05-08-2018

SunDaY
Dhaka:august 5, 2018; Srabon 21, 1425 BS; Zilqad 22,1439 hijri
www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com
Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.196; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00
inTeRnaTiOnal
Zimbabwe opposition
says soldiers search
for its supporters
>Page 7
aRT & culTuRe
Did saif ali have a heated
argument with nikkhil
over 'baazaar' release?
>Page 8
SPORT
Bangladesh need toporder
lift to challenge
West Indies
>Page 9
Kamal calls rumor
of students'
abduction ‘facebook
production’
DHAKA : Home Minister
Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday
called "entirely baseless" a Facebook
propagation that four female students
were abducted and taken to hostages
and eyes of a boy were gouged out at
Awami League's Dhanmondi Office,
reports BSS.
"This propaganda is entirely baseless
. . . a 'facebook production,'" he told BSS
over phone this evening accusing vested
quarters of spreading the rumour.
He said a strong police contingent led
by a senior officer along with students
and journalists entered the venue as the
rumour spread and carried out a frantic
search at each of the rooms of the office
"but found nothing".
"A vested quarter has been spreading
rumors to meddle the current students'
movement over the unfortunate deaths
of two teenage students in the last
week's bus crash in front of Radisson
Hotel," Kamal said.
The minster's comments came after a
group of students attacked the AL
Dhanmondi Office following as the
rumor broke out while Kamal said this
was sparked by two fake videos
uploaded on the Facebook.
Rid shipping
sector of mafias:
Speakers
DHAKA : Speakers at a discussion in
the city on Saturday demanded to
uproot mafia syndicates from shipping
sector for developing a safe water transport
system across the country.
National Committee to Protect
Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCP-
SRR) organized the event marking the
4th anniversary of 'ML Pinak-6 tragedy'
at Purana Paltan's Mukti Bhavan in the
capital.
Manzurul Ahsan Khan, a veteran
politician and also a labour leader, said
that similar to road transport sector, the
country's shipping sector has been controlled
by mafia syndicates. Due to
patronisation of these syndicates, four
years after Pinak-6 capsize the accused
persons are yet to be tried, he alleged.
Demanding the exemplary punishment
of the real culprits behind the
dreadful accident, Manzurul Ahsan
said that water transport system would
not be modernised, people-friendly and
safe if mafia syndicates could not be
uprooted and arrested.
Tareque Ali, head of Naval
Architecture and Marin Engineering
Department of The University of
Engineering and Technology,
remarked that there exists anarchy not
only in the road transport sector, rather
irregularities, mismanagement and
corruption have been rampant in shipping
sector as well.
Owners have to pay handsome
amount of money to authority concerned
to get approval of vessels'
design, he alleged.
He also alleged that ship surveyors
are bribed for getting registration of
vessels and annual fitness and candidates
have to give bribe to examination
board members for taking inland mastership
and drivership certificates.
Zohr
04:06 AM
12:15 PM
04:42 PM
06:50 PM
08:10 PM
5:28 6:47
Students regulating
traffic as protests
roll into 7th day
DHAKA : School and college students
returned to the streets for the 7th consecutive
dayon Saturdayalthough the
government has asked them to return to
home saying that it has accepted all of
their demands, reports UNB.
The protesting students were seen
regulating traffic, checking documents
of drivers at different points of the capital
as part of their ongoing agitation
seeking safer roads.
They were also guiding people to use
zebra crossings asking them to use footpaths
and seatbelts, and driving vehicles
in a disciplined way using lanes outlined
by them.
Some students gathered at
Shantinagar
intersection
around10amand they were seen regulating
traffic and checking licences.
Visiting different areas in the capital,
UNB reporters found gatherings of students
at Science Lab intersection, Asad
Gate,Mirpur-10, Panthapath, Technical,
Airport road, Mouchak intersections
and Uttara House Building areas to
press home their demands.
They were chanting slogans as usual,
"We want justice".
UNB correspondents from Mohakhali
area reports: Some policemen were seen
reading newspapers, and having tea on
a road near Mohakhali bus stand while
students controlling traffic.
Some students were seen monitoring
the overall traffic management riding
pick-up vans.
They were also seen writing 'OK' to
each vehicle with marker pen after first
checking of driving licence and other
documents to help them avoid frequent
checking.
Although a very few public buses were
on the road, traffic jams were seen at different
points of the capital.
Traffic were moving slowly on Airport
Road as several hundred students gathered
there as part of their agitation programme
around11 am.
Meanwhile, some 1,000 students
gathered at Shahbagh intersection
around11 amand were checking licences
of drivers blocking three sides of the
intersection, disrupting traffic.
Some leaders and activists of
Bangladesh Chhatra League of Dhaka
University unit went to the spot and are
trying to remove them from the road.
"Although the government is saying
that they have accepted all our
demands, we want written assurance
from the Prime Minister. We'll continue
our movement until we get such an
assurance," said a student at Shahbagh
intersection. In Chattogram,students
gathered at GEC intersection in the city
and staged protests.
In Rajshahi, students of different
schools and colleges gathered at Zero
Point at Saheb Bazar of the city
around10:30amprotesting the attack on
students during their demonstrations
seeking safer roads.
Additional police have been deployed
to avoid any untoward situation and for
the security of students, said Iftekhar
Alam, spokesperson of Rajshahi
Metropolitan Police.
Protesting students
come under attack
at Jigatala, Mirpur
DHAKA : The students who were
managing the traffic at Jigatala intersection
and Mirpur in the city came
under attack on Saturday, reports
UNB.
A group of 25-30 youths, said to be
Bangladesh Chhatra League activists,
swooped on the students with sticks in
front of the BGB Jigatala gate around
2pm, leaving some of them injured.
They retreated when the students
chased them with sticks and whatever
they got around them.
However, the youths regrouped and
attacked the protesting students again
around 3:30pm, leaving a number of
the students injured.
Later, chase and counter-chase took
place between the two groups several
times.
Finally, members of Border Guard
Bangladesh came out of the Pilkhana
headquarters and brought the situation
under control.
The agitated students also vandalised
a police box in Science Lab
area during the melee.
In Mirpur-2, around 50 youths,
believed to be BCL men, swooped on
the protesting students with sticks at
12 noon.
The attackers chased the students
towards Mirpur-10 upto Mirpur-2
Shopping Complex.
In front of BGB gate at Jigatala of the capital, a group of miscreants attack on students. They fired some
round bullets wearing helmets. During that time, both group threw brick-bat and broke vehicles. The incident
was happened on Saturday at 2 o'clock.
Photo: Star mail
On Saturday in the capital, five buses were handed over to Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment School by BRTC
chairman Farid Uddin (Additional Secretary) on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Photo: Star Mail
PM provides 5
buses to
Shaheed Ramiz
Uddin College
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina has provided five buses for the
students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin
Cantonment College, reports UNB.
On behalf of the Prime Minister,
Bangladesh Road Transport
Corporation Chairman Farid Ahmed
Bhuiyan handed over the buses to
Major General Ataul Karim Sarwar
Hasan, Dhaka log area commander
and chief patron of the institution, in
front of Combined Military Hospital
(CMH) on Saturday morning, said
Rezaul Karim Shammi, ISPR assistant
director.
Of the buses, one is double-decker,
one 30-seated coaster and while three
are single-decker, said sources at the
Prime Minister's Office.
Principal of the college Nur Nahar
Yesmin and its teachers and students
were present.
The teachers and students thanked
the Prime Minister for providing the
buses as gifts.
Earlier on July 29, Diya Khanam
Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, first
year students of the college, were
killed as a bus ploughed through
some students in front of Kurmitola
General Hospital on Airport Road in
the capital.
Quader alerts against
political infiltration
into student movement
DHAKA : Awami League General
Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday
urged the protesting students to
remain alert so that no vested quarter
can take any advantage capitalizing on
their non-political movement.
"The students should remain alert
against the vested quarters who have
extended support to the students'
movement politically and attempted to
catch fish in muddled water for creating
an unstable situation in the country
as they have failed to wage their
own movement," he said.
Quader, also the road transport and
bridges minister, came up with the
remarks at a press conference at AL
president's political office in
Dhanmodi here after a meeting of the
Awami League secretariat.
Urging the students to return to their
respective classes, he said the government
has taken initiatives to implement
the nine-point demand, raised
after a road accident which left two
students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin
School dead on the spot.
"We have found logic behind the students'
nine-point demand. The
Teletalk's solar-based
network in remote
areas for 4G
process of implementation has started,"
said the AL general secretary.
Police have arrested the drivers
involved in the accident and the owner
of the bus, he said, adding the legal
procedures are going on.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has
provided financial assistance of Taka
20 lakh each to the two victims' families,
he added.
Quader said the victims' families also
urged the students to return home
calling off the movement.
The government has also taken initiatives
to construct underpasses as
per the demand of the protesting students.
The responsibility has been
given to the Engineering Corps of
army and the design has already been
completed, he said.
He said there is no need to call tender
as the work will be held through
DPP.
Besides, Quader said, the government
has taken initiatives to construct
modern speed breakers through ramble
stick system and steps have been
taken to deploy traffic police in front of
schools and colleges.
DHAKA : State-owned mobile phone
operator Teletalk plans to install over
400 solar power-based Base
Transceiver Stations (BTSs) in hard-toreach
areas to facilitate modern
telecommunication, especially 3G and
4G services to the inhabitants of those
areas.
To this end, a development project is
now in the Planning Commission awaiting
for final approval of the Executive
Committee of the National Economic
Council (ECNEC), said officials.
Talking to BSS, a high official of
Teletalk on Saturday said they have initiated
the process so the people of hardto-reach
areas get opportunity to enjoy
mobile broadband internet. He
revealed that they have planned to
install over 400 Node B for expanding
3G and 4G network in country's farflung
areas including the Sundarbans,
haors, forests, islands and parts of
Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Officials said the project dubbed as
"Establishment of Solar Based Base stations
in Hard-to-Reach Areas for
strengthening Teletalk Network
Coverage" has been approved by the
planning commission with a cost of
Taka 406 crore, of which Taka 240 crore
would be sourced as project assistance.
According to officials, Teletalk initially
proposed to run the project at a cost of
Taka 180 crore under Indian line of
credit in January, 2017. Later, the cost
was revised at Taka 406 crore to cover
more areas under the project. Teletalk
has planned to complete this network
expansion project by August 2020 upon
getting approval by the ECNEC.
Currently, Teletalk is implementing
two projects to expand its 3G network
across the country, although the work of
the expansion is running slowly for fund
disbursement difficulties.
Meanwhile, all the private operators
have started to offer 4G services immediately
after handing over license by the
government. But, the state-own operator
is yet to offer 4G due to network upgradation.

NEWS
SUNDAY,
AUGUST 5, 2018
2
Bangladesh General Student Council (Central Committee) formed a human chain in front of
National Press Club yesterday demanding implementation of extending government service age.
Photo : Star Mail
Fish trader
stabbed dead
in Bagerhat
BAGERHAT : A fish trader
was stabbed to death by
miscreants in Old
Ferryghat area of
Morelganj upazila on
Friday night, reports UNB.
The deceased was
identified as Jahangir
Khan, 45, son of Kalu Kha
hailing from Hoglapasha
village in the upazila.
Victim's wife Beauty
Begum said a group of
miscreants stabbed
Jahangir indiscriminately
around 11:30pm while he
was guarding his fish
enclosure in the area and
soon fled the scene.
Later, the injured was
taken to Pirojpur Sadar
Hospital where doctors
declared him dead.
Officer-in-charge of
Morelganj Police Station
Thakurdas Mondal said
Jahangir might have been
killed following a conflict
with other fish traders
over encroaching char
land in the area.
"Investigation is on to find
out those behind the
killing," he said.
Woman's floating
body found in
Jhenidah
JHENIDAH : Police
recovered the floating body
of an unidentified woman
from a pond near
Mobarakganj railway station
in Kaliganj upazila on
Saturday morning, reports
UNB.
Mizanur Rahman, officerin-charge
of Kaliganj Police
Station said that locals
spotted the body of the
woman, aged about 60, in
the morning and informed
police.
Later, police recovered the
body.
Locals said that the victim
woman was mentally
challenged.
US warns Russia, others on
enforcing North Korea sanctions
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Russia, China
and other countries on Saturday against any violation of
international sanctions on North Korea that could reduce
pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons.
Pompeo's comments came on the heels of a new United
Nations report that found North Korea has not stopped its
nuclear and missile programs and is violating U.N. sanctions,
including through illicit ship-to-ship transfers of oil, reports
UNB.
Speaking on the sidelines of an Asian security forum in
Singapore, Pompeo told reporters that the U.S. has new,
credible reports that Russia is violating U.N. sanctions by
allowing joint ventures with North Korean companies and
issuing new permits for North Korean guest workers. He said
Washington would take "very seriously" any violations, and
called for them to be roundly condemned and reversed.
"If these reports prove accurate, and we have every reason
to believe that they are, that would be in violation," Pompeo
said, noting that the U.N. Security Council had voted
unanimously in favor of the sanctions. "I want to remind
every nation that has supported these resolutions that this is
a serious issue and something we will discuss with Moscow."
"We expect the Russians and all countries to abide to the
U.N. Security Council resolutions and enforce sanctions on
North Korea," he said. "Any violation that detracts from the
world's goal of finally, fully denuclearizing North Korea
would be something that America would take very seriously."
Later Saturday, during a group photo of the ASEAN
Regional Forum ministerial meeting, Pompeo went to greet
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho. They shook
hands and briefly exchanged smiles and a few words.
Pompeo then went back to his place.
At the United Nations, a summary of a report by experts
monitoring U.N. sanctions against North Korea was sent to
the Security Council on Friday that said North Korea is
continuing with both its nuclear and missile programs. And,
in addition to the oil transfers, it said the North was violating
sanctions by transferring coal at sea and flouting an arms
embargo and financial sanctions.
Late Friday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki
Haley raised the alarm, saying that "talk is cheap." "Russia
cannot support sanctions with their words in the Security
Council only to violate them with their actions," she said in a
statement. She made the remarks as the U.S. asked the
Security Council to add a North Korean bank executive, a
North Korean company, a Chinese company and a Russian
bank to the U.N. sanctions blacklist.
In his discussions with Southeast Asian officials in
Singapore, Pompeo said he had implored them all to "strictly
enforce all sanctions," including an end to ship-to-ship
transfers of oil for North Korea, and had been encouraged by
the response. Despite the warning to Russia, Pompeo said he
remained optimistic that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
will follow through on his pledge to President Donald Trump
to denuclearize. But he said the timeline for the North's full
and final denuclearization remains a work in progress.
Earlier, in an interview with a Singapore's Channel News
Asia, Pompeo had said the pace for the dismantlement of the
North's nuclear weapons program would rest with Kim. "The
ultimate timeline for denuclearization will be set by
Chairman Kim, at least in part," he said. "The decision is his."
At the news conference, however, Pompeo appeared to
step back from that comment, noting that the timeline is
subject to negotiation between Washington and Pyongyang.
He recalled that Kim had committed to denuclearization at
the historic summit with Trump on June 12 in Singapore and
that both sides "have been working since then to develop the
process through which that will be achieved."
37 held in Dinajpur
special drives
DINAJPUR: Law
enforcers, in special drives
arrested 37 persons
including 11 drug traders
from different areas of the
district in 12-hour ending
at 8am last morning,
reports BSS.
Law enforcers also seized
1,050 pieces of Yaba
tablets, 2,000 pieces of cow
fattening tablets and 100
bottles of Phensidyl during
the drives.
Police said they were
picked up from different
areas of the district on
different charges.
During the drives,
Dinajpur Sadar police
arrested seven persons
including two drug traders
with 1,000 pieces of Yaba
tablets, Biral Thana police
arrested two persons,
Birganj Thana police
arrested two persons,
Kaharole Thana police
arrested one person,
Chirirbandar Thana police
arrested one person,
Khansama Thana police
arrested three persons,
Bochaganj Thana police
arrested four persons,
Parbatipur Thana police
arrested two persons,
Nawabganj Thana police
arrested two persons,
Phulbari Than police
arrested four drug traders,
Birampur Thana police
arrested three persons
including a drug trader
with 50 pieces of Yaba
tablets and Ghoraghat
Thana police arrested two
persons.
Several cases, including
charges of subversive
activities, are pending with
different police stations
against the arrested
persons, the sources added.
Meanwhile, members of
Border Guard Bangladesh
(BGB) in a drive detained
four drug traders with 100
bottles of Phensidyl and
2,000 pieces of cow
fattening tablets around
11pm from Hili Railway
Station in Hakimpur
upazila of the district.
Later, the detained
persons were handed over
to the Hakimpur Thana
police, BGB said.
The arrested persons
were sent to jail.
General students in Joypurhat demanded implementation of 9-point demand in connection with
safety road.
Photo : Joypurhat Correspondent
Man, his son
murdered in
Bandarban clash
BANDARBAN : A man was
gunned down and his son
was hacked to death in a
remote area in Ruma upazila
on Friday night during a
clash over establishing
supremacy between two
groups, reports UNB.
The deceased were
identified as Kyngpru, 65,
and his son Mongaching, 23.
Md Shamsul Alam, upazila
nirbahi officer of Ruma
upazila, said the clash
ensued between the
supporters of former head
and present head of the
Ujanipari area of Paindu
union over establishing
supremacy. Mongre Ong, the
present head of Ujanipari,
along with his supporters,
went to the house of former
head Kyngpru around 10 pm
and opened fire on him,
leaving him dead on the spot,
he said quoting witnesses.
Later, they hacked his two
sons, leaving one dead on the
spot and the other injured.
Shariful Islam, officer-incharge
of Ruma Police
Station, said on information
they sent police force to the
remote area.
