03-08-2018

friDay 

Dhaka:august 3, 2018; Srabon 19, 1425 BS; Zilqad 20,1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.195; 8 Pages~Tk.8.00 

international 

Top Pakistan court 

bars former minister 

from holding office 

>Page 3 

strateGic 

Indo-Pacific 

geoeconomics 

on a shoestring 

>Page 5 

economy & business 

'Walton sets example 

of friendly relation 

between owner-workers' 

>Page 6 

Families of road crash 

victims meet PM; receive 

financial assistance 

DHAKA : The family members of Diya 

Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, who 

died in a road crash in the city, met Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday, 

reports UNB. 

During the meeting at the Prime 

Minister's Office, Sheikh Hasina consoled 

the bereaved family members and donated 

a saving certificate of Tk 20 lakh to each of 

the families. On Sunday, Diya Khanam Mim 

and Abdul Karim Rajib, students of the college 

section of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin 

School and College, were killed as a 'Jabal-e- 

Noor Paribahan' bus ploughed through 

some students in front of Kurmitola General 

Hospital on Airport Road in the city. 

The tragic accident sparked off huge student 

protests across the country that were 

continuing for the fifth consecutive day on 

Thursday. 

'Jabal-e-Noor 

Paribahan' owner 

put on 7-day remand 

DHAKA : A court here on Thursday 

placed owner of 'Jabal-e-Noor 

Paribahan' bus Shahadat Hossain on a 

seven-day remand for interrogation 

over the killing two college students in a 

recent road accident on Airport Road. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Noor 

Nahar Yasmin passed the order when 

DB police inspector Kazi Shariful Islam, 

the investigation officer of the case, produced 

him before the court seeking a 

10-day remand for him. 

Members of Rapid Action Battalion 

(Rab) arrested Shahadat Hossain, the 

owner of the killer bus (DM-Ba-11-9297), 

from the city on Wednesday noon. 

Asked by the court whether he has anything 

to say, Shahadat said, "I bought the 

bus with my life's savings. It was my mistake 

to buy the vehicle. If I knew that such 

a situation would occur, I wouldn't have 

bought the vehicle. I also have no idea 

about such matters of drivers." 

Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim 

Rajib, students of the college section of 

Shaheed Ramiz Uddin School and 

College, were killed as the bus of 'Jabale-Noor 

Paribahan ploughed through 

some students on the Airport Road on 

Sunday last. A case was filed over the 

accident with Cantonment Police 

Station on Sunday night. 

BNP extends support 

to students demanding 

justice for deaths 

of fellows 

DHAKA : BNP on Thursday extended 

its support to the ongoing student 

movement demanding justice for their 

two fellows who were killed in a road 

crash on the city's Airport Road on 

Sunday. 

"We're giving full support to the logical 

demand of the students," said BNP 

secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam 

Alamgir, reports UNB. 

Speaking at BNP's Nayapaltan central 

office, he also demanded resignation 

of the government for its failure on 

all fronts, including restoration of discipline 

in the transport sector. 

Mentioning that the government is 

destroying all the institutions and 

people's all hopes and aspirations 

through its dreadful misrule and 

repression, Fakhrul called upon people 

to put up a strong resistance 

against it to ensure its fall. 

Juma 

04:08 AM 

12:15 PM 

04:42 PM 

06:44 PM 

08:05 PM 

5:28 6:41 

Students' protests rattle 

country despite closure of 

educational institutions 

DHAKA : Students of different schools 

and colleges took to the streets for the 5th 

consecutive day on Thursday, demanding 

punishment of those responsible for 

Sunday's road accident that killed their 

two fellows in the city and resignation of 

the Shipping Minister for his comments 

on the accident, reports UNB. 

Although the government shut down all 

the educational institutions across the 

country for Thursday students wearing 

uniform and holding bag took to the 

streets across Dhaka in the morning. 

School and college goers in different 

parts of the country, including 

Chattogram, Rajshahi, Faridpur and 

Chuadanga, districts staged demonstrations 

to press home the same demands. 

Witnesses said a group of students of 

Rajdhani Ideal School and College gathered 

in Mouchak area in the city and continued 

their demonstrations. 

Besides, students blocked streets at 

Dhanmondi 27, Kabi Nazrul Govt College 

road, House Building areas in Uttara, 

Science Laboratory area, in the morning. 

Meanwhile, the students of 

Mohammadpur Government College and 

Mohammadpur Central College blocked 

Asad Gate area around 10 am, halting traffic 

on the busy road. 

They were also seen checking license of 

vehicles plying the streets. 

A group of BAF Shaheen College students 

took position on the streets at 

Mohakhali, halting traffic from Farmgate 

to Satrasta intersection around 12 pm. 

The students also blocked Rampura, 

Shewrapara road and checked the licences 

of drivers halting different vehicles. 

Students of Daffodil University blocked 

Mirpur road, disrupting vehicular movement. 

Besides, around 1000 students took 

position at Shahbagh intersection in the 

city, blocking traffic. They also chanted 

slogans 'We want justice' and resignation 

of Shipping Minister' during the agitation 

programme. 

Students from Sirajul Islam Medical 

College took position at Bangla Motor area 

and checked the licences of drivers. They 

stopped two police vehicles and seized 

those for not having licences. 

Students' demonstrations were also 

seen in front of Motijheel Ideal School, 

Arambagh and Kakrail intersections. 

Commuters in the city faced trouble due 

to shortage of public transports in the city 

as various modes vehicles went off the 

streets fearing vandalism, causing sufferings 

to people. 

In most places, people were seen moving 

on foot to reach their destinations 

while many using rickshaws. 

In Chattogram, students of several 

schools and colleges took to the streets 

demanding safe road. They also brought 

out rally at various points of the port city. 

Vehicular movement from Dewanhaat 

to Baddarhat road came to a halt following 

the agitation programme. 

Assam's citizen list not to harm 

ties with Bangladesh: Shringla 

DHAKA : Indian High Commissioner to 

Bangladesh Harsh VardhanShringla on 

Thursday said making the list of citizens 

in Assam is an internal matter of India 

and they will make sure it does not harm 

bilateral relationship with Bangladesh, 

reports UNB. 

"Thisis not an issue of concern. It's an 

internal matter of India determining 

that who're its citizens and who're not. 

We'll do it in a way that is transparent 

and we'll make sure it doesn't harm our 

bilateral relationship," he said. 

Shringla came up with the remarks 

while replying to queries from reporters 

over the recently published list of 

Assam's citizens after a meeting with 

Road Transport and Bridges Minister 

Obaiul Quader at the Secretariat. 

The draft final list of citizens (National 

Register of Citizens or NRC) in the 

north-eastern Indian state of Assam was 

published on July 30, 2018. 

India has published a list which effectively 

strips some four million people in 

the northeastern state of Assam of their 

citizenship. The NRC is a list of people 

who can prove they came to the state by 

March 24, 1971. 

"The procedures are mandated by the 

Supreme Court of India. The government 

of India and state government of 

Assam are duty-bound to follow the 

order of the Supreme Court. This is not 

a political process but a judicial one and 

is overseen by justices of the Supreme 

Court," said Shringla. 

He went on saying, "This is only a 

draft list. Each and every individual of 

Assam has ample time to submit proper 

papers and claim to the state government." 

At Minto road, students of school and colleges searching the documents of motor-cycles. 

Demanding secured roads, the students took place at different areas of the capital on Thursday. The 

picture was taken from Mohakhali area in the capital. 

Photo : TBT 

Biman cancels five 

more hajj flights 

DHAKA : Five hajj flights of Biman 

Bangladesh Airlines scheduled to fly on 

Thursday and Friday have been cancelled 

due to shortage of passengers, 

said Biman general manager (Public 

Relations) Shakil Meraj. 

With these a total of 10 hajj flights have 

been cancelled due to same reason so far, 

he said. Today's scheduled flights-BG- 

1063 at 1:55am and the other BG- 5061 at 

3:45pm--- have been cancelled and three 

more scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) 

are also declared cancelled. 

Shakil also said that 5,800 hajj flight 

tickets remain unsold so far, and Biman 

has been urging the hajj agencies to 

purchase them as soon as possible. 

HC asks govt to free park illegally 

occupied by Ansar-VDP 

DHAKA : The High Court on Thursday 

directed government to free space of 

Shishu Park in Khilgaon B-block in the 

capital illegally occupied by Ansar-VDP 

within 90 days, reports UNB. 

Besides, the HC ordered to renovate 

the park situated on two bigha land as a 

modern one. An HC bench of Justice 

Sheikh Hasan Arif and Justice Md 

Badruzzaman came up with the order 

after hearing of a writ filed in the form 

of public interest litigation. 

Chief executive of Bangladesh 

Environmental Lawyers Association 

(Bela) Syeda Rizwana Hasan stood for 

the writ and deputy attorney general 

Mokhlesur Rahman for the state. 

Photo : TBT 

DMP urges students to 

return home 

DHAKA : Claiming that the demands of 

the protesting students are being met, 

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) 

Additional Commissioner Monirul 

Islam on Thursday urged them to 

return their homes, reports UNB. 

"Already the implementation process 

of their demands has been started," said 

Monirul, also the head of Counter 

Terrorism and Transnational Crime 

(CTTC) unit, while briefing reporters at 

DMP media centre in the afternoon. 

He also expressed deep shock on 

behalf of DMP to the families of the victim 

students who were killed in the 

Sunday's road crash. 

Expressing his condolence, Monirul 

said that North Division of Detective 

Branch (DB) is investigating the case 

filed in connection with the incident. 

Already, an owner, two drivers and 

two helpers of the buses linked to 

Sunday's tragic accident, have been 

arrested, said the police official. 

There was a previous direction to traffic 

police against irregularities on the 

roads and highways, and they have 

been working accordingly, which he 

Diya's father wants 

students to go back home 

DHAKA : Md Jahangir Fakir, father of Diya 

Khanam Mim who along with another student 

died in a recent city road crash, on 

Thursday urged the students to go back 

home as he hoped that the Prime Minister 

will take effective steps to check road accidents, 

reports UNB. 

He made the call during a meeting with 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Prime 

Minister's Office. 

"We want students to go back home as 

measures will be taken to prevent such 

accidents in the future," Prime Minister's 

Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted 

Jahangir Fakir as saying. 

Apart from Diya's father, her mother, 

brother and sister, another victim Abdul 

Karim Rajib's mother Mahima Begun and 

sister and Principal of Shaheed Ramos 

Uddin College Nur Nahar Yasmin met the 

Prime Minister. 

While briefing reporters after the meeting, 

Ihsanul Karim said Sheikh Hasina consoled 

the bereaved family members and 

donated a saving certificate of Tk 20 lakh to 

each of the families. 

On Sunday, Diya Khanam Mim and 

Abdul Karim Rajib, students of the college 

section of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin School 

and College, were killed as a 'Jabal-e-Noor 

Paribahan' bus ploughed through some 

students in front of Kurmitola General 

Hospital on Airport Road in the city. 

The tragic accident sparked off huge 

countrywide student protests that were 

continuing for the fifth consecutive day on 

said has reduced mismanagement on 

the roads and highways. 

Though the education institutions 

have been closed down for the day, the 

students came out on the roads, which 

created public sufferings, said the CTTC 

chief. 

Monirul said that considering the 

security issues, the plying of the longdistance 

vehicles have been kept suspended. 

He also urged the people not to get 

confused by rumours. 

When his attention was drawn about 

police drivers operating without licenses, 

the CTTC chief claimed that all of the 

policemen, who are involved in driving 

police vehicles, have licenses. He said 

only police and BRTA have the authority 

to examine driving license and as 

police usually check the license, many of 

the police drivers do not carry licenses. 

Monirul said many police drivers 

have kept their licenses in the transport 

section of the police. "We are now considering 

to keep driving license with 

respective holder's possession," 

Monirul added. 

Thursday. 

Diya's father Jahangir Fakir turned emotional 

while talking to the Prime Minister, 

said the PM's Press Secretary. 

Expressing sympathy to the family members, 

the Prime Minister said she had no 

word to console them and she understood 

their pain as she lost her most of the family 

members overnight. 

Jahangir Fakir who is also a bus driver 

raised some problems of the transport sector 

before the Prime Minister and said bus 

and truck drivers become exhausted due to 

non-stop long drives, which lead to accidents 

in many cases. 

He said they expect that necessary measures 

will be taken to prevent such road accidents 

in the future and agitating students 

will go back home leaving the streets. 

The members of the two families 

expressed their gratitude to the Prime 

Minister for the meeting. 

Sheikh Hasina attentively listened to the 

speeches of Jahangir and other family 

members. 

The Prime Minister said directives have 

already been given so that no vehicle can 

move on roads without having fitness and 

licence. She said measures are also being 

taken to set up restrooms for drivers at regular 

intervals on highways. 

Ramiz Uddin College's Principal Nur 

Nahar Yeasmin said many students of her 

college belong to the poor families and they 

come to the college from distant places, 

including Gazipur and Kapasia.

NEWS 

FRIDAY, 

AUgUST 3, 2018 

2 

Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Juri, Asim Chandra Banik's effective development activities are changing 

various scenarios of the upazila. 

