ePaper_2nd Edition_November 16, 2016

SECOND EDITION 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016 | Agrahayan 2, 1423, Safar 15, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 199 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10 

Ban hopeful despite Trump’s shadow › 5 

‘Election will be held as 

per the constitution’ 

› 2 

Locals dominate first phase › 24 

Editorial | Young entrepreneurs 

are the future › 20 

NEWS ANALYSIS 

Is he a war 

criminal? 

› 3 

65-year-old now PSC candidate › 6 

17-19 

NOVEMBER 

2016 

BANGLA ACADEMY 

Shot by police, two Santals in jail › 32

2 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016 

DT 

News 

‘Election will be held as per the constitution’ 

• Abu Hayat Mahmud and 

Mohammad Abu Bakar 

Siddique 

The Awami League is gearing up 

for the 11th parliamentary election 

scheduled to take place in 2019, 

and several party leaders said they 

were working to hold an all-inclusive, 

fair and free election. 

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune 

recently, a number of senior leaders 

of the ruling party said party 

chief and Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina had instructed all activists 

to start preparing for the polls. 

Asked about how they aimed at 

holding an all-inclusive elections – 

i.e. getting the BNP to participate 

in the elections as the party, along 

with its alliance, boycotted the last 

national polls, terming it “a farce 

election” – the leaders said they 

were still working on this issue. 

Sources said Sheikh Hasina, 

during a meeting of the party’s 

newly elected central working 

committee and advisory council 

on Wednesday, told the party leaders 

and activists to start preparing 

for the election right away, as not 

much time is left. 

“The next national election will 

be held in 2019 and I do not want 

it to be controversial,” the Awami 

League president was quoted as 

saying. 

Asked about the BNP’s demand 

for the polls to be held under a 

caretaker government, the Awami 

League leaders unanimously said 

the polls would take place within 

the provisions of the constitution. 

“The Awami League has always 

believed in holding the general 

polls in accordance with the constitution. 

If anyone thinks that the 

constitution can be bypassed, they 

are living in a fool’s paradise,” said 

Awami League Presidium Member 

Lt Col (retd) Muhammad Faruk 

Khan. 

He further said the BNP and 

Jamaat-e-Islami made a great mistake 

when they boycotted the 10th 

national elections in 2014. “They 

are still suffering the consequences 

of that mistake. I hope they have 

learned their lesson.” 

The former commerce minister 

also dismissed the possibilities 

amendment to the current laws, 

saying the High Court has already 

resolved the issue of the caretaker 

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU 

government. 

“The government will try to 

ensure the BNP’s participation in 

the 2019 election. If they have any 

suggestions regarding the election 

in line with the constitution, the 

government will open to them,” he 

added. 

Awami League Presidium Member 

Mohammed Nasim said the 

2019 election is a big challenge for 

the Awami League. “It is a ‘do or 

die’ situation. The Awami League 

has to win the election with people’s 

support,” he said. 

Mahbubul Alam Hanif, joint 

general secretary of the Awami 

League, said all the elections, including 

the 2014 general polls, 

have been held free and fair under 

the Awami League government. 

Asked whether BNP would 

change its stance in this regard, he 

said: “BNP is a political party, and 

the party leaders make their own 

decisions. It is up to them whether 

they would make the same mistake. 

“But as we believe in democracy, 

we will try to ensure the participation 

of all democratic political 

parties in the 11th parliamentary 

election.” 

Hanif also categorically ruled 

out the possibility of an election 

ahead of schedule. 

Another presidium member, 

Abdur Razzak, said the government 

was sincere about holding a 

widely accepted election. “But it 

often becomes difficult as not all 

parties involved are equally amicable 

about reaching a consensus 

in the matters of national interest.” 

Earlier, the newly elected Awami 

League General Secretary Obaidul 

Quader said there were no scopes 

for a dialogue between the government 

and the BNP over the elections 

as the party itself had shunned 

all opportunities of a dialogue. • 

BNP eyes next polls sans 

Hasina in power 

• Manik Miazee 

Several central leaders of the 

BNP, who wish to take part 

in the next general elections, 

have acknowledged that boycotting 

the January 5 polls in 

2014 was a wrong decision. 

Dhaka Tribune interviewed 

several central and grassroots-level 

leaders of the BNP 

to learn about their thoughts 

about the next elections, the 

Election Commission and the 

interim government. 

Most of the central leaders 

said that they would not accept 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 

as the chief of the interim government 

overseeing the 2019 

polls, and that the BNP would 

be wrong if they do not take a 

stand against the government. 

BNP Chairperson Khaleda 

Zia is set to propose a formula 

on November 18 about the reconstitution 

of the EC and the 

interim government. 

“The election must happen, 

as there are no other alternatives. 

We have been talking 

about the issues for a while, but 

the government is not paying a 

heed,” Secretary General Mirza 

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said. 

“Firstly, the election will 

have to be 100% fair, and secondly, 

it must be impartial and 

unquestionable,” he said. 

Replying to a query, Fakhrul 

said: “It is the responsibility of 

the government to ensure a 

free and fair election, and it is 

impossible under Sheikh Hasina 

or the Awami League.” 

As par the 2011 constitutional 

amendments, now the polls 

are to be held under the incumbent 

government. The BNP-led 

20-party alliance boycotted the 

2014 polls. 

“We do not know whether 

the constitution will be amended 

or not,” Fakhrul said, about 

holding the election under a 

non-partisan government. 

About Khaleda’s proposals, 

he said: “We cannot say 

whether the government will 

accept it or not. We expect 

good sense to prevail. The nation 

does not want to see an 

election like the last one.” 

Senior Joint Secretary 

General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi deplored 

that the government 

had rejected several times the 

BNP’s proposals to form search 

committees taking opinion of 

all political parties to reconstitute 

the EC. 

Rizvi and Standing Committee 

member Nazrul Islam Khan 

echoed Fakhrul to demand 

that the polls be held under 

a non-partisan government. 

Nazrul, however, appreciated 

the government’s statement 

that they want to hold a fair 

election. •

Is he a war criminal? 

News 3 


DT 

NEWS 

ANALYSIS 

• Tanim Ahmed 

The whispers as well as the question 

had always been there when 

Jamaat-e-Islami announced a new 

chief. 

Even as the new Ameer-e-Jamaat 

made the right noises, remembering 

the Liberation War, 

the sacrifices of freedom fighters 

and the role of Sheikh Mujib as its 

chief architect, people wondered if 

Jamaat had finally purged itself of 

tainted leadership. 

But at the same time there were 

whispers that it had not. The proverbial 

fingers remained pointed at 

him. 

Although Jamaat never admits 

to wrongdoing during 1971, whether 

as an organisation or in case of 

its individual members, it is quite 

widely accepted that the party 

must purge itself of tainted leadership 

to even stand a remote chance 

of survival. 

There were reports in the media 

accusing the new Jamaat chief of 

being tainted as well, soon after the 

announcement. Presumably that is 

what interested the war crimes investigators. 

They held a press conference 

on Monday (Nov 14) saying 

they were convinced about the 

new Jamaat chief’s involvement in 

war crimes but it was obvious they 

had no concrete evidence in hand. 

Jamaat broke its silence on the 

allegations within hours of the lead 

war crimes investigator briefing 

the press. 

A rough translation of a part of 

its release would read something 

like, “Maqbul Ahmed was a teacher 

at a famous high school in Feni in 

1971. Let alone being a Razakar or 

Razakar commander or an organiser 

of the Peace Committee, he 

was not even a member. Therefore 

It is quite widely 

accepted that the 

party must purge 

itself of tainted 

leadership to even 

stand a remote 

chance of survival 

there is no question of having primary 

evidence of his involvement 

in crimes against humanity during 

the Liberation War.” 

The release quoted one of Jamaat’s 

deputy chiefs (Nayeb-e- 

Ameer) Mujibur Rahman, a former 

MP. 

There are two issues that this 

denial raises. Firstly, Jamaat is 

vouching for who were or were not 

members of two infamous organisations 

that collaborated with the 

Pakistan Army during the ninemonth 

Liberation War. These two 

collaborators’ groups, along with 

other vigilante militiamen of the 

Al-Badr and Al-Shams, are held 

responsible for carrying out brutal 

and widespread violence against 

civilians that amounted to war 

crimes. 

While these were mostly 

manned by leaders of Jamaat and 

its student wing, Jamaat has always 

denied any links with them. 

However, this particular press release 

vouching that Maqbul Ahmed 

was not a member raises questions 

about Jamaat’s links with these infamous 

vigilantes. 

Further, Jamaat has not volunteered 

any further whereabouts of 

its new chief or even provided a detailed 

bio of his accomplishments. 

Neither the Jamaat website, nor the 

Jamaat-leaning news outlets, including 

its mouthpiece Sangram, has 

published anything about the new 

chief’s background or his previously 

held positions within the party. 

Given that Jamaat-e-Islami had 

extended its full cooperation to the 

Pakistani Army, a significant position 

within Jamaat would suffice to 

have sufficient sway over the vigilantes 

as well as the Pakistan Army 

to take action against marked men 

who supported an independent 

Bangladesh. Not uncharacteristically, 

Jamaat has left it up to the 

investigators to find out the details 

and link its new chief with the alleged 

war crimes. 

Now it will be up to the investigators 

to prove their allegations 

and bring the new chief to trial or 

clear him. • 

Islamabad to ask Dhaka for $88m 

• Tribune Desk 

Islamabad has begun the 

process of asking Dhaka for 

around $87.9m that it says is 

the outstanding dues Bangladesh 

owes Pakistan. 

According to a Pakistan 

Express Tribune report, Pakistan's 

central bank has written 

to Pakistani commercial banks 

and development finance institutions, 

asking for details 

of assets and other dues receivable 

from Bangladesh and 

India. 

No Bangladesh government 

officials have yet commented 

on the matter. 

The State Bank of Pakistan 

(SBP) circular says the receivables 

and assets include land, 

buildings, furniture and fixtures, 

office equipment and 

vehicles, government securities, 

papers, loans, advances 

and investments. 

According to SBP figures, 

the value of assets in Bangladesh’s 

possession is more 

than 9.21bn Pakistani Rupees, 

approximately $88m, at the 

end of June 2016. India is estimated 

to owe 6bn Pakistani 

Rupees, roughly $57m. 

Pakistani Banks and financial 

institutions were also 

asked to provide details of any 

write-offs they made in respect 

of assets or dues. 

The Express Tribune report, 

quoting SBP figures that 

Bangladesh as the then East 

Pakistan owed Pakistan's federal 

exchequer, said the money 

in question included transactions 

between government 

offices, loans, advances and 

papers. 

Details from banks and financial 

institutions that will 

be provided to the SBP are expected 

to increase the estimated 

outstanding dues. 

Pakistan says India has 

been Pakistan’s debtor since 

the time of partition. These 

debts include gold reserves, 

sterling securities, Indian securities, 

rupee coins and Pakistan’s 

share in the Indian currency 

at the time of partition. 

Md Shahidul Haque, secretary 

of Foreign Affairs Ministry, 

declined to comment on 

the matter when contacted by 

the Dhaka Tribune. 

The issue came to the fore 

at a time when a serious discussion 

kick started in Bangladesh 

public sphere regarding 

what Bangladesh is supposed 

to receive from Pakistan as 

pre-Liberation War dues. 

In 2015, Bangladesh Foreign 

Minister AH Mahmood 

Ali told the Jatiya Sangsad 

(Bangladesh Parliament) that 

Pakistan owes Tk18,000 crore 

(approx $2.3bn), which includes 

$2.16bn – half of the 

wartime reserve of undivided 

Pakistan – and $200m as the 

1970 cyclone relief donated by 

foreign governments. 

He also said these financial 

issues had been raised in all bilateral 

talks since 1977 but the 

Pakistan representatives are 

yet to respond on the matter. • 

Rape suspect Rubel rearrested 

• Md Sanaul Islam Tipu 

and Kamrul Hasan 

Police yesterday morning rearrested 

the suspect who raped a 

Garo woman after he escaped 

from custody at a Dhaka court 

on Sunday. 

Police said the incident was 

a result of negligence on the 

part of the policemen on duty. 

Accused Rafsan Hossain alias 

Rubel claimed that local police 

threatened him with death 

if he did not provide a confessional 

statement and so he fled. 

The court placed him on 

a six-day remand. On Friday, 

RAB arrested Rubel, 30, from 

Dhaka’s Airport railway station 

on rape charges and on Sunday 

he escaped from the judge’s 

chamber where he was due for 

his confessional statement. 

“Rubel has been accused 

in nine cases including rape, 

extortion, possession of drugs 

and illegal firearms,” said RAB- 

1 Commanding Officer Tuhin 

Mohammad Masud. •

4 


DT 

News 

Nasirnagar police arrest five arsonists 

Shahbagh protesters call for long-march on Nov 18 

• Kamrul Hasan and Arif Ahmed 

Nasirnagar police, yesterday arrested 

five persons for their alleged 

involvement in the arson attack 

during the communal violence of 

October 30. 

Another person was also arrested 

in the Nasirnagar vandalism case 

late Monday night. 

Nasirnagar Officer-in-Charge 

(OC), Abu Jafar told the Dhaka Tribune 

that they had intelligence of 

the five arrestee’s involvement in 

the arson attack. 

“The arrested were also from the 

adjacent areas of Nasirnagar Sadar 

union,” he said adding that they 

were sent to court. 

Stalker who killed father 

of schoolgirl held 

• Mahadi Al Hasnat 

Police’s elite force RAB has arrested 

Parvez Hossain alias Sumon, 

who allegedly killed the 

father of a teenage schoolgirl in 

Manikganj earlier this month. 

A team of the Rapid Action 

Battalion 4 arrested Sumon, 

22, from Gabtoli of Dhaka 

around 10pm Monday, Commanding 

Officer Lutful Kabir 

told reporters yesterday. 

He said that in primary 

interrogation, Sumon had admitted 

to his involvement in 

the murder of Billal Hossain, 

40, of Kakrol at Shibaloy in 

Manikganj, on November 2. 

The body was found in a canal 

beside a culvert at Machain 

village of Harirampur upazila. 

Two arson cases were filed by a 

victim and by the police with the 

Nasirnagar police station after the 

attacks took place. 

SI Kauser Hussain, investigation 

officer (IO) of the cases told the Dhaka 

Tribune they were suspecting 

that the planner of the hit and run 

arson attack is among the arestees. 

When asked about sending evidence 

to Chittagong CID, he said he 

is still waiting for a court order. 

Shahbagh protesters call for 

long-march on Nov 18 

Protesters blockaded Shahbagh 

till 2pm yesterday and announced 

plans for a long-march to Nasirnagar 

on November 18 to demand justice 

for Nasirnagar attack victims. 

“Sumon along with his 

accomplices hacked Billal to 

death as he rejected Sumon’s 

marriage proposal,” Kabir 

said, adding that Sumon, son 

of Ekhlas Matbar of Shibaloy 

area, had long been harassing 

Billal’s elder daughter on her 

way to school. 

Billal had informed Sumon’s 

parents several times about 

his aggressive attitude and requested 

them to take measures. 

But Sumon’s father ignored the 

complaint, and instead, proposed 

that the duo be wed. 

As Billal rejected the proposal, 

Sumon threatened the 

family with dire consequences, 

according to the case filed 

by Billal’s wife Afroza Begum 

on November 3. • 

The demonstrators, mostly from 

the Dhaka University and pro-Hindu 

groups, took position at Dhaka’s 

Shahbagh intersection around 11am 

with a six point demand mandate. 

Manik Rokshit, a student leader, 

declared plans for a long-march to 

Nasirnagar from Shahbagh on November 

18. 

Ovi Roy, one of the organisers of 

the protest, said: “The government 

is not paying heed to our demands. 

It has yet to take actions over the 

attacks on Hindus and temples in 

Nasirnagar of Brahmanbaria.” 

Tuesday’s demonstration severely 

disrupted vehicular movement in 

Shahbagh, a key area in Dhaka. 

Delwar Hossain, secretary of 

forest and environment affairs of 

Awami League visited Shahbagh on 

behalf of General Secretary Obaidul 

Quader to speak with the students. 

He said: “We have heard your 

six-point demands and will discuss 

them and take actions accordingly.” 

Ovi said: “We will step up our 

protest, if our demands, including 

the removal of Livestock Minister 

Sayedul Haque, are not met at 

once.” 

Shahbagh police Officer-in- 

Charge (OC) Abu Bakar Siddique 

told the Dhaka Tribune over the 

phone the road in front of National 

Museum was blocked while the 

protesters maintained their position. 

OC Siddique said the police were 

working to resume traffic to normal 

after the protesters departed. 

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS 

Siddique met with the student protesters 

and briefed them. 

A mob attacked at least 17 temples 

and more than 50 houses belonging 

to the Hindus in Nasirnagar 

upazila on Oct 30 over a defamatory 

Facebook post allegedly by a Hindu 

youth. 

More than 100 people were injured 

in the attack. The ruling Awami 

League suspended three of its 

Nasirnagar unit leaders for their 

involvement. A total of 74 people 

have been arrested in connection to 

the attacks. •

News 5 


CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE 

COP22 

Ban hopeful despite Trump’s shadow 

DT 

• AFP 

Global Carbon Budget 2016 launched 

• Sohara Mehroze Shachi, from 

Marrakech 

The Global Carbon Budget, which 

details the balance between the 

sources and sinks of carbon in the 

world, was launched at the United 

Nations’ Climate Change Conference 

COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco, 

on Monday. 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaking at the COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco yesterday, next to him is Executive 

Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa 

REUTERS 

UN chief Ban Ki-moon voiced hope 

Tuesday that Donald Trump will 

“vary” his stance denying climate 

change as world leaders gathered 

in Morocco to keep a planetary rescue 

plan on track. 

A week after the election to the 

White House of Trump, who has 

called global warming a “hoax” 

and has threatened to “cancel” the 

global pact, Ban said: “I am sure he 

will make a good, wise decision”. 

He has spoken to the president-elect, 

the UN secretary-general 

said, and he was “optimistic” that 

the business mogul “will hear and 

understand the seriousness and urgency 

of addressing climate change.” 

Ban was addressing journalists 

in Marrakesh before opening the 

“high-level segment” of an annual 

UN climate meeting -- the first 

since last year’s adoption of the 

Paris Agreement to stave off calamitous 

global warming. Trump’s 

election has been uppermost on 

Fossil fuels and industry emissions 

The report highlighting the mean, 

variations and trends in atmospheric 

carbon dioxide levels shows 

that global fossil fuels emissions 

have flattened out for a decade. 

“China’s decreased coal use 

largely accounts for the projected 

decline in emission with slower 

growth in petroleum use and rapid 

growth in non fossil energy sources,” 

said Asher Minns of the Tyndall 

Center for Climate Change Research, 

University of East Anglia. 

China is responsible for about 

30% of global emissions (compared 

to USA’s 15% and India’s 6%) and 

over the last decade is has reduced 

its emissions. Meanwhile USA’s 

emissions have also trended down, 

mainly due to the reduction of coal 

use due to low price of gas and success 

of wind and solar. EU’s emissions 

have a downward trend as 

well. In contrast, India’s emissions 

grew at about 5% in 2015 and expected 

to continue in the decades 

ahead. 

Land Use change emissions 

Land use change was the dominant 

sources of annual carbon dioxide 

emissions until around 1950s. 

Emissions in the 2000s were lower 

than earlier decades but highly uncertain. 

Higher emissions in 2015 

are linked to forest fires. Land use 

emissions have generally been lower 

than the last decade. 

Atmospheric Concentration 

“Even though emissions have been 

flat the last couple of years, we are 

still putting a lot of carbon into the 

atmosphere,” said Glen Peters, senior 

researcher of CICERO. 

Oceans and lands take up about 

50% of the emissions put up in the 

atmosphere. Atmospheric concentrations 

grew in 2015-2016 as land 

and more staying in the atmosphere 

are taking up less carbon. 

