04-01-2018

frIDaY 

DhaKa: January 4, 2019; Poush 21, 1425 BS; Rabius Sanni 27,1440 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.328; 8 Pages~Tk.8.00 

INtErNatIONal 

Sudan under 

al-Bashir: Long history 

of turmoil, conflicts 

>Page 3 

StratEgIC 

Serbia: China's 

key to Europe 

>Page 5 

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

Jersey unveiling 

ceremony of Rajshahi 

Kings of BPL 

>Page 6 

Members of upcoming 

cabinet to take 

oath Monday 

DHAKA : Members of the upcoming 

cabinet will be sworn in on Monday. 

The oath-taking ceremony will be held 

at 3 pm, said President's Press 

Secretary Joynal Abedin while talking 

to reporters at Bangabhaban, reports 

UNB. 

Earlier, President Abdul Hamid on 

Thursday invited Awami League 

President Sheikh Hasina to form the new 

government after her party's massive victory 

in the 11th national election. 

Oikyafront delegation 

at EC to submit 

memorandum 

seeking fresh polls 

DHAKA : A 15-member delegation 

of Jatiya Oikyafront, led by BNP 

secretary general Mirza Fakhrul 

Islam Alamgir, went to the Election 

Commission on Thursday afternoon 

to submit a memorandum 

demanding a fresh election under a 

non-party administration cancelling 

the December-30 election. 

Nazrul Islam Khan, Kader Siddiqi, 

A. S. M. Abdur Rab, Mahmudur 

Rahman Manna and Mostofa Mohsin 

Mintu were among the delegation 

members, reports UNB. 

Mirza Fakhrul on Wednesday sent 

a letter to the EC informing it that all 

the Oikyafront candidates will simultaneously 

go to the Commission to 

submit a memorandum with documents 

of election irregularities. 

In Sunday's parliamentary elections, 

BNP bagged only five seats 

while its alliance partner Gano 

Forum two. At a meeting on Monday 

evening, JatiyaOikyafront senior 

leaders turned down the election 

results and decided to submit a memorandum 

to the Election Commission 

demanding reelection. 

Khaleda declines 

comment on 

national election 

DHAKA : BNP Chairperson Khaleda 

Zia on Thursday declined to comment 

on the latest national election. 

"No comment," is what she said when 

reporters asked her about the 

December 30 polls after the Niko corruption 

case hearing. 

Awami League-led Grand Alliance 

won 96 percent seats in the 300-member 

parliament. Khaleda Zia's BNP 

joined hands with Jatiya Oikyafront to 

contest the election but they won in 

only seven constituencies. 

Khaleda appeared before the special 

judge court around 12:10pm. When 

newly-appointed Judge Sheikh Hafizur 

Rahman of Dhaka Special Judge Court- 

9 arrived, the BNP chief complained 

about inadequate sitting arrangement. 

The judge ordered providing enough 

chairs for everyone and said he would talk to 

the authorities to take necessary steps. 

Several moments later, the former prime 

minister warned that she would not appear 

before the court "if this situation continues." 

The court fixed January 13 for the next 

hearing. ACC filed a case on December 9, 

2007, accusing Khaleda and four others 

of causing the state a loss of Tk 137.77 billion 

by signing an oil-gas exploration deal 

with Canadian company Niko when the 

BNP was in office. 

Juma 

05:23 AM 

01:15 PM 

03:48 PM 

05:28 PM 

06:48 PM 

6:42 5:25 

Newly-elected MPs 

sworn in 

SANGSAD BHABAN : Newly-elected 

members of parliament (MPs) of 

Awami League, Jatiya Party and 

other parties as well as independent 

ones were sworn in at three separate 

functions on Thursday. 

Outgoing Speaker Dr Shirin 

Sharmin Chaudhury first took oath 

herself as an MP and then administered 

the oath to other AL MPs at 

the Oath Room of the Jatiya 

Sangsad Bhaban at 11am. 

Later, the Speaker administered 

the oath to the MPs of Workers' 

Party, Jasod (Inu), Bikalpadhara 

Bangaldesh, Jatiya Party (JP-led by 

Manju) and Tarikat Federation as 

well as the independent ones at 

11:45 am, reports UNB. 

Dr Shirin administered the oath 

to the Jatiya Party MPs at 12:18pm. 

But, Jatiya Party Chairman HM 

Ershad was not seen in the oathtaking 

function. He is likely to take 

oath at 3pm, sources said. 

Senior Secretary of Parliament 

Secretariat Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan 

conducted the oath-taking ceremony 

for new MPs elected in the 11th 

parliamentary election. 

However, the five elected MPs of 

BNP and two of Gano Forum did 

not turn up to take oath till filing of 

the report at 1:00pm. 

On Tuesday, the Election 

Commission published the official 

gazette containing the names of the 

newly-elected 298 MPs. 

NOAKHALI : Detectives in separate 

drives arrested two people 

including a local Awami League 

leader from Shenbagh and Sadar 

upazilas early Thursday over the 

'gang-rape' of a woman after 

Sunday's election, reports UNB. 

The arrestees are Ruhul Amin, 

former member of Charjubli union 

parishad and also the organizing 

secretary of union unit of Awami 

League and another Bechu Mia. 

Md Ilias Sharif, superintendent 

of district police said a team of 

Detective Branch (DB) arrested 

Ruhul Amin from a poultry farm in 

Sadar upazila in the dead of night. 

Later, the team conducted another 

drive at a brick kiln factory in 

Shenbagh upazila and arrested 

Bechu Mia. 

With this, five people have so far 

been arrested in connection with 

the 'gang-rape' of the woman. 

Of the elected MPs, 257 are from 

Awami League, 22 from Jatiya 

Party, five from BNP, three from 

Workers' Party, two each from 

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Jasod-led 

by Inu), Bikalpadhara Bangladesh 

and Gano Forum, one each from 

Jatiya Party (Manju-led JP) and 

Tarikat Federation and three independent 

ones. 

A total of 288 MPs were elected 

from the AL-led Grand Alliance, 

while seven from Jatiya Oikyafront. 

Of the 300 seats, 299 constituencies 

went to polls on 

Sunday as the election to 

Gaibandha-3 constituency was 

earlier postponed following the 

death of Jatiya Oikyafront candidate. 

The polls to Gaibandha-3 

will be held on January 27. 

Of the 299 constituencies, the EC 

did not declare the election results 

of Brahmanbaria-2 as the balloting 

in three polling stations was postponed 

there. 

The Election Commission on 

Wednesday sent a letter to the 

Parliament Secretariat for arranging 

the oath-taking ceremony of the 

newly-elected MPs. 

According to law, any newly elected 

MP should take oath within the 

three days after publication of the 

gazette and if anyone fails to take 

oath within 90 days of the 1st session, 

his constituency will fall 

vacant. 

Noakhali gang-rape:Local 

AL leader among 2 held 

Earlier, police arrested Badsha 

Alam from Charbajuli on Tuesday 

while prime accused Sohel from 

Cumilla district and Md Swapan 

from Ramgati upazila on 

Wednesday. 

According to the victim's husband, 

a group of hoodlums 

stormed their house in the early 

hours of Monday and tied up all the 

family members except his wife. 

They took the woman outside the 

house at gunpoint where they violated 

her in turns, the victim's husband 

claimed. 

After the rape, they also threatened 

the victim not to disclose the 

matter to anyone, saying they 

would kill her if otherwise, he said. 

With the help of neighbours, 

the victim was taken to hospital 

on Monday noon and a case was 

filed against nine people over 

the incident. 

On Thursday, winners of 11th National parliamentary election attended oath taking program at national 

parliament bhaban. 

Photo: Star Mail 

Hasina reelected 

Leader of the 

House for 11th 

parliament 

DHAKA : Awami League President 

and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 

has been reelected Leader of the 

House unanimously for the 11th parliament, 

reports UNB. 

The new MPs of Awami League 

reelected Hasina Leader of the House 

for the third consecutive term at the 

maiden meeting of the AL 

Parliamentary Party (ALPP) held at the 

Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban after their oath 

taking on Thursday. 

AL General Secretary Obaidul 

Quader and its Advisory Council member 

Tofail Ahmed confirmed it while 

talking to reporters after the meeting. 

However, the Deputy Leader of the 

House was not picked at this first meeting 

of the ALPP. 

Tofail said Obaidul Quader proposed 

the name of AL president Sheikh 

Hasina for electing her the Leader of 

the House, while AL Advisory Council 

member Amir Hossain Amu seconded 

the proposal. 

Later, all the AL MPs supported the 

proposal and greeted Sheikh Hasina 

with big claps. 

Tofail said Hasina is going to be the 

Prime Minister for the fourth time as an 

internationally renowned politician 

and the leader of the mass people of 

Bangladesh. "With this, Bangladesh is 

going to enter the golden age for the 

next five years," he added. 

Noting that the people of 

Bangladesh had long been waiting for 

December 30, Tofail said people 

recognised Sheikh Hasina as the 

leader of mass people by casting votes 

for 'Boat, the electoral symbol of 

Awami League, on December 30 the 

way they attained independence by 

voting for Boat in 1970. 

Obaidul Quader mentioned that 

they only elected the Leader of the 

House at the meeting and said Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina asked all to 

work together. 

A fire broke out at Lalbag of the capital on Thursday where a number of shelters, small industries 

were burned. 


BNP MPs won't take 

oath: Fakhrul 

DHAKA : BNP secretary general Mirza 

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday said 

their elected MPs will not take oath as 

they turned down the entire election 

results, reports UNB. 

Besides, he said all the Jatiya 

Oikyafront candidates who contested the 

11th parliamentary election with 'Sheaf of 

Paddy' symbol will file cases with the election 

tribunal in their respective seats with 

the allegations of vote fraud. 

The BNP leader came up with the 

remarks while talking to reporters after a 

meeting of Oikyafront candidates at BNP 

chairperson's Gulshan office. 

Asked whether their elected MPs will 

take oath, Fakhrul said, "The oath-taking 

ceremony is already over. How 

would we take oath when we rejected 

the entire election results? I would like 

to clearly say we're not taking oath." 

He said the country's people were 'deceived 

cruelly' through a 'farce' in the name 

of parliamentary elections on December 

30. Under the circumstances, the BNP 

leader said, "Our every candidate will file 

cases with election tribunals in their respective 

seats rejecting the election results and 

bringing allegations of vote fraud." 

Later, a 15-member delegation, led by 

Mirza Fakhrul, went to the Election 

Commission and submitted the memorandum 

demanding a fresh election 

NARAYANGANJ : Chief of Army 

Staff General Aziz Ahmed on 

Thursday said the army has been successful 

in gaining the confidence of 

people by properly performing their 

duties during the parliamentary elections, 

reports UNB. 

He came up with the observation 

after inaugurating the construction 

works of three schools and colleges 

inside Jalsiri Housing Project at 

Purbachal here in the morning. 

He said though some casualties 

were reported on the election day, the 

under a non-party administration cancelling 

the December-30 election. 

Mirza Fakhrul on Wednesday sent a 

letter to the EC informing it that all the 

Oikyafront candidates will simultaneously 

go to the Commission to submit a 

memorandum with documents of election 

irregularities at 3pm. 

In Sunday's parliamentary elections, 

BNP bagged only five seats while its 

alliance partner Gano Forum two. 

At a meeting on Monday evening, 

Jatiya Oikyafront senior leaders turned 

down the election results and decided to 

submit a memorandum to the Election 

Commission demanding reelection. 

Earlier in the day, a meeting of the 

Oikyafront candidates was held at the BNP 

chairperson's Gulshan office. BNP sources 

said 178 Oikyafront candidates, including 

BNP's five MPs-elect, joined the meeting. 

However, two elected MPs of Gano 

Forum were not present at the meeting. 

The seven Oikyafront elected MPs are 

Mirza Fakhrul elected MP from Bogura-6, 

Mosharraf Hossain from Bogura-4, Jahidur 

Rahman from Thakurgaon-3, Aminul Islam 

from Chapainawabganj-2, Harun-or- 

Rashid from Chapainawabganj-3, Sultan 

Monsur from (Moulvibazar-2, Gano 

Forum) and Mokabbir Khan from Sylhet-2, 

Gano Forum). 

Army successful in gaining 

public confidence: Gen Aziz 

DHAKA : A speedy tribunal here on 

Thursday sentenced a man to death in a 

sensational case over the murder of former 

college teacher Krishna Kaberi 

Biswas in Mohammadpur area in the 

capital. The condemned convict is M 

Jahirul Islam Polash, manager of a broker 

house in Gulshan. He was tried in 

absentia, reports UNB. 

Under section 302 of Penal Code, the 

court fined him Tk one lakh. 

Besides, under section 20 and 7 of the 

Penal Code, the court sentenced him to 

life term imprisonment for the attempt 

to murder Kaberi's husband and two 

daughters, leaving them injured. 

Under the sections, the court also 

fined him Tk 50,000, in default, he has 

to serve one year more imprisonment. 

general people were safe. 

"The army devotedly carried out 

their tasks by conducting over one 

thousand patrols across the country 

each day. Being assured of their safety, 

people cast their votes," he said. 

On December 24 last, the army was 

deployed throughout the country to 

protect the law and order during the 

national election. From the day of 

deployment, the members of the 

army conducted regular patrols in 

their respective areas as a striking 

force till January 1. 

Man gets death penalty in Krishna 

Kaberi murder case 

Krishna Kaberi Biswas, 36, wife of 

BRTA deputy director Sitangshu 

Shekhar Bishwas and a former teacher 

of the city's Mission International 

College, came under a brutal hammer 

attack by Jahirul at their apartment in 

Mohammadpur Iqbal road on March 

30, 2015. 

Jahirul entered the flat of Sitangshu, 

who was acquainted to him, to greet 

him on his belated birthday. Then 

Jahirul hit him on the head with a 

hammer after making him drowsy 

with contaminated juice, leaving him 

injured. 

As Krishna wanted to save her husband, 

the killer hacked her with a 

kitchen sickle and later set her on fire. 

She died the next day.

NEWS 

FRiDAY, 

JANUARY 4, 2019 

2 

BU VC congratulates Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina 

Vice-Chancellor of Barishal 

University and former 

Chairman of BCSIR, Prof Dr 

SM Imamul Huq 

congratulated mother of 

humanity and Father of the 

Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman's daughter 

Sheikh Hasina for being 

elected as the Prime Minister 

for the fourth time and for 

achieving absolute majority 

in the 11th parliamentary 

elections, says a press 

release. 

In a congratulatory message, 

the Vice-Chancellor said that 

Sheikh Hasina's achievement 

for being the Prime Minister 

for the third consecutive time 

is the outline of her strong 

attitude, visionary leadership 

and achieving people's full 

confidence through 

sustainable development 

activities. 

There is no alternative to 

Bangabandhu's daughter 

Sheikh Hasina for the 

country's ongoing 

development and progress. 

Vice-Chancellor expressed 

hope that Bangladesh will 

soon become a developed 

country and a role model in 

front of the world by 

converting the dream of 

Father of the Nation of 

making Sonar Bangla under 

the leadership of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina. At 

the same time, he hoped that 

Bangladesh will become a 

non-communal, militancy, 

terrorism free, corruption 

free and drug-free state 

under the leadership of 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina. Vice-Chancellor also 

wished Prime Minister's and 

her family's well-being and 

good health. 

