15-07-2018

SunDaY 

Dhaka:July 15, 2018; ashar 31, 1425 BS; Shawal 30,1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.186; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

inTeRnaTiOnal 

trump back in 

Scotland ahead of 

Putin talks 

>Page 7 

aRT & culTuRe 

Priyanka Chopra on Nick 

Jonas: We are getting to 

know each other 

>Page 8 

SPORT 

Croatia's road to 

the 2018 World 

Cup final 

>Page 9 

Even in Chars you will find paved 

roads and electricity: DS 

Prime Minister Sheikh hasina along with her counterpart Deputy Prime Minister of Russia 

Yury ivanovich Borisov jointly inaugurated first concrete pouring of the second unit of the 

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant on Saturday. 

Photo: tBt 

PM, Russian Dy PM 

open construction of 

Rooppur nuke plant's 

2nd reactor unit 

PABNA : Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina and Deputy Prime Minister of 

Russian Federation YuryIvanovich 

Borisovon Saturdayjointly inaugurated 

theconstruction of the second 

reactor unit of Rooppur nuclear 

power plant here. 

Both the leaders poured concrete at 

a programme here on the occasion of 

the first concrete pouring of the second 

unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power 

Plant. 

The construction of the first reactor 

unit began on November 30, 

2017.Currently the works on construction 

of the walls, reinforcement 

of the reactor building and the foundation 

slab of the auxiliary reactor 

building are being performed, while 

soil stabilization works for the evaporative 

cooling tower and others have 

already been commenced. 

Two units -- 1,200 MWe VVER 

each-are to be built at Rooppur under 

the Russian design giving priority to 

the highest safety measures at 

Rooppur, some 160km from Dhaka. 

The VVER-1,200 reactor design has 

already been implemented at 

Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant 

II in Russia. 

Unit-1 is scheduled to be commissioned 

in 2023, while the commissioning 

of the second unit is slated for 

2024 to produce 2,400 megawatts of 

electricity from the two units. 

In February 2011, Rosatom, the 

state atomic energy corporation of the 

Russian Federation, signed an agreement 

with the Bangladesh government 

to build the nuke plant at 

Rooppur. 

The initial contract for the project, 

worth $12.65 billion, was inked in 

December, 2015. 

The Rooppur NPP construction is 

performed based on the Russia- 

Bangladesh Intergovernmental 

agreement on cooperation in the area 

of NPP construction in the territory of 

Bangladesh, signed on November 2, 

2011. 

Zohr 

03:55 AM 

12:08 PM 

04:43 PM 

06:53 PM 

08:17 PM 

5:19 6:50 

Nothing to be worried 

about nuke plant 

security: PM 

ROOPPUR (PABNA) : Taking a 

swipe at those creating unnecessary 

tension about the Rooppur Nuclear 

Power Plant, Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasinaon Saturdaysaid there is 

nothing to be worried about it as 

modern technology is being used to 

ensure its safety, reports UNB. 

"Atomic energy regulatory bodies 

of Russia and India are providing 

training to our people and scientists, 

and this will continue....there's nothing 

to be afraid of," she said. 

The Prime Minister said this at a 

programme marking theFirst 

Concrete Pouring into the Second 

Unit ofRooppurNuclear Power 

Plant here. 

She said a vested quarter is there 

which creates fear and tension when 

the government goes for doing anything. 

"Let me ensure you about the 

nuclear power plant, there's nothing 

to be worry." 

The Prime Minister mentioned 

that the government has given 

utmost importance to security of the 

nuclear power plant. 

She said there will be a separate 

security unit taking support from 

army, police and other law enforcing 

agencies. "We're ensuring the security 

through well-thought out plans 

so that there could be no problem." 

Sheikh Hasina mentioned that the 

government is strictly 

followingIAEAsafety standards 

andother relevant guidelinesas well 

as international good practicesin 

buildingtheRooppurPower Plant. 

"The plant is being made 

withG3+Russianreactor whichcontains 

the latesttechnologiesfor safetymeasuresand 

radiation controlsystem. 

Highest measuresare being 

takento avoid any sort of risk for the 

people," she said. 

Sheikh Hasina also said Russia 

will take the responsibility for the 

nuclear wastage management. 

"Nobody needs to be anxious about 

it." 

She said construction 

ofRooppurNuclear Power Plant is a 

long-cherished dream of 

Bangladesh thatwas sownin 1961 in 

the then Pakistan era. At thattimeseveral 

physicalworks, including 

land acquisition, were completed. 

"Butthe Pakistan government 

abruptly stopped the work and shifted 

the plant to West Pakistan showing 

a step-motherly attitude to the 

East," she said. 

Aftertheindependence, Father of 

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahmanundertook an initiative 

to construct the Rooppur 

nuclear plant, she recalled adding 

that Bangabandhu ordered to establish 

contact with the nuclear power 

plant construction firms. 

quader urges ffs to work 

for al's win in polls 

DHAKA : Awami League General 

Secretary and Road Transport and 

Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday 

urged all freedom fighters (FFs) 

to work in unison to ensure his party's 

win against anti-liberation forces in the 

next general elections. 

"All the freedom fighters should be 

united to uproot the evil forces of fundamentalism 

from the country…I urge all 

of you to work in unison under the 

dynamic leadership of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina to defeat the anti-liberation 

forces in the next parliament polls," 

he said, speaking at the representative 

meeting of FFs at the Mahanagar 

Nattyamancha auditorium here. 

Muktijuddher Chetona Bastabayan 

Mancha organized the meeting with its 

President and Shipping Minister 

Shajahan Khan in the chair. 

Liberation War Affairs Minister 

Advocate AKM Mozammel Haque, 

Information Minister Hasanul Haque 

Inu, Chairman of Standing Committee 

on Liberation War Affairs Ministry 

Chairman Captain (Retd) AB Tajul 

Islam and Muktijoddha Sangsad former 

Chairmen Major General (Retd) Helal 

Morshed and Kabir Ahmed Khan 

addressed the meeting as special guests. 

Quader said, "Our enemies are not 

weak. They are united. If they can unite, 

why not we?…We should work in unison 

to make Prime minister Sheikh 

Hasina victorious in the next polls to 

save Bangladesh, independence and the 

freedom fighters." 

The AL general secretary said the 

country will turn into the ground of terrorism 

if BNP comes in power only for 

one day. 

He said blueprint elections like in 

2001 will not be held again on the soil of 

Bangladesh. "You (FFs) should remain 

alert and united to resist their evil 

efforts," he added. 

Referring to those talking against the 

Liberation War, Mozammel Haque said 

their mouth should be stopped forever. 

Rafiqul alaM KhaN 

Fazle Rabbi Miah- the Deputy Speaker 

and an elected member of the Jatiya 

Sangsad is a veteran politician. He venerates 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman as the epitome of ideal political 

leader. His splendid political career is 

spanning over three decades. A humble 

person from the grassroots of Gaibandha 

has transformed himself into a leader of 

Bangladesh's national legislative assembly. 

In a conversation with The 

Bangladesh Today, he shared his colorful 

life journey with us. 

You're simultaneously a politician, 

a people's representative and 

a social activist: What position has 

helped you to contribute to the 

maximum for the society. 

I was involved in the politics when I was 

an 8th grader. It was the time when 

General Ayub Khan introduced martial 

law, a very politically charged situation in 

the erstwhile East Pakistan. One of my 

uncles happened to be the president of 

local union Awami League. He persuaded 

me to lead a procession against the 

imposed martial law in our neighborhood. 

Furthermore, I actively engaged in 

political activities when I was in class ten. 

At that time, we were prohibited to run 

political activism under the banner of 

organized student bodies like today's 

Chattra League or Chattra Union. 

Instead, we used metaphoric names to 

pursue our political aspirations. The 

name of our student body was 'Agradut' 

first hajj 

flight leaves 

for Saudi 

arabia 

DHAKA : The first hajj flight, carrying 

419 pilgrims, left here for Saudi Arabia 

on Saturday morning. 

A flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines 

Boeing 777-300ER with the Bangladeshi 

pilgrims took off from Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airport at 7:52 am, reports 

UNB. 

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister A 

K M Shahjahan Kamal and Religious 

Affairs Minister Principal Motiur 

Rahman saw the pilgrims off at the airport, 

said a press release of Biman 

Bangladesh Airlines. 

This year, a total of 1, 27,198 persons 

will go to Saudi Arabia for performing 

Hajj. 

Bangladesh Biman will carry 63,599 

pilgrims operating 187 flights. Of them, 

7,198 will go under government management 

and rest 56,401 under private 

management. 

The pilgrims will go to Saudi Arabia 

through 528 hajj agencies. The Hajj 

flight will continue till August 15 and the 

return hajj flights are scheduled to begin 

on August 27 and will continue till 

September 25. 

in Gaibandha College. I performed the 

role of the convener of that youth led student 

body of Awami League. We campaigned 

against a report commissioned 

by the Education Ministry in different 

schools and colleges and public student 

meetings at that time. There were very 

few speakers who spoke to popularize 

that particular movement in our locality 

and I was one of them. Community leaders, 

guardians and other respected members 

of the society praised us for our revolutionary 

works. During that period, students 

like us were appreciated for their 

high moral and determination to work for 

the community which is unfortunately 

absent from today's society. So, my 

engagement in politics and passion to do 

something for the society stemmed from 

france and Croatia face off in 

blockbuster World Cup final 

SPoRtS DESK: 

After a month of wall-to-wall soccer, 

the World Cup boils down to this - one 

day, one game, one chance for France or 

Croatia to lift the biggest prize of all, 

reports AP. 

Countless factors go into deciding the 

outcome of the most-watched match in 

sports, but not all of them are created 

equal. 

Both sides have had different but 

equally impressive paths to Sunday's final 

at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium and each 

is desperate to reward its nation with ultimate 

glory. 

Here are some of the most telling 

points that could sway the fate of the trophy 

in either direction. 

France holds all the cards, in theory, 

when it comes to feeling fresh and 

recharged before Sunday's showdown. 

First, its semifinal came a day earlier, outlasting 

Belgium on Tuesday before putting 

its feet up for an additional 24 hours. 

Perhaps more importantly, Croatia 

went to extra-time in all three of its 

knockout-round games, including penalty 

shootouts against Denmark and 

Russia. Those additional minutes essentially 

add up to a complete extra game. 

that time. Never in my life had I backed 

myself from ensuring the rights of the 

people. 

My activism in schools, colleges and various 

public student meetings to support 

the cause of the people and intense public 

engagement resulted in the rise of my 

popularity as a politician in the Gaibandha 

region. Later in my political life, I never 

missed a chance to serve the people. 

Whenever there is drought, flood or massive 

inundation in my locality; I immediately 

ran to that specified area to help the 

affected people. That's why I am very close 

to people's hearts. I would like to share a 

story on this occasion. Decades ago, when 

I was a practicing lawyer in Gaibandha, a 

guardian of a local college had put my 

name in the college governing body's election. 

I didn't have the opportunity to be 

present in that election in person due to 

my professional responsibility but I managed 

to win that with a big margin. The 

incident made me comprehend the value 

of having goodwill. From then, I always 

tried to give back to the nation and show 

respect to the faith of the people has in me. 

I am a very gregarious person who 

believes to influence people with amicable 

behavior. I don't want to hurt anybody 

with my speech. I remain so careful about 

that. I think my political identity has transcended 

over my other identities as a 

community activist and a member of parliament. 

> (Contd. on page-2) 

There will be some tired legs on display. 

Luka Modric outperformed Lionel 

Messi when Croatia went head-to-head 

with Argentina during the group stage 

and since then he's outplayed everyone 

else too. Simply put, no player in the tournament 

has been more effective, more 

creative and more likely to have opposition 

coaches reaching for the Advil. 

Modric is one of soccer's rarities - a 

player with the ability to single-handedly 

change a game. If he does it again in the 

final, then he would be a worthy winner 

of the World Footballer of the Year award 

that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have 

had a decade-long stranglehold upon. 

After Croatia beat England, Dejan 

Lovren wondered why he isn't considered 

one of the world's best defenders. Okay, 

Dejan, here's your chance. Lovren's chief 

assignment will be arguably the most 

daunting one in soccer today - to stop 

Kylian Mbappe. 

The 19-year-old French star is a modern-day 

monster, a powerhouse with devastating 

speed, gifted feet and finishing 

composure. The scary part is that he's 

only going to get better. Mbappe will seek 

to assert himself physically, and Lovren 

will have his hands full. 

it all came down to a single match as france and Croatia take all the glory of featuring the most important 

contest football can offer. 

Photo: aP

NEWS 

SUNDAY, 

JUlY 15, 2018 

2 

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council held a press meeting today in Dhaka. 

Photo: TBT 

Rajshahi 

schoolboy 

drowns in 

Padma 

RAJSHAHI : The body of a 

schoolboy was recovered 

from the Padma River 

near the cityon 

Fridaynight, five hours 

after he drowned in the 

river, reports UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified as Nazmus 

Sakib, son of RTV 

cameraman Sanu and a 

class X student of Loknath 

School. 

Fire service sources said 

Sakib went to the river 

with his friends for 

swimming. 

At one stage of his 

swimming, he got stuck in 

a quicksand of the river 

and went missing. 

Informed, a team of fire 

service, led by 

commanding officer 

Ahsan Kabir of Rajshahi 

Fire Service and Civil 

Defence, rushed in and 

recovered the body 

around10pmafter 

hours of efforts. 

five 

5 held on 

charge of 

gang-rape in 

Chattogram 

CHATTOGRAM : Police 

arrested five young men 

from Chawkbazar 

Jangishah Majar gate area 

in the port city on Friday 

in connection with the 

gang-rape of a college girl, 

reports UNB. 

The arrestees were 

identified as Md 

Mohiuddin, 22, son of late 

Mahmudur Rahman 

Chowdhury, Shaiful Islam 

Shakib, 22, son of late 

Sirajul Islam, Ashik 

Imran, 24, son of late Abu 

Naser, Rajib Hossain 

Nayan, 22, son of 

Mohammad Jamal Uddin 

and Mosharraf Hossain 

Akash, 22, son of Anwar 

Hossain. 

Abul Kalam Azad, 

officer-in-charge of 

Chawkbazar Police 

Station, said two college 

girls used to live in a 

rented house in the area. 

On July 7, a gang of 

youths entered the house 

forcibly and raped one of 

the girls in turns while 

their tutor was teaching 

them. 

The gang also snatched 

their mobile phones, 

money and filmed the rape 

incident in their mobile. 

2 blasts, gunfire heard near 

Somalia's presidential palace 

Two large explosions followed by gunfire were heard Saturday near the presidential 

palace in Somalia's capital, with police saying two people including an attacker were 

killed. 

The midday blasts came a week after a similar attack on the interior ministry 

compound in Mogadishu killed at least nine people. Police Capt. Mohamed Hussein 

confirmed the deaths in the new attack to The Associated Press, saying a car bomb 

detonated near a checkpoint close to the presidential palace after security forces 

engaged with gunmen. A second car bomb blast occurred in the same area shortly 

afterward. The Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group, an arm of al-Qaida, often 

targets high-profile places in the capital. It claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack, 

saying its fighters were conducting a "major operation" around the palace and nearby 

SYL Hotel. 

Al-Shabab was blamed for the October truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more 

than 500 people in the deadliest attack in the country's history. The threat from what 

has become the deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa has hurt 

efforts to strengthen Somalia's fragile government and stabilize the long-chaotic Horn 

of Africa nation. The United States under the Trump administration has stepped up 

military efforts in Somalia, including dozens of drone strikes, against al-Shabab and a 

small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group. At least two U.S. military 

personnel have been killed. 

The U.S. military and others in the international community have expressed concern 

about the plan for Somalia's security forces to take over the country's security from a 

multinational African Union force over the next few years, saying the local troops are 

not yet ready. 

Even in Chars you will find 

paved roads and electricity: DS 

From Page -1 

You may recall, when Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman agreed to participate in the 

1970's election under the Legal Frame Order, 

many political parties including veteran 

politicians like Maulana Bhasani boycotted it 

by saying 'Kick the ballotbox'. Their popular 

slogan was "We want food not vote'. But 

Bangabandhu kept on going for the election 

in the face of opposition by other politicians, 

thinking that he needed a mandate at least to 

make a change for the Bengali nation. In 

support of Bangabandhu's mandate, I was 

one of the first persons from north Bengal 

who led a mute procession from Bar Library 

in Gaibandha Subdivision. 

Tell us about your constituency 

"Gaibandha-5". How far it has come after the 

1971's war of liberation. 

Gaibandha is a district in the northern 

region of Bangladesh. Historically, people 

from that region are poor as they usually 

experience several natural calamities over the 

years. I remember, in 1970, Lutfor Rahman 

was elected as the first member of parliament 

from Gaibandha. My current constituency 

was consisted of upazilas of Saghata, 

Gaibandha Sadar and Phulchori. I was so 

eager to participate in the 1970's election as a 

voter that I took my father to the poll center 

by spending Rs. 40. It was a decent amount 

that was spent just to cast a vote for Awami 

League. Since then, the region has come a 

long way. The significant improvement that 

can be noticed from visiting the region one 

can experience is the infrastructure 

development. You will be surprised to know 

that even in the Char areas I have facilitated 

to build paved roads, electricity and other 

public amenities. 

Every year, for a certain period of time the 

people of Gaibandha-5 have to deal with 

prolonged flood. To tackle this situation and 

to come into a sustainable solution, we've 

started to implement a project valued 300 

crore. Successful implementation of this 

project will permanently stop the river 

erosion in that area. Arrangements have been 

made to supply electricity from the 

neighboring district of Jamalpur. 

Phulchori upazilla was considered the most 

back-warded part of Gaibandha. Now, people 

of this upazilla have become self reliant by 

producing cash crops like jute, maize and 

chilies. Their agri-products are in high 

demand across the country. 

As a freedom fighter in the sector 11 how 

did you contribute to organize the liberation 

war 

When the war started in full scale, I crossed 

the border to reach into Dhuburi- an area in 

the Goalpara district of the Indian province of 

Assam. After that, I had joined in the 

Bangladesh Liberation Council as the Office 

In-Charge. My primary task was to recruit 

and train potential people to fight against the 

Pakistani oppressors. When the monsoon 

arrived, I saw raw jutes from northern 

districts of Bangladesh were smuggling into 

India. I made the effort to put a stop into that 

practice by levying taxes upon them. This 

initiative resulted in securing a profit of 2 

crore Indian rupee for the incumbent 

Bangladesh government. Then I was given 

the task of starting the civil administrative 

activities in the Roumari region. Under my 

leadership, the court house and other 

government offices were established. 

After that, I was sent to Kolkata with a 

delegation to have a dialogue with two CIA 

agents from the USA. I was able to persuade 

them that a significant portion of the eastern 

side of East Pakistan was under the control of 

Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. I also told 

them the atrocities committed by the 

Pakistani army throughout the country are 

beyond imagination. Back in the country, my 

other works include helping the injured 

freedom fighters to heal from trauma and 

regain health. 

What steps do the parliament has taken to 

resolve the quorum crisis? 

I believe the current sessions have been free 

from so called quorum crisis. The issue has 

been resolved. We ran some courses to better 

orient the members with the norms of the 

parliament. But, I would like to give much 

credit to our honorable prime minister as she 

ensures her presence at least five minutes 

before every session starts. We've strictly 

instructed the whips to maintain the rules of 

procedures. 

Bangladesh ACT Association Central Committee formed a human chain in front of National Press 

Club demanding to make the teachers' job permanent. 

Photo: TBT 

Hazera now takes care 

of sex workers' children 

DHAKA : Hazera Begum, a 47-year-old former sex worker, 

has made a turnaround in her life by working for changing 

the lot of children left by other sex workers. 

She runs an organization called 'Shishuder Janyo Amra' at 

Sunibir Housing Society in the city's Mohammadpur area, 

where more than 150 children left by other sex workers are 

growing up. 

All of them are receiving education at different primary and 

secondary schools, she said, adding that a voluntary students' 

group of Jahangirnagar University (JU) teaches the children 

two days a week. 

Hazera started the organization in 2010 in cooperation 

with a teacher and a group of volunteers of Jahangirnagar 

University (JU) at Uttar Rajasan at Savar on capital Dhaka's 

outskirts. 

Speaking about her initiation of the organization, Hazera 

said once she was employed at a childcare center to look after 

the children of sex workers. It was run by 'Durjoy Bangla', a 

non-government organization that worked for floating sex 

workers. 

But, the childcare centre was shut down later. By working 

for such abandoned children, she got inspired to do 

something different for the children, she added. 

"I spent my childhood on street. During the period, I saw 

offspring of many sex workers were stolen. I saw girl children 

of sex workers usually get engaged in their mothers' 

profession. They fell victim of torture and molestation on 

street," said Hazara. 