According to the Global Carbon 

Budget, 2015-2016 will probably 

see the highest concentrations of 

atmospheric concentration recorded, 

and 2016 will be the first 

full year with concentration over 

400ppm. 

“We will need leveling up of 

emissions until 2025,” said Joeri 

Rogelj, Research Scholar at the Energy 

Program of the International 

the minds of many delegates and 

negotiators gathered in Marrakech 

to thrash out a roadmap for putting 

the agreement into action. 

“I have explained at length 

Institute for Applied Systems Analysis 

(IIASA). 

The emission reduction pledges 

made by countries known as the 

Nationally Determined Contributions 

(NDCs) are not in line to keep 

global warming below 2 degrees, 

which is required to prevent catastrophic 

climate change. 

“INDCs might help avert the 

worst but are in no way near what 

is needed to reach the target,” Rogelj 

added. 

Going Carbon negative? 

The Global Carbon Budget 2016 

shows aiming for temperature rises 

below 2 degrees is getting ever 

tighter given the current levels of 

emissions. Emissions need to go to 

zero, and this will require the use 

of negative emissions, which refers 

to removal of carbon dioxide from 

the atmosphere. 

The report outlines various 

methods of going carbon negative, 

including afforestation and 

reforestation, carbon capture and 

storage, biochar i.e. adding partly 

burnt biomass to soils to absorb 

additional carbon dioxide and air 

capture, whereby carbon dioxide is 

removed from ambient air through 

chemical processes and stored underground. 

However, different options to reduce 

carbon from the atmosphere 

about our expectations and our 

hope that... president-elect Mr 

Trump will hear and understand 

the seriousness and urgency of addressing 

climate change,” said Ban. 

come with different tradeoffs. 

Carbon capture and storage for instance 

require a lot of land to cultivate 

to produce the bio energy. 

“Negative emissions cannot be 

standalone, they need to comes on 

top of everything else we can do,” 

said Dr. Sabine Fuss of the Mercator 

Research Institute of Global 

Commons and Climate Change. 

According to the Global 

Carbon Budget, rapid short term 

decarbonization of supply and 

demand, not locking into carbon 

intensive infrastructure and 

preparing for sustainable ways 

of removing carbon dioxide from 

the atmosphere is the dominant 

strategy. 

“As the president of the US I am 

sure he will understand this, he 

will listen, he will vary his campaign 

remarks,” he added. 

It was usual for campaigning 

politicians to engage in rhetoric, 

but a president had to understand 

“the reality of the whole world’s 

problems,” said the UN chief. 

“No country, however resourceful 

or powerful, is immune from the impacts 

of climate change,” he added. 

“My sense is that as a very successful 

business person in the 

past... I believe that he understands 

that there are market forces 

already at work on this issue.” 

The Paris Agreement set an objective 

of limiting average global 

warming to two degrees Celsius over 

pre-Industrial Revolution levels by 

cutting greenhouse emission gases 

from burning coal, oil, and gas. • 

The Way Forward 

While hurdles remain, the unexpected 

flattening of emission 

as laid out by the Global Carbon 

Budget gives the world an opportunity 

to increase ambition for 

climate action at COP 22. “This is 

the right opportunity to lock in the 

gains,” Dr. Fuss added. 

While the Global Carbon Budget 

was prepared without factoring in 

the outcome of the US election, the 

question of the Trump presidency’s 

possible impact is inevitable. 

“Gas is cheaper so it is gradually 

replacing oil. It will be pretty hard 

for Trump to do something that 

will make coal suddenly more competitive,” 

Peters said. 

“US has 15% of global emissions 

and the rest of the world has 85%, 

so the rest of the world can do an 

awful lot even if the US is slow over 

the next few years,” he added. • 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

DRY WEATHER 

LIKELY 

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 

Dhaka 30 18 Chittagong 30 22 Rajshahi 30 15 Rangpur 29 17 Khulna 30 16 Barisal 29 19 Sylhet 31 16 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 5:12PM 

SUN RISES 6:15AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

31.9ºC 

14.7ºC 

Teknaf 

Tetulia 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Cox’s Bazar 30 22 

Fajr: 5:40am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 4:00pm | Magrib: 5:24pm 

Esha: 7:30pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 


DT 

News 

65-year old Basiron now PSC candidate 

• Ashraful Islam, Meherpur 

Basiron Nessa, a 65-year-old widow, 

resident of remote Hogolbaria village 

in Mathpara under Gangni upazila of 

the district has set up an example, as 

she is going to complete her primary 

education soon. 

They villagers said they saw the sexagenarian 

woman going to Hogolbaria 

Purbo Para Government Primary School 

in the village with books accompanied 

by two other girl students of class five. 

At first sight, anyone could think she 

was taking her grand daughters to the 

school. But they are classmates of her 

and she is a regular student. She is going 

to set for primary school certificate 

examination(PSC) scheduled to be held 

on November 20. 

Basiron is mother of one son and 

two daughters. She is staying with her 

son Mahiruddin now. Her grand sons 

and daughters are studying at colleges 

and schools. To see them studying, she 

has fallen in love of learning and got 

admitted to the school in 2011. 

65-year-old Basiron Nessa, a five-grader student of Hogolbaria Purbo Para Government Primary School in Meherpur, is 

seen attending a class with other students. The picture was taken yesterday 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Her old age complexity could not create 

any obstacle in attending the classes 

crossing one kilometer rural muddy path 

because of her insurmountable will and 

interest. Basiron said she became the 

victim of child marriage due to poverty 

which always prevailing in the domestic 

life of her father. 

Son Mahiruddin said his mother’ 

bad luck that she did not get opportunity 

of study. But always she dreamt to 

study by going to school. 

At first many villagers criticized her 

for going to school in this age but she 

ignored it. But they are now praising 

her and cooperating. 

When our correspondent visited 

the school recently, he found Basiron 

was reading Bangla book with her classmates. 

She takes part in games and 

sports at Tiffin period with other students. 

She said six years ago she came 

to school and tried to get admission but 

failed due to teachers’ unwillingness. 

Helaluddin, Headmaster of the 

school said Basiron came to the school 

in 2010 but we did not admit her thinking 

that it was her emotion and later 

she could not continue her study. 

“Seeing her interest, we consulted 

with the upazila education officer and 

took admission in 2011,” he said. 

He praised her hand writing and believed 

that she will pass the PSC exam. 

Basiron’s classmate Mou said she 

was very attentive in her study and 

they helped each other. Her daughterin-law 

Jahanara Begum said her mother 

in-law was a good human being. 

Neighbor Parvin Khatun said she 

was illiterate like many others but felt 

interest to be literate to see Basiron 

who was like her mother in age. 

Mathmura Union Council Chairman 

Shohel Ahmed said: “Basiron may be an 

example to them who are illiterate.” 

He declared that he would help 

anyone like Basiron. 

Gangni Upazila Education Officer 

Akbar Ali said: “Barison has proven that 

age may not be bar to acquire knowledge.” 

Basiron said she would pass the 

PSC exam and later get admitted into 

high school. •

News 7 


NARAYANGANJ CITY POLLS 

Ivy out from Awami League’s favourite list 

DT 

• Tanveer Hossain, 

Narayanganj 

The names of three Awami League 

leaders, excluding Helina Hayat Ivy 

who, a popular figure in Narayanganj 

politics, have been proposed as mayoral 

candidates for the upcoming 

Narayanganj City Corporation polls. 

The names were proposed at 

an extended meeting of Awami 

League held at Narayanganj Circuit 

House yesterday afternoon. 

The proposed candidates are Anwar 

Hossain, Awami League district 

unit president, Mojibur Rahman, 

president of Siddhirganj upzila unit 

Awami League, and MA Rashid, 

Bandar upzila unit president. 

The meeting was presided over 

by Chandon Shil, acting president 

of Nrayanganj city unit Awami 

League. 

Chandon Shil said that they had 

proposed the names of three leaders 

following a direction of Awami 

League central committee. 

Replying to a question, he said: 

“We did not put the name of Helina 

Hayat Ivy in the list, as nobody, 

who were present at the meeting, 

did not proposed her name as mayoral 

candidate of the city.” When 

contacted, Ivy denied making any 

comment over the matter. 

Central committee has asked 

the city Awami League to propose 

the names of three candidates considering 

their acceptance and popularity 

by November 20. 

Narayanganj City Corporation 

will go to polls on December 22, 

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi 

Rakibuddin Ahmad made the announcement 

of polls schedule at 

the media centre of the Election 

Commission Secretariat on Monday. 

As per the schedule, the deadline 

for the submission of nomination 

papers is November 24, while the 

date for the scrutiny of the nomination 

papers is on November 26-27 

and the last date for the withdrawal 

of candidature is December 4. 

The election symbol will be allocated 

among the contestants on 

December 5. 

The maiden election to NCC was 

held on October 30, 2011. Dr Selina 

Hayat Ivy was elected country’s 

first female city mayor defeating 

Awami League-backed candidate 

Shamim Osman. 

After the announcement of the 

election, leaders and activists of the 

Awami League have got involved in 

election-related activities. 

Insiders of the party said although 

the list has been made by 

some leaders, who are loyal to 

Shamim Osman, Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina would be ultimate 

decision maker. 

Moreover, BNP leaders are waiting 

for the green single from Party 

Chief Khaleda Zia over the participation 

of the city polls. 

Earlier, there was rumor that 

Selina Hayat Ivymay might get 

nomination. 

Party sources said the doctor 

turned politician had already gained 

confidence from party’s high-ups because 

of her development works and 

popularity in the city and she had 

been upgraded as deputy minister. 

Insiders of the Awami League 

said party chief might choose Ivy 

for contesting in the election, as 

the government had given Tk191 

crore special allocation for city development 

which was a proof that 

Awami League decision makers 

had soft corners for Ivy. 

In the previous city corporation 

election held on October 30, 

2011, six candidates took part in 

the poll where Selina Hayat Ivy defeated 

Awami League-nominated 

candidate Shamim Osman by over 

100,000 votes. 

BNP-nominated candidate Taimur 

Alam Khandakar withdrew 

himself from that election just seven 

hours before of the polls. 

Local sources said the incumbent 

mayor of the city corporation 

Dr Selina Hayat Ivy, Awami League 

city unit President Anwar Hossain, 

district unit BNP President 

Taimur Alam Khandakar, former 

MP Abul Kalam, Biplobi Workers’ 

Party leader Advocate Mahbubur 

Rahman Ismail may contest in the 

upcoming city election. 

Shamim Osman, also an influential 

component in Narayanganj 

politics, has recently said he would 

support Anwar Hossain in the election, 

though Anwar worked for Ivy 

in the previous city election. 

BNP sources said two leaders – 

Taimur Alam Khandakar and Abul 

Kalam – would seek nomination 

from the party. • 

RU teacher 

sued over 

Facebook post 

• Tribune Desk 

A case has been registered against 

a Rajshahi University teacher under 

Section 57 of the Information 

and Communication Technology 

(ICT) Act on charge of spreading 

fake and deceptive information 

about the university on social 

media. 

Motihar police station OC Humayun 

Kabir said RU Registrar 

Prof Entajul Haque filed a GD 

against Kazi Jahidur Rahman, 

assistant professor of Computer 

Science and Engineering department, 

on November 8 for 

spreading fabricated information 

about the activities of the university 

through his Facebook posts, 

reports UNB. 

After investigation, police recorded 

the complaint as a case 

Monday night. • 

Indian junkies love Bangladeshi Tk2 note most 

• Selim Reja, Benapole 

In 2012, a Russian online entertainment 

outlet declared Bangladeshi Tk2 note 

as the most beautiful bank notes of 

the world. People all over the world 

especially from Bangladesh and India 

voted for the Bangladeshi note during 

that poll. 

After four years of the polls, it is 

known that Indian drug addicts love 

Bangladeshi Tk2 note very much. The 

Tk2 denomination notes are being 

Colourfully dressed up students of Rajshahi College perform a dance of indigenous people at a cultural show to celebrate Nobanno Utshob 1432, a festival of harvest. The 

programme was organised by Rajshahi College yesterday 

AZAHAR UDDIN 

loved by them for its unique usages in 

drug consumption. 

The usages of the notes has been 

unearthed recently after law enforcers 

have arrested two Indian citizens with a 

good amount of Bangladeshi two taka 

notes from Benapole port area. Both of 

the arrestees confessed that they used 

to smuggle Bangladeshi Tk2 note into 

their country. They said Bangladeshi 

Tk2 note is very popular among drug 

addicts in India. 

Local sources said drug addicts of India 

used this note to make pipe to inhale 

smoke made from Yaba and Heroin. As 

demand for this note is too high in India, 

smugglers smuggled this note to India. 

It is said that, smugglers sell Bangladeshi 

Tk2 note to Indian people at 5 rupees. 

Several heroin and Yaba consumers 

of Bangladesh, wishing anonymity told 

the Dhaka Tribune that earlier we had 

used cigarette packets to make pipe to 

inhales smoke produced from Yaba and 

heroin. But this paper burnt so quickly 

so we had to make several pipes to 

complete our drug consumption. 

“On the other hand, Bangladeshi 

Tk2 note burnt so slowly. Thus we can 

use one pipe for several times made,” 

said a user of abusive drug, adding that 

that’s why boozers in India fond the 

note so much as we like it. 

Sources said as demand of Tk2 

notes is too high in India, people of 

both countries smuggled the note into 

India in both legal and illegal ways. Indian 

businessman, who frequently had 

visit Bangladesh, treated selling Tk2 

note as a great business and they used 

to take this note in India against their 

passports while smugglers smuggle the 

notes into India and brought phensidyl 

and other drugs to Bangladesh. 

Sources said people sold Bangladeshi 

Tk2 note to drug addicts at five 

Indian rupees. 

When contacted, Benapole BGB 

Camp Nayeb Subedar Nazrul Islam said: 

“We do not know anything about the 

usages of the note, but we are trying 

our level best to stop its smuggling.” •

DT 

8 

World 


SOUTH ASIA 

Sri Lanka probes military 

links to Jaffna violence 

Sri Lanka is investigating the army 

involvement in a recent wave of 

violence in the minority Tamil 

heartland of Jaffna. Junior defence 

minister Ruwan Wijewardene said 

a soldier was among those arrested 

by police in connection with the 

latest violence in Jaffna, the epicentre 

of the country’s long separatist 

war which ended in 2009. AFP 

INDIA 

India to use indelible 

ink to stop repeat cash 

exchanges 

India is to use indelible ink to 

prevent people from exchanging 

old notes more than once. The 

move comes after reports emerged 

that people were recruiting others 

to exchange old notes for new bills 

on their behalf, in an attempt to 

continue to keep their wealth from 

the tax authorities. AFP 

CHINA 

Anti-China MPs 

disqualified from Hong 

Kong parliament 

A Hong Kong court on Tuesday 

ruled to disqualify two pro-independence 

MPs, a week after 

Beijing said it would not allow the 

pair to be sworn into office as fears 

grow of the city’s liberties coming 

under threat. Baggio Leung and 

Yau Wai-ching deliberately misread 

their oaths of office, inserted 

expletives and draped themselves 

with “Hong Kong is not China” 

flags during a swearing-in ceremony 

last month. AFP 

ASIA PACIFIC 

Japan approves rescue 

missions in South Sudan 

Japan on Tuesday approved a plan 

for its troops in South Sudan on UN 

peacekeeping operations to conduct 

rescue missions. The new mandate, 

which will apply to troops to be 

dispatched to South Sudan from 

November 20, is in line with security 

legislation enacted last year to 

expand the overseas role of Japan’s 

Self-Defence Forces (SDF). REUTERS 

MIDDLE EAST 

Russia announces major 

offensive in Syria 

Russia’s defense minister says 

the air force has launched a major 

operation on the Syrian provinces 

of Idlib and Homs, while Syrian 

activists report the resumption of 

airstrikes on rebel-held eastern 

Aleppo. Sergei Shoigu said in a 

meeting with President Vladimir 

Putin on Tuesday that the operation 

involves aircraft carrier 

Admiral Kuznetsov. AP 

Britain has no Brexit plan, leaked 

memo claims 

• Reuters, London 

Britain has no overall strategy 

for leaving the European Union 

and splits in Prime Minister Theresa 

May’s cabinet could delay a 

clear negotiating position for six 

months, according to a memo for 

the government that was leaked to 

The Times newspaper. 

The document, prepared by 

consultancy firm Deloitte for the 

government department that supports 

the prime minister and her 

cabinet, casts Britain’s top team 

in a chaotic light: May is trying to 

control key Brexit questions herself 

while her senior ministers are 

divided and the civil service is in 

turmoil. 

“The Prime Minister is rapidly 

acquiring the reputation of drawing 

in decisions and details to settle 

matters herself - which is unlikely 

to be sustainable,” according 

to the document, dated November 

7 and published by The Times. 

“It may be 6 months before 

there is a view on priorities/negotiation 

strategy as the political situation 

in the UK and the EU evolves,” 

said the document, titled “Brexit 

Update”. 

May’s spokeswoman said the 

Deloitte memo was unsolicited, 

Climate change fuels insurgency in Afghanistan 

• AFP, Kabul 

had nothing to do with the government 

and had no credence. Deloitte 

declined immediate comment. 

No common strategy 

The memo said no common strategy 

had emerged, partly as a result 

of splits within the government 

and partly due to the evolving political 

situation in the rest of the 

EU where both France and Germany 

face major elections in 2017. 

May’s cabinet is split, with 

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, 

Trade Minister Liam Fox and Brexit 

Minister David Davis - who all 

campaigned to leave the EU - on 

one side and finance minister Philip 

Hammond and Business Secretary 

Greg Clark - who wanted to 

remain - on the other, according to 

the memo. 

May’s priority, it said, is survival 

and keeping her ruling Conservative 

Party together, rather than 

business or economic considerations. 

“Industry has 2 unpleasant realizations 

- first, that the Government’s 

priority remains its political 

survival, not the economy,” the 

memo said. 

“Second, that there will be no 

clear economic-Brexit strategy 

any time soon because it is being 

Source: UNDP 

After two winters without snow, 

Kabul residents are anxiously 

scouring the hills for the first 

flakes, wary that the depletion of 

this major source of water further 

fuels instability in war-ravaged Afghanistan. 

Historically speaking, a snowless 

year is highly unusual for this 

ancient capital, built 1,500 metres 

above sea-level in the foothills 

of the Hindu Kush. “Kabul can 

be without gold but not without 

snow”, according to a local proverb. 

But as the world gets warmer, 

that is changing. 

The mountainous land-locked 

country was classed in 2012 as 

among the most vulnerable to climate 

change, a worldwide problem 

that is the subject of a UN conference 

in Marrakesh this week. 

And it is here that the knock-on 

effects of global warming will be 

keenly felt. 

Around 80% of Afghanistan’s 

economy is based on agriculture. 

Afghan farmers depend on reliable, 

year-round sources of surface 

water from melting snow on 

mountains to irrigate their crops 

and water their livestock. 

But only ten percent of the 

country’s land is still farmable because 

of the impact of recent climate-related 

disasters, Salim says. 

That increasingly leaves rural 

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech at the Lord Mayor’s 

Banquet, at the Guildhall, London on November 14 

REUTERS 

developed on a case-by-case basis 

as specific decisions are forced on 

Government.” 

The document also said that 

“major players” in industry were 

AFGHANISTAN VULNERABLE TO GLOBAL WARMING 

Over the next 45 years 

scientists predict a 

decrease in rainfall and 

up to a 4 o C rise in 

temperature compared 

to 1999 

Herat 

Since 1978 arable 

land declined by 

about 60% leaving 

only 12% of land 

suitable for farming 

Droughts are likely to 

be the norm by 2030 

Bamiyan 

Kandahar 

KABUL 

Kunduz 

Altitude 

Higher 

Lower 

Floods or droughts 

in 8 out of the last 

11 years 

1998 - 2006 

Suffered one of 

the country’s 

severest droughts 

ever 

100km 

folk in a desperate situation, says 

Kazim Hamayun, the deputy director 

of Afghanistan’s National 

Environment Protection Agency 

(Nepa). 

