11-06-2018

MOnday 

Dhaka:June 11, 2018; Jaisthya 28 1425 BS; Ramadan 25,1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.159; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

inTeRnaTiOnal 

Iran, spurned by US, 

angrily watches Trump- 

North Korea talks 

>Page 7 

aRT & CUlTURe 

Renovated musical 

instrument gallery 

opened 

>Page 8 

SPORT 

Asia Cup success promises 

huge boost for Bangladesh 

women's cricket 

>Page 9 

Tigresses clinch maiden Women’s 

T20 Asia Cup title 

SPoRTS DeSK 

It was dream come true for 

Bangladesh and a befitting end of a 

fairy tale as Tigresses overcame all the 

hurdles to beat the fancied India by 

three wickets in a nerve wrecking final 

of the Women's Asia Cup final to lift 

their maiden crown at Kinrara 

Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur on 

Sunday, reports BSS. 

Six time champions in a row India 

were asked to bat first and they struggled 

all the way to put on a face saving 

112 for nine wickets in their allotted 20 

overs and in reply Bangladesh chasing 

their first ever run chase in the final faltered 

midway but managed to hold on 

against experienced Indian bowline up 

to reach home in the very last delivery 

of the match scoring 113 for seven wickets 

in 20 overs. 

If cricket, especially women's cricket, 

was looking for a fairy tale or an exhibition, 

this has to be it! A much-hyped 

team India with some of the world's top 

players up against the perpetual underdogs 

Bangladesh, one never thought 

Tigresses for the second time in this 

tournament will beat the favourites 

Zohr 

RAMADAn 

Ramadan Date Sehri Iftar 

24 June 10 -- 06:49 PM 

25 June 11 03:38 AM 06:50 PM 

26 June 11 03:38 AM 06:50 

03:44 AM 

12:02 PM 

04:38 PM 

06:50 PM 

08:16 PM 

5:10 6:47 

QUEBEC (CANADA) : Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina has stressed the need for 

full implementation of the Paris 

Agreement as Bangladesh needs greater 

support for climate change adaptation, 

reports UNB. 

"Full implementation of the Paris 

Agreement is crucial for Bangladesh. We 

need greater support for climate change 

adaptation," she said at an intervention on 

climate issues at the G7 Outreach Leaders' 

Summit at Manoir Richelieu Hotel in La 

Malbaie here. The Prime Minister said 

available climate financing has to be augmented 

and facilitated for Bangladesh. 

The countries like Bangladesh also need 

support to capacity building, technology 

development and transfer in areas like 

agriculture, public health and disaster 

management. She appreciated Canada's 

commitment to support the poor and 

most vulnerable countries to adapt to the 

adverse effects of climate change, commending 

Canada's pledge to contribute 

US$ 2.65 billion over the next five years to 

help the developing countries to tackle the 

climate change issue and US$ 300 million 

to the Green Climate Fund (GCF). 

Sheikh Hasina also sought both financial 

and technological assistance from G7 

countries to tackle global effects of climate 

Indian team. 

As some of the commentators quite 

rightly even compared with a deja-vu to 

the 1983 Men's World Cup, when it was 

India who pummeled the mighty West 

Indies in the league stages and in the 

final and today Bangladesh have done 

the same to India. 

A match worthy of a final that that 

went down to the last ball-the last inch 

covered by the batsman as it was the 

fielder's arm against the batsman's dive 

to separate the sides! An extraordinary 

low-scoring chase and ultimately definitely 

it was the better side has certainly 

won. 

Earlier asked to bat first India suffered 

a batting debacle which resulted 

in a flurry of loss of wickets in the initial 

stage, but a partnership between the 

skipper Harman Harpreet Kaur( 56) 

and V. Krishnamurthy (11) and later 

between Goswami (10) allowing them 

to cross three figure mark and something 

to defend. 

Bangladesh batters started bravely 

but started losing their nerve at 35. 

Poonam Yadav put on a fine show of 

crafty and miserly leg-break to decimate 

the top-order. She was one of the 

main reasons this game got to the last 

over. Tigresses hung on grimly squandered 

home with Ayasha Rahman 17, 

Shamim Sultan 16, Nigar Sultana 27, 

Rumana Ahmed 23, Fahima 9, finally 

managed to take the game to the last 

over. 

Harmanpreet Kaur came to ball last 

over and the game went down to wire 

as Jahanara Alam has to score 2 runs in 

the very last delivery to win the match 

for Bangladesh. Jahanara found kaur's 

last ball full one on middle, she turned 

away towards deep mid-wicket for a 

brace! The fielder at deep mid-wicket 

was too slow, and doesn't manage the 

best of throws to the keeper. 

The Bangladeshi batsmen were 

scrambling with all their might, putting 

every ounce of their energy and channeling 

their inner Usain Bolts. A dive is 

put in, the dive of glory, and the coveted 

cup was theirs as they completed the 

double run! The inside edges, half-calls, 

all seemed in the end went with 

Bangladesh and they truly deserved it - 

deserved every little unit of luck. A fairy 

tale comes to an end. 

PM pushes for full 

implementation 

of Paris deal 

change. 

"In Bangladesh, we foresee intense 

floods and droughts and heavier monsoons. 

Rainfall is increasingly unpredictable. 

The intensity and frequencies of 

flooding, cyclone and storms are rising. 

Upstream salinity intrusion in rivers has 

increased. Natural fish stocks inland is 

depleting. In the next 20 years, five to 10 

million people may have to move from 

our coast. Most of our development 

efforts and gains are at stake due to climate 

impacts, affecting the poorest most. 

Every year, Bangladesh spends about 1 

percent of its GDP in combating climate 

change," she said. At another intervention 

on Oceans, the Bangladesh Prime 

Minister emphasized partnerships 

between the G7 countries and the vulnerable 

nations like Bangladesh for sustainable 

management and protection of 

marine and coastal ecosystems. 

"Partnerships between the G7 countries 

and the vulnerable countries like 

Bangladesh for sustainable management 

and protection of marine and coastal 

ecosystems is critical," she said citing 

examples that Bangladesh has been 

uniquely supporting millions of fishermen 

for 65 days when it bans all kinds of 

fishing in the country's rivers to support 

natural breeding every year. 

Bangladesh Women's team poses with the Women's Asia Cup trophy. 

Street movement 

soon for Khaleda's 

release, warns BNP 

DHAKA : BNP on Sunday warned that 

its leaders and activists will take to the 

streets with a short notice if their party 

chief Khaleda Zia is not released from jail 

before the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, reports 

UNB. 

Speaking at a press conference at the 

party's Nayapaltan central office, BNP 

senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir 

Rizvi also warned that the consequences 

will not be good if the government and the 

jail authorities do not take proper steps 

for the better medical treatment of 

Khaleda as she suffered a 'mild stroke'. 

"Take immediate steps for the release of 

our leader and ensure her better treatment 

before the Eid, or else, the nationalist 

forces will come down to the streets in 

their huge numbers taking a vow of a 

strong movement," he said. 

He also demanded the government 

allow the party chief to receive treatment 

at United Hospital immediately. 

Singer Asif withdraws 

bail petition 

DHAKA : Singer Asif Akbar withdrew a 

bail petition hours after filing it on 

Sunday morning in a case filed by lyricist 

and composer Shafiq Tuhin on charges of 

music piracy and threatening him on the 

Facebook, reports UNB. 

Asif's lawyer Omar Faruk filed the petition 

with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan 

Magistrate Amirul Haider Chowdhury in 

the morning. However, later he withdrew 

the petition, said the lawyer adding that 

the petition will be filed on Monday. 

On June 6, the court sent the singer to 

jail rejecting both his remand and bail 

petitions in the case. 

Earlier, CID members arrested Asif 

from his studio at Morning Post Tower in 

Panthapath area around 3 am on June 6. 

GAZIPUR : About the suspicion of BNP 

Chairperson Khaleda Zia's personal physicians 

that she has suffered a mild stroke, 

Road Transport and Bridges Minister 

Obaidul Quader on Sunday said it is not true 

as she fell sick for low blood sugar level, 

reports UNB. 

"I have talked to the Home Minister and 

IG Prison over the matter. Though 

Khaleda's physicians said she might have 

suffered from mild stroke, the physician of 

the jail said it is because of fall in her blood 

sugar level. It's not a mild stroke." he said. 

Obaidul was talking to reporters while visiting 

Dhaka-Tangail highway at Chandra. 

"We don't support any negligence in 

Khaleda's treatment and she has been 

requested to go abroad for treatment and 

undergo medical tests at Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujib Medical University 

(BSMMU) Hospital," said the minister. 

Talking about the road condition and Eid 

journey, Quader said the four-lane 

Chandra-Elenga road will be opened to traffic 

on June 12, aiming to ensure the smooth 

journey of homebound people. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate 

the road after Eid, he said. 

Mohammad Harunur Rahid, 

Superintendent of Gazipur Police, Gazipur 

Highway Police Super Shafiqur Islam were, 

among others, present. 

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on 

Saturday said they will take step for the 

treatment of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia 

at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical 

University Hospital (BSMMUH) as per prescription 

of her personal physicians. 

Four personal physicians met the BNP 

Chairperson at the Old Central Jail on 

Photo: Courtesy 

It's not mild stroke, but 

low blood sugar, 

Quader about Khaleda 

Saturday and feared that she might have 

suffered a mild stroke. 

"BNP chairperson Khalade Zia collapsed 

on the ground on June 5 but she cannot 

memories the time of the incident. We think 

she has suffered a mild stroke," said Prof SM 

Siddique of Dhaka Medical College Hospital 

DMCH Medicine Department. 

Mymensingh 

cop held for 

'Yaba trading' 

MYMENSINGH : Detectives arrested a 

constable of Mymensingh Court on 

Saturday night for his alleged involvement 

in drug trading, reports UNB. 

The arrestee was identified as Constable 

Al Amin. Ashiqur Rahman, officer-incharge 

of Detective Branch of district police 

said that police arrested suspected drug 

trader Motaleb on Friday noon along with 

12,000 pieces of Yaba tablets. 

In primary interrogation, Motaleb said 

that he received the tablets from Constable 

Al Amin. Later on Saturday night, a team of 

DB police arrested Al Amin from the court 

premises. 

Meanwhile, Inspector Kamruzzaman and 

two sub-inspectors Saiful Islam and Monir 

Hossain of the court were withdrawn to the 

district police lines in connection with arrest 

incident, said SA Newazi, additional superintendent 

of Mymensingh police. 

The three policemen of the court were 

closed following arrest of Constable Al Amin 

in drug trading case.

NEWS 

MONDAY, 

JUNe 11, 2018 

2 

Unicef, GP, Telenor join 

forces to promote child 

online safety in BD 

DHAKA : Grameenphone, Telenor Group and Unicef on 

Sunday joined hands to create opportunities for a 

meaningful and safer digital participation in Bangladesh 

sayingsafer internet experience for young population is 

equally important. 

Under the signed agreement, Grameenphone, Telenor 

Group and Unicef will launch a specially designed 'Child 

Online Safety' programme. 

The programme titled, 'Enhancing and scaling child online 

protection in Bangladesh and engaging adolescents as agents 

of change' is designed to directly engage and empower 

400,000 children aged between 11 and 16 years and sensitize 

50,000 parents, guardians and teachers on how to facilitate 

a safer internet experience. 

Additionally, the Child Helpline hotline (1098) services will 

be expanded to incorporate Child Online Safety issues. 

Grameenphone CEO Michael Foley and Unicef 

Bangladesh Representative Edouard Beigbeder signed the 

agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. 

Grameenphone and Telenor Group have chosen Child 

Online Safety as part of their global activities to support the 

United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 regarding 

'Reducing Inequalities'. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Grameenphone CEO said 

they have been working on keeping young minds safe while 

they use the internet as they want the people of Bangladesh 

to use and reap its benefit without any apprehension or 

reservation. 

"This partnership with Unicef collectively demonstrates 

how our passion and commitment can make a significant 

difference in creating safe learning opportunities for the 

children and significantly enhance their capacity to access 

the world of information confidently." 

In Bangladesh, mass internet penetration is still a recent 

phenomenon, said Unicef. 

Many still have preconceived negative notions around the 

internet, it said. 

Grameenphone has been educating and actively 

advocating safer internet usage among schoolchildren in 

Bangladesh since 2014 and worked with more than 130,000 

students nationally. 

Grameenphone and Unicef also jointly published a 

parent's guide handbook on responsible internet usage and 

best practices. 

Unicef Bangladesh RepresentativeEdouard Beigbedersaid 

growing online activity by adolescents presents an incredible 

opportunity for them and triggers their active participation in 

ensuring their rights. 

"However, internet use is also associated with a unique set 

of challenges and risks for children and adolescents. We, 

therefore, urgently need to protect our children and 

adolescents from harmful effects of the internet while 

increasing their online accessibility on an equitable basis." 

The event was also attended by Yasir Azman, Deputy CEO 

and CMO and Mahmud Hossain, Chief Corporate Affairs 

Officer of Grameenphone and other officials from 

Grameenphone and Unicef. 

Thousands get solvency 

through household dairy 

farms at Chilonia village 

CUMILLA : Several thousand villagers including 

unemployed youths at Chilonia village in Lalmai upazila of 

Cumilla district have changed their fate by setting up 

household dairies and rearing cattle to produce milk, reports 

UNB. 

About 1300 to 14,000 litres of milk are being sold from the 

village every day. 

More than 200 families of the village have brought 

solvency selling cow's milk. 

Besides, many villagers have set up household diary in 

nearby Gozaria, Hafania and Paduia village, locals said. 

Talking to UNB, Abdul Aziz, owner of Aziz Dairy and 

Sweet, said he have changed a lot by producing milk setting 

up the household diary. He started his dairy journey in 2006 

with one cow. 

He bought more cows one after one after making profit. 

Following the quick profit, he took a bank loan and set up a 

household diary firm in 2010. Now he has a total of 250 cows 

in his diary including milk producing and rearing cows for 

meat. 

He cultivated grass on around several acres of land for 

grazing his cows. Milk collectors get milk from his diary at Tk 

46 to 57 per litre. Along with cattle rearing and milk 

producing, he opened a sweet factory. 

Sometimes, he has to face loss as the businessmen could 

want to buy milk. 

Following his diary firm, many unemployed youths from 

different villages have started diary firm at their house, he 

added. Perul Uttor Union Parishad Chairman Abdul Bashar 

said not only Chilonia village but also others nearby villages 

youths have set up the household diary and brought 

solvency. 

Lalmai upazila livestock officer Dr Md Arif Hasanat said 

many household diaries have been running at Chilonia 

village. "Our livestock officers give them advice to make dairy 

farming easier to them." 

They suggested to rear one or two cows with little cost and 

quick profit. Milk cooperative can solve their customer's 

shortage, the officer added. 

Gaibandha Zilla Police organized a rally against drug addiction which circumambulated the main 

streets of the city. 

Gaibandha Correspondent 

Acute summer heat is interrupting the daily life pretty hard. On the other hand, load shedding has 

worsened the situation. As a result, demand of hand-fan has skyrocketed throughout the country. 

The picture is taken from Bogra's Dhunot Bazar. 

Photo: Star Mail 

2 punished for railway 

ticket black marketing 

RAJSHAHI: A mobile court yesterday sentenced two 

persons for their involvement in railway ticket black 

marketing at Rajshahi railway station, reports BSS. 

The persons were identified at Kaosar Ali, 38, son of Abu 

Hanif of Kapaskul village under Paba Upazila and Hafizur 

Rahman, 26, son of Habibur Rahman of Seroil Colony area 

in Rajshahi city. 

On a tip-off, members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) 

conducted a raid at the station and arrested them with four 

and five advanced return tickets red-handed respectively. 

Subsequently, Executive Magistrate Anisur Rahman of the 

district administration conducted a mobile court at the place 

of occurrence. 

After examining the circumstantial evidences the court 

fined Kawsar Ali Taka 3,000, in default, to suffer 15-day jail 

and Hafizur Taka 3,000, in default, to suffer 30 days jail. 

Kawsar Ali paid the fined money instantly. Police sent 

Hafizur Rahman to jail as he failed to pay the fine. 

Golam Mostofa, Superintendent of the station, said they 

were ticket black marketing in front of counter number 5 and 

RAB members arrested them red-handed. 

He said necessary measures were taken to resist black 

marketing of advance railway tickets. 

Golam said law enforcing agencies are working to ease the 

passengers' sufferings and necessary steps have been taken 

to prevent any problem relating to ticket selling. 

The West Zone of Bangladesh Railway will operate 

Rajshahi-Dhaka Eid special train with the main thrust of 

reducing sufferings of the passengers during the Eid-ul-Fitr. 

Niger ratifies agreement 

on African continental 

free trade area 

Niger has deposited document with the African Union (AU) 

for the country's ratification of the agreement that establishes 

the African continental free trade area (AfCFTA). 

Receiving the document on Friday, the Chairperson of the 

AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, urged the member 

states that have not yet done so to take the necessary 

measures to ratify the AfCFTA, according to an AU statement 

on Saturday. 

Mahamat has also urged the member states to sign and 

ratify the protocol on the free movement of persons, the right 

of residence and the right of establishment and to join the 

single African air transport market (SAATM), which he said 

are vital for integration of the African continent. 

In March, 44 AU member states signed the AfCFTA during 

the AU extraordinary summit in Kigali, Rwanda, and 31 

members signed the protocol relating to the free movement 

of persons, the right of residence and the right of 

establishment. 

A minimum of 22 ratifications are required to enable the 

AfCFTA to come into force, while 15 ratifications for the 

protocol on free movement of persons, right of residence and 

right of establishment. 

So far, four countries including Ghana, Kenya, Niger, and 

Rwanda have already ratified the free trade area agreement 

(AfCFTA). 

Rwanda has also deposited its instrument of ratification of 

the protocol 

on free movement of persons, right of residence and right 

of establishment. Morocco's forex reserves down 0.7 pct in 

May 

Berlin's punk-rock district 

charges into battle 

against Google 

Global cities from Seoul to Tel Aviv have welcomed Google 

with open arms, but in the bohemian Berlin district of 

Kreuzberg the Silicon Valley giant has found itself on the 

frontlines of gentrification trench warfare. 

Its new Berlin hub now in the making - 3,000 square 

metres (32,000 square feet) hosting offices, a cafe and a 

coworking space in a once-derelict industrial building - is set 

to be the latest outpost of California startup culture in 

Europe. 

But a campaign dubbed "Fuck Off Google" has begun 

organising monthly demonstrations at the site of the 

company's future "campus", set to open later this year. 

The blunt slogan has been daubed atop the layers of posters 

and graffiti that cover all available public wall space in artsy, 

multicultural and left-leaning Kreuzberg and adorns the 

bridges along its tree-shaded canal. 

"It's extremely violent and arrogant of this megacorporation, 

whose business model is based on mass 

surveillance and which speculates like crazy, to set up shop 

here," fumed a hacker and protest leader who asked to be 

identified only by his alias Larry Pageblank. 

With hip Berlin drawing ever more people, and apartment 

prices steadily rising, "gentrification is gathering pace and 

loads of people are already being thrown out" of once 

working-class Kreuzberg, he charged. 

In fact, Berlin is no stranger to tech culture, and many IT 

newcomers lure programmers with offers of free beers, 

snacks or massages at the office and hierarchy-free 

leadership structures. 

The city's "Silicon Allee" (Silicon Avenue) companies now 

make it one of Europe's top destinations for investment into 

startups, beating London and Paris to the post last year with 

3.1 billion euros ($3.6 billion) in capital raised. 

Google already operates a co-working space, the so-called 

"Factory" in the affluent hipster neighbourhood of 

Prenzlauer Berg, while home-grown incubator Rocket 

Internet shepherds a flock of startups towards hoped-for 

greatness. 

One of Berlin's biggest successes, online fashion retailer 

Zalando, last year reported revenues of 4.5 billion euros less 

than a decade after its 2008 founding. 

Such spots of light are vital for a city-state that lags behind 

wealthier regions in Germany's west and south. 

Berlin is still recovering from the post-war decades as a 

relative backwater sliced in half and stranded deep inside 

communist East Germany, which cost it most of its industrial 

base. 

A study by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research 

last year found German gross domestic product would be 0.2 

percent higher if Berlin simply vanished overnight - one 

possible reason why mayor Michael Mueller is in favour of 

the Google development. 

"The space is meant to be open for other people interested 

in entrepreneurship and startups," said Google Germany 

spokesman Ralf Bremer. 

