23-07-2019

tuesDaY
DhAkA: July 23, 2019; Shrabon 8, 1426 BS; Zilquad 19,1440 hijri
www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net
Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.17; No.179; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00
international
Britain's May to chair
emergency session
on seized tanker
>Page 7
art & culture
Mahershala Ali to
Star in Marvel's
'Blade' Reboot
>Page 8
sport
Taijul eying to fill the
void of Shakib
>Page 9
Barrister Suman
sued for 'hurting'
religious sentiment
DHAKA : A case was filed against
Supreme Court lawyer Barrister
Syed Sayedul Haque Suman on
Monday for reportedly making
derogatory remarks about Hindu
religion.
Goutam Kumar, a resident of the
city's Bhashantek area, filed the case
with the Cyber Crime Tribunal.
Tribunal Judge Al Shams Jaglul
Hossain asked the officer-in-charge
of Bhashantek Police Station to
investigate the complaint and submit
a report on September 25, said plaintiff's
lawyer Sumon Kumar Roy.
According to the case statement,
Barrister Suman made disparaging
comments on Hindu religion on his
Facebook page on July 19, hurting
the religious sentiment of the Hindu
community.
Besides, he made 'offensive comments'
about Hindu religion on April
19. Goutam appealed to the court to
issue a warrant for Suman's arrest.
2 AL leaders gunned
down in Satkhira,
Bandarban
DHAKA : Two Awami League leaders
were shot dead by unidentified miscreants
in Satkhira and Bandarban
districts on Monday, reports UNB.
In Satkhira, Nazrul Islam, 55, vicepresident
of Agardari union unit
Awami League and son of
Nesaruddin of Kuchpukur village in
sadar upazila, was shot dead by miscreants
at Kashempur Hazampara in
the district town.
Quoting witnesses, police super of
the district Iltutmish said a gang of
miscreants appeared at the spot riding
a motorbike and fired gunshots
on Nazrul while he was returning
home from Kadamtala Bazar around
11:30 am, leaving him dead on the
spot.
The motive behind the killing could
not be known yet.
However, Palash, son of the victim,
said his father might have been killed
following an enmity with former UP
member Towhidul.
In Bandarban, Mong Pru Thoai,
president of Tarasa union unit
Awami League, was gunned down by
some miscreants at Shamukjhuri in
Roangchhari upazila.
Police super of Bandarban Zakir
Hossain said the miscreants opened
fire on Mong while he was going to
the district town by a motorbike at
noon. He died on the spot.
Meanwhile, a joint force, including
police and army, launched a manhunt
to arrest the culprits.
Zohr
04:00 AM
12:10 PM
04:43 PM
06:50 PM
08:20 PM
5:23 6:47
Failure to control
mosquitoes irks HC
DHAKA :The High Court on Monday
summoned the chief health officers of
the two city corporations of Dhaka to
appear before it on July 25 to explain
their failure in controlling mosquitoes
in the city.
The HC bench of Justice Tariq ul
Hakim and Justice Md Shohrowardi
passed the order after receiving a
report on the steps taken by the two
city corporations to destroy Aedes
mosquitoes for preventing the spread
of dengue and Chikonguniya viruses,
reports UNB.
The High Court also expressed dissatisfaction
over the joint compliance
report of the two city corporations submitted
before it.
Assistant Attorney General Saira
Fairoz submitted the report which said
medicines are being spread across the
capital for killing mosquitoes in addition
to taking steps to create mass
awareness.
Referring to the reports, the HC in its
observation said, "The court is not
happy with the steps taken by the two
city corporations and it clearly shows
that they've failed to take any effective
measure. Had they taken any measure
then people would not have been
admitted to hospitals. We don't see
DHAKA : President
of Bangladesh
E c o n o m i c
Association (BEA)
Prof Abul Barkat on
Monday said Priya
Saha distorted his
research findings
claiming that he did
never say that some
37 million Hindus,
Buddhists and
Christians are
missing, reports
UNB.
Dr Barkat said some 1.13 crore Hindus
went missing in the last five decades -
1964-2013 - and there is no similarity with
his research findings and what Priya Saha
conveyed to US President Donald Trump
and a subsequent video message quoting
him.
