The Bangladesh Today (10-02-2018)

SaTuRday 

Dhaka : February 10, 2018; Magh 28, 1424 BS; Jamadi-ul-awal 24, 1439 hijri www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.51; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

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Myanmar working with BD for 

safe return of Rohingyas: Envoy 

DHAKA : Myanmar Ambassador in 

Dhaka Lwin Oo has said they are working 

actively with Bangladesh on the voluntary, 

safe and dignified return of 

Rohingyas to their homeland from 

Bangladesh with a good neighbourly 

spirit, reports UNB. 

"The disputes that emerge between 

neighbouring countries must be 

resolved amicably through bilateral 

negotiations," the envoy said. 

The Myanmar Ambassador was 

addressing a reception marking the 

70th anniversary of the Independence 

Day of Myanmar in a city hotel on 

Thursday night. 

Cultural Affairs Minister 

Asaduzzaman Noor was present as the 

chief guest. 

BNP activists demonstrate in front of central party office protesting 5 years Imprisonment of 

Chairperson Begum Khaleda in connection of Zia orphanage trust case. 

Photo: Star mail 

Zohr 

05:22 AM 

12:17 PM 

04:10 PM 

05:50 PM 

07:07 PM 

6:38 5:47 

The Myanmar envoy said terrorism 

and extremism constitue one of the 

most serious threats to civilized world. 

"We can't condone terrorism in any 

form and manifestation." 

He claimed that men from the villages 

in Rakhine State were recruited to 

join the terrorists and militants in fighting 

the security forces. 

"Many villages had been intimidated 

to flee Bangladesh side by those 

extremists so that they can attract 

international attention," said the 

Ambassador. 

Ambassador Oo said Bangladesh also 

faced similar terror attacks by terrorists 

and extremists. "We welcome 

Bangladesh's zero tolerance policy 

against terrorism and militancy." 

BNP accuses govt of 

treating Khaleda as 

ordinary prisoner 

DHAKA : BNP on Friday voiced concern over the media reports that its chairperson, 

convicted in a graft case, has been kept in jail like an ordinary prisoner, reports UNB. 

"We've come to know through newspaper reports that our leader (Khaleda) has 

been kept like a simple prisoner. We can't be clear what's happening in the jail. We 

also don't know her condition is now," said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul 

Kabir Rizvi. He aired the worry at a press briefing at BNP's Nayapaltan central office. 

Rizvi said the government in no way can treat Khaleda as an ordinary prisoner since 

she is a 'three-time' elected Prime Minister and the chief of the country's 'biggest' 

political party. "Why have you (govt) stooped so low in your taste?" On Thursday, a 

special court here convicted the Khaleda and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment 

in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case. 

Five other accused in the case, including her son and BNP senior vice-chairman 

Tarique Rahman, were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment each. The court also 

fined the five accused Tk 2.10 crore each. 

Rizvi asked the government when it will stop taking political revenge on their 

chairperson. "How long the level of brutality using the state machinery be intensified 

towards an elderly woman like Khaleda Zia? 

DHAKA : Bangladesh and India have 

agreed in principle to set up more border 

haats (markets) along the common borders 

of the two countries in future considering 

the local demand. The agreement was 

reached at a two-day Bangladesh-India 

commerce secretary level meeting that 

ended on Thursday at the Ministry of 

Commerce here, reports UNB. 

Commerce secretary Shubashish Bose 

led a 16-member Bangladesh delegation in 

the meeting while Indian commerce secretary 

Rita Teaotia led the Indian delegation. 

The last commerce secretary level meeting 

was held in New Delhi on November 15-16 

in 2016. 

The meeting expressed satisfaction over 

the operations of the existing four border 

He said Myanmar consistently pursues 

a policy of good relations with all 

countries around the world, especially 

with our neighbouring countries, 

including Bangladesh based on five 

principles of co-existence. 

"Myanmar and Bangladesh jointly 

can be a bridge between South and 

Southeast Asia," said the Ambassador. 

He said air, land and sea connectivity 

between the two countries can play an 

important role in increasingly globalised 

world to create favourable conditions 

for better understanding among 

the people and nations in the region. 

"I hope that the friendly relations and 

cooperation between Bangladesh and 

Myanmar would continue to grow in 

the days to come," said the 

Ambassador. Speaking on the occasion, 

Minister Noor said Bangladesh 

and Myanmar are engaged and working 

together on Rohingya repatriation. 

He hoped that the repatriation process 

will be completed smoothly. 

The number of Rohingya arrivals 

from Myanmar to Bangladesh 

sinceAugust 25last year now stands 

over 688,000, indicating that 

Rohingyas are still coming despite a 

repatriation plan is in progress between 

the two countries. 

On January 16, Bangladesh and 

Myanmar signed a document on 

'Physical Arrangement' which will facilitate 

return of Rohingays to their 

homeland from Bangladesh. 

The 'Physical Arrangement' stipulates 

that the repatriation will be completed 

preferablywithin two yearsfrom 

the commencement of the repatriation. 

Foreign Ministry officials in Dhaka 

said the verification and return of 

Rohingyas will be based on the family 

as a unit, and Bangladesh and 

Myanmar also finalised the 'form' for 

verification. 

Dhaka, Delhi agree to set 

up more border haats 

haats along the Bangladesh-India borders. 

A decision was taken in the meeting to expedite 

the procedure of setting up six more 

border haats within the next six months, 

said a ministry press release here. The 

release said the meeting was held in a very 

friendly and constructive environment. 

It said India has proposed Bangladesh to 

form Comprehensive Economic 

Partnership considering the existing situation 

and friendly relations persisting 

between the two countries. 

The both sides agreed to gradually ensure 

infrastructural development and necessary 

facilities of the land customs ports along the 

Bangladesh-India borders alongside ensuring 

speedy offloading of goods from those 

land ports. 

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson calls on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday. 


Fast-track power 

plants stumble, 

miss operation 

deadline 

DHAKA : All the five fast-track dieselfired 

power plant projects in private 

sector failed to come into operation 

making the government's plan uncertain 

to add800 MW electricity to the 

national grid by February 9, reports 

UNB. 

Non-settlement of land disputes and 

other complexities are still holding back 

the project completion and these projects 

may not be able to start operation 

even by next couple of months, said 

officials responsible for project execution. 

The project sponsors are now trying 

to pursue the government to extend 

their project completion deadline and 

re-fix the commercial operation date 

(COD) with a deferred timeline. 

The five HSD (high speed diesel) 

plants are Aggreko International's 100 

MW Awrahati, 100 MW 

Bhrammangaon, and 300 MW 

Pangaon, in Keraniganj near Dhaka, 

Bangla Trac's 100 MW Noapara in 

Jessore and 200 MW Daudkandi in 

Comilla. 

These five projects are among the 

total 17 projects undertaken as fasttrack 

projects to add total 2468 MW 

before July this year. The remaining 12 

are furnace oil-fired ones with total generation 

capacity of 1668 MW. These 

were awarded to sponsors for setting 

upwithin nine monthsof their contracts. 

Khaleda’s conviction to 

deepen BNP's crisis, not 

the country’s: Quader 

GAZIPUR : Road Transport and Bridges 

Minister Obaidul Quader on Friday said 

Khaleda Zia's conviction in Zia 

Orphanage Trust graft case will deepen 

BNP's internal crisis not country's political 

crisis. 

The Minister came up with the 

remarks while visiting a BRTA project in 

Bhogra Bypass in the city. 

The present government did not file 

the case and interfere into it. Begum Zia 

would have been jailed earlier if she had 

appeared before the court regularly. 

Begum Zia and her lawyers 

are responsible for delaying 

the case proceedings, he 

said. 

Referring to BNP's decision 

to make Tarique 

Rahman as its acting chief 

in absence of Khaleda Zia, 

Quader said Tareque was 

sentenced to seven years 

jail in money laundering 

case and now he has been 

awarded 10-yr jail in Zia 

Orphanage Trust graft case. 

"Now, it is clear why BNP 

repealed section 7 from 

their charter. There is no 

bar for corrupted people to 

be leader of their party." 

Rohingya crisis most 

shocking humanitarian 

disaster: Boris Johnson 

DHAKA : British Foreign Secretary 

Boris Johnson, now in city on a two-day 

visit, on Friday said the plight of the 

Rohingya and the suffering they have 

had to endure is one of the most shocking 

humanitarian disasters of their 

time, reports UNB. 

"This is a man-made tragedy that 

could be resolved with the right political 

will, tolerance and cooperation from all 

those involved," he said in a statement. 

The British Foreign Secretary said he 

wants to see and hear for himself the 

terrible things these people have been 

through, and he will be talking to State 

Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other 

regional leaders about how they can 

work together to resolve this appalling 

crisis. 

Boris is now holding meeting with 

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at 

State Guest House Padma. 

The meeting began at 7:50pm on 

Friday. 

He began a four-day tour to Asia yesterday 

where he will visit Myanmar and 

Thailand after visiting Bangladesh. 

This is the first official visit by a 

Foreign Secretary in ten years. 

He met Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina before coming to Padma. 

British High Commissioner in Dhaka 

Alison Blake is accompanying the 

British Foreign Secretary in the meeting. 

The Foreign Secretary will also visit a 

refugee camp on the Bangladesh- 

Burma border near Cox's Bazar on 

Saturday. 

The Foreign Secretary will see firsthand 

the conditions of the Rohingya 

who have fled Burma to refugee camps 

in Bangladesh and discuss with the 

Burmese government the steps needed 

to enable them to return to their homes. 

In Burma he will hold talks with State 

Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and visit 

northern Rakhine. 

The Foreign Secretary will travel on to 

Bangkok for talks with Thai Prime 

Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and also 

meet the chair of the Advisory Board on 

the Rakhine Advisory Commission, 

Surakiart Sathirathai. 

BNP men stage demo protesting 

Khaleda’s imprisonment 

They demand her immediate release 

DHAKA : Several hundred BNP leaders and activists brought out a procession in 

the city on Friday protesting imprisonment of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia in 

Zia Orphanage Trust graft case and demanded her immediate release. 

The BNP men brought out its protest procession in front of Baitul Mukarram 

mosque after Jumma prayers around 2pm. 

Huge number of law enforcers, including police and Rab, were seen following 

the BNP procession from behind. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam 

Alamgir, president of Swecchasebak Dal Shafiul Bari Babu and Juba Dal General 

Secretary Sultan Salauddin Tuku were leading the procession. 

Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders and activists from Dhaka University, 

Jagannath University and different colleges of Dhaka city and Juba Dal leaders 

and activists joined the procession. 

However, when the demonstrators reached at Nightingale intersection near 

BNP's Naya Paltan central office around 2:20 pm police dispersed them. Police 

also detained three BNP activists from Nayapaltan area.

NEWS 

SATURDAY, 

FEBRUARY 10, 2018 

2 

Intl conference on reproductive 

health begins in city 

DHAKA : Experts at a conference 

yesterday emphasized open 

discussion on sexual and 

reproductive health to create 

awareness among adolescents and 

help them avoiding various health 

hazards. 

Conversations between older 

generation and adolescents regarding 

sexuality are a rare case and to avoid 

complexities associated with 

adolescents' physiological 

development, parents should discuss 

this issue very cordially with their 

children, they said. 

The experts were speaking at the 

inaugural session of a scientific 

conference under the title, 

'International Conference on Sexual 

and Reproductive Health' jointly 

City restaurant 

catches fire 

DHAKA : A fire broke out at 

a restaurant in Green Road 

area of the capital early 

Friday. 

Fire service control room 

sources said that the fire 

broke out around 1:30am at 

'Green Veil' restaurant. 

Informed, nine firefighting 

units rushed to the spot and 

brought the situation under 

control around 2:15am. It 

was not clear what caused 

the fire. 

