The Bangladesh Today (15-12-2017)

fRIdAy 

Dhaka :December 15, 2017; Poush 1, 1424 BS; Rabi-ul-awal 25, 1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtlive.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.04 ; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

INTERNATIONAL 

MSF estimates more 

than 6,700 Rohingya 

killed in Myanmar 

>Page 7 

ART & CuLTuRE 

Kobori and Safa Kabir 

working together in a 

Victory Day drama 

>Page 8 

SPORT 

Malan's century 

came in 221 minutes 

and off 159 balls 

>Page 9 

HC grants bail to 

owners of Apan 

Jewellers 

DHAKA : The High Court on Thursday 

granted bail to three owners of Apan 

Jewellers in three money laundering 

cases, reports UNB. 

The owners are Dildar Ahmed, 

Gulzar Ahmed and Azad Ahmed. 

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur 

Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim 

passed the order after the final hearing 

on three cases. 

On November 22 last, the High Court 

issued five separate rules in five money 

laundering cases filed against them. 

The three owners were sent to jail on 

expiry of their one-day remand on 

November 6. 

Besides, the court yesterday set 

January 26 for hearing on two other 

cases. 

Now, there is no legal bar to Gulzar 

and Azad's release from jail, said 

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam. 

He, however, said Dilder will not be 

released as he has two bail petitions in 

two other cases for hearing. 

On August 12, Customs Intelligence 

and Investigation Directorate (CIID) 

filed five cases against the three owners 

of Apan Jewellers after 15 maunds of 

illegal gold and some diamond jewellery 

were recovered from its branches. 

Five CIID assistant revenue officers 

filed the cases with Gulshan, 

Dhanmondi, Ramna and Uttara police 

stations following the directives of the 

National Board of Revenue (NBR). 

The Apan Jewellers' owners came in 

the limelight after the rape of two private 

university girls by Shafat Ahmed, 

son of Dildar Ahmed, and his cohort in 

a Banani hotel. 

One of the rape victims filed a case 

with Banani Police Station on May 6 

last accusing five people, including 

Shafat. 

3 neo-JMB 

operatives 

arrested in city 

DHAKA : Police arrested three operatives 

of militant outfit neo-JMB, including 

Abdus Samad alias Arif Mamu alias 

Ashique, one of its founders, in the city's 

Mohakhali area on Wednesday night. 

The two other detainees are Ziadul 

Islam and Md Azizul Islam, reports 

UNB. 

Tipped-off, special action team of 

Counter Terrorism and Transnational 

Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka 

Metropolitan Police (DMP) conducted 

a drive here and detained the trio along 

with firearms and ammunitions. 

The law enforcers recovered one pistol, 

five ammunitions and 200 detonators 

from the spot, said Masudur 

Rahman, deputy commissioner 

(Media) of DMP. 

At a press briefing at DMP media centre 

CTTC ChiefMonirul Islam said Samad 

in 2009, joined the Jamaat-ul- 

Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), later 

along with Tamim Chowdhury he formed 

another militant organisation named 

'Julad Al Tawhid Al Khilafha' in 2014. 

As their fresh militant outfit failed to 

operate successfully they later joined 

the neo-JMB, he said. 

The name of Arif Mamu came into 

the radar of law enforcers while investigating 

into the HossainiDalanattack 

case in old Dhakaduring 2015. 

Juma 

05:14 AM 

11:50 PM 

03:37 PM 

05:17 PM 

06:36 PM 

6:33 5:14 

6,700 Rohingyas killed in 

1st month's onslaught 

in Myanmar : MSF 

DHAKA : At least 6,700 Rohingyas, in 

the most conservative estimations, were 

killed including at least 730 children 

below the age of 5 years during the 

attacks in Rakhine State of Myanmar 

between August 25 and September 24, 

says a new survey, reports UNB. 

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) conducted 

the survey in Rohingya settlement 

camps in Bangladesh. 

Deaths that are reported to have 

occurred during the first month of the crisis 

(August 25 to September 24) represent 

2.26 percent of the total population, it 

said. The findings of MSF's survey show 

that the Rohingyas have been targeted, 

and are the clearest indication yet of the 

widespread violence that started on 

August 25 when the Myanmar military, 

police and local militias launched the latest 

'clearance operations' in Rakhine in 

response to attacks by the Arakan 

Rohingya Salvation Army. 

Since then, more than 647,000 

Rohingyas (according to the Intersector 

Coordination Group as of December 12) 

have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh. 

"We met and spoke with survivors of 

violence in Myanmar, who are now 

sheltering in overcrowded and unsanitary 

camps in Bangladesh. What we 

uncovered was staggering, both in 

terms of the numbers of people who 

reported a family member died as a 

result of violence, and the horrific ways 

in which they said they were killed or 

severely injured," said MSF Medical 

Director Dr Sidney Wong. 

Wong said the peak in deaths coincides 

with the launch of the latest "clearance 

operations" by Myanmar security 

forces in the last week of August. 

In early November MSF conducted 

six retrospective mortality surveys in 

Land Minister's 

son expelled from 

Jubo League 

PABNA : Shirhan Sherif Tomal, 

Ishwardi upazila Jubo League president 

and son of Land Minister Shamsur 

Rahman Sherif, has been expelled from 

the organisation over the attack on 

journalists in Rooppur on November 

29, reports UNB. 

The Jubo League central committee 

took the action against him on Wednesday 

night for breaching the organisation discipline 

and his involvement in terrorist 

activities, said Abu Mohammad Nasim 

Pavel, Jubo League organising secretary 

for Rajshahi division. 

On November 29 last, Tomal and his 

accomplices allegedly beat four journalists 

while they were on duty in 

Rooppur. Later, a case was filed against 

Tomal in this connection. 

different sections of the refugee settlements 

in Cox's Bazar, just over the border 

from Myanmar, in Bangladesh. 

The total population of the areas covered 

by the surveys was 608,108 people; 

of which 503,698 had fled 

Myanmar after the 25th of August. 

The overall mortality rate between 

August 25 and September 24 of people in 

households surveyed was 8.0/10,000 

persons per day. 

This is equivalent to the death of 

2.26% (between 1.87% and 2.73%) of 

the sampled population. If this proportion 

is applied to the total population 

that had arrived since August 25 in the 

camps which were covered by the surveys, 

it would suggest that between 

9,425 and 13,759 Rohingya died during 

the initial 31 days following the start of 

the violence, including at least 1,000 

children below the age of 5 years. 

The survey shows that of these deaths 

at least 71.7% were due to violence, 

including among children under 5 years 

old. This represents at least 6,700 people, 

including 730 children. Overall, 

gunshots were the cause of death in 

69% of the violence-related deaths, followed 

by being burnt to death in their 

houses (9%) and beaten to death (5%). 

Among children below the age of 5 

years, more than 59% killed during that 

period were reportedly shot, 15% burnt to 

death in their home, 7% beaten to death 

and 2% died due to landmine blasts. 

"The numbers of deaths are likely to be an 

underestimation as we have not surveyed all 

refugee settlements in Bangladesh and because 

the surveys don't account for the families who 

never made it out of Myanmar," Dr. Sidney 

Wong says. "We heard reports of entire families 

who perished after they were locked inside 

their homes, while they were set alight." 

DU question leak 

Natore sports 

officer held 

NATORE : District sports officer of 

Natore Rakibul Hasan Esami was 

arrested for his reported involvement in 

Dhaka University admission test question 

paper leak, reports UNB. 

The Criminal Investigation 

Department (CID) of Dhaka took him 

to Dhaka on Monday night, said superintendent 

of Natore police Biplob Bijoy 

Talukder. 

Contacted, Ashikul Islam, office assistant 

of Natore sport office, said Rakibul 

left for his father-in-law's house at 

Chanchkoir area in Gurudaspur upazila 

from his office on Sunday morning. 

Meanwhile, CID Dhaka special 

superintendent of police Mollah Nazrul 

Islam said the details of the arrestee will 

be disclosed at a press briefing in the 

city on Thursday. 

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) of Bangladesh Police on Wednesday night arrested three 

members of banned outfit, JMB including one of its founders Abdus Samad alias Arif. 

Photo : TBT 

People from all walks of life pay their respects with flower at Rayer Bazar killing field Memorial of Dhaka 

marking Martyred Intellectuals Day. 

Photo: TBT 

Martyred 

Intellectuals 

Day observed 

DHAKA : The nation observed the 

Martyred Intellectuals Day on Thursday 

commemorating the intellectuals who 

were killed systematically by the Pakistan 

occupation army and their local collaborators 

at the fag-end of the country's 

Liberation War in 1971, reports UNB. 

On this day in 1971, country's 

renowned academicians, doctors, engineers, 

journalists, artists, teachers and 

other eminent personalities were 

dragged out of their homes, blindfolded 

and taken to unknown places and then 

brutally tortured and slaughtered. 

Their bodies were later dumped at 

Rayerbazar, Mirpur and some other 

killing fields in the capital. 

Sensing an imminent defeat, the 

Pakistani forces and local collaborators 

like Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakar 

forces committed the cold-blooded 

mass murders aiming to annihilate the 

country's intelligentsia and cripple the 

emerging Bangladesh intellectually. 

President Abdul Hamid paid tributes 

to the martyred intellectuals placing a 

wreath at the Martyred Intellectuals' 

Mausoleum at Mirpur in the morning. 

Prime Minister's Military Secretary 

Major General Major Gen Mia Md Jainul 

Abedin placed a wreath at the monument 

on behalf Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 

who was abroad. BNP, led by party 

Chairperson Khaleda Zia, paid homage to 

the martyred intellectuals at Mirpur 

Martyred Intellectuals' Memorial. 

Besides, different socio-cultural and political 

organisations observed the day with various 

programmes, including seminars, discussions 

and wreath-laying at Mirpur 

Martyred Intellectuals Graveyard and 

Intellectuals Memorial at Rayerbazar. 

Joint working group soon 

on Rohingya return: 

Ambassador Momen 

DHAKA : Bangladesh has conveyed to 

the United Nations that a joint working 

group on Rohingya repatriation would 

soon be formed under the terms and conditions 

of the bilateral arrangement 

between Bangladesh and Myanmar 

which was signed on November 23, 

reports UNB. 

Permanent Representative of 

Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador 

Masud Bin Momen conveyed it to the 

Security Council meeting on situation in 

Myanmar held in New York recently, said 

the Bangladesh Mission on Thursday. 

A team of Myanmar will be here on 

December 19 to take forward the process 

of forming a joint working group 

to start repatriation of Rohingyas living 

in Bangladesh, a foreign ministry 

official said. 

Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque 

will hold a meeting with his Myanmar 

counterpart on Tuesday to finalize things 

on joint working group. 

The joint working group was supposed 

to be in place within three weeks of signing 

the 'Arrangement' on return of 

Akayed visited Rohingya camps in 

Oct; distributed medicines: Family 

Family wants smooth life for Akayed's 6-month-old son Ajjam 

DHAKA : The man accused of setting off 

a bomb in a crowded pedestrian subway 

tunnel in the heart of New York has put 

his family back at home under tremendous 

mental pressure making them worried 

about Akayed Ullah's only sixmonth-old 

son, reports UNB. 

"This innocent baby (Akayed's son) 

didn't see his father's face over the last 

two days. They used to see each other 

through video chat every day. I don't 

know whether he'll be able to see his 

father anymore," Akayed's mother-in-law 

Mahfuza Akhter told UNB mentioning 

that he keeps trying to take cellphone 

from his mother. 

While talking to this correspondent at 

her residence at Moneswar Road of 

Jigatola in the city, she said Akayed chose 

the name - Obiad Ullah Ajjam - for his 

only son keeping a bit similarity with his 

own name. 

"I want to see Ajjam growing up normally 

like other kids," Mahfuza said with 

tears in her eyes and lower lip trembling. 

Sitting beside her, Akayed's uncle 

Abdul Ahad said they do not want to see 

people calling him the son of a militant. 

Approached, Akayed's wife Jannatul 

Ferdous Jui refused to talk and kept crying 

inside her room as she feels, according 

to her brother Hasan Mahmud Joy, 

Rohingyas. 

A specific bilateral instrument (physical 

arrangement) for repatriation will be concluded 

in a speedy manner, officials said. 

Ambassador Momen said Bangladesh 

continues to receive fresh arrivals of the 

Rohingya, with an average of 100-400 

people on a daily basis. 

He said it appears that the situation in 

northern Rakhine State is still volatile and 

expressed concern over recurrent reports 

of arson in Rohingya localities in northern 

and central Rakhine State. 

The Ambassador said the repatriation 

process, as pledged by Myanmar would 

also begin within the shortest possible 

time. 

He mentioned that the bilateral 

arrangement's mandate is only limited to 

the possible voluntary repatriation of the 

Rohingya people, whereas the root causes 

and other related questions and issues 

would have to be addressed by Myanmar. 

In this regard, he stressed on international 

community's continued support, 

vigilance and monitoring on the situation 

in the Rakhine state. 

the dream she had with her husband and 

son has apparently got shattered with the 

incident. 

Akayed met Rohingyas in Oct 

Akayed Ullah last visited Bangladesh in 

September 8 and stayed for less than two 

months, Mahfuza Akher said. 

"Akayed had visited Rohingya camps 

and distributed medicines for Rohingyas 

before he left for New York on October 

22," she said. 

Mahfuza Akher said Akayed did not 

even stay at hotel. "I asked why didn't you 

book hotel? He replied, I'll spend the 

money for Rohingyas instead of hotel 

booking." 

She said Akayed travelled Cox's 

Bazar by bus and during bus journey 

at night he had video chat with his 

only son and wife. 

Talking to UNB, Akayed's father-in-law 

Julfiqar Haider said Akayed was a very 

gentle, polite and honest young man. "I 

have no doubt about that. And we chose 

the best person for our only daughter." 

He said Akayed used to offer Namaj in 

Shahi Mosque five times a day and 

Akayed's wife Namaj also do the same. 

"You already know, police found his no 

criminal link in Bangladesh. Only 

Almighty knows what happened after his 

arrival in the USA," Julfiqar Haider said.

NEWS 

FRIDAY, 

Dr. KanChannmeta, Secretary of State of Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Cambodia has 

visited the Dhanmondi outlet of Daffodil Computers Ltd. (DCL) on December 6, 2017. During his 

visit he has talked to the officials of the outlet about their activities and shared some guideline for 

the business development of DCL. He also expressed his interest to strengthening relationship with 

Daffodil Family and Cambodia. 

Photo : Courtesy 

‘4 pc families turn 

ultra-poor due to 

treatment cost’ 

Health experts at a 

programme in the capital 

recently said that four 

percent families in our 

country turn ultra-poor, 

while 13% families face 

financial catastrophe to 

bear the cost of their 

medical care annually. 

It is urgent to achieve 

universal health coverage 

(UHC) by increasing 

investment in the health 

sector, ensuring strong 

health system and other 

social services, and raising 

awareness about health 

among people in our 

country, they said, a press 

release said 

"Through implementing 

those steps, we can make 

people of our country 

healthy by reducing the 

risks of communicable and 

non-communicable 

diseases". 

They made the remarks 

while addressing a views 

exchange meeting with the 

mass media and civil 

society at VIP Lounge of 

Jatiyo Press Club. 

Public 

Health 

Foundation Bangladesh 

(PHFB) and Rotary Club of 

Bikrampur jointly 

organized the programme, 

marking the Universal 

Health Coverage Day, 

which was observed across 

the world recently. 

Chaired and moderated 

by Prof. M Muzaherul Huq, 

founder chairman of PHFB 

and former advisor of 

WHO South Asia region, 

Prof. Dr. Sharmeen 

Yasmeen, head of 

community medicine 

department of Bangladesh 

Medical College and vice 

chairperson of PHFB), 

presented the keynote 

paper 

MAKS Masum, president 

of Rotary Club of 

Bikrampur, was present as 

a guest. 

Prof. Sharmeen, in her 

presentation, said 

Bangladesh at first needs a 

suitable and peopleoriented 

budget and its 

proper implementation for 

the UHC. 

It would not be tough for 

Bangladesh to achieve the 

target of UHC by the year 

2032 if steps are taken for 

arranging required number 

of qualified doctors and 

relevant staff and those are 

made available across the 

country, she said. 

Prof. Dr. Rashid-E- 

Mahbub, Ex-BMA 

secretary general, Dr. 

Samir Kumar Saha, 

executive director of PHFB, 

Prof. Dr. Fatema Ashraf, 

chairperson of PHFB, 

among others, spoke at the 

function. 

Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited 

Rangadia, Chittagong. 

An Enterprise of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation 

IUTA gets new 

committee 

ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY : 

Professor Dr M Mizanur 

Rahman of Accounting and 

Information Systems 

Department and Professor Dr 

M Wali Ullah of Dawah and 

Islamic Studies Department 

have been elected as president 

and secretary respectively of 

Islamic University Teachers' 

Association (IUTA), reports 

UNB. 

Professor Dr M Kazi Akhtar 

Hossen announced the results 

as IUTA chief election 

commissioner at the 

university's Art's Faculty 

Building around 9:30 pm on 

Wednesday. 

Professor Shaheed M 

Rezwan was elected as the 

vice-president of the 14- 

member executive committee 

while Professor Dr ASM Ainul 

Haque Akondo as jointsecretary 

and Professor Dr M 

Asad-Ullah as treasurer. 

The other members of the 

committee are Professor M 

Abdu Sina, Professor M 

Tozammel Hossain, Professor 

AKM Matinur Rahman, 

Professor M Najibul Haque, 

Professor Obaydul Islam, 

Professor Nurun Nahar, AKM 

Rashiduzzaman, Mustafizur 

Rahman, Jahidul Islam and 

Najimuddin. 

A total of 312 teachers out of 

356 casted their votes while 

Professor M Mizanur 

Rahman bagged 168 votes 

and his rival Awami Leaguebackd 

Shapla Forum and 

Bangabandhu Parisad panel 

Professor Ruhul KM Saleh got 

114 votes. 

3 hurt in 

rival attack 

BAGERHAT : Three people 

were injured on Thursday as 

their rivals attacked them in 

Singrai village of Sadar 

upazila over land dispute, 

reports UNB. 

Among the injured freedom 

fighter Hasem Sikdar, 68, was 

sent to Bagerhat Sadar 

Hospital. 

Hasem Sikdar alleged their 

neighbors Bachchu Mallik's 

relatives attacked him and his 

wife and daughter in the 

afternoon over a land dispute. 

Officer-in-charge of 

Bagerhat Police Station Md 

Mahtab Uddin said they 

arrested one Lutfar Rahman 

from the spot in this 

connection. 

HC drops 

writ against 

RCC mayor 

candidate 

DHAKA : The High 

Court on Thursday 

dropped from its cause list 

a writ petition challenging 

legality of BNP mayoral 

candidate Kawsar Zaman 

Babla to contest in 

Rangpur City Corporation 

(RCC) election. 

The HC bench of Justice 

Salma Masud Chowdhury 

and Justice AKM Zahirul 

Hoque passed the order 

after hearing of a writ 

petition filed by Sonali 

Bank challenging legality of 

his candidature on charge 

of loan default, reports 

UNB. 

Barrister Bodruddoza 

Badol, lawyer of the BNP 

candidate, said that 

following the HC order, 

now there is no legal bar for 

the candidate to contest for 

the RCC mayor post. 

Badol explained to 

journalists that the court 

took into consideration 

that the election is just a 

few days away and the 

Election Commission was 

not served with any prior 

notice on loan default in 

this regard. 