Just five of the Californian firm's employees will work fulltime 

at the site, while there will be space for dozens of 

"residents" working on their own ideas in a tech "incubator" 

hosted on a mezzanine level. 

But opponents like Larry Pageblank are unconvinced. 

"They're going to create a battery farm for harvesting ideas, 

talented people and projects, then build them into the Google 

empire - via Ireland and the Netherlands to avoid paying 

taxes," he predicted. 

Startups have drawn cash and well-heeled tech workers to 

Berlin, but the influx has accelerated the city's transition 

from a "poor but sexy" haven for artists, anarchists and 

squatters to a pricey capital of cool. 

S.Korea’s economy keeps 

recovery track on industrial 

production: gov’t report 

South Korea's economy kept a recovering track on a brisk 

industrial production that offset faltering investment, 

consumption and job creation, a government report said 

Friday. 

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in its monthly 

economic report, called Green Book, that the economy is 

broadly maintaining a recovery trend on increased 

production among mining and manufacturing companies. 

It offset the corrections in facility investment and private 

consumption, the report said. 

Facility investment declined 3.3 percent in April from a 

month earlier, keeping a downward trend for two months in 

a row. Retail sales fell 1 percent in the same period on soft 

demand for semi-durable goods such as clothing. 

Revenue among discount outlets shed 3 percent in May 

from a year earlier. Job creation missed the government's 

target for three consecutive months through April. 

However, domestic passenger car sales edged up 0.3 

percent in May from a year ago, while revenue among major 

department stores gained 2.0 percent. 

The number of Chinese tourists to South Korea surged 44 

percent in May from a year earlier, contributing to sales of 

duty-free shops and local retailers. Production in all 

industries grew 1.5 percent in April from a month earlier, 

after slumping 0.9 percent in the previous month. Output in 

the mining and manufacturing industries advanced 3.4 

percent in April after sliding 2.2 percent in March. 

3 kids drown in Faridpur 

FARIDPUR : Three children, including two siblings, 

drowned in a pond at Kathalbaria village in Bhanga upazila 

in the district on Sunday, reports UNB. 

The deceased were identified as Mim, 4, daughter of Basar 

Matubbor, her cousins Jimi, 7, and Sajjad, 5, children of 

Jamer Ali Matubbor. 

Family sources said that the three children drowned into 

the pond while taking bath around 1 pm. 

Later, locals rescued the children and rushed them to Sadar 

Hospital where doctors declared them dead, said Faridpur 

Fire Service Senior Station Mastar Saiful Islam. 

Jimi and Sajjad, who used to live at Sadarpur area in the 

upazila, went to their uncle's house to attend a Iftar mahfil. 

Housewife ‘sets herself 

afire’ in B’baria 

BRAHMANBARIA : A housewife allegedly committed 

suicide by setting herself afire at Sholakandi village in Sarail 

upazila on Sunday, reports UNB. 

The deceased was identified as Shima Rani Gope, 28, wife 

of Nantu Gope of Ajmeriganj upazila in Habiganj district. 

Mafiz Uddin Bhuiya, officer-in-charge of Sarail Police 

Station, said Shima came to visit her father's house at 

Sholakandi village few days ago. 

Shima set herself afire after pouring kerosene in a toilet of 

the house around 1:15 pm, he said. 

Her charred body was recovered from the toilet after 

breaking open the door . 

However, the reason behind her suicide could not be 

ascertained yet. 

Teenage girl found dead 

in Laxmipur 

LAXMIPUR : Police recovered the body of a teenage girl 

from Shakchar village in sadar upazila on Saturday night, 

reports UNB. 

The victim was identified as Asma Begum, 14, daughter of 

Foyez Ahmed of the village. 

Asma's mother went to her father's workplace in Feni 

leaving her with the maternal grandmother, said the victim's 

family members. 

But, as she did not return home in the evening, her relatives 

started to search. After a frantic search, family members 

found the victim floating in a pond near their house. 

Later, she was rushed to Sadar Hospital around 11:30 pm 

where the duty doctors declared her dead. 

Family members claimed that the girl was killed after rape 

as several injury marks were spotted in the body. 

The body was sent to the morgue for an autopsy, said 

Lokman Hossain, officer-in-charge of Sadar Model Police 

Station. 

UP member found dead 

in Rajbari 

RAJBARI : A member of a union parishad in Kushtia district 

was found dead in a canal at Machpara union in Pangsa 

upazila on Sunday morning, reports UNB. 

The deceased was identified as Abdul Mazed Mandal, 50, a 

member of ward no 5 of Jayanti Hazra union in Khoksa 

upazila of Kushtia. 

Locals spotted the body in a canal in Meghna Khamarpara 

area around 9 am and informed police, said officer-in-charge 

of Pangsa Police Station. 

Later, police recovered the body. 

Cox's Bazar-Teknaf road 

communication snapped 

COX'S BAZAR : The road communication between Cox's 

Bazar and Teknaf remained suspended since Sunday 

morning following hill slide due to heavy rainfall caused by 

the low pressure developed in the Bay, reports UNB. 

A large chunk of mud collapsed on the road in Thangkhali 

area around 5 am, said Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md 

Rabiul Hasan. 

Earlier on Saturday, maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox's 

Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to keep hoisted 

local cautionary signal no three as the well-marked low over 

North Bay and adjoining area lies over Northeast Bay and 

adjoining coastal areas of the country. 

Badsha seeks 

industrialization of Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI: Fazley Hossain Badsha, a lawmaker and 

general secretary of Workers Party of Bangladesh, has said 

industrialization of Rajshahi region has become 

indispensable for its socio-economic development, reports 

BSS. 

He said industrialization is the precondition for generating 

employment opportunities and called for flourishing the 

industrial sector for infusing dynamism into economic 

activities. 

Badsha was addressing a pre-Iftar meeting with journalists 

at a city community center on Saturday. 

The lawmaker recommended special incentives for the 

entrepreneurs who are interested to set up industries here. 

Referring to enormous prospects of setting up of agrobased 

industries in the region, the lawmaker said need-based 

steps should be taken in this regard as early as possible. 

He said setting up economic zones has become the demand 

of time. Prospect of agro-processing enterprises is bright in 

the region as it produces surplus crops especially food-grains, 

fruits and vegetables. 

He viewed the region has enormous potentials for making 

agro-processing enterprises sustainable and profitable as it 

has been producing varieties of fruits and vegetables. 

Badsha underlined the need for launching direct railway 

communication between Rajshahi and Kolkata like Khulna. 

He opined that if Rajshahi Airport was upgraded to 

international standard various agro-products could be 

exported to different foreign countries including the Middle 

East. 

"Immediate step should be taken to full-fledged reopening 

of the now partially functioning Rajshahi Silk Factory for the 

sake of revitalizing the silk sector," he said adding two major 

tourism-enriched cities- Chittagong and Cox's Bazar are 

detached from Rajshahi in terms of direct rail and air 

communications. 

This odd situation must be removed on an urgent basis. He 

urged to bring back the navigability in Padma River through 

capital dredging and it would be the turning point of 

Rajshahi's development.

METRO 

MoNDAY, JUNe 11, 2018 

3 

Restore discipline 

in banking sector, 

MPs to Muhith 

SANGSAD BHABAN : Members of both 

the treasury and opposition benches 

came down heavily on Finance Minister 

AMA Muhith on Sunday for the prevailing 

'indiscipline' in the banking sector. 

They came up with the salvo while 

taking part in discussions on the 

supplementary budget for 2017-18 fiscal, 

reports UNB. 

Ruling party MP Prof Md Ali Ashraf put 

emphasis on restoring discipline in the 

banking sector saying that the sector will 

collapse if steps are not taken 

immediately. "The Finance Minister must 

take steps." 

He also asked the Finance Minister to 

hold the culprits behind the siphoning off 

money. 

Ali Ashraf, elected from Comilla-7, said 

the investors will feel discouraged if the 

country fails to get out from the 'looting 

culture' in the banking sector and restore 

discipline. 

"You must book the looters to revive the 

confidence of people...you must ensure 

good governance, you'll have to do these 

things with a strong hand," he said. 

Independent MP Dr Md Rustum Ali 

Faraji said money from banks is being 

siphoned off in the name of providing 

loans. "People used to keep their money 

in banks for security, but people are now 

afraid of depositing money in 

banks...millions of taka have been 

siphoned off abroad." 

Talking about loan defaulters, the 

independent MP elected from Pirojpur-3, 

said many people know that who are the 

loan defaulters as these people take loan 

from various banks. 

He criticised the Finance Minister's 

proposal in the budget to reduce the 

corporate tax of banks, insurance and 

financial institutions. 

He said the government has already 

given enough for bank owners. "There's a 

provision to become four directors from a 

single family, they can be directors for 

three terms... now you're proposing 

lowing tax, if this sort of patronization 

continues there will be nothing called 

bank." 

Faraji asked the Finance Minister to 

form a commission to realise the 

defaulted loans. 

Regarding corruption in the 

administration, he said corruption 

prevails at every level and corruption is 

going on even after the enhancement of 

salaries of public servants. "After the 

increase of unbelievable salaries why the 

public servants are indulging in bribery," 

he questioned. 

Lack of monitoring is behind the 

continued corruption by the public 

servants, he said. 

Jatiya Party MP Kazi Firoz Rashid said 

the looting in Bangladesh banking sector 

is the second biggest incident after the 

looting incident of Somnath Mandir of 

India by Sultan Mahmud Gajni. 

Pointing to AMA Muhith, he asked why 

the Finance Minister gave the scope to the 

bank robbers. "Why do you give them 

protection," he said. 

Firoz Rashid, elected from Dhaka-6, 

said the bank looters looted Sonali Bank 

and Farmers Bank. "What justice have 

people got? You have given permission of 

the bank, people deposited their money in 

it and their money has been looted," he 

bemoaned. 

He asked the Finance Minister to put 

Farmers Bank on auction. 

Jatiya Party MP Pir Fazlur Rahman said 

the MPs were talking about the loops of 

the banking sector in the last couple of 

years. "Looters are taking away money, 

the Finance Minister are providing capital 

with taxpayers' money. And this money is 

looted by some people," he said. 

He sharply criticised the Finance 

Minister for not forming the commission 

for the banking sector reform. 

Five CoU students 

nominated for PM 

Gold Medal 

CUMILLA UNIVERSITY : Five students of 

Comilla University (CoU) have been 

selected for the Prime Minister Gold 

Medal their outstanding academic results, 

reports UNB. 

Every year the University Grants 

Commission honours brilliant students with 

this medal. 

The medals will be awarded to the students 

by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her 

office in the upcoming prize giving 

ceremony, said sources at the registrar office. 

A total of 159 students of different 

universities have been nominated for the 

Prime Minister's Gold Medal for the year 

2017. 

5 IU students 

selected for PM 

Gold Medal 

ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY : A 

total of five students from 

different faculties of the 

Islamic University (IU) have 

been selected for the Prime 

Minister Gold Medal for 

their outstanding academic 

results, reports UNB. 

Every year the University 

Grants Commission 

honours brilliant students 

with this the medal. 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina will hand over the 

medals to the students at her 

office in the upcoming prize 

giving cremony, IU acting 

registrar SM Abdul Latif 

said. 

The selected students are: 

Maksud Iqbal of Al-Quran 

and Islamic Studies 

department, Bulbul Ahmed 

of Arabic Language and 

Literature, SM Nahidul 

Islam of Finance and 

Banking, Wazidur Rahman 

of the Department of Law 

and Rezwanur Rahman of 

Biotechnology and Genetics 

Engineering. 

Hridoy returns 

home after taking 

treatment 

DHAKA : Khalid Hasan 

Hridoy, whose right hand 

was severed in a bus-truck 

collision on June 17 in 

Gopalganj, returned home 

on Sunday after receiving 

treatment at the burn unit of 

Dhaka Medical College and 

Hospital (DMCH). 

Road, Transport and 

Bridges Minister Obaidul 

Quader visited Dhaka 

Medical College Hospital to 

inquire about the health 

condition of Hridoy on April 

19 and he took responsibility 

of bearing the treatment cost 

of Hridoy, an official release 

said. 

On behalf of Obaidul 

Quader, personal secretary 

to the minister Md Shafiqul 

Karim handed over money 

for his treatment to Rabiul 

Islam Minar, father of 

Hridoy. 

BASIS holds a press conference focusing on the budget of 2018-19 fiscal years in Dhaka. 

Photo: TBT 

DBM for progressive 

taxation system 

DHAKA : Stressing the need for introducing a 

progressive taxation system, Democratic Budget 

Movement (DBM) yesterday said such a taxation system 

would help reduce pressure on the general taxpayers. 

The DBM leaders said the government should 

emphasize on indirect tax rather than direct tax to 

reduce tax burden on the people. 

They came up with the suggestions while exchanging 

views with members of Economic Reporters Forum 

(ERF) on the proposed national budget for fiscal year 

2018-19 (FY19) here. 

DBM president Dr Protima Paul Majumder presided 

over the meeting, MM Akash of Dhaka University, chief 

executive officer of BUILD Ferdous Ara Begum, 

president of health rightsa movement Dr Rashid-e- 

Mahbub, DBM general secretary A R Aman, ERF 

president Saif Islam Dilal and its vice president 

Salauddin Lablu, among others, took part in the 

discussion. 

DBM research secretary Manwar Mostafa presented 

the keynote paper. 

Criticizing the government to slash corporate tax for 

banks, MM Akash said the government should lower 

corporate tax for the sectors that create jobs for the 

young people. 

He suggested the government to lay emphasis on 

technical education and small and medium industries for 

creating more jobs in the country. 

Ferdous Ara Begum suggested immediate introduction 

of 'One Stop Service' soon for expansion of investments 

in the country. 

Manwar Mostafa suggested withdrawal 5 percent VAT 

on ride sharing UBER and Pathao. 

Burn Institute to 

start journey in 

Sept: Nasim 

DHAKA : Health and Family Welfare Minister 

Mohammed Nasim yesterday expressed his optimism 

that the 500-bed specialized "Sheikh Hasina National 

Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery" will start its 

journey in September. 

"World's largest burn and plastic surgery institute will 

be inaugurated after the name of Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina in the month of her birth anniversary in 

September," he told newsmen while visiting the underconstruction 

institute in Chankharpool area. 

The minister said the 12-storied institute will provide 

advanced treatment to burn patients while physicians 

and nurses will also get training from it. 

Nasim said Bangladesh Army has been completing the 

construction of the institute with sincerity and efficiency. 

Chief of Army Staff General Abu Belal Muhammad 

Shafiul Huq, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Bablu 

Kumar Saha, National Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit 

Chief Coordinator Dr Samanta Lal Sen and Dhaka 

Medical College Hospital Director Brigadier General 

AKM Nasir Uddin, among others, were present on the 

occasion. 

The project got the approval of Executive Committee of 

the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on November 

24, 2015. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the 

foundation stone of the institute on April 6, 2016. 

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad holds a news conference at its office in Dhaka on Sunday. 

Photo: TBT 

Mahila Parishad calls for 

end to extrajudicial killings 

Dhaka : Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) on Sunday 

called for an end to the extrajudicial killings which took 

place during the anti-narcotic drives across the country, 

reports UNB. 

BMP members expressed deep concern over the 

prevailing situation saying that they believe the situation 

can be handled only through controlling the drug 

business and giving exemplary punishment to those 

involved. 

They came up with the view at a press conference at 

Sufia Kamal Bhaban auditorium inside BMP building in 

the city. 

While chairing the conference, BMP President Ayesha 

Khanam said the places from where drugs enter into the 

country must be sealed as well as proper rehabilitation 

process for the drug abusers, who are the main victims of 

the business, must be ensured. 

"We are concerned over the strategy being applied for 

uprooting drug trading from the country but cannot 

support the way it is happening," she added. 

In a written statement, BMP Director Jana Goshwami 

said any kind of extrajudicial killing is a violation of 

human rights and against the constitution. 

Although the present government clearly promised in 

their 2008 manifesto that they would stop extrajudicial 

killing, they have broken their promises several times, 

she further said. 

Jana Goshwami said, "Since May 16, at least 138 people 

were killed in the anti-drug drives." 

"Under the shelters of the godfathers, the drug 

business has taken such extreme form," she said. 

In the press conference, BMP also urged the Election 

Commission to take measures to ensure uninterrupted, 

peaceful and neutral election in the country. 

Steps must be taken to ensure that no one can 

influence the election using black money or force while 

ban on using religion in electioneering also to be 

announced, they said. 

Among others, BMP General Secretary Maleka Banu, 

Vice President Rekha Chowdhury, Joint General 

Secretary Rakhi Das Purkaystha and Shima Moslem 

were also present. 

Govt working to expand 

rail network: Sherif 

ISHARDI : Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif 

yesterday said the government is working to expand rail 

network across the country for improving smooth 

movement of the people. 

"We are taking various initiatives for the development 

of railway sector," he told a Iftar mahfil hosted by Pakshi 

Unit of Awami League (AL) here, an official release said. 

Sherif said, "There are huge scopes for expansion of 

broad-gauge rail line because of favorable 

environment…. The present government is setting up 

broad-gauge rail lines across the country." 

Divisional Manager of Bangladesh Railway Ashim 

Kumar Talukdar, Ishardi Upazila Unit of AL Nayeb Ali 

Biswas and Ishardi Upazila Chairman Muklesur Rahman 

Mintu, among others, were present at the Iftar mahfil. 

Iqvmv-R:Z:-240/18 

GD-853/18 (5 x 3) 

LNG import pushing 

up gas prices, public 

hearing from Monday 

DHAKA : All the state-owned gas distribution and 

transmission companies including Titas Gas have sought to 

hike gas prices on an average 75 percent for different 

consumer groups, reports UNB. 

Such price increase proposals, however, are not meant for 

household and commercial consumers.If comes in force, 

hike will mainly affect large scale consumers like power 

plants, fertiliser factories, captive power plants, industries, 

and CNG refueling stations. 

Against this backdrop hearing on gas price hike proposal at 

retail level is going to start fromMondayat theBangladesh 

Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC). 

The watchdog body is organising the hearing at TCB 

Auditorium in the city responding to appeals from different 

state-owned entities in the country's gas sector. 

Gas companies argued that import of liquified natural gas 

(LNG) will push up their cost substantially. 

"So, we have no alternative to raise our gas price if we want 

to sustain and continue our service", said a top official of the 

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd. 

The official sources said the household and commercial 

(hotel, restaurants etc.) consumers were kept outside the gas 

price hike purview considering the upcoming general 

election billed for December this year. 

An official document, obtained by UNB, reveals that the 

largest gas distribution company Titas has proposed to raise 

206 percent price for power plants as it proposed Tk 10 per 

cubic meter (CM) for power plants in place of exiting price of 

Tk 3.16. 

The gas price for fertiliser factories were proposed to hike 

the highest 372 percent where it sought the price to be Tk 

12.80 per CM against the existing rate of Tk 2.71 per CM. 

The captive power plants' gas price was proposed to be Tk 

16 per CM against Tk 9.62 while Industries gas price was 

proposed at Tk 15 per CM against the existing Tk 7.76 per CM 

and CNG gas price was proposed to be Tk 40 per CM against 

existing rate of Tk 32. 

bKash agent shot dead in city 

DHAKA : Muggers shot a 'bKash' agent to death and 

snatched a bag containing money from him in the city's 

Demra area on Sunday noon, reports UNB. 

The deceased was identified as Rashedul Islam, 28. 

Iftekhar Hossain, assistant commissioner of Demra zone, 

said two muggers coming in a motorbike shot Rashed and 

snatched the bag around 12 pm, leaving him dead on the spot. 

However, the amount of the money could not be known yet. 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿

EDITORIAL 

MONDAY, 

JuNe 11, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Monday, June 11, 2018 

Budget 2018-19 

E 

ven 

before the finance minister's formal unveiling of the national 

budget for 2015-16 in parliament, from whatever could be 

known about the next fiscal year's budget, the usual chorus like 

in the previous years was heard that the budget would not be 

implementable. This chorus only grew louder following the formal 

submission of the budget proposals on June 7 

But the chorus has been the same ever since the finance minister 

(FM) initiated the trend of bigger and bigger budget presentations from 

financial year 2010-11. In that year the budget's size was Tk 1,13,819 

crore-a big jump from the previous year's 99,962 crore. It was the 

biggest ever national budget of the country and there was no looking 

back for the FM from that period. Thus, the budget's size increased to 

1,32,170 crore in FY 2011-12, Tk 1,63,589 in 2012-13, Tk 1,91,738 crore 

in 2013-14, Tk 2,22,491 crore in 2014-15 and Tk 2,95,100 crore in 2015- 

16. The budget's size was Tk 3,40,605 crore in 2016-17 and this year's 

proposed budget size is Tk 4,00,266 crore. 

