The Bangladesh Today (03-01-2018)

WEdNESdAy 

Dhaka :January 3, 2018; Poush 20, 1424 BS; Rabi-us-Saani 15, 1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtlive.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.20 ; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

INTERNATIONAL 

Iran death toll 

rises as protests 

continue 

>Page 7 

ART & CuLTuRE 

Apurba- Momo to 

work together 

in serial 

>Page 8 

SPORT 

Ragnar Klavan is the 

first Estonian to score 

a Premier League goal 

>Page 9 

Hasina expands her 

cabinet inducting 

3 new faces 

State Minister Narayon Chandra gets promotion 

DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 

on Tuesday expanded her cabinet inducting 

three new faces into it and promoting 

a state minister to a full one, says UNB. 

They all took oath at Bangabhaban in 

the evening. President Abdul Hamid 

administered oath to them at 6:30pm. 

Of them, Narayon Chandra Chanda, 

AKM Shahjahan Kamal, an MP from 

Laxmipur-3 constituency, and IT expert 

Mustafa Jabbar were sworn in as ministers 

while Rajbari-1 MP Kazi Keramat Ali 

was sworn in as a state minister. 

Narayon Chandra was made full minister 

from State Minister for Fisheries and 

Livestock. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Industries 

Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Commerce 

Minister Tofail Ahmed and Agriculture 

Minister Matia Chowdhury were present at 

the oath-taking ceremony conducted by 

Cabinet Secretary M Shafiul Alam. 

However, the new ministers and the 

state minister are yet to be given portfolios. 

Contacted, the Cabinet Secretary said 

a notification on the distribution of portfolios 

will be issued on Wednesday. 

With this, the cabinet has turned into a 

53-member one. Of them, 34 are ministers, 

17 state ministers and two deputy 

ministers. The cabinet was last expanded 

on July 12, 2015 when three ministers - 

ACC quizzes 5 more AB Bank officials 

DHAKA : The Anti-Corruption 

Commission (ACC) on Tuesday 

interrogated five more AB Bank officials 

on money laundering allegation, 

reports BSS. 

ACC Assistant Director (Public 

Relations) Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya 

told UNB that ACC interrogated them 

from the morning as per fixed schedule. 

On December 26, a notice issued by 

ACC summoned the five officials- 

Mohammad Mahfuz Ul Islam, head 

of corporate treasury, Mohammad 

Lokman, head of Offshore Banking 

Unit, Arif Neaz, OBU at EPZ branch, 

Mahadeb Sarkar Sumon, company 

secretary, and MN Azim, who works 

in financial institutions and treasury 

section. 

ACC director Syed Iqbal Hossain and 

assistant director Gulshan Anwar are 

Zohr 

05:23 AM 

12:06 PM 

03:47 PM 

05:27 PM 

06:46 PM 

6:41 5:24 

Nurul Islam BSc, Asaduzzaman Khan and 

Yeafesh Osman-and two state ministers- 

Nuruzzaman Ahmed, an MP from 

Lalmonirhat-2 constituency, and Tarana 

Halim, an MP from reserved women seat, 

were worn in. 

Of them, State Minister for Home 

Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan and State 

Minister for Science and Technology 

From left State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Narayon Chandra 

Chanda, Lawmaker of Laxmipur AKM Shahgahan Kamal and ICT 

Specialist Mustafa Jabbar were sworn in as ministers while Lawmaker 

of Rajbari Quazi Keramat Ali as state minister. Photo : Collected 

Yeafesh Osman had been elevated to the 

rank of ministers. 

Narayon Chandra was made State 

Minister for Fisheries and Livestock after 

Awami League formed the present government 

through the January-5 election 

in 2014. 

Meanwhile, Fisheries and Livestock 

Minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque 

passed away on December 16 last. 

AKM Shahjahan Kamalwas elected MP 

twice - first in 1973 and then in 2014 -- 

from Laxmipur-3 constituency. 

Mustafa Jabbaris the President 

ofBangladesh Association of Software and 

Information Services (BASIS).He is best 

known for being the creator of software 

Bijoy, and he published the Bijoyfirst 

Bengali heyboard in 1988. He is also leading 

the ICTindustry as the President of 

Bangladesh Computer Samity. 

He was sworn in as a technocrat minister 

as he is not an MP. 

investigating the allegation and doing 

the interrogations. 

ACC also summoned on Monday six 

more members of the AB Bank's Board 

of Directors for interrogation on 

January 7. 

The directors of AB Bank are - Shishir 

Ranjan Bose, Mejbahul Haque, 

Fahimul Haque, Syed Afzal Hasan 

Uddin, Runa Zakia and Md. Anwar 

Jamil Siddiqui while one of the clients of 

bank trader Saiful Haque is also summoned 

for questioning on Jan 4. 

Earlier, on December 28, the bank's 

former chairman M Wahidul Haque 

and former managing director M Fazlur 

Rahman were interrogated. 

Living cost in capital rose 

by 8.44 pc in 2017 : CAB 

DHAKA : The living cost in the capital 

marked a rise by 8.44 percent in 2017 

due to the hike in the prices of daily 

essentials and the tariffs of utility services, 

including that of food, house rent, 

electricity and gas, according to 

Consumers Association of Bangladesh 

(CAB), reports UNB. 

CAB president Golam Rahman came 

up with the statistics at a press briefing 

at Dhaka Reporter's Unity (DRU) on 

Tuesday morning. 

CAB came up with the findings after 

scrutinising the data of 15 kitchen markets, 

144 food products, 22 essential 

items and 14 utility services, including 

gas, electricity and water. 

Last year, Golam Rahman said onion 

prices hit the roof, posting a a 40.99 

percent rise, while rice price hiked by 

Non-MPO teachers 

continue hunger 

strike despite 

Nahid's assurance 

35 teachers hospitalized 

DHAKA : The teachers and employees 

of non-MPO educational institutions 

who are on a hunger strike on Tuesday 

ignored Education Minister Nurul 

Islam Nahid's assurance, and vowed to 

continue their strike until an assurance 

is made to meet their demand with a 

timeframe, reports UNB. 

Leaders of the demonstration 

arranged under the banner of 'Non- 

MPO Educational Institution Teachers- 

Staff Federation' said they have decided 

to continue the strike at the Jatiya Press 

Club premises as the minister did not 

give them any specific date or timeframe. 

The teachers also claimed that the 

minister even did not break their 

hunger strike. 

They said they will continue their 

strike until their demand is fulfilled. 

"The government has been giving us 

such assurance for the last 10 years but 

we didn't see any outcome of it yet," 

said Sheikh Rafikul Islam, president of 

Tangail district unit of the federation. 

Mentioning the demand as their 'demand 

of life', he said the demonstrators 

want specific declaration from Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

Meanwhile, at least 35 teachers, 

including federation president Golam 

Mahmuddunabi, fell sick and they were 

taken to hospital. 

Earlier, Education Minister Nurul 

Islam Nahid went to the Jatiya Press 

Club around 11 am and urged the teachers 

and employees for returning to their 

work breaking the hunger strike. 

Nahid also assured them of fulfilling 

their demand saying that Finance 

Minister have agreed to accept it. 

SC extends stay on 

Apan Jewellers 

owners' bail order 

DHAKA : The Appellate Division of the 

Supreme Court on Tuesday extended 

its earlier order until January 8 that 

stayed the High Court order granting 

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 five-member bench of acting 

Chief Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah 

passed the order after hearing petition 

filed by the state. 

On December 21 last, the Chamber 

Judge of the Supreme Court extended 

its earlier order until January 2 in the 

money laundering cases. 

December 18, a special bench of the 

Chamber Judge stayed the bail order of 

the High Court until December 21 and set 

on Thursday for next hearing of the petitions 

in the scheduled vacation bench. 

On December 14, the High Court 

granted bail to three owners of Apan 

Jewellers in three money laundering 

cases. On November 22 last, the HC 

issued five separate rules in five money 

laundering cases filed against them. 

20.40 percent, vegetables by 24.72 percent, 

liquid milk by 20.36 percent and 

beef by 19.28 percent. 

In the services sector, he said, gas 

price marked a rise by 6.44 percent, 

water (per liter) 5 percent and house 

rent 8.14 percent, he added. 

They also placed a 10-point recommendation 

to cut down the high living 

cost. 

The recommendations include formation 

of a separate department of 

'Supply and Price' under Commerce 

Ministry to control the prices of daily 

essentials, reforming the House Rent 

Act 1991 and forming a House Rent 

Commission. 

The latest spike in the living cost was 

higher than in 2016 when it rose by 6.47 

percent in the capital. 

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Tuesday went to meet the fasting teachers in 

front of National Press Club. 

Photo : Star Mail 

Don't get dependent on 

safety-net allowances:PM 

Capable persons must work and earn 

their own livelihood, she says 

DHAKA : Stating that it is not the 

responsibility of the government to run 

every family, Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina on Tuesday said her administration 

is providing various allowances 

under the social safety-net programme 

so that no one is left starving but it is not 

to make people dependent on 

allowances, reports UNB. 

"We've a goal to provide allowances, 

no one has to be dependent on it...capable 

persons should earn his or her own 

livelihood... we've to ensure that anyone 

must not left starving," she said. 

The Prime Minister said this while 

inaugurating the National Social 

Welfare Day and Social Welfare Fair at 

Bangabandhu International 

Conference Centre (BICC). 

Sheikh Hasina said the government is 

providing such an amount of money 

some of which is supposed to be left 

even after buying of 10 kilograms of rice. 

"We don't want to give more than this 

[amount], or else, one will stop going to 

work and sit idle at home." 

She said capable persons can work 

and increase his or her income. "This 

will contribute to our socio-economic 

development, we've fixed the amounts 

of the allowances keeping that in mind," 

Hasina said. 

Criticising a section of civil society 

members who are very much cynical 

about the amount of the social safetynet 

allowances, the PM said these 

people hardly think practically as their 

thoughts are centered on a hypothetical 

ground. 

"They see everything only with their 

hearts but never see anything practically; 

I heard some of them saying that a 

family cannot be run with the allowance 

being given. 

But, this is not the responsibility of the 

government to run all the families. 

Everyone has to run his or her own family," 

she said. 

The Prime Minister mentioned that it 

is the responsibility of the government 

to take care whether one is left starving 

and neglected. "I'm formulating a system 

so that no one of the country is left 

starving and neglected," she said. 

Hasina said that any capable person 

must work so that he or she cannot get 

obsessed with an anti-work attitude. 

"We don't want to see building an idle 

nation...we're focusing on utilising 

everyone's skill and work potential." 

The Prime Minister elaborated various 

steps of her government, including 

providing allowances for the welfare of 

elderly people, widows and women 

abandoned by husbands, insolvent disabled 

people. 

Hasina said her government, since 

taking office in 2009, has been implementing 

various programmes to infuse 

dynamism into the rural economy and 

ensure durable social safety. 

Later, the Prime Minister inaugurated 

social services fair arranged at the 

Department of Social Services compound 

at Sher-e Bangla Nagar through 

a videoconference from the BICC. 

Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) organized a press 

conference at National Press Club yesterday. Photo : Star Mail 

Court orders BNP 

chief Khaleda's 

arrest 

COMILLA : A Comilla court on Tuesday 

ordered the arrest of BNP Chairperson 

Khaleda Zia and 48 other 

leaders and activists of her party in a 

murder case filed over the 2015 arson 

attack on a bus in Chouddagram 

upazila that left eight people dead, 

reports UNB. 

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate 

Joynab Begum issued the order 

after accepting the chargesheet in the 

case. 

Eight people were killed and at least 

20 people were injured when miscreants 

hurled a petrol bomb at a bus at 

Jogmohanpur in Chouddagram 

upazila during BNP-led alliance's 

movement on February 3, 2015. 

Two separate cases - one under the 

Explosive Substances Act and another 

for murder - were filed against 56 

people, including Khaleda. 

Later, sub-inspector Nururzzaman 

filed the murder case against 77 people 

including Khaleda. 

Firoz Ahmed, inspector of detective 

branch of police and also investigation 

officer of the case, submitted the 

chargesheet accusing 69 people. 

October 9, 2017 last, a Comilla 

court ordered the arrest of BNP 

Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 45 other 

leaders and activists of her party in 

the case filed under the Explosive 

Substances Act over the 2015 arson 

attack on a bus in Chouddagram 

upazila. 

A day after 

closure, TSC tea 

stalls reopen 

DHAKA : The tea stalls in Teacher Student 

Centre (TSC) area of Dhaka University, 

which were closed by the university 

authorities for providing unhealthy and 

unhygienic food items, were reopened on 

Tuesday, reports UNB. 

Visiting the spot, the UNB DU correspondent 

reported that the makeshift tea 

stalls, remained shut since last night, 

were reopened around 1:30 pm. 

One of the tea stall owners, Abdul Jalil, 

said on Monday night a Proctor's team 

asked them to shut the stalls and they later 

permitted them to reopen those 

instructing them to improve the quality of 

their food items. 

Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani told 

reporters that they did not formally issue 

any notice to close the stalls but warned 

them about the unhealthy food that might 

pose a threat to students' health. "They 

can open the stalls but must maintain the 

quality of food," he said. 

Earlier on October 17, the Dhaka University 

authorities asked all concerned to 

wrap up all the cultural and social activities 

at TSC by 8:00pm. However, they 

relaxed the order later in the face of 

widespread criticisms.

NEWS 

WEDNESDAY, 

Health assistants under the banner of Bangladesh Health Assistants Association observed work 

abstention yesterday to meet their four-point demand. 


Turkey 'concerned' by Iran protests, 

warns against escalation 

ISTANBUL : Turkey on Tuesday 

said it was "concerned" by days-long 

protests that have engulfed 

neighbouring Iran, warning against 

any escalation in the unrest, reports 

BSS. 

"Turkey is concerned by news the 

protests in Iran... are spreading, 

causing casualties and also the fact 

that some public buildings were 

damaged," the foreign ministry said 

in a statement, adding "common 

sense should prevail to prevent any 

escalation." 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani 

has tried to play down the unrest, 

which began over economic 

grievances in second city Mashhad 

last Thursday but quickly turned 

against the Islamic regime as a 

whole with chants of "Death to the 

dictator". 

The five-day unrest, the biggest 

challenge to the Islamic regime 

BEIJING : French President Emmanuel 

Macron will visit China for three days 

starting January 8, the Chinese foreign 

ministry said Tuesday, after the young 

leader declared the need for a stronger 

Europe to "face China" , reports BSS. 

This will be Macron's first state visit to 

the country, and the first by a European 

Union nation leader since the ruling 

Communist Party's 19th national 

congress in October. 

President Xi Jinping secured a second 

five-year term as the head of the party at 

the twice-a-decade political meeting, 

becoming the most powerful Chinese 

leader in years. 

News of the trip comes after Macron, 

40, who campaigned on a proglobalisation 

platform, called on France 

since the 2009 mass 

demonstrations, has so far claimed 

21 lives. 

Turkey-which was hit by protests 

against President Recep Tayyip 

Erdogan (then premier) in 2013 -- 

said it "attaches the utmost 

importance to the maintenance of 

peace and stability in friendly and 

brotherly Iran." 

The ministry said Rouhani's 

statements warning against 

violation of laws and damage of 

public property should be adhered 

to. 

"We believe that violence and 

provocations should be avoided," it 

said, warning against "external 

interventions." 

Turkey, whose rivalry with Iran 

goes back to the regional battle for 

supremacy between the Ottoman 

Empire and imperial Persia, has had 

on occasion tricky moments in 

Spain says Catalan 

crisis cost '1 bn euros' 

MADRID : Spain's economy minister following a banned referendum on the 

claimed Monday that the Catalan topic. 

independence crisis had cost the country "a 

billion" euros as fallout from the turmoil 

continued to hamper growth in the wealthy 

region, reports BSS. 

Luis de Guindos said slowdown in growth 

in Catalonia, which accounts to around a 

fifth of Spanish GDP, was hampering the 

eurozone's fourth largest economy as a 

whole. 

"Catalonia used to have growth above 

that of Spain, it was one of the drivers of the 

Spanish economy," he told Spanish radio. 

"However, in the fourth quarter, it's 

become a burden." 

De Guindos estimated the crisis could 

"easily have cost a billion euros" ($1.2 

billion). 

Led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, 

Madrid invoked powers provided for by 

Spain's constitution to suspend the region's 

cherished autonomy, sack its government 

and parliament, and call fresh regional 

elections in a bid to head off the secession 

drive. 

But separatist parties won the most seats 

in the December 21 vote, and with the 

Catalan issue likely to drag on well into 

2018 there are fears the crisis could hamper 

Spain's recovery from the 2007-2008 

financial crisis. 

More than 3,100 companies have already 

moved their legal headquarters from 

Catalonia, including major banks and retail 

firms. 

Spain was plunged into its deepest De Guindos blamed "enormous 

political crisis in decades when separatists uncertainty, concern and a loss of 

in Catalonia's regional government confidence generated by the previous 

declared independence in October (Catalan) government". 

French President Macron 

to visit China next week 

and all of Europe to return to its former 

glory during a televised New Year's 

address Sunday. 

"We need to... be a more sovereign, 

more united, more democratic Europe," 

he said. 

"I deeply believe Europe can become 

that economic, social, environmentallyfriendly, 

scientific power that will be 

able to face China and the United 

States." 

Chinese President Xi Jinping is 

likewise pursuing the "great 

rejuvenation of the Chinese nation". 

As leaders of two permanent UN 

Security Council member states, Macron 

and Xi are expected to discuss the Syrian 

crisis and North Korea's nuclear 

programme. 

relations with Tehran. 

Erdogan has repeatedly railed 

against "Persian imperialism" in the 

Middle East but relations have 

warmed in the last months as 

Moscow and Tehran work tightly 

with Ankara to bring peace to Syria. 

Turkey's conservative press on 

their front pages sounded grave 

unease over the protests, which the 

pro-government Yeni Safak daily 

described as a "dangerous 

escalation". 

It accused the United States of 

being behind the violence with the 

aim of the "Syria-ization" of Iran. 

"The Pentagon has started its 2018 

chaos plans from Iran." 

"The dirty game is now in Iran," 

added the Star daily on its front 

page. "The West is behind the 

sedition in Iran... if it's successful 

there, the target will be Turkey," 

added the Yeni Akit daily. 

Woman found 

slaughtered in 

Bogra 

BOGRA : A woman was 

found slaughtered to death 

at Malgram village in Sadar 

upazila on Monday evening, 

reports UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified as Pinky Khatun, 

22, daughter of Satku of the 

village. Pinky had a divorce 

with her husband four 

months back. 

Emdad Hossain, officerin-charge 

of Sadar Police 

Station, said that miscreants 

slaughtered Pinky at her 

residence in absence of 

family members in the 

evening. 

On information, police 

recovered the body and sent 

it to Bogra Shaheed Ziaur 

Rahman Medical College 

and Hospital. 

The victim might have 

been raped before murder, 

said the OC. 

Nasrul nominated for 

"Visionary Leader of 

Change" award 

DHAKA : State Minister for 

Power, Energy and Mineral 

Resources Nasrul Hamid 

has been nominated for the 

"Visionary Leader of 

Change" award for his 

outstanding contribution to 

organise the youth in 

attaining economic facilities. 

The global organisation 

generally honours individual 

or organisation contributing 

to effective development by 

creating a platform for 

quality improvement in the 

society, according to a 

release issued . 

An orientation program of the admitted students' under session 2017-2018 of Chittagong 

Veterinary and Animal Science University has been held on Tuesday at Sivasu auditorium of the 

university campus. Agricultural development and mass media personality Shykh Siraj was the 

main speaker in the program. 

Photo: TBT 

Kuwait military 

officials meet 

Army Chief 

DHAKA : A high official 

delegation of Kuwait 

Armed Forces yesterday 

paid a courtesy call on 

Bangladesh Chief of Army 

Staff General Abu Belal 

Muhammad Shafiul Huq 

at Army Headquarters in 

city's Cantonment area, 

reports BSS. 

The delegation led by 

Chief of general staff of 

Kuwait Armed Forces 

Lieutenant General 

Mohammad Khaled Al 

Khander met the Army 

Chief where Principal Staff 

Officers of the Army 

Headquarters were 

present, said an Inter- 

Services Public Relations 

(ISPR) press release. 

During the visit, they 

exchanged greetings and 

discussed the bilateral 

relations including 

training exchanges and 

prospects of cooperation 

between the two countries. 

Earlier, the Kuwait 

Armed Forces Chief was 

given Guard of Honor at 

Senakunja by a smartly 

turned-out army 

contingent and planted a 

sapling there, the release 

added. 