She said "I had a dream to work for the betterment of such 

children." 

"Although the people usually humiliate the sex workers 

and their children, but now attitude of the society towards 

sex workers are changing," she added. 

Recalling her early life, Hazara said at the age of ten years 

she ran away from her step mother's family at a slum in 

Mirpur and came to Gulistan when she was only seven years 

old. But she could not return home as she forgot her family 

address. 

During her life under the open sky, she was sold out and 

found herself at a brothel, she said, adding that she was 

working as a floating sex worker. 

Later, she turned her life around and took a job at CARE 

Bangladesh, a Non Government Organization (NGO). While 

working at CARE Bangladesh, she took various training and 

visited about 12 countries during. 

Childless Hazera has now become a mother of children of 

other sex workers. She is now happy with her work. 

National Social Welfare Council's research and 

publications officer Wahida Akhter told BSS that the 

government has been working to bring scope for self-reliance 

for elderly sex workers. 

He said a survey was also conducted on reviewing present 

context of retired sex workers. 

The survey suggested steps be taken to create scope for 

employment for those who were involved in sex work. 

Members from a minority fisherman community of Bogra's Tengrakhali village have asked the 

authority to secure their livelihood. 

Photo: TBT 

Mueller probe IDs 

long-hidden hackers 

On the morning of March 19, 2016, Den Katenberg ran a 

little test with big stakes. 

The previous week, Katenberg's hacking crew had been 

bombarding the Hillary Clinton campaign's email accounts 

with fake Google warnings, trying to get her Brooklynbased 

staff to panic, enter their passwords and open their 

digital lives to Russia's intelligence services. 

But the going was tough. Even when Clinton staffers 

clicked the malicious links Katenberg crafted, two-factor 

authentication - a second, failsafe password test - still kept 

him out of their accounts. 

After a day of testing on March 18, he took a different 

tack, striking the Clinton's campaign staff at their personal 

- and generally less secure - Gmail addresses. At 10:30 the 

next morning he carried out one last experiment, targeting 

himself at his own Gmail address to make sure his 

messages weren't being blocked. 

An hour later he sent out a barrage of new malicious 

messages to more than 70 people, including one to Clinton 

campaign chair John Podesta. By the end of the day, he'd 

won access to one of the most important inboxes in 

American politics. 

On Friday, the U.S. special counsel said Katenberg was an 

alias used by Lt. Aleksey Lukashev, an email phishing 

specialist with Unit 26165 of Russia's Main Intelligence 

Directorate, often abbreviated GRU. 

Katenberg, who did not return multiple messages seeking 

comment, has been in The Associated Press' sights ever 

since his email was identified among a massive hacker hit 

list handed to the news agency by Secureworks last year. 

It was that 19,000-line database that allowed the AP to 

reconstruct Katenberg's digital movements, logging every 

malicious link he and his colleagues created between 

March 2015 and May 2016. 

The data show that the malicious emails came in waves, 

some 20 or 30 of them at a time, aimed at diplomats, 

journalists, defense contractors and other Russian 

intelligence targets across the world. Between the waves, 

sometimes only an hour or a few minutes before a major 

campaign, the hackers sent test emails to their own 

State election officials 

in US meet amid 

security concerns 

The top state election officials from throughout the U.S. are 

gathering this weekend in Philadelphia amid fresh 

revelations of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential 

election and just before President Donald Trump holds oneon-one 

talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The annual gathering has typically been a low-key affair 

highlighting such things as voter registration and balloting 

devices. This year's meetings of the National Association of 

Secretaries of State and the National Association of State 

Election Directors are generating far greater interest. 

The conference is sandwiched between Friday's 

indictments of 12 Russian military intelligence officers 

alleged to have hacked into Democratic party and campaign 

accounts, and Trump's long-awaited meeting with Putin. 

Trump has never condemned Russia over its meddling in 

the 2016 elections despite the findings of all top U.S. 

intelligence agencies. In the past, Trump has reiterated 

Putin's denials, but this week said he would bring up the issue 

when the two meet Monday in Finland. 

"All I can do is say, 'Did you?'" Trump said last week at a 

news conference in Brussels. "And, 'Don't do it again.' But he 

may deny it." 

Some of the state officials who run elections say it's 

important for the president to take a tougher stance to avoid 

having the public's confidence in fair elections undermined. 

"I believe as commander in chief, he has an obligation to 

address it, and frankly put Putin and any other foreign nation 

that seeks to undermine our democracy on notice that the 

actions will not be tolerated," California Secretary of State 

Alex Padilla, a Democrat, said in an interview this week. 

Trump portrays the investigation as a partisan attack, but 

not all Republicans see it that way. This month, the 

Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. Senate Intelligence 

Committee backed the findings of an assessment from U.S. 

intelligence agencies that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 

election - and acted in favor of Trump and against 

Democratic Hillary Clinton. 

As part of that effort, Russian hackers targeted at least 21 

states ahead of the election and are believed to have breached 

the voter registration system in at least one, Illinois. Without 

naming the state, Friday's indictment says the Russian 

intelligence officers stole information on about 500,000 

voters from the website of one board of elections, a breach 

that went undetected for three weeks. 

There is no evidence they altered any results, but the 

attempts prompted the federal government and states to reexamine 

election systems and tighten their cybersecurity. 

Federal officials also say it's possible that malware might 

have been planted that could tamper with voting or paralyze 

computer systems in future elections. 

During a hearing this past week, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul 

of Texas called the 2016 election meddling "a provocative 

attack against our country, and we must not allow it to 

happen again." 

accounts to make sure they could still dodge Google's spam 

filters. 

Katenberg's GRU hacking group, widely nicknamed 

"Fancy Bear," was locked in an arms race with the email 

giant. Every few months, Google would cotton on to the 

group's tactics and begin blocking its messages. The 

Secureworks list, along with more than 100 other phishing 

emails recovered from spying victims, showed how the 

GRU would respond by firing up a new batch of malicious 

websites, moving on to a new link shortening service, or 

trying a new brand of phishing message meant to lure its 

recipients into giving up their credentials. 

"Someone has your password," was one particularly diresounding 

message sent by the GRU to a DNC staffer on 

March 25, 2016. Some messages played on their targets' 

fears of being hacked. One offered Gmail users a malicious 

"Anti-Phishing Guard App" to protect themselves from 

cybercriminals. Another particularly twisted message 

warned a Russian journalist that "Government-backed 

attackers may be trying to steal your password" - before 

directing him to a booby-trapped link.

METRO 

SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2018 

3 

Debate event proposes 

separate budget for 

disabled people 

DHAKA : Speakers at a programme on 

Saturday stressed the need of a separate 

budget for the development of the people 

with disabilities in the country, reports 

UNB. 

In a shadow parliament organized by 

Debate for Democracy at Film Development 

Corporation (FDC), the speakers said only 

allocation is not enough to mainstream the 

disabled ones, said a press release. 

Speaking as chief guest, former governor 

of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman said, 

a separate budget can be proposed before 

the next national budget to ensure security 

of the disabled people. A strong tax 

structure is also needed to implement the 

budget. 

In the 2018-19 budget having a Tk 4.64 

lakh crore outlay, allocation for the disabled 

people is not enough, he claimed adding 

that to increase the budget, everyone's 

participation to give minimum tax has to be 

ensured. 

This tax can be termed as patriotism tax, 

suggested the former BB governor. 

He also urged all the financial institutes to 

come forward to fulfill their Corporate 

Social Responsibility (CSR) to ensure the 

basic needs of the disabled people like 

education and health as well as prioritise 

disabled students for scholarships. 

Joint efforts of government and the 

society can bring the people with disabilities 

into the mainstream, said Dr Atiur. 

While presiding over the programme, 

Debate of Democracy Chairman Hasan 

Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron said, a separate 

budget with at least 4 to 5 percent of the 

total budget should be prepared for the 

disabled people. 

"If we fail to include the people with 

special need into the mainstream society, 

ACC's surprise drives 

become effective antigraft 

tool 

DHAKA : The Anti-Corruption Commission's 

(ACC) programme of surprise drives in 

government offices since October 2017 has 

emerged as an effective tool to help people get 

hassle-free services. 

"ACC will continue sudden drives at public 

offices as it has become an effective tool to 

ensure hassle-free services by stopping 

irregularities and corruption at the public 

offices," deputy director (public relations) and 

spokesperson of the commission Pranab 

Kumar Bhattacharjee told BSS. 

"The commission has so far conducted over 

100 surprise visits to different public offices 

since October 2017. The drives have been 

strengthened from mid-June this year 

following receipt of a huge numbers of 

allegations over the ACC hotline 106. ACC is 

now conducting surprise visits to different 

public offices every day except weekly and 

public holidays," he added. 

The ACC official said two enforcement teams 

have been formed to conduct sudden 

inspections in public offices to prevent bribery. 

Each of the teams comprises two members and 

it is headed by an assistant director level 

officer. 

The teams have been entrusted with 

conducting sudden inspections in public 

offices to stop bribery and irregularities, he 

added. 

The commission has conducted sudden visits 

to headquarters of Bangladesh Standards and 

Testing Institution (BSTI), Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airport, Bangladesh Road 

Transport Authority (BRTA), Government 

Transport Pool, and land offices. 

In this regard, ACC's DG (admin) and 

coordinator of the enforcement teams Munir 

Chowdhury said, " "As part of the initiative to 

ensure the rule of law at the public offices, the 

ACC has started conducting sudden drives over 

allegations of corruption received by ACC 

hotline 106." 

"We must have to ensure uninterrupted 

services to the people by conducting such 

surprise drives for making the public offices 

free from corruption," he added. 

He warned of taking tougher actions against 

the BRTA personnel if they fail to free the 

office from brokers. 

this will affect 8 to 10 percent of our total 

GDP", he claimed. 

The chairman also suggested to recognize 

the institutes nationally who will employ the 

disabled people as well as ensuring 

education, health and employment for these 

people through making separate list of the 

disabled people. 

In the post-budget shadow parliament for 

disabled population, Eden Mohila College 

won the competition defeating Chittagong 

University. 

Arif Hossain from Chittagong University 

became the best speaker. 

DU pays tribute to 

Bangabandhu at 

Tungipara 

DHAKA : The Dhaka University (DU) 

authorities paid rich tribute to the Father of 

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman by placing wreaths at his grave at 

Tungipara in Gopalganj on Friday. 

The Senate members and teachers of the 

university led by DU Vice-Chancellor (VC) 

Professor Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman also 

offered fateha and took part in the special 

munajat (prayer) seeking eternal peace of 

the departed soul of Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman and the martyrs of August 

15, 1975 carnage. 

Later, teacher leaders led by DU Pro-VC 

Professor Dr Muhammad Samad, DU 

Teachers' Association (DUTA) president Dr 

ASM Maksud Kamal and DUTA general 

secretary Professor Dr Shibli Rubaiyat-Ul 

Islam placed wreaths separately at the grave, 

said a press release. 

President 

returns 

home on 

July 19 

DHAKA : President M 

Abdul Hamid, who is 

undergoing health check 

and treatment of eyes in 

London, will return home 

on July 19 instead of July 

15. 

"The President, who was 

scheduled to come back 

home on July 15, will now 

return to Dhaka on July 19 

morning as additional 

time will require for some 

medical tests," President's 

Assistant Press Secretary 

Imranul Hasan quoted 

Press Secretary M Joynal 

Abedin as saying over 

phone from London 

yesterday noon. 

The 74-year old 

President has been 

suffering from Glaucoma 

since long. He used to have 

his health checkup in 

London while he was the 

Speaker in the Jatiya 

Sangsad (parliament). 

Abdul Hamid is having 

his checkup at Moorfields 

Eye Hospital and Bupa 

Cromwell Hospital in 

London, the APS added. 

Earlier, a VVIP flight of 

Biman Bangladesh 

Airlines Limited, the 

national flag carrier 

aircraft, carrying the 

President took off from 

Hazrat Shahjalal ® 

International Airport at 

10:55 am on July 7. 

The discussants of 'Protest and Discussion Meeting' of Jatiyotabadi Chalak Songram Dal have asked 

for unconditional release of the BNP leader Begum Khaleda Zia. 

Photo: TBT 

Nuclear, science week 

kicks off today 

PABNA : A five-day "Nuclear & Science Week 2018" in connection 

with the FCD (First Concrete Day) of the second unit of Rooppur 

Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) would begin from today. 

Various scientific and educational activities focused on nuclear 

science and technologies will be organized on the occasion. 

The main objectives of the festival are to promote science and 

technology, raise awareness among the Bangladeshi young 

generation about the nuclear field, through arrangements of 

popular educational and entertaining activities like interactive 

seminars, public talks, quizzes and games. 

Experts, professors and special guests from Russia and 

Bangladesh take participants into the fascinating world of science. 

Associate professor from Department of nuclear power plants 

and renewable energy sources of Ural Federal University of Russia 

Tashlykov Oleg will share his experience on living near to nuclear 

power plant in Russia and working throughout the life in nuclear 

industry. 

Experts and professors from leading Bangladeshi Universities 

will talk about nuclear technologies and development of country's 

nuclear power program. 

Engr. M. Ali Zulquarnain, former Chairman, Bangladesh Atomic 

Energy Commission will deliver a speech on the safety and security 

of VVER-1200, the selected model for both the units of Rooppur 

NPP, while Dr. Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, another former Chairman 

of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and a veteran in the 

industry will focus on the overall nuclear technology in his 

address. 

"The Nuclear Science Week will become not only a place for 

popularization of science and an instrument for generation of 

ideas for subsequent development, but it will also facilitate 

strengthening of international relations, said Andrey Shevlyakov, 

CEO of Rosatom South Asia. 

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is a symbol of Russia- 

Bangladesh cooperation, which will continue to develop 

successfully and the festival will create an opportunity for 

participants to learn how nuclear technologies facilitate 

improvement of quality of people's life and plays a vital role in 

sustainable development of the country. 

The festival will be held at different venues in several cities, 

focusing on the western part of the country: 

July 15 (Sunday): Pabna University of Science and Technology 

July 16 (Monday): Islamic University, Kushtia 

July 17 (Tuesday): University of Rajshahi 

July 18 (Wednesday): University of Dhaka and Bangladesh 

University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) 

July 19 (Thursday) Military Institute of Science and Technology 

(MIST) and 

Information Center on Nuclear Energy in Dhaka 

The science week is supported by Rosatom, ASE Group of 

Companies (Engineering Division of Rosatom), University of 

Dhaka, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology 

(BUET), University of Rajshahi, Islamic University, Kushtia, 

Pabna University of Science and Technology (PUST), Information 

Center of Nuclear Energy (ICONE) in Dhaka and ANO Energy of 

the Future, Russia. 

Bangladesh Heritage Foundation in coordination with Center for Governance and Democracy held 

a press briefing today on development issues. 

Photo: TBT 

Workshop on news reporting begins 

DHAKA : A two-day workshop on 'Fact 

Checking and Verification Techniques in 

News Reporting' began yesterday urging the 

participating journalists to maintain 

accuracy, ethics and responsibility while 

producing news. 

Speakers at the inaugural session said that 

journalists should present more credible and 

authentic information while reporting and in 

doing so they should consider maintaining 

transparency, originality and exercise 

neutrality. 

Chief Guest Mosharraf Hossain, 

Additional Secretary, Ministry of 

Information, in his opening speech said, 

"There is no alternative to enriching yourself 

with knowledge for quality reporting. We 

would be able to use knowledge we gain at 

the workshop and for this reason we must 

practice more responsible and credible 

journalism." 

Hossain urged the participants not to 

engage in delivering untrue and 

manipulated news which confuses people. 

AHM Bazlur Rahman, Chief Executive 

Officer (CEO) of Bangladesh NGO Network 

for Radio and Communications (BNNRC) 

said, "You all face challenges in checking 

facts and verifying them. It is difficult but 

challenging. We started such series of 

workshops to overcome such challenges and 

strengthen media's roles in exercising 

fairness, accuracy and balancing news." 

Syed Zain Al Mahmood, Country Director 

of Internews said, "Fact checking and 

verification in news reporting is directly 

linked to the credibility of the news media. 

The difference between a news report and a 

blog or social media post is that the news is 

gathered and disseminated using certain 

professional standards." 

"We must earn credibility which must be 

backed with ethical practice like checking 

facts and verifying information. If we publish 

news without verifying facts, we would lose 

credibility. We must practice accuracy, 

balancing the story and be objective in 

reporting," Zain added. 

Chris Stephen, a freelance journalist 

mostly covering war news who is also author 

of 'War Crime Justice' book, Judgment Day, 

The Trial of Slobodan Milosevic, conducted 

the workshop. 

The workshop discussed topics like, 

Gaining audience/readership trust - 'Better 

right than first,' Principles, values of good 

reporting and how to achieve them, What to 

believe, sourcing the news, putting value on 

sources and fact checking: BBC 'Reality 

Check' and similar initiatives, Seeing both 

sides: how to get there (Northern Ireland 

example), The essential position of the 

reporter/journalist and how it works in 

practice and many more issues. 

Overseas employment: a possible 

solution for youth unemployment 

DHAKA : Absorbing all the 

unemployed youth to 

workforce is a daunting task 

for Bangladesh. It is nothing 

unique to this country 

though. This challenge is 

global, reports UNB. 

As nations all over the 

globe observes the World 

Youth Skills Day on July 15, 

what Bangladesh probably 

needs to do is imbue skills 

into young working-age 

people turning them thereby 

market-ready for overseas 

jobs. 

United Nations recognises 

rising youth unemployment 

as one of the most significant 

problems of developed and 

developing countries. 

According to UN estimates, 

475 million new jobs need to 

be created over the next 

decade to absorb the 73 

million youth currently 

unemployed and the 40 

million new annual entrants 

to the labour market 

worldwide. 

Meanwhile, Bangladesh 

Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in 

its 'Bangladesh Labour Force 

Survey 2016-17' shows that 

the overall estimated 

unemployment rate (defined 

as the unemployed as a 

percentage of the labour 

force) was 4.2 per cent in the 

country. It is 4.9 percent for 

urban and 4.0 percent for 

rural areas. 

The 

highest 

unemployment rate was 

found among youths, those 

aged 15-24 which is 12.3 per 

cent, followed by those aged 

25-34 years, which is 5.7 per 

cent. 

There are an estimated 

2.68 million unemployed 

persons who are aged 15 or 

older. Of them 1.36 million 

are aged between 15 to 24 

years old, which is 50.8 

percent of the working age 

population while 1.32 million 

are aged above 25 years, 

which is 49.2 percent of it, 

said the report. 

The report also revealed 

that unemployment rate has 

been the highest among the 

literate persons (5.3 per cent) 

than that of illiterate persons 

(1.7 per cent). 

According to the report, 

the unemployment rate 

signals to some extent the 

underutilization of the 

labour supply. It reflects the 

inability of an economy to 

generate employment for 

people who want to work but 

are not doing so, even though 

they are available for 

employment and actively 

seeking work. 

While the youth 

unemployment rate is a big 

challenge for the country, 

experts believe that overseas 

employment from 

Bangladesh can be a solution 

for this. 

To create skilled 

manpower for overseas 

employment, Bureau of 

Manpower, Employment 

and Training (BMET) is 

providing skill development 

training. BMET has 70 

training centers countrywide 

so far, said, Md Nurul Islam, 

Director (Training 

Operation) of BMET. 

In 2017, BMET trained 

839,727 people under 

various categories, he added. 

Bangladesh 

land of 

communal 

harmony: 

Chanda 

NOAKHALI : Fisheries 

and Livestock Minister 

Narayan Chandra Chanda 

on Saturday said 

Bangladesh is a land of 

communal harmony as the 

people of all faiths are 

living in the country 

peacefully for a long time, 

reports BSS. 

"We want to build a noncommunal 

Bangladesh in 

line with the spirit of the 

Liberation War," he told 

the inaugural function of 

Ratha Yatra at 

Choumuhani under 

Begumganj upazila of the 

district. 

Vice-Chancellor of 

Noakhali Science and 

Technology University 

Prof Dr M Ahiduzzaman, 

representatives of local 

government bodies and 

leaders of Noakhali 

District Unit of Awami 

League (AL), among 

others, addressed the 

function. 

Chanda said Father of 

the Nation Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

liberated Bangladesh from 

the Pakistani occupation 

forces to build an 

economically prosperous 

non-communal 

Bangladesh. 

He urged all levels of 

people to extend their 

cooperation to materialize 

the dream of 

Bangabandhu for building 

a "Sonar Bangla". 

Later, the minister 

inaugurated the Ratha 

Yatra at Ramganj upazila 

in Lakshmipur district. 

