08-03-2018

ThuRSday
Dhaka : March 8, 2018; Falgun 24, 1424 BS; Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1439 hijri
www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com
Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.77; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00
InTeRnaTIOnal
Lanka blocks social
media as anti-Muslim
rioting flares
>Page 7
aRT & culTuRe
Gary Oldman's son
defends him against
abuse allegations
>Page 8
SPORT
9 years later, Liverpool
back in Champions
League quarters
>Page 9
Myanmar : UN for
expediting criminal
proceedings in courts
'Ethnic cleansing still on in Rakhine'
Int'l Women's Day today
DHAKA : International Women's Day
will be observed today across the
country as elsewhere in the world
with a call for ensuring women's participation
in all spheres of the national
development to build a prosperous
country, reports BSS
On the eve of the day, President Md
Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages,
greeting all women across the
world.
In their messages, they said the
day's theme 'Samoy Ekhon Nareer:
Unnayane Tara, Badle Jacche Gram-
Shahore Karma Jibon Dhara' is time
befitting in the current perspective
and wished success of all programmes
of the day.
In his message, President Md Abdul
Hamid said the present government is
implementing various plans to ensure
security and free access to workplaces
for women and their participation in the
Zohr
05:02 AM
12:15 PM
04:24 PM
06:07 PM
07:20 PM
6:15 6:04
DHAKA : The UN Human Rights
Council has decided to ask the General
Assembly to establish a new independent
and impartial mechanism to prepare
and expedite criminal proceedings
in courts against those responsible in
Myanmar for launching ethnic cleansing,
reports UNB.
"The government must take steps
towards real accountability for these violations,
and must fully respect the rights
of the Rohingya, including to citizenship,"
said High Commissioner for
Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.
He made the remark at the 37th session
of the Human Rights Council on
Wednesday while presenting the annual
report and oral update on the activities of
his office and recent human rights developments.
He said a recent announcement that
seven soldiers and three police officers
will be brought to justice for the alleged
extrajudicial killing of 10 Rohingya men
is grossly insufficient, according to his
speech a copy of which UNB obtained
from Geneva.
The UN rights boss said any repatriation
agreement should lay out a clear
pathway to citizenship and put an end to
the discrimination and violence inflicted
on the Rohingya; these conditions are
clearly not in place today.
He thanked Bangladesh for hosting
almost one million refugees. "I'll continue
to call on member states for longterm
support for host communities, as
well as to uphold the refugees' rights to
education and a livelihood."
The UN rights chief said the situation
of the Rohingya community in
Myanmar, and of some 900,000
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, continue
to be of intense concern.
Zeid Ra'ad announced this week, following
his mission to Bangladesh, he
said his office believes that ethnic cleansing
is still going on in Rakhine.
While the township of Maungdaw has
been essentially emptied of its Rohingya
community, people continue to flee to
Bangladesh because of systematic -
though lower-intensity - persecution and
violence in other towns and villages.
Victims have reported killings, rape,
torture and abductions by the security
forces and local militia, as well as apparently
deliberate attempts to force the
Rohingya to leave the area through starvation,
with officials blocking their
access to crops and food supplies.
"This Council is aware that my office
has strong suspicions that acts of genocide
may have taken place in Rakhine
since August. I'm therefore not surprised
by reports that Rohingya villages which
were attacked in recent years, and
alleged mass graves of the victims, are
being bulldozed," said Hussein.
This appears to be a deliberate attempt
by the authorities to destroy potential
evidence of international crimes. "I've
also received reports of the appropriation
of land inhabited by Rohingya and
their replacement by members of other
ethnic groups," he said.
Access for independent human rights
monitoring is practically non-existent
across Myanmar, but it appears clear
that longstanding discriminatory policies
and practices also continue against
other groups, said Hussein.
In Shan and Kachin states, civilian
casualties continue to be reported as a
result of attacks by the security forces.
"I'm also alarmed by a dramatic erosion
of freedom of the press; journalists
have in recent months faced escalating
intimidation, harassment, and death
threats," he said.
policy making levels, including establishing
rights and spreading education
for them.
"Now, the backward women are
even the stakeholder of the national
development," the President said,
adding that the women participation
in commercial activities is increasing
day by day.
Referring to different successes of
the country in women empowerment,
he said Bangladesh is now globally
recognized as the role model of
women empowerment.
In her message, Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina recalled with respect
the national and international pioneers
of women wakening and 2 lakh
women who lost their dignity during
the country's War of Liberation in
1971.
She urged all to work together for
building a developed and prosperous
country by ensuring women's development,
participation and rights in
every sphere of the national development.
Referring to different laws and policies,
including National Women
Development Policy 2011, taken to protect
women rights, the premier said,
"The Awami League government has
been implementing various programmes
for the last nine years attaching
priority to the women empowerment
and development".
The government, she said, has also
introduced maternity allowance,
allowance for lactating mothers and
allowances for widows-divorced and
repressed women and maternity leave
has been extended to six months to
ensure social security for women.
The women are playing a vital role
in different areas, including politics,
judiciary, administration, education,
health, armed forces and law enforcing
agencies, due to the time befitting
and pragmatic measures of the government,
the premier added.
On this day of national importance, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressing the people at the capital's Suhrawardy
Udyan. Earlier UNESCO recognized the historic 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a part of
world's documentary heritage.
Photo : Star Mail
Kishoreganj
auditor fails
to fall off
ACC radar;
Tk 92 lakh
recovered
DHAKA : Members of the Anti-
Corruption Commission (ACC)
recovered TK 92 lakh, allegedly
embezzled by some government
officials in the name of land acquisition,
from Kishoreganj district
auditor's house on Wednesday,
reports UNB.
A special team of ACC, led by
Nasim Anwar of Dhaka divisional
office, conducted a drive at the
house of auditor Md Syeduzzaman
in Harua area of the district town
around 12am, ACC public relations
officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya
told UNB.
The team found the money concealed
in a shopping bag and
deposited it to the government treasury.
On January 16, the ACC arrested
Setaful Islam, an ex-land acquisition
official of Kishoreganj, from
Pirojpur Circuit House in connection
with the embezzlement of Tk 5
crore of government money during
his tenure as district land acquisition
officer in Kishoreganj land
office.
ACC Assistant Director
Ramprasad Mondol (Mymensingh
Coordinated Area) filed a case
against him with Kishoreganj Sadar
Police Station before conducting
the drive to arrest Setaful.
Bengal Tiger
spotted in Sylhet
SYLHET : A photo showing presence
of a Royal Bengal Tiger in
Malnichhara Tea Estate area in
the district went viral on the social
networking site Facebook drawing
huge public attention, reports
UNB.
One Mohammad Mansun saw the
tiger sitting on a road side while
passing Malnichhara Tea Estate
area on the Airport Road here on
Tuesday night and uploaded the
image of the tiger on Facebook.
In the post it is also written that
the tiger crossed the road and went
inside the tea garden.
Manirul Islam, Division Forest
Officer (DFO) of Sylhet said "We
have got the information and
already a team of forest department
is working to catch the tiger."
The forest official launched 'camera
tracking' to detect the position
of the tiger, he said.
Recently, the forest official detected
the pugmarks of tiger in the
Malnichhara Tea Estate area.
Besides, the local people were a little
bit worried following the tiger's
footprints and a corpse of a cow in
the area.
War criminals, looters must
not come to power: PM
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina on Wednesday urged all to
remain united so that war criminals,
killers, looters and embezzlers of
orphans' money can never come to
power, reports UNB.
"My urge to you all, war criminals,
killers, embezzlers of orphans' money
and looters could never come to power
and push the country towards of the
path of destruction, I'm requesting you
all to remain united," she said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a
big public rally at historic
SuhrawardyUdyan. Awami League
organised the rally marking the historic
March 7, commemorating the historic
speech of Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman
in 1971.
She said those who believe in independence,
spirit of the Liberation War,
and the development of the country
and its people would at least remain
aware about it.
Sheikh Hasina said the culprits who
were involved in crimes against the
humanity, genocide, looting, arson,
rape, and handed over the country's
women to Pakistani occupational forces
must not be in power.
The Prime Minister said those who
were involved in embezzling orphans'
money, siphoning off public money,
killing people through arson attacks, in
the murder of 27 law enforcement personnel
should be kept out of power forever.
"If they come to power, they'll
BNP leaders
meet Khaleda
Zia in jail
DHAKA : An 8-member
BNP delegation, including
its secretary general
Mirza Fakhrul Islam
Alamgir, met their
chairperson Khaleda Zia
in jail here on
Wednesday, reports
UNB.
BNP standing committee
members Mirza Fakhrul,
Khandaker Mosharraf
Hossain, Moudud Ahmed,
Mahbubur Rahman, Dr
Abdul Moyeen Khan, Mirza
Abbas, and Amir Khasru
Mahmud Chowdhury met
her around 2:50 pm while
Jamiruddin Sircar at 3:15
pm at the old central jail at
Nazimuddin Road.
On February 8 last, a
special court here sentenced
Khaleda to five
years' rigorous imprisonment
in the Zia Orphanage
Trust graft case.
Khaleda, a 73-year-old
a former prime minister,
was taken to the old
central jail minutes after
the delivered the verdict.
force the country towards the path of
destruction," she said.
She also urged the people of the country
to remain united for advancing the
country imbued with the spirit of the
great Liberation War.
AL leaders SajedaChowdhury, Amir
Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed,
MatiaChowdhury,
Sheikh
FazlulKarimSelim, Mohammad
Nasim, Engineer MosharrafHossain,
Sahara Khatun, Faruk Khan, Obaidul
Kader, Jahangir Kabir Nanak,
MirzaAzam, Khalid Mahmud
Chowdhury, and Dhaka South City
Mayor SayeedKhokan also spoke on
the occasion. AL publicity secretary
DrHasan Mahmud conducted the
progamme.
The gathering at SuhrawardyUdyan
began from the morning. Thousands of
Awami League leaders, activists and
supporters thronged the venue with
banners, placards, festoons and other
displays.
Sheikh Hasina, also the AL chief,
directed party leaders and activists to
showcase the development activities of
the government to the mass people.
"The continuation of our development
has to be maintained because this will
help us reach the middle-income country
status by 2021 InshahAllah and
make the country hunger and poverty
free by 2041," she said. The PM also
said when Awami League remains in
power the country moves towards
development and alleged that there had
DHAKA : BNP secretary general Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday said
their jailed chairperson Khaleda Zia urged
people not to pay heed to anyone's provocation
and continue the peaceful movement,
reports UNB.
"Khaleda's health condition is good. She
urged all not to pay heed to anyone's provocation
and continue the movement in a peaceful
manner," said Fakhrul while talking to
reporters after coming out of the old central
jail at Nazimuddin Road in the city.
"Khaleda Zia's morale is high....she's facing
the adverse situation with courage. She said
been no development during Ziaur
Rahman, Ershad and Khaleda Zia's
regimes. "They don't want development
as they don't believe in
Independence, as they made their own
fortunes." Talking about social menaces
like militancy, terrorism and drug
abuse, she said there is no room for
these anti-social elements in
Bangladesh. "We have to free the country
from terrorism and militancy as the
previous government made it a haven
for these elements." The Prime
Minister urged all to help the law
enforcing agencies and people of the
administration to keep the youths of the
country away from militancy, terrorism
and drug abuse and give them a healthy
life. Pointing to the recognition of the
historic March 7 speech of
Bangabandhu by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (Unesco) she said the
appeal of this speech is everlasting.
Highlighting the significance of March
7, Hasina said the momentous speech
which Bangabandhu delivered on this
day in 1971 at Suhrawardy Udyan
inspiring people even after 45 years.
She said Bangabandhu prepared the
nation step by step for the independence
and it was reflected in the speech.
Hasina, the eldest daughter of
Bangabandhu, said the March 7 speech
of Bangabandhu is an inspiration for
the oppressed people of the world who
are still fighting for their political and
economic freedom.
Khaleda fine; she wants peaceful
movement to continue: Fakhrul
she's ready for any sacrifice for the sake of the
country, for the sake of democracy," he said.
Earlier, an 8-member BNP delegation,
including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul
Islam Alamgir, met their chairperson Khaleda
Zia in jail in the afternoon.
BNP standing committee members Mirza
Fakhrul, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain,
Moudud Ahmed, Mahbubur Rahman,
DrAbdul Moyeen Khan, Mirza Abbas, and
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury entered
the jail around 2:50 pm while Jamiruddin
Sircar at 3:15 pm. They stayed there for
around 4:30 pm.

NEWS
THuRSDAY,
MARcH 8, 2018
2
An exhibition was held in Noakhali marking the speech of 7th March of Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman.
Photo : Manik Bhuyan
Bangabandhu's
speech was
spontaneous,
impromptu:
Tarana
DHAKA : State Minister for
Information Tarana Halim
said yesterday that
Bangabandhu's speech on
March 7, 1971 was
spontaneous and
impromptu.
"There was no written
script or any paper in front
of him. He only had his
spectacles," she said.
Tarana was speaking at a
function organised by the
Department of Films and
Publications (DFP) at its
premises to officially hand
over the certificate given by
UNESCO to the directorgeneral
of DFP for the
organisation's role in
preserving the speech.
"The speech was
recognized by the UNESCO
as a Global Heritage
Document," she also said,
mentioning that Abraham
Lincoln's Gettysburg
address which was globally
cited as a great piece of
oratory was a written
speech.
The state minister said, in
a recent book by Jacob F
Field, Bangabandhu's
speech was included along
with that of Winston
Churchill, Abraham Lincoln
and Mao-Tse-Tung as a
great speech in the history of
mankind.
She thanked the DFP and
Bangladesh Betar for
preserving the document.
Earlier, Minister of
Information Hasanul Haq
Inu, State Minister for
Information Tarana Halim
and secretary of the ministry
Md Nasiruddin Ahmed
received the UNESCO
certificate from Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina on
behalf of the departments
under the information
ministry on Tuesday.
Jatiya Party brings peace
for people: H M Ershad
Rafiqul islam, Gaibandha CoRRespondent
Jatiya Party chairman and former President
Hossain Mohammad Ershad said that at
present there is no peace in human mind.
Disappearance and murder are being
increased. There is only one way to keep
peace in countries people through Jatiya
party. Jatiya Party is the only loadstar to
show the way of salvation. He said, there is
no alternative way of Jatiya Party to remove
the increasing of price hike, protect the touth
society from Yaba and drugs, save the honor
of mothers and sisters
On Wednesday, H M Ershad was
addressing as the chief guest at a rally
organized by the district National Party, at
Dariapur Aman Ullah High School ground of
Gaibandga Sadar Upazila. He also said that
present govt don't become tensed about
about the next power.
He said, the Jatiya Party's victory is
confirmed in Sundarganj by-election on next
13 March if voting be held in fair way. The
country's people want to change and that
kind of change will be started from
Sundorganj Gaibandha. To obtain in the
majority in vote in the next election, Jatiya
Party will form the government, Ershad
assured. National Party will give 300 seats in
the next parliamentary election.
H M Ershad demanded to the Election
Commissioner to hold the Sundarganj
election as fair as Rangpur City Corporation
Election.
Golden rice to bring
revolutionary change
in rice arming: Matia
DHAKA : Agriculture Minister Begum
Matia Chowdhury yesterday expected a
revolutionary change will come in rice
farming through introducing genetically
modified golden rice in the country as the
vitamin enriched rice variety will protect
people from vitamin-A deficiency disease.
The minister said this while addressing a
workshop titled "Progress and Safety
Evaluation of GR2E Golden Rice" held at
CIRDAP auditorium in the city.
After achieving commercial success in
BT bringal, a genetically modified crop, in
2013, we are cultivating three GMO crops
on experimental basis like golden rice, late
blight potato variety and bt cotton, she
said.
As rice produce almost 70 per cent of our
daily calorie, the agriculture minister said
that's why consumption of only 150 grams
of golden rice in a day will fulfill around
half of necessary vitamin-a demand of a
person.
The minister said the golden rice variety
now is being cultivated in controlled
environment as the scientists of
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute
(BRRI) certified that adequate level of bita
carotene contain in per 10-12 grams of rice.
In last Boro season, the country achieved
expected yield in the first experimental
cultivation of the golden rice variety, said
the workshop.
The agriculture minister, however,
expressed caution over the cultivation of
the variety as the BRRI will take necessary
steps to release the variety at the farmers
level after receiving food and environment
safety certificate from the International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
IRRI is now leading the innovation of
new rice variety and carrying out
evaluation of the golden rice in the southeast
Asia especially in Bangladesh, the
Philippines and Indonesia.
Chaired by Executive Chairman of
Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council
(BARC) Dr M Iqramul Haq, the workshop
also was attended, among others, by BRRI
Director General Dr M Shahjahan Kabir,
Additional Secretary of the Agriculture
Ministry M Fazley Wahed Khandoker and
IRRI Director General Dr Matthew
Morell.
Man kills
elder brother
in Rajshahi
RAJSHAHI : A younger
brother killed his elder
brother at Bhosana village
under Mohonpur union of
Godagari upazila of the
district over land dispute
on Tuesday, reports UNB.
The victim was identified
as Abdur Rahim, 38, son
of late Belayet Ali of the
same village.
Quoting witnesses,
officer-in-charge of
Godagari Model Police
Station Md Altaf Hossain,
said two siblings-Abdur
Rahim and Abdul Karimhad
a longstanding land
related dispute.
As a sequel to the
dispute, the duo got into
an altercation during
harvesting pulses around
7:30am. At one stage of
altercation, Karim hit on
Rahim's head with stick
and Babul got dropped on
the ground. Later, the
relatives and locals
rescued him but he died on
way to Rajshahi Medical
College Hospital.