Photo: Saiful Islam Sumon 

Scenario of Juri changing 

under UNO’s leadership 

SaifUl iSlaM SUMon, JUri correSpondent 

A responsible officer can make a change in the upazila 

through labor and skill and the evidence is Juri upazila which 

is situated along Moulvibazar border. Upazila Nirbahi Officer 

Asim Chandra Banik's effective development activities are 

changing various scenarios of Juri upazila. He joined as the 

Juri Upazila Nirbahi Officer on 2 October, 2016. Since his 

joining, various activities of the upazila have started to 

transform into a new look. It is learned that after Asim 

Chandra took the responsibility as the UNO, he evicted the 

illegal cattle farm located beside the CNB road in the upazila 

area, evicted illegal occupation of the Upazila Health 

Complex, and also evicted illegal billboards from the upazila 

Muktijoddha chattar. 

He also broke the fisheries syndicate in Hakaluki Haor and 

stopped illegal fishing in the rubber dump area. He stopped 

the illegal stone lifting in the Bajitila area. He also removed 

bureaucratic complications from all upazila offices. As a 

result, now all the development files are processing in a 

steady speed compared to any other time. He also took a 

number of initiatives to resolve communal riots. He brought 

back Balumhal in control which was poorly controlled for a 

long period. He arranged eye catching furniture's for the 

citizens to sit in Upazila Nirbahi Officer's office and 

modernized the upazila parishad bungalow and conference 

room. 

Recently he invited the president to attend scout ceremony 

in Juri by visiting Bangabhaban. He freed the upazila from 

beggar's through rehabilitation of the beggars and freed the 

locals of the Juri upazila from water logging. In the initial 

phase to clear water logging, he started digging a 4-kilometer 

canal from Sakibnagar canal to Juri River, which is currently 

in progress. Seeing his development work, people of the 

upazila greeted him and also claimed that the name of the 

canal should be named as "Asim Canal". 

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Asim Chandra Banik told The 

Bangladesh Today that, "I believe in action. I am doing all 

these developmental work since these are my 

responsibilities. Local MPs, Whip Shahab Uddin, local 

people, political and social leaders are helping me in these 

works. 

Parliament member of Panchagarh-1 constituency freedom fighter Nazmul Haque Prodhan 

addressed the inauguration ceremony of fruit tree fair in Tetulia as the chief guest on Thursday. 

Photo: Ashraful Islam 

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT 

BORI GARMENT ACCESSORIES CO., LTD. 

a 100% chinese invested company this factory garment 

accessories in ashulia,Savar. 

for below position for immediate employment. 

Name of the Post: technician. 

Number of the Post: 05 (five). 

Requirement: 1. hSc / college degree 01 (one) year 

working experience in relevant sub sector. 2. education 

qualification is relax able for expert andexperienced candidate 

only. interested candidate is requested to apply after 

publication this advertisement. 

Application Deadline: 10 august, 2018. 

Suitable candidate are request to drop their cV mentioning the 

post on the top of the envelop to the below address by Managing 

director of BORI GAMRENT ACCESSORIES CO., LTD. 

Address: dewanidris ali road, Jirabo bazar, ashulia, 

Savar, and dhaka. email: luofutian@gmail.com 

Cattle entry from India 

through Benapole 

decreased ahead of Eid 

JahirUl iSlaM ripon, benapole correSpondent 

Cattle entry from India through various borders of Benapole 

has been almost closed ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha. BGB is no 

longer allowing anyone to cross the border to India to bring 

cattle's. Though some cattle's are coming but those are 

brought to the zero point of the border by Indians. 

There are barbed fences around most of the areas around 

various borders in Benapole. But there are some cows are 

being brought by stealing where there is no fence. And where 

there are barbed fences cows are being brought using are 

different strategies. Cows and goats can be crossed by the 

name of grazing in the field. On the other hand, there are few 

cows being brought in the four cows slit of Putkhali, 

Agravulot, Daulatpur and Gogo in Benapole through illegal 

route. 

Locals said that, in the last four years, on the occasion of 

Eid-ul-Adha, in different areas of Jessore several cattle farms 

were developed as the border area of Benapole did not allow 

Indian cattle to come as expected. Various domestic cows are 

being rearing in these farms. These cows have been showing 

remarkable role in the region for the past few years. In this 

continuation, the farmers are busy and become active in the 

field of fertile cattle ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha. 

According to customs corridor sources, in last 7 months, 35 

thousand 678 cattle came to Bangladesh from India. The 

government earned revenue of Taka 1 crore 78 lakh and 39 

thousand at that time. At the same time, in the year 2018 till 

July, 7 thousand 526 cattle were smuggled into Bangladesh. 

From this, the government earned revenue of 37 lakh 63 

thousand taka. 

Commanding officer of BGB-21 battalion, Major Syed 

Sohel Ahmed said that number of cattles smuggled from 

India has decreased. No Bangladeshi shepherd has been 

allowed to go to India to bring cattle. Indians are coming to 

the zero point and bringing the cow. As a result, the killing of 

Bangladeshi people in the border in the last one month has 

reached area. 

Diocese names 71 accused of 

child sex abuse, blames bishops 

Interna A Roman Catholic diocese on 

Wednesday identified 71 priests and 

other members of the church who had 

been accused of child sex abuse and said 

it was holding accountable the bishops 

who led the church for the past 70 years, 

announcing their names will be stripped 

from all church properties. 

At a news conference to detail the 

church's actions, Harrisburg Bishop 

Ronald Gainer apologized to those who 

were abused, the Catholic faithful and the 

community and expressed his "profound 

sorrow." 

"Many of those victimized as children 

continue to suffer as survivors from the 

harm they experienced," said the bishop, 

who was appointed in 2014. 

With its announcement, the 

Harrisburg Diocese became the second of 

six dioceses under investigation by the 

state to get out in front of a pending grand 

jury report on clergy sex abuse. The Erie 

Diocese released its own findings on 

clergy abuse in April. 

The release of the nearly 900-page state 

grand jury report has been held up by 

challenges by some priests and former 

priests. The state Supreme Court ruled 

last week a version with some names 

blacked out can be made public as early 

as next week. The court said it identified 

more than 300 "predator priests" in the 

six dioceses. 

Gainer said that the Harrisburg 

Diocese was making public the names of 

all those who faced allegations of child sex 

abuse but that it did not determine 

whether they all had merit, though some 

of those on the list have been convicted of 

crimes. He said no one on the list is 

currently in the ministry. 

In a public letter, Gainer said 

shortcomings in past investigations and 

record-keeping made it difficult. 

Four-day fruit tree fair 

starts in Tetulia 

aShrafUl iSlaM, tetUlia correSpondent 

Order on Khaleda's bail 

pleas in Narail case Sunday 

NARAIL : A court here will pass its order on Sunday on a 

petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking bail in 

a defamation case over her 'derogatory remarks' about 

freedom fighters and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman. 

District and Session's Judge Abdul Ahad Sheikh fixed the 

date on Thursday on completion of the hearing on the bail 

pleas. Lawyer Masum Ahmed Talukder, international affairs 

secretary of BNP, filed the bail petition on behalf of Khaleda. 

Earlier, on July 29, the court fixed August 2 for hearing her 

bail petition. 

On December 21, 2015, Khaleda Zia at a discussion at the 

Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh raised questions about 

the actual number of Liberation War martyrs saying, 

"There're controversies over how many were martyred in the 

Liberation War. There're also many books and documents on 

the controversies." Reacting over the Khaleda's remarks, 

RaihanFarooque Imam of Naragati filed a case with the 

Cognisance Court on December 24, 2015. 

2 'drug traders' 

held in Jhenaidah 

JHENAIDAH : Members of 

Rapid Action Battalion 

(Rab) arrested two 

suspected drug traders from 

a house at Babra village in 

Kaliganj upazila on 

Wednesday, reports UNB. 

The arrestees are Manirul 

Islam, 29, son of Ibrahim 

Mandal and Alamin Mia, 19, 

son of Shariful Islam of 

Babra village in the upazila. 

A patrol team of Rab-6 

conducted a drive in the area 

and arrested them along 

with 12 bottles of Phensidyl 

in the afternoon, said ASP 

Sohel Pervez, commanding 

officer of Rab-6. 

A case was filed in this 

connection. 

Housewife 

found dead 

in Faridpur 

FARIDPUR : A pregnant 

housewife was found dead at 

Phulsuti village in 

Nagarkanda upazila on 

Wednesday, reports UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified as Chaina Begum, 

26, wife of Shohag Mollah of 

the village. 

Syed Lutfur Rahman, 

officer-in-charge of 

Nagarkanda Police Station, 

said getting information of 

Chaina's illness, her relatives 

went to Chaina's house and 

found her lying on the floor 

around 9 am. 

On information, police 

recovered the body and sent 

it to local hospital morgue. 

Quoting family members, 

police said Shohagh Ali used 

to torture Chaina, a mother 

of a four-year old child, since 

their marriage as she 

prevented him from taking 

drugs. 

Nannu Matobbar, brother 

of Chaina, claimed that 

Shohagh strangled Chaina 

sometime in the night 

following brawl over drug 

and left the scene to escape 

arrest. A case was filed with 

Nagarkanda Police Station. 

JnU admission 

process starts 

on August 5 

Md Soyaib, JnU correSpondent 

The online admission 

process for the first year 

honours courses for 2018-19 

academic sessions of 

Jagannath University (JnU) 

will begin on August 5 and 

continue till August 27. 

Against a total of 2,765 

seats, admission seekers are 

asked to visit the university 

website - 

www.admission.jnu.ac.bdto 

apply for the entry tests 

till August 27 midnight, 

according to a JnU press 

release on Thursday. 

The admission test fee for 

a single unit, except E unit, is 

fixed at Tk 505 including 

bank service charge and 

online admission fee. E unit 

application fee will cost Tk 

404 including practical test 

and bank service charge. 

The fee can be paid 

through bKash, SureCash or 

DBBL mobile banking 

system. 

Combining SSC and HSC 

with the additional subject, 

this year, students are 

required to have a minimum 

GPA 8.0 to apply for A and C 

units, 7.5 for B and 6.5 for E 

unit. 

The admission test will 

begin with two shifts on 

September 29 ( saturday) by 

A unit. B , C and E unit begin 

Meeting on adolescent 

friendly health care 

services held in Madarganj 

JUlfiqar bablU, MadarganJ correSpondent 

An information meeting on adolescent-friendly health care 

services for the upazila level was held on Thursday morning 

at Madarganj Mother and Child Welfare Center hall room. 

The meeting was organized by Jamalpur District Family 

Planning and managed by Madarganj Family Planning 

Office. 

Dr Asabudaullah chaired the meeting while UNO Aminul 

Islam was present as the chief guest. Among others, District 

Awami League Organizing Secretary Abdullah Al Amin 

Chan, Vice Chairman Saiful Islam, Head Teacher of Baljuri 

FM High School Abdul Hai Bulu BSC, Gunaritala UP 

Chairman Zainal Abedin Mirza, Madarganj Awami 

Organizing Secretary Raihan Rahmatullah Rimu, Principal 

Golam Rabbani, FP Facilitator Md. Mostafizur Rahman, 

Ariful Islam, Mirza Rawshan Ali and students of different 

secondary schools were also present at the meeting. 

Madarganj UNO Aminul Islam addressed an information meeting on adolescent-friendly 

health care services on Thursday at Madarganj Mother and 

Child Welfare Center hall room as the chief guest. Photo: Julfiqar Bablu 

Magura Sadar Upazila Nirbahi officer Md Abu Sufian distributed stipends 

among 16 ultra poor but meritorious students who have made brilliant 

result in SSC examination -2018 as the chief guest on Thursday. 

Photo: Rokibul Hoque 

16 poor students get stipends 

in Magura 

rokibUl hoqUe, MagUra correSpondent 

A four day long fruit bearing tree fair was inaugurated in front of 

the sugarcane purchase center's sub zone office in Tetulia on 

Thursday. Parliament member of Panchagarh-1 constituency 

freedom fighter Nazmul Haque Prodhan inaugurated the fair, 

organised by Tetulia Upazila Agriculture Extension Office, as the 

chief guest while Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Saniul Ferdous 

presided over it. Among others, Upazila Parishad Chairman 

Rezaul Karim Shaheen, Upazila Agricultural Officer Md. 

Jahangir Alam, Upazila AL general secretary Kazi Mahmudur 

Rahman Dablu, Upazila JASAD president Jahidul Islam and 

general secretary Babul Akter, Officer In-charge of Tetulia police 

Website: www.boribd.com, Tel: +8801511114606 station Jahurul Islam were also present at the occasion. respectively on October 6 , 

About 45 nurseries participated in the fruit tree fair. 

October 13 and October 27. gd-986/18 (7 x 3) 

16 ultra poor but meritorious students who have made brilliant result in SSC examination - 

2018 were provided with stipends at Magura Rova foundation training center on Thursday so 

that they could continue their studies. Each of the students recieved tk 12 thousand for the 

first phase and they will get the same amount after 6 months for the second phase. Moreover 

among the 16 students who will make good result in HSC examination will be blessed with 

financial support for receiving their higher education. PKSF (Palli Karma Shahayak 

Foundation ) with the help of Rova foundation has provided the support for the ultra poor 

and meritorious students. In the cheque distribution ceremony of the stipend, Magura sadar 

upazila Nirbahi officer Md Abu Sufian was the chief guest with Rova foundation executive 

director Kazi Kamruzaman in the chair. 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿

INTERNATIONAL FRIDAy, 

3 

AUGUST 3, 2018 

Pakistan's top court has barred the former deputy interior minister from holding office 

for the next five years for insulting judges in a speech earlier this year. Photo: Internet 

Gold lunar module replica stolen 

from museum still missing 

It's been just over a year since a thief broke into 

the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Ohio 

and stole an 18-karat gold replica of the Apollo 

11 lunar module and other artifacts that have 

yet to be recovered or suspects arrested. 

