The Bangladesh Today (21-01-2018)

Sunday 

Dhaka : January 21, 2018; Magh 8, 1424 BS; Jamadi-ul-awal 3, 1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtlive.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.36; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

InTeRnaTIOnal 

S Korea asks 

North to explain 

canceled visit 

>Page 7 

aRT & CulTuRe 

A clever idea that 

fails to take off 

>Page 8 

SPORT 

Pele resting at home as 

hospital reports are 

denied by spokesperson 

>Page 9 

Rohingya crisis growing, more 

support needed: World Bank 

DHAKA : The Rohingya crisis in 

Bangladesh is growing at a rapid 

pace and there is an urgent need to 

support the host communities to 

cope with the influx and to help the 

refugees who are extremely vulnerable, 

the World Bank said on 

Saturday, reports UNB. 

After visiting the Rohingya camps 

in the Cox's Bazar area, World Bank 

South Asia Region Vice President 

Annette Dixon praised the government 

of Bangladesh and its people 

for sheltering and caring for the large 

influx of Rohingya fleeing violence in 

Myanmar. 

She said the World Bank was ready 

to work with the government to help 

the host community and the displaced 

Rohingya people in Cox's 

Bazar. 

"The scale of the influx is enormous. 

As far as the eyes can see, lines 

after lines of shelters-made of plastic 

sheets and bamboos-stretched over 

the deforested hills. 

It is creating huge pressure on the 

infrastructure and services as well as 

on the water resources and the environment. 

When the monsoon 

approaches, the challenges with disease 

and natural disasters will 

increase," she said. 

She visited the registered and 

makeshift camps and spoke with the 

Rohingya and the local community. 

She also visited registration centers, 

health and food distribution centers, 

children centers and women-friendly 

spaces. 

"The people and the government of 

Bangladesh have shown great generosity 

to the Rohingya people in 

4 'robbers' killed 

in 'gunfights' 

in Jessore 

JESSORE : Four suspected robbers 

were killed in separate 'gunfights 

with their cohorts' in Sadar and 

Jhikargaccha upazilas early 

Saturday, reports UNB. 

The identities of the deceased 

could not be known yet. 

On information about a gunfight 

between two groups of robbers, a 

team of police conducted a drive in 

Nagorpur area of Sadar upazila 

around 2:20 am and recovered bullet-hit 

bodies of two robbers, said 

Azmal Huda, officer-in-charge of 

Sadar Police Station. 

Police also recovered 2 shutter 

guns, 2 rounds of bullet, four 

machetes and sharp weapons. 

In Jhikargaccha upazila, police 

recovered the bodies of two suspected 

robbers, believed to be killed in a 

gunfight with their cohorts, from 

Chapatola village around 3am. 

A foreign made pistol, 2 rounds 

of bullet and four machetes and 

sharp weapons were recovered 

from the spot, said Masud Karim, 

officer-in-charge of Jhikargaccha 

police station. 

Zohr 

05:26 AM 

12:13 PM 

04:00 PM 

05:41 PM 

06:55 PM 

6:42 5:37 

their hour of need. As soon as the crisis 

broke, with the government, the 

local and international Non- 

Governmental Organizations 

(NGOs) and development partners 

extended support. This helped save 

thousands of lives," Dixon said. 

"But the needs are much greater. If 

the government seeks assistance, we 

can mobilize more resources to 

address the needs of both the host 

communities and the Rohingya people 

in a way that will continue to 

benefit the local people after the 

Rohingya leave." 

Dixon met local government officials 

and representatives of the many 

Bangladeshi and international relief 

agencies and NGOs that are working 

to support the Rohingya population 

in the Cox's Bazar area. 

Earlier in the week, Dixon spoke at 

the invitation of the government at 

the Bangladesh Development Forum 

in Dhaka. She praised Bangladesh's 

remarkable success in reducing 

poverty and advancing development. 

In the recent years, the World 

Bank support to Bangladesh has 

expanded. Currently, the World 

Bank's support stands at nearly $10 

billion, which represents a more 

than doubling in the last five years. 

The World Bank was among the 

first development partners to support 

Bangladesh following its independence. 

Since then, the World 

Bank has committed close to $27 billion 

in grants and interest-free credits 

to the country. 

Absence of witnesses delays 

trial in CPB blast cases 

DHAKA : The trial in the cases relating 

to the blasts at a rally of the 

Communist Party of Bangladesh 

(CPB) at Paltan Maidan on January 

20, 2001 is lingering due to absence of 

witnesses from the court. 

"The trial in the CPB rally blast cases 

is not progressing as expected as the 

witnesses have not appeared before 

the court despite several summonses 

issued against them," Dhaka 

Metropolitan Public Prosecutor 

Abdullah Abu told BSS. 

The blasts killed four people and left 

several hundred injured. 

Asked about the reason of absence of 

witnesses from the court, Abdullah said, 

"The witnesses might have changed 

their addresses for which the summonses 

have not yet been executed." 

"But, we are trying our best to complete 

the trial in the quickest possible 

time," he said, adding that the court has 

already recorded testimony of two prosecution 

witnesses. 

Two separate cases-one for murder 

and one under explosives act-were 

lodged in this regard. After 12 years of 

the attack, the Criminal Investigation 

US govt shuts down; Dems, GOP blame each other 

TBT file photo 

Department (CID) on November 27 in 

2013 submitted charge sheets in the 

cases to the court accusing 13 HuJI 

members. 

Earlier on Aug 21, 2014, a Dhaka 

court indicted 13 operatives of the 

banned militants' outfit Harkat-ul- 

Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) including its top 

leader Mufti Abdul Hannan in a murder 

case linked with the January 20, 2001 

blasts at a CPB rally on Paltan Maidan 

in the capital city. 

Of the accused, Huji chief Mufti 

Hannan was hanged on April 12, 2017 

in a case relating to explosion of bombs 

at Sylhet Shrine targeting the then 

British High Commissioner to 

Bangladesh Anwar Chowdhury on May 

21 in 2004 in which three people were 

killed and over 50 injured. 

Of the other accused, Mufti 

Mainuddin Sheikh, Arif Hassan 

Sumon, Maulana Sabbir Ahmed, 

Maulana Shawkat Osman and Md 

Moshiur Rahman are in jail while Mufti 

Abdul Hai, Shafiqur Rahman, Jahangir 

Alam Badar, Md Nur Islam, Mohibul 

Mustakin, Anisur Rahman and Rafiqul 

Alam are at large. 

WASHINGTON : The federal government 

shut down at the stroke of midnight 

Friday, halting all but the most essential 

operations and marring the one-year 

anniversary of President Donald Trump's 

inauguration in a striking display of 

Washington dysfunction, reports AP. 

Last-minute negotiations crumbled as 

Senate Democrats blocked a four-week 

stopgap extension in a late-night vote, 

causing the fourth governmentshutdownin 

a quarter century. Behind the scenes, 

however, leading Republicans and 

Democrats were already moving toward a 

next step, trying to work out a compromise 

to avert a lengthyshutdown. 

Since theshutdownbegan at the start of 

a weekend, many of the immediate effects 

will be muted for most Americans. But 

any damage could build quickly if the closure 

is prolonged. And it comes with no 

shortage of embarrassment for the president 

and political risk for both parties, as 

they wager that voters will punish the 

other at the ballot box in November. 

Share market 

not a place for 

speculations: Muhith 

SYLHET : Finance Minister AMA 

Muhith on Saturday said the share 

market is not a place for speculations 

and those who think so are its 

enemies, reports UNB. 

"The present government has 

been able to strengthen the base of 

the country's share market. Now it's 

time for its further development," 

he said. 

Muhith was addressing the 

'Investors and Entrepreneurs 

Conference and Investment 

Education Fair, 2018' at a convention 

centre in the city. 

Addressing the programme, the 

finance minister said once there 

was no discipline in the share market 

and the Bangladesh Securities 

and Exchange Commission (BSEC) 

has restored discipline in the sector 

with its seven years of efforts. 

"The share market is very important 

for the empowerment of mass 

people," Muhith said urging potential 

investors to invest in the share 

market after attaining proper 

knowledge about it. 

Expressing satisfaction over the 

present state of the share market, 

the minister said the market has 

now achieved international standards. 

"The share market in 

Bangladesh is a rapidly growing 

sector overcoming all the obstacles." 

BSEC Chairman Dr M Khairul 

Hossian delivered the welcome 

speech at the programme. 

Nat'l polls not to 

hamper Rohingya 

repatriation: FM 

DHAKA : Foreign Minister AH 

Mahmood Alion Saturday said the 

Rohingya repatriation process will 

not be hampered due to the upcoming 

national election, reports UNB. 

"Why, I don't see any reason," he 

said terming the progress made so 

far on Rohingya repatriation a big 

success for the government and 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

The Foreign Minister said the 

repatriation is an ongoing process 

and all people should help government 

take it forward successfully. 

Minister Ali laid emphasis on 

continuing international pressure 

on Myanmar to resolve the 

Rohingya crisis. "It (pressure) 

needs to continue until repatriation 

is completed." 

The Foreign Minister was talking 

to private Television Channel24 

after a cultural event in the city. 

Earlier, he attended the opening 

ceremony of a weeklong travelling 

exhibition 'Anne Frank - a history 

for today' that went on display at 

the Liberation War Museum in the 

city. 

Ambassador of the Netherlands to 

Bangladesh Leoni Cuelenaere and 

Bangladesh Ambassador to the 

Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed 

Belal were present. 

Organisers said students, teachers 

and the general public can visit the 

exhibition which has been translated 

into Bengali untilJanuary 27. 

Social Security and most other safety net 

programs are unaffected by the lapse in 

federal spending authority. Critical government 

functions will continue, with uniformed 

service members, health inspectors 

and law enforcement officers set to 

work without pay. But if no deal is brokered 

before Monday, hundreds of thousands 

of federal employees will be furloughed. 

After hours of closed-door meetings and 

phone calls, the Senate scheduled its latenight 

vote on a House-passed plan. It 

gained 50 votes to proceed to 49 against, 

but 60 were needed to break a Democratic 

filibuster. 

A handful of red-state Democrats 

crossed the aisle to support the measure, 

rather than take a politically risky vote. 

Four Republicans voted in opposition. 

Dhaka University teacher, Jobaer Alam, also the editor and 

publisher of ‘The Bangladesh Today’ calls on Atiqul Islam who 

has been finally nominated from AL for the mayoral election of 

DNCC. Jobaer Alam, also the mayoral aspirant of ruling 

Awami League, greeted him with floral wreath and assured full 

support in the election as per direction of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina. 

Photo: TBT 

Greens blame DoE for 

spread of polythene bag 

DHAKA : Green activists here on 

Saturday alleged that the polythene shopping 

bag ban law has become ineffective 

due to 'inaction' of the Department of 

Environment (DoE), reports UNB. 

Speaking at a human chain programme, 

they also said the widespread 

use of polythene bags from shopping 

malls to kitchen markets gives an impression 

that the DoE has forgotten that it has 

a responsibility to implement the law and 

check the production and use of nonbiodegradable 

polythene bags. 

Poribesh Banchao Andolon (Poba) and 

16 other environmental and social organisations 

formed the human chain in front 

of the Jatiya Press Club demanding proper 

implementation of the law enacted in 

20012 banning the polythene bags. 

Speaking at the programme, Poba general 

secretary Abdus Sobhan said around 

1,200 factories in the capital and elsewhere 

across the country are regularly 

producing the banned polythene bags 

thanks to the lack of monitoring by the 

DoE and law enforcers. "There're over 

Rohingyas share horrific tales 

of torture with UN envoy 

DHAKA : Students of Dhaka 

University (DU) on Saturday staged 

a demonstration demanding the 

withdrawal of false cases filed 

against 50 unnamed students for 

allegedly nvandalising the gate of 

the proctor's office, reports UNB. 

Under the banner of 'Students 

Against Repression', more than one 

hundred students attended the demonstration 

held at the foot of the Raju 

Sculpture on the university campus. 

They also demanded the removal 

of proctor Golam Rabbani, and 

action against those leaders and 

activists of Bangladesh Chhatra 

League (BCL) accused of assaulting 

female students recently. 

"We want immediate punishment of 

the assailants and resignation of the 

DU proctor who filed case against the 

students instead of taking steps 

against the aggressors," said Masud 

300 polythene factories alone at the old 

part of Dhaka." 

He also alleged that a number of influential 

syndicates are involved in polythene 

bag trading and marketing. 

Sobhan said the production and the use 

of polythene bags are growing alarmingly 

for lack of the government's strong political 

will and insincerity on part of the DoE, 

police administration and National Board 

of Revenue in enforcing the law. 

Citing a study report, he said over two 

crores of polythene is used in Dhaka city 

every day alone. 

The other speakers urged the government 

to take steps for stopping the production 

of polythene and tissue shopping 

bags, bringing the producers and users of 

the bags under law, making alternative 

bags like jute, paper and clothes-made 

ones available in the market and encouraging 

people to use those instead of polythene 

bags. 

In 2002, the then government enacted 

a law banning the production, supply, sale 

and use of polythene as shopping bags. 

Al Mahadi, a Masters student of Mass 

Communication and Journalism 

Department. They also announced a 

protest rally on Sunday centering 

the same demand. 

On January 15, BCL leaders 

allegedly assaulted a group of students, 

including females, while they 

were demonstrating in front of the 

VCs office against DU's awarding of 

affiliation status to 7 new colleges 

that the students feel are not up to 

the mark. 

Two days later, last Wednesday, 

the students protesting against the 

BCL assault besieged the proctor in 

his office. They tore down the collapsible 

gate of the building after 

the authorities locked it seeing them 

coming. 

For this act of 'vandalism', the DU 

authorities filed a case on Thursday 

suing 50 unnamed students.

NEWS 

SuNDAY, 

2 

JANuARY 21, 2018 

Annual cultural and literature competition of Chatul High School under Boalmari upazila was held. 

Photo : Star Mail 

Couple killed in 

C’nawabganj road crash 

CHAPAINAWABGANJ : A man and his wife were killed in a 

road accident at Ranihati on Chapainawabganj-Sonamasjid 

highway in Shibganj upazila on Saturday noon, reports UNB. 

The deceased were identified as Aslam Uddin alias 

Enamul, 65, and his wife Miniara Begum, 55-residents of 

Islampur area of the district town. 

Officer-in-charge of Shibganj Police Station Habibul Islam 

Habib said when the couple was going to Rashiknagr village 

of the upazila in a motorbike a truck hit their motorbike 

around 12:15, leaving the duo dead on the spot. 

On information, police recovered the bodies and seized the 

truck. 

'Drug trader' held with 

20,000 Yaba tablets in Ctg 

CHITTAGONG : Members of Narcotics Control Department 

arrested an alleged Yaba trader along with 20,000 Yaba 

tablets from Moizyar Tek area under Karnaphuli thana early 

Saturday. 

The arrestee is Md Ismail, 34, son of Nazir Ahmmed of 

Nasorpara area in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar district. 

Shamim Ahmmed, deputy-director of Narcotics Control 

Department(Chittagong metropolitan region), said on secret 

information, a team raided a bus of 'Unique Paribahan' and 

arrested Ismail along with the Yaba tablets worth Tk 40 lakh, 

reports UNB. 

GD-101/18 (10 x 3) 

How will ‘me too’ 

alter things? 

Oscar campaigns from Kevin Spacey to Dustin Hoffman 

have already bit the dust. Before Franco ("The Disaster 

Artist") was awkwardly answering tough questions from 

Stephen Colbert he was a borderline best actor contender, 

slotting in behind Gary Oldman ("Darkest 

Hour"), Timothee Chalamet ("Call Me By Your Name"), 

Daniel Day-Lewis ("Phantom Thread"), Daniel Kaluuya 

("Get Out") and Tom Hanks ("The Post"). Many Oscar 

votes had already been cast by the time allegations hit, 

but, then again, a lot of academy members wait until the 

last minute to send in their ballots. This year, with such 

a never-ending stream of revelations, voters would have 

been advised to wait until the very last second before one 

final Google search. 

Particular attention, though, will be on the best director 

category, where only four women have ever been 

nominated. Among the many statistics that depict the 

imbalanced maleness of Hollywood, it's among the most 

telling. Gerwig, who was nominated by the Director's 

Guild, is poised to be the fifth. But it's a competitive category, 

with five seats for the presumed final six: del Toro, 

Nolan, McDonagh, Spielberg, Peele and Gerwig. 

A wildcard is Ridley Scott, who has won admiration for 

his last-minute reshoots on "All the Money in the 

World," in order to replace the disgraced Spacey with 

Christopher Plummer. Plummer, too, could crash the 

best supporting actor category. 

Grameen Bank 

official killed 

in Pabna road 

crash 

PABNA : An official of 

Grameen Bank was killed as 

a bus hit his motorcycle on 

Pabna-Dhaka highway in 

Dakkhhin Raghabpur area 

of Sadar upazila on Saturday 

morning, reports UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified as Belal Hossain, 

50, son of Dilbar Hossian of 

Boalia village in Ullapara 

upazila and manager of 

Grameen Bank Hemayetpur 

branch in Sadar upazila. 

The speeding bus bus hit 

the motorcycle around 8 am, 

leaving the motorcyclist 

critically injured, said Golam 

Mostafa, sub-inspector of 

Sadar Police station. 

Injured Belal was rushed 

to Pabna General Hospital 

where doctors declared him 

dead. 

Four killed as 

India, Pakistan 

trade fire on 

Kashmir border 

Tensions escalated in Kashmir 

Saturday as a soldier 

and three civilians were 

killed in cross-border firing 

by the Indian and Pakistani 

armies, officials from the 

two countries said. 

The latest wave of violence 

this week has left at least 21 

dead, including soldiers, 

suspected militants and 

civilians on both sides of the 

heavily-militarised border 

that divides the disputed 

Himalayan region. 

Indian Army spokesman 

Colonel N.N. Joshi said one 

of their soldiers was killed 

Saturday by Pakistani fire in 

Poonch sector along the de 

facto border, the Line of 

Control (LoC). 

Two civilians, including a 

15-year-old boy, were killed 

in a separate cross border 

assault along a stretch of 

uncontested frontier 

between Kashmir and the 

Pakistani province of Punjab, 

director general of police 

Shesh Paul Vaid told AFP. 

Southern 

Californians 

charged with 

Chinese 

export scheme 

LOS ANGELES : Two 

Southern California men 

have been arrested on 

federal charges that they 

illegally exported computer 

chips with military 

applications to China, 

reports UNB. 

The U.S. attorney's office 

says part-time Los Angeles 

resident Yi-Chi Shih and 

Kiet Ahn Mai of Pasadena 

were arrested Friday. It's 

unclear whether they have 

attorneys. 

Federal prosecutors say 

the men conspired to have a 

U.S. company make special 

high-speed computer chips 

that were illegally exported 

to a Chinese company 

connected to Shih. 

Authorities say the chips 

have a number of 

commercial and military 

uses, including radar and 

electronic warfare 

applications. 

If they are convicted, the 

two men could face years in 

federal prison. 

Bogra Deputy Commissioner visits stall after inaugurating the cake festival at Titu chattar of the 

district. 


Youth found 

dead in 

B’baria 

BRAHMANBARIA : Police 

recovered the floating 

body of a young man, who 

went missing five days 

ago, from a waterbody at 

Chandalkhil village in the 

district town on Saturday 



identified as Rana Miah, 

22, son of Abdul Kuddus. 

Locals spotted the body 

of Rana in the morning 

and informed police. 

Later, police recovered 

the body and sent it to 

Sadar Hospital morgue for 

autopsy, said Nabir 

Hossain, officer-in-charge 

of Sadar Police Station. 

Could oscars-so-white Return? 

Last year, "Moonlight" triumphed and films like "Fences" 

and "Hidden Figures" led a firm rebuke to two years straight 

of all-white acting nominees. Tuesday's nominations aren't 

likely to be a repeat of 2015 and 2016, but they also aren't 

likely to overwhelm in their multicultural selections. 

Kaluuya, Mary J. Blige ("Mudbound") and Octavia Spencer 

("The Shape of Water") are all favored for nominations but 

none are considered among their categories' front-runners. 

