The Bangladesh Today (24-02-2018)

Saturday 

Dhaka : February 24, 2018; Falgun 12, 1424 BS; Jamadi-ul-awal 7, 1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.65; 8 Pages~Tk.8.00 

IntErnatIonal 

Trump Jr.'s foreign 

policy speech in India 

boosts concerns 

>Page 3 

HEaltH 

Useful tips for 

dealing with 

social anxiety 

>Page 5 

Economy & Business 

Electric powered 

Minis to be built in 

China 

>Page 6 

153 held over SSC 

question leaks: Nahid 

DHAKA : Law enforcers have arrested 

153 people in 52 cases filed over 

alleged question leaks since the start of 

Secondary School Certificate (SSC) 

examinations on Feb 1, said Education 

Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Friday, 

reports UNB. 

Zohr 

Nurul Islam Nahid 

3 get nine months 

imprisonment 

each for selling 

turtles 

DHAKA : A mobile court of the Rapid 

Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday sentenced 

three businessmen to nine 

months imprisonment each for selling 

endangered species of turtles in 

Shakhari Bazar area in the capital 

The convicted were Ponir Chandra 

Das, 40, Dipok Nandi, 55 and Moyna 

Rani Das, 39. 

The member of the elite force arrested 

them from the city's Shakhari Bazar 

area this morning while they were selling 

turtles of endangered species, 

Mahiuddin Faruqui, Senior Assistant 

Director of RAB-10, said. 

Acting on a tip off, the members of 

the wildlife conservation unit of the 

RAB-10 carried out a drive in the city's 

Shakhari Bazar area this morning. 

Executive Magistrate of RAB 

Headquarters M Sarwar Alam, who led 

the court, inflicted punishment on the 

accused. RAB said a group numbering 

12 to 14 members was found indulged 

in the illegal turtle sale through collecting 

those from Munshiganj and 

Narshingdi areas. The elite force caught 

three of the group with the turtles. 

Later, the seized turtles were released 

at the Botanical Garden. 

05:12 AM 

12:16 PM 

04:20 PM 

06:02 PM 

07:16 PM 

6:25 5:59 

"To eliminate corruption and present 

problems in education sector 

everyone has to be ethical and honest," 

Nahid said at the award giving ceremony 

of the Ninth National Debate 

Competition held at Bangladesh Film 

Development Corporation (BFDC) 

studio in Dhaka. 

He said, "We have adopted and still 

adopting every possible steps to stop 

question leak but for some unethical 

person it continues. More than one 

lakh people are engaged in SSC examination 

process and a few are trying to 

annoy us by leaking and spreading 

questions through social media." 

Nahid also said during the Higher 

Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination, 

starting on April 1, the education 

ministry will be more conscious. 

"I would like to request teachers and 

parents to come forward to identify 

those question leakers and hand them 

over to police," he added. 

The debate competition "Bitorko 

Bikash" was jointly organised by 

BRAC, ATN Bangla and Debate for 

Democracy. 

A total of 17,600 debaters from 880 

schools across the country participated 

in the competition which was 

launched in January 2016. 

Rashed Khan Menon Model High 

School of Babuganj upazila in Barisal 

became the champion after defeating 

Ishakpur Public High School of 

Jagannathpur upazila in Sunamganj. 

The two teams argued over the topic 

"educational system reformation is a 

must to make corruption free country". 

Ishakpur Public High School team 

leader Sharifa Jahan won the honor of 

best speaker in the competition. 

Education Minister Nurul Islam 

Nahid, MP was the chief guest while 

Education Secretary Md Sohrab 

Hossain, BRAC education programme 

Director Dr Shafiqul Islam, Adviser of 

ATN Bangla Nouwarish Ali Khan were 

present at the programme as special 

guests. 

Debate for Democracy Chairman 

Hasan Ahamed Chowdhury Kiron 

moderated the programme. 

Education Secretary Md Sohrab 

Hossain said a law is being formulated 

to stop coaching centers' dominance 

and the authorities are thinking to 

reform the question pattern of public 

examinations. 

DHAKA : It was one of those last 

working days of the week - a 

Thursday. And the city's 

Shahbagh sidewalks were filled to 

the brim with waiting passengers 

jostling for space. The clock was 

striking half past eleven as Nasima 

Akhter with a baby on her lap continued 

her agonising wait for a 

public transport, reports UNB. 

Few oncoming buses that she 

approached were already jampacked 

and teeming with passengers. 

Men were competing 

among themselves to get a berth, 

some managed risky ride while 

many returned unsuccessful. 

Nasima proved to be a weak 

competitor. 

"I am waiting for a bus where I 

can avail a seat for more than 15 

minutes and approached five 

buses but in vain as all were overcrowded," 

said a desperate 

Nasima, whose city is poorly 

equipped to cater public transport 

facilities to the growing need of 

women passengers. 

Embarking on a crowded bus 

with a baby on her lap was challenging 

for Nasima in Dhaka, a 

city where some 40 to 50 new private 

cars hit the streets each day 

while fleets of rundown public 

buses are hardly replaced by 

newer ones. 

Nasima's experience is commonplace 

in the sense commuters, 

especially the women, face such 

hassle in Dhaka every day. 

Though buses are the cheapest 

mode of transport in a densely 

populated city like Dhaka, the sector 

has long been plagued with 

gross mismanagement. 

There is a very scanty transportation 

facility for the women 

passengers in Dhaka despite the 

fact that the number of working 

women has gone up over the 

Dhaka urges 

int’l community 

to remain vocal 

for justice for 

Rohingyas 

FS pitches for international 

governance of migration 

DHAKA : Bangladesh has urged the 

international community to remain 

vocal for justice for the victims of the 

atrocities in Rakhine State of 

Myanmar, reports UNB. 

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul 

Haque made the call at a seminar in 

The Hague recently, said the 

Bangladesh Embassy in The Hague on 

Friday. 

He referred to the Bangladesh's 

humanitarian response to the arrival 

of over one million forcibly displaced 

Rohingyas from Myanmar to 

Bangladesh. In response to a question, 

Secretary Haque narrated the atrocities 

committed on the Rohingyas and 

the systematic flushing out of the 

Rohingya population by the Myanmar 

authorities through violence, rape, terror, 

and economic blockade. 

Referring to the current and future 

trend of migration to Asia and Europe 

and the necessity for human capital by 

market forces, the Foreign Secretary 

suggested for hybrid global migration 

governance, if not a legally-bound 

Convention on migration governance, 

for the mutual benefit of all. 

He underlined the necessity of international 

governance of migration. 

The prestigious International 

Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of the 

Erasmus University of the 

Netherlands organised the seminar 

titled "Improving International 

Migration Regimes" at its campus in 

The Hague. 

Dhaka women suffer 

daily in want of 

public transports 

years. Neither the number of 

buses, nor the seats reserved for 

them in public transports have 

been increased proportionately. 

Rather, when a few designated 

women-seats in buses are 

exhausted, the bus conductors 

tend to discourage other waiting 

female passengers from getting in. 

But the one facility brings other 

disadvantages like when the specified 

seat is not available, the bus 

helpers do not let the women to 

get in. 

So, it is a common scene in the 

rush hours that women have to 

wait longer to get transports, and 

often they are left with no other 

option but to hop in over-crowded 

and uncomfortable bus environment, 

at times exposing them to 

unwanted male advances. 

A regular bus-passenger Saima 

Akhter believed keeping only nine 

seats reserved in buses are not 

enough as nowadays lots of 

women are working outdoors. 

She asked for adequate number 

of buses for women, and buses 

with better interiors and environment. 

Talking to UNB about the bus 

crisis and female passengers' daily 

struggle with the public transports, 

Chairman of Bangladesh 

Road Transport Corporation 

(BRTC), Farid Ahmed Bhuyain, 

acknowledged that only 15 

women-special buses operated by 

his Corporation is too little to 

cater to the need of Dhaka. 

He assured of allocating certain 

number of buses for ferrying 

women in city from among 600 

buses that BRTC is going to procure 

from India in six-month 

time. He, however, couldn't say off 

hand how many more buses BRTC 

would allocate for women passengers 

in Dhaka. 

Myanmar bulldozes what is left 

of Rohingya Muslim villages 

BANGKOK : First, their villages were 

burned to the ground. Now, 

Myanmar's government is using bulldozers 

to literally erase them from the 

earth - in a vast operation rights 

groups say is destroying crucial evidence 

of mass atrocities against the 

nation's ethnic Rohingya Muslim 

minority, reports UNB. 

Satellite images of Myanmar's troubled 

Rakhine state, released to The 

Associated Press by Colorado-based 

DigitalGlobe on Friday, show that 

dozens of empty villages and hamlets 

have been completely leveled by 

authorities in recent weeks - far more 

than previously reported. The villages 

were all set ablaze in the wake of violence 

last August, when a brutal clearance 

operation by security forces 

drove hundreds of thousands of 

Rohingya into exile in Bangladesh. 

While Myanmar's government 

claims it's simply trying to rebuild a 

devastated region, the operation has 

raised deep concern among human 

rights advocates, who say the government 

is destroying what amounts to 

scores of crime scenes before any credible 

investigation takes place. The 

operation has also horrified the 

Rohingya, who believe the government 

is intentionally eviscerating the 

dwindling remnants of their culture to 

make it nearly impossible for them to 

DHAKA : The Unicef has sought urgent 

efforts to help more than 720,000 

Rohingya children who are threatened 

either by the approaching cyclone season 

in Bangladesh or by ongoing violence and 

denial of their basic rights in Myanmar, 

reports UNB. 

The Unicef on Friday called on the 

Myanmar government to end the violence, 

and to address what it terms a crisis of 

human rights in Rakhine 

State, referring to restrictions 

on Rohingya people's 

freedom of movement, 

extremely limited access to 

health care, education and 

livelihoods, and consequent 

dependence on humanitarian 

support. 

In a report marking six 

months since the start of the 

latest exodus of Rohingya 

refugees into southern 

Bangladesh, Unicef says that 

floods caused by the forthcoming 

cyclone season are 

likely to engulf the fragile 

and insanitary camps where 

the most of the refugees are 

return. 

One displaced Rohingya woman, 

whose village was among those razed, 

said she recently visited her former 

home in Myin Hlut and was shocked 

by what she saw. Most houses had 

been torched last year, but now, 

"everything is gone, not even the trees 

are left," the woman, named Zubairia, 

told AP by telephone. "They just bulldozed 

everything ... I could hardly recognize 

it." 

The 18-year-old said other homes in 

the same area that had been abandoned 

but not damaged were also flattened. 

"All the memories that I had 

there are gone," she said. "They've 

been erased." 

Myanmar's armed forces are 

accused not just of burning Muslim 

villages with the help of Buddhist 

mobs, but of carrying out massacres, 

rapes and widespread looting. The latest 

crisis in Rakhine state began in 

August after Rohingya insurgents 

launched a series of unprecedented 

attacks on security posts. 

Aerial photographs of leveled villages 

in northern Rakhine State were 

first made public Feb. 9 when the 

European Union's ambassador to 

Myanmar, Kristian Schmidt, posted 

images taken from an aircraft of what 

he described as a "vast bulldozed area" 

south of the town of Maungdaw. 

On Holiday, Shishu chattar was crowd alongside Ekushey book fair main ground. 

living, raising the likelihood of waterborne 

disease outbreaks and forcing clinics, 

learning centres and other facilities for children 

to close. 

According to the report, an estimated 

185,000 Rohingya children remain in 

Myanmar's Rakhine State, fearful of the 

violence and horror that drove so many of 

their relatives and neighbours to flee. 

In Bangladesh, there are estimated to be 

Satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe 

indicates at least 28 villages or hamlets 

were leveled by bulldozers and 

other machinery in a 30-mile (50-kilometer) 

radius around Maungdaw 

between December and February; on 

some of the cleared areas, construction 

crews had erected new buildings 

or housing structures and helipads. A 

similar analysis by Human Rights 

Watch on Friday said at least 55 villages 

have been affected so far. 

The images offer an important window 

into what is effectively a part of 

Myanmar that is largely sealed off to 

the outside world. Myanmar bars 

independent media access to the state. 

The government has spoken of plans 

to rebuild the region for months, and it 

has been busily expanding roads, 

repairing bridges, and constructing 

shelters, including dozens at a large 

transit camp at Taungpyo, near the 

Bangladesh border. The camp opened 

in January to house returning 

refugees; but none have arrived and 

Rohingya have continued to flee. 

Myint Khine, a government administrator 

in Maungdaw, said some of 

the new homes were intended for 

Muslims. But that does not appear to 

be the case for the majority of those 

built or planned so far, and many 

Rohingya fear authorities are seizing 

land they've lived on for generations. 

Photo : Star Mail 

Cyclone, violence threats loom over 

Rohingya kids in Myanmar, BD 

around 534,000 Rohingya refugee children 

from last year's and previous influxes. 

"Some 720,000 Rohingya children are 

essentially trapped - either hemmed in by 

violence and forced displacement inside 

Myanmar or stranded in overcrowded 

camps in Bangladesh because they can't 

return home," said Manuel Fontaine, 

Unicef Director of Emergency 

Programmes.

NEWS 

SATURDAY, 

FEBRUARY 24, 2018 

2 

A discussion meeting on the "International Mother Language Day" was held at the University 

Seminar Hall. 

Photo: Courtesy 

EU Observes International 

Mother Language Day 

Eastern University observed the 

"International Mother Language Day" 

held on February 21, 2018 in its 

premises with due enthusiasm and 

solidarity. The day began with a 

morning procession that consisted of 

students, faculties and officials, who 

marched around the campus bare foot. 

The procession ended with the bouquet 

presentation ceremony at the Shahid 

Minar in the university campus, which 

was erected in the honour of 

remembering the Language Martyrs, 

Global stocks were mixed Thursday amid uncertainty over 

US monetary policy and lackluster economic data in 

Germany and Britain. 

US stocks finished mostly higher after two down days, but 

market insiders continued to warn of more volatility ahead as 

investors ponder whether the Federal Reserve will accelerate 

its interest rate hikes to address higher inflation. 

Higher interest rates could crimp growth and prod 

investors to steer funds away from equities towards bonds. 

Investors have ping-ponged between feeling encouraged at 

the pickup in economic growth and worried about inflation. 

But after a year of steady upward movement, some think 

stocks prices are inflated. "Despite the correction, the market 

is still too high," said Phil Davis of PSW Investment, who said 

Florida school shooting: ‘abject 

breakdown at all levels’ 

FORT LAUDERDALE : The Florida 

high school where a former student 

shot and killed 17 people with an 

assault-type rifle is reopening for 

teachers Friday as the community 

grappled with word that the armed 

officer on campus did nothing to stop 

the shooter, reports UNB. 