On November 27, the 

Sonali Bank submitted a 

petition to the returning 

officer to cancel his 

candidature on charge of 

loan default after the 

returning officer accepted 

the candidacy of Kawsar 

the previous day. 

However, the returning 

officer rejected the petition. 

Then, the bank appealed 

to the divisional 

commissioner of Rangpur 

against the returning 

officer's decision but the 

official also rejected the 

appeal on November 30. 

Later, the bank 

authorities filed the 

petition with the HC on 

December 12. 

The election will be held 

on December 21. 

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY2 

DeCeMBeR 15, 2017 

SNV enters into deals 

to improve RMG 

workers' health 

DHAKA : SNV Netherlands Development 

Organisation on Thursday signed 

partnership agreements with trade bodies 

and NGOs to leverage a collaborative 

approach to improve the health and wellbeing 

of Bangladesh's readymade garment 

workers, reports UNB. 

The contracts were signed with 

Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies 

(BILS), Better Work Bangladesh, Dutch- 

Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

(DBCCI), Fair Wear Foundation (FWF), 

Phulki, SAJIDA Foundation and UCEP 

Bangladesh at a city hotel. 

The collaboration is established under 

'Working with Women-2' project 

implemented by SNV Netherlands 

Development Organisation with the funding 

support from Embassy of the Kingdom of the 

Netherlands. 

The project will work with 200 factories 

through different mechanisms and 

platforms to ensure health, including sexual 

and reproductive health and rights, for the 

garment workers. 

DBCCI President Faruque Hasan, Chief 

Technical Advisor of Better Work 

Bangladesh Louis B Vanegas, SAJIDA 

Foundation Director Fazlul Hoque, CEO of 

UCEP Bangladesh Tahsina Ahmed, BILS 

Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin 

Ahmed, Phulki Executive Director Suraiya 

Haque, FWF Country Representative Md 

Bablur Rahman, SNV Bangladesh Country 

Director Jason Belanger and Team Leader of 

Working with Women Project Farhtheeba 

Rahat Khan were, among others, present at 

the contract signing ceremony. 

Bowali village in Gaibandha 

abuzz with making of 

lentil dumplings 

GAIBANDHA : Bowali 

village in Sadar upazila of 

the district, popularly 

known as 'Bori village' for 

producing delicious 

'Daaler Bori' or lentil 

dumplings, is now 

reverberating day and 

night with the sound of 

grinding and pasting 

lentils to make the popular 

food item, reports UNB. 

This 'Daaler Bori', which 

is one of the most popular 

and traditional items in 

Bengali cuisine, is a must 

for the food lovers, 

especially in winter. 

At the Bowali village, the 

preparation for making 

these 'bori' begins at dawn 

and continues till night. 

Some wash lentils while 

some paste and grind 

those and some other mix 

lentils and rice powder 

together and lay the 

dumplings under the sun 

for drying them. Once the 

dumplings are dried 

properly, they are ready 

for eating. 

According to locals, 

dealing in 'Daaler Bori' is 

an inherited business. 

Though it takes a lot of 

hard work, there is no risk 

of loss. 

There is a good demand 

for dumplings at home 

and abroad. If the lentil 

price had been less, the 

dumplings would have 

cost less too, said the 

locals, adding that it is not 

that much profitable now. 

Over three hundred 

families are earning their 

bread and butter from this 

business. Even small 

children help their parents 

in the work alongside their 

study. 

The production cost of 

each kg of bori is Tk 175 

while it is selling at Tk 

250-300 per kg. 

Each family can produce 

up to 10 kg of bori a day. 

If the government 

provides assistance to the 

families, the production 

can be boosted using 

modern technology and 

the dumplings can be 

exported abroad after 

fulfilling the local demand. 

'Daaler Bori' can be fried 

and eaten as snacks, but is 

mainly added to fish or 

vegetable dishes to add to 

the taste. 

A discussion meeting was held at Government KC college yesterday marking Martyrs Intellectuals 

Day. 

Photo : SI Mollick 

Bcic-326-14/12/17 

Iqvmv-RtZt-440/2017 

GD-1537/17 (8 x 3) 

GD-1535/17 (5 x 4)

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY 

3 

frIDAY, DeCeMBer 15, 2017 

People of Subarna Char thana under Noakhali district formed a human chain in front of National 

Press Club yesterday to arrest the top terrors and pirates of the thana yesterday. Photo : TBT 

Govt committed to industrial 

development, says Amu 

DHAKA : Industries Minister Amir 

Hossain Amu said on Thursday 

government is committed to provide 

every possible support for the 

expansion and development of the 

industries of thrust sectors, reports 

UNB. 

He made the remarks in the inaugural 

ceremony of the three day long 

international exhibition titled 'Health 

and Fitness 2017' at International 

Convention City Bashundhara, Dhaka. 

The purpose of the exhibition is to 

demonstrate new and innovative 

technology, products, equipment, 

methods in the concerned sectors and 

explore the avenue for the participants, 

organisations and patrons in a single 

platform. 

Mentioning bi-cycle and herbal 

industries as potential sectors, Amu 

said " We have earned 99.15 million 

dollar in the 2015-16 fiscal year from 

bicycle industry while Tk. 330 crore 

herbal products have been exported to 

United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, US. So 

we are committed to extend our 

assistance to boost these industries." 

He said "Within a short span of time, 

Bangladesh ranked third largest bicycle 

exporter in the world. Many small 

industries are growing up from organic, 

natural and herbal products arena with 

the policy support of the present 

government. We have included 'Herbal 

products and medicine' industry as one 

of the thrust sectors in the national 

industry policy-2016 and providing 

every possible support for its expansion 

and development." 

The minister appreciated the 

arrangement of such expo in 

participation with the national and 

international experts and 

entrepreneurs starting from bicycles 

manufacturers and importers, organic 

drinks and food to exercise machines, 

sports equipments manufacturer, 

clothes and outfits from home and 

abroad. He said, "It will provide 

common platform, both for the local 

and international entrepreneurs while 

businesspersons will display their 

innovative products and technologies 

that will undoubtedly play a vital role in 

creating the growing demand for health 

and fitness products and technologies 

in the country." 

More than 30 companies from home 

and abroad are participating in the 

exhibition with their products. 

State minister for Youth and Sports 

Dr. Biren Shikder spoke as special guest 

while president of Bangladesh organic 

products and manufacturers 

associations (BOPMA) Muhammed 

Abdus Salam, Sports editor of Daily 

Prothom Alo Utpol Shuvro, and 

country's biggest bicycle community 

BD cyclists Admin Fuad Ahsan 

Chawdhury were also present in the 

opening ceremony. 

Managing Director of SAVOR 

International Limited Faizul Alam 

delivered the welcome speech at the 

inauguration ceremony. 

The exhibition will continue till 

December 16. 

49 get Meena Media Award 

DHAKA : UNICEF on 

Thursday honoured 49 media 

professionals for their 

outstanding contribution in 

advancing the rights of 

children in different streams 

of media, reports UNB. 

The 'Meena Media Award' 

has stepped into the 13th year 

in 2017 after being launched 

in 2005 to celebrate 

excellence in creative media 

and journalism in both print 

and electronic streams. 

To mark the 13th 

Anniversary, awards were 

given on Online/Print Media, 

Radio and Visual 

(Reports/Creative contents 

including Videography) and 

News Photography 

categories. Information 

Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, 

MP and Edouard Beigbeder 

on behalf of UNICEF 

Bangladesh, presented crests, 

award money and certificates 

to the winner. 

UNICEF Bangladesh 

Goodwill Ambassadors 

actress Arifa Zaman 

Moushumi and magician 

Jewel Aich were also present. 

The award ceremony 

brought children's voices to 

the forefront through a 

colourful and fun filled 

cultural event and a 

celebration of the 

contribution that the media is 

constantly making to change 

the lives of children. 

Media professionals from 

the all corners of the country 

submitted their media 

production covering the 

issues of child protection, 

education, child trafficking, 

nutrition for children, 

violence against children and 

many other issues that are 

important and are affecting 

children in the society. The 

award is named after Meena, 

a popular animation 

character endeared by 

children and adults alike in 

Bangladesh and elsewhere in 

South Asia. 

Congratulating participants 

and award winners, Edouard 

Beigbeder said, "Meena 

Media Award ceremony is 

held every year but the 

versatile production by the 

media professionals and their 

passion on advancing the 

issues of the children in the 

media give it a new 

dimension every time. I 

congratulate their efforts and 

also seek their attention on 

advocating for many more 

important issues in 

Bangladesh such as, ending 

child marriage and ensuring 

the rights of displaced 

children, where media has a 

big role to play." 

Just as the previous years, 

the 13th Meena Media Award 

has generated overwhelming 

response, receiving more 

than 700 entries. Award 

nominees were selected by a 

panel of judges through a 

competitive process from 

print, online and broadcast 

media. Broadly divided into 

'creative' and 'journalistic' 

categories, entries have been 

sought under specific age 

groups. 

The first, second, and third 

award recipients of each 

category and age-groups 

received cash prizes. An 

eleven member expert panel 

of judges comprising of 

creative writers, veteran 

media professionals and 

academics assessed each 

entry through a strict 

marking process where the 

names of the participants 

were replaced by a specific 

code number to ensure nonbiased 

judgement. 

The judges included, Selina 

Hossain, Shahnoor Wahid, 

Robaet Ferdous, Fahmidul 

Haque, Zakir Hossain Raju, 

Qadir Kollol, Ratan Paul, 

Mithila Farzana, Rafiqur 

Rahman, Jannatul Mawa and 

Abu Naser Siddique. 

To add a festive feel and 

colour to the occasion, a girl 

co-hosted the ceremony along 

with UNICEF official. 

Also, children living in a 

local drop-in centre in Dhaka 

and coming from 

disadvantaged and 

marginalised backgrounds 

and a children's theatre 

group, staged a cultural 

performance. 

President 

returns home 

from Turkey 

DHAKA : President Md 

Abdul Hamid returned 

home from Turkey early 

Thursday after attending the 

6th Extraordinary Islamic 

Summit of the Organisation 

of Islamic Cooperation 

(OIC) in Istanbul, reports 

UNB. 

He arrived in Dhaka by a 

special flight of Biman 

Bangladesh Airlines early in 

the morning. 

State Minister for Foreign 

Affairs M Shahriar Alam 

accompanied the President. 

Earlier on Monday night, a 

Turkish Airlines flight 

carrying the President took 

off from Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airport here. 

Turkish President Recep 

Tayyip Erdogan called for 

the OIC special conference 

to discuss the repercussions 

of the US recognition of 

Jerusalem as the capital of 

Israel. 

The special conference 

was held in Istanbul on 

Wednesday where the 

President delivered his 

speech highlighting 

Bangladesh's position over 

the issue. 

Sub-regional workshop on 

climate change on Dec 17 

DHAKA : The 4th subregional 

workshop on 

Community Resilience to 

Climate Change in the Bay of 

Bengal Conference-2017, will 

be held at city's Spectra 

Convention centre in Gulshan 

on December 17. 

The speakers of Bangladesh 

Unnayan Parishad and 

Concern Worldwide in press 

conference at Jatiya Press 

Club this morning said the 

two-day workshop will 

emphasize on finding a way to 

deal with the risks of climate 

change collectively, reports 

UNB. The specialists from Sri 

Lanka, Nepal and India will 

participate in the workshop to 

be inaugurated by Deputy 

Speaker of the Parliament Md 

Fazle Rabbi Miah. 

Eight sessions - Climate 

change impact on water 

resources, Climate change 

impact on coastal agriculture, 

Climate 

induced 

displacement 

and 

rehabilitation, Technologies 

for sustainable adaptation, 

Urban risk reduction and 

climate change resilience, 

Livelihood and natural 

resources management , 

Gender inequalities in CCA 

will be discussed in the 

workshop. 

Intellectuals murdered to create 

intellectual void nation: Speaker 

DHAKA : Jatiya Sanshad Speaker Dr 

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said Razakars 

and Al Badr murdered intellectuals brutally 

to create a void in the intellectual 

firmament of the newborn nation, just days 

before liberation of the country, reports 

UNB. 

The speaker was addressing a rally 

marking the 'Intellectuals Martyred Day- 

2017' on the premises of Pirganj Shaheed 

Minar on Thursday morning. 

She urged new generation to step forward 

for building the country imbued with the 

spirit of the war of independence. 

"We have to inform our young generation 

about the fact of war of independence and 

history of supreme sacrifice of martyred 

intellectuals", Dr Shirin said. 

She added that school students have to be 

informed about the spirit of liberation war, 

long struggle of father of the national 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for 

the country, supreme sacrifice of 30 lakh 

martyrs in 1971. 

Speaker Shirin said the nation and country 

both are very happy for the inclusion of the 

historic 7th March speech of Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the memory of 

the World International Register, a list of 

world's important documentary heritage 

maintained by UNESCO. 

She urged students to listen to the speech 

repeatedly and realise the message of the 

speech and hold it in their hearts. 

Earlier, Shirin paid tribute to martyred 

intellectuals by placing floral wreath at 

Shaheed Minar. 

The speaker stood in solemn silence there. 

Charges framed against 

two Netrakona war 

crimes suspects 

NETRAKONA : The International Crimes 

Tribunal (ICT) on Wednesday submitted 

formal charges against two war crimes 

accused of Atpara in Netrakona, reports 

UNB. 

The two accused are Hedayetullah Anju 

BSc and Shohrab Fakir. Both were members 

of local Peace Committee during the 

Liberation War in 1971. 

Prosecutor Abul Kalam and Sabina 

Yeasmin Khan Munni submitted the charges 

bringing six specific allegations against them 

in the cases filed for crimes against humanity 

during the Liberation War in 1971. 

A three-member bench led by Justice Md 

Shahinur Islam fixed January 8 to start 

introductory speech on behalf of 

prosecution, said Sabina Yeasmin. 

Of the accused, Shohrab is in the jail while 

Hedayetullah is on the run, she added. 

Six allegations including murder, mass 

killing, torture, abduction and arson at 

Madhuakhari, Mobarakpur, Shukhari and 

Madan villages in the district were brought 

against the accused. 

Bangladesh Awami Ulema League organized a human chain program protesting US recognition over 

declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 

Photo : TBT 


EDITORIAL FRIDAY, 

THE 


DeCemBeR 15, 2017 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103 

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Friday, December 15, 2017 

Issues of taxation 

T 

he 

government is understandably giving greater 

focused attention nowadays to collection of more and 

more taxes. This is understandable as the amount of 

taxes to be collected will determine the amount of resources 

to remain in the hands of the government to undertake 

various tasks. Shortfall in revenue collection will mean that 

these tasks will suffer. But government's policies must be 

both delicately framed and executed to collect more taxes 

but without rupturing relations with taxpayers, existing as 

well as potential ones. 

Writing on tax issues, the first point that comes to mind is 

the present very unfair nature of taxation of people. 

Presently, the greatest amount in taxes is paid in the form of 

indirect taxes, i.e. taxes attached to prices of commodities or 

chargers for services paid by all classes of consumers as part 

of the prices of goods purchased or part of charges given for 

services rendered like the value added tax (VAT). It is 

impossible for the consumers to avoid paying them. Thus, 

the indirect taxes are paid by the rich and the poor alike. But 

for the 40 per cent of the poor and the very poor in the 

population, the paying of the indirect taxes can be a source of 

torment specially when the indirect taxes are adjusted 

upward. Nor are they consulted when such adjustments are 

made but the opposite is the case in relation to interest 

groups like traders, industrialists, etc. They are able to sit 

with government's representatives and have adjusted 

considerably taxes in favourof their businesses or 

enterprises. 

There would be fairness in the taxation system if people in 

the upper income categories were progressively made to pay 

direct taxes such as income tax proportionate to their 

earnings or profit. But this is not the case in Bangladesh. In a 

country of over 160 million people with several millions of 

the very rich and rich class and a bulging upper middle class 

of no less than 30 to 40 million people, out of this huge 

number with ability to pay income tax or wealth tax, not even 

a million presently pay such taxes or pay them far 

disproportionately compared to their wealth or income. 

Thus, there is indeed potentials and justification involved in 

obliging this very large number of people not paying taxes or 

paying them very leniently to be involved in paying taxes 

regularly and properly. 

Everyone knows about the huge untaxed income of 

specialist doctors, lawyers , operators of coaching centres and 

other service providers. They earn millions of taka a month 

in many cases. But has any government made any attempt to 

tax the fees that doctors, lawyers and coaching centre 

operators or the likes of them take from their clients ? The 

answer must be in the negative although the government's 

coffers could be substantially filled from bringing such highly 

deserving eligible high taxpayers under the tax net. 

The present system of collection of income tax can be a 

skewed process. People of middle class origin with earnings 

very small compared to the rich or the very rich, are being 

exploited through paying double or triple income tax. Even 

after paying his income tax on earnings from a job or a small 

business, a person is obligated to pay another so called 

income tax for maintaining a car. Beside, if he or she has 

savings certificates, then too, he or she has to pay an income 

tax on their interest accruals. Under the present 

circumstances of high inflation, such incidence of multiple 

taxation on income must be seen as unfair to the majority of 

the eligible but not rich taxpayers. A very big amount of 

money is lost from tax evasion or defalcation activities in 

Bangladesh, according to Transparency International, 

Bangladesh (TIB). It shows up the extent of the loss to the 

state treasury from such evasive and defalcating activities. 

However, it is also true that this is not a first time stunning 

experience . The fact that different groups of taxpayers have 

not been paying taxes in proportion to their earnings or 

income, have been known for a long time. But the present 

mode of taxation that allows the eligible taxpayers to plead, 

appoint and take help of so called tax advisers, also 

contribute legitimately to this process of tax evasion and 

defalcation. 

Then, there are also in-built institutional weaknesses in 

the taxation machinery. For example, the value added tax 

(VAT) has emerged as a major source of revenues during the 

last two decades. But VAT offices are present only in about 

half of the country's districts which means that government 

is losing so much revenues from the sheer lack of the 

presence of its taxation officials over vast areas where 

various income earning enterprises have cropped up. Even in 

the areas where the taxation departments have an existence, 

there is noted a serious dearth of personnel to run the same. 

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been stalling 

with such recruitment of needed tax officials year after year. 

But the addition of manpower could be addressed with 

special initiative by NBR long ago along with other measures 

to streamline the tax administration such as automation, a 

reward structure to motive well intentioned employees, 

putting in place an efficient search and discover team to find 

tax dodgers and bring them under the taxation net without 

undue harassments, etc. But these things were hardly 

attempted in an integrated and satisfactory manner over the 

years with the result that government's yields from taxation 

could not increase much more . The challenge in the 

Bangladesh context is essentially one of bringing under the 

taxation net the ones who have been eligible for paying taxes 

for a very long time. They were either not motivated on their 

own to pay taxes or found tax evasion easy from a too feeble 

presence or non presence of the taxation authorities around 

them. As it is, compared to the vast population the presence 

of the tax departments is thin throughout the country. 

Increasingly, governments in the present decade have 

been declaring bigger and bigger national budgets reflecting 

the propensity to spend more both for development and 

meeting administrative needs. Therefore, mobilizing of 

greater resources is becoming imperative to finance the 

budgets growing ever bigger in size. But the pertinent 

question which cannot help but arise is : how governments 

can expect to fulfill ambitious revenue collection targets with 

NBR suffering from a large deficiency in its capacities ? 

The higher revenue collection can be expected only under 

circumstances when there are adequate number of revenue 

collectors and on their efficiency, integrity and motivation. 