“If they lose their jobs due to 

drought, they will join the militancy” 

of the Taliban, he said. 

likely to “point a gun at government’s 

head” to secure assurances 

similar to that given to carmaker 

Nissan that it would not suffer 

from Brexit. • 

Hit and run 

“Being a landlocked country, besides 

terrorism, climate change is a 

big challenge for Afghanistan. 

“Snow has decreased dramatically 

and the landscape is not made 

to absorb rain water. Droughts and 

land degradation can contribute to 

terrorism. It disrupts the social order,” 

he added. 

The Taliban’s insurgency, 

which they have waged since being 

ousted from power in 2001 by 

a US-led coalition, has lately expanded 

to multiple provinces and 

beyond the traditional “season” 

that begins with the spring melt 

and ends with the first heavy falls 

of snow. 

Last year, the fighting continued 

into winter as less snow made 

it easy for insurgents to remain 

mobile and conduct hit-and-run 

attacks in northern and central Afghanistan. 

Consecutive droughts have 

plagued Afghanistan since the mid 

1990s, hitting farmers in central 

provinces such as Bamiyan, where 

the water that drains from the Hindu 

Kush range is running low. •

World 

Trump nominees already worry 

civil rights groups 

• Tribune International Desk 

The nation’s largest civil rights organisation 

says it will closely monitor 

President-elect Donald Trump 

and his incoming administration’s 

policies and actions to ensure that 

hard-fought civil rights gains are 

not lost without a protracted fight, 

reports the Associated Press. 

Seven of the nation’s largest 

civil rights organisations - 

the NAACP, the National Urban 

League, the National Coalition on 

Black Civic Participation, the Lawyers’ 

Committee for Civil Rights 

Under Law, the NAACP Legal Defence 

and Educational Fund, the 

Leadership Conference on Civil 

and Human Rights, and the National 

Action Network - also criticised 

the appointment of conservative 

media executive Stephen 

Bannon as Trump’s senior counsellor. 

The selection of Bannon, a 

favourite of the ultra-right and 

white nationalist movement, concerned 

many of the groups, which 

said they would be prepared to organise 

and mobilise if necessary. 

With black and Hispanic voters, 

Trump apparently did as well 

as Republican Mitt Romney when 

Romney lost to President Barack 

Obama in 2012, according to exit 

polls. Trump appeared to have 

won more than half of white voters, 

who made up 70% of the electorate. 

The groups said they would 

wait to see Trump’s actual policies 

dealing with the inner cities, which 

the president-elect said he would 

focus on. There are some areas 

in which they can work with the 

Trump administration, but “these 

seem to be the exceptions rather 

than the rule,” Henderson said. 

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the 

NAACP Legal Defence and Educational 

Fund, Inc, and Kristen 

Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ 

Committee for Civil Rights Under 

Law, said they would continue to 

work on voting rights issues under 

the Trump administration, 

given they fielded thousands of 

voting rights complaints - 30,000 

on Election Day alone, according 

to Clarke - during last week’s elections. 

Fourteen states had new 

voting or registration restrictions 

in place for the 2016 presidential 

election, raising concerns that minority 

voters in particular would 

have a harder time accessing the 

ballot box. • 

FACTBOX 

Trump’s immigration plans by the numbers 


Immigration was a top issue in his 

campaign, and President-elect Donald 

Trump’s promises are about to be put to 

the test, reports The Associated press. 

A look at immigrants in the US by the 

numbers: 

Ü Immigrants in US illegally: about 11m. 

Ü Criminal immigrants: As of 2012, 

government estimated 1.9m immigrants 

were convicted criminals 

and could face deportation. 

Ü Criminal immigrants in US illegally: 

AMERICA’S UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS 

An estimated 11.1 million people were living as undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2014, 

according to Pew Research Center 

Country of birth 

Estimates, 2014 

El Salvador 

700,000 

India 

500,000 

Mexico 

5,850,000 

China 

325,000 

S.Korea 

Guatemala 

525,000 

Honduras 

350,000 

Philippines 

180,000 

Dom. Rep. 

160,000 170,000 

State of residence 

Top 10, estimates, 2014 

California 

2,350,000 

Washington 

250,000 

Arizona 

325,000 

PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP DECIDES TWO KEY WHITE HOUSE POSTS 

After Stephen Bannon and Reince Priebus, who else will get a role? 

Top White House officials 

Reince Priebus 

Appointed Nov 13 Steve Bannon 

44 

62 

Republican National 

Breitbart News 

Committee Chairman Trump campaign 

chief executive 

Chief of staff 

Party insiders 

Rudy Giuliani 

72 

Former mayor 

of New York 

(1994-2001) 

Texas 

1,650,000 

Illinois 

450,000 

Source : pewhispanic.org 

Newt Gingrich 

Age: 73 

Former speaker 

of the House of 

Representatives 

Chris Christie 

54 

Governor 

of New Jersey 

Georgia 

375,000 

Florida 

850,000 

New York 

775,000 

New Jersey 

500,000 

North Carolina 

350,000 

Business leaders 

Harold Hamm 

70 

Oil company 

chief executive 

Daniel DiMicco 

65 

Chairman Emeritus 

Nucor steel 

Steve Mnuchin 

53 

Trump’s campaign 

finance chairman 

Migration Policy Institute in Washington 

estimates about 820,000 of the 

criminal immigrants came illegally. 

Ü Deportations under President Barack 

Obama: More than 2.5m. 

Ü Deportation costs: Average cost of 

each deportation is about $12,500, 

3.5 

Chief strategist 

Change over time 

Millions 

1990 

5.7 

1995 

8.6 

2000 

Foreign policy 

John Bolton 

67 

Former 

ambassador 

to the UN 

General Michael Flynn 

58 

Former director, 

Defence Intelligence 

Agency 

11.1 

Jared Kushner 

Ivanka’s husband 

35 

Donald Trump Jr 

38 

Trump’s son 

12.2 

11.4 11.1 

2005 2010 2014 

Family 

Jeff Sessions 

69 

Senator 

from Alabama 

Congress 

Bob Corker 

64 

Senator 

from Tennessee 

Ivanka Trump 

Trump’s daughter 

35 

Eric Trump 

32 

Trump’s son 

according to a 2011 government estimate. 

Ü Immigration court backlog: More 

than 521,000 cases pending in federal 

immigration court, according to 

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse 

at Syracuse University. 

Ü Immigrants with pending deportation 

orders: 88,128 as of 2015, 

according to Executive Office for 

Immigration Review at Justice Department. 

Ü Young immigrants protected from 

deportation by Obama administration: 

More than 741,000 approved 

for deferred action, which shields 

them from deportation and authorises 

them to legally work. 

Ü Border fence: About 650 miles of 

fencing already in place along US 

border with Mexico, in parts of 

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and 

California. 

Ü Length of US-Mexico border: 

Roughly 2,000 miles. Border Patrol 

agents: 18,321 agents patrol US 

border with Mexico. 

Ü Arrests at border: 408,870 people 

were arrested trying to cross border 

illegally during 2016 budget 

year that ended September 30. • 

9 


USA 

‘US forces may have 

committed war crimes’ 

DT 

US troops and CIA agents could face 

investigation and possible charges 

by the International Criminal Court 

(ICC) after its chief prosecutor said 

in a report. Members of US armed 

forces appear to have subjected at 

least 61 detained persons to torture, 

cruel treatment, outrages upon 

personal dignity on the territory of 

Afghanistan between 1 May 2003 

and 31 December 2014, according to 

the report. REUTERS 

THE AMERICAS 

Cuba pardons 800 prisoners 

ahead of Pope visit 

Cuba said on Tuesday it was granting 

pardons to nearly 800 convicts 

in response to Pope Francis’ Holy 

Year call to all heads of state for acts 

of clemency. Those released would 

include women, youths, the ill and 

“other categories”, according to the 

ruling Communist Party newspaper 

Granma. Cuba said those convicted 

of murder, rape, child abuse and 

drug trafficking would be excluded 

from the pardon. REUTERS 

UK 

Britain hopes to raise Nato 

with Trump 

Britain hopes to raise the issue 

of Nato with US President-elect 

Donald Trump at any early engagement, 

Prime Minister Theresa 

May’s spokeswoman said on Tuesday. 

The spokeswoman told reporters 

that Britain was hoping to 

build on links with Trump and “in 

particular some of the areas that 

we would want to be working with 

that administration on ... would be 

the approach to Nato. REUTERS 

EUROPE 

Russian economy minister 

charged over ‘$2m bribe’ 

Russia charged Economy Minister 

Alexei Ulyukayev on Tuesday 

over suspicions he pocketed a 

two-million-dollar payoff during a 

deal involving state-controlled oil 

giant Rosneft. Ulyukayev was the 

highest ranking official detained 

over suspected corruption since 

President Vladimir Putin took 

power in 2000 and vowed to clamp 

down on endemic graft. REUTERS 

AFRICA 

Egypt court overturns 

Morsi death sentence 

An Egyptian appeals court on 

Tuesday overturned a death sentence 

handed down against ousted 

Islamist president Mohamed Morsi 

in one of four trials since his 2013 

overthrow. The decision is a first 

victory for the 65-year-old who has 

been convicted and sentenced in all 

cases against him since being toppled 

by then army chief and now 

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. AFP

10 


DT 

World 

India’s fight against fake currency 


Since November 8 midnight, Indians have 

been experiencing a truly historic yet confusing 

period after the government took the unprecedented 

step of demonetising Rs500 and 

Rs1000 bank notes. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address 

to the nation, stated one of the reasons 

for this policy was to counter the rising menace 

of fake Indian currency notes. 

Counterfeiting money has been prevalent 

throughout history and is sometimes called 

the world’s “second oldest profession.” Traditional 

counterfeiters in most cases are individuals 

or a group who counterfeit money for 

their own profit. But during modern history, a 

new phenomenon appeared: states involved 

in counterfeiting the currency of enemy 

states to destabilise their economy. For example, 

during World War II, Hitler initiated “Operation 

Bernhard” and counterfeited British 

pounds. As a result Britain had to withdraw 

most of its currency notes. 

An Indian bank teller hands over notes as people gather inside a bank to deposit and exchange 500 and 

1000 rupee notes in Amritsar on Tuesday AFP 

Fake Indian currency notes on rise 

In India, the circulation of fake Indian currency 

notes (FICN) has been on the rise, according 

to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) annual 

reports. The year 2014-2015 saw a steep rise, 

with 594,446 FICN detected, up from 488,273 

in the year 2013-14. When it comes to the type 

of notes counterfeited in 2014-15, RBI data 

showed that counterfeited Rs500 notes were 

most common, with 273,923 recorded. Rs100 

and Rs1000 notes were the second and third 

most counterfeited bills, respectively. 

India’s Financial Action Task Force 

(FATF) report of 2013 found that the Indian 

rupee was the ninth most counterfeited currency 

in terms of its value and stood third 

in terms of the number of FICN detected 

around the world. This is a grave concern to 

India and if not dealt with would have had 

serious implications as counterfeit currency 

can reduce the value of the currency and increase 

inflation. 

Transit points of fake currency 

As reported by various sources, most counterfeit 

Indian currency notes are printed in 

Pakistan. From Pakistan, FICN are either 

moved directly into India or make their way 

through a network of other countries. Major 

transit points include India’s neighbouring 

countries Nepal and Bangladesh. Dubai is another 

route that the traffickers use to smuggle 

the fake currency notes into India; other 

transit points include Thailand, Malaysia, and 

Sri Lanka. China is emerging as a new transit 

route. Pakistani nationals were involved in 

48% of FICN cases in Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, 

and Sri Lanka. 

Printed in Pakistan, distributed by ISI 

India’s Ministry of External Affairs for the last 

decade has consistently shown concern over 

ISI and its involvement in printing and distributing 

FICN. DRI sources have also voiced 

concern over the high quality of FICN, which 

makes them difficult to distinguish from real 

notes. Media reports from Bangladesh claim 

that the fake notes are printed at government 

presses in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and 

Quetta with the support of ISI. 

Some of the important revelations that 

indicate ISI’s role in FICN have come from 

David Headley, who was convicted for his 

role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. In his statement, 

Headley mentioned that Major Iqbal, 

who was his ISI handler, gave him FICN for 

circulation and use in India. Another breakthrough 

in allegations of direct involvement 

by Pakistan authorities and ISI in FICN was 

the arrest of Syed Abdul Karim Tunda in 2013 

at the India-Nepal border. According to the 

police, Tunda received several consignments 

of FICN arranged by an ISI brigadier. 

Economic terrorism 

FICN, as mentioned earlier, could be seen as 

a form of “economic terrorism” practiced by 

external sources to damage India’s economy. 

Economic terrorism refers to the behind-thescenes 

manipulation of a nation’s economy 

by state or non-state actors. 

The printing and circulation of FICN provides 

dual benefits for terrorist organisations 

targeting India: the circulation of FICN threatens 

India’s economy while the profit that is 

earned from doing so is used to fund covert 

activities targeting India. News sources claim 

that ISI makes an annual profit of Rs5bn ($73 

million) from these activities, given an average 

of 30 to 40% profit on the face-value of 

the notes. The same money is said to be used 

to fund terrorist groups in India. 

India’s fight to uproot fake currency 

Given the multidimensional aspect of FICN, 

the problem needs to be dealt with in a holistic 

manner. Relevant agencies need to work 

together. Already, separate organisations 

have been taking steps. In 2010, India joined 

the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an 

intergovernmental body seeking to fight 

money-laundering and terrorist financing. In 

2014, the Reserve Bank of India announced 

the withdrawal of notes issued before 2005, 

another measure to tackle the issue of FICN 

and improve security features. 

Modi, while addressing the nation last 

week, implicitly accused Pakistan by saying 

that “enemies across the border” have been 

responsible for the circulation of FICN in 

India. The decision to withdraw Rs500 and 

Rs1000 notes from circulation could have a 

massive positive impact by eliminating FICN 

from India’s economy. The Rs500 note in particular 

is the most commonly counterfeited 

note in India and demonetising it is quite a 

remarkable move to eradicate the threats emanating 

from FICN to the Indian economy. • 

[This is an excerpt of a The Diplomat article, which 

can be found at http://bit.ly/2ezQXpH]

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12 

Business 


Deals of seven private sector power 

plants likely to be extended by 5-15yrs 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

The government is expected to 

extend the agreement of seven 

private sector power plants operated 

by local and foreign firms to 

purchase electricity, said officials 

yesterday. 

Once the cabinet committee on 

public purchase in its next meeting 

approves the agreement extension 

proposal forwarded by the Power Division, 

the seven power plants will 

be able to continue their operations 

for 5 to 15 years. The agreement expired 

a couple of months back. 

Under the proposal, 100mw Orion 

Power Meghnaghat Ltd will be 

extended by five year and the government 

will have to pay a total of 

Tk5,518.39 crore during the period 

at a cost of Tk15.79 per unit to purchase 

electricity. 

Summit Group-owned owned 

M/S Khulna Power Company Ltd 

(115 MW) crore will be extended 

by five years and the government 

needs to pay Tk6179.26 crore at a 

cost of Tk15.33 per unit. 

M/S Khanjahan Ali Power Company 

Limited (40MW) will be extended 


needs to pay Tk2,207.31 

crore during the period at a cost of 

Tk15.75 per unit. 

M/S Acorn Infrastructure Service 

(100MW) will be extended by 

five years and the government will 

have to pay Tk5,487.50 crore at 

per unit price of Tk15.66. Summit 

Narayanganj Power Ltd (102 MW) 

will be extended by the same period 

and the government has to pay 

Tk5,523.35 crore with per unit cost 

Tk15.45. 

Dutch Bangla Power and Association 

Ltd (100 MW) will be extended 


needs to pay Tk5,523 crore at 

a cost of Tk15.45 per unit and 116 

MW Individual Power Plant will be 

extended for 15 years and the government 

needs to pay Tk17,923.48 

crore during the period with per 

unit cost of Tk14.7. 

Earlier, the government had 

spent Tk32,000 crore as subsidy 

for running the quick rental power 

plants. 

This fiscal year 2016-17 , Tk 

8,000 crore has been allocated for 

power subsidy, whereas in the original 

budget for this fiscal year it 

was for Tk 7,000 crore. 

An official in the Power Division 

said though the country will require 

at least 24,000MW electricity 

by 2021 to implement the government’s 

Power System Master Plan 

2010, it will have to wait until 2018 

to implement the coal-based Load 

Power Plants in the country. 

“Against this backdrop, the government 

has decided in principle 

to extend the agreements with the 

private sector power plants.” 

In sharp contrast to the expected 

agreements, Finance Minister AMA 

Muhith, about two years ago, said, 

“Most of the rental and quick power 

plants would be phased out at the 

end of the fiscal year 2016-17.” 

In 2015, the World Bank also recommended 

phasing out the quick rental 

power plants and stopping payment 

to firms out of production to ease the 

government’s subsidy burden. 

According to the Bangladesh 

Development Update 2015, to date 

some contracts have been renewed 

on a ‘no power no payment’ basis, 

while some rental prices have 

come down, more should be done 

to reduce the cost of rental power 

and eventually phase it out. 

Besides, the government is going 

to increase capacity and tenure 

of 116 MW Independent Power 

Plant Precision Energy Ltd at Potia 

in Chittagong for 15 years more. • 

BB makes SM Moniruzzaman 

deputy governor 

• Tribune Business Desk 

Bangladesh Bank Executive Director 

SM Moniruzzaman has been 

appointed as the bank’s deputy 

governor. 

Bank and Financial institutions 

Division issued a circular yesterday 

making him the central bank 

deputy governor for next three 

years. 

Two deputy governor posts of 

Bangladesh Bank fell vacant following 

removal of the deputy governors 

after the cyber heist of $81m 

foreign reserves in February. 

The two deputy governors 

were Dr Naznin Sultana and Abul 

Kashem who became the first casualties 

immediately after Governor 

Atiur Rahman stepped down. 

In one of the biggest bank heists 

Capital Market Snapshot: 

Tuesday 

DSE 

Broad Index 4,664.8 0.4% ▲ 

Index 1,118.5 0.1% ▲ 

30 Index 1,752.6 0.3% ▲ 

Turnover in Mn Tk 6,465.7 0.4% ▲ 

Turnover in Mn Vol 192.1 25.9% ▲ 

CSE 

All Share Index 14,332.6 0.2% ▲ 

30 Index 12,943.7 0.5% ▲ 

Selected Index 8,723.8 0.3% ▲ 

Turnover in Mn Tk 403.4 -2.4% ▼ 

Turnover in Mn Vol 12.4 -9.4% ▼ 

in history, the alleged hackers tried 

to steal nearly $1bn from Bangladesh 

Bank’s US Federal Reserve 

account. 

They, however, managed to 

transfer $81m to four accounts at 

Manila’s Rizal Commercial Banking 

Corp, which was then laundered 

through the city’s casinos. • 

Shepherd 

Industries 

gets IPO nod 

• Tribune Business Desk 

Shepherd Industries Limited has 

received securities regulator’s approval 

for going public. 

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange 

Commission has approved 

initial public offering (IPO) of the 

company to raise Tk20 crore from 

the stock market, the regulator said 

in a statement yesterday. 

As per the prospectus, the IPO 

comprises two crore of ordinary 

shares, and offer value of each 

share is Tk10. 

The proceeds of the IPO would 

be used to build washing plant, 

business expansion, ETP expansion, 

bank loan payment and to 

meet IPO expense. • 

Banglalion’s leave to appeal against 

frequency issue dismissed 

• Ishtiaq Husain 

Appellate Division of the Supreme 

Court on Monday dismissed leave 

to appeal filed by Banglalion in 

2013 challenging the assignment 

of 10 Mhz of paired frequency in 

800 Mhz band to New Generation 

Graphics Limited (NGGL). 

