11-03-2018

NEWS
SuNDAY,
MARCh 11, 2018
2
International Day
for Disaster
Reduction observed
Jhenaidah correspondent
'Janbe Bisshow Janbe
Desh, Durjog Mukabelay
Prostut Bangladesh' with
this theme International
Day for Disaster
Reduction was observed in
Jhenaidah. On this
occasion on Saturday
morning at 10 am, a rally
brought out from old DC
Court Chattar. The rally
paraded the city and
ended at Wajer Ali School
ground.
After that, fire service
organized an awareness
drill about things to do
during earthquake and fire
breaks out . Additional
Deputy Commissioner
(Education and ICT)
Assaduzzaman , Deputy
Director of Fire service
Rafiqul Islam, Station
Officer Dilip Kumer Sarker
and other officials were
also present at that time.
Death
Anniversary
Today is the 15th death
anniversary of former
Managing Director, Islami
Bank, Shahjalal Islami
Bank and Member of BoT
of Southeast University
Trust, M. Kamaluddin
Chowdhury's wife Gulshan
Ara Begum (Dipa). On this
occasion, the relatives of
the deceased request
everyone to pray for the
salvation of the departed
soul. May the almighty
Allah grant her endless
peace and happiness.
3 workers killed at California
veterans center, gunman dead
Three workers for a program that treats
veterans for post-traumatic stress
disorder were found dead Friday along
with the suspect who took them
hostage at the largest veterans home in
the U.S., officials said.
The four bodies were discovered
nearly eight hours after the gunman
slipped into an employee going-away
party in a building where combat
veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan
receive treatment, said California
Highway Patrol Assistant Chief Chris
Childs.
The three female victims were
employees of the nonprofit
organization Pathway Home treatment
program, which is housed on the
campus of the Veterans Home of
California-Yountville.
Childs said it was "far too early to say
if they were chosen at random" because
investigators had not yet determined a
motive.
Although authorities called the
workers hostages throughout the day
Friday, it was unclear how long they
were alive held by the gunman.
The only shots that were heard at the
center happened at around 10:30 a.m.,
when authorities say the suspect
arrived. Throughout the day,
authorities said they had been unable
to make contact with the gunman and
the bodies were found at around 6 p.m.
"This is a tragic piece of news, one we
were really hoping we would not have
to come before the public to give,"
Childs said.
Napa County Sheriff John Robertson
declined to identify the victims and the
gunman Friday night, saying family
members still needed to be notified
following the attack at the state-run
Veterans Home of California-
Yountville, in one of Napa Valley's most
upscale towns in the heart of wine
PM flies to Singapore
Sunday on 4-day tour
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
leaves here for Singapore on Sunday
morning on a four-day official visit at the
invitation of her Singaporean counterpart
Lee Hsien Loong, reports UNB.
A flight of Bangladesh Biman carrying the
Prime Minister and her entourage will
depart Hazrat Shahjalal International
Airport at 8:25am.
The flight (BG 084) is scheduled to reach
Changi Airport, Singapore at 2:45pm (local
time).
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State
Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul
Hamid, senior government officials and a
high-level business delegation will
accompany her.
During her four-day visit, she will be
staying at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.
On Monday, the Prime Minister will attend
the welcome ceremony at 11am (local time)
at Istana, the official residence and office of
the President of Singapore, and also the
working office of the Prime Minister of
Singapore.
Sheikh Hasina will pay a courtesy on first
female Muslim President of Singapore
Halimah Yacob at 11:15am (local time) and
sit in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister
of Singapore Lee Hsien Loongat 11:45am
(local time) on Mondayat Istana.
The signing ceremony of Memoranda of
Understanding (MoUs) will also be held at
the same venue.
Later, the Prime Minister will join official
lunch to be hosted by Singapore Prime
Minister Lee HsienLoong in honour of
Sheikh Hasina at Banquet Hall of Istana.
