and gas supply, easy loan and improved communication systems to make it happen. General Secretary of Keraniganj Garments Babosayee & Dokan Malik Samabai Somity Ltd Mizanur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that recession is actually going on across the world. “We are hopeful that our business will boom in the upcoming winter session.” Mizanur said foreign clothes from India and China are also affecting their business. “Some people in our country like foreign products but they don’t know what type of products they buy.” l

jibur Rahman, proprietor of Kader Garments. He said leaseholders harass buyers while they carry goods through the boat terminal at Sadarghat. This prevents them from visiting the market. On the other hand the buyers are also forced to pay for their freight. Even sometimes they are physically assaulted if they fail to comply with the leaseholders’ demand. Some buyers alleged that muggers steal their goods. Besides, communication system and security were not good. Asked about harassment of

buyers, Hasan Ahmed, one of the leaseholders said: “We charge every commuter Tk2 to enter the area on the Buriganga river, and at least Tk10 for freight they carry as per the directive of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC). Officer-in-Charge (OC) of South Keraniganj Police Station, however, refuted the allegation of mugging. He, however, said security is tight here all the time. In and around the capital, prominent shopping centres are also selling clothes made in Keraniganj. The apparel makers produce items targeting both lower and mid-

Shafiqur becomes BAR-BD chairman

Walton develops new model of LED TV

n Tribune Business Desk Shafiqur Rahman of Biman Bangladesh Airlines has been elected as Chairman while Ashish Rai Chaudhry of Regent Airways as Vice Chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives-Bangladesh (BAR-BD). Board members of Airline Representatives-Bangladesh (BAR-BD) elected their new committee at its Annual General Meeting held at Le Méridien Hotel in the capital recently. Among others, Khalid Hassan has been appointed as treasurer. New elected committee would perform their duty for the next two years. Representatives of Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Jet Airways, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines are members of BAR-BD Executive Committee. l

n Tribune Business Desk Walton, a local manufacturer of electronics products, has introduced a new model of LED television with 20-inch HD (High Definition) display for domestic consumers. For the first time in the country, the company has brought the device with Dolby Sound boxes in the local market, said a press release issued recently. The prices of the LED television has been set at Tk12,500. Since there was no 20-inch LED TV in the local market, there is demand from many customers, specially from the country’s rural areas. Walton engineers has developed the television with unique features to meet the demand, added the

release. The new model incorporates power surge protection, plus lightening protection circuits on the device motherboard to protect it from the damage of thunderbolt. It features latest technology, reasonable price, world-class quality, HD display, Dolby sound boxes on either sides of the television. The consumers also will enjoy a conditional six-month replacement warranty and a two-year service warranty on panel and spare parts of the television. “Walton is producing Boom Box television with the world’s latest technology under its own quality control system,” said Fakhrul Islam Khan, Boom Box model manager and assistant director of Walton Group. l

Business

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

The dismal art of forecasting sterling n Swaha Pattanaik Currency strategists can be divided even when they agree. Forecasts for where the pound will be trading against the dollar in 12 months’ time ranged from $1.05 to $1.47 in a Reuters poll published on Oct 6. Even after a flash crash on Oct 7, it’s fair to say that most pound-watchers expect it to fall further over the coming months. A spat between UK retailer Tesco and supplier Unilever on who takes the hit from a weaker currency suggests businesses too are starting to prepare for sterling to be lower for longer. Clever economic models sometimes underpin such predictions. But even the most complex ones will struggle this time round. Britain’s currency is more in the thrall of politics than economics.

Why is sterling so tricky to forecast?

The usual rules for making longrange FX forecasts are more or less in abeyance when it comes to the pound. Economists often try to parse variables such as economic activity, inflation, trade and fiscal positions to decide where currencies will go. Yet those are all muddied by huge uncertainty about how Britain will handle its exit from the European Union and what sort of relationship it will have in the future with the bloc. A so-called “hard” Brexit could reduce investment inflows into

hardline her stance, the more intransigent they expect other EU countries to be about giving the UK free access to the single market. European Council President Donald Tusk warned on Oct 13 that Britain can’t have its cake and eat it. But in another sense, it’s all about economics. The only reason FX dealers – and by implication, currency forecasters – care so much about the political machinations is because they will determine how the British economy will perform in the long run, let alone in one or two years’ time. Each comment from a politician triggers a recalibration of economic probabilities. A bank employee counts pound notes at Kasikornbank in Bangkok

REUTERS

The nature of these EU ties, and particularly the sort of access the UK will have to the single market, are up in the air and depend not on economic rationality but on haggling Britain. If it results in less trade, productivity might suffer in the long run. Yet economists have been wrong before. Few expected the British economy to prove quite so resilient in the months following June’s EU referendum. The nature of these EU ties, and particularly the sort of access the UK will have to the single market, are up in the air and depend not on economic rationality but on haggling. Election timetables may

have more influence on the outcome than what’s in the best economic interests of all sides.

So economics don’t matter?

In one sense, they don’t. Traders are less fixated on whether any particular piece of economic data is stronger or weaker than they expected, and more on how much Prime Minister Theresa May is willing to sacrifice in order to reduce migration into Britain. The more

Why forecast at all?

For instance, options which expire after the end of March 2017 have become pricier since Prime Minister Theresa May said she would trigger the process to leave the EU by this date. This reflects expectations that sterling will be prone to bigger gyrations once negotiations actually get under way. For example, six-month implied volatilities have climbed to 11.95% from 10.1% at the end of September. While this says nothing about whether investors expect sterling to rise or fall, another measure – known as the risk reversal – does. This second gauge shows investors’ preference to sell rather than buy pounds is growing.

Many currency strategists would rather not predict where currencies will be trading in a year’s time. Yet most are obliged to do so. One reason is that exchange rates are often just one input into a much bigger decision-making process for many companies and investors. They need a base scenario for midterm planning and one number is far easier to process than complex scenarios involving a slew of probabilities. The risk is that numbers subject to significant change and subjectivity are feeding into models on which businesses make longterm decisions.

Ok. So in sum, the pound will go…

Don’t markets offer some clues?

Swaha Pattanaik is a columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. The article was initially published at Reuters.

Derivatives prices can be a useful guide to future market conditions.

Down, most likely. How far and how fast depends mainly on the Brexit newsflow, but not entirely. The US presidential elections could take the driving seat later this year when it comes to the pound’s exchange rate against the dollar. What happens to the US, euro zone or Japanese economies and how central banks react will also influence sterling’s exchange rate against the currencies of these countries. Where those currencies go is equally open to debate. In sterling’s case, the downward direction of travel is not in much doubt. l

CORPORATE NEWS

City Bank has recently elected its director Mohammad Shoeb as its chairperson while Tabassum Kaiser as vice chairperson, said a press release. Mohammad Shoeb joined the bank’s board in 1990 as a director while Tabassum Kaiser joined the board in 2002

Green Delta Insurance Company Limited has recently achieved AAA rating from Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh (CRAB), said a press release. MD and CEO of Green Delta Insurance, Farzana Chowdhury ACII (UK) has received the rating documents from Hamidul Huq, MD of CRAB

China’s risk clamp down hits commodity trades, niche broker business n Reuters New rules in China aimed at curbing risk and speculation have triggered an exodus of institutional cash from the country’s commodities futures markets and hobbled a thriving niche business for brokers. Before the ban, futures brokers were launching hundreds of structured products a month offering guaranteed returns, which attracted institutional cash and fed billions of dollars into the commodity futures markets. Now, fresh launches are just a trickle as the brokers comply with new rules that include a ban on guaranteed returns. With no promise of big returns, the 100 brokers or so that run asset management businesses offering these products are struggling to keep clients. “The new rules made the launch of structured products nearly impossible,” said Ni Chengqun, a senior manager with the asset management arm of Hicend Futures in Shanghai. The slump in trade is a blow for the likes of the Shanghai Futures Exchange and the Dalian Commodity Exchange, which run China’s biggest commodity futures contracts. Average daily volume in steel rebar futures, for example, dropped to 5.3 million in September from 13.5 million in April, while iron ore turnover dropped to 1.5 million from 4.7 million. The rule changes by the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) prohibit asset managers at futures brokers from guaranteeing returns, restrict leverage and include stricter standards for funds acting as advisors. AMAC was taking aim at highly-leveraged products that were offering the promise in many cases of returns of 8-9%. In one popular type of product, brokers pooled funds from investors and deployed the capital in equities, fixed income and commodity futures markets for a specified period. An outside fund acted as an advisor to devise the trading strategy. Futures were central to many of the products because they offer the ability to lever-

age, one asset manager said, citing the need to deposit as little as 10% of the contract value on margin. So an investor pool of $10m can wield a notional position of up to $100m in the market. As a result, a relatively modest price gain in that market can produce outsized profits on the initial deposit. Such juicy returns attracted institutional fund managers. Banks such as China Merchants Bank and some of the big-five lenders flocked to the products, asset managers said.

Big promises, bumper leverage

In the first half of 2015, the hottest structured products were tied to equity indexes like the Shanghai/Shenzhen CSI 300 Index, which surged roughly 50% from January to June amid a retail investor buying frenzy. Futures on the CSI 300 rallied by the same degree, and volumes more than doubled from the year before to average over 1.2 million contracts a day for the first half of 2015. Alarmed by the prospect of a bubble, regulators then stepped in to restrict trade, triggering an exodus from stocks and effectively barring retail investors from trading stock futures. CSI 300 futures volumes collapsed. Average trade in the first half of 2016 was 80 times less than a year earlier. That’s when futures brokers steered investors into fixed income, equities and commodities, sparking a surge in commodities trading in early 2016. Iron ore and steel futures prices jumped more than 60% by mid-April.