After the incident, the
younger brother went into
hiding.
Roof collapse
kills 3 workers
in Panchagarh
PANCHAGARH : Three
workers were killed and
three others injured as the
roof of a refueling station
collapsed on them in
Khanpukur area in the
district town on
Wednesday noon, reports
UNB.
The deceased were
identified as Mawla Liton,
35, son of Akkas Ali of
Purba Jalasir area, Babu
Ali, 25, son of Yusuf Ali, a
resident of Chanpara area
and Saju, 35, son of Abdul
Baten of Darjipara area.
Police said that the roof
of the under-construction
building of 'Panchagarh
Filing Station' collapsed
around 1:30pm, leaving
two workers dead on the
spot and four others
injured.
The injured were
admitted at Rangpur
Medical College Hospital
and Panchagarh Adhunik
Sadar Hospital.
Among the injured, one
died on the way to
hospital.
Several workers also
remained missing after the
incident.
'Robber' killed in Gazipur 'gunfight'
GAZIPUR : A suspected robber was killed in a reported
gunfight between his cohorts and police at Patka in Sreepur
upazila here early Wednesday, reports UNB.
The deceased was identified as Abdur Rab Hawladar, 35, of
Goshairhat upazila in Shariatpur district.
Acting on secret information that a group of robbers was
taking preparation to commit robbery in the area, a team of
police conducted a drive around 3am, said Joynal Abedin,
duty officer of Sreepur Police Station. Sensing the presence of
the law enforcers, the robbers opened fire to police,
prompting them to fire back, triggering a gunfight. At one
stage of gunfight, Abdur Rab caught in the line of fire and
sustained bullet injuries. Later, he was taken to Shaheed
Tajuddin Medical College Hospital where the doctors
declared him dead. Three policemen were also injured in the
incident. The deceased was wanted in 15 cases, said police.
Youth beaten up by
mob for rape attempt
RAJSHAHI : A young man was injured in mob beating on
allegation of attempting to rape a 10-year-old schoolgirl at
Roypara in the city on Tuesday afternoon, reports UNB.
Jahidul alias Sukbal, 25, son of Selim Reza, a resident of
Guripara in the city, attempted to rape the fifth grader at her
house. Hearing her scream, locals rushed in and caught
Jahidul, said Rabiul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kashiadanga
Police Station. Later, the youth was handed over to police
after a good thrashing.
Housewife burnt ‘by
husband’ dies in Sirajganj
SIRAJGANJ : A housewife, who sustained burn injuries after
she was set afire allegedly by her husband at Gopalpur village
in Chauhali upazila on Tuesday, died at a hospital on
Wednesday, reports UNB.
The deceased was identified as Sonia Khatun, 24, wife of
Jahangir Hossain of the village under Enayetpur Police
Station. Jahangir and Sonia used to quarrel over trivial
matter. On Tuesday, Jahangir set Sonia afire pouring
kerosene into the body over the issue, leaving her critically
injured. With 40 percent burns on her body, Sonia was taken
to Yunus Ali Medical College Hospital.
Later, she was taken to Sadar hospital where she
succumbed to her injuries around 1 am, said Rashedul Islam,
officer-in-charge of Enayetpur Police Station.
Jahangir went into hiding soon after the incident.
we`ÿ r/Rb-1006(2)/7/3/18
GD-375/18 (5 x 3)
Good-bye to
Pakistan's
proxies: Inu
DHAKA : Information
minister and president of
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal
(JASHOD) Hasanul Haq
Inu, MP, yesterday said that
on March 7, 1971
Bangabandhu bid farewell to
Pakistan, similarly we have to
say good-bye to the "proxies"
of Pakistan now.
Speaking at two meetings,
one at the Col. Taher
auditorium at Bangabandhu
Avenue and the other at the
National Museum, the
minister in identical speeches
made these remarks.
"We could not reach a
compromise with Pakistan.
Similarly, we cannot find a
compromising formula for
Pakistan's proxies, like
Khaleda Zia. Those who had
love for Pakistan in those
days could not understand
that Pakistan was always
conspiratorial and in denial
of Bangladesh. Those who
are advocating for
compromise with Pakistan's
proxy, Khaleda Zia, do not
understand that it is not
possible. She still remains in
love with Razakars," Inu said.
The minister said that
through the March 7 speech,
Bangabandhu had effectively
taken over control of
Bangladesh and prepared an
unarmed population for
battle. The recognition of this
historical speech by the UN
has made it a model known,
globally.
'Robber' killed
in Rangpur
'gunfight'
GD-368/18 (6 x 3)
RANGPUR : A suspected
robber was killed and
another injured in a
'gunfight' with police in
Munshipara graveyard
area of the city early
Thursday, reports UNB.
The deceased could not
be identified immediately.
Tipped off that, a gang of
robbers was preparing for
committing robbery, a
team of police conducted a
drive, said Babul Miah,
officer-in-charge of
Kotwali Police Station.
Sensing the presence of
the law enforcers, the
robbers opened fire on
them, prompting them to
retaliate, triggering the
gunfight.
After the gunfight, two
bullet-injured robbers
were arrested from the
spot.
Later, they were taken to
Rangpur Medical College
and Hospital where
doctors declared one dead.
GD-369/18 (7 x 4)

METRO
ThurSDAY, MArCh 8, 2018
3
Brac organized a program at VIP lounge of National Press Club yesterday to reveal a research report over sexual harassment
for woman and accident-free road.
Photo : Courtesy.
4 Indian nationals
handed over to BSF
BENAPOLE : Members of
Border Guard Bangladesh
(BGB) have handed over
four Indian nationals, who
were illegally entered
Bangladeshi territory, to
BSF through a flag meeting
on Wednesday morning.
The transferors are-
Ashutosh Shikdar, 50, his
wife Minty Sikder, 40, Sunil
Majumder, 55, Chhota
Mitra, wife of Bakul
Majumder, 45. Lt Col
Tariqul
Hakim,
Commanding Officer (CO)
of BGB-21 Battalion, said a
team of border force
arrested them from Patkhali
bordering area on Tuesday
as they were illegally entered
to Bangladesh. They were
later handed over to BSF
through a flag meeting at
Angrail BSF Camp, said the
CO, reports UNB.
BTCL lowers
internet
domain fees
DHAKA : Bangladesh
T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
Company Limited (BTCL)
has decided to provide
allocation and registration of
.bd (dot bd) and .bangla (dot
bangla) domains at a flat
yearly rate of Tk. 800 from
now on, reports UNB.
A BTCL press realise
issued on Tuesday stated
that the customers
previously used to pay
varying rates of Tk. 5,000,
Tk. 15,000 and Tk. 25,000
for premium domains but
now the authorities lowered
it down to Tk. 800 for all.
The domains will be
allocated and registered on
'first-come first-serve' basis.
The customers can apply
online for application,
allotment and payment at
WWW.btcl.com.bd or
btcl.bangla.
BD Delhi mission
observes historic
7th March
DHAKA : Bangladesh High
Commission in New Delhion
Wednesdayheld a
discussion meeting
highlighting the significance
of Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman's historic
7thMarch speech that
inspired and prepared the
Bengalees to successfully
fight for their nation's
independence in 1971.
The speakers said
UNESCO has done a great
honour to Bangladesh by
including the speech in the
Memory of the World
Registrar as the documentary
heritage.
Bangabandhu's historic
speech has inspired the
nation to fight for the
independence. The UNESCO
recognition of the speech will
inspire the nation to work
hard to build a happy and
prosperous "Sonar Bangla"
dreamt by the Father of the
Nation, the speakers said.
PM to visit Singapore
on March 11
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Dhaka for
Singapore on March 11 on a four-day official tour at the
invitation of her Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong,
reports UNB.
During her visit, a bilateral meeting will be held between
the two premiers, said Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali
while briefing reporters at his ministry on Wednesday.
She will pay on a courtesy call to first female President of
Singapore Halimah Yacob.
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister for
Power and Energy Nasrul hamid, senior government officials
will accompany her.
A high-level business delegation will also accompany the
premier.
PM will address two business meetings of Bangladesh-
Singapore Business Forum-2018 and Bangladesh-Singapore
Business roundtable as chief guest.
An orchid will be named after Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina at Singapore botanical garden.
On March 12, she will attend a lunch hosted by Singapore
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Six agreements and Memorandum of Understandings
(MoUs) are likely to be signed during her visit to Singapore.
The agreements include MoU on Collaboration of
Investment activities into Bangladesh; MoU on Public
Private Partnership; Confidential Memorandum of
Understandings (MoUs) to expand the Air Service
Agreement; MoU on Digital leadership, Innovation, and
Digital Government Transformation; MoU between FBBCI
and Singapore Manufacturing Federation to strengthen
business relations and promote economic cooperation; MoU
between MCCI and Singapore Manufacturing Federation to
strengthen business relations and promote economic
cooperation.
President to leave
for India today
DHAKA : President Abdul Hamid will leave Dhaka for India
on Thursday on a five-day official visit.
He will participate in the founding ceremony of
International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Solar Summit on
March 11, jointly hosted by India and France in New Delhi,
said Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali while briefing
reporters at his ministry on Wednesday, reports UNB.
Presidents, prime ministers, ministers from 23 countries
will participate in the summit.
After the summit, joint statement will be made from
participant countries.
Alongside joining the summit, President Abdul Hamid is
likely to pay courtesy calls on presidents of India, Sri Lanka
and France.
On November 30, 2015, India and France, at the UN
Climate Change Conference in Paris, have launched an
International Solar Alliance to boost solar energy in
developing countries.
The President will visit his memorable places in Assam and
Meghalaya during 1971 Liberation War.
He was the sub-sector commander of the Bangladesh
Liberation Force (Mujib Bahini).
He inspired and organised Bangladeshi youths, who took
shelter in India during the war, at Gumaghat, Moilam and
Balat in Meghalaya.
Hamid established a youth reception camp at Balat for
Bangladeshi youths and he acted as president of the camp.
He will return on March 12.
GD­372/18 (14 x 5)
GD­373/18 (6 x 3)

EDITORIAL
THuRSDay,
maRCH 8, 2018
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Thursday, march 8, 2018
Bangabandhu’s unforgettable
7th march speech
A
grateful
nation on Wednesday rememberedthe
speech that our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered 47 years ago on
this date at Ramna Race Course before a crowd of well over
two million people. Itwas an amazing event in the context of
theoretical application of communication science. An
incredible manifestation of modern communication
concepts could be observed in this historic speech by the
greatest Bangali of all times - Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman. Bangabandhu completed this timeless speech in
19 minutes by uttering between 58 and 60 words per
minute.
If the contents of the speech are analysed, it is seen that it
was basically a message about the emergence of a new state
on the global map and a notification cum narrative on the
winding up of the eastern region of the then Pakistani state
as a natural progression. The 7th March speech was the
main mantra and theory for an independent Bangladesh.
This address was like a war-cry during the nine months of
our liberation war. Whether children or juvenile, young or
old, everybody became excited after listening to this speech.
This speech not only united the 7 crore Bangalis then - it
taught them the mantra of joining the liberation war.
It was a dialogue between the people of Bangladesh and
their undisputed leader on the eve of Bangladesh's birth.
This 7 March address of 1971 was not only the greatest
speech in Bengali language, it is one of the best of its type in
the entire world. This is because, this speech was
simultaneously the declaration of our independence and the
inspiration of our liberation war. This speech will always
continue to rekindle the Bangali nation with a spark of fire
showing the path of realizing their goals with indomitable
spirit. The fiery and ground-breaking address of Father of
the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 7
March 1971 is the best example of this genre. A speech that
could inspire an entire nation to join the liberation war was
a rare event in history. Analysis of the importance,
significance and timeliness of this speech, which contained
the directives and declaration of the liberation war in
Bangabandhu's own voice, has remained a gold-mine for
researchers. UNESCO recently recognized the speech as a
milestone in world's history and advancement.
The manner in which this address had invigorated and
indoctrinated the Bangalis with the mantra of liberty added
a new chapter in the annals of speeches. This historic
address is considered to be a compulsory text at home and
abroad by the experts of public speeches, researchers and
communication theorists. That is why, the international
periodical 'Newsweek' termed Bangabandhu as a 'Poet of
Politics' in the cover story of its 5 April 1971 issue. The
speech has been recognized as one of the world's most
famous speeches of its type for rousing people in the book
"We Shall Fight on the Beaches: The Speeches That Inspired
History", by Jacob F. Field.
Why the name and fame of Banghabandhu endures so
popularly is because he was not merely an individual.
Through his unflinching dedication to his cause, matchless
patriotism and self sacrifice, he has lived through the
decades in people's memory as an iconic personality. Thus,
today, he is romanticised and described as a whole splendid
revolution himself, an upsurge-the essence of epic poetry
and history. Contemporary history has recognized him as
the greatest Bengali of the past thousand years.
His greatness, the vision and promises thrown forth by
him, are the basic source of inspiration of this Bengali
nation. He was a very great friend of the teeming millions
of our people. To the nation he is the Father. In the view of
men and women in other places and other climes, he is the
founder of sovereign Bangladesh.
Journalist Cyril Dunn once said of him, "In the thousands
of years of history of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib is the only
leader who has, in terms of blood, race, language, culture
and birth, been a full-blooded Bengali. His physical stature
was immense. His voice was redolent of thunder. His
charisma worked magic on people. The courage and charm
that flowed from him made him a unique superman in these
times." Newsweek magazine called him the poet of politics.
Embracing Bangabandhu at the Algiers Non Aligned
Summit in 1973, Cuba's Fidel Castro noted, "I have not seen
the Himalayas. But I have seen Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In
personality and in courage, this man is the Himalayas. I have
thus had the experience of witnessing the Himalayas." Upon
hearing the news of Bangabandhu's assassination, former
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson wrote to a Bengali
journalist, "This is surely a supreme national tragedy for you.
For me it is a personal tragedy of immense dimensions."
Bangabandhu was absolutely committed to work for the
public interest and the national interest with everything he
possessed in his body and soul. He distinguished himself
soon in his political career as the strongest advocate of
Bengali nationalism. It was this particular passion that led to
the rise of his ideology based on Bengali nationalism and for
democracy leading to his brilliantly steering the course for
the achievement of independent Bangladesh
At the United Nations, he was the first man to speak of his
dreams, his people's aspiration, in Bangla. The language
was, in that swift stroke , recognized by the global
community. For the first time after Rabindranath Tagore's
Nobel achievement in 1913, Bangla was put on a position of
dignity. The multifaceted life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
cannot be all put together here in language or colour. The
reason is : Mujib was a larger than life titanic figure. It is not
possible to hold within the confines of this column the
picture or the extent of his greatness. He was the supreme
leader in the struggle for our national independence . The
greatest treasure of the Bengali nation is preservation of his
legacy. He has conquered death. His memory should be an
everlasting guide to his countrymen.
It was because of Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRhman
that his countrymen today live completely free in the air of
freedom and enjoy unfettered all the opportunities for
theirself development and progress and their collective
advancement as a people and nation. Bangbandhu's
activities of a lifetime bestowed these great gifts on his
people and the country. Today, Bangladesh is recognized as
a rising power in the family of nations. Various projections
by world renowned analysts have confidently projected that
Bangladesh is destined to be a great economic power house
only decades from now and also a force for the good and
welfare of entire mankind at the world stage. When this
happens, Bangladeshis will realize how much they owe to
Bangabandhu for setting them on this glorious path.
Why International Women’s Day important
International Women's Day (IWD)
is celebrated across the world on
March 8 every year. The aim of
IWD is to achieve gender equality for
women. According to a report of
World Economic Forum in 2017, it
could still take another 100 years
before the global equality gap
between men and women disappears
entirely.
On the occasion of IWD, women
across the world come together to
force the world to recognise these
inequalities and celebrate the
achievements of women who have
overcome these barriers.
The theme of this year's IWD is
'Press for Progress'.
This year, IWD comes on the heels
of unprecedented global movement
for women's rights, equality and
justice. Sexual harassment, violence
and discrimination against women
has captured headlines and public
discourse, propelled by a rising
determination for change.
IWD is an opportunity to
transform this momentum into
action, to empower women in all
settings, rural and urban, and
celebrate the activists who are
working relentlessly to claim
women's rights and realize their full
potential.
According to United Nations, IWD
is also an opportunity to consider
how to accelerate the 2030 Agenda,
building momentum for the effective
implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals, especially goal
number 5: Achieve gender equality
and empower all women and girls;
and number 4: Ensure inclusive and
quality education for all and promote
lifelong learning.
According to documents, the
earliest observance of Woman's Day
was held in New York on February
28, 1909, and was organised by the
Socialist Party of America. A year
later, at the International Women's
Conference in Copenhagen, Socialist
representatives proposed that there
should be an International Women's
Day, inspired by the demonstration
in New York. The delegates agreed
that an international day should be
formed as part of a strategy to
promote equal rights for women and
women's suffrage. It was celebrated
for the first time in Austria,
Denmark, Germany and Switzerland
on March 19, 1911. Two years later, in
Political corruption in Israel is
endemic. It is not an occasional
occurrence pertaining to the
slip-ups of a few individuals, but
rather the status quo in a country
that never ceases to masquerade as
the healthiest and the most
transparent of all democracies.
What is particularly baffling - but
not entirely surprising - about media
coverage of the corruption
investigations of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is the
painstaking efforts by corporate
western media to present
Netanyahu's years-long corruption
as isolated cases.
Nothing is further from the truth. It
is quite telling that the first police
recommendation to charge
Netanyahu with corruption was back
in March 2000 but went unheeded.