Selim Al Deen's "Hat 

Hodai" staged at JU 

JAHANGIRNAGAR UNIVERSITY 

: "Jahangirnagar Theater", a 

theater troupe of 

Jahangirnagar University, 

staged its newly produced 

Selim Al Deen's drama "Hat 

Hodai" on the seventh day of 

10-day theater festival, 

reports UNB. 

Jahangirnagar 

Theater 

has arranged the festivals 

marking the 38thfounding 

anniversary of the 

organization. 

Partho Protim directed the 

drama which was staged at 

the Selim Al Deen 

Muktamanchoon 

Thursdayevening. 

Japan public grade 

school under fire 

over Armani 

uniform 

TOKYO : A Tokyo public 

school has adopted Giorgio 

Armani uniforms for 

students, triggering criticism 

in a country where hefty 

school tuition is already 

burdening young parents, 

reports UNB. 

Taimei Elementary School 

in Tokyo's upscale Ginza 

shopping district has 

announced plans to 

introduce the optional 

uniforms, which cost more 

than 80,000 yen ($730) for 

a full set. 

Government education 

officials said Friday that 

school principals are free to 

set school rules and 

uniforms, but that this case 

didn't have the consensus of 

parents. 

Egypt announces 

launch of major 

security operation 

CAIRO : Egypt's military 

says it has begun a major 

security operation in areas 

including the restive 

northern Sinai Peninsula, 

where Islamic militants are 

most active, reports UNB. 

Army spokesman Col. 

Tamer el-Rifaai said the 

operation, which started on 

Friday and involves army 

and police forces, also covers 

central Sinai, Egypt's Nile 

Delta and the Western 

Desert along the porous 

border with Libya. 

El-Rifaai said the operation 

is targeting "terrorist and 

criminal elements and 

organizations." 

Militant attacks have 

increased dramatically in 

Egypt since the military's 

2013 ouster of elected Islamist 

President Mohammed. 

organised by Obstetrical and 

Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh 

(OGSB) and Asia and Oceania 

Federation of Obstetrics and 

Gynaecology (AOFOG) at Hotel 

Sonargaon. 

Cultural Affairs Minister 

Asaduzzaman Noor was the chief 

guest of the function with chairperson 

of SRH of AOFOG Prof Rowshan Ara 

Begum in the chair. 

Vice Chancellor of Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujib Medical University 

(BSMMU) Professor Dr Kamrul 

Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh 

Menopause Society (BMS) National 

Professor Shahla Khatun, Director 

(MCH-Service) and Line Director 

(MC-RH Service Delivery) and 

Director General of Family Planning 

Dr Mohammad Sharif, Secretary 

General of South Asian Society for 

Sexual Medicine Mohammad 

Shamsul Ahsan and OGSB President 

Prof Laila Arjumand Banu also spoke. 

The experts said, "People in our 

country feel embarrassed to discuss 

about sexual topics. There was a 

strong belief among guardians that 

adolescents would be encouraged to 

have sexual experiment because of 

the discussion." 

Sometimes they feel adolescents are 

too young to understand the topic. 

Culture and religious beliefs are also 

barriers to talk about the issue, they 

added. 

About 300 participants from home 

and abroad are attending the 

conference. 

Toronto police: 

remains of 6 found in 

serial killer probe 

TORONTO : Police in Toronto have 

recovered the remains of at least six people 

from planters on a property connected to 

alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur, officials 

said Thursday, reports UNB. 

Detective Sgt. Hank Idsinga said the 

remains, found on property McArthur used 

as storage in exchange for doing the 

landscaping, included some from one of the 

five men McArthur is already charged with 

killing, Andrew Kinsman. 

McArthur was arrested Jan. 18 and 

charged with two counts of murder in 

connection with the disappearances of 

Kinsman and Selim Esen, two men last seen 

in the "Gay Village" district of Toronto. Not 

long after that, he was charged with the 

murders of three more men and police said 

they were on a wide search for other possible 

victims. Police expect to file more charges. 

Investigators are still working to determine 

who the other alleged victims are from the 

property. They haven't determined yet if they 

are the same men or other people. 

"It's getting bigger and we are getting more 

resources," Idsinga said of the investigation. 

Authorities have checked at least 30 other 

places where the landscaper was known to 

have worked, including some of Toronto's 

wealthiest neighborhoods. Police have said 

they expect to find more remains in the 

planters they've retrieved from around the 

city. Idsinga said they have about 15 planters 

now, but he declined to say where they are in 

examining them. 

Investigators are also starting to excavate 

part of the lawn at the home where the new 

remains were found. Police have set up a 

large tent and heaters on the property to 

keep the ground from freezing and a forensic 

anthropologist arrived at the property on 

Thursday. The two-story home sits across 

from a park and next to small apartment 

buildings in an upscale neighborhood. 

Idsinga said investigators finished 

searching inside the house and the garage 

and said the occupants of the home are free 

to return, but can't go into the backyard. 

Idsinga said police have thought about 

excavating a second property elsewhere, but 

said it might depend on what they find in 

that backyard. 

Investigators have not yet released 

complete details, but the 66-year-old 

McArthur is believed to have met his victims 

cruising around the city in the van he used 

for work and on gay dating apps for older 

and large men with names such as 

"SilverDaddies" and "Bear411." In his 

SilverDaddies profile, McArthur described 

himself as 5 feet 10 inches tall and 221 

pounds and primarily interested in younger 

men. "I can be a bit shy until I get to know 

you, but am a romantic at heart," he wrote. 

Jury deliberates in 

Baltimore police 

corruption case 

BALTIMORE : Jurors started deliberating 

Thursday in a case involving one of the worst 

U.S. police corruption scandals in recent 

memory after hearing nearly three weeks of 

testimony from drug dealers, a crooked bail 

bondsman and disgraced Baltimore 

detectives who detailed astonishing levels of 

police misconduct, reports UNB. 

The two detectives on trial face robbery, 

extortion and racketeering charges that 

could land them up to life in prison if 

convicted. The trial in a federal courthouse 

has been dominated by testimony of four exdetectives 

who worked alongside the 

defendants in an elite unit known as the Gun 

Trace Task Force. 

Those former detectives pleaded guilty to 

corruption charges about their time on the 

squad, which was once praised as a group of 

hard-charging officers chipping away at the 

tide of illegal guns on city streets. They 

testified on behalf of the government in the 

hopes of shaving years off their prison 

sentences. 

The former law enforcers testified that the 

unit was actually made up of thugs with 

badges who broke into homes, stole cash, 

resold looted narcotics and lied under oath to 

cover their tracks. Wearing lockup 

jumpsuits, the ex-detectives admitted to 

everything from armed home invasions to 

staging fictitious crime scenes and routinely 

defrauding their department with bogus 

overtime claims. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise 

described the two detectives on trial as 

"hunters" who "preyed upon the weak and 

the vulnerable" when their rogue police unit 

wasn't scouring the city trying to find largescale 

drug dealers to rob. He said the 

evidence, which included calls recorded by 

the FBI that captured their voices, was 

"overwhelming." 

Defense attorney Jenifer Wicks delivered a 

fiery closing argument on behalf of Detective 

Marcus Taylor. She told jurors the 

government went to the "depths of the 

criminal underworld" to find a parade of 

"professional liars" as witnesses. 

"It's deplorable and it's nauseating," Wicks 

said, asserting there was insufficient 

evidence to convict Taylor of anything. 

In a rebuttal, Wise said investigators did 

indeed tour the unsavory depths of 

Baltimore's underworld - and it was there 

they found Taylor and Detective Daniel 

Hersl. 

Hersl's lead attorney, William Purpura, 

did not deny that his 48-year-old client 

took money - an act that "embarrassed" 

the city and the detective's family - but 

that didn't rise to charges of robbery or 

extortion. 

He attacked the veracity of the four 

disgraced detectives, noting that they've 

admitted to lying for years to juries, 

judges, colleagues and their families. 

"They want that 'get out of jail free' 

card," Purpura said during his closing 

arguments. The detectives on trial did not 

testify. 

2 held with 31 gold 

bars at Dhaka 

airport 

DHAKA : Customs intelligence arrested two 

men along with 31 gold bars weighing 5.8 

kilograms from Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airporton Thursday evening, 

reports UNB. 

Keramat Ali, 58, hailing from Feni, and 

Lokman, 58, hailing from Kadamtoli in 

Dhaka landed at the airport from Chittagong 

by a Regent Airway flight coming from 

Bangkok, said Director General of the 

Customs Intelligence and Investigation 

Directorate (CIID) Moinul Khan. 

Afterthey crossed the domestic flight 

point, a CIID team challenged them and 

recovered the gold bars worth 2.90 crore 

concealed in their dresses, shoes and mobile 

covers. 

Later, the team detained the duo and 

handed them over to Airport Police Station. 

Nazmul Quaunine 

presents credentials 

to Irish president 

DHAKA : Bangladesh High 

Commissioner to London 

Md Nazmul Quaunine 

presented his Letters of 

Credence to Irish President 

Michael Daniel Higgins on 

Thursday in Dublin as a 

non-resident ambassador of 

Bangladesh to Ireland. 

At a formal ceremony held 

at the President's residence 

called Aras an Uachtar in in 

Dublin, ambassador Md 

Nazmul Quaunine conveyed 

the greetings of the 

President and the Prime 

Minister of Bangladesh to 

the President and the people 

of Ireland, said a released 

issued. 

Quaunine expressed his 

pleasure for being appointed 

as Bangladesh's ambassador 

to Ireland and hoped that 

relations between the two 

friendly countries would 

strengthen further during 

his tenure. 

During the meeting, the 

President was briefed about 

the current trends of socioeconomic 

development in 

Bangladesh under the 

leadership of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina. 

President Higgins 

warmly welcomed the 

ambassador to Ireland and 

expressed hope that the 

existing bilateral relations 

would achieve further 

impetus. 

During the meeting, the 

President was briefed 

about the current trends of 

socio-economic 

development 

in 

Bangladesh under the 

leadership of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

The Irish president 

praised the government of 

Bangladesh and Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina for 

Bangladesh's socioeconomic 

progress in the 

recent years and for 

accommodating and 

managing over half a 

million 'Rohingya' people. 

Dhaka Art 

Summit 

to end on 

Saturday 

DHAKA : Dhaka Art 

Summit (DAS) will end on 

Saturday at national art 

building of Bangladesh 

Shilpakala Academy (BSA) 

The 8- day event is being 

organised under the aegis 

of Samdani Art 

Foundation on February 2 

highlighting the dynamic 

evolution of art in 

contemporary South Asia 

and reviving historical 

inter-Asian modes of 

exchange, reports UNB 

The DAS 2018 featured 

an opening celebration 

weekend from February 2 

to 4 while it is featuring its 

closing segment Scholars' 

Weekend from February 8 

which will continue to 

February 10. 

A daylong symposium 

'The Sunwise Turn' 

organised by Shabbir 

Hussain Mustafa will be 

held from 10 am to 6.30pm 

at the main auditorium 

while 'Like Water on Hot 

Rocks (2018) by Goshka 

Macuga with Vali Mahlouji 

performance will be held 

from 10 am to 12:30pm at 

the entrance of National 

Art Gallery on the last day. 

Alongside, an event 

'Musical Interlude: Baul 

singers from Kushtia, 

followers of Lalon Fakir' 

will be held from 1.30 pm 

to 3.30pm at the entrance 

of National Art Gallery on 

the day. 

This time 55 international 

organisations are 

partnering in the Dhaka Art 

Summit 2018 along with 

the Bangladesh Shilpakala 

Academy, the country's 

National Academy of Fine 

and Performing Arts, with 

the support of the Cultural 

Affairs and Information 

Ministries, the National 

Tourism Board, the 

Bangladesh Investment 

Development Authority 

(BIDA), and the 

Bangladesh National 

Museum. 