Of course the above were projected sizes of the annual budgets in 

these years ; the projections were later scaled down or 'revised' as the 

budget makers say that reflected actual resources mobilized and spent. 

But the revised budgets were not substantially smaller than the 

projected ones in terms of resources that were actually available and 

could be spent. Therefore, the revised budgets, too, tended to be 

progressively bigger and bigger in size and were seen as reasonably well 

implemented because the concern expressed every time in the last five 

years about not collecting additional resources through taxation 

proved to be wrong. The increased revenue collection each year from 

FY 2010 did fall short of targets in some years but only by a reasonable 

margin and in some years even exceeded the targets. Thus, on the 

whole, the targets of progressively increased collection of tax revenues 

during the last half a decade were reached or no dangerous deficits were 

created Indeed, the national budgets--either in proposed form or their 

revised versions--during the last six years, only reflected substantial 

increases in their sizes compared to the past. The budget's size in 2015- 

16 shows more than doubling from 2009-10. Increasing the size of the 

national budget in a country like Bangladesh is like doing what the 

doctor ordered. Economies of older and developed countries in many 

cases do not normally require bigger budgets as they have already 

stretched their economic growth potentials to the margins. The need to 

only maintain the current level of their economic performance and are 

not so much faced with the problems of providing jobs for the first time 

to an ever growing number of unemployed youths. These countries are, 

thus, expected to make their economies tidy through careful and 

controlled budgetary expansion in order to guard against inflation, 

retain currency values and take care of other related needs. 

But even among the developed countries and particularly in the by 

far the country with the biggest economy, the USA, the culture of 

presenting deficit budgets--keeping an imbalance between actual 

mobilization of resources from taxation and the real spending--while 

making up the deficit through borrowing, has been noted for many 

years. Nonetheless, the system worked and achieved maximum 

contentment for the biggest number in the population. Only in recent 

years and as the size of the national debt climbed to worrying levels that 

the government there has become seriously concerned with preparing 

budgets with less deficit spending. 

Therefore, Bangladesh has done nothing unusually injurious or 

innovative by attempting to introduce progressively bigger and bigger 

budgets in recent years and to pass on the benefits of the same to the 

greatest number in the population through deficit financing like in the 

USA. Notably in our context, budgetary deficit in the last five years every 

time remained within 5 per cent of the GDP or at the easily absorbable 

or safe level. The size of the deficit is expected to be the same in fiscal 

year 2018-19 

On the other hand, the growing budgets in recent years have allowed 

major expansion of the economy and met social sector needs unlike in 

the past years when the budget's size used to be marked smaller. The 

smaller budgets meant inability to meet sectoral needs and ignoring the 

social sectors to the detriment of welfare needs of people. The bigger 

budgets enabled rise in public spending that created a big rise in the 

number of jobs available and incomes and employment of an ever 

growing number of people. Given the relatively slow pace of private 

sector investment in this period (and we cannot coerce private persons 

to invest), the much increased public sector spending of the 

government translated into mitigation of the jobs and income related 

woes of people and significantly contributed to establishment of 

economy supporting infrastructures. A part of the bigger public 

spending went into education, health and social safety net programmes 

which led to increase people's welfare. So what are the negatives in 

preparing big budgets in our situation if the same pay off ? None really, 

it seems. 

A huge or runaway budget can create real anxiety when the country 

for which it is created is facing bankruptcy or nearing it. Today, Greece 

is a prime example of such a country. But as FM Muhith presented the 

budget for FY 2018-19, the Bangladesh economy was seen in 

reasonable fitness despite absorbing considerable adverse externalities 

and internalities in the fiscal year about to end. Inflation is usually 

blamed for big budgets. But inflation was below 6 per cent when the 

FM presented the budget proposals for 2018-19 last week. Inflation 

was never in the double digits in the last five years which could be a 

point for anxiety if that happened. The country's highest foreign 

currency reserve today at over $ 33 billion that used to be some $ 5 

billion six years ago speak amply about the country's economic health. 

Its balance of payments position is considered as among the best 

positions held by the developing countries. Its international credit 

rating is also relatively sound for these factors. The IMF's World 

Economic Outlook Report of April 2015 stated that according to the 

GDP based on current prices of 2015, Bangladesh's economy was at the 

44th place among 180 countries with a GDP size of $205.3 billion. In 

2013, Bangladesh was at the 58th place with a GDP size of $ 149,990 

million. Needless to say, the above figures do not suggest that the 

economy of Bangladesh is on a downhill course caused mainly by the 

extravaganza of its economy mangers through unfurling of bigger and 

bigger national budgets. The naysayers are in a chorus that the country 

lacks the capacity to mop up the extra amount of revenues projected 

for collection in 2018-19. But it cannot be that the National Board of 

Revenue (NBR) is building castles in the year. In the last five years in 

succession, the NBR was seen as successfully mobilizing greater and 

greater amounts of revenues through appropriate policies and further 

improving its operational efficiency. So why things should be any 

different for the worse in the next fiscal year ? It appears credibly that 

NBR has its plan fine tuned to meet the taxation challenges of next 

fiscal year. It has already reformed its tax structure. To increase the 

number of taxpayers, it has much extended its activities at the district 

and sub-district levels. At the same time, NBR would be reforming the 

tariff structure. Additional taxes would be yielded also from changing 

the taxation rates in relation to cigarette industry, mobile phone 

companies, textile industries and other sources. That NBR does not 

remain far off the mark from projected revenue collection is amply 

shown from the example of fiscal year 2016-17. The collection target 

was Taka 1,85,000 crore in that year and against the target Tk 1,71,656 

crore was actually collected. 

The big point is Bangladesh has unfurled its next fiscal year's budget 

with its macro economic fundamentals still clearly reflecting vitality and 

resilience . The negatives in the economy's performance are there but 

the same are far from troubling the economy in a major way. 

AHEAD of last Saturday's Anglo- 

French-American missile 

attacks in Syria, there was a risk 

that whereas the dominant 

international powers had supposedly 

sleep-walked into war a century ago, 

this time they were being tweeted into 

an all-encompassing conflagration. 

Fortunately, the US and its pair of 

European acolytes went out of their 

way to avoid direct injury to Russian 

or Iranian forces. In fact, there is little 

evidence that they did much harm 

even to the interests of Bashar al- 

Assad's regime. 

One of the three sites that came 

under attack was claimed by the 

western powers to be a repository for 

chemical weapons. Had that indeed 

been the case, it would have been 

extraordinarily reckless to bombard it, 

given the prospect of extensive 

contamination across surrounding 

regions and the consequent likelihood 

of civilian casualties. France, Britain 

and the US appear, instead, to have 

struck empty buildings. 

Perhaps that is just as well, although 

it brings into sharp relief the absurdity 

of the action, which was ostensibly a 

response to a poison gas attack in 

Douma on April 7, that reportedly 

claimed 70 lives and caused hundreds 

of injuries. Both Syria and Russia have 

denied that any such atrocity took 

place. At the same time, though, this 

week they delayed permission for 

inspectors from the Organisation for 

the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons 

(OPCW) to visit the purportedly 

affected area, sparking suspicions of a 

coordinated cover-up. 

More than four years ago, Syria 

supposedly surrendered all its 

stockpiles of chemical weapons, which 

were subsequently destroyed under 

international supervision. The 

international agreement at the time 

did not cover chlorine, which is widely 

used across the world as a cleansing 

agent for water - but can also be 

weaponised, and served during the 

First World War as a potent trooprepellent 

alongside mustard gas. 

Everyone involved in the Syrian 

mess has an axe to grind. 

Battlefield use of the latter prompted 

one of Wilfred Owen's most powerful 

antiwar poems, Dulce et Decorum Est, 

but a fellow Englishman by the name 

of Winston Churchill, who served his 

nation as secretary of state for war for 

two years from 1919, not only 

authorised the deployment of 

chemical weapons against the 

Bolsheviks in northern Russia but also 

advocated their use against 

'uncivilised' tribes in Iraq and India. In 

Vietnam, meanwhile, the 

indiscriminate spraying of Agent 

Orange not only accounted for 

hundreds of thousands of deaths, but 

children are still being born with 

deformities associated with their 

MAhIR ALI 

JULIeT SAMUeL 

parents' exposure to the deadly 

defoliant. 

Chemical weapons are undoubtedly 

a curse, and it is acknowledged that 

their use in Syria has not been 

restricted to the Assad regime. It is 

unclear what the OPCW 

representatives might find in Douma, 

which has been under Syrian-Russian 

control for 10 days, after Jaish al- 

Islam, the Saudi-backed Islamist 

group that occupied a part of the area 

on the outskirts of Damascus, 

accepted a deal that included safe 

passage to Idlib province. 

One thing that has been ignored in 

reports over the past few days is that 

while in Ankara earlier this month for 

a Syria-related summit with Iran's 

Hassan Rouhani and Turkey's Recep 

Tayyip Erdogan, Russian president 

Vladimir Putin suggested he was privy 

to intelligence about an impending 

false-flag chemical attack that would 

be blamed on Damascus. It's 

interesting that even Moscow has 

been reluctant to cite the warning, 

perhaps recognising that it could be 

construed as evidence of collusion. 

One of the reasons behind the 

comprehensive confusion over Syria is 

that the ever-present question is not 

who to believe more, but who to 

disbelieve less. Everyone involved in 

the mess - from the Assad regime and 

its smorgasbord of opponents to the 

US-led Western allies, Russia, Iran, 

Turkey, Israel, the Saudis, UAE and 

Qatar - has an axe to grind. The only 

possible road to peace in the country 

carved out a century ago by Anglo- 

French diktat lies through dedicated 

diplomacy, involving concessions and 

compromises that none of the 

antagonists appears to be inclined 

towards for the time being. 

Hollow demonstrations of military 

superiority by powers that pretend to 

take the moral high ground but are 

unwilling to consult their parliaments 

beforehand, let alone demonstrate 

their concern for beleaguered Syrians 

by opening their doors a bit wider for 

refugees, are supremely unhelpful. It's 

worth taking into consideration that, 

coincidentally or otherwise, British 

prime minister Theresa May, French 

president Emmanuel Macron and 

above all his American counterpart 

Donald Trump were all keen on a 

distraction from pressing domestic 

concerns. Arguably the biggest 

immediate danger lies not in a direct 

confrontation between Russia and the 

US, but in belligerence between Israel 

and Iran, which could well spark a 

conflict that envelops the entire 

region. But whether in that particular 

context or beyond it, Syria's capacity 

as a potential crucible for the next 

world war has been far from 

exhausted. 

Source: Dawn 

Launching missiles was the easy bit. Now what about Syria's future? 

There's a cartoon doing the rounds 

online in Idlib, one of Syria's last 

rebel strongholds. It depicts a huge 

mountain of skulls, all white except for 

one, which is glowing bright yellow from 

the effects of a chemical weapon attack. A 

spindly Uncle Sam is reaching into the 

pile to pluck out the yellow skull, outraged 

and shocked, while ignoring all the skulls 

around it. 

A signature on the cartoon indicates it's 

from last year, but it could just as well 

have been drawn today. "Mission 

accomplished," boasted Donald Trump, 

after last Saturday morning's air strikes. 

Britain, said Prime Minister Theresa 

May, had learnt "the lesson of history" 

and was taking a stand on "the global 

rules and standards that keep us safe". 

This will ring rather hollow in Syria, 

where at least 400,000 people have died 

and 13 million been displaced by its civil 

war so far. The truth is that, despite these 

air strikes, the war is getting worse, not 

better, and the ferocious debate in Britain 

is nothing but a sideshow. 

For what it's worth, May did the right 

thing - and it was her decision, and not 

parliament's, to take. Firstly, the strikes 

have at least imposed some cost on Syrian 

President Bashar Al Assad for one 

element of his brutality and will make 

him think twice about deploying 

chemical weapons. Second, they 

expressed the West's moral disgust with 

his regime. Third, they were a warning 

On April 10, the US Federal Bureau 

of Investigation raided the office 

of President Donald Trump's 

longtime personal lawyer, Michael 

Cohen, and seized documents relating 

to the money paid to American porn 

star Stormy Daniels on behalf of 

Trump. It was a trivial matter and could 

have easily been tackled by junior staff 

at White House, but Trump termed it 

"an attack on the United States in a true 

sense." How can it be that the president 

of the United States was so easily 

offended and made a mountain out of a 

molehill? 

A day earlier, ousted FBI director 

James Comey in an interview with the 

American Broadcasting Co said that 

"Trump is not fit to be president of the 

United States, on moral grounds." It 

was a dangerous statement coming 

from a person like the former director of 

the FBI. However, some claim that 

Comey was trying to capture a market 

for his newly written book. 

According to the Brookings 

Institution, Trump's staff turnover is the 

highest of any US president in decades. 

George W Bush fired 6% of his senior 

staff as president, Barack Obama 

carried out a turnover of 9% in the 

White House, while Trump kicked out 

34% during his first year in office alone, 

and by now the casualty rates of his high 

aides has climbed to the dreadful figure 

of 43%. The Trump administration is 

losing the able and experienced staff so 

Chemical confusion 

Chemical weapons are undoubtedly a curse, and it 

is acknowledged that their use in Syria has not been 

restricted to the Assad regime. It is unclear what 

the OPCW representatives might find in Douma, 

which has been under Syrian-Russian control for 

10 days, after Jaish al-Islam, the Saudi-backed 

Islamist group that occupied a part of the area on 

the outskirts of Damascus, accepted a deal that 

included safe passage to Idlib province. 

shot to all of the powers involved in a 

proxy war in Syria that the West isn't an 

entirely spent force and can be roused to 

action under certain circumstances. 

Fourth, they were a nod to the idea that 

international norms matter, even if their 

reality is deeply flawed. From the reports 

so far, no one died in the operation to 

achieve all of these outcomes. "Mission 

accomplished," you might say. 

Zoom out from the fevered debate on 

our TV screens, however, and you'll see 

what an incredibly modest mission this 

was. In strategic terms it was almost 

irrelevant, and was designed to be so. In 

reality, the strikes sent two messages. The 

first was the one intended by western 

governments. The second, alluded to by 

the cartoon skulls, is that western voters 

have lost faith in military intervention. 

We no longer believe we have any ability 

to solve humanitarian crises, and we will 

not allow our governments to become 

United States 'under attack in a true sense' 

essential for quality inputs in correct 

decision-making. 

Donald Trump, the most egotistic 

president in the history of the United 

States, is ruling America and calling the 

shots in the world to the distaste of 

many. He has an impulsive nature and 

fears saying anything at any forum. 

The US president while actually 

seeking the support of Pakistan in 

countering insurgency in Afghanistan 

said in his first tweet of 2018, "The 

United States has foolishly given 

Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in 

aid over the last 15 years, and they have 

given us nothing but lies and deceit, 

thinking of our leaders as fools." His 

comments were so crude and 

undiplomatic that even his staunch and 

sensible supporters found it hard to 

defend his statecraft. 

Despite the vast intelligence resources 

at the disposal of the United States, 

Trump is being told that Pakistan has 

ATTA RASOOL MALIk 

deeply entangled in any conflict so far 

outside our territory. This is as true in 

Syria as it is in Ukraine. 

The action taken in Syria was not 

popular. A YouGov poll found that twothirds 

of Britons opposed it. Some of this 

opposition will take the form of an 

isolationist mentality shared by many 

Trump supporters, a belief that we 

shouldn't interfere, that might is right and 

that international rules are a sham. 

But a third group, which I would guess is the largest, simply 

doesn't see the point. Recent history has shown that even if we 

wield overwhelming firepower and achieve military goals with 

surprising speed, as in Iraq and Libya, and even if we spend 

billions on aid, stable democracies do not spring from warring, 

sectarian states. Instead, you get murderous militias, strongman 

generals and rogue terrorist states. 

Another group, made up of those like 

Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, 

share a general belief that dropping 

bombs is always wrong and regard their 

own government as a guilty party, seeing 

it as a perpetual warmonger. 

But a third group, which I would guess 

is the largest, simply doesn't see the point. 

Recent history has shown that even if we 

wield overwhelming firepower and 

achieve military goals with surprising 

speed, as in Iraq and Libya, and even if we 

spend billions on aid, stable democracies 

full control over the Afghan Taliban and 

that the insurgency in Afghanistan 

could be crushed with the help of 

Pakistan in a matter of weeks. 

I recall the events of the battle of Hue 

in Vietnam when US military and 

media were totally distorting facts, 

claiming quick victory and tarnishing 

the perception of the American public. 

Trump's political managers are so naive 

and apolitical that they cannot 

recognize the hidden enmity of India 

The US deep state has overlooked fair play and 

smeared many popular and noble people around the 

world. It has brought unjust wars and grief to many 

parts of the world. As a result, the US today does not 

stand for its stated values - liberty, justice and human 

dignity. It is recognized as a hyperpower ever willing to 

plunder by waging wars. 

against Pakistan and fail to grasp the 

actual root cause of insurgency in 

Afghanistan. I see the US losing on all 

fronts. Asian countries are also fed up 

with covert operations, regime changes, 

and bullying. And ultimately the US 

under Trump is fast losing its influence 

in Asia. 

The US deep state has overlooked fair 

play and smeared many popular and 

noble people around the world. It has 

brought unjust wars and grief to many 

do not spring from warring, sectarian 

states. Instead, you get murderous 

militias, strongman generals and rogue 

terrorist states. Military intervention is 

the "easy" bit. 

Meanwhile, Syria's future looks as bleak 

as ever. About six months ago, the idea 

that the civil war was almost over, with Al 

Assad having won, started to become 

widespread. In Lebanon, politicians 

began to talk about sending home the 

millions of refugees living informally on 

its territory. Western governments, 

having helped to take out Daesh, knew 

they had inadvertently helped to deliver a 

huge boost to Al Assad, and they seemed 

quietly resigned to the situation. 

The Daesh "caliphate" might have 

collapsed, but a patchwork of terrorist 

splinter groups have sprung up in its 

place. Hundreds of thousands of rebels 

are holed up in Idlib, the city to which 

fighters are evacuated whenever a 

ceasefire is agreed. Turkey has taken its 

opportunity to stamp on the Kurds by 

invading Afrin. The future of Raqqa, 

wrested from Daesh by a mixture of 

Kurdish and rebel Arab ground forces 

with Western air and intelligence 

support, is now in flux. Only recently, 

Trump declared he would be pulling all 

US forces out, although his new national 

security adviser John Bolton might 

persuade him to reconsider. 

Source: Gulf news 

parts of the world. As a result, the US 

today does not stand for its stated values 

- liberty, justice and human dignity. It is 

recognized as a hyperpower ever willing 

to plunder by waging wars. 

US Senator Jeff Flake while 

announcing his retirement from 

Congress last October remarked that 

the rise of Trump as head of the 

Republican Party and president was a 

moment of reckoning for both. The US 

deep state/establishment that has 

brought Trump to power should truly 

examine its own policies and handling 

of world affairs. It is the Americans' 

acute failing that despite dispersing 

billions of dollars in aid, the US has 

failed to emerge as the graceful leader of 

the world, and American taxpayers are 

not safe in any country. 

Seeing the power dynamics in the US, 

I am of the view that Trump will remain 

in power in the United States against all 

predictions, expectations and hopes. He 

will not only complete his current 

tenure but will be re-elected for a second 

term. He will keep replacing the upright 

and honest people in the White House 

with conformists and loyalists. This is 

the revenge of nature. 

After all, the American establishment 

has been doing this all along in the 

name of introducing "democracy 

through regime change" in numerous 

countries. It is now beginning to an end. 

Source: Asia times

Law & pubLic 

MOnDAy, June 11, 2018 

5 

LegAL Query : 

Dear Sir, 

I want to attain a patent registration. Please inform me the 

details. 

Regards, 

Shariul Islam 

Dhaka. 

LegAL OpInIOn : 

Legal Query- 

Dear Sir, 

I wrote a number of articles, poems on various contemporary 

issues over last couple of years. Now I want publish a book and 

want to attain copyright registration, so that no one can use my 

write ups. In order to attain copyright registration what are the 

things I need to follow, please inform. 

regards, 

Kabir Ahmed, Dhaka. 