She will visit the Port Authority of
Singapore on Monday afternoon and attend
dinner to be hosted by High Commissioner
of Bangladesh to Singapore Mustafizur
Rahman in honour of the Prime Minister on
Monday evening.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister will attend
an orchid naming ceremony at National
Orchid Gardens of Singapore Botanical
Garden at 8:30am, where an orchid will be
country.
Yountville is about 53 miles (85
kilometers) north of San Francisco.
A sheriff's deputy responding to an
emergency call shortly after 10 a.m. got
into a shootout with the gunman, but
the officer was not injured.
Highway Patrol Sgt. Robert Nacke
said negotiators were unable to make
contact with the gunman throughout
the day.
Larry Kamer told The Associated
Press that his wife, Devereaux Smith,
was at a morning staff party and told
him by phone that the gunman had
entered the room quietly, letting some
people leave while taking others
hostage.
Smith, a fundraiser for the nonprofit
Pathway Home, was still inside the
facility's dining hall and was not
allowed to leave, he said. The Pathway
Home, a privately run program on the
grounds of the veterans home, treats
veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars with post-traumatic stress
disorder.
Police evacuated the property and
closed off nearby roads. An armored
police vehicle, ambulances and several
firetrucks were at the facility, which
houses about 1,000 residents.
Army veteran and resident Bob
Sloan, 73, was working at the home's
TV station when a co-worker came in
and said he had heard four gunshots
coming from the Pathway Home. Sloan
sent alerts for residents to stay put.
Jan Thornton of Vallejo, California,
was among hundreds of relatives
worried about how their loved ones
were coping with the lockdown.
Thornton said her 96-year-old father, a
World War II fighter pilot, was inside a
hospital wing and that she had reached
one of his friends who said he was safe.
Still, she worried about the stress of
named after Sheikh Hasina.
She will address Bangladesh-Singapore
Business Forum-2018 and Bangladesh-
Singapore Business roundtable as the chief
guest at her place of residence in the
morning.
Later, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
Sampcorp (TBC) will meet the Prime
Minister at 11:55am at TBC.
On Wednesday, Sheikh Hasina is
scheduled to return home through a flight of
Bangladesh Biman wrapping her four-day
tour. The flight (BG 085) carrying the Prime
Minister will depart Changi Airport at
3:50pm (local time) and will reach Hazrat
Shahjalal International Airport at 6pm.
Briefing about the Prime Minister's tour to
Singapore, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood
Ali on Wednesday last said there is a
possibility to sign six agreements and
Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs)
during her visit.
The six deals are MoU on Collaboration of
Investment Activities into Bangladesh
(between International Enterprise
Singapore and the Bangladesh Investment
Development Authority), MoU on Public
Private Partnership (between International
Enterprise Singapore and the Public Private
Partnership Authority, Prime Minister's
Office of Bangladesh), Confidential
Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) to
expand the Air Service Agreement, MoU on
Digital leadership, Innovation, and Digital
Government Transformation (between the
National University of Singapore Institute of
System Science and ICT Division of
Bangladesh), MoU between FBCCI and
Singapore Manufacturing Federation to
strengthen business relations and promote
economic cooperation, and MoU between
MCCI and Singapore Manufacturing
Federation to strengthen business relations
and promote economic cooperation.
During the tour, Bangladesh will request
the incumbent chair of Asean, Singapore to
extend its support to Bangladesh on
Rohingya issue, Mahmood Ali said.
‘Korean Peninsula’s denuclearisation,
peace directly linked to world peace’
Global powers urged to act for peace in Korean Peninsula
INCHEON (SOUTH
KOREA) : The World
Journalists Conference 2018
ended
hereon
Saturdayrecognising that the
denuclearization and
establishment of peace on the
Korean Peninsula are directly
linked to world peace and
thus will strive for it together,
reports UNB.
In a joint declaration read
out by President of
Journalists Association of
Korea Jung Kyu-sung, the
journalists said they strongly
support the recent
development for dialogue
between the two Koreas.
The participating
journalists from 50 countries
called on all nations around
the world as well as
neighbouring countries
including the United States,
China, Japan and Russia to
join diplomatic efforts to
pursue the path towards
security and peace on the
Korean Peninsula.