That failure, plus reports of a delay 

in security camera footage scanned by 

responding police and several records 

indicating the 19-year-old suspect 

displayed behavioral troubles for 

years added to what the Florida House 

speaker described as an "abject 

breakdown at all levels." 

The Valentine's Day shooting at 

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High 

School has reignited national debate 

over gun laws and school safety, 

including proposals by President 

Donald Trump and others to 

designate more people - including 

trained teachers - to carry arms on 

school grounds. Gun-control 

advocates, meanwhile, have 

redoubled calls for bans or further 

restrictions on assault rifles. 

Teachers were told they could return 

to the school Friday to collect 

belongings from classrooms that have 

been off-limits since the slayings more 

than a week earlier. The school plans 

an orientation Sunday for teachers 

and students, and to restart classes 

Wednesday. 

"Our new normal has yet to be 

defined, but we want to get back to it," 

said geography teacher Ernest 

Rospierski, whose classroom is on the 

third floor of the three-story building 

attacked Feb. 14. Officials have said 

that building will be torn down. 

The school resource officer on Feb. 

14 took up a position viewing the 

western entrance of that building for 

more than four minutes after the 

shooting started, but "he never went 

in," Broward County Sheriff Scott 

Israel said at a news conference. The 

shooting lasted about six minutes. 

The officer, Scot Peterson, was 

suspended without pay and placed 

under investigation, then chose to 

resign, Israel said. When asked what 

Peterson should have done, Israel said 

the deputy should have "went in, 

addressed the killer, killed the killer." 

The sheriff said he was "devastated, 

says a press release. 

Later a Discussion Session on the 

"International Mother Language Day" 

was held at the University Seminar 

Hall. Renowned Educationist and 

Intellectual Professor Abul Kashem 

Fazlul Haque, was present as the Chief 

Speaker on the occasion. Eng. 

Khandaker Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, 

Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), 

was the Chief Guest and Md. Azizul 

Islam, Former Chairman, BoT was the 

Special Guest whereas Prof. Dr. Md 

sick to my stomach. There are no 

words. I mean these families lost their 

children. We lost coaches. I've been to 

the funerals. ... I've been to the vigils. 

It's just, ah, there are no words." 

A telephone message left at a listing 

for Peterson by The Associated Press 

wasn't returned. An AP reporter who 

later went to Peterson's home in a 

suburb of West Palm Beach saw lights 

on and cars in the driveway, but no 

one answered the door during an 

attempt to seek comment. 

Meanwhile, new information has 

emerged that there was a 

communication issue between the 

person reviewing the school's security 

system footage and officers who 

responded to the school. 

Coral Springs Police Chief Tony 

Pustizzi said during a news conference 

Thursday that the footage being 

reviewed was 20 minutes old, so the 

responding officers were hearing that 

the shooter was in a certain place 

while officers already in that location 

were saying that wasn't the case. 

Pustizzi said the confusion didn't put 

anyone in danger. 

Shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, 19, 

has been jailed on 17 counts of murder 

and has admitted the attack, 

authorities have said. Cruz owned a 

collection of weapons. Defense 

attorneys, state records and people 

who knew him have described 

troubling incidents going back years. 

Broward County incident reports 

show that unidentified callers 

contacted authorities with concerns 

about Cruz in February 2016 and 

November 2017. The first caller said 

they had third-hand information that 

Cruz planned to shoot up the school. 

The information was forwarded to the 

Stoneman Douglas resource officer. 

The second caller said Cruz was 

collecting guns and knives and 

believed "he could be a school shooter 

in the making." 

Also in November 2017, Cruz was 

involved in a fight with the adult son 

of a woman he was staying with 

shortly after his mother died, 

according to a Palm Beach County 

Sheriff's Office report. On Nov. 28, a 

22-year-old man at the Lake Worth 

home told the responding deputy the 

he tried to calm down Cruz, who had 

Nurul Islam, Vice Chancellor, EU 

presided the program. Board of 

Trustees Members; Deans; 

Chairpersons; Faculties; Officials and 

students attended the session with due 

solemnity. Every year on 21st 

February Bangladesh commemorates 

the martyrs, who laid down their lives 

for the right to speak in Bangla. It is the 

only language for which people have 

sacrificed their lives. This day was later 

honored as International Mother 

Language Day by UNESCO. 

Global stocks mixed as some warn 

of more volatility ahead 

stock valuations remain excessive relative to corporate 

earnings. "The market needs to come back down." Davis said. 

"I have a bullish overall outlook but at this particular 

moment it is overpriced." 

The Dow was by far the outperformer of the US indices, 

climbing 0.7 percent, with oil giants ExxonMobil and 

Chevron gaining on higher oil prices following a bullish US 

oil inventory report. 

European equities were mixed with Paris edging higher but 

Frankfurt dipping after the closely-watched Ifo institute's 

survey of German business confidence sagged in February as 

companies fear the current favorable combination of strong 

growth, low interest rates and low inflation could be coming 

to an end. 

been punching holes in walls and 

breaking objects, but Cruz hit him in 

the jaw, and the man hit Cruz back. 

The deputy found Cruz a short time 

later at a nearby park. Cruz told the 

deputy he had been angry because he 

misplaced a photo of his recently 

deceased mother, and he apologized 

for losing his temper. 

The other man told the deputy he 

didn't want Cruz arrested. He just 

wanted Cruz to calm down before 

coming home. 

Politicians under pressure to tighten 

gun laws in response to the mass 

shooting floated various plans 

Thursday, but most fell short of 

reforms demanded by student 

activists who converged Wednesday 

on Florida's Capitol. 

Florida House Speaker Richard 

Corcoran said Thursday night that his 

chamber is going to recommend 

creating a special commission to 

investigate the "abject breakdown at 

all levels" that led to the shooting 

deaths. The Republican said the 

commission, likely be led by a parent 

of one of the slain children, would 

have subpoena power. 

Corcoran said the news about the 

resource officer's failure to respond 

did not dissuade him from moving 

ahead with what he was calling the 

"marshal" plan to let local lawenforcement 

officials train and 

deputize someone at the school who 

would be authorized to carry a gun. 

State Sen. Bill Galvano, who is 

helping craft a bill in response to the 

shooting deaths, insisted the idea is 

not the same as arming teachers. He 

said the program would be optional 

and the deputized person would have 

to be trained by local law-enforcement 

agencies. 

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida 

said a visit to Stoneman Douglas 

prompted him to change his stance on 

large capacity magazines. The 

Republican insisted he is willing to 

rethink his past opposition on gun 

proposals if there is information the 

policies would prevent mass 

shootings. 

"If we are going to infringe on the 

Second Amendment, it has to be a 

policy that will work," Rubio said in an 

interview Thursday with AP. 

Women earn up to 

43% less at Barclays 

Female employees earn up to 43.5% less at 

Barclays than men, according to gender pay 

gap figures it has submitted to the 

government. 

Only 28 of the 1,154 companies that have 

reported the figures have a higher median 

hourly pay gap than Barclays. 

Barclays chief executive Jes Staley said it 

had "more work to do" so women could 

progress in financial services. 

However, Barclays said that it paid men 

and women in the same roles equally. 

The 43.5% average gender pay gap reflects 

its investment bank division, Barclays 

International. For its UK retail bank, women 

earn 14.2% less than men on average, while 

the figure is 29.9% for the holding company, 

Barclays Services. 

The bank has not produced an overall 

figure for the three divisions. 

Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury Select 

Committee, described the pay disparity at 

Barclays International as shocking, adding: 

"Financial firms should be prepared to 

explain any gender pay gap that they may 

have." 

Mr Staley said: "Although female 

representation is growing at Barclays, we still 

have high proportions of women in more 

junior, lower paid roles and high proportions 

of men in senior, highly paid roles. 

"There has been improvement across 

financial services but progress has been slow 

within the industry, so we support the 

objectives and intent of the UK government 

in introducing gender pay gap reporting to 

Ex-Trump campaign 

associates face more charges 

WASHINGTON : Dramatically 

escalating the pressure and stakes, 

special counsel Robert Mueller filed 

additional criminal charges 

Thursday against President Donald 

Trump's former campaign chairman 

and his business associate, reports 

UNB. 

The filing adds allegations of tax 

evasion and bank fraud and 

significantly increases the legal 

jeopardy facing Paul Manafort, who 

managed Trump's campaign for 

several months in 2016, and 

longtime associate Rick Gates. Both 

had already faced the prospect of at 

least a decade in prison if convicted 

at trial. 

The two men were initially charged 

in a 12-count indictment in October 

that accused them of a multimilliondollar 

money-laundering conspiracy 

tied to lobbying work for a Russiafriendly 

Ukrainian political party. 

Manafort and Gates, who also 

worked on Trump's campaign, both 

pleaded not guilty after that 

indictment. 

The new charges, contained in a 

32-count indictment returned by a 

federal grand jury in Virginia, allege 

that Manafort and Gates doctored 

financial documents, lied to tax 

preparers and defrauded banks - 

using money they cycled through 

offshore accounts to spend lavishly, 

including on real estate, interior 

decorating and other luxury goods. 

The new criminal case, assigned to 

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, 

comes a week after a separate 

Mueller indictment charged 13 

Russians and three companies in a 

conspiracy to undermine the 2016 

U.S. presidential election through a 

hidden social media propaganda 

effort. The charges against Manafort 

and Gates don't relate to any 

allegations of misconduct related to 

Trump's campaign, though Mueller 

drive equality in both the workplace and in 

society more widely." 

What is the gender pay gap? 

Men still earn more than women at most 

firms 

Of all financial and insurance companies 

that have submitted their figures, the median 

pay gap is 14.8%. 

The imbalance at Barclays UK was further 

highlighted by its pay quartile figures, with 

women accounting for 73% of the lowestpaid 

employees. 

Barclays is the first big bank to report its 

gender pay figures and chose to do so on the 

same day its annual results were released. 

Women earn 38.4% less at Virgin Money, 

while insurer Aviva has a median pay gap of 

27.6%. 

Both firms, along with Barclays, have said 

they pay men and women in the same roles 

equally. 

UK companies with 250 or more 

employees - about 9,000 firms - must 

calculate their gender pay gap and publish it 

on a government website by 4 April, or 30 

March for the public sector. 

Dominie Moss, founder of The Return 

Hub, which places women returning from 

career breaks in financial services jobs, said: 

"There's no silver bullet - for banks and City 

firms it's about getting more women 

established in senior executive roles, so they 

can in turn embed a culture that's more 

attuned to the needs of both women and 

men. That's going to be about changing 

managerial and recruitment practice." 

Saudi Arabia to invest 

$64bn in entertainment 

Saudi Arabia says it will 

invest $64bn (£46bn) in 

developing its entertainment 

industry over the next 

decade. 

The head of the General 

Entertainment Authority 

said 5,000 events were 

planned this year alone, 

including those by Maroon 5 

and Cirque du Soleil. 

Construction of the 

country's first opera house 

has also begun in Riyadh. 

The investment is part of a 

social and economic reform 

programme, known as Vision 

2030, unveiled two years ago 

Crown Prince Mohammed 

bin Salman. 

The 32 year old wants to 

diversify the economy and 

reduce the kingdom's 

reliance on oil, including by 

increasing household 

spending on culture and 

entertainment. 

In December, the 

government lifted a ban on 

commercial cinemas. 

General Entertainment 

Authority chief Ahmed bin 

Aqeel al-Khatib said: "In the 

past, investors would go 

outside the kingdom to 

produce their work, and then 

showcase it back in Saudi 

Arabia. 

"Today, change will happen 

and everything related to 

entertainment will be done 

here." 

In January, circus troupe 

Cirque Eloize performed in 

Saudi Arabia for the first time 

A large entertainment city 

near Riyadh, roughly the size 

of Las Vegas, is already 

planned as the country aims 

to boost its tourism sector. 

It follows a range of other 

firsts for the conservative 

Gulf kingdom - including 

allowing women spectators 

to attend football matches 

last month and announcing 

that women would be 

permitted to drive from June. 

Last year, Prince 

Mohammed declared his 

ambition that Saudi Arabia 

would once again be "a 

country of moderate Islam 

that is open to all religions, 

traditions and people". 

Seventy per cent of the 

population were under 30 

and they wanted a "life in 

which our religion translates 

to tolerance, to our traditions 

of kindness", he said. 

Saudi Arabia's royal family 

and religious establishment 

adhere to an austere form of 

Sunni Islam known as 

Wahhabism, and Islamic 

codes of behaviour and dress 

are strictly enforced. 

is continuing to investigate potential 

ties to the Kremlin. 

Manafort spokesman Jason 

Maloni said in a statement that the 

former Trump campaign chairman is 

innocent and stressed that the 

charges "have nothing to do with 

Russia and 2016 election 

interference/collusion." 

Manafort "is confident that he will 

be acquitted of all charges," Maloni 

said. 

The charges against Manafort and 

Gates arise from their foreign 

lobbying and efforts that prosecutors 

say they made to conceal their 

income by disguising it as loans from 

offshore companies. More recently, 

after their Ukrainian work dwindled, 

the indictment also accuses them of 

fraudulently obtaining more than 

$20 million in loans from financial 

institutions. 

The new indictment increases the 

amount of money Manafort, with the 

assistance of Gates, is accused of 

laundering to $30 million. It also 

charges Manafort and Gates with 

filing false tax returns from 2010 

through 2014 and in most of those 

years concealing their foreign bank 

accounts from the IRS. 

The indictment contains 

references to other conspirators who 

are accused of helping Manafort and 

Gates in obtaining fraudulent loans. 

It doesn't name the conspirators but 

notes that one of them worked at one 

of the lenders. 

In a document that accompanied 

the new indictment, prosecutors said 

they had filed the charges in 

Virginia, rather than Washington 

where the other case is pending, 

because the alleged conduct 

occurred there and one of the 

defendants objected to them being 

brought in Washington. It did not 

say which defendant objected. 

The indictment comes amid 

Japanese 

airbag maker 

Takata reaches 

settlement in 

US 

The US arm of Japanese 

manufacturer Takata has 

reached a settlement with 

44 US state attorneysgeneral 

into claims it 

concealed dangerous 

defects in its exploding 

airbags. 

The faulty airbags have 

been linked to at least a 

dozen deaths and more 

than 100 injuries 

worldwide. 

The settlement includes 

a civil penalty of about 

$650m (£465.9m). 

Takata's US arm is 

currently in bankruptcy 

proceedings, however, so 

the penalty will not be 

collected. 

