The Bangladesh Today (09-01-2018)

TuESdAy
Dhaka :January 9, 2018; Poush 26, 1424 BS; Rabi-us-Saani 21, 1439 hijri
www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtlive.com
Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.25; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00
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Improve efficiency in
technology to hunt down
criminals: PM to police
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
on Monday asked the police to achieve
greater efficiency in technology to hunt
down transnational organised criminals
and those involved in money laundering,
cybercrime and other crimes, reports UNB.
"I hope, the police will take steps over
newer technologies for crime data management
and citizen information management
system software to control and contain
crimes and identify criminals," she said.
The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating
the Police Week-2018 at Dhaka
Metropolitan Police Lines, Rajarbagh. The
Police Week-2018 began with the motto
'Remedy of Militancy and Drugs:
Commitment of Bangladesh Police'.
Sheikh Hasina assured the police of providing
them with proper training both at
home and abroad to enhance their capability
on science-based investigations
alongside improving skills in ICT.
The Prime Minister also asked the police
to build themselves as members of a propeople
force as their duty towards people is
enormous. "You must always remember
that you're the members of the police force
of independent Bangladesh...your duty
towards people is enormous...you have to
build yourselves as pro-people ones."
Describing the Bangladesh Police as a
symbol of peace, security and discipline,
Hasina hoped that each and every police
2018 brings no end to
violence against Rohingyas
COX'S BAZAR : Rohingya people were
still arriving here - the New Year bringing
no end to the reports of violence and
fears, which forced them to flee their
homes in Myanmar, says the IOM on
Monday, reports UNB.
Over 2,400 Rohingyas are estimated to
have arrived in Bangladesh during
December 2017, with more people continuing
to arrive each day as 2018 begins,
according to the UN Migration Agency.
A major upsurge of violence in
Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar, in
late August 2017 forced hundreds of
thousands to flee their homes.
While the number of daily arrivals has
dropped significantly since the height of
the influx, many of those now reaching
Zohr
05:25 AM
12:10 PM
03:52 PM
05:32 PM
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personnel will discharge his or her duty
properly, and come forward in aid of the
helpless and distressed people. "I hope,
you'll extend your hands towards them."
The Prime Minister said the members of
the police force have to ensure accountability
in every work. "By the time, 'IGP
Complaint Cell' has been set up at the
Police Headquarters. I hope, this will play
an effective role in ensuring the professional
accountability of police personnel."
Hasina said the members of the police
force are discharging their duties in all critical
moments with courage and their sincerity,
efficiency and professionalism in
maintaining democratic trend and establishing
good governance have been highly
appreciated by people.
The people of the country will always
remember with respect and gratitude the contributions
and sacrifices of the police as many
of them were killed while working to resist terrorism,
killing, arson attacks, torching and
vandalism by BNP-Jamat nexus and their
cohorts, and also during the anti-terrorism
drive, she said.
The Prime Minister referred to the formation
of Police Anti-Terrorism Unit to
increase capability of the police in stamping
out terrorism,
and hoped that
the newly established
unit would
continue to play
its effective role
in rooting out the
menace as well as
bringing the
patrons of terrorists
under the
purview of law.
Mentioning
that a stable lawand-order
situation
as a precondition
to development, Hasina said her
government considers the allocation of
money in this sector as an investment, not
expenses.
Bangladesh say they faced additional
challenges, which delayed their escape.
"We couldn't leave before now because
our village was surrounded. A month ago
my two sons were slaughtered. They went
out fishing and they were killed," said 50-
year-old Ahmed, who was one of the first
to arrive in Bangladesh in 2018 along with
his two daughters, aged 20 and 18, and his
15-year-old son. He said that the family
had endured weeks of fear in their village
in Rathedaung, Rakhine, unable to leave
their house even to collect firewood.
Ahmed said that they had to pay a
bribe of 150,000 kyat (c.USD $112) to
the neighbours, who had been threatening
them, to be allowed to leave.
On arrival at the Balukhali settlement
in Cox's Bazar, Ahmed and his remaining
family received medical check-ups
and shelter kits of ropes, tarpaulins and
basic household goods to enable them
to create a place to live in the sprawling
camps where 655,000 other refugees
have sought safety since August.
"I feel safe here," said Ahmed's 18-
year-old daughter Raysuana, who said
her mother had died years ago and her
father had worked hard to bring up his
family alone as a widower.
As they waited at the arrival point in
Balukhali, a puddle of water fell through
a section of the tarpaulin roof. The
unexpected noise left Ahmed badly
shaken. "We continue to see a great deal
of distress among Rohingya survivors
arriving in Bangladesh," said Olga
Rebolledo, IOM's mental health and
psycho-social support coordinator in
Cox's Bazar.
"They have faced a lot of adversity and
many are in need of psycho-social support
to help restore a sense of safety and
further strengthen the resilience they've
already shown," added Rebolledo.
Shivering cold paralyses normal life;
improvement unlikely before 3 days
DHAKA : Bone-chilling cold gripped
the country, especially the northern
districts, with the lowest-ever 2.6
degrees Celsius temperature being
recorded in Panchagarh's Tentulia on
Monday, as the cold wave keeps on
battering normal life and leading to
the deaths of a number of people,
reports UNB.
There is also no good news for the
cold-hit people as the Met office says
the chilling weather is likely to prevail
across the country until Wednesday
when mercury may fall further in the
central and southern parts.
At least 12 people, including six
children, have so far died of coldrelated
diseases in Rajshahi,
Kurigram and Thakurgaon districts
over the last four days as the northern
districts bear the brunt of the cold
wave.
Many children and the elderly people
have been suffering badly from
various cold-related diseases and
crowding hospitals and clinics.
Besides, the poor, particularly the day
labourers and rickshaw-pullers, have
been suffering badly due to the shivering
cold. Those living in slums and chars
have also become the worst suffers for
lack of adequate warm clothes.
People in the capital city also experienced
9.5 degrees Celsius temperature
on Monday which is the lowest
temperature of this season, said
Omar Farroque, a meteorologist at
the Bangladesh Meteorological
Department (BMD).
He also gave another bad news that
the temperature in the capital may
dip further on Tuesday. Dhaka experienced
the lowest temperature of 5.6
degrees Celsius in 1964.
The meteorologist said the highest
temperature was recorded 25.6
degrees Celsius in Teknaf of Cox's
Bazar district.
Farroque said the overall temperature
of the country will improve from
Thursday.
Zakir Hossain, an official at the
Tentulia Meteorological observatory
office, said the mercury fell to 2.6
degrees Celsius in the morning,
which is the lowest ever temperature
in history of the last 67 years.
On Sunday, Bangladesh Met office
recorded the temperature at 8.5
degrees Celsius in the district.
The lowest temperature in the
country's history was recorded at 2.8
degrees Celsius in Srimangal upazila
of Moulvibazar district in 1968.
UNB Panchagarh correspondent
reports that the record-breaking cold
couple with thick fog crippled life in
the district.
The poor, mainly the day labourers
and rickshaw-pullers, were hit hard
for lack of work as most people were
forced to stay indoors due to the shivering
cold.
Most public places, including haats,
bazaars, bus stands, and other places
looked deserted as fewer people came
out of their homes for the bad weather.
Bangladesh Met office recorded 2.9
degrees Celsius in Saidpur upazila
and 3 degrees Celsius in Dimla of
Nilphamari district, 3.1 degrees
Celsius in Rajarhat upazila of
Kurigram district, 3.2 degrees Celsius
in Dinajpur district, 4 degrees Celsius
in Badalgachhi upazila in Naogaon
district, 4.9 degrees Celsius in
Rangpur district degrees Celsius, 5.3
degree Celsius in Rajshahi, 5.4
degrees Celsius in Chuadamga, 5.5
degrees Celsius in Ishwardi upazila of
Pabna and Bogra district and 5.6
degrees Celsius in Jessore district,
Met office said.
A severe cold wave is sweeping
Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions and
the regions of Tangail, Srimangal and
Chuadanga.
A mild to moderate cold wave is
blowing over Mymensingh and
Barisal divisions, rest parts of Dhaka,
Sylhet and Khulna divisions and the
regions of Sandwip, Sitakunda,
Comilla and Noakhali and it may
continue.
Coldest weather in 50
yrs hits Panchagarh
DHAKA : The lowest temperature of
2.6 degree Celsius in 50 years gripped
Tentulia upazila of Panchagarh district
on Monday morning, hitting poor people
hard, reports UNB.
Zakir Hossain, an official at the
Tentulia Meteorological observatory
office, said the mercury fell to 2.6
degrees Celsius in the morning.
The lowest temperature in the country's
history was recorded at 2.8 degrees
Celsius in Srimangal in 1968.
Besides, Bangladesh Met office
recorded 2.9 degree Celsius in Saidpur
upazila in Nilphamari district yesterday
morning.
Poor people, particularly the farmers
and rickshaw-pullers, have been suffering
badly as a cold wave is sweeping different
parts of the country for the last
few days. Children and elderly people
have been the worst victims.
Besides, the lowest temperature in
Dhaka was recorded 9.3 degree Celsius
in the morning.
16 cases against
Khaleda shifted to
Bakshibazar court
Not for any political reason: Anisul
DHAKA : The Law Ministry on
Monday shifted 16 cases filed against
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to the
makeshift court at Bakshibazar in the
city, reports UNB.
The ministry issued three gazette
notifications in this regard.
Talking to reporters at the secretariat
over the government decision, Law
Minster Anisul Huq said the cases
against Khaleda Zia were shifted to a
single court for security concern, not for
any political reason.
"Each time Khaleda appears before
the court for hearings, she brings
around 300-400 people with her.
Considering the security measures of
both sides, the ministry has taken the
decision to hold the trial proceedings of
16 cases in one single court," he said.
Replying to a query of reporters, the
Minister said, "The shifting of the cases
to the makeshift court not for speeding
up the trial proceedings, the trial will
continue in due process."
Before talking to reporters, the minister
held a meeting with the speaker of
London Tower Hamlet Sabina Akthar
when he sought the repatriation of the
convicted killers of intellectuals during
the 1971 Liberation War.
Anisul Haque hoped that the United
Kingdom will return convicted war
criminals Chowdhury Moinuddin and
Ashrafuzzaman.
Government to
lift ban on hilsa
export: Minister
DHAKA : Fisheries and Livestock
Minister Narayan Chandra Chanda on
Monday said that the government will
lift ban on hilsa export soon, reports
UNB.
The minister came up with the information
while responding to reporters at
the conference room of the ministry in
the morning after a press briefing.
"We want to export hilsa, as its production
has increased as well as
demand in the international market,"
said Narayan.
On August 1, 2012, the government
imposed ban on hilsa export.
The minister also said that there is no
need to import meat in the country now
as the government has a plan to be selfsufficient
in meat production.
"The price of meat is reducing at the
markets and we expect that it will continue,"
he said. Narayan said that the
government will take steps to reduce
the price. But it will not be possible to
reduce price like the past.
'However, we will bring the meat
price under control within 1-2 years,"
he said. The minister said the government
has already taken a project titled
'Beef Cattle Development' for increasing
meat production.
Besides, the Livestock Department
has also started work to produce
'Proven Bull' through "Breed
Upgradation Through Progeny Test",
said Narayan.

NEWS
TueSDAY,
After collapsing a concrete bridge, local people of Fulchhari upazila under Gaibandha district made
bamboo bridge which is now waggly.
Photo : Star Mail
Bus-truck
collision kills
2 in Gopalganj
GOPALGANJ : A woman
and a bus driver were killed
and at least 10 people were
injured in a head-on
collision between a bus and a
truck on Dhaka-Khulna
highway in Gonapara area of
Sadar upazila early Monday,
reports UNB.
The deceased were
identified as Mala Begum,
35, wife of Sobhan, a
resident of Morelganj
upazila in Bagerhat and the
bus driver Sheikh Shahon,
48, son of Sheikh Kabir, a
resident of Bogail village in
Bhanga upazila of Faridpur
district.
The accident took place
around 1:30 am when the
Khulna-bound 'Banaful
Paribahan' bus collided with
the electric wire-laden truck,
leaving the duo dead on the
spot and ten other bus
passengers injured, said
Shawkat Hossain, subinspector
of Sadar upazila.
Veteran journo
Hasanuzzaman Khan
passes away
DHAKA : Jatiya Press Club
permanent member and
former associate editor of
the New Nation
Hasanuzzaman Khan died
on Sunday night. He was 69,
reports UNB.
He breathed his last at his
residence at Mirpur
Journalist Residential Area
around 9 pm.
His namaz-e-janaza was
held at 11 am on Monday at
JPC premises, said a press
release.
Hasanuzzaman, who was
also news editor of the Daily
Independent, is survived by
wife, two daughters, a host of
relatives and well-wishers.
JPC
President
Mohammad Shafiqur
Rahman and General
Secretary Farida Yasmin
expressed their profound
shock at the death of
Hasanuzzaman.
GD-39/18 (5 x 3)
Govt, WB to ink $245m deal
for safety-net programmes
DHAKA : The government is set to sign a
US$245 million additional loan
agreement with the World Bank (WB) to
ensure equity, efficiency and
transparency in safety-net programmes,
reports BSS
Economic Relations Division (ERD)
Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and World
Bank country director Qimiao Fan will
sign the agreement on behalf of their
respective sides at the NEC-II Conference
Room at the ERD in the city's Sher-e-
Bangla Nagar area tomorrow.
With the additional financing, the
Washington-based lending agency's total
commitment to the project stands at $745
million while the project will end on June
30, 2019, said an official of World Bank.
The credit is from the International
Development Association (IDA), the
World Bank's concessional lending arm.
The credits are interest-free and
repayable in 38 years, including a six-year
grace period, and carry a service charge of
0.75 percent.
The government implements a number
of safety-net programmes to support poor
and vulnerable people in the country.
According to the World Bank, the
financing to the ongoing safety-net
systems will benefit nine million poorest
households. It will also help improve
performance of some of the country's
largest safety-net programmes, which are
implemented by the Department of
DHAKA : The High Court
on Monday fined a man Tk
1 lakh over his son's
marriage with a Rohingya
girl, who fled to
Bangladesh from
Myanmar, defying a
government ban, reports
UNB.
A two-member HC
bench comprising Justice
Moinul Islam Chawdhury
and Justice JBM Hasan
passed the order
dismissing a writ petition
filed by Babul Hossain
seeking its order not to
arrest his son Shoyeb
Hossain Jewel and his
Rohingya wife.
Jewel, 25, son of Babul
Hossain of Charigram
village in Singair upazila
of Manikganj, fell in love
with Rafiza, 18, who took
shelter in Kutupalong
camp in Ukhia upazila of
Cox's Bazar fleeing
persecution in Myanmar's
Rakhine State.
Disaster Management.
These safety-nets include public
workfare and humanitarian assistance
programmes.
During the 2016-17 financial year,
Bangladesh spent around $3.5 billion on
social protection, which was about 1.4
percent of its Gross Domestic Product
(GDP.
By effectively identifying poor
households and administering the safetynet
programmes, the government will
continue to reduce poverty and ensure
effective use of public resources.
To help streamline safety-net
programme administration, the project is
helping build common platforms for
improved beneficiary targeting,
information management, and digital
payment.
The financing will support the
Department of Disaster Management to
roll out a management information
system to administer beneficiary records
and programme processes, as well as
expand digital payment to beneficiaries
with greater efficiency and transparency.
It will also support the Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics (BBS) to complete the
country's first universal poverty registry -
the National Household Database - which
will be integrated with external
information systems, allowing various
ministries and agencies to use its data for
more equitable beneficiary selection.
HC fines Manikganj man
over son's marriage with
Rohingya girl
On September 14 last,
they married each other in
front of the imam of a
camp mosque although
there is a government ban
on marrying Rohingya
women. He also took his
wife to his house in
Manikganj.
Later, police started
looking for the couple to
arrest them. Since then,
they have been on the run.
Babul filed the writ
petition with the HC
seeking its order not to
arrest and harass the
couple.
In the writ, he also
sought a rule asking the
government to explain as
to why the Law Ministry
notification published on
October 25 banning
marriage with Rohingyas
should not be declared
contradictory to sections
27, 28 and 32 of the
Constitution as well as the
international convention.
Barrister ABM Hamidul
Misbah stood for Babul
while Deputy Attorney
General Motahar Hossain
Raju represented the
state.
Mentioning that
foreigners cannot move
outside a specific area as
per the Foreigners Act and
there is a government ban
on the marriage among
Bangladeshi nationals and
Rohingyas, Raju said the
petitioner committed two
crimes.
The High Court fined
Babul for bringing the
Rohingya girl out of the
camp and for filing the
writ to register the
couple's marriage, he said.
Ferry services on
Daulatdia-Paturia
route resume
after 2-hr
MANIKGANJ : Ferry
services on Paturia-
Daulatdia route in the
Padma River resumed on
Monday morning after two
and a half hours of
disruption caused by dense
fog, reports UNB.
Mohiuddin Russell,
manager of Bangladesh
Inland Water Transport
Corporation (BIWTC) at
Aricha ghat, said they kept
suspended ferry services
on Paturia-Daulatdia route
from 5:30 am to 8 am due
to blurred visibility caused
by dense fog.
Three ferries remained
motionless in the middle of
the river while 13 more
remained anchored at
Paturia and Daulatdia
ghats. About 300 hundred
vehicles, including buses,
trucks and cars, remained
stranded at both ghats.
Passengers suffered most
as number of vehicles had
to be kept waiting on both
sides of the river for
crossing amid cold
weather.
Later, ferry services
resumed around 8 am as
fog disappeared, said the
BIWTC official.
Three ferries remained
motionless in the middle of
the river while 13 more
remained anchored at
Paturia and Daulatdia
ghats. About 300 hundred
vehicles, including buses,
trucks and cars, remained
stranded at both ghats.
Passengers suffered most
as number of vehicles had
to be kept waiting on both
sides of the river for
crossing amid cold
weather.
GD-41/18 (7 x 4)
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY2
JAnuARY 9, 2018
Traffic, car parking
management over
Bishwa Ijtema
DHAKA : Police is set to take special
measures ahead of two phases of Bishwa
Ijtema on the bank of river Turag at
Tongi scheduled to be held from January
12-14 and January 19-21 to ease the
traffic snarl.
"The following roads-Chandana
intersection to Tongi Bridge on the
Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, Majukhan
Bridge to Station Road Over-Bridge on
the Kaliganj-Tongi Highway and
Kamarpara Bridge to Monnoo Textile
Mill Gate at Tongi-will need to be barred
for vehicles' plying to make the way
comfortable for Ijtema goers." said an
official release here.
In this regard, vehicles will not be
allowed to ply on the entrances of Niltali
Rail Crossing, Kamarpara Bridge, Bhogra
Bypass and the measures will come into
effect at 10 pm on January 13 and 10 pm
on January 20, the release said.