Lower fees, more competition

For brokers, the latest rules come just as a proliferation of new rivals has intensified competition in their core business of hedging risk. An estimated 80% of brokers’ asset management business focused on leveraged structured products, people working in the sector said. Now, brokers like Huatai Futures, which manages more than 10bn yuan ($1.5bn) in assets, and Hicend Futures, are finding only tepid interest from investors in products that comply with the new rules. l

Business

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Tech

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

The substitutes RIP Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Onto a suitable replacement

n Mahmood Hossain With all jokes aside, having a potentially explosive device in your hands is never a good thing. If you have obtained a Note 7 from an authorised Samsung outlet, you know what to do. Return the device, get your money back. If you’ve decided to purchase the smartphone outside of those warranted walls, well, good luck with that. It’s an unfortunate situation to be in and no one wants their phones to catch fire. Ultimately, this device is simply not safe to use anymore. So what do you do, now? If you are looking for a replacement, or had plans to buy a Note 7, there are some pretty darn solid replacements for the Note 7. Here’s the list of genuine substitutes for the grand failure that is the Note 7.

Galaxy S7 Edge

With a few features missing in this device from the Note 7, this is the closest experience you will get that comes close to the Note. No

stylus? No problem. At least you’ll get a bigger battery than the Note in the S7 Edge. Specs: • 5.5-inch 1440x2560 pixels display • 12-megapixel rear camera (4K video), 5-megapixel frontfacing camera • Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 • 32/64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, microSD up to 256GB • 3,600mAh battery

actually competing with the Galaxy Note 7. The design is obviously different, but it’s a slightly larger phone with a removable battery. There’s also that nifty and unique second display at the top for notifications. Specs: • 5.7-inch 1440x2560 pixels display • Dual 16-megapixel rear camera (4K video), 5-megapixel front-facing camera • Android 7.0 Nougat,

• •

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 32/64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, microSD up to 256GB 3,200mAh battery

Google Pixel XL

Yes, it’s fresh out of the factory new, which means it’ll cost you. But talk about perfect timing for the folks at Google. This is your pure stock Android experience. This may not have expandable storage, but the features will definitely have no issues competing with the rest. This slightly larger version of the

LG V20

Now, here’s a device that was

Pixel is possibly your best bet for a replacement. However, this hasn’t been tested to the fullest, so only time will tell if it can really hang with the big boys. Specs: • 5.5-inch 1440x2560 pixels AMOLED display • 12-megapixel rear camera (4K video), 8-megapixel frontfacing camera • Android 7.1 Nougat, Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 • 32/128GB of storage, 4GB of RAM 3,450mAh batteryl

Not so secretive startups A preorder page unintentionally gives us a sneak peak into a new Samsung Chromebook works nicknamed Kevin. What we have now, from the leak, is the Samsung Chromebook Pro. A preorder website immediately took the details down but not before the folks at ChromeUnboxed could pick up the new looks and specs. The new Samsung Chromebook Pro has some pretty impressive features to boast. It’ll have a 12.3inch 2400x1600 resolution touch

n Mahmood Hossain While Samsung deals with possibly the biggest blow in its recent history with the recalling of every Note 7 handset, the show must go on. It’s important to keep in mind that one device, regardless of how amazing it was, and later died out, shouldn’t deter

the average consumer to keep coming back for quality devices from the tech giants Samsung. Nowadays, as we spend most of our lives on the internet, plenty of things tend to leak before an official announcement. This past summer, there was a rumour flying around about a new Chromebook in the

screen display that can rotate 360 degrees. With minimal bezels, it also houses 32GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, a stylus, an all-metal 12.9mm thin body and 10 hours of battery life. The new device will be available near the end of this month, and is expected to have the price tag of $499 (a little over Tk39,000). l

Feature

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

ZuumZuum:

How it survived one year cliché, but trust is a huge missing factor in e-commerce business in Bangladesh and we are trying to be most trusted fashion e-commerce site”. ZZ also launched The ZuumZuum Shop, the first clickand-mortar shop in Bangladesh that gave consumers a physical experience. Through its pop-up stores in Mirpur and Uttara, it reached out to and converted a whole demographic of consumers into e-consumers. The success of the first digital pop-up store in Dhaka had led to the planning of opening of more pop-up stores in cities in Bangladesh. Designed to increase awareness, this omnichannel approach has proven to be a success as up to 90% of consumers who bought from the pop-up store are new customers.

Road to success

n SD Asia Desk ZuumZuum (ZZ) has achieved several significant milestones that changed the online fashion retail landscape in Bangladesh since its launch in July 2015. A lot of things happened in one year – for ZZ, it managed to keep its operation costs lower, expanded partnership and cracked the product-pricing model that buyers are willing to accept. It involved lot of trial and error, but it is finally on a growth trajectory. Every day it works towards a step closer to changing the way people access fashion in Bangladesh in just a few clicks. “Over the past one year, ZuumZuum has consistently striven to improve its product offering, brand proposition and customer experience to change the online fashion retail scene in Bangladesh. Our online population is still below the global average and as an online retailer in an emerging markets, it’s important for ZuumZuum to contribute to the growth of e-commerce and offer a platform where local brands can reach more consumers and for fashion consumers to have access to the best fashion brands

anytime, anywhere,” said Fayaz Taher, Co-founder and CEO, ZuumZuum. ZuumZuum website allows independent fashion designers and boutiques to sell their products to an already established and loyal customer base. For example a promising local brand named Rise launched their premium denim and chinos collection through ZuumZuum. Also, online boutique shop Unstitched, online T-shirt shop like The Apparels, Cut Price etc gets to display their new and upcoming fashion wear in our sites.

Fresh content

It regularly updates its site with new and upcoming fashion wear, and keep its customers engaged via its Facebook page, and fashion blog site. As consumer habit has changed dramatically, its marketing team focused on highly personalised marketing as well. To make its loyal consumers feel more privileged it offers loyalty programs, discount offers, cash back offers etc. Driven by a team of young experts in fashion, data analytics,

Trust is a huge missing factor in e-commerce business in Bangladesh

marketing, and design, paired with guidance from savvy startup founders, ZuumZuum’s vision is set on growth, making it the online fashion authority in Bangladesh. It will continue to strive for excellence, enhance the customer experience by improving interface and customer engagement will boost confidence in online shopping and transform the way fashion is purchased in Bangladesh to help build an e-commerce friendly environment. It has pushed to stay relevant from developing brandowned content to reaching out to consumers on various platforms – while placing a great emphasis on the quality of digital engagement. In ZZ fashion blog site, people can get tips on fashion and lifestyle products and it regularly updates its content.

Their head of operations, Rifat Ahmed is a veteran in the e-commerce business in Bangladesh, who worked tirelessly to bring new product and partners on board. While asking about the reason for the rapid growth of their business he said, “We were very lucky to attract very young individuals like Asif Hossain in marketing, Zubayer Ahmed in the supply chain and Imran Aziz in customer service, who may not had the online business experience, but brought tremendous passion to our business which helped us work harder and get better results. The team has grown over last one year, but our passion to make a dent in this industry still burns high. From day one, we had one strategy, which is to deliver best online customer experience through our platform. It may sound

ZuumZuum understood early that in order to be successful, it needs to invest both time and effort to better understand the complicated and fragmented online market and its impact on issues such as operations, and customer service. By forming strong local teams that understand the local nuances in Bangladesh market, ZuumZuum is able to ensure that every day; ZuumZuum is helping the way people shop and redefine the high-street fashion accessibility in emerging markets. It has recently added additional resources in customer service, delivery management, and social media marketing, but still manages to run the business with the smallest team in the industry to keep a low burn rate. Over the last year, the ZZ site evolved from a simple idea into the most advanced platform for fashion products for fashion lovers. But this project has not been without its challenges. It is now working on a Thank You program to provide privileges to the customers for choosing and putting trust in its service. Of course, it has other plans on the horizon as it continues to grow. ZuumZuum intends to continue to add more features to its platform, offer new exclusive products in regular cycle to bring customer back to the site and keep working always with the latest fashion. l Article reprinted under special arrangement with SDAsia.com

Biz info

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

| meeting |

| art |

Rezaun Nabi’s solo art exhibition begins in city

A 15-day solo art exhibition of artist Rezaun Nabi, titled ‘Metamorphic-Naturally Transformed’, began at Gallery Cosmos on Friday. A total of 38 artworks by the artist have been put on display at his seventh solo art exhibition, curated by artist Afrozaa Jamil Konka and supported by Beximco. State Minister for Power,

Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid visited the exhibition. Director of Dhaka Bank Khondoker Jamil Uddin, Senior Vice President of BGMEA Faruque Hassan, artist Rezaun Nabi and his wife, artist Sohane Shahreen and artist Kalidas Karmakar were, among others, present at the inaugural event, which was presided over by Director of Gallery Cosmos

Tehmina Enayet. In his speech, Rezaun Nabi said he has long been working with nature and landscape. “Being an impressionist, I try to reflect in my metamorphic arts, the nature of Bangladesh.” Rezaun Nabi was born in Dhaka in 1956. He completed his graduationa nd post-graduation from the Drawing and Paintings Department of the Institute of Fine Arts (now the Faculty of Fine Arts) of Dhaka University in 1880 and 1983 respectively. His first exhibition was held in the Netherlands in 1988. He has received awards for his work on numerous occasions. His contemplation for nature has kept his thrist for seeking beauty alive. He is linked to children’s art and other activities noth as part of his profession and obsession. The exhibition at Gallery Cosmos, House-115, Lane-6, New DOHS, Mohakhali, will remain open from 12 noon to 8pm everyday till October 28. l

| ranking |

Huawei jumps to 72 on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands Report