Sanitary napkin 

factory in Dinajpur 

helps women 

DHAKA : Mahfuza Akther Rimi, a 13-yearold 

girl at Pakerhat Bazar of Khansama 

upzila in Dinajpur district, completed her 

final examinations two months ago. She is 

now a student of class eight. 

It was hard for Rimi to continue her 

studies as her day-labourer father could not 

afford the expenses. 

"Being a girl of a needy family, I had to face 

a lot of problems to continue my education," 

said Rimi, who is now working at a local 

sanitary napkin factory during free time 

alongside studies. 

Rimi said her school friend Khadiza, who is 

also from a poor family, is also working with 

her at the factory to continue her education, 

reports BSS. 

Not only Rimi and Khadiza, a total of 15 

juvenile girls of different classes are working 

in the local 'Asmani Sanitary-Napkin 

Factory' to run their education. 

Selina Akther, a local woman, set up the 

factory at Pakerhat Bazar in 2016 with the 

financial help of Plan International 

Bangladesh, a non-government 

organization. 

Selina said many local girls worked in the 

factory since its establishment to bear their 

educational expenses. 

Besides, the women of the area get sanitary 

napkins at low prices from her factory, she 

added. She said the local women and girls 

are now more aware of their health, 

especially their menstruation, and they want 

good napkins at low prices. 

Selina said around 100 to 150 sanitary 

napkins are manufactured at her factory 

every day. "After meeting the demands of 

individuals, we are also selling the product to 

the local hospitals and clinics," she added. 

She said this has been possible as women 

empowerment in Bangladesh witnessed 

stunning progress over the last few years, 

especially during the tenure of the present 

government. 

Under the dynamic leadership of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina, Selina said, women 

empowerment has been placed at the heart 

of Bangladesh's development agenda. 

The country has achieved remarkable 

success in advancing women under her 

leadership and been regarded as the "role 

model" for the advancement of women in the 

world, she added. 

Because of various initiatives of the present 

government, the womenfolk of the country 

have been playing a strong role in trade and 

commerce, politics and other fields, she 

added. 

Manager of the factory Shahana said 

earlier many women didn't buy the sanitary 

napkins as their prices are high in the 

market. But now, almost every woman of 

the area is using napkins as they get those at 

a low price. Besides, the health risk among 

the women has reduced in the area, she 

added. 

"I want to continue my work along with my 

education...I spend two to three hours every 

day in the factory," Rimi said, adding, "I also 

want to contribute to my family financially." 

She said the change of the mindset of the 

people has helped her to be confident and 

take any decision. 

Midnight shutdown creeps 

closer as Congress debates 

budget 

WASHINGTON : With a 

midnight government 

shutdown creeping closer, 

both Republicans and 

Democrats grappled with 

internal party divisions as 

they tried to push through a 

massive budget deal 

Thursday night, reports 

UNB. 

Frustrations mounted - 

and the risk of a shutdown 

increased - as GOP Sen. 

Rand Paul held up voting on 

the broad measure in hopes 

of obtaining recorded votes 

on reversing spending 

increases. 

"I ran for office because I 

was very critical of President 

Obama's trillion-dollar 

deficits," the Kentucky 

senator said. "Now we have 

Republicans hand in hand 

with Democrats offering us 

trillion-dollar deficits. I can't 

in all honesty look the other 

way." 

The No. 2 Democrat in the 

House, Steny Hoyer of 

Maryland, said his side 

would support a brief, 24- 

hour stopgap spending bill 

to stave off a partial agency 

closure, but Republicans 

rejected the offer. 

The 

Trump 

administration, which 

favored approval of the 

broad budget measure, was 

preparing for a "lapse" in 

appropriations, an official 

with the Office of 

Management and Budget 

said, commenting only on 

condition of anonymity. 

That suggested a short 

shutdown, if any, less than a 

month after the three-day 

interruption last month. 

Agencies brought out 

now-familiar contingency 

plans. The partial shutdown 

VERONA : When hundreds of hardcore fans 

of Italy's Hellas Verona Seria A soccer club 

chanted "Adolf Hitler is my friend" and sang 

that their team embraced the swastika, at a 

festive gathering in the summer, Italian 

Jewish communities complained - and 

waited, reports UNB. 

Local officials initially dismissed the video 

as a "prank," and condemnation only came 

several months later, after another video 

from the same event, profaning Christian 

objects, also began circulating on social 

media. "These episodes should absolutely 

not be dismissed," said Bruno Carmi, the 

would essentially force half 

the federal workforce to stay 

home, freeze some 

operations and close some 

parks and outposts. Services 

deemed essential would 

continue, including Social 

Security payments, the air 

traffic control system and 

law enforcement. 

Approval in the Senate 

seemed assured - eventually 

- but the situation in the 

House remained dicey. In 

that chamber, both 

progressive Democrats and 

tea party Republicans 

opposed the measure, which 

contains roughly $400 

billion in new spending for 

the Pentagon, domestic 

agencies, disaster relief and 

extending a host of health 

care provisions. 

However, House GOP 

leaders were confident they 

had shored up support 

among conservatives for the 

measure, which would 

shower the Pentagon with 

money but add hundreds of 

billions of dollars to the 

nation's $20 trillion-plus 

debt. 

House Democratic leaders 

opposed the measure - 

arguing it should resolve the 

plight of immigrant 

"Dreamers" who face 

deportation after being 

brought to the U.S. illegally 

as children - but not with all 

their might. 

The legislation doesn't 

address immigration, 

though Republican Speaker 

Paul Ryan said again 

Thursday he was 

determined to bring an 

immigration bill to the floor 

this year, albeit only one that 

has President Donald 

Trump's blessing. 

At a late afternoon 

meeting, House Democratic 

Leader Nancy Pelosi of 

California made it plain that 

she wasn't pressuring fellow 

Democrats to kill the bill, 

which is packed with money 

for party priorities like 

infrastructure, combating 

opioid abuse and help for 

college students. 

Still, it represented a bitter 

defeat for Democrats who 

followed a risky strategy to 

use the party's leverage on 

the budget to address 

immigration and ended up 

scalded by last month's 

three-day government 

shutdown. 

Republicans were 

sheepish about the bushels 

of dollars for Democratic 

priorities and the return 

next year of $1 trillion-plus 

deficits. But they pointed to 

money they have long 

sought for the Pentagon, 

which they say needs huge 

sums for readiness, training 

and 

weapons 

modernization. 

"It provides what the 

Pentagon needs to restore 

our military's edge for years 

to come," said Ryan. 

Beyond $300 billion 

worth of record increases for 

the military and domestic 

programs, the agreement 

adds $89 billion in overdue 

disaster aid for hurricaneslammed 

Texas, Florida and 

Puerto Rico, a politically 

charged increase in the 

government's borrowing cap 

and a grab bag of health and 

tax provisions. There's also 

$16 billion to renew a slew of 

expired tax breaks that 

Congress seems unable to 

kill. 

Rising racism taints Italian 

electoral campaign 

head of Verona's tiny Jewish community of 

about 100, speaking in an interview at the 

Verona synagogue, which is flanked by two 

armed police patrols. "In my opinion, 

whoever draws a simple swastika on the wall 

knows what it means. And we know very well 

where that swastika brought us." 

Racist and anti-Semitic expressions have 

been growing more bold, widespread and 

violent in Italy. Anti-migrant rhetoric is 

playing an unprecedented role in shaping the 

campaign for the March 4 national elections, 

which many says is worsening tensions and 

even encouraging violence.

INTERNATIONAL 

SATuRdAY, FEBRuARY 10, 2018 

3 

Retired archbishop of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen gestures during an interview in Hong Kong, 

Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. Zen has warned that a deal between the Vatican and China that cedes too much 

power to Beijing would place the country's Catholic followers in a big "birdcage." Vincent Yu / AP 

Hong Kong ex-cardinal warns 

against Vatican-China deal 

HONG KONG : Hong Kong's retired 

archbishop warned Friday that a deal 

between the Vatican and China that cedes 

too much power to Beijing would place 

the country's Catholic followers in a big 

"birdcage." 

Cardinal Joseph Zen said the Holy See 

should abandon talks with China over 

contentious bishop nominations if it 

would have to compromise too much to 

please the country's Communist rulers. 

Zen compared China's "underground" 

Catholics to birds and said Beijing wants 

"the Vatican to help them to get all those 

birds into the cage." 

Zen's comments come as tensions rise 

over a possible deal between the Vatican 

and Beijing. 

The Roman Catholic Church is pushing 

for a historic breakthrough in relations 

with China but negotiations have touched 

off a bitter dispute inside the church, 

reports UNB. 

Zen, 86, said there's no reason at the 

moment to believe in any goodwill from 

Beijing on working toward a reasonable 

compromise. 

GD-218/18 (6 x 3) 

The feisty and outspoken Zen, who 

retired in 2009, has been a longtime critic 

of China. In recent blog posts, he has 

slammed the talks as a catastrophe and 

described making a desperate journey to 

Rome in a personal effort to prevent a 

legitimate underground bishop from 

being replaced by an excommunicated 

one favored by Beijing. 

"The Communist government just 

wants the church to surrender, because 

they want complete control, not only of 

the Catholic church but all the religions," 

Zen told reporters at the hillside Salesian 

monastery where he lives. "If that's true 

then there's no hope of getting a good 

agreement and ... at a certain moment you 

must say we cannot solve the problem, 

the problems are there so we go home, 

when we have anything new we come 

again." 

China broke off relations with the Holy 

See in 1951, after the officially atheist 

Communist Party took power and established 

its own church. 

The Vatican, particularly under Pope 

Francis, is has been eager to reach a deal 

A privately owned television station in the Maldives says it has gone off the air 

because of threats during the country's current state of emergency. Photo : AP 

with the Chinese government and unite 

the churches. A sticking point in the secret 

negotiations is whether Rome or Beijing 

has the final say over bishop appointments. 

Unconfirmed reports say the Vatican is 

close to a compromise with China, which 

has an estimated 12 million Catholics. 

About half worship in underground 

churches that recognize only Rome as 

their highest authority while the rest 

belong to state-authorized churches with 

clergy named by Beijing. 

Though the Vatican has claimed bishop 

ordination as its right, both sides had an 

unwritten agreement allowing Beijing to 

pick candidates that the Holy See would 

consider and then tacitly endorse. Though 

the deal wasn't always adhered to, it generally 

prevented Beijing from appointing 

bishops that the Vatican would consider 

flawed for personal or doctrinal reasons. 

Zen weighed in on recent news reports 

suggesting that such an arrangement 

would be formalized, effectively giving the 

pope veto power over future bishop candidates. 

Maldives TV 

station 

shuts down 

after threats 

COLOMBO : A privately 

owned television station in the 

Maldives says it has gone off 

the air because of threats during 

the country's current state 

of emergency, reports UNB. 

Rajje TV, which highlights 

views of the political opposition, 

said in a statement Friday 

that it stopped broadcasting 

because the country's 

environment did not 

allow journalists to report 

freely and independently. It 

said a mob had gathered at 

the station and called for it to 

be burned down, and government 

lawmakers had 

asked the broadcasting regulator 

to shut the station. 

President Yameen Abdul 

Gayoom declared a state of 

emergency after the 

Supreme Court ordered the 

release and retrial of his 

political opponents. The 

order has since been 

reversed. Rajje TV was 

burned down ahead of the 

2013 presidential election. 

Man sentenced 

in connection 

with $20M 

found in box 

spring 

BOSTON : A Brazilian man 

arrested in connection with 

the discovery of about $20 

million cash hidden inside a 

box spring in a Massachusetts 

apartment has been sentenced 

to nearly three years in 

federal prison, reports UNB. 

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha 

was sentenced Thursday after 

pleading guilty in October to 

money laundering charges. 

The money was found in 

Westborough in January 2017 

during an investigation into 

TelexFree Inc., a defunct 

internet telecom company 

that prosecutors say was actually 

a billion-dollar pyramid 

scheme. 

