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SECOND EDITION<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong> | Poush 14, 1423, Rabiul Awwal 27, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 240 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10<br />
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU<br />
‘New JMB’ planned suicide attack<br />
on Dhaka church › 2<br />
Horror for<br />
minority<br />
groups › 4<br />
‘Indo-Bangla border to<br />
be sealed completely<br />
by mid 2018’ › 5<br />
All set for first<br />
ever Zila Parisad<br />
polls today › 7<br />
Chunnu: No<br />
plan to revise<br />
RMG wage › <strong>12</strong>
2<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
News<br />
LEAD STORY<br />
Police: ‘New JMB’ planned suicide<br />
attack on Dhaka church<br />
• Mohammad Jamil Khan and<br />
Kamrul Hasan<br />
Terrorist group ‘New Jamaatul Mujahideen<br />
Bangladesh (JMB)’ was<br />
plotting to attack a church in Dhaka<br />
on Christmas day, police have<br />
claimed.<br />
The group, many of whose<br />
members have been named by the<br />
Islamic State (IS) as its operatives<br />
in Bangladesh, was plotting this<br />
attack under the leadership of it’s<br />
new operational leader Moinul Islam<br />
alias Abu Musa.<br />
This information was gleaned<br />
from the latest raid on a New JMB<br />
raid in Dhaka’s Ashkona, a police<br />
Counter Terrorism and Transnational<br />
Crime (CTTC) unit officer<br />
told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.<br />
The raid took place on <strong>December</strong><br />
24.<br />
Although the CTTC would not<br />
disclose details of Christmas day<br />
attack, a highly placed source in<br />
the force said that the documents<br />
they had received from the Ashkona<br />
safe house and statements of<br />
the surrendered female militants<br />
indicated that the attack would<br />
have taken place at Banani Church<br />
using at least one member of a female<br />
squad.<br />
CTTC chief Monirul Islam said<br />
Surjo Villa in Ashkona was being<br />
used by New JMB as a shelter<br />
home, where Musa used to live<br />
A file photo of Christians saying their prayers at Banani Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Dhaka<br />
with his wife Trisha Moni.<br />
“Four days back, Musa visited<br />
the shelter from where we found 19<br />
grenades, three suicide vests and<br />
Tk<strong>12</strong> lakh in burnt notes,” he said.<br />
“We are suspecting their plan<br />
was to carry out massive violence<br />
Musa used Threema app to<br />
contact wife<br />
• Kamrul Hasan and Arifur<br />
Rahman Rabbi<br />
Musa, the current operational<br />
chief of New JMB, used the same<br />
android app as the Gulshan attackers<br />
to communicate with<br />
his wife inside the militant safe<br />
house in Ashkona.<br />
Investigators yesterday said<br />
they had found trace of the app<br />
Threema from the phones recovered<br />
inside the flat along with the<br />
group’s documents.<br />
Seeking anonymity, a Counter<br />
Terrorism and Transnational<br />
Crime (CTTC) unit senior official<br />
said Moinul Islam alias Abu Musa<br />
instructed his wife Trisha Moni<br />
to wear a suicide vest and blow<br />
herself up along with her fourmonth-old<br />
daughter through<br />
on Christmas.”<br />
Regarding Musa’s role, Monirul<br />
said by interrogating Musa’s wife<br />
Trisha and militant Maj Zahid’s<br />
wife Jebunnahr Shila, police had<br />
come to know that after the death<br />
of top leaders of the group, Musa<br />
Threema.<br />
Threema first came into light<br />
during the investigation of Gulshan<br />
Holey Artisan Bakery attack<br />
on July 1. The five attackers had<br />
installed and used the app on<br />
one of the hostage’s cell phone to<br />
communicate with the outside.<br />
Threema is a secure messaging<br />
service that provides end-to-end<br />
encryption and deletes messages<br />
from servers, leaving little trace<br />
and preserving anonymity.<br />
Later in August RAB found a<br />
merger of two major banned militant<br />
groups JMB and ABT and<br />
they were found using Threema<br />
for communication as well. Previously,<br />
militant groups were likely<br />
to use the Telegram app for communication.<br />
Social media is used for recruitment<br />
by the groups and they<br />
move new recruits to these secure<br />
apps as they move up the ranks.<br />
The sources said after police<br />
cordoned off the Ashkona den<br />
early Saturday, Trisha defied her<br />
husband’s instructions for the<br />
sake of her daughter’s life and<br />
surrendered to the police.<br />
Among those who used to visit<br />
the safe home, one was a bomb<br />
specialist and was engaged in<br />
bomb making there.<br />
CTTC chief Monirul Islam said<br />
they had received several names<br />
of those who used to visit the den<br />
often.<br />
They also received some other<br />
information from the female<br />
militants and the documents recovered<br />
there that needed to be<br />
analysed, he added. •<br />
RAJIB DHAR<br />
had become the operational chief.<br />
“We are trying to learn about<br />
their operational strength, funding<br />
and arms sources from Trisha and<br />
Shila,” he said.<br />
“We got some clues which are<br />
now being scrutinised but we will<br />
know everything clearly once Musa<br />
is arrested.”<br />
Monirul also said they had gotten<br />
the names and identities of<br />
previously unknown militants who<br />
used to visit the den in Ashkona<br />
from the two female militants during<br />
interrogation, but these names<br />
might be organisational.<br />
According to the Ashkona building’s<br />
owners, the militants rented<br />
the flat in September.<br />
New JMB launched its first attack<br />
on an establishment at Gulshan’s<br />
Holey Artisan Bakery on<br />
July 1, killing 22 people, 17 of whom<br />
were foreigners.<br />
The group has shelter homes<br />
and psychological training centres<br />
in different places, of which CTTC<br />
has busted two, one in Ashkona<br />
on <strong>December</strong> 24 and the other in<br />
Azimpur on September 10. In both<br />
places there were members of four<br />
militant families.<br />
A bomb disposal team of police’s<br />
CTTC unit led by Senior Assistant<br />
Commissioner (AC) Rahmatullah<br />
Chowdury visited the Ashkona Safe<br />
house again yesterday, two days after<br />
the operation, to ensure no evidence<br />
had been left behind. Police<br />
has cordoned off the building.<br />
The team during its last visit recovered<br />
another pistol magazine,<br />
some bullet shells and some other<br />
documents, said a member of the<br />
bomb disposal team. •<br />
ROOPPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT<br />
Govt disburses<br />
another Tk400cr<br />
• Asif Showkat Kallol<br />
The state exchequer has released<br />
another $50m (Tk400 crore) for<br />
construction of the main phase<br />
of the Rooppur Nuclear Power<br />
Plant, after the project was approved<br />
by the Executive Committee<br />
of National Economic<br />
Council (Ecnec), officials said.<br />
In a letter yesterday, the Finance<br />
Division directed the Ministry<br />
of Science and Technology<br />
to disburse the funds.<br />
Finance Minister AMA Muhith<br />
sought a report from the concerned<br />
authorities on allocation<br />
of the funds, as the cost for constructing<br />
Bangladesh’s first nuclear<br />
power plant has skyrocketed.<br />
Cost of the project has risen to<br />
$<strong>12</strong>.6bn from $3bn in the last two<br />
years, due to use of the state-ofthe-art<br />
technology available.<br />
He sought the report after the<br />
Tk400cr fund was approved in<br />
the last week of November.<br />
The government made the<br />
first disbursement of Tk400cr<br />
in September to back up a bank<br />
guarantee given to the Russian<br />
joint –stock company Atomstroyexport,<br />
a Russian state-owned<br />
nuclear power equipment and<br />
service export entity.<br />
According to sources, Ministry<br />
of Science and Technology<br />
strong-armed the Finance Division<br />
to disburse the first Tk400cr<br />
without prior Ecnec approval. •
News 3<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Female militants victims of<br />
husbands’ creed<br />
Investigators say the females of ‘New JMB’ join suicide squad over frustration, being used as slaves<br />
DT<br />
• Mohammad Jamil Khan and<br />
Kamrul Hasan<br />
Most female militants in Bangladesh<br />
have been forced into militancy<br />
and are victims of horrifying<br />
experiences within the militant<br />
groups, investigators said yesterday<br />
while briefing reporters on<br />
their investigations conducted<br />
over the last few months.<br />
Terming the inclusion of female<br />
militants in “suicide squads” as<br />
exceptional and unheard, Counter<br />
Terrorism and Transnational<br />
Crime (CTTC) unit chief Monirul<br />
Islam said this revelation has given<br />
new dimensions to militancy<br />
in Bangladesh.<br />
The issue of female militants’<br />
participation in attacks came into<br />
light again after the CTTC’s raid in<br />
Dhaka’s Ashkona on <strong>December</strong> 24,<br />
where militant Sumon’s wife Shakira<br />
alias Tahira attempted a suicide<br />
attack on law enforcers.<br />
Monirul said the main role of female<br />
militants is generally to support<br />
the males in the groups, nurture<br />
their children and teach them<br />
about militancy. The males usually<br />
disallow their wives from participation<br />
in any outdoor activity, he<br />
added.<br />
“If a mother becomes a militant,<br />
it is easier to raise the child as a militant<br />
and give the best training,” he<br />
said.<br />
Based on recent investigations,<br />
it is being suspected that the female<br />
members are joining the suicide<br />
squads as a relief from the<br />
frustrations they endure while facing<br />
the hurdles of a militant’s family,<br />
the CTTC chief further said.<br />
It was found that most female<br />
The body of militant Rashedur Rahman Sumon’s wife Shakira alias Tahira lies on the ground after she committed suicide by<br />
detonating an explosive vest during CTTC’s Ashkona raid on <strong>December</strong> 24<br />
RAJIB DHAR<br />
militants were forced to stay back<br />
though their previous husbands<br />
have died and the current ones<br />
were in jail, he added.<br />
Investigation also found that a<br />
female is married again with a different<br />
militant after her husband<br />
dies or goes missing, Monirul said.<br />
This way, the females never<br />
get to leave militancy or the<br />
groups even if they want to an out,<br />
he added.<br />
He said some of them are not<br />
affected yet as they are busy with<br />
raising their child.<br />
Monirul said many young Muslim<br />
women from developed countries<br />
have been lured into the Middle<br />
East by militants with a promise<br />
of adventure. But the reality was<br />
that they were not treated as militants<br />
and allowed to join battles. Instead<br />
they were sexually exploited.<br />
“Many tried to flee from the<br />
conflict zones and were killed.<br />
“The same situation also prevails<br />
here. If a woman loses her<br />
husband, she is forced to get married<br />
with another militant immediately.”<br />
“New JMB follows Islamic State<br />
and it is trying to create the same<br />
situation for women in Bangladesh,”<br />
he added.<br />
When asked, Monirul said they<br />
have not found any female yet who<br />
has joined militancy willingly.<br />
Most of them joined militancy<br />
under the pressure of their husbands,<br />
he added.<br />
The CTTC chief said, Khadiza,<br />
wife of Tanvir Qadri, in her confessional<br />
statement said she had<br />
joined militancy, submitting to the<br />
pressure from her husband. She<br />
further stated that she got involved<br />
with militancy as she did not want<br />
to face the society alone since people<br />
already knew that her husband<br />
was involved with militancy.<br />
Quoting Khadiza, Monirul said<br />
she claimed that she hated militancy<br />
and that Marjan’s wife Afrin described<br />
her husband as an autocrat<br />
and dominating figure. Being a less<br />
educated women she was forced to<br />
join militancy.<br />
CTTC arrested JMB leader Tanvir<br />
Quadri alias Abdul Karim’s wife<br />
Abedatul Fatema alias Khadiza,<br />
35, Gulshan attack coordinator<br />
absconding Nurul Islam Marjan’s<br />
wife Afrin alias Priyoti, 25 and New<br />
JMB absconding top leader Basahruzzaman<br />
alias Choklet’s wife<br />
Shaila Afrin, 23 along with their<br />
10-month-old daughter Sabiha<br />
Jaman alias Ruhi from an Azimpur<br />
flat on September 10. Tanvir<br />
Qadri committed suicide at the<br />
Azimpur flat.<br />
Tanvir Kaderi’s son Afif Qadri<br />
alias Ador, 14, was killed during a<br />
gunfight in Ashkona.<br />
Besides, wife of Maj Murad<br />
alias Zahidul Islam’s wife Jebunnahar<br />
Islam Shila, 34, along<br />
with their 16-month daughter<br />
Mariam Binte Zahid and wife of<br />
absconding Moinul Islam alias<br />
Musa’s wife Trisha Moni along<br />
with their 4-month-old daughter<br />
Juaidia alias Fatiha surrendered<br />
before the police during the<br />
Saturday raid.<br />
Earlier, police also rescued Maj<br />
Zahid’s elder daughter Junaira alias<br />
Pinki, 8, and his son Tahreem<br />
Quadri alias Abeer alias Anik alias<br />
Rasel, 14. Tahreem Qadri is currently<br />
at juvenile home. •<br />
Migrant: Workforce on the move<br />
• Niloy Alam<br />
The migrant workers of Bangladesh<br />
consistently prove themselves as a<br />
crucial asset to the economy, and<br />
are one of the largest national migrant<br />
groups in the world.<br />
As of <strong>December</strong> <strong>2016</strong>, worldwide<br />
migrants number 247m. The number<br />
in itself is a new world record<br />
displacing the 2015 record of 244m.<br />
The 247m migrants make up a<br />
paltry 3% of the global population,<br />
but they produce 10% of the global<br />
GDP. In 2015, they generated about<br />
$6.7tn in global GDP. The output<br />
is $6tn more than their projected<br />
output had they remained in their<br />
country of origin.<br />
But of the $6.7tn produced, the<br />
migrants and their countries where<br />
they send back remittance make<br />
very little, just 10% of the total output.<br />
The developed countries reap<br />
the benefits almost exclusively.<br />
In 2015, 7m people left Bangladesh<br />
for employment purposes, the<br />
fifth-highest number of migrants<br />
after India (16m), Mexico (<strong>12</strong>m),<br />
Russia (11m), and China (10m). In<br />
the 2015 fiscal year, the net Bangladeshi<br />
remittance amounted to<br />
a record-high $15.71bn, 2% of the<br />
global total $601bn.<br />
Bangladesh migrant workers<br />
prefer Gulf areas – namely the UAE,<br />
KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman – and<br />
Southern Europe in Spain and Italy.<br />
Italy has a burgeoning Bangladeshi<br />
community, spurred on by<br />
the country’s relatively lax migration<br />
laws. Italy has appeared to be<br />
more lucrative compared to the<br />
harsh lifestyle proffered by Middle<br />
East destinations where manual<br />
labour is the leading form of employment<br />
for migrants. Reportedly,<br />
nearly 150,000 Bangladeshi<br />
migrants – illegal and legal – are<br />
living in Italy.<br />
A McKinsey Global Institute<br />
study states that between 2000<br />
and 2014, immigrants contributed<br />
40-80% of the labour force in their<br />
destination countries.<br />
Employment rates are slightly<br />
lower for immigrants than for locals<br />
in the top destinations, but this<br />
varies by skill level and by region of<br />
origin. The study collates extensive<br />
academic evidence to shows immigration<br />
does not have an adverse<br />
effect on local employment.<br />
Immigrants tend to earn 20-<br />
30% less than local workers. The<br />
McKinsey study suggests a 5-10%<br />
reduction in the wage gap can<br />
have a spiralling effect which can<br />
generate a further $800bn-$1tn<br />
annually.<br />
To sum up, migrants are now<br />
a vibrant and rapidly evolving<br />
workforce on the global stage.<br />
Neither their presence nor their<br />
contributions are overlooked.<br />
However, the ongoing refugee crisis<br />
has made it a point of debate,<br />
as illegal immigrants with goals to<br />
work could be jeopardised if immigration<br />
laws become strict. •
4<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
News<br />
Horror for minority groups<br />
<strong>2016</strong><br />
YEAR IN REVIEW<br />
• Arifur Rahman Rabbi<br />
Several incidents of organised violence<br />
against ethnic and religious<br />
minorities took place in <strong>2016</strong>.<br />
Opportunistic groups have used<br />
religion as a political device creating<br />
an atmosphere of fear making<br />
hundreds of minorities leave Bangladesh<br />
in large numbers that experts<br />
say they have not seen since<br />
the Liberation War.<br />
Although the constitution protects<br />
religious freedom and ensures<br />
equal status and equal rights<br />
in the practice all religions, vestiges<br />
from the Pakistan era like the<br />
Vested Property Act has remained<br />
in the constitution and is repeatedly<br />
used to grab minority owned<br />
lands with coercion and violence.<br />
According to Ain O Salish Kendra<br />
(ASK) the reported number of<br />
incidents till November this year<br />
was 185 temples destroyed in the<br />
county and 180 homes ransacked<br />
and destroyed.<br />
ASK acting executive director<br />
Nur Khan told the Dhaka tribune<br />
that the communal violence has<br />
been an ongoing problem since Independence.<br />
The lack of political will to reform<br />
the police also plays a huge<br />
role in propagating violence.<br />
“We saw in several media reports<br />
how the police themselves<br />
set Santal homes on fire in Gaibandha.<br />
The police are not independent<br />
from political influence<br />
and they still operate under the<br />
guideline set during the British era<br />
which used them as riot police and<br />
not as community protectors and<br />
arbitrators of the law.”<br />
Prominent economist Dr Abul<br />
Barkat recently published a research<br />
that said in three decades<br />
there will be no more Hindus left in<br />
Bangladesh.<br />
According to the research, from<br />
1964 to 2013, around 11.3 million<br />
Hindus left Bangladesh due to religious<br />
persecution and discrimination,<br />
that means on an average 632<br />
Hindus left the country each day<br />
and 230,6<strong>12</strong> annually.<br />
Before the Liberation War, the<br />
daily rate of migration was 705<br />
while it was 5<strong>12</strong> during 1971-1981<br />
and 438 during 1981-1991. The<br />
number increased to 767 persons<br />
each day during 1991-2001 while<br />
around 774 persons left the country<br />
during 2001-20<strong>12</strong>, Barkat’s research<br />
says.<br />
The indigenous population has<br />
also been victim of communal and<br />
sexual violence this year with 24<br />
cases of violence against indigenous<br />
women reported till June.<br />
Kapaeeng Foundation says the<br />
Santals in Gobindaganj of Gaibandha under the open sky after they were evicted from their homes on November 6<br />
MEHEDI HASAN<br />
reported number of cases till June<br />
were: rape of four indigenous<br />
women, six reported rapes, three<br />
killed after rape and three more<br />
kidnapped.<br />
The foundation’s manager Hiron<br />
Mitra Chakma told the Dhaka Tribune:<br />
“Violence against minorities<br />
has increased in number this year<br />
but none of those cases has gone to<br />
trial and that lack of accountability<br />
lets people get away with rape and<br />
murder.<br />
“In particular, the ruling party or<br />
influential locals rape women and<br />
incite communal violence to grab<br />
lands owned by the minorities.<br />
When the minorities are frightened<br />
and leave, the influential locals<br />
can use the Vested Property Act to<br />
claim that land,” he added.<br />
Bangladesh Adivasi Forum General<br />
Secretary Sanjeeb Drong told<br />
the Dhaka Tribune: “It’s been 45<br />
years since we gained independence,<br />
but ethnic minorities are still<br />
far from asserting their civil, political,<br />
economic, social, cultural<br />
and human rights in this country.<br />
Instead violence such as murder,<br />
attacks, land grabbing, etc against<br />
ethnic minorities are increasing<br />
every year.”<br />
Nasirnagar<br />
On October 30, some 3,000 Muslims<br />
took part in the series of violent<br />
attacks on the Hindu localities<br />
of Nasirnagar in Brahmanbaria over<br />
an alleged defamatory post against<br />
Islam by a Hindu youth, Rasraj Das,<br />
on Facebook.<br />
The mob vandalised more than<br />
100 houses and 17 temples and<br />
around 100 people including women<br />
were injured in the attacks.<br />
It was later discovered that Rasraj’s<br />
account had been hacked.<br />
On November 6, Health Minister<br />
Mohammad Nasim said anti-liberation<br />
forces were behind the<br />
communal violence in Nasirnagar,<br />
Brahmanbaria at a press conference<br />
at the Awami League Dhanmondi<br />
office.<br />
When the local radical groups<br />
were using mosques to unite Muslims<br />
in Nasirnagar, a little known<br />
website “www.banglamail71.com”<br />
published a provocative content on<br />
the alleged blasphemous Facebook<br />
post shared from the timeline of<br />
Rasraj, to condemn the “arrest of<br />
six Muslims” for their involvement<br />
in the attacks and violent protests.<br />
The content, published as a<br />
news item, was originally posted<br />
by “Noyon Chatterjee,” a Facebook<br />
profile that has long been instigating<br />
hatred against Hindus in Bangladesh<br />
and India. Dhaka Tribune<br />
has learnt that the website is run by<br />
Chhatra Shibir activists.<br />
After the October 30 attacks in<br />