Boro paddy 

seedlings 

production 

in Gaibandha 

GAIBANDHA: Boro 

paddy seedlings have been 

produced on over 7500 

hectares of land in all the 

seven upazilas of the district 

during the current season, 

reports BSS. 

Sources with Department 

of Agriculture Extension 

(DAE) said over 1, 25,000 

hectares of land would be 

brought under Boro paddy 

cultivation this year with a 

production target of at least 

5,06,000 tonnes of rice. 

To cultivate the paddy, the 

seedbeds were prepared on 

over 7500 hectares where 

over 300 tonnes of quality 

seed of various varieties 

were sown. And finally, 

healthy seedlings grew 

there. 

Wheat farming continues in 

Rangpur agriculture region 

RANGPUR: The tender wheat plants 

are growing superbly amid favorable 

climatic conditions predicting better 

production despite shortfall in the 

farming target this season in Rangpur 

agriculture region, reports BSS. 

Officials of the Department of 

Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources 

said, the farmers have brought 19,810 

hectares of land under wheat 

cultivation against the fixed target of 

bringing 23,763 hectares of land under 

its farming in the region. 

Khondker Md. Mesbahul Islam 

Horticulture Specialist of DAE at its 

regional office here said a target of 

producing 78,478 tonnes of wheat from 

23,763 hectares of land has been fixed 

for all five districts of the region during 

the current Rabi season. 

"The fixed wheat farming target 

marked a shortfall by only 4,953 

hectares of land this season following 

cultivation of maize and potato on 

more land by the farmers in the 

region," he said. 

However, the overall wheat 

production might be excellent as the 

farmers have mostly sowed high 

quality, disease resistant and stress 

tolerant varieties of wheat seed timely 

using the latest technologies after 

harvesting short duration Aman rice. 

Talking to BSS, Deputy Director of 

the DAE at its regional office Md 

Moniruzzaman also predicted a better 

wheat production following use of the 

high yielding variety seed and 

conservation agriculture (CA)-based 

technologies this season. 

Earlier, wheat production was being 

affected in the past due to adverse 

impacts of high temperature on its 

farming from flowering to ripening 

stages for late sowing of seed after 

harvesting late variety Aman, use of low 

quality local seed and other reasons. 

"However, the farmers are getting 

bumper wheat production in recent 

years following expanded cultivation of 

the high yielding, stress-tolerant and 

high temperature- tolerant wheat 

varieties adopting the latest 

conservation technologies," he added. 

The farmers have mostly cultivated 

high yielding wheat varieties like 

'Bijoy', 'Pradip', 'Sotabdhi', BARI 

Gom25, BARI Gom26, BARI Gom27, 

BARI Gom28, BARI Gom29 and 

BARI Gom29 this time to get yield 

rates between 3 and 3.7 tonnes per 

hectare. 

Farmers Alif Uddin, Lokman 

Hossain and Bhola Nath of different 

villages in Rangpur said tender wheat 

plants are growing excellent on their 

farmlands amid favourable climate 

conditions predicting a bumper 

production of the crop this season. 

15,000 hectares of land brought under 

wheat cultivation in Panchagarh 

PANCHAGARH: A total of 15,000 hectares of land have been 

brought under wheat cultivation this season in the district 

with a production target of 62,000 metric tons of wheat, 

reports BSS. 

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) is 

expecting to achieve the bumper wheat production in the 

district during the current season because of favorable climate. 

Last year, wheat cultivation target was five thousand of land, 

DAE sources said. Of the total land, 7,000 hectares of land 

have been cultivation Prodip variety, 4,000 hectares of land 

under Bijoy, 2,500 hectares of land under Sotapdi and 6,500 

hectares of land under Bari- 1,2,3 variety. 

Prominent 

journalist 

Khaled 

Muhiuddin 

visits BU 

Prominent journalist, popular 

news presenter and executive 

editor of Independent 

Television Khaled Muhiuddin 

visited Barishal University on 

Thursday. During the time 

Muhiuddin was accompanied 

by his wife, daughter and 

senior journalist and Barishal 

Bureau chief of Independent 

Television Murad Ahmed, says 

a press release. 

He visited various parts of 

the campus and paid a 

courtesy call on Registrar of 

the University and Dean of 

Biology Faculty Dr Md 

Hasinur Rahman. During the 

time, General Secretary of BU 

Teachers' Association and 

Chairman of Department of 

Geology and Mining Md. Abu 

Jafar Mia, Provost of Hasina 

Hall Dil Afroz Afroz Khanam 

Tania, Lecturer of Department 

of Social Sciences Wahidur 

Zaman, Lecturer of Coastal 

Studies Department Alamgir 

Hossain, Deputy Director of 

Public Relation Office Faisal 

Mahmud, Personal Secretary 

of VC (Assistant Registrar) A 

FM Borhan Uddin, Assistant 

Registrar Didar Hossain Khan 

and PA of Vice-Chancellor 

(Administrative Officer) Ruhul 

Amin were among others 

present at the occasion. 

Registrar Dr. Md. Hasinur 

Rahman and others presented 

a souvenir on behalf of the 

Vice-Chancellor. 

RDA 

implements 

Tk 1,077.59-cr 

uplift projects 

RAJSHAHI: The Rajshahi 

Development Authority 

(RDA) is implementing 11 

development projects 

involving around Taka 

1,077.59 crore for elevating 

living and livelihood 

condition of the city dwellers, 

reports BSS. 

Abdullah al Tarique, 

executive engineer of RDA, 

said a project of roadwidening 

from Court to 

Bypass road is being 

implemented involving 

around Taka 106.58 crore. 

The project has the 

provision of constructing 2.25 

km bituminous road 

carpeting, 3,010-meter RCC 

drain with common duct, 

eight RCC culverts, 4,500- 

meter water, electricity and 

gas supply lines each and 

2,250 meter T&T line along 

the four-lane road. 

The RDA is also 

constructing another 5-km 

four-lane road from near 

RUET campus to Bypass road 

at a cost of around Taka 

159.29 crore. 

The road will have 9,000 

meter RCC drain and eight 

culverts, a four-lane overpass 

along with installations of 

5,000 meter water, power, 

gas and telephone lines each. 

It will also implement 

another project to make 

Rajshahi Metropolitan 

Development Plan sensible to 

disaster risks through 

updating the Effective Mega 

and Detailed Area Plans at a 

cost of around Taka 18.36 

Obituary 

Director of Directorate of 

Staff Development under 

Bangladesh Water 

Development Board Md 

Human chain formed to 

protest businessman's 

death in Gopalganj 

S M Nazrul Islam, 

Gopalganj Correspondent: 

A human chain was formed 

protesting against the 

killing of businessman 

Shafiqul Islam Fayjar and 

demanding punishment of 

the culprits in Kotalipara 

upazila of Gopalganj on 

Thursday. 

Residents of the South 

Hiran Bazar area of the 

upazila formed the human 

chain. At the human chain, 

the activists displayed 

placards in different types 

of writings demanding 

punishment of the culprits. 

Social worker Nahid 

Sheikh, Sumon Sheikh, UP 

member Mehedi Hasan 

and Ali's wife Meena 

Begum spoke at the human 

chain. 

The speakers said that on 

Monday evening, there was 

a clash between two groups 

of villagers about the 

volleyball game. At that 

time, businessman Shafiqul 

Islam was beaten to death. 

They demanded immediate 

arrest and punishment of 

the culprits. The wife filed a 

murder case in Kotalipara 

thana in this connection. 

Zerin from Naogaon gets full 

marks in PSC examinations 

M R Rocky, Naogaon Correspondent: 

Sarah Zerin of Naogoan has got full 600 

marks in recently published PSC 

examination results and become the best 

of the country. The people of the area are 

overjoyed by the success of Sarah Zerin 

who is a resident of Koloni para of 

Mahadevpur upazila of Naogaon. 

Sara Zerin participated in this PSC exam 

from Malancha Kindergarten in 

Mahadevpur upazila. She expected good 

results after the giving the examination. 

But she surprised everyone by getting full 

100 marks in all the 6 subjects. Sarah 

Zerin's father Sarwar Hossain is a 

government servant and her mother is a 

housewife. Sarah Zerin has an elder 

brother and a sister. The main reason for 

Zerin's success was to comply with family 

supervision and following the direction of 

teachers. Sarah Zerin's father Sarwar 

Hossain said that I would follow up with 

the lessons at night with Zerin after she 

returns from school. But I never had to 

pressurize her for studies. She used to 

utilize her strong will power. 

Tawfiqul Islam, headmaster of the local 

Malancha Kindergarten said that we all 

saw a different talent within Zerin. 

According to that we gave her directions. 

Beautiful handwriting in the exam was one 

of the most important aspects of Sarah 

Zerin. Along with studies, Sarah Zerin 

used to joke, sing and recite poems. 

However, she did not give importance to 

coaching or private, Zerin's father Sarwar 

Hossain said. 

In response to a question that how much 

Sarah Zerin of Naogoan got full 600 marks in recently published PSC 

examination results. 

Photo: M R Rocky 

expectation was there to get full marks in 

the PSC exam, Zerin said that after the 

examination I had a strong hope that I will 

get talent pool. Zerin further said that she 

wants to become a doctor for human 

services in the future. Naogaon District 

Secondary Education Officer Aminul 

Islam said that we are proud of all Zerin. 

Aktharuzzaman died on 

Wednesday (Inna…Rajiun). 

He was only 55. Hel left his 

wife, a son and many wellwishers. 

On behalf of all staff 

of Water Development 

Board, peace sought for his 

GD-21/19 (8 x 4) 

departed soul, a press 

release said. 

GD-22/19 (8 x 3)

INTERNATIONAL FRIDAy, 

JANUARy 4, 2019 

3 

Fishing boats are seen docked at a port as tropical storm Pabuk approaches the southern province 

of Pattani, Thailand, Thursday. 

Photo: Internet 

Thailand braces for powerful 

storm at southern beach towns 

Thai authorities suspended ferry services 

and began evacuations Thursday 

ahead of a powerful tropical storm that 

is expected to pound the Southeast 

Asian nation's famed southern beach 

resorts during a peak tourism season. 

Rain was already falling around the 

Gulf of Thailand and officials warned 

that torrential downpours, strong 

winds and rough seas were expected in 

16 provinces when Tropical Storm 

Pabuk makes its expected landfall on 

Friday. 

There are fears that the storm will be 

the worst to hit Thailand since 1989, 

when Typhoon Gay left more than 400 

dead. A tropical storm in 1962 killed 

more than 900 people in the south. 

In what was possibly related to the 

storm, a Russian tourist in Koh Samui 

drowned Wednesday as he tried to rescue 

his daughter, who was struggling in 

strong surf. Thai PBS television reported 

that the daughter survived but her 

father lost consciousness after being 

tossed against some rocks and couldn't 

be revived by rescuers. 

"There will be heavy rainfall and we 

have to prepared for flooding or an 

impact on transportation," Prime 

Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said. 

"We are ready ourselves, but if the 

rainfall is high we will need some 

time to resolve problems." He later 

held a video conference with the governors 

of the 16 provinces to discuss 

preparations for the emergency, 

including digging canals to run off 

floodwaters, mobilizing rescue vehicles, 

ordering all boats to be docked, 

and readying medical facilities. 

Thailand's Meteorological Department 

said the storm will lash southern 

Thailand's east coast from Thursday to 

Saturday, with the two provinces of 

Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat 

expected to be hardest hit. Surat 

Thani is home to the popular tourist 

islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh 

Phangan. 

The department said the storm was 

moving west into the Gulf of Thailand 

with maximum winds of 65 kilometers 

(40 miles) per hour. It said waves 3 to 5 

meters (10 to 16 feet) high were possible 

in the Gulf of Thailand and 2 to 3 

meters (6 to 10 feet) high in the 

Andaman Sea on the west coast. It 

warned of strong winds and storm 

surges on the gulf side and said all ships 

should stay berthed on land through 

Saturday. Southern Thailand's tourist 

industry is a huge moneymaker, and 

authorities have become particularly 

sensitive to visitors' safety since last 

July, when 47 Chinese tourists 

drowned when the boat they were on 

sank in rough seas near the popular 

resort of Phuket in the Andaman Sea. 

Fishing is another major industry in 

the south, and small boat owners were 

heeding the warning. Many dragged 

their vessels ashore, attaching ropes to 

the boats and having friends help tug 

them on to beaches. 

Two natural gas production platforms 

in the Gulf of Thailand directly in 

the path of the storm suspended operations 

and had their personnel evacuated 

to shore, said the exploration and 

production arm of the That state oil 

company PTT. It said drilling rigs and 

vessels had been moved to unaffected 

areas, and gas production at a third 

platform remained operating to help 

meet energy needs. 

The storm was passing about 300 

kilometers (180 miles) south-southwest 

of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City 

at midday Thursday, and was expected 

to bring heavy rain and strong 

winds to the Mekong Delta, the country's 

major area for rice and aquaculture 

production. 

According to Vietnamese state television 

VTV, authorities ordered people 

to take precautions and sent radio 

alerts to thousands of fishing boats to 

take shelter or return to shore. They 

had forbidden new boat departures in 

five southern coastal provinces since 

Tuesday. 

Hindu hard-liners 

paralyze Indian 

state over women 

at shrine 

Hindu hard-liners shut shops 

and businesses and clashed 

with police in a southern state 

Thursday to protest the entry 

of two women in one of 

India's largest Hindu pilgrimage 

sites. 

Supporters of Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi's 

Bharatiya Janata Party held 

protest marches in Kerala 

state as part of a strike call by 

Sabarimala Karma Samithi, 

an umbrella organization of 

Hindu groups. Women of 

menstruating age were forbidden 

to pray at the temple until 

the Supreme Court lifted the 

ban in September. The ban 

was informal for many years, 

but became law in 1972. 

Some devotees have filed a 

petition saying the court 

decision revoking the ban 

was an affront to celibate 

deity Ayyappa. 

The two women entered 

the temple to pray early 

Wednesday. They were 

escorted by police because it 

is "the government's constitutional 

responsibility to 

give protection to women," 

said Pinarayi Vijayan, the 

state's top elected official. 

He accused the BJP of triggering 

violence when police 

fired tear gas at several 

places to disperse stonethrowing 

mobs protesting 

the women's entry. 

Vijayan told reporters on 

Thursday that 39 police officers 

were injured while trying 

to control the protesters, 

who also damaged 79 staterun 

buses in the state. 

Sudan under al-Bashir 

Long history of turmoil, conflicts 

Street protests against Sudan's President Omar 

al-Bashir show no sign of abating. A growing 

number of his former allies are clamoring for 

his departure. None of his friends in the region 

are stepping up to help. One of the Mideast's 

longest autocrats may be on the way out. 

But if al-Bashir, who came to power in a 1989 

military coup, seeks to cling to power, it could 

mean greater violence and economic paralysis 

for Sudan and a new stage in a dark history of 

strife, military dictatorships and political polarization. 

Once Africa's largest nation, Sudan under al- 

Bashir was prominent on the world stage in the 

1990s and 2000s for all the wrong reasons. 

It was the scene of a long civil war between 

the mostly Christian and animist south and the 

Muslim and Arabized north. It hosted Osama 

bin Laden in the early years of his jihadi movement 

that led to the creation of al-Qaida, landing 

Sudan a spot on the U.S. list of countries 

backing terrorism. 