Chairman of the 

Lakshmipur District 

Council Mohammad 

Shahjahan, Chairman of 

Ramganj upazila parishad 

AKM Ruhul Amin, 

chairman of Ramganj 

upazila unit of AL Shafiq 

Mahmud Pintu, among 

others, were present at the 

function. 

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) supporters staged a protest today in capital's Paltan area. 

Photo: TBT

EDITORIAL 

SunDAY, 

JuLY 15, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Sunday, July 15, 2018 

Poverty reduction 

There are many reasons why all energies 

need to be concentrated on poverty 

reduction in the country. The good news 

in the realm of poverty reduction is that the 

country's population has more than doubled 

since the time of independence. It had a 

population of some 75 million at the time of 

independence and more than two-thirds of 

that population had an existence below the 

poverty line. The population currently is over 

160 million on a rough estimate and out of this 

vastly increased population 72.8 percent is 

considered to have a standard of living above 

the poverty level leaving some 67.2 million 

below the poverty line. Thus, it appears that 

there has been notable success in poverty 

reduction since the pre-independence era 

when the population was smaller but the 

preponderant majority in that population lived 

in absolute poverty. 

The situation has changed appreciably with 

the greater number in the more than the 

doubled population seemingly judged to be 

out of the throes of poverty. But, as stated, the 

number of 67.2 million living on less than a 

dollar a day, the UN benchmark for 

determining poverty, is still a vast one and 

points to the formidable goal faced by 

Bangladesh in achieving substantial progress 

and decisive victory in the struggle against 

poverty. 

Poverty reduction is umbilically linked to 

economic expansion or economic growth. 

Bangladesh is often pointed at as a lucrative 

market as it has so many people living in it. 

The present market size of over 72 million 

people with reasonable purchasing power is 

not a small one. The demand for various types 

of goods and services generated by the number 

of people not suffering from poverty in the 

country is huge and provides ample 

opportunities for businesses, local and foreign. 

But the demand situation could be far higher if 

some 30 or 40 million more people could be 

helped to climb out of poverty at an early date. 

The point is that people not in poverty have 

considerable purchasing power which then 

translates into demand for goods and services 

and businesses can attempt to satisfy that 

demand with more production, distribution and 

consumption. In sum, the entire cycle of 

economic activities spins faster or is greater 

when more people create demand. The resulting 

increases in production activities, job and 

income creation all add up to boost the GDP size 

of the country to increase cumulatively its 

individual and national wealth. Thus, poverty 

reduction makes preeminent sense from the 

perspectives of economic growth, business 

expansion and rise in the overall standard of 

living of people and these are expressly the 

reasons for the high desirability of poverty 

reduction at a faster pace. 

The National Economic Council (ECNEC) 

that approves economic policies at the highest 

level, adopted the poverty reduction strategy 

paper (PRSP). The PRSP adoption was 

prompted by the urging of the donors . It will 

be sought to be implemented over a number of 

years. 

Donors have been insisting on not only the 

carrying out of the PRSP objectives but 

various moves in the government itself as 

supportive of the same. They have stressed 

specially measures to be taken to improve 

governance, reduce corruption and reform the 

government administration. Clearly, there is a 

compelling need to score positive results in 

these areas to hope for a positive outcome in 

the PRSP implementation. Government will 

have to do more than just take some steps of 

approving the PRSP to clear the ground for 

receipt of funds from donors. It needs to 

sincerely address the governance issues as 

prerequisites for the successful 

implementation of PRSP goals. 

Has intellectual property protection gone too far? 

The copyright and patent laws we 

have today look more like 

intellectual monopoly than 

intellectual property, wrote Brink 

Lindsey and Steven Teles in their recent 

book about the US economy. Concerns 

about overprotection of intellectual 

property acting as a barrier to innovation 

and its diffusion are not new. But they 

have gained greater salience now that 

knowledge has emerged as a dominant 

driver of economic activity and 

competitive advantage. 

Digital technologies have enabled the 

emergence of an "intangible economy," 

based on soft assets like algorithms and 

lines of code, rather than physical assets 

like buildings and machinery. In this 

environment, intellectual-property rules 

can now make or break business models 

and reshape societies, as they determine 

how economic gains are shared. 

Yet the main features of today's IP 

regime were established for a very 

different economy. Patent rules, for 

example, reflect the long-held 

assumption that strong protection 

provides an essential incentive for 

businesses to pursue innovation. In fact, 

recent studies by Petra Moser and Heidi 

Williams, among others, find little 

evidence that patents boost innovation. 

On the contrary, because they lock in 

incumbents' advantages and drive up the 

costs of new technology, such 

protections are associated with less new 

or follow-on innovation, weaker 

diffusion, and increased market 

concentration. This has contributed to 

growing monopoly power, slowing 

productivity growth, and rising 

inequality in many economies over the 

past couple of decades. 

A majority of patents are used not to 

produce commercial value, but to create 

defensive legal thickets that can keep 

potential competitors at bay 

Patents also invite considerable 

lobbying and rent-seeking. A majority of 

patents are used not to produce 

On the third anniversary of the 

deal to curb Iran's nuclear 

program, there are many 

doubts about whether this historic 

agreement can survive. US 

President Donald Trump has never 

concealed his dislike for the deal, 

and argues that his predecessor 

Barack Obama gave too many 

concessions to Iran. 

Since he became president, 

Trump has withdrawn from the 

agreement, and unless Iran 

engages in talks about its ballistic 

missile program and regional 

meddling, he will reimpose 

sanctions. European signatories 

to the deal are looking for ways to 

help Iran, but in their hearts they 

must doubt whether this regime is 

worth the effort. 

As for its regional neighbors, 

Iran's engagement with them 

ranges from little to none. Tehran 

has arrogantly ignored them. 

During previous international 

sanctions, the UAE, for example, 

behaved like a good neighbor. Its 

ports remained mostly open to 

Iranian trade, and it provided some 

banking access. However, Iran's 

relations with Saudi Arabia and 

Bahrain soured, and mobs attacked 

Saudi diplomatic missions in 

Tehran and Mashhad in January 

commercial value, but to create 

defensive legal thickets that can keep 

potential competitors at bay. As the 

system expands, patent trolling and 

litigation soar. Lawsuits by patent trolls 

comprise more than three-fifths of all 

lawsuits for IP infringement in the US, 

and cost the economy an estimated $500 

billion in 1990-2010. 

Some argue that the patent system 

should simply be dismantled. But that 

would be too radical an approach. What 

is really needed is a top-to-bottom 

reexamination of the system, with an eye 

to changing excessively broad or 

stringent protections, aligning the rules 

with current realities, and enabling 

competition to drive innovation and 

technological diffusion. 

One set of reforms to consider would 

focus on improving institutional 

processes, such as by ensuring that the 

litigation system does not favor patent 

holders excessively. Other reforms 

concern the patents themselves, and 

include shortening patent terms, 

introducing use-it-or lose-it provisions, 

and instituting stricter criteria that limit 

patents to truly meaningful inventions. 

The key to success may lie in replacing 

the "one-size-fits-all" approach of the 

current patent regime with a 

differentiated approach that may be 

ZIA QUrESHI 

better suited to today's economy. Patents 

typically carry terms of 20 years 

(copyright protections run for 70-plus 

years). But while a relatively long patent 

term may be appropriate for 

pharmaceutical innovations, which 

involve protracted and expensive testing, 

the case is less clear-cut for most other 

industries. In digital technologies and 

software, for example, new advances 

have much shorter gestation periods and 

typically build on previous innovations in 

an incremental fashion, meaning that 

much shorter patent terms may be 

appropriate. 

Of course, if regulators do decide to 

tailor patents to different types of 

innovations, they must take care not to 

complicate patent regimes excessively. 

Finding the right combination of reforms 

would inevitably require some 

experimentation, as well as the careful 

monitoring of outcomes, so that 

necessary adjustments could be made. 

But designing the right reforms is only 

part of the challenge: powerful vested 

interests will make reform politically 

difficult. Fortunately, the case for reform 

of the decades-old patent system could 

not be stronger. If the system's defenders 

truly seek to promote innovation, they 

should welcome it in their own backyard. 

Patents, however, are not the only 

CAmELIA EnTEkHABIfArD 

2016. 

Iran has never apologized to Saudi 

Arabia for those attacks, nor shown 

any interest in improving relations. 

Perhaps the Islamic Revolutionary 

Guard Corps are too busy in Syria 

and Iraq, or using Houthi militias in 

Yemen, with the aim of dominating 

the region. 

Peaceful relations with the rest of 

the world require trust, and there is 

none of that in Iran at the moment. 

Even foreign investors, who might 

have been expected to rush to 

compete for opportunities in the 

large and relatively untouched 

Iranian markets in the wake of the 

nuclear deal, hesitated. They 

preferred to test the waters before 

swimming in this unknown pool. 

For investors, Iran was 

simultaneously attractive and 

unsafe. Mobs attacked the UK 

embassy in Tehran in 2011, and 

before that, in 1980, the US 

embassy. They took American 

diplomats hostage for 444 days. 

Canada severed diplomatic ties with 

Iran and closed its embassy in 

Tehran in 2012, because of Iran's 

support for the Assad regime in 

Syria. 

Iran has never apologized to Saudi 

Arabia for those attacks, nor shown 

any interest in improving relations 

The other side of the story is the 

suffering of the Iranian people 

themselves. The regime rules them 

with an iron fist, while wasting their 

wealth on military adventures in 

pursuit of its regional ambitions in 

Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Against 

Israel faces an uncertain future 

AS’AD ABDUL rAHmAn 

important element of the innovation 

ecosystem. Governments also promote 

innovation through direct funding of 

research and development and through 

fiscal incentives. And here, too, action is 

needed. Government R&D spending 

focuses on supplying the public good of 

basic research, which often produces 

knowledge spillovers that benefit the 

economy at large. Yet in the US, 

government R&D spending has fallen 

from 1.2% of GDP in the early 1980s to 

half that level in recent years. This 

underscores the need to revitalize public 

research programs and ensure broad 

access to their discoveries. 

Moreover, R&D incentives for the 

private sector - provided through tax 

relief, grants, or prizes - must be made 

accessible to firms in an equitable way. 

Patent reform could complement such 

reforms, say, by prohibiting patents from 

government-supported research, which 

should be available to all market 

participants. 

Many breakthrough innovations 

developed commercially by private 

firms originate from governmentsupported 

research. Recent examples 

include Google's basic search 

algorithm, key features of Apple 

smartphones, and even the Internet 

itself. Governments should consider 

how to give taxpayers a stake in such 

profitable outcomes from publicly 

supported research, not least to 

replenish public R&D budgets. Here, 

the tax system has an important role to 

play. 

More broadly, in an increasingly 

knowledge-intensive economy, public 

policy should seek to democratize 

innovation, in order to boost the creation 

and dissemination of new ideas and 

promote healthy competition. And that 

means overhauling an intellectualproperty 

system that is moving in the 

opposite direction. 

Source: Asia times 

Three long years of Iranian isolation 

Since the beginning of this year, 

Israel has been acting with an 

exaggerated pride as if about to 

achieve some sort of a "final victory". 

This arrogance would not have been 

possible without the Donald Trump 

administration's active backing. As per 

the Israeli Peace Now movement, there 

has been a marked rise in the colonialist 

movement in the occupied Palestinian 

territories since Trump took office. In 

recent months there have been meetings 

in Tel Aviv, under government auspices, 

to establish a new Israeli organisation 

called the "Coalition for the Golan 

Heights", aimed at advancing 

international recognition of Israeli 

sovereignty over the occupied Syrian 

Golan Heights. "Right now, it is more 

appropriate to work with President 

Trump's administration, Israel's friend, 

to cancel the possibility of a demand to 

us to withdraw from the Golan Heights," 

said the initiator of the meeting, Tzvi 

Hauser, the Israeli government 

secretary between 2009 and 2013. He 

added "with the civil war in Syria close to 

resolution, the superpowers will seek 

compromises, and there is fear that 

Israel will be asked to contribute to this 

goal by withdrawing from the Golan 

Heights". 

On the other hand, and together with 

the increased efforts to delegitimise 

Israel mainly through the calls of the 

Patents also invite considerable lobbying and rentseeking. 

A majority of patents are used not to 

produce commercial value, but to create defensive 

legal thickets that can keep potential competitors 

at bay. As the system expands, patent trolling and 

litigation soar. Lawsuits by patent trolls comprise 

more than three-fifths of all lawsuits for IP 

infringement in the US, and cost the economy an 

estimated $500 billion in 1990-2010. 

Since he became president, Trump has 

withdrawn from the agreement, and unless 

Iran engages in talks about its ballistic missile 

program and regional meddling, he will 

reimpose sanctions. European signatories to 

the deal are looking for ways to help Iran, but 

in their hearts they must doubt whether this 

regime is worth the effort. 

international movement (BDS) to 

boycott Israel, some Israeli officials 

warned that 2018 would see the start of 

an investigation by the International 

Criminal Court at Hague into 

complaints filed years ago about the 

war on Gaza and the continued 

construction of Jewish colonies. 

Moreover, the Israeli National Security 

Council meeting with the members of 

the Knesset Foreign Affairs and 

Defence Committee, have warned that 

the right-wing Zionist practices are no 

longer hidden. Israel persists with its 

crimes, confident of its absurd and 

astounding impunity. 

The leftist writer Kobi Niv recently 

wrote: "Seventy years of the Israeli state 

in the relationship between the 

Ashkenazi and the Sephardim, while 

we, Jews, are all brothers, in blood and 

arms, what hope can we have one day 

for a prospective future to reach a real 

dialogue, not only to talk about peace 

and equality, with our brothers and the 

sons of our country, the Palestinians? 

Without accepting them, we will live 

here forever on the edge of the sword 

until we become victims and 

devastation befalls us." The writer 

Gideon Levy noted: "Maybe the Israeli 

On the other hand, and together with the increased 

efforts to delegitimise Israel mainly through the calls 

of the international movement (BDS) to boycott 

Israel, some Israeli officials warned that 2018 would 

see the start of an investigation by the International 

Criminal Court at Hague into complaints filed years 

ago about the war on Gaza and the continued 

construction of Jewish colonies. 

insolence has not reached an end. 

Maybe the good comes from evil and 

Israel will realise that it cannot control 

and cannot even live forever only on the 

edge of the sword, nor on its advanced 

planes. The doctrine, which says that 

everything can be solved by force, must 

this background, it is 

understandable that foreign 

investors were so slow in showing 

up in Iran. 

No one knows if the regime has a 

Plan B to survive this turmoil. 

President Trump believes he can 

force them to the negotiating table. 

He said last week: "They're treating 

us with much more respect. I know 

their economy is collapsing. But I'll 

tell you this, at a certain point 

they're going to call me and say 

'Let's make a deal.' They're feeling a 

lot of pain right now." 

However, here was Ali Akbar 

Velayati, senior adviser to Supreme 

Leader Ali Khamenei, speaking last 

Friday: "Tehran does not want talks 

with the United States and does not 

think US President Donald Trump 

is worthy of being addressed by 

Iran. 

"We do not want to have talks 

with the Americans, and if the 

Americans have an illusion that we 

will approach them and offer to 

negotiate, we do not need that." 

Nevertheless, everything has a 

price. When they meet this week, 

we will see what Russian President 

Vladimir Putin has to sell President 

Trump. 

Source: Arab news 

be resolved through force, above all by 

force, always by force and only by force, 

is broken." He sarcastically concluded: 

"insolence pays off!" 

What is more striking is the fact that 

the Zionist state (which today enjoys a 

broad margin of movement not 

available to any other country in the 

world and consequently commits 

crimes without consideration) has 

roused fears of former heads of Mossad 

about the future of the Zionist state, as 

well as extreme fear of the direction 

towards which Israel is heading at the 

beginning of the eighth decade of its 

existence. On the eve of the 70th 

"Independence Day (Nakba)", the daily 

Yedioth Ahronoth published excerpts of 

a joint interview with six former Mossad 

chiefs: Zvi Zamir, Danny Yatom, Nahom 

Admoni, Shabtai Shavit, Aviram Halevi 

and Tamir Pardo. They spoke about the 

political stagnation, fear of social 

divisions and disputes, their concern for 

the future of the state and concern about 

the Israeli leadership. They agreed that 

"Israel is critically ill". In this respect, 

Pardot was quoted as saying: "It's the 

problem of the core values, of divisions. 

We need a leadership able to navigate 

between crises and the right places, 

unfortunately, that does not exist 

today." 

Source: Gulf news

ENVIRONMENT 

SUNDAY, 

JULY 15, 2018 

5 

Is plastic-free living only truly accessible to those with a significant disposable income? 

Photo: Getty Images 

Can we envision a world without plastic? 

Stephanie Convery 

A few months ago, my partner and I 

went snorkelling off the coast of 

Indonesia. We dove off tiny deserted 

islands and swam in the deep with 

giant manta rays, but what I remember 

most vividly about that trip was not the 

stunning coral or dazzling array of 

colourful, curious fish; it was the sheer 

amount of garbage in the water. 

Shopping bags, plastic cups, 

toothpaste tubes, orange peel, all 

manner of human debris followed the 

currents; waves and waves of junk 

pooling in the shallow waters. In these 

parts of the reef, the water was cloudy 

and full of so much microscopic debris 

that it stung the skin. I remember 

watching a majestic giant turtle swim 

through the gloom as my head bumped 

against an old Coke bottle bobbing on 

the surface of the water. 

The whole thing gave me a kind of 

queasy vertigo. So when my editor 

began talking about plastic-free July, I 

offered to do a dry run first. I was eager 

to see if it was actually possible to live 

without the stuff. 

The first thing I did was look around 

my house to identify problem areas. It 

was a sobering survey: garbage bags, 

shopping bags, coffee cups, clingwrap, 

soap dispensers, spray bottles, cleaning 

products. And that was just one half of 

the kitchen. In the bathroom, I found 

shampoo bottles, deodorant, 

toothbrushes, disposable razors. I had 

that queasy feeling again, that sense 

that I was drowning in rubbish. 

Food was the biggest and most 

obvious hurdle. So many of our waste 

products are food-related: the recent 

plastic bag ban in supermarkets has 

drawn attention to how we transport 

goods home from purchase but plastic 

plays a role before and after that too. 

Bags, tubs, wraps, bottles - nearly 

everything on supermarket shelves is 

encased in plastic. It is next to 

impossible to avoid, even with the best 

of intentions. My first trip to my local 

supermarket brought this into sharp 

relief. I arrived at the shopping centre - 

enthusiastic about grocery shopping for 

once in my life - with a stash of calico 

and canvas tote bags collected over 

more than a decade working in the arts. 

I thought about that turtle again and 

was eager to rise to the challenge of not 

taking home a single piece of plastic. 

My shopping list was modest: rice, 

tomato paste, oats, face wash, toilet 

paper and food-intolerance friendly 

rice milk and coconut yoghurt. Easy 

enough, I thought. 

Wrong. Immediately, problems 

presented themselves. The only rice not 

obviously packaged in plastic was a 10kg 

bulk pack. There was no way I was 

hauling 10kg of rice six blocks home on 

foot. I decided to buy couscous instead 

because it came in a carton. Problem 

not quite solved but it would do. Tomato 

paste mostly came in plastic sachets or 

bottles, but there were little aluminium 

cans for 70c. Not too shabby, I thought. 

Then I went to find the oats. 

A kilo of home brand rolled oats cost 

$1.30 but they were in plastic bags. 

There was only one brand of oats that 

came in something other than plastic - 

Uncle Tobys, in a carton - and I was 

fully prepared to buy it until I saw the 

price. $5 for a kilo of basic, boring 

rolled oats! Were they magical oats? 

Did they make you sprout wings? (I 

realised later that the carton is just 

decorative; the oats themselves are in a 

bag inside the carton.) 

I fared no better with rice milk or face 

wash, though I did find a bar of soap 

that came in a cardboard box. There 

was not a single brand of toilet paper 

available that wasn't wrapped in plastic 

- even those that made a song and 

dance on their packaging about being 

100% recycled. By the time I got to the 

yoghurt aisle, I was thoroughly 

depressed. If I wanted to make this 

plastic-free month successful, I was 

going to need to try harder. 

I decided to tackle the toiletries and 

cleaning products issue by throwing 

money at it. I replaced my recently 

emptied plastic shampoo bottle with a 

shampoo bar that came in a cardboard 

box. I did the same with liquid soaps. I 

bought a stainless steel safety razor and 

blades and decided to quit disposable 

razors for good. I drew the line at bicarb 

toothpaste though, and I refuse to 

transition to "natural" deodorant 

unless I'm also forced to transition to a 

lifestyle involving markedly less stress 

and less high-intensity cardio. 