Because Takata does not 

have the money, the states 

"agreed not to collect this 

civil penalty in order to 

maximize the recovery 

available to consumers 

who were the victims," 

South Carolina Attorney 

General Alan Wilson said 

in a statement. 

Takata and its US arm, 

TK Holdings, filed for 

bankruptcy last year in the 

wake of the exploding 

airbags disaster. 

In January, the Japanese 

manufacturer agreed to 

pay $1bn in penalties in 

the US for concealing 

dangerous defects in its 

exploding airbags. 

It agreed to pay a $25m 

fine, $125m to people 

injured by the airbags, and 

$850m to carmakers that 

used them. 

The firm also pleaded 

guilty to a single criminal 

charge. 

Most major carmakers 

have been affected by the 

fault, with about 100 

million Takata airbags 

recalled globally since the 

issue first emerged in 

2007. 

It is the biggest safety 

recall in automotive 

history. 

The US settlement could 

pave the way for TK 

Holdings to be sold to rival 

Key Safety Systems. 

ongoing turmoil in the Manafort and 

Gates defense camps. Manafort has 

been unable to reach an agreement 

with prosecutors over the terms of 

his bail and remains under house 

arrest, while Gates' lawyers 

withdrew from the case after 

acknowledging "irreconcilable 

differences" with their client. A new 

lawyer, Thomas Green, entered an 

appearance Thursday on Gates' 

behalf. 

Green confirmed to The Associated 

Press on Thursday evening that he 

represented Gates but did not 

immediately respond to a request for 

comment on the new charges. 

Mueller was appointed in May to 

investigate potential coordination 

between Russia and the Trump 

campaign. He took over an ongoing 

FBI investigation into Manafort's 

foreign lobbying work. 

After a two-month stretch that 

produced no charges, the new 

indictment is part of a flurry of 

activity for Mueller's team within the 

past week. 

Besides the charges against the 

Russians, Mueller's team on Tuesday 

unsealed a guilty plea from a Dutch 

lawyer who admitted he lied to 

investigators about his contacts with 

Gates. 

Two other people who aided 

Trump in the campaign or in the 

White House - former national 

security adviser Michael Flynn and 

former campaign foreign policy 

adviser George Papadopoulos - have 

pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI 

about their foreign contacts. Neither 

man has been sentenced. Both are 

cooperating with the investigation. 

Mueller is also examining whether 

Trump obstructed justice through 

actions including the firing last May 

of FBI Director James Comey. His 

team has expressed interest in 

interviewing the president.

INTERNATIONAL 

SATURDAy, FeBRUARy 24, 2018 

3 

Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of President Donald Trump, attends an event at the Trump Tower 

in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. For over a week the front pages of many Indian newspapers 

have promised that buyers who put down a deposit for an apartment in the new Trump Towers 

in a New Delhi suburb will get to spend Friday evening being wined and dined by Trump Jr. But the 

money had to be paid, the ads said, before Thursday. 

Photo : AP 

Trump Jr.’s foreign policy 

speech in India boosts concerns 

NEW DELHI : Donald Trump Jr., the 

eldest son of the U.S. president, will be 

pushing another ethics boundary on his 

whirlwind trip to India where he has 

been promoting Trump-brand real 

estate. 

On Friday evening he is to make a foreign 

policy speech at a New Delhi business 

summit headlined by Indian Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi. Two government 

ministers are also scheduled to 

speak at the two-day conference, reports 

UNB. 

He will be speaking about "Reshaping 

Indo-Pacific Ties: The era of Cooperation." 

Critics say airing his views on international 

relations, especially while sharing 

a platform with senior Indian government 

officials, is problematic because of 

the implication that he has his father's 

ear. 

"I am concerned that Mr. Trump's 

speech will send the mistaken message 

that he is speaking on behalf of the president, 

the administration or the United 

States government, not as a private individual, 

or that he is communicating official 

American policy," Sen. Robert 

Menendez, ranking Democratic on the 

Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 

said in a letter earlier this week to the 

U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. 

Menendez said he expects that the 

U.S. State Department and the embassy 

will treat Trump Jr. like any other American 

on private business and "will take 

every effort to avoid any perception of 

special treatment or a conflict of interest." 

On Thursday, White House spokeswoman 

Lindsay E. Walters said the 

Trump administration "takes seriously 

its obligation to ensure that government 

resources are not used to provide a private 

benefit to anyone." 

"Donald Trump Jr. is a private individual 

and neither the State Department 

nor the White House has provided any 

support for this trip beyond coordinating 

with his Secret Service protection," Walters 

said. 

Trump Jr.'s India visit has already 

raised ethical concerns. 

President Trump has pledged to stay 

away from any new foreign business 

deals during his term in office to avoid 

potential ethical conflicts. While the 

projects that Trump Jr. is promoting in 

India were inked before his father was 

elected, ethics experts have long seen the 

use of the Trump name to promote even 

existing business ventures as tricky territory. 

Trump Jr. and his brother Eric have 

been running the Trump Organization, 

the family's real estate business, during 

their father's presidency. 

Since Tuesday, Trump Jr. has been 

traveling to four Indian cities to meet 

business partners and buyers in the luxury 

residential projects that bear his 

family's name. 

With five ventures under the Trump 

brand, India has the company's largest 

number of projects outside the United 

States. The Trump Organization charges 

a licensing fee to its Indian partners who 

build the properties under the Trump 

name. A luxury complex is already open 

in the central city of Pune while the others 

are in varying stages of construction 

in Mumbai and Kolkata and two in the 

New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon. 

Trump Jr. has dismissed claims that 

his family business is benefiting from his 

father's presidency. 

Florida school shooting: ‘abject 

breakdown at all levels’ 

FORT LAUDERDALE : The Florida high 

school where a former student shot and 

killed 17 people with an assault-type rifle is 

reopening for teachers Friday as the community 

grappled with word that the armed 

officer on campus did nothing to stop the 

shooter, reports UNB. 

That failure, plus reports of a delay in 

security camera footage scanned by 

responding police and several records 

indicating the 19-year-old suspect displayed 

behavioral troubles for years added 

to what the Florida House speaker 

described as an "abject breakdown at all 

levels." The Valentine's Day shooting at 

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 

has reignited national debate over gun 

laws and school safety, including proposals 

by President Donald Trump and others 

to designate more people - including 

trained teachers - to carry arms on school 

grounds. Gun-control advocates, meanwhile, 

have redoubled calls for bans or further 

restrictions on assault rifles. 

Teachers were told they could return to 

the school Friday to collect belongings 

from classrooms that have been off-limits 

since the slayings more than a week earlier. 

The school plans an orientation Sunday 

for teachers and students, and to restart 

classes Wednesday. 

"Our new normal has yet to be defined, 

but we want to get back to it," said geography 

teacher Ernest Rospierski, whose 

classroom is on the third floor of the threestory 

building attacked Feb. 14. Officials 

have said that building will be torn down. 

The school resource officer on Feb. 14 

took up a position viewing the western 

entrance of that building for more than 

four minutes after the shooting started, 

but "he never went in," Broward County 

Sheriff Scott Israel said at a news conference. 

The shooting lasted about six minutes. 

The officer, Scot Peterson, was suspended 

without pay and placed under 

investigation, then chose to resign, Israel 

said. When asked what Peterson should 

have done, Israel said the deputy should 

have "went in, addressed the killer, killed 

the killer." 

5 Congolese 

refugees killed in 

protests, Rwandan 

police say 

KAMPALA : Five Congolese 

refugees have been 

killed during protests over 

reduced food rations, with 

the U.N. refugee agency 

saying Friday that police 

fired at the angry protesters, 

reports UNB. 

Another 15 refugees 

were injured this week as 

several hundred marched 

to the U.N. agency offices 

in Kiziba camp in the west, 

Rwandan police said in a 

statement. 

Police intervened when 

"demonstrators armed 

with stones, sticks and 

metal projectiles assaulted 

and wounded seven police 

officers," the statement 

said. The refugees had 

been reminded that "disruption 

of public order 

was unacceptable." 

The U.N. refugee agency 

in a statement said it was 

"shocked" by the deaths, 

adding that "disproportionate 

use of force against 

desperate refugees is not 

acceptable." It urged 

police not to use force and 

called on authorities to 

investigate. 

The demonstrations 

demanding better living 

conditions or relocation 

began Tuesday in Kiziba 

camp, which hosts over 

17,000 Congolese 

refugees. 

Underfunding forced the 

U.N. World Food Program 

to cut food rations by 25 

percent in January. 

New party aide close to Germany’s 

Merkel, but no clone 

BERLIN : German Chancellor Angela 

Merkel has shown her conservative party 

that she's still very much in charge and keen 

to shape its future, installing a close ally 

who's popular in her own right in a top party 

post following weeks of muttering over a 

difficult coalition deal, reports UNB. 

A congress of Merkel's Christian Democratic 

Union is expected to elect Annegret 

Kramp-Karrenbauer on Monday as the party's 

general secretary, a week after the chancellor 

unveiled her surprise choice. The 55- 

year-old's new job, for which she is stepping 

down as governor of Saarland state, could 

put her in a position to fill Merkel's shoes 

one day - if she plays her cards right. 

The change comes at a critical time for the 

CDU following a lackluster election showing 

in September. That election saw the nationalist, 

anti-migrant Alternative for Germany 

party win seats in parliament for the first 

time, drawing some votes from conservatives 

fed up with a leftward drift under 

Merkel. 

The chancellor has also just concluded her 

third coalition deal with the center-left 

Social Democrats, handing them the powerful 

finance ministry - to the dismay of many 

conservatives. That prompted unusually 

loud public grousing, coupled with calls for 

fresh faces in the Cabinet. 

The general secretary, a position that was 

Merkel's own stepping stone to the party 

leadership back in 2000, is responsible for 

day-to-day operations, election campaigns 

and generally making the party's voice 

heard in a crowded political landscape. 

"Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer could 

bring back former CDU members' and voters' 

feeling of having a political home," the 

conservative-leaning Frankfurter Allgemeine 

Zeitung wrote this week. "But she 

must rebut the suspicion that she was 

brought into the office of general secretary 

as Angela Merkel 2.0." 

The decision to put forward Kramp-Karrenbauer 

took a step toward acknowledging 

the pressure for renewal, though AKK - as 

she is often known - is only eight years 

younger than Merkel. Kramp-Karrenbauer 

says one of her main jobs will be to rework 

the party's program, though broadly in line 

with Merkel's emphasis on the center 

ground. 

"It must be a very broad center, and I 

think parties diminish themselves if they 

only think about who they can run after," 

she told ZDF television this week. "Our job 

must be to take the questions people have to 

the democratic center, and make them an 

offer - not to force them to seek the answers 

elsewhere." 

Kramp-Karrenbauer has, however, shown 

a greater willingness than the chancellor to 

cater to conservative rhetoric, which could 

be an important attribute now. 

A Catholic, she opposed legalizing gay 

marriage in 2017. In a largely symbolic gesture 

last year, she announced that she would 

prevent rallies by Turkish government officials 

in Saarland before that country's constitutional 

referendum. 

From 2000 to 2005, she was the first 

woman to serve as a German state's interior 

minister, or top security official, later taking 

charge of the education and labor ministries. 

She also has a taste for a political gamble 

that Merkel has lacked in recent years. 

Kramp-Karrenbauer had been governor for 

a few months when, in 2012, she ended a 

rickety three-way coalition with the Greens 

and pro-business Free Democrats over the 

latter's infighting. She joked that she risked 

becoming Germany's shortest-serving governor, 

"but the one with the longest name." 

Kramp-Karrenbauer's gamble paid off. 

She won the resulting election and formed a 

coalition with the center-left Social Democrats 

that has endured since. Her re-election 

last year was the first of a series of events 

that sapped then-Social Democratic leader 

Martin Schulz's challenge to Merkel. 

Now, "she is taking a courageous step," 

said Heribert Prantl, a senior editor at the 

daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "She is entering 

party headquarters without a network, 

she is not in parliament; she is taking a risk. 

The party appreciates that readiness to take 

a risk." 

In this March 27, 2017 file photo German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, applauds after she handed 

over a bunch of flowers to the party's top candidate for Saarland, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 

2nd left, at the beginning of a party meeting at the headquarter of the German Christian Democratic 

Party (CDU) in Berlin, Germany, one day after the elections in the German state of Saarland. A congress 

of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is expected to elect Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on 

Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 as the party's general secretary. 

Photo : AP 

Mourners attend the funeral service for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School assistant football 

coach, Aaron Feis. at the Church by the Glades in Coral Springs, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 22. 2018. 

Football players wearing Stoneman Douglas jerseys carried Feis' casket into the service at the 

church where family and friends gathered to remember him as loyal and caring. Photo : Internet 

GD-306/18 (6 x 4)

EDITORIAL 

SATURDAY, 

fEbRUARY 24, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Saturday, february 24, 2018 

many aspects to achieving 

higher economic growth 

Studies getting shaved off 

by donor agencies from time to time have repeated 

the point of how economic growth in Bangladesh is 

as a consequence of corruption. 

According to such studies, the country could probably add 

another 1to 2 per cent to its economic growth, annually, from 

significantly reducing its corruption or reach a growth level of 

7 or 8 per cent from the present 6 percent plus. 

This outlook of the donor bodies is a debatable one. But even 

if one accepts it, what great benefits can accrue from increasing 

the growth rate by 1 or 2 per cent through wiping clean 

corruption only when by successfully addressing other 

transparently responsible factors for underdevelopment such 

as insufficient energy supply, inconsistent policy supports, etc., 

the growth can be raised well into the double digits like 10 or 

12 per cent and also on a sustainable basis ? 

So, let us not be obsessed by such observations that all 

efforts on the part of those who govern the economy or run the 

country, should be essentially concentrated on limiting 

corruption. 

Corruption can be only one component among many others 

and scoring well in all of these other components are probably 

more crucial than frustrating corruption. For the other 

components of growth, if the conditions for fulfilling them are 

reached, the same would likely create conditions for economic 

growth to soar. It is be no overstatement to say that 

Bangladesh has the potentials of attaining annual economic 

growth in the double digits provided these other components 

of growth are well addressed through proper plans and their 

executions and the establishment and retention of a growth 

facilitating environment. 

These other components which are discussed here range 

from human resources formation to abilities and resolve of 

leadership at various levels to even overcoming cultural or 

religious barriers. The point is this writer looks at achieving of 

a much increased growth rate in the context of Bangladesh for 

rapid alleviation of poverty and improved standard of living, 

as having many facets to it . In sum, what is suggested here is 

that the planners should come out of their traditional thinking 

on growth and look at it much more innovatively and 

dynamically. 

