DT e-Paper 24 February 2017

SECOND EDITION
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017 | Falgun 12, 1423, Jamadiul Awwal 26, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 298 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages plus 24-page weekend supplement | Price: Tk10

2
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
Advertisement

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017 | Falgun 12, 1423, Jamadiul Awwal 26, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 298 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages plus 24-page weekend supplement | Price: Tk10
Canadian
court labels
BNP a terrorist
organisation
› 4
General
prisoners to
be allowed
phone calls
› 6
Tk300 hike in household
gas price in two phases › 4
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
Seven Earthlike
planets
discovered
› 8
Mushfiq: For a
second, I felt
dizzy and fell
› 18
AQIS supports Hefazat on
SC statue removal › 5
‘Lack of translations a
matter of concern’ › 7
Tigers regroup
today for Sri
Lanka tour
› 19

4
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
News
Tk300 hike in household gas price by June
• Aminur Rahman Rasel
People at home will have to pay
an additional Tk300 for the gas in
their stoves, in two phases starting
from March.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory
Commission (BERC) yesterday
announced that it was raising the
price of gas for all sectors. BERC
Chairman Monowar Islam announced
the hikes in a press conference
at the regulator’s headquarters
in Kawran Bazar.
Gas prices were last raised in
September 2015.
Starting in March, the monthly
gas bill for single burner stoves
will be Tk750, which is currently
Tk600. From June 1 it will be
Tk900.
The bill for the double burner
will be Tk800 from March 1 and
Tk950 from June 1.
“Urban consumers use energy
at a lower price than the rural consumers.
So, it is very reasonable to
raise the price of gas,” the BERC
chairman said in response to questions
from journalists.
This is a hike of about 55% to
58%. Similarly, homes with metered
connections will have a 60% hike.
While the current rate is Tk7 per
cubic metre, from March 1 they will
pay Tk9.10 and Tk11.20 from June 1.
In August last year, the BERC
held an eight-day public hearing
on gas transmission tariff and price
hike proposals submitted by the
state-owned gas transmission and
distribution companies.
When asked whether the price
of gas had been raised because of
LNG, Chairman Monowar Islam
said: “No, that is a wrong idea.
“The price has been raised fairly
to match the cost of the energy.”
He added that with this price
hike the government can collect an
extra Tk4,185 crore annual revenue
from which a portion will be used
to meet the operating costs of gas
distribution and transmission.
“The remaining portion will go
to the government exchequer as
supplementary duty and VAT. Another
portion will be deposited to
gas development fund and energy
security fund,” Monowar said.
Only two of the distribution
companies, Pashchimanchal Gas
Company Limited and Sundarban
Gas Company Limited, will gain
margins from this increased revenue.
These two are the newest
companies.
Although domestic gas prices
have been raised significantly, it
is not the biggest hike. Manufacturers
who make their own power
from gas are taking the biggest hit.
The cost of captive power will go
up from Tk4.18 to Tk 8.98 on March
1 and on June 1 it will be Tk9.62,
more than double the current rate.
Another hard-hit sector will be
commercial users, who are mostly
small restaurant owners, as they will
have to pay Tk14.20 per unit from
March and later Tk17.04 – almost
double the current rate of Tk9.47.
For power stations, the price of
gas will be Tk2.99 per cubic metre,
up from Tk2.82 and from June 1 the
price will be Tk3.16.
The gas price for fertiliser factories
will be Tk2.64 from Tk2.58 and
from June 1 the price will be Tk2.71.
In the industry category, the
price of the gas will be Tk7.24 from
Tk5.86 and from June 1 the price
will be Tk7.76.
In case of the tea industry, the
price of gas will be Tk6.93 from
current price of Tk5.86 and then
finally it will be Tk7.42.
For CNG users the price will be
Tk38 in the first phase and from
June 1 the price will be Tk40. The
margin price for CNG operator has
also been raised to Tk8 from Tk7.
The transmission charge for Gas
Transmission Company Limited
will be Tk0.2654 per cubic metre,
up from Tk0.1565. •
Canadian court labels BNP a terrorist organisation
• Tribune Desk
A Canadian court has labelled Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) a terrorist
organisation, over the residency plea of
a Swechchhasebak Dal activist to that
country.
In January, Canadian Federal Court
turned down an appeal by Md Jewel
Gazi, a Swechchhasebak Dal activist from
Mirpur, against the decision of an immigration
officer last year to not grant him
permanent residence on the grounds that
BNP was involved in acts of terrorism.
Awami League has hailed the
verdict, calling it BNP’s indictment for
its criminal acts. BNP has criticised the
verdict, claiming that the ruling Awami
League was behind it. More than 100
people are believed to have been killed
in a violent three-month blockade enforced
by the BNP and its allies in 2015.
“Politics in Bangladesh is a violent
affair,” the court said in its verdict.
While it acknowledged that both
parties were involved in conflict, the
court remarked that mutual misconduct
did not exculpate BNP from being
considered a terrorist organisation
under the Canadian Immigration and
Refugee Protection Act. It said it found
that the immigration officer had reasonable
grounds to believe that the BNP,
through general strikes and hartals, was
engaged in terrorism as defined by the
Criminal Code of the country.
“To emphasise, Canada defines terrorism
very broadly and in my view, in
such a way that hartals may reasonably
be said to come within that definition.
To repeat, Canada’s definition of
terrorism in this case include acts and
omissions outside Canada (e.g., that
occurred in Bangladesh) that have
elements of intimidation of the public
or parts of the public,” the verdict read.
Awami League proposes tribunal
to try BNP
Meanwhile, the Awami League has suggested
establishing a special tribunal
to put the BNP on trial for its “acts of
terrorism” after the Canadian court’s
observation.
“We have been repeatedly saying
that the BNP is a terrorist ogranisation.
‘Gas price
hike will have
negative impact’
• Tribune Desk
The government’s decision to raise
gas prices will have a negative
impact on the economy, experts
have said.
Dhaka University Professor and
energy expert Badrul Imam told
the Dhaka Tribune: “Gas price raise
will have a negative impact on all
sectors including public transport
and market. In particular, there
will be a hazardous situation over
transport fares.”
“An artificial crisis has been created
by saying the gas resources are
depleting. Besides, LNG will be imported
at a high cost. So the government
now wants to create a balance
by raising the gas price,” he said.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh’s
energy advisor Prof. Shamshul
Alam said: “In public hearings,
it was not proved logically that the
prices of gas should be raised.”
Economist Mirza Azizul Islam
said: “The government raising gas
prices despite the fact that the gas
companies are not in loss, was
completely unnecessary. This price
hike will affect the growth in export
and manufacturing sectors.
BNP demands withdrawal
BNP has called upon the government
to withdraw the decision to
hike gas prices, terming the decision
‘irrational’ and ‘unethical’.
Reading out a statement at the
press conference, BNP Secretary
General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
said the decision to hike gas
prices is irrational, unethical and
would create a massive pressure in
the economy.
People will not accept this decision,
added the BNP spokesperson.
He also criticised the government
for not holding the mass
hearing on the proposed gas price
hike which was scheduled to be
held in December last year. •
The Canadian court’s verdict has proven
us right,” Awami League Publicity
Secretary Hasan Mahmud told a media
briefing at the party chief’s Dhanmondi
office on Thursday.
Referring to the verdict, Hasan said
the BNP had “lost its political character
and turned into a terrorist organisation.”
“The time has come to bring the
BNP to book for its terrorist activities,”
he told the briefing, held to clear the
ruling party’s stance on the issue.
“For this, forming a special tribunal
is crucial,” he added. •

News 5
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
AQIS supports Hefazat on
SC statue removal
DT
• Tribune Desk
Ansar al-Islam, the Bangladesh
affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Indian
Subcontinent (AQIS), has extended
support for the ongoing movement
of radical Islamists who demand
that the “idol” of Lady Justice be
removed from the Supreme Court
premises.
While members of the militant
group expressed solidarity with the
demand, they also bitterly criticised
Hefazat-e-Islami, a Qawmi madrasa-based
platform, for sailing on
two boats – trying to please the government
with soft words and at the
same time working to uphold Islam.
The matter is being discussed
among the Ansar al-Islam members
in their online forum Dawahilallah.
The reaction came after Hefazat
Secretary General Babunagari at a
programme on Wednesday threatened
to stage another May 5-like
siege at Motijheel if the statue was
not removed immediately.
The al-Qaeda affiliate – formed in
late 2014 with members from universities
and madrasas – also castigated
Hefazat for submitting memoranda
to the prime minister and the
chief justice to realise the demand.
Other than Hefazat, an umbrella
organisation led by Hathazari Madrasa
Principal Shah Ahmed Shafi
who professes death for atheists,
the Islamist parties and groups opposing
the installation of the statue
are Awami Olama League, Bangladesh
Khelafat Majlish, Islami Andolon
Bangladesh and Jamaat-Shibir.
All these domestic and regional
militant outfits want to establish
Shariah Law in the country, while
the Islamist parties and groups are
working for the same cause as a
long-term goal.
US ‘concerned’ over al-Qaeda
presence
Meanwhile, a senior US military
official has said that their government
are “concerned about the
instability in Bangladesh,” caused
due to “a lot of AQIS interference.”
“Yes, they [AQIS] have a regional
agenda, but this region is very important
to the United States ... In
this Shorabak objective, there were
congratulatory notes going back
and forth about some of these activities
in Bangladesh. There is a linkage
to core al-Qaeda,” General John
Babunagari warned that they would not accept
any sculpture but the one of a Qur’an on the
apex court premises
W Nicholson, who serves as the
commander of Resolute Support
and US Forces in Afghanistan, said.
“Of course, al-Qaeda is very focused
right now on the survival of
their senior leadership, but they
are connected to these guys as well.
They all share the same agenda and
the same focus,” Nicholson said in
an interview with the Counter Terrorism
Centre website Wednesday.
The US government blacklisted
AQIS as a “foreign terrorist organisation”
and its leader, Indian-born
Asim Umar, a “specially designated
global terrorist” in a statement issued
on June 30 last year.
Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin
Laden’s successor, Egyptian ideologue
Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced
the formation of AQIS
in September 2014 to carry the
group’s fight to India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh.
Under the new designation,
if investigators tie any assets or
property under US jurisdiction to
the group or its leader, they will be
frozen. US citizens are forbidden
from having any dealings with the
group, AFP reported.
AQIS members in Dawahilallah
have expressed astonishment over
the US military official’s acknowledging
the presence of the outfit in
Bangladesh after several years.
A discussant even claimed that
the Muslims of Bangladesh had accepted
them warmly, though the
governments of Bangladesh and the
US refused to admit their presence.
Before Ansarullah Bangla Team,
two other banned Islamist terror
outfits of Bangladesh – HujiB and
JMB – had al-Qaeda affiliation.
What al-Qaeda is doing here
A major issue being discussed in
Dawahilallah forum is the removal
of the names of two Islamist clerics
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
from two roads in Dhaka. The Dhaka
South City Corporation took the
step in line with a High Court order
that says the duo had taken stance
against the 1971 Liberation War of
Bangladesh.
Their call for wider campaigns
and waging an armed jihad – against
the Myanmar government for the
recent atrocities against Rohingya
Muslims in Myanmar and the plight
of those who fled to Bangladesh – is
a top priority issue the militants are
discussing every day.
Ansar al-Islam earlier extended
support to Harakah al-Yakin or
Faith Movement, a like-minded
Rohingya-based militant group
that attacked three border outposts
of Myanmar as part of their armed
jihad on October 9.
In a public statement issued on
December 15, al-Qaeda urged the
Muslim youths of Bangladesh to
join the fight to avenge the persecution
against Rohingyas.
The statement came at a time
when Hefazat was campaigning
throughout the country against the
Myanmar government and to raise
funds for Rohingyas who have taken
shelter in Bangladesh.
The forum members earlier instigated
attacks on the Hindus of
Nasirnagar last year when the local
Muslim hardliners carried out
rampage in the area in the name of
protesting against an alleged blasphemous
post by a Hindu youth on
Facebook.
Since 2013, members of Ansar
al-Islam, previously Ansarullah
Bangla Team, have killed a dozen
secularists and war trial campaigners
based on “lists of atheists” prepared
by different radical Islamist
groups including Jamaat-e-Islami,
Islami Chhatra Shibir and Hefazat.
It uses the May 5, 2013 demonstration
of the Hefazat members at
Motijheel to inspire the extremists.
Both al-Qaeda and Islamic State
have criticised the radical Islamist
groups and their leaders for signing
the government-sponsored fatwa
against militancy, and holding rallies
and processions condemning
last year’s Gulshan terror attack.
‘Hefazat plays double standard’
On Wednesday, after a Dawahilallah
forum member posted a
news item on Babunagari’s remarks,
two senior members reacted
sharply accusing the Islamist
group of taking favour from the
government.
One of them wondered why
Babunagari addressed the “tyrant
government of Sheikh Hasina” as
an “honourable government.”
Babunagari warned that they
would not accept any sculpture
but the one of a Qur’an on the apex
court premises.
Another al-Qaeda member accused
Babunagari of double standard,
saying: “You are playing with
Islam. Islam is not so insignificant
that you will need to submit a
memorandum or application to the
kufr [government].
“You have cheated the people
by signing the fatwa against the
mujaheeds of Islam. You are trying
to please the government and Islam
at the same time.”
The senior member, known as
“Mohammad bin maslama,” also
alleged that Hefazat was supporting
democracy while giving a blind
eye to the deaths of its supporters
at Motijheel in 2013.
But in the end, the militant said
that they would continue to support
Hefazat, disregarding differences,
as long as the radical platform was
working on the spread of Islam.•
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY
DRY WEATHER
LIKELY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24
Dhaka 31 13 Chittagong 29 18 Rajshahi 30 11 Rangpur 29 11 Khulna 31 13 Barisal 32 15 Sylhet 28 11
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 5:59PM
SUN RISES 6:24AM
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW
32.4ºC
14.2ºC
Patuakhali
Tetulia
Source: Accuweather/UNB
PRAYER
TIMES
Cox’s Bazar 28 19
Fajr: 5:55am | Jumma: 1:15pm
Asr: 4:45pm | Magrib: 6:07pm
Esha: 8:00pm
Source: Islamic Foundation

