14-10-2018

sunDaY 

Dhaka: October 14, 2018; ashwin 29, 1425 BS; Safar 3,1440 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.254; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

international 

Prospect of Trump-Xi 

talks raises hope for 

thaw in trade war 

>Page 7 

art & culture 

Arjun Kapoor said 

industry had heard 

rumours about vikas bahl 

>Page 8 

sport 

England beat Sri 

Lanka by 31 runs on 

DLS method 

>Page 9 

Dhaka, Delhi can dominate any sub-regional, 

regional grouping: Srinivasan 

DHAKA : A large number of representatives 

from United Nations (UN) Member States 

have congratulated the Bangladesh delegation 

after its win in the UN Human Rights Council 

(UNHRC) election with huge votes, reports 

UNB. 

They expressed views that this victory of 

Bangladesh is a testimony to the 'indomitable 

advancements' Bangladesh has been making in 

democracy, human rights, good governance, 

transparency and accountability as well as the 

socio-economic development under the visionary 

leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina. 

Press Wing of the Permanent Mission of 

Bangladesh to the United Nations said this 

quoting the representatives of the UN Member 

States on Saturday. 

The timely, humanitarian and sympathetic 

gesture shown by Bangladesh with regard to 

the Rohingya issue was also referred to which 

has brightened the image of Bangladesh at 

world stage, it said. 

DHAKA : BNP senior leader Khandaker 

Mosharraf Hossain on Saturday suggested 

Awami League general secretary Obaidul 

Quader to see their own faces in the mirror 

before branding BNP as a terrorist party. 

"When the Awami League general secretary 

can say BNP's registration shouldn't 

remain intact as it's a terrorist party based 

on a political verdicts in false and fabricated 

cases, then, I think, ruling party's registration 

should have been cancelled much ago," 

he said, reports UNB. 

Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader 

further said, "See your own faces in the mirror, 

and then talk about BNP. People are not 

Zohr 

04:41 AM 

12:10 AM 

03:56 PM 

05:37 PM 

07:00 PM 

5:55 5:34 

DHAKA : With their relations now at a 

newer height, Bangladesh and India can 

dominate any sub-regional or regional 

grouping by continuing close coordination 

between the two countries, says an international 

relations analyst, reports UNB. 

"Together we're the giants in BBIN & 

Bimstec. We can dominate any subregional 

or regional grouping," said former 

Indian Foreign Secretary and Ambassador 

Krishnan Srinivasan. 

BBIN is a sub-regional cooperation among 

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, while 

Bimstec stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative 

for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic 

Cooperation (Bimstec). 

Through close coordination in all fields, 

he said, Bangladesh and India can together 

transform the landscape of the two 

countries, South and Southeast Asia. 

The expert said India will soon be the 5th 

largest global economy, and Bangladesh will 

beat India in achieving the middle-income 

status. In his recent paper presented at 

Cosmos Dialogue, Srinivasan said the current 

developments between Bangladesh and 

India are referred to as a golden age. 

"Golden ages have come and gone, but 

there definitely are positive achievements 

in recent years on trade, land and rail connections, 

power supply, investments, lines 

of credit, exchange of visits, cultural and 

educational ties. 

The former Indian foreign secretary said 

the issue of water sharing is naturally emotive 

in Bangladesh, a deltaic country afflicted 

by floods and droughts and mentioned 

that India is required to understand 

Bangladesh's needs. 

Bangladesh and India reiterated their 

commitment to further strengthen the bilateral 

relations on the basis of friendship, trust 

and understanding for the mutual benefit of 

the people of the two countries. 

Considering the vision of Bangladesh to 

become a middle-income country by 2021 

and a developed country by 2041, a senior 

official told UNB that the two countries 

agreed that a Comprehensive Economic 

Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in the coming 

days covering goods, services and investment 

would provide a sound basis for substantial 

enhancement of trade and commercial 

partnership. 

Officials concerned of the two countries 

have already been directed to undertake a 

joint study on the prospects of entering 

into a bilateral CEPA, said the official. 

Director of Institute of South Asian Studies 

at the National University of Singapore C 

UNHRC 

Bangladesh's victory manifests 

its 'indomitable advancements' 

Bangladesh was elected to the UN Human 

Rights Council for the term 2019-2021. 

Elections were held on Friday morning (NY 

Time) at the General Assembly to elect 18 

members of the Council by direct and secret 

ballot. All the 193 member states of the UN 

attended the election, which was presided over 

by the President of the 73rd Session of the 

General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa. 

Following completion of the vote count, the 

result was announced by the President of the 

73rd Session. 

Although majority of votes 97 votes were 

required by the candidates to be elected to the 

Human Rights Council, Bangladesh secured 

178 votes. Bangladesh has so far served thrice - 

2009-2012, 2015-2017 and 2019-2021 during 

the tenures of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 

said State Minister for Foreign Affairs M 

Shahriar Alam. 

India, Bahrain, Fiji and the Philippines were 

elected alongside Bangladesh from the Asia- 

Pacific Group. 

See your own faces in mirror, 

BNP to AL leaders 

so imprudent that they'll accept whatever 

you say. Go to tea stalls to know people's 

reactions to your comments." 

Jatiyatabadi Nagorik Dal arranged the 

programme at the Jatiya Press Club 

demanding the release of BNP chairperson 

Khaleda Zia from jail. Mosharraf, a BNP 

standing committee member, recalled that 

bomb attacks at Ramna Batamul, at Udichi's 

function in Jeshore and the killing of 57 army 

officers during BDR mutiny were held during 

the rule of Awami League government. 

"Awami League also killed people with 

sticks and oars at broad daylight. Isn't 

Awami League a terrorist party?" he said. 

The BNP leader said they are now uniting 

people to face the current 'fascist and autocratic' 

regime and force it to hold a fair election 

by freeing Khaleda Zia. 

Speaking at another discussion at Dhaka 

reporters' Unity (DRU), BNP standing committee 

member Nazrul Islam Khan urged 

their party leaders and activists to get ready 

for launching a strong movement against 

the current government. He alleged that the 

ruling party wants to hold the next election 

without the participation of Khaleda Zia 

and BNP and to avoid its sure defeat. 

"They won't hold a credible election if 

BNP joins it as they'll face a debacle. So, 

they're now talking about banning BNP," 

Nazrul said. The BNP leader warned that 

the government will not be able to suppress 

their party leaders and activists by implicating 

them in 'false' cases. "No fascist regime 

could hang onto power for long resorting to 

repressive acts. 

Raja Mohan, who also spoke at the Cosmos 

Dialogue, thinks Bangladesh requires defining 

the country's interests keeping the everchanging 

geopolitical and regional scenarios 

in considerations. 

"The question is how you define your 

interests," said the Indian scholar based in 

Singapore stressing that the two countries 

require building trust at all levels. 

Raja Mohan said they are going to see 

the formation of new geography and one of 

the most critical elements is the rise of 

Bangladesh itself and transformation of its 

economy. He said the growing economy of 

Bangladesh is going to have significant 

implications for South Asia. 

Mohan said the change of geography 

around them will have at least five important 

consequences for bilateral relations 

between Bangladesh and India, including 

the argument of Bangladesh is Indialocked. 

"In fact, Bangladesh can be a land 

bridge between India and China." 

Shedding light on politics, he said, 

"You're free to elect whom you want. 

Today, in your country, you can elect any 

one. I've been advocating with India to deal 

with whoever is in the government. You 

can't do the management of somebody 

else's domestic politics." 

One burnt dead 

in city fire, 

7 injured 

DHAKA : A man was burned to death 

and seven people, including four 

women and a minor boy, sustained 

injuries as a fire broke out in a flat on at 

Beparipara in Uttarkhan area early 

Saturday. 

The deceased was identified as Azizul, 

30 while the injured were Dablur, 33, 

Anjum, 33, Abdullah, 5, Urmi, 16, 

Purnima, 30, Sufia, 60, Sagor, 12, hailing 

from Bhangura in Pabna district, 

reports UNB. 

They were the inmates of a groundfloor 

flat of a two-storey building, said 

sub-inspector Bachchu Miah of Dhaka 

Medical College Hospital (DMCH) 

police outpost adding that most of the 

victims are garment workers and one of 

them was rickshaw puller. 

Shafiqul Islam, a senior station officer 

of Fire Service and Civil Defence in 

Uttara, said the fire broke out at their 

flat on the ground floor around 4am as 

there was a leakage in their gas pipeline. 

On information, three units of the fire 

service rushed in and doused the fire. 

Later, the firefighting team rescued 

the injured, including the four women 

and the minor boy, from the flat and 

took them to the DMCH, said the official 

adding that the conditions of six 

were critical, the Fire Service officer 

said. 

Among the injured, Azizul died 

around 10:30 am. 

The burned people were admitted at DMCH. 

'Jatiya Oikya Front' launched yesterday. 

Clear definition of jihadi books 

needed before arrest: Experts 

DHAKA : As law enforcers often arrest 'suspected 

militants' with books they call 'jihadi' 

ones, experts think such a title is 'inappropriate 

and misleading' whatever contents 

these books may have, reports UNB. 

They said a book having contents of distorted 

interpretations of the holy Quran 

and Hadiths to inspire people to involve 

in extremism should be called as a book 

on militancy instead of 'jihadi' one. 

The experts also think that law 

enforcers should be very cautious in 

arresting people with books having 

Islamic contents so that no innocent person 

is subjected to harassment. 

Contacted, Prof Abul Barkat of Dhaka 

University's Economics department said 

if a book is written misinterpreting the 

Quran and Hadiths to motive people to 

carry out fight against the social system 

and indulge in violent activities to grab 

state power should be branded as a book 

on militancy. 

Barkat, also the writer of a book titled 

'Bangladesh-e Moulobad' (Fundamentalism 

in Bangladesh), said even reading books 

on militancy is not an offence, unless any 

person engages in such acts. "Law 

enforcers should be very careful about 

arresting people with Islamic books." 

He said a social movement involving 

the young generation needs to be 

launched to tackle fundamentalism. 

Supreme Court senior lawyer Subrata 

Chowdhury said the arrest of people with 

'jihadi' books is a 'suspicious and mysterious' 

matter since there is no clear definition 

of such books. 

"I think law enforcers are overenthusiastic 

over the arrest of people with such 

books. In many cases, police exaggerate 

the matter which creates confusion in 

public mind," Subrata said. 

He said police cannot arrest anyone 

with any book which is not banned. "If 

police raid people's houses, they'll find 

such books that they call 'jihadi' ones, in 

many cases. So, they can't arrest all of 

them for keeping such books unless they 

engage in anti-state or terror acts." 

Subrata said police should maintain 

transparency regarding their drives 

against militants and extremism so that 

no question arises over the matter. 

Shahidul Islam, an associate professor 

at Dhaka University's Arabic department, 

said Islam said the concept of militants 

about jihad is contradictory to Islam. 

"Jihad is a vast concept that includes 

various ranges of activity for the betterment 

of self and society. Frightening people 

or killing them in the name of religion 

can never be called jihad. If any book is 

written to encourage people to indulge in 

such acts, should be called as book on 

extremism or terrorism, not jihadi one." 

Additional DIG of Police Headquarters 

(Intelligence and Special Affairs) Md 

Moniruzzaman said the books written 

with an intention of inspiring people to 

terrorism, militancy and extremism are 

in the current sense known as jihadi ones. 

"Publication and distribution of such 

books are prohibited by law." 

Replying to a question, he said, "So far, 

as I know, no such book has officially 

been banned. Despite our strong monitoring, 

some jihadi books are still available 

in the country. If we find any book 

which can inspire people to engage in 

militancy and terrorism, we seize those." 

Mufti Mahmud Khan, Director (Legal 

Wing and Media) of the Rab headquarters 

said, though the real context of 

jihad is different, they call jihadi books 

that have distorted contents in the 

name of Islam to inspire people to join 

in so-called jihad. 

Photo : Star Mail 


Much-hyped 'Jatiya 

Oikya Front' launched 

without B Chy 

DHAKA : BNP, Jatiya Oikya Prokriya and 

Jukta Front on Saturday launched a new 

opposition alliance, 'Jatiya Oikya Front', 

ahead of the 11th national election without 

Bikalpadhara Bangladesh President AQM 

Badruddoza Chowdhury, reports UNB. 

The new alliance envisages realising 

seven demands, including the release of 

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and 

meeting 11 targets. 

Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur 

Rahman Manna made the announcement 

at a press conference held at the 

Jatiya Press Club in the evening with 

Jatiya Oikya Prokriya convener Dr 

Kamal Hossain in the chair. 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kamal 

said, "We're forging the unity in the interest 

of 16 crore people of the country, not 

to protect the interest of any party." 

He hoped that AQM Badruddoza 

Chowdhury-led Bikalpadhara Bangladesh 

would also join the new alliance later. 

Two leaders of Badruddoza Chowdhuryled 

Jukta Front, JSD President ASM Abdur 

Rob and Mahmudur Rahman Manna were 

present at the press conference. However, 

Badruddoza Chowdhury was not present 

at the press conference. 

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul 

Islam Alamgir, its standing committee 

members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain 

and Moudud Ahmed, former caretaker 

adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein and Dr 

Zafrullah Chowdhury, former vice president 

of Dhaka University Central 

Students' Union (Ducsu) Sultan 

Mohammad Mansur Ahmed were present 

at the press conference. 

Zafrullah says sorry 

over his remarks 

on Army Chief 

DHAKA : Pro-BNP professional and 

Gonoshasthya Kendra founder Dr 

Zafrullah Chowdhury on Saturday 

apologised over his 'careless' remarks 

on current Army Chief General Aziz 

Ahmed at a TV programme. 

"I carelessly presented wrong information 

about current Army Chief 

General Aziz Ahmed during a discussion 

on Somoy TV's talk-show on 

October 9. I sincerely apologise for 

improper statement and wrong choice 

of words," he said, reports UNB. 

Dr Zafrullah offered the apology at a 

press conference at Gonoshasthyo 

Nagar Hospital. 

He said he had no aim to defame the 

army chief. "I don't have such intention 

either." 

Zafrullah had said General Aziz is an 

efficient military artillery official. "He 

was neither a GOC of the Chattogram 

Cantonment nor a commandant of it." 

Mentioning that General Aziz worked 

as an artillery trainer at the Chittagong 

Cantonment at one stage of his service 

in the Army, the Gonoshasthya Kendra 

founder said he never faced court martial 

as he only faced a court of inquiry. 

"I again sincerely apologise if I apathetically 

hurt General Aziz," he added.

NEWS 

SUNDAY, 

OCTOBeR 14, 2018 

2 

Students from different universities in a stance programme as they want '35' age limit to apply in 

Government services. 

Photo : TBT 

Melania Trump 

ignores cheating 

rumors about 

husband 

Melania Trump says she 

loves President Donald 

Trump and has "much more 

important things to think 

about" than allegations he 

cheated on her with a porn 

star, a Playboy Playmate or 

anyone else. 

Mrs. Trump, who was 

interviewed by ABC while 

touring Africa last week, said 

people are just spreading 

rumors about her marriage. 

"I know people like to 

speculate and media like to 

speculate about our marriage 

and circulate the gossip," she 

said. "But I understand the 

gossip sells newspapers, 

magazines ... and, 

unfortunately, we live in this 

kind of world today." 

She insisted allegations of 

her husband's infidelities are 

not a concern. 

Trump, who during the 

2016 presidential campaign 

was heard on an old "Access 

Hollywood" tape talking 

about groping and trying to 

have sex with women, has 

been accused of having 

multiple affairs. Porn star 

Stormy Daniels and ex- 

Playboy Playmate Karen 

McDougal have said they 

had sex with him years ago. 

Trump has denied the 

trysts with Daniels and 

McDougal but has 

acknowledged reimbursing 

his lawyer for a $130,000 

hush money payment to 

Daniels. Mrs. Trump has 

generally kept quiet on the 

subject. 

Asked in the ABC interview 

if she loves her husband, 

Mrs. Trump said, "Yes, we 

are fine. Yes." 

She played down a 

suggestion the repeated 

rumors of his philandering 

had put a strain on their 

marriage. 

"It is not concern and focus 

of mine," she said. "I'm a 

mother and a first lady, and I 

have much more important 

things to think about and to 

do." 

But when asked if the 

repeated rumors had hurt 

her, she paused. Then she 

reiterated the "media world 

is speculating." 

"Yeah, it's not always 

pleasant, of course," she said. 

"But I know what is right and 

what is wrong and what is 

true and not true." 

Portions of Mrs. Trump's 

interview aired Friday on 

"Good Morning America." 

ABC News aired more from 

the interview during an 

hourlong special broadcast 

Friday night, during which 

she explained why she wore 

a jacket that said "I really 

don't care, do u?" on a trip to 

the border to visit migrant 

children who had been 

separated from their parents. 

She noted that she wore 

the jacket getting on and off 

the plane, but not during her 

visits with children, and said 

it was a message to "people 

and the left-wing media who 

are criticizing me." Mrs. 

Trump said the jacket was a 

statement that the criticism 

will not stop her from doing 

"what I feel is right." 

She said she purposely 

wore the jacket on the flight 

back to Washington after 

seeing "how the media was 

obsessed about it." 

'Window of opportunity 

narrowing' on global 

growth: IMF 

The window of opportunity to keep global growth on track is 

"narrowing" amid trade disputes and emerging markets 

crises, the IMF said Saturday, and cautioned against 

currency wars as a US-China spat threatens to boil over, 

reports BSS. 

The warning from the International Monetary Fund came 

at its annual meeting with the World Bank in Bali, after it cut 

its outlook for global GDP growth this week by 0.2 

percentage points to 3.7 percent for 2018 and 2019. 

And the Fund further cautioned that "everyone is going to 

suffer" from a trade-and-currency clash between the United 

States and China, the world's two biggest economies. 

"Risks are increasingly skewed to the downside amid 

heightened trade tensions and ongoing geopolitical concerns, 

with tighter financial conditions particularly affecting many 

emerging market and developing countries," the IMF said in 

a communique. 

It added that historically high public debt was also among 

the red flags that "could further undermine confidence and 

growth prospects". 

"With the window of opportunity narrowing, we will act 

promptly to advance policies and reforms to protect the 

expansion, mitigate risks, rebuild policy space, enhance 

resilience, and raise medium-term growth prospects for the 

benefit of all," the statement said. 

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin this week said he 

had told the head of China's central bank about his concerns 

over the weakness of its currency. 

However, he declined to comment on whether Washington 

would declare Beijing a "currency manipulator" in a Treasury 

report due out next week. 

That designation would be a first for China and would 

trigger a process that could lead to punitive steps after a 

series of talks. 

The IMF appeared to take aim at the two powerhouse 

economies which are also locked in an increasingly bitter titfor-tat 

tariff battle. 

AfDB provides loan to 

improve sanitation 

conditions in Tunisia 

The African Development Bank (AfDB) decided to lend 

Tunisia 76 million euros (87.9 million U.S. dollars) to finance 

a government project to improve sanitation conditions, local 

media reported Friday, reports BSS 

As part of the loan arrangement, Tunisia will receive 1 

million euros as donation to finance the first phase of the 

sanitation program for small municipalities with 10,000 

inhabitants, Tunisia's official radio reported. 

Tunisian government will allocate this new funding for the 

construction of water purification and pumping stations in 19 

governorates to reduce the spread of diseases caused by open 

water areas. "This project will improve the life quality of 

200,000 local residents distributed throughout many 

Tunisian governorates," said Mohamed El Azizi, director of 

the AfDB bureau in North Africa. 

"This loan will be used to provide sustainable development 

and a clean and healthy environment," said El Azizi. 

Facebook: Hackers 

accessed personal data 

from 29M accounts 

Facebook says hackers accessed a wide swath of information 

- ranging from emails and phone numbers to more personal 

details like sites visited and places checked into - from 

millions of accounts as part of a security breach the company 

disclosed two weeks ago. 

Twenty-nine million accounts had some form of 

information stolen. Originally Facebook said 50 million 

accounts were affected, but that it didn't know if they had 

been misused. 

The news comes at a jittery time ahead of the midterm 

elections when Facebook is fighting off misuse of its site on a 

number of fronts . The company said Friday there's no 

evidence this is related to the midterms. 

On Friday Facebook said hackers accessed names, email 

addresses or phone numbers from these accounts. For 14 

million of them, hackers got even more data, such as 

hometown, birthdate, the last 10 places they checked into or 

the 15 most recent searches. 