It would be impossible to describe in details the numerous 

ways and means of achieving growth within the limited space 

provided here. But describing a few should help in the 

clarification of the views expressed here. 

For example, the country's biggest export-oriented 

readymade garments (RMG) sector can contribute to growth 

by increasing productivity of its workers through selective and 

sustained training programmes. The RMG sector can expand 

in size from investing in the establishment of new units 

creating, thus, more employment and more wealth that would 

be contributory to the country's economic growth in a major 

way . It can make its production and other processes leaner 

and fitter to increase its productivity and earnings. It can 

adopt total quality management (TQM) that puts each worker 

and every phase in the production process in the position of 

quality controllers that would make maintenance of large 

quality control departments or operations--redundant-- 

leading to big saving of costs. 

In fact, TQM can be extended to progressively cover all or 

nearly all industries in Bangladesh that would be a plus factor 

to the viable running of these enterprises from costs savings as 

well as better quality control. The same would, then, add to 

economic growth. 

Some countries , including very prosperous ones like Japan, 

have no scope to swiftly increase output from different sectors 

by only applying labour and capital to them. This is because 

they lack in large physical endowments. Japan, for example, 

has very little natural resources of its own. It cannot add to 

growth like a physically big and well endowed country such as 

Brazil by bringing more lands under the plough or harnessing 

for the first time untapped natural resources. 

Bangladesh is relatively a rich country with many virgin and 

unexploited fields. It can, for instance, take steps to utilize its 

vast discovered resources of coal and other minerals. It can 

extend diverse forms of agriculture into considerable fallow 

lands. It can aim to exploit its sea resources on a large scale in 

the long run. Substantial investments on a large scale are 

possible in Bangladesh in the tourism sector. Continuing 

investments into these and other prospective areas through a 

really dedicated business leadership helped by a similarly 

dedicated, efficient and visionary national or governmental 

leadership, indicate the possibilities of creating a faster pace 

of overall economic growth for the country. 

Government itself can be a big promoter of growth by 

introducing and running policies to that end. Government 

can really try hard to overhaul the country's archaic 

educational system which is largely a burden than asset. It can 

create facilities for scientific, technical and vocational 

education on a far larger scale than what are on offer at 

present. It can particularly expand in a big way the 

opportunities for skill training programmes. The net of these 

efforts will be the formation of a large enough workforce 

supportive of much stepped up investment activities leading 

to higher economic growth. Government on its own or in 

partnership with the private sector, should encourage rapid 

growth of all sorts of infrastructures to facilitate cost-efficient 

business operations. Government can try and be more 

successful in preventing smuggling operations that would 

stimulate local enterprises to fill up the void from non 

availability of smuggled goods. 

Government needs to also more and more improve and fine 

tune fiscal and monetary policies that would inspire and 

encourage entrepreneurship locally. Government can also 

more and more raise awareness of people about 

empowerment needs of half of the population of the country 

who are females by drawing them into gainful economic 

activities outside the confines of their homes. 

Religious and cultural barriers will have to be overcome to 

this end. But doing of it, successfully, will allow the economy 

to be the gainer from receiving more and direct output from 

female workers in the different formal sectors. This will also 

aid the economic growth process. 

So, from the above, it may be realized that there are so many 

aspects to increasing economic growth than putting too much 

into one basket like steps to get rid of corruption only. 

Greater investments in the economy helped by enabling 

infrastructures, efficient utilities and consumption of 

adequate energies, plus helpful fiscal and monetary policies , 

much greater cost-efficient operation by the entrepreneurs 

themselves, these are the keys really to attaining record 

economic growth by Bangladesh to realize its dreams of a 

better existence of its people. 

Gulf states lack media clout in the US 

Irecently flew home from one of my 

regular visits to the most powerful 

nation on the planet, the United 

States, a country with some of the 

greatest people anywhere. I am always 

made welcome and afforded warm 

hospitality wherever I go. 

I held discussions with ordinary 

people, politicians and top-level movers 

and shakers, but was disappointed by 

how few have any grasp of our positions 

on the global stage. I concluded that 

this sorry state of affairs is not their 

fault, it is ours. We have neglected to 

use modern tools to put our messages 

across. 

Public opinion in America is largely 

shaped by the media, which is more 

opinion-centric than focused on neutral 

reporting. Mainstream television 

networks and newspapers give stories a 

lick of paint according to their political 

persuasion. Note, for instance, the 

massive disparity in how CNN and Fox 

News handle news such as the Florida 

school shooting in which 17 young 

people died: CNN's anchors called for 

gun control, while Fox News - aligned 

with the National Rifle Association - 

cited the mental illness of the shooter. 

In the same way that the American 

left and right vie with each other on air, 

online and in print to influence minds, 

some countries, among them the 

smallest and weakest, are sufficiently 

media-savvy to manipulate US opinion 

at all levels. They flood popular talk 

shows with their political emissaries 

THE Pakistani diaspora is one of 

the biggest and most influential in 

the world. It is also incredibly 

diverse in its class and ethnic 

composition - as well as attitudes 

towards politics. In recent times the 

importance of the diaspora has been 

highlighted both by the Panama Papers 

- which detail how rich and powerful 

Pakistanis within and without the 

country collude to make money - and by 

the foreign funding case in the Supreme 

Court in which the huge amounts of 

money 'donated' to the PTI by 

Pakistanis abroad has come to light. 

More generally, labour is the 

country's biggest export, meaning that 

we earn more money from remittances 

than any tangible good manufactured 

in Pakistan for sale abroad. With a 

population of young people exploding 

through the roof with little or no 

employment prospects within the 

country, our export of labour - legal or 

otherwise - is very likely to continue 

increasing over time. 

For all of these reasons (and more), it 

is worth dwelling on at least some of the 

major segments of the diaspora and 

how their influence is likely to grow or 

decline on Pakistan's political economy 

in times to come. 

Unskilled labour: Arguably the 

biggest segment of the Pakistani 

diaspora is unskilled labour. Iconic 

communities include the Mirpuris who 

went to England in the 1950s, Pakhtuns 

and Punjabis from the Potohar Plateau 

and the Peshawar Valley who were the 

first Gulf migrants in the 1970s, as well 

as the Baloch from the Makran coast 

Multipolarity is back, and with it 

strategic rivalry among the 

great powers. The reemergence 

of China and the return of 

Russia to the forefront of global politics 

are two of the most salient international 

dynamics of the century thus far. 

During United States President Donald 

Trump's first year in the White House, 

the tension between the US and these 

two countries increased markedly. As 

the US domestic political environment 

has deteriorated, so, too, have 

America's relations with those that are 

perceived as its principal adversaries. 

When China's President Xi Jinping 

rose to power just more than five years 

ago, he presented the idea of a "new 

type of great-power relations" based on 

cooperation and dialogue, as well as 

respect for one another's national 

interests. But China does not always live 

by what it preaches as far as 

cooperation is concerned, as its 

unilateralism in the South China Sea 

indicates. Likewise, the relative loss of 

influence of the Chinese diplomatic 

corps contrasts with the emerging 

symbiosis between Xi and the People's 

Liberation Army. 

Russia's military spending as a share 

of the gross domestic product has been 

increasing exponentially. On top of this, 

the US and Russia have accused each 

other of violating the Intermediate- 

Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the only 

Cold War-era agreement on 

armaments between the two countries 

that remains in force. 

While it makes sense to recognise the 

KHAlAf AHmAD Al-HAbTooR 

and inject massive funds into media 

campaigns, self-promotion via 

advertisements or even sponsorships, 

and public relations and lobbying firms. 

The same goes for groups such as the 

Muslim Brotherhood, whose leaders 

have been photographed visiting the 

White House, the Department of State 

and the UK's House of Commons as 

part of their efforts to persuade highlevel 

officials that theirs is a benign 

organization, when - as we are only too 

well aware in this part of the world - just 

the opposite is true. For more than half 

a century Israel and its American 

backers have perfected the art of 

manipulating minds via Hollywood 

movies depicting Jewish immigrants to 

Palestine as courageous pioneers. 

Conversely, Arabs are almost always 

portrayed in a negative light. After a 

decades-long drip feed of 

indoctrination, no wonder the majority 

of Americans are more supportive of 

Israelis than Palestinians. 

Is it not beyond time that our GCC 

leaderships took the power of the media 

with the seriousness it deserves? 

Whether or not we agree with all 

aspects of American foreign policy, the 

reality is that we need the US to be in 

In the same way that the American left and right 

vie with each other on air, online and in print to 

influence minds, some countries, among them 

the smallest and weakest, are sufficiently mediasavvy 

to manipulate US opinion at all levels. 

They flood popular talk shows with their 

political emissaries and inject massive funds 

into media campaigns, self-promotion via 

advertisements or even sponsorships, and public 

relations and lobbying firms. 

our camp diplomatically, economically 

and militarily if we are ever attacked. 

We are in no position to push back 

against the scurrilous, propagandist 

attacks of our enemies, and we have no 

meaningful platforms on which to 

effectively counter fake news with truth. 

Let us not forget that former US 

President George H.W. Bush's 

Diaspora diaries 

AASIm SAJJAD AKHTAR 

working in Oman. In recent times 

migrations abroad from the Sindhi and 

Seraiki belts have increased. Many of 

those who make their away abroad do 

so at great risk, travelling without 

documentation and in horrific 

conditions, whether overland or by sea. 

Some never make it, while a large 

number who survive must work under 

the table with little to show for it. Even 

our Muslim brethren in the Gulf that 

once provided relatively stable 

employment arrangements have 

started to turn out many Pakistani 

workers. This segment of the diaspora 

is poorly organised but can be 

sympathetic to democratic politics, 

linking up when possible to 

progressives fighting for the causes of 

immigrants in Europe, America and 

Australia. Those who have spent time in 

the police states of the Gulf have 

sometimes imbibed Wahabi influences 

which they bring back to their home 

current challenges, we should refrain 

from exaggerating them. In the past few 

months, the US administration has 

published three important documents: 

The National Security Strategy, the 

National Defence Strategy, and the 

Nuclear Posture Review. In all of them, 

China and Russia are explicitly 

identified as serious threats to the 

international order. But the principal 

threat to the US today does not come 

from China or Russia; it comes from the 

confusion characterising its own 

policies, owing to Trump's rejection of 

the very international order that the US 

helped forge and defend for decades. 

It is worth remembering that when 

Trump tries to intimidate North Korean 

leader Kim Jong-un by boasting of US 

military power, the facts are - for once - 

on his side. US military spending is by 

far the world's highest, almost three 

times that of second-place China, and 

almost nine times that of third-place 

JAvIER SolANA 

communities, but they have also 

developed contradictory impulses as 

consumers exposed to the glam and 

glitter of capitalist globalisation. All in 

all, this class generates untold 

remittances for the country without the 

requisite political voice. 

Upwardly mobile professionals and 

businesspeople: This is the most 

influential of all of the diasporic 

communities. Take Pakistani medical 

This segment of the diaspora is poorly organised but can 

be sympathetic to democratic politics, linking up when 

possible to progressives fighting for the causes of 

immigrants in Europe, America and Australia. Those 

who have spent time in the police states of the Gulf have 

sometimes imbibed Wahabi influences which they bring 

back to their home communities, but they have also 

developed contradictory impulses as consumers exposed 

to the glam and glitter of capitalist globalisation. 

doctors in North America who have 

their own association (APPNA) and 

regularly lobby Congress and Pakistani 

officialdom. Since the onset of the 

current phase of financial globalisation 

in the 1990s, this segment has 

strengthened its connections to the 

corridors of power, particularly as 

Pakistanis working in multinational 

firms and private business look to take 

advantage of investment opportunities 

in real estate, oil and gas, mineral 

exploration and infrastructural 

Russia. Indeed, the US spends more on 

defence than the following eight 

countries combined, and possesses the 

world's most sophisticated nuclear 

arsenal. But, despite the Trump 

administration's frequent declarations 

of military superiority, its actions imply 

that this superiority is not enough. 

The Nuclear Posture Review is the 

best example of this cognitive 

dissonance. The new US doctrine 

stipulates an increase in the number of 

tactical nuclear arms with relatively 

small explosive potential. The objective 

of this measure is to neutralise Russian 

capacities in this field, thus "denying 

potential adversaries any mistaken 

confidence that limited nuclear 

employment can provide a useful 

advantage over the United States and 

its allies". But if the confidence is indeed 

mistaken, why respond as if it were not? 

In contrast to the Pentagon's view, the 

costly development of more tactical 

determined response to Saddam's 

invasion of Kuwait in 1990 saved the 

day. I should add that it was thanks to 

the pressure heaped on the UK, France 

and Israel by President Dwight D. 

Eisenhower during the 1956 Suez 

Crisis, besides fierce Egyptian 

resistance, that British, French and 

Israeli troops were forced to withdraw 

from Egyptian soil. 

As things stand, Saudi Arabia and its 

Gulf allies, including my own homeland 

the UAE, are in no position to push back 

against the scurrilous, propagandist 

attacks of our enemies. We have no 

meaningful platforms on which to 

effectively counter fake news with truth; 

perhaps because we naively believed that 

righteousness would be recognized by 

the people who count. 

I fail to understand why we have not 

sought to establish international satellite 

channels broadcasting around the world 

in English. Although news networks in 

Arabic abound, as well as Englishlanguage 

channels covering local news 

and entertainment - apart from one that 

works against our collective interests - 

there are none capable of attracting a 

substantial American viewership. This 

should be step one. 

Step two should involve mega movie 

productions and documentaries aimed 

at displaying the finest aspects of our 

culture, heritage, modern achievements 

and philanthropic endeavors. 

Source : Arab News 

Horror of militarisation stalks the world 

While it makes sense to recognise the current 

challenges, we should refrain from 

exaggerating them. In the past few months, the 

US administration has published three 

important documents: The National Security 

Strategy, the National Defence Strategy, and the 

Nuclear Posture Review. In all of them, China 

and Russia are explicitly identified as serious 

threats to the international order. 

development. These rich and powerful 

Pakistanis loved the Musharraf regime, 

mostly support overreaching judges 

and generals and typically display 

contempt for democracy. Some even 

donate money to 'Islamic' causes. These 

days Imran Khan is their blue-eyed boy, 

but they will cultivate connections with 

whoever is in government. 

Politically aware middle class: This is 

the x-factor within the diaspora. It can 

espouse both progressive and reactionary 

causes. The progressive element is most 

visible in Baloch, Sindhi and Pakhtun 

ethnic-national movements while the 

prominent reactionary elements ply their 

trade in transnational Islamist groups like 

the Hizbut Tahrir and the Tableeghi 

Jamaat. As far as diasporic progressives 

go, there's tremendous space to bring 

together leftists, feminists, greens, the 

labouring poor and ethnic-national 

movements, but such organised efforts 

are, till now, few and far between. 