The replicas created by Cartier were given to 

Neil Armstrong, the first person to step onto the 

lunar surface, and to fellow astronauts Buzz 

Aldrin and Michael Collins in Paris following their 

historic 1969 moon voyage. The theft from the 

Armstrong museum in Wapakoneta prompted 

fears that it would be melted down for its gold value, 

which remains around $40,000. 

The 5-inch-tall (12.7-centimeter) replica given 

to Aldrin sold at auction last November for 

nearly $150,000. 

Wapakoneta Police Chief Calvin Schneider, a 

native son of Armstrong's birthplace in western 

Ohio, called the theft was a "body blow." He 

said an FBI analysis of evidence gathered after 

the theft last July could prove helpful in tracking 

suspects. 

"Once we get something back from the lab, 

ASEAN asked to brace amid trade 

feuds, repel protectionism 

Southeast Asia's top diplomats opened an annual 

meeting Thursday to tackle a slew of security concerns, 

including South China Sea territorial disputes, 

with host Singapore calling on the bloc to 

brace for external tumult such as rising protectionism. 

North Korea's rapprochement with South 

Korea and the U.S. is expected to be welcomed by 

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministers, 

who began four days of meetings in Singapore 

with a working dinner Wednesday. Rising 

extremism and the plight of minority Rohingya 

Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine state are also 

under the spotlight. 

Founded in 1967 during the Cold War, ASEAN 

steadily weathered storms to become a stable 10- 

nation bloc, which now draws Asian and world 

powers in annual gatherings and is forecast to 

become the fourth-largest economy in the world 

in three decades. 

New challenges, however, include escalating 

trade tensions between the United States and 

other global powerhouses like China and the 

European Union, and require ASEAN to stay 

united "to remain relevant," Singapore Prime 

Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the start of the 

meetings. 

"We can all see the growing political uncertainties," 

Lee said. "At the same time, each ASEAN 

member state is subject to different pulls and 

pressures from bigger powers." 

Lee said it was important that ASEAN continues 

to support the multilateral system with likeminded 

partners, citing the bloc's efforts to conclude 

a wider free-trade pact with six Asia-Pacific 

nations by the end of the year. 

That new accord, called the Regional Comprehensive 

Economic Partnership, or RCEP, 

we might be closer," Schneider said. 

The museum's interim director, Brittany 

Venturella, said the lunar module was one of 

more than 2,000 artifacts on display or stored 

at the museum. 

Joseph Gutheinz Jr., a former NASA investigator 

who has helped recover valuable moon 

rocks brought back from space, called the theft 

a "shame." He maintains that those involved 

were likely not sophisticated thieves and likely 

had it melted down for its gold value. The auction 

house that sold the replica given to Aldrin 

said it weighed 1.8 pounds (0.8 kilograms), or 

about 29 ounces. 

What struck Gutheinz is that the thieves did 

not steal a large moon rock from the museum 

that would have far more value on the black 

market and would be easier to sell. 

"To walk by that to go for something else is 

incredible," he said. 

Wapakoneta is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) 

northwest of Columbus. Armstrong died 

in 2012 at the age of 82. 

includes China but not the U.S., and is regarded 

by some as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific 

Partnership free-trade pact, from which 

President Donald Trump formally withdrew 

last year. 

Currently led by Singapore, ASEAN will host 

on Saturday Asia's largest security forum, including 

the key players involved in the Korean Peninsula's 

disarmament efforts, which will provide a 

chance for them to talk on the sidelines of the 

meeting. 

In the South China Sea disputes, which have 

pitted China, Taiwan and four ASEAN claimants 

- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam - 

the group is expected to announce an agreement 

with Beijing on an initial negotiating draft of the 

so-called "code of conduct," a proposed set of 

regional norms and rules aimed at preventing the 

long-seething disputes from degenerating into a 

shooting war. 

The ministers will welcome "the improving 

cooperation between ASEAN and China and 

were encouraged by the progress of the substantive 

negotiations towards the early conclusion of 

an effective code of conduct in the South China 

Sea on a mutually agreed timeline," according to 

a draft of a joint communique by the ministers, 

obtained by The Associated Press. 

Some of the ministers are expected to repeat 

their concerns over China's transformation of 

seven disputed reefs into islands, including three 

with runways, which now resemble small cities 

armed with weapons systems, including surfaceto-air 

missiles. 

China has come under intense criticism for the 

militarization of the strategic waterway, but has 

said it has the right to build on its territory and 

defend them at all costs. 

Top Pakistan 

court bars former 

minister from 

holding office 

Pakistan's top court has barred 

the former deputy interior minister 

from holding office for the 

next five years for insulting 

judges in a speech earlier this 

year. 

Thursday's ruling by the 

Supreme Court says Talal 

Chaudhry, who was deputy interior 

minister under former Prime 

Minister Nawaz Sharif, disparaged 

judges during a March 

speech. In the speech, Chaudry 

assailed the top court for dismissing 

Sharif from office. The former 

prime minister is now appealing 

a 10-year prison sentence for corruption 

handed down by an antigraft 

tribunal in June. 

Sharif's party - the Pakistan 

Muslim League - was defeated in 

general elections last month that 

saw former cricket star turn 

politician Imran Khan's party 

win the vote. Khan is expected to 

form a coalition government and 

become prime minister later this 

month. 

Turkish 

minister 

mocks US 

sanctions 

against him 

A Turkish minister has defiantly 

mocked U.S. sanctions 

against him, saying his only 

asset in the United States is a 

U.S.-based Muslim cleric whom 

Turkey blames for a failed coup 

and wants extradited. 

The United States on 

Wednesday slapped sanctions 

on Turkey's interior and justice 

ministers, aimed at pressuring 

its NATO ally into releasing a 

detained American pastor who 

is being tried on espionage and 

terror-related charges. Turkey 

vowed to retaliate against the 

sanctions. 

Interior Minister Suleyman 

Soylu tweeted on Thursday that 

Fethullah Gulen, the cleric 

whom Turkey accuses of masterminding 

the 2016 failed coup 

attempt, was his only property 

in the United States. 

Siemens sees 

lower profit, but 

books more bigticket 

orders 

Siemens AG saw net profit 

fall 14 percent in the most 

recent quarter as higher taxes 

and lagging profits at its 

oil and gas business weighed 

on earnings. 

On the positive side, the 

Munich-based company 

said Thursday it booked 

sharply higher orders, a key 

factor for earnings down the 

road. Those included 800 

million euros for a train control 

system in Norway and 

1.3 billion euros for an offshore 

wind farm in Britain. 

Net profit fell to 1.21 billion 

($1.40 billion) from 1.41 billion 

in the same quarter a 

year ago, the company's fiscal 

third. 

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan wait 

for a group photo. 

Photo: Internet 

U.S. soldiers salute during a Wednesday repatriation ceremony for the remains of U.S. 

soldiers who were killed in the Korean War and collected in North Korea, at the Osan 

Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. North Korea handed over 55 boxes of the remains 

last week as part of agreements reached during a historic June summit between its 

leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump. 

Photo: Internet 

Presumed American remains 

from Korea War head home 

Decades after the end of the Korean 

War in 1953, the remains of dozens of 

presumed U.S. war dead were on their 

way Wednesday to Hawaii for analysis 

and identification. The U.S. military 

believes the bones are those of U.S. servicemen 

and potentially servicemen 

from other United Nations member 

countries who fought alongside the 

U.S. on behalf of South Korea during 

the war. 

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and 

the commander of U.S. forces in Asia, 

Adm. Phil Davidson, were expected to 

speak at a ceremony marking the 

arrival of the remains on U.S. soil and 

the beginning of a long process to identify 

the bones. North Korea handed 

over the remains last week. A U.S. military 

plane made a rare trip into North 

Korea to retrieve the 55 cases. 

About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as 

missing from the 1950-53 Korean War 

and about 5,300 of the remains are 

believed to still be in North Korea. 

Hanwell Kaakimaka's uncle, John 

Kaakimaka, is among those who never 

came home. 

"We've been watching the news, and 

we've been hopeful that my uncle is 

among the remains," he said, adding 

that it could bring his family some closure. 

His uncle, who was from Honolulu, 

was a corporal in the 31st Infantry 

Regiment of the Army's 7th Infantry 

Division. He went missing on or about 

Dec. 2, 1950. 

Hanwell Kaakimaka said the story he 

heard from his dad was that his uncle 

was injured and was being brought 

back from the front when Chinese 

troops overran the area and attacked 

the convoy. 

If John Kaakimaka's remains are ever 

identified, his family wants him to be 

buried in a cemetery at the base of Diamond 

Head crater in Honolulu because 

that's where his parents and brothers 

were laid to rest, Hanwell Kaakimaka 

said. 

The Kaakimaka family provided 

DNA samples to the U.S. military's 

Defense POW/MIA Accounting 

Agency over a decade ago, hoping officials 

would be able to make a match. 

The agency identifies remains of servicemen 

killed in past conflicts. It typically 

uses bones, teeth and DNA to 

identify remains along with any items 

that may have been found with remains 

like uniforms, dog tags and wedding 

rings. But North Korea only provided 

one dog tag with the 55 boxes it handed 

over last week. 

Before the remains were put on military 

planes bound for Hawaii, hundreds 

of U.S. and South Korean troops 

gathered at a hanger at the Osan base in 

South Korean for the repatriation ceremony, 

which included a silent tribute, a 

rifle salute and the playing of the U.S. 

and South Korean national anthems 

and dirges in front of the U.N. flag-covered 

metal cases containing the 

remains. 

"For the warrior, this is a cherished 

duty, a commitment made to one 

another before going into battle, and 

passed on from one generation of warriors 

to the next," Vincent Brooks, chief 

of the U.S. military in South Korea, said 

in a speech. 

The remains were then moved in gray 

vans to an airfield where U.S. and 

South Korean soldiers loaded them one 

by one into two transport planes. Four 

U.S. fighter jets flew low in a tribute. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis 

said last week that the return of the 55 

boxes was a positive step but not a 

Rough governor's race highlights 

Tennessee primary election 

Four candidates who have spent tens of millions 

of dollars of their own wealth fighting 

over who is more devoted to President Donald 

Trump face off Thursday in the Republican 

primary for Tennessee governor. 

Meanwhile, former Democratic Gov. Phil 

Bredesen and Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha 

Blackburn face only nominal primary opposition 

in their high-profile race to replace retiring 

Republican Sen. Bob Corker, one of several 

contests that could decide control of the 

Senate. 

The state, like its southern neighbors, was 

once dominated by Democrats. But it hasn't 

elected one to statewide office since 2006, and 

in 2012 Republicans secured supermajorities 

in both houses for the first time since Reconstruction. 

Tennessee favored Trump by 26 

percentage points in 2016. 

The contest to succeed popular term-limited 

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has attracted 

four leading Republicans: U.S. Rep. Diane 

Black, former state economic development 

chief Randy Boyd, businessman Bill Lee and 

state House Speaker Beth Harwell. Together, 

they have put some $40.2 million of their own 

money into the race and have spent a record 

$45.7 million total. 

With the spending spree, the candidates 

have fought over who is more loyal to the 

president and his tough-on-immigration priorities. 

Vice President Mike Pence has offered his 

support for Black. But Trump has stopped 

short of endorsing her, despite keeping her by 

his side and praising her during several 

events. 

Two leading Democrats have been far more 

cordial in their race for their party's nomination. 

Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has 

outspent state House Minority Leader Craig 

Fitzhugh $4.4 million to $984,800, though 

Fitzhugh has peeled off important endorsements 

from state employees' and teachers' 

groups. 

Both candidates argue they are leaders who 

can break down partisan barriers and make 

divided government work during divisive 

political times - messaging that points to the 

tightrope Democrats must walk to get elected 

statewide in Tennessee. 

Any Democratic nominee for either governor 

or senator would need the support of 

moderate Republicans and independents. 

Bredesen was the last Democrat to pull that 

off, winning all 95 counties in his 2006 gubernatorial 

re-election. Blackburn has aligned 

herself strongly with the White House and 

held public events in Tennessee with Trump 

and Pence. For months, Bredesen and Blackburn 

have looked beyond the primary and 

campaigned as if the general election had 

already started. 

A general election win would be historic 

for either Black or Blackburn, since the state 

has never elected a woman as governor or 

U.S. senator. Their bids for higher office, as 

well as the retirement of Knoxville Republican 

Rep. John Duncan Jr., have cleared the 

way for competitive, open contests in three 

of the state's nine U.S. House seats. 

Harwell and Fitzhugh's decision to run for 

governor means the top leadership spots in 

both parties at the General Assembly will be 

up for grabs next year, even as new members 

will be elected to replace 18 Republicans and 

seven Democratic incumbents who aren't 

seeking re-election in the House. In addition, 

two Democrats and one Republican in the 

Senate are retiring. 

guarantee that the bones are American. 

A U.S. defense official said Tuesday 

that it probably will take months if not 

years to fully determine individual 

identities from the remains. The official, 

who discussed previously undisclosed 

aspects of the remains issue on 

condition of anonymity, also said North 

Korea provided a single military dog 

tag along with the remains. The official 

did not know details about the single 

dog tag, including the name on it or 

whether it was even that of an American 

military member. 

The repatriation is a breakthrough in 

a long-stalled U.S. effort to obtain war 

remains from North Korea. About 

7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as missing 

from the 1950-53 Korean War, and 

5,300 of the remains are believed to 

still be in North Korea. 