In the 2000s, it was most known for the brutal 

repression of an uprising in its western Darfur 

region, when the pro-government militias 

known as the Janjaweed became notorious for 

atrocities and al-Bashir himself was indicted by 

the International Criminal Court for alleged war 

crimes and genocide. 

After the south gained independence in 2011 

in a referendum that al-Bashir agreed to in a 

peace treaty, Sudan lost a third of its territory 

and fell out of the international spotlight. In the 

years since, it languished in increasing economic 

misery. 

That misery erupted several times into 

protests, each time put down by al-Bashir. He 

has tried to do the same in the latest unrest, 

sparked on Dec. 19, initially over steep price rises 

and shortages. Dozens have been reported 

killed, and al-Bashir has arrested opposition 

leaders, imposed emergency rule and curfews 

in multiple cities and suspended classes in 

schools and universities. 

Here is a look at Sudan's modern history and 

how recent events may shape its future: 

Since independence in 1956, Sudan has 

bounced between tumultuous party politics and 

military rule, while trying to hold together a 

north and south joined under British colonialism. 

Southern rebels took up arms the year 

before independence, starting the first civil war. 

In 1958, the military seized power, ruling for six 

years until a wave of riots and strikes in 1964. 

Elections were held, and a series of governments 

took office, all of which failed to end the 

war or agree on a permanent constitution. 

Army officer Jaafar al-Nimeiri led another 

military coup in 1969. He dissolved parliament 

and outlawed political parties, starting 16 years 

of authoritarian rule. He fended off several coup 

attempts, including one by Communists in 1971 

and another by followers of Imam al-Mahdi, a 

messianic religious figure from the late 1800s. 

In 1972, he reached a peace deal ending the war 

in the south. 

The south relaunched its insurgency 11 years 

later and the guerillas' ranks swelled when al- 

Nimeiri introduced Islamic Shariah law. After a 

popular uprising, the military removed al- 

Nimeiri in 1985 and - in a rare move for the 

region - quickly handed power to an elected 

government. The dysfunctional administration 

lasted only a few years until al-Bashir - a career 

army officer - allied with Islamist hard-liners 

and toppled it in a coup. Bashir's 29 years in 

power will likely be remembered as the most 

oppressive in Sudan's modern history. 

He began by trying to militarily crush the 

southern rebellion. Predictably, it did not work. 

From Khartoum, his rule was based on his 

Islamist-military alliance, presenting himself as 

a leader of the 1990s wave of "political Islam" 

while building ties with violent jihadis. Using 

Islamist ideology as a rallying cry, al-Bashir created 

loyalist militias to protect his rule and built 

a political machine of businessmen and politicians 

that held a lock on power and amassed 

massive wealth in the impoverished nation. 

His renewed imposition of Islamic law alienated 

many and tore apart the social fabric of a 

country with a rich religious and ethnic composition. 

His use of Islamic militias in Darfur 

made him an international pariah. Partly trying 

to salvage his standing, he signed the peace deal 

with the south. 

Jury selection set in 

trial over 6 killings 

in Michigan 

Jury selection is set to begin 

in the trial of a man charged 

with killing six strangers in 

southwestern 

Michigan 

nearly three years ago. 

Jason Dalton is charged 

with murder and attempted 

murder. He's accused of 

shooting eight people in 

three locations in the Kalamazoo 

area in February 

2016 while he was picking 

up riders for Uber. Police 

quoted Dalton as saying a 

"devil figure" on Uber's app 

was controlling him. 

Prospective jurors are 

reporting to court Thursday 

to begin the selection 

process. Trial testimony 

could start Monday. 

The trial was delayed while 

Dalton's attorney tried to 

suppress some statements 

made to police. The Michigan 

appeals court agreed 

that some cannot be used. 

Serbia arrests bus 

driver as death toll 

in crash rises to 7 

Authorities in Serbia have 

arrested the driver of the bus 

that was hit by a train last 

month as the number of 

dead in the crash has risen to 

seven. 

Serbia's state TV said 

Thursday that prosecutors 

have ordered a 30-day 

detention for the driver as 

soon as he is well enough to 

leave the hospital. He's suspected 

of gravely endangering 

safety. 

The bus was carrying 

mostly high school students 

to school when a train 

slammed into it near the 

southern city of Nis, practically 

cutting the bus in half. 

Five people were immediately 

killed in the Dec. 21 

crash and scores were 

injured. 

Naming names : A reckoning is 

underway in US Catholic Church 

Over the past four months, Roman Catholic 

dioceses across the U.S. have released the 

names of more than 1,000 priests and others 

accused of sexually abusing children in an 

unprecedented public reckoning spurred at 

least in part by a shocking grand jury investigation 

in Pennsylvania, an Associated Press 

review has found. 

Nearly 50 dioceses and religious orders 

have publicly identified child-molesting 

priests in the wake of the Pennsylvania report 

issued in mid-August, and 55 more have 

announced plans to do the same over the next 

few months, the AP found. Together they 

account for more than half of the nation's 187 

dioceses. 

The review also found that nearly 20 local, 

state or federal investigations, either criminal 

or civil, have been launched since the release 

of the grand jury findings. Those investigations 

could lead to more names and more 

damning accusations, as well as fines against 

dioceses and court-ordered safety measures. 

"People saw what happened in these 

parishes in Pennsylvania and said, 'That happened 

in my parish too.' They could see the 

immediate connection, and they are demanding 

the same accounting," said Tim Lennon, 

national president of the board of the Survivors 

Network of those Abused by Priests, or 

SNAP. 

The recently disclosed accusations date 

back six or seven decades in some cases, with 

the oldest from the 1910s in Louisiana. Most 

of the priests were long ago removed from 

ministry. An AP examination found that 

more than 60 percent are dead. In most cases, 

the statute of limitations for bringing 

criminal charges or suing has run out. 

Nevertheless, advocates say exposing 

molesters nearly two decades after the scandal 

first erupted in Boston in 2002 is an 

encouraging step, in part because it gives 

some victims a sense of vindication after 

decades of official silence or denials. Also, it 

could increase pressure on dioceses to set up 

victims' compensation funds, as the church 

has done in Pennsylvania already. And it 

could result in the removal of molesters from 

positions outside the church that give them 

access to children. 

"This is a milestone. We are getting closer 

and closer to what this ought to be, the true 

coming to terms that would have to be at a 

national level," said Joe McLean, who filed a 

lawsuit with other victims seeking to compel 

the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to 

release files on alleged abusers nationwide. 

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, conducts Mass at St. 

Mathews Cathedral in Washington. 


Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, center, stands between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, 

left, and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the annual Arab League summit on the Dead Sea 

in Jordan. 


Saudi Arabia says 5 face death 

penalty in Khashoggi killing 

Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday it 

will seek the death penalty against five 

suspects in the slaying of Washington 

Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a 

killing that has seen members of Crown 

Prince Mohammed bin Salman's 

entourage implicated in the writer's 

assassination. 

Prosecutors announced that 11 

suspects in the slaying attended 

their first court hearing with 

lawyers, but the statement did not 

name those in court. It also did not 

explain why seven other suspects 

arrested over the Oct. 2 killing at the 

Saudi Consulate in Istanbul did not 

immediately face formal charges. 

The kingdom previously announced 

18 people had been arrested. 

Saudi officials did not immediately 

respond to requests for comment. 

The killing of Khashoggi, who wrote 

columns critical of Prince 

Mohammed, has strained the 

decades-long ties the kingdom enjoys 

with the United States. It also has 

added to a renewed international push 

to end the Saudi-led war in Yemen. 

The state-run Saudi Press Agency 

and state television gave few details 

about the hearing. 

"The Public Prosecutor demanded 

imposing proper punishments against 

the defendants and is seeking capital 

punishment for five of the defendants 

for their direct involvement in the 

murder," a statement from prosecutors 

said, without elaborating. 

The suspects requested copies of the 

indictments they faced, as well as 

asked for more time to prepare for 

their case, prosecutors said. 

While vague on details about the 

case, prosecutors made a point to 

express concerns about Turkey. They 

alleged that Turkish officials did not 

answer two formal requests made for 

evidence in the case. 

"To date, the Saudi Public Prosecutor 

has not received any response, and 

the Public Prosecution is still awaiting 

their response," the statement said. 

Officials in Ankara could not be 

immediately reached for comment. 

Turkish officials have previously said 

they shared evidence with Saudi Arabia 

and other nations over Khashoggi's 

killing. 

Turkey also has demanded Saudi 

Arabia extradite those 18 suspects to 

be tried there for Khashoggi's killing. 

Turkish security officials have kept up 

a slow leak of videos, photographs and 

morbid details surrounding Khashoggi's 

slaying to pressure the kingdom, 

as the two U.S.-allied countries vie for 

influence over the wider Mideast. 

Turkish media have published photographs 

of members of the crown 

prince's entourage at the consulate in 

Istanbul ahead of the slaying. 

Khashoggi's body, believed to have 

been dismembered after his killing, 

has yet to be found. 

Khashoggi, 59, entered the consulate 

Oct. 2 as his fiancée 

waited outside. But unbeknownst to 

him, a team of Saudi officials had 

flown in before his arrival and laid in 

wait for him. Saudi Arabia denied for 

weeks that Khashoggi had been killed 

but later changed its story and ultimately 

acknowledged the brutal slaying. 

King Salman ordered the restructuring 

of the country's intelligence 

service, but has so far shielded Prince 

Mohammed, his 33-year-old son who 

is next in line to the throne in the oil 

giant kingdom. 

All that has not has not stopped 

widespread international criticism 

against the kingdom. Under Prince 

Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has seen 

the arrest of business leaders, royals 

and activists while also recently granting 

women the right to drive. 

U.S. senators in December passed 

the measure that blamed the prince 

for Khashoggi's killing and called on 

Riyadh to "ensure appropriate 

accountability." Senators also passed a 

separate measure calling for the end of 

U.S. aid to the Saudi-led war in 

Yemen. Both measures drew angry 

responses from the kingdom, but a 

renewed international effort has 

begun to end the Yemen war. 

It is no surprise that the kingdom 

would seek to execute those accused in 

Khashoggi's slaying. Saudi Arabia was 

the world's third top executioner in 

2017, behind China and Iran, according 

to Amnesty International's most 

recent figures available. 

The killing of Khashoggi, who wrote 

columns critical of Prince 

Mohammed, has strained the 

decades-long ties the kingdom enjoys 

with the United States. It also has 

added to a renewed international push 

to end the Saudi-led war in Yemen. 

The kingdom executed at least 146 

people, according to the group. It regularly 

beheads those condemned to 

death and last year said it "crucified" a 

Myanmar man, an execution in which 

the condemned is usually beheaded 

and then the body put on display, 

arms outstretched as if crucified.

EDITORIAL 

FRiDAY, 

JANUARY 4, 2019 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Friday, January 4, 2019 

No sure cure from only 

inclusive elections 

The prescription of inclusive election has been touted for long as the 

sure cure for all ills in Bangladesh. But on careful examination, it would 

be found as hardly the magic potion to restore health or vitality to our 

political system to which the country's major problems can be traced. 

Interestingly enough some Western countries are also of the same 

opinion : they also see the ability to successfully organize and hold such 

a national election including the country's main political parties is the 

key to mitigating all the woes this country faces at the moment. 

But is this not a too simplistic solution extended for an otherwise 

complex problem ? Ever since the fall of the alleged autocratic 

governance of former President General Ershad in the late eighties, 

Bangladesh held such an election at least four times that led to four 

elected governments headed by the two main political parties taking 

over the governance of the country. But every time after holding such 

an election political stability gradually broke down to cause all kinds of 

sufferings to the country ; especially its economic march forward was 

severely disrupted by the lack of political stability. So, it would be wrong 

to either believe or to advise that this country's turn around for the 

better in all respects and on a longer term basis essentially involves 

paving the ground for holding another national elections that can be 

credited as truly inclusive. 

Indeed, the challenge is hardly the holding of such an election. The 

challenge really is deep cleansing or reforming the country's political 

culture, the political institutions or the political parties, empowering 

and strengthening vital institutions which can function reasonably 

effectively as independent ones not burdened by the government' 

control of them. 

The main political parties or forces got together and worked for the 

ouster of the alleged autocratic government of Ershad. Conspicuously, 

they signed an agreement between them after the fall of Ershad to 

establish genuine democracy in the country. To that end they took a vow 

through an open declaration in writing to work always for holding free 

and fair elections, to provide utmost media freedom, to abolish all laws 

seen as repugnant to basic human rights and the Constitution of 

Bangladesh. They made a commitment through that declaration to 

establish not the trappings of a democratic system but real democracy 

meaning effective separation of powers between the executive, 

legislature and judiciary, recognized the importance of parliament as 

the apex democratic institution and, thus, to keep it functioning 

properly as it should be. 

But what things the political parties or forces did every time on going 

to power from the nineties were seen as contrary to that declaration in 

both letters and spirit. The parties in the post Ershad period devised the 

safety valve of the caretaker government to hold elections impartially 

through it to avoid charges of partisanship during the national elections 

and election rigging. But under both terms of the BNP in power after the 

fall of Ershad, attempts were clearly discernible that the government or 

the ruling party of the day tried to influence the formation of the 

caretaker government to be able to be in an advantageous position 

during the polling. Under the last government of the BNP charges were 

credibly made that the government influenced Election Commission 

was engaged in making lists of false voters. They would be used for 

voting in the national elections. 

The opposition Awami League (AL) burst into a riotous mood over 

these and other issues on such perceived grounds of intention to rig 

elections and political stability was lost for a long time. After winning 

the elections with a massive mandate in 2009, the AL with its more than 

two thirds majority in parliament used that power to make null and void 

the system of forming a caretaker government to preside over national 

elections. Though the AL had a legal right to go for the constitutional 

amendment as it enjoyed an overwhelming majority in parliament, the 

move nonetheless gave birth to the notion that the party would utilize 

the opportunity to hold elections under an incumbent government to 

advance its objective of going to power afresh through manipulating and 

rigging elections. Thus, the BNP was given a major political issue and 

based on that it waged a movement in 2013 the effects of which were 

traumatic for the country's economy and national life to say the least. 

Thus, it should be clear that for long lasting political stability in the 

country, its major political forces must be prepared to shed their 

hypocrisy forever. This attitude to cling on to power even after the end 

of their terms by various manipulative activities, only perceived or real, 

must be given up as a precondition for the attainment of longer term 

political stability. Needless to say, this mentality of perpetuating in 

power on winning elections is very undemocratic and this instinct must 

be eliminated from the political system to help in the establishment of 

lasting stability. President Ershad was deposed on grounds of running 

an autocratic order. Logically speaking, his successors should have 

given proofs of their intention to replace the autocratic system with a 

democratic one. But ironically, the country has witnessed the opposite 

in large measures. Separation of the executive from the judiciary is the 

hallmark of a truly democratic system. But both the BNP and the AL are 

accused for introducing the culture of appointing their loyalists in the 

judiciary at all levels. The judiciary is the last resort for all those seeking 

redress from injustice and even tyrannies of governments. The Indian 

democracy, for instance, has many imperfections. But the average 

citizen in that country remains assured that he/she on approachiong a 

court particularly a higher one, will get justice actually dispensed to him 

or her. Therefore, outbreak of violence be it at individual or collective 

levels, are contained in that country from this assurance that justice may 

actually be obtained. 