A bench comprising Justice 

Surendra Kumar Sinha, Justice Syed 

Mahmud Hossain and Justice Mirza 

Hussain Haider heard the counsels 

for Banglalion, NGGL and Bangladesh 

Telecommunication Regulatory 

Commission (BTRC) and discharged 

the Civil Petition for Leave to Appeal. 

“With today’s (Monday) order of 

the Hon’ble Appellate Division in the 

Civil Petition for Leave to Appeal filed 

by Banglalion, it is now further established 

that BTRC’s assignment of 10 

Mhz of paired frequency in 800 Mhz 

band to NGGL in the year 2011 was 

lawful” said Supreme Court Advocate 

Barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain. 

Faruq Khan, General Manager of 

Banglalion said we are happy over the 

verdict as the allotted spectrum is not 

using in commercial purposes. • 

Grameenphone launches 

two LAVA Irish smartphones 

• Ishtiaq Husain 

Grameenphone branded smartphone 

LAVA Irish 605 and 821 have 

been launched in the country with 

more exciting features and offers. 

The two new mobile sets were 

launched at a ceremony held at 

Westin hotel in the city on Monday 

following the massive success 

of previous co-branded smartphone 

Grameenphone and Lava 

co-branded devices. 

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, 

Grameenphone Chief Marketing 

Officer Yasir Azman said: “Smartphones 

have re-defined the idea of 

staying connected and changed the 

way of communication hence we, 

along with Lava, are bringing two 

new affordable yet brilliant smartphone 

which will connect more people 

and empower their lives.” 

In response to a query, he said: 

“Configuration of the two handsets 

is better than any other handsets 

comparing with the prices.” 

Customers will get 12 months 

manufacturer’s warranty and fastest 

after sales service from Lava 

service centers. Customers will also 

get a 15-day early life failure whereby 

if any device is identified faulty 

within 15 days of purchase, customer 

will get a new smartphone as 

a replacement. Customers have to 

go to the Lava service centers to get 

this 15-day Early Life Failure benefit, 

according to the officials. 

Lava Iris 605 priced Tk4,299, features 

2 megapixel front flash camera 

and 5 megapixel rear camera along 

with features like smile detection, 

panorama, HDR, and beauty mode. 

The device is powered by 1.3 GHz 

dual-core Mediatek processor, 8 GB 

ROM, 1 GB RAM, and a 1750 mAh 

battery. Running on Android Lollipop 

5.1, the device has 4.5 inch display. 

The device has some attractive 

customized features like video calling, 

musical dial pad tone, etc. 

On the other hand, Lava Iris 821 

priced Tk6,999 boasts a 5 inch HD IPS 

display with 2.5D arc corning glass 

with real-world color rendition. •

Business 13 

DT 


EU parliamentary 

team for workplace 

safety, workers’ 

rights beyound 

RMG sector 

• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi 

A-16 member visiting European 

Union (EU) parliamentary 

delegation wants to see workplace 

safety and workers’ right 

situation in other export-oriented 

sector beyond the apparel 

industry for avoiding recurrence 

of deadly accidents. 

The EU delegation has also 

underscored the need for assessing 

the post-middle income 

country status when 

Bangladesh won’t be able to 

enjoy duty and quota-free market 

access to the EU countries. 

We are here 

to oversee the 

overall situation 

especially the 

development 

related to 

workplace safety 

and labour rights 

issues 

Quoting the remarks made by 

EU delegation, Bangladesh Garment 

Manufacturers Exporters 

Association (BGMEA) President 

Md Siddiqur Rahman said: 

“They want to see the workplace 

safety and labour rights 

situation in other export-oriented 

sector like RMG to avert further 

industry accidents and thus 

save the life of the workers.” 

He was addressing a joint 

press briefing after holding 

a meeting with the visiting 

EU parliamentary delegation 

headed by Bernd Lange at a 

city hotel yesterday. 

The press briefing was attended, 

among others, by 

the EU head of delegation in 

Dhaka Pierre Mayaudon, BG- 

MEA Senior Vice President 

Faruque Hassan and Vice Presidents-Mahmud 

Hasan Khan 

and Mohammed Nasir. 

Addressing the press briefing, 

Bernard Lange said: “It is 

now clear that Bangladesh is 

on the right path to become 

middle-income country, coming 

out from the LDCs.” 

“Once Bangladesh is graduated 

to a middle-income 

country, the trade relation between 

Bangladesh and the EU 

countries would be different,” 

reminded Lange. 

In this regard, Lange further 

clarified: “If the LDC status of 

Bangladesh is disappeared, we 

have to discuss about other 

provisions like GSPP Plus.” 

“The GSP plus links with 

some requirements of 27 international 

norms on labour 

rights and environmental issues,” 

he added. 

As the representative of 500 

million people, the EU parliament 

is responsible for any 

trade agreement, he said further 

adding that trade relation 

between Bangladesh and EU 

is important because 60% of 

Bangladesh’s export are destined 

to the EU, said the EU 

delegation leader. 

Terming the delegation a 

fact finding mission, Lange 

said: “We are here to oversee 

the overall situation especially 

the development related to 

workplace safety and labour 

rights issues in the garment 

sector after the Rana Plaza 

building collapse.” 

The main task of the mission 

is looking into what is the 

development in terms of safety 

and security after the Rana Plaza 

disaster, he stated. 

During the meeting, the 

apparel makers demanded a 

unified code of conduct to save 

time and money as saying, “It’s 

is nothing but wastage of time 

and money as different buyers 

have different codes in the implementation 

of social compliance 

audits.” 

The meeting also discussed 

as to how the ongoing safety 

initiatives would be continued 

after 2018 when the tenure of 

Accord and Alliance is set to be 

expired. 

The proposed remediation 

coordination cell would look 

after the post 2018 safety activities 

led by Department of 

Inspection for Factories and 

Establishments where International 

Labour Organisation and 

other concerned stakeholders 

would be involved. •

14 


DT 

Business 

China weakens yuan to eight-year low 

• AFP, Shanghai 

China yesterday weakened the yuan’s 

fix against the dollar to a nearly 

eight-year low as the surging 

dollar put further pressure on the 

unit, complicating Beijing’s efforts 

to manage it. 

The central People’s Bank of China 

set the value of the yuan – also 

known as the renminbi – at 6.8495 

to the greenback, down 0.3% from 

Monday’s fixing, according to data 

from the Foreign Exchange Trade 

System. 

The unit has reached a series of 

six-year lows in recent weeks in the 

face of a greenback rising on expectations 

of sharper US interest rate 

hikes, with President-elect Donald 

Trump pledging during his campaign 

to ramp up spending and cut taxes. 

But Tuesday’s fix was the weakest 

since December 2008, and 

beyond the roughly 6.83 level at 

which Beijing virtually pegged the 

unit for nine months in 2009-10, in 

the aftermath of the global financial 

crisis. 

China only allows the yuan to 

rise or fall two percent on either 

side of the daily fix, one of the 

ways it maintains control over the 

currency. 

During the presidential campaign 

Trump repeatedly accused 

China of keeping the yuan undervalued 

to boost exports and threatened 

to declare Beijing a currency 

manipulator once in office. •

Business 15 

DT 


Asia-Pacific 

leaders to 

talk trade in a 

Trump world 

• AFP, Lima 

Top world leaders will meet 

this week to chart a future for 

free trade - almost a dirty word 

in a world upended by Donald 

Trump’s victory in the US presidential 

election. 

US President Barack Obama, 

China’s Xi Jinping, Japan’s Shinzo 

Abe and Russia’s Vladimir Putin 

will be among the leaders in the 

room in Lima, Peru for the annual 

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 

summit from Thursday to 

Sunday. 

APEC summits, which gather 

leaders from 21 Pacific Rim economies, 

are meant to forge unity 

on free trade in a region that 

accounts for nearly 60% of the 

global economy and nearly 40% 

of the world’s population. 

But this year’s event may be 

unlike any other, coming on the 

heels of Trump’s shock win in the 

November 8 election. 

The brash billionaire has unleashed 

deep uncertainty about 

the postwar world order with his 

attacks on free trade, immigration 

and the US role as “policeman 

of the world.” 

By successfully tapping the 

anger of working-class whites 

who feel left behind by globalization, 

Trump has amplified a 

sense of malaise that began in 

June with Britain’s “Brexit” vote 

to leave the European Union - another 

shock victory for a populist 

politics of disillusionment with 

an increasingly borderless world. 

Obama’s ‘rebalance’ in doubt 

It risks being an awkward summit 

for Obama, who will wrap up his 

final foreign tour as president in 

Peru after stops in Greece and 

Germany. 

Obama, who campaigned 

against Trump as “unfit” to succeed 

him, must now reassure colleagues 

that a Trump presidency 

will not in fact spell disaster. 

Leaders will be looking for 

signals on the future of Obama’s 

much-vaunted “rebalance” to 

Asia and the Pacific. 

American allies such as Japan 

and South Korea are worried the 

Republican president-elect will 

cut back the US military, economic 

and diplomatic presence in the 

region -- leaving them exposed to 

a dominant China and belligerent 

North Korea. 

Trump has caused concern in 

the region by suggesting Japan 

and South Korea get nuclear weapons 

to defend themselves, calling 

climate change a Chinese “hoax,” 

and warmly embracing Putin. •

16 


DT 

Feature 

A road less travelled 

Tim Cope ot speak at DLF 2016 

In 2004, inspired by a desire 

to understand the nomadic way 

of life, Cope embarked on a 

remarkable journey on horseback. 

On a journey that took equestrian 

long-riding to the extreme, Cope 

spent three years and four months 

to become the first person in 

modern times to follow Genghis 

Khan’s march from Mongolia to 

Hungary. He travelled 6,000 miles 

across the Eurasian steppe from 

Mongolia, through Kazakhstan, 

Russia, and the Ukraine, to 

Hungary. 

From novice rider to travelling 

three years in the saddle, 

accompanied by his Kazakh dog, 

Tigon, Cope learnt to fend off 

wolves and horse-thieves, and 

grapple with the extremes of 

the steppe as he crossed subzero 

plateaux, the scorching 

deserts of Kazakhstan and the 

high-mountain passes of the 

Carpathians. 

Five years in the making, 

On the Trail of Genghis Khan 

is Tim’s personal story of 

adventure, endurance –and at 

times tragedy-, and eventual 

triumph. Intelligently written, 

it is a narrative full of romance, 

history, and drama that ultimately 

celebrates the nomadic way of 

life —its freedom, its closeness to 

the land, its animals, and moods. 

In 2013, Cope’s book was the 

recipient of the Grand Prize at 

the Banff International Mountain 

Film and Book Festival and in 2014 

was shortlisted for the non fiction 

category of the Australian Book 

Industry Awards (ABIA). 

Cope was born in 1978 and 

raised in Gippsland, Victoria, the 

eldest of four children. His father, 

Andrew, an outdoor educator, 

often took Tim and his siblings 

on bushwalks, ski and kayaking 

trips, instilling in them a love and 

respect for the bush. 

In 1998–99, Cope set out with 

fellow Australian Chris Hatherly, 

on an ambitious expedition to 

ride recumbent bicycles from 

Moscow to Beijing, where the 

duo encountered Siberian 

forests, Mongolia’s Gobi Desert 

and Chinese bureaucracy before 

rolling into Tiananmen Square, 

14 months and 10,000 kilometres 

later. He later went on to write 

articles, a book as well as a film 

about his Moscow to Beijing cycle 

expedition 

In 2001, Cope embarked upon 

yet another expedition, with three 

others, this time on a five-metre 

boat, which they repaired by 

themselves. They rowed 4200 

kilometres down the Yenisey 

River, from Lake Baikal in Siberia, 

north to the Arctic Ocean. It was 

during this gruelling expedition 

that Cope realised he measured 

the success of his adventures 

by how much he learned about 

the local people and their 

environment. 

Tim Cope has earned both 

Young Adventurer of the Year and 

Adventurer of the Year awards 

from the Australian Geographic 

Society, and Adventurer of the 

Year from National Geographic. 

His books and films have inspired 

audiences worldwide. 

5 questions with Tim Cope 

Favourite method of travel. 

Travelling by horse and camel for me was a way to connect to the 

landscape, people and their culture, and in a way allowed me to 

transcend the modern era. 

Most bizarre food you’ve tasted on your travels 

To start with, eating the head of a camel or horse, or boiled 

intestines was very difficult but over time I came to understand that 

out on the steppe, the miracle of life is that animals can transform 

what little grass is available in to meat and fat – which in turn 

supports human life. 

• Features Desk 

In an interview with New York 

Times, published in August 2015, 

Australian adventurer, author, 

film-maker, and public speaker, 

Tim Cope, spoke passionately 

about his fascination for the 

lifestyle of Mongolia’s nomadic 

tribes. As an explorer and someone 

who is enchanted by all things 

to do with the great outdoors, 

Cope set out on his journey in 

the pursuit of discovering and 

understanding a unique way of life 

of “great freedom”, where “there 

are no boundaries” and “anything 

is possible”. 

What you’re reading right now 

I just started reading Richard Flannagan’s narrow road to the deep 

north. 

Favourite travel song 

You Will Become by Glen Hansard – just love this song, not just for 

travel but generally. 

One thing you can’t travel without 

My diary. •

Feature 

17 


DT 

Social enterprise: 

A growing sector in need of support 

• Abu Fateh Mohammed 

Zakaria 

Bangladesh has been a global 

pioneer in social enterprise and 

there is a long-standing tradition 

of commercial models delivering 

socially minded services and 

goods but to date there has been 

little quantitative evidence to draw 

upon. Organisations such as BRAC 

and Grameen are considered to 

be household names not only in 

Bangladesh, but all over the world. 

However, the social enterprise 

eco-system in Bangladesh needs 

proper nurturing in terms of 

knowledge, skill, finance and a 

unique policy framework for it to 

really flourish. 

In an attempt to truly 

understand the impact and 

scale of social enterprises in 

Bangladesh, and to identify the 

barriers hindering the growth of 

this sector, the British Council 

conducted comprehensive 

studies on the social enterprise 

landscape in Bangladesh. The 

study yielded two reports – ‘The 

State of Social Enterprise in 

Bangladesh’ and ‘Social Enterprise 

Policy Landscape in Bangladesh’. 

The reports find that social 

enterprise is growing and is 

creating jobs for disadvantaged 

groups, empowering women, and 

addressing social exclusion. 

Social enterprises are 

businesses which trade for a social 

purpose, re-invest surpluses 

into their social objective, and 

make themselves accountable for 

their actions, rather than simply 

maximising profits for owners and 

shareholders. 

The study generated thoughtprovoking 

findings for the mass 

and policy makers alike. For 

instance, it found that a third of 

the respondents of the survey 

work in the education sector. 

Although 39% of the enterprises 

working in this sector are led by 

male compared to a meagre 6% 

by women, a fifth of all social 

enterprises were found have been 

led by women – significantly higher 

than the scenario in mainstream 

business (5%). Women in social 

enterprises make up 41% of the 

full-time equivalent workforce, 

which is more than double the 

proportion of female participation 

in the country’s general workforce. 

Needless to say, social enterprises 

have been playing a key role in 

women empowerment from 

underneath the veil. 

Bangladeshi social enterprises 

are young and so are their leaders. 

The study found that 77% of the 

social enterprises in Bangladesh 

are six years old in average, 

established between 2009 and 

2015. Most of these enterprises are 

led by youth who are under 35, 

which indicates that the youth are 

taking the mantle of leadership 

to make a positive change in 

the society. Bangladeshi social 

enterprises are generating an 

average annual turnover of Tk2.1 

million and nearly three-quarters 

of the social enterprises expect a 

substantial increase in turnover in 

the next fiscal year. 

One of the most important 

findings of the study is that 90% 

of the social enterprises are 

currently working with individuals 

from socially and economically 

disadvantaged communities, 

creating employment 

opportunities especially for the 

disadvantaged groups – supporting 

and empowering the most 

vulnerable members of our society. 

However, the study highlights 

some factors that are hindering 

smooth growth of the highly 

promising sector. Lack of technical 

skills is seen as the biggest 

barrier to growth, followed by 

access to debt finance, lack of 

social enterprise awareness and 

cash flow constraints. A lack of 

understanding of social enterprise 

is seen as a significant barrier to 

growth. The study shows that 

donations and grants are the most 

common sources of funding, with 

few social enterprises securing 

concessional loans or equity. The 

study also found that there is no 

government approved definition 

and no nationally recognised 

definition of social enterprise in 

Bangladesh. Moreover, there is no 

specific legal status in Bangladesh 

which recognise their joint focus 

on impact and sustainability or 

profit. This indicates that the 

sector is in desperate need of 

greater attention and support from 

the policy-makers. 

Bangladesh has enjoyed 

economic growth above six per 

cent over the last decade and 

has a thriving start-up sector. 

The consistent economic growth 

of Bangladesh and its rising 

geopolitical importance is going 

to sustain only if the women, the 

youth, and the underprivileged 

are afforded opportunities 

to actively participate in the 

workforce. Social enterprises, as 

the study reveals, can be among 

the major sectors providing that 

opportunity. However, the sector 

is in strong need of timely support 

and recognition, and its potential 

requires acknowledgement from 

the policy makers. • 

Osama among the 100 visionary leaders under 30 by Real 

Leaders magazine 

CEOs in 130 countries - members 

of The Young Presidents 

Organization (YPO). The 

magazine is also distributed 

at key global conferences of 

significance. 

Osama and Makshud Manik 

co-founded Youth Opportunities 

with the goal of tackling 

unemployment. 

Youth Opportunities is 

a global platform aimed 

at empowering youth by 

connecting local youth to 

their global counterparts, 

while bringing opportunity 

providers closer to the seekers. 

Through this platform, Youth 

Opportunities share latest and 

impactful opportunities with 

millions of youth for free across 

the globe. 

Osama has previously 

received the Queen’s Young 

Leaders 2016 Award from 

Bangladesh. He was also listed 

by Forbes as one of 30 Under 30 

Social Entrepreneurs in Asia. 

He has been engaged in 

numerous volunteering activities 

in various sectors in national and 

international organisations in the 

last six years. He is also a co-host 

of Teen Tekka, the first radio 

show in Bangladesh dedicated to 

teenagers. 

Studying to be a dentist, 

Osama’s vision is to provide the 

opportunities for young people 

that will help them explore, face 

their challenges and excel in 

their careers. • 

• Feature Desk 

Real Leaders magazine has 

named Osama Bin Noor in their 

list of 100 Visionary Leaders 

Under 30. He is the only 

Bangladeshi selected for this list 

by Real Leaders magazine. 

Each year magazine produces 

a Real Leaders 100 list and this 

year, the magazine is to focus 

on Young Real Leaders - people 

under 30 making a positive 

difference in the world. 

Real Leaders magazine is sold 

in Whole Foods stores across 

the US and is also distributed to 

24,000 of the world’s leading

18 


DT 

Feature 

Kellyanne Conway: 

A job well done 

The woman behind Trump’s popularity with women 

• Mahmood Sadi 

In the movie Our Brand is Crisis, 

Sandra Bullock played the role of 

a campaign manager named Jane 

Bodine who was given the charge 

of re-electing a controversial 

president in Bolivia. 

The President Pedro Gallo, 

played by Joaquim De Almeida, 

who she needed to be re-elected 

was having the lowest numbers 

in the latest polls. He had anger 

managememnt issues and slapped 

people in public events.The 

Bolivian media went on a frenzy 

to criticise him for almost all of his 

deeds. 

Jane read the situation well 

and formulated her strategy 

accordingly to put Pedro in line. 

She somehow made the bad look 

good by identifying the public 

pulse and ultimately won the 

election for Pedro. 

The task that Kellyanne 

Conway, a 49 year old New 

Jersey based political strategist, 

commentator and a mother of 

four, had in her hand was no 

less challanging than the one 

that Bodine had in the movie. 

Kellyanne was given the charge 

of electing Donald Trump as the 

President of United States of 

America in 2016. 

….and she did her job. 