As intrigue builds in the lead-up to the 

general election (see the most recent 

Supreme Court judgement against 

Nawaz Sharif), it is painfully evident that 

rich and powerful Pakistanis residing 

abroad continue to find ways to represent 

their interests within domestic politics. 

It is up to progressives in the diaspora 

and those at home to address what is as 

much a global as a specifically Pakistani 

crisis of politics in the contemporary 

period ie that the political mainstream 

tends to completely neglect the real 

issues faced by the majority of working 

people, both here and abroad. 

Source : Dawn 

arms would in fact lower the threshold 

for nuclear conflict. And, as Brookings 

expert Robert Einhorn explains, the 

Nuclear Posture Review includes 

another doctrinal provision with a 

similar effect: the statement that the US 

could use nuclear arms in response to 

"non-nuclear strategic attacks" that are 

only ambiguously defined. 

Nine years after former US president 

Barack Obama's speech in Prague, in 

which he committed to seeking a world 

free of nuclear weapons, disarmament 

has ceased to be a strategic priority for 

the US (which, as the world's biggest 

power, should lead efforts in this area). 

A new arms race appears to be 

underway, though for now it may focus 

more on perfecting arsenals than on 

increasing their total size. 

"The greatest risk to the US is that it 

could forget the principles and 

institutions that have shored up its 

global leadership."" 

Moreover, the Trump administration 

has just presented a budget proposal 

that would increase military spending, 

while cutting funds for the State 

Department by 25 per cent. This is one 

of the causes of degradation of 

America's international image, a trend 

that doesn't seem to trouble the current 

administration much. 

What really worries the Trump 

administration - aside from Iran and 

North Korea - is the strategic 

competition represented by Russia and, 

above all, by China. 

Source : Gulf News

HEALTH 

SATurdAy, februAry 24, 2018 

5 

Social anxiety is regarded as the third largest mental health care problem in the world today. 

Photo: Getty images 

useful tips for dealing with social anxiety 

niCOle PAjer 

The thought of attending an office happy hour, 

birthday party or backyard BBQ may sound 

like a blast to most people. However, these 

types of engagements can be a crippling concept 

for those with social anxiety. 

It's a condition that affects approximately 15 

million American adults. According to the 

Social Anxiety Association, "the fear of social 

situations that involve interaction with other 

people" is also the third largest mental health 

care problem in the world today. The good 

news is that the disorder can be managed so 

that it doesn't stand in the way of a fulfilling 

life. Here are some expert-backed tips on how 

to tackle social anxiety to make day-to-day 

events less overwhelming.As damaging as 

being 'too into your head' can be, some preparation 

and intent can be very beneficial," said 

Bill Koch, a Chicago-based clinical therapist 

who specializes in anxiety disorders. 

One such strategy is to identify places and 

people that will help you feel the most comfortable. 

"This can make the difference between a 

surprisingly pleasant evening and your worst 

nightmare come true. Having some plan can 

help instill a feeling of confidence and some 

much wanted control over a situation that feels 

out of control," Koch said. 

Upon arriving at a party, for instance, he recommends 

immediately seeking out a calm area 

within the space. "If you know the place you are 

going will be hectic, make a plan to spend most 

of the time on the patio where you won't feel 

bombarded by a large crowd," he said. 

Another tip is to start small and work your 

way up from there. Koch recommends kicking 

off the night by chatting with a few close friends 

in the kitchen before diving into the full party 

crowd. He also suggests surrounding yourself 

with people you know or with whom you're 

comfortable to act as a cushion. "Identifying a 

person you are comfortable with can be an 'in 

case of emergency' plan," he said. "If you are 

feeling overwhelmed, you can retreat to a 

familiar face where you feel more at ease and 

can calm down." 

Reciting a mantra can give you a sense of 

control in a stressful social situation, according 

to Koch. "Whenever you feel anxious, repeating 

a calming word or phrase can serve as a friendly 

reminder that anxiety is only a feeling created 

by thoughts," he said. 

Your mantra can range from a single word to 

a quickly uttered thought such as "easy, easy, 

easy," "no one cares," or "not a big deal." "I 

have had clients that used simple affirmations 

like 'you're cool, you're cool' as a way to instill 

positive self-talk," Koch explained. "And even 

the clichéd 'woosa' works as well ? really any 

type of word or phrase that can help refocus 

your attention from unwanted anxious 

thoughts to your own calming self-talk will do." 

"As dramatic as it may seem, many of my 

clients benefit from knowing they can leave a 

social commitment when and if they need to at 

any time," said Annie Wright, a Berkeley, California-based 

licensed psychotherapist. 

Choose to drive instead of carpooling with a 

friend who may want to stay later, load the 

Uber or Lyft app on your phone, or book your 

own hotel room at the conference so that you 

can get away. "Whatever it looks like, building 

a proverbial 'escape route' into your plans can 

paradoxically decrease social anxiety that may 

be more heightened if you feel trapped at the 

event," Wright said. 

In order to help you keep your cool, Wright 

recommends releasing as much stress as possible 

before arriving at a social engagement. "You 

can help your nervous system remain more 

regulated when you get there if you burn off an 

excess of adrenaline that may be in your body," 

she explained. 

"People love a good listener," said Lynn R. 

Zakeri, a licensed social worker in the greater 

Chicago area. And making a point to listen to 

someone else helps reduce the feeling that you 

have to carry the conversation. Zakeri suggests 

tuning into key words you hear from others 

and then repeating them. "For example, someone 

mentions they are busy because their child 

is sick, so you simply state 'Yes, having a sick 

child can throw everything off' or even 'How is 

your child now?'" she said. 

Finding the "entertainer" in the room and 

gravitating toward that person is another good 

tactic. "An entertainer adores his or her entertainee 

and will even say they had such a good 

time with you! You laughed at the right places. 

You uh-huh'ed and nodded and empathized," 

Zakeri said. 

Arriving at a party with a few pre-planned 

stories can make it easier to converse with 

strangers. "You can even practice a 'Sorry I 

am late. Guess what happened when I left 

work today' type of entrance," Zakeri said. 

Agnes Wainman, a clinical psychologist at 

London Psychological Services in Ontario, 

Canada, noted that you can also try a few 

questions to get the ball rolling, such as "How 

do you like to spend your free time?" or 

"What was the last great book that you read?" 

"Many people are starved to talk about 

themselves so they love these types of questions. 

It also leaves most of the talking to 

them," she said. Forrest Talley, formerly the 

co-training director at the University of California, 

Davis Children's Hospital's CAARE 

Diagnostic and Treatment Center, said when 

all else fails, tap into something that is popular 

at the moment like the Olympics, the 

Super Bowl or a recent movie. He also 

reminds patients that people love a good 

compliment. "Tell someone that you like a 

piece of jewelry or clothing they are wearing 

and ask what store they bought it from," he 

said. 

Shampoo is causing 

air pollution 

lindSAy dOdGSOn 

We've known for a long time that traffic 

fumes are very bad for our health. But 

according to new research, there are other 

sources of pollution that should also be a 

concern. 

A new study, published in the journal Science, 

has found that household products 

such as shampoo, oven cleaner, and deodorant 

could all be a significant source of air pollution 

- the same form as that which is 

released by car fumes. 

The team from the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration in Colorado 

collected air samples in Pasadena, Los Angeles 

valley, which is a particularly smoggy 

area. They then analysed data from the US 

and Europe, including research from other 

scientists.They found that up to half of 

volatile organic compounds (VOCs) came 

from domestic products, including bleach, 

perfume, shampoo, and paint. When these 

particles degrade, they become a particulate 

matter called PM2.5, which is know to cause 

respiratory problems and is linked with 

29,000 deaths in the UK each year. 

According to the study, the use of household 

products could therefore make it harder 

for countries in Europe and America hit 

their targets, even if they are making headway 

with tackling traffic fumes. But the 

researchers think it is also a sign of success, 

according to coauthor Brian McDonald who 

spoke during a news conference at the annual 

meeting of the American Association for 

the Advancement of Science. 

"The sources of air pollution are now 

becoming more diverse in cities," he said, 

meaning action to clean up car exhaust 

pollution in recent decades has had a big 

effect. It's also important to look at the 

findings in context. While the results show 

how pollution is changing in the US and 

Europe, the same probably isn't true for 

other countries. 

For example, the emissions from consumer 

products are only significant now 

because of the effort to use cleaner fuel and 

reduce traffic fumes. In countries such as 

China and India, coal-fired power plants and 

traditional ways of burning wood, coal, and 

dung are the main methods for heating and 

cooking. So in these places, pollution from 

shampoo is unlikely to be having much of an 

impact. 

Rather than scare-mongering, the authors 

of the new paper say this is good news 

because other sources of pollution can be 

identified. It's more of a case of identifying 

what else we can to improve air quality, not 

an indication pollution is getting worse. 

A new study has shown how shampoo is a source of the same air pollution 

as traffic fumes. 

Photo: Shutterstock 

‘evolving Gene’ may stop humans 

from drinking alcohol 

hArry COCkburn 

Humans may be developing 

a gene that results in an 

"adverse physical response" 

to drinking alcohol, according 

to new research. Scientists 

believe people have 

begun evolving so they find 

it so unpleasant it could stop 

our species from drinking in 

the future. Examining recent 

trends in the positive selection 

of genes across human 

populations they discovered 

that a variant of a gene that 

results in an "adverse physical 

response" to alcohol had 

simultaneously emerged in 

various populations without 

direct genetic inheritance. 

Authored by two 

researchers at the University 

of Pennsylvania, the study 

has been published in the 

journal Nature, Ecology & 

Evolution.They came to the 

conclusion after filtering the 

findings of the 1000 

Genomes Project (a sevenyear 

study which catalogued 

human variation and genetic 

data) to analyse data from 

2,500 people from 20 population 

groups across four 

continents. They discovered 

that a group of enzymes 

known as alcohol dehydrogenase 

(ADH) which are 

normally present in humans 

to help break down alcohols 

have seen genetic variation 

which increases enzyme 

activity and instead results 

Scientists have seen separate populations evolve a variant of a gene that 

results in an 'adverse physical response' to drinking alcohol. Photo: Getty 

in an "adverse physical 

response to alcohol consumption" 

The alcohol is less effectively 

broken down, the 

result being that those who 

then drink it then feel so sick 

they are highly unlikely to 

develop a taste for it or drink 

enough to become alcoholic. 

The genetic variations were 

not just found in one population, 

but was observed in 

five populations in different 

continents, making the 

changes unlikely to be solely 

the product of genetic inheritance. 

"These loci immediately 

raise questions of how these 

examples arose, whether by 

gene flow after divergence 

or a common ancestral 

event," the study stated. 

"Though only a small 

amount of gene flow 

between African and non- 

African populations is 

thought to have occurred 

since their divergence, the 

introduction of an adaptively 

advantageous allele at 

very low frequency could 

lead to the signature we 

observed. But...it seems 

apparent that each locus is 

unique." 

The authors added: "Taken 

collectively, these patterns 

suggest that alcohol oxidation 

pathways broadly have 

been subject to recent positive 

selection in 

humans."Genes in this pathway 

have been repeatedly targeted, 

with multiple events 

segregating at these sites, 

(and) the selective pressure 

appears to operate across the 

major continental groups 

included in this study." 

The research follows new 

evidence that alcohol abuse is 

linked to an increased risk of 

dementia. Those with drinking 

disorders are associated 

with a three-times greater risk 

of all types of the disease, a 

study published in the Lancet 

Public Health journal says. 

The research shows that the 

majority of cases of earlyonset 

dementia in people 

below the age of 65 were 

either alcohol-related by definition 

or accompanied by 

alcohol use disorders. 

The realities of the ‘maternal mortality crisis’ 

ChArlOTTe Philby 

"I almost died after giving birth to my 

daughter, Olympia. Yet I consider 

myself fortunate." So began a call-toarms 

by Serena Williams, in which the 

23-time Grand Slam tennis champion 

revealed the extent of complications 

around the birth of her daughter last 

year, and drew attention to the startling 

disparity in maternal death numbers 

between white and black mothers in 

the US. 

In an article for CNN, the 36-yearold 

explained how her difficulties 

began after coughing caused by an 

embolism prompted her caesarean 

scar to rupture. While in theatre, doctors 

found a large haematoma in her 

abdomen, which they prevented from 

travelling to her lungs. 

Williams noted that for others, childbirth 

can be a death sentence. The 

ongoing maternal mortality crisis in 

the US disproportionately affects black 

women, with the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention noting that 

they are three to four times more likely 

than white women to die from complications 

related to pregnancy. She also 

discussed similar problems for women 

giving birth in the world's poorest 

countries. 

"The statistics are shocking," says 

Rebecca Schiller, founder of the charity 

Birthrights. "It's absolutely essential 

that more work is done to discover why 

these inequalities exist. It must be a 

priority across all the many areas of 

maternity services that are being transformed. 

Policymakers and practitioners 

must learn from and listen to 

women of colour - and those who support 

and care for them - to ensure our 

maternity services offer equality as 

well as safety, respect, compassion and 

dignity." 

In the UK, there are no official figures 

around maternal death and race, 

but a report by Charles Anawo Ameh 

and Nynke van den Broek found evidence 

to suggest that care given to 

women from ethnic minority backgrounds, 

especially asylum seekers 

and newly arrived refugees, is substandard. 

With women facing a one-in-6,900 

lifetime risk of maternal death, according 

to the statistics, women in the UK 

are more than twice as likely to die in 

pregnancy and childbirth as those in 

Poland, Austria or Belarus, according 

to research, with the UK ranked 30th 

out of 179 countries on maternal 

health. 

Serena Williams and her daughter Alexis Olympia. Photo: serenawilliams

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

SATURdAy, 

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY 

FEBRUARy 24, 2018 

6 

China seizes control of 

insurance giant Anbang 

Beijing has cracked down on 

insurance and financial giant Anbang, 

taking control of the conglomerate and 

prosecuting the firm's head. 

Wu Xiaohui, who was already 

detained by authorities last June, is to 

face prosecution for "economic 

crimes". 

In an unusual move, Anbang 

Insurance Group will now be taken 

over by China's insurance regulator for 

one year. 

The firm is known for its aggressive 

international acquisitions, including 

New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel. 

Chinese authorities have been 

cracking down on the financial industry 

to guard against excessive borrowing 

and risk. 

