27-12-2018

thurSday 

DhaKa: December 27, 2018; Poush 13, 1425 BS; Rabius Sanni 19,1440 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.322; 8 Pages~Tk.8.00 

international 

Britain sees more 

migrants heading 

across Channel to UK 

>Page 7 

art & Culture 

Here's why a trendy 

chalkboard wall is the best 

option for toddler rooms! 

>Page 8 

Sport 

Neymar seeking reunion 

with former teammate 

Messi at Barcelona 

>Page 9 

Oikyafront flexing muscle 

sensing sure defeat: PM 

DHAKA : Awami League President 

andPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina 

onWednesdaysaid sensing their 

inevitable defeat in the election, the 

Oikyafront has started flexing muscle 

across the country killing five AL leaders 

and activists and leaving over 400 

injured, reports UNB. 

"They (Oikyafront) know they won't 

be able to win the election because the 

people of Bangladesh will never vote for 

terrorists, militants, corrupts, money 

launderers, plunderers of orphans' 

money. So, they've started flexing muscle," 

she said. 

The Prime Minister said this while 

addressing an election rally of Kusthia 

through videoconferencing from her 

Shuda Sadan residence in the capital. 

Hasina said Awami League wants 

that there should be a peaceful environment 

in the country and the election 

will be held in a credible manner. 

"People are the owners of their votes 

and the country. They'll choose the government 

of their choice in the election," 

she said. The AL chief said if the party 

leaders and activists remained together 

then no one will be able to defeat it in 

the election. 

"A peaceful situation must be maintained... 

the opposition parties are contesting 

the election from Oikyafront, the 

peaceful environment has to be ensured 

so that they could conduct their election 

campaigns," she said. 

Hasina said the Oikyafront might go 

for terrorism as this is their character, 

but Awami League will never do that. 

She mentioned that the Oikyafront 

activists so far killed five and injured 401 

Awami League leaders and activists in 

various parts of the country. "The BNP- 

Jamaat alliance carried out bomb attacks 

and arson attacks in 88 constituencies of 

51 districts...they're doing that as it's their 

character," she said. 

Zohr 

05:16 AM 

12:05 PM 

03:38 PM 

05:20 PM 

06:38 PM 

6:37 5:17 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave her speech at the public rallies of Chanpur, Kushtia and Noagaon 

through video conference on Wednesday from Dhanmondi Sudhasadan. Photo : Star Mail 

Hasina said the BNP-Jamaat alliance 

wants to do what they had done after 

the 2001 election. "They want to repress 

people and unleash their reign of terror 

like what they had done in 2001." 

The Prime Minister urged the people 

of the country to utlise their scope to 

cast their votes in the election for the 

continuation of democracy. "Please, 

cast your votes in the coming election 

and make the candidates of your choice 

victorious," she said. 

Coming down heavily on Oikyafront 

HC stays candidature 

of 3 BNP aspirants 

DHAKA : The High Court on Wednesday 

stayed the candidature of three more 

BNP candidates as they did not resign 

from the upazila chairmen posts 

ahead of the 11th national election, 

reports UNB. 

The High Court bench of Justice JBM 

Hassan and Justice MD Khairul Alam 

came up with the order after hearing of 

separate writs filed by their opposition 

candidates. 

The HC also issued a rule asking the 

leader Dr Kamal Hossain for his recent 

harsh attitude towards the Election 

Commission, the AL leader said nobody 

is spared of his rude behaviour. 

"He was engaged in quarrel at the EC, 

he hurled harsh words at the police 

force... he is the leader of the 

Oikyafront, the internationally reputed 

lawyer,' she said. 

Hasina recalled that Dr Kamal 

Hossain uttered very much unpleasant 

words against the Attorney General in 

the High Court in the recent past. 

EC and the government to explain why 

the EC's decision should not be 

declared illegal. The candidates are 

Manjur Elahi of Narsingdi-3, Abdul 

Aziz of Natore-4 and Faruk Kabir 

Ahmed of Gaibandha-4. 

Advocate Shah Manjurul Haque and 

Manjill Morshed stood for the writ petitioner 

while Deputy Attorney General 

Motahar Hossain Saju for the state. Now, 

the candidates will not be able to contest 

in election, said Shah Manjurul Haque. 

EC to arrange 'mock 

voting' through 

EVMs today 

DHAKA :The Election Commission will 

hold 'mock voting' through electronic 

voting machines (EVMs) in six constituencies 

on Thursday as part of its 

preparation to use the machines there 

instead of ballot papers, reports UNB. 

"The mock voting through EVMs will 

be conducted from 10am to 4pm on 

Thursday in all the polling stations of the 

six constituencies," said SM Mahmud 

Arafat, officer-in-charge of Operation 

Planning and Communication of the 

EVM Project. 

The six constituencies-Dhaka-6 and- 

13, Chattogram-9, Rangpur-3, Khulna- 

2 and Satkhira-2 - have a total of 

21,24,554 voters. 

The Commission will use EVMs in 

the six constituencies out of the country's 

300 ones in the 11th national election 

slated for December 30. 

As part of making the new machine 

familiar to the voters, the EC is going to 

arrange 'mock vote' through EVMs, 

three days before the election. 

The total number of voters in the 

country is now 10,42,38,673, according 

to the EC's statistics. 

HC rejects writ challenging 

actor Farooque's candidacy 

DHAKA : The High Court on 

Wednesday rejected a writ filed challenging 

the candidature of Awami 

League candidate from Dhaka-17 constituency 

Akbar Hossain Pathan ( 

Farooque) alleging Farooque is a bank 

loan defaulter, reports UNB. 

The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan 

and Justice MD Khairul Alam came up 

with the order after hearing on the writ 

filed by BNP candidate Barrister 

Andalib Rahman Partha from the same 

constituency. 

Earlier getting nomination, Farooque 

filed a writ petition with HC to get rid of 

loan default but the court was yet to 

pass a verdict on it. 

Barrister Andalib Rahman Partha 

filed the writ on Monday. 

No election boycott, 

reaffirms Dr Kamal 

DHAKA : Expressing doubt about 

fair polls, Jatiya Oikyafront chief 

Dr Kamal Hossain on Wednesday 

said they will not boycott the election 

under any circumstances as 

they will create a strong resistance 

together with people against 

any election irregularity, reports 

UNB. 

"We have doubt about a fair 

election, but we'll be there in the 

election race till the last so that 

they cannot say we've boycotted 

the election," he said. 

Talking to reporters at his 

Motijheel chamber, Dr Kamal 

further said, "Casting vote is 

our right. Why should we give 

up our right? We've already 

mobilised public opinion and 

will resist along with people 

any election irregularity." 

The Oikyafront chief also said 

they with the help of people will 

check vote rigging and ensure 

proper counting and announcement 

of the election results. 

About his meeting with 

Motijheel zone police officials, 

Dr Kamal said they came to 

know about his security and 

they discussed the issue in a 

cordial manner. 

A team of police officials met 

Oikyafront chief Dr Kamal 

Hossain at his Motijheel chamber 

earlier in the day to 'discuss 

security issues'. 

The police team, led by officerin-charge 

of Motijheel Police 

Station Omar Faroque, met Dr 

Kamal around 12:10 pm. 

A team of Dhaka Metropolitan Police went to Jatiya Oikyofront leader 

Dr Kamal Hossain to know about his life security. Photo : Star Mail

NEWS 

ThURSDAY, 

DECEMBER 27, 2018 

2 

Advocate Arunangshu Datta Tito, president of Thakurgaon unit Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad, 

talks to reporters at a press briefing at his resident in Thakurgaon on Tuesday. Photo: Collected 

Indian prisoner 

dies in Jashore 

jail 

JASHORE : An Indian 

citizen accused in a gold 

smuggling case died of 

cardiac arrest at Jashore 

Central Jail on Tuesday, 

reports UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified as Sanzid Bharma, 

48, son of Mahindar 

Bharma of New Delhi. 

Jailer Abu Taleb of 

Jashore Central Jail said 

Sanzid has been suffering 

from cardiac disease. 

"When Sanzid felt chest 

pain around 2:00 pm on 

Tuesday, the jail authorities 

took him to Jashore General 

Hospital, but he died on the 

way to the hospital," said the 

jailer. 

On December 2, 2017, 

Benapole Port Police sent 

Sanzid to the central jail in 

the gold smuggling case. 

Meanwhile, Indian 

authorities have been 

informed about his death, 

said the jailer. 

Man killed, 

two injured in 

compressor 

blast in city 

DHAKA : A worker was 

killed and two others 

sustained burn injuries in an 

explosion at a tyre repair 

factory in the city's 

Shyampur area on 

Wednesday, reports UNB. 


identified as Nasir, 35, a 

worker of Panama Tyre and 

Rubber Factory in Alibahar 

area. 

Russel Shikder, duty 

officer of Fire Service and 

Civil Defence control room, 

said the incident took place 

around 9:53 am when an air 

compressor of the factory 

went off with a big bang, 

leaving three on-duty 

workers injured. 

On information, three 

firefighting units went there 

and took the injured to 

Dhaka Medical College 

Hospital (DMCH). 

Of the injured, Nasir 

succumbed to his injuries 

around 10:10 am, said 

Assistant Sub-inspector 

Abdur Rahman Khan of 

DMCH police outpost. 

Bamboo-boring 

beetles wreak havoc 

in Rohingya camps 

DHAKA : Work has begun on one of the 

largest bamboo treatment plants ever 

installed in an emergency response, as IOM 

experts tackle a tiny insect that is devastating 

structures in the world's biggest refugee 

settlement in Cox's Bazar district, reports 

UNB. 

An infestation of "boring beetles" means 

the bamboo in almost every shelter in the 

Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar - home to 

around 240,000 families - needs to be 

replaced. 

With just over four months to go until the 

beginning of the next monsoon season, the 

race is on to provide families living in the 

worst-affected shelters with new, moredurable 

bamboo. 

To help meet the challenge, the 

International Organisation for Migration 

(IOM) has launched a new treatment facility 

in the south of Cox's Bazar, which will be 

scaled up over coming weeks until it has the 

capacity to treat around 40,000 pieces of 

bamboo per month - sufficient to upgrade 

between 6,000 - 7,000 shelters. 

"This is a major project, and one which will 

help ensure that the refugees do not have to 

live with the constant threat their shelters 

will collapse due to damaged bamboo," said 

Manuel Pereira, IOM's Emergency 

Coordinator in Cox's Bazar. 

Treatment at the plant relies on boron - a 

natural substance which will be filtered and 

recycled on site then reused to minimize 

environmental impact. 

Plant residue from the treatment process 

can be used as a fertilizer by nearby farms. 

"We use bamboo because it's cost effective 

and grows naturally in Bangladesh," said 

Yoga Sofyar, a bamboo expert working with 

IOM, who helped establish the treatment 

plant. 

"But once the infestation became 

apparent, something had to be done. This 

affects many people and involves a 

significant amount of money, so we need an 

effective durable solution. But no one has 

done anything on this scale before. That has 

been the challenge." 

Almost a million Rohingya refugees are 

currently sheltering in Cox's Bazar. 

They live in a rapidly constructed city of 

bamboo and tarpaulins built on the hills of a 

forested nature reserve in late 2017 after 

violence in Myanmar drove hundreds of 

thousands of people across the border into 

Bangladesh in just a few weeks. 

During the emergency response in the 

weeks and months that followed, millions of 

pieces of bamboo were brought in from 

across the country to help build life-saving 

shelters and medical facilities. 

Bridges, steps and handrails were also 

built with bamboo to keep vital access ways 

open and to shore up vulnerable slopes. 

But the scale and urgent need for supplies 

to upgrade shelters ahead of monsoon, 

meant organisations were forced to rely on 

young bamboo that is more susceptible to 

attack by insects. 

"Even with the untreated bamboo IOM 

used, we would normally have expected the 

material to last between one to three years. 

But the infestation is so large and spread so 

quickly that within six months major 

damage had already taken place," said 

Sofyar. 

While the infestation was evident in the 

dusty residue that covered the bamboo 

under attack, identifying a solution was less 

easy. 

According to Sofyar, bamboo is a 

traditional construction material in 

Bangladesh, but its popularity has declined 

in recent years and there was not sufficient, 

high quality treated bamboo available. 

The answer, IOM experts decided, was to 

treat the bamboo themselves. But first a 

suitable site had to be found, as well as a 

treatment method, that could practically 

be scaled up to meet the immense 

demand, with minimal environmental 

impact. 

Following the identification of a site in the 

south of Cox's Bazar - close enough to the 

camps to allow easy transportation, but 

outside the already overcrowded refugee 

settlement, a pilot project construction of the 

treatment facility was launched with funding 

from the UK, USA and Sweden. 

With the first four treatment tanks now 

operational, and a pilot project undertaken, 

expansion work is now underway, according 

to IOM. 

Installation costs for the plant will be US$ 

500,000. 

Operational costs for the next 12 months to 

allow 100,000 families to upgrade the six 

core structural poles in their shelters will 

total US$ 2 million. 

The treatment extends the bamboo's 

durability from months to many years. If 

shelters are taken down or moved, the 

treated bamboo can be reclaimed and reused 

for other purposes, according to Sofyar. 

"Once it is completed, this will be one of 

the largest bamboo treatment plants ever 

installed in an emergency response and we 

will share the knowledge and experience we 

have gained here with our partners in 

Bangladesh and other organisations around 

the world," he noted. 

The project has also been boosted by the 

efforts of Rohingya refugees working in a 

cash for work project. 

Many were skilled in bamboo 

craftmanship in Myanmar and are happy to 

be able to use techniques passed down to 

them through generations to use in their 

current situation. 

"My father and grandfather used to work 

with bamboo and wood. In Myanmar I 

worked with my father and that is how I 

learned my skills," said Mohammed Younus, 

one of the refugees working at the plant. 

"I feel good being able to do this work here 

and use my skills to earn some money for my 

family," he added. 

Re-excavation works of Kalunagar Khal inaugurated 

Kabir Bin Anwar, Secretary of Ministry of Water Resource (MoWR) on Wednesday inaugurated re-excavation works of 

Kalunagar Khal at Kamrangirchar of Dhaka city under the project "Re-excavation of small river, khal and water bodies of 64 

districts (1st Phase)" , which is the pioneer program of "Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100", a press release said. Md. Abdul Matin 

Sarkar, Superintending Engineer, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous Khan, 

Deputy Commissioner, Dhaka, Dewan Ainul Haque, Executive Engineer, BWDB and high officials of MoWR & BWDB along 

with Councilors of Dhaka South City Corporation's ward No. 23, 55, 57 were also present in the event. 

Fakhrul's wife, 

daughter 

'obstructed' from 

electioneering in 

Thaukurgaon 

THAKURGAON : Ruling 

party supporters allegedly 

obstructed BNP secretary 

general Mirza Fakhrul 

Islam Alamgir's wife and 

daughter from carrying 

out electioneering in 

favour of him here on 

Wednesday. 

Fakhrul's wife Rahat Ara 

Begum and daughter 

Mirza Shamarukh came up 

with the allegation at a 

press conference at their 

residence around 2pm, 

reports UNB. 

Shamarukh said they 

went to distribute leaflets 

and carry out 

electioneering in favour of 

Mirza Fakhrul at 

Basirpara in the district 

town around 1pm. 

"Suddenly, a group of 

Chhatra League activists 

equipped with sharp 

weapons waylaid us and 

tried to attack us. But, 

BNP leaders and activists 

saved us." 

Rahat Ara said, "We've 

managed to escape a 

serious attack on our 

lives." 

They demanded the 

Election Commission to 

ensure their security so 

that they can safely carry 

out election campaign in 

favour of Fakhrul. 

Mirza Fakhrul is 

contesting the December- 

30 national election from 

Thakuragon-1 and 

Bogura-6 seats. 

BNP sources said 

Fakhrul is scheduled to go 

to Thakurgaon tonight 

(Wednesday night) after 

conducting election 

campaign in Bogura and 

its adjoining districts. 

He will carry out 

electioneering in 

Thakurgaon on Thursday. 

'Ensure security as 

minority people 

can cast vote' 

THAKURGAON : Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad on 

Tuesday urged the law enforcing agencies for taking 

necessary steps as the minority people of the country can 

practice their voting rights in the 11th national election, billed 

for December 30, reports UNB. 

Sadar upazila unit Awami League president Advocate 

Arunangshu Datta Tito, and also the president of 

Thakurgaon unit Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad, came 

up with the request while talking to reporters at a press 

briefing at his resident in the night. 

"A vested quarter, under the shadow of a certain party, was 

involved in carrying out arson attacks on the houses of 

minority people in different parts of the district ahead of the 

election and also tried to destroy the communal harmony," 

he said. He also condemned the attacks strongly. 

Advocate Balaram Guha Thakur, advisor of the Hindu, 

Buddha, Christian Oikya Parishad Central Committee, 

alleged that Election Commission has been playing a silent 

role in this regard. 

"Therefore, we are urging the law enforcement agencies to 

ensure security of the minority people as they can cast their 

vote safely," he said. 

Prominent Chinese rights lawyer 

tried in closed proceedings 

The trial of a prominent human rights lawyer began in northern 

China on Wednesday with about two dozen plainclothes 

police stationed outside a courthouse and at least one supporter 

taken away by police. 

Reporters, foreign diplomats and supporters were prevented 

from approaching the municipal court in Tianjin city 

where lawyer Wang Quanzhang was being tried. Wang's 

wife, Li Wenzu, was kept from attending the proceedings by 

security agents who had blocked the exit of her apartment 

complex since Tuesday. 

Li told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday that Liu 

Weiguo, Wang's government-appointed lawyer, confirmed 

the trial had started. But he did not tell her whether it was 

now over or whether a verdict had been reached. 

The court said in a statement on its website that it "lawfully 

decided not to make public" the trial hearings because the 

case involved state secrets. A decision will be announced at a 

future date, the court said. 

Wang is among more than 200 lawyers and legal activists 

who were detained in a sweeping 2015 crackdown. A member 

of the Fengrui law firm, among the most recognized in 

the field broadly known in China as "rights defending," he 

was charged with subversion of state power in 2016. He has 

been held without access to his lawyers or family for more 

than three years. Fengrui has pursued numerous sensitive 

cases and represented outspoken critics of the ruling Communist 

Party. Wang represented members of the Falun Gong 

meditation sect that the government has relentlessly suppressed 

since banning it as an "evil cult" in 1999. Group leaders 

have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms and ordinary 

followers locked up as alleged threats. 

Li has campaigned tirelessly for her husband's release. Earlier 

this month, she and other wives of detained lawyers 

shaved their heads in an act of protest. 

BNP distributing 

money to grab 

state-power: 

Menon 

DHAKA : Workers Party of 

Bangladesh President and 

the Awami League-led 

grand alliance nominee for 

Dhaka-8 constituency 

Rashed Khan Menon 

yesterday turned down 

coming out successful of the 

BNP's ill-design using 

money-power, saying the 

party would not be able to 

grab state-power by 

distributing crores of 

money. 

"BNP in the meantime 

distributed Taka 150 crore in 

Dhaka and all over the 

country ahead of the 

December 30 polls . . . A 

large amount of money is 

being sent here from abroad 

only to purchase voters and 

resort to destructive acts," he 

said while speaking at an 

election campaign gathering 

at Motijheel Shapla Chattar 

here. 

Menon, also civil and 

aviation and tourism 

minister, was very critical of 

BNP-Jamaat regime saying, 

"People didn't forget the 

misrule of BNP as their 

regime came out champion 

in corruption. People even 

could not come out from 

their houses in fear of 

snatchers and extortionists." 

He added that BNP 

distorted the real history of 

the 1971 War of Liberation 

and made the identified war 

criminals ministers in 

disregard to the martyrs. 