I travel a lot, so from online ethical 

retailer Biome I ordered a collection of 

little glass and stainless steel bottles, jars 

and containers small enough to fit into 

my washbag. Into them, I siphoned 

things like moisturiser, make-up 

remover and lip balm from my already 

existing supplies, reducing the need to 

travel with bulky items or buy doubles - 

or submit to the temptation to use those 

little hotel-room bottles of shampoo and 

conditioner. As I squirted conditioner 

into one of the jars, I thought about an 

Indonesian hotel I had stayed at that 

had a shampoo dispenser fixed to the 

wall of the shower, and wondered why 

more places didn't invest in something 

like that, or simply refillable ceramic 

bottles. When I finally did go travelling 

though - heading to Tasmania for Dark 

Mofo - I packed frantically and badly. 

And as the coffee cart started making its 

way down the aisle of my plane, I 

realised I was in yet another impossible 

situation. Everything from the coffee 

cups to the little individual packets of 

cheese and crackers was wrapped in 

plastic. And how was I going to spent 

four days at a festival without single-use 

plastic? Too late, I realised the wisdom 

of a little kit I'd noticed my mother 

carrying around in her handbag: a keep 

cup, a clean handkerchief and a 

shopping bag made of parachute 

material that folds up to about 

matchbox size. I made a mental note 

about what I would add to that kit - 

perhaps a Tupperware container and 

cutlery. 

When I got back to Sydney, with only 

little over a week left of my plastic-free 

month, I decided it was time to 

investigate buying dry goods - rice, 

oats, nuts - in ways that avoided plastic 

packaging. Bulk food stores seemed 

like the only way to go. 

Huge iceberg threatens Greenland village 

A giant iceberg has prompted a partial evacuation of an Innaarsuit 

settlement in Greenland. 

Photo: Scanpix Denmark 

Environment Desk 

A 100-metre (330ft) high 

iceberg has drifted close to a 

tiny settlement on 

Greenland's west coast, 

prompting fears of a 

tsunami if it breaks up. 

Authorities have told 

residents of the Innaarsuit 

island settlement living near 

the shore to move to higher 

ground. "We fear the iceberg 

could calve [break apart] 

and send a flood towards the 

village," said Lina Davidsen 

of Greenland police. 

Susanne Eliassen, a member 

of Innaarsuit's council, said 

it was not unusual for large 

icebergs to be seen close to 

the community. "But this 

iceberg is the biggest we 

have seen ... and there are 

cracks and holes that make 

us fear it can calve anytime," 

she said. "Nobody is staying 

unnecessarily close to the 

beach and all children have 

been told to stay in areas 

that are high up." 

The village's power station 

and fuel tanks are located 

close to the shore. 

Police have moved a 

search-and-rescue 

helicopter closer to the 

remote community, which 

has a population of about 

170. Icebergs breaking free 

from glaciers is likely to 

become more common, said 

William Colgan, a Geological 

Survey of Denmark and 

Greenland researcher. 

"Iceberg production in 

Greenland has been 

increasing in the past 100 

years as climate change has 

become stronger," he said, 

while the rising number of 

icebergs were in turn 

"increasing the tsunami 

hazards". Last year, four 

people died and 11 were 

injured after a landslide 

caused a tsunami off another 

island settlement called , 

sending several houses 

crashing into the sea. 

The latest incident comes 

after scientists at New York 

University released a timelapse 

video of a massive 

iceberg breaking free from a 

glacier in eastern Greenland 

last month. Denise Holland, 

of NYU's environmental 

fluid dynamics laboratory, 

and David Holland, an 

expert in atmospheric and 

ocean science, had camped 

by the Helheim glacier for 

weeks to collect data to 

better project sea level 

changes due to global 

warming. 

David Holland said it was 

"the largest event we've seen 

in over a decade in 

Greenland". The video, 

which is 20 times faster than 

real time, shows 3% the 

annual ice loss of Greenland 

occuring in 30 minutes. "It 

sounded like rockets going 

off," David Holland said, 

describing it as "a very 

complex, chaotic, noisy 

event". While the couple is 

studying Greenland, he said 

that "the real concern is in 

Antarctica, where everything 

is so big the stakes are much 

higher". 

Australia’s recycling crisis: 

how it can be solved? 

Naaman Zhou 

In June, a wide-ranging 

Senate inquiry into the 

state of Australia's 

recycling system be rolled 

out across the country. Of 

all 18 inquiry 

recommendations, a 

national scheme is one 

that is at least part way 

there, all states except 

Tasmania and Victoria 

with an existing scheme or 

one soon to be 

implemented. 

Yet such a scheme could 

be difficult to coordinate. 

Costs are uncertain - a 

2014 report from Council 

of Australian governments 

estimated a national 

scheme could cost between 

$88m and $8bn. And 

would it actually help 

Australia cope with the 

current recycling crisis? 

The first container 

deposit scheme was 

introduced in South 

Australia in 1977. Since 

then, residents have been 

able to take their standard 

soft drink and beer cans 

and milk and fruit juice 

bottles under 1L to one of 

132 collection depots for 

what is now a 10c refund. 

The Northern Territory 

was next, with a scheme 

introduced in 2013. 

Although New South 

Wales 

recently 

implemented a scheme, it 

has been criticised for 

being too strict with what it 

accepted and for being 

rolled out too quickly to set 

up adequate collection 

points. These teething 

troubles were significant 

enough to delay 

Queensland and Western 

Australia 

from 

implementing their own 

schemes, so they have time 

to learn the lessons. And 

Victoria used to have one, 

but now it and Tasmania 

are the only two states 

holding out. 

Frank Sufferini, a 

spokesman for waste 

collection company 

Cleanaway, says that a 

national container deposit 

scheme would help with 

the waste crisis. Cleanaway 

is the network operator for 

NSW's recently 

implemented CDS - it 

collects, process and sells 

all containers collected 

under the scheme. Since 

December 2017, it has 

collected 370m containers. 

"China's [recycling] ban 

relates to contaminated 

recycling materials which 

are generated from the 

council recycling bins," 

Sufferini says. "These bins 

contain fairly large levels of 

contamination such as 

food, liquids and soft 

plastics that China will no 

longer accept. 

"An important element 

of the CDS is the 

cleanliness of the 

containers collected. They 

are single-use and not 

contaminated by other 

materials, therefore [they 

are] much more 

acceptable to users of 

recycled product in their 

manufacturing processes. 

It would be a safe 

assumption that NSW 

would be handling the 

China ban better and at the 

same time reducing the 

level of litter." 

In South Australia, 

councillor John 

Woodward from the city of 

West Torrens, agrees. He 

says the long-running 

scheme has spared the 

state the worst of the crisis. 

"South Australia hasn't 

experienced the 

stockpiling issue that other 

states have," he says. "Our 

glass is of a higher quality. 

Because it's sorted into 

different colours, it has a 

higher value so it's easier 

to sell, it's easier to 

reprocess. Because it's got 

a value, it keeps recycled 

material out of landfill." 

Not only is Woodward 

pushing for a national 

scheme, but he wants 

governments to double the 

refund: from 10c to 20c. 

"We know that quite a lot 

of recyclable material ends 

up in the red bin," says 

Woodward. Glass makes 

up roughly 35% of 

kerbside recycling by 

weight, with 1m tonnes a 

year put in our bins. And in 

2016-17 only 16% of the 

PET plastics Australians 

used was recycled. "So the 

theory there is that if you 

increase the value that it is 

more likely to be recycled, 

retained by people and 

taken to recycling centres." 

In the only two states 

without a CDS, politicians 

are on the warpath. 

Tasmanian Greens senator 

Peter Whish-Wilson, who 

chaired the Senate inquiry, 

has been campaigning for 

a national CDS for almost 

10 years. "Kerbside 

recycling collects large 

amounts of glass, but it 

does it badly," he says. 

"Bottles get smashed up in 

the bin, in the trucks and at 

the recycling centre ... 

Much of the glass that is 

collected is not actually 

able to be made into new 

glass products because it is 

too low-quality." 

Measuring real costs of rising 

ocean waters 

John Abraham 

Ocean waters are rising 

because of global warming. 

They are rising for two 

reasons. First, and perhaps 

most obvious, ice is melting. 

There is a tremendous 

amount of ice locked away in 

Greenland, Antarctica, and 

in glaciers. As the world 

warms, that ice melts and the 

liquid water flows to the 

oceans. 

The other reason why 

water is rising is that warmer 

water is less dense - it 

expands. This expansion 

causes the surface of the 

water to rise. Rising oceans 

are a big deal. About 150 

million people live within 1 

meter (3 feet) of sea level. 

About 600 million live 

within 10 meters (33 feet) of 

sea level. As waters rise, 

these people will have to go 

somewhere. It is inevitable 

that climate refugees will 

have to move their homes 

and workplaces because of 

rising waters. 

In some places, humans 

will be able to build sea walls 

to block off the water's rise. 

But, in many places, that 

won't be possible. For 

instance, Miami, Florida has 

a porous base rock that 

allows sea water to permeate 

through the soils. You cannot 

wall that off. In other places, 

any sea walls would be 

prohibitively expensive. 

It isn't just the inevitable 

march of sea level that is an 

issue. Rising waters make 

storm surges worse. A great 

example is Superstorm 

Sandy, which hit the US East 

Coast in 2012. It cost 

approximately $65 bn of 

damage. The cost was higher 

because of sea level rise 

A national container deposit scheme would accept cans and bottles. 

Photo: Carly Earl 

caused by global warming. 

Climate scientists do their 

best to project how much 

and how fast oceans will rise 

in the future. These 

projections help city 

planners prepare future 

infrastructure. My 

estimation is that oceans will 

be approximately 1 meter 

higher in the year 2100; that 

is what our infrastructure 

should be prepared for. 

What I don't know is how 

much this will cost us as a 

society. 

A very recent paper was 

published that looked into 

this issue. The authors 

analyzed the cost of sea level 

if we limit the Earth to 1.5°C 

or 2°C warming. They also 

considered the future cost 

using "business as usual" 

scenarios. What the authors 

found was fascinating. If 

humans take action to limit 

warming to 1.5°C, they 

estimate sea level will rise 52 

cm by the year 2100. If 

humans hold global warming 

to 2°C, sea levels will rise by 

perhaps 63 cm by 2100. 

The difference (11 cm) 

could cost $1.4 tn per year if 

no other societal adaptation 

is made. This is a staggering 

number and in itself, should 

motivate us to take action. 

But the authors went further, 

they considered an even 

higher future temperature 

scenario (one that is 

essentially business as 

usual). With that future, 

global annual flood costs 

would increase to a 

whopping $14 tn per year. 

In the study, the authors 

considered which countries 

and regions would suffer 

most. It turns out upper 

middle income countries will 

be worse off, particularly 

China. Higher-income 

countries have a slightly 

better prognosis because of 

their present flood 

protection standards. But 

make no mistake about it, we 

will all suffer and the 

suffering will be very costly. 

There are four important 

takeaways from this study. 

First, while the economic 

costs are large, there is some 

range of projections. The 

actual costs may be lower or 

higher than the median 

predicted in the study. This is 

largely due to the fact that we 

don't know how fast 

Greenland and Antarctica 

will melt. If they melt faster 

than projected, things will be 

worse than what I've 

described here. 

Second, adaptation will 

help. By adaptation I mean 

making our societies less 

susceptible to sea level rise. 

For example, building sea 

walls when possible, building 

new infrastructure away 

from coasts, putting in 

natural breaks to limit storm 

surge during large storms, 

and making infrastructure 

more water-resistant. 

Waterfront condo buildings are seen June 3, 2014 in Miami, Florida. 

Photo: Joe Raedle

NATIONAL 

SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2018 

6 

Health and family welfare minister Mohammad Nasim inaugurated the National Vitamin A 'plus 

campaign program by distributing vitamins 'A' capsules to the children at Pabna General Hospital in 

Sadar upazila on Saturday. 

Photo: Abdul Hamid Khan 

Vitamin 'A' plus 

campaign observed 

in Kishoreganj 

Sarowar Jahan, Kishoreganj 

Correspondent: Kishoreganj 

District Health Department 

inaugurated the (first round) 

of Vitamin A 'plus campaign 

on Saturday as part of the 

National Program. 

Kishoreganj 250-bedside 

Sadar Hospital's EPI Center, 

Deputy Director of the 

Hospital Dr. Sultana Razia 

presided over the function as 

Vitamin A 'plus distribution 

program. Deputy 

Commissioner Md. Sarwar 

Murshed Chowdhury, 

Superintendent of Police 

Mashrukur Rahman 

Khaled, Additional Deputy 

Commissioner (General) 

Tarafdar Md Akhtar Jamil, 

Municipality Mayor Md. 

Parvez Mia, Civil Surgeon 

Dr. Md. Habibur Rahman, 

Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr. 

Md. Mojibur Rahman, 

Assistant Director Dr. Md. 

Ramzan Mahmud, Deputy 

Director of District Family 

Planning Department Abu 

Taha Mohammad Enamur 

Rahman, Dr. Rowshan 

Akter Jahan, Dr. Sajal 

Kumar Saha, BMA Secretary 

Dr. Abdul Wahab Badal, 

Senior Consultant Dr. Md 

Golam Faruk, Former 

Secretary of Kishoreganj 

Press Club Saiful Malik 

Chowdhury, Journalist 

Bidyut Prasad Roy, Alam 

Sarwar Titu, Shah Md. 

Sarowar Jahan and 

government officials, 

politicians, elites, NGO 

official, Local people and 

others journalists were also 

present in the funtion. 

32 held in Dinajpur 

special drives 

DINAJPUR: Law enforcers, 

in special drives arrested 32 

persons including 12 drug 

traders and two activists of 

Jamaat-E-Islami from 

different areas of the district 

in 12-hour ending at 8am 

last morning, reports BSS. 

Law enforcers also seized 

200 bottles of Phensidyl and 

200 liters of locally-made 

liquor during the drives. 

Police said they were 

picked up from different 

areas of the district on 

different charges. 

During the drives, 

Dinajpur Sadar police 

arrested eight persons 

including four drug traders 

with 200 liters of locallymade 

liquor, Biral Thana 

police arrested three drug 

traders, Birampur Thana 

police arrested three 

persons, Kaharole Thana 

police arrested three 

persons, Khansama Thana 

police arrested two persons, 

Phulbari Thana police 

arrested two persons, 

Bochaganj Thana police 

arrested four persons 

including two drug traders 

and Chirirbandar Thana 

police arrested four persons 

including two activists of 

Jamaat-E-Islami. 

Several cases, including 

charges of subversive 

activities, are pending with 

different police stations 

against the arrested persons, 

the sources added. 

Foundation stone of 

Sreemangal mosque laid 

Sayed Ahmed, Sreemangal Correspondent: The foundation stone for of Sreemangal Jame 

Mosque of Moulvibazar has been laid on Friday after Jummah prayer 

Mosque management committee president and former Chief Whip Dr. Md. Abdus Shahid 

MP inaugurated the foundation stone laying ceremony as the chief guest. Among others, 

District Awami League Organizing Secretary Syed Mansurul Haque, acting chairman of the 

Upazila Awami League and former Upazila Chairman Alhaj Mohammad, Askir Mia, 

Sreemangal Police Station Officer in-Charge KM Nazrul, General Secretary of the Jubo 

League Salik Ahmad, Government Divisional Officers and Mosque members of the 

management committee and general devotees were also present at the occasion. 

Upazila Local Government Engineering Department has allocated the construction of 

boundary wall for the mosque at a cost of around Tk 10 lakh. 

Former Chief Whip Dr. Md. Abdus Shahid MP inaugurated the foundation 

stone laying ceremony of Sreemangal Jame Mosque as the chief guest on 

Friday. 

Photo: Sayed Ahmed 

Livestock sector witnesses 

boost in Rangpur 

RANGPUR: The livestock sector in the district 

witnessed a huge boost in the last 10 years 

through attaining autarky in meat, egg and 

milk production, reports BSS. 

"A revolutionary success has been achieved 

in livestock sector as production of meat 

became doubled while egg and milk output 

increased three times during the period here," 

said District Livestock Officer Dr Md 

Mahbubul Alam. 

During the period, the Department of 

Livestock Services (DLS) provided training to 

2.90-lakh farm-owners, unemployed male and 

female youths, small and marginal farmers 

and landless people on animal husbandry, 

poultry and grass cultivation. "Of them, over 

one-lakh people have achieved self-reliance 

through animal husbandry, poultry, diary and 

grass cultivation on commercial basis," he said. 

The private sector entrepreneurs have set up 

5,486 livestock farms, including 2,341 for 

cows, 430 for goats, 340 for sheep, 523 for 

layer chickens, 1,648 for broiler chickens and 

204 for grass production creating jobs of over 

40,000 people. Dr Alam said 1.20-lakh tonnes 

of meat was produced against demand of 1.18- 

lakh tonnes during the 2016-2017 fiscal though 

meat production stood at 56,000 tonnes 

against demand of 1.07-lakh tonnes during 

2007-2008 fiscal in the district. 

"Over 2.37-lakh tonnes of milk was 

produced against demand of 2.37-lakh 

tonnes during the 2016-2017 fiscal while 

milk production stood at 78,000 tonnes 

against demand of 2.12-lakh tonnes during 

the 2007-2008 fiscal," he said. 

Besides, 55.68-crore pieces of eggs were 

produced against demand of 32-crore pieces 

during the 2016-2017 fiscal. "The 

production of milk may cross demand of 

2.40-lakh tonnes while meat and egg 

productions would mark a further increase 

here during the current 2017-2018 fiscal," 

said Dr Alam. 

Civil Surgeon Dr. Habibul Ahsan Talukdar Reza inaugurated the National 

Vitamin A 'plus campaign in Joypurhat at the Hichmi Government 

Primary School vaccination center in Bombo UP on Saturday. 

Photo: Mashrekul Alam 

Gaibandha SP for 

building social 

movement 

against narcotics 

GAIBANDHA: 

Superintendent of police 

(SP) Engineer Abdul 

Mannan Miah in a function 

here on Friday underscored 

the need for building social 

movement and creating 

much awareness to the 

people about the bad 

effects of narcotics to build 

a drug free society, reports 

BSS. 

"The people particularly 

the young generation 

should be protected from 

the menace of the narcotics 

anyhow so that they could 

not derail from the right 

track creating manifold 

problems in the family and 

the society as well," he said. 

Abdul Mannan Miah 

made the comments while 

addressing a viewexchange 

meeting at the 

office of freedom fighters at 

Godown Bazaar under 

Malibari union of Sadar 

upazila in the district on 

Friday as the chief guest. 

Gaibandha Sadar Police 

Station arranged the 

function in a bid to make 

the people of the union free 

from drug trading and drug 

taking 

through 

motivational campaign. 

With officer-in-charge of 

the thana Khan M Shariar 

in the chair, the function 

was also addressed, among 

others, by Union Parishad 

Chairman Ali Azam Shah 

Runu, freedom fighter 

Khurshid Alam and Jubo 

League leader Mohammad 

Sobuj while journalist 

Sarker M Shahiduzzaman 

was the moderator. 

The chief guest said it was 

not possible for any 

individual, group or the 

government to contain the 

drug abuse until the social 

movement should be 

forged built against the 

drugs and it would have to 

start from the family and 

the society. 

Terming the drug taking 

as social disease and 

barrier to the socioeconomic 

development of 

the country, the SP said it 

would not be possible to 

eliminate from the society 

without the movement of 

all the stakeholders and the 

drives against the drugs 

would continue. 

In this context, the SP 

urged all the stakeholders 

of the society to come 

forward with the positive 

attitude and play role and 

keep much contribution 

against drugs from their 

respective position. 

OC Khan M Shariar 

called upon the community 

people to extend their 

wholehearted cooperation 

towards law enforcing 

agencies with authentic 

information about the 

drugs traders and 

traffickers so that they 

could be brought to book. 

A large number of people 

including social workers, 

teachers, businessmen, 

political leaders, public 

representatives, and 

journalists were present on 

the occasion. 

BCG seizes Yaba tablets, 

beer in Teknaf 

TBT Desk: Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) 

Eastern Zone recovered 10,000 pieces of 

yaba and 200 foreign beer's from 

Sairangkhal area of Teknaf upazila on 

Saturday, says a press release. 

Sources said, BCG raided Sairangkhal area 

and recovered 10,000 pieces of yaba and 

2000 foreign beer from there. But, the team 

could not nab anybody in this connection, as 

the smugglers fled the scene sensing the 

presence of the Coast Guard members. 

The estimated price of seized tablets and 

beer is approximately Tk 51,00,000 (fifty 

one lakh taka). The transfer process of the 

seized drugs to Teknaf police station is 

underway. In this year Bangladesh Coast 

Guard forces seized 80 lakh 60 thousand 

Yaba tablets. 