"Clearly it is designed to be a warning 

shot to firms engaged in particular 

types of financial engineering and 

leveraged acquisitions (as Anbang 

was)," Tom Rafferty of the Economist 

Intelligence Unit told the BBC. 

"The government has made clear 

reducing financial risk is one of its main 

policy priorities." 

Anbang, which started out as a car 

insurance firm with state-owned 

backers, is recognised as one of China's 

richest and most opaque 

conglomerates. 

"The motivation in Anbang's case 

probably is not just about delivering a 

warning shot, however, but probably 

some also real concerns that the 

company was heading for insolvency 

and the impact this would have on 

retail investors that purchased 

products from the company," Mr 

Rafferty said. 

In addition to selling insurance 

products, it owns a portfolio of 

international properties and global 

brands. 

Mr Wu, who married the granddaughter 

of former leader, Deng 

Xiaoping, was long thought to be one of 

the most politically-connected men in 

China.Waldorf hotel sold to Chinese 

firm Chinese insurance billionaire 

'detained' Kushners end talks with 

Chinese firm 

After his detention last year, the 

company said in a statement that his 

duties as chairman would be managed 

by other senior executives. 

On Friday, the China Insurance 

Regulatory Commission said he had 

been removed from his position 

altogether. 

The government regulator said 

Anbang's business would continue and 

that its external liabilities would not be 

affected. 

It said the company's current 

operations remained stable but that 

illegal operations may "seriously 

endanger" its solvency abilities. 

It said its actions were aimed at 

keeping the firm operating as usual and 

to protect the rights and interests of 

consumers. 

Last year, a company owned by the 

family of US President Donald Trump's 

son-in-law, Jared Kushner, ended talks 

with Anbang over a major 

redevelopment project in New York 

City. 

The potential deal had raised 

questions about a conflict of interest, 

given Mr Kushner's role at the White 

House. 

William Hill 

pushed into loss 

by Australia 

writedown 

William Hill has been 

pushed into an annual loss 

after slashing the value of its 

Australian business. 

The bookmaker reported a 

pre-tax loss of £74.6m for 

2017, compared with a profit 

of £181.3m the year before. 

That change was mainly 

due to a £238m charge the 

company took to write down 

the value of its business in 

Australia. 

The writedown follows 

changes in regulation - with 

credit-funded betting now 

banned in Australia - and a 

rise in taxation in some 

states. 

William Hill is currently 

carrying out a strategic 

review of its Australian 

business, which is due to be 

completed by mid-2018. 

Despite the hefty write-off 

pushing the company into a 

loss, William Hill said that 

its underlying performance 

had improved. 

Net revenues rose 7% to 

£1.7bn, while adjusted 

operating profit climbed 11% 

to £291.3m. 

Michelle Obama was 

responsible for the 

‘Michelle mark-up’ 

When the former First 

Lady, Michelle Obama, 

turned up to an event 

wearing Versace or another 

designer brand, Wall Street 

noted the immediate effect 

on share prices. 

They dubbed it the 

"Michelle mark-up". 

Snapchat's shares have 

been particularly volatile 

since the company went 

public last year, with investor 

profits sometimes 

evaporating as fast as 

pictures and messages 

disappear from the site. 

The shares plunged by 17% 

in August, after 

disappointing results. 

But in the first weeks of this 

month shares bounced back 

by almost 50% after 

Snapchat reported a 72% rise 

in sales in the last quarter of 

2017, with no fewer than 187 

million people using the site 

every day. 

"Part of the problem is 

Snap isn't profitable at the 

moment, so there's a fair 

amount of hope for the future 

already baked into the share 

price, making it particularly 

vulnerable to swings in 

sentiment," said Laith 

Khalaf, senior analyst at 

Hargreaves Lansdown. 

"Snap's future rests on 

building user numbers, so 

anything which could 

undermine that journey is 

naturally going to unsettle 

investors." 

Royal Bank of Scotland has 

returned to profit for the first 

time in a decade as it 

continues its recovery. 

Chief executive Ross 

McEwan told the BBC it was 

"a really symbolic moment." 

The bank, which is 

majority-owned by the 

taxpayer, made an annual 

profit of £752m compared 

with a £6.95bn loss the year 

before. 

RBS still faces a potentially 

massive fine from the US 

Department of Justice over 

the sale of financial products 

linked to risky mortgages. 

RBS expanded rapidly in 

the boom years of the 2000s, 

and in October 2007 led a 

consortium to buy Dutch 

bank ABN Amro for a 

massive £49bn, one of the 

largest deals in financial 

services history. 

However, the timing of this 

deal turned out to be 

unfortunate. A crisis swept 

through the financial sector, 

property prices plunged, 

economies fell into recession 

and banks lost billions. 

At the height of the crisis, 

in October 2008, the 

Treasury had to step in to bail 

RBS out for £45bn. 

Since the bank has been 

trying to get itself back into 

financial health. 

In 2013, Ross McEwan 

became chief executive, and 

he has turned the bank away 

from investment banking 

and towards UK High Street 

banking. 

Kylie Jenner 'sooo over' Snapchat 

and shares tumble 

Electric powered Minis 

to be built in China 

Electric-powered Mini cars are to be 

built in China, as well as in Oxford where 

most Minis are currently made. 

BMW, the owner of the Mini brand, 

said it had agreed an outline deal with 

Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motor. 

Cars made under that partnership will 

be for the Chinese market. 

The deal will not affect BMW's plan, 

announced last year, to assemble the first 

electric Minis in Oxford from 2019. 

Those cars will use electric motors made 

in Germany. 

BMW and Great Wall Motor still have 

to work out the exact location of their 

production line and how much they will 

invest. 

BMW already has a joint venture with 

Brilliance Auto to build BMW-branded 

cars in China. 

As well as two plants assembling cars, 

the joint venture has an engine plant 

which includes a battery factory. 

Last year, BMW sold 560,000 cars in 

China - more than double the amount 

sold in its next two largest markets, the 

US and Germany, combined. 

BMW is an ambitious company. It 

wants to expand, and it wants a bigger 

share of the fast-growing market for 

electric vehicles. 

China scores highly on both counts - it 

has a huge number of consumers, and 

government policies there heavily favour 

electric cars. 

BMW thinks that in order to take full 

advantage, it needs a local production 

base. 

So where does this leave Mini's UK 

factories? Initially at least, the Chinese 

factory will produce vehicles for the 

Chinese market. 

The cars made there there will be a 

different model from the electric Mini 

due to be built in Oxford from 2019, and 

BMW insists the Mini brand can expand 

internationally without calling into 

question its commitment to the UK. 

But the announcement may send 

another signal to the government - that 

Mini can survive without the UK, and is 

more than capable of moving production 

elsewhere if it finds the business climate 

after Brexit too uncomfortable. 

Tech giants face new UK tax clampdown 

Some of the world's 

largest technology firms 

are facing hefty new bills as 

the UK government moves 

to fundamentally change 

the way they are taxed. 

Google and Facebook are 

braced for significant 

changes in the tax system 

after the Treasury told the 

BBC that a new tax on 

revenues was the 

"potentially preferred 

option". 

It would open up the 

firms' huge UK sales 

numbers to the tax 

authorities. 

At the moment, tax is 

levied on profits, a much 

smaller figure. 

Google, for example, said 

it made sales - revenues - of 

£1bn in the UK in 2016 and 

a pre-tax profit of £149m. 

It paid taxes of £38m - 

significantly higher than 

previous years after it 

changed the way it 

accounted for its activity in 

the UK. 

If the government taxed a 

proportion of those sales its 

tax bill would be likely to 

increase significantly. 

It would have a similar 

impact on a company like 

Facebook, which is also 

highly profitable and also 

increased the amount of 

tax it pays in the UK. 

All the companies that 

have faced controversy 

have also made it clear that 

they abide by the present 

tax rules. 

The Financial Secretary 

to the Treasury told the 

BBC that large digital 

companies should pay a 

"fair" amount of tax. 

"At the moment [they] 

are generating very 

significant value in the UK, 

typically through having a 

digital platform with lots of 

users interacting with that 

platform," Mel Stride told 

me. 

"That is driving a lot of 

value, so you're looking at 

social media platforms, 

online marketplaces, 

internet search engines - 

where at the moment the 

tax regime is not taxing 

those activities fairly. 

"We want to move to a 

situation where we are 

taxing those activities 

fairly." 

Reality TV star Kylie Jenner wiped 

$1.3bn (£1bn) off Snap's stock market 

value after tweeting that she no longer 

used its Snapchat messaging app. 

Celebrity Kim Kardashian's half-sister 

posted: "sooo does anyone else not open 

Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh 

this is so sad." 

Snap's shares sank after Ms Jenner's 

tweet about Snapchat's re-design to her 

24.5 million Twitter followers. 

One million people signed a petition 

demanding Snap roll back the change. 

After dropping almost 8%, shares in 

Snap closed 6% down on Wall Street, and 

are now back near the $17 price at which 

the shares were listed when the company 

floated on the stock market in March of 

last year. 

Snapchat is facing intense competition 

from Facebook's Instagram - especially 

for celebrity users - and Ms Jenner's 

When will the taxpayer recoup 

its RBS investment? 

After nine years when 

accumulated losses totalled 

£58bn pounds - today a 

symbolic profit for RBS. 

Does it mean the 

government can start 

planning more confidently 

about selling the 71% stake 

it holds on behalf of the 

taxpayer? 

The fact the share price 

went down this morning by 

nearly 5% suggests not. 

Investors are still 

nervous about the multibillion 

pound fine the bank 

is expecting from the US. 

At 269p, the RBS share 

price is still a long way 

below the 502p a share the 

government would need to 

break even on the billions 

of pounds it spent bailing 

out the bank a decade ago. 

It has already sold some 

of its stake at a loss - and 

will have to continue on 

that path for a long period 

attack comes at a time when investors are 

already worried. 

Ms Jenner later tweeted a follow-up: 

"still love you tho snap... my first love". 

Snap has rejected complaints about 

November's re-design to its messaging 

app, with its boss Evan Spiegel saying 

earlier this month that users just needed 

time to get used to it. 

Mr Spiegel had something to soften the 

blow, though, with news on Thursday 

that his total pay last year was a 

staggering $637.8m. 

It is thought to be the third-highest 

annual package ever received by a 

company's chief executive. 

Analysis: Rory Cellan-Jones, 

Technology Correspondent 

The market just doesn't know what to 

think of Snap or its Snapchat service. It is 

either the future of communication - or a 

social media fad that will last not much 

yet, in the hope that 

eventually the share price 

will rise above that 502p 

and, overall, a profit can be 

made. 

Ross McEwan told me it 

would take three to five 

years before the 

government would have a 

"much smaller" level of 

ownership. 

Selling the taxpayers' 

stake in RBS has proved a 

much tougher and longer 

process than anyone 

imagined a decade ago. 

The sub-prime mortgage 

crisis came about after 

banks started giving highrisk 

loans to people with 

poor credit histories. 

Risky mortgages would 

be packaged up with other 

loans, bonds, or assets, and 

sold on to investors as socalled 

mortgage backed 

securities. 

RBS was one of the banks 

accused by the US 

Department of Justice of 

mis-selling these securities. 

The bank had expected to 

settle the case in 2017, but 

is now hoping it will reach 

an agreement this year. 

On Friday RBS set aside 

an extra £492m for US 

litigation, taking the total 

set aside for US court 

action around the sale of 

those products to £3.2bn. 

The issue complicates 

UK government plans to 

start selling down its stake 

in RBS. 

"We have been 

constantly hit with the sins 

of the past with conduct 

and litigation issues and 

I've been heavily 

restructuring the business 

to bring it back to the UK," 

Mr McEwan said. 

What other issues does 

RBS face? 

On Tuesday, after 

longer than one of the messages its army 

of young users sends. 

And that makes a share price which 

has mostly been built on a very optimistic 

view of future growth extremely volatile. 

Earlier this month it soared by nearly 

50% on results that were marginally 

better than expected - now they've taken 

a minor tumble because a reality star 

says the new design is "so sad". 

Investors will continue to need strong 

stomachs - especially when they see how 

much founder Evan Spiegel is taking 

home. 

Kylie Jenner is not the first celebrity to 

move markets. 

In October 2015, TV host Oprah 

Winfrey bought a 10% stake in Weight 

Watchers, endorsing the firm publically 

at the same time. 

Investors saw their shares rise by 92% 

over successive weeks. 

months of wrangling, MPs 

released a report by the 

financial regulator which 

said a unit of RBS 

mistreated thousands of 

small firms. 

The Global Restructuring 

Group (GRG) was 

marketed as an expert 

service that could save a 

business, but according to 

the report took 

"inappropriate" action. 

Mr McEwan said the 

report "did make for really 

tough reading". 

"We did not get it right 

for customers at the time 

they needed us when their 

businesses were 

struggling," he said. 

"We just didn't look after 

them well enough". 

The bank has now put in 

place a complaints process 

overseen by a former high 

court judge, Mr McEwan 

added.

MISCELLANEOUS 

7 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2018 

More deaths in Syria 

bombing campaign 

near Damascus 

BEIRUT : Syrian 

government warplanes 

supported by Russia 

continued their relentless 

bombardment of the 

rebel-controlled eastern 

suburbs of Damascus for a 

sixth day Friday, killing 

five people, opposition 

activists and a war 

monitor reported. The 

death toll from the past 

week climbed to more 

than 400,reports UNB. 

The number of casualties 

has overwhelmed rescuers 

and doctors at hospitals, 

many of which have also 

been bombed. World 

leaders a day earlier called 

for an urgent cease-fire in 

Syria to allow relief 

agencies to deliver aid and 

evacuate the critically sick 

and wounded from 

besieged areas to receive 

medical care. 

But Russia's U.N. 

ambassador Vassily 

Nebenzia, who called 

Thursday's meeting, put 

forward last-minute 

amendments, saying the 

proposed resolution was 

"simply unrealistic." A 

new vote was likely Friday. 

The United States 

accused Syrian President 

Bashar Assad of planning 

"to bomb or starve" 

opponents in besieged 

eastern Ghouta into 

submission - just as it did 

in Aleppo. 

Kelley Currie, U.S. 

ambassador for economic 

and social affairs, told the 

U.N. Security Council that 

the Syrian leader is 

counting on Russia, a key 

ally and veto-wielding 

member of the council, to 

make sure it "is unable to 

stop their suffering." 

The opposition's Syrian 

Civil Defense rescue group 

reported Friday new 

airstrikes in Douma, 

Arbeen and other towns 

that make up the eastern 

suburbs of Damascus 

known as eastern Ghouta. 

