04-03-2018

Sunday
Dhaka : March 4, 2018; Falgun 20 1424 BS; Jamadi-us-Sani 15, 1439 hijri
www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com
Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.73; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00
InternatIonal
China asks US for
talks, liaison to defuse
trade tensions
>Page 7
Myanmar removed heavy
weapons from border:
Home Minister
DHAKA : Home Minister
Asaduzzaman Khan on Saturday said
Myanmar has removed its heavy
weapons from Tambru border in
Bandarban following a flag meeting
held on Friday, reports UNB.
The minister came up with the information
replying to a query from
reporters at a programme arranged by
Metropolitan Cooperative Society in
city's Farmgate area.
"During the flag meeting, the
Myanmar authorities said they, upon
receiving wrong information, deployed
army and artillery along Tambru border
in Naikkhongchhari of
Bandarban," he said.
*Members of Border Guard
Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Guard
Police (BGP) of Myanmar will patrol
their respective border areas in coordination
from March 27, Asaduzzaman
added.
Earlier on Thursday, BGB members
were put on high alert as Myanmar
army took position along the Tambru
border in Naikkhongchhari of
Bandarban with heavy arms and
ammunition.
The Foreign Ministry summoned the
Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka
LwinOo over the deployment of troops
and artillery and lodged its protest
strongly.
In the wake of strong protest by
Dhaka, Myanmar on Friday defended
the deployment of troops and artillery
along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border
saying that it was done for internal
security.
art & Culture
Oscars 2018: Star Wars' Mark
Hamill on why he'd rather
watch from home
>Page 8
PM 'deceiving'
nation: Moudud
DHAKA : BNP senior leader
Moudud Ahmed on Saturday
alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina is 'deceiving' the nation by
'illegally' carrying out electioneering
for her party spending public
money.
"The Prime Minister is going to
Khulna on Saturday by a helicopter
spending public money to
seek vote for boat," he said, reports
UNB.
Speaking at a discussion, he further
said, "As they (Awami League)
know they won't be able to make
any development promise to woo
voters after the announcement of
the election schedule, they're doing
it now. It's an unethical and unlawful
act, and a deception with people."
A faction of Labor Party, one of
the partners of the 20-party
alliance, arranged the programme
at the Jatiya Press Club demanding
BNP Chairperson Khaleda
Zia's release.
Sports
Bancroft fifty helps
Australia extend
lead
>Page 9
US to remain beside Bangladesh
to resolve Rohingya crisis: Curtis
COX'S BAZAR : The US government
will remain beside Bangladesh
to resolve the long-standing Rohingya
crisis and ensure safe, secure and dignified
return of Rohingya people to
their homeland in Myanmar's
Rakhine State, reports BSS.
"The USA will work with
Bangladesh for safe return of
Rohingyas along with providing all
out support to Bangladesh in
Rohingya issue," said the visiting US
Deputy Assistant to US President
Donald Trump Lisa Curtis yesterday.
Talking to newsmen following her
visit to Kutupalong Rohingya camp in
Ukhiya upazila of the district, she said
her government would work so that
the Rohingya people, who took shelter
inside Bangladesh after persecution in
Rakhine State, could return to their
homeland with dignity.
In this connection, she put emphasis
on full implementation of Kofi
Annan Commission report for ensuring
safe, secure and dignified return of
the persecuted Rohingya people in
Myanmar.
Curtis, Senior Director for South
and Central Asia of the National
Security Council in the White House,
highly appreciated Bangladesh government
for providing shelter to the
huge number of Rohingya refugees on
humanitarian grounds.
"The government definitely
deserves appreciation for giving shelter
to this huge amount of Rohingya
population, which is a rare example in
history," she said.
When her attention was drawn on
recent tension in Bangladesh-
Myanmar border, she said the USA is
keeping her eyes on increasing military
power in border areas along with
Rohingya situation.
"We want to assure all quarters that
we are working with international
community for ensuring smooth
repatriation of Rohingya people...we
will work even with Myanmar government
so that the Rohingya people
could return to their homeland," she
added.
Dr Zafar Iqbal
injured in
knife attack
SHAHJALAL UNIVERSITY :
Renowned writer and teacher of
Shahjalal University of Science and
Technology (SUST) Dr Muhammed
Zafar Iqbal was seriously injured in a
knife attack on the campus on
Saturday afternoon, reports UNB.
Witnesses said a young man
swooped on Dr Zafar Iqbal, a teacher
of SUST Computer Science and
Engineering (CSE) department,
around 5:40pm as he was sitting on
the stage of a celebration programme,
'Robo-5,' of the Electrical and
Electronic Engineering (EEE) department
at Mukta Mancha.
Dr Muhammed Zafar Iqbal.
Photo : Collected
The attacker stabbed him in the
back of his head, leaving him injured.
The noted writer was taken to
Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College
Hospital where he reportedly needs
A+ blood for surgery.
A constable, Ibrahim, was also
injured while trying to catch the
attacker.
However, SUST students caught
the attacker from the Shikkha
Bhaban after the attack. However, the
identity of the attacker could not be
ascertained yet.
Meanwhile, additional police have
been deployed on the campus.
Zohr
05:07 AM
12:15 PM
04:22 PM
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6:20 6:02
DNC proposes
categorizing
'shisha' as drug
DHAKA : Against the backdrop of
growing demand of deadly 'shisha'
(hookah) among the youths, the
Department of Narcotic Control (DNC)
has proposed to incorporate it as a drug
in the relevant law.
"We have sent a proposal to the government
with a request to include
shisha as a drug in the law as its addiction
among the young generation is
increasing gradually," DNC Director
General (DG) Md Jamal Uddin told
BSS.
The Home Ministry had earlier
formed an inter-organizational probe
body following a High Court (HC) order
asking the authorities concerned to take
legal measures to stop the menace of
shisha smoking upon news items published
in newspapers.
The probe body collected eight samples
from different shisha lounges at
Gulshan and found the presence of
cannabis in five of those samples after
conducting chemical examinations of
the samples at the DNC Chemical Lab at
Gandaria in the old Dhaka.
The body made some recommendations
to take measures against taking
shisha as the presence of cannabis was
found in the chemical examination. But,
there is no scope of taking legal actions
against shisha as it is not a scheduled
drug as per the existing Narcotics
Control Act, 1990.
Asked about the rapid growth of
shisha trade, particularly in the posh
RANGPUR : Special Envoy to the
Prime Minister and Jatiya Party (JP)
Chairman Alhaj Hussein Muhammad
Ershad on Saturday said his party
would do everything for the development
of Rangpur City Corporation
(RpCC).
"We will continue our efforts to
ensure development of all areas of
Rangpur city in future," Ershad said
while addressing a views-sharing meeting
with the newly elected Mayor and
Councilors of RpCC at its conference
room here as the chief guest.
With City Mayor Mostafizar Rahman
Mostafa in the chair, Co-chairman of JP
Golam Muhammad Quader, it's
Secretary General Ruhul Amin
Hawlader, Presidium Members
Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu and major
(Retd) Khalid, State Minister for PGRD
and Cooperatives Mashiur Rahman
Ranga, addressed the meeting as special
guests.
areas, Additional Director of DNC,
Golam Kibria, who is now on LPR, said
to BSS, "At least 80 shisha lounges have
already been set up at different restaurants
in Gulshan, Dhanmondi,
Baridhara, Banani, Baily Road and
Uttara. The number of shisha lounges is
increasing day by day due to its popularity
among the tobacco consumers.
Youths from well-off families are the
main consumers of the shisha lounges."
"Taking shisha with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)
is the most dangerous as
one kilogram THC is produced from 100
kg cannabis," he added.
In most of the raids of DNC, the
youths from well-off families were found
taking shisha with THC which poses
threats to health as well as security, he
opined. He also said the smoke produced
by a hookah contains high levels
of toxic substances, including carbon
monoxide and cancer-causing chemicals.
It is also responsible for cardiovascular
diseases.
Experts said the shisha smokers may
absorb higher concentrations of the toxins
found in cigarette smoke.
A typical one-hour session of hookah
smoking exposes the user to 100 to 200
times the volume of smoke inhaled from
a single cigarette. The smoking of shisha
can cause cancer, heart problem, sexual
impotence and different infections and it
is also responsible for low birth weight of
the babies of pregnant women smoking
shisha.
JP to do everything for Rangpur's
development: Ershad
City Councilors Tauhidul Islam and
Aminur Rahman delivered the welcome
speech narrating the overall situation
of RpCC, its development scenario,
problems and prospects with necessary
suggestions.
Ershad said the Shyamasundari canal
was re-excavated considering the health
hazard faced by the local people and to
prevent water-logging in the region.
"There are many places in Rangpur
city area where the roads are yet to be
built and power yet to be provided,"
Ershad said adding that steps would be
taken for ensuring smooth development
in the whole RpCC area in future.
Ershad called upon the city mayor
and Councilors not to bring the new
extended areas of RpCC under taxation.
Leaders of the district and city units of
JP, City Councilors, officials and
employees of RpCC, civil society members,
local journalists and elite were present.
US President's deputy assistant Lisa Curtis briefing reporters after visiting Rohingya camp in Kutupalang
on Saturday.
Photo : Star Mail
Create conditions; engage UNHCR for
Rohingyas’ safe return: UN to Myanmar
It sees high competition over funding as world sees multiple crises
DHAKA : The United Nations (UN) has
called on Myanmar to create required conditions
for the 'safe and sustainable' return
of Rohingyas to their homeland from
Bangladesh and engage UNHCR in the
discussions on return, reports UNB.
"We certainly call on Myanmar to create
those conditions for return as well as to
engage UNHCR in the discussions on
return," UN Resident Coordinator in
Dhaka Mia Seppo told UNB in an interview
at her office.
She also urged the Myanmar authorities
to give unfettered humanitarian access in
Rakhine State so that assistance can reach
all the needy groups in society.
The UN official who joined the UN country
team in Bangladesh in November 2017
said any 'rush return' will not be a sustainable
return.
"But it's an ongoing process and I think
it's a bit unfair to say there has been delays
caused by Bangladesh," said Seppo adding
that the preparatory work which is happening
now is critical.
On January 16, Bangladesh and
Myanmar signed a document on 'Physical
Arrangement' which will
facilitate the return of
Rohingyas to their homeland
from Bangladesh.
The
'Physical
Arrangement' stipulates that
the repatriation will be completed
preferably within two
years from the start of repatriation.
Bangladesh has already
handed over a list of 8,032
Rohingyas which is being
verified by the Myanmar
authorities to start the first
phase of repatriation on the
ground. Around 7 lakh
Rohingyas took shelter in
Bangladesh since August 25
last year.
"I see it as a process," said the UN
Resident Coordinator emphasising that it
is important not to see something as hard
and fast conclusion.
Seppo said they also hear about firm
commitment from the government of
Bangladesh that any return has to be "voluntary"
ensuring safety and dignity of
Rohingyas and make their return sustainable.
"This is very reassuring in terms of government
commitment to these key principles,"
said the UN official.
Bangladesh has said it will not repatriate
anybody "without his or her will" but urged
the international community to keep up
pressure on Myanmar for creating conditions
in Rakhine to make Rohingya repatriation
sustainable.
Bangladesh officials said keeping up
pressure on Myanmar is necessary so that
it remains sincere and committed to the
repatriation process and fulfill its obligation
of creating conducive environment with
ensured livelihood in safety and dignity in
Rakhine.
The UN Resident Coordinator said there
are media reports that people are still fleeing
and conditions for safe return are not
there. "Return is not just reconstruction of
buildings," she said stressing the need for
looking into issues in line with Kofi Annan
Commission recommendations.
Asked about the fund flow, the UN official
said there is lot of competition in terms
of funding and addressing the crisis as the
world today has so many crises.
"We'll do all we can from the UN through
our capacities and our machineries to
mobilise resources and remind international
partners and donors of the commitments
that they have made in terms of
global burden sharing," Seppo said.
She said the living cost of one million
Rohingyas cannot be shouldered by
Bangladesh alone. "I hope there'll be a good
response in the second week of March
(joint response plan)."
Asked about the role of global powers,
Seppo said the UN has a role to play in
terms of providing the forum to member
states to have a dialogue about the situation.

NEWS
SuNDAY,
MARCh 4, 2018
2
Parching festival is celebrated in Sherpur's Nakla to motivate the farmers to use patching. The festival
was celebrated on Sunday by the Nakla Agricultural Office.
Photo : Courtesy
Natir Puja’s 2nd
pre-screening held
reminding message
of tolerance
DHAKA : The second prescreening
of 'Natir Puja'
(The Court Dancer), the
only film directed by Nobel
Laureate Rabindranath
Tagore, was held in the city
recently conveying its strong
universal message of love,
hope, tolerance and
religious harmony, reports
UNB.
The pre-screening of the
documentary film was held
at the Baridhara residence
of Dhaka Courier and UNB
Editor-in-Chief Enayetullah
Khan on Wednesday night
that entranced both the
foreign and local audience.
Prof Karl Bardosh
directed the new version of
Natir Puja while
Enayetullah Khan was its
Executive Producer.
South
Korean
Ambassador in Dhaka Ahn
Seong-doo, German
Ambassador in Dhaka Dr
Thomas Prinz,Ambassador
of Spain in Dhaka Alvaro de
Salas Gimenez de Azcarate,
President and CEO of
Bangladesh Enterprise
Institute Farooq Sobhan,
UN Resident Coordinator in
Dhaka Mia Seppo, UNB
Director Nahar Khan,
GD-348/18 (7 x 3)
Founder, MD and Editor of
Bangladesh Brand Forum
Shariful Islam, artists and
film lovers were present.
Enayetullah Khan
described how and why Karl
Bardosh decided to recreate
the film and mentioned that
Karl Bardosh went to
Kolkata and visited exactly
the places where Tagore had
shot the film. "After a long
research, he recreated the
film." He said the film, in
today's circumstances,
carries a very strong
message as many elements,
including extremism, are
disturbing peace.
Enayetullah Khan said
they are going to publish a
book on Natir Puja
highlighting the elements of
peace in the time of religious
intolerance.
The audience highly
appreciated the efforts
made by the persons behind
the documentary film saying
the message of the film is
still very much relevant.
They also appreciated the
very high sound quality,
music and songs that made
them captivated their
senses. The song 'Amar
Sokol Dukher Prodip' that is
part of the original score for
the film proved a particular
favourite.
The story of Natir Puja, a
landmark drama in social
history, is rooted in an
ancient Buddhist legend, the
premise being that art,
especially dance, as it relates
to the script, overrides
notions such as nationality
and has the power to be
universal. It is a great
equalizer.
The film, through the
beautiful story, conveys the
timeless message that in
times when prejudices run
amok, 'tolerance is our
species' most important
trait.
The original prints of the
film Tagore made were
destroyed in a studio fire
only a year after its
launching. After much
perseverance and efforts,
Prof Bardosh was able to
bring alive the film to
provide a fascinating insight
into Tagore's making of the
film.
With Enayetullah Khan as
the film's Executive
Producer, it was unveiled at
the Cannes Film Festival in
2016.
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25,000 meters of
current nets, 200
kgs Jatka seized
in Chandpur
CHANDPUR : Members
of Bangladesh Coastguard in
a drive seized about 25,000
meters of contraband
'current nets' along with 200
kilograms of jatka from the
Meghna River flowing near
Chandpur Sadar in the early
hours of Saturday, reports
UNB.
A team led by Coastguard
Station Commander Lt.
Shinchon Ahmed in
collaboration with Executive
Magistrate Ms Abida
Sultana and an Upazila
Fisheries Officer seized the
nets and jatka during an
anti-Jatka drive launched
Saturday morning in the
Meghna River.
Confirming the incident,
Station Commander
Shinchon said the fish were
kept in cold storage for
distribution later as per
decision adopted in the
district coordination
meeting recently.
In recent years the
government has imposed
Parents gunned
down by their
son on college
campus
More than 100 police
officers, some heavily armed
in camouflage uniforms,
searched neighborhoods
near Central Michigan
University on Friday for a
19-year-old student
suspected of killing his
parents at a dormitory and
then running from campus,
reports UNB.
The shooting at Campbell
Hall happened on a day
when parents were arriving
to pick up students for the
beginning of a week-long
spring break.
Police released a photo of
James Eric Davis Jr., urging
the public to call 911 if they
see him but also warning that
he shouldn't be confronted.
Hours after a campus
lockdown, police started a
"slow, methodical removal"
of staff and students who
were ordered to take shelter
in campus buildings, Lt.
Larry Klaus said. "He should
be considered armed and
dangerous," Klaus said of
Davis.
The university identified
the two dead as his mother
Diva Davis and father James
Davis Sr., a part-time police
officer in the Chicago suburb
of Bellwood. The shooting
occurred around 8:30 a.m.
at a residence hall at Central
Michigan, which is about 70
miles (112.6 kilometers)
north of Lansing.
Klaus said video at the
dorm suggests Davis fled on
foot after the shooting. He
was wearing a hoodie but
had been shedding certain
clothes while on the run.
"This has been a tragic
day. ... The hurting will go on
for a while," said university
President George Ross.
Parrose Pona
seized in Khulna
TiTash ChakraborThey
On Friday night a petrol team of
CC station Nalian West Zone of
Cost Guard conducted a drive
on the basis of secret
information. The petrol team
seized more than 20 lac pieces
Parrose Pona and a 2-
cylindrical engine boat through
a drive at the Gangrashi bazaar
area adjoined area of Paikgasa
upazila under Khulna district.
Zonal Commander M Selim
Biswas told that approximate
price of seized goods is more
than tk 50 lacs. Seized Pona was
released in the Shipsa river and
handed over the boat to the
Nalia forest office for taking
legal action.