But according to a recent media report , NBR has only 1200 

tax inspectors for discharging service against 2100 posts. 

Understandably, vigorous revenue collection cannot be 

expected from the NBR suffering a substantial dearth of 

officials to do the job. The customs administration requires 

an expansion of its capacities . Reportedly, 600 posts of 

customs inspectors have been lying vacant for a long time 

and a large number of the functioning inspectors. 

Getting a college degree isn't a waste of time 

In a recent Atlantic article, George 

Mason University economist Bryan 

Caplan declares that college is, 

mostly, a waste of time. Caplan's claim is 

sure to appeal to those who feel that 

their own higher education was wasted, 

or who dislike colleges because of liberal 

campus politics. But his arguments 

against college are deeply flawed, and 

the country would be well-advised to 

take them with a shot of scepticism. 

Caplan asserts that much of the value 

of a college education comes not from 

skills and knowledge, but from 

something economists call signalling. 

Suppose employers want to hire smart, 

hard-working, conscientious 

employees, but they can't tell which 

employees fit the bill. They might 

demand that any employee complete 

some arduous series of tasks simply to 

prove that they have the requisite traits. 

People who aren't smart, hard-working 

and conscientious enough won't bother 

to go through with the trial, allowing 

employers to separate the good workers 

from the bad. Caplan believes that 

college is mostly this kind of task - an 

ordeal that young people go through just 

to demonstrate their worth. 

But Caplan misapplies the theory of 

signalling. First of all, he says that it 

represents "wasted resources". In 

signalling models, the resources that 

people spend proving themselves aren't 

wasted - they're an economically 

efficient way of overcoming the natural 

problem of asymmetric information. 

Basic economic reasoning suggests that 

if there were an easier, cheaper way to 

tell which employees would be good, at 

On Monday, US National Security 

Advisor HR McMaster added to 

tensions in the Middle East 

when he condemned Turkey and Qatar 

as prime sponsors of extremist Islamist 

ideology. 

He tore into the Turkish leadership, 

saying the country's growing problems 

with the West are largely due to the rise 

of the Justice and Development Party in 

Ankara. 

A few days ago, McMaster had 

described China and Russia as 

"revisionist powers" encroaching on US 

allies and undermining the 

international order, and castigated Iran 

and North Korea as outlaw regimes that 

"support terror and are seeking 

weapons of mass destruction." 

McMaster now rounds on Turkey and 

Qatar for mentoring a radical Islamist 

ideology that "is obviously a grave 

threat to all civilized people." The 

stunning part is that Turkey is a NATO 

ally, while the US Central Command is 

headquartered in Qatar. 

Arguably, Turkey no longer qualifies 

to be a NATO member. McMaster 

spoke at a rare public policy platform 

with his British counterpart Mark 

Sedwill, at an event hosted by the Policy 

Exchange think tank in Washington. 

How any of this transmutes into Anglo- 

American policy will bear watching. 

(Interestingly, on a visit to Greece last 

week, Erdogan publicly sought a 

revision of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, 

which was negotiated under the 

tutelage of Britain and the US and 

ceded, amongst other things, all 

Turkish claims on the Dodecanese 

least some companies would have 

discovered it by now. Yet, degree 

requirements remain ubiquitous. So if 

Caplan is right, the signalling benefit of 

college is still a positive and necessary 

economic force. 

But Caplan probably isn't right. As 

evidence that college has a large 

signalling component, he notes that 

people who drop out of college just 

before graduation receive a much lower 

wage bump than people who cross the 

finish line - a phenomenon known as the 

sheepskin effect. "Signalling is 

practically the only explanation" for this 

effect, Caplan declares. But he's wrong. 

To be a useful signal, a task should be 

difficult to accomplish or very costly - 

that's why it separates good workers 

from bad ones. But finishing that last 

semester of school is neither difficult nor 

very costly, especially for someone who 

just completed seven other semesters. 

So the sheepskin effect can't be 

effective signalling - it must be 

Islands and Cyprus. Significantly, 

McMaster's outburst came within 

hours of a meeting in Ankara between 

Erdogan and Russian President 

Vladimir Putin, their eighth this year, 

during a combined day-long trip by the 

Russian leader which included stops in 

Egypt, Turkey and the Hmeimim 

airbase in Syria. 

Ironically, if it was the perceived 

Soviet threat to Turkey that Harry 

Truman and Dean Acheson blew out of 

proportion to lay the ground for an 

enthusiastically pro-American Turkish 

prime minister, Adnan Menderes, to 

bring Turkey into the NATO fold in 

1952, 55 years later the blossoming of 

Russo-Turkish cooperation prompts 

Washington to doubt Turkey's 

credentials as an ally. 

But then, NATO has no precedents of 

ousting a member state and its 

decisions are taken unanimously. To be 

sure, Erdogan will only leave the NATO 

tent kicking and screaming. His intent 

nOAh SmITh 

m.K. BhADRA KUmAR 

something else. Probably, someone who 

finishes seven semesters and then drops 

out without completing the eighth has 

some sort of emotional, motivational or 

other personal issues that make them 

unattractive to employers. But this isn't 

signalling, any more than it's signalling 

when employers fire people who come 

to work with needle tracks on their 

arms. Signalling, in the economic sense, 

would require wasted effort - simply 

looking for obvious indicators of 

personal problems doesn't fit the model 

Caplan is invoking. 

Also, if college were largely signalling, 

we would expect to see the return to 

college decline over time, as companies 

learn which employees are smart, 

hardworking and conscientious from 

observing them on the job. Research by 

Yale University economist Fabian Lange 

has shown that employers learn a lot 

about their workers after just three 

years. So if two employees start out with 

very similar abilities, personalities and 

is to shake off US hegemony, which he 

can do better while inside the NATO 

tent. He is in turn taunting, provoking, 

snubbing, defying and - worse still - 

ridiculing US regional strategies. 

Erdogan's intent is to shake off US 

hegemony, which he can do better 

while inside the NATO tent. He is in 

turn taunting, provoking, snubbing, 

defying and - worse still -ridiculing US 

regional strategies 

Erdogan's talks with Putin on 

Monday suggest a new stage in their 

coordination to undermine US interests 

in the Middle East. Putin announced 

that they agreed on a loan agreement, 

which will be signed "very shortly," to 

pursue the "significant prospects for 

expanding our military and technical 

cooperation." 

Erdogan added that "the relevant 

agencies of our two countries are 

expected to complete what needs to be 

done this week" with regard to Turkey's 

purchase of Russia's S-400 missile 

other characteristics, we'd expect to see 

the benefit of signalling be substantially 

reduced after a few years. 

It isn't. A recent paper by economists 

Ben Ost, Weixiang Pan and Douglas 

Webber compares students at Ohio's 

four-year public universities who just 

barely make the grade point average 

cutoff to stay in college with students 

who just barely miss it and are forced to 

drop out. Since these groups of students 

are, statistically speaking, almost exactly 

the same - the difference between them 

is almost entirely a matter of luck - the 

difference between them doesn't 

depend on who is willing and able to 

send a good signal. Looking at the 

earnings of the two groups seven to 12 

years after their initial college 

enrollment, Ost et al find that the lucky 

children who managed to stay in school 

have considerably higher earnings than 

those who were kicked out. If a college's 

value were mostly signalling, we'd 

expect to see this wage difference 

disappear over time, as employers 

learned that these two groups of 

students were effectively the same. But 

the gap persists, suggesting that the 

workers who managed to stay in college 

derived something useful from the 

experience. 

Caplan cites psychological research to 

claim that students don't remember 

what they learn in their college classes, 

as well as some studies claiming that 

college graduates tend to lack basic 

competence in logical reasoning and 

domain knowledge. 

Source : Gulf News 

Turkey switches to full defiance of US, continues Putin courtship 

The Senate Functional Standing 

Committee on Human Rights has 

endorsed Senator Farhatullah 

Babar's campaign for the creation of a 

new, competent and adequately 

powerful commission to deal with 

enforced disappearances. The 

government will invite indictment for 

complicity if it does not heed this call on 

a priority basis. 

The Senate committee is not the first 

to ask for a strong commission on 

disappearances. Over the past two 

months, the Supreme Court has 

repeatedly censured the authorities for 

their failure to deal with what has surely 

become a festering sore. The UN 

Working Group on Enforced and 

Involuntary Disappearance and the UN 

committees scrutinising Pakistan's 

compliance with its obligations under 

the various human rights instruments 

have also been asking for strengthening 

the existing Commission of Inquiry on 

Enforced Disappearances. These 

advices were disregarded when the life 

of the COIOED was recently extended. 

The issue of disappearances was 

studied by a commission of three retired 

superior court judges and after looking 

at the issues related to disappearances 

and holding numerous hearings for 

eight months, it submitted its report on 

Dec 31, 2010. The government's failure 

to publish the commission's report has 

aggravated the hardships of the 'missing 

persons'. 

Victims' families suffer in silence in 

But Caplan probably isn't right. As evidence that college has a 

large signalling component, he notes that people who drop out of 

college just before graduation receive a much lower wage bump 

than people who cross the finish line - a phenomenon known as 

the sheepskin effect. "Signalling is practically the only 

explanation" for this effect, Caplan declares. But he's wrong. To 

be a useful signal, a task should be difficult to accomplish or very 

costly - that's why it separates good workers from bad ones. 

Ironically, if it was the perceived Soviet 

threat to Turkey that harry Truman and Dean 

Acheson blew out of proportion to lay the 

ground for an enthusiastically pro-American 

Turkish prime minister, Adnan menderes, to 

bring Turkey into the nATO fold in 1952, 55 

years later the blossoming of Russo-Turkish 

cooperation prompts Washington to doubt 

Turkey's credentials as an ally. 

Despair over disappearances 

the hope that they will thus be saved 

from collecting dead bodies. 

Some of the commission's findings 

published by a newspaper, and never 

denied by anyone, indicated that it held 

the government responsible for illegally 

detaining at least some of the 'missing' 

persons and ordered payment of 

compensation. The commission was 

reported to have criticised the police for 

booking the victims of enforced 

disappearance on concocted charges 

after they were handed over to them by 

the authorities that had been holding 

them unlawfully. While recommending 

legislation to legalise the working of 

intelligence agencies the commission 

went on to suggest a lawful procedure 

for detaining anyone. The commission's 

recommendations have been ignored, 

except for the one that called for the 

establishment of a new commission to 

I.A. RehmAn 

continue dealing with enforced 

disappearances. 

Thus, the COIOED started functioning 

on March 1, 2011, with 136 cases it had 

inherited from the commission of 

judges. By Nov 30 this year, it had 

received 4,378 new cases. Obviously, 

even judging by reported cases, that are 

believed to be fewer than the actual 

number, the phenomenon of enforced 

The issue of disappearances was studied 

by a commission of three retired superior 

court judges and after looking at the issues 

related to disappearances and holding 

numerous hearings for eight months, it 

submitted its report on Dec 31, 2010. The 

government's failure to publish the 

commission's report has aggravated the 

hardships of the 'missing persons'. 

disappearances has not ended. At the 

end of last month, the COIOED had no 

less than 1,498 cases pending before it. 

To be fair to the COIOED, it did try to 

fulfil its task and a major part of the 

blame for its inability to deliver must be 

accepted by the government for it did 

not grant COIOED the stature, the 

skilled personnel and the financial 

resources it needed. While the 

COIOED's practice of circulating a 

monthly performance report is 

system. It is a huge snub to Washington 

and some of its NATO allies that the 

Russian system cannot be integrated 

into the alliance's defenses. 

Again, Erdogan announced that 

Turkey and Russia are "determined to 

complete in the shortest possible time" 

the Turkish Stream (which will bring 

more Russian gas to Turkey and use 

Turkey as a hub to supply southern 

Europe) and the US$25 billion Akkuyu 

Nuclear Power Plant. The US opposes 

the Turkish Stream, which will frustrate 

its plans to export LNG to Europe. 

Putin joined Erdogan to criticize the 

US decision regarding Jerusalem. Putin 

said, "It is destabilizing the region and 

wiping out the prospect of peace"; 

Erdogan said he was "pleased" by 

Putin's stand. Erdogan said the OIC 

(Organization of Islamic Cooperation) 

summit in Istanbul on Wednesday 

would be a "turning point" on the crisis; 

Putin promised to send a 

representative. Most stunning, though, 

are the emerging contours of a 

profound Russo-Turkish action plan in 

Syria. They attribute centrality to the 

Astana peace process, which also 

includes Iran but leaves the US and its 

regional allies in the cold. Following 

Putin-Erdogan talks, the next meeting 

at Astana has been announced. 

Equally, Russia and Turkey are 

collaborating to organize a congress of 

Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi. 

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu 

signaled on Tuesday that Turkey no 

longer objects to Kurdish participation. 

Source : Asia times 

welcome, the information this report 

offers is inadequate. For instance, the 

report for October 2017 said that Zeenat 

Shahzadi, the Lahore journalist and 

human rights defender, had been 

recovered and reunited with her family 

but she did not accept the commission's 

invitation to appear before it. For the 

commission, the matter ended there. 

Could it not send someone to see 

Shahzadi and ascertain whether she had 

really been freed and to record her 

statement? 

In her last contact with the Human 

Rights Commission of Pakistan, 

Shahzadi's mother said that she and her 

daughter were staying at an Islamabad 

hospital and that Shahzadi was having a 

session with a psychiatrist. It should not 

be impossible for the COIOED or the 

government or even the Islamabad 

commissioner to trace Shahzadi and 

find out who is denying access to her. If 

during her abduction/ detention for two 

years, her health has seriously 

deteriorated the government has a duty 

to ensure that she gets the best possible 

medical treatment. 

Nothing has been said by any 

authority about the non-state actors that 

are said to have abducted her. Was she 

recovered from the clutches of her 

abductors or did they throw her by the 

roadside? Has any one of her abductors 

been arrested or identified? 

Source : Dawn

STRATEGIC ISSUES FRiDAy, 

DeCemBeR 15, 2017 

5 

A little known novel by a British naval analyst predicted a u.S.-Japan war. 

Photo: uS navy 

novel that inspired Japan’s 

attack on the uS 

FRAnz-STeFAn GADy 

As the United States commemorates 

the 76th anniversary of the Japanese 

surprise attack against the U.S. naval 

base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 

1941 few people know that Japanese 

war plans were inspired by a 1925 novel 

titled The Great Pacific War, written by 

the British author Hector Bywater. 

The novel predicted a Japanese 

surprise attack on U.S. naval forces in 

the Pacific, the Allies' island hopping 

strategy used during the actual Pacific 

War, and the eventual U.S. victory over 

Japan. Bywater's work of fiction is 

thought to have influenced Imperial 

Japan's chief naval strategist and 

commander of the Imperial Navy's 

Combined Fleet, Marshal Admiral 

Isoruko Yamamoto, when he was 

planning his naval campaign against 

the United States. 

Hector Bywater was one of the 

preeminent naval analysts of his day. 

After working for British intelligence 

prior to the outbreak of World War I, 

he published Sea Power in the Pacific: 

A Study of the American-Japanese 

Naval Problem in 1921, in which he 

outlined the growing naval competition 

between Japan and the United Stated 

in the Pacific region. He rose to further 

public prominence with his expert 

coverage of the Washington Naval 

Conference, held between 1921 and 

1922, predicting, among other things, 

Japan's official positions on naval 

armament before they were made 

public. In 1925, Bywater published The 

Great Pacific War expanding on his 

ideas about a future clash between 

Japanese and U.S. naval forces first 

outlined in Sea Power in the Pacific. 

The novel takes place in 1931 and 

begins with a suicide attack by a 

Japanese freighter that blocks the 

Panama Canal and is followed by a 

surprise attack by the Japanese 

Imperial Navy against the U.S. Pacific 

Fleet off Manila Bay, the seizure of the 

Philippines and Guam next to other 

territories, as well attacks and raids of 

Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast by 

Japanese submarines and seaplanes. 

The war ends after six years of heavy 

fighting, during which the Americans 

slowly encroached on Japan by 

employing a leapfrogging strategy. In 

the book, U.S. naval forces defeated the 

Imperial Japanese Navy in a climactic 

battle off the island of Yap in the 

Western Pacific. In the battle, the 

Japanese lose five battleships while the 

U.S. Navy loses only two. Japan finally 

capitulates following a U.S. air raid on 

Tokyo where U.S. aircraft drop bombs 

filled with leaflets urging the Japanese 

population to surrender rather than 

risk destruction of their homeland. 

It is important to emphasize that the 

novel does not describe an attack on 

Pearl Harbor, given that the naval base 

there had not been developed to 

accommodate a large fleet when 

Bywater wrote The Great Pacific War. 

Bywater did not anticipate the 

importance of aircraft carriers and air 

power in general, although carrierbased 

aircraft feature in the novel. (His 

climactic final battle of the war was still 

fought between capital ships.) He also 

did not foresee the importance of the 

torpedo and submarines. 

why Pakistan is affiliating 

Palestine issue with kashmir 

kunwAR kHulDune SHAHiD 

In his meeting with 

Palestinian ambassador 

Walid A.M. Abu Ali on 

Tuesday, Pakistan Army 

Chief Gen. Qamar Javed 

Bajwa said that "Pakistan 

views the unresolved 

Palestine issue at par with 

the Kashmir issue." 

In the Organization of 

Islamic Cooperation 

(OIC) on Wednesday, 

Prime Minister Shahid 

Khaqan Abbasi also 

juxtaposed Palestine and 

Kashmir, maintaining 

that Israeli control over 

Palestine is similar to 

Indian occupation of 

Kashmir. 

Similar efforts were 

witnessed on the sidelines 

of United Nations General 

Assembly in September, 

where Foreign Minister 

Khawaja Asif met Arab 

League Secretary General 

Ahmed Aboul Gheit to 

express "grave concern on 

the ongoing situation in 

Palestine and occupied 

Kashmir." 

The conflation perhaps 

got a bit carried away 

when the Pakistani envoy 

to the United Nations 

presented a picture from 

Gaza to make Islamabad's 

case for Kashmir. 

While Pakistan has 

always maintained that it 

sees the Palestinian issue 

with the same lens as 

Kashmir, it has 

traditionally been a 

gesture to highlight how 

important the former is 

for Islamabad. However, 

not only has Pakistan 

upped the ante on 

hyphenating the two in 

recent years, it seems to 

be using the Palestine 

cause as a vehicle for its 

narrative on Indianadministered 

Kashmir. 

This has been visible 

since Indian Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi's 

visit to Israel earlier this 

year, which not only 

symbolized tighter ties 

between the two states, 

but also gave birth to 

outrageous conspiracy 

theories in Pakistan. 

Modi's trip also had 

multiple joint references 

to "terrorism" affecting 

India and Israel, as 

exemplified by the Israeli 

foreign ministry's 

reiteration of "mutual 

cooperation in the fight 

against terrorism." And 

since militancy in 

Palestine and Kashmir 

has metamorphosed from 

nationalist to Islamist 

nature, these vows for 

counterterror unity was 

an attempt to collectively 

delegitimize freedom 

fights in both regions. 

With Islamist leaders 

orchestrating militancy in 

Kashmir being sanctioned 

by the West - like Syed 

Salahuddinand Hafiz 

Saeed, who was recently 

released by Lahore High 

Court - the rest of the 

world has long distanced 

itself from the Islamist 

struggle in Kashmir - 

unlike Palestine. 

Pakistan has been 

instrumental in 

delegitimizing its own 

narrative on Kashmir, by 

backing jihadist 

usurpation of the 

indigenous freedom 

struggle and also curbing 

human rights in its own 

administered Kashmir. 

