16-09-2018

sunDaY 

Dhaka:September 16, 2018; ashwin 1, 1425 BS; Muharram 6,1440 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.229; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

international 

Military chopper 

catches fire in 

Afghanistan, killing 4 

>Page 7 

art & culture 

'Saamy Square' to hit 

the screens on 

September 21 

>Page 8 

sport 

Moeen Ali accuses Australian 

player called him 'osama' 

during Ashes series 

>Page 9 

Section 57 to go 

with passing of 

Digital Security 

Bill: Jabbar 

DHAKA : Posts, Telecommunications and 

Information Technology Minister 

Mustafa Jabbar on Saturday said section 

57 of the Information Communication 

and Technology (ICT) would no longer be 

there with the passing of the Digital 

Security Bill by parliament, reports UNB. 

Inaugurating a national debate programme 

organised by Debate for 

Democracy at Film Development 

Corporation (FDC) in the city, the minister 

said section 57 would be abolished but the 

proceedings of the running cases filed 

under it will continue. 

"In section 32 of the new law, the word 

'spying' won't exist. The proposed law 

aims to prevent digital crimes, not to curb 

freedom of speech. After the passing of the 

bill, some other relevant acts might need 

amendments," he said. 

"The proposed law won't be a barrier to 

reporting on corruption but violation of 

official secrecy will be a punishable 

offence. To reduce digital crimes, we need 

to create public awareness," he said. 

The target of the proposed digital security 

law is not to control social media but 

control digital crimes. Digital security 

should be ensured by using technology, he 

added. Jabbar said those who spread 

rumors during the safe road movement 

were brought to justice with the help of 

technology. 

He thanked the law enforcement agencies 

as they had been able to bring the 

rumor spreaders under trial by identifying 

IP addresses and mobile tracking. 

'Greater nat’l 

unity' launched 

TBT RepoRT 

Dr Badruddoza Chowdhury-led Jukta 

Front and Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya 

Oikya Prokriya on Saturday formally 

announced the journey of a 'greater 

national unity' to ensure 'functional 

democracy' in the country through holding 

a credible national election. 

Jatiya Oikya Prokriya convener and 

Gano Forum president Dr Kamal 

Hossain came up with the announcement 

at a press conference at the 

Jatiya Press Club. 

"We the Jukta Front and Jatiya 

Oikya Prokriya are announcing a joint 

declaration of a greater national unity 

which will unite the people of all walks 

of life. We'll create the unity at every 

locality, every village and every house, 

so that people can get back the ownership 

of their country," he said. 

Dr Kamal further said, "The greater 

national unity begins from Saturday. I 

hope our unity will yield a very positive 

outcome with support from people, 

and a functional democracy will be 

restored in the country." 

Jukta Front chairman Badruddoza 

Chowdhury could not be present at 

the programme as he fell sick on the 

way to the Press Club. 

However, Jukta Front member secretary 

and Nagorik Oikya convener 

Mahmudur Rahman Manna, on 

behalf of the two platforms, read out 

the joint declaration of the national 

unity a with a 5-point demand and 

nine targets, including installing an 

election-time neutral government for 

holding the next general election in a 

fair and credible manner. 

Zohr 

04:30 AM 

12:10 AM 

04:20 PM 

06:06 PM 

07:22 PM 

5:44 6:03 

Hasina looks at next 

generation, BNp at 

election: Quader 

UN for greater leadership 

to implement paris 

climate deal 

DHAKA : UN Secretary-General Antonio 

Guterres has called for greater leadership 

to implement the Paris Agreement 

on climate change and address a shared 

vulnerability, reports UNB. 

"I call for that same spirit of common 

cause and, especially, greater leadership 

as we strive to implement the Paris 

Agreement on climate change and 

mobilise the ambitious climate action we 

so urgently need at this time," he said. 

The UN chief made the call in a message 

on the International Day for the 

Preservation of the Ozone Layer that falls 

on September 16. 

Guterres said this has been a year of 

record-breaking heat around the world 

and it is also a pivotal time for climate 

action. 

"As we address this threat, we can 

draw inspiration from the Montreal 

Protocol, a shining example of how the 

world can come together for people and 

planet," he said. 

The UN chief said when science 

showed that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 

and other substances were tearing a hole 

in the ozone layer that protects all life on 

DHAKA : Awami League General 

Secretary Obaidul Quaderon 

Saturdayopined that BNP does not 

understand anything but power and 

such political parties are 'disaster' 

for Bangladesh, reports UNB. 

"Sheikh Hasina's target is the next 

generation while BNP's target is the 

next election. They (BNP) don't 

understand anything except power", 

Quader said. 

Obaidul Quader, also Road 

Transport and Bridges Minister, 

came up with the observation while 

speaking at inaugural programme of 

Bangladesh Awami League's 

Science and Technology Sub- 

Committee website at the Institute 

of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB). 

Mentioning the recent quota 

movement and safe road protest the 

Minister said "Though common 

people of Bangladesh didn't 

respond to any movement, some 

parties and media spread rumours 

to stir up the protests to different 

directions and confuse public". 

Today's initiative (website inauguration) 

is an effort to stand against 

such propaganda, he also said. 

Emphasising on raising consciousness 

about using social 

media, Quader said "Cyber- attack 

is more harmful than terrorist 

attack. 

Facebook has both negative and 

positive sides. We have to be more 

sensible using social media." 

Quader accused BNP of disparaging 

the country and complaining 

before the United Nations after losing 

public trust. 

"If you have any complaint then 

share it with public, how can a party 

have such narrow mentality? Is our 

country like Syria or Sudan that we 

have to go to United Nations?" he 

asked. 

Chairman of Bangladesh Awami 

League's Science and Technology 

Sub-Committee, Md Abdus Sobur, 

IEB President Md Abdus Sobur, 

member of Bangladesh Awami 

League's Science and Technology 

Sub-Committee Taizul Islam MP 

also spoke on the occasion. 

earth, the world responded with determination 

and foresight by banning them. 

"Thanks to this global commitment, the 

ozone layer is expected to return to its 

1980 levels by mid-century." 

"However, this work is not yet done. 

The landmark Kigali Amendment, which 

enters into force on 1 January 2019, sets 

its sights on hydro fluorocarbons 

(HFCs), powerful climate-warming 

gases still used in cooling systems," 

Guterres said. 

So far, 46 countries have ratified this 

new instrument and the UN chief called 

on all others to follow suit and show their 

commitment to a healthier planet. 

"I expect countries to demonstrate significant 

progress in implementing the 

Kigali Amendment at the Climate 

Summit I'm convening in September 

2019," he said. 

For over three decades, Guterres said, 

the Montreal Protocol has done much 

more than shrink the ozone hole; it has 

shown the world how environmental 

governance can respond to science, and 

how countries can come together to 

address a shared vulnerability. 

Dr Badruddoza Chowdhury-led Jukta Front and Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya oikya prokriya on 

Saturday formally announced a 'greater national unity. 

photo: Star Mail 

After losing control, a Micro bus fell in Hatirjheel lake beside police plaza in the capital. 

Microbus falls into 

Hatirjheel lake 

DHAKA : A microbus plunged into 

Hatirjheel lake in the capital on Saturday 

morning. 

Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters 

sources said the microbus fell 

into the lake breaking the railing of a 

bridge around 10 am, reports UNB. 

However, no casualties were reported. 

The driver managed to come out of the 

vehicle. On information, two fire-fighting 

units rushed to the spot and pulled the 

vehicle out of the lake around 12pm. 

Mystery behind Monir 

killing revealed : police 

DHAKA : Moniruzzaman Monir, whose 

body was recovered by Badda police from 

Satarkol area on September 8, was murdered 

over an extra-marital affair between 

his wife Kajal Rekha and his younger 

brother Azmal Hoque Minto, police said, 

reports UNB 

Mystery behind the killing was unearthed 

during an investigation after Kajal Rekha gave 

her confessional statement before a Dhaka 

Metropolitan Magistrate court recently, said 

Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Gulshan 

Division SM Mostak Ahmed while briefing 

reporters at his Gulshan office on Saturday. 

Badda police recovered Monir's body 

with stabbed marks in his belly and neck 

from a playground in Hindupara besides 

the United International University at 

Satarkol around 7:45 am on September 8. 

Azmal Hoque Minto, the younger 

brother of the victim, filed a case with the 

police station accusing unnamed people 

on the same day. 

During investigation, it was found that 

victim's wife has been maintaining an 

extra-marital relation with her husband's 

younger brother Minto for last eight to 

nine years. Later, they had planned to kill 

Monir as they wanted to remove the main 

obstacle for getting themselves married, 

said the DC (Gulshan). 

BNp getting ready to 

unveil 'supportive-govt' 

formula 

DHAKA : BNP is getting ready to unveil 

its long-awaited election-time 'supportive-government 

framework' in line with 

the thoughts of other opposition parties 

involved with the process of forging a 

'national unity' to hold the next polls in a 

credible manner, reports UNB. 

Talking to UNB, party senior leaders 

said they have almost completed the 

work on making the election-time government 

outline, and now they are taking 

the suggestions of other parties like 

Gono Forum, Bikolpo Dhara 

Bangladesh, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal 

(JSD-Rob), Nagorik Oikya and the left 

ones so that they can place a similar 

framework on it once a greater national 

unity is forged. 

They also said the election-time government 

framework can be placed either 

by the greater unity platform or by BNP 

before the last session of the current parliament 

begins in October. 

The BNP senior leaders said the 

United Nations and some influential 

countries may take initiatives so that 

political parties here can reach an understating 

over holding a credible and inclusive 

election, and some representatives 

from the UN and other international 

bodies may visit Bangladesh in mid- 

October or early November. 

Under the circumstances, they said, it 

is very crucial for their party to come up 

with a comprehensive outline on the 

election-time government. 

A BNP standing committee member 

wishing anonymity said their party 

strategists had submitted a draft of the 

election-time government outline 

before Khaleda Zia went to jail. "We're 

now working on it and will finalise it 

after taking suggestions from other 

parties." 

As per the draft outline, he said, the 

tenure of the electiontime 

government will 

be three months and 

it can be formed 

either amending the 

Constitution or not 

photo: Star Mail 

amending the 

Charter. 

The BNP leader 

said their party strategists 

suggested various 

formulas on the 

formation of the supportive 

government. 

"But our party senior 

leaders are in favour 

of a polls-time government 

like that of 

1991 based on a consensus 

of all political 

parties. 

We may also give a 

proposal of forming 

an all-party 10-member 

cabinet-five from 

the existing MPs and 

five technocrat members 

from different 

registered partiesheaded 

by the President sending the 

Prime Minister on leave." 

He said their strategists also recommended 

formation of the election-time 

government comprising former caretaker 

advisers and non-political accepted 

persons on the basis of consensus 

among political parties. 

"There's also a proposal of forming the 

polls-time government under Sheikh 

Hasina through curbing her executive 

power and giving the charges of important 

ministries to technocrat cabinet 

members. We'll finalise the framework 

after discussions with other opposition 

parties," he said. 

Contacted, BNP standing committee 

member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain 

said they are working on the framework. 

"We're in discussions with other political 

parties to forge a national unity. Most of 

the parties don't want to join the next 

polls under the current government. So, 

we're trying to formulate a comprehensive 

polls-time government outline so 

that all parties support it." 

He also said the framework will be 

presented before people at a suitable 

time once they reach an understanding 

with other parties to forge a national 

unity. 

Another party standing committee 

member, Moudud Ahmed, said though 

the government is talking about the formation 

of a polls-time small cabinet, 

there is no provision in the current 

Constitution for it. 

He said the current government 

annulled the provision of the electiontime 

interim government through the 

15th amendment to the Constitution. 

The BNP leader said they are preparing 

for placing a framework on the election-time 

government with giving different 

acceptable and pragmatic options.

NEWS 

SUNDAY, 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 

2 

Bangladesh photo journalist association general secretary Kajol Hazra and others members of the 

association greeted editor of Bangladesher Khabor Islam Bhuiyan with flowers in observance of the 

newspapers third anniversary recently. 

Photo : TBT 

4 firearms 

recovered in 

Sundarbans 

BAGERHAT : Members of 

Coast Guard recovered 

four firearms from the 

Sundarbans in Mrigmari 

area of Monga upazila on 

Friday night, reports UNB. 

Being tipped off that a 

gang of forest robbers was 

staying in the area, a team 

of Coast Guard conducted 

a drive in the area around 

8pm. 

Sensing the presence of 

the coast guard members, 

the forest robbers fled the 

scene. 

Later, the team recovered 

the firearms. 

The arms were handed 

over to Mongla thana 

police. 

Elderly man 

killed in 

Sunamganj 

road crash 

SUNAMGANJ : An elderly 

man died after being run 

over by a speeding truck 

while crossing Surma 

bridge in Mallikpur area in 

the district town on Saturday. 

The deceased was identified 

as Faijur Rahman, 65, 

hailing from Kutubpur village 

in the municipality. 

The accident took place 

when a Biswambarpurbound 

truck hit Faijur 

while crossing the bridge 

around 10:30 am, leaving 

him dead on the spot, 

according to witnesses. 

Police managed to 

detain the driver and the 

helper of the killer truck 

and sent the body to 

Sunamganj Sadar Hospital, 

said Md Shahidulla, 

officer-in-charge of 

Sunamganj Sadar Model 

Police Station. 

PM to inaugurate 2nd 

Teesta Road Bridge today 

LALMONIRHAT : Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina is set to formally inaugurate the 

second Teesta Road Bridge constructed on 

the Teesta at the juncture of Rangpur and 

Lalmonirhat through a videoconferencing 

from Ganabhaban today. 

A wave of cheerfulness caught the people 

in adjoining six upazilas of Rangpur and 

Lalmonirhat districts giving a festive look 

before the videoconferencing to be held on 

Lalmonirhat end of the bridge at 11.30 am. 

Rangpur and Lalmonirhat district 

administrations, Local Government and 

Engineering Department (LGED) and law 

enforcement agencies have completed 

preparations to arrange videoconferencing 

of the Prime Minister. 

Deputy Commissioners Enamul Habib of 

Rangpur and Mohammad Shafiul Arif of 

Lalmonirhat told reporters that preparations 

were completed for the videoconferencing to 

be held on north side of the bridge under 

Kaliganj upazila. 

Public representatives, government 

officials, political leaders, civil society 

members and elite of both districts will 

attend the videoconferencing at Lalmonirhat 

end. 

Kaliganj Upazila Engineer of LGED Parvez 

Newaz Khan said the LGED has constructed 

the pre-stressed concrete girder bridge at 

around Taka 123-crore after Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina inaugurated its construction 

works on April 12 in 2012. 

"Commissioning of the bridge will improve 

communication networks paving the way to 

accelerate economic progress in the region 

side by side with promoting international 

trade through the Burimari Land Port 

(BLP)," he said. 

The 850-metre long bridge with 9.60- 

metre width, including footpaths in both 

sides, has been constructed on 16 pillars with 

17 spans on 85 girders and two apartment 

walls on the river Teesta at the juncture of 

Rangpur and Lalmonirhat districts. 

"The Prime Minister will formally 

inaugurate the bridge tomorrow to fulfill 

another long-cherished demand of over 18- 

lakh people of adjoining six upazilas of 

Rangpur and Lalmonirhat," Khan added. 

Additional Deputy Commissioner 

(General) of Rangpur Rabiul Islam said 

commissioning of the second Teesta Road 

Bridge would contribute to speed up 

progress for bringing socio-economic 

benefits to the common people. 

"The bridge will open a new door to 

development improving communication 

system to expand regional and international 

trade and promote agriculture and other 

sectors to change socio-economic conditions 

of the people," he said. 

Talking to BSS in each side of the bridge, 

local people Shamsul Haque, Armina Begum 

and Abdul Mannan said the bridge would 

establish direct communication with 

divisional city of Rangpur, capital city Dhaka 

and other parts of the country. 

"The Teesta was the main obstacle so far 

for the people of six upazilas for direct road 

communication between Lalmonirhat and 

Rangpur districts," said housewife Kobiza 

Khatun of adjoining Mohipur village. 

Kaliganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rabiul 

Hassan said the bridge would reduce 60-km 

distance between Dhaka and Rangpur with 

BLP to pave the way for increasing 

international trade among Bangladesh, 

Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN). 

President of Rangpur Chamber Mostafa 

Sohrab Chowdhury Titu said commissioning 

of the bridge would ease shipping of exportimport 

goods and encourage joint 

investments in the region to enhance 

international trade among the BBIN nations 

through the BLP. 

Murder case filed over recovery 

of three bullet-hit bodies 

NARAYANGANJ : A murder case has been 

filed in connection with Friday's recovery of 

bullet-hit bodies of three friends from 300 

Feet area of Purbachal, reports UNB. 

Sub-inspector Shafi Uddin of Rupganj 

Police Station filed the case against unidentified 

people on Saturday morning, said officer-in-charge 

Maniruzzaman. 

Three friends Shimul Azad, 32, son of 

Abdul Mannan, Nur Hossain, son of Abdul 

Wahad and Sohag, 35, son of late Shahidullah, 

hailing from Jhenidah and Munshiganj 

districts, used to live in Mughda and 

Mohakhali, went missing around 1am on 

Wednesday when they were returning from 

the house of Shimul in Kaliganj upazila of 

Jhenidah district. 

When family members contacted Saidabad 

bus terminal, supervisor of the bus said 

plainclothes police picked the trio up from 

the bus. Hearing the news of body recovery 

on Friday morning, the victims' family members 

went to the police station and identified 

the bodies. 

Shimul is Nur's brother-in-law. Shimul, 

Nur and Shohag were very close friends and 

they ran a jhut and satellite cable business, 

said Shimul's mother Chaina Begum. 

Poribartan Chai organized a clean program in Gaibandha yesterday marking Clean Our Country 

Day. 

Photo : Gaibandha Correspondent 

Beaten for 

theft, Rajshahi 

youth 'commits 

suicide' 

RAJSHAHI : A young man 

allegedly committed suicide 

by swallowing poison after 

locals beat him on suspicion 

of theft at Paschim 

Budhpara area in the city 

early Friday, reports UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified asRashelHossain, 

24, son of Abdur Rashid of 

the same area. 

Family and local sources 

saidRashelwas nabbed by 

the family members of 

neighbouring Abul Kalam 

asRashelafter entering their 

house without taking their 

permission around 11 pm on 

Friday. 

Later, locals gaveRashela 

good beating on charges of 

theft attempt and handed 

him over to his family 

members. 

Later in the 

night,Rasheltook poison 

being shocked over the 

incident, they said. 

Rashelwas taken to 

Rajshahi Medical College 

Hospital (RMCH) where the 

duty doctors declared him 

dead around 2 am. 

However,Rashel'sfatherin-law 

Alamgir Hossain 

alleged that he was forcefully 

swallowed poison during the 

mass-beating that left him 

dead. 

Confirming the incident, 

officer-in-charge of Matihar 

Police Station Shahadat 

Hossain said the body was 

sent to the hospital's morgue 

for autopsy. 

30 BNP, Shibir 

men held in 

Chattogram 

CHATTOGRAM : Police in 

separate drives arrested 30 

activists of BNP and Islami 

Chhatra Shibir from different 

placesofthe port city, 

reports UNB. 

The drive was conducted 

from Friday night till Saturday 

morning. 

14 Shibir activists were 

arrested from Baklia area 

while 8 others of the same 

party from Dublmurring 

area, three Shibir and four 

BNP activists from Patenga 

area and one from Chakbazar 

area during separate 

drives, according to the officers-in-charge 

of respective 

police stations. 