Sheikh Kamal’s 69th
birth anniversary today
DHAKA : The 69th birth anniversary of
Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of Father of
the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, will be observed today.
Born on August 5, 1949 at Tungipara in
Gopalganj, Sheikh Kamal was a former
executive member of the central
committee of Bangladesh Chhatra League
(BCL).
Awami League, its associate bodies and
different political, socio-cultural and
sports organizations have taken up
elaborate programmes marking the day.
The programmes include placing of
wreaths at the portrait of Sheikh Kamal
and recitation from the Holy Quran, miladmahfil
and offering fateha at Banani
Graveyard and discussions.
The AL and its associate bodies will pay
tribute to Sheikh Kamal by placing wreaths
at his portrait on Dhanmondi Abahani
Club premises at 8am and at his grave in
the Banani Graveyard at 9am.
A doa mahfil will be held at the graveyard
seeking eternal peace of the departed soul
of Sheikh Kamal and other family
members of Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
who were assassinated by a group of
disgruntled army personnel on August 15,
1975. Besides, Awami Swechchhasebak
League will pay homage to Sheikh Kamal's
portrait at Abahani Krira Chakra at
9.30am and it will place a wreath at his
grave in the Banani Graveyard at 10.30pm.
Besides, the organization will arrange a
discussion marking the day.
Abahani Supporters Gosthi is scheduled
to place wreaths at the portrait of the club's
founder Sheikh Kamal on Abahani Club
premises at one minute past midnight
tonight.
Sheikh Kamal was well-trained on warcourse
and he got commission before
taking part in Bangladesh Liberation War
in 1971.
He was the Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to
Commander-in-Chief of Bangladesh
Armed Forces General Ataul Gani Osmani
during the War of Liberation.
After passing Secondary School
Certificate (SSC) examination from Shahin
School and HSC from Dhaka College,
Kamal was admitted into Dhaka
University. Sheikh Kamal embraced
martyrdom on August 15 in 1975 at the age
of 26.
He was one of the pioneers of modern
football in Bangladesh and also founderpresident
of the country's leading sporting
club Abahani Krira Chakra. Kamal used to
play cricket in first division for Azad Boys
Club and Basketball too in first division for
Spurs Club. He was also founder-member
of Dhaka Theatre and Spondon Shilpa
Gosthi, a musical band of folk songs.
A Citizen Human chain was organized in protest of attack on Amar Desh Editor Engineer Mahmudur
Rahman.
Photo : Star Mail
Cattle markets getting
vibrant in Rajshahi
RAJSHAHI: Ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha, the
second largest religious festival for the
Muslims, cattle markets in the city and nine
upazilas of the district along with its adjacent
areas are getting vibrant with numerous
buyers and hundreds of sacrificial animals,
reports BSS.
A huge number of sacrificial animals are
being brought for sale at different cattle
markets like City haat, Naohata haat,
Baneswar haat, Keshor haat, Kanthakhali
haat, Rajabari haat, Kakonhat, Mohisalbari
haat and Machmoil haat.
Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) allowed
installation of eight makeshift cattle markets
in the metropolis which began to draw huge
cattle, including imported ones from India.
Dr Talha Jamil, district unit secretary of
Bangladesh Dairy Farmers Association, said
there are large numbers of domestic animals
for sacrificial in the region. Demands could be
fulfilled with local animals.
He said there were plenty of supplies of
cattle in the markets and their prices were
similar to the last Eid-ul-Azha.
Talking to BSS, Dr Zulfikar Akhter Hossain,
District Livestock Officer, said there are more
than 17,000 big or small cattle rearing and
beef fattening farms in the region Local animal
husbandry sector has marked a revolutionary
boost in recent years.
Both rural and urban areas, the poor and
marginalized people including women have
achieved tremendous successes in the sector
getting various assistances from the
government and development partners, he
added. Abdul Awal, a dairy owner of
Bargachhi, said the producers have adopted
new and improved practices and technologies
in bull rearing and fattening contributing to
enhanced production and productivity.
Currently, the price of an ideal sized cow or
buffalo ranges starts from Taka 30,000 to
80,000 and a sheep or goat from Taka 8,000
to 25,000. This year, the demand for domestic
animals for sacrificial purposes seemingly
increased as the wholesalers are sending large
animal consignments to different big markets
from Rajshahi. The price of sacrificial animals
was steady but the price may shoot up a bit
because of the soaring price of animal food and
transport cost this year.
Herbicide can save
Tk 7,000-cr crops
annually: expert
RANGPUR: A proper application of
herbicides adopting recommended
weed management methods could
substantially increase food
production along with saving huge
crops worth over Taka 7,000 crore
annually, reports BSS.
"An effective weed management
side by side with adopting
conservation agriculture
technologies remarkably increases
crop output," said noted
Agriculturist Dr. Md. Abdul Mazid,
who got the Independence Award
2018 Medal (food security) this year.
While talking to BSS, Dr Mazid, a
former chief scientific officer and
head of agronomy division of
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute,
made these observations citing
various national and international
level research findings.
In Bangladesh, he said
unrestricted growth of weeds causes
damage up to 37 percent crop yields
with 32.2 percent loss in food crops,
including 41.3 percent in cereals,
31.2 percent in pulses, 40.8 percent
in oilseeds and 39.2 percent in fibre
crops.
"We can save huge crops by
improving knowledge of extension
officers and herbicide traders to
disseminate latest climate smart
technologies to the farmers in group
approach to effective weed
management methods and safer use
of herbicides," he said.
Dr Mazid also discussed wide
range of topics on the extent of crop
damage due to the growth of
different kinds of weeds depending
on land types and seasons and
topographical locations of the crop
zone. He discussed scientific
knowledge about classification of
weeds, effective weed control
methods, herbicide mode of action,
herbicide formulation and its safer
use, rate and timing of application,
calibration of sprayers, nozzle types
and determination of spray volume.
The farmers would get maximum
benefits by applying herbicides at
pre-emergence and post emergence
periods of weeds adopting the
cropping system-based weed
management methods both in dryland
farming and wet-land farming
of crops.
Dr Mazid put importance on the
herbicide volume to be sprayed for
specific land area, utility of herbicide
label, Material Safety Data Sheet,
safety requirements in spraying
herbicides and personal protective
equipments required in spraying
process.
"The farmers must adopt the
effective ways of using herbicides for
weed control. Otherwise it might be
dangerous for human and soil
health," he said suggesting the use of
recommended rate and safer use of
herbicides.
Dr Mazid preferred popularizing
the conservation agriculture
technologies for ensuring an
effective weed management in the
crop fields to get increased yield
rates.
"The weeds should be controlled
safely and timely using herbicides
despite labour shortage during peak
period to increase crop production
at a reduced cost as the depth of
knowledge about herbicide is now at
basic level in Bangladesh," he
added.
He cautioned repeated use of
same herbicides on the same piece
of land every year might result in the
development of herbicide resistant
weeds.

METRO
SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2018
3
Govt working for
development of agriculture,
farmers: DG BRRI
RANGPUR : Director General of Bangladesh
Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Md.
Shahjahan Kabir has said the present
farmer-friendly government is working
relentlessly for development of agriculture
and farmers.
"The scientists of BRRI are always with
farmers for making commercial-basis farm
activities, especially rice cultivation, more
profitable by resolving any problem being
faced by them," he said
Kabir said this while addressing the
"Harvesting of Aus rice, farmers' field day
and training on modern technologies of rice
cultivation" programme held at village
Balata under Sadar upazila in Gaibandha
yesterday as chief guest, said a press release
Principal Scientific Officer and Chief of
Rangpur Regional Station of BRRI
Agriculturist Dr Md Abu Bakar Siddique
Sarker presided over the event jointly
organised by Rangpur Regional Station of
BRRI and Department of Agricultural
Extension (DAE).
More than 200 male and female farmers,
scientists of BRRI and officials of Gaibandha
district and Sadar upazila offices of DAE,
public representatives and elite were
present.
Shahjahan Kabir suggested farmers to
contact scientists of BRRIs for all
information related to cultivation and
production of rice, new seed, latest
technologies, agronomical management
methods and technical assistance.
On the occasion, the farmers harvested
their cultivated BRRI-evolved BR 26, BRRI
dhan48 and BRRI dhan65 varieties of Aus
rice on their exhibition plots and got yield
rates of 17, 15 and 14 mounds of Aus crop in
terms of paddy respectively.
While expressing his experience about
cultivation Aus rice, farmer Aynal Haque
said that farming of the BRRI-evolved BR26,
BRRI dhan48 and BRRI dhan65 Aus rice
varieties needed less time, fertiliser and
irrigation water.
"The farming cost of these rice varieties is
low and profit is more. Rice of BRRI dhan48
is tasty and fine in quality. Moreover, attack
of blast and BLB diseases was very low," he
said hoping that he would cultivate the rice
varieties on more land next time.
Agriculturist Sarker, in his concluding
remarks, highlighted different aspects of
agronomical managements of cultivation to
get more yield from these varieties of Aus
rice.
He said, "Planting of seedlings aged
between 20 and 25 days should be done
maintaining recommended distance
between second week of April and second
week of May."
During transplantation of seedling, 200
grams of urea, TSP 210 grams, potash 300
grams, gypsum 180 grams and 25 grams of
zinc fertilisers should be mixed in every one
decimal of land.
"After 20 and 40 days since
transplantation, 200 grams of urea fertiliser
should be applied twice. The farmland
should be kept completely weed-free clean
from 30 to 35 days since transplantation," he
added.
Jatiya Islami Mohajote organized a press conference at National Press Club yesterday.
BNP trying to
create trouble
where there
was none: Inu
KUSHTIA : Information
Minister Hasanul Haq
Inu, MP, said yesterday
that Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina had taken
strong steps to realize the
9-point charter of demand
of the children who were
engaged in a movement
for road safety.
He said that the
government was trying its
utmost to resolve the
problems faced by
common people, it was not
fair, on the part of certain
quarters, to blame the
government alone for the
current state of affairs.
The minister was
speaking at a function at
Mirpur Health Complex
where he was handing
over ambulances and
exchanging views with the
management committee of
the hospital.
Responding to a
question by journalists
regarding BNP leader
Barrister Moudood
Ahmed's comment that
the government should
"wait" for a "mass
eruption", he said that
BNP was not willing to
understand that the
government had resolved
the problem already.
"They are trying to
create trouble where there
was none, "he said. "This
was pointless, "he added.
"BNP had nothing else
apart from the release of
convicted Khaleda Zia and
pleading for under trial
accused, Tareque Zia, as
their politics, "he said.
Local elites and leaders
of the minister's party
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal
(JASHOD) were present
during the meeting.
Van torched after
death of college girl in
Gazipur road crash
GAZIPUR : Amid the ongoing student demonstrations
demanding safer roads, another college girl was killed after
being hit by a covered van at Barabari on Dhaka-
Mymensingh Highway on Saturday which was later torched
by an angry mob, reports UNB.
The deceased was identified as Farzana Alam Mim, 19, a
student of Safiuddin SarkerAcademyand College (SSAC) in
Tongi.
Locals said the Mymensingh-bound covered van hit the girl
while she was crossing the road around 11 am, leaving her
seriously injured.
Doctors declared Farzana dead when she was taken to
Tongi Government Hospital, said officer-in-charge of Tongi
Police Station Kamal Hossain.
Meanwhile, angry mob managed to halt the covered van
along with its driver and set the vehicle on fire while the
driver was given a good beating, witnesses said.
The enraged people also blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh
Highway in College Gate area of Tongi.
Firefighters doused the flame, he said.
Audio clip of 'talks
between Khosru' and
unknown boy goes viral
DHAKA : A reported audio clip of telephonic
conversation between BNP standing committee member
Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and an unknown boy
over intensifying the ongoing student movement went
viral on Facebook and YouTube on Saturday, reports
UNB.
Khosru, however, termed the audio false and
fabricated one, and said it was circulated to thwart the
student movement.
In the audio clip, it is heard that a boy, Naomi, phoned
Khosru calling him as uncle.
The BNP leader asked the boy whether he has got
involved in the student agitation.
Khosru directed the boy, who was reportedly talking
from Comilla, to join the student movement in Dhaka
with his 200-500 friends to intensify it.
The BNP leader is also heard to instruct the boy to be
active on social media in support of the movement.
Contacted, Khosru said, "It's just a cooked up audio
clip and a false campaign. The government agencies
made the audio faking my voice to frustrate the student
movement."
He said people are aware of such evil tactics of the
government as it made many audios faking BNP leaders'
voices in the past only to blame them.
As a responsible political party, Khosru said their party
extended its support to students justified movement.
"The government is now indulging in various plots to
divert the movement to a different direction, but it'll turn
into an abortive move."
bdtickets.com
brings online
tickets for
Eid-ul-Adha
DHAKA : Online ticketing
platform, bdtickets.com, has
offered online ticket for the
upcoming Eid-ul-Adha.
These tickets for the Eidul-Adha
will be available at
the platform from
tomorrow, said a press
release.
People planning to travel,
can easily purchase tickets
through bdtickets.com from
the comfort of their homes.
Interested customers can
place purchase request on
the platform for their
desired destinations along
with return tickets and make
payment conveniently using
their debit/credit cards or
mobile wallet (such as
bKash, Rocket etc.).
Customers can also call
directly to the
bdtickets.com's contact
center by dialing 16460. The
call center agents will
process the ticket purchase
requests.
In order to bring greater
capacity for people from
different corners of the
country, bdtickets.com, in
recent years has improved
its depth by extending to 45
bus operators in 60 districts
and 452 routes along with
78,737 tickets available for
purchase every-day.
Photo : TBT
11 boys
rescued from
traffickers in
Chattogram;
1 held
CHATTOGRAM :
Members of Rapid Action
Battalion (Rab) in a drive
rescued 11 boys from the
clutches of traffickers and
arrested a suspected
human trafficker along
with Yaba tablets
atShantir Hat Bazar under
Rangunia upazila on
Friday evening, reports
UNB.
The arrestee is Md
Kamal Uddin, 25, son of
Din Mohammad, a
resident of Lusaipara
village of the upazil.
The rescued boys are-
Mohammad Yamin, 15,
Omar Faruk, 17, Md
Sourav, 14, Md Anik, 15,
Md Arafat 14, Md Rasel,
16, Md Sujan, 15, Md
Maruf, 12, Md Abdul Hye,
16, Md Shahin, 12, and Md
Sabbir Hossain, 10, hailing
from Gazipur, Cumilla,
Feni, Chattogram and
Bhola districts.
Being informed by Md
Abdur Rahim, father of
Yamin, one of the victims,
, a team of Rab, led by
senior ASP Mimtanur
Rahman of Rab-6, raided a
hotel around 6:25 pm and
rescued the boys, said a
Rab press release.
Later, they arrested
Kamal and recovered 395
pieces of Yaba tablets.
During primary
interrogation, Kamal
confessed to Rab members
that he is a member of a
human trafficking gang.
A press conference was held by 8-councillors at National Press Club yesterday protesting unbridled corruption
of Kalkini Municipality mayor.
Photo : TBT
Sherif urges all to
work unitedly for
reducing poverty
PABNA : Land Minister
Shamsur Rahman Sherif
yesterday urged all to work
unitedly for reducing poverty
and materializing the
dream of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina.
"All have to work unitedly
to materialize the dream of
Sheikh Hasina of establishing
poverty free nation," he
said this at an allowance distribution
programme for
under privileged people at
Atgharia upazila parishad
under Pabna district.
Sherif distributed old-age
allowance, deserted wife's
allowance, deprived disabled
allowance and
allowance for bede and harijan
under social safety net
programme of 2017-18.
Under the programme,
Sherif distributed power
tillers among six farmers,
stipend among 55 students
and educational kits among
50 students. Later, he inaugurated
a three-day tree fair
at Debottor Kobi Bande Ali
Miah High School premises.
Jammat leader
Shahjahan, 7
others sent to jail
CHATTOGRAM : A Chattogram
court yesterday
sent the detained former
Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker
Shahjahan Chowdhury
along with seven other
Jammat Shibir activists to
jail.
The court of senior metropolitan
magistrate
Shafiuddin ordered to
send them to jail when
they were produced before
the court.
The petition for placing
them on remand is scheduled
for hearing tomorrow,
Deputy Police Commissioner
in Prosecution
Nirmalendu Bikash
Chakroborti told journalists.
Earlier, a team of DB
police raided a residence
at Wireless Murgi Farm
area under Khulshi thana
on Friday noon and arrested
Shahjahan along with
the seven leaders and
activists of Jammat Islami
on sabotage charge.
DB sources said Shahjahan
is an accused in
around 45 cases during
BNP-Jammat's countrywide
arson and sabotages
in 2014.
Students
should go back
to school: Amu
JHALOKATHI : Industries Minister and Awami League
Advisory Council Member Amir Hossain Amu yesterday
asked the agitating students to go back to their school as
they have got widespread appreciation for their "safe
road movement" since July 29.
"Students should go back to school now with their
achievement and appreciation," he said while
distributing allowance among physically challenged
individuals, widows and elderly people at Jhalokathi
upazila auditorium here this noon.
Terming the students' agitation across the country as
logical, the minister said, "The government is
implementing all the demands of the students. The
prime minister provided necessary assistance to the
victims' family. The driver and helper of the killer bus
were arrested. Besides, enactment of a tough law against
road crashes under progress."
He categorically added: "The students should return to
the classes and go for studies now."
Referring to tremendous development of the country
under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
the senior AL leader said Bangladesh is now role model
of development.
"The country would go backward, if the present
government doesn't continue," he mentioned and urged
all to reelect the Awami league government in the next
election.