Nasirnagar, temples and Puja pavilions<br />
were vandalised and looted in<br />
at least seven other districts.<br />
Santals in Gobindaganj<br />
On November 6, over 1,000 Santal<br />
families were run out of their<br />
homes from Shahebganj Bagda<br />
farm, a property on which they<br />
claim historical ownership, by police,<br />
local political activists and the<br />
workers Rangpur Sugar Mill. The<br />
attackers set fire to their homes<br />
and at least three Santal men were<br />
shot dead. At least 30 people including<br />
17 indigenous men and<br />
eight law enforcers were injured in<br />
the conflict.<br />
It was later uncovered that a local<br />
politician had lured them into<br />
settling on the land and later taken<br />
part in the eviction. Rangpur Sugar<br />
Mills lays claim to the 1,842-acre<br />
land, the largest state property in<br />
Bangladesh and uses it for farming<br />
sugar cane and leasing out to local<br />
businesses.<br />
The Santal community took<br />
shelter under the open sky in<br />
neighbouring Santal villages. They<br />
stopped going out of these villages<br />
for fear of violence.<br />
Other major incidents<br />
On January 8, a mob of miscreants<br />
with the help of local police<br />
allegedly attacked on indigenous<br />
people in Shialpara area under<br />
Akkelpur upazila in Joypurhat with<br />
the motive to evict them from their<br />
ancestral lands.<br />
On February 26, around 4pm an<br />
indigenous woman was sexually<br />
assaulted in Ujobazar area of Sajek<br />
by police Constable Mohammad<br />
Sarowar Hossain of Baghaihat in<br />
Rangamati. Police has not taken<br />
any action against Sarowar.<br />
On February 21, a priest was<br />
killed and a devotee shot at,<br />
when miscreants attacked a Hindu<br />
temple in Debiganj upazila of<br />
Panchagarh. Deceased Jogeshwar<br />
Das Dhikari, 50, was the priest of<br />
Sri Sri Shantu Santo Gaurio monastery.<br />
The incident also injured<br />
Gopal Chandra Roy, 32, was rushed<br />
to Rangpur Medical College and<br />
Hospital.<br />
On March 28, in Shatkhira district,<br />
Ashasonhi upazila, more than<br />
100 Hindu families were attacked<br />
over a Union Parishad election.<br />
Nahar in Srimangal, 96 families<br />
of Khasiya punjis have been given<br />
notice of eviction. There has been<br />
postponed because of the protests. •<br />
Judicial, PBI<br />
probes start<br />
in attack on<br />
Santals<br />
• Tajul Islam Reza,<br />
Gaibandha<br />
A High Court-appointed judicial<br />
magistrate has started recording<br />
testimonies of the November<br />
6-7 violence witnesses<br />
in Gaibandha’s Gobindaganj<br />
upazila.<br />
On <strong>December</strong> 14, the HC ordered<br />
the chief judicial magistrate<br />
of Gaibandha to launch an<br />
investigation into the eviction<br />
drive and arson attack on Santals<br />
and Bangalees. The investigation<br />
would also have to look into<br />
any alleged police involvement<br />
on the aforementioned days.<br />
The court also asked the<br />
magistrate to submit the investigation<br />
report within 15 working<br />
days.<br />
Magistrate Md Shahidullah<br />
said: “I have started taking testimonies<br />
of the affected Santals<br />
and Bangalees and will send<br />
the report to the HC after completing<br />
the investigation.”<br />
Meanwhile, another investigation<br />
team led by Md Akhter<br />
Hossain, additional superintendent<br />
(Bogra) of the Police Bureau<br />
of Investigation (PBI), visited the<br />
crime scenes around 10am.<br />
ASP Akhter told reporters that<br />
they came to visit the area following<br />
the HC directive to investigate<br />
the cases filed by Swapan<br />
Murmu and Thomas Hembrom<br />
with Gobindaganj police station.<br />
At least three Santal men were<br />
killed and 27 people, including<br />
nine policemen, were injured<br />
following a clash between the<br />
local Santals and law enforcers<br />
aiding Rangpur Sugar Mill workers<br />
during the “eviction drive” in<br />
Gobindaganj on November 6.<br />
The tension escalated into<br />
violence when the sugar mill<br />
employees tried to take back<br />
the land occupied by the Santals,<br />
on which both parties<br />
had planted crops and claimed<br />
were rightfully theirs.<br />
Another case was filed by<br />
the police and the Rangpur<br />
Sugar Mill authorities against<br />
the Santals in which scores of<br />
Santals were arrested but later<br />
released on bail.<br />
In the wake of the communal<br />
attack, three human rights organisations<br />
filed separate writ petitions<br />
with the HC to intercede. •
News 5<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
No justice yet for border killings<br />
<strong>2016</strong><br />
YEAR IN REVIEW<br />
• Kamrul hasan<br />
Border killings on the Bangladesh-India<br />
border are a testimony<br />
to denying the dignity of people.<br />
None of the border killings have<br />
been investigated or any perpetrators<br />
brought to justice.<br />
Both Bangladeshi and Indian<br />
human rights activists protest the<br />
killings on a regular basis.<br />
Despite the extrajudicial killings,<br />
not a single writ has been filed with<br />
the Indian Supreme Court in 2015.<br />
Experts are pointing towards<br />
the cattle trade on the border as<br />
the core reason behind the killings.<br />
Cattle traders and farmers frequently<br />
cross over the borders illegally,<br />
and are shot at by the Indian<br />
Border Security Force (BSF)<br />
The BSF often claims the deceased<br />
are smugglers or drug dealers.<br />
According to the Ain o Salish<br />
Kendra (ASK), as of November<br />
2015, at least 29 people have been<br />
killed by the BSF.<br />
In reply to a question at the parliament<br />
in June 2015, Home Minister<br />
Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said<br />
a total of 591 Bangladeshi citizens<br />
were killed by BSF and Indian citizens<br />
in the last 10 years.<br />
“Analysing statistics of 10 years,<br />
it was found that the rate of Bangladeshi<br />
citizens killed in border areas<br />
has dropped and I hope that the rate<br />
will drop further,” Kamal added.<br />
However, security expert former<br />
Air Commodore (Rtd) Ishfaq<br />
Ilahi Choudhury said the number<br />
should come down to zero.<br />
Several meetings have been held<br />
where BSF was urged to use buckshot<br />
ammo (pellets) during these<br />
situations to avoid deaths. This practice,<br />
however, was not executed.<br />
In reply to a question, Koltaka-based<br />
rights group Banglar<br />
Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha<br />
(Masum) Secretary Kiriti Roy said<br />
illegal trespassers are seldom arrested<br />
because they bribe the border<br />
authorities.<br />
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB)<br />
Director General Abul Hossain said<br />
BGB was taking steps to end border<br />
killings.<br />
However, PSR Anjaneyulu, Inspector<br />
General of BSF’s South<br />
Bengal Frontier at a press conference<br />
said BSF had taken initiatives<br />
to discourage killing civilians along<br />
the India-Bangladesh border.<br />
“We are trying to restrain our<br />
people so such incidents can be<br />
avoided,” he said while meeting<br />
with a group of Bangladeshi journalists<br />
at BSF Kolkata headquarters<br />
in late November.<br />
Felani trial yet to get on track<br />
The Felani murder trial has been in<br />
‘Indo-Bangla border to be sealed<br />
completely by mid 2018’<br />
• Tribune Desk<br />
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh<br />
on Monday said the security of the<br />
more than 200-km-long Indo-<br />
Bangladesh border was a priority for<br />
the BJP government and that would<br />
be completely sealed in the next oneand-a-half<br />
years.<br />
“We are committed to sealing the<br />
223.7-km Indo-Bangladesh border and<br />
the process is on. It is expected to be<br />
completed within the next year and a<br />
half,” Singh said addressing BJP workers.<br />
“Bangladesh is our neighbouring<br />
country and we share a good and<br />
warm relation, which we will continue<br />
to pursue and remain committed to in<br />
the future,” he said.<br />
Felani’s body hanging from the barbed wire border fence at Kurigram in 2011 after being killed by the Indian Border Security Force<br />
Rajnath-singh<br />
PHOTO: INTERNET<br />
The Union minister, without<br />
referring to the issues of illegal<br />
migration and granting of citizenship<br />
to Hindu refugees, assured the people<br />
of Assam that BJP was committed to<br />
protect the interests of the indigenous<br />
population of the state as per Clause 6<br />
of the Assam Accord.<br />
“We are committed to Clause 6<br />
of the Assam Accord and will protect<br />
it even if we have to amend the<br />
Constitution,” he said.<br />
Referring to the updating of the<br />
National Register of Citizens (NRC)<br />
in Assam, Singh said the process is<br />
underway and the State government<br />
should complete it soon.<br />
The Union minister said the Centre<br />
will make no compromise on the issue of<br />
insurgency as he claimed that violence<br />
has considerably come down in the State.<br />
“If any people or group have any<br />
grievances, problems or issues, we<br />
are ready to talk to them. We are<br />
ready to embrace them and talk. But<br />
if there is violence, there will be no<br />
compromise,” he added. •<br />
FILE PHOTO<br />
limbo with the Indian Supreme court<br />
despite the two writs filed in 2015.<br />
The Indian SC accepted a writ<br />
challenging the verdict in the<br />
Felani murder case.<br />
The case was filed jointly by<br />
Felani’s father Nurul Islam and Kolkata-based<br />
human rights organisation<br />
Masum.<br />
Another petition filed by the<br />
victim’s father and Salma Ali, the<br />
executive director of Bangladesh<br />
National Woman Lawyers Association<br />
(BNWLA) against the first<br />
court verdict is also pending with<br />
the Indian Supreme Court.<br />
In August 2015, BSF chief DK<br />
Pathak said a new trial would be<br />
DT<br />
considered for the Felani murder<br />
case if her family was not satisfied<br />
with the lower court verdict that<br />
acquitted the self-confessed killer.<br />
This was not followed up in <strong>2016</strong>.<br />
The international heat generated<br />
from the Felani murder led to<br />
speculations that the trial would be<br />
carried out quickly.<br />
Kurigram Public Prosecutor (PP)<br />
SM Abraham Lincoln said: “We are<br />
exhausted pleading for justice. No<br />
actions were taken to maintain international<br />
relations.”<br />
He said the BSF court twice<br />
acquitted the killer BSF member<br />
Amiya Ghosh who shot Felani on 7<br />
January 2011 claiming self-defence<br />
despite evidence to the contrary.<br />
“Trespassing is a crime, but this<br />
does not justify indiscriminate<br />
shooting. Rather they could arrest<br />
her and try her,” added PP Lincoln.<br />
He said a hearing date was announced,<br />
but it unfortunately fell on<br />
a holiday and was not rescheduled.<br />
The hearing suffered continuous<br />
delays like judicial bench restructuring<br />
in Bangladesh and dissolution<br />
of the bench in India.<br />
PP Lincoln says he hoped the<br />
case could be presided over by Justice<br />
Jagdish Singh Khehar who is<br />
set to be the chief justice in India.<br />
He hoped the Indian court would<br />
do justice to Felani’s family and<br />
compensate them for their loss.<br />
BNWLA executive director Salma<br />
Ali said justice for Felani’s murder<br />
would serve as an example for<br />
future border killings and discourage<br />
them. •<br />
EC REFORM PROPOSALS<br />
Workers’ Party meets<br />
president<br />
• Manik Miazee<br />
The Workers’ Party met with President Abdul Hamid with their<br />
proposals for the reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC) at<br />
Bangabhaban yesterday.<br />
An 11-member delegation team led by party President Rashed<br />
Khan Menon, placed an eight-point proposal over the formation of<br />
the search committee and the new Election Commission.<br />
The party provided the names of the people who they expect to be<br />
in the search committee.<br />
“We were pleased to meet the president. We had a cordial discussion<br />
on the issue of the Election Commission,” said Rashed Khan<br />
Menon after the meeting.<br />
“We hope the president’s initiative on Election Commission reform<br />
issues will be successful,” Menon added.<br />
President Hamid initiated the formal talks with registered political<br />
parties over reconstituting the EC as the tenure of the current Election<br />
Commission expires in February. •<br />
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY<br />
Dhaka 29 14 Chittagong 27 18 Rajshahi 26 14 Rangpur 25 13 Khulna 28 14 Barisal 28 15 Sylhet 27 <strong>12</strong><br />
Cox’s Bazar 27 17<br />
HAZY<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28<br />
DHAKA<br />
TODAY<br />
TOMORROW<br />
SUN SETS 5:20PM<br />
SUN RISES 6:40AM<br />
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW<br />
29.2ºC<br />
11.3ºC<br />
Chandpur<br />
Tetulia<br />
Source: Accuweather/BSS<br />
PRAYER<br />
TIMES<br />
Fajr: 6:05am | Zohr: 1:15pm<br />
Asr: 4:15pm | Magrib: 5:30pm<br />
Esha: 7:30pm<br />
Source: Islamic Foundation
6<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
News<br />
EC seeks positive<br />
response from voters<br />
• Tribune Desk<br />
The Election Commission is expecting<br />
that voters across Bangladesh<br />
will be positive in exercising<br />
their voting power in the Zila Parishad<br />
Polls.<br />
“Voters and candidates are<br />
aware of their rights. We are hoping<br />
that the election will be held<br />
in a credible manner. We expect<br />
positive response and responsibilities<br />
from both parties during the<br />
polls,” said Secretary of Election<br />
Commission Muhammad Abdullah<br />
while talking to journalists at the<br />
Election Commission Office, Dhaka,<br />
yesterday.<br />
The EC secretary also said the<br />
commission was firm to hold the<br />
first Zila Parishad election in free<br />
and peaceful way.<br />
Replying to a question, he said<br />
the Election Commission had<br />
imposed ban on the use mobile<br />
phones at polling centres considering<br />
all aspects.<br />
The Election Commission had<br />
already asked all field level election<br />
officials to maintain secrecy<br />
and credibility of the election, he<br />
added.<br />
“We have already taken actions<br />
against the people who violated<br />
electoral code of conduct,” he<br />
said.<br />
About the stay of presiding<br />
officer at centres during night,<br />
he said: “It is not mandatory for<br />
presiding officers to stay in the<br />
election centres during night like<br />
other national and local elections<br />
because the number of voters are<br />
less”. •<br />
Hundreds of polling<br />
centres identified risky<br />
• Tribune Desk<br />
People of Bangladesh are going to<br />
cast votes in Zila Parishad elections<br />
today, hundreds of polling centres<br />
remain in vulnerable state.<br />
Though Election Commission<br />
does not know the actual number<br />
of risky polling centres, sources<br />
at the commission said respective<br />
district election offices had been<br />
asked to take measures regarding<br />
risky polling centres.<br />
In Magura, all the polling centres<br />
have been identified as risky.<br />
Voters of the districts will cast their<br />
votes at 15 polling centres.<br />
Magura district administration<br />
said they had taken all preparations<br />
to avoid any kind of untoward<br />
incident during poll time.<br />
A total of 274 police personnel,<br />
225 Ansars, BGB and RAB personnel<br />
will work to make the election<br />
free and fair.<br />
Our Cox’s Bazar correspondent<br />
reports: All of the polling centres<br />
of the district remain in vulnerable<br />
state. Voters of the district will cast<br />
their votes at 15 polling centres.<br />
District election officer Md Mozammel<br />
Hossain told the Dhaka<br />
Tribune that they had identified all<br />
the voting centres risky and taken<br />
all possible measures to make voting<br />
peaceful. A total of 1,003 voters<br />
of the district will exercise their<br />
franchise in the election. •<br />
Tight security at all<br />
polling centres<br />
• Motiur Rahman,<br />
Manikganj<br />
Eight hundred members of different<br />
law enforcing agencies<br />
have been deployed in Manikganj<br />
polling centres for ensuring<br />
peaceful zila parishad elections<br />
today.<br />
“Around 550 police, three<br />
platoon Bangladesh Border<br />
Guard (BGB) men and Ansar<br />
members will be deployed at<br />
15 centres in seven upazilas of<br />
the district. The members of<br />
law enforcing agencies led by<br />
an officer-in-charge will be deployed<br />
at each polling centre,”<br />
said Mafujur Rahman, superintendent<br />
of Manikganj police,<br />
yesterday.<br />
Munir Hossain, the district<br />
election officer, said five candidates<br />
were contesting for the<br />
chairman post, 54 candidates<br />
for general membership in 15<br />
wards and 17 women candidates<br />
were vying for five reserved<br />
seats.<br />
There are a total of 888 voters<br />
of Manikganj zila parishad<br />
elections. Among them, 680<br />
are male voters and 208 are female<br />
voters.<br />
For the chairman post, ruling<br />
party-backed candidate<br />
Golam Mohiuddin, president<br />
of the district Awami League,<br />
is contesting with the symbol<br />
‘pineapple,’ while rebel candidate<br />
Ramjan Ali, vice president<br />
of the district Awami League<br />
and former mayor of Manikganj<br />
municipality, is vying<br />
with ‘mobile phone’ symbol.<br />
Individual candidates<br />
Mofijul Islam Khan, former<br />
lawmaker and presidium<br />
member of Gono Forum, Bajlul<br />
Haque Khan and Kazi Rafiqul<br />
Islam are taking part in the<br />
elections with butterfly, cupplate<br />
and palm tree symbols<br />
respectively. •<br />
BAF Contingent members are crossing immigration Lounge of Hazrat<br />
Shahjalal International Airport in order to depart Dhaka for Mali to join<br />
UN Peacekeeping Mission yesterday<br />
ISPR
News 7<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
All set for first ever Zila Parisad polls today<br />
DT<br />
• Syed Samiul Basher Anik<br />
The first ever Zila Parsiad elections<br />
will be held today in 61 districts<br />
which are being boycotted by both<br />
BNP and Jatiya Party.<br />
Only elected representatives<br />
will be allowed to vote in the election<br />
this year.<br />
Incidents of violation of electoral<br />
code of conduct including<br />
influence by several lawmakers,<br />
coercion of voters, monetary transactions<br />
for votes were reported<br />
from many districts creating a<br />
tense situation in many districts.<br />
The Election Commission however,<br />
said that the election would<br />
be free and fair and various measures<br />
were taken to ensure peaceful<br />
atmosphere in the electoral areas.<br />
Police, RAB and BGB will be deployed,<br />
near the polling centres,<br />
so that voters can cast their votes<br />
peacefully, according to EC.<br />
Allegations of different kinds<br />
of voter coercion has been reported<br />
such as secret agreements like<br />
offering motorcycles for votes and<br />
Tk1lakh for a single vote was made<br />
in Meherpur, our correspondent reported<br />
yesterday.<br />
Although allegations have surfaced<br />
against both chairman and<br />
member candidates they have denied<br />
any wrongdoings.<br />
There are also allegations that<br />
One vote costs<br />
Tk100,000<br />
• Ashraful Islam, Meherpur<br />
Chairman candidates in Meherpur Zila<br />
Parishad elections were busy to lure<br />
the voters with money to win today's<br />
polls. A total of Tk100,000 including<br />
valuables were reportedly being<br />
offered for a vote.<br />
According to local sources, district<br />
unit Awami League became divided in<br />
four factions centering the polls.<br />
Advocate Mizan Ali achieved the<br />
Awami League nomination for the<br />
election. His symbol is tea-set.<br />
Golam Rasul, president of the district<br />
unit Awami League, is vying with the<br />
symbol of pineapple as rival candidate.<br />
On the other hand, Gangni upazila<br />
unit Awami League president Syduzzaman<br />
Khokan is vying in the polls and<br />
his symbol is palm tree.<br />
Mujib Nagar upazila unit Awami<br />
League president got optical symbol<br />
to compete the polls.<br />
A total of 269 voters will cast their<br />
votes to elect a chairman from the<br />
four AL candidates.<br />
Sources said there was hard<br />
competition among the candidates<br />
and they became busy to buy votes<br />
by offering cash and valuables to win<br />
the polls.<br />
VOTING TIME<br />
9:00AM TO 2:00PM<br />
Number of districts<br />
to have polls<br />
61<br />
some candidates are asking the<br />
voters to take pictures of their<br />
votes while many are asking to put<br />
“special signs” on the back of the<br />
ballot papers.<br />
Following the allegation, the EC<br />
have put a bar on voters to carry<br />
mobile phones inside the polling<br />
centres.<br />
Seeking anonymity, a voter said he<br />
had been offered a motorcycle.<br />
Another voter said he had been<br />
offered Tk100,000.<br />
A voter had denied the proposal as<br />
he was offered only Tk50,000.<br />
When contacted, the candidates<br />
denied the allegations of offering<br />
money or other things to the voters.<br />
Golam Rasul told the reporters in<br />
a press briefing yesterday that a voter<br />
demanded a motorcycle to him.<br />
“I alerted him and said the demand<br />
violated electoral code and conducts”<br />
he said. On the other hand, Mizan Ali<br />
said: “Buying and selling votes are one<br />
kind of crime and breaking the rules of<br />
electoral code and conducts.”<br />
He said during in his five-year tenure,<br />