Police also conducted a 

drive at Shibir's South Zone 

office around 11:30 pm but 

could not detain anyone 

from there, said Abul Kalam, 

officer-in-charge of Chakbazar 

Police Station. 

2 held with 

16,000 Yaba 

tablets in 

Cox's Bazar 

COX'S BAZAR : Members of 

Rapid Action Battalion 

(Rab) arrested two suspected 

drug traders along with 

16,000 Yaba tablets from 

Jaliapara area in Teknaf 

upazila on Friday night, 

reports UNB. 

The arrestees are Md 

Hashem, 38, son of Abdul 

Kader and Md Kamal Hossain, 

40, son of Altaj Miah, 

residents of the area. 

Tipped off, a team of Rab- 

7 raided the house of 

Hashem around 9 pm and 

arrested the duo along with 

Yaba tablets worth Tk 80 

lakh, said a Rab press 

release. 

Application form 

for admission to 

KU available online 

KHULNA :The application 

for admission to first-year 

Honours courses under the 

2018-19 academic session of 

Khulna University (KU) is 

now available online, reports 

UNB. 

The online application 

process will continue tillOctober 

15next, said a press 

releaseon Saturday. 

It said the admission test 

will be held onNovember 17. 

The admission-related 

detailed information are 

availableat the official website 

of the universitywww.ku.ac.bd. 

Madhumati River plays 

havoc in Bagerhat 

BAGERHAT : Erosion by the Madhumati 

River has taken a turn for the worse 

devouring lands and homesteads in 

Chitalmari upazila for the last couple of days, 

leaving many families homeless and 

landless, reports UNB. 

During a recent visit to the upazila, the 

UNB correspondent found part of Dhaka- 

Pirojpur road at Shoiladah village in the 

upazila eroded by the river, disrupting 

traffic. 

Several business establishments, dwelling 

houses and shops at Shoiladah village in the 

vicinity of the river have gone into its gorge 

over the last couple of days. 

Locals said three dwelling houses, five 

business establishments, shops, trees and 

croplands have disappeared in the river over 

the last few days. 

They fear that hundreds of houses, one 

bazaar and educational institutions will go 

into the gorge of the river anytime if the 

riverbank erosion continues and the 

authorities concerned do not take any 

initiative to check it. 

Shikder Matiar Rahman, chairman of 

Kalatala union, said thousands of houses in 

Shoiladah, Charkulia, Machandapur, 

Bakpur and Paranpur villages, 50 bighas of 

land, thousands of trees disappeared into the 

river over the last few years. 

He demanded that a sustainable 

embankment be constructed there on an 

emergency basis. 

Alamin Sheikh, a trader of Shoiladah 

Bazar, said he has lost his shop as the erosion 

has taken a serious turn in the last several 

days. 

Abdus Sobahan, a village doctor, said part 

of his dwelling house and chamber were 

eroded by the river on Tuesday last. 

SM Refat Jamil, the executive engineer of 

Water Development Board, Bagerhat, said a 

vast track of land in Shoiladah village along 

the river stands threatened by erosion. 

He said the higher authorities concerned 

have been informed through a fax message 

as 90 metres of Dhaka-Pirojpur road has 

gone into the river. 

Jamil said a project to build an 

embankment has been taken to check the 

erosion. 

Contacted, Deputy Commissioner of the 

district Tapan Kumar Biswas said necessary 

measures will be taken to check the river 

erosion in the area. 

Ahsania Institute of Sufism organized a seminar on education philosophy 

of Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah at Dhaka Ahsania Mission auditorium yesterday. 

Photo : Courtesy 

A press conference was held at National Press Club yesterday by family 

members of the persons who have been disappeared recently. Photo : TBT 

Rangpur region 

farmers happy with 

excellent jute price 

RANGPUR: Farmers 

under five districts of 

Rangpur agriculture 

region are happy with an 

excellent market price of 

the newly harvested jute 

amid achieving a better 

production of the crop in 

the current season, reports 

BSS. 

Officials of the 

Department of Agriculture 

Extension (DAE) said the 

farmers produced over 

5.83 lakh bales of jute in 

all five districts of 

Rangpur, Kurigram, 

Gaibandha, Nilphamari 

and Lalmonirhat of the 

region this season. 

Currently, the farmers 

are selling their newly 

produced jute fibre at rates 

between Taka 1,500 and 

2,250 per mound (every 

40 kilogram) depending 

on the varieties and 

quality of the fibre. 

Horticulture specialist of 

DAE at its regional office 

Khondker Md Mesbahul 

Islam said a target of 

producing over 6.83-lakh 

bales of jute from 61,625 

hectares of land was fixed 

for the region this year. 

The fixed target included 

production of 6.33-lakh 

bales of 'Tosha' variety of 

jute fibre from 56,300 

hectares of land, 49,191 

bales of 'Deshi' variety 

fibre from 5,295 hectares 

and 253 bales of 'Mechta' 

variety of jute fibre from 

30 hectares of land. 

However, the farmers 

had cultivated jute on 

49,657 hectares of land, 

less by 11,968 hectares 

than the fixed farming 

target. 

"Of the target, the 

farmers had cultivated 

'Tosha' variety of jute on 

45,881 hectares, 'Deshi' 

variety on 3,361 hectares 

and 'Mechta' variety on 

415 hectares in the 

region," Islam said. 

He identified inadequacy 

of quality jute seed, 

excessive rainfalls during 

seed sowing period, 

cultivation of Aus rice on 

more lands as reasons 

behind shortfall in 

achieving the fixed 

farming target. 

"The farmers produced 

31,336 bales of 'Deshi' 

variety jute with yield rate 

of 9.32 bales per hectare, 

over 5.48 lakh bales of jute 

with 11.96 bales per 

hectare and 3,316 bales of 

'Mechta' variety jute with 

7.99 bales per hectare this 

season," Mesbahul added. 

Deputy director of the 

DAE at its regional office 

Md Moniruzzaman said 

necessary assistance and 

training were provided to 

the farmers for easily 

separating and rotting of 

jute fibre adopting latest 

technologies to ensure 

better quality of the fibre. 

"Adequate supply of 

quality jute seed and 

popularisation of latest 

farming technologies 

could further increase 

production and export of 

jute as demand of the ecofriendly 

fibre is increasing 

all over the globe as a 

substitute to the synthetic 

fibre," he said. 

"Cultivation of jute got a 

newer dimension after the 

present government 

declared jute as the 

national agricultural 

product and made use of 

jute sacs mandatory in 

various sectors," 

Moniruzzaman added. 

Talking to BSS at 

different jute markets in 

the district on Friday, 

farmers Aminul Islam, 

Barkat Ullah and Abdul 

Kaiyum expressed 

satisfaction over selling 

their 'Tosha' variety jute 

fibre at rates between taka 

2,100 and 2,250 per 

mound.

METRO 

SUNdAY, SePTeMBeR 16, 2018 

3 

100pc electricity can 

come from solar power 

by 2050: Seminar 

DHAKA : Experts at a seminar here on 

Saturdaysaid the country could generate 100 

percent of its electricity from renewable 

energy in 2050 if steps are taken to achieve 

the target, reports UNB. 

"Scarcity of land is no longer a problem for 

solar energy as technologies are improving 

and different forms of new systems like 

floating solar and rooftop solar are coming 

up with more efficiency," said Munawar 

Moin, president of Solar Module 

Manufacturers' Association of Bangladesh 

(SMMAB). 

Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh 

(FERB) and SMMAB jointly organised the 

seminar titled 'Net Metering: Opportunities 

and Challenges'at the Jatiya Press Club. 

Held with FERB chairman Arun Karmaker 

in the chair, the seminar was addressed, 

among others, by Prime Minister's Energy 

Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, 

Power Cell director general Mohammad 

Hossain, executive director of Northern 

Electricity Supply Company Limited (Nesco) 

AHM Kamal, SMMAB senior vice president 

Masudur Rahim, FERB executive director 

Sadrul Hasan and vice chairman Azizur 

Rahman. 

Assistant professor of United International 

University Shakila Aziz made the keynote 

presentation titled 'Business Case of 

Opportunities and Challenges for Rooftop 

Solar Scale-up'. 

Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said the 

government has introduced the net metering 

policy to promote the renewable energy, 

especially the solar power, across the 

country. 

He said the mandatory solar system for 

obtaining power connections might fail but 

the current initiative for solar power 

promotion through net metering will not 

nosedive as there is a good opportunity for 

consumers to sell their additional solar 

electricity to the government through net 

metering system. 

He mentioned the government is trying to 

utilise all kinds of potentials to increase solar 

power generation. 

He said some 100 MW of electricity could 

be easily generated through using the 

abundant spaces in the country's 

airports."Already, solar power is being 

generated by using such spaces in New Delhi 

and Kolkata airports in India," he added. 

Munawar Moin said many countries has 

already increased the share of solar power up 

to 25 percent of the total electricity 

generation as they pututmostemphasis on 

clean energy generation. 

He said 100 percent power generation 

from clean energy was targeted in the 

sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the 

United Nations. 

The Power Cell director general said it will 

be a great achievement if the country could 

generate 50 percent of the total electricity 

from the renewable energy by 2050. 

He said now the ball in the court of private 

entrepreneurs in the renewable energy 

sector to utilise the net metering system to 

develop the solar power and make it popular, 

useful and profitable. 

In her keynote presentation, Shakila Aziz 

discussed three options of financing for solar 

power generation. 

US-Bangla to 

add 2 Boeing 

737-800 to 

its fleet in 

November 

DHAKA : US-Bangla 

Airlines is set to add two 

new Boeing 737-800 

aircrafts to their fleet by 

November, according to a 

press release issued on 

Saturday, reports UNB. 

The new aircrafts will be 

able to accommodate 167 

passengers each, with 8 in 

business class and 159 in 

economy class. 

Currently they have four 

164-seater Boeing 737-800 

and three 76-seater Dash 

8-Q400 aircrafts in their 

existing fleet. 

The fifth and sixth 

Boeing aircrafts will 

gradually be integrated 

into their fleet by the first 

and third week of 

November respectively. 

They also have plans to 

extend their number of 

flights accordingly. 

Internationally, US- 

Bangla Airlines operates to 

Kolkata, Muscat, Doha, 

Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, 

Bangkok and Guangzhou 

from Dhaka and to Muscat, 

Doha and Kolkata from 

Chittagong. 

In the domestic region, it 

is operating from Dhaka to 

Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, 

Jessore, Saidpur, Sylhet, 

Barisal and Rajshahi 

routes. 

Bangladesh Youth Forum organized a discussion meeting at National Press Club yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

Right body demands 

passengers' 

representation in 

proposed transport 

law 

DHAKA : Bangladesh Jatri 

Kalyan Samityon Saturday 

demanded representation 

of passengers in the proposed 

road transport law, 

reports UNB. 

In a press release, the 

organisation said the bill 

already placed in Parliament 

would only benefit 

the transport workers and 

owners, if no representatives 

from the commuters 

are kept in the proposed 

law titled 'Road Transport 

Bill 2018'. 

Samity's secretary general, 

Md Mozammel Haque 

also sought the intervention 

of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina to ensure 

the representation of passengers 

in the proposed 

law. 

He said transport owners, 

workers and passengers 

are the main stakeholders 

of the road and 

transport sector. 

"The commuters will be 

deprived if there remain no 

representatives from them 

despite the fact that there 

are strong, registered passengers' 

organisations in 

the country", he said. 

Currently public transport 

users of the country 

are under the grip of owners 

and workers as there 

are no representatives 

from commuters in the 

previous transport act, he 

added. 

He sought PM's intervention 

into the matter for 

smooth transport operation, 

fare fixing, forming of 

transport committees, 

road safety committee, 

trust board for road crash 

compensations and keeping 

commuters' representatives 

in the proposed law. 

Stranded Pakistanis 

are Bangladeshi 

citizens now: Nanok 

RANGPUR : Joint General Secretary of Bangladesh Awami 

League (AL) Jahangir Kabir Nanok, MP, yesterday 

said Bangladesh has given citizenship to the stranded 

Pakistani people. 

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given voting rights 

to the stranded Pakistanis in our country and she is 

working for their wellbeing," Nanok said this while 

addressing as chief guest at a memorial discussion held 

at Zila Parishad Community Centre here in observance of 

the 13th death anniversary of Stranded Pakistani General 

Repatriation Committee (SPGRC) leader Alhaj Nasim 

Khan. 

Presided over by President of SPGRC Abdul Jabbar 

Khan, son of founder of the organisation Nasim Khan 

and Councilor of Ward No-27 Councilor of Rangpur city 

Harun Ar Rashid delivered welcome speech in the discussion. 

Nanok said the SPGRC leader and its Chief Patron 

Alhaj Nasim Khan was a very close person to Father of 

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 

"Nasim Khan loved Bangladesh. That's why, he stayed 

in Bangladesh," he said adding that Harun Ar Rashid 

could become a Councilor of Rangpur City Corporation 

as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave the stranded Pakistanis 

voting rights. 

Earlier, after arriving here, Nanok placed wreaths at 

the grave of Nasim Khan, offered Fateha and munajats 

there seeking divine blessings for the departed soul of 

the SPGRC leader, exchanged views with the stranded 

Pakistanis and visited their Ispahani camp in the city. 

President of Rangpur city unit of AL Shafiur Rahman 

Shafi, its general secretary Tushar Kanti Mandal, Councilor 

of Ward No-32 of Dhaka North City Corporation 

Habibur Rahman Mizan addressed the occasion, as special 

guests. 

Later, Nanok visited the office of Rangpur city unit of 

AL in Betpotti area of the city and exchanged views with 

leaders of the district and city units of AL and its associate 

bodies. 

President of city AL Shafiur Rahman Shafi, its general 

secretary Tushar Kanti Mandal Treasurer of district AL 

Abul Kashem, its Agriculture Affairs Secretary Jahangir 

Alam Bakshi, Publicity Secretary Rosy Rahman, President 

of district Swechchasebak League Sirajul Islam Pramanik, 

Sadar Upazila Chairman Nasima Zaman Boby, 

General Secretary of District Mohila AL Advocate Zakia 

Sultana Choite, President of district Chhatra League 

Mehedee Hasan Rony, among others, were present. 

Meeting of JS 

body on ministry 

of road transport 

and bridges held 

DHAKA : The 32th meeting 

of the parliamentary standing 

committee on the Ministry 

of Road Transport and 

Bridges was held at the 

Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Bhaban 

in the city yesterday. 

Presided over by Committee 

Chairman M. Ekabbar 

Hossain, the meeting was 

attended by its members 

Road Transport and Bridges 

Minister Obaidul Quader, 

AKM Awal, Rezwan Ahmed 

Toufiq, Faizur Rahman and 

Lutfun Nesa, an official 

release said. 

The meeting held discussions 

on 'Road Transport 

Bill, 2018' and recommended 

placing of a final report 

before parliament with 

some corrections. 

Senior officials concerned 

were present at the meeting. 

Housewife 

found dead 

in Savar 

SAVAR : Police recovered 

the body of a houseiwfe from 

a house in Khaguria area of 

Bhakurta union here on Saturday 

morning, reports 

UNB. 

The deceased was identified 

as Salma Akhter, 17. 

Sujon Biswas, sub-inspector 

of a police outpost in the 

union, said family members 

found the body in her room 

in the morning and 

informed police. 

Later, police recovered the 

body. 

Victim's husband went 

into hiding after the incident. 

It could be said after investigation 

whether the incident 

was a murder or a suicide, 

said the SI. 

A seminar titled Net Metering : Opportunities & Challenge' was held at National Press Club yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

'Arms trader' 

held with 

firearms in 

C'nawabganj 

CHAPAINAWABGANJ : 

Members of Rapid Action 

Battalion (Rab) in a drive 

arrested a suspected drug 

trader along with arms 

from Balutungi area in 

Bholahat upazila on Friday 

night, reports UNB. 

The arrestee is Shahadat 

Hossain, 20, son of 

Monirul Islam, a resident 

of Jhaubon area in the 

upazila. 

A press release of Rab-5, 

said that team of Rab-5 

conducted the drive in the 

area around 8pm and 

arrested Shahadat along 

with a pistol, one round of 

bullet and a magazine. 

Online 

registration 

for IU entry 

test begins 

ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY : 

The online application 

process for admission into 

the first year honours 

courses under 2018-19 

session of Islamic 

University (IU) in Kushtia 

began on Saturday, 

reports UNB. 

The process will 

continue tillOctober 10, 

said IU acting Registrar 

SM Abdul Latif. 

The admission seekers 

will be able to register 

themselves paying the 

application fees through 

Dutch-Bangla mobile 

banking (Rocket). 

An applicant will have to 

pay Tk 500 for 'A'unit, Tk 

1500 for 'B' unit, Tk 800 

for 'C' unit and Tk 1,300 

for 'D' unit, the registrar 

said. 

The admission tests of 

20 marks written and 60 

marks MCQ will begin 

from November 4 and will 

continue till September 7, 

he added. 

Details information 

regarding the application 

procedure is available on 

the university website 

atwww.iu.ac.bd. 

Families plead for whereabouts 

five missing youths 

DHAKA : Family members of five missing 

youths have demanded to know the 

whereabouts of their children, who have 

been remained tracelesssince September 12 

after picked up byplainclothesmen from 

Airport and Jatrabari areas, reports UNB. 

"If they break any law of the land, produce 

them before the court to bring them under 

the justice," pleaded Ramisa Khanam, 

mother of Shafiul Alam and Monirul Alam, 

at a press conference at Crime Reporters 

Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) in the 

city's Segun Bagichaon Saturday. 

Shafiul is a lawyer at Dhaka Bar and 

Monirul a private service holder. 

She said she reached Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airport on September 12 

evening after performing hajj. Her two sons 

- Shafiul Alam and Monirul Alam and one of 

her younger son's friends Abul Hayat went 

to the airport to receive her. Hayat is a 

private service holder. 

When they were about to leave the airport 

boarding on a micro bus for their village 

home in Tangail at around8:30 pm, a group 

plainclothesmen pulled out Shafiul, Monirul 

and Hayat from the microbus introducing 

them as Detective Branch (DB) police 

showing ID cards and firearms, claimed 

DHAKA : Education Minister Nurul Islam 

Nahid yesterday laid emphasis on expansion 

of technical education to develop skilled 

human resources in the country, reports 

BSS. 

"Effective plans should be taken to 

promote technical education to achieve the 

targets of Sustainable Development Goals 

(SDGs) by 2030," he told a seminar on 

"Thoughts of Bangabandhu on education: 

trend of Implementation" at the Jatiya Press 

Club here, an official release said. 

Sub-committee of Bangladesh Awami 

League on education and human resource 

organized the seminar. 

Vice Chancellor of Jagannath University 

Dr Mizanur Rahman, Pro-Vice Chancellor 

(Education) of Dhaka University (DU) Dr 

Nasrin Ahmed and Pro-Vice Chancellor 

(administration) Dr Muhammad Samad, 

among others, addressed the seminar with 

AL Sub-committee on education and human 

resource Prof Dr Abdul Khaleq in the chair. 

Nahid said, "We have attached top priority 

to expansion of technical and 

vocational education to ensure better 

access of students to job markets," 

Ramisa adding that the sleuths left the place 

taking away the trio by a micro bus. 

The plainclothesmen also went to 

Mirhazirbagh mess of Jatrabari, where her 

two sons staying, along with Shafiul in the 

same night, and also picked up - Safiullah, 

and Mosharaf Hossain Maaz, two 

roommates of her son and left the place. 