An additional 1 million accounts were affected, but hackers 

didn't get any information from them. 

Facebook isn't giving a breakdown of where these users 

are, but says the breach was "fairly broad." It plans to send 

messages to people whose accounts were hacked. 

Facebook said third-party apps that use a Facebook login 

and Facebook apps like WhatsApp and Instagram were 

unaffected by the breach. 

Facebook said the FBI is investigating, but asked the 

company not to discuss who may be behind the attack. The 

company said it hasn't ruled out the possibility of smallerscale 

attacks that used the same vulnerability. 

5 JCD men 

held in Natore 

NATORE : Police on 

Saturday arrested five 

activists of Jatiyatabadi 

Chhatra Dal (JCD) while 

they were taking 

preparation to bring out a 

procession at Hafrasta in the 

city, reports UNB. 

The arrestees are Afredi, 

Jubayer, Sujon, Hira and 

Murad. 

BNP district unit vicepresident 

Shahidul Islam 

Bachchu said as part of their 

central programme, when 

he JCD men were gathering 

in front of the government 

school at Hafrasta for 

brining out a procession in 

the morning police arrested 

them. 

Meanwhile, officer-incharge 

of DB Saikat Hasan 

confirmed the matter. 

Fazle Rabbi 

inaugurates 

training 

course in 

Manikganj 

MANIKGANJ : Deputy 

Speaker M Fazle Rabbi Miah 

yesterday said Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina has 

been leading the country 

towards development 

through bringing it under 

digitalization process. 

The next generation of the 

country will be immensely 

benefitted utilizing the 

digitalization programme, 

he added. 

The deputy speaker was 

speaking as the chief guest at 

the inaugural ceremony of a 

ten-day training course on 

'Human Rights Digital Age' 

at the Proshika Manobik 

Unnayan Kendra at Koitta, 

Manikganj. 

Rabbi urged the people to 

reelect the Awami Leage for 

continuing the on-going 

development spree of the 

country. 

Prof Dr Rahmat Ullah, 

Dean of Faculty of Law, 

University of Dhaka and 

Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman, 

Chairman of Bangladesh 

Human Rights Commission 

spoke on the function as the 

special guests. A total of 42 

students of 17 universities 

from Bangladesh, India and 

Nepal are taking part in the 

training course. 

Mongolia's unemployment 

rate drops 4.6 pct in first 3 

quarters 

The unemployment rate in 

Mongolia decreased by 4.6 

percent in the first three 

quarters of this year, compared 

with the same period last year, 

the country's National 

Statistical Office (NSO) said 

Friday, reports BSS. 

But the figure was 4.9 

percentage points higher 

month-on-month. A total of 

24,200 people were recorded 

to be unemployed, more than 

half of whom were female. 

And the highest 

unemployment rate went to 

people aged 15-24. The report 

showed that 30.2 percent of 

the unemployed had 

university degrees. 

During the first three 

quarters of this year, some 

14,900 out of the total 

registered unemployed people. 

Srimukh, a village with 

only 5 residents in Sylhet 

needs a helping hand 

SYLHET : Srimukh, a village under 

Khajanchi union in Bishwanath upazila, is 

probably the smallest village in the country 

where only a 5-member family has been 

living for long amid the absence of various 

basic facilities, including a road, reports 

UNB. 

The village, enlisted in the government 

gazette, is located at Ward No 5 of the union 

and in the middle of Telikona and Paschim 

Noagaon villages with a single family living 

here since the mid-60s. 

The current members of the isolated family 

include three women-Rahima Begum, 35, 

Dilara Begum, Angura Begum, 43, and 

Sumaia, minor girl Akhter Tahina, 8, and 

Aftab Ali. 

Ali, the only male member of the family, 

has been living in Saudi Arabia for 30 years 

to support the family. 

While visiting the village recently, the UNB 

correspondent found that there is no road to 

enter the village and the lone family of the 

village has been struggling to survive for lack 

of various basic facilities. 

The only tube-well at the village went out 

of order long ago and they have to drink 

water fetching it from neighbouring village. 

They have to drink contaminated pond water 

when they are unable to move out. 

Rahima Begum, wife of Aftab Ali, saidthere 

is no path to get out of their house. As there 

is no road, they have to go out crossing the 

lands of others. 

"My daughter can't go to school during the 

rainy season. My husband now can't earn 

much because he has grown old. We don't 

get any government assistance either. So, 

we've been living a terrible life here," she 

bemoaned. 

Rahima said they desperately need a road 

at the village and the government can 

construct it. 

Though the village is listed in the 

government gazette, no development work is 

done at the village. 

Once a Hindu family used to live there. In 

1964, the Hindu family sold the house to the 

ancestor of Aftab Ali. 

Talukder Gias Uddin, chairman of 

Khazanchi union, said as the village has no 

land of its own, it is not possible to build a 

road for them. However, an effort is on for 

constructing a road for the village in 

consultation with the residents of the 

adjoining villages, he said. 

Contacted, Upazila Nirbahi Officer 

Amitabh Parag Talukdar said he has heard 

recently about the village and he will look 

into the matter. 

He also assured the villagers of repairing 

their tube-well, now out of service. 

People from freedom fighter family hold different placards demanding fixation 

of 30% reservation for the descendents of freedom fighters. 

Photo : TBT 

Suspected 'criminal' 

killed in Jashore gunfight 

JASHORE : A suspected 'criminal' was killed in a 'gunfight' 

allegedly between two gangs of miscreants at Old Kosba area 

in the city early Saturday, reports UNB. 

The deceased was identified as Taizul Rahman, 34, son of 

Hafizur Rahman of Kholadanga area in the city. 

Officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, Apurba Hasan 

said in the early hour they went to the spot after being 

informed about a gunfight at Old Kosba area. 

They found a bullet-hit body of Taizul from the spot, who 

was accused in seven murder cases including a recent 

murder of Jubo League activist in Kazipara area, he said. 

Jubo League activist Sohag was hacked and slaughtered to 

death by some miscreants on September 28. 

The body of Taizul was sent to Sadar Hospital for autopsy, 

said the OC. 

Body of customs employee 

found in Chattogram 

CHATTOGRAM : The body of a Customs Department 

employee was recovered from near Charpara on the bank of 

the Karnafuli River in the city on Friday night, reports UNB. 

The deceased was identified as Ripen Singh Druba, 33, a 

cashier of Excise and Vat Commissionerate in Chattogram 

Customs and son of Khudiram Singh of Askar Digirpar area 

in the city. 

Officer-in-charge of Patenga Police Station Utpal Barua 

said locals spotted the body of an unidentified man on Friday 

night and informed police. 

His identity was known on Saturday morning after police 

recovered the body from near Charpara Beribadh area in 

Patenga. 

The body was sent to Chittagong Medical College and 

Hospital for autopsy. 

33 fishermen 

punished for 

defying Hilsa 

ban 

BHOLA : A mobile court 

here on Saturday jailed and 

fined 33 fishermen for 

catching hilsa from the 

Meghna and Tetulia rivers in 

the district defying a 

government ban, reports 

UNB. 

Among the convicts, 25 

fishermen were awarded one 

year jail each while eight 

others were fined. 

Md Asaduzzaman, senior 

fisheries officer of sadar 

upazila, said the upazila 

fisheries department and 

coast guard men with the 

help of police in separate 

drives detained 33 fishermen 

from different places in 

Doulatkhan, Borhanudin 

and Sadar upazilas on Friday 

night and seized 13,000 

meters current nets and 20 

kgs hilsa. Later, the 

fishermen were given 

punishment by a mobile 

court, led by executive 

magistrate Kamal Hossain, 

he added. The seized current 

nets were burnt and the fish 

were distributed among poor 

people. 

College student 

found dead in 

Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI : Police 

recovered the body of a 

college student from a pond 

at Sarangpur in Godagari 

municipal area on Saturday 

morning two days after he 

had gone missing, reports 

UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified as Joynal, 18, son 

of Khorshed of Char 

Harishpur village in 

Chapainawabganj district 

and an HSC 2nd year 

student of Godagari 

Government College. 

Jahangir Alam, officer-incharge 

of Godagari Police 

Station, said locals spotted 

the floating body in the 

morning and informed 

police. 

Later, police recovered the 

body and sent to Rajshahi 

Medical College and 

Hospital morgue for an 

autopsy. 

Joynal used to study 

staying at his sister's house 

at Sarangpur village and he 

went missing on Thursday 

noon. 

Victim's father and 

brother-in-law filed a 

general diary with Godagari 

Model Police Station on 

Friday. 

Two held 

'with arms' 

in Naogaon 

NAOGAON : Members of 

Rapid Action Battalion 

(Rab) in a drive arrested two 

suspected arms traders 

'along with arms' at Noidigi 

village in Atrai upazila earl 

Saturday, reports UNB. 

The arrestees are Alamgir 

Hossain, 46, and Abdul Jalil, 

50. 

Assistant Superintendent 

of police Swajal Kumar 

Sarker, now the company 

commander of Natore Rab-5 

camp, said a team of Rab 

raided the house of Alamgir 

following a tip-off and 

arrested the duo 'along with 

a shooter gun and three 

bullets'. "Jalil was a top 

leader of an outlawed party," 

said the Rab official without 

naming the outlawed party. 

A case was filed. 

One held with '1.7kg 

gold powder' at 

Benapole 

BENAPOLE : Customs 

officials arrested a man 

'along with 1.7kg gold 

powder' at Benapole port 

here on Friday night, reports 

UNB. 

The arrestee was identified 

as Alamgir, 42, son of Md 

Ibrahim Khalil, hailing from 

Chatkhil in Noakhali. 

Belal Hossain Chowdhury, 

commissioner of the 

Benapole Port Customs, said 

port officials reportedly 

scanned Alamgir's bag and 

spotted a packet of gold 

powder, worth about Tk 70 

lakh, while he was going to 

India. Alamgir was allegedly 

carrying the gold powder 

mixing it with soil in the 

packet, which was proved 

through laboratory tests. 

2 SUST students 

held for 'spreading 

rumours' 

SUST : Police on Friday 

detained two students of 

Shahjalal University of 

Science and Technology 

(SUST) for carrying out 

unlawful activities on the 

campus ahead of the first year 

admission tests to be held on 


The detainees are Tanjil 

Ahmed, final year student of 

Food 

Engineering 

department and Ilias Hossain, 

a third-year student of 

Anthropology department of 

the university. 

Members of Bangladesh 

Chhatra League (BCL) SUST 

unit claimed they found 

concrete proof that the 

duowereinvolved in spreading 

rumours about the 

university's Shah Poran Hall 

on their respective Facebook 

accounts. Later, they handed 

those to Jalalabad Police 

Station in presence of 

admission test disciplinary 

committee chief Prof Rashed 

Talukdar around 10:30 pm, 

said Shafiqul Islam, officer-incharge 

of the police station.

METRO 

SUNDAY, OCTOBeR 14, 2018 

3 

Communities in capital 

take DRR approach to 

face disaster 

DHAKA : Different communities, 

basically house owners, in the capital 

are taking their own initiatives to 

practice 'Disaster Risk Reduction' 

(DRR) as a supplement to the 

government efforts to face natural or 

manmade calamities. 

The communities at different parts 

under Dhaka North City Corporation 

(DNCC) are making their own action 

plans on taking early preparations to 

face disasters to reduce dependency on 

immediate institutional response to 

catastrophes of any kind. 

"As citizens, we have responsibilities 

apart from the government efforts to 

save our lives and habitats. We have 

made our own action plan on disaster 

by taking some particular activities," 

Anwarul Islam, youth secretary of 

Monipuri Para Kaliyan Samity, told 

BSS. 

He said the members of the Samity 

have already made an action plan to 

reduce the risk of disasters like fire, 

water logging and earthquake. 

"We have made an emergency 

response team with 65 volunteers 

living in Monipuri Para. These 

volunteers have been trained to act as 

the first response team before the 

arrival of Fire Service personnel to save 

the lives and assets during any 

disaster," Anwarul said. 

As per the request of the Samity, 

comprising the house owners of the 

area, the firefighters have given 

training to the local inhabitants on 

how to use the fire extinguishers. 

Referring to a recent fire incident 

that took place at Amin Tower, a 

building in his area, Anwarul said the 

volunteers succeeded to extinguish the 

fire, using the knowledge they 

gathered during their training, before 

the firefighters reached the spot. "If we 

didn't have the training, fire might 

spread to other buildings adjacent to 

Amin Tower that night," he added. 

DNCC and SEEDS Asia, a Japanbased 

NGO, jointly took the initiative 

under a project titled, "Capacity 

Building for Community-Based DRR 

in Urban Areas of Bangladesh". 

The project was initiated in 2016 and 

currently eight communities are 

working under it in line with DNCC's 

proposal for developing local level 

disaster management plan and its 

implementation for building a disaster 

resilient city. 

"Different area got different kinds of 

problems. In our area, we have narrow 

roads to pass the emergency vehicles 

like ambulance and fire service lorry. 

So, we took initiatives to widen our 

roads by encouraging the house 

owners to leave spaces in their plots," 

said Dewan Abdul Manna, 

commissioner of Pikepara Klayanpur 

area. 

The Anirban Kallyan Samity of the 

area had taken the same kind of 

initiative on DRR last year and 

prepared its own action plan and built 

a pool of volunteers with the local 

youths to response as the first team 

during any emergency. 

"As per the action plan of the Samity, 

we removed an electric transformer 

and some electricity wires which were 

too hazardous for fire," Mannan said. 

The councilor said the city 

corporation has the responsibility to 

respond to disasters and protect the 

city dwellers. But as the citizens, all 

also need to be aware and prepare 

themselves on their own, he added. 

Before making the action plan, the 

communities exercised "Town 

Watching Walk" in the neighbourhood 

with the patronage of DNCC to identify 

the disaster vulnerability and risk 

factors. 

Town watching is a widely used tool 

of DRR education as well as 

community capacity building for DRR 

around the world while SEEDS Asia 

project coordinator Miharu Sato said, 

"Knowing the risk and one's own 

community is the first step in DRR." 

She said DRR is being promoted 

through innovative measures such as 

Town Watching and lively discussions 

and the development of hazard maps 

that are pasted on the walls of the 

community offices so everybody 

knows the dangerous and safe areas of 

their neighbourhood. 

"We didn't only identify the 

hazardous objects of our area, we also 

pinpointed the resources and strength 

of our area like water reservoir and 

open space that can be utilised after 

any disaster like fire and earthquake," 

said Khalilur Rahman, the president of 

the Tinshed Bari Malik Kalyan Samity 

of Pallabi, another community 

working under the initiative. 

After the town watching, the 

community members prepared their 

own community hazard map and 

pointed out both the hazardous and 

useful features on the map. 

"Following the mapping, we sat 

together to discuss what we can do to 

reduce risks and utilise resources. As 

per our discussions and findings, we 

made an action plan on disaster risk 

reduction," he said. 

DNCC Superintending Engineer of 

Environment, Climate Change, and 

Disaster Management Circle Dr Tariq 

Bin Yousuf said the DNCC is 

encouraging all ward councilors to 

replicate the model to involve people in 

making action plans and implement 

those. 

Mofajjal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Bir Bikram, MP, Honorable Minister gives speech on 

'International Disaster Mitigation Day 2018' in a programme arranged by Ministry of Disaster 

Management and rescue. 

Photo : TBT 

BNP's black-flag 

procession 

rescheduled for Oct 21 

DHAKA : BNP on Saturday rescheduled its Tuesday's countrywide black-flag 

procession for October 21 due to Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of 

the Hindu community, reports UNB. 

Besides, the party's women wing Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal's human chain 

has been shifted to October 20 from October 17 and Sramik Dal's similar 

programme to October 22 from October 18 for the same reason. 

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the 

announcement at a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office. 

On October 10, the party announced a two-day countrywide programme, 

including the black-flag processions, protesting the verdict in the August 21 

grenade attack cases that convicted a number of party leaders, including 

Tarique Rahman. 

Mohila Dal and Sramik Dal also announced their programmes the same 

day on the same ground. 

A speedy trial tribunal sentenced 19 people, including State Minister for 

Home Lutfozzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister for Education Abdus 

Salam Pintu, to death while 19 others, including BNP acting Chairman 

Tarique Rahman, to life imprisonment in two cases filed over the August 21 

grenade attack on an Awami League rally in the capital in 2004. 

Rizvi alleged that the government has continued filing 'fictitious' cases 

against their party leaders and activists and arresting them across the 

country. 

He claimed their party's several hundred leaders and activists were arrested 

in different districts, including Dhaka, Bogura, Mymensingh, Dinajpur, 

Patuakhali, Natore, Barishal and Feni, in 'false' cases on Friday. 

He urged the government to refrain from arresting BNP leaders and 

activists in 'fictitious' cases and demanded immediate release of those 

arrested. 

Religious minister seeks 

vote for AL to continue 

country's development 

Mymensingh : Religious Affairs Minister 

Principal Matior Rahman yesterday called 

upon the people to cast their vote in favour of 

Awami League (AL) in the next general 

election to continue the country's current 

development trend, reports BSS. 

He was addressing a discussion marking the 

3rd founding anniversary of Mymensingh 

division at the local town hall's Advocate 

Tareq Memorial auditorium. 

Mymensingh Divisional Commissioner's 

Office organised the discussion with 

Divisional Commissioner Mahmud Hasan in 

the chair. DIG of Mymensingh Range Nibas 

Chandra Majhi, Additional Divisional 

Commissioner Md Nurul Alam, Deputy 

Commissioner Dr Subhash Chandra Biswas, 

Zila Parishad Chairman Professor Yusuf Khan 

Pathan, district unit of AL President Advocate 

Jahirul Haque Khoka and city unit of AL 

President Ehtasemul Alam, among others, 

addressed the discussion. 

The minister said Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina has made Mymensingh, the country's 

eighth administrative division which was 

demanded by the people of this region for 

long. 

He extended his gratitude to Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina for meeting the demand of the 

people of Mymensingh region. 

Rahman urged the administrative officers 

to work with honesty and sincerity to ensure 

government services for the people. 

'We are Against Dengue' arranged a programme to subdue Dengue at press club premises where 

people hold placard with awareness massages. 

Photo : TBT 

Next JS election as per 

constitution: Hanif 

KUSHTIA : Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul- 

Alam Hanif yesterday said the BNP's threat of agitation would be of 

no avail as the next general election will be held as per the country's 

constitution. 

"There is no way to go beyond the constitution," he told newsmen 

while exchanging views with party leaders and workers at his own 

residence in Kushtia town. 

Hanif also said the BNP's threat of movement will be discarded by 

the people once again and it has been identified as a terrorist party 

in the Canadian court. The people also boycotted the BNP because 

of its anti-people stance in the past, he added. 

The AL leader said no terrorist party should have ethical rights to 

do politics in Bangladesh. 

Hanif warned that the people would definitely resist the BNP if it 

tries to resort to violent acts in future. 

JU cultural body Dhoni 

celebrates 22nd 

founding anniversary 

SAVAR : Dhoni, a recitation based cultural organization of 

Jahangirnagar University (JU), celebrated its 22nd founding 

anniversary on the campus. 

To mark the day, former and current members of the organization 

gathered at a discussion session at the Teacher-Student Centre 

(TSC) of the university on Friday night and celebrated the 

anniversary. They cut cakes on the occasion, said a press release. 

Presided over by Dhoni President Shahidul Islam Pappu, the 

function was addressed by former Dhoni president Shimul 

Salauddin as chief guest. 

The speakers at the function lauded different creative and 

innovative activities of Dhoni and urged its members to continue 

their activities on the campus. 

Representatives of TSC based different cultural organizations, 

including Jahangirnagar University Debate Organization, 

Jahangirnagar University Debate Society, Jahangirnagar Theater, 

Jahangirnagar Film Society and Jahangirnagar University 

Journalists Association, addressed the function, among others, the 

release added. 

Bangladesh becomes 

UNHRC member for 

next 3 years 

DHAKA : Bangladesh has been elected a 

member of the United Nations Human Rights 

Council (UNHRC) for the next three years in an 

election that took place in New York on Friday, 

reports UNB. 

"Bangladesh has so far won thrice 2009-2012, 

2015-2017 and 2019-2021 during the tenures of 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," State Minister 

for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam told UNB. 

Bangladesh bagged 178 votes in the election 

where the members of the UN General 

Assembly voted, he said. 