there was no allegation against<br />
him. He is hopeful to win the race.<br />
Deputy Commissioner and<br />
Returning Officer Parimal Singh said<br />
the administration was trying to stop<br />
selling and buying votes in the polls.<br />
“If we get allegation, we will take<br />
immediate steps,” he said.<br />
It should be mentioned, four<br />
chairman candidates, 48 member<br />
candidates and 13 in woman reserve<br />
seats are vying in the district to win<br />
the race. •<br />
TOTAL POSTS<br />
1,281<br />
TOTAL VOTERS<br />
63,143<br />
Male: 48,343, Female: 14,800<br />
POSTS IN EACH DISTRICT<br />
1 Chairman<br />
General members<br />
15 and<br />
5<br />
Members in reserved<br />
seats for women<br />
VOTING BOOTHS AND CENTRES<br />
1,830 Booths of 915 Polling centres<br />
UNCONTESTED VICTORY<br />
Chairmen elected<br />
22<br />
unopposed<br />
WHO ARE THE VOTERS<br />
Elected representatives<br />
of city corporations,<br />
municipalities, upazila<br />
and union parishads of<br />
the respective districts<br />
ASMAUL HOQUE MAMUN/DT INFOGRAPHIC<br />
Voting in 3<br />
N’ganj wards<br />
suspended<br />
• Tanveer Hossain,<br />
Narayanganj<br />
Voting of the Zila Parishad polls in one<br />
to three No wards of the council, which<br />
is under Narayanganj city corporation,<br />
has been suspended over voter related<br />
complication.<br />
As the voters of the first ever such<br />
elections in Bangladesh consist of only<br />
elected representatives of union parishad,<br />
upzila parishad, municipality and city<br />
corporation, the previous councillors<br />
of the three wards remained the voters<br />
instead of the councillors, who was<br />
elected on <strong>December</strong> 22 city corporation<br />
polls.<br />
The returning officer of Narayanganj<br />
district council elections gave the<br />
suspension order after the Election<br />
Commission sent him a letter in this<br />
regard, said Jasim Uddin, assistant<br />
returning officer.<br />
However, the election is being held<br />
today in remaining seven wards of the<br />
district council.<br />
Mojibur Rahman, president of<br />
Shiddhirganj upazila Awami League, is<br />
the lone candidate for general member<br />
post in ward No one (one to nine No<br />
wards of the city corporation) of the<br />
council. •<br />
Even, the ruling Awami League<br />
secretary general Obaidul Quader<br />
could not deny allegations of monetary<br />
incentives being provided by<br />
some lawmakers to elect their preferred<br />
candidates.<br />
“While the Election Commission<br />
has fixed a strict amount each<br />
candidate can spend some people<br />
are not following that rule, we<br />
should have overcome such bad<br />
practices by now,” the minister told<br />
reporters at the secretariat.<br />
He, however, said necessary actions<br />
would be taken against those<br />
in violation of electoral code of<br />
conduct.<br />
Election Commission on Monday<br />
requested the Speaker Shirin<br />
Sharmin Chowdhury to take necessary<br />
steps to keep the lawmakers<br />
away from their areas and to make<br />
sure they do not violating electoral<br />
code.<br />
The Election Commission on<br />
Monday also requested the lawmakers<br />
to leave the constituencies<br />
and warned that actions would be<br />
taken against if they did not comply.<br />
On the other hand, major political<br />
party BNP has boycotted the<br />
election saying that the election<br />
process of the Zila Parishad goes<br />
against the constitution because of<br />
lack of direct participation of voters.<br />
However, party insiders says<br />
BNP is not participating in the polls<br />
as most of its local government<br />
representatives are either behind<br />
bars or on the run.<br />
BNP standing committee member<br />
Nazrul Islam Khan yesterday<br />
termed the zila parishad election<br />
as a joke: “The Zila Parishad elections<br />
is a joke just like the January<br />
5 elections.”<br />
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee<br />
member Mahbubur Rahman<br />
said people have no interest in the<br />
poll as the right to vote has been<br />
taken away from people.<br />
This election cannot bring anything<br />
except looting, according to<br />
the BNP standing committee member.<br />
The voting will start at 9:00am<br />
and will continue uninterrupted at<br />
2:00pm while over 63,000 voters<br />
are expected to cast their votes in<br />
the elections of 61 districts for 1,281<br />
posts.<br />
Only the elected representatives<br />
of different tier of local government-<br />
city corporations, municipalities,<br />
upazila and union parishads<br />
of the respective districts - will<br />
be able to vote in a chairman, 15<br />
general members and five members<br />
in reserved seats for women in<br />
each district.<br />
22 candidates- all from ruling<br />
Awami League- has already elected<br />
uncontested. The districts are -<br />
Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Jaipurhat,<br />
Naogaon, Natore, Sirajganj,<br />
Kushtia, Jessore, Bagerhat,<br />
Jhalakati, Bhola, Netrakona,<br />
Kishoreganj, Gazipur, Tangail,<br />
Munshiganj, Dhaka, Narayanganj,<br />
Faridpur, Habiganj, Feni and<br />
Chittagong. •<br />
Obaidul acknowledges<br />
allegations of<br />
corruption in polls<br />
• Shohel Mamun<br />
Roads Transport and Bridges Minister<br />
Obaidul Quader yesterday said the allegations<br />
of rampant corruption of some<br />
lawmakers in their districts before<br />
the Zila Parisad elections could not be<br />
denied at his secretariat office.<br />
Except the ruling<br />
party Awami League<br />
no others big parties<br />
are participating<br />
including the BNP's<br />
in the election<br />
The Awami League general secretary<br />
said: “The Election Commission has<br />
fixed a strict amount each candidate<br />
can spend some people are not following<br />
that rule, we should have overcome<br />
such bad practices by now.”<br />
Election Commission on Monday<br />
requested the Speaker Shirin Sharmin<br />
Chowdhury to take necessary steps<br />
to keep the lawmakers away from<br />
their areas and to make sure they do<br />
not violating electoral code and also<br />
requested the lawmakers to leave the<br />
constituencies and warned that actions<br />
would be taken against if they did not<br />
comply.<br />
Quader said “Those found in<br />
violation of the electoral code will be<br />
punished. I requested the lawmakers<br />
to leave their constituency and honour<br />
the electoral code of conduct.”<br />
Zila Parishad election will be held<br />
today in 61 districts, except three hill<br />
track districts.<br />
The voting will start from the 9am<br />
to 2 Pm for the post of chairman, member<br />
and member (reserved) while only<br />
elected representatives of local government<br />
bodies like city corporation,<br />
Union Parishad are allow to vote in this<br />
election, as per the Zila Parishad Act.<br />
Except the ruling party Awami<br />
League no others big parties are<br />
participating including the BNP's in the<br />
election.<br />
Already 22 Awami League chairman<br />
candidates has already been elected<br />
unopposed and <strong>12</strong>4 candidates<br />
are vying for seats in the rest of the<br />
districts. •
DT<br />
8<br />
World<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
SOUTH ASIA<br />
Toxic liquor kills 24 more<br />
in Pakistan<br />
Twenty-four people, mostly Christians,<br />
were killed and dozens more<br />
sickened after consuming toxic<br />
liquor on Christmas Eve in central<br />
Pakistan, police said Tuesday, the latest<br />
case of deadly alchohol poisoning<br />
in the conservative Muslim country.<br />
The incident happened in a Christian<br />
colony in Toba Tek Singh city, 338km<br />
south of Islamabad. REUTERS<br />
INDIA<br />
India intervenes in<br />
Norway child abuse row<br />
India’s foreign minister on Tuesday<br />
urged Norway to return a fiveyear-old<br />
boy to his Indian-origin<br />
parents after authorities took the<br />
child into their custody over suspected<br />
abuse. Sushma Swaraj said<br />
India’s ambassador would meet<br />
the Norwegian authorities later<br />
Tuesday to discuss the case, promising<br />
to take a “firm stand”. AP<br />
CHINA<br />
China jails nine villagers<br />
after land protests<br />
Chinese authorities handed down<br />
prison sentences to nine protesters<br />
in a fishing village that’s<br />
received international attention<br />
for its demonstrations against land<br />
seizures, state media reported<br />
Tuesday. The villagers in Wukan<br />
were given sentences on Monday<br />
ranging from two to 10 years for offenses<br />
that included illegal assembly,<br />
blocking traffic and disrupting<br />
public order. AP<br />
ASIA PACIFIC<br />
Thai police put pressure<br />
on controversial Buddhist<br />
temple<br />
Thai police put more pressure<br />
Tuesday on a wealthy, politically<br />
influential Buddhist temple where<br />
the leader is wanted for alleged<br />
money laundering and related<br />
crimes involving millions of dollars<br />
of embezzled funds. At dawn about<br />
400 police moved to surround<br />
the Dhammakaya temple north of<br />
Bangkok to remove a fence said to be<br />
blocking public property. REUTERS<br />
MIDDLE EAST<br />
Saudi jailed for call to end<br />
male control over women<br />
A Saudi man has been jailed for one<br />
year for calling for an end to the<br />
Muslim kingdom’s guardianship<br />
system that gives men wide controls<br />
over women, local media said Tuesday.<br />
The man, who was also fined<br />
$8,000 by a court in the eastern<br />
city of Dammam, was convicted<br />
of “inciting to end guardianship of<br />
women” in statements he posted on<br />
Twitter and in public posters. AFP<br />
UN resolution: Israel accuses<br />
Obama administration<br />
• Tribune International Desk<br />
The White House orchestrated a<br />
“gang-up” against Israel on last<br />
week’s UN settlement vote, its<br />
ambassador to Washington said<br />
Monday in the latest sign of fury<br />
between the longtime allies.<br />
Ambassador Ron Dermer said<br />
in an interview with CNN that the<br />
Israeli government plans to show<br />
evidence of the alleged US maneuvering<br />
in due time.<br />
Moreover, Israel has reportedly<br />
suspended all working ties with the<br />
embassies of <strong>12</strong> UN Security Council<br />
members following the passing<br />
of a UN resolution declaring the<br />
country’s settlements on Palestinian<br />
territories illegal. Prime Minister<br />
Benjamin Netanyahu has called for<br />
Israel’s foreign ministry to temporarily<br />
limit working ties with the<br />
members who voted in favour of<br />
Friday’s resolution.<br />
The <strong>12</strong> countries are- Britain,<br />
France, Russia, China, Japan,<br />
Ukraine, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay,<br />
Spain, Senegal and New Zealand.<br />
US led UN ‘gang-up’<br />
Israel has escalated its already furious<br />
war with the outgoing US administration,<br />
claiming that it has<br />
“rather hard” evidence that Barack<br />
Obama was behind a critical UN<br />
security council resolution criticising<br />
Israeli settlement building, and<br />
threatening to hand over the material<br />
to Donald Trump.<br />
The claims have emerged in<br />
interviews given by close Netanyahu<br />
allies to US media outlets on<br />
Monday after the Obama administration<br />
denied in categorical terms<br />
the claims originally made by Netanyahu<br />
himself.<br />
Doubling down on the claim a<br />
few hours later the controversial<br />
Israeli ambassador to Washington,<br />
Ron Dermer, went even further<br />
suggesting it had gathered evidence<br />
that it would present to the<br />
incoming Trump administration.<br />
Reducing ties with nations over<br />
UN vote<br />
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday<br />
the country was “reducing”<br />
ties with nations that voted for last<br />
week’s UN Security Council resolution<br />
demanding a halt to settlement<br />
building in Palestinian territory.<br />
Refuting reports that ties<br />
had been suspended, the ministry’s<br />
spokesperson Emmanuel<br />
Nahshon said that Israel was<br />
“temporarily reducing” visits and<br />
work with embassies.<br />
Israel has already called back<br />
its ambassadors to New Zealand<br />
and Senegal for consultations, and<br />
cancelled aid programmes with<br />
the African state.<br />
On Tuesday, Israel informed<br />
Angola it would be freezing its aid<br />
programme there, Nahshon said.<br />
Israeli media have reported that<br />
Netanyahu, who also serves as foreign<br />
minister, has asked officials to<br />
visit the countries that voted for<br />
the resolution as little as possible<br />
for now. •<br />
Q&A<br />
What UN resolution means for US and Israel<br />
The United Nations Security Council on<br />
Friday passed a resolution condemning<br />
Israel’s settlements in the West Bank<br />
and East Jerusalem. The United States<br />
abstained on the resolution, allowing<br />
it to pass, rather than vetoing it – as it<br />
usually does with resolutions it sees as<br />
overly critical of Israel.<br />
Here are some key questions about<br />
the vote at the UN-<br />
What are the immediate effects<br />
of the UN resolution?<br />
The resolution may have no immediate<br />
practical effects on Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian<br />
conflict, or the peace<br />
process. That’s because the resolution<br />
is non-binding, effectively creating<br />
guidelines and recommendations.<br />
Israel is concerned about exactly<br />
that type of action. Specifically, Israel is<br />
worried about a resolution that would<br />
set conditions for negotiations. Such a<br />
resolution would issue parameters for<br />
some of the most sensitive issues in<br />
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including<br />
borders, the status of Jerusalem as a<br />
contested capital, Palestinian refugees,<br />
US President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<br />
This file photo taken on <strong>December</strong> 09 shows Israeli settlement of Qadumim<br />
and a time-limit for negotiations.<br />
What are the long-term effects?<br />
The biggest blow is to Israel’s settlement<br />
enterprise in the West Bank and<br />
East Jerusalem. This resolution has<br />
left little room for negotiation about<br />
the legality of the settlements, stating<br />
that Israel’s settlements have “no legal<br />
validity and constitutes a flagrant violation<br />
under international law.”<br />
When it comes to borders, the resolution<br />
does leave an opening for negotiations,<br />
saying there will be no changes to<br />
AFP<br />
the June 4, 1967 “other than those agreed<br />
by the parties through negotiations.”<br />
Will Donald Trump be able to<br />
repeal the resolution?<br />
Theoretically, yes, the incoming administration<br />
could repeal this resolution.<br />
Trump would have to introduce a new<br />
resolution that revokes this one entirely.<br />
Then he would need at least nine<br />
countries to vote for it and ensure that<br />
none of the Security Council’s other permanent<br />
members – Russia, UK, France,<br />
and China – vetoed it. Realistically, that<br />
is incredibly unlikely to happen.<br />
REUTERS<br />
Will the US and Israel take<br />
diplomatic action against the UN?<br />
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham<br />
has threatened to cut US money to the<br />
United Nations over this resolution.<br />
The US currently provides 22% of the<br />
UN’s budget. Israel has already cut<br />
funding to five different UN organisations,<br />
totaling nearly $8m, Netanyahu<br />
announced. Netanyahu said Israel<br />
would reevaluate its relationships with<br />
UN representatives in Israel.<br />
Is this the first time an American<br />
president has taken action?<br />
No. In fact, it’s not all that uncommon.<br />
In 1988, Ronald Reagan began dialogue<br />
with the PLO before the end of his second<br />
term. In 2000, Bill Clinton laid out his<br />
vision for peace, now known as the “Clinton<br />
Parameters.” And in 2008, George W<br />
Bush’s envoy voted in favour of Security<br />
Council resolution 1850, which called for<br />
a renewal of the peace process. •<br />
Sources: AFP, CNN
World<br />
Trump: UN just a club for people to<br />
have a good time<br />
• Tribune International Desk<br />
Donald Trump is questioning the<br />
effectiveness of the United Nations,<br />
saying it’s just a club for<br />
people to “have a good time,” after<br />
the UN Security Council voted last<br />
week to condemn Israeli settlements<br />
in the West Bank and east<br />
Jerusalem, reports the Associated<br />
Press.<br />
The president-elect wrote Monday<br />
on Twitter that the UN has<br />
“such great potential,” but it has<br />
become “just a club for people to<br />
get together, talk and have a good<br />
time. So sad!”<br />
On Friday, Trump warned, “As<br />
to the UN, things will be different<br />
after Jan. 20th,” referring to the<br />
day he takes office.<br />
The decision by the Obama<br />
administration to abstain from<br />
Friday’s UN vote brushed aside<br />
Trump’s demands that the US exercise<br />
its veto and provided a climax<br />
to years of icy relations with<br />
Israel’s leadership.<br />
That was only one subject on<br />
which Trump tweeted Monday. In<br />
an evening post, he wrote that he<br />
believes his election as president<br />
has boosted the economy.<br />
Trump also used social media<br />
to complain anew about criticism<br />
of the Donald J Trump Foundation.<br />
In one post, he said, “The DJT<br />
Foundation, unlike most foundations,<br />
never paid fees, rent, salaries<br />
or any expenses. 100 % of the<br />
money goes to wonderful charities.”<br />
He also tweeted that “I gave<br />
millions of dollars to DJT Foundation,<br />
raised or received millions<br />
more. ALL of which is given to<br />
charity, and media won’t report.”<br />
Trump had said Saturday that<br />
he wanted to dissolve his charitable<br />
foundation amid efforts to<br />
eliminate any conflicts of interest<br />
before he takes office next month.<br />
Trump’s tweet Monday about<br />
the UN ignores much of the work<br />
that goes on in the 193-member<br />
global organisation.<br />
This year the UN Security<br />
Council has approved over 70<br />
legally binding resolutions, including<br />
new sanctions on North<br />
Korea and measures tackling<br />
conflicts and authorizing the<br />
UN’s far-flung peacekeeping operations<br />
around the world. The<br />
General Assembly has also approved<br />
dozens of resolutions on<br />
issues, like the role of diamonds<br />
in fuelling conflicts; condemned<br />
human rights abuses in Iran and<br />
North Korea; and authorized<br />
an investigation of alleged war<br />
crimes in Syria. •<br />
Who’s behind the massacres in Congo’s Beni region?<br />
• AFP, Beni, DR Congo<br />
Share of global reserves<br />
Cobalt 47%<br />
Coltan 80%<br />
Industrial diamonds 20%<br />
Sources:<br />
ipisresearch,<br />
congoresearch,<br />
UNHCR, ICCN,<br />
IRD, USGS,<br />
FAO, GRIP,<br />
UNDP<br />
CONGO<br />
REP.<br />
KINSHASA<br />
ANGOLA<br />
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC<br />
DR CONGO<br />
Congo River<br />
Kananga<br />
Kisangani<br />
The official explanation for a twoyear<br />
wave of massacres in a restive<br />
corner of DR Congo centres on a<br />
shadowy rebel group accused of<br />
having ties to the global jihadist<br />
underground.<br />
But some basic details about<br />
the alleged killers of more than<br />
700 victims – the latest over the<br />
Christmas weekend – haven’t quite<br />
convinced observers and experts.<br />
The truth, they say, is more<br />
complicated and may lead all the<br />
way to the halls of power in the<br />
vast, mineral-rich and chronically<br />
unstable central African nation.<br />
UN experts, referring to the<br />
claimed jihadist links in past reports,<br />
have simply stated: “There<br />
is no proof of this allegation.”<br />
But that has not stopped the<br />
Democratic Republic of Congo’s<br />
leadership and the UN peacekeeping<br />
mission Monusco from blaming<br />
the bloodbath around the town<br />
of Beni, in the country’s strife-torn<br />
northeast, on the Allied Democratic<br />
Forces (ADF).<br />
Secrecy shrouds the group,<br />
which is dominated by hardline<br />
Ugandan Muslims who were initially<br />
focused on overthrowing Uganda’s<br />
President Yoweri Museveni.<br />
The group went on to absorb other<br />
rebel factions into its ranks and<br />
started carrying out attacks in 1995.<br />
Gradually pushed westwards by the<br />
Ugandan army, the ADF relocated<br />
most of its activities to DR Congo.<br />
When the Beni massacres started<br />
in October 2014, with most of<br />
the victims hacked to death, the<br />
ADF was quickly branded the culprit<br />
by both Congolese authorities<br />
and Monusco.<br />
Army troops involved?<br />
Many ADF recruits – who were<br />
drawn this year from Tanzania,<br />
Burundi, Kenya and as far as Somalia<br />
– were not hardcore ideologues<br />
but young Muslims lured<br />
by the promise of going to study in<br />
Saudi Arabia, an intelligence agent<br />
and civil society source said.<br />
Meanwhile, the ADF has not<br />
claimed any of the Beni massacres,<br />
and no experts working on DR<br />
Congo have found a link between<br />
Donald Trump<br />
Mbuji-Mayi<br />
ZAMBIA<br />
250 km<br />
S. SUDAN<br />
Lubumbashi<br />
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO<br />
A continent-country abounding in natural riches and human crises<br />
UGANDA<br />
Goma<br />
Bukavu<br />
RWANDA<br />
BURUNDI<br />
Lake<br />
Tanganyika<br />
TANZANIA<br />
1,100 minerals and<br />
precious metals, including<br />
Gold Diamonds Coltan<br />
Pewter Copper, cobalt<br />
the group and the global jihadist<br />
underground.<br />
A group run by US researcher<br />
Jason Stearns published a report<br />