It is noted that Bangladesh
Coast guard is operating drive
to preserve renu pona. As part
of this, the operation has been
conducted the expedition. Coast
Guard takes up zero tolerance
policy to control discipline,
smuggling and drugs.
temporary bans on catching,
selling and transporting
Hilsa and other species of
fish during the peak
breeding period, in the
Meghna covering about 100
kilometres stretching from
the Shatnol area of Matlab
North Upazila to Char
Alexander of Laxmipur
district via Chandpur Sadar
and Haimchar Upazilas of
Chandpur district, to
support the safe breeding
and spawning of hilsa fish in
sweet waters - all aimed at
shoring up future stocks of
the prized hilsa.
Minor girl crushed under
wardrobe in Ctg
CHITTAGONG : A minor girl was killed after being
crushed under a falling wardrobe or almirah in the Sanoara
residential area in Chandgaon upazila on Saturday morning,
reports UNB.
The deceased was identified as Irin Akter, 4, daughter of
Abdus Shukur of Darjipara village.
Quoting family sources, assistant sub-inspector of
Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) police camp
Alauddin Talukder said the accident occurred around
10.30am while Irin was playing at a next-door house, leaving
her severely injured. She was rushed to CMCH where duty
doctor declared her dead, said ASI Alauddin.
Fake NSI held in Faridpur
FARIDPUR : Police here early Saturday arrested a person
posing as an official of the National Security Intelligence
(NSI) and his accomplice from a property at Hazrakanda of
Bhanga upazila in the district.
The detainee has been identified as Sohag Molla, 30, and
his female accomplice Suborno Khandakar, 40, reports UNB.
Officer-in-charge of Bhanga Police Station Kazi Saidur
Rahman said Sohag Molla with the help of his female
accomplice used to cheat people and acquire money from
local traders. They arrested the duo at Molla's residence
during a drive at Hazrakanda area, he added.
15 injured in Jhenaidah
AL factional clash
JHENAIDAH : At least 15 people were injured and some 25
houses were vandalized during a clash between two rival
groups of ruling Awami League over establishing supremacy
at Sitarampur village in Sadar upazila on Saturday morning,
reports UNB.
Officer-in-charge of Harishankarpur Police Station
Humayun Kabir said that clash occurred between the
supporters groups of local AL leader and incumbent
Harishankarpur union chairman Abdullah Al Masum and
former union chairman Farukuzzaman Farid at Sitarampur
village around 8:30am.
Later, the supporters of nearby two villages-Paranpur and
Chandrajani also joined in the clash, leaving 15 injured and
25 houses vandalised, he said. On information, police rushed
to the spot and brought the situation under control, he
added. Among the injured, five were admitted to Jhenaidah
Sadar Hospital. Police were put on alert in the area to fendoff
any further unwanted situation, the OC said.
Man 'burns' self to death in city
DHAKA : A man died as he reportedly set himself alight at
Nazirabazar of the city's Bangshal area early Saturday,
reports UNB.
The deceased was identified as Moinuddin, 50.
Victim's brother Sohel said Moinuddin set himself afire
around 4:30 am pouring kerosene on him as he had been a
drug addict for the past 12 years.
Sub-inspector of Bangshal Police Station Md Ajgar
Rahman said the body was sent to Dhaka Medical College
Hospital for autopsy.
Experts stress
on exploring gas
to tap South’s
potentials
DHAKA : Energy experts at
a seminar on "Prospects of
Bhola Gas Field and Energy
Security" opined that the
government should move
steadily for exploration of oil
and gas, specially in the
southern coastal belt of the
country, reports UNB.
"We should not say we are
flouting on gas or we are
running out of gas. Rather,
we should say we have huge
potentials in our new turf of
Bhola and its adjoining areas
in the southern region", said
eminent energy expert Prof
Badrul Imam while making
a keynote presentation at the
seminar, organised by
Forum for Energy Reporters
Bangladesh (FERB), at
Dhaka Club in the city.
He noted that two gas
fields in Bhola (Shahbazpur
and Bhola North) have a
cumulative recoverable
reserve of 1.2 to 1.5 trillion
cubic feet gas.
Prime Minister's Energy
Advisor Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi
Chowdhury, who also spoke
at the function as chief guest,
said the government has
been pursuing an energy
policy where it looks for
diversified energy-mix.
"We're importing LNG to
meet the growing demand of
energy, side by side our gas
exploration works", he said
adding that the government
is not only waiting for the
exploration works.
With FERB chairman
Arun Karmaker in the chair,
the seminar was also
addressed by chairman of
Geology Department at
Dhaka University Kazi
Matin Uddin Ahmed,
Russian oil giant Gazprom
International's managing
director Surgey Tumanov,
former managing director of
Bapex Amzad Hossain and
Prof Maksud Kamal.
Bangladesh Bio-diversity Conservation Federation (BBCF) organized a rally in Joypurhat yesterday
marking World Life Day-2018.
Photo : Masrakul Alam
A discussion meeting on health awareness was held in Raninagar of Naogaon district yesterday.
Photo : TBT

METRO
SUNDAY, MARCh 4, 2018
3
Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumer Association formed a human chain in
front of National Press Club yesterday.
Photo : Star Mail
Water rally with 100 boats
held marking Jute Day
DHAKA : An exciting colorful water rally
with 100 traditional boats was held in the
capital's scenic Hatirjheel as part of the
government's ongoing campaign to make
use of jute and jute products popular ahead
of the National Jute Day on March 6.
The boats, decorated with colourful
festoons and balloons, displayed jute and
jute products along with portraits of Father
of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina created huge enthusiasm
among the spectators.
People from all ages flocked on banks of
the entire Hatirjheel to enjoy the rare boat
rally.
Textiles and Jute Minister M Imazuddin
Pramanik was present as the chief guest
while State Minister for Textiles and Jute
Mirza Azam as the special guest, a press
release said.
The government has chalked out
weeklong programme including rally, road
show, art camp, poem festival, seminar and
symposiums, started from February 27
centering the National Jute Day.
Pramanik called upon all to work along
with the government from their respective
positions for making the use of jute and jute
products more popular in home and
abroad.
"We have taken various programmes to
aware people about the economic benefit of
jute," he said and added that the present
government is committed to revive the past
glory of golden fiber, the pride of
Bangladesh After the boat rally, a buzzing
concert was held on the bank of Hatirjheel
with lively performance of the country's
popular singers.
Textiles and Jute Secretary Faizur
Rahman and heads of different
organizations under the ministry were also
present on the occasion.
BNP to hold rallies
in all divisional
cities: Mosharraf
DHAKA : BNP senior leader
Khandaker Mosharraf
Hossain on Saturday said
their party will hold rallies in
all the divisional cities,
including the capital, to drum
up public support and press its
Chairperson Khaleda Zia's
release from jail, reports UNB.
"We're carrying out our
movement in a peaceful and
disciplined manner. We'll
hold a rally on March 12 at
Suhrawardy Udyan
demanding our chairperson's
release," he said.
Speaking at a discussion, the
BNP leader further said, "Not
only that, we've a scheduled
rally to be held in Khulna on
March 10. We'll gradually hold
rallies in the divisional cities
and some districts."
Through the rallies, he said,
they will also apprise people
about the government's 'evil
design' to hold another
unilateral election keeping
Khaleda in jail in a 'false and
fabricated' case.
Jatiyatabadi Ulema Dal
arranged the programme at
Dhaka Reporter's Unity
(DRU) demanding Khaleda's
immediate release.
Mosharraf, a BNP standing
committee member, said they
have already informed people
about the 'injustice' done to
Khaleda by the government
through distributing leaflets.
"We're reaching out to people
with peaceful programmes to
drum up public support."
The Freshers' Reception for the students of undergraduate and graduate programs of the Spring
semester 2018 of Eastern University (EU) was held on Saturday at the Permanent Campus of the
University.
Photo : Courtesy
Bangladesh Labor Party organized a discussion meeting in the national press club
yesterday.
Photo : Star Mail
DU's budding writers
gain a leg-up with Boi
Mela debuts
DHAKA : Almost two dozen young and up-and-coming
writers of Dhaka University wrote new books for Amar
Ekushey Boi Mela 2018, where most have had their
books published for the first time, reports UNB.
A majority of the new writers of Dhaka University have
shown their interest in poetry. "Kabita Kingba
Maddharat ar Prolap" written by Tazwar Rizon,
"Onisshes" of Hussain Imran, "Obakto Unuvuti" of
Mominul Islam, "Nijossho Karagar" of Osit Devnath,
"Protuttorer Opekkhau Notice Board" of Probal Kumar
Das and Mahbubur Rahman, "Nilamborir Nil Kanna" of
Fatema Tasnim and so many other poets came forward
with their debuts.
The novel writers also aren't too lagging behind.
Sumona Mridha, a 3rdyear student Pali and Buddhist
Studies department, published her first novel-Gohon
Maya - at the fair. Besides her, Taffahul Jannat Maria
wrote "Shunno Baluchor" and Sharif Khan came with
"Kichu Ful Kichu Vul" to promote our Bengali literature.
Some writers ventured into non-fiction and essays.
Ariful Islam came with "Arguments of Argue" to clear
some controversial question about Islam.Ariyan
Opurbo's "Nagorik Hemleker Obak Mrittupan" and
Abdullah Adil Mahmud's "Mohabisser Simana" are also
the results deep research.
"Book fair is symbol of youth, symbol of courage,
symbol ofexcitement, symbol of charm," said noted Folk
Literature collector and researcher Syed Akhi Haque,
adding that in this technological era, it is encouraging
that our youth still come forward to publish books that
undoubtedlyprove that our literature is expanding.
Akhtaruzzaman, a lawyer by profession and a resident
of Paltan area, was gossiping as he moved from one stall
to another and bought more than 30 books. He said he
specifically sought out new authors' books as he gets
inspiration by reading their books.
"There is no new writer, everyone is a writer. Though
their books are published for the first time I don't call
them new writer," said Mehedi Hasan, Publisher of the
Bengali publication,when answering a question that how
much new author's book publish in that year from his
publication.
Expressing his optimism about our rising authors,
Mehedi Hasan said that this youth will one day shine
brightest in Bengali literature and culture.
Speakers for preventing
money laundering to
sustain development
DHAKA : Speakers at a conference have urged the concerned
authorities and high officials of banks to put in their best
efforts to prevent money laundering and terror financing
from the banking sector for sustaining the development.
"Banks will have to take necessary steps for preventing the
risk of money laundering and terror financing to sustain their
banking businesses in the country," said Bangladesh Bank
(BB) Deputy Governor and Head of the Bangladesh
Financial Intelligent Units (BFIU) Abu Hena Mohd Razee
Hassan. The deputy governor was speaking as the chief guest
at the inaugural session of the "Chief Money Laundering
Compliance Officers Conference-2018" held on Friday at a
hotel in Cox's Bazar, said a release.
BFIU organised the conference in association with the Anti
Money Laundering Compliance Officers of Banks in
Bangladesh (AACOBB). BB Executive Director and BFIU
Deputy Head Mijanur Rahman Joddar attended the
conference as the special guest while Executive Director of
the BB Chittagong Office Mohd. Humayun Kabir and BFIU
Adviser Deboprashed Debo Nath were present at the session.
Among others, chief executive officers and chief money
laundering compliance officers of different scheduled banks
took part in the conference. Razee Hasan said the banking
sector is playing a vital role to keep stable the currency
market for developing the economic activities of the country.
"The government is working to sustain the economic
development and success of poverty alleviation through
forming effective policies and regulations," he added. He
urged the banks to take upgrade technology for providing the
best banking services to their clients as there is no alternative
without modern technology in the present banking.
Referring to different initiatives of many banks, Razee
Hassan said, the participating officials of the conference can
gather experience on the ways of preventing money
laundering and terror financing through exchanging views
and discussions.Mijanur Rahman Joddar said Bangladesh
government, BFIU and different law enforces agencies are
working to prevent money laundering and terror financing
and Bangladesh is showing better performance from many
countries.
AvBGmwcAvi/†bŠ/2018/533
01/03/18
GD-343/18 (8 x 4) GD-345/18 (7 x 4)

EDITORIAL
SUNdAy,
MARCH 4, 2018
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Weekly holiday
The weekly holiday's schedule of two days on Friday and
Saturday was welcomed by government employees and
others who have a rather comfortable existence unlike
the very competitive occupations of others in the population.
Civil servants and many of those who work in NGOs and
similar organisations do not have to compete so much with
others at the local and international levels for the safety and
assurance of their earnings . The regular remunerations of
these classes are ensured by the government and their non
government employing bodies respectively.
The same is not the case with business organisations which
have a stake in remaining at work as long as possible
throughout the week to be able to run viably their business
operations. More and not less work is the key to success in
businesses and also uninterrupted working conditions.
Businesses also create and provide the lion's share of the
country's wealth and income. They keep the government
going in the financial sense with their taxes, levies, charges and
other payments in a myriad of ways. Thus, they ought to be
regarded as very important stakeholders in the running of the
country or its economy. No government should be complacent
about the rightful demand of businesses because smooth
operations of business organisations also translate into very
major contribution towards the economic security of the
country. The government itself is so much dependent on the
success of business for its own resourcefulness in the form of
getting amply various revenues.
Businesses in Bangladesh are substantially linked to the
world outside and international trade is very largely and
fruitfully carried with the developed countries where weekly
holidays are observed on Saturday and Sunday. Thus, the
operationalisation of weekly holidays on Friday and Saturday
in Bangladesh has meant that its business operators remain
cut off from international contacts for three days at a stretch ;
three out of the seven working days are being lost to them as a
result.
How the government could overlook the prevailing weekly
holidays in other Islamic countries ? In Pakistan, for example,
which is an Islamic republic, Sunday and not Friday is the
weekly holiday. The same is observed in Malaysia and some
other Muslim countries. There is nothing in the Islamic
tradition that forbids work after the weekly Jumma prayers on
Friday. Therefore, apart from a short interval for the Jumma
prayers on Friday, there is no reason for that day to be not a
full working day and Bangladeshis are not going to be less
pious or less Islamic for working on Friday. But these
conditions were ignored to favour the rather populist decision
to retain the holiday on Friday with an eye for some sections of
voters to the serious detriment of the country's economy or its
businesses.
Then, there is also the point of whether a country like
Bangladesh should be reducing its work hours so much as
part of conservation of resources in the face of stresses
showing up on the macro economy. The view of most of the
professionals and economists is the opposite. They say that the
best way to cope with the situation is carrying out austerity or
frugality in spending where the same would matter and
redouble our productive work efforts in support of greater
economic or business activities. This is their more credible
proposal for coming out of the woods in the economic sense
and that would involve not lengthening the weekly holidays
but shortening it. In other words, one day holiday on Sunday
seems to be the right course of action to take.
The FBCCI is the biggest representative body of businesses
in the country and the views expressed by its leaders are to be
regarded as reflective in general of the business community as
a whole. The FBCCI leaders have called on the government to
immediately revise the weekly holidays schedule now in force
which, in their view, is seriously undermining business
activities and proving to be economically not gainful for the
country. They, therefore, have requested the government to go
for only one day holiday on Sunday. If that is not entirely
possible, they would want half holiday to be observed on
Saturday and no holiday on Friday except for an interval from
work for an hour for the Jumma prayers on that day.
Business leaders have powerful or irrefutable points in their
favour in demanding a revision in the weekly holiday
schedule. First of all, , they rightly feel that they are very
important stakeholders in the national economy providing 80
per cent of the revenues to the government and 90 per of the
jobs. Thus, they should be duly consulted by the government
while setting a weekly holiday schedule . If they cannot earn
enough due to the enforcement of an unfavourable holiday
schedule, then how they are going to pay enough revenues to
the government or sustain the existing number of jobs or
create new ones respectively, they contend.
The present government has started enjoying the confidence
of the people for its various decisions and actions that have
been taken so far. This government will find greater
appreciation for its policies and will be doing the right thing
by responding promptly and positively in line with the
suggestions that have been made by the business community
about the weekly holiday schedule. No government loses
credibility but earns only gratitude and appreciation by
responding timely to the legitimate grievances of important
sections in the population. In this case, what the businessmen
are pleading for represents not only their own narrow interests
but the well-being of the national economy as well. Therefore,
the same deserve a swift and befitting response from the
government.
It needs to be supremely realised that the greatest need for
us now as a nation, collectively, as well as individually, is to
work more and more relentlessly for the vital positive
transformation to occur at both levels. The greater the
number of hours worked by the people of a country, the higher
its gross domestic product (GDP) or national pie to be shared
by all. With a nation's total output of goods and services going
up, it has progressively more and more resources at its
disposal to satisfy the needs of its people. The standard of
living, income and wealth of people go up as they work longer
hours and produce more. The Japanese people used to be
addicted to work that laid the foundation for their prosperity.
No nation can expect to reach a well off economic position and
hold on to that state by working less. The same is possible by
only working more that indicates the imperative of a shorter
weekly holiday schedule in the context of Bangladesh.
Putin’s combative message rings alarm bells
Russian President Vladimir Putin has
made clear his priorities for his next
six-year presidential term. In his
annual state-of-the-nation address, he
spent a good time talking about Russia's
new strategic weaponry.
Revanchism and confrontation continue
to drive Putin's agenda. He recognised that
some of the ambitious goals he set before
the 2012 election - such as increasing labour
productivity by 50 per cent or drastically
reducing poverty - weren't achieved, but
argued there would have been no progress
had he not raised the bar.
These were enormous spending
commitments in his speech. Putin didn't
explain how they would be funded and
didn't promise any structural reforms that
might uncover hidden economic reserves.
He just mentioned "new tax conditions"
that the government would have to create
without stunting economic growth. The
president's much discussed speech can be
summed up in the following tweets by
Sergey Aleksashenko, former deputy
governor of the Russian central bank:?"I
know there are problems, we'll solve them
by throwing money at them. Where will the
money come from? A niggling question, we
won't discuss it.
"There are tough problems, I know. It's
because bureaucrats aren't doing a good
job. I'll show them!"