The State Minister also said the election result 

signifies international community's trust and 

confidence in Bangladesh. 

He said the HRC is active on Rohingya issue 

and an accountability mechanism is in the 

process through HRC. "Bangladesh's presence 

in the HRC is extremely important." 

Bangladesh will serve as the UN rights body 

member for the 2019-21 tenure, he said. 

"It is an important milestone for the country," 

the State Minister added. 

He also said that Bangladesh (178 votes) 

secured more votes than Bahrain and 

Philippines (165 votes). 

The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental 

body within the United Nations 

system responsible for strengthening the 

promotion and protection of human rights 

around the globe and for addressing situations 

of human rights violations and make 

recommendations on them. 

It has the ability to discuss all thematic human 

rights issues and situations that require its 

attention throughout the year. It meets at the 

UN Office at Geneva. 

The Council is made up of 47 United Nations 

Member States which are elected by the UN 

General Assembly. 

The Human Rights Council replaced the 

former United Nations Commission on Human 

Rights. 

GD-1262/18 (9.5 x 4)

EDITORIAL 

SUnDAY, 

OCTOBEr 14, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Sunday, October 14, 2018 

2004 grenade attack case : 

Justice after 14 years 

I 

t's 

better to be late than never as the adage goes. 

The 2004 August 21 case in which a heinous 

attempt was made to kill en masse top Awami 

league leaders including --very importantly-- our 

incumbent Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has 

been undoubtedly a deeply shameful chapter in our 

national history where the search for justice 

continued to cry out in vain. Thus, it was a moment 

of great satisfaction when on Thursday last the truth 

was finally, amply and irrevocably established about 

who were the real and behind the wings assassins in 

that tragic event. The judges declared Tareque 

Rahman, the acting Chairman of the Bangladesh 

Nationalist Party (BNP) as the mastermind of the 

plot to kill our beloved Prime Minister. He was 

joined in that effort by the then State Minister for 

Home Affairs Lufuzzaman Babar and other 

stalwarts of the BNP and elements of extreme 

Islamist terror groups. 

While Tareque was given life imprisonment, 

Babar was sentenced to death by hanging. But this 

is not the end of the matter. The present Awami 

League leadership have reacted saying that life 

imprisonment for Tareque is not enough as the 

mastermind behind the appalling crime. So, he too 

deserves capital punishment or hanging by death. 

Thursday's judgement was only in a lower court. 

Therefore , they are likely to appeal in a higher 

Court to further increase Tareque's punishment 

from life imprisonment to capital punishment or 

death sentence. It is also speculated after the 

judgement that in the next step the AL leadership 

would also seek to associate ex Prime Minister 

Khaleda Zia with the event as she was also holding 

the portfolio of Home Minister at that time. It could 

not be that as Home Minister she had no knowledge 

of the bestial crime that her State Minister was 

plotting or the direct patronage and supervision of it 

by her son Tareque who at that time was 

unofficially the most powerful and influential 

individual of the BNP administration eclipsing even 

his mother in most cases. 

This case highlighted the willingness of the 

intelligence services to become involved in domestic 

politics. Intelligence organizations exist to protect 

the state against its enemies, not to take sides in 

domestic political disputes. In Bangladesh the 

intelligence organizations in this case were dragged 

into domestic politics, losing their professionalism. 

These special organizations were used and 

corrupted to serve domestic political interests. First, 

protection of the AL leaders was unsatisfactory. 

Second, no attempt was made to control the crime 

scene negating use of forensic methods to provide 

objective evidence. Without forensic evidence it 

was difficult to prove what actually happened. 

Third, the police investigation in the BNP period 

was corrupt and false. It was only resumed 

investigation under a caretaker government that 

put the derailed investigation process on a right 

track. Earlier, the then BNP government with its 

Home Ministry tried many gimmicks to falsely 

placate innocent persons with the incident that 

completely reoriented the investigation away from 

any objectivity. Indeed BNP's handling of that 

episode was a stark manifestation of the criminal 

bent of its leadership at the highest level. 

Of course, the BNP leaders are saying after 

Thursday's verdict that the convicted men are 

victims of political vengeance. But what politics can 

be there in seeking justice for killing and maiming 

of so many in the completely peaceful rally of a 

political party by firing into it and tossing live 

grenades ? Surely, the judgement was to punish 

ones responsible for such sheer murders whereas 

the attackers were ones who had express political 

designs in attempting to wipe out the core 

leadership of the country's oldest and biggest 

political party in a bid to pave the way for their 

ascendancy.The grenade attack killed 24 Awami 

League leaders including former president Zillur 

Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman and injured scores of 

others. Sheikh Hasina was also injured and luckily 

avoided certain risk to her life. More than 500 

leaders, activists, supporters and people attending 

the meeting were injured during the barbaric 

grenade attack. The assailants also fired few bullets 

at the bulletproof SUV that Hasina boarded 

immediately after the blast. 

Many of the convicted --including mastermind 

Tareque Zia--are in foreign countries hoping to get 

political asylum. The recent court verdicts against 

them in Bangladesh have clearly established their 

guilt and in all fairness there exists no grounds-- 

legally and morally-- to accord them political 

asylum. Therefore, the credibility and international 

image of these countries will be at stake if they do 

not heed international norms and conventions in 

the matter and fail to hand these convicted persons 

to Bangladesh authorities as would be requested. 

In many parts of the world simply being a woman can be dangerous 

The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been 

awarded to Nadia Murad, one of 

two winners this year, for her 

efforts to end the use of sexual violence as 

a weapon of war, and all forms of violence 

against women. In 2014, Murad, an Iraqi 

Yazidi, was captured, tortured and raped 

by Daesh militants. She became an 

activist for women's rights after escaping. 

She is the first Iraqi to win the Nobel 

Peace Prize and the second-youngest 

winner, after the activist Malala 

Yousafzai, who was honored in 2014 after 

surviving an assassination attempt by the 

Taliban in Pakistan. 

At a time when each and every day it 

seems like we lose a little more hope for 

improvements to the situations of the 

many women who continue to suffer 

from violence worldwide, this news was a 

cause for optimism. However, it did not 

last long. 

The terrible news of the death of 

Bulgarian journalist Viktoria Marinova, 

who was raped and killed last week, 

shocked the world once again. She was 

only 30 years old when she was killed 

after reporting on the possible misuse of 

EU funds in Bulgaria. 

In many parts of the world simply being 

a woman can be dangerous. Female 

journalists face additional risks that go 

beyond war zones or conflict areas. 

Where you live, whether in Europe or 

anywhere else, matters little when it 

PhD is the abbreviation for the word 

"Doctor of Philosophy". The term 

originally derived from Latin word 

"Philosophiae Doctor". In the simplest 

terms, it is the highest echelon of 

academic degree. This degree could be 

earned by spending three or more years 

doing original, independent research 

work to produce a thesis in a specific field 

which is then orally defended. A PhD is an 

essential qualification for a career in 

academic and research. It is the first step 

to become a faculty member or a scientist 

at a university or research institute. 

Before you start, decide how long you 

would ideally like to be in your PhD 

program. Usually it may take around 

three to six years to earn a degree 

depending on the country you will study. 

To qualify for a PhD degree, it needs 

comparatively shorter time in the 

European countries rather than in the 

USA and the UK. Sometimes candidates 

need to stay extended period of time if 

they wish to publish many papers, thus 

it's quite common to spend six to seven 

years as a PhD student. If anybody thinks 

that passing the tenure will result in 

earning a degree, then he will be doing a 

grave mistake. The supervisor is a crucial 

factor for the overall completion of a PhD. 

Your timeline is not entirely in your 

control, but you can choose a program 

and research supervisor who is more 

likely to facilitate your research plan. 

After completion of the degree, you will 

be qualified for a good job in the 

academia as well as in the industry. 

During a PhD course you will learn many 

modern and updated research 

techniques and enhance your skills, 

which are advantageous in a variety of 

diverse fields. 

At times your research 

supervisor/advisor would impose strict 

deadlines for task submission, in order to 

test your resilience and patience. For 

example, when would you like to do 

sampling, experiments, data collection 

and when would you like to prepare the 

research paper and submit the paper to 

the relevant journal and finally when you 

would prepare your dissertation and final 

presentation etc. Of course, you should 

decide earlier by yourself, you should 

mark all deadlines in your desk calendar 

in front of you, sometimes you can 

discuss with your laboratory coworkers 

about your deadlines. It is a very nice way 

to hold accountability by self. 

comes to the threat of violence against 

women. In the past year, three journalists 

have been killed in EU countries, of 

whom two were women. The third was 

killed along with his fiancee because he 

was investigating allegations of 

corruption in EU countries. Those 

responsible for these killings have not 

been identified. The statistics for murders 

of women in the past year paint a bleak 

picture for European nations, which 

rarely miss a chance to champion human 

rights in other countries around the 

world. The other news that cast a shadow 

over the Nobel Prize announcement 

came from Murad's home country, Iraq. 

Tara Fares, a 22-year-old Iraqi model, 

was murdered by extremists who share 

the same mentality as those who tortured 

Murad. Fares was the latest victim in a 

If you are lucky enough, you will have 

an amazing, supportive research 

supervisor who will encourage you 

through tough moments and 

congratulate you on your successes. One 

important matter should be kept in mind, 

even everything of your research goes 

very smoothly and timely, in a certain 

period of time you will need to hard work 

all day long. Don't forget, if you waste 

your time in the earlier stages, of course 

you have to suffer in the final moments. 

So, be careful about the proper use of 

your valuable time. You should take care 

of your physical and mental situation 

respectively, because your heath is the 

first priority to perform many things 

effectively. Certainly, sometime you may 

feel bad either physically or mentally, 

because you're not likely to experience 

family time for a long period of time. You 

need to relax, refresh yourself and pass a 

good time with your friends, because 

without such kind of recreations, you 

would not be able to make creative 

thinking. Refreshment and cheering-up 

of your mind is very important for 

starting a good day. Always you could not 

get the chances, but try to manage in your 

schedules. You will need to find positive 

feedback in your small successes from lab 

mates and good friends who can reassure 

you that you are on the right track. 

Practically, in my PhD lab, we have set 

up a weekly meeting with all of the 

graduate students including our 

supervisor, where we can have detail 

discussion among talk about our projects, 

experimental designs, raw data and share 

all constructive criticisms, advices and 

finally provide encouragement to 

everyone. It is a great way to get positive 

feedback and identify the points where I 

have lacking, next possible ways to make 

improvement what can I do and where I 

SInEM CEngIz 

AIShA khAn 

series of assassinations targeting highprofile 

women in Iraq in the past few 

months. As the number of women daring 

to speak up in favor of change in Muslimmajority 

Iraq has increased, another 

horrific trend has emerged in the country: 

Silencing those women by assassination. 

Four women have been killed in two 

months and, as is the case in Europe, the 

police are yet to find those responsible. 

The only glimmer of hope to come from 

all this is that the killings provoked a 

promising social response. People took to 

the streets in Iraq to strongly condemn 

the murders, and Iraq's outgoing Prime 

Minister Haider Abadi ordered the 

country's Interior Ministry and its 

intelligence service to investigate them. 

Women continue to carry the burden of 

Iraq's disastrous history and have long 

Dr. M.A.S. TAlUkDEr, Dr. S. AkTEr 

could make my changes. There will be 

nice moments when you have selfconfidence 

and creative plans, excellent 

flow of research work with good results. 

On the other hand, there will also be some 

moments when you will have doubt on 

yourself and ultimately lose your 

confidence. 

If you are not a big fan of learning, a 

PhD is not for you. But if you are 

constantly craving new information and 

striving for better ways to do things?-its 

great! The desire to learn and understand 

new things will serve you well during your 

PhD, regardless of what field you are 

studying. There are a lot of resources 

around you to learn new theories and 

techniques, from online courses and 

forums to your lab mates, local 

communities and other social networking 

systems (SNSs). You need to find out 

right information. If you are not sure, just 

ask someone. The most intelligent 

attitude is that, share your situation with 

your nearest person who will give you 

better suggestions or who have done such 

kind of work before and can identify the 

missing information. Confusion and 

repeatability/lack of reproducibility are 

the major limitations in every research, if 

you feel such confusion and non 

producing task recheck your data and 

other information. If you do not feel any 

major complications during your 

research work, may be you have done 

very easy things. It would be leery of any 

scientist without self doubt. S/he is the 

most successful candidates, who have 

worked with actively seek out 

information and resources. 

It is really easy to get caught up in 

experimental design and writing 

manuscript or PhD dissertation without 

reading much literature, so it is quite 

important to spend as much as time for 

been its victims. The most extreme forms 

of gender-based violence still exist in Iraq. 

In recent years alone, female journalists 

have been tortured by extremists, who 

also enslaved thousands of Yazidi 

women, including Murad. 

Undoubtedly, external support is 

necessary for rebuilding Iraqi society. 

However, Iraqis must face up to this 

grave situation regarding women's rights 

and assume responsibility for taking 

steps forward to improve things. The 

current formation of a new government 

offers a good opportunity to accept this 

responsibility by reforming judicial 

institutions and improving the rule of law 

for the sake of the many women in 

serious need of better protection. 

Not much was done by previous Iraqi 

governments to improve the status of 

women but in the wake of these latest 

horrific killings, rapes and other violent 

incidents, the next government has the 

chance to place women's rights in the 

spotlight. This positive move would be an 

encouraging and hopeful sign for women 

in Iraq, and send a strong message that 

no cowardly acts can stop Iraqi women 

having a voice in society. 

Every political power in every country 

should acknowledge that it has a serious 

responsibility to protect women's rights, 

and act accordingly. 

Source : Arab News 

PhD is not a sprint, it's a marathon 

THE debate on this country's water 

security, now being spearheaded 

by the Honourable Chief Justice 

of Pakistan, is finding traction with a 

wide range of stakeholders. The need for 

enhancing storage capacity through 

construction of large dams is being 

propagated vigorously by policymakers, 

and receiving positive affirmation from 

the public. However, there are concerns 

based on geo-technical surveys that 

need to be taken into account as we 

proceed with mega dam projects. 

Some voices have raised alarm about 

the phenomena of reservoir-induced 

seismicity. Not many people are familiar 

with the term, but RIS represents three 

timescales of seismicity which include: 

(i) initial loading from water and 

increased pore pressure, (ii) delayed 

diffusion of pore pressure, and (iii) 

protracted subsequent changes in water 

In many parts of the world simply being a woman 

can be dangerous. Female journalists face 

additional risks that go beyond war zones or 

conflict areas. Where you live, whether in Europe 

or anywhere else, matters little when it comes to 

the threat of violence against women. In the past 

year, three journalists have been killed in EU 

countries, of whom two were women. 

At times your research supervisor/advisor would impose strict 

deadlines for task submission, in order to test your resilience and 

patience. For example, when would you like to do sampling, 

experiments, data collection and when would you like to prepare the 

research paper and submit the paper to the relevant journal and finally 

when you would prepare your dissertation and final presentation etc. Of 

course, you should decide earlier by yourself, you should mark all 

deadlines in your desk calendar in front of you, sometimes you can 

discuss with your laboratory coworkers about your deadlines. 

Water scarcity - myth or reality? 

level. The measured hydraulic diffusivity 

from induced earthquakes is the result of 

changes in elastic stress and pore 

pressure called seismogenic 

permeability. According to studies 

conducted by the Geological Survey of 

Pakistan, the site for the Diamer-Bhasha 

dam is traversed by multiple fault lines 

and lies at the plate boundary between 

the Indian and Eurasian plates. 

The second concern, according to 

water expert Daanish Mustafa, is that the 

Indus River has one of the highest silt 

loads in the world, and building one of 

the world's highest concrete-filled dams 

at such a site entails the risk of triggering 

a massive earthquake. The third 

compelling consideration is about the 

question of scarcity itself. Is Pakistan 

really water scarce, or is the dwindling 

per capita availability of water due more 

to the steady unsustainable increase in 

population and mismanagement of 

present flows? According to William 

Young, the lead water management 

specialist at the World Bank, there are 

five persistent myths that are barriers to 

improving water security that can end up 

misguiding policy. The following is a 

summary:First: Pakistan is a water rich 

country and needs to shift its focus from 

scarcity to managing water demand, and 

producing more from each drop. Only 35 

countries in the world have more 

renewable water than Pakistan, and 

there are 32 countries that have less 

water per person, and most are much 

wealthier and use less water for each 

person, than Pakistan. 

Second: Storage is used to buffer the 

variability of flows to match the time 

varying pattern of demand. The Indus 

flows do not vary greatly, making the 

need for reservoir storage from one year 

reading books, journals and published 

articles. Personally, I like reading in the 

morning before I get catch up with other 

things, typically while enjoying a cup of 

coffee. Signing up for email alerts for 

journals in your field is also super helpful, 

even just to get a sense of what is being 

published. Find the active scientists in 

your field and follow them. 

If you are confident then your research 

supervisor relies on you and your 

research, and then he/she can ask about 

your research and how are you doing with 

the research project. If someone asks you 

a question about your project or the 

related works, you should have an 

answer, or at least know where to find it. 

If you are the kind of person who signs up 

for a PhD program, I doubt you need to 

be told that you have ability to do work 

hard. But there is a key qualifier here you 

get to choose what you work on. 

May be you will pour all of your efforts 

to complete your research, getting more 

papers, or may be you will pour your time 

into a mix of research, teaching, and 

outreach. It is your life, you need to 

choose. Every time communicate with 

your supervisor about what are his/her 

expectations, so that you can work to 

meet those expectations and shape your 

PhD suit your needs. 

No one is perfect, you will make 

mistakes. Even your professor will make 

mistakes. Between securing funding and 

managing a lab, your professor has a lot 

on their plate-?this is not an excuse for 

poor or completely lacking mentorship, 

but it does mean that they might not 

always be available to help you out. 

The final step is the PhD defense. The 

final submission of your written thesis to 

the committee, they will set a date for 

your defense. The defense is an oral exam 

where you show your mastery of the 

subject area by explaining, discussing, 

and defending your thesis to a committee 

of internal and external examiners. The 

examiners also ask the candidate on 

questions about their dissertation and the 

field more generally. If the defense is 

successful, the candidate is awarded their 

degree and the title of "Doctor". 

Dr. M.A.S. Talukder is a researcher 

at Hokkaido University of Japan 

whereas Dr. S. Akter is an 

associate professor at Bangladesh 

Agricultural University (BAU) in 

Bangladesh. 

to the next unnecessary. Storage needed 

to even out within-year variations 

associated with the monsoons can be 

done more cost effectively by run-of-theriver 

facilities. Justifying the cost of large 

dams is difficult given our irrigation 

inefficiencies and the high sediment 

accumulation rate in reservoirs. 

Third: Although climate change 

appears to be affecting rainfall, snowfall 

and glacial melt, it has no clear trends, 

and no significant changes in river flows 

are projected before 2050. While a 20- 

28 per cent ice volume reduction is 

anticipated (mostly at lower elevations), 

since the Indus has a greater share of 

glacial ice at higher elevations, the faster 

rates of warming do not support 

absolute higher temperature projections 

to drive rapid melting there. 

Source : Arab News

HEALTH 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2018 

5 

Food allergies in children: should 

parents be concerned? 

Emine Saner 

In July 2016, Natasha 

Ednan-Laperouse collapsed 

on a flight from London to 

Nice, suffering a fatal allergic 

reaction to a baguette 

bought from Pret a Manger. 

At an inquest, the court 

heard how Natasha, who 

was 15 and had multiple 

severe food allergies, had 

carefully checked the ingredients 

on the packet. Sesame 

seeds - which were in the 

bread dough, the family later 

found out - were not listed. 

"It was their fault," her 

father Nadim said in a statement. 

"I was stunned that a 

big food company like Pret 

could mislabel a sandwich 

and this could cause my 

daughter to die." 

This horrifying case highlights 

how careful people 

with allergies need to be, as 

do the food companies - not 

least because allergies have 

been growing in prevalence 

in the past few decades. 

"Food allergy is on the rise 

and has been for some time," 

says Holly Shaw, nurse 

adviser for Allergy UK, a 

charity that supports people 

with allergies. Children are 

more likely to be affected - 

between 6 and 8% of children 

are thought to have 

food allergies, compared 

with less than 3% of adults - 

but numbers are growing in 

westernized countries, as 

well as places such as China. 