Instead, the then-attorney general
ordered the case shut and Netanyahu
returned a few years later to the helm
of Israeli politics to serve as the
prime minister of Israel for three
more terms.
His corruption in the last decade
was never doubted, yet he still
managed to secure Israeli votes. In
fact, if elections take place today,
Netanyahu's rightwing Likud Party
will win a few more seats, despite all
that has been divulged about him.
Netanyahu's enablers are in fact a
small army of corrupt officials,
businessmen, media moguls and the
likes. Their perverted apparatus is
like an octopus whose outreach can
be felt in every aspect of life, from
shady business dealings, to
government nepotism and media
manipulations to fancy cigars and
pink champagne.
Yet, again, there is little to dispute
how this massive corruption racket
is, in fact, a microcosm of the larger
phenomenon that has afflicted Israel
as a whole.
Columnist Brant Roberts
articulated this reality best in a
recent article.
"That he is being charged is far
from surprising," he wrote. "What is
surprising is that his tenure has
included indiscriminate bombing
raids and a decade-long blockade of
Gaza, violations of international law,
massive deportations of African
refugees, imprisonment of
Palestinian children and countless
human rights violations against
Palestinians."
1913, it was proposed to shift the
date on March 8 and since then the
day has been celebrated as
International Women's Day.
Though a hundred years have
passed since the declaration of IWD,
the condition of women in
Bangladesh leaves much space for
improvement. Violence against
women is still prevailing in the
country especially against those who
come from the impoverished
sections of the society. Dowry related
violence, rape, acid throwing,
domestic violence, sexual
harassment, wage discrimination
and social discrimination are
widespread occurrences, which are
also prevailing here.
According to UNICEF, sociocultural
environment of Bangladesh
contains pervasive gender
discrimination, so girls and women
face many obstacles to their
development. Girls are often
considered to be financial burdens
on their family, and from the time of
birth, they receive less investment in
their health, care and education.
The rate of child marriage and
adolescent motherhood in the
country is among the highest in the
world. About 48 per cent of
Bangladeshi women say that their
husbands alone make decisions
about their health, while 35 per cent
say that their husbands alone make
decisions regarding visits to family
and friends. Violence against women
is a major impediment to women's
development here, says the UN body.
Taking into consideration the
plights of the women, who comprise
half of the country's total population,
the government took a number of
initiatives for their welfare.
mD. SazeDul ISlam
Education is essential in reducing
discrimination and violence against
girls and women and Bangladesh has
made great progress in this area. The
country has already achieved gender
parity in primary and secondary
education.
Over the recent decades
Bangladesh has brought major
improvements in the lives of
children, adolescents and women in
a relatively short time span. Thus the
country has done well to reach the
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) targets on underweight
children and hunger, gender parity
in primary and secondary education,
child and maternal mortality.
Women and Children Affairs
Ministry is working ensuring
women's participation in all
The delegates agreed that an international day
should be formed as part of a strategy to promote
equal rights for women and women's suffrage. It was
celebrated for the first time in austria, Denmark,
Germany and Switzerland on march 19, 1911. Two
years later, in 1913, it was proposed to shift the date
on march 8 and since then the day has been
celebrated as International Women's Day.
"Israel is the only country in the
world that continues to practice
Apartheid, many years after it was
disbanded in South Africa."
Yet, that is not the work of
Netanyahu alone, but the by-product
of the collective moral corruption of
a highly militarised society held
unaccountable for its own
destructive ideas about racial and
religious supremacy.
But only a few are making this
obvious connection. Worse, some
journalists are erecting pseudojournalistic
smokescreens to divert
from the discussion altogether.
In an article published in Al
Monitor, Israeli journalist, Shlomi
Eldar, went to unprecedented
lengths to divert attention from the
corruption in his country.
He spoke of Palestinian journalists
- all speaking on condition of
anonymity - who 'applauded' and
'admired' Israeli media coverage of
Netanyahu's corruption scandals.
This same 'admired' Israeli media
has largely supported Netanyahu's
devastating wars on Gaza,
relentlessly defend the illegal
occupation of Palestine and serve as
a shield for Israel's stained
reputation on the international
stage.
This is hardly praiseworthy even if
it arguably provides decent coverage
for the Netanyahu investigations.
For an Israeli journalist to
handpick a few Palestinians who
purportedly praised the war-crimes
apologist, Israeli media can certainly
not be satisfactorily addressed in
anonymity.
But Eldar's journalism aside, one
would think that seeking Palestinian
development relating to capacity
development of women by 2021. In
the present decade Bangladesh has
achieved considerable progress on
women development, especially
women education and political
empowerment.
According to World Economic
Forum's 'Gender Gap Index Report'
Bangladesh stood 72nd position
among 144 nations in the world in
2016, and stands as the top country
consecutively 2nd times among
South Asian countries.
The Ministry is working for
mainstreaming women in the overall
development through establishment
of rights of women and children and
women empowerment. The present
government has taken different
initiatives on women and children
development for the implementation
of Vision 2021.
Bangladesh is committed to
achieve comprehensive development
admiration for Israeli media should
be the least urgent question to
address at this time.
What Israelis are trying to tell us is
that, despite all of its problems,
Israel is an admirable, transparent,
law-abiding and democratic society.
This is precisely the motivation
behind Eldar's article. The outcome
was a familiar act of intellectual
hubris that we have grown familiar
with.
Eldar even cites a supposedly
former Palestinian prisoner who told
Al Monitor that, while in prison, "we
learned how the democratic election
process works in Israel. The
prisoners adopted the system in
order to elect their leadership in a
totally democratic fashion, while
ensuring freedom of choice."
Others cited their favourite Israeli
journalist, some of whom have
served and continue to serve as
mouthpieces for official Israeli
hasbara (propaganda).
Many of Israel's friends in western
governments and corporate media
have also contributed to this
opportunistic style of journalism;
they come to the rescue during trying
times to find ways to praise Israel
and chastise Palestinians and Arabs,
even if the latter are completely
irrelevant to the discussion.
If Israeli media was truly honest in
its depiction of Netanyahu's
corruption, it would have made a
point of highlighting the extent to
which corruption extends well
beyond the prime minister, his wife
and a few close confidantes, but this
would pierce through the entire
legal, political and business
establishment rendering the system
of women according to Constitution.
This commitment is expressed
through Article 27, 28, 29 and 65(3)
of Bangladesh Constitution. Article
28(4) of the Constitution provides
for making specific law for women
emancipation.
Apart from this, Bangladesh is a
signatory to almost all international
conventions and covenants for
women development. The
Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) is worth
mentioning.
Driven by the constitutional
obligations and commitment to the
international legal instruments, the
government has accorded special
emphasis on the programmes to
promote women's development in
the 7th Five year Plan, Sustainable
Development Goals and National
Women's Policy, 2011.
The National Women's Policy has
set 22 targets. The overall activities
of the Ministry of Women and
Children's Affairs are closely
associated with the implementation
of these goals.
The Ministry has formulated
Domestic Violence (Protection and
Preservation) Rules, 2013 under
Domestic Violence (Protection and
Preservation) Act 2010 to ensure
equal rights and prevent all forms of
discrimination in all spheres of
public life and state.
In order to ensure overall
development of women and children,
the government has formulated
'National Women Development
Policy, 2011; National Children
Policy, 2011; Early Childhood Care
and Development Policy, 2013;
Deoxyribonucleric Acid (DNA) Act,
2014 and Early Marriage Protection
Act,2017.
'National Plan of Action' has been
formulated to implement National
Women Development Policy and
prevention of violence against
women and children. All these
instruments are targeted to
transform women into a capable
human capital through their
political, social, administrative and
economic empowerment.
Md. Sazedul Islam
The author is a journalist.
Email: sissabuj@yahoo.com
Israeli media failed in covering Netanyahu’s corruption
Ramzy BaRouD
He spoke of Palestinian journalists - all speaking on
condition of anonymity - who 'applauded' and
'admired' Israeli media coverage of Netanyahu's
corruption scandals. This same 'admired' Israeli
media has largely supported Netanyahu's devastating
wars on Gaza, relentlessly defend the illegal
occupation of Palestine and serve as a shield for
Israel's stained reputation on the international stage.
This is hardly praiseworthy even if it arguably provides
decent coverage for the Netanyahu investigations.
itself as rotten and corrupt.
Instead, the heart of the discussion
is relocated somewhere else entirely.
In Eldar's article, for example, he
quotes the anonymous Palestinian
who speaks about how Palestinians
prisoners "rejected the political
systems of Arab states and opted for
the one they had absorbed from the
'Israeli enemy'."
This Israeli obsession of diverting
from the discussion is an old tactic as
Israel fashions an Arab enemy to
beat down, chastise and blame
whenever it is in the dock for
whatever problem.
In the final analysis, Israel
somehow maintains the upper hand
and self-granted moral ascendancy.
For this reason, Israelis refer to
their country as "the only democracy
in the Middle East"- a defence
mechanism used to divert from the
fact that apartheid, raciallystructured
political systems, are
inherently undemocratic.
When Israel facilitated and helped
carry out the Sabra and Shatila
Massacre in Lebanon in September
1982, it used the same logic to defend
itself against media outrage.
The then Israeli prime minister,
Menachem Begin, was quoted as
saying "the goyim kill goyim, and
they blame the Jews." By 'they' he
meant the media.
The bottom line is always this:
Israel is blameless despite the
hideousness of the act; it is superior
and more civilised, and, according to
Eldar's selective reporting, even
Palestinians know this.
But where is the outrage by Eldar
and his Israeli media champions
when millions of besieged and
subjugated Palestinians continue to
live a bitter existence under an
inhumane military occupation?
In some strange way, corruption is
one of few things that is truly normal
about Israel, for it is a shared quality
with every country in the world.
What is not normal, and should
never be normalised, is that Israel is
the only country in the world that
continues to practice apartheid,
many years after it was disbanded in
South Africa.
Israeli media would rather delay
that discussion indefinitely, a
cowardly act that is neither
admirable nor praiseworthy.
Source: Gulf News

HEALTH
THURSdaY, MaRCH 8, 2018
5
nice prize for
alzheimer’s work
a mother holding her lovely baby.
Photo: internet
is it shameful to breastfeed
in the open?
MiCHEllE RobERTS
Four dementia scientists have
shared this year's 1m Euro brain
prize for pivotal work that has
changed our understanding of
Alzheimer's disease.
Profs John Hardy, Bart De
Strooper, Michel Goedert, based in
the UK, and Prof Christian Haass,
from Germany, unpicked key protein
changes that lead to this most
common type of dementia. On getting
the award, Prof Hardy said he
hoped new treatments could be
found. He is donating some of his
prize money to care for Alzheimer's
patients.
Much of the drug discovery
research that's done today builds on
their pioneering work, looking for
ways to stop the build-up of damaging
proteins, such as amyloid and
tau. Alzheimer's and other dementias
affect 50 million people around
the world, and none of the treatments
currently available can stop
the disease. Prof Hardy's work
includes finding rare, faulty genes
linked to Alzheimer's disease. These
genetic errors implicated a build-up
of amyloid as the event that kickstarts
damage to nerve cells in
Alzheimer's.
This idea, known as the amyloid
cascade hypothesis, has been central
to Alzheimer's research for
nearly 30 years. Together with Prof
Haass, who is from the University
of Munich, Prof Hardy, who's now
at University College London, then
discovered how amyloid production
changes in people with rare inherited
forms of Alzheimer's dementia.
Prof Goedert's research at Cambridge
University, meanwhile,
revealed the importance of another
damaging protein, called tau, while
Prof De Stooper, who is the new
director of the UK Dementia
Research Institute at UCL, discovered
how genetic errors that alter
the activity of proteins called secretases
can lead to Alzheimer's
processes.
Dr David Reynolds, Chief Scientific
Officer at Alzheimer's Research
UK, said: "Our congratulations go
to all four of these outstanding scientists
whose vital contributions
have transformed our understanding
of the complex causes of
Alzheimer's disease. "The fact that
three of these researchers work in
the UK reflects the country's position
as a global leader in dementia
research."
Prof Hardy said he would be
donating around 5,000 euros of his
share of the 1m euros from the
Lundbeck Foundation to help campaigns
to keep Britain in the EU,
and called Brexit a "unmitigated
disaster" for scientific research. He
also pledged his thanks to all the
people with Alzheimer's who, over
the years, have volunteered to help
with dementia research.
CHiTRa RaMaSwaMY
Shock, horror! A woman has bared part of one of her
breasts (let's say 35% of total breast area) on a magazine
cover in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Not for the
sake of titillation but lactation: to feed a baby. The model
gazes out at the reader with a defiant half-smile. The
baby feeds on, blissfully unaware that its food source is
also an international site of objectification. The cover
line reads: "Mums tell Kerala: don't stare - we need to
breastfeed." The response? Lots of staring, debate, outrage,
accusations of sensationalism and one indecency
case launched against the magazine, Grihalakshmi.
Which is ironic because feeding a baby is pretty much
the definition of human decency.
The cover was inspired by a photo of an Indian
woman, Amritha, publicly breastfeeding her daughter,
which went viral on Facebook. Amritha says she was
told off for breastfeeding her baby in hospital and
advised that if she fed without covering her breasts, her
milk would dry up. But, before we start congratulating
ourselves for our more evolved attitudes, remember
that the UK has the lowest breastfeeding rates in the
world, and women are still not permitted to nurse in the
House of Commons chamber.
Breastfeeding is bloody hard work, and I write this
with my own seven-month-old on my breast, not for
authenticity's sake but because she is hungry. It takes
patience, practice, commitment, physical strength,
good humour, multiple tubes of Lansinoh cream, and
enough chutzpah to withstand the stares, unwanted
advice and general opprobrium that come your way
whenever you need to feed your baby while out and
about. This is why a third of women feel embarrassed
breastfeeding in public, according to one UK survey.
I've breastfed both my babies; my son until he was
nearly two (go on, judge me). This has meant feeding on
the bus, in cafes, on park benches, in front of my dad,
and - on one particularly fabulous occasion - on stage
while I was discussing Anne of Green Gables. I have felt
embarrassed, vulnerable and exposed. Once, I retreated
to the toilet. It's not easy whipping out an intimate and
sexualised part of your body that has doubled in size
and developed the ability to shoot multiple jets of hot
milk from its core. This should incite praise, compassion
and awe, as opposed to accusations of indecency.
The only shame in breastfeeding is in the misogynistic
attempt to turn the simple, free, loving and necessary
act of feeding our babies into a dirty secret.
alzheimer's disease brain (left) compared to normal (right).
Photo: Science Photo library
Human skin bacteria
could protect against
cancer
Professor Jeff gordon, one of the world's leading experts on the human microbiome, talks to his
students.
Photo: Mark Katzman
The surprising power of microbes
Ed Yong
'So, what's in the thermos?" I asked. I
was standing in a lift at Washington
University in St Louis, with Professor
Jeff Gordon and two of his students,
one of whom was holding a metal canister.
"Just some faecal pellets in tubes,"
she said. "They're microbes from
healthy children, and also from some
who are malnourished. We transplanted
them into mice," explained Gordon,
as if this was the most normal thing in
the world.
The lift doors opened, and I followed
Gordon, his students, and the thermos
of frozen pellets into a large room. It
was filled with rows of sealed chambers
made of transparent plastic. Peering
inside one of these chambers, I met the
eyes of one of the strangest animals on
the planet. It looked like just a mouse,
and that is precisely why it was so
weird. It was just a mouse, and nothing
more. Almost every other animal on
Earth, whether centipede or crocodile,
flatworm or flamingo, hippo or human,
is a teeming mass of bacteria and other
microbes. Each of these miniature
communities is known as a microbiome.
Every human hosts a microbiome
consisting of some 39 trillion microbes,
roughly one for each of their own cells.
Every ant in a colony is a colony itself.
Every resident in a zoo is a zoo in its
own right. Even the simplest of animals
such as sponges, whose static bodies
are never more than a few cells thick,
are home to thriving microbiomes.
But not the mice in Gordon's lab.
They spend their entire lives separated
from the outside world, and from
microbes. Their isolators contain everything
they need: drinking water, brown
nuggets of chow, straw chips for bedding,
and a white styrofoam hutch for
mating in privacy. Gordon's team irradiates
all of these items to sterilise them
before piling them into loading cylinders.
They sterilise the cylinders by
steaming them at a high temperature
and pressure, before hooking them to
portholes in the back of the isolators,
using connecting sleeves that they also
sterilise.
It is laborious work, but it ensures
that the mice are born into a world
without microbes, and grow up without
microbial contact. The term for this is
"gnotobiosis", from the Greek for
"known life". We know exactly what
lives in these animals - which is nothing.
Unlike every other mouse on the
planet, each of these rodents is a mouse
and nothing more. An empty vessel. A
silhouette, unfilled. An ecosystem of
one. Each isolator had a pair of black
rubber gloves affixed to two portholes,
through which the researchers could
manipulate what was inside. The gloves
were thick. When I stuck my hands in,
I quickly started sweating. I awkwardly
picked up one of the mice. It sat snugly
on my palm, white-furred and pinkeyed.
It was a strange feeling: I was
holding this animal but only via two
black protrusions into its hermetically
sealed world. It was sitting on me and
yet completely separated from me.
When I had shaken hands with Gordon
earlier, we had exchanged microbes.
When I stroked this mouse, we
exchanged nothing.
The mouse seemed normal, but it
was not. Growing up without microbes,
its gut had not developed properly - it
had less surface area for absorbing
nutrients, its walls were leakier, it
renewed itself at a slower pace, and the
blood vessels that supplied it with
nutrients were sparse. The rest of its
body hadn't fared much better. Compared
with its normal microbe-laden
peers, its bones were weaker, its
immune system was compromised,
and it probably behaved differently too.