"The remains received from North 

Korea are being handled with the utmost 

care and respect by professional historians, 

forensic scientists, uniformed personnel 

and government officials," the 

U.S.-led U.N. Command said in a statement. 

It said it "never leaves troops 

behind, living or deceased, and will continue 

the mission of repatriation until 

every service member returns home." 

The bones' return was part of an 

agreement reached during a June summit 

between U.S. President Donald 

Trump and North Korean leader Kim 

Jong Un. Trump thanked Kim for the 

return. 

During the summit, Kim also agreed 

to "work toward complete denuclearization 

of the Korean Peninsula" in 

return for Trump's promise of security 

guarantees. Trump later suspended 

annual military drills with South Korea 

which North Korea had long called an 

invasion rehearsal. 

Israel halts 

fuel supplies 

to Gaza over 

incendiary 

balloons 

Israel's defense minister 

says he's halting the supply 

of petroleum and natural 

gas to Gaza in response 

to incendiary balloons that 

have targeted southern 

Israel. 

Avigdor Liberman said 

in a statement on Wednesday 

night that Israel would 

terminate fuel supplies to 

the territory through the 

Kerem Shalom because of 

"continued terror of flaming 

balloons and friction 

on the border." 

He says the measure 

starts Thursday. 

Israel temporarily suspended 

fuel shipments to 

Gaza in July for similar 

reasons. 

Incendiary balloons and 

kites, many set off during 

border protests organized 

by Gaza's militant Hamas 

group, have caused fires 

that have devastated 

southern Israel's farmland 

and forests. 

Israel and Egypt have 

maintained a crippling 

decade-long blockade 

since Hamas seized Gaza 

in 2007. Fuel shortages 

have left Gaza with limited 

electricity supply.

EDITORIAL 

FRIDAY, 

AUGUST 3, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Friday, August 3, 2018 

For a positive image 

of Bangladesh 

Aclass of people in Bangladesh are seen very 

good at imprinting into the minds of their 

fellow countrymen and, more significantly 

foreigners, the notion that their country is small 

and insignificant in all respects. They are the 

ardent practitioners of negativism cruelly trying to 

pale into insignificance the blood, sweat and tears 

of successive generations of Bangladeshi people to 

make their land of birth and upbringing an entity of 

some importance. The negativists had their 

foreign backers in the past and continue to have 

them now. 

Henry Kissinger, the very famous former US 

Secretary of State started it all by describing 

Bangladesh as a " bottomless basket " in its 

post-independence period meaning that this 

country was destined to be a hopeless and 

endless case of international charity that would 

go down the chute of its corruption with no 

impact of the international assistance seen on 

its development. 

The picture painted by Kissinger of Bangladesh 

was one that subsisted entirely on foreign dole with 

no hope of its improving this situation. But today's 

Bangladesh is a different story. It pays nearly fifty 

per cent of the costs of its annual development plan 

(ADP) and raises entirely the resources for its 

administrative budget. It is noted for relying less 

and less on foreign aid for its sustenance and 

meeting the needs of its developmental activities. 

Forty six years down the road, Kissinger's 

description of Bangladesh has been, no doubt, 

resoundingly proven wrong. Unlike the failed 

states with which Kissinger sought to bracket 

Bangladesh, Bangladesh has slowly but steadily 

made progress in different spheres without back 

sliding over these last over four decades to carve 

out a place of respect in the family of nations. 

There can be no denying that Bangladesh's march 

forward in every sphere could be more impressive 

and its performance remains below the potential in 

different areas. But this ought not to detract 

attention from the fact either that its slow but 

steady progress and consolidation of the same 

ought to create the right image of Bangladesh as a 

hardworking and resilient nation which is 

struggling with the odds and slowly but surely 

coming up the ladder. 

It has become self sufficient in food production 

despite being one of the most populous countries of 

the world . It has developed a first class exportoriented 

apparel industry and is among the top five 

apparel exporting nations. Its shipbuilding, 

pharmaceutical and IT industries are fast emerging 

to be counted in a major way in the international 

scene. It has become a coveted market of nearly 90 

million people with an existence above the poverty 

line. There are many other success stories to be 

noted in Bangladesh. 

There is also impatience with the rate of progress 

in Bangladesh and impatience about mal 

governance. But this is probably a plus point. 

Sensitivity to improper governance and social 

backlash to the same create the conditions for 

reformations in all human societies and help them 

to press ahead towards a better destiny. For 

example, the on going movement mainly by 

students to achieve travel safety in the country's 

roads. Thus, there is hope in the present conditions 

of Bangladesh. One may rightly hope that the 

present political discords and uncertainties will 

give way to a happier time with democracy, rule of 

law, accountability and transparency of 

government, parliament, etc., becoming the 

stronger in Bangladesh to really secure the future 

of the country in all respects. 

For the moment, however, there are certainly 

strong points in favour of Bangladesh. 

Notwithstanding the present bitter focus on 

Bangladesh as one of the worst corruption afflicted 

countries , the reality is that Bangladesh is no 

Somali or Ethopia where people starve in millions 

and warlordism hold sway in place of a 

constitution or government. Indeed, the conditions 

of Bangladesh are far better than many countries of 

the world and it only requires caring and non 

prejudiced eyes to see its real strengths and 

potential. 

Nation building can be a long story 

notwithstanding the eagerness of those who are 

accustomed to speed in all matters. Thus, there is 

no reason to be so deeply pessimistic about the 

future of Bangladesh. 

With concern growing in the 

United States and Europe over 

Russia's so-called oligarchs and 

the money they have stashed abroad, it is 

worth considering two fundamental 

questions. First, who qualifies as an 

oligarch? And, second, does every oligarch 

deserve to be regarded with suspicion? 

Suspicion is certainly the order of the 

day in the US, where the authorities have 

announced massive sanctions against two 

Russian tycoons, Oleg Deripaska and 

Viktor Vekselberg, as part of an effort to 

punish the Kremlin for its alleged 

meddling in the 2016 presidential 

election. Similarly, after the nerve-agent 

attack in England on former Russian 

double agent Sergey Skripal and his 

daughter, the United Kingdom has 

implemented new measures aimed at 

preventing money-laundering, with 

capital inflows from Russia to come under 

the closest scrutiny. 

The problem is that the criteria Western 

governments are using to identify 

Russians worthy of investigation and even 

punishment remain overly broad. The 

most common definition of an oligarch is 

a person whose wealth depends on 

political connections - particularly to 

Russian President Vladimir Putin. On its 

so-called Putin list - a sanctions watch list 

created last January - the US Treasury 

identified 96 "oligarchs" based on the 

mere fact that they are worth more than 

US$1 billion. 

In fact, even the focus on ties to Putin is 

flawed. After all, many of today's wealthy 

Russian businessmen - including 

Deripaska (who is being punished by the 

US) and Roman Abramovich (who has 

been protected by Israel), as well as Alfa 

Group's Mikhail Fridman and Norilsk 

Nickel's Vladimir Potanin - got their start 

Talk about lack of empathy by a Big 

Power that used to pride itself on 

being imbued with an abundance 

of compassion, generosity and 

magnanimity, a nation given to an 

outpouring of kindness when it came to 

those in need of a helping hand! The 

United States, sadly, used to be, but 

now is not, one such polity. 

When the United States last year 

slashed its contribution to the United 

Nations Relief and Works Agency 

(UNRWA) from $360 million (Dh1.32 

billion) to a paltry $60 million, 

presumably because Palestinian leaders 

were "no longer willing to talk peace", it 

wreaked havoc on the agency. Since 

1950, when it was founded, UNRWA 

has provided educational, health and 

social services to Palestinian refugees. 

Later, the descendants of Palestinian 

refugees, who were expelled from their 

homes and homeland in 1948, 

following the dismemberment of 

Palestine and the establishment there 

of the Zionist state - an event made 

possible by a United Nations resolution 

that year that the US lobbied 

aggressively to see passed. 

As Arnold Toynbee, the legendary 

British historian, observed at the time: 

"If the UN was responsible for the 

catastrophe that befell Palestinian 

Arabs, then it is the responsibility of the 

UN to alleviate the suffering of these 

same Palestinian Arabs". Memberstates 

of the international body were of 

a mind on the issue, and UNRWA was 

thus created. 

The agency's budget remained 

Lilliputian, certainly compared to the 

aid given to Israel, which today receives 

around $3 billion from Washington 

each year - not including millions in taxdeductible 

contributions from American 

Jews and American Jewish institutions. 

But UNRWA soldiered on regardless 

and did a lot of fine work, providing, in 

addition to services, gainful 

employment to a lot of Palestinians as 

members of its working staff. 

Now after the US has revealed - and 

revelled in - its decision to withhold 

funding to the agency has come as a 

rude shock to impoverished 

Palestinians, who have long depended 

on it for their survival. Here's an 

illustration of the consequences of that 

cavalier decision, one taken clearly to 

punish Palestinians (and what other 

word would do here?) for their leaders' 

putative recalcitrance. In the West Bank 

and Gaza, UNRWA was forced a week 

ago to layoff more than 250 employees. 

Another 250, in Gaza, will be moved to 

part-time contracts. The agency's 

budget for community health services 

will be reduced markedly, while an 

indefinite delay of the new school year 

for 526,000 children is expected. 

In Gaza, blockaded on all sides, 

miserable, destitute and pauperised to 

the limit that any human habitat can 

endure, the budget cuts are "making an 

FAWAz TURkI 

intolerable humanitarian crisis even 

more threatening", the UNRWA 

spokesman, Chris Guinness, was 

quoted as saying in a news report in the 

Washington Post on July 26. "Now the 

very organisation mandated specifically 

to provide life-saving services is being 

forced to cut service provisions". He 

added:" It's heartbreaking". 

In the same news report, datelined 

Jerusalem and filed by Loveday Morris, 

we read this: "During emotional scenes 

at the agency's compound in Gaza, one 

[laid-off] employee tried to set himself 

on fire, according to the local union. 

Images showed him dousing himself in 

gasoline before being wrestled to the 

ground". 

When you are laid off work, have a 

family to support, children to feed, and 

now no way of redeeming yourself as a 

human being, you can be driven to such 

lunatic extreme of despair. 

"The US move to slash UNRWA 

funding denies Palestinian refugees 

food rations, their children an 

education and their bread-earners 

gainful employment" 

-Fawaz Turki Share on 

facebookTweet this By adopting such 

Good oligarch, bad oligarch 

VLADISLAV INozEMTSEV 

under Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. 

Moreover, some wealthy Russians who 

benefited from Kremlin connections in 

the past have already fled Russia, and are 

now doing business in the West or living 

there in exile. Former Bank of Moscow 

president Andrey Borodin has received 

political asylum in the UK. Yevgeny 

Chichvarkin, a former mobile-phone 

tycoon, has actively campaigned against 

Putin since fleeing Russia in 2009. And 

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's 

wealthiest man, spent 10 years in prison 

on trumped-up fraud and embezzlement 

charges after funding Putin's opponents. 

Given this, Western governments need a 

more nuanced definition that distinguishes 

"bad" oligarchs from the rest. Such a 

definition should include, first and foremost, 

direct and current involvement with the 

Kremlin leadership in business and 

personal deals, including large, politically 

sensitive government contracts. For 

example, the billionaire magnate Arkady 

Rotenberg has constructed natural-gas 

pipelines for state energy giant Gazprom 

and is building a bridge to Crimea. 

Such involvement can also include 

nepotism. In the 1990s, Alfa Group's Pyotr 

Aven authorized Putin's controversial 

commercial deals in St Petersburg when 

he served as minister for external 

economic affairs, and Alfa Group has 

employed both the son-in-law of Russian 

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and 

Putin's own eldest daughter. In such cases, 

the oligarchs in question are clearly acting 

as loyal servants to Putin's regime. 

A second criterion for defining a "bad" 

oligarch should be that a major part of his 

or her business dealings are in Russia, and 

thus depend on at least tacit government 

support. That means potentially giving a 

pass to the many wealthy Russians who in 

recent years have been selling off parts of 

their holdings in Russia and investing in 

Western countries (presumably at least 

partly because of sanctions). 

To be clear, every individual who has 

amassed a major fortune in Russia did so 

at least partly in cooperation with the 

state. But that does not mean they all 

deserve to be punished equally today 

For example, Abramovich, a former 

governor of the Arctic region of Chukotka, 

Mikhail Prokhorov, who ran as an 

independent candidate in the 2012 

Russian presidential election, or 

ABDULRAHMAN AL-RASHED 

an invidious and even vindictive 

posture towards Palestinian refugees, 

the US has chosen to subvert its own 

long-cherished, long-held, long-known 

tradition as a giving nation, giving even 

to those it considered its enemies, when 

these enemies were in dire need of 

succour. Recall here, as a case in point, 

how in December 2003, after a 

devastating earthquake in the ancient 

city of Bam, in southeastern Iran, that 

left thousands dead and many more 

injured, the US was quick to send a 

military plane carrying 80 personnel 

and medical supplies to the region, 

followed soon afterwards by seven US 

Air Force cargo planes with 150,000 

pounds (68,038kg) of relief supplies, 

including blankets, medical supplies 

and water, which made the US one of 

the biggest donors on the scene. 

As to why America, or at least its 

officialdom, has got itself into such a 

sour national mood of late (you 

remember, no doubt, then presidential 

candidate Ted Cruz in 2016 bragging 

about how he, if elected, would "carpetbomb" 

Middle Eastern countries and 

find out for himself if "sand can glow in 

the dark"), well, we will leave that to 

researchers in the therapeutic 

community and to social scientists to 

untangle. Perhaps they will begin by 

looking into how American society, 

conflicted as it is today, has changed in 

recent years, leading to a larger focus by 

its on populist values and less on the allembracing 

notion that, as human 

beings, we are all brothers and sisters, 

all guests in each others' homes. 