Highlighting the election 

manifesto of Awami League, 

the minister assured 

electorates of making 

Dhaka-8 constituency a 

free-Wi-Fi zone, creating 

new playgrounds for youths 

and also conducive 

environment for the 

businesses of the young 

entrepreneurs. 

He urged all to cast their 

votes for "Boat", election 

symbol of Awami League, to 

continue the ongoing 

development trend of the 

country. 

Police arrests a college teacher along with counterfeit currencies in Satkhira on Wednesday, Dec 26, 

2018. Photo: UNB 

Wave of sexual abuse 

allegations shakes Argentina 

For months, Claudia Guebel could only 

tell family and friends about a 

traumatizing encounter with a 

colleague in Argentina's Senate. 

At the beginning of this year, she said, 

Pedro Fiorda, a senator's chief of staff, 

grabbed her violently by the arms like a 

"hunter who catches prey." The, she felt 

his tongue inside her mouth. The terror 

that seized her made those minutes 

seem eternal, she said. 

"I didn't know how to react, I was 

paralyzed," said Guebel, a 

congressional aide who previously 

worked for the same senator. 

In December, she was finally moved 

to file a formal complaint with judicial 

authorities after actress Thelma Fardin 

publicly accused actor Juan Darthes of 

raping her in 2009 when she was 16 

and he was 45. Writers, politicians and 

journalists expressed support for 

Fardin on social media. 

"With Thelma's statements, 

everything was awakened in me," said 

Guebel, 52. 

Fiorda could not be reached for 

comment by The Associated Press, and 

Darthes says he is innocent. 

But Guebel is now part of a wave of 

women who have come forward in the 

South American country with sexual 

misconduct accusations in what has 

inevitably been compared to the 

#MeToo movement in the United 

States, where the worlds of media, 

business, entertainment and politics 

have been roiled by allegations against 

powerful men. 

Women say they are also taking a cue 

from "Ni Una Menos," an Argentine 

grassroots movement that emerged in 

2015 and spread globally. The 

movement has drawn thousands into 

massive demonstrations against 

feminicide and violence against women 

in Argentina, where a bill attempting to 

legalize abortion was defeated in 

August. 

"For a while in Argentina we have 

been witnessing a paradigm shift ... 

where the voices of women are 

beginning to be heard, understood and, 

most importantly, accompanied by 

others," said Fabiana Tunez, executive 

director of the National Institute for 

Women in Argentina, who said the 

accusations by Fardin lent the 

movement more visibility. 

On Dec. 11, the actress announced 

she had filed a criminal complaint in 

Nicaragua, where she says she was 

raped by Darthes in a hotel during a 

promotional tour for "Ugly Duckling," a 

children's television series. Darthes, 

who has since moved to his native 

Brazil, has denied the allegation. 

Three other women also have 

accused him of harassment or abuse. 

"We are all very shocked," said 

Sabrina Cartabia, Fardin's lawyer. "It is 

opening up the possibility of talking 

about something very painful." 

In Argentina there is no national 

registry of victims of sexual abuse. But 

a survey found that 45 percent of the 

2,750 students polled at public and 

private universities in Buenos Aires 

reported suffering physical or 

psychological abuse and 9 percent had 

suffered sexual abuse. The survey was 

published in a 2016 report by UNICEF 

Argentina. 

Another poll conducted by the 

Argentine Management Society of 

Actors found that 66 percent of 

actresses said they had suffered some 

type of harassment or abuse while 

exercising their profession. 

The wave of women speaking out is 

now threatening an entrenched 

machismo culture in a country where 

women are often catcalled, hissed at 

and harassed on the street. 

In recent weeks, telephone lines that 

receive reports of gender violence have 

seen sharp increases - the largest 

coming on Dec. 12, the day after 

Fardin's news conference.

METRO 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2018 

3 

Dr Kamal designing 

ill strategy to foil 

polls: Nanak 

DHAKA : Awami League Joint General 

Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak 

yesterday said the demand of immediate 

resignation of the chief election 

commissioner (ECE) only three days 

ahead of the polls is an ill-designed 

strategy of Jatiya Oikyafront leader Dr 

Kamal Hossain aiming to foil the election. 

"The leaders of Oikyafront and BNP- 

Jamaat have been taking many evildesigned 

strategies to foil the polls since 

the declaration of the 11th parliamentary 

election schedule…now they are 

demanding immediate resignation of the 

CEC, which is one of their political 

motivated strategies," he told a press 

conference at AL president political office 

in city's Dhanmondi, reports BSS. 

AL Joint General Secretary Abdur 

Rahman, its Organising Secretaries BM 

Mozammel Haque and AFM Bahauddin 

Nasim, Science and Technology Affairs 

Secretary Engineer Abdus Sabur, 

International Affairs Secretary Dr 

Shammi Ahmed and Deputy Office 

Secretary Barrister Biplob Barua were, 

among others, present at the press 

conference. 

Nanak said Dr Kamal made derogatory 

comments on police at a meeting with 

election commissioners on Tuesday. 

"Earlier, he (Dr Kamal) also spread 

falsehood and made comments on army 

force. The nation does not expect such 

derogatory speech from them. 

"We as well as the nation do not 

understand what they are doing over the 

general election," he said. 

The AL leader said the leaders of BNP- 

Jamaat and Oikyafront are hatching 

conspiracy to foil the polls with the help 

of Pakistani intelligence ISI. 

Every person, who believes in the spirit 

of the War of Liberation, will remain alert 

against their conspiracy, he added. 

Nanak said it is their (political parties) 

own decision whether they will remain in 

the polls or not. The upcoming polls will 

not be a one-sided one although BNP will 

not take part in the election and the polls 

will be acceptable and competitive one, he 

said. 

He urged the leaders of Oikyafront and 

BNP to return in fair and normal politics. 

Bangabandhu Lekhok Parishad formed a human chain yesterday protesting Jamaat candidature in 

national election. 

Photo : TBT 

Tarique providing 

money for creating 

violence in polls: Hanif 

KUSHTIA : Awami League Joint General Secretary 

Mahbubul Alam Hanif yesterday said BNP acting chairman 

Tarique Rahman sending millions of money from London to 

create anarchy and violence in parliamentary election. 

"Tarique is conspiring to foil the polls by sitting in his 

London den and is sending millions of money to execute his 

plot," he said. 

Hanif came up with the observations while talking to 

newsmen after attending street rally in Bhadalia under Sadar 

upazila in the district in the morning. 

"Realising they won't be able to win the upcoming election, 

BNP is plotting from the very start to foil the polls. Mirza 

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is the commander in chief of the 

conspirators and blaming the government and the EC to 

cover up their own crimes," he added. 

The Awami League leader said the EC has its particular 

guidelines and army will follow the guidelines in the 

parliamentary polls. 

District Awami League organizing secretary Mehedi Hasan 

and sadar upazila Awami League leader Akteruzzaman 

Biswas were present on the occasion, among others. 

Man killed in 

road crash in 

Gazipur 

GAZIPUR : A man was 

killed and another injured 

when a truck rammed a 

covered-van on Dhaka- 

Mymensingh highway at 

Rajendrapur intersection 

here on Wednesday, reports 

UNB. 


identified as Mosharraf 

Hossain, a helper of the 

truck driver, hailing from 

Mymensingh district. 

Zakir Hossain, station 

officer of Gazipur Fire 

Service and Civil Defence, 

said the accident took place 

in the area when a truck hit a 

Mymensingh-bound 

covered-van from behind, 

leaving the truck driver Abu 

Hanif and helper injured. 

3 remanded over 

'distributing money 

among voters' in Dhaka 

DHAKA : A court here on 

Wednesday placed three 

people, including a 

businessman, on a five-day 

remand in a case filed for 

distributing money among 

the voters to influence the 

national election. 

Those remanded are Ali 

Haider, 24, managing 

director of United 

Corporation, Joynal Abedin, 

45, GM (admin) of Amena 

Enterprise, and Alamgir 

Hossain, 38, office manager 

of Amena Enterprise. 

Dhaka Metropolitan 

Magistrate Masudur Rahman 

passed the order after subinspector 

Mohammad Faruk 

Hossain of Motijheel thana, 

also the investigation officer 

of the case, produced them 

before the court seeking a 10- 

day remand for each. 

Being tipped off, Rapid 

Action Battalion (Rab) 

arrested them from Motijheel 

and Gulshan areas between 

Monday and Tuesday. They 

seized Tk 8 crore in cash and 

cheques of Tk 10 crore from 

their possession. 

Muazzem Ali visits 

ailing freedom 

fighters at Army 

Hospital in Delhi 

NEW DELHI : Bangladesh 

High Commissioner in New 

Delhi Syed Muazzem Ali 

visited a group of 

Bangladeshi freedom fighters 

who are receiving free 

medical treatment at the 

Army Hospital in New Delhi 

on Tuesday, reports BSS. 

He talked with the freedom 

fighters, aged between 60 

and 70, and enquired about 

their ailments and the 

treatment they are getting, 

said a press release of 

Bangladesh High 

Commission in India. 

A total of 28 ailing freedom 

fighters arrived in India last 

week while 13 of them got 

admitted in the Army 

Hospital in New Delhi and 

another 15 are receiving 

treatment in another army 

hospital in Pune. 

The expenses of the 

treatment are being borne by 

the Indian government, it 

added. 

In April 2017, Indian Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi 

announced India will provide 

free medical treatment to 100 

freedom fighters of the 1971 

Bangladesh War of 

Liberation. 

The gesture came at a 

"Sammanona" programme 

where visiting Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina 

personally honoured the 

families of some Indian 

soldiers who died fighting 

against the Pakistani troops 

during the nine-month 

liberation war. 

During their meeting with 

the High Commissioner the 

freedom fighters expressed 

satisfaction at the treatment 

and care they are receiving in 

the hospital for their ailments 

related to complications from 

stroke, prostrate, diabetes 

and partial paralysis. 

The High Commissioner 

said as a freedom fighter 

himself he also understand 

their feelings. 

The envoy was 

accompanied by Defense 

Adviser Brig Gen Abul Kalam 

Mohammad Ziaur Rahman 

and Head of Chancery AFM 

Zahid-Ul-Islam. 

The Assamese translation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's autobiography, The 

Unfinished Memoirs, was launched on Tuesday, Dec 25, 2018. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Syed Shamsul 

Haque's 83rd 

birth anniversary 

today 

DHAKA : The 83rd birth 

anniversary of versatile 

Bengali poet Syed Shamsul 

Haque will be observed 

tomorrow in a befitting 

manner. 

To mark the day, 

Bangladesh Shilpakala 

Academy (BSA) will hold a 

discussion at 7pm today and 

later a drama of the poet 

named "Payer Awaaz Pauya 

Jay" will be staged at its 

auditorium. 

A drama 'Hamlet' will also 

be staged on December 29. 

"Various programms have 

been chalked out from 3 pm 

at poet's residence named 

'Manjubari' in city's Gulshan- 

1 area, Shamsul Haque's wife 

Anwara Syed Haque told 

BSS. 

Poet's three new book 

covers will be unveiled on the 

birthday through an event 

organized by the family 

members, poet's friends and 

publishers, she said adding 

that there will also be 

reminiscence, discussion, 

poetry recitation and songs 

written by Shamsul Haque. 

Born in Kurigram on 

December 27 in 1935 Syed 

Shamsul Haq was a poet, 

lyricist and writer. He was 

awarded Bangla Academy 

Award in 1966 (the youngest 

among all to receive it), 

Ekushey Padak in 1984 and 

Independence Day Award in 

2000 by the Bangladesh 

government for his 

contributions to Bangla 

literature. 

Haq wrote poetry, fiction, 

plays (mostly in verse), Music 

lyrics and essays. His literary 

works were included in the 

curriculum of school level, 

secondary, higher secondary 

and graduation level Bengali 

literature in the country. 

Haque wrote many songs 

including "Jar Chaya Poreche 

Monero Aynate" and "Haire 

Manush Rongin Fanush". 

His novels Nishiddha 

Loban (1990) and Khelaram 

Khele Ja (1991) and plays 

Payer Awaj Paoa Jay and 

Nuruldiner Sara Jibon were 

highly acclaimed. 

Haque's poetry included 

Ekoda Ek Rajje (1961), 

Boishekhe Rochito 

Ponktimala (1969), Birotihin 

Utsob (1969), Protidhonigon 

(1976), Opor Purush (1978) 

and Kobita Samagra (2007). 

Writ seeking cancellation 

of Farooque's candidacy 

scrapped 

DHAKA : The High Court 

(HC) yesterday scrapped a 

writ which challenged 

Election Commission's 

(EC's) decision allowing 

nomination paper of veteran 

actor Akbar Hossain Pathan, 

better known as Farooque. 

A High Court division 

bench comprising Justice 

JBM Hassan and Justice Md 

Khairul Alam binned the 

writ, saying the plea was 'not 

pressed'. 

Bangladesh Jatiya Party 

candidate Andalib Rahman 

Partha, who is contesting 

from the same Dhaka-17 

constituency like Farooque, 

had filed the writ, reports 

BSS 

Advocate Ahsanul Karim 

moved the writ for Partha, 

while Attorney General 

Mahbubey Alam, aided by 

deputy attorney general 

Motahar Hossain Saju, 

stood for the state. 

Rotavirus vaccine 

can save thousands 

of children: experts 

DHAKA : Health experts in the country 

emphasized on making the parents aware 

about the vaccine of rotavirus that can save 

thousands of lives in the country. 

The ROTA (Rotavirus Organisation of 

Technical Allies) Council in a report said 

about 2.4 million children, mostly aged 3 

months to 2 years, get infected with 

rotavirus each year in Bangladesh. 

Medical experts say, of the four viruses 

and bacteria-responsible for diarrhoeal 

diseases, the severity of rotavirus is 

uppermost. The patients will die, if quick 

treatment is not ensured. 

Therefore, WHO recommends a two or 

three-dose vaccination depending on types 

of rotavirus vaccine, at six and 10 or 14 

weeks to tie in with other routine 

vaccinations. 

Vaccination is the best tool available 

today to protect children from rotavirus. 

Rotavirus vaccines are improving health, 

reducing healthcare costs, and saving lives 

in countries where they are in use. 

"Rotavirus is a leading cause of severe 

diarrhoeal disease and dehydration in 

infants and young children and can cause 

mild illness, hospitalization and even 

death. The symptoms usually occur 2-3 

days after infection. The children are 

mostly affected with severe watery 

diarrhoea, projectile vomiting, fever, and 

abdominal pain," Director, Institute of 

Epidemiology Disease Control & 

Research (IEDCR) Dr Meerjady Sabrina 

Election Monitoring Forum organized a press conference at National Press 

Club yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

ewkDK/Rbms‡hvM-125/2018 

Zvs 26/12/2018 

GD-1656/18 (6 x 3) 

Flora told BSS. 

There is no specific treatment for 

rotavirus infection, although oral 

rehydration therapy is recommended to 

prevent dehydration, she added. 

It is responsible for nearly two-thirds of 

all diarrhoea-related hospitalisations under 

age of five and fifty percent of all rotavirus 

hospitalisations are among infants age 6-11 

months, Senior Scientific Officer of IEDCR 

Dr A S M Alamgir told BSS. 

The experts said, the treatment is totally 

different than other diarrhoeal diseases. 

There are some problems regarding the 

rotavirus vaccine. Its viruses constantly 

change and mutate, which is almost 

uncommon in other viruses. There are now 

two new rotavirus vaccines to prevent the 

disease. 

According to the study IEDCR, the 

severity of rotavirus is still high in 

Bangladesh, though impact of other 

diarrhoeal diseases has reduced 

significantly in the recent days. 

The affected children are found even in 

the posh localities apart from slum and 

rural areas. Normally, it enters into the 

body through mouth and then infects lining 

of the intestines. The virus can easily be 

spread through contaminated hands and 

objects, such as toys and diapers, according 

to the experts. 

There are two different rotavirus 

vaccines. Both are given by putting vaccine 

drops in an infant's mouth, they added. 

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AvcwbI ivevi KvV e¨envi Kiæb|

EDITORIAL 

ThUrSDAY, 

DeCeMBer 27, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Thursday, December 27, 2018 

Improving Dhaka’s 

environment 

O 

nly 

inaugurating some glittering projects like 

Hathirjheel cannot compensate for the lack of 

comprehensive policies and their timely 

implementation for the overall improvement of the 

environment of Dhaka city. While the Hathirjheel project has 

been a salutary addition towards improving the environment 

and connectivity in Dhaka city, there are noted lapses in 

protecting and uplifting the environment in many other 

places of the city. Thus, a comprehensive plan and its 

execution are needed on the whole that would lead to a 

desired upgrading in the environment of the city as a whole. 

And not only creation of new environment oriented projects 

are enough which is starkly evident in the Hathirjheel project. 

Only days after its opening, the otherwise beautiful place was 

turning untidy from carelessly thrown away rubbish by 

visitors. The flower beds in the project were also reportedly 

raided by them. There were even reports about defecation on 

the pavements here. So, all newly opened projects as well as 

the older ones that lend positively to the environment of the 

city, must also be accompanied by round the clock 

supervision or maintenance activities. 

Residents of Dhaka city with over 15 million people, are 

exposed to environmental hazards and this situation is 

worsening day by day. But unfortunately, the governmental 

response to the same is inadequate.In a city already 

overloaded with population, more people from all over the 

country are coming with their desperate bid to settle here. 

The influx of population has resulted in not only high density, 

but also growth of slums in a more alarming way. 

The management of different kinds of wastes -- solid, 

clinical, human, industrial and others-- is poor and the issues 

are not being addressed properly. About 400 tons out of 

3,500 tons of solid waste, generated in the city everyday, 

remain on the roads and in open spaces. Vehicles of Dhaka 

City Corporation (DCC) remove the rest solid wastes and 

carry those to dumping grounds, which are again located in 

open spaces near densely populated areas contributing to air 

and water pollution. 

Medical waste contains highly toxic metals, toxic chemicals, 

pathogenic viruses and bacteria , which can lead to health 

problems for humans from exposure to the same. Medical 

waste presents a high risk to doctors, nurses, technicians, 

sweepers, hospital visitors and patients due to arbitrary 

management . It is a common observation in Dhaka City that 

poor scavengers, women and children collect some of the 

medical wastes (e.g. syringe-needles, saline bags, blood bags 

etc.) for reselling despite the deadly health risks. It has long 

been known that the re-use of syringes can cause the spread 

of infections such as AIDS and hepatitis . The collection of 

disposable medical items (particularly syringes), its re-sale 

and potential re-use without sterilization create a serious 

disease burden. 

The safe disposal and subsequent destruction of medical 

waste is a key step in the reduction of illness or injury through 

contact with this potentially hazardous material, and in the 

prevention of environmental contamination . The 

transmission of blood-borne viruses and respiratory, enteric 

and soft tissue infections through improper medical waste 

disposal is well known. The management of medical waste 

therefore, has been of major concern due to potentially high 

risks to human health and the environment . 

The growing number of hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic 

laboratories in Dhaka City exerts a tremendous adverse 

impact on public health and environment. All of the 

hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic laboratories are considered 

here as health care centres (HCC) . Some 600 HCC in Dhaka 

city generate a huge amount of wastes a day . Like ordinary 

household wastes, medical wastes are generally dumped into 

Dhaka city Corporation (DCC) bins. It is reported that even 

body parts are dumped on the streets by the HCC. The liquid 

and solid wastes containing hazardous materials are simply 

dumped into the nearest drain or garbage heap respectively. 

Proper management of medical waste is crucial to minimise 

health risks. The improvement of present waste management 

practices for HCC in Bangladesh will have a significant longterm 

impact on minimising the spread of infectious diseases. 