The delegation members 

also included Kuwait 

Armed Forces Military 

Education Department 

Chief Maj Gen Anwar 

Jassem Al Mazidi, Kuwait 

Naval Forces Commander 

Maj Gen Khaled Ahmed 

Abdullah and Mubarak al- 

Abdullah Joint Command 

and Staff College 

Commandant Maj Gen 

Abdullah Abdus Samad 

Dashti. 

The visiting team would 

leave the country on 

January 5. 

International Desk: The Britons 

had watched England in the fourth 

Ashes Test against Australia at the 

Melbourne Cricket Ground, and 

were set to watch the final Test in 

Sydney this week, Sydney's Daily 

Telegraph reported. England's 

Barmy Army cricket supporters 

paid tribute to them. "It's very sad 

to hear of the loss of any cricket fan 

around the world especially when 

it's so close to home," the Barmy 

Army's Chris Millard told the 

Telegraph. 

Accident investigators hope this 

week to raise a seaplane which 

crashed into an Australian river with 

the death of six people, including a 

high-profile British chief executive, 

reports BSS. 

Richard Cousins, the boss of 

catering giant Compass, his sons 

Edward and William, fiancee Emma 

Bowden and her daughter Heather 

Bowden-Page were killed in the 

accident on the Hawkesbury River 

north of Sydney on New Year's Eve. 

Pilot Gareth Morgan also died. 

Nat Nagy, executive director of 

transport safety for the Australian 

Transport Safety Bureau, said the 

investigation would cover the 

plane's maintenance record as well 

as its components and any 

recordings of the flight. 

"So that could involve avionics or 

instruments that are attached to the 

aeroplane, but also things like 

mobile phones, iPads, GoPros that 

KINSHASA: Internet was restored in the 

Democratic Republic of Congo on 

Tuesday after the government cut services 

for three days on the eve of protests 

against the president, reports BSS 

The Congolese minister for 

telecommunications Emery Okundji 

ordered mobile operators to cut internet 

and SMS services "for reasons of state 

security" on Saturday. 

Catholic and opposition groups on 

Sunday pushed ahead with banned 

demonstrations, which were met with a 

deadly crackdown by authorities, who 

fired tear gas into churches and bullets in 

the air to break up gatherings at Catholic 

masses. 

At least eight people were killed and 

dozens arrested, including 12 altar boys 

leading a march in Kinshasa. 

Internet cuts are common during antigovernment 

demonstrations in the vast, 

mineral-rich central African country, 

which has been wracked by tension over 

CAIRO : Egyptian prison authorities 

executed on Tuesday five inmates who 

had been sentenced to death, four of them 

over a bombing that killed military 

cadets, security officials said, reports BSS. 

The hangings came days after the 

execution of 15 inmates convicted of 

attacking police and the military in the 

largest mass execution in Egypt in recent 

memory. 

Four of those executed on Tuesday had 

been sentenced to death by a military 

court over a 2015 the bombing at a 

stadium north of Cairo that killed three 

military cadets. 

The fifth had been sentenced to death 

over a criminal matter, the sources said 

without elaborating. 

The other four had been accused of 

having links with the Muslim 

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY2 

JANUARY 3, 2018 

Internet restored in DR Congo 

after deadly protests 

delayed elections. 

"Internet cuts, even short ones, disrupt 

economic growth, interrupt essential 

services, undermine investor confidence 

and degrade the country's image," 

according to a study published in 

September by the Collaboration on 

International ICT Policy for East and 

Southern Africa (CIPESA). 

Protesters want President Joseph 

Kabila to promise he will not further 

extend his time in power in DR Congo, a 

mostly Catholic former Belgian colony. 

Elections to replace him have been 

delayed and are currently set for 

December 2018. 

UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged 

Kabila, in power since 2001, to abide 

by an agreement to step down. 

Internet cuts are common during antigovernment 

demonstrations in the vast, 

mineral-rich central African country, 

which has been wracked by tension over 

delayed elections. 

Egypt hangs five 

prisoners: officials 

we will be able to recover data 

from," Nagy said, announcing the 

intention to recover the DHC-2 

Beaver Seaplane this week. 

A preliminary report is expected in 

a month. The sightseeing aircraft, 

which was heading to Rose Bay in 

Sydney Harbour, made a sharp turn 

before plummeting straight into the 

water in the suburb of Cowan 50 

kilometres (31 miles) north of 

Sydney. 

Witnesses on a nearby houseboat 

told national broadcaster ABC how 

they dived into the river, which was 

covered with aviation fuel, in an 

attempted rescue. 

Three men repeatedly plunged in 

to try and open the plane's doors as 

it sank. Unsuccessful, they tied the 

aircraft's tail to their dinghy but 

were unable to move it."Dead set, 

they could have died," said Will 

McGovern of his three friends."The 

whole time I was freaking out that 

this fuel was going to spark. This 

plane was moving fast, it was going 

down fast -- they could have got 

sucked in. 

"The families of these poor people, 

they need to know people were there 

risking their lives trying to help their 

family members. There was 

someone there trying to do 

something." 

"Our thoughts are with their 

families." The Barmy Army were set 

to hold a minute's silence before two 

upcoming fan matches against 

Brotherhood movement of former 

president Mohamed Morsi whom the 

army toppled in 2013 following protests 

against his single year in office. 

On December 26, prison authorities 

hanged 15 inmates sentenced to death by 

a military court over attacks on the police 

and military in the Sinai Peninsula. 

Attacks by jihadists in the restive 

peninsula have killed hundreds of 

policemen and soldiers since Morsi's 

overthrow. 

Courts have since sentenced hundreds 

of Islamists to death, although most have 

appealed the rulings and won retrials. 

The fifth had been sentenced to death 

over a criminal matter, the sources said 

without elaborating. 

The other four had been accused of 

having links with the Muslim 

A passenger-bus overturned into a nearby paddy field on Parbatipur-Rangpur road of Dinajpur 

injuring 7 people. 


Britons watched England in the 

fourth Ashes Test against Australia 

Australian cricket supporters, the 

newspaper added. Former England 

captain Michael Vaughan tweeted 

Tuesday: "Saddened to hear of the 

passing away of Richard Cousins 

and some family members in Sydney 

... Great man who loved the game of 

cricket ... Thoughts to all his family. 

A preliminary report is expected in 

a month. The sightseeing aircraft, 

which was heading to Rose Bay in 

Sydney Harbour, made a sharp turn 

before plummeting straight into the 

water in the suburb of Cowan 50 

kilometres (31 miles) north of 

Sydney. 

Witnesses on a nearby houseboat 

told national broadcaster ABC how 

they dived into the river, which was 

covered with aviation fuel, in an 

attempted rescue. 

Three men repeatedly plunged in 

to try and open the plane's doors as 

it sank. Unsuccessful, they tied the 

aircraft's tail to their dinghy but 

were unable to move it."Dead set, 

they could have died," said Will 

McGovern of his three friends."The 

whole time I was freaking out that 

this fuel was going to spark. This 

plane was moving fast, it was going 

down fast -- they could have got 

sucked in. 

"Our thoughts are with their 

families." The Barmy Army were set 

to hold a minute's silence before two 

upcoming fan matches against 

Australian cricket supporters, the 

newspaper added.

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY 

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

3 

WeDNeSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018 

A discussion meeting titled 'Role of Women in Liberation War' was held at National Press Club 

yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

SC has history of protecting Constitution, 

human rights: President 

DHAKA : President Abdul Hamid 

on Tuesday said the Supreme Court 

has the history of protecting the 

Constitution and ensuring people's 

human rights whenever needed 

during the critical time of the 

nation, reports UNB. 

Speaking at a function at the 

Judges' Sports Complex of 

Bangladesh Supreme Court 

marking the first-ever Supreme 

Court (SC) Day, he also focused on 

having good terms and 

coordination among the three state 

organs, saying they are not 

competitors rather cooperative to 

each other. 

"It's seen analysing the history 

that the Supreme Court protected 

the Constitution and established 

people's basic human rights 

discharging the responsibilities 

bestowed upon it whenever 

necessary during the critical time of 

the nation," the President said. 

He hoped that the Supreme Court 

will make positive contributions to 

flourishing democracy, socioeconomic 

progress and establishing 

the rule of law in the future as it did 

in the past. 

Abdul Hamid recalled with deep 

gratitude its former brave judges 

who contributed to establishing the 

rule of law without compromising 

with their conscience and bowing 

down at gunpoint. 

He also mentioned the important 

role of lawyers in establishing 

justice and the rule of law, and 

hoped that they will help ensure 

prompt justice for people with their 

intellect, wisdom, honesty, 

sincerity, and exercising knowledge 

more and more. 

Stating that it is the time of 

digitisation with smart phones 

available in people's hands, the 

President asked the Supreme Court 

administration to bring dynamism 

into case management using all the 

facilities of the information 

technology. 

"Steps will have to be taken to 

carry out the official tasks of the 

country's all the courts in digital 

system...as the Supreme Court is the 

Court of Record, efforts must be 

taken to turn its all files and records 

into digital ones," he said. 

Abdul Hamid also asked the 

Supreme Court administration to 

take steps for preserving all the 

activities from filing cases to 

delivering verdicts in digital system. 

"The measures can be taken to 

produce the accused before court 

from the jail and take depositions of 

witnesses 

through 

videoconferencing. The Supreme 

Court will have to be active in 

implementing the e-judiciary in the 

future as the government is very 

sincere about it," he advised. 

Mentioning that the Supreme 

Court has the judicial review power, 

the President urged the judges to 

perform their major responsibilities 

with utmost caution. 

He laid emphasis on having good 

relation among the executive, 

legislative and judiciary for 

establishing democracy and the rule 

of law. "It should be remembered 

that mutual cooperation and trust 

are very crucial for the success of 

the each organ." 

Resist illegal 

arm holders in 

Hill Tracks, 

urges Dipankar 

RANGAMATI : The 

former state minister for 

Chittagong Hill Tracts 

and Awami League 

leader, Dipankar 

Talukdar, on Tuesday 

urges the local people in 

Naniarchar upazila to 

launch massive 

resistance against the 

illegal arms holders in 

the area, reports UNB. 

The AL leader came up 

with the compulsion 

while inaugurating 

Bangamata 

Fazilatunnesa Smriti 

Bhaban at AL office in 

Naniarchar upazila. 

The condition may 

deteriorate further in Hill 

Tracks, if proper steps 

were not taken against 

the illegal arms holders, 

he said. 

"They are unsettling the 

peace of Hill Tracks with 

arms", he added. 

Naniarchar upazila AL 

President Tridib Kanti 

Dash, Chittagong Hill 

Tracts Regional Council 

member Kamal Uddin, 

District Council 

chairman Brish Ketu 

Chakma, General 

Secretary of district 

Awami League Hazi 

Mosa Matobbar also 

spoke among others on 

this occasion. 

Call for stopping drug 

abuse to protect youths 

DHAKA : Speakers at a function of 

Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) in 

the city yesterday strongly suggested 

eliminating drug abuse in society to protect 

the vulnerable group of the population, 

specially the young generation, from the 

venomous effects of the menace, reports 

BSS. 

"Drug abuse should not only be controlled 

but also be eliminated from society. All 

concerned should work concertedly for this 

with a zero tolerance police," Primary and 

Mass Education Minister Advocate 

Mostafizur Rahman told a discussion 

marking the 28th founding anniversary of 

Khaleda wants to turn country 

into Pakistan: Dipu Moni 

DHAKA : Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Dipu 

Moni yesterday said BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia wants 

to turn Bangladesh into Pakistan again taking the antiliberation 

forces with her, reports BSS. 

"Begum Zia is working as a collaborator of Pakistan as she 

did during the Liberation War...She gave our national flag 

to anti-liberation forces and now she wants to turn the 

country into Pakistan," she said, speaking at a discussion 

at the auditorium of Jatiya Press Club (JPC) here. 

Awami League Dhaka district unit organized the 

discussion titled 'Women's Role in Liberation War' with its 

Women Affairs Secretary Halima Akther Labonnyo in the 

chair. 

AL district unit President Benzir Ahmed and General 

Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, JPC General Secretary 

Farida Yeasmin and Jatiya Mohila Sangstha President 

Momtaj Begum addressed the discussion as special guests. 

Dipu Moni said Bangabandhu's daughter and Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina has given the highest respect to all 

freedom fighters and she is taking the country forward in 

all sectors. 

DNC at its headquarters at Tejgaon here. 

DNC Director General Mohammed Jamal 

Uddin Ahmed chaired the function while 

Chairman of Parliamentary Standing 

Committee on Ministry for Home Affairs 

Tipu Munshi, Home Ministry's Security 

Services Division Secretary Farid Uddin 

Ahmed Chowdhury, Inspector General of 

Prisons Brigadier General Syed Iftekhar 

Uddin, National Narcotics Control Board 

Member Dr Arup Ratan Chowdhury, 

Bangladesh Pratidin Editor Naem Nizam 

and North South University's Professor 

Imdadul Haque, among others, addressed 

the discussion. 

Health assistants strike 

for 2nd straight day 

BRAHMANBARIA : Health 

assistants of different upazilas 

of the district continued their 

indefinite strike for the 

second day on Tuesday as a 

part of their central 

programme with a four-point 

demand related to ranks and 

wages, reports UNB. 

Some 450 health assistants 

refrained from providing 

health care service in nine 

upazilas from the morning 

and observed the strike inside 

of the main gate of Sadar 

Upazila Health Complex. 

Joint general secretary of 

Health Assistant Association 

Arshadul Islam and general 

secretary Mainuddin were 

present in the programme 

among others. 

The jute mills are - 

Daulatpur, Khalishpur, 

Crescent, Platinum, Star, 

GD-16/18 (10 x 4) 

Aleem, Eastern, and JJI and 

Carpeting jute mills. 

GD-20/18 (5 x 3) 

Bangladesh United Islami Party organized a press conference at National Press Club yesterday to 

make success the rally aiming to strike down the terrorists. 

Photo : TBT 

4 'robbers' 

held in Old 

Dhaka 

DHAKA : Members of 

Detective Branch of police 

arrested four suspected robbers 

from different areas of 

the Old Dhaka on Monday 

night, reports UNB. 

The arrestees were 

identified as Masud, Gazi, 

Md Idris, Md Asad and 

Faruk Ahmmed. 

Abdul Baten, joint 

commissioner of Dhaka 

Metropolitan detective 

police, at a press briefing at 

DMP's media centre on 

Tuesday said that a team of 

DB arrested Masud from the 

old part of city along with Tk 

2 lakh. 

After gleaning information 

from Masud, the team 

arrested Idris, Asad and 

Faruk from the same area 

along with Tk 11 lakh, he 

added. 

Khulna jute mills' 

work abstention 

enters 5th day 

KHULNA : The indefinite 

work abstention enforced by 

the employees of eight stateowned 

jute mills in the 

district to press home their 

11-point demand including 

payment of arrears entered 

fifth day here on Tuesday, 

reports UNB. 

Some 25,000 workers of 

eight state-owned jute mills 

in Khulna-Jessore industrial 

belt have been observing 

work abstention since 

Thursday.

EDITORIAL weDNesDAy, 

THE 


JANUARy 3, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

wednesday, January 3, 2018 

environment restoration 

policy is long overdue 

The 

environment of Bangladesh has gone on 

declining during the last two decades and a half. 

But the ministry that was exclusively created to 

address this worsening environmental situation 

seemed to do little of substance as the environment 

steadily deteriorated and environmental concerns 

multiplied and intensified. 

Dhaka city that was one of the world's most air polluted 

cities in the past became the worst air polluted city in the 

world some years ago. It improved its status since that 

time by pushing the worst air polluting autorickshaws 

away from the metropolitan areas of Dhaka. But the air 

in the city still remains that of one of the most polluted 

ones in the world in the absence of other follow up 

measures. 

Sections of rivers flowing around the big 

concentrations of urban population of Bangladesh have 

turned so polluted from unregulated discharge of 

effluents that these are like dark liquids devoid of oxygen 

and aquatic life. Biodiversity of large parts of Bangladesh 

have been threatened by a number of man-made factors. 

One of them is the country's overpopulation and its 

consequent impact on the environment. But compared 

to the devastating population bomb that is building up 

for this small country, the response to it appears to be 

hardly a proportionate one against the threat. 

Widespread presence of arsenic in underground water, 

the loss of soil fertility from mono-cropping without crop 

rotation, toxicity of the soil and the threatened food 

chain from indiscriminate use of chemical fertlisers and 

pesticides, etc., are the other growingly formidable 

environmental problems. 

Deforestation has whittled down to below ten per cent 

the country's forests and vegetation cover ; the country's 

basic environmental balance has been threatened as a 

result. Afforestation programmes may have had only a 

marginal impact on these conditions. This is because 

deforestation activities are considered to be greater than 

afforestation ones. 

The coastal areas of the country are poorly supervised. 

Foreign vessels dump their waste matters too freely in 

the coastal areas and perhaps such vessels had dumped 

on occasions cargoes of very hazardous wastes in 

Bangladesh's territorial waters finding the same an 

unchallenged zone while indulging in such activities. 

There are many sides to the environmental crisis that is 

gradually showing up in Bangladesh. Many are in the 

making from unregulated human activities within the 

country. But a very serious threat to the environment of 

the country has external origins. Bangladesh as a low 

lying country stands to be among the few countries to be 

worst hit by the increase of greenhouse gases in the 

atmosphere and the consequent earth warming 

phenomenon. Although Bangladesh should have long 

ago started an all outclamour to sensitize the 

international community to its plight and sought 

adequate international compensation and assistance to 

meet the nearing catastrophe, the leaders of this country 

remained very surprisingly mum and unconcerned 

about it for a long time. Only recently they have been 

showing a greater concern but that probably has a lot to 

do with external prodding. 

All environment conscious people in the country expect 

that the government will take a new and hard look at the 

major environmental problems . If this is done, then 

environment surely would be recognised as an area 

requiring highest priority attention. The government will 

need to urgently get down to preparing a comprehensive 

environment restoration policy including, most 

importantly, the ways and means to enforce it. 

The environmental decline has already much eroded 

the quality of life in Bangladesh. If it goes on like this, 

without a strong enough check and abatement, then this 

country could turn into a poisonous hell hole with worse 

unclean air, water, soil and surroundings where decent 

human existence and happiness would not be possible. 

Already such existence and happiness has disappeared 

considerably from the life and living of Bangladeshis in 

many places due to the stressful environment. The 

environment related woes are likely to be worse and 

worse and, finally the worst, without an environment 

restoration policy in place and its proper 

implementation. Therefore, the government can make a 

very big contribution to an area of very pressing need by 

introducing a proper environmental policy and enforcing 

it successfully. 

What things the environment policy must aim for are 

obvious : it should set up a system for all polluters to be 

warned and identified and made to suffer penalties 

unfailingly for their unwillingness or inability to adhere 

to the policy. For instance, it should make a rule that all 

industries producing hazardous wastes must have a 

waste treatment plant for treating such waste before 

discharging them on soil, air or water bodies. Violators of 

the rule should have the choice of either conforming 

strictly to the rule or closing down operation. 

Air pollution in the cities can be reduced by requiring 

automotive vehicles to compulsorily use catalytic 

converters and by fining or not allowing the movement 

of vehicles that do not keep clean engines or exhaust 

systems. Air pollution can be also reduced by 

compulsorily producing and distributing lead and 

sulphur free fuel for vehicles. Operation of ruling 

violating brick fields must be stopped. 

Arsenic in underground water can be tackled by 

spreading the know-how of inexpensive ways of filtering 

arsenic from the water. Similar dissemination of 

information about the benefits of crop rotation, 

regulated use of chemical fertlisersand natural pest 

control, can work wonders in preserving the fertility of 

the soil or preventing soil from becoming toxic. Even 

the passing of laws and their enforcement can be 

considered to this end. The environment policy should 

lead to environmental laws to protect and expand the 

country's forests and vegetation, to protect and increase 

the number of its reserved forests, to protect its biodiversity, 

to promote environment friendly urban areas, 

etc. Externally, under the environment policy, 

Bangladesh must pursue a more strident and vocal role 

internationally to draw attention to the plight of 

Bangladesh from the earth warming. 

A Democratic midterm win won’t be a cakewalk 

Ding-dong, 2018 is finally here, 

and with it the chance for 

Democrats in the United States 

to take their arch-enemy, US President 

Donald Trump. Talk swirls of winning 

the House of Representatives, even 

halting the juggernaut of conservative 

judges streaming through the Senate. 

Trump is so unpopular! Why, 

Democrats are more confident than 

I've seen them since ...Since November 

8, 2016. 

The indispensable RealClearPolitics 

tracks trends in all sorts of poll results - 

including the average gap between the 

numbers of Americans who view 

Trump favourably and unfavourable. 