Source : Gulf news 

Alexander Lebedev, the longtime financial 

backer of Novaya Gazeta, have sold nearly 

all of their assets in Russia and pursued 

legal and transparent businesses in the US 

and the UK. 

Should they not be treated differently 

from the likes of Rotenberg, Yury 

Kovalchuk (known as Putin's personal 

banker), or Putin's de facto deputy Igor 

Sechin, not to mention Russia's superwealthy 

public officials? 

To be clear, every individual who has 

amassed a major fortune in Russia did so 

at least partly in cooperation with the 

state. But that does not mean they all 

deserve to be punished equally today. 

Joachim-Napoléon Murat and Jean- 

Baptiste Bernadotte were both Napoleon 

Bonaparte's pawns. Yet whereas Murat 

stuck by Napoleon (and was ultimately 

executed for treason), Bernadotte, in his 

position as King Charles XIV John of 

Sweden, eventually helped to bring about 

Napoleon's defeat. 

Not everyone is basing treatment of 

Russia's wealthy on sweeping 

generalizations. Israel granted citizenship 

to Abramovich. More surprising, France 

dismissed a money-laundering charge 

brought against another billionaire, 

Suleyman Kerimov, though Kerimov, a 

member of Russia's Federation Council, 

does maintains close ties to the Kremlin. 

But some, like the US administration, 

continue to paint all wealthy Russians 

with the same brush. This is 

counterproductive. If the West really 

wants to hurt Putin's regime, giving 

oligarchs an incentive to take their money 

and leave is a lot more effective than 

punishing those whom Putin considers 

his enemies. 

Source: Asia times 

US sanctions on Iran now include gold and carpets 

The introduction of fresh US 

sanctions on Iran and the 

removal of Iranian oil exports 

from the global market will cost its 

regime dearly, given the instability of 

the situation inside the country, with 

people rioting and protesting over the 

living conditions almost on a daily 

basis. 

As from this week (Aug 6), companies 

and governments are banned from 

using US dollars in transactions with 

Iran, and all bank transfers in US 

dollars will be stopped. Moreover, the 

US is forbidding doing any business in 

Iranian rials, forbidding banks from 

lending money to Iran, and forbidding 

US banks from dealing with Iranian 

banks. 

In addition, purchasing gold, iron, 

aluminum, and even coal from Iran is 

now banned, together with importing 

Iranian carpets and foodstuffs into the 

United States; and three months from 

now, US sanctions on Iran will start 

including petroleum and petrochemical 

products. Although these sanctions are 

unilateral, as they are imposed by the 

United States but not its allies, who 

chose to keep the Iran nuclear deal 

How America lost its empathy 

The agency’s budget remained Lilliputian, certainly 

compared to the aid given to Israel, which today receives 

around $3 billion from Washington each year - not 

including millions in tax-deductible contributions from 

American Jews and American Jewish institutions. But 

UNRWA soldiered on regardless and did a lot of fine work, 

providing, in addition to services, gainful employment to a 

lot of Palestinians as members of its working staff. 

In fact, even the focus on ties to Putin is flawed. 

After all, many of today's wealthy Russian 

businessmen - including Deripaska (who is being 

punished by the US) and Roman Abramovich 

(who has been protected by Israel), as well as Alfa 

Group's Mikhail Fridman and Norilsk Nickel's 

Vladimir Potanin - got their start under Putin's 

predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. 

alive, most companies will not be able 

to continue to do business with Iran. 

The reason is that the US will impose 

secondary sanctions to ban 

governments and firms that deal with 

Iran from using US products and assets 

- partially and wholly - in their 

businesses and trade. The US has also 

warned companies doing business in 

Iran that they will be prohibited from 

using the US dollar, which is the global 

markets' main currency, and will be 

placed on the US blacklist. 

Thus, even though these sanctions are 

imposed only by the US, their severity 

will make most European, Chinese and 

Indian companies think twice before 

daring to do business with Iran. Iran, in 

the meantime, will have to deal with 

these companies through intermediary 

companies, which will prolong the 

period required for closing a deal and 

significantly push up costs. 

Conversely, when Iran purchases 

Thus, even though these sanctions are imposed 

only by the US, their severity will make most 

European, Chinese and Indian companies think 

twice before daring to do business with Iran. Iran, 

in the meantime, will have to deal with these 

companies through intermediary companies, 

which will prolong the period required for closing a 

deal and significantly push up costs. 

from abroad, it will still need to use a 

hard currency such as the US dollar 

The most painful side of the 

sanctions, however, lies in preventing 

Iran and its partners from using US 

dollars in business dealings, which will 

leave Iran with only one option: The 

inadequate barter system. For instance, 

Iran will have to sell oil to China in 

exchange for cars or furniture, or it will 

have to sell oil in yuan, China's 

currency. But Iran will still be unable to 

use the Chinese yuan when doing 

business with other countries, and the 

same applies to the Indian rupee. 

Conversely, when Iran purchases 

from abroad, it will still need to use a 

hard currency such as the US dollar. 

This is a problem that Iraq faced last 

month when the Iraqi government tried 

to pay for its purchases of electricity 

from Iran in Iranian rial, which is 

abundant in Iraq; but the Iranians 

refused, and insisted on being paid in 

US dollars. 

As for the euro, which Iran started 

using at the beginning of this year, it 

will not solve the problem for European 

companies that risk facing US sanctions 

if they deal with Iran, and European 

governments cannot force their 

companies to deal with Iran as they 

cannot protect them from US sanctions. 

Indeed, European governments have 

begun opening accounts for Iran in 

their own currencies. 

Source : Arab news

STRATEGIC ISSUES 

FRIDAY, AUgUST 3, 2018 

5 

Sensing Russia’s involvement in Afghanistan 

Nicholas Trickett 

Much of the current analysis of Russia's involvement in 

Afghanistan and engagement with the Taliban has come out 

of an unfortunate formula. First, Afghanistan is reduced to 

an arena in which external great powers jockey for influence 

and power. U.S. government statements about Russian support 

for the Taliban are then accepted at face value without 

parsing what exactly is being communicated. Russian denials 

are then assumed to evidence Russian involvement and, 

finally, assumed to prove that Russia aims to undermine the 

United States abroad. 

There are plenty of reasons to seriously examine Russia's 

role in Afghanistan, but too many articles fail to ask questions 

fundamental to making sense of Moscow's aims. By refusing 

to closely scrutinize the facts on the ground, the role of China, 

and the logic of U.S. policy, the authors of many pieces 

can claim expertise but never be held accountable for their 

analysis. Russia is certainly an adversarial power for Washington, 

but Afghanistan deserves more than talking points 

from an aerial view. 

The initial public fears of a deepening ties between Russia 

and the Taliban date back to early 2016 when Russia's special 

envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, stated that "Taliban 

interests objectively coincide with ours." Both Moscow and 

the Taliban perceive the Islamic State (ISIS) and its local 

branch (Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or ISKP) as an 

enemy and Russia would rather see a stable government in 

Afghanistan with whom it can negotiate over issues such as 

drug trafficking and regional integration initiatives. 

By working with the Taliban, Moscow could give life to 

what it saw as stunted negotiations for a political settlement 

to the conflict between the Taliban and the government in 

Kabul, as well as gaining a military partner interested in 

fighting ISKP on the ground. The Taliban had launched a 

winter offensive going into 2016, a move aimed at gaining 

bargaining leverage for potential peace talks. Later in February, 

Moscow delivered 10,000 automatic rifles to Kabul for 

Afghanistan's security services, per existing agreements. 

Russia was clearly engaging both sides politically, but more 

comfortable openly offering military aid, however small, to 

Kabul. 

The general consensus between Kabul and the U.S. military 

in 2016 appeared to be that Russia was largely offering 

political support and engagement. However, many were concerned 

about meetings between Russia and Tajikistan 

assumed to have implications for Afghanistan's northernmost 

provinces. It's worth noting that any state with a stake 

in the region would logically have established some kind of 

contact with the Taliban and Russia was not exceptional in 

this regard. 

The discourse shifted in March 2017. At a hearing with 

the Senate Armed Services Committee, NATO Supreme 

Allied Commander, Europe Curtis Scaparrotti said, "I've 

seen the influence of Russia of late - increased influence 

in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the 

Taliban." Scaparrotti did not elaborate on the comment, 

but Taliban officials continued to insist that Russia's contacts 

remained political. The general's written testimony 

did not touch on Russian activities in Afghanistan and 

Russian officials continued to deny the veracity of such 

There are plenty of reasons to seriously examine Russia's role in Afghanistan. 

claims. By April, an anonymous U.S. military source in Kabul 

suggested Russia had increased arms shipments to the 

Taliban over the previous 18 months and General John 

Nicholson, U.S. commander of Resolute Support, would only 

say that he "would not refute" the claim that Russia in fact 

doing so. More precisely, he said that "we continue to get 

reports of this assistance." In other words, there was never a 

formal confirmation, but indefinite statements designed to 

cultivate the appearance that it was the case. U.S. Secretary 

of Defense Jim Mattis added that any arms shipments into 

Afghanistan would be in violation of international law. 

The media in the United States largely accepted this line. In 

August 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump elaborated what 

was charitably described as a strategy for Afghanistan. Really, 

he committed the United States to seeking his own "peace 

with honor" in the same vein as the Nixon administration in 

Vietnam. There would be no withdrawal and the administration 

was authorizing the deployment of over 3,000 more 

troops and changing the rules of engagement. There would 

be no timetable for withdrawal. 

This context can't be ignored when considering the narrative 

around Russian involvement arming the Taliban. At an 

October hearing with the House Armed Services Committee, 

Mattis clarified that he wanted to see more evidence of Russian 

involvement shipping arms to the Taliban because what 

he'd seen "doesn't make sense." General Joseph Dunford, 

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that "with the 

Russians, I don't think we have specificity on support for the 

Taliban." No major report since last October has emerged 

Photo: Conner Robbins 

confirming that Russia is, in fact, arming the Taliban. But the 

story lives on due to basic misconceptions and analytic failings. 

First, little scrutiny is applied when Taliban, or other 

non-Taliban local leaders, claim the Taliban are being armed 

by Russia. They have their own interests in stoking the story, 

namely the appearance of broader international support or 

as a means of demanding more arms and financial aid from 

the United States via Kabul. 

Second, Taliban fighters could come into possession of 

Russian weapons for various reasons beyond Moscow's control. 

Weapons given to Kabul's security services could easily 

end up in Taliban hands after a battle. Weapons from the 

Soviet period still circulate around the country. Arms can be 

smuggled across borders from Central Asian states or Iran as 

well without official sanction from Russian authorities. Chinese 

knockoffs could also be used. CNN footage from mid- 

2017 showing Taliban fighters with Russian weapons was 

likely explained by these factors. Mattis' reticence to assign 

blame deserves more attention, as does the challenge of 

Afghanistan's porous borders. 

In January 2018, General Dawlat Waziri - an Afghan official 

- told Fergana News that an agreement had been reached 

with Beijing in December for China to finance the construction 

of a military base in Badakhshan. The Afghan officials 

quoted cited China's concerns about radicalized Uyghurs 

crossing the border as well as other cross-border terrorist 

threats to Xinjiang. China vehemently denied any such 

agreement existed. Officials in Kabul continued to insist that 

the agreement was real, putting Beijing in an uncomfortable 

position. The Taliban launched an attack in Kabul itself at the 

beginning of February. The United States responded in 

Badakhshan province by using a B-52 to drop a record 24 

precision-guided munitions on Taliban camps and positions. 

The B-52 strike was, in large part, a signal to any outside 

partner, including China, that the United States ultimately 

has the most firepower to secure and police the border region 

as needed. 

China has since begun trilateral talks with Pakistan and 

Afghanistan to encourage the Taliban to negotiate for peace. 

The diplomatic initiative parallels deepening security ties to 

Tajikistan, namely in the form of financing border outposts 

and an intelligence sharing agreement last year that drew 

Moscow's attention. In March, the International Crisis Group 

released a report claiming that China had built a military 

installation in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan, a sparsely 

populated, incredibly poor region covering half of Tajikistan's 

territory. China's rationale was straightforward: if you 

can't build a base in Badakhshan, Gorno-Badakhshan isn't a 

bad backup location. 

In April, Moscow reiterated its commitment to sustain 

security ties and strengthen Tajikistan's border security 

per arms agreements reached last December. This subtle 

back-and-forth continued through the Shanghai Cooperation 

Organization's largely empty summit in China this 

June. Then Russia launched training exercises with Tajikistan 

in mid-July in Gorno-Badakhshan, a break with 

standard exercise protocol to remind Beijing that Moscow 

remains the primary external security guarantor for 

Dushanbe. 

Through these twists and turns, China has become one of 

the primary policy drivers behind moves made by both the 

United States and Russia despite rhetoric from both countries 

frequently designed to mask motivations and concerns 

as much as flag them. Issues pertaining to cross-border 

threats, stability, and a peace process cannot be separated 

from Afghanistan's neighbors. The trouble is that thanks to 

U.S. strategy, all other regional actors are forced to hedge, 

address their security concerns, or else prevent an unacceptable 

outcome for their interests. 

Finally, the assumption that Russia is the problem conveniently 

serves other policy ends for the United States. Namely, 

the U.S. presence is increasingly predicated on countering 

China in Eurasia and maintaining military assets near Iran - 

but neither of these motivations are politically expedient to 

iterate clearly. 