"Certainly, as a charity, 

we've seen an increase in the 

number of calls we receive, 

from adults and parents of 

children with suspected or 

confirmed allergy," says 

Shaw. Certain types of allergy 

are more common in 

childhood, such as cow's 

milk or egg allergy but, she 

says: "It is possible at any 

point in life to develop an 

allergy to something previously 

tolerated." 

Stephen Till, professor of 

allergy at King's College 

London and a consultant 

allergist at Guy's and St 

Thomas' hospital trust, says 

that an allergic reaction 

occurs when your immune 

system inappropriately 

recognises something foreign 

as a bug, and mounts an 

attack against it. "You make 

antibodies which stick to 

your immune cells," he says, 

"and when you get reexposed 

at a later time to the 

allergen, those antibodies 

are already there and they 

trigger the immune cells to 

react." 

Allergies can have a huge 

impact on quality of life, and 

can, in rare cases such as 

that of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 

be fatal. There is no 

cure for a food allergy, 

although there has been 

recent promising work 

involving the use of probiotics 

and drug treatments. 

The first trial dedicated to 

treating adults with peanut 

allergy is just starting at 

Guy's hospital. 

"There is a lot of work 

going on in prevention to 

better understand the weaning 

process, and there's a lot 

of buzz around desensitisation," 

says Adam Fox, consultant 

paediatric allergist at 

Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals. 

Desensitisation is conducted 

by exposing the 

patient to minuscule, controlled 

amounts of the allergen. 

It's an ongoing treatment 

though, rather than a 

cure. "When they stop having 

it regularly, they're allergic 

again, it doesn't change 

the underlying process." 

What we do know is that 

we are more allergic than 

ever. "If you think in terms 

of decades, are we seeing 

more food allergy now than 

we were 20 or 30 years ago? 

I think we can confidently 

say yes," says Fox. "If you 

look at the research from the 

1990s and early 2000s there 

is pretty good data that the 

amount of peanut allergy 

trebled in a very short period." 

There has also been an 

increase in the number of 

people with severe reactions 

showing up in hospital 

emergency departments. In 

2015-16, 4,482 people in 

England were admitted to 

A&E for anaphylactic shock 

(although not all of these 

will have been down to food 

allergy). This number has 

been climbing each year 

and it's the same across 

Europe, the US and Australia, 

says Fox. Why is there 

this rise in allergies? The 

truth is, nobody knows. Fox 

doesn't believe it is down to 

better diagnosis. And it 

won't be down to one single 

thing. There have been suggestions 

that it could be 

caused by reasons ranging 

from a lack of vitamin D to 

gut health and pollution. 

Weaning practices could 

also influence food allergy, 

he says. "If you introduce 

something much earlier 

into the diet, then you're less 

likely to become allergic to 

it," he says. A 2008 study 

found that the prevalence of 

peanut allergy in Jewish 

children in the UK, where 

the advice had been to avoid 

peanuts, was 10 times higher 

than that of children in 

Israel, where rates are low - 

there, babies are often given 

peanut snacks. 

Should parents wean their 

babies earlier, and introduce 

foods such as peanuts? 

Fox says it's a "minefield", 

but he advises sticking to 

the Department of Health 

Food allergies in children are on the rise. 

and World Health Organization's 

line that promotes 

exclusive breastfeeding for 

six months before introducing 

other foods, "and to not 

delay the introduction of 

allergenic foods such as 

peanut and egg beyond that, 

as this may increase the risk 

of allergy, particularly in 

kids with eczema". (Fox 

says there is a direct relationship 

between a baby 

having eczema and the 

chances of them having a 

food allergy.) 

The adults Till sees are 

those whose allergies started 

in childhood (people are 

more likely to grow out of 

milk or egg allergies, than 

peanut allergies, for 

instance) or those with 

allergy that started in adolescence 

or adulthood. 

Again, it is not clear why you 

can tolerate something all 

your life and then develop 

an allergy to it. It could be to 

do with our changing diets 

in recent decades. 

"The commonest new 

onset severe food allergy I 

see is to shellfish, and particularly 

prawns," says Till. 

"It's my own observation 

that the types of food we eat 

has changed quite a lot in 

recent decades as a result of 

changes in the food industry 

and supply chain." He says 

we are now eating foods 

such as tiger prawns that we 

probably didn't eat so often 

in the past. 

He has started to see people 

with an allergy to lupin 

flour, which comes from a 

legume in the same family 

as peanuts, which is more 

commonly used in continental 

Europe but has been 

increasingly used in the UK. 

Sesame - thought to have 

been the cause of Natasha 

Ednan-Laperouse's reaction 

- is another growing 

allergen, thanks to its inclusion 

in products that are 

now mainstream, such as 

hummus. One problem 

with sesame, says Till, is: "It 

often doesn't show up very 

well in our tests, so it can be 

difficult to gauge just how 

allergic someone is to it." 

Fox says it's important to 

stress that deaths from 

food allergy are still rare. 

"Food allergy is not the 

leading cause of death of 

people with food allergies - 

it's still a very remote risk," 

says Fox. "But of course 

you don't want to be that 

one who is incredibly 

unlucky, so it causes great 

anxiety. The real challenge 

of managing kids with 

food allergy is it's really 

hard to predict which of 

the children are going to 

have the bad reactions, so 

everybody has to behave as 

if they might be that one." 

Are calcium supplements safe? 

Various studies suggest that calcium pills can cause increased risk of 

death, cancer and heart disease. 

Photo: Getty 

Richard Klasco 

Many people, especially women, take 

calcium supplements in the hope of 

building stronger bones, but whether 

calcium supplements prevent fractures 

remains uncertain. The United States 

Preventive Services Task Force advises 

postmenopausal women against taking 

1,000 milligrams a day or less for preventing 

fractures and says not enough 

is known about the risks and benefits of 

taking higher doses. 

What are the risks? Kidney stones are 

the most widely recognized risk of calcium 

supplements, but that risk 

depends on whether you are also taking 

vitamin D. The Women's Health 

Initiative, a randomized placebo-controlled 

trial of calcium and vitamin D in 

more than 36,000 postmenopausal 

women, found a 17 percent increase in 

the incidence of kidney stones. A report 

prepared for the Preventive Services 

Task Force supported this conclusion, 

but noted that the risk disappeared 

Photo: Collected 

when calcium was taken without vitamin 

D. 

Studies have investigated other 

potential safety concerns, including an 

increased risk of death, cancer and 

heart disease. But data from the 

Women's Health Initiative and another 

large study from the National Cancer 

Institute, both of which assessed calcium 

in combination with vitamin D, 

found that calcium supplements do not 

increase the risk of dying prematurely. 

These and other studies also found no 

increased risk of breast cancer, colorectal 

cancer, precancerous colonic polyps 

or cancer in general. 

Calcium supplements probably do 

not increase the risk of heart disease. 

The best evidence, again, comes from 

the Women's Health Initiative study 

of calcium and vitamin D. A Harvard 

review supports this conclusion, stating 

that "calcium intake, either from 

diet or from supplements, has little or 

no effect on cardiovascular disease 

risk." 

Because Preventive Services Task 

Force guidelines stop short of recommending 

calcium supplements, the 

decision on whether to take them must 

depend on your individual health concerns. 

A history of osteoporosis, for 

example, might argue in favor of calcium 

supplements, whereas a history of kidney 

stones might be a reason to avoid 

them. Calcium can also interact with certain 

medications, such as the thyroid 

medicine levothyroxine or the popular 

anti-osteoporosis drug Fosamax. 

Legalization of medicinal cannabis products can save lot of lives in Britain. 

U.K. to legalize Medicinal 

Cannabis 

Iliana Magra 

Doctors in Britain will be able to legally 

prescribe medicinal cannabis from 

Nov. 1, after two highly publicized cases 

of young, epileptic patients dependent 

on marijuana-based treatments put 

pressure on the government to review 

its policy. 

The change was announced on 

Thursday by Home Secretary Sajid 

Javid, after he called for an urgent 

review of cannabis-based medicinal 

products over the summer, and his 

office said in July it had decided that 

"senior clinicians will be able to prescribe 

the medicines to patients with an 

exceptional clinical need." 

Mr. Javid said on Thursday, "Having 

been moved by heartbreaking cases 

involving sick children, it was important 

to me that we took swift action to 

help those who can benefit from medicinal 

cannabis." 

The home secretary commissioned 

the review after the cannabis-based 

medicine of Billy Caldwell, 12, who has 

life-threatening epileptic seizures, was 

Obese women are at greater 

risk of colon cancer 

Nicholas Bakalar 

confiscated at Heathrow Airport on 

June 11. The case was publicized in the 

British news media and prompted a 

national discussion on the legalization 

of medicinal cannabis products. 

Earlier, the mother of 6-year-old Alfie 

Dingley, who also has up to 150 

seizures a month, said that Prime Minister 

Theresa May had promised to help 

explore alternative treatments for the 

boy, but that she never followed 

through. Mr. Javid later announced 

that the British government would 

allow both Alfie and Billy temporary 

special licenses to legally take marijuana-based 

treatment. 

"We have now delivered on our 

promise and specialist doctors will have 

the option to prescribe these products 

where there is a real need," the home 

secretary said on Thursday. General 

practice doctors will not be authorized 

to prescribe the cannabis-based medicines, 

the Home Office noted, and prescription 

decisions will be made on a 

case-by-case basis - "only when the 

patient has an unmet special clinical 

need that cannot be met by licensed 

Obesity is linked to an 

increased risk for colorectal 

cancer in younger women, 

new research has found. 

Colorectal cancer rates 

have been increasing in 

people under 50 while 

declining in older people. 

No one knows why. 

In an observational study 

published in JAMA Oncology, 

researchers prospectively 

tracked the health of 

more than 85,000 women 

for 22 years, beginning 

when they were 25 to 42 

years old. They found 114 

cases of colorectal cancer in 

women under 45. 

The higher a woman's 

body mass index, the 

greater her risk for earlyonset 

colorectal cancer. 

Compared with women of 

normal weight - a body 

mass index between 18.5 

and 22.9 - obese women, 

with a B.M.I. over 30, had a 

93 percent increased risk for 

the disease. 

Weight gain from age 18 

on was also associated with 

colorectal cancer. Compared 

to women who 

gained 10 pounds or less, 

those who gained 44 to 88 

pounds had a 65 percent 

increased risk, and those 

who gained more than that 

had more than double the 

Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne 

products," the statement read. 

The measures apply to England, 

Wales, and Scotland, while Northern 

Ireland intends to undertake similar 

legislative amendments. 

The Home Office also clarified that 

the legalization of cannabis-derived 

medicinal products did not clear the 

way toward legalizing cannabis for 

recreational use. "The penalties for 

unauthorized supply and possession 

will remain unchanged," the office said. 

In July, after Mr. Javid said the 

government would ease restrictions 

on the cannabis-based products, Billy's 

mother, Charlotte Caldwell, told 

Sky News: "I applaud the home secretary 

for his swift movements in 

rescheduling cannabis. To me, now 

the home secretary is king of hearts." 

In the United States, California 

became the first state to legalize 

medical cannabis, in 1996. Currently, 

30 states and the District of Columbia 

have legalized marijuana for 

medicinal or recreational use. Canada 

is set to legalize marijuana next 

week. 

risk. 

"We have good screening 

and early detection for 

breast cancer in young 

women, but not for colorectal 

cancer," said the senior 

author, Yin Cao, an assistant 

professor at Washington 

University Medical 

School. "Currently there is 

no colorectal cancer screening 

for people under 50. 

Some doctors have debated 

lowering the age to 45." 

The higher a woman's body mass index, the greater her risk for early-onset colorectal cancer. 

Photo: Collected

NATIONAL 


6 

Habiganj Industrial Park is situated in Olipur village of Habiganj. 

Photo: Mamun Chowdhury 

Upstream toxic water polluting 

environment in Habiganj 

BU VC condoles 

demise of Begum 

Zebunnesa 

Vice-Chancellor of barisal university (bu) Professor dr 

sm imamul Huq has expressed deep commiseration over the 

death of begum Zebunnesa, one of the founders of "begum 

Zebunnesa and Kazi mahboobullah Jana Kalyan trust", 

reports a press release. 

in a condolence message the vice chancellor said the in the 

death of a great munificent woman like begum Zebunnesa 

whose emptiness was irreplaceable. she will be remembered 

by us through her actions. 

it is to be noted that begum Zebunnesa and Kazi 

mahboobullah Jana Kalyan trust provides education 

scholarships to the poor and meritorious students. barisal 

university also provides education scholarships of poor and 

meritorious students under this Jana Kalyan trust. Vice 

President mahodaya begum prayed for the forgiveness of 

Jebunnesa and conveyed deep sympathy to his bereaved 

family. 

the Vice-Chancellor prayed for eternal peace of the 

departed soul and extended sympathy to the bereaved family 

members. 

Additional Secretary of 

Finance Ministry visits 

Arunima Resort Golf Club 

HumAun KAbir, nArAil CorresPondent: 

salma nasreen, Additional secretary of Financial 

institutions division of Finance ministry visited the Arunima 

resort Golf Club in Panipara of narail on Friday. Khaled bin 

Kashim, senior official of Finance ministry, rafiqul islam 

roly, senior official of Asian tV, narail district reporters 

unity President Humaun Kabir and resort officer beltu 

were among others present at the occasion. 

While visiting the different areas of the resort on 50 acres 

of land, Additional secretary salma nasreen planted a 

mango tree plant at Arunima resort. later she took some 

pleasure in fishing from the lake of the resort. she was went 

on a boat tour on the resort lake and entertained with 

cultural programmes. 

in an interview, Additional secretary salma nasreen said 

that such beautiful scenery is very rare in the country and in 

abroad. the resort is really able to entertain tourists. she also 

praised for the initiative to build such a resort with individual 

initiative. 

mAmun CHoWdHurY, HAbiGAnJ CorresPondent: 

every day 45 lakh liters of water is 

being purified with four refineries of 

latest technology, after the production 

of Habiganj industrial Park. When 

humanity is struggling with 

environmental pollution due to 

industrial wastage, the country's 

leading food products and plastics 

manufacturing company, Pran-rFl 

Group has been highly praised for its 

initiative in purifying water after 

scientific production. 

Assistant manager of Habibganj 

industrial Park's Waste Purchase or 

effluent treatment Plant (etP) 

cooperative unit bikash Karmakar said 

that we have power to cut 66 lakh liters 

of water through four etPs, but the 

water used in the factory is 40-45 lakh 

liters. so there is no question of 

throwing out unrefined water. every 

day we examine the standard and 

quality of the water in our laboratory 

and dump the water at our own two 

large ponds where fishes are also 

cultivated. 

it has found out after visiting PranrFl 

industry in olipur that water 

treatment plants inside the huge factory 

are itself like huge factories. Water is 

first purified and them falls into the 

pond between the factories. 

Factory manager bikash Karmakar 

showed their etP activities. At that 

time, it was known that the used water 

of the factory first enters the inlet and 

then the water is screened in two mili 

mess size of and after that the large 

solids constricted is separated. After 

that the floating oils and grids are 

separated into water through the tPi 

(titled Plate incepter). After the initial 

refinement, the water is brought to the 

euculization and the ph is made neutral 

by using soda of alkaline chemical (soda 

ash). then this water is sent to the 

eresion tank. then with single stage 

extended Aeration Activated sludge 

(eAAs) process bacterial culture is done 

through 24 hours of continuous air 

flow, through which 95 percent of bod 

and Cod decreases. urea and dAP are 

used as nutrition for the growth of 

bacteria. then the water goes from the 

eresion tank to the secondary clarifier. 

secondary clarifier separates the mixed 

bacteria's and re-circulet it in the 

eresion tank. non-bacterial fresh water 

goes to the do tank where the air 

circulates to increase oxygen content in 

the water. Afterwards the water is sent 

through pumps to their own ponds. 

the textile factory's water is purified 

using biological process using by two 

chemicals decoloring agent and poly 

aluminum chloride which makes the 

water complete colorless. 

mohammad ehsanul Habib, senior 

manager (administration) of Habiganj 

industrial Park said sad that, paddy is 

being cultivated on all the land in this 

area with our etP refined water. Fishes 

are cultivated in the pond where etP 

water is stored. About 20,000 workers 

of the factory eats' these fish two days a 

week. even the owner of the company 

also eats the fish. Apart from this, etP 

experts from india and italy regularly 

visit the factory for inspection. 

When asked if they run etP every 

time, he replied that 90% of the people 

of this organization are residents of this 

area. You can audit whether etP is 

running for 24 hours by any person 

without informing us. so far many high 

officials of public and private sector 

have inspected about this and come to 

know the truth about this. 

Hasan md manjurul Haque, General 

manager of the Habiganj industrial 

Park said that we have installed etP 

using italian and indian technology. We 

are working to recycle this water in the 

future and use it again in the production 

process. the sad fact is that we are all in 

all factory in this area. there is a 

conspiracy to mislead people in the 

unnecessary misconceptions that the 

black water from our factory flows into 

the river. We are presenting our views 

to the respected people of this area and 

inviting them to visit the factory at any 

time. 

When interrogating a farmer from a 

field near the Habiganj industrial park, 

he said, we cannot give the water of the 

canal to the fields because it is toxic. We 

use the water which falls directly from 

Pran factory. it does not need to be 

fertilized, and the yield is very good. " 

Salma Nasreen, Additional Secretary of Financial Institutions Division of Finance Ministry on 

Friday planted a mango tree plant at Arunima Resort Golf Club in Narail. 

Photo: TBT 

Mothers play a key role in forming educated 

society, says Mass Education Minister 

Pabna civil surgeon Dr. Md. Tahazzel Hossain addressed a discussion meeting in observance of the World 

Mental Health Day at the civil surgeon office conference room recently. Photo: Abdul Hamid Khan 

Mental Health Day 

observed in Pabna 

Abdul HAmid KHAn, PAbnA CorresPondent: 

World mental Health day was observed in Pabna with 

befitting manner recently. 

in observance the day Pabna civil surgeon office brought 

out a grand colorful rally led by Pabna civil surgeon dr. md. 

tahazzel Hossain. the rally started from the premises of the 

civil surgeon office and paraded the main streets which ended 

at the same place. 

later a discussion meeting was held at the civil surgeon 

office conference room. it was presided over by the civil 

surgeon dr. md. tahazzel Hossain. Among others deputy civil 

surgeon dr. K.m. Abu Jafor, journalist and columnist Abdul 

Hamid Khan, m.o.C.s dr. md. KhairulAlam, administrative 

officer of civil surgeon office md. mokter Hossain, district ePi 

superintendent robiulAlam, dPHn dr. uma roy and district 

sanitary inspector md. mahmud Alam addressed the meeting. 

Civil surgeon dr. tahazzel Hossain said, World mental Health 

day is a global mental health awareness day which is being 

observed every year on october 10. the speaker put emphasis 

on the necessity of providing medical services to the mental 

patients and urged the physicians to be more serious and 

cordial in this connection. 

the meeting was conducted by senior health education 

officer md. elias Hossain. 'Young people and mental health in 

a changing world' is the theme for the day in this year. 

Experts suggest egg intake 

to meet nutrition 

rAnGPur: livestock experts at a post-rally discussion have 

laid emphasis on regular consumption of egg by the people to 

meet nutrition and protein demands for building a healthier 

nation, reports bss. 

"side by side with meeting balanced nourishment, 

consumption of egg ensures sound health for the people of all 

ages," they opined. the divisional office of department of 

livestock services (dls) and bangladesh Poultry industry 

Central Council (bPiCC) jointly organised the discussion at 

town Hall auditorium on Friday in observance of World egg 

day-2018 in the city. 

dls deputy director dr sheikh Azizur rahman presided over 

the discussion. divisional Commissioner mohammad Joynul 

bari attended the function as the chief guest. 

Acting divisional director (Health) dr shahin Ara Haque, 

district livestock officer dr mahbubur rahman, president of 

rangpur Poultry industry owners' Association Akbar Hossain 

and poultry farmer mahmudul Hassan addressed as special 

guests. dr rahman said the country's poultry sector is 

flourishing rapidly to improve rural economy by producing huge 

eggs to meet the people's protein demand on way to attain 

sustainable development goals (sdGs). 