No boats can move and anchor from
Kamarpara Bridge to Tongi Bridge in the
Turag River from January 9 to 21 for easy
moving of devotees.
The boats can use the eastern site of the
Tongi Bridge and northern site of the
Kamarpara Bridge for anchoring during
the period.
Police also fixed some places for
parking of vehicles. Tongi Kaderia Textile
Mill Compound, Meghna Textile Mill,
Shafiuddin Sarker Academy, TIC field,
Badre Alam College, Chandana High
School field and truck stand of Joydebpur
intersection have been fixed for parking
the vehicles coming through Chandana
intersection while open place adjacent to
the K-2 (Navy) cigarette factory at Tongi
has been fixed for parking vehicles
coming through Narsingdi-Kaliganj road.
Dhaka bound vehicles coming from
different districts have been instructed to
use the Joydebpur intersection,
Konabari, Chandra Square, Baipail,
Nabinagar and Amin Bazar roads instead
of Joydebpur intersection and Tongi for
entering the capital city from 6 pm on
January 11.
Besides, No rickshaw and van except
motor cars would be allowed to ply on the
roads from Bastohara to Highway via
Tongi Bridge, Station Road Over Bridge
to Tongi Rail Gate and Monno Textile
Mill to Kamarpara Bridge from January
11 to 13 and 18 to 20 to avert traffic jam.
In this regard, vehicles will not be
allowed to ply on the entrances of Niltali
Rail Crossing, Kamarpara Bridge, Bhogra
Bypass and the measures will come into
effect at 10 pm on January 13 and 10 pm
on January 20, the release said.
No boats can move and anchor from
Kamarpara Bridge to Tongi Bridge in the
Turag River from January 9 to 21 for easy
moving of devotees.
The boats can use the eastern site of the
Tongi Bridge and northern site of the
Kamarpara Bridge for anchoring during
the period.
Police also fixed some places for
parking of vehicles. Tongi Kaderia Textile
Mill Compound, Meghna Textile Mill,
Shafiuddin Sarker Academy, TIC field,
Badre Alam College, Chandana High
School field and truck stand of Joydebpur
intersection have been fixed for parking
the vehicles coming through Chandana
intersection while open place adjacent to
the K-2 (Navy) cigarette factory at Tongi
has been fixed for parking vehicles
coming through Narsingdi-Kaliganj road.
Dhaka bound vehicles coming from
different districts have been instructed to
use the Joydebpur intersection,
Konabari, Chandra Square, Baipail,
Nabinagar and Amin Bazar roads instead
of Joydebpur intersection and Tongi for
entering the capital city from 6 pm on
January 11.
Besides, No rickshaw and van except
motor cars would be allowed to ply on the
roads from Bastohara to Highway via
Tongi Bridge, Station Road Over Bridge
to Tongi Rail Gate and Monno Textile
Mill to Kamarpara Bridge from January
11 to 13 and 18 to 20 to avert traffic jam.
The construction work of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going on at Bijoynagar of Brahmanbaria
district.
Photo : Star Mail

THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY
3
TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018
Garment Sramik Trade Union Kendro formed a human chain demanding increase of workers wage.
Photo: TBT
Mohammad Imtiaj
appointed as PR
Director of Southeast
University
Mohammad Imtiaj is the
new director of
Branding,
Communication &
Public Relations
Department of
Southeast University
from 7th January 2018.
Earlier he was working
as Director of the Public
Relations Office of
Eastern University. He
also worked as a news
presenter of a reputed
private TV channel and
Vice-President of Private
University Public
Relations Officers
Association.
He was a founding
Editor of educational
portal 'education24.net'.
He was born in the
Chandpur district. He
has completed his BA
(Hons) & MA from
Jagannath University.
He has also done MA in
PR & Journalism from
Rabindra Bharati
University, India.
He is a committed
social worker, writer,
voice artist and
composer. He was
awarded Mother
Teresha Gold Medal
2012, Nawab
Sirajuddowla Gold
Medal, Mohatta Gandhi
Peace Award 2013, Atish
Dipankar Gold Medal,
Human Right Award
2011, Poet Kazi Nazrul
Islam Award 2012, Poet
Shamsur Rahman
Award, Manna De Sriti
Sarok, Nelson Mandela
Award 2014 & others.
AL dispatches team to
North to distribute
warm clothes
DHAKA : An Awami League delegation,
led by its general secretary and Road
Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul
Quader, on Monday went to three
northern districts to distribute blankets
and relief items among cold-stricken
people there, reports UNB.
The three northern districts are
Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and Nilphamari,
where a severe cold wave is now sweeping
over, said a press release.
On Monday, the country recorded its
lowest ever temperature in its history at
2.6 degrees Celsius in Tetulia, Panchagarh
under the influence of a severe cold wave.
Other delegation members are AL joint
BNP's weeklong progs
to mark Zia's 82nd
birth anniv
DHAKA : BNP and its associate bodies
have chalked a weeklong programmes to
observe the 82nd birth anniversary of its
founder Ziaur Rahman in a befitting
manner, reports UNB.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul
Kabir Rizvi announced the programmes at
a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan
central office on Monday, after a joint
meeting of the party and its associate
bodies.
The programmes include placing wreaths
at Zia's grave, holding discussions, rallies,
and essay competition, distribution of
warm clothes and arranging free medical
camp.
Born on January 19, 1936 at Bagbari in
Bogra, Ziaur Rahman founded the party in
1978 and become the country's 7th
president.
As part of the programmes to mark the
birth anniversary, Rizvi said their party
will arrange a discussion at the Institution
of Engineers, Bangladesh in the city on
January 18.
Besides, party flag will be hoisted atop all
BNP offices across the country the
following day.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia along with
party leaders and activists will place
wreaths at Zia's grave around 10:00am the
same day.
Doctors' Association of Bangladesh
(Dab) will arrange a daylong free medical
general secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak
MP, organising secretary BM Mozammel
Haque MP, and relief & social welfare
affairs secretary Sujit Roy Nandi.
The Monday's meeting of Awami
League's presidium body was deferred to
Thursday next for the distribution of
warm clothes in the three northern
districts.
The meeting will be held at 10:30am on
Thursday at Awami League President and
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's political
office at Dhanmondi in the city.
AL general secretary Obaidul Quader
requested all concerned to attend the
meeting on time.
camp at BNP's Nayapaltan central office in
observance of the day.
BNP's associate bodies will also hold
discussions and some other programmes
on the occasion.
The party's different city, district, upazila
and thana units will also organise various
programmes, including milad, discussions
and essay competitions on the occasion.
The programmes include placing wreaths
at Zia's grave, holding discussions, rallies,
and essay competition, distribution of
warm clothes and arranging free medical
camp.
Born on January 19, 1936 at Bagbari in
Bogra, Ziaur Rahman founded the party in
1978 and become the country's 7th
president.
As part of the programmes to mark the
birth anniversary, Rizvi said their party
will arrange a discussion at the Institution
of Engineers, Bangladesh in the city on
January 18.
Besides, party flag will be hoisted atop all
BNP offices across the country the
following day.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia along with
party leaders and activists will place
wreaths at Zia's grave around 10:00am the
same day.
Doctors' Association of Bangladesh
(Dab) will arrange a daylong free medical
camp at BNP's Nayapaltan central office in
observance of the day.
A human chain was formed at National Press Club yesterday by the 'Society to protect Education,
Labor, Forest and Environment' demanding arrest of Nurul Abser Ansari.
Photo: TBT
Work to avoid
unfair practices in
exams: Nahid
DHAKA : Education
Minister Nurul Islam Nahid
yesterday urged all the
officials concerned,
including teachers, to
sincerely perform their
duties aiming to check any
unfair practices in the
upcoming Secondary School
Certificate (SSC) and
equivalent examinations,
reports BSS
He came up with the call
while addressing a meeting
of National Monitoring
Committee on the upcoming
'Secondary School Certificate
(SSC) and equivalent
examinations' held at the
Education Ministry.
Nahid said all necessary
preparations have been
taken to hold the SSC and
equivalent examinations
peacefully, a handout said.
"We've strengthened
monitoring and security
measures to check any unfair
practices, including question
paper leakage, during the
upcoming SSC exams," the
Education Minister said.
Secretary of Secondary and
Higher Secondary Division
Md Sohrab Hossain,
Secretary of Technical and
Madrasha Division Md
Alamgir and Director
General of Directorate of
Secondary and Higher
Secondary Education Prof
Md Mahabubur Rahman
were, among others, present
at the meeting.
He came up with the call
while addressing a meeting
of National Monitoring
Committee on the upcoming
'Secondary School Certificate
(SSC) and equivalent
examinations' held at the
Education Ministry.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddho Christian Oiyko Parishad organized a press conference yesterday. Photo: TBT
Indonesian, Swiss
Presidents to visit
Dhaka end-Jan,
early Feb
DHAKA : Presidents of
Indonesia and Switzerland
are scheduled to visit Dhaka
in last week of this month
and first week of February to
discuss bilateral, regional
and global issues including
Rohingyas' one, reports
UNB.
Swiss President Alain
Berset will be visiting
Bangladesh from February
4-7 while Indonesian
President Joko Widodo
from January 27-28, an
official at the Foreign
Ministry said.
The Presidents of the two
countries are expected to
visit Rohingya camps during
their visit.
Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina visited Indonesia in
2015 and 2017 and invited
Indonesian President to visit
Bangladesh.
In September last,
Indonesian Foreign
Minister Retno Marsudi
visited Dhaka and discussed
the Rohingya issues.
Officials in Dhaka and two
countries are in discussion
to finalize things for the two
visits.
Govt formulates Bay
of Bengal fisheries
management plan
DHAKA : Fisheries and Livestock Minister
Narayan Chandra Chanda yesterday said
the government has formulated a plan of
action for sustainable management of
fisheries resources in the Bay of Bengal.
"With the participation of the
stakeholder a short, medium and long term
plan of action has been formulated for
sustainable management of the fisheries
resources at the Bay of Bengal," the
minister told a press conference in his
ministry's conference room here, reports
BSS.
He said a new horizon of capturing deep
and light water fishes has been opened by
identifying new fisheries areas with
1,18,813 square kilometers of water
boundary at the Bay of Bengal after the
historic triumph by the government.
The fisheries research and survey ship -
RV Mean Sandhani -has already identified
176 fish species, 13 species of shrimp and
14 other species of crustaceans and
Mollusks, a large phylum of invertebrate
animals in the sea, he said, adding that the
survey is being continued since December
24 of 2016.
Bangladesh has already been included as
a 'pilot country' in the blue growth of
economy, said he. Terming the fish
production as significant in the country
due to initiatives undertaken by the
government, Chandra said, "The hilsha
production was around 3.95 lakh metric
tons in 2015-16 fiscal year and it crossed 5
lakh metric tons in 2016-17." The hilsha
production was only 2.98 lakh metric ton
in 2008-09, he added.
Under the social safety net programme,
he said the present government had
provided a total of 38,187.68 metric tons of
rice for 2,38,673 fishermen and each
family of fishermen got 40 kg rice every
month for four months in 85 upazilas of 17
Jatka prone districts during 2016-17 fiscal
year.
The food grain distribution under the
Tarana for
enhancing
standard
of BTV
DHAKA : Newly appointed State Minister
for Information Tarana Halim yesterday
called upon all officials, artistes and
employees to work together to enhance the
standard of the state-run Bangladesh
Television (BTV).
She came up with the remarks at a
meeting with high officials of BTV at her
office at the Secretariat here, said a press
release.
The state minister said the incumbent
government has been playing outstanding
role for the welfare of the country and its
people.
Alongside broadcasting entertainment
programmes, Tarana urged the BTV to
highlight the development activities of the
government to make people aware about it.
She laid emphasis on digitization of BTV
for improving its service quality.
Information Secretary Md Nasir Uddin
Ahmed, Bangladesh Television Director
General SM Harun-or-Rashid, Deputy
Director General (News) Mohammed Nasir
Uddin, Deputy Director General
(Programme) Sarat Kumar Sarker, Chief
Engineer Md Soleman Haque, General
Manager Masudul Haque and Chief News
Editor Dr Syeda Tasmina Ahmed, among
others, were present on the occasion.
programme was only 6,906 metric tons in
seven years to 2008-09 fiscal year when
the present government took office, he
said.
On the other hand, he said, the present
government distributed a total of
2,34756.96 metric tons of food aid among
the fishermen in last nine years between
2008-09 and 2016-17 fiscal year.
He said the hilsha fish had also achieved
the geographical commodity registration
certificate with an acknowledgement of
Bangladeshi local fish due to the initiative
of the government.
About increased production of fishes, the
minister said the present government has
established 534 fish sanctuaries in
different rivers and opened water bodies in
the last nine years since 2008-09 as an
strategy to restore and increase production
of various extinct species of fishes.
As a result, different species of extinct
and rare fish breed including 'Ekthot',
'Teriphuti', 'Meni', 'Rani', 'Gora', 'Gutum',
'Chital', 'Pholi', 'Bamosh', 'Kalibaos',
'Iyeer', 'Tengra', 'Sarphuthi', 'Modhu',
'Pabda', 'Ritha', 'Kazli', "Chaka', 'Gazar' and
Baim already have been recovered and are
now available in the fish market across the
country.
The availability of Koi, Shingi, Magur
and Pabda is very significant and it has
been possible due to installation of the fish
sanctuaries in many parts of the country.
About the development of the fishermen,
the minister informed that the present
government has taken various initiative for
the development of the fishermen, adding
that "the government has prepared
database of some 16,20,000 fishermen till
June 2017 and gave identity cards to
14,20,000 fishermen."
In addition to this, the government has
distributed a total of Taka 289.70 lakh as
grant among 587 fishermen's families for
causalities due to natural disasters
between 2012-13 and 2016-17, he added.
Prof Harun-Ur-
Rashid nominated for
ISN Pioneer Award
DHAKA : Professor Dr Harun-Ur-Rashid,
an eminent nephrologist of the country
and the founder of Bangladesh Kidney
Foundation, has been nominated for
International Society of Nephrology (ISN)
Pioneer Award-2017 from the South Asian
region, reports BSS.
The ISN, the leading organisation of
nephrologists of 152 countries, gives the
award every year for playing a pioneering
role in preventing kidney diseases and
treatment in the developing countries.
Former president of ISN John Feehally
will hand over the award to Dr Harun-Ur-
Rashid at a function at the Bangladesh
Kidney Foundation at Mirpur in the
capital on January 13, a press release said.
Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman
Noor, Director General of Health Services
Professor Dr Abul Kalam Azad and Social
Welfare Affairs Secretary Md Zillar
Rahman will also be present at the
function.
Dr Harun, the president of Society of
Organ Transplantation (SOT) Bangladesh,
ex-chairman of the Nephrology
Department of Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and
former president of Bangladesh Renal
Association, founded the international
standard Bangladesh Kidney Foundation
Hospital and Research Institute at Mirpur
in the capital.

EDITORIAL TueSdaY,
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
JanuarY 9, 2018
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Phobia in Indo-Bangladesh
relations
More than three and half decades after the
independence of Bangladesh, some quarters in this
country are still convinced that our vast neighbour
to the east, west and north, is not well disposed
towards us. They see India as a typical aggressor
nation bent on destroying the sovereignty or
independence of Bangladesh.
It would not matter if they were restricted in their
belief to themselves. But the problem is that such
beliefs can become the dominant ideology of major
political parties in this country. They can draw
inspiration from it or base their politics on it. In that
case, such phobias can indeed become detrimental
to positive interactions in different fields between
the two neighbouring countries for the benefit of
both.
For example, successive governments in
Bangladesh except for the government that ruled
for a short period in the immediate postindependence
period, took the posture of standing
up to India on various issues. The governments and
the political parties they represented behaved as if
India was like a bully or like a Goliath and tiny
Bangladesh heroically defended itself like a David
against the evil Indian designs. Thus, a negative
perception could develop in people's mind in
Bangladesh about India's intentions in relation to
this country. Some diehard elements even went so
far as to spread apprehensions that India would
some day gobble up Bangladesh like Sikkim.
If India had expansionist designs against
Bangladesh, then the best time for it was after the
independence of Bangladesh when its forces had
invaded this country. Russian forces came into East
European countries in the course of the Second
World War but did not leave. The Russian forces
remained stationed there for nearly four decades
and ensured the total subservience of these
countries to Moscow's desires and needs. For all
practical purposes, the East European countries
only had a namesake independence and they were
vassal entities of Moscow- politically, economically
and strategically.
If India so desired, it could try for such a
relationship with Bangladesh. Its armed forces
would not be simply pulled out in 1972 .That these
forces were pulled out soon after the independence
ofBangladesh was the best proof that India truly
wanted Bangladesh to develop as a sovereign and
independent entity.
Notwithstanding propaganda that India exploits
Bangladesh commercially and economically, the
realities are far different. Bangladesh, no doubt, is
an important destination for Indian exports. But
Indian businesses have won market shares in
Bangladesh by their own right as efficient producers
and suppliers of goods. They are not necessarily
bullying Bangladesh into buying their products. It is
not that only India gains from such exports for
Bangladesh also gains. The geographical nearness
means that the freight costs or per unit costs of the
delivery of an Indian product is cheaper for
Bangladesh than from any other import source and
also the quality of Indian products are found to be
satisfactory. Bangladesh's export oriented
readymade garments (RMG) sector obtains a bulk
of its raw materials or fabrics from India at costs
cheaper than from China and other suppliers and
the goods also arrive faster helping quicker
production which in turn shortens the lead time for
the local RMG exporters.
Bangladesh has for many years met a substantial
part of its requirements of food grains from India.
Cheap and reliable import of food grains fromIndia
has helped food security in Bangladesh. Even this
year when food grain production slumped round
the world and India was also a part of this decline in
food grain production, India has gone on to
progressively keep its pledge to supply 0.5 million
tons of rice to Bangladesh at a price which is notably
lower than the prevailing international prices.
Bangladesh has to import a large and wide range
of products and importing these from India prove to
be comparatively cheaper and reach this country
faster in contrast to any other regional source. Even
the sacrificial cows for the religious Eid-ul-Azha
festival in Bangladesh come in great number from
India. Without this trade, many persons in
Bangladeshis would have to go without observing
the religious rite of animal sacrifice.
If Bangladesh has not been exporting as much to
India, the same can be traced to the fact that Indian
producers of the goods that Bangladesh would likely
export to India, they are more efficient producers in
terms of quality and offer better competitive prices
than the Bangladeshi ones. In many cases,
Bangladeshi exporters cannot meet the quality
certification requirements of that country. But in the
media in Bangladesh, India is often blamed for
keeping Bangladeshi products out of its market by
setting non-tariff barriers.