Safiullah is a student of Dhaka College and 

Mosharaf Hossain Maaz is a class-IX 

student. 

"We have been trying to know about their 

whereabouts contacting various police 

stations and DB police but in vein as they 

(law enforcers) denied detaining them," 

Ramisa Khanam said. 

"We are deeply concerned as we are yet to 

get any information about their 

whereabouts. If our children are really 

involved in anycrime, then they should be 

brought under justice through producing 

them before court," she said. 

She also urged human rights 

organizations both at home and abroad 

including, National Human 

RightsCommission, to raise their voice so 

that their sons get legal support. 

Guardians of three other missing boys 

were also present at the press conference. 

Nahid for expansion of 

technical education to 

create skilled manpower 

Nahid said the government has set a target 

of 20 percent enrolment in technical 

education by 2020 aiming to transform 

Bangladesh into an economically developed 

country. 

"In 2009, there was only one percent 

student enrolment in the technical education 

while the current enrolment is 14 percent," 

he added. 

"We are promoting knowledge-based 

education to develop skilled human 

resources to turn Bangladesh into a middleincome 

country. Education without skills 

will create a burden for family as well as the 

nation," he said. 

"To maximize the benefit of using ICT in a 

classroom, we need a bunch of trained, 

motivated and technology-friendly teachers 

who will make the whole process effective 

and successful," the minister added. 

"The government has taken various ICT 

programmes to ensure quality of education. 

In a technology-based globalised world, 

quality education is crucial for any country. 

The government has realised the fact and 

executed its plans accordingly," Nahid 

added. 

Jananetri Sainik League, Central Committee demanded hang of Tarique Rahman centering 21st 

August grenade attack. 

Photo : TBT

EDITORIAL 

SUNDAy, 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Sunday, September 16, 2018 

Traffic mess : No 

easy solution 

E 

vents 

over the last one month must have proved 

resoundingly that there is just no magical or instant 

solution to the traffic mess. The problems are complex 

incapable of simplistic solutions that many had earlier fancied. 

For example, the agitation over accidental deaths led to many 

buses and other vehicles going off the roads in the face of police 

drive and students' vigilance. This in turn created a huge gap in 

the number of people not finding enough vehicles to meet their 

transportation needs. In varying degrees this problem is 

continuing. Many distressed travelers were heard saying that the 

days of messy traffic with unlicensed drivers and unregulated 

driving were much better with people finding enough vehicles of 

all types on the roads for their use. 

The number of vehicles in apparently unfit conditions or 

without requisite papers nonetheless met the basic 

transportation needs of the greatest number of people. Such a 

situation was considered comparatively a more preferable one 

than more regulated traffic but without adequate number of 

vehicles. A great many number of drivers without licenses were 

expected to go for the impossible task of getting licenses 

overnight from the already strained BRTC to cope with the 

demand. The drivers without papers, the owners of their 

vehicles, all had to keep their businesses closed that caused 

immense personal hardships in the monetary sense while road 

travelers were thrown into great peril from simply not finding 

enough vehicles to meet their transportation needs. 

On the other hand, handing over of the tasks of policemen to 

school children created unjustifiably sights of no governance in 

the country. It was like an invitation for the people to take up law 

in their own hands. 

Thus, the over one month long stirring of troubles over traffic 

movement that started with a bang has ended in a whimper. For 

even now, seemingly in the wake of sincere and continuous 

police drives, the march of accidental deaths is yet to slow down 

appreciably. People are starting to realize that a soberer and long 

drawn out approach to the mess is imperative and not sudden 

and fanciful ideas like letting loose children in the streets who 

should be in school with studies. For instance, analyses in the 

backdrop of the fiasco yielded information why drivers forced to 

cross their limits of endurance (sometimes non stop driving for 

seven or eight hours facing congested and damaged road 

surfaces) lose their cool and cause accidents from sheer fatigue. 

Then accidents are also caused in many cases by the sheer 

neglect of the people themselves. They will not use the zebra 

crossings or road bridges but run to cross the roads getting in the 

way of vehicles in speed. There are real reasons for people in 

general to go for right practices than blaming reckless driving, 

unfit vehicles, etc. There is indeed need for people to be less 

impulsive and to realize that there is just not one shot or simple 

solutions to the traffic situation. The same needs focused or 

dedicated addressing over a reasonable period of time and this 

time must be allowed to the authorities. 

But apart from the safety side, actions must start in right 

earnest to reduce the costs of traffic jams. A seminar was 

organized sometime ago jointly by the Metropolitan Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry and the Chartered Institute of Logistics 

and Transport (CILT). It gave vital information that traffic jams 

in Dhaka city take away people's 8.5 million working hours 

annually, 40 per cent of which are business hours. The 

estimation from the seminar was that direct losses caused to 

businesses annually from the jams is some Taka 200 billion. The 

statistics are authoritatively given afresh. But similar 

assessments were made a number of times in recent years from 

other forums and the tally of losses were not different from this 

latest one indicating and underlining the point that the huge 

problem has been hardly addressed. 

The seminar has gone only directly into losses arising from the 

jams. It has not calculated the higher price tags caused to people 

when they have to spend hours unnecessarily on the roads in 

sweltering heat from traffic jams that takes its toll on human 

health and productivity. Therefore, the costs of treating illnesses 

and loss of productivity from regularly suffering such conditions 

also need to be in the cost calculations of traffic jams. 

There are no shortages of writing about traffic jams in the city. 

The same range from recommendations of building elevated 

expressways, underground trains, circular waterways around 

the city and so on. Yet others seem to like to persuade with 

prescriptions like banning car sale--immediately-- to reduce 

congestion from too many vehicles congesting limited road 

spaces or launching a massive car hunt to find and take off the 

roads all kinds of old vehicles. 

But these torrents of thoughts on sorting out Dhaka's maddening 

traffic are only helping to distract attention from the main 

perpetrators of the jams : the traffic policemen who, instead of 

working to ease the jams, would be found doing just the opposite on 

proper examination. Thus, all should be giving a service in respect 

of bringing about some relief from the situation by speaking with a 

single voice and loudly enough to expose the failings of the traffic 

managers instead of adding more and more to a motley of high 

sounding, long time involving and costly ideas for getting rid of 

jams. Media persons and others speaking discordantly about the 

reasons for traffic jams are only helping to shield or put out of focus 

the traffic policemen who would be singularly found as most 

responsible on proper monitoring for keeping the awful jams alive, 

every day and every hour. 

One only has to look at how the traffic policemen are mocking, 

as if , the commuters all the time. Two years ago they declared 

their new rules that henceforth they would give up their hand 

signaling and start getting the services of automatic signaling 

lights for regulating the traffic specially at intersections. This 

order was coupled with further instructions that the roads would 

be divided into four lanes for the express movement of a 

particular type of vehicle in each of these demarcated paths. 

The moves were welcome since experiences proved that traffic 

policemen abused the system of hand signaling by holding up 

traffic for too long most of the time. The demarcation of paths for 

faster and slower moving vehicles such as between motor cars 

and rickshaws was also necessary to stop tangles from forming 

as the slower moving vehicles blocked the faster ones. 

But the traffic policemen are found to be the worst violators of 

the rules they declared with so much fanfare. Everywhere in the 

city they are found signaling with hands and nowhere they are 

found enforcing the rule that vehicles should move in their 

demarcated paths . It is a typical scene of traffic 

mismanagement to be seen everywhere in the city although the 

traffic managers maintain a pretension of applying the rules 

which they say are not paying dividends due to people's non 

cooperation. But even a fool can get this insight after some days 

of observation in different parts of the city that people on the 

whole are more than eager to cooperate. Why the regulations are 

not working can be so transparently traced to their enforcers 

hardly doing anything on a regular basis to make them work. 

Empowering the disabled through agriculture 

HIS hair might be grayer but after 

an absence of nearly two years, 

former US president Barack 

Obama's knack for captivating an 

audience is undiminished, and his 

oratory is as fresh as if he had never left 

the world stage. Some might argue that 

he is showing even more vigor. 

People with disabilities (PWDs), who 

constitute 10% of our total population, 

are the poorest and marginalized in our 

country. They and their family members 

who mainly live in rural areas are often 

deprived of getting benefit from 

development initiatives. 

In our country, little effort is put in to 

making all development programmes 

relevant to all stakeholders, including 

those with disabilities. 

Hence, disability inclusive 

development is essential to ensure that 

they can participate meaningfully in 

development processes and policies. 

In our agricultural industry, there are 

a lot of opportunities where the PWDs 

can grow and become successful 

business persons. Agriculture is a vital 

sector for many living in poverty, but it 

is one where the PWDs face some of the 

greatest prejudice and exclusion. 

It is assumed that the PWDs are 

incapable of doing agricultural works. 

The general perception held by many is 

that there has to be something easier, 

safer, and more profitable than farming 

or ranching has proven to be a 

significant hurdle for many farmers and 

ranchers. 

The rights activists said such negative 

perceptions deny tremendous 

opportunities for the PWDs to be selfsufficient 

and productive members of 

society. 

The PWDs can be self-reliant through 

agriculture if there is proper scope. Two 

young women, both sisters, residents of 

a village in Gaibandha district, proved it. 

The two women with hearing 

impairment were fully dependent on 

their brother when they were selected to 

be part of EU-funded food security 

programme. 

Together with other women, they 

formed Village Women Group and 

received training on healthy food, how 

to start their own vegetable garden and 

other ways to generate their own 

income. 

With the help of a community 

member, who is able to speak the local 

sign language, they were able to fully 

contribute to the group. 

They chose to raise chickens. After 

receiving the birds and training on how 

to raise chickens, they were soon able to 

eat and sell the eggs and provided a few 

hens to another group member. 

In return, they received a goat from 

another group member. With the profit 

they made, they were able to rent a plot 

Serena Williams: Knowing when to stop 

THE power that comes with 

being one of the world's few 

black female sporting icons is 

immense. Granted that has not 

always been the case, and to get to 

that point you will have to fight and 

overcome all sorts of adversity, but 

in this day and age, once you have 

arrived, you are untouchable. 

Take this equation to the United 

States - where President Donald 

Trump's administration has wrongly 

made issues of race and sex even 

more sensitive - then, embody that 

battle in Serena Williams, a homegrown 

all-American hero, and you 

will struggle to find a voice not in her 

favour, especially in New York. 

That is quite a tide to face as an 

umpire, and quite a position to wield 

as a player; someone who is able to 

summon a wall of support around 

her when it counts, in a home event 

that may as well be her own title 

tournament, having won it six times. 

The trick to power, however, is not 

to use and abuse it for your own 

means, even when it has gone to 

your head, even when you have lost 

your rag, and even when those 

around you are too scared to tell you 

when you're wrong. 

With Serena a set down to Naomi 

Osaka in last Saturday's US Open 

Final, she received a warning after it 

appeared her coach was giving 

instructions from the stands. This 

sparked a reaction that later saw her 

penalised a point for smashing her 

racket, then docked a game for 

verbal abuse, after calling umpire 

Carlos Ramos a liar and a thief, 

arguing that she was not a cheat, 

before telling him he would never 

officiate at her games again. 

That comment alone tells you who 

really runs the sport, and it's not the 

organisers or the officials who had to 

of land and start growing pumpkins. 

They also kept ducks. Now, generating 

their own income, they are no longer 

fully dependent on their brother. 

The income generating activities have 

not only improved their economic 

status, but also their social status and 

self-confidence. 

The story is not an isolated incident. 

Many others like them became selfreliant 

through agriculture. 

The World Food Summit, organized 

by Food and Agriculture Organization 

(FAO) of the United Nations in 1996, 

acknowledged the fundamental 

contribution to food security by disabled 

farmers, noting that a large proportion 

of the disabled people were farmers with 

responsibility for the food security of 

their households. 

Assisting the PWDs is certainly an 

integral part of achieving the 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

This can be accomplished by integrating 

the PWDs into sustainable rural 

development policies and programmes. 

FAO stressed on improving income 

generating and employment 

opportunities for the PWDs in 

agriculture and related sectors, and 

upgrading agricultural production 

technologies to meet the special 

requirements of disabled workers. 

FAO said its initiative in Thailand 

through Mushroom project proved 

effective. Mushrooms, one of the most 

successful projects for the disabled ever 

implemented by FAO-in Ubon 

Ratchathani, Northern Thailand - 

focused upon mushroom production by 

disabled people. 

During the period 1998-2000, over 

200 disabled people and relatives were 

trained in commercial mushroom 

production, provided with small startup 

loans and encouraged to establish a 

small enterprise. Extensive reporting, 

information exchange and publications 

resulted. 

come on court and appease her. 

To top it off, in the post-match 

conference, she skirted around the 

real topic of her own behaviour with 

the view that if this had been a men's 

game, her initial infraction would 

have been overlooked. Bam! The 

discourse was shifted away from her 

and onto something else; and the 

umpire, who was simply going by the 

rule-book, was shoved under the bus, 

because if Serena says it is sexism, 

then it's most definitely sexism. 

Even if it was sexist, a player of her 

standing, aged 36 with 23 Grand 

Slams, should have acted with more 

grace and tackled her objections 

higher up and in private. After all, 

the loss in reputation now suffered is 

far more damaging than failing to 

pick up yet another Grand Slam. 

This was nothing to do with sexism 

or standing up for women's rights. 

This was about losing and struggling 

to come to terms with her waning 

powers against a younger opponent. 

She failed in the graceful handover 

to the next generation and instead 

MD. SAzEDUl ISlAM 

AShlEy hAMMOND 

Models have been proposed and/or 

introduced elsewhere in South-East 

Asia. It was an excellent result for just 

US$150,000 investment. 

The overall conclusion emerging from 

FAO's work in support of disabled 

people is that, time and again, PWDs are 

capable of doing and successfully 

learning and applying new knowledge 

for income generation and improved 

livelihoods. Disability is not inability! 

FAO stressed on pursuing rightsbased 

approaches to poverty and hunger 

reduction. 

The World Food Summit, organized by Food and 

Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United 

Nations in 1996, acknowledged the fundamental 

contribution to food security by disabled farmers, 

noting that a large proportion of the disabled 

people were farmers with responsibility for the 

food security of their households. FAO stressed on 

improving income generating and employment 

opportunities for the PWDs in agriculture and 

related sectors, and upgrading agricultural 

production technologies to meet the special 

requirements of disabled workers. 

It is important that disabled men and 

women are able to learn by doing, and 

that the trauma they experience because 

of their disability is appropriately 

addressed in programmes and policies. 

In 2006, the United Nations 

adopted the Convention on the Rights 

of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). 

It was the first human rights treaty of 

the 21st century and the first to focus 

explicitly on disability. The CRPD 

states that all development aid should 

now be: '…inclusive of and accessible 

to, persons with disabilities' (Article 

32). 

In Bangladesh, there are some areas of 

agriculture where the PWDs can 

comfortably engage themselves and 

become economically vibrant, 

employees, and supporting the effort to 

ensure food security in our nation. 

If they are given necessary training 

and support, they can do fish cultivation 

and agro-business. They can run small 

shop for selling fertilizer, seeds and 

other agricultural products. 

The areas of agricultural practices 

includes, rearing of grass cutters, 

poultry, snail, quail, cassava farming 

and its processing etc. This is achievable 

through the support from the 

government to both individuals and cooperative 

societies formed by PWDs. 

The support can be giving of grants 

and supplying required agricultural 

rained all over Osaka's parade. To 

have twisted it all to become an issue 

of sexism devalues genuine cases of 

injustice and shows an abuse of 

power in her role as an icon who is 

able to sway and affect public 

opinion - something she would be 

great at if she fought justly for it. 

It doesn't help that her sycophantic 

celebrity friends, who also play a 

part in forging general consensus, 

blindly stuck by her after her 

outburst, like Billie Jean King and 

Serena a set down to Naomi Osaka in last 

Saturday's US Open Final, she received a warning 

after it appeared her coach was giving instructions 

from the stands. This sparked a reaction that later 

saw her penalised a point for smashing her racket, 

then docked a game for verbal abuse, after calling 

umpire Carlos Ramos a liar and a thief, arguing 

that she was not a cheat, before telling him he 

would never officiate at her games again. That 

comment alone tells you who really runs the sport, 

and it's not the organisers or the officials who had 

to come on court and appease her. 

Lewis Hamilton, who both tweeted 

their fawning support for her 'double 

standards' argument. This only 

enforces her ego and false stand at a 

time when she should be swallowing 

her pride and considering an 

apology to Ramos. And yes, John 

McEnroe was just as bad, but if you 

look back, he was fined and vilified, 

it's only now that we can laugh at it 

in hindsight. 

While it is essential to have icons 

like Serena, who defend rights and 

break down barriers, it doesn't 

make you a sexist or even a racist 

input without charges. The government 

should at all times encourage and 

sponsor seminars and workshops to 

boost the knowledge of the (special) 

farmers on the modern agricultural 

practices. 

Our National Agriculture Policy 2013, 

Coordinated Policy 2009 on 

Appointment of Fertilizer Dealer and 

Fertilizer Distribution, Seeds Ordinance 

2018, and Disability Rights and 

Protection Act 2013 did not say anything 

about empowering the PWDs through 

agriculture-related works. These 

policies and laws should be amended by 

giving priority to the PWDs. 

Policy support is essential. It is 

important to include rights-based 

approach in those polices and laws for 

empowering the PWDs through 

agriculture. 

Steps should be taken up to involve 

and promote the PWDs in agriculture 

through comprehensive training. The 

PWDs should have access to loans and it 

is needed to create online shopping 

platform to assist them sell their 

finished products. 

The PWDs need intensive training on 

agro-business, crop production, animal 

husbandry, cassava processing for 

baking and pastry making, among 

others to meet local sustenance and 

global trends. 

We should support the PWDs, because 

there is ability in disability. Nobody 

should discriminate them as a result of 

their disability, but rather there is need 

for empowering them through 

agriculture to become entrepreneurs 

and asset to themselves and the society. 

They have competences and creative 

potentials that are grossly undervalued 

and unutilized due to stigma. 

Experience has shown that when the 

PWDs are empowered adequately to 

participate and lead the process of 

development, their entire families, 

communities and even the larger society 

will benefit because their involvement 

creates opportunity for everyone with or 

without disability in any developmental 

effort. 

The empowerment would reduce 

hunger from the PWDs through 

engaging them in agriculture as they 

would be employed, and at the same 

time creates income generation for selfreliance. 

The PWDs have a right to participate 

in and benefit from development and 

their inclusion will help reduce the 

inequalities that are slowing down 

progress on the elimination of extreme 

poverty. 

The government, corporate 

organizations and rich individuals 

should extend their supports for the 

PWDs for improving their condition, as 

it would pave the way for a better 

Bangladesh. 

to sometimes disagree with them 

when they go beyond into bully 

territory. 

Serena has fought against so 

much to get this far. That is true, 

and it is amazing, but there comes 

a point where not everything is an 

affront to you and what you stand 

for, but rather just the rules of a 

game by which everyone has to 

play. Perhaps some of those so 

quick to leap to her defence were 

too concerned with how voicing 

any opinion otherwise would be 

received, and that's simply a 

symptom of these highly sensitive 

times, and of who she is within 

that. It is OK to have these 

meltdowns and even swing your 

status around sometimes, provided 

you recognise where you went 

wrong and apologise for your 

actions afterwards. After all, we are 

all only human. It is just a shame 

she hasn't done that yet. 