6
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
News
General prisoners to be allowed phone calls
Jail authorities propose wages for working inmates
• Arifur Rahman Rabbi
General prisoners will now be given
the opportunity to speak with
their families over the phone. This
facility will not extend to top terrorists
and militants, said Inspector
General (Prisons) Brig Gen Syed
Iftekhar Uddin.
He made the statement at a press
conference for Prison Week 2017
held at the Directorate of Prison in
Bakshibazar, Dhaka yesterday.
Prison Week 2017 is set to begin
on February 26 and will be formally
inaugurated by Home Minister Asaduzzaman
Khan.
With the slogan “Correction of
prisoners, rehabilitation into society,”
the objective of the week is
to increase the quality of service,
change the negative perception of
the prisons, change the attitudes of
the jail police, bridge the gaps between
jail police, prisoners and the
prisoners’ families, and play a greater
role in controlling militancy.
According to Iftekhar, prison intelligence
officers will monitor all
calls made by prisoners. The calls
will also be recorded.
“When a prisoner is processed
for jail we collect their personal
information for our database and
each prisoner is required to log
two registered phone numbers belonging
to their spouses, parents or
children,” he added.
Iftekhar also said Bangladesh
jails had yet to launch any rehabilitation
programme for terrorists
and militants. Prisoners accused of
militant crimes are being held separate
from ordinary prisoners.
“We need specific experts to
handle the deradicalisation or rehabilitation
of militants and terrorists,
but there is a shortage of such
experts in the country. Regardless,
we are discussing the matter and
are trying to resolve it,” explained
the IG (Prisons).
Ifekhar added that, in line with
the prime minister’s request, they
have sent a proposal to the government
requesting that the prisoners
who work at the jail get wages.
“Currently, 5,000 prisoners
are employed and the goods they
make are being sold at a 37% profit.
This money goes directly to the
government. We proposed that
10% should be given to prisoners as
wages,” he said.
In response to questions, he
added that video trial processes
will begin soon, starting with Dhaka
Central Jail in Keraniganj and
Kahsimpur High Security Central
Jail.
He also said there are 492 prisoners
who have been on trial for
over five years and eight to 10 prisoners
who have been on trial for
over 10 years. •
Prisoners in
shackles: HC
summons DIG
prisons
• Ashif Islam Shaon
The High Court has ordered the
deputy inspector general of prisons
to explain why four prisoners
were produced before the court in
shackles.
The bench of Justice Obaidul
Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath
yesterday ordered the DIG
prisons to appear before it on
March 9 with the explanation.
On February 5, Supreme Court
Legal Aid Committee’s panel lawyer
informed the court about 10
prisoners who had been behind
bars for 10-18 years but their trials
were yet to finish.
The court on February 7 issued
a suo-moto ruling asking why they
should not be granted bail.
It had also asked the prison authorities
to produce them before it
on Thursday along with their case
dockets.
When the prisoners were produced
before the court from Keraniganj
jail, the court noticed that
four of them were in shackles.
The police officials who escorted
the prisoners to the court said
the jail authorities sent them in
shackles.
Then, the court asked to unshackle
them and summoned the
DIG prisons to explain.
The four prisoners in shackles
were Habibur Rahman, Moniruzzaman,
Nasiruddin and Giasuddin.
The rest six were Faruk Hossain,
Selim Mia, Raju Jagannath, Haider
Ali, Boshir Uddin and Rafuqul Islam
Raja.
SC Legal Aid Committee panel
lawyer Syeda Sabina Ahmed Moli
said as dockets of nine prisoners
did not reach the court in the
day, it ordered the authorities concerned
to submit the dockets by
March 9. •
‘Kandari-12’ is the newest member of the Chittagong Port Authority fleet. Western Marine Shipyard, a renowned shipbuilder in
Chittagong, constructed the 25.20 meter long tugboat, which has a capacity of 2,000hp. With the new addition, the number
of tugboats now stands at seven. Western Marine Shipyard Managing Director Md Sakhawat Hossain formally handed over
the tugboat to Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal at a ceremony held at a jetty of the port
yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Mufti Hannan files review
petition on death penalty
• Ashif Islam Shaon
Convicted militant leader Mufti
Abdul Hannan has filed a petition
with the Supreme Court seeking review
of an Appellate Division verdict
that upheld his death conviction
for the 2004 murder attempt
on former British envoy Anwar
Choudhury.
Advocate-on-record Nahid Sultana
submitted the petition to the
apex court on Thursday, seeking
his acquittal.
A death warrant was read out to
the chief of a faction of Harkat-ul
Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HujiB)
and his two cohorts, also deathrow
convicts, Sharif Shahedul
Alam and Md Delwar Hossain in
early February.
If the petition is rejected, the
trio will have to seek presidential
clemency as the last resort to
save their necks. They must die by
hanging upon the president’s denial
in this regard.
Militants tried to assassinate
Anwar, the then UK high commissioner,
at the shrine of Hazrat
Shahjalal in Sylhet on May 21,
2004, but their efforts were in vain.
However, three people were killed
in the attack which left over 70 others
injured.
A Sylhet court in December 2008
sentenced the trio to death, and
two others to life imprisonment for
the attack. The High Court upheld
the sentence in February last year.
In December the same year, the
death row convicts appealed to the
Appellate Division, but to no avail
as the death penalty was upheld
there as well.
The Appellate Division’s 65-
page full verdict was published on
January 17 this year.
Hannan also carries a death sentence
for the 2001 Ramna Batamul
bombing which killed ten people.
Since its formation in 1992,
the militant outfit has carried out
at least 14 attacks, killing more
than 100 people in the pursuit of
establishing Shariah Law in Bangladesh.
•
Shafik
cleared to fly
after hours
of fuss at
airport
• Arifur Rahman Rabbi
Veteran journalist Shafik Rehman
was cleared after being
barred from boarding a
flight to the United Kingdom
by Immigration Police at the
Shahjalal International Airport
yesterday.
He was scheduled to board
a 6:55am Turkish Airlines
flight to the UK to visit his
wife Taleya Rehman who is
ill and is currently seeking
treatment there.
Immigration Police’s Special
Superintendent Mahabub
Rahman explained why
he was not allowed to board
the flight: “Since Shafik Rehman
is an accused in a
high profile case, we had to
make sure he had the court
documents regarding the
release of his passport upon
bail.
“We are currently verifying
the documents presented
and if everything looks good,
he can take the next flight out
if he wishes.”
Later, ASP Abdullah Al
Mamun of Immigration Police
said Shafik could fly out
of the country since his papers
had been cleared.
Shafik Rehman is a dual
citizen of Bangladesh and the
UK.
Shafik was arrested on
April 16, 2016 for allegedly
plotting to abduct and murder
Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son
of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina.
He was released on bail in
September. •

News 7
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
‘Lack of translations a matter of concern’
• SM Najmus Sakib
DT
Irad Siddiky
arrested upon
arrival at Shahjalal
• Arifur Rahman Rabbi
Police have arrested Chowdhury
Irad Ahmed Siddiky, a former Dhaka
mayoral candidate, from the Shahjalal
International Airport in Dhaka.
Around 5am yesterday, the Counter
Terrorism and Transnational
Crime Unit’s Cyber Security and
Crime Prevention Division arrested
Siddiky, 45, after he landed in Dhaka.
He was later produced before
the court of Dhaka Metropolitan
Magistrate Md Khurshid Alam who
then granted a four-day remand after
the police plead for seven days.
Irad, the son of BNP leader Chowdhury
Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, lives in
the Netherlands. CTTC Unit’s Deputy
Commissioner Alimujjaman told the
Dhaka Tribune that Irad’s SIM, mobile
phone, Macbook and laptop had
been seized. He also claimed police
had “taken over” his Facebook IDs. •
After school is over, young students flock to a book stall at the Suhrawardy Udyan premises of the Ekushey book fair yesterday
Sex workers awaiting
proper rehabilitation
• Kamrul Hasan
Sex Workers Network General
Secretary Chumki Begum said sex
workers in Bangladesh are not receiving
proper rehabilitaion.
After the 2009 eviction of the
Tanbazar brothel in Narayanganj,
the workers were promised resocialisation.
“However, the administration
married off the sex workers to elder
men from the area and provided
them with sewing machines to
help them embark on a different
career path,” Chumki said
Due to the lack proper rehabilitation,
the former sex workers became
streetwalkers.
While attending a view exchange
meeting yesterday on developing
the human rights conditions of the
sex workers at Dhaka Reporters
Unity, Chumki demanded a longterm
rehabilitation system rather
than temporary solutions.
Sex workers present at the
meeting demanded the right to live
like all other citizen of Bangladesh.
Vice President of SWN Ivan
Ahmed Kotha, said: “No one wants
to join this profession. Sometimes
women are forced to choose this
profession because they lack alternatives,
but people use religious
agendas to force the local government
to shut down the brothels,
forcing the sex workers to leave.”
The sex workers said they cannot
file police cases if they want
any legal action as the police threathen
them with social exposure.
They even find it hard to receive
treatment from doctors, as doctors
tend to neglect them due to their
profession. •
Translated literature acts as a door
through which cultures and literatures
can be shared with our neighbouring
nations. More publications
in the country need to be translated,
said experts at a seminar of
Amar Ekushey Book Fair.
Besides literature, other publications
including academic books,
scientific research papers and articles
should be translated into
Bangla, they said at the seminar on
“Translated literature: Literature
of translation.”
Bangla Academy arranged the
seminar on its premises yesterday
to mark the month-long book fair.
To meet the rising demand for
contemporary literature, they suggested
a specialised unit be formed
to work on translations from Bangla
to other languages and vice versa
in which the Bangla Academy
would play a vital role.
As of day 22 of the fair, a mere
17 translation works have been
launched, mostly by young writers.
Shortly after independence,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman had ordered Bangla to be
implemented in every sector. However,
the work was incomplete due
to a lack of skilled manpower and
proper guidelines.
Since then, academia has been
hit with a crisis in which students
are not taught to be well-versed in
either Bangla or English, said Prof
Khaliquzzaman Ilias.
“Translating literature is a difficult
job that requires creativity,
and we need skilful, creative minds
to carry it out, but have only a
handful of experts,” he said.
“We only take English into account
when translating, yet for our
literature to flourish, we have to consider
translating our Bangla works to
European and subcontinental languages,
and vice-versa,” he added.
To raise our educational standards
and research to international
levels, there is no alternative to
becoming full versed in our mother
tongue as well as English to understand
any subject of study, the
speakers said further. Developed
countries such as China, Japan,
South Korea, and European nations,
who are experts in the fields
of science and creative research,
implement their work in their own
languages.
Prof Abdus Selim, in his keynote
paper, said a lack of institutional
initiatives is behind the dearth
of translations, most of which are
carried out on a personal basis, but
these efforts need to be brought
under an institutional framework.
He called for a government-run
“translation centre” where selected
literary and research works
would be translated. Translations
would not need to be literal but
Ahmed Sharif memorial
lecture today
• Tribune Desk
Marking the
18th death anniversary
of Dr
Ahmed Sharif,
a renowned
scholar,
researcher
of medieval
Bangla literature
and a forerunner of free thought
movements in Bangladesh, Swadesh
Chinta Shangha has arranged a
memorial lecture and an award giving
ceremony in the Business Studies Faculty
auditorium of Dhaka University
today at 4:00pm.
Writer and cultural activist Probir
Ghosh of Kolkata, will deliver the
lecture and award recipients will be
Communist Party of Bangladesh President
Comrade Mujahidul Islam Selim
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
should concentrate on preserving
the respective culture, language,
geography and knowledge of literature,
he said.
Poets Mohammad Sadek and
Shamim Azad also addressed the
seminar, among others. Later, a
cultural programme was presented
by Sparsho, a publication for the
visually impaired. •
and Economist Prof Anu Muhammod.
The function will be presided over by
ProfAbul Kasem Fazlul Haq.
Former Dhaka University Bengali
department professor Ahmed Sharif,
who was an avowed advocate of free
thinking in Bangladesh, died on February
24, 1999 in Dhaka.
He was a rational humanist who
opposed fascism, sectarianism and superstition
and vocal against autocracy.
He was the recipient of many honours
and awards including Ekushey Padak
in 1991 for his outstanding contribution
in the field of research on medieval
Bengali literature and contemporary
socio-cultural-political essays.
He was born at Patiya in Chittagong
on February 13, 1921.
Swadesh Chinta Shangha introduced
Ahmed Sharif Commemoration
Lecture and Ahmed Sharif Commemoration
Award in 2000. •