It was, as microbiologist Theodor Rosebury
once wrote, "a miserable creature,
seeming at nearly every point to require
an artificial substitute for the germs it
lacks".
niCola daviS
A type of bacteria commonly found on
human skin produces a substance that
may help protect against skin cancer,
researchers have revealed. The scientists
say the surprise discovery regarding
a strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis
highlights the importance of the
community microbes found on and in
the body in preventing disease.
While it is not clear whether the
absence of this strain could increase the
risk of skin cancer in individuals, the
team say that it is possible the findings
might one day lead to preventive treatments
for patients. "The presence of
this strain may provide natural protection,
or it might be used therapeutically
to inhibit the growth of various forms of
cancer," said Prof Richard Gallo, a coauthor
of the research from the University
of California, San Diego.
The finding was somewhat serendipitous.
With previous research showing
that chemicals produced by Staphylococcus
species commonly found on
healthy human skin can kill off certain
harmful bacteria, the team looked at
numerous strains to explore their
antimicrobial powers.
Writing in the journal Science
Advances, Gallo and colleagues
describe how among their results, they
discovered a strain of Staphylococcus
epidermidis which produced a substance
that killed off a type harmful
bacteria responsible for infections such
as strep throat. While it was not the
only strain to do so, the chemical these
microbes produced was unusual,
boasting a structure similar to one of
the key components of DNA, called
adenine.
"The strain was originally detected in
a screen for antimicrobial activity, but
when we identified the nature of the
chemical produced by this strain we
proceeded with experiments to determine
if it might have activity against
tumours," said Gallo.
The researchers found that the
chemical, called 6-N-hydroxyaminopurine
(6-HAP), hindered the production
of DNA, with work in cell cultures
revealing that 6-HAP prevents several
types of tumour cells from growing
and multiplying.
By injecting mice with this substance,
the team found that 6-HAP is
not toxic. However, when melanoma
cells were introduced to mice, animals
which had received 6-HAP intravenously
ended up with tumours that
were more than 60% smaller than
those that had not received the substance.
The team also found application of
the 6-HAP-producing strain of Staphylococcus
epidermidis to the skin of
mice appeared to greatly reduce both
the number of pre-malignant skin
tumours formed when the creatures
were exposed to ultraviolet light, and
number of mice affected, compared to
those exposed to a strain that did not
produce the substance.
While Staphylococcus epidermidis is
commonly found on human skin, the
team say about 20% of the healthy
population is likely to have a strain
which produces 6-HAP. "Our study
found that it is common, but not on
everyone," said Gallo. Julian Marchesi,
professor of human microbiome
research at Cardiff University who was
not involved in the study, welcomed
the findings.
"This research further adds to a
growing understanding of how important
the human microbiota, and in this
case the skin microbiome, is to health.
We have evolved to need these
microbes and desperately need to
understand all the roles they play in
human biology and start to think more
The presence of Staphylococcus epidermidis may provide natural
protection against skin cancer. Photo: UC San diego Health
about what it is to be a human being,"
he said. "The next stage of this exciting
work, will be to translate it to human
clinical trials and show that this bacterially
produced chemical can protect
the host from skin cancers."

NATIONAL
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018
6
Games tools being exhibited at the fair of education materials of Araihazar upazila yesterday.
Photo : Star Mail
Massive Boro
cultivation
programme taken
in Jessore region
JESSORE : A total of 3,
51,546 hectares of land were
brought under Boro
cultivation in six districts of
the Jessore agriculture
region during the current
season with fixing the
production target of
14,01,922 tonnes of rice,
Department of Agriculture
Extension (DAE) officials
here said yesterday, reports
BSS.
They said farmers
cultivated Boro paddy on 1,
50,037 hectares of land with
production target 6,02,927
tonnes of rice in Jessore,
82,046 hectares of land in
Jhenidah with production
target 3,23,927 tonnes,
31,776 hectares of land in
Magura with production
target 1,26,722 tonnes,
32,690 hectares of land in
Kushtia with production
target 1,29,635 tonnes,
33,215 hectares of land in
Chuadanga with production
target 1,32,391 tonnes and
21,781 hectares of land in
Meherpur with production
target 86,320 tonnes of rice .
Now, the farmers are so
much busy to nurture their
crop for getting desired
output, this BSS
correspondent found while
visiting different places of
the districts recently.
Deputy Director of Jessore
DAE Dr. Sunil Kumar said
making Boro cultivation a
grand success, necessary
measures had been taken to
provide fertilizers,
insecticides and other agri
inputs to the farmers at fair
prices.
Favorable weather and
availability of agricultural
inputs including fertilizers
had inspired the cultivators
to take all-out efforts for
farming Boro paddy in this
region, he said.
Farmers already have
completed planting of Boro
paddy everywhere in six
districts under Jessore
region in attaining hundred
percent of the target fixed by
DAE. To this end,
coordinated efforts have
been taken by all concerned
departments.
Pragmatic steps
reviving past glory
of jute: speakers
RANGPUR : Officials and experts at a postrally
discussion said the pragmatic steps
taken by the present government have
started reviving the past glory of jute,
boosting its production and demand both at
home and abroad.
They came up with the observation at the
discussion arranged at the conference room
of the Deputy Commissioner here on
Tuesday afternoon in observance of the
National Jute Day- 2018.
The district administration in association
with the Directorate of Jute under the
Ministry of Jute and Textiles organised the
rally, followed by discussion, reports BSS.
Deputy Commissioner Enamul Habib
attended the discussion as the chief guest
with Additional Deputy Commissioner
(General) Rabiul Islam in the chair.
Acting President of district Awami League
Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, Principal Scientific
Officer of Rangpur Regional Station of
Bangladesh Jute Research Institute Dr Abul
Fazal Mollah, Deputy Director of the
Department of Agriculture Extension Dr
Sarwarul Haque, spoke as special guests.
In their speeches, the speakers said jute
was the biggest source of export earnings for
many decades and Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
realised importance of jute and nationalised
all jute mills.
Dr Haque said the demand for jute is
increasing abroad as the fibre is also being
used as composite jute textile, construction
materials for earthquake surviving houses
and geo-textiles.
Dr Mollah said the pragmatic steps and
initiatives taken by the present government
have started reviving the jute sector.
The chief guest lauded the government
steps to increase multi-dimensional use and
revive past glory of the golden fibre through
enhancing its cultivation, production and
export of raw jute and jute-made products.
"The mandatory use of jute sacs during
storage and transportation of paddy, rice,
wheat, maize, fertilisers, sugar, green chili,
ginger, turmeric, garlic, pulses, coriander,
potato, flour and rice leftovers is also
increasing local use of the golden fibre," he
added.
Preparations complete to observe
Int'l Women's Day in Rangpur
RANGPUR : The authorities concerned have been completed all necessary preparations to
observe the International Women's Day -2018 amid huge enthusiasm through colourful
programmes today, officials said.
The day will be observed with a renewed pledge for enhancing women empowerment by
ensuring equal emancipation in socioeconomic and political activities, governance and policy
making matters ending gender disparity, repression and violence against them.
The district and upazila administrations, District Information Office, District Women
Affairs Office, Department of Social Services, Shishu Academy, Mohila Parishad and other
organisations have chalked out daylong programmes to observe the day.
Many NGOs like RDRS Bangladesh, Begum Rokeya Forum, Eco Social Development
Organisation, 'Pollishree', BRAC, 'Karmojibi Nari', 'Amrai Pari Paribarik Nirjatan Protirodh
Jyote', Social Equity for Effective Development, sociocultural and professional bodies,
women and human rights organisations, educational institutions have also chalked out
programmes to observe the day.
The observance will begin with colourful rallies to be participated by hundreds of women,
girls, adolescents and students, officials, sociocultural and NGO activists to be followed by
seminars, advocacy meetings, discussions and cultural functions.
The district administration in collaboration with the other government and nongovernment
development organisations will organise the main discussion at Town Hall
auditorium in the city.
Deputy Commissioner Enamul Habib will attend the main discussion as the chief guest
with District Women Affairs Officer Kawsar Pervin in the chair.
Officials and representatives of different government departments, non-governmental and
socio-cultural organisations, professional bodies, women community leaders, human rights
activists and civil society members will take part in the discussion.
Joypurhat district BNP organized a discussion meeting yesterday marking the Jailing day of Tarique
Rahman yesterday.
Photo : Masrakul Alam
Fair for women
entrepreneurs
begins today
DHAKA : A three-day fair
for women entrepreneurs
will begin today in the city to
promote small and medium
enterprise (SME) products
of women and to display as
well as introduce their
goods.
Jatiya Sangsad Speaker
Dr Shirin Sharmin
Chaudhury will inaugurate
the fair as the chief guest at
Bangladesh Shishu
Academy, said a Bangladesh
Bank (BB) press release.
BB Governor Fazle Kabir
will attend the inaugural
session as special guest.
The central bank is
organising the fair, titled
"Banker-SME Women
Entrepreneur and Product
Display-2018", marking the
International Women's
Day.
The main objective of the
fair is to popularize the BB's
SME loan facility among
special beneficiaries by
establishing a platform with
all stakeholders.
Around 60 to 70
successful women
entrepreneurs will take part
in the fair to exhibit their
SME products, including
jute goods, agriculture and
leather products, electrical
and information and
technology items.
Farmers urged to
cultivate more lentils
in Barind
RAJSHAHI : Agricultural scientists and
researchers urged the grassroots farmers to
bring more lands under lentil farming in
Barind area after the best uses of its existing
natural resources to fulfill the gradually
increasing demand, reports BSS
They mentioned the agricultural
research entities concerned innovated and
developed high yielding varieties and
modern technologies and urged the
growers to adopt those to boost the lentil
yield.
They made this observation while
addressing two separate farmers field day
meeting at Kakonhat under Godagari and
Alimgonj under Paba upazilas in the
district yesterday.
Pulse Research Centre (PRC), Ishwardi
of Bangladesh Agriculture Research
Institute (BARI) organized the meetings
where more than 2,000 farmers attended.
International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) and International
Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry
Areas (ICARDA) financially supported the
programmes.
Director of PRC Dr Muhammad Hossain,
its Principal Scientific Officer Dr Altaf
Hossain, Senior Scientific Officer Akter-
Uz-Zaman and Senior Scientific Officer of
OFRD-BARI Dr Shakhawat Hossain
addressed the meetings as focal persons.
Referring to the immense prospect of the
crops, Dr Muhammad Hossain said that if
the yield could be enhanced to the
expected level through successful
expansion of the modern cultivation
method among the growers, country's
hard-earned foreign currencies would be
saved.
The country has to import huge quantity
of pulses especially lentil to meet its
domestic demand. Since there is a bright
prospect of increasing its acreage, lentil
could be produced in larger amount with
less production cost and the yield will no
doubt lessen pressure on import.
Around 80,000 hectares of land remain
fallow for more than three months after the
harvest of transplanted Aman paddy every
year.
Pulse Research Centre (PRC), Ishwardi
of Bangladesh Agriculture Research
Institute (BARI) organized the meetings
where more than 2,000 farmers attended.
International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) and International
Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry
Areas (ICARDA) financially supported the
programmes.
There has been bright scope of bringing
the huge land under the pulse farming in
order to best uses of those alongside
increasing cropping intensity amidst the
current water-stressed condition.
PRC has started conducting various
programmes including farmers'
motivation and training, field
demonstration and supplying necessary
inputs like seed for promoting the lentil
farming through conservation agriculture
method.
Dhamrai upazila administration organized various programs marking the historical speech of
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of 7th March.
Photo :Milon Siddiki
Women more affected by
kidney diseases, say experts
DHAKA : Women are more affected by Chronic Kidney
Disease (CKD) than men due to negligence and social
barriers, experts said.
"Some studies revealed that women are more vulnerable to
get kidney disease than men; the disease is more likely to
develop among women compared to men", Director of the
National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU)
Professor Nurul Huda Lenin told BSS.
Referring to a data of 'Global Prevalence of CKD - A
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis', he said the rate of
kidney disease among women is 14 percent while 12 percent
among men, adding the number of women being conducted
dialysis is lower than men.
CKD is a worldwide public health problem with adverse
outcomes of kidney failure and premature death, reports
BSS.
Prof Lenin said at least three major reasons are responsible
for getting CKD among women --- negligence, social barriers
and lack of awareness.
According to Bangladesh Kidney Foundation, over one
crore people have been now suffering from kidney disease in
the country. Nearly 1.60 lakh kidney patients, who are in
serious condition, have to undergo regular dialysis every
week.
About 195 million women are affected by CKD in the world
and it is currently the 8th leading cause of death among
women with around 600,000 people dies of this disease each
year.
The number of diabetes and high blood pressure patients
are rising in the country for various reasons, including bad
food habit and uncontrolled lifestyle, said Professor Harun
Ur Rashid, President of Bangladesh Kidney Foundation,
adding many of them get kidney disease at some stage.
The symptoms of Kidney diseases might not be noticeable
until the last stage, it is important to know the risk factors
and conduct medical test regularly, he suggested.
The country, however, would celebrate the World Kidney
Day and the International Women's Day 2018 today as these
two special Days are going to be observed on the same day,
offering the opportunity to reflect on women's health
specifically their kidney health.
The World Kidney Day-2018 with the theme of 'Kidneys
and Women's Health:
Include, Value, Empower' promotes affordable and
equitable access to health education, healthcare and
prevention of kidney diseases for all women and girls in the
world.
Prof Shahana first woman
pro-VC of BSMMU
DHAKA : Prof Shahana Akther Rahman, chairman of
Pediatrics Department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib
Medical University (BSMMU), has been made first ever
woman pro-vice chancellor of the varsity.
She has been appointed as pro-vice chancellor (education)
yesterday for three years by chancellor of the varsity and
President Md Abdul Hamid, an official release said.
BSMMU sources said Prof Shahana joined her new office
yesterday. Prof Shahana, wife of former Bangladesh Bank
governor Dr Atiur Rahman, attained her MBBS degree from
Dhaka Medical College in 1982. A proud mother of three
daughters, Prof Shahana is active in medical studies, service
and research from 1991.
More than hundred research papers of her have been
published in different local and foreign journals and Prof
Shahana has supervised more than 30 MD and FCPS
research works as thesis guide. She is the architect behind
"OSCE and Structured Course Curriculum" which have been
newly added to Bangladesh medical studies programme.
Prof Shahana launched international standard graduate
nursing department at BSMMU.

INTERNATIONAL
THURSDAy, MARCH 8, 2018
7
Sri Lanka's security forces stand near a vandalized building in Digana, a suburb of Kandy, Sri Lanka,
March 6, 2018. Buddhist mobs swept through the town on Monday, burning at least 11 Muslimowned
shops and homes. Sri Lanka's president declared a state of emergency Tuesday amid fears
that anti-Muslim attacks in the central hill town could spread. Pradeep Pathiran AP : Photo
Sri Lanka blocks social media as
anti-Muslim rioting flares
MULLEGAMA : Religious violence
flared anew in the hills of central Sri
Lanka on Wednesday despite a state of
emergency, with Buddhist mobs
sweeping through towns and villages,
burning Muslim homes and businesses
and leaving victims barricaded inside
mosques, reports UNB.
The government ordered popular
social media networks blocked in an
attempt to stop the violence from
spreading, and thousands of police and
soldiers spread out across the worst-hit
areas.
The police also ordered a curfew
across much of the region for a third
straight day, trying to calm the situation.
Hundreds of Muslim residents of
Mullegama, a village in the hills of central
Sri Lanka, barricaded themselves
inside a local mosque after Buddhist
mobs attacked their homes Wednesday
morning accusing them of stealing the
donation box of a nearby temple. At
least 20 Muslim homes appeared badly
damaged and flames engulfed one twostory
home.
The Muslims hiding in the mosque,
speaking on condition of anonymity
because of fear of reprisals, said police
prevented them from saving their property
and did nothing to stop the attackers.
One Sinhala Buddhist man who
was part of the attack died in an explosion
and another man was injured,
according to the men in the mosque. A
local Buddhist man said the Muslims
were using improvised explosives,
which the men in the mosque denied.
The police officials said they could
not immediately identify what caused
the explosion or who was responsible.
Mullegama Piyaratana , a Buddhist
monk at the temple, said the attacks on
Saudi women
take the wheel,
test-driving a
new freedom
JIDDAH : Fatima Salem giggles
with hesitation when it's
her turn to drive through a
small parking lot lined with
bright orange cones and
arrows. Like millions of Saudi
women, she plans on
applying for a driver's
license when the kingdom
lifts its ban on women driving
in June. But first, she has
to learn how to drive, reports
UNB. "I'm a little nervous,"
the 30-year-old master's
student said.
Francesca Pardini, an Italian
former racecar driver,
helps calm her nerves,
reminding Salem to check
the mirrors and buckle up.
Once on the road, Pardini
reached over to help
straighten out the wheel
after a left turn, and they
both lurched forward when
Salem stepped on the brakes
before a stop sign.
The right to drive, which
people in other countries
gain as teenagers after a similar
ordeal - derisively
referred to as driver's ed -
has been denied to Saudi
women. Dozens who dared
to protest and defy the ban
over the years were jailed,
prosecuted and stigmatized.
A stunning royal decree
issued last year by King
Salman announcing that
women would be allowed to
drive in 2018 upended one
of the most visible forms of
discrimination.
the Muslim homes took place after
some people pelted the temple with
rocks late Tuesday. He would not identify
who attacked the temple.