Legal Opinion- 

In order to attain copyright registration, an application for 

copyright should be supported by the following documents: 

1. A completed application form 

2. Treasury chalan 

3. Copies of the work to be registered 

4. Transfer deed of work in stamp paper (if applicable) 

5. Legal paper (Okalatnama) (if a lawyer submits the 

application form on behalf of the author) 

This week Your Legal Adviser is 

A.B.M Shahjahan Akanda (Masum) 

Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh. 

He is the Head of the chamber of a renowned law firm, 

namely, 'Law for Nations', which has expertise mainly in 

banking law, tax law, commercial law, corporate law, family 

law, employment and labor law, land law,constitutional law, 

criminal law and in conducting litigations before courts of 

different hierarchies. He can be reached at - cell:01711459590, 

E-mail: law.abm@gmail.com. 

Once the Registrar received any application for copyright, he 

shall serve notice of the concerned application to every person 

who has any interest in the subject matter of that application. If 

the Registrar receives any objection he may after holding such 

inquiry as he deems fit, enter such particulars of work in the 

register of copyright, which he considers proper. After 

registration, the Registrar shall send copies of the entries made 

in the register to the parties concerned. 

Copyright may be assigned, transferred or licensed. The 

Copyright Office has prescribed form for transfer. There are 

three kinds of remedies against infringement of copyright, 

namely: 

Civil remedies 

The owner of the copyright can bring civil action in which 

reliefs such as Anton Pillar Order (Search Order) injunction, 

accounts and damages can be sought. A suit or other civil 

proceedings relating to infringement of copyright is to be filed 

in the Court of District Judge, within whose jurisdiction the 

plaintiff resides or carries on business or where the cause of 

action arose irrespective of the place of residence or place of 

business of the defendant. 

Criminal remedies 

Criminal remedies provides for the imprisonment of the 

accused or imposition of fine or both, seizure of infringing 

copies etc. Criminal proceedings are available in order to 

punish the persons who have violated the copyright law. 

Administrative remedies 

Administrative remedies consist of moving to the Registrar of 

copyrights to ban the import of infringing copies into 

Bangladesh, when the infringement is by way of such 

importation and the delivery of the confiscated infringing 

copies to the owner of the copyright. 

Discriminatory perception: 

Advocate Vs. Barrister 

Chowdhury Tanbir Ahamed Siddique 

Discrimination in legal field actually is 

found with new lawyers. Young 

lawyers come to court with lot of 

hopes. They try to present themselves 

with much energy, vigor and message 

of modern judiciary. But, in legal field 

there is usually no free space for them. 

Their field becomes narrow with 

discriminatory pressures. 

First of all come to the title-ship 

dispute. It is called "Advocate vs. 

Barrister". Most of the general 

persons not being from legal 

background are unable to understand 

the difference between advocate and 

barrister. They think that the 

standard of advocate is lower than 

that of barrister. A barrister can solve 

all cases but an advocate can't- it is a 

usual perception of common people. 

So, barristers get more clients only 

because of the word "barrister". 

Again, when an advocate and a 

barrister deal same case, fees also vary 

between them. If a barrister demands 

ten thousand simply for a bail 

petition, client will readily pay him ten 

thousand or nearby amount. But, 

when an advocate demands ten 

thousand, client will grow lot of 

allergy to pay the amount, because he 

is an advocate. 

Barrister comes from abroad like 

UK, USA with a LLB degree. On the 

other hand, advocates are 

accomplishing in Bangladesh. But, it 

does not mean that barrister is a kind 

of special stage. Main matter is, all are 

equally lawyer. In Bangladesh, we call 

them advocate; in UK, they are called 

barrister and in USA, lawyers are 

commonly termed as attorney. They 

additionally know the English or 

American law, nothing else. Rather, in 

some cases, they are less known to 

local laws. Problem arises when 

Bangladeshi government allows them 

(studied law outside of Bangladesh 

and without studying Bangladeshi 

law) to practice in Bangladeshi courts. 

In India, every lawyer is compelled to 

be graduated from India. If any 

lawyer completes his study in abroad, 

he also needs to study in India again. 

Then he can seat for exam for 

advocacy license. Alas! We treat our 

local advocates as subordinate to 

barrister. 

Besides, we frequently hear an 

objection that clients do not 

understand the court language. They 

cannot realize whether judgment or 

decree is favoring them or not. 

Generally, lawyers having barrister 

title are not completely capable to 

satisfy own clients outside of the court 

about the court's decision. There 

remains a minor gap between 

barrister and his client. But, an 

advocate always acts like a familiar 

figure both inside court and outward. 

Lawyers' duty is to ensure the equality 

before law without any sort of 

discrimination. But, when lawyer 

himself faces discriminating 

challenges in his field, how can he 

help others? 

A rare and pathetic matter also 

happened in our legal practicing life. 

In Bangladesh from where a student 

graduated, that also a vital question 

for his practicing session. If from any 

private university, he or she will not 

treat as much as a student of public 

university. As a junior or apprentice 

lawyer in chamber practice or in 

litigation a private university student 

always neglected only for his 

educational institution, although he 

may be good enough as apprentice 

lawyer. Lot of fresh graduate when 

face that discrimination in early life of 

their legal practice, only a few can 

survive and rest of the graduate leave 

this profession. This is the darkest 

side of this profession where each and 

every fresh graduate claimed that they 

didn't get any favor from their senior 

as apprentice lawyer. Wages is more 

pathetic for apprentice lawyer which 

is very insulting to write in newspaper 

as well. This is a noble profession, 

that's why most of the apprentice 

lawyer still struggling to survive in 

their dreamy platform. 

In this faster 21th century, it's time 

to change our mentality. We have to 

treat a lawyer including apprentice 

lawyer according to his maturity, 

knowledge, capability. He should not 

be treated by his race, by his 

institution. It is nice to see if no 

discrimination owing to his title or 

institution would be faced by any 

upcoming advocate. I do believe that, 

a person can change his race and a 

race can change the system and the 

system can finally change the society. 

And we badly need some lawyers who 

can change our society. Honorable 

Court discharges the discrimination 

from everywhere, but future assets of 

the court being discriminated in 

court. Honorable Court may take few 

effective steps for junior as well as 

apprentice lawyer. 

Writer: Chowdhury Tanbir 

Ahamed Siddique; Chamber 

Associate, Law For Nations; Email: 

Tanbir921535513@gmail.com 

Freedom of expression and right to Information 

empowerment of Common people 

through right to Information Act 2009 

Md. Mamonor rashid 

The rights to think and speak openly is 

an imperative issue, access information 

and hold the powers that be to account, 

together play a crucial character in the 

vigorous improvement process of any 

society. If people cannot explore 

efficiently their ideas, views, worries 

and needs, they are often debarred 

from the momentous contribution in 

the society. 

The right of every citizen to freedom 

of speech and expression is guaranteed 

under the Constitution of the Peoples 

Republic of Bangladesh as one of the 

fundamental rights (Article 39, the 

Constitution of The People's Republic 

of Bangladesh); and right to 

information is an indisputable part of 

freedom of thought, conscience and 

speech. 

On the other hand, the right to 

freedom of opinion and expression is 

contained in articles 19 and 20 of the 

International Covenant on Civil and 

Political Rights (ICCPR). In addition, 

articles 4 and 5 of the Convention on 

the Elimination of All Forms of Racial 

Discrimination (CERD), articles 12 and 

13 of the Convention on the Rights of 

the Child (CRC) and article 21 of the 

Convention on the Rights of Persons 

with Disabilities (CRPD) guarantees 

the freedom of expression and opinion. 

Globally, more than100 countries 

have enacted right to information 

(RTI) legislation guaranteeing citizens 

the right to access information and 

records held by their governments. 

Countries like Australia and New 

Zealand passed a national right to 

information law as early as in 1982 

(prior to the latest wave of right to 

information laws' adoption around the 

world), later embarking upon 

legislative reform to bring their 

freedom of information regimes up to 

date. 

Furthermore, if we shift the focus on 

South Asia, national right to 

information legislation in India 

(passed in 2005) is often cited to 

exemplify the role that grassroots 

groups can have in the adoption of this 

type of legislation, as well as the effect 

that the exercise of freedom of 

information can have on people's lives. 

In addition, Malaysia (passed in 2005), 

Nepal (2007), Indonesia (2010), 

Mongolia (2011) Pakistan (2013), Sri 

Lanka (2016) have adopted RTI 

legislation. More recently, RTI bills 

have been passed in Bhutan and the 

Maldives. However, Singapore did not 

take any initiatives to adopt RTI act 

yet. 

To keep up the worldwide drift, the 

government of Bangladesh adopted the 

Right to Information Act 2009 in the 

first session of the ninth parliament on 

March 29, 2009, marking a 

momentous step forward in fulfilling 

the constitutional pledge of the state of 

Bangladesh. Government has also 

established an information commission 

on July 1, 2009 to provide information 

to the people. 

The precondition of the RTI Act was 

to check 'empowerment of common 

people' through providing information, 

ensure good governance, transparency 

and accountability in all public and 

private organizations since the RTI 

goes hand in hand with freedom of 

expression. Civil society, through 

citizens and the media, can justifiably 

claim access to information. 

As per the mandate of the Act, the 

Commission consists of a Chief 

Information Commissioner and two 

other Information Commissioners 

including a woman. The President shall 

appoint them on the recommendation 

of the Selection Committee comprising 

of 5 members. The Commissioners 

shall be selected from amongst the 

persons with broad knowledge and 

experience in law, Justice, Journalism, 

education, science, technology, 

information, social service, 

management, or public administration. 

The Commissioners will hold their 

office for a period of 5 years or 

attainment of 67 years and they may 

resign before completion of the tenure 

by writing to the President. They can be 

removed from their office by the 

President in like manner and on the 

like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme 

Court. 

Information commission is playing a 

significant role to resolve the receiving 

complaints quickly and smoothly. The 

Annual Report shows that in 2016, 

some 6,369 requests for information 

were made to public authorities. Of 

these, over 95 percent were provided 

with the information sought. 539 

complaints were lodged with the 

Information Commission by 

disgruntled information seekers. Of 

these, 364 were accepted for hearing. 

The rest were either rejected for faulty 

submissions or decided without a 

hearing. From 2010, the first year of 

the law, the number of requests for 

information declined from 25,401 to 

6,181 in 2015. Altogether, some 82,412 

RTI applications were recorded in eight 

years. (The Daily Star, April 13, 2016) 

In fact, RTI Act is actually a large 

platform for every level of people in the 

country to access their desired and 

necessary information seeking for good 

purposes; the poor and indigent 

women of remote villages are now 

getting information of government 

safety net programs including VGD, 

VGF cards and maternal health 

vouchers. Farmers and fishers are now 

seeking and getting information which 

promotes their lives and livelihoods. 

Environmentalists are using RTI Act as 

a tool to ensure accountability in 

environmental governance. Victims of 

natural disasters are getting 

information about relief and 

rehabilitation. Even the peoples of 

marginalized and excluded 

communities like dalits are now getting 

information and enjoying their rights. 

Nevertheless, 

information 

commission with the strong 

collaboration and support of the 

Government along with ministry of 

information should work flexibly to 

ensure empowerment of common 

people providing proper and authentic 

information. Therefore, the following 

suggestions and recommendations may 

help to ensure the right to information 

of a common people; 

" The success of Right to 

Information Act (RTI) 2009 is closely 

linked to the level of democracy in a 

country. In Bangladesh democratic 

practices are lacking, it is of utmost 

importance that the government is 

seen to be fully committed to the ideal 

of RTI; 

" A paradigm shift in the mindset 

of public officials as well as citizens 

long used to subservient relationships 

with the authorities is also required for 

the success of RTI 

" The lack of a tradition of rule of 

law and the existence of a culture of 

impunity are detrimental to the 

promotion of RTI. The importance of 

using the penalty clause to bring 

recalcitrant officials has to be proven in 

Bangladesh. 

" The importance of NGO and 

media involvement in promoting RTI 

has to be stoutly demonstrated in 

Bangladesh. Exchange visits of media 

personnel and RTI activists may help in 

this regard. 

" Lack of human resources in 

information archiving and 

management has been a major 

challenge for government and nongovernment 

institutions. Public and 

private institutions need to offer postemployment 

training programmes on 

ICT-led information archiving and 

management. 

" Civil society organizations 

should come forward with their own 

information and set examples of 

transparency. Particularly in 

Bangladesh NGOs have been brought 

in to the purview of RTI and are subject 

to the same scrutiny as government 

offices. 

The Author has pursued LL.M on 

International Commercial Arbitration 

from University Utara Malaysia. He is 

the member of Young International 

Arbitration group, LCIA, London, 

working as an Associate of CM&A LCP.

NATIONAL 

MONDAY, JUNe 11, 2018 

6 

Barishal University's Vice Chancellor Professor Dr SM Imamul Haque on Sunday formally inaugurated 

the Smart ID cards distribution programme by distributing cards among the teachers of the 

university at his office. 

Photo: BU 

A view exchange meeting on various development activities was held at Mohanganj upazila 

hall room on Sunday. Sajjadul Hasan, personal secretary-1 to Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina was present as the chief guest while UNO Md Mehedi Mahmud Akhanda chaired the 

programme. 

Photo: M A Gani 

Bumper summer 

vegetables 

production likely 

in Narsingdi 

NARSINGDI: About 1, 

50000 tonnes of summer 

vegetables is expected to be 

produced in the district 

during the current season due 

to favourable weather 

condition, reports BSS. 

Deputy Director of 

Department of Agriculture 

Extension (DAE) Lotapat 

Hossain told BSS today that if 

the favorable weather 

condition prevails in the 

couple of weeks, the above 

mentioned production could 

be achieved that is expected to 

break all of its previous 

record. He said some 8,550 

hectares of land have been 

brought under summer 

vegetables cultivation in six 

upazilas of the district in the 

current season against 7880 

hectares last year. 

The deputy director said the 

department encouraged the 

farmers to cultivate chemical 

free vegetables and imparted 

knowledge on the bad effects 

of using pesticides and 

chemical fertilizers on 

vegetables fields and also gave 

them training on pest 

management. 

He also said the DAE has set 

a target to cultivate poison 

free vegetables on 1,200 

hectares of land in the district. 

The farmers are now 

producing poison free 

vegetables using organic 

fertilizers instead of chemical 

fertilizers and poisonous 

pesticides. 

Intercropping helps 

boosting mango 

yield in Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI: Mango 

intercropping with various 

cereal crops especially 

paddy has started 

contributing a lot towards 

boosting mango yield in the 

region, reports BSS. 

The intercropping has 

been gaining momentum 

in the region including its 

vast Barind tract as the 

growers in general are 

getting interested towards 

the farming. 

In the wake of adverse 

impact of climate change, 

the farmers face trouble to 

depend on only paddy 

cultivation for the last 

couple of years. 

To get more income and 

to recoup the losses, they 

are cultivating paddy, 

onion, garlic, brinjal, 

mustard, turmeric and 

papaya with mango as 

intercropping. The farmers 

also created new mango 

orchards in the new 

method. 

"I have an eight-bigha of 

mango orchard of 

intercropping with various 

seasonal crops. I am getting 

additional income from the 

farming," said Jamal 

Hossain, a farmer of 

Charghat Upazila in the 

district. 

According to the 

Department of Agriculture 

Extension, the beneficiary 

farmers cultivated mango 

in around 25,000 hectares 

of land in Rajshahi, 

Chapainawabganj, 

Naogaon and Natore 

disricts. 

Dr Sharaf Uddin, Senior 

scientific officer of Regional 

Horticulture Research 

Station said intercropping 

with sugarcane had been 

found as more beneficial to 

the growers as it could 

boost total crop production 

per unit area coupled with 

ensuring sustainable 

mango cultivation with 

higher economic benefit 

compared to other crops. 

Quoting the field-level 

research findings and 

farmers' views, the mango 

researcher said systematic 

intercropping of paddy, 

onion, lentil, mug bean, 

garlic and some other 

winter crops, vegetables 

and spice help increase 

mango yield compared to 

sole-cropping. 

Dr Sharaf Uddin said 

intercropping not only 

increase total crop 

production but also help 

improve soil health and 

fertility with little or no 

negative effect on mango 

yield and quality. 

Furthermore, 

intercropping create 

additional job opportunity 

needed for intensive crop 

production. 

He 

underscored the need for 

expansion of mango 

intercropping through 

reactivating the field level 

agricultural officials and 

staff for the nation's food 

security. 

The production of the 

juicy fruits increases each 

year for its profit, but 

unfortunately, not a single 

mango-processing plant 

has been established in the 

region for the preservation 

of the fruits since the 

inception of the country. 

Mangoes grow almost 

everywhere in the district 

but Poba, Charghat and 

Bagha have a long-lasting 

tradition of producing 

quality fruits. 

As the growers reap large 

sums of money from 

mango farming, it 

encourages many others 

towards farming mangoes, 

in turn resulting in an 

escalation of acreage. 

Dhamrai upazila Awami League hosted an Iftar And Doa Mahfil on Saturday. Dhamrai MP MA 

Malek was present as the chief guest while Dhamrai upazila Bangabandhu Parishad president Md 

Arif Hossain chaired the programme. 

Photo: Milon Siddique 

Netrakona people hail proposed national budget 

NETRAKONA: Leaders of different 

socio-cultural, political and business 

organizations have hailed the proposed 

national budget for the fiscal 2018- 

2019 terming it a pro-people, 

pragmatic and development oriented 

one, reports BSS. 

The leaders said the government 

under the dynamic leadership of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina has presented 

the ever bigger budget with a view to 

building a poverty and exploitation free 

'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by Father of 

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman. Talking to the BSS, 

president of Netrakona District 

Chamber of Commerce and Industries 

Abdul Wahed said the proposed 

national budget is a business and 

investment friendly realistic fiscal plan. 

President of Netrakona NagoriK 

Andolone Khan-A -Alam Khan termed 

the national budget pragmatic and 

development-oriented and said it will 

help create opportunities for 

advancement of the commercial sector. 

Netrakona District Awami League 

President Motiur Rahman Khan and 

General Secretary Ashraf Ali Khan 

Khasru also hailed the proposed 

national budget. They said the national 

budget would help the people to change 

their lifestyle and improve their socioeconomic 

condition. 

LGRD minister hosts iftar mahfil in Faridpur 

FARIDPUR: Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives 

Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain toon Sunday hosted an iftar mahfil at his 

'Afsana Monjil' residence of Badarpur village in the town, reports BSS. 

District AL President Subol Chandra Saha, Sadar Upazila Chairman Khandker 

Mohtesham Hossain Babor, Minister's son Khandaker Masrur Hossain, 

superintendent of Police Md Jakir Hossain Khan, among others, attended the iftar 

mahfil. 

Besides, Kotwali Thana Awami League President Abdur Razzak Molla, Town AL 

President Nazmul Islam Khandker Levi, Secretary Chowdhury Borkot Ibne Salam, 

Secchasebok League President Sawkot Ali Zahid, Jubo League President AHM 

Foad and Faridpur Press Club (FPC) president Imtiaz Hasan Rubel attended the 

programme. Before the iftar, a special munajat was offered seeking continued 

peace, progress and prosperity of the nation. 

S M Shafiullah 

joins as 

Khulna SP 

Titash Chakraborty 

Khulna Correspondent: S 

M Shafiullah has joined 

office as the new Police 

Super (SP) of Khulna 

district on Sunday. 

Shafiullah had earlier 

worked as ASP in Jessore, 

Naraynganj and DMP. He 

was promoted as Police 

Super on 14/12/2017 

before working as 

additional Police Super of 

Khulna district since 

26/12/2107. 

Shafiullah joined police 

service after earning 

recommendation as a first 

gazette officer in the 24th 

Bangladesh Civil Service 

(BCS) exams, 2005. 

S M Shafiullah hails from 

Goraigati village of 

Majhigati union under 

Gopalganj district. He 

completed his SSC from 

Daulatpur Mohsin High 

School, HSC from Govt BL 

College Khulna and 

graduation and masters 

from Rajshahi University. 

Shafiullah has vowed to 

curb down crimes 

including terrorism and 

drugs. 

Seminar on young 

entrepreneurs 

held in Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI: Substantial and sustainable 

promotion of private sector investment can 

be the crucial means of bolstering economic 

activities of Rajshahi region along with 

improving its people's living and livelihood 

condition, reports BSS. 

Emphasis should be given to removing the 

existing obstacles in the field of private sector 

investment towards encouraging the 

entrepreneurs for investment here. 

The views were expressed at a seminar by 

some speakers who urged the entrepreneurs 

to flourish their business through 

investment in the region as it has enormous 

prospects in this field. 