But in Bangladesh, accusations have been made that the inclination to 

appoint politically loyal persons in the judiciary is keeping the prospects 

open for the government to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary at 

different levels. The sense of being denied justice can cause 

considerable political and social ferments of the violent type rocking a 

country's stability and we have seen a lot of that in the last two decades. 

The last caretaker government prepared an ordinance designed to 

close the gate for all times to politically motivated appointments in the 

judiciary particularly in the higher judiciary. Unfortunately, this 

ordinance was not considered for adoption by the parliament that 

convened after the exit of the caretaker government.It is observed that 

the BNP in its first term in the nineties and more so in the second term 

initiated and stepped up the process respectively of appointing its 

favourites in the judiciary. 

The caretaker government also left an ordinance to be made into law 

that could turn the police force into an organaization delinked from the 

government's influence. But that ordinance too was not adopted by the 

elected body of the parliament. Both the two main parties are accused 

also for making many officials in the civil services impotent ones as 

officers on special duty (OSDs) without specific assignments to put in 

their place party loyalists. Such politicization of the services is 

considered as counteracting against good governance and public 

interests. 

how did the US become the global superpower? 

The US and China are not just 

engaging in trade war and military 

posturing but also in a 

technological race and ideological 

challenge, or more specifically, it is about 

the future of democracy. This article is the 

first in a three-part series examining the 

prospects of major economic and political 

reform around the world in 2019, and the 

complexities and impacts of this process. 

The decision by the US and China to 

resolve their trade war with a 90-day 

ceasefire at the close of the recent Group 

of Twenty Summit helped bring 2018 to a 

positive close. On its part, China has been 

working diligently to make the ceasefire 

work in its favor by addressing the 

various trade imbalances and 

shortcomings that had culminated under 

China's past presidents. 

President Xi Jinping knows well that 

the day will come, and has come, when 

China and its state-owned and statelinked 

companies will have to compete 

with its major trading partners peer-topeer, 

and with reduced concessionary 

advantages. It is a collective legacy 

challenge that he must address decisively 

to keep the Chinese economy from 

unwarranted derailment. 

As such, 2019 may well be a year of 

major reforms, not just for China and the 

US, but also for every other major 

economies and world bodies such as the 

World Trade Organization (WTO), 

International Monetary Fund (IMF) and 

United Nations Security Council. The 

world has changed drastically with the 

rise of China and the issue at hand goes 

beyond the current trade war. The day of 

undifferentiated free trade has passed as 

the world moves forward into fairer and 

more equitable trade. The notion that the 

world is seeking to derail the Chinese 

economy does not make any economic 

Recent days have produced two 

major developments for 

Afghanistan. One is a seemingly 

out-of-the-blue decision by US President 

Donald Trump to withdraw 7,000 

American troops from the country in the 

coming months (though a White House 

spokesman claimed that a withdrawal 

order hasn't been issued just yet). The 

other is Kabul's announcement that it will 

be postponing the Afghan presidential 

election, previously scheduled for April, 

for several months in order to fix the flaws 

that marred the electoral process during 

parliamentary polls in October. 

The drawdown and election decisions 

will shape Afghanistan's future in a big 

way-whether for much better or much 

worse. The optimist will argue that these 

two developments could help launch a 

long-elusive yet desperately needed peace 

process for Afghanistan. The skeptic will 

contend that they could plunge the 

country into a new era of uncertainty and 

instability. Unfortunately, barring the 

implementation of ambitious correctives, 

the grimmer prediction is more likely to 

prevail. 

For the optimist, the thinking goes like 

this: Trump's drawdown decision 

represents a major concession to the 

Taliban, which has long demanded the 

withdrawal of foreign troops before it 

agrees to sit down with Kabul to negotiate 

an end to the war. Now that Trump has 

given the Taliban what it wants, the 

insurgents can now be more easily coaxed 

into making a big concession of their own 

Among the many tragedies taking 

place in the nearly four-year 

conflict in Yemen - including the 

thousands of lives lost, the 

impoverishment to near-starvation of its 

people and the ruin of its fragile economy 

- is the plunder of the country's valuable 

and precious ancient cultural heritage by 

organised criminals and violent 

extremists. This all-too-familiar story 

underscores an urgent need for the 

United States Treasury Department to 

use its existing sanctions regime to close 

the US art market to Yemeni blood 

antiquities. 

Historically, Yemen was a meeting 

ground for some of the earliest contacts 

and trade between East and West and a 

crossroads of the ancient incense and 

spice routes. As home to the legendary 

Queen of Sheba, stories about the 

treasures to be found in Yemen's markets 

and the independence of its people were 

passed across generations, along with a 

famed tradition of silver design. Much of 

this rich history survived for millennia, as 

Yemen is home to four Unesco World 

Heritage Sites and national museums 

that house priceless artefacts. While 

media coverage has closely followed the 

fighting around some of these historic 

places and collections, it has sadly 

ignored that this history is being stripped 

for sale to foreign buyers. 

Yemen has warned the United Nations 

sense as such a derailment would trigger 

a global recession that would hurt 

everyone. Economic logic dictates that 

China is an integral part of the world 

economy but it is definitely not ready to 

offer itself as a real alternative to the US. 

As a superpower, just like the European 

Union, the UK or Japan, it has to abide by 

the prevailing rules-based trade 

engagement and not create any 

unwarranted upset that may rattle the 

world economy and security. So too must 

its state-owned enterprises, corporate 

titans and small and medium-sized 

enterprises. When China's began 

advocating a trade-based rather rulesbased 

policy, alarm bells awakened many 

within the US Congress, America's 

powerful private sector and allies across 

the world. They were not just going to sit 

down and watch China overtake them 

and change the rules of economic and 

security engagements. It was not just 

about economic and military issues, it 

was also about technological 

advancement and ideology or, more 

specifically, it was also about democracy. 

The US had already commenced strategic 

economic and political reforms to address 

various challenges by the time it started 

the trade war. Thanks to President 

JoSeph NAThAN 

Donald Trump, his confrontational 

approaches had sped up the 

preliminaries needed for many of these 

critical reforms. 

Unlike in China, leaders in democratic 

economies are voted into power primarily 

to create sustainable economic growth, 

meaningful employment, and essential 

and lifestyle-centric services, and to 

ensure peace and security within their 

country and the region. If they fail to 

deliver on these basic essentials, they risk 

being voted out by their citizens. 

Democratic systems do not allow for lifelong 

presidencies or premierships. 

when China's began advocating a trade-based rather rulesbased 

policy, alarm bells awakened many within the US 

Congress, America's powerful private sector and allies across 

the world. They were not just going to sit down and watch China 

overtake them and change the rules of economic and security 

engagements. it was not just about economic and military 

issues, it was also about technological advancement and 

ideology or, more specifically, it was also about democracy. 

- such as agreeing to a truce and to talks to 

end the conflict. In the optimist's view, 

the postponement of the election will 

enhance the prospects for a peace 

process. In effect, the delay will buy time 

to lay out a road map for peace. Then, 

after the election finally takes place, the 

new government - which would 

presumably be viewed by the Taliban as a 

more legitimate administration than its 

predecessor, which was formed through a 

US-led negotiation resulting from a failed 

election - will be able to launch a formal 

peace process with the insurgents. 

It's a powerful, positive vision. 

Unfortunately, it may be cursed by too 

many big "ifs," overly Pollyannaish 

assumptions and notable omissions to 

become a reality. Indeed, take off the 

rose-colored glasses and give way to the 

jaundiced eye, and a more troubling 

future for Afghanistan comes into sharp 

relief. First, Trump's drawdown decision 

gives the Taliban a major disincentive to 

Leaders either get the job done or get 

voted out. This is the essence of 

democracy - by the people, for the people. 

Anything else is a sham. 

With the US Democrats gaining a 

midterm election victory that will see 

them controlling the House of 

Representatives from the dawn of 2019, a 

bipartisan Congress is likely to begin 

driving some major reforms. Without 

undivided congressional support, the 

unpredictable Trump will find it very 

hard to issue any binding executive 

orders or new initiatives unilaterally that 

may rattle the world in any substantive 

way. Despite Trump's current persistence 

Difficult days ahead for Afghanistan 

miChAeL kUgeLmAN 

talk. Even before his decision, the Taliban 

had little reason to stop fighting, given the 

gains - including territorial seizures - it 

was enjoying on the battlefield. The 

withdrawal of half the US troop presence 

in Afghanistan gives the Taliban a major 

battlefield advantage, which it is unlikely 

to pass up for formal peace talks. This 

translates to a strengthened insurgency. 

So, while the optimist will hail a troop 

For the optimist, the thinking goes like this: Trump's 

drawdown decision represents a major concession to the 

Taliban, which has long demanded the withdrawal of 

foreign troops before it agrees to sit down with kabul to 

negotiate an end to the war. Now that Trump has given the 

Taliban what it wants, the insurgents can now be more 

easily coaxed into making a big concession of their own - 

such as agreeing to a truce and to talks to end the conflict. 

and the world of this illicit trade, 

presenting evidence that Al Qaida in the 

Arabian Peninsula militants and Al 

Houthi rebels are taking a page from the 

playbook of Daesh by arming their cause 

with the plunder and sale of Yemen's 

ancient treasures. Three major museums 

- the Taiz National Museum, the Aden 

National Museum and the Zanzibar 

National Museum - have been pillaged 

and largely cleared of their collections. 

International experts have corroborated 

these reports, including archaeologists on 

the ground, the International Council of 

Museums and the United Nations Panel 

of Experts on Yemen. 

There is good reason to believe that the 

United States is a destination for pillaged 

Yemeni artefacts, because it remains the 

largest art market in the world. Research 

by the Antiquities Coalition demonstrates 

drawdown as an encouraging move 

toward peace, the skeptic will lament it as 

a trigger for greater instability. 

Take off the rose-colored glasses and a 

more troubling future for Afghanistan 

comes into sharp relief. 

Second, delaying the election could 

precipitate political unrest and prevent 

the emergence of a peace process. 

The current national unity government, 

which took office in 2014 and is led by 

President Ashraf Ghani and Chief 

Executive Abdullah Abdullah, is riven by 

dysfunction, with much of it rooted in 

DeboRAh LehR AND AhmeD AwAD biN mUbARAk 

that, over the past decade, the US has 

imported more than $8 million (Dh29.42 

million) worth of declared art and 

antiquities from Yemen. There is reason 

to suspect that the total is much higher. 

While it is impossible to know the true 

scale of the illicit trade, it is distressingly 

familiar, as plunderers across the region 

have seen museums and ancient sites as 

opportunities to raise easy money. 

Despite Washington's growing 

There is good reason to believe that the United States 

is a destination for pillaged Yemeni artefacts, because 

it remains the largest art market in the world. 

Research by the Antiquities Coalition demonstrates 

that, over the past decade, the US has imported more 

than $8 million (Dh29.42 million) worth of declared 

art and antiquities from Yemen. There is reason to 

suspect that the total is much higher. 

awareness of the terrorist financing threat 

from cultural racketeering, US markets 

remain wide open to conflict antiquities 

from Yemen. In other countries, the US 

State Department has used available 

diplomatic tools to negotiate bilateral 

agreements to close US markets to 

illegally imported antiquities. The US 

Congress has also taken legislative action 

to sanction efforts to import illicit pieces 

in partially shutting down the 

government until Congress approves his 

funding request for a wall on the border 

with Mexico, it is getting too contentious 

even for the Republicans. As such, it may 

just be a good proxy to show the 

effectiveness of Trumponomics against 

the powers within the US Congress. 

The US Congress needs to be much more 

decisive and consistent as its members have 

to account to their voters as the next US 

presidential race starts taking traction by 

mid-2019. The longevity of Trumponomics 

depends very much on Trump's acceptance 

that the issues at hand are much larger than 

his presidency or ego. 

After World War II, the Bretton Woods 

Conference legitimately coronated the US 

as the world superpower, and its Articles 

of Agreement resulted in the formation of 

the IMF and WTO, and the US dollar 

became the world's reserve currency. 

Advocates of alternatives to the US 

dollar as the reserve currency have 

repeatedly cited that the US had unfairly 

printed its own currency to get out of 

every crisis. In reality, the US does issue 

Treasury notes and bonds to balance its 

accounts. As such, the US does pay for 

such borrowing, and the truth is that the 

reserve currency does come with a price. 

It places great responsibility and 

accountability not just on the US but 

fellow IMF members accorded with 

Special Drawing Rights. China too was 

accorded these rights in 2016. 

This aggregated arrangement has 

afforded every economy in the world an 

equitable rules-based platform that 

facilitates the continuation of their 

economic cooperation toward the 

collective desire of world peace and 

prosperity for all. 

Source : Asia times 

personality disputes between the two 

leaders and their respective aides. Over 

the last few years, politicians loyal to 

Abdullah, both within and outside the 

government, have chafed at Ghani's 

perceived attempts to centralize power. 

A delayed election will provide a pretext 

for these aggrieved political players - and 

for other foes of Kabul that cannot accept 

the idea of the current government ruling 

beyond its five-year mandate - to push 

back, and perhaps take to the streets. 

Faced with such problems, a beleaguered 

Afghan government would be hardpressed 

to present the common front 

necessary to be a credible partner in a 

peace process. 

So, while the optimist will regard a 

delayed election as a tactic to buy more 

time for peace, the skeptic will view it as a 

spark for a major political crisis that could 

well turn violent. 

To reduce the likelihood of the skeptic's 

forecast coming true, Afghanistan and 

the international community will need to 

take some ambitious steps. 

One is a full-court diplomatic press led 

by America and by key Taliban 

influencers such as Pakistan and Saudi 

Arabia, which somehow convinces the 

Taliban that talking - and, eventually, 

talking to Kabul - is the right move. For 

that pitch to be successful, interlocutors 

will need to dangle the possibility of 

generous inducements and concessions 

for the insurgents. 

Source : Arab news 

Yemen needs help to save its history 

from Iraq and Syria. But US inaction in 

Yemen raises the likelihood that 

American collectors and institutions are 

helping sustain the country's violent 

conflict through apparently legal 

purchases of stolen artefacts. 

The UN, with support from the 

international community including the 

US, is engaged in humanitarian efforts 

and delicate negotiations to bring about a 

political solution to Yemen's conflict in 

accordance with Security Council 

Resolution 2216 and other established 

terms of reference. In the meantime, the 

Treasury Department should use its 

authorities to issue an emergency 

executive order adding Yemeni 

antiquities to the list of sanctioned items 

prevented from import to the United 

States. Such action would enjoy broad 

support in Congress and should be a 

regular feature of efforts to the end the 

conflict in Yemen. 

The US is leading the fight against 

terrorism, violent extremism and 

organised crime around the world, and it 

also has a proud tradition of safeguarding 

the world's cultural treasures during 

times of conflict. But it can do so much 

more to help Yemen today. Let's start by 

saving its history. 

Source : Gulf news

STRATEGIC ISSUES FRIdAy, 

JANUARy 4, 2019 

5 

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, top left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, top right, talk 

at each other during a signing ceremony. 