"As a social researcher, I want to be sure
that Priya Saha will quickly withdraw her
statements quoting my name which are
confusing and devoid of principles," Prof
Barkat said in a media statement.
In a video clip that went viral on social
media on Friday, Priya Saha was heard
telling Trump: "Sir, I'm from Bangladesh
... 37 million Hindus, Buddhists and
Christians are disappeared. Please help us
anyone getting admitted to hospital
with dengue virus."
On July 16, the High Court had asked
the authorities concerned to take effective
measures within 24 hours to
destroy Aedes mosquito for preventing
the spread of dengue and
Chikonguniya.
It had passed a suomoto order after
taking cognisance of the reports of
dengu fever and Aedes mosquito published
in different newspapers.
It had also asked the two city corporations
and other respondents to
inform the court about the steps taken
for controlling dengue and chikanguniya
within July 22.
The HC issued a rule asking the government
to explain as to why the ineffectiveness
of the respondents in controlling
aedes mosquito should not be
declared illegal and why action should
not be taken against them for failure to
take effective measures.
The mayors of Dhaka North and
South city Corporations, Chief
Executive officer of the two city corporations,
health secretary, LGRD secretary,
Director General of the
Directorate of Director General of
Health Services (DGHS) have been
made respondent to the rule.
'Priya Saha distorted my research
findings': Prof Barkat
- for the Bangladeshi people. We want to
stay in our country."
She also said there are 18 million minority
people. "My request is, please help us,
we don't want to leave our country, just
help us stay. I've lost my home, they've
burned my home, they (have) taken away
my land, but no judgment (is) yet taken
please, please ..."
Later, in a video message, Priya Saha
explained her position and tried to defend
her remarks tagging Abul Barkat's
research findings
Road Transport and Bridges Minister
Obaidul Quader on Sunday said he has
been instructed by Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina not to take any hasty step against
Priya Saha for her remarks during a meeting
with US President Donald Trump.
On Saturday, the government said it
appears that there was an ulterior motive
behind Priya Saha's absolutely false and
concocted stories that were targeted to
malign Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh is a beacon of religious
freedom and communal harmony,
where people of all faiths have been
living in peace for ages," said the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, strongly
protesting all the blatant lies told by
Priya Saha to US President Donald
Trump.
Police on Sunday night arrested three people from Ali Mor area in Uttar Badda here in connection
with the lynching a woman on Saturday following a child-lifting rumour.
Photo : Star Mail
Demonstrating students of Dhaka University yesterday announced that they will continue their movement
demanding cancellation of seven colleges' affiliation with the university, as the authorities have not given
assurance of scrapping the affiliation.
Photo: TBT
Rifat Murder: Court
dismisses Minni's
two petitions
BARGUNA : A court here on Monday dismissed
two petitions filed by lawyers of
Aysha Siddika Minni seeking her production
before it to take her signature in two
appeals for withdrawal of her confessional
statement and ensuring her proper
treatment over the killing of her husband
Rifat Sharif.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Sirajul Alam
Gazi passed the order, asking the counsels
to file the petitions through the jail
authorities, reports UNB.
The judge also directed the jail authorities
to provide treatment to Minni in jail.
Minni's counsel Barguna Bar Association
general secretary Advocate Mahbubul
Bari said they need Minni's signature to
file appeals seeking withdrawal of her
confessional statement and for her proper
treatment. "So we appealed to the court
seeking its order to produce her before it,"
he said, adding that the court turned
down the petitions.
He also said they will file the appeals
with the jail authorities on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the court rejected the bail
application of Minni in the murder case.
Aysha Siddika Minni who was arrested
on July 16 night after nearly 12 hours of
interrogation reportedly confessed to her
involvement in the murder before the
court on July 19.
Her father Mozammel Hossain after
meeting Minni in jail on July 20 alleged
that she was forced to confess the crime
and a vested group was trying to divert
the direction.
Rifat Sharif, 22, was attacked with
sharp weapons near the main gate of
Barguna Government College on June
26. His wife Minni appeared to be trying
to protect him during the attack that was
caught on surveillance camera.