As of December 27, the president was 

deep underwater, his unfavourables 

outpacing his favourables by 19 

percentage points, 57 to 38. But look 

back to Election Day, Democrats, 

before salivating over Trump's 

apparent weakness. Then, he was 21 

points down in favourables, 58.5 to 

37.5. Given margins of error, those are 

essentially identical findings. Our year 

of living crazily appears to have 

changed no opinions on the topic of 

Trump - which suggests to me that he 

might very well win again if an election 

were held today. 

To achieve their dreams of an anti- 

Trump wave, Democrats have a lot of 

work to do. And to be honest, the 

normal rhythms of politics don't 

necessarily encourage fresh thinking 

and diligence at this point in the cycle. 

Typically, midterm elections are the 

political equivalent of the Golden 

Globes: Lesser occasions that serve as 

As a veteran of the time not so long 

ago when only a handful of us 

Western reporters attempted to 

cover North Korea, I'm sometimes asked 

whether I see an improvement. I usually 

try to look on the bright side, to be 

encouraging of all the new efforts that 

reporters and their news organizations 

have been putting into this supremely 

difficult field of coverage. 

Occasionally, though, a curmudgeonly 

thought occurs to me that we are not all 

that well served by the fact that North 

Korea has become a Western journalistic 

obsession. One trigger for this thought 

was the publication of yet another story 

simplistically repeating the argument 

that North Koreans working abroad are 

"slave laborers." 

The latest such piece, from The New 

York Times: "Even in Poland, Workers' 

Wages Flow to North Korea" sports one 

of the newly fashionable triple bylines 

that advertise lots of teamwork. 

I will give marks for effort on that. 

Focused on Poland, it gets into all the 

usual facts about how the guest workers 

are kept in isolation by their North 

Korean minders, while much of their pay 

is diverted to the Pyongyang regime. The 

aim is clearly to place the story in the 

"human rights" category of journalism. 

But as such articles always do, the 

Times story fails to discuss in any depth 

the main strategic point: Just as for 

citizens of other countries, and despite all 

the restrictions Pyongyang places on its 

own people abroad, for North Koreans, 

travel is broadening. It gives them 

opportunities - seldom available to stayat-home 

countrymen - to compare their 

imperfect omens, soggy tea leaves that 

pundits can read for signs of bigger 

things to come. Do the Golden Globes 

foretell the Oscars? 

This year ought to be different. This 

election has major implications; it is a 

reckoning, not just a windsock. It is the 

first national plebiscite after the 

earthquake. Trump's victory was a 

radical moment for the American 

electorate, something quite unlike the 

customary choice between the red 

crayon and the blue crayon - 

something more, even, than a sullen 

refusal to colour inside the lines at all. A 

decisive turnout of key voters in key 

places shredded the entire colouring 

book, soaked it in diesel fuel and 

dropped a match. 

The coming year offers the closest 

available thing to a do-over. Results in 

hundreds of local, statewide and 

federal elections will add up to a ring of 

dots that, connected, will mark a new 

set of political boundaries. Whether 

system with the ways things are done 

abroad. The comparison is seldom 

favorable to the hereditary Kim regime. 

Not a few guest workers, thus confronted 

with the clear inferiority of their home 

country's system, have defected. I told 

some of their stories in my book Under 

the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. 

Perhaps, more importantly, the 

majority of guest workers have not 

defected but have returned with their 

earnings, some of them becoming agents 

of change at home as entrepreneurs 

investing in the market economy that 

since the 1990s has developed 

unofficially, in parallel with the moribund 

official economy. 

DailyNK, a news agency that maintains 

close contacts inside North Korea, is a 

South Korean outlet. It sees the positives 

that Western reporters too often miss 

when reporting on overseas labor. In a 

story last week, "Overseas female workers 

return home, invest money in market 

ventures," DailyNK reported on a woman 

DAvID vON DRehle 

BRADley K MARTIN 

those new boundaries embrace Trump 

or wall him out will say a lot about the 

future of Trumpism in America. 

Yet - and here's the tricky part for 

Democrats - making 2018 into a yearlong 

referendum on Trump is a recipe 

for another Election Day shocker. 

Among other innovations, Trump has 

demonstrated the limits of the purely 

negative campaign. Between his own 

goofs and outrages and the points 

scored by his enemies in the last 

election, Trump sank in the polls to 

This year ought to be different. This election 

has major implications; it is a reckoning, not 

just a windsock. It is the first national 

plebiscite after the earthquake. Trump's 

victory was a radical moment for the American 

electorate, something quite unlike the 

customary choice between the red crayon and 

the blue crayon - something more, even, than a 

sullen refusal to colour inside the lines at all. 

depths no normal candidate could 

survive. Nevertheless, it's his Diet Coke 

now filling the White House fridge. The 

opposition needs to present a 

compelling alternative, one that 

appeals not just to coastal cities and 

college towns, but to the more centrist 

and even conservative audiences that 

vote in the nation's dwindling swing 

districts and in the states hostile to 

Democrats on the 2018 Senate map. 

To win the House, Democrats need to 

in her 20s from Unsan, in South Pyongan 

Province. 

She "was able to save $3,000 from her 

time working in China. Her family said 

she 'lacked morals and a sense of filial 

duty' for failing to bring gifts, but she was 

unfazed by the insults. The young woman 

spent almost $2,000 on a 50-pyeong (165 

square meters) apartment and also began 

selling industrial equipment in the 

market." 

The background, as DailyNK reported: 

"Hundreds of young women from North 

and South Pyongan provinces were 

dispatched for work in China from the 

beginning of 2014, working in various 

sectors, including textile manufacturing 

and the packaging of marine goods." 

The article noted the detail - too often 

missed by Western reporters and analysts 

- that those dispatched abroad were all 

members of the "loyal" class of North 

Koreans. "In order to qualify, applicants 

were not permitted to have any 

incarcerated family members or any 

pick up at least 24 new seats, which in 

this age of precision gerrymandering is 

a much heavier lift than it used to be. 

Capturing the Senate is an even more 

formidable task, notwithstanding the 

recent unlikely win by Democrat Doug 

Jones in Alabama. Ten Democratic 

senators are defending seats in states 

Trump won. Even if all those seats are 

held, the party would need to find two 

more wins on a highly unfavourable 

map to make a Senate majority. 

The opponents will not all be as loopy 

and creepy as Roy Moore. 

To turn the tide of Trumpism, 

Democrats need candidates and policies 

that speak to voters in red states and red 

districts; winning the purple places, as 

they've done in Virginia and New Jersey 

this autumn, won't be enough. This will 

require wooing some voters who own 

guns, work for fossil fuel companies, 

shop at Hobby Lobby and eat Chick-fil- 

A - even attend churches where abortion 

is a vital concern. 

The painful choice that faces 

partisans in a polarised time is whether 

to be true to an ideology or flexible in 

creating coalitions. Republicans made 

their choice in 2016 by embracing a 

candidate whose views on trade, 

diplomacy, human rights and a raft of 

other issues were far outside the GOP 

orthodoxy. They have conservative 

judges and a tax cut for their spoils. 

Now Democrats must decide how big 

they are willing to make their own tent 

- understanding that Trump's future 

may hang on their answer. 

Source : Gulf news 

The problem with western reports on North Korea 

THE year 2017 has ended on a low 

note for Pakistan's fight against 

extremism. Where once the 

concern was restricted to impoverished 

neighbourhoods and lack of education, 

today extremist thought is flourishing in 

the media, political spheres, elite circles 

and educational institutes. 

Numerous professors in universities in 

Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi show 

increased concern for radical and 

extremist thought that incite violence; a 

phenomenon previously associated with 

poverty, lack of education and/or limited 

to madressahs. Literature on latent 

radicalisation in college campuses across 

Pakistan helps to provide context to 

current trends; one need look no further 

than the brutal lynching of Mashal Khan 

at the Abdul Wali Khan University. The 

misuse of blasphemy laws, often for 

revenge or personal gain, can anger 

young students enough to resort to 

murder. 

That is no surprise in a country that 

cedes space to the extremist ideology of 

radical clerics and allows them to bring 

the capital on lockdown for weeks. An 

open incitement to violence against 

minority communities, women, students 

and many more, is likely then to 

germinate in young minds already 

vulnerable to a myriad of regressive 

circumstances, eg Bacha Khan University 

in Charsadda recently banned mixed 

gatherings on its campus. 

Military means alone won't end 

terrorism. Intolerance, however, is not 

But as such articles always do, the Times story fails 

to discuss in any depth the main strategic point: 

Just as for citizens of other countries, and despite 

all the restrictions Pyongyang places on its own 

people abroad, for North Koreans, travel is 

broadening. It gives them opportunities - seldom 

available to stay-at-home countrymen - to compare 

their system with the ways things are done abroad. 

Rise in extremism 

limited to college campuses or to 

firebrand clerics. It is not uncommon for 

political leaders, eg our information 

minister, to resort to slurs demonising 

non-Muslims, in order to attack their 

political rivals or to further personal gain. 

All this in a country that faces a large 

youth population that is susceptible to 

extremism. There is no scenario where 

Pakistan's fight against terrorism can be 

won solely through military means. For a 

state in flux, even obvious observations 

require repetition. According to the 

Global Terrorism Index, terrorismrelated 

violence in Pakis tan has 

decreased considerably since 2014, in 

part attributable to Operation Zarb-i-Azb. 

In fact, hundreds of terrorist plots were 

reportedly foiled in Pakistan in 2017. 

While Pakistan's security dimension 

has improved, extremism has been on the 

rise, despite tremendous chatter on the 

ARslA JAwAID 

subject. Stamping out dissent in college 

campuses (amongst many other venues) 

and the dangerous political 

mainstreaming of intolerance against 

minorities create conducive 

environments that exacerbate factors 

generally accepted as increasing youth 

vulnerability towards violence. 

Rise in extremism cannot be quantified. 

The greatest impediment in investing in 

There is no scenario where Pakistan's fight 

against terrorism can be won solely through 

military means. For a state in flux, even obvious 

observations require repetition. According to the 

Global Terrorism Index, terrorism-related 

violence in Pakis tan has decreased considerably 

since 2014, in part attributable to Operation Zarbi-Azb. 

In fact, hundreds of terrorist plots were 

reportedly foiled in Pakistan in 2017. 

counter-extremism programming is the 

inability to measure and evaluate 

progress. How many fewer young men 

and women have engaged in acts of 

violence? How many vulnerable young 

people toying with the idea of violence 

have not been recruited either online or 

in-person? Its latent nature is what 

makes it not only difficult to identify early 

warning signs but also present tangible 

results. What is measurable though is the 

increase in safe spaces to voice dissent, 

relatives who had defected." 

Why is it important that they're 

considered "loyal"? It means that when 

they return, assuming they've kept their 

noses clean while abroad, they may be in 

position to help influence events in the 

event of a serious move for change. 

That's an opportunity highly unlikely to 

become available to their countrymen 

who are categorized as members of the 

"hostile" and "wavering" classes and, on 

that account, are subjected to even tighter 

restrictions on their movement and 

activity. Ultimately a revolution probably 

must come from the elite of the elite, as I 

suggest in the plot of my new novel, 

"Nuclear Blues." 

But coup-makers will need all the help 

they can get from ordinary citizens. 

Miners, for example, are typically former 

soldiers who remain in the reserve forces 

with access to weapons. They can help 

bring down the regime when the time 

comes, if they are so inclined. So can 

citizens who have learned abroad the 

truth of their county's pitiful status and 

who have returned to become merchants 

in the markets with access to money - 

which conceivably can be as important as 

weapons when (or if) the crunch comes. 

The DailyNK article makes clear, as 

Western accounts typically do, that much 

of the income from overseas labor 

attaches to the regime, or to individual 

bribe-hungry officials. 

"All candidates also had to compete to 

provide the largest bribes in order to 

stand a chance at being selected. 

Source : Asia Times 

public venues that encourage inclusive 

community engagement, or the existence 

of public goods specifically for young 

people such as public libraries and parks, 

amongst many more. In Pakistan's case, 

the latter are either rapidly shrinking or 

are absent. Further, investments in 

prevention, as urgent as they may be, 

yield long-term, generational results. For 

a nation obsessed with instant 

gratification, there is little political buy-in 

for such programming. The country's 

national counter-extremism policy has 

been devised through consultations with 

political leadership, religious leaders, 

scholars, academics, me dia, civil 

society organisations, and civil and 

military bureaucracy. 

The policy, though well intentioned and 

all-encompassing, lacks cohesive political 

will to take it forward and not only 

implement its measures but sustain its 

successes. Global debates and UN 

resolutions on preventing violent 

extremism, despite efforts to include civil 

society, remain state-centric with an 

overwhelming focus on building state 

capacity. States are often unwilling to 

grapple with the ultimate internal causes 

of extremism, which frequently include 

their own policies. In some cases, 

authorities and leaders are themselves 

beholden to ideologies that legitimise 

violence and even propagate it among 

their own and other populations. 

Source : Dawn

HEALTH 

wedNeSdAY, JANuArY 3, 2018 

5 

Singapore leads the 188 countries while Afghanistan comes in last. 

Photo: Panos 

why most countries 

lagging on health SdG 

NeeNA BhANdAri 

Scientists warn that unless significant 

political and financial investments are 

made, many countries will not meet the 

health-related UN Sustainable 

Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. 

Fewer than five per cent of the 

countries were likely to meet targets on 

road deaths, childhood obesity, 

suicides and tuberculosis. However, 

over 60 per cent of the countries were 

on track to meet targets on malaria, 

child mortality and neonatal and 

maternal death rates, according to a 

study published this last September in 

The Lancet. 

Singapore ranked first and 

Afghanistan last out of 188 countries in 

terms of meeting SDG 3, which deals 

with ensuring healthy lives and 

promoting well-being for all. European 

countries made up most of the top 20 

while the United States is at number 

24. China ranked 74th with low scores 

on air pollution, road injury, poisoning 

and smoking, while India scored 128th 

position with low scores on air 

pollution, sanitation, hepatitis B and 

child wasting. 

Health reforms and policies, such as 

expanding health insurance scheme to 

rural populations and unemployed 

urban residents in China, have helped 

some low- and middle-income 

countries, such as, China, Cambodia, 

Equatorial Guinea, Laos, Rwanda and 

Turkey record the greatest 

improvements on the Universal Health 

Coverage (UHC) indicator between 

2000 and 2016. 

This is the second global baseline 

assessment of the SDGs and includes 

four new indicators (vaccine coverage, 

physical and sexual violence, childhood 

sexual abuse and well-certified death 

registration), and significant updates to 

the UHC indicator. The study is part of 

the Global Burden of Disease 

enterprise by the Institute for Health 

Metrics and Evaluation at the 

University of Washington in Seattle. It 

estimates progress for 37 out of 50 

health-related indicators included in 

the SDGs, as well as an overall healthrelated 

SDG index. 

"This evidence will show which 

countries, in what priority areas of 

national health development, are 

falling behind and need to do more to 

meet the SDG goals," says Alan Lopez, 

director of the Global Burden of 

Disease Group and Rowden-White 

Chair of Global Health and Burden of 

Disease Measurement at the University 

of Melbourne. Lopez tells that 

countries should be made accountable 

through independent, annual 

assessments. 

On the basis of current trends, 

Angola, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, 

Swaziland and Timor-Leste were 

projected to have the largest 

improvements on the overall healthrelated 

SDG index by 2030. 

Improvements were mainly driven by 

projected performance on child 

mortality and UHC, met need for 

family planning with modern 

contraceptive methods, and skilled 

birth attendance. 

Serbia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and 

Venezuela were among the countries 

projected to experience worsening 

performance by 2030, driven by 

current trends on childhood obesity 

and harmful alcohol use. Only seven 

per cent of the countries were projected 

to meet the target on HIV/AIDS, and 

no country was projected to reach the 

SDG target on TB. 

"The analysis of the global burden of 

disease provides a timely observation 

on where the world stands in its 

approach to the health-related SDGs," 

Annmaree O'Keeffe, non-resident 

fellow at the Sydney-based Lowy 

Institute for International Policy, tells. 

"More importantly, this is a much 

needed reminder for policy makers to 

focus on the fact that achieving these 

goals for the world's poor will take a 

much greater commitment by 

countries and international 

organizations than is currently the case. 

That responsibility is shared by all 

partners and needs not just a funding 

boost but policy settings by national 

governments which address the range 

of issues which contribute to poor 

health," she adds. 

how anti-social media 

lead to positivity 

ArwA MAhdAwi 

It was winter 2016 when I 

reached rock bottom. I went 

on a three-day Facebook 

binge. I can't remember 

what set it off, but I 

remember how it ended. I 

woke up in a gutter, heart 

pounding, thinking I was 

going to die. I knew then that 

I needed help. I needed to 

stop. Since that day, I have 

been social media sober. 

None of that is true, of 

course, because it doesn't 

work like that. We might 

joke about being addicted to 

social media, but we rarely 

think of it as a real addiction, 

as something that can 

seriously affect our health. 

After all, it is not illegal. You 

can't overdose on it. It 

doesn't come in a packet 

with a massive sign saying 

"Facebook kills" or 

"Pregnant women should 

abstain from Instagram". 

In fact, many of us don't 

consider checking social 

media multiple times a day 

to be a bad habit - it is 

normal, right? Look at the 

numbers: Facebook alone 

has on average more than 2 

billion monthly users. In 

2016, when the company 

had a mere 1.7 billion users, 

it reported that people spent 

an average of 50 minutes a 

day on its platforms 

Facebook, Instagram and 

Messenger. I would bet that, 

today, that average is above 

an hour. 

Because we are all hooked, 

it can be hard to recognise 

your social media habits as 

problematic. The closest I 

came to an "aha" moment 

was during a visit to 

Facebook's headquarters at 

One Hacker Way, Palo Alto, 

in 2014, when I worked in 

advertising. Hearing its sales 

executives explain how 

much data Facebook had on 

its users, all the ways it could 

target people and get them 

to click on ads, was 

terrifying. I haven't posted a 

personal update on 

Facebook since. The 

moment you start thinking 

about Facebook as a 

surveillance system rather 

than a social network, it 

becomes a lot more difficult 

to hand it your information. 

But I didn't stop using 

Facebook - or any other 

social media. I was still 

scrolling mindlessly 

through Facebook and 

Instagram many times a 

day; I was on Twitter for 

hours. The time I was 

frittering away on social 

media wasn't merely a 

distraction; it was making 

me feel lousy. The way I was 

using Facebook and 

Instagram, I gradually 

realised, was downright 

masochistic: when I was 

feeling bad about my life, I 

Spending less time on Facebook added value to 

life. 

Photo: Ali Smith 

would look at pictures of 

other people's "perfect" 

lives and feel even worse. 

Facebook takes social 

pressures and conventions 

(for example, the pressure 

to be married with kids and 

living in a big house by a 

certain age) and amplifies 

them a million times. 

Comparing other people's 

timelines with my own 

made me start to worry 

about the need to conform 

in a way that I never had 

before. 

So, I decided to quit 

Facebook - and I failed 

miserably, because 

Facebook makes it 

incredibly difficult for you 

to extricate yourself from its 

clutches. It takes several 

clicks just to get to the page 

housing the deactivate 

button. Even then, it is right 

at the bottom, under a 

section where you specify a 

"legacy contact" - someone 

to manage your account 

after your death. In other 

words, Facebook makes it 

easier for you to ensure 

your account lives longer 

than you do than it does to 

let you take a break from 

the network. 

After clicking "deactivate" 

and re-entering your 

password, the emotional 

blackmail starts: Facebook 

shows you a slideshow of 

your friends and suggests 

that you send them a 

message. It then makes you 

specify why you are leaving 

- before suggesting that 

your reason isn't good 

enough. For example, 

clicking "I spend too much 

time using Facebook" 

prompts a pop-up 

explaining that you can deal 

with this by limiting the 

number of emails Facebook 

sends you. After closing this 

pop-up, you must click 

deactivate, at which point 

yet another pop-up asks if 

you are sure. Finally, you 

have to click deactivate 

again. That is 10 clicks. To 

put that in perspective: I 

can buy two adult 

Madagascar hissing 

cockroaches on Amazon 

with one click. I obviously 

wouldn't buy cockroaches 

on Amazon, or anywhere 

else, but did you know that 

some people do? I think I 

learned that from an article 

on Facebook. 

detecting Anaemia: a 

quick approach 

ClAudiA CAruANA 

A new way to detect anaemia by measuring haemoglobin 

levels using small amounts of whole blood is believed to 

be a vast improvement over existing tests, which rely on 

haemolysis (rupturing) of blood samples in lab facilities. 