Medical wastes require specialized treatment and 

management from its source to final disposal. Simply 

disposing of it into dustbins, drains, and canals or finally 

dumping it to the outskirts of the City poses a serious public 

health hazard. Thus, there is a need to initiate a concentrated 

effort to improve the medical waste management to reduce 

the negative impact of waste on: environment, public health 

and safety at health care facilities. 

Most of the still remaining tannery industries in the city's 

Hazaribagh area and some other industries at Tejgaon area 

leave hazardous industrial wastes untreated. Experts fear 

that in near future the untreated industrial wastes by seeping 

underground might severely pollute the underground water 

which is still the main source of water in the city. 

Meanwhile, the inadequate and faulty sewerage network in 

the city is able to carry only about one third of the total sewage 

to the only sewage treatment plant at Pagla in Narayanganj. 

The city generates more than 0.1 million cubic metres of 

sewage everyday. A huge quantity of sewage oozing out of the 

city's faulty sewerage network is severely polluting the city's 

roads and lanes, canals, water bodies and the Buriganga 

river. Untreated sewage is also discharged into the river 

directly and regularly. 

Two studies conducted in the last three years suggested 

average noise levels were almost double than permissible 

levels and rising fast. Sound levels in Dhaka are almost twice 

as loud as the law permits, creating an unhealthy 

environment for residents, say scientists from the 

Department of Environment. 

Thus, only inaugurating some show case projects like 

Hathirjheel is no substitute for sincerely taking up a strictly 

time bound plan for the restoration of the environmental 

health of the entire city on a sustainable basis. And routine 

maintenance activities must accompany such projects. 

The metamorphosis of Central europe 

In Franz Kafka's novella The 

Metamorphosis, the protagonist 

Gregor Samsa awakens one morning 

"from uneasy dreams" to find that he has 

"transformed in his bed into a gigantic 

insect." Obviously, Samsa's family is 

shocked and has no idea what to do with 

the ugly creature he has become. 

Europeans know the feeling. In 2018, 

they were forced to acknowledge that 

Hungary and Poland had changed from 

promising models of liberal democracy 

into illiberal, conspiracy-minded 

majoritarian regimes. Now, the rest of 

Europe must decide what to do about the 

unfamiliar creatures residing in their 

house. But first, it is worth considering 

why these illiberal transformations 

happened. Why have people who still see 

themselves as wholly European endorsed 

a revolt against the European Union, 

while embracing xenophobia and 

nativism? And why did liberals across 

Europe fail to respond in time? 

Part of the problem is that liberal elites 

became complacent and overly confident 

in the power of EU institutions to contain 

populist upstarts. But, more than that, 

they failed to recognize that populism's 

appeal is more psychological than 

ideological. 

To understand Central Europe's 

metamorphosis, bear in mind that the 

region's political imperative for almost 

three decades was "Imitate the West!" 

That process went by different names - 

democratization, liberalization, 

convergence, 

integration, 

Europeanization - but it was essentially 

an effort by post-communist reformers to 

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) 

chief Upendra Kushwaha, a 

former Indian cabinet minister 

who recently quit the National 

Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, 

joined the opposition United Progressive 

Alliance (UPA) and became a part of the 

Grand Alliance in Bihar. Kushwaha cited 

dissatisfaction with the NDA 

government's failure to fulfill the 

promises made to the people of Bihar as 

the reason for his joining the Grand 

Alliance. 

Although the exact reason he left the 

NDA was unhappiness regarding seatsharing 

with the Bharatiya Janata Party 

(BJP), the major constituent of the NDA, 

no doubt this has brought smiles to the 

face of the Indian National Congress 

(INC), the main constituent of the UPA, 

which is now hoping to return to power in 

2019. 

Former Bihar chief minister Lalu 

Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal, currently 

led by his son Tejaswi Yadav, is the main 

opposition party in the state. Congress, 

buoyed by victories in the recent state 

assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya 

Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, is trying to flex 

its muscles to gain more of Bihar's seats at 

the upcoming national parliamentary 

elections from its ally RJD. Some 

Congress leaders have even pitched for a 

20:20 seat share just like the equal seat 

share of the two NDA partners BJP and 

Janata Dal (United). However, Congress 

is aware that an equal seat share with the 

import liberal-democratic institutions, 

adopt Western political and economic 

frameworks, and publicly embrace 

Western values. In practice, this meant 

that post-communist countries were 

compelled to adopt 20,000 new laws and 

regulations - none of which were really 

debated in their parliaments - to meet the 

requirements for accession to the EU. 

In the event, adopting a foreign model 

of political economy turned out to have 

unexpected moral and psychological 

downsides. For the imitator, life becomes 

dominated by feelings of inadequacy, 

inferiority, dependency, and lost identity. 

Creating and inhabiting a credible copy of 

an idealized model requires never-ending 

criticism of - if not contempt for - one's 

identity up to that point. When an entire 

country undergoes this self-renunciation, 

a debilitating feeling of constantly being 

judged inevitably becomes endemic. 

After all, the realization of an ideal is, by 

definition, impossible. 

Not surprisingly, then, the post-1989 

settlement created a festering sense of 

IvAN KrASTev 

resentment. And today, that national 

resentment has become the driving force 

behind the nativist wave sweeping across 

Central and Eastern Europe. At the heart 

of the populist counter-revolution is a 

radical rejection of the imperative to 

imitate the liberal-democratic West. 

To understand Central Europe's 

metamorphosis, bear in mind that the 

region's political imperative for almost 

three decades was "Imitate the West!" 

Another contributing factor is the mass 

In the event, adopting a foreign model of political 

economy turned out to have unexpected moral and 

psychological downsides. For the imitator, life 

becomes dominated by feelings of inadequacy, 

inferiority, dependency, and lost identity. Creating 

and inhabiting a credible copy of an idealized model 

requires never-ending criticism of - if not contempt 

for - one's identity up to that point. 

RJD is not possible given the INC's weak 

organizational structure in the state in 

comparison with the RJD, which has 

been successful in holding its core vote 

banks - Yadavs and Muslims - accounting 

for 31% of the state population. During 

the last national election, out of 40 

parliamentary seats held by Bihar, the 

RJD contested 27, leaving 12 seats to the 

Congress. The remaining lone seat was 

contested by the Nationalist Congress 

Party (NCP). 

But the current scenario of the Grand 

Alliance, which expanded with the 

membership of the RLSP, presents a 

gloomy picture for the Congress. 

Recently, the Vikassheel Insaan Party led 

by Mukhesh Sahni, an Extreme 

Backward Caste (EBC) member, also 

joined the Grand Alliance. 

The INC has a task ahead to bargain 

with the RJD to retain the previously 

allotted tally of 12 seats in Lok Sabha, 

SAgArNeel SINhA 

emigration from Central European 

countries following their accession to the 

EU. Depopulation helps to explain why 

countries that have benefited so much 

from the political and economic changes 

of the past two decades nevertheless feel a 

sense of loss, even trauma. Between 1989 

and 2017, for example, Latvia, Lithuania, 

and Bulgaria hemorrhaged 27 percent, 23 

percent, and 21 percent of their 

populations. Similarly, 3.4 million 

Romanians -‚ the vast majority of them 

younger than 40 - have left their country 

since 2007. Across the region, the 

lower house of Parliament. The Grand 

Alliance in Bihar currently comprises the 

RJD, Congress, Jitan Ram Manjhi's 

Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), the 

Kushwaha-led RLSP and Sharad Yadav's 

Lok Janatantrik Dal. 

Besides, there are talks between RJD 

and the three Left parties - the 

Communist Party of India, Communist 

Party of India (Marxist) and Communist 

however, Congress is aware that an equal seat share 

with the rJD is not possible given the INC's weak 

organizational structure in the state in comparison with 

the rJD, which has been successful in holding its core 

vote banks - Yadavs and Muslims - accounting for 31% of 

the state population. During the last national election, 

out of 40 parliamentary seats held by Bihar, the rJD 

contested 27, leaving 12 seats to the Congress. 

Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). It is to 

be noted that CPI (ML) and RJD have 

been arch-rivals in Bihar state politics but 

their strong opposition against the BJP 

has brought them closer. 

According to reports, the RJD is willing 

to sacrifice seats to accommodate its allies 

but it will contest no fewer than 20 seats. 

The RLSP, as the reports say, is promised 

four or five seats by the RJD. The other 

parties - HAM (S), LJD, CPI, CPM and 

CPML - may get one seat each, although 

they are eager to contest more than one. 

combination of an aging population, low 

birth rates, and mass emigration has 

stoked a demographic panic, which has 

paradoxically been expressed as a fear of 

African and Middle Eastern refugees 

(hardly any of whom have actually ended 

up in Central Europe). 

Some Western Europeans have always 

complained about the free movement of 

people within the EU; but now many 

Central Europeans do, too, albeit for the 

opposite reason. Consider the example of 

a Bulgarian doctor who leaves his country 

in search of better professional 

opportunities in the Western part of the 

continent. He is not only depriving his 

country of his talents and skills, but also 

robbing it of the investment that it made 

by providing him with an education and 

other forms of social capital. The 

remittances that the doctor sends back to 

his aging parents will not compensate for 

this loss. 

This brings us back to the psychological 

dimension of Central Europe's 

metamorphosis. If you live in a country 

where the majority of young people 

cannot wait to leave, you will feel like a 

loser, regardless of how well you are 

doing. This unavoidable sense of loss and 

inferiority explains why Poland has 

become the poster child of the new 

populism. The fact that the same country 

has also registered declining levels of 

inequality, rising standards of living, and 

the fastest growth in Europe between 

2007 and 2017 hardly matters. 

Source : Arab news 

In Bihar, allies stand in the way of Congress’ expansion 

Prepare yourself for an 

overwhelming sense of deja vu: 

Another Facebook privacy 

"scandal" is upon us. A New York 

Times investigation has found that 

Facebook gave Netflix, Spotify and the 

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) the ability 

to read, write and delete users' private 

messages. The Times investigation, 

based on hundreds of pages of internal 

Facebook documents, also found that 

Facebook gave 150 partners more 

access to user data than previously 

disclosed. Microsoft, Sony and 

Amazon, for example, could obtain the 

contract information of their users' 

friends. 

Netflix, Spotify and RBC have all 

denied doing anything nefarious with 

your private messages. Netflix tweeted 

that it never asked for the ability to look 

at them; Spotify says it had no idea it 

had that sort of access; RBC disputes it 

even had the ability to see users' 

messages. Whether they accessed your 

information or not, however, is not the 

point. The point is that Facebook 

should never have given them this 

ability without getting your explicit 

permission to do so. 

Explicit being the key word here. 

After all, technically speaking, you 

probably did give Facebook permission 

to do whatever it wanted with your 

personal information. Somewhere 

along the line, you probably clicked 

"accept" to 25 million undecipherable 

terms and conditions the company 

knew full well you weren't going to 

read, let alone understand. In a tonedeaf 

response to the Times 

investigation, the tech giant explained: 

"None of these partnerships or features 

gave companies access to information 

without people's permission, nor did 

they violate our 2012 settlement with 

the FTC." Perhaps not, but they did 

violate public trust. The Times' new 

report caps off a very bad year for 

Facebook when it comes to public 

trust. Let's just recap a few of the bigger 

stories, shall we? March: The Observer 

reveals that Cambridge Analytica 

harvested the data of millions of 

Facebook users without their consent 

for political purposes. It is also revealed 

that Facebook had been keeping 

records of Android users' phone calls 

and texts. 

April: It was revealed that Facebook 

was in secret talks with hospitals to get 

them to share patients' private medical 

data. September: Hackers gained 

access to around 30 million Facebook 

accounts. November: Facebook 

ArwA MAhDAwI 

acknowledges it didn't do enough to 

stop its platform being as a tool to 

incite genocidal violence in Myanmar. 

A New York Times report reveals the 

company hired a PR firm to try and 

discredit critics by claiming they were 

agents of George Soros. 

December: Facebook admitted it 

exposed private photos from 68 million 

users to apps that weren't authorised to 

view your photos. (You can check if you 

If you're still on Facebook after everything that has 

happened this year, you need to ask yourself why. Is 

the value you get from the platform really worth 

giving up all your data for? More broadly, are you 

comfortable being part of the reason that Facebook is 

becoming so dangerously powerful? Are you 

comfortable being on a platform that has, among 

other things, helped incite genocide in Myanmar? 

were affected via this Facebook link .) If 

you're still on Facebook after 

everything that has happened this year, 

you need to ask yourself why. Is the 

value you get from the platform really 

worth giving up all your data for? More 

broadly, are you comfortable being 

part of the reason that Facebook is 

becoming so dangerously powerful? 

Are you comfortable being on a 

platform that has, among other things, 

helped incite genocide in Myanmar? In 

March, following the Cambridge 

Analytica scandal, Facebook put out 

Also, the RJD may concede one seat to 

the Samajwadi party. In such a situation, 

Congress is left with a smaller number of 

seats in its share than in 2014. The RJD is 

reportedly supposed to allocate only eight 

seats - fewer than 2014 elections - to INC. 

In the present scenario, it seems that to 

defeat the BJP led by Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi, Congress has no other 

option but to agree to the will of its allies 

that are dominant in their own regions. 

Bihar, once a stronghold of the Congress, 

is a significant state for national politics 

and the Congress is aware of the fact that 

to restore its lost glory, the party has to 

revive in the state. 

However, at present, there are no hopes 

of increment but rather high chances of 

decrement in the tally of Congress' seat 

share in the Grand Alliance and it is 

definitely a challenge for the INC in Bihar 

to persuade the RJD to allow it to contest 

at least in 12 seats like in 2014 in the 

upcoming general elections. 

And if the party fails, it will be a blow to 

the Congress, as it will continue to be 

dominated by regional forces like the 

RJD in Bihar, and this may have adverse 

effects in seat bargaining in the upcoming 

2019 polls in other states such as Uttar 

Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, 

Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra 

Pradesh and Karnataka, where Congress 

is willing to stitch alliances with the other 

regional parties to defeat the BJP. 

Source : Asia times 

Is 2019 the year you should finally quit Facebook? 

print ads stating: "We have a 

responsibility to protect your 

information. If we can't, we don't 

deserve it." I think they've proved by 

now that they don't deserve it. Time 

and time again Facebook has made it 

abundantly clear that it is a morally 

bankrupt company that is never going 

to change unless it is forced to. What's 

more, Facebook has made it very clear 

that it thinks it can get away with 

anything because its users are idiots. 

Zuckerberg famously called the first 

Facebook users "dumb [expletive]" for 

handing their personal information 

over to him; his disdain for the people 

whose data he deals with doesn't 

appear to have lessened over time. 

To be clear, I'm not urging everyone 

to delete Facebook. For some people 

Facebook really is a valuable tool. 

Further, unless all of its two billion 

users delete it en masse, Facebook's 

abuse of power isn't a problem that we 

can solve as individuals. Technology 

giants must be regulated. 

However, having said that, if 

Facebook doesn't provide you with an 

invaluable service, I'd urge you to 

extricate yourself from the company as 

much as possible. If you're looking for a 

New Year resolution, deleting 

Facebook isn't a bad one. After all, if we 

all continue using Facebook after it 

betrays our trust time and time again 

then maybe Zuck is right. We are dumb 

expletive. 

Source : Gulf news

HEALTH 

THURSDAY, 


5 

How to stay healthy while traveling 

Eat fat, stay healthy, say dissident scientists. 

Sarah Boseley 

Butter is back. Saturated fat is good for 

you. Cholesterol is not the cause of heart 

disease. Claims along these lines keep 

finding their way into newspapers and 

mainstream websites - even though 

they contradict decades of medical 

advice. There is a battle going on for our 

hearts and minds. 

According to a small group of 

dissident scientists, whose work usually 

first appears in minor medical journals, 

by far the greatest threat to our hearts 

and vascular systems comes from sugar, 

while saturated fat has been wrongly 

demonised. And because cholesterol 

levels don't matter, they argue, we don't 

need the statins that millions have been 

prescribed to lower them. A high-fat 

diet is the secret to a healthy life, they 

say. Enjoy your butter and other animal 

fats. Cheese is great. Meat is back on the 

menu. 

This is more than bad science, 

according to leading scientists and 

medical authorities. It will cost lives. 

"Encouraging people to eat more 

saturated fat is dangerous and 

irresponsible," is a typical verdict, in this 

case from Prof Louis Levy, the head of 

nutrition science at Public Health 

England (PHE). "There is good 

evidence that a high intake of saturated 

fat increases your risk of heart disease. 

We need to think about where the 

sources of saturated fat are and how we 

can reduce them. The largest 

contributions are dairy products, 

including butter, and meat and meat 

products."The advice from PHE, the 

World Health Organization, the British 

Heart Foundation (BHF), Heart UK 

and other institutions and top 

academics is consistent. Butter and 

cheese may be fine in modest amounts 

in a balanced diet, but the saturated fat 

that they contain is potentially risky. 

Too much of it causes the liver to 

overproduce "bad" LDL cholesterol, 

which is implicated in heart disease. 

Mainstream scientists usually keep 

their disquiet to themselves. But last 

week, some broke cover over what they 

see as one medical journal's support for 

advocates of a high-fat diet. More than 

170 academics signed a letter accusing 

the British Journal of Sports Medicine 

of bias, triggered by an opinion piece 

that it ran in April 2017 calling for 

changes to the public messaging on 

saturated fat and heart disease. 

Saturated fat "does not clog the 

arteries", said the piece, which was not 

prompted by original research. 

"Coronary artery disease is a chronic 

inflammatory disease and it can be 

reduced effectively by walking 22 

minutes a day and eating real food," 

wrote the cardiologist Aseem Malhotra 

and colleagues. The BHF criticised the 

claims as "misleading and wrong". 

David Nunan, from Oxford 

University's centre for evidence-based 

medicine, and three colleagues wrote a 

rebuttal that the journal at first did not 

use and then, more than a year later, put 

behind a paywall, while the original 

article was free. Last week's letter of 

complaint asked Dr Fiona Godlee, the 

editor-in-chief of the BMJ, which 

publishes the British Journal of Sports 

Medicine, to intervene, saying the 

journal had run 10 pieces advocating 

low-carb diets and criticising statins in 

the past three years and that the 

reluctance to run the rebuttal showed a 

bias and lack of transparency. She 

replied defending the journal's right to 

challenge "the status quo in some 

settings", but allowed free access to the 

rebuttal. 

Every time a new review or opinion is 

published in an obscure or unlikely 

journal - sports medicine is, after all, 

primarily about helping the fit get even 

fitter - it is picked up by newspapers that 

know statin scares sell. Very often in the 

UK they quote Malhotra, a charming 

and telegenic young cardiologist in 

private practice whose website 

describes him as "one of the most 

influential and effective campaigning 

doctors in the world on issues that affect 

obesity, heart disease and population 

health". He is, it says, "not just a 

cardiologist. This is a man who wants to 

change the world one meal at a time by 

not just rocking the system but by 

rebuilding it." Malhotra urges a lowcarb, 

high-fat diet. His book, The Pioppi 

Diet, has the distinction of being named 

Photo: Collected 

The rise of the cholesterol deniers 

by the British Dietetic Association as 

one of the five worst "celeb" diet books 

in Britain - celebrities who have tried it 

include MPs Keith Vaz and Andy 

Burnham. It includes lots of fruit and 

vegetables, olive oil and fish, but 

otherwise "hijacks" the Mediterranean 

diet, says the BDA. 