But Putin visibly came alive for the
second half of the address, which was
entirely devoted to Russia's military
resurgence and punctuated by computergenerated
videos in the style of 1990s video
games. These purported to demonstrate
LeONId BeRSHIdSky
new weapons, which Putin assured his
audience have all been successfully tested
with some going into mass production.
These included several varieties of
missiles, including a heavy ballistic one,
Sarmat, and new types of cruise missiles all
capable, according to Putin, of bypassing
US missile defences. The cruise missiles
would have an unlimited range, thanks to
nuclear-powered engines, and the videos
showed them dodging around the areas
dOMINIqUe MOISI
covered by US anti-missile installations.
The audience whooped as the missile
trajectories converged somewhere in the
Western Hemisphere. Putin also bragged
about nuclear-powered underwater drones
that could go faster and travel much further
than any modern torpedoes. No nation, he
said, has similar weapons today, and they're
all built with new, post-Soviet technology.
This part of the speech carried a threepart
message to western, primarily US,
leaders: n "We've never ceased to be a major
nuclear power, but no one would listen to
us. Listen to us now!" (This line was greeted
with a standing ovation)
n If you believed Russia was permanently
left behind after the Soviet Union's breakup,
you miscalculated: "Russia
containment has failed." n The US antimissile
defence system and the expansion
of Nato infrastructure to Russia's borders
These included several varieties of missiles,
including a heavy ballistic one, Sarmat, and new
types of cruise missiles all capable, according to
Putin, of bypassing US missile defences. The cruise
missiles would have an unlimited range, thanks to
nuclear-powered engines, and the videos showed
them dodging around the areas covered by US
anti-missile installations. The audience whooped
as the missile trajectories converged somewhere
in the Western Hemisphere.
are "ineffective and a useless financial
burden." "This is not a bluff," Putin insisted
- a claim that I hope will never be tested.
Some Putin allies were enthused about
the threatening part of the speech.
Margarita Simonyan, head of the RT
channel, noted: "If a US president delivered
such an address, 99 per cent of the
population and certainly the entire
establishment would support it. Here,
though, we get all this moaning and
indignation - why the hell do we need these
weapons, what an aggressive message. Why
don't you just get the hell out!"
I'm inclined, however, to agree with
another Muscovite who - like me - now lives
overseas, art dealer Marat Guelman, who
posted: "I'm truly beginning to fear for the
country. It's not just a new burst of the arms
race. It's some kind of madness."
The problem is not so much with the
modern weapons - a country as big as
Russia needs military strength - as with
what the weapons are needed to defend.
Without a clear vision of the future or an
attractive model for others to imitate,
without any soft power to speak of, without
an economic model that can ensure
sustainable growth or keep people out of
poverty, the missile-rattling is terrifying. In
the context of an election with a
predetermined result, Russia's growing
military might means better protection for
the regime.
Putin's fascination with the new toys is
understandable. But his mischievous
suggestion that listeners suggest names for
some of them ("Volodya", Simonyan
immediately proposed, using the
diminutive form of Putin's first name) has
more symbolic meaning than the president
put into it. Sarmat, Kinzhal (Dagger) and
any new names "patriots" come up with for
the weapons leave a question: Are these the
only internationally recognisable brands
modern Russia is capable of producing? If
not, why can't I remember any other ones?
Source : Gulf news
Italy’s moment of truth draws near
In 1841, Italian composer Giuseppe
Verdi completed his celebrated opera
Nabucco. "Va, pensiero," his famous
aria describing the fate of the Hebrews in
the desert, would go on to become a
rallying cry for Italian patriots fighting for
liberation from the Austrian Empire.
Then, in a sesquicentenary
performance conducted by Riccardo
Muti at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome in
2011, Nabucco was put in the service of
democracy. Silvio Berlusconi, the prime
minister at the time, was present in the
audience, and he would wake up the next
day to headlines in the Italian press such
as, 'Berlusconi overthrown by Verdi'. Of
course, it would be more accurate to say
that Berlusconi, who was forced to resign
later that year, overthrew himself,
through his displays of personal excesses
and financial corruption.
With Italy approaching a decisive
parliamentary election tomorrow, such
historical references are useful once
again. But whereas Italians were
mobilising against Austria in 1841, today
they may be heading towards an
"Austrian model" of governance by a
coalition of the Right and the extreme
Right. And whereas Berlusconi was
falling from grace in 2011, he is now a
potential kingmaker. At 81, he incarnates
an ageing and increasingly cynical Italy.
Some voters are returning to him out of
conviction; others because they fear the
alternatives would be even worse.
At the same time, the election's
outcome has been all but impossible to
predict, because the process has become
so complex that even the most
It was 73 years ago - almost to the day
- that Winston Churchill travelled to
Fayoum Oasis in Egypt for a meeting
with the king of Saudi Arabia.
"His own cup-bearer from Mecca
offered me a glass of water from its
sacred well, the most delicious that I had
ever tasted," wrote Churchill of this
encounter with King Abdulaziz al Saud.
If that meeting in the desert was an
early chapter in relations between
Britain and Saudi Arabia, then we will
turn a new page on March 7 when his
grandson, Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, visits London.
There will be those who would object to
engaging with a kingdom that is a
powerhouse of the Middle East and,
incidentally, one of Britain's oldest
friends in the region.
If you have any sympathy with such
views, then let me highlight a few salient
facts.
In the eight months since Mohammed
bin Salman became crown prince, Saudi
Arabia has introduced exactly the kind of
reforms that we have always advocated.
The ban on women driving has been
overturned. Gender segregation has
been relaxed. The kingdom has adopted
an official target for women to account
for 30 per cent of the workforce: in
February women were allowed to
register their own businesses. Women
now attend sporting events and from
next month cinemas will open their
doors to everyone. If you are inclined to
dismiss these advances, then I will
respectfully suggest that you are making
a profound mistake. Change does not
come easily in Saudi Arabia. In a matter
sophisticated voters are having trouble
understanding it. Owing to a new
electoral law, around 40 per cent of
parliamentary seats will be decided by
first-past-the-post voting, with the rest
allocated proportionally.
Still, even if most bets are off, one can
reasonably assume two things about this
election. First, voter abstention will be
high, especially among the young. This is
not May 1968, when students across Italy
took to the streets. Today, young Italians
are deserting the ballot box - though one
cannot rule out the possibility that they
will eventually return to the streets.
Second, the election will leave Italy
divided, not just politically and socially,
but also geographically. The populist Five
Star Movement (M5S) is particularly
strong in the south, the far-right
Northern League is powerful in the north,
and Venetians are increasingly dreaming
about autonomy, or even independence.
Future of Saudi Arabia, Muslim world depends on success of Crown Prince
of a few months, genuine reform has
taken place after decades of stasis.
And that fact tells an important story.
The crown prince and his father King
Salman have together embarked on the
social and economic renewal of Saudi
Arabia, launching a national programme
known as Vision 2030. In October the
crown prince said that the overarching
goal was to build a "country of moderate
Islam that is open to all religions and to
the world". He also promised to
"eradicate promoters of extremist
thoughts".
Tens of thousands of British jobs
depend on our exports to Saudi Arabia
Boris Johnson
If you are tempted to brush off those
phrases as platitudes aimed at outsiders,
consider that the crown prince was
speaking not in English in some western
capital but in Arabic to an audience in
Riyadh. His words have been given
meaning by the establishment in his
capital of a new centre to counter the
BORIS JOHNSON
Fears that Italy could be returning to
the time when it was a mere "geographic
expression" are probably overstated. Yet,
Italy could well reclaim the title of "sick
man of Europe" in the weeks to come,
especially if the election produces no
majority and a hung parliament. Russia,
for its part, would welcome that outcome,
and has probably been doing everything
it can to bring it about.
An Austrian-style alliance between
With Italy approaching a decisive parliamentary
election tomorrow, such historical references are
useful once again. But whereas Italians were
mobilising against Austria in 1841, today they may be
heading towards an "Austrian model" of governance by
a coalition of the Right and the extreme Right. And
whereas Berlusconi was falling from grace in 2011, he
is now a potential kingmaker. At 81, he incarnates an
ageing and increasingly cynical Italy.
Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Matteo
Salvini's Northern League would also
bode ill, because it would put Italy at odds
with the rest of the European Union's
(EU) founding members.
Similarly, a significant victory for M5S
would be undesirable. The impulse to
reject the status quo is so strong among
Italian voters that they have not been
deterred by M5S's failure to govern
properly in Rome, where it captured the
mayoralty in June 2016. And yet M5S
financing of terrorism. What conclusion
should we draw? I believe that the crown
prince, who is only 32, has demonstrated
by word and deed that he aims to guide
Saudi Arabia in a more open direction.
The worst response would be for
Britain to criticise from the sidelines or
shun the kingdom altogether; instead
our role must be to encourage him along
this path. Be in no doubt: the future of
Saudi Arabia - and indeed the region and
the wider Muslim world - depends on his
Nor can we uphold the British national interest.
Remember that tens of thousands of British jobs
depend on our exports to Saudi Arabia, which climbed
to £6.2 billion in 2016, a 41 per cent rise since 2010.
When it comes to keeping Britain safe, intelligence from
Saudi Arabia has been crucial in the struggle against
terrorism. The simple truth is that British lives have
been saved and attacks prevented because of our
security cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
success. Hence the importance of the
crown prince's visit to London. This will
be a chance to strengthen our
relationship with Saudi Arabia, both as
an end in itself and as the best means of
promoting reform.
I will not minimise Britain's differences
with the kingdom. I want Saudi Arabia to
do more to protect human rights. But we
cannot deliver these messages or resolve
our disagreements unless we meet the
kingdom's leaders.
Nor can we uphold the British national
probably cannot achieve a parliamentary
majority, and it has vowed not to enter
into coalitions with other parties.
The only positive scenario, then,
would be an unlikely - but not
impossible - alliance between former
prime minister Matteo Renzi's centreleft
Democratic Party and Forza Italia. A
coalition government comprising these
two parties, would most likely result in
Paolo Gentiloni, the well-regarded
current prime minister, remaining in
power.
That would probably satisfy France
and Germany, as well as the European
Commission. The main problem,
though, is that Renzi has remained
unpopular since he resigned as prime
minister following a daring, but
unsuccessful attempt to enact
constitutional reforms through a
referendum in December 2016.
Despite Italy's grim economic, social,
and political situation - to say nothing of
the growing tensions surrounding
migration from Northern Africa -
financial markets have been relatively
serene. Investors neither seem to fear an
M5S victory, nor are they particularly
concerned that Italy's youth
unemployment is close to 33 per cent, or
that its rate of economic growth is below
the EU average. Are investors
underestimating the risk that the EU's
third-largest economy could plunge into a
downward spiral into polarisation and
paralysis?
Source : Gulf News
interest. Remember that tens of
thousands of British jobs depend on our
exports to Saudi Arabia, which climbed
to £6.2 billion in 2016, a 41 per cent rise
since 2010. When it comes to keeping
Britain safe, intelligence from Saudi
Arabia has been crucial in the struggle
against terrorism. The simple truth is
that British lives have been saved and
attacks prevented because of our security
cooperation with Saudi Arabia.
This relationship has long been
important for global security. Saudi
Arabia was a firm ally during the Cold
War and, amid all the turbulence of the
Middle East, the kingdom has generally
acted as a force for stability and
moderation. It was the late King
Abdullah who threw his diplomatic
weight behind a two-state solution to the
Arab-Israeli conflict by proposing the
bold Arab Peace Initiative.
Today Britain and Saudi Arabia are
working together to counter Iran's
disruptive behaviour in the Middle East
and bring the war in Yemen to an end.
Last year King Salman took the farsighted
decision to pursue a
rapprochement with the Shia-led
government in Iraq, something that will
help to stabilise the country after the
defeat of ISIS. You might reply that far
more needs to be done to reach a
peaceful settlement in Yemen and
ensure that aid gets through to everyone
in need. I agree. That is exactly why we
need to discuss these vital matters with
the crown prince during his visit to the
UK.
Source : Arab News

HEALTH
SUndAy, mARCH 4, 2018
5
5 things heartbreak can
do to your brain
A women using an insulin pump.
Photo: david J. Phillip
There may Actually Be Four
Kinds of Type 2 diabetes
ed CARA
Our conception of diabetes might be way off-base, a
large international collaboration of researchers argue
this month in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
Rather than just type 1 and type 2 diabetes, there could
be at least five broad ways the insulin disorder manifests.
Diabetes is best understood as a breakdown of the
process that maintains proper glucose levels in the
body. Typically, the hormone insulin, produced in the
pancreas, moves glucose from the bloodstream into
your cells, where it's converted into energy.
People with type 1 diabetes, as we traditionally understand
it, have an immune system that attacks and
destroys the cells that make insulin, rendering them
permanently insulin-deficient. This condition typically
shows up early in life. Those with type 2 diabetes, who
make up around three-quarters of all cases, either stop
producing as much insulin they once did, or they stop
responding to the presence of insulin as easily.
In this latest study, the Swedish and Finnish
researchers analyzed the medical records of around
15,000 patients newly diagnosed with diabetes. The
records were obtained from five patient registries established
in both countries. They looked at six variables
that are often used to determine the type and severity of
a specific diabetes case, from the age of diagnosis to
BMI to the level of insulin resistance. They found there
were clearly five distinct groups of patients that could be
seen across every registry they examined.
The first group basically fit the bill of type 1 cases:
Young, otherwise healthy people whose insulin supply
was demolished by their immune system. The remaining
four groups could best be thought as subtypes of
type 2. There were patients whose cells also stopped
producing insulin, but not because of their immune system;
they were often young and in otherwise good
shape. The third group was made of patients whose
bodies kept making insulin but had stopped responding
to it. These patients had the most severe symptoms, a
very dysfunctional metabolism, and were typically overweight
or obese. Patients in the fourth group were also
often overweight, but their bodies weren't resistant to
insulin, and they had milder symptoms and a healthier
metabolism. The fifth group was made of patients who
developed diabetes later on in life; they also had the
mildest symptoms.
Breaking out these subgroups and recognizing them
as distinct types of diabetes could hopefully lead to better
tailored treatment, the researchers say. People with
severe insulin-resistant diabetes, for instance, could be
treated more aggressively since they'd be at greater risk
of developing serious complications.
"Current diagnostics and classification of diabetes are
insufficient and unable to predict future complications
or choice of treatment," said lead author Leif Groop, an
endocrinologist at the Lund University Diabetes Center
in Sweden as well as the Folkhalsan Research Centre in
Finland, in a statement. "This is the first step towards
personalised treatment of diabetes."
Other researchers caution that the team's results need
to be replicated elsewhere, using even more diverse
patient samples. And there still are unanswered questions
about how relevant these differences are. "We also
need to know if treating these groups differently would
produce better outcomes." Sudhesh Kumar, a professor
of medicine at Warwick Medical School, told.
Groop and his colleagues next plan to develop a web
tool that would help assign patients to specific clusters
using the same variables, which is expected to aid both
future research efforts and doctors treating patients
now. It's currently estimated that over 420 million people
globally have diabetes, according to the World
Health Organization.
Tom PACKeR
If you've managed to come to this point
without having your heart broken, I'm not
sure whether to give you a standing ovation
or to decide that we're probably in a
fight. Sadly, heartbreak is a part of life, and
the best that any of us can do is choose an
ice cream flavor to drown our tears in and
trust in all the fairy tales that suggest
there's a happy ending out there for all of
us. The thing about heartbreak, though, is
that it's not all in your heart - because
there are some fascinating things heartbreak
can do to your brain. And while
learning about the science behind all of
this isn't going to protect you from future
post-breakup distress, it should help you
feel a little less crazy and insecure when
you're working through it yourself. Heartbreak
is a complicated business whether
you're experiencing it or studying it, and
I'm sure there is new information coming
out all the time about what happens to our
physiology when we're in the throes of
sadness. Here are just a few things that
happen to your brain after a split. According
to a study of functional MRI scans
published on PubMed, "acute grief" - aka
the feeling you experience when you get
your heart stomped on - is associated with
increased activity in several regions of the
brain, and per Psychology Today, the
same areas of the brain are activated
when people feel emotional pain as are
activated when they feel physical pain.
The soreness and other twinges you experience
after heartbreak aren't just "in your
head"… they're in your brain.
As a result of the heightened brain activity,
your body is prompted to release
stress hormones, including cortisol and
adrenalin, according to Science Alert.
These hormones cause additional physical
symptoms like nausea and difficulty
breathing. According to a study conducted
by a psychologist, neurologist, and
Heartbreak can a fascinating things to your brain.
anthropologist described in Greater Good
Magazine, so many regions of the brain
are stimulated after you've been heartbroken
that it can be a challenge to know how
you really want to handle the situation.
The orbital front cortex is involved in controlling
emotions and learning from past
experiences, but when other parts of your
brain are triggering you to go a little crazy,
you can only imagine the inner warfare
that ensues. This explains why you might
feel so confused and why your behavior
might be unpredictable after a breakup!
This is, well, upsetting, but a breakup
plays a weird trick on you, because its
effect on your brain isn't all that different
from that of an exciting new romantic
relationship. According to Science
Alert, a recently-in-love brain closely
mirrors the brain of an addict going
through withdrawals because of the
activation of reward neurons and
dopamine, a feel-good hormone.
Dopamine leaves the brain wanting
more, and since you obviously want
more after a breakup, there are a lot of
Photo: Collected
similarities between the mind in these
two wildly opposite emotional states.
Apparently, the brain is only truly stable
in people who are in a relationship. Go
figure!
Rates of sexually transmitted diseases are rising
AlICe KleIn
SEXUALLY transmitted infections
(STIs) are at best unpleasant and at
worst life-threatening. They can also be
hard to spot. The majority of people
with chlamydia, the most common bacterial
STI, display no symptoms at all.
Most women with gonorrhoea will
show no signs of the disease, which can
cause infertility if left untreated.