Bangladesh Investment Development 

Authority (BIDA) organized the seminar 

titled "Creation of Young Entrepreneurs in 

Bangladesh: Challenge and Prospects" at a 

city restaurant on Saturday evening. 

Commissioner of Rajshahi division Nur- 

Ur-Rahman addressed the seminar as chief 

guest with BIDA Executive Member 

Nabhash Chandra Mondal in the chair. 

Deputy commissioner of Rajshahi SM 

Abdul Kader, president of Rajshahi Chamber 

of Commerce Industries Md Muniruzzaman 

and social worker Shaheen Akhter spoke as 

special guests. BIDA Divisional Director 

Ataul Gani welcomed the participants. 

During his keynote presentation, Dr Abu 

Hassan, assistant professor of Barendra 

Government College, gave an overview of the 

country's investment situation. 

He said a qualitative development of 

infrastructure would be one of the major 

challenges for the country to get sufficient 

local and foreign investment needed to attain 

its desired goal. 

Besides, enhancing the government's 

project implementation capacity, creating 

skilled workforce and ensuring transparency 

should also get priority, he added. 

Commissioner Nur-Ur-Rahman said the 

entrepreneurs should come forward towards 

quantitative and qualitative investment here 

for meeting the gradually mounting 

demands of various consumer products. 

He said there is no alternative to reduce the 

existing gap between the investments of 

public and private sectors to attain the 

cherished goals. Chamber President 

Muniruzzaman called upon the government 

to flourish the industrial sector in Rajshahi 

aimed at infusing dynamism into its 

economic activities. 

He urged the government to provide 10 

percent incentives to the entrepreneurs who 

are interested to set up industries here. 

Reviewing the existing problems with 

regard to setting up local enterprises and 

possible solutions to those, he sought 

cooperation of all the authorities concerned 

for flourishing industrial sector. He dwelt on 

various issues like trade and business, 

industry, agriculture, power supply, import 

and export, SME development and 

expansion and bank interest rate. 

Nabhash Mondal told the meeting that 

BIDA is all set to go for one-stop service 

(OSS) within a shortest possible time. 

Arms, ammo 

recovered in 

Chapainawabganj 

CHAPAINAWABGANJ: Members of the 

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) recovered 

three pistols, six magazines and 18 bullets 

from frontier Ajmatpur Swashanghat area 

under Shibganj upazila in the district on 

Saturday night, reports BSS. 

BGB said a patrol team of the BGB of 

Ajmatpur border outpost recovered the arms 

and ammunition in an abandoned condition 

at 10 pm. 

The recovered arms and ammunition were 

deposited with Shibganj thana. 

A case was filed in this regard. 

National panel member of Youth For Change Bangladesh, Renesa Alam met UNO of Sirajganj, 

Sarkar Md Raihan on Sunday at his office and discussed about child marriage prevention promotion 

campaign. 

Photo: Badrul Alam Dulal 

Gopalganj Deputy Commissioner M Mokhlesur Rahman Sarker formally handed over a land deed to 

homeless Birangona, Riba Begum on Sunday. Among others, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) 

Shanti Moni Chakma, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Abdullah Baki and Gopalganj municipal 

mayor Kazi Liakat Hossain were also present at the occasion. 

Photo: S M Nazrul Islam

INTERNATIONAL 

7 

MONDAy, JUNE 11, 2018 

Vehicles drive on Jomhouri-e-Eslami (Islamic Republic) St. in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, 

June 9, 2018. For Iran, the so-called "Axis of Evil" has become a lonely party of one as President 

Donald Trump prepares for direct talks with North Korea. With Saddam Hussein overthrown and 

Kim Jong Un now preparing for planned meeting in Singapore with Trump, Iran remains the last 

renegade among former President George W. Bush's grouping of nations opposed to the U.S. It also 

comes after Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal, worsening Iran's already-anemic economy. 

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) 

Iran, spurned by US, angrily watches 

Trump-North Korea talks 

For Iran, the so-called "Axis of Evil" has 

boiled down to a party of one, as President 

Donald Trump prepares for direct 

talks with North Korea, reports UNB. 

With Saddam Hussein overthrown 

and Kim Jong Un now preparing for a 

planned meeting in Singapore with 

Trump, Iran remains the last renegade 

among former President George W. 

Bush's grouping of nations opposed to 

the U.S. For those in Tehran, whether 

hard-liners, reformists or people simply 

trying to get by in Iran's worsening 

economy, it's head-spinning, especially 

after seeing Trump pull America out of 

the nuclear deal with world powers. 

"I am buying my insulin shots at double 

the price only because of Trump's 

decision," fumed Najmeh Songhori, a 

35-year-old diabetic mother of two 

standing in front of a pharmacy in central 

Tehran. "Meanwhile he is trying to 

reach a deal with North Korea. Who is 

going to trust him?" 

It wasn't supposed to be like this. 

Excited crowds flooded the streets after 

the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran struck 

with world powers, including the U.S. 

under President Barack Obama. 

The deal saw Iran agree to limit uranium 

enrichment in its nuclear program, 

which the West feared could be used to 

build a nuclear weapon. For Iran, which 

long has maintained its atomic program 

was for peaceful purposes, the deal took 

the shackles of sanctions off its economy 

and opened up its oil sales abroad. No 

one believed it would bring massive 

change to Iran, which remains a Shiite 

theocracy overseen by Supreme Leader 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But many 

hoped it would encourage further negotiations 

and normalize Iran's relationships 

with the wider world. 

Then came Trump, who campaigned 

pledging to tear up the nuclear deal. 

Once elected, he included Iran in his 

travel bans, blocking Iranians from 

traveling to the U.S., home to a large 

Iranian community. Then on May 8, 

Trump followed through on his threat 

and pulled America out of the nuclear 

agreement, dooming billions of dollars 

of business deals, including Boeing 

sales. "At the point when the United 

States had maximum leverage, this disastrous 

deal gave this regime - and it's a 

regime of great terror - many billions of 

dollars, some of it in actual cash - a great 

embarrassment to me as a citizen and to 

all citizens of the United States," Trump 

said then. 

But at the same time, Trump had 

traded his criticism of Kim Jong Un, a 

leader he once derided as "Little Rocket 

Man" on Twitter, for hopes of a oneon-one 

meeting. 

"I think Trump lost the chance to 

work with Iran," said Mansour Ahmadpour, 

a 43-year-old taxi driver in downtown 

Tehran. "I learned in my life that 

leaving for another table is a sign of 

weakness when your partners are waiting 

for you." Iran may have lost in the 

arrangement too. United Nations 

reports and Western countries say 

Pyongyang sold ballistic missile technology 

to Iran, helping it raise cash to 

avoid international sanctions. Iran has 

never acknowledged purchasing missile 

technology from North Korea, but 

hard-liners within Iran long have 

applauded Pyongyang's tough line 

against the U.S. 

Singapore Postcard: Summit 

island hides macabre history 

A new surveillance camera was installed and restaurants closed 

on Singapore's Sentosa Island, a popular tropical getaway thrust 

into the spotlight ahead of a summit between President Donald 

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reports UNB. 

Located a quarter mile (400 meters) off the coast of the citystate, 

Sentosa is no stranger to celebrities and VIPs. It is linked 

to the city by a bridge and home to high-end resorts, golf courses 

and a large amusement park. 

The macabre history of the island, which will become the venue 

of the historic summit on Tuesday, is less known. 

In the 18th century, when Singapore was a British colony, an 

unknown epidemic killed off most of its population of 60. Only 

two households survived. During World War II, the British used 

artillery forts and a battery on the island to unsuccessfully fend 

off a Japanese invasion, which transformed it into a prisoner-ofwar 

camp. 

It's no wonder the island was known as Pulau Blakang Mati, 

which roughly translates as "island of death from behind." In 

1970, the island was renamed after a nationwide contest. Sentosa 

was subsequently developed as a resort and expanded on 

reclaimed land. It now attracts around 19 million visitors every 

year. Mohamed Shafie, a 79-year-old snake charmer, doesn't 

expect the Trump-Kim summit to affect his business. 

"I think it's very good. Once they come, a lot of people will 

come here. All the Singaporeans want to see them," he said. 

The resort island plans to keep welcoming tourists this week 

despite boosted security for the summit at the 112-room Capella 

Singapore hotel. 

A group of journalists gathered outside the hotel and across 

the road, waiting for signs that officials had arrived. Only 

authorized vehicles were allowed to enter, and hotel restaurants 

were not taking reservations until after the summit. 

Police have marked the island and some of its surrounding 

waters as a "special event area," where loud-hailers, flags or banners 

over a meter (yard) long or wide are banned. 

At a preserved fort, World War II cannons were decorated 

with flowers to honor the historic meeting. Lilies, eustomas, gerberas 

and olives were "chosen specifically for their representation 

as symbols of peace." Adam Chen, a visitor from Hong 

Kong, thought that it was a nice gesture. "I hope the talks are a 

success," he said. Foreign worker Authur Belver said he wouldn't 

be bothered by extra security checks. 

In this Saturday, June 9, 2018, photo, a World War II cannon is decorated with flowers to honor the 

historic meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on 

June 12, 2018. 

(Wong Maye-E/Associated Press) 

Italy holds 

migrant rescue 

ship as hundreds 

land 

Italian authorities held a 

migrant rescue boat for 12 

hours after it brought more 

than 230 people to a port in 

south western Italy following 

a four-day ordeal on the 

high seas, an NGO said on 

Sunday, reports UNB. 

German NGO Sea-Watch 

said in a statement that their 

boat Sea-Watch 3 was held 

until gone midnight on Saturday 

after arriving at the 

port at Reggio Calabria with 

232 people onboard. 

Italian police questioned 

the boat captain for more 

than four hours, according 

to the NGO, and journalists 

travelling on the vessel were 

asked to hand over video 

footage of the rescue operation, 

which took place on 

June 5. 

"The political attacks 

against us are not only 

endangering us, but those in 

maritime distress," the NGO 

tweeted. "After 12 hours 

stuck in port, without a comprehensible 

reason given by 

the authorities, while there 

were 6 SAR-Cases on the 

Mediterranean Sea, we finally 

set sails to SAR." 

SAR stands for search and 

rescue operations. 

Sea-Watch said police also 

questioned some of the rescued 

migrants from the 

boat. After being processed 

by the authorities they are 

likely to end up in migrant 

reception centres. 

The holding of the boat 

comes after Italy's new antiimmigrant 

government 

pledged to slow down landings 

and speed up expulsions 

of migrants illegally in 

the country. 

Four killed in bus-train 

collision in western 

Russia: media 

Four people were killed Sunday 

after a bus and a freight 

train collided in western 

Russia's Orel Province, local 

media reported, reports 

UNB. 

The accident took place 

Sunday morning at a regulated 

railway crossing 20 km 

south of the city of Orel, the 

administrative center of the 

province, when the train hit 

the passing bus. 

The bus was reportedly 

carrying members of local 

bands, who were on their 

way to attend the celebration 

of the 90th anniversary of 

the establishment of the Orel 

administrative district. 

Some 12 people were hospitalized 

with various 

injuries, some in serious 

condition, RIA Novosti news 

agency quoted Olga Berdnikova, 

a representative of 

the regional department of 

Russia's Investigative Committee, 

as saying. 

An investigation is underway, 

and criminal proceedings 

have been instituted for 

"violations of traffic rules 

and vehicle operation". 

Trump pulls out of joint G-7 

statement, attacks Trudeau 

The annual G-7 summit appeared to have 

weathered tensions over President Donald 

Trump's threats of a tariff-fueled trade war 

until the mercurial American pulled out of a 

joint statement while citing "false statements" 

by Canadian Prime Minister Justin 

Trudeau, reports UNB. 

It was an unprecedented attack on the 

leader of the U.S. neighbor and ally. 

Trump was aboard Air Force One heading 

to an historic summit with North Korea's 

Kim Jong Un when he issued a pair of 

tweets Saturday criticizing the G-7 host and 

stepping back from the generally positive 

tone that had ended the two-day meeting. A 

few hours earlier, Trudeau had told 

reporters that all seven leaders had come 

together to sign the joint declaration. 

Trudeau said he had reiterated to Trump 

that tariffs would harm industries and workers 

on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border. 

He said unleashing retaliatory measures "is 

not something I relish doing" but that he 

wouldn't hesitate to do so because "I will 

always protect Canadian workers and Canadian 

interests." 

"As Canadians, we are polite, we're reasonable, 

but also we will not be pushed 

around," Trudeau said, and he described all 

seven leaders coming together to sign a joint 

declaration despite having "some strong, 

firm conversations on trade, and specifically 

on American tariffs." 

In the air by then, Trump tweeted: "Based 

on Justin's false statements at his news conference, 

and the fact that Canada is charging 

massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers 

and companies, I have instructed our U.S. 

Reps not to endorse the Communique as we 

look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the 

U.S. Market!" He followed up by tweeting: 

"PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so 

meek and mild during our @G7 meetings 

only to give a news conference after I left 

saying that, "US Tariffs were kind of insulting" 

and he "will not be pushed around." 

Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in 

response to his of 270% on dairy!" 

A spokesman for Trudeau did not address 

Trump's insults in a statement. "We are 

focused on everything we accomplished 

here at the #G7 summit," spokesman 

Cameron Ahmad said. "The Prime Minister 

said nothing he hasn't said before - both in 

public, and in private conversations with the 

President." 

Reporters asked Trudeau for his reaction 

as he and his wife and another couple took 

an evening stroll, but the prime minister 

begged off. "Good to see you guys ... It's a 

beautiful evening, a great weekend," he 

said. 

Before leaving for Singapore, Trump had 

delivered a stark warning to America's trading 

partners not to counter his decision to 

impose tariffs on steel and aluminum 

imports. But Trudeau, whose nation was 

among those singled out by Trump, pushed 

back and said he would not hesitate to retaliate 

against his neighbor to the south. 

"If they retaliate, they're making a mistake," 

Trump declared before departing the 

annual Group of Seven summit, which 

includes Britain, Italy, France, Germany and 

Japan. 

Trump himself insisted relationships with 

allies were a "ten" just before he left the 

summit. But his abbreviated stay at this 

Quebec resort saw him continuing the same 

type of tough talk on trade as when he 

departed the White House, when he accused 

Trudeau of being "indignant." 

Steffen Seibert posted this photo on Twitter showing world leaders at the 

G-7 summit on June 9, 2018, in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada. Photo : AP 

Kim lands in Singapore ahead 

of high-stakes Trump summit 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un 

arrived Sunday in Singapore ahead of 

one of the most unusual and highly 

anticipated summits in recent world 

history, a sit-down with President Donald 

Trump meant to settle a standoff 

over Pyongyang's nuclear bomb arsenal, 

reports UNB. 

A jet carrying Kim landed Sunday 

afternoon amid huge security precautions 

on this city-state island. After 

shaking hands with the Singapore foreign 

minister, Kim sped through the 

city's streets in a large limousine, two 

large North Korean flags fluttering on 

the hood, surrounded by other black 

vehicles with tinted windows and bound 

for the luxurious and massively guarded 

St. Regis Hotel. Trump was scheduled 

to arrive later Sunday. 

The North Korean autocrat's every 

move will be followed by 3,000 journalists 

who have converged on Singapore, 

and by gawkers around the world, up 

until he shakes hands with Trump on 

Tuesday. It's a reflection of the intense 

global curiosity over Kim's sudden turn 

to diplomacy in recent months after a 

Five killed in road accident 

in northwest Kenya 

At least five people were killed and several others injured in a grisly road accident along the 

busy Nakuru-Kericho road in northwest Kenya early Sunday, reports UNB. 

Lodiani divisional police commander Joseph Odipo confirmed the 6:30 a.m. incident at 

Londiani area after a commuter minibus (matatu) collided with a truck. 

Odipo said the matatu was heading to Nakuru while the truck was moving towards Kericho. 

"Five passengers lost their lives on the spot while seven were seriously injured." 

The local police commander said the drivers of the two vehicles were among those who sustained 

serious injuries, noting that that the circumstances that led to the collision could not 

be established immediately. 

"Many accidents have occurred at this area. It is a known black spot where speeding, overtaking 

and careless driving are the major causes of accidents," said Odipo, who advised road 

users, especially those driving at night, to be cautious and observe traffic rules. 

Road accidents still continue to occur despite stringent traffic rules which were introduced 

by the government to help curb road carnage. 

An estimated 3,000 Kenyans die in road accidents annually despite concerted efforts by the 

state and the private sector to promote safety on the highways, according to the National 

Transport Safety Authority (NTSA). 

slew of North Korean nuclear and missile 

tests last year raised serious fears of 

war. 

The North, many experts believe, 

stands on the brink of being able to target 

the entire U.S. mainland with its 

nuclear-armed missiles, and while 

there's deep skepticism that Kim will 

quickly give up those hard-won nukes, 

there's also some hope that diplomacy 

can replace the animosity between the 

U.S. and the North. 

Part of the interest in Tuesday's summit 

is simply a reflection of Kim's limited 

appearances on the world stage. He 

has only publicly left his country three 

times since taking power after his 

father's death in late 2011 - twice traveling 

to China and once across his shared 

border with the South to the southern 

part of the Demilitarized Zone in recent 

summits with the leaders of China and 

South Korea respectively. 

But it is Kim's pursuit of nuclear 

weapons that gives his meeting with 

Trump such high stakes. The meeting 

was initially meant to rid North Korea 

of its nuclear weapons, but the talks 

have been portrayed by Trump in 

recent days more as a get-to-know-you 

session. Trump has also raised the possibility 

of further summits and an 

agreement ending the Korean War by 

replacing the armistice signed in 1953 

with a peace treaty. China and South 

Korea would have to sign off on any 

legal treaty. 

It's unclear what Trump and Kim 

might decide Tuesday. 

Pyongyang has said it's willing to deal 

away its entire nuclear arsenal if the 

United States provides it with a reliable 

security assurance and other benefits. 

But many say this is highly unlikely, given 

how hard it has been for Kim to build 

his program and that the weapons are 

seen as the major guarantee to holding 

onto his unchecked power. 

Any nuclear deal will hinge on North 

Korea's willingness to allow unfettered 

outside inspections of the country's warheads 

and nuclear fuel, much of which 

is likely kept in a vast complex of underground 

facilities. Past nuclear deals 

have crumbled over North Korea's 

reluctance to open its doors to outsiders.

ART & CULTURE 

MoNdAY, 

JUNE 11, 2018 

8 

Toilet Ek Prem Katha 

slays in China, earns Rs 

39.85 cr in two days 

Akshay Kumar-Bhumi Pednekar starrer 

Toilet Ek Prem Katha has reached the 

number one spot at the China box office. 

The drama-comedy flick with a social 

message achieved the feat on the second day 

of its release itself. 

Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted 

the film's business figures in China. 

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which opened in 

the China box office on Friday, is a 'much 

larger' release than previous releases Hindi 

Medium and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. 

The Akshay Kumar-Bhumi Pednekar 

starrer is being screened in 11,500 screens 

across the country with approximately 

56,000 shows every day, according to film 

critic Taran Adarsh. 

A huge section of the industry was not too 

confident of the film's business in China due 

to the rural concern it addresses in the film. However, these recent figures have shown a different story. 

Toilet Ek Prem Katha, a satirical comedy in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign to improve 

sanitation conditions in India, had hit the domestic box office in August 2017. It became one of the top grossers of 2017 

by doing a business of Rs 134.22 crore in India alone. 

Renovated musical instrument 

gallery opened 

A renovated gallery of 

ancient 

musical 

instruments 

was 

inaugurated today at the 

National Museum at 

Shahbagh here today. 

National Museum Director 

General Faizul Latif 

Chowdhury inaugurated the 

gallery as the chief guest 

while its secretary 

Mohammed Shawkat Nabi 

addressed it as the special 

guest. 

The gallery was kept 

closed for the last six years. 

The gallery contains 

different ancient musical 

instruments recovered from 

Moinamati of Comilla and 

Paharpur of Naogaon. 

The instruments include 

'Kasor', 'Ghanta', 'Kartal' 

'Dhak', flute and 

'Mridango'. 

Young actors think India is 

from Cuffe Parade to 

Andheri, says Salman Khan 

He may be one of the most money 

minting stars of Bollywood, but when it 

comes to choosing scripts Salman Khan 

trusts his instincts. The 52-year-old 

actor, who has blockbusters like 

Dabangg, Ek Tha Tiger, Bajrangi 

Bhaijaan and Sultan to his credit, says he 

immediately gives his nod to a project if it 

excites him. 