Discussions of Russian-American strategic tensions and 

dynamics in Afghanistan fall prey to a twin "prestige fallacy." 

Analyses of Russian foreign policy underpinned by the 

assumption that it wants to project its great power status are 

frequently facile attempts to explain state behavior on the 

basis of optics and psychology rather than material interest. 

Russia exaggerates the extent to which ISIS is operating in 

Afghanistan for several reasons. First, the Taliban's goals are 

ultimately national. Moscow doesn't care who's in power so 

long as it has a stable, unified state with which it can negotiate 

over its security concerns. An end to fighting in 

Afghanistan and a neutralization of the threat posed by 

transnational terrorist organizations requires border control. 

Border control requires peace of some kind. 

Indo-Pacific geoeconomics on 

a shoestring 

There are several limitations to Vietnam-North Korea economic development comparisons. 

Photo: John Pavelka 

Should North Korea follow Vietnam’s mark 

Chan-Young Bang 

The view that North Korea should 

take Vietnam as a model for development 

has been gaining momentum. 

Among those who share this 

perspective is U.S. Secretary of State 

Mike Pompeo, who paid a visit to 

Hanoi in July and said that North 

Korea can emulate Vietnam's economic 

development and achieve a 

similar economic miracle. It seems 

quite natural that North Korea 

would consider Vietnam an exemplary 

model, given that Vietnam 

achieved, without dissolution of the 

Communist Party, remarkable economic 

growth through a market-oriented 

opening and reform policy. 

Nonetheless, North Korea faces a 

number of challenges and barriers 

that make it difficult for the country 

to follow in Vietnam's footsteps. 

This is mainly due to the unique 

characteristics of North Korea's 

political system, nuclearization, 

geopolitical dynamics, and the division 

of the Korean nation. 

First, North Korea needs much 

faster economic development. In 

order to preserve Kim Jong Un's 

legitimacy and to mitigate political 

and economic instability, it will be 

critical for North Korea to achieve 

rapid and sustainable economic 

growth at a rate of 10 percent annually 

during the initial 10 years of economic 

reform. Such a growth rates 

exceed the pace of development 

achieved by countries like South 

Korea, China, and Kazakhstan at the 

peaks of their economic growth. 

This target of 10 percent economic 

growth is, while daunting, a sufficiently 

achievable goal if the essential 

internal and external preconditions 

are met. The significance of 

Kim's decision to denuclearize 

means shifting the state's development 

paradigm from rigid militarism 

to economic development. 

Procrastinated development may 

cause acute social instability, which 

could further destabilize the inter- 

Korean relationship due to the 

increasing economic disparity. Due 

to the 22-fold income gap between 

North and South Korea, North Korean 

citizens may be further tempted 

to defect. Due to these risks, tangible 

economic achievement within a 

short period of time will be the only 

viable option for Pyongyang to 

quickly rebalance the country's 

vision on long-term development. 

Second, regarding the authority of 

the supreme ruler, North Korea and 

Vietnam possess fundamental differences. 

The legitimacy of the 

supreme leader in North Korea originates 

from the ruling system that 

Kim Il Sung designed to produce the 

fittest individual to realize and execute 

his Juche ideology. The successor 

who is chosen as the supreme 

ruler is not only transferred absolute 

ruling power, but also the innate 

power to choose the next successor 

thereafter. To date, only Kim Il 

Sung's descendants have ruled 

North Korea. 

In Vietnam, the executive system 

is organized according to the national 

constitution and declares the 

authoritative system in control of 

political economic activities to be the 

communist regime. The power 

structure is one of collective leadership 

and is decentralized, consisting 

of the secretary, national ruler, and 

the prime minister. The greatest figure 

of authority, the secretary, is 

elected through competition among 

the central committee members. 

The national ruler assumes charge 

of the military and foreign affairs 

while the prime minister is in charge 

of the overall economy. 

This difference in ruling systems 

between North Korea and Vietnam 

means that the change resulting 

from market-oriented reform and 

opening will have different effects on 

the legitimacy of the authority of the 

supreme ruler. Not only will marketoriented 

reform and opening diminish 

the authority of the supreme 

leader in North Korea, it will also 

harm the legitimacy of the system 

itself, which is built around the 

supreme leader. Therefore, problems 

related to legitimacy are a challenge 

that only Kim Jong Un can 

resolve. 

Ankit Panda 

Monday was supposed to be 

a big day for the United 

States' Indo-Pacific economic 

strategy. Ahead of a trip to 

Southeast Asia, where he 

was scheduled to visit 

Malaysia, Indonesia, and 

Singapore, U.S. Secretary of 

State Mike Pompeo took a 

break from North Korea 

diplomacy to show the Indo- 

Pacific region that the United 

States was thinking 

strategically about the geoeconomic 

future of the region. 

In a speech to the U.S. 

Chamber of Commerce's 

Indo-Pacific Business Forum, 

Pompeo outlined what is 

effectively the United States' 

alternative to China's Belt and 

Road Initiative: the beginning 

of an attempt by the United 

States to add economic ballast 

to its calls to maintain a "free 

and open Indo-Pacific." 

Pompeo announced a 

$113.5 million fund in "in 

new U.S. economic initiatives 

to support foundational 

areas of the future: digital 

economy, energy, and infrastructure," 

according to an 

official State Department 

release describing the new 

initiative. "This represents a 

strategic investment in 

deeper engagement with the 

Indo-Pacific while growing 

our own economy and creating 

jobs at home," the 

release noted. 

Even keeping in mind that 

China's actual capital outlays 

for its nebulous basket of 

infrastructure and connectivity 

projects across the 

Indo-Pacific under the aegis 

of the all-encompassing Belt 

and Road Initiative falls well 

short of the regularly 

bandied-out figure of $1 trillion, 

the U.S. sum is paltry. 

China, to be sure, has structural 

advantages in operating 

the way it does: for 

instance, Communist Party 

decision-makers are free to 

leverage the massive stateowned 

enterprises as a 

geopolitical sledgehammer, 

where needed. The United 

States does not have a comparable 

option. 

Many early reactions from 

Asia-watchers thus have 

zeroed in on the quantitative 

discrepancy in what the United 

States is putting down on 

the table. $113.5 million, simply 

put, is well short of Chinese 

commitments, which are 

in the billions. The U.S. initiative 

looks smaller still when its 

scope becomes apparent: 

Pompeo was introducing this 

fund for a range of countries. 

But observers should keep 

the bigger picture in mind. 

Japan and Australia are 

joining the United States in a 

trilateral infrastructure 

investment initiative. "The 

United States, Japan, and 

Australia have formed a trilateral 

partnership to mobilize 

investment in projects 

that drive economic growth, 

create opportunities, and 

foster a free, open, inclusive 

and prosperous Indo-Pacific," 

a statement released by 

the Australian Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs on Tuesday 

noted. 

"We share the belief that 

good investments stem from 

transparency, open competition, 

sustainability, adhering 

to robust global standards, 

employing the local workforce, 

and avoiding unsustainable 

debt burdens." 

While their partner in the 

"quad," India, is absent from 

this initiative, these three 

countries are stronger with 

their capabilities combined. 

Japan, meanwhile, has 

been ahead of the game in 

many ways. In 2015, Tokyo 

announced the Partnership 

for Quality Infrastructure in 

Asia, sensing the long-game 

in China's Belt and Road Initiative. 

Japan's expertise in 

the strategic deployment of 

development assistance and 

loans is unparalleled. Many 

forget that Tokyo effectively 

wrote the book on this over 

decades with its expert 

deployment of Official 

Development Assistance 

(ODA). 

Ultimately, the headlines 

and topline analysis of Pompeo's 

announcements may 

have missed the mark. If 

you're waiting for the United 

States to begin dropping 

infrastructure investment 

numbers that rival China's, 

you may be waiting for a 

while. Instead, what Pompeo's 

speech lacked should 

stand out. 

For instance, the Trump 

administration continues to 

lack a broad approach to develop 

diplomatic ties across Asia. 

Similarly, while the language of 

a "free and open" Indo-Pacific 

hearkens to values-based cooperation, 

outside of the so-called 

"quad," value-based diplomacy 

is largely absent. We may yet 

see more detail on this-perhaps 

Don't expect a quantitative rout of the Belt and Road from the United 

States. 

Photo: StateDept 

during Pompeo's upcoming 

trip-but for now, there's still little 

to go on.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

BANGLADESHTODAY 6 

THE 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2018 

Volkswagen profit jumps, but 

'great challenges' ahead 

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has inaugurated its month-long tree plantation program under 

Rural Development Scheme on 31 July 2018 in Patiya, Chattragram. Professor Md. Nazmul Hassan, 

Ph.D, Chairman of the Bank launched the country-wide program as chief guest. Professor Dr. Md. 

Salim Uddin, FCA, FCMA, Chairman, Executive Committee, Abu Reza Md. Yeahia, Deputy Managing 

Director, Md. Obaidul Haque and Md. Saleh Iqbal, Senior Executive Vice Presidents, Md. Nizamul 

Hoque, Executive Vice President, ABM Mostafa, Senior Assistant Vice President & Head of Patiya 

Branch and officials of different level of the bank were also present on the occasion. With the 

instruction of Prime Minister, Government has been planting 30 lac tree saplings across the country 

in remembrance of the 30 lac martyrs of liberation war. Inspired with the government's initiative, 

IBBL has taken the program of planting 6 lac 50 thousand tree saplings across the country. It is 

mentioned that IBBL has planted 62 lac 52 thousand trees in the previous years. Photo: Courtesy 

Volkswagen on Wednesday reported 

a leap in second quarter net profit 

thanks to strong sales, but the German 

car giant warned that strict new 

emissions tests and global trade 

tensions posed "great challenges" in 

the months ahead. 

The Wolfsburg-based group said net 

profit jumped 6.8 percent year-onyear 

to 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) 

between April and June, beating 

analyst expectations. 

The positive result comes even after 

VW had to shell out another 1.6 billion 

euros "in connection with the diesel 

crisis", as the fallout from its 2015 

emissions cheating scandal rumbles 

on. 

Revenues were up 3.4 percent to 61 

billion euros after the VW group - 

whose 12 brands include luxury 

Porsche and Audi as well as the more 

affordable Skoda - delivered a record 

2.8 million vehicles in the second 

quarter. 

Despite the good news, VW's new 

chief executive Herbert Diess sounded 

a note of caution. 

"We cannot rest on our laurels 

because great challenges lie ahead of 

us in the coming quarters - especially 

regarding the transition to the new 

WLTP test procedure," Diess said in a 

statement. 

"Growing protectionism also poses 

major challenges for the globally 

integrated automotive industry." 

Volkswagen is set to close its iconic 

Wolfsburg plant for several days in the 

third quarter as the group scrambles to 

adapt to tough new EU emissions test 

from September 1, known as WLTP. 

The tests are meant to better mimic 

real-world driving conditions than lab 

tests, to prevent the kind of rigging 

exposed in VW's "dieselgate" 

controversy. 

Like other German automakers, 

Volkswagen is also nervously eyeing 

EU-US trade tensions, particularly 

President Donald Trump's threat to 

slap duties of up to 25 percent on car 

imports. 

Despite the clouds on the horizon, 

the VW group confirmed its full-year 

outlook, expecting revenues "up to five 

percent higher" compared with the 

previous year. 

It is targeting an operating profit 

margin before special items of 

between 6.5 and 7.5 percent, 

compared with 7.4 percent last year. 

Shares in VW fell 1.6 percent to 

149.78 euros in early trading 

Wednesday, against a blue-chip Dax 

index that was narrowly in the red. 

Volkswagen was plunged into its 

biggest-ever crisis in 2015 after it 

admitted to installing "defeat devices" 

in 11 million diesel cars worldwide 

designed to cheat pollution tests. 

The scandal has cost it over 26 

billion euros so far in compensation, 

buy-backs and fines and the company 

remains entangled in legal woes at 

home and abroad. 

CEO Diess took the helm in April, 

vowing to steer the company out of the 

diesel cloud and accelerate a shift 

towards electric and self-driving 

vehicles. 

Trump threatens to ramp up 

tariffs on Chinese goods 

The United States may jack up the 

tariff rate on the next $200 billion in 

Chinese imports it plans to target as it 

pressures Beijing to reform its trade 

practices, US officials said Wednesday. 

President Donald Trump asked the 

US Trade Representative to consider 

increasing the proposed tariffs to 25 

percent from the planned 10 percent, 

USTR Robert Lighthizer said. 

"We have been very clear about the 

specific changes China should 

undertake. Regrettably, instead of 

changing its harmful behavior, China 

has illegally retaliated against US 

workers, farmers, ranchers and 

businesses," Lighthizer said in a 

statement. 

Officials however downplayed 

suggestions the move was intended to 

compensate for the recent decline in the 

value of the Chinese currency, which 

has threatened to take much of the sting 

out of Trump's tariffs by making 

imports cheaper. 

The US dollar has been strengthening 

since April as the central bank has been 

raising lending rates, which draws 

investors looking for higher returns. 

"It's important that countries refrain 

from devaluing currencies for 

competitive purposes," a senior 

administration official told reporters. 

"But I wouldn't draw the conclusion 

that the announcement we're making 

today is directly linked to any one 

practice." 

China warned that it would be ready 

to retaliate. 

"Blackmail and pressure from the US 

side will never work on China," foreign 

ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said 

at a regular press briefing prior to 

Lighthizer's statement on Wednesday. 