DT
8
World
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Seven Earth-like planets discovered
• Reuters, Florida
Astronomers have found a nearby
solar system with seven Earth-sized
planets, three of which circle their
parent star at the right distance for
liquid surface water, bolstering the
prospect of discovering extraterrestrial
life, research published on
Wednesday showed.
The star, known as TRAPPIST-1,
is a small, dim celestial body in the
constellation Aquarius. It is located
about 40 light years away from
Earth, close by astronomical standards,
but about 44 million years
away at the average cruising speed
of a commercial passenger jet.
Researchers said the proximity
of the system, combined with
the proportionally large size of its
planets compared to the small star,
make it a good target for follow-up
studies. They hope to scan the
planets’ atmospheres for possible
chemical fingerprints of life.
“The discovery gives us a hint
that finding a second Earth is not
just a matter of if, but when,” Nasa
7 EARTH-LIKE PLANETS DISCOVERED IN A SINGLE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Trappist-1 solar system
39 light years from our own
solar system
Dwarf star
has only
10% of the
mass of
the Sun
Relative sizes
The moons of Jupiter
Distances not to scale
Length
of orbit
(days)
Jupiter
chief scientist Thomas Zurbuchen
said at a news conference on
Wednesday.
The discovery, published in this
week’s issue of the journal Nature,
builds on previous research showing
three planets circling TRAP-
PIST-1. They are among more than
3,500 planets discovered beyond
the solar system, or exoplanets.
Researchers have focused on
finding Earth-sized rocky planets
with the right temperatures so that
b
1
1.51 2.42 4.04 6.06 9.1 12.35 inc.
1 2
Io
c
d
Presence of
water possible
in certain
zones
Police confront banned
anti-police protest in Paris
Europa
A young man runs away from tear gas launched by riot police during a protest
of students in Paris, on February 23
AFP
• Reuters, Paris
Hundreds of high-school students protested
in Paris over police use of force
on Thursday, blocking the entrances
to a dozen schools before heading to
a banned street rally where riot police
turned out in large numbers.
The protest was the latest of several,
many in northern suburbs of Paris,
since a 22-year-old black man was allegedly
raped with a police baton during
a February 2 arrest in an area north
of the capital where large numbers of
immigrants live.
It comes two months before a presidential
election where far-right leader
Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigrant
National Front party, is tipped to
win the first round but lose the runoff
that takes place on May 7.
g
Earth
The Paris school authority said
more than 10 schools were affected by
youths who piled up rubbish bins and
other objects at the entrance gates;
but it had had no reports of violence at
the premises.
Social media networks, however,
showed signs of skirmishes on the
fringes of what appeared to be a largely
peaceful rally in the Place de la Nation
square in the east of the capital, where
riot police in protective gear advanced
on groups of mostly-hooded youths in
sidestreet confrontations. A helicopter
flew overhead.
The Paris police department had
warned people to stay away from a
protest, saying it was not authorised
and that there was a risk of violent
groups causing trouble, as had happened
over the last three weeks. •
2
e f
g
Ganymede
Callisto
h
Temperatures are
low enough to allow
for the possibility
of water in its liquid
state
2.5 million times the distance
between the Earth and the Sun
A probe like the Voyager 1 would
take 700,000 years to reach the
Trappist-1 system
The planets were detected
by observing changes in the
colour specturm of the star
in that system
The Trappist-1 solar system
resembles the moons of Jupiter
The sizes of the planets and their
relative orbits are equivalent
Source: Nature, CNRS
water, if any exists, would be liquid,
a condition believed to be necessary
for life.
The diameter of TRAPPIST-1 is
about 8 percent of the sun’s size.
That makes its Earth-sized planets
appear large as they parade past.
From the vantage point of telescopes
on Earth, the planets’ motions
regularly block out bits of the
star’s light. Scientists determined
the system’s architecture by studying
these dips.
China again
dismisses reports
of military patrols
in Afghanistan
• Reuters, Beijing
China’s defence ministry on Thursday
dismissed reports Chinese
military vehicles were patrolling
inside Afghanistan, saying the two
countries were only carrying out
counter-terrorism operations along
their common border.
This month, the Central
Asia-Caucasus Analyst think-tank
said in a report on its website that
Chinese troops were on Afghan soil
conducting joint patrols with their
Afghan counterparts.
That followed a similar report in
an Indian media outlet in November.
Defence ministry spokesman
Ren Guoqiang said Chinese public
security departments had counter-terrorism
cooperation along the
China-Afghanistan border.
China and Afghanistan share a
76km stretch of border in a remote,
mountainous corner of central Asia.
China has long been concerned that
instability in Afghanistan could
spill over into the violence-prone
Xinjiang region in china’s far west,
home to the Muslim Uighur people,
where hundreds of people have died
in recent years in unrest blamed by
China on Islamist militants.
China has also worked with
Pakistan and the United States to
broker peace talks to end Afghanistan’s
Taliban insurgency. •
Because TRAPPIST-1 is so small
and cool, its so-called “habitable
zone” is very close to the star. Three
planets are properly positioned for
liquid water, Gillon said.
“They form a very compact system,”
Gillon told reporters on Tuesday.
“They could have some liquid
water and maybe life.”
Even if the planets do not
have life now, it could evolve.
TRAPPIST-1 is at least 500 million
years old, but has an estimated
lifespan of 10 trillion years. The
sun, by comparison, is about halfway
through its estimated 10-billion-year
life.
In a few billion years, when the
sun has run out of fuel and the
solar system has ceased to exist,
TRAPPIST-1 will still be an infant
star, astronomer Ignas Snellen,
with the Netherlands’ Leiden Observatory,
wrote in a related essay
in Nature.
“It burns hydrogen so slowly
that it will live for another 10 trillion
years,” he wrote, “which is arguably
enough time for life to evolve.” •
Rise in Eastern
Europeans leaving
UK since Brexit
• AFP, London
Migrants from eight Eastern European
countries are increasingly leaving
Britain after the Brexit vote but the
number arriving from Bulgaria and
Romania has jumped, official data
released on Thursday showed.
Data from the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) also showed that in
the year ending in September 2016,
net migration – the number of people
who moved to Britain minus the
number who left – was 273,000.
The number of people from
these countries leaving Britain rose
by 12,000 to an estimated 39,000.
The total number that arrived
from other parts of the EU was
268,000 people over the 12-month
period, compared to 284,000 in the
year to June.
In comparison, Germany’s Federal
Office for Migration and Refugees
registered a total of 846,000 arrivals
among EU citizens in 2015. •
Activists protest potential changes by the Trump administration in defence of
transgender student rights, in Washington, DC, on February 22
REUTERS
Trump rolls back protections
for transgender students
• Tribune Desk
The Trump administration has
withdrawn a piece of federal guidance
requiring transgender students
to have unfettered access
to bathrooms and locker rooms
matching their gender identity, in
a move that could embolden many
schools to restrict trans rights.
In doing so, the administration
has signalled that it does not necessarily
interpret current federal civil
rights protections as prohibiting discrimination
based on gender identity.
With the move, President Donald
Trump – who indicated during
his campaign that he might protect
LGBT rights – has sided with social
conservatives on a key issue at the
center of a broader cultural battle
between conservatives and liberals.
By lifting federal guidelines issued
by the Obama administration
– interpreting Title IX, the federal
law banning sex discrimination in
schools, to include gender identity –
the Trump administration is leaving
it up to states and school districts
to decide whether students should
have access to bathrooms that do
not reflect their biological sex.
The decision comes after a reported
disagreement over the language
between Attorney General
Jeff Sessions, a major opponent of
the LGTB rights movement, and
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos,
who is said to support LGBT rights
and had to sign off on the move.
Wednesday’s decision reverses
memos issued by the Obama administration
during the past two
years saying that prohibiting transgender
students from using facilities
that reflect with their gender
identity violates federal anti-discrimination
laws. •

World
Telangana CM spends state
cash on lavish temple gifts
• AFP, New Delhi
The head of India’s newest state is
facing condemnation after spending
$750,000 in public money on
gold temple offerings to thank the
gods for realising his long-held ambition.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar
Rao campaigned for decades
for the creation of Telangana state
in the south of India and had promised
to donate gold to a local temple
if he succeeded.
On Wednesday he flew to a popular
Hindu temple in a chartered plane
and presented a lotus-shaped necklace
weighing nearly 15kg and a 5-kg
collar as priests chanted vedic hymns.
Speaking on condition of anonymity,
an official in the Rao’s office
confirmed the donation and
said it was “from the government
of Telangana and its people”.
Social media users laid into Rao,
who has been criticised in the past
Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao, centre left, carrying lavish offerings for a
temple in Tirumala
AFP
over his lavish use of public funds.
“Rao is a great CM. Never hesitates
to put his hand in the State treasury
for meeting personal needs. The
dictionary word is theft,” said one
Twitter user. “Instead of offering
kg’s of gold to temples and seeking
miracles please do something on
the ground” posted another.
Rao faced criticism last year
when it emerged the state had
funded a $7.3m official residence,
fitted with bullet-proof offices and
bathrooms and a movie hall.
Telangana split off from Andhra
Pradesh in 2014 after a long campaign
for a separate state, with its
champions arguing the region had
been neglected by successive state
governments. •
Bomb kills eight in Pakistan
• Reuters, Lahore
A bomb blast in an upscale shopping
centre in Pakistan’s eastern city of
Lahore killed at least eight people
and wounded 20 on Thursday, officials
said, the latest in a surge of violence
that has shaken the country.
Security forces cordoned off the
residential neighbourhood, also
home to banks and coffee shops,
rescue officials said, after what one
bank worker said was a “frightening”
explosion.
“We left the building and saw
that the motor-bikes parked outside
were on fire and all the windows in
the surrounding buildings were shattered,”
Mohammad Khurram said.
Punjab police spokesman Nayab
Haider said the explosion was caused
by a “planted bomb” that was either
time- or remotely detonated.
No one was allowed to leave or
enter the area because the bomber
was suspected to be at large, officials
said.
Reports of a second explosion
turned out to be a tyre blowout that
9
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
A soldier stands guard at the scene of a
blast in Lahore on February 23 REUTERS
caused panic due to the tense atmosphere
in the city, a government
official said.
Pakistan has been struck by a
wave of militant attacks in recent
weeks, killing at least 130 people
across the country and leaving hundreds
wounded. The worst of the attacks
was at a Sufi shrine in southern
Sindh province that killed 90 people.
Thursday’s bombing was the second
attack in Lahore in two weeks.
A suicide bombing on February 13
killed at least 13 people and wounded
more than 80 at a protest near the
provincial assembly. •
Police confront protesters refusing to evacuate the main opposition
camp against the Dakota Access oil pipeline
REUTERS
Under deadline pressure,
Dakota pipeline protesters
leave camp
• AFP, Chicago
After nearly a year of occupying
North Dakota prairie
land to block the route of a
controversial oil pipeline,
many of the camp’s holdouts
finally marched out Wednesday
to meet an evacuation
deadline.
Some 10 activists who had
remained after the 2000 GMT
deadline passed were arrested,
according to the North Dakota
Joint Information Centre.
Earlier this month, President
Donald Trump signed an
executive order to revive the
pipeline project. After the final
permit was issued, construction
on Dakota Access began
almost immediately.
Native Americans and their
supporters began leaving the
federal land – which was occupied
by a population that
swelled into the thousands
at times – singing traditional
songs and banging drums.
Many opposed to the pipeline
say it threatens the drinking
water of the Standing Rock
Sioux tribe. The pipeline’s operator,
Energy Transfer Partners,
insists it is safe, with high-tech
systems in place to prevent environmental
catastrophe.
State and tribal authorities
planned to begin coordinated
efforts to clean up the camp,
removing garbage, structures,
vehicles and other debris, in
anticipation of seasonal flooding
in the area.
Campers burned some
structures on their way out of
the camp, in what they said
were ceremonial rituals. •