The conference with the
theme "Role of Press in the
Denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula and World
Peace' began on March 4 in
Seoul.
With the participation of
North Korea in the
PyeongChang Olympics and
the inter-Korea women ice
hockey team, followed by the
high level talks between
South and North Korea,
inter-Korean reconciliation
and cooperation for peace on
the Korean Peninsula have
become an irreversible trend
of their time, reads the joint
deceleration.
The participating
journalists adopted the
declaration in the hopes that
a spring comes heralding
rapprochement and peace on
the Korean Peninsula.
Marking the conclusion of
the conference, Vice Mayor
of Incheon Metropolitan City
Jun Sung Soo hosted a
dinner for the journalists.
"Korea is the only divided
country in the world. I hope
this event will serve to
promote Korea's strong
desire for reunification and
world peace," he said.
the lockdown, considering her father's
age and that he has PTSD and some
dementia. Thornton said her "heart just
bleeds for the people that are being held
hostage."
A group of about 80 students who
were on the home's grounds were safely
evacuated after being locked down, the
sheriff said. The teens from Justin-
Siena High School were at a theater
rehearsing a play.
"They were a distance away from the
shooting situation," Robertson said.
Some of the children were driven
away on school buses and others in
cars. Sasha Craig spotted a car carrying
her 15- and 17-year-old children and
ran toward it blowing kisses.
"There are my kids," she said. Like
many parents, she was texting with her
children inside and said the teenagers
were telling their parents to "chill."
The state Veterans Affairs
department says the home that opened
in 1884 is the nation's largest veterans
home, with about 1,000 elderly and
disabled residents.
Yvette Bennett, a wound-care supply
worker who supplies the veterans
center, was turned back when she tried
to deliver what she called urgently
needed medical supplies for two
patients inside.
Of all the medical institutions she has
worked with, "this is the most placid,
calm, serene place," she said. Earlier
this week, when she last visited, she
asked a doctor, "What's your magic
here?"
"And then 48 hours later this
happens," Bennett said.
Yountville is a small town that's home
to wineries such as Domaine Chandon,
which is less than a half-mile from the
veterans facility, and Thomas Keller's
famed restaurant The French Laundry,
which is about a mile away.
GOP candidate in Pennsylvania
struggles with campaign basics
There is no sign of Republican
congressional candidate Rick Saccone
on Sherwood Drive.
Just days before western
Pennsylvania's special election, his
campaign informed some residents
that he may knock on doors that
morning in this critical GOP
stronghold. It's almost 11 a.m., and
they're still waiting.
"He was supposed to stop by today,"
68-year-old Republican John Debich
says, scanning the empty streets of
suburban Greensburg from his front
porch. "It's the second time we've been
avoided."
Debich's disappointment
underscores a dangerous truth for the
GOP as the nation braces for the next
special election of the Trump era on
Tuesday.
Saccone may be President Donald
Trump's strong favorite in a
conservative region, but he is struggling
with the basics of modern-day politics.
In a race that will hinge on voter
turnout, the 60-year-old state
lawmaker has little organization of his
own - at least compared with Democrat
Conor Lamb, a 33-year-old former
Marine and federal prosecutor who has
never before run for office.
Most of Saccone's appearances over
the last week have been closed to the
public, and those that weren't, attracted
only a handful of supporters.
Drawing little energy from within,
Saccone has been forced to outsource
the lifeblood of many successful
campaigns - the so-called get-out-thevote
operation - to paid contractors and
the national GOP, which has scrambled
to pick up the slack. Fearing another
special election embarrassment, the
White House is sending Trump to the
region for the second time to help
energize local Republicans on Saturday
night.
"We're doing everything that we need
to do to get out the vote and inspire
people," Saccone told reporters this
week, before he walked into a closeddoor
event with representatives from
the local oil and gas industry. He added,
"All the traditional things, we're doing."
Later that day, Lamb marched up
and down the hilly streets of Carnegie,
Pennsylvania, in the snow to encourage
Democrats to vote. Some residents of
the working-class Pittsburgh suburb
were surprised to see the Democratic
candidate at their doorstep.