Technology giant Huawei ranked 72 on the Interbrand’s 2016 Best Global Brands report, moving up 16 spots from its previous ranking in 2015. This is the second consecutive year Huawei has risen on Interbrand’s list since the company became the first mainland Chinese brand to be recognised as a Best Global Brand in 2014. According to Interbrand, “Huawei is once again a highlight in the 2016 Best Global Brands report. Its brand value, approximated at USD $5,835 million, increased by 18% compared to a year ago. In Interbrand’s annual report, it is also one of the fastest rising brands in the technology sector,

climbing from #88 to #72 in ranking. Huawei’s significant progress stems from the belief that customers always come first, and the persistence in providing value-driven products and services. Through its brand campaign, Huawei illustrates how innovative ICT products, services and solutions can build a better connected world. In particular, the brand is currently enjoying rising awareness in Europe, a key market for the brand’s carrier and enterprise businesses, as well as its aggressive expansion and innovations in the consumer space. This year, Huawei has launched a series of products that have raised its profile. Huawei has been a leader in China for some time, and now has begun to establish a global strategy presence.” Huawei’s increasing brand influence is mirrored by its steady revenue growth, driven in part by the company’s consumer business. Huawei shipped 108 million smartphones worldwide in 2015, up 44 percent year-on-year. “Huawei wants to build a better connected world – an intelligent world with ICT as its

cornerstone, particularly cloud, software-defined networks, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence,” said Kevin Zhang, president of Huawei Corporate Marketing. As a leading technology company, Huawei earmarks more than ten percent of its annual sales revenue to research and development efforts, and has established 16 research centers around the world. Among these facilities is the Huawei Aesthetics Research Center in Paris, where French luxury brands work with Huawei’s engineers to align technology with future fashion trends. Huawei’s newest R&D center is the Max Berek Innovation Lab in Wetzler, Germany, where Huawei and Leica are jointly researching technologies to improve mobile device camera and image quality. Huawei also has more than ten open labs in China, Europe and other locations, where it works with more than 600 partners. At the same time, Huawei has launched a $1 billion USD Developer Enablement Program to support partners and application developers. l

9th National Annual Quality Convention on Education held at UAP

Bangladesh Society for Total Quality Management (BSTQM) and University of Asia Pacific (UAP) jointly organised the 9th National Annual Quality Convention on Education (NAQCE) on October 15, 2016 at UAP Plaza, Green Road, Dhaka. Professor Dr. Abdul Matin Patwari, Professor Emeritus, Former Vice Chancellor, UAP & BUET was the Chief Guest of inaugural session and Professor Dr. M. R. Kabir, Convener of 9th NAQCE welcomed all students, teachers, delegates and invited guests in the convention. The theme of the 9th NAQCE was ”Student Quality Control Circle (SQCC) for Developing Total Quality Person”. Around 600 students, teachers and professionals from different

institutions across the country joined the convention. Asaduzzaman Khan, MP, Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs was the Chief Guest for the closing session and distributed prizes among the winners while Qayum Reza Chowdhury, Chairman, Board of Trustees, UAP, A M M Khairul Bashar, President, BSTQM and Professor Dr. M. R. Kabir, Pro VC, UAP were present. The convention included presentation of 42 SQCC, TWIT, papers on quality and other colourful posters and slogans, collages, debate and poem competitions. Members of SQCC from their groups are to identify problems in their institutions leading solution for implementation and follow up action. l

| event |

Thursday nights live

In a country where talent is in abundance but opportunities are slim, Live Kitchen launched #LetsGoLive campaign through which they aim to create a platform for gifted musicians to showcase their singing potential. Every Thursday night

the floor is open for performers to showcase their musical charisma in front of a live audience. Furthermore for the viewers online, the entire performance is shown live on Facebook from the official Live Kitchen Facebook page. Live kitchen believes that an event like this is likely to help the upcoming musicians in Bangladesh. So for all the foodies out there, with a zeal for good music, do head out to Live kitchen Banani every Thursday night. Its Unplugged, wired and a bit weird. l

Auto Connect

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

The 5er with a new look The all new 2017 BMW 5 Series with is refreshingly revolting

n Tahsin Momin BMW pulled out all the trump cards out of the box for its seventh-generation 5 Series. Alongside the improved engines, semi-autonomous driving features and gesture controls, the new car receives an entirely new design. To be honest at first glance, it doesn’t look all that different. Admittedly the 5 Series does take some of its styling cues from the current generation of 7 Series. However, that arises a fundamental question. Does the sedan benefit from a little change, or did it look better before its makeover? While the other sedans in the BMW line-up feature a thin chrome-accent across the grille, the 5 Series gets a chunky frame.

Its headlights are now attached to the grille similar to the current 7 Series and the audacious air intake below the grille gives the front end a more muscular look. There are noticeable changes too on the side panels. Conveniently this is no longer a large cut-out on the left of the side doors. In its place, an inlet has been placed in a diagonal fashion closer to the front tire. More deeper character lines run across the side panels. Going to the rear end, the first thing you’ll clearly notice is the new taillights. On the previous generation, the taillight design was interrupted because of the trunk lid, but now the taillights feature a more consistent appearance. Though they are chunkier than before, they extend

RAV4 goes Rallying

n ASM Foysal As completely unrelated things go, RAV4 and rally crossing could be hard put to match. A look at Toyota’s mini monster would

never bring forth an image of a rally car to mind. Yet, Toyota, in their infinite wisdom has made the New RAV4 rally car. This 2-wheel drive, 2.4-liter adorable behemoth churns out 176bhp. Apart from the

far from the license plate holder and continue till the side of the vehicle. The rear bumper also gets a new design with two large exhaust pipes flanking on each side. If you hope inside, you’ll see that the 2017 BMW 5 Series receives a new dashboard and gear shift. The built-in unit on infotainment screen has been replaced with a new pop-up one. Standard goodies include sport seats, two-zone climate control, ambiance lighting, and a 12-speaker sound system. After an anticipated public debut at the Detroit Motor Show, the G30 5-series is set to hit the market in February 2017, so, will have to wait a few more months to get your hands on one, until the pictures will have to suffice.l

suspension, there is little to no change in the RAV4 innards: stock brakes, engine and surprisingly stock automatic transmission as well. The hot shot Toyota is competing with the likes of Ford Fiesta fitted with manual gearbox and turbos and a dead drop weight of around 350 kilos. Toyota’s driver will be Ryan Millen, a lad who has been involved with Toyota Motorsport since his childhood and yes, this Millen is from the famous Millen family that includes Rhys Millen and the legendary race car driver Rod Millen, brother and father to Ryan respectively. Rod lead many

a Toyota Motorsport cars through dust and burned rubber to glory and the now the sons have taken up the mantle. Preparing the RAV4 was somewhat anticlimactic, all they did was shed some weight by stripping the car off to its bare minimum. Removing most of the interior, redundant equipment and insulation, Toyota manages to shear off 500pounds and considering the 178bhp engine, that’s a lot of weight it doesn’t have to pull along. The car should now be considerably faster and more adept at handling harsh terrain and quick turns round the corners. The underfloor has been strengthened and the vehicle is much

sturdier after the roll cages has been installed in accordance with the rally cross specification. The little engine producing 172 lb-ft torque really isn’t the best bet to win a rally but I don’t suppose Toyota is really in it to win it. What they are looking for is competitive fun and the chance to show that a stock Toyota can be equally reliable and durable as a racecar in the rough terrain.l

20 Editorial

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

TODAY

From the vacuum The American people have gotten lucky to have been born in an era of technology and political correctness (if it can be called lucky to settle for the likes of Hillary) PAGE 21

‘We have one common enemy and that is poverty’ With neighbouring countries we may have many problems, but I believe it can always be solved. India and Bangladesh have done it, like we agreed to a Ganges Water Treaty PAGE 22

A global standard in ending poverty The image of Bangladesh as a country with endemic poverty could soon change as Bangladesh finds new pathways to sustainable and equitable growth 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

Wake up to climate change

n the fight against climate change, political apathy is not an option. Next month’s COP22 in Morocco will be crucial in coming to a consensus on how to keep the global temperature rise under 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius. As one of the world’s most vulnerable countries, Bangladesh needs a specific plan on how to tackle the challenge from our end. Right now, a more stringent plan is needed from all countries involved if we are to meet the 1.5 degree goal. While 186 countries across the world have already submitted their plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, the current path would result in a global temperature rise of over 3 degrees Celsius. And that is not good enough. Poorer countries suffer the most from the adverse effects of climate change. While it is the richer countries that happen to be the biggest emitters, ironically it is poor countries like Bangladesh that end up paying the price. The problem of food security is one that may hit us particularly hard, especially at a time when the government is working so hard to make starvation a thing of the past through special food programs for the ultra poor. Although great strides have been made in food production, and recently introduced safety net programs (subsidised rice for the poor) are likely to further reduce poverty and hunger, all these gains could be lost if the melting of the polar ice caps is not arrested. Over the coming decades, rising sea levels and increasing salinity in our rivers will substantially reduce our agricultural land as well as our food production. There is a high probability that Bangladesh will face famine unless carbon emissions are substantially reduced. The adverse effects of climate change could deal a great blow to Bangladesh, and undermine all our development efforts. Food is just one of the challenges worsened by climate change. Coastal and river erosion, salinity, and water-logging, all contribute to a loss of livelihood. This is a fight that will require the combined political will of all countries involved. COP22 is a chance for us to get to work.