THE year has not started well for
India. Dangerous new flashpoints
have emerged in a country
suppurating along old fault lines and
smarting from the relentless blows to its
enterprise of building a modern republic
after the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) took power in 2014
with Narendra Modi at the helm. India
emerges as a country at odds with itself -
violent and backward-looking while
seeking economic superpower status.
History hangs like a toxic cloud over the
nation that was once a beacon of
modernity for newly independent states.
Old memories of caste exploitation
aggravated by new assertions of Hindu
nationalism by the oppressors have
resulted in a near civil war-like situation
in Maharashtra which is among the more
developed and prosperous Indian states.
In Assam, millions of Muslims woke up to
2018 with a sense of panic as they found
themselves excluded from a newly
formed National Register of Citizens.
Around 13m people, including members
of the legislative assembly and of
parliament, do not figure in the
citizenship list. Hopefully, they will not be
disenfranchised since the state, run by
BJP, says it's only a draft. Maybe. But it is
reflective of the way the party keeps
minorities in a perpetual sense of anxiety.
Saffronisation, the term for pushing the
Hinduisation agenda of the BJP and the
hydra-headed organisations of its mother
ship, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS), can take ludicrous turns as it
attempts to rile and provoke. In Uttar
Pradesh, Muslims got a different kind of
New Year gift: the walls of the Haj
Committee Office in Lucknow were
Decade after decade, the Islamic
Republic of Iran has experienced
regular explosions of popular
anger: Mass student protests in 1999,
the Green Movement in 2009 - and now
2018. How do these latest protests differ
from what came before?
Whereas previous protest movements
erupted out of relatively privileged
circles in Tehran, these latest
demonstrations saw a grassroots
uprising from poverty-stricken citizens
in the regime's traditional heartlands.
You can't get more socially conservative
than Mashhad, the epicenter of these
events and the birthplace of Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei.
In 2009, an estimated three million
demonstrators in Tehran failed to
dislodge the Ayatollahs. However, two
years later, events in Tunisia, Egypt,
Libya and elsewhere proved what was
possible when protesters were
sufficiently numerous and tenacious.
Desperate and disenfranchised
dissidents with nothing to lose may
prove less willing to admit defeat than
the students and middle-classes of
Tehran, who often backed down when
threatened with redundancy or loss of
university places.
Centralized protests in Tehran in
2009 were eventually contained and
neutralized. The contagion of the 2018
America's apparent policy failures
and declining global influence
could trigger more intense
criticism against China, blaming it for
everything under he sun.
The first sign of this is US President
Donald Trump accusing China of
breaching United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) sanctions against
North Korea with the flimsiest of
evidence. Second, the US
neoconservative crowd appears to
have ratcheted up its anti-China
rhetoric. Third, tax cuts may not
produce the results that Trump is
expecting.
China-whipping seems a popular
sport in the US, especially during
election cycles, and it happens that
2018 will see midterm congressional
elections.
President Trump wasted no time -
not bothering to check whether the
allegation was true or not - in accusing
China of breaching UNSC sanctions
against North Korea. The "evidence"
was a Hong Kong-registered ship
chartered by a Taiwanese company
unloading its cargo of refined
petroleum products from a South
Korean port on to a North Korean
tanker. The cargo, supposedly
destined for Taiwan, anchored in
international waters alongside a North
Korean tanker to offload it.
How this "proved" that China had
contravened UN sanctions was never
explained, but that did not stop Trump
and some of the "objective and
independent" US media from
spreading the rumor as fact.
The Washington Examiner
sensationalized the report,
proclaiming that there was no
Looking back in anger, forever
painted saffron. One can, perhaps, laugh
off the saffron wall - and the saffron buses
of UP. But the convulsions in different
regions signal a deeper turmoil which
could leave the country even more
divided than it is. The violence in
Maharashtra, involving a melange of
different communities and castes, is so
unwarranted that it puts an end to any
lingering hope that Modi will fulfil his
grand electoral promise of bringing 'vikas'
or development. Or end corruption.
Violent conflicts fanned by the BJP's
regressive agenda put development on
the back-burner.
Does an economy in decline matter, or
the widespread unemployment that is
stoking a million anxieties? Or the
desperate straits in which farmers find
themselves? Not at all. The priority for the
ruling party is to push its communal
agenda, and to uphold the Brahminised
view of culture and history that it
espouses. Take Maharashtra, which is
aboil with Dalit anger after upper caste
Hindus flying the saffron flag attacked
question China had violated the
sanctions. Trump threatened to "take
off [his] nice-guy glove" and follow
through on his election-campaign
rhetoric of imposing "tough" trade
policies against China.
However, imposing heavy trade
barriers on Chinese "imports" to the
US would be more harmful to the
United States' economy than to
China's. Most of these "imports" may
be "made in China," but "by America."
This amounts to taxing America's own
goods, which could culminate in
inflation and loss of business for US
retailers and manufacturers requiring
parts from China.
Higher prices would reduce
consumption further because of a
personal-debt-to-income ratio of more
than 100%. Costlier parts would erode
US manufacturers' competitiveness.
What's more, China could retaliate
as it did in 2012 against then-president
Barack Obama's decision to impose
duties on Chinese-made tires to win
votes in Ohio. That policy cost the US
LaTHa JISHnu
them at a rally which has been held from
time immemorial.
Every January 1, Dalits - they are
beyond the pale of the Hindu caste
structure - gather at Bhima Koregaon to
commemorate their victory over the
Peshwa rulers two centuries ago. In 1818,
a few hundred Mahars in a regiment of
the East India Company had defeated the
Peshwas, extremely orthodox Brahmins
given to ill treating the lower castes,
specially the Mahars. For Dalits, the
victory is important because it is a
treasured memory of their triumph
Saffronisation, the term for pushing the Hinduisation agenda of
the BJP and the hydra-headed organisations of its mother ship,
the rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (rSS), can take ludicrous
turns as it attempts to rile and provoke. In uttar Pradesh,
muslims got a different kind of new Year gift: the walls of the Haj
Committee Office in Lucknow were painted saffron. One can,
perhaps, laugh off the saffron wall - and the saffron buses of uP.
But the convulsions in different regions signal a deeper turmoil
which could leave the country even more divided than it is.
Ken mOaK
against dehumanising caste oppression.
Other communities have not interfered
with their celebration.
This time, however, the rallies were
attacked by upper caste Hindus on a
variety of pretexts. One alleged cause of
anger was that the Mahar victory had
only helped the British consolidate
power. That should hardly upset the RSS
and its followers who have no pedigree in
the independence struggle, having
supported the British colonial power
economy more than US$2.1 billion, a
loss of $1 billion in chicken-parts
exports and a $1.1 billion increase in
tire prices.
China would also be hit, closing
some factories and sending workers to
the unemployment line in the short
term. But the laid-off workers would
return to their villages as they did
during the 2008 financial crisis.
Foreign investors who own most of the
factories (such as Taiwan-owned
Foxconn) to which US firms
outsourced production would bear the
blunt of America's "tough" trade policy
on China. However, in the medium to
longer term, China would recover,
given its increasingly affluent 1.3-
billion population, Belt and Road
Initiative and growing economic
relations with nations in Africa, Latin
America and other countries not yet
involved in the BRI.
As for North Korea's nuclear
program, blaming China for not
"doing enough" on the issue might
shift the blame from Washington to
tacitly and openly. Another spark for the
violence was the abstruse question of who
defied Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to
perform the last rites of a Maratha ruler of
the time. Was it a lowly Dalit or a Maratha
courtier? The memorial to the Dalit was
astutely destroyed a couple of days before
the rally, by whom no one knows.
This is all of piece with the new India
where historical animosities are reheated
for long-term political gain or immediate
electoral benefit. It matters little that Rani
Padmini of Chittor never existed,
according to historians. But for the ruling
establishment a popular film on the
mythical figure comes in handy to whip
up fresh hatred against Muslim rulers of
the past. It exemplifies in no small
measure the establishment's misplaced
priorities. At the time the official
machinery was convening meetings with
obscure saffron organisations who had
been offended by the film, important bills
such as the one criminalising triple talaq
were being rushed through parliament
without any consultations. And all the
while, India's GDP was slipping. The
official figures, just released, put growth
at 6.5 per cent for 2017-18, a four-year low
as a result of muddled economic policies.
The loss in economic growth is at the
end of the day - or the financial year -
something Indians can and have to live
with even if it impacts livelihoods and the
well-being of the country's poorest. The
more grievous loss is the sense of self that
Indians once had. What do we stand for?
Is the nation to be defined by events in a
distant past that have no current
relevance?
Source: Dawn
Crackdown won’t prevent change from coming to Iran
unrest to dozens of towns in provinces
across Iran creates an entirely new
security challenge: Discontent crushed
in 10 locations can burst out in 50 other
towns. The repeated motif of boots
thrown at portraits of Khamenei or
images of Qasem Soleimani trampled
underfoot illustrates how protesters
were violating taboos to vent their fury
against the heart of the beast.
As acknowledged even by Tehran's
state media, at the forefront of
protesters' minds are economic
frustrations: Sky-high unemployment
(with 40 percent of young people
reportedly out of work); a disintegrating
economy; dire public sector wages; and
a hollowed out social welfare system.
BarIa aLamuddIn
However, the average unemployed
laborer and market stall holder
comprehends that these grievances are
the product of a perverse governing
system, which squanders the nation's oil
wealth on overseas paramilitary
adventures, rendering Iran the very
definition of a pariah state paralyzed by
international sanctions. While average
household incomes are insufficient to
However, the average unemployed laborer and market stall holder
comprehends that these grievances are the product of a perverse
governing system, which squanders the nation's oil wealth on
overseas paramilitary adventures, rendering Iran the very definition
of a pariah state paralyzed by international sanctions. While average
household incomes are insufficient to afford basic goods like eggs
and meat, wealth accumulates in the hands of the richest 5 percent
within the corrupt echelons of the regime.
afford basic goods like eggs and meat,
wealth accumulates in the hands of the
richest 5 percent within the corrupt
echelons of the regime. Massive state
contracts are awarded to regime cronies
and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC), which concentrates
wealth and patronage networks even
demonizing China will not deter its rise - or improve america’s
China would also be hit, closing some factories and
sending workers to the unemployment line in the
short term. But the laid-off workers would return to
their villages as they did during the 2008 financial
crisis. Foreign investors who own most of the
factories (such as Taiwan-owned Foxconn) to which
uS firms outsourced production would bear the blunt
of america's "tough" trade policy on China.
further.
A significant trigger for the unrest was
a leaked draft budget, which revealed
brutal cuts to subsidies and welfare
payments, combined with lavish
financial windfalls for bastions of the
regime. There have been massive
increases in budgetary spending to
opaque and corrupt religious and
conservative institutions, and a reported
20 percent rise in military spending to
an estimated $14 billion (total budget
$104 billion). It is calculated that more
than half of this goes directly to the
IRGC, which receives three times as
much the regular army.
This draft budget fails to account for
the IRGC's copious additional income
from its annexation of vast swathes of
the domestic economy, while
profiteering from its international
networks, such as the drugs trade
through Afghanistan, monopoly of
lucrative cross-border trade and
pilgrimage routes into Iraq, and
transcontinental weapons proliferation
networks.
Every fatality, every arbitrary detainee,
every torture victim should be given
maximum attention to make it
politically unaffordable for the regime to
kill its way out of this crisis.
Source: Arab News
Beijing but would not deter the hermit
kingdom from continuing with its
nuclear-weapons programs. Having
nuclear arms is its only insurance
policy against a US invasion.
Neocons ratcheting up 'China threat'
rhetoric US neoconservatives and the
Congress will demand tough policies
on China, 2018 being in the midterm
congressional election cycle. For
example, Congress appears to want to
pick a fight with China by passing the
National Defense Authorization Act
allowing US and Taiwanese naval
vessels to visit each other's ports.
However, China's response was swift
and clear: Any US naval vessel
anchored at a Taiwan port would
invoke its 2005 Anti-Secession Act,
allowing the government to use "nonpeaceful"
means to reunify the island
with the mainland.
The "China threat" is becoming a
self-fulfilling prophecy. According to
Global Firepower, an international
organization measuring a country's
military power, China has the world's
third-most-powerful military after the
US and Russia.
The country has more than 2,500
combat-ready jet fighters and
bombers, 300 warships and
submarines, and thousands of short-,
medium- and long-range ballistic
missiles, some of which can carry up to
10 nuclear warheads. No one really
knows how many nuclear warheads
China has or their destructive power,
with guesses ranging between 250 and
3,000. But precise numbers aside,
attacking China could lead to a "mutual
assured destruction" scenario.
Source: Asia times

DEVELOPMENT
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
TUEsDay, JanUary 9, 2018
5
scientific research to make sure we captured studies with designs that minimize bias.
Photo: Panos
Better science requires
good education policy
Connie st Louis
Evidence-based policy. It's one of
those phrases that has become
ubiquitous. But what exactly does it
mean? And perhaps more
importantly, where is that evidence
coming from, and can it be trusted as
a basis for formulating policy? The
NGO: The International Initiative
for Impact Evaluation (3ie) has been
wrestling with such questions in the
field of education, and its most
recent study 'The impact of
education program on learning and
school participation in low- and
middle-income countries' was
launched in September 2017 at the
What Works summit in London,
UK.
The researchers synthesized
evidence from 216 studies, reaching
16 million children across 52 lowand
middle-income countries. They
say there are no 'magic bullets' to
ensure high-quality education for all,
but there are lessons to be learned
for improving future education
program - about how cash gifts can
boost school attendance, for
example. Because the systematic
review process was a central element
of this study, much of the meeting
focused on its methodology.
Peering in from the outside, it
occurred to me that the total of 216
research projects seems a big
enough number to examine and to
perhaps be statistically significant.
But how did the researchers assess
this? And what about the wide
variation in the methodologies used
in many of the studies assessed?
Then there's the dark side of science,
including social science: the lack of
transparency in data and
methodology, for example, or a
culture of publication bias that
favors positive results over negative
ones, or the poor use of statistics in
the analysis of results. Oh and not
forgetting to mention the lack of
reproducibility of huge swathes of
research.
How did 3ie evaluation specialist
Birte Snilstveit, navigate the
problems in the systematic review
when, as she noted at the launch,
some of the primary data is flawed?
"We tried to do the best we could
with the data we have," she said. "We
applied study inclusion criteria
based on scientific research to make
sure we captured studies with
designs that minimize bias. So we
excluded the most problematic
studies.
This seems reasonable enough,
but doesn't go far enough. A more
promising if small step for making
educational research studies more
robust is 3ie's launch of a registry
covering both randomized
controlled trials and quasiexperimental
studies conducted in
low- and middle-income countries.
This was modeled on medicine's
All Trials project campaign, which
has met a great favorable response.
Its aim is to have all medical
research projects pre-registered
before any analysis takes place to
prevent them going 'missing in
action' if they produce negative
results. Snilstveit called for more
funding for high-quality studies on
the effects of education program.
"Such studies should target
substantive gaps: promising
interventions, innovations, areas
where effects are unknown,
geographical contexts where there is
a lack of evidence - for example, west
and north Africa, Middle East, large,
populous countries like Nigeria,
Bangladesh and Indonesia," she
said.
She added to the list studies that
incorporate equity, target the
hardest to reach children, report on
intervention costs and allow for costeffectiveness
analysis. Uptake of the
registry has been low, with only 91
studies registered so far. But at least
it's a step in the right direction.
Does higher education play
any role in development?
DaviD DiCkson
Anyone seeking to tackle the
problems facing the
developing world must
remember two simple facts of
life. First, none of these
problems from food
shortages and the spread of
disease, to achieving
sustainable economic growth
can be addressed without the
use of science and technology.
Second, harnessing science
for development depends on
the skills of a country's people.
And that in turn requires a
robust and effective higher
education system the only
mechanism that can produce
and sustain these skills. But in
the recent past, many
governments overlooked this
critical information. Few
developing countries, for
example, refer to either
science or higher education in
their Poverty Reduction
Strategy Plans the documents
that guide donors, and others,
on a country's investment
priorities.
Fortunately, for a variety of
reasons perhaps most
importantly the growing
awareness of the need for a
strong domestic science base
to benefit from the global
knowledge economy both
developing country
governments, and
development funding
organisations, are now
recognising the need to build
robust higher education
systems.
The next step is to consider
how this can be best achieved.
What is the appropriate
balance between teaching and
research? Should social and
economic needs drive
research priorities, or should
complementary basic
research also be a
commitment? And what are
the advantages - and pitfalls -
of seeking to compete with
higher education institutions
in the developed world?
This week we publish a set
of articles intended to put
higher education's role in
achieving development goals
under the spotlight. Topics
range from the role aid
agencies play in supporting
this process, to the
opportunities and hurdles
facing policymakers on the
ground.
A background article sets
out the debate's broad
context, summarising the
shifting attitudes to higher
education as a development
objective, the relevant
initiatives that have been
launched over the past
decades and the challenges
that these initiatives have
faced Makerere University in
Kampala, Uganda, is
highlighted as having
successfully used donor
support to become one of the
most productive universities
in East Africa.
Berit Olsson, former head
of the Swedish aid agency
instrumental in helping
Makerere succeed, makes a
powerful case for building the
capacity of higher education
institutions as the key to
making science and
technology contribute to a
country's development. Arlen
Hastings, from the US-based
Science Initiative Group,
points to the specific
challenges facing African
countries seeking to follow
this path. Foreign allies can
help, but ultimately it is up to
African countries themselves
to commit to making it
happen, she says.
Science advisor to the prime
minister of Jamaica, Arnoldo
Ventura, similarly argues for
universities to promote socioeconomic
growth, by building
links with industry. Such links
are essential for any country
wishing to benefit from the
fruits of knowledge-based
innovation, he says. But these
arguments raise questions
about the appropriate balance
between goal-oriented and
curiosity-driven research.
Phuong Nga Nguyen, from
Vietnam National University
in Hanoi, argues that gearing
research towards economic
and commercial priorities
should not be allowed to go
too far. The most successful
universities in the developed
world have built strength in
The successes and challenges of higher education
need to be examined. Photo: Collected
both areas, she says.
Lemuel V. Cacho, a political
scientist from De La Salle
University in the Philippines,
sees parallel dangers in
sticking too closely to research
priorities set by external
organizations including aid
agencies rather than by
researchers themselves. The
latter, he argues, need to
ensure that external funding
supports scientifically
challenging research.
A different danger is
highlighted by Ellen
Hazelkorn, Dean of the
Graduate Research School at
the Dublin Institute of
Technology in Ireland. A
growing number of influential
university rankings are
leading many higher
education institutes to focus
excessively on high scoring
activities in ranking
calculations, she says.
Emphasising the output of
international-level research,
she warns, can lead to the
downgrading of other
activities, such as teaching
and social outreach. These
may be no less important in
evaluating an institution's
impact, but are harder to
measure. We do not pretend
that this is a comprehensive
list of the issues facing either
higher education initiatives in
the developing world, or the
aid agencies that seek to
support them.