Deputy commissioner (DC) M Hamidul Haq,
superintendent of police (SP) M Jobayedur Rahman,
district AL vice-president Saifullah Ponir and deputy
director of Social Welfare Department AKM
Akhtaruzzaman also spoke on the occasion with Nirbahi
Officer (UNO) Mohammad Atahar Ali Mia in the chair.
Seminar on 'River and
Life' at IU
ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY : A daylong seminar titled "River
and Life: Protection Strategies and Our Commitment"
was held at Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia yesterday.
Riverine People-Islamic University and National River
Protection Commission (NRPC) jointly organised the
event at Birshrestha Hamidur Rahman central
auditorium of the university.
Chairman of National River Protection Commission Dr
Mujibur Rahman Howlader addressed the seminar as
the chief guest while full time member of NRPC M
Alauddin, IU Treasurer Professor Dr M Selim Toha,
Kushtia municipality mayor M Anowar Ali, Jhenidah
municipality mayor M Saidul Karim Mintu were present
here as the special guests with IU Pro-VC Professor Dr M
Shahinoor Rahman in the chair.
Proctor of the university Professor Dr M Mahbubar
Rahman, IU Riverine People convener Professor Dr M
Rabiul Hossain, secretary M Altaf Hossain, among
others, spoke.
In the seminar, Mujibur Rahman said the relation
between river and life is inextricably linked. But the
river's navigability is gradually decreasing, a threat to
life, he added.
"We have to move forward to bring the navigability of
the river back", he added.
More than 5 hundred teachers, students and officials of
the university took part at the programme conducted by
assistant Professor of IU's Bangla department Rawshan
Ara Setu.
Fire guts 8
commercial
establishment
12 houses in Ctg
CHATTOGRAM : At least
eight commercial
establishments and 12
dwelling houses were gutted
on Saturday in two separate
places in the city and district.
Eight shops were gutted in
Textile Gate area under
Biyazid thana in the city at
about 3 am.
Fire service sources said
the fire originated from an
electric short circuit in a
shop and soon engulfed the
adjacent shops.
On information, two fire
fighter units from the city
fire stations rushed to the
spot and brought the flame
under control at about 5 am.
On the other hand, at least
12 dwelling houses were
gutted in a devastating fire at
Khankhanabad village
under Banskhali upzila of
the district yesterday
morning.
Fire service sources said
the fire originated from an
electric short circuit in a
house at around 2 am and
quickly engulfed the
surrounding houses of the
village.
Being informed, two fire
fighter units from Banskhali
upazila fire station rushed to
the spot and brought the
flame under control after
three hours frantic effort.
Ctg Mohila
Dal leader
held for 'instigating'
students
CHATTOGRAM : Police
have arrested a Jatiyatabadi
Mohila Dal leader here on
Saturday for allegedly provoking
the student protests,
reports UNB.
Fatema Badshah, acting
president of the city unit of
Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal, the
female wing of BNP, was
picked up from her residence
at Supariwalapara in
the city on Friday night.
Officer-in-charge of Double
Mooring Police Station
AKM Mohiuddin Salim said
Fatema instigated the agitating
students during their
demonstrations at Agrabad
in the city on Thursday.
She was arrested after
scrutinising video footage of
the incident, he said.
Bangladesh Hawkers Union organized a human chain program in the capital city expressing solidarity
with the students who are continuing demo across the country demanding safety road. Photo : TBT

EDITORIAL
SundAY,
China’s summer of discontent
AuGuST 5, 2018
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Sunday, August 5, 2018
A growing thorn in
Indo-Bangladesh
relations
R
ecent
developments on illegal migration from
Bangladesh has brought the issue of illegal
entry of Bangladeshis into India center-stage,
yet again. According to recent Indian press reports,
the threat of the indigenous population of Assam
being reduced to a minority by the year 2047 looms
large. Consequently, it is recommended that a highpowered
inquiry be ordered into a number of issues
concerning the illegal migration from Bangladesh.
Earlier, the Supreme Court of India took cognizance
of the reports and gave a wake up call to the Indian
Government on what was seen as an issue
jeopardizing the security of the country. The one-man
commission report, submitted to the Apex Court, by
Upamanyu Hazarika is the third on 'The India-
Bangladesh international boundary'. Hazarika is a
senior lawyer with the Supreme Court of India. The
report is being seen as both crucial and
comprehensive in several quarters.
The Supreme Court had earlier passed an order
directing the Union of India and the Government of
Assam to take corrective measures. However, not
much has changed since the last decade. The malaise
of Illegal migrants is deep rooted. The Hazarika
Commission suggested that there should be a
restriction in the transfer of land - whether by way of
sale, purchase, gift or any other such transaction, or by
way of allotment from the government or any other
agency - only to those who have been citizens of India
in the year 1951 and their descendants. It zeroed on
this conclusion after extensively touring the Indo-
Bangladesh border in Assam.
The issue is not new.A burning issue, illegal
immigration from Bangladesh, has been fraught with
political implications in the entire region of North
East of India, particularly in the state of Assam.
Otherwise dormant, it becomes politically volatile
when elections are on the anvil. It is but a coincidence
that Hazarika report submission and the Court's
directive for the Centre and state to pull up its socks
has come at a time when elections in Assam are due.
Politicians on their part have used the issue of illegal
immigration to the hilt with an eye on the vote.
Whether the electorate fell prey, or does so in the near
future, to the antics of political parties or not is
another question.
Cashing in on the Hindu rhetoric, BJP's Prime
Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, then the Prime
Ministerial candidate, had asserted in the recent past
that were the BJP voted in, detention camps housing
Hindu migrants from Bangladesh will be done away
with. India, he had then said, is the only place for them
and Hindus, he had said, cannot be left to suffer. A
little later he had said that Bangladeshis better be
prepared with their bags packed. The BJP, it is well
known, always made a distinction on communal lines.
It has treated Hindus emigrating from Bangladesh as
refugees and Muslims as illegal migrants.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had
then dared Modi to "touch Bengalis". Adding to the
political slugfest Poresh Barua commander of United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA, Independent) had
alleged that politicians and the Indian bureaucracy
together were letting aliens become Indian nationals
and settle in Assam at the cost of the Assamese people.
He has often warned against dividing illegal
immigrants on communal lines.
It took the Hazarika report for the RSS to pitch in
and demand a country- wide debate on illegal
migration. Crying foul, the RSS warned that if the
trend continues then Indians would be reduced to a
minority and be outnumbered by foreigners. It has, in
the past, underlined the need for correcting the
imbalance of the population growth in the context of
the Census figures that had registered an increase in
the Muslim population count.
The communal rhetoric, particularly with the RSS
leading the charge, could spell trouble for the Modi
government. While the Hazarika report is enough
ammunition for the RSS to further harden its anti
Muslim stance, it could also cast a shadow on bilateral
relations between India and Bangladesh. The Modi
government has, after taking over, delivered the much
awaited Land Boundary Agreement and signaled on
more occasions than one about Bangladesh being a
neighbor and important ally.
While the issue of illegal migration is one that needs
to be addressed, the Modi led government needs to
tread with caution. Ofcourse the report is enough
reason for the RSS sharpens its claws and cry hoarse
over the illegal immigrants issue. Yet the central
Indian Government needs to handle it with care. It
has got enough flak for charges of intolerance
including castigating beef-eaters. Given its communal
leanings, any attempt to correct the imbalance at this
stage could prove counter-productive and seen as
Muslim bashing. Internationally, it could upset the
delicate balance in its relationship with Bangladesh.
Politics has a nasty habit of
surprising us - especially in a
country like China, where there is
little transparency and a lot of intrigue.
Five months ago, President Xi Jinping
jolted his countrymen by abolishing the
presidential term limit and signaling his
intention to serve for life. But the real
surprise was to come later.
At the time of Xi's announcement, the
conventional wisdom was that his
dominance inside the Chinese partystate
was virtually absolute, and thus
that his authority could not possibly
come under attack. Xi is now facing the
worst summer since he came to power
in November 2012, characterized by a
steady stream of bad news that has left
many Chinese - and especially Chinese
elites - feeling disappointed, anxious,
angry, helpless, and dissatisfied with
their increasingly powerful leader.
The latest piece of bad news, which
broke late last month, was the discovery
by government investigators that a
pharmaceutical company had been
producing substandard vaccines for
diphtheria, tetanus and whooping
cough, and had faked data for its rabies
vaccine. Hundreds of thousands of
Chinese children nationwide have been
given the faulty vaccines.
Of course, China has experienced
many similar scandals before - from
tainted baby formula to the
contamination of the blood-thinning
drug heparin - with greedy
businessmen and corrupt officials held
to account. But Xi has staked
considerable political capital on rooting
out corruption and strengthening
control. The fact that a private company
with deep political connections is at the
center of the vaccine scandal is painful
Last month, the United States
made an extraordinary
achievement: For the third time
in four years, it won the International
Mathematical Olympiad.
This is staggeringly impressive. The
Math Olympiad is the hardest and most
prestigious math competition for high
school students in the world. University
professors often cannot solve more
than one or two of the six problems on
the exam. Since 1978, Math Olympiad
gold medallists have comprised more
than a third of the winners of the Fields
Medal, the Nobel Prize equivalent for
Mathematics.
Yet, from the US team, James Lin
from Phillips Exeter Academy received
one of two perfect scores at the
competition (the other went to Britain's
Agnijo Banerjee). Also from the US
team, Andrew Gu, Vincent Huang,
Michael Ren and Mihir Anand
Singhalall won gold medals, and Adam
Ardeishar received a silver medal.
The team, led by Mathematics
professor Po-Shen Loh of Carnegie
Mellon University, is about as American
as you can get. After all, its members
celebrated their victory by going to
McDonald's. But in this time of charged
debates about immigration, it is worth
noting that many of the team members
are second or third-generation
immigrants. Loh, in fact, is the son of
immigrant parents from Singapore.
The team's deputy leader, Sasha
Rudenko, is the son of Ukrainian
immigrants.
Immigration is often thought of as a
evidence that Xi's top-down anticorruption
drive has not been as
effective as claimed.
An unintended consequence of Xi's
consolidation of power is that he is
accountable for the scandal, at least in
the eyes of the Chinese public.
But the backlash against Xi began
even before the vaccine revelations.
Concerns were rising over the gradual
creation of a personality cult.
In recent months, Xi's loyalists have
spared no effort in this regard. The
desolate village where Xi spent seven
years as a farmer during the Cultural
Revolution has been branded as a
source of "great knowledge" and
become a red-hot tourist destination.
For some, this is all too reminiscent of
the quasi-divine status attributed to
Mao Zedong which, during the "Great
Leap Forward" and "Cultural
Revolution" resulted in millions of
deaths and nearly destroyed the
Chinese economy.
And, in fact, the current economic
news in China is grim, beginning with a
14% decline in stock prices this year.
Three summers ago, in the face of
sharply falling stock prices, Xi ordered
way to fill jobs that locals find too
taxing, too challenging or too lowstatus.
We typically think of immigrants
as working as manual labourers in
construction, plumbing, hospitality and
agriculture.
But this is not the whole story.
Immigrants are high achievers in some
of the most challenging vocations, such
as Mathematics, Physics and Computer
Science - all necessary for a
technologically reliant society. Each of
these fields requires immense
dedication and hard work.
Mathematics is perhaps the most
mentally taxing of these disciplines.
By welcoming and giving
opportunities to the Lins, Singhs,
Steins, Huangs, Hossains, McArthurs,
Onahs, Garcias and Rudenkos of the
world - who are eager to learn the
difficult math, solve the difficult physics
problems and write the difficult code -
America renews itself and makes itself
"great again", to borrow language from
MInXIn PEI
state-owned companies to buy shares to
prop up the market. But as soon as the
forced purchases stopped, another
market decline followed, this time
against a background of depleted
foreign-exchange reserves. Xi has not
repeated that bit of economic illiteracy
this time around, but what will come
next for China's stock market remains
an open question.
Though its economic impact has yet
to be felt, the clash over trade that US
President Donald Trump has initiated
is likely to be the toughest challenge Xi
Jinping has faced so far, for reasons
that extend far beyond the economy
And there is more bad economic
news. The renminbi has reached a 13-
month low, and while growth in gross
domestic product is ostensibly on track
to meet the 6.5% target for 2018, the
economy is showing signs of weakness.
Investment, real-estate sales, and
private consumption are all slowing,
prompting the government to halt its
deleveraging effort and allocate more
funds to propping up growth.
The worst economic development,
however, is the unfolding trade war
with the United States. Though its
US President Donald Trump. Because
of this, America has an Apple, a Google
and thousands of smaller cogs that
make the US economy the most
dynamic in the world.
Every country envies America's talent
pool, yet very few are bold enough to
copy the US model of immigration that
can recharge stagnant sectors of society.
That is why no other country will ever
be able to emulate the dynamism of
America, whether they are as big as a
China or as disciplined as a Germany.
America's repeat Math Olympiad wins
reflect this truth. If China, Russia and
other countries that have devoted
tremendous resources to winning the
competition cannot beat America's
diverse pool of high-school students,
how can they beat well-funded US
companies at innovation?
But if the US turns its back on the
immigrants who have made the country
"great", then America in the future will
not have the Po-Shen Lohs or Sasha
dR. MAnuEL ALMEIdA
economic impact has yet to be felt, the
clash over trade that US President
Donald Trump has initiated is likely to
be the toughest challenge Xi has faced
so far, for reasons that extend far
beyond the economy.
For starters, there is Xi's promotion of
the "China Dream," which entails the
country's revival as a world power. But,
as the trade war makes starkly
apparent, China remains deeply
dependent on US markets and
technology. Far from a rejuvenated
hegemon poised to reshape the global
economy, Xi's China has been exposed
as a giant with feet of clay.
The geo-strategic implications are
difficult to exaggerate. In the 40 years
since Deng Xiaoping began to lead
China out of the Maoist dark ages, the
country has achieved unprecedented
economic growth and development.
But that progress would have been
impossible - or, at least, much slower -
were it not for China's policy of
maintaining a cooperative relationship
with the US. Xi has upended that policy
during his tenure, not least with his
increasingly aggressive actions in the
South China Sea.
These developments point to a
straightforward conclusion: China is
headed in the wrong direction. This is
not lost on China's elites, whose
frustration is palpable - and rising.
Yet despite rumors of pushback
against his power by retired elderly
leaders, Xi is unlikely to be overthrown.
He remains solidly in control of the
Chinese party-state's security apparatus
and the military.
Source : Asia times
How immigration makes America exceptional
MAHBuB MAjuMdAR
Rudenkos to create the next generation
of best-in-the-world innovators and
scientists. America will be like every
other country - not exceptional and not
able to lead the world in every field.
There's another advantage that comes
with America's liberal immigration
policies: They link the US with the rest
of the world. Immigrants allow
Americans to engage with the countries
of their ancestors and to improve those
countries' educational systems and
economies. This creates tremendous
goodwill towards the US and a safer,
better world for everyone.
For example, Loh travels to countries
ranging from China to Bangladesh to
Brazil to teach Mathematics to young
people. The goodwill he generates is
priceless. In my own small way, I try to
do something similar: I coach the
Bangladesh Math Olympiad team,
which won its first gold medal this year
- a great achievement that generated
unbelievable excitement for the young,
developing country. I feel privileged to
be a part of this, because as a son of
immigrant Bangladeshis who grew up
in the US receiving the best that
America has to offer, I know first-hand
the good that America does in the
world. By helping Bangladesh's
students reach greatness, I am taking
part in the chain of transformation that
liberal and open US immigration
policies offer. This culture of aspiration
and generosity is America at its best.
Source : Gulf news
Water, energy at heart of Iraq’s governance crisis
At first sight, Iraq's current
summer of discontent may not
seem a particularly relevant or
novel development; large protests in
the country have been a regular
occurrence for a few years now.
The issues stoking the discontent
against the political establishment are
also worryingly familiar: Another
political deadlock, lack of basic services,
crisis in the education sector,
unemployment and endemic
corruption. Iraq is ranked 166th of 177
countries in Transparency
International's Corruption Perception
Index.
But various reports from the ground
show that these protests were larger in
size and intensity than previous years.
The aggravation of longstanding
problems related to the depletion of
fresh water reserves, electricity
shortages, and the mismanagement of
oil exploration and revenues, are at the
center of this grave crisis.
The May 12 elections, in which 55
percent of the electorate did not
participate, were marred by allegations
of fraud, and talks between various
parties and alliances have failed to
deliver a government. The
constitutional crisis led to a manual
recount that is ongoing. While the
political establishment showed an
In recent months, Xi's loyalists have spared no effort in this
regard. The desolate village where Xi spent seven years as a
farmer during the Cultural Revolution has been branded as a
source of "great knowledge" and become a red-hot tourist
destination. For some, this is all too reminiscent of the quasidivine
status attributed to Mao Zedong which, during the
"Great Leap Forward" and "Cultural Revolution" resulted in
millions of deaths and nearly destroyed the Chinese economy.
But this is not the whole story. Immigrants
are high achievers in some of the most
challenging vocations, such as Mathematics,
Physics and Computer Science - all necessary
for a technologically reliant society. Each of
these fields requires immense dedication and
hard work. Mathematics is perhaps the most
mentally taxing of these disciplines.
alarming inability to break the
deadlock, major protests erupted on
July 8 in Basra and predominantly
Shiite southern cities such as Najaf and
Nasiriya, and eventually spread north
to Baghdad. Protesters stormed
government buildings, infrastructure
sites and headquarters of political
parties and militias. Unarmed
protesters have been killed by security
forces and dozens wounded. The initial
demonstrations were propelled by
electricity shortages in Basra, following
a decrease in the electricity that Iran
provides to this region of Iraq. These
shortages coincided with extremely
high temperatures (50 degrees Celsius
in some areas). One view is that Tehran
decreased electricity supplies as a
means to pressure Baghdad over
payments related to its energy imports
from Iran. Basra, where it all began, is
rich in oil and natural gas, but for
decades it has hardly felt the benefits of
the exploration of those resources.