Having said that, don't hate the 

player, hate the game. The reason 

Serena has made it this far is because 

she has fought against the world and 

will do anything to win - hurting like 

death if she can't achieve that. 

Winners are not nice people, and it 

is that fear of failure that drives 

them to succeed. You can't simply 

switch that off. The best winners 

make awful losers, and examples of 

grace and sportsmanship are so 

regaled because they are so rare. 

Expectation on Serena to be this 

role model and bastion of classiness 

must also be a massive burden. To 

her, she's just a tennis player, but to 

us, she represents so much more, on 

a scale and in a time that even if she 

played for another 100 years she 

wouldn't possibly be able to fathom. 

Source : Gulf news

CAMPUS 

SunDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 

5 

What's wrong with India's tertiary level education? 

nandini SundaR 

When the Times Higher Education World University 

Rankings, which rates about 1,000 global 

institutions, was released in May, not even 

one Indian institute featured in the overall Top 

100, though the Indian Institute of Science 

made it in the reputational rankings after seven 

years. 

India's poor ranking in global indexes of higher 

education reinforced a growing sense of crisis, 

became a matter of national shame and is 

increasingly being used to drive policy and 

funding decisions by the federal government. 

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 

government took three policy decisions with 

far-reaching consequences while considering 

these global rankings, emphasizing quality over 

quantity. 

Mr. Modi's government decided to designate 

a few Indian universities as "Institutes of Eminence." 

It granted "autonomy" to 60 other universities 

and colleges. It chose to replace India's 

University Grants Commission, the federal 

body regulating higher education for decades, 

with an even more centralized and controlling 

body called the Higher Education Commission. 

India's higher education sector is vast, with 

760 universities and 38,498 colleges. About 

two-thirds of colleges are privately managed, 

and more than half are in rural areas. While 

adult literacy levels are rising, only 6 percent of 

Indian citizens graduate from a college. In 

absolute terms, however, the numbers are 

large: about 31.56 million Indian students are 

enrolled in colleges and universities. 

Apart from low investment in educational 

infrastructure and bureaucratic hurdles, the 

low number of international students and faculty 

at Indian universities also affects the global 

rankings of Indian institutions. Less than 

50,000 international students are enrolled in 

India. 

Mr. Modi's government decided that the new 

institutions of excellence would be allowed to 

recruit foreign faculty and students, charge students 

"appropriate" fees, without any obstacle 

from India's affirmative action laws, and design 

their own degrees. 

Yet when the list of "Institutes of Eminence" 

was announced recently, it was met with disbelief 

and biting satire. While the Indian Institute 

of Science and a couple of Indian Institutes of 

Technology made the cut and are eligible to get 

$146 million each in additional funding, the 

three private universities on the elite list included 

the Jio Institute, which is promoted by 

Researchers work inside a semiconductor fabrication lab at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. 

Photo: Manjunath Kiran 

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and largest 

stakeholder of Reliance Industries Limited and 

the richest man in India. 

India knows "Jio" as the name for Mr. 

Ambani's telephone network. The Jio Institute 

does not exist. It has no known campus, academic 

leader, courses or faculty. The criterion 

that helped the Jio Institute make the list is an 

official clause that requires potential promoters 

to have a net worth of about $729 million. Mr. 

Ambani's net worth, according to the 2018 

Forbes billionaires list, is $40.1 billion. Mr. 

Ambani was also a major backer of Mr. Modi's 

2014 campaign for the prime minister's job. Mr. 

Modi has not been remiss in returning the favor. 

The inclusion of the yet unrealized Jio Institute 

in India's centers of educational excellence 

is a parable for the crisis of higher education 

policy in India. An investigative series on the 

state of Indian universities broadcast on NDTV 

India, one of India's leading news networks, 

showed that numerous colleges had no toilets, 

no teachers and no exams for years on end. 

Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar University in the 

northern state of Bihar, which has 200,000 students, 

has not held exams since 2015. 

While none of these decades-old structural 

problems have been addressed, Mr. Modi's 

Hindu nationalist government has exacerbated 

the crises of higher education. The few central 

universities that had a culture of independent 

research and critical thinking have come under 

consistent assault since Mr. Modi's Bharatiya 

Janata Party took charge. 

Education has been a prime target of the 

B.J.P.'s parent organization, the Rashtriya 

Swayamsevak Sangh, known as the R.S.S., 

whose self-professed aim is to establish a Hindu 

nation. For this to happen, the R.S.S. argues 

that Indians must be made to understand their 

glorious, ancient Vedic Hindu heritage. 

School textbooks in Indian states ruled by the 

B.J.P. governments are being rewritten to erase 

India's "Muslim past" or reduce the centuries of 

rule by Mughal emperors and other Muslim 

rulers to one of darkness and enslavement. Historical 

convention has always held that Mughal 

ruler Akbar defeated Rajput ruler Maharana 

Pratap in 1576. Textbooks in the northern state 

of Rajasthan now tell students that it was Maharana 

Pratap who won because he managed to 

run away from the battlefield. Even the Taj 

Mahal, India's most famous monument, built by 

the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, has not been 

spared, with one B.J.P. member of Parliament 

claiming it was originally a Hindu temple. 

While the government is obsessed with making 

it into world rankings in science and technology, 

the B.J.P.'s leaders display a shockingly 

poor understanding of science. Satyapal Singh, 

the junior federal minister for education, recently 

claimed that Charles Darwin was wrong 

because no one had actually seen an ape turn 

into a man. He drew on creationist literature for 

scientific support. A few years back, Mr. Modi 

described the mythical elephant head of Ganesha, 

a much-loved Hindu God, as an example of 

the ancient Indian skill of plastic surgery. 

Many of the academics the Modi government 

has appointed to lead national research institutes 

or universities have no peer-reviewed 

publications. However, they are longstanding 

members of the R.S.S., as is Mr. Modi. And they 

have publicly expressed their admiration for the 

prime minister. In turn, these university chiefs 

have brought in their own people, overriding 

longstanding academic conventions around 

recruitment. 

Scholarships for underprivileged students are 

being unconscionably delayed, leading many to 

skip meals or drop out of college. A delay in his 

scholarship was one of the reasons that led 

Rohith Vemula, a Dalit student at the University 

of Hyderabad, to commit suicide in 2016, an 

incident that sparked nationwide outrage about 

caste and discrimination on campuses. In 

March, the government revealed in Parliament 

that scholarships worth $1.255 billion meant 

for scheduled caste - Dalit and other lower caste 

- students had not been paid. 

Academic seminars, film screenings, talks 

that challenge majoritarianism or even invoke 

the Indian Constitution have frequently been 

canceled because of threats of disruption by the 

R.S.S.'s student wing, on the pretext that the 

speakers and the subjects are subversive, seditious, 

unpatriotic. 

Arbitrary and excessive fee hikes, the imposition 

of unqualified administrators, discriminatory 

hostel and library timings for women, not 

being allowed nonvegetarian food in dining 

halls and academic censorship have triggered 

student protests across the country. 

Whether the exclusive focus on rankings is 

what India really needs is a question that 

nobody is asking. More funding, greater 

autonomy and more studentships for existing 

public universities and a concentrated push 

toward universal and effective school education 

are what India's students and teachers 

really need. Policies, which create a hierarchy 

of eminence and ordinariness, autonomy and 

control within the university sector, are at best 

a short-term fix. 

After a workshop the participants and speakers of the program pose for a photo. Photo: YSSE 

YSSE: A cradle for social entrepreneurs 

md. aRifuzzaman 

When millions of young people 

are running behind the typical 

jobs, thought of being a social 

entrepreneur at that time would 

have been so sinful to many. Several 

foreign aid-based organizations 

have come forward to establish 

the concept of social entrepreneurship 

in Bangladesh. They 

disbursed capital, extended cooperation 

as well as encouragement 

and organized workshops to help 

social entrepreneurs. But it 

proved to be quite hard for them 

to understand the pulse of the 

youth on the social entrepreneur's 

perspective so quickly. Even a few 

years ago, the concept of social 

entrepreneur in the country was 

like an orphaned baby. In the year 

of 2015, some young entrepreneurs 

formed the country's first 

youth-oriented social entrepreneurship 

based organization 

"Youth School for Social Entrepreneurs". 

The organization is 

working relentlessly for the last 

three and half years with the 

social entrepreneurs and striving 

to develop an excellent educational 

platform for them. 

"Youth School for Social Entrepreneurs" 

also abbreviated as 

YSSE can be dubbed as one of the 

most promising youth led organization 

for social entrepreneurs. 

Since 2015, it has been working as 

a support center for social entrepreneurs 

with a mission to create 

social entrepreneurs by nurturing 

them through training, counseling 

and monitoring that will create 

large-scale job and social 

action following the sustainable 

development approach. Youth has 

the potentiality they don't wait for 

the opportunity. They either grab 

it or create it. Organization like 

YSSE is always prepared to guide 

them in the right direction of 

entrepreneurship to elapse the 

curse of unemployment through 

solving social problems. 

Till date, YSSE has been able to 

create impact on the lives of more 

than 32000 concerned people 

through launching close to 100 programs 

and training sessions. More 

than 30 entrepreneurs have 

emerged with the support of the 

organization. YSSE has spread its 

initiatives beyond the national 

boundary which is now spanning 

over 23 countries. Since its inception, 

YSSE prioritizes on women 

entrepreneurship. 

Successful women entrepreneurs 

are promoted, recognized and 

inspired through different programs 

of YSSE. Through these 

types of attempts, impacts are created 

on the society to promote 

women and youth empowerment. 

A group of young volunteers are 

still working to build a "one stop 

service" for social entrepreneurs 

under the prudent leadership of 

organization's founding president 

Sheikh Mohammad Yousuf Hossain. 

On several occasions, Yousuf 

represented the country on foreign 

grounds and highlighted the 

success stories of local social 

entrepreneurs and "YSSE" to the 

world. 

As a nonprofit organization 

YSSE aims to expand its programs 

in future with more creativity, 

potentiality and sustainability. It 

promises to make value oriented 

entrepreneurs and determined to 

equip them with skill sets to tackle 

the challenges of the 4th Industrial 

Revolution with sustainable 

business model. In future, YSSE 

hopes to bring more facilities with 

the succession of its previous 

works. 

The writer is a Management Trainee at YSSE. 

Team 'Online Sohopathi' on the way 

to conquer Germany 

Rafiqul alam Khan 

What would you do, if you're 

struggling with any academic 

queries is mind? If there is 

nobody around to satisfy 

your urge, you are more likely 

to turn to Question- 

Answer websites like Quora 

or Stack Overflow. The problem 

arises when you feel the 

need to search your academic 

queries in Bengali. 

Addresseing this issue, 

'Online Sohopathi' has revolutionized 

the idea by creating 

a web based academic 

related question-answer 

platform in Bengali. Shadman 

Majid, one of the cofounders 

of the platform was 

sharing his experience on 

how they came up with the 

idea of Online Sohopathi. 

"When I was a teacher at a 

popular coaching center, I 

had to deal with not only students' 

academic questions 

but also many of their personal 

queries. I also found 

out there are a lot of students 

in rural area who are 

deprived of quality mentors. 

Even in the metropolitan 

cities across Bangladesh, students 

are heavily dependent 

of coaching centers and private 

tutors. I had shared it 

with some of my friends in a 

brainstorming session. One 

of them replied- why not 

build a website that deals 

with all of these problems." 

The implementation of 

their idea kicked off in 2017. 

At first, in September of that 

year the team opened a Facebook 

page to test the idea. 

Within three weeks the Facebook 

page managed to 

attract four thousand visitors. 

This brought confidence 

within the team and 

persuaded them to finally 

launch the website in the 

December of 2017. 

The team members of 

Online Sohopathi hailed 

from different universities 

including students of top 

engineering and medical 

schools like Bangladesh University 

of Engineering and 

Technology, Military Institute 

of Science and Technology, 

Dhaka Medical College 

and the University of Dhaka. 

Md. Atiquer Rahman- an 

associate of the team said, 

"We are voluntarily engaged 

in this initiative. Our core 

team consists of 11 members 

who are responsible for carrying 

out managerial tasks 

and setting up the strategies 

according to our vision. Our 

25 volunteers help us to execute 

the operational tasks on 

different levels. There are 25 

campus ambassadors who 

are promoting the website 

and disseminating the idea 

of 'asking questions and getting 

answers in Bengali' in 

their respective campuses." 

The website has greatly 

facilitated the process of 

online learning of 

Bangladeshi students. If anyone 

asks any of their academic 

related questions in 

Bengali, their questions are 

then promptly responded by 

mentors from top universities. 

Other additional features 

in the website include 

Educational Blog, Profiling, 

Library, Leaderboard and 

Online Exam. Online 

Sohopathi charges zero fees 

for the services they provide. 

Since the launching of the 

website Online Sohopathi 

has come a long way. At 

present, the website gets 

browsed by 30,000 unique 

visitors. Their Facebook 

group has 26,000 organic 

members. There are over 

3,500 questions and answers 

that are archived in the website. 

Almost 80% of the questions 

are answered by the 

users of this platform. On top 

of that, the education based 

startup has been able to bag 

several accolades in their 

achievement cart. GP Accelerator- 

a Dhaka based startup 

grooming platform rated 

Online Sohopathi as one of 

the Top 30 ideas of 2018 in 

Bangladesh. 

Recently, UNESCO and 

Stiftung Entrepreneurship- a 

German based organization 

invited team 'Online 

Sohopathi' to participate in 

the Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship 

Competition 2018 

at the Free University of 

Berlin. The initiative has 

already made it to the final 

round of the competition 

from a pool of 651 projects of 

approximately 100 countries. 

The team is confident 

that they can bring glory for 

Bangladesh by winning the 

'2018 Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship 

Award'. 

Team members and volunteers of Online Sohopathi are at the website launching ceremony in Dhaka. 

Photo: Online Sohopathi

NATIONAL 

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 

6 

Mirzapur upazila Chhatra League 

holds view exchange meeting 

Raihan SaRKaR RoBin, MiRZapuR CoRReSpondenT: 

Chhatra league of Mirzapur upazila of 

Tangail held a view exchange meeting 

with grassroots Chhatra league of the 

upazila at Mirzapur pratasha 

Community Center on Saturday. 

Mayor of Mirzapur municipality and 

joint general secretary of upazila 

awami league Sahadat hossain 

Sumon was present as the chief guest at 

the occasion while Mirzapur upazila 

Chhatra league acting General 

Secretary Md Saddam hossain 

conducted the meeting and Mirzapur 

upazila Chhatra league Vice president 

Saiful islam Siam preside over the 

meeting. among others, Member of 

Tangail district Council Saidur 

Rahman Babul, upazila 

Swechhashebok president haji abul 

hossain, upazila awami league Relief 

and Social Welfare affairs Secretary 

Sohel Rana, Mirzapur Municipality 

Jubo league's former president and 

Mirzapur municipality councilor 

amirul Kader labon, upazila Chhatra 

league's respected member Tahrim 

hossain Shimanto, municipal BCl 

president abu Bakker Sikder, Juba 

league leader Sheikh Mahmud lajlu 

and Mirzapur government college 

president Md. Mobarak Sikder also 

addressed the meeting. 

Barishal Range DIG Mohammad Shafiqul Islam BPM, PPM as the chief guest addressed a public 

workshop for ensuring safe road at Gornadi Pilot Secondary School in Gournadi of Barishal on 

Saturday. 

Photo: Gias Uddin Miah 

Everyone needs to work together to 

ensure safe roads: Barishal DIG 

GiaS uddin Miah, GouRnadi CoRReSpondenT: 

Barishal Range diG Mohammad 

Shafiqul islam BpM, ppM said that 

all must work together to ensure safe 

roads. To prevent road accidents, 

drivers and pedestrians have to walk 

on the carefully on road to avoid 

obstacles, thus road accidents can be 

stopped. 

he said this while speaking as the 

chief guest at the public workshop 

for ensuring safe road held in 

Gornadi pilot Secondary School in 

Gournadi of Barishal on Saturday 

morning. Barishal district traffic 

police organised the worshop. 

head teacher of Gornadi pilot 

BSMRSTU online 

admission 

process begins 

Shafiul KayeS, BSMRSTu 

CoRReSpondenT: 

The online admission 

process for the first year 

honours admission tests 

under 2018-2019 academic 

sessions of Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

Science and Technology 

university (BSMRSTu)- 

Gopalganj, starts today and 

will continue till october 

22. This year, the 

admission tests will be held 

on november 02, 03 and 

09, 10 under the 9 units 

with a total of 3245 seats. 

The units are a, B, C, d, 

e, f, G, h and i. 

d & e unit admission test 

2 november; f & G unit 

admission test 3 

november; C &h unit 

admission test 9 

november; a, B & i unit 

admission test will be held 

on november 10. 

it is to be noted that in 

this year, 5% in freedom 

fighter quota, 1% in 

disabled quota, 1% in 

Sports / Cultural quota, 1% 

in Tribe quota and 1% in 

posterity quota will be 

admitted. Besides, 100 

seats are reserved for 

foreign students 

Second time applicants 

will be able to take part in 

the admission tests. details 

of the admission tests, 

registration procedures 

and fees payment and 

student eligibility are 

available on the university 

website: 

www.bsmrstu.edu.bd 

Secondary School Md aliullah 

chaired the workshop while among 

others, Barishal district police Super 

Md Saiful islam BpM, Gournadi 

upazila parishad Chairman Syeda 

Monirun nahar Marie, Gournadi 

Municipality Mayor Md. harisur 

Rahman, upazila nirbahi officer 

Khaleda nasrin, additional police 

Superintendent Gournadi Circle 

Mohammad a Rob hawlader, 

assistant director of Barishal BRTC 

Circle Mohammad Shah alam, 

Barishal district Bus owners 

association president alhaj 

Mohammad aftaf hossain, Women 

Vice Chairman of Gournadi upazila 

parishad advocate Sahida akter, 

president of Gournadi upazila 

awami league aTM Joynal abedin, 

municipal awami league president 

Mia Monir hossain, Gournadi 

upazila press Club president 

Mohammad Giasuddin Mia, 

Gournadi Model police Station 

officer-in-Charge Munirul islam 

Munir, police inspector 

(investigation) Mohammad afzal 

hossain, Surgeon Mohammad asad, 

M Masum hossain, Tariqul islam, 

students, drivers and government 

officials. 

The workshop was attended by 

hundreds of drivers, school students, 

public representatives, government 

officials and well-wishers. 

Secretary General of the SAARC Human Rights Foundation Prof. Mawlana 

Abed Ali as the chief guest addressed a meeting of the newly elected committee 

of the SAARC Human Rights Foundation's Cox's Bazar district unit 

on Friday. 

Photo: S M Akash 

Fair election possible under 

current government: Abed Ali 

S M aKaSh, ChaTToGRaM CoRReSpondenT: 

Secretary General of the 

SaaRC human Rights 

foundation, prof. Mawlana 

abed ali said that "under the 

current government all kinds 

of fair elections are possible. 