"The most exciting aspect to this analyser is that it uses 

whole blood (blood components intact) and doesn't 

require additional steps and reagents to prepare a 

sample," says Nathan Sniadecki, professor of mechanical 

engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, and 

an author of the report on the novel approach published 

last October in AIP Advances. 

Anaemia, a condition caused by low concentration of 

haemoglobin in red blood cells, results primarily from a 

lack of iron in the diet but can co-occur with other 

conditions, such as malaria or genetic disorders. The 

World Health Organisation (WHO) considers it as a 

global health problem affecting over a quarter of the 

global population, a vast number of which are women 

and children in resource-poor countries. 

Nikita Taparia, a doctoral candidate at Sniadecki's 

laboratory, says the microfluid channel technique they 

developed is ideal for use in the field. "All that is needed 

are a few drops of blood to be put into the microfluid 

channel." Microfluidics deals with the behaviour and 

control of fluids in a constrained, typically sub-millimetre 

space. 

New test for anaemia uses microfluid technology on whole blood. 

"The analyser takes advantage of the optical properties 

of blood, such as absorption and scattering of light, to 

measure haemoglobin concentration. Anaemic blood 

transmits more light compared to normal blood, so the 

severity of anaemia can be measured as a ratio of 

transmitted to original light intensity," emphasises 

Taparia. 

Jose Lopez, professor at the University of Washington's 

school of medicine and a member of the Bloodworks 

Research Institute NW in Seattle, says the new approach 

"can be useful to diagnose infectious disorders associated 

with anaemia such as malaria and to screen for genetic 

anaemias such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease." 

J.P. Peña-Rosas, who coordinates the Evidence and 

Programme Guidance, department of nutrition for health 

and development at WHO, Geneva, says that the global 

body will convene a technical consultation in November 

to discuss the interpretation of haemoglobin 

concentrations for assessing anaemia status in 

individuals and populations. 

Included for discussion at Geneva is the work of 

Taparia and her co-researchers. "These new methods 

need internal and external validation. In all cases of 

haemoglobin measurement, the use of standard controls 

is recommended to improve the accuracy and 

reproducibility of results," says Pena-Rosas. 

Photo: Collected 

hiV seeks refuge in immune cells 

heAlth deSk 

Genetically-intact HIV hides in the same cells of the human 

immune system that are supposed to attack and destroy 

pathogens, scientists at Westmead Institute for Medical 

Research, Sydney University, discover in a new study. 

Previously, it was thought that HIV hides primarily in 

central memory T-cells during effective anti-HIV therapy. 

But, in the study published last October in Cell Reports, the 

scientists show that replication-competent HIV persists in 

specific subsets of CD4+ immune memory T-cells. 

HIV infects white blood cells known as T lymphocytes, 

particularly the CD4+ T cells that recognise infection and get 

the immune system to respond. Following HIV infection, if 

anti-HIV therapy is not initiated, the number of CD4+ T cells 

in the blood begins to fall, though the process may be slow. 

Sarah Palmer, associate professor at Sydney University, 

whose team developed a full-length genetic sequencing assay 

for HIV, says: "This assay identifies where and determines 

how much replication-competent virus remains in the CD4+ 

T cells of an HIV-infected individual even after years of 

effective anti-HIV therapy. 

It will allow us to identify the cells which contain infectious, 

replication-competent virus, opening up promising 

possibilities for targeting this remaining virus for elimination 

from the body." 

As many as 36.7 million people globally were living with 

HIV in 2016. There is still no vaccine against the virus, which 

causes the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). 

More than 95 per cent of HIV infections occur in developing 

countries, according to the WHO, and AIDS remains the 

leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

hiV persists in the body even after anti-retroviral treatment. 

The researchers will now conduct studies to determine how 

long replication-competent viruses persist in these specific 

cells during anti-HIV therapy, and to identify cellular 

markers unique to these cells so they can be targeted by 

treatment strategies. 

"Therapies can now be directed towards the specific cells 

containing this genetically intact virus. This new treatment 

strategy could be in the form of nanoparticles, which deliver 

therapies directly to cells containing the infectious, 

replication-competent virus," Palmer tells. 

"Today we have excellent HIV treatments which can keep 

most people well by driving down HIV in the body to 

"undetectable" levels," says Cipriano Martinez, president, 

National Association of People with HIV, Australia. "But, 

even with these treatments, HIV [viruses] are still able to 

hide in various cells of the body and cannot be completely 

eliminated." 

"This research is timely and provides new information to 

assist in the development of therapies aimed at fully 

eliminating HIV from the body," adds Martinez. 

Only about five per cent of HIV is genetically intact, and it 

hides in the effector memory T-cells while the rest act as a 

decoy and divert attention away from the 'real' virus, 

according to the study. 

"The immune system cannot discern replicationcompetent 

virus from defective virus," explains Palmer. 

"Some defective viruses can produce viral proteins which are 

recognised by the immune system and then the cells 

containing the defective virus are eliminated. But, because 

there is so much more defective virus in the cells than 

genetically intact virus, these defective viruses act as a decoy 

and divert the immune system." 

Photo: internet

NATIONAL 

weDNeSDAy, 

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY6 

JANUARy 3, 2018 

No election under Hasina government will be free and fair, never did happen in the past- BNP 

Joint-General Secretary Syed Moajjam Hossain said at 39th founding anniversary rally at 

Noakhali yesterday. 

Photo: TBT. 

Rangpur witnesses massive 

development in nine years 

By MAMUN ISLAM: 

RANGPUR: Implementation of 

massive development works during the 

past nine years has speeded up 

advancement of Rangpur with 

improvement in infrastructures, 

communication networks and 

socioeconomic conditions of the 

common people, reports BSS. 

Officials said the present government 

has undertaken development works 

here for implementation at the cost of 

over Taka 3,060 crore during the 

period. 

The Local Government and 

Engineering Department (LGED) has 

implemented development projects at 

Taka 640 crore sustainably improving 

communication 

networks, 

environment and socioeconomic 

conditions of common people during 

past nine years. 

'The major works include 

construction of 778 km roads, 2,565-m 

bridges and culverts, nine hats and 

bazaars, four upazila complexes, 22 

union parisahd complexes, seven 

Upazila Muktijoddha Complexes," 

LGED's Executive Engineer Akhter 

Hossain said. 

The Public Works Division (PWD) 

has implemented some 49 projects and 

continues implementation of many 

others at over Taka 600-crore 

improving infrastructural facilities 

during past nine years. 

"The major projects include 

construction of Chief Judicial 

Magistrate Court Building, Marine 

Academy, Textile Institute, Shilpokola 

Academy Bhaban, Nursing College, 

ICU at Rangpur Medical College 

Hospital, Divisional Headquarters and 

two Technical Training Centres," said 

Executive Engineer of PWD Latiful 

Islam. 

The Roads and Highways Division 

(RHD) has constructed four major 

bridges, 65.20 km roads and 16.24 km 

four-lane roads at Taka 360 crore here 

in nine years. 


constructions of the 750 m Teesta Road 

Bridge, 126 m Jamuneswari Bridge, 

93.02 m Langolerhat Bridge and 

303.32 m Dr Wazed Miah Bridge," 

Executive Engineer of RHD Sajidur 

Rahman said. 

Executive Engineer of Water 

Development Board Mahbubur 

Rahman said construction of 20.76 km 

embankments, 181 km irrigation 

infrastructures and digging of 20 km 

riverbeds and other works have been 

completed here at Taka 70.30 crore in 

nine years. 

Executive Engineer of Public Health 

and Engineering Department 

Mahbubul Alam Khan said 

construction of 4,823 water sources, 

58.50 km water supply lines, other 

works, distribution of 11,885 sanitary 

latrines have been completed at Taka 

51.46 crore in nine years. 

The Health Engineering Department 

(HED) has implemented 44 projects at 

Taka 58.40 crore in nine years 

improving health service facilities for 

common people. 


constructions of Institute of Health 

Technology, up-gradation of five 31 bed 

upazila health complexes to 50 bed, 

EPI store and 27 community clinics," 

HED's Executive Engineer Saiful Islam 

said. 

Executive Engineer of Education 

Engineering Department Delwar 

Hossain Majumder said massive 

infrastructural development works 

have been implemented at a cost of 

Taka 214 crore in different educational 

institutions in nine years improving 

academic atmosphere. 


construction of several buildings of 

Begum Rokeya University, academic 

buildings of 29 colleges, 64 secondary 

schools and 18 madrashas," Hossain 

added. Superintending Engineer of 

Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board 

here Ramjan Ali said 10,390 km power 

supply lines have been constructed 

under two Palli Bidyut Samities here in 

past nine years. 

"Over 5.80 lakh clients have got 

electricity and more two-lakh clients 

will get electricity to reach power to 

every house by September 2018 in the 

district," Ali said. 

District Primary Education Officer 

Shahidul Islam said 172 headmasters 

and 1,259 assistant teachers were 

appointed and 739 non-government 

primary schools were nationalised, 

laptops and projectors were distributed 

among 168 schools during the period. 

District Education Officer Roksana 

Begum said laptops and projectors 

were distributed among 638 schools, 

Digital Labs set up in 165 schools and 

six non-government secondary schools 

and four colleges nationalised during 

the period. 

Besides, Department of Social 

Services, Bangladesh Rural 

Development Board, Bangladesh Small 

and Cottage Industries Corporation, 

Department of youth Development 

and District Women Affairs Office 

implemented massive social safety-net 

programme at over Taka 760 crore 

making 3.27 lakh beneficiaries selfreliant 

through income generations. 

Narrating about huge positive 

impacts of massive uplifts in every 

sector, Additional Deputy 

Commissioner Ruhul Amin Mian said 

the process of establishing an IT Park 

here at Taka 154 crore continues to 

create jobs for 5,000 unemployed 

youths. 

Associate Professor of Begum Rokeya 

University Dr Tuhin Wadud said 

massive uplifts including establishing 

of Rangpur administrative division and 

Rangpur City Corporation here in nine 

years have brightened image of the 

present Awami League-led 

government. 

"The popularity of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina and her ICT Affairs 

Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has 

increased following huge developments 

here inspiring the young generations in 

building a middle income nation by 

2021 and developed country by 2041," 

Wadud added. 

Honey collection 

gains popularity 

in Manikganj 

Manikganj: Honey collections are 

gaining popularity in the district as 

around one hundred commercial 

honey hunters are passing busy time to 

collect honey from the blooming 

flowers of mustard, reports BSS. 

Honey collectors are gathering at the 

mustard fields in all seven upazilas of 

the district with their bee boxes every 

day. Farmers from different districts in 

the region come here and collect honey 

from the field. 

Abdul Gafur (56), who came from 

Sirajganj with his young son, said today 

that their target to collect at least 

twenty mounds of honey during this 

winter season. 

He said collecting honey is their 

seasonal profession and they have been 

collecting honey from Manikganj 

district for ten years. 

All of the honey collectors from 

outside of the district including 

Jamalpur, Gazipur, Pabna, Satkhira, 

Narayanganj, Kushtia and Sirajganj 

have already started collecting honey 

from the mustard lands. 

Department of Agriculture Extension 

officials here said bees help pollinate 

flying from flower to flowers which can 

help increase about 15% production. 

Jhenidah deputy commissioner, Mohammad Zakir Hossain visited Agricultural Training Institute 

yesterday in the district. 

Photo: Sirajul Islam. 

Bangabandhu had 

plan to nationalise 

all educational 

institutions 

gradually: Sharif 

ISHWARDI: Land Minister 

Shamsur Rahman Sharif 

today said Father of the 

Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman had a plan 

to nationalize all the 

educational institutions 

gradually throughout the 

country, reports BSS. 

"Father of the Nation 

Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman 

announced to nationalizs all 

the primary schools across 

the country after the 

Independence," said the 

minister while inaugurating 

textbook distribution 

programme at Basherbada 

Bahumukhi High School at 

Ishwardin upazila, Pabna. 

Then Bangabandhu also 

declared that all the 

educational institutions 

would be nationalized 

gradually, Sharif said. 

The minister distributed 

about 2,5000 books among 

2,200 students of the upazila 

at the event. 

Sharif said Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina was working 

restlessly 

for 

implementation of the 

pledges announced by 

Bangabandhu. He also urged 

all people to work unitedly 

under the leadership of 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina for building Sonar 

Bangla dreamt by Father of 

the Nation. 

United efforts stressed 

to combat illicit drugs 

trafficking 

RAJSHAHI: Speakers at a post-rally discussion here opined that 

an united efforts has become an urgent need to combat illicit 

trafficking of drugs along with its trading and abusing to protect 

people and the young generation in particular, reports BSS. 

They said 80 percent of the drug addicts belong to the age 

group of 15 to 30 in the country. So, there is no alternative to 

adopt measures of combating addiction of drugs. 

They made this observation while launching a month-long 

special anti-drugs campaign at the conference hall of Deputy 

Commissioner in Rajshahi today. District Administration and 

local office of the Department of Narcotics and Drugs Control 

organized the event. 

Commissioner of Rajshahi division Nur-Ur-Rahman and 

Additional Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Md 

Sarder Tamij Uddin Ahmed addressed the discussion as chief 

guest and special guests respectively with Additional Director of 

Department of Drugs Control Mujibur Rahman Patwari in the 

chair. 

Superintendent of Police Muazzem Hossain Bhuiyan, 

Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) of Rajshahi Md 

Salahudd, Civil Surgeon Dr Sanjit Kumar Shaha and Deputy 

Director of Department of Drugs Control Lutfor Rahman 

Patwari also spoke. 

Chief Guest Nur-Ur-Rahman said maladjustment, rising 

crime, health hazards, murder and suicide are the major 

consequences of abusing of drugs like heroin, phensidyl, ganja, 

pathedrine and tranquilizers. 

He said the law enforcement agencies alone isn't capable to 

combat the social disease but community participation coupled 

with family and social contribution is very important to this end. 

He said forging social resistance has become indispensable to 

uproot the crime as it's being adjudged as a grave concern in the 

society. 

Sarder Tamij Uddin called for arranging trilateral meeting with 

the neighbouring countries so that India and Myanmar don't 

send drugs to Bangladesh as our country isn't producer of drugs 

but being used as consumer as a whole. 

He said drugs- free society must be built at any cost to protect 

people particularly the young generation from deadly aggression 

of the drugs. 

New primary 

school building 

inaugurated in 

Manikganj 

Manikganj: The newly 

constructed building of 

Afsar uddin Mollah 

Government Primary 

School in Hatipara union 

under sadar upazila of the 

district was inaugurated 

on Monday, reports BSS. 

Manikganj Zila Parishad 

chairman and District 

Awami League president 

Advocate Golam 

Mohiuddin inaugurated 

the building at a function 

here with Hatipara Union 

Parishad chairman Golam 

Monir Hossain in the 

chair. 

Gazi Kamrul Huda 

Selim, Mayor, Manikganj 

Pourasava and Aleya 

Ferdousi Shikha, District 

Primary Education Officer 

(DPEO) were present, 

among others. 

Speakers at the function 

said the present 

government led by Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina is 

implementing various 

development programmes 

in the country. They urged 

people to re-elect Awami 

League in next general 

election to continue the 

development of the 

country. 

Department of Primary 

Education constructed the 

school building at a cost of 

Tk.89 lakh. 

Placing 4 points demand health assistances observed work abstention at Bhurungamari UPazila 

under Kurigram district yesterday. 

Photo: Badshah Saykot. 

National Social Services 

Day observed in Gaibandha 

GAIBANDHA: The National Social Services Day-2018 

was observed in the district as elsewhere in the country 

yesterday with a call to provide state services to the 

doorsteps of the underprivileged people of the society, 

reports BSS. 

Marking the day, District Administration and District 

Social Service Office jointly chalked out the elaborate 

programmes. 

In the morning, a colourful rally led by deputy 

commissioner (DC) Gautam Chandra Pal was brought 

out from Independence Square and ended in front of Zila 

Shilpakala Academy (ZSA) after parading the main roads 

of the town. 

Later, a discussion was held at the auditorium of ZSA 

with deputy director of Department of Social Services in 

the chair. 

DC Gautam Chandra Pal addressed the meeting as the 

chief guest and mayor of Gaibandha Municipality 

Advocate Shah Masud Zahangir Kabir Milon, additional 

police super (Headquarters) M Asaduzzaman and 

member Jatiya Samaj Kalyan Parishad Professor 

Mazharul Mannan were present at the event as the 

special guests. 

The speakers in their speeches said the government led 

by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is implementing many 

welfare projects for the underprivileged people of the 

society aimed at changing their socio-economic 

condition and building a happy and prosperous country. 

DC Gautam Chandra Pal in his speeches urged the 

officials and the employees of the DSS to be more sincere 

and punctual in discharging their duties and reaching 

their departmental services to selected people easily 

without any disturbance. 

A large number of people including district and upazila 

level officials, NGO activists, social workers and 

journalists took part in day's programmes. 

One killed, 20 injured 

in Gopalganj clash 

GOPALGANJ: A man was killed and 20 others were injured 

in a clash between two rival groups at Bahara village under 

Muksudpur upazila of the district yesterday, reports BSS. 

Officer-in-charge of Muksudpur police station Azizur 

Rahman said the clash ensued in the morning between two 

groups of the village over establishing supremacy in the area. 

During the clash, Fayek Miah, 30, son of late Raja Miah, of 

the same village died on the spot, while 20 persons sustained 

injuries. 

The injured were sent to different hospitals. 

Being informed, police rushed to the spot and brought the 

situation under control. 

Police arrested four persons in this connection for 

interrogation, the OC said. 

Call to expedite social 

services 

RAJSHAHI: Speakers at a post-rally discussion here on 

Tuesday unequivocally called for expediting the social 

services for welfare of the people with special needs and other 

underprivileged sections of the society, reports BSS. 

They put emphasis on ensuring transparency and 

accountability in all the welfare-oriented social service 

activities so that the target group of people could derive total 

benefits of the welfare programs. 

Department of Social Services (DSS) and District 

administration jointly organized the discussion at Shishu 

Academy auditorium in observance of the National Social 

Service Day-2018. 

Akhter Jahan, MP, and Deputy Commissioner Helal 

Mahmud Sharif addressed the discussion as chief and special 

guests respectively with deputy director of the department 

Rashedul Kabir in the chair. 

Social Worker Shaheen Akhter Rainy, Divisional Director 

of DSS Zulfikar Haider and Member of National Disabled 

Welfare Council Mozammel Haque also spoke. 

Lawmaker Akhter Jahan said the government has been 

implementing various social safety net programs for overall 

development of the public in general and urged the officials 

and staff concerned to discharge their duties with utmost 

sincerity and honesty for a successful implementation of the 

programs. 

Earlier, a huge rally was brought out from the C&B 

Crossing marking the day. The rally paraded some 

thoroughfares before being converged into the meeting 

venue. 

Nearly 100 government and non-government officials and 

employees and volunteers participated in the discussion. 

In observance of the day, a daylong fair was organized at 

the academy premises. More than 22 government, nongovernment 

and voluntary organizations set stalls 

showcasing their products. 

2 Neo JMB men 

arrested in Chittagong 

CHITTAGONG: Members of Counter Terrorism and 

Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) and Detective Branch 

(DB) of Police in a joint drive arrested two suspected 

members of banned militant outfit Neo-Jamaatul 

Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from East Madarbari area 

under Sadarghat police station in the city the day before 

yesterday night, reports BSS. 

The law enforcers also recovered eight hand grenades, two 

bombs and two suicidal vests from their possession. 

They are identified as Asfaqur Rahman alias Abu Zahir Al- 

Bangali, 22, of Mymensingh and Rakibul Hasan Jony alias 

Abu Taif Al Bangali, 19, of Muradnagar upazila in Comilla 

district. 

A A M Humayun Kabir, additional deputy commissioner of 

DB police, said that a CTTC team raided a five-story building 

in Balurmat area of East Madarbari at around 11.30 pm and 

arrested them along with the explosives.

INTERNATIONAL 

THE 


WEDnESDay, January 3, 2018 

7 

Israeli bill makes it harder to 

divide Jerusalem 

International Desk: Israeli legislators 

have approved a bill that makes it 

more difficult to divide Jerusalem, 

reports Al Jazeera. 

The bill passed early on Tuesday and 

stipulates that two-thirds support is 

needed in the Israeli parliament, the 

Knesset, before Israel can relinquish 

control over any portion of the holy 

city to a foreign entity, according to 

local media. 

The bill is widely seen as intended to 

make it more difficult to give up part 

of Jerusalem to the Palestinian 

Authority, which wants the city's 

eastern half to be the capital of an 

independent Palestinian state. The 

bill, backed by Israel's ruling rightwing 

coalition, was passed with 64 

Knesset members voting in favour and 

52 against, according to the Haaretz 

newspaper. 