"Chicken eggs are now being produced in bangladesh by 

adopting latest scientific technologies maintaining maximum 

safety for human health to meet nutritional demand of the 

population," he added. 

m.r.JinnAH, sreePur CorresPondent: 

Advocate mostafizur rahman, 

minister of Primary and mass 

education at a `maa somabesh ` said 

as a chief guest at magura sheikh 

Kamal indoor stadium on thursday 

noon that mother's participation is 

unlimited in forming educated and 

knowledgeable society. the objective 

of the present government is to create a 

society of educated and knowledgebased 

nation. 

in order to build this knowledgeable 

society, Father of nation bangabandhu 

sheikh mujibur rahman has been 

nationalizing the primary schools only 

after independence. 

in order to ensure standard primary 

education, the Prime minister sheikh 

Hasina has nationalized 26,000 

primary schools in the country. she 

also doubled teachers' salaries. 

besides, different facilities like giving 

new books to the students in first day 

of the year , the sub-stipend money of 

primary students send to their 

mother by mobile banking. 

magura district primary education 

division organized the occasion. 

director General of Primary and mass 

education dr md. Abu Hena mostafa 

Kamal Presided over the meeting. 

secretary of Primary and mass 

education ministry Akram Al Hossain, 

Additional secretary of Primary and 

mass education ministry tarun Kanti 

sarkar, deputy director of Khulna 

divisional Primary education 

meherun nesa, deputy Commissioner 

of magura md. Ali Akbar, Police supar 

of magura district Khan muhammod 

rezwan , magura Zilla Parishad 

Chairman Pankaj Kundu, Prime 

minister's Assistant Personal secretary 

Advocate sifuzzaman shikhar, district 

Primary education officer Kumaresh 

Chandra gachi spoke others. the 

minister also said that there is no 

affection other than the mother of the 

child. if mother is inspired by the 

education of children then the world 

will change. that is why the Awami 

league government took the initiative 

to gather the mother to power. before 

that, there was nothing in the assembly 

of the mother during any other 

government. He urged the mothers to 

give their correct history, besides trying 

to teach the truth more than their 

children. 

earlier, the minister spoke on the 

occasion as the chief guest at the 

exchange of views and cultural events 

with the teachers of the magura 

Primary training institute at Pti 

auditorium on Wednesday night. on 

thursday morning 

visited country's 

best elected Arpara model 

Government Primary school in 

shalikha upazila under magura 

district. 

Man held with 1.7kg gold 

powder at Benapole 

JAHirul islAm, benAPole CorresPondent: 

Customs officials arrested a man 

along with 1.7 kg gold powder worth 

tK. 70 lakh from benapole checkpost 

area on Friday night. the gold powder 

was smuggling to india through 

benapole checkpost. 

the arrestee was identified as 

Alamgir Hossain, 44 son of md 

ibrahim Khalil a resident of Chatkhil 

upzila sadar in noakhali district. 

belal Hossain Chowdhury, 

commissioner of the benapole 

Customs House said that Acting on a 

tip-off, a team of custom officials 

arrested Alamgir Hossain and 

reportedly scanned Alamgir's bag and 

spotted a packet of gold powder while 

he was going to india. 

the gold powder mixing with soil in 

the packet, which was proved through 

laboratory tests in Jashore. A case was 

filed in this connection. 

Central Joint Secretary General of Bangladesh Islamic Front Alhaj S U M Abdus Samad who is a 

possible candidate of Bangladesh Islamic Front from Chattogram-14 Chandanaish-Satkania (partial) 

seat held a press conference on Wednesday at Dohazari Press Club. Journalists working in the 

local and national newspapers were present at the occasion. 

Photo: S M Akash

INTERNATIONAL SUNDAy, 

7 

OCTOBeR 14, 2018 

Prospect of Trump-Xi talks raises 

hope for thaw in trade war 

With China and the United States opening 

the door to a meeting next month 

between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald 

Trump, hopes are rising for a potential 

easing of tensions in the trade war 

between the world's two largest 

economies. 

Worries about the increased tariffs the 

two sides have imposed on each other's 

goods have contributed to this week's 

dizzying volatility in financial markets. 

The higher tariffs have elevated costs for 

companies in both countries, and economists 

say that if they remain in place 

indefinitely, they could depress economic 

growth. 

A Xi-Trump meeting, if it happens, 

would take place during a summit of leaders 

of the Group of 20 biggest global 

economies in Argentina in late November. 

In Bali, Indonesia, where he's attending 

global finance meetings, Treasury Secretary 

Steven Mnuchin said, "We are having 

discussions about a potential meeting." 

Later Friday, Larry Kudlow, Trump's 

top economic adviser, said in Washington 

that preparations for the talks were under 

way. 

"It looks like there will be a meeting in 

Buenos Aires at the G-20," Kudlow said in 

an interview with CNBC. "We are looking 

at it. The Chinese are looking at it. Preparations 

are being made. I can't say 100 

percent certainty, but there is no question 

everybody is looking at it." Kudlow said 

that so far, the administration viewed 

China's negotiating offers as "rather 

unsatisfactory" but that "maybe talks 

between the two heads of state will bear 

fruit." 

The trade feud has been fueled by U.S. 

accusations that China engages in cybertheft 

and coerces foreign companies into 

handing over technology in return for 

access to the Chinese market, as well as by 

Trump's anger over China's trade surplus 

with the U.S. It is far from clear that the 

U.S. might be preparing to consider lifting 

In this Nov. 9, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, right, chats with Chinese 

President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in 

Beijing. China said Friday, Oct. 12, 2018 it is in contact with the United States amid 

reports of a planned meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Donald 

Trump next month following a dive in the U.S. stock market blamed partly on a growing 

trade war between the world's two largest economies. 

Photo: AP 

5 S Korean 

climbers and 4 

Nepalese guides 

missing in storm 

Five South Korean climbers 

and four Nepalese guides 

were missing on Gurja 

Himal mountain after a 

strong storm swept through 

their base camp, officials and 

expedition organizers said 

Saturday. 

A storm Friday night 

destroyed their camp and 

rescue helicopter sent early 

Saturday were unable to land 

because of bad weather conditions 

on the mountain, 

police official Bir Bahadur 

Budamagar said. 

It was unlikely the weather 

would clear on Saturday 

and the base camp is at 

least one-day trek from the 

nearest village. 

A police team was also 

heading toward the base 

camp on foot and would likely 

reach there on Sunday. 

The climbers were attempting 

to scale the 7,193-meter 

(23,590-foot) peak during the 

Autumn climbing season. 

penalty tariffs on about $250 billion of 

Chinese products. 

Mnuchin suggested that the two leaders 

could meet next month if the Trump 

administration felt trade discussions were 

moving in a positive direction. 

"We need to do work in advance to be 

sure there are changes and we can have a 

more balanced trading relationship," the 

Treasury secretary said. "And that we're 

going to be make sure we don't have 

forced joint transfers and forced transfer 

of technology." Lu Kang, a spokesman for 

China's Foreign Ministry, offered no 

specifics Friday but said, "I have also seen 

the relevant reports." 

The Wall Street Journal and the Washington 

Post have cited officials as saying 

Trump has decided to proceed with a 

meeting with Xi. 

Global indexes bounced back sharply 

Friday after their recent plunges, on word 

of the possible presidential meeting, 

along with strong Chinese export data. 

Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.5 percent 

to 22,694.66 after a nearly 4 percent 

loss on Thursday. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2.1 

percent to 25,801.49. The Shanghai Composite 

index advanced 0.9 percent to 

2,606.91. Shares recovered in Taiwan and 

rose throughout Southeast Asia. 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial 

Average jumped 305 points, or 1.2 

percent, in late-morning trading, and the 

Nasdaq composite surged 138 points, or 

1.9 percent. Later, both stock indexes gave 

up much of their gains. 

Friday's volatility followed a swoon over 

the previous two days that erased 1,300 

points from the Dow and dragged the 

S&P 500 down more than 5 percent. 

Reports that Mnuchin has advised 

against labeling China a currency manipulator 

- a status that could trigger penalties 

- were also seen as easing tensions. 

The Chinese currency has been falling in 

value against the dollar in recent months, 

raising concerns that Beijing is devaluing 

its currency to make Chinese goods more 

competitive against U.S. products. 

'It was life or death': Face-toface 

with Michael's fury 

Tom Garcia watched in terror 

as fingers of water pushed 

inland across the beach and 

began filling up his home. 

His wife handed him a drill 

and Garcia used screws to pin 

his front and back door shut. 

But soon the storm surge from 

Hurricane Michael was up to 

his chest. His dogs sat on his 

bed as it floated. He said it took 

all of his strength to hold his 

sliding door shut as the waters 

outside the glass rose higher 

than those flooding the house. 

"It was life or death," Garcia 

said through tears Friday as he 

walked amid the destruction in 

Mexico Beach. 

Michael was one of the most 

powerful hurricanes to ever 

make landfall in the U.S., and 

this Gulf Coast community of 

about 1,000 people was in its 

bullseye Wednesday. While 

most residents fled ahead of the 

storm's arrival, others stayed to 

face the hurricane. 

They barely escaped as 

homes were smashed from 

their foundations, neighborhoods 

got submerged, and broken 

boards, sheet metal and 

other debris flew through the 

air. Hector Morales, a 57-yearold 

restaurant cook, never even 

thought about evacuating. He 

grew up in Puerto Rico, where 

he said "you learn how to survive 

a storm." 

His mobile home isn't on the 

beach. But the canal lined with 

boat docks behind his home 

quickly overflowed as the hurricane 

came inland. Soon, 

Morales said, his mobile home 

started floating. 

"The water kept coming so 

fast, it started coming in from 

everywhere," he said as he sat 

outside on a broken set of 

stairs lying atop a mattress 

and other storm debris. "I had 

about 3 feet of water in my 

house. That's when I decided 

to jump." 

He got through a window of 

his home on to the top of his car 

outside when Morales saw two 

neighbors wading through the 

rushing surge. He swam out 

and grabbed a utility pole, then 

reached out and helped steady 

the wading couple. They fought 

their way onto a fishing boat 

that had been tied to a palm 

tree and climbed inside. 

Morales left his neighbors in 

a bathroom below the boat's 

deck, while he sat in the captain's 

chair. He said they stayed 

in the boat for six hours before 

the winds calmed and the surge 

receded. 

Bill Shockey, 86, refused 

when his daughter pleaded 

with him to leave Mexico 

Beach. He said he didn't want 

to leave behind his collection of 

"Gone with the Wind" dishes 

and antique dolls. So he 

stashed those valuables up high 

in a closet before heading to his 

daughter's newly built two-story 

home next door. 

With a pocket full of cigars 

and his cat named Andy, 

Shockey watched the hurricane 

roll in from an upstairs bedroom. 

The wind shredded the 

roof of his single-story home. 

Water rose nearly to the top of 

his garage door. 

A neighbor's home across the 

street got shoved off its foundation. 

Hector Morales sits on a debris pile near his home which was destroyed by hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Friday, Oct. 12, 

2018. "I have nothing else to do. I'm just waiting," said Morales as he wonders what he will do next. "I lost everything." Photo: AP 

Rescuers search for victims following a flash flood in Mandailing Natal district, North Sumatra, Indonesia, 

Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. 

Photo: AP 

Floods, landslides in Indonesia 

leave 22 dead, 15 missing 

Torrential rains triggered flash 

floods and landslides on the Indonesian 

island of Sumatra, killing at 

least 22 people, mostly children at a 

school, and leaving 15 others missing, 

officials said Saturday. 

A flash flood with mud and debris 

from landslides struck Mandailing 

Natal district in North Sumatra 

province and smashed an Islamic 

school in Muara Saladi village, 

where 21 children were swept away 

on Friday afternoon, said local police 

chief Irsan Sinuhaji. 

He said rescuers retrieved the bodies 

of 11 children from mud and rubble 

hours later. 

The National Disaster Mitigation 

Agency's spokesman, Sutopo 

Purwo Nugroho, said rescuers 

were searching for 10 other children 

still missing. 

Spain says 3 

migrants dead, 

17 missing at sea 

Spain's maritime rescue 

service says it recovered 

the bodies of three 

migrants and feared that 

another 17 were missing in 

the Mediterranean Sea. 

The service says that its 

rescue craft found the 

three bodies in waters 

near a sinking boat it 

intercepted east of the 

Strait of Gibraltar. 

Rescuers saved 36 men 

of sub-Saharan origin 

from the boat. The saved 

migrants said that another 

17 men who had traveled 

with them were missing. 

In total, the service 

pulled 509 migrants from 

15 small boats on Friday. 

The United Nations says 

that 337 of the total of 

1,783 migrants who have 

died trying to reach 

Europe by sea in 2018 perished 

in waters near 

Spain. 

Greek police say they 

have recovered the bodies 

of 11 people believed to be 

migrants who recently 

crossed from Turkey, after 

the car they were travelling 

in crashed in northern 

Greece. 

Police said the crash 

occurred just after 5 a.m. 

(0200 GMT) Saturday 

near the town of Kavala. 

The car, which had been 

heading to the main 

northern city of Thessaloniki, 

collided with a 

truck heading in the opposite 

direction and burst 

into flames. 

All those in the car were 

killed. The truck driver 

was being treated for 

injuries in a hospital in 

northern Greece. 

Greek authorities have 

been seeing an increase in 

people illegally crossing 

the Greek-Turkish border 

in recent months. 

Many are transported to 

Thessaloniki, where they 

head to police stations to 

be registered and apply for 

asylum. 

A video obtained by The Associated 

Press showed relatives crying 

besides their loved ones at a health 

clinic where the bodies of the children 

were lying, covered with blankets. 

Nugroho said two bodies were 

found early Saturday from a car 

washed away by floods in Mandailing 

Natal, where 17 houses collapsed 

and five were swept away. 

Hundreds of other homes were 

flooded up to 2 meters (7 feet) high, 

while landslides occurred in eight 

areas of the region. 

Four villagers were killed after 

landslides hit 29 houses and flooded 

about 100 buildings in neighboring 

Sibolga district, Nugroho said. 

He said flash floods also smashed 

several villages in West Sumatra 

province's Tanah Datar district, 

killing four people, including two 

children, and leaving three missing. 

Landslides and flooding in West 

Pasaman district killed a villager and 

left two missing after 500 houses 

flooded and three bridges collapsed. 

Both North and West Sumatra 

provinces declared a weeklong emergency 

relief period as hundreds of 

terrified survivors fled their hillside 

homes to safer ground, fearing more 

of the mountainside would collapse 

under continuing rain, Nugroho 

said, adding that dozens of injured 

people were rushed to nearby hospitals 

and clinics. 

Seasonal downpours cause frequent 

landslides and floods each 

year in Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 

islands where millions of people live 

in mountainous areas or near fertile 

flood plains. 

IMF-World Bank ends meetings 

with call to brace for risks 

Global financial leaders wrapped 

up an annual meeting of the 

International Monetary Fund 

and World Bank on Saturday by 

urging countries to brace for 

potential risks from trade disputes 

and other tensions. 

The meetings in Bali, Indonesia, 

this week were overshadowed 

by a spate of financial 

market turmoil and by the 

threat to global growth from the 

trade clash between the U.S. 

and China over Beijing's technology 

policies. 

The International Monetary 

and Financial Committee, which 

advises the IMF's board of governors, 

issued a communique on 

Saturday urging countries to keep 

debt under control, engineer policies 

to ensure credit is available in 

line with their levels of inflation 

and ensure sustained economic 

growth "for the benefit of all." 

IMF members also pledged 

to avoid devaluing currencies to 

seek a trade advantage by making 

a country's exports relatively 

cheaper. IMF Managing 

Director Christine Lagarde said 

that while global growth is still 

strong, it has leveled off. The 

IMF started the meetings in 

Bali by downgrading its 2018 

estimate for global growth to a 

still robust 3.7 percent from an 

earlier forecast of 3.9 percent. 

"I think it's not inconsistent to 

have a plateaued growth and 

downside risks that are the clouds 

on the horizon, some of which 

have begun to open up," Lagard 

said. Adding that given the level of 

debt around the world, "we've given 

strong recommendations and 

in terms of trade: de-escalate and 

please dialogue." 

Countries should seek to 

ensure their levels of debt are 

manageable and that policies 

foster growth for all, she said. 

"Sail together and we will be 

stronger. Focus on your policies. 

Don't drift and let's cooperate 

as much as we can because 

we will be better off together." 

China's central bank governor, 

Yi Gang, joined the chorus 

of consternation over the trade 

standoff, which has resulted in 

Washington imposing penalty 

tariffs on tens of billions of dollars 

of imports of Chinese products 

and Beijing responding in 

kind. Protectionism and trade 

tensions are "major risks" for 

the world economy, he said in a 

statement to fellow financial 

leaders. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary 

Steven Mnuchin downplayed 

the level of alarm, saying he 

doesn't lose sleep over the possibility 

that China might step up 

its sales of U.S. treasuries in 

retaliation for pressure from 

Washington to alter national 

economic strategies aimed at 

nurturing Chinese leaders in 

many advanced technologies. 

Mnuchin said it was still not 

certain if President Donald 

Trump would meet with his 

Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping 

at a Group of 20 summit late 

next month in Buenos Aires. 

Reports that such a meeting 

was likely raised hopes for 

progress on the impasse 

between the world's two largest 

economies, stilling disquiet on 

financial markets Friday. 

IMF-World Bank ends meetings 

with call to brace for risks 

Turkish officials have an audio 

recording of the alleged killing of 

journalist Jamal Khashoggi from 

the Apple Watch he wore when 

he walked into the Saudi Consulate 

in Istanbul over a week 

ago, a pro-government Turkish 

newspaper reported Saturday. 

The new claim published by 

the Sabah newspaper, through 

which Turkish security officials 

have leaked much information 

about the case, didn't immediately 

explain how officials there also 

reportedly have video of 

Khashoggi's alleged slaying. 

However, it puts more pressure 

on Saudi Arabia to explain 

what happened to Khashoggi, 

who has written critically about 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed 

bin Salman, after he walked into 

the consulate Oct. 2. The kingdom 

has maintained the allegations 

against it are "baseless," 

though an official early Saturday 

acknowledged for the first time 

some believe Khashoggi was 

killed by the kingdom. 

Authorities recovered the 

audio from Khashoggi's iPhone 

and his iCloud account, the newspaper 

said. The journalist had 

given his phones before entering 

the consulate. 

The newspaper also alleged 

Saudi officials tried to delete the 

recordings first by incorrectly 

guessing Khashoggi's PIN on the 

watch, then later using the journalist's 

finger. 

However, Apple Watches do 

not have a fingerprint ID 

unlock function like iPhones. 

The newspaper did not address 

that in its report. 

An Apple Watch can record 

audio and can sync that later with 

an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection. 

The newspaper's account did 

not elaborate on how the Apple 

Watch synced that information 

to both the phone and Khashoggi's 

iCloud account. 

Turkish officials have not 

answered queries from The Associated 

Press about Khashoggi's 

Apple Watch. 

Turkish officials say they 

believe a 15-member Saudi 

"assassination squad" killed 

Khashoggi at the consulate. 

They've also alleged that they 

have video of the slaying, but not 

explained how they have it.

ART & CULTURE 

sunDAy, 

oCTober 14, 2018 

8 

Arjun KApoor 

said industry had 

heard rumours about 

viKAs bAhl 

There were always whispers in the industry about the 

allegations of sexual harassment against Vikas Bahl, says 

Arjun Kapoor, who is shocked that it happened at Phantom 

Films, a production banner which was viewed as a 

torchbearer of change in cinema. 

Bahl is accused of sexual harassment by a former 

employee of Phantom Films, formed by four partners - 

Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu 

Mantena. The company was dissolved last week amid 

allegations that Kashyap and Motwane did not address the 

issue, a claim both deny. 

Arjun, 33, said he had interacted with the four 

filmmakers and it was saddening to read the details. 

"There was speculation in the industry.There were 

certain people who knew the reality within the office 

(Phantom Films). The hearsay doesn't allow us the power to 

do something when people within the office are not doing 

something. It is like when there is a robbery happening in 

your house, the neighbour can't file the complaint. 

"Not having an HR in office is bizarre, I am not able to 

wrap my head around this... It is basic for any company, you 

could have saved the girl from further damage if you had a 

safe environment in your office, it is sad and bizarre," Arjun 

told . 

Arjun said there is not point giving individuals 

importance by discussing them as everyone is still coming 

to terms with it. 

"We had only heard, we had no understanding. It is 

unfortunate as they were intelligent, sorted and successful 

people who were going to be the torchbearers of change in 

our films. "It is a sad time for people as we are still 

processing what happened. There is no reason talking about 

individuals, giving them more importance than they 

deserve. They will be outcast anyway." 