Much will hinge on how the academy receives "Get Out." It's 

the only film currently handicapped for a best-picture 

nomination with a protagonist who's a person of color. As a 

horror film from a first-time feature-film director, it's far 

from a prototypical Oscar contender. Peele's movie came out 

last year on Oscar weekend. But even if all the above wins 

nods as expected on Tuesday, critics will wonder why "Girls 

Trip" breakout Tiffany Haddish or "Downsizing" scenestealer 

Hong Chau were overlooked. 

Can the oscars top the globes? 

Whoever is nominated, an unusual question will hang in the 

air: Will the March 4 Oscars feel like merely a buttoneddown 

sequel to the Globes? 

The Golden Globes are usually a frothy kind of dress 

rehearsal for the main event. But this year, thanks to the 

black-attired protest by female attendees and stirring 

speeches from the night's female winners, the Globes had an 

almost Oscar-like veneer of importance. As the first major 

awards show to confront the post-Weinstein landscape, they 

may have stolen some of the Oscars' thunder. 

Jimmy Kimmel, who will host the ABC telecast for the 

second straight year, told reporters at the Television Critics 

Association press tour that - in the current climate - the two 

months between the Globes and the Academy Awards are a 

lifetime. "I do thank (Globes host Seth Meyers) for being that 

litmus test," said Kimmel. "As far as how I will handle it, the 

problem is it's two months from now. So it's almost like 

getting into a hot tub or something; you can't really know 

what the temperature is until you get there." 

Agents find 244 parrots 

stuffed into bags, boxes 

in Mexico 

MEXICO CITY : Prosecutors in Mexico had received a tip 

that a man was transporting wildlife, but hardly expected 

to find 244 parrots stuffed into mesh bags and boxes, 

reports UNB. 

The attorney general's office said Friday the man was 

carrying nine boxes in the luggage compartment of a bus 

on a highway in the southern state of Chiapas. 

It was unclear what he intended to do with the birds, 

who were packed so tightly they could barely move. 

The office identified the birds as white-fronted parrots, 

but the national commission on protected nature areas 

later identified them as red-lored parrots. 

White fronted parrots are under special protection but 

are not considered endangered; red-lored parrots are 

considered endangered. 

The suspect was arrested on charges of trafficking 

wildlife. If convicted, he could face one to nine years in 

prison. 

The commission said all the birds were released into 

the wild Friday in Palenque, Chiapas. 

5.2-magnitude 

quake hits 

northeastern 

state of India 

A moderate earthquake 

Saturday morning hit 

India's northeastern state 

of Assam, officials said. 

According to Indian 

Meteorological Department, 

the earthquake 

measuring 5.2 on the 

Richter scale occurred at 

6:44 a.m. local time. 

Epicenter of the earthquake 

was Kokrajhar, west 

of Dispur, the capital city 

of Assam. 

"The epicenter of earthquake 

was located at 26.3 

degrees north latitude and 

89.8 degrees east longitude," 

according to Indian 

Meteorological Department. 

"The depth of the 

earthquake was 10 kms." 

Officials said tremors of 

the earthquake were felt 

across the state. 

However, there were no 

immediate reports of any 

damage or loss of lives in 

the earthquake. 

Ferry services on 

Paturia-Daulatdia 

route resume 

after 2 hrs 

MANIKGANJ : Ferry 

services on Paturia- 

Daulatdia route in the 

Padma River resumed after 

two hours of suspension 

caused by dense fog on 

Saturday morning, reports 

UNB. 

"The ferry services 

remained suspended 

from7:30 amdue to poor 

visibility caused by thick 

fog," said Nasir Mohammad 

Chowdhury, assistant 

general manager of 

Bangladesh Inland Water 

Transport Corporation 

(BIWTC) at Aricha. 

Later, the ferry services 

resumed around 9:30am as 

the fog disappeared, Nasir 

added. 

CHCP's observes work abstention in Narail district demanding nationalization of their service. 

Photo : Star Mail

METRO 

3 

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2018 

A rally was taken out in Bogra city on Friday marking 36th founding anniversary of Samajtantrik 

Sramik Front. 


Rohingya man 

shot dead in 

Cox's Bazar 

COX'S BAZAR : A Rohingya 

man was gunned down by 

some unidentified 

miscreants at a Rohingya 

camp in Thaingkhali area of 

Ukhia upazila on Friday 

night, reports UNB. 


identified as Mohammad 

Yusuf, 35, leader (majhi) of 

no 2 block of Tajnimar 

Khola Rohingya camp. 

A gang of miscreant 

numbering 20-25 opened 

fire on Yusuf, leaving him 

critically injured, said Abul 

Khayer, officer-in-charge of 

Ukhia Police station. 

Injured Yusuf was 

admitted to the Red 

Crescent hospital at the 

camp where he succumbed 

to his injuries. 

Meanwhile, a gang of 

miscreant attempted to 

shoot another leader Arif 

Ullah of Balukhali camp-2. 

Later, local Rohingyas 

chased the miscreants and 

caught one Mohammad 

Alam along with a pistol, 

added the OC. 

Local Rohingyas claimed 

that a group of Rohingyas 

who are against their 

repatriation are carrying out 

the attacks on the leaders of 

the Rohingya camps. 

9-day Pitha 

Festival begins 

at Shilpakala 

Academy 

Tuesday 

DHAKA : A nine-day 

National Pitha Festival 2018 

will begin on Tuesday on the 

premises of Bangladesh 

Shilpakala Academy here 

with a view to upholding different 

traditional pithas 

(cakes or patty). 

Shilpakala Academy along 

with Pitha Utsab Udjapan 

Parishad will organize the 

festival that will continue till 

January 31. 

Cultural Affairs Minister 

Asaduzzaman Noor will 

inaugurate the festival 

while Academy's Director 

General Liakat Ali Lucky will 

chair it. 

President urges for 

ensuring safe animal foods 

DHAKA : President Md Abdul Hamid on 

Saturday urged all concerned to ensure the 

standard production of livestock in the 

country to make sure safe animal foods for 

the countrymen alongside brightening the 

image of the sector in the international 

market, reports UNB. 

"The proper standard of livestock will 

have to be ensured at every stage of 

production. The quality of meat and animal 

foods frequently came under question nowa-days," 

he said while addressing the 

inaugural ceremony of Livestock Services 

Weak 2018 in the city. 

The Livestock Services Department of the 

Fisheries and Livestock Ministry arranged 

the programme at Krishibid Institute, 

Bangladesh (KIB) auditorium of Khamar 

Bari at Farmgate. 

Noting that the livestock is an important 

sector in the country's export earnings, the 

President said, "The potentials of this sector 

were hampered and our image was 

tarnished in foreign lands in the past due to 

some unscrupulous people." 

He also asked all to be careful so that the 

growth of the livestock sector is not 

hampered due to personal profit as the fish 

and livestock are the main sources of 

animal protein for the country's men. 

"It'll have to face strictly any sort of 

anomalies and corruption in this regard," 

he stressed. 

Abdul Hamid urged for coordinated 

Section 144 slapped 

in Kumarkhali 

upazila 

KUSHTIA : The local administration imposed 

section 144 at Kumarkhali upazila as two political 

organisations-Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) 

and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal(Jasad) --called their 

meetings at the same venue and timeon Saturday, 

reports UNB. 

Md Sahinuzzaman, Upazila Nirbahi Officer 

(UNO) of Kumarkhali, imposed the restriction 

from11 am to 10 pmto fend off any untoward 

situation. 

Local Jasad leaders called a demonstration at 

Gorai Complex Auditorium protesting a clash 

between the activists of the two paties that left a UP 

member and Jasad supporter-Abdur Rahim 

Sheikh-critically injured, he said. 

Meanwhile, BCL activists also announced to hold 

a meeting marking the success of the ruling party at 

the same place and time, he added. 

Apprehending a trouble, the local administration 

has imposed the emergency section to maintain law 

and order, the UNO said. 

Additional police have also been deployed at 

different points of the town, he added. 

efforts among all concerned including 

farmers, agriculturalists, agro-scientists 

and entrepreneurs to expedite the national 

development unlocking the potentials of 

this sector. "Production of fish, chicken, 

duck and domestic animals is a potential 

sector for investment and employment." 

He suggested for ensuring fair prices of 

livestock alongside increasing production. 

President Hamid also suggested 

developing necessary infrastructure, 

laboratories, skills and legal frameworks for 

increase the export of the livestock sector. 

He praised the Livestock Services 

Department for arranging the 'Livestock 

Services Week' saying that it is a 

commendable initiative. 

President Hamid said the production of 

milk, meat and egg were increased five 

times in 2016-17 fiscal year comparing to 

that in 2008-09 fiscal year due to 

prevention of diseases, improvement of 

varieties and modern farming 

management. 

Fisheries and Livestock Minister Narayon 

Chandra Chanda, Agriculture Minister 

Matia Chowdhury, agriculturalists, 

agricultural scientists and politicians were 

present at the programme presided over by 

Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Md 

Maksudul Hasan Khan. 

The President visited different stalls set 

up there on the occasion of the Livestock 

Services Week. 

FSIB organises 

School Banking 

Conference in 

Cox's Bazar 

DHAKA : First Security Islami Bank 

Ltd organised a School Banking 

Conference-2018, at Hotel Seagull in 

Cox's Bazar on Saturday, reports 

UNB. 

The main objective of the 

conference was teaching the 

students about school banking, 

saving accounts, help them to create 

mentality for saving and growing up 

with a positive point of view about 

savings. 

SK Sur Chowdhury, Deputy 

Governor of Bangladesh Bank was 

present as a chief guest on the 

occasion while the program was 

presided over by Syed Waseque Md 

Ali, Managing Director of First 

Security Islami Bank Ltd, 

Mohammad Humayun Kabir, 

Executive Director of Bangladesh 

Bank in Chittagong and Md Saleh 

Uddin Chowdhury were present 

there as special guests. 

A human chain was formed in front of National Museum yesterday protesting the decision of tree 

cutting in Jessore. 


JU PDF 

gets new 

committee 

SAVAR : The Physicallychallenged 

Development 

Foundation (PDF), a 

voluntary and charitable 

organisation 

of 

Jahangirnagar University 

(JU), announced a 19- 

member new executive 

committee for the next one 

year, reports BSS. 

Raihan H Milton of 

History Department and 

Abu Huraira of Public 

A d m i n i s t r a t i o n 

Department made 

President and General 

Secretary respectively of 

the new committee, said a 

press release today. 

Central Committee of 

the organization 

announced the committee 

at its annual meeting held 

on the campus on Friday 

night. 

The other members of 

the committee are - Vice 

Presidents Matin Mia, 

Oishy Das and Annur 

Lamiya, Treasurer 

Shahzahan Ali, Organizing 

Secretary Mahmuda 

Rahman Nimmi, Office 

Secretary Akash Rahman 

Milon, Communication 

Secretary Snigdha 

Mondal, Corporate 

Network Secretary Apu 

Bashakh, Students 

Welfare Secretary Ayesha 

Siddiqua Poroma, 

Volunteer Management 

Secretary Mohammed Ali 

Kazol, Event Management 

Secretary Monzurul Islam, 

Logistic Secretary Saifur 

Rahman Sourav, Research 

and Development 

Secretary Puja Biswash 

and Publication Secretary 

Miftahul Jannat, it also 

said. 

PDF is a voluntary and 

charitable organization 

that dedicated to create 

social awareness about 

disability and promoting 

youth leader. 

2-Tk. notes worth 

Tk. 46,000 seized 

at Benapole 

BENAPOLE : Members of 

Border Guard Bangladesh 

(BGB) seized Bangladeshi 

new two-taka notes worth 

Tk. 46,000 from the 

International Passenger 

Terminal at Benapole 

Check Post on Saturday 


Being tipped-off, a team 

of BGB-49 battalion 

conducted a drive in the 

area this morning and 

recovered the notes as 

abandoned condition, said 

Lt. Col Ariful Haque, 

Commanding officer of the 

BGB battalion. 

The rescued money has 

been deposited in 

Benapole Customs House. 

A case was filed. 

Due to high demand by 

Indian drug addicts, the 

Bangladeshi two-taka note 

and five-taka note are 

being smuggled into India. 

Drug addicts use these 

notes to roll into a pipe to 

inhale smoke from Yaba, a 

powerful addictive 

stimulant, and heroin. 

Tremor jolts 

northern 

districts 

DHAKA : A mild 

earthquake jolted parts of 

northern Bangladeshon 

Saturdaymorning. 

The tremor, measuring 

4.6 magnitude on the 

Richter scale, was felt 

around7:14amin the 

northern district, 

according to Dhaka Met 

Office, reports UNB. 

The epicenter of the 

earthquake was in Assam 

in India, some 272 

kilometres north of 

Dhaka's earthquake 

observatory, according to 

Met office. 

However, no casualty 

was reported. 

Nahid for improving 

standard of higher education 

DHAKA : Education Minister Nurul Islam 

Nahid yesterday said the government has 

attached priority to enhance standard of 

higher education for keeping up with the 

changing world of job market, reports BSS. 

"Higher educational institutions must 

improve their standard to provide quality 

education for building skilled human 

resources," he told the 5th convocation of 

United International University (UIU) on 

its campus, an official release said. 

Chairman of University Grants 

Commission (UGC) Prof Abdul Mannan, 

Chairman of Board of Trustee of UIU 

Hasan Mahmud Raja and Vice Chancellor 

of the university Prof Dr Chowdhury, 

among others, addressed the convocation. 

Secretary of Power Division Dr Ahmed 

Kaikaus attended the function as 

convocation speaker. 

Nahid said the government will take legal 

action against the private universities 

which have failed to fulfill their conditions 

to run the university under the rules of the 

Private University Act-2010. 

Some of the private universities are yet to 

fulfill their conditions as per the Act and 

they have to face legal action after the 

scheduled timeframe, he added. 

Speaking on the occasion the education 

minister said, "You (students) are the 

future of the country. So, you have to be 

good citizens through acquiring knowledge 

to boost the development process for 

building a prosperous Bangladesh." 

Nahid urged the authorities concerned to 

ensure congenial and good academic 

atmosphere at all educational institutions 

to make those free from all sorts of terror 

activities. 

"Both public and private universities 

should be centre of excellence for 

practicing new knowledge...Without 

ensuring good academic atmosphere, it is 

not possible for improving quality of 

tertiary education," he added. 

The minister said a remarkable progress 

has been made in the education sector as 

the government is working sincerely to 

expand and improve quality of education 

in the country. 

The government has expanded the 

opportunity of higher education across the 

country for all students, he said adding, 

"Students are easily receiving higher 

education as we have expanded facilities 

for higher education up to the upazila 

level." 

Learning Sharing and Joint Action Planning Workshop was held at capital's 

DAM auditorium yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

New FF scrutiny 

committees to be formed 

soon: Mozammel 

KURIGRAM : Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM 

Mozammel Haque yesterday said new freedom fighters (FF) 

scrutiny committees will be formed after canceling some 

committees, which were not constituted properly, reports 

BSS. 

"Around 6,000 fake certificates have already been 

cancelled after scrutiny...the scrutiny committees which were 

not constituted properly will also be canceled soon," he told 

journalists at Nageshwari in the district. 

Earlier, the minister inaugurated a free treatment and 

blood donation camp there with upazila Awami League 

President Mozammel Haque Prodhan in the chair. 

AL General Secretary and Zilla Parishad Chairman Md 

Jafar Ali, Deputy Commissioner Abu Sareha Md Ferdows 

Khan, District Muktijoddha Commander Sirajul Islam Tuku 

and local AL leader Dr AHM Suman Prodhan, among others, 

were present in the inaugural function. 

Woman killed in city 

road crash 

DHAKA : A woman was killed in a road accident near 

Malibagh bazar in the capital on Saturday morning, reports 

UNB. 

The deceased was identified as Runa Aktar, 32, wife of 

Bachchu Mia of Kalipur in Madaripur sadar upazila. 

Sub-inspector of Rampura Police Station Dulal said a bus 

of "Ramjan Paribahan" hit the woman while she was crossing 

the road near the bazar around 9 am. 

The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital 

for autopsy. Police seized the bus but its driver and his 

assistant managed to flee. 

GD-98/18 (5.5 x 3) 

Man kills 

brother in 

Kurigram 

KURIGRAM : A man was 

killed by his younger brother 

over land dispute at an 

arbitration meeting in 

Rajarhat Upazila of the 

district Friday night, reports 

BSS. 

The victim was identified 

as Abdur Razzak, 48, 

resident at Purbo Debottor 

village of the Upazila. 

Accused younger brother is 

Abdur Rab, 38. 

Villagers said the incident 

occurred yesterday 

afternoon when an 

arbitration meeting was 

running at their house. 

Younger brother Abdur Rab 

hit his brother with a scissor 

at the meeting. In retaliation 

the sons of Abdur Razzak 

beat Abdor Rab. The two 

brothers were admitted to 

Kurigram Sador Hospital. 

Later Abdur Razzak was 

referred to Rangpur Medical 

College Hospital where he 

succumbed to his injuries 

midnight last night. 

Villagers also said Rab is a 

drug addict.

EDITORIAL SUNdAY, 

JANUArY 21, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Sunday, January 21, 2018 

doubling food grain 

production 

Bangladesh is able to maintain a 

balance of sorts between its basic 

food supply requirement and 

present population with some dependency 

on imported food grains. But this balance 

could strain severely even in the near 

future increasing the import dependency 

when worldwide food shortages and 

higher prices of staple foods are noted. 

Thus, it is high time for Bangladesh to 

devise and implement programmes to go 

on substantially increasing the production 

of food grains. 

Full or near near attainment of targets of 

rice production in recent years showed that 

planned increases of food grain production 

are possible. This should now lead to 

planning for the long term to attain 

complete self-sufficiency in food grains at 

the fastest. The aim of such long term 

planning should be to go on gradually 

increasing food grain production to 

ultimately double output. 

Every year, the country is seen losing 

nearly 80 thousand hectares of arable 

lands due to river erosion, building of 

houses and infrastructures. Thus, one per 

cent of arable lands is getting lost annually 

when the demand for food is rising at a 

rate of 1.4 per cent annually from 

population growth and other factors. 

There is a mismatch in the demand and 

supply growth already. This will only 

worsen in the years to come if vigorous 

steps are not taken from now to go on 

increasing food grain production. 

The strategy for Bangladesh to that end 

will have to be one of increasing 

production from limited or shrinking areas 

of cultivable lands. But this should not be 

considered as a serious negative factor 

because all the possibilities are there for 

higher productivity from the limited lands. 

According to experts, Bangladesh can 

attain a major increase in its food grain 

production immediately by only expanding 

the use of the higher yielding varieties of 

seeds. Only 20 per cent of the farmlands 

are now covered by high yielding seeds. If 

the rate of use of such seeds can be 

extended by 60 per cent from the present 

rate, then it would be possible to produce 

an additional 30 million tons of rice. 

The challenge would be producing the 

increased quantities of the higher yielding 

seeds and distributing these efficiently to 

the farmers. The total demand for paddy 

seeds is 0.3 million metric tons. But the 

Bangladesh Agricultural Development 

Corporation (BADC) supplies 80 

thousand metric tons and the rest of the 20 

per cent of such seeds now used, are 

supplied by the private sector. Thus, both 

the BADC and the private sector will have 

to engage in time-bound hard activities to 

increase production of higher yielding 

seeds and to ensure their efficient 

distribution to farmers. BADC is expected 

to take the lead role in this area. 

Apart from greater use of high yielding 

seeds, agriculture as a whole in Bangladesh 

should be modernized to a higher degree 

for higher productivity. Farmers in many 

areas are helping such a transformation on 

their own. Power tillers are replacing the 

traditional bullock and machines are being 

used for threshing in place of the manually 

operated systems. But this transformation 

needs to be much extended throughout the 

country through helpful official policies 

and supports. Besides, the governmental 

agencies must ensure timely availability of 

the various agricultural inputs in adequate 

quantities to the doorsteps of farmers at 

affordable prices. 

developing a workforce for the future 

The simple truth is this: Neither the 

disruptions are new nor are the fears 

about them, but as the time-gap 

between an invention and its commercial 

application gets smaller, more and more 

people adopt newer ways of consumption. 

So the awareness increases, which 

multiplies the fears and uncertainties about 

conventional jobs and vocations. It is true 

that every new innovation and technology 

disrupts, impacting jobs and employment, 

but the innovations and technologies 

behind those ideas, in fact, create more 

work and multiple ways of engagement that 

cannot be imagined while thinking in a 

linear fashion and working within 

conventional silos. But, for sure, every new 

shift forces us out of our comfort zones to 

know more, learn more and adapt more. 