Egypt begins massive security 

operation targeting militants 

CAIRO : Egypt began a 

massive security operation 

Friday involving land, sea 

and air forces in areas 

including the restive northern 

Sinai Peninsula, the 

epicenter of an Islamic 

insurgency spearheaded by 

a local affiliate of the Islamic 

State group, reports 

UNB. 

The operation, 

announced in a televised 

statement by army 

spokesman Col. Tamer el- 

Rifaai, began early Friday 

and covers the Sinai and 

areas in Egypt's Nile Delta 

and Western Desert. He 

said the operation is targeting 

"terrorist and criminal 

elements and organizations." 

There was no indication 

how long the operation 

would last. 

The announcement 

comes ahead of the presidential 

election in March in 

which President Abdel-Fattah 

el-Sissi is running for a 

second four-year term with 

no serious contenders. El- 

Sissi was elected in 2014 in 

a landslide with promises 

of restoring security. 

In a subsequent statement, 

el-Rifaai said the air 

force carried out airstrikes 

on militant hideouts in 

north and central Sinai. He 

also said that naval forces 

were deployed to cut off 

their supply lines and that 

security has been boosted 

around the country's border 

crossings, shipping 

routes and vital facilities. 

The operation began 

amid local media reports of 

heightened alert levels in 

north Sinai hospitals and in 

other neighboring 

provinces in anticipation of 

casualties from the operation. 

Egypt has for years been 

struggling to contain an 

Islamic insurgency in the 

turbulent Sinai region. It 

has carried out military 

operations there that, it 

says, have killed hundreds 

of militants and soldiers 

over the years. Egypt also 

built a buffer zone along 

the border with Gaza to 

curb the flow of militants 

and weapons through a 

vast tunnel network under 

the border. The insurgency, 

nevertheless, showed no 

signs of abating. 

GD-215/18 (8 x 4) 

In November, militants 

killed 311 worshippers in a 

mosque attack in the 

region, the deadliest in 

Egypt's modern history. 

Shortly afterward, el-Sissi 

gave security forces a threemonth 

deadline to restore 

stability to northern Sinai 

and authorized his chief of 

staff to use "all brute force." 

Later, militants fired a 

projectile at el-Arish airport 

and struck an Apache helicopter 

that was part of the 

entourage of Egypt's 

defense and interior ministers 

who were in the city on 

an unannounced visit on 

we`ÿ r/Rb-895(2)/08/02/2018 

GD-216/18 (4 x 3) 

Dec. 19. Neither minister 

was in the aircraft when the 

attack took place but the 

missile killed an officer and 

wounded two others. Egypt 

is currently building a 

buffer zone around the airport. 

Militant attacks have 

generally surged since the 

2013 military ouster of 

elected Islamist President 

Mohammed Morsi following 

mass protests against 

his divisive one-year rule. 

The violence has been concentrated 

in northern Sinai 

Peninsula but has also 

spread to the mainland. 

Egypt is also facing a 

growing number of attacks 

in its Western Desert along 

the porous border with 

Libya that has been the 

source of serious concern 

to authorities who contend 

Islamic militants and 

smugglers use it as their 

route into the country. 

Egypt has been under a 

state of emergency after 

suicide bombings struck 

two Coptic Christian 

churches on Palm Sunday 

last year in an attack that 

was claimed by the Egyptian 

affiliate of the Islamic 

State group. 

In this Nov. 25, 2017 file photo, a burned truck is seen outside Al-Rawda 

Mosque in Bir al-Abd northern Sinai, Egypt a day after attackers killed 

hundreds of worshippers. 

Photo : AP 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿

EDITORIAL 

sATURDAY, 

FeBRUARY 10, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

saturday, February 10, 2018 

spoon feeding 

state sector 

banks 

It appears the country's state run banks 

have become like a bottomless pit 

devouring huge public resources year 

after year to keep them artificially afloat. 

Needless to say, the monies are being 

poured into these institutions just to cover 

up fearful capital shortages they have 

been incurring without a pause or a 

turnaround. The injection of public 

resources progressively have been going 

into an endless black void. The deficits of 

these banks cosmetically made up with 

taxpayers' money would make sense if 

their management showed any sign that 

the continuous loss making had at last 

stopped and a strong comeback was 

noted. 

But this is not the case which raises 

inexorably the question :why go on spoon 

feeding these banks without a structured 

plan and its execution to ensure that their 

management are truly streamlined, made 

accountable and obliged to work towards 

ways and means to cut losses, really 

improve credit management and attempt 

swiftest recoveries of bad debts. As it is, it 

appears that none of these goals are being 

pressed with any great enthusiasm. Only at 

every fiscal year's end, fresh additions of 

public funds are made into these banks to 

give them an apparent look of normalcy and 

perpetuate in their loss-making culture. 

A recent media report quoting an official 

study said Taka 2,000 crore has been 

already pumped into the ailing state sector 

banks in the on going fiscal year. It further 

says the government has provided some 

10,000 crore Taka to these banks for the 

window dressing of their balance sheets in 

the last five years. All these figures are not 

only head-spinning but outrageous surely 

for the reasons that inefficiencies, 

corruption and sheer thievery are being so 

unconscionably allowed by the very 

guardians of our financial system namely 

the Finance Ministry and the Bangladesh 

Bank (BB). 

The Finance Minister at times have 

admitted to these gross irregularities in the 

state run banks. In characteristic fashion he 

heaped scorn on their management, 

political interference, cronyism and other 

ills for the situation in the state run banks. 

But the obvious question that cannot help 

but arise is :what he himself, as the supreme 

regulator of the financial system in this 

country has done so far to ensure the 

stemming of the rot in the state run banks. 

As it is, he is presiding over the entire 

financial sector and cannot disown or 

distance himself from any grave mal 

functioning in it just saying that he is 

powerless to do anything about it or it's not 

his business. 

He must take responsibility for any major 

pitfall in the financial sector. Nor he can 

pass the buck explaining that BB also as the 

regulator is not delivering as expected. All 

insiders know that independence of the BB 

is a theoretical construct. The Banking 

Division of the Finance Ministry remains to 

curb the independent moves of the BB as it 

choses. And successive Governors of BB are 

on record for stating to the media how their 

specific directives for taking curative and 

punitive actions against unscrupulous 

elements in the management tiers of the 

state run banks were thwarted by the 

busybodies in the Ministry. 

The state of affairs in the state run banks 

have crossed the threshold of risk affordability 

and reasonableness. The same must be 

addressed immediately and decisively with 

unsparing measures set in motion from the 

highest level of the government. 

World must pressure Philippines on drug war accountability 

The buzzwords "bloodless," 

"transparent" 

and 

"accountability" are being 

deployed by Philippine National Police 

Director General Ronald dela Rosa and 

his colleagues in a bid to rebrand 

President Rodrigo Duterte's murderous 

"war on drugs" with a veneer of 

lawfulness. 

The government officially relaunched 

"Oplan Tokhang" (Operation Knockand-Plead), 

the flagship police 

operation of Duterte's anti-drug 

campaign, on January 29. Reliable nongovernmental 

groups and the Catholic 

Bishops' Conference estimate that the 

campaign has killed more than 12,000 

people, mostly urban slum dwellers, 

since June 2016. 

The buzzwords "bloodless," 

"transparent" and "accountability" are 

being deployed by Philippine National 

Police Director General Ronald dela 

Rosa and his colleagues in a bid to 

rebrand President Rodrigo Duterte's 

murderous "war on drugs" with a 

veneer of lawfulness. 

The government officially relaunched 

"Oplan Tokhang" (Operation Knockand-Plead), 

the flagship police 

operation of Duterte's anti-drug 

campaign, on January 29. Reliable nongovernmental 

groups and the Catholic 

Bishops' Conference estimate that the 

campaign has killed more than 12,000 

people, mostly urban slum dwellers, 

since June 2016. 

The relaunch lifts a suspension of 

police anti-drug operations that the 

government imposed in October after 

mass protests in response to the alleged 

summary execution by police of 17- 

year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos. 

However, the police admitted last week 

that despite that suspension, officers 

RECENTLY newspapers reported 

that Higher Education 

Commission (HEC) officials had 

stopped several Quaid-i-Azam University 

departments from admitting fresh 

student batches. The issue, even at these 

QAU departments, is that the latter do 

not have the minimum number of 

qualified faculty needed to run the 

programmes they were running. QAU is 

one of the highest-ranked universities in 

the country. They will, one can be certain, 

scramble and make up the deficiencies 

pointed out. 

If the same audit lens was used to 

scrutinise programmes across the 200- 

odd universities and degree-awarding 

institutions of the country, a lot of other 

programmes and departments would 

have to be shut down as well. I am sure 

the HEC is not going to embark on any 

such endeavour soon. But should it not? 

There is a crisis in higher education. 

Demand for higher education has 

expanded a lot and the supply side is 

scrambling to keep up. This is not 

unusual. It happened in school education 

as well. When demand for education, 

especially demand for better quality 

education, expanded and the public 

sector was not able, by design or default, 

to cater to the rise in demand, the private 

sector responded. 

There is a crisis in higher education. 

Demand has vastly outstripped supply. 

The rise of private schooling continues 

The 1918 Representation of the 

People Act granted votes to all men 

aged 21 and above and some 

women aged 30 and above who met 

property qualifications or held a 

university degree. In all, 8.5 million 

women qualified, comprising 40 per cent 

of the female population. 

While it was largely younger workingclass 

women who grafted during the First 

World War and formed the activist 

vanguard for women's suffrage from the 

1880s, it was primarily middle-class and 

aristocratic women who benefited. The 

legislation did not remove sex 

discrimination or establish equal 

suffrage. It entrenched class prejudices 

designed to prevent the popular majority 

- the workers - from voter registration. 

Enfranchisement was extended to 

women ungraciously, in grudging spirit, 

in a fearful atmosphere. Middle-class 

women, it was hoped, would provide a 

bulwark against advancing threats of 

social unrest, Bolshevism and socialism 

escalated by the horrendous death and 

deprivation caused by the war. Voting 

patterns demonstrated this to be the case. 

Between 1918 and 1928 women 

overwhelmingly voted Conservative. 

So what are we celebrating? In a 

nutshell, the birth and infancy of modern 

British democracy. As only 58 per cent of 

men were previously eligible to vote, 1918 

was a watershed in the universal suffrage 

struggle, finally achieved in 1928. Though 

we cannot pretend that this symbolic 

victory established the principle of 

killed 46 suspected "drug personalities" 

between December 5 and February 1. 

Dela Rosa won't dwell on the "drug 

war" death toll. He prefers an upbeat 

narrative of vows that the police "aren't 

hiding anything" and commitments to 

equip police with body cameras and 

even to allow "human rights advocates" 

to accompany police on anti-drug 

operations. He portrays a future antidrug 

campaign spearheaded by police 

brandishing Bibles and rosaries rather 

than pistols and assault weapons. 

That strain of magical thinking 

appears to be contagious. Last week, 

James Walsh, a US State Department 

official overseeing American police on 

international narcotics and law 

enforcement, said the conduct of the 

Philippine National Police indicated 

that "we are seeing some of our humanrights 

training working." Walsh didn't 

comment on the drug war's steadily 

mounting death toll or its near-total 

absence of accountability. 

Dela Rosa likewise won't discuss 

accountability. Instead he makes vague 

even today. But the response was very 

haphazard and it took decades before the 

shape of private sector engagement in 

school education became clear. Even 

today, though almost 40 to 50 per cent of 

enrolled students are estimated to go to 

private schools in the country, the 

expansion phase is not over. 