Photo: Nicolas Asfouri 

Serbia: China’s key to Europe 

Philippe Le Corre 

Despite a renewed interest on Beijing's 

part, China's relationship with the 

European Union encountered a number 

of setbacks in 2018, the latest being the 

tightening of foreign direct investments by 

the European Commission. In December, 

Europe's strongest economy, Germany, 

made it even harder by establishing new 

rules against foreign acquisitions of 

German companies in technology. 

In the Balkans, just outside the EU, 

China is enjoying a different experience. A 

non-EU member, Serbia claims to have 

become one of China's best friends in 

Europe. Beijing has engaged in a number 

of massive projects in the Balkans, 

although the most high-profile one, the 

Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway, 

has failed to materialize so far. 

China's relationship with Yugoslavia 

had ups and downs from 1949 on. 

Originally, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, leader 

of Communist Yugoslavia, of which Serbia 

was a constituent republic, wanted to 

engage with the People's Republic of 

China (PRC) but was rebuffed by Mao 

Zedong because of Tito's split with Stalin. 

Although Yugoslavia started recognizing 

the PRC diplomatically in 1949, Tito 

waited until 1977 to visit Beijing for the first 

time. 

As China's relations with Enver Hoxha's 

Albania started to deteriorate, Yugoslavia - 

then Serbia - became the partner of choice, 

giving China an entry point into 

Southwestern Europe. The relationship 

continued to be smooth through the 1980s 

(Tito died in 1980) and 1990s, well into 

Slobodan Milosevic's presidency. 

Following the civil war and the breakup of 

Yugoslavia, Milosevic visited China as the 

Serbian president in 1997 and was able to 

claim China's diplomatic support two 

years after the Dayton peace agreement. 

This breakthrough was seen as important 

in Sino-Serbian relations. Beijing was keen 

to support Belgrade's view on Kosovo, 

reflecting its own situation vis-a-vis 

Taiwan, and even Hong Kong, under the 

principle. "Just as Serbia supports the one- 

China policy, China supports Serbia as its 

best and most stable friend in 

southeastern Europe," Serbian Deputy 

Prime Minister Bozidar Delic said in 

Beijing in 2009. Serbia would later receive 

Beijing's support against EU pressure to 

recognize Kosovo's independence. 

Another serious event brought China 

and Serbia even closer together: On May 7, 

1999, five U.S. Joint Direct Attack 

Munition (JDAM) guided bombs, part of a 

NATO operation, hit the PRC embassy in 

Belgrade, killing three Chinese reporters 

and leading to a reaction of outrage by 

Beijing. Although the U.S. administration 

stated that this strike was accidental, there 

have been continuous doubts in China, 

with many feeling that it was an 

intentional act on the part of the United 

States. 

Serbia's drive to strengthen political 

and diplomatic relationship with China 

has been greatly driven by the Kosovo 

issue, but also by Serbian perceptions of 

a shift in the balance of power. The 2008 

financial crisis instilled a sense among 

Serbian leadership that the West is 

vulnerable and that China is rising. The 

notion of rising China is also 

acknowledged by the incumbent 

President Aleksandar Vucic: "Thirty 

years ago you had one, absolutely 

dominant military, political, and 

economic power [the U.S.] …With its 

economic, but also with its military and 

political power [the] People's Republic of 

China dramatically catches up." 

Foreign influences challenges 

Kim Jong Un's reign 

Asia’s geopolitical challenges in 2019 

Mercy A. Kuo 

First, regarding the 

economic and financial one, 

it will be necessary to 

monitor the growing 

importance of advanced 

technologies and their 

applications in the 

production cycles of the 

most industrial nations. In 

the next year, we will face a 

sort of rationalization of 

these production processes 

that will profoundly change 

the evolution of the current 

social equilibrium within 

nations and also the 

relations between states and 

large 

financial 

organizations. Furthermore, 

we will witness the explosion 

of new markets based on the 

technological needs of the 

elderly and the disabled 

people. We will also face the 

increase of cryptocurrencies. 

The knowledge and 

management of new 

technologies ? ICT, AI , 

blockchain mainly ? will 

constitute the challenge of 

the next decade between the 

major world powers and the 

main investment groups. 

The impact of the advanced 

technologies on geostrategic 

decisions will increase. The 

new technologies will 

contribute to impressing, in 

2019, a decisive turning 

point in what we can define 

henceforth as a new global 

revolution in military affairs. 

The military-industrialfinancial 

complexes of the 

major world powers will 

undergo a complete 

transformation starting 

from 2019. 

Second, another 

important trend that will 

affect the global level 

concerns the dismantling of 

the old world order based on 

the criteria of 

multilateralism. In 2019, we 

will witness the weakening 

of large global organizations 

such as the UN and the 

reorganization of 

multilateral consultations 

regarding international 

trade, climate issues and 

regulations on the use of 

new technologies. This will 

happen for two main 

reasons. The first is due to 

the growing presence and 

importance of global players 

of nations like China, Russia, 

and India, who obviously try 

to implement their 360 

degree spheres of influence, 

even outside the old 

institutions born in the socalled 

bipolar era, when the 

destinies of the world were 

substantially decided in 

Moscow and Washington. 

The second reason is due to 

the putting into practice of 

the "Trump Doctrine," 

which, over the past two 

years, has placed a 

particularly bilateral 

strategy on U.S. foreign 

policy, upsetting the old 

equilibria. 

The third transformative 

trend will concern the 

European Union. 2018 has 

been a very critical year for 

the EU, both on the 

economic level, but above all 

on the political and social 

one. 2019 will be a year in 

which the fate of the 

"European Common House" 

will be decided. As a 

consequence of the 

neopopulist waves and the 

so-called sovereignist ones 

that marked the social and 

political life of the 

Europeans during 2017- 

2018, most likely, the 

elections for the renewal of 

the European Parliament 

will reward the anti- 

European parties. 2019 will 

therefore be a very unstable 

year for the economy and 

politics of the European 

Union. 

Three transformative trends in 2018 will have ongoing impact in 2019. 

Photo: Collected 

US-China relations at 40 

Elizabeth Economy 

2019 should be a year of 

celebration; it marks 40 years since 

the establishment of diplomatic 

relations between the United States 

and China. Bilateral trade and 

investment between the two 

countries has grown exponentially 

from $5 billion in 1980 to $710 

billion in 2017; student exchange 

and tourism numbers have soared; 

and peace has been maintained in 

the Asia-Pacific. Yet, over the past 

several years, trade tensions have 

risen to an all-time high; there is 

talk of military conflict over Taiwan 

and in the South China Sea; 

concerns have flared in each 

country over the political influence 

of the other; and the two countries 

have launched an all-out 

competition to define the values 

and norms underpinning the 

international order. In a number of 

respects, the current bilateral 

relationship is under more stress 

than at any time since the 

normalization of relations. 

This deterioration reflects the 

collapse of two implicit 

understandings that have 

underpinned the bilateral 

relationship for the past 40 years: 

First, that both Beijing and 

Washington would minimize nearterm 

disputes around areas of 

conflict, such as trade, Taiwan, and 

human rights, in order to preserve a 

façade of accord and work quietly to 

advance cooperation over the 

longer term; and second, that they 

would operate within a paradigm of 

"engagement," in which the United 

States would help China develop 

the domestic norms and 

institutions that would enable it to 

be a positive contributor to the 

current international system. As a 

result, the U.S.-China relationship 

was defined as much by an ability to 

"manage" enduring frictions as by 

real advances in cooperation. 

Today, however, Washington is no 

longer willing to maintain the 

illusion of progress in hopes of 

future substantive cooperation, and 

China is no longer willing to be 

tutored by the United States on how 

to reform at home and engage 

abroad. 

Ultimately, the 40th anniversary 

of the normalization of relations 

between the United States and 

China is likely to be heralded as the 

year in which the relationship 

realizes a new normal rooted in a 

new set of understandings. One 

feature is almost certain: a more 

open embrace of conflict and 

competition. This competition is 

also likely to involve other countries, 

as both the United States and China 

seek outside support for their 

respective visions. What is less clear, 

however, is whether either country 

has the political foresight and 

wherewithal to develop additional 

understandings that will help 

prevent this competition from 

hardening into a cold war or 

triggering a military conflict. 

The influx of foreign influences has been growing for years and it has the power to transform North 

Koreans' understanding of the world. 

Photo: John Pavelka 

Kelli Kennedy 

Thanks to the flow of foreign information 

into the Hermit Kingdom, North Korea is 

changing from the inside out - and Kim 

Jong Un is running to catch up. The 

growing split between the North Korean 

people and the state is proving difficult for 

the Kim regime to reverse. The influx of 

foreign media and knowledge has been 

growing for years, and like the red pill from 

The Matrix, it has the power to transform 

North Koreans' understanding of the 

world. It permeates all levels of North 

Korean life, and civilians are becoming 

increasingly self-aware. 

North Koreans have long been forced 

to routinely break the law to get by. 

Following the collapse of the Public 

Distribution System in the 1990s, North 

Koreans created and relied on illegal city 

markets (Jangmadang) as their source 

of food, income, and other commodities. 

The markets initiated as a means of 

survival have become the main entry 

point for foreign information. Foreign 

media infiltrating the North - South 

Korean dramas, in particular - have 

done the most to reshape the way North 

Koreans view their southern neighbors 

and, in turn, their own realities. From 

fashion to an awareness of human 

rights, foreign ideas now increasingly 

color the lives of ordinary North 

Koreans. 

Changes reflecting an increasing 

psychological independence from the 

regime manifest themselves in many 

ways, particularly in the emulation of 

South Koreans whom the North 

Koreans once pitied as impoverished 

puppets of the imperial United States. 

Outside of Pyongyang, younger 

generations have begun to embrace the 

short skirts considered fashionable in 

South Korea as well as skinny jeans and 

brighter colors. Adopting South Korean 

beauty standards, they have also 

deviated from the state-approved 

hairstyles in subtle yet noticeable ways. 

As North Korean women strive to 

perfect their appearance, they have 

become avid consumers of South 

Korean cosmetics, which are sold in the 

black markets. Plastic surgery is also 

gaining popularity, thanks to South 

Korean dramas. A surgery called a 

blepharoplasty, which transforms a 

mono-lid into a double-eyelid is now 

often performed at home, while among 

the elites, nose surgeries are surging in 

popularity. Beyond emulating foreign 

trends, North Koreans are creating new 

ways to fulfill their individual desires. 

For a culture adamantly against 

premarital sex and kissing in public, the 

creation of the small-scale "room by the 

hour" industry indicates a 180-degree 

change in what is considered acceptable 

behavior. Such rooms are usually run by 

an ajumma, the Korean term for a 

married or marriage-aged woman, who 

rents out her home for an hour or two to 

give a couple time alone away from 

prying eyes. 

This rise in materialism, 

individualism, and the pursuit of 

personal profit, brought about by the 

Jangmadangs and the flow of foreign 

information into North Korea, present 

unique security challenges for the 

regime. The markets continue to 

introduce ideas that directly counter 

state narratives and the population 

continues to seek out those ideas despite 

the punishments associated with being 

caught with foreign material. North 

Koreans have already shown a 

willingness to challenge the government 

in order to protect these new-found 

freedoms. Once people swallow the red 

pill, they are unlikely to blindly go back to 

serve their masters through the Matrix. 

Resistance is not new in North Korea, 

it has occurred in varied forms since the 

inception of the North Korean state. 

From 2005-2009, the Kim regime 

enacted anti-market reforms which led 

to small-scale riots. 

The "normalization of relations" meets the "new normal." 

Photo: Andrew Harnik

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

BANGLADESHTODAY 6 

THE 

FRIDAy, JAnuARy 4, 2019 

Jersey unveiling ceremony of Rajshahi Kings of BPL T-20 Tournament 2019 held on January 3, 

2019 at Amphitheatre, Hatirjheel, Dhaka. First Security Islami Bank sponsored Rajshahi Kings on 

BPL T20 Tournament for the 3rd time. Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, Chief Patron and Hafizur Rahman 

Khan, Chairman, Rajshahi Kings, Abdul Aziz, Additional Managing Director and Md. Zahurul 

Haque, Deputy Managing Director of First Security Islami Bank, Amzad Hussain, Director, Tahmid 

Azizul Haque, CEO and S M Shamsur Rahman, COO of Rajshahi Kings along with other officials 

were present on the jersey unveiling ceremony organized in this regard. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Serena in inspirational message 

to working mums 

Serena Williams has posted an 

inspirational New Year message to 

mums and dads juggling parenthood 

with work, saying "anything is 

possible". 

The 23-time Grand Slam champion 

began 2019 in Perth at the mixed 

teams Hopman Cup, with baby Alexis 

Olympia in tow. 

She posted a picture of herself and 

her daughter to her 10.4 million 

followers on Instagram, holding her 

child as she stretched her leg. 

Williams, 37, said "it's not about 

what we can do it's what we MUST do 

as working moms and working dads". 

"Anything is possible. I was getting 

ready for the first match of the year 

and my dear sweet baby 

@olympiaohanian was tired and sad 

and simply needed mama's love. 

"So if it means warming up and 

stretching while holding my baby 

that's what #thismama will do. 

"My fellow moms and dads 

working - or stay home it's equally as 

intense - but you inspire me," she 

added. 

"Hearing your stories makes me 

know I can do this. Thank you from 

the bottom of my heart. This year is to 

you!" 

The last time Williams played in 

Australia was January 2017, when 

she won the Australian Open when 

eight-weeks pregnant. 

Last month, the WTA introduced 

new rules so returning mothers have 

a special ranking that earns them a 

seeded position at tournaments, 

ensuring they do not face a top player 

in the opening round. 

Williams, along with other tennis 

mums like former world number one 

Victoria Azarenka, had advocated for 

the changes to help ease the 

transition back for players who had 

given birth. 

She is partnering Francis Tiafoe for 

the United States at the Hopman Cup 

and on Tuesday evening played 

mixed doubles against Switzerland, 

with Roger Federer on the other side 

of the net. 

The Swiss team won with Williams 

calling it "literally the match of my 

career". 

"It is really great and special to go 

against the greatest of all time," she 

said of facing Federer in a 

competitive match. 

No place like home: 'Force Spurs to 

stay at Wembley,' says Cardiff boss 

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock 

believes Tottenham Hotspur should 

be made to play at Wembley for the 

rest of the season to avoid their rivals 

having any unfair advantage. 

Spurs, who beat Cardiff 3-0 to go 

second in the Premier League on 

Tuesday, have been prevented from 

returning to their rebuilt o850 

million White Hart Lane because of 

delays to the building work. 

An announcement on a date for 

them to move in is expected after 

January 7, but their next Premier 

League fixture, the home game 

against Manchester United on 

January 13, will take place at 

Wembley. 

Four of Spurs' next five games are 

at home - one of which is against 

Cardiff's relegation rivals Newcastle - 

while they still have to entertain 

bottom-placed Huddersfield. 

Spurs have already beaten the 

second bottom and third bottom 

teams, Fulham and Burnley, at home 

this season. 

Cardiff, who are 16th, three points 

above the relegation zone, were 

beaten 1-0 by Tottenham at Wembley 

on October 6. 

"They have made that many cockups 

now with the timing, I think the 

Premier League should now force 

them to play at Wembley now for the 

rest of the season," said Warnock. 

"I don't think there should be a 

chance of any advantage to any of our 

opponents really. 