In the nearby small town of Katugastota,
Ikram Mohamed, a Muslim, stood
outside the wreckage of the textile shop
where he worked, after Sinhalese Buddhist
mobs set it on fire. He and the
owner had closed the shop Wednesday
morning when police announced the
curfew. They returned to find it
destroyed, and clothing and dressmaker
dummies smoking in the ruins.
"There are many good Sinhalese people,"
he said. "This is being done by a
few jealous people."Muslims own many
of the small businesses in Sri Lanka, a
fact that many believe has helped make
them targets as Buddhist-Muslim relations
have worsened in recent years
amid the rise of hard-line Buddhist
groups, which accuse Muslims of forcing
people to convert and destroying
sacred Buddhist sites.
Area residents said mobs swept
through at least two towns in the central
hills Wednesday, attacking two
mosques and a string of Muslim-owned
shops and buildings. An internet company
official, meanwhile, said the government
had ordered popular social
media networks blocked in areas near
the violence, and slowed dramatically
across the rest of the country.
The official, speaking on condition of
anonymity under company policy, said
the order was for Facebook, Instagram,
Viber and WhatsApp. Some of those
networks appeared to be blocked in
Colombo, the capital, while others
worked sporadically and very slowly.
President Maithripala Sirisena
declared the state of emergency on
Tuesday, though a day later details of
the decree remained unclear. While the
hills were flooded with soldiers and
policemen ordering people off the
street, little, if anything, appeared to
have changed elsewhere in the country.
While government officials have not
directly accused Buddhist extremists of
being behind the violence, many comments
appeared aimed at them.
The government will "act sternly
against groups that are inciting religious
hatred," Cabinet minister Rauff
Hakeem said Tuesday after a meeting
with the president.
The emergency announcement came
after Buddhist mobs swept through
towns outside Kandy, burning at least
11 Muslim-owned shops and homes.
The attacks followed reports that a
Buddhist man had been killed by a
group of Muslims. Police fired tear gas
into the crowds, and later announced a
curfew in the town.
The U.N. office in Colombo condemned
the violence. "The United
Nations urges authorities to take
immediate action against perpetrators
and to ensure that appropriate measures
are swiftly taken to restore normalcy
in affected areas," it said in a
statement Wednesday.
Sri Lanka has long been divided
between the majority Sinhalese, who
are overwhelmingly Buddhist, and
minority Tamils who are Hindu, Muslim
and Christian. The country remains
deeply scarred by its 1983-2009 civil
war, when Tamil rebels fought to create
an independent homeland.
While the rebels were eventually
crushed, the Buddhist-Muslim religious
divide has taken hold in recent
years.
Afghan official
among 3 killed in
suicide bombing
KABUL : An Afghan official says a suicide
bomber has killed three people
including the local head of the Ministry
of Haj and Religious Affairs, in eastern
Nangarhar province, reports UNB.
Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for
the provincial governor, says another 16
people were wounded in the attack
Wednesday afternoon in Jalalabad, the
provincial capital.
The attacker was on foot and apparently
targeted Abdul Zahir Haqqani, the
local religious affairs official, Khogyani
said.
Khogyani says: "The attacker who was
on foot and probably waiting for his target,
when Haqqani's vehicle arrived,
suddenly the attacker detonated his suicide
vest in front of his vehicle."
No one immediately claimed responsibility
for the attack, but the Taliban and
a rival Islamic State affiliate are active in
Nangarhar, where they regularly attack
local officials and security forces.
Afghan policemen inspect the site of a suicide car bombing in Kabul,
Afghanistan, on Aug. 10, 2015. In another car bomb attack Saturday Aug. 22,
2015, at least 12 people were killed, Afghan officials said. Photo : AP
Papua New
Guinea quake
death toll at 55 as
aftershock hits
WELLINGTON : A powerful
earthquake that struck
Papua New Guinea last week
has left at least 55 people
dead and authorities fear the
toll could exceed 100, as survivors
faced more shaking
early Wednesday from the
strongest aftershock so far,
reports UNB.
Southern Highlands Governor
William Powi said
people were feeling traumatized
from the disaster and
ongoing aftershocks. The
latest large temblor was a
magnitude 6.7 quake that
struck just after midnight
Tuesday.
It was the strongest shake
since the Feb. 26 deadly
magnitude 7.5 quake that
destroyed homes, triggered
landslides and halted work
at four oil and gas fields.
The central region where
last week's quake struck is
remote and undeveloped,
and assessments about the
scale of the damage and
injuries have been slow to
filter out. Powi said he didn't
know if the latest aftershock
had caused more injuries or
damage, but he said it had
added to the distress people
were feeling.
"It is beyond the capacity
of the provincial government
to cope with the magnitude
of destruction and
devastation," he said. "Our
people are traumatized and
finding it difficult to cope."
Powi said provincial
authorities were trying to
prioritize the greatest needs
by getting people with severe
injuries to medical centers
and providing water and
medicine. He said help from
abroad and from local aid
agencies was slowly coming
in.
"It's a mammoth task.
Most of the feeder roads are
washed away or covered
with landslips," he said.
"People's livelihoods are
devastated, their personal
property is gone."
Powi said 39 people died
in his province after families
were crushed by their collapsing
homes or buried by
landslides during last week's
earthquake. He said death
reports were still coming in
from remote places, and he
feared the death toll would
rise to over 100.
A spokeswoman at the
National Disaster Centre
said the official death toll is
currently estimated at
between 55 and 75, although
they don't yet have firm
numbers. The U.S. Geological
Survey said Wednesday's
quake was centered 112 kilometers
(70 miles) southwest
of Porgera at a shallow depth
of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
Ten aftershocks in the hours
since ranged between magnitude
4.7 and 5.2.
Anti-Muslim riots
flare anew in Sri
Lanka despite
emergency
COLOMBO : Residents say
anti-Muslim rioting has
flared anew in central Sri
Lanka despite a state of
emergency, with Buddhist
mobs burning mosques and
Muslim-owned shops in at
least two towns. The police
ordered a curfew across
much of the region Wednesday
for a third day, trying to
calm the situation, reports
UNB.
An area resident who
requested anonymity, fearing
reprisal attacks, said two
mosques and some Muslimowned
shops were attacked
Wednesday in two towns in
the central hills. The extent
of the damage could not be
verified.
Anti-Muslim riots began
Monday after a Buddhist
Sinhalese man died after
reportedly being attacked by
a group of Muslim youths.
Sri Lanka has long been
divided between the
majority Sinhalese, who
are overwhelmingly Buddhist,
and minority Tamils
who are Hindu, Muslim
and Christian.
EU ready to retaliate against
Trump’s proposed trade tariffs
BRUSSELS : The European Union says it is
ready to retaliate against the U.S. over President
Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on
steel and aluminum, with counter-measures
against iconic U.S. products like Harley
Davidson motorcycles, Levi's jeans and
bourbon, reports UNB.
Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem
said Wednesday that the EU, the world's
biggest trading bloc, rejects Trump's reasoning
that the tariffs are backed by the international
legal right to protect national security.
Should tariffs be introduced, the EU and
other partners would take the case to the
World Trade Organization, she said. The EU
is circulating among member states a list of
U.S. goods to target so that it can respond as
quickly as possible.
"We cannot see how the European Union,
friends and allies in NATO, can be a threat to
international security in the U.S.," Malmstroem
told reporters. "From what we understand,
the motivation of the U.S. is an economic
safeguard measure in disguise, not a
national security measure."
Trump has long railed against what he
deems unfair trade practices by China and
others, and last week declared that his government
would levy penalties of 25 percent
on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum
imports. The tariffs, he said, would
remain for "a long period of time," but it was
not clear if certain trading partners would be
exempt.
Malmstroem said Trump's motives do not
appear compatible with WTO rules and that
this means the EU can activate safeguards to
protect its own markets.
She confirmed that the EU's countermeasures
would include tariffs on U.S. steel
and agricultural products, as well as other
products like bourbon, peanut butter, cranberries
and orange juice.
"This is basically a stupid process, the fact
that we have to do this. But we have to do it,"
EU Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker had said last week. "We will now
impose tariffs on motorcycles, Harley Davidson,
on blue jeans, Levi's, on bourbon. We
can also do stupid."
The list of U.S. goods to target is being circulated
among EU member states for
approval.
The EU exported about 5.5 million ton of
steel to the U.S. last year. The Commission
also has plans in case steel from other producers
is dumped on European markets.
EU Council President Donald Tusk, who
chairs summits of presidents and prime
ministers, said the bloc's leaders will discuss
the issue at their next meeting on March 22-
23.
He rejected Trump's assertion in a tweet
that trade wars are good and easy to win.
"The truth is quite the opposite: trade wars
are bad and easy to lose," said Tusk. He
urged politicians on both sides of the Atlantic
"to act responsibly."
In Berlin, Germany's economy minister
warned that "the situation is serious."
Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries, whose
country is Europe's economic powerhouse,
said the EU will "be ready to react appropriately.
However, it is our goal to avoid a trade
war."
Zypries said in a statement she hopes
Trump will change his mind.
"Trade creates wealth, when it is based on
exchange and cooperation," she said. Referring
indirectly to the surprise resignation of
Trump's top economic adviser Gary Cohn
Tuesday, she added that "advocates for this
in the U.S. administration are very important.
Therefore the current signals from the
U.S. make me worried."
Malmstroem underlined that the real
problem is oversupply of steel and aluminum
in the global market, and she urged
Washington to work with the Europeans to
address the root causes.
She recalled that similar U.S. action on
steel in 2002 by then president George W.
Bush "cost thousands and thousands of U.S.
jobs" and said she hoped that Washington
has not forgotten this. At that time, the EU
compiled a list of items for retaliatory tariffs
that included steel products, but also orange
juice, apples, sunglasses, knitwear, motor
boats and photocopying machines. It represented
$2.2 billion in U.S. exports to the EU.
Bush withdrew the steel tariffs and the list
was never acted upon.
European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstroem speaks during a media
conference at EU headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. The
European Union will set out its strategy Wednesday on how to counter potential
U.S. punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Photo : AP
Korean president says
talks won’t ease pressure
on North
SEOUL : South Korean President Moon
Jae-in on Wednesday downplayed concerns
that the resumption of inter-Korean
dialogue will be accompanied by an easing
of international sanctions and pressure
on North Korea over its nuclear program,
reports UNB.
Moon made the comments in a meeting
with political party leaders a day after
South Korea announced an agreement
with the North to hold a rare summit in
April. Senior South Korean officials who
met with North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un in Pyongyang on Monday also said the
North expressed a willingness to hold
talks with the United States on denuclearization
and normalizing ties.
Conservative opposition leaders
expressed concern during Wednesday's
meeting at Seoul's presidential palace
that North Korea could use the talks as a
way to reduce the pressure, and also questioned
whether the North in genuinely
interested in abandoning its nuclear
weapons. "The sanctions and pressure on
North Korea aren't maintained by South
Korea alone - these are actions based on
U.N. Security Council resolutions, and
then there are strong unilateral sanctions
imposed by the United States," Moon
said, added that the pressure on the
North could only be reduced by "substantive
progress" on denuclearization.
"These international efforts (to pressure
the North) cannot be loosened by inter-
Korean dialogue. We don't aim for that to
happen and it's also impossible."
Moon's presidential national security
director, Chung Eui-yong, who led the
South Korean delegation that met with
Kim, is to leave for the United States on
Thursday to brief U.S. officials on the outcome
of his trip to the North. Chung told
reporters on Tuesday that he received a
message from North Korea intended for
the United States, but didn't disclose what
it was.
Japan has responded cautiously to the
South Korean announcement of summit
talks, saying Tokyo's policy of keeping
maximum pressure on North Korea is
unchanged.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga
said Wednesday that dialogue for dialogue's
sake is meaningless and that the
allies "should fully take into consideration
lessons from our past dialogues with the
North, none of which achieved denuclearization."
He said Japan is on the
same page as the United States, citing
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence as saying
Washington's pressure campaign is
unchanged, with all options still on the
table.
China, which is North Korea's only
major ally, cheered the exchanges
between the Koreas and called for a
return to six-nation talks on denuclearization
that it previously hosted.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng
Shuang told reporters Wednesday that
China was "pleased to see the positive
outcomes from those exchanges and
interactions between the two sides. ... We
hope the North and South will earnestly
implement their consensuses and proceed
with the process of reconciliation
and cooperation."

ART & CULTURE
tHUrsDay,
marCH 7, 2018
8
It didn't happen
Gary Oldman's
son defends him
against abuse
allegations
EntErtainmEnt DEsk
The son of Oscar winner Gary
Oldman has defended his father
after the actor's former wife's claims
of spousal abuse resurfaced.
Gulliver Oldman, the Darkest
Hour star's 20-year-old son,
slammed his mother, former model
Donya Fiorentino, for perpetuating
an alleged domestic violence
incident that he says never
happened, reports people.com. "I
can see how coming out with a
statement to combat an allegation
must look. However, I was there at
the time of the 'incident,' so I'd like
to make this radiantly clear: it didn't
happen. Anyone who says it did is
lying," Gulliver said in a statement.
His comment followed an
interview by his mother in which
she called her four-year marriage to
Gary a "nightmare". Fiorentino also
spoke to TMZ after Gary won the
Best Actor Oscar on Sunday. "I
the story behind tHat James
ivory timothee Chalamet shirt
Entertainment Desk
James Ivory became the oldest ever Oscar
winner when he picked up this year's award
for best adapted screenplay for Call Me By
Your Name.
The 89-year old also became the oldest
winner of the red carpet - by wearing a shirt
with the face of the film's star, Timothee
Chalamet, painted on it. Time called the
shirt the "best part of the Oscars red carpet",
while Indiewire called it "iconic".
The man behind the look, British artist
Andrew Mania, is having a moment.
"All of the attention since the Oscars has
been overwhelming," he told the BBC,
adding: "I feel like a rabbit in headlights."
The Bristol-based artist hand-painted the
one-off custom shirt, but gives credit to
Ivory for daring to wear such an unusual
outfit.
"It's quite a brave thing to wear something
so different - especially to the Oscars. It's
quite a unique look," says Mania (actually
his real name).
It follows the touching moment between
Ivory and Chalamet at last month's Bafta
Film Awards, when the 22-year-old actor
helped the screenwriter on stage to accept a
prize. Mania says the whole thing came
about after he saw Call Me By Your Name at
the cinema last November. In one of the
final scenes, Chalamet's character, Elio,
wears a shirt with a print of what appears to
be Matisse-inspired faces on it.
When one Oscar dress is just not enough
Why's everyone talking about this outfit?
Oscar jet ski gag boosts Arizona resort
"I wanted that Matisse shirt so much that
I decided to paint my own one - as it seemed
the easiest solution," says the artist.
"I looked into how to do it, and then made
myself a second one. It made sense to do one
of Elio's face, since I'd been inspired by the
film."
The portrait artist then told a friend about
the shirts, who - unbeknownst to him -
happened to have worked on a project with
Ivory and was still in touch with him.
He sent a photo of Mania's Elio shirt to
Ivory, who "immediately responded saying
he loved it and wanted one".
"He said straight away he wanted to wear
one if he got nominated for an Oscar. This
was back in mid-December, so we had no
idea any of this would actually happen."
Mania says he "couldn't be more flattered"
to dress James Ivory for the Oscars,
"especially someone I've admired so much
since a teenager."
Mania says he finally met the filmmaker -
best known for directing films such as
Howards End, The Remains of the Day and
A Room with a View - a couple of weeks ago.
"It was just after he'd won his Bafta award
and he was really happy with the shirt I'd
made him," says Mania.
But nothing prepared him for the response
he would get from the world's media, and
from Chalamet himself.
Mania says he spoke to Ivory on the phone
after his Oscars success: "He told me
Timothee was crazy about the shirt. As soon
as he saw James, he opened his jacket and
couldn't believe it."
thought we had evolved. What
happened to the #MeToo
movement?" she said.
The couple separated in 2001.
Fiorentino had filed court
documents accusing the actor of
assaulting her in front of their two
children, Gulliver and his younger
brother Charlie, 19.
Oldman called the accusations
"replete with lies, innuendoes and
half-truths". In later court filings,
according to people.com, the actor
stated that her "false allegations of
spousal abuse... were rejected by the
City Attorney's Office, the District
Attorney's office and this court".
The actor was granted primary
custody of both their children, with
supervised visits for Fiorentino, as
the custody fight dragged out in
court for years. "It has been
troubling and painful to see that
these false allegations against my
father being written about again,
especially after this was all settled
years ago," Oldman's son said.
Of his mother, he said: "She has
been a sad and very troubled
person most of her life. Yes, she
brought me into this world. She
didn't however, teach me how to be
a part of it."
Padmaavat episode can't
make us extra cautious,
says co-producer
The controversy faced by Padmaavat has
not deterred banner Viacom18 Motion
Pictures, its co-producers, from making
films on stories that deserve to be told,
says a top official of the company. "In a big
and diverse country like India, we never
know what will offend whom, which
community will get disheartened by
watching a film. In Padmaavat, we
celebrated the bravery of a community and
they only protested to stop releasing the
film. I think the Padmaavat episode
cannot fear us to go three steps back and
make our creative mind extra conscious to
make a film. It should be treated as an
incident that was an exception," Viacom18
Motion Pictures Chief Operating Officer
Ajit Andhare told IANS in an interview.
Padmaavat, a period drama directed by
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, was caught in a
long-stretched row after Rajput
organisations opposed its release by
protesting over alleged distortion of
history facts.
The film finally released on January 25,
with the audience praising it for its visual
exuberance and impactful performances.