'No compromise on quality
service', says BTRC chairman
DHAKA : BTRC Chairman Jahurul
Haque has said there is "no alternative to
quality service" when it comes to the
country's mobile network and internet
service, reports UNB.
"We're working to ensure quality service.
Many operators are failing to provide
the requisite service to their clients due to
lack of spectrum. There'll be no compromise
with operators on the issue of quality
service," the BTRC chairman said in an
interview with UNB.
On tower sharing and upgrading,
Haque urged all the operators to be cooperative
towards each other. "Each of them
has around 25-30,000 towers. The 4
companies who received tower licenses
from the authority to build them are yet to
reach a consensus with the operators.
We'll finalise our decision and notify the
four companies concerned, and they are
bound to comply with our decision."
Talking about complaints against the
four mobile operators, the BTRC chairman
provided figures for last March,
which revealed a total of 334 complaints
against market leader Grameenphone,
448 complaints against Robi, 149 against
Banglalink, 166 against Airtel and 101
complaints against Teletalk.
Replying to a query about
Grameenphone subscribers being reputedly
the worst sufferers of network problems,
Haque mentioned that all operators
have problems to some degree. "When
subscribers complain, we take steps to
solve those. We won't compromise with
anyone in case of quality service."
"The Quality of Service Regulation has
DHAKA : Information Minister Dr
Hasan Mahmud yesterday said a good
film could play a vital role in maintaining
peace in the society as well as protecting
the humanity.
"Films can keep the youth away from
drugs, militancy and terrorism. A good
film could play a vital role in exploring
the intellect and conscience side by side
with building the state, the nation and
the society," he said while addressing a
two-day 'Peace Film Festival' at the
Public Library here.
FILMS4PEACE Foundation organized
the first ever peace film festival in
Bangladesh, where some 20 films of
young filmmakers will be screened.
Former teacher of International
Relations Department of Dhaka
University Professor Dr CR Abrar,
Festival Director Rokeya Prachy,
Manusher Jonnyo Foundation Chief
Executive Shaheen Anam, eminent
already been issued to verify if the relevant
standards with regards to services of
the operators meet best practices.Tests
drives are being conducted in different
areas. No operator should be labeled as
best operator as the quality of service
varies from one place to another. We're
working to improve the services of all
operators across the country."
The BTRC chief mentioned that work is
on to solve the problems that the operators
face frequently such as load-shedding
and battery stealing.
Referring to the 'call drop' nuisance
faced by almost all mobile phone users, he
said a notice has already been issued to
the operators seeking explanation over
dropped calls.
Haque said there has been some
improvement in this regard and that the
customers are now benefiting from.
"Hopefully, there will be more progress."
Referring to the recovery of unregistered
SIM, the BTRC Chairman said a
total of 30 drives were conducted across
the country to check fake RIM/SIM
registration.
A total of 15,124 fake SIMs were
recovered. Of them, 1,118 are of GP
while 2475 of Robi, 1837 of Banglalink,
a whopping 9667 of state-run telco
Teletalk and 27 against non-existent
Citycell. Besides, law enforcers arrested
102 people in this connection. Talking
about illegal handsets in the country,
Haque said 2,76,80,840 mobile handsets
were imported last year. There are
about 25-30 percent 'gray market' available
for handsets in Bangladesh.
Films play role in maintaining
peace in society: Hasan
film director Kawsar Chowdhury and
Foundation Executive Director Pervez
Siddique, among others, addressed the
inaugural function.
Dr Hasan said there is no alternative
to films to explore the humanity and
for peace to move the society ahead.
"Tolerance and consciousness are
needed to stop rumors in the society
like child kidnapping for Padma river,"
he added.
The minister said, "Film speaks for
the life of people and it works as a mirror
of society and its people… I want to
urge the filmmakers including the
youth to make films for arousing patriotism,
aptitude, love and affection."
Dr Hasan, also the publicity and publication
secretary of the ruling Awami
League, said, "We should build a developed
nation besides developing the
country. We need to stay away from
being self-centered."

NEWS
TUeSDAY,
JUlY 23, 2019
2
A pleasant reception programme for meritorious students was held at Milestone College on Monday.