"The authors may well be the only 

people in the history of the planet who 

have been to Italy and come back with a 

diet named after an Italian village that 

excludes pasta, rice and bread - but 

includes coconuts - perhaps because 

they have a low-carb agenda," says the 

BDA. "The suggestion that this Italian 

village should be associated with recipes 

for cauliflower-base pizza and rice 

substitute made from grated cauliflower 

or anything made using coconut oil is 

ridiculous. It also uses potentially 

dangerous expressions like 'clean meat' 

and encourages people to starve 

themselves for 24 hours at a time every 

week." 

Malhotra was appointed as the first 

medical director of Action on Sugar, 

formed in 2014 by Graham MacGregor, 

a professor of cardiovascular medicine. 

Two years later, the group agreed to go 

their separate ways. By that time, 

Malhotra was expressing strong views 

about statins, claiming in a BMJ article 

that was later partially retracted that 

they caused side-effects in 20% of 

patients. On BBC radio, he went further. 

"It was actually probably an 

underestimate," he said, and 

questioned the benefits of the drug for 

any patient, citing the cholesterol 

sceptic Michel de Lorgeril. 

He was accused by Prof Rory Collins 

at Oxford University of endangering 

lives. Collins said scare stories about 

statins could do as much harm as 

Andrew Wakefield did when he claimed 

that vaccines caused autism. 

When it comes to statins, there is a 

huge database of research. Since 1994, 

the Nuffield department of population 

health at Oxford University, led by two 

eminent epidemiologists, Collins and 

Prof Richard Peto, has been amassing 

and analysing the data in order to figure 

out how well they work in preventing 

heart attacks and strokes. 

The vitality of improving lung capacity 

Increasing your lung capacity will improve your sports performance. 

Photo: Ross Helen 

Elena Cresci 

You knew it was coming. 

Smoking damages the lungs, 

causing all sorts of problems, 

from lung cancer to 

respiratory disease. And it 

definitely affects your lung 

capacity. We have all seen 

the comparisons between 

healthy lungs and smokers' 

lungs - according to the NHS, 

your lung capacity will have 

improved by at least 10% 

nine months after you quit 

smoking. 

Take a deep breath. No, 

really, it is that simple. There 

are a number of breathing 

exercises you can do that 

help keep your lungs healthy. 

One involves standing up 

with your back arched, 

breathing in and holding 

your breath for 10 seconds 

before exhaling - which can 

easily be done while 

watching the telly. 

A study released this year 

found that higher vitamin D 

levels were associated with 

better lung function. In the 

summer, depending on 

where you live, most people 

can get enough vitamin D 

from the sunshine. As the 

winter months approach and 

the sun disappears, it may be 

worth investing in vitamin D 

supplements. Vitamin D can 

also be found in foods such 

as oily fish, egg yolks and red 

meat. 

If you are one of the many 

people who enjoy singing in 

the shower then you may be 

in luck, because singing can, 

apparently, aid lung capacity. 

According to the British 

Lung Foundation, it's 

particularly helpful for 

patients with respiratory 

diseases. People with lung 

conditions told the 

foundation that controlling 

their breathing through 

singing helped manage their 

conditions. It is an area that 

is still being investigated. A 

study of 20 Indonesian 

students, published in 2015, 

found that the average lung 

capacity of choir singers was 

higher than that of nonsingers. 

One reason people want to 

increase their lung capacity is 

improve their sports 

performance. Helpfully, 

exercising regularly is one of 

the ways you can do that. As 

you should have learned in 

biology class, your lungs 

bring oxygen into the body 

and expel carbon dioxide - 

when you exercise, this 

process happens more 

quicker and makes your 

lungs stronger and more 

efficient over time. 

Studies have shown that 

slumped sitting decreases 

lung capacity, because the 

position squeezes your lungs, 

making them smaller. So, for 

a very quick fix, sit up 

straight to get the best lung 

capacity you can. A good 

posture can help with back 

pain, too. 

If you live in a city, air 

pollution is unavoidable. 

Even short-term air 

pollution can affect your 

lungs. But there are steps you 

can take to improve the air 

quality at home. Keeping it 

clean will help get rid of dust, 

while keeping house plants 

could help keep the air fresh, 

depending on the species. On 

days when pollution levels 

are low, be sure to open the 

windows. 

Shivani Vora 

It's easy for healthy lifestyles 

to go to the wayside when 

you're traveling, especially if 

you're on vacation. But it 

really is possible to have a 

good time, enjoy local cuisine 

and get in some exercise 

without depriving yourself of 

a true vacation. We'll show 

you how to combine pleasure 

with wellness when you're on 

the road, because isn't living 

your best life the point of a 

vacation in the first place? 

Gaining a few pounds over 

the course of a one-week 

vacation because you don't 

want to bother with watching 

what you eat or trying to 

exercise isn't detrimental to 

your overall health, Joy 

Bauer, a New York-based 

nutritionist, said. But, it 

might leave you feeling 

irritable and low on energy 

either because your eating is 

imbalanced or you're not 

getting those feel-good 

endorphins from exercise. 

On the other hand, if you do 

end up picking up some extra 

weight, you can likely drop it 

within a week or two when 

you're back home, provided 

that you're vigilant about 

jumping right back into a 

healthy eating and exercise 

routine. 

Food allergies are nonnegotiable. 

Allison Arnett, a 

registered dietician and the 

health and wellness manager 

at Yale Hospitality, the food 

services operations for Yale 

University, suggests 

traveling with a food allergy 

ID card that clearly indicates 

your allergies both in English 

and the language(s) of the 

country in which you plan to 

travel. And, do your 

homework before you travel. 

Often, the hotel concierge or 

a travel agent will have a 

good sense of restaurants 

that offer variety or 

accommodations for food 

allergies. Always pack snacks 

in case you find yourself with 

limited options. 

Dietary restrictions can be 

handled in a similar way by 

carrying cards that clearly 

indicate the foods you cannot 

or choose not to eat. 

(Pictures can help bridge a 

language gap.) While travel 

is a great time to try new 

experiences, including 

culinary experiences, never 

do it at the risk of your wellbeing. 

Eating well and staying 

active aside, it's just as 

important to prioritize your 

physical health when you're 

traveling. Packing a first-aid 

kit is a smart idea in case you 

get hit with a stomach bug or 

the flu or have a scrape or 

fall. Communication is key 

with your travel companions 

so it's best to clearly state 

your intentions to follow a 

healthy diet and squeeze in 

some exercise before 

heading off on your trip. 

They may be on a free-for-all 

eating regimen, but that 

doesn't mean you have to be. 

While you should allow 

yourself to enjoy treats, do so 

on your own terms, and let 

your travel companions 

know what works best for 

you. Schedule "me time" into 

your day to exercise or 

unwind. It is definitely O.K. 

to ask your friends or family 

to be understanding and 

flexible, but don't forget to 

have fun! 

Take 10 minutes first thing 

in the morning to do one of 

the workouts outlined below. 

If you plan to workout later 

in the day, chances are that 

you'll likely be too busy, or 

having too much fun out and 

about to actually find the 

time. Alternatively, if you 

make your day an active one 

by taking a walking or bike 

tour, you shouldn't have to 

feel guilty about skipping a 

workout. 

You should know some common problems that may derail your healthy 

travel plans. 

Photo: Agnes Lee 

Have we medicalized everyday life? 

Dhruv Khullar 

I recently cared for a hairdresser who had gone through 

a year of vague and varied symptoms. What started as a 

few unpleasant aches soon became debilitating pain 

throughout her body. A heavy fatigue settled into her 

bones: Holding scissors or sweeping the floor became too 

much. She slept fitfully; her memory flagged. Frustrated 

by many symptoms and few answers, she grew anxious 

and depressed. 

Our medical team, after a battery of unrevealing tests, 

settled on a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Tears welled in her 

eyes as I explained the diagnosis, and I worried I'd been 

too brusque. But these were tears of relief, she said, not 

because the symptoms had ceased, but because she 

finally had an answer, a name for her pain. 

Those who suffer without a clear understanding of its 

cause experience a unique form of torment. There is great 

power in diagnosis: It can be comforting, terrifying, and 

sometimes, even healing. 

There's evidence, for example, that patients who 

receive a new diagnosis of fibromyalgia - for which there 

is limited treatment - may have fewer symptoms, be 

more satisfied with their health, and possibly incur lower 

costs. 

But fibromyalgia wasn't a recognized diagnosis 30 

years ago. Nor were many other now-common diagnoses 

that have only recently been recognized and treated as 

medical conditions. 

Since the 1980s, there's been rapid expansion in the 

number and complexity of medical diagnoses - a trend 

known as "medicalization." A recent study found that the 

cost of 12 newly medicalized conditions - things like 

irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, 

low testosterone, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 

- now approaches $80 billion a year, or about 4 percent 

of total health care spending. That's about as much as we 

spend on heart disease or cancer, and more than we 

spend on public health initiatives. 

Our ever-expanding armamentarium of diagnoses no 

doubt offers comfort, attention and a path to treatment 

for many previously undiagnosed - and undiagnosable - 

patients. But we may also be medicalizing much of 

normal human behavior - labeling the healthy as 

diseased, and exposing them to undue risk of stigma, 

testing and treatment. Trouble sleeping is now insomnia. 

Shyness is social phobia. Grief is depression. Infidelity is 

sex addiction. It's not that these diseases don't exist - the 

spectrum of human behavior is broad, and the extremes 

do represent real pathology - but we may be drawing 

lines in the wrong places, with negative health and 

financial consequences. 

A central problem is that medicalized diagnoses often 

come with medicalized treatments: Our penchant for 

pills outstrips even our desire for diagnosis. Since the 

1990s, the number of office visits for sleep problems has 

doubled, and diagnoses of insomnia have increased 

sevenfold. But prescriptions for sleep medications have 

increased more than 30 times. 

This is perhaps most concerning for children. About 12 

percent of children in America now carry a diagnosis of 

A.D.H.D, and there was a 40-fold increase in childhood 

bipolar disorder diagnoses between 1994 and 2003. Five 

times as many children are now prescribed 

psychostimulant and antipsychotic medications as were 

in the 1980s. Today, a quarter of children and teenagers 

take prescription drugs regularly, and seven percent of 

older adolescents and young adults report abusing 

opioids - most of whom were initially prescribed them by 

a doctor. With millions of Americans taking risky 

medications for questionable diagnoses, have we 

medicalized everyday life? There's no shortage of factors 

that have gotten us here. The pharmaceutical industry, 

for instance, has taken an active, sometimes dubious, role 

in defining and promoting new diagnoses, through 

direct-to-consumer advertising and physician outreach 

efforts. Often overlooked, however, are how the 

psychologies of doctors and patients contribute. Clinical 

encounters that don't end with a definitive diagnosis - a 

clear acknowledgment of the enemy - are inherently 

unsatisfying. Doctors, through their training and 

mandate, are motivated to package a constellation of 

symptoms into something that can be understood, 

named and treated. 

At the same time, we have both a growing arsenal of 

medications to fix patients' problems and a steadily 

shrinking number of minutes in which to do so. Not 

surprisingly, the path of least resistance becomes labeling 

and prescribing instead of exploring and managing. 

Patients are motivated by the understandable desire to 

name and ease their suffering - and today, many more 

patients have that opportunity. But it also means that 

much of normal human experience is treated with 

prescriptions instead of patience. This is perhaps not 

surprising. We increasingly have easy solutions at our 

fingertips. 

Millions of people worldwide taking risky medications for questionable diagnoses. 

Photo: Stuart Bradford

NATIONAL 


6 

Grand Alliance candidate 

holds press conference in 

Nasirnagar 

Md Abdul Hannan, Nasirnagar 

Correspondent: Grand Alliance 

candidate of Brahmanbaria-1 

constituency Alhaj BM Farhad Hossain 

Sangram on Wednesday held a press 

conference at Nasirnagar Press Club. At 

the press conference he brought 

forward various allegations against 

BNP candidate Ekramuzzaman. 

He alleged that the BNP candidate 

has been constantly violating the 

election code of conduct. He is running 

election campaigns at public places. He 

attacked various Awami League 

activists including BCL and Jubo 

League workers in different unions. In 

the name of the campaigning, he 

brought a large number of outsiders. 

He is spending black money against 

boat symbol and threatening the 

common voters to spread the 

bloodstream. He also said in written 

speech that Awami League of 

Nasirnagar is very well organized. 

Nasirnagar's people gave have 

repeatedly supported Awami League 

and Sheikh Hasina. They are afraid to 

see our mass support and sure victory 

and want to give birth to a tragic 

incident like October 30. After all these, 

Awami League activists of Nasirnagar 

are showing respect to the prevailing 

law. 

The press conference was attended 

by Upazila Awami League president 

Dr Rafi Uddin Ahmed, General 

Secretary and Upazila Chairman 

ATM Moniruzzaman, Jubo League 

President and Vice Chairman Anjan 

Kumar Deb and district and upazila 

level print, electronic and online 

media journalists. 

Awami League Narail 2 candidate and Bangladesh national cricket ODI captain Mashrafe Bin 

Mortaza recently addressed a view exchange meeting with journalists at the Narail Zila Parishad 

auditorium. 

Photo: Humaun Kabir Rintu 

I want fair election in my 

constituency: Mashrafe 

Humaun Kabir Rintu, Narail Correspondent: Awami 

League Narail 2 candidate and Bangladesh national cricket 

ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said that I have full 

respect for my opponent. I want to have a fair election in my 

constituency. Decision of the people should be evaluated. I 

will accept whatever Allah wants. Weather I become 

victorious or not, I will accept both. I believe that whoever 

wins in the election he will work for the development of the 

SI closed over 

torturing 

journalist's 

father in 

Jashore 

Jahirul Islam Ripon, 

Benapole Correspondent: 

Police sub-inspector (SI) 

Sahabur Rahman was closed 

in connection with the 

torture of Moshiur Rahman 

Bablu (55) a businessman 

and father of journalist Al 

Mamun Shaon on Tuesday 

night. 

The injured businessman 

was admitted to Jashore 

250-bed General Hospital. 

The incident occurred on 

Tuesday afternoon at 

Benapole -Jashore Highway 

in Shyamlagachi area. 

Jamal Al Naser, 

Additional Superintendent 

of Police of Jashore's 

Navarorn Circle, said that 

sub-inspector (SI) Sahabur 

was closed to the police lines 

due to the allegation in the 

initial investigation. 

Moshiur Rahman, injured 

in hospital, said that at 

around four o'clock on 

Tuesday, I was returning 

from Sharsha Upazila to 

Jashore by a motorcycle 

with my friend and colleague 

Dulal Hossain. 

On the way, a group of 

police led by Sub-Inspector 

(SI) Sahabur Rahman 

reached Shyamlagachi area 

on Benapole-Jashore road 

and searched us and did not 

find anything after 

seraching. Subsequently, SI 

Sahabur got angry and tried 

to take Tk 20,000 from the 

pocket of Moshiur. But, he 

failed to take the money and 

got angry and beat him. 

Moshiur became seriously 

injured. From there, his 

colleague Dulal quickly took 

him to Jashore General 

Hospital. 

The victim's son journalist 

Al Mamun Shaon and his 

colleagues complained to 

Jashore Police Super Moinul 

Haque. 

Later, additional police 

superintendent Jamal Al 

Naser was sent to the 

hospital to investigate the 

incident. He spoke to 

Mashiur Rahman, who is 

undergoing treatment at the 

hospital. Subsequently, later 

SI Shahabur was closed. 

area. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said these at view exchange 

meeting with journalists at the Narail Zila Parishad 

auditorium on Tuesday night. The meeting was attended by 

Narail District Reporters Unity President Humaun Kabir 

Rintu, Vice President Shahidul Islam Shahi, General 

Secretary Masumur Rahman, senior journalist Kripacharja 

Biswas, Sanjay Kumar Pal, Mohammad Zaman Mollah, 

Abdus Sattar and others. 

Awami League nominee candidate of Cumilla-3 (Muradnagar), former 

finance secretary of central committee and parliament member Yussuf 

Abdullah Harun as the chief guest recently addressed a rally organized by 

Srikail Union AL and its associate organizations in Muradnagar upazila. 

Photo: Mosharraf Hossain Monir 

AL holds mass election campaign 

and rally in Muradnagar 

Mosharraf Hossain Monir, Muradnagar Correspondent: Mass election campaign and 

street rally was held in support of Awami League nominee candidate of Cumilla-3 (Muradnagar), 

former finance secretary of central committee and parliament member Yussuf Abdullah Harun in 

Muradnagar upazila on Tuesday. 

Awami League nominated candidate Yussuf Abdullah Harun was present as the chief guest at 

the rally organized by Srikail Union AL and its associate organizations. Union Awami League 

President Abdul Matin chaired the rally while general secretary of the Union Awami League Sabuj 

Biplob conducted the rally. Cumilla North District Awami League general secretary Jahangir Alam 

Sarker was the chief speaker at the occasion. Among others, Cumilla North District AL Vice- 

President Ruhul Amin, Hanif Sarker, Liberation War Affairs Secretary Advocate Abul Kalam Azad, 

Law Secretary Advocate Tanvir Ahmed Faisal, Chairman of Upazila Parishad Syed Abdul Kaiyum 

Khasru, Muradnagar Upazila Awami League President Syed Ahmad Hossain Awal, Cumilla North 

District AL's liberation war affairs secretary Advocate Abul Kalam Azad, Cumilla Zila Parishad 

member Khairul Alam Sadhan and VP Zakir Hossain, Upazila AL organizing secretary Abul Kalam 

Azad, former chairman of Srikail Union Abul Hashem and Nabilpur West Union Chairman 

Kamal Uddin were also present at the occasion. 

The picture shows injured Moshiur Rahman Bablu who was allegedly 

tortured recently by Police sub-inspector (SI) Sahabur Rahman in 

Jashore. 

Photo: Jahirul Islam Ripon 

Grand Alliance candidate of Brahmanbaria-1 constituency Alhaj BM Farhad Hossain Sangram 

brought forward various allegations against BNP candidate Ekramuzzaman at a press conference at 

Nasirnagar Press Club on Wednesday. 

Photo: Md Abdul Hannan 

Re-excavation 

of Kathurer 

Khal begins in 

Gaibandha 

Rafiqul Islam, Gaibandha 

Correspondent: The reexcavation 

work of 4km long 

Kathurer Khal under Urya 

union of Fulchhari upazila 

began on Wednesday amid 

much enthusiasm. 

Operation 

and 

Maintenance Division of 

Bangladesh Water 

Development Board 

(BWDB) will implement the 

work under the project of 

Re-excavation of Small river, 

Khal and Water Bodies in 64 

districts (Ist phase) at the 

cost of TK 41.48 lakh while 

Government of Bangladesh 

will provide the fund, office 

sources said. 

An inaugural function 

organized by the BWDB's 

local office was held at 

Khathurer Khal area of the 

union in the upazila on 

Wednesday morning with 

executive engineer of BWDB 

M. Mokhlesur Rahman in 

the chair. 

Deputy Commissioner 

(DC) Abdul Matin addressed 

the function as the chief 

guest and additional deputy 

commissioner (Revenue) 

Tofayel Hossain, district 

fisheries officer Abdud 

Dayan Dulu, upazila nirbahi 

officer Abdul Halim Tolstoy 

were present at the event as 

the special guests. 

Agricultural extension 

officer of the board M. 

Shafiqur Rahman was the 

moderator at the 

programme. 

Earlier, scientific officer of 

River Research Institute, 

Faridpur Toufiquzzaman 

delivered a speech 

highlighting the significance 

and importance of reexcavation 

of the canal and 

its contribution to 

agriculture and fisheries 

sectors. DC Abdul Matin in 

his speech said reexcavation 

of the canal is 

very crucial to maintain the 

flow of canal water. 

Cultivation of crops using 

surface water of the water 

bodies including canals can 

ensure food security of the 

country and meet the 

demand of protein. 