Donald Trump named Kellyanne 

his campaign manager on August 

17 this year, making her the first 

woman to ever run a Republican 

presidential campaign. Kellyanne 

Conway however, is not a novice in 

the political arena of USA. 

She has been running her 

polling firm, The Polling Company/ 

WomanTrend, for more than two 

decades, advising corporate clients 

and top Republican officeholders 

like former House Speaker Newt 

Gingrich, Texas senator Ted Cruz 

and Indiana governor Mike Pence, 

who Trump tapped as his running 

mate. 

Kellyanne once lived in a 

Trump building, and had known 

her new boss for about a decade. 

She served as an informal adviser 

to Trump during his flirtation with 

a 2012 presidential campaign. 

When the New York developer 

briefly mulled a bid for the Empire 

State governorship in 2014, she 

conducted a poll assessing his 

chances. 

Interestingly, when Trump first 

offered Kellyanne the opportunity 

to join his presidential campaign 

in mid 2015, she declined over 

fears of how the public would view 

the partnership because much of 

her political works had focused on 

how to reach out to women. She 

was the co-author of a 2005 book, 

What Women Really Want, with 

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. 

Kellyanne knew about Trump’s 

reputation regarding women and 

she feared that an association 

with Trump might rasie questions 

like- “What are you doing there?’” 

“Riding on a plane? Whispering in 

his ear about what he should say 

to women?” 

Kellyanne told the 

Cosmopolitan magazine that 

she was worried about Trump’s 

way of addressing the female 

voters. ““I grew up in a house 

with my mom and her mom, and 

two of my mother’s unmarried 

sisters,” she explained. “So four 

Italian Catholic women raised me 

and I have known what women 

empowerment is from the core of 

my heart.” 

“The problem is Trump was up 

against one of strongest women in 

the world and I didn’t like the way 

he was handling his campaign. But 

I believed in him and I wanted to 

work for his campaign,” she said. 

After that, she joined Trump’s 

team and in a few short months 

she became a constant fixture 

on television -- laying out his 

agenda, talking points and often 

trying to smooth over Trump’s 

controversies. 

She specially formulated 

startegies to earn the attention 

and support of female voters. 

Lake, her Democratic co-author, 

told the TIME magazine during 

the campaign that Kellyanne is 

“a real expert on women voters” 

who knows how to target key 

groups who will be receptive to his 

message. 

“In our book, we identified 

religious women, senior survivors, 

suburban caretakers, and waitress 

moms, among others, that I would 

think would be targets for Trump,” 

Lake told TIME magazine. “She 

could be a great help to Trump if 

he listens to her.” 

Trump listened to her. Even 

after uttering phrases like 

“Grab’em by the pxxxx”, Trump 

got away with the election and 

the result shows that Trump was 

able to get a significant number of 

votes from white female voters of 

the USA. 

Political pundits said that 

appointing Kellyanne as the 

campaign manager was a 

masterstroke from Trump and it 

paid off in spades. 

She told CNN after the election 

result that working with Trump 

was not easy. “He had the 

tendency of getting off-script very 

often. I tried to keep him in line.” 

She said that she was tough 

with Trump in private. She told 

CNN what happened when they 

got on the plane after Trump’s 

controversial Gettysburg speech. 

She told him after his off script 

rant, “You and I are in a fight for 

the next 17 days.” 

When Trump asked why, 

Conway replied: “Because I know 

you’re going to win. And that 

comment you just made sounds 

like you think you’re going to lose. 

And we’re going to argue about it 

until you win.” 

His response? 

“He was like, ‘OK, honey. Then 

we’ll win,’ “ Kellyanne said. •

Biz Info 

19 


DT 

| event | 

World Diabetes Day at Apollo Hospitals Dhaka 

checked and the Principal 

dietician of Apollo Hospitals 

Dhaka advised them on how to 

maintain a proper diet to remain 

healthy. 

On World Diabetes Day – 

November 14, 2016 - a walkathon 

was arranged by Apollo Hospitals 

Dhaka in which more 100 

individuals rallied in Bashundhara 

R/A. Free diabetes screening was 

also arranged in the premises 

of the hospitals for interested 

individuals. Considering the 

theme of this year - ‘Eyes on 

Diabetes’ - a special health 

awareness session was also 

arranged in the auditorium of 

Apollo Hospitals Dhaka in the 

afternoon where the consultants of 

endocrinology and ophthalmology 

and a nutritionist discussed the 

management of diabetes and its 

impact on the eyes. More than 100 

individuals participated in this 

interactive discussion.• 

To celebrate World Diabetes Day, 

a day celebrated throughout the 

world, Apollo Hospitals Dhaka 

in collaboration with Sanofi 

arranged a variety of activities 

to reach out to the community 

and spread awareness on 

diabetes. During the early hours 

of November 12, 2016, a free 

health check session was carried 

out in Gulshan Youth Club in 

which the blood sugar and blood 

pressure of interested individuals 

were checked and advised by a 

nutritionist of the hospital. 

More than 140 individuals 

availed this service and also had 

various queries answered by the 

nutritionist. On the following day, 

a free health check was carried 

out in the Old Rehabilitation 

Centre in Gazipur in which more 

than 100 senior citizens had their 

blood sugar and blood pressure 

| defence | 

Chinese government hands over two 

submarines to Bangladesh Navy for the first 

time 

On November 04, 2016, a 

new dimension was added 

to the Bangladesh Navy with 

the official handover of two 

submarines from China. The 

programme was organised at 

the Liaoning shipyard in Dalian, 

China, where the submarines 

were handed over by rear 

admiral Liu Zizhu on behalf 

of the Chinese government 

to chief admiral Nizamuddin 

Ahmed OSP, NDC, PSC of the 

Bangladesh navy. High level 

officials of the Chinese and 

Bangladeshi navy were present 

at the event. 

According to the Bangladesh 

navy chief admiral, “The 

two submarines from China 

have paved the way for 

the Bangladesh navy on 

its journey to becoming a 

three-dimensional force. The 

current government has made 

many coherent plans to turn 

the navy into a modern and 

updated force.” He expressed 

his gratitude to PM Sheikh 

Hasina for these steps, and also 

praised the Chinese navy for 

their role in fitting up the new 

submarines and giving the crew 

the necessary training. 

The two conventional 

submarines are diesel electric 

submarines that are 76 metres 

long and 7.5 metres wide. The 

submarines also have torpedoes 

and mines that can successfully 

attack enemy warships and 

submarines. Officers and sailors 

from the naval forces of both 

nations have already conducted 

joint practical training and sea 

trials in order to bring the two 

submarines to Bangladesh. The 

035 G class submarines will 

reach Bangladesh very soon, 

and will join the navy fleet by 

next year. .• 

| campaign | 

Aarong Shop & Win Campaign 

with Novoair and Sayeman 

Beach Resort 

Aarong has announced its shop 

and win campaign where 14 

winners will be awarded with a 

three days and two nights stay at 

Sayeman Beach Resort along with 

two round trip Novoair ticket to 

Cox’s Bazaar for each winner. The 

campaign began on November 10, 

2016, and the highest purchaser of 

the day will be selected daily until 

November 23, 2016. Purchases can 

be made from any Aarong outlet or 

aarong.com. 

Only My Aarong Rewards Card 

members (MARC) are eligible 

and any MARC customer will be 

automatically considered if the 

card is used during purchase. 

Non-members can participate in 

this campaign through a purchase 

of BDT 10,000 and become a My 

Aarong Rewards Card member. •

DT 

20 

Editorial 


TODAY 

O intellectuals, 

where art thou? 

We know a society is healthy and well 

when its intellectuals freely express 

their opinions 

PAGE 21 

The Tata is out of 

the bag 

For entities that are not your local 

hardware store but whose interests, 

needs, and priorities determine 

government policies, we have a right to 

know what is going on, even if it affects 

them. Lack of transparency is key to 

crony power. Truth is people’s power 

PAGE 22 

An Orwellian 

democracy 

To reverse America’s Orwellian 

democracy, Democrats need to 

migrate to sparsely populated, heavily 

Republican states, such as, Alaska, the 

Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, 

and Montana en masse 

PAGE 23 

Be heard 

Write to Dhaka Tribune 

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, 

Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 

Send us your Op-Ed articles: 

opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com 

www.dhakatribune.com 

Join our Facebook community: 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

DhakaTribune. 

The views expressed in opinion 

articles are those of the authors 

alone and they are not the 

official view of Dhaka Tribune 

or its publisher. 

Young entrepreneurs are 

the future 

It is the bold, innovative thinking of our young and enterprising population 

that can give Bangladesh a competitive edge in business on the global stage. 

The entrepreneurial instincts needed to help Bangladesh develop, so that 

it can serve the nation’s growing population, are there already. They just 

need to be allowed to flourish. 

It is, then, a matter of great regret that Bangladesh has ranked so abysmally 

low in the new Global Entrepreneurship Index, coming in at 133rd place among 

137 countries. 

Only Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Burundi, and Chad are worse places than 

Bangladesh in which to start a new business. 

While the methodology used in the ranking is not beyond reproach, the 

results should still be a cause for embarrassment, and a bit of sober reflection, 

for Bangladesh. 

Why is it so hard to start a business in Bangladesh? And why are we failing to 

nurture our young entrepreneurs? 

The sad reality is that entrepreneurs come up against too many barriers when 

trying to do business here. 

Not only do regulatory barriers frustrate and thwart many promising startups, 

the lack of a business-friendly infrastructure, inefficiency, and corruption 

in governance serve as hindrances to entrepreneurship. 

We can and must take down these institutional barriers holding us back. 

For Bangladesh to succeed, it is imperative we create an atmosphere more 

conducive to business and enterprise. 

The Bangladesh economy has shown tremendous resilience in the face 

of domestic problems, and has maintained an admirable growth rate. This 

is testament to the creativity and hard work of our entrepreneurs, who have 

ploughed on in spite of many obstacles. 

Let us do right by our entrepreneurs, and let them take the country forward. 

The future of the Bangladeshi economy lies in their hands. 

Let us do right by our 

entrepreneurs, and let 

them take the country 

forward 

BIGSTOCK

Opinion 21 

O intellectuals, where art thou? 

Our thinking men and women need to speak up 

DT 


Where are the brains of the nation? 

We know a society is healthy and well when its intellectuals freely 

express their opinions 

• Firoz Ahmed 

One can choose to remain 

silent or be vocal on any 

issue. But intellectuals 

owe it to society to 

do more, much more. They are 

supposed to express their opinions 

on important national issues. 

Hence, the silence of intellectuals 

is often questioned everywhere in 

the world. 

An “intellectual quiet” does 

not necessarily mean that they 

are endorsing the state’s actions. 

Many intellectuals, even when 

they consider something is wrong, 

cannot muster the courage to utter 

words against the wrong. Not out 

of fear of death or being jailed -- 

but, merely, due to a fear of being 

disowned by the party. A fear of 

missing out on an opportunity to 

prosper personally. 

We would find similar examples 

in the US in the 1960s when 

intellectuals were scorned for 

raising their voices in support 

of the public interest, many 

intellectuals had remained firm. 

I know of a professor in East 

Bengal who had resigned from the 

University of Rajshahi to write a 

book on communalism during the 

1960s, but such instances are rare. 

We know a society is healthy 

and well when its intellectuals 

freely express their opinions. The 

intellectuals are quick to express 

their views -- in favour or against 

government actions, and the state 

is obliged to tolerate their views. 

The intellectuals would need 

to flaunt less courage when 

institutions such as universities, 

the Election Commission, or the 

judiciary, are strong. Then, it 

becomes very difficult to persecute 

intellectuals for their views. 

Then, not only the intellectuals, 

but also the citizens would be 

encouraged to fulfill their duties 

and to demand their rights when 

freedom of expression is prevalent 

BIGSTOCK 

in society. 

However, the situation in 

Bangladesh is different. 

Even considering the 

communal violence in our country 

and heinous acts of violence in 

India, we would find that in, spite 

of persecution, there needs to be a 

vibrant and independent presence 

of an intellectual class. 

The struggle is real because, 

along with the destruction of 

our public institutions, we have 

suffered a terrible set back. And 

in the words of poet Kazi Nazrul 

Islam: Often, most amongst 

the educated remain “mute” 

intellectuals. 

I would like to state three brief 

examples from the last decade to 

support my view regarding the 

silence of our intellectuals. 

When we were protesting 

against the 15th amendment to 

the Constitution, we had invited a 

former chief justice who was also 

active in the struggle to protect 

national resources. 

This honest and good man was 

in agreement with our cause, but 

he refused to give a public speech 

in support of us. 

He insisted that it is enough 

for his support to have been 

materialised in a signed statement; 

and did not want to put in more 

effort to the issue. 

He believed that he had 

fulfilled his duties through issuing 

statements and other activities, 

but that could be the extent of the 

support, as he did not want to stir 

the government. 

I heard the second example 

from a friend who is a journalist. 

My friend had approached a young 

and famous award-winning writer 

requesting to put down a few 

words in support of the national 

committee that had called a strike 

to protest against leasing-out our 

seas. 

The writer’s simple response 

had been: “I am merely involved 

in literature, what do I understand 

about oil and gas?” 

This lack of understanding and 

engagement does not bode well for 

our country. The vacuum created 

by the unwillingness of these 

remarkable people to get involved 

in social matters is partly seized by 

the religious extremists. 

The third example is also about 

something similar. Do you recall 

that Khaleda Zia negotiated a deal 

to export gas from the Bibiyana 

river to India? 

The national committee had 

called its first long march against 

it, and a popular writer wrote an 

exceptionally good piece called 

“The long shadow of the long 

march” in solidarity with the 

protest. 

Even today, when I think of 

that piece, I remember a series 

of processions extending to the 

horizon over the lost river called 

Bibiyana. 

We have had a change of 

government, but the looting of 

our national minerals continues. 

Writers, poets, and artists 

who have sold out need no 

mention, and we no longer have 

expectations from them. 

Few intellectuals have been 

able to live up to their promise. 

Therefore, traditional intellectual 

practices at large have been 

discontinued, and this has a huge 

impact on our lives. 

In the absence of camaraderie 

among intellectuals, stating 

ordinary truth and obvious facts is 

considered an act of bravado. 

How long will this situation 

continue? 

Perhaps our new intellectuals 

are being created through this 

process. Maybe we are yet to 

recognise them. Or, perhaps, new 

intellectuals would be borne out 

of the necessity, to serve the need 

of time -- from within and outside 

of the institutions -- when the 

institutions erode, suppressed by 

power and corruption. • 

Firoz Ahmed is a member of 

Ganasamhati Andolon.

22 


DT 

Opinion 

The Tata is out of the bag 

When public money is used to help a private company, people are naturally enraged 

• Garga Chatterjee 

The Cyrus is out of the 

opaque bag called the 

Tata Group, one of India’s 

largest corporate groups 

with its strong presence across 

South Asia and beyond. After the 

unceremonious ouster of Cyrus 

Mistry from the chairmanship of 

the Tata group, the ousted man 

decided to spill some beans by 

giving details of the reasons for 

his possible ouster and also raising 

huge questions about the Tata 

group itself in the process. 

Whether the beans are real, 

we do not know. Given that it 

comes from a person who was 

not only chairman but also has 

huge financial stakes in the Tata 

group itself, the chances are that 

what he has said is not completely 

false. After all, no businessman 

says things that would hurt his 

own stakes unless he thinks that 

bringing certain issues out in 

the open and their subsequent 

resolution will actually help the 

profitability of the company. And 

Cyrus Mistry is a businessman. 

In a sense, Cyrus Mistry has 

done for the rest of us what 

Wikileaks has been doing for the 

whole world -- bringing out the 

truth that is hidden behind the 

curtains of power. More often 

than not, the truth comes out due 

to contradictions within power 

circles, as it is in the present case. 

In other cases, it is driven 

by people of conscience. Such 

moments are rare and are of much 

more than voyeuristic interest. 

For entities that are not your 

local hardware store but whose 

interests, needs, and priorities 

determine government policies, 

we have a right to know what is 

going on, even if it affects them. 

Lack of transparency is key to 

crony power. Truth is people’s 

power. 

What Cyrus Mistry revealed 

in his letter is of special 

significance to West Bengal. He 

writes in the letter: “Historically, 

the company had employed 

aggressive accounting to capitalise 

substantial proportion of the 

product development expenses, 

creating a future liability. 

Beyond this, the Nano product 

development concept called for 

a car below Rs100,000, but the 

costs were always above this. 

This product has consistently lost 

money, peaking at Rs1,000 crore. 

“As there is no line of sight 

to profitability for the Nano, 

any turnaround strategy for the 

company requires to shut it down. 

Emotional reasons alone have kept 

Cyrus Mistry has revealed a lot about the goings-on of the Tata group 

us away from this crucial decision. 

Another challenge in shutting 

down Nano is that it would stop 

the supply of the Nano gliders to 

an entity that makes electric cars 

and in which Mr Tata has a stake.” 

This tells us a few things. 

The shutting down concerns the 

Sanand factory of Tata Motors that 

produces the Nano car. However, 

there is an alleged conflict of 

interest in shutting it down since 

the same factory produces Nano 

gliders that are used in an electric 

car. Ratan Tata has financial stake 

in that. 

What it means is that the Nano 

factory by itself produces a lossmaking 

product. Cyrus Mistry, as 

the chairman till recently, thinks 

closing down the operation is the 

only way to cut the losses. Closing 

down the operations means loss 

of jobs in the factory and loss 

of livelihood in the ancillary 

industries around it. 

All this within a period of 

less than 10 years from the time 

the factory was set up. The land 

however is gone from the hands of 

its original owners, permanently. 

The letter also makes clear 

that the actual cost of making the 

Nano car is more than its pricetag. 

Who pays this extra amount? 

No sane businessman would 

produce a Tk100,000 price tag 

product, where his input costs are 

more than that. Unless, of course, 

someone else subsidises it. 

Thus the Nano business plan 

where costs are higher than the 

For entities that are not your local hardware store, but whose interests, 

needs, and priorities determine government policies, we have a right to 

know what is going on, even if it affects them. Lack of transparency is 

key to crony power. Truth is people’s power 

car’s price tag automatically calls 

for external subsidy, which 

is precisely what the Gujarat 

government and hence the people 

of Gujarat provided, per car, for 

every car. And all that subsidy 

seems to have yielded little. 

The Nano project is in doldrums 

with shutting down being the 

sanest recommendation. Such 

subsidies are public money. When 

public money is used to help 

a private group make profit, it 

naturally enrages people. Such 

a subsidy arrangement also 

existed between Tata Motors 

and the erstwhile government of 

West Bengal when Tata planned 

their Singur plant. 

This is also why both the 

erstwhile CPI(M) government of 

West Bengal and the Tata Motors 

administration have been so 

adamant about making public all 

the terms of the understanding 

between them. The people of West 

Bengal have a right to know what 

sort of support did the CPI(M)-led 

government commit to, so that the 

so-called one-lakh car could be 

sold at that price. 

In all this, Mamata Banerjee’s 

steadfast stance in protecting the 

interest of landowners and farmers 

in the historic Singur movement 

becomes all the more significant. 

The Singur factory structure was 

blasted by dynamite recently to 

make the land arable again for 

the original owners to whom the 

lands have now been returned 

after the Supreme Court’s order 

that deemed the erstwhile CPI(M)- 

led West Bengal government’s 

land acquisition for the Tatas as 

patently illegal. 

The lesson in all of this is for all 

governments who are desperately 

seeking investments at all costs. 

They need to know the number of 

jobs created more than the volume 

of money invested. They need 

to know the long-term business 

plan and be privy to the feasibility 

studies. For others may have 

emotional reasons for not shutting 

down a factory subsidised by 

public money and permanent land 

acquisition. 

But the livelihood security of 

the people can’t be dependent 

on the mood-swings and 

sentimentality of corporate 

mandarins. It is the job of the 

government to ensure that 

security. By advocating for a land 

acquisition law that disregards the 

opinion of the people whose land 

will be acquired, the BJP-led Union 

government has shown whose side 

they are on. 