Changes do occur with time. 

our election process has 

changed too. That does not 

mean that we cannot accept 

the change. We welcome the 

changes that make our 

country more favorable. The 

election Commission of this 

government has managed 

6,000 large and small 

elections. if necessary, 

increase the power of the 

election commission. in the 

meantime, their ability to 

manage elections has forced 

us to believe." 

he said all this at an 

introduction meeting of the 

newly elected committee of 

the SaaRC human Rights 

foundation's Cox's Bazar 

district unit on friday. 

president of newly elected 

committee adv iqbalur 

chaired the meeting while 

among others, central director 

of SaaRC human Rights 

foundation Muhammad 

Masum Chowdhury, central 

special representative of 


foundation Mohammad 

azam Khan, Vice president of 

Cox's Bazar district unit 


foundation Mohammad 

Saifullah Khaled, general 

secretary yunus Rana 

Chowdhury, Vice president of 

Barishal-2 constituency MP Adv Talukdar Md Yunus as the chief guest 

addressed the annual teachers assembly 2018 at Banaripara upazila 

parishad auditorium on Wednesday. Among others, UNO Md Shariful 

Islam, central advisor of Bangladesh Teachers Association Md Abul 

Basahr, Secretary Abul Kashem, upazila AL president Golam Saleh Monju 

Mollah, principal of Baishari University Kazi Mizanul Islam, upazila education 

officer Abul Kalam and press club president S Mizanur Islam were 

also present at the occasion. 

Photo: TBT 

the newly elected committee 

Kaisarul haque Jewel, Gias 

uddin Kospani, Mohammad 

abdul haque, Mahi uddin 

Chowdhury, Mohammad 

Saifullah Khaled, General 

Secretary Md. younus Rana 

Chowdhury, Joint General 

Secretary ahmad Kamal, 

narul islam Selim, Wasim 

Sikder, aKM Shahjalal , 

Redwanul haque, organizing 

secretary Sultana Razia, coorganizing 

secretary 

Mohammad habib ullah, 

Mizanul ullah, finance 

secretary Jahir uddin, 

publicity Secretary Mahbubur 

Rahman, legal affairs 

Secretary Shirupun Barua, 

Women affairs Secretary iffat 

Jisan, Social Welfare affairs 

Secretary amanat ullah, 

international affairs 

Secretary adv abdu Shukkur, 

office Secretary abdullah al 

Mamun, Religious affairs 

Secretary aziz Rezavi, 

Cultural affairs Secretary 

priya dutta executive 

members Mizanur Rahman, 

helal uddin, Jasmine islam, 

Mustafa Kamal, aditi Barua 

and Mohammad Kaisarul 

islam. prof. Mawlana abed 

ali further said that,"there is a 

limit to human rights. We 

need to play a solid role in the 

question of the sovereignty of 

the country. Most refugees in 

the world are now living in 

your district. you must 

protect the country from drug 

and foreign warfare besides 

human rights". 

Chhatra League of Mirzapur upazila of Tangail held a view exchange meeting with grassroots 

Chhatra League of the upazila on Saturday. 

Photo: Raihan Sarkar Robin 

Coast Guard 

recovers 4 

firearms from 

Sundarbans 

Members of Coast Guard 

West Zone from CG Station 

(Mongla Zone) conducted a 

special operation on the 

basis of secret information 

on friday night, reports a 

press release. 

The operation was 

conducted in an area 

adjacent to Mirgamari canal 

under Mongla thana of 

Bagerhat district where the 

pirates fled the scene 

sensing the presence of the 

Coast Guard members. 

later, four local pipe guns 

firearms were recovered 

after searching the area. The 

recovered firearms were 

handed over to Mongla 

police Station. 

The Coast Guard's 

campaign to curb piracy and 

robbery in the Sundarbans 

as well as control of law and 

order and public safety will 

continue. 

30 held in 

Dinajpur 

special drives 

dinaJpuR: law 

enforcers, in special drives 

arrested 30 persons 

including seven drug traders 

from different areas of the 

district in 12-hour ending at 

8am last morning, reports 

BSS. 

law enforcers also seized 

2,000 pieces of cow 

fattening tablets, 95 bottles 

of phensidyl and 351 pieces 

of yaba tablets during the 

drives. 

police said they were 

picked up from different 

areas of the district on 

different charges. 

Several cases, including 

charges of subversive 

activities, are pending with 

different police stations 

against the arrested persons, 

the sources added. 

RaJShahi: Scientists and researchers 

unanimously mentioned that large-scale 

adoption of conservation agriculture (Ca) 

and farm mechanization can be the 

effective means of facing the existing 

agriculture related challenges, reports 

BSS. 

They identically observed that the 

country's agriculture is facing many 

challenges including climate change, 

labour shortage, irrigation water scarcity 

and increase of crop cultivation cost. So, 

promotion of Ca and farm 

mechanization has become 

indispensable. 

They made this observation while 

addressing a daylong inception workshop 

titled "pilot project on Commercialization 

of Smallholders' Ca-based planters in 

Members of Coast Guard West Zone from CG Station (Mongla Zone) in a special 

drive recovered four firearms from an area adjacent to Mirgamari canal 

under Mongla thana of Bagerhat district on Friday night. Photo: Coast Guard 

Prime Minister's Assistant Private Secretary Adv Saifuzzaman Shekhor as 

the chief guest inaugurated the final play Father of the nation Bangbandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman national Gold Cup Football Tournament at 

Sheikh Russel mini Stadium, sreepur Upazila under Magura District on 

Wednesday. The program was chaired by Sreepur Upazila Nirbahi officer 

Dilara Rahman. Assistant Commissioner (Land),Sreepur, Sitesh Chandra 

Sarker, Sreepur sadar UP Chairman Md Moshiar Rahman, Nakol UP 

Chairman Humayun-ur-Rashid Muhit, Kadirpara UP Chairman Md. 

Liakat Ali, Goespur UP Chairman Abdul Halim Molla, Dariapur UP 

Chairman Jakir Hossain Kanon were also present on the occasion among 

others . 

Photo: M R Jinnah 

Mechanization can mitigate agriculture 

challenges: experts 

Bangladesh" in the conference hall of 

Regional Wheat and Maize Research 

institute (RWMRi) here on friday. 

RWMRi and Bangladesh agricultural 

Research institute (BaRi) jointly 

organized the workshop in association 

with australian Centre for international 

agricultural Research (aCiaR) and 

Murdoch university-australia. 

additional director of department of 

agriculture extension SM Mustafizur 

Rahman and its deputy director deb 

dulal dhali addressed the meeting as 

chief and special guests respectively with 

RWMRi principal Scientific officer dr 

ilias hossain in the chair. adjunct 

associate professor of Murdoch 

university dr enamul haque was the 

keynote presenter. Chief Scientific officer 

of Bangladesh Rice Research institute dr 

aminul islam and Scientific officer of 

BaRi Jahedul islam also spoke. 

dr enamul haque told the meeting 

that cropping intensity can be increased 

to 250 percent even 400 percent from the 

existing 200 percent through reducing 

the existing time gap between the two 

crops through the best uses of the farm 

mechanization. 

Referring to some research findings, he 

mentions average benefits from the farm 

mechanization and Ca adoption have 

been estimated at 34 percent labor 

saving, 31 pc less seed required, six pc 

fertilizers saving, 32 pc pesticide cost 

saving leading to 10 pc lower production 

cost for lentil, mustard, maize, and 

wheat.

INTERNATIONAL SUNdAy, 

7 

SEPTEMBEr 16, 2018 

An Afghan official says at least four army personnel, all crew members of a military helicopter, have 

been killed when their aircraft crashed and caught fire in western Farah province. Photo: Internet 

Military chopper 

catches fire in 

Afghanistan, 

killing 4 

An Afghan official says at 

least four army personnel, 

all crew members of a military 

helicopter, have been 

killed when their aircraft 

crashed and caught fire in 

western Farah province. 

Mohammad Naser Mehri, 

the provincial governor's 

spokesman, says two pilots 

and two sharpshooters died 

late Friday night when their 

chopper caught fire after an 

emergency landing in Khaki 

Safad district. 

Mehri says the hard landing 

was caused by a technical 

problem but soon the chopper 

caught fire as it was 

loaded with ammunition. 

He says he doesn't believe 

the incident was caused by 

enemy fire although an 

investigation is continuing. 

The Taliban are in control of 

most areas in Farah 

province, especially Khaki 

Safad district. 

5 Kashmir 

rebels killed 

in fighting 

with Indian 

troops 

Government forces killed 

five rebels during a gunbattle 

in the Indian-controlled 

portion of Kashmir on Saturday, 

triggering violent 

anti-India protests in the 

disputed Himalayan 

region. 

Indian troops laid a siege 

around a southern village 

in Qazigund area overnight 

on a tip that militants were 

hiding there, police said. 

Fierce gunbattle erupted 

early Saturday, and hours 

later, five local Kashmiri 

rebels were killed. 

The slain rebels belonged 

to the region's largest rebel 

group Hizbul Mujahideen, 

police said. 

The fighting sparked 

anti-India protests and 

clashes as hundreds of residents 

tried to march to the 

site of the battle in solidarity 

with the militants. Government 

forces fired warning 

shots, shotgun pellets 

and tear gas at the stonethrowing 

protesters, injuring 

at least six people. 

Nuclear-armed India and 

Pakistan each administer 

part of Kashmir, but both 

claim it in its entirety. 

Most Kashmiris support 

the rebel cause that the territory 

be united either 

under Pakistani rule or as 

an independent country 

while also participating in 

civilian street protests 

against Indian control. In 

recent years, mainly young 

Kashmiris have displayed 

open solidarity with rebels 

and sought to protect them 

by engaging troops in street 

clashes during military 

operations. 

Rebels have been fighting 

Indian control since 1989. 

India accuses Pakistan of 

arming and training the 

rebels, a charge Pakistan 

denies. 

Nearly 70,000 people 

have been killed in the 

uprising and the ensuing 

Indian military crackdown. 

Malaysia's Anwar confident 

PM handover will go as 

planned 

Malaysia's designated prime minister-inwaiting, 

Anwar Ibrahim, said Saturday that 

he has no reason to doubt his former political 

nemesis will hand over the leadership 

position within two years as planned after 

sorting out deep-seated issues like corruption. 

Anwar and Prime Minister Mahathir 

Mohamad put aside their 20-year feud to 

help their four-party alliance win elections in 

May, leading to the country's first change of 

power since independence from Britain in 

1957. 

Anwar, 70, was convicted of sodomy in 

2015 in a case that he said was politically 

motivated. He was freed and pardoned by 

the king shortly after the recent elections. 

The alliance had agreed that Mahathir 

would be prime minister and then hand over 

the reins to Anwar. On Saturday, Anwar said 

that contesting a by-election after a lawmaker 

from his party resigned earlier in the week 

was "well within the plan" of his eventual 

succession, but that he was in no rush to take 

over. 

"I think the succession plan is as agreed," 

Anwar said. "Let Prime Minister Mahathir 

conduct the affairs of the state. We support 

him, that's important. And I don't think we 

should be rushing to it, because he's playing 

a very critical role for the country." 

"The country needs stability and a strong 

leader now and I want to make sure that he 

is effective in his position," he added. 

NASA satellite 

launched to measure 

Earth’s ice changes 

A NASA satellite designed to precisely measure 

changes in Earths ice sheets, glaciers, sea 

ice and vegetation was launched into polar 

orbit from California early Saturday. 

A Delta 2 rocket carrying ICESat-2 lifted 

off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 6:02 

a.m. and headed over the Pacific Ocean. 

NASA Earth Science Division director 

Michael Freilich says that the mission in particular 

will advance knowledge of how the ice 

sheets of Greenland and Antarctica contribute 

to sea level rise. 

The melt from those ice sheets alone has 

raised global sea level by more than 1 millimeter 

(0.04 inch) a year recently, according 

to NASA. 

The mission is a successor to the original 

Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite that 

operated from 2003 to 2009. Measurements 

continued since then with airborne instruments 

in NASA's Operation IceBridge. 

Built by Northrop Grumman, ICESat-2 

carries a single instrument, a laser altimeter 

Anwar spoke to reporters on the sidelines 

of the Singapore Summit, which was attended 

by business leaders and academics from 

Asia. 

He said he has a close relationship with 

Mahathir and sees no reason to doubt his 

sincerity, given how he has acted in the four 

months since the historic electoral victory. 

The government has clamped down on 

corruption by making the country's anti-corruption 

body accountable to Parliament 

instead of just the prime minister, Anwar 

said. 

It also has recovered millions from the 

$4.5 billion that reportedly was misappropriated 

from the indebted 1MDB Malaysian 

state investment fund, he added. 

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib 

Razak is facing seven charges of criminal 

breach of trust, abuse of power and money 

laundering involving the transfer of 42 million 

ringgit ($10.2 million) into his bank 

accounts from SRC International, a former 

unit of the 1MDB fund. 

Mahathir, 93, has endorsed Anwar's move 

to contest the by-election and said he would 

not renege on his promise to hand over power, 

despite not having settled on a date. 

A by-election will be held in the southern 

coastal town of Port Dickson after a lawmaker 

from Anwar's party resigned to make way 

for his comeback. The Election Commission 

will set a date for the vote, which must be 

held within two months. 

that measures height by determining how 

long it takes photons to travel from the 

spacecraft to Earth and back. According to 

NASA, it will collect more than 250 times as 

many measurements as the first ICESat. 

The laser is designed to fire 10,000 times 

per second, divided into six beams of hundreds 

of trillions of photos. The round trip is 

timed to a billionth of a second. 

In addition to ice, the satellite's other 

measurements, such as the tops of trees, 

snow and river heights, may help with 

research into the amount of carbon stored in 

forests, flood and drought planning and 

wildfire behavior, among other uses. 

The launch was the last for a Delta 2 rocket, 

United Launch Alliance said. 

The first Delta 2 lifted off on Feb. 14, 1989, 

and since then it has been the launch vehicle 

for Global Positioning System orbiters, Earth 

observing and commercial satellites, and 

interplanetary missions including the twin 

Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. 

NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) spacecraft 

arrives at the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Air Force 

Base in California ahead of its scheduled launch. 

Photo: Internet 

Toxic waste sites in Florence's 

path under close watch 

As Tropical Storm Florence 

spins inland, environmental 

regulators are monitoring 

more than three dozen toxic 

waste sites in the storm's 

path, as well as scores of lowlying 

water- and sewagetreatment 

plants at risk of 

flooding. 

The Environmental Protection 

Agency has identified 41 

Superfund sites in threatened 

parts of the Carolinas, Virginia 

and Maryland and 

Georgia, including polluted 

industrial sites, chemical 

plants, coastal shipyards and 

military bases. 

EPA spokesman John 

Konkus said the agency is listening 

for any word of oil or 

hazardous substance spills 

from first responders, media 

reports and state and local 

emergency command posts. 

He said federal on-scene 

coordinators and equipment 

stand ready to deploy if needed. 

Superfund sites are among 

the nation's most highly polluted 

places. They often contain 

contaminated soil and 

toxic waste at risk of spreading 

if covered by floodwaters. 

More than a dozen Superfund 

sites in the Houston 

metro area were flooded last 

year during Hurricane Harvey, 

with breaches of potentially 

harmful materials 

reported at two. 

Though it was downgraded 

to a Category 1 hurricane at 

landfall Friday and later 

weakened to a tropical storm, 

Florence remains a massive 

storm that will dump trillions 

of gallons of rain on eastern 

North Carolina before sweeping 

across South Carolina. 

No toxic spills had been 

reported as of Friday afternoon, 

but the region's rivers 

were not expected to crest for 

days. Forecasters predicted 

severe flooding for parts of 

southeastern North Carolina 

UN Police conducts search operation in Juba Protection of Civilians site, 

South Sudan. 

Photo: Internet 

Philippines checking typhoon's 

damage, casualties amid rains 

and northeastern South Carolina 

starting Sunday. 

The worst natural disaster 

in North Carolina history was 

Hurricane Floyd in 1999, 

which dumped nearly 2 feet 

(60 centimeters) of rain and 

flooded a broad swath of the 

coastal plain, swamping 

whole towns and dozens of 

hog farm lagoons containing 

millions of gallons (liters) of 

untreated urine and feces. 

Florence, a slow-moving 

system that forecasters say 

could release more than 3 

feet (90 centimeters) of rain 

in places, could end up being 

even worse. 

Environmental groups said 

Friday that they were worried 

that scores of hog lagoons will 

burst again or be overtopped 

by flooding, spilling their contents 

into rivers used as 

sources of drinking water. 

Also of concern were more 

than three dozen coal ash 

dumps at power plants in the 

region. The gray ash that 

remains after coal is burned 

contains potentially harmful 

Philippine officials 

were assessing damage 

and checking on possible 

casualties as 

Typhoon Mangkhut on 

Saturday pummeled 

the northern breadbasket 

with ferocious wind 

and rain that set off 

landslides, damaged an 

airport terminal and 

ripped off tin roofs. 

There are no immediate 

deaths reported but 

Defense Secretary Delfin 

Lorenzana said officials 

in northeastern Cagayan 

province, where the 

typhoon slammed ashore 

before dawn, were verifying 

the drownings of two 

children. Authorities 

were also checking what 

happened to about 70 

men who reportedly 

returned to their coastal 

village to check on their 

homes during dangerous 

storm surges that saw 

walls of seawater 

whipped inland. 

Mangkhut's sustained 

winds weakened to 170 

kilometers (105 miles) 

per hour with gusts of up 

to 260 kph (161 mph) 

after it sliced across 

Luzon Island's floodprone 

rice plains and 

mountain provinces 

toward the South China 

Sea, aiming at southern 

China and Hong Kong, 

where residents braced 

for the worst. 

"It's still a life and death 

situation," Lorenzana 

said by telephone, citing 

past drownings in swollen 

rivers in mountain 

provinces. 

Storm warnings 

remained hoisted in 10 

northern provinces, 

including Cagayan, which 

could still be lashed by 

devastating winds, forecasters 

said. Tens of thousands 

of people on the 

typhoon's path had been 

evacuated. 

At daybreak in 

Cagayan's capital, Tuguegarao, 

Associated Press 

journalists saw a severely 

damaged public market, 

its roof ripped apart and 

wooden stalls and tarpaulin 

canopies in disarray. 

Outside a popular shopping 

mall, debris was 

scattered everywhere and 

government workers 

clearing roads of fallen 

trees. 

Many stores and houses 

were damaged but most 

residents remained 

indoors as occasional 

gusts sent small pieces of 

tin sheets and other 

debris flying dangerously. 

Tuguegarao airport terminal 

was badly damaged, 

its roof and glass 

windows shattered by 

strong wind, which also 

sent chairs, tables and 

papers flipping about 

inside, Lorenzana said. 

The typhoon struck at 

the start of the rice and 

corn harvesting season in 

Cagayan, a major agricultural 

producer, prompting 

farmers to scramble 

to save what they could of 

their crops, Cagayan Gov. 

Manuel Mamba said. 

A government damage 

assessment was underway 

except in areas still 

being battered by wind 

and rain. Two air force C- 

130 cargo planes and 10 

helicopters were on 

standby in Manila to help 

transport rescuers and 

aid supplies. 

More than 5 million 

people were at risk from 

the storm, which the 

Hawaii-based Joint 

Typhoon Warning Center 

downgraded from a super 

typhoon but one that's 

still punching powerful 

winds and gusts equivalent 

to a category 4 

Atlantic hurricane. 

In Hong Kong, Security 

Minister John Lee Kachiu 

urged residents to 

prepare for the worst as 

amounts of mercury, arsenic 

and lead. 

Among the Superfund sites 

most at risk from Florence is 

Horton Iron and Metal, a former 

shipbreaking operation 

and fertilizer manufacturing 

site in a low-lying floodplain 

along the Cape Fear River 

outside Wilmington, North 

Carolina. The 7.4-acre (3- 

hectare) site is heavily contaminated 

with pesticides, 

asbestos, toxic metals and 

cancer-causing PCBs. 