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the 

Palestine Liberation Oragnisation's 

executive committee, said the bill 

would "destroy" hopes for a two-state 

solution to the Israeli-Palestinian 

conflict. He went on to blame the US 

for the move, saying it was the 

outcome of a decision by President 

Donald Trump to recognise Jerusalem 

as the capital of Israel, according to 

the Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

Trump also said he intended to 

move the country's embassy from Tel 

Aviv to Jerusalem. The decision 

prompted widespread condemnation 

and protests in the occupied 

Palestinian territories and around 

the world. In a non-binding 

resolution, the United Nations 

General Assembly declared the US 

move "null and void". 

The legislation also seeks to remove 

Palestinian neighbourhoods from the 

jurisdiction of the current Jerusalem 

municipality, affecting two 

Palestinian areas - Kufr Aqab and the 

Shuafat refugee camp - that are 

already on the other side of Israel's 

separation wall and are 

systematically neglected, the report 

noted. Most Palestinians in 

Jerusalem hold permanent resident 

status, not Israeli citizenship, and 

their status can be revoked at any 

time for multiple reasons, forcing 

them to leave the city. Israel has 

revoked nearly 15,000 Palestinian 

residency permits in Jerusalem since 

it took control of the city in 1967, 

Human Rights Watch estimates. 

"The new Jerusalem law is a race 

law; it's a law meant to cleanse 

Jerusalem of its Arab residents," 

Israeli legislator Esawi Freige said 

during the vote on the bill, according 

to Haaretz. "After the Israeli 

government chose to erect a wall 

within Jerusalem, now it is seeking to 

remove 100,000 of its residents from 

the city." 

Israel took control of the entirety of 

Jerusalem after its victory in the 1967 

war. It later annexed East Jerusalem 

in a move that remains unrecognised 

by the international community. 

Palestinian leaders seek East 

Jerusalem as the capital of a future 

state, while Israel says the city cannot 

be divided. 

Footage shows improvised roadblocks and street fires. 

Photo: aP. 

Iran death toll rises as 

protests continue 

IntErnatIonal DESk: 

At least nine people have been killed 

overnight amid ongoing nationwide 

anti-government protests that began 

last week in various cities across Iran, 

reports Al Jazeera. 

Iranian state television confirmed on 

Tuesday that six demonstrators were 

killed during a raid on a police station 

in Qahdarijan. According to state 

media, the rioters were attempting to 

break into the station to obtain 

weapons. An 11-year-old boy and a 20- 

year-old man were among those killed 

in the town of Khomeinishahr. 

According to the reports, an Iranian 

Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 

soldier was shot by an assailant using a 

hunting rifle in Najafabad, about 

350km south of the capital Tehran. 

However, Al Jazeera could not 

independently verify whether the IRGC 

member was the same police officer 

who was reported as being shot by 

Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency 

on Monday night. 

Following six days of protests, at least 

20 people have been killed, and about 

450 people have been arrested with the 

Tehran governor's deputy giving the 

following breakdown: 200 on 

Saturday; 150 on Sunday; and 100 on 

Monday. The detention figures for 

other Iranian cities cannot be 

confirmed. 

Despite threats by the IRGC to put 

down the demonstrations, protesters 

have continued taking to the streets in 

various parts of Iran, in what has been 

described as the biggest show of dissent 

in the country since huge rallies took 

place in 2009. In Tehran, police on 

Monday evening used tear gas and 

Ex-Indian army 

officer kills six 

with iron rod 

NEW DELHI : A former 

army lieutenant bludgeoned 

six people to death with an 

iron rod Tuesday in a killing 

spree that sparked panic in a 

northern Indian city, reports 

BSS. 

Naresh Dhankar, 45, 

began his murder rampage 

in a hospital in Palwal then 

walked the city's streets 

picking victims at random, 

police said. 

Three watchmen were 

among those who died in the 

attacks. 

"He attacked a woman at a 

hospital first. We rushed 

there and as we were 

scanning the CCTV footage 

we got to know that more 

bodies had been found," said 

police spokesman Sanjay 

Kumar. 

"The accused has been 

arrested and is currently 

undergoing treatment at a 

hospital," the spokesman 

told AFP. 

A TV grab showed 

Dhankar, wearing a blue 

pullover, walking with an 

iron rod in his hands. 

As news of the attacks 

spread on social media, 

police appealed to residents 

of the city in Haryana state 

not to panic. 

water cannon to disperse a small 

protest near Engheleb Square. "This is 

better than staying silent," Milad, a 

young protester with eyes red from tear 

gas, told Al Jazeera. 

Nearby, Aslan, a 52-year-old man in 

the area who was not demonstrating, 

said protesters "need a chance to show 

they are not happy". "The government 

should let them protest," he told Al 

Jazeera. 

The rallies began on December 28 in 

the second-largest city of Mashhad, 

prompted by anger over rising cost of 

living and the state of the economy. 

"We cannot predict a time when the 

protests will come to an end," said 

Sadegh Zibakalam, an author and 

academic. "But the protests will shake 

the people in power who must give 

priority to the people's demands and 

needs." 

On Sunday, President Hassan 

Rouhani said Iranians have the right to 

protest but not violently. "People are 

free to express their criticism and to 

protest," he said in televised remarks, 

his first since the rallies began. 

"However, we need to pay attention 

to the manner of that criticism and 

protest. It should be in such a way that 

it will lead to the improvement of the 

people and state," he added. "People 

have the right to protest, but those 

demonstrations should not make the 

public feel concerned about their lives 

and security." 

In May 2017, Rouhani, who belongs 

to the reformist bloc of Iran's political 

spectrum, decisively won re-election 

after garnering 57 percent of the vote in 

the country's presidential election. 

That poll was the first since Rouhani 

negotiated a historic deal with world 

powers in 2015 to curb Iran's nuclear 

programme in exchange for sanctions 

relief. Many in Iran hoped that the deal, 

by lifting many international sanctions, 

would ease the country's financial 

struggles. Yet, the benefits do not seem 

to have trickled down. 

Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at 

the International Crisis Group who 

worked with all sides during the 

negotiations for the nuclear deal, said 

the fact that the nuclear deal did not 

quite deliver the results people 

expected played a key part in what is 

happening currently in Iran. 

"The government inflated public 

expectations a lot," Vaez told Al 

Jazeera, noting that factors such as 

falling oil prices and doubts over the 

US commitment to the deal were 

also adversely affecting the Iranian 

economy. "The reality is, however, 

that President Rouhani failed to 

pave the ground for the potential the 

nuclear deal created, and that has 

led to a lot of frustration in Iran," he 

said. 

"President Rouhani over-promised 

and under-delivered." Mohammad Ali 

Shabani, an Iranian political analyst 

and scholar, agreed. 

"The issue is elevated expectations, 

that's where the danger comes in," he 

told Al Jazeera. "People have been 

expecting better lives, partly as a result 

of Rouhani's promises in connection 

with the nuclear deal. 

"It's not a matter of absolute poverty 

driving people into the streets. "It's 

mostly about people thinking that 'We 

need more than this, we were actually 

promised more than what's happening, 

and we don't have the jobs that we were 

anticipating'." 

Shekau appears in 

video amid surge in 

Boko Haram attacks 

International Desk: Boko Haram leader 

Abubakar Shekau released a video message 

on Tuesday claiming a series of attacks in 

northeast Nigeria during the festive season, 

reports BSS. 

The shadowy leader released his first 

video message in months amid a surge in 

violence casting doubt on the Nigerian 

government's claim that the jihadist group 

is defeated."We are in good health and 

nothing has happened to us," said Shekau in 

the 31-minute video message spoken in the 

Hausa language common across northern 

Nigeria. 

"Nigerian troops, police and those 

creating mischief against us can't do 

anything against us, and you will gain 

nothing," he said. "We carried out the 

attacks in Maiduguri, in Gamboru, in 

Damboa. We carried out all these attacks." 

The video then shows footage from a 

Christmas Day attack on a military 

checkpoint in Molai village on the outskirts 

of the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, 

which the military said was thwarted by 

troops after one hour of battle. 

Boko Haram fighters in torn clothes were 

shown shooting from the back of battered 

pickup trucks. Shekau's message comes 

during an acceleration of Boko Haram 

attacks and just days after the jihadists 

killed 25 people outside Maiduguri, the 

birthplace of the Islamist insurgency. 

In December, Boko Haram attacked 

convoys of Nigerian soldiers and dispatched 

suicide bombers into crowded markets in 

towns across northeast Nigeria. At least 50 

people were killed in November when a 

suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque 

in Adamawa state. But Nigerian President 

Muhammadu Buhari said in his New Year 

address that Boko Haram has been 

"beaten". 

"Isolated attacks still occur, but even the 

best-policed countries cannot prevent 

determined criminals from committing 

terrible acts of terror," said Buhari. 

We carried out all these attacks." The 

video then shows footage from a Christmas 

Day attack on a military checkpoint in Molai 

village on the outskirts of the northeast 

Nigerian city of Maiduguri, which the 

military said was thwarted by troops after 

one hour of battle. 

Shekau, a leader known for his lengthy, 

wild-eyed video messages, took over Boko 

Haram in 2009 after the death of its founder 

Muhammad Yusuf. Boko Haram, whose 

Islamist insurgency has left at least 20,000 

dead in Nigeria since it began in 2009, has 

long been fractionalised. In 2016 it suffered 

a major split, when the so-called Islamic 

State group recognised Yusuf's son, Abu 

Mus'ab al-Barnawi, as leader. 

Corruption 

bill vetoed in 

graft-riddled 

Bulgaria 

SOFIA : Bulgaria's 

president on Tuesday 

vetoed legislation 

demanded by Brussels 

aimed at tackling rampant 

corruption, saying it fails 

to protect whistleblowers, 

reports BSS. 

Bulgaria, which took 

over the European 

Union's rotating 

presidency on January 1, 

is the poorest country in 

the bloc and according to 

watchdog Transparency 

International also the 

most corrupt. 

Eleven years after 

joining the EU and despite 

being subject to a special 

EU monitoring system, no 

single high-ranking 

official has been jailed. 

In a move towards 

reform, parliament 

approved the new law in 

late December with a view 

to merging several 

existing agencies into a 

single body to fight 

corruption. 

It also broadened the list 

of high-level officials 

whose income, property 

and conflict-of-interest 

declarations would be 

subject to checks by the 

new body. 

Parliamentarians 

however ruled out the 

possibility of lodging 

anonymous complaints 

against politicians, while 

also offering no protection 

from prosecution to 

whistleblowers. 

President Rumen 

Radev, warning of the 

"risk for repressive 

action", said the proviso 

went against the Council 

of Europe's Civil Law 

Convention on Corruption 

protecting people who 

report graft. 

Setting up the new 

structure may not be 

enough to solve such 

deeply rooted problems 

and the body may quickly 

be overburdened, Radev 

said. 

He added that the fact 

that its five-member 

board is to be elected by 

parliament also created 

the risk of political 

meddling. 

Radev's veto obliges 

parliament to re-examine 

the bill but lawmakers can 

also overrule his 

objections, forcing him to 

sign the law even if it 

remains unchanged. 

Administrative and 

political corruption has 

become so endemic as to 

be perceived as normal, 

according to the Centre 

for the Study of 

Democracy, a Sofia-based 

think tank. 

Corruption has drawn in 

judges, politicians and 

other officials to the point 

of "state capture" where 

government decisionmaking 

is effectively put 

in the hands of a powerful 

few, it said. 

north korea: South 

proposes olympics 

delegation talks 

IntErnatIonal DESk: 

South Korea has offered high-level talks with 

North Korea on 9 January to discuss its 

possible participation in the 2018 Winter 

Olympic Games, reports BBC. 

It comes after the North's leader Kim Jongun 

said he was considering sending a team to 

Pyeongchang in South Korea for the Games 

in February. He said the two sides should 

"urgently meet to discuss the possibility". 

South Korea's president said he saw the 

offer as a "groundbreaking chance" to 

improve relations. At a cabinet meeting on 

Tuesday, President Moon Jae-in also said the 

North's nuclear programme would be the 

backdrop of any sporting discussions. "The 

improvement of relations between North and 

South Korea cannot go separately with 

resolving North Korea's nuclear programme, 

so the foreign ministry should co-ordinate 

closely with allies and the international 

community regarding this," said Mr Moon. 

South Korean Unification Minister Cho 

Myoung-gyon proposed on Tuesday that 

representatives could meet at Panmunjom, 

the so-called "truce village". The village, in the 

heavily guarded demilitarised zone (DMZ) at 

the border, is where the Koreas have 

historically held talks. 

"We hope that the South and North can sit 

face to face and discuss the participation of 

the North Korean delegation at the 

Pyeongchang Games as well as other issues of 

mutual interest for the improvement of inter- 

Korean ties," said Mr Cho. It is not yet known 

who will be attending the proposed talks next 

week - if anyone, as North Korea has yet to 

respond. 

President Moon said he wanted his 

ministers to act fast to ensure the North's 

delegation attended. Hyung Eun Kim from 

the BBC's Korean service said if the two 

countries did meet, they were expected to talk 

logistics - about the North's route into the 

host country, whether the athletes would 

come with a cheer squad, and whether the 

two countries would issue a joint declaration. 

The last high-level talks took place in 

December 2015 in the Kaesong joint 

industrial zone. 

They ended without any agreement and the 

meeting's agenda was not made public. In 

July 2017, South Korea proposed two 

bilateral meetings: one focusing on military 

talks and another that would reunite families 

separated by the war. Neither happened and 

instead the North continued to fire test 

missiles. North Korea's leader took many 

people by surprise when he said he was "open 

to dialogue" with his neighbours in his New 

Year's Day speech on Monday. "The year 

2018 is a significant year for both the North 

and the South, with the North marking the 

70th anniversary of its birth and the South 

hosting the Winter Olympics. 

"We should melt the frozen North-South 

relations, thus adorning this meaningful year 

as a year to be specially recorded in the 

history of the nation," he said. It came shortly 

after he made repeated threats against the 

US, saying nuclear button was "always on my 

table". North Korea has in the past two years 

quickly advanced its nuclear and convention 

weapons programmes, despite increasing 

international sanctions. 

Analysts said the slight move towards the 

South could be designed to enforce a break 

from Washington's hardline approach, which 

encourages all countries to isolate North 

Korea. South Korea had been discussing this 

latest step with the United States, said the 

South's unification minister. The only two 

North Korean athletes who qualified for the 

Games are figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and 

Kim Ju-Sik. 

Although the North has missed the official 

deadline to confirm their participation, the 

skaters could still compete via an invitation 

from the International Olympic Committee. 

North Korea's KCNA state media said on 

Tuesday that the country was "filled with 

firm determination to achieve fresh victory" 

in the Games. The president of the 

Pyeongchang Games' organising 

committee, Lee Hee-beom, had earlier told 

South Korea's news agency Yonhap that he 

was delighted to hear of the North's 

potential participation. "It's like a New 

Year's gift," he said. North Korea has 

participated in the Olympics before, but not 

in South Korea. It boycotted the 1988 

Olympic Games in Seoul. North Korean 

athletes have won a total of 56 Olympic 

medals, only two of which were from the 

Winter Games. Pyeongchang, 

approximately 180 km (110 miles) east of 

Seoul, will host both the Winter Olympics in 

February and the Winter Paralympics in 

March. 

In its international marketing, South 

Korea is spelling the city with an upper-case 

letter in the middle - PyeongChang - in a bid 

to differentiate it from the North Korean 

capital, Pyongyang. In 2014, Daniel Olomae 

Ole Sapit, a member of the Maasai tribe in 

Kenya, ended buying a ticket to North Korea 

by mistake when trying to attend a UN 

conference in Pyeongchang. 

He was interrogated on arrival and fined 

$500 (£370; 415 euros). "He was regarded as 

a spy, a somewhat strange spy," said a South 

Korean minister afterwards, according to 

Reuters news agency. 

there are only two north korean athletes who qualify for this year's 

Winter olympics in Pyeongchang. 

Photo: aP.

ART & CULTURE wEDnEsDaY, 

JanUarY 3, 2018 

8 

apurba- momo to 

work together in serial 

EntErtainmEnt DEsk 

Talented actor Ziaul Faruq Apurba again paired up 

with Momo in a serial titled 'Lipstick', directed by 

Shihab Shahin. The shooting of the serial has already 

started and taking place at different spots of the 

Capital city. 

In this drama, Apurba assigned to play the role 

named Rana, while Momo is playing a role named 

Nondini. 

Talking about his new work, Apurba said, "Story of 

the serial revolves with an office place where only 

males are working. All on a sudden, a female colleague 

joined in that office. Story of the serial continues with 

different incidents. Shihab always tried to give his 

level best efforts while working. He is best in his work. 

I always feel comfortable to work under his direction." 

While sharing the experience of this serial, 

Momotold, "I am lucky because I got the scope to work 

under such a renowned director like Shihab Shahin. 

He properly presented in the serial based on a 

romantic story. Basically I learned from him how to 

perform in romantic story based work." 

‘rock-buster’, wants to 

work with Prabhas, 

says alia Bhatt 

BOLLYWOOD actor Alia Bhatt has 

praised filmmaker S.S. Rajamoulis 

magnum opus Baahubali 2: The 

Conclusion and says she is keen to 

work with its lead actor Prabhas, 

reports Hindustan Times 

Alia spoke about Prabhas 

while chatting with her fans 

on Twitter on Sunday. "Need 

a new word for this giant. 

Rock-buster? Loved it.. it 

was epic," Alia tweeted 

when a fan asked her to 

describe Baahubali 2: 

The Conclusion in one 

word. 

Alia later said she considers Prabhas as 

her favourite south Indian actor. Asked 

whether she would like to 

work with Prabhas, Alia 

wrote: "For sure! The 

24-year-old currently 

has films like Dragon 

and Gully Boy in her 

kitty. 

She said she is 

"excited" about 

Dragon, which 

also features 

Ranbir 

Kapoor. 


The volatile political situation in Tamil Nadu and the upcoming elections 

in the country are about to keep Rajinikanth on his toes. So all the 

possibilities suggest that in 2018 the curtains may come down on his 

acting career for good, reports The Indian Express. 

On the last day of 2017, Superstar Rajinikanth announced his entry 

into politics. And a day after that he began gathering the support of 

people of Tamil Nadu for his soon-to-be-launched political outfit. He has 

launched a website and a smartphone application, Rajinimandram.org, 

where his fans and anybody who wants to support him can register 

themselves with his organisation that will be turned into a political party 

in the near future. Not just that, Rajinikanth has also reportedly formed 

teams to collect the details of pressing issues across the state and also 

Rajinikanth may 

drop curtain on film 

career in 2018 

flesh out the possible solutions to them. 

After keeping his fans and the political world on the edge for more than 

two decades, Rajinikanth is showing a significant level of aggressiveness 

and speed in pursuing his political aspirations. 

Rajinikanth, who had successfully avoided politics in spite of many 

temptations since 1996, took the plunge due to the power vacuum in the 

state. 

The political situation has been volatile and the power struggle within 

the fractions of AIADMK following the death of Jayalalitha pushed him 

over the edge. On December 31, 2017, the politics returned to Poes 

Garden. For decades, Poes Garden had been the epicenter of Tamil Nadu 

politics as that's where Jayalalitha lived. 

The assembly elections in Tamil Nadu is due in 2021, which 

Rajinikanth said his party will be contesting from all seats. However, he 

did not rule out the possibility of fighting the Parliamentary elections, 

which are due in 2019. He said he will be taking that decision at an 

appropriate time. 

Given that Rajinikanth has roots in Karnataka, many political 

observers are of the opinion that some political party may enlist 

his services in the election campaigns. Well, they are just 

speculations as yet and it also feels too soon for Rajinikanth to be 

influencing the elections of the neighbouring state. 

H O rOscOPE 

ariEs 

(March 21 - April 20): Natives 

of Aries may have some good 

reason to be concerned today, as 

they tend to charge into projects 

quickly, and do not often work well with 

others. Natives of this sign should consider 

working out details more often and learning 

to trust and communicate with others. 

taUrUs 

(April 21 - May 21): The 

obstacles you face at the 

moment may be daunting 

but you have what it takes 

to overcome them. Don't try to avoid 

what fate sends your way over the next 

few days - it is designed to strengthen 

you, not destroy you. 

GEmini 

(May 22 - June 21): Children of 

Gemini who are feeling a little 

worried about their reputation 

today might be in the right. 

Children of this sign perform a valuable 

service by keeping up morale and keeping 

others informed and it can often put them 

behind in their work. 