Notwithstanding the weak and rather 

counterproductive efforts to cap tuition 

fees, we are neither in a position to 

regulate the private sector nor are we, yet, 

in a position to know what the shape of 

school education will be in the decades to 

come. Though we do not know the exact 

numbers, anecdotal evidence suggests 

that some 100,000-odd children take 'O'- 

Level examinations in Pakistan every 

year. Some 40,000 or so of them go on to 

PheLIm KIne 

promises that the anti-drug campaign's 

"mistakes of the past will not be 

repeated." And he attributes any 

allegations of unlawful conduct by 

police personnel to a minority of 

"scalawags" in the ranks. 

That rhetoric is part of a multipronged 

government disinformation 

effort of denial and distraction to deflect 

growing evidence that many of the 

killings have been extrajudicial 

executions that dela Rosa, Duterte, and 

The relaunch lifts a suspension of police 

anti-drug operations that the 

government imposed in october after 

mass protests in response to the alleged 

summary execution by police of 17-yearold 

Kian Loyd delos santos. however, 

the police admitted last week that 

despite that suspension, officers killed 

46 suspected "drug personalities" 

between December 5 and February 1. 

senior government officials have 

actively incited and instigated. It ignores 

damning evidence of police 

involvement in extrajudicial killings 

linked to the "drug war" documented by 

Philippine journalists, foreign 

correspondents and international 

human rights organizations over the 

past 18 months. 

The rare exception to the lack of 

accountability for "drug war" killings 

was the move by prosecutors on 

January 30 to file murder charges 

against three police officers implicated 

in the death of delos Santos. The 

Undergraduate blues 

FAIsAL BARI 

take 'A'-Level examinations. These are 

clearly children who come from 

households who are able or willing to pay 

a fair amount for education. 

There will be tens of thousands more 

from the matriculation stream who will 

also be in the same position, but even if 

we leave them aside for the moment and 

take just the numbers appearing for 'O'- 

There is a crisis in higher education. Demand 

for higher education has expanded a lot and 

the supply side is scrambling to keep up. This is 

not unusual. It happened in school education 

as well. When demand for education, especially 

demand for better quality education, expanded 

and the public sector was not able, by design or 

default, to cater to the rise in demand, the 

private sector responded. 

women's equality, we must recognise that 

Votes for Women was the campaigning 

vehicle of a feminist movement fighting 

for justice across all areas of women's 

lives - health, home, maternity, marriage, 

education and equal pay. 

The struggle started with the first 

petition to parliament in 1832 and ended 

in 1928 when women could vote on the 

same terms as men. It was most intensive 

during the early 20th century. As activist 

momentum powered a relentless 

national mobilisation as fiercely fought in 

the Glasgow Gorbals as the groves of 

Godalming, Liberal governments blocked 

the women's vote by objecting that this 

was not a mass movement. 

In 1908, Herbert Gladstone said: "On 

the question of women's suffrage, 

experience shows that predominance of 

argument ... is not enough to win the 

political day ... Men have learned this 

and/or 'A'-Level examinations, the total 

number of places for undergraduates in 

decent to good quality programmes, and 

including medical or engineering school 

options, would not be more than 15,000 

or so. Where are the other students 

supposed to go? Why has decent quality 

undergraduate education not expanded 

as private schools did? Providing decent 

quality undergraduate education is more 

lesson, and know the necessity for 

demonstrating the greatness of their 

movements, and for establishing ... force 

majeure." The women's movement 

responded by delivering the largest 

popular uprising in British history since 

the Chartists. Newspapers and police 

estimated three major demonstrations of 

1908 at 250,000; 500,000; and - for the 

legendary Suffrage Sunday convening on 

Hyde Park, 750,000. The Daily Express 

praised the suffragettes for providing 

London with "one of the most wonderful 

and astonishing sights that has ever been 

seen since the days of Boadicea ... It is 

probable that so many people never 

before stood in one square mass 

anywhere in England". 

It was a festive, ingenious and 

physically hardy movement - from 

"women's parliaments" in Caxton Hall to 

heckling, stunts and ambushing political 

handful of previous prosecutions of 

police personnel implicated in drug war 

killings have not resulted in convictions. 

Instead, the police and the Duterte 

government have in effect 

institutionalized impunity for police 

involvement in summary killings. Dela 

Rosa has dismissed calls for 

independent investigation into police 

drug-war killings as "legal harassment" 

and said that the demand "dampens the 

morale" of police officers. In August, 

Duterte vowed to pardon and promote 

any police personnel implicated in 

unlawful killings. 

The government has also hobbled 

public pressure to provide 

accountability for the killings by 

subjecting critics of the government's 

"drug war" narrative to withering 

harassment, intimidation or worse. 

Targets have included the official 

Commission on Human Rights, 

United Nations officials, and Senator 

Leila de Lima. On February 24, 2017, 

after a relentless government 

campaign against her, police arrested 

de Lima on politically motivated 

charges - she has remained in 

detention ever since. 

Last month, the government 

ratcheted up its attack on domestic 

media outlets that have exposed police 

involvement in "drug war" abuses by 

threatening to shut down the 

Rappler.com media platform by 

revoking its operating license. Duterte 

and his supporters have also targeted 

the news channel ABS-CBN as well as 

the Philippine Daily Inquirer, both 

known for their in-depth investigative 

reporting. 

Source: Asia Times 

expensive and more heavily dependent 

on quality faculty than school education. 

This is definitely part of the answer. But 

the other part of the answer is to be found 

with the HEC itself. The HEC came into 

action around the same time that the 

demand for higher education started 

expanding. Being the main regulatory 

body, the HEC set up incentive structures 

in higher education. And, right from the 

beginning, it prioritised graduate- and 

doctoral-level 

programmes. 

Undergraduate education was ignored. 

Solid and decent quality four-year 

Bachelor's programmes were what was 

needed. But, in the quest to leapfrog and 

reach some dream world where Pakistani 

universities would be doing 'cutting-edge' 

research in every field, the HEC 

incentivised a) opening up Master's and 

doctoral programmes, b) subsidised 

graduate education, c) offered overseas 

scholarships for graduate education, and 

d) brought in a tenure system for faculty 

that focused attention on research and 

graduate supervising. All of the above 

were at the cost of developing goodquality 

undergraduate programmes in 

the country. 

The 'market failure' in undergraduate 

education that we see today is, hence, not 

just the result of lagging supply. It is a 

consequence of the HEC's own policies. 

Source: Dawn 

Which branch of feminism won women the vote? We all did 

RAcheL hoLmes 

The struggle started with the first petition to 

parliament in 1832 and ended in 1928 when 

women could vote on the same terms as men. It 

was most intensive during the early 20th century. 

As activist momentum powered a relentless 

national mobilisation as fiercely fought in the 

Glasgow Gorbals as the groves of Godalming, 

Liberal governments blocked the women's vote by 

objecting that this was not a mass movement. 

meetings and social events, electoral 

hustings, and the besieged Westminster 

palace. There was music, theatre, art, 

festivals, dance, fashion, exhibitions, 

Women's Social and Political Union 

(WSPU) pop-up shops selling banners, 

bags and badges; there was a hot air 

balloon dropping 56lb of pamphlets, and 

a suffragette steamship patrolling the 

Thames streaming purple, white and 

green pennants, taunting Lloyd George as 

he took tea on the Commons terrace. It 

was the greatest political theatre since the 

French Revolution. In 1910 alone, there 

were over 4,000 demonstrations. 

The feminist movement comprised 

several wings. The National Union of 

Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), 

presided over by Millicent Fawcett; the 

Pankhurst-led WSPU; the splinter 

Women's Franchise League (WFL); the 

emerging Labour party and trade unions led 

by pro-suffragette Keir Hardie and socialistfeminists 

such as Margaret Bondfield and 

George Lansbury; and - smaller numbered - 

"respectable" Conservative suffragists and 

the right-wing Primrose League. 

There's been an unedifying, centurylong 

tug of war between pro-suffragists 

claiming it was gradualist constitutional 

reform that won it; and those who 

maintain that the alliance with radical 

franchise and socialist movements and - 

crucially - militant direct action , is what 

shifted the ground. 

Source : Gulf News

SCIENCE & TECH 

SaturDay, february 10, 2018 

5 

What 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, 

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 

mark Zuckerberg sets a personal challenge 

each year. 

Photo: noah berger 

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. 

escaping from social media for a year 

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

Photo: Getty images 

be informed 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 open-source 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, Cancer- 

Bgone, 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. 

People look at me with disbelief when i explained that i did not use Whatsapp. 

Photo: lionel bonaventure 

Knut traiSbacH 

At the end of 2016, I sent a message to all my contacts: "After 

31 December, I will not use WhatsApp any more. Instead, I 

will use Threema and Signal. On New Year's Eve, I closed my 

WhatsApp account and deleted the app from my phone. A 

few clicks later, I'd left all my family, friend and work groups, 

the school groups of my children and all my individual contacts. 

During the first minutes of 2017, I saw my friends typing 

on their phones while mine remained unusually silent. 

Suddenly I was not available anymore. It felt strange, uncomfortable, 

daring and good. 

My initial reasoning for such a drastic step had little to do 

with mindfulness or the want of being disconnected. I had 

installed WhatsApp in 2012 only because all my friends had 

it. By the end of 2016, the ubiquitous chat app started to send 

me annoying periodical reminders that it would stop working 

because the operating system of my beloved Nokia phone 

was no longer supported. 

The notifications made me wonder whether I should be 

using non-Facebook-owned alternatives and stop spending 

so much time on convenient but seldom meaningful chats. 

My defiance turned into a social experiment: I bought a 

smarter phone but uninstalled the application that, Facebook 

says, "one billion people around the world use … every day to 

stay in touch with their family and friends." 

My app-stinence had a promising start. Good friends sent 

text messages during New Years Day, called or responded to 

my calls. Instead of typing and recording messages, I 

returned to having actual conversations on the phone. My 

family and closest friends even installed one of the new non- 

Facebook messaging apps I had suggested, but suddenly I 

went from having 70 contacts to just 11 on my list. 

At the beginning, I often felt isolated and as if I had abandoned 

friends. Some contacts ebbed away, while I had to 

withstand the odd awkward look of disbelief and discontent 

from others when I explained that I did not use WhatsApp. 

After a few weeks, I noticed that I checked my phone less, 

did not scroll through my contact list to look for updated profile 

photos or send messages to people low on the conversation 

list just to say hello. I began to read more. But I also 

learned what it meant to miss out and not to be part of groups 

anymore. 

When I met friends, I needed to be updated about earlier 

group exchanges. I had to continually ask my wife about discussions 

in our kids' school groups. She became understandably 

annoyed when forced to scroll through 94 new messages 

about the next birthday party or unexpected drama in the 

kindergarden of our two toddlers. 

In the ensuing discussions over the past year, it became 

more difficult than I thought to defend my step in terms of 

privacy and data stinginess. Those sympathetic with my decision 

often said that for work and social reasons they had no 

alternative. 

A colleague pointed out that he had no Facebook account, 

so the matching between accounts for advertising purposes 

was not possible. I knew that in Europe Facebook had been 

asked to "pause" the data sharing from WhatsApp. "But what 

happens with the data of up to one billion people that has 

been matched and shared already?" I asked 

Facebook has not been obliged to delete this data. That we 

do not know precisely how this data is used to nudge and 

influence us without us noticing, worried me. "Anyways, I 

have nothing to hide," several friends told me, hardly concealing 

their annoyance. The main question that I started to 

ask then was: why do we trust private companies more than 

we trust our governments? 

Our default position is to mistrust strangers and governments, 

but we trust convenient services without really knowing 

anything about them. We trust that private companies 

use our data to "improve our lives", but we hardly reflect on 

where our lives are taken. Facebook paid $19bn for a company 

that has encrypted the contents of messages since 2016 

and does not advertise. 

Clearly there is value in information about our habits and 

contacts, not just the content of our conversations. Companies 

create personal profiles with our data, but these profiles 

are about who we are, not about who we want to be. During 

the last year I realised how little we know and how little we 

care. We do not regard our data as a scarce and valuable commodity. 