Upriver along the Cape 

Fear is Carolina Transformer 

Co., a 5-acre (2-hectare) 

Superfund site in Fayetteville 

that also contains contaminated 

soil and groundwater 

contaminated with PCBs. 

Forecasts call for the river 

to crest Monday at Fayetteville 

at more than 62 feet 

(19 meters) - nearly 30 feet (9 

meters) above flood stage. 

In Elizabeth City, the Triangle 

Pacific Corp. site includes 

a World War II-era Navy 

blimp base along the 

Pasquotank River that was 

Mangkhut barreled 

toward the southern Chinese 

city. 

Cathay Pacific said all 

flights will be canceled 

between 2:30 a.m. local 

time on Sunday and 4 

a.m. Monday. 

"Because Mangkhut will 

bring winds and rains of 

extraordinary speeds, 

scope and severity, our 

preparation and response 

efforts will be greater 

than in the past," Lee told 

a briefing on Friday. 

"Each department must 

have a sense of crisis, 

make a comprehensive 

assessment and plan, and 

prepare for the worst." 

In nearby Fujian 

province, 51,000 people 

were evacuated from fishing 

boats and around 

11,000 vessels returned to 

port on Saturday morning. 

China's National Meteorological 

Center issued 

an alert saying Mangkhut 

would make landfall 

somewhere on the coast 

in Guangdong province 

on Sunday afternoon or 

night, packing strong 

winds and heavy rains. 

Ferry services in the 

Qiongzhou Strait in 

southern China were 

halted on Saturday and 

helicopters and tugboats 

dispatched to Guangdong 

to transfer offshore workers 

to safety and warn 

ships about the typhoon, 

state-run Xinhua News 

Agency reported. 

Mangkhut, the Thai 

word for mangosteen 

fruit, is the 15th storm 

this year to batter the 

Philippines, which is hit 

by about 20 a year and is 

considered one of the 

world's most disasterprone 

countries. 

Typhoon Haiyan left 

more than 7,300 people 

dead or missing, flattened 

villages, swept ships 

inland and displaced 

more than 5 million in the 

central Philippines in 

2013. 

later purchased by a company 

that manufactured wooden 

cabinetry. The site is contaminated 

with toluene, acetone, 

cadmium and arsenic. 

Also of concern is the 

sprawling Norfolk Naval 

Shipyard in Virginia and 

Marine Corps bases at Camp 

Lejeune and Cherry Point in 

North Carolina and at Parris 

Island in South Carolina. 

The shipyard near the 

mouth of the Chesapeake Bay 

dates to 1767 and contains 

contaminated soil and 

groundwater from more than 

two centuries' worth of 

dumped hazardous chemicals. 

Hazards at the Marine 

bases include ground saturated 

with toxic chemicals, old 

paint, ash from old trash 

burn pits and unexploded 

ordnance. 

Nationwide, there are 327 

Superfund sites in areas 

prone to flooding or vulnerable 

to sea-level rise caused by 

climate change, according to 

an Associated Press analysis 

of flood-zone maps. 

UN condemns 

'direct attack' on 

peacekeepers in 

South Sudan 

The United Nations is condemning 

a "direct attack" 

on its peacekeeping mission 

in South Sudan after a 

government soldier shot 

and wounded a Nepalese 

peacekeeper. 

The shooting on Saturday 

comes three days after 

South Sudan's warring 

sides signed a peace deal 

to end the civil war. 

The U.N. statement says 

the South Sudanese soldier 

fired into the air near 

the U.N. convoy in the 

town of Yei before shooting 

at one of the vehicles. 

It says the peacekeepers 

could not return fire 

because of the risk of hitting 

civilians. 

The U.N. mission chief, 

David Shearer, calls the 

attack "unacceptable'" and 

calls on South Sudan's 

government to bring its 

forces under control. 

The U.N. also says government 

troops earlier 

Saturday fired about 50 

shots close to the U.N. 

base in Yei. 

Man arrested in 

connection with 

missing girl 

Authorities have arrested a 

41-year-old man in connection 

with the disappearance 

of a 10-year-old 

girl whose body was discovered 

near her hometown. 

FBI spokeswoman Staci 

Pellessier says in an email 

that 41-year-old Peter Wilson 

of Kotzebue is facing 

charges of making false 

statements to a federal 

agent investigating the 

death of Ashley Johnson- 

Barr of Kotzbue. Pellessier 

says Wilson is being transferred 

to Anchorage. 

Alaska State Troopers 

say Ashley Johnson-Barr's 

remains were found east of 

Kotzebue. 

The girl was last seen 

playing with friends at a 

local park Sept. 6. Her cellphone 

was later found.

ART & CULTURE 

SUndAy, 

SePTeMBeR 16, 2018 

8 

After Anushka Sharma, Rajnikanth 

Starrer '2.0' is the latest one to catch 

the interest of the meme makers 

Bollywood celebrities have always found 

themselves on the receiving end with regard to 

trolls and memes. From superstars to 

newcomers, no one is spared in this age of the 

internet. After Anushka Sharma, whose 

character from her upcoming film was made 

into memes, it is now superstar Rajnikanth 

starrer '2.0' which is currently trending on the 

social media. 

Rajnikanth and Akshay Kumar, who is all set 

H o RoSCoPe 

ARIeS 

(March 21 - April 20): Natives 

of Aries are often confident and 

energetic people, who should 

consider setting up arrangements for larger 

family gatherings like reunions. Natives of this 

sign are often driving forces in the professional 

and political areas. 

TAURUS 

(April 21 - May 21): The 

obstacles you face at the 

moment may be daunting but 

you have what it takes to overcome them. 

Don't try to avoid what fate sends your way 

over the next few days - it is designed to 

strengthen you, not destroy you. 

GeMInI 

(May 22 - June 21): There may 

be times when you would like 

nothing better than to cut 

yourself off from the world at 

large but that simply isn't possible. Make 

the best job of what you are expected to do 

and try to steal a few hours for yourself 

later on. 

CAnCeR 

(June 22 - July 23): Some 

things are important and some 

things are not and if you don't 

yet know the difference then it's time you 

found out. This should be a productive time 

for you but you need to learn how to say 

"no" when people ask you for favours. 

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. 

to star in '2.0' went on to release the teaser of 

the film. Minutes after its release, it caught the 

attention of the meme brigade. Especially, the 

villain's obsession with cell phones was made 

into jokes and memes. 

Touted to be one of the costliest Indian 

movies ever, it marks the debut of Akshay in 

Tamil film industry. 

The teaser went on to cross over a million 

views in one day. |Source: TOI] 

Javed Akhtar to pen lyrics for 

ashutosh gowariker's 'Panipat' 

Veteran writer Javed Akhtar is set to pen the lyrics for 

filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker's period film 'Panipat'. The 

film, which features Arjun Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Sanjay 

Dutt in pivotal roles, is based on the third battle of Panipat 

that took place in 1761. 

'Panipat' marks eighth collaboration between Akhtar and 

Gowariker. They have earlier worked together on 'Lagaan', 

'Swades', 'Jodhaa Akbar' and 'Mohenjo Daro' among 

others. Composers Ajay-Atul will score the music for the 

film. In the film, Arjun plays the role of Maratha leader 

Sadashivrao Bhau while Sanjay is portraying Ahmad Shah 

Durrani. 

The film has a release date of December 6, 2019 and will 

be produced by Sunita Gowariker. 

Ace fashion designer Neeta Lulla will create the costumes 

for the project. |Source: TOI] 

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. 

The House With A Clock In Its Walls 

A young orphan named Lewis Barnavelt aids his magical uncle in 

locating a clock with the power to bring about the end of the world. 

Release Date : 14 September 2018 (USA) 

Director : Eli Roth 

Writers : Eric Kripke, John Bellairs 

Stars : Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Lorenza Izzo 

Taglines : You're invited somewhere timeless 

Genres : Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Horror, 

Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller 

Runtime : 104 minutes 

Also known as : The House with a Clock in Its Walls 

Country : USA 

Language : English 

Production : DreamWorks, Ambling Entertainment, 

Mythology Entertainment 

Filming location : Greenville Street, Newnan, 

Georgia, USA 

SToRylIne : 

Lewis Barnavelt, after losing his parents, is sent to Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan. He discovers his uncle is a warlock, and enters a 

world of magic and sorcery. But this power is not limited to good people: Lewis learns of Isaac Izard, an evil wizard who wanted to cause the 

Apocalypse so that he could see what happened afterwards. To do this, he constructed a magical clock with black magic, as long as it exists it 

will keep ticking, counting down to doomsday. He died before he could finish the clock, but he hid the clock in his house, where Uncle Jonathan 

now lives. Now Lewis and Jonathan must find the clock before it's too late, and before Isaac's wife, Selena, gets to it. |Source: IMDb] 

'Saamy Square' to hit the screens on Sept 21 

The trailer of 'Saamy Square' featuring 

Chiyaan Vikram in the lead was released 

recently and the film appears to be high 

on action. Meanwhile, it has been 

officially confirmed that the film will hit 

the screens on September 21. Shibu 

Thameens, producer of Saamy Square 

has confirmed the same through his 

social networking page. 

'Saamy Square' is a sequel the 

blockbuster cop thriller that released in 

2003. Touted to be a racy entertainer, 

the sequel will see Vikram returning as 

the foul-mouthed police officer 

Aarusaamy. Directed by Hari, the film 

also boasts an ensemble of actors 

including Keerthy Suresh, Aishwarya 

Rajesh, Bobby Simha, John Vijay, Soori, 

and Prabhu. 

Going by the trailer, 'Saamy Square' 

appears to be a revenge sage between 

Aarusamy (Vikram) and Ravana Pichai 

(Bobby Simha), son of Perumal Pichai. 

Though the trailer doesn't give out 

much of the plot, the film seems to be 

packaged in such a way that it might 

work with the mass audience. 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (3D) 

12:45 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm 

Incredibles (3D) 

6:00 pm 

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (3D) 

11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 4:50 pm, 7:10 pm 

Kin (2D) 

12:15 pm, 2:30 pm, 7:15 pm 

The Spy Who Dumped Me (2D) 

11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 4:45 pm 

Captain Khan (2D) 

1:50 pm, 7:10 pm 

The Nun (2D) 

11:45 am, 2:00 pm, 2:40 pm, 4:15 pm, 5:00 pm, 6:30 

pm, 7:20 pm 

The Predator (3D) 

10:30 am, 12:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 4:45 pm, 7:50 pm 

*Authority reserves the right for any changes. 

While it was Harris Jayaraj who 

composed music for the original, the 

sequel has music by Devi Sri Prasad. 

SHOWTIME 

Raj off to Sylhet 

to shoot Prem 

Amar 2 

Raj Chakrabarty is all set to roll out the sequel to 

his superhit film Prem Amar. The director, who is off 

to Sylhet, Bangladesh, took to social media to share 

the news with his fans and followers. In 2009, Raj's 

Prem Amar wowed one and all. 

The tragic love story struck a chord with the 

audience and remains one of Raj Chakraborty's 

finest films. Nine years since that, Raj is back with 

the sequel to it titled Prem Amar 2. 

This one is a romantic road movie that deals with 

unrequited love. The film starts with a bus accident 

and shows the lives of the survivors and how their 

love was either destroyed or lost because of the 

mishap. 

|Source: TOI] 

The film has been cleared with a clean 

'U' certificate from the censor board. 

|Source: TOI] 

Alpha (3D) 

5:10 pm, 7:20 pm 

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (3D) 

11:10 am, 2:10 pm 

The Predator (3D) 

11:20 am, 1:50 pm, 4:00 pm, 4:20 pm, 6:45 

pm, 7:00 pm 

The Nun (2D) 

10:50 am, 11:00 am, 11:30 am, 1:00 pm, 1:40 

pm, 2:00 pm, 3:10 pm, 4:40 pm, 5:20 pm, 

7:20 pm, 7:30 pm 

Bhaijaan (2D) 

1:40 pm, 7:30 pm 

Poramon 2 (2D) 

10:45 am, 4:30 pm 

*Authority reserves the right for any changes.

SPORTS 

9 

SunDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 

Asia Cup 2018: Pakistan 

face Hong Kong today 

Cavani found the net at the Parc des Princes to allow PSG to make it five wins from five games at the 

start of their defence of the French title. 

Photo: AP 

PSG prepares for Liverpool with 

Saint-Etienne thrashing 

Sports Desk: 

It has been a roller coaster year for 

Hong Kong cricket. They endured 

heartbreak by losing ODI status at the 

start of the year during the World Cup 

qualifiers but bounced back with a 

sparkling effort to clinch the only spot 

for the Asia Cup 2018. Now they are 

ready to face Pakistan in the second 

fixture of Asia Cup at the Dubai 

International Cricket Stadium today. 

Both teams have played two ODI's 

against each other with Pakistan 

comprehensively leading the scoreline 

2-0, reports AP. 

In their most recent clash back in 

2008 Asia Cup, Pakistan scored 288/9 

in their 50 overs after electing to bat 

first. They then wrapped up Hong Kong 

for just 133 in the 38th over to win the 

match by a whopping 155 runs. 

Pakistan, unsurprisingly, are the 

obvious favourites to win this Asia Cup 

fixture and they will be eying this game 

as an opportunity to familiarize 

themselves with the conditions and 

gain momentum before taking on 

India. Sarfraz's side are coming into 

this tournament on the back of a 5-0 

ODI series win against Zimbabwe and 

will aim to replicate it during the Asia 

Cup as well. 

Fakhar Zaman is coming off a 

fantastic ODI series in Zimbabwe 

where he finished as the leading rungetter 

with 515 runs and is going to be 

the key man for his side. While Babar 

Azam averaged an impressive 184 in 

that series and is expected to score 

some runs up front. 

Shoaib Malik is the most experienced 

batsman in this line-up and he is also 

among the leading run scorers in ODIs 

with 7,015 runs. Except these three, the 

team will also bank on the likes of 

skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and Imam-ul- 

Haq. Together, they form a formidable 

batting line-up and are expected to 

cause problems for the Hong Kong 

inexperienced bowling unit. 

Faheem Ashraf bagged the most 

wickets against Zimbabwe - 9 in 4 

matches. While Hasan Ali has 68 

wickets in 33 ODIs and he could 

trouble Hong Kong early on with the 

new ball. Mohammad Amir and 

Shadab Khan are the other big threats 

in Pakistan's bowling attack and are 

expected to cause problems for Hong 

Kong. 

Expected Playing XI : Sarfraz Ahmed 

©, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, 

Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, 

Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar 

Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali and 

Faheem Ashraf. 

Hong Kong roared loudly in the Asia 

Cup Qualifier and winning the 

tournament would have given them a 

lot of confidence. They will now be 

coming into this match with high hopes 

and a belief that they can cause an 

upset. However, facing Pakistan would 

be a completely different challenge for 

them. 

Hong Kong batting will rely mainly 

on Babar Hayat, Anshuman Rath and 

Nizakat Khan. Babar has scored the 

most runs for the team in ODIs (759 

runs in 20 matches and has eight fifties 

to his name). Anshuman was their best 

batsman in the recent Asia Cup 

Qualifier in Malaysia with 209 runs and 

the skipper will be expected to lead 

from the front. Nizakat has the best 

ODI strike rate for Hong Kong. All 

three will look to take Hong Kong off to 

a brisk start. 

When it comes to bowling, the 

skipper will turn to the likes of Nadeem 

Ahmed, Ehsan Khan and Tanwir Afzal 

to apply pressure on the Pakistani 

batsmen. Left-arm spinner Nadeem is 

the team's leading wicket-taker in ODIs 

and he was their most successful 

bowler in the Asia Cup Qualifier with 14 

wickets in 6 matches. Ehsan and 

Tanwir too did a good job in that 

tournament. 

Expected Playing XI: Anshuman 

Rath ©, Babar Hayat, Kinchit Shah, 

Christopher Carter, Ehsan Khan, Aizaz 

Khan, Scott McKechnie, Tanwir Afzal, 

Ehsan Nawaz, Nadeem Ahmed and 

Nizakat Khan. 

Sports Desk: 

Kylian Mbappe and Neymar watched 

on from the stands as Paris Saint- 

Germain prepared for their Champions 

League trip to Liverpool with an 

emphatic 4-0 win over Saint-Etienne in 

Ligue 1 on Friday. Julian Draxler, 

Edinson Cavani, Angel di Maria and 

youngster Moussa Diaby all found the 

net at the Parc des Princes to allow PSG 

to make it five wins from five games at 

the start of their defence of the French 

title. It was a fine win for PSG, who 

have already scored 17 goals in the 

league this season, and Thomas Tuchel 

is the first coach to win his first five 

league games in charge of the club, 

reports AP. 

"We've won five times and that shows 

we still have a hunger to continue 

winning," said Tuchel. 

However, there is little doubt that 

PSG will face a far tougher examination 

at Anfield in their opening Champions 

League group outing than they did here 

against Saint-Etienne. 

"I'm pleased also that we've played 

without having our heads turned by the 

game on Tuesday," added PSG's 

German coach. 

"I've got ideas (as to his line-up) but 

I'm still reflecting on them. I'll talk to 

the key players and I'll be watching 

Liverpool's game against Tottenham 

and decide on Monday." 

Mbappe was absent as he began a 

three-match ban handed down 

following his red card in the win at 

Nimes just before the international 

break, and Neymar sat alongside him 

in the crowd, rested after playing for 

Brazil in a friendly in the United States 

in midweek. 

Being without the two most 

expensive players in the world was not 

a problem for the reigning champions, 

with Tuchel able to give Draxler his first 

start of the season while midfielder 

Marco Verratti appeared in a Ligue 1 

game for the first time since March. 

There was also a debut for Spanish 

left-back Juan Bernat following his 

recent move from Bayern Munich, and 

while the visitors started well enough, 

PSG never looked back after taking the 

lead midway through the first half. 

Verratti's ball over the top found 

Draxler in the box, with the German 

midfielder controlling the ball with his 

head and then nodding it over Saint- 

Etienne goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier. 

The Saint-Etienne players were 

wearing shirts carrying the name of 

William Gomis, a former youth player 

at the club who was shot dead in the 

south of France earlier this week. 

PSG's second goal arrived just after 

half-time, with Cavani converting a 

penalty, his third goal in as many 

games this season, after he had been 

Moeen Ali played his first Ashes series at home in 2015. 

chopped down in the box by Loic 

Perrin. 

With PSG goalkeeper Alphonse 

Areola, preferred to Gianluigi Buffon 

and fresh from winning his first two 

senior caps for France, a virtual 

spectator, the hosts went on to add two 

more goals late on. 

Diaby, the 19-year-old who was sent 

on at the start of the second half in 

place of Lassana Diarra, helped set up 

Di Maria to lash a shot into the roof of 

the net for the third. 

Then Diaby rounded off the scoring 

after Cavani's swipe at a Draxler 

cutback had turned into an assist for 

the teenager. 

Earlier on Friday, Nice shook off the 

absence of Mario Balotelli as they came 

from behind to beat Rennes 2-1 on the 

Cote d'Azur. 

A Malang Sarr own goal had allowed 

Rennes to take the lead, but Allan 

Saint-Maximin equalised before Pierre 

Lees-Melou's 89th-minute winner for 

Patrick Vieira's side. 

Lyon warm up for their Champions 

League trip to Manchester City next 

midweek by going to Caen on Saturday 

evening. 

France's other Champions League 

contenders are Monaco, who face inform 

Toulouse away on Saturday night 

before hosting Atletico Madrid on 

Tuesday. 