"The only films I want to do as soon as 

possible are the ones which satisfy me. I 

want to do something which I instantly 

like. I take up films only if they instantly 

excite me. If something is narrated to me 

and I am like 'I will tell you tomorrow' or 

'I need some time to think', it's never 

happening," Salman said in a group 

interview. 

The actor, however, made an exception 

for his Eid release Race 3. "The only film 

I have done like that is Race 3. That too 

because I instantly loved the script, 

barring one or two points." 

Talking about his upcoming projects, 

Salman confirms there is a film with 

director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in the 

pipeline, with whom he has worked in 

Khamoshi: The Musical, Hum Dil De 

Chuke Sanam and Saawariya. 

There is no No Entry or Wanted sequel 

happening. I am doing Bharat, Dabangg 

3 and Sher Khan. The Kick 2 script isn't 

ready at the moment and then there is a 

dance film with Remo and one Bhansali 

film when he comes and narrates it. We 

recently discussed it," he said. 

Salman has been part of the movie 

business for around three decades and 

believes while some of the younger 

actors are doing good, there are a few 

who have misunderstood what Hindi 

cinema stands for. "Tiger Shroff got it 

right this time (referring to Baaghi 2 

success). Varun Dhawan has always 

been getting it right. He tried one, but 

then that was a film (October) he 

wanted to do and it did make decent 

money and no one lost anything. Apart 

from that, I think everyone is going 

slightly... They think India is from Cuffe 

Parade (South Mumbai) to Andheri, 

which is not true. They think all our 

emotions are cliched and outdated," he 

said. 

H o RoSCoPE 

ARIES 

ARIES (March 21 - April 20): 

You have used up a lot of 

energy in recent weeks and 

the effects are beginning to 

show. You don't have to work hard just 

because other people expect you to. Put 

your health first and only do what seems 

natural and makes you feel good. 

TAURUS 

(April 21 - May 21): You know 

that something out of the 

ordinary is going to happen and 

when the sun moves into your 

birth sign tomorrow you will get a better idea 

of what that something is likely to be. Bide 

your time - you don't have to start anything 

new just yet. 

GEMINI 

(May 22 - June 21): You don't 

have to get involved in a 

colleague's personal affairs but 

you probably will. You can tell 

that they need help and you are not the sort 

to ignore a call for assistance, even if the call 

is implied rather than explicit. 

CANCER 

(June 22 - July 23): Don't get 

disheartened if you have 

not yet made the big 

breakthrough you have been 

dreaming of - it will come 

when the time is right. Your main aim 

over the next few weeks must be to 

network and cultivate new contacts. Start 

making calls. 

LEo 

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Let your 

imagination roam today but 

don't lose touch with reality. 

The sun's move into the career 

area of your chart tomorrow means this is 

the ideal time to let important people know 

what you can do. Don't just tell them, show 

them too. 

VIRGo 

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): You will be 

a lot happier emotionally when 

the sun moves into the 

sympathetic sign of Taurus 

tomorrow. Your confidence will soar as well. 

If you fancy taking a trip of some kind, now 

is the time. You deserve a vacation, so 

reward yourself. 

LIBRA 

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): Your 

feelings for someone you are 

close to emotionally will 

deepen over the next few days 

but don't smother them. Holding on too 

closely is rarely a good idea, especially when 

the people involved value their liberty as 

much as your loved ones do. 

SCoRPIo 

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): If your 

everyday affairs are not yet 

in order then you had better 

do something about it 

quickly because you won't have time to 

worry about details over the next few 

weeks. Tie up any and all loose ends over 

the next 24 hours. 

SAGITTARIUS 

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Try to keep 

disagreements to a minimum 

today, especially on the work 

front, because you need to keep 

partners and colleagues on side. Certain 

people may have a knack for rubbing you 

the wrong way but you don't have to react. 

CAPRICoRN 

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): The sun 

moves into your fellow Earth 

sign of Taurus tomorrow, so 

take things easy today. The 

more energy you conserve 

now the more you will have available later 

on - and you are going to need it. A 

dynamic phase is about to begin. 

AQUARIUS 

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): You want 

to move in one direction but a 

loved one wants to take a 

different route. Just this once 

you should follow their lead, 

not because it will take you somewhere 

worth going but because you need to stay 

in their good books for other reasons. 

PISCES 

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): You 

seem to be in one of those 

moods when you delight in 

doing the opposite of what 

others expect you to do. 

It's fun being a rebel but don't take it 

too far. This is a time for making new 

friends, not turning old friends 

against you. 

Jacqueline 

Fernandez 

suffers 

permanent 

eye injury, 

says grateful 

to see 

Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez has suffered a 

permanent eye injury. On Saturday, she wrote a post on 

Instagram in which she said that she is 'grateful to see'. 

Jacqueline Fernandez, who will be seen doing quite a few 

high-octane action sequences in upcoming movie Race 3, hurt 

herself while shooting for the film in Abu Dhabi. 

She suffered an eye injury and was immediately rushed to a 

hospital. The producer of Race 3, Ramesh Taurani confirmed 

the news and said that Jacqueline suffered an injury just above 

her eye while playing squash. The actor was administered 

primary treatment and, thereafter, she returned to the sets to 

complete the scheduled shoot. Race 3, which boasts of a huge 

cast including the likes of Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bobby 

Deol, Saqib Saleem and Daisy Shah, apart from Jacqueline, 

will see Salman make his debut in a negative role. While 

director duo Abbas-Mustan directed the first two films in the 

Race franchise, Race 3 will see Remo D' Souza take charge of 

direction. 

Shakira on her 

vocal 

problems: ‘I 

doubted I’d 

ever sing again’ 

After postponing her El Dorado tour for seven months due to vocal 

problems, Shakira finally hit the road last week with an athletic, hipshaking 

show that encompassed more than 20 years of hits. 

It's the star's first tour in seven years, after taking time out to start 

a family with her husband, Spanish footballer Gerard Pique. 

Footage from the opening night in Hamburg showed the 41-yearold 

looking overwhelmed, clasping her hands to her chest as she 

acknowledged her long journey back to health. 

"Last year was one of the most difficult times of my entire life," she 

tells the BBC from Amsterdam. "Being back on stage has been so 

emotional." 

With the tour hitting London next week, the Colombian star took 

time out from her schedule to chat about how she's stopped being 

narcissistic - and whether she understands the offside rule.

SPORTS 


9 

Bangladesh women wheel away after winning the Asia Cup. 

Photo: ACC 

Asia Cup success promises huge boost 

for Bangladesh women’s cricket 

Sports Desk: 

Women's cricket in Bangladesh can 

expect a boost in popularity and 

monetary support after their historic 

and maiden Asia Cup title. They 

defeated six-time champions India in 

Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, having 

cruised past hosts Malaysia in the last 

league match a day earlier. The level of 

interest among fans shot up overnight 

after they beat Pakistan and India 

earlier in the week, with social media 

abuzz with the unprecedented run of 

success of the Bangladesh team, 

reports Cricinfo. 

The immediate impact on the team is 

an injection of confidence ahead of 

July's World T20 Qualifiers in 

Netherlands. While Bangladesh have 

defeated higher-ranked teams in the 

past, too, including South Africa, 

Pakistan and Sri Lanka across both 

limited-overs formats, their maiden 

victory over India, who had never lost 

an Asia Cup match before, and then 

beating them again in the final became 

a much bigger deal. 

In a broader sense, more young girls 

are likely to take to cricket across 

Bangladesh after seeing a performance 

of such promise. The final was televised 

live in Bangladesh, which is also likely 

to inspire aspiring cricketers to take the 

field. In 1997, when Bangladesh 

qualified for the men's World Cup for 

the first time, cricket's popularity 

increased tremendously, but it was an 

all-male affair. 

Even today, women's cricket is in 

the margins and only certain pockets 

in Bangladesh have training facilities 

and academies for female cricketers. 

The story of a local coach using a toilet 

as his office and for equipment storage 

to deal with lack of funds and support 

highlighted the challenges women's 

cricket faces currently. 

Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the BCB 

chief executive, said that the Asia 

Cup performance has already had a 

big enough impact for the board to 

think differently about women's 

cricket, starting with separate 

sponsorship. "Team performance 

obviously has an impact on overall 

morale, popularity and sponsorship," 

Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo. 

"Currently, the women's national 

team sponsorship is bundled with the 

men's senior team, but after this 

success we have to think separately. 

They now have their own value to 

attract sponsors. 

"We have to think especially about 

the women's game in Bangladesh. We 

already have some talent-hunt 

programmes through domestic 

tournaments, but we should do more 

for their development." 

About sixteen to 17 players in the 

national team are being paid BDT 

10,000 to 30,000 (USD 120 to 360) 

per month for the last few years, since 

the salary structure came in place in 

2012. For an ODI, they are paid USD 

100 per game and USD 75 for a T20 

international. The BCB is also likely to 

discuss the salary structure in its next 

board meeting on June 11. 

Nazmul Abedeen, the women's team 

manager, said that the dream run in 

the Asia Cup will make the players 

more confident and focused, whether 

they are representing Bangladesh or 

playing in domestic competitions. 

"The success will definitely change 

how current active players think about 

themselves," Abedeen said. "Their 

perception will change. They will be 

more confident. 'If they can do it, why 

not us?' is what [other players from 

Bangladesh] will think now. At the 

same time, it will boost the players' 

seriousness in training and 

competition." 

After the Asia Cup, the Bangladesh 

players will have a short break before 

travelling to Ireland for three T20 

internationals. Then it is on to the 

Netherlands for the World T20 

Qualifiers. 

Salah joins Egypt training, 

but doesn't take part 

Sports Desk: 

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah turned up for Egypt 

training in Cairo on Saturday ahead of the Pharaohs' 

departure for the World Cup in Russia but didn't take 

part, AFP witnessed, reports BSS. 

Thousands of supporters turned up to watch Egypt's 

final, late night training session before taking flight for 

Russia, cheering wildly. 

The training session began just before 10pm. 

Although dressed in kit, Salah stood around in the 

middle of the pitch chatting to backroom staff while his 

team-mates trained. 

The record seven-time African champions have 

qualified for the World Cup for only the third time and 

first since 1990. 

They begin their Russian campaign on June 15 against 

twice former winners Uruguay. 

Salah has been picked in the Egypt squad despite 

suffering from a shoulder injury picked up in Liverpool's 

3-1 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid that 

many fans feared would keep him out of the global 

football showpiece. 

After scoring 44 goals for Liverpool last season 

following his move from Roma, Salah is vital to Egyptian 

hopes in Russia. 

The Egyptian football federation said after his injury 

that he could be out for three weeks, meaning he would 

miss their opening Group A match but could then 

subsequently be available against Russia and Saudi 

Arabia. 

The national team's doctor, Mohamed Abou al-Ela told 

ON Sport TV that they would soon know when Salah will 

be fit to play and to what extent he'll be available in 

Russia. "We won't be able to tell until after two days," he 

said, declining to give any more details 

Egyptian national soccer team striker Mohamed Salah (C) attends his team's training session at 

Cairo international stadium in Cairo, Egypt, 09 June 2018. 

Photo: AP 

Chilly start 

for Ronaldo 

and Portugal 

at World Cup 

training 

Sports Desk: 

Cristiano Ronaldo's 

Portugal held their first 

World Cup training 

session on Sunday at the 

team's base in Kratovo, 

southeast of Moscow, five 

days ahead of their 

heavyweight opening clash 

against Spain, reports 

BSS. 

All 23 players in 

Fernando Santos's squad 

took part in a 90-minute 

open training session held 

in light drizzle and chilly 

temperatures hovering 

just above 10 degrees 

Celsius (50 degrees 

Fahrenheit). 

The European 

champions were put 

through a series of 

p o s s e s s i o n - b a s e d 

exercises before working 

on their finishing, with 

Valencia winger Goncalo 

Guedes, on loan from 

Paris Saint-Germain, 

looking particularly sharp 

in front of goal. 

The squad was then 

divided into two teams for 

a game on a half-sized 

pitch, with Ronaldo at one 

point thumping a ball over 

the training complex's 

fence and into the trees in 

a fit of frustration. 

The Real Madrid star's 

presence had earlier 

elicited cheers from the 

100 or so fans in 

attendance, with a similar 

number of media present 

along the touchline. 

Portugal, who were also 

celebrating the country's 

national day on Sunday, 

kick off their Group B 

campaign against 2010 

world champions Spain in 

Sochi on June 15, before 

facing Morocco on June 

20 and Iran five days later. 

They are playing at a 

fifth straight World Cup - 

the country's seventh 

appearance in total - and 

will be hopeful of a much 

more successful 

tournament than in 2014, 

when they crashed out in 

the group stage. 

The Real Madrid star's 

presence had earlier 

elicited cheers from the 

100 or so fans in 

attendance, with a similar 

number of media present 

along the touchline. 

Their best result saw 

them finish third in 1966. 

Argentina preparations 

rocked by results, 

controversy and injury 

Sports Desk: 

Lionel Messi's Argentina must quickly 

refocus after finding themselves at the 

centre of an Israel-Palestinian spat over 

the cancellation of a World Cup warmup 

match following an unconvincing 

qualifying campaign, reports BSS. 

The game against Israel, planned for 

Saturday in Jerusalem, was called off on 

Tuesday after a campaign by the 

Palestinians following its relocation 

from the northern city of Haifa. 

Palestinians were already angered by 

US President Donald Trump's transfer of 

the US embassy from Tel Aviv to 

Jerusalem in May, which sparked 

protests in Gaza in which dozens of 

Palestinians were killed. 

Argentina's preparations for Russia 

2018 - which could be 30-year-old 

Messi's last World Cup - have also been 

disrupted by a serious injury that has 

ruled out West Ham midfielder Manuel 

Lanzini. 

Despite the troubled build-up, 

Argentina team official Omar Souto 

talked up the training base in Bronnitsy, 

50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of 

Moscow, after their arrival on Saturday 

"I have been at five World Cups and 

this is the best base camp," Souto told 

AFP. "It has everything, the rooms are 

comfortable, the coaching staff has its 

place… there's never been a place like 

this for the national team." 

Argentina suffered the crushing 

disappointment of losing to Germany in 

the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil and 

had painful losses, both times to Chile, 

in back-to-back Copa America finals in 

Head backs Australia’s 

bowlers to surprise 

England 

Sports Desk: 

Australia batsman Travis Head is confident a new-look 

bowling attack will have the "firepower" to trouble England 

in an upcoming one-day international series, reports BSS. 

Head made a century as Australia completed their 

preparations with a 101-run win over Middlesex at Lord's 

on Saturday. Despite his 106, Australia were held to a total 

of 283 for six. 

It was the second time in two warm-up games they had 

failed to reach the benchmark score of 300, having made 

277 for nine against Sussex at Hove in their tour-opener on 

Thursday. But they still beat Sussex by 57 runs and the 

bowlers were even more dominant against Middlesex, who 

slumped to 182 all out with nine overs to spare. 

Middlesex were, however, without star batsman Eoin 

Morgan as the England 50-over captain is leading the 

national side in a lone one-day international against 

Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday. 

World Cup-holders Australia suffered a 4-1 series loss at 

home to England, now top of the global ODI standings, 

earlier this year. The tourists will likely need to raise their 

game when a five-match series with England starts across 

London at The Oval on Wednesday but Head was 

unconcerned by their recent failure to break the 300 

barrier. "It depends, if we bowl the way we have… We'll find 

that out pretty quickly, what's a good score," Head told 

reporters after Saturday's match. 

"The last two games have been good enough. We were 

under the pump at Hove but we were pretty clinical in the 

way we went about it here," the South Australian added. 

The 24-year-old opened the batting on Saturday, with 

Australia having arrived in England without regular opener 

David Warner and former captain Steve Smith after the 

pair were given year-long bans for their roles in March's 

ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town. As well as the two 

star batsmen, Australia are also without their injured 

Ashes-winning fast-bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat 

Cummins and Josh Hazlewood for this white-ball only 

tour. 

2015 and 2016. 

Their troubled World Cup qualifying 

campaign resulted in the departure of 

coach Edgardo Bauza, with Jorge 

Sampaoli drafted in as an emergency 

replacement in May last year. 

Argentina, drawn against Iceland, 

Croatia and Nigeria in Group D, are 

short of recent match practice ahead of 

their opening match against Euro 2016 

surprise package Iceland on Saturday. 

A 4-0 win against 104th-ranked Haiti 

in May was their only outing since a 

humiliating 6-1 loss to Spain in March. 

Sampaoli's side boast an impressive set 

of forwards, with the manager able to 

call on the likes of Angel Di Maria, 

Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero. 

But they struggled badly on the road to 

Russia, only securing an automatic spot 

in their final qualification game against 

Ecuador thanks to a Messi hat-trick. 

Despite their attacking riches, 

Sampaoli's side only scored 19 goals in 

18 South American qualifying matches, 

finishing third behind Brazil and 

Uruguay. Lanzini ruptured the anterior 

cruciate ligament in his right knee 

during training on Friday, forcing him 

out of the tournament, following the 

earlier injury-enforced withdrawal of 

Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio 

Romero. 

A starter during Argentina's final 

warm-up game against Haiti, Lanzini 

looked to have gained favour with 

Sampaoli. 

River Plate midfielder Enzo Perez is set 

to replace Lanzini in Argentina's 23-man 

World Cup squad, the country's football 

association said on Saturday. 

Angel Di Maria and Lionel Messi will be crucial to Argentina's success in 

Russia. 

Photo: AP 

Kirani James wins 400m at 

Racers Grand Prix in Kingston 

Sports Desk: 

Former Olympic and World champion Kirani James 

returned from a long layoff to claim the 400 meters at the 

Racers Grand Prix on Saturday, clocking a winning time of 

44.35 seconds, reports BSS. 

James produced a final burst to beat runner-up Fred 

Kerley of the United States by 100th of a second at National 

Stadium in Kingston. 

The impressive showing came one day after James 

announced that he has Graves' disease, an immune system 

disorder resulting in an overproduction of thyroid 

hormones. 

The 24-year-old James came from behind with about 40 

meters remaining to catch Kerley who got off to a fast start. 

James said afterward he was "trying to improve my health 

and preparation day by day. It's just a blessing to be here 

and competing." 

The Grenadian, who won gold and silver at the 2012 and 

2016 Olympic Games, had announced in a pre-meet press 

conference Friday that he was suffering from the disease. 

"I found out I had Graves' disease and for people who 

don't know what that's about, it's a disease that affects your 

thyroid. 

"And when it overacts it affects your hormones, speeds up 

your metabolism, weight loss, muscle weaknesses, 

shortness of breath, a lot of symptoms; sometimes it varies. 

So I had to see doctors and be on medication. 

"It's been a long road, so I am just glad to be back. And I 

just want to thank the Racers Grand Prix for inviting me and 

giving me an opportunity to come back and open up to see 

where I am at. I am just happy to be back," he said. 

After the race he told reporters, "I am just getting back to 

racing after a year and some months and trying to stay 

focused and determined." 

Also, Jamaican-based Great Britain runner Zharnel 

Hughes ran a world leading 9.91 seconds (0.4m/s), his first 

time under 10.00 seconds to win the men's 100m. 

The long-striding Hughes got out off to a good start and 

held off the American Noah Lyles, who ran a personal best 

9.93. Yohan Blake ran a 10.00 seconds for third. 

World and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 

continued her come back after giving birth to her first child, 

and ran a season best 11.10 seconds in the 100m.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

BANGLADESHTODAY 10 

THE 


Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO of Dhaka Bank and Kamal Quadir, Chief 

Executive Officer of bKash exchanging documents while Ziaur Rahman, SEVP& Head of Corporate 

Banking of Dhaka Bank and Moinuddin Mohammed Rahgir, CFO of bKash signed the agreement on 

behalf of their respective organizations. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Dhaka Bank Accountholders Can Make Instant Fund 

Transfer to Bkash Account Via Internet Banking 

Dhaka Bank Ltd signed an 

agreement with bKash Limited for 

facilitating the internet banking 

customers of the Bank to make instant 

fund transfer to any bKash accounts 

via web and mobile app, a press release 

said. 

Ziaur Rahman, Senior Executive 

Vice President & Head of Corporate 

Banking of Dhaka Bank and 

Moinuddin Mohammed Rahgir, Chief 

Financial Officer of bKash signed the 

agreement on behalf of their respective 

organizations at the Corporate Office of 

Dhaka Bank. 

Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing 

Director & CEO of Dhaka Bank and 

China's inflation remains 

benign: Economic Watch 

With consumer price growth continuing 

to be mild and factory prices of industrial 

products slightly edging up in May, China's 

inflation remains benign. 