Syphilis often goes undetected as well,
because its symptoms are similar to
those of many other diseases. Early
signs include sores and cuts. At later
stages, victims can suffer from numbness,
blindness and, in rare cases,
death. Moreover, having gonorrhoea or
syphilis also makes a person more susceptible
to contracting HIV. All bacterial
STIs are curable with a course of
antibiotics if detected at an early stage.
Rates of these three diseases rose in the
United States in 2015, according to
America's Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC). Gonorrhoea
and syphilis had plunged to record
lows, thanks to antibiotic treatment
and the increasing use of condoms in
the late 1970s. Chlamydia, for which
complete national data are only available
since 2000, also started to dip
recently. But worryingly, this downward
trend is now in reverse.
There are several reasons for the
increase. Gonorrhoea is showing signs
of becoming drug-resistant, making it
harder to treat. The rise in chlamydia
could reflect more screening as well as
an increase in incidence: as more men
are being tested, the reported prevalence
has risen by 20% since 2011.
Finally, condomless sex among homosexual
men is rising. In CDC surveys
47% of gay men reported having
unprotected anal sex over the past year
in 2005. By 2011, the most recent comparable
year, that had grown to 57%.
The CDC posits that one possible reason
is that more effective drugs have
made HIV a treatable disease rather
than a death sentence. STIs tend to be
concentrated among distinct population
groups, which should help health
policymakers to focus their efforts. The
majority of new cases of gonorrhoea
and primary and secondary syphilis
were in gay and bisexual men. Women
are more likely to acquire an STI
through heterosexual intercourse than
men. The young also show higher risk,
mainly because they are more likely to
engage in unsafe sex. There are also
huge disparities between races and ethnicities.
Blacks suffer STIs at a much
higher rate than any other group:
chlamydia is six times more common
among black women than white ones,
and for gonorrhoea the ratio is ten-toone.
In addition, STIs are most prevalent
in Southern states. Louisiana has the
highest rate of gonorrhoea and the second-highest
for chlamydia. Poverty is a
possible factor: twice as many blacks as
whites live below the poverty line. In
2012, the budgets of more than half of
state and local programmes in the US
that provide testing and treatment for
STIs were cut. It takes more than condoms
to protect a country from STIs.
Studies show that weight loss may cause early Alzheimer's disease.
Photo: Getty
Weight loss Tied to early
Alzheimer’s
Public health campaigns encourage people to get tested for STIs.
Photo: Joel Carillet
SAlynn BoyleS
A subtle speeding up of weight loss that
can accompany aging may be a very
early warning sign of Alzheimer's disease,
new research suggests. Older people
in the study who were followed for
an average of six years lost twice as
much weight in the year before the first
signs of dementiadementia appeared
as people who did not develop
Alzheimer's-related dementias - 1.2
pounds compared with a weight loss of
0.6 pounds per year.
The acceleration in weight loss was
too small to help physicians identify
Alzheimer's earlier in individual
patients, the study's researchers
remarked. But the finding may help
researchers better understand the disease.
The new research appears in the
September issue of the Archives of
Neurology. "We are getting glimpses
into what is happening with the brain
in the pre-symptomatic stage before
dementia occurs," says David K. Johnson,
PhD. Among patients already
diagnosed with Alzheimer's-related
dementia, rapid weight loss has long
been associated with faster disease progression.
But the course of weight loss
prior to the development of memory
loss and other symptoms of dementia
has not been well understood.
The study is not the first to suggest
a link between weight loss and the
development of Alzheimer's disease.
Early in 2005, a long-term study
involving 1,800 Japanese-American
men followed for 32 years found that
elderly men with dementia lost an
average of 10% of their body weight
in the years before they were diagnosed.
It remains unclear how and why
Alzheimer's disease influences weight
loss long before clinically recognizable
symptoms appear. There were no
major differences in reported appetite
among future Alzheimer's patients
and those who did not develop
dementia in the newly reported study.
Study researcher Consuelo Wilkins,
MD, told that a better understanding
of weight loss prior to the development
of Alzheimer's-related dementia
may help researchers in their efforts
to identify the disease earlier. "Early
detection is important because the
medications that we have to treat
Alzheimer's can only delay progression,"
she says. "The earlier treatment
is started, the better."

NATIONAL
SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2018
6
Child Health Development and Death Prevention Monitoring Project unveiled in Balikandi Upazila
under Rajbari distric yesterday.
Photo: Mahedi Hasan Masud
819 houses
brought under
power network
in Chandpur
CHANDPUR: A total of 819
houses of seven villages under
Faridganj upazila of the
district have been brought
under rural electrification
network by Chandpur Palli
Bidyut Samity-2 (CPBS) on
Saturday, reports BSS.
Local lawmaker Dr M
Shamsul Haque Bhuiyan
formally inaugurated the
electrification programme at a
simple function held at Kamta
village as chief guest.
The seven villages are:
Kamta, Badarpur, Bachpar,
Sachonmegh, Surungachile,
Subidpur and Shaldah.
Upazila chairman Abu
Sahed Sarker, vice chairman
Wahidur Rahman and deputy
general manager of Kamta
zonal office Rafikul Islam
were present, among others.
CPBS brought an area of 13
kilometres under rural
electrification network
spending Taka about 1.96 crore.
Jatka Conservation Week-2018
ends in Gaibandha
GAIBANDHA: Jatka
Conservation Week-2018
ended in Sadar upazila of the
district on Friday with a call
to ensure the sustainable
production of national fish
Hilsha, reports BSS.
This year's theme of the
week was "We will not catch
jatka: Fishermen remain
alive, Country smiles".
Marking the week, Sadar
upazila administration and
upazila fisheries office
chalked out elaborate
programmes till March 2.
The programmes included
bringing out rally, holding
motivational meeting to the
students and awareness
campaign to the fishermen
living on the river bank,
conducting mobile courts at
hats and bazaars and
arrangement of ha-du-du
and swimming competitions
to the fishermen and
distributing prizes to the
winners.
On the concluding day, a
discussion organised by
Sadar Upazila Fisheries
Office was also held at the
auditorium of Gidari Union
Parishad Complex with
Union Parishad (UP)
chairman Harun-or-Rashid
Edu in the chair.
Sanjoy Banerjee, senior
upazila fisheries officer,
attended the meeting as the
main focal person and said
Hilsha fish had been playing
remarkable role in our
national
culture,
employment generation,
poverty alleviation, earning
foreign exchange and
fulfilling the protein demand
of the people since long.
He also urged all
individuals
and
organisations concerned to
come forward with positive
attitude to preserve the jatka
anyhow to help boost
production of Hilsha in the
river of the Brahmaputra.
An old insolvent school master, Jatindranath Malo of Madhukhali is handed
cash money sent by two friends from Canada-US by another friend stays
in the Upazila at Madhukhali Press Club under Faridpur district.
Photo: Shah Jahan Helal
World Wildlife
Day observed
in Rajshahi
RAJSHAHI: Speakers at a
post-rally discussion here
today unequivocally called
for proper conservation of
wildlife for maintaining
environmental balance and
ecosystem, reports BSS.
They also stressed the
need for more public
awareness about
importance of the wildlife.
Existence of wildlife
including big cats is very
important for protecting the
biodiversity, they said.
Department of Social
Forestry and Deputy
Commissioner Office jointly
organized the rally and
discussion in front of
Shaheed
AHM
Quamaruzzaman Central
Park and Zoo in the city to
mark the World Wildlife
Day-2018.
Some voluntary
organizations including
Bangladesh Biodiversity
Conservation Federation
(BBCF), Bangladesh
Livestock Society (BLS),
Better Nature and Society
and Save the Nature and Life
supported the programme.
"Big Cats Predators under
threat" was the main theme
of the day.
Deputy commissioner of
Rajshahi Helal Mahmud
Sharif and Additional
Superintendent of Police
Abdur Razzaque addressed
the discussion as chief and
special guests respectively
with BBCF President Prof
Jalal Uddin Sarder in the
chair.
Divisional Forest Officer
Sazzad Hossain, BLS
General Secretary Dr
Hemayetul Islam and BBCF
Secretary Mijanur Rahman
also spoke.
Prof Jalal Sarder opined
that the wildlife population
has been gradually declining
due to various reasons
including shrinking of their
habitat. That is why timefitting
measures should be
adopted.
Helal Mahmud Sharif said
wildlife sanctuary is very
important for protecting
natural world. So, ensuring
security to the wildlife has
become an urgent need, he
said.
In remembrance of slain police officers, police of Sundarganj Police Investigation Centre place floral
wreath to their memorial yesterday in Gaibandha district.
Photo: M Sarkar Rana
Rajshahi became volatile from
beginning of March, 1971
RAJSHAHI: The overall situation in
the city of Rajshahi became volatile
with the spontaneous protest of general
masses from initial stage of March in
1971 when the then Pakistani rulers had
postponed the scheduled March 3
session of National Assembly, reports
BSS.
Postponement of the scheduled
parliament session by the Pakistani
ruler, as part of a heinous conspiracy,
instantly turned the Rajshahi people
revolutionary since the beginning of
March in 1971 with spontaneous
protest of the common people.
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman rejected
cancellation of the scheduled
parliament session from March 3 and
called strike on March 2 in Dhaka and
on March 3 throughout the country.
Recalling the situation of that time,
Advocate Abdul Hadi, former mayor of
Rajshahi City Corporation, said
thousands of people came out on the
streets spontaneously under the banner
of Sarbadaliyo Chhatra Sangram
Parishad and Shramik Sangram
Parishad.
"The people demonstrated their
protest and demanded immediate
handover of power to Awami League,
the party which secured great majority
in 1970 general election," he said.
Public and private offices and
business activities came into a total
halt, academic activities of the
educational institutions were
suspended while production in mills
and factories throughout the city
remained stopped for an indefinite
period. It was part of a spontaneous
protest that turned the city into a place
of fierce movement and
demonstrations.
Total general strike was observed in
the city paralyzing the civic lives and
business activities.
To gear up the movement by cashing
the hit generated in the political field,
cross-section of freedom-loving people
took out series of processions on eightkilometer
road from Rajshahi
University to Rajshahi court breaking
curfew on March 3 in conformity with
the central programmes.
The Independence-seeker Bangalees
paraded the city streets here chanting
slogans 'Jago Jago Bangalee Jago',
'Beer Bangalee astro Dhoro,
Bangladesh Swadheen koro'.
At around 11.30 am on the same, the
then occupation forces from the
adjacent Telephone Exchange Building
opened fire targeting a procession in
Ranibazar area killing at least one
person and injuring many others.
The brutal attack and killing of
innocent people had fuelled fiery minds
of the protesting people and the
movement got new momentum with
more vigorous protest at city's most of
the parts and district.
During the Liberation War, Rajshahi
witnessed both great atrocities by the
Pakistan army and heroic struggles by
the freedom fighters.
The largest mass grave in Bangladesh
is located in Rajshahi University, which
was used as Pakistani army camp
during the Liberation War of 1971,
recalled by valiant Freedom Fighter Dr
Abdul Matin.
On the other hand, one of the biggest
great battles of the Liberation War took
place near Rajshahi. Captain
Mohiuddin Jahangir, who died in the
battle, was awarded the highest honour
(Bir Shrestho) by the Bangladesh
government after the war.
Contribution in the war of
independence began from the massive
movement in 1969 to protest the illegal
and unlawful tyranny of the Pakistani
government, the students of the
university became furious.
On February 18, 1969 the students of
the university broke out a protest
procession where the police force took
preparations to shoot at the procession.
The then Proctor and professor of the
Chemistry Department Dr
Shamsuzzoha laid down his life to save
the students from the bullet pierced by
the then Pakistani law-enforcing
agency. During the Liberation War,
Rajshahi University teachers, officials
and students played an imperative role
to free the country from the Pakistani
forces.
The Shabash Bangladesh Chhattar,
martyr archives, mass grave yard, and
tombs of Dr Shamsuzzoha, Sukhrojjon
Samaddar, Mir Abdul Qaiyum and
Shaheed Habibur Rahman and
presence of the existing freedom
fighters make it a glorious one.
Officers of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture inspects a field of high yielding verity, BINA
Masur-8 in Magura Sadar Upazila yesterday.
Photo: Khan Rokibul Haque
Int'l seminar on
'Tagorean
characterization
of women' held
at IU
ISLMAIC UNIVERSITY:
An International seminar
titled "The influence of world
literature on the Tagorean
characterization of women"
was held at Islamic University
(IU) in Kushtia on Saturday,
reports BSS.
English department of the
university organised the
seminar at Birshreshtha
Hamidur Rahman central
auditorium of the campus
around 11.30am.
IU VC Professor Dr M
Harun-Ur-Rashid Askari
addressed here as the chief
guest while Pro-VC Professor
Dr M Shahinoor Rahman
spoke the seminar as special
guest.
Tagore scholar and a wellknown
author Professor Dr
Bina Biswas, former head of
the English department of
Jawaharlal
Nehru
Technological University,
Hyderabad delivered the
keynote speech related with
Tagorean characterization of
women.
Professor Dr Mia M
Rashiduzzaman, acting
chairman of the department,
presided over the seminar
conducted by M Sazzad
Hossain Jahid, assistant
professor of the department.
Some five hundred teachers
and students of the
department took part at the
seminar including Assistant
Professor Prodip Kumar
Adhikari, Mrs. Tanzila
Shahid, Mrs. Sonia Sharmin
and Prakash Chandra Biswas.
Four killed, six injured in
separate road accidents
COX'S BAZAR: At least four people were killed and five
others injured in a road accident in Harbang Goyalmara area
on the Cox's Bazar-Chittagong highway here yesterday
morning, reports BSS.
Chittagong Highway police sources said the accident
occurred when a private car from Ukhiya upazila of Cox's
Bazar collided head-on with a passenger bus of 'Shyamoli
Paribahan' in the area, leaving four people dead on the spot
and wounding five others.
The deceased were Ali Akbar, 30, son of Badha Mia of
Ukhiya upazila, car driver Jainul Abedin, 22, son of Shamsul
Alam, Shahab Uddin, 19, son of Mir Ahmed, Mohammad
Mamun, 21, son of Abdul Gafur.
Officer in-charge (OC) of Chakaria thana Bakhtiar Uddin
Chowdhury said the injured were taken to Chakaria hospital
for treatment. Later, they were shifted to Chittagong Medical
College and Hospital as their condition deteriorated.
In another accident, motorcycle rider Ripon, 22, was
seriously injured when a tomtom, locally made threewheeler,
collided head-on with his motorcycle in Malughat
area of Chakaria upazila here at 10.00 this morning.
He was admitted to Chittagong Medical College and
Hospital. Malumghat and Chittagong highway police
confirmed the incidents.
Mustafizur for ensuring qualitative
and quantitative primary education
RAJSHAHI: Primary and Mass Education Minister
Mustafizur Rahman, MP, asked all the officials and teachers
concerned to put in their best efforts to ensure qualitative
and quantitative primary education, reports BSS.
"You have to take the responsibility to reach the light of
education to all the children and there is no alternative to it"
he reminded them. He was addressing a daylong workshop
titled "Sharing Best Practices to Enhance Quality Primary
Education" at Rajshahi Medical College auditorium in the
city today as chief guest.
The minister said the present government is pledged to
ensure quality primary education for the sake of freeing of
the nation from the curse of illiteracy. He mentioned the
district, thana and upazila level officials and teachers should
discharge their duties with utmost sincerity and honesty to
supplement the government endeavor effectively.
Chaired by Director General of Directorate of Primary
Education (DPE) Dr Abu Hena Mostofa Kamal,
Commissioner of Rajshahi division Nur-Ur-Rahman, DPE
Directors Saber Hossain and Bijoy Bhushan Paul, Joint
Secretary of Primary and Mass-education Ministry Sheikh
Atahar Hossain and Divisional Deputy Director of DPE Abul
Khayer also spoke.
Groundnut
cultivation gains
popularity in
Panchagarh
PANCHAGARH:
Groundnut cultivation is
gaining popularity among
the farmers in the district
recently as soil and
weather condition are very
suitable for groundnut
cultivation, reports BSS.
Department of
Agriculture Extension
(DAE) office sources said a
total of 8,000 hectares of
land have been brought
under groundnut
cultivation in the district
this year with the
production target of 14,300
tonnes of groundnut.
The farmers of the
district have cultivated
high yielding groundnut in
their lands. Now seed
groundnut is being sold
Taka 5,000 to Taka 5,500
per mound in local
markets.
Sunil Kumar, a farmer of
Sabouspara village under
Debiganj upazila said, last
year I cultivated groundnut
on three bighas of land
spending Taka 10,000 and
I earned Taka 30,000 by
selling groundnut in the
local market.
"I have cultivated
groundnut on my five
bighas of land this year and
I am expecting to earn
Taka 70,000 from the
groundnut after meeting
all expenditure" he said.
Deputy Director of DAE
M Shamsul Haque told
BSS the farmers of the
district are showing more
interest in cultivation
groundnut.

INTERNATIONAL
SUnDAy, MARCH 4, 2018
7
A worker loads steel products onto a vehicle at a steel market in Fuyang in central China's Anhui
province Friday, March 2, 2018. China has expressed "grave concern" about a U.S. trade policy
report that pledges to pressure Beijing but had no immediate response to President Donald
Trump's plan to hike tariffs on steel and aluminum. The Commerce Ministry said Friday that
Beijing has satisfied its trade obligations and appealed to Washington to settle disputes through
negotiation.
Photo : AP
China asks US for talks,
liaison to defuse trade
tensions
A person briefed on the matter says President
Xi Jinping's top economic adviser
has told U.S. business leaders in Washington
that China hopes the White House will
revive high-level dialogue on economic
disputes and name a new chief liaison to
defuse mounting trade tensions, reports
UNB.
The person said Liu He told a round-table
of executives, including former Treasury
Secretary Hank Paulson, that he would take
Local governments sued
a U.S. agency Friday to
demand a fix to a decadesold
problem of sewage
flowing downhill from
Mexico and spilling onto
U.S. wetlands and beaches,
reports UNB.