The aesthetic reception programme for all the meritorious students who got GPA-5 in the HSC examination
of this year from Milestone College. Founder and adviser of Milestone College Colonel Nurun
Nabi (retd.) was present in the ceremony as Chief Guest.Principal of Diabari permanent campus
Professor Md. Sahidul Islam, Principal of the administrative campus Colonel M. Kamaluddin
Bhuiyan (retd.) And Director Md. Masud Alam were present as special guest. All meritorious students
received honorary crests for their outstanding performances in the HSC examination. Zarif
Mohsin and Ajamine Anjum speak on behalf of the students. Vice-Principal Mizanur Rahman Khan
and Associate Professor of physics department Shafayet Uddin speak on behalf of the teachers. Chief
Guest Colonel Nurun Nabi (retd.) said, Milestone College is proud of you. It will be nice to walk on
your way and successfully move forward. Be a good person and will work for the welfare of the people.
He also said, Milestone College always on your side. Heads of all faculties, Teachers, students
and guardians were present in the bewitching ceremony.
Photo : Courtesy
Iran says it arrested 17 CIA spies,
some sentenced to death
Iran said Monday it has arrested 17
Iranian nationals allegedly recruited
by the Central Intelligence Agency to
spy on the country's nuclear and
military sites, and that some of them
have already been sentenced to death,
reports UNB.
The arrests took place over the past
months and those taken into custody
worked on "sensitive sites" in the
country's military and nuclear
facilities, an Iranian intelligence
official told a press conference in
Tehran.
He did not elaborate, say how many
of them got the death sentence nor
when the sentences were handed
down.
The announcement comes as Iran's
nuclear deal with world powers is
unraveling and tensions have spiked
in the Persian Gulf region. The crisis
stems from President Donald Trump's
decision to pull the United States out
Several stabbed
in riot at juvenile
detention in
Australia
Several inmates were
stabbed during a riot at an
Australian juvenile
detention center that ended
after 21 hours with 20
arrests, police said Monday,
reports UNB.
The riot at the detention
center north of Sydney
started at 8.30 p.m. Sunday,
Police Superintendent John
Gralton said. Nine inmates
surrendered by Monday
afternoon but another 11 had
not, he said. Police later
stormed the rooftop where
the rioters were holding out
and arrested them, a police
statement said.
"With nightfall coming,
due to safety risks for all
involved, we decided it was
time," Gralton told
reporters.
The union representing
the guards said inmates
stole keys from an officer
and took garden tools,
including a hedge trimmer
and shovels, from a
maintenance shed. Public
Service Association general
secretary Stewart Little said
the group targeted known
sex offenders.
"It seems a very sudden
and unprovoked incident,"
Police Superintendent Tony
Joice said. "Identifying the
means and reasons why the
assaults have taken place is
part of the investigation."
Gralton said five injured
inmates were taken to
hospitals and one was in
intensive care.
of Tehran's deal last year and intensify
sanction on the country.
The Iranian official did not give his
name but was identified as the
director of the counterespionage
department of Iran's Intelligence
Ministry. Such a procedure is highly
unusual in Iran; officials usually
identify themselves at press
conferences. It is also rare for
intelligence officials to appear before
the media.
The official claimed that none of the
17, who allegedly had "sophisticated
training," had succeeded in their
sabotage missions. Their spying
missions included collecting
information at the facilities they
worked at, carrying out technical and
intelligence activities and transferring
and installing monitoring devices, he
said.
The official further claimed the CIA
had promised those arrested U.S.
visas or jobs in America and that some
of the agents had turned and were
now working with his department
"against the U.S."
He also handed out a CD with a
video recording of an alleged foreign
female spy working for the CIA. The
disc also included names of several
U.S. Embassy staff in Turkey, India,
Zimbabwe and Austria who Iran
claims were in touch with the
recruited Iranian spies.
There was no immediate comment
from Washington.
Occasionally, Iran announces
detentions of spies it says are working
for foreign countries, including the
U.S. and Israel. In June, Iran said it
executed a former staff member of the
Defense Ministry who was convicted
of spying for the CIA.
In April, Iran said it uncovered 290
CIA spies both inside and outside the
country over the past years.