Josh Jaros and his partner Kim
Zouko, both 36, invited the fresh-faced
Lamb into their living room, where he
Food crisis
deepens at
Karamjal
reproduction
centre
KHULNA : Food crisis deepens at
Karamjal Wildlife Reproduction
Centre where animals are about
to lose their reproduction
abilities, according to the
authorities concerned, reports
UNB.
Centre's Station Officer (SO)
Howladar Azad Kabir said due to
the insufficiency of the
government's food allocation,
crisis deepens day by day.
In 2002, the government has
established the Wildlife
Reproduction Centre under Bio-
Diversity Project to nourish
reproduction of saline-water
crocodiles, wild deer and
monkeys as well as to preserve the
diversity of the Sundarbans'
wildlife.
The centre consists of four
braiding centers, a deer and
monkey rearing centre, grassland,
18 crocodile protection houses
and a pond for crocodiles.
The SO said there are 207
crocodiles and 40 deer for which
sufficient food are not available at
present. "So, the animals are
provided food once a day."
He also said the beasts are
becoming weaker day by day and
if the situation continues, those
may die.
The caretaker of the
Reproduction Centre, Deputy
Forest Ranger Abdus Sattar, said
the animals need food worth of Tk
1.35 lakh every month.
District Forest Officer (DFO) of
Sundarbans (East) Mahmudul
Hassan said at present food
allotment is about half of the
requirement, causing shortage of
food.
He also said in the last fiscal
year they requested the
concerned authorities for Tk 15
lakh, but the government
approved Tk 5.5 lakh and in the
current year they have received
Tk 9 lakh.
"We have sent a requisition
letter to the government again for
further allocation and if we get the
money, the situation will be
eased," he added.
played with their 3-year-old daughter
for a few minutes before asking them
who they were voting for.
"You've got our vote. And if you didn't
before, you do now," Jaros told him.
Lamb shuttled back to a nearby
campaign office after knocking on 27
doors to speak to nearly 40 young
volunteers, many of them in high
school. They munched on macaroni
and cheese and pulled pork as Lamb
emphasized the importance of
preserving Medicare and Social
Security - programs that help people
maintain "basic dignity," he said.
In a brief interview as volunteers
buzzed through the two-story office, the
first-time candidate insisted that
winning elections isn't "rocket science."
"We've been working really hard to
identify who our people are through
door knocking and calls. That's what all
these people are doing," Lamb said.
"Election day is going to be like
Dunkirk - everybody in their car is
going to go out and make sure
everybody gets there."
Some Washington Republicans
concede that Lamb is the superior
candidate in the race, which would
have been an easy win for Republicans
if not for Saccone's struggle to raise
money and build an aggressive
campaign.
The Republican posted only two
public events on his Facebook page for
the seven-day period before the
election. He was not running any TV
ads earlier in the week. His message, if
voters hear it, is focused on his support
for Trump, his experience in the public
and private sector, his opposition to
abortion rights, and efforts to link his
opponent to House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi.
Saccone does enjoy a base of devoted
supporters from the area he
represented in the state house, but
Pennsylvania's 18th congressional
district includes 10 times more people.
And while Trump won the region by
nearly 20 points little more than a year
ago, polls now suggest that the
Republican and Democrat are
essentially tied. The seat has been in
Republican hands for the last 15 years.
"Candidates and campaigns matter,
and when one candidate outraises the
other 6-to-1 and runs circles around the
other, it creates real challenges for
outside groups trying to win a race,"
said Corry Bliss, executive director for
the Congressional Leadership Fund, a
group aligned with House Speaker Paul
Ryan, which has invested $3.5 million
President to deliver
speech at Solar
Summit Sunday
NEW DELHI : President Abdul Hamid, who is on a
five-day official visit in India, will deliver his speech at
the plenary session of the founding conference of
International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Solar
SummitonMarch 11, reports UNB.
The ISA has been jointly hosted by India and
France here.
