e_Paper, Tuesday, October 18, 2016

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
strength
• Mohammad Jamil Khan
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
WB: Bangladesh still has much to
do to beat extreme poverty
• 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
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
• Arifur Rahman Rabbi and
Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
INSIDE
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 alias
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 10-
day remand prayer.
The judge granted the police
three days to interrogate him.
No lawyer represented Nabi
during the remand hearing.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 1
PM expects WB’s
stronger role in BD’s
development efforts
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
Two from DMCH
ambulance syndicate
sent to jail
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

2
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
News
Bangladesh to get additional $1bn WB fund for childcare
• Asif Showkat Kallol
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
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 Ministry
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.
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
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
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 responsibility
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
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
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.
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
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
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. •
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 Nazimuddin
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 followed
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 Tonoy,
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. •
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. •
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 employed
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. •

News 3
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
PM expects WB’s stronger role in
Bangladesh’s development efforts
• UNB
Militants to wives: Choose your partner for cause of Jihad
• Mohammad Jamil Khan and
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
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
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.
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 harmony,”
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 development
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
“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.
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.•
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
Quader: Strong
action against
extortion for
council
• Mohammad Abu Bakar
Siddique
DT
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.
•
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. •

4
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
News
TARIQUE’S MONEY LAUNDERING CASE
High Court releases full verdict
• 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
BTRC asks
citizens to be
aware of fraud
calls or SMSs
• 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. •
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.
TI: We are not the enemy, corruption is
• 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.
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 accounts
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. •
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
• 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. •
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 remain
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.” •

News 5
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Anti-communal
veteran Ajoy Roy
passes away
• 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. •
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
• Muktasree Chakma and
Mohammad Jamil Khan
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
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.
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. •
Mobile court
sends two
from DMCH
ambulance
syndicate to jail
• Kamrul Hasan and Aminul
Islam Babu
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. •
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY
DRY WEATHER
LIKELY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
Dhaka 34 23 Chittagong 33 25 Rajshahi 33 21 Rangpur 33 20 Khulna 34 22 Barisal 33 23 Sylhet 34 20
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 5:29PM
SUN RISES 5:58AM
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW
36.2ºC
20.0ºC
Sylhet
Tetulia
Source: Accuweather/UNB
PRAYER
TIMES
Cox’s Bazar 32 25
Fajr: 5:25am | Zohr: 1:15pm
Asr: 4:15pm | Magrib: 5:41pm
Esha: 7:45pm
Source: Islamic Foundation

6
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
News
Market on railway land in Comilla
• Mohiuddin Molla, Comilla
Illegal structures on railway land at Daulatganj Railway Station in Laksham, 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 visited
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’
31 fishermen jailed for
catching Ilish
• 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
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. •
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 arrested
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. •
Traders tortured in Faridpur
• Md Wali Newaz,
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. •

News 7
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Launch passengers suffer on
Munshiganj-Narayanganj route
• 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
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 1000-
1200 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.” •
Farmers happy
over jute
production,
fair price
• 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. •
Accused of
journalist Osmani
murder held
• 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. •
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
• 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. •

DT
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
ASIA PACIFIC
Philippine leader open to war
games with China, Russia
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
MIDDLE EAST
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
Iraq launches Mosul offensive
• 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.
Kurdish fighters
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
BATTLE TO RETAKE MOSUL FROM IS BEGINS
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
Tal Afar
Source: Institute for the Study of War
Tigris
River
Mosul battle expected
to involve nearly 30,000
Iraqi and Kurdish troops,
supported by U.S.-led
coalition airstrikes
Baghdad
300km
200 miles
Mosul
Dam
Mosul
IRAQ
Iraqi government
Badush
NINEVEH
PROVINCE
Around 4,000 Kurdish Peshmerga
forces in tanks, heavily-armoured
Humvees and other troop carriers
advancing toward Bartella area
Tall
Kayf
Mosul
Hamma
al-Alil
Iraqi forces deploy in the area of al-Shourah as they advance towards the city to retake it from the IS on October 17
Qayyarah
Kurds
Bashiqa
Bartella
Zlican
Camp
Bakhdida
Nimrud
I R A Q
Qayyarah Air Base: Logistical base
and collecting point for Iraqi forces
Islamic State (IS)
Bashiqa
airfield
Makhmur
Kalak
20km
12 miles
© GRAPHIC NEWS
the plain east of Mosul from his position
on the heights of Mount Zertik.
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
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.
TIMELINE
AFP
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. •

World
Why it matters: Race and policing
21 DAYS REMAIN
• 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.
BRICS leaders vow to fight terrorism
• 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.
Protesters gather along Mollison Avenue to protest the fatal shooting of an
unarmed black man on Tuesday by officers in El Cajon, California
REUTERS
Where they stand
Hillary Clinton has been criticised
by activists for some of her positions-
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 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,
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
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,
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. •
Find more stories on US presidential
election at www.dhakatribune.com
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
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. •
9
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
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
UK
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
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