Take the example of smartphone - a 

communication tool, which evolved from 

the old telephone. There are millions more 

phones in circulation today than there were 

when only the landline existed. According to 

one prediction, there will be more mobile 

devices in the world than human 

population by 2020. While the landline 

phones are almost dead, the massive 

proliferation of smartphones has led to 

more innovations and technologies, and 

created millions of jobs worldwide in 

design, productions, distribution, sales and 

after-sales service of these smart devices. 

History is witness to innumerable examples 

of similar phenomenon where shift in 

technology and rethink about its application 

has opened up unimaginable possibilities. 

One major development has been the 

creation and distribution of content via 

smartphones. 

Today, as a result of convergence, 

digitisation and WiFi connectivity, these 

Ever since the UN Security Council 

imposed its third consecutive 

round of punitive sanctions 

against North Korea in 2017 over its 

controversial nuclear and 

intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) 

programs, Pyongyang has embarked on 

a charm offensive toward its southern 

neighbor. 

Toward that end, the two Koreas this 

week announced an agreement to 

march under a unity flag and field a joint 

ice hockey team at the Pyeongchang 

Winter Olympics which take place in 

South Korea next month. 

On the surface, Pyongyang's charm 

offensive - and ability to undergo a 180- 

degree transformation from carrying 

out numerous provocative ICBM tests to 

finding common ground with its 

neighbor over how to seemingly appeal 

to inter-Korean nostalgia for unification 

- underscores that the reclusive Stalinist 

regime is susceptible to international 

pressure. But equally importantly, the 

North's decision also seeks to send a 

broader message to the international 

community: That North Korea is a 

responsible actor operating within the 

league of nations and, if engaged 

properly, can play a stabilizing - perhaps 

even positive - role within the broader 

East Asia region. In a chaotic 

international environment, there will 

inevitably be observers drawn to this 

logic as they see detente between the 

two Koreas as preferable to a full-scale 

war on the Peninsula, even if the price 

for detente will be billions of dollars in 

South Korean "investment" in North 

Korea and/or in "joint" industrial parks. 

The problem with that logic, however, is 

that North Korea is the most brutal 

dictatorship the world has seen in 

modern times. And it has nothing to 

When it comes to claiming 

exemption from accountability 

to the law, 'holy men' do not lag 

far behind ministers and celebrities. Yogi 

Adityanath feels entitled to double 

protection. Besides being head of the mutt 

(religious endowment) at Gorakhpur, 

which he represented in the Lok Sabha for 

five terms, he is the current chief minister 

of Uttar Pradesh. 

He and four others (including Shri 

Pratap Shukla, current minister of state for 

finance) were facing prosecution for 

delivering a 'hate speech' that led to 

communal riots in Gorakhpur. Shortly 

after the yogi became chief minister, the 

principal secretary (home) passed an order 

on May 3, 2017, refusing to accord sanction 

to prosecute the chief minister. Under the 

rules of business of the state government, 

passing such order is the sole prerogative 

of the chief minister or the governor. The 

2007 case was not the only one of its kind. 

The order was challenged in the high 

court, which observed last August that 

people "cannot be left remedy-less". It 

asked the state government to submit case 

diaries and original records of the 

investigation. The state's case was 

receiving short shrift. Rather than wait for 

the verdict, the yogi announced on Dec 22, 

smart devises are getting even smarter, 

democratising the process of content 

creation. Consequently, institutional and 

formal media are in flux to adapt this new 

mode of production, delivery and 

consumption. This phenomenon is not only 

creating new jobs but transforming the roles 

within existing jobs. A journalist today does 

not only write, he or she makes videos, 

shoots pictures, updates web pages and is 

constantly on social media to stay updated. 

So, up-skilling and re-skilling are 

indispensable to stay relevant in the media 

job market. But media is not the only 

industry that is experiencing this change. 

The coming together of finance and 

technology in the form of Fintec is perhaps 

a bigger disruption that is impacting jobs in 

finance, banking and retail in an 

unprecedented way. (Fintec combines 

technology and innovation in order to 

compete with traditional financial methods 

in the delivery of financial services). 

Similarly, cryptography-based 

gain from liberalizing, let alone opening 

up to the international community. 

The Stalinist regime has, since its 

founding in 1948, imprisoned millions 

of its own people in concentration 

camps where generations of families are 

forced to carry out slave labor because of 

the sins of their forefathers, according to 

various UN reports and testimonies 

provided by defectors. 

The Pyongyang elite, along with the 

ruling Kim family, understands that the 

international community has compiled 

evidence of the regime's brutal humanrights 

record over the decades and that 

its henchmen will face justice when - if - 

the regime collapses. 

With that in mind, the regime has 

everything to lose from normalizing 

relations with the international 

community, even if it is demonstrating 

that it can engage in symbolic goodwill 

gestures toward the South. 

What the North Korean leadership 

also understands is that neither 

Washington nor Tokyo will be 

persuaded by its charm offensive as its 

expanding ICBM capabilities present a 

2017, that a bill to amend the UP Criminal 

Law (Composition of Offences and 

Abatement of Trials) Act would be moved 

in the state's assembly - where he enjoys a 

majority - so that nearly 20,000 such cases 

against "political workers" would be 

withdrawn. Safety lies in numbers. 

Protection from prosecution is still legally 

sanctified. Sure enough, on Jan 8, 2018, 

Governor Ram Naik (a BJP veteran) 

accorded his consent to the bill passed by 

the assembly to permit the withdrawal of 

around 20,000 'politically motivated' cases 

filed in the state over demonstrations, 

including one against Yogi Adityanath and 

FAzAl MAliK 

democratised ledger of online transactions, 

commonly known as Blockchain is proving 

even a bigger influence on business and 

commerce. (Blockchain is a digital ledger 

that aids in recording transactions, 

agreements and contracts in the safest way 

possible.) 

Within the local context, Dubai Land 

Department became the world's first 

government entity, in October 2017, to 

adopt Blockchain technology, using a smart 

Today, as a result of convergence, digitisation and WiFi 

connectivity, these smart devises are getting even smarter, 

democratising the process of content creation. Consequently, 

institutional and formal media are in flux to adapt this new 

mode of production, delivery and consumption. This 

phenomenon is not only creating new jobs but transforming 

the roles within existing jobs. A journalist today does not 

only write, he or she makes videos, shoots pictures, updates 

web pages and is constantly on social media to stay updated. 

database that chronicles, archives and 

makes available all real estate contracts, 

including lease registrations, and links them 

with the Dubai Electricity & Water 

Authority and the telecommunications 

system. With all the data available on secure 

interconnected servers, all government 

processes and services can be delivered in 

real time anywhere in the world. This 

seamless, efficient and paperless process is 

one example of how Dubai is getting 

smarter. Blockchain is not the only 

technology Dubai is adopting to transform 

North Korea’s tricky balancing act 

SiGUrd NeUBAUer 

clear threat to the US-Japan-South 

Korea strategic alliance. 

Instead, what the Stalinist regime 

hopes to achieve from a temporary thaw 

in inter-Korean relations is to gain the 

additional time and resources required 

to advance its ICBM program as it faces 

the noose of tightening UNSC sanctions. 

North Korea considers its nuclear and 

ICBM programs its ultimate security 

guarantees for regime survival. In the 

meantime, US Secretary of State Rex 

Tillerson has repeatedly rejected a freeze 

With that in mind, the regime has everything to 

lose from normalizing relations with the international 

community, even if it is demonstrating that it can 

engage in symbolic goodwill gestures toward the 

South. What the North Korean leadership also 

understands is that neither Washington nor Tokyo 

will be persuaded by its charm offensive as its 

expanding iCBM capabilities present a clear threat to 

the US-Japan-South Korea strategic alliance. 

in US-South Korean bilateral military 

exercises in exchange for a freeze in 

Pyongyang's expenditure on either its 

ICBM program or ICBM tests. The 

Pyongyang elite, along with the ruling 

Kim family, understands that the 

international community has compiled 

evidence of the regime's brutal humanrights 

record over the decades and that 

its henchmen will face justice when - if - 

the regime collapses. 

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis 

has similarly confirmed that the 

planned bilateral exercise with South 

Korea will take place shortly after the 

Ministers above law 

A.G. NoorANi 

others, which was filed in Gorakhpur, his 

home turf, on May 27, 1995. It is 

scandalous that the case - concerning a 

'hate speech' that led to rioting during a 

Muharram procession - should have 

lingered for 22 years. The bill's effect on the 

2007 case remains to be seen. This is 

Sure enough, on Jan 8, 2018, Governor ram Naik (a BJP 

veteran) accorded his consent to the bill passed by the 

assembly to permit the withdrawal of around 20,000 

'politically motivated' cases filed in the state over 

demonstrations, including one against Yogi Adityanath and 

others, which was filed in Gorakhpur, his home turf, on May 

27, 1995. it is scandalous that the case - concerning a 'hate 

speech' that led to rioting during a Muharram procession . 

reminiscent of prime minister Indira 

Gandhi's legislative skulduggery, when she 

had the president declare an emergency 

following a high court ruling that unseated 

her for violating the election law. The law 

was amended in her favour, and the 

constitution was amended to debar the 

courts from hearing election cases 

its services. Digitisation, artificial 

intelligence, automation, robotics, 3-D 

printing, Nano Technology, Internet of 

Things and the widespread use of data and 

disruptive innovations are redefining the 

way citizens will learn, earn and live. A quick 

browse through the UAE's and Dubai's 

future policies and frameworks reveals a 

fascinating journey into a world of 

opportunities. Dubai Future Foundation, 

set up for this purpose, works with the best 

minds in the world to develop a 

technologically driven infrastructure and 

prepare an innovative, multitasking and 

critically thinking work force to engage with 

the future. While the disruptive innovations 

like Blockchain are affecting jobs in 

traditional areas like logistics, accounting, 

financial sectors, these disruptions are also 

bringing in new jobs, opportunities and a 

whole new mindset. The future of work, and 

more specifically how the potential of young 

people can be leveraged in achieving the 

economic growth and social dynamism, will 

depend on how good we are at harnessing 

the technology and how quick we are in 

engaging with the change. 

In the UAE, while there is a massive push 

from the government towards innovation, 

entrepreneurship and adoption of new 

technologies, efforts from other 

stakeholders - including industry, academia 

and community - are not matching the 

government push. A need-based and 

durable public-private partnership to create 

a common sustainable strategy based on 

knowledge and capabilities will provide a 

long-term framework to engage with a 

future that is full of promise but ridden with 

uncertainties. 

Source : Gulf news 

Winter Olympics, which underscores 

that Washington will continue to 

accelerate the successful pressure 

campaign that brought Pyongyang to 

the negotiation table, even if talks are 

limited to the Olympics only. 

While the inter-Korean political 

theater is a positive development in 

itself, Washington's likely next step is to 

ensure that both Beijing and Moscow 

fully comply with the UNSC resolutions 

imposed against the Stalinist regime 

and demonstrate that any deliberate 

attempt to help North Korea evade 

sanctions will not be tolerated. 

Building on these positive 

developments, this week's US-Canadian 

Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Security 

and Stability on the Korean Peninsula 

demonstrates that the international 

community is embracing the Trump 

administration's strategy toward 

Pyongyang. As I argued in a recent Arab 

News column, Washington's strategic 

objective is not a peace agreement with 

Pyongyang per se, but rather its denuclearization. 

The North's objective is 

the opposite: A peace agreement with 

the US, but one that allows it to 

maintain its nuclear program. During 

the US-Canada Foreign Ministers' 

Meeting in Vancouver, Canadian 

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland 

declared, "The 20 nations represented 

here in Vancouver have agreed that we 

must work together to ensure that 

sanctions imposed on North Korea are 

strictly enforced. 

Whether or not the Trumpadministration 

succeeds in breaking the 

decades-long logjam of failed US 

diplomatic engagement with North 

Korea, however, remains to be seen. 

Source : Arab News 

involving the prime minister and other 

worthies. The constitutional amendment 

was struck down by the supreme court, but 

her election was upheld because the law 

was amended. 

That the yogi's law is unconstitutional 

goes without saying. But another legally 

sanctified outrage still remains on the 

statute book. It is the provision for the state 

government's sanction for the prosecution 

of its own ministers or civil servants, 

embodied in Section 197 of the colonial-era 

Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). It 

provided that where any public servant is 

accused of any offence alleged to have been 

committed by him "while acting or 

purporting to act in the discharge of his 

official duty", no court shall take 

cognisance of it except with the previous 

sanction of the government that employed 

him; in effect, the authority competent to 

remove him. 

In the case of a minister, this is the chief 

minister or prime minister; in the case of 

the latter two, it is the governor or 

president, both political appointees. They 

are required to act in their individual 

discretion. The governor is amenable to 

the centre's wishes. 

Source : Dawn

SCIENCE & TECH 

5 

suNDAY, JANuArY 21, 2018 

Fixing Facebook is Mark’s New Year’s resolution 

JuLIA CArrIe WoNg 

Amid unceasing criticism 

of Facebook's 

immense power and 

pernicious impact on 

society, its CEO, Mark 

Zuckerberg, announced 

Thursday that his "personal 

challenge" for 

2018 will be "to focus 

on fixing these important 

issues". 

Zuckerberg's new 

year's resolution - a 

tradition for the executive 

who in previous 

years has pledged to 

learn Mandarin, run 

365 miles, and read a 

book each week - is a 

remarkable acknowledgment 

of the terrible 

year Facebook has had. 

"Facebook has a lot of 

work to do whether it's 

protecting our community 

from abuse and 

hate, defending against 

interference by nation 

states, or making sure 

that time spent on 

Facebook is time well 

spent," Zuckerberg 

wrote on his Facebook 

page. "We won't prevent 

all mistakes or 

abuse, but we currently 

make too many errors 

enforcing our policies 

and preventing misuse 

of our tools." 

At the beginning of 

2017, as many liberals 

were grappling with 

Donald Trump's election 

and the widening 

divisions in American 

society, Zuckerberg 

embarked on a series of 

trips to meet regular 

Americans in all 50 

states. But while 

Zuckerberg was donning 

hard hats and riding 

tractors, an increasing 

number of critics 

both inside and outside 

of the tech industry 

were identifying Facebook 

as a key driver of 

many of society's current 

ills. 

The past year has 

seen the social media 

company try and largely 

fail to get a handle 

on the proliferation of 

misinformation on its 

platform; acknowledge 

that it enabled a Russian 

influence operation 

to influence the US 

presidential election; 

and concede that its 

products can damage 

users' mental health. 

By attempting to take 

on these complex problems 

as his annual personal 

challenge, 

Zuckerberg is, for the 

first time, setting himself 

a task that he is 

unlikely to achieve. 

With 2 billion users 

and a presence in 

almost every country, 

Mark Zuckerberg sets a personal challenge each year. 

Photo: Noah Berger 

the company's challenges 

are no longer 

bugs that can be 

addressed by engineering 

code. 

Facebook, like other 

tech giants, has long 

maintained that it is 

essentially politically 

neutral - the company 

has "community standards" 

but no clearly 

articulated political 

orientation. While in 

past years, that neutrality 

has enabled 

Facebook to grow at 

great speed without 

assuming responsibility 

for how individuals 

or governments used 

its tools, the political 

tumult of recent years 

has made such a stance 

increasingly untenable. 

The difficulty of Facebook's 

task is illustrated 

in the company's 

current conundrum 

over enforcing of US 

sanctions against some 

world leaders but not 

others, leaving 

observers to wonder 

what rules, if any, Facebook 

is actually playing 

by. Zuckerberg 

acknowledged that the 

problems facing a platform 

with 2 billion 

users "touch on questions 

of history, civics, 

political philosophy, 

media, government, 

and of course technology" 

and said that he 

planned to consult with 

experts in those fields. 

But the second half of 

Zuckerberg's post, in 

which he discusses centralization 

and decentralization 

of power in 

technology, reveal 

Zuckerberg's general 

approach: proposing 

technological solutions 

to political problems. If 

Zuckerberg is interested 

in decentralization 

of power, he might 

wish to address his 

company's pattern of 

aggressively acquiring 

its competitors - or 

simply copying their 

features. 

Instead, the executive 

introduced a non 

sequitur about encryption 

and cryptocurrency, 

neither of which will 

do anything to address 

Facebook's role in, for 

example, stoking anti- 

Rohingya hatred in 

Myanmar. If Zuckerberg 

truly intends to 

spend a year trying to 

figure out how the 

blockchain can solve 

intractable geopolitical 

problems, he would be 

better off just doing 

Whole30. 

How YouTube places ads 

on popular videos 

An investment is something that has intrinsic value, not speculative value. 

Photo: getty Images 

Don’t think about investing in bitcoin 

TeCHNoLogY Desk 

I've been watching this bitcoin situation 

for a few years, assuming it would just 

blow over. But a collective insanity has 

sprouted around the new field of "cryptocurrencies", 

causing an irrational 

gold rush worldwide. It has gotten to 

the point where a large number of 

financial stories - and questions in my 

inbox - ask whether or not to "invest" in 

BitCoin. 

Let's start with the answer: no. You 

should not invest in Bitcoin. The reason 

why is that it's not an investment; just 

as gold, tulip bulbs, Beanie Babies, and 

rare baseball cards are also not investments. 

These are all things that people have 

bought in the past, driving them to 

absurd prices, not because they did 

anything useful or produced money or 

had social value, but solely because 

people thought they could sell them on 

to someone else for more money in the 

future. 

When you make this kind of purchase 

- which you should never do - you are 

speculating. This is not a useful activity. 

You're playing a psychological, win-lose 

battle against other humans with money 

as the sole objective. Even if you win 

money through dumb luck, you have 

lost time and energy, which means you 

have lost. 

Investing means buying an asset that 

actually creates products, services or 

cashflow, such as a profitable business 

or a rentable piece of real estate, for an 

extended period of time. An investment 

is something that has intrinsic value - 

that is, it would be worth owning from 

a financial perspective, even if you 

could never sell it. 

To answer why bitcoin has become 

so big, we need to separate the usefulness 

of the underlying technology 

called "blockchain" from the mania of 

people turning bitcoin into a big dumb 

lottery. Blockchain is simply a nifty 

software invention which is opensource 

and free for anyone to use, 

whereas bitcoin is just one well-known 

way to use it. 

Blockchain is a computer protocol 

that allows two people (or machines) to 

do transactions (sometimes anonymously) 

even if they don't trust each 

other or the network between them. It 

can have monetary applications or in 

sharing files, but it's not some instant 

trillionaire magic. 

As a real-world comparison for 

blockchain and bitcoin, take this example 

from the blogger The Unassuming 

Banker. Imagine that someone had 

found a cure for cancer and posted the 

step-by-step instructions on how to 

make it online, freely available for anyone 

to use. Now imagine that the same 

person also created a product called 

Cancer-Pill using their own instructions, 

trade marked it, and started selling 

it to the highest bidders. I think we 

can all agree a cure for cancer is 

immensely valuable to society 

(blockchain may or may not be, we still 

have to see), however, how much is a 

Cancer-Pill worth? 

Our banker goes on to explain that 

the first Cancer-Pill (bitcoin) might initially 

see some great sales. Prices would 

rise, especially if supply was limited 

(just as an artificial supply limit is built 

into the bitcoin algorithm). 

But since the formula is open and 

free, other companies quickly come out 

with their own cancer pills. Cancer- 

Away, CancerBgone, CancEthereum, 

and any other number of competitors 

would spring up. Anybody can make a 

pill, and it costs only a few cents per 

dose. Yet imagine everybody starts bidding 

up Cancer-Pills to the point that 

they cost $17,000 each and fluctuate 

widely in price, seemingly for no reason. 

Newspapers start reporting on 

prices daily, triggering so many tales of 

instant riches that even your barber 

and your massage therapist are offering 

tips on how to invest in this new "asset 

class". 

Instead of seeing how ridiculous this 

is, more people start bidding up every 

new variety of pill (cryptocurrencies), 

until they are some of the most "valuable" 

things on the planet. That is 

what's happening with bitcoin. This 

screenshot from coinmarketcap.com 

illustrates this real-life human herd 

behavior: 

You've got bitcoin with a market value 

of $238bn, then Ethereum at 

$124bn, and so on. The imaginary value 

of these valueless bits of computer 

data represents enough money to 

change the course of the human race, 

for example, eliminating poverty or 

replacing the world's 800 gigawatts of 

coal power plants with solar generation. 