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data 

showed Saturday that China's consumer 

price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 

1.8 percent year-on-year in May. 

NBS statistician Sheng Guoqing mainly 

attributed the rise to carry-over effects, 

with new price-rising factors contributing 

only 0.4 percentage points. 

Food prices edged up by 0.1 percent, 

resulting in a growth of 0.01 percentage 

points in the price index. Non-food prices 

rose by 2.2 percent, generating a rise of 

1.74 percentage points. 

Although the prices of eggs and 

vegetables and mutton surged by 24.7 

percent, 10 percent and 13.5 percent, 

respectively, the price hikes have been 

largely offset by the decline in fruit and 

pork prices, according to Sheng. 

In May, the price of pork and fruit 

dropped by 16.7 percent and 2.7 percent, 

respectively, dragging down food prices by 

0.48 percentage points. 

As for non-food prices, the costs of 

health care products grew by 5.1 percent 

while that of education and housing 

jumped by 2.7 percent and 2.2 percent, 

respectively. On a month-on-month basis, 

consumer prices fell by 0.2 percent, 

following the same decline in April. 

The CPI breakdown showed that lower 

food price were still the main factor in the 

decline, with non-food price inflation 

staying largely flat. 

As domestic retail oil prices rose notably 

in May, the prices of gasoline and diesel 

grew by 3.7 percent and 4.1 percent, 

respectively. Meanwhile, health care, 

clothing, household items and residence all 

recorded moderate pick-ups. Liu Xuezhi, a 

senior researcher with the Bank of 

Communications, said the core CPI 

excluding food and energy edged down to 

1.9 percent in May from 2.0 percent in 

April, the same as the January figure and 

the lowest in nearly 15 months. "Real 

inflation has been mild, and there is no 

obvious inflationary pressure thanks to the 

performance of the core CPI and weak new 

price-rising factors," Liu said. 

Sales of Walton brand airconditioners 

were gone up 

sharply across the country 

following the sweltering 

summer heat in the last 

couple of days, says a press 

release. 

The Walton authorities 

are expecting about further 

increase of their AC sales on 

the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr. 

During the period of 

January to May of the 

current, sales of their air 

conditioners were jumped 

up by more than 30 percent 

compared to the sales of the 

corresponding period of the 

previous year. The 1.5 tons 

and 2 tons Smart AC of 

Walton, which was released 

in the current year, pushed 

the overall AC sales to go up. 

Walton air conditioners 

with ionizer, smart and 

huge power efficient 

inverter technologies, 

manufactured at Walton 

Hi-Tech Industries Limited 

at Chandra in Gazipur, have 

been turned into the 

customers' prime 

attraction. 

Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash were 

present at the signing ceremony. 

Among others, Additional Managing 

Director Emranul Huq, Deputy 

Managing Director Md. Shakir Amin 

Chowdhury, SEVP & Head of IT 

A.M.M Moyen Uddin of the Bank and 

Chief Marketing Officer Mir Nawbut 

Ali, Chief External & Corporate Affairs 

Officer Major General Sheikh Monirul 

Islam (Rtd.) and Chief Technology 

Officer Mohamad Azmal Hudaof 

bKash along with other officials of both 

the organizations were present at the 

signing ceremony. 

To transfer the fund from Dhaka 

Bank account to bKash, Dhaka Bank 

Eva Rezwana, executive 

director and chief 

marketing coordinator of 

Walton, said, sales of air 

conditioners are generally 

increased in summer. 

Usually, 70 percent of the 

total annual sales of AC 

have been sold out in 

summer, she said adding, 

both the demands and the 

sales of Walton ACs were 

gone up sharply following 

the heat wave in recent 

days. 

Amdadul Haque Sarker, 

executive director and head 

of distributors marketing of 

Walton, said, introduction 

of Smart AC with inverter 

technology was resulted in 

registering a sharp rise in 

the sales. 

He said, Walton ACs with 

ionizer technology will 

ensure pure and healthy air 

across the room through 

filtering dusts, smoke, 

bacteria and odor from 

room air. 

On the other hand, 

Walton ACs with inverter 

technology's compressor 

would consume 60 percent 

lesser electricity than the 

general technology's ACs, 

he added. 

In addition, he noted that 

Walton 'Smart AC' could 

monitor the power 

consumption units, daily or 

monthly electricity bill of it, 

compressors condition like 

overload or normal, power 

connection situation like on 

or off, and high or low 

voltage supply to it, in 

his/her mobile phone from 

any corner of the world. 

Now, Walton is 

manufacturing and 

marketing 18,000 BTU's or 

1.5 tons and 24,000 BTU's 

or 2 tons IoT and inverter 

technology's Smart AC at Tk 

65,000 and Tk 78,000 

respectively in the local 

market. In addition, people 

can buy Walton brand's 

inverter air-conditioners of 

1.5 tons and 2 tons at Tk 

63,500 and Tk 76,500 

respectively. Prices of 

Walton brand 1.5 tons and 2 

ton AC with ionizer 

technology are Tk 49,900 

and Tk 56,900 respectively. 

In addition, Walton brand 

accountholders have to login to their 

internet banking (i-banking) account 

via internet banking or mobile app. 

Then they have to select the 'add 

beneficiary' option toput the account 

number of the bKash customer.After 

that they need to select the 'pay to 

bKash' option to complete the 

transaction by putting the name ofthe 

beneficiaries and amount to be 

transferred. Both Dhaka bank account 

holder and bKash customer will 

receive SMS notifications once the 

transaction is complete. 

Dhaka Bank and bKash will not 

charge any fee on their customers for 

the transactions. 

Walton AC sales go up on sweltering heat 

Customers prefer ionizer and smart AC with inverter technology 

17200 BTU and 12000 

BTU's AC are priced at Tk 

45,900 and Tk 35,900 

respectively. 

Engineer Md. Ishaque 

Rony, chief operating officer 

of Walton AC, said, Walton 

is manufacturing and 

marketing world-class airconditioners 

with perfect 

BTU (British Thermal 

Unit). They added the 

world's latest technologies 

and features to Walton ACs 

like IoT based Smart AC, 

Inverter and Ionizer 

technologies ACs. Walton 

for the first time in 

Bangladesh applied 'Golden 

Fin' technologies to Walton 

ACs. The Walton airconditioners 

have been 

released in the local market 

just after getting testing 

certificate from the 

Bangladesh Accreditation 

Board authorized 

international standard 

NUSDAT-UTS testing lab. 

The compressors with 

inverter technology never 

switches off even when the 

temperature stabilizes, but 

runs at a slower speed 

maintaining 

the 

temperature inside the 

room, he said adding, thus 

these compressors consume 

comparatively low 

electricity. And, life time of 

the intelligent inverter 

technology's compressors is 

also very high. 

Now, six-month 

replacement guaranty is 

offered on Walton ACs. 

Users are offered up to eight 

years guaranty on the 

compressor of Walton ACs 

and 36-month installment 

facility during purchase. 

Morocco's 

forex reserves 

down 0.7 pct 

in May 

Morocco's foreign 

exchange reserves stood at 

22.92 billion U.S. dollars by 

the end of May, registering a 

0.7-percent decrease year on 

year, Morocco's central bank 

said on Saturday. 

The figure also posed a 5- 

percent drop from that in 

mid January when the 

country decided to adopt a 

more flexible exchange rate. 

In mid January, foreign 

reserves hit 24.51 billion 

dollars. 

The weekly statistics of the 

central bank showed that 

Moroccan dirham 

appreciated by 0.68 percent 

against the dollar and 

depreciated by 0.41 percent 

against the euro during the 

week of May 31-June 6. 

Such performance 

reflected that the dirham 

fluctuates within a very 

narrow trading band despite 

Morocco's move to raise the 

official band of dirham's 

fluctuation to 2.5 percent 

above or below the official 

rate from the previous 0.3 

percent. The dirham is 

pegged to a two-currency 

basket weighted 60 percent 

to the euro and 40 percent to 

the dollar. 

Liberia's leader looks abroad 

for help tackling poverty 

After stoking expectations 

among Liberia's voters for 

rolling back poverty, 

President George Weah is 

facing the twin pressures of 

time and money to carry out 

his promises. 

On January 22, Weah 

became president of the one 

of the world's poorest 

countries after vowing to 

improve the daily life of a 

population desperate for 

electricity, running water and 

other basics. 

The former soccer star 

succeeded Africa's first elected 

woman head of state, Ellen 

Johnson Sirleaf, who restored 

stability after brutal civil wars 

but failed to raise living 

standards. 

Putin dismisses G7 

criticism as 'babbling', 

calls for cooperation 

Russian President 

Vladimir Putin on Sunday 

dismissed criticism by the 

Group of 7 nations as 

"creative babbling" and said 

it was time to start 

cooperating again. 

"I believe it's necessary to 

stop this creative babbling 

and shift to concrete issues 

related to real cooperation," 

Putin told reporters in the 

Chinese city of Qingdao, 

when asked to comment on 

a G7 joint statement. 

He also said the G7 

countries had "again" failed 

to provide any evidence that 

Russia was behind the 

poisoning of a former 

double agent and his 

daughter in Britain in 

March. 

G7 leaders demanded 

Saturday that Russia stop 

what they described as 

attempts to undermine 

democracy and support for 

the Syrian regime as they 

closed the door on Moscow's 

readmission to the club. 

The G7 endorsed Britain's 

accusation that Moscow was 

"It is time now to 

consolidate the peace and to 

develop the country to be 

economically independent 

and prosper," Liezelle 

Kumalo, a researcher at the 

South African thinktank the 

Institute for Security Studies 

(ISS), told a seminar in 

Monrovia in May. 

"This is a huge challenge." 

She suggested Weah should 

not only keep the gains of 

Sirleaf's term in office, but see 

them "multiplied at high 

speed" to meet the 

expectations of young people 

who massively backed him at 

the polls. 

Youth account for some 60 

percent of Liberia's 

population of 4.7 million. 

behind the poisoning attack 

in the southwest of England 

on former double agent 

Sergei Skripal and his 

daughter Yulia. 

"We share and agree with 

the United Kingdom's 

assessment that it is highly 

likely that the Russian 

Federation was responsible 

for the attack, and that there 

is no plausible alternative 

explanation," the G7 

statement said. 

As in the past, Putin took 

issue with the phrase "highly 

likely", saying that G7 

nations' solidarity was based 

on "flimsy ground." 

"Everyone demonstrated 

solidarity with London over 

a certain event in Salisbury 

but nothing concrete was 

said again," Putin said. 

The statement made no 

mention of Russia being 

invited back into the group 

from which it was kicked out 

in response to its 2014 

annexation of Crimea, 

despite US President 

Donald Trump's insistence 

that the club would be better 

"Most of them are not yet 

trained to the level where we 

can find them jobs. Jobs are 

also not adequate to give to 

them," Interior Minister 

Varney Sirleaf said at the 

seminar. Weah himself seems 

clearly aware of the burden of 

expectation. 

He sought to set an example 

at the start of his mandate by 

cutting his own salary by 25 

percent. Then he ordered a 

20-percent cut in the price of 

rice, which is a staple food in 

Liberia but entirely imported. 

During the recent signing of 

an accord with the African 

Governance Initiative (AGI), 

founded by British former 

prime minister Tony Blair, 

Weah stressed the need for 

off if it brought Russia back 

into the fold. 

Putin said it was not 

Russia's decision to quit the 

G7, saying he would be 

happy to see G7 leaders in 

Russia. 

"As for Russia's return to 

the G7, G8 - we never left it," 

he said. "Back in the day 

colleagues refused to come 

to Russia due to certain 

reasons. Please, we would 

be happy to see everyone in 

Moscow." 

The Kremlin leader did 

not miss an opportunity to 

thumb his nose at the club of 

leading industrialised 

democracies, saying that the 

combined purchasing 

power of the Shanghai 

Cooperation Organisation - 

which includes Russia and 

China - outstripped the G7. 

At the same time he 

downplayed tensions at the 

acrimonious G7 meeting in 

Quebec City, after Trump 

disowned the joint summit 

statement and lambasted 

Canadian Prime Minister 

Justin Trudeau. 

Grameenphone, Telenor Group and UNICEF 

join forces to promote Child Online Safety 

Internet's role in "Bridging the 

Digital Divide" is undeniable, but 

there are also pitfalls. Ensuring a safer 

internet experience for our young 

population is equally important. 

Keeping this in mind, 

Grameenphone, Telenor Group and 

UNICEF yesterday joined hands to 

create opportunities for a meaningful 

and safer digital participation in 

Bangladesh, a press release said. 

Under this agreement, 

Grameenphone, Telenor Group and 

UNICEF will launch a specially 

designed"Child Online Safety" 

programme.The programme titled, 

"Enhancing and scaling child online 

protection in Bangladesh and 

engaging adolescents as agents of 

change" is designed to directly engage 

and empower 400,000 children aged 

between 11 and 16 years and sensitize 

50,000 parents, guardians and 

teachers onhow to facilitate a safer 

internet experience. Additionally, the 

Child Helpline hotline (1098) services 

will be expanded to incorporate Child 

Online Safety issues. 

Grameenphone CEO Michael Foley 

and UNICEF Bangladesh 

Representative 

Edouard 

Beigbeder,signed the agreement on 

behalf of their respective 

organizations. Grameenphone and 

Telenor Group have chosen Child 

Online Safety as a part of their global 

activities to support the United 

Nations Sustainable Development 

Goal 10 regarding "Reducing 

Inequalities". 

Speaking on the occasion 

Grameenphone CEO said, "We have 

been working on keeping our young 

minds safewhile they use the internet 

as we want the people of Bangladesh 

to use and reap its benefit without any 

apprehension orreservation. This 

partnership with UNICEF collectively 

demonstrates how our passion and 

commitment can make a significant 

difference in creating safe learning 

opportunities for the children and 

significantly enhance their capacity to 

access the world of information 

confidently." 

In Bangladesh, mass internet 

penetration is still a recent 

phenomenon. Many still have 

preconceived negative notions 

around the internet. Grameenphone 

has been educating and actively 

advocating safer internet 

usageamongschoolchildren in 

Bangladesh since 2014 and worked 

with more than 130,000 students 

nationally.Grameenphone and 

UNICEF also jointly publisheda 

parent's guide handbook on 

responsible internet usage and best 

practices. 

"Growing online activity by 

adolescents presents an incredible 

opportunity for them and triggers 

their active participation in ensuring 

their rights. However, internet use is 

also associated with a unique set of 

challenges and risks for children and 

adolescents. We, therefore, urgently 

need to protect our children and 

adolescents from harmful effects of 

the internet while increasing their 

online accessibility on an equitable 

basis," said Edouard Beigbeder, 

UNICEF Bangladesh Representative. 

The event was also attended 

byYasirAzman, Deputy CEO and 

CMO and Mahmud Hossain, Chief 

Corporate Affairs Officer of 

Grameenphone and other officials 

from Grameenphone and UNICEF. 

"achievable programmes and 

projects in the next two years 

for the people, if the 

government is to make 

impressive marks in six 

years," the length of his 

presidential term. 

Blair was reassuring, but 

also offered practical advice 

about managing people's 

hopes. 

"There is goodwill for 

Liberia at this time because 

there is a tremendous amount 

of enthusiasm from the 

people," he said. 

But he added, "The toughest 

thing in government, 

especially when you are 

dealing with huge 

expectations, is to try to set 

priorities to get things done."

MISCELLANEOUS 

moNDAY, JUNE 11, 2018 

11 

Putin says willing to meet 

Trump whenever US is 

ready 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that he's 

happy to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump once 

Washington is ready to hold the summit and welcomed 

Trump's call to bring Moscow back into the G-7 group of 

leading industrialized nations, reports UNB. 

Speaking to reporters in Qingdao, China, Putin said that 

some nations, including Austria, have offered to host his 

summit with Trump, should they have one. 

"The U.S. president has repeatedly said that it's reasonable 

to hold such a meeting," Putin said on the sidelines of a 

summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. "As 

soon as the U.S. side is ready, the meeting will take place, 

depending, of course, on my working schedule." 

Putin said he shares Trump's expression of concern about 

a renewed arms race expressed in a March phone call. 

"I can confirm that President Trump voiced concern about 

a new round of arms race in our latest call," Putin said. "I 

fully agree with him," he said, adding that personal meetings 

and work by experts are needed to tackle the issue. 

Putin's remarks follow a report that White House officials 

were working toward setting up a meeting. Trump has said 

he was open to having a summit with Putin, who U.S. 

intelligence officials have said directed Russian meddling in 

the 2016 election to help Trump win. 

The American leader has repeatedly said he wants to 

improve relationships with Moscow. 

Putin also welcomed Trump's statement that Russia 

should be invited to rejoin the group that was called the G-8 

before others expelled Russia. 

"It wasn't us who left," he said. "Colleagues refused to 

come to Russia on well-known grounds." 

"We will be ready to greet them all in Moscow," he added. 

Russia was expelled from the grouping in 2014 after it 

invaded and annexed Crimea and for its support for pro- 

Russia separatists in Ukraine. Trump, however, suggested 

that the G-7 offer a seat at the table to Russia. 

"I think it would be an asset to have Russia back in," he 

said. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he told 

Trump that readmitting Russia "is not something that we 

are even remotely looking at at this time." 

Putin also dismissed as mere "chatter" a G-7 statement 

that criticized Russia. 

The statement had said: "We urge Russia to cease its 

destabilizing behavior to undermine democratic systems 

and its support of the Syrian regime." It also said the 

countries shared and agreed with Britain's assessment that 

it is "highly likely" that Russia was responsible for the 

poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter 

in Britain. 

The decades-long drive to 

rid North Korea of nuclear 

weapons 

For almost three decades, successive 

US presidents, other world leaders and 

the United Nations have tried in vain to 

pressure or cajole North Korea into 

scrapping its nuclear weapons 

programme. 

Now Donald Trump is set to meet its 

leader Kim Jong Un at an 

unprecedented summit on Tuesday in 

Singapore, in an attempt to reach a deal 

which eluded his predecessors. 

Here is a look at previous efforts: 

Agreed Framework - 

North Korea joined the nuclear nonproliferation 

treaty (NPT) in 1985 but 

suspicions grew that it was cheating on 

the deal. In 1989, US satellite photos 

revealed a nuclear reprocessing plant at 

Yongbyon. Four years later, Pyongyang 

announced its intention to quit the 

NPT, prompting a dialogue with 

Washington. 

Under an agreement signed in 

October 1994 with the Clinton 

administration and dubbed the Agreed 

Framework, the North agreed to freeze 

and eventually dismantle existing 

nuclear plants, which could easily 

produce plutonium but which 

Pyongyang said were intended to 

produce electricity. 

The US in return pledged alternative 

energy in the form of 500,000 tonnes 

of fuel oil a year, plus the construction 

by 2003 of two proliferation-resistant 

light-water reactors. 

Several oil shipments were delivered 

late due to hostility to the deal among 

Republicans in Congress and work on 

the reactors was delayed for years. The 

pact finally broke down in 2002 when 

the US accused the North of running a 

secret uranium enrichment 

programme. 

Six-party talks - 

The six-party talks, which began in 

2003, were hosted by China and also 

grouped North and South Korea, 

Russia, Japan and the United States. 

Several rounds of talks culminated in 

September 2005 with a wide-ranging 

agreement. 

The North agreed to scrap its nuclear 

programme, rejoin the NPT and accept 

foreign nuclear monitors in exchange 

for food and energy aid - plus the 

eventual normalisation of relations 

with the US and a peace deal formally 

ending the Korean War. 

But talks quickly hit a snag when the 

US imposed restrictions on a Macau 

bank suspected of laundering money 

for North Korea. In October 2006, 

Pyongyang staged its first nuclear test. 

At a new round of talks in February 

2007, members reached a deal for the 

North to freeze its nuclear programme 

in return for aid and the release of its 

funds in the Macau bank. Later that 

year, the North began shutting down its 

Yongbyon nuclear plant, removing 

thousands of fuel rods under the watch 

of US experts. 

In 2008, Pyongyang handed 

Washington voluminous details of its 

nuclear programme and blew up the 

Yongbyon cooling tower in front of 

foreign media. The Bush 

administration eased sanctions and 

removed the North from its State 

Sponsors of Terrorism list. 

But the two sides failed to agree 

procedures to verify disarmament and 

by the end of 2008, Pyongyang had 

restarted its programme and banned 

nuclear inspectors. 

The last round of six-party talks was 

held in December 2008, and the North 

in 2009 staged a series of missile tests 

along with its second nuclear test. In 

2010, it showed a visiting US expert a 

new uranium enrichment plant and 

light-water reactor at Yongbyon. 