This is why there hasn't 

been a single UN Security 

Council resolution on 

Kashmir since 1957, and 

47 on the Israel-Palestine 

issue. By hyphenating 

The rest of the world has long distanced 

itself from the islamist struggle in kashmir - 

unlike Palestine. 

Photo: Flickr 

Kashmir and Palestine, 

Pakistan is clearly bidding 

to bring its own narrative 

to the forefront. But what 

this is inadvertently doing 

is further damaging not 

only Islamabad's own 

position, but also both 

struggles, by reducing the 

conflicts to the Muslimnon 

Muslim binary, 

which is the way the 

jihadists see them. 

Relying on the Islamist 

card has long been 

Pakistan's strategy not 

only to ensure that the 

jihadist groups it backs 

remain ideologically 

fueled, but also because it 

has not had a leg to stand 

on when it comes to 

human rights. This is not 

only true for Pakistanadministered 

Kashmir 

and Balochistan - two 

conflict areas - but also 

the rest of the country, 

where many fundamental 

rights are constitutionally 

curbed. 

But Islamabad remains 

inconsistent even in the 

aforementioned Islamist 

binary, considering that 

China remains its 

economic lifeline while 

Beijing implements anti- 

Muslim policies, most 

notably in the Xinjiang 

region. That the China- 

Pakistan Economic 

Corridor connects 

Xinjiang and Balochistan 

at its two ends perfectly 

symbolizes not just 

disregard for human 

rights, but Islamabad's 

own duplicity over a non- 

Muslim majority 

subjugating a Muslim 

separatist movement. 

And yet, ironically, 

Pakistan's own 

contradictions make the 

K a s h m i r - P a l e s t i n e 

hyphenation a perfectly 

rational strategy. 

Pakistan can't speak 

up for the East 

Turkestan Islamic 

Movement, obviously 

fearing Chinese 

backlash. And it can't 

undo many human 

rights breaches at home 

since both Pakistanadministered 

Kashmir 

and Balochistan have 

separatist movements of 

their own, while the rest 

of the country is 

increasingly coming 

under the influence of 

the perilous mullahmilitary 

alliance. Hence, 

Islamabad is pinning its 

hopes on Palestine to 

keep the Kashmir issue 

alive. 

Jordan’s strategy on 

employing refugees 

The meeting signals continuing convergence between new Delhi and Canberra. 

First Two-Plus-Two Foreign and 

Defense Secretaries meeting 

between Australia and india 

AnkiT PAnDA 

In a first, the top diplomatic and 

defense bureaucrats of the Indian and 

Australian governments met this week 

for a so-called two-plus-two meeting. 

Indian Foreign Secretary S. 

Jaishankar and Defense Secretary 

Sanjay Mitra hosted Australian 

Secretary of the Department of Foreign 

Affairs and Trade Frances Adamson 

and Secretary of the Department of 

Defense Greg Moriarty in New Delhi 

for the meetings. According to a 

statement released by the Indian 

Ministry of External Affairs, the 

meeting covered "All aspects of 

bilateral relations with a focus on 

strategic and defence relations between 

the two countries." 

In November, representatives from 

both India and Australia participated 

in a working-level quadrilateral 

meeting with representatives from 

Japan and the United States. 

This so-called "Quad" had originally 

met in 2007 and the latest meeting 

focused on the concept of a "free and 

open Indo-Pacific," an idea that all four 

sides backed in statements released 

after the working-level meeting. 

Unsurprisingly, the India-Australia 

two-plus-two meeting referenced the 

idea: "Both sides agreed that a free, 

open, prosperous and inclusive Indo- 

Pacific region serves the long-term 

interests of all countries in the region 

and of the world at large," the Indian 

Ministry of External Affairs noted in its 

statement. 

On regional security matters, 

India and Australia have seen a fair 

bit of convergence recently. The two 

countries conduct bilateral naval 

exercises in the Indian Ocean, and 

Australia may potentially 

participate in the trilateral U.S.- 

India-Japan Malabar drill in the 

coming year. 

In 2017, Australia, despite its 

interest, did not participate in the 

Malabar drills, owing to Indian 

hesitation. The Indian Navy 

nevertheless joined its Australian 

Photo: Collected 

counterpart for the AUSINDEX drill 

this year. 

Earlier this year, Australian Prime 

Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited 

New Delhi for a four-day state visit, 

where he met with his Indian 

counterpart Narendra Modi. 

The joint statement released by 

the two leaders during that visit, 

which described them as "partners 

in the Indo-Pacific," focused 

considerably on regional issues. 

"The two Prime Ministers 

reaffirmed their commitment to a 

peaceful and prosperous Indo- 

Pacific, based on mutual respect 

and cooperation. Australia and 

India share a commitment to 

democratic values, rule of law, 

international peace and security, 

and shared prosperity," the 

statement noted. 

"The strategic and economic 

interests of both countries are 

converging which opens up 

opportunities for working together 

in a rapidly changing region." 

DAniel HowDen 

Every day at 6am, Fatima waits outside 

the gates of Jordan's largest refugee 

camp for a bus that takes her and 18 

other Syrian refugee women to work in 

a factory an hour's drive away. 

It is the first job the 37-year-old 

mother of five from Damascus has ever 

had. Fatima has been mute since birth. 

She uses an improvised sign language 

to explain that her husband is lazy and 

spends his days smoking in their 

makeshift home in the vast Zaatari 

refugee camp, which houses 80,000 

people near the border with Syria. 

The women's commute takes them to 

a cheerful modern factory that is at the 

forefront of a crucial economic 

experiment in Jordan, which is trying 

to find work for vast numbers of 

Syrians driven into the country by the 

war across the border. 

The Jerash Garments & Fashions 

Manufacturing Company, a factory 

with 2,800 employees, is run by 

Oryana Awaisheh, a Jordanian who 

quit teaching to move into the business. 

Awaisheh is among the pioneers trying 

to take up the opportunity of the 

Jordan compact - an international aid 

experiment under which Jordan has 

been offered concessional loans and 

preferential trade terms in return for 

opening its labour market to some of 

the estimated 1.3 million refugees who 

fled there during the war in Syria. 

There has been strong support for the 

compact from the UK and the EU, 

where politicians see it as a way of 

persuading the millions of Syrians 

taking refuge in neighbouring 

countries to stay in the region. 

Awaisheh set out to hire refugees as 

soon as she heard it would give her 

factory access to EU markets without 

normal tariff barriers. But the deal is 

only open to businesses that can meet 

the requirement of having a 15% Syrian 

refugee workforce. 

"From where will I bring 500 

Syrians? They were not accepting to 

work here," she said. Indeed, initially 

Awaisheh found it was impossible to 

get any refugees with the right skills 

who would work in a factory. 

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, 

was given the job of drumming up 

interest among Syrian refugees in the 

camps. But Dina Khayyat, vice-chair of 

the Jordan Garment Accessories & 

Textile Exporters Association, watched 

as the early enthusiasm hit a wall. 

Few Syrians showed up and those 

who did had little interest in working in 

factories. Ultimately, no Syrians were 

hired. "It was not a success story," 

Khayyat said. It was difficult to 

convince the Syrians to work in 

factories, as they were often earning 

better money in other sectors such as 

construction or in restaurants, which 

required less commitment. 

The garment sector also hires a 

largely female workforce. But many 

refugees in Jordan - and especially 

Zaatari - came from Syria's southern 

governorate of Daraa, a socially 

conservative agricultural area in which 

most women did not work outside the 

home. 

A number of refugess are currently employed at garments industry in Jordan. Photo: Alisa Reznick

NATIONAL 

FRIDAy, 

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY6 


Debigonj news24.com, an online news portal distributes blankets among the distressed women in 

Debiganj upazila of Panchagarh district here yesterday morning. 

Photo: TBT. 

Satkhira Press Club 

gets new body 

Our Correspondent, Satkhira: Satkhira Press Club got its new 

body yesterday with Professor Abu Ahmad, Editor of Dainik 

Kaler Chitro and Abdul Bari Joy of Dainik Dinkal as 

president and general secretary respectively. 

In the 13 members body other members are, vice-president 

Abdul Wazed of Daink Inqilab, joint-secretary, Golam 

Sarwar of Dainik Bonik Barta, organizing secretary 

Mohammad Rabiul Islam of Dainik Khoborpatro, treasurer 

Mosarraf Hossain of Dainik Kalerkantho and Literary 

Culture and Sports secretary, Amina Bilkis Moyna of Dainik 

Sottopath. 

Asim Biswas, Abdus Samad, Aminur Rashid, Ibrahim 

Khalil, Krishno Mohon won the post of executive members. 

However, among 74 voters 73 exercised therir voting 

rights. 

Making vitamin ‘A’ 

plus campaign 

successful stressed 

RAJSHAHI: Speakers at meeting here today 

urged all the authorities concerned to make 

the forthcoming December 23 National 

vitamin 'A' plus campaign-2017 (Second 

round) a success aiming to address vitamin 

deficiency disorders among babies, reports 

BSS. 

They said vitamin 'A' supplement is 

essential for the normal functioning of the 

visual system, maintenance of cell function 

for growth, red blood cell production, 

immunity and reproduction. 

Besides, various problems like eyesight 

and night blindness could be prevented and 

cured through successful implementation of 

the campaign, thespeakers said. 

Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) 

organised the orientation and planning 

meeting in association with Institute of 

Public Health Nutrition and National 

Nutrition Services (IPHNNS) at its 

conference hall ahead of the campaign. 

Chaired by RCC Panel Mayor Nurunnahar 

Begum, the meeting was addressed, among 

others, by RCC Mayor Musaddeque Hossain 

Martyrdom anniversary 

of Birshreshtha Jahangir 

observed 

CHAPAINAWABGANJ, Dec 14, 2017 (BSS) - The 46th 

martyrdom anniversary of Birshreshtha Shahid Captain 

Mohiuddin Jahangir was observed in a befitting manner 

here yesterday, reports BSS. 

Freedom fighters, Chapainawabganj district 

administration, Chapainawabganj Zila Parishad, police 

administration and other political and cultural organisations 

offered wreaths at Birshreshtha monument in the morning at 

Rehaichar where he breathed his last on this day in 1971. 

Deputy commissioner of Chapainawabganj Md Mahmudul 

Hasan, superintendent of police of Chapainawabganj TM 

Mojahidul Islam, freedom fighters Ruhul Amin, Abdus 

Samad and Sirajul Islam, other officials of district and 

upazila administrations, police officials and other freedom 

fighters were present. 

Birshreshtha Jahangir sacrificed his life on this day in 1971. 

After a fierce fighting, the then Nawabganj subdivision was 

freed from the clutches of the Pakistani occupation forces 

and their collaborators under his valiant leadership on the 

day. 

Later, a group of freedom fighters recovered the body from 

Rehaichar, the southern part of Birshreshtha Shahid Captain 

Mohiuddin Jahangir Bridge, on 15 December morning and 

buried it on the Choto SonaMosque premises under Shibganj 

police station. 

Bulbul, Assistant Director of Department of 

Health Dr Ismat Ara, UNICEF Programme 

Officer Roma Shaha, Primary Education 

Officer Gofran Halim, RCC Chief Executive 

Officer Shah Mumin and its Chief Health 

Officer Dr Anjuman Ara Begum. 

During his power-point presentation, 

IPHNNS Deputy Programme Manager Dr 

Abdul Alimi said the vitamin 'A' plus 

supplement is helpful for reducing severity 

and duration of illnesses associated with 

pneumonia and diarrhea. 

Children should begin vitamin 'A' 

supplement at the age of six months, but 

unfortunately children aged between 6 and 9 

months do not get the supplement despite 

various interventions, said Dr Alimi. 

Mayor Bulbul urged the district-level 

officials to organise orientation for 

volunteers at ward-level so that they can do 

their work properly and effectively. 

The national Vitamin 'A' plus campaign 

will be observed across the country to 

prevent childhood blindness, reduce child 

mortality and strengthen their immunity. 

Rich tributes paid to martyred 

intellectuals in Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI: All walks of life, including 

various political, socio-cultural, volunteer 

organisations and educational institutions, 

observed the Martyred Intellectuals Day 

here today paying rich tribute to the martyrs, 

reports BSS. 

In observance of the day, the organisations 

demanded completion of the trial process of 

the warcriminals and collaborators. As part 

of commemorating the day, different groups 

chalked out various programmes, including 

placing wreaths at Shaheed Minar, photo 

exhibition, public gathering, discussion and 

candle lighting on mass graves throughout 

the day. Local units of Bangladesh Awami 

League and its front organisations placed 

wreaths at Rajshahi College Shaheed Minar 

early in the morning, followed by a brief 

meeting highlighting the significance of the 

day. 

Local unit of the Workers Party of 

Bangladesh arranged a candle lighting 

programme at Bablaban mass-grave apart 

from placing wreaths on the memorial 

plaque. 

Meanwhile, Rajshahi University (RU) and 

Rajshahi University of Engineering and 

Technology (Ruet) observed the day 

through daylong elaborate programmes like 

placing wreaths at Shaheed Minar, 

discussion and milad mahfil. RU Vice- 

Chancellor Prof Abdus Sobhan, Pro-Vice- 

Chancellor Prof Ananda Kumar Shaha, and 

other teachers, officers and students of the 

university placed wreaths at Shaheed Minar 

this morning. 

Govt builds 

houses for Natore 

freedom fighters 

NATORE: Freedom 

fighters of the district are 

very happy as they have 

been provided with 

accommodation facilities at 

Bir Nibash, houses 

exclusively made for 

freedom fighters, by the 

government, reports BSS. 

Following the directives 

of Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina, the Local 

Government and 

Engineering Department 

(LGED) in Natore had 

taken initiative to build 23 

houses for landless and 

distress freedom fighters. 

The LGED is 

implementing the project in 

six upazilas of the district 

under the ministry of Local 

Government and Rural 

Development (LGRD) at a 

cost of Taka 1.83 crore, said 

executive engineer of LGED 

Subash Kumar Sarker. 

LGED office sources said 

a total of 15 houses have 

almost been completed. Of 

the houses, 12 have been 

handed over to the freedom 

fighters of Sadar, 

Bagatipara and Gurudaspur 

upazilas. 

Of the 23 houses, eight in 

Sadar, seven in Lalpur, four 

in Naldanga and four in 

Gurudaspur and Bagatipara 

upazila. Freedom fighters 

selected by Muktijoddha 

Sangsad respective of 

upazila and district 

commands will get 

accommodation at Bir 

Nibash houses. Birangona 

Golejan Beua, a freedom 

fighter from Chandrakola 

village in Sadarupazila, has 

no land. Now she is very 

happy as the government 

provided 

her 

accommodation facilities. "I 

had no house. The prime 

minister has given me a 

house with all facilities. I 

am grateful to her," she 

said. 

7th Nat'l debate 

championship 

begins today at JU 

JU CORRESPONDENT 

The 7th national debate 

championship begins today 

at Jahangirnagar University 

(JU) campus. 

Marking the 13th founding 

anniversary, Jahangirnagar 

University 

Debate 

Organisation (JUDO), the 

central debate organisation 

of the university, is going to 

arrange the event, told 

Shahin Reza, president of 

JUDO, told this at a press 

conference in JU Journalists 

Association (JUJA) office 

yesterday at around 3:00 

pm. 

The 5 days long debate 

competition is featured with 

inter university, inter collage 

and inter school debate 

competition. 

On Dec 15 and 16, inter 

university competition will 

be held at New Arts building 

where a total of 32 teams 

from 32 different public and 

private universities will 

participate the competitions. 

On Dec 21 and 22, inter 

school and inter college 

competition will be held at 

Jahir Raihan auditorium 

while a total of 32 teams will 

take part. The event will be 

concluded on Dec 23 with 

the final rounds of the 

competitions at Selim Al 

Deen Muktamancho in the 

evening. 

Martyred 

Intellectuals Day 

observed at JU 

SAVAR: The authorities of 

Jahangirnagar University 

(JU) today observed the 

Martyred Intellectual day 

with due respect and 

befitting manners, reports 

BSS. 

Marking the day, JU Vice- 

Chancellor (VC) Professor 

Farzana Islam placed a 

wreath at Mirpur Martyred 

Intellectual 

Memorial 

around 8:30 am. 

JU Treasurer Professor 

Sheikh Monjurul Huq, dean 

of different faculties, 

provosts of different 

dormitories, teachers of 

different departments and 

Institutes, officials and 

employees were present 

there. 

17 children come 

back after18 

months from India 

DINAJPUR: Indian 

immigration police today 

handed over 15 Bangladeshi 

children to the authority in 

the district, reports BSS. 

The children were living at 

an Observation Home in 

West Bengal for one and half 

a year for going India 

illegally. 

The children entered into 

Bangladesh through Hili 

border this noon, said 

Officer-in-Charge of Hili 

immigration police Md 

Aftab Hossain. 

The children are Jibon 

Rao, Roshidul Islam, Pradip 

Rao, Sumon Rao, Koilash 

Rao, Shonjit Rao, Shobuj 

Ali, Kamol Rao, Kamol Jali, 

Raton Rao. 

BU observes Martyred 

Intellectual Day 

TBT Report: Authorities of Barisal 

University (BU) yesterday observed 

Martyred Intellectual day paying homage 

to Martyred Intellectual who were killed 

by Pakistan occupation forces on 14 

December, 1971, yesterday. 

Wearing black badges, a procession was 

brought led by BU treasurer Mahbub 

Hasan while deans, registrar, proctors, 

provosts of halls, chairmen of 

departments, teachers, students and 

staffers-employees took part in it to place 

floral wreath at central Shaheed Minar of 

BU to pay homage to martyred 

intellectuals. 

A discussion meeting was also arranged 

to uphold the significance of the day at 

Kritankhola auditorium of the university 

around 10:00 in the morning. 

In the chair of BU Teachers' Association 

(BUTA) president, Fatema-Tuz-Johara , 

treasurer Mahbub Hasan spoke as the 

chief guest of the discussion. 

Zoology chairman and Environment 

Science Faculty dean, Dr. Mohammad 

Hasinur Rahman, provost of Sher-E- 

Bangla Hall, Mohammad Ibrahim Molla, 

Management Department Chairman 

Sakhawat Hossain, English Department 

Assistant Professor Tanvir Kaysar and 

Assistant Professor Mohammad Arif 

Hossain spoke at the discussion among 

notables. 

However, Mohammad Sirajis Sadik, 

general secretary of BUTA conducted the 

discussion. 

Netrakona ready to 

celebrate Victory day 

NETRAKONA: All preparations have been 

completed to celebrate the victory day on 

December 16, reports BSS. 

Netrakona district administration has 

chalked out an elaborate programme in line 

with the national programme to observe the 

day. Besides, different socio-cultural, 

political organizations including Awami 

League have chalked out various 

programmes to mark the day. 

The day's program will be formally started 

in the district town with firing of 31-gun 

salute and placing of floral wreaths at the 

Independence Memorial Monument here in 

the early hours on the day. 

As part of the programmes, people from 

all walks of life including political leaders, 

freedom fighters, officers and public 

representatives will place floral wreaths at 

the Independence memorial monument at 

Satpai at dawn. The national flag will be 

hoisted atop all the public and private 

buildings on the occasion. 

A colorful combined parade of police, 

Ansar, BNCC, boys scouts, girl guides, and 

children of different educational institutions 

and juvenile clubs will be held at local 

Muktarpara ground in the morning. 

Deputy commissioner of Netrakona Dr 

Musfiqur Rahman will formally take 

thesalute at the parade from a rostrum. 