DT
10
Business
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: THURSDAY
DSE Broad Index 5,625.3 -0.0% ▼ Index 1,309.5 -0.3% ▼ 30 Index 2,036.2 0.1% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 13,331.5 1.8% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 340.2 6.0% ▲
CSE All Share Index 17,418.6 -0.1% ▼ 30 Index 15,207.6 0.1% ▲ Selected Index 10,564.2 -0.0% ▼ Turnover in Mn Tk 838.7 4.4% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 23.1 6.4% ▲
PMO fears disinflation situation
• Asif Showkat Kallol
The projection of low inflation rate,
4.75%, could create disinflation
situation in the country, having a
possibility of negative impact on
overall economic growth rate, according
to Prime Minister’s Office
analysis.
The analysis on the January-July
monetary policy statement said
the low inflation indicates a situation
of the “extremely squeezed
demand.”
In the MPS the possible projection
of the inflation rate is 5.25%,
but real inflation rate can be as low
as 4.75% and as high as 6%.
AB Miza Azizul Islam, former
caretaker government finance adviser,
however said the inflation
rate of 4.75% would not create disinflation
situation.
He said an inflation rate of below
2% could result in disinflation.
But the low inflation rate may
lead to fall in industrial production.
The inflation rate came down to
5.03% in December last year, the
lowest in 53 months, assisted by
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed speaks at the inaugural of Ninth Asia Pharma Expo in the city yesterday
a steady decline in non-food prices
since June as well as no supply
disruption since political situation
remained calm.
According to official statistics,
the general inflation rate went
down 35 basis points in December
from 5.38% in November.
This was led by the fall in nonfood
inflation, which dropped to
4.49% in December, a decline of 88
basis points from 5.33% a month
earlier.
Food inflation fell slightly to
5.38% from 5.41% in November. •
Ninth Asia Pharma Expo begins
• Nure Alam Durjoy
A three-day ninth Asia Pharmaceutical
Exposition has begun in
the city yesterday with the participation
of more than five hundred
companies from thirty five countries
across the world.
Commerce Minister Tofail
Ahmed, as chief guest, formally
inaugurated the Pharma Expo at
capital’s Bashundhara International
Convention City, being jointly organised
by Bangladesh Association
MEHEDI HASAN
of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI)
and GPE Expo Private Limited.
The exposition, which will remain
open from 10:00am to 6:00pm
every day, will end on Saturday.
The expo includes pharma processing
and packaging, biotech lab
equipment, API manufacturing
plants, machineries, pharma formulation
and contract manufacturing in
which domestic entrepreneurs will
be able to know about modern technologies
and raw materials for drugs.
The inaugural ceremony was attended,
among the others, by BAPI
Secretary S M Shafiuzzaman, State
minister to Health and Family Welfare
Zahid Maleque, Directorate
General of Drug Administration Major
General Mustafizur Rahman and
BAPI Adviser Salman F Rahman.
Inaugurating the expo, Tofail
Ahmed said: “Bangladesh is almost
self-sufficient in the pharmaceutical
sector thanks to the significant
progress the industry made in the
last three decades.”
“About 98% of the local demand
is being met by domestic manufacturers.”
BAPI Secretary SM Shafiuzzaman
said the pharmaceutical sector
was “directly contributing to the
country’s economic development.”
“We are now exporting to more
than 127 countries after meeting
98% of the local demand,” he added.
BAPI Adviser Salman F Rahman
said the sector has grown consistently
and continues to expand.
“It has matured. There’s a huge
demand for medicine in the global
market. We could have exported
more but the export process is
complex and time consuming,” he
added. •
Call for inclusive data
to spearhead Dhaka’s
future economy
• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi
A comprehensive study is required
in order to set strategy for the future
of Dhaka’s economic growth.
Economists, urban planners and
businesses stressed the need for
such a research to bring in an equal
development for the capital and its
suburbs that will ultimately fetch
the country a middle-income status.
The recommendations were
made at a stakeholder dialogue on
“Dhaka’s Economic Future: Opportunities
and Challenges” held in
the capital yesterday.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (DCCI) and Power
and Participation Research Centre
(PPRC) jointly organised the dialogue
to discuss the issues of economic
growth of the capital.
“There is information about the
city’s poverty, sanitation, education
and other issues, but no citybased
analysis on economy,” said
Prof Nazrul Islam, a prominent urban
planner.
“We should know about the capital’s
economic potential. Economic
investment planning is very important.
For that purpose, a comprehensive
study on the economy of
Dhaka is required,” said Islam.
“Dhaka has a great economic
potential which is still untapped.
Dhaka could be the best connector
for other parts of the country,” said
Hossain Zillur Rahman, PPRC executive
chairman.
“Livability is not just a social
concern, it is also an economic concern.
Dhaka’s economic vibrancy
is high but untapped. We have set
plan considering the aspects,” said
Hossain Zillur Rahman.
“The equal development of
Dhaka as well as its suburbs would
help us attain the middle-income
country status.”
He suggested that RAJUK should
consult with business community
to include economic plan in its
master plan. If health, education,
transportation and housing system
improve, other cities of the country
will gain the same economic potential
like Dhaka.
Zillur emphasised the need for
cluster-based economic zones in
the capital to make it a connectivity
hub in the country.
“Dhaka is one of the fastest
growing cites in the world, but too
many authorities and bureaucracy
sometimes hamper speedy infrastructure
development,” Martin
Rama, World Bank chief economist,
South Asia Region, said in his
keynote presentation.
The economic potential of greater
Dhaka is immense and a proper
policy guideline can tap these opportunities,
he added.
“There is a strong query for data
and we will have it to share by next
two to three months,” Martin said,
adding that efforts are on to bring
everything under a single platform.
“Dhaka Chittagong Economic
Corridor can be one of the solutions
to decentralisation of Dhaka,” said
DCCI president Abul Kasem Khan.
‘Dhaka has a great
economic potential
which is still
untapped. Dhaka
could be the best
connector for other
parts of the country’
There is a common perception
among the mass population that
‘Dhaka is Bangladesh and Bangladesh
is Dhaka’ as everyone wants
to rush to the capital for livelihood,
added the business leader.
“We have to come out of this
perception. For economic activities,
the government should focus on the
entire country without distinguishing
between urban and rural areas.”
The DCCI boss stressed the necessity
of acquiring knowledge
about formal and informal economy
of the capital as about 70%
workers are employed in informal
sector while the size of informal
economy remains unknown.
Policies are too much centralised
to Dhaka while the quality of
public works are horrible and there
is a lack of accountability and coordination,”
said Abdul Haque, managing
director, Haq’s Bay Automobiles
Ltd.
It is high time that institutional
reforms got to be done in the best interest
of Dhaka’s future cultural and
industrial growth, Haque added.
About 33% revenues come from
the Dhaka city, but all the activities
are unplanned, said Md Abu Bakar
Siddique, a businessman.
The city is not planned, but the
business is planned, he said, calling
for a planned city. •

Top fashion brands to boycott
Bangladesh garment summit
• Tribune Business Desk
Top fashion brands have pulled out
of Dhaka Apparel Summit in support
of protest by garment workers.
Dhaka Apparel Summit 2017 is
going to begin on February 25 focusing
on the next course of action
plan to achieve $50bn export target
by 2021.
Leading fashion brands including
H&M and Zara will boycott a key
industry conference in Bangladesh
in support of garment workers who
have been sacked, hunted or jailed
for participating in wage strikes,
the companies said Wednesday.
H&M, C&A, Tchibo and Inditex
which owns Zara – all top clients of
Bangladesh’s $30 billion garment
industry – have pulled out of the
Dhaka Apparel Summit, the signature
annual event in the global textile
hub, scheduled for Saturday.
The move follows strikes in December
when tens of thousands of
garment workers in the industrial
town of Ashualia staged mass protests
demanding a three-fold hike
in pay, which can run as low as $68
a month, reports AFP.
Dutch clothing brand C&A said:
“C&A together with other apparel
brands, including H&M and Inditex
decided not to participate in the
BGMEA Dhaka Apparel Summit.”
“We strongly encourage the
Government of Bangladesh to take
immediate steps to ensure the protection
of the workers’ rights, with
special attention to the legitimate
representatives of the workers who
have been arrested,” C&A spokesman
Thorsten Rolfes told AFP.
A spokesman for Swedish apparel
giant H&M confirmed the
boycott.
“H&M believes that attending
the Dhaka Apparel Summit
would create confusion and send
the wrong signals regarding our
commitment to freedom of association
and that the ongoing situation
must be peacefully resolved,”
spokesman Iñigo Sáenz Maestre
said.
The strike, which lasted for a little
over two weeks, was squashed,
with some 1,600 employees sacked
and 34 arrested, while cases alleging
burglary, arson, vandalism and
extortion, among other charges,
were filed against more than 1,500
workers.
Robi registers 5% revenue
growth in Oct-Dec period
• Tribune Business Desk
The country’s second largest
mobile operator Robi Axiata
registered 5% revenue
growth in the fourth quarter
of 2016 after completion of
merger with Airtel Bangladesh
Limited.
The management of the
company came up with the
disclosure yesterday while
announced its financial statement
of the last quarter of
2016.
The industry got some momentum
from the third quarter
of the year onwards and so
as for Robi coupled with merger.
With focused segmented
customer centric strategy,
quarter to quarter revenue
growth registered 5.0% to over
Tk1,400 crore amidst intense
price competition, according
to the statement.
However, Earnings Before
Interest, Taxes, Depreciation
and Amortisation (EBITDA)
margin is lower by 19.5 percentage
point mainly for oneoff
merger related fees and
charges. Robi’s profitability
was negative impacted by accelerated
depreciation resulting
from nationwide network
modernisation especially in
Chittagong-Comilla region.
“We have successfully
completed the final phase
of merger with Airtel in the
fourth quarter of 2016. The
merger will ensure enhanced
value for consumers and benefit
the entire industry,” said
Robi Managing Director and
CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed.
He also said: “We are now
creating the number one network
which will deliver the
widest mobile network coverage
and superior mobile
services experience to our
subscribers.”
“During the fourth quarter
of 2016, we continued to
bring most innovative and
affordable product offers in
the market. On the eve of
the merger, Robi launched
special ‘Merger Bonanza
Offer’ where customers
enjoyed 1GB internet, 0.5
paisa/sec call rate usable in
24 hour and buy one and
get another SIM free. Robi
also launched Airtel-Yonder
Music app for the subscribers
of Airtel brand,” said Mahtab
Uddin.
Business 11
Last week union leaders said the
workers were “living in constant
fear of being arrested as the police
hunt those who were involved in
the strikes”.
The summit is hosted by the
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers
and Exporters Association (BG-
MEA), an industry body that represents
the country’s 4,500 clothing
factories, and features Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina as its keynote
speaker.
BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman
told AFP that they “did not
get any communication from any
brand not attending the summit”.
International rights group Clean
Clothes Campaign welcomed the
brands’ decision to withdraw participation
and said it would be “a
major embarrassment” for the government
and the organisers.
CCC spokeswoman Mirjam van
Heugten said: “Unless all detainees
are released, unsubstantiated
charges are dropped, and other
acts of intimidation and harassment
of trade unions are stopped…
(the brands) cannot credibly participate
in a summit on “sustainable
growth” of the industry.” •
Robi’s subscriber base
stands at 33.8 million (after
the merger), representing
26.9% (estimated) of industry
subscriber market share and
claims as second largest operator
in the country.
In a statement, Robi said:
“During the period in 2016,
the total revenue grew up
by 0.5% compared to the last
year, data revenue had registered
encouraging growth of
38.9%. Data revenue growth
was propelled by significant
investments in network coupled
with innovative affordable
data offerings to drive
3.5G and 2.5G data usage.”
“Robi’s operating profit
(EBITDA) margin is 27.2% in
the financial year 2016. Margin
is 9.2 percentage point
lower than the previous year
as a result of very marginal
revenue growth, higher
network operating expenses
from continued network investments,
one-off merger
fees and charges. Due to its
continuous investment in
nationwide network modernisation,
Robi is behind the
expected profitability,” reads
the statement. •
Govt to help settle
cases over Ashulia
labour unrest
• Ibrahim Hossain Ovi
State Minister for Labour and Employment
yesterday said the government
will provide an all-out
cooperation to settle the cases filed
against workers over the recent
Ashulia unrest.
Meanwhile, in support of workers’
protest, top fashion brands
have pulled out of Dhaka Apparel
Summit to be held tomorrow.
The junior minister came up with
the announcement at a media briefing
called to state the present status
of labor in the RMG sector at his secretariat
office in the capital yesterday.
The tripartite meeting was held
among the government official,
owners and workers representatives.
“Necessary steps would be taken
to open offices of registered
workers’ federation located at
Ashulia,” said Mujibul.
RMG factory owners will pay
fired workers as per the labour act
while suspended workers would be
reinstated if they want to work in
the factory.
In the meeting, the owners,
DT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
workers and the government
vowed to work together to ensure
a peaceful working environment in
the industry. On December 11, hundreds
of RMG workers in Ashulia
walked out, demanding revision of
their minimum wage.
In the wake of workers’ strike in
Savar’s Ashulia, owners of 59 RMG
factories shut their manufacturing
units in line with the article 13 (1) of
the Labour Act on December 20.
Later on December 25, RMG
factory owners reopened their production
units in response to the
workers’ demands.
In the aftermath of the workers’
unrest, police arrested some of the
trade union leaders, and a journalist,
who are still in jail, workers’
leaders claimed.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers
and Exporters Association
president Md Siddiqur Rahman,
InduatriALL Bangladesh Council
Chairman Amirul Islam Amin, General
Secretary Kutub Uddin Ahmed
and National Sramik League president
Sukkur Mahmud were present
at the meeting. •