There is a high probability that Bangladesh will face famine unless carbon emissions are substantially reduced

Opinion

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

From the vacuum The next Donald Trump might be less of a buffoon than this one THE WORLD IN PA R E N T H E S E S

n SN Rasul

oo often has history been written in such a way that it has allowed for extreme points of view to fester among pockets of small but like-minded people. One doesn’t need to look all the way across the Atlantic or the Pacific to find examples of that in the rise and now apparent fall of Donald Trump; they can be found much, much closer to home. But perhaps, right now, that is too close for comfort. When we think of oppression, we immediately go to the ideologies which run in direct opposition to the version of the left-wing sentiment that is popular today. We go to the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, we think of Hitler and the Nazis, we think of Mussolini and the Fascists, we go sometimes to the Marxist-Leninist state of the Soviet Union. And that’s an easy place to go to. One-party governments which claim to speak for the people and systematically shut down dissenting voices are not sustainable, as far history is concerned. Eventually, even the majority who were behind the government to start with notice how little the freedom they themselves have to warrant any modicum of satisfaction. If Hitler hadn’t let the Axis powers’ first two years of success get to his head and lain siege on Leningrad and Stalingrad, who knows, maybe we’d be in a different global climate altogether. But these “extreme” forms of government aren’t born out of thin air. Comparisons between Trump and Hitler, which many people have all too often made, is a bit of a stretch, but worth mentioning. Though Hitler is too often deemed to be one of the -- if not the sole -- face of evil in the history of the world as we know it, it must be remembered that the Fuhrer’s rise to power came out of a vacuum. The emasculation of Germany via the Treaty of Versailles, leading to massive hyperinflation resulting in the Mark’s value becoming a

Why does Donald Trump inspire support? trillionth of what it used to be, and the blame that the nation received, having to make up for a war that they didn’t really even start (worthy of debate), is what allowed for the National Socialist Party to rise. When you pigeonhole a group to such an extent that the only seemingly viable option is a party that is vehemently opposing the status quo, even popular sentiment waves in favour of extremist views.

The rise of Trump

And the popularity of Trump is no different. We speak of the “othering” of Muslims and minorities at the hands of Western imperialist nations, of dehumanising them as a means of making their subsequent oppression and annihilation something that we can ingest, but the other side (our side?) is as guilty of it as the right-wing rhetoric that people like Donald Trump emit. With the recent reveal of Trump’s misogynistic tapes, one in which he mentions grabbing women by the genitals and in another where he says how he’ll be dating a 10-year-old girl in another 10 years’ time, have, as far as one can logically predict, been the final nails in Trump’s dying Republican campaign of a coffin. But the American people have gotten lucky to have been

REUTERS

born in an era of technology and political correctness (if it can be called lucky to settle for the likes of Hillary). But what if these tapes hadn’t been revealed? What if the kind of misogyny and Islamophobia shown by Trump was an acceptable rhetoric, much like the anti-Semitism leading up to the Second World War? In fact, before the allegations of sexual abuse and harassment, Trump had pretty much run his name into becoming the official Republican candidate on an antiIslamic, anti-Muslim campaign. And it was largely successful in the same way the Nazis were. For the so-called “white trash” of America, working minimum wage jobs with their “uneducated” views and their not politically correct enough points of view, too scared to air them because they’d be ostracised by the mainstream media, Trump had the sizeable gonads to flip the finger that they so wished they too could. This is not saying that Trump and his followers are not to be blamed here; but why did they feel this way in the first place? The mainstream left-wing liberal narrative has its own way of “othering” and dehumanising these people, be it in the form of derogatory terms such as rednecks, or merely not listening to them when they speak and trying to understand the place that they’re coming from, or

The American people have gotten lucky to have been born in an era of technology and political correctness (if it can be called lucky to settle for the likes of Hillary). But what if these tapes hadn’t been revealed?

simply with the use of language which makes it seem so obvious that these hicks are in the “wrong,” even though these “hicks” themselves can very well understand how they came to their own conclusions.

A leader who appears to talk straight

It is in front of their very eyes that Muslim after Muslim is wreaking terrorist havoc, Mexicans are coming in and working for too little pay, you can’t talk about these godforsaken women anymore without being accused of misogyny -- and you can’t even say anything about it. To them, maybe, it seems like it’s the other side that waxes poetic about freedom of expression but can’t handle it when it comes to their own viewpoints, which have suddenly become too radical and inappropriate for the modern world.

In fact, the new Trump tapes possibly hold opinions that a huge chunk of his followers, if not the American public in general would’ve mirrored themselves, but it was too over the line on a public platform to be deemed acceptable even amongst them. But, next time, the next Trump figure might not be as inappropriate, as uneducated, as untethered as Trump is. Next time, the Democratic Clinton-type might not be so lucky as to have the presidency handed to them on a silver platter. Next time, unless the liberal media learns to listen to the other side without dismissing it sans empathy, from the rubble of the sexist, racist, bigoted, xenophobic, misogynistic narrative might rise an opponent far more formidable than the unfiltered flapping mouth of Donald Trump. l SN Rasul is a Sub-Editor at the Dhaka Tribune. Follow him @snrasul.

Interview

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

‘We have one common enemy, and that is poverty’ Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on why Bangladesh pulled out of the SAARC summit, bilateral ties with India, and tensions with Pakistan. This is the concluding part of a two-part interview connectivity is a very large part of good relations. We have established the BBIN network, and good relations with

With neighbouring countries we may have many problems, but I believe it can always be solved. India and Bangladesh have done it, like we agreed to a Ganges Water Treaty Improved relations with China don’t mean India will be forgotten

n Suhasini Haidar You brought back democracy to Bangladesh in 1996, yet today you preside over a parliament with no opposition in it. Do you think in the next election you will bring the BNP opposition back into the process?

As far as the BNP is concerned, they decided to boycott the elections. I telephoned Begum Khaleda Zia, but she didn’t take my calls. My father promoted her husband Gen Zia and we knew each other from those times. But she speaks in the worst possible way, and even refused my condolence visit for her son’s death by closing the door on me. She has ordered her party workers to protest, to carry out acts of violence. As a human being, what else can I do? It’s her fault, her decision to stay out of the elections, and I hope she doesn’t make the same mistake next time. But I won’t allow democracy to be jeopardised by her misdeeds.

Another part of democracy is freedom of the press. Yet the recent arrest of a prominent editor, the new digital laws on defaming the liberation movement, with harsh punishments, send the

signal that you are clamping down on the media … When I came to power we had only one television channel, now we have 23. Who did this? Who allowed hundreds of newspapers to flourish here? And let me ask, if there is no freedom of the press, how come they have the freedom to write that there is no freedom? We arrested the editor (magazine editor Shafik Rahman, who was arrested for sedition) for other crimes. If he has acted against the country, he must face trial. Otherwise Bangladesh has so many editors, how many have been arrested?

Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Bangladesh ahead of his visit to India for the BRICS-BIMSTEC summit which you will also attend, and your ties with China are being watched very closely in India. Despite the opening of ties, why does trade with India lag so far behind trade with China?

Actually our bilateral trade has improved a lot, especially after India gave us duty free, quota free access (2007-08). In the past, we bought our food grains from India, but now we are self-sufficient, so that is one reason, perhaps, for trade being lower. But we have a lot of capital goods, machinery,

PID

cotton, now coming from India. Our relationship is good and will continue to grow.

But bilateral trade at $6-7 billion is behind trade with China ...

It depends on the private sector, where they want to buy goods from. Bangladesh has also been quite vocal about the huge trade imbalance between our two countries and removal of trade barriers, which is going on in phases. We also plan for the establishment of Indian SEZs at Mongla and Bheramara that would increase the FDI flow into Bangladesh and narrow the trade gap.

China is Bangladesh’s biggest trading partner, it is its biggest defence partner, Bangladesh plays a large role in China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Isn’t it a valid concern for India that Bangladesh could become what is known as China’s “string of pearls” in the region?

You spoke of the good relationship between India and Bangladesh. If that is the sentiment, then how can you make the allegation that Bangladesh is inclining more towards China? No. Our policy is very clear. We have good relations with everyone and we want to maintain that. And I believe

Bhutan, India, and Nepal as a result. We also have the BCIM economic corridor with China, India, and Myanmar. So we can all join and improve our trade volumes and that means the economic condition of our people will improve. The purchasing power of our people will increase, and who will be the bigger beneficiary of that in our region? India. India is best poised to benefit from the Bangladeshi market. You should realise that.

You will visit India for the BRICSBIMSTEC summit this week, and then hopefully later this year for a bilateral visit. Tell us what you hope to achieve.

The problem in our region for all of us is almost the same: We have one common enemy, and that is poverty, which we must fight to eradicate. With neighbouring countries we may have many problems, but I believe it can always be solved. India and Bangladesh have done it, like we agreed to a Ganges Water Treaty. As far as BRICS is concerned, we have expectations that BRICS leaders will extend a supporting hand to BIMSTEC with its New Development Bank at affordable terms.

Will you discuss ways of better border management during your visit, since despite the implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement, while the enclaves have been settled, other issues remain, like illegal migration and border firing?

Yes, the LBA was a long-standing problem which we solved after 45 years. So if the big problem has been solved, we can resolve these smaller problems too. As far as border killings are concerned, our border forces on both sides, the BSF and the BGB have agreed to jointly investigate the incidents where BSF personnel have shot and killed innocent Bangladeshi villagers, and the home ministers are discussing this. A few dots [problems] may remain, but see what a big, extraordinary example we have set for the world by exchanging our people and land so smoothly.

The date for your bilateral visit hasn’t been confirmed yet ... Is that tied to solving the Teesta watersharing agreement first then? No, no, it is not conditional on that, even without a state visit, I have come to your country. I had come for the funeral of President Mukherjee’s wife. I rushed as soon as I heard that she passed away, because when I was in exile, in 1975, she did so much for us. During the Liberation War, India did so much for our people, they took care of our refugees, they helped train our freedom fighters. So when you have such close bonds you don’t think about such protocol. To a neighbour’s house, I can go anytime.

Do you think BIMSTEC as a grouping will see progress now that SAARC is in abeyance?