"If the US takes measures to further 

escalate this situation, we will surely 

take counter-measures to firmly uphold 

our legitimate rights and interests." 

Washington and Beijing are locked in 

battle over American accusations that 

China's export economy benefits from 

unfair policies and subsidies, as well as 

theft of American technological knowhow. 

A claim settlement ceremony held on recently in Insurance Development & Regulatory 

Authority (IDRA)'s Conference Room to handover Pay Order amounting to Tk. 99, 82,324/- to 

M/s. The ACME Laboratories Ltd. by Federal Insurance Co. Ltd. in front of IDRA Chairman Md. 

Shafiqur Rahman Patwary, Bangladesh Insurance Association's President Sheikh Kabir 

Hossain and A M M Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Managing Director, Federal Insurance against 

Fire Insurance Claim. Borhanuddin Ahmed, member and Dr. Sheikh Mohd. Rezaul Islam, 

Executive Director, Dr. Md. Bashirul Alam, Director and officials of IDRA, Kazi Shakawat 

Hossain, AMD, Md. Mohibullah, EVP & Sheikh Mohammad Anwar Uddin, Company Secretary 

with senior officials of Federal Insurance & Tushar Kanti Kundu, Head of HR, Md. Rafiqul 

Islam, Company Secretary of The ACME Laboratories Ltd. were present the occasion. 

Journalists of print & Electronic media were also present. 

Photo: Courtesy 

‘Walton sets example of friendly 

relation between owner-workers’ 

NHRC Chairman tells after visiting Walton factory 

Witnessing friendly 

relationship between owners 

and workers at Walton 

factory, National Human 

Rights Commission 

Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque 

said, "It's an example in 

creating conducive 

environment particularly in 

the relation between owners 

and workers that could be 

followed by others national 

and international companies 

in Bangladesh." 

The NHRC Chairman came 

up with the remark while 

expressing his reaction on the 

visit of Walton factory at 

Chandra in Gazipur before the 

media on Wednesday (1 

August 2018), says a press 

release. 

Expressing his satisfaction 

over the management of 

Walton factory, he observed 

that employees were 

spontaneously working there 

in a friendly environment. He 

thanked Walton authorities 

for ensuring such a suitable 

environment for workers. 

About the issue of profit 

sharing among workers, 

NHRC Chairman said: There 

are many multinational 

companies in the country, 

especially of Europe, who do 

not distribute dividends 

among workers. However, 

Walton, being a local 

company, is distributing a 

certain portion of its profits 

among workers which is 

exemplary for others. He also 

praised Walton for not 

recruiting child laborers in its 

factory. 

Kazi Reazul Hoque also said 

that the domestic production 

increased remarkably 

reducing the import cost while 

employment and business 

opportunities have been 

created for many people with 

the establishment of the 

Walton factory in the country. 

During his visit, the NHRC 

Chairman was accompanied 

by the commission's secretary 

Hiranamaya Baroi, director 

(complain and investigation) 

Al-Mahmud Fayzul Kabir, 

director (admin and finance) 

Kazi Arfan Ashik, deputy 

director Mohammad Gazi 

Salauddin and M Rabiul 

Islam, Public Relation Officer 

Farhana Sayed. 

Earlier, the NHRC 

chairman and his entourage 

were welcomed by SM 

Shamsul Alam, managing 

director of Walton Group, 

upon their arrival at the 

factory premises. 

Walton Group Executive 

Director SM Zahid Hasan and 

Sirajul Islam, Media Adviser 

Enayet Ferdous and other 

senior officials were present 

on the occasion. 

They then enjoyed a 

corporate documentary on 

Walton in the conference 

room of the administrative 

building of Walton High-tech 

Industries Ltd and visited the 

well-decorated product 

display center. The NHRC 

Chairman was amazed 

witnessing the attractive 

design and finish of Walton 

energy efficient inverter 

technology refrigerator. He 

also operated a Walton brand 

laptop and praised it stylish 

design, attractive features and 

high quality. 

Later, the NHRC team 

visited various production 

plant of Walton Hi-Tech 

Industries, Walton Micro- 

Tech Corporation and Walton 

Digi-Tech Industries Ltd 

including its Green 

Refrigerator Production Plant 

that uses environmentfriendly 

R600a refrigerant. 

They also visited Walton 

medical center and dining 

spaces and expressed 

satisfaction at the overall 

facilities for workers, safety 

measures and fair working 

environment. 

Australia considering 

to challenge legality 

of Indian trade tariffs 

The Australian government 

is considering launching a 

World Trade Organization 

(WTO) challenge against 

trade barriers imposed by 

India. 

Speaking at an Australian 

Grains Industry conference 

on August 1, Trade Minister 

Steven Ciobo described a 

series of trade tariffs imposed 

by India as "profoundly 

disappointing developments." 

Since late 2017 the Indian 

government has introduced a 

30 percent tariff on the import 

of chickpeas and lentils, a 50 

percent tariff on field peas and 

doubled the tariff on wheat to 

20 percent. 

Ciobo said the government 

"was determined to vigorously 

defend" Australian farmers. 

"They have had, and will 

continue to have, an adverse 

impact on Australian 

producers," he told the 

conference. 

"In my meetings with 

Indian counterparts I have 

stressed that Australia is well 

placed to help meet India's 

growing food needs. But 

Australian exporters require 

certainty to enable further 

investment to expand and 

grow exports to the Indian 

market." 

"While some of these trade 

actions are within WTO rules, 

there are real doubts about 

other measures and we are 

working closely with industry 

and other affected trading 

partners to evaluate the 

prospects for a successful 

challenge." 

Ciobo also said he had 

reached out to the Trump 

administration for more 

details on a 12 billion U.S. 

dollars agriculture assistance 

package announced by the 

U.S. Department of 

Agriculture in late July. 

Vietnam property tycoon 

bets big on new airline 

Pressed by poverty into 

work when he was 14, 

Trinh Van Quyet now 

presides over a Vietnamese 

property empire and is 

betting billions on a new 

airline in Southeast Asia's 

crowded aviation sector. 

The 43-year-old tycoon 

clawed his way up from a 

tough start in the 

Vietnamese countryside, 

his modest aspiration back 

then to become a civil 

servant. 

But from lowly 

beginnings - his first job 

was in his mother's shop - 

he now oversees the FLC 

Group empire that includes 

luxury resorts and golf 

courses, mining and 

vocational training. 

He says he gave up his 

youth to get where he is 

today. 

"I dared to sacrifice my 

childhood… when you're 

supposed to be able to play, 

study, and later, fall in 

love," he told AFP from his 

polished high-rise office in 

Hanoi this week. 

His company has a 

market capitalisation of 

around $200 million and 

he is branching out, taking 

a punt on Bamboo Airways, 

a new airline set for its 

maiden flight in October 

and a first foray into a 

business that can be 

unforgiving to newcomers. 

"We will be huge, right 

when we launch… we will 

make a profit as soon as we 

start flying," the bullish 

executive says. 

His master plan is to lure 

piles of passengers to 

"undiscovered" holiday 

destinations - many in 

spots he has resorts - 

offering high-quality 

service on the cheap. 

But he's got a lot going 

against him. 

Bamboo Airways will 

come up against 

heavyweights such as 

AirAsia and Thai Airways 

as well as local players 

Vietnam Airlines and 

VietJet. 

With a mushrooming 

middle class hungry for 

travel, Vietnam's aviation 

market has soared in recent 

years. 

Passenger numbers 

jumped to 62 million last 

year from just 25 million in 

2012, according to the Civil 

Aviation Administration of 

Vietnam. 

But Southeast Asia's once 

red-hot sector is showing 

signs of cooling while 

airport capacity is being 

squeezed across much of 

the region. 

"It's not realistic to think 

that the kind of growth that 

we've seen in Vietnam in 

the last two years will 

continue," Brendan Sobie, 

an analyst at the CAPA 

Centre for Aviation, told 

AFP. 

Bamboo Airways is likely 

to struggle for prime slots 

at the country's busiest 

airports in Ho Chi Minh 

City and Hanoi, while 

Vietnam's second-tier hubs 

are in desperate need of 

renewal. 

Undeterred, Quyet has 

signed up for 20 of Boeing's 

787 Dreamliners worth 

$5.6 billion and committed 

a further $3.2 billion to buy 

24 Airbus 321neo planes. 

Thirty percent of that 

money will come from FLC 

- the rest from foreign 

investors - a huge upfront 

investment for a startup. 

While he still does not 

have his government 

aviation licence yet, Quyet 

is in a rush, planning to 

operate 37 domestic routes 

after his maiden flight. 

In 2019 he wants to offer 

routes to Asian 

destinations and North 

America. 

The airline's hook will be 

to fly to lesser-travelled 

spots like Quy Nhon and 

Thanh Hoa and lasso 

customers into discount 

packages at his resorts. 

But some analysts say 

that is an outdated model 

in an era when travellers 

can tailor holidays for 

themselves online. 

"Integrated tourism and 

aviation, it sets off a few 

alarm bells… sometimes 

demand is there, 

sometimes not," Richard 

Aboulafia, vice president of 

analysis at Teal Group, told 

AFP. 

But Quyet has spent most 

of his life beating the odds. 

Born poor in Vinh Phuc 

province, he grew up 

playing in the shade of 

bamboo trees, whose 

memory has inspired the 

name for the carrier. 

He took his first flight at 

age 17 from Ho Chi Minh 

City to Hanoi carrying CD 

players to sell at a time 

when war-scarred 

communist Vietnam was 

just starting to embrace 

market reforms.

MISCELLANEOUS 

FrIDAY, AuGuST 3, 2018 

7 

Trump imposes 

sanctions over Turkey’s 

detaining of minister 

The U.S. will impose sanctions on two 

Turkish officials over a detained 

American pastor who is being tried on 

espionage and terror-related charges, the 

White House announced Wednesday. 

President Donald Trump warned last 

week that he might impose sanctions 

against Turkey, a key NATO ally, for its 

treatment of Andrew Craig Brunson in a 

case that has strained U.S.-Turkish 

relations. Turkish President Recep 

Tayyip Erdogan has said his 

government won't back down and was 

willing to "go its own way" if the U.S. 

imposes sanctions. 

White House spokeswoman Sarah 

Huckabee Sanders said the sanctions 

would target Turkey's justice and interior 

ministers, whose agencies she said were 

responsible for the pastor's arrest and 

detention. 

"We've seen no evidence that Pastor 

Brunson has done anything wrong, and 

we believe he is a victim of unfair and 

unjust attention by the government of 

Turkey," Sanders said. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the 

Turkish government refused to release 

Brunson "after numerous conversations 

between President Trump and President 

Erdogan," along with his conversations 

with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut 

Cavosuglo. "President Trump concluded 

that these sanctions are the appropriate 

action," Pompeo said. 

A Turkish justice ministry spokesman 

did not immediately comment on the 

sanctions. Turkey's Foreign Ministry was 

expected to release a statement later 

GD-984/18 (3 x 3) 

Wednesday. 

Brunson, 50, was arrested in December 

2016 following a failed coup on charges of 

"committing crimes on behalf of terror 

groups without being a member" and 

espionage. He was recently released to 

home detention. He faces a prison 

sentence of up to 35 years if he is 

convicted on both counts at the end of his 

ongoing trial. 

The evangelical pastor, who is originally 

from Black Mountain, North Carolina, 

has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led 

Izmir Resurrection Church. 

Under the sanctions to be imposed by 

the Treasury Department, any property, 

or interest in property, belonging to 

Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul or 

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu within 

U.S. jurisdiction would be blocked. 

Americans would generally be prohibited 

from doing business with them. 

Erdogan has denied speculation that 

there had been an agreement to swap 

Brunson for Turkish citizens being held 

abroad, particularly 27-year-old Ebru 

Ozkan. Ozkan had been detained by Israel 

on terror-related charges, but was 

deported this month. 

The Turkish leader previously 

connected Brunson's return to the U.S. to 

the extradition of Fethullah Gulen. 

Ankara blames Gulen for the coup 

attempt, while the cleric denies 

involvement. 

Erdogan has also warned that Turkey 

would seek international arbitration if the 

United States refused to deliver F-35 

fighter jets in retaliation. 

Coast Guard 

document: Tourist 

boat violated 

inspection terms 

A certificate of inspection for 

the Missouri tourist boat 

that sank last month, killing 

17 people, shows that it was 

on the lake at a time when 

the wind speed far exceeded 

allowable limits. 

The Coast Guard on 

Wednesday announced it 

has convened a formal 

Marine Board of 

Investigation into the 

accident involving a Ride the 

Ducks of Branson boat. The 

vessel sank July 19 at Table 

Rock Lake. 

The lake was calm when 

the excursion began, but 

weather turned violent and 

the boat sank within 

minutes. 

The Coast Guard's 

certificate of inspection 

issued in 2017 prohibited 

the boat from being on water 

if winds exceed 35 mph or 

wave height exceeds 2 feet. 

Investigators said the wind 

speed at the time of the 

accident was more than 70 

mph. 

Classes begin at 

Indiana school 

2 months after 

shooting 

Students have started a new 

school year at a suburban 

Indianapolis middle school 

more than two months after 

a classroom shooting 

wounded a student and a 

teacher. 

Students and staff were 

greeted Wednesday by 

newly drafted Indiana 

Pacers player Alize Johnson 

and other athletes as they 

entered Noblesville West 

Middle School. Thirteenyear-old 

Ella Whistler and 

science teacher Jason 

Seaman were among those 

returning for classes. 

A 13-year-old boy 

allegedly shot Whistler and 

Seaman after officials say he 

entered Seaman's classroom 

May 25 with two handguns. 