Regarding the matter, Bangladesh Coast 

Guard Director General Rear Admiral 

AMMM Aurangzeb Chowdhury said that 

coast guard will keep on maintaining zero 

tolerance policy against drugs as per Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina's instructions. 

3-day Nat'l fruit and tree 

fair begins in Raninagar 

S M Saiful Islam, Raninagar Correspondent: Three day long National fruit and tree fair 

2018 began at Raninagar upazila parishad auditorium on Saturday. 

Bangladesh Awami League MP Md Israfil Alam (Naogaon-6) inaugurated the fair as the 

chief guest while upazila nirbahi officer Sonia Binte Tabib chaired the programme. Among 

others, Upazila Parishad Chairman SM Al-Faruque James, Vice Chairman Harunur Rashid, 

Agricultural Officer SM Golam Sarwar, Agriculture Extension Officer Sajjad Hossain Sohel, 

Acting President Abdul Barik Mollah, General Secretary Mofiz Uddin Prang and Upazila Juba 

League President Sirajul Islam Chand were also present at the occasion. 

Md. Israfil Alam is his speech said that, "The country will survive if the farmers survive. 

Farmer's role in every demand, including the basic needs of the country, especially food and 

clothing, is unparalleled. 

Bangladesh Awami League MP Md Israfil Alam (Naogaon-6) inaugurated 

and addressed a three day long national fruit and tree fair at Raninagar 

upazila parishad auditorium on Saturday. Photo: S M Saiful Islam 

RCC electioneering sees huge 

female involvement 

RAJSHAHI: Side by side with male 

workers, the presence of female 

workers in campaign for the 

upcoming Rajshahi City Corporation 

(RCC) is significant this time, 

reports BSS. 

More than 20,000 women are taking 

part in the ongoing election 

campaign. Being failed to reach all 

the voters due to time constraints, 

the candidates for both mayoral and 

general councilors engaged the 

female workers in their campaign 

activities massively. 

On behalf of the candidates, the 

female workers are seen distributing 

leaflets and copy of election 

manifesto moving door to door of 

the voters. 

The women in groups are seeking 

votes through highlighting 

commitments and distributing 

leaflets on behalf of their respective 

candidates. 

Female from all classes, including 

rich, poor and extreme poor families, 

are doing the works to draw 

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) Eastern Zone recovered 

10,000 pieces of yaba and 200 foreign beer can's from Sairangkhal area of 

Teknaf upazila on Saturday. 

Photo: TBT 

attention of the voters particularly 

the female voters. 

"Female workers are more sincere 

and effective to motivate voters 

along with attaining their supports 

than the male ones," said Rabiul 

Haque, a candidate for general 

councilor. 

The women engagement in the 

election campaign is also important 

for their empowerment and capacity 

building, he added. A total of 217 

candidates are contesting the RCC 

election. Of them, five for mayor, 160 

for general councilors and 52 for 

reserved seats for women councilors. 

Meanwhile, the candidates for both 

mayoral and ward councilors along 

with their workers and supporters 

are passing busy days with 

campaigning for the upcoming 

election. 

Braving sultry weather and rains 

the candidates are seen meeting 

voters irrespective of age, sex and 

creed and caste with posters and 

leaflets to drum up support for them 

from early morning to midnight. 

Flanked by large number of party 

leaders and workers the mayoral 

contestants are also seen meeting 

voters seeking their support 

throughout the day. 

Workers and activists of the 

candidates were seen very much 

busy hanging posters and opening 

election offices. Several parts of the 

city got a new look with huge 

posters, banners and festoons. 

Assistant Returning Officer Atiar 

Rahman said there are 3,18,138 

voters, including 1,62,053 females, 

who will cast their votes in 1,022 

booths of 138 centers to elect one 

mayor, 30 general councilors and 10 

women councilors in reserved seats 

in the upcoming election. 

He said AHM Khairuzzaman Liton 

(Boat), Musaddique Hossain Bulbul 

(Paddy Sheaf), Habibur Rahman 

(Jackfruit), Shafiqul Islam (Hand 

fan) and Advocate Murad Murshed 

(Elephant) are the mayoral 

aspirants.

INTERNATIONAL 

SunDAy, 

7 

JuLy 15, 2018 

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 

Summit. 

Photo: Internet 

Trump back in Scotland 

ahead of Putin talks 

A roving press conference. Reporters 

piling into golf carts and running along 

fairways trying to keep up. A protester 

scattering golf balls marked with 

swastikas. 

The last time Donald Trump traveled 

to Scotland was in 2016, hours after the 

Brexit vote and shortly after he became 

the presumptive Republican presidential 

nominee. He created a media maelstrom 

as he held court with the press, 

compared pro-Brexit voters to his own 

supporters and mixed campaigning 

with business promotion in a way that 

was signature Trump. 

This time, his trip is likely to be less 

dramatic, as he spends the weekend out 

of the spotlight preparing for his highstakes 

summit with Russian President 

Vladimir Putin. 

Knowing Trump, there's likely to be 

some golf on the schedule as well. 

Trump has long professed a special 

connection to Scotland, the land of his 

mother's birth. He owns two championship-level 

golf resorts in the country, 

including the seaside Turnberry. But 

ever since he ventured into Scotland a 

dozen years ago, Trump has been losing 

money and waging battles with 

longtime residents, wind farms and 

local politicians. 

"President Trump knows this country 

probably better than any president in 

recent history," Trump's ambassador to 

the U.K, Robert "Woody" Johnson, told 

reporters ahead of Trump's trip. 

Trump's mother, born Mary McLeod, 

was born in Stornoway, a place Trump 

has described as "serious Scotland." He 

2 blasts, gunfire 

heard near Somalia's 

presidential palace 

Two large explosions followed 

by gunfire were heard 

Saturday near the presidential 

palace in Somalia's capital, 

with police saying two 

people including an attacker 

were killed. The midday 

blasts came a week after a 

similar attack on the interior 

ministry compound in 

Mogadishu killed at least 

nine people. 

Police Capt. Mohamed 

Hussein confirmed the 

deaths in the new attack to 

The Associated Press, saying 

a car bomb detonated near a 

checkpoint close to the presidential 

palace after security 

forces engaged with gunmen. 

A second car bomb 

blast occurred in the same 

area shortly afterward. 

The Somalia-based al- 

Shabab extremist group, an 

arm of al-Qaida, often targets 

high-profile places in the capital. 

It claimed responsibility 

for Saturday's attack, saying 

its fighters were conducting a 

"major operation" around the 

palace and nearby SYL Hotel. 

Al-Shabab was blamed for 

the October truck bombing in 

Mogadishu that killed more 

than 500 people in the deadliest 

attack in the country's 

history. The threat from what 

has become the deadliest 

Islamic extremist group in 

sub-Saharan Africa has hurt 

efforts to strengthen Somalia's 

fragile government and 

stabilize the long-chaotic 

Horn of Africa nation. 

The United States under 

the Trump administration 

has stepped up military 

efforts in Somalia, including 

dozens of drone strikes, 

against al-Shabab and a small 

presence of fighters linked to 

the Islamic State group. At 

least two U.S. military personnel 

have been killed. 

says his mother adored the queen and 

the "pomp and circumstance" of events 

like royal weddings. 

"Any time the queen was on television, 

my mother wanted to watch it," he 

told The Sun newspaper in an interview 

this week. 

But Trump has faced endless opposition 

as he's worked to renovate the 

Turnberry resort on the west coast and 

expand Trump International Golf 

Links Scotland, in Aberdeen. 

David Milne, whose property overlooks 

Trump International Links, 

planned to mark the president's visit 

the same way he did the last time 

Trump appeared: flying the Mexican 

national flag over his house within sight 

of the clubhouse to protest Trump's 

hardline immigration views. 

"He is the president of a country that 

is allies with us and we have to give a 

certain amount of respect to the office 

of the president, even if we think the 

incumbent is a complete idiot," said 

Milne. But, he added, "It would be better 

for a lot of people if he just stayed at 

home and saved the fuel." 

Anger at Trump has been especially 

hot in Aberdeen, where Trump's plans 

have been mired in controversy from 

the day the president bought the land in 

2006. Neighbors have accused Trump 

of harassment and bullying to get them 

to sell land, and a local fisherman 

became a national hero of sorts when 

he refused to sell to Trump, despite a 

$690,000 offer. The Trump Organization 

was initially turned down for 

approval to build on legally protected 

dunes, but the Scottish government 

eventually granted permission because 

of a pledge to create around 6,000 jobs, 

a five-star hotel with 450 rooms and 

two golf courses worth 1 billion pounds 

($1.3 billion). So far, only one course 

has been built along with a clubhouse 

and a boutique hotel with 16 rooms. 

Conservationists also claim the 

course risks damaging an important 

site of special scientific interest. And a 

few months before Trump clinched the 

Republican nomination, he lost a court 

fight to stop an offshore windmill farm 

near the North Sea resort. 

While Trump likes to brag about the 

properties - during a press conference 

at the NATO summit in Brussels he 

called Turnberry "a magical place" - 

they've also been losing money. A 

financial report filed by Trump's company 

with the British government last 

year showed it had lost millions of dollars 

on the two properties and losses 

had more than doubled in 2016 to 17.6 

million pounds ($23 million). It was 

the third year in a row of losses. Revenue 

also fell sharply. 

Asked about the losses, The Trump 

Organization emailed a statement that 

pointed to Turnberry's positives: 

"Trump Turnberry is one of the most 

spectacular properties anywhere on the 

world and we are incredibly proud of its 

continued success. The Ailsa, home to 

four Open Championships including 

the famous 1977 'Duel in the Sun' was 

recently listed as #10 in the World by 

Golf Digest and #16 in the World by 

Golf Magazine." 

Syria’s uprooted adapt to 

coexisting on the margins 

When Hikmat's mother managed to sneak 

back into their home city of Aleppo, now 

controlled by government forces, she found 

a single word spray-painted in red on their 

house: "Confiscated." Same with the family 

store and another house. Their farm, south 

of the city, is probably lost to them as well, in 

territory recently recaptured by Syrian 

forces. 

This is the new reality for displaced Syrians 

who supported the armed opposition 

challenging President Bashar Assad or who 

lived in areas once held by the opposition. 

Now driven elsewhere, they face the 

prospect that they may never be able to 

return. 

Around half of Syria's pre-war population 

of 23 million has been uprooted - the overwhelming 

majority of them Sunni Muslims, 

who were among the first to rise against the 

government in 2011. Nearly 6 million fled 

abroad, while 6.6 million are displaced within 

Syria. 

Roughly a third of the displaced are 

crammed into areas that remain outside 

government hands in northern Syria: rebelheld 

Idlib province and a neighboring Turkish-controlled 

enclave. Thrown together 

from different parts of the country, they 

have to adjust to a strange new hybrid society 

where former city dweller and former 

village farmer, uneducated and educated, 

liberal and conservative now live side by 

side in tent camps or rented homes, with 

different accents, cuisines and customs. 

They all share the realization that this may 

be their future. 

"I see this as a long-term thing. It is not a 

year or two and we will return. No!" Hikmat 

said, speaking recently in Jarablus, a Turkish-administered 

town in northern Syria. 

"All (our properties) are gone." 

He spoke on condition he be identified 

only by his first name to protect his family, 

because some relatives can still access government-held 

areas. 

As the government regains control of 

opposition areas further south, the number 

of displaced constantly grows. U.N officials 

say 2018 has seen the largest wave of displacement 

since the war began in 2011. The 

government has called on those who left 

homes to return, but the military victories 

are often followed by revenge attacks and 

unilateral confiscation of properties by government 

militias. 

Taliban insurgents and civilians stand in front of a destroyed German military 

vehicle in Isaa Khail village of Char Dara district. 


French military 

parades for 

Bastille Day, gets 

budget boost 

France's military is getting a 

budget boost from President 

Emmanuel Macron as soldiers 

prepare to march 

through Paris on Bastille 

Day. 

Fighter jets will perform 

acrobatics over Paris and 

troops will parade Saturday 

down the Champs-Elysees. 

Macron is presiding over the 

event, where Singaporean 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien 

Loong is the guest of honor. 

Macron signed a new military 

budget on the eve of Saturday's 

parade, aimed at lifting 

defense spending to 2 

percent of gross domestic 

product as promised to 

NATO. The rise had long 

been planned, but came 

after a contentious NATO 

summit in which President 

Donald Trump assailed 

allies for not spending 

enough on defense. 

About 110,000 security 

forces are being deployed 

across France to protect 

Bastille Day celebrations, 

after a 2016 attack in Nice 

killed 86. 

Afghan official 

says insurgents 

kill 11 soldiers 

in west 

An Afghan official says at 

least 11 soldiers were killed 

when their checkpoint came 

under an attack by Insurgents 

in western Farah 

province. 

Mohammad Naser Mehri, 

spokesman for the provincial 

governor, says four other 

soldiers were wounded in 

the gun battle in Bala Buluk 

district. Mehri said nine 

insurgents were killed and 

13 others wounded. 

Mehri said a "large number" 

of insurgents launched 

an attack late Friday night 

and the battle continued 

into early Saturday. 

The Taliban have not 

claimed responsibility for 

the attack but but Mehri 

blamed the group, which 

has recently stepped up 

assaults against Afghan 

security forces in the 

province. 

Thai soccer players crave food, 

wait to go home next week 

The 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued 

from a flooded cave in northern Thailand are 

recovering well and are eager to eat their 

favorite comfort foods after their expected 

discharge from a hospital next week. 

In video messages of the boys shown at a 

news conference on Saturday, they are seen 

wearing surgical masks, a safeguard against 

infection that's been taken since the last of 

them were pulled from the Tham Luang cave 

on Tuesday, ending an 18-day ordeal. Doctors 

said that Friday, when the videos were 

recorded, would be the last day they'd have 

to wear them. 

Public Health Minister Dr. Piyasakol 

Sakolsattayatorn, who led the news conference 

at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, 

said all 13 - the dozen boys, who range in age 

from 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach - 

were expected to be discharged from the hospital 

on Thursday. 

"All of the 13 people, their physical bodies 

are strong, and fit. Regarding infections, 

through the medical evaluations in the first 

days there may be some of them that had 

minor pneumonia, but now all is cleared, no 

fever," Piyasakol said. Several were also 

reported earlier to be recovering from minor 

lung and middle ear infections. 

Most of the boys, who were shown in their 

hospital beds, looked relaxed, and began 

their brief statements with a "wai," the traditional 

Thai greeting of hands raised to chest 

level with palms together. 

A few also gave the two-finger victory sign 

and raised a fist. One of the 14-year-olds, 

Ekarat Wongsukchan, whose nickname is 

Biw, playfully raised his two arms in a boxer's 

victory stance as laughter was heard in 

the background. 

"Hello, my name is Biw, I am fine. I want to 

say thanks to everyone that worried," he 

said. All 13 offered thanks for the support 

they've been given. 

Asked by an off-camera interviewer what 

they were looking forward to eating, their 

wish list included slow-cooked pork leg with 

steamed rice, fried crispy pork, roasted red 

pork, sushi, steak and KFC. 

Adul Samon, a stateless 14-year-old sent to 

Thailand for schooling by his ethnic minority 

parents across the border in Myanmar, 

spoke in Thai and then in English: "Hello, I 

am Adul. Now I am very fine. I am very thank 

you so heavy, thank you so much." 

Adul is perhaps the best known of the boys 

because he was the one speaking English in 

the video taken inside the cave when the 

team members were first found by two 

British cave divers on July 2, nearly 10 days 

after being trapped by flooding. 

In the video from the hospital, he also 

holds up a paper, apparently a drawing of his 

teammates, whom he points out one by one. 

Public Health Minister Piyasakol gave a 

prognosis for the boys, and said, "Psychologists 

have been talking to the kids, with the 

kids, their mental well-being is good today." 

"Even though they are about to leave in the 

days ahead ... they aren't as strong as a normal 

person, they still need to rest and 

improve their health, and body," he said. 

A hospital statement said as the boys continue 

to recover, they remain susceptible to 

infectious disease. To avoid mental stress, 

they should spend at least the next month 

only with family and friends, avoiding media 

encounters that might trigger post-traumatic 

stress disorder symptoms, the statement 

said. 

Banphot Konkum, father of Duangpetch Promthep, shows a picture of his 

son during an interview in Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province, 

northern Thailand, Friday, July 13, 2018. Banphot told The Associated 

Press his son, better known by his nickname, Dom, said that after the team 

members began their casual trek into the cave on June 23, they had no idea 

it had begun raining outside. But the rain caused flooding in the cave, 

blocking them from exiting. 


Indictment ties Russian government 

to election hacking 

3 Twelve Russian military intelligence 

officers hacked into the Clinton presidential 

campaign and the Democratic 

Party and released tens of thousands of 

private communications in a sweeping 

conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in 

the 2016 U.S. election, according to an 

indictment announced days before 

President Donald Trump's summit 

with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The indictment represents special 

counsel Robert Mueller's first charges 

against Russian government officials 

for interfering in American politics, an 

effort U.S. intelligence agencies say was 

aimed at helping the Trump campaign 

and harming his Democratic opponent, 

Hillary Clinton. The case follows a separate 

indictment that accused Russians 

of using social media to sow discord 

among American voters. 

The 29-page indictment lays out how, 

months before Americans went to the 

polls, Russians schemed to break into 

key Democratic email accounts, including 

those belonging to Clinton campaign 

chairman John Podesta, the 

Democratic National Committee and 

the Democratic Congressional Campaign 

Committee. Stolen emails, many 

politically damaging for Clinton, 

appeared on WikiLeaks in the campaign's 

final stretch. 

The charges say the Russian defendants, 

using a persona known as Guccifer 

2.0, in August 2016 contacted a 

person in touch with the Trump campaign 

to offer help. And they say that on 

the same day Trump, in a speech, urged 

Russia to find Clinton's missing emails, 

Russian hackers tried for the first time 

to break into email accounts used by 

her personal office. 

Mueller did not allege that Trump 

campaign associates were involved in 

the hacking effort, that Americans were 

knowingly in touch with Russian intelligence 

officers or that any vote tallies 

were altered by hacking. The White 

House seized on those points in a statement 

that offered no condemnation of 

Russian election interference. 

It was unclear whether the indictment 

might factor into Trump's meeting 

with Putin on Monday. 

Trump has repeatedly expressed 

skepticism about Russian involvement 

in the hacking while being accused by 

Democrats of cozying up to the Russian 

president. Trump complained about 

the Russia investigation hours before 

the indictment, saying the "stupidity" 

was making it "very hard to do something 

with Russia." 

The Kremlin, meanwhile, denied 

anew that it tried to sway the election. 

"The Russian state has never interfered 

and has no intention of interfering in 

the U.S. elections," Putin's foreign 

affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Friday. 

The indictment identifies the defendants 

as officers with Russia's Main 

Intelligence Directorate of the General 

Staff, also known as GRU. If that link is 

established, it would shatter the Kremlin 

denials of the Russian state's 

involvement in the U.S. elections, given 

that the GRU is part of the state 

machine. 

The Russian defendants are not in 

custody, and it is not clear they will ever 

appear in American court, though the 

Justice Department has recently seen 

value in indicting foreign hackers in 

absentia as public deterrence. 

The indictment accuses the Russian 

hackers, starting in March 2016, of 

covertly monitoring the computers of 

dozens of Democratic officials and volunteers, 

implanting malicious computer 

code known as malware to explore 

the networks and steal data, and sending 

phishing emails to gain access to 

accounts. 

One attempt at interference came 

hours after Trump, in a July 27, 2016, 

speech, suggested Russians look for 

emails that Clinton said she had deleted 

from her tenure as secretary of state. 

"Russia, if you're listening," Trump 

said, "I hope you're able to find the 

30,000 emails that are missing." 

That evening, the indictment says, 

the Russians attempted to break into 

email accounts used by Clinton's personal 

office, along with 76 Clinton campaign 

email addresses. 

By June 2016, the defendants, relying 

on fictional personas like DCLeaks and 

Guccifer 2.0, began planning the 

release of tens of thousands of stolen 

emails, the indictment alleges. 

The Podesta emails published by 

WikiLeaks displayed the campaign's 

private communications, including 

deliberations about messaging that 

played into attacks that Clinton was calculating 

and a political flip-flopper. Private 

speeches she gave to financial 

industry firms were particularly damaging 

within the left wing of the Democratic 

party and among independents 

frustrated with the influence of Wall 

Street in politics. 