But hopefully these articles,
taken with the background
material we link to, will
provide a useful overview of
some of the key issues at
hand. There are welcoming
signs that higher education is
returning to the aid agenda.
Last year, for example, the US
government held two
international summit
meetings on higher education
that would have been
inconceivable ten years ago,
and there is talk of the World
Bank following suit with a
similar meeting later this
year.
Developing countries'
higher education policies
must be genuinely
appropriate to their needs
and resources. No-one wants
to repeat the process that led
to the neglect of higher
education across much of the
developing world. We hope
this spotlight will help ensure
that it does not happen.
Costa Rica has a GDP per
capita that is one-fifth that of
the US, but it has life
expectancy that outstrips that
of Americans.
Economics of Degrowth and Poverty
Jason HiCkEL
The economist Branko Milanovic
recently wrote a blog post titled "The
illusion of degrowth in a poor and
unequal world." He penned it, he says,
following a conversation he had with a
proponent of degrowth. As it turns out,
that proponent was me.
First, let me say that I have a lot of
respect for Milanovic's work on
inequality. I cite him all the time. But
unfortunately he doesn't have a strong
grasp of degrowth. Let's look at his
argument in detail. Milanovic rejects
degrowth because he believes it is
unfeasible. He notes, correctly, that if we
were to cap global GDP at its present
level then the only way to eradicate
poverty would be through
redistribution: reduce the income share
of the richest and shift it to the poorest.
He thinks this is a terrible idea. If we
bring all of the poorest up to $5,500 per
person per year (the global mean
income), then in order to stay within the
GDP cap everyone above this level
(almost all of whom live in the West) will
have to take an income cut, with the
richest taking the biggest hit. This would
also require "gradual and sustained
reduction of production" in rich nations,
with economic activity slashed to onethird
of its present size.
Milanovic calls this "the immiseration
of the West," and he dismisses it as "not
even vaguely likely to find any political
support anywhere." Forget about it, he
says; we need growth. Let's focus instead
on reducing our consumption of
emissions-intensive goods and services
by taxing them, and "think about how
new technologies can be harnessed to
make the world more environmentally
friendly."
This is exactly the argument that
Milanovic articulated during our email
exchange. I responded by pointing out
some of its problems and by gesturing in
the direction of relevant literature he
might find useful, but he never replied.
Apparently he had made up his mind,
and was ready to take a public stance. So
let me publicly lay out some thoughts in
response. Milanovic's argument is
leveled against a straw man. If he had
read the literature on degrowth, he would
know that it does not call for
immiseration.
Imagine cutting the GDP per capita of
Women, Peace and security in australia
an index has been developed to gauge women's inclusion in developed activities.
sUsan HUTCHinson
It ranks countries based on three
dimensions: women's inclusion, justice
and human security. Each of these
dimensions is of interest to development
practitioners. But all too often, the
broader community of humanitarian and
development practitioners fail to connect
to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS)
agenda. However, this is slowly changing.
When the Australian Government
launched its National Action Plan (NAP)
on Women, Peace and Security in 2012, a
broad range of civil society organisations
expressed frustration about how little the
bureaucracy had accounted for their
expertise in this space. The Australian
Council for International Development
(ACFID) bought together some key
stakeholders to ensure that mistake was
not easily forgotten. With the Australian
National Committee for UN Women,
Australian National University's Gender
Institute, and Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom, they
established an Annual Civil Society
Dialogue on Women, Peace and Security.
This year, the engagement has taken a
different form. The Australian Civil
Society Coalition on WPS ran localised
roundtables in each capital city and one at
the Triennial Conference of Pacific
Women, to discuss women's
understanding of peace, and their
understanding of security. The primary
aim was to engage a more diverse set of
women in WPS discussions. A recurring
theme of these discussions was domestic
implementation of WPS.
The WPS Index is a new tool to track
sustainable peace through inclusion,
justice and security for women. It also
provides a unique opportunity to assess
domestic implementation of the WPS
the US down to less than half its present
size, in real terms. This might sound
horrible on the face of it, but it would be
equivalent to US GDP per capita in the
1970s. Folks who lived through the 70s
remember them as heady days. And the
poverty rate was lower back then - and
happiness levels higher - than now. Real
wages were higher, too. The only
difference is that people consumed less
unnecessary stuff. It's not clear why
Milanovic considers this to be so
dreadful. There are lots of other examples
we might cite. The GDP per capita of
Europe is 40% lower than that of the US.
I live in Europe: it is hardly a dystopia. All
of these examples prove that we don't
need ecology-busting levels of income
and consumption to live good lives. The
literature is very clear on this: just check
out Tim Jackson's Prosperity Without
Growth, Schumacher's Small is
Beautiful, Firamonti's Well-Being
Economy, Raworth's Doughnut
Economics, or anything by Giorgos
Kallis.
Proponents of degrowth don't just
want to redistribute income within the
already-existing economy, as
Milanovic wrongly assumes. We want
to redistribute income in a way that
improves social goods, like universal
healthcare and education, which are
key to reducing poverty and
improving people's lives. Not only are
universal systems cheaper and more
efficient at achieving these outcomes
than private ones (healthcare in the
UK costs one-third that in the US), but
having them in place also improves
the "purchasing power" (if you will) of
incomes. Think about it: if Americans
didn't have to pay exorbitant prices for
healthcare and higher education, they
would need a lot less income to live
good lives.
In this way, decommoditizing key
social goods is a good way to take
pressure off the planet. We can even
extend this insight to housing. Housing
in London, where I live, is obscenely
expensive. Most people spend half of
their income just to keep a roof over their
heads. If the housing stock was even
partially decommoditized, Londoners
would be able to work much less than
they do now - producing less unnecessary
stuff in the process - and still have the
same quality of life that they presently
enjoy.
agenda, especially because one of its
indicators of security is intimate partner
violence. Other datasets exist on the
relationship between women's rights and
international peace and security, for
example WomanStats: the groundbreaking
database that includes both
quantitative and qualitative data and
allows users to interrogate the source of
the data and compile bi-variate and
multivariate scales of their own. The WPS
Index is much simpler to access and
communicate, but is also less transparent
in terms of the data sources for each of its
indicators. Furthermore, in its high
threshold for consistent data inputs it
loses much of the texture required for the
advancement of the WPS agenda in the
most needed contexts, such as fragile
states and countries in the Pacific. This is
an important lesson as Australia develops
its next NAP, especially because the
monitoring and evaluation framework of
the current NAP is broadly seen as it's
biggest failing.
However, in so doing, the WPS Index
magnifies the early failings of the SDGs to
integrate concerns of the WPS agenda.
The key barriers to implementing the
Millennium Development Goals (which
preceded the SDGs) were conflict and
instability, so advocacy efforts were
applied to ensure a goal on peace and
security was included in the sustainable
development framework. However, the
resulting Goal 16 is largely focused on
governance issues rather than peace and
conflict. Goal 16 is one of a handful of
goals in which all the targets are gender
neutral. These initial failings of the goal
were largely a consequence of the
decision not to have the new framework
overlap with the mandate of either the
Security Council or the Peacebuilding
Commission. But the relationship
Of course, all of this requires that we
shift to a different kind of economy
altogether - one that supports and
promotes the commons, and focuses on
improving human well-being rather than
only on improving monetary incomes.
This is where Milanovic makes a key
mistake. The point of degrowth is to
reduce the material throughput of the
economy not by shrinking the existing
one (which would surely be painful), but
by shifting to a better one: one more in
line with our planet's ecology.
To be honest, I'm surprised that
Milanovic didn't jump on a more obvious
issue, namely, that if our economy
stopped growing it would more or less
immediately bump up against financial
crisis. Why? Because our economy is
shot through with debt, and debt comes
with interest; and because interest is a
compound function, all of us have to run
around producing more and more each
year, shoveling money into the pockets of
the rich, just to pay it down. If we halt the
rat race, the whole house of cards will
collapse. And it doesn't help that, given
fractional reserve banking, our money
system itself is based on debt. Milanovic
rejects degrowth and claims that we
should stick with the existing plan for
eradicating poverty: more growth. But
he hasn't thought through the
implications of this.
We need to remember that the existing
distribution of global growth is skewed
heavily toward the rich. David
Woodward points out that even during
the most equitable period of the past few
decades, only 5% of new income from
annual global growth went to the poorest
60% of humanity. At this rate of trickledown,
it will take more than 100 years to
get everyone above $1.25 per day, and
207 years to get everyone above $5 per
day. And in order to get there we will
have to grow the global economy to 175
times its present size.
That's 175 times more extraction,
production and consumption than we're
already doing. And to reach Milanovic's
minimum of $5,500 per year would
require much more than this by far. Even
if this kind of growth was physically
possible, it would cause catastrophic
ecological crisis that would more than
wipe out any gains made against poverty.
Redistribution may not seem feasible to
Milanovic, but the existing plan is much
less feasible still.
Photo: internet
between development and security
remains.
The Security Council resolutions on
WPS specify the importance of women's
participation in conflict prevention,
mitigation, management, resolution and
recovery. That participation includes
activities such as peacekeeping
operations, security sector reform,
transitional justice and negotiation of
peace agreements. SDG Target 16.7, calls
for "responsive, inclusive, participatory
and representative decision-making at all
levels." It goes some way to addressing
the participation pillar of the WPS
agenda. The indicators for that target
count positions held in public
institutions, disaggregated by age, sex,
disability and population group; as well
as perception of inclusive decision
making. However, it doesn't count
participation in security institutions such
as the police and the military, data on
which is incredibly difficult to attain. The
WPS index appears to not use the
indicators for SDG 16.7 in their inclusion
dimension, which covers women's
education, economic and parliamentary
participation, but still does not look at
women's inclusion in diplomatic corps,
police or the military.
Devpolicy's launch of the WPS Index
provided an excellent opportunity to
constructively and critically discuss these
issues, including the importance of data
in tracking and maintaining
accountability for global and national
commitments to WPS. The Index itself
will be a valuable tool for both academic
and policy discussions. But the
discussions on absent data and indicators
not present in the Index are of equal value
to critical discourse and a deep
understanding of women's security and
the international peace agenda.

NATIONAL
TUESdAy,
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY6
JANUARy 9, 2018
Hussain Muhammad Ershad speaks as chief guest at a mass rally at Sundarganj under Gaibandha
district.
Photo: Rafiqul Islam
Weather sharply
improves in
northern districts
RANGPUR: The
weather in the country's
northern districts sharply
improved yesterday
following disappearance
of fogs amid a sunny sky,
which brings a relief to the
common people, officials
said, reports BSS.
They said the situation
improved due to sharp
rise in the maximum
temperatures by eight to
12 degrees Celsius despite
further falls in the
minimum temperatures
yesterday.
Earlier, the weather
deteriorated sharply
causing chilling cold
when the gaps between
the maximum and
minimum temperatures
came down to only four to
six degrees Celsius amid
fogs during the last couple
of days.
In-charge of Rangpur
Met Office Mohammad
Ali said the minimum
temperature of 4.9
degrees Celsius was
recorded yesterday
against yesterday's 7.5
degrees while maximum
of 21 degrees (at 3 pm)
against yesterday's 12
degrees Celsius in
Rangpur city.
The minimum
temperatures recorded
yesterday were 3.2
degrees Celsius against
yesterday's 5.1 degrees in
Dinajpur, 2.9 degrees
against yesterday's 7.2
degrees in Syedpur, 3
degrees against
yesterday's 8.2 degrees in
Dimla and
3.1 degrees against
yesterday's 7 degrees
Celsius in Rajarhat points
in the sub-Himalayan
region.
The average maximum
temperature ranged
between 20 and 23
degrees Celsius yesterday
against 12 and 15 degrees
Celsius yesterday in the
region.
"The maximum
temperatures ranged
between 20 and 23
degrees Celsius increasing
the gap between the
minimum and maximum
temperatures to 12 to 15
degrees Celsius bringing a
relief to people,"
Mohammad Ali said.
Following the sharp
improvement of weather
situation, the common
people and day-labourers
have started getting back
to their normal activities,
including char areas, crop
fields, and the Boro
seedlings started getting
better weather to grow up.
Talking to BSS,
Horticulture Socialist of
the Department of
Agriculture Extension
Khandker Md Mesbahul
Islam said the winter
crops, Boro seedbeds and
Rabi crops will not be
affected if the weather
continues improving.
He asked farmers to use
Sulphur and nitrogen
fertilisations with little
gypsum and urea in their
Boro seedbeds after
appearance of the sun to
overcome cold problems
caused in the boro
seedbeds during the
shivering cold and foggy
weather in recent days.
Meanwhile, vehicular
movements and activities
in business centres,
markets, hats and bazars,
river ports and ferry
ghats, bus stations and
terminals and rail stations
got full momentum since
9 am yesterday.
The administrations,
NGOs, voluntary, sociocultural
organisations,
business entities, banks
and affluent people have
further intensified the
distribution of warm
clothes among the coldhit
distressed people.
Similar reports of
improving weather have
been received here
yesterday from Kurigram,
Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha,
Nilphamari, Thakurgaon
and Panchagarh district.
Organic fertilizer becomes
popular among farmers
BARGUNA: Vermi-compost, an organic fertilizer
developed by government and local non-government
organizations is gradually becoming popular among the
farmers for its low cost and capacity for increasing crop
and vegetable production, reports BSS.
The application of this homemade fertilizer also
enhances the taste and flavour of the vegetables, users
said.
Vermi-compost is not only environment friendly but
also a deterrent to pest attack on croplands, according to
farmers.
It is more effective for all crops and different varieties
of vegetables than chemical fertilizer', said Badrul Alam,
an officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension
(DAE).
It can be made from household waste, cow-dung,
straw and shrub with the help of earthworm. These
materials are to be mixed and kept in a dark and damp
place at least for seven days to rot.
The heap will have to be dried up in the sun after
earthworms eat the rotten wastes and release those.
About 500 families in the district are producing this
organic fertilizer on commercial basis for their
livelihood. Local people are using this cost-effective
fertilizer in their crop and vegetable land.
One kilogram of vermi-compost cost Taka five only.
'We are getting better result by using this compost', said
Milon Hawladar an owner of a nursery at Kewrabunia
village.
Construction of nine bridges
progressing fast in Mymensingh
MYMENSINGH: The construction work of nine
bridges and culverts is progressing fast in Muktagacha
upazila of the district this year, reports BSS.
The bridges are being implemented under Annual
Development Programme (ADP) with Taka over 2.70
crore. The project has been taken with a view to
developing rural communication network as well as
developing socio economic condition of rural people of
the upazila.
Project Implementation Office officials said of the
nine bridges, the construction work of three bridges has
already been completed involving over Taka 80 lakh.
Project Implementation Officer Sherajul Islam
Siddiquee told BSS that on an average 50% work of the
bridges have already been completed. The remaining
work of bridges and culverts will be completed by
March this year. After the completion of the bridges,
over 3 lakh rural people of the upazila will be benefitted
and get smooth communication facilities, he added.
3 arrested with explosive in Sylhet
SYLHET: Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-9) in a
drive arrested three people with huge explosive materials
from Suraighat area under Kanaighat upazila of the district
on Sunday evening, a RAB official said yesterday, reports
BSS.
The arrested men were identified as Ibrahim, 40, M
Ashique, 19, and Rayhan, 35.
Acting captain of RAB-9 Major Zamshedur Rahman at a
press briefing said "RAB recovered 300 pieces of high
explosive power gel, 300 pieces of detonators and two mobile
phones from their possession".
RAB are conducting drive to arrest more associates of
them, the RAB officer said.
Schoolgirl killed
in Meherpur
road accident
MEHERPUR: A schoolgirl
was killed as a power tiller
hit her at Bhabanipur village
under Mujibnagar upazila of
the district this noon,
reports BSS. The deceased
was identified as Snigdha
Khatun, 9, a student of class
three and daughter of Aslam
Ali, a resident of the same
area. Police said the accident
occurred when the power
tiller hit Snigdha in the area
while she was playing there.
Snigdha was sent to
Meherpur general hospital
where on duty doctor
declared her dead.
Road crash kills
two in Cox's Bazar
COX'S BAZAR: Two
people were killed and three
others injured as a Bus
collided head-on with a
CNG-run auto rickshaw in
Pechardip area under Ramu
upazila of the district this
noon, reports BSS.
The deceased were
identified as Saidur
Rahman, 25, son of
Shikender Ali, a resident of
Kambunia village under
Teknaf upazila and auto
rickshaw driver Nurul
Abser, 35.
Embroidery works
bring smile on
distressed women
RAJSHAHI: With
establishing boutique houses,
many underprivileged and
distressed women have
become income-generators in
the metropolis and its
outskirts contributing a lot to
the society in many ways,
reports BSS.
With training and financial
support from the government
they established embroidery
and boutique houses and
running their business
successfully.
"We have founded 'Angona
Boutique and Fashion'. The
business house is being
operated by our Angona
Mohila Samity successfully
making more than 100
women self-reliant," said Iffat
Ara, director of the samity.
Similarly, Daudpur Mohila
Koliyan Samity is running
Shefali Boutique and Mohona
Mohila Kolyan Samity's
Mohona Boutiques making at
least 175 women self-reliant.
"We have made linked
around 50 women with skill
development training for
improving their living
condition," said Anwara
Begum, President of
Dashmari Distressed Women
Welfare Association.
After completing their
training they are doing block,
boutique and embroidery
works in their respective areas
and many of them attained
their long-cherished
economic emancipation.
Anwara Begum told BSS
that the boutique houses were
established and operated with
assistance of district women
affairs office.
The office is implementing a
project titled "Women Skillbased
Training for
Livelihood" in order to make
the underprivileged and
neglected women especially
divorcee, widow and
financially backward selfreliant.
Under the project, the
targeted women are given
three-month training on
various trades like sewing,
block-boutique, embroidery,
beautification, food
processing and mobile phone
servicing. They were also
given financial and some
other requisite supports after
training.
"Raziya Sultana, 25, of
Dharampur Bazekazla earns
around Tk 400-500 per day
by making and selling cloth
bags for shopping, said a local
community leader.
Rahima, 30, wife of Rustam
Ali of Hetemkha area, told
BSS that she received the
training on tailoring.
Now, she has brought some
happiness in her fourmember
family as she earns
Tk 500-600 per day after
operating a sewing machine at
present.
District Women Affairs
Officer Shahnaj Begum told
BSS that the project intends to
involve the socially backward
women to the country's
overall development process
and the beneficiary women
are becoming self-reliant and
part of the development.
Sharing views on the issue
Kolpona Roy, local unit
president of Bangladesh
Mohila Parishad, said
supporting skills development
to the poor women in the
society for better economic
condition is very important.