Data seems like time; we just assume it is there. Over 

coffee I asked a friend: "If you had only one piece of personal 

data left to spend, how would you spend it?" He laughed, 

paused and then his phone whistled. 

How to stop ads using Google tools 

Samuel GibbS 

Google is rolling out a new 

tool that will stop so-called 

reminder ads from following 

you around the internet, 

typically used to try to get 

users to come back after virtual 

window shopping. The 

new settings will allow users 

to "mute" these reminder 

ads, but only on a case-bycase 

basis, not as a setting to 

stop them in their entirety. 

Jon Krafcik, group product 

manager for data privacy 

and transparency at 

Google, said: "You visit 

Snow Boot Co's website, 

add a pair of boots to your 

shopping cart, but you 

don't buy them because you 

want to keep looking 

around. The next time that 

you're shopping online, 

Snow Boot Co might show 

you ads that encourage you 

to come back to their site 

and buy those boots. 

"Reminder ads like these 

can be useful, but if you 

aren't shopping for Snow 

Boot Co's boots anymore, 

then you don't need a 

reminder about them. A 

new control within Ads Settings 

will enable you to 

mute Snow Boot Co's 

Google's reminder ad muting tool. 

reminder ads." The new 

tool allows users to view all 

the reminder ads currently 

tracked to your profile from 

one of the over 2m sites 

that use Google's advertising 

services. Users can then 

choose to mute individual 

reminder ads and view 

those that they've already 

muted with their Google 

Ads settings. Once on the 

page, users can click the X 

Photo: Google 

next to the companies they 

no longer want to see ads 

from. "We plan to expand 

this tool to control ads on 

YouTube, Search, and 

Gmail in the coming 

months," said Krafcik. 

Muting lasts for 90 days, 

but Google is quick to point 

out that it only affects sites 

and services using its ads 

platform and that other ad 

services also provide similar 

reminder ads, meaning 

this will not be a magic bullet 

for all irritating ads. 

Google has also beefed up 

its general ad muting tool 

to allow users to mute more 

ads on more apps and sites. 

When users mute an ad 

they don't like on one 

device, that preference will 

now be carried over to other 

devices on which they 

are logged in.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

SATURDAy, 

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY 

FEbRUARy 10, 2018 

6 

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, Chairman and CEO of PRAN-RFL Group, RN Paul, Managing Director of 

RFL Group, SriniNagarajan, Head of South Asia, Rahul Shah, Nicolas Pitiot and Partha Shah, 

Investment Directors at CDC, among others, were present on the occasion. 

RFL Electronics signs loan 

agreement with CDC for 

USD 15M 

CDC, the UK's development finance 

institution, will provide USD 15 million 

to RFL Electronics Limited, a sister 

concern of PRAN-RFL Group. The loan 

will be used to acquire equipment for 

producing consumer electronic goods 

for the local market, a press release said. 

The agreement was signed between 

RFL Electronics and CDC on 

Wednesday evening at a city hotel. 

Uzma Chowdhury, Corporate Finance 

Director of PRAN-RFL Group and 

Richard Palmer, CDC's Head of 

Corporate Debt, signed the agreement 

for their respective organizations. 

CDC is investing alongside Standard 

Chartered Bank Bangladesh who are 

Spain ups 

growth forecast 

as Catalan fears 

ease 

Prime Minister Mariano 

Rajoy on Thursday upped 

Spain's growth forecast for 

2018 to "at least 2.5 percent" 

just months after it was 

downgraded over the 

secession crisis in Catalonia. 

"This year, 2018, we will 

have a growth forecast of at 

least 2.5 percent, with the 

creation of 400,000 jobs," 

he told a conference in 

Madrid. 

In October, at the height of 

an attempt by Catalan 

leaders to break from Spain 

that caused huge economic 

uncertainty, the Spanish 

government 

had 

downgraded its 2018 growth 

forecast to 2.3 percent. 

Last month, though, 

official data showed the 

Spanish economy had 

grown more than three 

percent in 2017 as a record 

year for tourism and 

booming exports contained 

the impact of the Catalan 

crisis. And on Thursday, 

Rajoy upgraded the growth 

forecast for 2018 for the 

eurozone's fourth largest 

economy. He said that Spain 

in 2017 recovered GDP 

levels only previously seen 

before the severe economic 

crisis that hit the country 

from 2008. 

At 16.5 percent, however, 

the jobless rate remains the 

second highest in the 

eurozone after Greece, even 

if it has dropped from a 

crisis-high of close to 27 

percent. 

The secession crisis in 

Catalonia, a region that 

accounts for close to a fifth of 

Spain's GDP, has raised 

economic concerns but its 

impact has been limited so 

far, causing a slight 

slowdown at the end of last 

year. But more than 3,200 

companies have transferred 

their social headquarters out 

of the region, and the crisis 

isn't over. Rajoy put the 

semi-autonomous region 

under direct rule from 

Madrid after the Catalan 

parliament. 

providing an additional USD three 

million, for a total financing package of 

USD18 million. 

Now, RFL Electronics 

isproducingtelevision, refrigerator, airconditioner, 

rice cooker, blender, 

microwave oven, electric kettle, infrared 

cooker, roti maker, room heater, iron 

and fan under the Vision brand in 

Bangladesh.The investmentwill support 

the creation of 1500 manufacturing 

jobs. 

Uzma Chowdhury said, "Consumer 

Electronics goes a long way in 

improving livelihood if it can be offered 

at affordable price. In order to make it 

affordable, the industry needed to be 

setup within Bangladesh. We are 

delighted to have CDC as our partner." 

Richard Palmer said:"As 

Bangladesh's economy grows we see 

our investment in RFL Electronics as an 

opportunity to create jobs, meet the 

growing demand for consumer goods 

and help the country boost its local 

manufacturing." 

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, Chairman 

and CEO of PRAN-RFL Group, RN 

Paul, Managing Director of RFL Group, 

SriniNagarajan, Head of South Asia, 

Rahul Shah, Nicolas Pitiot and Partha 

Shah, Investment Directors at CDC, 

among others, were present on the 

occasion. 

Trade on agenda as China’s 

top envoy visits US 

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson 

welcomed Chinese state councillor Yang 

Jiechi to Washington on Thursday as the 

world's two most powerful diplomats talked 

trade, drugs and North Korea. 

Yang is in Washington for two days at a 

time when relations between the top powers 

are dominated by the North Korean nuclear 

stand-off and President Donald Trump's 

concerns about their trade imbalance. 

His first port of call was the State 

Department, where he held closed door talks 

and had a working lunch with Tillerson, who 

is keen to keep China on board with a 

diplomatic push to force Pyongyang to 

negotiate its own nuclear disarmament. 

"During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed 

President Trump and President Xi's 

commitment to keep up pressure on North 

Korea's illegal nuclear weapons and missile 

programs," State Department spokeswoman 

Heather Nauert said. 

"They discussed the need to achieve a fair 

and reciprocal bilateral economic 

relationship, and shared approaches to 

stemming the flow of deadly narcotics," she 

added. 

Yang told Tillerson that the two countries 

could address trade disputes by further 

opening their markets to each other and 

"making a bigger cake of cooperation," the 

official Xinhua news service reported after 

the meeting. 

Washington is also pushing China to 

support Trump's "maximum pressure" drive 

to force Pyongyang to abandon its quest to 

build nuclear-armed long-range missiles 

capable of hitting US cities. 

"We hope that China will do more because 

we know that they can do more in terms of 

adhering to UN Security Council resolutions 

and sanctions that have been put in place 

against North Korea," Nauert said. 

In the talks, however, Yang apparently 

stuck to China's long-standing position that 

the issues on the Korean peninsula "should 

be solved through dialogue and negotiation," 

Xinhua reported, implying that 

Washington's approach could damage peace 

efforts. 

Nauert said some diplomatic 

conversations are best kept private but noted 

that: "We have a frank exchange of ideas and 

information, and our viewpoints. Our 

president has made it very clear his concerns 

about trade imbalances, that's the kind of 

thing that comes up." 

China's long-standing trade surplus with 

the United States grew 10 percent last year 

to $276 billion, a sum Trump finds 

intolerable, and senior officials from both 

countries are in talks to try to head off a 

trade war. 

"We're not seeking an adversarial 

relationship with the government of China," 

Nauert said. 

"We are simply identifying actions that 

China has taken that undermine a rulesbased 

order." 

Washington is also pushing China for 

more cooperation on cutting off the flow of 

synthetic drugs and chemical precursors 

used in the production of narcotics to Latin 

America, as these are often smuggled into 

the United States and fuel an epidemic of 

opioid addiction. 

German public sector unions 

demand six percent pay rise 

German unions said Thursday they would demand a six percent pay rise from state and local 

governments for public sector workers in upcoming talks, soon after metalworkers scored a 

big increase. 

Some 2.3 million public employees should get a pay rise of six percent or at least 200 euros 

($245) per month over the coming year, unions Verdi, GEW and DBB said. 

Any protracted dispute with politicians could disrupt life in Germany, as in 2016 when 

rubbish collection, daycare, hospitals and transport were hit by "warning strikes". 

"We've seen continuous increases in tax revenue for years. Public sector workers should get 

a share of that, all the more so because there is a gap to make up with the average increase in 

salary" across the economy, said Frank Bsirske, leader of the Verdi union. 

Germany's budget surplus, which hit 38.4 billion euros last year, is forecast to climb this 

year and in 2019. 

Meanwhile, the unions say public sector workers are paid around four percent less than 

their private sector peers. 

Civil servants' talks with the interior ministry will begin in Potsdam, near Berlin, on 

February 26. 

Media caption 

Government 

workers on what 

happens during a 

shutdown 

Employees deemed essential 

- including military 

personnel and air traffic 

controllers - are required to 

work regardless of 

shutdowns. 

Three weeks ago, some 

people lost three days of 

work in a shutdown but this 

time, it is not yet clear which 

agencies will close. 

The federal Office of 

Personnel Management said 

employees should "refer to 

their home agency for 

guidance on reporting for 

duty". 

CNN is reporting that if 

the shutdown is not averted, 

government agencies will 

still be able to call their 

employees in for a half day's 

work to make the shutdown 

go smoothly. 

Hong Kong 

stocks dive 

3.10% at end of 

volatile week 

Hong Kong stocks plunged 

more than three percent 

Friday, the second 

hammering this week, as 

global markets are swept up 

in a wave of selling while 

investors fret about the 

impact of US interest rate 

tightening. 

And the benchmark 

Shanghai Composite Index 

dived 4.05 percent, or 

132.20 points, to 3,129.85 

while the Shenzhen 

Composite Index, which 

tracks stocks on China's 

second exchange, fell 3.19 

percent, or 55.31 points, to 

1,679.26. 

Tokyo’s Nikkei 

index drops 

2.3%, extending 

global slump 

Tokyo's benchmark index 

plunged more than two 

percent on Friday after 

European and US stocks 

suffered big drops as 

volatility continued to dog 

equity markets. 

The Nikkei index fell 2.32 

percent, or 508.24 points, to 

close at 

21,382.62, while the 

broader Topix index was 

down 1.91 percent, or 33.72 

points, at 1,731.97. 

US Congress votes to end 

brief shutdown 

US lawmakers have voted to pass a two-year budget, 

meaning the country's second shutdown in three weeks 

could end before the working day begins.The measures have 

passed the Senate and the House but still need to be signed 

off by President Donald Trump. 

Federal funding for government services expired at 

midnight (05:00 GMT), after the Senate missed a voting 

deadline. 

The 600-page plan proposes an increase in spending, by 

about $300bn (£215bn), on defence and domestic services. 