Despite the benefits that oil revenues
bring to the central government, oil and
gas exploration in the province offers
very few employment opportunities to
local people. Especially during the
This ransacking may have diminished with lower oil
prices and the more responsible Prime Minister Haider
Abadi, but widespread corruption remains a major issue
in the oil sector, across sectors, and at all levels of central
government and local institutions. Quite tellingly,
protesters targeted local oil infrastructure in an attempt
to paralyze business. Oil fields were blocked, and
national and foreign oil company sites attacked.
premiership of Nouri Maliki, which
coincided with a boom in oil exports
and high oil prices, hundreds of billions
of dollars went missing from state
coffers, as later confirmed by the Iraqi
Parliament's finance committee.
This ransacking may have diminished
with lower oil prices and the more
responsible Prime Minister Haider
Abadi, but widespread corruption
remains a major issue in the oil sector,
across sectors, and at all levels of central
government and local institutions.
Quite tellingly, protesters targeted local
oil infrastructure in an attempt to
paralyze business. Oil fields were
blocked, and national and foreign oil
company sites attacked.
Various headquarters and offices of
pro-Iran groups were invaded by
protesters. In Karbala, the offices of
Asaeb Ahl Al-Haq were set on fire.
One of the most obvious
consequences of the intense exploration
of these resources in and around Basra
is the environmental degradation and
pollution of local water. Ironically,
Basra was once famous for its
freshwater canals.
Its water crisis has multiple
dimensions. Beyond the pollution
caused by oil exploration, local potable
water has become highly salinized and
thus not viable for either consumption
or agricultural use. It is estimated that
salinity has reduced in almost 90
percent the province's arable land.
Agriculture is the Iraqi economy's
second most important sector after oil.
To make matters worse, upstream
dams in neighboring Iran, Syria and
Turkey have shrunk local rivers.
Source : Arab news

SCIENCE & TECH
SUNDAY, AUGUSt 5, 2018
5
Is Apple worth a trillion
dollar?
Google's engineers are working on a search app that restricts content banned by Beijing.
Photo: Getty Images
Google to build a censored
search engine for China
Li Yuan
Google withdrew from China eight years
ago to protest the country's censorship
and online hacking. Now, the internet
giant is working on a censored search
engine for China that will filter websites
and search terms that are blacklisted by
the Chinese government, according to
two people with knowledge of the plans.
Google has teams of engineers working
on a search app that restricts content
banned by Beijing, said the people, who
asked for anonymity because they were
not permitted to speak publicly about
the project. The company has demonstrated
the service to Chinese government
officials, they added.
Yet the existence of the project does
not mean that Google's return to China
is imminent, the people cautioned.
Google often builds and tests different
services that never become publicly
available. Google's reversal in China,
which was reported earlier by The Intercept,
is the latest example of how American
tech companies are trying to tailor
their products to enter the huge Chinese
market, even if it means tamping down
free speech. LinkedIn censors content in
China, for example. And Facebook
developed software to suppress certain
posts from appearing on the social network,
with the aim of potentially deploying
it in China, though there was no indication
it was offered to Chinese authorities.
Many of these overtures appear to
fall short of winning over Beijing. Last
month, Facebook briefly gained
approval to open a subsidiary in China's
Zhejiang Province, but that approval was
abruptly withdrawn after a matter of
hours.
Google's work on a censored search
engine for China has already caused an
outcry among human rights activists.
Many are concerned that the company
would block a long list of foreign websites
including Facebook, Twitter and
The New York Times, as well as Chinese
search queries including the 1989
Tiananmen massacre and information
about the Chinese leadership.
Amnesty International said it would
be a "dark day for internet freedom" and
would constitute "a gross attack on freedom
of information and internet freedom"
if the tech giant accepted China's
censorship terms.
The work is also unpopular among
many of Google's own employees, who
have pushed back in recent months on
issues such as gender in the workplace
and how artificial intelligence should be
applied to weaponry. On Wednesday,
several expressed their disappointment
about the China project on internal messaging
platforms, according to four
employees who saw the messages and
who requested anonymity because they
were not authorized to speak publicly.
One internal posting that was viewed
by The New York Times said that some
employees who were asked to work on
the project had declined to do so, opting
to transfer to different work or to quit the
company.
Some employees said the work was a
violation of Google's previous statements
about its stance on Chinese censorship,
as well as its recently established
principles on the ethical use of artificial
intelligence, which state that technologies
should not be used to contravene
human rights.
"We provide a number of mobile apps
in China, such as Google Translate and
Files Go, help Chinese developers, and
have made significant investments in
Chinese companies like JD.com," said
Taj Meadows, a Google spokesman. "But
we don't comment on speculation about
future plans."
Although Google pulled its search
engine out of China in 2010, the company
has lately displayed more interest in
regaining access to the world's largest
internet population. In June, Google
announced a $550 million investment in
the Chinese online retailer JD.com. Last
year, Google unveiled plans to open a
research center in China focused on artificial
intelligence. And the company has
released translation and file management
apps for the Chinese market.
Google now has more than 700 employees
in China.
In the years since Google's exit, local
competitors have risen up, including
China's dominant search engine, Baidu.
Beyond search, the vast majority of
Google's services, including its app store,
email service and YouTube, remain inaccessible
behind the Great Firewall, as the
country's system of internet controls is
known.
Talks between Google and the Chinese
government over the censored search
engine began before the start of the
recent trade war between the United
States and China, one of the people said.
The talks were not going well, this person
added.
Larry Elliott
Will it or won't it? The
question dominating Wall
Street all week has been
whether Apple will become
the first company with a
stock market valuation of a
trillion dollars. For that to
happen the tech company's
shares need to reach
$203.25 - and they were
tantalisingly close to that
level in early trading in
New York on Wednesday,
the first real opportunity
investors had to buy Apple
stock after the announcement
of better-thanexpected
.
It seems only a matter of
time before the milestone is
reached, but whether that
marks the start of a new
bull-market phase for equities
or a storm warning is a
moot point. As Russ
Mould, investment director
of the Manchester-based
firm AJ Bell has pointed
out, in the past unusually
high market capitalisations
for America's biggest companies
have tended to be a
sign of trouble to come.
Take the late 1990s for
example. Stocks, particularly
new technology
stocks, soared in value as
the US economy boomed so
that by the end of 1999 the
top five companies by market
capitalisation -
Microsoft, General Electric,
Cisco, Walmart and Intel -
were together worth just
over $2tn or 15.5% of US
GDP.
But that was the top of
the market and anybody
who held on to shares in
those companies suffered a
heavy financial loss over
the next decade; 10 years
later all were worth less
than in 1999 with a combined
loss of almost 50%.
Apple is one of the quintet
of so-called FAANG
stocks, comprising Facebook,
Apple, Amazon, Netflix,
and Alphabet (the
holding company for
Google). Between them
they have a market value of
just over $3.3tn or 18.5% of
US GDP. Mould says that
the current echo of the late
1990s does not mean there
is going to be a stock-market
wipeout. It is, though,
worth considering whether
the recent fall in Netflix
and Facebook shares are
more than simply a blip.
It is also worth noting
that Apple's growth now
relies on selling software
services because sales
growth for phones, tablets
and laptops has been
underwhelming. Mould's
message to investors is not
to be complacent about
Apple, the FAANGs or the
wider broader market.
That's sound advice. The
better weather might have
encouraged shoppers to
head off to the high street
but it all looks too little too
late for House of Fraser.
Things are looking bleak
for the troubled department
store chain. It has big
debts, has been starved of
investment by successive
owners and has a poor
online offering at a time
when cash-conscious consumers
are increasingly
shopping from home.
House of Fraser desperately
needs cash to pay its
quarterly rent bill next
month and to buy stock for
Christmas, the most profitable
time of year for
retailers. HoF's only real
hope of survival was a cash
injection from the owners
of Hamleys - C.banner - but
the Hong Kong-listed company
has now pulled out of
a rescue deal.
HoF says it is talking to
lenders and exploring
options with other potential
investors, who include
Mike Ashley, the owner of
Sports Direct. But, in truth,
it is hard to see why a white
knight should ride to the
rescue. There are stores
that Ashley might want, but
there is no real incentive to
buy them now when he can
pick them up in a fire sale
after HoF collapses. As
things stand, he won't have
to wait long. Just as was the
case a 104 years ago the
world is slipping inexorably
and steadily towards a
great power conflict. It is
not too late to avert a global
trade war but the signs
are not good.
After his rapprochement
with the EU last week,
Donald Trump is again
threatening to get tough
with China, with reports
that the White House is
planning to raise its threatened
. China has no wish to
get sucked into a trade war
but neither will it turn the
Apple is likely to become the first company in history to touch this benchmark.
Photo: Internet
other cheek. It will retaliate
with tit-for-tat action of its
own.
The lessons of 1914 are
clear. Politicians can quickly
lose control of events. It
is easier to start a war than
it is to stop one. Hopes of a
knockout blow will not be
realised. A long war of attrition
is likely and there will
be heavy casualties on both
sides. Stock markets will be
affected first; the real economy
will suffer later.
Is it safe to put personal
info in school websites?
E.K. Moore
The home page of Pinellas
County Schools in Florida is
brimming with information
for families, students, staff
members and the public: an
easy-to-use dashboard of
news, shortcuts and links to
the district's Facebook page,
Twitter feed and YouTube
channel.
But Pinellas's home page
has been supplying information
to another audience, an
unseen one, as well this year.
An array of tracking scripts
were embedded in the site,
designed to install snippets
of computer code into the
browsers of anyone clicking
on it, to report their visits or
track their movements as
they traveled around the
web. The trackers were
detected last winter during a
study by Douglas Levin, a
Washington-based expert
on educational technology.
Asked about them in April,
the district expressed surprise
and said it would have
them removed. But Mr.
Levin found 22 trackers
when he checked back last
month.
Trackers are as common
on public school websites
these days as microbes on a
restroom door, to judge by
Mr. Levin's examination of
159 public school websites
from among the nation's
largest and most tech-savvy
districts. At least some form
of ad tracking or online surveillance
technology was
embedded in all but one of
them, he found. Their use is
an "industry-accepted practice,"
said Lisa Wolf, the
public information officer
for Pinellas County Schools,
echoing comments by school
officials elsewhere.
Most trackers are used to
help websites work better,
by counting page visits or
catching problems with broken
links. Some are used for
promotions, as in Pinellas
County, where Ms. Wolf said
the trackers spotted in April
had been left behind after a
school-choice campaign,
and others were later added
to boost enrollment at a
technical college.
But some trackers are also
designed to recognize visitors
by the I.P. address of
their device and to embed
cookies in their browsers for
the advertising practice
known as behavioral targeting.
And knowingly or otherwise,
many school sites are
hosting software from thirdparty
companies whose primary
business is buying and
selling data for the detailed
dossiers of personal information
on finances, lifestyle
and buying habits that
advertisers prize. Those
third parties may invite still
other trackers onto the site,
without the school's knowledge
or control.
"The price of getting information
about your child's
school should not be losing
your privacy to online ad
brokers," said Mr. Levin,
founder of EdTech Strategies,
which conducts
research and advises nonprofits
and government
agencies on using technology
to improve schools.
You can choose the names of the people you don't wish to see in the clips.
J. D. Biersdorfer
To keep you engaged with its offerings, the company
automatically creates occasional videos from the photos
you share, or gathers up all the posts you have made on
a specific day in its "Memories" feature. While there is no
direct way to stop these automatically generated videos
at this time, you can have some control over the people
who appear in your "Memories" and those spontaneous
Facebook clips.
To filter out someone you don't wish to see in these
nostalgia posts, point your browser to
facebook.com/memories. When you land on the page,
click the Preferences button. In the box that appears,
click the Edit button next to People and enter the names
you wish to filter out. You can also filter out events on
Photo: Collected
How to stop Facebook from
bringing up bad memories
certain dates to avoid being reminded of things like
breakups, layoffs or deaths.
Facebook, which incorporates your privacy settings for
content in videos, has also added its own filters in the
attempt to exclude people you've unfriended, unfollowed,
blocked, dumped (or been dumped by) - or people
who have died and have Facebook pages that have
been converted to memorialized accounts.
But keep in mind: Facebook doesn't cost money.
Instead, sharing your personal information with the
company and its advertisers is the price you pay to use it
to keep in touch with friends and family. The company's
site has an explanation of how it use the data it collects
from you. You should periodically check your account's
privacy settings to make sure you're not sharing more
than you think you are with Facebook - or the world.
Websites should warn visitors if their information is going to be stored or bought and sold.
Photo: Rick Wenner

NATIONAL
SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2018
6
State-Minister for textile and jute Mirza Azam and Chief Coordinator of Sustainable Development
Target (SDG) of Prime Minister's Office Abul Kalam Azad inspected various 10 ongoing development
projects in Madarganj upazila on Friday.
Photo: Julfiqar Bablu
Azam, Azad inspects
various development
projects in Madarganj
julFiqar bablu, Madarganj CorrespondenT:
state-Minister for textile and jute Mirza
azam and Chief Coordinator of sustainable
development Target (sdg) of prime
Minister's office abul kalam azad
inspected works and places of 10 ongoing
development projects in Madarganj upazila
of jamalpur on Friday.
They inspected 10 ongoing development
projects including sheikh hasina
Composite jute Textile Mill in kamariachar
of balijuri union which is being set up at a
cost of Tk 518 crore, 250 MW solar power
plant project which is being built on 500
acres of land in kaijarchar of jorkhali union
and sheikh russell Textile institute in
Milon bazar.
during that time, bangladesh jute Mills
Corporation (bjMC) chairman dr Md.
Mahmudul hasan, divisional
Commissioner of Mymensingh Mahmudul
hasan, uno aminul islam and many other
prominent personalities were also present
at the occasion.
Steps taken to
make Mohadevpur
upazila clean
M shakhaWaTh hossain, Mohadevpur CorrespondenT:
Mohadevpur upazila administration and local delegates took a different
initiative to build 'green Mohadvepur and clean Mohadevpur'. as part of
this initiative, social and political leaders, including the officials of the
administration and employees of the upazila parishad and up chairman,
have decided to clean Mohadevpur with their own hands during weekends,
which is on Friday and saturday.
in this regard upazila nirbahi officer Mobarak hossain parvez, the chief
initiator of the campaign said, "if we spend two hours for cleaning the city
on weekends when we go to park for exercise, then it will be more beneficial
for our body compared to the exercise that we usually do. as a result, our city
can be kept clean and our body can be fit as well. in this regard, upazila
parishad Chairman abdus sattar nannu, upazila nirbahi officer Mobarak
hossain parvez, upazila secondary education officer habibur rahman,
president of upazila Co-ordinated banik samity and assistant professor
jahangirpur girls high school and College hafizul haque bakul,
Mohadevpur upazila press club general secretary M. sakhawat hossain,
Mahadevpur sadar up chairman Mahbubur rahman dholu, khatib hafiz
Zahidul haque of the upazila council mosque, political leader babu ghosh,
Matiur rahman, barun Majumder, nixon, Tajuddin, saiful islam,
Mosharraf hossain, afzal hossain took part in the cleanliness campaign
from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm on Friday.
Local lawmaker Advocate Nurul Islam Sujon formally inaugurated the electrification programme at
a function on Ramgonj Bilashi Eidgah ground of Debiganj upazila on Friday evening as the chief
guest.
Photo: Rahat Hasan Rony
Ashiquzzaman elected as
International Affairs
Secretary of BUTA
shaFiul kayes, bsMrsTu
CorrespondenT:
professor Mohammad
ashikuzzaman bhuiyan,
dean of humanities
Faculty and associate
professor of english
department
of
bangabandhu sheikh
Mujibur rahman science
and Technology have been
elected as the international
affairs secretary of
bangladesh university
Teachers association.
in his speech he said,
"first of all i would like to
thank the president of
bangladesh university
Federation, and all the
members including the
secretaries. Through this
association we want to
work for the overall
development of all the
teachers of the universities
of the country". in
addition, he prayed and
urged support of all the
people for transforming
bangabandhu sheikh
Mujibur rahman science
and Technology university
into a renowned university
of the country.
it is to be noted that
Mohammad
ashikuzzaman bhuiyan
has also been elected as the
president of Teachers
association
of
bangabandhu sheikh
Mujibur rahman science
and Technology
university.
on july 28, a general
meeting of bangladesh
university Teachers
association Federation
was held at dhaka
university Club. The
meeting was held in the
executive council elections
for the Federation for
2018-2019. dhaka
university Teachers
association president dr a
s M Maksud kamal was
elected as the president for
the second time while
professor shibli
rubaiyatul islam was
elected the general
secretary of the 21
member executive council
of bangladesh Teachers
association Federation of
2018-2019.
641 houses
get electric
connection
in Debiganj
rahaT hasan rony, debiganj
CorrespondenT:
around 641 houses in seven
villages of debiganj upazila
under panchagarh district has
been brought under power
network.
local lawmaker advocate
nurul islam sujon formally
inaugurated the electrification
programme at a function on
ramgonj bilashi eidgah
ground on Friday evening as
the chief guest. Thakurgaon
palli bidyut samity
implemented the programme
at a cost of Taka about 2 crore.
The function was
addressed, among others, by
upazila parishad Chairman
hasnat Zaman Chowdary
jarje, palli bidyut samity
junior engineer rezaul
karim, upazila awami
league president a.s.M.
nuruzzaman, Tapriganj
union awami league
president Md shajahan while
Tapriganj up chairman
golam rahman was in the
chair.
In order to bring discipline on the road, mobile court conducted drives against various drivers
and vehicles under Motor Vehicles Ordinance Act 1983 in three different spots in Khulna on
Saturday.