5828 multimedia classrooms
installed in Rajshahi division
RAJSHAHI: More than 5,828
multimedia classrooms were installed in
educational institutions in all eight
districts under Rajshahi division opening
up a new door of expediting the process
of modernization in education system.
"We have established the digital
classrooms in 484 colleges, 2,415
secondary schools and 2,929 primary
schools in the division till June last," said
Nur-Ur-Rahman, Commissioner of
Rajshahi division, reports BSS.
Besides, Sheikh Russell Digital
Laboratories were established in 102
colleges, 375 secondary schools and 12
primary schools in order to boosting
students' empowerment through using of
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) as well as internet.
Rahman said students attention to
education has started boosting amidst
addition of ICT as well as installation of
multimedia in classrooms because the
students of such types of schools have got
the scopes of seeing and understanding
their topics on big projection screen. He
added that education support is one of
the 10 special initiatives of Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina. Utmost
emphasis was given to keep all the
multimedia classrooms and other digital
devices functional round the year so that
the students can derive total benefits of
those. At present, some 706 upazilabased
secondary schools are using
multimedia classrooms in Rajshahi
district. "We are hastening teachinglearning
privileges side by side with
preparing the teachers through imparting
them with need-based training in these
schools," said Nasir Uddin, District
Education Officer.
'Shahjalal University Speakers Club' of Shahjalal Universality of Science and
Technology(SUST) arranged a Inter department presentation competition-
2019 on Saturday at ICT Bhaban of the university.
Photo: Khandaker Gulam Sarwar Sium.
Youth killed in
Satkhira over
land dispute
SATKHIRA : A young man
was killed and another
person injured in an attack
by rivals over a land dispute
at Muragachha village in
Tala upazila on Monday.
The deceased was
identified as Khaleque
Sardar, 26, son of Sayeed
Sarader of the village.
Victim's uncle Samad
Sardar said Sayeed had long
been at loggerheads with
Dhona Sardar of the village
over a passage.
As a sequel of the enmity,
Dhona's son Rahmat Sardar,
wife Isamati, two daughters
Nuri Begum and Sharbanu
Begum and daughter-in-law
Halima Begum swooped on
Khaleque around 7am and
beat him mercilessly.
As victim's uncle Razzak
Sardar came to rescue him,
attackers also beat him,
injuring them.
The injured were first
taken to a local hospital
where Khaleque was
referred to Khulna Medical
College Hospital for better
treatment. However, he died
on the way.
Man attempts
suicide after 'killing
wife, daughter' in
Magura
MAGURA : A man
attempted to commit suicide
allegedly after killing his wife
and daughter at Parnanduali
village near the town here
following a family feud on
Monday .
The deceased were
identified as Punya Rani, 25
and her 10-month old
daughter Manob.
Confirming the incident,
Tarikul Islam, Magura
Additional Superintendent
of Police, said being
informed by locals, police
went to the rented house of
Bitu Mazumder, 40, and
found the throat-slit bodies
of his wife and daughter
lying in a pool of blood.
Bitu, who sustained
injuries on throat following a
suicide attempt, was
admitted to Magura Sadar
Hospital, he said.
The bodies were sent to
hospital morgue for autopsy
and a case has been filed in
this regard, he added.
'Deranged son'
kills father in
Munshiganj
MUNSHIGANJ : A father
was stabbed to death
allegedly by his deranged
son at Durgabari in Srinagar
upazila early Monday,
reports UNB.
The deceased was
identified as Shahed Ali, 60,
of Shologhar union in the
upazila. Quoting locals,
Yunus Ali, Officer-in-Charge
of Srinagar Police Station,
said Shahed
Ali was preparing to go to
Dhaka after Fazar prayers
and when he went to the
courtyard of the house his
son Jahid Hasan, 27,
appeared there and stabbed
him with a sharp weapon at
5 am, leaving him dead on
the spot. On information
police recovered the body
and sent it to Munshiganj
General Hospital for
autopsy, OC said.
Police arrested Jahid
Hasan over the incident.
Police was preparing to file a
case in this regard, he added.
Many of these countries
lack the roads, airports and
other vital infrastructure of
the world's second-biggest
economy. And there is no
guarantee that the emerging
manufacturing venues will
be safe from US tariffs down
the road. Companies can
also run afoul of US law if
goods are made in China
and then sent to an
intermediate destination to
dodge US tariffs.