Mourinho 'in the dark' over Raiola's plans for Pogba 

Sports Desk: 

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has claimed 

he is "in the dark" over Paul Pogba's outspoken agent Mino 

Raiola's intentions for the French World Cup winner, reports 

BSS. 

The United manager was forced to discuss his relationship 

with the club's record signing once again after a week in 

which Pogba heightened the uncertainty over his future on 

international duty. 

Pogba was routinely dropped by Mourinho last season, but, 

despite being an ever-present this campaign, has hinted his 

relationship with the United manager remains strained. 

Raiola has also fanned speculation that Pogba would 

welcome a possible move to Barcelona. 

But Mourinho insisted that Pogba has given him no 

indication that he is unhappy at Old Trafford and that if he or 

his agent wish to pursue a move, they should tell him directly. 

"I don't know if that is true," said Mourinho when asked if 

Raiola was trying to engineer a move for his client. 

"I also need the agent to tell me or tell you in a way that I 

can see. If I watch Mr. Raiola on the screen saying the player 

wants to leave, and that he is organising a way for him to try 

to leave or so on, then I will believe. 

"At this moment, I am in the dark. The only thing that is 

clear for me is that the player never - in all these days we are 

together - he never told me that he wants to leave." 

The relationship between manager and his high-profile 

midfielder has been one of the many testing issues Mourinho 

has faced this season and dates back to before Pogba scoring 

in the World Cup final in July. 

During United's summer tour to the United States, 

Mourinho hinted Pogba needed to show the same discipline 

at club level as he did with his country. "One thing I can 

assure you: I will always give 100 per cent, no matter which 

coach I always give everything for United," Pogba said last 

week. "My future is currently in Manchester, I still have a 

contract, I'm playing there at the moment, but who knows 

what will happen in the next few months." 

Photo: AP 

Fakhar Zaman is coming off a fantastic ODI series in Zimbabwe where he finished as the leading rungetter 

with 515 runs and is going to be the key man for his side. 

Photo: AP 

Moeen Ali accuses Australian player called 

him 'Osama' during Ashes series 

Sports Desk: 

Moeen Ali has alleged that 

he was subjected to racial 

slurs during the 2015 Ashes 

by an Australian player. The 

abuse is supposed to have 

taken place during the first 

Test in Cardiff, where the allrounder 

had scored crucial 

77 while batting at No. 8 and 

claimed five wickets in the 

game as the hosts cantered 

to a 169-run win, reports 

Cricbuzz. 

"It was a great first Ashes 

Test in terms of my personal 

performance. However 

there was one incident 

which had distracted me. An 

Australian player had turned 

to me on the field and said, 

'Take that, Osama.' I could 

not believe what I had heard. 

I remember going really red. 

I have never been so angry 

on a cricket field," he wrote 

in his autobiography. 

"I told a couple of the guys 

what the player had said to 

me and I think Trevor 

Bayliss [the England coach] 

must have raised it with 

Darren Lehmann, the 

Australians' coach. 

"Lehmann asked the 

player, 'Did you call Moeen 

Osama?' He denied it, 

saying, 'No, I said, 'Take 

that, you part-timer." I must 

say I was amused when I 

heard that, obviously I had 

to take the player's word for 

it, though for the rest of the 

match I was angry." 

Moeen stressed the 

Australian players weren't 

intimidating but were just 

rude and disrespectful. "The 

first game I ever played 

against them, in Sydney, just 

before the 2015 World Cup, 

they were not just going 

hard at you, they were 

almost abusing you," he 

revealed. "That was the first 

time it hit me. I gave them 

the benefit of the doubt, but 

the more I played against 

them they were just as bad, 

the Ashes here (in 2015) they 

were worse actually. 

"Not intimidating, just 

rude. Individually they are 

fine and the Aussies we've 

had at Worcester have been 

fantastic, lovely guys." 

Since the ball-tampering 

saga earlier this year, the 

Australian cricketing culture 

has come under the 

microscope for the players' 

supposed lack of on-field 

ethics and integrity. Moeen 

said it was really hard for 

him to feel bad for the 

Australian players. 

"Everyone you speak to... 

they are the only team I've 

played against my whole life 

that I've actually disliked," 

he told The Times. "Not 

because it's Australia and 

they are the old enemy but 

because of the way they 

carry on and [their] 

disrespect of people and 

players. 

"I'm someone who 

generally feels sorry for 

people when things go 

wrong but it's difficult to feel 

sorry for them. This ODI 

series they were very good 

actually; 

they'd 

been...humbled." 

Moeen stressed one of the 

reasons he failed to perform 

in the 2017 Ashes tour was 

because he found it hard to 

switch off amidst the 

constant 'chirping'. He 

scored just 179 runs at an 

average of 19.88 in addition 

to the five wickets he picked 

up. "I found it very difficult 

in Australia to switch off," he 

revealed. "It was my first 

Ashes tour and I was 

desperate to do well and was 

really looking forward to it. I 

worked so hard on the short 

ball before the series began, 

maybe too hard. 

"Then (Nathan) Lyon kept 

getting me out. I found that 

very hard to deal with. I 

never thought that I was a 

poor player of spin but I 

really struggled against him. 

I wasn't getting any wickets 

either. Things just got 

tougher and tougher. 

Badminton: World champion Momota 

reaches Japan Open final 

Sports Desk: 

Kento Momota defeated first seed Viktor Axelsen to secure a Japan Open final berth on 

Saturday, with the reigning world champion dominating an aggressive game 21-18, 21-11, 

reports BSS. 

Momota's victory over the 24-year-old Danish giant will see him square off on Sunday 

against Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab, who beat South Korea's Lee Dong Keun 21-12, 21-16. 

"It was really tough to endure a long rally while paying attention to sharp shots from 

Axelsen," Momota told TV Asahi after the match. 

"I think I could win because I was able to chase the shuttlecock aggressively until the last 

minute," he added. Momota last month became the first Japanese man to win the badminton 

World Championships, putting behind him a gambling scandal that threatened to ruin his 

career. 

The 24-year-old was engulfed by controversy in 2016 when Japanese badminton chiefs 

suspended him for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino, denying him a place at the 

Rio Olympics. Momota, number two in the world at the time, has been working his way back 

to the top ever since. In women's singles, Olympic champion Carolina Marin sent China's 

Chen Yufei packing after beating the world number five 21-12, 21-13. 

The Spaniard became the first woman to win three badminton world titles after an 

emphatic victory over P.V. Sindhu of India in Nanjing last month. 

The all-action 25-year-old added the 2018 crown to her 2014 and 2015 titles, as well as the 

Olympic gold she won over the unlucky Sindhu at Rio 2016. 

Marin will face on Sunday Japan's 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara, 23, who beat 

Aya Ohori also from Japan 21-12, 21-12.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

BANGLADESHTODAY 10 

THE 

SUNDAy, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 

Vivo Unveils V11 Pro V11 in Bangladesh 

Environment Dept. and Walton organise Special Seminar 

Speakers stress on manufacturing power 

efficient appliances to protect Ozone Layer 

Vivo, the young global smart 

phone brand has today announced 

the much waited V11 Pro and V11 in 

Bangladesh. The launching event 

was held at a hotel in Dhaka with the 

presence of Vivo high officials, 

celebrities and members of the 

media, a press release said. 

Vivo is always striving towards 

bringing the latest technology 

devices to the users and in keeping 

with that they have launched the 

flagship device in Bangladesh. Vivo 

Managing Director Mr. Duke; from 

Global Brand Team Brent Loree, and 

other officials were present in the 

launching program. 

V11 Pro features Dual Engine Fast 

Charging technology which is twice 

as fast compared with a standard 

charging technology while V11 

comes with Fast Charging 

technology. With V11 Pro, Vivo is 

introducing In-Display Fingerprint 

for the first time in Bangladesh, once 

more becoming the trendsetter in 

the industry. Both the exciting new 

phones pack a 25-megapixel front 

camera, 2 rear cameras and a total of 

3 cameras, yet again proving Vivo's 

continuous dedication in providing 

its customers with the best 

photographic experience.Vivo V11 

Pro also features a Halo Full View 

Display. 

The phones run on Vivo's own 

Android Fork Funtouch 4.5 based on 

Android 8.1. Vivo V11 Pro and Vivo 

V11 sport whooshing 6.41-inch and 

6.3-inch displays respectively. 

There's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 

660 chipset paired with up to 6GB of 

RAM and up to 128GB internal 

ROM, expandable up to 256GB 

storage with triple card slot. V11 Pro 

proudly rocks a 3400mAh battery 

and V11 keeps up with 3315mAh. 

On the launching, Vivo Country 

Sales Director Sharon said, "We are 

very happy to be able to bring the V11 

and V11 Pro for the Bangladeshi 

users. The devices are packed with 

the latest features that will help and 

augment the digital life and 

experiences of the users. We believe 

it will create a positive vibe among 

the users of Bangladesh". 

The smart phones will be available 

in Starry Night and Nebula colors 

and will go on sale country wide 

from 16 September on wards. Price 

of V11 is BDT 27,990 and V11Pro is 

BDT 34,990. 

Speakers at a seminar 

stressed on the production 

of huge power efficient 

inverter technology's 

appliances for the sake of 

Ozone Layer protection and 

global warming control, says 

a press release. 

They came up with the 

remark at a special seminar 

on "Ozone Layer and 

Bangladesh" held at the 

conference room of the 

Walton Corporate Office in 

the capital on Saturday (15 

September 2018). 

Centering 'World Ozone 

Day', Department of 

Environment (DoE) and 

Walton Hi-Tech Industries 

Limited (WHIL) jointly 

organized the seminar, in 

which Secretary of 

Environment, Forest and 

Climate Change Ministry 

Abdullah Al Mohsin 

Chowdhury was the chief 

guest. 

DoE's Director General 

Dr. Sultan Ahmed presided 

over the seminar and 

Walton Corporation's 

Managing Director SM 

Mahbubul Alam gave the 

welcome address. 

Walton Group's Deputy 

Executive Director Uday 

Hakim was the moderator in 

the seminar and 

Environment, Forest and 

Climate Change Ministry's 

Additional Secretary Dr. SM 

Manjurul Hannan Khan, 

DoE's Addition Director 

General Kazi Sarwar Imtiaz 

Hashmi, 

UNDP 

Representative Arif Foysal, 

Professor of Chemical 

Engineering Department of 

Bangladesh University of 

Engineering and 

Technology Dr MAA 

Shawkat Chowdhury, 

among others, addressed the 

function. 

Walton Hi-Tech 

Industries Chief Executive 

Director Ashraful Ambia 

presented the key note paper 

in the seminar. 

Speaking as the chief 

guest, Abdullah Al Mohsin 

Chowdhury said, "We will 

not be able to save our earth 

if we fail to take timely 

initiatives in protecting 

ozone layer and controlling 

global warming." 

To this extent, he 

emphasized on the creation 

of awareness towards using 

power efficient appliances 

among the people, along 

with the production of 

energy efficient appliances. 

In his welcome address, 

Walton Corporation's 

Managing Director SM 

Mahbubul Alam said, 

Walton has been 

manufacturing huge power 

saving inverter technology's 

fridges and air conditioners. 

In Bangladesh, labeling of 

star rating on fridges and 

ACs is not compulsory, 

informing it he said, as a 

result, low quality 

appliances are trading in the 

local electronics market, 

which are not only 

consuming huge power but 

also deteriorating our 

environment. 

Thus, he sought on 

making compulsory of start 

rating on the labels of 

electronics appliances so 

that the users would be able 

to sort out the energy 

efficient products. 

In the key note paper, 

WHIL's CEO Ashraful 

Ambia highlighted the 

Walton's green cooling 

technology 

in 

manufacturing energy 

saving appliances to 

contribute in the ozone layer 

protection and global 

warming control. 

Emphasizing on the usage 

of inverter technology's 

electronics and electrical 

appliances, BUET's 

Professor Dr. MAA Shawkat 

Chowdhury said, inverter 

appliances is not only save 

huge power but also run 

longtime comparing to the 

general products. 

UNDP' representative Arif 

Foysal said, producing 

power efficient appliances is 

not enough to protect ozone 

layer from depletion and to 

control global warming. To 

this extent, it is also essential 

to aware the people about 

the benefits of using energy 

saving products. 

DoE's Director General 

Dr. Sultan Ahmed said, 

Montreal Protocol is very 

successful around the world 

as most of the countries 

signed the protocol and 

Bangladesh is a role model 

in implementing the 

Montreal Protocol. 

Mercantile Bank Ltd awarded scholarships tomeritorious children of MBL families at a program held 

at FARS Hotel and Resorts, Dhaka on Saturday Bank's Chairman A.K.M. Shaheed Reza, as the chief 

guest, distributed Cheques & Certificates among the students. Akram Hossain (Humayun), Chairman, 

Executive Committee, was present as special guest & Kazi Masihur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO 

of the Bank presided over the program. The scholarships were givento the students at various levels 

from Class-I to Bachelors. In the same program, the Bank awarded cash prizes& appreciation letters 

to 22 of its officers for obtaining the Certified Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS) and the Certified 

Anti-Money LaunderingSpecialist (CAMS) certifications (15 and 7 respectively). The chief guest A.K.M. 

Shaheed Reza in his speech, advised the students to prepare themselves as responsible citizen to serve 

the nation through proper education and per severance .Bank's Additional Managing DirectorMati Ul 

Hasan, Deputy Managing Directors Gaus-Ul-Wara Md. Mortaza, Md. Zakir Hossain and Adil Raihan, 

and other senior official swere also present. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Carbon Green Cleanses Pesticides & Formalin 

On 14 September, 2018, a press 

conference was organized by Life and 

Health Ltd at the Daily Star Complex. Dr. 

Shakti Paul, Chairman of Life & Health, 

Bangladesh declared "No more fear of 

pesticides and formalin in fresh fruits and 

vegetables". We have got Carbon Green 

that cleans 90-95% of these chemicals 

and makes food safe for consumption, a 

press release said. 

Dr. Shakti added, in order to provide 

sufficient food for 180 million 

Bangladeshis, pesticides are used for high 

yields. According to a study, in the last 10- 

12 years the use of pesticides has 

increased by 328% on agricultural 

products of Bangladesh. Commonly used 

chemicals are Organophosphates 

(parathion, Malathion, diazion), 

Carbamates (aldicarb, carbofuran, 

carbaryl), Pyrethroids (allethrin, 

resmethrin, permethrin, cyfluthrin) and 

Organochlorides (DDT, aldrin). Public 

health laboratories found out a wide 

variety of pesticides and insecticides in 

crops sometimes from 5 to 31 times more 

than the acceptable levels. 

In his presentation Dr. Shakti focused 

on the dangerous health issues such as 

cancer, asthma, chronic bronchitis, 

diabetes, abortion, endometriosis, birth 

defects, autism, Alzheimer's disease, 

Parkinson's disease, etc., caused by the 

use of pesticides and formalin on 

vegetables and fruits. Organophosphates 

cause severe heart and lung problems. 

Carbamates and Pyrethrin in addition to 

the above cause various cancers in the 

body. "We are fast becoming a diseaseridden 

nation due to the lack of social 

awareness and public health concerns 

about pesticides," he added. 

"Life and health" would like to change 

this situation through social campaign 

and networking with people and 

organizations interested in health 

promotion and prevention. We have 

found a safe and inexpensive way to 

remedy the dangers of insecticides and 

formalin, which is "Carbon Green". 

"Regarding the effectiveness and its 

properties, he said, "Carbon Green" 

comprises of the correct proportion of 

sodium bicarbonate and highly activated 

carbon. It has been tested in international 

laboratories - SGS, NIF and OMIC, and 

has proven to remove up to 94% of 

pesticides from the surface of 

contaminated fruits and vegetables. 

Carbon Green is imported from Thailand, 

and tested in BCSIR and certified by BSTI 

of Bangladesh. Dr. Shakti noted that the 

conventional methods of pesticide 

cleaner such as salt water, vinegar and 

potassium permanganate removes 30- 

50% of these chemicals and are therefore, 

not safe for consumption. 

Dr. Nilanjan Sen, Managing Director of 

Life and Health thanked the media and 

journalists for raising public awareness 

about the contamination in fruits and 

vegetables. He announced that Carbon 

Green is now available in the country's 

super shops, pharmacies and other retail 

outlets. 

Ireland's July 

goods import 

growth outpaces 

export by big 

margin 

Ireland's goods import 

growth for July 2018 

outpaced its export growth 

by a big margin, resulting in 

a decline in its trade surplus 

in the month when 

compared with the same 

month last year, reports 

BSS. 

Statistics released by the 

country's national statistics 

bureau CSO on Friday 

showed that in July, 

Ireland's imported goods 

grew by 40 percent to 7.6 

billion euros (8.8 billion U.S. 

dollars) when compared 

with July 2017 while its 

exported goods only grew by 

20 percent over a year ago to 

11 billion euros. 

The rapid rise in the 

country's imported goods in 

the month had led to a 

decline in its trade surplus. 

In July, Ireland's trade 

surplus stood at 3.4 billion 

euros, 400 million euros less 

than the 3.8-billion-euro 

trade surplus recorded in 

July 2017, said the CSO. 

Despite the drop in July's 

trade surplus, the overall 

trade surplus for the country 

in the first seven months of 

this year was still on the rise, 

it said. 

The CSO figures showed 

that in the January-July 

period of this year Ireland 

exported a total of 80.3 

billion euros of goods while 

its total imports were valued 

at 49.3 billion euros with a 

trade surplus of 31 billion 

euros, which represented a 

year-on-year increase of 

nearly 17 percent. 

Alan McQuaid, an 

economist with a local 

consulting company 

Merrion Fixed Income, said 

that while there are a lot of 

uncertainties regarding the 

outlook of the Irish external 

trade, they are still 

anticipating another strong 

performance this year. He 

predicted that the Irish 

goods imports and exports 

will achieve a record surplus 

of around 48 billion euros in 

2018, up from 43.4 billion 

euros in 2017. (1 euro=1.163 

U.S. dollars) 

On 13th September, Industrial Minister Amir Hossain Amu gave the 

CIP -2016 Card and crest to Managing Director of Techno Media Ltd Dr 

Joshoda Jibon Dev Nath at Sonargaon Hotel. Photo: Courtesy 

Tunisian 2019 state budget 

to reach 14.4 b USD 

The Tunisian state budget for 2019 would be 

14.4 billion U.S. dollars, with an annual 

growth of three percent, Finance Minister 

Ridha Chalgoum announced Friday, reports 

BSS. 

Chalghoum made the remarks on the 

sidelines of Tunisia National Conference on 

Economic and Social Orientations of the 2019 

New Finance Law. Chalghoum said the 

government would do its best to lower the 

debt ratio below 70 percent. 

At the opening session of the conference, 

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said 

conflict and political turmoil have disrupted 

the government performance. 

"Various reforms have been delayed 

because of the weakness of political support 

and we will not give up these reforms in the 

interest of Tunisia and its economy," Chahed 

said. 

The Belt and Road Initiative is promoting 

transformation and upgrading of the trade 

between China and Africa and bringing more 

benefits to the people of both sides. 

China has been Africa's largest trading 

partner for nine years in a row. In 2017, 

China's trade with Africa surged 14 percent 

year on year to 170 billion U.S. dollars. The 

fast growth continued into the first half of 

2018 when the trade volume jumped 16 

percent to nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars. 

After the establishment of the China-Africa 

Cooperation Forum in 2000, China-Africa 

economic and trade cooperation has entered a 

period of rapid development. 