Mamata Banerjee has shown 

that she stands for land acquisition 

only with people’s consent. It 

should be plain to anyone that, in 

a political democracy, which of 

these two stances are more propeople. 

Most good thoughts about 

people’s welfare don’t emanate 

from Delhi. • 

Garga Chatterjee is a political and 

cultural commentator. He can be 

followed on twitter @gargac. 

REUTERS

An Orwellian democracy 

Should the Electoral College be abolished? 

Opinion 23 

DT 


LETTER 

FROM 

AMERICA 

• Fakhruddin Ahmed 

The top vote getter is 

supposed to win in 

a democracy. That is 

not what happened in 

America’s presidential election on 

November 8. 

With all votes yet to be counted, 

as of November 14, Hillary Clinton 

has won 668,483 more votes 

nationwide than Donald Trump 

(Clinton: 61,039,676; Trump: 

60,371,193). 

The difference is expected to 

balloon to 1 million when all votes 

are tallied. 

The Republicans don’t want 

to talk about it. They spin this 

stubborn fact more sharply than 

Muralitharan, and stress that the 

Electoral College, not popular 

vote, elects America’s president. 

As though by pronouncing the 

magic mantra, “Electoral College,” 

they can make Trump’s vote 

deficit disappear. 

In polling stations nationwide, 

every ballot asked the voters to 

choose between Donald Trump 

and Hillary Clinton for president. 

More chose Hillary Clinton. 

If Trump, the second place 

finisher, is declared the winner 

and elected the president, 

then the wishes of the majority 

of Americans have been 

disrespected. 

This is not democracy as the 

rest of the world understands it. 

This is Orwellian democracy. 

In the topsy-turvy, dystopian 

world of George Orwell’s 1984, 

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. 

Ignorance is strength.” In the 

parlance of the just concluded 

American presidential election: 

“Less vote is more vote. The loser 

is the winner.” 

The Electoral College is 

reminiscent of Pakistani dictator 

Mohammad Ayub Khan’s Basic 

Democracy (BD) experiment of the 

1960s. 

Popular vote elected the BDs, 

who then elected the president. 

The BD system is extinct in 

Pakistan. The Electoral College 

should also be abolished in the US. 

A little history 

This is the fifth time that the 

winner of the popular vote lost the 

presidency in America. In the last 

four, Republicans have been the 

beneficiary, and the Democrats 

the victim of the faulty electoral 

system. 

In 1824, Andrew Jackson 

won 38,000 more votes than 

John Quincy Adams, but lost the 

election. 

Both ran as Democratic- 

Republicans. 

In 1876, Democrat Samuel 

Tilden beat Republican Rutherford 

B Hayes by 253,000 more popular 

votes, but ultimately lost in a 

complicated political deal known 

as the Compromise of 1877. 

In 1888, Republican Benjamin 

Harrison was elected president 

even though Democrat Grover 

Cleveland won 93,000 more 

popular votes. 

In 2000, Democrat Al Gore 

won 544,000 more popular votes 

than George W Bush, but lost the 

presidency. 

In 2016, Hillary Clinton will end 

up winning a million more votes 

only to be denied the presidency. 

It is a safe bet that the 

Republicans will be in no hurry to 

change a system that has served 

them so well. 

The framers of the US 

constitution believed in the 

supremacy of the popular vote. 

But they worried that a 

demagogue may sweep the people 

off their feet momentarily and get 

elected. 

Therefore, they devised the 

Electoral College as a circuitbreaker. 

They reasoned that the 

Electoral College would prevent an 

insane popular verdict from being 

implemented. 

Alexander Hamilton wrote in 

Federalist No 68: “The sense of 

the people should operate in the 

choice of the [president]” -- that 

sense would operate through an 

intermediate body that would 

meet separately in the states, cast 

their ballots, and then transmit the 

results to Congress. 

By requiring they all meet on 

the same day, in many different 

places, the Framers thought they 

could avoid collaboration and 

“corruption.” 

But, by vesting the ultimate 

decision in these bodies of 

electors, they intended, according 

to Hamilton, that: “The immediate 

election should be made by men 

most capable of analysing the 

qualities adapted to the station, 

and acting under circumstances 

favourable to deliberation, and 

to a judicious combination of all 

the reasons and inducements 

which were proper to govern their 

choice.” 

In other words, the 

constitution gives a set of elected 

representatives (the “electors”) an 

opportunity to use their judgment 

to second guess the outcome of 

a popular election. If the citizens 

got carried away and elected a 

scoundrel though popular vote, 

the electors have the power to 

correct the mistake through the 

Electoral College. 

“The Framers did not limit the 

reasons the electors might invoke 

for voting however they vote. 

They are free to vote however they 

want, for whatever reason they 

want, recognising, no doubt, that 

they will need to justify what they 

do to a public that might ask why. 

They were empowered to veto the 

democratic will, if the democratic 

will needs to be vetoed. But in a 

republic, they should only exercise 

that power when circumstances 

demand it.” 

But, if the people get it right 

To reverse America’s Orwellian democracy, Democrats need to migrate 

to sparsely populated, heavily Republican states, such as, Alaska, the 

Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana en masse 

and elect an immensely qualified 

candidate through popular vote 

(Hillary Clinton), it would be a 

dereliction of the electors’ duty 

to annul popular will and elect 

a demagogue (Donald Trump) 

through the Electoral College. That 

is the dilemma facing the electors 

in the aftermath of this election. 

Because of the undemocratic 

way the electors are allocated, 

despite winning the popular vote, 

Clinton will lose in the Electoral 

College if the electors blindly 

follow the winner-take-all norm 

currently in vogue for casting their 

votes (this norm is not specified in 

the constitution). 

Nothing compels the electors to 

vote against the popular will. Each 

elector is free to vote his/her own 

conscience. 

It would be completely justified 

for an elector to vote to assure 

that the will expressed by the 

majority of Americans prevails in a 

presidential election. 

The electors can cast their vote 

to make the popular vote winner 

the president when the Electoral 

College meets on December 19. 

Under the leadership of Lady 

A broken system? 

Gaga among others, a petition 

with over 3 million signatures 

and counting will be submitted to 

the electors urging them to vote 

for Clinton. Don’t count on the 

petition succeeding. 

An amendment to the US 

constitution to eliminate the antidemocratic 

Electoral College will 

be impossible. 

The mal-apportioned US Senate 

will never pass it; and the smaller 

states which benefit from malappropriation 

will never ratify it. 

This brings us to the other 

two un-democratic US legislative 

bodies -- the Senate and the 

House. 

On November 8, 34 Senate seats 

were contested. Republicans won 

22; the Democrats 12. However, 

6 million more votes were cast 

for Democrats (46 million) than 

Republicans (40 million). 

The votes cast for the 

Democratic candidates in 

California were 8.5 million, 

whereas votes cast for Republican 

winner in Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, 

was only 111,382. 

Yet, Lisa Murkowski, the 

Republican senator from Alaska, 

and Kamala Harris, the Democratic 

senator from California will 

exercise absolutely equal 

legislative power. 

It is the same story in the House 

of Representatives. Republicans 

control two-thirds of the states. 

To give an advantage to the 

Republican candidates, they 

gerrymander congressional district 

so grotesquely that they look like 

moth-eaten leaves. 

In 2012, for example, the 

Democratic congressional 

candidates won 1.17 million 

more votes nation-wide than the 

Republicans. 

Yet, with 50.59% of the 

vote, Democrats won only 

201 seats; whereas, thanks to 

gerrymandering, Republicans won 

234. 

To reverse America’s Orwellian 

democracy, Democrats need to 

migrate to sparsely populated, 

heavily Republican states, such 

as Alaska, the Dakotas, Nebraska, 

Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana en 

masse. • 

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed is a Rhodes 

Scholar. 

BIGSTOCK

DT 

24 

Sport 


TOP STORIES 

Talking points: 

BPL 4 first phase 

After an exciting first phase, the 

fourth season of Bangladesh 

Premier League shifts to 

Chittagong from tomorrow. Here 

are the important events from the 

13 exciting games of the first phase 

that started last week. PAGE 25 

Khulna Titans 

players are all 

smiles during a 

commercial shoot 

for their sponsor 

in Chittagong 

yesterday 

RABIN CHHOWDHURY 

Proteas thrash 

Aussies in 2nd Test 

South Africa demolished Australia 

by an innings and 80 runs after 

yet another batting collapse to 

claim their third successive Test 

series Down Under yesterday. The 

Proteas bowled out the home side 

for 161 on the fourth day. PAGE 26 

Murray masters Cilic, 

Nishikori wins 

If Andy Murray was grateful to 

Marin Cilic for facilitating his 

rise to the summit this month it 

was not evident as he added the 

Croatian to his lengthening list 

of victims at the ATP World Tour 

Finals on Monday. PAGE 27 

Lampard ends New 

York City stay 

New York City coach Patrick Vieira 

saluted attacking midfielder Frank 

Lampard after the former England 

and Chelsea midfielder announced 

on Monday he will be leaving 

the Major League Soccer team 

New York City when his contract 

expires next month. PAGE 28 

Locals dominate first phase 

• Mazhar Uddin 

The local players dominated the 

first phase of the fourth edition 

of Bangladesh Premier League as 

Dhaka Dynamites, Barisal Bulls 

and Khulna Titans jointly lead 

the points table having three wins 

from four matches. The tournament 

shifts to Chittagong from 

Thursday. 

Holders Comilla Victorians had 

the worst possible start where 

Mahsrafe bin Mortaza and his 

troop were totally out of track 

losing all the four games so far. 

Similarly, despite captain Tamim 

Iqbal’s good form with the bat 

Chittagong Vikings struggled and 

managed to win only one game 

out of their four attempts. 

On the other hand, Naeem Islam’s 

Rangpur Riders started with 

a bang winning their first two 

games then lost to Dhaka convincingly 

before went down to 

Rajshahi Kings who managed to 

win a game in three matches will 

look to step up the gas in the coming 

days. 

MOST RUNS 

Shakib al Hasan’s star studded 

Dhaka who lose to Rajshahi on 

their second game have played 

clinical cricket after that and 

outplayed Rangpur and Comilla 

one-sided affairs. 

Mushfiqur Rahim’s Barisal also 

regrouped as a unit after losing 

their first game against Dhaka. 

They came back hard and won 

their next three games where they 

managed to chase high scores successfully 

in the second innings. 

Khulna perhaps produced the 

most number of exciting matches 

in the going fourth edition of the 

tournament where their skipper 

Mahmudullah’s last over heroics 

with the ball helped his side to 

share top of the table despite being 

bundled out on 44 the lowest 

ever total in BPL history against 

Rangpur on their second game. 

Moving on to the individual 

performance the fourth edition of 

the money-spinning tournament 

have seen the local players putting 

their hands up and leading 

the highest run getter and wicket 

takers tally. 

Player Inns Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 

Shahriar Nafees (BB) 4 184 65 61.33 133.33 0 3 

Mushfiqur Rahim (BB) 4 174 81* 174.00 151.30 0 2 

Mehedi Maruf (DD) 4 170 75* 56.66 154.54 0 2 

Sabbir Rahman (RK) 3 157 122 52.33 150.96 1 0 

Tamim Iqbal (CHV) 4 143 75 35.75 128.82 0 2 

Former vice-captain of Bangladesh 

Shahriar Nafees has been impressive 

for Barisal is the highest 

run scorer in the tournament so 

far with 184 runs in four matches 

at an average of 61.33 including 

three fifties and the stylish left 

hander will look to continue his 

brilliant run and try to make a 

comeback in the national team. 

Tigers Test skipper and the 

only batsman in the history of BPL 

to reach thousand runs Mushfiqur 

Rahim once again contributed 

with the bat who is ten runs behind 

Nafees at the second place 

with 174 runs with two half centuries. 

Dhaka’s opening batsman Mehedi 

Maruf impressed with his big 

hitting ability scored 170 behind 

Mushfiq including two fifties at a 

staggering strike rate of 154.54. 

Pacer Shafiul Islam leads the 

highest wicket takers list with 

eight scalps with the best bowling 

figure of 4/28 against Chittagong 

to snatch a tight three run win 

for Khulna where the Tigers fast 

bowler bowled brilliantly along 

with Mahmudullah. 

Mohammad Shahid also leads 

the chart alongside Shafiul with 

eight wickets from four matches 

including the best bowling figure 

of 3/21 on their opening encounter 

of the tournament against Barisal. 

However rain and pitch has 

been the center of all and after 

the restart of the tournament due 

to weather the Sher-e-Bangla National 

stadium’s wicket provided 

couple of low scoring games before 

it changed in the latter part 

of the first phase with the highest 

total of 194/5 by Dhaka against 

Comilla.• 

POINTS TABLE 

Teams M W L Pts 

Dhaka 4 3 1 6 

Barisal 4 3 1 6 

Khulna 4 3 1 6 

Rangpur 3 2 1 4 

Rajshahi 3 1 2 2 

Chittagong 4 1 3 2 

Comilla 4 0 4 0 

MOST WICKETS 

Player Inns Overs Runs Wkts BBI Econ 4wkts 

Shafiul Islam (KT) 3 12.0 76 8 4/28 6.33 1 

Mohammad Shahid (DD) 4 13.1 91 8 3/21 6.91 0 

Shahid Afridi (RR) 3 11.0 46 7 4/12 4.18 1 

Mohammad Nabi (CHV) 4 14.0 73 7 4/24 5.21 1 

Junaid Khan (KT) 4 14.0 88 7 4/23 6.28 1

Sport 25 

DT 


TALKING POINTS: BPL 4 FIRST PHASE 

After an exciting first phase, the fourth season of Bangladesh Premier League will start its Chittagong phase from tomorrow. This year’s BPL had a controversial 

start as the tournament which was scheduled to start on November 4, had a restart four days later after abandoned matches in first two days 

due to bad weather. Here Ali Shahriyar Bappa remarks the important events from the 13 exciting games of the first phase that started with the rain-delay 

and ended in Sabbir’s record-breaking hundred. 

RAIN FORCES RESTART 

Rain interrupted the start of the fourth edition of Bangladesh Premier 

League. The tournament was originally scheduled to start from November 

4. But rain stopped the play and two matches of the first day were abandoned 

without a ball being bowled. After the first match of the next day, 

November 5, was abandoned, before the evening match of that day, the 

BPL governing council announced through a press conference that all the 

matches will be rescheduled and the tournament will restart form November 

8. Initially some franchises refused the decision but later all agreed to 

restart the tournament. The decision was taken due to persistent rainfall 

caused by the depression at Bay of Bengal. The depression had caused 

gloomy weather and inclement conditions in the capital, along with several 

parts across the country. 

ARAFAT SUNNY’S 3 FOR 0 

Rangpur Riders left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny stormed into the record 

books as he picked up three wickets from his 2.4 overs without conceding 

a single run to register the best ever economy rate in the history of the BPL. 

Sunny made this feat against Khulna taking the wickets of Ariful Hauque, 

Junaid Khan and Mohammad Asghar during his brilliant spell. Eventually 

his bowling figure ended as 2.4-2-0-3 after the match. He is the fifth bowler 

in the history of T20 cricket not to concede a run in an innings. However, 

Sunny bowled more than an over compared to Suresh Raina, Hasan Raza, 

Dinuka Hettiarachchi and Udit Patel, who all bowled less than an over to 

achieve the feat previously. 

MAHMUDULLAH’S LAST-OVER HEROICS 

Khulna Titans captain Mahmudullah produced some magnificent bowling 

display in two of their four matches for Khulna and snatched win from 

their opponents in the last over of the match in both the occasion. In their 

opening match against Rajshahi Kings, Mahmudullah defended six runs in 

the last over and got the wickets of Abul Hasan, Mohammad Sami and Nazmul 

Islam. Eventually Titans won the match and Mahmudullah adjudged 

man of the match. Mahmudullah also clinched another similar kind of win 

against the Chittagong Vikings. This time the Bangladesh star defended 

seven runs in the final over and also took the wickets of Chaturanga De 

Silva, Abdur Razzak and Mohammad Nabi and Titans sealed 4 run win. 

In both cases Mahmudullah magic turned the table around for the Titans. 

Muktis draw 

with Brothers 

• Tribune Report 

The Bangladesh Premier League 

matches in the Mymensingh venue 

ended with a 1-1 draw between 

Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra 

and Brothers Union at Rafiquddin 

Bhuiyan Stadium on Tuesday. 

The next three rounds (15-17) 

will be held at Chittagong’s MA 

Aziz Stadium starting from November 

18 to 28 before the league move 

to Gopalganj for a single round. 

Nigerian midfielder Simon 

Ezeodka put the All Reds ahead 

in the 27th minute placing home 

past Brothers goalie after skipping 

past his markers. In-form Haitian 

forward Augustin Walson showed 

great skill and technique to net a 

brilliant equaliser in the 75th minute. 

It was Walson’s ninth goal in 

the league this season. 

With the draw, Muktijoddha 

returned to fifth place 

with 20 points from 14 

matches while Brothers remained 

at seventh with 18 points, out of 

which the Gopibag outfits earned 

seven points from last three 

matches. 

After the end of round 14, Dhaka 

Abahani took a four-point lead 

over their namesake club, second-placed 

Chittagong Abahani at 

the top of the table with 32 points. 

Rahmatganj MFS and Sheikh Jamal 

Dhanmondi remained at third and 

fourth with 25 and 22 points respectively. 

• 

Squad named 

for AHF Cup 

• Tribune Report 

HOLDERS COMILLA LOSE ALL FOUR MATCHES 

Defending champions Comilla Victorians made a worst possible start to defend 

their title in this year’s BPL. They have lost four matches out of four 

in the first phase of the tournament. Victorians are certainly struggling to 

find their best possible combination of playing eleven in the tournament. 

Pakistani recruit Imad Wasim has been added to this year’s squad but he 

has not been seen in good rhythm in the tournament so far. Local batsmen 

failed to score big and it affected the performance of the team. Last year’s 

player of the series Ashar Zaidi also struggling in both bat and bowl. The 

fielding also looked unimpressive in the first four matches. Victorians have 

to come back immediately if they want to defend their title successfully. 

SABBIR’S RECORD-BREAKING 122 

Sabbir’s record-breaking innings of 122 from just 62 deliveries against Barisal 

Bulls is probably the highlights of the first phase of BPL 4 so far. It 

is the highest individual score in the history of the Bangladesh Premier 

League Twenty20. He leapfrogged the previous record of 116 scored by Barisal 

Burners’ Chris Gayle against Dhaka Gladiators in 2012. Sabbir’s hundred 

is the first century in BPL 4. In the previous three editions, a total of 

eight centuries were scored. He is the third local player to score a century 

after Mohammad Ashraful and Shahriar Nafees. But Sabbir is the fastest 

centurion among the trio as he reached his hundred in 53 balls, as opposed 

to Ashraful’s 56 balls and Shahriar’s 67 balls. Sabbir smashed nine boundaries 

and nine sixes during his memorable innings. 

Bangladesh Hockey Federation has 

announced an 18-man national 

squad ahead of the AHF Cup Hockey 

Tournament which is scheduled 

to get underway on November 18. 

The team will fly for Hong Kong on 

Wednesday night. 

Bangladesh placed in Group A 

along with Chinese Taipei, Macao 

and hosts Hong Kong while Group 

B comprised of Sri Lanka, Thailand, 

Singapore and Uzbekistan. 

The men in red and green will 

begin their campaign with the 

match against the hosts Hong Kong 

on November 19 before taking on 

Chinese Taipei two days later. The 

last group match against the Macao 

will be held on November 23. 