"I have noticed an
upswing in the number of
tariff evasion cases that have
been made public and also
in the number of inquiries
my firm has received," said
Jeff Newman, a Boston
attorney.
Amid protests, Duterte
to address Congress
led by his allies
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday is to
address a joint session of the Philippine
Congress where his allies have greater
control to press for his priorities like
reinstating the death penalty and amending
the pro-democracy constitution, reports
UNB.
Duterte will deliver his state of the nation
address at the House of Representatives,
where thousands of protesters are beginning
to mass outside to call for his removal over a
range of issues, including his brutal antidrug
campaign.
Military and police have been placed on
full alert. Authorities declared a no-fly zone
over the venue and outlying areas to ensure
security.
Duterte, 74, took office in June 2016 and
has remained hugely popular based on
opinion polls despite his bloody crackdown
on illegal drugs, which has sparked
international alarm, and other controversial
policies. More of his allies captured
congressional seats in midterm elections in
May, giving them a tighter grip on the
legislature, especially in the 24-member
Senate, which opposed some of his key
legislative proposals last year.
Ahead of the president's late-afternoon
speech, House members met to uphold
Duterte's recommendation to settle a
leadership row through a term-sharing
arrangement. Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, a
staunchly loyal Duterte ally, is to serve as
House speaker for 15 months, followed by
another presidential ally, Rep. Lord Allan
Velasco.
"We respect the decision of the president,"
said Rep. Paolo Duterte, the president's son,
during a breakfast meeting with a majority of
congressmen.
Last year, Duterte's speech was delayed
after a leadership squabble erupted between
two allies vying for the House speakership in
a chaotic scene that unraveled on live TV.
Duterte stayed in a holding room until the
confusion was sorted out.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo
said Duterte would likely discuss his plans to
press on with his battle against illegal drugs
and criminality, corruption, communist and
Muslim insurgencies and ways to sustain
economic growth in his final three years in
power.
Other aides said Duterte may touch on a
resolution adopted by the U.N. Human
Rights Council in a vote in Geneva two weeks
ago for the U.N.'s top human rights body to
look into the thousands of deaths of suspects
under his anti-drug crackdown.
Duterte's officials have lashed out at the
Taxicab falls into canal: Rescue
operation continues in Savar
SAVAR : Rescuers continued their operation till Monday
afternoon after a Taxicab plunged into a canal connecting to
the Turag River in Aminbazar area on the outskirts of the
capital on Sunday night. Divers along with three units of Fire
service, naval police have been conducting the rescue
operation in presence of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab)
members and Savar Police, reports UNB.
The taxicab could not be traced till filing of this report
around 12:05 pm on Monday, said AFM Sayed, officer-incharge
of Savar Model Police Station.
Jasim Uddin Joy, a witness, said the Dhaka-bound yellowcolored
taxicab skidded off the approach road of the Salehpur
Bridge and plunged into the canal around 8pm.
However, it was not clear how many passengers were
inside the vehicle and what their fate was.
On information, naval police and divers of Fire Service and
Civil Defence rushed to the spot around 8:45pm and
launched a rescue operation.
The fate of the passengers and driver could not be known
yet and none came to the spot seeking information about the
passengers till Monday noon, the OC added.
Voting closing in race to become
UK's new prime minister
Voting is drawing to a close in the race to become Britain's
next prime minister, reports UNB.
Members of the governing Conservative Party have until 5
p.m. (1600 GMT) to return postal ballots in the contest
between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt to lead the party.
The winner is to be announced Tuesday, and will take over
from Prime Minister Theresa May the following day.
Johnson, a populist former mayor of London, is the strong
favorite. Several members of May's government have said
they will resign before they can be fired by Johnson over their
opposition to his threat to take Britain out of the European
Union without a divorce deal.
resolution as Western meddling in the
country's anti-crime efforts. Panelo said the
president was considering cutting
diplomatic ties with Iceland, which initiated
the resolution.
Human rights groups, however, have
lauded the resolution as crucial to helping
end the drug killings and bringing
perpetrators to justice. Officials have
reported that more than 5,000 to 6,000
mostly poor drug suspects have died in the
campaign after they allegedly fired back at
law enforcers during raids.