The indictment alleges that Guccifer 

2.0 was in touch with multiple Americans 

in the summer of 2016 about the 

pilfered material, including an unidentified 

congressional candidate who 

requested and then received stolen 

information. On Aug. 15, 2016, the 

indictment says, Guccifer 2.0 reached 

out to someone in contact with the 

Trump campaign and asked the person 

if they had seen anything "interesting in 

the docs I posted?" Guccifer 2.0 said it 

would be a "great pleasure" to help. 

Prosecutors say weeks later, Guccifer 

2.0 referred to a stolen DCCC document 

posted online and asked the person, 

"what do u think of the info on the 

turnout model for the democrats entire 

presidential campaign." The person 

responded, "(p)retty standard." 

The indictment doesn't identify the 

person, though longtime Trump confidant 

Roger Stone acknowledged Friday, 

through his lawyer, a "24-word 

exchange.

ART & CULTURE 

SUNDAy, 

JULy 15, 2018 

8 

Scarlett Johansson quits trans 

role after LGBT backlash 

US actor Scarlett Johansson has dropped out of a role in which 

she was going to play a transgender man following a backlash 

from the LGBT community. 

The Avengers star was set to play 1970s Pittsburgh crime boss 

Dante "Tex" Gill, who was born Jean Gill, in Rub & Tug. 

But she was criticised by those who said the role should have 

gone to a transgender actor. 

"I've learned a lot from the community since making my first 

statement," Johansson told Out magazine. 

"While I would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante's 

story and transition to life, I understand why many feel he should 

be portrayed by a transgender person." 

"I am thankful that this casting debate... has sparked a larger 

conversation about diversity and representation in film," she 

added. The transgender arguments dividing society 

How should schools support transgender pupils? 

Is Scarlett Johansson casting 'whitewashing'? 

The original announcement was met with intense criticism and 

some said it showed the limited opportunities given to 

transgender actors. 

Trace Lysette, who stars in the Amazon series Transparent, said 

it was representative of a wider problem in Hollywood. 

"I wouldn't be as upset if I was getting in the same rooms as 

Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett for cis roles, but we know that's 

not the case," she tweeted. "A mess." 

Dangal, Mary Kom, MS 

Dhoni and others: The 

box office collection of 

last five sports biopics 

Priyanka 

Chopra on Nick 

Jonas: We are 

getting to know 

each other 

Rumoured lovebirds Priyanka 

Chopra and Nick Jonas are quite 

serious about each other. According 

to a report by People.com, Priyanka 

recently confessed that she is 

getting to know the American 

singing sensation and that things 

are going quite well for them. 

"We're getting to know each other 

and I think it was a great experience 

for him," Priyanka said when asked 

about her recent trip with Nick to 

India. 

The actor also said that Nick 

found the whole experience 

beautiful and really enjoyed 

himself. Both Priyanka and Nick 

were spotted holding hands during 

their visit to India. They also had a 

date night with Priyanka's mother 

Madhu Chopra and brother 

Siddharth Chopra in 

Mumbai.According to various 

reports, the two might even get 

engaged soon and make things 

official. As it is, the duo has been 

spotted wearing identical gold rings 

lately. Nick and Priyanka had first 

grabbed eyeballs when they had 

made a public appearance together 

at last year's MET gala. Since then, 

the two have been spotted several 

times together. After their India trip 

had made headlines, Priyanka was 

seen cheering for rumoured beau 

Nick at Brazil's recently held 

VillaMix Festival. The actor was 

seen taking photos of the singer as 

he took to the stage to thunderous 

applause. 

Soorma starring Diljit Dosanjh and Taapsee Pannu hit the theaters on Friday. The film is 

another Bollywood sports biopic. It highlights the story of national hockey player Sandeep 

Singh who went on to become the captain of the Indian hockey team after recovering from an 

accidental gunshot. Being an inspirational story packed with some Bollywood masala and song 

and dance sequences, it is expected to have a decent opening at the ticket counters. 

Of late, biopics have been the flavour of the season. Watching real-life stories of the real heroes 

unfurl on the silver screen has become a preference of cinephiles. Stories based on legendary 

sportspersons have always helped the filmmakers strike gold. This we say after looking back at 

the box office performance of the last five Bollywood sports biopics. Based on the life of 

Mahavir Singh Phogat, a former wrestler and father of wrestling champions Geeta and Babita 

Phogat, Dangal created history at the box office. A Nitesh Tiwari directorial starring Aamir 

Khan, Zaira Wasim, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra and Sakshi Tanwar, Dangal went on 

to become one of the biggest Bollywood hits with a total domestic collection of Rs 387.38 crore. 

The film was critically acclaimed and was loved by fans. 

Alia, I'll drop you? Ranbir Kapoor's 

the cutest boyfriend ever 

Bollywood's newest couple, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt were spotted leaving a venue 

recently, and a new video shows Ranbir cutely asking Alia if he should drop her where she 

wanted to go. The couple was seen leaving the venue together, in the same car. 

In the video, shared on several Bollywood fan sites, Ranbir and Alia can be seen exiting a 

building into the parking lot, where they interact with a few fans and click selfies. Ranbir is 

wearing a dark shirt, while Alia is wearing a salwar kameez. As he heads to his car, Ranbir can 

be heard saying, "Alia, I'll drop you?" Alia quickly rushes to the car and jumps in. As the car 

drives off, someone from the crowd says, "Good luck for tomorrow RK," to which Ranbir 

replies, "Thank you, I'll need it." Ranbir and Alia have since taken off for Bulgaria, where 

they're shooting Ayan Mukerji's ambitious new film, Brahmastra. Photos of the two, twinning 

in white, also made it online. You can check them out here. 

H o RoSCoPe 

ARIeS 

(March 21 - April 20): 

Natives of Aries are often 

confident and energetic 

people, who should consider 

setting up arrangements for larger family 

gatherings like reunions. Natives of this 

sign are often driving forces in the 

professional and political areas. 

TAURUS 

(April 21 - May 21): The 

obstacles you face at the 

moment may be daunting 

but you have what it takes 

to overcome them. Don't try to avoid 

what fate sends your way over the next 

few days - it is designed to strengthen 

you, not destroy you. 

GeMINI 

(May 22 - June 21): There 

may be times when you 

would like nothing better 

than to cut yourself off 

from the world at large but that simply 

isn't possible. Make the best job of 

what you are expected to do and try to 

steal a few hours for yourself later on. 

CANCeR 

(June 22 - July 23): Some 

things are important and 

some things are not and if 

you don't yet know the 

difference then it's time you found out. 

This should be a productive time for 

you but you need to learn how to say 

"no" when people ask you for favours. 

LIBRA 

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): At 

some stage over the next 

few days you will see or 

hear something that makes 

you view the world in a new light. A 

change of perspective will lead to new 

ways of thinking, ways that answer all 

the questions you have been asking. 

SCoRPIo 

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Find 

out why a partner or loved 

one is behaving so 

erratically, then do what 

you can to assist them. Most likely 

their problems are nowhere near as big 

as they think they are and can quite 

easily be corrected - as can your own! 

SAGITTARIUS 

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Yours is 

a sign of boundless selfconfidence 

and that's good 

because you will need it 

over the next few days. If you are not 

happy in your current environment 

don't be afraid to pack a bag and take 

off for a few days. 

CAPRICoRN 

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You seem 

to lack purpose at the 

moment but that will change 

if you look for ways to express 

yourself. Whatever challenges come your 

way, and there will be plenty, see them as 

opportunities to be embraced rather than 

as threats to be avoided. 

There's a reason you've seen more movies about chess 

than you've seen about football. Americans make 

movies. But they don't care about football. This leaves 

anyone who has ever liked both in a very weird (and 

dissatisfied) situation. 

But the World Cup final is just one day away, and the 

Americans' FOMO is at its peak. So it wouldn't be 

surprising if in a few years, when they host the 2026 

World Cup and China, India and South America 

overtake the US as the world's biggest movie markets, 

that Hollywood begins making more movies about the 

Beautiful Game. 

Being both Indian and fans of the sport, it's likely 

that you've seen Bend it Like Beckham, Gurinder 

Chadha's immensely re-watchable romantic comedy 

about two best friends. It's equally likely that you've 

seen Goal, which was produced with the full 

participation of FIFA, featured more Galacticos than 

Real Madrid's 2005 first 11, and spawned a couple of 

sequels. 

But neither of those films need to be mentioned 

here. This list is reserved for the underdogs, the 

movies that you've perhaps heard of, but haven't got 

around to watching. There's going to be a gaping void 

in your lives after the World Cup final on Sunday, so 

what not fill it with these five movies? 

Tackle your World Cup withdrawal 

with these 5 football films 

Downton Abbey film (finally) confirmed 

Fans of Downton Abbey can breathe a 

sign of relief - a film of the hugely 

successful TV series has finally been 

confirmed after much speculation. 

The "original principal cast" will begin 

production later this summer, the film's 

producers said. The show's creator Julian 

Fellowes has written the film's 

screenplay, and he is also going to coproduce 

as well. The period TV drama, 

which was a hit around the world, ended 

at Christmas 2015 after six series. 

The series, which had an ensemble cast 

led by Hugh Bonneville and Dame 

Maggie Smith, followed the many ups 

and downs of the Crawley family and 

their servants. 

They all lived together in an Edwardian 

English country home at the turn of the 

20th Century. It received a special Bafta 

tribute in 2015 and won three Golden 

Globes, 15 Primetime Emmy Awards and 

69 Emmy nominations. 

Not surprisingly, Downton is the most 

nominated non-US show in the history of 

the Emmy Awards and was shown in 

more than 250 territories worldwide. 

Leo 

(July 24 - Aug. 23): If you 

are not yet getting the 

rewards and the respect you 

deserve don't worry, in a 

matter of days your name will be on 

everybody's lips. The sun in Aries makes 

you both creative and adventurous, so 

do something out of the ordinary. 

VIRGo 

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): You may 

be tempted to go on a 

journey today but the planets 

warn it could lead you in 

some unforeseen directions, so make 

sure you take a map and don't promise 

to be at a certain place at a specific time 

- because you won't make it. 

AQUARIUS 

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): Stay calm 

and keep setbacks in 

perspective. If you can learn 

to take yourself a bit less 

seriously over the coming week then your 

problems, such as they are, will fade into 

insignificance. Rest assured your successes 

will always outnumber your failures. 

PISCeS 

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): It does 

not matter if other people 

approve of what you are 

doing, it matters only that 

it means something to you. The very 

last thing you should be doing now is 

asking friends and family for their 

opinions - it's your views that count.

SPORTS 

SunDAy, JuLy 15, 2018 

9 

France's route to the 

World Cup final 

Sports Desk: France produced an overall 

disappointing performance in their 

opening game but still got the job done, 

reports AP. 

France's progression to Sunday's World 

Cup final, where they face Croatia as they 

target a second title to add to their victory 

on home soil in 1998, has included arguably 

the tournament's most boring and most 

exciting matches. 

France 2-1 Australia, Group C: France 

produced an overall disappointing 

performance in their opening game but still 

got the job done, a scenario that would be 

repeated throughout their run to the final. 

Antoine Griezmann converted the first 

World Cup penalty to be awarded after a 

video review to break the deadlock, but a 

bizarre handball by Samuel Umtiti saw 

Australia hit back. After a double 

substitution from Didier Deschamps, Paul 

Pogba grabbed a winner with 10 minutes 

left with a heavily deflected shot. 

France 1-0 Peru, Group C: Deschamps 

recalled experienced hands Olivier Giroud 

and Blaise Matuidi to his starting line-up 

for their second game, and France 

improved but still struggled to impress 

against the South Americans. 

The breakthrough came with a deflected 

shot from Giroud which Kylian Mbappe 

tapped into the net, although Peru were not 

far from levelling when Pedro Aquino 

clanged the crossbar. The win saw France 

into the last 16 and sent Peru out. 

France 0-0 Denmark, Group C: 

Deschamps made six changes to his team 

for the final group game and only needed a 

point to guarantee top spot, a result which 

also suited the Danes and would guarantee 

their passage to the last 16. 

To little surprise, the circumstances lead 

to the tournament's first goalless draw and 

probably its least interesting game, with 

neither side willing to take any risks in 

attack. 

France 4-3 Argentina, last 16: A match-up 

worthy of a World Cup final kicked off the 

knockout phase and was a thriller from the 

start, when Mbappe blazed through the 

middle of the pitch and won a penalty 

which Griezmann converted, right to the 

finish, when Sergio Aguero headed in an 

injury time goal to set up a tense finale. 

In between, Angel di Maria scored a 

sensational long range strike, Benjamin 

Pavard cancelled out Gabriel Mercado's 

scrappy goal with an equally impressive hit, 

and Mbappe scored two thumping goals to 

restore France's lead and then extend it, 

adding extra panache to an already 

enthralling spectacle. 

Uruguay 0-2 France, quarterfinal: 

Griezmann had predicted that facing a 

team marshalled by his Atletico Madrid 

teammates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez 

would be a boring affair, and it took a 

Raphael Varane header from one of the 

forward's free-kicks to open it up. 

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris preserved 

France's lead with a stunning save to deny 

Martin Caceres, while Griezmann ended 

the game as a contest with a speculative 

shot that slipped through Fernando 

Muslera's hands, although he opted against 

celebrating out of his affection for Uruguay. 

France 1-0 Belgium, semifinal: With 

France great Thierry Henry in the opposing 

dugout as assistant coach and a Belgium 

team full of players who had learned their 

trade at French clubs, this semi-final was 

packed with narratives and did not 

disappoint. 

Belgium played the more attractive 

football, with Eden Hazard their main 

source of danger. But France were more 

street wise, playing a careful, defensive 

game and striking with Samuel Umtiti's 

header from a corner kick. 

Paul Pogba summed up France's ruthless 

mentality in the game, saying: "I am not a 

natural defender, but I want to win the 

World Cup, and you have to make 

sacrifices." 

LOC chairman 

Dvorkovich says FIFA 

WC promoting 

tourism in Russia 

Sports Desk: The 2018 FIFA 

World Cup is a huge driver 

for tourism development in 

Russia, Chairman of the 

Local Organizing Committee 

(LOC) Russia-2018 Arkady 

Dvorkovich said Saturday, 

reports BSS. 

"Now it is a huge driver for 

the development of tourism, 

and we can delve into 

infrastructure (construction) 

in other areas of our big 

country. The main thing is 

that all that has been build 

drives growth," he said. 

"Speaking about 

infrastructure, apart from 

stadiums, those are grounds 

where kids will be training," 

Dvorkovich said, adding that 

the infrastructure should be 

"100% utilized." 

Russia is staging its firstever 

FIFA World Cup, which 

kicked off in Moscow with a 

remarkable opening show at 

Luzhniki Stadium on the 

evening of June 14. 

The national football 

teams of England and 

Belgium are set to play for 

the third place later in the 

day, while the final match for 

the much-coveted World 

Cup Trophy will bring 

together the teams from 

France and Croatia on 

Sunday. 

Russia selected 11 host 

cities to be the venues for the 

matches of the 2018 World 

Cup. The matches have been 

played at 12 stadiums. 

A total of 64 training 

grounds had been 

constructed prior to the 

championship. 

An aerial view of Luzhniki Stadium, one of the venue of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 

host of the final. 

Photo: AP 

The history of Luzhniki Stadium, home 

of the 2018 football World Cup final 

Sports Desk: Tonight the final match of 

the FIFA World Cup will be held in 

Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. Sports fans 

may remember it as the ground where 

Manchester United beat Chelsea 6-5 on 

penalties in the 2008 UEFA Champions 

League Final, or as the main venue for 

the 2013 IAAF World Athletics 

Championships, where Usain Bolt and 

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won three gold 

medals each, reports AP. 

In the run-up to major sporting 

occasions, hosting stadia often come 

under intense scrutiny. Concerns may be 

expressed about whether they will be 

ready in time, the treatment of migrant 

labour exploited in their construction, 

and spiralling budgets. Yet the broader 

history of these spaces often escapes 

public attention. The Luzhniki Stadium, 

in particular, has a remarkable and even 

tragic history that reveals much about 

the social history and public culture of 

late socialism and the final phases of the 

Soviet political experiment. 

The Vladimir Ilich Lenin Stadium (as 

it was originally known) was opened on 

31 July 1956 in south-west Moscow, on a 

bend in the Moscow river. 'Luzhniki', as 

the stadium was renamed in 1992, 

translates roughly as 'The Meadows' - a 

reference to the flood-meadows on 

which it was built. The original stadium 

was planned and designed in just 90 

days in 1954, and its construction 

completed in 450 days in 1955-56. The 

project not only paid tribute to Lenin but 

was also testament to the power of the 

Soviet-planned economy and the 

achievements of construction shockwork 

[a system designed for rewarding 

and recognising workers who surpassed 

their labour targets] that had 

industrialised the nation and built whole 

new cities at breakneck speed under 

Josef Stalin. 

Yet the original construction project 

was not without its challenges, not least 

those posed by the site's waterlogged 

soil, which necessitated extensive 

groundwork that raised the stadium by 

about 50cm. The stadium quickly 

became a feature of the Moscow 

landscape, easily visible from the nearby 

Sparrow Hills and immortalised in 

Konstantin Yuon's 1956 socialist realist 

painting Moscow, View of the Lenin 

Stadium in Luzhniki. Comparing the 

view from the same location today 

reveals how much the stadium and the 

city have changed over the past 60 years. 

Over the decades, this original 

structure has been much modified, first 

in preparation for hosting the 1980 

Moscow Olympics, then with the 

addition of a roof, completed in 1997. 

The most recent reconstruction, during 

which the stadium was closed between 

2013 and 2017, destroyed much of the 

original structure and preserved only the 

original façade walls. 

While the stadium structure has 

changed, the purposes the stadium has 

served have remained remarkably 

consistent. After completion, it was 

quickly pressed into service as the 

national home for both football and 

athletics, and regularly hosted major 

Soviet sporting fixtures. The stadium 

also found a role in projecting Soviet 

society and soft power [the process of 

using economic and cultural influence to 

influence diplomatic relations, rather 

than coercive hard power] 

internationally. This role continues in its 

choice as the venue for the opening and 

closing ceremonies of the 2018 Football 

World Cup. 

On 28 July 1957, the 6th World 

Festival of Youth and Students opened 

in Moscow, which included an opening 

ceremony in the Lenin Stadium. Some 

34,000 foreign visitors from 130 

countries, as well as 120,000 Soviet 

visitors, arrived in Moscow for the twoweek 

festival - audiences to whom the 

Soviet leadership were keen to project a 

more open and tolerant image. Held 17 

months after Khrushchev's so-called 

"Secret Speech" to the 20th Party 

Congress, and featuring a host of 

activities centred on the new stadium 

designed and built since Stalin's death in 

1953, the festival projected Soviet soft 

power at a moment of Cold War tension. 

France secured a place in the final of the 2018 World Cup when they beat Belgium on Tuesday night 

in Saint Petersburg. 

Photo: AP 

Griezmann happy 

if France win 

World Cup 'ugly' 

Sports Desk: France forward Antoine Griezmann said 

Friday winning the World Cup against Croatia on 

Sunday was more important than how his team do it. 

Belgium's players criticised the tactics France used in 

their 1-0 semi-final win as Didier Deschamps' team sat 

deep and Samuel Umtiti's headed goal came from a 

corner, but Griezmann dismissed the criticism, reports 

BSS. 

"I don't care. I want the star (on my shirt for World Cup 

winners). If I get that star, I don't care about how we 

play," the 27-year-old Atletico Madrid forward told a 

press conference at France's training base outside 

Moscow. 

Griezmann said he had changed the way he plays for 

France in order to benefit the team. He finished top 

scorer at Euro 2016 with six goals but France lost the 

final to Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal on home soil. 

He has scored three goals in Russia, two from penalties 

and one largely thanks to a goalkeeping howler from 

Uruguay's Fernando Muslera, but he has also 

contributed two assists. 

"I was top scorer but we lost, so I said to myself: 'I am 

going to score less to see if we can win'. "My game is 

changing, now I am more likely to dictate the rhythm or 

hold onto the ball. "If I score, then that's great, but I am 

more a player who thinks of the team than of scoring." 

After a slow start in Russia, France have picked up 

form. Their blend of experienced campaigners like 

Griezmann and Paul Pogba, and young stars like Kylian 

Mbappe and Benjamin Pavard, ensures they are the 

bookmakers' favourites. 

Midfielder Blaise Matuidi said the defeat in the Euro 

2016 final - when France seemed to freeze in front of 

their own fans at the Stade de France in Paris and 

Portugal nicked a 1-0 win - would be in many of the 

players' minds when they walk out at Moscow's Luzhniki 

Stadium on Sunday. 

"The tears have dried from Euro 2016 but it's still there 

in a little corner of people's minds," Matuidi said on 

Friday. "It will be useful for us on Sunday, even if I don't 

like to keep bringing up the past. It will serve as a lesson 

to us and it means we know what it is to play in a final. 