LiBra 

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): Librans may 

or may not have reason to worry 

today, as their strong relationships 

with co-workers may make up for 

the time that they often spend away from their 

duties. Just to be safe, children of this sign 

should try to spend a little more time about their 

own work and wait for others to consult them. . 

scOrPiO 

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Children of 

Scorpio who can control their 

tempers and who work in fields 

that they are genuinely passionate 

about should not be worrying what others think 

of them. Those Scorpios who may occasionally 

lash out, or who don't enjoy what they do may 

want to shape up a little. 

saGittariUs 

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Sagittarians 

often have a good enough work 

record to make up for the fact 

that they don't usually spend any 

more time than they have to at their work. 

Natives of this sign may need to look toward 

their wardrobe, however, as they can tend to be 

into more … interesting sartorial choices. 

Hyderabad singer Ghazal srinivas 

arrested for sexual harassment 


Telugu singer and Guiness World Record holder Kesiraju 

Srinivas was arrested here on Tuesday on charges of sexual 

harassment, reports The Indian Express. 

Singer Kesiraju Srinivas was arrested here on Tuesday on 

charges of sexual harassment. A case against the singer, also 

known as "Ghazal Srinivas", was registered on December 29 

following a complaint by a woman, a radio jockey. 

The woman said Srinivas, who is popular for singing ghazals 

in Telugu, was harassing her for the last nine months, a police 

official said. 

Srinivas, who holds the Guinness World Record for singing in 

most languages (76) at one concert, has denied the allegation and 

said he had never misbehaved with her. 

Logan Paul 

Outrage over Youtuber's 

dead body video 

cancEr 

(June 22 - July 23): Some 

things are important and 

some things are not and if 

you don't yet know the difference then 

it's time you found out. This should be 

a productive time for you but you need 

to learn how to say "no" when people 

ask you for favours. 

LEO 

(July 24 - Aug. 23): If you are 

not yet getting the rewards 

and the respect you deserve 

don't worry, in a matter of 

days your name will be on everybody's lips. 

The sun in Aries makes you both creative 

and adventurous, so do something out of 

the ordinary. 

VirGO 

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): You may 

be tempted to go on a 

journey today but the planets 

warn it could lead you in 

some unforeseen directions, so make 

sure you take a map and don't promise 

to be at a certain place at a specific time 

- because you won't make it. 

caPricOrn 

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): Natives of 

Capricorn should not be 

worried about their positions 

unless they are up to anything that they 

shouldn't be. Children of this sign tend to 

be hard workers, but their ambition drives 

some of them to scheming and foul play, 

which can be a problem. 

aQUariUs 

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): Aquarians 

have nothing more to fear 

than their own mouths. 

Children of this sign tend to 

be very vocal about their opinions, which 

will likely be seen as a sign of strong 

character, unless it interferes with their 

work, or is a common disruption. 

PiscEs 

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): 

Children of Pisces should 

likely be worried about 

their productivity levels. 

While some children of this sign have 

found occupation that work for them, 

many have difficulty staying focused or 

organizing their time effectively. 


An American YouTube star has prompted a 

barrage of criticism after he posted a video 

which showed the body of an apparent 

suicide victim in Japan, reports The Indian 

Express. 

The video showed Logan Paul and friends 

at the Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt 

Fuji, known to be a frequent site of suicides. 

Going in to film the "haunted" forest, they 

come across a dead body and are shocked, 

but also make jokes. 

Online comments have called the video 

"disrespectful" and "disgusting". The 

video was uploaded on Sunday and had 

millions of views on Youtube before it was 

taken down. 

Logan Paul, who has more than 15 million 

subscribers on Youtube, has since posted an 

apology on Twitter, saying he had been 

"misguided by shock and awe". 

Aokigahara has a tragic reputation in Japan 

and internationally as a destination for people 

who want to kill themselves. The actual figure 

on suicides there each year is not made public, 

to avoid publicising the site. Signs are posted 

in the forest urging people to seek medical 

help rather than take their own life. 

The 15-minute video is part of a series of 

posts from Japan where the US vlogger is 

on a trip with friends. They go on a visit to 

the forest intending to focus on the 

"haunted" aspect of it, he says in the video. 

After walking a short distance into the 

forest, the group come across a body. The 

group is filmed approaching the body, 

which is shown in several close-ups where 

only the face is blurred out. 

A member of the group is heard off 

camera saying he "doesn't feel good", Mr 

Paul then asks him: "What, you never 

stand next to a dead guy?". He then 

laughs. The identity of the deceased man 

is not known.

SPORTS WEDNESDAY, 


9 

Ragnar Klavan is the first Estonian to score a Premier League goal. 

Wozniacki cruises 

in Auckland, other 

seeds struggle 

AUCKLAND: Top seed 

Caroline Wozniacki cruised 

through to the second round 

of the WTA Auckland Classic 

on Tuesday but other seeded 

players struggled in their 

opening matches of the new 

year, reports BSS. 

The third and fourth seeds 

Barbora Strycova and 

Agnieszka Radwanska were 

both pushed to three sets, as 

was number two seed Julia 

Goerges on the raindisrupted 

previous day. 

The other four seeds, 

including defending 

champion and fifth seed 

Lauren Davis, were all 

eliminated in the first round. 

But there were no 

problems for Wozniacki 

after the Dane recovered 

from a rough start to romp 

home 6-3, 6-0 against 

American Madison Brengle. 

"I didn't really know what 

to expect. It was my first 

match back and I hit some 

crazy shots in those first few 

games and I thought 'Wow, 

this is going well' and then 

I'd make an easy mistake 

straight after," she said. 

"I kind of found my 

ground as the match 

progressed and started 

being more steady and going 

for my shots when I found 

the opportunity." 

Radwanska scraped 

through to the second round 

in a tough three-setter 

against Brazilian Beatriz 

Haddad Maia. 

The Pole was down a 

break in the third set before 

rallying to beat the 21-yearold 

6-2, 4-6, 6-2. 

"The most important 

thing, I won the third set," 

she said. 

"This is the first 

tournament of the year, so 

we don't know how the girls 

are playing and you've got to 

start from the beginning. 

"So I think there's less 

pressure after the first 

match." 

It took Strycova three 

hours to beat Italian Sara 

Errani 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 

with the Czech not fully 

showing her class until the 

last game when Errani was 

broken to love. 

Photo: BBC. 

South Korea proposes high 

level talks with North 

SEOUL: South Korea Tuesday proposed 

high-level talks with Pyongyang on 

January 9, after the North's leader Kim 

Jong-Un called for better relations and 

said his country might attend the Winter 

Olympics in the South, reports BSS. 

Kim used his annual New Year address 

to warn he has a "nuclear button" on his 

table, but sweetened his remarks by 

expressing an interest in dialogue and 

taking part in the Pyeongchang Games 

next month. 

South Korea's unification minister Cho 

Myoung-Gyon told a press conference 

that Seoul was "reiterating our 

willingness to hold talks with the North at 

any time and place in any form". 

"The government proposes to hold 

high-level government talks with North 

Korea on January 9 at the Peace House in 

Panmunjom," Cho said, referring to a 

truce village on the border between the 

two Koreas. "We hope that the South and 

North can sit face to face and discuss the 

participation of the North Korean 

delegation at the Pyeongchang Games as 

well as other issues of mutual interest for 

the improvement of inter-Korean ties." 

The Koreas, divided by a Demilitarised 

Zone since the end of the 1950-53 Korean 

War, last held high-level talks in 2015 to 

try to ease tensions. 

Those talks failed to reach an 

agreement. 

"Just the fact that they are meeting will 

be meaningful because it signals an 

attempt on both sides to improve 

relations," said Koh Yu-Hwan, a political 

science professor at Dongguk University. 

But once they sit down, the North could 

put Seoul in a difficult position by making 

unacceptable demands such as an end to 

its annual joint military drills with the 

United States, Koh added. 

"What North Korea is trying to do is reestablish 

its relations as a nuclear state 

(with Seoul). The South's dilemma is 

whether we can accept that." 

South Korean President Moon Jae-In, 

who has long favoured engagement to 

ease tensions with the North, earlier 

Tuesday welcomed Kim's suggestion of an 

opportunity for dialogue. 

However, he indicated that 

improvements in ties must go hand in 

hand with steps towards denuclearisation 

of the North. 

" 'Positive response' - 

North Korea has rattled the 

international community in recent 

months with multiple missile launches 

and its sixth and most powerful nuclear 

test-purportedly of a hydrogen bomb. 

It has shrugged off a raft of new 

sanctions and heightened rhetoric from 

Washington as it drives forward with its 

weapons programme, which it says is for 

defence against US aggression. 

Kim's comments on Monday were the 

first indication of North Korea's 

willingness to take part in the Winter 

Games from February 9-25. 

Moon called them a "positive response" 

to Seoul's hopes that the Pyeongchang 

Olympics would be a "groundbreaking 

opportunity for peace" and urged officials 

to come up with measures to realise the 

North's participation. 

Beijing, Pyongyang's main ally, 

welcomed developments. 

"We support the two sides in taking 

advantage of this opportunity to make 

concrete efforts to improve bilateral ties... 

and realise the denuclearisation of the 

peninsula," said Chinese foreign ministry 

spokesman Geng Shuang. 

Washington considers China key to a 

resolution of the crisis on the Korean 

peninsula, and has asked Beijing to do 

more to rein in Pyongyang. 

While China has supported UN Security 

Council sanctions against North Korea, it 

has proposed a freeze-for-freeze 

approach under which the US would stop 

military drills in South Korea and the 

North would halt its weapons 

programmes. 

But the idea has been rejected by 

Washington and Seoul, and Pyongyang 

insists it will continue its nuclear and 

missile projects. 

" 'Same blood' - 

In his speech Monday the North's 

leader said the Olympics could provide a 

reason for officials from the neighbours 

"to meet in the near future". 

"Since we are compatriots of the same 

blood as south Koreans, it is natural for us 

to share their pleasure over the 

auspicious event and help them," Kim 

said in his address. The main venues for 

the Games are just 80 kilometres (50 

miles) from the heavily fortified border 

with North Korea and the build-up to the 

event has been overshadowed by the 

nuclear weapons standoff. But Seoul and 

the Games' organisers are very keen for 

the North to take part. 

Analysts say its participation at 

Pyeongchang is likely, given Kim's 

remarks about sending a delegation there. 

Two North Korean athletes-pairs figure 

skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-Sikqualified 

for the Games but Pyongyang's 

Olympic Committee missed an October 

30 deadline to confirm to the 

International Skating Union that they 

would participate. They could still be 

invited to compete by the International 

Olympic Committee. 

Andy Murray considers surgery after withdrawing from Brisbane International with hip injury. 

Photo: BBC. 

Fitness scare for Muguruza 

as Brisbane proves too hot 

BRISBANE, Australia: World number two 

Garbine Muguruza suffered a fitness scare 

ahead of this month's Australian Open when 

she was forced to retire from the Brisbane 

International on Tuesday with severe 

cramping, reports BSS. 

Wimbledon champion Muguruza was 

ahead 2-1 in the deciding set against Serbia's 

Aleksandra Krunic in the second round of 

the warm-up tournament for the season's 

first Grand Slam event when she collapsed to 

the ground following a serve. 

The Spanish top seed was unable to 

continue and handed the match to Krunic 5- 

7, 7-6 (7/3), 2-1. 

"I felt in trouble in the second set when I 

was 2-0 up," Muguruza said. 

"I started to feel my calves were cramping." 

Muguruza had won a tight first set and 

appeared heading for a straight sets win over 

Krunic when she opened up a 5-2 lead in the 

second. 

However, she began to struggle in the 30 

Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) heat and oppressive 

humidity as Krunic fought back to win the 

second set on a tiebreak. 

Muguruza received treatment from the 

physio on court before the start of the 

decider and broke Krunic only to collapse 

while serving to consolidate the service 

break. 

"I continued to think that with the match 

they might go away, and then they were 

increasing, increasing. And then I had a lot of 

my body cramping," Muguruza said. 

The loss ends any hope Muguruza had of 

leapfrogging Simona Halep and becoming 

world number one before the seedings are 

decided for Australian Open, which begins 

on January 15. 

But Muguruza was not too downhearted 

by having to withdraw. 

"I'm pleased because we were playing very 

good points and, you know, good rallies," she 

said. 

"I felt it was a good level, a good match, but 

I wanted to finish to see, to evaluate how the 

match was, but I'm happy with the way I was 

playing." 

Krunic will now play either Sorana Cirstea 

or Anastasija Sevastova in the quarter-finals. 

Last year's runner-up Alize Cornet eased 

into the final eight with a straight sets win 

over Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Cornet, 

who won her first round match when fourth 

seed Caroline Garcia retired injured, was too 

consistent for Lucic-Baroni, winning 6-1, 7-5. 

In the men's draw, 21-year-old South 

Korean Chung Hyeon stunned fifth seed 

Gilles Muller from Luxembourg 6-3, 7-6 

(7/1) while US qualifier Michael Mmoh 

upset Argentine Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4. 

Gionta, Bourque to lead 

Team USA in men's ice 

hockey 

LOS ANGELES: Former New Jersey Devil 

forward Brian Gionta will lead a group of 

journeymen players who will compete for 

the USA in the 2018 Winter Olympic men's 

hockey tournament next month, reports 

BSS. 

Gionta, who competed in the 2006 

Winter Olympics, was named captain of the 

American team for the Pyeongchang 

Winter Games, which will be the first 

without players from the National Hockey 

League since 1994. 

Team USA, which will be coached by 

former NHL player Tony Granato, was 

officially named on Monday. 

Gionta, who will serve as captain, and 

former Pittsburgh Penguin Chris Bourque 

lead a rag-tag group made up of former 

NHL players, joined by some from the 

American Hockey League, European 

professional leagues and US college teams. 

DeRozan delivers 

career-best 

performance with 

52 points 

LOS ANGELES: DeMar 

DeRozan scored a team 

record 52 points as the 

Toronto Raptors won their 

12th straight home game with 

a 131-127 overtime victory 

over the Milwaukee Bucks on 

Monday, reports BSS. 

DeRozan shot 17-of-29 

from the floor and made all 13 

of his free throw attempts for 

Toronto, who are a league 

best 14-1 at home. 

He is the third Toronto 

player in history to score 50 or 

more points, joining Vince 

Carter and Terrence Ross, 

who each scored 51. 

"When you come out here 

and you're in those moments, 

you've got to make the best 

out of them," DeRozan said. 

DeRozan also had five three 

pointers while Kyle Lowry 

tallied 26 points and Serge 

Ibaka chipped in 11 for the 

Raptors in front of a crowd of 

19,800 at the Air Canada 

Centre arena. 

"He was playing with a lot of 

juice," Toronto coach Dwane 

Casey said. "You could see the 

bounce in his step. Tonight, 

DeMar DeRozan played like a 

superstar." 

Eric Bledsoe scored 29 

points and Giannis 

Antetokounmpo had 26 for 

the Bucks, who had their 

modest two game win streak 

stopped in the matchup 

between two Eastern 

Conference first round 

opponents from last season. 

Toronto won the series in six 

games. 

Australia captain Steve Smith criticised the Melbourne pitch despite hitting a century to secure a 

draw in the fourth Test. 

Photo: BBC. 

Design flaws leave Arsenal, Chelsea 

with uncertain futures 

LONDON: Arsenal and Chelsea 

have been reduced to also-ran 

status by Manchester City's 

blistering pace in the title race, but 

there is still a lot to learn when the 

London rivals clash at the Emirates 

Stadium on Wednesday, reports 

BSS. 

With champions Chelsea lagging 

14 points behind City and Arsenal 

sitting six points outside the top 

four, there's clearly plenty of room 

for improvement in both teams. 

Here AFP Sport looks at the 

problem areas for Arsenal manager 

Arsene Wenger and Chelsea boss 

Antonio Conte: 

Rebels with a cause 

After boldly deciding against 

selling Alexis Sanchez and Mesut 

Ozil before the start of the season, 

Wenger has seen his gamble 

backfire as speculation about 

Arsenal's contract rebels has been a 

constant distraction. 

Sanchez and Ozil are out of 

contract at the end of the season 

and have refused to sign new deals, 

raising the possibility that both 

could be sold in January to avoid 

losing them for free in June. 

Making matters worse, Sanchez, 

who was frustrated by Wenger's 

refusal to let him join Manchester 

City in August, has pouted his way 

through the campaign-frustrating 

players, coaches and fans in the 

process. 

City, Paris Saint Germain and 

Real Madrid are all contenders to 

rid Wenger of the Sanchez problem, 

but the damage has already been 

done. 

German midfielder Ozil, wanted 

by Manchester United and 

Barcelona, has been less overtly 

troublesome, but his inconsistent 

performances have hardly 

suggested complete commitment to 

the cause. 

No wonder former Arsenal star 

Martin Keown said: "Wenger puts 

so much trust in his players but 

Sanchez and Ozil have been 

overindulged. 

"You wonder where they would be 

had these two been fully committed 

for the whole season." 

Forward thinking 

Although Alvaro Morata has been 

a qualified success in his first 

season at Chelsea, the former Real 

Madrid striker has been virtually 

the sole goal threat for Conte's men. 

Morata has scored 12 times, but 

only twice in his last seven league 

games. 

With 39 league goals this season, 

the Blues have scored less than the 

other teams currently in the top 

four. Solving that problem has 

been impossible for Conte because 

Belgian forward Michy Batshuayi, 

the main back up for Morata, has 

scored only twice in the league and 

hasn't netted since October. 

Conte is certain to push for a new 

striker to be signed in the January 

transfer window, with Inter Milan's 

Mauro Icardi and Sassuolo's 

Domenico Berardi among potential 

targets. 

Defensive woes 

Having leaked 26 league goals 

this term-more than any other team 

in the top seven-Wenger once again 

finds his failure to fix Arsenal's 

leaky defence is undermining his 

side's ambitions. 

While Wenger has switched 

formations from a back three to a 

back four, changed defensive 

personnel and tried to protect them 

with different holding midfielders, 

the root cause of Arsenal's Achilles 

heel remains philosophical. 

Wenger's commitment to an 

attacking game-plan which relies on 

a smooth-passing style earns plenty 

of plaudits from the purists. 

But the Frenchman's tactics often 

leave Arsenal's full-backs out of 

position and his midfielders too far 

forward, while his reliance on 

diminutive playmakers allows 

opponents to bully the Gunners. 

Search for motivation 

Manchester City's sensational first half 

of the season has left Conte with the 

tricky task of keeping his players 

motivated when it seems they have little 

to play for in the league. 

At times, Chelsea were fatally 

unfocused when they faced opponents 

who didn't immediately inspire respect 

and the result was lethargic and 

damaging defeats at lowly Crystal Palace 

and West Ham. 

Conte is a notoriously demanding 

coach and there has been growing 

speculation that his players are tired of 

Italian's intense training sessions. 

Balancing a need to remain in charge 

of his stars, while also keeping them 

onside could be a challenge for Conte 

given the lack of drama in the title race, 

but he has no intention of changing his 

style. 

"You must always have a great desire 

to do this job. My wish for myself is to 

continue to have this desire for many 

years," Conte said.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS WEDNESDAY, 

THE 


10 


Bashundhara Group emerge 

as champion in Bangladesh 

Cup Taekwondo 

DHAKA: Bashundhara Group of men's group and Agrani 

Bank of women's Group emerged as champions in the 

Agrani Bank 4th Bangladesh Cup Taekwondo competition 

held on Monday at Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium at 

Mirpur, said a Bangladesh Taekwondo Federation (BTF), 

reports BSS. 

Besides, Central Taekwondo Academy finished as men's 

Group runners-up in the day-long meet, organized by BTF. 

Earlier, Bashundhara Group also clinched title of the 9th 

National Taekwondo competition held on Sunday. 

Bangladesh Krishi Bank chairman Mohammad Ismail was 

the chief guest in the closing ceremony of the meet and 

distributed prizes among the winners. 

After the prize distribution ceremony, The BTF handed 

over crest to Santona Rani, who won bronze medal in the 

20th World Taekwondo Championship held in China last 

year. 

BP to take $1.5bn hit 

on US tax reforms 

LONDON : British energy major BP said Tuesday that it 

expected to take a $1.5-billion (1.2-billion-euro) hit from US 

President Donald Trump's tax reforms, reports BSS. 

"The lowering of the US corporate income tax rate to 21 

percent requires revaluation of BP's US deferred tax assets 

and liabilities," the company said in a statement. 

"The current estimated impact of this will be a one-off noncash 

charge to the group income statement of around $1.5 

billion that will impact BP's fourth quarter 2017 results." 

However, the energy giant cautioned that longer-term 

earnings would be "positively impacted" by the US changes. 

BP is scheduled to unveil its fourth-quarter figures on 

February 6. 