The cities of Imperial
Beach and Chula Vista and
the Port of San Diego said
the International Boundary
and Water Commission's
U.S. section has failed to
meet obligations under the
federal Clean Water Act to
treat the runoff from Tijuana,
allowing toxins and
bacteria to spread in the
Tijuana River Valley and
out to the Pacific Ocean.
Polluted waters caused
beaches in parts of Imperial
Beach, a city of about
30,000 people, to close
more than 200 days in
2015 and more than 160
days in 2016 and last year,
according to the lawsuit in
federal court in San Diego.
Cross-border sewage has
charge of China's economic reform efforts
later this month and sought a list of U.S.
demands for what China could do to ease
tensions. They requested anonymity to discuss
a confidential meeting.
Liu was dispatched to Washington to
smooth over ties with China's largest trading
partner. But the trip has been overshadowed
by President Donald Trump's
announcement Thursday of tariffs on steel
and aluminum imports.
San Diego-area
governments sue
to stop Mexican
sewage flow
long been a sore topic in
San Diego but a spill last
year led to mounting pressure
on U.S. and Mexican
officials to do more. Imperial
Beach residents complain
about the stench,
especially during winter
rains.
"You ask what brings a
community to a tipping
point. I don't know, but
we're there," said San
Diego Port Commissioner
Dan Malcolm. "It's death
by a thousand cuts."
The International
Boundary and Water Commission's
U.S. section,
which works with Mexican
counterparts to enforce
bilateral agreements,
referred a request for comment
to the U.S. Justice
Department, which did not
immediately respond.
The long-expected lawsuit,
filed in federal court in
San Diego, also names
Veolia Water North America,
part of the French company
Veolia Environnement,
which operates a
border water treatment in
San Diego for the commission.
The lawsuit says the
treatment plant has failed
to catch hundreds of millions
of gallons of wastewater
since 2015.
Veolia said it has fully
complied with its contract
and that some waste never
reaches its collection system.
"The plant and related
infrastructure are simply
not designed to prevent or
treat all wastewater discharges
originating in Mexico
that flow into San Diego
County," the company said.
The commission notified
California officials this
week that it is not legally
required to treat sewage
and collect trash that spills
from Mexico and that it
cannot commit any money
to treatment unless the
U.S. State Department
secures money from Congress.
Mushers, fans gather
for world's most
famous sled dog race
Hundreds of barking dogs
and excited fans are converging
on Alaska's largest
city for Saturday's ceremonial
start of the famed Iditarod
Trail Sled Dog Race, reports
UNB.
The morning trek along
snow-heaped streets in
downtown Anchorage gives
fans a chance to mingle with
mushers and their furry
teams before the competitive
portion of the 1,000-
mile (1,600-kilometer) race
to Nome begins Sunday in
the community of Willow to
the north.
The event comes amid a
plethora of troubles for race
organizers, including a former
winner's dog doping
scandal, the loss of a major
sponsor and increasing
pressure from animal rights
activists following the deaths
of five dogs connected to last
year's race.
Iditarod officials acknowledge
the problems have
been a growing process for
organizers.
Perhaps the most challenging
issue was the October
disclosure that four dogs
belonging to four-time winner
Dallas Seavey tested
positive for a banned substance,
the opioid painkiller
tramadol, after his secondplace
finish last March
behind his father, Mitch
Seavey. The race's leadership
faced criticism for not
releasing the information
sooner.
The Iditarod said it couldn't
prove Dallas Seavey
administered the drugs to
his dogs, and didn't punish
him. Since then, the rules
have been changed to hold
mushers liable for any positive
drug test unless they can
show something beyond
their control happened.
Seavey has denied administering
tramadol to his
dogs. He is sitting out this
year's race in protest over
the handling of the doping
investigation. Instead, he is
in Norway to participate in
another sled dog race, the
Finnmarkslopet, which
begins next week.
Republicans ignore Trump's policy
whims but not on trade
Republicans in Congress have learned
to ignore President Donald Trump's policy
whims, knowing whatever he says one
day on guns, immigration or other complicated
issues could very well change by
the next, reports UNB.
But Trump's decision to seek steep tariffs
on steel and aluminum imports has
provoked rarely seen urgency among
Republican lawmakers, who are scrambling
to convince the president he would
spark a trade war that could stall the
economy's recent gains if he doesn't
reverse course.
The issue pits Trump's populist promises
to his voters against GOP free trade
orthodoxy and the interests of business
leaders. And unlike recent immigration
and gun policy changes that require legislation,
Trump can alter trade policy by
executive action. That intensifies the
pressure on congressional Republicans to
change his mind before he gives his final
approval for the penalties as early as next
week.
House Speaker Paul Ryan called
Trump after the president's surprise
announcement, and continues to hope
the White House will reconsider the decision.
Top lawmakers, including Sen. Ben
Sasse, R-Neb., have also offered the president
their own private counsel. Some are
appealing to his desire for a robust stock
market and warning the tariffs could
unravel some of the gains they attribute
to the tax bill he signed last year.
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman
of the House Ways and Means Committee,
tried one of the most direct lines that
lawmakers have to the White House:
Talking to Trump through cable TV news.
"The president has not yet issued these
tariffs," Brady told Fox News Thursday,
hours after Trump announced the tariff
targets. "He's been continuing to listen."
Listening to various viewpoints,
though, has never been the gripe against
Trump.
Unlike former President Barack Obama,
who often irked lawmakers for lecturing
them during meetings, Trump
retains a level of popularity among Capitol
Hill Republicans in part because he's
more than happy to invite lawmakers in
and hear them out. But problems have
arisen when members of the legislative
branch leave the White House under the
impression Trump was on their side - or
at least willing to consider their views -
only to find out later that his support
drifted away.
The dynamic played out repeatedly
during last year's health care debate over
replacing the Affordable Care Act. Just
this week, Trump publicly belittled a
modest gun background check bill from
the No. 2 Republican senator, John
Cornyn of Texas, during a televised White
House meeting. Democrats appeared giddy
with the president's praise of gun control
proposals, while Republicans fumed.
"I love the president, but people disagree
sometimes," Sen. John Kennedy,
R-La., said.
But true to form, Trump's flirtations
with gun control showed signs of subsiding
by week's end. A day after his meeting
with lawmakers, the president tweeted
that he had a "Good (Great!) meeting" in
the Oval Office with the National Rifle
Association. The gun lobby's executive
director also tweeted afterward that
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence
"don't want gun control."
While it's still unclear what gun control
measures, if any, Trump will formally
endorse, his back-and-forth on the matter
was reminiscent of his waffling on
immigration earlier this year. With a government
shutdown looming, Trump welcomed
lawmakers for a Tuesday meeting
at the White House to discuss immigration
law changes. During the televised
session, he told them he would take the
political "heat" and sign into law whatever
Congress could agree to pass.
Two days later, on Thursday, Sens.
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick
Durbin, D-Ill., dashed to the White
House to present their bipartisan agreement.
But the session ended in heated
exchanges after Trump rejected the bill
and used crude language to question why
the U.S. would want to welcome immigrants
from Africa and some other
nations.
"Let's talk about two Trumps - the
Tuesday Trump and the Thursday
Trump," Graham said later during a Judiciary
Committee hearing as he replayed
the week that was. "Tuesday we had a
president that I was proud to golf with,
call my friend."
"I don't know where that guy went. I
want him back," Graham said.
Republicans, who have the majority in
the House and Senate, have largely
learned to take these setbacks in stride.
They all but shrug off the president's policy
pivots, just as Ryan and Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell often decline
to comment on the Trump tweet of the
day.
But on trade tariffs, Republicans say
the stakes are too high for them to sit back
and wait for Trump to change his mind.
Indeed, their relentless public condemnation
of the tariffs was notably sharper
than their typical handling of the president's
policy whims.
Not wise, said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-
Utah. A "big mistake," said Sen. Pat
Toomey, R-Penn. "Kooky," said Sasse.
Trump, after the White House's own
internal deliberations, proposed a 25 percent
tariff on imported steel and 10 percent
on aluminum. That quickly sparked
global warnings of retaliation and left the
financial markets reeling.
Republican lawmakers, and some outside
groups, want Trump to at least consider
a more targeted approach, or
exemptions for countries that engage in
what they view as fair trade practices.
"We're all urging the president, look,
continue to narrow this to these unfairly
targeted products," Brady said.
In this Jan. 25, 2018 photo, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters as he arrives at
the office of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is moderating bipartisan negotiations on immigration,
at the Capitol in Washington. Republicans in Congress have learned to ignore President
Trump's policy whims, knowing whatever he says one day he'll change by the next. There's even
a name for it: the Tuesday president or the Thursday president, referring to his two-day reversal
on immigration. But Trump's decision to impose tariffs is another matter. Photo : AP
Marshall Islands creates virtual
money to raise hard cash
A surfer rides a wave in Imperial Beach in San Diego, Calif., Friday, March, 2, 2018. Local governments
in the San Diego area have sued a U.S. agency to stop sewage from spilling into the
country from Mexico. The cities of Chula Vista and Imperial Beach and the Port of San Diego say
the International Boundary and Water Commission's U.S. section has failed to meet obligations
to prevent Tijuana sewage from flowing across the border through the Tijuana River Valley to
the Pacific Ocean. U.S. beaches are often closed as a result. The lawsuit says polluted waters
caused parts of Imperial Beach to close more than 200 days in 2015 and more than 160 days in
2016 and last year. Photo : AP
The tiny Marshall Islands is creating
its own digital currency in order to
raise some hard cash to pay bills and
boost the economy, reports UNB.
The Pacific island nation said it
became the first country in the world
to recognize a cryptocurrency as its
legal tender when it passed a law this
week to create the digital "Sovereign,"
or SOV. In the nation of 60,000, the
cryptocurrency will have equal status
with the U.S. dollar as a form of payment.
Venezuela last month became the
first country to launch its own cryptocurrency
when it launched the virtual
Petro, backed by crude oil reserves.
The Marshall Islands said the SOV will
be different because it will be recognized
in law as legal tender, effectively
backed by the government.
The Marshall Islands is partnering
with Israeli company Neema to launch
the SOV. It plans to sell some of the
currency to international investors
and spend the proceeds.
The Marshall Islands says the SOV
will require users to identify themselves,
thus avoiding the anonymity
that has kept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
from gaining support
from governments.
"This is a historic moment for our
people, finally issuing and using our
own currency, alongside the USD (U.S.
dollar)," said President Hilda Heine in
a statement. "It is another step of manifesting
our national liberty."
The Marshall Islands is closely
aligned with the U.S. under a Compact
of Free Association and uses the dollar
as its currency. Under the compact, the
U.S. provides the Marshall Islands
with about $70 million each year in
assistance. The U.S. runs a military
base on Kwajalein Atoll. Lawmakers
passed the cryptocurrency measure
Monday following five days of heated
debate. It's unclear when the nation
will issue the currency.
Leaders hope the SOV will one day
be used by residents for everything
from paying taxes to buying groceries.
The law states that the Marshall
Islands will issue 24 million SOVs in
what it calls an Initial Currency Offering.
Half of those will go to the government
and half to Neema.
The Marshall Islands intends to initially
sell 6 million SOVs to international
investors. It says it will use the
money to help pay the budget, invest
in projects to mitigate the effects of
global warming, and support those
people still affected by U.S. nuclear
testing. The country also intends to
hand out 2.4 million SOVs to residents.
Neema Chief Executive Barak
Ben-Ezer said the SOV marked a new
era for cryptocurrency.
"SOV is about getting rid of the
excuses" for not shifting to digital
assets, he said in a statement. He said
it solved a huge problem with cryptocurrencies,
which haven't previously
been recognized as "real" money by
banks, regulators and the U.S. Internal
Revenue Service.

SUNdAy, MArCH 4, 2018
8
Oscars 2018: Star Wars'
Mark Hamill on why he'd
rather watch from home
He's going to the Oscars for the first
time in four decades - but Star
Wars' Mark Hamill says he'd rather
be watching the ceremony in his
pyjamas, reports BBC.
Hamill - Luke Skywalker in the
films - last attended in 1978 when
Star Wars: A New Hope was up for
best picture.
Speaking at the Oscar Wilde
Awards, where he was being
honoured, he said it was "much
more fun" to watch from home.
Hamill, presenting an Oscar on
Sunday, said he hopes the
ceremony is "fun and lighthearted".
He was speaking at the
so-called Irish Oscars, where he
was one of the honorees, along with
Dunkirk actor Barry Keoghan,
Home Alone and Schitt's Creek star
Catherine O'Hara and Ray
Donovan actress Paula
Malcomson.
On the green grass carpet
(instead of a red one), he said he'd
enjoyed all those years of "watching
it in my pyjamas, saying 'look at her
hair!' "Now I have to put on a
tuxedo and be part of it because I'm
presenting," he told the BBC.
"Believe me, as big an honour as it
is, to be part of it, it's much more
fun to be watching it at home." In
what could be a politically-charged
year for the Oscars, Hamill hopes
the ceremony gives people a chance
to have fun. "I hope it's fun and
light-hearted, you know?," he said.
"Sometimes it's shaded by causes
and politics but I think it's a good
time for everyone to just relax and
enjoy themselves. I know that's
what I'll do. "What happens when
you present is you go backstage
early - and I don't come back to my
seat. I just hang out backstage, eat
all the free food and just stay away
from my seat - there's always the
seat-filler. Usually they're much
more handsome than I am, so it's a
win-win." Hamill will be presenting
best animated short at the
Hollywood ceremony. He joked:
"They didn't pick animated short
because I'm too short to be a
Stormtrooper did they? Oh, they're
so cruel."
Abhishek
Bachchan and
‘Manmarziyaan’
team’s ‘quiet
meal’ in a dhaba
takes an
unexpected
turn
Painting exhibition
‘Chitra Pate
Bangabandhu’
underway in city
Harvey Weinstein 'Casting Couch'
statue debuts pre-Oscars
A golden statue of a bathrobe-clad Harvey
Weinstein, seated regally atop a couch with
an Oscar in hand, took up temporary
sidewalk residence close to the site of
Sunday's Academy Awards, reports BBC.
"Casting Couch" is a collaborative work
between a Los Angeles street artist known as
Plastic Jesus and Joshua "Ginger" Monroe,
designer of 2016's nude Donald Trump
statues placed in major U.S. cities.
The life-sized Weinstein sculpture,
displayed Thursday on Hollywood
Boulevard, aims to spotlight the
entertainment industry's sexual misconduct
crisis and the disgraced studio mogul's role in
it, Plastic Jesus said.
"There's so much about Hollywood that's
great and celebrated in the Oscars, but there's
also this underbelly of darkness within the
industry that we often sweep under the
carpet or ignore," said Plastic Jesus, formerly
a London-based photographer. The phrase
"casting couch," used to describe the demand
of sexual favors for work, may seem a relic of
a bygone era but is "still very much a part of
the Hollywood culture," he said. Plastic Jesus
said he and Monroe first considered a
standing Weinstein statue but quickly
decided to incorporate a chaise lounge. The
project, made of fiberglass and acrylic resin,
was in the works for two months. It will be on
display this weekend, weather permitting.
Visitors to the sculpture were sitting next to
the faux Weinstein and taking selfies, turning
it into an interactive installment, Plastic
Jesus said. It also expands the symbolism, he
said.
"For many, many people, aspiring actors
and actresses, that would have been their
dream to be close to Harvey," but that reality
has proven a nightmare for some, the artist
said.
A 10-day solo Pata Painting exhibition
titled 'Chitra Pate Bangabandhu' of
Patua Nazir Hossain is underway at the
Bangladesh National Museum, reports
BSS.
The inauguration ceremony of the
32nd solo Pata Painting (patachitra)
exhibition was held on Friday.
Prominent artist Hashem Khan was
present as the chief guest while poet
and filmmaker Dildar Hossain attended
the ceremony as the special guest.
Pata Painting (patachitra) is a
traditional art form characterised by
religious and social motifs and
imageries. Pata is a Bangla word
evolved from the Sanskrit patta
meaning cloth.
The exclusive exhibition will end on
March 11.
Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu
have already begun working on Anurag Kashyap's
'Manmarziyaan'. Now, Abhishek has shared an interesting
and funny incident that took place recently, reports BBC.
After wrapping up a day's work in Amritsar, Anurag
apparently suggested that team have a 'quiet meal' at a
dhaba. However, as the video shared by Abhishek will
prove, it was anything but quiet. Taking to Instagram, the
actor shared a short video of his team sitting in a dhaba as
hundreds of fans thronged around them and can be heard
shouting and cheering. Anurag can be seen smiling at the
silly situation even as Abhishek sarcastically says, "Enjoy
your meal."
Abhishek captioned the post as, "When your Director
suggests "let's have a quiet meal at a dhaba"
Get latest news & live updates on the go on your pc with
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and other languages.
The nine contenders for the
best picture Oscar
From a quirky fairy tale romance to a dark
comedy about a murder investigation, via a
couple of coming-of-age tales and a horror
satire, the contenders for the best picture Oscar
offer audiences an array of genres and themes,
reports BSS.
Here is a brief summary of the nine films
vying for the most prestigious prize at Sunday's
Oscars ceremony: - 'Three Billboards Outside
Ebbing, Missouri' -
Martin McDonagh's darkly funny
tragicomedy has surged at the 11th hour to go
into Sunday as the narrow favorite in what
most experts are characterizing as a four-way
race with "The Shape of Water," "Get Out" and
Lady Bird."Oscarologists see its star Frances
McDormand as a sure thing for the best actress
statuette for her visceral turn as a rage-filled
grieving mother at loggerheads with the local
police over the failure to find her daughter's
killer.
The film's late momentum comes as
something of a surprise after it was hit by the
biggest backlash of any of this year's
contenders.
The criticism mainly centers on what has
been perceived as a cheap redemption for
racist, violent cop Dixon, played by Sam
Rockwell-a performance that has made
him a favorite for best supporting actor
honors.