Canadian provinces feud 

over Pacific pipeline project 

A pipeline project aimed at boosting 

Canada's overseas oil sales and reducing 

reliance on US buyers has pitted two 

provincial governments against each other, 

sticking the prime minister in the middle. 

The Can$7.4 billion (US$5.9 billion) 

expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, 

which will allow it to carry 890,000 barrels 

of oil per day from Alberta's oil sands to the 

Pacific coast for shipping overseas, was 

approved by Ottawa in November 2016, and 

"twinning" of the 1,150-kilometer (715-mile) 

conduit is now underway. 

But a newly-elected New Democratic Party 

(NDP) government in British Columbia 

announced last week it would block new oil 

shipments through the province pending a 

further review of the risk of an oil spill in 

coastal waters. 

British Columbia is concerned that an oil 

tanker leak could damage its pristine 

rainforest coastline, putting commercial 

fisheries and tourism at risk. 

The move outraged the NDP government 

in Alberta, which has been forced to sell most 

of its oil to the United States at a discount 

due to a lack of pathways to other markets. 

It hit back by walking out on talks to 

purchase electricity from a massive new dam 

project in British Columbia and by ordering 

a boycott of its wines. 

Federal opposition leader Andrew Scheer 

on Wednesday called the interprovincial 

trade row a "crisis" and urged Prime 

Minister Justin Trudeau to cut short a US 

trade mission, return to Canada and "take 

control of the situation." 

"Jobs are being threatened not only in 

Alberta, but in British Columbia and indeed 

around the country," he said. 

Trudeau told a local talk radio show during 

a visit last week to Alberta: 

"That pipeline is going to get built." 

But he equivocated when pressed 

Wednesday before flying south about 

whether he would step in to end the Alberta- 

British Columbia feud. 

"Obviously, we're going to continue to 

make sure that we're standing up for the 

national interest," he told reporters. 

"Canadians know that the environment 

and the economy need to go together." 

Boxed into a corner, Trudeau must defend 

the federal approval of a pipeline deemed to 

be in the "national interest" and of economic 

benefit to this oil-rich country, while trying 

to maintain his appeal with progressive 

voters who helped elect him in 2015 on a 

promise to slash greenhouse gases. 

That pledge would require a significant cut 

in Canada's use of CO2 emissions, and the 

Alberta oil sands are the single biggest 

emitter in Canada. 

Further riling his supporters, Trudeau's 

government unveiled a new, stricter and 

streamlined environmental and regulatory 

review process on Thursday for pipelines, 

mines and other major projects. 

But that came too late for the Trans 

Mountain pipeline, approved under the old 

regulatory framework, which Trudeau 

himself has maligned. 

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who 

will be tested for the first time in national 

elections in 2019, also refused to pick sides, 

but placed blame for the row on Trudeau for 

using the outdated environmental 

regulations to assess the project. 

Kinder Morgan, the company behind the 

project, is reportedly considering legal action 

to keep its Trans Mountain pipeline 

expansion on track. 

If British Columbia does not back down, 

chief executive Ian Anderson told the Globe 

and Mail newspaper "then we're going to 

have a problem." 

"No one wants a trade fight between two 

provinces," Alberta Premier Rachel Notley 

said in a video posted on social media. 

But, she added, "Our country can't work 

like this." 

British Columbia Premier John Horgan at 

first promised a strong response to Alberta's 

warning shots, but appeared to cool off by 

midweek, saying he would not escalate the 

trade war. Federal officials were dispatched 

on Thursday to try to quell the standoff, but 

both sides remain at odds. 

Ghana president says ‘no 

reason’ to return to IMF 

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday hailed the country's economic recovery 

and said he saw "no reason" to seek further help from the International Monetary Fund. 

Once hailed as a regional growth model, in 2015 former president John Mahama's 

administration was forced to turn to the IMF for help amid a global commodities rout. 

But Akufo-Addo told parliament in the annual state of the union address that his 

government had buckled down on mismanagement and pledged to stabilise the economy to 

avoid another bailout. 

"We are determined to put in place measures to ensure irreversibility and sustain 

macroeconomic stability, so that we will have no reason to seek again the assistance of that 

powerful global body," Akufo-Addo told lawmakers. 

"For the first time in a long while, our macroeconomic fundamentals are solid, and all the 

critical indices are pointing in the right direction." 

The $918-million loan is set to come to an end this year, completed on conditions of reform, 

tighter fiscal discipline and lower inflation. 

The World Bank last month said Ghana's economy would likely grow by 8.3 percent in 2018 

as a result of increased oil and gas production, making it one of the fastest growing economies 

in the world. Creating more jobs will be the next step, said Gideon Amissah, of the Institute 

of Certified Economists of Ghana. "For the ordinary Ghanaian on the street we still need to 

keep the confidence level high," he told AFP. "If the government is unable to fulfil some of its 

promises given, then the confidence may not be sustainable." 

Senators struggled with last-minute objections from 

Republican Rand Paul, meaning they did not vote in time. 

The shutdown came within three weeks of the last one, as 

lawmakers wrangle over the spending plan and other 

political demands on either side. 

What does a shutdown mean for ordinary people? 

Many government agencies close during a shutdown as 

their future funding is theoretically not secure. Many 

employees are asked not to come to work and will not be paid 

- although some will get back pay.

SPORTS 

SAtuRDAy, FEBRuARy 10, 2018 

7 

Viktor Ahn (middle) won three gold medals at Sochi 2014. 

Mirpur Test day2 

Lankans take control 

in series decider 

Sports Desk 

Sri Lankans took control in the series decider of 

a two-Test series against host Bangladesh as 

they extended their lead to199 runs, with 7 

wickets in hand, form 112 in the 2nd innings at 

tea break of the second day's play at Sher-e- 

Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpuron 

Friday. 

Having 222 runs in the 1st innings, Sri Lanka 

opened the second innings and were on batting 

at tea break, scoring 87/3 * in 30th over where 

opener Dimuth Karunaratne (29* off 94b) and 

skipper Dinesh Chandimal (4* off 14b) were on 

batting for the side. 

Mustafizur Rahman lbw Danushka 

Gunathilaka (17 off 27 b; 1x4) on 80/3 in 25.5 

overs after Taijul Islam bowled out Dhananjaya 

de Silva (28 off 24b; 5x4) on 53/2 in 16.4 overs 

and Abdur Razzak lbw Kusal Mendis (7 off 21b) 

for the first breakthrough on 19/1 6.5 overs. 

Earlier, Bangladesh resumed the 1st innings 

on the second day with overnight score of 56/4 

in 22 overs and finished on 110/10 in 45.4 overs, 

giving Sri Lanka a 112-run lead in the 1st 

innings, before the lunch break. 

The Tigers went through a messy innings of 

23.4 overs, losing six wickets for 54 runs on the 

day where overnight Mehidy Hasan Miraz (38* 

off 78 b; 2x4; 1x6) was the only batsman could 

hold the nerves till the end to add 33 runs more 

with his overnight collection. 

Another overnight batsman Liton Kumar 

Das (25 off 54b; 3x4) played 11 balls on the day's 

innings to add one run more with his previous 

score before being bowled out by Suranga 

Lakmal on 73/5 in 27overs. 

Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad (17 off 46b; 

2x4) was bowled out by debut all-rounder Akila 

Dananjaya, giving a 46-ball company to Miraz 

to carry the team collection to 107/6 in 42.2 

overs from where Akila started his spin show of 

3 for 20 in 10 overs. 

The Tigers lost their five wickets- 

Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rathhman, Abdur 

Razzak, Taijul Islam and Mustafizur Rahmanwithin 

a span of three runs off 3.1 overs, from 

107/6 in 42.2 overs to 110/10 in 45.4 overs, to 

end the innings with shame. 

Akila Dananjaya and Suranga Lakmal 

equally shared six wickets in the innings 

conceding 20 and 25 runs respectively while 

Dilruwan Perera got two wickets for 32 runs. 

Brief score: 

Sri Lanka 1st innings: 222/10 in 65.3 overs; 

Kusal Mendis 68, Roshen Silva 56, Dilruwan 

Perera 31, Abdur Razzak 4/63, Taijul 

Islam4/83, Mustafizur Rahman 2/17. 

Sri Lanka 2nd innings: batting on 87/3 * in 

30 overs at tea; Dimuth Karunaratne 29*, 

Dinesh Chandimal 4*, Dhananjaya de Silva 28, 

Danushka Gunathilaka 17, Kusal Mendis 7, 

Mustafizur Rahman 1/8, Taijul Islam 1/25, 

Abdur Razzak 1/46. 

Photo: Internet 

Court rejects 

appeals by 47 

Russians against 

Olympic bans 

Sports Desk 

Sports' highest court rejected 

appeals by all 45 Russian 

athletes plus two coaches who 

were banned from the 

Pyeongchang Olympics over 

doping concerns in a decision 

announced Friday less than 

nine hours before the opening 

ceremony. 

The International Olympic 

Committee had refused to 

invite the group of Russians, 

saying it had evidence of 

alleged doping in Russian 

sports. 

The Court of Arbitration for 

Sport ruled that the IOC has 

the right to set its own 

standards for who is eligible. 

CAS Secretary General 

Matthieu Reeb, reading from 

a statement and declining to 

take questions, said the IOC 

process "could not be 

described as a sanction but 

rather as an eligibility 

decision." 

"No finding that this was 

carried out in a 

discriminatory, arbitrary or 

unfair manner," he said. 

The IOC issued a statement 

welcoming the decision. 

GD-214/18 (20 x 4) 

GD-217/18 (10 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

SATURDAy, DHAKA, FEBRUARy 10, 2018, MAgH 28, 1424 BS, JAMADI-UL-AwAL 24, 1439 HIJRI 

The huge crowds of visitors and buyers were seen on Friday, at the weekend at Book fair at Ekushey 

book fair. 


Khaleda’s fate to join polls 

‘hangs in the balance’ 

DHAkA : though it is the most-sought 

question of people whether BnP chairperson 

khaleda Zia will be eligible for 

the next general election after she was 

jailed for five years by a trial court, legal 

and election experts have no clear 

answer to it as they think it fully 

depends on the apex court, reports 

UnB. 

some of them said the conviction will 

remain suspended if the BnP chief files 

an appeal against the lower court verdict 

while some others defer with them 

saying it is an 'ambiguous matter'. 

However, some of them said the apex 

court may grant her bail and allow her 

to take part in the next polls as some 

political leaders earlier had been ministers 

and remained MPs after being 

convicted by lower courts. 

On thursday, a special court here 

convicted khaleda and sentenced her 

to five years' imprisonment in the Zia 

Orphanage trust graft case. 

As per Article 66(2) (d) of the 

Constitution, anyone sentenced to jail 

for a term not less than two years for 

ethical or moral misconduct, and until 

five years have elapsed since the date of 

his/her release shall be disqualified for 

the contesting the parliamentary election. 

Law Minister Anisul Huq said there 

are two verdicts of the supreme Court 

and the High Court in this regard. "One 

verdict says until the disposal of the 

appeal the case proceeding is considered 

as incomplete and the person is 

not convicted. so, the convicted person 

will be able to take part in polls." 

However, the other verdict says the 

convicted person cannot take part in 

the national election with having an 

appeal against the lower court conviction. 

"so, the apex court and the 

election Commission will decide it 

now." 

Former law minister Barrister 

shafique Ahmed said a person convicted 

for minimum two years in a criminal 

case will not be eligible for the national 

election until the completion of five 

years of his/her release. 

Asked whether she will be eligible for 

polls if the High Court suspends her 

conviction after appeal, he also replied 

Sand Mandala: The Tibetan Art 

of Intricate Sand Paintings 

InterestIng news Desk 

Mandalas are spiritual and ritual symbols 

in Hinduism and Buddhism that represent 

the universe. It’s an ancient sanskrit 

word that means “circle”, and mandalas 

are indeed primarily recognizable by their 

concentric circles and other geometric figures. 