Trade volume has grown rapidly from 10 

billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to 170 billion U.S. 

dollars in 2017. With China becoming the 

largest trading partner of Africa for the first 

time in 2009, China-Africa trade has also 

entered a stage of structural adjustment. 

It is worth noting that with the 

implementation of the Belt and Road 

Initiative, the building materials and 

electromechanical products with high added 

value have gradually become the main goods 

exported by China to Africa. Earlier, China 

mainly exported light industry, food, chemical 

products, and livestock products to Africa. 

At the same time, with a series of measures 

such as tariff reduction and exemption 

adopted by China, in recent years, Africa's 

exports to China have grown rapidly. The 

main African export commodities include 

agricultural and forestry raw materials, oil 

and related products, and mineral raw 

materials. 

Due to the differences in industrial structure 

and natural resources between China and 

Africa, the economic and trade cooperation 

between the two sides is highly 

complementary. The focus of trade 

cooperation is mainly on infrastructure and 

capacity cooperation, according to Yang 

Baorong, deputy director of the Institute of 

West-Asian and African Studies (IWAAS) of 

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). 

Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative and 

the international capacity cooperation, many 

infrastructure projects in Africa have been 

launched, leading to the rising demands for 

the building materials.

MISCELLANEOUS 

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 

11 

Experts: Mayan altar 

hints at ancient intrigue 

An altar found at Guatemala's La 

Corona site suggests the Mayan 

dynasty of Kaanul, known as the Snake 

Kings, acted like its namesake in slowly 

squeezing the rival kingdom of Tikal, 

archaeologists said Friday. 

A team led by Marcello Canuto of 

Tulane University uncovered the 

carved stone altar in the northern Peten 

region near the Mexico border. 

When it was first found in 2017, the 

altar was encased in the roots of a tree 

in a collapsed temple. It took a year to 

painstaking pry the massive stone slab 

from the roots, fully excavate it and 

move it to Guatemala City, where it was 

presented this week at a museum. 

The altar is dated A.D. 544 and 

depicts the Tikal ruler Chak Took 

Ich'aak conjuring two local gods from a 

shaft in the form of a snake. 

The same man appears 20 years later 

as a vassal of the Kaanul dynasty and 

the ruler of the larger, nearby city of 

Peru-Waka. But the gods associated 

with him are different local deities 

associated with that place. 

Canuto said the altar suggest 

Kaanul's eventual victory was the result 

of decades of astute politicking and 

cultural appropriation, not just battles. 

Chak Took Ich'aak and his son "are 

trying to show that they are praying or 

conjuring up gods that were there way 

earlier to give them that kind of 

legitimacy," Canuto said. "It's almost 

like they're setting up franchises, but 

using the same recipes of local gods, 

claiming they had access to local 

deities. There's an attempt to render 

this whole process legitimate by 

appealing to local interests." 

A princess from the Kaanul dynasty - 

based in Dzibanche and later Calakmul, 

in neighboring Mexico - had been 

married into the La Corona ruling 

family two decades before. 

It's unlikely that La Corona could 

have simply conquered El Peru, which 

was much more powerful, unless it had 

backing from someone even more 

powerful. 

"This would be equivalent to Cuba 

defeating the United States in a war. 

They could only have done that ... if 

they had had the backing of the Soviet 

Union," Canuto said. 

The enormous city-state of Tikal, 

whose towering temples still stand in 

the jungle, battled for centuries for 

dominance of the Maya world with the 

Kaanul dynasty. Just a few decades 

after the altar was carved, Kaanul 

apparently defeated Tikal by amassing 

a string of allied cities that encircled 

and eventually strangled Tikal. The 

symbol of the Kaanul dynasty were 

stone masks carved in the form of 

grinning snakes. 

Francisco Estrada-Belli, a Tulane 

University archaeologist who was not 

involved in the La Corona discovery, 

said: "Its broader significance is that it 

shows the behind-the-scenes ... 

machinations of the Snake Kings as 

they are expanding their empire in the 

direction of Tikal." 

"Not long ago, we thought the victory 

over Tikal was the result of a sort of outof-the-blue 

blitz," Estrada-Belli said. "It 

is fascinating to learn more about how 

Maya empires expanded, just like in the 

'Game of Thrones.'" 

Tomas Barrientos, an archaeologist 

at the University of the Valley of 

Guatemala noted that "for several 

centuries during the Classic period, the 

Kaanul kings dominated much of the 

Maya Lowlands," until the Maya 

civilization collapsed for reasons that 

still aren't clear. 

"This altar contains information 

about their early strategies of 

expansion," Barrientos said. 

Costa Rica shaken 

by rare and unruly 

unrest, labor strike 

Thousands marching in the streets. 

Flaming barricades. Clashes between 

demonstrators and riot police in 

darkened streets. A semi-truck 

hollowed out by fire. 

Costa Rica has been rocked this week 

by the kind of protests rarely seen in the 

country in comparison with its more 

tumultuous Central American 

neighbors. It comes during a labor 

strike that went into its fifth day Friday 

with no apparent end in sight. 

Spurred by calls from public sector 

unions, demonstrators protested again 

outside the presidential residence and 

blockaded roads in different parts of 

the country to demand President 

Carlos Alvarado scrap a proposed fiscal 

reform before congress that includes 

new taxes. 

Costa Rica's government is struggling 

with a deficit estimated at 7.1 percent of 

GDP this year, which has pushed up the 

public debt load and increased its need 

for revenue. 

Alvarado is proposing to implement a 

value added tax to replace the existing 

sales tax and expand it to goods and 

services that are currently exempt. One 

of the most controversial measures is a 

1 percent duty on basic foodstuffs. 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿ 

Prof. Dr. Saiful Islam, Vice-Chancellor, BUET inaugurating tree plantation campaign 2018 as Chief 

Guest by planting a sapling organized by the Rotary Club of Dhanmondi Dhaka on Saturday at the 

East Side of Dr. M. A. Rashid Bhaban of BUET campus premises. Special Guest Rtn. Md. 

SamsulAlamMallick, President Rotary Club of Dhanmondi Dhaka. Among others: Rtn. 

Asstt.Governor, Rtn. IPP FarhanaFerdous. PP Prof. Dr. Golam Rahman, PP YusuffHarunAshrafi, 

PP Md. NurulHaque, PP Engr. Abdul Qayum Khan, PP A M Rafiqur Rahman, Rtn. Mir Masharraf 

Husain and Dr. Ahsanul Kabir & Dr. Samsul Haque, Prof. Dept. of Civil Engineering. Dr. Shaikh 

Anowarul Fattah & Dr. Samia Subrina, Prof. Dept. of EEE, BUET, Comptroller, Md. JasimUddin 

Ahmed, FCMA, Chief Engineer, Engr. Md. NurulMomen, Dr. Engr. A. K. M. Jahangir Alam, PEng 

BUET were also present on the occasion. 

Photo : Courtesy 

Report: Most dams in Hawaii 

have 'high hazard potential' 

The vast majority of Hawaii's 

state-regulated dams are 

considered to have "high 

hazard potential," according 

to a 2017 infrastructure 

report by the American 

Society of Civil Engineers. 

One of the 124 dams given 

that classification is one in 

Honolulu that prompted an 

evacuation warning Thursday 

amid heavy rains. Later in the 

day, officials said the centuryold 

reservoir wasn't in 

immediate danger of 

collapsing. 

Hawaii has 132 stateregulated 

dams. 

The hazard potential isn't 

an indication of the condition 

of a dam, but that the 

consequences if it failed 

would cause deaths or 

significant property damage, 

said Mark Ogden, a member 

of the report committee and a 

technical specialist with the 

Association of State Dam 

Safety Officials. 

"Our dams are aging and 

deteriorating, while 

downstream populations are 

increasing," the association 

said in a Hawaii dam safety 

performance report . 

"Thousands of U.S. dams 

have the potential to fail with 

tragic consequences." 

The last time there was a 

fatal dam failure in Hawaii 

was in 2006, when seven 

people were killed after the 

Ka Loko dam on the island of 

Kauai collapsed and 

hundreds of gallons of water 

rushed downhill. Ogden said 

as far as he knows that's the 

last fatal dam failure in the 

United States. 

Hawaii's Legislature 

expanded the state's dam 

safety program after the Ka 

Loko breach, said Edwin 

Matusda, who heads Hawaii's 

flood control and dam safety 

program. The infrastructure 

report noted that 98 percent 

of Hawaii's state-regulated 

dams have an emergency 

action plan. 

Workers plan to keep 

pumping water throughout 

the weekend and into next 

week as needed from the dam 

in Nuuanu, a residential 

we`ÿ r/Rb-151(2)/13/09/18 

GD-1119/18 (7 x 3) 

neighborhood near 

downtown Honolulu, said 

Kathleen Elliot-Pahinui, a 

spokeswoman for the 

Honolulu Board of Water 

Supply. The dam was built in 

1905. 

Water levels in the dam 

rose 4 to 5 feet (nearly 1.5 

meters) overnight as heavy 

rains from a tropical storm 

dumped 7.3 inches (18 

centimeters) of rain in the 

area. 

AvBGmwcAvi/wegvb/2018/130 

13/09/18 

GD-11120/18 (12 x 4) GD-1118/18 (5 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

SUNDAY, DhAKA, SePTeMBeR 16, 2018, AShwIN 1, 1425 BS, MUhARRAM 6, 1440 hIjRI 

Mohammad Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim shared a century-plus stand during the opening one-day international 

of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

Photo: AP 

PM to open 

country's first 

Y-shaped 

bridge 

CUMILLA : 

Bangladesh'sfirst-ever Y- 

shaped bridge, 'Sheikh 

Hasina Titas Bridge', built 

over Titas river 

j o i n i n g C u m i l l a a n d 

Brahmanbaria districts, 

will be inaugurated on 

Sunday, reports UNB. 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina is expected to inaugurate 

the bridge through 

video conference from 

Gono Bhaban around 11:30 

am. 

The 771-meter long and 

8.10-meter width bridge 

was constructed costing a 

total of Tk 1 billion under 

the supervision of Local 

Government Engineering 

Department (LGED) to 

make the road communications 

between two districts 

of the country's southernnorthern 

parts. 

The bridge will ease the 

travel across Muradnagar 

and Homna upazilas 

ofCumilladistrict and 

Nabinagar 

and 

Bancharampur upazilas of 

Brahmanbaria district. 

According to locals, after 

the inauguration of the 

bridge, people of the region 

will experience more development 

in education, business 

and medical sectors. 

It will also be used as a 

bypass road connecting to 

the Chittagong-Dhaka 

highway. 

Unchaining people 

from deprivation 'my 

duty', says PM 

DHAKA : Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina on Saturday 

said it is her duty to unchain 

people from deprivation and a 

plan is underway to provide 

urban facilities to villagers, 

reports UNB. 

"So many years have been 

wasted...we have lost times 

from 1975-96... we didn't see 

any development in those 21 

years, a handful of people 

managed to make their own 

fortune, while the rest were 

deprived...it's my duty to free 

these people from their deprivation," 

she said. 

The Prime Minister said this 

while speaking at the inaugural 

session of the three-day 22nd 

National Council of the 

Institution of Diploma 

Engineers Bangladesh (IDEB) 

at Ganobhaban with the theme 

'Global Competitive TVET 

(Technical and Vocational 

Education and Training) for 

Challenges of IR (Industrial 

Revolution) 4.0'. 

She said her politics is for the 

people of Bangladesh and she 

utilises every second of her life 

for the country's development. 

"I'm not here to make my own 

fortune, I'm here to build the 

fortune of the common people. 

As a result, the country is making 

progress." 

The Prime Minister said her 

government wants to develop 

villages further aiming to 

reduce the tremendous pressure 

of people on the capital 

city. 

Sheikh Hasina said the government 

wants to provide 

urban facilities to rural people 

so that they can live a decent 

life. "We're taking a plan to 

build the villages as townships 

and ensure all sorts of job in 

rural areas." 

She said the government has 

given a special attention to 

rural areas so that people living 

there could build their houses 

as they like. "Special loan facility 

is there to this end." 

The Prime Minister said the 

government has taken a plan 

to construct multi-storey 

buildings at the upazila and 

union levels. 

Briefly listing the programmes 

taken by her government 

to improve the vocational 

education, Hasina said the 

government always gives 

importance to vocational and 

science and technology-based 

education. 

Hasina asked the diploma 

engineers not to indulge in the 

calculation what they get and 

what they did not. "You have to 

build the country so the future 

general can get a beautiful life... 

I'm urging you all to devote 

yourselves to that purpose." 

She said it is the duty of the 

diploma engineers to implement 

the development programmes 

and maintain its 

quality at the field level. 

The Prime Minister said the 

government has taken a programme 

to establish one technical 

school and college in each 

upazila. "The work to construct 

100 technical schools and colleges 

has already started." 

She mentioned that the 

Education Ministry is working 

to set up 23 world-class new 

polytechnic institutes in the 

country. 

Chaired by Central 

Executive Committee 

President of the IDEB AKMA 

Hamid, the function was also 

addressed by its General 

Secretary Shamshur Rahman. 

A robot, TVET, manufactured 

by diploma engineers, 

welcomed the Prime Minister 

at the stage and had a parley 

with her. 

Earlier, the Prime Minister 

inaugurated the council by 

hoisting the national flag and 

releasing doves and balloons. 

Tamim Iqbal 

ruled out of 

Asia Cup with 

fractured wrist 

SPORTS DESK: 

Bangladesh opener 

Tamim Iqbal has been 

ruled out of the remainder 

of the Asia Cup with a fractured 

wrist. 

The left-handed batsman 

was struck on his left wrist 

after missing a pull off 

Suranga Lakmal in the second 

over of Bangladesh's 

game against Sri Lanka on 

Saturday. Having left the 

field soon after suffering 

the blow, Tamim went 

straight to a hospital and 

had an X-Ray which 

revealed a fracture. He was 

later spotted with a sling 

around his left arm. 

Tamim wasn't in the best 

of fitness even before the 

opening game of the Asia 

Cup. He had sustained an 

injury on his right hand 

index finger during a fielding 

drill on August 28 and 

hadn't practiced since, and 

Mominul Haque was flown 

in as a possible replacement. 

Apart from Tamim's 

injury, Bangladesh are also 

struggling with the fitness 

of few other players including 

seniors like Shakib Al 

Hasan and Mushfiqur 

Rahim. 

Shakib has been nursing 

an injury to his left little finger 

for a few months and 

had even contemplated 

missing the Asia Cup to 

undergo a surgery before 

deciding to postpone it. 

Nazmul Hossain Shanto, 

Bangladesh's top-order 

batsman, is still recovering 

from a dislocated right 

index finger while 

Mushfiqur suffered a minor 

injury during fielding practice 

on the day before the 

game, although he didn't 

seem to be in any discomfort 

in the game against Sri 

Lanka where he scored a 

half-century. 

Rohingya, other global issues 

to dominate 73rd UNGA 

DHAKA : The Rohingya issue, among 

other pressing global concerns, will come up 

prominently in the upcoming 73rd UN 

General Assembly for the second consecutive 

year as a number of countries, including 

Bangladesh, will raise it seeking a sustainable 

solution to the crisis, officials said, 

reports UNB. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during last 

UNGA, placed a five-point specific proposal 

to ensure the sustainable return of all the 

forcibly displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh 

to their homes in Myanmar which was 

appreciated by the international community. 

Bangladesh is likely to place fresh proposals 

at the 73rd UNGA seeking a stronger role 

from the international community so that 

Myanmar acts and takes Rohingyas back 

from Bangladesh, a diplomatic source told 

UNB. 

Countries like the United States, the 

United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, 

OIC Member States and other countries are 

also preparing to take up the issue seeking 

an early solution, said the source. 

Bangladesh has requested Member States 

of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation 

(OIC) to include their support for Rohingya 

issue in their engagements during the forthcoming 

UN General Assembly. 

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md 

Shahriar Alam made the request when a 16- 

member delegation of the Parliamentary 

Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC) 

visited Bangladesh recently. 

The delegation, comprising of MPs from 

seven member states of the PUIC, namely 

Algeria, Iran, Malaysia, Morocco, Sudan and 

Turkey also visit the Rohingya camps in 

Cox's Bazar. US Ambassador in Dhaka 

Marcia Bernicat has already met Foreign 

Secretary M Shahidul Haque and made it 

clear that the US will highlight the Rohingya 

crisis, among others, in the upcoming 

UNGA, said an official. 

The Australian government welcomed the 

release of the summary report of the UN 

Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar that 

concluded that war crimes, crimes against 

humanity and genocide have occurred in 

Rakhine State and recommended actions to 

pursue accountability for the atrocities 

detailed in the report. 

Resist 'Digital Security Bill': BNP 

DHAKA : Terming it a dangerous 

'black law', BNP on 

Saturday urged the people of 

all walks of life to put up a 

strong resistance against 

'Digital Security Bill, 2018, 

reports UNB. 

"A parliamentary standing 

committee finalised a report 

on the much-talked-about 

Digital Security Bill, 2018 

ignoring the opinions of people 

of all strata. It's a dangerous 

black law which will be 

passed to establish Awami 

League's full control over the 

state power,' said BNP senior 

joint secretary general Ruhul 

Kabir Rizvi. Speaking at a 

press conference at BNP's 

Nayapaltan central office, he 

further said, "The freedom of 

press and journalists will be at 

stake if the bill is passed. We 

would like to say this bill can't 

be passed. We urge all irre- 

Medical board visits Khaleda in jail 

DHAKA : The five-member medical board, formed by the government for jailed BNP 

Chairperson Khaleda Zia, examined her physical condition inside Old Dhaka Central Jail here on 

Saturday afternoon, reports UNB. 

The medical board members entered the jail around 3:40 pm and came out of it around 4:50 pm 

after examined her, according to sources in the jail at Nazimuddin Road. 

However, no specialised physician of the medical board made any remark to the reporters in this 

regard. 

Contacted, Senior Jail Super of Dhaka Central Jail Iqbal Kabir said the medical board members 

did not give any prescription over the BNP chairpersons' health condition. 

But, he said, they might give the report tomorrow (Sunday). 

The government on Thursday formed the five-member fresh medical board comprising expert 

physicians of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). 

They are Prof Abdul Jalil Chowdhury (External Medicine), ProfHarisulHoque (Cardiologist), 

Prof Abu Jafar Chowdhury (Orthopedic Surgeon), Associate Prof Tareq Reza Ali (Eye) and 

Associate Prof Badrunnesa Ahmed (Physical Medicine). 

The medical board was formed following the visit of BNP delegation led by its secretary general 

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to home minister Asaduzzman Khan on September 10. 

spective of party and opinion 

to create a united resistance 

against this black law." 

On Tuesday, the parliamentary 

standing committee on 

Post, Telecom and ICT 

Ministry finalised its report 

on the bill. About the medical 

board formed by the government 

for BNP chairperson 

Khaleda Zia's treatment, Rizvi 

said the doctors who are 

active in Awami League politics 

are there in the board but 

her personal physicians were 

left out. He alleged that such a 

medical board was formed to 

give a report on Khaleda's 

health condition as per the 

directives of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina. 

"We think the medical 

board was formed dropping 

our leader's (Khaleda's) personal 

physicians as part of the 

government's evil plan. It's 

also a mockery with her 

(Khaleda's) serious illness." 

Rizvi warned that the consequences 

will be very dire if 

anything bad happens to 

Khaleda due to the government's 

'vindictive' attitude 

towards her. 

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

16-09-2018

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