No. SAARC is a South Asian group and is still there. As PM in 1997, I was a founder of BIMSTEC for countries around the Bay of Bengal for economic development. Modiji has been taking this forward and I am grateful to him. But I don’t see one group as a substitute or alternative for another. l Suhasini Haidar is Deputy Resident Editor & Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu. This interview previously appeared on The Hindu.

Opinion

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Setting a global standard in ending poverty The World Bank will work closely with Bangladesh every step of the way

Can we bridge the gap?

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The image of Bangladesh as a country with endemic poverty could soon change as Bangladesh finds new pathways to sustainable and equitable growth

n Qimiao Fan

here is a lot for Bangladesh to celebrate in the latest World Bank research on global poverty and inequality. The new report, entitled “Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality,” uses revised data to give a more accurate estimate of how many poor people live in Bangladesh. What the report shows is that 18.5% of the population was poor in 2010 compared with 44.2% in 1991. This is a major achievement that had received global recognition on October 17 when the World Bank Group marked End Poverty Day with the people of Bangladesh at an event in Dhaka. This achievement means that 20.5 million Bangladeshis escaped from poverty between 1991 and 2010. It means that Bangladesh beat the deadline by an impressive five years in achieving Millennium Development Goal number one, an internationally recognised target to cut extreme poverty rates by

half by 2015. It is worth remembering how far Bangladesh has come. US presidential security adviser Henry Kissinger dubbed the country a “basket case” at its birth in 1971. Bangladesh emerged from the ashes of a gory War of Independence as the world’s second poorest nation. Its population and economy were ravaged and its productive assets -- which once provided the bulk of undivided Pakistan’s exports -were in shambles. Even as well-meaning experts sounded warnings that the fragile state would collapse, Bangladesh increasingly silenced the sceptics by proving resilient against the devastating 1974 famine and a series of crippling cyclones. From 2000 onwards, the economy has been growing consistently at 6% a year on average. Development officials from other nations now visit Bangladesh to decipher the secrets of its success. Bangladesh has tackled its challenges in remarkable ways. It has overcome meagre resources

to make the most of its strong cultural and intellectual tradition and a national will to build a prosperous nation following independence. Bangladesh gave the world a revolutionary new microfinancing model to monetise the productivity of the poor and showed that a predominantly Muslim country could unleash the potential of its women, making them a significant partner in progress. Its Female Stipends program, widely acclaimed as a model for achieving gender parity of enrolment, has been replicated successfully in several countries. Its vibrant garment sector is giving a whole generation of women jobs that open new opportunities. Today, Bangladesh is a lower middle-income country with a bright future as a member of the “Next 11,” according to the US investment bank Goldman Sachs, which had earlier identified the “BRICS.” The image of Bangladesh as a country with endemic poverty could soon change, as Bangladesh finds new pathways to sustainable and equitable growth and aims to achieve middle-income country status by its 50th birthday in 2021. The sceptics will say that poverty, regardless of the latest World Bank estimates, is a reality in the lives of too many Bangladeshis. They are right. Bangladesh still had 28 million

poor in 2010, the latest year for which a household survey is available for the country. Based on the new estimate, Bangladesh is the 64th poorest out of the 154 countries included in the World Bank’s global poverty database. Much more therefore still needs to be done to end poverty in Bangladesh and to increase the prosperity of the bottom 40% of the population. These are the goals that the World Bank Group is pursuing with the Government of Bangladesh. As the government has rightly identified, Bangladesh will do well by addressing infrastructure, energy, and regulatory bottlenecks to increase productivity, make exports more competitive, and attract more domestic as well as foreign investment. The country can build on its success in human development and improve the quality of education, vocational training, as well as child nutrition and health services. The country can do more to strengthen institutions, including improving governance and strengthening anti-corruption measures. It can improve the policy environment for businesses, manage rapid urbanisation, and adapt to climate change impacts. The World Bank Group will work with the people of Bangladesh to overcome these challenges every step of the way. The World Bank has invested more than $24.3 billion in support since 1972 to advance Bangladesh’s development priorities. Bangladesh is currently the biggest recipient of credits from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries. There is much to be done to complete Bangladesh’s development journey and to give all its citizens the opportunities they deserve. But as the World Bank’s new report shows, Bangladesh is an inspiring example to the world on how to overcome poverty. Now is the time to build on these successes and end poverty in Bangladesh in our lifetime. l Qimiao Fan is the World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, joining the position in March 2016, and is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This article first appeared on blogs.worldbank.org.

24 Sport

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Sabbir, limitedover specialist to Test certainty

TOP STORIES

Uddin from n Mazhar Chittagong

Warm-ups done as first Test looming England completed their warmup matches ahead of the Test series as the second two-day game against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI ended in a draw at MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong yesterday. PAGE 25

Joy and misery for Milan rivals in Serie A AC Milan surged into third place in Serie A with a 3-1 win at Chievo Verona but their great city rivals Inter Milan were left in turmoil as Mauro Icardi again came under fire from his own fans in the 2-1 defeat by Cagliari. PAGE 26

Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman does catching practice during training in Chittagong yesterday

Is Bangladesh ready to return to Tests? Uddin from n Mazhar Chittagong

Bishoo gives WI hope in night Test Darren Bravo stood firm against Pakistan to carry West Indies to 154-4 at tea on the final day of the first day-night Test yesterday, still 192 runs short of victory. Bravo showed patience against seamers and spinners. PAGE 27

Real Madrid eye goals yet again Tottenham Hotspur’s surprise home defeat to Monaco on the opening day has put a spanner in the works in this group, putting both the English side and Leverkusen under pressure coming into their home-and-away series. PAGE 28

The new-look Bangladesh cricket team over the past two years impressed many after their successful run in the 50-over format. The Tigers adapted well in ODIs and there is now enough players in the pipeline to fill the gaps when needed. But all of a sudden, the Bangladesh think tank find themselves short of players capable of fitting into the upcoming two-match Test series against England, the format in which the Tigers are yet to prove their mettle having won only seven in 93 attempts. Bowling department perhaps has been the major area of concern for Bangladesh as there are a few injury problems going around. Paceman Mustafizur Rahman is still rehabilitating from injury while ODI captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza had to skip the longest format due to injury issues. Even young fast bowler Taskin Ahmed is considered a limited-over bowler, thanks to his injury-prone nature. The likes of Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam and Al Amin Hossain are the preferred options for head coach Chandika Hathurusingha

with the new ball while there are a few names like Subashish Roy, Abu Haider, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and even rookie Ebadat Hossain who were among the probables for the Test side. However, Shafiul and Kamrul are the only two pacers who have been picked for the first Test as the home side made as many six changes in the squad. The morale of the story is that Rubel and Al Amin are relatively experienced in international cricket but not in the best of form in recent times while the others still need some time to prepare themselves for the biggest stage. This is the reason why the Bangladesh team management opted to pick only two seamers, largely resting their hopes on the spinners. And they certainly have their reasons as it was learned from sources that it will be a spin-friendly track at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium for the first Test, starting Thursday. With that said, there is another problem in that Bangladesh are yet to get a settled spin bowling partner of Shakib al Hasan, be it in limited-over or Test cricket. Taijul Islam had a brilliant start to his Test career as he picked up 36 wickets from nine Tests but then

MI MANIK

again, he played his last Test back in July 2015 against South Africa. On the other hand, former U-19 captain Mehedi Hasan got the reward for his magnificent performance in the U-19 World Cup, followed by a decent domestic season. He is the other specialist off-spinner in the squad. There were talks of including a leg-spinner in the side but according to Hathurusingha, Jubair Hossain, who started his career pretty well, has been unable to improve himself and thus, faded away. If the home side are expecting to take advantage from the pitch relying on their spinners then there will be high expectations on the youngsters, who have just started their international career. At this moment, it is too much to ask from them. In that case, Shakib will have to shoulder the majority of the responsibility not only in the spin bowling department but overall. It will be a humongous task even for the most experienced player of the side. So the question remains, have the selectors or the Bangladesh Cricket Board prepared a plan to strengthen the Tigers bench, provided they are returning to Test cricket after more than a year? Only time will tell. l

Among the four uncapped players named in the Bangladesh squad for the first Test against England, Sabbir Rahman perhaps has the best opportunity of making his five-day debut after an impressive start to his international career in the limited-over formats. Sabbir, who has played 55 limited-over matches ever since his T20I and ODI debut back in 2014, has been a regular fixture in the Tigers’ set-up. And according to the 24-year old batsman, the fact that he has regularly featured in international matches will stand him in good stead as he prepares to launch his Test career. “Of course becoming a Test player is a dream come true. It was my dream to be a Test player, and my family is also very happy that I got the call-up. It was my wish from childhood that I would play Tests, but you cannot just suddenly start playing Tests. I tried to take it step by step,” Sabbir told the media yesterday. “I played T20s first, playing one-dayers now, so hopefully I will continue in Tests in the same way. Having played so many international matches will give me a good back-up to play Tests,” he said. “Everyone thought that I am a T20 player and would not be able to play one-dayers. I proved that I can play ODIs. I have now gotten into the Test side, so Inshallah if I can play, it will be my debut. I will try to make sure that I can play in all three formats in the same way,” he added. Sabbir added that there will be less pressure on him in Test cricket, compared to the limited-over formats, as he will get the time to settle down at the wicket. “There are different mindsets for each format; for one-dayers there is one mindset, for T20s there is another and for Tests likewise. I set myself up in different ways for the format. If it’s an ODI, I would tell myself that I should take some time and play,” he said. “If it’s a T20 match, the mindset would be to play ball by ball. In Test matches, I will think about how to sacrifice a ball, how to judge a ball. I have practised it off the field, and alone. I have thought about how to play well in Tests. It is a mental thing really, everything depends on mentality,” he added. l