The #MeToo movement of India has brought out several 

skeletons out of the closet. Personalities like Nana Patekar, 

Alok Nath, Rajat Kapoor, Vikas Bahl and Kailash Kher have 

been accused of sexual harassment. 

Asked whether he will ever collaborate with people who 

have been named, Arjun said, "These are not important 

things. You think society will allow them to exist? Work is a 

far-fetched thing. People who are going to be named are not 

going to be able to roam around easily. It is going to be a 

different environment." 

Women have come out and spoken and one needs to hear 

them, respect and understand what they have been 

through, he said. 

"Whether one takes, ten years or 20 years, it is not 

important. They can take 30 years or three minutes. The 

fact that they had the courage to come out and take names 

is commendable. They are in a vulnerable position and we 

need to let them put everything out." 

".. I would like to say when a woman is going through 

something like this, they don't look for evidence. You have 

to support them. 99.9 per cent of the women will be 

speaking the truth. It doesn't suit them to malign their own 

life and somebody else's." 

Arjun said it is unfortunate that the film industry is the 

starting point of #MeToo but he is happy that it will bring 

about a change. 

"If the film industry has to be a villain for there to be a 

cleanse in society, for people to have fear to ever do these 

things again, if we can cause that fear in any man across the 

country and stop him subconsciously from doing 

something like this, I will take that." 

Arjun said the stories are like the opening of the 

Pandora's box. 

"The mud-slinging that has happened, somewhere the 

industry is to be blamed because we have ignored the 

speculation and nobody bothered to get to the bottom of 

things. And we all behave like it doesn't happen in the film 

industry. The reality is coming out and it is a Pandora's box. 

"We all need to shut up and listen. To look for excuses is 

stupid, we have to introspect as an industry and as a 

profession. We have to try and find a solution to make it a 

safe environment for women." 

The actor said the industry will have a unified reaction 

against the culprits and in creating a safe and secure 

environment for women. 

"There will be a harsh treatment that will follow from the 

law as well as from the profession, but we need to take time 

to take stock. We cannot have an immediate reaction. This 

is something that will go on for a while and certain facets 

will emerge. Then, we will all be in a position to have a 

solution." 

Arjun said the issue of women safety is not just limited to 

films. It is a deep-rooted mindset in the country. 

"There is a big difference between social decorum and 

being friends or wanting to be physically intimate with a 

man and that blur of lines only Indian men seem to have. It 

is a big problem that we don't seem to comprehend when a 

woman is being nice to you. That blur has caused a lot of 

damage. The demarcation is now needed, when a woman 

says, No, it is a No." |Source: TOI] 

The Amityville Murders 

On the night of November 13, 1974, 

Ronald DeFeo, Jr. took a highpowered 

rifle and murdered his entire 

family as they slept. At his trial, 

DeFeo claimed that "voices" in the 

house commanded him to kill. 

This is their story. 

Release Date 

Director 

Writers 

Stars 

Genres 

Also known as 

Country 

Language 

Production 

: 15 October 2018 (USA) 

: Daniel Farrands 

: Daniel Farrands 

: John Robinson, Chelsea 

Ricketts, Paul Ben-Victor 

: Horror 

: The Haunting on Long Island: 

The Amityville Murders 

: USA 

: English 

: Skyline Entertainment, Cinetel 

Films, ETA Films 

Actor Dhanush's highly anticipated 

gangster drama 'Vada Chennai' is gearing 

up for a release on October 17. Meanwhile, 

the film has been censored with an 'A' 

certificate by the censor board. Made on a 

big budget by Wunderbar Films, the film 

has an ensemble cast including Aishwarya 

Rajesh, Andrea Jeremiah, Kishore, Ameer, 

Samuthirakani and Daniel Balaji in 

important roles. 

'Vada Chennai' is being made as a trilogy 

and the first part is set to hit the screen on 

October 17. 

Set in North Madras, 'Vada Chennai' is 

also reported to have a strong political 

backdrop. The film seems to span across 

several years and tracks the story of a 

carrom board player-turned-gangster Anbu 

(Dhanush). 

From the teaser, it's pretty evident that 

Dhanush's 

sToryline 

On the night of 

November 13, 1974, 

Ronald DeFeo, Jr. 

took a highpowered 

rifle and 

murdered his 

entire family as 

they slept. At his 

trial, DeFeo 

claimed that 

"voices" in the 

house commanded 

him to kill. This is 

their story. 

|Source: IMDb] 

'vada Chennai' 

gets an 'A' 

certificate 

'Vada Chennai' is about the gangwar in 

North Madras. Directed by the National 

Award-winning filmmaker Vetri Maaran, 

it's safe to say that 'Vada Chennai' is very 

likely to strike a chord with the 

audiences. 

Apart from the visuals, one of the 

major highlights of the teaser is Santhosh 

Narayanan's background score. 

|Source: TOI] 

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. 

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. 

'villain' is an acid 

test for Ankush 

The hardcore commercial pot boilers are not working at the 

Bengali Box Office these days. A lot has been discussed regarding 

the same. So, it's definitely a big risk for Ankush whose romantic 

thriller 'Villain' is releasing today. The Baba Yadav directorial faces 

a stiff Box Office challenge as 5 more Bengali movies are there to set 

up a major clash. 

The list includes Srijit's magnum opus 'Ek Je Chhilo Raja', 

Arindam Sil's 'Byomkesh Gowtro' and Kaushik Ganguly's 'Kishore 

Kumar Junior'. Given the commercial context, Dev poses a major 

threat with his 'Hoichoi Unlimited' and then there is Anindya 

Chatterjee's 'Manojder Adbhut Bari'. 

Ankush is well aware about the risk but he believes it's an acid test 

for him. It's now or never: "See, we loved Shammi Kapoor's 

craziness, the angry young man Amitabh Bachchan. We used 

whistle and clap every time they appeared on screen. That's what 

commercial cinema is and it would be great to see if the audience 

does the same while watching 'Villain'. It's an experimental one 

which people will enjoy a lot." 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (3D) 

11:45 am, 2:30 pm 

Johnny English 3 Strikes Again (2D) 

11:45 am, 6:45 pm 

First Man (2D) 

11:30 am, 2:30 pm, 5:15 pm, 8:00 pm 

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (3D) 

2:30 pm, 8:00 pm 

A Simple Favor (2D) 

2:00 pm, 4:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 7:30 pm 

Kin (2D) 

11:30 am, 5:00 pm 

The Nun (2D) 

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

Naqaab (2D) 

2:00 pm 

Venom (3D) 

12:00 pm, 5:30 pm, 8:15 pm 

*Authority reserves the right for any changes. 

SHOWTIME 

He has also clarified that 'Villain', which has Rittika Sen and Mimi 

Chakraborty as female lead, is not entirely copied from 2016 Telugu 

hit 'Gentleman'. Only the concept has been taken they rewrote the 

script completely. |Source: TOI] 

Naqaab (2D) 

11:00 am 

Johnny English 3 Strikes Again (2D) 

5:30 pm, 7:30 pm 

First Man (2D) 

10:50 am, 1:40 pm, 4:30 pm, 7:20 pm 

The Predator (3D) 

11:30 am, 4:40 pm 

Venom (3D) 

10:50 am, 1:45 pm, 2:00 pm, 4:40 pm, 7:00 

pm, 7:30 pm 

Bengali Beauty (2D) 

2:15 pm 

A Star is Born (3D) 

11:10 am, 1:50 pm, 4:20 pm, 7:10 pm 

The Nun (2D) 

11:00 am, 1:10 pm, 3:20 pm, 5:30 pm, 7:40 pm 

*Authority reserves the right for any changes.

SPORTS 

9 


Saifuddin, who last played in the Tri-nation final at home during last January, is expected to bat at 

number seven. 

Photo: AP 

Saifuddin’s selection a forced 

change in tactic for Bangladesh 

Sports Desk: Bangladesh were forced 

to take a detour from their tried and 

tested formula and go for a bowling allrounder 

at number seven due to the 

unavailability of Shakib Al Hasan, 

selector Habibul Bashar said on 

Saturday (October 13), reports 

Cricbuzz. 

The inclusion of Mohammad 

Saifuddin in the 15-member squad for 

the upcoming three-match ODI series 

against Zimbabwe, that is scheduled to 

begin with a day-night affair at Dhaka 

on October 21, suggests that 

Bangladesh are open to change the 

team dynamics. Saifuddin, who last 

played in the Tri-nation final at home 

during last January, is expected to bat 

at number seven. 

In the recent past, Bangladesh always 

walked through a different route as far 

as selecting their number seven was 

concerned; the team management 

Empty stands a sad 

sight for Croatia's Dalic 

in England stalemate 

Sports Desk: Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic 

described a 0-0 Nations League draw with 

England in a World Cup semi-final 

rematch as a "sad" day for football as fans 

were banned from the clash in Rijeka, 

reports BSS. 

Croatia were completing a UEFA 

sanction after a swastika symbol was 

carved into the pitch during a Euro 2016 

qualifier against Italy over three years ago. 

"The atmosphere is not easy for anybody. It 

is sad for football but hopefully this is our 

last time," said Dalic. "Football is played for 

the fans. It's sad the second and fourth 

team from the World Cup are playing 

behind closed doors. I don't know who it is 

good for." In front of the empty stands, 

Marcus Rashford missed two glorious 

chances to exact England a small measure 

of revenge for missing out on the World 

Cup final to Croatia 93 days ago in Moscow. 

Eric Dier and Harry Kane also hit the 

woodwork for the visitors, who enjoyed the 

better of a subdued game befitting of the 

bizarre atmosphere. "It feels like a game we 

should have won," said England manager 

Gareth Southgate. "We dictated the flow of 

the game for a long period. The second-half 

performance was excellent, we were 

pushing and pushing right to the end and 

on another day we would finish those 

chances." A small band of England 

supporters perched on a hill overlooking 

the deserted 8,000 capacity stadium in 

Rijeka tried to offer their encouragement. 

However, a point does little for either side's 

hopes of usurping Spain, who beat both last 

month, to progress to the first ever Nations 

League semi-finals next summer. 

always preferred a batsman who can 

bowl a few overs. Whether it was Nasir 

Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mossadek 

Hossain or their last experiment 

Soumya Sarkar, who batted at seven in 

the Asia Cup final, it was evident that it 

had to be a batsman who could bowl a 

few overs. 

But that was not the case with the 

team that was announced for the ODI 

series against Zimbabwe, and 

according to Habibul it was largely due 

to the unavailability of Shakib, who is 

nursing an injured finger and has been 

ruled out for three months. 

"We have to alter the team 

composition due to absence of 

Shakib. We cannot go with the same 

set-up because in ODIs there are 

three power-plays in place and one 

needs to have sufficient bowling 

strength to earn success here," 

Habibul told Cricbuzz on Saturday. 

"Earlier we used to have batting allrounder 

but now we wanted to have a 

bowling all-rounder who bats at 

seven and can bowl 10 overs. That is 

why we included Saifuddin," he 

added. 

Habibul added that they also 

considered changing the mindset as 

they are aware that the bowling allrounder 

does make a lot of difference 

abroad and with the 2019 World Cup 

being their ultimate goal, it is believed 

to be the right time to go for the change 

and see the outcome. 

"This series will help us see how it [the 

bowling all-rounder at seven] fares at the 

international level," said Habibul. 'When 

we go out at that time we need to have 

bowlers more than our batsmen [as the 

batting line-up is more or less settled] and 

with World Cup being our ultimate goal 

we have to try all our available options 

before preparing for the mega event." 

Salah scores direct 

from corner, strains 

muscle in Egypt romp 

Sports Desk: Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored direct from a corner 

but was later injured as Egypt romped to a 4-1 Africa Cup of Nations 

qualifying win over eSwatini on Friday, reports BSS. 

The striker went down holding his leg as the Group J match drew to a 

close in Cairo, resumed after receiving treatment, and was almost 

immediately withdrawn. 

Speaking after the match, Egypt assistant coach Hany Ramzy told BeIN 

Sports: "The initial diagnosis, according to the team doctor, is a strong 

muscle strain. It is not a tear, I think it is not serious." 

A spokesman for the team's medical department told the 

www.Kooora.com website: "He (Salah) had a light strain, we will do a scan 

as soon as possible. 

"I doubt he can play next Tuesday. We will be sure after the scan," he 

added, referring to the return match against eSwatini in Manzini. 

After scoring 44 goals in all competitions during his first season at 

Anfield, the striker has netted only three this term, with just one since 

August. 

Salah netted twice and missed two penalties when record seven-time 

African champions Egypt hammered Niger 6-0 last month in another 

qualifier. 

With eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) ranked even lower than Niger, 

there were expectations that Salah could get back on the goal trail at the 

Al Salam Stadium. 

He blasted a shot wide with Egypt three goals ahead before curling a 

corner into the net on the stroke of half-time. 

Salah fluffed a chance to net again by missing from inside the box during 

the second half after combining with Arsenal midfielder Mohamed 

Elneny. 

Captain Ahmed Elmohamady, Amr Warda and Mahmoud Hassan also 

scored for Egypt and Sibonginkosi Gamedze snatched a late eSwatini goal. 

Tunisia, who host Niger Saturday, and Egypt have six points each in a 

mini-league both seem certain to qualify from for the 2019 Cup of Nations 

in Cameroon. 

Egypt's Mohamed Salah in action against Swaziland during their African Nations Cup qualifier at 

Al-Salam Stadium on Friday. 

Photo: AP 

Brewers chase 

Kershaw, hang 

on for 6-5 win 

over Dodgers 

Sports Desk: The Milwaukee 

Brewers chased Los Angeles 

Dodgers ace pitcher Clayton 

Kershaw early then held on 

for a 6-5 victory to seize the 

advantage in their Major 

League Baseball playoff 

series, reports BSS. 

The Brewers scored five 

runs in three-plus innings 

against three-time Cy Young 

Award-winner Kershaw at 

Miller Park in Milwaukee. 

The most surprising was a 

home run by rookie relief 

pitcher Brandon Woodruff 

in the third inning that 

knotted the score at 1-1 after 

Manny Machado's secondinning 

homer put the 

Dodgers ahead. 

Woodruff, 25, led off the 

third after replacing Brewers 

starting pitcher Gio 

Gonzalez on the mound 

after the second inning. 

He belted a 92 mph (148 

Km/h) fastball from 

Kershaw over the right field 

fence, notching the fifth hit 

of his major league career. 

He also retired all six batters 

he faced, three with 

strikeouts. "It's something 

obviously coming in the day 

you don't know in your 

wildest dreams that that's 

going to happen, to be able 

to get an at-bat off Kershaw 

and hit a home run," 

Woodruff said. 

"But you know, I rounded 

first, and once I knew it was 

gone, it was just one of those 

kind of moments where you're 

not really thinking, you know, 

and I was just letting some 

emotion out. You know, it was 

a cool moment, and I was 

happy that I could just go out 

there and do it for the team." 

Milwaukee gained another 

run in the third on Hernan 

Perez's sacrifice fly. Dodgers 

catcher Yasmani Grandal 

endured a nightmare inning, 

committing a catcher's 

interference on a lineout by 

Jesus Aguilar along with his 

second passed ball of the night 

and another error on a throw 

from the outfield. 

Milwaukee pinch-hitter 

Domingo Santana's single 

scored two runs in the fourth 

to send Kershaw packing with 

no one out in another 

disappointing outing for the 

star pitcher. 

England beat Sri Lanka by 

31 runs on DLS method 

Sports Desk: This was just what England 

needed as their tour of Sri Lanka finally got 

underway in earnest: a hard-fought, gritty 

win - workmanlike with the bat and 

destructive with the ball (not least new man 

Olly Stone) - completed just before the 

arrival of the rain that had washed out 

Wednesday's opener, reports AP. 

Fears that this series could end 0-0 have at 

least been quelled, although we may not see 

the full 100 overs in any of the five matches. 

This despite Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka's 

talismanic, recently-recalled fast bowler, 

picking up figures of five for 44 with a series 

of superb slower balls that put the skids on 

England when another score of 300 looked 

in reach. 

Their 278 for nine was still a decent effort 

on a sluggish pitch having been asked to bat 

first, and they left the field pleased at 

halfway. They had recovered from a wicket 

lost in the opening over, been patient, shown 

the value of their depth, and continued to 

accumulate in the face of tumbling wickets 

against fine bowling. 

Within nine overs of Sri Lanka's chase, 

with four of the top five gone for single-figure 

scores, the outcome of the match was clear - 

so long as the rain stayed away long enough 

to allow 20 overs to be bowled (the 

minimum required to constitute a completed 

match). A reserve day was available, but who 

knows what weather that would have thrown 

up. Chris Woakes did most of the damage 

with a wicket in his first over - as he so often 

seems to in this format - and two more in the 

powerplay, but Olly Stone's first bowl in 

international cricket brought the more eyecatching 

intervention. His seventh ball 

reared up at Niroshan Dickwella, who could 

only fend a loopy glove behind. Stone 

touched 90mph regularly in his first 

international spell (4-0-7-1), one of real 

promise that will leave other bowlers in 

contention for next summer's World Cup 

looking over their shoulders. 

That left Sri Lanka not only in a mess at 31 

for four, but a long way behind on 

Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, too. Even as Kusal 

Perera, who was caught at midwicket off 

Liam Dawson, and Dhananjya de Silva put 

on 43 by milking than spinners, the sense 

was that England just needed to get to 20 

overs to win. 

When that point was reached (after some 

conspicuously swift overs from the 

spinners), Sri Lanka were 95 for five, 66 

behind on DLS. Heavy rain was visible over 

the hills around the ground; the ground staff 

crouched poised by the covers. 

They remained there for nine more overs 

as the light worsened, with rain skirting 

round and Thisara Perera's industrial hitting 

narrowed the gap. 

When Moeen Ali completed 10 tidy overs 

for 47, the heavens opened - at 3.47pm, five 

minutes later than it had on Wednesday, a 

day-nighter - and on came the covers with 

Sri Lanka winning by 31 runs on DLS. The 

abandonment was inevitable, but took 

around an hour to arrive. Sri Lanka had been 

as optimistic as England at the interval, 

because of Malinga's brilliance. Four of his 

five wickets came with slower balls, the 

exception being Jason Roy, caught at 

midwicket in the day's first over - a wicket 

maiden as England took two overs to score a 

run off the bat. England's next three 

partnerships were worth 72, 68 and 50 

before Malinga got back to work. 

Chris Woakes claimed 3-26 in five overs against Sri Lanka on Saturday. 

Photo: AP 

Monaco hires Thierry Henry as new coach 

Sports Desk: Thierry Henry is back 

where it all started. France's all-time 

leading scorer and an Arsenal great 

landed his first managerial job on 

Saturday after Monaco hired him as a 

replacement for Leonardo Jardim, who 

was dismissed this week, reports UNB. 

The 41-year-old Henry started his 

professional career at the Riviera club 

and played in the French league with 

Monaco from 1994-99. 

He's signed on as coach for three 

seasons, to June 2021. He starts on 

Monday. 

"I thank AS Monaco for giving me the 

opportunity to coach the team of this 

club which is so special to me," Henry 

said in a statement on the club website. 

"I am very happy to come back to AS 

Monaco and extremely determined to 

meet the challenges ahead. I cannot 

wait to meet the players to start 

working together." 

Henry has no experience as a 

manager but had been working as an 

assistant to Belgium coach Roberto 

Martinez since 2016. He was part of the 

staff that led the team to third place at 

the World Cup in Russia. 

Henry became the latest member of 

the France squad that won the 1998 

World Cup to fully embrace a coaching 

career, following Laurent Blanc, Didier 

Deschamps, Patrick Vieira, and 

Zinedine Zidane among others. 

"Thierry is ready to be head coach in 

a club," Martinez told L'Equipe 

newspaper in an interview published 

this week. "He likes what he does, and 

enjoying it is an essential part of this 

job." 

Henry turned down an offer from 

Bordeaux this summer and was in the 

running at Aston Villa. 

At Monaco, which is winless in its 

past 10 games in all competitions, 

Henry's first task will be to get the team 

back in contention in the league. A 

traditional powerhouse in French 

football, Monaco secured top-three 

finishes over the past five seasons and 

won the 2017 league under Jardim but 

is currently in 18th place in the 

standings, and in last place in its 

Champions League group. 