in March claiming several distinct<br />
groups “appear to be involved in<br />
the massacres”, including soldiers<br />
from the regular army.<br />
It said members of the Congolese<br />
army, former rebels from the<br />
RCD-K/ML group – who held the<br />
area during the 1998-2003 Second<br />
Congo War – and local militias were<br />
all involved in the mass killings.<br />
‘Why these horrible killings?’<br />
In an interview, Beni’s Mayor<br />
Bwanakawa Nyonyi said he believes<br />
the massacres are carried<br />
5<br />
2.3 million km 2 of land<br />
80 x the size of former<br />
colonial power Belgium<br />
Huge hydraulic power<br />
potential<br />
Congo River, 4,700 km<br />
Africa’s 2 nd longest river<br />
Lake Tanganyika, 18,880 km 2<br />
Africa’s largest freshwater<br />
reserve. As big as Belgium<br />
Exceptional<br />
biodiversity<br />
natural World Heritage Sites<br />
152 million hectares of forest<br />
11,000 plant species<br />
more than 1,000 bird species<br />
and 400 species of mammal<br />
REUTERS<br />
But the country endured<br />
2 regional wars and the east<br />
is controlled by armed militia<br />
Raia Mutomboki (DRC)<br />
Mai-Mai (DRC)<br />
ADF (Ugandan)<br />
FDLR (Rwandan Hutu)<br />
FNL (Burundian)<br />
Of its 71 million<br />
people, nearly 2 mln<br />
are internal refugees<br />
88% live in<br />
abject poverty<br />
and fewer than 10%<br />
have access to electricity<br />
and drinking water<br />
And it natural<br />
heritage<br />
is endangered,<br />
particularly its<br />
iconic Great Apes<br />
Mountain gorillas<br />
out by a nebulous group, with<br />
politically-motivated “Congolese<br />
hands” behind them. He refused<br />
to say more about the suspects or<br />
their motives.<br />
In explaining the violence,<br />
some have cited struggles for control<br />
of trafficking in various industries<br />
like timber, agricultural produce<br />
or minerals in a region with<br />
extremely rich potential.<br />
A group of UN experts has repeatedly<br />
questioned whether the<br />
Congolese military was involved<br />
in the trafficking in various industries<br />
or in some massacres. The<br />
group has also incriminated local<br />
militias in some killings that were<br />
allegedly linked to land disputes. •<br />
9<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
USA<br />
Trump taps Bossert for<br />
counter-terrorism post<br />
DT<br />
US President-elect Donald Trump<br />
on Tuesday announced that<br />
Thomas Bossert, former deputy<br />
homeland security adviser to President<br />
George W Bush, would be his<br />
White House adviser on security<br />
and counter-terrorism issues,<br />
according to a statement. As assistant<br />
to the president for homeland<br />
security and counter-terrorism,<br />
Bossert would be Trump’s top<br />
counter-terrorism chief. REUTERS<br />
THE AMERICAS<br />
Argentine finance<br />
minister sacked<br />
Argentine President Mauricio Macri<br />
sacked his Finance Minister Alfonso<br />
Prat-Gay on Monday, shaking up<br />
his economic team amid a stubborn<br />
recession that has made his centerright<br />
reforms deeply unpopular.<br />
Nicolas Dujovne, a respected<br />
economist, will take over as finance<br />
minister. Luis Caputo, who previously<br />
served Prat-Gay as budget<br />
secretary, will take over the newly<br />
created budget ministry. AFP<br />
UK<br />
Netanyahu snubs May<br />
over UN settlements vote<br />
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin<br />
Netanyahu, has apparently snubbed<br />
Theresa May over the UK’s support<br />
of a highly critical UN resolution<br />
condemning Israeli settlement building.<br />
Reports in the Israeli media said<br />
Netanyahu had told ministers at his<br />
weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday<br />
that he did not intend to meet May<br />
in Davos at the forthcoming World<br />
Economic Forum. THE GUARDIAN<br />
EUROPE<br />
Romania’s first female,<br />
Muslim PM rejected<br />
Romania’s president sparked<br />
fresh political turmoil Tuesday<br />
after rejecting a proposal by the<br />
election-winning leftist party to<br />
name the EU country’s first female<br />
and first Muslim prime minister.<br />
Klaus Iohannis gave no reasons for<br />
his rejection of Sevil Shhaideh, put<br />
forward by the Social Democrats,<br />
but there was speculation that it<br />
may be due to her Syrian husband’s<br />
background. AFP<br />
AFRICA<br />
Somalia swears in new<br />
MPs amid vote criticism<br />
Somalia on Tuesday swore in new<br />
lawmakers after weeks of voting<br />
in a complex political process seen<br />
as its most democratic election in<br />
nearly five decades, despite significant<br />
flaws. The vote for president<br />
has been put off several times as a<br />
result of delays in the election of<br />
lawmakers due to clan disputes,<br />
accusations of fraud, and organisational<br />
challenges. REUTERS
10<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
World<br />
INSIGHT<br />
South Korea ruling party split could<br />
provide opening for UN chief Ban<br />
• Reuters, Seoul<br />
A South Korean ruling party faction<br />
said on Tuesday it would form a<br />
new party, and key members said<br />
they hoped outgoing UN Secretary-General<br />
Ban Ki-moon would<br />
join it to launch a widely expected<br />
bid to become president.<br />
If Ban joined the new party, it<br />
would give him a conservative platform<br />
while distancing himself from<br />
the ruling Saenuri Party of President<br />
Park Geun-hye, which has become<br />
tainted by a corruption scandal that<br />
led to a parliamentary impeachment<br />
vote against her this month.<br />
The 29 lawmakers defecting<br />
from Park’s Saenuri Party were<br />
among those who supported the<br />
parliamentary motion to impeach<br />
her over the influence-peddling<br />
scandal, which was passed overwhelmingly<br />
on <strong>December</strong> 9.<br />
Some analysts expect the new<br />
party to become the country’s main<br />
conservative force and further defections<br />
to it from Park’s party were<br />
likely, especially if Ban joined.<br />
“We are hoping Secretary-General<br />
Ban Ki-moon will join the New<br />
Conservative Party for Reform, and<br />
if he joins, it will be right that he<br />
would compete in a fair primary,”<br />
Yoo Seong-min, a member of the<br />
new party and a possible presidential<br />
contender, told TV station SBS, using<br />
the new party’s tentative name.<br />
In a Realmeter poll released on<br />
Monday, 23.3% of respondents supported<br />
Ban, just ahead of the liberal<br />
Democratic Party’s Moon Jae-in, at<br />
23.1%.<br />
The defections cut the number<br />
of seats held by Saenuri to fewer<br />
than 100 in the 300-member chamber.<br />
The Saenuri unexpectedly lost<br />
its majority in April parliamentary<br />
elections.<br />
Ban, 72, has not declared an intention<br />
to run for president, only<br />
saying he would devote himself to<br />
the country after his tenure ends<br />
this month after 10 years.<br />
Nevertheless, he had until recently<br />
been widely expected to<br />
run for the top job as a member of<br />
Park’s party.<br />
Joining forces?<br />
Ban could opt to form his own<br />
group, with the intention of later<br />
joining forces with the new conservative<br />
party, saving him from<br />
having to run in the new party’s<br />
primary contest, Kim said, an arrangement<br />
which is not unusual in<br />
Korean politics.<br />
“Everyone remaining in the party<br />
is calculating what their next<br />
move should be,” Kim said.<br />
“Saenuri has lost its identity and<br />
the new party will take the lead<br />
among conservatives.”<br />
The Constitutional Court has<br />
up to 180 days to uphold or overturn<br />
the impeachment vote against<br />
Park, who has been stripped of her<br />
powers in the meantime.<br />
If Park’s impeachment is upheld,<br />
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon<br />
a presidential election will be held in<br />
60 days. An election for the five-year<br />
single-term presidency is currently<br />
scheduled for <strong>December</strong> 20, 2017.<br />
The head of the minority People’s<br />
Party, which holds 38 seats in<br />
parliament, has also said it would<br />
welcome Ban.<br />
Over the years, South Korean<br />
parties have often broken up and<br />
REUTERS<br />
reformed in new guises.<br />
Ban has been coy about his<br />
plans, other than saying he will return<br />
to South Korea on Jan. 15.<br />
“I will devote my whole body to<br />
work hard if what I have seen and experienced<br />
as the UN secretary-general<br />
helps develop the Republic of<br />
Korea,” Ban told Korean media last<br />
week at the United Nations. •<br />
Taiwan warns of<br />
growing threats<br />
from China<br />
• AFP, Taipei<br />
Taiwan’s defence minister warned<br />
Tuesday that enemy threats were<br />
growing daily after China’s aircraft<br />
carrier and a flotilla of other warships<br />
passed south of the island in<br />
an exercise as tensions rise.<br />
After sailing south of Taiwan<br />
itself, the Liaoning and five other<br />
warships on Monday passed the<br />
Taiwan-administered Dongsha Islands<br />
in the South China Sea also<br />
claimed by Beijing, according to<br />
Taiwan’s defence ministry.<br />
The naval drills are seen as a show<br />
of strength by Beijing as its relations<br />
worsen with Taiwan and the United<br />
States, following a protocol-breaking<br />
telephone conversation between Taiwanese<br />
President Tsai Ing-wen and<br />
US President-elect Donald Trump.<br />
Chinese media had earlier reported<br />
that the carrier was headed<br />
for the Pacific on exercise for the<br />
first time along with its escort ships.<br />
It was the latest in a series of recent<br />
exercises staged by China, after<br />
its military aircraft passed near<br />
Taiwan on <strong>December</strong> 10 for the second<br />
time in less than a month.<br />
Taiwan’s defence minister Feng<br />
Shih-kuan said Tuesday, during a<br />
promotion ceremony for generals,<br />
that threats from the enemy were<br />
growing daily.<br />
Ties between Taiwan and China<br />
have turned increasingly frosty<br />
since Tsai’s election victory in<br />
January. Beijing has cut off official<br />
communication with her government,<br />
which took office in May, after<br />
it refused to publicly accept the<br />
“one China” concept. •<br />
FACTBOX<br />
Black boxes: A treasure trove of data for air crash probes<br />
Authorities announced Tuesday<br />
that one of the black boxes of a Syria-bound<br />
Russian military plane that<br />
crashed into the Black Sea with 92<br />
people onboard on Christmas Day, has<br />
been found at a depth of 17 metres,<br />
some 1.6km from the shore.<br />
After finding possible survivors and<br />
victim remains, the first priority of aircrash<br />
investigators is to locate the black<br />
boxes, a duo of data recorders that can<br />
hold vital clues on why an aircraft went<br />
down.<br />
Despite their name, the boxes that<br />
hold a plane’s flight data and cockpit<br />
voice recordings are actually bright orange<br />
with white reflective strips to make<br />
them easier to spot among debris.<br />
Made of hard-to-destroy materials,<br />
all commercial planes are obliged to<br />
have them on board.<br />
According to experts, black boxes explain<br />
the causes of nearly 90% of plane<br />
crashes.<br />
BLACK BOXES (FLIGHT RECORDERS)<br />
CVR<br />
Casing<br />
Can withstand<br />
1 hour at 1,100°C<br />
1 month<br />
immersed in water<br />
at a depth<br />
of 6,000 metres<br />
FDR<br />
Flight Data Recorder<br />
Records technical flight<br />
data including temperature,<br />
speed, altitude and trajectory<br />
25 hours of recording time<br />
Source: BEA<br />
Cockpit Voice Recorder<br />
Records conversations<br />
between crew members<br />
and with air traffic control<br />
2 hours of recording time<br />
Underwater<br />
locator beacon<br />
Emits ultrasonic<br />
pulse on immersion<br />
for up to 90 days.<br />
Pinger detectible<br />
2 km from surface<br />
The gadget was developed in the<br />
1950s by an Australian scientist, David<br />
Ronald de Mey Warren, who helped<br />
probe a crash of a De Havilland Comet –<br />
the first commercial jetliner.<br />
The first box he designed, inspired by<br />
a miniature voice recorder he saw at a<br />
trade fair, worked with magnetic recording<br />
tape – nowadays they are digitised.<br />
Not indestructible<br />
Each black box comprises two units: a<br />
digital flight data recorder (FDR) to record<br />
the plane’s speed, altitude and direction,<br />
and the cockpit voice recorder<br />
(CVR) to note conversations of the pilots<br />
and ground or cabin crew as well as any<br />
alarms, engine noise, explosions, pops<br />
or thuds.<br />
The FDR can hold about 25 hours of<br />
information, the CVR some two hours.<br />
The FDR and CVR can be housed in<br />
separate boxes – usually kept at the back<br />
of the aircraft where they are more likely<br />
to survive a crash – or combined into<br />
one.<br />
Mandatory since the 1960s on commercial<br />
flights, black boxes are encased<br />
in hardened steel or titanium boxes designed<br />
to survive high-speed impact and<br />
pressure, intense post-crash heat, or<br />
lengthy underwater submersion.<br />
Each device is made to resist heat<br />
up to 1,100°C for an hour and 10 hours<br />
smouldering at a lower 260 C, or to survive<br />
underwater as deep as 6,100 metres.<br />
But they are not indestructible and<br />
are often badly damaged.<br />
Analysing black box data can take<br />
days or even weeks, depending on their<br />
state.<br />
Each box is fitted with an acoustic<br />
location beacon or “pinger”, which can<br />
emit a signal for up to a month.<br />
One device weighs about five to<br />
10kg, and is the size of a shoe box. •<br />
Source: AFP
World<br />
Turkey opens first trial of July 15 coup suspects<br />
• Reuters, Silivri, Turkey<br />
The first trial related to Turkey’s<br />
failed coup on July started on Tuesday,<br />
with 29 police officers facing<br />
charges of disobeying orders on the<br />
July night rogue soldiers attempted<br />
to overthrow the government and<br />
killed some 240 people.<br />
Since the failed coup, more than<br />
100,000 people have been sacked or<br />
suspended in a widespread crackdown<br />
targeting the military, police,<br />
civil service and private sector. Some<br />
40,000 people have been arrested.<br />
Security was tight at the courthouse<br />
in Silivri, west of Istanbul,<br />
including a heavy police presence.<br />
Reporters were not allowed to bring<br />
cameras and other equipment into<br />
the building.<br />
The police officers are charged<br />
with disobeying orders to defend<br />
President Tayyip Erdogan’s palace<br />
in Istanbul on the night of the July<br />
15 coup, state-run Anadolu Agency<br />
said. Lawyers for the 29 defendants<br />
could not immediately be reached<br />
to say whether they would deny the<br />
charges.<br />
During the attempted coup,<br />
rogue soldiers commandeered<br />
tanks, helicopters and warplanes in<br />
Istanbul and Ankara and attacked<br />
parliament and other institutions.<br />
Prosecutors are seeking three life<br />
11<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
sentences for 21 of the policemen<br />
and sentences of between 7-1/2 to 15<br />
years in prison for the other eight,<br />
Anadolu said.<br />
While Tuesday’s trial is the first<br />
related to the coup, it does not include<br />
the alleged ringleaders, who<br />
are due to go on trial, probably next<br />
year, in Ankara. •
14<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
Basic Bank to<br />
get Tk2600cr<br />
bonds in<br />
installments<br />
• Asif Shawkat Kallol<br />
Finance Minister AMA Muhith<br />
has refused to hand over<br />
Tk2600cr bonds to the Basic<br />
Bank in one go.<br />
The minister came up with<br />
the decision at a meeting of<br />
the governing body of Climate<br />
Change Trust Fund held at the<br />
Ministry of Environment and<br />
Forest yesterday.<br />
The minister said: “We<br />
cannot provide Tk2600cr to<br />
the bank in cash but we will<br />
provide it in bonds. And finance<br />
ministry will provide<br />
the bonds in different slots of<br />
Tk500cr and Tk600cr.”<br />
“We cannot stop providing<br />
support to the bank even if it is<br />
bankrupt,” he added.<br />
Muhith said the ministry<br />
had to provide funds in this regard<br />
as the government decided<br />
to keep the Basic Bank operational<br />
despite its bankruptcy.<br />
Last year, Basic Bank received<br />
Tk2300cr in aid from<br />
the finance ministry. •<br />
Business<br />
Oil steadies above $55 ahead of<br />
supply cut deal<br />
• Reuters<br />
Oil steadied above $55 a barrel yesterday,<br />
drawing support from expectations<br />
of tighter supply once<br />
the first output cut deal between<br />
OPEC and non-OPEC producers in<br />
15 years takes effect on Sunday.<br />
Jan 1 is the official start of the<br />
deal agreed by the Organisation<br />
of Petroleum Exporting Countries<br />
and several non-OPEC producers<br />
to lower production by almost 1.8<br />
million barrels per day (bpd).<br />
Brent crude LCOc1 was unchanged<br />
at $55.16 a barrel at 1<strong>12</strong>8<br />
GMT (6:28 am ET). The global<br />
benchmark reached $57.89 on Dec<br />
<strong>12</strong>, the highest since July 2015. US<br />
crude CLc1 gained 15 cents to $53.17.<br />
There was no trading on Monday<br />
after the Christmas holiday, and<br />
volume was expected to be light<br />
on Tuesday. Crude may struggle to<br />
rally much further before evidence<br />
is available of OPEC’s compliance<br />
with the cuts, analysts said.<br />
“To go above $60 is going to be<br />
difficult. We’re already close to<br />
the top rather than the bottom of<br />
the range right now,” said Olivier<br />
Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix.<br />
“From January, we’ll start to<br />
A PetroChina gasoline-station attendant pumps fuel into a car in Beijing<br />
have a better idea about the level of<br />
OPEC production. That is going to<br />
be more and more of a focus.”<br />
Major OPEC members such as<br />
Saudi Arabia and Iraq have informed<br />
customers of lower supplies. But<br />
Libya and Nigeria - which are exempt<br />
from reductions because conflict<br />
has curbed their output - have<br />
been increasing production.<br />
Libyan output was 622,000 bpd<br />
on Monday, up slightly from levels<br />
recorded before an armed faction<br />
agreed to lift a two-year blockade<br />
REUTERS<br />
on major western pipelines on Dec<br />
14, the National Oil Corporation<br />
(NOC) said.<br />
While the outright price of crude<br />
is being supported by the prospect<br />
of lower supplies, the impact in the<br />
physical market will probably differ<br />
according to the type of crude.<br />
Price differentials for lighter<br />
crudes could weaken once the supply<br />
cut comes into force as producers<br />
are expected to trim back output<br />
of their heavier grades, analysts at<br />
JBC Energy said in a report. •<br />
‘Monte dei Paschi<br />
bailout must be<br />
carefully weighed’<br />
• Reuters<br />
European Central Bank policymaker<br />
Jens Weidmann said plans for a<br />
state bailout of Italian bank Monte<br />
dei Paschi di Siena should be<br />
weighed carefully as many questions<br />
remain to be answered, according<br />
to German newspaper Bild.<br />
“For the measures planned by<br />
the Italian government the bank<br />
has to be financially healthy at its<br />
core. The money cannot be used<br />
to cover losses that are already expected,”<br />
Bild quoted Weidmann as<br />
saying in a summary of an article<br />
due to be published today. He said<br />
there must be a risk of severe economic<br />
turbulence, adding: “All this<br />
must be carefully examined.”<br />
The Italian government approved<br />
a decree on Friday to bail<br />
out Monte dei Paschi after the<br />
world’s oldest bank failed to win<br />
investor backing for a desperately<br />
needed capital increase.<br />
Monte dei Paschi emerged as<br />
the weakest of some 51 European<br />
banks subjected to stress tests<br />
earlier this year by the ECB. It was<br />
given until the end of the year to<br />
sort out its problems or face being<br />
wound down. •
Business 15<br />
DT<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
CORPORATE NEWS<br />
British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) secure first position in<br />
ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence 2015 in<br />
Manufacturing Companies Category for practicing good governance<br />
for 3rd time in a row. BATB Chairman Golam Mainuddin and Managing<br />
Director Shehzad Munim received the award from Prime Minister’s<br />
Advisor Dr Mashiur Rahman at a grand ceremony held at Grand Ballroom,<br />
Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the city recently.<br />
Southeast Bank Limited has recently opened its <strong>12</strong>8th branch at Pirujali<br />
Road, Manipur Bazar in Gazipur, said a press release. The bank’s AMD,<br />
Muhammad Shahjahan inaugurated the branch .<br />
Pubali Bank Limited has recently opened its 449th branch at Shibchar<br />
in Madaripur, said a press release. Member of parliament, Noor-E-<br />
Alam Chowdhury inaugurated the branch at the presence of the bank’s<br />
director, Syed Moazzem Hussain .<br />
S.A.M. Hossain has been elected<br />
as Vice Chairman of Standard<br />
Bank Limited. SAM Hossain has<br />
recently been elected as vice<br />
chairperson of Standard Bank<br />
Limited, said a press release. He is<br />
the chairperson of Victor Group .<br />
Md Monzur Mofiz has recently<br />
joined Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited<br />
as a deputy managing director,<br />
said a press release. Prior to his<br />
joining, Mofiz was working as<br />
SEVP of City Bank Limited. He has<br />
overall 23 years of experience.