In the most basic form, a mandala is 

a square containing a circle with several 

concentric circles or smaller squares within. 

the mandala is decorated with traditional 

iconography that includes geometric 

shapes and a multitude of ancient spiritual 

symbols. 

In tibetan Buddhism, mandalas are created 

with colored sand, a practice known 

as dul-tson-kyil-khor, which literally 

means "mandala of colored powders." 

Historically, the mandala was not created 

with natural, dyed sand, but granules of 

crushed colored stone. sometimes this 

included precious and semi-precious 

gems. so, lapis lazuli would be used for the 

blues, rubies for the reds, and so forth. In 

modern times, plain white stones are 

ground down and dyed with opaque inks 

to achieve the same effect. 

the creation of a sand mandala begins 

with an opening ceremony where monks 

chant mantras and play flutes, drums and 

cymbals. then they get down to business. 

First, they carefully measure and draw the 

outlines of the mandala on a flat surface 

with chalk or pencil, assisted by straightedged 

rulers and compasses. Once the 

floor plan is drawn, millions of grains of 

colored sand is painstakingly laid into 

place. 

the sand granules are poured onto the 

mandala platform with a narrow metal 

funnel called a "chakpur" which is 

scraped by another metal rod to cause 

sufficient vibration for the grains of sand 

to trickle out of its end. traditionally, four 

monks work together on a single mandala 

with each monk assigned to one quadrant 

of the mandala. with enormous amount 

of patience, the monks lay out the sand 

particles working from the center outwards. 

A sand mandalas can take several 

weeks to build. 

in the negative said suspension means 

not the cancelation of the punishment. 

He, however, said if khaleda appeals 

to the apex court and it permits her to 

submit nomination, she will be able to 

contest the polls. 

khaleda's counsel and former law 

minister Moudud Ahmed said appeal 

against the lower court conviction 

means continuation of the trial. 

"After appeal, the High Court is the 

first court, and then the supreme 

court's decision will be the final one. 

so, until the final decision is given by 

the supreme Court, she will be able to 

take part in the polls." 

He, however, said it is a matter of 

interoperation as there are two types of 

decisions in this regard. 

"As per the tradition, a convicted person 

can join the election until the final 

judgement of the supreme Court is 

delivered. But after 1/11 political 

changeover, it was said in the emergency 

rules that until the final disposal of 

the case, a convicted person won't be 

entitled to get bail and participate in 

the polls," Moudud observed. 

Khaleda’s family 

members meet 

her in jail 

DHAkA : Four family members 

, including two siblings, 

met BnP chairperson 

khaleda Zia at old central 

jail in nazimuddin road in 

the city on Friday afternoon, 

reports UnB. 

khaleda, a 73-year-old 

former prime minister, was 

taken to the jail on 

thursday after a special 

court sentenced her to five 

years' imprisonment in the 

Zia Orphanage trust graft 

case. 

Around 3:35pm, 

khaleda's brother shamim 

Iskander, sister selima 

Islam, her sister-in-law 

kaniz Fatema and nephew 

Fayek Iskander Avik arrived 

at the prison to meet her, 

said Jahangir kabir, senior 

superintendent of the jail. 

they entered the jail 

around 4:15pm to meet 

khaleda Zia and left the jail 

around 5:11pm, he added. 

A special court here on 

thursday convicted former 

prime minister and BnP 

chairperson khaleda Zia 

and sentenced her to five 

years' imprisonment in the 

much-talked-about Zia 

Orphanage trust graft case. 

Five other accused in the 

case, including her son and 

BnP senior vice-chairman 

tarique rahman, were sentenced 

to 10 years' imprisonment 

each. the court also 

fined the five accused tk 

2.10 crore each. 

After Jatiya Party 

Chairman HM ershad, 

khaleda is the second head 

of the government who got 

convicted in a graft case. 

UN calls on all 

sides to maintain 

calm over 

Khaleda verdict 

DHAkA : the United nations has 

called on all sides to maintain 

calm over the conviction of BnP 

Chairperson khaleda Zia by a special 

court, reports UnB. 

Un secretary-general's deputy 

spokesman Farhan Haq said this 

at a regular press briefing on 

thursday at the organisation's 

headquarters. 

A journalist presented the latest 

situation of Bangladesh during 

the question-answer session of 

the regular press briefing. It is also 

asked whether any special envoy 

will be sent to observe the situation 

in Bangladesh. 

In response, Haq said, "we only 

recently received the report concerning 

the arrest and the subsequent 

events. we're monitoring 

what the events are on the ground 

and we will react accordingly." 

"we would, of course, be concerned 

about any reports of violence 

and at this point, we call on 

all sides to maintain calm and we 

expect to have a further reaction 

after we've evaluated the situation 

further." 

Asked whether the conviction 

of khaleda Zia and her son 

tarique rahman is the process to 

eradicate them from the general 

election, he said, "we are not 

ready to say anything on whether 

the verdict will have any effect on 

the election. we are analysing the 

situation." 

"we're just monitoring what 

the latest developments regarding 

this verdict are, and we expect that 

we'll say something more once 

we've evaluated the situation.It's 

too early to judge what impact this 

will have, but, yes, we do continue 

to call for an inclusive and democratic 

process in the country." 

PM leaves for Rome Sunday 

to attend IFAD meeting 

DHAkA : Prime Minister sheikh Hasina 

leaves here for romeon sundaymorning on a 

four-day official visit to join the upcoming 

meeting ofrome-based International Fund 

for Agricultural Development (IFAD)as one of 

its keynote speakersat the invitation of IFAD 

President gilbert F Houngbo, reports UnB. 

the Prime Minister will present the keynote 

paper at the meeting onFebruary 13. 

she will leave Hazrat shahjalal 

International Airport around 9:55 am by an 

emirates flight and reach Fiumicino Airport, 

rome around6:45 pm(local time). 

sheikh Hasina will be taken to Parco Dei 

Principi grand Hotel in rome where she will 

be staying during her visit. 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Agriculture 

Minister Matia Chowdhury and Foreign 

Minister AH Mahmood Ali will accompany 

the Prime Minister. 

On Mondaymorning, the Prime Minister 

will go to the Vatican City where she will be 

given audience by Pope Francis after guard of 

honour there. 

she will also hold a meeting with secretary 

of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin and visit 

sistine Chapel and saint Peter's Basilica. 

In the evening, Hasina will join dinner to be 

hosted by the Bangladesh Ambassador in 

rome. 

OnFebruary 13, the Prime Minister will 

attend the inaugural session of the governing 

Council of IFAD and deliver her keynote 

paper. Later, she will attend lunch to be hosted 

by IFAD President in honour of keynote 

speakers. 

In the evening, she will join a community 

reception arranged by the local unit of Awami 

League. 

the theme of this year's IFAD council is 

'From fragility to long-term resilience: 

Investing in sustainable rural economies.' 

the governing Council of IFAD is the Fund's 

principal governing Body having full decision-making 

powers. 

It consists of all of IFAD's Member states 

and meets annually. It is attended by the official 

Member state representatives. Observers 

are also invited to attend sessions. 

IFAD has more than 30 years of experience 

working in Bangladesh. 

the Prime Minister will leave rome on the 

afternoon of February 14 and reach Dhaka 

onFebruary 15morning. 

PM stands by British 

citizen Lucy Helen 

BArIsAL : Prime Minister sheikh Hasina 

has come forward to the help of Lucy Helen 

Frances Holt, a British citizen who is living in 

Bangladesh for 57 years. 

sheikh Hasina on thursday handed over 

the passport with a 15-year multiple 

Bangladeshi visa to Lucy, ending her long 

ordeal for visa renewal every year. 

"Our honourable Prime Minister handed 

over the passport with a 15-year multiple 

Bangladeshi visa to Lucy just before the public 

meeting at Bangabanadhu Udyan in the 

divisional city on thursday afternoon," PM's 

Press secretary Ihsanul karim told Bss. 

He said while handing over the passport, 

the premier talked to the 87-year-old Lucy, a 

humanitarian who is now working at Oxford 

Mission in Barisal city. 

"she (Lucy) was very impressed with talking 

to the prime minister," the press secretary 

said. 

Lucy, daughter of John Holt and Francese 

Holt, was born in the British town of st 

Helens on December 16 in 1930. After completing 

12th grade, she first visited 

Bangladesh in 1960. 

Sri Lankans took control in the series decider of a two-Test series against host Bangladesh as they 

extended their lead to199 runs, with 7 wickets in hand, form 112 in the 2nd innings at tea break of the 

second day's play at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpuron Friday. Photo : Star Mail 

Bangladesh professor granted 

stay from deportation from US 

LAwrenCe : An adjunct chemistry 

instructor living in kansas who was 

arrested last week by immigration officials 

and faced imminent deportation 

to Bangladesh has been granted a temporary 

stay of removal but that doesn't 

mean he will be allowed to stay in the 

U.s., his attorney said thursday. 

syed Ahmed Jamal, 55, a native of 

Bangladesh who has lived in the U.s. 

for more than 30 years, was arrested 

Jan. 24 in the front yard of his home in 

Lawrence as he walked his children to 

school, reports UnB 

Federal Judge glen Baker, of the 

kansas City Immigration Court, issued 

the stay wednesday and gave the 

Department of Homeland security 

until Feb. 15 to respond to an emergency 

motion to stay the deportation and 

re-open immigration proceedings, 

attorney rekha sharma-Crawford 

said. 

Jamal, who was held after his arrest 

in Missouri jails, is now in el Paso, 

texas, and could be deported immediately 

- without time for an appeal - if 

Baker rules against him, sharma- 

Crawford said. His wife, brother and 

three children haven't been able to 

speak to him since his arrest. 

If a longer stay is granted, Jamal will 

address his legal status in immigration 

court, said his brother, syed Hussein 

Jamal, the kansas City star reported . 

"Basically from here, we're going to 

fight in court," syed Hussein Jamal 

said during a news conference 

thursday. "we'll see how it goes." 

It was unclear why the Lawrence resident 

was transferred by Immigration 

and Customs enforcement from 

Morgan County, Missouri, to Platte 

County, Missouri, to el Paso in one day 

but sharma-Crawford said she suspects 

ICe intended to put him on a 

flight to Bangladesh without seeing his 

family again. 

ICe officials told the star earlier this 

week that a stay of removal is a "temporary 

humanitarian benefit. the stay 

is designed to allow the alien to get 

his/her affairs in order before they 

return to their home country." 

the arrest and possible deportation 

prompted a backlash, with an online 

petition drawing more than 58,000 

signatures and a goFundMe campaign 

raising more than $37,000 in less than 

a week. Hundreds of sympathizers also 

contacted members of Congress. U.s. 

kansas republican reps. kevin Yoder 

and Lynn Jenkins, as well as Democrat 

rep. emanuel Cleaver from Missouri, 

contacted immigration authorities to 

discuss the case. 

On thursday, his relatives expressed 

their thanks to supporters. 

"I guess I've become an activist," said 

Jamal's oldest son, taseen, who is 14. 

syed Ahmed Jamal, a Bihari ethnic 

minority, arrived legally in the U.s. in 

1987 to attend the University of kansas 

but overstayed his visa while pursuing 

a doctorate. He has taught chemistry at 

area colleges and did research at hospitals. 

For the past five years, the 

Department of Homeland security 

allowed Jamal to remain in the U.s. on 

orders of supervision, meaning he had 

to report on a regular basis to ICe 

offices, where he was issued temporary 

work authorization cards. 

As recently as January, his work card 

enabled Jamal to secure a teaching 

position at Park University in Parkville, 

Missouri. He also has been an adjunct 

instructor at rockhurst University and 

kansas City kansas Community 

College. He was on parental advisory 

boards at his children's schools and last 

year made an unsuccessful run for a 

seat on the Lawrence school board. 

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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