Local lawmaker, Jahid Ahsan Rasel speaks at a preparatory review meeting of Biswa Ijtema at Tongi
township in Gazipur yesterday.
Photo: Nasir Uddin
Tetulia Upazila of Panchagarh district experienced lowest temperature in the country yesterday as
mercury dips down further breaking its past record. General were seen yesterday trying to keep
them warm blazing fire on a courtyard.
Photo: Asraful Islam
A rare kind animal has been retrieved from Jhenaigati Upazila of Sherpur district.
Photo: Shahriar Milton
Human trafficking victims need integrated
support for rehabilitation: Speakers
RAJSHAHI: Speakers at a
review meeting here
yesterday said the victims of
human trafficking need
integrated support to lessen
their plights and
vulnerabilities with proper
rehabilitation in society,
reports BSS.
They mentioned that the
human trafficking victims
are subjected to repression
and oppression by their
surroundings people. So
there should be effective and
time-befitting measures for
ensuring their access to
family and social
integration.
They came up with the
remarks at district directory
review meeting at Hotel
Warishan in the city.
Sachetan Rajshahi, a rightsbased
organization, arranged
the meeting in association
with Bangladesh Counter
Trafficking in Persons
Programme. USAID and
Winrock International jointly
supported the meeting.
Additional Deputy
Commissioner (General) Md
Shalahuddin, District Legal
Aid Officer Selim Reza,
Assistant Commissioners
Zishan Bin Mazed and
Mamnul Ahmed and
Executive Director of
Sachetan Rajshahi Hasinul
Islam, its Project Coordinator
Mahmud-Un-Nabi and
Programme Officer Rokshana
Parveen addressed the
meeting as resource persons.
Md Shalahuddin stressed
the need for collective efforts
of all government and nongovernment
organizations
concerned for proper
rehabilitation of the human
trafficking victims.
Taking part in group
discussions, the participants
put forward a set of
recommendations on how to
make the service oriented
activities appropriate to ease
the sufferings of victims who
faced human trafficking.
They also advocated for
formulating a time-befitting
plan so that qualitative
services are ensured through
wide using of district
directory.
Fire guts 16
dwelling
houses in Ctg
CHITTAGONG: At least 16
dwelling houses were gutted
in a devastating fire in city's
Miakhan Nagar area under
Bakalia thana yesterday
morning, reports BSS.
Fire Service and Civil
Defence official said the fire
originated from an electric
short circuit at a dwelling
house in the area around 11.10
am and quickly engulfed the
surrounding houses.
Four fire fighting units from
different areas in the city
rushed to the spot and
brought the flame under
control around 12.30 pm.
"None was injured in the
fire", the sources said, adding
that the estimated losses
caused by the fire are about
Taka 10 lakh.

INTERNATIONAL
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
TUeSdAy, JANUARy 9, 2018
7
Turkey casts shadow over
Turkish Cypriots’ vote
InternatIonal Desk
The Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC) will head to the polls on
Sunday, in a parliamentary election
that has failed to stir enthusiasm
among a largely disillusioned
electorate, reports Al Jazeera.
Elections in the internationally
unrecognised entity are typically
dominated by the long-running dispute
of Cyprus, a Mediterranean island split
between Turkish Cypriots in the north
and Greek Cypriots in the south. With a
solution to the problem, however, not
in sight, campaign discussions this time
have largely centred around TNRC's
enduring issues: corruption, nepotism,
citizenships distributed to Turkish
nationals and Ankara's grip on the
pseudo-state.
The TRNC, which has a functioning
parliament and state institutions, is
recognised only by Turkey since it
unilaterally declared independence in
1983, breaking away from the Republic
of Cyprus. Cyprus had been practically
divided since 1974, when Turkey
militarily intervened on the island in
response to a brief Greek-inspired
coup. Ankara said it acted in line with a
treaty of guarantee signed in 1960
when the Republic of Cyprus was
founded.
Since the establishment of the de
facto TRNC, the north has been
described as "occupied part of Cyprus"
by the UN Security Council. Repeated
diplomatic efforts to end the partition
have failed, as did the latest round of
talks to reunify the island in
Switzerland in July despite efforts by
United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres.
InternatIonal Desk
Asian shares crept toward
all-time peaks on Monday
after Wall Street boasted its
best start to a year in over a
decade, with brisk economic
growth and benign inflation
proving a potent cocktail for
risk appetites, reports
Reuters.
MSCI's broadest index of
Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS
added 0.2 percent having
climbed 3.1 percent last
week, its strongest
performance in six months.
At 588.55, the index is
within spitting distance of
its record top of 591.50 hit in
November 2007.
The Philippines .PSI is
already at a record, while
Australian stocks eked out
As a result, the Cyprus dispute is not
high on the agenda of the TRNC parties
contesting Sunday's race - a highly
unusual development for the politics of
the north, where political forces
typically shape their platforms in
accordance to their position over the
deadlocked problem. The possibility of
future unification talks will also be
determined by the results of a
presidential election in the Republic of
Cyprus in late January.
The TRNC survives on financial aid
coming from Turkey as the
unrecognised entity has extremely
limited options of direct foreign trade.
The situation is also compounded by the
fact that there are no direct sea or air
links to any other country from the north
of the island, with the exception of
Turkey, leading TRNC leaders to impose
austerity measures to shore up finances.
Amid this climate, people in the north
of Cyprus are generally sceptical about
change. The widespread view appears
to be that the TRNC's political parties
do not have the capacity to tackle the
entity's persisting structural issues.
Onac, a 33-year-old municipality
employee from the coastal town of
Girne, told Al Jazeera that he would
boycott the parliamentary poll. "It is
not a real parliament, it's just a puppet
parliament of Turkey," he added.
Among them is the National Unity
Party (UBP), the largest partner of the
current right-wing coalition. In power
for 27 years, since the establishment of
the TRNC, UBP has been accused by
critics for building today's problematic
structure in the self-declared state, in
which, they say, nepotism and bribery
are the norm. Along with its coalition
government partner - the right-wing
another decade top. Japan's
Nikkei .N225 was closed for
a holiday but last week
touched its highest since
1992. E-Mini futures for the
S&P 500 ESc1 edged up 0.1
percent while spreadbetters
pointed to opening gains for
Europe.
"It was the global
synchronized growth that
drove earnings and equity
markets higher last year and
the global economy has
entered 2018 firing on all
cylinders," said analysts at
Bank of America Merrill
Lynch, predicting the global
economy could expand at 4
percent or more this year.
Friday's U.S. jobs report
did nothing to challenge
that outlook. While payrolls
missed forecasts, the report
was perfect for equities
given unemployment stayed
low but with little sign of the
inflationary pressures that
would make the Federal
Reserve more aggressive in
tightening policy.
Wall Street has already
enjoyed its best start to a
year in more than a decade,
with the Dow .DJI up 2.3
percent last week and the
S&P 500 .SPX 2.6 percent.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq
.IXIC led the charge with a
rise of 3.4 percent. The
quarterly U.S. earnings
season kicks off this week
with the Street expecting
solid growth of around 10
percent, though many
companies are also likely to
be announcing one-off
charges to account for
recent tax changes.
The next major data
Democrat Party (DP), which set up by
ex-UBP members - it gave hundreds of
TRNC citizenships to Turkey national
through weeks before the poll, in a
move seen as a bid to increase its voter
share. The UBP is traditionally
advocating for keeping good relations
with Turkey and maintaining the
island's status quo, rather than settling
the long-standing dispute to reunify
Greek and Turkish Cypriot parts.
The centre-left pro-unification
Republican Turkish Party (CTP)
traditionally has defined its platform
through the Cyprus dispute, with
promises to reunite the island. Ahead of
Sunday's election, the party turned its
attention to internal matters, running
an anti-corruption campaign with a
pledge to closely monitor corruption
allegations - even if they target its own
members.
Last month, it announced a reform
programme, vowing to establish an
efficient public administration,
increase productivity and oversee a
fairer distribution of income. In
contrast to the UBP and DP, the CTP
has traditionally been against the
inflow of Turkish citizens into the
island, and the practice of granting
them a TRNC citizenship. Passports are
not needed for people travelling
between northern Cyprus and Turkey.
The newly-formed right-wing
People's Voice Party run on a campaign
to fight for an open, corruption-free
society. The left-wing Communal
Democracy Party is President Mustafa
Akinci's former party. It has seen its
popularity rise after he took office in
2015. Sunday's election is the first
where there is a mandatory 30 percent
women's quota.
Asia stocks saunter toward historic
high, U.S. earnings hurdle
Men exchange greetings in front of an electronic board displaying the Nikkei average
outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan January 4, 2018. Photo: Internet.
hurdles will be U.S.
consumer prices and retail
sales on Friday. In Asia,
China reports December
inflation on Wednesday and
international trade numbers
on Friday. In currency
markets, the dollar has
steadied for the moment
after a rocky couple of
weeks. With economic
activity picking up globally,
the dollar .DXY has been
undermined
by
expectations the Fed will
not be the only central bank
tightening policy this year.
Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe on Sunday
called on central bank
governor Haruhiko Kuroda
to keep up efforts to reflate
the economy, but added he
was undecided on whether
to reappoint Kuroda for
another five-year term.
The combination of a soft
U.S. dollar and strong global
growth has been positive for
commodities, with
everything from coal to iron
ore to copper in demand.
Spot gold XAU= made a 3-
1/2-month high last week
and was trading at
$1,320.16 an ounce on
Monday.
Oil prices reached their
highest since 2015 helped in
part by political tensions in
Iran, the third-largest
producer in the
Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC). Brent
LCOcv1 was last up 13 cents
at $67.75, while U.S. crude
CLcv1 rose 16 cents to
$61.60 per barrel.
Israeli company says
it has developed
tiniest cherry tomato
InternatIonal Desk
They say bigger is better, but
in the succulent world of
cherry tomatoes, one Israeli
company is going smaller
than ever before, reports
CNN.
The "drop tomato" is about
the size of a blueberry and
the Kedma company in the
country's southern Arava
desert says it is the smallest
one ever cultivated in Israel,
perhaps even in the world.
It's a point of pride in a
country known for its
agricultural innovation,
where fruits and vegetables
are taken seriously and
where several strands of the
cherry tomato were first
invented.
"The idea is that it is
comfortable," said Ariel
Kidron, a Kedma grower.
"You can throw it in a salad,
you don't need to cut it. It
just explodes in your
mouth." The seed, originally
developed in Holland, was
modified to match the arid
growing conditions in
southern Israel. Rami Golan,
of the Central and Northern
Arava Research and
Development center, who
accompanied the project,
said it was definitely the
smallest ever to be grown in
Israel - where tomatoes are
incredibly popular.
The tiny tomato, smaller
than a one shekel Israeli
coin, is offered in red and
yellow varieties and will be
presented to the public at a
three-day international
agricultural fair in Israel later
this month. Early indications
are it could be a big hit.
Shaul Ben Aderet, a wellknown
Israeli chef who owns
three restaurants, including
Tel Aviv's "Blue Rooster," got
some early samples and says
the new strand is packed
with flavor and will spawn an
infinite number of new
recipes. He offered it sizzled
in a pan, baked into focaccia
bread and as a straight-up
snack.
"It's very simple, it's clean,
it's nice, it's sexy," he said. In
a blind taste test alongside
two sweets, he said, "they
would say the tomato is a
candy, that's for sure."
Trump promoting
rural development,
attending football
game
InternatIonal Desk
President Donald Trump is
promoting
his
administration's plans to
boost
economic
development in rural
communities - and reserving
a seat at the national college
football championship
game, reports Al Jazeera.
Trump is set Monday to
become the first president in
a quarter century to address
the annual convention of the
American Farm Bureau
Federation. With the trip to
Nashville, Tennessee, he will
unveil a report the White
House says will include
proposals to stimulate a
segment of the national
economy that has lagged
others.
Central to the report will
be the assessment that the
"provider for an equalization
among rural America is
connectivity; that highspeed
internet should
remain a high priority for
the administration," said
Ray Starling, the special
assistant to the president for
agriculture, trade and food
assistance. The report calls
for expediting federal
permitting to allow for
broadband internet
expansion in rural areas and
for making it easier for
providers to place cell towers
on federal lands. Starling
said Trump will use the
appearance to highlight the
impact of the tax overhaul
on farmers and small
businesses. The president
will also take credit for
working to roll back the
Obama administration's
controversial interpretation
of the Clean Water Act,
which greatly expanded the
list of bodies of water subject
to federal regulation.
Oil tanker burning
off China’s coast at
risk of exploding
InternatIonal Desk
An Iranian oil tanker that
caught fire after colliding
with a freighter off China's
east coast is at risk of
exploding and sinking,
Chinese state media
reported Monday as
authorities from three
countries struggled to find
its 32 missing crew
members and contain oil
spewing from the blazing
wreck, reports Dawn.
State broadcaster China
Central Television, citing
Chinese officials, said
none of the 30 Iranians
and two Bangladeshis who
have been missing since
the collision late Saturday
have been found as of 8 am
Monday. Meanwhile,
search and cleanup efforts
have been hampered by
fierce fires and poisonous
gases that have completely
consumed the tanker and
surrounding waters, CCTV
reported.
The Panama-registered
tanker Sanchi was sailing
from Iran to South Korea
when it collided late
Saturday with the Hong
Kong-registered freighter
CF Crystal in the East
China Sea, 257 kilometers
(160 miles) off the coast of
Shanghai, China's
Ministry of Transport said.
China, South Korea and
the U.S. have sent ships
and planes to search for
Sanchi's crew, all of whom
remain missing. The U.S.
Navy, which sent a P-8A
aircraft from Okinawa,
Japan, to aid the search,
said late Sunday that none
of the missing crew had
been found. All 21 crew
members of the Crystal,
which was carrying grain
from the United States to
China, were rescued, the
Chinese ministry said. The
Crystal's crew members
were all Chinese nationals.
It wasn't immediately
clear what caused the
collision. State-run China
Central Television
reported Sunday evening
that the tanker was still
floating and burning, and
that oil was visible in the
water. Photos distributed
by the South Korean
government showed the
tanker on fire and
shrouded in thick black
smoke.
Chinese authorities
dispatched three ships to
clean the oil spill. The size
of the oil slick caused by
the accident is not known.
The Sanchi was carrying
136,000 metric tons
(150,000 tons, or nearly 1
million barrels) of
condensate, a type of
ultra-light oil, according to
Chinese authorities.
By comparison, the
Exxon Valdez was
carrying 1.26 million
barrels of crude oil when
it spilled 260,000 barrels
into Prince William
Sound off Alaska in 1989.
The Sanchi has operated
under five different
names since it was built in
2008, according the U.N.-
run International
Maritime Organization.
The IMO listed its
registered owner as Hong
Kong-based Bright
Shipping Ltd., on behalf
of the National Iranian
Tanker Co., a publicly
traded company based in
Tehran. The National
Iranian Tanker Co.
describes itself as
operating the largest
tanker fleet in the Middle
East.
An official in Iran's Oil
Ministry, who spoke to
The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity
because he was not
authorized to speak to
reporters, said 30 of the
tanker's 32 crew members
were Iranians.
It's the second collision
for a ship from the
National Iranian Tanker
Co. in less than a year and
a half. In August 2016, one
of its tankers collided with
a Swiss container ship in
the Singapore Strait,
damaging both ships but
causing no injuries or oil
spill.
Bannon backs off explosive
comments about Trump’s son
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon speaks during a campaign
event for Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Judge Roy Moore in
Fairhope, Alabama, U.S.
Photo: Internet.
InternatIonal Desk
President Donald Trump's former strategist
Steve Bannon on Sunday backed away from
derogatory comments ascribed to him about
Trump's son in a new book that sparked
White House outrage and could threaten
Bannon's influence as a would-be
conservative power broker, reports Reuters.
Bannon, ousted from the White House in
August, was quoted in "Fire and Fury: Inside
the Trump White House," by journalist
Michael Wolff, as saying a June 2016 meeting
with a group of Russians attended by Donald
Trump Jr. and his father's top campaign
officials was "treasonous" and "unpatriotic."
The president responded by saying Bannon
had lost his mind, and the White House
suggested the hard-right news site Breitbart
News part ways with Bannon as its executive
chairman. Bannon said in a statement
released on Sunday that his comments were
directed at Paul Manafort, Trump's former
campaign manager, and not aimed at the
president's son.
"I regret that my delay in responding to the
inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr. has
diverted attention from the president's
historical accomplishments in the first year of
his presidency," Bannon said.
Uproar over the book has dominated news
coverage for days, putting the White House
on the defensive just as Trump and his
advisers sought to plan and bring attention to
their policy goals for 2018 ahead of a
November congressional election.
The former strategist's statement could be
aimed at trying to secure his job at Breitbart,
a platform he has used while backing antiestablishment
candidates for election to
Congress. The book portrays Trump, a
former reality TV star who took office nearly
a year ago, as mentally unstable and unfit for
the demands of his job.
Trump said last week that Bannon had
nothing to do with him or his presidency.
That scathing response left Bannon alienated
among the more conservative factions of
Trump's Republican Party. Bannon said he
still supported Trump, whose public break
with his one-time strategist and use of a
derisive nickname for him, "Sloppy Steve,"
reflected the depth of the president's anger.
In the book, Bannon voiced astonishment
over the meeting that Trump Jr., the
president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and
Manafort attended at Trump Tower in New
York with a Russian lawyer, who was said to
be offering damaging information about
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the
Democratic presidential candidate. Bannon
was quoted as saying he was certain Trump
Jr. would have taken the Russians who took
part in the meeting to meet his father.
Bannon did not specifically dispute the
quotes, but said his criticism was meant for
Manafort, who is being prosecuted by Special
Counsel Robert Mueller as part of a probe
into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S.
presidential election.
Miller, a senior policy adviser, said the book
was a "grotesque work of fiction" and said it
was "tragic and unfortunate" that Bannon
made the comments in the book that he did.

ART & CULTURE tUESDaY,
JanUarY 9, 2018
8
KanaKchapa to
publish her new book
DESK rEport
Multi-talented Bangladeshi
singer Kanakchapa is going to
publish a new book named 'Kata
Ghuri', from Anonnya
Prokashoni.
Her first book was published
in 2010 titled 'Sthobir Jajabor'
under the same publication.
Later, she published two more
books. For sharing her
experience of writing the book,
the singer said, "Every person
steps forward with a vision. My
parents are my vision and
philosophy.
Their inspiration helped me
for my writing. I want to express
my heartiest gratitude to Abida
Nasrin Koli in this regard.
Without her encouragement I
could not publish this book."
Besides this, she is a painter.
In 2016, her first solo art
exhibition titled Dwidhar
Dolachol created hype among
the art lovers.
It is important to mention here
that, Kanakchapa has signed for
some stage shows. Under the
banner of Laser Vision her last
solo album Podmopukur was
released.