Bitcoin (AKA Cancer-Pills) has 

become an investment bubble, with the 

complementary forces of human herd 

behavior, greed, fear of missing out, 

and a lack of understanding of past 

financial bubbles amplifying it. 

To better understand this mania, we 

need to look at why bitcoin was invented 

in the first place. As the legend goes, 

in 2008 an anonymous developer published 

a white paper under the fake 

name Satoshi Nakamoto. The author 

was evidently a software and math person. 

But the paper also has some inbuilt 

ideology: the assumption that giving 

national governments the ability to 

monitor flows of money in the financial 

system and use it as a form of law 

enforcement is wrong. 

This financial libertarian streak is at 

the core of bitcoin. You'll hear echoes of 

that sentiment in all the pro-crypto 

blogs and podcasts. The sensiblesounding 

ones will say: "Sure the G20 

nations all have stable financial systems, 

but bitcoin is a lifesaver in places 

like Venezuela where the government 

can vaporize your wealth when you 

sleep." 

The harder-core pundits say: "Even 

the US Federal Reserve is a bunch 'a' 

crooks, stealing your money via inflation, 

and that nasty fiat currency they 

issue is nothing but toilet paper!" It's all 

the same stuff that people say about 

gold - another waste of human investment 

energy. Government-issued currencies 

have value because they represent 

human trust and cooperation. 

There is no wealth and no trade without 

these two things, so you might as well 

go all in and trust people. 

The other argument for bitcoin's "value" 

is that there will only ever be 21m of 

them, and they will eventually replace 

all other world currencies, or at least 

become the "new gold", so the fundamental 

value is either the entire world's 

GDP or at least the total value of all 

gold, divided by 21m. 

Can an app help to beat 

smartphone addiction 

YouTube hopes to allay advertiser unease following scandals such as Logal Paul's video of a dead 

body. 

Photo: AFP 

ALex HerN 

Videos from YouTube's most popular channels are to be subject 

to human review, as the Google platform attempts to use 

advertising money to reign in content producers following a 

series of scandals. 

For the first time, the company will be pre-emptively 

reviewing large swaths of its content to ensure it meets "adfriendly 

guidelines", raising the bar for video creators who 

wish to run adverts on their content, while hoping to allay 

advertiser unease about the video-sharing website following 

scandals such as Logal Paul's video of a dead body. 

Advertisers can choose to focus adverts on channels verified 

as "Google Preferred". It is those channels, the company 

says, that "will be manually reviewed and ads will only run on 

videos that have been verified to meet our ad-friendly guidelines". 

"We expect to complete manual reviews of Google Preferred 

channels and videos by mid-February in the US and by 

the end of March in all other markets where Google Preferred 

is offered," the company said. 

For creators, changes will hit the YouTube Partner Program 

(YPP), which recruits popular creators and gives them 

better tools for promoting their work and engaging with fans, 

as well as the option of receiving a cut of the advertising revenue 

earned from their videos on the site. 

Previously, creators could join YPP if they had more than 

10,000 views over the lifetime of their activity on the site. 

Now, however, they will need 1,000 subscribers to their 

channel, and a total of 4,000 hours of video viewed over the 

previous 12 months. 

The move means some creators face losing a valuable 

source of income, but YouTube says that the majority of 

those affected by the stricter rules were making little money 

from adverts in the first place. 

In a blogpost written by two YouTube executives, chief 

product officer Neal Mohan and chief business officer Robert 

Kyncl, the company said that "99% of those affected were 

making less than $100 per year in the last year, with 90% 

earning less than $2.50 in the last month". 

YouTube has been facing advertiser unease because of a 

series of negative stories over the past few months noting the 

disturbing quality of many videos aimed at children, linking 

the site to child endangerment, and highlighting the questionable 

media ethics of some of the largest creators on the 

platform. 

Logan Paul, a celebrity video blogger with 15 million followers, 

prompted YouTube to pare back its commercial relationship 

with him after he drew public outrage for showing a 

suicide victim in a clip. 

PoPPY Noor 

It's March 2012, the middle 

of exam term and my friend 

is in despair. Why? She can't 

access her Facebook. Nordic 

app Hold is hoping to combat 

such examples of student 

smartphone addiction. It 

rewards users for not looking 

at their phones on campus 

- a task so difficult for 

my zombified-friend that 

she resorted to using a website 

that locks her out of all 

social media accounts. 

In Norway, 40% of students 

use Hold. One in eight 

people are addicted to their 

phones and, at university, 

this can be toxic. Using Hold 

requires self-restraint: press 

a button and the app will 

time how long you refrain 

from using your phone, but 

there are no punishments if 

you do. If you don't, however, 

you will be rewarded with 

points that can be redeemed 

at partner businesses - you 

can cash in for cinema tickets, 

for example. 

Since I'm still a student, I 

decided to put the app to the 

test. It's harder than I imagine 

I am the sort of person, it 

turns out, who just needs to 

look at this email right now 

A screengrab of the Hold app. 

And this WhatsApp. And my 

Instagram. And, Candy 

Crush. Why doesn't the app 

just block me from distractions, 

so I'm not tempted by 

them? "We are trying to 

change long-term habits, not 

force people," says creator 

Maths Mathiesen. "We want 

their relationship to their 

phones to change." 

By the end of the week, the 

app hadn't changed my 

phone-checking habits, but 

it did make me seriously 

question my phone usage. 

Resisting my phone for 20 

minutes (the threshold at 

which you can start earning 

points for rewards) proved 

excruciating - but it also 

highlighted how much looking 

at my phone for a second 

disrupts my concentration 

span. Hold is still building 

up its network of sponsors 

in the UK, with beta versions 

being rolled out across 

universities in London over 

the next month. The 

rewards on offer are currently 

quite limited one of 

Photo: Collected 

them is pencils although I'm 

told that Nordic students 

have won trips around the 

world. But I suppose the 

real reward is not spending 

£50,000 on a degree, only 

to end up with a bad grade 

thanks to your need to compulsively 

refresh, scroll and 

repeat.

NATIONAL 

6 

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2018 

Sirajul Islam Molla, Member of the Parliament placing floral wreath at burial of "Shahid Asad" 

yesterday at Shibpur under Narsingdhi district. 

Photo: Khorshed Alam. 

‘Monga’ eradication increases 

government’s popularity in 

Rangpur 

RANGPUR: Successful eradication of 

'monga' has relieved the poor people 

from the vicious cycle of extreme 

poverty, which helps the government 

increase its popularity in the district, 

reports BSS. 

Officials said a comprehensive 

development along with 

implementation of massive social safetynet 

programmes (SSNPs) during the last 

nine years played a vital role to eradicate 

the seasonal extreme poverty of 'monga' 

permanently. 

They have termed eradication of 

'monga' as the biggest development 

achieved by the present government as it 

improved the life standard of common 

people in the district. 

Even a decade ago, 'monga' was a 

common phenomena here, causing 

immense sufferings to the poor and 

farm-labourers forcing them to lead a 

miserable life during the seasonal lean 

periods of 'Aswin' and 'Kartik' months 

for lack of work. 

"Following successful implementation 

of massive SSNPs as a component of 

comprehensive development 

programmes, the government has 

brought poor people out of 'monga' 

successfully," said Divisional 

Commissioner Kazi Hassan Ahmed. The 

main SSNPs, including Test Relief (TR), 

Food for Work (FFW), Works for Taka 

(Kabita), Vulnerable Group 

Development (VGD), Vulnerable Group 

Feeding (VGF), 'AsrayanProkalpo', 

micro-credits, training for income 

generations, allowances, education 

assistance and other programmes, have 

improved the livelihoods of the poor. 

"Considering effectiveness of SSNPs, 

the government is launching an online 

data-based selection process from this 

year to avoid overlapping of beneficiaries 

for eliminating poverty to build a middle 

income nation by 2021 and attain SDGs 

by 2030," Ahmed said. 

Additional Deputy Commissioner 

(General) Ruhul Amin Mian said over 

4,500 homeless families have improved 

their livelihoods, sanitation and health 

conditions after rehabilitation under the 

'AsrayanProkalpo', and their children 

are now going to schools. 

"After rehabilitation of the 

beneficiaries under 'AsrayanProkalpo', 

local government departments provided 

them with trainings and interest-free 

micro-credits to make them self-reliant 

through income generation activities," 

Amin said. 

The Department of Social Services 

(DSS) distributed Taka 952.52-crore as 

allowances among 1.21-lakh 

beneficiaries under various programmes 

here in the last nine years to improve 

their livelihoods. 

"We've distributed Taka 308.65-crore 

allowances among 71,746 senior citizens 

while Taka 76.40-crore among 17,687 

disabled people, Taka 116.47-crore 

among 26,960 divorced people, Taka 

56.93-crore among 1,312 freedom 

fighters, Taka 90.75-crore as substipends 

among 1,406 disabled students 

and Taka 3.32-crore among 2,056 other 

beneficiaries," said DSS Deputy Director 

AbdurRazzaque. 

Deputy Director of Bangladesh Rural 

Development Board AbdusSabur said 

about 53,918 poor people have 

improved their livelihoods utilising 

training and Taka 50-crore microcredits 

were distributed under the "Ekti 

Bari, EktiKhamar" project in the district. 

"The beneficiary families have come 

out of 'monga' and attained self-reliance 

through resource mobilisations, small 

scale businesses, cottage industries, and 

poultry and family level farm 

activities,"Sabur said. 

District Relief and Rehabilitation 

Officer FaridulHaque said development 

works under TR, FFW and Kabita 

programmes were implemented 

spending about 7,874 tonnes of food 

grains while 8.22-lakh families received 

12,392 tonnes rice under VGF 

programme during the last fiscal year. 

District Women Affairs Officer 

KawserParveen said under the VGD 

programme, about 68,188 tonnes of 

wheat were distributed among 94,706 

destitute women while allowances of 

Taka 25.82-crore among 21,515 poor 

pregnant women and Taka 1.02-crore 

among 850 poor lactating mothers in 

the last nine years. 

Terming 'monga' eradication as the 

biggest success, Associate Professor of 

Begum Rokeya University 

DrTuhinWadud said implementation of 

massive development progarmmes, 

including SSNPs, helps the government 

achieve the target and increase its 

popularity here. 

Technical education 

vital for national 

development: 

speakers 

RAJSHAHI: Speakers at a 

seminar here today observed 

that technical and vocational 

education and training 

among the youths both male 

and female are critically 

important for transforming 

Bangladesh into a middleincome 

nation, reports BSS. 

They viewed technical 

education could be effective 

means of building competent 

and skilled human resources 

and its role is very vital for a 

substantial and sustainable 

growth of national economy. 

Role of skilled people is 

also very important for 

earning more foreign 

remittance which is 

significant for country's 

development. 

They were addressing the 

seminar titled "Role of 

Technical and Vocational 

Education and Training 

towards Sustainable 

Economic Development: 

Bangladesh Perspective" at 

Rajshahi Mohila Polytechnic 

Institute (RMPI) in the city. 

Bangladesh Technical 

Education Board (BTEB) 

organised the seminar where 

the participants discussed 

ways and means on how to 

hold the forthcoming 

SSC/Dhakhil and Vocational 

Examinations properly and 

ensure a copying-free 

atmosphere. 

All the centre-secretaries, 

principals and headmasters 

from 94 examination centres 

in Pabna, Natore, Naogaon, 

Chapainawabganj, Sirajgonj 

and Rajshahi districts joined 

the seminar. 

LGED to implement TK 2,080-cr 

development project in Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI: Local Government Engineering 

Department (LGED) will implement a mega 

project at an estimated cost of Tk 2,080.40 

crore for overall rural infrastructure 

development in the region, reports BSS. 

Additional Chief Engineer Ali Ahmed of 

LGED here today said the 'Rajshahi Division 

Rural Infrastructure Development Project 

(Excluding SirajganjDistrict)' will be 

implemented at an estimated cost of Tk 

2,080.40 crore by June, 2022 and the entire 

fund will come from the government 

exchequer. 

The project will cover 58 upazilas in Pabna, 

Rajshahi, Natore, Naogaon, 

Chapainawabganj, Bogra and Joypurhat 

districts. 

Ahmed said rural people's accessibility to 

village market, health centre, educational 

and other service-delivery institutions will be 

enhanced after being implemented the 

project. 

He said 172.9 kilometers of upazila roads 

with 140-meter bridges, 367.76 kilometers of 

Union roads with 636-meter bridges and 

1,156 kilometers of village roads, including 

762-meter bridges, will be constructed under 

the project. 

"LGED will also construct 46 growth 

centres, 250-meter school connecting roads, 

396.83-meter culverts and 33.28-kilometer 

RCC roads," Ahmed said, adding that 

327.59-kilometer roads will be widened and 

171.07-kilometer village roads and 240.45- 

kilometer upazila roads will be repaired. 

Moreover, infrastructure development of 

different rural markets will be ensured, he 

also said. The improved infrastructures will 

reduce transport cost, develop marketing 

system, increase production and marketing 

facilities of agricultural products, which will 

contribute a lot to socioeconomic 

development in the region, he added. 

Ahmed continued that a tree plantation 

programme will be carried out along the 

roads which will ultimately help reduce 

carbon emission at a substantial level and 

that is very important to cope with the 

adverse impacts of climate change in the vast 

Barind tract. 

The scheme of rural infrastructure 

development and creation of short- and 

long-term employment opportunities in the 

farm and non-farm sectors will reduce 

poverty by involving rural people in various 

economic and social activities. 

New FF scrutiny committees to 

be formed soon: Mozammel 

KURIGRAM: Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM MozammelHaque today said new 

freedom fighters (FF) scrutiny committees will be formed after canceling some committees, 

which were not constituted properly, reports BSS. 

"Around 6,000 fake certificates have already been cancelled after scrutiny...the scrutiny 

committees which were not constituted properly will also be canceled soon," he told 

journalists at Nageshwari in the district. 

Earlier, the minister inaugurated a free treatment and blood donation camp there with 

upazilaAwami League President MozammelHaqueProdhan in the chair. 

AL General Secretary and Zilla Parishad Chairman MdJafar Ali, Deputy Commissioner Abu 

SarehaMdFerdows Khan, District Muktijoddha Commander Sirajul Islam Tuku and local AL 

leader Dr AHM SumanProdhan, among others, were present in the inaugural function. 

Proper care can flourish 

talents of autistic children 

RAJSHAHI: Speakers at a training 

workshop said here today the autistic and 

mentally retarded children could flourish 

their latent talents if they were properly 

cared, nurtured and provided with 

necessary opportunities, reports BSS. 

They emphasised on creating adequate 

awareness among the pregnant mothers 

and parents to reduce the risk of autism 

and physical disability of newborn 

babies. 

Tory Foundation and Aims Lab United 

International University jointly 

organized the workshop titled "Use of 

Digital Device to enhance 

communication skills of the autistic 

children" at Rajshahi Teachers Training 

College conference hall. 

Additional Deputy Commissioner 

(General) MdShalahuddin and 

Divisional Director of Department of 

Social Services ZulfikarHaider addressed 

the workshop as chief and special guests 

respectively with Chairman of Tory 

Foundation Hasinul Islam in the chair. 

Principal of Teachers Training College 

Prof WaliulAlam, Executive Director of 

Tory Foundation and Director of Aims 

Lab Dr Abdullah Al Mamun also spoke. 

The speakers narrated the present 

situation on autism and disability around 

the globe and cited various government 

steps for ensuring welfare of the autistic 

and physically challenged children. 

MdShalahuddin said the autistic, 

mentally retarded and disabled children 

and people deserve constitutional rights, 

but not mercy, and they must get all 

privileges and human rights, as they are 

the integral parts of the society. 

He thanked Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina and her daughter 

SaimaWazedPutul for taking various 

steps in establishing rights of the autistic 

children and disabled people to ensure 

their education, jobs, health care and 

other facilities. 

He called upon the parents for paying 

due attention in flourishing inherent 

talents of the autistic children through 

proper nurturing and providing them 

opportunities for their normal mental 

and physical growths and education in 

congenial atmosphere. 

Local Member of Parliament, Solim Uddin Tarafdar opensShahid Muktijoddha Afzal Hossain 

Roadcutting ribbon in Naogaon district. 

Photo: Rockey Naogaon. 

Abdullah Al Mamun, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sirajganj Court speaks as chief guest at "Police-Magistracy 

Conference" arranged by Chief Judicial Court Sirajganj yesterday. 

Photo: Badrul Alam. 

14 held in Habiganj 

HABIGANJ: Police, in regular drives arrested 14 persons 

including 13 wanted accused from different areas of the 

district in last 12-hour ending at 9am yesterday morning, 

reports BSS. 

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nazim Uddin 

said, they were picked up from different areas of the district 

on different charges. 

Several cases, including charges of subversive activities, are 

pending with different police stations against the arrested 

persons, the sources added. The arrested were sent to jail. 

Absence of witnesses delays 

trial in CPB blast cases 

The trial in the cases relating to the blasts at a rally of the 

Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) at Paltan Maidan on 

January 20, 2001 is lingering due to absence of witnesses 

from the court, reports BSS. "The trial in the CPB rally blast 

cases is not progressing as expected as the witnesses have not 

appeared before the court despite several summonses issued 

against them," Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor 

Abdullah Abu told BSS today. 

The blasts killed four people and left several hundred 

injured. Asked about the reason of absence of witnesses from 

the court, Abdullah said, "The witnesses might have changed 

their addresses for which the summonses have not yet been 

executed.""But, we are trying our best to complete the trial in 

the quickest possible time," he said, adding that the court has 

already recorded testimony of two prosecution witnesses. 

Two separate cases-one for murder and one under 

explosives act-were lodged in this regard. After 12 years of the 

attack, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on 

November 27 in 2013 submitted charge sheets in the cases to 

the court accusing 13 HuJI members. 

Earlier on Aug 21, 2014, a Dhaka court indicted 13 

operatives of the banned militants' outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al- 

Islami (HuJI) including its top leader Mufti Abdul Hannan in 

a murder case linked with the January 20, 2001 blasts at a 

CPB rally on Paltan Maidan in the capital city. 

Of the accused, Huji chief Mufti Hannan was hanged on 

April 12, 2017 in a case relating to explosion of bombs at 

Sylhet Shrine targeting the then British High Commissioner 

to Bangladesh Anwar Chowdhury on May 21 in 2004 in 

which three people were killed and over 50 injured. 

Man kills brother in Kurigram 

KURIGRAM: A man was killed by his younger brother over 

land dispute at an arbitration meeting in RajarhatUpazila of 

the district the day before yesterday night, reports BSS. 

The victim was identified as AbdurRazzak, 48, resident at 

PurboDebottor village of the Upazila. Accused younger 

brother is AbdurRab, 38. 

Villagers said the incident occurred yesterday afternoon 

when an arbitration meeting was running at their house. 

Younger brother AbdurRab hit his brother with a scissor at 

the meeting. In retaliation the sons of AbdurRazzak beat 

AbdorRab. The two brothers were admitted to 

KurigramSador Hospital. Later AbdurRazzak was referred to 

Rangpur Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to 

his injuries midnight last night. 

Couple killed in C'nawabganj 

road crash 

CHAPAINAWABGANJ: A man and his wife were killed in a 

road accident at Ranihati on Chapainawabganj-Sonamasjid 

Highway under Shibganjupazila in Chapainawabganj district 

on Saturday noon, reports BSS. 

The deceased were identified as Aslam Uddin alias 

Enamul, 65, and his wife Miniara Begum, 55, residents of 

Islampur area of the district town. 

Officer-in-charge (OC) of Shibganjthana, Habibul Islam 

said the couple was going to Rashiknagr village of the upazila 

in a motorbike. As they reached Ranihati College square at 

around 12:15 pm, a Sonamasjid- bound truck hit their 

motorcycle from behind, leaving the duo dead on the spot. 

Being informed, police from Shibganjthana rushed to the 

spot and recovered the bodies. Police also detained the truck 

but the driver and the helper fled away. 

Youth held with 20,000 pieces Yaba in Ctg 

CHITTAGONG: Members of Narcotics Control Department 

(NCD) in a drive arrested a youth drug peddler with 20,000 

pieces of Yaba tablets from city's Mozzairteq area in the early 

hours yesterday, reports . 

The arrested was identified as Mohammad Ismail,34, son 

of Nazir Ahmed, hailed from Whaikong area under 

Teqnafupazila in Cox's bazaar district.