Photo: Titash Chakraborty
Various social and political leaders, including the officials of the administration and employees
of the Upazila Parishad and UP chairman in Mohadevpur have cleaned the streets as part of the
'Green Mohadvepur and clean Mohadevpur' on Friday. Photo: M Shakhawath Hossain
Paban Civil Surgeon Dr Md Tahazzel Hossain addressed a meeting marking the World Breast
feeding Week-2018 in Pabna on Thursday.
Photo: Abdul Hamid Khan
Mobile
court fines
48 drivers
in Khulna
TiTash ChakraborTy, khulna
CorrespondenT:
Mobile court has fined 27
thousand taka against 48
drivers of different vehicles
in khulna on saturday. in
order to bring discipline on
the road, the operation was
against illegal vehicles
without fitness, license and
looking glasses, under aged
and recalcitrant drivers in
three separate spots of the
city. The mobile court was
led by executive Magistrates
Mizanur rahman, imran
khan and rashedul islam.
ndC of khulna district
administration arafatul
alam said that, deputy
Commissioner of khulna
aminul ahsan and police
super sM shafiullah
examined the required
documents for the drivers
and vehicles. later, 48
people were punished for
various crimes. he said that
such campaign will
continue.
World Breastfeeding
Week begins in Pabna
abdul hamid khan,
pabna Correspondent:
World breast feeding
Week-2018 began in
pabna recently. The health
department arranged
separate programme to
mark the week. The
programmes include
colorful rally and
discussion meeting. on the
occasion, a colorful public
rally organized by pabna
Civil surgeon office led by
civil surgeon dr.
Md.Tahazzel hossain was
brought out from the
premises of pabna Civil
surgeon office. The rally
paraded the main road of
pabna town before
returning and ended in the
same place.
later a discussion
meeting was held at the
Civil surgeon conference
room. it was presided over
by Civil surgeon dr. Md.
Tahazzel hossain. The
discussion was addressed
among others by s M
Mustafizur rahman,
health and family planning
officer of pabna sadar
upzila health complex,
journalist and columnist
abdul hamid khan, dr
khairul kabir, medical
officer of Civil surgeon
office, Chief executive of
Muslim aid eng. aiub ali
khan, hena goshami
general secretary of
yWCa, advocate kamrun
nahar joly epi
superintendent of pabna
municipality, rh step
Manager of pabna 250
bedded general hospital
abdul jalil, Md. Mokter
hossain administrative
officer of pabna Civil
surgeon office, Md.
robiulalam, district epi
superintendent of pabna
andabdussamad,
executive director of ngo
aseab.
Civil surgeon Md.
Tahazzel hossain in his
speech said that,
breastfeeding is the right of
every child. a child, who is
not breast fed is exposed to
various diseases.
breastfeeding protects the
health of both the child and
the mother, he added.
journalist abdul hamid
khan, currently writing in
the popular english daily in
The bangladesh Today said
in the meeting that
breastfeeding could save
lives of 37 thousand newly
born babies yearly in
bangladesh.
The speakers at the
meeting said, there is no
alternative food to breast
milk to a baby. They urged
all sorts of people in the
society not to feed
condensed milk of the
market for the better
nutrition of their child.
The theme of this year is
'breastfeeding: Foundation
of life'.

INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY,
7
AUgUST 5, 2018
UN experts: NKorea
hasn't stopped nuke
and missile programs
North Korea has not stopped its nuclear and
missile programs and is violating U.N. sanctions
including by "a massive increase in
illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum
products," U.N. experts said in a new report,
reports UNB.
A summary of the report by experts monitoring
U.N. sanctions against North Korea,
which was sent to the Security Council Friday
night and obtained by The Associated
Press, said North Korea is also violating
sanctions by transferring coal at sea and
flouting an arms embargo and financial
sanctions.
The panel of experts said North Korea
attempted to sell small arms and light
weapons and other military equipment via
foreign intermediaries, including Syrian
arms traffickers in the case of Houthi Shiite
rebels in Yemen as well as Libya and Sudan.
The report also said North Korea has continued
military cooperation with Syria, in
breach of U.N. sanctions.
The panel said it is continuing to investigate
sanctioned individuals, companies and
other entities in Asia that clandestinely procured
centrifuges for North Korea's nuclear
program and attempted to sell a wide range
of military equipment to governments and
armed groups in the Middle East and Africa.
The Security Council first imposed sanctions
on North Korea after its first nuclear
test in 2006 and has made them tougher
and tougher in response to further nuclear
tests and its increasingly sophisticated ballistic
missile program.
Many diplomats and analysts credit the
sanctions, which have sharply cut North
Korea's exports and imports, with helping
promote the thaw in relations between
North Korea and South Korea as well as the
June meeting between President Donald
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong
Un.
But the report said North Korea "has not
stopped its nuclear and missiles programs"
and continues to defy the sanctions resolutions.
The experts said ship-to-ship transfers of
petroleum products, oil and coal involve
"increasingly sophisticated evasion techniques."
These include turning off Automatic Identification
Systems, which are required to be
on at all times under international regulations,
physically disguising North Korean
tankers, using small unregistered vessels,
illegally changing names, carrying out night
transfers and using additional vessels to
trans-ship cargo, the report said.
The United States said last month that
North Korea is illegally smuggling refined
petroleum products into the country beyond
the quota of 500,000 barrels per year
allowed under U.N. sanctions.
U.S. documents sent to the Security Council
committee monitoring sanctions against
North Korea cite 89 instances between Jan.
1 and May 30, in which North Korean
tankers likely delivered refined products
"illicitly procured" via ship-to-ship transfers.
The documents say that even if each
tanker delivered only one-third of its listed
capacity, the total volume would be above
the 500,000 barrel annual quota. If loaded
at around 90 percent, the U.S. said the
tankers would have delivered nearly 1.4 million
barrels of refined products to North
Korea, almost triple the quota.
The experts said if the report is accurate,
North Korea is violating sanctions and all
countries "would have to immediately halt
all such transfers" to North Korea.
As for U.N. financial sanctions, the report
said they are among the most poorly implemented
and evaded measures.
The experts said individuals empowered
to act for North Korean financial institutions
operate in at least five countries, which
weren't named, "with seeming impunity."
They said accounts closed in the European
Union to comply with sanctions were transferred
to accounts at financial institutions in
Asia.
North Korea is also using overseas companies
and individuals to obscure income-generating
activities for the government, the
panel said. And the experts' investigation of
more than 200 joint ventures and/or cooperatives
turned up a number that violated
U.N. sanctions resolutions by maintaining
links with companies and entities under
sanctions.
The experts said North Korean diplomats
also continue to play "a key role in sanctions
evasion," including by controlling bank
accounts in multiple countries and holding
accounts in the name of family members
and front companies.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers his New Year's speech at an
undisclosed place in North Korea.
Photo: Internet
As Zimbabwe's leader preaches
a new era, military a concern
As Zimbabwe's president preaches democratic
reform in a country emerging from decades
of repression, the scenes of soldiers dispersing
opposition protesters after a disputed
election have cast a shadow on promises of a
new era, reports UNB.
Speaking to reporters after being declared
the winner of the first vote since the fall of former
mentor Robert Mugabe, a relaxed-looking
President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday
praised the "flowering of freedom."
But some observers said Zimbabwe's future
depends on whether he can convince the military
hardliners and former generals who
make up his inner circle to share his vision.
After decades as Mugabe's enforcer amid
killings of thousands of people in Matabeleland
in the 1980s, land seizures from white
farmers and elections marred by violence, the
75-year-old Mnangagwa now faces what
might be his biggest challenge: asserting control
over the security apparatus that put him
in office.
Jubilant Zimbabweans cheered the military
in November when it rolled into the capital,
Harare, and pressured Mugabe to resign after
37 years in power.
But when troops returned to the streets on
Wednesday amid gunfire that left six people
dead, there were no longer hugs, kisses and
selfies. Residents fled, and when Mnangagwa's
election win was announced the reaction
was subdued, not celebratory. Fears rose that
Mugabe had gone but his harsh system
remained.
Asked whether he was confident that the
government and military support his claims
of democracy, Mnangagwa said: "I cannot
guarantee that everybody will share my
vision. But I believe that the majority of my
party members, as well as the generality of
Zimbabweans, will share that vision."
It was not immediately clear who ordered
the military into the streets. Under Zimbabwe's
constitution only the president has the
power to authorize the deployment of defense
forces. Police have said they invited the military
to step in under a law that says they can
do so, but some Zimbabwean lawyers said the
constitution remains supreme.
Mnangagwa has refused to say whether he
knew in advance about the military's deployment
and has not publicly criticized its
actions. While hearings began on Saturday
for opposition supporters accused of inciting
violence in Wednesday's protests, there was
no sign of action taken against soldiers. The
president has said he will appoint a commission
of inquiry once he is sworn in.
"How (Mnangagwa) manages the internal
dynamics will have a strong bearing on how
his democratic project pans out," said political
analyst Alexander Rusero in Harare.
"Unelected power will define his path if he
fails to take strong measures to impose his
will on the military and others close to him."
Zimbabwe's military has a history of siding
with the ruling party and was often been
accused of deploying in rural areas to intimidate
villagers into voting for Mugabe, according
to Human Rights Watch. The opposition
ahead of Monday's peaceful election raised
concerns that soldiers were applying that
pressure again.
While Mugabe maintained control of the
military for most of his rule, the military now
appears to control Mnangagwa, said Dewa
Mavhinga.
Turkey to
freeze assets of
2 US officials
as retaliation
Turkey's president said
Saturday the country will
freeze the assets of two
United States officials in
retaliation for sanctions
against Turkey's justice
and interior ministers over
the detention of an American
pastor, while attempting
a conciliatory tone,
reports UNB.
Speaking in Ankara,
President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said Turkey had
been "patient" since the
U.S. Treasury sanctions
imposed Wednesday, but
ordered authorities to
"freeze the assets of America's
justice and interior
ministers in Turkey, if
there are any." It is unclear
who that would affect, due
to differing Cabinet roles
in the United States than
in Turkey, or if the intended
officials even have any
holdings in Turkey.
Turkey's Interior Minister
Suleyman Soylu and
Justice Minister Abdulhamit
Gul mocked the
sanctions this week, saying
they have no assets in the
U.S, but the sign of deteriorating
Turkish-American
relations sent Turkey's
national currency - the
lira- tumbling.
Erdogan called the sanctions
a "serious disrespect
towards Turkey" and
accused the U.S. of
hypocrisy for demanding
the release of evangelical
pastor Andrew Craig
Brunson while ally Turkey
tries him over alleged links
to terror groups.
Brunson, jailed in
December 2016, is now
under home detention. He
is facing a 35-year sentence
if convicted of the
charges of "committing
crimes on behalf of terror
groups without being a
member" and espionage.
Top U.S. officials, including
President Donald
Trump and Vice President
Mike Pence, have said
there is no evidence
against Brunson and
demanded his release.
Despite the announcement
of sanctions, Erdogan
called for a return to
the two country's partnership,
saying, "We think
there is no problem we
cannot solve with the
American administration."
He said he hoped the U.S.
would drop it's "hot-tempered
attitude and return
to its good senses" as
diplomats were working to
put behind disputes.
Those conflicts include
the arrests of U.S. citizens
as well as local consular
staff, U.S. senators pushing
to block the delivery of
American F-35 jets following
Turkey's pledge to buy
the Russian S-400 missile
system, and Turkey's
demand that Fethullah
Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric
blamed for a failed coup
attempt be extradited to
stand trial.
Egypt concludes
naval exercises
with US, others
Egypt's military says it has
concluded several days of
joint naval exercises in the
Red Sea with the United
States and other countries,
reports UNB.
It says in a statement
Saturday that "Eagle
Response 2018" began
July 24 and involved special
forces from participating
countries, including
Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates.
U.S. Central Command
said Thursday that the
exercises "provide opportunities
for participating
nations to collaborate on
an even wider range of
maritime security operations."
Last September, Egypt
held "Bright Star" war
games with U.S. troops for
the first time in eight
years.
Opposition party supporters arrested during a raid at the party headquarters appear at the magistrates
court in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday.
Photo: Internet
Zimbabwe opposition says soldiers
search for its supporters
Zimbabwean soldiers were searching
parts of the capital for opposition supporters
to detain after the disputed
election, the country's main opposition
party said Saturday, as some already
were in court, reports UNB.
Nkululeko Sibanda, a top official in
the Movement for Democratic Change
party, spoke at a courthouse in Harare
where 24 detained supporters awaited
a hearing. Sibanda said they were
accused of inciting public violence.
"A lot of people are hiding," Sibanda
said. "It's scarier than the Mugabe
times."
There was no independent confirmation
of the allegation. President
Emmerson Mnangagwa has said he
wants to work with the opposition to
rebuild the country after decades of
repression under his former mentor,
Robert Mugabe.
Sibanda said he was concerned that
the government could try to implicate
opposition supporters in the deaths of
six people who were killed during a
military crackdown in Harare on
Wednesday. Soldiers opened fire on
protesters, some of whom were rioting.
Police raided the party headquarters
the next day, arresting 18 people.
Sibanda said those arrested were at
Saturday's hearing. "We know that the
government is trying to build a case to
say that our party is violent," he said.
As riot police circulated in the capital,
supporters of opposition leader
Nelson Chamisa urged him to keep
fighting a day after he forcefully rejected
Mnangagwa's election victory and
alleged manipulation. Zimbabwe's
electoral commission has said the
president won with 50.8 percent of the
vote while Chamisa received 44.3 percent.
Chamisa has said the opposition's
own count shows he won the vote and
that they would challenge the election
results in court. "We're doing all to
secure your vote & defend your WILL,"
he said Saturday on Twitter.
"What we want Mr. Nelson Chamisa
to do for us is to not give up on our
vote," said one supporter in the capital,
Tisi Habis. "No matter what the (Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission) says,
Mr. Chamisa is our president."
International election observers who
were invited by Mnangagwa's government
after years of being banned by
Mugabe were pulling out after issuing
mixed reports on Monday's vote.
While the election itself was called
peaceful, the observers expressed concern
over the lack of transparency in
the voters' roll and the "extreme bias"
of state-run media in favor of Mnangagwa.
And in a joint statement the
observers criticized the military's
"excessive" use of force.
A credible election is a crucial step
for lifting international sanctions and
attracting badly needed foreign investment
in Zimbabwe's long-collapsed
economy.
Mnangagwa on Friday claimed the
vote had been free and fair, praising
the "unprecedented flowering of freedom
and democracy in our beloved
homeland" while saying he wanted an
independent investigation into the
deadly unrest.
The U.S. State Department late Friday
encouraged the release of fully
transparent election results and said
anyone with grievances should pursue
them through legal channels, adding
that "we encourage all political leaders
to show magnanimity in victory and
graciousness in defeat."
22 former Justice Thomas clerks
have jobs thanks to Trump
While the spotlight is on the
two former clerks to Justice
Anthony Kennedy whom
President Donald Trump has
nominated to the Supreme
Court, the influence of the
court's most conservative
justice, Clarence Thomas, is
felt more widely throughout
the Trump administration,
reports UNB.
Twenty-two Thomas
clerks, roughly 20 percent of
the people who have snagged
coveted jobs in his Supreme
Court office since 1991, either
hold political appointments
in the Trump administration
or have been nominated to
judgeships by Trump.
They include four federal
appellate judges, the top federal
prosecutor in Kansas,
high-ranking officials in the
Justice and Transportation
departments, an associate
White House counsel and
the head of the White House
office that is leading the
effort to roll back federal regulations.
It is not uncommon for former
high court clerks, the
elite of the legal world, to
hold prominent jobs in any
administration or to be
judges, including on the
Supreme Court. Four justices
once worked at the court as
clerks, and if confirmed,
Judge Brett Kavanaugh
would make a fifth. He and
Justice Neil Gorsuch worked
for Kennedy at the same time
in 1993 and 1994.
Among the conservative
justices, Samuel Alito and
the late Antonin Scalia each
have about a dozen clerks
who hold administration
jobs or were nominated to
judgeships by Trump.
But the sheer number of
Thomas clerks in the administration
does appear to be
unusual. The 70-year-old
justice's opinions in favor of
gun rights and in other areas
generally align with Trump's
views and administration
policies.
Thomas' outlook on the
law is just one factor in the
proliferation of his former
law clerks with ties to the
administration, said Stephen
McAllister, the Trump-nominated
U.S. attorney in
Kansas.
"Part of it is just his own
model. He spent almost his
entire legal career in government
service, state or federal.
He values that," McAllister
said.
More than most of his colleagues,
Thomas tends to
focus on hires who share his
legal views, said Pamela Karlan,
a Stanford Law School
professor who served in the
Obama Justice Department.
"Justice Thomas has been
pretty outspoken about only
wanting to hire folks in the
conservative legal movement,"
Karlan said.
Nearly 20 years ago at an
event in Dallas, Thomas
described his philosophy
behind hiring this way: "I'm
not going to hire clerks who
have profound disagreements
with me. Someone
said that it's like trying to
train a pig. It wastes your
time, and it aggravates the
pig," he said .
Trump's choice of Neomi
Rao as administrator of the
Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs is illustrative
of how former
Thomas clerks also are
shaping administration
policy. Rao was a wellregarded
critic of Obamaera
regulations who had
founded the Center for the
Study of the Administrative
State at George Mason University
in Virginia with
backing from the Koch
brothers.
In her White House post,
Rao has overseen the move
to eliminate hundreds of regulations,
to the consternation
of watchdog groups and the
cheers of a wide range of
industry groups.
Having former clerks
involved in the White House
hiring process also has
helped, McAllister said. "You
had Justice Thomas clerks
on the inside, actively
recruiting," he said.