Andhare said as a company, their basic
criteria of approving a project is a "good
story that can potentially connect with the
larger audience". "I think now, with the
success of Padmaavat, the fact has been
proven. There are stories that deserve to
be told. As a responsible filmmaking
company, we were cautious about the
subjects that we chose even before
Padmaavat, but we do not want to add an
extra lens of caution thinking which
political wind will blow or which section of
the community will get offended. That is
certainly not the right way to choose a
film," added Andhare on the sidelines of
the Ficci Frames 2018.
Viacom18 Motion Pictures has produced
popular biopics in Bollywood -- from
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom to
Manjunath and Manjhi - The Mountain
Man.
Considering how most biopics tend to
fictionalise certain parts of an individual's
story to bring out the drama in a feature
film, does it justify the truth of someone's
life's journey? "I think that depends on
who is telling the truth.
When we make a biopic, and we have
done quite a few of them, we take the
permission of that individual or their
family. That is how one can authenticate
facts. Beyond that, if XYZ startS painting
a truth, then it is difficult to explain.
Truth is not based on others' perception
or imagined reality, it is what the source
of authentic information provides us,"
he said.
the remix gave
importance to my music
know-how, not looks:
sunidhi Chauhan
EntErtainmEnt DEsk
Singer Sunidhi Chauhan, who will be seen as a
judge on digital reality show The Remix, says
shooting for it while she was pregnant was easygoing
and enjoyable as emphasis was given to
her musical knowledge over her looks.
The Remix, presented by Amazon Prime Video,
will also feature composer Amit Trivedi and DJ
Nucleya. It will start streaming on Friday.
Sunidhi was pregnant with her child. She
delivered a boy in January. "The Remix came to
me at a very special stage in my life - when I was
expecting my first child. It is heartening to
receive a warm welcome by the creators of the
show. Moreover, they made the working
atmosphere as easy-going for me as possible - it
did not feel like I was on set putting in many long
hours. What is truly remarkable is the fact that
the importance was given to my musical knowhow,
and not how I looked on screen," Sunidhi
said in a statement.
Hosted by actor Karan Tacker, The Remix will
have 10 teams each comprising a singer and
music producer, who create their own unique
sound of music and compete against each other.
An Amazon Prime Original, the show is created
and produced by Greymatter Entertainment.
Vishal Bhardwaj refutes
rumours of casting Dangal
sisters together, writes
an angry post
EntErtainmEnt DEsk
Director Vishal Bhardwaj has refuted the rumours of
casting Dangal sisters, portrayed by Fatima Sana Shaikh
and Sanya Malhotra, in a film.
The 52-year-old director-producer took to his Twitter to
show his displeasure. The Haider director reacted after
an online portal of leading magazine posted a story
reporting that Sana Shaikh and Sanya would be casted
in his next venture.
H O r O s C O P E
ariEs
(March 21 - April 20): You must be
totally honest with yourself about
what you want and what you are
prepared to do to get it. Only then
can you decide if the sacrifices you will have to
make are worth it. Don't do anything that
makes you feel bad about yourself.
taUrUs
(April 21 - May 21): It may seem as
if others are getting the breaks
while you have to struggle but
don't feel hard done by because it's
really not that bad. It is also toughening you
up so that when a big opportunity does arise
you will be ready for it.
GEmini
(May 22 - June 21): The most
important thing now is that you
have faith in yourself. Without it
you won't get far and even if you
do get far there won't be much satisfaction in
what you accomplish. You can and you will
triumph against the odds.
CanCEr
(June 22 - July 23): Stop searching
so hard for answers in the world
around you and turn your focus
inward to where the real answers
can be found. Deep down you already know the
direction your life should be moving in. Now
bring that realization to the surface.
LEO
(July 24 - Aug. 23): No matter how
outrageous the thoughts that come
into your head over the next 24
hours may be you must take them
seriously because they could be the keys to
your future prosperity. If you can imagine it
you can do it, it's that as simple.
VirGO
(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Try not to
think of yourself as separate from
other people or you will feel cut
off from what is going on around
you. Remind yourself today that we are all
part of a greater whole and that none of us
can ever be truly alone.
LiBra
(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): This is an
important time for relationships
and Mercury's move into your
opposite sign may bring some
unwelcome news. But if you look on the bright
side and look for ways to turn this development
around it could still work in your favour.
sCOrPiO
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): You will be
asking yourself a lot of questions
over the next 24 hours and the
answers you get will be of the utmost
importance. Where your work is concerned you
should aim to do less while doing it better. Don't
run yourself into the ground.
saGittariUs
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): There is a
danger that a project you are
involved with is beginning to drift
off course, most likely because you
are trying to move too fast. Take time out today
to check where you are going and, if necessary,
make some minor adjustments.
CaPriCOrn
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): If there are
doubts lurking at the back of your
mind you must cast them out now
before they have a chance to do
harm. Try being more positive about your
lifestyle and, in particular, about family
relationships. How can you improve them?
aQUariUs
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): If an unexpected
obstacle stops you from moving in
a particular direction today you
should see it as a sign that the
universe is trying to keep you from harm. The
planets are trying to tell you something
Aquarius. Be smart and listen.
PisCEs
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): You need to
keep up the pressure on someone
who does not want you to have
what is yours by right. If you ease
off for even a moment they will take it as a sign
you are beginning to weaken and reuse to play
ball. Be relentless.

SPORTS
THURSDAy, MARCH 8, 2018
9
New Zealand vs England: Ross Taylor gets hosts over the line to set up final.
Dhaka Residential,
Viqarunnisa win
School Handball
titles
Dhaka Residential Model
College of boys' section and
Viqarunnisa Noon School
and College of girls' section
clinched titles of the Pran
RFL U-14 School Handball
tournament beating their
respective rivals in the finals
held on Wednesday at
Shaheed Captain M Mansur
Ali Handball Stadium.
In the day's boys' section
final, Dhaka Residential
Model College beat Shaheed
Police Smrity College by 18-
10 goals as Viqarunnisa
Noon School and College
defeated Shaheed Bir Uttam
Anwar College by 18-4 goals
in the girls' section final.
Besides, Scholastica
Uttara of both boys's and
girls' section finished third
in the competition,
organised by Bangladesh
Handball Federation (BHF)
Bangladesh Olympic
Association secretary
general Syed Shahed Reza
was present as the chief
guest in the final and
distributed the prizes while
head of marketing of Pran
Confectionary Limited
Shakhawat Ahmed was
present as special guest.
BHF president Nurul
Fazal Bulbul presided over
the closing ceremony and
BHF general secretary
Asaduzzaman Kohinoor was
present, among others, on
the occasion.
Russia coach
says no need to
fight racism in
football
Russia coach Stanislav
Cherchesov has dismissed
fears that racism and
hooliganism in domestic
football are serious enough
to mar the World Cup later
this year.
"I do not think that we
have racism on a scale that
needs to be fought,"
Cherchesov told Brazil's
Globo TV.
"Hooligans? I have not
seen any serious displays of
it." The Football Against
Racism in Europe (FARE)
anti-discrimination network
reported 89 racist and farright
incidents at Russian
games in the 2016/17
season.
The problem became
especially severe during the
last decade as richer clubs
began purchasing Brazilian
and African players.
FARE noted there has
been a more serious antiracism
campaign by Russian
authorities in the run-up to
the June 14-July 15
competition.
But it said players and fans
still risked abuse.
Hooliganism became a
major issue for Russia when
an organised group of its
supporters pounced on
English fans ahead of a Euro
2016 match in the French
port of Marseille.
Violence between
followers of Spartak Moscow
and Athletic Bilbao on
February 22 in Spain revived
fears that Russia's
crackdown against local
hooligans was insufficient.
Photo: Internet
England blasts 335-9 in
4th ODI vs New Zealand
Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root made
centuries and shared a 190-run secondwicket
partnership to lift England to 335-9 as
it batted first after losing the toss Wednesday
in the fourth one-day international against
New Zealand.
Bairstow made 138 from 106 balls with 14
fours and seven sixes and Root a more
studied 102 from 110 in a record partnership
for the second wicket for England against
New Zealand.
England was also on target for a record
score when the two were together at 267-1 in
the 38th over. But Bairstow's dismissal by
the part-time medium-pacer Colin Munro,
from whom he had just previously hit a six
over the gabled grandstand at the University
Oval, precipitated a collapse which saw
England lose 6-19 in 6.1 overs.
Root batted on, powerless as a series of
partners departed, to reach his 11th ODI
century from 99 balls before being dismissed
in the 48th over, at which stage England had
lost 7-28.
England stumbled to 305-8 before Root
was out and had seemed to have given up
some of advantage but a late, unbeaten 22 by
Tom Curran, who hit four fours from the last
over bowled by Tim Southee, put the tourists
back on top.
Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi led New Zealand's
comeback from what had seemed an
impossible position, taking 4-58, including
the wickets of Jason Roy (42), Jos Buttler (0)
and then, in quick succession, Ben Stokes (1)
and Moeen Ali (3).
The tone for the England innings had been
set by a superb opening partnership of 77 in
10.2 overs between Roy and Bairstow and
after Kane Williamson, captaining New
Zealand for the 100th time, made a blunder
and sent England in to bat.
England leads the five-match series 2-1
with the final game scheduled for Friday in
Christchurch ahead of a two-test series later
in March.
Real Madrid beats PSG
2-1 to reach Champions
League quarters
Paris Saint-Germain's dream of joining
Europe's elite with a Champions League
trophy will have to wait another season, as
Real Madrid delivered a brutal reality check
by cruising through to the quarterfinals with
a 2-1 win on Tuesday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo's powerful header -
his 12th goal of the competition - and a
deflected effort from midfielder Casemiro
either side of a close-range finish from
PSG's Edinson Cavani sent Madrid
through 5-2 on aggregate.
Peaking at the right time, Madrid can be
confident of challenging for a third
straight title and 13th overall.
PSG still has not reached the semifinals
since its lone appearance in 1995. PSG's
ambitious club motto of "Dream Bigger"
should perhaps now be revised. On this
evidence, and last season's humiliation at
the hands of Barcelona, PSG remains a
club more hopeful than convincing.
Despite huge investment from cash-rich
Qatari owners QSI since 2011, PSG has not
been past the quarterfinals in that time.
"We needed our heads and our hearts
today. But we didn't have both, we didn't
play as well as Real Madrid," dejected PSG
coach Unai Emery said. "Madrid deserved
to go through. I think they controlled 60
percent of the game and we didn't do
enough with the 40 percent we had.
Losing to Real Madrid itself isn't a
disappointment, but being knocked out in
the last 16 is."
Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, PSG's
fragile defense crumbled and its attack
offered little threat without the injured
Neymar. The biggest bang from this PSG
side was from the fireworks constantly let
off by a section of fans behind one goal.
Cavani's goal gave PSG some hope with
20 minutes left. But with midfielder
Marco Verratti already sent off, scoring
two more to force extra time was beyond a
lackluster PSG side.
Instead, midfielder Casemiro's deflected
shot looped past stranded goalkeeper
Alphonse Areola in the 80th. He was
gifted the ball after midfielder Adrien
Rabiot dealt poorly with Lucas Vazquez's
cross.
To compound a miserable night for PSG
fans, who so badly want to believe this side
can conquer Europe, Verratti showed
terrible composure to in getting sent off
midway through the second half. He got a
second yellow card, having protested
vehemently with referee Felix Brych after
not getting a free kick.
"Our fans got behind us, I apologize to
them," Rabiot said. "We tried but we
couldn't do it." Ronaldo had already done
his usual damage.
The Champions League's all-time
leading scorer was given far too much
space and leapt triumphantly to beat
Areola with a downward header in the 51st
minute. He had netted twice in the first
leg.
Ronaldo is hitting top form at a crucial
time and has scored in nine Champions
League games in a row, matching Ruud
van Nistelrooy's record.
This was a huge test for a PSG side
desperate to prove it belongs among
Europe's elite, especially after
spectacularly failing last year - becoming
the first team eliminated after winning the
first leg 4-0. Barcelona won the return 6-1.
"Maybe tonight they weren't so good,
but it's also because we played very well,"
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said.
"Obviously it became harder for them
when we scored the second goal."
In the night's other match, five-time
champion Liverpool eased into the last
eight, drawing 0-0 at home to two-time
winner Porto after winning the away leg 5-
0.
The atmosphere was electric at Parc des
Princes in Paris, with thick smoke
engulfing the stadium a pre-match
pyrotechnics were set off. PSG's exuberant
fans were asked to "stop letting off flares"
over the stadium loud speaker just after
the interval.
This was all part of a concerted effort to
motivate the players. The club's
communications department had released
a video, urging fans to rally behind the
team seemingly as a matter of urgency for
the city itself. Neymar also posted a video
on Twitter, with the words "Vous allez le
Faire" (You will do it).
Banners around the ground encouraged
the team and some fans had already taken
matters into their own hands. Late into
the night before the game, a small group of
PSG Ultras let off bangers, chanted "Paris"
and banged a drum outside the Real
Madrid team hotel.
But all this bluster seemed more like
bluff.
After a fairly even first half, Ronaldo
headed wide early in the second half - a
warning sign.
Moments later he headed home
Vazquez's pinpoint cross from the left
after a quick break down the left from the
impressive Marco Asensio, astutely
selected ahead of Gareth Bale by Zidane.
"Tactically we played the right way, we
believe in what we're doing," Zidane said.
"We closed them down high up the pitch."
Madrid could have had further goals
breaking forward on counterattacks, with
Asensio and Ronaldo hitting the post.
U-18, U-20
men's handball
teams leave for
Pakistan today
The Bangladesh U-18 and
U-20 men's national
handball teams leave for
Pakistan today Thursday to
take part in the IHF Trophy
2018 - Zone II - South and
Central Asia Men Youth &
Junior Championship
scheduled to be held from
March 10-15 in Faisalabad.
Pakistan Handball
Federation organized the
tournament in association
with International Handball
Federation.
Teams: Bangladesh U-18
men's national handball
team - Hamiduzzaman,
(captain), Daliam Khom
Luchai (vice captain),
Sohanur Rahman, Ali
Ahmed, Sayem Hossain,
Sabbir Hossain, Chaching
Ong Chak, Ikramul Akash,
Taju Hasan, Sangram
Hossain, Saimun Hossain
Maruf, Sabbir Hossain,
Sazid Hasan and Maidul
Islam.
Officials -Sheikh M
Ahasan Habib (manager),
M Didar Hossain (chief
trainer) and M Haider Ali
(trainer).
Bangladesh U-20 men's
national handball team -
Shahriar Tamim (captain),
Billal Hossain (vice
captain), Shuvo Sheikh,
Monir Hossain, Abdul
Rahad, Jaimul Hasan, Kazi
Mushfiqur Rahman, Abu
Kawsar, Shihab Azad,
Imran Uddin, Ifti Hossain,
Rezaul
Karim,
Asaduzzaman Shuvo and
Arifin Siddique.
Officials - M Mokbul
Hossain (manager), M
Nasir Ullah (chief trainer)
and M Touhidur Rahman
(trainer).
3 matches of V-Day
basketball decided
in opener
Three matches of Victory
Day Basketball tournament
were decided on the opening
day (Wednesday) at
Dhanmondi Basketball
gymnasium in the city.
In the day's matches,
Bangladesh Navy beat
Bangladesh Air Force by 61-
46 points, Bangladesh Army
defeated Eaglets Club by 63-
54 points and Border Guard
Bangladesh won against
Dhumketu in the day's third
match.
The final of the
competition will be held
tomorrow (Friday) at the
same venue.
Earlier, Bangladesh
Basketball Federation
president Dr Mostafa Jalal
Mohiuddin formally
inaugurated the two-day
meet as the chief guest.
Australia's
Warner
fined for De
Kock
altercation
Australia vice-captain David
Warner has been fined 75
percent of his match fee for
his altercation with South
Africa's Quinton de Kock in
the first Test this week, the
ICC said Wednesday.
Warner was guilty of
"conduct that brings the
game into disrepute" after
CCTV footage showed him
apparently turning on De
Kock as the players walked
up a staircase during the tea
break in the fourth day of the
match in Durban.
The footage shows Warner
being restrained by
teammates Usman Khawaja
and Nathan Lyon before
being persuaded to go into
the dressing room by
Australia captain Steve
Smith.
After a feisty game that
saw Australia take a 1-0 lead
in the four-Test series,
visiting off-spinner Nathan
Lyon was also fined 15
percent of his match fee after
appearing to drop the ball on
AB de Villiers after the
batsman was run out.
Sri Lanka beats India by 5 wickets
in the tri-nation opener
Kusal Perera smashed 66 runs off 37
deliveries to guide Sri Lanka to a five-wicket
win over India in the opening match of the
Independence Cup three-nation Twenty20
tournament on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal won
the toss and elected to field first and India
made 174-5 in 20 overs. Sri Lanka reached
their target with nine deliveries to spare,
winning a Twenty20 game against India
after seven straight losses.
Sri Lanka's bowlers gave their team a good
start, taking two wickets for nine runs, but
Shikar Dhawan and Manish Pandey held the
Indian innings together by sharing 95 runs
for the third wicket.
Dhawan cracked six sixes and six
boundaries for a 49-ball 90. Manish Pandey
made 37. Jeevan Mendis took two wickets
for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka lost opener Kusal
Mendis with the score on 12 before Perera
led the attack reaching his half-century in 22
deliveries.
However, Indian spinners Washington
Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal took crucial
wickets to give India hope by leaving Sri
Lanka 136-5. ButThisara Perera (22 not out)
and Dasun Shanaka (15 not out) took Sri
Lanka to victory in the 19th over.
Sundar and Chahal took two wickets each
for India.
"This is a good start for the tournament.