DT
12
Editorial
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
TODAY
Animals too
have rights
‘The other animals humans eat, use
in science, hunt, trap, and exploit in a
variety of other ways have a life of their
own that is of importance to them, apart
from their utility to us’
PAGE 13
What is Merkel’s
next step?
Merkel is likely to react cautiously to
the Trump doctrine in order to see if the
president’s actions are less provocative
than his words
PAGE 14
Put your money
where your mouth is
REUTERS
Trouble in
Tamil Nadu
She herself is currently in jail
after following a conviction in a
corruption case, but a sentence even
in a corruption case is not necessarily
detrimental to a political career in India
PAGE 15
Be heard
Write to Dhaka Tribune
FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath,
Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207
Send us your Op-Ed articles:
opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com
www.dhakatribune.com
Join our Facebook community:
https://www.facebook.com/
DhakaTribune.
The views expressed in opinion
articles are those of the authors
alone and they are not the
official view of Dhaka Tribune
or its publisher.
Please.
Apparel giants like Zara and H&M have long been the top clients of
Bangladesh’s $30 billion garment industry.
The profits made by these leading global outlets come largely
down to the hard labour provided by workers in countries like Bangladesh.
And that is why it smacks of hypocrisy when H&M, C&A, Tchibo, and
Inditex (which owns Zara) announce that they are boycotting the Dhaka
Apparel Summit, a major annual BGMEA event.
The brands are claiming the boycott is in support of garment workers who
were fired, detained, or both, for participating in wage strikes earlier this
year.
But it bears asking, after reaping so many benefits from Bangladesh, why
now are the brands pretending to take the higher ground?
Retailers like H&M and Zara have long been known for their “fast-fashion”
approach to producing garments -- a process that prioritises constant, rapid
production of goods; neither worker safety nor workers’ rights have ever
been a priority for them.
These companies pay a pittance for high quality garments, as it keeps their
profit margins high.
If they truly wanted to see improvements in worker rights, they would be
paying substantially more than they are paying now.
To start grand-standing while still demanding cheap clothes from
Bangladesh is more than a little insincere.
While it is true that many of our RMG factories have some ways to go in
terms of meeting the standards of worker safety set by bodies such as Accord
and Alliance, simply not participating in the summit will not achieve any
goals.
Bangladesh is steadily making improvements in worker rights, and
admittedly much work remains to be done, as the sector has grown so much
in such a short time.
But if there are concerns to be addressed, certainly these global companies
can engage in dialogue with the RMG sector and the government, and
constructively work towards improving worker conditions.
A boycott of this kind will help no one.
If there are concerns to be
addressed, certainly these
global companies can
engage in dialogue with
the RMG sector and the
government

Animals too have rights
Opinion 13
The debate over animal welfare is now front and centre in Bangladesh
DT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Would you be cruel to this animal?
RABIN CHOWDHURY
explained with his characteristic
eloquence at the Royal Institution
of Great Britain in 1989, with an
estimated audience of one million
people watching the BBC live
broadcast:
“The other animals humans
eat, use in science, hunt, trap, and
exploit in a variety of other ways
have a life of their own that is of
importance to them, apart from
their utility to us. They are not
only in the world, they are aware
of it and also of what happens to
them.
“And what happens to them
matters to them. Each has a life
that fares experientially better
or worse for the one whose
life it is. Like us, they bring a
unified psychological presence
to the world. Like us, they are
somebodies, not somethings.
In these fundamental ways, the
non-human animals in labs and on
farms, for example, are the same
as human beings.”
We must, hence, accept, on
pain of inconsistency, that these
animals too have moral rights,
including the right not to be
killed or made to suffer. The
practical implications of this
view are nothing short of radical,
and, include, most importantly,
the total abolition of the use of
animals as experimental subjects
and as sources of food, clothing,
• Rainer Ebert
Horrified by the tragic loss
of innocent human lives
in the then-ongoing
Vietnam War, a young
philosopher by the name of Tom
Regan went to the university
library and buried himself in books
on war, violence, and human
rights, determined to prove that
the American involvement in the
war was morally wrong.
One day, he picked up
Mohandas K Gandhi’s
autobiography The Story of My
Experiments with Truth. Reading
it with great care and interest,
he must have come across the
following lines:
“To my mind, the life of a
lamb is no less precious than that
of a human being. I should be
unwilling to take the life of a lamb
for the sake of the human body.
I hold that, the more helpless a
creature, the more entitled it is
to protection by man from the
cruelty of man.”
Little did he know that this
literary encounter with Gandhi
would change his life forever and
would have a lasting and profound
impact on the history of moral
philosophy. He asked himself:
“How can I oppose the unjustified
killing of human beings in Vietnam
and at the same time fill my
freezer with the dead body-parts
of innocent animals?”
Shortly thereafter, in 1975,
he wrote his first article on the
moral status of animals. As its
title, he chose “The Moral Basis
of Vegetarianism,” the same title
as that of a 1959 essay by Gandhi.
He argued that vegetarianism and,
more generally, the idea of animal
rights, are not the products of
excessive sentimentality they are
often perceived to be, but, rather,
“have a rational foundation.”
In the decades that followed, he
further developed and defended
that argument in more than 20
books, hundreds of articles, and
countless public lectures across
the globe, and became one of the
philosophical leaders of the animal
rights movement.
In a telling reminder that the
power of ideas knows no national
or cultural boundaries, he wrote
later in his life: “I think it is fair
to say that I would never have
become an animal rights advocate
if I had not read [Gandhi’s]
autobiography.”
‘The other animals humans eat, use in science, hunt, trap, and exploit in
a variety of other ways have a life of their own that is of importance to
them, apart from their utility to us. They are not only in the world, they
are aware of it and also of what happens to them’
Tom Regan passed away last
Friday. He died of pneumonia
at his home in Raleigh, North
Carolina at the age of 78.
Regan’s most notable book,
The Case for Animal Rights, was
first published in 1983, and has
since been translated into several
languages. It contains the most
comprehensive account of his
theory of animal rights and has
played a crucial role in establishing
the intellectual respectability of
the animal rights movement.
With more than 400 pages of
dense philosophical reasoning, it
is not an easy book to read, but the
basic argument is not difficult to
understand: If all human beings
have equal rights, as virtually
everybody agrees they do, these
rights must be based on a relevant
similarity between them.
That similarity cannot be the
fact that all human beings are
members of the same species, as
it would be no less arbitrary to
base rights on species membership
than on being of a certain gender
or race. Rationality, the ability to
use language, and moral agency,
features we like to think make us
special among the animals, are
not plausible candidates either.
After all, there are some of us,
such as young children and people
with certain severe cognitive
impairments, who are incapable
of rational thought, language-use,
and moral agency.
The relevant similarity, Regan
argues, is that each one of us is
an experiencing subject of a life,
a one-of-a-kind individual with a
unique life story. But so are many
non-human animals, which he
and entertainment.
Combining scholarly rigour
and dispassionate attention to
philosophical detail with the
infectious passion of moral
conviction, Regan was as close to
the ideal of a moral philosopher as
only very few others. He was also
a wonderful person and one of the
kindest people I ever knew.
While he will be missed by
many, I take comfort in knowing
that his words will endure, calling
on us to treat animals with the
respect they are due, and continue
to inspire generations to come. •
Rainer Ebert is a Postdoctoral Research
Fellow at the Department of Philosophy
at the University of Johannesburg in
South Africa and an Associate Fellow at
the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. You
can follow him on Twitter @rainer_ebert.

14
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
Opinion
What is Merkel’s next step?
The Trump doctrine presents new challenges for Angela Merkel
• Paul Wallace
British Prime Minister
Theresa May was the
first foreign leader to
meet Donald Trump at
the White House, but the one
who counts in Europe is German
Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her
response to Trump’s apparent
readiness to overturn seven
decades of American support for
NATO and the EU will be crucial
in determining the future of
Germany and the EU.
The provocations of what
may come to be called the
“Trump doctrine” are causing
angst in Berlin. At their joint
press conference on January 27,
May claimed to have secured
the president’s 100% backing
for NATO, the Western alliance
underpinned by American military
might since 1949.
But Trump’s description of
NATO as “obsolete” just days
before he took office continues to
reverberate, as does the message
from US defense secretary James
Mattis, who on February 15 said
that America could “moderate
its commitment” to the alliance,
if other members continued to
spend too little on their military.
The position is especially worrying
since Trump is tolerating Putin
despite Russia’s annexation of
Crimea and support of separatists
in eastern Ukraine.
Trump gives short shrift to the
EU, depicting it shortly before
his inauguration as “a vehicle for
Germany,” which, according to his
chief trade adviser, is exploiting
the US through an undervalued
euro. By contrast, Trump effuses
over Brexit, saying at the press
conference with May that “a
free and independent Britain is a
blessing to the world.” Trump’s
praise of Brexit and prediction that
other countries will leave the EU
breaks with American support for
European integration stretching
back to the Marshall Plan.
Taken at face value, the Trump
doctrine undermines the key
strategy of post-war Germany,
which, from Konrad Adenauer
to Angela Merkel, has sought
to regain international respect
and influence by binding the
country to a common European
destiny. Integration has been
primarily economic and monetary
through institutions such as the
European Commission and the
European Central Bank rather
than through a shared European
military, which remains covered
by NATO. Germany has thrived
both politically and economically
The chancellor is in a predicament
Merkel is likely to react cautiously to the Trump doctrine in order to see if
the president’s actions are less provocative than his words
by pursuing this approach, not
least through achieving German
unification in 1990.
If Germany can no longer rely
on American support, Merkel will
have to reshape that post-war
strategy. Her most radical response
would be to push for the creation
of a European military force, while
also getting the EU’s troubled core,
the 19-country euro area, to work
better.
The creation of such a military
force with its own permanent
headquarters is potentially easier
because the UK, which has always
opposed such a move, has written
itself out of the script. Yet it would
be hazardous for Merkel.
The decision to pursue
economic integration at the
Treaty of Rome, whose 60th
anniversary will be celebrated
at the end of March, followed
the collapse of an attempt in the
early 1950s to create a “European
Defense Community.” Such a
project risks conjuring up old
spectres of German armed might,
scaring Germans as much as other
Europeans.
Sorting out the euro area will
be just as tricky for the chancellor.
At the heart of the problem is a
flawed design that has proven
too strict for uncompetitive and
debt-ridden countries in southern
Europe, in particular Italy -- the
monetary union’s third-biggest
economy. The euro is weak not
because of Germany but because
the ECB is keeping monetary
policy ultra-loose in order to
resuscitate the sick in the singlecurrency
ward.
Since the costs of a breakup
of the monetary union would be
huge, the way to make the euro
zone work better is through a
common fiscal policy based on a
shared budget, which would in
turn require much deeper political
integration. But there is little
appetite for this, in Germany or
other crucial countries such as the
Netherlands, for fear that northern
tax-payers will end up paying
the bill for struggling southern
economies.
Selling the case at home for
deeper economic ties will be
particularly tricky for Merkel as
she prepares for an election in
September. The chancellor, who is
seeking her fourth term in office,
faces an unexpectedly strong
challenge from Martin Schulz, the
candidate of the Social Democratic
Party and former president of
the European Parliament. Merkel
has less room for maneuver than
before due to the rise of alternative
for Germany, a right-wing party
that has capitalised on public
frustration with the chancellor’s
migration policy that let in so
many asylum-seekers in 2015.
And Germans are feeling
less than enthusiastic about
the ECB, the centrepiece of
European integration. A nation
of savers does not take kindly
to earning negligible interest
on their deposit accounts when
REUTERS
inflation, their historic nemesis,
is back, surging from 0.7% in
November to 1.9% in January.
Merkel is likely to react
cautiously to the Trump doctrine
in order to see if the president’s
actions are less provocative than
his words.
If his dissatisfaction with NATO
is primarily that Europe does
not pull its weight, then that call
for burden-sharing can be met
through higher defense spending
by Germany and the rest of the
EU. The sour mood of voters in
Europe rules out any immediate
push forward on deeper fiscal and
political integration.
Yet, the chancellor’s
predicament in responding to the
challenge posed by Trump reflects
an unwelcome reality. The German
question once posed the difficulty
of containing German power
within Europe. Now as much as
anything, it means the difficulty
of getting Germany to underwrite
Europe. •
Paul Wallace is a London-based writer.
A former European economics editor of
The Economist, he is author of The Euro
Experiment, published by Cambridge
University Press. This article previously
appeared on Reuters.