Sport

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Bangladesh thrash Aussies n Tribune Report Bangladesh thumped Australia 80–8 in their Group A game of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad, India yesterday. The raiders in red and green thoroughly dominated their opponents as they led 36-2 at half-time. Earlier in their previous matches, Bangladesh lost 32–35 to South Korea, got thrashed 57–20 by hosts India and outclassed England 52-18 in their tournament opener. As a result, Bangladesh kept alive their slim chances of qualifying for the semi-finals. They are now third in the points table, behind early leaders South Korea and India. Bangladesh have seven new faces in the squad and prepared for the tournament for the best part of the last two months. They did not play any practice matches during this time. Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited is sponsoring the side. l

BRIEF SCORE BCB XI 294 (Mazid 106, Shanto 72, Ansari 4/68) v ENGLAND 256 (Duckett 60, Hameed 57, Tanveer 4/53) Match drawn

BCB XI wicket-keeper Nurul Hasan celebrates the dismissal of England’s Joe Root during their two-day warm-up game in Chittagong yesterday

MI MANIK

Warm-ups done as first Test looms on the horizon Uddin from n Mazhar Chittagong England completed their warm-up matches ahead of the Test series as the second two-day game against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI ended in a draw at MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong yesterday. The English batters had a good outing on a hot day as they faced some tight bowling by the home side with leg-spinner Tanveer Haider bagging four wickets to help dismiss the visitors for 256 after BCB XI posted 294, riding on a brilliant hundred from Abdul Mazid. English openers Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett utilised the opportunity and tried to

adapt to the pitch and conditions. Hameed played 125 balls for his 57 runs while Duckett faced 101 deliveries in his 60-run knock. Both the batsmen then retired out after adding 90 runs for the opening wicket, making way for the others to spend some time at the crease. However, it was leggie Tanveer who stole the show, bowling brilliantly and purchasing a lot of assistance from the spin-friendly wicket as he dismissed Joe Root (24), Jonny Bairstow (six), Jos Buttler (four) and Chris Woakes (23). Gary Ballance remained unbeaten on 36 while Ben Stokes chipped in with 25. Taskin Ahmed bowled well and picked up a wicket, along with Sub-

ashish Roy and Mosaddek Hossain. Pacer Al Amin Hossain also exhibited an impressive display giving away only eight runs from his 10 overs, including seven maiden overs, but remained wicketless. For the visitors, Duckett continued his prolific tour and expressed confidence that he would give a good account of himself, if he gets to open the innings alongside captain Alastair Cook, who returned to Bangladesh on the eve of the first Test after the birth of his second child. “It’s (competition for places) very difficult. Especially the guys that are playing at the moment. In all formats, they have been very good for the last year or two. So

it’s going to be very difficult, but if I do get a chance, hopefully I’ll be ready,” Duckett told the media following the second two-dayer. The 22-year old however, added that spin will play a vital role in the upcoming Test series. With that said, he informed that he will be ready to take up the challenge. “I haven’t played a lot of spin [yesterday]. When we train in the next couple of days I will try to face (spin) as much as I can, because I know that’s going to be coming. The way I play spin, I try to be positive, put them under pressure and just bat the way I do,” said the Northamptonshire wicketkeeper-batsman. On the other hand, uncapped

stumper-batsman Nurul Hasan, who earlier made his T20I debut earlier this year against Zimbabwe, was named in the 14-member Bangladesh squad for the first Test after playing both the practice matches England. And according to Nurul, he will try to make the best use of the opportunity, provided he gets to don the gloves this Thursday. “Obviously if I get the opportunity I will try to give my best and try to play my natural game. Obviously there is a huge difference between domestic cricket and international arena but if I take pressure upon me then it will be difficult so I will try to play according to the situation,” said Nurul. l

Hockey team to train in Germany n Tribune Report

Action from the 2016 Bangladesh Swimmers Hunt

ISPR

Bangladesh team will undergo a half-month training camp in Germany and are likely to take part in 10 practice matches, ahead of the upcoming Asian Hockey Federation Cup, scheduled to be held in Hong Kong this November. Bangladesh Hockey Federation announced the national side yesterday where the officials also shared their target in the tournament. Some of the national players like Russel Mahmud Jimmy, Mamunur Rahman Chayan, Krishna Kumar, Mainul Islam Kaushik, Imran Hasan Pintu, Forhad Shitul and Mohammad Sarwar have already gone to Germany.

Pushkor Khisa Mimo, Kamruzzaman Rana, Milon Hossain and Rezaul Karim Babu, along with the three goalkeepers Asim Gope,

There is no alternative than to become champions in the tournament. That is why we are providing all kinds of facility to the national team Kiron and Jahid Hossain are expected to join Jimmy and Co today. Three Under-18 stars Romman Sarkar, Ashraful Islam and Arshad Hossain will also fly for Germany.

The BHF informed that Bangladesh will play 10 practice matches in Poland and Austria, starting from tomorrow. The team are likely to return at the beginning of November. Experienced coach Mahbub Harun will accompany the team during the camp. “There is no alternative than to become champions in the tournament. That is why we are providing all kinds of facility to the national team and sending them abroad for a camp. We are taking the best possible preparation,” said BHF vice-president Shafiullah al Munir yesterday. The fifth edition of the AHF Cup will be held from November 19-27 with a total of 11 teams taking part. The top four finishers will play in the Asia Cup Hockey in 2017. l

Sport

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016 Southampton’s rich vein of form in the Premier League continued as they beat Burnley 3-1 with two goals from Charlie Austin on Sunday while another promoted side, Middlesbrough, fared just as poorly, losing 1-0 at home to Watford. With Hull City having crashed 6-1 at Bournemouth on Saturday, the top flight is proving an unforgiving environment for the teams who came up this season with all three now mired at the bottom end of the table after posting impressive starts. Here (in the picture) Southampton’s Austin scores their third goal aginst Burnley during their Premier League match at St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday REUTERS

Joy and misery for Milan rivals in Serie A

Prandelli gets winning start with Valencia n Reuters, Barcelona

SERIE A Fiorentina

0-0

Atalanta

Genoa

0-0

Empoli

Inter Milan

1-2

Cagliari

Mario 56

Melchiorri 71, Handanovic 85-og

1-1

Lazio

Bologna

Immobile 90+7-P

Helander 10

2-1

Sassuolo

Crotone

Sensi 83, Iemmello 86

1-3

Chievo Birsa 76

Falcinelli 2

AC Milan

Kucka 45, Niang 46, Bacca 90+4

POINTS TABLE Team

GD Pts

Juventus 8

Roma

AC Milan’s Carlos Bacca (L) in action against Jonathan de Guzman of Chievo Verona at Bentegodi Stadium, Verona on Sunday REUTERS

AC Milan

Napoli

n Reuters, Rome

Lazio

AC Milan surged into third place in Serie A with a 3-1 win at Chievo Verona on Sunday but their great city rivals Inter Milan were left in turmoil as their captain Mauro Icardi again came under fire from his own fans in the 2-1 defeat by Cagliari. Milan moved level on 16 points alongside second-placed AS Roma as goals either side of the break from Juraj Kucka and M’baye Niang and an own goal from Dario Dainelli in the dying seconds ensured their victory. Yet Inter suffered a wretched afternoon at the San Siro as Icardi, already embroiled in controversy over criticism he had made of the club’s hardcore fans in an autobiography, missed a penalty during the defeat. Some ultras, who have called for leading scorer Icardi to be stripped of the captaincy, even cheered and jeered after the miss and the Ar-

gentine’s future at the club looks uncertain. Despite his miss at 0-0, Inter looked poised to close in on the top spots with a win once Joao Mario scored after 56 minutes. Yet Cagliari pulled level through forward Federico Melchiorri in the 71st minute before an own goal by keeper Samir Handanovic, who turned Melchiorri’s low cross into his own net, consigned Inter to the loss that leaves them 11th on 11 points. Lazio striker Ciro Immobile scored a penalty with the very last kick of the game to rescue a 1-1 draw against Bologna and make amends for a string of wasted chances throughout the game. Immobile scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time after Bologna had taken the lead when Filip Helander, on loan from Verona, connected with a free kick to turn the ball in after 10 minutes. Lazio reacted with Italy interna-

tional Immobile hitting the post with a shot after half an hour and having another effort cleared off the line. It was an even more one-sided affair after the break with the visitors’ keeper - Angelo Da Costa making a sensational reflex save to deny Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from close range. A Milinkovic-Savic cut-back was then turned goalwards by a Bologna defender, but goalline technology showed it had not fully crossed the line when Da Costa once again came to the rescue to palm it away. The Brazilian keeper was eventually beaten when Immobile converted from the penalty spot at the end of the game to rescue a point for the hosts. The result leaves Lazio in fifth place on 14 points level with Napoli, who lost 3-1 to AS Roma on Saturday. Juventus are top on 21 after their 2-1 win over Udinese on Saturday. l

Ex-Italy coach Cesare Prandelli got off to a winning start in La Liga as his new Valencia side triumphed 2-1 at Sporting Gijon on Sunday, while Villarreal maintained their impressive opening to the season by thrashing Celta Vigo 5-0. Former Atletico Madrid and Watford midfielder Suarez provided the ideal launch pad for Prandelli with a thumping rightfoot drive to score in the seventh minute. Valencia were pegged back by Carlos Castro’s header just before halftime but retook the lead in the 65th minute when Suarez calmly turned a knockdown into the net. The win took Prandelli’s team out of the relegation zone and up to 14th on nine points from eight games. Unbeaten Villarreal raced into an eighth minute lead against Celta

when Roberto Soriano nipped in behind the defence to latch on to a pass by Manu Trigueros and tuck the ball into the far corner. Villarreal moved up to fifth