"We'll approach it differently and hope that we play 

really well and win it. It's up to us to put everything into 

place to achieve our dream of lifting the World Cup." 

Sri Lanka beat South Africa 

by 278 runs in 1st Test 

Sports Desk: South Africa collapsed dramatically against Sri 

lanka's spin to crash to 73 all out in the first Test in Galle on 

Saturday, their lowest total since readmission to 

international cricket, reports BSS. 

The dismal performance came a day after they were bowled 

out for just 126, which had been their previous lowest Test 

innings in Sri Lanka. 

Offspinner Dilruwan Perera took six for 32, and veteran 

left-arm spinner Rangana Herath claimed three for 32, as the 

pair bowled in an unbroken partnership for 28 overs, after 

Sri Lanka set South Africa a target of 352 for victory. 

Herath moved to ninth on the all-time wicket tally, with 

423 career dismissals to his name, while Perera's five-wicket 

haul was the sixth of his career. 

South Africa's match aggregate of 199 was 20 runs fewer 

than Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne's individual 

score across both innings. 

Only three of the visitors made it into double figures, and 

the highest partnership yielded just 22, as batsmen 

repeatedly fell in their attempts to take on the Sri Lanka 

spinners. 

South Africa's top scorer was Vernon Philander, who made 

22 not out, with opener Aiden Markram batting out the most 

deliveries, facing 46 balls for his 19. 

Perera made the first breakthrough in the third over after 

lunch, having opener Dean Elgar stumped, after the batsman 

ran down the pitch and failed to connect with a turning 

delivery. 

Hashim Amla was caught at leg slip for a duck in Perera's 

next over, and Temba Bavuma was caught for two by the 

same fielder shortly after, reducing South Africa to 24 for 3. 

The wickets continued to tumble as Herath began to strike 

as well, with the next three batsmen out for 11 runs in the 

space of four overs. 

It was not until left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj joined 

Philander at the crease with the score on 36 for 6 that South 

Africa began to show any resistance, and even that 

partnership was snuffed out in 22 balls. 

Left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan was required 

only to take the final wicket of the innings, while paceman 

and stand-in captain Suranga Lakmal did not bowl himself in 

this innings at all. South Africa had begun the day 272 runs 

in arrears, but had bowled with discipline to remove the last 

six Sri Lanka wickets for 79 runs. 

Kagiso Rabada had struck twice in an over in the first hour 

of the day, before spinners Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, and 

Dale Steyn took one wicket apiece to finish the innings off. 

Sri Lanka's second innings 190 was built on 35 from Angelo 

Mathews, and a stroke-filled 33 off 46 balls from Lakmal, 

who came in at No. 9. 

Croatia's road to the 2018 

World Cup final 

Sports Desk: Croatia will take on 

France in their first World Cup final 

tonight at the Luzhniki Stadium in 

Moscow. Mario Mandzukic scored the 

winning goal deep in extra time as 

Croatia beat England 2-1 in an utterly 

gripping World Cup semi-final in 

Moscow on Wednesday to set up a 

final date with France, reports AP. 

The Juventus forward netted in the 

109th minute to complete a 

remarkable comeback from a 

shattered Croatian team and take the 

small nation of little more than four 

million people into the World Cup 

final for the first time in their short 

history. England had been the ones 

hoping to make history, in what was 

their first appearance in the semifinals 

in 28 years but they eventually 

fell short. 

Here's a lowdown on Croatia's route 

to their maiden World Cup final. 

Croatia beat Nigeria 2-0: Croatia 

wanted to begin their World Cup 

campaign with a win and they did it 

with a disciplined performance 

against Nigeria. Oghenekaro Etebo's 

own goal in the first-half and skipper 

Luka Modric goal from the spot 

earned the Croatians their first three 

points. 

Croatia beat Argentina 3-0: Zlatko 

Dalic-coached Croatia were up against 

the mighty Argentina led by Lionel 

Messi. Argentina didn't live up to the 

hype and lost by a margin of 3 goals. 

The two-time champions fell to goals 

from Ante Rebic, Luka Modric and 

Ivan Rakitic propelling Croatia to take 

the top spot in their group securing 

the last 16 berth in the process. 

Croatia beat Iceland 2-1: Croatia 

came into this match after registering 

back-to-back wins and were afforded 

the luxury to rest their key players. 

Milan Badelj gave the Croatians the 

lead in the second half but his goal was 

cancelled out by Iceland's Gylfi 

Sigurdsson, who scored a penalty. 

Substitute Ivan Perisic hit the winning 

goal in the 90th minute and went to 

the Round of 16 with a 100 per cent 

record in the group stage. 

Croatia beat Denmark 3-2 on 

penalties, last 16: The last 16 clash 

between these two nations got off to a 

flying start as Mathias Jorgensen 

scored in the first minute to give 

Denmark the lead. Mario Mandzukic 

levelled soon after in the 4th minute. 

Croatian skipper Modric missed a 

penalty in the extra-time. Goalkeeper 

Danijel Subasic was the hero of the 

Croatia reached the World Cup final for the first time in their short history. 

match after he saved penalties from 

Christian Eriksen, Lasse Schone and 

Nicolai Jorgensen and guiding his 

team to the quarter-finals. 

Croatia beat Russia 4-3 on penalties, 

Quarter-finals: This was the second 

successive match for Croatia that went 

into extra-time and penalties. Denis 

Cheryshev's curler for Russia was 

cancelled out by Andrej Kramaric in 

the stipulated ninety minutes. 

Domagoj Vida put Croatia in front in 

the extra-time but Mario Fernandes' 

header in the dying minutes saw 

Russia level the score 2-2. Fedor 

Smolov's spot-kick was saved by 

Subasic and a miss by Fernandes in 

the shoot-out saw the hosts bow out of 

the tournament. 

Croatia beat England 2-1, 

semifinal: Croatia reached their firstever 

World Cup final after they edged 

England 2-1 in extra-time in Moscow. 

Mandzukic scored the winning goal 

in the 109th minute of the semi-final, 

slotting in from Ivan Perisic's flick-on 

into the area. England were given the 

dream start through Kieran 

Trippier's 20-yard free-kick after 

only five minutes, but Perisic's 68thminute 

equaliser sent the match into 

extra time. 

Photo: AP

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

BANGLADESHTODAY 10 

THE 

SUnDAy, JUly 15, 2018 

A seminar at Eastern University held 

Md Mafijul Islam Bhuiyan and Dr. 

S.N.M. Azizul Hoque were the joint 

speaker of the seminar on Thursday 

organized and hosted at Eastern 

University, Bangladesh, a press release 

said. 

Md Mafijul Islam Bhuiyan is the CEO 

of mi2labs worked as a research analyst 

in MDA satellite corporation for one 

year where he processed and analyzed 

satellite images collected from 

RADARSAT-2 satellite. Dr. S.N.M. 

Azizul Hoque is Assistant Professor of 

Independent University, Bangladesh 

(IUB). Dr. Hoque completed the PhD 

in Space Physics from the University of 

Alberta, Canada. Mafijul Islam 

Bhuiyan is going to defend his PhD in 

September from the same University. 

In the talk, Bhuiyan shared his works 

and experiences during his stay at MDA 

satellite corporation located at 

Richmond in British Columbia, 

Canada. 

The both speaker described the 

recently completed project funded 

byICT innovation fund, ICT Division, 

Bangladesh Government. Bhuiyan 

described how they monitor and 

predict flood in Sylhet region during 

the year 2017. Dr. Hoque described the 

deforestation due to 7 lak Rohingya 

refuges in the last one year located in 

Chittagong Division. 

The work was recently submitted to 

Ministry of Environment, Forests and 

Climate Change. Both speaker 

described the potential future projects 

using the satellite imageries. Bhuiyan 

also described about mi2labs, research 

and development company for 

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer 

Vision, Image processing, and Internet 

of things (IOT) located both in Canada 

and Bangladesh. Both the speakers are 

the writer of the textbook of Higher 

Secondary level 'Information and 

Communication Technology' book 

where Vice Chancellor of Eastern 

University, Professor Dr. Aminul 

Haque is the editor of the book. 

India's Infosys 

reports 3.7 

percent profit 

rise, misses 

estimates 

Infosys on Friday reported 

a 3.7 percent rise in quarterly 

profits, well below 

expectations for the Indian 

software giant. 

Net profit in the three 

months to June 30 came in at 

36.12 billion rupees ($527.49 

million), marginally above the 

34.83 billion rupees it 

reported in the same period 

last year. 

A Bloomberg survey of 

analysts had forecast the 

Bangalore-based company to 

report net profit at $546 

million. Infosys said its profits 

were impacted by ongoing 

negotiations over the sale of 

its Israeli software firm 

Panaya. 

India's second-largest 

software services exporter 

maintained its annual 

earnings outlook at six to 

eight percent in US dollar 

terms for the fiscal year 2019, 

and reported robust growth in 

its financial services segment. 

Infosys shares had risen 

more than 1 percent earlier in 

the day, buoyed by optimistic 

forecasts after its rival Tata 

Consultancy Services 

reported a 24 percent rise in 

profits earlier this week. 

India's $150 billion IT 

sector has long been one of its 

flagship industries but is 

facing upheaval in the face of 

automation, a failure to keep 

up with new technologies and 

visa restrictions. 

EU takes anti-Trump 

trade show to China 

and Japan 

The European Union's top 

officials will meet the leaders 

of China and Japan next week 

to boost ties in the face of fears 

that US President Donald 

Trump will spark an all-out 

global trade war. 

The trip by EU Council 

President Donald Tusk and 

Commission head Jean- 

Claude Juncker includes the 

signing of a free trade deal 

with Japan, which was moved 

from Brussels last week 

because Japanese premier 

Shinzo Abe was dealing with 

deadly floods at home. 

Their Asian tour comes as 

the EU - which, with 28 

countries and 500 million 

people is the world's biggest 

single market - tries to forge 

alliances in the face of the 

protectionism of Trump's 

"America 

First" 

administration. 

European Commission 

spokesman Margaritis 

Schinas said the "landmark" 

Japan deal was "the biggest 

ever negotiated by the 

European Union". 

"This agreement will create 

an open trade zone covering 

nearly a third of the world's 

GDP," Schinas added. 

In China on Monday, the 

two leaders will meet with 

President Xi Jinping and 

Premier Li Keqiang to discuss 

their shared tensions with 

Washington, having both 

recently announced new 

tariffs on US goods in 

retaliation for measures 

imposed by Trump. 

They are expected to 

reaffirm their support for the 

rules-based international 

order, including the World 

Trade Organization, which 

faces unprecedented criticism 

from Trump's administration. 

The leaders will also discuss 

climate change - another area 

on which the EU is in 

disagreement with Trump 

after he pulled out of the Paris 

climate deal - and nuclear 

issues in North Korea and 

Iran, Schinas said. 

But the EU and China will 

have to smooth over existing 

differences over Beijing's own 

restrictive market practices 

including the "dumping" of 

cheap Chinese imports, 

especially steel. 

Some of those concerns are 

shared by Washington. 

The EU recently pushed 

through measures targeting 

China that were intended to 

offset the consequences of 

granting China so-called 

market economy status at the 

WTO, which will make it more 

difficult to prove and punish 

illegal trade practices by 

Beijing. 

In Tokyo, talks will also 

focus on presenting a united 

front against the United States 

over its tariffs, with the 

Japanese government having 

slammed them as "extremely 

deplorable". 

The EU-Japan deal was 

hailed recently as a "strong 

signal to the world" against 

US protectionism by EU 

Trade Commissioner Cecilia 

Malmstrom, who is travelling 

with Juncker and Tusk to 

Asia. 

Abe was originally due to 

come to Brussels to sign the 

deal last week, but he called 

off the trip after flooding and 

landslides in Japan that killed 

more than 200 people. 

Tusk had said that after the 

"tragic circumstances" they 

would move the summit to 

Tokyo. 

Schinas confirmed that 

Juncker would stick to his 

"very demanding agenda" and 

go on the trip to China and 

Japan, despite suffering from 

a painful medical condition 

that made him stumble 

repeatedly at a NATO summit 

in Brussels this week. 

Italy's Di Maio says 

parliamentary majority will 

reject EU-Canada trade deal 

Italy's deputy prime minister 

Luigi Di Maio said Friday that a 

majority in parliament would 

reject an EU-Canada free trade 

deal, thereby threatening to 

scupper the entire agreement. 

"Soon the CETA 

(Comprehensive Economic 

and Trade Agreement) will 

come to parliament for 

ratification and the majority 

will reject it," Di Maio told 

Italy's main farming union, the 

Coldiretti. 

"Any Italian civil servants 

abroad who continue to defend 

lousy treaties like CETA will be 

removed," he added in 

comments criticised by 

industry and consumer groups. 

"Being here means, in my 

view, reclaiming a bit of 

healthy sovereignty," said Di 

Maio, who heads the populist, 

eurosceptic Five Star 

Movement. 

He is joint deputy prime 

minister along with the Matteo 

Salvini, leader of the far-right 

League party. 

"We must defend Italy and 

the Italian economy," he 

added. 

Agriculture Minister Gian 

Marco Centinaio, a member of 

the League, said last month 

that Italy's parliamentary 

majority would not ratify the 

pact as "it only protects a small 

part of our protected 

designation of origin" 

products. 

"We shall ask parliament not 

to ratify thir treaty and others 

similar to CETA," Centinaio 

told La Stampa in an 

interview," saying that was 

consistent with the 

government manifesto agreed 

by the coalition partners. 

Vincenzo Boccia, who heads 

Confindustria, Italy's 

employers' federation, said it 

would in his view be "a grave 

mistake" not to ratify the 

accord, RadioCor financial 

news agency reported. 

"If the free trade treaty 

allows greater exports then it is 

in the national interest - if less 

exports, then no. The data 

suggest, it seems to me 

objectively, to open (Canada) 

up to Italy, rather than close it 

off," said Boccia, stressing 

export's role in creating wealth. 

The consumer association 

ADUC also criticised Di Maio's 

opposition to the accord, 

highlighting that CETA notably 

protected 40 Italian products 

on the Canadian market, "a 

higher figure than ever." 

The European Union and 

Canada formally signed the 

Comprehensive Economic and 

Trade Agreement (CETA) in 

October 2016, at a time when 

anti-globalisation sentiment 

was at fever pitch in Europe. 

The accord eliminates 98 

percent of tariffs between the 

EU and Canada. 

It needs to be ratified by all 

28 members of the European 

Union in order to come into 

force. To date, 11 countries in 

total have ratified though it 

provisionally came into effect 

last September. Its opponents 

have long branded it as a 

danger to health, democracy 

and the rule of law. 

Farmers in Italy protested in 

2017, demanding that the 

government scrap the pact. 

They wanted speciality 

products such as Parmesan 

cheese to be labelled "Made in 

Italy". 

CETA's supporters see the 

pact as an extension of the 

global trade system that faces a 

threat from protectionist US 

President Donald Trump. 

Myanmar 

permits 24 

more 

investment 

Myanmar Investment 

Commission has recently 

permitted 24 more 

investments, creating over 

11,200 job opportunities, the 

official Global New Light of 

Myanmar reported Saturday. 

The permitted enterprises 

include 19 foreign enterprises 

and five local enterprises. 

The 143.12 million U.S. 

dollars' investments from 

those 19 foreign enterprises 

entered the country's 

manufacturing, agriculture 

and other sectors while 

investments from five local 

enterprises flowed into the 

country's hotel and 

manufacturing sectors. 

Meanwhile, a total of 44 

foreign enterprises with the 

capital of 325.6 million U.S. 

dollars investment were 

permitted as of July during 

the six-month transitional 

period which started in April 

this year. 

The country has changed its 

fiscal year period from 

original April-March to 

O c t o b e r - S e p t e m b e r 

beginning 2018-2019, 

producing a six-month 

transitional gap. 

The country's Yangon 

region attracts 60 percent of 

both local and foreign 

investments, followed by 

Mandalay with 30 percent 

and the rest flows into other 

regions and states. 

Fitch downgrades Turkish debt 

rating to 'BB,' outlook negative 

The ratings agency Fitch on Friday 

downgraded Turkish sovereign debt a 

notch to 'BB' with a negative outlook, 

citing inflation and widening current 

account deficit. 

The decision followed S&P's move in 

May to cut the country debt ratings, 

likewise amid concerns about Ankara's 

worsening finances and weakening 

currency. 

Recent actions by President Recep 

Tayyip Erdogan that could weaken 

central bank independence meant 

stewardship of the economy could 

suffer, Fitch said in a statement. 

"In Fitch's opinion, economic policy 

credibility has deteriorated in recent 

months and initial policy actions 

following elections in June have 

heightened uncertainty," Fitch said in a 

statement. 

"This environment will make it hard 

to engineer a soft landing for the 

economy." 

Fitch said trouble was on the horizon 

for Turkey's economy. Annual inflation 

hit a 15-year high last month of 15.4 

percent, driven by the falling lira, which 

has lost 27 percent so far this year. 

While the central bank has raised 

interest rates by five percentage points 

since April, Fitch forecasts inflation will 

be double that of other countries in the 

'BB' category. 

The current account deficit is 

expected to widen to 6.1 percent of GDP 

this year, but should decline to 4.1 

percent next year by the weakening lira, 

lower oil prices and a growing tourism 

sector. 

And with foreign investment at a low 

ebb, the government will have to resort 

to borrowing to finance the budget 

deficit, which is expected to drive net 

external debt to 35 percent of GDP by 

year end. 

"Turkey's large gross external 

financing requirement leaves it 

vulnerable to shocks," the agency said, 

estimating external borrowing needs at 

$299 billion for 2018. 

Syed Tanvir Husain, Chief Human Resources Officer of Grameenphone (GP) and Brigadier General Abul 

Kashem Md Ibrahim, Registrar of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) exchanging a MoU document 

at BUP in the city on Thursday. 

Photo: Courtesy 

US banks see mixed profits, 

little trade war hit so far 

Clients of giant US banks 

are increasingly nervous 

about growing trade 

tensions, but are not yet 

significantly curtailing 

business activity due to the 

uncertainty, banks said 

Friday after reporting 

mixed earnings. 

JPMorgan Chase chief 

executive Jamie Dimon 

cautioned that "There are 

unpredictable outcomes 

when you start skirmishes 

like this with multiple 

countries." 

"It's a worry," he told 

reporters in a conference 

call, but "I don't know if I'd 

use the word 'major' yet." 

Citigroup chief financial 

officer John Gerspach 

agreed with his 

counterparts that the 

concerns are not yet 

driving business decisions. 

"When you get into this 

kind of rhetoric, it does 

impact sentiment," he said. 

"It's going to slow down 

decision making in some 

cases, but that hasn't 

translated yet into 

anything we've seen." 

The comments came as 

the two major US banks 

reported earnings that 

easily topped analyst 

expectations, in contrast to 

slumping Wells Fargo 

which 

badly 

underperformed forecasts. 

The banks are among the 

first major companies to 

report results in what is 

expected to be a strong 

second-quarter earnings 

season thanks to US tax 

cuts and a humming 

American economy. 

However, a series of 

trade battles launched by 

US President Donald 

Trump against key trading 

partners, including China 

and the European Union, 

have clouded the overall 

business outlook. 

Another worry particular 

to bank stocks is whether 

the benefits from higher 

Federal Reserve interest 

rates are ebbing. Higher 

interest rates boost bank 

profits by allowing them to 

charge more for loans. 

However, as rates continue 

to rise, banks also must pay 

more to depositors. 

A note from S&P Global 

credit analyst Brendan 

Browne this week warned 

that the gains for banks 

from higher interest rates 

"are likely to diminish, 

because we expect deposit 

rates to rise more 

materially over the next 

year." 

Banks will need to 

sweeten the incentives for 

depositors to compete with 

improved rates for 

certificates of deposit and 

money market mutual 

funds, Browne said in an 

interview. 

JPMorgan, the biggest 

US bank by assets, 

reported an 18.3 percent 

surge in net income 

compared to the year-ago 

period to $8.3 billion. 

Revenues came in at $28.4 

billion, up 6.5 percent. 

Highlights included 

increases in net interest 

income following two Fed 

rate hikes this year, and a 

rise in overall loans 

compared with the yearago 

period, a sign of 

strengthening economic 

conditions. 

Citigroup profits jumped 

16 percent in the second 

quarter to $4.5 billion due 

to overall loan growth and 

lower tax payments. Both 

main divisions, global 

consumer banking and 

institutional client services, 

had higher profits. 

Revenues came in at 

$18.5 billion, up two 

percent. 

Gerspach said Citigroup 

has seen an uptick in 

activity within Asia that 

could pick up further if the 

US-China clash worsens. 