16<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
Event<br />
Model UN summit held in Dhaka<br />
• Aaqib Md Shatil<br />
“We need to work together;<br />
after all, it is United Nations,<br />
not divided nations” - Anika<br />
Anwar, an eleventh grader from<br />
Adamjee Cantonment College,<br />
who was representing Angola in<br />
the Historical Crisis Committee,<br />
a specialised committee of the<br />
just concluded Dhaka University<br />
National Model UN <strong>2016</strong><br />
conference, was found encouraging<br />
her fellow delegates to come<br />
together to find a way out to the<br />
crisis they were given to work with.<br />
Like every other year since<br />
20<strong>12</strong>, Dhaka University Model<br />
UN Association (DUNMUN)<br />
organised the prestigious MUN<br />
of the country, Dhaka University<br />
National Model UN conference.<br />
It was the fifth session of the first<br />
ever university-based Model UN<br />
conference in Bangladesh.<br />
With the theme, “Embarking<br />
SDG implementation for peaceful<br />
coexistence,” the conference<br />
was aimed at extracting out the<br />
best possible ways to embark<br />
the implementation of the 17<br />
sustainable development goals<br />
with a view to achieving peaceful<br />
coexistence.<br />
A simulation of the UN<br />
General Assembly, the summit<br />
is driven by the urge to provide<br />
solutions for the problem the<br />
delegates are given. Each of the<br />
committee discusses the agenda,<br />
make arguments on behalf of<br />
their country and come up with<br />
a resolution that includes the<br />
solution to the problem. Thus,<br />
unlike most of the seminars or<br />
conferences, Model UN not only<br />
discusses the problems, but also<br />
strives to find a solution to these<br />
problems.<br />
This year, DUNMUN Secretariat<br />
received thousands of delegate<br />
applications from 151 institutions<br />
across the globe, and among<br />
them, only 500 were selected as<br />
delegates.<br />
DUNMUN <strong>2016</strong> had 10<br />
committees that were tasked to<br />
discuss a total of 43 agendas in<br />
four days. Around 500 delegates,<br />
from Bangladesh, India, Nepal,<br />
Somalia, and Sierra Leone came<br />
together at the University of<br />
Dhaka to express their views<br />
on SDG implementation for<br />
peaceful coexistence, on behalf<br />
of their assigned countries from<br />
<strong>December</strong> 19 to <strong>December</strong> 22.<br />
While arguing, the delegates,<br />
mostly students from different<br />
universities of the world,<br />
came forward with exclusive<br />
information, perspectives and<br />
expressed their views on the<br />
respective agenda.<br />
While discussing in the UNICEF<br />
PHOTO: COURTESY<br />
A simulation of the UN General Assembly, the summit is<br />
driven by the urge to provide solutions for the problem the<br />
delegates are given<br />
committee, the delegate of<br />
Germany, Mrittunjoy Das, opined,<br />
“It is a grave misconception<br />
that all child labour is forced.”<br />
“Rather,” he added, “the<br />
definition of child is subjective<br />
from one country to another.”<br />
On the other hand, the<br />
delegate of Russia contradicted<br />
this statement and urged all the<br />
PHOTO: COURTESY<br />
nations to ensure education for<br />
all to stop child labour.<br />
Tanjim Ul Islam, who was a<br />
delegate in NATO, recalled his<br />
experience of DUNMUN <strong>2016</strong><br />
saying: “I got to learn many<br />
important things throughout<br />
the sessions. It was an excellent<br />
opportunity to brush up on my<br />
diplomacy and teamwork skills.”<br />
However, DUNMUN was not<br />
all about debates and arguments,<br />
rather, this year it had three<br />
cultural nights. Popular musical<br />
band Arbovirus rocked the night<br />
of <strong>December</strong> 21 in the DUNMUN<br />
Concert along with Ganpoka.<br />
The closing ceremony of the<br />
conference was held on <strong>December</strong><br />
22 after the closing plenary<br />
session, which was presided<br />
over by Plenary President<br />
Wahiduzzaman Siddique. Closing<br />
and Award Giving Ceremony was<br />
attended by State Minister for the<br />
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Md<br />
Shahriar Alam, MP.<br />
The minister appreciated the<br />
initiative saying that he is very<br />
happy to see so many future<br />
diplomats under one roof during<br />
his speech as the chief guest. He<br />
thanked the President of UNYSAB<br />
Mohammad Mamun Mia and<br />
Secretary General of DUNMUN<br />
<strong>2016</strong>, Mr Ashabul Mahmud for<br />
giving him the opportunity to<br />
address such an enthusiastic<br />
crowd.<br />
Among dozens of MUN<br />
conferences, on the question<br />
what made DUNMUN different<br />
from others, Tanjim Ferdous,<br />
the Chairperson of UNICEF<br />
said: “DUNMUN is the most<br />
consistent, well planed and wellorganised<br />
Model UN conference in<br />
Bangladesh.”•
Project<br />
17<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
A future investment<br />
Save the Children’s campaign to ensure sufficient, equitable and efficient investment in children<br />
• Afroza Sharmin<br />
To ensure all rights of children<br />
in the country, the Government<br />
has to take measures to the<br />
maximum extent of its available<br />
resources – as specified in Article<br />
4 of the UN Convention on the<br />
Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In<br />
doing so, the Government must<br />
ensure sufficient, equitable and<br />
efficient public investment in<br />
children. As UNCRC suggests, the<br />
state should produce a budget<br />
for children, and make children<br />
visible in Government’s allocation<br />
and spending of resources. The<br />
Government must also involve<br />
children in the budget decision<br />
making process.<br />
The ‘UN Committee on the<br />
Rights of the Child’ adopted<br />
General Comment No. 19 on public<br />
budgeting for the realisation of<br />
children’s rights in June <strong>2016</strong>,<br />
which is the first UN document<br />
that provides detailed guidance to<br />
states on the issue of investing in<br />
children.<br />
Save the Children in Bangladesh<br />
has initiated high level discussion<br />
around the General Comment<br />
and the issue of investment in<br />
children by organising a seminar<br />
titled ‘UNCRC General Comment<br />
on public budgeting for the<br />
realisation of children’s rights<br />
and Bangladesh’s Progress’<br />
on <strong>December</strong> 26 at CIRDAP<br />
International Conference Center,<br />
Dhaka. The State Minister of<br />
Finance, M A Mannan, addressed<br />
the seminar as chief guest<br />
while Rasheda K Chowdhury,<br />
former Advisor to the Caretaker<br />
Government and Executive<br />
Director, CAMPE, was the special<br />
guest. Mohammad Muslim<br />
Chowdhury, Additional Secretary,<br />
Ministry of Finance, and Tahmina<br />
Begum NDC, Joint Secretary,<br />
Ministry of Women and Children<br />
Affairs, also spoke as special<br />
guests at the event. Dr Ishtiaq<br />
Mannan, Deputy Country Director<br />
of Save the Children in Bangladesh<br />
chaired the seminar. Ashiq Iqbal,<br />
Public Finance Advisor of Save the<br />
Children in Bangladesh made the<br />
keynote presentation.<br />
The General Comment 19<br />
relates to all rights recognised<br />
in the UNCRC including those of<br />
health and nutrition, education,<br />
protection and social protection.<br />
While the General Comment<br />
speaks about state responsibilities<br />
to invest in children in relation<br />
to the UNCRC, it will also help<br />
the Government deliver on<br />
commitments made to children<br />
in the Sustainable Development<br />
Goals (SDGs), noted the<br />
discussants of the seminar.<br />
Therefore, it is important that<br />
the guidelines are incorporated<br />
in the budget-making process of<br />
the government. But at the same<br />
time, it is also important that<br />
the civil society engages in its<br />
implementation, as emphasised<br />
by the General Comment itself.<br />
In Bangladesh, the<br />
Government, for the second<br />
time, has prepared the ‘Child<br />
Budget’ in FY 2015-16. The<br />
discussants recognised the Child<br />
Budget as a milestone towards<br />
public investment upholding the<br />
principle of best interest of the<br />
child, making children visible in<br />
the national budget. However,<br />
it was also stressed that detail<br />
allocations included in the<br />
Child Budget are yet to be made<br />
public which is critical to ensure<br />
transparency and civil society<br />
engagement in implementation<br />
tracking. Save the Children noted<br />
that about 15% of the national<br />
budget for the current fiscal<br />
year is allocated for children<br />
either directly or indirectly, and<br />
significantly higher social sector<br />
allocation per capita has been<br />
made compared to last year,<br />
which is a positive move from a<br />
child rights perspective.<br />
Speakers emphasised that child<br />
participation must be ensured<br />
in the budget decision making<br />
process. Save the Children made<br />
specific call to the government<br />
to hold pre-budget consultation<br />
with children and organisations<br />
working for them which is already<br />
happening with other professional<br />
groups every year. To note, the<br />
General Comment explicitly calls<br />
on the governments to ensure<br />
The ‘UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’ adopted General<br />
Comment No. 19 on public budgeting for the realisation of children’s<br />
rights in June <strong>2016</strong>, which is the first UN document that provides<br />
detailed guidance to states on the issue of investing in children<br />
child participation in the budget<br />
making process, particularly the<br />
vulnerable children who find<br />
it difficult to make their voices<br />
heard.<br />
The General Comment<br />
particularly emphasises on the<br />
principle of non-discrimination<br />
and calls upon the Government<br />
to identify excluded groups,<br />
assess how resource allocation<br />
Photo: Courtesy<br />
differentially impacts them and<br />
take budgetary measures to<br />
address them. Save the Children<br />
suggested that disaggregated<br />
budget information by geographic<br />
locations is as critical as age<br />
and gender specific ones to this<br />
end. It was suggested that the<br />
Government should not only<br />
bring back the ‘District Budget’<br />
reporting, but should aim at<br />
disaggregation of the budget<br />
further down the line at the<br />
Upazila level, and if possible at the<br />
Union level.<br />
Through the ‘Every Last<br />
Child’ global campaign, Save<br />
the Children calls on the to<br />
Government and decision makers<br />
for fair finance and accountability<br />
to children in Bangladesh.<br />
With such an aim, Save the<br />
Children is engaging with the<br />
Government, national and<br />
international organisations and<br />
the civil society to discuss the<br />
General Comment on public<br />
budgeting for the realisation<br />
of child rights which will be<br />
instrumental in the country’s<br />
journey ahead with the<br />
sustainable development<br />
agenda.•
18<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
Feature<br />
| exhibition |<br />
Colour & Click<br />
• Sabiha Akond Rupa<br />
On a winter afternoon, the<br />
exclusive beauty salon, Divine<br />
Beauty Lounge arranged a unique<br />
portrait exhibition. Makeup<br />
maestro, Bapon Rahman<br />
collaborated with young talented<br />
photographer, Anwar Hossain<br />
Enam, for the first time. The<br />
photographer’s ingenious eyes<br />
have captured not just the beauty<br />
| companies |<br />
of makeover, but the soul of his<br />
subjects as well.<br />
Divine Beauty Lounge believes<br />
that, “Every single face is a<br />
canvas.” Bapon Rahman, the<br />
man who has been painting on<br />
live canvas for the last 25 years,<br />
presented his wide range of<br />
makeovers through this portrait<br />
exhibition. He has used colours<br />
to embrace beauty at its finest,<br />
forgetting the limits. “We are<br />
usually accustomed to seeing the<br />
typical and traditional look on a<br />
bride, but I have tried to create<br />
something different,” said Bapon<br />
Rahman.<br />
Sangeeta Khan, the managing<br />
partner of Divine Beauty<br />
Lounge, said, “Bapon Rahman<br />
is a multi-talented artist. He<br />
isn’t only a make-up artist but<br />
also has been creating different<br />
looks with make-up. The young<br />
photographer, Anwar Hossain<br />
Enam’s photographs also speak<br />
his talent. Divine Beauty Lounge<br />
brought out their talents through<br />
this exhibition.”<br />
The two-day long portrait<br />
exhibition was inaugurated by the<br />
beauty expert, Kaniz Almas Khan<br />
and the famous photographer,<br />
Chanchal Mahmud, on <strong>December</strong><br />
17 at the gallery of Bay’s<br />
Edgewater. At the inauguration<br />
ceremony, Divine Beauty Lounge<br />
also introduced internationally<br />
renowned model, Priya Jannatul,<br />
as the brand ambassador who will<br />
be representing the beauty salon<br />
all over the country. •<br />
Photos: Courtesy<br />
Top five companies hiring in <strong>December</strong><br />
Looking forward to kick start<br />
your career in Bangladesh with an<br />
amazing work culture? Everjobs.<br />
com.bd reveals top five companies<br />
with the most awesome<br />
opportunities during the month of<br />
<strong>December</strong>.<br />
Anwar Group of Industries<br />
Anwar Group of Industries has<br />
a glorious business heritage, a<br />
glittering present and a sparkling<br />
future. Established in 1834, the<br />
Group takes pride in the success<br />
of its associating companies that<br />
includes composite textile, jute,<br />
financial services like banks and<br />
insurance, building materials, real<br />
estate, home decor, engineering,<br />
trading, and automobiles. The<br />
Group (including the associating<br />
companies) employs over <strong>12</strong>,000<br />
dedicated people, whom it<br />
considers the backbone of all the<br />
success. Apply now and be a part<br />
of this glorious business heritage!<br />
BRAC<br />
BRAC, an international<br />
development organisation based<br />
in Bangladesh, is the largest<br />
non-governmental development<br />
organisation in the world, in terms<br />
of its number of employees as of<br />
September <strong>2016</strong>. Established in<br />
1972, after the independence of<br />
Bangladesh, BRAC is present in<br />
all 64 districts of the country, as<br />
well as 13 other countries in Asia,<br />
Africa, and the Americas. Today,<br />
BRAC operates 16 financially and<br />
socially profitable enterprises<br />
across health, agriculture,<br />
livestock, fisheries, education,<br />
green energy and retail sectors,<br />
making significant contribution<br />
to the local economy through<br />
creation of market linkages,<br />
entrepreneurs and employment<br />
opportunities. Apply now and join<br />
the world’s biggest family!<br />
Pran Group<br />
Pran is the largest food and<br />
nutrition company of Bangladesh.<br />
Established in 1981, the company<br />
is now exporting to a total of<br />
95 countries. Pran has grown<br />
enormously in both size and<br />
potential, with the company now<br />
boasting a number of plants across<br />
the country that are responsible<br />
for agro processing and plastic<br />
packaging. The company employs<br />
38,000 people, in addition to a<br />
dealership base of 22,000. With<br />
plans to increase its product<br />
portfolio further, these numbers<br />
are bound to increase, meaning<br />
that the vacancies in Pran’s<br />
Bangladesh office are going to go<br />
up. Don’t miss out and apply now!<br />
Rancon Motors<br />
Rancon Motor Bikes Ltd (RMBL) is<br />
the latest venture of Rangs group,<br />
one of the premier conglomerates<br />
in Bangladesh. They have signed<br />
an agreement with Suzuki<br />
Motor Corporation, Japan, to<br />
manufacture and distribute its<br />
two wheeler products throughout<br />
Bangladesh. RMBL shall be<br />
synonymous for all motorcycle<br />
related things – by igniting the<br />
burning passion that riders desire.<br />
After all, a true rider knows that<br />
it is all about “A Way of Life”, a<br />
commercial launched in 2014.<br />
Apply now and take your career to<br />
the top gear!<br />
SELISE<br />
Selise’s value proposition revolves<br />
around consumer-centric<br />
cloud and mobile solutions<br />
in financial services, smart<br />
government, telecommunication,<br />
entertainment and others. The<br />
company’s creative forces are<br />
distributed across Zürich, Dhaka,<br />
Thimphu and Dubai, delivering<br />
to 8 countries spread across 3<br />
continents. Selise is different<br />
from traditional software<br />
firms, who start to work once<br />
requirements are ready. Selise<br />
understands business and begins<br />
at the strategic level. Apply<br />
now and become a part of the<br />
“Meets Reality, Creates Future”<br />
movement.•
Biz Info<br />
19<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
| ceremony |<br />
‘Sailors passing out parade’ held at BNS Titumir, Khulna<br />
The New Entry Sailors Passing out<br />
Parade- <strong>2016</strong> of Bangladesh Navy<br />
was held at BNS Titumir parade<br />
ground, Khulna on Tuesday,<br />
<strong>December</strong> 27. The Chief of Naval<br />
Staff Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed<br />
was present as the chief guest<br />
during the parade. Later he<br />
gave out prizes among the best<br />
performers.<br />
New Sailor Md<br />
Tusharuzzaman, OD/UT got the<br />
‘CNS Trophy’ for his best all round<br />
performance among 783 sailors.<br />
Injamul Haque Polash, DE/MA-2/<br />
UT was presented ‘Comkhul<br />
Padak’ and Abdullah Al Mamun,<br />
RO (G)-2/UT has received the<br />
‘Titumir Padak’.<br />
In his address, the CNS<br />
mentioned the great contribution<br />
of the Father of the Nation,<br />
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur<br />
Rahman with gratitude in<br />
development of Bangladesh Navy.<br />
He urged the new entry sailors<br />
to build themselves as dynamic<br />
members of the institution. He<br />
also recalled the sacrifices of<br />
naval soldiers in our liberation<br />
war and thanked the present<br />
government for its wholehearted<br />
support in the development of<br />
Navy, specially the new inclusion<br />
of two submarines in naval power.<br />
Among others, Assistant<br />
Chief of Naval Staff (Material),<br />
Commodore Commanding<br />
Khulna, Civil and military high<br />
officials of Khulna and Jessore,<br />
local dignitaries and guardians<br />
of the newly entered sailors were<br />
present on the occasion.•<br />
Photo: ISPR<br />
| awareness |<br />
Introducing Gamma Probe in the<br />
treatment of early breast cancer for the<br />
first time in Bangladesh<br />
For the treatment of early<br />
breast cancer, Gamma probe is<br />
very much essential and only<br />
available in Apollo Hospitals,<br />
Dhaka. During an operation, this<br />
instrument is used to identify<br />
suspected lymph nodes in the<br />
armpit, loaded with cancer<br />
cells, which is usually their<br />
first destination. In order to<br />
confirm the spread of cancer<br />
cells in a particular lymph<br />
node that is being removed<br />
and sent for the frozen section<br />
(histopathological section<br />
during surgery), if the cancer<br />
cells are not found, further<br />
excision of armpit tissues is not<br />
required or done. Therefore,<br />
patients can avoid major postoperative<br />
morbidities like upper<br />
limb swelling, continuous pain,<br />
infection, etc, which they may<br />
have to bear throughout their<br />
lives, in various intensities.<br />
Basically, to avoid unnecessary<br />
armpit surgery and its<br />
complications, gamma probe is<br />
Photo: Courtesy<br />
very essential.<br />
Recently, Sharmin, who is a<br />
43 year-old lady from Chittagong<br />
with breast cancer, underwent<br />
this surgery at Apollo Hospitals<br />
in Dhaka. The very next day, she<br />
was discharged with complete<br />
recovery. Apollo Hospitals,<br />
Dhaka’s well-known General,<br />
Laparoscopic and G I Surgical<br />
Oncologist Dr Mohammad Farid<br />
Hossain, is doing this procedure<br />
regularly and successfully. •<br />
| recruitment |<br />
Radisson Blu Dhaka recruits<br />
Chef Jed Archdeacon as<br />
new Executive Chef<br />
Chef Jed Archdeacon was head<br />
hunted from Australia, and flown<br />
in all the way to bring inspiration<br />
and his expert knowledge to<br />
the already well established<br />
restaurant outlets of Radisson<br />
Blu Dhaka Water Garden such as<br />
Sublime, Water Garden Brasserie,<br />
Spice & Rice and ChitChat. He<br />
started his career as a chef in<br />
his hometown in Perth, Western<br />
Australia, where he worked<br />
under the guidance of the world<br />
renowned Chef Cheong Liew,<br />
at his signature restaurants in<br />
Photo: Courtesy<br />
both Hilton Perth and<br />
Adelaide. Chef Jed left<br />
Australia on a culinary<br />
journey that had landed<br />
him working for some<br />
of the top luxury hotels<br />
and resorts throughout<br />
Asia and the Middle<br />
East. He headed the<br />
culinary operations<br />
for companies like<br />
Ritz Carlton, Hilton,<br />
Viceroy, Six Senses,<br />
COMO hotels, just to<br />
name a few; in exotic<br />
locations such as<br />
Maldives, China, Bhutan<br />
and Thailand. Chef<br />
Jed’s classical European<br />
training, accompanied<br />
by his exposure to<br />
Asian cuisines, gives<br />
him a well-rounded<br />
and open minded<br />
approach in heading up the<br />
Culinary Operations here at<br />
Radisson Blu Dhaka. Being wellversed<br />
in culinary art, Chef Jed<br />
Archdeacon possesses a natural<br />
flair for meticulous execution,<br />
spotlessness and an eye for detail.<br />
“I am excited to have Chef Jed<br />
join Radisson Blu Dhaka Water<br />
Garden,” says General Manager<br />
Mr Christoph Voegeli. We look<br />
forward to work with him and<br />
take our already popular restaurants<br />
to the next level. •
DT<br />
20<br />
Editorial<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
TODAY<br />
A radical change<br />
Young people start developing extreme<br />
views when they find that, in the name<br />
of upholding/safeguarding human<br />
rights, a charade is being played out<br />
PAGE 21<br />
The Russian<br />
interference<br />
Would it be worth it to retaliate against<br />
an issue such as hacking at this point?<br />
By now it would be too little too late for<br />
Obama<br />
PAGE 22<br />
RAJIB DHAR<br />
A terror-free Bangladesh<br />
We need to do<br />
something<br />
If the irksome reiterated statement of<br />
children being the ‘future of the nation’<br />
is something we can bank on, we need<br />
to create a system that allows them to<br />
be the ‘backbone of our country’<br />
PAGE 23<br />
Be heard<br />
Write to Dhaka Tribune<br />
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DhakaTribune.<br />
The views expressed in opinion<br />
articles are those of the authors<br />
alone and they are not the<br />
official view of Dhaka Tribune<br />
or its publisher.<br />
The year 2017 is almost here, and with it comes hope for a<br />
Bangladesh that is well and truly free of terror.<br />
The case of Jebunnahar, the country’s first female<br />
suicide bomber, is only the latest reminder for us that<br />
terror did not end with the incident at Holey Artisan Bakery in July.<br />
To that end, the government’s effective response in tackling<br />
terrorism has been reassuring. The multiple successful raids<br />
carried out across the country this year have gone a long way<br />
towards making the citizenry feel safe.<br />
Starting with the Kallayanpur raids to the Narayanganj bust<br />
earlier this year, and with this recent raid of an Ashkona terrorist<br />
den on <strong>December</strong> 24, the law enforcement has done its job in<br />
keeping the nation secure.<br />
However, the job does not end there.<br />
The next few days are going to be crucial for our law<br />
enforcement and intelligence agencies.<br />
With New Year’s Eve only couple of days away, it is natural to<br />
suspect that terrorists would see this as an opportunity to wreak<br />
havoc over the denizens of the country’s capital city.<br />
The government has shown that it is equal to the challenge so<br />
far, and we are confident that they have matters well under control<br />
as far as the next few days are concerned.<br />
This year has been particularly grueling for us, and the country<br />
is eagerly looking forward to the coming year being free of terror.<br />
But for that we need to come together as a nation, simply relying<br />
on the government to do its part will not do.<br />
The new year is almost upon us. Our law enforcers are doing<br />
their job. Let’s do our part to keep Bangladesh terror-free.<br />
The new year is almost<br />
upon us. Our law<br />
enforcers are doing their<br />
job. Let’s do our part to<br />
keep Bangladesh terrorfree
A radical change<br />
Opinion 21<br />
Radicalism is nothing but a byproduct of misinformation coming back to haunt us<br />
DT<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
SERPENT<br />
IN EDEN<br />
• Towheed Feroze<br />
As a journalist, I often<br />
come across young<br />
people who are eager to<br />
listen to my views on<br />
global events which often cannot<br />
be explained unequivocally.<br />
During the invasion of Iraq and<br />
then Libya, the common questions<br />
were around the justification of<br />
these actions.<br />
While the powers involved<br />
in intervening in these states<br />
delivered relentless rhetoric about<br />
“restoration of democracy” and<br />
human rights, common educated<br />
youngsters here asked to what<br />
extent it was right to forcefully go<br />
into another country and settle<br />
someone else’s problems.<br />
I could only smile dryly and<br />
give a diplomatic answer, which<br />
was possibly opaque.<br />
Years later, both these countries<br />
are in turmoil -- the so-called<br />
“intervention” did little to improve<br />
the socio-political conditions<br />
of the people there. One has<br />
become the breeding ground for<br />
ultra-radicals wreaking havoc<br />
worldwide, whereas the other has<br />
descended into anarchy.<br />
Trust me, one of my aunts<br />
is Libyan, and she has left her<br />
country to reside in the UK.<br />
According to her, the unsolicited<br />
interference has totally<br />
destabilised her country.<br />
The point here is that, as we<br />
talk about the sudden increase<br />
political events happening in other<br />
parts of the world.<br />
Once, we had to rely on what<br />
the news agencies fed us. Today,<br />
there is no chance for any news<br />
outlet to provide a skewed version<br />
of a political event and get away<br />
with it. Yes, there are efforts to<br />
exploit social media to spread false<br />
news but just as fast the fabricated<br />
news spreads, they are discovered/<br />
debunked even faster.<br />
Given that the world is in the<br />
hands of the young educated<br />
mind, pulling the wool over the<br />
eyes is so much more difficult.<br />
I will possibly not be wrong to<br />
state that countless young people<br />
feel a sense of indignation at how<br />
some former imperial nations have<br />
continuously tried to hoodwink<br />
others into playing along with<br />
their nefarious schemes.<br />
The young people who once<br />
asked me for my opinion on<br />
certain global events do not ask<br />
anymore, simply because they<br />
now understand, quite clearly, the<br />
hypocrisy that motivates major<br />
global episodes.<br />
While this turns many cynical,<br />
many others, maybe a handful,<br />
become enraged, thus deciding to<br />
harbour extreme views.<br />
A news feature in a widelycirculated<br />
daily newspaper<br />
recently wrote referring to<br />
radicalisation of young minds,<br />
that the education system needs<br />
to be overhauled plus the liberal<br />
mindset needs to be inculcated.<br />
As far as my understanding of<br />
the liberal mind goes, someone<br />
with an open attitude will<br />
obviously ask questions expecting<br />
to get clear answers. Surely,<br />
we do not want another set of<br />
The youth today have a different thinking process<br />
BIGSTOCK<br />
Young people start developing extreme views when they find that<br />
in the name of upholding/safeguarding human rights, a charade<br />
is being played out. Most learn to accept it as the real world while<br />
others want to strike back<br />
of people with extreme views<br />
everywhere, most times we try to<br />
think within a localised scenario,<br />
not taking into account global<br />
events which have, over the years,<br />
impacted the viewpoints of the<br />
young.<br />
In the last one decade,<br />
the world has opened up to<br />
the growing youth due to the<br />
proliferation of the internet. While<br />
this has brought societies closer,<br />
it has also opened up platforms<br />
for critical discussion, touching<br />
indoctrinated and benign minds in<br />
the name of a liberal outlook.<br />
In the Bangladeshi context,<br />
the youth of today are a far<br />
different breed from the youth<br />
of the 70s, who, growing up in<br />
the post-independence setting of<br />
social depredation and austerity,<br />
concentrated mostly on getting<br />
a job and staying in a servile<br />
position without raising critical<br />
questions.<br />
In a progressing Bangladesh,<br />
and in a world where other,<br />
hitherto struggling countries are<br />
also developing fast, a new line of<br />
young people is emerging.<br />
These people have totally<br />
shed that post-colonial hangover,<br />
asking direct questions, expecting<br />
unequivocal answers.<br />
I feel that when they do not get<br />
satisfactory answers, they turn<br />
rebellious. Some may take the path<br />
towards extremism while others<br />
may not get involved in radical<br />
acts but may still hold very scarred<br />
views about the state of affairs.<br />
Perhaps a survey should be<br />
done to find out if the youth<br />
of today feel whether justice or<br />
injustice takes the upper hand at<br />
the end of <strong>2016</strong>.<br />
Coming to the latest<br />
humanitarian suffering in<br />
Myanmar and Syria, if we try to<br />
make a comparison between these<br />
two states with Libya and Iraq, the<br />
common question may be: If an<br />
intervention could be engineered<br />
and emphatically endorsed then,<br />
why can’t any solid action be<br />
taken now in these two states<br />
where countless are suffering<br />
inconceivably?<br />
I know, a very naïve question,<br />
but then, the young minds will ask<br />
it and sorry to say, I do not have<br />
the answer to satisfy them.<br />
Tell me if I am wrong: Young<br />
people start developing extreme<br />
views when they find that in the<br />
name of upholding/safeguarding<br />
human rights, a charade is being<br />
played out. Most learn to accept it<br />
as the real world while others want<br />
to strike back.<br />
Radicalism is but a byproduct<br />
of years of misleading information<br />
coming back to haunt us.<br />
When the suggestion of<br />
“positive counselling” is<br />
mentioned, are we to believe<br />
that it aims to stop young people<br />
from thinking deeply about global<br />
events? Of course, we need to<br />
resort to constructive discussions<br />
with the young everywhere, but<br />
those who chalk out dubious<br />
foreign policies will need some<br />
sessions with the shrink too.<br />
Hope for a better time ahead<br />
for those facing trauma in Syria,<br />
Myanmar, and others places.<br />
Happy holidays to my readers. •<br />
Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently<br />
working in the development sector.