10
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
World
OPINION
Leaks not always good for politics or journalism
• 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
VATILEAKS
MAY
JAN
May 25: Pope’s butler
Paulo Gabrielle (above)
charged with stealing
confidential papal documents
Pictures: Associated Press
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
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
FEB
APR
MAR
February: Leaked
internal Vatican
memo openly
speculates on who
next pope should
be – suggests he
should be Italian.
Leaks seen as part
of campaign against pope’s
right-hand man, Secretary
of State Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone (above)
April 24: Pope appoints
special commission of
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
gaffes that have
plagued papacy
May 24: Ettore Gotti
Tedeschi (left), head of
Vatican bank – Institute for
Religious Works – resigns
after vote of no confidence.
Gotti Tedeschi was placed
under investigation in 2010
following €23 million
money-laundering probe
© GRAPHIC NEWS
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
PANAMA PAPERS BY THE NUMBERS
Sources: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
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
1. Mossack Fonseca: Panamanian
law firm which sells anonymous offshore
companies around world
2. 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
214,488 Number of offshore companies, trusts, and foundations
incorporated by Mossack Fonseca over past 40 years
3. Nominee
service: Fake director
appointed so owner’s
name does not appear
in paperwork
4. Shell company: Appears
to be legitimate business
but secrecy enables owner
to cover up origin of money
and avoid paying tax
5. 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
12
Number of national leaders
among 143 politicians, their
families and associates,
revealed to have used
offshore tax havens
6. 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
© GRAPHIC NEWS
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 preference
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. •
John Lloyd co-founded the Reuters
Institute for the Study of Journalism at
the University of Oxford. The opinions
expressed here are his own.

Advertisement
11
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Dhaka Tribune

DT
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
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% ▼
CSE
All Share Index 14,391.7 -0.7% ▼
30 Index 12,959.5 -0.9% ▼
Selected Index 8,757.5 -0.7% ▼
Turnover in Mn Tk 286.9 -8.1% ▼
Turnover in Mn Vol 11.3 -12.3% ▼
Finance Minister AMA Muhith addresses the media after a meeting with the visiting World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in the capital yesterday
WB hints at bigger project finances
beyond Padma Bridge
• 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 important
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.” •
Adaptive policy suggested to end extreme poverty
• 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 Parliament,
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
DHAKA TRIBUNE
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. •

Business 13
DT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
Keraniganj apparel business nosedives
• 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
Stocks edge lower
• 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
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
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. •
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 Mojibur
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
Shafiqur becomes
BAR-BD chairman
• 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. •
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 middle-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 ul-
Fitr 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.” •
Walton develops new
model of LED TV
• 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. •

14
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Business
The dismal art of forecasting sterling
• 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
A bank employee counts pound notes at Kasikornbank in Bangkok
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
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
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
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.
Why forecast at all?
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.
Don’t markets offer some clues?
Derivatives prices can be a useful
guide to future market conditions.
CORPORATE NEWS
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.
Ok. So in sum, the pound will go…
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. •
Swaha Pattanaik is a columnist for
Reuters Breakingviews. The article was
initially published at Reuters.
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

Business 15
DT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
China’s risk clamp
down hits commodity
trades, niche broker
business
• 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 leverage,
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. •

16
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Tech
The substitutes
RIP Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Onto a suitable replacement
• 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
LG V20
Now, here’s a device that was
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
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 battery •
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 12.3-
inch 2400x1600 resolution touch
• 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). •

ZuumZuum:
Feature
17
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
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.
• 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
Road to success
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. •
Article reprinted under
special arrangement with
SDAsia.com

18
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Biz info
| 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,
| ranking |
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,
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
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
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. •
Huawei jumps to 72 on Interbrand’s Best Global
Brands Report
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. •
| meeting |
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
| 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
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. •
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. •

Auto Connect
19
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
The 5er
with a
new look
The all new 2017
BMW 5 Series with is
refreshingly revolting
• 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
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.•
RAV4 goes Rallying
• 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
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. •

DT
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
Wake up to climate change
BIGSTOCK
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
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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.
In 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

From the vacuum
The next Donald Trump might be less of a buffoon than this one
Opinion 21
DT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
THE
WORLD IN
PARENTHESES
• SN Rasul
Too 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
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 anti-
Islamic, 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.
REUTERS
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. •
SN Rasul is a Sub-Editor at the Dhaka
Tribune. Follow him @snrasul.

22
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Interview
‘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
Improved relations with China don’t mean India will be forgotten
• 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,
cotton, now coming from India.
Our relationship is good and will
continue to grow.
PID
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
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
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 BRICS-
BIMSTEC 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. •
Suhasini Haidar is Deputy Resident
Editor & Diplomatic Affairs Editor,
The Hindu. This interview previously
appeared on The Hindu.