- 'The Shape of Water' -
Guillermo del Toro's romantic Cold War-era
fantasy tells the story of a mute cleaning
woman who falls in love with a captive magical
river creature in a secret US government lab in
1960s Baltimore.
The movie starring Sally Hawkins, Richard
Jenkins and Octavia Spencer nabbed the most
Oscar nominations with 13, including best
picture, director and actress.
It has lost some momentum in the best
picture race, where it was the favorite for
several weeks but now is in second place in the
betting.
H O r O S C O P e
ArIeS
(March 21 - April 20): If others go out of
their way to pick holes in your
arguments today just ignore them.
Having said that, it could be there is
something you have overlooked and at least one
kind person will try to warn you, so don't be too
eager to be rude.
TAUrUS
(April 21 - May 21): Your main task
today is to resist the temptation to look
at the world as if everything that
happens is a disaster or a tragedy. Focus
only on good news today - there is still plenty of it if
you care to look. It's about attitude, not events.
GeMINI
(May 22 - June 21): Check the small
print carefully before putting pen to
paper today because you could have
been misled into thinking that you
have got the best of a deal when, in fact, others will
profit a lot more than you do. Details are always
important.
CANCer
(June 22 - July 23): The more others
want you to do something you don't
think is in your best interests the more
you must resist. Your arguments for
giving it a miss may not sound convincing but what
matters is that you stick to your guns. They can't
force you.
LeO
(July 24 - Aug. 23): Cosmic activity in
your fellow fire sign of Aries has filled
your head with no end of big ideas but
not all of them are practical, so don't get
carried away. You are under no obligation to hurry,
so bide your time and think things through.
VIrGO
(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Someone who
usually has only nice things to say
about you will go right the other way
and say something hurtful today, but
you must not let it get to you. Sometimes you can
be too sensitive for your own good. Don't take
yourself so seriously.
LIBrA
(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): You have
nothing to prove and lots to gain and
everything to look forward to. That is
the message of the stars today and
even if you don't quite believe it what happens
over the next few days will bring a smile to your
face. It's about time!
SCOrPIO
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): If someone you
don't know very well tells you what a
great guy you are it's a sure sign they are
after something. That something is
most likely to be your money, so act cool and don't
give them a thing, no matter how nicely they ask.
SAGITTArIUS
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Your current run
of good fortune is sure to come to an
end eventually but there is no reason
to suppose it will be any time soon.
The planets indicate there are plenty of good
things still to look forward to, the first of which
will arrive today.
CAPrICOrN
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): For some strange
reason you can see enemies in every
direction at the moment but most if
not all of them exist only in your
imagination, so get a grip on yourself and get
things done. Your only real enemy is your lack of
self-belief.
AQUArIUS
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): You tend to believe in
yourself to such a degree that you think
nothing is beyond you, and that's good,
but even an Aquarius has limits and you
may need to remind yourself what those limits are. A
little bit of realism will go a long way.
PISCeS
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): Yes, you should
let other people have the last word.
Yes, you should let other people lead
the way. You may not entirely
approve of what they say, still less of what they
do, but so long as you don't get the blame why
should you worry?

SPORTS
SUNdAy, MARCH 4, 2018
9
Bancroft fifty helps Australia extend lead.
Windies
revenge not on
Simmons mind
despite axe
HARARE: Phil Simmons
insists that leading
Afghanistan to the 2019
World Cup and not exacting
revenge over his West Indies
compatriots is his only
priority when the 10-team
qualifying tournament gets
underway on Sunday,
reports BSS.
Simmons, who played 26
Tests and 143 ODIs for the
West Indies from 1987 to
1999, was sacked as coach of
the Caribbean side in 2016,
just five months after
leading them to the World
Twenty20 title in India.
His sacking had been
preceded by a suspension
the previous year for
publically criticising the
West Indies selection policy.
Simmons, 54, took over
the reins of Afghanistan in
December and his mission
to get the newly-minted Test
team to a second successive
World Cup in England and
Wales next year.
Afghanistan take on
Scotland in their opening
match at Bulawayo on
Sunday with Simmons
playing down his team's
status as one of the
favourites to reach the finals.
"I am not putting the
'favourites' tag on me. We
have just come here to play
cricket, we need to play
proper cricket and win this
tournament," said Simmons
who has plenty of 'inside
knowledge' of his opponents
in the three-week qualifying
event. As well as West
Indies, the former allrounder
has coached hosts
Zimbabwe and enjoyed a
successful eight-year spell in
charge of Ireland with whom
he reached two World Cups.
Afghanistan are in Group
B with Zimbabwe, Scotland,
Nepal and Hong Kong.
The West Indies, world
champions in 1975 and 1979
but forced to qualify this time
around, are in Group A with
the Netherlands, Papua New
Guinea, Ireland and the
United Arab Emirates. Three
teams from each pool go
through to the Super Sixeswhere
Afghanistan and the
West Indies could meet-with
the top two sides at the end
of the process booking their
spots at the 2019 World Cup.
Pre-season test: Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel hopeful of challenging Mercedes.
Photo: Internet.
Rise of Twenty20 leaves cricket
facing testing questions
LONDON: "In this ultra-modern age counter
attractions have multiplied many times since
my youthful days," wrote a former England
batsman as he questioned whether teenagers
had the time to "devote to cricket", reports BSS.
That the ex-international was Herbert
Sutcliffe and he was writing in a pamphlet
following England's defeat in the 1950/51 Ashes
series, shows that worrying about the future of
cricket, and English cricket in particular, is
nothing new.
But whereas Sutcliffe was concerned by iceskating
and greyhound racing taking people
away from cricket, the worry now is about how
one type of cricket --- Twenty20 franchise
leagues-could spell the end of another in fiveday
Tests. The recent decisions of England
internationals Adil Rashid and Alex Hales to
sign 'white-ball' only county contracts (a red ball
is used in traditional first-class matches) this
season, thereby opting out of Test contention,
heightened these concerns. Rashid and Hales
have not played a Test since 2016 but the worry
for some is that, without a major alteration to
cricket's congested schedule and a change in
spectator habits-Tests outside of England and
Australia often draw paltry crowds-their
example may be followed by that of more highprofile
cricketers. Jonny Bairstow, a Yorkshire
and England team-mate of Rashid, is alive to
the danger although the wicket-keeper remains
committed to continuing his Test career.
"If we're not careful, there are going to be
more and more people (giving up red-ball
cricket)," Bairstow, currently on tour with
England in New Zealand, said. "You've got
lucrative tournaments... (to) go off for five
weeks and earn a heck of a lot of money... (with)
the strain and stress on the body of bowling
(only) fours overs compared to 24 in a day in
Test cricket." Bairstow's thoughts were echoed
by Test colleague James Anderson, with
England's all-time leading Test bowler adding:
"I just hope and pray there is enough love for
Test cricket out there, not just the players that
are playing at the moment but players coming
through still having the ambition and drive to
play Test cricket in the future."
Bairstow and Anderson grew up in an
environment where the most reliable way for
cricketers to maximise their income was to
become an established Test player as this would
lead to a larger wage packet and enhanced
opportunities for sponsorship deals.
VAR set for 2018 World
Cup approval
ZURICH: Football's law-making body on
Saturday was set to approve the use of video
assistant referee technology (VAR) at this
summer's World Cup, overriding purists
concerned about technology disrupting the
game, reports BSS.
The International Football Association
Board (IFAB) meeting in Zurich is widely
expected to rubber-stamp the move already
backed by FIFA's top brass, including
president Gianni Infantino.
VAR can only be used when there is doubt
surrounding any of four key game-changing
situations: after a goal, penalty decisions,
after a straight red card or in cases of
mistaken identity.
It has already been implemented in top
European leagues including the German
Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A-along with
tests in multiple other leagues-but opinion is
still divided.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said
this week that European football's governing
body would not introduce VAR in next
season's Champions League due to ongoing
"confusion" surrounding its use.
Others have voiced concern about video
assistance being used too often, slowing
down the game and possibly breaking a
team's momentum.
That is an issue confronting major North
American sports like baseball and American
football, where different forms of video
replay have been in use for several years and
where calls to shorten match length have
risen. But the desire to avoid ferociously
disputed calls-especially in high-profile
moments-appears to have tipped FIFA to
support using VAR at this summer's World
Cup in Russia.
One iconic example that VAR could
theoretically have prevented is Diego
Maradona's "Hand of God" goal that saw
Argentina beat England in the 1986 World
Cup.
For Infantino, who will be on hand
Saturday for the IFAB announcement,
international football cannot allow anyone
with a smart-phone having access to better
information than a World Cup referee.
"In 2018 we cannot anymore afford that
everyone in the stadium and everyone in
front of a TV screen can see within a few
minutes on his phone whether the referee
has made a big mistake or not, and the only
one who cannot see it is the referee", he said
last month.
"So if we can help the referee then we
should do it," he added.
Representatives of the 32 teams that have
qualified for the World Cup meeting in the
Black Sea resort of Sochi this week voiced
confidence that the expected VAR rollout
would be a positive for the tournament.
Photo: BBC.
Ali, Rashid spin England
to dramatic win over New
Zealand
WELLINGTON: Moeen Ali was as
surprised as anyone as he combined
with Adil Rashid to plunder New
Zealand's batting stocks in England's
dramatic four-run victory in the third
one-day international in Wellington on
Saturday, reports BSS.
Not even an unbeaten 112 by Kane
Williamson could save New Zealand
after their top order disappeared in Ali
and Rashid's devastating spell of five
wickets for 23 runs in 41 deliveries.
When time was up New Zealand were
230 for eight in reply to England's 234
after Chris Woakes bowled two dot
balls to Williamson to end the match.
"My plan was just to try and bowl
tight, it doesn't really change game to
game, and the wickets just came," said
man of the match Ali, who finished
with three for 36 while Rashid took two
for 34.
"They weren't great balls, but the
balls in between were building
pressure." The game boiled down to
New Zealand skipper Williamson
needing a six off the final ball, but a
wide yorker from Woakes meant he
was unable to deliver. New Zealand
appeared to have the game in their
hands at 80 for one in the 18th over,
before Ali and Rashid turned the
match. Williamson denied there were
concerns about the brittle New Zealand
batting performance. "Not really. It was
a game where we weren't at our
smartest. We didn't adjust well on a
tough surface and that's all it is," said
Williamson, adding it was a "very
frustrating" defeat.
"Starting off in our second innings we
were in a position of strength after
maybe 15 overs then we stumbled a bit
in the middle which really hurt us ...
and just a shame not to get across the
line. "And credit to the way the English
spinners bowled through the middle.
They were outstanding."
Ben Stokes took a stunning dive to his
left to catch Colin Munro (49) off
Rashid to ignite the slump as New
Zealand went from a comfortable 80
for one to 103 for six.
Williamson, who had struggled for
runs in recent innings and missed the
second ODI, which England won,
because of a hamstring strain, returned
to the arena with an imperious
performance for his 11th ODI century.
He faced 143 deliveries and was in the
middle for most of the New Zealand
innings after the early dismissal of
Martin Guptill for three.
Williamson shared a 68-run stand
with Munro, and once Ali and Rashid
had destroyed the rest of the recognised
Rafael Nadal out of Indian Wells Masters & Miami Open with hip injury.
Neymar’s golden foot
to go under the knife
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil: Brazil and
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar
was to undergo surgery for a broken right
foot Saturday, putting the planet's most
expensive footballer out of action until the
eve of the World Cup, reports BSS.
The operation, performed by national
team surgeon Rodrigo Lasmar, was
expected early morning in the Mater Dei
hospital in Belo Horizonte, where Neymar
checked in the previous night.
Jose Luiz Runco, a former chief medical
officer for the Brazilian team, told AFP
that the surgery to mend the broken fifth
metatarsal "is not difficult" and should
take between one hour and 90 minutes.
What concerns Brazil and PSG is how
long it will take Neymar to get back on the
field, scoring goals. Lasmar describes the
break as serious and says that recovery
will take from two and a half to three
months.
That leaves PSG without the strikerwhose
transfer from Barcelona cost the
club a record 222 million-euro ($264
million) last August-when they face Real
Madrid in a make-or-break Champions
League clash next Tuesday.
Neymar has scored 28 goals in 30
appearances in all competitions for PSG
since arriving, a prolific performance cut
short by the injury on February 25 during
PSG's 3-0 drubbing of Marseille.
Brazil's concern is that Neymar will be
coming back only a few weeks before the
June start of the World Cup in Russia.
After a remarkable turnaround in
fortunes since the shambolic exit in a 7-1
defeat against Germany in the 2014 cup,
Brazil is seen as a top contender this time.
A big part of that optimism, though,
depends on the talented Neymar.
Neymar returned from Paris to his villa
on the Brazilian coast Thursday and on
Friday night flew to Belo Horizonte.
In the heated atmosphere around the
operation, Brazil's Globoesporte website
claimed that Neymar was expected to
come by helicopter and had booked a
whole wing of the Mater Dei hospital. But
a local newspaper reported he would take
a more modest suite measuring around 80
by 40 feet (24 x 12 meters). Staff at the
hospital, a tall building with mirrored
windows, were put on paparazzi
lockdown, with a ban on using their
cellphones anywhere near the star.
However, an AFP photographer was given
access to a room similar to the one
Neymar was due to take-a small suite with
basic furniture and a second room for the
patient.
Neymar, 26, is hardly camera shy.
Ahead of his arrival at the hospital he put
up a picture on Instagram of himself in a
wheelchair with his actress girlfriend
Bruna Marquezine sitting on his lap and
kissing him.
The image-conscious PSG star also
posted a close-up of his hand, tattooed
with a small cross, holding Marquezine's
hand.
Neymar will feel the weight of a nation's
expectations as he races to recuperate in
time for the World Cup. He's already
seems sure to miss two warm-up
friendlies against Russia and Germany in
March.
However, he is in good hands. Lasmar's
father Neylor was also the Brazilian team
doctor in the 1980s and operated on
another big star of the Brazilian
footballing galaxy, Zico-getting him ready
in time for the World Cup in Mexico.
Neymar has scored 28 goals in 30
appearances in all competitions for PSG
since arriving, a prolific performance cut
short by the injury on February 25 during
PSG's 3-0 drubbing of Marseille.
Brazil's concern is that Neymar will be
coming back only a few weeks before the
June start of the World Cup in Russia.
After a remarkable turnaround in
fortunes since the shambolic exit in a 7-1
defeat against Germany in the 2014 cup,
Brazil is seen as a top contender this time.
A plus for Neymar is that the enforced
break from competitive football may do
him as much good as it threatens harm.
"When you think how exhausting the
European season is, he could even arrive
fresher than the others, both physically
and emotionally," said Cristiano Nunes,
the physiotherapist for Brazilian first
division club Internacional in Porto
Alegre.
"He'll return with a real desire to play
football and to show his potential."
New Zealand batting he engineered a
revival with Mitchell Santner. Santner
was given the benefit of the doubt on
two when Jason Roy took a catch at
ground level and there was no clear
evidence the ball had not touched the
grass.
From there he was more circumspect
to reach 41 before being run out when a
Woakes attempt to stop a Williamson
drive deflected off the bowler's
fingertips and on to the stumps, with
Santner caught out of his crease.
Woakes, defending 15 runs in the
final over, conceded two twos and a six
to Williamson and then fired in two dot
balls to prevent a New Zealand victory.
England, having been sent into bat
first, struggled to 234 built around a 71-
run stand for the fourth wicket by Eoin
Morgan and Stokes. Although the
wicket offered variable bounce it held
no serious demons, and the top nine
England batsmen all reached double
figures. Their problem was no one
could settle in long-term, and New
Zealand part-time medium pacer Colin
de Grandhomme was allowed to bowl
10 overs in which he took one for 24.
Ish Sodhi was more expensive with
his leg breaks but still claimed three
wickets for 53, while there were three
late run outs as England.
Photo: BBC.
U-14 School Handball
tournament begins
today
DHAKA: The Pran RFL U-14
School Handball tournament
( boys' and girls') begins
tomorrow (Sunday) at
Shaheed Captain M Mansur
Ali Handball Stadium in the
city, reports BSS.
Bangladesh Olympic
Association (BOA) deputy
secretary general and
Bangladesh Cricket Board
director Najib Ahmed is
expected to inaugurate the
meet as chief guest while
former BHF president Kazi
Abul Hakim and Pran
Confectionary's head of
marketing Shakhawat Ahmed
will be present as special guests.
A total of twenty four school
teams -- 12 of boys' and 12 of
girls'-are participating in the
meet, sponsored by Pran RFL
and organized by Bangladesh
Handball Federation (BHF).
Pran RFL will provide Taka,
1,50,000 out of the total
competition budget of Taka
1,70,000 to run the meet. In
this regard, a press conference
was held on Saturday at the
adjoining hall room of
Bangladesh Handball ground
to provide all the details of the
meet.
BHF general secretary
Asaduzzaman Kohinoor, Pran
RFL brand manager Yousuf
Arafat, tournament committee's
chairman Masum Samia Shila
and tournament committee's
secretary Ayesha Zaman Khuki
were present on the occasion.
Participating schools:
Boys' teams - South Points
School and College , Heed
International, Sunny Dale,
Dhanmondi Tutorial,
Scholastica Mirpur, Narinda
Govt. High School, Dhaka
Residential Model College,
Ideal School and College,
Shaheed Police Smrity
College, Saint Gregory
School, BAF Shaheen College
and Scholastica Uttara.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS
SUnDAy,
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
MARCH 4, 2018
10
The year of 2018 is expected to be a significant year in terms of diplomatic relationship between
Vietnam and Bangladesh as Bangladesh is all set to welcome the Vietnamese President Tran Dai
Quang who will arrive on a three-day state visit on 04 March 2018 with an aim to intensify trade &
investment advancement and to create favorable conditions for businesses between these two countries.
Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka is hosting a Vietnamese Food Festival 2018 along with a
Vietnamese Cultural Week in honor of the Vietnamese President His Excellency Tran Dai Quangin collaboration
with the Embassy of Vietnam in Bangladesh and Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The eventful Festival will provide a Three-dayCultural Fair at the Hotel's Ballroom along with a
Gastronomical Adventure of VietnameseFoodat Café Bazar Restaurant starting from 06 March to 08
March.
Photo: Courtesy
German new car sales jump in
February: Industry data
Sales of new cars increased strongly
in Germany in February, industry
data showed Friday, but shipments of
diesel vehicles continue to fall in the
wake of repeated scandals.
The number of new cars registered
on the country's roads rose by seven
percent to 261,700 last month, figures
from manufacturers' association VDA
showed.
That brought the total for the first
two months of the year combined to
531,100 vehicles, the highest level
since 1999, the VDA said in a
statement.
Nevertheless, sales of new diesel
cars continued to decline, separate
data from the KBA vehicle licensing
authority showed.
While 62.9 percent of new cars were
petrol powered, diesel vehicles
accounted for just 32.5 percent -- 19.5
percentage points lower than a year
U.S. sales of new cars and
trucks tailed off in February as
automakers eased up on
discounts.
Sales fell 2 percent from last
February to 1.3 million,
according to Autodata Corp.
Among major automakers,
only Toyota, Subaru and
Volkswagen reported sales
gains over last February.
Ford's U.S. sales chief Mark
LaNeve said automakers
spent an average of $65 less
per vehicle on incentives in
February compared to the
same month last year. That's a
stark contrast from 2017,
when incentive spending
often climbed $300 or $400
per month.
LaNeve said discounts
could grow during the spring
and summer, when tax
returns arrive and more
people shop for vehicles. But
based on the first two months
of this year, he expects
automakers to remain fairly
disciplined. In the past, heavy
before.
Diesel drivers, politics and industry
were held in suspense in February, as
a court decision approached on
whether the oldest cars powered by
the fuel could be banned from city
centres to fight air pollution.
Judges at the Federal
Administrative Court in Leipzig finally
approved the measure this week.
Now city, state and federal
governments, drivers, the auto
industry and environmentalists must
wrangle over how to meet targets for
levels of harmful nitrogen oxides
(NOx) and fine particles in city air-if
possible without driving bans.
In the meantime, the possible urban
exclusion zones and a plummet in the
resale value of diesel vehicles have put
buyers off the fuel.
World-leading carmaker
Volkswagen-at the origin of the diesel
US auto sales fell 2 percent
in February
discounting has led to
overproduction and steep
declines in automakers'
profits.
Here are some details
regarding February sales:
General Motors Co. sales
fell just under 7 percent to
220,905. Sales were dragged
down by the Chevrolet
Silverado pickup truck, GM's
top-selling vehicle. Silverado
sales were off more than 16
percent from a year ago, when
the company had record
February sales of SUVs and
pickup trucks. GMC and
Chevrolet sales were down for
the month but Buick and
Cadillac sales rose.
Ford Motor Co. sales also
fell 7 percent to 194,132. Ford
said its car and SUV sales
were down but sales of the F-
Series pickup - its biggest
seller - inched up 3.5 percent.
Ford brand sales were down 6
percent while luxury Lincoln
sales plummeted 23 percent.
Toyota Motor Corp. sales
rose 4.5 percent to 182,195
vehicles. Sales of its top-seller,
the Camry sedan, jumped 12
percent as an updated version
went on sale. Luxury Lexus
sales also rose 5 percent.
Fiat Chrysler's sales fell 1
percent to 165,903. Jeep
brand sales jumped 12
percent and Alfa Romeo sales
were also up, but Ram truck
sales fell 14 percent because of
a drop in fleet buyers.
Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat sales
also fell on low consumer
demand for cars.
Nissan Motor Co. sales fell 4
percent to 129,930. Demand
for Nissan cars fell 17 percent
but truck and SUV sales were
up 9 percent, led by the Rogue
small SUV. Nissan's luxury
Infiniti brand saw sales fall 7
percent.
Honda Motor Co. sales fell 5
percent to 115,557. Sales of its
best-seller, the CR-V SUV,
dropped 19 percent despite a
recent redesign. Luxury Acura
sales were up 1 percent.
scandal after it admitted in 2015 to
cheating regulatory tests on millions
of cars worldwide-has found itself in
the spotlight again in recent weeks
after it emerged that monkeys had
been used in diesel emission tests.
The Wolfsburg-based firm was
nevertheless able to increase sales of
its own-brand cars 12.4 percent yearon-year
last month, claiming more
than 18 percent of the German
market, the KBA data showed.
Neither was there much impact
from the scandal on sales of BMW or
Mercedes-Benz-the two high-end
carmakers that helped finance the
primate study.
Over the first two months,
homegrown carmakers increased
their German sales by around 8.0
percent, while foreign manufacturers
saw their sales grow by 13 percent, the
VDA said.
Greece says
gets green
light for more
bailout funds
Greece said Friday that EU
experts have approved a
fresh cash injection under its
bailout loan programme
which is due to wrap up later
this year.
The Greek finance
ministry said in a statement
that the 5.7 billion euros
($7.0 billion) should be
disbursed in mid-March
following approval by
lawmakers in several
eurozone countries.
The approval by experts
working for the Eurogroup
of eurozone finance minister
marks the formal closure of
the third review by Greece's
creditors under the current
bailout programme.
The current programme
worth a total of 86 billion
euros agreed in 2015 runs
until August this year, after
which the southern
European nation hopes to
fully return to market
financing and get back on its
own two feet.
Polwel Super Market Malik Samiti election 2017-2020 was held recently. Kaium Talukder and Jasim
Uddin were elected as the president and general secretary in the election. Photo: Courtesy
Infineon, SAIC
set up electric
car joint venture
in China
German computer chip
maker Infineon said Friday it
is teaming up with China's
biggest car maker, SAIC
Motor Corporation, to
produce power modules for
the Chinese electric car
market, the world's biggest.
Infineon said in a statement
it will hold a 49-percent stake
in the new Shanghai-based
company, SAIC Infineon
Automotive Power Modules
(SIAPM), which will make
inverters-vital parts that
convert power from the
battery to a form that can be
used by the car's engine.
SAIC will hold the other 51
percent.
The joint venture has
already received the necessary
regulatory approval and will
begin large-scale production
in the second half of this year,
Infineon said.
SIAPM will focus on the
massive Chinese market for
electric or hybrid vehicles,
which saw 794,000 sales last
year according to local auto
industry association CAAM.
Meanwhile, Infineon will
continue independently to
supply customers outside
China.
Complex electric car quotas
that Beijing will enforce from
next year are expected to
accelerate a growing trend
towards electric mobility.
Annual production of
hybrid and all-electric cars in
China could reach two million
vehicles by 2020 and 4.3
million by 2024, or around 45
percent of the forecast global
market, Infineon said, citing
an IHS Markit analysis.
OPPO the Selfie Expert and
Leader in going to launch an
upgraded version of A71. It is
equipped with 5MP A.I.
Beauty Recognition
Technology Selfie Camera.
Together with OPPO's A.I.
Beauty Recognition
Technology, A71 2GB brings a
more realistic and natural
selfie experience to more
young consumers, along with
the 16GB ROM and 3000
mAh battery. As a whole
makes the A71 2GB a versatile
product, a press release said.
The Managing Director of
OPPO Bangladesh Damon
Yang confirmed about this
handset and said, "Yes, we will
be bringing A71 2GB in
Bangladesh's market as well.
We are going to launch this
handset on 6th of this month."
He added that, "OPPO claims
leadership in the Selfie feature
and being the leader in the
market we always want to give
the best in convenient price.
A71 2GB would be OPPO's
first A series that sports
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
technology for Selfies in the
entry level smartphone. We
expect this one would create
tremendous consumer delight
in the market."
OPPO A71 2GB is the new
generation Selfie expert. It will
come with a 5 MP front lens
with beauty recognition A.I
US President Donald
Trump on Friday welcomed
the prospect of a trade war,
remaining defiant in the face
of the global uproar sparked
by his sudden
announcement of steel and
aluminum tariffs.
With global stock markets
tumbling and allies riled, the
president greeted the
negative reaction by raising
the stakes and vowing even
harsher trade policies.
In a blistering series of
morning tweets, he said he
would seek to impose
"reciprocal taxes" on all
imports from trading
partners that charge duties
on American exports.
That would ratchet up the
a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ' s
EU and South American
bloc extend trade talks
The European Union and
the South American trade bloc
Mercosur are extending talks
on a free trade deal by a
couple of weeks to resolve
"four or five" outstanding
issues, officials from both
sides said on Friday.
Paraguay's foreign minister,
Eladio Loizaga, said the
discussions had advanced and
"we can be satisfied" with the
progress so far.
Even though the current
round of face-to-face talks
wrapped up in Paraguay's
capital on Friday, the decision
was taken to keep the
negotiations going through
teleconferencing and emails,
Loizaga said.
"We can't close them
completely. There are four or
five issues in this moment, but
I don't foresee a big problem,"
said Edita Hrda, the chief for
the Americas for the EU's
foreign policy service.
She said she expected the
deal could be signed before
June, when Paraguay's term
chairing the talks comes to an
end.
There is a desire among the
parties to reach agreement
before Brazil-
Latin America's biggest
economy-enters campaigning
for October presidential
elections.
Mercosur comprises Brazil,
Argentina, Paraguay and
Uruguay. Troubled oil
producer Venezuela was
suspended indefinitely from
the bloc last year.
Discussions between
Mercosur and the EU toward
tech. The A.I. Beauty
Recognition Technology that
effortlessly helps you are at
your best in photos.
OPPO A71 2GB is tailored
for outstanding performance
confrontational "America
First" trade policy far
beyond the hefty steel and
aluminum tariffs he
announced Thursday-which
come despite strenuous
objections from stunned
advisors and powerful
industry groups.
The wide-ranging actions,
if imposed, would eviscerate
the rules-based global
trading system the US
helped to build, and
drastically raise the chances
of a trade war.
But in an early morning
tweet Trump seemed to
welcome the prospect,
saying "trade wars are good,
and easy to win."
Allowing imports into the
US market duty free when
a free trade deal began two
decades ago.
Loizaga identified
automobiles and auto parts as
one of the biggest sticking
points remaining in the talks,
specifically technical
standards. Agriculture was
another.
and to where it matters most
for young consumers. The
super 2GB operating
memory allows young people
to enjoy their favourite games
while three independent card
Defiant Trump welcomes
‘easy to win’ trade war
similar exports face tariffs is
"not fair or smart," Trump
said on Twitter.
"We will soon be starting
RECIPROCAL TAXES so
that we will charge the same
thing as they charge us.
$800 Billion Trade Deficithave
no choice!"
He also defended his
decision Thursday to impose
25 percent tariffs on steel
imports and 10 percent on
aluminum.
And while some allies, like
Canada, had hoped to be
spared the tariffs, a senior
administration official said
Friday that Trump had ruled
out allowing countries to be
exempted, which could
inflame tensions even
further.
Any resulting accord with
the EU would blaze a path for
other free trade pacts with
Mercosur. Negotiations are to
begin next week between the
South American bloc and
Canada and Singapore, with
South Korea discussions due
to begin later.
Trump takes steel rod to markets
with trade war threat
Donald Trump's controversial decision to slap tariffs on
steel and aluminium imports, followed up with tweets
apparently welcoming a trade war, sent world stock markets
slumping.
Equity markets, already on edge over worries about rising
US interest rates, tanked after the president imposed levies
on the commodities in his "America First" policy.
The tariffs -- 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on
aluminium-cover two materials that are the lifeblood of the
construction and manufacturing sectors.
Trump followed up the tariff announcements with tweets
on Friday that boasted trade wars are easy to win and
threatened to impose reciprocal taxes on trading partners.
"Equity markets are under serious pressure after President
Trump revealed his plans to levy tariffs on imported steel and
aluminium," said market analyst David Madden at CMC
Markets UK.
"The decision is part of Trump's 'make America great again'
campaign, but traders fear it could trigger a trade war."
US markets, which nosedived on Thursday after the initial
announcement, fell at the opening bell on Friday. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2 percent in late
morning trading, after having lost 1.7 percent the day before.
European equities fell sharply, with Frankfurt tanking 2.2
percent on worries about the eurozone's powerhouse
German economy, with Paris falling even more -- 2.4
percent.
Slumping shares in mining companies penalised London's
FTSE 100, which ended the day down 1.5 percent.
"While Donald Trump considers himself pro-business, the
imposition of tariffs across the aluminium and steel sector
has led to fears over a collapse in global trade," added IG
analyst Joshua Mahony.
"The threat of a trade war was always likely to hit the
export-driven German economy hardest."
OPPO is bringing an upgraded Pocket-
Friendly Smartphone -A71 (2GB)
slots (Double Nano-SIM
cards with the TF slot) enable
users to have 2 mobile
numbers for phone calls, and
also to extend the phone
memory to 256GB.
'Only losers' in
US-EU trade war:
French minister
French Economy Minister
Bruno Le Maire warned the
United States against a trade
war with the EU on Friday,
saying there would "only be
losers" in such a standoff.
Le Maire said US President
Donald Trump's plans to
impose tariffs on steel and
aluminium imports would, if
confirmed, be "unacceptable".
He called for a "strong,
coordinated and united
response from the EU".
Trump triggered a furore on
Thursday by announcing he
would slap tariffs of 25
percent on steel and 10
percent on aluminium to
protect US producers.
The announcement caused
an outcry among US allies
such as Canada, the EU,
Mexico and Australia as well
as China, the world's biggest
steel producer.

MISCELLANEOUS
11
SuNDAY, MArCh 4, 2018
Washington Legislature phases
out Atlantic salmon farming
The Washington Legislature on Friday
voted to phase out marine Atlantic
salmon aquaculture, an industry that
has operated for decades in the state
but came under heavy criticism after
tens of thousands of nonnative fish
escaped into waterways last summer,
reports UNB.
After lengthy debate, the Senate
passed the bill on a 31-16 vote. The
House earlier passed it on 67-31 vote
and it now heads to Gov. Jay Inslee, a
Democrat who has expressed support.
The bill would end state leases and
permits for operations that grow
nonnative finfish in state waters when
current leases expire in 2022.
The bill targets Canada's Cooke
Aquaculture Pacific, the largest
producer of farmed Atlantic salmon in
the U.S., whose net pens in northwest
Washington collapsed Aug. 19. Cooke
currently has two leases with the state.
State officials last month blamed
Cooke's negligence for failing to
maintain its net pens. They said the
escape of the salmon put the state's
ecosystem at risk and fined the
company $332,000. Up to 263,000
invasive Atlantic salmon escaped into
Puget Sound, raising fears about the
impact to native Pacific salmon runs.
Sen. Kevin Ranker, a Democrat who
sponsored similar legislation in the
Senate, said the "state ban is a strong
stance to ensure the protection of our
marine environment and native
salmon populations." Joel Richardson,
vice president of Cooke, said in a
statement that the company was
"deeply disappointed" with the bill's
passage, the potential impact on the
industry and "more than 600 rural
workers and their families that rely
upon salmon farming for their
livelihoods."
He said the company will evaluate its
operations and investments in the state
and ensure that whatever decision they
make puts families and workers first.
Richardson told lawmakers last
month that Cooke would be able to seek
damages under a provision of the
North American Free Trade Agreement
if the measure passed. He said the bill
would strip the Canada-based
company of its $76 million investment
in the state in an unfair way. He did not
address that issue in his statement
Friday.
Sen. Judy Warnick, a Republican,
said "we are putting an industry out of
business." Other Republicans who
opposed the bill said it would put
people out of work, shut down a vital
industry and set a bad precedent.
"This is the wrong action tonight and
I'm just appalled that this is the
direction we're going," said Sen. Shelly
Short, a Republican.
Republicans introduced numerous
amendments that were rejected,
including proposals to allow growing
native fish or single-sex Atlantic
salmon in net pens and a tax incentive
package to help the industry transition
to other operations.
Atlantic salmon farming has been in
the state since the 1980s but remains
controversial in the Northwest, famed
for its native Pacific salmon runs and
where tens of millions of dollars are
spent each year to bring back declining
populations of wild Pacific salmon
stock. Washington state joins Alaska,
which has banned commercial finfish
aquaculture. Oregon and California do
not have commercial salmon farming
operations. State officials last month
blamed Cooke's negligence for failing to
maintain its net pens. They said the
escape of the salmon put the state's
ecosystem at risk and fined the
company $332,000. Up to 263,000
invasive Atlantic salmon escaped into
Puget Sound, raising fears about the
impact to native Pacific salmon runs.
"Phasing out of industrial ocean fish
farms in Washington is a victory for our
oceans and coastal communities," said
Hallie Templeton with Friends of the
Earth in a statement.
Cooke, based in New Brunswick,
Canada, is the only company to farm
Atlantic salmon in state waters. The
company bought operations from Icicle
Acquisition Subsidiary in 2016. It was
in the process of getting permits for an
expanded operation near Port Angeles
when the net pens off Cypress Island
capsized.
Nor’easter hits
East Coast,
grounds flights
and halts trains
A nor'easter pounded the
Atlantic coast with
hurricane-force winds and
sideways rain and snow
Friday, flooding streets,
grounding flights, stopping
trains and leaving 1.6 million
customers without power
from North Carolina to
Maine. At least five people
were killed by falling trees or
branches, reports UNB.
The storm submerged cars
and toppled tractor-trailers,
sent waves higher than a
two-story house crashing
into the Massachusetts
coast, forced schools and
businesses to close early and
caused a rough ride for
passengers aboard a flight
that landed at Dulles Airport
outside Washington.
"Pretty much everyone on
the plane threw up," a pilot
wrote in a report to the
National Weather Service.
The Eastern Seaboard was
hammered by gusts
exceeding 50 mph, with
winds of 80 to 90 mph on
Cape Cod. Ohio and upstate
New York got a foot or more
of snow. Boston and Rhode
Island were expected to get 2
to 5 inches.