The DC also instructed the 

concerned, including the 

officials and the contractor 

of BWDB, to do the work 

with transparency and 

accountability and complete 

it timely. 

Farmers to produce 2.28 lakh tonnes 

of mustard seed in Rajshahi 

RAJSHAHI: Field level agricultural extension 

officials and scientists concerned along with 

the growers are expecting a good yield of 

mustard seed this season as the government 

has taken various steps to increase its 

production, reports BSS. 

Nabibur Rahman, a farmer of Haripur 

village under Paba upazila, said the cash crop 

is now growing well everywhere in the region 

due to appropriate measures by authorities 

concerned and favourable climatic condition. 

"We are harvesting the cash crop with hope 

of a better yield and lucrative market price," he 

said, adding that harvesting of the crop will 

begin next month. 

Department of Agricultural Extension 

(DAE) has set a target of harvesting more than 

2.28 lakh metric tonnes of mustard seed from 

around 1.85 lakh hectares of land in all eight 

districts under Rajshahi division. 

Side by side with the DAE, various other 

research and development organisations like 

BARI, BARC, BADC and many NGOs have 

taken adequate steps in collaboration with 

other departments this season. Senior 

Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Agriculture 

Research Institute Dr Shakhawat Hossain 

said BARI has released 16 high yielding 

mustard seeds and two of those- BARI 

Sharisha-15 and Tari-7 have become popular 

at the growers' level. 

Terming the mustard eco-friendly, Dr 

Hossain said its farming promotion can be the 

vital means of lessening the gradually 

mounting pressure on underground water. 

The agri-departments and NGOs have 

provided quality seeds, necessary inputs and 

trainings on the latest technologies to make 

the programme successful. The landless and 

marginal farmers have also brought vast tracts 

of the sandy char lands under mustard 

cultivation this time in the Ganges basins and 

the crops are growing excellent everywhere 

now in the region. 

The vast char (riverbed) areas on the 

Padma, Mohananda, Boral, Ishamoti, Kartoa, 

Atrai and Jamuna and other existing rivers 

and their tributaries are being considered. 

Cash and warm clothes distributed 

among Christians in Guimara 

Didarul Alam, Guimara Correspondent: Shindukchhari Army Zone on Tuesday 

donated cash, distributed warm clothes and organized complimentary dinner for Christians 

in observance of the Christmas Day. 

14 Field Regiment Artillery Shindukchhari Army Zone Captain Lt Colonel Rubayet 

Mahmud Hasib at the occasion said that people of all religions will live in peace and harmony 

in the Chittagong Hill Tracts for communal harmony. The country will go forward in peace 

and prosperity. 

At the occasion, Shindukchhari Army Zone Captain Mufti Mahmood Joy, Captain Faisal, 

Captain Samiul, Captain Mahmudul Hasan and Hafchhari UP member Kala Marma were 

among others also present. 

14 Field Regiment Artillery Shindukchhari Army Zone Captain Lt Colonel 

Rubayet Mahmud Hasib recently distributed cash and warm clothes 

among Christians in observance of the Christmas Day in Guimara. 

Photo: Didarul Alam

INTERNATIONAL THURSDAy, 


7 

This image provided by the Marine Nationale (French Navy) shows migrants aboard a rubber boat 

after being intercepted by French authorities, off the port of Calais, northern France, Tuesday, Dec. 

25, 2018. French authorities have rescued eight migrants, including two children, whose engine 

failed as they tried to sneak across the English Channel to Britain. 

Photo: Internet 

Britain sees more migrants 

heading across Channel to UK 

British officials say three more 

migrants have been intercepted trying 

to take a small boat from France 

to Britain. 

The Home Office said Wednesday 

three migrants were found 

overnight trying to cross the English 

Channel. In addition, a Border 

Six dead in 

tragic fire in 

Warsaw 

Six people were killed in a 

fire in Warsaw, said a 

spokesman of Poland's State 

Fire Service (PSP) on 

Wednesday. 

A small wooden building 

caught fire on Tuesday night 

in Warsaw's Zeran district, 

with the whole building was 

covered by fire when the first 

units of the fire department 

arrived, PSP spokesman 

Pawel Fratczak told local 

media. 

The cause of the fire, 

which was put off early in 

the morning, as well as the 

identities of the six victims 

were still unclear, as the 

police had launched investigation 

into this tragedy, said 

Fratczak. 

He also said that the fire 

department since Saturday 

carried out 3,860 interventions, 

and a total of 18 people 

were killed and 54 others 

were injured. 

The most tragic day was 

Tuesday, when eight people 

died, including six in the fire 

of Zeran. 

Body of missing 

toddler found in 

Thai sugarcane 

plantation 

The search for a missing 2-yearold 

boy in which even elephants 

were employed ended grimly 

Tuesday with the discovery of 

the toddler's body in a sugarcane 

plantation in central Thailand. 

Suphan Buri provincial governor 

Nimit Wanchaithanawong 

said the boy's body was 

found around five kilometers 

(three miles) from where he 

was last seen, and officials are 

collecting evidence to determine 

his cause of death. 

Sului Piew, the son of migrant 

workers from Myanmar, went 

missing Dec. 17 when he went 

out to play near the plantation 

where his parents work. Hundreds 

of rescuers combed 

through an 80-acre (32- 

hectare) field of 2-meter-high 

(6.6-foot-high) sugarcane 

plants to search for the child, 

whose body was finally discovered 

near a small irrigation 

stream on the plantation. 

Police Col. Ronakorn 

Prakongsri told television station 

ThaiPBS that Sului's body 

was found with injuries on his 

legs but he added that officers 

would wait for an autopsy 

report before they pursued 

investigating the point. Governor 

Nimit said the missing boy's 

family had informed authorities 

of his disappearance when his 

3-year-old friend told her parents 

that she saw Sului being 

abducted. 

Force vessel was sent to help a 

dinghy heading toward Britain with 

seven men and a woman aboard. 

Officials say another 40 migrants 

were stopped trying to cross the 

Channel on Christmas Day. 

There has been a recent spike in 

small boat crossings that British 

authorities say is organized by 

smuggling gangs. The Home Office 

says it's working with French officials 

to try to shut down the people 

smuggling. 

British officials say all the 

migrants picked up in recent days 

have received medical aid. 

Afghanistan postpones 

presidential election 

Afghanistan's presidential election, initially 

scheduled for April, will be postponed 

for several months to allow time to fix 

technical problems that surfaced during 

October's parliamentary elections, officials 

said Wednesday. 

More time is needed to verify voter lists 

and train staff on a biometric identification 

system designed to reduce fraud, said 

Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, deputy spokesman 

for the Independent Election Commission. 

Parliamentary elections were fraught 

with delays after the few staff trained on 

the biometric system did not show up at 

the polling booths and countless registered 

voters could not find their names on 

voter lists. Polling had to continue for a 

second day after hundreds of polling stations 

opened several hours late. Several 

legal complaints have been filed to challenge 

the results. 

No new date for the presidential election 

has yet been set. 

The last presidential election, held in 

2014, was mired in controversy and widespread 

allegations of fraud. 

The two leading candidates, Ashraf 

Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, fought a 

tight race that went to a second vote. But 

before the results of the runoff could be 

announced, Abdullah alleged massive vote 

fraud and warned of widespread protests. 

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility 

for a suicide bombing at Libya's Foreign 

Ministry in Tripoli that killed at least 

three people. 

In a statement carried by its Aamaq 

news agency Wednesday, IS says three 

fighters infiltrated the area and fired on 

Foreign Ministry workers. Libyan officials 

say a suicide bomber targeted the entrance 

John Kerry, the then U.S. secretary of 

state, interceded and helped cobble 

together a unity government and convinced 

the election commission to hold off 

on announcing the results of the runoff, 

which Ghani seemed poised to win. 

Ghani was named president and 

Abdullah was given a newly created title 

of Chief Executive. The arrangement 

was intended to last only two years but 

has continued up to the present, resulting 

in a government marked by deep 

divisions that has struggled to combat a 

resurgent Taliban. 

The postponement of the election could 

give more time for U.S. efforts to end the 

17-year war. U.S. peace envoy Zalmay 

Khalilzad has crisscrossed the region several 

times since his appointment in September, 

reportedly meeting with the Taliban 

on several occasions. 

Polling had to continue for a second day 

after hundreds of polling stations opened 

several hours late. Several legal complaints 

have been filed to challenge the 

results. 

No new date for the presidential election 

has yet been set. 

Khalilzad has said he would like to see 

the Taliban and the Afghan government 

devise a "roadmap" before the April vote. 

Both sides have said that was an unrealistic 

deadline. 

Islamic State claims attack 

on Libya’s Foreign Ministry 

to the ministry and another was shot dead 

by guards before he could detonate his 

explosives. 

Libya's Health Ministry says the Tuesday 

attack wounded 10 other people. 

Libya was plunged into chaos following 

the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed 

Moammar Gadhafi, allowing IS and other 

extremist groups to gain a foothold. 

A picture taken on December 25, 2018 shows a firetruck and security 

officers at the scene of an attack outside the Libyan foreign ministry 

headquarters in the capital Tripoli. 


Russia's Putin 

oversees test 

of hypersonic 

weapon 

The Kremlin says the Russian 

military has successful tested 

a new hypersonic glide vehicle. 

It said Russian President 

Vladimir Putin oversaw the 

test launch of the Avangard 

vehicle from the Defense Ministry's 

control room. 

In Wednesday' test, the 

weapon was launched from 

the Dombarovskiy missile 

base in the southern Ural 

Mountains. The Kremlin says 

it successfully hit a designated 

practice target on the Kura 

shooting range on Kamchatka, 

6,000 kilometers (3,700 

miles) away. 

Putin named the Avangard, 

which is among the array of 

new nuclear weapons that 

Putin presented in March, 

saying they can't be intercepted. 

Putin said the Avangard has 

an intercontinental range and 

can fly in the atmosphere at 

20 times the speed of sound. 

He says "it heads to target like 

a meteorite, like a fireball." 

Medical checks 

ordered after 

2nd child 

migrant death 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

have ordered medical 

checks on every child in its 

custody after an 8-year-old 

boy from Guatemala died, 

marking the second death of 

an immigrant child in the 

agency's care this month. 

The death came during an 

ongoing dispute over border 

security and with a partial 

government shutdown underway 

over President Donald 

Trump's request for border 

wall funding. 

The boy, identified by 

Guatemalan authorities as 

Felipe Gómez Alonzo, 

had been in CBP's custody 

with his father, Agustin 

Gomez, since Dec. 18. CBP 

said in a statement late Tuesday 

that an agent first noticed 

the boy had a cough and 

"glossy eyes" at about 9 a.m. 

Monday. He was eventually 

hospitalized twice and died. 

Molinari set 

to focus on US 

golf circuit 

next year 

Francesco Molinari says he 

may not play in Europe until 

the 19th-ranked Italian 

defends his British Open title 

in July. 

The lure of the US PGA 

Tour and changes made to the 

European Tour calendar will 

combine to leave the Londonbased 

golfer short of available 

dates to compete on his home 

circuit next year. 

Molinari is even struggling 

to commit to the British Masters 

in May, despite receiving 

an invitation from tournament 

host, close friend and 

Ryder Cup partner Tommy 

Fleetwood. 

"I would like to play the 

British Masters but it depends 

probably on the first couple of 

months of the season," Molinari 

said. "If I learnt one thing 

this season, it is to be a bit 

flexible with the schedule 

playing two tours. 

"With the changes, it is a bit 

different. Wentworth was 

always the first for me but 

now it has moved from May to 

September, that might be the 

first regular European Tour 

event I play," he added in reference 

to the PGA Championship, 

another tournament 

he won in 2018. 

"I would like to play the 

British Masters but it depends 

probably on the first couple of 

months of the season," Molinari 

said. "If I learnt one thing 

this season, it is to be a bit 

flexible with the schedule 

playing two tours. 

The 36-year-old Italian will 

defend his British Open title at 

Royal Portrush in Northern 

Ireland. 

Police free Bosnian Serb 

who led protests over 

son’s death 

Bosnian Serb authorities on Wednesday 

released from detention the man who has 

sparked anti-government protests with his 

demands for the truth about his son's death. 

Police arrested Davor Dragicevic on Tuesday 

over allegations that he threatened the security 

of Interior Minister Dragan Lukac. He 

was freed after being questioned by prosecutors 

in Banja Luka, the main Bosnian Serb 

city. 

The prosecutor's office said the legal proceedings 

against Dragicevic will continue but 

that there was no reason to keep him in 

detention. 

Several other people also were detained, 

including some opposition politicians and 

briefly Dragicevic's ex-wife. The family's supporters 

rallied in protest, scuffling with the 

police in the city. 

"They claim I threatened someone and I did 

not," Dragicevic said upon his release. "I will 

never give up!" 

Dragicevic's "Justice for David" movement 

has demanded information about the March 

death of his 21-year-old son. It has inspired 

months of anti-government protests that 

have reflected wide popular discontent over 

corruption and unemployment in the Balkan 

nation. 

Police initially said the death was a suicide, 

but the young man's family insists he was 

killed by someone else. Prosecutors have 

opened a homicide investigation, which is 

ongoing. 

Dragicevic has accused top police officials 

of covering up his son's slaying and protecting 

the killers. Authorities deny the 

allegations. 

Bosnian Serb police secure an area at the spot where Davor Dragicevic 

along with members of the "Justice for David" movement protested and 

demanded the truth behind the death of 21-year-old David Dragicevic in 

the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, northwest of Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, 

Dec. 25, 2018. Bosnian Serb police have detained Davor Dragicevic, the 

man whose quest for the truth over the death of his son has sparked 

months of anti-government protests. 


Congo delays Sunday’s election 

for months in Ebola zone 

Congo's already long-delayed election set for 

Sunday will be postponed for months in certain 

communities where a deadly Ebola virus 

outbreak has infected hundreds of people, 

the country's electoral commission 

announced Wednesday. Some in the opposition 

quickly called it a ploy to hurt their 

chances at the polls. 

The election in and around Beni and 

Butembo in North Kivu province, and Yumbi 

in Mai-Ndombe province, will be in March 

instead, the commission's statement said. 

That's long after Congo's "definitive" presidential 

election results are set to be 

announced on Jan. 15, with the inauguration 

three days later. 

Congo's election has been delayed for more 

than two years, leading to sometimes deadly 

protests. Opposition parties have said they 

will not accept further delays of the vote to 

choose a successor to longtime President 

Joseph Kabila. The election already had been 

pushed from Dec. 23 to Sunday after a fire in 

the capital, Kinshasa, destroyed voting materials. 

"This is completely inacceptable," presidential 

candidate Martin Fayulu, the leader 

of an opposition coalition, told The Associated 

Press after the latest delay. "We campaigned 

in those territories, life has not 

stopped. ... We cannot erase 1.2 million voters 

just like that." 

Fayulu and seven other opposition candidates 

on Tuesday accused the electoral commission 

of being "determined to organize 

chaotic elections." The commission's president, 

Corneille Nangaa, on Monday said the 

election would take place on Sunday unless 

"there is a war and nobody can go out and 

vote." 

Parts of eastern Congo, where the Ebola 

outbreak has become the second deadliest in 

history, face the daily threat of deadly attacks 

from rebel groups. The insecurity has hurt 

efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak, which 

since being declared on Aug. 1 has seen 583 

cases of the virus, including more than 300 

confirmed deaths. 

The electoral commission cited insecurity 

for the latest delay. While Yumbi has no Ebola 

cases, according to Congo's health ministry, 

the commission said "deadly incidents" 

on Dec. 14-15 caused massive population displacement 

and destroyed all election materials 

there when its local office was pillaged. 

The statement did not say who was to blame. 

The delay is sure to cause further frustration 

particularly in Beni, where rebel attacks 

have killed more than 1,500 people in the 

past four years. While the region has voted 

for Kabila in past elections, anger at the government 

has been rising over the persistent 

insecurity. 

Kabila, though stepping aside, has chosen 

former interior minister Emmanuel 

Ramazani Shadary as the ruling party candidate 

and his preferred successor . 

Holding the election in the Ebola zone has 

posed complications, but authorities have 

said they were preparing for the vote by 

deploying tons of hand sanitizer for use in 

polling stations, where people will tap on the 

touchscreens of voting machines to choose 

candidates. Ebola is spread via the bodily fluids 

of infected people. 

Authorities also have said people entering 

the polling stations will be screened for 

fevers. Meanwhile, more than 52,000 people 

in the region have received an experimental 

but promising Ebola vaccine. 

Huawei continues to push on 

with 5G development: chairman 

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. on Tuesday said the company's operation has remained normal 

despite a "complicated environment," and it is pushing on with 5G development. 

Huawei chairman Liang Hua said in a media interview that Huawei will launch its first 5G 

smartphone model in the first half of 2019, and achieve a commercial scale of the cell phones 

in the second half of the year. 

"Huawei has obtained 26 5G commercial contracts and signed cooperation agreements 

with more than 50 partners globally. The company has delivered more than 10,000 5G-oriented 

base stations, ranking first globally," said Liang. 

He said the company is doing well in Germany and has been involved in 5G development 

and testing with French and Japanese telecom operators. 

Liang said the company will invest heavily on research and development to seize opportunities 

in the wave of digital and intelligent development in the telecom sector and consolidate 

its advantage in the infrastructure building of information and communication technology. 

Headquartered in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, privately-owned Huawei is a 

world-leading telecom solution provider and also one of the world's major smartphone 

brands.

ART & CULTURE 

THUrsdAy, 

deceMBer 27, 2018 

8 

Here's why a trendy 

chalkboard wall is the best 

option for toddler rooms! 

All toddlers love to scribble on the walls. 

Despite loading them with constructive 

options, they will go back to scribbling 

their favourite notes on the wall. There is 

something attractive about doing that is 

'prohibited' and maybe that is why this 

activity is unstoppable. We suggest, let 

them explore their imagination and 

creativity, and do not worry about the walls 

as we have you covered. 

While planning a baby room, make a small 

modification of painting the walls half in 

chalkboard paint. The chalkboard paint 

looks stylish and has a functional utility too 

- your kid can scribble on the walls 

uninterrupted. 

He will also find it amusing that whatever 

drawn can be erased too. The room with 

paint, roller or brush whichever seems 

comfortable to you and chalks. 

2. Scrub the wall with a sandpaper to make 

the surface even and then paste a wall tape 

at the height you would want to stop. This is 

to prevent the paint spreading into the 

unwanted area, creating a fine border line. 

3. Apply the first coat of the paint and let it 

dry before applying the second coat. 

4. After both the coats dry-up, you will 

have to prime the wall with chalk. 

This step ensures that anything you write 

does not create a permanent mark. For this, 

rub the chalk all over the wall by its side and 

then erase it to give it a faded look. 

5. You are ready to hand over the field to 

your junior marshal. 

2018 will be remembered as the year that managed the impossible: to show that the three biggest Khans are not 

invincible. 

2018: The era of the superstar 

is done and dusted 

chalkboard walls look creative and even if 

they are not cleaned regularly, it still looks 

amazing. 

Here's how to do it? 

1. Chalkboard paint is easily available 

online and otherwise in the market. Get the 

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. 

This will soon become one of your kids' 

favourite activity corner. He can learn his 

subjects, practice drawing, write beautiful 

quotes and special messages, this wall will 

definitely prove to be family's favourite wall! 

|Source: TOI 

LIBrA 

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): At some 

stage over the next few days 

you will see or hear something 

that makes you view the world in a new 

light. A change of perspective will lead to 

new ways of thinking, ways that answer all 

the questions you have been asking. 

scorPIo 

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Find out 

why a partner or loved one is 

behaving so erratically, then 

do what you can to assist them. Most likely 

their problems are nowhere near as big as 

they think they are and can quite easily be 

corrected - as can your own! 

sAGITTArIUs 

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

sign of boundless selfconfidence 

and that's good 

because you will need it over 

the next few days. If you are not happy in 

your current environment don't be afraid to 

pack a bag and take off for a few days. 

cAPrIcorN 

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

lack purpose at the moment but 

that will change if you look for 

ways to express yourself. 