"Thierry is both aware of the task 

ahead and eager to start his new job," 

Monaco vice president and CEO Vadim 

Vasilyev said in a statement. "He can 

count on our trust and all our support 

to bring a new dynamic to the team and 

carry out the mission. 

"His knowledge of football, his 

passion for the game, his high 

standards and his commitment to our 

colors make his nomination a reality." 

Henry's first-class career was 

launched in 1994 by Monaco coach 

Arsene Wenger, who also five years 

later brought him to Arsenal. 

Wenger promoted Henry to 

Monaco's first team after the fast and 

technically gifted forward scored more 

than 30 goals with the under-17s in one 

year. Aged 17, Henry played his first 

French league game in August 1994. He 

ended up playing 141 matches in all 

competitions with Monaco, winning 

the 1997 league. At Arsenal, he joined 

the pantheon of modern greats. He 

scored at least 20 league goals in six 

consecutive seasons and became 

Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer. 

He won seven trophies with the 

Gunners, among them two Premier 

Leagues, including the unbeaten 2003- 

04 side. Henry ended his 20-year 

playing career four years ago after 

claiming multiple trophies, including 

the Champions League and the World 

Cup. After he retired, he worked as a TV 

analyst and quit his role as a U.K. Sky 

Sports pundit in July to focus on his 

ambition to become a manager. 

Henry holds the French record of 51 

goals in 123 internationals. He won the 

2000 European Championship but 

finished on a low. In 2009 came the 

infamous handball in the decisive goal 

against Ireland in a World Cup playoff. 

At that World Cup in South Africa, 

France didn't win a game, and caused a 

scandal when it refused to train before 

its final match. 

Coach Raymond Domenech arguably 

played his part in the debacle by 

dropping the hugely influential Henry 

from the starting lineup and souring a 

fragile atmosphere within the squad. It 

was a sad and humiliating end to 

Henry's international career when he 

made his final appearance as a secondhalf 

substitute, with his shell-shocked 

side trailing South Africa 2-0 and 

heading for the exit gate. 

Redzel wins world’s richest 

turf race The Everest 

Sports Desk: Redzel won the world's richest turf race for the second straight time 

in Sydney Saturday, storming to victory ahead of a host of top-rated sprinters to 

clinch The Everest crown, reports BSS. 

With Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle, he took a commanding lead out of the gate at 

Royal Randwick and was never seriously challenged to collect Aus$6.0 million 

(US$4.2 million) in winnings. 

Between intermittent showers and before a crowd of 40,000, the Tye Anglandridden 

Trapeze Artist was second with Osborne Bulls third. 

"I was a bit more relaxed today, last year was a whirlwind," said an ecstatic 

McEvoy in celebrating his second successive win. 

"Having done it last year put me in good stead for this year. I had a nice amount 

of confidence that the horse was going to do well given the rain. 

"It's amazing and I'm really thrilled," he added. "This race is just going to get 

bigger and better." The race over 1200 metres (3/4 mile or six furlongs) brought 

together some of the world's best sprinters, angling for a slice of a whopping 

Aus$13 million in prize money. The winnings were Aus$3 million more than in the 

inaugural race last year and easily top that offered at Australia's iconic Melbourne 

Cup, where tens of thousands of punters gather in November to watch world 

champion thoroughbreds race.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

BANGLADESHTODAY 10 

THE 

SUnDAy, OCTOBER 14, 2018 

China's foreign trade maintains steady growth 

in first 9 months: Economic Watch 

Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 

Sarah Resort, operated by Fortis Group. All Standard Chartered Bank credit and debit cardholders will 

now enjoy up to 25% discount on published room rates at the resort. Mahiul Islam, Head Retail Products 

& Segments, Standard Chartered Bank, Razimul Haque Razim, Director Rewards & Alliances, Standard 

Chartered Bank, Emdadul Haque, General Manager, Sarah Resort along with other senior officials from 

both organizations were present at the signing ceremony held at Standard Chartered Bank head office 

recently. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Samsung Galaxy A7 in the 

country: Pre-order starts 

Samsung Mobile Bangladesh 

announced the pre-order of its latest 

device Galaxy A7 exclusively 

through Pickaboo.com, a press 

release said 

Galaxy A7 is continuation of the 

premium build quality of Galaxy A 

series, which is synonymous with 

sleek design, superior camera and 

high performance. The phone has 

triple rear camera capable of 

shooting ultra-wide-angle photos 

with live focus, scene optimizer, and 

pro lighting options. The 24 

megapixels camera has 1.7 aperture 

with pixel merging sensor which can 

detect varying lights and takes 

stunning shots in any lighting 

condition. 

Galaxy A7 squeezes a 6.0-inch 

FHD+ and Super AMOLED display 

into a sleek body made of metal 

frame with glass back. It is powered 

by an Octa-core processor coupled 

with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB 

internal storage which is expandable 

up to 512 GB through a microSD 

card. 

Customers can pre-order the 

device 

from 

China's foreign trade remained stable 

in the first nine months with improved 

trade structure, customs data showed 

on Friday, reports BSS. 

Foreign trade rose 9.9 percent year on 

year to 22.28 trillion yuan (about 3.23 

trillion U.S. dollars) during January- 

September, according to the General 

Administration of Customs (GAC). 

Exports increased 6.5 percent in the 

period to 11.86 trillion yuan while 

imports grew 14.1 percent to 10.42 

trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus 

of 1.44 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 

28.3 percent. 

By and large, China's foreign trade 

growth in 2018 remained steady with 

progress witnessed, and the country has 

been advancing the high-quality 

Belarus receives 

200m USD loan 

from EFSD 

Belarus received 200 million U.S. dollars 

as the sixth tranche of the loan from the 

Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and 

Development (EFSD), Belarusian Foreign 

Ministry said on Friday, reports BSS. 

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) 

that manages the funds of the EFSD 

transferred the 200 million dollars loan to 

Belarus, the ministry said. 

Taking into account the previous 

tranches, Belarus received 1.8 billion out of 

the 2 billion dollars loan to support 

domestic reforms. 

Belarus signed an agreement for 2 billion 

dollars loan from the EFSD in March 2016. 

The loan must be granted in seven tranches 

during the 2016-2018 period. 

The EFSD, instituted by the governments 

of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, 

Kyrgyzstan and Russia, is tasked with 

providing assistance for the member states 

in overcoming consequences of the global 

financial crisis, ensuring their economic and 

financial stability, and supporting the 

integration process in the region. 

The EDB is an international financial 

institution established in 2006. It now has 

six member states, including Russia, 

Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan 

and Tajikistan. 

development of its foreign trade, Li 

Kuiwen, spokesperson for the GAC,told 

a press conference. 

In the first nine months, exports and 

imports of products under the general 

trade category, which are differentiated 

from processing trade, gained 13.5 

percent from a year ago to 13.02 trillion 

yuan, accounting for 58.4 percent of the 

total foreign trade, 1.9 percentage 

points higher than the same period in 

2017. 

The country's trade with major 

trading partners saw an increase during 

the January-September period. Trade 

with the European Union, its largest 

trading partner, climbed 7.3 percent, 

and trade volume with the U.S. and 

ASEAN countries increased by 6.5 

percent and 12.6 percent, respectively. 

Export of electric-mechanical 

products increased by 7.8 percent to 

6.91 trillion yuan, taking up 58.3 

percent of China's total export value. 

China has taken measures to readjust 

its export structure, with exports of 

automobiles and machine tools 

expanding 16.3 percent and 18.7 

percent, respectively. 

In the January-September period, 

China imported 336 million tonnes of 

crude oil, 64.78 million tonnes of 

natural gas and 24.59 million tonnes of 

refined oil. Imports of iron ore and 

soybean dropped by 1.6 percent and 2 

percent to 803 million tonnes and 70.01 

million tonnes, respectively, during the 

same period. 

Despite in downward trend, Italy's 

shadow economy still 12.4 pct of 

GDP: ISTAT 

Underground economic activities in Italy were worth some 210 billion 

euros (242.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, the National Institute of Statistics 

(ISTAT) reported on Friday, reports BSS. 

The figure marked a limited increase in terms of absolute numbers, 

compared to 207.3 billion euros estimated in 2015. 

Yet, it showed a decrease in terms of incidence of underground economy 

on the country's gross domestic product (GDP), which was estimated at 12.4 

percent in 2016 against 12.6 percent in the previous year. 

According to the agency, the main reason was that "non-observed 

economy grew at a slower pace (1.2 percent) than the productive system as a 

whole (2.3 percent)." 

"The estimates for 2016 confirm a downward trend in the incidence of 

non-observed component of the economy on GDP, after the 2014 peak," 

ISTAT highlighted in its report. 

In fact, the drop of 0.2 percentage point (in incidence on GDP) in 2016 

followed a decrease of 0.5 points recorded in 2015. 

The country started benefitting from such positive, although moderate, 

trend after three years of steady growth of underground activities registered 

from 2012 to 2014. In 2014, the estimated incidence of such activities on 

GDP was 13.4 percent. 

Overall, the shadow economy is considered as the sum of unreported 

income, off-the-books employment, and other business activities (for 

example, undeclared rents), plus illegal activities such as drug trafficking, 

prostitution, and tobacco smuggling, ISTAT explained. 

The first three kind of underground activities generated a value added 

worth some 192 billion euros in 2016, while illegal activities produced almost 

18 billion euros. 

Undeclared income made up 45.5 percent of the whole (some 95.3 billion 

on total 210 billion), according to ISTAT. 

Chinese investors laud Bangladesh's 

stable environment 

They want to invest more in Bangladesh in coming years 

Quarterly Business Conference of Dhaka & Rajshahi Zone of First Security Islami Bank Limited held on 

October recently at Amari Dhaka Hotel. The Conference was presided over by Syed Waseque Md. Ali, 

Managing Director, First Security Islami Bank Limited. Among others, Mr. Abdul Aziz, Additional 

Managing Director, Md. Mustafa Khair, Deputy Managing Director, Divisional Heads, Branch Managers of 

Dhaka & Rajshahi Zones attended the Conference. The conference reviewed the operational performance 

of individual branches for the period of July-September 2018 and set various targets for next periods of the 

year 2018. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Russian PM backs switching to national currencies 

in settlements between SCO countries 

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry 

Medvedev has spoken in favor of 

switching to national currencies in 

settlements between the countries of 

the Shanghai Cooperation Organization 

(SCO), reports BSS. 

"In particular you mentioned the 

need to switch to mutual settlements in 

national currencies. We support this 

idea," he said at a meeting of the 

Council of Heads of Government of the 

SCO countries. But he noted that "it is 

necessary to act carefully," by reducing 

external markets. 

"The external conditions we are 

working are still difficult and can hardly 

be called comfortable. The system of 

strategic stability faces serious 

challenges. To maintain their dominant 

positions, some states use unfair 

competition, introducing protectionist 

measures, illegal unilateral sanctions," 

the Russian Prime Minister said. 

Medvedev also noted that such 

attacks are mainly directed against 

Russia, China as key members of the 

Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as 

well as Iran, which is a partner of the 

SCO. 

The Declaration on the Establishment 

of the Shanghai Cooperation 

Organization was inked in China's 

Shanghai in June 2001 by six founding 

states - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, 

Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. 

On June 9, 2017 India and Pakistan 

became full-fledged members of the 

SCO. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and 

Mongolia currently enjoy observer 

status while Sri Lanka, Turkey, 

Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and 

Nepal are dialogue partners. 

GE pushes back Q3 

earnings release to 

October 30 

General Electric, the once-mighty conglomerate which weeks ago announced a 

new chief executive in a move meant to stem a two-year decline, has said it will 

move the date of its third-quarter earnings release to October 30, reports BSS. 

The company postponed the release by a week "to allow GE Chairman and CEO 

Larry Culp to complete initial business reviews and site visits following his 

appointment on October 1," it said in a statement. 

"The company will discuss the results for the third quarter ending September 

30, 2018. Culp will share his initial observations, with more detail expected in 

early 2019." H. Lawrence "Larry" Culp, 55, is GE's third CEO in 14 months 

following the ouster of John Flannery. 

In announcing Culp's rise, the company, which was bumped from the 

prestigious Dow Jones Industrial Average in June, cited his history as chief 

executive of the industrial and healthcare conglomerate Danaher, where GE said 

he presided over a quintupling of market capitalization. 

Culp was named to the GE board earlier this year. 

GE's other bombshell was that it planned to write down effectively up to $23 

billion in value from its troubled power business, the prime catalyst of its nosedive 

in stock market valuation. 

Chinese investors at a seminar in 

Beijing greatly acclaimed the stable 

environment of Bangladesh which, 

they said, has made the country a very 

attractive destination for investment, 

reports UNB. 

While speaking high of the 

supportive measures of the 

government of Bangladesh, the 

Chinese businessmen assured of 

increased investment in Bangladesh in 

the coming years. 

The Chinese entrepreneurs made the 

comments at a seminar arranged by the 

Embassy of Bangladesh in Beijing 

recently in celebration of the 4th 

Development Fair 2018, said the 

Embassy on Saturday. 

Representing the country's 

indomitable progress and resolute 

spirit of its people, the event started 

with a 'development rally.' 

Embassy officials along with 

expatiate Bangladeshis, students, local 

Chinese, local media and press 

personnel whole-heartedly joined the 

rally in the morning. 

Paying rich tribute to the Father of 

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman and the freedom 

fighters, Bangladesh Ambassador to 

China M Fazlul Karim projected the 

remarkable journey of Bangladesh. 

He explained how from a warravaged 

devastated country, 

Bangladesh emerged as a global role 

model of development. 

The Ambassador mentioned that this 

was only possible because of the 

practical, effective and timely initiatives 

taken by the government. 

He presented an elaborate account of 

the ground-breaking achievements of 

Bangladesh in different socio-economic 

sectors from women empowerment, 

female education, healthcare to infrastructure 

development in the past few 

years. 

He thanked the Chinese government 

for partnering with Bangladesh in its 

development endeavours. 

The envoy also highlighted the 

positive investment environment 

prevailing in Bangladesh and 

encouraged Chinese investors to invest 

more in the country. 

A good number of Chinese business 

leaders and entrepreneurs participated 

at the fair and some of them spoke at 

the seminar describing their experience 

in Bangladesh. 

The Chinese entrepreneurs highly 

lauded Bangladesh's recent 

achievements and said they witnessed 

Bangladesh's progress with 

admiration. 

Some investors, who have already 

made their marks in Bangladesh, 

enthusiastically shared their 

experiences with the audience. 

The seminar was followed by a 

culinary event, Pitha and Mishtanno 

Utshob, which was another point of 

attraction of the fair. 

It was an effort to showcase 

Bangladeshi culture and food which is 

gradually gaining popularity in China. 

An important feature of the fair was a 

display corner of Bangladesh's 

exportables, like jute bag, handicrafts, 

ceramics, brass products, Sharis etc. 

A two-day international education fair titled 'Premier Bank International Education Expo - 2018' begins 

on Saturday at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, organized by Association of Foreign Admission and Career 

Development Consultants (FACD-CAB). Md. Tazul Islam (M.P), Chairman, Parliamentary Standing 

Committee of Power Energy & Mineral Resources Ministry graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. 

Managing Director & CEO of the Premier Bank Limited M. Reazul Karim, (FCMA) was present at the 

inaugural ceremony as special guest along with the presence of Mohammad Shamim Murshed, Head of 

Retail Banking, the Premier Bank Limited; Md. Tareq Uddin, Head of Brand Marketing & PR, the 

Premier Bank Limited; Md. Mustafizur Rahman, President, (FACD-CAB); Monirul Haque, Member 

Secretary, (FACD-CAB). 

Photo: Courtesy

MISCELLANEOUS 

SUnDAY, OcTOber 14, 201811 

Turkish court 

convicts US pastor of 

terror yet frees him 

A Turkish court on Friday convicted 

an American pastor of terror links but 

released him from house arrest and 

allowed him to leave the country, a 

move that's likely to ease tensions 

between Turkey and the United 

States. 

The court near the western city of 

Izmir sentenced North Carolina 

native Andrew Brunson to three 

years, one month and 15 days in 

prison for allegedly helping terror 

groups. But since the 50-year-old 

evangelical pastor had already spent 

nearly two years in detention, Turkish 

law allowed him to remain free with 

time served. 

An earlier charge of espionage 

against him was dropped. 

Brunson, a native of North Carolina 

whose detention had sparked a 

diplomatic dispute between the two 

NATO allies, had rejected the 

espionage and terror-related charges 

and strongly maintained his 

innocence. 

The 50-year-old had faced up to 35 

years in jail if convicted of all the 

charges. With tears in his eyes, he 

hugged his wife Norine Lyn as he 

awaited the decision Friday. 

After the verdict, President Donald 

J. Trump tweeted he was praying for 

Brunson, saying he "WILL BE HOME 

SOON!" 

Lawyer Ismail Cem Halavurt said 

Brunson was expected to leave 

Turkey for the U.S., but it was not 

clear when. His lawyer said the 

electronic ankle bracelet monitoring 

his house arrest was removed. 

Brunson went back to his home in 

Izmir after the court proceeding. 

Washington had repeatedly called 

for Brunson's release and in August 

had slapped sanctions on Turkey. 

But a top Turkish official criticized 

Trump's tweets claiming that he was 

"working hard" to get the pastor's 

release. Turkish President Recep 

Tayyip Erdogan's communications 

director, Fahrettin Altun, repeated 

the president's stance that Turkey 

would not bow to threats of sanctions 

and said the court's ruling Friday 

proved the judiciary's independence. 

Brunson, who has lived in Turkey 

for more than two decades, was one of 

thousands caught up in a widespread 

Turkish government crackdown that 

followed a failed coup against the 

government in July 2016. 

He was accused of committing 

crimes on behalf of terror groups and 

of alleged links to outlawed Kurdish 

militants and to a network led by a 

U.S.-based Turkish cleric, Fethullah 

Gulen, who Turkey claims 

orchestrated the coup attempt. Gulen 

denies the claims. 

"I am an innocent man. I love Jesus. 

I love Turkey," Brunson told the court 

Friday, speaking in Turkish. 

Earlier, the court called two 

witnesses following tips from witness 

Levent Kalkan, who at a previous 

hearing had accused Brunson of 

aiding terror groups. The new 

witnesses did not confirm Kalkan's 

accusations. Another witness for the 

prosecution said she did not know 

Brunson. 

The pastor, who is originally from 

Black Mountain, North Carolina, led a 

small congregation in the Izmir 

Resurrection Church. He was 

imprisoned for nearly two years - 

detained in October 2016 and 

formally arrested in December that 

year - before being placed under 

house arrest on July 25 for health 

reasons. 

Tony Perkins, the commissioner for 

the U.S. Commission on International 

Religious Freedom, said he welcomed 

the court's decision Friday along with 

"the millions of Americans who have 

been praying for Pastor Brunson's 

release." 

Members of the Christ Community 

Church in Montreat, North Carolina, 

were overjoyed at Brunson's release. 

Spokeswoman Debi Forester said 

the church's Rev. Richard White has 

been with the Brunson family in 

Turkey for a day or two and the U.S. 

Consulate is handling Brunson's 

travel arrangements to return to the 

United States. 

She quotes White as saying the 

group is "all just shouting 'Hallelujah!' 

and doing the happy dance." She says 

the church will have a welcome home 

party for Brunson sometime. 

Washington had imposed sanctions 

on two Turkish officials and doubled 

tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum 

imports in August to push its 

demands for the pastor's release. 

Erdogan had resisted that U.S. 

demands, insisting that Turkish 

courts are independent. But he had 

previously undermined that stance, 

suggesting a possible swap of 

Brunson for Gulen. 

Turkey has demanded Gulen's 

extradition but so far U.S. officials say 

Turkey has not provided sufficient 

reason for U.S. officials to extradite 

the cleric. 

Brunson's trial came as another 

major diplomatic case is developing in 

Turkey involving Saudi writer and 

U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, who 

disappeared at the Saudi consulate in 

Istanbul last week. 

Turkish officials claim the writer 

may have been killed inside the Saudi 

diplomatic mission and Turkish 

newspapers have released pictures of 

alleged Saudi agents flown in to 

allegedly handle the killing. 

Saudi officials reject the claim as 

"baseless." 

Voting opens in 

Malaysia by-election for 

PM-in-waiting Anwar 

Voting opened Saturday in a byelection 

that is expected to see 

charismatic Malaysian politician 

Anwar Ibrahim win a parliamentary 

seat and return to active politics as he 

prepare for his eventual takeover 

from Prime Minister Mahathir 

Mohamad. 