Sexual harassment
scandal dominates
Golden Globes 2018
EntErtainmEnt DESK
Christmas is done and dusted, New
Year is out of the way, and you can
watch half your friends attempt
regimes with names like Dry
Veganuary, reports BBC.
But if you're a menswear fashion
designer, it's a different story. While
most of us have been in a post-
Christmas stupor, they have been busy
finalising their latest creations after
months of painstaking work in
preparation for London Fashion Week
Men's (LFWM), which returned this
weekend. The event was established in
2012 and now runs twice a year, a
month ahead of the main Fashion
Weeks.
And few catwalk shows attract as
much attention as Craig Green's. The
31-year-old, who has been named
British Menswear Designer of the Year
for the last two years in a row,
premieres his latest collection on
Monday - the last day of LFWM.
Sitting down with BBC News just
before Christmas, Green seems
remarkably chilled out - but a great
deal of work has gone into his latest
collection.
But, judging by the press Green has
received in recent fashion weeks, the
work is paying off. The Financial
Times described his shows as "a
highlight of the London menswear
schedule", while GQ's style editor Luke
Men's Fashion Week
how craig Green
conquered menswear
Day recently said: "It's the quiet
confidence of his work that defines
him as the most exciting new
menswear designer of our time."
For someone who only set up his
own label in 2012, shortly after
graduating from Central Saint Martins
college, Craig's star has risen rapidly.
He was enlisted by Ridley Scott to
design costumes for 2015's Alien:
Covenant, and his creations have been
worn by the likes of Rihanna, Will
Ferrell, Jay-Z and Drake. "We were
asked to create something custom for
the opening look of Rihanna's tour,"
Green explains. Big names aside,
Green says his biggest thrill often
comes from seeing people in the street
wearing his clothes.
"And to realise that that person
made a conscious choice to go into a
shop and buy it, that's very strange in
the beginning, but also exciting."
Green's success and critical acclaim
are particularly notable for the fact he
"didn't come from an art or fashionbased
family". "I come from northwest
London, and my dad is a plumber
and my mum was a nurse," he says.
"Art was just the subject that I seemed
to do well in at school."
After a friend recommended going to
an open day at Central Saint Martins,
which Green hadn't heard of at the
time, he ended up securing a place to
study art. Green initially had the idea of
being a portrait painter or sculptor, but
ended up being most taken with
fashion - enjoying the community feel
of the course, the pace of the work and
the ability to experiment.
In the beginning, "I made a few
really bad dresses for a charity fashion
show", he laughs. "I didn't know how
to sew - they were pretty much stapled
together I think." But he soon
discovered his passion for menswear.
"My designs always play on ideas of
function, things that used to be
functional or things that look like they
do something but they don't.
EntErtainmEnt DESK
Powerful speeches about Hollywood's sexual
abuse scandal have dominated the 75th
Golden Globe Awards, reports BBC.
It was the first major Hollywood awards
ceremony since the film industry was hit by
sexual harassment scandals, with stars
wearing black to honour victims. Oprah
Winfrey summed up the mood, saying "a new
day is on the horizon" as she collected an
honorary award. The big film winner of the
night was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,
Missouri, which took home four awards.
It won the best film drama award, with its
star Frances McDormand also picking up a
trophy for best actress. The Oscar-winning
actress stars as a grieving mother who
challenges police over the fact her daughter's
killer has not been found. Big Little Lies won
the most awards in the television categories,
including honours for its stars Nicole Kidman,
Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard. It was
also named best limited TV series.
Kidman won the first award of the night for
her role as a victim of domestic violence. She
dedicated her win to her castmates, daughters
and mother, saying: "Wow, the power of
women." The Golden Globes are organised by
the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and
are seen as an indicator of which films are
likely to do well at the Oscars, which take place
on 4 March. The main focus on the night was
on the current atmosphere in Hollywood and
campaigns like Me Too and Time's Up, which
are focused on bringing about change for
women not only in the entertainment industry
but also around the world.
Many winners and presenters at the Beverly
Hills ceremony addressed the ongoing scandal
- with host Seth Meyers setting the tone with
his opening monologue.
It was Oprah whose speech had the biggest
reaction, with stars applauding and rising to
their feet. Speaking as she was awarded the
honorary Cecil B DeMille trophy - the first
black woman to get the honour - she said:
"Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool
we all have.
The theme was echoed by Laura Dern,
winner of a best supporting actress for Big
Little Lies, who said: "Many of us were taught
not to tattle. Barbra Streisand used her
presenting slot to express outrage that she
remains the only woman to win the best
director award at the ceremony - and that was
back in 1984.
Greta Gerwig, whose directorial debut Lady
Bird was named best musical or comedy film,
could be seen being hugged by her film's star,
Saoirse Ronan, as Streisand made her
comments. Gerwig was not nominated in the
directing category - an award won by The
Shape of Water's Guillermo del Toro - but
neither was any woman.
h o roScopE
ariES
(March 21 - April 20):
Natives of Aries are often
confident and energetic
people, who should consider
setting up arrangements for larger family
gatherings like reunions. Natives of this
sign are often driving forces in the
professional and political areas.
LiBra
(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): At
some stage over the next
few days you will see or
hear something that makes
you view the world in a new light. A
change of perspective will lead to new
ways of thinking, ways that answer all
the questions you have been asking.
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.
Scorpio
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Find
out why a partner or loved
one is behaving so
erratically, then do what
you can to assist them. Most likely
their problems are nowhere near as big
as they think they are and can quite
easily be corrected - as can your own!
GEmini
(May 22 - June 21): There
may be times when you
would like nothing better
than to cut yourself off
from the world at large but that simply
isn't possible. Make the best job of
what you are expected to do and try to
steal a few hours for yourself later on.
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.
SaGittariUS
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Yours is
a sign of boundless selfconfidence
and that's good
because you will need it
over the next few days. If you are not
happy in your current environment
don't be afraid to pack a bag and take
off for a few days.
capricorn
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You seem
to lack purpose at the
moment but that will change
if you look for ways to express yourself.
Whatever challenges come your way, and
there will be plenty, see them as
opportunities to be embraced rather than
as threats to be avoided.
aQUariUS
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): Stay calm
and keep setbacks in
perspective. If you can learn
to take yourself a bit less
seriously over the coming week then your
problems, such as they are, will fade into
insignificance. Rest assured your successes
will always outnumber your failures.
piScES
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): It does
not matter if other people
approve of what you are
doing, it matters only that
it means something to you. The very
last thing you should be doing now is
asking friends and family for their
opinions - it's your views that count.
anushka
Sharma
back to
work
EntErtainmEnt DESK
Anushka Sharma on the sets of Zero
Anushka Sharma has returned from her
holiday with Virat Kohli, reports The
Indian Express.
Karan Johar on the success of the
Khans in Bollywood: Getting success is
not that difficult but maintaining it is
toughKaran Johar on the success of the
Khans in Bollywood: Getting success is
not that difficult but maintaining it is
tough.
Aanand L Rai on working with Shah
Rukh Khan in Zero: There is nervousness
and I enjoy thatAanand L Rai on working
with Shah Rukh Khan in Zero: There is
nervousness and I enjoy that Shah Rukh
Khan can't help but go on a nostalgia trip
on listening to "Ae Kaash Ke Hum" on the
radioShah Rukh Khan can't help but go
on a nostalgia trip on listening to "Ae
Kaash Ke Hum" on the radio.
Anushka Sharma is back on the sets of
Aanand L Rai's Zero. And seeing her
Instagram updates, we know the actor
was received in the most beautiful
manner. Anushka's wedding with Virat
Kohli kept her in news even when she
was on a break from work. Now, after a
dreamy nuptial and a dreamier holiday
in Cape Town, South Africa, the actor
has returned to complete her two
projects - Zero and Pari. The 29-year-old
got a warm welcome on the sets of Zero,
which also stars Shah Rukh Khan and
Katrina Kaif. Anushka shared a photo
from her dressing room where she can
be seen in her vibrant best. With a paper
in one hand (most probably a copy of the
script) and a coffee mug in the other, the
newly wedded actor's happiness knows
no bounds.
Anushka was presented with flowers
and her room was decorated with
pictures of herself and her cricketer
husband Virat Kohli. She shared the
photo from her vanity van with the
caption, "They say - Back to one! In this
case ill say - Back to Zero ??!! Happy to
be back on the film and back to work
with my lovely co actrors and crew !!
Thank you for the beautifully decorated
floral van ????" She also posted a
picture in her Insta story with the
caption, "Great to be back on set. Thank
you for this floral welcome guys. Lots of
love @redchilliesent @iamsrk
@cypplofficial."
Zero is one of the most awaited film this
year and will be releasing on December
21. Its teaser was recently released by
Aanand L Rai and SRK who wanted to
gift their fans a surprise on new year.

SPORTS TuESDAY,
JANuARY 9, 2018
9
New West Brom boss Alan Pardew has said the club would offer Jonny Evans 'the best deal' they
possibly can.
Photo: BBC.
Australia rout England by
an innings to win Ashes 4-0
SYDNEY: Australia ruthlessly
extinguished England's resistance to
claim an innings victory in the fifth
Ashes Test and complete a 4-0 series
rout on the final day in Sydney on
Monday, reports BSS.
The beleaguered tourists, with
skipper Joe Root weakened by a
stomach bug and unable to continue
batting, dissolved after lunch, losing
their last four wickets for their fourth
comprehensive defeat of the series.
"It has been a great couple of
months. The cricket that we have
played in the last couple of months has
been outstanding," Australia skipper
Steve Smith said.
"We have just been able to get on top
and win those key moments and not
let them back in the game which is
crucial."
Pat Cummins led the Australian
offensive in Sydney with four wickets
for 39 to finish man-of-the-match and
the leading wicket taker in the series
with 23.
"To get through the five Tests and
end the series here at home. I couldn't
asked for much more," said an ecstatic
Cummins.
England finished at 180 for nine off
88.1 overs as Australia won by an
innings and 123 runs.
It followed comprehensive losses on
the troubled five-Test tour in
Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The
fourth Test was drawn in Melbourne.
Stricken Root did not come out to
bat after lunch as he continued to
experience discomfort after his
overnight stomach bug.
"He is asleep. He has a gastro bug
and he has not been too well through
the night and the heat yesterday didn't
help. He is asleep in the dressingroom
trying to recover," said vicecaptain
Jimmy Anderson, deputising
for Root at the post-match
presentations.
"To be honest we have been
outplayed in the key moments of each
game," he added.
"We have been in the games to an
extent but just not been able to
capitalise on any opportunities.
Australia have played great in this
series."
Cummins struck twice in three balls
after lunch, trapping Jonny Bairstow
leg before wicket for 38 and having
Stuart Broad caught behind off a
brutish bouncer for four.
Mason Crane got another Cummins
bouncer which he gloved to
wicketkeeper Tim Paine for two and
Anderson was caught behind off Josh
Hazlewood for two to end the innings.
Root went to hospital overnight with
England Cricket initially saying he had
"severe dehydration" after fielding
and batting in intense heat on Sunday.
But team officials corrected earlier
statements and said Root was instead
weakened by the effects of a
gastroenteritis bug.
He came out to bat on the dismissal
of Moeen Ali for 13 an hour into the
final day's play and reached his fifth
half-century of the series, but was
unable to convert any of them to a
century.
England's remote chances of saving
the Test disappeared when Root failed
to appear at the crease after lunch.
Spinner Nathan Lyon claimed
Moeen's wicket for the seventh time in
the series when he trapped him leg
before in the morning session, which
Moeen did not review.
Lyon took three wickets for 54 off 35
overs. The Australians took a grip on
the final Test with a massive 303-run
innings lead and then reduced the
battle-weary tourists to 93 for four at
the close on the fourth day. All five
Tests went into the fifth day.
Nadal, Djokovic
to test injuries
at Kooyong
MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal
and Novak Djokovic will use
the Kooyong Classic starting
Tuesday as a convenient
emergency stop to gain
much-needed match practice
as the pair return from injury
in time for the Australian
Open, reports BSS.
Not since the glory days of
Andre Agassi and Pete
Sampras nearly two decades
ago and more recently Roger
Federer, has the long-time
exhibition event hosted as
distinguished a field.
The upcoming edition will
feature five of the world's top
10, including ATP Finals
runner-up and two-time
Kooyong champion David
Goffin, Austrian Dominic
Thiem, Croat Marin Cilic and
Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta.
Under the ad-hoc rules, late
additions Nadal and
Djokovic will be playing
practice matches.
World number one Nadal,
who missed the warm-up
Brisbane International last
week with a knee injury, is set
for just one appearance on
Tuesday when he faces
France's Richard Gasquet.
Djokovic, who hasn't
played competitively since a
right elbow problem forced
him to quit Wimbledon in the
quarter-finals in July, is due
on court on Wednesday to
play Thiem.
"The addition of both
Novak and Rafa changes our
schedule and the way we will
run the four days but that's
what Kooyong is all about, we
are here to help the players
get ready for the Open," said
tournament director Peter
Johnston.
Barcelona to unveil $192
million man Coutinho
BARCELONA: Philippe Coutinho has
described his 160-million-euro ($192
million) move to Barcelona as "a dream
come true" with coach Ernesto Valverde
predicting the Brazilian will comfortably fit
into a team already containing global
superstar Lionel Messi, reports BSS.
The 25-year-old playmaker, the world's
third most expensive footballer after
securing a long-desired transfer from
Liverpool, will be officially presented to the
world's media on Monday from 1130 GMT.
But in a club video message released on
Sunday, Coutinho, who posed for
photographers at the Camp Nou wearing a
tracksuit top in the colours of the team,
insisted: "I want to play, win trophies and
make the supporters happy.
Those are my objectives.
"Barca fans, I'm here now. It's a dream
come true! I hope to see you today
(Monday)."
Coutinho has agreed a deal through to
2023 and is looking forward to playing
alongside Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres
Iniesta.
He described them as well as club stalwarts
Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets as "idols".
Coutinho has already played alongside
Suarez for 18 months at Liverpool before the
Uruguayan made the same move to Spain in
2014.
"Everybody knows about his quality. He
has been playing at the highest level for years
now and that is important," said Suarez.
"Now we need to make sure he feels at
home because we know that changing club is
always difficult, but I think he is the type of
player who will fit well into the team."
Valverde admitted that it will be a
challenge shoehorning his new recruit into a
squad which is running away with the
Spanish league title.
"Coutinho is a player who I think can bring
a lot to us," said Valverde.
"He's an important signing."
"I have seen him play in various positions -
- on the right, the left, in the middle, on the
wings. We will evaluate all of this...but, of
course, I don't think he will play as a
goalkeeper!"
- Blow for Liverpool -
The swoop for Coutinho -- which contains
a 400 million-euro release clause -- is the
third biggest transfer in football history.
It is outranked only by Paris Saint-
Germain's world record 222 million-euro
signing of Neymar from Barcelona last year,
and PSG's capture of French striker Kylian
Mbappe for a deal that will eventually be
worth 180 million euros.
Rio-born Coutinho arrived at Liverpool
from Inter Milan for a mere o8.5 million
($11.5 million) in January 2013 and scored
54 goals for the club in all competitions,
although he won no silverware during his
five-year stay at Anfield.
Barcelona had tried to sign Coutinho last
summer and his departure is a blow to
Liverpool as he had just returned to top form
after an injury-hit start to the season, scoring
seven goals in the last eight games of 2017 to
put his side firmly in the Champions League
places.
"It is no secret that Philippe has wanted
this move to happen since July, when
Barcelona first made their interest known,"
said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
"Philippe was insistent with me, the
owners and even his teammates this was a
move he was desperate to make happen."
For Barcelona, Coutinho's signing allows
the club to move on from the bitter
experience of losing his Brazil teammate
Neymar to Qatar-backed PSG.
Coutinho's age is also highly attractive to
Barca with Messi, Suarez and Iniesta all in
their thirties.
Liverpool have been tipped to quickly
reinvest their windfall from the Coutinho
sale.
Despite already paying Southampton 85
million euros ($102 million) for defender
Virgil van Dijk, Klopp will be chasing an
attacker with Leicester
City's Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez and
Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar already
linked with a switch to Anfield.
Lakers snap 9-game skid
with win over Hawks
LOS ANGELES: The Los
Angeles Lakers snapped a
nine-game NBA losing streak
on Sunday with a 132-113
victory over the Atlanta
Hawks. Brandon Ingram
scored 20 points to lead the
Lakers, who hadn't won a
game since a December 20
victory over the Houston
Rockets, reports BSS.
The victory quieted some of
the noise growing around the
embattled young team,
including comments by
outspoken basketball
patriarch LaVar Ball-father of
Lakers rookie Lonzo Ballwho
told ESPN that coach
Luke Walton had lost the
confidence of his players.
"I would disagree with
that," Walton said at
shootaround on Sunday
morning, telling reporters
that even as the defeats piled
up his players were playing
hard.
The difference against the
Hawks, Walton said after the
much-needed win, was a
defensive commitment that
set up the Lakers' transition
offense.
"I think it triggered
everything for us tonight,"
Walton said. "Once we got
engaged and we were
crashing back on the glass
and able to get out and run ...
it was good to see the guys get
back to that mode where
defense anchors what we do
offensively."
Lonzo Ball, playing just his
second game after missing six
with a shoulder sprain, was
under scrutiny after his
father's latest remarks.
He scored 13 points and
pulled down 10 rebounds
while handing out six assists.
When he departed the
game with 2:53 remaining,
along with Kyle Kuzma, Larry
Nance Jr. and Julius Randle
they were cheered by fans-a
turnaround from the boos
heard during a loss to
Charlotte on Friday.
At 12-27 the Lakers remain
at the bottom of the Western
Conference. But they avoided
matching the longest losing
streak in franchise history.
Walton, while encouraged,
said he wasn't expecting
smooth sailing for his young
players, but he said insisted
their growing pains wouldn't
tear them apart.
"The team's been fine," he
said. "We've got guys and a
group that are still figuring
things out. It's nothing new
when young teams that are
trying to get better go
through hard times."
Western Conference
contenders San Antonio and
Oklahoma City both endured
defeats on the road.
In Portland, CJ McCollum
flashed to the basket and
floated in the game-winner
with 5.9 seconds left as the
Trail Blazers edged the San
Antonio Spurs 111-110.
LaMarcus Aldridge had
chance to answer for the
Spurs, but his mid-range
jump shot bounced off the
back rim at the buzzer.
The Spurs were missing
four regulars, including Tony
Parker and All-Star Kawhi
Leonard, who has a partial
tear of a muscle in his left
shoulder, according to San
Antonio coach Gregg
Popovich.
Portland were also shorthanded,
as point guard
Damian Lillard was a late
scratch with a calf injury.
The close contest featured
four lead changes in the final
2:48.
Aldridge led the Spurs with
30 points and 40-year-old
Argentinian veteran Manu
Ginobili chipped in 26 to
become the oldest player to
score 20-plus points in backto-back
games.