Whatever challenges come your way, and there 

will be plenty, see them as opportunities to be 

embraced rather than as threats to be avoided. 

AQUArIUs 

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

keep setbacks in perspective. If 

you can learn to take yourself a bit 

less seriously over the coming 

week then your problems, such as 

they are, will fade into insignificance. Rest 

assured your successes will always outnumber 

your failures. 

PIsces 

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): It does not 

matter if other people approve 

of what you are doing, it 

matters only that it means 

something to you. The very last thing you 

should be doing now is asking friends and 

family for their opinions - it's your views 

that count. 

The superstars have kept doing what 

they have done before and left even their 

fans largely unimpressed, while the most 

interesting films have put their story first, 

told by actors. 

The Superstar is dead. Long live the 

Actor. 

Coasting on calcified stardom results in 

films no one wants to see, even the star’s 

most ardent fans. This should be the 

single most important takeaway for the 

Hindi film industry from 2018. And 2019 

will see the Story racing ahead of the Star. 

Bollywood’s ruling A-list has long 

consisted of the Khans and Kapoors, 

Kumars and Devgns, and for the past two 

decades and more, there has been no 

break in this bunch’s popularity, give or 

take a seasonal dip or two. 

Loss of invincibility 

Looking back, 2018 will be 

remembered as the year that managed 

the impossible: to show that the three 

biggest Khans — Salman, Aamir, Shah 

Rukh — are not invincible. 

The Khan who effortlessly manages the 

biggest numbers, Salman, showed up in 

Race 3, the third instalment of a franchise 

featuring bad guys and gals, doing exactly 

what he has done before. It wasn’t a solo 

act. He shared the screen with a number 

of co-stars. 

That it is one of the year’s biggest 

grossers has more to do with the fact that 

our tolerance-for-trash bars are set so 

high, rather than the abysmal quality of 

the film. 

Salman’s only real solo outing in 2017, 

Tubelight, was so awful that even his fans 

had nothing good to say. Franchise 

piggy-backing appears to be his only 

recourse: two years from now, there will 

be a Dabangg 3, but we can safely predict 

that the audiences are not going be as 

forgiving. 

Film-wise, Aamir had a terrible 2018. 

The lavish Yashraj production Thugs Of 

Hindostan, in which he co-starred with 

Amitabh Bachchan, was blown away not 

just by carping critics, but by viewers who 

could not believe something quite so 

ghastly could have come out of the 

country’s biggest actors-and-studio 

combine. 

And we are still reeling under the 

unsalubrious effects of Shah Rukh 

Khan’s Zero, in which he plays a vertically 

challenged man in search of love. For the 

last three years or so, SRK has been 

looking to reinvent, but the trouble with 

super-stardom is that it is buoyed by fans 

who get skittish when faced with true 

difference. 

SRK was fabulous in Fan, in which we 

saw an actor reaching inside, and 

stripping down. Subsequently, he has 

retreated to his safe zone, where the 

experiment stays on the surface, and the 

rest of it is same old. 

Kamal Haasan played a dwarf in Appu 

Raja 30 years ago, and that role is still as 

memorable today because it was really, 

truly different. Mining the black rage that 

can occasionally fill a midget’s heart 

would have made Zero a film with 

integrity and heft: in the way it has 

mounted, SRK is left counting on his 

dimples. The charm is still effective, and 

all the world still loves a lover (still a 

strong SRK domain), but it cannot be a 

substitute for a solid plot 

And that should be the other equally 

big lesson for Big Bollywood: give us a 

story, give us substance, give us, by all 

that’s holy, characters. Any one with an 

ounce of charisma can become a star. 

Greatness comes only with being able to 

become another, wear a face on top of 

yours, and make us believe. 

Plot first 

This year’s most interesting films have 

placed plot right up top, and used actors 

to sell their wares. A middle-aged couple 

catches pregnant, and the news of the 

arrivals throws the family (two young 

lads, and a grumpy grandma) in turmoil. 

Badhaai Ho’s premise is delicious, and 

even more crucially, fresh. The actors are 

subservient to the plot, which is just as it 

should be, and the superstars of this 

venture are veterans Neena Gupta and 

Gajraj Rao. 

Rao who? If that’s a question to you, 

you haven’t seen one of 2018’s best films, 

which trundles past its weaknesses 

because of its varied strengths. 

The other Rao, Rajkummar, toplined 

Stree, one of 2018’s most entertaining 

films, in which the old myth of the 

ravening female spirit is flipped on its 

head. In a small Indian town, it’s the men 

who fear going out in the night, because 

beware, stree is out and about, and if she 

catches an unsuspecting male, all that’s 

left are his clothes. The subversion is not 

subtle, but most pleasurable all the same. 

The rich entitled spoilt South Delhi gals 

making whoopee in Veere Di Wedding, or a 

blind pianist tap-tapping his way into murder 

and mayhem in Andhadhun, didn’t need 

stars. All they required was a plot, and a 

director who knew exactly what he wanted to 

say, and how he wanted to say it. 

That the dying can give the living a 

purpose is beautifully rendered in 

October. Shoojit Sircar’s film is a good 

example of a hugely popular rising star 

making the right choices to stay relevant. 

Varun Dhawan has edges which don’t 

quite fit into his annoyingly aimless 

character, but his attempts at broadening 

his base are notable. If he does manage to 

sustain variety, he is in a good place. 

Way forward 

Here are a few post-crystal-ball-gazing 

predictions, in no particular order: the 

big-budget tentpoles are not vanishing 

anytime soon, because both set-in-theirways 

Bollywood and audiences will 

continue to hanker after these. But even 

these top-heavy spectacles will be more 

plot-driven, because that’s the only way 

forward. 

After taking a lateral step and winning 

over a section of viewers with Badlapur 

and October, Dhawan will continue to 

widen his catchment. As will his 

contemporaries, Ranbir Kapoor and 

Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana 

and Vicky Kaushal, and, of course, Rao. 

But not one will be termed a superstar. 

They will be star-actors, or actor-stars, 

and they will have to whistle up or agree 

to be part of plot-heavy movies in order 

Thugs Of Hindostan, in which Aamir Khan co-starred with Amitabh 

Bachchan, was blown away by critics and viewers alike. 

to keep growing their base. 

The era of the superstar is done and 

dusted. 

The MeToo campaign, which seems to 

have deceptively petered out in 

Bollywood, will continue to have a 

subterranean effect. More women being 

able to work without constraints will lead 

to a more equitable slate. 

It’s time to stop calling films femalecentric: 

Raazi has a strong female 

In Race 3, Salman Khan shared the screen with a number of co-stars. 

character at the helm, but there are 

equally strong male actors in the film. It’s 

time to have men and women splitting up 

the pie equally if our cinema has to be 

worth our time and money. Or, there is 

always the growing option of more 

Netflix and chill. -The IndianExpress

SPORTS 

THuRSDAy, 


9 

Former Barcelona ace Neymar is desperate to return to the Camp Nou and reunite with Lionel Messi 

as per reports in the Spanish media. 

Photo: AP 

Neymar seeking reunion with former 

teammate Messi at Barcelona 

Sports Desk: Brazilian superstar 

Neymar is seeking a return to former 

club Barcelona from Paris Saint Germain 

and reportedly several efforts 

have been already made by the forward's 

team to arrange his move back 

to Spain. Neymar joined PSG last year 

in a world record €220 million ($254 

million) transfer deal, the most expensive 

transfer in the history of football. 

However, he seems to have grown frustrated 

with life in Paris and is desperate 

to return back to Barcelona, reports AP. 

According to AS report, Neymar's 

team has made 'several calls to 

Barcelona,' so far regarding his transfer 

but nothing concrete has come out yet. 

Neymar has had a fine stay in Paris so 

far and has found his feet in the Ligue 1 

impressing heavily for PSG. He is currently 

the second highest goal scorer for 

PSG this season with eleven strikes to 

his name, only behind Kylian Mbappe 

Ex-Watford 

boss Sanchez 

Flores moves 

to Shanghai 

Shenhua 

Sports Desk: Former Watford, 

Benfica and Atletico 

Madrid boss Quique 

Sanchez Flores has been 

named head coach of Chinese 

Super League (CSL) 

Shanghai Shenhua, reports 

BSS. 

Shenhua issued a statement 

welcoming the 

Spaniard and his coaching 

team, who are due to arrive 

in Shanghai on Friday to 

prepare for the new CSL season 

beginning on March 1, 

2019. 

"(We) hope they will get 

familiar with the team as 

soon as possible through 

winter training, instil their 

football techniques and tactics 

in the players and help 

the young players in the 

team grow faster," Shanghai 

Shenhua said in a post on 

China's Twitter-like Weibo 

Tuesday. 

The club's former Chinese 

coach Wu Jingui will move 

to the role of sporting director 

at the club. Wu led the 

team to win the Chinese FA 

Cup in 2017. 

Sanchez Flores, 53, was 

sacked by Espanyol in April. 

In the 2016-17 season he led 

the Catalans to eighth place 

in La Liga, as high as they 

have finished in a decade. 

The former Valencia rightback 

previously managed 

Watford, and reportedly 

rejected a return to the English 

Premier League earlier 

this season with Stoke City. 

The club's former Chinese 

coach Wu Jingui will move 

to the role of sporting director 

at the club. Wu led the 

team to win the Chinese FA 

Cup in 2017. 

Sanchez Flores will bring a 

five-strong backroom team 

to Shanghai, including assistant 

coaches Antonio Diaz 

and Dean Austin. 

who has scored one more than the 

Brazilian. He played an instrumental 

role in PSG's emphatic title-winning 

campaign last season and has already 

won four titles with the Paris outfit 

including the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de 

France. However, he is still not satisfied 

with his switch to the French capital 

and is looking to reunite with former 

strike partners Lionel Messi and Luis 

Suarez at the Camp Nou. 

"Their calls [from Neymar's team] are 

constant," AS quoted a Barcelona 

source as saying. "When he comes to 

Barcelona, which is often, he always 

ends up visiting the dressing room (at 

the club's training ground)," the source 

added. 

But any move for Neymar would cost 

Barcelona a fortune given the staggering 

amount he is earning at PSG and 

the clauses in his contract with the 

Ligue 1 club. Nothing less than the fee 

which PSG had paid to secure his services 

would be able to lure the club in letting 

go their prized possession. With 

Mbappe rivalling him for stardom at 

the club, Neymar might soon want out 

as PSG is yet to enjoy significant success 

in the Champions League. 

Another factor which can decide his 

move back to Barcelona is the nature of 

the way Neymar had left the Spanish 

club. The player and club officials were 

engaged in a war of words over the 

transfer with Neymar blaming the officials 

of not paying him his due amount 

post his transfer to PSG. 

"It's a shame, because here he had 

everything, but ended up forcing his 

departure and we should see how the 

environment would react, which did 

not end [with everyone] satisfied with 

everything that happened," the source 

said about a potential move back to 

Barcelona for Neymar. 

Steyn creates history; 

Pakistan in trouble 

Sports Desk: Dale Steyn hogged the limelight 

during the first session of Day 1 of the 

Centurion Test versus Pakistan by breaking 

the record of Shaun Pollock to become the 

highest wicket-taker for South Africa in the 

longest format (422). Kagiso Rabada and 

Duanne Olivier also struck at regular intervals 

as the pace trio left the visitors in trouble, 

reports Cricbuzz. 

Pakistan, who opted to bat on a surface 

where cracks open up as the match progresses, 

lost the wicket of Imam-ul-Haq in just the 

second over. The southpaw hung back to a 

full delivery that seamed in and was struck in 

front. Imam decided to try his luck with the 

review but to no avail. 

Fakhar Zaman and Shan Masood batted 

for a little more than four overs before the 

former was sent back to the hut by Steyn as 

he achieved the record. Fakhar pushed at a 

delivery slanting away from him with Dean 

Elgar pouching the catch in the slip cordon. 

The South African players were ecstatic with 

Rabada lifting his pace colleague on his 

shoulder. Steyn acknowledged Pollock who 

was in the commentary box. The former 

South African all-rounder also sent a heartfelt 

message via his Twitter handle saying, "A 

heartfelt congratulation to Dale. He's been a 

fantastic bowler for SA for so long. His performances 

both home and away have been 

remarkable in so many ways." 

In recent times, Steyn has paddled through 

a tough phase with injuries acting as a hurdle. 

During the WACA Test in November 

2016, the coracoid process, known as the 

shoulder blade, completely broke off. After 

recovering from the career-threatening 

injury, he played in the Cape Town versus 

India earlier in the year but this time injured 

his heel. He returned for the series in Sri 

Lanka where he could snare just two wickets. 

Eventually, he surpassed the record in the 

ongoing Test against Pakistan. 

Meanwhile, South African continued to 

make regular incisions with the impressive 

Olivier sending both Masood and Asad 

Shafiq back to the pavilion. Olivier was 

rewarded for bowling with a fair amount of 

pace and discipline. Masood, however, 

would count himself a tad unlucky as the ball 

from Olivier deflected via his thigh pad and 

gloves before rattling the stumps. The pacer 

then jagged one back off the seam considerably 

to win an LBW decision against Shafiq. 

He took a review but replays suggested it was 

just clipping the leg-stump and the middle 

order batsman had to trudge back. 

Dale Steyn was carried on Kagiso Rabada's shoulders after his South 

Africa record 422nd Test wicket. 

Photo: AP 

Battle of supermaxis 

beckons at start of 

Sydney to Hobart 

race 

Sports Desk: Supermaxi 

Black Jack led a 85-strong 

fleet out of a hot and glittering 

Sydney Harbour 

Wednesday at the start of 

one of the toughest yacht 

races in the world, reports 

BSS. 

Thousands of spectators 

lined the harbour and 

watched on boats as the 

yachts sped away under clear 

blue skies and aided by 10-15 

knot north-easterly winds in 

the 74th edition of the 628- 

nautical-mile (1,162-kilometre) 

Sydney to Hobart race. 

The winds are expected to 

pick up and push the fleet - 

which includes five supermaxis 

and 11 international 

entries - down the Australia's 

east coast, before dropping off 

on Thursday in weaker conditions 

compared to last year. 

The notoriously wild Bass 

Strait between Tasmania and 

the Australian mainland in 

particular is looking to serve 

up erratic conditions, with 

crews expecting a tactically 

challenging contest as they try 

to avoid windless holes. 

This means 100-footer 

supermaxi Comanche's race 

record of one day, nine 

hours, 15 minutes and 24 

seconds, set last year for the 

bluewater classic, should 

remain intact. "The real 

issue is linking all the bits of 

wind up," said strategist Iain 

Murray Wednesday of eighttime 

line honours winner 

supermaxi Wild Oats XI. His 

boat was first to Hobart in 

2017 but was stripped of the 

win after being handed a 

one-hour penalty over a 

near-collision. 

"There will be light spots 

and spots where there is not 

much wind. "I think the 

boats that keep continuously 

moving fast (will benefit)… 

the difference between going 

fast is going five knots, or 10 

knots or 12 knots and if you 

do that for a couple of hours 

it is a big difference." 

Other supermaxis in the 

run to be the first boat to 

cross the finish line in 

Hobart include InfoTrack 

and Hong Kong's Scallywag. 

The tricky conditions also 

mean the race to grab the 

handicap honours - which 

goes to the vessel that performs 

best according to size - 

is wide open, said ownerskipper 

Matt Allen of yacht 

Ichi Ban. 

India 215-2 after day 1 of 3rd 

test on lifeless MCG pitch 

Sports Desk: Star batsmen Virat Kohli and 

Cheteshwar Pujara mastered a placid pitch 

to place India in a strong position at 215-2 

after Wednesday's first day of play in the 

third cricket test against Australia, reports 

UNB. 

Kohli was unbeaten on 47 at stumps with 

Pujara on 68 at Melbourne Cricket Ground 

and both appear well-placed to add to their 

tallies of hundreds this series on day two on 

a pitch offering precious little for the 

bowlers. Australia had hoped the second 

new ball would bring wickets late in the day's 

play. World No.1-ranked batsman Kohli had 

a tense moment on 47 when he appeared to 

edge a low catch to Tim Paine off the bowling 

of Mitchell Starc, but the wicketkeeper was 

unable to grasp the difficult chance. 

Middle-order batsman Travis Head said it 

was a tough day for the home side, especially 

after a late chance was grassed. 

"It's a massive morning. Momentum can 

change so I don't think we're far away," Head 

said. 

Kohli had won the toss and chosen to bat in 

sunny conditions on a pitch that had a covering 

of grass but offered little bounce for the 

pace bowlers. 

The state of the pitch will be carefully 

watched over the course of the match, after 

last year's Melbourne test match between 

Australia and England was a tame draw and 

the pitch was officially rated as "poor" by the 

International Cricket Council. 

The four-test series is level at one-all. India 

has never won a test series in Australia. 

Opener Mayank Agarwal scored a patient 

76, the highest innings by an Indian test 

debutant in Australia, before gloving a short 

ball from Pat Cummins to Paine as tea was 

taken at 123-2. 

Agarwal added 83 with Pujara, after the 

loss of Hanuma Vihari for eight at 40-1. Like 

Agarwal, Vihari had failed to handle a bouncer 

from Cummins, backing away and offering 

a simple catch to second slip. 

It was a remarkable effort from Cummins, 

who claimed 2-40 from 19 overs after forcing 

both openers into false shots on a lifeless 

pitch. 

"I wouldn't complain about the pitch," 

Agarwal said. "It was good to bat on. It was a 

bit slow and then as the day progressed . it 

got a little quicker. The longer we bat, the 

better it is for us," he said. 

"They (Australia) bowled extremely well. 

They kept it tight and they were attacking." 

Kohli's arrival at the crease for the start of 

the third session was greeted with loud booing 

at 123-2. Kohli's on-field clashes with 

Australia's captain Paine in the second test in 

Perth ensured sections of the first-day crowd 

of 73,516 in Melbourne would give Kohli an 

enthusiastic greeting. 

Play was halted briefly when Pujara on 50 

was struck on the right index finger by the 

fiery Cummins. Pujara's finger was taped 

before the batsman resumed at 174-2. 

Pujara, the leading scorer in the series with 

290 runs and, with Kohli, the only player to 

score a century this series, suffered another 

bruising blow on 57 when Cummins crashed 

a short ball into his shoulder. 

But the boos weren't only for the touring 

team. 

Pace-bowling all-rounder Mitch Marsh 

contributed 15 tight overs which cost only 23 

runs but the West Australian at times was 

booed by Victorian fans who were upset their 

local hero Peter Handscomb had been 

dropped from the side. Head said the 

crowd's behaviour was disappointing. 

"I don't think it's great," said Head, who 

praised Marsh as a "great team man". "I 

don't think any Australian cricketer in Australia 

deserves to be booed (at home). I 

understand it's a Victorian crowd. It's disappointing." 

India's Virat Kohli, left and Australia's Tim Paine during play on day one 

of the third cricket test between India and Australia in Melbourne on 

Wednesday. 

Photo: AP 

Southee entertains for New Zealand 

but Lakmal keeps Sri Lanka on top 

Sports Desk: Tim Southee led a rollicking 

New Zealand fightback 

Wednesday but a five-wicket strike by 

Suranga Lakmal ensured Sri Lankan 

held the honours at tea on day one of 

the deciding second Test on Wednesday, 

reports BSS. 

Southee was dismissed shortly before 

the interval for 68, after a 108-run 

stand for the seventh wicket with BJ 

Watling. 