Anwar was designated the successor 

to Mahathir, his former foe turned 

ally, after they set aside a bitter 

political feud and joined hands to win 

a stunning victory in May's general 

elections. Anwar couldn't participate 

in the polls due to a 2015 conviction 

for sodomy - a charge he alleged was 

politically motivated - but he was 

freed after receiving a royal pardon 

days after the polls. 

Thousands of voters flocked to 

polling stations in the southern 

coastal town of Port Dickson, where 

Anwar is vying for a seat along with 

six other candidates. He is expected to 

easily win. 

Two weeks of campaigning has seen 

bigwigs rallying for Anwar, including 

Mahathir and several ministers. 

The Election Commission said it 

expects a 70 percent turnout from 

more than 75,000 voters in Port 

Dickson, a popular holiday retreat, 

and will announce results Saturday 

night. 

Anwar was once a high-flying 

member of the former ruling coalition 

but was convicted of homosexual 

sodomy and corruption after a power 

struggle in 1998 with Mahathir, who 

was prime minister for 22 years until 

2003. Anwar was freed in 2004 and 

in 2015 was convicted again of 

sodomy - charges he said were 

concocted to destroy his political 

career. 

Angered by a monumental graft 

scandal at a state investment fund, 

Mahathir made a political comeback 

and the two forged a new opposition 

alliance in a gamble that paid off. 

Mahathir, who is the world's oldest 

leader at 93, has said he expects to be 

in office for at least two years and will 

keep his promise to hand over power 

to Anwar. 

Mahathir rooted for his successor at 

a rally Monday night in Port Dickson, 

urging voters to support their alliance 

to fix Malaysia's fiscal woes due to 

corruption by the previous 

government. It was the first time that 

the two men shared the same political 

stage together in 20 years. 

Anwar, in speeches ending his 

campaign Friday, promised he won't 

interfere in Mahathir's governance 

and will focus on parliamentary 

reforms. 

"There will be lots of attention to 

(his margin of victory) but that is 

making a story about something that 

is not really important. The bottom 

line is that he will win and attention 

should focus on what he will do in 

parliament and his relationship with 

those in government," said Bridget 

Welsh, political science lecturer at the 

John Cabot University in Rome. 

Washington Post: Turkey 

has proof Saudi writer 

was killed 

Turkey's government has told U.S. officials it 

has audio and video proof that missing Saudi 

Arabian writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed 

and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in 

Istanbul, the Washington Post reported 

Friday. 

The newspaper, for which Khashoggi is a 

columnist, cited anonymous officials as 

saying the recordings show a Saudi security 

team detained the writer when he went to 

the consulate on Oct. 2 to pick up a 

document for his upcoming wedding. 

The Associated Press was not immediately 

able to confirm the report and Turkish 

officials would not comment. 

Meanwhile, a delegation from Saudi 

Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of 

an investigation into the writer's 

disappearance, a Foreign Ministry official 

said. 

Saudi Arabia has called the allegation it 

abducted or harmed Khashoggi "baseless." 

However, it has offered no evidence to 

support its claim he left the consulate and 

vanished, despite his fiancee waiting outside. 

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said 

the delegation would hold talks with Turkish 

officials over the weekend. It did not provide 

further details. 

On Thursday, Turkish presidential 

spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey and 

Saudi Arabia would form a "joint working 

group" to look into Khashoggi's 

disappearance. 

In a statement posted on Twitter, Saudi 

Arabia welcomed Turkey's approval of the 

joint working group. The Saudi statement 

said the kingdom is keen "to sustain the 

security and safety of its citizenry, wherever 

they might happen to be." 

Amid growing concern over Khashoggi's 

fate, French President Emmanuel Macron 

said country wanted to know "the whole 

truth" about the writer's disappearance, 

calling the early details about the case "very 

worrying." 

Macron said "I'm waiting for the truth and 

complete clarity to be made" since the matter 

is "very serious." He spoke Friday in 

Yerevan, Armenia, to French broadcasters 

RFI and France 24. 

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's 

spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Berlin was 

also "very concerned" about the writer's 

disappearance and called on Saudi Arabia to 

"participate fully" in clearing up reports that 

he may have been killed. 

The fiancee of the missing Saudi journalist 

on Friday urged U.S. President Donald 

Trump to use his clout to find out what 

happened to her partner. 

Following a Turkish court's decision to free 

American evangelical pastor, Trump 

tweeted: "Working very hard on Pastor 

(Andrew) Brunson!" 

That prompted Hatice Cengiz to ask about 

her missing fiancee. 

"What about Jamal Khashoggi?" she 

tweeted. 

Trump on Thursday said U.S. relations 

with Saudi Arabia were "excellent" and that 

he doesn't want to scuttle highly lucrative 

arms deals with Riyadh. 

Global business leaders, however, began 

reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia, 

stoking pressure on the Gulf kingdom to 

explain what happened to Khashoggi. 

British billionaire Richard Branson on 

Friday suspended business links with Saudi 

Arabia, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi 

said he might not attend a major investment 

conference in the country this month. 

Khashoggi, a 59-year-old journalist who 

was considered close to the Saudi royal 

family, had become a critic of the current 

government and Crown Prince Mohammed 

bin Salman, the 33-year-old heir apparent 

who has introduced reforms but has shown 

little tolerance for criticism. 

Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed 

exile in the United States since last year. As a 

contributor to the Washington Post, he has 

written extensively about Saudi Arabia, 

including criticism of its war in Yemen, its 

recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its 

arrest of women's rights activists after the 

lifting of a ban on women driving. 

Those policies are all seen as initiatives of 

the crown prince, who has also presided over 

a roundup of activists and businessmen. 

Activists criticize 

Hong Kong's ban 

of legislative 

candidate 

Activists are protesting 

Hong 

Kong's 

disqualification of a 

legislative candidate on the 

grounds that she advocated 

self-determination for the 

Chinese territory. 

Lau Siu-lai, who was 

stripped of her seat in the 

Hong Kong legislature last 

year, was barred by the 

government on Friday from 

running in a Nov. 25 

election. 

Hong Kong authorities are 

trying to quash proindependence 

voices ahead 

of the election. Chinese 

President Xi Jinping and 

other officials have warned 

separatist activity will not be 

tolerated. 

The pro-independence 

Hong Kong National Party 

was banned in September by 

authorities who invoked a 

1997 national security law 

for the first time. 

Pro-democracy activists 

complain Beijing interferes 

in Hong Kong's affairs in 

violation of its promise of a 

"high degree of autonomy" 

when the former British 

colony returned to Chinese 

rule in 1997. 

Some have called for more 

autonomy or outright 

independence for this 

prosperous business center 

of 7.5 million people. 

Authorities said Lau's 

statements in 2016 in 

support of selfdetermination 

were illegal. 

Lau dropped that call from 

her election platform, but 

the Election Affairs 

Commission said her views 

hadn't really changed. 

The decision "amounts to 

the political screening of 

candidates Beijing does not 

like,". 

GD-1263/18 (5 x 4) 

CCC/PRD-299/18 

GD-1264/18 (8 x 4) 

GD-1265/18 (6 x 4)

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

SUNDAy, DhAKA, OCtOBER 14, 2018, AShwiN 29, 1425 BS, SAfAR 3, 1440 hijRi 

Editors seen at the press conference at National Press Club yesterday. 

College 

student 

dies after 

losing 

hand being 

hit by train 

RAJSHAHI : A college 

student, who lost his hand 

being hit by a train at 

Bornalir intersection in the 

city on Friday night, died at 

Rajshahi Medical College 

and Hospital early 


The deceased was identified 

as Mamun-Ur-Rashid, 

20, son of Hafizur, hailing 

from Pirganj upazila in 

Rangpur district and the 

5th semester student of 

Mechanical Department in 

Rajshahi Government 

Poly-technique Institute. 

Assistant sub-inspector 

Rafiqul Islam, in-charge of 

RMCH Police Box, said the 

train hit Mamun while he 

was passing a level crossing 

in the area around 9 pm, 

severing his left hand from 

the body. 

Later, he was admitted to 

the hospital where he died 

around 12:20 am. 

Britain's Giant Hillside 

Chalk Figures 

INTERESTING NEWS 

A large portion of Southern England is 

made up of chalk. This white limestone 

are the shells of tiny marine organisms 

that lived and died in the seas that once 

covered much of Britain some 90 million 

years ago. As time progressed, layers of 

calcium carbonate built up and got compacted 

into a solid layer of rock. Later, 

tectonic movements lifted the sea floor 

out of the sea and these became the magnificent 

downland in south of England. 

Much of this chalk is hidden by a thin 

layer of soil and vegetation, except on the 

edges where the chalk is exposed to the 

sea, leading to such dramatic headlands 

as the white cliffs of Dover, Beachy Head 

and The Needles. For centuries people 

have been scratching away the topsoil to 

reveal the whitish layer of chalk to create 

gigantic works of art on the countryside. 

When the bedrock is not made of chalk, 

people have dug trenches and filled them 

with chalk brought from elsewhere. The 

artworks are usually made on the hillside 

so that they are visible from the distance. 

This is important, because often the chalk 

figures are so large they can only be 

appreciated from far away. 

The oldest of these figures is the 

Uffington White Horse in Berkshire 

county, created by digging a deep trench 

on the hillside, about 3 feet deep, and filling 

it with crushed white chalk. The figure 

is believed to have been carved by Iron 

Age people in 1000 BC. Since then, this 

prehistoric monument has been cared for 

by an unbroken chain of people. Even 

today, volunteers would periodically 

gather with hammers and buckets of 

chalk, smash the chalk to a paste and 

whiten the paths cut in the grass. 


Digital Security Act 

Editors' Council to form 

human chain on Oct 15 

DHAKA : The Editors' 

Council will form a human 

chain in front of the Jatiya 

Press Club on October 15, 

demanding amendment to 

nine sections of the recently 

passed Digital Security Act, 

2018. 

Bhorer Kagoj editor 

Shyamal Dutta placed the 

demand in a written statement 

at a press conference 

at the Jatiya Press Club here 

on Saturday, reports UNB. 

Sections 8, 21, 25, 28, 29, 

31, 32, 43, and 53 of the 

Digital Security Act must be 

amended appropriately to 

safeguard the freedom of 

media and freedom of 

speech, said the written 

statement. 

While addressing the 

press conference, Mahfuz 

Anam, general secretary of 

the council, said, "The council 

never demanded that the 

act be scrapped, rather 

sought changes in some 

specific sections." 

He said the Indian government 

had enacted a digital 

law, but their High Court 

rejected it, terming the 

move as an unconstitutional 

one. 

The Council placed a 

seven-point demand at the 

press conference. 

Amid concerns from different 

quarters, the 'Digital 

Security Bill, 2018' was 

passed in Parliament on 

September 19 to deal with 

cybercrimes, including 

hurting religious sentiments, 

negative propaganda 

against the Liberation 

War and Bangabandhu, and 

illegal activities in e-transactions 

and spreading 

defamatory data. 

Voicing its deep regret at 

the passage of the Digital 

Security Bill 2018, which it 

considers to be used against 

the freedom guaranteed by 

the constitution, media 

freedom and freedom of 

speech, the Editors' Council 

at a meeting on September 

22 decided to stage a human 

chain on September 29 in 

front of the Jatiya Press 

Club. 

Urging the Editors' 

Council to postpone its 

human-chain programme, 

Information Minister 

Hasanul Haq Inu invited 

the editors to sit with him 

and others. 

After a meeting with the 

Editors' Council on 

September 30, Law 

Minister Anisul Huq said 

the Editors' Council's objections 

to nine sections of the 

'Digital Security Bill' and its 

demand for amending those 

would be placed before the 

Cabinet for discussions. 

However, President 

Abdul Hamid assented to 

the much-talked- about 

Digital Security Bill making 

it a law on October 8. 

US Senate confirms Earl 

R. Miller as next US 

Ambassador in Dhaka 

DHAKA : The US Senate 

has confirmed the appointment 

of Earl R. Miller as the 

next U.S. Ambassador to 

Bangladesh, reports UNB. 

The Ambassador-designate 

must still be officially sworn 

in before arriving in Dhaka to 

present his credentials to 

President Md. Abdul Hamid, 

according to a post by the official 

Facebook page of the US 

Embassy, Dhaka. 

Earl Robert Miller, a career 

member of the Senior Foreign 

Service, currently serves as 

the U.S. Ambassador to 

Botswana, a position he has 

held since 2014. 

Prior to his role as Chief of 

Mission (COM) in Botswana, 

he served as Consul General 

in Johannesburg, South 

Africa (2011 - 2014), and 

Regional Security Officer 

(RSO) at our embassies in 

New Delhi, India (2008- 

2011), Baghdad, Iraq (2007- 

2008), and Jakarta, 

Indonesia, (2004 - 2007). 

Ambassador Miller has 

served as Senior Regional 

Security Officer, Kuala 

Lumpur, Malaysia (2000- 

2003), Assistant Special 

Agent in Charge, Diplomatic 

Security Service (DSS), 

Boston Field Office, Boston, 

Massachusetts (1998-2000) 

and Senior Regional Security 

Officer, Gaborone, Botswana 

(1995-1998). 

He served in DSS headquarters 

in Washington (1994 

- 95) and field offices in 

Miami (1990 - 93) and San 

Francisco (1987 - 88). He was 

Assistant RSO in San 

Salvador, El Salvador (1988 - 

90). He served as an officer in 

the U.S. Marine Corps (1981- 

1984) and U.S. Marine Corps 

Reserve (1985-1992). 

GDP to increase by 2 

percent due to Padma 

Bridge: Quader 

MADARIPUR : Road 

Transport and Bridges 

Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday 

said the GDP (Gross 

domestic product) will be 

increased by 1.50 to 2 percent 

after completion of the Padma 

Bridge. 

"Not only people of the 

region but also people of the 

entire country will be benefitted 

from the bridge… The GDP 

will be increased by 1.50 percent 

to 2 percent after completion 

of the Padma Bridge," he 

told the reporters while visiting 

the place of public rally at 

Kathalbari Ghat in Shivchar of 

the district here, reports BSS. 

Quader, also the general secretary, 

said the public rally of 

Awami League has not been 

organized for elections. "This 

is Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina's own place. It is one of 

her beloved places. We will 

win from here in the polls," he 

added. 

Railways Minister Mujibul 

Haque, AL Organizing 

Secretary AFM Bahauddin 

Nasim, MP, and local lawmaker 

Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury, 

among others, accompanied 

him. 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina will inspect the construction 

sites of the muchawaited 

Padma Bridge at 

Mawa in Mushiganj, Janzira 

in Shariatpur and Shibchar in 

Madaripur on Sunday to see 

for herself the progress of the 

mega project. 

70pc work of main 

structure of Padma 

Bridge completed 

DHAKA : The muchawaited 

Padma Bridge is 

nearing completion as 70 

percent construction work 

of the main structure of the 

6.15-km long bridge has 

already been completed. 

"Construction work of the 

mega Padma Bridge is progressing 

fast as over 70 percent 

work of the main structure 

of the dream bridge has 

so far been completed," 

Project Director of Padma 

Multipurpose Bridge M 

Shafiqul Islam told BSS 

over phone yesterday. 

He said the overall 

progress of the work of the 

project is 60 percent. So far, 

Taka 16, 795.80 crore has 

been spent of the Taka 30, 

193 crore project, he added. 

"We have finished our 

preparation works on the 

both sides of the mighty 

river Padma as Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina is 

set to visit the Padma Bridge 

to inaugurate the railway 

link tomorrow", said the 

project director. 

According to the project 

details, the government 

allocated Taka 4,395.66 

crore for the project in the 

Annual Development 

Programme (ADP) of financial 

year 2018-19. 

Construction work of 

approach road at Janjira 

and Mawa points along with 

service area has already 

been completed. 

The river training is also 

progressing fast and over 42 

percent work has been completed, 

while river training 

for 1,300 meter area is 

going fast to protect the area 

from river erosion on the 

Mawa side. 

"Our target is to complete 

the construction of the 

Padma Bridge in time and 

we are working hard to 

ensure quality of the construction 

work," said 

Shafiqul Islam. With the 

installation of the fifth span 

of the bridge in June, over 

775 metres of the main 

bridge is now visible, said 

the project director. 

He said each span of the 

bridge is 150 metres long 

and a total of 41 spans will 

be installed on 42 pillars. 

Six spans of the bridge have 

been installed so far, he 

added. 

During the visit, the premier 

will open the construction 

work of the rail link 

between Dhaka and Jashore 

under the 'Padma Bridge 

Rail Link Construction 

Project.' 

According to Railways 

Ministry sources, the first 

phase of the 'Padma Bridge 

Rail Link Construction 

Project' will establish rail 

link between Mawa and 

Bhanga via Janjira and 

Shibchar through the 

Padma Multipurpose Bridge 

that will connect Dhaka, 

Narayanganj, Munshiganj, 

Shariatpur, Madaripur, 

Faridpur, Gopalganj, Narail 

and Jashore. 

The prime minister inaugurated 

the main bridge 

construction and river 

training work at Janzira in 

Shariatpur and Mawa in 

Munshiganj on December 

12 in 2015. 

The bridge is expected to 

open up a new horizon in 

the country's communication 

system and bring a revolutionary 

change in the life 

and livelihood of nearly six 

crore people of 19 southern 

districts as it will connect 

them with the rest of the 

country including the capital, 

Dhaka, directly, experts 

said. 

Agitated students set fire to a passenger bus which killed two of their fellows in front of 

Daulatdia model high school of Dhaka-Khulna highway. 


17,000 assistant teachers 

to be promoted to 

headmaster: Mostafizur 

DHAKA : Primary and Mass Education Minister 

Mostafizur Rahman yesterday said a total of 17,000 

assistant teachers at primary education level would 

be promoted to headmaster soon. 

"As many as 17,000 teachers are performing their 

duties as headmaster at primary schools. They will 

get promotion as head teachers," he told a reception 

function at Teachers-Student Centre (TSC) of 

Dhaka University (DU) here, an official release 

said. 

Primary and Mass Education Secretary Md 

Akram-Al-Hossain, Director General of Directorate 

of Primary Education Dr Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal 

and President of Bangladesh Primary Teachers 

Association Md Atiqur Rahman Atiq, among others, 

addressed the function with joint secretary of 

Bangladesh Teachers Association Md Abdul Haque 

in the chair. 

Mostafizur laid emphasis on ensuring the quality 

of primary education to ensure the standard of 

higher education. 

Teachers have to play a vital role in improving 

quality of education as the teachers' role is mostly 

important to attain the expected target of education, 

he said adding, the present government led by 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina nationalized nearly 

26,000 non-government primary schools to ensure 

universal access to education. 

Nahid for building bondage 

among Muslim countries 

for global terrorism 

DHAKA : Education Minister 

Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday urged 

the Muslim countries for forging 

stronger bondage among them in 

challenging the threat of global terrorism. 

He, as the leader of the 

Bangladesh delegation, made the 

call while addressing the 13th session 

of the Islamic Educational, 

Scientific and Cultural 

Organisation (ISESCO) at its headquarter 

in Rabat, Morocco, according 

to a message received . 

"It is important to maintain 

regional cooperation and collaboration 

among the member states of 

ISESCO in challenging the threat of 

global terrorism and to glorify the 

Muslim Ummah across the globe 

with the message of peace and solidarity," 

Nahid said. 

He also mentioned Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm, 

timely and generous decision to 

shelter over 1.1 million Rohingya 

refugees in Bangladesh territory. 

"It (sheltering Rohingyas) was 

highly praised by the international 

communities," he said. 

He urged the member states of 

ISESCO to come forward with an 

active role to ensure safe return of 

the Rohingya Muslim refugees to 

their motherland Myanmar as 

soon as possible. 

In addition to that he also 

referred to the activities of the 

Bangladesh government. 

In his speech, he also highlighted 

various programme taken by the 

government in ensuring quality 

education. The government has 

taken a comprehensive policy to 

achieve the goals and targets of 

SDG within the stipulated time, he 

added. 

Ministers and representatives 

from the 54 member states of the 

ISESCO across the world are 

attending the two days session, 

which will be concluded today. 

Laila Sultana, Bangladesh 

Ambassador to Morocco, and Md 

Monjur Hossain, Deputy Secretary 

General of Bangladesh National 

Commission for UNESCO, among 

others, attended the conference. 

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

14-10-2018

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