Setting a global standard
in ending poverty
Opinion 23
The World Bank will work closely with Bangladesh every step of the way
DT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
Can we bridge the gap?
The image of Bangladesh as a country with endemic poverty could
soon change as Bangladesh finds new pathways to sustainable and
equitable growth
• Qimiao Fan
There 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
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
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. •
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.

DT
24
Sport
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
TOP STORIES
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
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
Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman does catching practice during training in Chittagong yesterday
Is Bangladesh ready to
return to Tests?
• Mazhar Uddin from
Chittagong
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. •
Sabbir, limitedover
specialist
to Test
certainty
• Mazhar Uddin from
Chittagong
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. •

Bangladesh
thrash Aussies
• 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. •
BRIEF SCORE
BCB XI 294 (Mazid 106, Shanto 72,
Ansari 4/68) v ENGLAND 256 (Duckett
60, Hameed 57, Tanveer 4/53)
Match drawn
Sport 25
BCB XI wicket-keeper Nurul Hasan celebrates the dismissal of England’s Joe Root during their two-day warm-up game in Chittagong yesterday
Warm-ups done as first Test looms on the horizon
DT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
MI MANIK
• Mazhar Uddin from
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
Action from the 2016 Bangladesh Swimmers Hunt
ISPR
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 Subashish
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. •
Hockey team to train in Germany
• Tribune Report
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. •

26
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Sport
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
AC Milan’s Carlos Bacca (L) in action against Jonathan de Guzman of Chievo Verona
at Bentegodi Stadium, Verona on Sunday
REUTERS
• Reuters, Rome
SERIE A
Fiorentina 0-0 Atalanta
Genoa 0-0 Empoli
Inter Milan 1-2 Cagliari
Mario 56 Melchiorri 71, Handanovic 85-og
Lazio 1-1 Bologna
Immobile 90+7-P Helander 10
Sassuolo 2-1 Crotone
Sensi 83, Iemmello 86 Falcinelli 2
Chievo 1-3 AC Milan
Birsa 76 Kucka 45, Niang 46, Bacca 90+4
POINTS TABLE
Team P W D L GD Pts
Juventus 8 7 0 1 10 21
Roma 8 5 1 2 9 16
AC Milan 8 5 1 2 4 16
Napoli 8 4 2 2 6 14
Lazio 8 4 2 2 5 14
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 Argentine’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 international
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. •
Prandelli gets winning
start with Valencia
• Reuters, Barcelona
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 Rosales 85
Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Real Sociedad
Muniain 51, Aduriz 60, Zurutuza 17,
Williams 72 Martinez 83
Sporting Gijon 1-2 Valencia
Castro 40 Mario Suarez 7, 65
Villarreal 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.•
Dominika Cibulkova celebrates after winning the final against Viktorija Golubic
(unseen) at the WTA Ladies Tennis Tournament in Linz, Austria on Sunday AFP

Sport 27
DT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
Bishoo gives WI faint
hope in day-night Test
• 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 success
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. •
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

DT
28
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
Sport
Real Madrid aim for goal fest as
Leicester look to stay perfect
• 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)
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
Group F
Real Madrid (ESP) v Legia Warsaw
(POL)
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
Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel during training yesterday
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.
REUTERS
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’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. •

Downtime
29
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
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)
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

30
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
Showtime
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
• 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
A Strange Bird
Lalon Fakir
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
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
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
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. •
Devdan Chaudhuri is the
author of Anatomy of Life.
This article first appeared in
The Wire

• Showtime 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
Showtime
The 23rd Women Make Waves
Film Festival to open with Under
Construction
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. •
Spy
Star Movies 6:45pm
A desk-bound CIA analyst
volunteers to go undercover to
infiltrate the world of a deadly
arms dealer, and prevent
diabolical global disaster.
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Rose
Byrne, Jude Law
Warrior
WB 9:00pm
The youngest son of an
alcoholic former boxer returns
home, where he’s trained by
his father for competition in a
mixed martial arts tournament
- a path that puts the fighter
on a collision course with his
estranged, older brother.
Cast: Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte,
Joel Edgerton
WHAT TO WATCH
31
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
The Incredibles
Zee Studio 9:30pm
A family of undercover
superheroes, while trying to
live the quiet suburban life, are
forced into action to save the
world.
Cast: Craig T Nelson, Samuel L
Jackson, Holly Hunter
Godzilla
Movies Now 9:30pm
The world is beset by the
appearance of monstrous
creatures, but one of them may
be the only one who can save
humanity.
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson,
Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan
Cranston
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 •
DT

32
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
DT
KERANIGANJ APPAREL
BUSINESS NOSEDIVES PAGE 13
Back Page
IS BANGLADESH READY TO
RETURN TO TESTS? PAGE 24
DO YOU KNOW
LALON FOKIR? PAGE 30
Corrupt officials
stall pre-paid
electricity
meter project
• 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. •
Sheikh Russel’s 52nd birthday today
• Tribune Report
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. •
Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower,
8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com