This is all about trust and confidence in each
other," Chandimal said.
India captain Rohit Sharma said his
batsmen could have scored quicker toward
the end.
"The kind of start they got was amazing, a
lot of credit goes to Sri Lanka team as well,"
he said.
Bangladesh is the third team in the
tournament.
Tigers aim to come back in winning
streak in Nidahas Trophy
After a dismal home series against Sri Lanka, Tigers want to come back in the winning streak
as they face mighty India in the second match of the Nidahas Trophy tri-nation T20I series
scheduled to be held tomorrow (Thursday) at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
The day/night match kicks off at 7.30 pm (BST).
After winning the preparation match against Sri Lankan's Board President's XI by 41 runs,
Tigers' confidence level at the moment on pick and despite India's domination head to head
in Test, ODI and T20Is, they have a real belief that these days their neighbor rivals can be
beaten. Stand in captain Mahmudullah believes that they can start their Nidahas Trophy
campaign with a victory. In the absence of star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, they lost the twomatch
T20I home series against Sri Lanka last month. Even with Shakib, they also lost to
South Africa in a couple of T20Is during their tour last year, leaving them on a losing run of
four. They are missing their regular captain here as well, due to a finger injury, but the senior
players likes Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah himself and
Mustafizur Rahman need to step up if Bangladesh want to come out from losing run.
On the other hand, India also eye to come back in the winning streak following their fivewicket
defeat against host Sri Lanka in the tournament opening match. However, one of the
standout aspects of the current Indian team is their ability to bounce back from defeats almost
instantly. Though Rohit Sharma and co. are being called second-string India, they have more
than a handful of match-winners who give India the edge over Bangladesh in Thursday's
encounter.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted the Champions League quarterfinals
is where his side belong after ending a nine-year wait to reach the
last eight on Tuesday.
Photo: Internet
9 years later, Liverpool back in
Champions League quarters
There's a familiar name back in the
quarterfinals of the Champions League.
"It's time we showed up again," Liverpool
manager Juergen Klopp said after his team
secured a place in the last eight for the first
time in nine years.
It couldn't have been an easier passage for
the five-time European champions, either, as
they coasted to a 0-0 draw against Porto on
Tuesday to clinch a 5-0 aggregate win in the
last 16.
Having scored five goals without reply in a
dazzling first-leg display in Portugal three
weeks ago, this was always going to be a
procession for Liverpool at Anfield - a
ground that has been something of a fortress
this season. At times, it felt like the English
club was going through the motions,
especially since it faces a huge Premier
League game against Manchester United in
the Premier League on Saturday.
No major injuries were sustained - captain
Jordan Henderson had strapping applied to
his right thigh after the game, but Klopp said
it was nothing more than a dead leg - and
Liverpool rarely looked like conceding.
Now, a member of European soccer's
royalty can look forward to the draw for the
quarterfinals on March 16. They return as
the competition's top scorers this season
with 28 goals and will be feared by the other
qualifiers. "This year, we belong there,"
Klopp said, "it should not be a surprise.
There will be seven other very good teams -
maybe four of them will be from England,
which doesn't make to easier, to be honest.
But we have a chance, for sure, to go through
to the semifinals." Porto coach Sergio
Conceicao was even more confident about
Liverpool's chances. "Liverpool are definitely
one of the teams that can win the
competition," he said. "They are a really
strong team, everyone knows that."
Also in the draw for the last 16 will be Real
Madrid, which beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1
away on Tuesday to clinch a 5-2 aggregate
win in the marquee matchup in the round of
16. Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the scorers
for Madrid, the Portugal forward netting for
the ninth straight game in the Champions
League. PSG's wait to win Europe's mostprized
trophy goes on, despite the hundreds
of millions of dollars spent since Qatar
Sports Investments bought the French club
in 2011. A year ago this week, Barcelona
became the first team to overturn a 4-0 firstleg
deficit in the Champions League
knockout stage when beating PSG 6-1.
Porto, the Portuguese league leader, had to
go one better but Klopp's decision to field a
strong team rendered that unlikely scenario
even more inconceivable. The joint-top
scorer in the Premier League - Mo Salah -
and world's most expensive defender - Virgil
van Dijk - were on the bench for Liverpool,
but most of its other big names played.
And it was the hosts who had the better of
the chances, with Sadio Mane - the scorer of
a hat trick in the first leg - hooking a volley
over the bar and then striking a low shot
against the post in a low-key first half.
Roberto Firmino ran clear but ended up
having a shot blocked on the hour, before
immediately being taken off by Klopp as
Liverpool's main striker was protected ahead
of the United game.
Porto pressed late on but to no avail, as it
failed to collect a first away win over an
English opponent in the Champions League
at the 13th attempt. The visitors became the
first team to stop Liverpool from scoring in
this season's competition.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS
THURSDAy,
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
MARCH 8, 2018
10
The Monthly Business Review Meeting of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd. held on 7 March 2018 at the Head Office of the Bank.
Chairman of the Bank Abdus Samad Labu inaugurated the conference as Chief Guest. Managing Director Md. Habibur Rahman
Presided over the meeting. Deputy Managing Directors Kazi Towhidul Alam, Md. Fazlul Karim, Muhammad Mahmoodul Haque
and S. M. Jaffar were present in the conference. Head Office Executives, Zonal Heads and Managers form selected branches
participated in the meeting.
Photo : Courtesy
China's manufacturing dev to
create more jobs worldwide
A number of countries have claimed that
China has been stealing manufacturing jobs
from them, but the facts tell a different story-
China is creating jobs for them.
Logically speaking, neither China nor any
country else can "steal" jobs from the other
countries, since each country creates its own
job opportunities for its citizens basing on its
economic development level.
China always abides by international trade
rules, no matter when it was economically
underdeveloped or now that it has grown
stronger. It has chosen to work with trade
partners to seek win-win results. As Chinese
manufacturing enterprises expand their
global presence, they hire more and more
local employees.
As a case in point, Fuyao Group, China's
leading manufacturer of automotive glass, had
employed more than 2,000 people at a near-
470,000-square-meter glass fabrication
factory in Moraine, Ohio, by November 2017.
The Fuyao facility, the largest Chinese
investment project in Ohio's history, has
been widely hailed as a silver lining for the
local community, as the closure of General
Motor's assembly plant in 2008 wiped out
thousands of jobs.
With Fuyao's further expansion in the
United States, the company expects the
employment number to grow by thousands.
Chinese companies invested over 20 billion
dollars in the nine U.S. states in the midwest
region as of 2016, creating over 45,000 jobs,
according to China General Chamber of
Commerce-U.S.A.
In Latin America, Chinese enterprises
created 1.8 million jobs between 1995 and
2016, according to data from the International
Labor Organization. The investment in sectors
like food, communication, and renewable
energy helped improve local infrastructure
and consumption.
Through the Belt and Road Initiative
proposed in 2013, China was adding jobs to
Asian, European and African countries along
the routes, while promoting infrastructure,
trade, financial and people-to-people
connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk
Road trade routes.
Under the Initiative, Chinese enterprises
have invested roughly 50 billion U.S. dollars
and helped build 75 economic and trade
cooperation zones in 24 countries, generating
over 209,000 jobs by October 2017, according
to the Ministry of Commerce.
Exxon CEO struggles
to reverse Tillerson's
legacy of failed bets
Exxon Mobil Corp's (XOM.N) $200
million write-down last month on
abandoned ventures in Russia - once its
next big frontier - points to challenges
facing Chief Executive Darren Woods in
his second year leading the world's
largest publicly traded oil producer.
Some of the biggest bets taken by his
predecessor Rex Tillerson, now the U.S.
secretary of state, have resulted in
billions of dollars in write-downs amid
falling production and a stock price that
has long lagged peers.
That leaves Woods facing the prospect
of slow growth and billions of dollars in
new spending that could weigh on
results for years. In 2018, the company
plans capital spending of about $24
billion - up about a quarter since 2016 -
suggesting return on capital will get
worse before it gets better as the firm
waits for a payoff from new exploration
under Woods.
Rivals including Royal Dutch Shell
(RDSa.L) and Chevron (CVX.N), by
contrast, have capped or cut their
spending after finishing expansion
projects.
Exxon shares are down 18 percent
since Woods took over in January 2017.
Shell is up 2 percent and Chevron is
down about 3 percent during the same
period.
Woods is feeling the heat from
investors who could have made more if
they held shares in Exxon's rivals, as
well as activist investors who want to see
the company take renewable energy
more seriously. Analysts are pushing for
more transparency on operations, and
some have called for Woods to sell
assets.
European
stock markets
drop at open
European stock markets
dropped at the open on
Wednesday following
losses in Asia, which
came after the
resignation of US
President Donald
Trump's top economic
advisor.
London's benchmark
FTSE 100 index fell 0.4
percent to 7,117.49 points
compared with the
closing level on Tuesday.
In the eurozone,
Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed
0.4 percent to 12,060.09
points the Paris CAC 40
lost 0.4 percent to
5,151.69.
Hong Kong
stocks hit as
trade fears trump
N. Korea hope
Hong Kong stocks
tumbled on Wednesday
as the early boost from
North Korea's offer of
denuclearisation talks
were overshadowed by
fears of a global trade war
after Donald Trump's top
economics advisor
resigned.
The Hang Seng Index
dived 1.03 percent, or
313.81 points, to end at
30,196.92. The
benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index lost 0.55
percent, or 17.97 points, to
3,271.67 and the Shenzhen
Composite Index, which
tracks stocks on China's
second exchange, fell 0.77
percent, or 14.35 points, to
1,837.87.
EU's Tusk to lay down Brexit
trade red lines
European Union President Donald
Tusk will on Wednesday unveil
draft guidelines for future ties with
Britain, which are expected to warn
London it cannot have completely
free trade after Brexit.
Days after British Prime Minister
Theresa May made a long-awaited
speech setting out London's terms,
Tusk will present his plans at a
press conference with Luxembourg
premier Xavier Bettel.
The leaders of the remaining 27
EU states must then approve the
guidelines at a Brussels summit on
March 22, setting the template for
EU negotiator Michel Barnier in
trade talks that could start as soon
as April.
Tusk warned last week that
Britain's self-imposed conditions
for leaving the European Unionthat
it must quit the single market
and customs union-made
"frictionless" trade impossible.
"Everyone must be aware that the
UK red lines will also determine the
shape of our future relationship,"
Tusk said, adding that the EU
viewed Britain's restrictions
"without enthusiasm and without
satisfaction".
"I want to stress one thing clearly.
There can be no frictionless trade
outside of the customs union and
the single market. Friction is an
inevitable side effect of Brexit, by
nature," the former Polish premier
added.
May used her speech last week to
call for a wide-ranging free-trade
deal with the EU, while
acknowledging it was time to face
"hard facts" about the economic
consequences of Britain's shock
2016 vote to leave.
She said she wanted the "broadest
and deepest possible agreement,
covering more sectors and cooperating
more fully than any free
trade agreement anywhere in the
world today".
But the remaining 27 EU
countries have vowed to resist all
British attempts at "cherrypicking"-getting
special treatment
for Britain's financial services and
car industries-without the
obligations and costs of
membership.
A political declaration on future
relations will be attached to the
Brexit divorce agreement between
Britain and the EU, which Barnier
wants in place by November at the
latest.
Any actual trade deal will have to
wait until after Brexit day on March
29, 2019.
The EU's free trade agreements
with Canada, South Korea and
Japan are the most likely model,
Barnier said.
But huge hurdles lie ahead.
The Brexit withdrawal treaty is
itself mired in difficulties, with
London saying the EU's official
legal text of the preliminary divorce
agreement they made in December
makes unacceptable demands on
the Irish border.
Barnier meanwhile warned that a
planned post-Brexit transition
period lasting until the end of 2020
-- which leaders had been expected
to approve at the March summitwas
also at risk due to
disagreements with London.
Britain would follow EU law
during the transition in exchange
for access to the single market,
although losing its decision making
powers.
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited inaugurated its Agent banking outlet at College Gate Sohag
Shopping Complex of Shibpur Upazila, Narsingdi on Monday, 5 March 2018. Md. Harunur Rashid
Khan, former Chairman, Shibpur Upazila was present in the program as Chief Guest while Md.
Shamsuzzaman, Additional Managing Director of the Bank as Guest of Honor. Presided over by
Dr. M Kamal Uddin Jasim, Senior Vice President and Head of Dhaka East Zone Shamsul Alam
Bhuiyan Rakhil, Social Worker and Nur Uddin Mohammad Alamgir, Headmaster, Shibpur Model
Pilot High School were present as Special Guests. Md. Nasir Uddin, First Assistant Vice President
and Head of Monohordi Branch addressed the welcome speech.Quazi Ismail Hossain Pavel,
Senior Principal Officer of the Bank along with Businesspersons, Professionals and social elites
were present on the occasion.
Photo : Courtesy
Asian markets swing as Trump trade
worries offset North Korea hopes
Asian markets and the dollar were jolted
Wednesday as news that Donald
Trump's top economics adviser had
resigned revived trade war fears, while
early excitement at North Korea's
denuclearisation talks offer fizzled out.
Investors already on edge over expected
US interest rate rises have been rattled
further since the US president last week
unveiled plans for controversial tariffs on
steel and aluminium imports as part of his
"America First" agenda.
Equities initially plunged on Thursday's
announcement, which has been condemned
by business leaders and foreign
governments, before rebounding this week
as dealers bet that the final measures would
not be as bad as initially thought.
However, analysts said news that Gary
Cohn-who had fought against the tariffshad
stepped down could leave the field
open for protectionist hawks to dictate
policy, ramping up the chances of a
global trade war.
"His resignation increased the risk
tenfold that President Trump will follow
through with far-reaching trade tariffs
given that Cohn was said to be
remaining in his role to convince Trump
to reverse his trade policy views, or at
least temper them," said Stephen Innes,
head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA.
"While the world appears to be in a safer
place this morning due to the
denuclearisation olive branch offered by
North Korea, the market is no less safe
from the wrath of Trump's trade policies."
US bond yields sank as traders rushed
into safe assets, with the dollar falling
against its major peers as well as highyielding
currencies as traders bet that
any trade war would hurt the US unit.
"Policy uncertainty has underpinned a
lot of the market's recent volatility,"
Stephen Wood, chief market strategist for
North America at Russell Investments in
New York, told Bloomberg News.
"This speaks to the instability. He's
(Cohn) an advocate for free-trade policy
so there would be expectation that
protectionist voices would be more
representative in the administration."
Regional equities swung through the
morning, with sentiment improved by
Pyongyang's olive branch to South
Korea and the US-saying it was open to
discussing its nuclear programme.
Seoul announced the two Koreas
would hold a historic summit next
month-and that the North's leader Kim
Jong Un was ready to suspend
provocative missile and nuclear tests
while sitting down for dialogue.
Trump, who has said the US would not
talk unless Kim was prepared to give up his
weapons, welcomed the breakthrough offer.
"It's important for markets for a
number of reasons," said Greg
McKenna, chief market strategist at
AxiTrader. "It reduces a point of tensions
between the US and China and could
lead to more... cooperation as President
Trump seeks to rebalance the US-China
trade deficit."
However, investors were unable to
maintain the positive momentum and
Seoul reversed its morning course to end
0.4 percent down, though the won held
its gains.
Tokyo closed down 0.8 percent, with
Kobe Steel plunging 7.4 percent a day
after its CEO resigned-leaving no
successor-after the firm revealed
widespread submission of false strength
and quality data for products shipped to
hundreds of clients worldwide.
Hong Kong shed one percent in the
afternoon and Shanghai closed down
0.6 percent, with Taipei 0.4 percent off.
Sydney dropped one percent as data
showed Australia's economic growth
slowed in the final three months of last
year and missed expectations. Singapore
also shed one percent, while Bangkok,
Jakarta and Mumbai tumbled.
Canada, Mexico exempt from tariffs
once NAFTA deal signed: US official
Canada and Mexico will be exempt from the
steel and aluminum tariffs President
Donald Trump will unveil this week once a
new North American Free Trade
Agreement is reached, US Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.
Acknowledging the fears that Trump's
surprise announcement last week could
spark a trade war, Mnuchin also hinted that
the final implementation may address
some of the issues.
In testimony before a House
appropriations subcommittee, the Treasury
secretary said he has been in contact with
his counterparts on the specifics of the tariff
proposals and "we're trying to deal with this
on a case by case basis."
The president "does understand the
potential impact it has on the economy, and
I think we have a way of managing through
this."
Trump last week announced that he
would be imposing tariffs of 25 percent on
all imported steel and 10 percent on
aluminum to protect domestic industries,
citing a rarely-invoked national security
section of US trade law.
That sparked global outrage and threats
of retaliation, including from the European
Union, and NAFTA-partner Canada which
has the most to lose as the main provider of
steel to the US market.
Trump said he would not back down,
even for the closest US neighbors, unless
and until a deal to revamp NAFTA that is
"fair" for US business and workers was
signed.
Many observers read that as a softening
of his stance to have no exemptions, and
that sent global financial markets roaring
back Tuesday.
Mnuchin was even more definitive saying
that with Canada and Mexico "our objective
is to have a new NAFTA and once we do
that-which I'm cautiously optimistic on-the
tariffs won't apply to them."

MISCELLANEOUS
11
thuRSDAY, MARch 8, 2018
Russian plane crash in Syria kills 39 servicemen
BEIRUT : A Russian military cargo plane
crashed near an air base in Syria on Tuesday,
killing all 39 Russian servicemen on board in a
blow to Russian operations in Syria. The
Russian military quickly insisted the plane was
not shot down and blamed the crash on a
technical error, report UNB.