The Syrian Observatory 

for Human Rights said at 

least five people were 

killed in raids on 

Hammouriyeh, Zamalka, 

Douma and al-Marj. The 

Britain-based group 

monitors the Syria war 

through a network of 

activists on the ground. 

Separately, Human 

Rights Watch on Friday 

criticized the way Turkey 

is conducting its offensive 

in northern Syria, saying it 

has failed to take 

necessary precautions to 

avoid civilian casualties. 

The New York-based 

group cites three attacks in 

the Afrin region in late 

January that it says killed 

a total of 26 civilians, 

including 17 children. In a 

statement, it called on 

Turkey to thoroughly 

investigate these strikes 

and make the findings 

public. 

Turkey launched an air 

Professor Dr. Saiful Islam, Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology 

(BUET) placing floral wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar on Wednesday (21st February, 2018) 

paying tributes to the martyrs of the historic Language Movement on the occasion of Amar Ekushey 

and International Mother Language Day. Among others: Teachers, Officers & Employees were also 

present on the occasion. 

Photo : Courtesy 

US envoy summoned 

after Duterte named in 

threat report 

MANILA : Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's top aide 

has summoned the U.S. ambassador to discuss a global 

threat assessment by American intelligence agencies that 

mentioned Duterte along with dangers facing democracy in 

Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, reports UNB. 

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Friday that 

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea discussed the U.S. 

intelligence community's Worldwide Threat Assessment 

report with U.S. Ambassador Sung Kim on Thursday. 

Medialdea also asked U.S.-based Philippine diplomats to 

explain to Washington steps taken by Duterte to promote 

economic development and ensure public security while 

"respecting at all times the rule of law," Roque said. 

The U.S. Embassy said the discussion "focused on the 

references to the Philippines in the report, including 

clarifying that the information about the Philippines had 

been previously reported by media sources." 

Medialdea and Kim also discussed common interests and 

the "possibilities for expanding our partnership," with the 

meeting ending with a reaffirmation of "the strength of the 

broad and deep bilateral relationship," the embassy said. 

The U.S. report says "autocratic tendencies" are expected 

to deepen in some governments in Southeast Asia and 

mentioned that Duterte has suggested he could suspend the 

constitution, declare a "revolutionary government" and 

impose nationwide martial law. 

Duterte's declaration of martial law in the southern third of 

the country, which was in response to an Islamic State grouplinked 

siege on the southern Islamic city of Marawi last year, 

has been extended through the end of 2018, according to the 

report, which outlined Duterte's moves without explicitly 

criticizing his actions. 

Duterte, who came to office in mid-2016, has been 

hypersensitive to criticism of his anti-drug crackdown and 

other policies, especially by Western governments, the 

United Nations and human rights groups. 

He told then U.S. President Barack Obama to "go to hell" 

and threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the United 

Nations over concerns they raised over his anti-drug 

campaign, which has left thousands of mostly poor drug 

suspects dead. 

and ground offensive in 

the Kurdish-controlled 

region on Jan. 20, saying it 

aims to clear Afrin of 

Syrian Kurdish militia 

known as the YPG which 

Turkey considers to be an 

offshoot of its own 

outlawed Kurdish rebels 

fighting within Turkey. 

According to several 

estimates around 120 

civilians have been killed 

so far in the offensive. 

Turkey denies hitting 

civilians. 

The YPG on Friday 

accused Turkey of 

bombing a convoy of 

civilians that was crossing 

into Afrin to protest 

Turkey's offensive, 

resulting in multiple 

casualties who were 

moved to hospitals in 

Afrin for treatment. 

Syrian state TV had on 

Thursday night said a 

convoy carrying aid and 

heading toward Afrin has 

been targeted by Turkish 

artillery, inflicting 

casualties. 

The TV gave no further 

details about Thursday's 

incident, which came two 

days after pro-government 

fighters began entering the 

predominantly Kurdish 

town to shore up the 

Kurdish forces, after 

reaching an agreement 

with the YPG. Turkey has 

threatened to bomb the 

forces if they work 

together with the Kurds. 

Japanese men 

nabbed for shooting 

at defacto NKorean 

embassy 

TOKYO : Police have arrested 

two Japanese men believed to 

be right-wing activists for 

shooting at North Korea's de 

facto embassy in Tokyo, 

reports UNB. 

Police said Friday that the 

men fired several shots at the 

General Association of Korean 

Residents in Japan, a pro- 

Pyongyang group representing 

ethnic Koreans in Japan. They 

said the men, aged 46 and 56, 

drove by in a vehicle and one of 

them fired several shots. The 

gate was damaged but nobody 

was injured. Police said their 

motive was not known. 

Patrolling police rushed to 

the closely monitored 

organization and arrested the 

man on the spot, confiscating a 

gun. Tokyo has no diplomatic 

ties with Pyongyang, but tens 

of thousands of pro- 

Pyongyang ethnic Koreans live 

in Japan and still have relatives 

in the North. 

South Korea to 

fight WTO ruling 

on Fukushima 

seafood ban 

SEOUL : South Korea says it 

will appeal the World Trade 

Organization's decision 

against Seoul's import bans 

on Japanese fishery 

products imposed in the 

wake of Fukushima nuclear 

meltdowns, reports UNB. 

South Korea's government 

said Friday that the appeal is 

aimed at protecting public 

health and safety. It said it 

will maintain its existing 

import bans and regulations 

on Japanese seafood. 

Modi hugs Trudeau amid 

Indo-Canada invitation 

embarrassment 

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted his 

Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on Friday with a hug, 

one day after embarrassed Canadian diplomats had to revoke 

a party invitation for a man convicted of attempting to kill an 

Indian politician, reports UNB. 

The invitation was the latest blunder in Trudeau's eightday 

visit, which has included everything from criticism of his 

colorful wardrobe to questions about whether his 

government is sufficiently critical of Sikh extremists. 

Jaspal Atwal, a Canada-based former member of a banned 

Sikh separatist group, had been invited by a Canadian 

member of Parliament to a Thursday evening party for 

Trudeau at Canada's High Commission in New Delhi. 

Atwal was convicted of trying to kill an Indian Cabinet 

minister during a 1986 visit to Canada. The minister was shot 

but survived. Atwal was imprisoned, and became a 

businessman after his release. 

Canada quickly withdrew the invitation once it was 

discovered, with Trudeau telling reporters: "Obviously we 

take this situation extremely seriously. The individual in 

question never should have received an invitation." 

Earlier in the week, Atwal attended a Mumbai reception at 

which he was photographed with Trudeau's wife, Sophie 

Gregoire Trudeau. 

Modi still welcomed Trudeau on Friday with his signature 

bear hug, smiling at his wife and their three children, who 

also attended the formal outdoor ceremony. 

In a Thursday night tweet, Modi said he looked forward to 

meeting Trudeau and his family, adding "I appreciate his 

deep commitment to ties between our two countries." 

But it hasn't been an easy trip for Trudeau in many ways. 

He's been ridiculed in India on social media for his family's 

seemingly endless wardrobe changes, with the photogenic 

group often appearing in colorful Indian clothing, and has 

faced repeated insistence that he denounce Sikh extremism. 

"Sikh radicalism is the main issue," the Hindustan Times, 

one of India's largest newspapers, said in an editorial earlier 

this week. "Justin Trudeau should allay India's concerns on 

terrorism." 

Canada has a small but politically potent Sikh population, 

some of whom support a breakaway Sikh state, known as 

Khalistan, inside India. The Indian media often describe 

Trudeau's government as being soft on the Khalistan issue. 

On the occasion of 21st February and International Mother Language day the teachers and students 

of Gasul Azam Abul Ulayi Dakhil Sunni Madrasa paid tribute at the Shaheed Minar of the Madrasa 

premises. 

Photo: Surovi Akter Riya 

Trump bucks NRA, 

backs raising age for 

buying assault rifles 

WASHINGTON : The nation should keep 

assault rifles out of the hands of anyone 

under 21, President Donald Trump says, 

defying his loyal supporters in the National 

Rifle Association amid America's public 

reckoning over gun violence. He also pushed 

hard for arming security guards and many 

teachers in U.S. schools, reports UNB. 

"There's nothing more important than 

protecting our children," Trump said, 

adding that he'd spoken with many 

members of Congress and NRA officials 

and insisting they would go along with his 

plans in the wake of last week's school 

shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 

people dead. 

But there were no words of support from 

the NRA for his minimum-age proposal - 

and outright opposition from organizations 

of teachers and school security guards for the 

idea of arming schools to deal with intruders. 

"The NRA will back it and so will 

Congress," Trump contended as he called for 

raising the legal age of purchase for "all" guns 

from 18 to 21. A spokesman later said Trump 

was speaking specifically about semiautomatic 

weapons. The president's 

proposal came just hours after the NRA 

affirmed its opposition, calling such a 

restriction an infringement on gun owners' 

rights. 

Trump has spent the past two days 

listening to ideas about how to stem gun 

violence at schools after last week's shooting 

at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 

On Wednesday, he heard from students and 

family members of those killed in recent 

shootings and on Thursday from local and 

state officials. 

In Florida, meanwhile, funerals continued. 

And a sheriff's deputy who had been on duty 

at the school but never went inside to 

confront the shooter resigned after being 

suspended without pay. 

Trump has been proposing a growing list 

of ideas, including more stringent 

background checks for gun buyers, 

reopening some mental institutions to hold 

potential killers and banning "bump stock" 

devices that allow semi-automatic rifles to 

mimic machine guns. 

He said Thursday that many teachers have 

military experience and suggested they be 

paid bonuses for the added responsibility of 

carrying weapons. He also appeared open to 

other proposals to "harden" schools, such as 

fortifying walls and limiting entry points. 

One idea he didn't like: the "active shooter" 

drills that some schools hold. He called that 

"a very negative thing" and said he wouldn't 

want his own son participating. 

Spokesman Raj Shah later said Trump was 

concerned about the name and would prefer 

calling them safety drills. 

In Florida, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio 

said he now is open to raising age 

requirements for long-gun purchases. That 

was the day after he was confronted at a CNN 

town hall by Parkland students and parents 

over his pro-gun votes and support from the 

NRA. 

Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, another 

Republican, told reporters during a visit to 

the Kansas Statehouse that he supported 

raising age requirements, saying, "Certainly, 

nobody under 21 should have an AR-15." 

NRA leaders emerged in unannounced 

appearances at the annual Conservative 

Political Action Conference, blaming the FBI 

and local reporting failures for the Florida 

shooting. 

"Evil walks among us and God help us if we 

don't harden our schools and protect our 

kids," said Executive Vice President and CEO 

Wayne LaPierre. "The whole idea from some 

of our opponents that armed security makes 

us less safe is completely ridiculous." 

The NRA was an early supporter of 

Trump's campaign, and it remains unclear 

how far the president will go to cross them. 

Shortly before LaPierre took the stage, 

Trump offered a rallying cry on Twitter, 

calling NRA leaders "Great People and Great 

American Patriots. They love our Country 

and will do the right thing." 

"I don't think I'll be going up against 

them," he said of the politically influential 

group. "I really think the NRA wants to do 

what's right." 

In Congress, a bill being drafted by Sens. 

Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jeff Flake, R- 

Ariz., would apply more broadly than just to 

assault rifles such as the AR-15 used in the 

Florida shootings. It would raise the age 

requirements for all rifles. 

In the end, Trump did not stray too far 

from conservative Republican orthodoxy. 

His focus when it comes to background 

checks is on mental health concerns and not 

loopholes that permit loose private gun sales 

on the internet and at gun shows. And he 

remains opposed to a full ban on assault 

rifles, Shah said. 

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said 

he was skeptical the president would follow 

though. 

"The last time he showed support for 

sensible gun reform - no fly, no buy - he 

quickly dropped his support once the NRA 

opposed it. I hope this time will be different," 

Schumer said in a statement, referring to a 

measure backed by Democrats to prevent 

people on a terrorism-related "no fly" list 

from buying guns. 

Indeed, it is not clear that the GOPcontrolled 

Congress, which is in recess, will 

take up or act on a variety of legislative 

proposals that have been made to address 

gun violence. Those include measures to 

expand federal background checks, allow 

authorities to issue emergency orders to take 

guns from people identified as a threat to 

themselves or others, and raise the 

minimum age for rifle purchases to 21. 

Polls show growing support for gun control 

measures, including 97-percent backing for 

universal background checks in a Quinnipiac 

University survey released Tuesday. 

But recent mass shootings, including the 

2012 mass murder of elementary school 

children in Newtown, Connecticut, and the 

killing of 58 people in Las Vegas last fall, 

have not resulted in significant legislation. In 

fact, a bill passed by the House in December 

would make it easier for gun owners to carry 

concealed weapons across state lines. 

Spend more or do less: EU leaders 

discuss post-Brexit budget 

BRUSSELS : European leaders - minus Britain's prime minister - are meeting to discuss how 

the bloc will cope with a multibillion-euro hole in its budget caused by Brexit, reports UNB. 

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, a former EU budget commissioner, said Friday 

the meeting will gauge the EU's ambitions as it sets a new multiyear budget for the post-Brexit 

era. She says leaders kicking off what are likely to be months of acrimonious wrangling have 

a choice, "to increase the budget and find new resources, European resources or taxes, or to 

reduce some other old programs." The EU's executive Commission estimates that Britain's 

planned departure next year will cut contributions by around 12 billion euros ($14.8 billion) 

a year. Britain has agreed to pay its budget share until 2020. 

German food bank criticized for 

turning away foreigners 

BERLIN : A food bank in Germany is being criticized for its decision to stop serving more foreigners, 

who make up a growing percentage of its users, reports UNB. 

The food bank in the western city of Essen announced last month it will only register new 

users if they prove they've got German citizenship, saying young foreign men are scaring away 

elderly people and women. Other food banks, migrant groups and local politicians said it was 

wrong to exclude people who need charity. The chairman of Essen's integration council, 

Miguel Martin Gonzalez Kliefken, says the decision plays into the hands of far-right groups, 

some of which have hailed the move. 

Rain hampers 

search for 

Indonesian 

landslide 

victims, 7 dead 

BREBES : Heavy rains 

hampered the search Friday 

for victims of a landslide on 

the Indonesian island of 

Java as authorities raised the 

death toll to seven, reports 

UNB. 

The chief of the disaster 

mitigation agency in Brebes, 

Eko Andalas, said a body 

was found Friday and one of 

the people injured in the 

disaster had died in a 

hospital. 

He said the number of 

missing is 14, down from 18, 

due to a duplicated name 

and two people incorrectly 

reported as victims. 