Trouble in Tamil Nadu
How will the AIADMK survive without its unifying figure?
Opinion 15
DT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
• Arild Engelsen Ruud
There is unrest in
the AIADMK after
Jayalalithaa’s demise.
How will the party survive
without the icon of Amma as its
unifying figure?
Last Saturday, there was a vote
in the state assembly and the
result was a vote of confidence for
E Palaniswami. Known as EPS, he
was appointed as chief minister
just a few days earlier. He won
with 122 votes against 11.
The 11 belonged to the rival
faction led by O Panneersalvam
-- OPS -- who had revolted against
the party leadership. EPS is party
leader Sasikala’s man and it is clear
that it was Sasikala who won the
vote.
She herself is currently in jail
after following a conviction in a
corruption case, but a sentence
even in a corruption case is not
necessarily detrimental to a
political career in India.
state elections may not be until
2020, but she is very far from the
elevated position that Jayalalithaa
held.
Jayalalithaa and her
predecessor MGR built and
maintained an extensive network
of loyal followers from among
the enthusiasts of Tamil film. The
film clubs constituted the core of
their solid organisation. And in
addition, both MGR and Jayalithaa
were populists who generously
handed out sops -- saris and cheap
television sets, mid-day school
meals, and bicycles.
Equally significant was the
considerable economic growth
that the state has seen over
many decades, in part due to
the fact that even the dynastic
and populist AIADMK had an
accomplished administrative
hand. It was OPS who inherited
this hand, not Sasikala. He is
referred to as the people’s chief
minister and has a reputation for
being incorrupt.
She herself is currently in jail after following a
conviction in a corruption case, but a sentence
even in a corruption case is not necessarily
detrimental to a political career in India
Can she ever fill her mentor’s shoes?
REUTERS
Some of the limelight of the
AIADMK power struggle was
stolen by expressions of ire by the
opposition DMK. They protested
against the vote and the DMK vice
chairman got his shirt torn up in
a fight. But the noise was a result
of the opposition’s powerlessness.
They demonstrated vigour rather
than having to choose from the
ruling party’s two lead candidates.
Future anxieties
The power struggle in the AIADMK
is about the future. There are
those within the party who,
over the years, have built a close
relationship with Sasikala and
naturally want that she retains
power. But even if she has
demonstrated reasonable control
of the party’s representatives in
the state assembly, there is a fear
in the party that she will not be
able to ensure the same support in
a future election.
Polls indicate extremely low
confidence in her among voters.
The party’s representatives in
the Lok Sabha, over whom she
has more limited control, are
also opposed to her. The next
Within the few weeks he was
chief minister, he proved himself
an able administrator. Among
other things he lifted the ban on
jallikattu, the popular ox taming
race, and he oversaw the efficient
distribution of relief efforts in the
aftermath of the cyclone Vardah.
Sasikala has far to go before she
achieves Jayalalithaa’s seemingly
invulnerable, larger-than-life
status where she was the subject
of unwavering devotion from her
followers.
Sasikala has yet to prove that
she has charisma, and she even
has to contend with a reputation
for being Jayalalithaa’s evil
adviser.
The question is whether she
will have the necessary political
space to construct herself as the
party’s beloved and undisputed
leader, or whether she will remain
a transitional figure with only
a half-hearted party apparatus
between herself and the voters. •
Arild Engelsen Ruud is Professor of
South Asia Studies, Department of
Culture Studies and Oriental languages,
University of Oslo, Norway.

16
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
Downtime
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Emotional state (4)
5 Corroded (5)
8 Ask hospitably (4)
9 Judge (4)
10 Eggs (3)
12 Steering device (6)
13 High regard (6)
15 Condition (6)
18 Unites (6)
20 Flightless bird (3)
21 Capital of Peru (4)
23 Made level (6)
24 Tint (5)
25 Unit of inheritance (4)
DOWN
1 Insect (5)
2 Numeral (3)
3 Not concealed (5)
4 Obscure (3)
5 Begins again (7)
6 Given shoes (4)
7 Period of time (4)
11 Disguise (4)
12 Arbitrator (7)
14 Slender support (4)
16 Strong head (5)
17 Dodge (5)
18 Dissolve (4)
19 Downfall (4)
21 Limb (3)
22 Adults (3)
CODE-CRACKER
How to solve: Each number in our
CODE-CRACKER grid represents a
different letter of the alphabet. For
example, today 2 represents V so fill V
every time the figure 2 appears.
You have two letters in the control
grid to start you off. Enter them in the
appropriate squares in the main grid, then
use your knowledge of words to work out
which letters go in the missing squares.
Some letters of the alphabet may not be
used.
As you get the letters, fill in the other
squares with the same number in the
main grid, and the control grid. Check
off the list of alphabetical letters as you
identify them.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
CALVIN AND HOBBES
SUDOKU
How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the
numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must
contain all nine digits with no number repeating.
PEANUTS
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS
CODE-CRACKER
CROSSWORD
DILBERT
SUDOKU

Feature
17
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
Anup Dutta: designing a winning pitch deck
• Nahid Farzana
As a startup, you will eventually
need investment and you need
to prepare your investor pitch
deck. Raising money from an
investor for your startup is not an
describing what a pitch deck is.
“Pitch deck is a fundraising tool
and it’s a way to present your
content (problems, industry,
business model, traction, etc,) in a
way that it becomes invest-able.”
Anup said, “Content is the king
• Market size
• Business model
• Value proposition
• Traction
• Team
• Ask
easy job and it will require a great
pitch. How else do you expect to
get the investors’ attention? On
average an investor is listening to
over 30 pitches each day, so how
would you bring your deck to the
limelight?
Anup Dutta, design consultant
for startups of GPAccelerator,
recently spoke at a session at
GP House titled “How to design
a winning pitch deck”. The
event started with a short info
session about the GPAccelerator
program. The overall idea of the
accelerator program was described
and the application process was
thoroughly talked through for the
audience. After the info session,
Anup, who calls himself a design
entrepreneur, conducted a design
session where he covered all
there is to know about pitch deck
design.
Anup started the session by
of your pitch and design is the
queen. Your pitch deck will be
about your content and the design
should not overdo it, rather it
should complement it.”
Throughout his session, he
focused on the concept that-
“Good design is as little design
as possible”. By this, he meant
keeping the slides very simple.
Overdoing the slide will make it
complex and hard to understand.
Must-haves for pitch deck
Next, he talked about the 10
must-haves that all investor pitch
decks should have. Without the
following 10 topics, your pitch
deck will be incomplete. You will
definitely be asked about them by
the investors.
• Cover
• Who we are
• Problem
• Solution
Three important concepts
After interactively describing these
10 points, he started to talk about
the three important concepts of
designing. These include: fonts
and typography, colour, and
contrast.
Fonts are very important as it
shows the aesthetics of the slide.
Anup suggested selecting fonts
very carefully. Fonts can tell how
serious you are with your work.
He recommended using Serif fonts
for print media and Sans-Serif
fonts for digital media. One easy
choice could be using Helvetica if
you can’t choose the font. Also, he
suggested sticking to one or two
fonts in the pitch deck.
In the case of colour, Anup said:
“Three is a sweet spot.” He advised
using around three colours in the
layout. Also, one should use colour
in the deck that is true to the
brand’s story. Colour psychology
plays an important role for the
deck as each hue signifies and
represents something definite.
About 60% of the tech startups
use blue colours for their pitch
deck design because blue indicates
intelligence.
Then he talked about contrast
which is equally important for the
layout. Without proper contrast, it
will be hard to read what’s on the
slide.
Dos and Don’ts
• Make the slide readable
• The fonts should be large
enough so that audience in the
back can also read it clearly
• Don’t add too much text
• Using hyphenation is a big ‘No’
for slides
• Make it simple and cover only
one idea per slide
• Do not use watermarks in the
slides
• Do not use bullet points
• Use simple bar, line, pie charts
and simple, relatable icons
instead of bullet points
• Visualise the important data
Lastly, Anup said, “The goal of a
pitch deck is to make the investor
interested for a second meeting.
So be concise and take pride in
what you do.” •
PHOTOS: SD ASIA

DT
18
Sports
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Mushfiq: For a second, I felt dizzy and fell
Bangladesh Test captain recalls painful blow to his head in New Zealand
Mushfiqur Rahim has been the nucleus of the Bangladesh team for years now. The wicketkeeper-batsman is often considered
the Tigers' best with the willow in recent times and not without reasons. The diminutive batsman has been phenomenal with
the bat recently in the longest format of the game, regardless of different conditions. The 29-year old smashed his fifth Test
hundred in the historic Test match against India earlier this month, thus becoming the first Bangladeshi batsman to smash
centuries in five different venues. And ahead of Bangladesh's upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, Mazhar Uddin of Dhaka Tribune
caught up with the Tigers Test skipper for an exclusive interview in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday where
he spoke at length regarding his batting and mental toughness, along with a few other topics.
Here are the excerpts:
You are the only Bangladesh
batsman to score Test centuries
in five different venues with
your latest coming against India
recently. How do you rate this
unique record?
Obviously it feels great to score a
hundred for my country. And yes,
it is special to score five centuries in
five different venues and conditions.
I always try to push my limits whenever
I go out to bat or keep wickets.
To be honest, I don’t think about
any record while I bat. I just try to
play according to the situation. Still,
I never get satisfied and the hunger
in me grows day by day. I want to improve
my game continuously.
It has been a tough time for you
both physically and mentally after
being struck on the helmet and
taken off to the hospital during the
first Test in New Zealand recently.
You fractured your thumb in the
same match. It was learned that
you wanted to return to the field
after returning from the hospital.
Tell us more.....
Yes, it has been a tough time for
me, both physically and mentally.
I can remember the bouncer from
Tim Southee in the second innings
that struck me on the back of my
helmet. For a fraction of a second,
I felt dizzy and fell to the ground.
The first thing that came to my
mind was that if I had walked out
of the ground at that moment, we
wouldn't have been able to post
enough runs and give a challenging
target to New Zealand. So I tried to
open my eyes and wanted to overcome
the pain. I was ready to bat
but I couldn’t as I was not feeling
well. After that, there were quite
a few things which came across
my mind when they took me off
the field by ambulance. And after
the doctors checked me and I felt
better, I came to the ground and
thought of going out to bat again
for my team. I think anyone in my
place would have wanted to do
the same thing as we all represent
our country. Earlier, I fractured
my thumb and it was difficult for
me to grip the bat. But still I tried
to forget the pain and went out to
bat in the second innings. It was
Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim works out in the Mirpur gymnasium yesterday
a bit difficult as Neil Wagner was
continuously dishing out bouncers
and I was suffering from pain every
time I connected with the bat. Still,
I tried my best to avoid playing the
short deliveries.
You made a record partnership
with Shakib al Hasan against New
Zealand in the same Test where he
scored a double hundred and you
registered your fourth hundred.
Later, you struck a century against
India in the much-awaited one-off
Test. Which ton do you rate better?
Both the hundreds are equally important
to me as both were struck
in two different conditions and situations.
The hundred against New
Zealand is special for me as it came
in a difficult condition in Wellington.
Shakib and I had a great time
with the bat together and as I said
before, batting with him is always
relaxing as a partner. He played
brilliantly to score his maiden
double hundred. On the other
hand, the century against India is
also significant as we were playing
against the number one Test
team, at their own soil. We were in
a difficult situation. I had to play a
big innings against two of the best
spinners in the world in [Ravichandran]
Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja.
So yes, every hundred is special
to a batsman but I would have felt
a lot better if my team ended up on
the winning side, which eventually
did not happen.
You have played 52 Tests and
scored 3072 runs at an average
of 34.51, including five hundreds.
Where do you want to see yourself
when you finish your career?
As you mentioned, I have only
played 52 Tests in my 12-year career,
which I think is certainly not
enough. But yes, I have tried to utilise
each and every single innings I
played so far, be it with the bat, behind
the wickets or being the captain
of the side. I don’t want to set
any specific targets with my batting
but I would definitely want my average
to improve to somewhere
around 40-50 when I finish my
career. I still believe I should have
scored more runs. At times I made
silly mistakes which cost me badly.
You have smashed the only double
hundred against Sri Lanka back
in 2013. Bangladesh will tour Sri
Lanka later this month for two
MD MANIK
Tests followed by three ODI and
two T20I series. What is your aim
as a batsman and also as a captain
of the Test team?
Obviously I remember the double
hundred in Sri Lanka where we
played some brilliant cricket and
managed to draw the Test against
the host. Sri Lanka are always a
tough opponent at home and once
again, we are going to face some
serious challenges. Being the captain
of the side, I truly believe we
need to improve a lot in the longest
format of the game and we have
the ability. At times, we make some
silly mistakes in crucial moments
which cost us. We are trying to improve
in those areas. If we can play
our best cricket, I think we will
start winning Test matches consistently
away from home. •