Lakmal quickly removed his replacement 

Neil Wagner as New Zealand 

ended the second session at 175 for 

eight. 

Watling, so often called upon by his 

country to repair a mangled innings, 

was unbeaten on 46. 

Southee joined Watling with New 

Zealand in serious trouble at 64 for six 

after Sri Lanka won the toss and elected 

to bowl on a green wicket with a 

heavy cloud cover. 

Lakmal decimated the top order with 

a burst of four for 11 during the opening 

session while Lahiru Kumara engineered 

two further wickets soon after 

lunch. 

But when the scoreboard suggested 

New Zealand needed patience and caution, 

Southee preferred to fight his way 

out of trouble. 

His shot selection may not always 

have been textbook but it was good 

enough for him to land three sixes and 

six fours in his 65-ball innings. 

Lakmal, so used to playing second 

fiddle to spinners in the sub-continent, 

relished New Zealand's seam-friendly 

conditions as he opened the seriesdeciding 

Test moving the ball both into 

and away from the batsmen. 

The dismissals highlighted his repertoire 

with catches by the keeper, second 

slip and mid-off as well as a bowled as 

he sent Jeet Raval (six), Tom Latham 

(10), Kane Williamson (two) and Henry 

Nicholls (one) back to the pavilion. 

Kumara joined the wicket spree after 

lunch as New Zealand's fortunes continued 

to disintegrate. 

His attempt to stop a straight drive 

from Watling saw the ball crash 

through his fingers and onto the 

stumps leaving Ross Taylor, on 27, 

stranded out of his crease. 

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme 

could not contain himself when 

Kumara offered a short ball wide of the 

off stump - an attempted hook over the 

leg-side boundary only found Dushmantha 

Chameera at midwicket. 

Southee also chose not to abandon 

his natural carefree batting, but with 

better success than de Grandhomme, 

taking 14 off one Lakmal over with two 

fours and a six. 

Another six off Chameera saw a leaping 

Roshen Silva get a hand to the ball 

but both ball and fielder ended up over 

the rope. 

The 31-year-old Lakmal was the pick 

of the Sri Lankan bowlers with five for 

52. 

Bancroft confirms Warner 

asked him to tamper with ball 

Sports Desk: Banned Australian player Cameron Bancroft on Wednesday confirmed 

David Warner asked him to alter the ball during the tampering scandal in 

South Africa and said he went along with it "to fit in", reports BSS. 

Bancroft was seen using sandpaper to try and rough up the ball in the Cape Town 

Test in March, receiving a nine-month ban from international and domestic cricket 

for his part in an incident that rocked the sport. 

Warner and then captain Steve Smith were exiled for a year after all three were 

found to be involved.A Cricket Australia investigation pointed to Warner as the 

mastermind and Bancroft revealed more details in an interview with Fox Sports. 

"Dave suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we 

were in the game and I didn't know any better," said Bancroft, whose ban runs out 

this coming weekend."I didn't know any better because I just wanted to fit in and 

feel valued really. As simple as that."The decision was based around my values, 

what I valued at the time, and I valued fitting in … you hope that fitting in earns 

you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake." 

At the time, Bancroft had been forging a new Australian Test opening partnership 

with the more experienced Warner. But he made he clear he did not consider 

himself a victim. 

"I had a choice and I made a massive mistake and that is what is in my control," 

said Bancroft. Last week Smith also opened up, admitting he failed as a captain by 

turning a blind eye to what went on. 

Asked what happened in the changing rooms at Cape Town before Bancroft 

attempted to cheat, he said: "For me in the room, I walked past something and had 

the opportunity to stop it and I didn't do it and that was my leadership failure. 

"It was the potential for something to happen and it went on and happened out 

in the field," he added.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

BANGLADESHTODAY 10 

THE 


Prime Bank Investment Ltd (PBIL) recently organized a social evening in honor of Journalists and 

Bankers at RAOWA Convention Center. The Managing Director & CEO of the PBIL Dr. Md. Tabarak 

Hossain Bhuiyan gave a welcome speech in honor of the guests. Tabarak discussed about the present 

and future action plans of PBIL in brief. He added that along with portfolio management activities, 

PBIL worksas Issue Manager and Underwriter. Recently, PBIL has been working as a Lead 

Arranger for several commercial banks to issue bonds. In addition, to expand its business, PBIL has 

planned to bring the NRB Investment inthe capital market of Bangladesh. Initially, PBIL has been 

working to encourage the NRB investors of North America, UK and Singapore to invest in the capital 

market of Bangladesh. In future it will continued to be in different part of the world. PBIL is now 

stepping forward to work just as the investment banks of the developed nations by providing different 

services like Merger & Acquisition, Syndication Financing, Valuation, Management Consultancy, 

Corporate Advisory etc. 


Trump blasts US central 

bank again over rate hikes 

]US President Donald Trump on Tuesday 

renewed his attack on the US Federal 

Reserve's monetary policy, blaming the 

central bank's interest rate hikes for a 

tanking market. 

With stocks on track for their worst 

December since the Great Depression, 

Trump has regularly berated the Fed for its 

stewardship of the economy. 

"They're raising rates too fast because they 

think the economy is so good," Trump told 

reporters in a Q&A following his annual 

Christmas teleconference with US troops. 

"But I think they will get it pretty soon," 

added the president, who has dubbed the 

supposedly independent central bank 

"crazy" and "out of control." 

Trump's comments came after Asian 

markets suffered a holiday rout on fears 

about the US economy and a government 

shutdown in Washington, now in its fourth 

day. 

Closed on Monday for a national holiday, 

Tokyo plummeted at the open on Tuesday, 

suffering its worst finish since April 2017 

after a brutal holiday-shortened session on 

Wall Street that saw US stocks sink for a 

fourth straight session. 

Markets have been roiled by ongoing 

uncertainty in the United States, with 

Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin 

berated for holding a call with the six biggest 

US banks and then reporting on Twitter that 

the six CEOs have "ample liquidity" 

available. 

Investors were also unnerved by weekend 

news reports that Trump had asked about 

the possibility of firing Federal Reserve 

Chairman Jerome Powell, accounts that 

Mnuchin said Trump has denied. 

Trump last week called the Fed a greater 

economic threat to the United States than 

China, and on Monday compared the central 

bank to a sloppy golfer. 

Asked by reporters whether he had 

confidence in Mnuchin, Trump answered 

"yes I do," calling the treasury chief "very 

talented, very smart person." 

Trump said he also remained confident in 

American companies and urged investors to 

stay calm over the nosediving markets. 

"I have great confidence in our companies. 

They're doing very well," he said. "I think it's 

a tremendous opportunity to buy." 

The stock market malaise comes with 

Trump refusing to sign a budget bill to keep 

the government funded as he demands 

money for a US-Mexico border wall. 

Stephen Innes, head of APAC trading at 

OANDA, said Trump's spat with the Fed and 

Mnuchin's call with the banks had "markets 

running for cover." 

Starbucks' expansion 

runs out of steam in 

S.Africa 

High operating costs and tight 

customer budgets have left 

US coffee giant Starbucks 

needing a caffeine hit after it 

abandoned ambitious 

expansion plans in South 

Africa -seen as a foothold for 

the continent. 

Starbucks looked set to take 

the country by storm when 

the opening of its first store in 

the Rosebank district of 

Johannesburg in April 2016 

attracted big crowds who 

queued for hours to taste their 

famous coffee and enjoy the 

cafe experience. 

"We thought they were 

going to run out of coffee 

before we could get a chance 

to taste it," Irshaan 

Mohammed, who is still a 

loyal customer at the flagship 

store, told AFP. 

"We couldn't believe how 

many people had actually 

come here." Mohammed, 23, 

said he loved "choosing 

ingredients and hanging out" 

at Starbucks, but "when it 

comes to my bill I always 

worry that I am paying too 

much." 

MTB partners with Mastercard to 

launch the First Mastercard Branded 

Contactless Credit Cards in Bangladesh 

Russia earned 

additional $120 

billion after OPEC 

deal - energy minister 

Russia has earned at least $120 

billion over the two years after 

signing an agreement with 

OPEC countries due to oil price 

adjustments, Russian Energy 

Minister Alexander Novak told 

Kommersant daily in an 

interview published on 

Tuesday. 

"Over the two years of the 

agreement with OPEC+, 

Russia earned at least an 

additional $120 billion, 

according to estimates. That's 

why it is important to assess the 

effectiveness of cooperation 

with OPEC countries for the 

state as a whole," Novak said. 

The energy minister talked 

about smaller numbers before. 

He told Rossiya 24 TV channel 

on December 13 that Russian 

oil companies earned an 

additional 2 trillion rubles ($29 

billion) since the agreement 

was signed, and the federal 

budget received around 5 

trillion rubles ($72.9 billion). 

Russia and OPEC signed an 

agreement on cooperating in 

stabilizing the oil market at the 

end of 2016. The agreement 

also includes other non-OPEC 

countries - Kazakhstan, 

Azerbaijan, Mexico, Oman and 

others. 

DR Congo's miners 

cast watchful eye 

on upcoming polls 

From small-scale diggers eking out their 

existence to corporations exposed to the 

market fluctuations of cobalt and legal 

reforms, DR Congo's massively important 

mining sector has a keen eye on the 

country's troubled election process. 

Subsistence diggers scraping a living 

outside the mining capital of Lubumbashi 

said they hoped Sunday's long-delayed poll 

will bring political change and a better life. 

"We have pinned our hopes on Martin 

Fayulu," said Prince, a 32-year-old miner 

referring to a candidate running against 

President Joseph Kabila's handpicked 

champion, Emmanuel Ramazan Shadary. 

Prince and colleague Kalumba, 24, 

hammered at the rock, seeking to tease out 

enough cobalt to earn a few dollars off 

intermediaries. 

Both are among the roughly two in three 

Congolese who live below the poverty line, 

seeing almost nothing of their country's 

vast natural riches -a wealth that includes 

gold, uranium, diamonds and copper. 

The big star at the moment is cobalt, the 

vital ingredient in batteries for electric cars, 

mobile phones and other glitzy devices, 

and the DRC is the world's biggest exporter 

of the stuff. 

Cobalt soared to $94,800 (82,092 euros) 

per tonne in May. 

It has since slumped to $57,000 per 

tonne, although this is still more than twice 

the price level seen in mid-2016. 

The current level is "not too bad," said 

Ghislain Yumba, head of business 

development at Chemaf, a cobalt miner in 

Lubumbashi. 

"We think cobalt can stay at this level for 

the coming two to three years - it's not so 

alarming," he said. 

The government classified cobalt as a 

"strategic" mineral under mining code 

reforms passed in early 2018, one of 

outgoing President Joseph Kabila's final 

economic projects. 

The reforms will beef up the state's take 

on the coveted mineral, hiking taxes on 

production to 10 percent from 2.5 percent. 

"That will have a knock-on effect," says 

Yumba. "But the current price level still 

allows us to face up to that." 

But foreign firms operating in the DRC, 

including Anglo-Swiss behemoth 

Glencore, are less happy. 

Furious at the tax hike, foreign firms 

have also slammed the end of a 10-year 

stability clause for royalty taxes. 

"Relations between the miners and the 

government are not at all good," a sector 

expert told AFP. 

The 273rd meeting of the Board of Directors of Shahjalal Islami Bank ltd (SJIBL) held at its Head 

Office Board Room recently. The meeting was presided over by the Chairman of the Board of 

Directors Akkas Uddin Mollah. The Board approved a number of investment proposals and reviews 

various issues relating to policy matter of the Bank. Among others the Vice-Chairmen of the Board 

Mohammed Golam Quddus, Directors Md. Sanaullah Shahid, Md. Abdul Barek, Abdul Halim, 

Mohiuddin Ahmed, Mohammed Younus, Tahera Faruque and Independent Director Farida 

Parvin Nuru, Managing Director M. Shahidul Islam and Deputy Managing Director Md. Shahjahan 

Shiraj were also present in the meeting. 


Mutual Trust Bank (MTB), in 

collaboration with Mastercard, today 

announced the launch of the 

Mastercard World and Mastercard 

Titanium contactless credit cards, 

during a press briefing in Dhaka. Both 

credit cards represent the first 

Mastercard branded contactless credit 

cards to be launched in Bangladesh 

targeted at affluent customers to 

provide more efficient and faster 

transactions. The launch reinforces 

Mastercard's commitment to helping 

drive the push beyond cash based 

payments in Bangladesh, to enable 

safer, faster and simpler payments, a 

press release said. 

The Contactless Mastercard World 

and Mastercard Titanium credit cards 

allow cardholders to simply tap the 

card in front of a card reader or POS 

terminal to complete the transaction, 

thereby eliminating the need for 

swiping or inserting the card into the 

terminal. The service makes the 

payments process for customers faster, 

easier and more convenient than ever 

before. According to Bangladesh 

Bank's guidelines, the maximum 

amount allowed for a contactless credit 

card transaction is fixed at BDT 3,000. 

Cardholders will be required to either 

dip or swipe their card and enter their 

PIN details for amounts that exceed 

BDT 3,000. 

To commemorate this milestone, 

MTB and Mastercard will be offering 

exclusive dining, lifestyle and 

accommodation offers at select partner 

outlets throughout the country for all 

Mastercard branded contactless 

cardholders. Mastercard World and 

Mastercard Titanium cardholders will 

now receive double reward points each 

time they spend BDT 50 or US$1 on 

their cards until March 2019. 

Mastercard World cardholders will 

receive four points instead of two 

points and Mastercard Titanium will 

receive two points instead of one point. 

Additional benefits for both 

contactless cards include: 

Free access to MTB Air Lounge at 

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport 

(HSIA) in Dhaka, and Shah Amanat 

International Airport in Chattogram, 

for one adult and two children 

Complimentary meet-and-greet 

service at HSIA, Dhaka for up to three 

companions 

Complimentary MTB Protection 

Plan Insurance Coverage 

Anis A. Khan, Managing Director & 

CEO, Mutual Trust Bank Limited 

(MTB) said, "MTB is thrilled to be able 

to provide our valued clients with the 

transactional efficiency of Contactless 

Mastercard World and Titanium 

Credit Cards. Our clients, will be able 

to enjoy faster and more convenient 

transactions without the need of 

inserting their cards into the POS or 

terminal. We strongly believe that this 

new venture, jointly pioneered by 

MTB and Mastercard in the country, 

will bring remarkable convenience for 

the cardholders in case of 

transactions." 

Syed Mohammad Kamal, Country 

Manager, Mastercard Bangladesh 

said, "This is an exciting moment for 

us at Mastercard, as we launch our 

first contactless credit cards for 

consumers in Bangladesh in 

collaboration with Mutual Trust Bank. 

This is also aligned with Mastercard's 

broader vision of helping Bangladesh 

move beyond cash based transactions, 

allowing the population to experience 

faster transactions, greater 

convenience, and improved safety that 

consumers in other countries already 

enjoy." 

Mercantile Bank Limited Opened its 136th Branch at Rajbari yesterday. Kamrunnahar Chowdhury 

Lovely, MP (Reserved seat for women) inaugurated the Branch by cutting ribbon. Deputy Managing 

Director & DCBO of Mercantile Bank Md. Zakir Hossain delivered his welcome speech. Fakir Abdul 

Zabbar, Chairman of Rajbari Zila Parishad, M Ali Chowdhury, Mayor of Rajbari Municipality, 

Advocate M A Khaleq, Chairman of Rajbari Upzila Parishad, Haji M Delowar Hossain, Distinguished 

Businessman, M Zakir Hossain, Director of Rajbari Chamber and Shwapan Kumar Majumdar, 

Officer In-charge of Rajbari Thana were also delivered their speech. Md Abul Kalam Azad, Head of 

Rajbari Branch & FAVP of the Bank gave his vote of thanks. Senior Executives of the Bank, Invited 

guests and journalists of print and electronic Media were present on the occasion. 'Rajbari Branch' 

is located at : Khorshed Plaza, 240 College Road, Word no 08, Pourosova-Rajbari, PS-Rajbari, Dist- 

Rajbari. 


Standard Bank ltd opened its 132st Branch at M. Rahman Plaza, South Chandibordi, Muksudpur, 

Gopalganj on Wednesday. Mamun-Ur-Rashid, Managing Director & CEO of the Bank formally inaugurated 

the Branch as Chief Guest while Haider Nurun Naher SEVP & Regional Manager, SBL 

Khulna Region presided over the ceremony. SAVP & Head of IT Infrastructure Md. Mosharraf 

Hossain Khan, PRO of the Bank Mejba Uddin Ahmed, AVP & Manager of Gopalganj Branch Md. 

Munir Hassan, Manager of SBL Muksudpur Branch Pradip Kumar Das, local industrialists, businessmen, 

senior executives & officers of SBL, customers and well wishers were present on the occasion. 

Photo: Courtesy

MISCELLANEOUS 

thursDAY, DECEMBEr 27, 2018 

11 

Koreas break ground on 

railways but sanctions 

block project 

North and South Korea broke ground 

Wednesday on an ambitious project 

to modernize North Korean railways 

and roads and connect them with the 

South, but without progress in 

nuclear negotiations, regular trains 

won't be crossing the border anytime 

soon. 

The ceremony at the North Korean 

border town of Kaesong came weeks 

after the Koreas conducted a joint 

survey on the northern railway 

sections they hope to someday link 

with the South. It's one of several 

peace gestures agreed between North 

Korean leader Kim Jong Un and 

liberal South Korean President Moon 

Jae-in as they push ahead with 

engagement amid a stalemate in 

larger nuclear negotiations between 

Washington and Pyongyang. 

But beyond on-site reviews and 

ceremonies, the Koreas cannot move 

much further along without the 

removal of U.S.-led sanctions against 

the North. 

A South Korean train carrying about 

100 people - including government 

officials, lawmakers and aging 

relatives separated by the 1950-53 

Korean War - rolled into the North 

Korean border town of Kaesong, 

where they were greeted by North 

Koreans including Ri Son Gwon, who 

heads an agency dealing with inter- 

Korean affairs. 

North and South Korean officials 

signed a wooden railroad tie, unveiled 

a new signboard and observed a 

ceremonial connecting of northern 

and southern tracks at Kaesong's 

Panmun Station, according to South 

Korea's Unification Ministry. 

Officials from China and Russia 

were also invited to witness the 

symbolic start of an ambitious project 

Seoul hopes will one day link South 

Korea with the Trans-China and 

Trans-Siberian railways. Armida 

Salsiah Alisjahbana, executive 

secretary of the United Nations 

Economic and Social Commission for 

Asia and the Pacific, also attended, 

according to the South Korean 

ministry. 

The Seoul government plans to 

conduct further surveys on North 

Korean railways and roads before 

drawing up a detailed blueprint for 

the project. Actual construction will 

proceed depending on the progress in 

the North's denuclearization and the 

state of sanctions against the country, 

the ministry said. 

"We plan to hold detailed 

negotiations with the North to 

coordinate on the specific levels we 

want to achieve in the modernization 

of railways and roads and how to 

carry out the project," said Eugene 

Lee, the ministry's spokeswoman. 

Even if the North takes concrete 

steps toward denuclearization and 

gains sanctions relief, some experts 

say updating North Korean rail 

network could take decades and 

massive investment. 

Seoul said it received an exemption 

to sanctions from the U.N. Security 

Council to proceed with Wednesday's 

ceremony as it involved South Korean 

transport vehicles and goods. The 

Koreas' joint survey of North Korean 

railways in November, which also 

required U.N. approval, marked the 

first time a South Korean train 

traveled on North Korean tracks. 