"If it does emerge that 

there is some slowdown in 

trade between China and 

the US, what we are seeing 

is that there is growth in 

trade flows elsewhere in 

the world," he said. "In 

particular, we're seeing a 

lot of growth in trade flows 

just in the Asia corridor." 

Citigroup has hired 

additional staff for China 

desks in India and South 

Korea, Gerspach said. 

The big laggard was 

Wells Fargo, which still has 

not completely found its 

footing following a fake 

accounts scandal that 

surfaced in 2016, 

prompting numerous 

fines, government probes 

and lawsuits. 

Net income fell 11.4 

percent to $5.2 billion, and 

there was a drop in overall 

deposits and loans. 

On the positive side, the 

company notched an 

increase in net interest 

income, indicating it also 

benefited from higher 

interest rates. 

Wells Fargo has replaced 

key executives, revamped 

some pay incentive policies 

to improve governance, 

and spent on marketing to 

emphasize these 

improvements. 

"During the second 

quarter we continued to 

transform Wells Fargo into 

a better, stronger company 

for our customers, team 

members, communities 

and shareholders," said 

Wells Fargo chief executive 

Tim Sloan. 

Shares of JPMorgan 

finished down 0.5 percent, 

while Citigroup dropped 

2.2 percent and Wells 

Fargo 1.2 percent.

MISCELLANEOUS 

SuNDAY, JulY 15, 2018 

11 

Pompeo visits Mexico, 

is urged to reunite 

migrant families 

Mexican President Enrique Pena 

Nieto on Friday urged a U.S. 

delegation led by Secretary of State 

Mike Pompeo to quickly reunite 

migrant families separated at the 

border. 

Pena Nieto said in a statement he 

called for "a permanent alternative 

that prioritizes the well-being and 

rights of minors." 

Pompeo visited Mexico with 

Cabinet-level officials to meet with 

both Pena Nieto and president-elect 

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador after 

a sea-change election that could 

offer a chance for the neighbors to 

repair strained relations. 

Discussions were expected to 

address ways to combat 

transnational 

criminal 

organizations, the U.S. opioid 

epidemic and trade tensions. But 

irregular migration across Mexico's 

northern border into the United 

States loomed large during the 

meetings. 

"The United States is committed to 

making measurable progress to 

ensure security on both sides of that 

border," Pompeo told journalists. 

U.S.-Mexico ties have deteriorated 

significantly under President 

Donald Trump, who campaigned on 

building a border wall and has 

repeatedly blamed Mexico for 

economic and social problems in the 

United States. 

Trump's son-in-law and White 

House adviser Jared Kushner 

accompanied Pompeo, as well as 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin 

and Homeland Security Secretary 

Kirstjen Nielsen. They met first with 

Pena Nieto and then with the 

president-elect. 

Dozens of protesters jeered at 

Pompeo's motorcade as the 

delegation arrived to congratulate 

the leftist, populist Lopez Obrador. 

Many of the protesters condemned 

the Trump administration's "zero 

tolerance" immigration policy that 

separated families attempting to 

claim asylum in the United States. 

The vast majority of child migrants 

separated at the border were Central 

Americans, not Mexicans. 

"Where are our children?" read 

one sign. Others read, "Stop Trump" 

and "ICE is a terrorist" - referring to 

the U.S. Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement agency. 

Pompeo acknowledged strains in 

U.S.-Mexico relations when he 

greeted Lopez Obrador, but pledged 

the Trump administration values the 

bilateral ties. 

"We know there have been bumps 

in the road between our two 

countries, but President Trump is 

determined to make the relationship 

between our peoples better and 

stronger," Pompeo said. "We wanted 

to come down here to let you know 

that President Trump cares deeply 

for the success of the relationship 

between our two countries. Our 

presence here today signals that to 

you." 

Sharing a nearly 2,000-mile 

(3,200-kilometer) border, Mexico 

and the United States have 

traditionally coordinated closely on 

security and immigration. Mexico is 

also the United States' third-largest 

trading partner for goods, with the 

U.S. buying about 80 percent of 

Mexico's exports, including 

automobiles, fruit, vegetables and 

beer. 

Marcelo Ebrard, who is slated to be 

the next Mexican top diplomat, 

described the meeting between 

Pompeo and the president-elect as 

"frank, respectful and cordial." They 

shared with the U.S. delegation 

proposals for cooperation in 

commerce, development, security 

and migration. 

But Ebrard said they did not 

discuss one idea that a Mexican 

official says has been debated to 

address irregular migration: 

declaring Mexico a "safe third 

country." That would mean people 

traveling through Mexico hoping to 

claim asylum in the U.S. would have 

to do so in Mexico instead. 

Such a proposal is unlikely to 

garner support in Mexico as it would 

burden the country with tens of 

thousands more asylum seekers a 

year, according to the official who 

spoke on condition of anonymity 

because he was not authorized to 

brief the media. 

Relations have also been strained 

by tit-for-tat trade tariffs between 

Mexico and the U.S. amid tense 

negotiations over the North 

American Free Trade Agreement, or 

NAFTA, and fears of a trade war. 

Trump has branded the free trade 

pact, which also includes Canada, as 

a job killer for Americans. 

In his statement, Pena Nieto 

emphasized his government's 

willingness to continue 

renegotiating NAFTA to reach a deal 

"as quickly as possible." 

Despite positive statements from 

both sides, the upcoming transition 

of power in Mexico has the potential 

to further destabilize U.S.-Mexico 

relations if either leader takes aim at 

the other to appeal to his political 

base at home. They're unlikely 

partners, as they occupy opposite 

ends of the political spectrum. 

Lopez Obrador has already 

announced his government will 

cancel a pending purchase of U.S. 

helicopters as an example of costcutting 

measures. The sale was 

initially promoted by Washington as 

a move that would help a strategic 

partner fight against criminal 

organizations. 

And November midterm elections 

in the U.S. bring the possibility that 

Trump could return to the rhetoric 

of his presidential campaign, which 

was derogatory toward Mexico. 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿ 

Bangladesh Tanti league (Dhaka Metropolitan North unit) organized an extended meeting recently 

and announced about giving mass reception to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on July 21 and chalked 

elaborate programmes to observe mourning month on August. Hamid Ahmed, president (Dhaka 

Metropolitan North unit) chaired the meeting while general secretary S M Mosharraf Hossain was 

present as the chief discusser as the occasion. 

Photo : Courtesy 

Trump attacks CNN, NBC and 

British paper in news conference 

President Donald Trump found time 

to attack CNN, NBC and the British 

tabloid The Sun, and offer fashion 

advice to a fourth news organization, 

while talking to reporters Friday with 

British Prime Minister Theresa May. 

The leaders faced sharp questions 

at a news conference following their 

talks, which came between a 

reportedly contentious meeting of 

NATO representatives and Trump's 

upcoming summit with Russian 

President Vladimir Putin. 

Frequent Trump foil Jim Acosta of 

CNN tried to ask a question at one 

point and was rebuffed by the 

president. 

"CNN is fake news," Trump said. "I 

don't take questions from CNN. 

"Let's go to a real network," Trump 

said, pointing to John Roberts of Fox 

News Channel. Roberts asked if there 

was any way that relations with 

Russia would improve as long as the 

country occupied Crimea. 

A day earlier, Trump took a 

question from CNN's Jeremy 

Diamond following the NATO 

meeting. And as Friday's session with 

May was breaking up, Acosta 

shouted, "Mr. President, will you ask 

Putin to stay out of U.S. elections?" 

Trump turned around and 

answered yes. 

Roberts, a veteran of CBS News 

and CNN, took some withering 

criticism online for not standing up 

for Acosta in the moment or, 

perhaps, ceding the microphone to 

his colleague. 

CNN anchor Jake Tapper tweeted 

that he was "old enough to remember 

when other networks came to the 

defense of Fox News WH 

correspondents during the Obama 

years. Such did not happen here. 

Lesson for the kids out there: no one 

should ever try to do the right thing 

with the expectation that it will ever 

be reciprocated." 

Media solidarity has become an 

issue with White House briefings 

lately, as some journalists suggest 

that reporters should band together 

to prevent press secretary Sarah 

Huckabee Sanders from changing the 

subject to avoid answering questions. 

It hasn't happened to any appreciable 

degree. 

Roberts said later that he paused 

when Acosta and Trump went back 

and forth, and asked his own 

question when it became clear the 

president would not entertain one 

from CNN. 

He noted he used to work at CNN. 

"There are some fine journalists who 

work there and risk their lives to 

report on stories around the world," 

Roberts said. "To issue a blanket 

condemnation of the network as 'fake 

news' is ... unfair." 

Roberts also said it was similarly 

wrong for Trump to call Kristen 

Welker of NBC News dishonest. "She 

is as honest as the day is long," he 

said. 

Trump took offense Friday when 

Welker asked him, "Are you giving 

Russian President Vladimir Putin the 

upper hand heading into your talks 

given that you are challenging the 

alliances that he is seeking to break 

up and defeat?" 

Trump called it dishonest 

reporting. "Of course it happens to be 

NBC, which is possibly worse than 

CNN," he said. Welker was cut off 

when she tried to reply. 

NBC News had no comment on the 

exchange. Margaret Talev, president 

of the White House Correspondents 

Association, said that "asking smart, 

tough questions, whether in a 

presidential press conference or 

interview, is central to the role a free 

press plays in a healthy republic." 

"Saying a news organization isn't 

real doesn't change the facts and 

won't stop us from doing our jobs," 

Talev said. 

All of the cable news networks, 

along with ABC, CBS and NBC, 

carried the news conference live. 

Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC's 

"Morning Joe" promised the show 

would fact-check the session live, 

much as it had done the day before 

following a NATO meeting. Co-host 

Joe Scarborough frequently broke in 

while Trump talked on Thursday, 

calling some of his claims untrue. 

But MSNBC didn't break in to the 

Trump-May session Friday. There 

was no indication whether the live 

fact-check was considered a failed 

experiment, or whether it would be 

repeated on "Morning Joe" or any 

other show. 

Trump was questioned Friday 

about critical statements he had 

made about May in an interview this 

week with The Sun, where he said she 

hadn't taken his advice about Brexit 

negotiations and he praised her 

political rival. He criticized the 

newspaper for not printing the 

positive things he said about May, 

although he later softened his stance 

when it was pointed out that the Sun 

released audio portions of the 

interview. 

"I said very nice things about her," 

he said. "They didn't put it in the 

headline. I wish they'd put it in the 

headline." 

The Sun's headline: "Trump's 

Brexit Blast: Donald Trump told 

Theresa May how to do Brexit 'but 

she wrecked it' - and says the US 

trade deal is off." 

In a statement, the Sun said it 

stood by its reporting. "To say the 

president called us 'fake news' with 

any serious intent is, well ... fake 

news." 

During one awkward moment in 

the news conference, Trump called 

attention to Reuters reporter Jeff 

Mason's hat. Roberts, sitting next to 

him, playfully doffed the hat to reveal 

Mason's bald head. 

"I like you better without the hat," 

Trump said. 

Mason took it off and asked his 

question. 

GD-929/18 (10 x 4) GD-930/18 (6 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

SUNDAy, DhAKA, JULy 15, 2018, AShAR 31, 1425 BS, ShAwAL 30 , 1439 hIJRI 

The new state-of-the-art Indian Visa Application Center (IVAC) was opened in the presence of home 

ministers of both India and Bangladesh at the Dhaka's Jamuna Future Park. 

Photo: TBT 

5 AL leader 

murder 

suspects 

held in city 

DHAKA : Detectives arrested 

five people from Gulshan 

and Mirpur areas on Friday 

night for their suspected link 

to the murder of Awami 

League leader Farhad 

Hossain, reports UNB. 

Tipped off, a team of 

Detective Branch of police 

conducted a drive in the areas 

and arrested five people along 

with four pistols, four magazines 

and 12 rounds of bullets, 

said DB (North) sources. 

Earlier on June 15, Farhad 

Hossain, 52, general secretary 

of Badda union Awami 

League, was shot to death by 

unknown miscreants in the 

city's Uttar Badda area while 

coming out of Baitus Salam- 

Jame mosque after offering 

Juma prayers. 

Medical students block 

Dhaka-Mymensingh 

highway 

GAZIPUR : Students of 

Tairunnessa Memorial 

Medical College blocked 

Dhaka- Mymensingh highway 

here on Saturday morning 

protesting the death of a 

physician in a road crash on 

Thursday, reports UNB. 

Salehuddin Ahmed, assistant 

superintendent of 

Gazipur district Traffic police, 

said that doctor Shammir 

Shakir Prokash was killed 

after being hit by a BRTC bus 

in KuniaTargach area on 

Thursday evening. 

The students of the medical 

college put up barricade in 

front of the college around 9 

am to meet their three-point 

demand including punishment 

of the driver, halting 

vehicular movement on the 

highway. 

India opens world’s 

largest visa centre 

in Dhaka 

DHAKA : A new integrated 

state-of-the-art Indian Visa 

Application Centre (IVAC), 

the largest ever Indian visa 

centre in the world, was inaugurated 

at Jamuna Future 

Park in the city on Saturday. 

Indian Home Minister 

Rajnath Singh along with his 

Bangladesh counterpart 

Asaduzzaman Khan formally 

opened the centre by handing 

over passports with 

Indian visas to a couple of 

visa applicants, reports UNB. 

Special Secretary (Border 

Management), Indian 

Ministry of Home Affairs, 

Braj Raj Sharma, Indian 

High Commissioner in 

Dhaka Harsh Vardhan 

Shringla and Jamuna Group 

Chairman Nurul Islam Babul 

were, among others, present. 

The Indian Home Minister 

handed over a five-year multiple 

entry tourist visa to 

Mohammad Nazrul Islam 

(freedom fighter category), 

while the Bangladesh Home 

Minister handed over a fiveyear 

multiple entry tourist 

visa to Amal Chandra Natta 

(senior citizen category), the 

High Commissioner handed 

over a one-year multiple 

entry tourist visa to Jannattul 

Ferdous and Special 

Secretary (Border 

Management) handed over a 

six-month triple entry medical 

visa to Begum Sharifa 

(going to Bangaluru for medical 

treatment) marking the 

inauguration of the new 

IVAC. 

Talking to reporters after 

the inauguration, Shringla 

said the High Commission in 

Dhaka issued 14 lakh visas 

last year. 

He said the new integrated 

visa centre with all the facilities 

in place will issue on 

average 5000 visas every day 

and the visa applicants will 

be treated as guests. 

The High Commission 

issued 9.76 lakh visas in 2016 

and today Bangladeshi people 

constitute the largest 

number of visitors to India. 

Later, they enjoyed a folk 

dance there. 

The existing e-token 

(appointment) system for 

submission of Indian visa 

applications will simultaneously 

be withdrawn from 

Sunday (July 15). 

This new IVAC at JFP will 

replace all the existing IVACs 

(Motijheel, Uttara, Gulshan 

and Mirpur Road) in Dhaka 

in two phases. 

The new IVAC in JFP will 

replace the existing IVACs in 

Motijheel and Uttara from 

July 15. 

The remaining two IVACs 

in Dhaka (Gulshan and 

Mirpur Road) will also be 

shifted to IVAC, JFP by 

August 31. 

There will, thereafter, be 

only one IVAC at JFP for all 

categories of visa applications 

without prior appointment 

in Dhaka. 

The new IVAC in JFP is a 

model visa centre, said the 

Indian High Commission in 

Dhaka. 

Located in an 18,500 

square feet commercial area, 

the IVAC will have facilities 

like computer-generated 

token vending machines 

(expected waiting time will 

be indicated), comfortable 

seating arrangements in an 

air-conditioned waiting area, 

coffee and soft drinks vending 

machines, food kiosks 

and as many as 48 countres 

for the submission of applications. 

Separate counters will be 

kept reserved for senior citizens, 

women, muktijodhas 

and business applicants. 

A special helpdesk and 

counter for services, including 

printing, photocopying 

etc. will be accessible at cost 

prices. 

The location of the new 

IVAC inside a spacious and 

secure shopping mall is 

expected to provide comfortable 

and seamless visa services 

to applicants and is 

expected to reduce waiting 

time considerably. 

The consolidation of visa 

application services at the 

JFP and the provision of 

amenities, reflect the continuing 

efforts of the High 

Commission of India, in collaboration 

with its outsourced 

partners, the State 

Bank of India, to further 

streamline the Indian visa 

application process and 

strengthen people-to-people 

contacts between India and 

Bangladesh. 

Minimum 

democratic space 

missing: BNP 

DHAKA : BNP secretary 

general Mirza Fakhrul 

Islam Alamgir on Saturday 

alleged that the government 

has destroyed the 

minimum democratic 

space in the country only to 

perpetuate its power, 

reports UNB. 

"Now the country lacks 

minimum democratic 

space while people have no 

freedom to express their 

views and opinions," he 

said. 

The BNP leader came up 

with the allegation while 

talking to reporters at the 

Institution of Engineers 

(IEB) protesting the denial 

of police permission for 

holding a gathering of pro- 

BNP intellectuals. 

Pro-BNP platform Zia 

Parishad was schedule to 

hold a gathering of intellectuals 

at IEB but the 

progamme was cancelled 

as police denied the organiser 

permission for the programme. 

Fakhrul said it was a programme 

of a non-political 

organisation but the government 

did not allow 

them to hold it. "We strongly 

condemn and protest it." 

He regretted that police 

have now chosen the path 

of repression and working 

for the continuation of misrule. 

Delhi to help expedite sustainable 

return of Rohingyas: Minister 

DHAKA : Indian Home 

Minister Rajnath Singhon 

Saturdaysaid India is committed 

to extending help in 

the safe, speedy and sustainable 

return of 

Rohingyas to their homes in 

Myanmar, reports UNB. 

He conveyed India's position 

during his meeting 

with Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina at her office. 

In this context, he said, 

India is working on a project 

to construct prefabricated 

housing in Rakhine 

State so as to meet the 

needs of the displaced persons. 

India will also continue to 

provide relief material and 

supplies to help the government 

of Bangladesh deal 

with the needs of those in 

the relief camps, said the 

Indian High Commission in 

Dhaka sharing the outcome 

of the meeting. 

They also discussed the 

influx of displaced persons 

from the Rakhine State of 

Myanmar over the past 

year. 

Meanwhile, 

a 

Memorandum of 

Cooperation was signed 

between 

Sardar 

Vallabhbhai Patel National 

Police Academy, 

Hyderabad and the 

Bangladesh Police 

Academy, Sardah, Rajshahi 

to establish mutual cooperation 

in the sphere of training, 

management and 

exchange of trainers and 

trainees between the two 

Police Academies. 

The Memorandum of 

Cooperation was signed by 

DR Doley Barman, 

Director, Sardar 

Vallabhbhai Patel National 

Police Academy, 

Hyderabad and Md Nazibur 

Rahman, ndc, Addl (IGP), 

Principal, Bangladesh 

Police Academy. 

This will add yet another 

dimension to the capacity 

building programmes being 

organized in India for 

Bangladesh officials, said a 

press release. 

Earlier, Rajnath Singh 

and Prime Minister of 

Bangladesh had a meeting 

in a cordial and friendly 

atmosphere in presence of 

senior officials from both 

sides. 

The Home Minister conveyed 

the greetings of 

Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi to Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina. 

Rajnath complimented 

the Prime Minister for the 

excellent growth registered 

by Bangladesh's economy 

under her leadership with a 

growth rate of 7.78 percent 

last year. 

The two leaders noted 

that much has been 

achieved by India and 

Bangladesh by working 

together to counter the 

menace of terrorism and 

radicalisation. 

They agreed that all countries 

in the region that are 

afflicted by this menace 

should proactively join 

hands to effectively tackle it. 

The Home Minister also 

thanked the Prime Minister 

for the cooperation extended 

by Bangladesh in 

addressing India's security 

concerns. 

Rajnath and his 

Bangladesh counterpart 

Asaduzzaman Khan jointly 

inaugurated the 

B a n g l a d e s h - I n d i a 

Friendship Building at the 

Bangladesh Police 

Academy, Sardah, 

Rajshahi, the foundation 

stone of which was laid in 

2015 by Indian Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi 

and the Prime Minister of 

Bangladesh. 

This is a development 

cooperation project 

between India and 

Bangladesh. 

The newly inaugurated 

facility incorporates stateof-the-art 

Forensic 

Laboratories, Mock Crime 

Scenes, Mock Police 

Station, IT Centre with 

computer labs etc. 

Bangladesh Awami Sechcha Sebak League President Advocate Molla Mohammad Abu Kawser greets 

Shaban Mahmud who has been elected as Secretary General in BFUJ election. Photo : Riya Chowdhury 

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

15-07-2018

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