Trump has signed into law a sweeping overhaul of the US 

tax code, in what was his first major legislative victory since 

taking office nearly a year ago. 

The measure is expected to boost corporate profits of 

banks and other companies over the medium and long term 

by lowering the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 

percent. 

However, several large corporations have signalled that the 

law will result in a short-term hit on earnings repatriated 

from overseas. The reform taxes these earnings at 15.5 

percent on cash and equivalents and eight percent on real 

estate and other illiquid assets. 

Other large companies that have alluded to large one-time 

hits for the fourth quarter include BP's key rival Royal Dutch 

Shell, as well as banking groups Barclays and Credit Suisse. 

Bangladesh Leasing & Finance Companies 

Association (BLFCA) has recently appointed 

S.M.Formanul Islam asThe Vice Chairman. 

Islam has been working as the Executive 

Director and CEO of Bangladesh 

Infrastructure Finance Fund Ltd 

(BIFFL).Which is a Non Bank Financial 

Institution owned by the Government 

finances PPP, Infrastructures and Green & 

Environment Friendly Projects in the country. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Oman projects a 

budget deficit in 

2018 on low oil price 

MUSCAT : The Gulf state of Oman adopted on Monday its 

2018 budget projecting a deficit of $7.8 billion due to low oil 

prices, but said the shortfall is declining, reports BSS. 

Like other energy-rich Gulf states, Oman was hit hard by 

the slump in oil prices since mid-2014 and joined an 

agreement by oil producers to cut production in a bid to 

shore up prices. 

Revenues in 2018 are estimated at $24.7 billion, up just 

three percent on last year, with spending projected at $32.5 

billion, seven percent higher, according to a statement by the 

finance ministry. 

Despite measures to reduce dependence on oil, income 

from crude is estimated to account for 70 percent of total 

revenues, the ministry said. 

In 2017, the ministry said the country posted a higherthan-expected 

deficit at $9.1 billion due to cuts in oil 

production in line with an agreement by OPEC and non- 

OPEC members. 

The ministry said the budget shortfalls have been on the 

decline due to raising non-oil revenues and higher oil 

income. 

To finance the budget deficit, Oman last year raised $11.2 

billion in debt in the form of bonds, Islamic sukuk and loans. 

It plans to raise $6.5 billion this year, the ministry said. 

About one-third of the budget spending this year has been 

earmarked for social services, education and health, the 

statement said. 

Like other Gulf states, Oman has introduced a series of 

austerity measures and subsidy cuts to boost non-oil 

revenues. 

But it has delayed the implementation of a five-percent 

value-added tax which Gulf peers Saudi Arabia and United 

Arab Emirates introduced on Monday. 

Oman is a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation 

Council along with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and 

the United Arab Emirates, but is not a member of the oilproducing 

OPEC cartel. 

On January 01, 2018 First Security Islami Bank Ltd inaugurated an ATM booth at 23rd Dhaka 

International Trade Fair-2018. Syed Waseque Md Ali, Managing Director of the bank inaugurated 

the booth. Among others, S. M. Nazrul Islam, Head of General Services Division, Shahazada 

Basunia, Head of Public Affairs and Brand Communication Division, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Head 

of Information & Communication Technology Division, Tanvir Ahmad Chowdhury, Head of Card 

Division, M. M. Mostafizur Rahman, Manager, Ring Road Branch were present on the occasion. 

Card holders of any bank can withdraw money from First Security Islami Bank ATM booth (Both 

No. 06). 

Photo: Courtesy 

Tech icon ordered back to 

China sends wife instead 

BEIJING: A major Chinese tech 

entrepreneur has defied regulators' 

orders to return home, writing Tuesday 

that his wife and brother would deal 

with the debt woes plaguing his LeEco 

conglomerate, reports BSS. 

Jia Yueting, the 44-year-old head of a 

tech empire that has spanned electric 

cars and smartphones, posted a letter 

on social media to the Beijing branch of 

the China Securities Regulatory 

Commission, which last week ordered 

him to return to China before the end of 

2017. 

The one-time billionaire is believed to 

be in the US, attempting to build up his 

Los Angeles-based electric car company 

Faraday Future. He was added to a 

national blacklist of debt defaulters by 

Chinese courts last month over 

hundreds of millions of dollars in 

unpaid loans. 

"I have entrusted (wife) Ms. Gan Wei 

and (brother) Mr. Jia Yuemin with full 

power to exercise my rights as the public 

company shareholder and fulfil my 

shareholder responsibilities," Jia wrote 

in the letter published on the Twitterlike 

Weibo platform. 

He said Gan and Jia Yuemin would 

deal with the debt issues of Leshi 

Internet, LeEco's main publicly traded 

arm. 

Separately on her own Weibo 

account, Gan said she would be meeting 

China futures market turnover 

down 4 pct in 2017 

BEIJING : The turnover of China's futures 

market dropped slightly in 2017 amid tight 

financial regulations, industry data showed, 

reports BSS. 

The total transaction value of the futures market 

hit 187.9 trillion yuan (28.87 trillion U.S. dollars) 

in 2017, down 3.95 percent year on year, data 

from the China Futures Association showed 

Tuesday. The volume of futures trading 

plummeted by 25.66 percent during the period. 

Hong Kong 

stocks up at 

noon 

HONG KONG : Hong Kong 

stocks ended their first 

morning of 2018 on a strong 

note Tuesday, with the 

energy, property and 

technology sectors among 

the big winners, reports 

BSS. 

The Hang Seng Index 

jumped 1.68 percent, or 

502.11 points, to 30,421.26 

by the break. 

Hong Kong 

stocks open 

with gains 

HONG KONG :Hong Kong 

stocks kicked off the new 

year with gains Tuesday, 

extending a rally into a sixth 

day following a stellar 2017 

that saw the benchmark 

index climb by more than a 

third, reports BSS. 

The Hang Seng Index 

added 0.36 percent, or 

109.14 points, to 30,028.29. 

And the benchmark 

Shanghai Composite Index 

added 0.21 percent, or 6.86 

points, to 3,314.03, while 

the Shenzhen Composite 

Index, which tracks stocks 

on China's second exchange, 

gained 0.22 percent, or 4.15 

points, to 1,903.49. 

Turnover at the Zhengzhou Commodity 

Exchange, which trades methanol and white 

sugar futures, slumped 31.14 percent. 

Turnover at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, 

which trades rebar futures and some other metal 

futures, gained 5.83 percent to 89.93 trillion yuan, 

accounting for almost half of the total market. 

China Financial Futures Exchange saw total 

transaction value jump by 34.98 percent to 24.59 

trillion yuan. 

China factory activity 

accelerated in 

December: Caixin 

BEIJING : Chinese factory activity accelerated in December, 

according to independent data released Tuesday, a positive 

indicator for the world's second-largest economy to kick off 

the new year, reports BSS. 

The Caixin Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) -- an 

indicator of conditions at small manufacturers-rose to 51.5 in 

December, up from 50.8 in November and the highest 

reading since August. 

The official PMI indicator of 51.6 for December was 

released on Sunday by China's National Bureau of Statistics 

and showed a slight deceleration from November, although 

it largely maintained momentum. 

A PMI figure above 50 represents growth while anything 

below points to contraction. 

Caixin's index focuses on economic activity at small and 

medium sized enterprises, and its continued strength may 

reflect the resilient global demand for many of these 

exporting firms. 

China's exports saw solid growth during the final months 

of last year. 

"Manufacturing production continued to increase across 

China at the end of 2017" Caixin said in a statement with data 

compiler IHS Markit. 

"Manufacturing operating conditions improved in 

December, reinforcing the notion that economic growth has 

stabilised in 2017 and has even performed better than 

expected" Caixin analyst Zhengsheng Zhong wrote. 

"We should not underestimate downward pressure on 

growth next year due to tightening monetary policy and 

strengthening oversight on local government financing." 

Caixin said firms used existing inventories of finished 

items to satisfy some new orders and cut slightly their 

inventories of finished goods. 

creditors to "resolve the debt problems". 

The 33-year-old Gan, an actress and 

producer on several feature films, said 

her husband owed 6.9 billion yuan ($1 

billion) on loans connected to pledged 

shares. He has paid 1.7 billion yuan 

($267 million) in interest on related 

loans since 2014, she wrote Tuesday. 

Leshi Internet's filings show that 

nearly all of Jia's shares were pledged to 

back loans, though a Beijing court said 

last month that it had seized more than 

one billion shares-Jia's entire holding-of 

Leshi Internet to repay creditors. 

The court also seized Jia's two homes 

in Beijing and $200,000 from a bank 

account. 

"Jia Yueting has no other bank 

deposits available, no other home 

registration records, and no vehicle 

registration records," the Beijing First 

Intermediate Court said at the time. 

Gan said in a New Year's Eve Weibo 

post she had "returned to complete a 

mission". Her location was tagged as 

Beijing airport. 

Leshi Internet had a market 

capitalisation of roughly $9.4 billion in 

April last year, but it has suspended 

trading in its shares since then. 

Investment firms have already 

marked down their holdings. If the 

company were to delist completely, it 

could be one of the largest failures of a 

Chinese publicly traded companypossibly 

wiping out the investments of 

its 185,000 shareholders. 

Jia in his letter blamed LeEco's debt 

woes on one bank which sued him after 

he was "only a mere two weeks overdue 

on a 30 million interest payment". 

Afterwards, in July, as creditors began 

to swarm, "the production and 

operation of non-public companies 

came to an abrupt halt", he wrote. 

"Over 10,000 employees were forced 

to be dismissed, and the only thing left 

for the company was to sell its assets to 

repay the debt." 

Jia founded the troubled 

conglomerate in 2004 as an online 

video streaming platform, but pushed 

the tech company into a variety of new 

business lines-from gaming to sports 

and more recently, cars. 

He brought in hundreds of small-time 

investors to fund the rapidly growing 

list of projects, publicly announcing 

more than $3 billion in funding for the 

far-flung projects, which now appears in 

jeopardy. 

Jia's Los Angeles-based electric car 

company Faraday Future has said it is 

in the process of raising $1 billion to 

start production of electric cars. 

The "US FF company (Faraday 

Future) financing has already achieved 

major progress," Jia wrote. 

"At present there is much work to be 

done for me to push it forward." 

Budget apartments 

to sell well in 

Vietnam 

HANOI : Demand for lowcost 

apartments with a price 

tag of below 1.5 billion 

Vietnamese dong (around 

66,000 U.S. dollars) will 

continue to increase this 

year, local experts said, 

reports BSS. 

Vietnam's realty market in 

2018 will thrive in the lowend 

and mid-end segments, 

meeting demand of low and 

medium-income earners in 

urban areas, according to the 

Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate 

Association on Tuesday. 

Higher demand for 

affordable apartments will 

make many property 

developers lower prices of 

high-end apartments, local 

realty experts said, noting 

that they are paying more 

attention to building low-cost 

commercial houses. 

Foreign investment in 

Vietnam's real estate sector 

will increase to around 3 

billion U.S. dollars a year in 

the next five years, the 

experts predicted, noting that 

foreign investment in the 

sector stood at 2.5 billion U.S. 

dollars in 2017. 

Since Vietnam adopted the 

Law on Housing in 2014, 

some 2,000 foreigners have 

been granted certificates of 

land use right, house 

ownership and other 

properties associated with 

the land in the country, 

according to statistics from 

the Ministry of Construction. 

The number of foreigners 

seeking to buy villas and 

apartments in Vietnam's big 

cities is on the rise. 

The number of residential 

property transactions in 

Hanoi capital and Ho Chi 

Minh City in November 2017 

stood at 3,000. By the end of 

November 2017. 

Asia markets begin 2018 

on positive note, led by 

Hong Kong rally 

HONG KONG: Asian stocks mostly kicked off the year 

with gains on Tuesday as traders drifted back to work 

after the festive break, with Hong Kong the standout 

performer, though the dollar faced fresh pressure from 

most other currencies, reports BSS. 

Regional investors shrugged off dips in New York on 

the last day of 2017, instead building on the healthy 

advances fuelled by strong data, improving corporate 

profits and hopes Donald Trump's tax cuts will fire US 

growth. 

They were also keeping an eye on the release of key US 

jobs figures at the end of the week, which will provide 

fresh clues about the strength of the world's biggest 

economy. 

Hong Kong led Tuesday's rally, jumping two percent to 

its highest level since late 2007, while Shanghai ended 

1.2 percent higher, boosted by data showing 

manufacturing activity in China continued to expand in 

December. 

The news comes as China's leaders look to handle a 

tricky transition of the economy from state investment 

and exports to one driven by consumer demand, while 

also addressing a growing debt mountain and fighting 

pollution. 

And Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia-Pacific economist at IHS 

Markit in Singapore, warned that Beijing's success in 

this would have consequences around the world. 

"Risks to the Chinese economy will remain among the 

key risks to the global growth outlook in 2018, with the 

Asia Pacific region particularly vulnerable to the shock 

waves from a slowdown," he told Bloomberg News. 

Among other markets, Singapore rose 0.8 percent after 

figures showing the city-state's economy beat estimates 

in the final three months of last year. 

Seoul added 0.5 percent, with some optimism seen 

after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said he was 

open to talks with the South. On Tuesday the 

government in Seoul proposed holding high-level talks 

with Pyongyang on January 9. 

Taipei was up 0.6 percent but Sydney slipped 0.1 

percent. Tokyo and Wellington were closed for public 

holidays. 

In early European trade London fell 0.2 percent, 

Frankfurt shed 0.1 percent and Paris was flat. 

On currency markets, the dollar suffered further 

selling, with analysts pointing to profit-taking after the 

passage of the much-anticipated US tax cuts, as well as 

expected monetary tightening by other central banks 

that will align them with the Federal Reserve. 

Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, 

said the euro was rising as "traders are making the bet 

that the (European Central Bank) will simply follow the 

Fed in the year ahead and end quantitative easing and 

then move toward rate hikes". 

The single currency was above $1.20 and sitting at 

levels not seen since September, while the pound was 

also at around three-and-a-half-month highs. 

However, bitcoin was down from its late Monday levels 

as the cryptocurrency struggles to bounce back from a 

recent sell-off fuelled by profit-taking. 

It had soared 25-fold over 2017 to a record high above 

$19,500 on December 18 before tumbling to just above 

$12,000 less than a week later. 

It was sitting at $13,345 in Asia on Tuesday. 

Oil prices edged up on the back of a weaker dollar, 

unrest in crude giant Iran and a pause in the number of 

rigs coming online in the United States. 

"There is some momentum for oil at the moment and 

that could continue," Ric Spooner, a Sydney-based 

analyst at CMC Markets, said. He added that marketwatchers 

felt an increase in US shale output appeared 

not to be as big as expected. 

The increase comes after both main contracts enjoyed 

a second year of rises in 2017, largely thanks to an output 

freeze by Russia and OPEC. 

Singer New Year 

Special Offer at 

Dhaka Trade Fair 

To celebrate the New Year and Dhaka International Trade 

Fair, Singer Bangladesh has launched 'Singer New Year 

Special Offer'. The campaign will continue from January 1 till 

January 31, 2018, says a press release. 

Under this campaign, there will be lucrative gifts and 

discounts on Kitchen Appliances, Furniture, Laptops, 

Washing Machines, LED, Refrigerator and many more 

products. On the occasion of Dhaka International Trade Fair, 

attractive discounts and free gifts on Kitchen Appliances and 

Microwave Oven will also be available at the Singer 

Bangladesh Premier Stall (Premier Stall no.-2). 

Customers can purchase Singer Washing Machines from 

any Singer outlets across Bangladesh and get a chance of 

winning free Washing Machines, attractive discounts or free 

gifts through scratch cards. Customers will also get attractive 

discounts for buying a new Singer LED TVs in exchange of 

their old TVs. Dell and HP laptops can be bought with 

convenient installments. Singer is also offering 12 months 

interest-free benefits without any credit card. Moreover, all 

products will be available for 12 months easy installments.

MISCELLANEOUS WedNeSdAY, 

THE 


11 

JANUArY 3, 2018 

Cold wave grips much of United States 

International Desk: From midwest 

to northeast, a numbing cold wave 

has gripped much of the United 

States, leading to at least three 

deaths as the year 2018 began 

Monday, reports BSS. 

Dangerously low temperatures 

enveloped eight Midwest states 

including parts of Kansas, Missouri, 

Illinois and Nebraska along with 

nearly all of Iowa, Minnesota, South 

Dakota and North Dakota, said the 

U.S. National Weather Service. In 

Omaha, Nebraska, a temperature of 

15 below zero degrees Fahrenheit (- 

26 degrees Celsius) was recorded 

before midnight Sunday, breaking 

the lowest record dating back to 

1884, and the temperature was still 

dropping early New Year's Day. 

It was even colder early Monday in 

Des Moines, Iowa, at 20 below zero 

degrees Fahrenheit (-29 degrees 

Two dead, 

thousands flee 

in storm-weary 

Philippines 

International Desk:Two 

people were killed and 

thousands fled strong 

winds and floods as a 

tropical depression hit 

the central Philippines on 

Tuesday, following 

deadly back-to-back 

storms during the 

Christmas season, 

reports BSS. 

The deaths were 

reported on Cebu island, 

where an elderly woman 

was killed in a landslide 

while a man died after he 

hit his head on the 

pavement as the storm 

cut off electricity in the 

area. Tropical Storm Kai- 

Tak killed 47 people in 

the central Philippines 

last month, while 

Tropical Storm Tembin 

killed 240 on the 

southern island of 

Mindanao. The state 

weather service warned 

the new disturbance was 

poised to hit the western 

tourist island of Palawan 

with gusts of 65 

kilometres (40 miles) per 

hour later on Tuesday. 

"The residents are 

really sad. It is tough that 

we have three storms 

coming one after another. 

People have lost their 

livelihood and have had 

no rest since Christmas," 

Gil Acosta, information 

officer of the island, told 

AFP. Palawan accounted 

for 37 of the recorded 

Tembin deaths, with 60 

other people still missing, 

Acosta added. 

Celsius) and wind chill dipping to 31 

below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-35 

degrees Celsius). Des Moines city 

officials had closed a downtown 

outdoor ice skating plaza and said it 

will not reopen until the city 

emerges from sub-zero 

temperatures. 

Bitterly cold temperatures are also 

spreading across the Deep South, a 

region more accustomed to brief 

bursts of arctic air than night after 

night of sub-zero temperatures. 

Frozen pipes and dead car batteries 

were concerns from Louisiana to 

Georgia as overnight temperatures 

in the teens were predicted across 

the region by Monday night. Local 

media reported that a homeless man 

was found frozen to death on the 

front porch of a home in Charleston, 

West Virginia on Sunday afternoon. 

The Milwaukee County Medical 

Australian investigators hope 

to recover seaplane this week 

International Desk: Accident 

investigators hope this week to raise a 

seaplane which crashed into an 

Australian river with the death of six 

people, including a high-profile British 

chief executive, reports BSS. 

Richard Cousins, the boss of catering 

giant Compass, his sons Edward and 

William, fiancee Emma Bowden and her 

daughter Heather Bowden-Page were 

killed in the accident on the Hawkesbury 

River north of Sydney on New Year's 

Eve. Pilot Gareth Morgan also died. 

Nat Nagy, executive director of 

transport safety for the Australian 

Transport Safety Bureau, said the 

investigation would cover the plane's 

maintenance record as well as its 

components and any recordings of the 

flight. 

"So that could involve avionics or 

instruments that are attached to the 

aeroplane, but also things like mobile 

phones, iPads, GoPros that we will be 

able to recover data from," Nagy said, 

announcing the intention to recover the 

DHC-2 Beaver Seaplane this week. 

A preliminary report is expected in a 

month. The sightseeing aircraft, which 

was heading to Rose Bay in Sydney 

Harbour, made a sharp turn before 

plummeting straight into the water in 

the suburb of Cowan 50 kilometres (31 

miles) north of Sydney. 

Witnesses on a nearby houseboat told 

national broadcaster ABC how they 

dived into the river, which was covered 

with aviation fuel, in an attempted 

rescue. 

Three men repeatedly plunged in to try 

and open the plane's doors as it sank. 

Unsuccessful, they tied the aircraft's tail 

to their dinghy but were unable to move 

it."Dead set, they could have died," said 

Will McGovern of his three friends."The 

whole time I was freaking out that this 

fuel was going to spark. This plane was 

moving fast, it was going down fast -- 

they could have got sucked in. 

Examiner's office said two bodies 

found on Sunday showed signs of 

hypothermia. The wind chill was 

reported to be about 9 below zero 

degrees Fahrenheit (-23 degrees 

Celsius) on Sunday noon. In 

Indianapolis, a woman was found in 

critical condition after she had been 

confused in the snow and ice and 

turned her vehicle the wrong 

direction, driving on a retention 

pond before her vehicle fell through 

the ice, said local media. She 

managed to make an emergency call 

but the phone went dead when the 

ice cracked. 