The district information office will arrange 

screening of documentary film show on 

Liberation War for the school children at 

local Hiramon cinema hall at noon. 

A reception will be accorded to the 

freedom fighters and family members of 

martyred freedom fighters by the district 

administration at local public hall here. 

Netrakona Shishu academy will arrange 

an art, essay and cultural competition on 

liberation war for the school children at local 

Shishu academy in the afternoon. 

Improved diets will be served among the 

inmates of the hospitals, jails and 

orphanages, children family centers in the 

district by the government. Local daily 

newspapers will publish special 

supplements highlighting the significance of 

the day. 

A musical soiree based on "patriotic 

songs" will be arranged at Netrakona public 

hall in the evening under the auspices of the 

district administration. 

Martyred Intellectuals 

Day observed in Khulna 

KHULNA: People from all walks of life here 

today observed the 'Martyred Intellectuals 

Day' paying rich tributes to the country's 

national heros who were killed at the fag end 

of the War of Liberation, 1971, reports BSS. 

Leaders as well as activists of different 

political and socio-cultural organisations, 

government, non-government organisations 

and educational institutions placed wreaths 

at Gallamary Martyred Memorial in the city 

in the early hours of the day. 

The day's programme began with paying 

tributes by Khulna Muktijoddha Sangsad at 

the memorial at zero hour. 

Awami League, BNP, Jatiya Party 

(Ershad), Jasod, CPB, Vice-Chancellors of 

Khulna University (KU), Khulna University 

of Engineering and Technology (KUET), 

Khulna City Corporation (KCC), Khulna 

District Council, Khulna Divisional 

Commissioner, Khulna Press Club, Khulna 

Union of Journalists (KUJ), among others, 

paid homage to the great sons of the soil. 

Khulna city and district units of Awami 

League (AL) organised a discussion at the 

party office in the city marking the day where 

lawmakers Begum Monnuzan Sufian, 

Talukder Abdul Khaleque, Mizanur Rahman 

Mizan and administrator of Khulna district 

council Sheikh-Harun-ur-Rashid, among 

others, addressed. 

State minister inaugurates 

Bijoy Mela in Manikganj 

MANIKGANJ: State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Malek MP said that the 

government is implementing huge development projects to make the country a middle 

income nation, reports BSS. He said we have sufficient food, people were getting health 

service properly and the communication system developed visibly. 

The State Minister said this last evening when he was addressing as the chief guest in the 

inaugural function of fortnight long Bijoy Mela to mark the Manikganj free day at Manikganj 

Govt High School Play Ground here. The State Minister urged the people to elect the Awami 

League again in the next national election for allowing the present government to go ahead 

with the development programmes. 

Marking Martyred Intellectual Day yesterday the authorities of Barisal University bring a mourning 

procession yesterday. 

Photo: TBT.

INTERNATIONAL 

THE 


FRIDay, DECEMBER 15, 2017 

7 

MSF says the experiences recounted by refugees were "horrific". 

Photo: Internet. 

MSF estimates more than 6,700 

Rohingya killed in Myanmar 

At least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in 

the month after violence broke out in 

Myanmar in August, Medecins Sans 

Frontieres (MSF) says, reports BBC. 

Based on surveys of refugees in 

Bangladesh, the number is much higher 

than Myanmar's official figure of 400. 

MSF said it was "the clearest indication 

yet of the widespread violence" by 

Myanmar authorities. The Myanmar 

military blames the violence on 

"terrorists" and has denied any 

wrongdoing. 

More than 647,000 Rohingya have 

fled into Bangladesh since August, MSF 

says. The aid group's survey found that 

at least 9,000 Rohingya died in 

Myanmar, also known as Burma, 

between 25 August and 24 September. 

"In the most conservative estimations" 

at least 6,700 of those deaths have been 

caused by violence, including at least 

730 children under the age of five, 

according to MSF. Previously, the 

armed forces stated that around 400 

people had been killed, most of them 

described as Muslim terrorists. 

There have been plenty of detailed 

reports by journalists and researchers, 

based on interviews conducted with 

refugees, which make it hard to dispute 

that terrible human rights abuses took 

place at the hands of the security forces. 

But many of these reports focussed on 

the worst cases; there are several media 

reports about a massacre at one village 

called Tula Toli. Some Rohingya I 

interviewed told me they had fled in fear 

of violence, but had not actually 

experienced it. This well-researched 

figure by MSF suggests the operation 

conducted by the military was brutal 

enough to raise the possibility of taking 

a case to the International Criminal 

Court (ICC) for crimes against 

humanity. 

The problem would be that Myanmar 

has not ratified the Rome Statute of the 

ICC and is not bound to co-operate with 

it. Bringing a case would require the 

approval of all five permanent members 

of the UN Security Council, and China 

has until now given its full support to 

the Myanmar government's handling of 

the crisis. 

The military crackdown began on 25 

August after Rohingya Arsa militants 

attacked more than 30 police posts. 

After an internal investigation, the 

Myanmar army in November 

exonerated itself of any blame regarding 

the crisis. It denied killing any civilians, 

burning their villages, raping women 

and girls, and stealing possessions. The 

mostly Muslim minority are denied 

citizenship by Myanmar, where they are 

seen as immigrants from Bangladesh. 

The government does not use the term 

Rohingya but calls them Bengali 

Muslims. The government's assertions 

contradicted evidence seen by BBC 

correspondents. The United Nations 

human rights chief has said it seems like 

"a textbook example of ethnic 

cleansing". 

"What we uncovered was staggering, 

both in terms of the numbers of people 

who reported a family member died as a 

result of violence, and the horrific ways 

in which they said they were killed or 

severely injured," MSF Medical Director 

Sidney Wong said. 

According to MSF: 

69% of the violence-related deaths 

were caused by gunshots 9% were due 

to being burnt to death in their houses 

5% were beaten to death. Among the 

dead children below the age of five, MSF 

says more than 59% were reportedly 

shot, 15% burnt to death, 7% beaten to 

death and 2% killed by landmine blasts. 

"The numbers of deaths are likely to be 

an underestimation. 

OIC declares East Jerusalem 

as Palestinian capital 

The Organisation of Islamic 

Cooperation (OIC) has 

declared East Jerusalem as 

the capital of Palestine, 

rejected the US stance as 

"dangerous" and called on 

the international 

community to follow in its 

footsteps, reports Al Jazeera. 

At a summit held in 

Turkey a week after US 

President Donald Trump 

declared Jerusalem as 

Israel's capital, the group of 

Muslim leaders on 

Wednesday called on all 

countries to "recognise the 

State of Palestine and East 

Jerusalem as its occupied 

capital". In a statement, the 

OIC added that the 57- 

member group remains 

committed to a "just and 

comprehensive peace based 

on the two-state solution". 

It also called on the UN to 

"end the Israeli occupation" 

of Palestine and declared 

Trump's administration 

liable for "all the 

consequences of not 

retracting from this illegal 

decision". "[We] consider 

that this dangerous 

declaration, which aims to 

change the legal status of the 

[city], is null and void and 

lacks any legitimacy," the 

group said. 

Marwan Bishara, Al 

Jazeera's senior political 

analyst, said the summit in 

Istanbul highlighted that 

Palestinians, Arabs and 

Muslims continue to be 

committed to peace. "Now, 

Muslim countries in 

addition to a whole lot of 

others that are allied with 

the Palestinian cause will 

recognise Jerusalem as the 

capital of Palestine," he said. 

"And those Islamic 

countries are ready to sever 

relations to punish any one 

country that follows in the 

footsteps of the United 

States in recognising 


Israel." Speaking earlier on 

Wednesday, Yousef al- 

Othaimeen, the OIC's 

secretary general, rejected 

the US decision and urged 

Muslim leaders to work 

together to present a united 

response to the move. "The 

OIC rejects and condemns 

the American decision," he 

said. "This is a violation of 

international law ... and this 

is a provocation of the 

feelings of Muslims within 

the world. "It will create a 

situation of instability in the 

region and in the world." 

Speaking before al- 

Othaimeen, Palestinian 

President Mahmoud Abbas 

said the US had 

"disqualified" itself from 

future Israel-Palestine peace 

talks after proving its "bias 

in favour of Israel". Founded 

in 1969, the OIC bills itself as 

"the collective voice of the 

Muslim world". Trump 

announced on December 6 

that the US formally 

recognises Jerusalem as the 

capital of Israel and will 

begin the process of moving 

its embassy to the city, 

breaking with decades of US 

policy. 

The decision violated 

international law, according 

to Abbas. "We shall not 

accept any role for the 

United States in the peace 

process, they have proven 

their full bias in favour of 

Israel," he said. "Jerusalem 

is and always will be the 

capital of Palestine." 

Palestinians envisage East 

Jerusalem as the capital of a 

future state. Israel, 

meanwhile, says Jerusalem, 

which is under Israeli 

occupation, cannot be 

divided. The comments by 

Abbas, president of the 

Palestinian Authority (PA) 

were seen as his strongest 

yet on the issue. Al Jazeera's 

Hoda Abdel-Hamid, 

reporting from Ramallah, 

said Palestinians were "very 

frustrated" after seeing 

"many agreements and 

many condemnations" but 

"nothing really changing for 

them on the ground". 

"When you ask them who 

they hold responsible for 

that, they say certainly the 

PA, their own leadership," 

she said, citing Palestinians' 

disappointment about the 

disunity among their 

different political factions. 

Abdel-Hamid also said 

that "there is a belief among 

many Palestinians that 

Trump's Jerusalem move 

couldn't have happened 

without the green light of 

Saudi Arabia". The Istanbul 

summit was attended by just 

over 20 heads of state. Saudi 

Arabia, the host of the OIC 

headquarters, sent only a 

senior foreign ministry 

official. Others, including 

Egypt, deployed their 

foreign ministers. 

Palestinian President 

Mahmoud Abbas 

announces in no uncertain 

terms that the PA "will not 

accept or allow for the #US 

government to play a role in 

mediating a peace deal". His 

strongest statement since. 

The extraordinary OIC 

summit was called for by 

Turkish President Recep 

Tayyip Erdogan following 

Trump's announcement. 

Speaking at the meeting, 

Erdogan accused Israel of 

being a "state of terror" and 

said the US' recognition of 


Israel had been rebuked by 

the international 

community. 

"It is null and void … 

except Israel, no country in 

the world has supported 

[this decision]," he said. 

"Anyone who walks a few 

minutes in the streets. 

In blow to May, UK lawmakers 

assert final say on Brexit deal 

British lawmakers delivered a blow to 

Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit 

plans Wednesday by giving 

Parliament the final say on any exit 

agreement the government reaches 

with the European Union, reports 

UNB. 

The House of Commons voted 309- 

305 to give lawmakers what is 

essentially a veto on the terms of 

Brexit, a challenge to May's fragile 

authority amid the already strained 

disentanglement process. The vote 

came on the eve of a major EU 

summit. 

A dozen lawmakers from the prime 

minister's governing Conservative 

Party sided with the opposition to 

insist that any withdrawal deal with 

the EU requires an act of Parliament 

to take effect. May had promised 

lawmakers a "meaningful vote" on the 

departure agreement, but political 

opponents and some within her own 

party said her assurance was not 

enough of a guarantee. The vote was 

the government's first defeat in 

Parliament on its Brexit legislation. 

It came as an amendment to the EU 

Withdrawal Bill, the government's 

flagship piece of Brexit legislation. The 

bill itself, which still is moving 

through Parliament, would convert 

some 12,000 EU laws into British 

statutes on the day the U.K. leaves the 

bloc in March 2019. Without it, 

Britain could face a legal black hole 

the day after Brexit. 

The government said it was 

disappointed with the result and 

would see whether changes were now 

needed to the "essential" legislation. If 

the amendment survives a final vote 

on the withdrawal bill, it would not 

have a direct impact on Britain's 

negotiations with the EU. But it could 

reinforce perceptions in the bloc that 

May lacks authority. It increases 

pressure on May, who is caught 

between the opposing wings of a 

government and Parliament deeply 

split over Brexit. The vote was hailed 

India's Modi duels 

with his 

predecessor amid 

local election 

Against the backdrop of a 

bitterly fought local election, 

India is witnessing the 

unusual spectacle of Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi 

locked in a bitter verbal duel 

with his predecessor and 

accusing the opposition of 

holding secret meetings with 

Pakistani officials to impact 

the vote, reports UNB. 

Modi, who swept to power 

in 2014 national polls, threw 

the first punch over the 

weekend when he alluded to 

"secret meetings" at a dinner 

at a senior Congress party 

leader's home to allege that 

archrival Pakistan was 

somehow meddling in the 

ongoing election in his home 

state of Gujarat. The 

unsubstantiated claims 

prompted a sharply worded 

response from former Prime 

Minister Manmohan Singh, 

a guest at the dinner party 

and a man known more for 

awkward silence than angry 

words. In a written 

statement, Singh accused 

Modi of dealing in "falsehood 

and canards" because he 

feared "imminent defeat in 

Gujarat." "I reject the 

innuendos and falsehoods," 

Singh said, adding that he 

did not discuss the Gujarat 

election with anyone else at 

the Dec. 6 dinner. 

Singh even released the 

dinner party's guest list. 

Apart from Singh, the list 

included former army 

generals, ex-government 

ministers, journalists, 

academics, India's former 

Muslim vice president and 

diplomats from the Pakistan 

High Commission. The 

western state of Gujarat is 

Modi's home turf. He ruled 

it, without any real 

opposition, for over a decade 

before he arrived at the 

national center stage. The 

election that is underway 

there is being called the 

closest fight that Modi and 

his Hindu nationalist 

Bharatiya Janata Party have 

faced in two decades. 

Even though Modi no 

longer heads the state, the 

election has become a 

referendum of sorts on his 

popularity and that of his 

party. 

by those who support a "soft Brexit" - 

in which Britain continues to align 

closely with the EU - as a sign that the 

government will have to pay more 

attention to Parliament, where pro- 

EU forces are in a majority. 

Pro-EU Conservative lawmaker 

Dominic Grieve, who drafted the 

amendment, said it ensured 

Parliament did not give the 

government a "blank check" on Brexit. 

EU leaders, including May, open a 

two-day summit Thursday during 

which they are slated to agree that 

there has been "sufficient progress" 

for Brexit talks to move to the second 

phase of future relations and trade, a 

subject Britain wants to open as soon 

as possible. 

Earlier Wednesday, the EU's chief 

Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said 

there could be "no turning back" for 

Britain on commitments made during 

an initial divorce deal between the 

two. He spoke after his U.K. 

counterpart insisted it was merely a 

"statement of intent." 

Barnier told legislators at the 

European Parliament that the 

negotiations so far have been 

"extremely complex and 

extraordinary" but insisted he had 

made no concessions to the British 

side. U.K. negotiator David Davis riled 

officials in Brussels by suggesting on 

the weekend that the deal was less 

than cast in stone. The initial deal 

involved agreement on keeping a 

transparent border between EU 

member Ireland and the U.K.'s 

Northern Ireland, as well as 

guarantees on citizens' rights. 

But, Barnier said, "progress has 

been noted and recorded and is going 

to have to be translated into a legally 

binding withdrawal agreement." The 

European Parliament's chief Brexit 

official, Guy Verhofstadt, said Davis 

had assured him "it is absolutely not 

his intention, not the intention of the 

U.K. government, to backtrack on 

their commitments." 

During the debate Conservative MPs from both sides of the Brexit debate 

clashed. 

Photo: Internet. 

Theresa May is due at a summit in Brussels, 

hours after Conservative rebels in the 

Commons defeated the government in a key 

Brexit vote, reports BBC. 

MPs backed an amendment giving them a 

legal guarantee of a vote on the final Brexit 

deal struck with Brussels. One rebel, Stephen 

Hammond, was sacked by the prime 

minister as party vice chairman in the 

aftermath of the vote. Other EU member 

states could decide to move forward to trade 

talks with the UK at their two-day summit. 

The negotiations are first expected to focus 

on agreeing a temporary arrangement that 

will kick in as soon as the UK leaves the EU 

in March 2019. 

On the eve of the summit, Mrs May 

suffered her first Commons defeat as prime 

minister by just four votes, as MPs backed an 

amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill by 

309 to 305. 

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was a 

"humiliating loss of authority" for the prime 

minister. Unless it is overturned by the 

government at a later stage, it means MPs 

will get to vote on the final deal reached with 

Brussels before it is ratified. The government 

had previously offered a vote. But critics 

wanted a guarantee that this would be 

"meaningful", claiming the bill gave 

ministers the power to bypass Parliament in 

implementing the withdrawal agreement. 

Dominic Grieve MP, who tabled the 

amendment, said the bill "couldn't be 

allowed to stay in the condition it was in". 

The former attorney general, told BBC One's 

Newsnight: "The right thing is carrying out 

Brexit in an orderly, sensible way, which has 

a proper process to it." He said Parliament's 

ability to interfere with Brexit negotiations 

was "limited", adding: "I've been studious in 

Britain is due to leave the bloc in 

March 2019, but a Brexit deal will 

have to be agreed by the fall of 2018 to 

give national parliaments time to 

approve it. 

European Union Council President 

Donald Tusk warned Tuesday that it 

would be a "furious race against time" 

to finish Brexit negotiations by 

autumn. 

Bermuda Senate votes to 

end same-sex marriage in 

territory 

The Senate in Bermuda gave final 

legislative approval Wednesday to 

a measure that would end same-sex 

marriage in the British island 

territory and allow only domestic 

partnerships, reports UNB. 

Senators approved the Domestic 

Partnership Act by an 8-3 vote. The 

House of Assembly approved it 24- 

10 on Friday. It must now be signed 

by the governor before it becomes 

law in the Atlantic ocean territory. 

A Supreme Court ruling in May 

made same-sex marriages legal in 

Bermuda amid opposition on the 

socially conservative island. The 

ruling Progressive Labor Party took 

up the matter after winning power 

in the July election. 

Opponents of the legislation said 

that it would be unprecedented to 

strip the right to same-sex 

marriage after it had been granted 

in a jurisdiction and that global 

reaction could hurt the tourism 

industry. They said it is 

discriminatory because same-sex 

couples would have only the option 

of domestic partnerships while 

opposite-sex couples could choose 

between marriage or a domestic 

partnership. 

Brexit bill: May heads to 

Brussels after EU vote loss 

not trying to interfere with the government's 

negotiating strategy, I've hardly asked a 

question." The government said in a 

statement: "We are disappointed that 

Parliament has voted for this amendment 

despite the strong assurances that we have 

set out. "We are as clear as ever that this Bill, 

and the powers within it, are essential. 

"This amendment does not prevent us 

from preparing our statute book for exit day. 

We will now determine whether further 

changes are needed to the Bill to ensure it 

fulfils its vital purpose."Speaking after the 

vote, ministers said the "minor setback" 

would not prevent the UK leaving the EU in 

2019. It's the first time that Theresa May has 

been defeated on her own business in the 

Commons. She has to front-up in Brussels 

tomorrow with other EU leaders only hours 

after an embarrassing loss in Parliament. 

Beyond the red faces in government 

tonight, does it really matter? Ministers 

tonight are divided on that. Two cabinet 

ministers have told me while it's 

disappointing, it doesn't really matter in the 

big picture. 

It's certainly true that the Tory party is so 

divided over how we leave the EU that the 

Parliamentary process was always going to 

be very, very choppy. But another minister 

told me the defeat is "bad for Brexit" and was 

openly frustrated and worried about their 

colleagues' behaviour. The EU Withdrawal 

Bill is a key part of the government's exit 

strategy. Its effects include ending the 

supremacy of EU law and copying existing 

EU law into UK law, so the same rules and 

regulations apply on Brexit day. MPs have 

been making hundreds of attempts to 

change its wording - but this is the first time 

one has succeeded.