LA LIGA Alaves

1-1

Malaga

Deyverson 9

Athletic Bilbao

Rosales 85

3-2

Real Sociedad

Muniain 51, Aduriz 60, Williams 72

Sporting Gijon

1-2

Castro 40

Villarreal

Zurutuza 17, Martinez 83

Valencia Mario Suarez 7, 65

5-0

Celta Vigo

Soriano 8, 12, Bakambu 38, Wass 48-og, Trigueros 90+1

place on 16 points, level with Barcelona in fourth, while Celta are 12th on 10. Atletico Madrid lead the table ahead of Real Madrid, with both sides having 18 points after easy wins on Saturday, followed by Sevilla with 17.l

Dominika Cibulkova celebrates after winning the final against Viktorija Golubic (unseen) at the WTA Ladies Tennis Tournament in Linz, Austria on Sunday AFP

Sport

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Bishoo gives WI faint hope in day-night Test n Reuters Darren Bravo stood firm against Pakistan to carry the West Indies to 154-4 at tea on the fifth and final day of the first day-night Test yesterday, still 192 runs short of victory. Bravo showed patience against seamers and spinners

DAY 5, AT TEA PAKISTAN 579/3d & 123 lead WEST INDIES 357 & 154/4 (Bravo 46*, Chase 21*) by 196 runs and moved to 46 off 134 balls as he added only 20 to his overnight 26. Roston Chase also grew in confidence and was batting on 21. West Indies still needs 192 runs to fashion a victory in the remaining 64 overs after leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo’s 8-49 in the second innings limited the West Indies target to 346. Pakistan had an early suc-

cess when Marlon Samuels poked at Mohammad Amir’s very first ball and nicked it behind the stumps after West Indies resumed at 95-2. Jermaine Blackwood (15) also went inside the first hour and was out leg before wicket off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz after Pakistan successfully went for television referral against on-field umpire Paul Reiffel’s not out decision. Earlier, an eight-wicket haul from West Indies’ Devendra Bishoo breathed fresh life into the Test, leaving his side with a faint chance of pulling off the unlikeliest of wins in the day-night contest. After three days in which bat had completely dominated the pink ball with just nine wickets falling, a dramatic penultimate day saw 16 tumble, with half of them snaffled by 30-year-old Bishoo’s leg breaks. l

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL TEN 1

12:40AM UEFA Champions League Sporting CP v Dortmund

TEN 2 7:30PM UEFA Youth League 2016/17 Leverkusen v Tottenham 12:45AM Leverkusen v Tottenham

TEN 3 12:45PM UEFA Champions League Lyon v Juventus

STAR SPORTS 1 7:20PM Indian Super League 2016 Delhi v Mumbai

STAR SPORTS 4 08:35PM AFC Champions League El Jaish v Al Ain

KABADDI STAR SPORTS 2 Kabaddi World Cup 2016 8:20PM USA v Kenya 9:40PM India v England

Sport

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

Real Madrid aim for goal fest as Leicester look to stay perfect n AFP, Paris

AFP Sports looks ahead to today’s Champions League action as champions Real Madrid go on the goal trail against minnows Legia Warsaw.

after losing 3-1 at Toulouse on Friday night, while the leaders beat Lyon 2-0. CSKA are bottom of the group and need a win, while one suspects pool leaders Monaco would be happy to go home with a point.

Group E Bayer Leverkusen (GER) v Tottenham (ENG)

Group F Real Madrid (ESP) v Legia Warsaw (POL)

Tottenham’s surprise home defeat to Monaco on the opening day has put a spanner in the works in this group, putting both the English side and Leverkusen under pressure coming into their home-and-away series. Spurs bounced back with a win in Moscow over CSKA and are the only remaining unbeaten side in the Premier League. Leverkusen, on the other hand, have had a difficult start to the Bundesliga season and sit in the bottom half. They also drew their first two pool matches. Before the season began, these two would have been considered the group favourites but neither can afford to fail to pick up at least a win in these back-to-back encounters or they risk leaving themselves with too much to do in the final two fixtures.

CSKA (RUS) v Monaco (FRA)

Monaco will seek to build on their opening 2-1 victory over Tottenham when they travel to Moscow to tackle CSKA, who sit third in the Russian Premier League after a 1-0 win over Ufa at the weekend. Monaco dropped to third in Ligue 1, falling four points behind Nice

Given Legia, the first Polish qualifiers to this stage in 20 years, have already conceded eight goals in their first two group games, anything other than a Real avalanche would be a surprise. Madrid warmed up for this match with a 6-1 thumping of Real Betis, who are probably a better side than Warsaw. Real coach Zinedine Zidane praised his side for playing with “intensity” on Saturday and a similar display would likely blow away a Legia side that was thumped 6-0 at home to Dortmund.

Sporting (POR) v Borussia Dortmund (GER)

In what could likely develop into a battle for second place behind Real, this match takes on crucial importance. Sporting came close to a stunning upset on the opening weekend, leading 1-0 at Real until late. They lost but will have been buoyed by that performance and a win at home to Dortmund would foster the belief that they have the ability to get through this toughest of groups. Borussia, though, have been regular fixtures in the knockout stages in recent years. They’ve

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo smiles during a training session yesterday been banging in the goals for fun this season, too, behind only Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on that count. They were unlucky to only draw at home to Hertha at the weekend, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a penalty and hit the bar before notching a late equaliser. If luck doesn’t desert the Gabon striker in Lisbon, it could be a difficult night for Sporting.

Group G Club Brugge (BEL) v Porto (POR)

Pointless and goalless Brugge host Porto with both sides targeting a first win to keep tabs on Group G’s pacesetters. The pair last met in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup, Porto prevailing 5-3 on aggregate. Belgian champions Brugge suffered heavy losses to Leicester and Copenhagen, but have a good home record against Portuguese sides. Brugge coach Michel Preud’homme has valuable insight into the Portuguese football mentality as a former Benfica player. Porto welcome back Jesus Corona, recovered from a thigh problem and among the scorers in their Portuguese Cup win at the weekend. Brugge line up after a league loss to Charleroi last Friday.

Leicester (ENG) v Copenhagen (DEN)

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel during training yesterday

REUTERS

Leicester’s season is developing a Jekyll and Hyde quality to it struggling to defend their shock Premier League crown but flying high in Europe. Claudio Ranieri’s men host Copenhagen top of the group with a perfect six points, a far cry from their domestic form, their four defeats already one more than they suffered over the whole of last season. Their Danish guests are placed second, two points adrift, so a third straight win for the Foxes would bring a ticket to the knockout stage in their first ever Champions League campaign significantly closer. Leicester will have to bounce back from a 3-0 loss

REUTERS

to Chelsea at the weekend. Ranieri rested last season’s player of the year Riyad Mahrez, one of three key players, for today.

Group H Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Sevilla (ESP)

Dinamo took decisive action after 3-0 and 4-0 losses to Lyon and Juventus, with former Bulgaria coach Ivaylo Petev replacing Zlatko Kranjcar as manager. In three-time Europa Cup winners Sevilla they face no easy task, the Spaniards having drawn 0-0 with Juventus and beaten Lyon 1-0 to sit level on points at the top of the table. Sevilla are also sitting pretty in La Liga, one point off the summit after a win at Leganes on Saturday, their first away league win since the final day of the 2014/15 campaign.

Lyon (FRA) v Juventus (ITA)

Juventus are setting the pace in the Serie A title race, their 2-1 win - Paulo Dybala scoring both goals over Udinese on Saturday placing them five points clear of Roma. Coach Massimiliano Allegri, who guided Juve to the 2015 final, cut a frustrated figure the last time out after a goalless draw with Sevilla as he tries to plot his team’s path to a first Champions League crown in 20 years. Juve followed that draw with an emphatic 4-0 win at Dinamo to lead the table. The teams’ last encounter came in the 2013/14 Europea League quarter-final, the Italians winning both legs. l

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Pour off, as wine (6) 5 Male swan (3) 7 Fuss (3) 8 Bird (6) 11 Of high temperature (3) 12 Letting contract (5) 14 Table-shaped hill (4) 16 Concise (5) 18 Select group (5) 20 Turn away (4) 21 Permission (5) 23 Neckwear (3) 24 Long angry speech (6) 27 Undermine (3) 28 Groove (3) 29 Waver in action (6)

DOWN 1 Small spot (3) 2 Vehicle (3) 3 Flatter servilely (7) 4 Snout (4) 5 Stick together (6) 6 Acrimonious (6) 9 Part of a shoe (4) 10 Headwear (3) 13 Sundry (7) 14 Wise counsellor (6) 15 Mute (6) 17 Transmit (4) 19 Consume (3) 22 Passport endorsement (4) 25 Liable (3) 26 Do wrong (3)

Downtime

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 19 represents N so fill N 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

SATURDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

Showtime

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

You know Bob Dylan,

but do you know Lalon Fokir? Bob Dylan may have won the literature Nobel, but let’s not forget the great Bengali poet and performer who inspired countless others

n Devdan Chaudhuri The literary community is justifiably divided about Bob Dylan winning the 2016 Nobel Prize of Literature for ‘having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.’ We’ve all read many articles expressing diverse opinions on the matter on the screens of our smart-phones and other gadgets at this point. Such are our times – so radically different from the past – that our digital engagement has become an indispensable aspect of our modern lives. So it’s unsurprising that the sentiment of ‘times they

are a changing’ has possessed our minds. By awarding Dylan the prize, the Nobel Committee has not only raised the question of ‘what is literature’ but also expanded the meaning and relevance of the word. Many are sceptical about this expansion and have wondered whether screen-plays, stand-up comedy and even tweets can be considered literary. It has also left me wondering if the ‘performance’ aspect of an artist’s work has also become a factor for judging literary work in? Literary festivals are also performances – conversations held in public for the benefit of an audience. Shy authors who dislike public engagements are already on the decline. Most authors have to prepare how they will speak and how they will smile or frown in front of their mirrors before they head out to ‘perform’ at a literary panel. What will be said – the actual words – need to correspond with body language,

gestures, dress code, tone, manner of speech and so on. The auditory and the visual aspects are as important as the words – image making is important, sometimes more so than the art. Those who love solitude –the essential infrastructure for art – need to become performance artists for the public. Only those who have experienced being in that position can tell you about the terrors and the nervousness they experience and the strange sensations in the pits of their stomachs. So in our world, stage performances and managing public perceptions has become so