"It's not our fault - we should have 

been playing at the new stadium 

ourselves, so I think they should step 

in now, rather than be there in six or 

seven weeks, or whatever it is." 

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino 

stressed the importance of bouncing 

back after they recovered from their 

3-1 defeat to Wolves to leapfrog 

Manchester City, six points behind 

leaders Liverpool. 

Goals in the first 26 minutes from 

Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and 

Son Heung-Min made it a 

comfortable return to winning ways 

for Spurs. 

"It was so important to bounce back 

to build another positive run," said 

Pochettino. 

"It was so important for our 

confidence because in three days we 

start another competition - the FA 

Cup - and we have the semi-final of 

the League Cup against Chelsea. 

"This was a massive victory for us to 

make us believe but more in our 

possibility to be in a very good 

position in the table." 

Kane got himself into the record 

books again - his third-minute 

opening goal means he has now 

scored five Premier League goals on 

New Year's Day, equalling a record 

held by Andrew Cole and Steven 

Gerrard. 

Kane's goal came off his shin, 

deflecting in a loose ball from a 

terrible touch from Cardiff captain 

Sean Morrison after Kieran Trippier's 

cross from the right initially hit Kane. 

Spurs made it 2-0 after just 12 

minutes when Eriksen dummied 

Bruno Ecuele Manga and Harry Arter 

before picking his spot from the edge 

of the box. 

Son made it 3-0 with another 

stylish finish, the South Korean 

delaying his shot from Kane's short 

pass while Morrison dallied before 

steering an acute-angled drive across 

Neil Etheridge and into the far 

bottom corner for his 11th goal of the 

season, all scored in the last 16 games. 

Cardiff's only threat came from 

half-time substitute Junior Hoilett, 

who forced two saves from Hugo 

Lloris. 

Asia markets mostly lower as 

tech firms soured by Apple 

Most Asian markets 

extended the previous day's 

sharp losses Thursday with 

technology firms tumbling 

after Apple slashed its 

revenue forecasts blaming 

slowing China sales. 

The yen soared against a 

number of other currencies 

including the dollar, euro, 

Australian dollar and 

Turkish lira in a flash crash 

fuelled by the Apple 

announcement. 

In early trade bargainbuyers 

capitalised on 

Wednesday's hammering 

across Asia but were unable to 

sustain momentum with 

sentiment weak owing to 

uncertainty over a number of 

issues including the China-US 

trade war, China's economic 

woes, the US government 

shutdown and Brexit. 

Wall Street and European 

markets mostly recovered 

from early losses to end 

slightly higher but Apple's 

announcement that it 

expected to earn less than 

expected in the key 

December quarter sent 

shudders through markets. 

The firm, which was already 

under pressure over signs 

that sales of its new iPhone 

were coming up short, 

blamed sluggish demand in 

China for the cut and cited 

the US trade war as a factor. 

"While we anticipated 

some challenges in key 

emerging markets, we did 

not foresee the magnitude of 

the economic deceleration, 

particularly in Greater 

China," chief executive Tim 

Cook told investors. 

He told CNBC the tariffs 

row had put "additional 

pressure" on an already 

slowing Chinese economy, 

resulting in lower store and 

online traffic. The 

firm's shares - already 

down about a third from 

their record high in March 

Asian tech firms took a hit 

from the news, with Hong 

Kong-listed Sunny 

Optical and AAC 

Technologies down 6.8 and 

5.4 percent, while Apple 

supplier TSMC shed 1.8 

percent in Taipei, with 

Foxconn 0.2 percent off. 

But on broader markets 

Hong Kong fell 0.3 percent 

after tanking almost three 

percent Wednesday, while 

Shanghai was marginally 

lower following a more than 

one percent drop after more 

weak Chinese economic data. 

Seoul retreated 0.8 

percent, Singapore was one 

percent down while 

Wellington gave up 0.9 

percent, with Taipei and 

Mumbai also in negative 

territory. Sydney jumped 

more than one percent while 

Manila surged 2.2 percent. 

Tokyo was closed for a 

holiday. London fell 0.4 

percent in early trade while 

Paris and Frankfurt each lost 

0.8 percent. Banny Lam, 

head of research at CEB 

International Investment 

Corp, warned of continued 

volatility. "There are a lot of 

uncertainties lying ahead," 

Lam told Bloomberg News. 

"The markets will likely be 

stuck in a downtrend over 

the next few weeks." 

The news from Apple 

sparked a sell-off in the 

currency market with the 

yen, a safe haven in times of 

turmoil, soaring around 3.7 

percent to 104.87 against the 

dollar before the greenback 

recovered later in the day. 

The Japanese unit also 

soared to a 10-year high 

against the Australian dollar, 

which is seen as a bellwether 

for China, and the euro, while 

the Turkish lira was down a 

similar amount. "The Apple 

news is driving safe haven 

flows, which have seemingly 

triggered a flash crash in 

forex," Brad Bechtel, global 

head of foreign exchange at 

Jefferies LLC, said. 

Analysts suggested that a 

rush to the safety of the yen 

saw it rise, which caused 

programmes that were set up 

by yen short-sellers to 

prevent them losing cash to 

kick in, exacerbating the 

problem. The selling was 

amplified by thin liquidity 

owing to a public holiday in 

Japan. 

The flash crash also saw 

the greenback surge around 

four percent against the 

Australian dollar to its 

highest level since 2009. The 

Aussie has been battered by 

slowing growth in China, a 

key export destination for the 

country's commodities 

sector. The lira was also 

down almost 10 percent 

against the greenback. 

"The moves were very 

violent," Stephen Miller, an 

adviser at Grant Samuel 

Funds Management, said. "It 

would have caught some 

by…surprise." 

Oil tumbled on lingering 

concerns about whether 

OPEC-led production cuts 

would be enough to turn 

around prices as supplies 

remain high and demand 

weakens. Prices last year 

suffered their first annual 

decline since 2015 and are 40 

percent down from their 

four-year peaks reached in 

early October. 

India blow as 

spin ace 

Ashwin to 

miss final Test 

India's top spinner 

Ravichandran Ashwin was 

Wednesday ruled out of the 

final Test against Australia 

on what is expected to be 

turning wicket at the 

Sydney Cricket Ground. 

Ashwin, who suffered an 

abdominal strain on the 

fourth day of the opening 

Adelaide Test, trained on 

Tuesday but has not 

recovered in time and will 

miss his third Test in a row. 

Left-arm finger-spinner 

Ravindra Jadeja is 

expected to stay in the side 

for the fourth Test 

beginning Thursday. 

Australia must win to 

prevent India, who lead 2- 

1, claiming a first-ever 

series triumph Down 

Under. 

"It's unfortunate that he's 

had two niggles that are 

quite similar in the last two 

away tours," said skipper 

Virat Kohli. 

"He's very important for 

sure. In Test cricket he's a 

vital part of this team and 

we wanted him to be 100 

percent fit for a longer 

period to that he can come 

back to us in the Test 

format. 

"He is very disappointed 

that he's not able to recover 

in time." 

India will need to make 

at least one change to the 

team that won in 

Melbourne with middleorder 

batsman Rohit 

Sharma, who hit a gritty 63 

in the first innings, jetting 

back to Mumbai after his 

wife gave birth to a 

daughter. 

Maradona 

shows support 

for racism 

victim Koulibaly 

Diego Maradona has 

given his backing to Napoli 

defender Kalidou 

Koulibaly after the 

Senegalese international 

was subjected to racist 

abuse by Inter Milan 

supporters last week. 

Argentina great 

Maradona, who won the 

Serie A title with Napoli in 

1987 and 1990, posted a 

picture of himself on social 

media holding up 

Koulibaly's No.26 shirt 

with a message of support 

for the player, who was 

targeted with monkey 

chants by Inter fans during 

Napoli's 1-0 defeat at the 

San Siro on Wednesday. 

"I played for Napoli for 

seven years and I also 

suffered from racist chants 

from some fans," said 

Maradona, who is coach of 

Mexican second division 

outfit Dorados and adored 

by Napoli fans. 

The 58-year-old, 

currently on holiday in 

Buenos Aires as the 

Mexican league is on a 

break, said he feels "even 

more Neapolitan today and 

that he wants "to be close 

to" Koulibaly. 

"I hope this incident 

signals a turning point to 

eliminate, once and for all, 

racism from football." 

Maradona's gesture of 

solidarity comes after 

thousands of Napoli fans 

wore Koulibaly masks in 

support of the 27-year-old 

during their side's 3-2 win 

over Bologna on Saturday. 

On Friday, European 

football governing body 

UEFA said its anti-racism 

protocol had not been 

followed during the match 

in which Koulibaly, who 

was also sent off, was 

abused. 

Fans were asked three 

times over the loudspeaker 

to stop the abuse, but they 

ignored the pleas. 

According to UEFA's 

protocol, the match should 

have been suspended then 

but instead the game was 

allowed to continue. 

The Italian league 

subsequently ordered Inter 

to play two home matches 

behind closed doors as 

punishment. 

Oil volatile, ends up 2 

pct but demand 

concerns still weigh 

Oil prices rose about 2 percent in choppy 

trading on Wednesday, supported by a slight 

recovery on Wall Street, even as concerns 

remained about weakening global economic 

growth which could hurt demand for oil. 

Brent crude futures gained $1.11, or 2.1 

percent, to settle at $54.91 a barrel, after 

trading between $52.51 and $56.56. 

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude 

ended $1.13, or 2.5 percent, higher at $46.54 

a barrel, after hitting a session low at $44.35 

and high at $47.78. 

Oil futures were buoyed by US equity 

markets as major stock indices pared earlier 

losses. Crude futures have recently tracked 

stocks on Wall Street, which in 2018 

recorded its worst year in a decade. 

However, manufacturing data from China 

earlier added to ongoing concerns about a 

slowing global economy and increased 

output out of countries like Russia. 

China's factory activity contracted for the 

first time in more than two years in 

December, highlighting the challenges facing 

Beijing as it seeks to end a bruising trade war 

with Washington. 

"We still view some slippage in the Chinese 

economy as a significant bearish 

consideration given the fact that they had 

become the largest crude importer in the 

world," Jim Ritterbusch, president of 

Tarek Reaz Khan has 

recently been promoted to 

the rank of Deputy 

Managing Director (DMD) 

of Mutual Trust Bank Ltd 

(MTB) with effect from 

January 01, 2019. Prior to 

this elevation, he was the 

Senior Executive Vice 

President and Head of 

SME and Retail Banking 

Divisions. Khan joined 

MTB on November 01, 

2015 and since then has 

made significant 

contributions to the bank, 

a press release said. 

After completing 

Masters in Marketing from 

the University of Dhaka, he 

started his career with 

Beximco Group as a 

Management Trainee in 

1994. He commenced his 

banking career with 

Standard Chartered Bank 

as a Trainee Officer in 1997 

and worked till 2013, 

where he held several 

Senior Management 

positions. Prior to joining 

MTB, he served Bank 

Alfalah Bangladesh as 

Head of Retail Banking 

and Head of Business, 

Global shares began 2019 on a downbeat 

note while oil prices and bond yields slid and 

the Japanese yen strengthened 

Further pointers are expected this week 

from a closely watched survey on US 

manufacturing 

BENGALURU: Gold touched its highest in 

more than six months on Wednesday as 

sagging equities compounded concerns over 

weakening global markets, prompting safehaven 

flows into the precious metal. 

Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,284.71 

an ounce at 1250 GMT, having earlier 

touched its highest since June 15 at 

$1,288.66. US gold futures rose 0.5 percent 

to $1,287.10. "We are seeing a very riskaverse 

market right now," said Craig Erlam, 

senior market analyst at OANDA. 

Global shares began 2019 on a downbeat 

note while oil prices and bond yields slid and 

the Japanese yen strengthened as data from 

far and wide exacerbated concern over the 

potential for a global economic slowdown. 

Economic and geopolitical concerns mean 

it is only a matter of time before gold shoots 

up, said Kunal Shah, head of research at 

Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai. 

Bangladesh Operations. 

He also served in Premier 

Bank Limited as Deputy 

Managing Director and 

Chief Operating Officer. 

Tarek brings with him over 

25 years of experience with 

22 years in banking in 

Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note 

Euro zone manufacturing data also proved 

disappointing, as activity barely expanded at 

the end of 2018, according to a survey. 

Worries about an economic slowdown and 

excess supply dragged down oil prices from 

multi-year highs reached in October 2018. 

Crude futures ended 2018 down for the first 

year since 2015, with WTI slumping 25 

percent and Brent tumbling 21 percent. 

Russian production hit a post-Soviet 

record in 2018, figures showed on 

Wednesday. Other data showed US output 

reached a record in October and Iraq 

boosted oil exports in December. 

Surging shale output has helped make the 

United States the world's biggest oil 

producer, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Russia. 

Oil production has been at or near record 

highs in all three countries. 

Signs of rising production illustrate the 

challenge facing the Organization of the 

Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, 

including Russia, which are seeking to prop 

up the market with a supply cut of 1.2 million 

barrels per day. 

However, the energy minister for the 

United Arab Emirates, an OPEC member, 

said on Tuesday he remained optimistic 

about achieving a market balance in the first 

quarter. 

Tarek Reaz Khan promoted 

to Deputy Managing 

Director (DMD) of MTB 

different capacities. An 

avid golfer, Tarek has 

attended various local and 

overseas training courses 

and workshops, and 

frequently delivers lectures 

on diverse banking related 

topics 

Gold hits multi-month 

high as falling equities 

cement growth fears 

Markets are also awaiting views from 

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell 

on the US economic outlook and hints about 

interest rates in 2019 when he participates in 

a joint discussion on Friday with former Fed 

heads Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke. 

Further pointers are expected this week 

from a closely watched survey on US 

manufacturing, due on Thursday, followed 

by the December payrolls report on Friday. 

"People are also expecting a softer dollar in 

2019," OANDA's Erlam said, adding that 

gold prices could also be supported by a 

changing outlook for interest rates. 

There are expectations that a three-year 

rate-hiking cycle in the United States has 

come to a close, which would be beneficial 

for non-yielding bullion. The United States 

Treasury market fell earlier in the day on 

assumptions that the Federal Reserve will 

call a halt to its rate increases. Among other 

precious metals, palladium fell 0.5 percent to 

$1,257.49 an ounce. 

Silver was steady at $15.44, having earlier 

touched its highest since Aug. 3 at $15.51, 

while platinum fell 0.2 percent to $789.80.

MISCELLANEOUS 

FRIDAY, JANuARY 4, 2019 

7 

SKorean lawmaker: Spy 

agency says NKorean 

diplomat in hiding 

North Korea's acting 

ambassador to Italy, Jo 

Song Gil, went into hiding 

with his wife in November, 

South Korea's spy agency 

told lawmakers in Seoul on 

Thursday. A high-profile 

defection by one of North 

Korea's elite would be a 

huge embarrassment for 

leader Kim Jong Un as he 

pursues diplomacy with 

Seoul and Washington and 

seeks to portray himself as a 

player in international 

geopolitics. 

South Korean lawmaker 

Kim Min-ki said an official 

from Seoul's National 

Intelligence Service shared 

the information during a 

closed-door briefing. Kim 

did not say whether the spy 

agency revealed any 

information about Jo's 

current whereabouts or 

whether the diplomat had 

plans to defect to South 

Korea. Kim said the NIS said 

it has not been contacted by 

Jo. 