While the spotlight is on the two former clerks to Justice Anthony Kennedy whom President Donald
Trump has nominated to the Supreme Court, the influence of the court's most conservative justice,
Clarence Thomas, is felt more widely throughout the Trump administration. Photo: Internet

ART & CULTURE
SUNDAy,
AUGUST 5, 2018
8
Prabir Dey gets candid
about his Uttam Kumar
documentary-feature film
The Journey of a Freedom
fighter who hates war
Bangladeshi director FakhrulArifin Khan's BhubanMajhi is about the rise of a rebel in
a regular man. Starring Parambrata Chatterjee and Aparna Ghosh, the film is based on
a true story of a freedom fighter who didn't wish to become a warrior. A few days before
1970's historic election in East Pakistan, Nahir comes to study in Kushtia. The ongoing
countrywide independence movement and polls don't seem to move Nahir who has two
things on his mind - theatre and Farida Begum, a friend of his cousin. Farida, who
belongs to a political family, is largely moved by the election victory and eventually, Nahir
starts to feel the same. He then undertakes training as a freedom fighter and is deputed
to kill the infamous war criminal, Aslam. But the sight of Aslam's innocent child makes
him lose his motivation to fight. Parambrata, who instantly gave his nod on hearing the
"intriguing" script, said, "I play Nahir, an ordinary man who detests war. But certain
situations force him to transform into a freedom fighter." "I feel proud that BhubanMajhi
is releasing in Kolkata. Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya was associated with this film from
the very beginning, so it's even more special," said the director. ArindamSil, whose
company is presenting the film, said, "We are happy to present this meaningful,
independent Bangladeshi film in India. We've been long awaiting such a film to happen
between both the countries." Suvojit Roy, COO, Bengal Creations, Dhaka, said, "We were
looking to join hands with someone who'd extend their support to showcase Bangladeshi
films in India. We're happy it's happening at last." |Source: TOI
UPCOMING MOVIE
The Darkest Minds
Imprisoned by an adult world that
now fears everyone under 18, a group of
teens form a resistance group to fight
back and reclaim control of their future.
After producing and directing many hit television
serials, documentaries, commercials and
corporate films, Prabir Roy is all geared up for
directing a documentary-feature on 'Mahanayak'
Uttam Kumar. Titled 'JeteNahiDibo', the film is a
tribute to the Bengali matinee idol. Popular actor
Sujan Mukherjee plays the titular role in this
documentary-feature. The cast also includes
Mallika Sinha Roy, Piu Paul, Ujjaini Banerjee,
DulalLahiri, Swastika Dutta, Sudip Sarkar and
others in pivotal roles.
While speaking about his most ambitious
project so far, director Prabir Roy said, "No other
actor in the Bengali film industry enjoyed the
same fan following and stature like Uttam Kumar.
ArIeS
(March 21 - April 20): Natives
of Aries are often confident and
energetic people, who should
consider setting up arrangements for larger
family gatherings like reunions. Natives of this
sign are often driving forces in the professional
and political areas.
TAUrUS
(April 21 - May 21): The
obstacles you face at the
moment may be daunting but
you have what it takes to overcome them.
Don't try to avoid what fate sends your way
over the next few days - it is designed to
strengthen you, not destroy you.
GeMINI
(May 22 - June 21): There may
be times when you would like
nothing better than to cut
yourself off from the world at
large but that simply isn't possible. Make
the best job of what you are expected to do
and try to steal a few hours for yourself
later on.
cANcer
(June 22 - July 23): Some
things are important and some
things are not and if you don't
yet know the difference then it's time you
found out. This should be a productive time
for you but you need to learn how to say
"no" when people ask you for favours.
Leo
(July 24 - Aug. 23): If you are
not yet getting the rewards and
the respect you deserve don't
worry, in a matter of days your
name will be on everybody's lips. The sun in
Aries makes you both creative and
adventurous, so do something out of the
ordinary.
VIrGo
(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): You may be
tempted to go on a journey today
but the planets warn it could
lead you in some unforeseen directions, so
make sure you take a map and don't promise
to be at a certain place at a specific time -
because you won't make it.
He almost single-handedly carried the industry.
Uttam Kumar was literally a star in the Hollywood
sense of the term. But the actor deserved more
than what he received. I am trying to highlight all
these issues in the film. Initially, I thought of many
actors, but when Sujan did the look test, I knew he
is the ideal choice. It will have many rare images
and video clippings of Uttam Kumar. There is only
one song in the film, 'NirChotoKhotiNei'."
In an illustrious career of almost 30 years, Uttam
Kumar appeared in a staggering 211 movies, some
of them even hit the screens after his demise. The
'Mahanayak' of Bengali cinema died in 1980
following a heart attack while shooting for
'OgoBodhuSundori'. |Source:TOI
H o roScoPe
LIBrA
(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): At some
stage over the next few days
you will see or hear something
that makes you view the world in a new
light. A change of perspective will lead to
new ways of thinking, ways that answer all
the questions you have been asking.
ScorPIo
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Find out
why a partner or loved one is
behaving so erratically, then
do what you can to assist them. Most likely
their problems are nowhere near as big as
they think they are and can quite easily be
corrected - as can your own!
SAGITTArIUS
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Yours is a
sign of boundless selfconfidence
and that's good
because you will need it over
the next few days. If you are not happy in
your current environment don't be afraid to
pack a bag and take off for a few days.
cAPrIcorN
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You seem to
lack purpose at the moment but
that will change if you look for
ways to express yourself.
Whatever challenges come your way, and there
will be plenty, see them as opportunities to be
embraced rather than as threats to be avoided.
AQUArIUS
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): Stay calm and
keep setbacks in perspective. If
you can learn to take yourself a bit
less seriously over the coming
week then your problems, such as
they are, will fade into insignificance. Rest
assured your successes will always outnumber
your failures.
PISceS
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): It does not
matter if other people approve
of what you are doing, it
matters only that it means
something to you. The very last thing you
should be doing now is asking friends and
family for their opinions - it's your views
that count.
Release Date : 10 August 2018 (USA)
Director : Sylvain White
Writers : David Birke, Victor
Surge
Stars : Joey King, Javier Botet,
Julia Goldani Telles
Genres : Horror
Running time : 93 minutes
Company : Mythology
Entertainment,
Madhouse
Entertainment
Country : USA
Language : English
Filming Locations : Massachusetts, USA
Saif Ali Khan's upcoming film 'Baazaar'
has been delayed for quite some time.
The film was slated to release earlier
this year, but no announcement about
the film has been made till now.
Reportedly the makers of the film are
finding it difficult to get any takers for
the drama. According to a report by a
portal, NikkhilAdvani and Saif Ali
Khan recently met to discuss on how to
go ahead with the film, but reports have
it that the meeting ended up on a
heated argument between the two.A
close source to the portal revealed that
Nikkhil and Ajay Kapoor were
planning to have a digital release for
the film. With this, they thought that at
least they would recover the
investment of the film.They visited Saif
thinking that he will agree on the same,
but to their surprise, he lost his cool.
Now, according to reports, Saif is trying
to find exhibitors for the film. Apart
Storyline
Slender Man tells the story of a tall, thin, horrifying figure with
unnaturally long arms and a featureless face, who is reputed to be
responsible for the haunting and disappearance of countless
children and teens.
|Source: IMDb
Did saif ali have a heated
argument with nikkhil over
'baazaar' release?
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (3D)
11:30 am, 5:30 pm, 8:30 pm
1:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 7:00 pm
3:00 pm, 6:00 pm
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (3D)
11:30 am, 2:35 pm, 8:00 pm
Incredibles 2 (3D)
3:00 pm, 5:45 pm
Ant-Man and the Wasp (3D)
12:00 pm
Poramon 2 (2D)
12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 7:00 pm
Christopher Robin (2D)
11:30 am, 3:30 pm, 5:00 pm, 7:30 pm
Fidaa (2D)
12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 7:00 pm
from Saif Ali Khan, 'Baazaar' also stars
Chitrangada Singh, Radhika Apte, and
debutante Rohan Mehra. The film is set
SHOWTIME
in the backdrop of money, power, and
business, largely based on the Stock
market. |Source: TOI
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (3D)
11:00 am, 2:00 pm, 4:10 pm, 7:20 pm
The Darkest Minds (2D)
10:50 am, 2:10 pm, 7:10 pm
Ant-Man and the Wasp (3D)
10:50 am, 1:30 pm, 5:00 pm, 7:25 pm
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (3D)
10:30 am, 1:50 pm, 4:25 pm, 7:20 pm
Skyscraper (3D)
3:10 pm, 7:30 pm
Equalizer 2 (2D)
1:30 am, 4:40 pm
Christopher Robin (2D)
1:00 pm, 5:20 pm
Bhaijaan (2D)
1:40 pm, 7:30 pm
Poramon 2 (2D)
10:40 am, 4:30 pm

SPORTS
SUNDAy, AUGUST 5, 2018
9
Bangladesh's hopes would fall on Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan against West Indies. Photo: AP
Bangladesh need top-order
lift to challenge West Indies
Sports Desk: West Indies will go into
the second T20I in Fort Lauderdale
armed with the confidence that their
big hitters and aggressive bowlers are
firing in tandem, presenting a challenge
even greater for a Bangladesh side that
hasn't been able to sustain its success
for any measurable period through this
tour, reports Cricinfo.
As always, much, but there's a lot more
that the likes of Liton Das, Soumya
Sarkar and Ariful Haque can bring to the
table. Soumya, despite being thrown
multiple lifelines, has failed to find a way
out his wretched form, while Liton needs
to capitalise on impressive starts and
push on to producing something more
substantial. Ariful is still young at the
international level, but expectations
from newcomers have never been higher
in the Bangladesh set-up.
The bowling load will be shared
between Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur
Rahman, who both are usually required
to bowl at critical phases in T20s, with
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al
Hasan providing support. Nazmul
Islam, who debuted earlier this year,
needs to adapt quickly if he is to survive
in this spin attack. West Indies, the
world champions, have very little to
worry about. Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul
and Kesrick Williams complemented
each other, taking eight wickets together,
before Andre Russell, returning from
injury, Marlon Samuels and Rovman
Powell upended the chase in a six-heavy
onslaught in the last game. If those signs
weren't worrying enough for
Bangladesh, they are compounded by
West Indies' superlative record at this
venue: they are yet to lose a match in
Lauderhill, have three of the four highest
totals at this ground, and have bowled
out the opposition twice in three
completed games. Ominous?
Perhaps the one factor that could
come to Bangladesh's aid is the crowd
in Lauderhill; the local population has
a strong subcontinental presence. The
expatriates have already turned up in
droves in South Florida for the doubleheader,
meaning that Bangladesh's
first international match in the USA
will likely have the feeling of a home
game.
Ashley Nurse took two wickets in the
first over of the previous match, and yet
never returned to bowl. That was partly
down to his lack of wickets in the ODI
series that preceded this, and Nurse
would be keen to get the numbers back
Ben Stokes celebrates after the wicket of Virat Kohli.
on his side, once again demonstrating
the control he can bring while also
breaking through.
Liton Das has scored at a rate over 128
in nine T20Is this year, but that strike
rate is hardly enough to cover up an
average of 18. He doesn't have a single
half-century despite batting in the top
three. It's time for the promise to
translate into performance.
West Indies (probable): 1 Evin Lewis,
2 Andre Fletcher, 3 Andre Russell, 4
Marlon Samuels, 5 Denesh Ramdin
(wk), 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Carlos
Brathwaite (capt), 8 Keemo Paul, 9
Ashley Nurse, 10 Samuel Badree, 11
Kesrick Williams. Soumya Sarkar has
been in miserable form in domestic
cricket, and his inclusion in the squad
was only as a result of the management's
plea. He would undoubtedly be under
the scanner, with Mosaddek Hossain
being the prime candidate to replace
him.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Liton Das, 2
Tamim Iqbal, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4
Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al
Hasan (capt), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Ariful
Haque, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9
Mustafizur Rahman, 10 Nazmul Islam,
11 Rubel Hossain.
England beat India by 31
runs in 1st Test
Sports Desk: The Edgbaston crowd knew their best ever
bowler needed to on top of his game if England were to win
this. As Anderson marked his run-up to start the first over of
the day, he had thousands at the crowd chanting his name,
pushing him to make an immediate impact, reports Cricbuzz.
If ever there was a need for another advert for Test cricket,
there it was. The match on a knife's edge, with the match's
best batsman against four in-form, feisty fast bowlers. A
heady climax was on the cards, and Edgbaston was on the
seat's edge to soak it all up. Anderson responded to the
crowd's egging by scalping Dinesh Karthik in the first over of
the day, setting him up with an inswinger before having him
edge to second slip. The match was still not over though, with
Kohli still battling on.
As it turned out, England sneaked through by 31 runs. With
Ben Stokes providing the star turn. He perhaps knew it was
his last chance to. He would miss the next game because of
the court case, and had not done too well with the bat. As
soon as he was handed the ball, he took out the big fish. Two
outswingers to Virat Kohli followed by the inswinger. Kohli
looked to flick, missed and Stokes was down on his knees
celebrating a massive, massive wicket.
Kohli had only just gotten to his fifty, following up the 149
he made in the last innings. And he could only, ever so slowly,
drag himself off the field. He patted Hardik Pandya as he
walked off, after a desperate review that was hoping against
hope, encouraging him to make it India's game.
Pandya did his best. He had earlier showed that he had
some shots up his sleeve. Two gun-straight drives off Stuart
Broad, and a fine flick taking the ball from outside off stump.
But when Stokes got his second in the over by getting
Mohammed Shami caught behind for nought, Hardik's task
just got much, much harder.
Graeme Swann was as tense as everyone else at the ground.
"My sweaty palms tell me that there is another twist in the
game. All the great, close games have them," he said. And
sure enough, the game headed that way. Ishant Sharma
edged and nudged his way, and with two boundaries from his
bat off Stokes, India needed less than 50.
The heartbeats were louder now. Stokes had a go at
Pandya, and the Indian all-rounder was not averse to
shouting back.Root came up with a ballsy move to change the
momentum. Adil Rashid, talked about endlessly ahead of the
game, had had minimal impact on the game so far. Against
Ishant, he made his biggest. A sharp googly caught Ishant
plumb in front, even if umpire Chris Gaffaney didn't think so.
DRS righted that wrong. England were one wicket away.
India needed 40 more.
Pandya slammed Stokes over mid-off, before clipping
Rashid for two. He was mostly up against a fully spread out
field so could only take his chances at the end of the over.
Stokes delivered the telling final blow. Hardik poked outside
off, and Cook held on gleefully. England were
understandably overjoyed with the win. They had to fight
tooth and nail, and did just about enough to win. For India,
Hardik Pandya's reaction after the final wicket said it all. He
walked away towards the dressing room, head down and
almost disbelievingly, before realising almost towards the
end that he'd forgotten to shake hands with the opposition.
He turned back again.
Photo: AP
BD A beat
Ireland A by 87
runs in 1st ODI
Sports Desk: A brilliant 92
runs by Zakir Hasan enabled
Bangladesh A to record a
thumping 87 runs victory
over Ireland A in the first
ODI at Wicklow, Dublin in
the early hours of yesterday,
reports BSS.
Earlier, Bangladesh asked
to bat first, piled up
impressive 289 for 6 in their
allotted 50 overs. Thanks to
brilliant Zakir Hasan's
dazzling 92 runs off 92-ball
studded with eight glorious
boundaries and three eye
catching sixers enabled
Bangladesh A to post a
challenging total.
Zakir along with Saif
Hassan (37) put on
impressive 139 runs for the
first wicket partnership.
Fazle Rabbi with a quick fire
53, Al Amin with 47 runs
and skipper Mominul
Haque with 23 were the
other notable Bangladesh A
batsmen.
Chase with three for 63
and Tyrone Kane with three
for 67 were the leading
Ireland A bowlers.
In reply, Ireland A
batsmen found Bangladesh
A bowlers meant business
when they came out to bat,
against some very
disciplined bowling, Irish A
batsmen found runs hard to
come by as they struggled to
be bowled out for 202 runs
in 46.3 overs. Brief
scorecard: Bangladesh A-
289 for 6 in 50 overs, Zakir
Hasan 92 off 92 balls
(4×8,6×3), Fazle Rabbi 53
off 41 balls, (4×5,6×1), Al
Amin 47 off 41 balls, Saif
Hassan 37 off 74 balls Chase
3/63, Tyrone Kane 3/ 67
Ireland A- 202 all out in
46.3 overs, Tyrone Kane 49,
Getkate 38, S Thompson 23,
Harry Tector 23, Garth 19,
Shrariful Islam 3/40,
Khaled 2/27, Saifuddin
2/35, Sunzamul Islam 2/35.
Bangladesh finish
6th in Asian
Nations Cup Chess
Sports Desk: Bangladesh
finished 6th in the Asian
Nations Cup Chess held at
Hamadan in Iran, reports
BSS.
Bangladesh secured 7
points out of 7 games to and
clinched the 6th position. IM
Mohammad Minhaz Uddin
achieved silver medal with
3.5 points out of 5 games.
Starting of the event,
Bangladesh team was 9
seeded teams. Vietnam and
Uzbekistan both strong
teams are behind of
Bangladesh after the event.
In last round matches,
Bangladesh
beat
Afghanistan by 3.5- 0.5
game points.
GM Razib beat FM
Moinzai Khushal, FM Fahad
beat Monawary Parwiz, IM
Minhaz beat Abdul Sattar
and FM Kh. Amin split point
with FM Mirzaad S.
Wahabuddin.
A total of 14 teams from 12
countries participated in the
event. Iran Green emerged
champion with 13 points,
India became runners-up
and China finished 3rd with
10 points each.