ART & CULTURE 

fRIDAY, 

DeceMBeR 15, 2017 

8 

Kobori and Safa Kabir working 

together in a Victory Day drama 

After hosting a perfect 

wedding of their 

daughter Anushka 

Sharma in the 

picturesque locales of 

Italy, parents Ajay 

Kumar Sharma and 

Ashima Sharma 

returned to the country 

late on Wednesday 

night., reports The 

Indian Express. 

Accompanying them 

was Anushka's brother 

and Clean Slate Films 

co-founder Karnesh 

Sharma. The Sharma 

family has returned to 

Mumbai sans Anushka 

and soon will be 

prepping up for her and 

son-in-law Virat Kohli's 

Delhi reception which is 

scheduled for December 

21 at the Durbar Hall, 

Taj Diplomatic Enclave. 

The pictures of the 

invites of Delhi 

reception have already 

gone viral on social 

media. 

Also, on Wednesday, 

filmmaker Mahesh 

Bhatt gave Virushka 

fans a glimpse of the 

Mumbai reception 

invites on his Twitter 

handle. 

Sharing the photo, 

Bhatt wrote, "They made 

it ! Our heartiest 

congratulations to 

Anushka & Virat. We 

pray that this love story 

goes on forever and 

ever. 

Amen !@imVkohli 

@anushkasharma." 

Interestingly, Virat and 

Anushka have gone 

environment-friendly 

with the invite as it has a 

plant sapling attached to 

it. Visibly, the couple 

wants their guests to 

plant a tree. Well, this 

sapling on the invitation 

card reminds us of their 

planting a sapling 

together in Sri Lanka 

earlier in the year. 

The newlyweds who 

tied the knot on 

December 11 have 

planned to host a 

reception for both the 

cricket and the cinema 

fraternity in Mumbai on 

December 26. The who's 

who of both the 

industries are expected 

to extend their warm 

greetings to Virat and 

Anushka at their 

wedding reception. Also, 

it is known that after the 

DeSK RepoRt 

Kobori and Safa Kabir, 

two popular actresses of 

Bangladeshi showbiz 

world have started work 

together in a drama of 

Victory day, this year. 

Filming of the part of 

Safa Kabir has started 

on December 12, the 

drama titled Dateline 

2017, directed and 

scripted by Sajjad 

Hossain Dodul. Safa 

Kabir played the role of 

Kobori's daughter in the 

play. It has been made 

to telecast on 

Banglavision on Dec 16, 

Victory Day. 

For sharing the work 

experience, Safa Kabir 

said, "It is really a great 

luck for me to get the 

opportunity to act with 

Kobori Madam in this 

play. I shall remember 

this experience for my 

lifetime. She is such a 

legendary actress who 

co-operate me and also 

love me during shooting. 

Before shooting we took 

part in rehearsal to 

make the shot perfect. I 

couldn't express my 

feelings in a word to 

describe these. I am 

really grateful to Dodul 

Bhai and also showing 

respect to Kobori 

Madam." 

Anushka's Mumbai reception invite has 

an important message attached to it 

Delhi reception the 

couple will shift to their 

Worli residence in 

Mumbai. 

After hosting both the 

wedding receptions, 

Anushka and Virat will fly 

to South Africa where the 

Indian skipper will start 

prepping for the upcoming 

series and Anushka will 

spend New Year's Eve with 

him and return in the first 

week of January to begin 

the next schedule of Anand 

L Rai's film with Shah 

Rukh Khan in Mumbai. 

Star Wars 

'It's time for a female or 

non-white director' 

The director of the latest Star Wars 

movie has said it's time an episode in 

the series was entrusted to a female 

and/or non-white film-maker, 

reports BBC. 

"Hell yes it's time," said Rian 

Johnson at a press conference for Star 

Wars: The Last Jedi in central London. 

"There are so many incredibly talented 

female directors, directors of colour 

out there, and so many that I would 

love to see play in this universe." Every 

Star Wars director from George Lucas 

on has been a white man. 

The Last Jedi and its predecessor, 

2015's The Force Awakens, have been 

praised for having a female lead 

character and an ethnically diverse 

cast. Yet the director's chair has 

remained an all-male preserve, 

despite the woman in charge of the 

series - Lucasfilm president Kathleen 

Kennedy - expressing a desire for it to 

have a female occupant "when the 

time is right". 

New additions to the Star Wars 

ensemble in The Last Jedi include 

Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro 

and Kelly Marie Tran, the first Asian- 

American actress to have a lead role in 

the series. 

'Harvey Weinstein was my 

monster': Salma Hayek 

Mexican-born actress Salma 

Hayek has joined the ranks of 

Hollywood women accusing 

movie producer Harvey 

Weinstein of sexual misconduct, 

calling him a "monster" in an 

article published by the New 

York Times on Tuesday, reports 

Reuters. 

"For years, he was my 

monster," Hayek wrote in the 

opinion piece in which she 

included descriptions of sexual 

harassment, bullying and 

threats. Holly Baird, a 

spokeswoman for Weinstein, 

issued a statement on his behalf 

on Wednesday night disputing 

Hayek's account and calling her 

allegations of sexual misconduct 

inaccurate. 

More than 50 women have 

claimed that Weinstein sexually 

harassed or assaulted them over 

the past three decades. 

Weinstein has denied having 

non-consensual sex with 

anyone. Reuters has been unable 

to independently confirm any of 

Tran, 28, said she "felt at home" on 

the set despite being "this complete 

new person", adding that she would be 

"reliving those moments we had on set 

for the rest of my life in my mind". 

Rian Johnson, whose previous films 

include Brick and Looper, said it "felt 

good" for the franchise "to reflect the 

world a little more closely as it is today 

and how it looks around us". 

Yet he promised this would not 

extend to taking the series to Earth. 

He's been invited to create a new Star 

Wars trilogy once the current trilogy 

concludes in 2019. 

"In so far as it is within my power, I 

solemnly promise that Luke Skywalker 

will never fade up into modern-day 

New York, even though it would be a 

really funny fish-out-of-water story," 

he joked. 

In The Last Jedi, Daisy Ridley's 

character Rey is seen seeking tutelage 

from Luke, who is discovered living a 

reclusive existence on a remote planet 

called Ahch-To. It subsequently 

emerged that the royals had shot a 

scene in which they were disguised as 

stormtroopers, the helmet-wearing 

soldiers of the film's villain. 

Johnson, though, told reporters he 

the accusations against 

Weinstein. 

Hayek's 

spokeswoman had no 

immediate comment on 

Wednesday. Police in New York, 

Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and 

London have said they are 

investigating allegations of 

sexual assault or rape by 

Weinstein. 

Hayek wrote in the article that 

she was inspired to share her 

experiences after other women 

came forward. Her account 

largely centered around the time 

she was involved with making 

the 2002 film, "Frida," in which 

she portrayed Mexican painter 

Frida Kahlo. Hayek wrote that 

she was pleased to have the 

opportunity to work with 

Weinstein and Miramax, which 

he then owned, because it was 

"synonymous with quality, 

sophistication and risk taking in 

films." But, she wrote, she found 

herself rebuffing sexual 

advances and requests from 

Weinstein. 

could "neither confirm nor deny" such 

a scene was filmed, or whether 

William and Harry had made it into 

the final edit. 

This was despite Boyega claiming on 

TV earlier in the day that the scene had 

been axed and that he had personally 

apologised to the princes at Tuesday 

night's premiere. 

Speaking at Wednesday's press 

conference, Ridley admitted she hadn't 

found showing the royals around the 

Pinewood set an entirely comfortable 

experience. Leia, of course, is played by 

the late Carrie Fisher, who died last 

December shortly after completing her 

work on the new film. 

"Carrie was first and foremost a 

writer and that's how we first really 

connected," said Johnson. 

"I feel really lucky to have had even 

just a little bit of time to get to know 

her." 

Cast member Domhnall Gleeson, 

meanwhile, said Fisher had been 

"really generous" with her time and 

"amazingly big-hearted". "Nobody 

knew what was going to happen with 

Carrie, obviously, and I love that Rian 

wrote her a beautiful film," the Irish 

actor said. 

H o R o S c o p e 

ARIeS 

(March 21 - April 20): You must be 

totally honest with yourself about 

what you want and what you are 

prepared to do to get it. Only then can 

you decide if the sacrifices you will have to make 

are worth it. Don't do anything that makes you 

feel bad about yourself. 

tAURUS 

(April 21 - May 21): It may seem as if 

others are getting the breaks while you 

have to struggle but don't feel hard 

done by because it's really not that 

bad. It is also toughening you up so that when a 

big opportunity does arise you will be ready for it. 

GeMINI 

(May 22 - June 21): The most 

important thing now is that you have 

faith in yourself. Without it you 

won't get far and even if you do get 

far there won't be much satisfaction in what you 

accomplish. You can and you will triumph 

against the odds. 

cANceR 

(June 22 - July 23): Stop searching so 

hard for answers in the world around 

you and turn your focus inward to 

where the real answers can be found. 

Deep down you already know the direction your 

life should be moving in. Now bring that 

realization to the surface. 

Leo 

(July 24 - Aug. 23): No matter how 

outrageous the thoughts that come into 

your head over the next 24 hours may be 

you must take them seriously because 

they could be the keys to your future prosperity. If 

you can imagine it you can do it, it's that as simple. 

VIRGo 

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Try not to think 

of yourself as separate from other 

people or you will feel cut off from 

what is going on around you. 

Remind yourself today that we are all part of a 

greater whole and that none of us can ever be 

truly alone. 

LIBRA 

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): This is an 

important time for relationships and 

Mercury's move into your opposite 

sign may bring some unwelcome news. 

But if you look on the bright side and look for ways 

to turn this development around it could still work 

in your favour. 

ScoRpIo 

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): You will be asking 

yourself a lot of questions over the next 

24 hours and the answers you get will be 

of the utmost importance. Where your 

work is concerned you should aim to do less while 

doing it better. Don't run yourself into the ground. 

SAGIttARIUS 

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): There is a danger 

that a project you are involved with is 

beginning to drift off course, most 

likely because you are trying to move 

too fast. Take time out today to check where you 

are going and, if necessary, make some minor 

adjustments. 

cApRIcoRN 

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): If there are doubts 

lurking at the back of your mind you 

must cast them out now before they 

have a chance to do harm. Try being 

more positive about your lifestyle and, in 

particular, about family relationships. How can 

you improve them? 

AQUARIUS 

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): If an unexpected 

obstacle stops you from moving in a 

particular direction today you should 

see it as a sign that the universe is trying 

to keep you from harm. The planets are trying to tell 

you something Aquarius. Be smart and listen. 

pISceS 

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): You need to keep 

up the pressure on someone who does 

not want you to have what is yours by 

right. If you ease off for even a 

moment they will take it as a sign you are 

beginning to weaken and reuse to play ball. Be 

relentless.

SPORTS 

FRIDAY, 

DECEMBER 15, 2017 

9 

Malan's century came in 221 minutes and off 159 balls, including 13 fours and a six. 

Mourinho 

reveals Bailly 

could be out 

for season 

MANCHESTER, United 

Kingdom, Dec 14, 2017 

(BSS/AFP) - Jose Mourinho 

admitted he is not certain if 

Manchester United 

defender Eric Bailly will play 

again this season after 

revealing he may need 

surgery on a persistent ankle 

injury. Bailly, 23, has not 

played for United since a 

defeat at Chelsea at the start 

of last month, having 

sustained the injury while on 

international duty with the 

Ivory Coast. 

And United manager 

Mourinho, who signed the 

centre-back from Villarreal 

last year, admits he is 

concerned by the lack of 

progress. 

Speaking 

after 

Wednesday's 1-0 victory 

over Bournemouth, 

Mourinho said: "I think it's 

serious. I don't know. It's an 

injury that comes from last 

time he went to the national 

team. 

"Since then we were trying 

a conservative treatment but 

if that conservative 

treatment is not resulting 

how we want, he will either 

have surgery or a procedure. 

Let's wait a little bit more. 

"I'm not a doctor, probably 

the doctor can inform you, 

there is nothing to hide. I 

don't want to be 

pessimistic." 

In Bailly's absence, 

England pair Chris Smalling 

and Phil Jones had 

established themselves as 

Mourinho's centre-back 

pairing of choice until 

Marcos Rojo returned from 

a long-term injury lay-off of 

his own recently. 

"Tonight, we had Smalling 

and Jones," said Mourinho. 

"Lindelof was on the bench, 

Blind was on the bench, 

Marcos Rojo was injured, 

but nothing serious. 

"During the whole season 

we had problems with 

central defenders but 

because we now have four or 

five (of them) we always 

manage. And Chris Smalling 

is playing amazingly well 

now, for seven or eight 

matches in a row. So we are 

fine." One player who was 

not involved in the victory 

over Bournemouth was 

midfielder. 

Chris Froome became the first British winner of the Vuelta a Espana this year. 

Photo: BBC. 

BCB announces 

itinerary of Tigers’ 

tri-nation series 

DHAKA: The Bangladesh Cricket Board 

(BCB) on Thursday announced the itinerary 

for the tri-nation series involving 

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, 

reports BSS. 

All the matches of the tri-nation series will 

be held at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket 

Stadium (SBNCS) at Mirpur under the flood 

light. 

Besides, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will play 

two-match Test and T20i series. 

Zimbabwe team is scheduled to arrive in the 

city on January 10 while Sri Lankan team 

will arrive on January 13. 

Bangladesh will start their tri nation 

campaign taking on Zimbabwe on January 

15 while they will play their second match 

against Sri Lanka on January 19. 

The Tigers will again meet Zimbabwe on 

January 23 and play the fourth ODI match 

against Sri Lanka on January 25. 

The final of the series will be held on 

January 27. 

After the series, both Bangladesh and Sri 

Lanka will move to Chittagong to play the 

first Test of the two-match series from 

January 31 to February 4 at Zahur Ahmed 

Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong before 

the two sides return to 

the capital to play the second and final Test 

from February 8-12 at SBNCS. 

After the Test series, the two sides will play 

the two-match T20I in which the first one 

will be played at SBNCS and the second one 

at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in 

Sylhet. 

Klopp defends rotation 

after Liverpool held again 

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen 

Klopp insisted he won't ditch his rotation 

policy after the German's decision to make 

six changes back-fired in a 0-0 draw against 

lowly West Bromwich Albion, reports BSS. 

Klopp claimed Liverpool were unlucky as 

they were denied victory when Dominic 

Solanke had a goal ruled out for handball 

with eight minutes left at Anfield on 

Wednesday. 

Solanke's disallowed goal was the main 

talking point, but the discussion before kickoff 

centred around the Liverpool manager's 

decision to significantly alter the team who 

were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Everton 

on Sunday. 

Klopp recalled Philippe Coutinho and 

Roberto Firmino, both surprisingly named 

on the bench against Everton, to form a 

powerful attacking threat along with Sadio 

Mane and Mohamed Salah. 

He also brought Emre Can and Georginio 

Wijnaldum into midfield, named Trent 

Alexander-Arnold in place of Joe Gomez at 

right-back and replaced Simon Mignolet 

with Loris Karius in goal. 

Klopp said that Mignolet was rested as a 

precaution after picking up an ankle knock 

against Everton, and said he felt the team he 

picked was capable of winning the game. 

His selections have come under the 

spotlight for the number of times he switches 

personnel; he has made no fewer than 65 

changes to his starting line-ups in the 

Premier League this season, more than any 

other manager in the division. 

Asked if he felt his selection against West 

Brom worked, Klopp said: "That's not my job 

to talk about. I made the decision already, 

and if we don't win, for me, it's like it didn't 

work. "That happens quite a lot in the life of 

a manager. But it would make no sense to be 

too frustrated about that. 

"I was 100 percent convinced about this 

line-up, like I was 100 percent convinced 

about the last line-up. But this time at least 

you cannot blame me for it, or probably you 

will, I'm not sure." 

- No luck for Klopp - 

Klopp felt that Solanke's disallowed goal 

was a borderline decision, even though 

television replays suggested that it was 

handball. 

"It's difficult. For me, it's twice deflected 

and I'm still not sure if the hand was with the 

ball. It looks like chest. In the game it looked 

100 per cent like chest," he said. 

"Afterwards I had a few replays, there's an 

arm but not sure if he touches the ball. 

"It must be a really good assistant that 

made the decision. He will be happy 

probably if there was a hand involved. 

"That's another moment where we had no 

luck, because if he doesn't see it or he's not 

sure - or not as sure as he obviously was - it's 

a goal." 

West Brom set an unwanted club record of 

16 consecutive matches without victory, yet 

emerged with great credit for seeing out the 

game to earn the point that lifted them out of 

the Premier League relegation zone. 

Albion boss Alan Pardew said the decision 

to disallow Solanke's goal was a brave call. 

"It hit Solanke and he's swung his arm and 

it's gone in. It's a brave call for a linesman to 

make in front of the Kop," he said. 

Photo: BBC. 

Christmas 

congestion no 

excuse - Rodgers 

GLASGOW: Celtic manager 

Brendan Rodgers says his 

side's hectic festive fixture 

list is not an excuse for any 

dip in performances from 

the Scottish champions. 

A clinical first-half 

performance from the 

Glasgow giants saw them 

record a 3-1 win over 

Hamilton on Wednesday to 

extend their unbeaten 

domestic run to 69 

matches. 

But the Hoops, who were 

playing their fourth game in 

11 days, tired in the second 

half as Hamilton rallied, 

with Rakish Bingham 

hitting the post. 

It comes on the back of 

Celtic's 2-2 draw with 

Hibernian on Sunday, when 

Rodgers's side threw away a 

two-goal lead with 15 

minutes remaining. 

The Scottish Premiership 

leaders face another five 

games before the end of 

December, but Rodgers 

insists his players can cope 

with their heavy workload. 

"We know that we are in a 

run of games, but it's a 

really tight schedule and it 

has been since June," the 

Northern Irishman said. 

"From our first preseason 

game we've been 

training and then playing 

right the way through to 

now, but it's not an excuse 

for us. 

"We have to be ready to 

work hard in the game, 

press the game and when 

we have the ball, look after 

it. "I thought in the main 

the team did that very well. 

Of course Hamilton could 

put some risk into the game 

towards the end, but we saw 

it through and got the 

result." 

Monaco look to revive 

title challenge 

PARIS: Leonardo Jardim's Monaco head to 

Saint-Etienne on Friday hoping to put a 

recent slump in form firmly behind them 

with a third straight Ligue 1 victory, reports 

BSS. 

The reigning French champions sit nine 

points adrift of league leaders Paris Saint- 

Germain, who visit Rennes on Saturday, 

after following back-to-back defeats with 

successive wins over lowly Angers and 

Troyes. 

They should face a tougher test against 

Saint-Etienne, although Les Verts are also 

struggling at the wrong end of the table after 

an eight-match winless streak. 

"Saint-Etienne are going through a 

difficult time but they're a big club," said 

Monaco coach Jardim. 

"They have been at the top of the table in 

recent years. We have to respect them and 

play at 100 percent to get the three points." 

It has been a difficult season for the 

principality club after losing Kylian Mbappe, 

Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva and 

Benjamin Mendy during the transfer 

window, while Djibril Sidibe and Thomas 

Lemar have struggled with injuries. There 

was more bad news for Jardim on 

Wednesday, as Brazil midfielder Fabinho 

said he expects to leave Monaco at the end of 

the season. 