Kim said the NIS official 

said that Jo and his wife left 

the official residence in early 

November, weeks before his 

term was to end in late 

November. Kim said he 

couldn't confirm whether 

the NIS official revealed 

whether Jo and his wife 

were accompanied by any 

children. The NIS earlier 

said it couldn't confirm a 

South Korean media report 

that Jo was under the 

protection of the Italian 

government as he seeks 

asylum in a Western nation. 

North Korea has not yet 

No one budged at President Donald Trump's 

closed-door meeting with congressional 

leaders, so the partial government shutdown 

persisted over his demand for billions of 

dollars to build a wall along the U.S. border 

with Mexico. They'll all try again Friday. 

In public, Trump renewed his dire 

warnings of rapists and others at the border. 

But when pressed in private Wednesday by 

Democrats asking why he wouldn't end the 

shutdown, he responded at one point, "I 

would look foolish if I did that." A White 

House official, one of two people who 

described that exchange only on condition of 

anonymity, said the president had been 

trying to explain that it would be foolish not 

to pay for border security. 

In one big shift, the new Congress will 

convene Thursday with Democrats taking 

majority control of the House, and 

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said they'd 

quickly pass legislation to re-open the 

government - without funds for the border 

wall. 

"Nothing for the wall," Pelosi said in an 

interview to air Thursday on NBC's "Today" 

show. "We can go through the back and 

forth. No. How many more times can we say 

no?" 

But the White House has rejected the 

Democratic package, and Republicans who 

control the Senate are hesitant to take it up 

without Trump on board. Senate Majority 

Leader Mitch McConnell called it a "total 

nonstarter." Trump said ahead of his White 

House session with the congressional leaders 

that the partial shutdown will last "as long as 

it takes" to get the funding he wants. 

"Could be a long time or could be quickly," 

Trump said during lengthy public comments 

at a Cabinet meeting, his first public 

appearance of the new year. Meanwhile, the 

shutdown dragged through a second week, 

closing some parks and leaving hundreds of 

thousands of federal employees without pay. 

Democrats said they asked Trump directly 

during Wednesday's private meeting held in 

the Situation Room why he wouldn't 

consider their package of bills. One measure 

would open most of the shuttered 

government departments at funding levels 

already agreed to by all sides. The other 

would provide temporary funding for 

Homeland Security, through Feb. 8, allowing 

talks to continue over border security. 

"I said, Mr. President, Give me one good 

reason why you should continue your 

shutdown," Senate Minority Leader Chuck 

Schumer said afterward. "He could not give a 

good answer." 

Trump's response about looking foolish 

was confirmed by a White House official and 

another person familiar with the exchange, 

neither of whom was authorized to describe 

the exchange by name. Trump had 

campaigned saying Mexico would pay for the 

wall, but Mexico has refused. 

At another point Wednesday, Trump told 

commented on Jo's status. 

An official with the Italian 

Foreign Ministry said the 

North Korean hadn't 

requested asylum from Italy. 

The official, who spoke on 

condition of anonymity in 

line with standard practice, 

said Jo no longer held 

diplomatic status in Italy. 

That presumably refers to 

his government's ending his 

diplomatic assignment to 

Italy and his being recalled. 

North Korea, which touts 

itself in its propaganda as a 

socialist paradise, is 

extremely sensitive about 

defections, especially among 

its elite diplomatic corps, 

and has previously insisted 

that they are South Korean 

or U.S. plots to undermine 

its government. 

North Korea may publicly 

ignore Jo's possible 

defection or hold back harsh 

criticism to avoid 

highlighting 

the 

vulnerability of its 

government as it pursues 

diplomacy with Washington 

and Seoul, said Koh Yuhwan, 

a North Korea expert 

at Seoul's Dongguk 

University. 

The last senior North 

Korean diplomat known to 

have defected is Thae Yong 

Ho, a former minister at the 

North Korean Embassy in 

London, who fled to South 

Korea in 2016. 

While not identifying him 

by name, the North's state 

media then described Thae 

as "human scum" and 

claimed he was trying to 

escape punishment for 

serious crimes. 

Thae, who has been an 

outspoken critic of Kim Jong 

Un while living in South 

Korea, denied the 

accusations and said he 

defected because he didn't 

want his children to live 

"miserable" lives in the 

North. 

It's possible that Jo is 

trying to defect because of 

similar reasons, said Koh, 

who is a policy adviser for 

South Korean President 

Moon Jae-in. "It could be 

difficult for some diplomats 

to accept being called back to 

the North after enjoying 

years living in the free West. 

They could want their 

children to live in a different 

system and receive better 

education." 

The highest-level North 

Korean to seek asylum in 

South Korea is Hwang Jangyop, 

a senior ruling Workers' 

Party official who once 

tutored Kim Jong Un's late 

father, dictator Kim Jong Il. 

Hwang's 1997 defection 

was hailed by many South 

Koreans as an intelligence 

bonanza. Hwang died in 

2010. 

In 1997, the North Korean 

ambassador to Egypt fled 

and resettled in the United 

States. 

Not much is publicly 

known about Jo, who had 

been North Korea's acting 

ambassador to Rome after 

Italy expelled then- 

Ambassador Mun Jong 

Nam in October 2017 to 

protest a North Korean 

nuclear test. 

After shutdown talks go 

nowhere, officials to try again 

Pelosi that, as a "good Catholic," she should 

support the wall because Vatican City has a 

wall, according to a congressional aide. 

Trump has mentioned the Vatican's 

centuries-old fortifications before, including 

at the earlier Cabinet meeting. But 

Democrats have said they don't want 

medieval barriers, and Pelosi has called 

Trump's proposed wall along the U.S.- 

Mexico border immoral. 

"I remain ready and willing to work with 

Democrats," Trump tweeted after the 

meeting. "Let's get it done!" 

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy 

said that there's no need to prolong the 

shutdown and that he was disappointed the 

talks did not produce a resolution. He 

complained that Democrats interrupted 

Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen as she 

was trying to describe a dreadful situation at 

the border. 

Nielsen, participating in the meeting by 

teleconference, had data about 

unaccompanied minors crossing the border 

and a spike in illegal crossings, and she tried 

to make the case to the group that current 

funding levels won't suffice, according to the 

White House. 

"We were hopeful that we could get more 

of a negotiation," said McCarthy. 

He said the leaders plan to return to the 

White House Friday to continue 

negotiations. White House spokesman 

Hogan Gidley said on Fox that Pelosi will be 

"more able to negotiate" once she is elected 

speaker, as expected Thursday. 

The two sides have traded offers, but their 

talks broke down ahead of the holidays. On 

Wednesday, Trump also rejected his own 

administration's offer to accept $2.5 billion 

for the wall. That proposal was made when 

Vice President Mike Pence and other top 

officials met at the start of the shutdown with 

Schumer, who left saying they remained far 

apart. On Wednesday Trump repeatedly 

pushed for the $5.6 billion he has demanded. 

Making his case ahead of the private 

afternoon session, Trump said the current 

border is "like a sieve" and noted the tear gas 

"flying" overnight to deter arrivals. 

"If they knew they couldn't come through, 

they wouldn't even start," he said at the 

meeting, joined by Cabinet secretaries and 

top advisers, including Jared Kushner and 

Ivanka Trump. 

With no negotiations over the holidays, 

Trump complained he had been "lonely " at 

the White House, having skipped his 

getaway to Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He 

claimed his only companions were the 

"machine gunners," referring to security 

personnel, and "they don't wave, they don't 

smile." He also criticized Pelosi for visiting 

Hawaii. 

At the Capitol on Wednesday, Pelosi said 

she hoped Republicans and the White House 

"are hearing what we have offered" to end 

the shutdown. 

Two-wheeler fire extinguishing motorcycles has been added to Fire Service and Civil Defence in Jhalakathi. 

Iran's health 

minister resigns 

over proposed 

budget cuts 

Iranian state TV says the 

health minister has 

resigned over spending cuts 

in a budget submitted to 

parliament last week. 

It says President Hassan 

Rouhani accepted Health 

Minister Hassan 

Ghazizadeh Hashemi's 

resignation on Thursday. 

Iran is in the grip of an 

economic crisis and has 

seen sporadic protests in 

recent months as officials 

try to downplay the effects 

of renewed U.S. sanctions. 

The $47.5 billion budget 

is less than half the size of 

last year's, mainly due to 

the severe depreciation of 

the local currency following 

President Donald Trump's 

decision to withdraw from 

the 2015 nuclear deal with 

world powers. 

The U.S. has restored 

crippling sanctions in 

recent months, including 

on Iran's energy and 

banking sectors. 

German governor 

condemns actions 

by migrants and 

far-right 

Bavaria's conservative 

governor is condemning 

an incident in which 

young asylum-seekers 

allegedly assaulted 

passers-by in a southern 

German town, but is also 

denouncing far-right 

attempts to exploit it. 

Four apparently 

intoxicated Afghan and 

Iranian teenagers were 

arrested in Amberg on 

Saturday, suspected of 

assaulting people near the 

town's train station. 

Twelve people were hurt, 

most slightly. Bavarian 

officials said it's not legally 

possible to deport the 

suspects but authorities 

want to change that. 

On Thursday, police said 

they were looking into farright 

claims of a local militia 

group being set up but had 

no concrete evidence of that. 

Bavarian governor 

Markus Soeder says "we 

condemn in the strongest 

terms the crimes committed 

in Amberg, but we also 

condemn the fact that 

certain far-right groups are 

trying to abuse this." 

Severe weather 

hampers flight 

operations at 

Delhi airport 

Flight operation at New 

Delhi's airport in India were 

hampered Thursday due to 

rough weather conditions 

including fog, officials said. 

According to officials, all 

departures at the airport 

were put on hold from 7:30 

a.m. local time. 

Two air carriers Jet 

Airways and IndiGo have 

issued an advisory, asking 

their passengers to check 

their flight status as the 

services from Delhi had 

been affected. 

"Due to expected poor 

visibility at Delhi and 

Bengaluru airport, flight 

departures and arrivals may 

be impacted. 

Tropical storm to lash Thailand's 

famed southern beach towns 

Thai authorities suspended ferry services 

and began evacuations Thursday ahead 

of a powerful tropical storm that is 

expected to pound the Southeast Asian 

nation's famed southern beach resorts. 

Rain was already falling around the 

Gulf of Thailand on Thursday morning 

and officials warned that torrential 

downpours, strong winds and rough seas 

were expected in 16 provinces when 

Tropical Storm Pabuk makes its expected 

landfall on Friday. 

"There will be heavy rainfall and we 

have to prepared for flooding or an 

impact on transportation," Prime 

Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said. "We 

are ready ourselves but if the rainfall is 

high we will need some time to resolve 

problems." 




Saturday, with the two provinces of Surat 

Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat 

expected to be hardest hit. Surat Thani is 

home to the popular tourist islands of 

Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. 




per hour (40 mph). It said waves 3 to 5 

meters (yards) high were possible in the 

Gulf of Thailand and 2 to 3 meters (yards) 

high in the Andaman Sea on the west 

coast. It warned of strong winds and 

storm surges on the gulf side and said all 

ships should stay berthed on land 

through Saturday. 

Southern Thailand's tourist industry is 

a huge moneymaker, and authorities 

have become particularly sensitive to 

visitors' safety since last July, when 47 

Chinese tourists drowned when the boat 

they were on sank in rough seas near the 

popular resort of Phuket in the Andaman 

Sea. 

In what was possibly a storm-related 

death, a Russian tourist in Koh Samui 




that the daughter survived but her father 

lost consciousness after being tossed 

against some rocks and couldn't be 

revived by rescuers. 

Fishing is another major industry in the 

south, and small boat owners were 

heeding the warning. Many dragged their 

vessels ashore, attaching ropes to the 

boats and having friends help tug them 

on to beaches. 



of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City at midday 

Thursday, and was expected to bring 

heavy rain and strong winds to the 

Mekong Delta, the country's major area 

for rice and aquaculture production. 

According to Vietnamese state television 

VTV, authorities ordered people to take 

precautions and sent radio alerts to 

thousands of fishing boats to take shelter 

or return to shore. They had forbidden 

new boat departures in five southern 

coastal provinces since Tuesday. 




Saturday, with the two provinces of Surat 

Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat 

expected to be hardest hit. Surat Thani is 

home to the popular tourist islands of 

Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. 




per hour (40 mph). It said waves 3 to 5 

meters (yards) high were possible in the 

Gulf of Thailand and 2 to 3 meters (yards) 

high in the Andaman Sea on the west 

coast. It warned of strong winds and 

storm surges on the gulf side and said all 

ships should stay berthed on land 

through Saturday. 

Southern Thailand's tourist industry is 

a huge moneymaker, and authorities 

have become particularly sensitive to 

visitors' safety since last July, when 47 

Chinese tourists drowned when the boat 

they were on sank in rough seas near the 

popular resort of Phuket in the Andaman 

Sea. 

In what was possibly a storm-related 

death, a Russian tourist in Koh Samui 




that the daughter survived but her father 

lost consciousness after being tossed 

against some rocks and couldn't be 

revived by rescuers. 

Fishing is another major industry in the 

south, and small boat owners were 

heeding the warning. Many dragged their 

vessels ashore, attaching ropes to the 

boats and having friends help tug them 

on to beaches. 



of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City at midday 

Thursday, and was expected to bring 

heavy rain and strong winds to the 

Mekong Delta, the country's major area 

for rice and aquaculture production. 

China lands spacecraft on 'dark' 

side of moon in world first 

China's burgeoning space 

program achieved a first on 

Thursday: a landing on the 

so-called dark side of the 

moon. 

The United States, the 

then-Soviet Union and more 

recently China have all sent 

spacecraft to the near side of 

the moon, which faces 

Earth, but this is the firstever 

landing on the other 

side. 

The China National Space 

Administration said the 

10:26 a.m. landing of the 

Chang'e 4 lunar explorer has 

"opened up a new chapter in 

human lunar exploration." 

A photo taken at 11:40 

a.m. and sent back by 

Chang'e 4 shows a small 

crater and a barren surface 

that appears to be 

illuminated by a light from 

the spacecraft. Its name 

comes from that of a Chinese 

goddess who, according to 

legend, has lived on the 

moon for millennia. 

The landing highlights 

China's growing ambitions 

to rival the U.S., Russia and 

Europe in space, and more 

broadly, to cement China's 

position as a regional and 

global power. 

The Chang'e 4's launch on 

Dec. 8 was hailed as one of 

the nation's major 

achievements in 2018, and 

state broadcaster China 

Central Television 

announced Thursday's 

landing to the public at the 

top of the noon news. 

"The space dream is part 

of the dream to make China 

stronger," President Xi 

Jinping said as far back as 

2013, shortly after taking 

office. In 2013, Chang'e 3, 

the predecessor craft to the 

current mission, made the 

first moon landing since the 

former Soviet Union's Luna 

24 in 1976. The United 

States is the only country 

that has successfully sent a 

person to the moon, though 

China is considering a 

crewed mission too. 

For now, it plans to send 

its Chang'e 5 probe to the 

moon next year and have it 

return to Earth with samples 

- also not done since the 

Soviet mission in 1976. 