Presidents and prime ministers from 23 countries
and ministers from nine countries will participate in
the summit.
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.
President Abdul Hamid left Dhaka for India by a
VVIP flight of Bangladesh Biman Airlines on March
8.
Before arriving in New Delhi on Saturday, he
visitedhis 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 is scheduled to return home onMarch 12.
BNP looking for
excuses to
boycott election,
says Inu
DHAKA : Information Minister Hasanul
Haq Inu said on Saturday that Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) members are
looking for excuses to boycott next election,
reports UNB.
The minister referred to BNP's demands
for Khaleda Zia's jail release, her getting bail,
supportive government etc. as those excuses.
He was distributing copies of the book -
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's
Unfinished Memoirs - among Bheramara
upazila's school and college students at noon
on Saturday.
Inu said the court will fix Khaled's future
and the government has got nothing to do
with it.
Additional Circle Police Super Nur Alam
Siddique along with many activists of Jatiya
Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) attended the
programme.
to boost Saccone's candidacy.
The organization has been active on
the ground since early January to help
execute an aggressive get-out-the-vote
operation of its own. Over the last week,
50 full-time door knockers, hired
through a private contractor, canvassed
the district targeting Republican voters
most likely to turn out on Tuesday.
They handed out fliers that cast
Lamb, a moderate Democrat who has
downplayed his connection to his party,
as a "rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi."
At the same time, teams from the
Koch brothers-backed Americans For
Prosperity arrived in the region this
weekend to broaden the conservative
outreach. And the Republican National
Committee has spent more than $1
million on its own operation that was
expected to reach 250,000 targeted
voters - either by phone or in person -
by election day, said RNC spokesman
Rick Gorka.
Overall, national groups allied with
the GOP have spent nearly $8 million
on advertising in the race, a figure that
doesn't include logistical support on the
ground and is more than seven times
the amount invested by national
Democratic allies unaffiliated with the
Lamb campaign.
The president and his party are eager
to avoid another special election loss in
what should be a safe Republican
district.
Energized by their opposition to the
president, Democrats have overperformed
in virtually every contest
across America since Trump took the
White House. And the sting of the
GOP's embarrassing December defeat
in Alabama's special Senate race is still
fresh.
White House counselor Kellyanne
Conway campaigned for Saccone on
Thursday, the first of three high-profile
visits from Trump or his senior team.
In addition to Trump's Saturday
appearance, Donald Trump Jr. is
scheduled to rally local voters on
Monday.
Conway's first appearance with
Saccone at a Pittsburgh "meet and
greet" with campaign volunteers
attracted less than 20 people.
Back on Sherwood Drive, Debich is
disappointed that Saccone didn't show,
but he says it won't affect his vote. He
notes that he stapled a Saccone
campaign sign to his front lawn so the
wind wouldn't blow it away.
"I'd like to meet him," Debich says. "I
know he's a busy man. I'll see him at the
Trump rally."
In the tough
times, Trump
goes it alone
President Donald Trump
is increasingly going it
alone.
The president exercised
his preference for flying
solo in a big way this week.
First he ordered sweeping
tariffs opposed by foreign
allies and by many in his
own party. Then hours later
he delivered the stunning
news that he'll meet
with North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un.
The president has long
considered himself his
own best consultant.
He has told confidants
recently that he wants to
be less reliant on his staff
and that he plans to follow
his own instincts. That's
according to two people
who requested anonymity
because they were not
authorized to speak about
private conversations.
DBI's training
course on
branding and
marketing
concludes
DHAKA : A short training course
titled 'Branding and Marketing
(sales) for Business Success'
concluded on Saturday at DCCI
Business Institute (DBI) in the city,
reports UNB.
A total of 16 trainees, nominated
by different organisations,
participated in the training course
arranged by DBI, said a press
release. Former Vice President of
Dhaka Chambers of Commerce and
Industries (DCCI) M Abu Hurairah
addressed the concluding
ceremony of the course as the chief
guest, while DBI Executive Director
Md Joynal Abdin delivered the
welcome speech.