But with their European campaign 

brought to an abrupt end by a string of poor 

performances and a bottom-placed finish in 

their Champions League group, Monaco's 

depleted squad can now turn their attentions 

solely to domestic matters. 

Colombian Radamel Falcao has led from 

the front with 18 goals in all competitions, 

including a remarkable 50-yard strike in 

Tuesday's League Cup win over Caen and 

Monaco will be hoping for more of the same 

from their captain. 

- PSG bid to stretch further clear - 

PSG have already ensured they will head 

into the winter break top of the table, but 

have shown signs of weakness this month 

with losses to Strasbourg and Bayern 

Munich. 

But they brushed aside Strasbourg in the 

French League Cup on Wednesday without 

Neymar and Mbappe, who are both expected 

to return to the starting line-up at the 

weekend. 

Neymar will return to training on 

Thursday after a trip to his native Brazil for a 

'family problem', having also been 

suspended for last week's win over Lille. 

The world's most expensive player hasn't 

had the smoothest of seasons off the field 

since joining PSG from Barcelona, and 

Brazilian website Globoesporte suggested 

the player could have been at the birthday 

party of his friend's father. 

But Unai Emery's men will be heavy 

favourites to see off Rennes, as the Spanish 

coach will be keen to see his side move 

further clear before they return to 

Champions League action against holders 

Real Madrid in the last 16 in February. 

Alongside Monaco nine points adrift are 

Lyon and Marseille. 

Those two teams go head-to-head in the 

big match on Sunday, as the race for a topthree 

spot and a place in the Champions 

League takes centre stage. 

Marseille will put a 12-match unbeaten 

run in the league on the line at Lyon, who 

will be looking to bounce back from a 4-1 

League Cup loss at Montpellier. 

Player to watch: Guido Carrillo 

Argentinian Guido Carrillo has hit form 

for Monaco in recent days, with closeseason 

additions Stevan Jovetic and Keita 

Balde both struggling for consistency, 

scoring three goals in his last two games. 

"He knows how to seize the 

opportunities that I give him. It's no 

coincidence that he's already our second 

leading scorer," said Jardim. Carrillo has 

only made two Ligue 1 starts this term, but 

two of his four goals came last weekend 

against Troyes. 

Fixtures (all times GMT) 

Friday 

Saint-Etienne v Monaco (1945) 

Saturday 

Rennes v Paris Saint-Germain (1600), 

Caen v Guingamp, Dijon v Lille, 

Montpellier v Metz, Strasbourg v Toulouse, 

Troyes v Amiens (all 1900) 

Sunday 

Nantes v Angers (1400), Nice v Bordeaux 

(1600), Lyon v Marseille (2000). 

Romelu Lukaku scored his ninth league goal of the season for Manchester United. 

Photo: BBC. 

Pochettino spies good omens 

for Man City trip 

LONDON: Mauricio Pochettino 

reflected with satisfaction on 

Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 win over 

Brighton and Hove Albion despite 

the slightly fortunate nature of his 

side's goals, reports BSS. 

Serge Aurier's freakish first goal 

for Tottenham after 40 minutes 

broke the deadlock at Wembley on 

Wednesday, his cross going straight 

into the net to break Brighton's 

dogged resistance. 

A deflected header by Son Heungmin 

three minutes from time sealed 

three points that took the London 

club into fourth place in the Premier 

League at the expense of Liverpool, 

who drew 0-0 at home to West 

Bromwich Albion. 

Pochettino will head to Premier 

League leaders Manchester City in 

an optimistic mood, saying: "I am a 

positive person. I am happy we won 

and the three points are so 

important for us. 

"What is going to happen on 

Saturday? Who knows? I am going 

to Manchester to try to win and 

thinking that we can win. 

"We have had three victories in a 

row -- one in the Champions League, 

two in the Premier League -- and it's 

important for us to feel we can get 

higher in the table because the 

season is still so long. 

"You start to lose when you start to 

think in a negative way. We are going 

to enjoy it because it's a fantastic 

challenge to play against Manchester 

City. 

"We are going to play against, I 

think this year, the best team in 

England and one of the best teams in 

Europe. 

"I want it to excite the players. I 

want to play against teams with 

managers like (Pep) Guardiola who 

are the best. I am so excited, so 

motivated, so happy that we are 

playing a team that is the best." 

The only negative note struck by 

Pochettino came when he was asked 

whether Dele Alli had been unhappy 

to start on the bench. 

"Come on," said the Spurs 

manager. "With Tottenham it's a 

specialism to create problems. 

"He was on the bench and played 

20 minutes. How would any player 

react? Sure, no-one is happy to be on 

the bench. That is football. Better to 

talk about Son deserving to score. 

He's happy." 

- 'Two poor goals' - 

Pochettino welcomed the 

performance of Erik Lamela on his 

first start since October 2016 

following two operations on a 

troublesome hip, but admitted 

fortune had been with his side in 

Aurier's goal. 

"Yes, of course, (the luck) helped a 

lot," said the Argentinian, whose 

side trail third-place Chelsea by four 

points. 

"When the opponent is so deep 

and plays only to defend, it's not 

easy. The team created a lot of 

chances and deserved to score before 

(Aurier's goal), but that's football. 

"We fought hard and I'm very 

happy with the victory and the 

performance generally was good." 

Promoted Brighton defended 

resolutely, but never seriously 

looked like avoiding defeat after 

going behind. 

"You know it's going to be a 

difficult evening and you know 

you're going to have to defend well, 

but we conceded two poor goals," 

said Chris Hughton, the Brighton 

manager and former Tottenham 

defender. 

Brighton have taken only one point 

from their past five matches and are 

now only three points above the 

relegation places. 

"We went through a really good 

period and we're now in a difficult 

one, but we have to accept that that 

can happen and was always going to 

at some point," Hughton said. 

"What defines you is how you 

come through that. It's a 

disappointed changing room, which 

is good to see, but it's my job to 

channel that positively."

ECONOMY & BUSINESS FRIDAY, 

Rangpur Foundry Limited (RFL) 

declares 23 pc cash dividend 

Rangpur Foundry Ltd (RFL) has 

declared 23% cash dividend to its 

shareholders for the year 2016-2017 

at the 37th Annual General Meeting 

of the Company held at Fuzi Trade 

Centre at Badda in the capital on 

Thursday, says a press release. 

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, 

Chairman, Rathendra Nath Paul, 

Managing Director, Sabiha Amjad, 

Director, Uzma Chowdhury, Director 

(Finance), Choudhury Atiur Rasul, 

Chief Financial Officer, MA Mannan, 

Independent Director, Chowdhury 

Kamruzzaman, 

Director, 

Muhammad Aminur Rahman, 

Company Secretary and 

Shareholders' of the Company 

attended the Annual General 

Meeting. 

Shareholders thanked the 

management for Company's 

achievements over the years and 

made valuable suggestions for 

improvement in running the 

business. They reiterated their 

profound confidence in the 

management and operations of the 

Company. AGM ended seeking 

continued support from the investors 

of the Company and with a vote of 

thanks to the chair. 

THE 


10 

DECEMBER 15, 2017 

Marvel or mishap? Hong Kong's 

troubled mega bridge 

HONG KONG : Billed as 

the world's longest sea bridge 

connecting Hong Kong, 

Macau and mainland China, 

it has been touted by 

supporters as an engineering 

wonder, reports BSS. 

But critics say the multibillion 

dollar infrastructure 

mega-project is politically 

driven and a costly white 

elephant. 

Dogged by delays, budget 

overruns, accusations of 

corruption and the deaths of 

construction workers, there 

is little prospect it will open 

by the end of 2017 as hoped. 

Building started in 2009 

on the 55-kilometre (34- 

mile) crossing, which 

includes a snaking road 

bridge and underwater 

tunnel, linking Hong Kong's 

Lantau island to the southern 

mainland Chinese city of 

Zhuhai and the gambling 

enclave of Macau, across the 

waters of the Pearl River 

Estuary. 

Officials say it will boost 

business and cut travel time, 

but opponents in Hong Kong 

see it as another attempt by 

Beijing to tighten its grip on 

the semi-autonomous city. 

Hong Kong enjoys rights 

unseen over the border but 

challenges from young prodemocracy 

activists and the 

emergence of a fledgling 

independence movement 

have riled Chinese 

authorities, who have 

warned they will not tolerate 

threats to China's 

sovereignty. 

The Chinese government is 

"trying to blur the 

boundaries between Hong 

Kong and the other parts of 

the mainland", said prodemocracy 

lawmaker Kwok 

Ka-ki, who sits on the 

legislature's transport panel. 

With its dire housing 

shortage and growing wealth 

gap there are also questions 

over whether the bridge is a 

good use of the Hong Kong 

government's money-all 

three jurisdictions pay a 

portion of the costs. 

The total price tag for the 

project, which includes 

artificial islands, link roads 

and new border-crossing 

facilities, is unclear but some 

estimates run to over 100 

billion yuan ($15.1 billion). 

"Hong Kong doesn't really 

need it-we've got air, land 

and sea connections to the 

mainland," said prodemocracy 

lawmaker 

Claudia Mo, also on the 

transport panel. 

"To Beijing it's one big 

gigantic symbol to link Hong 

Kong to the mainland." 

Officials cast the bridge as 

part of the Greater Bay Area 

project to create an 

economic hub linking nine 

southern mainland cities to 

Hong Kong and 

Macau, also a semiautonomous 

Chinese 

territory. 

Pro-Beijing Hong Kong 

lawmaker Regina Ip says the 

bridge will help 

connections all the way to 

Southeast Asia, as part of 

China's "One Belt, One 

Road" initiative to link with 

Africa, Asia and Europe 

through a network of 

ports, railways, roads and 

industrial parks. 

"Although we have a 

boundary, we are still part of 

China and economic 

integration has been 

happening in a marketdriven 

way for the past few 

decades," Ip said of Hong 

Kong's position. 

Myanmar introduces new companies 

law to attract foreign investment 

YANGON: Myanmar 

authorities will enforce a 

new Companies Law from 

Aug. 1 next year, aiming at 

attracting more foreign 

investment, according to 

local authorities, reports 

BSS. 

Paving way for more 

foreign investment 

opportunities, the 

promulgation of bylaws 

and application of the law 

as well as working on the 

operating manual for 

online registration will be 

done by the last week of 

July next year, the 

Directorate of Investment 

and 

Company 

Administration (DICA) 

said in a press briefing 

Wednesday. 

The new law will 

facilitate rapid 

registration for 

companies using the 

online registration 

system. 

Members of the Union 

of Myanmar Federation of 

Chambers of Commerce 

and Industry (UMFCCI) 

and economic experts 

called for speedy 

enforcement of the law to 

improve foreign 

investment environment. 

In accordance with the 

new law, foreign investors 

are allowed to take up to 

35 percent in a local 

company, said Director- 

General of the DICA U 

Aung Naing Oo. 

Previously, even a 

company with even 1 

percent of its shares 

owned by a foreign 

investor was classified as a 

foreign company, instead 

of a local company. 

He highlighted that 

under the new law, 

foreigners can legally own 

unmovable properties 

including condominium 

apartments which 

foreigners were not 

allowed to buy in the past. 

The law's change of 

designation of the foreign 

capital signals the pouring 

in of increased foreign 

investment, said vice chair 

of the UMFCCI Maung 

Maung Lay. 

The relaxation of doing 

businesses by foreigners 

in the legal aspect also 

contributes to the 

government's obtaining of 

monetary and technical 

assistance, economic 

experts said. 

The new Myanmar 

Companies Act, approved 

by the parliament earlier 

this month, was enacted 

to replace Companies Act 

of 1914. 

A 33-member school student delegation of Border Security Force (BSF) returned to India on 4th day of their courtesy visit on 

Thursday. On behalf of BGB, they were given farewell at Benapole. In the 33-member delegation, 31 students and two BSF officers 

were included. 

Photo: Courtesy 

32-inch Walton LED TV turns 

into customers' top choice 

Sales jumped up by 92 percent 

Some unique features like 

application of state-of-the technologies 

and machineries, world-class quality, 

reasonable rates and assurance of swift 

after sales services of Walton brand 

LED televisions are resulted in gaining 

huge customers' popularity in the local 

market, says a press release. 

Specially, the 32-inch LED 

televisions of the local brand with 

varieties models have turned into the 

customers' prime choices. At now, 

Walton is marketing total of 31 models 

of 32-inch LED TV. Prices of those 

televisions of different models are Tk 

20,800; Tk 20,990; Tk 21,800 and Tk 

21,900. 

According to Walton officials, they 

registered about 92 percent growth in 

the sales of their 32-inch LED TV 

during the period of January to 

November of 2017 compared to the 

sales of the corresponding period of 

2016. In addition, the overall sales of 

Walton brand LED televisions were 

jumped up by about 25 percent in the 

same period. The officials informed 

that Walton is now manufacturing 

varieties models of LED televisions of 

different sizes, including 20, 24, 28, 32, 

39, 43, 49 and 55-inch, with state-ofthe 

art technologies and advanced 

machineries at its own television 

manufacturing unit at Chandra in 

Gazipur. 

They claimed that some uniqueness 

of Walton LED television like export 

quality, reasonable rates and assurance 

of swift post sales services have been 

leading the local brand televisions to be 

the customers' prime choices. Among 

the various sizes of LED televisions, 

models of 32-inch are in the highest 

selling position. 

Shourov Akter, addition director of 

Research and Development (R&D) 

Department of Walton, said they are 

manufacturing different sizes 

televisions with varieties design in 

accordance with the taste and 

purchasing power of all classes of 

people. 

The group of standard income 

people mostly prefers Walton brand's 

43-inch LED televisions, which prices 

are Tk 41,900; Tk 42,900 and Tk 

43,900 based on their models. In 

addition, sales of 19; 20; 24 and 28- 

inch LED televisions of Walton have 

also huge demands among the 

customers, which prices are Tk 9,090; 

Tk 12,450; Tk 14,500 and Tk 18,400. 

At the televisions manufacturing 

unit, Walton added the world's 

advanced technologies like Surface 

Mounting Technology (SMT), Five 

Axis VMC Technology, CMM 

Technology for Controlling Ultra 

Precise Quality, Auto Insertion, 

Automatic Inspection, Wave Soldering 

and so on. They are applying SMPS 

test, electrical performance and 

reliability test in the section of power 

analyze. 

Walton has set up one of the 

country's largest television R&D center 

with the combination of advanced 

machineries and highly skilled and 

experienced engineers. They are 

designing television panel, hardware, 

software, PCB layout and TV structure. 

Most of necessary raw materials are 

being produced through setting up 

separate spare parts production units 

like plastic cabinet, speaker, remote 

control, motherboard and panel at 

Walton television manufacturing unit. 

As a result, the local brand has been 

able to cut down the production cost 

and to maintain world-class quality. 

Amdadul Haque Sarker, executive 

director (marketing) of Walton, said 

they are exporting world-class LED 

television in different countries of the 

world. 

Mustafa Nahid Hossain, chief 

executive officer of Walton Television, 

said, they are manufacturing HADS 

(High Advance Super Dimension 

Switch) and IPS (In Plan Switching) 

and SVA panels in ISO class seven dust 

free clean room, which ensure the 

quality and durability of the panels. As 

a result, viewers will get high viewing 

angle and high contrast pictures. 

Moreover, the Walton TVs are huge 

power efficient. 

Mentionable, Walton television has 

been recognized and achieved 

certification by the Bureau of Indian 

Standards (BIS) and Testing 

Certificate from Standard 

Organization of Nigeria Product 

Conformity Assessment Program 

(SONCAP). Walton has already 

announced one-year TV replacement 

guarantee with the assurance of high 

quality. 

Gold rebounds 

from fivemonth 

lows 

CHICAGO : Gold futures 

on the COMEX division of 

the New York Mercantile 

Exchange rallied on 

Wednesday from fivemonth 

lows as the U.S. 

Federal Reverse announced 

widely expected interest rate 

hike, reports BSS. 

The most active gold 

contract for February 

delivery rose 6.9 dollars, or 

0.56 percent, to settle at 

1248.60 dollars per ounce, 

shortly before the interest 

rate hike announcement. 

The gold futures 

continued the upturn in 

electronic trading after the 

Fed decision. 

While raising the target 

range for the federal funds 

rate to 1.25 to 1.5 percent, 

the Federal Reserve also 

hinted at a wait-and-see 

approach to further rate 

hikes. 

"In determining the 

timing and size of future 

adjustments to the target 

range for the federal funds 

rate, the (Federal Open 

Market) Committee will 

assess realized and expected 

economic conditions 

relative to its objectives of 

maximum employment and 

two percent inflation," said 

the central bank in a 

statement. 

Heavy short covering in 

the futures markets and 

bargain buying in the cash 

markets were featured in 

gold trading on Wednesday, 

following recent selling 

pressure that dragged down 

gold prices to five-month 

lows on Tuesday. 

Berlin's town hall takes techno 

scene under its wing 

BERLIN: It's a familiar story across the 

Western world: a heated property market 

and complaints from the neighbours are 

squeezing nightlife in the big city, reports 

BSS. 

But in Berlin-known for its nightlife and 

understated cool-the town hall is stepping in 

to defend its legendary techno scene. 

"Techno culture has given so much to 

Berlin, using some taxpayer money to 

support it is the least we can do," says local 

Greens party lawmaker Georg Koessler, the 

initiative's most ardent supporter. 

City representatives are set to approve 

Thursday a million-euro ($1.2 million) fund 

to cover soundproofing and additional staff 

to cool partygoers' exuberance, a big gesture 

for the chronically indebted administration. 

They hope the cash can help brake a wave 

of closures that have struck in recent years. 

Since 2011, 170 clubs have shut down their 

lasers, sound systems and smoke machines 

for good. 

That leaves some 500 for the 3.5 million 

people of Germany's largest city and the 

armies of tourists disgorged from trains, 

planes and buses each weekend-more than 

12.7 million in 2016 according to official 

statistics. 

"Politicians used to talk about Berlin clubs 

as something nice on the fringes," 32-yearold 

Koessler-who still calls himself a 

dedicated clubber 

"But very surprisingly, even our opponents 

in the (conservative) CDU are suddenly very 

passionate about this subject, which they call 

the 'night economy'," he adds. 

Many clubs sprang up after German 

reunification in 1990 in derelict or 

abandoned industrial spaces in the oncedivided 

city's east. 

Now with 30 years of experience, club 

owners won't limit themselves to waiting 

around for one-off handouts from city 

authorities. 

"We're aware of the power we have, so we 

press home the benefit the city draws from 

us, from tourism to the property market to 

startups," says Lutz Leichsenring, 

spokesman for the "Club Commission" 

which counts some 220 of the city's bestknown 

establishments among its ranks. 

The latest campaign is for recognition as 

artistic venues, which could grant techno 

havens a seven percent VAT rate rather than 

the 19 percent paid by bars and restaurants. 

Such cash incentives underpin noble 

sentiments about keeping the sacred techno 

flame alight. 

"We want to stay on the sharp edge of 

contemporary music culture," says 

Leichsenring. 

"If you're offering 'free entry for ladies' or 

'buy one get one free' on beer, we're (Club 

Commission) not going to spring to your 

defence." 

Techno pilgrimage site Berghain was the 

first to talk its tax rate down in 2016, 

convincing the state that clubgoers came for 

its line-ups of star DJs rather than booze, sex 

and drugs. 