The relatively unexplored 

far side of the moon has a 

different composition than 

the near side, where 

previous missions have 

landed. 

Chang'e 4, a combined 

lander and rover, will make 

astronomical observations 

and probe the structure and 

mineral composition of the 

terrain above and below the 

surface. 

"The far side of the moon 

is a rare quiet place that is 

free from interference from 

radio signals from Earth," 

mission spokesman Yu 

Guobin said, according to 

the official Xinhua News 

Agency. "This probe can fill 

the gap of low-frequency 

observation in radio 

astronomy and will provide 

important information for 

studying the origin of stars 

and nebula evolution." 

One challenge of operating 

on the far side of the moon is 

communicating with Earth. 

China launched a relay 

satellite in May so that 

Chang'e 4 can send back 

information. 

Photo: Manik Roy 

Italy: North 

Korean envoy 

didn't ask for 

asylum 

The Italian Foreign 

Ministry says the envoy 

who had been North 

Korea's acting ambassador 

in Rome has not asked 

Italian authorities for 

asylum. 


told lawmakers in Seoul on 

Thursday that North 

Korean diplomat Jo Song 

Gil went into hiding with 

his wife in November 

before his term in Italy 

ended. His whereabouts 

are not publicly known 

now. 

Italy on Thursday noted 

that it had been notified in 

the past that Jo's spell as a 

diplomat in Italy had 

ended and thus he no 

longer held any diplomatic 

position in Italy. 

It wasn't immediately 

clear if the diplomat might 

have sought asylum from 

another country's embassy 

or consulate in Italy. 

Ministry officials spoke 

to The Associated Press 

under their customary 

rules of anonymity on 

delicate matters. 

By Frances D'Emilio in 

Rome. 

South Korea says North 

Korea's acting ambassador 

to Italy, Jo Song Gil, went 

into hiding with his wife in 

November. 


told the information to 

lawmakers in Seoul on 

Thursday. 

A high-profile defection 

by one of North Korea's 

elite would be a huge 

embarrassment for leader 

Kim Jong Un as he 

pursues diplomacy with 

Seoul and Washington and 

seeks to portray himself as 

a player in international 

geopolitics. 

South Korean lawmaker 

Kim Min-ki said an official 

from Seoul's National 

Intelligence Service shared 

the information during a 

closed-door briefing. Kim 

said the NIS said it has not 

been contacted by Jo. 

North Korea has not yet 

commented on Jo's status. 

About 30,000 North 

Koreans have defected to 

South Korea since the end 

of the 1950-53 Korean War. 

Severe weather 

hampers flight 

operations at 

Delhi airport 

Flight operation at New 

Delhi's airport in India were 

hampered Thursday due to 

rough weather conditions 

including fog, officials said. 

According to officials, all 

departures at the airport were 

put on hold from 7:30 a.m. 

local time. 

Two air carriers Jet Airways 

and IndiGo have issued an 

advisory, asking their 

passengers to check their 

flight status as the services 

from Delhi had been affected. 

"Due to expected poor 

visibility at Delhi and 

Bengaluru airport, flight 

departures and arrivals may 

be impacted. Do check your 

flight status before you leave 

for the airport," IndiGo in a 

statement said. Officials said 

dense fog conditions have 

also affected some trains due 

to low visibility.

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY 

FriDAy, DHAKA, JANUAry 4, 2019, POUSH 21, 1425 BS, rABi-US-SUNNi 27, 1440 HiJri 

After concluding of hearing of Naiko graft case, lawyer of Khaleda Zia Barrister Moudud 

Ahmed talked to journalists on Thursday. 


Bangladesh signs PPP contract 

for Dhaka Bypass 

DHAKA : A consortium of companies 

from China - Sichuan Road and Bridge 

Group, Shamim Enterprise Ltd, and 

UDC Construction Limited-have signed a 

concession contract with the government 

of Bangladesh to upgrade the Dhaka 

Bypass under a public-private partnership 

(PPP) arrangement. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) 

acted as financial advisor on the transaction 

to the Public-Private Partnership 

Authority (PPPA) of Bangladesh, reports 

UNB. 

Under the contract signed with the 

Ministry of Roads and Bridges, a fourlane 

tollway and a two-lane service road 

will be added to the Joydevpur- 

Debogram-Bhulta-Madanpur Road (N- 

105) section of the expressway, ADB said 

on Thursday. The 48-kilometer (km) 

project will provide a major arterial connection 

between the industrial zone 

northeast of Dhaka and national highway 

N1 connecting to the port city of 

Chattogram, as well as to N2, N3, and N4 

highways leading to other major cities. 

The consortium will design, build, 

finance, operate, and maintain the tolled 

expressway over a 25-year concession 

period, and will be able to charge tolls 

based on vehicle type. 

The Government of Bangladesh will 

offer viability gap funding of 3.1 billion 

taka and a minimum revenue guarantee 

to the consortium to optimize the cost of 

financing. The contract also provides the 

government with a share of revenues 

generated by the consortium over a certain 

threshold. 

"This project brings a new dimension 

to public service delivery in Bangladesh. 

It is the first access-controlled expressway 

in the country," said Chief Executive 

Officer of PPPA Syed Afsor H. Uddin. 

He said this landmark transaction will 

pave the way for a pipeline of national 

expressways across Bangladesh. 

"ADB aims to accelerate road development 

in Bangladesh while minimizing 

the financing and operational burden 

and bringing in a diverse set of internationally 

renowned infrastructure developers, 

operators, and financial institutions," 

said the Head of ADB's Office of 

Public-Private Partnership (OPPP) Yoji 

Morishita. 

"The Government of Bangladesh establishes 

the objectives of the infrastructure 

as well as some credit supports to tackle 

the traffic challenge, while the private 

sector takes responsibility for meeting 

the objectives. The Dhaka Bypass is the 

first step in our strategy to bring 

Bangladesh roads to the global market 

based on the PPP model." 

ADB's OPPP also provided legal support 

for this transaction and helped to 

develop a concession contract template 

for road PPPs through the Asia Pacific 

Project Preparation Facility (AP3F), a 

multi-donor trust fund managed by ADB. 

This project marks the first successful 

collaboration between ADB's transaction 

advisory services and AP3F. 

ADB has been working with the 

Government of Bangladesh for over 5 

years to transform the country's roads by 

making them a bankable asset class 

attractive to international investors, as 

has happened in other sectors such as the 

independent power producer sector. 

ADB's OPPP is also the transaction 

advisor to PPPA on the 13.5-km 

Rampura-Amulia-Demra Expressway in 

Dhaka and in December 2018 was 

appointed transaction advisor for the 

approximately 210-km Dhaka 

Chattogram Expressway, the busiest 

road artery for passenger and freight in 

the country. 

2 Appellate 

Division benches 

formed 

DHAKA : The Appellate 

Division of the Supreme 

Court formed two benches 

on Thursday to run judicial 

activities, reports UNB. 

Chief Justice Syed 

Mahmud Hossain issued an 

order to form the benches, 

said special officer 

Mohammad Saifur Rahman 

of the High Court Division. 

The chief justice will chair 

one bench. Justice Hasan 

Foyez Siddique, Justice Zinat 

Ara and Justice Md 

Nuruzzaman will assist him. 

Senior Justice Muhammad 

Imman Ali will lead another 

bench and will be assisted by 

Justice Mirza Hussain 

Haider and Justice Abu 

Bakar Siddiquee. 

JOF candidates' 

meeting begins 

in city 

DHAKA : The candidates of 

Jatiya Oikyafront (JOF) who 

contested the 11th parliamentary 

elections with 'Sheaf of 

Paddy' symbol sat in a meeting 

at BNP chairperson's Gulshan 

office on Thursday. 

The meeting began around 

12:15 pm, reports UNB. 

Each of the candidates will 

submit a report with necessary 

documents about the irregularities 

occurred during election 

in their respective areas. 

Later, they will submit a 

memorandum to the Election 

Commission (EC) demanding 

a reelection under a nonparty 

caretaker government. 

President invites Hasina 

to form new govt 

DHAKA : President Abdul 

Hamid on Thursday invited 

Awami League President 

Sheikh Hasina to form the 

new government after her 

party's massive victory in 

the 11th national election, 

reports UNB. 

The President extended 

the invitation after Sheikh 

Hasina met him at 

Bangabhaban. 

Sheikh Hasina arrived at 

the President's House at 

4:20 pm to meet him. 

This is the very first meeting 

of the Prime Minister 

with the President after 

Awami League's absolute 

victory in the national election 

held on December 30. 

President's press secretary 

Joynal Abedin briefed 

reporters after the meeting. 

The President said the 

election results were the verdict 

by the people in favour 

of the ideals of the country's 

independence, Liberation 

War, development and 

progress. 

Hamid hoped that 

Bangladesh will turn into 

'Sonar Bangla' under the 

leadership of Sheikh Hasina 

and prayedfor her success. 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina expressed her gratitude 

to the people of the 

country for her party's massive 

victory in the election. 

AL General Secretary 

Obaidul Quader and 

CommerceMinister Tofayel 

Ahmed were present at the 

meeting. Secretaries to 

Bangabhaban and Prime 

Ministerwere also present. 

Jatiya Party decides to join 

Grand Alliance govt 

DHAKA : Jatiya Party Parliamentary 

Party on Thursday decided to join the 

Awami League-led Grand Alliance government 

to 'contribute' to the country's further 

development under the leadership of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina, reports UNB. 

Party cochairman GM Quader came up 

with the announcement after its parliamentary 

party's meeting in Parliament. 

"All of our MPs wanted us to join the 

Grand Alliance to form its government, 

and we also carried out our electioneering 

in that way," he said. 

GM Quader further said, "We didn't 

think BNP's election results would be so 

poor. Now we all agreed to remain in the 

Grand Alliance government. We would like 

to keep contributing to building the country 

and taking it forward under the leadership 

of Grand Alliance leader Sheikh 

Hasina." He said their party delegation will 

soon meet the Prime Minister to discuss 

the issue with her. 

Asked which party will be there in the 

Opposition if they join the government, the 

Jatiya Party cochairman said it is not their 

concern. "The way people cast their votes 

there is no situation for making any party 

the opposition." 

He said their leaders and activists 

worked together with Awami League to 

ensure the victory of the Grand Alliance 

and form a government together. "So, people 

may not accept it if we now play the 

role of the opposition. It's a practical problem." 

Nova Scotia’s Christmas 

Gift to Boston 

INTERESTING NEWS 

For nearly half a century, the Canadian 

province of Nova Scotia has been sending a 

gift to the people of Boston in the form of a 

Christmas tree. This annual tradition of holiday 

goodwill goes back to 1971, but the 

events that led to it is older still and was one 

of great tragedy. 

In 1917, the port city of Halifax in Nova 

Scotia was a bustling scene of activity. The 

Great War in Europe was in its third year 

and Halifax’s strategic location in the 

Caribbean-Canada-United Kingdom shipping 

triangle made it an integral part of 

Allied war efforts not only during the First 

World War but the second one as well. The 

port’s protective waters sheltered convoys 

from German U-boat attack, while Halifax’s 

railway connection and world class port 

facilities enabled supplies, munitions and 

troops to be assembled from all around 

Canada and the US before they headed out 

into the open Atlantic Ocean and to the 

Western Front. 

While the war brought unspeakable horrors 

in Europe, for many in Halifax it was 

an era of wealth and opportunity. Millions 

of tons of supplies passed through the port, 

arriving by rail and departing on ships 

towards the war. In addition to vessels of 

the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal 

Navy, hundreds of merchant ships from 

around the world converged at Halifax, 

needing repair or resupply. Jobs became 

plentiful. Migrant workers arrived in search 

of available work at the dockyards, railyards, 

the sugar refinery and other factories. 

Streets were filled with soldiers and 

sailors and local businesses boomed. The 

city’s population swelled to more than 

60,000. 

fl§viK bs›fl^vtAwat/fl^vt wktey¤t/we`vcb/2018/3294ZvwiL t 

CPB 

demands 

reelection 

under 

neutral 

govt 

DHAKA : The Communist 

Party of Bangladesh on 

Thursday demanded holding 

fresh national election under 

a neutral government, 

reports UNB. 

"Cancel results of this 

unprecedentedly rigged election," 

CPB leader Ruhin 

Hossain Princesaid at a 

human chain protest at 

Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka. 

"Hold a free, fair and participatory 

election under a 

neutral government," he 

said, reading out a prepared 

statement. 

Ruhin claimed that there 

had been many victims of 

post-election violence. 

"There is no atmosphere 

for holding a free and fair 

election under the incumbent 

government. This farcical 

election has proven it. 

Many people did not get the 

chance to exercise their voting 

rights," he alleged. 

The ruling Awami Leagueled 

coalition won 96 percent 

seats in the December 30 

polls. 

As the next course of 

action, CPB leader Ruhin 

said a daylong public hearing 

would be held at JPC on 

January 11. 

A human chain was formed by Bam Ganotatrik Jote yesterday in front of National Press Club in the 

capital. 


All that's not good at DU's 

medical centre 

DHAKA : Many think public universities 

are meant for only providing 

education. Not exactly! These 

days, students come up with their 

basic health needs and university 

medical centres are supposed to 

address those, reports UNB. 

A few days back, a female student 

of Dhaka University shared in 

social what she experienced at the 

institution's medical centre. She 

recently visited the facility thrice 

with an eye problem but was 

denied treatment every time, she 

alleged. 

Her Facebook post mostly drew 

negative and angry comments, 

lambasting the poor treatment at 

DU's lone medical treatment facility, 

set up in 1922. 

Thirty-six doctors, including six 

part-timers and six homeopaths, 

are there to treat more than 39,000 

students, 2,012 teachers, over 

4,000 staff and their families. The 

centre only has 30 beds and four 

ambulances. 

It does not have a separate ward 

for female patients. 

Over 400 patients visit the centre 

every day but many complain 

about poor services and the 

absence of physicians. 

Students alleged that the centre 

advised them to get treated at the 

Dhaka Medical College Hospital 

(DMCH) - even for common diseases 

or minor injuries - most of 

the time. 

Dr Sarawer Jahan Muktafi, the 

chief medical officer (acting) of the 

centre, turned down the allegations. 

"We're always trying our best 

to serve the patients despite our 

limitations," he said. 

Staff at the medical centre 

claimed that 140,320 people were 

treated at the centre in 2016-17 fiscal. 

A source at the university said the 

medical centre was supposed to 

provide free medicines for some 

common diseases but most of the 

time, it offers only painkillers and 

Napa. 

The facility is also supposed to 

supply fresh bed sheets and 

mosquito nets to patients but it 

rarely does, the source said. More 

worrying is that its toilets are not 

cleaned regularly. 

DU Proctor Prof AKM Golam 

Rabbani said they are expanding 

the medical centre and would hire 

more people. "We can open the 

extension after a few months. That 

will solve the problems," he hoped. 

But those assurances are hardly 

enough to pacify the disgruntled 

students. 

"The physicians and staff are not 

friendly and doctors remain absent 

most of the time," said Shimul 

Shahriar, an MA student. "They 

don't take us seriously even if we 

suffer from serious illnesses." 

"They offer us painkillers or Napa 

and tell us to go to the DMCH or 

other hospitals for treatment. This 

medical centre is good for nothing," 

he said. 

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

04-01-2018

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