Ghosh, I noticed that people were queuing up – not to get the book signed – but to take a selfie with the author. The photo with Ghosh –immediately posted on social media even as the selfie taker stumbled down the steps of the dais – matters more than Ghosh’s forceful and urgent prose about climate change. So everyone wants to create an image of themselves. In such a climate, perception and performances along with entertainment value are dominating over actual ideas, actions and their consequences. Politicians know this better than anyone else, since they go to great

A Strange Bird Lalon Fakir

Look, how a strange bird flits in and out of the cage! O brother, I wish I could bind it with my mind’s fetters. Have you seen a house of eight rooms with nine doors Closed and open, with windows in between, mirrored? O mind, you are a bird encaged! And of green sticks Is your cage made, but it will be broken one day. Lalon says: Open the cage, look how the bird wings away! Translated by Azfar Hussain – from Reading About the World

crucial that everyone from authors to terrorist organisations hire PR firms now. PR can get you further than mere art can. Virtual reality – the internet – is as important as the physical reality of our world.

Placing a premium on performance

At an event which featured Amitav

lengths to create and maintain specific public perceptions. Asking uncomfortable questions is discouraged and punished, covertly as well as openly. Recently it has become increasingly difficult to express oneself, even in democratic societies which supposedly value freedom of expression. Those who don’t perform to the tune of the

official narrative are called ‘antinationals’, ‘intellectual terrorists’ and ‘conspiracy theorists’. So whether one likes it or not, taking an artist’s performative ability into account while choosing the literature Nobel’s winner is simply a sign of our times. But I welcome the decision since it has prompted us to think about literature and the world we inhabit. Poetic expressions in folk songs constitute the origins of literature as we now understand it– it is a radical idea to merge ancient oral tradition, 1960s and 70s history and our societal focus on the performative with the idea of literature. Saying the above, I would also hope that this decision is not just an exception in the Nobel tradition but a step towards a new normal. Gamblers at Ladbrokes might take bets against Leonard Cohen and Gulzar from next year onwards. But I hope that we return to the authors, poets, playwrights and even philosophers, for a time period, before it becomes necessary to pose new questions to society.

Lalon Fakir

Robert Zimmerman, better known to us as Bob Dylan – who has taken his surname from the poet Dylan Thomas – had a long association with the mystical folk tradition of the Bauls of Bengal. Purna Das Baul and Luxman Das Baul feature on the cover of Dylan’s album ‘John Wesley Harding.’ Dylan also turned up in Calcutta to attend the wedding of Purna’s son. The tradition of poetic expressions through folk songs is the tradition of the Bauls of Bengal. The stalwart in this tradition is undoubtedly Lalon Fakir, who was also a part of

the nineteenth century Bengal Renaissance, when modernity and new ideas were entering Bengali society. Lalon was born in Kushtia village (now in Bangladesh); he had no formal education and lived a long life of poverty. Lalon composed songs of mystical, social and political content which he sung to the poor peasants of the land. As his reputation grew, Lalon inspired many poets, including Rabindranath Tagore and Allen Ginsberg. He was a mystic, song writer, singer, social reformer and thinker. But his source of inspiration was the life he lived not philosophy or literary books. It is estimated that Lalon composed many songs – somewhere between 2000 to 8000 – but left no written record of the compositions. They were mainly orally transmitted to his rural followers, who were illiterate and could not transcribe the works. Tagore published some of Lalon’s poetic expressions/ folk songs in Calcutta’s monthly Prabasi magazine. But in the today’s world, the internet is helping inspire public interest in Lalon. There are sites dedicated to his work where one can read Lalon’s astonishingly complex mystical poetry/lyrics in Bengali and even hear his songs, sung by others on YouTube. There has also been a surge in academic interest in Lalon. Scholars from foreign universities are writing various papers about his surviving works which have been translated into English. l

Devdan Chaudhuri is the author of Anatomy of Life. This article first appeared in The Wire

The 23rd Women Make Waves Film Festival to open with Under Construction

nShowtime Desk The Taichung edition of the 23rd Women Make Waves Film Festival will open with Rubaiyat Hossain’s Under Construction. WMW Film Festival is one of the world’s largest women film festivals which takes place in two different cities of Taiwan, Taipei and Taichung. The Taipei edition of the festival opened back on October 10 in

Taipei while the Taichung edition will be opening on October 20. There will be a total of three screenings of Under Construction in both cities. Under Construction has recently bagged a few awards including the Best Emerging Director Award at New York Asian American Film Festival, the Best Film Award at Islantilla Cineforum Film Festival in Spain, the Best Film

at Fusagasuga International Film Festival in Colombia and as well as the Best Film and one million Chilean peso cash Award at the Festival Internacional de Cine Rengo in Chile. Under Construction will also compete in the main competition of the South Asian Film festival (FFAST) taking place from October 19 to 25 at Reflet Médicis Cinéma in Paris. One of the jury members of the festival this year is Parisbased eminent Bangladeshi artist Shahabuddin Ahmed who was named Chevalier of Arts and Letters, an order of merit awarded by the French minister of culture. FFAST, the only south asian film festival in France focuses on one South Asian country each year and this year’s focus is on Bangladesh for which, the festival showcased a selection of contemporary Bangladeshi cinema which includes the likes of Tareque Masud’s Matir Moyna, Rubaiyat Hossain’s Meherjaan, Mostafa Sarwar Farooki’s Television and Abu Shahed Emon’s Jalaler Golpo. Filmmakers Mostfa Sarwar Farooki and Rubaiyat Hossain have been invited to attend the festival as special guests. l

Showtime

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

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The Mask HBO 9:30pm Bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic superhero when he wears a mysterious mask. Cast: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Riegert l

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

KERANIGANJ APPAREL BUSINESS NOSEDIVES PAGE 13

IS BANGLADESH READY TO RETURN TO TESTS? PAGE 24

DO YOU KNOW LALON FOKIR?

PAGE 30

Corrupt officials Sheikh Russel’s 52nd birthday today stall pre-paid n electricity meter project Tribune Report

n Aminur Rahman Rasel The project of replacing all household electricity meters with the pre-paid ones began more than a decade ago but has made very little progress, even though the government plans on having the project completed by 2021. Out of 22 million subscribers only 100,000 have been provided with the meters in the last 12 years. There are a number of reasons that are slowing down the implementation, including technical difficulties, lack of skilled manpower, corrupt government officials, and the fear among low level power sector employees that many of their jobs will vanish with the change.

Installing the meters under the unified system also has its own complexities, because of varied recharging systems and consumer classes An official of the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, asking not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune that a group of corrupt officials of the electricity distribution companies deliberately had been stalling the project by pressuring their bosses, because the existing system is more conducive to their illegal money making racket. He added that there was also not enough competent and skilled manpower to implement the project on time. The plan stipulates that between 2016 and 2021 prepaid meters will be given to 4.5 million subscribers of the Power Development Board (PDB), 11million of the Rural Electrification Board (REB),

2.85 million of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), 1.35 million of Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco), and 1.3 million of West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDCL). As per the contract, PDB was supposed to buy 5,000 meters; DPDC 10,000; Desco 10,000; WZPDCL 5,000; and REB 5,000 from Ideal Enterprise. The contract was to complete that phase of the project in nine months since the signing of the deal on July 14, 2011. Later, the implementation time was extended five times. Finally the deadline was fixed at June 30, 2015. During this period, Ideal Enterprise supplied 19,250 meters but installed only 10,705. Later some more were installed bringing the current total to 18,705. And Ideal Enterprise asked for yet another extension of the deadline till the end of December this year, and PDB approved. Power Division Secretary Monowar Islam said the project was halted because of technical difficulties related to installation. He said the plan was that the distribution agencies would install their own prepaid meters but was later the decision was changed so a unified system could be used with all the contractors. The secretary said installing the meters under the unified system also has its own complexities, because of varied recharging systems and consumer classes. That is why a lot of time was needed to solve all the complexities and create a platform for a successful management system, he went on adding, the journey had already started and the companies were given a well-formulated plan, the development would be visible very soon. l

Today is the 52nd birthday anniversary of Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On October 18, 1964, Sheikh Russell also the younger brother of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was born at the historic at Bangabandhu’s Dhanmondi residence. Sheikh Russel was killed along with most of his family members, including his father, on August 15, 1975 when he was a student of class IV of University Laboratory School. Awami League, its associate bodies and socio-cultural organisations will arrange various programmes to observe the day. Dhaka North and South Awami League have organised a discussion programme at 10:30am at Priyanka Community Centre in Dhanmondi.

With a statement, Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam have requested the party leaders, activists, well-wishers and people from all

spheres of life to observe the birthday of Sheikh Russel in benefitting manner. In addition, all the associate bodies of Awami League were also requested to observe similar programmes across the country. To mark the day, Bangabandhu Shishu Kishore Mela have organised a discussion programme at 10:30am at Jatiyo Protibondhi Unnayan Foundation in Mirpur, Dhaka. Nuruzzaman Ahmed, state minister for Social Welfare Ministry will attend the programme as chief guest. Meanwhile, Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra is organising a four-day long ‘Sheikh Russel School Table Tennis Tournament’, in association with Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation. With the theme, “Sports for Every Child”, the tournament will continue at Shahid Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium in Dhaka till October 21. l

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