But Leichsenring argues that securing a tax 

break would be even more important for 

smaller venues without thousands besieging 

their doors each weekend. 

"Big clubs like Berghain, which employs 

200 people, are at least profitable, they can 

rely on their box office and the bar," he says. 

Nurturing art means clubs "have to take 

risks, also musically speaking, and taking 

risk is always an economic question" that's 

especially off-putting for those only just 

clinging to life, Leichsenring said. 

Without the economic security to test out 

exciting new musical departures, the edgy, 

avant-garde feel that made Berlin nights out 

legendary across Europe and beyond could 

disappear. 

Both supply of and demand for world-class 

nightlife remain in abundance in the city on 

the river Spree for now. 

But the Club Commission worries that 

mass party tourism, insistent noise 

complaints and inexorably rising rents will 

push the city past its peak and into terminal 

decline.

MISCELLANEOUS FRIDAY, 

THE 


11 


National Press Club organized a discussion meeting at its VIP lounge yesterday marking Martyrs 

Intellectuals Day. 

Photo : TBT 

Man 'kills 

self' after 

'killing' 

wife in 

Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI : A man 

allegedly committed 

suicide after killing his 

wife over family feud at 

Pakuria village in Bagha 

upazila on Thursday, 

reports UNB. 

The deceased were 

identified as Abdul 

Mannan, 48, and his wife 

Kajali Begum, 44, of the 

village. 

Quoting the family, 

Rezaul Hasan Reza, OC of 

Bagha Police Station, said 

hearing Kajali's 

screaming, her mother-inlaw 

and her son rushed to 

their room and found her 

critically sick around 3:00 

am. 

Later, she was taken to 

Bagha Health Complex 

where doctors declared 

her dead. 

Hours after the incident, 

Mannan committed 

suicide by hanging himself 

from a tree beside his 

house. 

On information, police 

recovered the bodies 

around 9:00 am and sent 

those to Rajshahi Medical 

College Hospital morgue 

for autopsy. 

Sabbir Hossian, son of 

the deceased, said his 

father strangled his 

mother to death following 

family feud. Later he 

committed suicide. 

After London tower fire, 

group develops risk 

assessment tool 

Six months after flames 

engulfed a London highrise 

and sparked concerns 

about similarly-clad 

buildings around the world, 

a U.S.-based fire prevention 

group has developed a tool 

aimed at making buildings 

safer, reports UNB. 

The National Association 

of State Fire Marshals' 

research foundation says its 

free risk evaluation tool will 

be available on its website 

after Jan. 1. Combustible 

exterior paneling fueled the 

flames that enveloped 

Grenfell Tower on June 14, 

killing 71 people, 

authorities said. An 

Associated Press review 

found the same panels on 

several U.S. buildings, and 

some of the owners were 

unaware of the potential 

danger. 

The fire marshals group 

says the new Risk 

Evaluation Matrix can help 

assess fire risks based on 

materials used, a building's 

occupancy and other 

criteria. 

The goal is to enable fire 

marshals, building owners 

and others to make their 

structures safer through a 

rational and scientific 

approach, said Nick 

Dembsey, professor of fire 

protection engineering at 

Worcester Polytechnic 

Institute in Massachusetts, 

which contributed research 

that went into developing 

the assessment tool. The 

researchers found evidence 

of a troubling trend: An 

over-reliance on sprinkler 

systems. Sprinklers are 

effective in many fires, but 

they should not justify 

cutting corners on other fire 

prevention measures, fire 

officials say. 

"More data is needed, but 

the early conclusions 

indicate an overreliance on 

sprinklers at the expense of 

passive fire safety systems, 

which endangers both the 

public and the fire service 

alike," said Louisiana State 

Fire Marshal H. Butch 

Browning, who is president 

of the National Association 

of State Marshals. The U.S. 

has for decades required 

sprinkler systems to be 

installed in new high-rise 

buildings, as well as 

multiple ways for people to 

exit in the case of a fire. 

Grenfell Tower had none of 

those safeguards. 

"We believe that 

sprinklers should be in 

every building. But we also 

have a concern that we not 

get all our safety eggs in one 

basket," said Jon Narva, an 

association spokesman. 

"There's more to fire safety 

than just sprinklers." 

Nat'l debate 

competition 

begins at JU 

on Friday 

JAHANGIRNAGAR 

UNIVERSITY : The 7th 

National 

Debate 

Competitions-2017 will start 

at Jahangirnagar University 

(JU) campus on Friday, 

reports UNB. 

The 5-day debate 

competitions will be held 

marking the 13th founding 

anniversary of Jahangirnagar 

University Debate 

Organisation (JUDO), said 

Sahin Reza, president of 

JUDO at the press 

conference of JU Journalists 

association office around 3 

pm. 

Man held with 

2 gold bars at 

Benapole 

BENAPOLE : Custom 

intelligence officials arrested 

a man along with 2 pieces of 

gold bar from Benapole 

international check post on 

Thursday, reports UNB. 

The arrestee was identified 

as Mustafijur Rahman, son of 

Tota Mia, Tungibari of 

Munsiganj district. 

Based on information, the 

intelligence officers 

challenged Mustafizur and 

arrested him from no man's 

land area around 11am, said 

Abdus Sadek, deputy 

commissioner of Benapole 

Customs intelligence. 

GD-1538/17 (20 x 4) 


UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

FRIdAy, dHAKA, dECEMBER 15, 2017, POuSH 1, 1424 BS, RABI-ul-AwAl 25, 1439 HIJRI 

The train communication started experimentally on the under construction Ishwardi-Pabna railway on Thursday. 

On that day the people were very excited when the train arrived at the station of Pabna. Photo: Star Mail 

S Korea pledges 

additional 

$500,000 for 

Rohingyas 

DHAKA : The government 

of South Korea has pledged 

$500,000 more through 

United nations Populations 

Fund (UnFPA) for the 

Rohingyas, reports UnB. 

Earlier Korea donated $1.5 

million through IOM for 

relief operation in support of 

the Rohingyas in 

Bangladesh. 

At present, the total 

humanitarian aid provided 

by the Korean government to 

support the Rohingyas 

stands around $2 million (16 

Crore Taka), said a press 

release on Thursday. 

The Korean government 

has repeatedly expressed its 

profound concern about the 

Rohingyas seeking safe place 

across the border. 

The national and international 

humanitarian agencies 

have been responding in 

support of government 

efforts, however, instant 

scale-up is required to handle 

the relentless crisis. 

EC set to test new EVM in 

Rangpur city election 

DHAKA : Five years after 

the last use of old EVM in the 

maiden polls to Rangpur City 

Corporation in 2012, the 

Election Commission is now 

going to use newly-designed 

EVM on trial basis in the 

upcoming election to the 

same city corporation, reports 

UnB. 

The new EVM (Electronic 

Voting Machine), produced 

by Bangladesh Machine Tools 

Factory, will be used in a 

polling station (Begum 

Rokeya College Centre of 

ward no 25) of the city corporation 

election slated for 

December 21 next. 

Unlike the old EVM, the 

new machine has a number of 

fresh features, including voter 

verification process, display of 

names of symbols of all the 

candidates, printed vote-casting 

confirmation slip and 

installation of data of the particular 

polling station. 

Generation of Quick 

Response (QR) code against 

each voter and confirmation 

option for the voter before 

casting ballot are among 

other features of the machine 

which can only be operated by 

the presiding officer of the 

polling station concerned or 

any other authorised persons. 

The new machine was 

designed following the assessment 

made by the Prof 

Jamilur Reza Choudhury-led 

18-member technical expert 

team formed by the Election 

Commission. 

To cast vote through the 

new machine, a voter first 

needs to go through a verification 

process by fingerprint or 

smart national identity card 

number or voter number. 

when the voter will be 

found genuine in the verification 

process, the projector will 

show the portrait of the voter 

concerned, and a QR code will 

be generated and printed 

against the voter, and then 

the ballot unit will be activated 

allowing the voter to go the 

secret place to cast the ballot 

pressing the button of the 

machine. 

The voter will be able to see 

The Strange Beauty 

of Soviet Bus Stops 

InTERESTInG nEwS 

Canadian photographer Christopher 

Herwig travelled through the length and 

breadth of the former Soviet Union to document 

a curious phenomenon that he had 

stumbled upon more than a decade ago while 

on a cycling trip across Europe — bus stops. 

These strange little shelters are brimming 

with architectural styles that’s unlike anything 

you have ever seen anywhere else. 

There are pyramids and arches, domes and 

vaults and other improbable structures. 

The remarkable diversity and creativity 

displayed in these bus stops is even more 

strange when you consider the fact that they 

belong to a regime that is usually associated 

with Brutalist architecture. And this is exactly 

the reason why you will find such elaborate 

bus stops nowhere else but the Soviet Union. 

These roadside pavilions were the precious 

opportunities for local artists and architects 

to express themselves and break free of the 

monotony in architecture. 

The bus stop was one of the few building 

types that had a certain amount of autonomy 

from the centralized planning machine. 

Indeed, it was a government stipulation that 

they should be beautiful and reflect a local 

aesthetic. This allowed architects to flex their 

creativity. 

Georgian sculptor and architect Zurab 

Tsereteli, who designed some of the most 

elaborate structures around Pitsunda on the 

Black Sea, recalls, “I suggested that these bus 

stops shouldn’t be about just a frame, glass 

and seating. People should get pleasure out of 

them. we decided they should be monumental 

art in space,” he told The Guardian. Zurab 

Tsereteli is now a celebrated Moscow-based 

artist and president of the Russian Academy 

of Arts. 

It took Christopher Herwig twelve years to 

photograph hundreds of bus stops during 

which he travelled to 14 countries and covered 

more than 30,000 km. These photographs 

have now been assembled into a 

limited edition, hardcover photo book, that 

will be launched in September 2015. 

the names and symbols of all 

the candidates. After pressing 

the button of the machine, the 

voter will have a confirmation 

option to confirm vote in 

favour of the particular candidate. 

The voter finally will get 

a vote-casting confirmation 

slip after the verification of 

the ballot. 

Election Commissioner 

Brig Gen (retd) Shahadat 

Hossain Chowdhury said 

though the Commission will 

use the new EVM in a polling 

station of Rangpur City election 

on trial basis, the manual 

balloting system will be 

kept ready to face any possible 

failure of the machine. 

"The vote-casting through 

the new EVM is just another 

version of the entire exiting 

balloting system," he said. 

About the security of the 

new EVM, he said, "It's not 

online. So, no one can hack 

it. Besides, outsiders can't 

cast votes through the 

machine as there'll be voters' 

date of the polling station 

concerned." 

3 neo-JMB 

operatives 

arrested 

in city 

DHAKA : Police arrested 

three operatives of militant 

outfit neo-JMB, including 

Abdus Samad alias Arif 

Mamu alias Ashique, one of 

its founders, in the city's 

Mohakhali area on 

wednesday night. 

The two other detainees 

are Ziadul Islam and Md 

Azizul Islam, reports UnB. 

Tipped-off, special action 

team of Counter Terrorism 

and Transnational Crime 

(CTTC) unit of Dhaka 

Metropolitan Police (DMP) 

conducted a drive here and 

detained the trio along with 

firearms and ammunitions. 

The law enforcers recovered 

one pistol, five ammunitions 

and 200 detonators 

from the spot, said Masudur 

Rahman, deputy commissioner 

(Media) of DMP. 

At a press briefing at DMP 

media centre CTTC 

ChiefMonirul Islam said 

Samad in 2009, joined the 

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen 

Bangladesh (JMB), later 

along with Tamim 

Chowdhury he formed 

another militant organisation 

named 'Julad Al Tawhid 

Al Khilafha' in 2014. 

As their fresh militant outfit 

failed to operate successfully 

they later joined the 

neo-JMB, he said. 

The name of Arif Mamu 

came into the radar of law 

enforcers while investigating 

into 

the 

HossainiDalanattack case in 

old Dhakaduring 2015. 

Nasrul seeks 

South Korean 

investment in 

power sector 

DHAKA : State for 

Minister for Power, Energy 

and Mineral Resources 

nasrul Hamid said yesterday 

that there exists an ample 

opportunity for South Korea 

to make investment in 

Bangladesh's power sector, 

reports BSS. 

"South Korea can set up 

power plants, terminals and 

extract coal or solid rock in 

view of Korea's meager participation 

in power sector of 

Bangladesh," he said. 

He was speaking to South 

Korean Ambassador to 

Bangladesh Ri Song Hyon 

when the latter paid a courtesy 

call on him at his ministry 

office here, said an official 

release. 

The state minister 

informed the envoy that 

some $ 21 billion has so far 

been invested in the power 

sector of Bangladesh. He 

sought more investment in 

the sector. During the meeting, 

the Korean ambassador 

expressed his country's keen 

interest to share experiences 

with Bangladesh. 

They also had discussions 

on various issues of mutual 

interests. 

96 police officers 

promoted to SPs 

DHAKA : In the latest promotion 

in the police administration, 

96 additional 

superintendents of police 

(SPs) have been elevated to 

the rank of superintendent of 

police, reports UnB. 

The Home Ministry issued 

a notification on Thursday in 

this regard. 

According to the notification 

signed by its Deputy 

Secretary Md Ilias Hossain, 

the order will come into 

immediate effect. 

Israel carried out a series of air strikes against Islamist group Hamas in Gaza early on Thursday. 

Photo : AP 

Israel strikes Hamas targets 

after Gaza rocket fire 

GAZA CITY : Israel carried 

out a series of air 

strikes against Islamist 

group Hamas in Gaza early 

on Thursday, the army 

said, hours after rockets 

were fired from the 

Palestinian enclave, reports 

BSS 

In a statement, the Israeli 

army said it had targeted 

three Hamas military facilities 

in different parts of the 

Hamas-controlled Gaza 

Strip. 

"The military facilities 

were used as training and 

weapons storage compounds," 

the army said. 

"This was in response to the 

projectiles fired at Israeli 

territory from the Gaza 

Strip." 

A Palestinian security 

source said there were 

ACC recommends 8 

steps to stop 

coaching business 

DHAKA : The Anti- 

Corruption Commission 

(ACC) has recommended 

conducting investigation 

into illegal earning of wealth 

by teachers, cancelling the 

MCQ question pattern and 

forming monitoring teams 

to stop the coaching business. 

"we have forwarded an 

eight-point recommendation 

to the authorities concerned 

including the 

Cabinet Division to stop the 

coaching trade across the 

country," deputy director of 

the ACC Pranab Kumar 

Bhattacharjee told BSS. 

The recommendations 

included conducting investi- 

more than 10 strikes on the 

targets, which included a 

Hamas naval facility and a 

military base near the Shati 

refugee camp in northern 

Gaza. 

The source said there had 

been significant damage to 

the targets, as well as lesser 

damage to nearby houses, 

where some residents suffered 

minor injuries. There 

was no immediate confirmation 

of the injuries from 

the health ministry in Gaza. 

The strikes came hours 

after Israel's air defence 

system intercepted two 

rockets fired from Gaza. 

Such rockets are generally 

fired by fringe Islamist 

groups but Israel holds 

Gaza's Hamas rulers 

responsible for any fire 

from the territory. 

gation against the teachers 

who earned wealth illegally, 

forming monitoring committees 

at metropolitan 

cities, districts and upazilas, 

following strictly the rules of 

teachers' transfer, and cancelling 

the MCQ question 

pattern, he said. 

ACC also suggested overall 

change of the question 

pattern, he said, adding that 

they have also suggested 

divisional action against the 

teachers involved in coaching 

trade ignoring the policy 

to this end. 

The 8-point recommendation 

forms part of the 

anti-graft watchdog's 39- 

point recommendation sent 

The army also announced 

it would close the border 

crossings between Gaza 

and Israel-Kerem Shalom 

for goods and Erez for people-from 

Thursday "due to 

the security events and in 

accordance with security 

assessments". 

A military spokeswoman 

could not say whether the 

closure would be for one 

day or more. 

There has been an uptick 

in violence from Gaza since 

US President Donald 

Trump announced he 

would recognise Jerusalem 

as Israel's capital last week. 

Four Gazans have been 

killed, two in clashes along 

the border and two Hamas 

militants in an Israeli air 

strike in retaliation for 

rocket fire. 

to the cabinet division to 

stop corruption and irregularities 

in the education sector. 

ACC has prepared the 

recommendations upon a 

report submitted by its institutional 

team formed to 

investigate corruption in the 

education sector. 

The report, with the set of 

recommendations, was 

approved by the ACC on 

wednesday and forwarded 

to secretaries of the cabinet 

division, primary and higher 

education division, education 

ministry, chairman of 

national curriculum and 

textbook board and education 

engineering department. 

Raise awareness for universal 

health coverage: Experts 

DHAKA : Bangladesh must ensure participation 

of the people of all strata as the government 

could not alone achieve universal health 

coverage, health experts told a function yesterday, 

reports BSS. 

They told the function as Save the Children 

launched their global report "Primary Health 

Care First: Strengthening the Foundation for 

Universal Health Coverage", marking the 

Universal Health Coverage Day on December 12. 

In respect to the global report, Save the 

Children in Bangladesh has undertaken an indepth 

situation analysis to discuss the 

progress, successes and challenges of advancing 

UHC in Bangladesh. 

The Report launching event titled 'Realizing 

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in 

Bangladesh: Time for action' was organized on 

December 14 at a city hotel. This programme 

was jointly organized by Save the Children in 

Bangladesh and BRAC James P Grant School 

of Public Health(JPGSP), BRAC University. 

Ashadul Islam, secretary of the ministry of 

Public Administration, Md nuruzzaman, 

Acting DG Health Economics Unit, Ministry of 

Health and Family welfare, Dr. Hossian Zillur 

Rahman, Chairman, Power and Participation 

Research Centre (PPRC), health experts and 

officials of different organizations, among others, 

addressed the function. 

Dr. Shamim Jahan, Director of Health 

nutrition and HIV/AIDS at Save the Children 

in Bangladesh discussed about Save the 

Children's evidence based programs on the 

ground which have been successfully scaled up 

and operationalised and worked in the health 

system strengthening. Senior research fellow of 

JPGSPH of BRAC nadia Ishrat Alamgir and 

Senior Research Associate Dr nahitun naher 

and Assistant Professor of JPGPH of BRAC 

Taufique Joarder made separate presentations 

on different aspects of UHC. 

Bankers find lack of 

morals for financial 

irregularities in banks 

DHAKA : Around 73 percent 

bankers of the country 

think financial irregularities 

in the banking sector 

are increasing due to lack of 

morals. 

This is revealed at a workshop 

on "Corporate Ethics 

and Financial Crime in 

Banks: Bangladesh 

Perspective" at the 

Bangladesh Institute of 

Bank Management (BIBM) 

auditorium in the city, said 

a press release. 

Bangladesh Bank Deputy 

Governor Abu Hena Mohd. 

Razee Hasan attended the 

workshop as the chief 

guest. BIBM Director 

General Dr Towfiq Ahmed 

Chowdhury presided over 

the workshop while BIBM 

Director Dr Shah M Ahsan 

Habib presented the 

research report. 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Advisory Editor: Advocate Molla Mohammad Abu Kawser, Managing, Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka. 

Editorial and News Office: K.K Bhaban (Level-04) 69/K, Green Road, Panthapath, Dhaka-1205. Tel : +8802-9611884-85, Cell : 01832166882; Email: Editor : editor@thebangladeshtoday.com, Advertisement: ads@thebangladeshtoday.com, News: newsbangla@thebangladeshtoday.com, contact@thebangladeshtoday.com, website: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

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