22<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
Opinion<br />
The Russian interference<br />
America needs to be assertive now more than ever ... but it won’t be<br />
Telling Putin to ‘cut it out’ won’t be enough<br />
REUTERS<br />
• Azeem Ibrahim<br />
So what will Obama do<br />
about reports of alleged<br />
Russian hacking attempts<br />
to interfere in the US<br />
elections?<br />
In short, the most likely answer<br />
is that he will do nothing.<br />
Of course, interference with the<br />
US election process would have<br />
been, at any other time in history,<br />
a cause for war. So any sitting<br />
US president must at least talk<br />
tough. But Obama does not have<br />
the time to mount anything like<br />
a measured response. And he is<br />
most likely to judge that it would<br />
serve nobody to lash out blindly.<br />
This “measured approach” has<br />
been Obama’s hallmark modus<br />
operandi in foreign affairs. And<br />
indeed, it was just the approach he<br />
promised he would take while he<br />
was campaigning for office. After<br />
the years of misguided military<br />
adventurism under President<br />
Bush, the American people<br />
welcomed this kind of approach<br />
enthusiastically.<br />
It is sad to say, however, that<br />
this approach has been as much<br />
a failure as the “bull in a china<br />
shop” approach of Bush. In the<br />
early years, the new language<br />
from the Leader of the Free World<br />
was welcomed everywhere. The<br />
promised reset of policy in the<br />
Middle East sounded like just what<br />
the world needed. It was enough<br />
to win him the Nobel Peace Prize.<br />
But vision is not enough. In<br />
the brutal and chaotic world of<br />
geopolitical struggles, one must<br />
be willing to put force behind<br />
one’s vision. Even, as it turns<br />
out, when that vision is a deeply<br />
humanitarian one whose primary<br />
aim is long-term stability and<br />
peace.<br />
The red line<br />
This truth was ultimately revealed<br />
during the early days of the Syrian<br />
civil war. The single-most notable<br />
error that Obama made during<br />
his entire administration was to<br />
draw a red line over the use of<br />
chemical weapons against civilians<br />
by Assad, and then failing to<br />
intervene to enforce that red line<br />
when the regime finally crossed it.<br />
An American President had<br />
promised war over a humanitarian<br />
crisis where most of the rest of<br />
the world would have agreed<br />
intervention was needed, and then<br />
he failed to deliver. For the first<br />
time perhaps since World War II,<br />
America would no longer be able<br />
to wield the credible threat of<br />
force as a diplomatic weapon.<br />
This, combined with Obama’s<br />
ever-consuming concern<br />
about being drawn into the<br />
conflicts which undermined his<br />
Would it be worth it to retaliate against an issue such as hacking at this<br />
point? By now it would be too little too late for Obama. It would be the<br />
strop of someone who knows he has lost. A man of vision, ambition,<br />
and intelligence, yes<br />
predecessors, gave America’s rivals<br />
just the signal they were looking<br />
for: They could act with impunity<br />
in whatever they designated<br />
as their “spheres of interest.”<br />
America would not be drawn out.<br />
And the world has been a freefor-all<br />
ever since. Pax Americana<br />
crumbled. Would it be worth it<br />
to retaliate against an issue such<br />
as hacking at this point? By now<br />
it would be too little too late for<br />
Obama. It would be the strop of<br />
someone who knows he has lost.<br />
A man of vision, ambition, and<br />
intelligence, yes.<br />
But also a man who, for all<br />
his conviction that he is “on the<br />
right side of history,” has been<br />
repudiated by world events,<br />
and repudiated by American<br />
democracy. The incoming<br />
president is the opposite of<br />
everything he has stood for.<br />
Nevertheless, a retaliation<br />
is necessary. America needs<br />
to reassert itself on the world<br />
stage, and it needs, more than<br />
anything else, to signal that when<br />
it threatens reprisals it means<br />
business. It needs to overwhelm<br />
and cripple Russia’s hacker<br />
networks and get on the ground in<br />
Syria to effect a stable and lasting<br />
federalisation.<br />
Telling Putin to “cut it out”<br />
won’t do anything. Forcing Putin<br />
to back down will.<br />
Shame that America has just<br />
elected an ill-suited person for<br />
the job: A “tough-talking” reality<br />
TV star who, by all accounts,<br />
loves Putin more than he loves<br />
democracy and the institutions<br />
who put him in the chair of the<br />
most powerful man on Earth. •<br />
Azeem Ibrahim is Senior Fellow at<br />
the Centre for Global Policy, Fellow at<br />
Mansfield College, University of Oxford<br />
and Research Professor at the Strategic<br />
Studies Institute, US Army War College.<br />
He tweets @AzeemIbrahim. This article<br />
was previously published in Al Arabiya<br />
News.
Opinion 23<br />
We need to do something<br />
before the frustration festers<br />
To see the change that we want to see in Bangladesh, we need to facilitate it first<br />
DT<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Change won’t occur from the comfort of one’s home<br />
If the irksome reiterated statement of children being the ‘future of the<br />
nation’ is something we can bank on, we need to create a system that<br />
allows them to be the ‘backbone of our country’<br />
• Luba Khalili<br />
If there’s one thing that<br />
Bangladesh does not lack in,<br />
it has got to be the amount of<br />
people pointing out what’s<br />
wrong with this country.<br />
Opinion sections of all<br />
newspapers, talk shows on local<br />
TV, casual banter between uncles,<br />
friends, the cha wala, what have<br />
you -- all conversations flock to the<br />
same topic of debate.<br />
This is wrong, that is wrong:<br />
The government, corruption,<br />
police, bribery, population, slums,<br />
NGOs, academics, reporters, the<br />
petty bourgeois, your neighbour.<br />
Add to the list our favorite<br />
nouns, and we have ourselves<br />
a fairly convincing -- and most<br />
likely justified -- debunking of<br />
development.<br />
Now, whether we are the way<br />
we are because we complain too<br />
much, or because of the structural<br />
violence we’ve endured from<br />
hundreds of years of colonisation<br />
and oppression of the masses in<br />
various forms, the concerns laid<br />
out aren’t all a pretense.<br />
In fact, most people are just too<br />
tired of being stuck in traffic for<br />
unnecessarily long hours, broken<br />
roads, unavailable and unfit public<br />
transits … the list goes on.<br />
And as much as I would like to<br />
harp on about how far we’ve come<br />
as a nation since independence<br />
-- which is another issue itself for<br />
possibly another day -- I can’t help<br />
but hop on the bandwagon of the<br />
pedantic, and point out the sad<br />
truth: The list keeps going on.<br />
So, if one were to think and<br />
play the blame game a little bit<br />
more, perhaps the folks who sit in<br />
the central secretariat in Ramna<br />
should be the ones to point our<br />
fingers at. I mean, if the one body<br />
of authority looming over this tiny<br />
country, squeezed in between<br />
a “frenemy,” responsible for<br />
carrying out the task of providing<br />
the basics to its (albeit deluged)<br />
population, can’t do a proper job --<br />
then maybe it’s time to change the<br />
BIGSTOCK<br />
constituents, and maybe even the<br />
framework of polity itself.<br />
Maybe it is time for the older<br />
generations to finally step off of<br />
their thrones and we can have a<br />
body of governance not falling<br />
asleep during national assemblies.<br />
But none of this blaming and<br />
shifting around the puzzle pieces<br />
actually point to a problem rooted<br />
deeper in the Bangladeshi society.<br />
If the younger generation<br />
were to step up onto a platform<br />
where change could be brought,<br />
we would need the means to do<br />
so, and of course, incentives,<br />
to toil away for a vision of what<br />
Bangladesh could actually be.<br />
And while that could very well<br />
be arranged, there’s another issue<br />
that keeps us away from moving<br />
up: We lack a culture of moving<br />
out.<br />
While most people are expected<br />
to live with their parents until,<br />
at least, they get married -- and<br />
for women, there’s a chance of<br />
moving out after marriage -- that<br />
doesn’t happen until they’re at<br />
least, say, 25 years old? From even<br />
a glance at Dhaka, people do not<br />
live on their own until they’re well<br />
into their 30s.<br />
This creates a culture of being<br />
tethered to familial comfort, and<br />
frankly, a sense of comfort that<br />
began from childhood and lasts<br />
that long could transform, rather<br />
subtly and sinisterly, into a lack of<br />
accountability. Towards ourselves,<br />
our careers, and, perhaps, to our<br />
nation. Most of us lose a good<br />
eight to 10 years of our adult<br />
lives not paying rent -- and thus<br />
not experiencing the struggle of<br />
making ends meet, not worrying<br />
about how we’ll eat and so on.<br />
Our realisation of responsibility<br />
doesn’t really hit until much later,<br />
and by that time, the vigour and<br />
drive that a twentysomething<br />
would have, fizzles out.<br />
Then it becomes about coming<br />
home from the nine-to-five job,<br />
taking care of the parents, maybe<br />
looking for a new apartment with<br />
the spouse and kids?<br />
I understand the privileged<br />
lenses that I’ve got on when<br />
making the claims that moving<br />
out of ones parents’ house is not<br />
a custom we traditionally have,<br />
and that people don’t struggle to<br />
make ends meet -- and the peers<br />
that I’ve seen come to the capital<br />
to study are examples of that. But<br />
if it is indeed the privilege that I<br />
am speaking of, that opportunity<br />
needs to be taken advantage of.<br />
And there are methods<br />
available to facilitate this madness.<br />
From allowing young people<br />
to be able to find part-time jobs<br />
so they can pay rent, to making<br />
apartments affordable and<br />
landlords approachable -- this list,<br />
too, goes on.<br />
But the first step is to really<br />
believe that change is possible.<br />
Let’s face it, if the irksome<br />
reiterated statement of children<br />
being “the future of the nation”<br />
is something we can bank on, we<br />
need to create a system that allows<br />
them to be “the backbone of our<br />
country.”<br />
Mollycoddling sons and<br />
assuming that daughters only<br />
belong in their father’s house and<br />
then the husband’s, are customs<br />
which are lethal for the changes<br />
that we would like to see in<br />
Bangladesh, whether in 10 years<br />
or 200. •<br />
Luba Khalili is a Sub-Editor at the Dhaka<br />
Tribune.
DT<br />
24<br />
Sport<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
TOP STORIES<br />
Bangladesh seal<br />
volleyball title<br />
Bangladesh clinched the<br />
Bangabandhu Asian Senior<br />
Men’s Central Zone International<br />
Volleyball Championship after<br />
beating Kyrgyzstan 3-0 in the final<br />
at Shaheed Sohrawardi Indoor<br />
Stadium yesterday. PAGE 25<br />
Azhar shines on<br />
gloomy day<br />
Azhar Ali shone in gloomy<br />
conditions with a patient century<br />
to guide Pakistan to 310 for six in<br />
the second Test against Australia<br />
but both sides were left frustrated<br />
at the end of a rain-blighted<br />
second day in Melbourne. PAGE 26<br />
‘Not obsessed with<br />
winning Ballon d’Or’<br />
Barcelona’s Brazilian star Neymar<br />
says winning the Ballon d’Or is one<br />
of his goals but he will not lose<br />
any sleep if he never takes home<br />
football’s top individual award.<br />
“If I don’t win the Ballon d’or, its<br />
okay,” he said. PAGE 27<br />
Contest in BD<br />
domestic cricket<br />
Much like the international scene,<br />
the domestic arena in Bangladesh<br />
was filled with incidents<br />
throughout the year <strong>2016</strong>. And<br />
with the year drawing to a close,<br />
Dhaka Tribune assessed the<br />
domestic scene. PAGE 28<br />
Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah relaxes in Nelson, New Zealand yesterday while captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza and Tamim<br />
Iqbal go through their cell phones<br />
DHAKA TRIBUNE<br />
Bangladesh look to stay<br />
alive in ODI series<br />
• Tribune Report<br />
Following a rather comprehensive<br />
77-run defeat in the first ODI,<br />
visiting Bangladesh will look to<br />
remain alive in the three-match<br />
series when Mashrafe bin Mortaza<br />
and his troop take on New<br />
Zealand in the second and penultimate<br />
game at Saxton Oval<br />
in Nelson tomorrow. The match<br />
starts at 4am (Bangladesh standard<br />
time) and Channel 9 will telecast<br />
it live.<br />
Mushfiqur Rahim is likely to<br />
miss the second game after the<br />
wicketkeeper-batsman suffered<br />
a hamstring injury while batting<br />
during the first match at Hagley<br />
Oval in Christchurch. Nurul<br />
Hasan is expected to replace him.<br />
The visitors will definitely try to<br />
correct their mistakes from the first<br />
game where they displayed some<br />
sloppy fielding and below-par<br />
bowling. New Zealand managed to<br />
post a huge total of 341/7 from their<br />
fifty overs, riding on a magnificent<br />
hundred from Tom Latham and<br />
Colin Munro, who scored a quickfire<br />
87-run knock.<br />
Fast bowling sensation<br />
Mustafizur Rahman returned to<br />
international cricket after five<br />
months due to shoulder surgery<br />
and picked up two wickets giving<br />
away 62 runs. However, all the<br />
other bowlers were expensive.<br />
Shakib al Hasan did bag three<br />
wickets but conceded 69 runs<br />
from his 10 overs.<br />
Mashrafe also had a poor outing<br />
with the ball and will definitely<br />
look for improvement from his<br />
fellow bowlers with the pitch in<br />
Nelson expected to assist the fast<br />
bowlers.<br />
Bangladesh ended their chase<br />
on 264/9 in 44.5 overs and the<br />
failure of their top-order was the<br />
major reason behind their defeat.<br />
Imrul Kayes was dismissed after<br />
scoring 16 while Soumya Sarkar<br />
continued his poor run, making<br />
just one. The in-form Mahmudullah,<br />
meanwhile, departed without<br />
troubling the scorers.<br />
Tamim Iqbal scored a quiet<br />
ODI HEAD-TO-HEAD<br />
38 off 59 balls while Shakib and<br />
Mosaddek Hossain struck fifties,<br />
but it was not enough for the visitors.<br />
The Bangladesh top-order<br />
need to fire on a pitch which is<br />
expected to offer runs.<br />
With that said, it will once<br />
again be a tough ask for Bangladesh<br />
as Kane Williamson and his<br />
charges will look to exploit the<br />
home conditions and try to seal<br />
the series.<br />
Kiwi pacermen Lockie Ferguson<br />
and James Neesham, who<br />
had a good outing in the first ODI,<br />
will once again play big roles for<br />
the home side while Trent Boult,<br />
who remained wicketless in<br />
Christchurch, will definitely want<br />
to make his mark in the series. •<br />
NEW ZEALAND<br />
BANGLADESH<br />
4 Ranking 7<br />
26 Matches 26<br />
18 Wins 8<br />
8 Losses 18<br />
69 Win % 31<br />
341/7 Highest total 309/6<br />
162 Lowest total 77<br />
Ross Taylor (638) Most runs Shakib al Hasan (411)<br />
Tom Latham (137) High score Mahmudullah (<strong>12</strong>8*)<br />
Kyle Mills (33) Most wickets Shakib al Hasan (31)<br />
Daniel Vettori (5/7) Best bowling Rubel Hossain (6/26)<br />
Possible to<br />
win in Nelson,<br />
says Tamim<br />
• Fazlul Bari from Nelson,<br />
New Zealand<br />
Having lost the first one-day international<br />
in the ongoing threematch<br />
series against hosts New<br />
Zealand, the visiting Bangladesh<br />
side are on their guard for the second<br />
game at Saxton Oval in Nelson,<br />
to be held early tomorrow morning.<br />
Losing the game will see the<br />
Kiwis ride to series victory with a<br />
game to spare while a win for the<br />
Tigers will turn the third game into<br />
a series-decider.<br />
Bangladesh opening batsman<br />
Tamim Iqbal said his side are fully<br />
aware of the stakes and are determined<br />
to keep alive their chances<br />
in the series. Bangladesh will take<br />
confidence from their winning<br />
memories against Scotland during<br />
the 2015 50-over World Cup<br />
that happens to be the Tigers’ only<br />
game in the venue.<br />
“We know the importance of<br />
this game. It will decide the series<br />
due to which we will look to do<br />
whatever is needed. I believe it is<br />
possible to win in Nelson with our<br />
strength. And at the same time,<br />
we have experience of this venue.<br />
Most of the players in the team<br />
have played here and have played<br />
well,” Tamim told the media in Nelson<br />
yesterday.<br />
We know the<br />
importance of this<br />
game. It will decide<br />
the series so we will<br />
look to do whatever<br />
is needed. I believe it<br />
is possible to win in<br />
Nelson<br />
Bangladesh lost the first ODI at<br />
Hagley Oval in Christchurch by 77<br />
runs after failing to chase down<br />
their target of 342 runs. Chasing<br />
the target, Bangladesh had scored<br />
264 in 44.5 overs before being<br />
dismissed. Left-handed batsman<br />
Tamim believes the first game experience<br />
has given the Tigers an<br />
idea of their limitations.<br />
“What we have learned from<br />
Christchurch is that we have a good<br />
chance if we can restrict them to<br />
280 or 300 runs on the board. We<br />
have enough strength to chase<br />
those many runs with ease. In Nelson,<br />
we had chased down 319 runs<br />
against Scotland, winning by six<br />
wickets. So I believe we know what<br />
our job is and what can be done,”<br />
said Tamim. •
Feni Soccer staring<br />
at relegation<br />
• Tribune Report<br />
Feni Soccer Club are on the brink<br />
of getting relegated from the topflight<br />
for the first time in history<br />
after conceding a 2-1 defeat against<br />
Team BJMC in a crucial Bangladesh<br />
Premier League encounter at Bangabandhu<br />
National Stadium yesterday.<br />
The result has turned the relegation<br />
fight into a two-horse battle<br />
between Uttar Baridhara Club and<br />
Soccer Club. The latter though are<br />
in a more threatening situation.<br />
BJMC, on the other hand, confirmed<br />
their stay in the premier<br />
league for one more season, along<br />
with Mohammedan Sporting Club.<br />
RESULTS<br />
Feni SC 1-2 Team BJMC<br />
Shahran 13 Illiasu 46, Baybeck 50<br />
Rahmatganj 2-3 Brothers Union<br />
Zunapiyo 3, 44 - P Jitu 28 – P, Abbas 34,<br />
Mannaf 58<br />
With only one more round left<br />
to play, the Feni outfit remained at<br />
the bottom of the points table with<br />
only 15 points while Baridhara have<br />
two more points. Feni will face<br />
Muktijoddha Sangsad KC while<br />
Baridhara will lock horns with<br />
Mohammedan in their last-round<br />
games.<br />
Shahran Howlader put Feni<br />
ahead in the 13th minute after<br />
Mahbubul Islam Himu’s penalty<br />
shot was blocked by the goalkeeper.<br />
Shahran poked home on the rebound.<br />
BJMC however, came back to<br />
the game after resumption. Inform<br />
Nigerian midfielder Samson<br />
Illiasu snatched the ball from the<br />
opponent’s terrain and placed<br />
home from inside the box.<br />
Feni’s fortunes worsened when<br />
Cameroonian defender Baybeck<br />
Esaie’s header found the back of<br />
the net following a free-kick from<br />
substitute Abdullah Parvez, who<br />
made an immediate impact after<br />
coming off the bench.<br />
Feni must win their last match<br />
against Muktijoddha if they are to<br />
harbour any hopes of avoiding the<br />
drop. They first took part in the<br />
second edition of the Bangladesh<br />
League in 2009 and always managed<br />
to avoid relegation in the subsequent<br />
seven seasons.<br />
Meanwhile in the day’s other<br />
match at the same venue, Rahmatganj<br />
MFS continued to struggle as<br />
they suffered their fifth defeat in<br />
seven matches after going down<br />
3-2 against Brothers Union.<br />
Brothers moved to fourth with<br />
30 points while Rahmatganj remained<br />
sixth with 27 points.<br />
In-form Congolese forward Siyo<br />
Zunapiyo gave the Old Dhaka outfit<br />
the lead in just the third minute before<br />
Brothers midfielder Imtiaz Sultan<br />
Jitu equalised in the 28th minute<br />
from a penalty after goalkeeper<br />
Al Amin brought down Roni.<br />
This time, Ghanaian defender<br />
Abbas Inussah put the Gopibag<br />
outfit ahead in the 34th minute<br />
with a glancing header before Zunapiyo<br />
netted again from another<br />
penalty at the stroke of the first<br />
half to put things level. In the process,<br />
Zunapiyo bagged his 11th<br />
league goal this season.<br />
However, Mannaf Rabby sealed<br />
victory for Brothers with a brilliant<br />
strike in the 58th minute.•<br />
Sport 25<br />
DT<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Bangladesh volleyball players celebrate after winning the Bangabandhu Asian Senior Men’s Central Zone International<br />
Volleyball Championship yesterday<br />
DHAKA TRIBUNE<br />
Bangladesh seal volleyball title<br />
• Tribune Report<br />
Bangladesh clinched the Bangabandhu<br />
Asian Senior Men’s Central<br />
Zone International Volleyball<br />
Championship after beating Kyrgyzstan<br />
3-0 in the final at Shaheed<br />
Sohrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur<br />
yesterday.<br />
The Bangladesh Volleyball<br />
Federation informed that this is<br />
the first time Bangladesh have<br />
emerged as the champion in any<br />
international tournament in its 45<br />
years of history.<br />
Last edition’s champion Turkmenistan<br />
didn’t take part this year.<br />
The home side won the first set<br />
by 25-22 points but had to work<br />