INTERNATIONAL 

7 

SUNDAy, JANUARy 21, 2018 

South Korea on Saturday requested North Korea to explain why it abruptly canceled plans to send a 

delegation over the weekend to prepare for a visit by an art troupe during next month's Pyeongchang 

Winter Olympics. 

Photo : AP 

South Korea asks North to 

explain canceled visit 

4 pressing questions 

ahead of Tuesday’s 

Oscar nominations 

NEW YORK : Oscar nominations 

balloting might be 

finished but Hollywood's 

"Me Too" moment has kept 

right on going, reports UNB. 

When Academy Awards 

nominations are announced 

Tuesday morning, it might 

be a brief, celebratory 

reprieve for an industry 

enflamed by sexual harassment 

scandals and gender 

equality protests. 

Or it might just add more 

fuel to the fire. 

Will the motion picture 

academy, as it has done in 

85 out of 89 years, field an 

all-male field of film directors? 

Will James Franco 

squeak into the best actor 

category after several 

women made allegations 

against him of sexual 

improprieties while filming 

sex scenes? Franco denied 

the claims on late-night 

shows just days before nomination 

voting closed last 

Friday. 

Either of those outcomes 

could make the Oscar nominations 

- a morning often 

dominated by Harvey Weinstein 

in the past - one more 

fraught chapter in the ongoing 

"Me Too" saga that has 

already shaped and contorted 

an Oscar race unlike any 

before. 

Myanmar soldiers 

sentenced for killing 

Kachin civilians 

BANGKOK : State police in 

Myanmar say the military 

has sentenced six soldiers to 

10 years in prison with hard 

labor for killing three civilians 

in war-torn Kachin 

state, reports UNB. 

The Kachin state police 

office says a military tribunal 

handed down the sentence 

Friday after finding the soldiers 

guilty of killing three 

ethnic Kachin civilians in 

September. Kachin is home 

to an ethnic rebel army that 

has been fighting the Myanmar 

military for more than 

seven years. 

SEOUL : South Korea on Saturday 

requested North Korea to explain why 

it abruptly canceled plans to send a delegation 

over the weekend to prepare for 

a visit by an art troupe during next 

month's Pyeongchang Winter 

Olympics, reports UNB. 

South Korean Unification Minister 

Cho Myoung-gyon said that the countries 

could hopefully reschedule a visit 

soon. 

North Korea also hasn't responded to 

the South Korean proposal to send a 

12-member delegation to the North on 

Tuesday to inspect preparations for a 

joint cultural event at the North's scenic 

Diamond Mountain and a training session 

between non-Olympic skiers at the 

North's Masik ski resort ahead of the 

Olympics. 

"Since we are fully ready for the visit 

of the North Korean advance team and 

their activities, it would be possible for 

the South and North to set up a new 

schedule and carry on (with the preparations), 

" Cho told reporters at the 

ministry in capital Seoul. 

The ministry said North Korea didn't 

explain why it was "suspending" the 

visit by the seven-member advance 

team that was agreed just hours earlier 

on Friday through a cross-border hotline. 

It wasn't immediately clear 

whether the two-day visit, which was to 

begin on Saturday, was canceled or just 

postponed. 

It was supposed to be led by the art 

troupe's leader Hyon Song Wol. She 

also heads the hugely popular girl band 

Moranbong that's hand-picked by 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 

The rival Koreas earlier this week 

agreed that the 140-member Samjiyon 

art troupe, which will include singers, 

dancers and orchestra members, will 

perform twice in South Korea during 

the games in a sign of warming ties 

between the countries. It will be part of 

a North Korean Olympic delegation 

that will also include athletes, officials, 

state media reporters, a cheering group 

and a taekwondo demonstration team. 

Hyon has been the focus of intense 

South Korean media interest since she 

attended inter-Korean talks at the border 

on Monday that reached agreement 

on the troupe's visit. Hyon's gestures 

during the talks as well as her makeup, 

looks, navy blue suit and green shoulder 

bag received widespread coverage. 

The reconciliation mood between 

the Koreas began after North Korean 

leader Kim Jong Un said in a New 

Year's speech that he was willing to 

send a delegation to the Olympics. 

While South Korea hopes to use the 

games to improve relations with its 

rival after a year of animosity over 

North Korea's rapidly expanding 

nuclear program, some experts view 

Kim's overture as an attempt to weaken 

U.S.-led international sanctions 

against the North and buy time to further 

advance his nuclear weapons 

program. 

Watching my family burn’: Woman 

frantic after copter crash 

RATON : Andra Cobb was frantic when she 

called for help, telling an emergency operator 

that a helicopter she was riding in with 

her father, longtime partner and others had 

crashed in a remote part of New Mexico and 

that she was watching her "family burn." 

Police released 911 recordings Friday from 

the crash near the Colorado-New Mexico 

line that killed five people, including Zimbabwean 

opposition leader Roy Bennett, and 

his wife, Heather. Cobb, 39, was the sole survivor, 

escaping with broken bones before the 

helicopter burst into flames, reports UNB. 

Her father, Paul Cobb, the co-pilot, and her 

longtime partner, Charles Burnett III, a 

Texas-based investor who owned the ranch 

where the group of friends was headed, also 

were killed in the crash Wednesday, along 

with pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd. 

"I'm watching my family burn in a fire," 

Andra Cobb screamed on the call. "I don't 

know what to do. There's a big fire. I'm covered 

in gasoline." 

Dodd also called 911 before he later 

died. He told authorities immediately 

after the crash that there were three victims 

and three survivors - him, Andra 

Cobb and Roy Bennett, who was suffering 

from a head wound as authorities tried to 

determine their location. Officials 

launched a search but said the response 

was slow because of the rugged terrain 

and lack of access. Andra Cobb remained 

on the call for about an hour as she waited 

for authorities to arrive. Bennett's 

death was met with an outpouring of grief 

in Zimbabwe. A white man who spoke fluent 

Shona and drew the wrath of former 

President Robert Mugabe, Bennett had 

won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans 

for passionately advocating political 

change. 

Bennett, treasurer-general of the Morgan 

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic 

Change opposition party, previously survived 

a traumatic year in jail and death 

threats over his work. 

He and his wife had traveled to New Mexico 

to spend their holiday with their friend 

Burnett, according to loved ones. The 

wealthy businessman was described as a 

fun-loving person who enjoyed entertaining, 

at times extravagantly. 

Burnett's friends Dodd and Cobb were 

experienced aviators who would not have 

taken unnecessary risks in the helicopter, 

according to the investor's personal lawyer, 

Martyn Hill. Hill and Cobb's wife, Martha, 

said the co-pilot had survived being shot 

down while flying a helicopter in the Vietnam 

War. 

The cause of the crash remains under 

investigation. Despite frigid temperatures, 

there was no indication of bad weather that 

night. 

Authorities eventually found the wreckage 

engulfed in flames, which had sparked a 

grass fire. 

Colfax County Sheriff Rick Sinclair told 

The Associated Press that he helped search 

the rugged terrain and that when crews 

found the wreckage, residents from nearby 

ranches were working to extinguish the 

blaze. 

This image taken from video shows an investigator photographing the 

scene near Raton, N.M., Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, where a helicopter crashed 

late Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. Friends and family members confirmed 

Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, that Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett 

and his wife, Heather, were on the copter as they traveled to New Mexico 

to spend their holiday with friend and wealthy businessman Charles 

Burnett III at his ranch. 

(Peter Banda/Associated Press) 

Turkish military 

‘retaliates’ against 

fire from Syrian 

Kurds 

ANKARA : Turkey's military 

says it has retaliated 

against fire into Turkey 

from across the border in a 

Kurdish-controlled enclave 

in northwest Syria, reports 

UNB. 

A brief military statement 

said Saturday the 

military responded to two 

days of "harassment" by 

attacking refugee and shelters 

in the enclave of Afrin 

allegedly belonging to a 

Syrian Kurdish militia 

group that Turkey considers 

to be a "terror" organization. 

The military did not 

provide details. 

Turkey has vowed to 

launch a ground operation 

into Afrin to eradicate the 

threat from the group it 

says is an extension of Kurdish 

rebels fighting inside 

Turkey. It has been massing 

troops and tanks at its 

border. 

Turkey's defense minister 

said Thursday the 

offensive into Afrin had 

"de facto" started, in reference 

to sporadic Turkish 

military shelling of the 

area. 

Egypt presidential 

hopeful calls for 

neutrality in 

elections 

CAIRO : Egypt's former 

military chief of staff, who 

announced he would run 

for president in March elections, 

has called on state 

institutions to maintain 

neutrality toward all candidates, 

reports UNB. 

Sami Annan's early Saturday 

video statement 

released on his official 

Facebook page came hours 

after President Abdel-Fattah 

el-Sissi declared his bid 

to run for a second fouryear 

term. 

He urged civil and military 

institutions against 

"unconstitutionally" siding 

with a president "who may 

leave his office." 

Annan said he formed a 

presidential team that 

would include Egypt's former 

top auditor Hisham 

Genena, who was sacked by 

el-Sissi in 2016. Annan also 

said he is running to "save 

the Egyptian state" from 

what he described as 

"wrong policies." 

Other presidential hopefuls 

include a prominent 

rights lawyer who has 

alleged harassment by the 

authorities. 

Memorial service 

planned for 

beloved Michigan 

airport dog 

TRAVERSE CITY : 

Friends and fans are bidding 

farewell to a speedy 

border collie that became 

an internet sensation for 

keeping a northern Michigan 

airport's runways free 

of critters, reports UNB. 

A memorial service for 

Piper is scheduled for 3 

p.m. Saturday at City 

Opera House in Traverse 

City. The 9-year-old dog 

was euthanized Jan. 3 

after battling prostate cancer. 

He was diagnosed with 

cancer about a year ago 

and treated with 

chemotherapy. 

He became the official 

wildlife-control canine at 

Cherry Capital Airport in 

winter of 2015 - the nemesis 

of geese, ducks and 

even snowy owls. 

Images of Piper on the 

job, wearing his airport 

vest, ear muffs and goggles, 

made their way onto 

online social forum Reddit. 

He quickly became a 

top hit. Curious fans even 

caused network problems 

on the airport's website. 

He was diagnosed with 

cancer about a year ago 

and treated with 

chemotherapy. 

US and Pakistan clash at 

UN over Afghanistan 

UNITED NATIONS : The United States urged 

Pakistan on Friday not to give sanctuary to 

"terrorist organizations" - and Pakistan 

demanded that the Trump administration 

address safe havens inside Afghanistan and its 

income from the narcotics trade, reports 

UNB. 

The exchange took place Friday at a Security 

Council meeting on the issue of 

Afghanistan's relations with its Central Asia 

neighbors and the link between peace and 

security. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John 

Sullivan said the United States can't work with 

Pakistan if it continues to give sanctuary to 

terrorist organizations and need to stop this 

and join efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict. 

Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Maleeha Lodi 

countered that Afghanistan and its partners, 

especially the U.S., need to address "challenges 

inside Afghanistan rather than shift the 

onus for ending the conflict onto others." 

"Those who imagine sanctuaries outside 

need a reality check," she stressed. The 

exchange followed the Trump administration's 

announcement this month that it was 

suspending military aid to Pakistan until it 

takes decisive action against militants. 

In August, the U.S. infuriated Pakistan by 

accusing it of providing a haven for extremist 

groups that carry out attacks in neighboring 

Afghanistan. Pakistan repeatedly has said it is 

acting against Taliban insurgents and members 

of the Haqqani militant group. 

Armed clashes in Afghanistan in the past 

year were the highest in a decade and civilian 

casualties remained at near-record levels. 

More than 2 million people were directly 

affected by the conflict in 2017, with some 

448,000 having to abandon their homes to 

save their lives. Sullivan told the council that 

an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned approach to 

peace, with firm international support for 

Afghan security forces, "will make clear to the 

Taliban that victory cannot be won on the 

battlefield - a solution is and must be political." 

But he said: "We must recognize the reality 

that while the Afghan government has 

been adamant about its interests in initiating 

peace talks with the Taliban, there has been 

no reciprocal interest on the part of the Taliban.""That 

must change," Sullivan stressed. 

He urged international efforts to isolate the 

Taliban, eliminate its sources of income and 

equipment. Sullivan also criticized unnamed 

countries for supporting the Taliban in the 

name of fighting the Islamic State extremist 

group, also known as ISIS. "This approach is 

misguided or worse pernicious," he said. 

"The United States believes that the two are 

not linked. We can and must fight ISIS in 

Afghanistan while ensuring the Taliban 

come to the negotiating table." Pakistan's 

Lodhi said that after 17 years of war it's 

"more than evident" that neither the Afghan 

government nor the Taliban can win militarily. 

"The continuing resort to military force 

and escalation of the conflict without an 

accompanying political and diplomatic strategy 

... will produce more violence, not a political 

solution," she said. "It is not enough to 

pay lip service to a negotiated settlement and 

then do little other than exercise a strategy of 

force and coercion." 

The United States urged Pakistan on Friday not to give sanctuary to 

"terrorist organizations" - and Pakistan demanded that the Trump 

administration address safe havens inside Afghanistan and its income 

from the narcotics trade. 

Photo : AP 

Oscar winner Dorothy 

Malone, mom on ‘Peyton 

Place,’ has died 

DALLAS : Actress Dorothy Malone, who 

won hearts of 1960s television viewers as the 

long-suffering mother in the nighttime soap 

"Peyton Place," died Friday in her hometown 

of Dallas at age 93. 

Malone died in an assisted living center 

from natural causes days before her 94th 

birthday, said her daughter, Mimi Vanderstraaten. 

After 11 years of mostly roles as loving 

sweethearts and wives, the brunette actress 

decided she needed to gamble on her career 

instead of playing it safe. She fired her agent, 

hired a publicist, dyed her hair blonde and 

sought a new image, reports UNB. 

"I came up with a conviction that most of 

the winners in this business became stars 

overnight by playing shady dames with sex 

appeal," she recalled in 1967. She welcomed 

the offer for "Written on the Wind," in which 

she played an alcoholic nymphomaniac who 

tries to steal Rock Hudson from his wife, 

Lauren Bacall. 

"And I've been unfaithful or drunk or oversexed 

almost ever since- on the screen, of 

course," she added. 

When Jack Lemmon announced her as the 

winner of the 1956 Academy Award for best 

actress in a supporting role for the performance, 

she rushed to the stage of the Pantages 

Theatre and gave the longest speech of the 

evening. Even when Lemmon pointed to his 

watch, she continued undeterred, thanking 

"the Screen Actors and the Screen Extras 

guilds because we've had a lot of ups and 

downs together." 

Malone's career waned after she reached 

40, but she achieved her widest popularity 

with "Peyton Place," the 1964-69 ABC series 

based on Grace Metalious' steamy novel 

which became a hit 1957 movie starring Lana 

Turner. Malone assumed the Turner role as 

Constance Mackenzie, the bookshop operator 

who harbored a dark secret about the 

birth of her daughter Allison, played by the 

19-year-old Mia Farrow. 

ABC took a gamble on "Peyton Place," 

scheduling what was essentially a soap opera 

in prime time three times a week. It proved 

to be a ratings winner, winning new prominence 

for Malone and making stars of Farrow, 

Ryan O'Neal and Barbara Parkins. 

"RIP Dorothy Malone, my beautiful TV 

mom for two amazing years," Farrow posted 

on Twitter. 

Malone was offered a salary of $10,000 a 

week, huge money at the time. She settled for 

$7,000 with the proviso that she could leave 

the set at 5 p.m. so she could spend time with 

her young daughters, Mimi and Diane. She 

had been divorced from their father, a dashing 

Frenchman, Jacques Bergerac. 

He had been discovered in France by Ginger 

Rogers, who married him and helped 

sponsor his acting career. They divorced, and 

he wooed and wedded Dorothy Malone in 

1959. The marriage lasted five years and ended 

in a bitter court battle over custody of the 

daughters. "I wish Ginger had warned me 

what he was like," she lamented. 

Malone married three times - two and a 

half by her calculation. Her second marriage, 

to stock broker Robert Tomarkin in 

1969, was annulled after six weeks, Vanderstraaten 

said. A marriage in 1971 to motel 

chain executive Huston Bell also ended in 

divorce. 

"I don't have very good luck in men," she 

admitted. "I had a tendency to endow a man 

qualities he did not possess." When a 

reporter suggested that she was well fixed 

because of the "Peyton Place" money, she 

replied: "Don't you believe it. I had a husband 

who took me to the cleaners. The day 

after we were married he was on the phone 

selling off my stuff." 

When she was born in Chicago on Jan. 30, 

1925, her name was Dorothy Eloise Maloney 

(it was changed to Malone in Hollywood 

"because it sounded too much like 

baloney," she said). When she was 3- 

months-old, her father - a telephone company 

auditor - moved the family to Dallas 

where she was raised in a strict Catholic 

household. 

"As a child I lived by the rules," she said in 

1967, "repeating them over and over, abiding 

by them before I fully understood their 

full meaning." 

In 1942, an RKO talent scout saw her in a 

play at Southern Methodist University and 

recommended her for a studio contract. Her 

first three movie roles were walk-ons with 

no lines; her later roles were not much 

improvement. A move to Warner Bros. in 

1945 provided greater opportunity.

ART & CULTURE SUNDAY, 

JANUARY 21, 2018 

8 

Padmaavat teaser celebrates 

courage of Rajput women as they 

declare war against Khilji 

9-day Pitha Festival begins at 

Shilpakala Academy Tuesday 

A nine-day National Pitha Festival 2018 will 

begin on Tuesday on the premises of 

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy here with a 

view to upholding different traditional pithas 

(cakes or patty), reports BSS. 

Shilpakala Academy along with Pitha Utsab 

Udjapan Parishad will organize the festival that 

will continue till January 31. 

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman 

Noor will inaugurate the festival while 

Academy's Director General Liakat Ali 

Lucky will chair it. 

What would you do if you have one of 

the worst imaginable nightmares and 

wake up to find that you are living it bit 

by bit? That is the basic premise of 

Samir Soni's My Birthday Song and it 

is hard to find fault with it. As far as 

concepts go, this is a fairly intriguing 

one, reports Indian express. 

My Birthday Song is the story of an 

ad agency owner, Rajiv Kaul (Sanjay 

Suri), who has a scary nightmare and 

wakes up to see parts of the dream 

being repeated in different settings and 

places through the day. Afraid that it 

will end the way his dream did - in 

catastrophe, Rajiv even tries to 

interfere and change the final outcome. 

Will he succeed? Is it just a 

nightmare or did he actually have a 

glimpse of what his fortieth birthday 

held for him? Is he a victim of a 

practical joke it is he a victim of 

someone's evil plans? Or, maybe, he is 

just imagining things? 

The film keeps us engaged in the 

narrative, raising such questions with 

each turn of events and Sanjay Suri 

ensures he plays the protagonist with 

grace, confusion, fear and guilt. 

The actor has portrayed complex 

characters with elan before and My 

Birthday Song rides completely on his 

shoulders. The dialogues are mostly in 

English or English mixed with Hindi 

and that is in keeping with the milieu 

to which the characters belong. 

It is the heavy-footed treatment of 

the film that fails it. It is so 

overdramatic that even the solid theme 

on which it is based gets lost. There is a 

concerted effort that every trope 

associated with a thriller -- shaky 

frames, strange camera angles and 

sudden jump cuts - is introduced in the 

film, making it repetitive and boring. 

My Birthday Song has Purab Kohli 

and Pitobash in guest appearances and 

both are wasted. The character of 

Pitobash is especially a forced addition 

for he is there only to spout dialogues 

on moral values and philosophy in a 

psychological thriller. 

Debutante director Samir Soni starts 

off with an amazing idea which is failed 

by its execution. 

My Birthday Song movie review: 

A clever idea that fails to take off 

What would you do if you have one of the 

worst imaginable nightmares and wake 

up to find that you are living it bit by bit? 

That is the basic premise of Samir Soni's 

My Birthday Song and it is hard to find 

fault with it. As far as concepts go, this is 

a fairly intriguing one, reports 

Hindustan Times. 

My Birthday Song is the story of an ad 

agency owner, Rajiv Kaul (Sanjay Suri), 

who has a scary nightmare and wakes up 

to see parts of the dream being repeated 

in different settings and places through 

the day. Afraid that it will end the way his 

dream did - in catastrophe, Rajiv even 

tries to interfere and change the final 

outcome. Will he succeed? Is it just a 

nightmare or did he actually have a 

glimpse of what his fortieth birthday 

held for him? Is he a victim of a practical 

joke it is he a victim of someone's evil 

plans? Or, maybe, he is just imagining 

things? 