In Phoenix, the Suns
withstood a triple-double
from NBA Most Valuable
Player Russell Westbrook to
beat the Oklahoma City
Thunder 114-100.
Devin Booker led the Suns
with 26 points and forward
TJ Warren added 23.
James Vince, Mark Wood and Sam Billings have all been recalled to England's Twenty20
squad.
Photo: BBC.
The loss at Newcastle was the first time Exeter had not got a bonus point in defeat since an
Anglo-Welsh Cup loss against Harlequins in November 2016.
Photo: BBC.
Ailing captain Root
bats on in bid to
save England
SYDNEY: Stricken captain Joe Root returned to batting
after a night struggling with a stomach bug to keep
England alive on the final day of the fifth Ashes Test
against Australia on Monday, reports BSS.
Root went to hospital overnight with England Cricket
initially saying he had "severe dehydration" after fielding
and batting in intense heat on Sunday.
But team officials corrected earlier statements and said
Root was instead weakened by the effects of a gastro bug.
Root came out to bat on the dismissal of Moeen Ali for
13 an hour into the final day's play.
At lunch, England were 144 for five and trailing
Australia by 159 runs with Root on 58 and Jonny
Bairstow not out 38.
Root was sent for checks after experiencing diarrhoea
and vomiting overnight.
The skipper, who has reached his fifth half-century of
the series but has yet to reach a century, is seen as
England's last major hope of staving off a 4-0 series rout.
His plight evoked memories of Englishman Eddie
Paynter, who got out of his hospital bed to play an heroic
four-hour innings of 83 in Brisbane to help England
overhaul Australia's first innings in the 1933 Bodyline
series.
Spinner Nathan Lyon claimed Moeen's wicket for the
seventh time in the series when he trapped him leg
before, which Moeen did not review.
Lyon had taken three wickets for 50 off 32 overs at
lunch.
Cameron Bancroft, fielding close in at bat-pad, took a
full blow from Root on the helmet grille and hardly
flinched before seeking replacement headgear.
The Australians took a grip on the final Test with a
massive 303-run innings lead and then reduced the
battle-weary tourists to 93 for four at the close on the
fourth day.
All five Tests in the series have gone to the fifth day.
Chinese teams chase bigmoney
Aubameyang - reports
SHANGHAI: At least two
Chinese sides are chasing
the signature of Borussia
Dortmund's prolific striker
P i e r r e - E m e r i c k
Aubameyang, reports in the
country say, in what could
be an Asian-record transfer,
reports BSS.
The 28-year-old has been
linked with a host of clubs
all over Europe but he could
end up in the money-rich
Chinese Super League
(CSL), according to the
reports, with Fabio
Cannavaro's Guangzhou
Evergrande said to be
leading the race to snare
him.
Dortmund, for whom the
Gabon forward has hit 13
Bundesliga goals so far this
season, have dismissed the
reports as speculation.
But Aubameyang has
been agitating for a move,
with Real Madrid and a
number of English Premier
League sides also linked to
him.
However, the Chinese
state Xinhua news agency
and Beijing Youth Daily
suggest China-where a
growing number of foreign
stars have been moving on
big wages-is now his more
likely destination.
Citing an unnamed
source from Beijing Guoan,
Xinhua said that the CSL
club had recently been
"close to signing"
Aubameyang following
more than two months of
negotiations.
But Guoan missed out at
the last moment after
Guangzhou Evergrande,
the reigning CSL
champions, stepped in with
a 70 million euros ($84
million) offer according to
Beijing Youth Daily, who
did not give a source.
The newspaper says
Evergrande are prepared to
pay wages of 18 million
euros a year to
Aubameyang, about
345,000 euros a week, and
suggests that a deal has
been reached for
Aubameyang to move in the
summer.
If the deal goes ahead, the
fee would top the Asianrecord
60 million euros that
CSL club Shanghai SIPG
paid Chelsea a year ago for
Brazilian attacking
midfielder Oscar.
In a bid to crack down on
expensive overseas
signings, the Chinese FA
last year brought in a 100
percent tax on incoming
foreign players.
It was not immediately
clear how that would
impact any Aubameyang
move to Evergrande, who
have also said in the past
that they want to field an
all-Chinese side by 2020.
Evergrande declined to
comment.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS TuESDAY,
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
10
JANuARY 9, 2018
Md. Tariqul Azam, Managing Director (Current Charge) of Standard Bank Ltd inaugurated a fourweek
long training on "Foundation Course on Banking" for Officer & Senior Officer (promoted) organized
by the Training Institute of the Bank. Among others Md. Zakaria, Principal and Md. Amzad
Hossain Fakir, Faculty of the Training Institute were present on the occasion. Photo: Courtesy
German metalworkers
start strikes for
28-hour week
Germany's powerful
metalworkers union has
called for mass strikes from
Monday over pay and
working hours that could
impact a key industry and
the shape of labour
nationwide, reports BSS.
IG Metall aren't just
asking for a pay rise but also
demanding the right for
workers to temporarily
switch to a 28-hour week to
care for children or elderly
relatives.
Employers say such a
drastic change would be
illegal and have threatened
to go to court to stop the
industrial action.
If the two sides can't agree
on the terms of the
negotiation by late January,
the stage could be set for
longer, more damaging
walkouts.
So-called "warning
strikes" are a familiar
feature of the annual
collective bargaining
process, with workers
downing tools for a few
hours to demonstrate at
factory gates and in town
squares.
But there has been no
nationwide, open-ended
strike in Germany since
2003.
IG Metall expects up to
700,000 to participate in
the ritual, running for at
least a week from Monday.
Strikes will stretch from
Germany's "rust belt" in
western North Rhine-
Westphalia state to
Brandenburg, Saxony and
Berlin in the former
communist east and the
hyper-modern car factories
of southwestern Baden-
Wuerttemberg.
At luxury carmaker
Porsche, a Volkswagen
subsidiary, workers flexed
their muscles last week with
a Thursday walkout.
Boasting some 2.3 million
members, IG Metall is
Europe's largest trade
union, representing workers
of all kinds in industrial
conglomerates like Siemens
or Thyssenkrupp,
steelmaking, the auto
industry, electronics and
textiles.
The sheer weight of the
metal and electrical
industries' 3.9 million
workers often draws other
sectors along in its wake
when it comes to pay dealsand
2018's showdown could
make for massive changes.
Unions are demanding a
pay rise of 6 percent this
year.
While the figure is triple
bosses' initial offer of 2
percent, it is a classic
starting position to wring
out a compromise, if
necessary urged along with
further bouts of industrial
action.
DSE, CSE open on
downbeat note
Following the previous
day's correction, the prices of
the most of the shares on both
bourses-the Dhaka Stock
Exchange (DSE) and the
Chittagong Stock Exchange
(CSE) -- witnessed negative
trend Monday as cautious
investors preferred booking
out profit, reports BSS.
DSEX, the benchmark
index of DSE, went down by
37.02 points or 37.02 percent
to 6,231 at 11:50 am.
The DSE Shariah Index
(DSES) shed over 5.63 points
or 5.63 percent to stand at
1,397.
The DS30 index,
comprising blue chips, also
lost 14.32 points or 0.62
percent to stand at 2,268.88
points.
Trade deals stood at 30,513
with volume of transactions at
Tk 1,429 million.
Of the issues traded till
then, 69 advanced, 170
declined and 69 remained
unchanged.
City Bank Ltd was the most
traded stocks with shares
worth Tk 85.17 million
changing hands till then
followed by National Tubes,
Paramount Textiles and IFAD
Autos.
Marcel Digital Registration Campaign
gets another 2 months extension
Deadline of the nationwide Digital
Registration Campaign, conducted by
one of the local electronics and electrical
appliances manufacturers 'Marcel', has
been extended by another 2 months up
to February 28, 2018. Earlier, the
deadline was December 31, 2017, says a
press release.
The local brand started the campaign
across the country on October 8, 2017 to
accelerate its initiative of providing
online based post sales service by
encouraging customers in registering
their products just after the purchase
from any Marcel outlets.
To make the campaign successful by
involving a good number of customers
in the company's digital service, Marcel
also offered different valued cash
vouchers, ranging from Tk 300 to Tk 1
lakh, on the products' registration
during the period of October 8 to
December 31 of 2017. Among the
registered customers, only those, who
purchased Tk 10,000 or its above priced
Marcel products, received maximum Tk
1 lakh worth cash vouchers, by which
they purchased the local brand's
products.
Dwelling on the extension of the
campaign's tenure, Marcel's Marketing
Head Dr Md. Shakhwat Hossen said the
campaign received sound response from
the customers. During the campaign, we
experienced a sharp rise in the list of its
online registered customers as a large
number of customers willingly
registered their appliances just after the
purchase by sending SMS from their
mobile phone sets.
To uphold the customer's
spontaneous mindset towards the
company's digital registration process in
the new year, Marcel extended the
campaign earlier deadline up to
February 28, 2018.
The extension will be resulted in not
only expediting the process of making
customers database on its online server
but also helping the company in
knowing customers feedback and as
well as providing swift post sales
services, he noted.
Earlier, Marcel undertook a initiative
of making digital customer database by
registering details of the customers and
their purchased products including the
name of customer, contact number and
the model of the product would be kept
and stored to provide improved post
sales services swiftly. Then, the
company urged the customers for
registering their appliances through
sending SMS from their handsets. But,
the company witnessed little response
from the customers.
Thus, Marcel commenced Digital
Registration Campaign to encourage
customers in registering their
appliances during the purchase, which
will ultimately expedite its online based
post sales service initiative.
The file photo shows one of the customers of Marcel, who got Tk 1 lakh cash voucher, pose for a photograph
with his family members while receiving the products purchased by the cash voucher. Photo: Courtesy
Vietnam's
credit growth
forecast at 19
pct in 2018
Vietnam's credit growth
is much likely to stand at
18-19 percent in 2018,
similar to the rates in the
last three years, the
National Financial
Supervisory Commission
said on Monday, reports
BSS.
This year, the proportion
of medium- and long-term
loans tends to drop, and
that of short-term loans
are expected to rise, while
consumer credit is
predicted to continue to
surge.
Meanwhile, mobilization
and lending interest rates
are forecast to be fairly
stable, increasing or
decreasing around 0.2
percentage points against
last year.
Vietnam posted a credit
growth of 19 percent in
2017. Specifically, it saw a
65-percent surge in
consumer credit which
represented 18 percent of
total loans, said the
commission.
Dhaka WASA will set up water
supply network in recently added 16
unions under two city corporations.
A contract was signed on Monday
between Dhaka WASA and Institute
of Water Modelling (IWM) in this
regard, a press release said.
IWM will complete the study by
German industrial
orders dip in
November
Industrial orders in Germany
fell in November, data showed
on Monday, but not enough to
derail the growth outlook for
Europe's biggest economy,
analysts said, reports BSS.
Industrial orders fell by 0.4
percent in November from the
preceding month, the federal
statistics office Destatis
calculated in a statement.
Analysts had been expecting
a bigger drop, following a 0.7-
percent increase in orders in
October. The economy
ministry in Berlin attributed
the dent to a drop in more
volatile larger orders, insisting
that, overall, contracts had
developed "very dynamically in
the second half of 2017." And
that would "lay the foundation
for a strong start to the year for
industry," the ministry said in a
statement.
HK stocks enjoy
tenth straight gain
Hong Kong stocks bounced
back from early losses to clock
up a tenth successive gain on
Monday, in line with another
rally across Asia and following
more records on Wall Street,
reports BSS.
The Hang Seng Index rose
0.28 percent, or 84.89 points, to
close at 30,899.53. The
benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index advanced 0.52
percent, or 17.73 points, to
3,409.48 and the Shenzhen
Composite Index, which tracks
stocks on China's second
exchange, climbed 0.22 percent,
or 4.18 points, to 1,945.98.
Asian markets mostly up
at start of week but Hong
Kong struggles
Most Asian markets rose on Monday
following yet more records on Wall Street
but Hong Kong turned lower after nine
days of gains, reports BSS.
Traders in New York pushed all three
main indexes ever higher on Friday,
unperturbed by a well-below-forecast jobs
reading with analysts saying the results
indicated the employment market was
tightening.
With the corporate earnings season
about to kick off, global equities continue
to see in the new year on a positive note,
with optimism boosted by a strong US
economy.
Greg McKenna, chief market strategist
at AxiTrader, said: "There is a growing
feeling that US stocks have entered the
final stage of this great bull market. That's
certainly a view that seems to be starting
to gain traction.
"But even as traders and investors worry
we are in the 'frothy' stage of the rally there
is still some reluctance to call a top. That
makes sense given the strength of the US
and global economy and the impetus from
the tax cuts."
However, he warned: "But sometime in
30 September, 2018 for next course
of actions. The unions are- Badda,
Beraid, Bhatara, Dakshinkhan,
Dumni, Harirampur, Satarkul &
Uttarkhan in North City
Corporation and Dakshingaon,
Derma, Dhania, Manda, Matuail,
Nasirabad, Sarulia & Shyampur
the next few months, all the good news
will be priced in."
In early trade, Hong Kong was down 0.2
percent after a run of nine straight gains
that have put the Hang Seng Index at its
highest level since late 2007.
Shanghai rose 0.1 percent, Sydney
added 0.2 percent and Singapore was 0.4
percent higher while Seoul put on 0.3
percent. Taipei and Manila were also
higher but Wellington dipped. Tokyo was
closed for a public holiday.
Investors were given a strong lead from
their US counterparts, who looked past
news that 148,000 new jobs were created
in December, well off the 190,000
expected.
However, Chris Conway, chief market
and trading specialist at Australian Stock
Report, said it was "still a fairly solid
number that fits with the tight labour
market theme".
Commentators pointed out that while
the reading was below-par, wages rose
and a tighter jobs market could in turn
lead to further increases in pay and higher
inflation, which would then push the
Federal Reserve to hike interest rates.
Dhaka WASA signs contract
with IWM
union of South City
Corporation.Dhaka WASA
Managing Director Engr. Taqsem A
Khan, IWM Executive DirectorDr.
Monowar Hossain andother high
officials concerned of both
organisations were present in the
signing ceremony.
Sudan student killed
in protests against
bread price rise
A student was killed in
Sudan on Sunday during
protests against soaring
bread prices, officials and
witnesses said, reports BSS.
Protests broke out in
areas of war-torn Darfur
and Blue Nile states as well
as the capital Khartoum
with demonstrators
burning tyres and blocking
roads and police firing tear
gas.
Bread prices more than
doubled this week as flour
manufacturers raised prices
amid dwindling wheat
supplies after the
government decided to stop
importing grain and
allowed private companies
to do so.
Anti-riot police fired tear
gas at hundreds of
students and residents
who staged rallies in the
towns of Geneina and
Nyala in Darfur and
Damazin in Blue Nile,
witnesses said.
"In the incidents that
occurred in Geneina, one
student was killed and six
other people were
wounded," Fadalelmola Al-
Haja, governor of West
Darfur of which Geneina is
the capital, said in a
statement.
"The situation is now
calm," he said without
specifying how the student
had been killed.
Anti-riot police also
clashed with stonethrowing
students outside
Khartoum University, an
AFP correspondent
reported. "No, no to high
bread prices!" chanted
students and residents in
Damazin as anti-riot police
broke up their rally,
witnesses said.
Pictures and videos of
protests were quickly
uploaded to social media
sites.
"The price of bread is only
rising in Nyala because
many bakeries closed due
to the shortage of flour,"
one resident told AFP by
telephone.
A government official in
Nyala said the situation
there was under control.
"Police have dispersed the
protesters. Our security
forces are ready to deal with
any disturbances," he said,
speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Bread prices soared after
the cost of flour surged to
450 Sudanese pounds
($25) for a 50-kilo (110-
pound) sack from 167
pounds.
Leading opposition
groups called for antigovernment
protests in
response to the price rise.
Earlier on Sunday,
security agents seized the
print runs of six
newspapers after they
criticised the government
over the rising cost of bread.
"No reason was given for
confiscating copies of our
newspaper, but I think it
was due to our transparent
coverage of the food price
rise," said Hanadi Al-Sidiq,
editor of Akhbar Al-Watan
which saw its entire run
seized along with Al-Tayar,
Al-Mustagilla, Al-Karar, Al-
Midan and Al-Assayha
newspapers.
Sudanese media are often
targeted over their
reporting. The country
regularly ranks near the
bottom of international
press freedom rankings.
There were also sporadic
protests in late 2016 after
the government cut fuel
subsidies.
The authorities cracked
down on those protests in
an attempt to prevent a
repeat of deadly unrest that
followed an earlier round of
subsidy cuts in 2013.
Dozens of people were
killed in 2013 when security
forces crushed large street
demonstrations, drawing
i n t e r n a t i o n a l
condemnation.

MISCELLANEOUS tueSdAY,
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
11
JAnuArY 9, 2018
Armed clashes kill 11 in
Mexico's troubled
Guerrero state
International Desk: Violent clashes
involving gunmen, a community police
force and state police killed 11 people in the
troubled southern state of Guerrero on
Sunday, while a separate series of shootouts
the previous night left seven dead in the
northern Mexico beach resort of San Jose
del Cabo, reports BBC.
Guerrero state security spokesman
Roberto Alvarez said eight people were
initially killed when gunmen ambushed
community police before dawn in the town
of La Concepcion, near the resort city of
Acapulco. Two of the dead were from the
community force.
Later in the morning, state police arrived
to disarm the local agents, and another
shootout erupted in which three people
were killed. Alvarez said he did not know
how they died, but local media said they
were community police. State Attorney
General Xavier Olea Pelaez said 30
members of the community police were
detained on suspicion of crimes including
homicide and illegal weapons and drug
possession.
Among those arrested was Marco
Antonio Suastegui, the founder of the
community force and the leader of a social
movement that for over a decade has fought
against a hydroelectric project in the
region. Photojournalist Bernandino
Hernandez said that while covering the
violence he was beaten, kicked and dragged
by state police and forcibly relieved of his
camera's memory cards. He also witnessed
several other journalists being treated
GD-42/18 (6 x 3)
GD-40/18 (7 x 3)
roughly.
Hernandez said he had photographed
police using force against locals who tried
to prevent the arrest of the community
agents: "Some people were dragged by the
hair to take them away." Hernandez is a
regular contributor of photographs to The
Associated Press but was not on
assignment for AP at the time.
Guerrero has been one of Mexico's most
violent states in recent years, home to
marijuana and opium poppy fields as well
as warring organized crime gangs. It's also
where 43 teachers college students
disappeared in 2014 after being taken by
police from the city of Iguala who allegedly
handed them over to a drug cartel. They
remain missing.