There is no light at the end of the 

snow tunnel for much of the United 

States. Although it will get a few 

degrees warmer in the coming days, 

temperatures are expected to drop 

again late in the week, according to 

CNN meteorologists. 

"The families of these poor people, they 

need to know people were there risking 

their lives trying to help their family 

members. There was someone there 

trying to do something." The Britons had 

watched England in the fourth Ashes 

Test against Australia at the Melbourne 

Cricket Ground, and were set to watch 

the final Test in Sydney this week, 

Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported. 

England's Barmy Army cricket 

supporters paid tribute to them. "It's 

very sad to hear of the loss of any cricket 

fan around the world especially when it's 

so close to home," the Barmy Army's 

Chris Millard told the Telegraph. 

"Our thoughts are with their families." 

The Barmy Army were set to hold a 

minute's silence before two upcoming 

fan matches against Australian cricket 

supporters, the newspaper added. 

Former England captain Michael 

Vaughan tweeted Tuesday: "Saddened to 

hear of the passing away of Richard 

Cousins and some family members in 

Sydney ... Great man who loved the game 

of cricket ... Thoughts to all his family. 

A preliminary report is expected in a 

month. The sightseeing aircraft, which 

was heading to Rose Bay in Sydney 

Harbour, made a sharp turn before 

plummeting straight into the water in 

the suburb of Cowan 50 kilometres (31 

miles) north of Sydney. 

Witnesses on a nearby houseboat told 

national broadcaster ABC how they 

dived into the river, which was covered 

with aviation fuel, in an attempted 

rescue. 

Three men repeatedly plunged in to try 

and open the plane's doors as it sank. 

Unsuccessful, they tied the aircraft's tail 

to their dinghy but were unable to move 

it."Dead set, they could have died," said 

Will McGovern of his three friends."The 

whole time I was freaking out that this 

fuel was going to spark. This plane was 

moving fast, it was going down fast -- 

they could have got sucked in. 

Pakistan 

summons US 

ambassador 

over Trump 

tweet 

International Desk: 

Pakistan has summoned 

the US ambassador, an 

embassy spokesman said 

Tuesday, a rare public 

rebuke after Donald 

Trump lashed out at 

Islamabad with threats to 

cut aid over "lies" about 

militancy, reports BSS. 

Ambassador David Hale 

was asked to go to the 

foreign office in the 

Pakistani capital on 

Monday night, after 

Islamabad responded 

angrily to the US 

President's allegations that 

it provided safe havens for 

militants in the latest spat 

to rock their alliance. A US 

embassy spokesman 

confirmed Hale met 

officials, but added: "We 

don't have any comment 

on the substance of the 

meeting." There was no 

immediate response from 

foreign office officials. 

Trump used his first tweet 

of 2018 to tear into 

Islamabad. 

"The United States has 

foolishly given Pakistan 

more than 33 billion 

dollars in aid over the last 

15 years, and they have 

given us nothing but lies & 

deceit, thinking of our 

leaders as fools," Trump 

said in the early-morning 

New Year's Day tweet. 

"They give safe haven to 

the terrorists we hunt in 

Afghanistan, with little 

help. No more!" Pakistan 

hit back swiftly, saying it 

had done much for the 

United States, helping it to 

"decimate" Al-Qaeda, 

while getting only 

"invective & mistrust" in 

return in angry comments 

from its foreign and 

defence ministers. 

Islamabad has repeatedly 

denied the accusations of 

turning a blind eye to 

militancy, lambasting the 

United States for ignoring 

the thousands who have 

been killed on its soil and 

the billions spent fighting 

extremists. 

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France vows crackdown after 

New Year attack on police 

International Desk: The French 

government vowed a crackdown on urban 

violence Tuesday after shocking video 

footage emerged of a policewoman being 

beaten on New Year's Eve, reports BSS. 

She was one of two officers attacked by a 

crowd of youths after police were called to a 

party in the Paris suburb of Champignysur-Marne, 

in an assault President 

Emmanuel Macron called "a cowardly and 

criminal lynching". A third officer was 

beaten up Monday while trying to inspect a 

stolen scooter inside a sprawling housing 

estate in the suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois. 

More than a thousand cars were burned 

across France on New Year's Eve, a ritual 

for youths living in deprived high-rise 

suburbs. 

"This violent society cannot continue in 

the years to come. It must be stopped," 

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told 

Europe 1 radio on Tuesday, calling the 

attacks against police "unacceptable". 

Officers had been called to clear a crowd of 

three or four hundred people attempting to 

see in 2018 at a warehouse party in 

Champigny-sur-Marne. They fired tear gas 

after "a group of particularly violent 

individuals laid into the police," local 

security chief Jean-Yves Oses said, with 

revellers beating and kicking two officers. 

Videos of the policewoman writhing on the 

floor as she is kicked by the crowd, as well 

GD-18/18 (6 x 3) 

as revellers flipping over a car, have gone 

viral on social media. 

Two people were detained on suspicion of 

vandalism, but no one has been arrested for 

attacking the police. Macron vowed that the 

culprits would be "found and punished". - 

'Urban guerillas' - 

A total of 1,031 cars were torched across 

France as the country welcomed the New 

Year -- up from 935 a year ago -- while 

arrests rose from 456 to 510, according to 

the interior ministry. Collomb said reforms 

were needed to improve lives in 

"pauperised, ghettoised" French suburbs, 

which have long suffered a reputation for 

violence and poverty. "These are 

neighbourhoods that must change," 

Collomb said, ahead of new pilot schemes 

in local policing set to begin next month 

following a large-scale consultation with 

security forces. 

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen urged 

reforms to laws governing police officers' 

right to self-defence, blasting "insecurity 

that sometimes comes close to that of urban 

guerillas" in tough neighbourhoods. 

Macron set out a raft of policies to fight 

poverty in downtrodden districts in 

November after critics labelled him a 

"president of the rich" due to his generous 

tax cuts for high earners. He reached out to 

the poor again in his New Year's message, 

promising a "grand social project" in 2018. 

GD-19/18 (8 x 4) 

GD-17/18 (8 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

WEDnESDay, DHaKa, JanuaRy 3, 2018, POuSH 20, 1424 BS, RaBI-uS-SaanI 14, 1439 HIJRI 

23rd Dhaka International Trade Fair-2018 kicks off yesterday amid enthusiasm. 

SC clears haor 

embankment 

graft probe 

DHAKA : The Appellate 

Division of supreme Court 

on Tuesday stayed the High 

Court order that halted the 

proceedings of a case filed for 

corruption in embankment 

of haor areas in sunamganj 

that caused massive losses 

during last year's flashflood, 

reports UNB. 

A five-member bench 

headed by acting Chief 

Justice Md Abdul wahhab 

Miah, passed the order after 

hearing a petition filed by the 

A n t i - C o r r u p t i o n 

Commission (ACC). 

ACC lawyer Khurshid 

Alam said with the fresh sC 

order there will be no bar 

from now to resume the 

probe in this connection. 

earlier on December 12 

High Court stayed the proceedings 

of the case for three 

months after hearing writ 

petition filed by one of the 

accused in the case Bachchu 

Mia and also issued a rule 

seeking explanation as to 

why the case will not be 

declared illegal. 

The court yesterday also 

asked the High Court to dispose 

the rule on Anti- 

Corruption Commission 

(ACC) in this regard. 

On July 2, ACC assistant 

director Faruq Ahmed filed 

the corruption case against 

61 people including several. 

Photo : TBT 

Foreign friends not to 

put pressure on govt 

over polls: Shahriar 

DHAKA : state Minister for Foreign Affairs 

M shahriar Alam on Tuesday said no foreign 

country will put pressure on the government 

supporting the demand of BNP or 

any banned political party over the next 

national election, reports UNB. 

"we don't think they (diplomats) will 

waste time on these issues. There's no such 

scope either. we understand it through our 

constant engagement with them over the 

last few years," he told reporters at the 

Foreign Ministry. 

The state Minister said Bangladesh is 

now stronger enough standing on its own 

feet, and there will be no incident like the 

past. 

BNP has been seeking a neutral government 

to oversee parliamentary elections 

while the government says the elections 

will be held as per the Constitution. 

The state Minister, however, said the 

support from the organisations which 

remain with Bangladesh in making the 

election and election process easier, modern 

and time-befitting one will continue in 

the coming days. "we don't see any confusion 

about elections." 

Responding to a question, shahriar said 

the government is working to ease problems 

for expatriate Bangladeshis ensuring 

services to them in a modern way. "we 

want to provide better services for the expatriates 

by digitalising the services," he said. 

The Unusual Border 

of Märket Island 

INTeResTINg News 

Märket is a small 3.3-hectare lump of rock 

located in the passage joining the gulf of 

Bothnia to the Baltic sea, between sweden 

and Finland. The island is divided between 

the two countries since the Treaty of 

Fredrikshamn of 1809 defined the border 

between sweden and the Russian empire 

which ruled Finland at the time. when the 

border was drawn by the treaty’s authors, 

by sheer coincidence, it ran straight 

through Market Island. 

The island lies in the middle of the 11-kmwide 

and 27-km-long Understen–Märket 

passage, and was probably used as a useful 

navigation mark, which is why its named 

Märket or ‘the Mark' in swedish. In order 

to make the island more useful as a navigational 

aid, the Russians built a lighthouse 

on the island in 1885. Accidentally, the 

structure was erected on the swedish side 

of the island. 

The Unusual Border of Märket Island by 

Kaushik 2 years ago Märket is a small 3.3- 

hectare lump of rock located in the passage 

joining the gulf of Bothnia to the Baltic sea, 

between sweden and Finland. The island is 

divided between the two countries since 

the Treaty of Fredrikshamn of 1809 

defined the border between sweden and 

the Russian empire which ruled Finland at 

the time. when the border was drawn by 

the treaty’s authors, by sheer coincidence, it 

ran straight through Market Island. 

The island lies in the middle of the 11-kmwide 

and 27-km-long Understen–Märket 

passage, and was probably used as a useful 

navigation mark, which is why its named 

Märket or ‘the Mark' in swedish. In order 

to make the island more useful as a navigational 

aid, the Russians built a lighthouse 

on the island in 1885. Accidentally, the 

structure was erected on the swedish side 

of the island. 

He said the Bangladesh Mission in 

Malaysia is facing a tremendous pressure to 

resolve the problems faced by Bangladeshis 

there in terms of regularisation of their jobs 

and extension of job tenures. 

"we're working to increase workforce 

there for the mission to help the expatriates 

in a speedier manner," he said. 

Responding to a question on Rohingya 

issue, he said Bangladesh remains bilaterally 

engaged with Myanmar apart from its 

deep engagement internationally with sustained 

international pressure to resolve the 

crisis. 

The state Minister said they are on track 

in terms of timeframe mentioned in the 

bilateral document signed between 

Bangladesh and Myanmar on November 

23. A Joint working group (Jwg) has 

already been formed and its first meeting 

will be held sometime in January. 

"we're upbeat. we're confident and we're 

hopeful. we're bilaterally engaged," he said 

describing the international supports that 

Bangladesh gained on the issue. 

He said the government is committed to a 

safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation 

and others should not be worried about 

that. 

earlier, UN Resident Coordinator in 

Bangladesh Mia seppo met the state 

Minister for Foreign Affairs and discussed 

various issues, including the Rohingya one. 

Ecnec approves 

Patuakhali naval 

base project 

DHAKA : The executive 

Committee of the National 

economic Council (ecnec) 

on Tuesday approved 16 projects, 

including the establishment 

of a new naval base, to 

ensure security for Payra 

Port in Kalapara upazila in 

Patuakhali, reports UNB. 

The approval came from 

the 13th ecnec meeting of 

the current fiscal year, held 

at the NeC conference room 

here with ecnec Chairperson 

and Prime Minister sheikh 

Hasina in the chair. 

The naval base project, 

BNs sher-e-Bangla 

Patuakhali, will be implemented 

from June 2018 to 

June 2021 at an estimated 

cost of Tk 1,081.50 crore. The 

entire fund will come from 

the state coffer. 

Briefing reporters after the 

meeting, Planning Minister 

AHM Mustafa Kamal said, 

"A total of 16 projects were 

approved yesterday involving 

an overall cost of Tk 

5,220.83 crore." 

Of the total estimated cost, 

Tk 4,744.12 crore will come 

from the national exchequer, 

while Tk 13.83 crore from 

the organisations' own funds 

and Tk 462.88 crore as project 

assistance, he said. 

Of the 16 projects, 15 are 

new, while one is revised 

one. 

Talking about the BNs 

sher-e Bangla project, the 

minister said the new naval 

base will have some 5,000 

military and civil members. 

Judges’ disciplinary rules 

Hearing order on issuance 

of gazette notification 

deferred 

DHAKA : The Appellate 

Division of supreme Court 

on Tuesday deferred the 

hearing for an order on the 

issuing of gazette notification 

on the disciplinary 

rules for lower court 

judges, reports UNB. 

A five-member Appellate 

Division bench, led by acting 

Chief Justice Abdul 

wahhab Miah, passed the 

order following a time petition. 

The sC fixed wednesday 

for the next hearing. 

On December 11 last, the 

government issued the 

gazette notification. 

Later, on December 13, 

the sC fixed January 2 for 

an order on the notification. 

The lower judiciary was 

officially separated in 

November 2007 but the 

disciplinary rules for lower 

court judges had not been 

formulated. 

On December 2, 1999, 

the supreme Court in the 

Masdar Hossain case 

issued a seven-point directive, 

including formulating 

separate disciplinary rules, 

for the lower court judges. 

The Law Ministry on 

May 7, 2015 sent a draft of 

the rules to the supreme 

Court which was similar to 

the government servants 

(Discipline and Appeal) 

Rules 1985. 

Dhaka Mohanagar Detective Police arrested four dacoits in connection with looting Tk 52 lakhs from a 

gold trader. 

Photo : Star Mail. 

OIC delegation to visit 

Rohingya camps from today 

It’ll ascertain HR situation; submit report to OIC chief 

500 more Rohingyas enter 

Bangladesh last few days 

DHAKA : some 500 more 

Rohingyas arrived in 

Bangladesh over the last few 

days keeping the total number 

of new arrivals at 

655,500 since August 25, 

2017, says the UN Migration 

Agency on Tuesday. 

The IOM Needs and 

Population Monitoring 

Report said that there have 

been 628 new arrivals since 

the weekly situation report 

on December 17, reports 

UNB. 

The next full situation 

report will be issued on 

January 14. 

Violence in Rakhine state 

which began on August 25, 

2017 has driven an estimated 

655,500 Rohingyas across 

the border into Cox's Bazar, 

Bangladesh. 

Bangladesh and Myanmar 

want to start repatriation of 

Rohingyas this month and a 

Joint working group (Jwg) 

has already been formed in 

this regard. The first meeting 

of the Jwg will be held 

sometime in January in 

Myanmar capital. 

Bangladesh said they are 

on track in terms of timeframe 

mentioned in the bilateral 

document signed 

between Bangladesh and 

Myanmar on November 23. 

"we're all upbeat. we're 

confident and we're hopeful. 

we're bilaterally engaged 

DHAKA : A delegation of the Organization of 

Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will visit the 

Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar district for 

four days from wednesday to acquire firsthand 

information on the state of human 

rights violations faced by Rohingyas in 

Myanmar for preparing an objective report 

on the issue, reports UNB. 

During the visit to Cox's Bazar, the officials 

from the OIC general secretariat will discuss 

humanitarian needs and other issues of concern 

with the relevant authorities in 

Bangladesh and present their report to OIC 

secretary general Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al- 

Othaimeen. 

A detailed report both on the human rights 

situation of the Rohingya Muslims in 

Myanmar and their urgent humanitarian 

needs will be presented to the upcoming OIC 

Council of Foreign Ministers scheduled to 

take place in May this year in Dhaka. 

The delegation consists of members of the 

OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights 

Commission (IPHRC), one of the principle 

statutory organs of the OIC - dealing with 

human rights issues, and officials from relevant 

departments of the OIC general 

secretariat including the Minorities, 

Information and Humanitarian Affairs. 

The visit is undertaken, in coordination 

with the government of Bangladesh, to ascertain 

the human rights and humanitarian situation 

of the Rohingya Muslims in 

Myanmar, according to OIC statement. 

Despite repeated requests by the IPHRC, 

Myanmar authorities did not allow to undertake 

a fact-finding visit on the human rights 

situation faced by the Rohingya Muslims in 

the Rakhine state. 

In the absence of a positive response from 

the Myanmar government, the IPHRC has 

decided to visit Rohingya camps in Cox's 

Bazar district and acquire first-hand information 

on the state of human rights violations 

faced by them in Myanmar for preparing 

an objective report on the subject. 

IPHRC has routinely pronounced its 

strong concerns and condemnation on the 

state of human rights violations faced by the 

Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar at all relevant 

UN forums. 

The OIC has repeatedly called upon the 

Myanmar government that Rohingyas must 

be allowed to return in safety and dignity to 

their original places of residence and that the 

authorities must take concrete steps to 

address the root causes of tensions in 

Rakhine state. 

Meanwhile, Indonesian President Joko 

widodo is likely to be here on a two-day official 

visit this month to discuss bilateral, 

regional and global issues including 

Rohingya issue. 

The two countries are now in discussion to 

finalize the visit, a foreign ministry source 

said. 

The Indonesian President, during the visit, 

will have meetings with President Abdul 

Hamid and Prime Minister sheikh Hasina. 

In september last, Indonesian Foreign 

Minister Retno Marsudi visited Dhaka and 

discussed the Rohingya issues. 

(with Myanmar)," state 

Minister for Foreign Affairs 

M shahriar Alam told UNB 

describing the international 

support that Bangladesh 

gained on the issue. 

Quoting Myanmar 

Minister of social welfare, 

Relief and Resettlement Dr 

win Myat Aye, Myanmar 

media reported that they will 

start repatriation of those 

families who fled from 

Rakhine state to Bangladesh 

on January 22. 

win Myat Aye said a group 

of 450 Hindu refugees will be 

allowed back across the border 

to Burma on January 22 

as the first step of the repatriation 

process. 

Iran protests: Supreme leader 

Khamenei blames ‘enemies’ 

Iran's supreme leader has 

accused the country's enemies 

of stirring days of 

protests that have claimed at 

least 22 lives, reports BBC. 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 

was speaking for the first 

time since people protesting 

at Iran's economic troubles 

clashed with security forces 

last Thursday. 

Nine people, including a 

child, died overnight in violence 

in central Iran, state 

media say. 

The protests are the largest 

since the disputed 2009 

presidential election. 

"In recent days, enemies of 

Iran used different tools 

including cash, weapons, 

politics and intelligence services 

to create troubles for 

the Islamic Republic," Iran's 

supreme leader was quoted 

as saying in a post on his official 

website. 

He said he would address 

the nation about the recent 

events "when the time was 

right" 

The protests began last 

Thursday in the city of 

Mashhad, initially against 

price rises and corruption, 

but have since spread amid 

wider anti-government sentiment. 

some 450 people have 

been arrested in Tehran 

Province in recent days, the 

deputy governor-general of 

the province is quoted as 

saying. 

In the 2009 protests, millions 

disputed the election 

victory. Those demonstrations 

were brutally suppressed, 

with at least 30 people 

killed and thousands 

arrested. 

Analysts say the supreme 

leader's reference to "enemies" 

is a swipe at Israel, the 

Us and saudi Arabia. 

President Hassan Rouhani 

has criticised Us President 

Donald Trump for repeatedly 

tweeting support for the 

protesters. 

Country to 

experience 

cold waves 

in January 

DHAKA : A cold wave and two 

mild cold waves may sweep 

over the country in January, 

according to monthly outlook 

of Bangladesh Meteorological 

Department, reports UNB. 

Besides, temperature may 

decrease below 8 degree 

Celsius in some parts of the 

country during the period. 

According to the 

Meteorological Department, 

night temperature may fall in 

the coming 48 hours, while 

parts of the Rangpur, 

Rajshahi and Khulna divisions 

may experience cold 

waves. 

North and central 

Bangladesh may experience a 

medium (6-8 degrees Celsius) 

or intense (4-6 degrees 

Celsius) cold wave this month 

and 2-3 light (8-10 degrees 

Celsius) or medium cold 

waves in other parts of the 

country this month, said the 

forecast. 

However, the overall average 

temperatures across the 

country may remain normal. 

The north, northeast, northwest, 

central and river basin 

areas may expect heavy fog, 

while other areas may experience 

light to medium fog. 

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

The Bangladesh Today (03-01-2018)

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