The film keeps us engaged in the 

narrative, raising such questions with 

each turn of events and Sanjay Suri 

ensures he plays the protagonist with 

grace, confusion, fear and guilt. 

The actor has portrayed complex 

characters with elan before and My 

Birthday Song rides completely on his 

shoulders. The dialogues are mostly in 

English or English mixed with Hindi and 

that is in keeping with the milieu to 

which the characters belong. 

It is the heavy-footed treatment of the 

film that fails it. It is so overdramatic that 

even the solid theme on which it is based 

gets lost. There is a concerted effort that 

every trope associated with a thriller -- 

shaky frames, strange camera angles and 

sudden jump cuts - is introduced in the 

film, making it repetitive and boring. 

My Birthday Song has Purab Kohli and 

Pitobash in guest appearances and both 

are wasted. The character of Pitobash is 

especially a forced addition for he is 

there only to spout dialogues on moral 

values and philosophy in a psychological 

thriller. 

Debutante director Samir Soni starts 

off with an amazing idea which is failed 

by its execution. 

H o RoScoPe 

ARIeS (March 21 - April 

20): You must play by the 

rules this weekend, even if 

you genuinely believe you 

can get away with cutting 

corners. What happens early next week 

won't be pleasant if people in positions 

of power discover you have made 

choices they disapprove of. 

TAURUS (April 21 - May 

21): If there is something 

you have wanted to do for 

ages but never had the 

nerve to go ahead with then 

make it happen this weekend. Fear is 

an emotion that has held you back far 

too many times, so get over it and 

follow your desires. 

LIBRA (Sept. 24 - oct. 

23): You may not be overly 

emotional by nature but you 

have your moments and you 

will certainly feel deeply 

about something over the next 48 hours. 

The good news is this is the perfect time 

to let others know how much you care 

for them. Do it! 

ScoRPIo (oct. 24 - Nov. 

22): Life seems to be 

moving at a faster pace every 

day, and yes it is enjoyable, 

but there is a danger that in 

your eagerness to get ahead you might 

overlook some small but incredibly 

important detail. Slow down - before 

something slows you down! 

Prabhas will get married 

this year, says uncle 

Krishnam Raju 

Rumours of Prabhas' marriage has been 

around for a long time. But it now looks like 

the Baahubali actor might finally get 

hitched this year. 

According to media reports, his uncle 

Krishnam Raju has said that Prabhas might 

get married this year. Talking to reporters on 

the occasion of his birthday, the renowned 

Telugu actor also spoke about several other 

issues, reports Indian Express. 

Taking questions about Prabhas' 

wedding, he said, "It is embarrassing a bit to 

answer this question in every interview. 

Prabhas will get married this year. He is 

willing to." 

The yesteryear actor also said that he was 

open to doing films and was also all praise 

for the Baahubali franchise which became a 

point of inspiration for filmmakers across 

the country. 

After Baahubali, Prabhas is currently 

shooting for Hindi-Telugu bilingual Saaho 

where he has been cast opposite Shraddha 

Kapoor. The actor has been rumoured to be 

in a relationship with his Baahubali co-star 

Anushka Shetty. The rumours peaked after 

he got the pretty actress a luxury car for her 

birthday. 

The actress, on the other hand, gifted him 

a designer watch. While they have been 

spotted together at public functions, the 

duo have always maintained that they are 

just good friends. 

"Anushka and I had decided that we'll 

never let dating rumours about us do the 

rounds. We are family friends for 9 years. 

We are good friends. We know each other 

for years," Prabhas said in an earlier 

interview. 

GeMINI (May 22 - June 

21): Your good points will 

be on display this weekend, 

but with the sun moving 

through the area of your 

chart that governs your wealth you must 

make sure that one of your good points - 

your generosity - does not cause 

problems. Don't give too much away. 

cANceR (June 22 - July 

23): You need to work more 

closely with other people and 

you need to realize that while 

your opinions may differ on 

a range of issues it need not spoil your 

relationship. It is one of the wonders of 

life that opposites often work well 

together. 

Leo (July 24 - Aug. 23): 

Try not to get carried away 

with ideas of your own 

brilliance over the next 48 

hours, because later on you 

may realize that you have missed 

something that is of great importance. 

Your ego can be your biggest friend - 

and your biggest enemy. 

VIRGo (Aug. 24 - Sept. 

23): The sun in Capricorn at 

this time of year does 

wonders for your confidence 

and you certainly believe 

that all things are possible. However, 

other influences warn you should limit 

your activities this weekend to areas 

where you know what you are doing. 

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 

- Dec. 21): If you are too 

free and easy with your 

money this weekend you 

could regret it later in the 

month, so think before you buy. Yes, of 

course, there are more important things 

in life than cash but it's still a crime to 

squander your resources. 

cAPRIcoRN (Dec. 22 - 

Jan. 20): You need a 

challenge that will bring out 

the best in you and what 

happens over the next few 

days will test you in ways you had not 

expected. You cannot help but succeed, 

so long as you have learned from recent 

mistakes. So, have you? 

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 - 

Feb. 19): It may seem to 

friends and relatives that 

you are aiming too high but 

you know that the higher 

you aim the more likely it is that you will 

realize your dreams. Believe in yourself 

and make impossible things happen. If 

anyone can do it, you can. 

PISceS (Feb. 20 - Mar. 

20): What happens over the 

course of the weekend will 

open your eyes to new 

possibilities. The sun in 

Capricorn at this time of year is 

especially helpful for group activities, so 

get involved in team projects. You'll be 

on the winning team, of course!

SPORTS 

9 

SUNDAy, JANUARy 21, 2018 

Pele resting at home as hospital reports are denied by spokesperson. 

Photo: BBC 

Arena says US 'bad eggs' 

cracked under pressure 

LOS ANGELES: Bruce Arena says he 

accepted blame for American's 

World Cup failure by resigning 

quickly, but added there were also 

had a "few bad eggs" on the roster 

who helped spoil the team 

chemistry, reports BSS. 

Three months after the US's failure 

to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, 

the former head coach opened up 

about the team's shortcomings 

Friday at a soccer coaches forum 

Friday in Philadelphia. 

"It wasn't the same team with the 

right chemistry. It just didn't seem 

like everyone was on the same page 

with the right mentality," Arena said 

Friday. 

"It wasn't the character you see out 

of a US team. And the second part, 

realistically, was that we didn't have 

the most talented players and when 

Osaka ousts 

Aussie hope 

Barty at 

Open 

MELBOURNE : Unseeded 

Naomi Osaka downed local 

Australian Open hope Ashleigh 

Barty with a comprehensive 6- 

4, 6-2 win Saturday to reach 

the last 16 of a Grand Slam for 

the first time. Ranked 72, her 

reward is a clash with top seed 

Simona Halep for a place in the 

quarter-finals. 

The powerful Japanese 

20-year-old took the first set 

against the 18th seed in 38 

minutes before racing to a 4- 

0 lead in the second on the 

back of an impressive serve. 

Barty finally got on the 

board in her third service 

game but it was too little too 

late to the dismay of the 

raucous band of "Ash's 

Army" supporters on 

Margaret Court Arena. 

Osaka, who beat this year's 

fourth seed Elina Svitolina 

in Melbourne as an 18-yearold 

two years ago, served out 

calmly-smacking down her 

12th ace on match point 

we had injuries, it hurt us." 

Arena also levelled his guns at 

armchair critics who second guessed 

the team's coaching staff. 

"You got some answers for me the 

day before the game? During the 

game? I'm listening. Everyone the 

day after, you're a bunch of phonies. 

I don't want to hear about it the day 

after. We're all the best coaches the 

day after," he said. 

The USA hopes were dashed with a 

2-1 qualifying round defeat to last 

place Trinidad and Tobago, ending a 

seven straight appearance streak for 

the US on soccer's biggest stage. 

All the US needed to advance was a 

tie against Trinidad. 

"We laid an egg," Arena said. 

"Top players respond to big games 

.... I told (the players) we've got to be 

ready. I think our players 

understood that. 

"A lot of pressure built up, 

especially after we conceded the first 

goal. We seemed to get ourselves 

settled in after that and conceded 

another goal, and some people 

cracked." 

Arena, who also coached the team 

between 1998 and 2006, said 

injuries and a lack of depth 

contributed to their demise. 

Then there were others in the 

lineup who lacked the character to 

overcome the adversity, he said. 

"We had a couple of bad eggs .... we 

were all well aware and the players 

were aware (of who they were). 

"Mexico and Costa Rica were 

better teams. But we should've been 

the third one. I accept that 

responsibility. That's why I resigned 

so quickly." 

Hollywood's Will 

Smith hooked after 

Kyrgios classic 

MELBOURNE : Hollywood heavyweight 

Will Smith says he's now hooked on 

tennis after being courtside at the 

Australian Open to see Nick Kyrgios 

topple Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a Grand 

Slam classic, reports BSS. 

The "Men in Black" star was on the 

edge of his seat as Australian hope 

Kyrgios beat the former finalist 7-6 

(7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) in a 

spectacular night match on Friday. 

"This match last night was CRAZY!! 

@klnkyrg1os vs @tsongaofficiel ... 

WOW! I haven't been to many Tennis 

matches. But, Now... I'm pretty sure I'm 

hooked!" he said on Instagram 

Saturday. 

Smith has 5.4 million Instagram 

followers and his post had got 

227,000 likes in barely two hours. 

Kyrgios is huge fan of the actor, 

producer and comedian and admitted 

after the match he was a bit starstruck 

when he realised he was 

watching. 

"No joke, he's like my favourite actor. 

I get asked if one person were acting 

your life, I'd always pick him," said the 

22-year-old, seeded 17 at Melbourne 

Park. 

"It was surreal seeing him. You know, 

I was talking to him in the third set. I 

kept looking at him. I was like, 'I got to 

break the ice, I got to say something'." 

Asked what he said, he replied: "I 

said, I watched a load of your movies a 

bunch of times. It was pretty cringe, but 

it broke the ice." 

The pair met afterwards and had their 

picture taken, and Kyrgios was 

impressed. 

"He was really nice. I met him after 

the match. He was really genuine," he 

said. 

Smooth 

Keys glides 

into last 16 

at Open 

MELBOURNE: US Open 

finalist Madison Keys 

continued her serene 

progress through the 

Australian Open draw with 

a 6-3, 6-4 win over 

unseeded Ana Bogdan on 

Saturday, reports BSS. 

The 17th seed, who made 

the semis at Melbourne 

Park in 2015, has not 

dropped a set and breezed 

past the plucky Romanian, 

ranked 104, in 73 minutes 

in their third-round match 

on Margaret Court Arena. 

"I'm really excited. I 

definitely feel I'm playing 

well," said Keys, who was 

one of only three Americans 

to make the round of 32. 

She had only dropped 

seven games going into this 

match, taking just 41 

minutes to get past Russia's 

Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0, 

6-1 in the second round and 

must now be rated one of 

the favourites going into the 

second week. 

"Ana played great today 

and made me play my best 

tennis," Keys added. 

The American, coached 

by former great Lindsay 

Davenport, next faces either 

French eighth seed Caroline 

Garcia or Belarussian 

Alaksandra Sasnovich in 

the last 16. "Lindsay is 

amazing. We've had three 

years together and she has 

taught me how to handle 

big moments like this," said 

Keys. 

Annual sports 

of SK Govt Girls 

High School in 

Manikganj held 

MANIKGANJ: The annual 

sports of SK Government 

Girls High School was held 

on the school premises in 

the district yesterday, 

reports BSS. 

State Minister for Health 

and Family Welfare Zahid 

Malek inaugurated the 

competition as the chief 

guest. 

Deputy Commissioner of 

Manikganj Md Nazmus 

Sadat Salim was present as 

the special guest with 

headmaster of the school 

Rebeka Jahan in the chair. 

Speaking on the occasion, 

the state minister for health 

and family welfare said the 

present government under 

the dynamic leadership of 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina ensured equal 

facilities for the girls and 

boys in every sector. 

Later, the state minister 

attended as the chief guest 

in the annual sports of 

Manikganj Government 

High School and founding 

ceremony of Joynagar High 

School under sadar upazila 

of the district. 

Sri Lanka takes on 

Zimbabwe in crucial 

match today 

DHAKA: It will be an acid Test for Sri 

Lanka as they face Zimbabwe in their 

third crucial match of triangular series 

scheduled to be held tomorrow at Shere-Bangla 

National Cricket Stadium at 

Mirpur in the city, reports BSS. 

The day/night match kicks off at 12 

pm. Sri Lanka must have to win their 

third match against Zimbabwe as If 

they lose this next game, they will have 

exit from the championship race 

following their two consecutive defeats 

- the first by 12 runs against the same 

opponents and the second by 163 runs 

against the hosts. 

Expectations of this Sri Lanka team 

were not high. They had spent much of 

losing lavishly in all corners of the 

world last year and even by those 

standards, the situation is worse in the 

New Year as they are yet to win a match 

in a tri-series featuring the sixth and 

tenth-ranked sides. 

Incredibly - and unthinkably only 

eight months ago - it is Zimbabwe who 

are the more highly-favoured side. This 

is the same Zimbabwe who had lost a 

series at home to Afghanistan last year. 

The same Zimbabwe who, have not 

played ODIs since last July, of the six 

most recent matches between these 

teams, Zimbabwe have won four - three 

of those victories having come in Sri 

Lanka. 

With Brendan Taylor back in their 

ranks, and Sikandar Raza consistently 

producing high-impact performances, 

source cricinfo. 

However, as the square in Mirpur 

wears down, it is perhaps on the spin 

front that this match will be won or 

lost. Sri Lanka are blooding Akila 

Dananjaya, who has had steady 

performances so far, but is yet to 

develop into a consistent matchwinner. 

For Zimbabwe, the likes of Graeme 

Cremer and Raza have been more 

reliably penetrative. Having just been 

bowled out for 157 by the Bangladesh 

attack, Sri Lanka's top order have some 

serious rebounding to do. 

Squads: Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Perera, 2 

Upul Tharanga, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 

Niroshan Dickwella (wicket keeper), 5 

Dinesh Chandimal (captain.) 6 Asela 

Gunaratne, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Akila 

Dananjaya, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 

Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Nuwan Pradeep. 

Zimbabwe: 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 

Solomon Mire, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 

Brendon Taylor (wicket keeper), 5 

Sikander Raza, 6 Malcolm Waller 7 PJ 

Moor, 8 Graeme Cremer (captain.), 9 

Kyle Jarvis, 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 

Blessing Muzarabani. 

Australia v England: Tourists hold nerve to take 2-0 series lead. 

NEW YORK: Los Angeles Kings forward 

Dustin Brown escaped a suspension Friday 

but was slapped with a $10,000 fine by the 

NHL's disciplinary officials for 

crosschecking Pittsburgh's Justin Schultz 

into the sideboards, reports BSS. 

Brown was ejected from Thursday's game 

between the Kings and the Penguins and 

given a major penalty for the hit at 6:36 of 

the third period. 

Brown's penalty proved costly for the 

Kings as it resulted in a power play for 

Pittsburgh, which used the man advantage to 

score a goal and go on to win the contest 3-1. 

Schultz, of Canada, was on his knees with 

his back to Brown when the Kings forward 

raised his stick and slammed Schultz facefirst 

into the side boards. Schultz went to 

the locker room to receive medical attention 

but was not seriously hurt. 

"We're really thrilled that Schultzy, it 

Photo: BBC. 

Kings' Brown escapes suspension 

for illegal hit 

seems like he's going to be OK," said 

Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan. 

Many felt Brown's hit was worthy of a 

suspension because of his reputation of being 

a dirty player and for being a repeat offender. 

At the 2008 World Championships, Brown, of 

the US, delivered a controversial hit to the 

head of Finland's Jussi Jokinen. 

He was suspended for two games in 2013 

for an elbow to the head of Minnesota Wild 

forward Jason Pominville. 

One of his most infamous hits took place 

in the 2012 NHL playoffs when he 

blindsided Phoenix Coyotes Michal 

Rozsival with a knee-on-knee hit just inside 

the Kings' blue line. 

The NHL's only other fine announced 

Friday also involved Brown. Penguins star 

Evgeni Malkin was fined $5,000 for 

spearing Brown in the first period of the 

same contest. 

Davis Cup culture a calming 

influence on Kyrgios 

MELBOURNE: Nick Kyrgios 

believes the inclusive culture of the 

Davis Cup team has steeled his 

game as he zeroes in on a deep run 

at the Australian Open, reports 

BSS. 

The normally combustible 

Australian has found a new sense 

of inner calm as he prepares for a 

fourth round showdown with 

world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov on 

Sunday. 

The 22-year-old won one of the 

big matches of his stormy career 

when he closed out three 

tiebreakers over four sets to beat 

childhood idol and former finalist 

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Friday's 

third round. 

With changing public 

perceptions of one of the favourite 

whipping boys of Australian sport, 

Kyrgios has shown signs of greater 

composure in his matches in 

Melbourne this week. 

He puts it largely down to the allembracing 

culture of playing for 

Australia's Davis Cup team under 

captain Lleyton Hewitt. 

"Last year after the Australian 

Open I was really struggling 

mentally," Kyrgios said after 

Friday's victory. 

"He (Hewitt) called me up and 

said, 'we would love to have you in 

Davis Cup'. Ever since then, the 

culture has been amazing. It's been 

huge for me." 

Kyrgios said he was now ready 

physically and mentally to deal 

with the pressure matches at the 

Australian Open. 

"I made the quarter-finals here 

three years ago. I feel like I'm 

making improvements," he said. 

"The last couple years I feel like I 

haven't been physically ready to 

play these long matches and back 

it up. 

"I did a really good off-season 

this year. I trained with Lleyton 

and the guys in Melbourne for two 

weeks. 

"Physically, I feel really good. 

Just gives me confidence in my 

game. I know mentally I'm a lot 

better, as well." 

Ranked 17 and likely to go higher 

after this Grand Slam, he showed 

the benefits when he won his first 

home ATP Tour title at the lead-up 

Brisbane International this 

month-beating Dimitrov along the 

way. 

Kyrgios, who has been a 

polarising figure in a nation where 

tennis greats are revered, said he 

hasn't changed his ways despite 

the shifting public perceptions 

about him. 

"It doesn't worry me at all. It's 

not something I wake up and I'm 

like, 'Look, today I'm going to try 

to change the perception'," he said. 

"I've always played the same 

way. Nothing has changed. I've 

always been emotional. I showed 

emotion out there tonight. 

Australian Open: Novak Djokovic progresses to round four despite injury scare. 

Photo: BBC.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

SUNDAY, 

10 

JANUARY 21, 2018 

Islami Bank Officer Kalyan Samiti (IBOKS) organized annual get together and picnic with the participation 

of the bank's directors, executives, all employees and their family members at 

Subarnagram Park of Rupganj Upazila of Narayanganj on Friday. Arastoo Khan, Chairman of the 

Bank was present in the program as Chief Guest. Dr. Md. Zillur Rahman, Chairman, Audit 

Committee, Professor Dr. Md. Sirajul Karim, Professor Dr. Qazi Shahidul Alam, Mohammed 

Humayun Kabir, FCA, Md. Mizanur Rahman, Md. Joynal Abedin, Professor Md. Nazmul Hassan 

Ph.D, Syed Abu Asad Directors, Abdul Hamid Miah, Managing Director & CEO of the bank & chief 

adviser of the samiti and Professor Dr. Mohammad Abdus Samad, Md. Mahbub-ul-Alam, Additional 

Managing Director, Member Secretary of Shari'ah Supervisory Committee of the Bank were present 

as special guests. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Sri Lanka, China to co-build 

dendro power plant 

Sri Lanka and China on Friday signed a joint venture 

agreement to construct Sri Lanka's largest dendro power 

plant in Moneragala in the country's south. 

The power plant will produce 70,000 megawatts of 

renewable energy per year to the country's national power 

grid. 

The joint venture was signed between Beijing Full 

Dimension Power Tech Company Ltd, Nanjing Turbine and 

Electric Machinery Group Company Ltd, and Sri Lanka's 

IMS Holdings. 