harder in the second set where<br />
they won by 25-23 points. The<br />
game stopped when the scoreline<br />
was 7-6 in favour of Bangladesh in<br />
the third set after one of the Kyrgyzstan<br />
players got injured.<br />
Kyrgyzstan side came to Bangladesh<br />
with eight players. Two of<br />
them were previously injured and<br />
according to rules and regulations,<br />
teams can’t play with only five<br />
players. The hosts were declared<br />
the winner in the final set as well.<br />
Kyrgyzstan were the favourites<br />
to win the tournament in the absence<br />
of Turkmenistan and in their<br />
pursuit of the title got off to a fine<br />
start. They won all of their four<br />
group stage matches. They also<br />
beat Bangladesh in the group stage.<br />
A total of five countries participated<br />
in the tournament. Bangladesh<br />
defeated Afghanistan 3-1,<br />
outplayed Nepal 3-0 and beat Maldives<br />
by the same margin in their<br />
last group stage match. They lost to<br />
Kyrgyzstan 3-2 in their third group<br />
stage match.<br />
Bangladesh’s Harsit Biswas was<br />
adjudged player of the tournament<br />
while Sayeed al Zabir was named<br />
man of the final.<br />
Meanwhile in the third-place<br />
deciding match, Maldives defeated<br />
Nepal 3-1. •<br />
Walton Dhaka Tribune<br />
World T20 quiz draw held<br />
(L-R) Dhaka Tribune news editor Ahmed Ali, Bangladesh women’s cricket team captain Rumana Ahmed, Bangladesh Cricket<br />
Board director Ahmed Sazzadul Alam Bobby, Dhaka Tribune editor Zafar Sobhan, Bangladesh women’s cricket team assistant<br />
coach Ashique Majumder and Walton deputy director Firoj Alam were present during the draw ceremony of the <strong>2016</strong> Walton<br />
Dhaka Tribune World T20 quiz at the capital’s Panthapath yesterday<br />
MEHEDI HASAN<br />
• Tribune Report<br />
The Walton Dhaka Tribune <strong>2016</strong><br />
World Twenty20 quiz draw ceremony<br />
was held at the Dhaka Tribune<br />
premises yesterday.<br />
Ahmed Sazzadul Alam Bobby,<br />
director, Bangladesh Cricket<br />
Board, Zafar Sobhan, editor, Dhaka<br />
Tribune, Ahmed Ali, news editor,<br />
Dhaka Tribune, Romana Ahmed,<br />
captain, Bangladesh women’s<br />
cricket team, Ashique Majumder,<br />
assistant coach, Bangladesh<br />
women’s cricket team and Firoj<br />
Alam, deputy director, Walton,<br />
were present among others in the<br />
programme.<br />
1st round 1st prize winner: Rahena<br />
Akter<br />
1st round 2nd prize winner:<br />
Bristy Akter<br />
1st round 3rd prize winner:<br />
Sukanta Chy<br />
1st round 4th prize winners: Jahidul,<br />
Jamiya, Mohammad Hasan<br />
1st round 5th prize winners:<br />
Kalyani Chy, Subrata Chy, Manna,<br />
Borsha and Mohammad Entaz<br />
Sheikh<br />
2nd round 1st prize winner: Jannatul<br />
Nayem<br />
2nd round 2nd prize winner:<br />
Shahnaj Akter<br />
2nd round 3rd prize winner:<br />
Omar Faruk<br />
2nd round 4th prize winner:<br />
Mohammad Entaz Sheikh, Mohammad<br />
Ruman, Johee<br />
2nd round 5th prize winner: Jahanara<br />
Beauty, Tania, Nazmul, Farid,<br />
Mobaseru. •
DT<br />
26<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Sport<br />
Manchester United winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan scores with a ‘scorpion’ volley against Sunderland during their Premier League match at Old Trafford on Monday REUTERS<br />
Mkhitaryan: ‘Scorpion’ volley was instinctive<br />
• AFP, Manchester<br />
Henrikh Mkhitaryan said his spectacular<br />
‘scorpion kick’ volley in<br />
Manchester United’s 3-1 victory<br />
over Sunderland on Monday had<br />
been a matter of instinct taking<br />
over.<br />
The Armenian playmaker sealed<br />
victory at Old Trafford by diving<br />
De Silva defies<br />
South African<br />
pace attack<br />
• AFP, Port Elizabeth<br />
Dhananjaya de Silva kept Sri Lanka’s<br />
hopes alive with a defiant<br />
innings on the second day of the<br />
first Test against South Africa at St<br />
George’s Park yesterday.<br />
De Silva made 43 not out as Sri<br />
Lanka struggled to 181 for seven –<br />
still 105 runs behind South Africa’s<br />
first innings total of 286 – before<br />
bad light ended play.<br />
South African new ball bowlers<br />
Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott<br />
put the Sri Lankan batsmen under<br />
pressure in seam-friendly conditions,<br />
with the first three wickets<br />
falling for 22 runs.<br />
It looked as though a full-scale<br />
collapse was possible but Sri Lankan<br />
captain Angelo Mathews made<br />
a solid 39 before De Silva came out<br />
to bat at number seven and played<br />
an impressive innings, with assistance<br />
from Dinesh Chandimal and<br />
Rangana Herath.•<br />
1ST TEST, DAY 2<br />
SOUTH AFRICA 286 in 98.5 overs<br />
(Duminy 63, Lakmal 5/63) lead SRI<br />
LANKA 181/7 in 57 overs (D De Silva<br />
43*, Philander 3/35) by 105 runs<br />
beneath Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s rightwing<br />
cross and flicking the ball past<br />
goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with<br />
his right heel. The goal, reminiscent<br />
of former Colombia goalkeeper<br />
Rene Higuita’s famous ‘scorpion<br />
kick’ save against England in 1995,<br />
was allowed to stand despite an apparent<br />
offside.<br />
“I was expecting the ball in front<br />
of me, but I was already in front,<br />
so I got it behind me,” Mkhitaryan<br />
told MUTV.<br />
“So the only thing I could do, it<br />
was a chance to hit it with the backheel.<br />
I did it and I succeeded.”<br />
“I have to watch back on TV because<br />
I didn’t yet, but it looked for<br />
me phenomenal,” said Mourinho,<br />
whose side drew level on points<br />
Azhar shines with<br />
century on gloomy<br />
Melbourne day<br />
• Reuters, Melbourne<br />
Opening batsman Azhar Ali shone<br />
in gloomy conditions with a<br />
patient, unbeaten century to guide<br />
Pakistan to 310 for six in the second<br />
Test against Australia yesterday<br />
but both sides were left frustrated<br />
at the end of a rain-blighted second<br />
day in Melbourne.<br />
Azhar was 139 not out with tailender<br />
Mohammad Amir on 28 as<br />
a rain-shower cut short another<br />
stop-start day at the Melbourne<br />
Cricket Ground.<br />
After 39 overs were lost on the<br />
opening day, the weather wiped<br />
out the entire middle session, limiting<br />
Australia to two wickets while<br />
crimping Pakistan’s hopes of forcing<br />
a result to keep the three-match<br />
series alive after the tourists lost<br />
the opener in Brisbane by 39 runs.<br />
Rain aside, Azhar added to Australia’s<br />
torment as he summoned<br />
all his powers of concentration to<br />
shrug off the delays and survive<br />
287 balls.<br />
He and Amir are likely to come<br />
out with all guns blazing in the<br />
morning to add quick runs and<br />
then send Australia in to bat.<br />
“The decision has to be taken by<br />
the captain and coach in the morning<br />
how we have to play,” paceman<br />
Wahab Riaz told reporters.•<br />
2ND TEST, DAY 2<br />
PAKISTAN FIRST INNINGS R B<br />
(142-4 overnight)<br />
S. Aslam c Smith b Lyon 9 41<br />
A. Ali not out 139 287<br />
B. Azam c Smith b Hazlewood 23 43<br />
Y. Khan b Bird 21 59<br />
Misbah-ul-Haq c Maddinson b Bird 11 13<br />
A. Shafiq c Smith b Bird 50 <strong>12</strong>3<br />
S. Ahmed c Renshaw b Hazlewood 10 20<br />
M. Amir not out 28 23<br />
Extras (b4, lb9, w5, nb1) 19<br />
Total (6 wickets, 101.2 overs) 310<br />
Fall of wickets<br />
1-18 (Aslam), 2-60 (Azam), 3-111 (Khan),<br />
4-<strong>12</strong>5 (Misbah-ul-Haq), 5-240 (Shafiq),<br />
6-268 (Sarfraz)<br />
Bowling<br />
Starc 23.2-6-77-0 (1w), Hazlewood 26-11-<br />
33-2, Bird 29-5-91-3 (1nb), Lyon 17-1-69-1,<br />
Smith 3-0-9-0, Maddinson 3-0-18-0<br />
with fifth-place Tottenham in the<br />
Premier League table.<br />
“It was a great moment and for<br />
him important because he was going<br />
up and up, and then the injury<br />
comes. He was out of two matches<br />
and he’s back. And to be back not<br />
just (with) the goal, I think he also<br />
brought quality with his performance.<br />
I am obviously happy.”•<br />
Ibra won’t leave<br />
Utd a failure,<br />
vows Mourinho<br />
• AFP, Manchester<br />
Manchester United manager Jose<br />
Mourinho is looking forward to<br />
working with Zlatan Ibrahimovic<br />
again next season after declaring<br />
the striker’s contract extension will<br />
be a formality.<br />
Ibrahimovic 35, arrived from<br />
Paris Saint-Germain in July on a<br />
one-year deal with an option for a<br />
further year.<br />
After Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored<br />
once and made two goals in United’s<br />
3-1 Boxing Day win over Sunderland,<br />
Mourinho said the clause<br />
had not been activated yet, but<br />
would be.<br />
“I am not really surprised because<br />
he is a very intelligent guy<br />
and a proud man,” Mourinho said.<br />
“He decided to come to Manchester<br />
United and to the Premier<br />
League, to a club with the level of<br />
expectation of Manchester United,<br />
in the most difficult league in the<br />
world for a striker.<br />
“When we contacted him and he<br />
said, yes, he will come, I was sure<br />
that he was not coming here to<br />
leave the Premier League without<br />
proving himself.<br />
“To leave the Premier League<br />
having failed at Manchester United?<br />
No way."•<br />
Pakistan opening batsman Azhar Ali avoids a bouncer from Australia pacer Mitchell<br />
Starc (not pictured) on day two of their second Test in Melbourne yesterday AFP
Sport 27<br />
DT<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
Ton-up Raqibul stars for Dhaka in NCL<br />
• Tribune Report<br />
The fifth round of the ongoing 18th<br />
National Cricket League began yesterday<br />
where Raqibul Hasan struck<br />
a century to guide Dhaka to 303/4<br />
against Khulna.<br />
Dhaka Metro posted 255/7<br />
against Barisal while in tier two,<br />
Sylhet struggled with the bat, ending<br />
the first day on 203/6 against<br />
Rangpur while Chittagong registered<br />
277/8 against Rajshahi.<br />
Dhaka v Khulna, Fatullah<br />
At Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium,<br />
Dhaka made a good start after<br />
being asked to bat first, adding 69<br />
runs for the opening wicket with<br />
Abdul Mazid scoring 24 and Joyraj<br />
Sheikh making 45. Bangladesh under-19<br />
skipper Saif Hasan was not<br />
out on 89 as he, alongside Raqibul,<br />
put up 180 runs for the third wicket,<br />
thus laying the foundation for<br />
a big total. Right-hander Raqibul<br />
struck his 10th first-class hundred,<br />
smashing 13 fours and a six in his<br />
137-ball 111, before being finally<br />
dismissed by veteran left-arm spinner<br />
Abdur Razzak, who picked up<br />
two wickets for Khulna.<br />
Saif will resume the second day<br />
for Dhaka today.<br />
Dhaka Metro v Barisal, BKSP-3<br />
Taking first guard in Savar, Dhaka<br />
Metro batters were unable to convert<br />
their starts into big knocks,<br />
losing wickets at regular intervals.<br />
Mehedi Maruf was the top-scorer<br />
with 56 while Mehrab Hossain Jr<br />
remained unbeaten on 48. Mohammad<br />
Ashraful was dismissed after<br />
scoring 20 as left-arm spinner Monir<br />
Hossain and Salman Hossain picked<br />
up two wickets each for Barisal.<br />
Sylhet v Rangpur, Sylhet<br />
Electing to bat at Sylhet International<br />
Stadium, the home side<br />
were in all sorts of trouble against<br />
Rangpur. Sylhet kept losing wickets<br />
in clusters with Jaker Ali the<br />
only exception with an undefeated<br />
63. Left-arm spinner Sohrawardi<br />
Shuvo took three wickets for the<br />
bowling side.<br />
Chittagong v Rajshahi, Chittagong<br />
At Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium,<br />
Tasamul Haque remained<br />
not out on 89 and kept alive Chittagong’s<br />
hopes of posting a challenging<br />
total against Rajshahi. Irfan<br />
Sukkur was the highest scorer with<br />
90, blasting <strong>12</strong> fours in his 156-ball<br />
knock while Nafees Iqbal scored<br />
50. Left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib<br />
was the pick of the bowlers with<br />
four wickets while Farhad Reza<br />
bagged three. •<br />
18TH NCL, RD 5,<br />
DAY 1<br />
DHAKA METROPOLIS 255/7 in 96<br />
overs (Maruf 56, Monir 3/51)DHAKA<br />
303/4 in 82 overs (Raqibul 111, Saif 89)<br />
CHITTAGONG 277/8 in 88.2 overs<br />
(Irfan 90, Saqlain 4/44) SYLHET 203/6<br />
in 86 overs (Jaker 63, Sohrawardi 3/58)<br />
Green light for<br />
Russell’s black<br />
bat in Big Bash<br />
• Reuters, Sydney<br />
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell<br />
was given the all-clear to use<br />
his black bat in Australia’s Twenty20<br />
Big Bash League yesterday after<br />
it was initially banned for leaving<br />
marks on the ball.<br />
Russell was banned from using<br />
the distinctive bat after it discoloured<br />
the white ball during the<br />
derby between his Sydney Thunder<br />
and the Sydney Sixers last week.<br />
Cricket Australia reversed the<br />
ruling yesterday after assurances<br />
that the bat had been modified<br />
with the addition of a “clear laminate<br />
cover” to prevent the problem<br />
recurring.•<br />
Neymar says not obsessed<br />
with winning Ballon d’Or<br />
• AFP, Madrid<br />
Barcelona’s Brazilian star<br />
Neymar says winning the<br />
Ballon d’Or is one of his goals<br />
but he will not lose any sleep<br />
if he never takes home football’s<br />
top individual award.<br />
“If I don’t win the Ballon<br />
d’or, its okay,” he said in<br />
an interview posted on the<br />
La Liga website on Monday<br />
when asked if he was disappointed<br />
that he was not<br />
named as one of three finalists<br />
for the prize this year.<br />
“I don’t play football to<br />
win the Ballon d’Or, I play<br />
football to be happy because<br />
I love it, because I want to<br />
play football. Unfortunately<br />
only one person can win it,”<br />
he added.<br />
“Of course it is one of my<br />
goals winning the Ballon d’Or<br />
but I won’t die if I don’t.”<br />
The Ballon d’Or has passed<br />
back and forth between Real<br />
Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo<br />
and Barcelona’s Argentine<br />
playmaker Lionel Messi for the<br />
last nine years since Brazilian<br />
Kaka won the 2007 award.<br />
Neymar was a finalist for<br />
the prize for the first time last<br />
year before losing out to Messi<br />
who won the accolade for<br />
the fifth time. Ronaldo was<br />
rewarded with the <strong>2016</strong> Ballon<br />
d’Or earlier this month for<br />
helping Real win the Champions<br />
League and leading Portugal<br />
to Euro <strong>2016</strong> glory.<br />
Since moving to Barcelona<br />
from Brazilian side Santos in<br />
2013, Neymar has won two<br />
league titles, two domestic<br />
cups, the Spanish Super Cup,<br />
the Champions League and<br />
the Club World Cup.<br />
Playing alongside Messi,<br />
the club’s record goalscorer,<br />
and Luis Suarez, who finished<br />
top scorer in La Liga last<br />
season, the 24-year-old has<br />
established himself as one of<br />
the world’s top players. The<br />
strike trio scored 131 goals between<br />
them last season.•<br />
DAY’S WATCH<br />
CRICKET<br />
STAR SPORTS 2<br />
5:28 AM (<strong>Wednesday</strong>)<br />
Pakistan tour of Australia<br />
2nd Test, Day 3<br />
TEN 1 HD<br />
2:00 PM<br />
Sri Lanka tour of South Africa<br />
1st Test, Day 3<br />
STAR SPORTS 2<br />
2:08 PM<br />
KFC T20 Big Bash League <strong>2016</strong>/17<br />
Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat<br />
FOOTBALL<br />
STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 1<br />
1:35 AM<br />
Premier League <strong>2016</strong>/17<br />
Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur<br />
City face series of ‘finals’,<br />
says Guardiola<br />
• AFP<br />
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes that<br />
every game in the second half of the season will be like a<br />
cup final for his title hopefuls.<br />
An impressive and hard-earned 3-0 win at Hull kept<br />
pace with leaders Chelsea after Antonio Conte’s side beat<br />
Bournemouth earlier on Monday.<br />
The Catalan admitted that the pressure was on following<br />
that result altough a Yaya Toure penalty, a tap-in<br />
from substitute Kelechi Iheanacho and an own goal from<br />
Curtis Davies ensured he eventually enjoyed his first<br />
Boxing Day in English football with a comfortable win.<br />
“Sometimes you play before, sometimes you play later,”<br />
said Guardiola. “But it doesn’t matter whether you are<br />
seven points or 10 points behind when one team has won<br />
<strong>12</strong> in a row. We have one game to finish the first half of the<br />
season and then the second starts and it’s like a final for<br />
us if we want to be there until the end of the season.”•
28<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
Sport<br />
Contest heats up in Bangladesh domestic cricket<br />
• Minhaz Uddin Khan<br />
Much like the international scene,<br />
the domestic arena in Bangladesh<br />
was filled with incidents throughout<br />
the year <strong>2016</strong>.<br />
And with the year drawing to a<br />
close, Dhaka Tribune assessed the<br />
domestic scene and reviewed three<br />
competitions – Bangladesh Premier<br />
League Twenty20, Dhaka Premier<br />
League and National Cricket<br />
League – which had their share of<br />
moments in <strong>2016</strong>.<br />
Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)<br />
For some unexplained reasons, the<br />
BPL T20 this season saw the teams<br />
sign their icons ahead of the players’<br />
draft, held in September. After<br />
much talks between the BPL governing<br />
council and the franchises,<br />
the seven icon cricketers went<br />
to their desired sides with Dhaka<br />
Dynamites making the most noise<br />
signing ace all-rounder Shakib al<br />
Hasan. Dhaka were also garnering<br />
maximum attentions for their<br />
signings of foreign cricketers like<br />
Dwayne Bravo, Kumar Sangakkara,<br />
Andre Russell and Evin Lewis.<br />
Dhaka met their ambition defeating<br />
Rajshahi Kings in the final, that<br />
too by a convincing margin of 56<br />
runs.<br />
Rajshahi might have lost the<br />
grand finale but were content with<br />
their display. They often relied on<br />
team effort and were brilliantly led<br />
by captain Darren Sammy.<br />
However, if one were to take a<br />
look at the points table then one<br />
thing will become evident – none<br />
of the teams dominated, especially<br />
in the round robin stage. And perhaps,<br />
this season’s most incredible<br />
MOST RUNS<br />
BPL T20 <strong>2016</strong><br />
Dhaka Dynamites players celebrate after winning the BPL 4 title<br />
story was that of a moderate side<br />
like Khulna Titans, who made it to<br />
the playoffs before eventually finishing<br />
third.<br />
Led by icon and skipper<br />
Mahmudullah, Khulna enjoyed a<br />
brilliant run, despite not boasting a<br />
star-studded line-up. Even though<br />
their batting made them suffer<br />
throughout the tournament, their<br />
bowlers put in herculean efforts<br />
with Shafiul Islam and Junaid Khan<br />
leading from the front.<br />
The power-packed Chittagong<br />
Vikings shone brightly but faded<br />
away in the business stages of the<br />
competition while teams like Barisal<br />
Bulls and defending champion<br />
Comilla Victorians promised much<br />
but produced little.<br />
Chittagong started with a win<br />
Player Mat Inns Runs HS Ave 100 50<br />
Tamim Iqbal (Chittagong) 13 13 476 75 43.27 0 6<br />
MOST WICKETS<br />
Player Mat Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI Econ<br />
Dwayne Bravo (Dhaka) 13 44.2 0 335 21 3/10 7.55<br />
DPL <strong>2016</strong><br />
MOST RUNS<br />
Player Mat Inns Runs HS Ave 100 50<br />
Raqibul Hasan (Doleshwar) 16 16 719 100 65.36 1 5<br />
MOST WICKETS<br />
Player Mat Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI Econ<br />
Chaturanga de Silva (Victoria) 14 119.3 6 567 30 6/35 4.74<br />
NCL <strong>2016</strong> (ROUND 5 ONGOING)<br />
MOST RUNS<br />
Player Mat Inns Runs HS Ave 100 50<br />
Yasir Ali (Chittagong) 5* 9 379 95 47.37 0 4<br />
MOST WICKETS<br />
Player Mat Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI Econ<br />
Sohrawardi Shuvo (Rangpur) 5* 134.2 25 351 22 7/45 2.61<br />
only to lose their next five matches.<br />
However, the port city outfit<br />
bounced back strongly to finish<br />
fourth after losing the Eliminator<br />
against Rajshahi.<br />
In contrast, Comilla made a horrific<br />
start and only started winning<br />
in the latter stages of the competition.<br />
Not surprisingly, those victories<br />
were not enough to sustain<br />
their title defence.<br />
Rangpur Riders scripted a scintillating<br />
beginning but inconsistent<br />
performance and team indiscipline<br />
affected them greatly as the tournament<br />
wore on.<br />
Dhaka Premier League (DPL)<br />
Abahani Limited lifted the DPL title<br />
for the 18th time following an incomplete<br />
last game of the season,<br />
against Prime Doleshwar Sporting<br />
Club. The umpires had walked off<br />
this game at BKSP citing sudden<br />
illness. A four-member committee<br />
later investigated the issue and recommended<br />
a no-result which later<br />
got approved by the Bangladesh<br />
Cricket Board.<br />
The umpires staging a walk-out<br />
from the game was one of among<br />
many occasions where fingers were<br />
raised towards champion Abahani.<br />
With that said, competitiveness<br />
among the teams was something<br />
different compared to the last<br />
two decades. All six Super League<br />
teams this year had their chances<br />
of claiming the championship.<br />
Despite payment issues, Victoria<br />
Sporting Club were impressive<br />
throughout the competition while<br />
Spectators thronged the stadiums in their thousands on the occasion of the fourth edition of the BPL<br />
MD MANIK<br />
the likes of Legends of Rupganj and<br />
Prime Doleshwar were also among<br />
the consistent performers.<br />
National Cricket League (NCL)<br />