Sports 19
DT
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Umesh takes
four as India
restrict Aussies
• Reuters, Pune
Umesh Yadav claimed four wickets
on a pitch that offered big turn to
help India restrict Australia to 256
for nine after the touring side had
made a solid start on day one of the
four-match series yesterday.
Paceman Mitchell Starc, who
would be expected by Australia to
play a role similar to that of Umesh
with the ball, smashed an unbeaten
57 to frustrate the hosts and take
his team past 250.
Earlier, David Warner made 38
and added 82 for the first wicket
with Matt Renshaw after captain
Steve Smith won the toss and opted
to bat.
Smith said he expected turn
from the very first ball on the dry
pitch at the Maharashtra Cricket
Association Stadium in the Western
Indian city of Pune, a venue
making its debut as a Test centre.
India captain Virat Kohli agreed
with his counterpart, bringing on
Ravichandran Ashwin in just the
second over of the day. •
1ST TEST, DAY 1
AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS R B
Warner b Umesh 38 77
Renshaw c Vijay b Ashwin 68 156
Smith c Kohli b Ashwin 27 95
Marsh c Kohli b Jayant 16 55
Handscomb lbw b Jadeja 22 45
M. Marsh lbw b Jadeja 4 18
Wade lbw b Umesh 8 20
Starc not out 57 58
O’Keefe c Saha b Umesh 0 13
Lyon lbw b Umesh 0 1
Hazlewood not out 1 31
Extras (lb 6, nb 9) 15
Total (9 wickets; 94 overs) 256
Bowling
Ishant 11-0-27-0 (1nb), Ashwin 34-10-59-2,
Jayant 13-1-58-1 (1nb), Jadeja 24-4-74-2
(2nb), Umesh 12-3-32-4 (1nb)
Toss: Australia
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hands over the 2017 Roll Ball World Cup men's champion's trophy to the Indian team at Sheikh Russel Roller Skating Complex, Paltan in
Dhaka yesterday
COURTESY
Tigers regroup today for Sri Lanka tour
• Minhaz Uddin Khan
Following a 10-day break, Bangladesh
cricketers will regroup in
Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National
Stadium today ahead of their upcoming
tour of Sri Lanka. The Tigers
are scheduled to leave Dhaka
this Monday for their 45-day long
tour of the island nation.
The three-day long camp will
emphasise mostly on the fitness of
cricketers.
Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal
and all-rounders Shakib al Hasan
and Mahmudullah however, will
be missing the short camp at the
home of cricket. The trio is currently
in Dubai participating in the second
edition of the Pakistan Super
League T20. They will directly join
the Test squad in Sri Lanka.
Alongside the experienced trio,
a few national cricketers were also
involved in action. Wicketkeeper-batsman
Liton Das, batsmen
Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar,
Imrul Kayes and Mosaddek Hossain
and pacers Rubel Hossain
and Shafiul Islam took part in the
fourth round of the Bangladesh
Cricket League.
Opener Imrul was kept out
from the Test squad, given that the
left-hander is still recovering from
thigh injury. Imrul’s participation
in the BCL is part of his rehabilitation.
The regular Test opener will
be kept under observation in the
fifth round of the franchise based
first-class tournament BCL, beginning
this Sunday, and only significant
recovery can get him into the
team for the second and final Test
match against Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on
paceman Mustafizur Rahman, who
is set to join the camp after missing
the one-off Test against host
India earlier this month. The team
management, while announcing
the squad for the India Test, felt
Mustafizur was not 100 percent
match fit for a return to five-day
cricket.
The left-arm pacer was made to
play a couple of rounds in the BCL
for Prime Bank South Zone. And
following notable progress, he was
called back to the national fold. According
to the chief of the national
selection panel, Minhajul Adebin
Nannu, Mustafizur is now fit to
play all three formats.
Bangladesh will begin their first
bilateral tour of Sri Lanka since
2013 with a two-day warm-up game
against local opposition, starting
this Thursday in Moratuwa.
The two-match Test series begins
in Galle on March 7 while the
second five-dayer will be held in
Colombo’s P Sara Oval, starting
March 15.
Before the action moves into the
three-match ODI series, the Tigers
will play a 50-over warm-up game.
The venue for the practice match is
yet to be decided.
The first two ODIs will be played
in Dambulla on March 25 and 28
while the third match will be held at
Sinhalese Sports Ground in Colombo
on April 1. The bilateral series will
end with the two-match T20I series,
to be played on April 4 and 6.
Both the matches will be held at
R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. •
Abahani out of Club Cup despite win
• Tribune Report
Pocheon Citizen FC of Korea staged
a superb fightback to hold TC Sports
Club of Maldives to a 1-1 draw. In
the process, Pocheon sealed a last
four place in the Sheikh Kamal International
Club Cup.
Stewart Cornelius of Sports Club
put his team ahead in the dying
minutes of the first half.
Park Jung Soo restored parity
in the 75th minute, thus sealing a
point for his club. Pocheon however,
broke the hearts of Bangladesh
Premier League champion Dhaka
Abahani Limited, who exited in
the group stage despite winning 2-1
against FC Alga Bishkek. •
Action from the 2017 Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup group stage game
between Dhaka Abahani Limited and FC Alga Bishkek yesterday
COURTESY
Bashar’s brother Ekramul dies
• Tribune Report
Former footballer Kazi Ekramul
Bashar passed away yesterday
evening. Ekramul, 53, elder brother
to former Bangladesh cricket
captain and current member of the
national selection panel, Habibul
Bashar, breathed his last at Bangladesh
Medical College Hospital in
Dhaka after battling stomach cancer
for over a year.
The deceased will be buried in
Kushtia's City Graveyard today after
Jumma prayers.
Former booter Ekramul was a
renowned goalkeeper in his playing
days and represented Dhaka
Mohammedan Sporting Club,
Bangladesh Police, East End Club,
Farashganj Sporting Club, Arambagh
Krira Sangha and Dhanmondi
Club.
In May last year, national cricketers
Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Mushfiqur
Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and a
few others stood beside Ekramul
in fighting the killer disease. Funds
were then raised for better treatment.
•

DT
20
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Advertisement

Real stunned
by Valencia
• Reuters, Madrid
LA LIGA
Valencia 2-1 Real Madrid
Zaza 4, Orellana 9 Ronaldo 44
Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat at
Valencia as they missed the opportunity
to extend their lead at the
top of La Liga after losing for only
the second time this season.
Simone Zaza gave Valencia the
lead in the fifth minute and Fabian
Orellana added the second in the
ninth. Cristiano Ronaldo headed
Real back into contention just before
halftime.
Real are top on 52 points, one
ahead of Barcelona and three clear
of Sevilla in third, and still have
one game in hand on both of their
title rivals. Real's match at Valencia
was rearranged after the original
fixture was postponed in December
due to the Fifa Club World Cup.
Valencia have endured a nightmare
season filled with dismal results
and upheaval off the pitch,
but they got off to a flying start
when a long pass from goalkeeper
Diego Alves found its way to Zaza,
who swivelled and fired the ball
into the far top corner.
Zaza scored his first goal for his
club in Sunday's 2-0 win over Athletic
Bilbao. He was a thorn in Real's
side, linking up with Nani, Orellana
and Munir El Haddadi. Real
responded with a shot from Toni
Kroos but left themselves exposed
on the break and were another goal
down as Orellana knocked the ball
through Keylor Navas's legs. •
Juventus close in on quarters,
Sevilla edge Leicester
• Reuters, Lisbon
Juventus edged closer to the Champions
League quarter-finals after
second-half goals from substitutes
Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves earned
them a 2-0 away win at 10-man
Porto in a one-sided last 16 first-leg
tie on Wednesday.
Porto's downfall was partly
self-inflicted after left back Alex
Telles received a red card in the
27th minute following two senseless
bookings in the space of 90
seconds, leaving the home side to
play over an hour against the Serie
A leaders with 10 men.
Despite holding Juventus at bay
for 72 minutes, Porto's resolve was
Sports
Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring against Sevilla during the Champions League Round of 16 first leg at Ramon
Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Wednesday
REUTERS
broken when Miguel Layun deflected
Paulo Dybala's pass into the
path of Pjaca who slammed a firsttime
effort past Iker Casillas.
Dani Alves made sure of victory
two minutes later when he controlled
Alex Sandro's cross with his
RESULTS
FC Porto 0-2 Juventus
Pjaca 72, Alves 74
Sevilla 2-1 Leicester City
Sarabia 25, Correa 62 Vardy 73
chest before finishing calmly as Juventus,
who are still in the Italian
Cup, boosted their hopes of a maiden
treble ahead of the second leg in
Turin on March 14.
Juventus were expected to face
a stern test in Portugal, but while
they imposed themselves from the
early stages and controlled the first
half, Porto were content to remain
deep and absorb pressure.
Telles's minute and a half of
madness quashed any lingering
Porto ambition and prompted
coach Nuno Espirito Santo to
withdraw striker Andre Silva in
response.
Meanwhile, Jamie Vardy scored
his first goal in the Champions
League to give Leicester City some
hope of staying in Europe's elite
competition despite a 2-1 loss to
Sevilla in Wednesday's last-16 first
leg. •
21
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Mkhitaryan
secures United
progress
• AFP, Saint-Étienne
EUROPA LEAGUE
DT
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored but
was then forced off with a hamstring
injury as Manchester United
cruised into the Europa League last
16 with a 1-0 win at St Etienne on
Wednesday.
That completed a 4-0 aggregate
victory in the last 32 tie, although
United finished the match with 10
men after Eric Bailly was dismissed
for two yellow cards.
Despite leading 3-0 from the
first leg at Old Trafford last week,
Mourinho showed how highly he
values success in this competition
by picking a strong starting line-up.
Former Sweden striker Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba were
restored to the starting line-up after
making a decisive contribution
off the bench against Blackburn in
the FA Cup.
There was none of the early
match defensive jitters from United
that had brought a rebuke from
Mourinho following the first leg in
which he accused his players of not
having been focussed enough. •
Saint-Etienne 0-1 Man United
Mkhitaryan 16
(United won 4-0 on aggregate)
Schalke 1-1 PAOK
Schopf 23
Nastasic 25-og
Schalke won 4-1 on aggregate
Fenerbahce 1-1 Krasnodar
Souza 41 Smolov 7
(Krasnodar won 2-1 on aggregate)