Leap-day agreement - 

Under an agreement announced on 

February 29, 2012, the Obama 

administration offered substantial 

food aid in return for a moratorium 

on uranium enrichment and missile 

testing and the return of nuclear 

inspectors to Yongbyon, leading to a 

restart of the six-party talks. 

Just 16 days later, the North 

announced plans for a satellite 

launch. 

Bollywood star Chopra 

apologises over ‘Quantico’ 

Hindu terror plot 

EU foreign policy 

chief assures Jordan 

of continued aid 

The European Union's 

foreign policy chief has 

assured Jordan of continued 

financial support, saying it's 

an investment in stabilizing 

an ally in the "most heated 

and difficult area of the 

world." 

Federica Mogherini visited 

Jordan just days after 

protests against proposed 

tax increases brought down 

the kingdom's prime 

minister, reports UNB. 

Mogherini told a news 

conference in Jordan's 

capital Sunday that it's up to 

Jordanians how to carry out 

reforms, but that addressing 

tax evasion is key to a 

functioning economy. 

Jordan is increasingly in 

debt and dependent on 

foreign aid. 

UAE president 

makes rare 

appearance 

United Arab Emirates 

President Sheikh Khalifa bin 

Zayed Al-Nahyan has met 

with family members in 

France, UAE media reported 

Sunday, one of his rare 

appearances since a stroke 

in 2014, reports UNB. 

The official WAM news 

agency published photos of 

white-bearded Abu Dhabi 

Emir Sheikh Khalifa, 70, 

chatting with relatives at his 

residence in the French 

resort town of Evian. 

Sheikh Khalifa in 2004 

succeeded his father, the late 

UAE founding president 

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al- 

Nahyan, as ruler of Abu 

Dhabi - the largest and 

wealthiest of the sevenmember 

United Arab 

Emirates. 

Sheikh Khalifa has 

previously made only one 

public appearance since 

undergoing an operation 

following a stroke in January 

2014, marking the Muslim 

Eid al-Fitr holiday last year. 

Khalifa has withdrawn 

from day-to-day decisions, 

allowing his half-brother 

and crown prince, Sheikh 

Mohamed bin Zayed, to 

assume greater power. 

Eritrean US detainee 

kills himself at Egyptian 

airport 

An Eritrean national who was denied 

asylum in the United States and was 

being sent back to his homeland has 

died in an apparent suicide in a holding 

area at Cairo International Airport, 

airport officials said on Saturday, 

reports UNB. 

Zeresenay Ermias Testfatsion was a 

detainee of U.S. Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement and was being 

held by Egyptian authorities at the 

airport, awaiting his return to Asmara, 

Eritrea, ICE said. 

Testfatsion, 34, was found dead on 

Wednesday in a shower area and his 

remains were taken to a hospital, ICE 

said. 

Airport officials, who spoke on the 

condition of anonymity because they 

were not authorized to brief the media, 

said he was found hanging. 

His remains will be transported to 

Eritrea, ICE said in a statement, adding 

that the U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security's Office of Inspector General 

and the ICE Office of Professional 

Responsibility were notified. 

Homeland Security and the Eritrean 

embassies in the U.S. and Egypt did not 

immediately respond to requests for 

comment on Saturday. 

Testfatsion, whose last name is 

spelled Tesfatsion in court records, had 

been in ICE custody since February 

2017 following his arrest at the Hidalgo, 

Texas, Port of Entry after he tried to 

unlawfully enter the United States, ICE 

said. Court records show Testfatsion 

went to the U.S. seeking asylum "for 

fear of returning to his country." 

Testfatsion was ordered deported in 

October 2017, and after he wasn't 

deported within 90 days he petitioned 

to be released, arguing he should not be 

forced to stay in detention indefinitely 

because the Eritrean Consulate hadn't 

taken action in his case. 

His petition, dated Jan. 30, says ICE 

was working on travel documents but 

had not been able to remove him 

because the Eritrean government views 

those who leave the country as traitors, 

making it virtually impossible for him 

to get necessary travel documents. 

The East African country has a history 

of being recalcitrant in accepting its 

deported citizens back from the U.S. In 

September, the U.S. announced that it 

would stop issuing certain visas to 

nationals from Eritrea and three other 

countries because of their reluctance to 

accept deportees. 

Eritrea is a major source of migrants 

who say they are fleeing a system of 

forced military conscription that 

repeatedly has been criticized by the 

United Nations and human rights 

groups. It's unknown why Testfatsion 

was seeking asylum. A message left 

with Customs and Border Protection 

was not immediately returned on 

Saturday. 

Pot of gold found in 

abandoned French 

house 

At the house in the Brittany town of Pont-Aven the workers found a lead container that they 

initially took for a World War II artillery shell, reports UNB. 

But then "they shook it and heard the sound of coins," the head of Bat'isol construction 

company, Laurent Le Bihan, told AFP at the weekend. 

Inside, they found 600 Belgian gold coins dating to 1870 and stamped with the effigy of 

King Leopold II, who reigned from 1865 to 1909. 

The value of the bounty, which the workers handed over to the police, is not yet known. 

Based on the sums usually paid for such coins it could run to over 100,000 euros 

($118,000), according to the regional Ouest-France newspaper. 

Under French law, the proceeds should be divided 50-50 between the finders and those 

who own the land where it was found. 

Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra apologised Sunday 

after a furore over an a US TV series that showed her 

uncovering a terror plot hatched by Indian Hindu 

nationalists. 

The episode of spy thriller "Quantico" showed Chopra's 

character, an FBI agent named Alex Parrish, thwarting the 

plan and noticing one of the terrorists wearing a Hindu 

rosary. 

The terrorists had tried to frame Pakistanis for the attack 

planned ahead of a summit on Kashmir, a disputed 

Himalayan territory that arch-rivals India and Pakistan 

claim as their own. Kashmir has been a source of historical 

tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours who have 

fought two wars over it. 

The episode, aired on June 1, triggered outrage in India 

with many fans taking to social media to "shame" the Indianborn 

actress and calling her a "traitor". Chopra, a former 

Miss World, said she was "a proud Indian and that will never 

change". 

"I'm extremely saddened and sorry that some sentiments 

have been hurt by a recent episode of Quantico," Chopra, 35, 

wrote on Twitter."That was not and would never be my 

intention. I sincerely apologise." 

ABC Studios, the producers of the crime drama, have also 

offered an apology while defending Chopra who is the lead 

actor of the show. 

"The episode has stirred a lot of emotion, much of which is 

unfairly aimed at Priyanka Chopra, who didn't create the 

show, nor does she write or direct it," US media quoted the 

studio as saying in a statement. 

"The show has featured antagonists of many different 

ethnicities and backgrounds, but in this case we 

inadvertently and regrettably stepped into a complex 

political issue. It was certainly not our intention to offend 

anyone." 

Chopra has been trolled on Twitter since the telecast and a 

street protest was also held in New Delhi on Saturday by a 

fringe Hindu outfit that demanded she be sent to Pakistan as 

a punishment. "Sell outs like her are an insult to India. She 

consciously consented for the act. Shame," tweeted Jagriti 

Shukla, a journalist. 

The government "should cancel @priyankachopra 

passport & should not allow her to enter our nation… Let her 

stay in Hollywood & lick Pakistan boots. Traitor," Sumit 

Kadel, a film critic, said on the micro-blogging site. 

Chopra, the first Indian to headline a US network series, is 

hugely popular among Indian fans and feted for having made 

it in the Western entertainment industry. 

But recently she was criticised by Hindu hardliners for 

visiting Rohingya Muslims and ignoring persecuted Hindus 

during her visit to Bangladesh as a UNICEF goodwill 

ambassador. 

She was also accused of disrespecting Indian sensibilities 

by wearing a dress that exposed her legs during a meeting 

with Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 

Berlin last year. 

Passenger train derails 

in western India 

A passenger train derailed in the western Indian state of 

Maharashtra early Sunday morning, railway officials said. 

"Three coaches of the Mumbai-Howrah Mail train derailed 

near Igatpuri in Maharashtra. No casualties were reported in 

the mishap," Central Railway spokesperson Sunil Udasi told 

media. 

The incident disrupted railway traffic in the area for some 

time. "Some 12 trains had to be cancelled," another official 

said. 

A probe has been ordered into the incident, he added. 

The Indian Railways is one of the world's largest train 

networks, criss-crossing the country from north to south. It 

operates some 9,000 passenger trains and carries nearly 23 

million passengers every day. 

However, train disasters are quite common in India as 

much of the colonial-era rail infrastructure is out of date. A 

number of people are killed in train accidents, mostly 

derailments, across the country every year. 

In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 

government pledged 137 billion U.S. dollars over five years to 

modernize and expand the railways. 

GD-852/18 (9 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

MoNday, dhaka, JuNe 11, 2018, JaIsThya 28, 1425 Bs, RaMadaN 25 , 1439 hIJRI 

Police dispersed the non-MPo teachers' demo in front of National Press Club yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

e-shops doing better 

eid business than 

last year's 

DHAKA : With the alluring Eid sales 

gaining momentum in regular shopping 

malls and other shopping places, 

online shops attract more and more 

new consumers through discounts and 

other offers, reports UNB. 

Amid traffic chaos on the streets on 

one hand and busy lifestyle on the 

other, people are finding online shopping 

as a better option to avoid hazards 

as well as saving time. 

Mehnaz Amberin, a student from 

Stamford University, who has decided 

to buy products from online shops to 

avail of Eid offers, told UNB, "I was 

always a little bit confused about buying 

products online as you don't know 

whether the websites are trustworthy or 

not. But once you're sure about the 

authenticity of the products, online 

shopping is the best way to do the shopping 

more comfortably." 

"What can be better than getting your 

products sitting at home?" she 

exclaimed adding that many online 

shops offer special discounts on a wide 

range of products, from clothes to make 

up accessories, on the occasion of Eid. 

It is easier to get more desired products 

in the budget through availing of 

the opportunity, said Mehnaz. 

Landscaping In The Back Of 

Japanese Mini Pickup Trucks 

INTERESTING NEWS 

The Japan Federation of Landscape 

Contractors organizes an annual landscaping 

contest, where landscaping contractors 

from around Japan arrive on site 

with their mini pickup trucks and then 

spending several hours transforming the 

cargo bed into a small garden. The contest 

is called “the Kei Truck Garden Contest.” 

In the last few years, online shopping 

and business have gained much popularity 

because of the use of social media 

platforms like Facebook. Not only are 

the entrepreneurs using this platform 

for their business but buyers also 

depend on it to learn about the products. 

Farhana Sarkar Bristy, a student 

of Delta Medical College and Hospital, 

said buyers can see user reviews, in the 

Facebook before buying any product 

from online. "Online pages describe 

their products in Facebook live and also 

offer discounts. This makes online 

shopping easier," Farhana said adding 

that she also had a bad experience while 

buying products online. 

"But, you can always cross check the 

buyers and the products. Those who 

have shops or outlets and also provide 

e-shopping services are more trustworthy 

than others," said Bristy claiming 

that as various e-shops offer special discounts 

on products which also attracts 

the customers to get into e-shopping. 

Imran Hossain, Operation Manager 

(E-commerce) of Banglashoppers.com, 

told UNB that they have got many new 

customers this season by offering discounts 

on their products ahead of the 

festival. "We're receiving huge response 

The Kei Truck, or kei-tora, is a mini 

truck of Japanese origin but is now used 

widely throughout Asia and other parts of 

the world as well. In Asia, these trucks are 

mostly used in agriculture, fisheries, and 

construction as they can be maneuvered 

easily through small streets. Some models 

have also appeared in the US for off-road 

use typically by farmers and hunters. 

from customers-both inside and outside 

Dhaka-during the Eid sale," he 

said. Naa-shee Tanyeer, owner of an 

online boutique shop, Jhapi, said, 

heavy traffic is one of the main reasons 

why people are showing growing interest 

in online shopping. 

"Now people don't have enough time 

to visit markets and go through the 

shops to buy their desired products. 

Also, they can find exclusive products 

online which might take longer time to 

find in the market," said Naa-shee. 

Before buying any product, customers 

should check the review about 

the page to learn about its authenticity, 

she added. Muhammad Abdul Wahed 

Tomal, General Secretary of e- 

Commerce Association of Bangladesh 

(e-CAB), said discount and special 

offers definitely helps attract more consumers 

to e-shopping. 

"The volume of e-shopping has 

increased by about two folds this year 

than the previous time. While the number 

of e-shopping deliveries was around 

10 thousand every day last year, this year 

it has increased to 20 to 25 thousands 

and ahead of Eid, the per day deliveries 

have become around 40 thousands," 

said the e-CAB general secretary. 

aCC makes 

second visit to 

sadarghat 

launch terminal 

DHAKA : The Anti- 

Corruption Commission 

(ACC) visited the Sadarghat 

Launch Terminal for the second 

time yesterday to check irregularities 

in selling launch 

tickets, reports UNB. 

After receiving an allegation 

of irregularities in selling tickets 

over ACC hotline 106, the 

anti-graft watchdog sent a seven-member 

enforcement 

team, headed by ACC assistant 

director Raiful Islam, to 

Sadarghat Launch Terminal. 

"It is a part of the regular 

drive to ensure corruptionfree 

passenger services in the 

naval routes," ACC director 

general (admin) Mohammad 

Munir Chowdhury said. 

Earlier on June 5, a 10- 

member team of ACC visited 

Sadarghat launch terminal to 

monitor operation of water 

vessels to ensure safe journey 

for Eid holidaymakers on water 

routes. 

The team asked the 

Bangladesh Inland Water 

Transport Authority to take 

necessary measures to stop 

plying of unfit, risky and illegal 

vessels and put a check on 

charging of extra fares from 

passengers. 

khaleda's 

physicians lying 

to gain court's 

sympathy: aG 

DHAKA : Attorney 

General Mahbubey Alam 

yesterday said BNP chairperson 

Begum Khaleda 

Zia's physicians are lying 

about the health of the 

client to gain court's sympathy. 

"They claimed that she 

had become senseless, 

which is not true. Her sugar 

level gone down and it was 

revived by giving her a 

chocolate. Khaleda's counsels 

are doing this to gain 

court's sympathy," the 

attorney general said while 

talking to newsmen at his 

office. 

"I know defence counsels 

will made ruckus on media 

regarding this. That is why I 

had talked to IG Prisons 

before going into court. He 

told me about her health 

condition. At this age, such 

things can happen," 

Attorney General 

Mahbubey Alam added. 

The chief state counsel 

said the government is very 

much serious about the 

health of the BNP chief, 

adding, that is why we 

allowed her personal physicians 

to check her in jail. 

"The incident took place 

on June 5 and her personal 

physicians went into jail 

yesterday, a day before the 

hearing of a case against 

her. They are trying to 

make the situation murky 

here. It is sad when even 

the physicians try to do politics," 

he added. 

DHAKA : The 5th China-South Asia 

Expo (CSAEXPO) and the 25th China 

Kunming Import and Export 

Commodities Fair are set to begin at 

Kunming Dianchi International 

Convention and Exhibition Centre in 

Kunming, China, from June 12 next. 

China Council for the Promotion of 

International Trade Yunnan Sub- 

Council China Chamber of 

International Commerce is going to 

organise the seven-day events aiming 

to step up greater regional cooperation 

with South Asian countries, 

including Bangladesh. 

A number of seminars, bilateral and 

multi-lateral talks and business-tobusiness 

meetings will be held on the 

sideline of the seven-day trade fair. 

The events include the China-South 

Asia Business Forum, the ASEAN 

khaleda to be sent to 

BsMMu : anisul 

DHAKA : Law, Justice and 

Parliamentary Affairs 

Minister Anisul Huq said 

BNP Chairperson Begum 

Khaleda Zia will be sent to 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib 

Medical University 

(BSMMU) yesterday for 

checkup, reports BSS. 

"The government is very 

much receptive regarding her 

health. I've learned that she 

will be taken to BSMMU yesterday 

for checkup," he said 

while talking to newsmen 

after distributing keys of 

vehicles among the lower 

court judges at the secretariat. 

"She (Khaleda) was fasting 

on the day before yesterday 

DHAKA : The government has taken a move 

to prepare a new national ICT policy by 

amending the National ICT Policy 2015 to 

make it time befitting due to the emergence of 

5G technology and fourth industrial revolution. 

A draft of the proposed 'The National ICT 

Policy 2018' has already been prepared by the 

ICT Division keeping a provision to implement 

eight strategic issues including digital government, 

digital security, social equity and universal 

access to education, research and innovation, 

skill development and employment generation, 

strengthening domestic capacity to 

cope with the change of emerging technologies, 

said a media release. The proposed ICT 

policy is aimed to bring a structural change in 

the existing National ICT Policy 2015 incorporating 

a 48-action plan in a separate annexure. 

To discuss the proposed policy and accommodate 

more effective and constructive suggestions 

from the stakeholders in it, a workshop 

was organized by the ICT Division on 

To celebrate eid ul Fitr, people started to leave dhaka city . 

and at around 3pm-3:30pm, 

she was about to fall down. 

Her maid, Fatema, who is 

with her in the jail, caught her 

and informed the jail doctors 

immediately. They checked 

her and found out that her 

sugar level had gone down, 

which revived after having a 

chocolate," Huq added. 

The law minister's comments 

came a day after the 

BNP chief's physicians' 

claimed that she might have 

suffered a mild stroke in jail. 

On February 8 last, the 

Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 

sentenced Khaleda Zia to 

five-year imprisonment in 

Zia Orphanage Trust graft 

Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs 

Conference and the Conference on 

Cooperation of BCIM Chamber of 

Commerce Alliance. Other events, 

where government institutions and 

chambers of commerce will be invited, 

will introduce national investment 

policies and environments. 

The China-South Asia Expo aims 

toward 'Win-Win Cooperation 

through Amity, Sincerity, Mutual 

Benefit and Inclusiveness' at the level 

of strategic cooperation, while the 

theme of China Kunming Import and 

Export Commodities Fair is 'Creating 

New Opportunities for New 

Development'. 

The 4th China-South Asia Expo and 

the 24th Kunming Import and Export 

Fair had 18 pavilions and 8,000 

booths where more than 5,000 

case. 

It also sentenced other five 

accused - her elder son and 

BNP senior vice chairman 

Tarique Rahman, former 

lawmaker Kazi Salimul 

Haque Kamal, businessman 

Sharfuddin Ahmed, Dr 

Kamal Uddin Siddiqui and 

Khaleda's nephew Mominur 

Rahman - to 10-year imprisonment 

each. 

Replying to another question 

on probe against 

International Crimes 

Tribunal (ICT) prosecutor 

Barrister Tureen Afroz, the 

law minister said they would 

be able to reach a decision on 

her within this month. 

National ICT Policy 2018 on the cards 

Saturday at the Bangabandhu International 

Conference Center (BICC). 

Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and 

Information Technology Mustafa Jabbar over 

a voice call spoke at the workshop that was 

split into inaugural and working sessions. 

LICT component team Sami Ahmed conducted 

the working session. Urging the stakeholders 

to provide recommendations on the proposed 

draft policy to make a full-fledged 

national ICT policy at the advent of fourth 

industrial revolution, the minister said the 

government wants to prepare a policy which 

will remain untouched up to 10 years. 

Jabbar said 5G is knocking at the door and 

the national ICT policy must focus on introduction 

of 5G before vision 2021. 

Addressing as chief guest, ICT Secretary 

Subir Kishore Choudhury said the proposed 

policy is putting emphasis on policy ownership 

and monitoring of the initiatives to be taken in 

line with the implementation of digital 

Bangladesh. 

China-south asia expo begins 

in kunming on Tuesday 

Photo: TBT 

exhibitors from 89 countries took 

part. The events registered a paid-in 

and contractual trade volume of 158 

billion Yuan, up 1.2 percent over the 

previous session. 

This year, 16 Bangladeshi 

entrepreneurs are participating in the 

exhibitions for showcasing their 

products, mainly clothing and handicrafts. 

The business entities are M/S 

Hridoy Silk Kuthir and Industries, 

M/S Join Handicrafts, Oshin 

Enterprise, Naya Craft, Nishorgi, M/S 

Style File, M/S Rupantor, Ittadi 

Handicrafts, M/S Lights Creation, 

M/S Trade Breeze, M/S Nakshi 

International, Sunbird Trading 

Company, M/S Alif Handicrafts, M/S 

Asian 1-99, M/S Design by Rubina 

and M/S Tasmi'ya Fasion House. 

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

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

11-06-2018

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