The 18th edition of the divisional<br />
first-class cricket tournament is<br />
still ongoing. The competition that<br />
got suspended mid-season in October<br />
this year due to bad weather<br />
and was later shelved to allow the<br />
fourth edition of BPL to take place<br />
has completed round four and is<br />
currently holding its fifth round.<br />
Khulna are leading tier one with<br />
36 points, followed by Dhaka with<br />
27 points. In tier two, Rajshahi and<br />
Rangpur are battling for promotion<br />
to the upper tier. With 46 points<br />
each, Rangpur and Rajshahi are<br />
jointly number one. •<br />
MD MANIK
Downtime<br />
29<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
CROSSWORD<br />
CODE-CRACKER<br />
ACROSS<br />
1 Spruce (6)<br />
4 Part of the body (3)<br />
7 Ooze out (5)<br />
8 Misleading appearance<br />
(6)<br />
11 Depressed (3)<br />
<strong>12</strong> Love god (4)<br />
13 Soothe (4)<br />
15 Reposes (5)<br />
16 Person under age (5)<br />
20 Pastry item (4)<br />
23 Innermost part (4)<br />
24 Offer (3)<br />
25 Worships (6)<br />
26 Danger signal (5)<br />
27 Precious stone (3)<br />
28 Distinctive flag (6)<br />
DOWN<br />
1 Postpone (5)<br />
2 Pasty composition (7)<br />
3 Stagger (4)<br />
4 Ship's frame (4)<br />
5 Object of worship (4)<br />
6 Church seat (3)<br />
9 Part of the verb<br />
‘to be’ (3)<br />
10 Long-leaved lettuce (3)<br />
14 Mythical animal (7)<br />
17 And not (3)<br />
18 Metal-bearing rock (3)<br />
19 Plant secretion (5)<br />
20 Roofing item (4)<br />
21 First man (4)<br />
22 Stop up (4)<br />
24 Container (3)<br />
How to solve: Each number in our<br />
CODE-CRACKER grid represents a<br />
different letter of the alphabet. For<br />
example, today 15 represents B so fill B<br />
every time the figure 15 appears.<br />
You have two letters in the control<br />
grid to start you off. Enter them in the<br />
appropriate squares in the main grid, then<br />
use your knowledge of words to work out<br />
which letters go in the missing squares.<br />
Some letters of the alphabet may not be<br />
used.<br />
As you get the letters, fill in the other<br />
squares with the same number in the<br />
main grid, and the control grid. Check<br />
off the list of alphabetical letters as you<br />
identify them.<br />
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ<br />
CALVIN AND HOBBES<br />
SUDOKU<br />
How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the<br />
numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must<br />
contain all nine digits with no number repeating.<br />
PEANUTS<br />
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS<br />
CODE-CRACKER<br />
CROSSWORD<br />
DILBERT<br />
SUDOKU
30<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
Showtime<br />
Promising new faces of Bollywood<br />
• Showtime Desk<br />
We are already seeing her in the<br />
trailer of Saala Khadoos. The girl<br />
looks super promising, and is a<br />
perfect fit in the film along with<br />
her khadoos – R Madhavan.<br />
Sayesha Saigal<br />
She is the daughter of the 80s<br />
actor, Sumeet Saigal and his first<br />
wife and actress Shaheen Banu,<br />
niece of Saira Banu. Interestingly<br />
Sayesha’s mother Shaheen, was<br />
also Salman Khan’s first girlfriend.<br />
Talking about Sayesha, the<br />
18-year-old debutant has been<br />
seen alongside the talented Ajay<br />
Devgn, in Shivaay. She has also<br />
done a Telugu film – Akhil: The<br />
Power of Jua. The teaser of the film<br />
was released by Salman Khan.<br />
Saiyami Kher<br />
Saiyami marked her debut<br />
opposite Harshvardhan Kapoor,<br />
in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s<br />
Mirzya. Though she has mostly<br />
been modelling, and also been<br />
featured on the Kingfisher<br />
calendar once, acting runs in her<br />
blood as she happens to be the<br />
niece of Shabana Azmi and Tanvi<br />
Azmi. Her mother Uttara Mhatre<br />
Kher, was Miss India in the ‘80s<br />
and her grandmother, Usha Kiran<br />
was a leading actress. No wonder,<br />
all eyes will be on the actress this<br />
year.<br />
Aparshakti Khurrana<br />
Ayushmann Khurrana’s brother<br />
Aparshakti Khurrana, made<br />
his Bollywood debut with<br />
Aamir Khan’s Dangal. He is an<br />
established Radio Jockey in Delhi<br />
and has done theatre in the past.<br />
Pooja Hegde<br />
Pooja is a popular actress in the<br />
Telugu and Tamil film industry,<br />
and in Bollywood, Pooja shared<br />
screen alongside Hrithik Roshan in<br />
Mohenjodaro.<br />
Shriya Pilgaonkar<br />
Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar’s<br />
daughter, Shriya Pilgaonkar has<br />
been seen in Shah Rukh Khan’s<br />
film – Fan. Though her role is<br />
small, it is substantial in the film.<br />
Shriya started acting in 2013. Her<br />
debut film was her father’s Marathi<br />
film Ekulti Ek. Shriya has also been<br />
a French Film Un Plus helmed<br />
by Claude Lelouche – the Oscarwinning<br />
director.<br />
Harshvardhan Kapoor<br />
Anil Kapoor’s son and Sonam<br />
Kapoor’s brother, Harshwardhan<br />
Kapoor is the most talked about<br />
debutant of <strong>2016</strong>. The 25-yearold<br />
made his debut in Rakyesh<br />
Omprekash Mehra’s epic love story<br />
Mirzya. Interestingly, it is Sonam<br />
who has convinced Harshvardhan<br />
to give acting a try.<br />
Fatima Sana Shaikh<br />
Fatima will be seen playing one of<br />
Aamir’s daughters in his upcoming<br />
film, Dangal. Interestingly, Fatima<br />
was also a child artist and was seen<br />
playing Kamal Hassan’s daughter<br />
in the film Chachi 420. Later, she<br />
was also seen in Shah Rukh-Juhi<br />
Chawla starrer, One 2 Ka 4.<br />
Sanya Malhotra<br />
Sanya Malhotra has also appeared<br />
as Aamir Khan’s daughter in the<br />
film Dangal. A Delhi girl, Sanya has<br />
been seen along with Fatima Sana<br />
Shaikh in Dangal.<br />
Gautam Gulati<br />
The Bigg Boss 8 winner essayed<br />
the role of Ravi Shastri in Ekta<br />
Kapoor’s film Azhar – a biopic on<br />
the life of former Indian cricketer<br />
Mohammed Azharuddin. •<br />
Photos: SOCIAL MEDIA<br />
Shama Sikander battles<br />
bipolar disorder<br />
• Showtime Desk<br />
The beautiful actress Shama<br />
Sikander revealed that it was her<br />
ex Alexx O’Neil who first suspected<br />
that she had bipolar disorder, and<br />
needed help. He advised her to<br />
seek medical intervention, but<br />
Shama was so frustrated that she<br />
wanted to give up. The actress has<br />
opened up for the first time, about<br />
her battle with the bipolar disorder<br />
a few months ago, around the time<br />
when her short film Sexaholic was<br />
released. She revealed how she<br />
felt hopeless, directionless and<br />
extremely gloomy during that<br />
time.<br />
Shama, in a recent interview,<br />
revealed that she had even<br />
attempted suicide five years back,<br />
when she thought she couldn’t<br />
handle her emotions. She also<br />
ignored her ex-boyfriend, Alexx<br />
O’Neil’s advice that she should see<br />
a doctor. In these five years, Shama<br />
has learnt to control her emotions<br />
in a positive way. Now, she thinks<br />
it can be an example to others, for<br />
not ending one’s own life for any<br />
reason. •<br />
Source: Bollywood Goss ip
Showtime<br />
Dhaka International Film Festival to kick off<br />
31<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
WHAT TO WATCH<br />
DT<br />
• Showtime Desk<br />
The 15th edition of Dhaka<br />
International Film Festival (DIFF)<br />
is to begin from January <strong>12</strong>, in the<br />
capital. Organised by Rainbow<br />
Film Society (RFS), the nineday<br />
festival, which is one of the<br />
country’s most prestigious in it's<br />
nature, has wrapped up it’s initial<br />
preparation and is all set to kick<br />
off.<br />
Ahmed Muztaba Zamal, the<br />
festival director, announced<br />
details of the event in a press<br />
conference held on Monday,<br />
in the capital. According to the<br />
festival director, a total of 188<br />
films from 67 counties will be<br />
showcased in the edition in seven<br />
competitive and one retrospective<br />
section.<br />
In the Asian Competition<br />
section, 23 feature films,<br />
produced in 2015-16 in the Asian<br />
countries, will be showcased<br />
while six awards will be given in<br />
this section towards the end of<br />
the festival, including Best Film,<br />
Best Director, Best Actor, Best<br />
Actress, Best Cinematographer<br />
and Best Screenplay.<br />
In the Retrospective section,<br />
five films by the recently<br />
deceased legendary Iranian<br />
filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami<br />
will be screened, which includes<br />
Close-Up, Taste of Cherry, The<br />
Wind Will Carry Us, The Certified<br />
Copy and Like Someone In Love.<br />
The Cinema of the World<br />
section will feature 25 films, of<br />
which one will be chosen for an<br />
Audience Award.<br />
In the Children’s Films section,<br />
ten films including Charlie<br />
Chaplin’s The Kid and The Circus<br />
will be screened. Entry of this<br />
section will be free for all student<br />
and children.<br />
Featuring 22<br />
films, the Spiritual<br />
Films section will be<br />
organised in association<br />
with the Italy-based<br />
Religion Today Film<br />
Festival.<br />
39 films will be<br />
screened in the Women<br />
Filmmakers section,<br />
while 48 will be<br />
screened in the Short<br />
and Independent Films<br />
section.<br />
Remembering Sanjib Chowdhury<br />
• Showtime desk<br />
When music lovers of Bangladesh<br />
Photo: Sadat A Shameem<br />
talk about the band Dalchut,<br />
Sanjib Chowdhury is the person<br />
who is remembered every time.<br />
Lastly, Nordic Films, organised<br />
with the help of Norwegian<br />
International Film Festival,<br />
will feature 10 films from the<br />
Scandinavian countries.<br />
The selected films will be<br />
showcased in five venues,<br />
including Shawkat Osman<br />
Memorial Auditorium of Central<br />
Public Library, Bangladesh<br />
National Museum, Alliance<br />
Française de Dhaka, Edward<br />
M Kennedy Centre, and Star<br />
Cineplex.<br />
This time, 85 film personalities<br />
from around the world will attend<br />
the festival.<br />
Sanjib Chowdhury is a journalist,<br />
lyricist, singer and motivator, who<br />
inspired young hearts with his<br />
words, till date. “Ami tomakei bole<br />
debo,” “Shada Moyla” - these are<br />
the evergreen songs, which have<br />
been making Sanjib Chowdhury<br />
very popular among his fans.<br />
<strong>December</strong> 25, was Late Sanjib<br />
Chowdhury’s birthday, and on<br />
this occasion, Dhaka University<br />
Band Society arranged a musical<br />
evening for him for the fifth time.<br />
In front of TSC, the organisation<br />
decorated the venue with Sanjib<br />
Chowdhury’s photos and flowers,<br />
a musical event was arranged.<br />
Dalchut, Joy Shahriar - Parvez<br />
Brotherhood Project, Tarun,<br />
Chitkar, Meghdol, Paridhi,<br />
Ghunpoka and many others<br />
performed and remembered<br />
Sanjib Chowdhury. Lyricist<br />
During the 15th DIFF, RFS<br />
in cooperation with National<br />
Museum will organise the 7th<br />
Dhaka Cine Workshop, from<br />
January 5 to 20, 2017, for the<br />
aspiring young filmmakers, film<br />
critics and journalists. Conducted<br />
by Iranian filmmaker-crtic Majid<br />
Movasseghi, the production based<br />
workshop is an opportunity for<br />
those who are interested in this<br />
field to learn.<br />
Woman filmmakers, actors and<br />
personalities from all over the<br />
world will attend an international<br />
conference titled ‘Women in<br />
Cinema,’ which is going to be<br />
held at the Gallery of the Alliance<br />
Francaise de Dhaka, on January 13<br />
and 14, during the festival.<br />
Meanwhile, an art exhibition<br />
featuring artworks by the Iranian<br />
artist-film activist Sarah Hojjati<br />
will be held first time during the<br />
festival, at Gallery Shilpangan in<br />
Dhanmondi, from January 8-20.<br />
The press conference was<br />
attended by festival director<br />
Ahmed Muztaba Zamal, and<br />
organising committee members<br />
Haider Rizvi, M Hamid, Nazmul<br />
Ahsan Khalimullah and Rabiul<br />
Hossain. •<br />
Photos: Courtesy<br />
Russell O’neel was seen at the<br />
stage with Dalchut, who wrote<br />
several songs for the band.<br />
The place where the event was<br />
arranged, has been named Sanjib<br />
Chottor.<br />
Chowdhury was born at<br />
Baniachang upazila, in Habiganj,<br />
on <strong>December</strong> 25, 1964. He<br />
graduated from the journalism<br />
department of Dhaka University,<br />
and organised various cultural<br />
programs, even taught his<br />
classmates how to sing, during<br />
his time at the university. During<br />
the mass movement in the 90s,<br />
his poems gained popularity as<br />
he was known among his Dhaka<br />
University colleagues as Sanjibda<br />
or Brother Sanjib.<br />
On November 19, 2007, he<br />
died at the Intensive Care Unit of<br />
Apollo Hospital in Dhaka.•<br />
Kingsman: The Secret Service<br />
Star Movies 9:30pm<br />
A spy organization recruits<br />
an unrefined, but promising<br />
street kid into the agency’s<br />
ultra-competitive training<br />
program, just as a global threat<br />
emerges from a twisted tech<br />
genius.<br />
Cast: Colin Firth, Taron<br />
Egerton, Samuel L Jackson<br />
The Matrix<br />
HBO 7:00pm<br />
A computer hacker learns from<br />
mysterious rebels about the<br />
true nature of his reality and<br />
his role in the war against its<br />
controllers.<br />
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence<br />
Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss<br />
Captain Phillips<br />
WB 9:00pm<br />
The true story of Captain<br />
Richard Phillips and the 2009<br />
hijacking by Somali pirates<br />
of the US-flagged MV Maersk<br />
Alabama, the first American<br />
cargo ship to be hijacked in<br />
two hundred years.<br />
Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad<br />
Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman<br />
Jack Reacher<br />
Zee Studio 6:50pm<br />
A homicide investigator digs<br />
deeper into a case involving<br />
a trained military sniper who<br />
shot five random victims.<br />
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund<br />
Pike, Richard Jenkins<br />
Eight Below<br />
Movies Now 11:20pm<br />
Brutal cold forces two<br />
Antarctic explorers to leave<br />
their team of sled dogs behind<br />
as they fend for their survival.<br />
Cast: Paul Walker, Jason Biggs,<br />
Bru ce Greenwood
32<br />
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, <strong>2016</strong><br />
DT<br />
UN RESOLUTION: ISRAEL ACCUSES<br />
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PAGE 8<br />
Back Page<br />
36 BANKS HAVE NO GOOD<br />
BORROWERS! PAGE <strong>12</strong><br />
TIGERS LOOK TO STAY<br />
ALIVE IN ODI SERIES PAGE 24<br />
Fund crunch couldn’t dent planning<br />
<strong>2016</strong><br />
YEAR IN REVIEW<br />
• Abu Siddique<br />
<strong>2016</strong> has been a frustrating year<br />
for Bangladesh in terms of gathering<br />
funds to tackle climate change,<br />
however the country has decided<br />
to proceed with planning to develop<br />
relevant initiatives.<br />
Rather than make progress in<br />
the pursuit of funds, Bangladesh<br />
lost $50m from development partners<br />
in the Bangladesh Climate<br />
Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF)<br />
due to unwillingness and mistrust<br />
among fund managers, providers<br />
and the government.<br />
Regardless of this lack of funds,<br />
Bangladesh made progress in terms<br />
of the climate vulnerability assessment<br />
and reviewed the Bangladesh<br />
Climate Change Strategy and Action<br />
Plan (BCCSAP).<br />
In addition to the loss at BCCRF,<br />
the state sourced Bangladesh Climate<br />
Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) has seen<br />
a limited allocation of Tk100crore in<br />
each of the last three fiscal years.<br />
Furthermore, the international<br />
Green Climate Fund (GCF) began<br />
releasing finances from 2015, but<br />
Deal in offing to prevent deaths like Banga Bahadur’s<br />
<strong>2016</strong><br />
YEAR IN REVIEW<br />
• Abu Siddique<br />
The miserable death of a strayed elephant<br />
in the Brahmaputra Char in full<br />
monsoon amid Forest Department’s<br />
desparate rescue measures was one<br />
of the major incidents in the country’s<br />
wildlife protection efforts this year.<br />
Following a saga that stretched over<br />
two countries, hundreds of kilometres<br />
and almost two months, the elephant<br />
that was lovingly given the name Banga<br />
Bahadur died on August 16.<br />
In June, the four-tonne elephant was<br />
swept down the Brahmaputra by flood<br />
waters from Assam. He entered Bangladesh<br />
through Roumari and travelled<br />
through Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogra<br />
and Sirajganj before reaching Jamalpur.<br />
Banga Bahadur was presumably<br />
trying to get back to his herd and swam<br />
across the Brahmaputra twice. But<br />
Devastation at Dublar Char in 2007 following cyclone Sidr<br />
Bangladesh is yet to receive any<br />
money this year despite having<br />
submitted a number of projects<br />
through development partners.<br />
This lack of funding is underpinned<br />
by a reluctance from the<br />
strong currents kept taking him further<br />
downstream. Repeated efforts, from<br />
both Bangladesh and India, to facilitate<br />
his return home, ended in failure.<br />
Several other elephants have died<br />
in the country in elephant-human conflicts<br />
along Bangladesh-India border.<br />
However, the good news is a proposed<br />
agreement to keep the border<br />
between Bangladesh and India open to<br />
let elephants move freely may soon see<br />
the light of day.<br />
Forest Department Deputy Conservator<br />
Md Shahab Uddin said they had<br />
already gotten approval from Home<br />
Ministry to sit with their Indian counterparts<br />
to make the deal.<br />
“Now we are waiting for approval<br />
from Foreign Ministry. Then we will have<br />
a final meeting on how the agreement<br />
will be signed,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.<br />
In January this year, the Indian home<br />
ministry agreed to sign a deal with<br />
Bangladesh to allow a cross-border<br />
natural elephant corridor so that wild<br />
elephant movement is easier and safer.<br />
The natural routes for elephants<br />
developed countries most responsible<br />
for greenhouse gas emissions,<br />
demonstrated by the failure to establish<br />
a clear road map for funding<br />
at this years climate conference, in<br />
Marrakech.<br />
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN<br />
Banga Bahadur lies dead in a shoal in Sharishabari in Jamalpur on August 16<br />
DHAKA TRIBUNE<br />
across the Bangladesh-India border are<br />
currently all blocked by a fence put up<br />
by India, causing wild elephants to stray<br />
from the track and end up in human<br />
habitats, often resulting in confrontations.<br />
According to the Forest Department,<br />
at least 226 people and 62 elephants<br />
have been killed in such conflicts<br />
in the last 13 years.<br />
In addition, elephant attacks destroy<br />
homes and crop fields in areas near the<br />
border. Being a flagship or umbrella<br />
species, elephants are considered the<br />
M Zakir Hossain Khan, a climate<br />
finance analyst, said: “The indecisive<br />
attitude of the global leaders<br />
has made the vulnerable nations<br />
like Bangladesh more vulnerable.”<br />
The climate vulnerability assessment<br />
across Bangladesh will<br />
be conducted in coordination with<br />
German development agency GIZ,<br />
to provide a baseline for adaptation<br />
measures instituted in the future.<br />
On the other hand, the changes<br />
made to the BCCSAP were primarily<br />
to update the plans to bring them<br />
in line with revised priorities in<br />
<strong>2016</strong>. The creation of the BCCSAP<br />
in 2009 marked Bangladesh as the<br />
first country in the world to adopt<br />
a self-designed scheme for tackling<br />
climate change. It has also been included<br />
in the 7th 5-year-plan.<br />
Meanwhile, the government has<br />
also taken measures to ensure direct<br />
access to the GCP by nominating six<br />
organisations as part of the National<br />
Implementing Entity (NIE).<br />
Of the six, the Palli Karma-Sahayak<br />
Foundation (PKSF) and the<br />
Infrastructure Development Company<br />
Ltd (IDCOL) have successfully<br />
submitted applications to the GCP<br />
for accreditation as NIE.<br />
The Bangladesh Climate Change<br />
Trust is in the final stage of submitting<br />
the application.<br />
If the accreditations of the NIEs<br />
are approved, Bangladesh will not<br />
have to rely on multilateral implementing<br />
entities like UNDP for access<br />
to funds, said M Zakir Hossain<br />
Khan. •<br />
symbol of a healthy ecosystem, but<br />
they are currently critically endangered<br />
in Bangladesh.<br />
21 new species found<br />
Twenty-one new wildlife mammal<br />
species have been found in Bangladesh<br />
in the last 15 years, according to new<br />
Red List done by International Union<br />
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)<br />
Bangladesh.<br />
But the study also found that three<br />
mammals no longer exist in Bangladesh:<br />
grey wolf, striped hyena and the sloth<br />
bear.<br />
The Forest Department in collaboration<br />
with USAID-funded Bengal Tiger<br />
Conservation Activity Project will take a<br />
density census of the Royal Bengal Tiger<br />
through camera trapping at the end of<br />
this year in Sundarbans.<br />
According to the latest study titled<br />
“Tiger Abundance in Bangladesh Sundarbans”<br />
that was held between 2013 and<br />
2014, the current number of Bengal Tigers<br />
in Bangladesh has dropped to 106<br />
from 440 in 2008. •<br />
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-<strong>12</strong>08. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower,<br />
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