Vidal joins Barcelona from
Bayern in €20m switch
Sports Desk: Barcelona have reached
an agreement to sign Arturo Vidal from
Bayern Munich on a three-year contract,
reports BSS.
The 31-year-old is set to complete his
move following a medical over the
coming days, in a deal understood to be
worth in the region of €20 million
(£18m/$23m).
While Inter and Milan were also
offered his services, Barcelona have now
closed the deal for Chilean star.
"FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich
have reached an agreement for the
transfer of player Arturo Vidal," read a
statement on Barca's official website.
"The agreement with Arturo Vidal is
for the next three seasons and is pending
medical review that the player will pass
in the coming days.
"FC Barcelona will soon inform of the
arrival of the player and the agenda of
the presentation."
Vidal had reportedly already agreed to
return to Serie A with Inter but Goal
reported this week that his agent,
Fernando Felicevich, offered him to
Barca as well.
The Blaugrana swooped to land the
Chile international to replace Paulinho,
who returned to Chinese Super League
side Guangzhou Evergrande on loan
Sports Desk: Bangladesh Test and T20
skipper Shakib al Hasan is likely to be put
under the knife for his finger injury that he
sustained during the tri-nation series
involving Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka at home
in January, said Bangladesh Cricket Board
officials on Saturday (August 4), reports
Cricbuzz.
BCB chief physician told Cricbuzz on
Saturday that Shakib had to take pain killers
to participate in the ongoing T20 series as it
was pretty discomforting for him thanks to
the injury.
They are trying to manage the injury with
conservative treatment and rehabilitation
but during this time frame he has had to take
two anti inflammatory injections for pain
relieving purpose.
"He had been given anti inflammatory
injection as the pain recurred but once he
returns back home we can take a better look
at him and decide his next course of
action,"said BCB physician Debashish
Chowdhury. "It the second time he is taking
such an injection as he had taken that in
Australia where he went immediately after
the injury. Though we have seen in some
cases, sportsmen can manage their injury
with such medication but the problem arises
after a single season at Camp Nou.
Ernesto Valverde signalled his
intention to add to his midfield options
after the Brazilian's departure, with club
great Andres Iniesta having also
departed for Asia by signing for
Japanese side Vissel Kobe.
Arthur's move from Gremio was fasttracked
and Barca were reportedly
interested in signing Adrien Rabiot from
Paris Saint-Germain.
But they turned to Vidal after being
unable to prise the France international
away from the Ligue 1 champions.
Injuries restricted Vidal to 17
Bundesliga starts in the 2017-18 season
and he was linked with a January move
to Chelsea, despite indicating he was
willing to extend a Bayern contract that
was set to expire at the end of this
season.
"Thanks to Bayern and all the fans. I
really enjoyed my time in Munich," Vidal
told Bayern's website as his departure
was announced. "I would like to thank
the club for giving me another chance to
take on a new challenge in Barcelona."
He becomes Barca's fourth major
signing of the transfer window, following
Arthur, Bordeaux winger Malcom and
Sevilla defender Clement Lenglet to
Catalonia.
The Chilean midfielder will sign a three-year contract with the Blaugrana
and have a medical to complete his move after the clubs agreed a fee.
Photo: AP
Shakib to undergo surgery
for his finger injury
if it is repeated often as the steroids do have
some side effects," he said.
"If he might need an operation then he will
be out for at least six weeks," he added.
Shakib sustained an injury on his left hand
during the tri-series final against Sri Lanka
in January and was forced to leave the field
mid-way and could not take part any further
in the final. He then missed the following
two-match Test series and two IT20s against
Sri Lanka and joined the squad half-way
during the Nidahas Trophy.
Cricbuzz understands Shakib did not take
part in the last training session as he was yet
to recover from the pain after being injected
on the second day of his arrival at Florida.
Sources confirmed after returning home
the southpaw will sit with BCB to chalk out a
date for the operation as he was suffering
with the pain almost from the beginning of
the series.
There is a possibility that he might skip
international assignments to accommodate
time for his operation in the upcoming days.
Bangladesh will play the Asia Cup in
September and follow it up with home series'
against Zimbabwe and West Indies. It is
learnt that the chances are high of him
opting out of the series against Zimbabwe.
BCB make elaborate plans for
developing women’s cricket
Sports Desk: Buoyed by the recent successes of the
women's cricket team, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)
is planning a franchise-based regional tournament, reports
Cricbuzz.
It is part of a comprehensive plan chalked out by BCB
to develop women's cricket across the country.
BCB plans to introduce a "BCL-like tournament" for
women's cricket from the upcoming season of the
Bangladesh cricket calendar as a first step towards a
longer vision. Bangladesh Cricket League is the lone
franchise-based four day tournament that is played in
the country apart from National Cricket League, the
traditional first-class tournament
'We are planning to host franchise-based longer
version tournament for women cricketers," Nazmul
Abedin, team operating manager of BCB told reporters at
Mirpur on Saturday. "They usually play in the National
Cricket League (NCL), which is a 50-over tournament.
We plan to form four zonal teams for the tournament
that will continue for two days. As there is a growing
popularity of women's cricket I am sure franchises will
come forward to capitalize it in the upcoming days," he
said.
"This year it will be limited to a two-day affair and
gradually transformed into a three-dayer in the next
season. Afterwards, the board will make it a full-fledged
longer-version cricket tournament in the next two years
depending on the response and success of the maiden
season. It'll be a beginning of their longer version cricket.
The women cricketers have never played such a
tournament. It'll be the first step for them before heading
into the full-fledged longer version of the game," said
Nazmul.
This will be the first step of Bangladesh in their aim of
earning Test status that they are eyeing to accomplish in
the near future.
"Day by day, we will try to achieve Test status as early
as possible. If we attain the status, we will be able to play
Test cricket with top-notch teams on a regular basis,"
said Nazmul.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS
BANGLADESHTODAY 10
THE
SUNDAy, AUGUST 5, 2018
One of the leading standard in Jewelary business in our country SANANDA JEWELLERS has completely
newly make overed their outletes with lots of beautiful, gorgeous designs which are presented
in Eid-Ul-Azhaa. To celebrate this festival with the dearest customers, the brand offering a 32%
discount on all their diamond jewelleries and also offering a 20% discount on the jewellery making
cost. There are available a lot of beautiful designs of Necklace set, Finger ring, Churi, Bangla, Locket
Set, Ear Ring, Nose Pin, Locket etc are available at a discounted price. This offer will be available
through out the 20 August, 2018.
Photo: Courtesy
Md. Zahurul Haque
promoted as Deputy
Managing Director
of FSIBL
Md. Zahurul Haque has been
promoted as Deputy Managing Director
of First Security Islami Bank Ltd. Prior
to the
promotion,
he was
S e n i o r
Executive
V i c e
President
(SEVP) of
the Bank.
H e
o b t a i n e d
B . c o m
(Honors) in
Accounting
and MBA degree, a press release said .
Haque joined at First Security Islami
Bank Ltd. as Senior Assistant Vice
President (SAVP) in 2005. He started
his Banking Career at Rupali Bank Ltd.
as Probationary Officer. He has a long
track of banking experience. Haque
served the bank as Head of Investment
Division, Head Office for a long time in
his wide banking career. He attended at
many workshops, trainings and
seminars at home and abroad
extensively.
The secret to China's economic
stamina amidst a trade war
To put forward a bearish forecast on
China's economy is easy, requires
little effort, and attracts considerable
attention, but to make convincing and
reliable predictions is more of a
challenge, reports BSS.
It demands enormous insight into
China's internal economic logic and
foresight to look through short-term
fluctuations - the qualifications that
not every predictor possesses.
That's why there are so many
naysayers, particularly when the
country is grappling with economic
headwinds amid a trade row.
The fact is the Chinese economy has
held up despite a less favorable global
environment and appeared more
endurant in a U.S.-ignited trade war.
The Trump administration, on the
contrary, keeps threatening to escalate
tensions, regardless of domestic and
international opposition.
In the latest sign of China's
undented confidence, policymakers
vowed to keep the economy on "a
stable and healthy development
track" at a meeting of the Political
Bureau of the Communist Party of
China (CPC) Central Committee
earlier this week.
Unchanged, solid fundamentals
serve as the foundation of China's
long-term economic stability.
China's economy expanded 6.8
percent in the first half, performing in
the medium-high speed range for 12
consecutive quarters. Unemployment
and inflation were tame, and
consumer spending contributed 78.5
percent to GDP growth. The CPC has
demonstrated its wisdom and ability
to control complicated situations,
observers said.
After decades of high-speed growth,
China is now turning to high-quality
development that is more efficient,
balanced and sustainable.
Services are playing an increasingly
important role in the economy. Hightech
industries and equipment
manufacturing, dubbed as new
driving forces, are booming.
The country boasts a population of
nearly 1.4 billion people, a labor force
of 900 million workers, and more
than 100 million market players.
Urbanization and rural vitalization
are unlocking a tremendous market
demand.
Walton exports 'Made in Bangladesh'
labeled home appliances to Uganda
The country's electronics
giant 'Walton' started the
export of its 'Made in
Bangladesh' labeled home
appliances to Uganda, an East
African country.
Initially, Walton exported
its produced blender and its
spare parts to the East African
country. The local brand will
export other sorts of home
appliances like rice cooker,
gas stove and so on to Uganda
very soon, says a press release.
The exported home
appliances are being
produced in Walton Micro-
Tech Corporation Limited at
Chandra in Gazipur in
accordance with the
international standard.
On July 31, 2018, a
container loaded with Walton
made home appliances
shipped out for Uganda from
Chattagram Port. The
Tamales, headquartered in
Uganda's capital Kampala, is
the sole distributor of Walton
home appliances.
It may be noted that Walton
made fridges, airconditioners,
laptops and
other sorts of electronics and
electrical appliances are being
exported to Nigeria and
Sudan. Now, Uganda has
been added to the list of
Walton products importing
countries among the African
countries. "It's a great
milestone towards the
positive branding of Made in
Bangladesh in the global
arena", industry insiders said.
Uganda is a developing East
African country. There is a
colossal market for electronic,
electrical and home
appliances, specially for the
Bangladesh made products.
Uganda's entrepreneurs
prefers Walton brand to other
brands' products for the price
competitiveness of the highest
standard Walton made home
appliances.
Faisal Ahmed, first senior
assistant director of
International Marketing
(Home Appliances) of Walton
Group, said, earlier they send
the samples of some sorts of
Walton home appliances like
blender to Uganda.
Then those samples were
tested in lab. Later, Uganda
National Bureau of has given
the approval of importing
Walton made home
appliances after being
satisfied on the products'
highest standard in the test,
he noted.
In the lab test, Walton home
appliances were found
durable, lucrative and worldclass
quality, he said adding,
thus The Tamales imported
spare parts, along with the
finished products.
By exporting home
appliances to Uganda, Walton
has reached a significant
position in expanding its
export market among the
African countries, he added.
Already, buyers of some
other African countries like
Kenya, South Africa, Ghana
and Somalia showed their
interest in importing home
appliances from Bangladesh,
he said.
Uday Hakim, deputy
executive director of Walton
Group, Walton moved one
step ahead towards grabbing
the potential African market
through exporting home
appliances to Uganda.
In near future, Walton
would be turned into the
premier brand in the African
region like the Bangladesh
market, he noted.
Md Atiqul Islam, chief
coordinator of Walton Home
Appliances, said, demands for
Walton appliances are gearing
up remarkably in the local
market.
On the occasion of
imminent Eid-ul-Azha or
Qurbani Eid, he said that they
marketed more than two
hundred models of home
appliances in the local market,
including air cooler, air fryer,
washing machine, clothe
dryer, blender and juicer, rice
cooker, microwave and
electric oven, electric
trimmer, dish washer, food
processor, ruti maker, gas
stove, hair dryer, induction
cooker, pressure cooker,
sewing machine, iron, electric
kettle, lunch box, multi
cooker, kitchen cookware,
vacuum flask, water purifier
and dispenser, mop set,
weight scale machine etc.
India's Jet Airways
has 'two months'
to cut costs
India's Jet Airways is
suffering major turbulence
and may cease flying in 60
days without major cost
cuts, local media reported
Friday, sending shares in
the carrier tumbling,
reports BSS.
The dire warning was
made in talks between
managers and employees
in recent days, the
Economic Times reported,
quoting an unnamed
senior executive.
The claims, as well as
another report in the Mint
daily that the airline was in
talks with investors to raise
cash, sent Jet Airlines'
shares down seven percent.
Mint quoted an
unidentified source who
said the talks included
founding chairman Naresh
Goyal potentially selling
some of his 51 percent
stake in India's numbertwo
carrier by market
share.
IMF says talks with Kenya
make significant progress
The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) said
on Friday that significant
progress was made during
the visit by its review
mission to Kenya, noting
that discussions will
continue in the coming
weeks, reports BSS.
The IMF's review which
ended on Thursday was
expected to see Kenya
allowed or denied further
access to 1.5 billion U.S.
dollars forex insurance
program with Kenya,
which expires in
September.
The lender which did not
mention the status of the
standby facility however
said discussions focused on
fiscal policies to achieve the
authorities' fiscal deficit
target of 5.7 percent of
GDP in 2018/19 fiscal year;
interest rate controls; and
structural reforms aiming
to ensure the sustainability
of investment-driven,
inclusive growth.
"The authorities
reiterated
their
commitment to
macroeconomic policies
that would maintain public
debt on a sustainable path,
contain inflation within the
target range, and preserve
external stability," IMF in a
statement issued in
Nairobi.
The IMF team and the
Kenyan authorities had
agreed that a reduction in
the fiscal deficit to 7.2
percent of GDP in 2017/18
and further to 5.7 percent
of GDP in 2018/19, from
8.8 percent in 2016/17
would be appropriate.
The IMF mission
however said Kenya's
economy has continued to
perform well, with real
GDP growth accelerating
to 5.7 percent in the first
quarter of 2018, from 4.9
percent in 2017.
"The acceleration of
growth is being driven
primarily by strengthened
confidence following the
conclusion of the
prolonged election period,
favorable weather
conditions, and a
continued recovery in
tourism," Clements said.
He said inflation has
remained within the
authorities' target range
since July 2017 as better
weather conditions have
brought down food
inflation.
Headline CPI growth was
4.3 percent year-on-year as
of June 2018, while core
inflation remained low at
3.6 percent year-on-year.
The national round of 'Al-Arafah Islami Bank 4th Junior Science Olympiad' was concluded on 3
August Friday at University of Asia Pacific Auditorium, Dhaka. Managing Director (current
charges) of the Bank Kazi Towhidul Alam was present as Chief Guest in the ceremony. Among
others, Director of the Bank Abdul Malek Mollah, Treasurer of Bangladesh Freedom
Foundation and Ex-Chief Scientist of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission Dr. Rezaur
Rahman, Executive Director Sajjadur Rahman, Vice President of Bangldesh Biggyan
Jonoprikoron Shamity Munir Hasan and Vice President and Head of PR of the Bank Jalal
Ahmed were also present in the occasion.
Photo: Courtesy
Chinese yuan
weakens in
July
China's yuan weakened
more than 3 percent
against a basket of
currencies in July,
according to a China
Foreign Exchange Trade
System (CFETS) index,
reports BSS.
The CFETS RMB Index,
which measures the yuan's
strength relative to a basket
of currencies, came in at
92.41 at the end of July, a
3.4 percent decline from a
month ago, CFETS said.
The index compares the
yuan to the value of 24
currencies, including the
U.S. dollar, euro and
Japanese yen, which was
expanded from a basket of
13 currencies in 2016.
In July, an index that
measures the yuan against
the Bank for
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Settlements currency
basket went down 3.36
percent to 95.67, while
against the Special
Drawing Rights basket it
weakened 3.33 percent to
92.7, according to CFETS.
China's central bank
announced Friday that it
would raise the reserve
requirement ratio from
zero to 20 percent for
financial institutions
trading foreign exchange
forward contracts from
Monday.
As part of the macroprudential
policy
framework, the move is a
response to recent procyclical
fluctuations in the
forex market and aims to
forestall macro-financial
risk, the People's Bank of
China said.
The central bank said it
would "enhance
monitoring and make
c o u n t e r - c y c l i c a l
adjustments in accordance
with the development of
the situation to keep the
forex market steady and
the yuan's exchange rate
basically stable at a
reasonable and balanced
level."
Italy's economy slows
down in Q2: Report
Italy's economy slowed
down in the second quarter
this year amid a
deceleration of the
eurozone, Istat national
statistics bureau said in its
monthly bulletin on Friday,
reports BSS.
Gross domestic product
(GDP) grew 0.2 percent in
April-June, compared to
0.3 percent the
previous quarter, with
domestic consumption
"contributing positively to
growth" amid a fall in net
foreign demand, according
to the bulletin.
The eurozone economy
also decelerated in the
second quarter, with GDP
adding 0.3 percent
compared with 0.4 percent
in the first quarter.
On the global level, Istat
said world trade continues
to grow even though "the
U.S. administration's
introduction of import
tariffs represents
significant downside risk in
the coming months."
In Italy in the second
quarter, industrial
production was stationary
in spite of spikes in May
and June as all leading
industrial sectors showed a
downturn compared to the
first quarter. The exception
was capital goods, which
grew by 1.6 percent.
In June, industries
posting the highest yearon-year
growth were
mining (+12.5 percent),
pharmaceuticals (+11.8
percent) and vehicle
manufacturing (+7.1
percent). The steepest
declines were in oil refining
(-8.6 percent), power
utilities (-6.5 percent) and
wood, paper and printing (-
4.2 percent).
Turnover also showed
signs of deceleration, with
industrial orders down
1.1 percent in spite of
a 5.5 percent rise in foreign
orders in May compared to
April.