The Koreas in December 2007 

began freight services between South 

Korea's Munsan Station in Paju and 

the North's Panmun Station to 

support operations at a nowshuttered 

joint factory park in 

Kaesong. The South used the trains to 

move construction materials north, 

while clothing and shoes made at the 

factory park were sent south. The line 

was cut in November 2008 due to 

tensions over North Korea's nuclear 

ambitions. 

The Kaesong factory park was shut 

down under the South's previous 

conservative government in February 

2016 following a North Korean 

nuclear test and long-range rocket 

launch 

Indonesia says avoid 

coast near volcano, 

fearing new tsunami 

Indonesian authorities asked people to avoid the coast in areas where 

a tsunami killed more than 420 people last weekend in a fresh 

warning issued on the anniversary of the catastrophic 2004 Asian 

earthquake and tsunami. 

The big waves that followed the eruption of Anak Krakatoa, or 

"Child of Krakatoa" island volcano, hit communities along the Sunda 

Strait on Saturday night. The eruption is believed to have set off a 

large landslide on the volcano, either on its slope or underwater, 

displacing the water that slammed into Java and Sumatra islands. 

Indonesia's Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency 

asked people late Tuesday to stay at least 500 meters (1,640 feet) and 

up to 1 kilometer (less than a mile) from the coastline along the strait, 

which lies between the two main islands. Government workers were 

monitoring Anak Krakatoa's eruptions and high waves and heavy 

rain were possible Wednesday, said agency head Dwikorita 

Karnawati. 

"All these conditions could potentially cause landslides at the cliffs 

of the crater into the sea, and we fear that that could trigger a 

tsunami," she said at a news conference. She asked that communities 

remain vigilant and not to panic. 

The tsunami struck without warning, taking people by surprise 

even in a country familiar with seismic disaster. No big earthquake 

shook the ground beforehand, and it hit at night on a holiday 

weekend while people were enjoying concerts and other beach and 

resort activities. 

It was a sharp contrast to the disaster that struck 14 years ago off 

the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island. An enormous 9.1 

magnitude earthquake rocked the area the morning after Christmas, 

creating gigantic waves that surged far inland swallowing everything 

in their path. The wall of water killed some 230,000 people in a 

dozen countries, more than half in Indonesia's Aceh province. 

The devastation was vast, and the disaster was among the worst 

witnessed in recent history. Saturday's event, coupled with an 

earthquake and tsunami in September on Sulawesi that killed at least 

2,100 people, triggered flashbacks for some who survived the 2004 

tragedy. 

"When it happens, I always remember what we have been 

through," said Qurnaty, 54, who uses only one name and lost her 

home and several family members to the waves in the hard-hit 

provincial capital of Banda Aceh. She prayed with surviving family 

members at a mass grave there on Wednesday's anniversary. "Every 

time I see them (on TV), I feel really, really sad. All we can do from 

here is to pray for them." 

Though recovery was slow, some victims of the latest tsunami said 

they remember the resilience of the Acehnese people, which gives 

them hope that they too can rebuild their homes and their lives. 

"I am scared, I am traumatized by the tsunami that I only knew 

before from the news. Now I know how horrifying a tsunami is," said 

Kusmiati, who uses only one name. Her face was still bruised and her 

legs swollen after she and her husband managed to survive being hit 

and dragged under by the waves after fleeing a beach villa in Carita, 

where they were working. 

Beaches were largely empty in the area, which is typically crammed 

with tourists, and police patrolled on motorbikes warning people to 

stay away from the coast. Some residents defied the order, returning 

to what was left of their homes to begin cleaning up as heavy rain fell 

and waves pounded the shore. 

"I am still afraid that the tsunami will return, so when dark comes, 

I stay at a temporary shelter on the hill," said Rohayati, who worked 

to salvage what was left of her battered house, 300 meters (985 feet) 

from the sea. "I hope the government can provide a tsunami warning, 

like a siren. 

At new Museum of 

Black Civilizations, 

a call to come home 

The Museum of Black 

Civilizations in Senegal 

opened this month amid a 

global conversation about 

the ownership and legacy of 

African art. The West 

African nation's culture 

minister isn't shy: He wants 

the thousands of pieces of 

cherished heritage taken 

from the continent over the 

centuries to come home. 

"It's entirely logical that 

Africans should get back 

their artworks," Abdou Latif 

Coulibaly told The 

Associated Press. "These 

works were taken in 

conditions that were 

perhaps legitimate at the 

time but illegitimate today." 

Last month, a report 

commissioned by French 

President Emmanuel 

Macron recommended that 

French museums give back 

works taken without 

consent, if African countries 

request them. Macron has 

stressed the "undeniable 

crimes of European 

colonization," adding that "I 

cannot accept that a large 

part of African heritage is in 

France." 

The new museum in 

Dakar is the latest sign that 

welcoming spaces across the 

continent are being 

prepared. 

The museum, with its 

focus on Africa and the 

diaspora, is decades in the 

making. The idea was 

conceived when Senegal's 

first 

president, 

internationally acclaimed 

poet Leopold Sedar 

Senghor, hosted the World 

Black Festival of Arts in 

1966. 

At the museum's vibrant 

opening, sculptors from Los 

Angeles, singers from 

Cameroon and professors 

from Europe and the 

Americas came to celebrate, 

with some in tears. "This 

moment is historic," 

Senegalese President Macky 

Sall said. "It is part of the 

continuity of history." 

Perhaps reflecting the 

tenuous hold that African 

nations still have on their 

own legacy objects. 

Queen Elizabeth II riffs on 

wisdom, family's busy year 

Queen Elizabeth II wove personal reflections into 

the latest edition of her annual Christmas message, 

saying she hoped her long life brought a 

measure of wisdom and noting her grandchildren's 

contributions to Britain's royal family. 

The 92-year-old queen, the world's longestreigning 

living monarch, also included the customary 

tribute to military personnel and wishes 

for world peace in the message, which was prerecorded 

at Buckingham Palace and televised 

Tuesday. 

"Some cultures believe a long life brings wisdom," 

Elizabeth said in the recording. "I'd like to 

think so. Perhaps part of that wisdom is to recognize 

some of life's baffling paradoxes, such as the 

way human beings have a huge propensity for 

good and yet a capacity for evil." 

GD-1659/18 (5 x 3) 

GD-1658/18 (7 x 3) 

On a lighter note, the queen listed the House of 

Windsor's 2018 milestones with the same 

unabashed pride of someone writing their yearly 

Christmas letter for friends and far-flung relatives. 

"It's been a busy year for my family, with 

two weddings and two babies, and another child 

expected soon. It helps to keep a grandmother 

well occupied," Elizabeth said, not forgetting to 

mention her own firstborn, 

"We have had other celebrations too, including 

the 70th birthday of The Prince of Wales," otherwise 

known as heir to the throne Prince Charles. 

The annual message was broadcast to many of 

the 53 Commonwealth countries. Elizabeth 

recalled that her father, King George VI, welcomed 

eight former British colonies at the first 

meeting of Commonwealth leaders in 1948. 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿ 

Dbœq‡bi MYZš¿ 

†kL nvwmbvi g~jgš¿

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

THuRSDAy, DHAKA, DECEMBER 27, 2018, PouSH 13, 1425 BS, RABI-uS-SuNNI 19, 1440 HIJRI 

Awami League nominated candidate Nasrul Hamid Bipu of the Dhaka-3 went to his counterpart, BNP 

nominated candidate Goyeshwar Chandra Roy who was attacked by miscreants recently. Photo: Star Mail 

Implementation of EC's 

commitment over minority 

people demanded 

DHAKA : Two minority 

community platforms on 

Wednesday demanded the 

Election Commission to 

implement its pledge of 

showing zero tolerance to 

the attacks on the minority 

people as the communal 

attacks started ahead of the 

11th national election. 

"The attack on minority 

community people has 

started ahead of the election 

as did during the previous 

elections. The Election 

Commission had earlier 

announced that it would 

show zero tolerance to such 

attacks. We want the 

Commission will implement," 

said Hindu- 

Buddhist-Christian Oikya 

Parishad Presidium member 

Kajol Debnath. 

He was briefing reporters 

after submission of a letter 

before the Chief Election 

Commissioner on 

Wednesday evening to 

place the demand on behalf 

of Hindu-Buddhist- 

Christian OikyaParishad 

and Bangladesh Puja 

UdjapanParishad. 

Communal forces have 

already carried out terrorist 

attacks on the minority people 

in different places 

including Thakurgaon 

Sadar Upazila and Sonagazi 

Upazila in Feni in the country, 

he said adding that six 

houses of the minority people 

were also torched in 

Thakurgaon Sadar, while 

houses of Shisir Sheel were 

set ablaze in Sonagazi 

upazila. 

He, however, said this 

time the culprits behind the 

attacks are yet to be identified 

though BNP-Jamaat 

carried out such attacks in 

2001, 2013 and 2014 during 

the elections. 

General Secretary of 

Bangladesh Puja Utjapan 

Parishad Nirmal Kumar 

Chatterjee said such attacks 

were conducted on the 

minority people so that they 

would refrain from casting 

votes. 

The Red Earth Terraces of 

Dongchuan, China 

INTERESTING NEWS 

Some 250 kilometers northeast of 

Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan 

Province, lies Dongchuan, a rural area 

with the world's most imposing red earth. 

Spread over vast terraced fields, 

Dongchuan’s unusual brownish-red color 

comes from its rich deposit of iron and 

copper. Exposed to the warm and humid 

climate of Yunnan, the iron in the soil 

undergoes oxidization to form iron oxide 

which is naturally red in color. These 

oxides, deposited through many years, 

gradually developed into the extraordinary 

reddish brown soil seen here today. 

Every year during spring, when this area 

is ploughed for agriculture, a large number 

of visitors and photographers come to 

see squares of freshly upturned red earth 

waiting to be sown along with areas of 

budding green plants. The fiery red soil 

juxtaposed with emerald green barley, 

and golden yellow buckwheat, against a 

blue sky produces one of the richest color 

palate rarely seen in nature. 

Reportedly, the existence of Dongchuan 

was unknown to the outside world until 

the mid-1990s, when a Chinese photographer 

chanced upon the place. The story 

goes that the photographer kept the location 

a secret and continued to produce 

photographs that awed his audience. 

Details about the secret place eventually 

leaked and now more and more photographers 

are making arduous trip into the 

mountains to get first-hand experience of 

this amazing place. 

Minister Nasrul 

visits injured 

Goyeshwar 

DHAKA : Awami League 

candidate for Dhaka-3 constituency 

Nasrul Hamid 

Bipu on Wednesday visited 

his opponent BNP candidate 

Gayeshwar Chandra Roy 

who sustained injuries in an 

attack during electioneering 

on Tuesday in Keraniganj, 

reports UNB. 

Nasrul Hamid, also the 

State Minister for Power and 

Energy, went to Gayeshwar's 

office in city's Nayapaltan 

area around 11:30 am. 

Earlier on Tuesday, BNP 

leader Gayeshwar Chandra 

Roy and 24 other BNP leaders 

and activists sustained 

injured in an attack reportedly 

carried out by ruling 

party men during electioneering 

at Chunkutia in South 

Keraniganj. 

5 killed in 

road crashes 

in 3 districts 

DHAKA : At least five people 

were killed in separate road 

accidents in three districts 

including the capital on 

Wednesday. 

In the capital, two people 

were killed after being hit by a 

truck in the city's Shanir 

Akhra area on Wednesday. 

The deceased were identified 

as Bashar, 31, a helper of 

the truck driver and son of 

Rafez Hawladar and Harunur 

Rashid, 40. The accident took 

place around 5:15 am when a 

truck hit a brick-laden truck 

from behind while unloading 

bricks, leaving the brick owner 

died on the spot and injured 

Bashar, said Sub-inspector 

Abdur Rhman Khan of Dhaka 

Medical College Hospital 

police camp. Later, Bashar 

was taken to Dhaka Medical 

College Hospital where the 

doctors declared him dead. 

In Mymensingh, two people 

were killed when a truck 

rammed a motorbike on 

Mymensingh-Kishoreganj road 

at Chamtabazar in Nandail 

upazila on Wednesday. 

The deceased were identified 

as Tapan Mia, 17 and 

Sharif Uddin, 28. 

Quamrul Islam, officer-incharge 

of Nandail Police 

Station, said the accident took 

place around 8 am when the 

truck hit a Kishoreganj-bound 

motorbike, leaving its riders 

dead on the spot. On information, 

police recovered the bodies 

and sent those to a local 

hospital morgue for autopsy. 

In Gazipur, Mosharraf 

Hossain, a helper of the truck 

driver, hailing from 

Mymensingh district, was killed 

and another injured when a 

truck rammed a covered-van on 

Dhaka-Mymensingh highway 

at Rajendrapur intersection 

here on Wednesday. 

Editors Council wants 

free movement of 

journos' vehicles 

DHAKA : The Editors' 

Council on Wednesday 

urged the Election 

Commission to ensure the 

free movement of journalists' 

vehicles for three days 

from December 29 to 31. 

The Council made the call 

in a letter signed by its 

General Secretary and The 

Daily Star Editor Mahfuz 

Anam. 

The letter was sent to the 

Chief Election Commissioner 

as per a decision of the 

Council taken in meeting 

held on Wednesday. 

"Free movement of 

motorcycles of journalists 

or media activists and 

motor vehicles of journalists 

or newspapers should 

be ensured," the letter 

reads. 

Pabna-4 BNP 

aspirant stabbed 

during campaign 

PABNA : Some unidentified 

miscreants stabbed BNP 

candidate for Pabna-4 constituency 

Habibur Rahman 

during electioneering at 

Alhaj High School ground in 

Ishwardi upazila on 

Wednesday noon. 

The victim's nephew 

Sumon Mondol alleged that 

a group of Awami League 

leaders and activists 

swooped on them with 

locally made sharp weapons 

around 12 pm, reports UNB. 

During the attack, 

Habibur Rahman sustained 

critical injuries, he said 

adding that the BNP leader 

was taken to Ishwardi 

Upazila Health Complex. 

Meanwhile, Ishwardi 

Police Station Officer-incharge 

Bahauddin Faruki 

said they have heard about 

the incident. 

Assamese translation of Bangabandhu's 

autobiography launched 

DHAKA : In yet another milestone, 

Bangabandhu Sheikh 

MujiburRahman's much 

acclaimed autobiography, 

The Unfinished Memoirs, has 

been published in the 

Assamese language, reports 

UNB. 

The Assamese translation 

of the book, written originally 

in Bengali by Bangabandhu, 

was jointly launched on 

Tuesday by Governor of 

Meghalaya Tathagata Roy, 

Deputy High Commissioner 

of Bangladesh to India 

Rokebul Haque and the 

President of Assam Sahitya 

Sova Dr Paramananda 

Rajbangshi at the 32nd 

Guwahati Book fair. 

Bangabandhu's autobiography 

has already been translated 

in Hindi, English, Chinese, 

Japanese French, Palestine 

Arabic, Turkish and Spanish, 

said the Bangladesh High 

Commission in New Delhi on 

Wednesday. 

Governor Roy elaborated the 

untold sufferings Bangabandhu 

had endured to achieve the 

independence of Bengali 

nation. He also termed the 

book a great legacy to discover 

true history of the subcontinent 

from 50s to 70s. Dr Rajbangshi 

highly applauded Bangladesh's 

tremendous economic 

progress under the charismatic 

leadership of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina. 

Haque said the book in 

Assamese language would be 

treated as a hallmark in consolidating 

the bond between 

the people of Bangladesh and 

Assam. He said the book 

would give an insight about 

the struggle of the 

Bangabandhu achieving freedom 

of the people of 

Bangladesh and his dedication 

for establishing justice 

and equity in the society. 

The Assamese translators of 

the book Soumen Bharatiya 

and DrJuri Sharma said the 

work has provided them with 

an insight to the sub continental 

politics surrounding the 

birth of Bangladesh. Among 

others the Head of Scrutiny 

Committee of Assamese 

Manuscript Professor Dr 

Usharanjan Bhattacharjee and 

Secretary of the Department of 

Cultural Affairs Modhurima 

Sent Baruah attended the program 

as special guests. 

Dr Shah Mohammad Tanvir 

Monsur, Assistant High 

Commissioner of Bangladesh 

gave the vote of thanks to all 

who were associated in publishing 

the book. 

The programme was followed 

by a colourful cultural 

soiree where famous 

Bangladeshi artists Dilbahar 

Khan and Moushui Iqbal 

offered their renditions. 

The presence of prominent 

publishing houses of 

Bangladesh such as Sandesh, 

Nabjugh, Jatiya Shahitya 

Prokash, Adorn Publications 

Charulipi, Murdhnya, Ramon 

Publishers and Vasachitra 

added colour to the book fair. 

Supporters of Awami league nominated Candidate Akber Hossain Khan Pathan conducted election 

campaign on Wednesday at Gulshan of the capital. 

Photo: Star Mail 

BD envoy visits ailing freedom fighters 

at Army Hospital in Delhi 

DHAKA : Bangladesh High 

Commissioner to India Syed 

Muazzem Ali on Tuesday visited a 

group of Bangladeshi freedom 

fighters who are receiving free medical 

treatment at the Army Hospital 

in New Delhi, reports UNB. 

He talked to the freedom fighters, 

aged between 60 and 70, and enquired 

about their ailments and the treatment 

they are receiving. 

A total of 28 ailing freedom fighters 

arrived in India last week, said the 

Bangladesh High Commission in New 

Delhi on Wednesday. 

Thirteen of them got admitted to the 

Writ challenges EC's decision on 

25 Jamaat men's candidacy 

DHAKA : A writ petition was filed with the 

High Court challenging the Election 

Commission's decision to approve the candidacies 

of 25 Jamaat-e-Islami leaders for the 

upcoming 11th general election. 

Barrister Tania Amir filed the petition on 

behalf of four people including Bangladesh 

Tarikat Federation Secretary General Syed 

Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, reports UNB. 

The petition was filed as a supplementary 

writ challenging the EC's decision that rejected 

an application for cancellation of the Jamaat 

leaders' candidacy. 

The hearing of the petition is likely to be held 

on Thursday, said Barrister Tania Amir. 

Earlier on Sunday, the Election Commission 

Army Hospital in New Delhi and 

another 15 are receiving treatment in 

another army hospital in Pune. 

The expenses of the treatment are 

being borne by the Indian government. 

In April 2017, Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi announced India will 

provide free medical treatment to 100 

freedom fighters of the 1971 

Bangladesh War of Liberation. 

The gesture came at a 'Sammanona' 

programme where visiting Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina personally 

honoured the families of some Indian 

soldiers who died fighting against the 

(EC) declared that 25 Jamaat-e-Islami leaders 

can be there in the election race as the 

Commission has no authority to revoke their 

candidatures since they are contesting the polls 

as BNP and independent candidates as it has 

no legal jurisdiction to annul their candidacies. 

Of the 25 candidates, 22 are contesting the 

election with Sheaf of Paddy while the rest are 

independent ones. 

On December 18, the High Court asked the 

EC to dispose of the application filed for cancelling 

the candidacies of 25 Jamaat-e-Islami 

men by three working days. 

Four individuals filed a writ with the High 

Court challenging the eligibility of those candidates 

to remain there in the election race. 

Pakistani troops during the ninemonth 

Liberation War. 

During their meeting with the High 

Commissioner, the freedom fighters 

expressed satisfaction at the treatment 

and care they are receiving at the hospital 

for their ailments related to complications 

from stroke, prostrate, diabetes 

and partial paralysis. 

As a freedom fighter himself, he also 

understands their feelings, the High 

Commissioner said. 

The envoy was accompanied by 

Defence Adviser Brig Gen Abul Kalam 

Mohammad Ziaur Rahman and Head 

of Chancery AFM Zahid-Ul-Islam. 

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

27-12-2018

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