In the northern state of Baja California
Sur, prosecutors said in a statement that
marines responding Saturday night to
reports of gunfire in San Jose del Cabo
came upon heavily armed men wearing
tactical vests and riding in two vehicles with
license plates from the U.S. state of
California. Both vehicles sped off with the
marines in pursuit and subsequently
crashed, the statement said. In two
separate exchanges of gunfire, all seven of
the cars' occupants were shot dead by
marines. Baja California Sur has also seen
an explosion of violence as the Sinaloa and
Jalisco New Generation cartels battle for
territory in the state. In late December, four
bodies were found hanging from highway
overpasses in the resort-studded Los Cabos
area.
Car bomb kills
23 in Syrian
rebel-held
Idlib city
International Desk: A
large car bombing in
Syria's largest rebel-held
city of Idlib killed at least
23 people on Sunday
evening, activists
reported, reports BBC.
The blast ignited fires,
damaged buildings and
overturned several cars
along a wide avenue in the
city, according to photos
and video posted by the
activist-run Thiqa News
Agency and Baladi News
Agencies. Ambulances
and fire brigades were
seen rushing to the scene.
Idlib is the capital of a
province by the same
name that is controlled by
several rebel factions,
including an al-Qaidalinked
group, vying for
dominance as government
forces are pushing an
offensive into the
southeast corner of the
region. The bombing took
place outside an office of
an insurgent group called
Ajnad al-Koukaz,
according to the Britainbased
Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights and a
local media activist who
declined to be named out
of fear of reprisals. The
faction is made up of
foreign fighters, mostly
from the Caucuses and
Russia, said the media
activist. It is in alliance
with an al-Qaida-linked
faction that dominates the
province, according to
Observatory's chief Rami
Abdurrahman.
It was not immediately
clear who was behind the
attack. There were no
sounds of an airstrike,
according to local activist
Abdulghani Dabaan.
Residents said they
believed it was a car bomb.
Initial reports said 18 were
killed but the death toll
quickly rose to 23. Dozens
were reported wounded,
and at least 35 were
brought to one of the city's
hospitals, according to
Mohammad al-Shaghal, a
medical technician.
The explosion came
hours after the Syrian
military announced it had
recaptured a strategically
important town in eastern
Idlib. The state-affiliated
Al-Ikhbariya TV says
government forces took
Sinjar on Sunday. The
Observatory said the
advance "opens the road"
for the government troops
to march on the rebel-held
Abu Zuhour air base,
about 19 kilometers (12
miles), to the north.
The military has
assigned one of its top
commanders to lead the
offensive into Idlib, the
last major stronghold for
rebels in northern Syria.
The U.N. says more than
2.5 million people are
currently living in Idlib,
including more than 1
million displaced by
fighting from other parts
the Syria.
Vietnam tries former
oil executives in
widened crackdown
International Desk:
Vietnam has begun a
major corruption trial
against defendants who
include a former senior
Communist official and a
former oil executive the
Vietnamese government
is accused of snatching
from Germany, reports
BBC.
Dinh La Thang, a former
Politburo member and
former chairman of state
energy
giant
PetroVietnam, is accused
of mismanagement in a
thermal power plant.
Trinh Xuan Thanh, a
former chairman of
PetroVietnam's
construction arm, is
accused of the same
charge as well as
embezzlement.
Thang is the first former
Politburo member to face
prosecution in decades. In
August, Germany accused
Vietnam of kidnaping
Thanh from a Berlin park
in an incident that
strained bilateral ties.
Malaysian opposition names
Mahathir as PM choice
International Desk: Malaysia's
opposition alliance has named 92-
year-old former Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad as its prime
minister candidate for upcoming
general elections to boost its chances
of wrestling power from a coalition
that has ruled since independence,
reports Reuters.
The announcement Sunday by the
four-party Hope Alliance puts an end
to squabbling over the thorny issue
and is seen as a major show of unity
ahead of polls that must be held by
August but are widely expected in the
second quarter.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has
clung to power despite an epic
corruption scandal that involved
hundreds of millions of dollars
passing through his bank accounts.
Support for his ruling National Front
coalition has dwindled in the last two
elections. In 2013, the coalition lost
the national popular vote for the first
time to the opposition. Analysts said
the opposition still faces an uphill
battle due to party infighting,
unfavorable electoral boundary
changes and strong support for the
government from rural ethnic Malays.
Israel lists 20 groups to be denied
entry over boycott calls
International Desk: Israel on Sunday
identified 20 activist groups from
around the world whose members will
be banned from entering the country
over their calls to boycott the Jewish
state, stepping up its fight against a
movement it views as a serious threat,
reports BBC.
Israel last year enacted a law that
would ban any activist who
"knowingly issues a public call for
boycotting Israel." The list made
public Sunday, which includes a Nobel
Peace Prize winning organization,
follows up on that legislation.
A statement by the Strategic Affairs
Ministry said those who have carried
out "significant, ongoing and
consistent harm to Israel through
advocating boycotts may be
considered to have their entry barred."
It said "central figures in key boycott
organizations" risked being prevented
"Clearly the opposition is trying
hard to prove that they are united. It is
a potential risk (to Najib) as Mahathir
is still attractive to the Malays but the
government still has the upper hand
due to an unlevel playing field," said
Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who heads the
think tank Institute for Democracy
and Economic Affairs. Government
leaders scorned the candidacy of
Mahathir, who will be the world's
oldest leader if the opposition wins.
Government minister Abdul Rahman
Dahlan called his candidacy a
stumbling block to the opposition's
reform agenda.
Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving
leader for 22 years before stepping
down in 2003, was an authoritarian
who made a high-profile return to
politics in a bid to oust his protege
Najib. Najib has sacked critics in his
own government including an
attorney general and deputy prime
minister and muzzled the media since
the scandal erupted two years ago.
The U.S. and several other countries
are investigating allegations of crossborder
embezzlement and money
laundering at 1MDB, a state
investment fund set up and previously
entry. The 2017 law does not apply to
Israeli citizens, the statement said.
"The boycott organizations must
know that the state of Israel will act
against them," Strategic Affairs
Minister Gilad Erdan said in a
statement. "The creation of this list is
another step in our struggle against
the incitement and lies of the boycott
organizations."
The list is part of Israel's efforts
against a grassroots movement known
as BDS, which calls for boycotts,
divestment and sanctions against
Israel over its policies toward the
Palestinians. The movement has
urged businesses, artists and
universities to sever ties with Israel
and it includes thousands of
volunteers around the world.
Supporters of the movement say the
tactics are a nonviolent way to
promote the Palestinian cause. Israel
led by Najib to promote economic
development but which accumulated
billions in debt. Najib has denied any
wrongdoing.
The opposition coalition Sunday
also agreed on allocation of seats for
the polls and to limit the prime
minister's tenure to two terms if they
win. The coalition, which includes the
party led by jailed former deputy
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, also
said they will seek a royal pardon for
him so that Anwar can take over from
Mahathir as the next prime minister.
Anwar was Mahathir's deputy until
he was sacked in a power struggle in
1998 and later imprisoned on charges
of corruption and sodomy that Anwar
said were trumped up. Anwar was
freed in 2004 but in 2015 he returned
to prison following a second sodomy
conviction that critics said was a
political conspiracy to break up the
opposition. He is due for release in
June.
Mahathir told The Associated Press
in an interview last year that the
opposition could win a simple
majority in the polls by tapping into
anger at Najib's corruption scandal
and rising cost of living.
says the campaign goes beyond
fighting its occupation of territory
Palestinians claim for their state and
often masks a more far-reaching aim
to delegitimize or destroy the Jewish
state.
The listed groups, from the United
States, France, South Africa and
beyond, count thousands of people as
members. They were chosen because
they are the main ones who "operate
consistently and continuously"
against Israel, according to Erdan's
office. American Friends Service
Committee, a Quaker group on the
list, said it would continue to work for
"peace and justice." The group,
together with a British Quaker
organization, won a Nobel Peace Prize
in 1947 for assisting World War II
refugees.
The U.S.-based Jewish Voice for
Peace was also blacklisted.
GD-43/18 (10 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY
TuESDAy, DHAKA, JANuARy 9, 2018, PouSH 26, 1424 BS, RABI-uS-SAANI 21, 1439 HIJRI
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday addressing the opening of Police Week at Rajarbagh Police
Lines on Monday morning.
Photo : PID
President asks police to ensure
'harassment-free' services
DHAKA : President Abdul Hamid
yesterday asked police to work cordially
with utmost devotion so that
no service-seeker was harassed anyway
as he joined a reception to mark
the Police Week 2018.
"Ensure harassment-free services
to the people keeping in mind that
getting proper services is serviceseekers
the constitutional right . . .
it's not any kindness or donation on
anyone's part", the president told
the function at Bangladesh Police
Auditorium at Rajarbag Police Lines
here.
The president reminded the
policemen that ordinary people usually
prefer to keep away from police
or police stations and only seek
police help when they are exposed to
extreme helplessness.
"The people could develop full
confidence in police whenever they
would be able to think police as their
friends and get expected services
during their bad times," he said.
President Hamid, however, noted
that police force played very significant
role in improving law and order
all over the country and particularly
put in its relentless efforts to contain
Japan's Fruit-Shaped
Bus Stops
INTERESTING NEWS
Bus stops come in all shapes and sizes.
In the small Japanese town of Konagai, in
the outskirts of Isahaya, in Nagasaki
Prefecture, they come in five different flavors
— watermelon, strawberry, orange,
muskmelon and tomato. These quirky bus
stops were originally built for the 1990
Travel Expo in order to attract visitors
arriving from various location.
The actual Expo was hosted by the city of
Osaka. It ran for a straight six months and
attracted over 23 million visitors. The fair
was such a success that a host of smaller
terrorism and militancy, arrest
criminals and submit rapidly
charge-sheets of sensational cases.
President Hamid said the police
has also important role in the country's
socio-economic development
by maintaining law and order, providing
protection of public lives and
property and establishment of rule
of law.
"The improvement of law and
order is the prerequisite to stability
and advancement of a country. If
the law and order situation and public
safety are hampered, the development
becomes stagnant, people
feel insecure, investment is
obstructed and the overall economy
gets a setback," he said.
He said it is noticed in the newspapers
that the cybercrime is uprising
gradually and those who
engaged in the crimes are mostly
juvenile and young generation.
Mentioning that drug addiction
and abuse of narcotics lead the
young generation to crimes, the
President put emphasis on implementing
"Zero Tolerance Policy"
against illegal drugs.
The President hoped that each
fairs expressing related themes were held
across Japan. Konagai too held an exhibition
entitled “Nagasaki Journey”, and
these sixteen fruit-shaped bus shelters
were part of it. Since then, the stands have
become a local tourist attraction in the
region. Konagai’s fruity bus stops gained a
wider audience after 2005 when the town,
along with four others, were merged into
the larger city of Isahaya, allowing them to
be discovered by more travellers and
tourists. The bus stops are still functional
and have held remarkably well for a quarter
of a century. They appear to be well
maintained too.
member of Bangladesh police
would perform their duty with
utmost professionalism, sincerity
and honesty to fulfill the expectation
of the country and its people
being imbued with the spirit of the
1971 liberation War.
At the outset of the speech, the
President paid rich tribute to the
founding Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, the patriotic soldiers who
embraced martyrdom during the
War of Liberation, specially the
police members who were brutally
killed in the 25 March black night in
1971, and others who made their
supreme sacrifice in different democratic
movement and for ensure the
right of the mass people.
Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad Shirin
Sharmin Chaudhury, Acting Chief
Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah,
Home Minister Asaduzzaman
Khan, Inspector General of Police
(IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque, Public
Security Division Secretary Mostafa
Kamal Uddin, senior police officials
and secretaries concerned to the
President, among others, were present
on the occasion.
SC upholds HC
bail order for
Apan Jewellers
owners
DHAKA : The Appellate
Division of the Supreme Court
on Monday upheld the High
Court order that granted bail
to three owners of Apan
Jewellers in three money
laundering cases, reports
UNB.
The five-member bench of
acting Chief Justice Abdul
Wahhab Miah passed the
order after rejecting the petition
filed by the state.
The owners are Dildar
Ahmed, Gulzar Ahmed and
Azad Ahmed.
Following Monday's order,
there is no bar to release two
of Apan Jewellers' owners
from jail except Dildar Ahmed
as he is accused in another
case, said Barrister Sheikh
Fazle Noor Taposh, counsel of
the defendants.
Earlier on January 2, the
apex court 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.
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 December 21 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.
Bodies of migrants
from KSA to be
brought back
DHAKA : The government
has taken steps to
bring back the bodies of 10
migrant workers killed in a
road accident in Jizan
province of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia (KSA) on
Saturday, reports BSS.
Referring to Expatriates'
Welfare and Overseas
Employment Ministry,
Mostafa Jamil Khan, an
official of Bangladesh
Consulate General Office in
Jeddah, told BSS that all
necessary steps have been
taken to bring back the
bodies within 20-21 days
after the completion of formalities
of Saudi Arabian
government.
Each family of the
deceased will get Taka 35
thousand for the burial and
each family will get Taka
3,00,000 as financial assistance
from Wage Earners'
Welfare Fund as per the
government rules.
Ministry sources said
concerned Saudi Arabian
company will provide the
insurance money and
financial assistance.
Expatriates' Welfare and
Overseas Minister Nurul
Islam BSc expressed profound
shock at the deaths
of migrant workers in the
road accident in Saudi
Arabia.
On January 6, the accident
took place when the
workers were going to their
workplace.
Khaleda's cases transferred for
sake of her security: Anisul
DHAKA : Law, Justice and Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said
the government has no political agenda
behind transferring cases against BNP chairperson
Begum Khaleda Zia to Bakshibazar
temporary court, instead it was done for the
sake of her security, reports BSS.
"Government has no political agenda here.
Whenever she appears before court for hearing,
around three to four hundred people
turns up at the place. So for the sake of maintaining
law and order and safeguarding her
security, the cases were transferred to the
temporary court," Anisul said.
Earlier in the day the ministry issued a
gazette, transferring as many as 14 cases
against Khaleda Zia to Bakshibazar temporary
court.
Signed by joint secretary Bikash Kumar
Saha, the gazette said the government is
declaring the building constructed on the
field adjacent to former Dhaka Central Jail
and Government Alia Madrasa as temporary
court and the hearing of the said cases will be
held there.
According to the gazette, of the 14 cases,
nine were transferred from Dhaka
Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, three
from Special Judge Court and two from
Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Swotontro Ebtedayee Madrasa Teacher Association registered by Bangladesh Madrasa Board stage
demo in front of National Press Club yesterday.
Photo: Star mail
No compromise with
quality of drugs: Nasim
DHAKA : Health and
Family Welfare Minister
Mohammed Nasim categorically
said yesterday that the
government would not compromise
on the question of
quality medicine, reports
BSS
"Question does not arise
on quality compromise of
drugs as it deals with health
issues. Bangladesh's pharmaceutical
industry has a
strong position in global
pharmaceutical market after
meeting the local
demand...We have to
expand the international
market by supplying quality
drugs at cheaper rate,"
Nasim said. The minister
came up with the remarks
while addressing a meeting
at the office of Directorate of
Drug Administration in
city's Mohakhali area. Prime
Minister's Private Sector
Development Affairs
Advisor Salman F Rahman,
Secretary General of
Bangladesh Oushad Shilpa
Now tannery wastes
polluting Dhaleshwari
Samity Nazmul Hasan
Papan, Abdul Muktadir and
concerned officials were present
with Director General,
Directorate of General Drug
Administration Major
General Mustafizur Rahman
in the chair. Directorate of
Drug Administration organised
the meeting on declaring
the pharmaceutical
products, including their
raw materials, as the
Products of the Year-2018
by the Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina on Jan 1,
2018.
Nasim said the government
would meet the manpower
demand of the directorate
and promotions so
that the directorate could
contribute more to pharmaceutical
sector. "The government
is working to construct
Active Pharmaceuticals
Ingredients Park on a 200-
acre area at Gazaria,
Munshiganj district, with a
capacity to accommodate
industrial units on 42 plots
to develop the industry," he
added. PM's Private Sector
Development Affairs
Advisor Salman F Rahman
said, "Once the API
Industrial Park starts operating,
the country's medicine
exports will increase as
Bangladesh has been exporting
medicines to some 80
countries including the USA
now." Terming the country
as one of the cheapest
sources of quality drugs,
Papan said "Bangladesh will
export medicines to 106
more countries soon."
Organizers
said
Bangladesh's pharmaceutical
industry is now on the
road to attaining self-sufficiency
meeting local
demand. The industry is a
big contributor to the
national exchequer, they
added.
Foreign exchange earnings
from drug exports
crossed Tk 700 crore in the
2016-17 fiscal, they mentioned.
SAVAR : Though most tanneries have
already been relocated to Savar from the capital's
Hazaribagh area to save the Buriganga
River, the untreated poisonous wastes from the
leather factories are now seriously polluting
another major river, the Dhaleshwari, putting
its existence and biodiversity at staket, said
experts.
They said the water quality of the river has
seriously degraded due to the direct disposal of
liquid and solid wastes, including the high level
of concentrated chromium and salt, and faulty
installation of central effluent treatment plant
(CETP), reports UNB.
Talking to UNB, water experts Prof Ainun
Nishat and Buet Prof Md Mujibur Rahman and
green activists Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan
(Bapa) general secretary MA Matin and Savar
River and Environment Protection Movement
president Rafiqul Islam Mollah said the government
must take immediate steps for making
the CETP at the tannery estate fully functional
fixing its problems, and creating a
dumping place for solid wastes, including
unused rawhides. They also said proper action
also needs to be taken to check other untreated
industrial and domestic wastes, chemicals, and
heavy metals, and enforce law to save the
Dhaleshwari River, and its biodiversity and
inhabitants on its banks.
Locals told UNB that said aquatic resources,
including fish, have almost become extinct in
the river as its water has got seriously contaminated
with the releasing of huge untreated
waste and salty water from the tanneries every
day. Visiting the river bank near the new tannery
estate on Friday, it was seen that all kinds
of hazardous wastes from the tanneries are
flowing into the river through drains and four
big pipelines.
Bodies of migrants
from KSA to be
brought back
DHAKA : The government
has taken steps to bring back
the bodies of 10 migrant
workers killed in a road accident
in Jizan province of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
(KSA) on Saturday, reports
BSS.
Referring to Expatriates'
Welfare and Overseas
Employment Ministry,
Mostafa Jamil Khan, an official
of Bangladesh Consulate
General Office in Jeddah,
told BSS that all necessary
steps have been taken to
bring back the bodies within
20-21 days after the completion
of formalities of Saudi
Arabian government.
Each family of the
deceased will get Taka 35
thousand for the burial and
each family will get Taka
3,00,000 as financial assistance
from Wage Earners'
Welfare Fund as per the government
rules.
Ministry sources said concerned
Saudi Arabian company
will provide the insurance
money and financial
assistance.
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.
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