The storm killed at least
five people, including a 77-
year-old woman struck by
a branch outside her home
near Baltimore. Fallen
trees also killed a man and
a 6-year-old boy in
different parts of Virginia,
an 11-year-old boy in New
York state and a man in
Newport, Rhode Island.
Floodwaters in Quincy,
Massachusetts,
submerged cars, and
police rescued people
trapped in their vehicles.
High waves battered
nearby Scituate, making
roads impassable and
turning parking lots into
small ponds. More than
1,800 people alerted
Scituate officials they had
evacuated, The Boston
Globe reported.
Massachusetts Gov.
Charlie Baker activated
200 National Guard
members to help victims.
Will firms go elsewhere after
Georgia lawmakers-Delta spat?
Georgia lawmakers' decision to punish Delta
Air Lines for publicly distancing itself from
the National Rifle Association was an
extraordinary act of political revenge, reports
UNB.
By killing a proposed tax break on jet fuel,
pro-gun Republicans won a political victory
that could pay off in the short term, but other
companies won't soon forget that Georgia
allied itself with the NRA over one of its
largest private employers, with 33,000
workers statewide.
"When you inject naked politics - and
that's what this is - into the economic
equation, I think that it does have the chance
of spooking the business community," said
Tom Stringer, a New York-based consultant
for the business-advisory firm BDO. "One
thing about the business community is that it
has a very long memory."
The uproar began last Saturday when
Delta stopped offering fare discounts to NRA
members in the wake of the school massacre
in Florida. On Friday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian
insisted in a memo to employees that the
company was "not taking sides" on gun
control and made the decision in hopes of
removing itself from the gun debate. He said
the company's "values are not for sale" and
"we are proud and honored to locate our
headquarters here."
Delta recently signed a 20-year lease to
keep its hub at Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport in Atlanta, and
business consultants said other Atlantabased
firms, such as Coca-Cola and UPS, will
likely stay put too. But GOP lawmakers'
willingness to use public money to try to
intimidate corporations could damage
Georgia's ability to attract new industry -
including Amazon, which recently named
metro Atlanta a finalist for its coveted second
headquarters.
"I think it's fair to say that this situation
would not be helpful to the state of Georgia
in potentially securing the Amazon site," said
Jerry Funaro, Chicago-based vice president
for global marketing at TRC Global Mobility,
a relocation management company. "They
could certainly say that this would be a
reason to look elsewhere."
Amazon didn't immediately respond to a
message seeking comment.
Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who is
running in a crowded primary for governor
in May, set the stage for the fight with a tweet
Monday saying conservatives would fight
back. He defended the move Friday.
"We cannot continue to allow large
companies to treat conservatives differently
than other customers, employees and
partners," Cagle wrote in an opinion piece
published by The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution. "The voters who elected us and
believe strongly in our rights and liberties
expect and deserve no less."
Another GOP candidate for governor,
Secretary of State Brian Kemp, even
suggested using the estimated $38 million
the state would save by killing jet fuel tax
break to pay for a tax-free "holiday" on
purchases of guns and ammunition.
Other GOP leaders openly cringed at the
combative tone Cagle and others took.
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who is
term-limited and serving his final year,
bemoaned the controversy as an
"unbecoming squabble" fueled by electionyear
posturing. GOP House Speaker David
Ralston called it "not one of our finer days"
when the firestorm erupted Monday.
Republicans have controlled the
governor's mansion in Georgia since 2003, a
deep red streak that makes this year's GOP
gubernatorial nominee a likely favorite in
November.
Deal and other governors for decades have
made it a priority to ensure Georgia was an
attractive location for prospective employers,
said Charles Bullock, a political science
professor at the University of Georgia. Before
the NRA controversy, he said, many GOP
lawmakers defended the jet fuel tax break as
necessary to protect jobs.
"What this really does is it says, in terms of
setting priorities, that taking a stand on the
NRA is more significant," Bullock said. "The
jobs thing now is pushed to the back."
After Delta announced it was cutting ties
with the NRA, it took pro-gun Republicans
just days to make good on their threats by
passing a sweeping tax bill - minus the jet
fuel tax break.
Deal, who said an estimated $5.2 billion in
overall tax savings was too important to
sacrifice, swiftly signed the measure into law
Friday. He vowed to keep pursuing the jet
fuel exemption as a separate issue.
Delta revealed Friday that the NRA
discount that triggered the showdown had
barely been used. Offered recently for NRA
members flying to the group's 2018
convention in Dallas, only 13 discounted
tickets had been sold, Delta spokesman
Trebor Banstetter said.
Delta isn't the only company to take action
since the Feb. 14 slayings of 17 students and
educators in Parkland, Florida, by a gunman
armed with an AR-15 assault-style rifle.
Walmart, Kroger and Dick's Sporting Goods
have tightened their gun sales policies.
Meanwhile, MetLife, Hertz and others have
joined Delta in ending business ties with the
NRA.
The extent of the backlash Georgia might
face from businesses is unclear. But firms
from outside the South may think twice
about Georgia if they see a clash of corporate
values on guns and other social issues, said
Jon Gabrielsen, a business-strategy
consultant who worked 17 years in Georgia
before moving recently to Mexico.
28.10.0008.047.03.009.17/32 (Gjwc)
GD-347/18 (13 x 4)
GD-346/18 (9 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY
SuNDAy, DHAKA, MARCH 4, 2018, FAlGuN 20, 1424 BS, JAMADI-uS-SANI 15, 1439 HIJRI
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina waiving her hand at a rally at Khulna Circuit House on Saturday.
Quader warns
BNP against
violence in name
of movement
DHAKA : Road Transport
and Bridges Minister and
Awami League General
Secretary Obaidul Quader on
Saturday warned BNP that
the law enforcement agencies
would take necessary
measurers if the party carries
out any sort of violence in the
name of movement.
"We would face BNP's
strategy of movement politically,
if it remains political. If
the party carries out violence
and sabotage in the name of
movement, the law enforcement
agencies would take
necessary actions to protect
the life and property of people,"
he told newsmen while
conducting a leaflet distribution
campaign in the city's
New Market area.
The campaign is going on
since March 1 to make successful
the Awami League's
public rally at the historic
Suhrawardy Udyan on
March 7 marking the
anniversary of the landmark
speech of Father of the
Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman delivered
at the Race Course (now
Suhrawardy Udyan) on the
day 47 years back in 1971.
The minister said: "We are
stepping forward for holding
the next general election in a
free, fair and neutral manner
in line with the constitution
so that it can be acceptable to
all."
Palindromo Meszaros Captures the Aftermath
of Hungary’s Worst Toxic Spill
INTERESTING NEWS
In October 2010, the small town of
Ajka, Veszprém County, in western
Hungary, witnessed an environmental
disaster that is considered the worst in
the country’s history. The wall of a waste
reservoir in an aluminum factory collapsed,
releasing around a million cubic
metres of toxic waste. The two meterhigh
red toxic mud slide flooded several
nearby localities, burying buildings, poisoning
fields and killing nine people. It
took nearly a week to contain the spill
and several weeks thereafter to cleanup.
But every where the sludge touched, it
left behind an indelible red line.
Bangladesh improved
in graft ranking: PM
KHULNA : Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina
on Saturday said
Bangladesh's position has
improved in the world corruption
index as the government
took various
steps to eliminate corruption,
reports UNB.
"After coming to power
in 2009, the government
tried to eliminate corruption
from Bangladesh.
Now Bangladesh got its
recognition, Bangladesh
advanced two steps in
removing corruption," she
said.
Sheikh Hasina was
speaking at the 58th
Convention of the
Institution of Engineers,
Bangladesh (IEB) at
Khalishpur here.
During the BNP-Jamaat
regime, she said,
Bangladesh was on top of
the world corruption
index for five consecutive
years.
Hasina said the government
has taken steps so
that the rule of law could
be established.
"We've taken proper
steps so that people can
get benefits of the rule of
law," she said.
The PM also said the
government has taken
various measurers against
militancy, terrorism and
drug abuse.
Recently, Transparency
International in its corruption
perceptions index
said Bangladesh has progressed
by two positions
and ranked 143rd out of
180 in the ascending order
on the list of the most corrupt
countries in the world
in 2017. The country
placed 17th on the
descending list.
The Berlin-based organisation
also revealed that
Bangladesh scored 28 on
scale of 0 to 100.
According to the data,
Bangladesh ranked 15th,
13th, 14th, 16th, and 13th
in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013,
and 2012 respectively.
The Prime Minister
urged the engineers to play
more proactive role with
their professional competence,
honesty and sincerity
to implement the development
plans of the government.
"The main responsibility
of implementing the
development activities of
the government is entrusted
upon you."
She urged the engineers
to devote themselves to
the development of innovative
strategies and technology
to invent alternate
energy, energy efficient
technology and low-cost
homes considering
resource constraint.
Hasina also urged them
Six months after the incident, Spanish
photographer Palindromo Meszaros
decided to document the effects of the
massive spill through this set of photographs
entitled “The Line”. Mészáros
creates these images by lining up the tip
of the red stains with the horizon line in
each photograph making it look as if
someone had painted the town red on
purpose.
"Sometimes people think that it is a
conceptual installation when they start
watching," Meszaros says. "It's an effect I
was definitely looking for — something
could seem beautiful and evocative
somehow but at the same time make
people understand how terrible it was."
to give importance to environment-friendly
infrastructure
and technologies
used to minimise losses of
earthquake and disasters
to make the development
works sustainable.
Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina assured of extending
all support to the EIB
saying the Awami League
government always
remained beside them.
She said Bangladesh is
no longer lags behind in
the areas of science and
technology. "Bangladesh
is now a role model of
development with 7.28
percent growth last fiscal
year."
The Prime Minister also
sought support of everybody
to build Bangladesh
as a country free from
poverty and hunger.
She also conferred
AMIE degree on 97 successful
students of engineering
professional
course.
EIB President Kabir
Ahmed Bhuiyan presided
over the function while its
General Secretary
AbdusSabur and its
Khulna centre Chairman
Abdullah Sadik and president
of convention
preparatory committee
MoniruzzamanPolash,
among others, spoke on
the occasion.
Road to 7th March'
concert to enthrall
Khulna fans Monday
DHAKA : Leading youth platform
Young Bangla will stage
'Road to 7th March' concert at
Khulna circuit house ground on
Monday marking the anniversary
of Bangabandhu's landmark
7th March speech.
Popular rock musical bands
Mechanix and Nemesis will
perform in the concert to mesmerize
the fans with rock
music. No ticket or prior registration
is required to enter the
concert venue as it is open for
all.
This is the first time the
Young Bangla is taking its
annual immensely popular live
musical show 'Joy Bangla
Concert' outside Dhaka with
the title 'Road to 7th March".
The youth network under the
auspicious of Center for
Research and Information
(CRI) has been organising the
concert annually since 2015.
This year, the celebration is
more significant for the country
as the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) has recognised the
landmark speech of
Bangabandhu as a world documentary
heritage.
The main concert will be
staged at the Bangladesh Army
Stadium on March 7 as leading
musical bands Powersurge,
Arbovirus, Shunno, Nemesis,
Cryptic Fate, Lalon, Chirkutt
and Artcell will perform.
Photo : PID
Islamic Foundation
creates 1.59 lakh jobs
DHAKA : Two projects of
Islamic Foundation have created
employment facilities for
1,58,702 people, an official said
yesterday. The projects are titled
mosque-based child and mass
education programme and education
and resource centre proggramme,
reports BSS
Assistant project director of
the mosque-based child and
mass education programme
Alman Hossain told BSS that a
total of 81,067 people got job
under the mosque-based child
and mass education programme,
while 77,635 people
have been employed under
education and resource centre
programme. He said under the
mosque-based child and mass
education programme, children
were imparted education on different
subjects including
Bangla, Mathematics, English,
Arabic to make them skilled
workforce with moral values.
An exciting colorful water rally with 100 traditional boats was held in the capital's scenic
Hatirjheel.
Photo : Star Mail
Employment growth
drops in RMG
sector: CPD
DHAKA : Claiming that the
employment growth in Ready
Made Garments (RMG)
enterprises somewhat decelerated
in recent years, Center
for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on
Saturday said that the percentage
of female workers in
the enterprises is also declining,
reports UNB.
Dr Khondaker Golam
Moazzem, Research Director
of CPD came up with this
information at a dialogue
over his research work
'Ongoing Upgradation in
RMG Enterprises:
Preliminary Results from a
Survey' arranged by CPD in a
city hotel.
Dr Moazzem conducted a
research on 193 enterprises
and 2270 workers and found
it out that 47.37 per cent of
large enterprises and 25 per
cent of medium enterprises
use advanced technology and
female workers are proportionately
less knowledgeable
about operating different
Election campaign thru' social
media likely to be restricted
Dhaka : The Election
Commission has drafted the
code of conduct for the
upcoming parliamentary
polls banning election campaign
on social media and
electronic displays, reports
UNB.
The Commission incorporated
the new provision in
the draft code of conduct for
political parties and candidates
in the national election
as a number of political parties
suggested the EC to contain
social media rumor and
propaganda joining the EC's
dialogue in the last year.
According to the section
7(Ka) of the draft code, no
candidate, supporter or
political party can conduct
any campaign on social
media, including facebook,
twitter and viber.
The same section also says
no electronic and display
board can be used in the
election campaign.
The EC's Committee for
Legal Reform, headed by
Election Commissioner
Kabita Khanam, drafted the
code of conduct last week
brining some changes to the
existing code of conduct of
2008, which was subsequently
amended ahead of
the 2014 national election.
The Committee, at a meeting
last week, decided to
place the draft code of conduct
at the Commission's
meeting to get its clearance,
said EC officials preferring
not to be quoted.
machines compared to their
male peers which might be
the reason behind the
decrease of female workers in
this sector.
The survey report shows
that high level of genderimbalance
in the management
profession has been
continued as managers of the
factories are overwhelmingly
male.
Though the size of RMG
enterprises, in terms of number
of workers, has getting
marginally bigger, overall
gender balance among production
workers in RMG
enterprises has become less
female dominated.
The report reveals that
share of female employment
in upper and middle grades
are slowly rising in case of
middle grades like grade III,
IV and V, but female workers
remain scant in top grades
such as Grade I and II.
According to the survey
results, difference between
Then the code of conduct
will be sent to the Law
Ministry for vetting before
the EC finalises it, the officials
said.
Kabita Khanom could not
be reached over phone
despite repeated attempts by
the UNB correspondent for
comments.
Besides, a provision has
been proposed in the code of
conduct that no live animal
(jibontoprani) can be used
as election symbol during
the polls campaign.
Following a brief hearing,
'electoral enforcement officers'
will be able to award
punishment to any candidate
or supporters of any
candidate for violating the
code of conduct before the
election.
The provision has been
proposed aiming to take
prompt action against the
violation of the code of conduct.
The 'electoral enforcement
officer' is a new terminology
which has been used
here instead of probe committee
as such jargon has
also been used in the draft
Representation of Peoples
Order.
Any aggrieved or political
party can seek remedy to any
election anomaly from the
electoral enforcement officer
or lodge complaint with the
officer.
Besides, if the Election
Commission deems any
complaint as objective, it
may send the complaint to
male and female wages is
about 3 per cent which indicates
gender-wage gap,
though at limited level.
Though female workers in
lower grades receive higher
wages, those of middle grades
are paid lower than their
male counterparts on average.
As per the survey, workers'
monthly wage is on average
Tk 7,270 for male workers
and Tk 7,058 for female
workers excluding bonuses.
However, the speakers and
participants of the dialogue
identified lack of technology
training and social security
for female workers, the number
is going down.
A representative from
Bangladesh Mukto Sramik
Federation said, female
workers are now mostly preferred
in production and finishing
floor only in the factories,
while the male workers
are preferred for the other
sections.
the officer concerned or the
electoral enforcement officer
for looking into the anomaly.
In addition, if any anomaly
somehow comes to the
notice of the Commission, it
can send the matter to the
officer concerned or electoral
enforcement officer for
investigation, or give directive
to the returning officer,
the presiding officer and law
enforcement agencies to
take instant actions against
any anomaly.
In the draft code of conduct,
Zila Parishad chairmen
have also been termed as
'very important persons
enjoying the government
benefits'.
In the existing code of conduct,
the Prime Minister, the
Speaker, ministers, the chief
whip, the Deputy Speaker,
the Opposition Leader, the
Deputy Leader of the House,
the Deputy Opposition
Leader of the House, state
ministers, whips, deputy
ministers and any other person
enjoying the equivalent
status, MPs and city corporation
mayors are defined as
very important persons.
To arrange a rally during
the election, it will require
permission from the proper
authorities over the day,
time and venue of the rally,
and the authorities will have
to inform its decision within
24 hours after receiving the
written application in this
regard, according to the
draft code of conduct.
Dhaka ready to
welcome Vietnamese
President Sunday
DHAKA : President of
Vietnam Tran Dai Quang
awaits a rosining reception
as he arrives here on a threeday
state visit on Sunday,
reports UNB.
The Vietnamese President,
who arrived in New Delhi on
Friday evening on a threeday
visit, is coming here at
the invitation of his
Bangladesh counterpart
Abdul Hamid when the two
countries are looking for a
broader trade and investment
ties.
President Abdul Hamid
will receive Tran Dai Quang
as he is scheduled to arrive at
Hazrat
Shahjalal
International Airport at 4pm
on Sunday by a special flight,
an official told UNB.
Cabinet members, including
Foreign Minister AH
Mahmood Ali, are also
expected to remain present
on the occasion.
A smartly turned out contingent
comprising members
of Bangladesh Army, Air
Force and Bangladesh Navy
will give guard of honour to
the Vietnamese President.
He will be welcomed with a
21-gun salute.
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Advisory Editor: Advocate Molla Mohammad Abu Kawser, Managing, Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka.
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