While speaking at the signing ceremony, Jinawara 

Dharmawardana, chairman of IMS Holdings Pvt. Ltd., said 

that dendro power is the generation of electricity from 

sustainably grown biomass (fuel wood) and in this project, 

the fuel would be produced from the wood of the Gliricidia 

Sepium tree. 

Hundreds of farmers in the drought-prone Moneragala 

district will benefit from this project as the farmers supplying 

Gliricidia Sepium wood will be making 3.2 million U.S. 

dollars per year as a result of the power plant, 

Dharmawardana said. 

Explaining the reasons for choosing Gliricidia Sepium 

wood as the fuel rather than solar power to run the turbines 

in the power plant, Dharmawardana said that the primary 

mission of the company is to financially secure the farmers in 

drought-prone area of the island country. 

Hu Xingzhong, chairman of the Beijing Full Dimension 

Power Tech Company Ltd, said the cooperation, not just a 

power generation project but also a "community 

development project," is of "great significance" not only to 

the partners but also to the two countries. 

The power plant will consist of six biomass boilers and 

three steam turbine generators as the core of the power 

generation system. 

The dendro power plant is expected to start operation by 

the end of September. 

Russia's Rosgeo expects 11-pct 

increase in revenue for 2018 

Russian exploration company Rosgeo expects to see its 

revenue up 10.8 percent in 2018, the head of the company 

said Friday. 

"Under the International Financial Reporting Standards, 

by the end of 2018, the revenue is expected to reach 41 billion 

rubles (725.38 million U.S. dollars), a 10.8 percent of 

increase compared with 2017," TASS news agency quoted 

Roman Panov, head of Rosgeo as saying. 

The revenue for 2017 amounted to 37 billion rubles (654.61 

million dollars), said Panov, who also disclosed that the 

volume of Rosgeo investments amounted to 4.5 billion rubles 

(79.61 million dollars) in 2017, and a similar amount has 

been pledged for 2018. 

Established in 2011, the company conducts geological 

exploration for various solid minerals including gold, silver 

and platinum, and resources such as natural gas. 

US to overtake 

Saudi as crude oil 

producer: IEA 

The United States are set to 

overtake Saudi Arabia as the 

world's number two oil 

producer this year, as shale 

companies, attracted by 

rising prices, ramp up 

drilling, the International 

Energy Agency said on 

Friday. 

"This year promises to be a 

record-setting one for the 

US," the IEA wrote in its 

monthly market report. 

Crude production of 9.9 

million barrels per day (bpd) 

in the US was now at the 

highest level in nearly 50 

years, "putting it neck-andneck 

with Saudi Arabia, the 

world's second largest crude 

producer after Russia," the 

IEA said. 

"Relentless growth should 

see the US hit historic highs 

above 10 million bpd, 

overtaking Saudi Arabia and 

rivalling Russia during the 

course of 2018 - - provided 

OPEC/non-OPEC restraints 

remain in place," it said. 

A global supply glut 

pushed oil prices as low as 

$30 per barrel at the start of 

2016. But producing 

nations-both inside and 

outside the OPEC oil cartelstruck 

a deal at the end of 

2016 to cut back production 

and drive prices higher. 

Geopolitical tensions and a 

reduction in oil stocks have 

also contributed to the 

recovery. 

Crude recently rose above 

$70 per barrel for the first 

time since 2014 after OPEC 

and non-OPEC countries 

agreed to extend their 

combined cutbacks until the 

end of this year. 

Rising prices have, in turn, 

made it more attractive for 

shale companies to increase 

drilling. 

And since the United 

States is not a party to the 

deal, its shale production can 

continue uninhibited. 

"US growth in 2017 beat all 

expectations ... as the shale 

industry bounced back, 

profiting from cost cuts, 

(and) stepped up drilling 

activity," the IEA said. 

"Explosive growth in the 

US and substantial gains in 

Canada and Brazil will far 

outweigh potentially steep 

declines in Venezuela and 

Mexico," it said. 

"The big 2018 supply story 

is unfolding fast in the 

Americas," the IEA said. 

Shale production is 

controversial, because in 

order to extract oil and gas, a 

high-pressure mixture of 

water, sand and chemicals is 

blasted deep underground to 

release hydrocarbons 

trapped between layers of 

rock. 

And environmentalists 

argue that the processknown 

as fracking, or 

hydraulic fracturing 

t e c h n o l o g y - m a y 

contaminate ground water 

and even cause small 

earthquakes. 

Turning to OPEC output, 

the IEA said that there was 

"no clear sign yet of OPEC 

turning up the taps to cool 

down oil's rally". 

In its own montly market 

report published on 

Thursday, the Organization 

of Petroleum Exporting 

Countries had said that the 

global oil market was moving 

closer to reaching a healthy 

balance between supply and 

demand. 

Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Bangladesh has arranged free medical treatment to provide health 

care facilities to millions of Muslim devotees every year in Biswsa Ijtema ground at Tongi. 


Singapore sparks 

mockery with 

Instagram 'influencers' 

for budget 

Singapore's government has sparked 

mockery after hiring social media 

"influencers" to try to interest the 

younger generation in the budget, with 

messages about "inflationary pressure" 

and "balanced budgets" popping up on 

Instagram. 

The finance ministry hired more 

than 50 users on the platform to seek 

feedback from their followers about 

the forthcoming budget and ask them 

to head to booths in the city-state to 

share their views, local media 

reported. 

One typical post showed user 

Chelsea Teng posing next to a 

swimming pool while holding a laptop, 

alongside the message: "Great news- 

Budget 2018 is coming soon!" 

Another showed user Josephine. T 

staring pensively at an iPad, with the 

post: "With inflationary pressure in 

mind, we all know that the cost of 

living is constantly rising... how do we 

manage our income and expenditure 

to keep a balanced budget?" 

The campaign, which began in 

December, began generating attention 

in recent days-but there was more 

mirth about the government's 

approach than enthusiasm for the state 

of the nation's finances. 

"How out of touch is this govt?!?" 

wrote one user on Facebook, Vincent 

Law, underneath an article about the 

campaign. 

"For the Ministry of Finance, they 

don't really know how to use their 

money," said another, Rave Simpson. 

Some also criticised the choice of 

"influencers", saying they were not 

well-known. They were not among the 

top social media names in the citystate 

who can command huge fees. 

Local media reported that at least 30 

posts by the Instagram stars had 

appeared since December asking for 

feedback on the budget, which will be 

unveiled on February 19. 

The Ministry of Finance did not 

immediately respond to requests for 

comment. 

But a spokesman told the Straits 

Times newspaper that the campaign 

was "an effective way to engage with 

youth participants". She did not 

disclose how much the Instagram 

users were paid. 

Operation of 9-bln USD 

oil refinery in Vietnam 

behind schedule 

The 9-billion-U.S.-dollar Nghi Son oil refinery in Vietnam's central 

Thanh Hoa province will not test run in the first quarter of this year as 

scheduled due to some technical errors, local media reported on Friday. 

The refinery has a design capacity of annually processing 10 million 

tons of crude oil. 

The test run is likely to take place in the second quarter or even third 

quarter, Vietnamese online newspaper VietNamNet reported, adding 

that construction of the refinery is now 96.6 percent complete. 

The refinery's investors include Vietnam's National Oil and Gas Group 

(PetroVietnam), a firm from Kuwait and two companies from Japan. 

According to Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company (BSR), 

which manages and runs Vietnam's biggest oil refinery Dung Quat in 

central Quang Ngai province, the country's annual demand for 

petroleum products will stand at some 6.5 million tons, and for diesel 

around 8.5 million tons in the 2018-2022 period. 

Dung Quat oil refinery, which became operational fully in 2011, has an 

annual capacity of 6.5 million tons of crude oil, meeting 30 percent of 

Vietnam's demand for petroleum products. It is expected to raise the 

capacity to 8.5 million tons in 2021. 

BSR, a subsidiary of PetroVietnam, sold 7.8 percent of its charter 

capital, equivalent to 241.5 million shares during its first initial public 

offering on Jan. 17, Vietnam News Agency reported, noting that BSR is 

the largest enterprise to be equitized ever, with a value of some 3.2 billion 

U.S. dollars. 

Under the BSR equitization plan, PetroVietnam will retain 43 percent 

of BSR's charter capital, while a maximum of 49 percent will be sold to 

strategic investors, expecting to earn nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars. 

BSR's net revenue is estimated at more than 4.5 billion U.S. dollars, 

and its after-tax profit at over 367 million U.S. dollars in 2018. 

Chinese yuan strengthens to 

6.4169 against USD Friday 

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, 

strengthened 232 basis points to 6.4169 against the U.S. dollar Friday, 

according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. 

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or 

fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day. 

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a 

weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening 

of the interbank market each business day. 

The following are the central parity rates of the Chinese currency renminbi, 

or the yuan, against 23 major currencies announced on Friday by 

the China Foreign Exchange Trade System: 

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a 

weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening 

of the interbank market each business day. 

The central parity rate of the yuan against the Hong Kong dollar is 

based on the central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar and 

the exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar against the U.S. dollar at 9 

a.m. in international foreign exchange markets on the same business 

day. 

The central parity rates of the yuan against the other 21 currencies are 

based on the average prices offered by market makers before the opening 

of the interbank foreign exchange market. 

The 606th Executive Committee Meeting of the Board of Directors of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd 

was held at the Board Room of the Bank on Thursday. Hafez Md. Enayet Ullah, Chairman of the 

Committee presided over the meeting. The Meeting reviewed overall business performance of the 

Bank and took various investment related decisions. Members of the Committee Nazmul Ahsan 

Khaled, Md. Harun-Ar-Rashid Khan, Engr. Kh. Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, A. N. Yeahea, Managing 

Director Md. Habibur Rahman, Deputy Managing Directors Kazi Towhidul Alam, Md. Fazlul 

Karim, Muhammad Mahmoodul Haque, S. M. Jaffar, Mohammed Zubair Wafa, Executive Vice 

President and Company Secretary Md. Mahmudur Rahman and other executives were present in 

the meeting. 


Hong Kong stocks 

end record-breaking 

week on a high 

Hong Kong stocks ended 

Friday with further gains, 

bringing an end to a 

spectacular week for the 

benchmark index that has 

seen it push to new 

records. 

The Hang Seng Index 

climbed 0.41 percent, or 

132.95 points, to finish at 

32,254.89. 

The benchmark 

Shanghai Composite 

Index climbed 0.38 

percent, or 13.11 points, to 

3,487.86 -- putting on 1.72 

percent over the week. 

But the Shenzhen 

Composite Index, which 

tracks stocks on China's 

second exchange, lost 0.14 

percent, or 2.66 points, to 

1,921.54 -- a loss of 1.41 

percent since last Friday. 

UK retail sales slide in 

December after Black 

Friday boost 

British retail sales slid 1.5 percent in December from the 

previous month after consumers had brought forward their 

Christmas shopping, official data showed Friday. 

Retail sales had jumped by 1.0 percent in November, 

boosted by Black Friday price reductions, the Office for 

National Statistics said. 

Sales though climbed 1.4 percent in December compared 

with one year earlier, the ONS added. 

"Retail sales continued to grow in the last three months of 

the year partly due to Black Friday deals boosting spending," 

said ONS Senior Statistician Rhian Murphy. 

"Consumers continue to move Christmas purchases 

earlier, with higher spending in November and lower 

spending in December than seen in previous years." 

Murphy added that "the longer-term picture is one of 

slowing growth, with increased prices squeezing people's 

spending". 

Britons' wages are being eroded by Brexit-fuelled inflation, 

according to recent official data. 

Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 

2016, a drop in sterling-making imported goods more 

expensive-has pushed inflation upwards. 

"The latest retail sales data has shown a larger-thanexpected 

drop in month-on-month terms with a decline of 

1.5 percent," said David Cheetham, chief market analyst at 

XTB trading group, adding that the pound dropped in 

response. 

South Africa 

central bank 

chief to head 

IMF steering 

committee 

South Africa's central bank 

chief Lesetja Kganyago will 

take over as chair of the 

International Monetary 

Fund's policy advisory 

committee, the IMF 

announced Thursday. 

Kganyago, who has served 

as governor of the South 

African Reserve Bank since 

late 2014, takes on a threeyear 

post as head of the 

International Monetary and 

Finance Committee. 

He replaces Agustin 

Carstens, former head of the 

Bank of Mexico, who 

resigned in December to 

take over as head of the 

Bank for International 

Settlements (BIS). 

His first major role will be 

to oversee the IMF's Spring 

meeting in Washington in 

mid-April.

MISCELLANEOUS 

11 

SUnDAY, JAnUARY 21, 2018 

US-backed Somalia commandos 

kill 4 al-Shabab extremists 

MOGADISHU : Somali and U.S. 

commandos stormed a camp for al- 

Shabab extremist fighters in an 

overnight raid, killing at least four of 

the fighters and rescuing dozens of 

child conscripts, a Somali intelligence 

official said Friday, reports UNB. 

The official, who spoke on condition 

of anonymity because he was not 

authorized to speak to the media, said 

special forces raided the camp in 

Jame'o village in Middle Shabelle 

region. A local commander was 

among those killed, he said. 

A second official confirmed the raid, 

which was carried out with the 

support of helicopters that later 

evacuated the young recruits. 

Human Rights Watch earlier in the 

week accused al-Shabab of the 

forced recruitment of hundreds of 

children in recent months. The 

recruitment of children is a longstanding 

practice of the al-Qaidalinked 

group which faces growing 

military pressure across south and 

central Somalia. 

Thirty boys were rescued in the 

overnight raid, Somalia's information 

minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman, 

told The Associated Press. 

"Al-Shabab bas once again 

demonstrated their barbarity and 

their complete disregard for human 

rights," the minister said. "The group 

uses these indoctrination camps to 

brainwash young men and force them 

to conduct attacks and suicide 

bombings." He said Somalia's 

military was making "significant 

progress" in retaking territory from 

the extremist group. 

Also on Friday, the U.S. military 

said it had carried out an airstrike in 

Somalia that killed four members of 

the al-Shabab extremist group. 

A statement from the U.S. Africa 

Command said the strike was carried 

Pence's Mideast trip still on as 

government shutdown looms 

WASHINGTON : Vice President Mike 

Pence is making his fourth visit to Israel, 

returning to a region he's visited "a million 

times" in his heart, reports UNB. 

An evangelical Christian with strong ties 

to the Holy Land, Pence this time comes 

packing two key policy decisions in his bags 

that have long been top priorities for him: 

designating Jerusalem as Israel's capital 

and curtailing aid for Palestinians. 

Pence departed as scheduled Friday 

evening as U.S. lawmakers sought to avert a 

federal government shutdown at midnight. 

Alyssa Farah, a Pence spokeswoman, said 

the trip was "integral to America's national 

security and diplomatic objectives" and 

would go on as scheduled. Pence was set to 

depart Friday evening, and Air Force Two 

was expected to land in Ireland for a 

refueling stop early Saturday en route to 

Cairo. 

Since his days in Congress a decade ago, 

Pence has played a role in pushing both for 

the shift in U.S. policy related to the capital 

and for placing limits on funding for 

Palestinian causes long criticized by Israel. 

Traveling to Israel just as Palestinians 

have condemned recent decisions by 

President Donald Trump's administration, 

Pence will arrive in the region as a longtime 

stalwart supporter of Israel who has 

questioned the notion of the U.S. serving as 

an "honest broker" in the stalled peace 

process. 

"The United States certainly wants to be 

honest, but we don't want to be a broker," 

Pence once told the Christian Broadcasting 

Network in 2010. "A broker doesn't take 

sides. A broker negotiates between parties 

of equals." 

The vice president will hold four days of 

meetings in Egypt, Jordan and Israel 

during his visit, the first to the region by a 

senior administration official since Trump 

announced plans in December to designate 

Jerusalem as Israel's capital and begin the 

process of moving the U.S. embassy from 

Tel Aviv, angering Palestinian leaders. 

His trip will also follow Tuesday's 

announcement that the U.S. is withholding 

$65 million of a planned $125 million 

funding installment to the U.N. Relief and 

Works Agency, which provides health care, 

education and social services to 

Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, 

Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. 

Both decisions have come as Trump has 

expressed frustration over a lack of 

progress in restarting peace negotiations 

between Israel and the Palestinians, who 

withdrew plans to meet with Pence during 

his visit to the Middle East. 

Senior White House officials said security 

issues, countering terrorism and efforts to 

push back against Iran would figure 

prominently during Pence's trip, which 

concludes on Tuesday. But the vice 

president also is expected to face questions 

about Israel's future. 

On the embassy, Pence played a steady 

role in pushing for the shift in U.S. policy. 

The decision upended past U.S. views that 

Jerusalem's status should be decided in 

negotiations between Israel and the 

Palestinians, who claim east Jerusalem as 

the capital of their future state. 

Pence had wanted the Trump 

administration to convey "a clear-cut 

policy" on Jerusalem after the president 

asked him last summer to visit the Middle 

East, White House officials have said. 

Pence discussed the issue with Jewish 

and evangelical leaders in the months 

leading up to the decision and advocated 

for the plan within the administration. But 

he noted to religious leaders late last year 

that the decision was the president's alone 

and would fulfill a commitment from the 

2016 campaign. 

Pence has long aligned himself with 

Israel. 

In Congress, he pushed for limiting U.S. 

aid to the Palestinian Authority during the 

presidency of George W. Bush, warning the 

funding could be redirected to groups like 

the militant Hamas movement, which 

controls Gaza. 

He was a vocal advocate for Israel's 

security fence and co-sponsored the 

Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act in 

2011 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's 

undivided capital. Veteran House members 

recall Pence's role as a staunch ally of Israeli 

causes and his steadfast support for moving 

the embassy to Jerusalem at times when 

few were talking about the issue. 

As Indiana's governor, Pence signed a bill 

requiring the state to divest from any 

business that engaged in the Boycott, 

Divestment and Sanctions Movement - a 

grassroots international boycott movement 

against Israel. 

out Thursday about 50 kilometers (31 

miles) northwest of the port city of 

Kismayo. The statement said no 

civilians were killed. 

The U.S. military carried out more 

than 30 drone strikes last year in the 

long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation 

after President Donald Trump 

approved expanded military efforts 

against al-Shabab. 

The extremist group was blamed for 

the October truck bombing in 

Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, that 

killed 512 people. Thursday's U.S. 

airstrike was the first since one early 

this month that killed two al-Shabab 

extremists and destroyed a vehicle 

carrying explosives, "preventing it 

from being used against the people in 

Mogadishu." 

Last year, Somalia's Somali- 

American president vowed that his 

government would drive the 

extremist group out of the country. 

Is There a 

Frontrunner? 

After winning four Golden 

Globe Awards, including best 

feature, drama, Martin 

McDonagh's "Three 

Billboards Outside Ebbing, 

Missouri" may have finally 

taken the Oscar race position 

that no one wants: favorite. It 

has the most unblemished 

score card of all the 

contenders, including nine 

BAFTA nods, an ensemble 

nomination from the Screen 

Actors Guild (which hands 

out its awards Sunday), top 

award nods from the 

directors and producers 

guilds, and the often 

predictive Toronto Film 

Festival audience award. 

But "Three Billboards," 

which many have criticized 

for its portrayal of a racist 

police officer (played by Sam 

Rockwell), has proven a 

lightning rod - both 

celebrated for the timeliness 

of a tale about female 

vengeance and derided as out 

of touch. If "Three Billboards" 

is out in front, it's only by a 

hair. Nearly its equal is 

Guillermo del Toro's "The 

Shape of Water," a much 

admired Cold War fable that 

may earn the most 

nominations Tuesday thanks 

to its lavish craft and 

celebrated ensemble cast. Yet 

it crucially missed out on a 

SAG ensemble nomination, 

which historically has been a 

must-have for any Oscar bestpicture 

winner. Every bestpicture 

winner in the last 22 

years first landed SAG 

ensemble nod. 

And still just as much in the 

mix are Greta Gerwig's "Lady 

Bird," Jordan Peele's "Get 

Out" and Christopher Nolan's 

"Dunkirk." Each can stake its 

own claim. "Lady Bird" is the 

only top contender made by a 

woman, and is perhaps the 

most critically acclaimed 

movie of the year. "Get Out" is 

a landmark genre-bending 

film about racism. 

Radio Free Europe says 

Pakistan closes its bureau 

ISLAMABAD : Radio Free 

Europe/Radio Liberty said Pakistani 

authorities closed the Islamabad 

bureau of its Pashto-language Radio 

Mashaal on Friday after Pakistan's 

intelligence agency accused it of airing 

programs "against the interest of 

Pakistan." 