New security measures, 

including more surveillance 

and police officers, are in 

place at the school about 20 

miles (30 kilometers) north 

of Indianapolis. 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿ 

Members of Tanti League Dhaka City (North) recently took part in Quran Khawani and special 

prayers as part of its month long programmes for National Mourning Day at Banani graveyard. 

Awami League lawmaker Col (retd) Faruk Khan was present as the chief guest at the occasion. 

Among others, Tanti League central committee president Engineer Md Showkat Ali, general secretary 

Khogendra Chandra Devnath, Tanti League Dhaka City (North) President with Alhaj Hamid 

Ahmed and General Secretary S M Mosharraf Hossain. 

Photo : Courtesy 

Thieves steal Swedish royal 

jewels, escape by speedboat 

Thieves carrying out a daring robbery in broad daylight 

walked into a medieval cathedral in Sweden, smashed open 

a glass security case and stole priceless gold and jewelencrusted 

crowns dating to the early 1600s before hopping 

onto bicycles and racing to a nearby lake, where they 

disappeared. 

The two men vanished aboard a speedboat or jet skis after 

the noon heist Tuesday into the vast patchwork of lakes 

around Strangnas, 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of the 

capital of Stockholm, police said. 

The stolen artifacts included a gold crown and an orb 

dating to 1611 that were made for King Karl IX's funeral, as 

well as a jewel-encrusted crown dating to 1625 that was used 

in Queen Kristina's funeral. The stolen items were on display 

at an exhibition in the cathedral, and visitors were inside at 

the time. 

"The alarm went off when the burglars smashed the 

security glass and stole the artifacts," Catharina Frojd, a 

spokeswoman for the 14th-century Strangnas cathedral, told 

The Associated Press. 

The cathedral said on its website that the stolen pieces were 

kept "in accordance with the prevailing safety regulations in 

locked and alarmed displays in the cathedral." It gave no 

further details. 

Police sent out a helicopter and boat to hunt for the thieves 

but found nothing. Authorities said no one was hurt in the 

robbery but didn't provide further details. 

Tom Rowell, a visitor who was eating lunch outside, said he 

saw two men running from the cathedral toward a small 

nearby jetty where a motorboat was moored. 

"The two men hurriedly jumped on board and it sped off," 

Rowell said, adding that they "appeared non-Nordic." He 

didn't elaborate. 

However, police spokesman Stefan Dangardt said 

"witnesses' testimonies varied quite a bit" and it was also 

possible the thieves escaped on jet skis. 

The men used two stolen black bicycles equipped with 

baskets and a child's seat to race to the lake, Dangardt added. 

On Wednesday, divers were looking for clues in and along 

the shores of Lake Malaren, Sweden's third-largest 

freshwater lake. Police said the thieves could have fled 

further on jet skis. 

While the stolen artifacts are of great historic and cultural 

value, police expressed skepticism about whether the 

burglary would bring the perpetrators financial gain. 

The stolen pieces are "impossible to sell" because of their 

uniqueness and high visibility, Maria Ellior of the Swedish 

police's National Operations Department told the Swedish 

news agency TT. 

The theft would be logged at Interpol, enabling an 

international search, the agency. 

Strangnas, a small, quiet town with a population of about 

13,000, is popular with Stockholm commuters and tourists, 

who come to see the cathedral and a street that has been 

called the prettiest in Sweden. 

The Gothic-style cathedral, built between 1291 and 1340, is 

in the heart of the town. The cathedral's red-brick tower with 

a black top can be seen for miles (kilometers) around. 

The cathedral was closed Wednesday, and a grassy area by 

the jetty was cordoned off as police inspected the ground for 

clues. Police also questioned witnesses who were inside the 

church at the time of the theft and people outside who saw 

the suspects get away. 

The stolen artifacts are funeral regalia, which are placed 

inside or on top of a coffin to symbolize a deceased royal's 

identity and social ranking. 

While some funeral regalia are kept in the cathedrals of 

Strangnas, Uppsala and Vasteras, Sweden's crown jewels 

are in vaults of the treasury under the Royal Castle in 

Stockholm. 

In 2013, 16th-century copies of King Johan III's crown, orb 

and scepter were stolen from the cathedral in the central 

Swedish city of Vasteras, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of 

the capital Stockholm, during a nighttime burglary. They 

were eventually found and returned to the cathedral. No one 

was arrested. 

Rowell, the witness, is getting married at the cathedral next 

weekend. 

"It's despicable that people would steal from a holy 

building," he said. 

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FRIDAy, DHAKA, AuGuST 3, 2018, SRABAN 19, 1425 BS, ZIlqAD 20, 1439 HIJRI 

Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina donated a saving certificate of Tk 20 lakh to the family members of 

Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib each, who died in a road crash in the city. Photo : Star Mail 

2 students hurt 

being hit by 

'police vehicle' 

DHAKA : Two school students, 

who joined the student 

demonstrations 

demanding justice for those 

killed in a recent road crash 

in the city, 'were injured' 

after reportedly being hit by 

a 'police vehicle' in front of 

Rajarbag Police Lines on 

Thursday afternoon, reports 

UNB. 

Witnesses said a group of 

students were checking driving 

licences of vehicles in 

front the gate No 1 of 

Rajarbag Police Lines. 

At one stage, they obstructed 

a police vehicle for checking 

its driving licence. 

Being obstructed, the vehicle 

reportedly hit the students, 

leaving two students 

injured. The injured were 

then taken to a city hospital. 

New act to bring discipline 

in transport sector 

DHAKA : Road Transport and Bridges 

Minister Obaidul Quader on Thursday said 

the proposed Road Transport Act will bring 

discipline in the transport sector as the act 

kept a provision of harsher punishment 

according to the gravity of accident, reports 

UNB. 

"People are dying like birds and flies. Once 

the act gets passed the sector will come 

under control," said Obaidul while talking to 

reporters after a meeting with the Indian 

High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harsh 

Bardhan Shringla at the Secretariat. 

"Whatever provisions are required for the 

interest of the public, will be kept at the proposed 

act after discussing in a Cabinet meeting." 

he said. 

Talking about the public transport, the 

minister said the BRTC buses were plying on 

the roads but the owners of private buses 

went off the street fearing vandalism or 

arson attack. "Though I have requested the 

bus owners to operate buses on the roads to 

mitigate the public sufferings," he added. 

Talking about BNP moves, the Awami 

League leader said "There is no way for BNP. 

They will depend on quota movement and 

students' movement as they have no courage 

and ability to do anything." 

Responding to a query, the minister said 

the projects under Line of Credit (LoC) with 

India were discussed. "A total of 1100 vehicles 

including 300 double decker buses will 

be brought from India under LoC." 

Besides, Mainamati-Sarail, Agartala and 

Akhaura roads will be upgraded into four 

lanes involving Tk 5,000 crore under LoC, 

said Obaidul. 

Replying to a question about concern over 

many Indians living in Assam losing nationality, 

the minister said the Indian High 

Commissioner Harsh Bardhan Shringla said 

that there is a court order over the Assam 

issue and the matter was not finalised yet. 

ADB provides $500m 

to develop power 

plant in Khulna 

DHAKA : The Asian 

Development Bank (ADB) 

and the Government of 

Bangladesh on Thursday 

signed agreements for 

$500 million in loans to 

develop a state-of-the-art 

800-megawatt (MW) 

power plant in Khulna, 

along with associated connections 

to natural gas and 

power transmission facilities. 

Muhammad Alkama 

Siddiqui, Additional 

Secretary (ADB Wing), 

Economic Relations 

Division (ERD), and 

Manmohan arkash, 

Country Director, ADB, 

signed the loan agreements 

on behalf of 

Bangladesh and ADB, 

respectively, at a ceremony 

in the city. 

"This mega project 

builds on ADB's strong and 

sustained presence in the 

power sector of 

Bangladesh, and it will use 

the latest proven combined 

cycle technology, which 

offers the highest efficiency 

to convert gas to electricity," 

said Country Director 

Manmohan Parkash. 

"ADB places higher 

importance on introducing 

new and high-impact technologies 

to benefit member 

countries. This will be a 

state-of-the-art power 

plant using the latest zeroliquid 

discharge technology, 

making it the first of its 

kind in Bangladesh." 

Highlighting benefits of 

the project, Parkash said it 

will provide additional 

electricity supply to about 

300,000 consumers, create 

new jobs, and stimulate 

business expansion. 

This environment 

friendly project will significantly 

improve energy 

security and enhance availability 

of efficient and 

cleaner energy, said ADB. 

To supply gas to the 

Rupsha power plant, the 

project will construct 12 

kilometers (km) of gas distribution 

pipelines, and 

finance construction of a 

230-kilovolt switchyard 

and 29 km of high capacity 

transmission lines to 

transfer generated electricity 

to the national grid. 

The project will also help 

in institutional strengthening 

of the executing agency, 

the North-West Power 

Generation Company 

Limited, by implementing 

a modern enterprise 

resource planning system, 

and providing training for 

implementation and operation 

of the system. 

Grant financing of $1.5 

million will also be provided 

from ADB's Japan Fund 

for Poverty Reduction, 

funded by the Government 

of Japan, to improve living 

standards in nearby communities. 

Focusing on vulnerable 

households and women, 

activities will include 

increasing awareness on 

safe and efficient use of 

electricity, training on 

livelihood and job opportunities, 

and providing 

school laboratory facilities. 

The total cost of the project 

is $1.14 billion, with 

the Islamic Development 

Bank contributing $300 

million in cofinancing and 

the government contributing 

$338.5 million. 

The project is due to be 

completed by the end of 

June 2022. 

ADB said it is committed 

to achieving a prosperous, 

inclusive, resilient, and 

sustainable Asia and the 

Pacific, while sustaining its 

efforts to eradicate 

extreme poverty. 

Established in 1966, it is 

owned by 67 members-48 

from the region. 

In 2017, ADB operations 

totaled $32.2 billion, 

including $11.9 billion in 

cofinancing. 

Govt signs deal to 

buy 5 MW solar 

power from Japan- 

Bangla JV firm 

DHAKA : The governmenton 

Mondaysigned a contract 

with a joint venture of a 

Japanese firm and its local 

partner to purchase 5 MW 

power from a grid-tied PV 

solar power plant project to 

be set up in Gwainghat of 

Sylhet, reports UNB. 

The joint venture of 

Japanese firm Eiki Shoji 

Company Ltd having 95.1 

percent shares in the project 

and local firm Sun Solar 

Power Plant Ltd having 4.9 

percent shares will set up the 

5 MW plant in next 12 

months. 

State-owned power 

Development Board (PDB) 

will purchase the electricity 

for over 20 years at tariff of 

US Cents 13.90 per kilowatt 

hour on a basis of "no electricity, 

no payment" agreement. 

The Power Division will 

provide all necessary supports 

to implement the project. 

PDB secretary Mina 

Masud Uzzaman and Eiki 

Shoji and Sun Power managing 

director Alauddin 

Mridha signed the power 

purchase agreement (PPA) 

on behalf of their respective 

sites while Power Division 

joint secretary Sheikh Faezul 

Amin signed the implementation 

agreement (IA) with 

the project sponsor firm. 

Addressing the contract 

signing ceremony Power 

Division secretary Dr Ahmed 

Kaikaus said urged the joint 

venture firm of Japan and 

Bangladesh to timely implement 

their project. 

Ministers need to pick one - govt or business: TIB 

DHAKA : Transparency 

International Bangladesh (TIB) has 

found conflict of interests in some 

ministers' discharging important public 

duties and at the same time 

remaining engaged in transport business, 

reports UNB. 

"Government has to understand 

that business and administrative duty 

cannot function together and there 

are some ministers in the country who 

have transport business and at the 

same time they are discharging 

responsibilities in government; this is 

why offenses recur in the transport 

sector," said TIB Executive Director 

Dr. Iftekharuzzaman on Thursday. 

Without naming them, he said there 

are at least two ministers in this government 

who are directly involved 

with transport business and it is high 

time, they have to choose any from the 

two, government responsibility or 

business. 

He came up with the observations 

while speaking at a press conference 

at TIB office on 'NGO sector run by 

foreign financing; Challenges of good 

governance and way out'. 

Dr. Iftekharuzzaman alleged that 

the transportation sector has become 

a matter of interest of a triangle syndicate 

- businessmen, politicians and 

administration - as a result, those who 

are responsible for the lawlessness in 

the roads are getting protection by the 

powerful. 

The TIB executive director urged 

that, "Government should understand 

that those who have business 

interest cannot play their role rightly 

for the people." 

Some villages of Parshuram-Fulgazi upazila inundated by hilly onrush. 

Expressing solidarity with the ongoing 

students' movement, Dr. 

Iftekharuzzaman said political will is 

the utmost requirement to break the 

'evil syndicate' and ensure road safety 

by bringing discipline in the transport 

sector. 

He said the police, in the first phase 

of the students' movement, tried to 

shut it down forcefully which was also 

observed in the time of quota reform 

movement and he termed it as the 

denial of constitutional rights. 

Dr. Iftekharuzzaman said government 

should make a democratic environment 

for the people where they 

can seek out for their demands and if 

the government accept and implement 

the students' demands, it would 

be a praiseworthy mattert for them 

too. 

Photo : Star Mail 

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, Cell : 01832166882; Email: Editor : editor@thebangladeshtoday.com, Advertisement: ads@thebangladeshtoday.com, News: newsbangla@thebangladeshtoday.com, contact@thebangladeshtoday.com, website: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

03-08-2018

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