Meanwhile, shelling near the rebel-held
eastern suburbs of Damascus killed dozens of
people over the past 24 hours as President
Bashar Assad's government, supported by the
Russian military, pushed its assault on the
capital's rebel-held suburbs. International aid
workers on a rare humanitarian mission inside
the besieged area described dramatic scenes of
rescuers trying to pull corpses from the rubble of
buildings and children who hadn't seen daylight
in 15 days.
The mission on Monday to the area known as
eastern Ghouta was cut short after the
government shelling escalated while the aid
workers were still inside, calling into question
future aid shipments to the encircled region, the
last major opposition stronghold near the
capital.
Opposition activists and a war monitor said
80 people were killed Monday - the deadliest
day since the U.N. Security Council demanded a
30-day cease-fire for Syria - and at least nine
were killed Tuesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
urged all parties to implement a cease-fire
demanded by the Security Council on Feb. 24
and allow "safe and unimpeded access" for
convoys to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands
of Syrians in desperate need.
Guterres descried that attacks on eastern
Ghouta reportedly killed more than 100 people
Monday and that 14 of 46 trucks in a convoy
trying to deliver supplies to Douma in eastern
Ghouta weren't able to fully unload, U.N.
spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Dujarric said nearly half of the food carried on
the convoy could not be delivered.
"People were telling us very desperate stories.
They are tired, they are angry. They don't want
aid, what they want is the shelling to stop,"
Pawel Krzysiek, head of communications for the
Syrian branch of the International Committee of
the Red Cross, said Tuesday.
He said thousands of families were huddled in
underground shelters, reluctant to eat in front of
each other because of the pervasive hunger, and
children who watched as aid workers tried to
pull corpses from the rubble.
"No child should be witnessing this in their
very early state of development. But the children
of Douma and the children of eastern Ghouta
unfortunately do, and that's what makes the
situation very, very dramatic," he said.
Monday's aid shipment was the first to enter
eastern Ghouta amid weeks of a crippling siege
and a government assault that has killed some
800 civilians since Feb. 18. Aid agencies said
Syrian authorities removed basic health
supplies, including trauma and surgical kits and
insulin, from the convoys before they set off.
The U.N. said airstrikes and shelling in
eastern Ghouta continued for hours while the
convoy was unloading supplies.
"After nearly nine hours inside, the decision
was made to leave for security reasons and to
avoid jeopardizing the safety of humanitarian
teams on the ground," said Jens Laerke, deputy
spokesperson for the U.N.'s Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. As a
result, 14 of the 46 trucks in the convoy were not
able to fully offload critical humanitarian
supplies.
Laerke said the team found a desperate
situation for people who have endured months
without access to humanitarian aid. "Food for
civilians was in short supply or prohibitively
expensive and high rates of acute malnutrition
were observed," he said.
Krzysiek said there was "no electricity so it
was extremely dark and we had to go. But we left
with heavy hearts because we knew that we are
leaving people behind, we know what they will
be going through."
The violence called into question future aid
deliveries. Another aid convoy is scheduled to
enter eastern Ghouta on Thursday, but Laerke
said security measures must be guaranteed for
this to happen.
Pro-government forces have made swift gains
since launching their offensive, seizing roughly
40 percent of eastern Ghouta territory in two
weeks, according to the Britain-based
Observatory for Human Rights monitoring
group, and setting off a wave of displacement as
civilians flee strikes and advancing forces.
Airstrikes continued Tuesday. The
opposition's Syrian Civil Defense search-andrescue
group reported at least nine people were
killed in airstrikes on the town of Jisreen. The
group, also known as the White Helmets, said
two of its volunteers, and 28 others, suffered
difficulties breathing following shelling on the
town of Hammouriyeh on Monday evening. It
accused the government of using "poison gas."
The Observatory reported 18 people suffered
breathing difficulties, without attributing a
cause.
It was the eighth allegation of chlorine gas use
reported by the Syrian American Medical
Society this year. The reports could not be
independently confirmed, and Russia used its
Security Council veto to freeze the work of a
U.N. body investigating such reports earlier this
year. The Syrian government, through the
SANA state news agency, denied using chemical
weapons.
Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry
extended an offer for armed rebels and their
families - not just civilians - to leave eastern
Ghouta through a safe corridor set up earlier for
civilians, though none have left. It said the
rebels were free to leave with their weapons and
families unhindered.
GD-370/18 (6 x 4)
GD-374/18 (15 x 4)
GD-371/18 (9 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY
ThuRSDAY, DhAKA, MARCh 8, 2018, FALguN 24, 1424 BS, JAMADI-uS-SANI 19, 1439 hIJRI
Today's Awami League rally caused a serious setback in the Dhaka metro's traffic management system. People are
seen waiting in queues for a long period of time in order to board on a bus in Shahbag area. Photo : TBT
BD, Kuwait to formulate
deal on manpower
DHAKA : Bangladesh and Kuwait have agreed to
formulate Cooperation Agreement on
Manpower (2000) and form a Joint Working
Group under the aegis of the deal, reports UNB.
"Both sides have also agreed to work together
to establish centres of excellence for Kuwaitbound
workers in Bangladesh," said State
Minister for Foreign Affairs M ShahriarAlam.
He made the disclosure after a meeting with
Hend SB Al Subaih, the Minister of Social
Affairs and Labour and the Minister of State
for Planning and Development of Kuwait, at
Kuwait parliament on Tuesday.
At the meeting, the Kuwait side also assured
of addressing various challenges being faced by
the Bangladesh community in Kuwait.
The state minister urged the Kuwait government
for hiring more Bangladeshis, particularly
professionals, skilled and semi-skilled workers.
The Kuwaiti minister assured the
Bangladesh side of looking into the matter positively,
according to a handout received here on
Wednesday. Shahriar Alam deeply appreciated
the government of Kuwait for hosting a
large number of Bangladesh workers in
Kuwait and for recruiting the increased number
of Bangladeshis in the last two years.
He thanked the Kuwait side for the ongoing
general amnesty declared by the Kuwait government
which will give an opportunity to regularise
the irregular migrant workers.
About the recent media report on imposing
Akademgorodok
Siberia’s Silicon Valley
INTERESTING NEWS
Tucked away in a remote forest of birch
and pine in the heart of Siberia, 3,000 km
away from Moscow, at a place where winters
are six months long with temperatures
dropping to minus 40 degree
Celsius and summers are swaddled with
mosquitos, is a city built for scientists and
researchers. This frozen wasteland is
more suited for polar bears than scientific
endeavors, but Nikita Khrushchev felt
the distance from Moscow was necessary
so that the country’s sharpest scientific
minds could work together on fundamental
research away from the prying eyes of
bureaucracy. This is Akademgorodok, or
“Academic Town”—the Soviet Union’s
answer to America’s Silicon Valley.
Akademgorodok is situated in the middle
of a forest 30 km south of Novosibirsk
city. It is one of several Akademgorodoks
built between the late 1950s and mid-
ban on recruitment of workers from
Bangladesh, the Kuwaiti minister clarified that
there is no ban or restriction on any category of
work visa those are processed by the Labour
Ministry of Kuwait.
However, the Interior Ministry issues visas
for domestic helpers in favour of Kuwaiti individuals
which is known as category 20 visa.
As gathered, Kuwait authorities have
observed some irregularities in this sector and
imposed temporary restriction on issuance of
such visas to review and streamline the sector.
The state minister appreciated the leading
role of Kuwait in extending humanitarian
assistance to the forcibly displaced Rohingya
people who took shelter in Bangladesh.
Hend, within her capacity as the Minister of
Social Affairs and the State Minister for
Planning and Development, assured of
increased assistance to Bangladesh through
the charitable organisations of Kuwait working
in Bangladesh and through the Kuwait Fund
for Arab Economic Development.
Earlier in the morning, the State Minister
had a meeting with the Director General of the
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development
at its headquarters in Kuwait City while they
agreed to finalise the loan agreement for
financing the Urban Infrastructure
Improvement Projects for 51 municipalities in
the northern area of Bangladesh at the soonest
possible.
1970s in Siberia; the Akademgorodok
outside Novosibirsk is the most successful
one. Located within Akademgorodok
is Novosibirsk State University, 35
research institutes, a medical academy,
apartment buildings and houses, and a
variety of community amenities including
stores, hotels, hospitals, restaurants and
cafes, cinemas, clubs and libraries. Less
than two kilometer away is an artificial
beach created by dumping hundreds of
tons of sand along the edge of the Ob
reservoir.
At its peak, Akademgorodok was home
to 65,000 scientists and their families. It
was a privilege to live there, and many
scholars in the 60s escaped to the frozen
hinterland as a sort of voluntary exile in
order to be far from the totalitarian rule of
the Soviet capital, and lured by the
promise of new housing and professional
advancement.
Muhith wants
closure of
BJMC
DHAKA : Finance Minister
Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on
Wednesday said that the
Bangladesh Jute Mills
Corporation (BJMC) should
be shut down and a jute cell
could be opened in the ministry
instead.
"In the present situation
there is no place for
Bangladesh Jute Mills
Corporation (BJMC). It
should be shut down fully
and there can be a cell on jute
at the ministry. I officially
told them but they don't
oblige. They are under the
grip of BJMC,' the minister
said while unveiling a publication
- Proyash-2018 - at
the secretariat yesterday.
Muhith's hard stance on
BJMC came within two days
of an allegation brought
against him by State
Minister for Textiles and
Jute Mirza Azam at a city
programme.
Mirza Azam on Monday
alleged that it has not been
possible to recognise jute as
an agricultural product due
to the negative attitude of
Finance Minister AMA
Muhith. "The Finance
Minister has a negative attitude
towards jute. This has
also affected the entire
Finance Ministry, hampering
the development of jute,"
he said.
4 police officials
among 6 suspended
in Brahmanbaria
BRAHMANBARIA : Six
police personnel, including
two sub-inspectors and two
assistant sub-inspectors, of
Kosba Police Station were
suspended on Tuesday night
over allegedly hiding the
information of drug recovery,
reports UNB.
The suspended policemen
were identified as sub-inspectors
- Shyamal Mazumdar and
Monir Hossain, assistant subinspectors
- Faruque Hossain
and Salauddin and constables
- Shahjahan and Kashem.
Police sources said the suspended
police personnel
recovered drug and seized two
private cars on Tuesday morning
from T-Ali interjection of
Kosba upazila. Later, they
hided the information of those
recovery.
Following the matter, allegations
of irregularities and negligence
of duties were raised
against them and they were
suspended temporally, said
Md Mohiuddin, officer-incharge
of Kosba Police Station.
A probe body, headed by
additional superintendent of
Brahmanbaria police Md Iqbal
Hossain, was formed to look
into the matter, he added.
Bangladesh on right track of
economic success: Experts
ISAS-Cosmos Foundation Dialogue held in Singapore
SINGAPORE : Experts from
Bangladesh and Singapore stressed on
how consistent Bangladesh's economic
growth has been and advised more on
what needs to be done for further development.
This was part of a joint panel discussion
between Singapore's Institute of
South Asian Studies (ISAS) and
Bangladesh's Cosmos Foundation at the
Ballroom of the city's Orchard Hotel on
March 5.
The panel discussed the key challenges
which are relevant not only to
Bangladesh, but also to the South Asian
region and the rest of the world, reports
UNB.
It also shared its perspectives on various
economic opportunities offered by
the country.
Enayetullah Khan, Chairman of
Cosmos Foundation, cited from his
interview with the Chinese Foreign
Minister, who said that Bangladesh is the
bridge between China and India - which
correctly defines Bangladesh's role in
Asia.
"At a point in time, when Bangladesh
is powering ahead across a broad spectrum
in socioeconomic activities, a lot
remains to be done," he said.
He also added that the panel discussion
is an icebreaker on the issue of
Bangladesh as an investment destination.
"The result of the discussion should
be an excellent example what we can
achieve together."
In his opening remarks, ISAS
Chairman, Ambassador Gopinath Pillai,
recollected memories of being part of the
Singapore State Trading Corporation
group which had established a garment
factory in the early 1980s in Bangladesh,
being one of the first foreign organizations
to do so.
Drawing the anecdote of Henry
Kissinger terming Bangladesh as a "bottomless
basket", he said that although
such declarations affected investors,
Bangladesh stood up to the occasion.
"Last year, I had visited Bangladesh
with a few of my colleagues and had
noticed a stark difference from what I
had witnessed back in the 80s," he
added.
In order for Bangladesh to step up and
develop further, he advised that the
country's vast population must be
empowered, fed and educated. "The
infrastructure calls for further improvement,
and the nation's intellectual
resources must be channeled in the right
direction."
Md Mustafizur Rahman, High
Commissioner of Bangladesh to
Singapore, marked how Bangladesh's
economy had made remarkable progress
in the last decade.
"The growth has been accompanied by
a significant decline in poverty rate,
increase in employment and greater
access to health and education, and
improvement in basic infrastructure," he
commented.
The high commissioner attributed this
success to the RMG industry and sustained
inflow of remittances.
"Bangladesh today is the 33rd largest
economy in the world, in terms of purchasing
power parity," Mustafizur
added, "other social indicators such as
gender equality, women empowerment,
mortality rate and such, are remarkably
better compared to its other neighbours."
He furthered that some challenges still
persist, such as the population size,
resource constraints, vulnerability to climate
change, the Rohingya refugee crisis
and others.
Mustafizur concluded by stating
Singapore is a potential source country
to attract Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) and for doing business.
"The impending visit of Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina to Singapore will
add a new impetus to our existing bilateral
relations," he said.
Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a former
caretaker government adviser and
Principal Research Fellow at ISAS, said
that Bangladesh had successfully been able
to negotiate preferential market access
based on norms of spatial and differential
treatment at major trade organisations like
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for
its manufacturers.
Dr Chowdhury, who presided over the
programme, said that Bangladesh transformed
its economy over time from an
agricultural one to a mainly manufacturing
one.
As a foremost exporter of garment and
pharmaceutical products, Bangladesh's
ever-spreading diaspora supports it with
high remittance figures as well.
The successes of microcredit, non-formal
education etc. emanated from the
Bangladeshi soil and spread its ideas
across the globe, Dr Chowdhury
observed.
In terms of challenges, he pointed out
the high population numbers and need
for skilled employment for the youth as
major blockades to development.
"Bangladesh is a country anxious to
move forward," he commented.
Dr Mashiur Rahman, Economic
Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, said that any observer of
Bangladesh can easily notice
Bangladesh's sustained growth and its
acceleration of growth from 6 percent to
a little over 7 percent.
"In order to reach middle income status,
we have to increase that number further
to 8 percent, which can be possible
with efficiency improvement," he said.
"Tax revenue has steadily increased,
but the tax-GDP ratio is still low," Dr
Mashiur added. "But if you take into
account the size of the country's economy,
its informal economy and the generous
tax credits issued to businesses in the
country, it is significant."
Md Aziz Khan, Chairman of Summit
Group, finds Bangladesh to be a "golden
star" in terms of economic sustainability,
adding that there is much to learn from
Bangladesh's success stories.
"Bangladesh has provided the first
foundation and is an example in the
world about how sustained democracy
and free market economy can benefit a
country's economic development," he
said.
He stressed on more frequent publicprivate
partnerships (PPP) which will
benefit the country in the long run.
Rubana Huq, Managing Director of
Mohammadi Group, recalled how she
and her husband, late Annisul Huq,
had started off their entrepreneurial
careers in the RMG sector, and were
able to be part of the race to RMG
export supremacy.
"Transformative projects must include
the construction of social capital in
Bangladesh," she advised, "and the need
for more female entrepreneurs, which is
currently only a handful in number."
Md Abdul Halim, director general of
the Governance and Innovation Unit at
the Prime Minister's Office's, said that
the government is ensuring key elements
such as accountability of its departments
and offices, and initiating performance
review systems and reforms in the financial
management system for better
investment opportunities.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam led a delegation with him to meet with Khaleda Zia at the old central jail in
Nazimuddin Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Photo : TBT
2,980 Yaba tablets recovered
in Cox's Bazar
DHAKA : Three alleged drug
peddlers were held with 2,980
pieces of Yaba tablets from
hospital road area in Cox's
Bazar Sadar upazila on
Tuesday night, reports UNB.
The arrestees were identified
as Md Abdul Khaleque, 32,
son of late Mir Kashem of
Kolatali village in Cox's Bazar
Sadar upazila, Ron Barua
Rony, 22, son of Swuyenga
Barua of Purba Rajarkul village
in Ramu upazila, and Md
Anwar Hossain, 21, son of Md
Abdul Karim of Khurushkul
village in Sadar upazila.
On secret information of
Yaba trading, a team of Rapid
Action Battalion (Rab)-7, conducted
a drive in the area
around 9pm and arrested
them along with 2,980 pieces
of contraband Yaba pills worth
of Tk 11.92 lakh, said a press
release of the elite force.
The Rab men also recovered
Tk 5,615 from their possession.
The arrestees were handed
over to Cox's Bazar Sadar
Model Police Station.
30 acres forest land
recovered in Sylhet
SYLHET : Members of taskforce committee
on Tuesday recovered a total of 30
acres of land of Forest Department from
the possession of encroachers at Jaflong
in Goainghat upazila, reports UNB.
RSM Monirul Islam, a forest official
of Sylhet, said encroachers had occupied
30 acres of land for long.
A taskforce team, led by Executive
Magistrate Sumon Chandra Das, conducted a
drive at Guchchagram and Rahmatpur villages
in the upazila and evicted several
makeshift houses and 17 stone crushers from
the areas, he said.
The eviction drive will continue to
recover the land of Forest
Department from encroachers, he
vowed.
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