Squad: Goalkeepers – Asim 

Gope, Jahid Hossain; Defenders – 

Ashraful Islam, Mamunur Rahman 

Chayan, Khorshedur Rahman, Tapash 

Barman, Imran Hasan Pintu, 

Farhad Ahmed Shitul; Midfielders 

– Rumman Hossain, Sarwar, Kamruzzaman 

Rana, Milon Hossain, 

Rezaul Karim Babu; Forwards – Rasel 

Mahmud Jimmy, Puskar Khiso 

Mimo, Hasan Jubaer Niloy, Krishna 

Kumar and Mainul Islam Kaushik.•

DT 

26 


FIVE AUSTRALIA 

BATTING COLLAPSES 

47 all out -Cape Town, Nov 2011 

Australia crash to their worst total 

in more than a century as they collapse 

to 47 all out in the second innings 

against South Africa in Cape 

Town. Bowlers Peter Siddle and 

Nathan Lyon are the only players 

to reach double figures as Australia 

lose the first Test by eight wickets. 

It clocks in as Australia’s fourth 

lowest total, the other three coming 

against England in a 14-year 

span from 1888 to 1902. 

60 all out-Trent Bridge, Aug 2015 

Australia make just 60 in 18.3 overs, 

the shortest completed first innings 

in history, to lose the fourth Test 

against England and surrender the 

coveted Ashes trophy. Only two 

players -- captain Michael Clarke, 

and fast bowler Mitchell Johnson -- 

reach double figures, and Australia’s 

highest single scorer is extras, with 

14. For England, fast bowler Stuart 

Broad takes an astonishing eight 

wickets for just 15 runs. It isn’t Australia’s 

first collapse in the series, after 

they lost 5-25 and 6-50 in the first 

Test, and 5-60 and 4-30 in the third. 

Clarke announces his retirement 

after the ‘Terror at Trent Bridge’, 

handing the baton to Steve Smith. 

9 for 52 -Galle, Aug 2016 

Australia lose nine wickets for 52 

runs in the first innings before 

slumping to a 229-run defeat in 

the second Test against Sri Lanka. 

The visitors are on 54 for 1 before 

Usman Khawaja is bowled by Dilruwan 

Perera, precipitating their 

rapid demise to 106 all out. The 

eventual defeat hands Sri Lanka an 

unbeatable 2-0 lead in the threematch 

series, and the hosts later 

win the third Test to complete a 

3-0 sweep. 

10 for 86- Perth, Nov 2016 

Australia reach 158 without loss, 

well placed to overhaul South Africa’s 

first innings 242 when David 

Warner is dismissed for 97, the first 

of 10 wickets to fall for 86 as they 

finish just two runs ahead on 244, 

despite strike bowler Dale Steyn’s 

departure with a broken shoulder. 

The visitors then slam 540 in their 

second innings and canter to victory 

by 177 runs. 

85 all out& 8 for 32 -Hobart Nov 16 

A collapse in each innings sets the 

seal on South Africa’s series victory 

and indicates a crisis for Australia, 

who suffer their fifth straight Test 

defeat. In the first innings, Smith’s 

unbeaten 48 accounts for more 

than half of Australia’s 85 all out. 

Vernon Philander takes 5-21 for 

South Africa. There’s no improvement 

from Australia in the second 

innings as they lose their last eight 

wickets for 32 runs to go down by 

an innings and 80 runs in just two 

days and one session of play, after 

the second day was washed out.• 

SCORECARD 

AUSTRALIA FIRST INNINGS R B 

85 (S. Smith 48 not out; V. Philander 5-21) 

South Africa first innings 326 (Q. de Kock 

104, T. Bavuma 74; J. Hazlewood 6-89) 

AUSTRALIA SECOND INNINGS R B 

(overnight 121-2) 

U. Khawaja c de Kock b Abbott 64 121 

S. Smith c De Kock b Rabada 31 82 

A. Voges c Duminy b Abbott 2 17 

C. Ferguson c Elgar b Rabada 1 11 

P. Nevill c Duminy b Rabada 6 16 

J. Mennie lbw b Rabada 0 2 

M. Starc c De Kock b Abbott 0 13 

J. Hazlewood not out 6 14 

N. Lyon c Philander b Abbott 4 4 

Extras (lb1 nb1) 2 

Total (all out; 60.1 overs) 161 

Fall of wickets 

1-0 (Burns), 2-79 (Warner), 3-129 (Khawaja), 

4-135 (Voges), 5-140 (Ferguson), 6-150 

(Nevill), 7-150 (Mennie), 8-151 (Smith), 

9-151 (Starc), 10-161 (Lyon) 

Bowling 

Abbott 23.1-3-77-6, Philander 16-6-31-0 

(1nb), Duminy 1-0-8-0, Rabada 17-5-34-4, 

Maharaj 3-0-10-0 

Result: South Africa won by an innings 

and 80 runs 

South Africa lead series 2-0 

Sport 

‘Embarrassed’ Smith urges changes 

• AFP, Hobart 

“Embarrassed” skipper Steve Smith 

said Australia needed a shake-up 

but backed under-fire coach Darren 

Lehmann after the hosts slumped 

to a humiliating series defeat to 

South Africa on Tuesday. 

Eight wickets fell for 32 runs as 

Australia went down by an innings 

and 80 runs before lunch on the 

fourth day of the rain-hit second Test, 

their fifth straight loss in the format. 

It followed an inglorious rout of 

85 in the first innings, and a 10-86 

batting collapse in the first innings 

of their comprehensive first-Test 

loss in Perth. 

Proteas thrash Aussies 

in Test series triumph 

• AFP, Hobart 

South Africa demolished Australia 

by an innings and 80 runs after yet 

another batting collapse to claim 

their third successive Test series 

Down Under Tuesday, plunging the 

hosts further into crisis. 

The Proteas bowled out the 

home side for 161 before lunch on 

the fourth day, rattling through 

their last eight wickets for 32 in 116 

balls, after routing Australia for 85 

in the first innings. 

The overpowering victory 

followed a 177-run win against 

Steve Smith’s shattered team in 

the first Perth Test, with South 

Africa emulating the intimidating 

West Indies sides of the 1980-1990s 

with three straight series wins in 

Australia. 

“I didn’t expect it to happen that 

quickly, to get eight wickets in one 

of those sessions and one we will 

always remember as a team that 

won us a series,” victorious skipper 

Faf du Plessis said. “That ranks 

right up at the top. 

“It is special for us. To win a series 

2-0 with one game to play, I am 

very proud of the way the team is 

moving forward.” 

The second innings destruction 

cranked up more pressure on Australian 

skipper Smith and coach 

Darren Lehmann and intensified 

calls for significant team changes 

for the final day-night Test in Adelaide 

next week. 

It was Australia’s fifth consecutive 

Test defeat this year, having 

also lost all three Tests in Sri Lanka 

in August.• 

South African players celebrate after defeating Australia during their second Test at Bellerive Oval, Hobart yesterday 

REUTERS 

“I am embarrassed to be sitting 

here, to be perfectly honest with 

you. Too many times we have lost 

wickets in clumps, 8/32 today, 10/85 

in the first innings,” Smith said. 

“And it is happening way too 

consistently for my liking. We are 

not being resilient, we are not willing 

to tough it out and get through 

tough periods... it is not good 

enough.” 

Smith, who remained 48 not out in 

the first innings shambles and scored 

31 at his second visit to the crease, 

foreshadowed selection changes as 

Australian cricket grapples to fix its 

demoralised national team. 

“It is not working. So, obviously 

on the back of five losses there 

is going to be a lot talked about in 

regards to selection and things like 

that,” the 17-Test skipper said. 

“We’ve got to start finding a way 

to turn things around. Whether 

the ball is seaming or spinning or 

swinging we don’t have an answer 

at the moment. We are not resilient 

enough, we are not digging 

in enough, we are not having the 

pride in our wicket, we’re just not 

being resilient enough and something 

has got to change. 

“We have got to play a lot better 

than we have been if we are going 

to beat any opposition around the 

world at the moment.”• 

3 

Consecutive series wins for a team 

against Australia in Australia. Before 

this South Africa had won in 2008-09 

and 2012-13. They have become the 

third team to achieve this feat after 

West Indies and England. West Indies 

won three between 1984 and 1992 and 

England won three between 1884 and 

1888. 

0 

Previous instances of South Africa 

beating Australia by an innings in 

Australia. This is South Africa’s biggest 

margin of victory in Australia. The 

previous highest was by 309 runs in 

Perth in 2012. 

326 

Runs scored by South 

Africa to complete an 

innings victory. This is the fifth-lowest 

total by any team to complete an innings 

victory in Australia and the lowest since 

1993. West Indies had made just 322 

runs at the WACA on that occasion and 

had won by an innings and 25 runs. 

2013 

The last time before this 

Australia had lost five or 

more consecutive Tests. With the loss in 

Hobart, Australia have lost three in Sri 

Lanka and two at home. Before 2013, 

they had lost six consecutive Tests in 

1984, all of them against West Indies. 

193.5 

Overs bowled in this 

Test. The last time 

a Test match in Australia produced a 

result in fewer balls was in 1950, when 

Australia won an Ashes Test at the 

Gabba in 129.2 eight-ball overs. 

558 

Number of balls faced by 

Australia match - second 

least in a Test at home in the last 100 

years. They had survived just 457 balls 

against England in the Brisbane Test in 

1928-29. 

32 

Number of runs for which 

Australia lost their last eight 

wickets. This equals Australia’s worst 

such collapse in history. In 1888, they 

had again lost eight wicket for 32 runs 

against England in Sydney 

16 

Number of single-digit scores 

by the Australia batsmen in the 

match - their joint-most in any Test. The 

last time before this they had 16 such 

scores in a Test was in 1912 at the Oval. 

246 

IN NUMBERS 

Total runs scored by 

Australia in this Test 

match. It is their sixth lowest ever in 

home Tests. The most recent previous 

instance of Australia scoring lower 

and losing 20 wickets was 112 years 

ago when they made 233 runs against 

England in Melbourne 

6/77 

Kyle Abbott’s 

bowling figures in the 

second innings of this Test - the best 

performance in an innings for South 

Africa against Australia since Shaun 

Pollock’s 7 for 87 in Adelaide in 1998. 

Abbott has taken 12 wickets in two 

matches against Australia at an average 

of 20.58. •

Sport 27 

DT 


QUICK BYTES 

Australian hitter Bailey 

returns to Hampshire 

Australian batsman George Bailey 

will be Hampshire’s overseas player 

in the English championship for 

the next two years, the county side 

announced Tuesday. The 34-yearold 

big hitting right-hander and 

former Australia Twenty20 captain 

will start a second spell at the Rose 

Bowl after a season in 2013. Bailey, 

who has also played for Middlesex 

and Sussex, said he was “thrilled” 

to be returning to Hampshire, 

who were relegated to the second 

division this year. 

–AFP 

Rahul returns to India 

squad for England Test 

India received a boost on Tuesday 

with the news that opener Lokesh 

Rahul has recovered from injury 

and is in contention to face England 

in this week’s second Test. “Rahul 

has fully recovered from his right 

hamstring injury and would be 

joining the squad today,” the Board 

of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 

said in an emailed statement. The 

right-handed batsman, 24, missed 

the opening Test in Rajkot -- in India’s 

western state of Gujarat -- which 

finished in a draw on Sunday. 

–AFP 

US keeper Howard 

sidelined for four months 

United States goalkeeper Tim 

Howard has sustained a groin injury 

and is expected to be sidelined 

for four months, his Major League 

Soccer club Colorado Rapids said on 

Monday. Howard suffered the injury, 

a fracture of the right adductor 

longus, during Friday’s 2-1 World 

Cup qualifying loss against Mexico 

in Columbus, Ohio. The U.S. team 

are likely to replace him with Brad 

Guzan. 

–REUTERS 

DAY’S WATCH 

FOOTBALL 

SONY ESPN 

8:00AM 

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 

Peru v Brazil 

STAR SPORTS 1 

7:30PM 

Indian Super League 

Goa v Mumbai 

CRICKET 

SONY ESPN 

10:00PM 

CSA T20 Challenge 2016 

Cape Cobras v Titans 

TEN 3 

1:30PM 

Tri-Nation (WI,SL,Zim) 

2nd ODI: West Indies v Sri Lanka 

Murray masters Cilic, Nishikori wins 

• Reuters, London 

If Andy Murray was grateful to 

Marin Cilic for facilitating his rise 

to the summit this month it was 

not evident as he added the Croatian 

to his lengthening list of victims 

at the ATP World Tour Finals 

on Monday. 

It was Cilic’s defeat of Novak 

Djokovic at the Paris Masters that 

opened the door for Murray to 

seize the number one ranking he 

had spent his whole career pursuing. 

Murray repaid the favour with 

a 6-3 6-2 win -- his 20th in succession 

-- although it was far from a 

drubbing as Cilic tried his utmost 

to ruin the Scot’s homecoming. 

Fed Cup captain 

Mauresmo quits 

• AFP, Paris 

Amelie Mauresmo stepped down 

Monday as French Fed Cup captain 

saying that she was pregnant, a day 

after the team lost in the final to 

the Czech Republic. 

The former world number one 

took over as team captain in 2012, 

leading France to promotion from 

the Fed Cup second division during 

her term. 

“I am expecting my second 

child in April and with the Fed Cup 

programme including matches 

in February and April, it would 

Four more performances like 

that at the O2 Arena this week 

should guarantee the 29-year-old 

will end 2016 leading the pack. 

Murray had lost his most recent 

meeting with Cilic, the Cincinnati 

Masters final in August, and on 

Wednesday he will face Japan’s Kei 

Nishikori who stopped him in the 

U.S. Open quarter-finals -- Murray’s 

last Tour level defeat. 

Nishikori had earlier beaten 

Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-2 6-3 in the 

John McEnroe group -- although 

that match was as one-sided as the 

scoreline suggested with Wawrinka 

badly off key. 

Murray has been handed a 

tougher-looking group than Novak 

be impossible,” said the former 

Wimbledon and Australian Open 

champion. 

Mauresmo, 37, who formerly 

coached world number one Andy 

Murray, said she had kept the news 

secret from the team which fell 3-2 

to defeat to the Czechs in Strasbourg 

on Sunday. 

“It was a bit of a shock at first, 

they weren’t expecting it,” said 

Mauresmo after telling the players 

earlier Monday. 

She said that her decision had 

nothing to do with tension within 

the team following the defeat.• 

Djokovic, the man he deposed and 

who could still snatch back the top 

ranking, but he cleared the first 

hurdle in style in front of a near full 

house who welcomed him home 

like a returning hero. 

Murray served four double 

faults in the early stages and came 

under a fierce assault by Cilic. 

But in his first match since officially 

taking over at the top, he 

showed all the attributes that have 

made him all but unbeatable since 

his French Open final loss to Djokovic. 

Even when Cilic cancelled out 

an early break Murray responded 

immediately to move 3-1 ahead. 

He conjured an ace to stave off 

STANDINGS 

P W L F A Pts 

Group John McEnroe 

Kei Nishikori 1 1 0 2 0 2 

1. Andy Murray 1 1 0 2 0 2 

2. Stanislas Wawrinka 1 0 1 0 2 0 

3. Marin Cilic 1 0 1 0 2 0 

Group Ivan Lendl 

1. Milos Raonic 1 1 0 2 0 2 

2. Novak Djokovic 1 1 0 2 1 2 

3. Dominic Thiem 1 0 1 1 2 0 

4. Gael Monfils 1 0 1 0 2 0 

KEI NISHIKORI (JPN x5) bt STAN 

WAWRINKA (SUI x3) 6-2, 6-3 

ANDY MURRAY (GBR x1) bt MARIN 

CILIC (CRO x7) 6-3, 6-2 

Great Britain’s Andy Murray in action 

against Croatia’s Marin Cilic during 

thier Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 

match at O2 Arena, London on Monday 

REUTERS 

a break point in the next game 

and eventually took a high-quality 

opener in 45 minutes. 

Cilic had chances again at the 

start of the second set but it was 

Murray who struck in the fifth 

game with a blistering forehand 

winner. Murray then put the hammer 

down. 

Wawrinka sprayed more than 30 

unforced errors against Nishikori in 

a disappointingly one-sided clash. 

Wawrinka tried to pump himself 

up at the start of the second set, delivering 

a couple of signature backhands, 

but he looked a shadow 

of the player who claimed a third 

grand slam title by beating Djokovic 

in New York in September.• 

NZ confirm Jurgensen 

as bowling coach 

• Reuters, Wellington 

New Zealand have confirmed 

Shane Jurgensen as full-time 

bowling coach through to the 2019 

World Cup after employing the 

Australian on an interim basis since 

February. 

The former Bangladesh coach 

will have his second stint in the 

role, having been the Black Caps’ 

bowling coach from 2008-10. 

“Shane’s been impressive with 

the structure he’s brought to the 

bowling unit and we’re pleased to 

be able to lock him into a long-term 

contract,” head coach Mike Hesson 

said in a media release on Tuesday. 

“His knowledge of all conditions 

and his overall experience has been 

evident during his time with us.” 

New Zealand open their twotest 

series against Pakistan in 

Christchurch on Thursday. •

DT 

28 


Sport 

Japan forward Keisuke Honda (R) controls the ball against Saudi Arabia during their 2018 World Cup Asian qualifier Group B match at Saitama Stadium yesterday 

AFP 

Saudi fury as 

Japan boost 

WC hopes 

• AFP, Saitama 

Japan beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in a 

foul-tempered qualifier Tuesday as 

a debatable Hiroshi Kiyotake penalty 

boosted their hopes of qualifying 

for a sixth successive World 

Cup in 2018. 

The Blue Samurai drew level 

with the Group B leaders on 10 

points after a tempestuous clash 

in Saitama, where Kiyotake’s spot 

kick and a Genki Haraguchi effort 

eased the pressure on under-fire 

coach Vahid Halilhodzic. 

Saudi Arabia pulled a late goal 

back through Omar Othman but it 

was not enough for the visitors to 

rescue a draw. 

“Credit to the players for beating 

a good Saudi team,” said Halilhodzic, 

whose future has been plunged 

into doubt after a poor run of form 

during the Asian qualifying campaign. 

“This is a big victory for us but 

it was a deserved one,” added the 

Franco-Bosnian after his side improved 

to 10 points from five games, 

with five remaining. We have had to 

stay strong to come back from some 

difficult situations and no doubt 

there will be more to overcome before 

we get to Russia.”• 

Guardiola’s sex 

ban got best 

out of Messi 

says Nasri 

• AFP, Paris 

Notoriously obsessive taskmaster 

Pep Guardiola got the most out of 

Lionel Messi when they were together 

at Barcelona by banning the 

world’s best player from having sex 

after midnight. 

That was the claim by Samir 

Nasri, who was shipped off by the 

now Manchester City boss on loan 

to Sevilla for allegedly being overweight. 

Nasri, who is now flourishing 

in Spain with Sevilla, revealed 

just how far Guardiola goes to get 

his players in peak condition for a 

match. 

“Guardiola tells his players that 

if they want to have sex, keep it 

before midnight because you need 

a good night’s sleep,” the City outcast 

told French television channel 

L’Equipe. 

“He claims he said it to Messi 

and that after that he didn’t get injured 

anymore,” the former France 

international said. 

“(Robert) Lewandowski was on 

the bench (at Bundesliga champion 

Bayern Munich) and he was made 

to understand too.” • 

Vieira tribute as Lampard ends 

New York City stay 

• Reuters, New York 

New York City coach Patrick Vieira 

saluted Frank Lampard after the 

former England and Chelsea midfielder 

announced on Monday he 

will be leaving the Major League 

Soccer team when his contract expires 

next month. 

The 38-year-old Lampard, 

signed in 2014, suffered with injuries 

during his time in the U.S. but 

scored 15 goals in 31 appearances 

for New York City. 

“Everybody talks about Frank’s 

goalscoring record but I can tell 

you, after a year of working with 

him, he brings so much more to 

a team than just goals,” former 

France midfielder Vieira told the 

club website (www.nycfc.com). 

“What Frank has brought to the 

locker room is something just as 

important, his experience, his elite 

mentality and his mentorship for 

the younger members of our squad 

have helped us greatly this year.” 