Foreign sales rose 1.7
percent in the second
quarter due to a 7.9 percent
jump in sales to non-
European Union countries
in June, which was led by a
rise in capital goods (+16.9
percent) thanks to sales of
maritime vessels, Istat said.
Second-quarter imports
increased by 4.6 percent
compared to the previous
quarter, led by energy (+5.6
percent), followed by
intermediate goods (+4.5
percent) and capital goods
(+4.2 percent).
Italy's estimated trade
surplus stood at 3.5 billion
euros in June, compared to
3.3 billion euros in the
same period last year, with
a rise in exports to
Switzerland (+55.1
percent), the United States
(+18.8 percent), and India
(+11.6 percent).
Istat saw a drop in sales
to OPEC countries (-18.3
percent), the Middle East (-
13.1 percent), and Turkey (-
12.5 percent) in June this
year compared to the same
period in 2017.
Consumer and business
confidence were flat in July
compared to June, but the
outlook for both indicators
showed them declining as
the economic slowdown
continues, Istat said.
China says tariff threat
against US 'justified'
China's foreign minister said Saturday that his country's
threat to impose retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of American
goods in an escalating trade spat was "fully justified" , reports
BSS.
Beijing threatened Friday to bring in the levies on products
ranging from beef to condoms, after US President Donald
Trump's administration upped the ante in its plans for
additional tariffs on Chinese goods worth $200 billion.
Washington suggested the rate on the proposed extra
tariffs could be increased from 10 to 25 percent.
The two countries have been embroiled for months in a
trade conflict that has threatened to hurt consumers in both
countries. Washington claims that China's export economy
benefits from unfair policies and subsidies, as well as theft of
American technological know-how.
Speaking on the sidelines of a security forum in Singapore,
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China's threat of retaliatory
tariffs was "fully justified and necessary".
"These are measures taken out of the consideration for
upholding the interests of the Chinese people," he said,
speaking through a translator.
He said the move was also aimed at upholding the "global
free trade regime" that was underpinned by the World Trade
Organization.
Wang also hit back at comments by top White House
economic advisor Larry Kudlow, who ridiculed China's tariff
threat as "weak" and said the world's second-largest
economy was in significant "trouble".

MISCELLANEOUS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 5, 2018
11
Iran volatile on eve of US sanctions
Iranians are hunkering down for the
return of US sanctions on Monday with a
run on gold and hard currency as they
scramble to protect their savings, and
sporadic protests over the already
troubled economy, reports BSS.
State news agencies reported "scattered
protests" of a few hundred people on
Thursday in the cities of Shiraz, Ahvaz,
Mashhad and Karaj, which police had
brought under control.
Videos posted on social media - whose
authenticity could not be verified -
So far, they have not been on the scale
of the violent unrest that gripped dozens
of towns and cities in December and
January. But anxiety is everywhere,
especially over the collapse of the rial,
which has lost nearly two-thirds of its
value in six months.
"We are seeing protests and they will
continue," said Adnan Tabatabai, head of
the CARPO think tank in Germany.
"The establishment knows they are
legitimate but my biggest concern is they
will be hijacked by groups inside and
outside the country and turn violent."
A decision to fix the exchange rate in
April and arrest unlicensed currency
dealers backfired spectacularly and
triggered a boom in the black market.
The consequences have sometimes
felt absurd. One expat described having
to meet a trader under a bridge in
central Tehran to change $2,000
(1,700 euros).
The photo shows that Md Humayun Kabir, executive director of Marcel, and Dr. Md. Shakhwat
Hossen, head of sales Marcel, is handing over the key of brand new car to 'Roksana Khatun at 'Taj
Electronics' at Bamondi Bazar, Gangni in Meherpur district on Friday last . Photo: Courtesy
SRAM & MRAM Technologies and Resources Limited a UK based tech giant, today launched Jupiter
XII fund, a media intensive close ended fund to marks its entry into the tinsel town. With the world
growing towards content aggregation and content management, SRAM's entry looks apt considering
all the leading players are moving in the same direction. SRAM has plans to invest a total of USD 120
MN primarily to create avenues in the high demand Video on demand, Content streaming, Hypertargeted
content and advertising verticals of the media and advertising industry. These are just a few
of the developments that will transform the media and entertainment industry this year as per the
observations of SRAM Group Chairman Dr.Sailesh Lachu Hiranandani. Dr.Hiranandani emphasised
that the challenges ahead for the media and entertainment industry in 2018 will be to figure
out how to create tailored customer experiences when there is mass customization of experience
across all content, advertising, and brands.
Photo: Courtesy
GD-988/18 (12 x 4)
Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿
†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿
Marcel Eid Mega Digital Campaign
Housewife Roksana gets new
car by registering fridge
A housewife of Meherpur
district named 'Roksana
Khatun' got a brand new
car by purchasing a 14 cft
refrigerator of Marcel
brand and then registering
it under the ongoing
nationwide 'Eid Mega
Digital Campaign', says a
press release.
On Thursday last
(August 2, 2018),
Roksana, along with her
daughter and daughter-inlaw,
was thronged to a
Marcel showroom 'Taj
Electronics' at Bamondi
Bazar, Gangni in
Meherpur and purchased
a 14 cft refrigerator at Tk
25,000 from there. Then,
she registered the fridge
under the ongoing
campaign through sending
SMS from her mobile
phone. After a while, she
got a return SMS of
Hyundai head
expresses hope
for resumption
of N. Korea tours
The head of South Korea's
Hyundai Group, responsible
for pioneering many inter-
Korean business projects,
expressed hope Friday that
cross-border tours to the
North would resume this
year following a recent
diplomatic thaw on the
peninsula, reports BSS.
Hyun Jeong-eun made the
remarks after completing a
rare visit to the North's
scenic Mount Kumgang
where she attended a
memorial service for her late
husband Chung Mong-hun,
her first trip to the country
since 2014.
Hyundai has poured
hundreds of millions of
dollars into running inter-
Korean projects in the North
that have since closed,
including the jointlyoperated
Kaesong industrial
complex, a tourist resort at
Mount Kumgang, as well as
tours for South Korean
visitors in an effort to
promote cross-border ties.
"We have expectations to
resume the tour programme
within this year. That's what
the North was thinking too,"
Hyun told reporters after
returning home from the
day-long visit to the North.
She met Kim Yong Chol, a
senior North Korean official
involved in inter-Korean
exchanges, who reaffirmed
Pyongyang's "constant"
trust in Hyundai as a
business partner, Hyun said.
The visit came as the
North's state-run
newspaper, Rodong
Sinmun, urged Seoul to
resume cross-border
business links despite UN
sanctions over Pyongyang's
banned nuclear programme.
Seoul suspended all tours
to Mount Kumgang in 2008
when a North Korean
soldier shot dead a South
Korean woman there.
winning a brand new car
from Marcel.
On behalf of Marcel,
Executive Director Md
Humayun Kabir and Head
of Sales Dr. Md Shakhwat
Hossen handed over the
key of the brand new car to
Roksana Khatun at Taj
Electronics on Friday last
(August 3, 2018).
The car handing
ceremony was attended,
among others, by Marcel
Area Manager of Jessor
Zone Md Kabir Hossain
and Proprietor of Taj
Electroncis Md Amirul
Islam, a freedom fighter.
While expressing
reaction, Roksana Khatun
said, "It's amazing! It was
hard to believe. When I
read out the return SMS
from Marcel, I became
soundless and astonished.
Is it true? I questioned
myself. Later, the
showroom manager
confirmed me about the
unexpected big prize."
Roksana's daughter-inlaw
Farzana Akhter said,
"Some of our neighbours
and relatives have been
using Marcel brand fridge
for the last couple of years.
They informed us that
prices of Marcel fridge are
reasonable compared to
other brands and the
service is also excellent. To
check out their
observation, we visited
several showrooms of
some other companies.
Then we came into this
Marcel showroom and
found their (neighbours
and relatives) observations
about Marcel fridge true.
There are wide varieties of
fridge with lucrative design
and colours at reasonable,
from which we purchased
a 14 cft Marcel fridge at Tk
25,000. During that time,
we were happy to get a
high quality fridge at such
a price. Now, the prize
brought our happiness
beyond expectation.
Thanks to Marcel."
Marcel officials said,
they have been conducting
nationwide 'Eid Mega
Digital Campaign' from
July 2, 2018 on the
occasion of upcoming Eidul-Azha
or Qurbani Eid.
Under the campaign, a
customer of Marcel fridge,
TV or AC may get a brand
new car, fridge, TV or AC
at free or sure cash back
just by registering their
purchased item through
sending SMS from their
mobile phone. They will
enjoy the offer till the
Qurbani Eid.

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY
Long-route bus
services suspended
for 2nd day
DHAKA : People continued to suffer in the capital and elsewhere
in the country as long-route bus service remain suspended
for the second consecutive day on Saturday protesting
alleged vandalism of vehicles during the ongoing student
movement for safe road, reports UNB.
Bus owners on Friday stopped operating long-route buses
in different districts protesting 'vandalism' during the ongoing
demonstrations of students demanding justice for their
two fellows who were killed in a road crash in the capital.
Although the bus operators resumed the service at night
they suspend it again during daytime.
In Dhaka, No long route buses left the capital from
Mohakhali, Gabtoli and Saidabad bus terminals in the morning,
said officer-in-charges of Darus Salam thana Selim-uz-
Zaman, and Jatrabari thana Kazi Wazed.
Besides, the bus services remained suspended in
Chuadanga and Mymensingh for third the consecutive day
and Khulna, Natore, Joypurhat and Chapainawabagnj for the
second day.
DU BCL expresses solidarity
with protesting students,
distributes chocolates
DHAKA : Expressing solidarity with the students demanding
safe road, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders of
Dhaka University unit distributed chocolates and sweets
among the students at Shahbagh intersection in the city on
Saturday, reports UNB.
BCL DU unit President Sanjib Chandra Sarker and
Secretary Saddam Hossain distributed chocolates among the
protesting students around 12 noon.
Sanjib Chandra Sarker also urged the students to return
home saying that the government has already accepted the
nine-point demand of the students and started implementation
of those.
Mentioning that problems of road sector cannot be
resolved overnight and it will take time, Sanjib expressed a
fear that if the students continue to stay on the roads 'evil
forces' may intrude into it.
SUNDAy, DhAkA, AUGUST 5, 2018, SRABAN 21, 1425 BS, ZiLqAD 22, 1439 hijRi
Communication between Dhaka and Patharghata upazila scrapped as a connecting bailey bridge collapsed.
Photo: Star Mail
Biman cancels
another hajj
flight
DHAKA : Another hajj
flight of Biman Bangladesh
Airlines scheduled to fly on
Saturday has been cancelled
due to shortage of passengers,
reports UNB.
Today's scheduled flight -
BG-1067 at 5:05pm- has
been cancelled, said Biman
general manager (Public
Relations) Shakil Meraj.
With these, a total of 11 hajj
flights have been cancelled
for the same reason so far, he
added.
ASEAN states call for safe
return of Rohingya people
DHAKA : Member states of ASEAN
Regional Forum (ARF) raised their voice
for the safe and sustainable return of
Rohingya people who took refuge to
Bangladesh fleeing violence in the Rakhine
state of Myanmar.
The 25th ASEAN Regional Forum meeting
was held at Singapore Expo
Convention Center today with Foreign
Minister of Singapore Dr V Balakrishan in
the chair, said a press release received here.
It said many ARF member states like
Canada, the USA, Indonesia, Japan, South
Korea, New Zealand and Australia raised
their voice in support of the Rohingyas for
their safe and sustainable return.
Foreign Ministers from 27 countries
including Bangladesh Foreign Minister
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and representative
from EU attended the meeting.
The meeting was widely discussed various
regional and international issues that
includes recent diplomatic development
between North Korea and United States for
bringing peace in the Korean Peninsula,
disputes in the South China Sea, situation
the Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar,
trade disputes, maritime security, cyber
crimes and connectivity.
Most of the countries in their statements
highly praised Bangladesh for giving shelter
to more than one million Forcibly
Displaced Myanmar Nationals, the release
said.
Mahmood Ali briefed the forum that
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the
border of this distressed people out of
humanitarian consideration. He mentioned
that Rohingya problem is essentially
political in nature which has its origin in
Myanmar and its solution has to be found
there.
Green group suggests
developing rail,
waterways
DHAKA : Giving priority to rail and waterways' development
can be an effective solution to arrest road accidents, said
Poribesh Bachao Andolon (POBA), an environmental advocacy
group, on Saturday at a programme, reports UNB.
POBA organised a discussion programme titled "Deaths
and Anarchy on Road: Reasons and Solutions" at its main
office in the city.
Presiding over the programme, POBA Chairman Abu
Naser Khan said, ensuring road safety is impossible without
ensuring proper traffic and transport management.
He alleged that road-based communication system has
crippled the entire transport system.
The main discussant of the programme, Shahidul Alam,
convenor of POBA's team for Safe Roads Movement, said,
training should be imparted to those who work in roads and
highways as well as the drivers.
Urging to amend the acts regarding road safety, he said,
"We are still following the act passed in 1983 in this sector,
where provision of compensation amount is Tk 20,000 only."
Proper urban planning, traffic management, ensuring vehicles'
fitness and road fitness are necessary said Shahidul Alam
and stressed on need for creating separate lanes, establishing
bus bays. The government can also use public service broadcast
system to create public awareness, while traffic rules,
regulations and discipline should be included in education
syllabus, he added. Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder,
Professor and Chairman of Department of Environmental
Science of Stamford University, said, Bangladesh's weather
has also connection with the road accidents.
Referring to his research data, the professor said, most of
the accidents occur during May to July, the months of premonsoon
and monsoon season.
From 2013 to 2017, at least 1299 road accidents occur in
May killing 1885 people, the highest for any month in those
years, he said. He also suggested avoiding dependency on
traffic police in rough weather and to build up digital camera
controlled monitoring system to manage traffic. Among others,
secretary of POBA Shamim Khan Tito also spoke.
Nahid urges
students to
return to
classes
SYLHET : Education
Minister Nurul Islam
Nahid on Saturday urged
the students to calm down
and return to classes saying
that the government has
taken steps for fulfilling
their demands, reports
UNB.
The minister made the
urge while talking to
reporters after attending
the convocation ceremony
of Metropolitan University.
Expressing shock at the
death of two college students
in a recent road crash
in Dhaka, Nahid urged the
protesters to be patient and
return to their classes.
The government has
taken all the necessary
steps to fulfill the demands
of students and stood
beside the families of the
deceased students and
taken the responsibilities of
treatment of injured ones,
the minister said.
"The students must realize
that blocking the road
day after day will cause
misery to the citizens, this
should not be a form of
movement", he said.
He hoped that now the
students will return to their
classes and their demands
will be fulfilled in phases.
Applying force on
students to have dire
consequences: BNP
DHAKA : BNP senior
leader Moudud Ahmed on
Saturday warned that the
consequences will be very
dire if the government
applies force on the demonstrating
students seeking
safer roads, reports UNB.
"You (govt) are saying
you've accepted the students'
demands as those are
justified. But the organisation
which is under a minister
has enforced a strike to
put transport workers
against adolescent boys and
girls. What would be more
notorious plot than this?" he
said.
Speaking at a discussion,
the BNP leader further said,
"We would like to clearly say
if you apply force on the students
to suppress their
movement, the people of
Bangladesh will put up a
resistance against it."
Sammilita Chhatra Forum
arranged the programme at
the Jatiya Press Club
demanding the release of
BNP chairperson Khaleda
Zia and other party leaders.
Moudud, a BNP standing
committee member, urged
the government to stop the
suppression and repression
on students. "You won't be
DHAKA : Amid the growing
student movement over
a nine-point demand,
Dhaka Metropolitan Police
(DMP) Commissioner
Asaduzzaman Mia on
Saturday announced to
observe Traffic Week across
the country from Sunday,
reports UNB.
"To reinforce discipline on
roads and highways, we'll
observe the Traffic Week
across the country from
Monday," he said while
addressing a press briefing
at the DMP Media Centre.
During the Traffic Week,
the DMP chief said, legal
steps will be taken against
unfit vehicles, drivers without
licences and violation of
traffic rules.
"Generally, we take the
help of scouts and girls
guides during the Traffic
Week. If the protesting students
want, they can assist
us in managing traffic during
the week," he said.
Mentioning that they
morally support the student
protests over the death of
able to suppress the student
movement with repressive
measures."
He condemned the government's
'plot to resist students'
by a heinous transport
strike programme.
The BNP leader said people
are going through serious
sufferings due to the
transport strike enforced by
a minister-backed organisation.
"The government is
responsible for it."
He also criticised the government
for what he said letting
loose Chhatra League
and police to attack the students
as it did in the past to
suppress those waged the
movement demanding
reform in quota system.
The BNP leader thinks the
student movements are the
manifestation of people's
pent-up anger against the
government. "No student
and the country's people
have any confidence in the
regime."
Moudud blamed the shipping
and road transport and
bridges ministers for anarchy
in the transport sector
and the bad shape of roads.
He also demanded the resignation
of the two ministers.
Traffic Week from Sunday,
announces DMP
two of their fellows,
Asaduzzaman said infiltrators
entered the protesters
to divert the movement into
a different direction. "So,
we're concerned about students'
security," he said.
Citing reports of different
intelligence agencies, social
media and other sources, he
said some infiltrators were
trying to create anarchy and
unleash violence during the
movement.
Students of different
schools and colleges took to
the streets for the 7th consecutive
day on Saturday to
press for their nine-point
demand, including ensuring
safety in roads and justice
for the two students who
were killed in a road accident
in the capital, and resignation
of Shipping
Minister Shajahan Khan.
They were seen managing
traffic in almost all the areas
of the capital. They also created
separate lanes for different
modes of vehicles and
forced the drivers to follow
the lanes.
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