Pakistan's spy agency, known by the 

acronym ISI, also accused the U.S.- 

funded broadcaster of operating "in 

line with (a) hostile intelligence 

agency's agenda," without naming the 

agency, according to the RFE/RL site, 

reports AP. 

"We're not aware of any Mashaal 

coverage that generated a particular 

government reaction in recent days," 

RFE/RL President Tom Kent said in an 

email to The Associated Press. "We had 

heard from government agents 

Wednesday and Thursday that the 

office might be shut down. No specific 

reason was given." 

The closure of Radio Mashaal comes 

amid tense relations between the 

United States and Pakistan. 

Washington has suspended millions of 

dollars in military aid to Pakistan 

accusing Islamabad of harboring 

insurgents killing U.S. troops in 

Afghanistan. Pakistan has denied the 

charge and accused the U.S. of making 

Pakistan a scapegoat for their failure to 

bring peace to the war-torn nation after 

16 years of trying. 

There was no immediate comment 

from Pakistan about the closure. 

Pakistan accused Radio Mashaal of 

"portraying Pakistan (as) a hub of 

terrorism and (a) safe haven for 

different militant groups," according to 

the closure order posted on the 

RFE/RL site. The Committee to Protect 

Journalism (CPJ) responded swiftly to 

condemn the closure. 

"The order to close Radio Mashaal is 

a draconian move by Pakistani 

authorities and a direct threat to press 

freedom," said Steven Butler, CPJ's 

Asia program coordinator. "Radio 

Mashaal is an important source of 

information and should be allowed to 

continue operating without delay." 

Journalists and bloggers in Pakistan 

have come under increasing pressure 

in recent months. 

Last week Taha Siddiqui, a reporter 

for the World is One News, a 24-hour 

New-Delhi based news channel, was 

attacked by several gunmen who tried 

to kidnap him as he travelled to the 

airport in the Pakistan capital. Siddiqui, 

who also reports for the Paris-based 

France 24 television news channel, said 

he feared the attempted kidnapping 

was payback for his critical analysis of 

Pakistan's military. 

Last May, Siddiqui received 

threatening calls from the counterterrorism 

wing of the Federal 

Investigation Agency, ordering him to 

come in for questioning. Siddiqui said 

he was told by the FIA that he was 

being investigated because of his 

critical stories about the military. 

Last year six bloggers and social 

activists, who had also been critical of 

the military, disappeared for several 

weeks. Five were freed and all said they 

had been held by the country's 

powerful intelligence agencies and 

were tortured. They have all fled the 

country. The sixth is still missing. 

Meanwhile Friday's order issued to 

Radio Mashaal accused the broadcaster 

of inciting Pakistan's ethnic Pashtuns 

who dominate in the country's two 

provinces that border Afghanistan 

"against the state and its institutions." 

The order said the bureau was being 

closed because of a recommendation 

from the country's spy agency. 

"It's hard to know precisely what 

prompted the order," said CPJ's Butler 

in an email to the AP. "However, it is 

certainly only the latest move from the 

military that puts pressure on the 

media to stay away from sensitive 

issues, including criticism of the 

military itself." 

Butler said the closure might also be 

retaliation for President Donald 

Trump's New Year's Eve tweet accusing 

Pakistan of "lies and deceit." 

"It also comes just after the Trump 

administration cut off military aid to 

Pakistan, and could possibly be a kind 

of retaliation," said Butler. "It does not 

bode well for press freedom inside the 

country." 

Conservatives question 

pope's airborne, 

shotgun nuptials 

LIMA : The honeymoon, 

as it were, is apparently 

over. 

A day after Pope 

Francis grabbed 

headlines 

by 

pronouncing two flight 

attendants man and wife 

while flying 36,000 feet 

over Chile, the 

conservative Catholic 

commentariat on Friday 

questioned 

the 

legitimacy of the shotgun 

sacrament and warned it 

could cheapen the 

church's marriage 

preparation down the 

line, reports UNB. 

"Do you know what's a 

'marriage' ripe for 

annulment?" tweeted the 

traditionalist blog Rorate 

Caeli. "One celebrated 

apparently on a whim in 

an airplane whose 

celebrant cannot even be 

sure if parties are validly 

baptized." 

For those who missed 

the news, Francis on 

Thursday presided over 

what the Vatican said 

was the doctrinally and 

canonically legitimate 

wedding of Paula Podest 

and Carlos Ciuffardi, two 

flight attendants from 

LATAM flight 1250 that 

brought the pope, his 

delegation and travelling 

press from Santiago to 

the northern city of 

Iquique. 

As the happy couple 

told journalists after the 

fact - and after serving 

breakfast - they had 

hoped to just get a 

blessing from the pope. 

They told him that they 

had been married civilly 

in 2010, but that their 

plans for a church 

wedding fell through 

when an earthquake hit. 

As Ciuffardi told it, the 

pope proposed that he 

marry the couple right 

there, in part to motivate 

other couples to contract 

a church wedding at a 

time when more and 

more couples are merely 

cohabitating. 

"He told me it's 

historic, that there has 

never before been a pope 

who married someone 

aboard a plane," 

Ciuffardi told reporters 

from the back galley. 

The surreal scene had 

the effect - at least 

temporarily - of giving 

Francis a bit of a reprieve 

after his visit to Chile was 

dominated by a church 

sex abuse scandal. 

Canon lawyer Ed 

Peters, a consultor on the 

Vatican high court but a 

frequent critic of Francis, 

questioned whether a 

host of church laws were 

followed, including the 

requirement that the 

couple undergo pastoral 

counseling and that the 

church have evidence 

that there were no 

obstacles to the 

marriage. 

In a follow-up blog post 

Friday, Peters noted a 

Chilean media report 

from December saying 

the couple was hoping for 

an airborne wedding 

presided over by Francis, 

suggesting the portrayal 

of the surprise ceremony 

was anything but. 

Ciuffardi said Chilean 

reporters had suggested 

it before the fact, but he 

insisted he and Podest 

were only looking for a 

papal blessing, and that 

nothing was confirmed 

until they were airborne. 

Conservative blogger 

Phil Lawler mused that 

priests might now have a 

GD-100/18 (7 x 3) 

harder time trying to 

properly prepare 

Catholic couples for 

marriage now that 

Francis had set the papal 

precedent of completing 

the process between 

takeoff and landing. 

"Does he ask them to 

reflect seriously on their 

commitment? Nope," 

Lawler wrote at Catholic 

Culture. "Does he 

question them about 

their years of 

cohabitation? Evidently 

not. Does he hear their 

confessions? Not likely. 

Plan a dignified 

ceremony? Not at all." 

To be sure, the 

naysayers all hail from 

the Anglo-Saxon 

blogosphere, which is 

among the most vocal in 

criticizing Francis, 

especially on issues of 

marriage. 

Francis has split the 

church over his cautious 

opening to allowing 

divorced and civilly 

remarried Catholics to 

receive Communion, so 

any issue related to 

marriage is particularly 

sensitive. 

At The Tablet, a more 

liberal leaning British 

weekly, Vatican 

correspondent 

Christopher Lamb 

suggested that the 

airborne nuptials were 

part of the "paradigm 

shift" that Francis is 

trying to press in the 

church. 

"It's not that the pope is 

doing away with the need 

for rules, for canon law 

or for paperwork, but 

rather ensuring it is 

correctly prioritized," 

Lamb wrote. "For the 

pope, these things must 

support the spread of the 

Gospel, and not become 

like the thorns that grow 

up and strangle the seeds 

in the parable of the 

sower."

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

SuNDAy, DhAkA, JANuARy 21, 2018, MAgh 8, 1424 BS, JuMADA-AL AwAL 3, 1439 hIJRI 

The mayoral aspirants who sought nomination from AL for the upcoming DNCC election strike a pose on Saturday. Photo: TBT 

Atiqul to work with 

other AL mayoral 

aspirants 

TBT REPORT 

Candidates who sought after Awami 

League (AL) nomination for the 

upcoming Dhaka North City 

Corporation (DNCC) mayor election 

meet on Saturday after being called 

upon by the nominated candidate 

Atiqul Islam from the party. Atiqul 

Islam expressed that he is humbled by 

the decision to represent Awami 

League at the upcoming DNCC poll and 

solidified his remark to uphold the 

party values in the following days by 

putting the people first. He wished to 

work closely with other candidates who 

bought AL nomination in the campaign 

to get selected the next mayor of Dhaka 

North. 

On this occasion, prominent businessman 

Atiqul Islam, Dhaka University faculty 

and media personality Md. Jobaer 

Alam, Monipur College Principal Md. 

Farhad Hossain, Principal Mohammad 

Shah Alam, former member of the AL 

central executive committee Advocate 

Momtaj Hossain Mehedi, Juba League 

Leader Jebin Sultana Kanta, Shamim 

Hasan, and Major (Rtd) Yad Al Fakir 

were present and participated in the 

meeting actively. 

The sorrowful demise of former 

mayor Anisul Huq put the mayor`s post 

of Dhaka North City Corporation 

vacant. Earlier, On January 16, Awami 

League announced their mayoral candidate 

for the DNCC mayor election. The 

party chose Atiqul Islam - former president 

of Bangladesh Garment 

Manufacturers and Exporters 

Association (BGMEA) - to represent 

Awami League in the most awaited 

DNCC mayoral election. 

Chumki hopes project 

completion with help of 

public representatives 

DHAKA : State Minister for 

Women and Children Affairs 

Meher Afroz Chumki yesterday 

hoped that the ongoing 

projects under her ministry 

would be completed successfully 

with the cooperation of 

the local public representatives, 

reports BSS. 

"The local public representatives 

can evaluate the 

works of the projects properly 

as they know well the 

beneficiaries of the projects," 

she said, speaking at a 

meeting at the conference 

room of in Cox's Bazar 

Circuit House. 

Jatiya Mahila Sangstha 

(JMS) under the Women 

and Children Affairs 

Ministry organized the 

progress and evaluation 

meeting on its development 

projects, said an official 

handout here. 

JMS Executive Director 

Jahanara Begum, 

Additional Director of 

Project-3 Anwara Begum 

and Additional Secretary of 

Totthya Apa Project Mina 

Parvin, among others, 

addressed the meeting with 

JMS Cox's Bazar district 

Chairman Kaniz Fatema 

Ahmed in the chair. 

EC struggling in completing 

constituency delimitation process 

DHAKA : Though it was supposed to complete 

the delimitation process by December 

last as per its roadmap prepared for the next 

national polls, the Election Commission 

could not yet publish the draft delimitation of 

the country's 300 constituencies, reports 

UNB. 

Now the Commission wants to complete 

the process of delimitation of constituencies 

at least six months before the election as it 

faces difficulties to do so due to a court order 

over the Comilla-10 constituency. 

As per the roadmap unveiled in July 2017, 

it was supposed to publish the draft delimitation 

of constituencies in November 2017 and 

arrange public hearings on complaints 

regarding the draft in November and 

December 2017. 

This time the boundaries of some constituencies 

will be redrawn as a routine work 

as the Commission has no enough time to go 

for massive changes in delimitation of constituencies 

ahead of the 11th national election 

likely to be held in December next. 

"The process of demarcating constituencies 

will have to be completed at least six months 

before the polls," said Election Commissioner 

Rafiqul Islam who is the head of EC's committee 

over delimitation of constituency. 

The High Court in March 2017 passed an 

order to take steps for restoration of the constituency 

comprising of only Nangalkot 

upazila in Comilla following a writ petition 

filed challenging the existing delimitation of 

Comilla-10 constituency. 

In December last, the higher court also 

issued a contempt of court against the EC for 

not taking steps in this regard. 

The EC has recently filed live to appeal with 

the Appellate Division challenging the High 

Court order over the Comilla-10 constituency. 

Rafiqul Islam told UNB that they face difficulties 

following the court order as they cannot 

increase the number of constituencies to 

301 ones from the existing 300 ones fixed the 

constitution. 

"So, they're waiting for the disposal of the 

case and will follow what the court will pass 

the judgment finally in this regard," he said. 

If the case is not disposed of within the next 

soon, the Commission will take some alternative 

plans to complete the demarcation of 

constituencies at least six months before the 

national polls, Rafiqul Islam added. 

EC officials said the draft delimitation of 

300 constituencies may be published in 

February or early March to complete the process 

by May next following arrangement of 

public hearing over claims, complaints and 

suggestions in this regard. 

In July 2017, the EC initiated its move to 

prepare a new policy and enact a new law to 

replace the existing 'Delimitation of 

Constituencies Ordinance 1976' with some 

changes. But it has yet to complete the process. 

The EC framed a draft delimitation of constituencies 

bill 2017 incorporating provision 

to consider voter size alongside population 

size as well as not to split Upazila during the 

redrawing a constituency. 

But it has yet to finalise it as the proposed 

law may lead massive changes in the existing 

demarcation of constituency. 

So, the Commission is now thinking to redemarcate 

the constituencies following the 

old law due to time constraint as the schedule 

for 11th national election is likely to be held in 

November next, the EC officials said. 

The Flower Laden Patios 

Festival of Cordoba 

INTERESTING NEWS 

Every spring, in the beginning of May, the 

city of Cordoba, in southern Spain, bursts 

into bloom with special festivities as the 

city launches into its spring celebrations. 

It starts off with a parade known as the 

“Battle of the Flowers”, followed by the 

much anticipated Patio Contests called 

“Los Patios de Córdoba” or “Fiesta of the 

patios”. During the next two weeks, the 

people of Cordoba throw open the doors 

to their private patios as a fierce competition 

for the most beautiful patio ensues. 

Patio owners decorate their ornate iron 

grills and balconies with plants and flowers, 

mainly jasmine, geraniums and carnations. 

Carpets of flowers, handmade 

Islamic mosaics, and striking water features 

adorn the courtyards. Normally the 

patios are privately owned and unavailable 

for public viewing, but during the 

festival the beautifully decorated patios 

are open for all to see. The best conserved 

and most beautiful patio is voted on and 

the winner is recognized not only with a 

monetary prize but also with the prestige 

and admiration of having the best patio in 

the city. 

Cordoba’s climate is hot and dry, and so 

homes in Cordoba have been built with a 

central patio throughout the city's history, 

going back to Roman times. But it was the 

Arabs who started decorating the patios 

and introduced plants and water features 

as a way to keep homes cool. These courtyards 

were special inner spaces where 

families congregated and escaped the 

summer heat. You can still find some 

patios that date back to the 10th century 

when Cordoba was the center of Al- 

Andalus, the Muslim caliphate in the 

Iberian Peninsula and its largest city with 

a half million inhabitants. 

Patio beautification were furthered by 

the Christians who conquered the city in 

the 13th century and took over the best 

houses. By the end of Renaissance. 

2nd phase 

Biswa Ijtema 

ends today 

GAZIPUR : The second phase of 

Biswa Ijtema ends on Sunday 

with the Akheri Munajat on the 

bank of the Turag River at 

Tongi, reports UNB. 

The Akheri Munajat is scheduled 

to be held at 11am, said the 

Ijtema organisers. 

The second phase of the 

three-day Ijtema, the second 

largest congregation of Muslims 

after the hajj, began after Fajr 

prayers earlier on Friday. 

Meanwhile, Mohor Ali, 60, a 

devotee hailing from Jamalpur, 

and Shahidullah, 65, hailing 

from Keraniganj, died at the 

Ijtema ground early in the 

morning. 

With this, a total of six devotees 

died in the two phases of 

Ijtema. 

Thousands of devotees, both 

from home and abroad, gathered 

at the congregation venue, 

and are taking part in prayers 

and discussions. 

Police super of Gazipur 

Mohammad Harun ur Rashid 

in a press briefing this morning 

disclosed a special roadmap to 

follow ahead of the Akheri 

Munajat on Sunday. 

He said the transportation 

from Chandona intersection to 

Tongi of Dhaka-Mymensing 

Highway and Majukhan Bridge 

to Station Road footbridge of 

Kaliganj-Tongi Highway and 

the road from Kamarpara 

Bridge to Munno Textile Mills 

Gate will be restricted for Akheri 

Munajat. 

Eleven shuttle buses will be 

operating from Bhora Bypass 

intersection to Tongi Ijtema 

spot, along with 19 other special 

intercity trains. All the intercity 

trains will stop at Tongi station 

for two minutes, he said. 

Before going to the field against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe cricketers is practicing at Mirpur Academy 

ground on Saturday. 


Myanmar ready to start 

Rohingya repatriation 

DHAKA : The United Nations has reiterated 

its call for voluntary repatriation of 

Rohingyas from Bangladesh saying 

Rohingyas need to feel that the situation is 

safe enough for them, reports UNB. 

"It is up for people to choose to go home. 

No one should choose for them. Any repatriation 

of Rohingyas back to Myanmar needs 

to be voluntary," said Spokesman for the UN 

Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric in regular 

briefing at the UN headquarters. 

He said Rohingyas, now living in 

Bangladesh, need to be able to go to the 

homes from which they came. "I think they 

need to feel that the situation is safe enough." 

There have been demonstrations on 

Friday in camps by Rohingyas protesting 

against plans to repatriate them back into 

Myanmar. 

On the other hand, Myanmar authorities 

toured Maungtaw, Rakhine State on Friday 

and inspected the construction of houses to 

be used for repatriation of returnees from 

Bangladesh. 

The delegation headed by Rakhine State 

Chief Minister U Nyi Pu visited the Hla Phoe 

Khaung, Ngakhuya and Taung Pyo Letwe 

camps and insisted on completion of the finishing 

touches on buildings, medical clinics 

and sanitation infrastructures, according to 

The Global New Light of Myanmar. 

Following the visit to Maungtaw District, 

the authorities held a meeting in Maungtaw 

over the work of the Union Enterprise for 

Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and 

Development in Rakhine State. 

A repatriation plan will begin next Tuesday 

of the members of the Muslim community 

who fled Rakhine State to Bangladesh to 

escape conflict in Myanmar last year, 

Myanmar media report claimed. 

Foreign Ministry officials in Dhaka said 

verification and return of Rohingyas will be 

based on considering the family as a unit and 

Bangladesh and Myanmar also finalised the 

'form' for verification. 

The modalities for the repatriation of 

orphans and children born out of unwarranted 

incidence have been incorporated in 

the said arrangement. 

"The verification form will be distributed 

among all Rohingya families. The forms will 

be then handed over to Myanmar authority 

for scrutiny. Myanmar will send back the 

forms to Bangladesh after scrutiny," an official 

told UNB indicating that the full-scale 

repatriation might take some time. 

Each Rohingya family members will have 

to provide a number of information including 

names, gender, birthplace, name of 

mother and father, date of birth, address in 

Myanmar, profession, signs, number of family 

members and a group family photo. 

Under the 'Physical Arrangement' 

Bangladesh will establish five transit camps 

from which returnees would be received initially 

in two reception centers on Myanmar 

side. 

Myanmar will shelter the returnees in a 

temporary accommodation at the Hla Pho 

Khung and expeditiously rebuild the houses 

for the returnees to move in there. 

Myanmar will consider resettling the people 

staying at the zero line on a priority basis, 

according to the agreement. 

Meanwhile, a situation briefing teleconference 

titled 'The Plight of the Rohingya' on the 

ongoing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar 

that has displaced the Rohingya Muslim 

minority on January 25. 

13 farm 

laborers 

bullet-hit 

in Narail 

NARAIL : At least 13 farm 

laborers were bullet-hit as 

security guard of Arunima 

Eco Park fired at a disputed 

land adjunct to the park 

at Panipara village in 

Noragati upazila on Friday 

night, reports UNB. 

Locals said there had a 

longstanding loggerhead 

between Khabiruddin, 

land owner of the park, 

and Mizanur Raman, 

owner of the adjacent land, 

over the ownership of the 

land. 

In a sequel to the dispute, 

security guards of 

Arunima Eco Park indiscriminately 

fired at laborers 

who were having dinner 

at the land after irrigation 

here, leaving 13 of 

them injured. 

The injured were sent to 

Khulna Medical College 

Hospital. 

Md Shahdat Hossian, 

manager of the park, 

admitted that their security 

guards fired bullet 

towards the disputed land. 

Additional police, led by 

Mizan, Sub Inspector of 

Noragati Police Station, 

have remained deployed in 

the area. 

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

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

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