22
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
Showtime
Lion:
an incredible
journey back
home
• Farhat Alam Brishty
Goosebumps. Tears. An aching
heart. These sensations will
accompany you every second
while watching Garth Davis’ Lion.
The film that is melting everyone’s
hearts illustrates the quest of
an Indian boy for his family, 25
years after losing them. Five year
old Saroo is separated from his
labourer mother and brother at a
railway station. After facing and
managing to escape from several
dreadful situations, Saroo ends up
in an orphanage and is eventually
adopted by an Australian couple
– Sue and John Brierley, played
by Nicole Kidman and David
Wenham. He is taken to Australia
and his life changes drastically.
He grows up to be an educated,
intelligent and composed young
man and shares a great bond with
his new family who has another
adopted Indian son, Mantosh. The
adult Saroo is played by Dev Patel,
famous for his role of Jamal Malik
in the Oscar-winning Slumdog
Millionaire.
Patel is breathtaking as the
older Saroo. He is not lost in
the material sense anymore, he
has a family now; but his soul is
still lost. He does not remember
where he was from or what his
real surname is, but spends every
day of his life being haunted by
vivid images of his childhood, over
10,000 kilometres away from his
new home. His mother and elder
brother seem to be there with
him everywhere he goes through
his faded memories. The longing
to find his roots and loved ones
makes him restless and he turns
to Google earth, a geographical
information tool to find answers.
Saroo’s distress, anger and
anguish during his long search
are masterfully conveyed
through the genius of Dev Patel.
Saroo’s awareness of the strong
probability of failure contrasts
with an unshaken determination
to reach his goal, and starting from
his voice and expression to his
body language, Patel’s portrayal is
flawless. He has been nominated
for best actor in a supporting role
at the Oscars this year, which
is scheduled to take place on
February 27, and has won the
BAFTA and AACTA awards in the
same category for his role in the
film.
The younger Saroo (played
by Sunny Pawar) is no less than
Patel. The underprivileged Saroo,
who helps his mother and elder
brother in their labour, portrays
the ruthlessness of poverty, a
child’s horror of being lost in an
unknown place full of danger and
a child’s acceptance of change.
Pawar’s acting is commendable
and he has also received many
accolades for his role. While Pawar
portrays little Saroo’s grief of being
separated from his family and his
attempt to survive, Patel portrays
the older Saroo’s quest to reunite
with the family he has lost.
Nicole Kidman plays the
adoptive mother of Saroo and
Mantosh, who is slightly mentally
impaired and has a tendency to
harm himself. The challenges of
being a mother to these children
who do not even belong to the
same part of the world reveals the
strength of the character of Sue,
which is marvelously represented
in the film by Kidman.
Based on the true story of Saroo
Brierly, who has also written a
biographical account of his story
called A Long Way Home, the film
Lion will take you on a rollercoaster
ride of emotions. It is a
story of lost identity, faith, love
and determination. Nominated
for six academy awards including
best picture at the 89th Academy
Awards, Lion will move you in a
way few films can.
And why exactly is the film
called Lion? Well, you’ll have to
watch till the end to find out. •
Jagga Jasoos is not
ready yet
• Showtime Desk
It seems as if nothing is going
right with the two ex-lovers,
Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.
Adding to their list of sorrows, the
release date of their latest movie
Jagga Jasoos is being postponed.
Originally, it was supposed to
be released on April 7 but the
shooting of the film is yet to be
completed.
It turns out that Ranbir and
Katrina have yet to shoot a few
sequences for the film.
A source revealed, “There are
29 songs in the film and not all
of them (a few lines per song)
have been shot. The songs will
suit the various situations in the
movie. A temple set is being now
constructed in Film City where
a song is set to be shot at the
end of the month. In the film,
Ranbir’s character stammers and
uses songs to replace dialogue.
The production house is yet to
announce the new release date.”
If it was released on April 7 as
planned, Jagga Jasoos would have
clashed with Sarkar 3 starring
the likes of Amitabh Bachchan
and Yami Gautam but with this
untimely postponement, we are
left to wait for some time. It will
release hopefully, before 2017
ends.
In Jagga Jasoos, Ranbir Kapoor
plays a young detective who is
on the lookout for his father’s
killer. The film’s cinematography
will surely grab your attention
instantly because of its Disney-like
feel; the glimpse of which we got
to see in the trailer of the film.
Ranbir’s endearing avatars
have left us curious about this
recluse kid, who lives in his world
of memories. As he travels along
the way to find out who killed
his father, he meets Katrina Kaif,
a geeky yet cute looking girl,
who decides to help him on this
journey.
But now the question is,
whether Ranbir and Katrina’s
chemistry will work wonders at
the box office.
Fans are very excited to see the
ex-lovers reunite on the big screen
for this is likely to be the last film
Ranbir and Katrina will be doing
together.•

Showtime
23
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
Bengal Sangskriti Utsab commences at Sylhet
• Showtime Desk
The opening day of Bengal
Sangskriti Utsab at Sylhet saw
scintillating performances of
classical Manipuri dance, last
Wednesday. The festival began
with film screenings at 4pm, at
the AMA Muhith Sports Complex,
Sylhet.
The opening ceremony took
place at the Hason Raja stage, at
8pm. Finance Minister Abul Maal
Abdul Muhith inaugurated the
event. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the
founder and chairperson of Brac,
Asaduzzaman Noor MP, minister
of Cultural Affairs, Zakia Tazin,
managing director of Index Group,
and Syed Mahbubur Rahman,
managing director of Dhaka Bank
among others, graced the opening
ceremony.
On the first day, three films
– Shabnam Ferdousi’s Born
Together, Mostofa Sarwar
Farooki’s Television, and Nasir
Uddin Yousuff’s Guerilla, were
screened at the Syed Mujtaba
Ali stage. In the evening, Warda
Rihab and her troupe performed
classical Manipuri dance at the
Hason Raja stage, followed by a
performance of singers of Jatiya
Rabindrasangeet Sammilan
Parishad, Sylhet. After the opening
ceremony, Aditi Mohsin performed
Rabindra Sangeet. Through the
renditions of Joler Gaan’s folk hits,
the performers and organisers
called it a night.
Dedicated to the memory of the
late national professor Gyantaposh
Abdur Razzak, the festival is being
presented by Index Group in
association with Dhaka Bank Ltd.
Channel-i is the broadcast partner
for the festival.
The 10-day festival celebrates
the diversity and beauty of
Bengali culture through music,
drama, dance and film shows,
among other activities. Kali o
Kolom, the monthly literary
magazine published by the Bengal
Foundation, has also joined the
festival and is holding a three-day
literary conference.
A number of 383 national
artists, including musicians,
dancers, painters, writers, and
poets will be a part of this event.
The participants include Rezwana
Chowdhury Banya, Khairul Anam
Shakil, Chandana Majumdar and
Kuddus Boyati. Famous Indian
artists – Haimanti Shukla, Srikanto
Acharya, Jayati Chakraborty and
Parboti Baul have also been invited
to sing at the festival.
A total of 27 painters, including
Rafiqun Nabi, Rokeya Sultana,
and Shishir Bhattacharjee,
will participate in the Subir
PHOTOS: COURTESY
Chowdhury Art Camp throughout
the festival. A total number
of 50 prominent national and
international writers will also
attend the event. Besides, 23 other
writers from India and two other
writers from Nepal will also take
part in the literary fest.
Meghmollar, Anil Bagchir Ekdin,
Runway, and Titash Ekti Nodir
Naam are some of the movies
among the list of a total of 14
which have been scheduled to be
shown throughout the festival.
Four famous dramas will be
staged, besides displaying the
traditional food of Bangladesh.
A book fair will also take place
simultaneously throughout the
event. •
Doob in Indian media
• Showtime Desk
Controversies started arising with
the cancellation of “No Objection
Certificate” by the censor board
of Bangladesh for the movie
Doob: No bed of roses, directed
by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. The
allegation was placed by Meher
Afroz Shaon, Humayun Ahmed’s
wife, against the movie, saying
that the content can be harmful
for the writer’s image. Farooki
has repeatedly said that this film
is not based on the legendary
writer of Bangladesh. But a
renowned journalist of Kolkata
said that the director told him
about the movie, and it is related
to the writer’s life.
While Doob was sinking in
uncertain momentum due to
all these controversies and
allegations, director Farooki
posted the first look of the movie
on social media. In the artistic
poster, his face can be seen
superimposed on the image of
a green hill, with a pathway in
between.
Irrfan Khan also posted
the first look of the movie on
Twitter saying, “Here’s the
poster of Doob. @EskayMovies
#MostofaSarwarFarooki.” After
this, the Hindustan Times and
Bollywood Life reported “Irrfan
Khan releases an intriguing
first look poster of his BANNED
Bangladeshi film.”
“Doob was unknown until it
hit headlines, when it got banned
in Bangladesh,” they wrote.
Irrfan Khan plays the lead role
in Doob: No Bed of Roses. Apart
from acting in the film, he is also
co-producing it. Besides Irrfan,
Doob also features Parno Mitra
from Kolkata, Nusrat Imroz Tisha,
and Rokeya Prachi from Dhaka.
The movie is an Indo-Bangla
venture where Jaaz Multimedia
represents Dhaka, and Eskay
Movies represents Kolkata. •

24
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
DT
PMO FEARS DISINFLATION
SITUATION PAGE 11
Back Page
ABAHANI OUT OF CLUB
CUP DESPITE WIN PAGE 19
DOOB IN INDIAN
MEDIA PAGE 23
Female drug
addict numbers
on the rise
• Tarek Mahmud
Drug addiction in Dhaka is increasing,
and experts have found that
about 20% of drug addicts are
women.
An overwhelming need to be
slimmer, everyday frustrations, drug
taking fantasies and negative influences
all lead to females choosing to
become yaba addicts, said experts
at a monthly press conference about
the activities of the Department of
Narcotic Control (DNC).
The DNC Intelligence and
Operations Wing has identified that
female drug addicts span all social
classes, but most are from the upper
middle class.
Referring to a 2016 study by
non-governmental organisation
Youth First Concern, DNC Director
(Preventive Education) KM Tariqul
Islam confirmed these findings to
the Dhaka Tribune.
Ahsania Mission Female Drug
Treatment and Rehabilitation
Centre’s Councillor Jannatul Ferdous
said: “Our rehab centre has already
provided treatment to 147 females,
of whom 10 came back for further
rehabilitation.”
She also confirmed that there has
been an increase in the number of
female drug addicts since last year
and 20 of the rehab centre’s 25 seats
are regularly occupied. In 2014-2015,
only 10 or 12 seats were filled.
Youth First Concern Director
Peter Halder said his organisation
had collected information and case
studies from different female addict
rehabilitation centres in the city,
news media reports and comments
made by drug addiction experts.
They have discovered that there are
about seven to eight million drug
addicts across the country.
Ahsania Mission Female Drug
Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre
Deputy Assistant Manager Iqbal
Masud said: “Yaba is not the only
drug they take. Sleeping pills are also
becoming an addiction for females.”
He also mentioned that the female
drug addicts from low-income
households are often compelled to
become sex workers to earn money
for drugs or to support their families.
DNC Director (Treatment
and Rehabilitation) Md Mafidul
Islam emphasised the need for
mass-awareness of the detrimental
effects of drug addiction and urged
the families of female drug addicts
to get them proper care. •
Peddlers to police: We
are watching you
• Tarek Mahmud
Drug dealers have begun resorting
to technology to avoid arrest, the
narcotics department says.
The Department of Narcotics
Control (DNC) found several drug
dens in its recent drives where
closed-circuit cameras (CCTV)
looked out in all directions, allowing
the criminals to detect police
activity in time and escape.
“In the last three to four months,
all over the capital we found drug
dens surrounded by CCTV cameras,”
DNC Director (Operations
and Intelligence) Deputy Inspector
General Syed Towfique Uddin
Ahmed said in the department’s
monthly press briefing yesterday.
“This is a new challenge for us.”
Towfique said that the department
estimates there are over 3,100
drug peddlers operating across
Bangladesh.
Senior police and RAB officials
were also at the briefing.
Bangladesh Police Headquarters’
Deputy Inspector General
(Media and Planning) AKM Shahidur
Rahman said: “Criminals may
use different tricks but the law enforcers
know how to win over such
situations. Police have many other
techniques to catch the criminals
and we will follow those.”
Echoing with DIG Shahidur,
Rapid Action Battalion’s Media and
Legal Wing Director Commander
Mufti Mahmud Khan said: “RAB has
always zero tolerance for drug smuggling
and the elite force’s activities
are smarter than the criminals’.”
A DNC team recently conducted
a drive to catch a drug peddling
operation at at a house located
in a narrow alley near the Dhaka-Narayanganj
Road.
“The team recovered a massive
amount of drugs after raiding the
home but the dealers managed to
get away because they had seen
our movements through their cameras
placed at different points in
the alley and their building,” said
DNC Dhaka Divisional Intelligence
Superintendent Md Fazlul Haque.
In yet another drive at Bangshal
on February 13, DNC managed to
recover a large quantity of yaba
pills and arrest two drug dealers
while Selim, the leader of the
DNC found drug dealers in Chalantika slum,
Geneva Camp, Bhatara, Sanarpar and other spots
in Dhaka equipped with CCTVs
Bangshal drug lord Selim had his two-storey
building and its surroundings covered by 14 CCTVs
More than 3,100 drug peddlers operating across
Bangladesh
smuggling racket, fled in the same
manner, said Md Khorshed Alam,
assistant director of DNC Dhaka
Metro (north).
“Selim had his two-storey building
and the adjacent area covered
with 14 cameras,” he said.
Mukul Jyoti Chakma, deputy
director of DNC Dhaka Metro region,
said DNC found drug dealers
in Chalantika slum, Geneva Camp,
Bhatara, Sanarpar and many other
drug spots in the city adopting this
strategy.
“DNC with
the assistance
of other law enforcement
agencies
are doing
detective work
to find more of
such drug dens,”
he added.
Bilateral
meeting to stop
border drug flow
DNC intelligence
wing said
37 yaba factories
run their operations
at the town
of Maungdaw
in Myanmar, located
near the
Bangladesh border.
The town supplies almost all of
the yaba in Bangladesh, a drug that
law enforcement say is the most
prevalent and problematic.
DNC chief DIG Towfique said
Bangladesh and Myanmar will sit
for a three-day meeting on March
8-10 to discuss the closing of yaba
factories located at the Bangladesh-Myanmar
border.
A 12-member team, comprising
senior officials of DNC, Border
Guard Bangladesh, Bangladesh
PHOTO: BIGSTOCK
Police and other authorities concerned
will travel to Myanmar to
take part in the meeting.
The Korean International Cooperative
Agency is working to
modernise DNC for the last two
years. It is currently working with
DNC to create a criminal database
which should help cooperation and
linkage among DNC and other authorities
concerned, DNC Director
(Preventive Education) KM Tariqul
Islam said at the press briefing. •
Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower,
8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com