Lampard, Chelsea’s all-time record 

scorer with 211 goals, claimed 

New York City’s maiden hat-trick 

against the Colorado Rapids in July 

as the club reached the playoffs for 

the first time. 

“As my time at NYCFC comes 

to an end I would like to thank so 

many people for the kindness and 

support they have shown me,” he 

said. 

“My team mates have been a 

pleasure to play alongside, the 

amazing fans have given me incredible 

support and backing. 

“I have very much enjoyed my 

time and I am very grateful to have 

had the opportunity to play for 

such a great club and in such an incredible 

city,” added Lampard. 

“I leave with many great memories 

as I embark on the next stage 

of my career and I’ll be making an 

announcement very soon.” 

Lampard won three Premier 

League titles and the 2012 Champions 

League with Chelsea and 

scored 29 goals in 106 appearances 

for England. 

New York City’s sporting director 

Claudio Reyna echoed Vieira’s 

sentiments. 

“On and off the pitch he has 

been a fantastic ambassador,” Reyna 

said. 

“I would tell any young player to 

watch Frank, to see how he’s conducted 

himself over the last two 

years and to use that as inspiration 

as to how an elite, professional 

footballer should approach the 

game,” he added. 

“From the second he walked 

through the door he’s set the example. 

Frank will always be part of the 

history of this club and we thank 

him for playing an important role 

in so many special moments in our 

young history.” • 

My United days 

could soon be 

up, says Carrick 

• AFP, Manchester 

Manchester United midfielder Michael 

Carrick says this could be his 

last season at the club and backed 

world-record signing Paul Pogba to 

showcase his “very special” talent. 

The veteran playmaker has 

mainly been used in cup competitions 

this season under Jose Mourinho, 

although he did start United’s 

last league game and is in contention 

for only his second Premier 

League start of the campaign this 

weekend against Arsenal. 

Asked if he would like to remain 

at Old Trafford beyond this season, 

the former England international 

told Sky Sports: “Yeah, but I’m 35 

now and I have to be realistic. 

“I’m not going to make predictions 

about what is going to be happening 

next season. 

“We are not even at Christmas 

yet and I just want to play as many 

games as I can and see how I’m 

feeling, how the body is feeling. 

“That is the biggest gauge to see 

if I can still do it, if I feel I can still 

do it and the manager feels that. 

“There is a lot of things to come 

into the equation, so I’m not going 

to be making any rash judgements 

just yet.”•

Downtime 

29 


DT 

CROSSWORD 

ACROSS 

1 Pale (3) 

3 Sport (4) 

6 Masticate (4) 

7 Vestment (3) 

9 Agreement (4) 

10 Speed an engine (3) 

11 Mode of transport (4) 

13 Select group (4) 

16 Worship (5) 

18 Bearing (4) 

19 Fate (3) 

20 Fly upwards (4) 

21 Flightless bird (3) 

23 Timber-dressing 

tool (4) 

24 Excuse (4) 

25 Anger (3) 

DOWN 

1 Form a fabric (5) 

2 Boring tool (3) 

4 Spoken (4) 

5 Not at home (3) 

6 Freight (5) 

8 Newlywed (5) 

9 Jetty (4) 

12 Make up for (5) 

14 Den (4) 

15 Supple (5) 

17 Escape artfully (5) 

18 Labyrinth (4) 

20 Undermine (3) 

22 Spoil (3) 

CODE-CRACKER 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 18 represents R so fill R 

every time the figure 18 appears. 

You have two letters in the control 

grid to start you off. Enter them in the 

appropriate squares in the main grid, then 

use your knowledge of words to work out 

which letters go in the missing squares. 

Some letters of the alphabet may not be 

used. 

As you get the letters, fill in the other 

squares with the same number in the 

main grid, and the control grid. Check 

off the list of alphabetical letters as you 

identify them. 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 

CALVIN AND HOBBES 

SUDOKU 

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the 

numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must 

contain all nine digits with no number repeating. 

PEANUTS 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS 

CODE-CRACKER 

CROSSWORD 

DILBERT 

SUDOKU

30 


DT 

Showtime 

Tête-à-tête with a young playwright 

Anika Mahin with her mother Rokeya Rafique Baby 

• Hasan Dabir Uddin 

Anika Mahin, the daughter of 

actors S M Solaiman and Rokeya 

Rafique Baby, and an active 

member of Theatre Art Unit, has 

come up with her second play as 

a writer. The play – Marshakam 

(Masochism), is a political satire 

which was staged recently. As a 

playwright, Mahin followed her 

father’s footsteps while writing 

Marshakam, who was renowned 

for writing political satires. The 

play was directed by her mother. 

We caught up with the young 

playwright to know her better. 

What was it like growing up in a 

culture-oriented family? 

I feel fortunate to be born in this 

family. I have seen various types 

of cultural activities on our roof 

top since early childhood. I would 

say, I literally spent my childhood 

in rehearsal rooms. When my 

father was around with us, he had 

organised various types of cultural 

programmes very often in the 

house. 

This is your second play. Was there 

any particular thing that provoked 

you to write the play? 

Actually, it’s the first play I wrote, 

but it was the second one to be 

staged. The play’s main theme is 

the current role of imperialism 

in world politics, and it depicts 

how the influential countries are 

dominating the weaker ones. 

Who encouraged you most to 

write? 

My parents. 

How do you prepare yourself 

before writing a play? 

To begin with, I adapt an idea 

before writing a play. Afterwards, I 

convince myself with the idea and 

then start writing. While writing 

I like to experiment with various 

perspectives. Sometimes, the plot 

changes as I proceed with it. 

Since Marshakam is a political 

satire, did you feel any pressure 

after its premiere? 

It’s a three-act play. The storyline 

is based on the foreign policy 

of the most powerful country in 

the current political scene of the 

world, which is interconnected 

with our local politics. The 

powerful countries have been 

controlled since decades without 

revolution or protests. Rather, the 

protest is under way and it will 

continue in the future. But the 

conspiracy theory of this policy 

devours all discourses of the 

revolution. Till now, I did not face 

any political pressure for writing 

this. Everybody encouraged me for 

writing so far. 

What is your impression with the 

play’s staging? 

Spectators liked the play for 

various aspects of political issues, 

which the actors represented 

exactly how I wanted to portray 

through their performances. 

How do you feel about your 

mother directeng the play? 

It seems usual although my mother 

directed it. I would feel the same if 

it was directed by other directors. 

What are your future plans? 

I want to write, and I am a 

member of the Theatre Art Unit, 

which is enough for me. • 

American Alumni Association showcased ‘Blockade’ 

• Showtime Desk 

American Alumni Association 

(AAA) organised the screening of a 

documentary film Blockade, which 

is based on a true event. The film, 

directed and produced by Arif 

Yousuf, an American alumni, was 

showcased at the EMK Center, on 

November 12. The filmmaker Arif 

Yousuf, and Mridul Chowdhury, 

the associate director and AAA 

Member, and Dr Sultana Alam, 

the main interviewee of the film, 

among others were present at the 

event. 

The documentary is about the 

inspiring story of how a group 

of people in Delaware Valley 

area (Philadelphia, Baltimore, 

Washington DC), irrespective 

of their nationality or religion, 

stood up in 1971 against the 

brutal oppression of the Pakistani 

military in Bangladesh, the then 

East Pakistan. The military was 

carrying out genocide of epic 

proportions, which led to a 

liberation war, and eventually the 

birth of a new nation, Bangladesh. 

The film covers a series of 

events that started in June 

1971, when the New York Times 

published a story about two 

Pakistani military ships which 

were coming to the Eastern 

Seaboard of the US to load up arms 

supplied by the US government, 

without the Congressional 

approval and despite official ban. 

AAA Secretary Imtiaj Rasul, 

EC Member Ashik Imran Khan, 

and a large number of permanent 

members of the association 

enjoyed the movie. A short 

discussion was held after the 

show about the movie, where the 

director shared his experiences 

with the audience.•

Showtime 

Jaya Ahsan 

wrapped 

up Kaushik 

Ganguly’s new 

film 

Real Steel 

Star Movies 6:41pm 

In the near future, robot 

boxing is a top sport. A 

struggling promoter feels 

he’s found a champion in a 

discarded robot. 

Cast: Hugh Jackman, 

Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo 

The Dark Knight Rises 

HBO 8:30pm 

WHAT TO WATCH 

31 


him, stalking and killing them 

in their dreams. 

Cast: Jackie Earle Haley, 

Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner 

Guardians of the Galaxy 

Zee Studio 9:30pm 

A group of intergalactic 

criminals are forced to work 

together to stop a fanatical 

warrior from taking control of 

the universe. 

Cast: Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, 

Bradley Cooper 

DT 

Who Am I? 

Movies Now 7:00pm 


Bangladeshi actor, Jaya Ahsan 

wrapped up shooting for Kaushik 

Ganguly’s upcoming film 

Bishorjon. The National Award 

winning actor recently revealed 

some pictures from the film’s 

shooting spot at Kalimpong, a hill 

station in the Indian state of West 

Bengal. 

Alongside Jaya, who is playing 

the role of Padma, Abir Chatterjee 

plays lead in the film, while 

Kaushik Ganguly, renowned for 

making few acclaimed ventures 

like Shabdo, Apur Panchali, and 

Arekti Premer Golpo, will portray a 

special role in it. 

Last week, Kaushik Ganguly 

tweeted that the shooting of the 

film is wrapped up perfectly. 

Ganguly thanked Jaya Ahsan, 

Abir Chatterjee, the production 

company Opera Entertainment, 

and the whole unit for wrapping it 

up nicely. 

The film is based on Bangladesh 

before its independence (East 

Pakistan), and depicts a romantic 

story. It portrayed how borders 

try to detach people from each 

other while its love keeps them 

connected. 

Earlier, Jaya acted in several 

films from Kolkata, including 

Arindam Sil’s Aborto and Eagoler 

Chokh, Indranil Roy Chowdhury’s 

Ekti Bangali Bhooter Goppo, and 

Srijit Mukherji’s Rajkahini. • 

Eight years after the Joker’s 

reign of anarchy, the Dark 

Knight, with the help of the 

enigmatic Selina, is forced 

from his imposed exile to 

save Gotham City, now on 

the edge of total annihilation, 

from the brutal guerrilla 

terrorist Bane. 

Cast: Christian Bale, Tom 

Hardy, Anne Hathaway 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 

WB 7:23pm 

The spectre of a dead child 

rapist haunts the children of 

the parents who murdered 

A secret agent loses his 

memory after falling from 

a crashing helicopter. He is 

then chased by a number of 

other agency operatives, but 

he has no idea why. 

Cast: Jackie Chan, Michelle 

Ferre, Mirai Yamamoto • 

Cold war 

between 

Katrina and 

Deepika 


The cold war in Bollywood clearly 

never ceases to exist! Deepika 

Padukone and Katrina Kaif are 

no new names in this list, and for 

reasons quite rightful in their own 

places they are at loggerheads. 

Once again, at the Lux Golden 

Rose Awards 2016, held on 

Saturday, November 12, both the 

bodacious actresses were spotted 

under one roof. This is funny 

considering how the previous 

day, Padukone partied hard with 

Ranbir Kapoor. History is proof of 

the kind of relationship this trio 

holds. Anyway, Kat made sure 

that she only arrived to collect 

her trophy and perform before 

making a quick exit. 

They spotted each other at the 

event and well, icy cold exchanges 

were made. Both the divas made 

sure they maintained not only 

an arm’s distance, but a mile’s 

distance from each other. In fact, 

they didn’t even sit on the same 

row, as they wanted space from 

each other. Kat was only present 

for her performance and award. 

As soon as her “Kala Chashma” 

performance left everyone 

breathless (including Mr Khan), 

the actress was awarded. Post 

this, she made an exit. 

Clearly, she was in no mood 

to even socialise with others 

at the party. Of course, RK Jr is 

the prime reason for this divide 

between two of Bollywood’s 

hottest ladies. Padukone chose 

to let her thigh high slit do 

the talking as she waltzed in a 

strapless Ralph and Russo’s gown. 

On the other hand, Kaif kept it 

simple and chic, as she donned 

an embellished teal blue Ziad 

Nakad’s gown. A lot might not 

be well between these two, but 

they definitely know how to make 

heads turn. 

In the coming days, Deepika 

will be seen in her Hollywood 

debut film, XXX: Return of Xander 

Cage, alongside Vin Diesel. The 

film will be releasing in January 

next year, and we’ll be seeing a 

lot of DP in the process! Katrina’s 

next is Jagga Jasoos. While she’ll 

be starting with Salman Khan’s 

Tiger Zinda Hai, as soon as he 

wraps up Tubelight, her next 

official release is the Anurag Basu 

film which has taken forever to 

film as well as release. It will star 

Ranbir Kapoor alongside her, and 

people are wondering if they’ll 

be just as cordial as Deepika and 

Ranbir were with their first film, 

Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, after 

their breakup. •

32 


DT 

Back Page 

DEALS OF SEVEN PRIVATE SECTOR POWER PLANTS 

LIKELY TO BE EXTENDED BY 5-15YRS PAGE 12 

TALKING POINTS: BPL 

4 FIRST PHASE PAGE 25 

Shot by police, two Santals in jail 

• Tajul Islam Reza, Gaibandha 

Two Gobindaganj Santals, who had 

been injured in police shooting 

and were being treated at Rangpur 

Medical College Hospital, were 

sent to jail yesterday. 

Charan Soren and Bimal Kisku 

were discharged from the hospital 

yesterday and produced in the 

court of Gobindaganj Judicial Magistrate. 

Sub-Inspector Azad of Gobindaganj 

police station, who is investigating 

a case filed over November 

6 clashes between police and Santals, 

confirmed the matter to the 

Dhaka Tribune. 

Charan Soren and Bimal Kisku 

are accused in the case, said Subrata 

Kumar Sarker, officer-in-charge 

of Gobindaganj police station. 

He said: “Soren and Kisku were 

brought to Gobindaganj this morning 

as the hospital authorities discharged 

them.” 

Santals of Sahebganj-Bagda Farm 

area in Gobindaganj, Gaibandha 

came under police firing on November 

6 when they protested eviction 

from their ancestral land by a group 

of people allegedly loyal to the local 

lawmaker. The evictors drove the 

Santals away and looted their homes 

and burned them to the ground. 

Three Santals were killed and 

more than 30 people were injured 

in the clashes. 

Four Santals, including Charan 

and Bimal, received bullet injuries. 

Shyamol Hembron of Gomeshwarpur 

of Chapainawabganj, succumbed 

to his injuries on way to 

Dinajpur Medical College Hospital; 

The disputed land of Shahebganj-Bagda sugarcane farm in Gabindaganj, Gaibandha which, until November 6, used to be home to a Santal community, is now a sugarcane 

field surrounded by barbed wire fence, causing an outrage among the Santals. The photo was taken yesterday 

MD TAZUL ISLAM REZA 

another injured Dijen Tudu of Joypur 

village in Gobindaganj is being 

treated at the National Institute 

of Ophthalmology and Hospital in 

Dhaka. 

All of the injured were on handcuffs 

while being treated at hospitals. 

Police removed the handcuffs 

on Monday upon a directive from 

the High Court following a writ petition 

by a Supreme Court lawyer. 

The clash occurred over 761.62 

hectares of land in Sahebganj where 

sugarcane was being farmed. The 

land is claimed by Rangpur Sugar 

Mills in Gobindaganj. 

OC Subrata told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“The locals have long disputed 

the ownership of the land with the 

sugar mill. When the sugar mill employees 

tried to harvest sugarcane 

under police protection they were 

attacked by locals including Santals. 

“The Santals shot arrows at us. 

We fired back with rubber bullets 

and teargas shells to bring the situation 

under control.” 

Meanwhile, Supreme Court 

lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua sent 

a legal notice to nine people, 

including the home and industries 

secretaries, asking to explain under 

what authorities the eviction drive 

at Gobindaganj was conducted 

and what steps have been taken 

against those involved in attacking 

villagers, torching houses and 

looting. 

The notice, which was sent on 

behalf of two Santal victims, asks 

the respondents to answer in written 

within 24 hours, otherwise legal 

steps will be taken. • 

86 Rohingya Muslims pushed back by BGB 

• Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar 

Border Guard Bangladesh officials 

say they have pushed back 86 Rohingya 

Muslims including women 

and children who fled Myanmar in 

the face of violent clashes between 

the security forces and the Islamist 

militants. 

“The detainees were given humanitarian 

assistance and sent back 

around 2:30pm,” Teknaf 2 BGB Battalion 

deputy commander Maj Abu 

Russell Siddique said yesterday. 

They entered the Bangladesh 

territory for treatment, the official 

claimed. 

BGB members detained the 86 

people, all hailing from Khoiarchar 

village in Sittwe, the capital of 

Muslim-dominated Rakhine state, 

and also seized two boats after they 

entered Bangladesh through No 5 

Sluice Gate and Wabrang area of Sabrang 

Union crossing the Naf River. 

The arrestees include 40 women 

and 25 children. 

The Myanmar government has 

admitted that its helicopter gunships 

had opened fire on the Rohingya 

villages killing at least 30. 

Media reports suggest that around 

70 people have died in the crackdown 

since last month. 

Meanwhile, AFP reported yesterday 

quoting Rohingya community 

leaders that the BGB had pushed back 

around 200 Rohingyas on Monday. 

Amu: Santals used as 

pawns by land grabbers 

• Asif Shawkat Kallol 

Industries Minister Amir Hossain 

Amu yesterday said land grabbers 

used Santals as pawns in a bid to 

grab government acquired land in 

Gobindaganj, Gaibandha. 

“The government acquired the 

land for a sugar mill in 1954,” Amu 

told journalists after a Cabinet meeting 

at the Secretariat. “Since then, 

the land was in possession of the 

sugar mill for the last 62 years and 

there were no Santals or Bangalis.” 

“Some land grabbers brought 

some of the Santals there with the 

Activists say the actual toll could 

be much higher, accusing troops of 

killing civilians, raping women and 

torching homes – allegations the 

army denies, AFP reports. Authorities 

have heavily restricted access 

to the area, making it difficult to independently 

verify government reports 

or accusations of army abuse. 

The latest violence has taken 

place at a time when an international 

commission, formed in August 

and led by former UN chief 

Kofi Annan, has been working to 

advise the government on the Rohingya 

issue. 

Tension has been rife in Myanmar’s 

border areas with Bangladesh 

since last month when several 

hundred militants linked to Aqa 

Mul Mujahidin group launched attacks 

on the border police and the 

army, resulting in the deaths of a 

dozen law enforcers. The Myanmar 

Army has since been conducting 

operations to arrest the attackers. 

The Rohingyas are considered 

by many in Myanmar to be illegal 

immigrants from Bangladesh and 

most do not have citizenship. They 

are prevented from moving freely 

and have their access to basic services 

restricted. 

More than 100 people were 

killed in violence in Rakhine in 

2012 and some 125,000 Rohingya 

Muslims took refuge in squalid “internally 

displaced persons” (IDP) 

intention of taking hold of the land. 

Had the government not moved 

into action that day, they could 

have taken possession of the land.” 

Amu also added that the government 

had tried several times 

to convince the Santals to move, 

without success. 

Senior Secretary Md Mosharraf 

Hossain Bhuiyan also alleged that a 

vested group had brought the Santals 

and outsiders to grab the land. 

The village close to Sahebganj-Bagda 

farm in Gobindaganj 

of Gaibandha witnessed violent 

clashes on November 6 and 7 . • 

camps where their movements 

are severely restricted. Thousands 

have fled persecution and poverty 

by boat or entered Bangladesh 

through the border. 

Bangladeshi radical Islamists 

and militant outfits have been 

working in concert with Rohingya 

militant groups including RSO to 

demand due rights of the minority 

group. Militant groups al-Qaeda 

in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) 

and the Islamic State have also 

threatened to avenge the persecution 

of Rohingyas in Myanmar. 

The Bangladesh government refuses 

to allow more Rohingyas considering 

them as a major threat to 

the country’s security. • 

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

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