The search involving more 

than 500 rescuers including 

police, volunteers and 

soldiers was halted due to 

heavy rains. 

Farmers were working in 

their rice paddies in Central 

Java's Brebes district 

Thursday morning when the 

soggy hillside above them 

collapsed under the weight 

of torrential rains. 

Survivors described a 

sudden roar as the landslide 

was unleashed, sweeping 

trees and everything else in 

its path toward the terraced 

rice fields below. 

Seasonal rains cause 

widespread flooding and 

landslides across much of 

Indonesia, an archipelago of 

more than 17,000 islands. 

Millions of people live in 

mountainous regions and on 

flood plains. 

Degradation of land by 

conversion of it from natural 

forest to pulp wood and 

palm oil plantations can also 

be a factor in landslides. 

But at a news conference 

in Jakarta, National Disaster 

Mitigation Agency 

spokesman Sutopo Purwo 

Nugroho said the landslide 

in Brebes was purely a 

natural disaster and not due 

to the hillside being part of a 

planation forest. 

"It was caused by land 

movement following 

continuing torrential rain in 

the past two weeks," he said. 

The steep slopes meant 

there was high potential for 

ground movement in wet 

conditions, Nugroho said. 

Rights group: 

Turkey not 

avoiding civilians 

in Syria strikes 

BEIRUT : Human Rights 

Watch is criticizing the way 

Turkey is conducting its 

offensive in northern Syria, 

saying it has failed to take 

necessary precautions to 

avoid civilian casualties, 

reports UNB. 

The New York-based group 

cites three attacks in the Afrin 

region in late January that it 

says killed a total of 26 civilians, 

including 17 children. 

In a statement Friday, it 

called on Turkey to thoroughly 

investigate these strikes 

and make the findings public. 

Turkey launched an air and 

ground offensive in the Kurdish-controlled 

region on 

Jan. 20, saying it aims to 

clear Afrin of Syrian Kurdish 

militia which Turkey considers 

to be an offshoot of its 

own outlawed Kurdish rebels 

fighting within Turkey.

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

SATuRdAy, dhAKA, FEBRuARy 24, 2018, FALGuN 12, 1424 BS, JAMAdi-uS-SANi 7, 1439 hiJRi 

On the eve of placing wreath at the altar of Central Shaheed Minar. 

Conf on South 

Asian Literature 

ends 

DHAKA : The two-day 

International Literature 

Conference titled 'South Asian 

Literature Now' ended on 

Friday with the discussion on 

South Asian poetry, language 

and translation, reports UNB. 

The conference began on 

Thursday at Abdul Karim 

Sahitya Bisharad auditorium 

of Bangla Academy as part of 

Amar Ekushey Book Fair discussion 

events with the participation 

of some 15 poets from 

eight countries. 

The academy organised the 

event to build a good bonding 

among local and foreign writers, 

poets, novelists in a bid to 

create a platform to exchange 

their literary works. 

Professor Kaiser Haque presented 

the keynote speech at 

the first session on the event 

while Nepalese writer Avi 

Subedi, poet Muhammad 

Nurul Huda, Professor Sonia 

Nishat Amin and Sadaf Saj 

discussed. 

The Immovable Ladder of Jerusalem’s 

Church of The Holy Sepulchre 

INTERESTING NEWS 

Underneath one of the arched windows 

of the Church of the Holy 

Sepulchre, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 

there is an old wooden ladder casually 

leaning against the wall on the upper 

ledge. At first glance it appears that the 

Church is undergoing renovation and 

the ladder was put there by a workman 

for repair works on the wall. 

You can clearly see the ladder under 

the double window on this photograph 

taken very recently in 2017. 

In fact, the ladder appears in every 

photo taken of the church. And before 

the age of photography, it featured on 

sketches, paintings and engravings. 

Indeed, the ladder has been an integral 

part of the building complex for at least 

three centuries, possibly even more. 

Nobody knows for sure how the ladder 

got up there and when. What we 

know is that it was there in 1728—from 

an engraving and possibly the oldest 

depiction of the Church of the Holy 

Sepulchre with the ladder under the 

window. The first written account mentioning 

the ladder, however, didn’t 

come by for another thirty years. Some 

accounts say that the ladder was put 

there by a mason who was doing 

restoration work in the Holy Sepulchre. 

But why wasn’t the ladder taken down 

once the work was done? Many places 

in the Holy Land of Jerusalem are 

revered by different religious groups, 

including the Christians, the Muslims 

and the Jews. Deciding who gets to 

manage which site has been a source of 

great conflict over the centuries. 

In the 18th century, the Ottoman 

Sultan Osman III forced a compromise 

and decreed that whoever currently 

controlled a certain site would get to 

continue the control indefinitely. If 

multiple groups had claim to a site, then 

all of them would have to agree to any 

changes, however minor. 

Photo: TBT 

26pc of country’s total 

blood demand comes 

from voluntary donors 

DHAKA The annual 

demand of blood in the 

country is nearly seven lakh 

bags and of the amount, 

only 26 percent blood is collected 

through voluntary 

blood donation. 

Professor Dr ABM Yunus 

of the Hematology 

Department of Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujib Medical 

University (BSMMU) disclosed 

this at a function. 

The Quantum Foundation 

arranged the function at the 

Jatiya Press Club in the 

morning to honour the 

blood donors, a press 

release of the organization 

said. 

Finance Division 

Secretary Mohammad 

Muslim Chowdhury attended 

the ceremony as the chief 

guest, while Chief 

Coordinator of the 

Quantum Voluntary Blood 

Donation Programme 

Nahar Al Bokhari presided. 

The finance division secretary 

termed blood donation 

as a humane quality, saying 

that the blood donors can 

also change the society. "The 

blood donors can not only 

donate blood, they can also 

change the society through 

this noble gesture," he said. 

Chowdhury also said 

those donate blood are fully 

patriotic and they have 

immense love for human 

beings. "This power of the 

voluntary blood donors is a 

pride for the nation and we 

will have to utilize it," he 

added. 

The finance division secretary 

said while scrutinizing 

volunteers, it should be 

taken into consideration 

whether they have "donor 

cards". 

At the function, over 150 

people, who donated blood 

voluntarily for more than 25 

times, were honoured with 

identity cards, crests and 

certificates. 

To fulfill the huge demand 

of blood in the country, Prof 

Yunus said, the Quantum 

Foundation has been spearheading 

the blood donation 

campaign to increase awareness 

among the people since 

1996. 

"After the establishment 

of a laboratory in 2000, 

we've so far supplied 9,49, 

345 units of blood," he said. 

On behalf of the blood 

donors, Umme Salma 

Mousumi and on behalf the 

blood recipients thalassemia 

patient Nargis Akhtar spoke 

at the function, the release 

said. 

Moudud hopes 

Khaleda will 

get bail Sunday 

DHAKA : BNP senior leader 

Moudud Ahmed on Friday 

expressed his hope that the 

High Court will grant bail to 

their Chairperson Khaleda 

Zia on Sunday, reports UNB. 

"The hearing on her 

(Khaleda) bail petition will 

be held on Sunday. She 

deserves the bail," he said. 

Speaking at a discussion, 

the BNP leader further said, 

"We believe as per the rules 

and structure of the judiciary, 

Khaleda Zia will get bail 

on Sunday." 

"Khaleda Zia Mukti 

Parishad" arranged the programme 

at Jatyia Press Club 

demanding BNP chairperson's 

immediate release 

from jail. 

Moudud, a BNP standing 

committee member, further 

said, "The more it will take to 

grant her bail, it will be a 

minus point for the government." 

He alleged that the government 

deliberately delayed to 

give a certified copy of the 

verdict using various tricks. 

The BNP leader also 

alleged that Khaleda Zia has 

been suffering immensely in 

jail as she was kept in solitary 

confinement violating her 

constitutional right. 

Referring to their party's 

peaceful movement protesting 

Khaleda's jail, Moudud 

said their chairperson 

strongly directed them 

before going to jail not to 

indulge in any violence or 

imprudent programmes. 

Awami Swechchhasebak 

League pays tribute to 

language martyrs 

TBT REPORT 

On the occasion of 

International Mother 

Language Day, Awami 

Swechchhasebak League paid 

tribute to the martyrs of 1952's 

language movement. They've 

also placed a wreath on the 

first hour of 21st February at 

Central Shaheed Minar. 

Along with Awami 

Swechchhasebak League president 

Advocate Molla 

Mohammad Abu Kawser, 

Vice-Presidents Motiur 

Rahman Moti and Mujibur 

Rahman 

Swapan, 

Humanitarian Secretary 

Advocate Manik Kumar 

Ghosh, Relief Secretary 

Abudllah Al Sayem, Co-publicity 

secretary Rafikul Islam 

Bitu and other central members 

were present at this time. 

Former executive members 

of Bangladesh Chhatra League 

(BCL), also the member of 

Dhaka University Blue Panel 

and the Editor and Publisher 

of The Bangladesh Today Md. 

Jobaer Alam also paid tribute 

with Awami Swechchhasebak 

League. 

3 motorcyclists killed in 

Sirajganj road crash 

SIRAJGANJ : Three motorcyclists 

were killed as a bus 

rammed their vehicle on 

Bonpara- Hatikumrul road in 

Kachikata area of 

Gurudashpur upazila on 

Friday noon, reports UNB. 

The identities of the 

deceased could not be known 

yet. J M Shamsur Nur, officerin-charge 

of Bonpara Highway 

Police Station, said the accident 

took place around 

12:45pm when the bus hit the 

motorcycle, leaving the trio 

dead on the spot. 

Passengers suffer at Kamalapur railway station following derailment of 11 bogies of a train in 

Santgaon station of Srimangal upazila in Moulvibazar district. 

Photo : Star Mail 

Make sure economic growth 

benefits reach poor: Norway 

BNP must concentrate on polls, says Norwegian envoy 

DHAKA : Appreciating Bangladesh's 

economic growth, Norway has said 

Bangladesh needs to make sure that the 

benefits of economic growth continue to 

reach the poor to remove inequalities in 

the country. 

"It's important to keep up the focus on 

poor people, not just in rural areas but 

also in cities, including in Dhaka," 

Norwegian Ambassador in Dhaka Sidsel 

Bleken told UNB in an interview at her 

office at the Nordic Embassy here, 

reports UNB. 

She said statistics are showing that 

social inequalities are increasing in the 

country and the poor people are getting 

poorer. 

A recent study by the Centre for Policy 

Dialogue has showed the underbelly of 

the development scenario in Bangladesh 

President seeks Singapore 

support for Rohingya 

repatriation 

DHAKA : President Abdul 

Hamid on Friday sought 

support and cooperation 

from Singapore over the 

issue of repatriation of forcefully 

displaced Rohingyas of 

Myanmar who took shelter 

in Bangladesh, reports UNB. 

President Hamid said this 

when Singapore President 

Halimah Yacob phoned him 

around 10:00am (local time) 

on Friday, according to message 

received here from 

Singapore. 

During the conversation, 

the president of Singapore 

exchanged greeting with her 

Bangladesh counterpart and 

congratulated him for being 

elected as President for a second 

consecutive term. 

She also queried about 

President Hamid's health 

condition and treatment, 

said Md Joynal Abedin, 

Press Secretary to the 

President. On Thursday, 

President Hamid reached 

Singapore on a six-day tour 

for medical check-up and eye 

treatment and has been staying 

at Marina Mandarin 

Hotel there. 

Mentioning that 

Bangladesh put importance 

on heightening of bilateral 

relations with Singapore, the 

in which the rising GDP growth and rising 

income and wealth inequalities walk 

hand in hand. 

The Norwegian Ambassador said 

employment creation is the most important 

of all to reach the development 

goals. "It's also important to bring more 

women into the labour market giving 

female workers an opportunity to have 

their own income." 

Emphasising stability and security, 

Ambassador Bleken said they hope that 

there will be no political violence as the 

next national election is approaching. 

Fair Polls: 

Norway wants to see a non-violent 

election in Bangladesh and hoped that 

both the political parties and law 

enforcement agencies will work towards 

that end to maintain peace. 

President sought support 

from Singapore over 

Rohingya repatriation. 

President Hamid also congratulated 

Halimah Yacob 

for being elected as the first 

female President of 

Singapore and hoped that 

the bilateral relations 

between the two countries 

will be more enhanced in 

future. 

Referring to Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina's 

upcoming visit to Singapore 

on March 11, the Bangladesh 

President said her visit will 

take the relations of two 

countries in a new height. 

LNG terminals to expedite 

investment: Experts 

DHAKA : The country's first two liquefied 

natural gas (LNG) terminals, which are set to 

go into operation this year, will accelerate both 

local and foreign direct investment (FDI) in 

Bangladesh through ensuring energy security 

and meeting its growing demand, observed 

experts. 

"As per the schedule, the country's first floating 

LNG terminal will supply LNG to the 

national grid from June which will ensure 

energy security and increase the flow of investment," 

Energypac Power Generation Ltd 

(EPGL) Managing Director and Chief 

Executive Officer (CEO) Humayun Rashid told 

BSS here today. The government is constructing 

two Floating Storage and Re-gasification 

Unit (FSRU) Terminals at Moheskhali in Cox's 

Bazar district. 

Singapore-based Excelerate Energy is setting 

up the first FSRU having 500 million meter 

standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) capacity 

at Moheshkhali in the Bay of Bengal, which will 

be operational from May this year and Summit 

LNG Terminal Company, a unit of Summit 

Group, is developing the second floating facility 

at its own cost having 500 mmcfd per day 

capacity, which is likely to open in October this 

year. The government also signed an agreement 

with Qatar's state-owned RasGas 

Company in 2017 for importing yearly 1.8 million 

tons LNG under G2G process. The import 

is likely to increase up to 2.5 million annually. 

Besides, the government is taking a series of 

projects to face the growing energy demand 

and ensure the energy security. 

Humayun Rashid said the government projects 

will augment energy supply smoothly and 

meet the increasing demand as the country has 

been experiencing shortage of energy resources 

for many years. 

"We hope it'll be free, fair and participatory," 

she said giving importance to 

equal opportunities for peaceful election 

campaign before election. 

Ambassador Bleken said there are 

challenges but all parties will have to 

keep up the dialogue on importance of 

free and fair election. 

Responding to a question, she said, "I 

absolutely think that BNP should concentrate 

on elections. I think it's important 

that they participate. This is the only 

chance to become a real force in politics." 

As part of the international community, 

the Ambassador says, they will keep 

supporting democratic process in 

Bangladesh. "We're not supporting any 

particular party or other parties. We're 

very much supporting the process that 

will be free and fair." 

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

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

The Bangladesh Today (24-02-2018)

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