Rights groups have questioned the police
reports and accused the police of committing
extrajudicial killings.
Monday's protests were expected to
highlight outrage over the killings and
Duterte's recent pronouncement that he has
forged an agreement with Chinese President
Xi Jinping to allow Chinese fishermen to fish
in the country's exclusive economic zone.
Critics say Duterte's action violated the
constitution, which requires presidents to
protect the country's territory and sovereign
rights.
Protesters burned a mock Chinese flag
hours before Duterte's speech and wore
shirts with slogans that read: "The
Philippines is ours, China get out." Riot
policemen, backed by troops, were deployed
to maintain order during the main protests.
Over 100 families to
get disaster tolerant
homes in Bhola
BHOLA: At the initiative of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina more then one hundred poor
families of Bhola district are getting home on
their own land, reports BSS.
The government is constructing disaster
tolerant home for 101 families of the district
who have their own lands, officials said.
The homes are being constructed under
the supervision of the Disaster Management
and Relief Ministry at cost of Taka 2.58 lakh
each.
Construction of the two-room homes on
300 square feet land will be completed
within one month, officials said adding that
tin-shed home with concrete wall will have a
veranda in front, lobby, bathroom, toilet and
kitchen in the rear side.
District relief and rehabilitation officer
ABM Akram Hossain told BSS that many
people have their own land, but have no
ability to construct home.
General students of Dhaka University put the academic and the administrative
buildings under lock and key on Monday.
Photo : TBT
2 killed in
C'nawabganj
road crash
CHAPAINAWABGANJ :
Two people, including a
retired army person, were
killed and another one was
injured in two separate road
accidents here on Monday.
The deceased were
identified as retired army
member Mojibur Rahman,
45, son of Kuran Ali of
village Boglain Gomostapur
upazila and Shafiqul Islam,
50, son of Ataur Rahman of
Chhatrajitpur of Shibnganj
upazila.
Officer-in-charge of
Gomostapur police station
Jashim Uddin said that a
truck collided head on with a
fish-laden trolley at
Rahanpur at 7 am , leaving
Mojibur Rahman, who was
on the trolley, dead on the
spot.
On the other hand, a
motorcyclist was killed after
being dashed by a pick-up
van at Piling intersection of
Shibganj upazila, reports
UNB.
Ripon Kumar, SI of
Shibganj police station, said
that a pick-up van hit the
mango trader Shafiqul Islam
at 7-30 am while he was
going to Kansat bazar along
with his friend Bokul riding
a motorcycle, leaving him
dead on the spot.

METRO
TuesDAY, JulY 23, 2019
3
Dr Kamal speaking at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club on the current flood situation.
Photo: TBT
Dr Kamal seeks nat'l dialogue
to tackle worsening flood
DHAKA : Stating that the government
cannot alone tackle the current flood,
Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain
on Monday called for holding a national
dialogue to find ways to effectively
overcome the natural disaster, reports
UNB.
"We face flood due to our geographical
position but we need to find ways to
minimise it and save people from sufferings
and financial losses. I think a national
dialogue is necessary immediately in this
regard," he said.
Dr Kamal made the call at a press
conference arranged at the Jatiya Press
Club by his party on the current flood
situation.
He said both the government and the
citizens have a role in tackling the flood
situation." I call upon the government let's
sit together and work out action plans to
tackle the situation with united efforts."
The Gonoforum chief, however, alleged
that the government cannot tackle the flood
situation involving people as there is no
effective democracy in the country. "But we
all need to make our efforts to control the
flood situation."
Dr Kamal, also the convener of Jatiya
Oikyafront, said people should be more
active and organised to resolve the
country's problem.
India for
enhancing
linkages with
Rajshahi
DHAKA : Indian High
Commissioner to
Bangladesh Riva Ganguly
Das on Monday expressed
the hope to work together on
projects aimed at enhancing
linkages between Rajshahi
and India underlining the
immense potential for trade
and commerce that exists,
reports UNB.
"There're some issues like flood that
should be considered from the national
point of view. We should come forward
rising above parochial political interest to
assuage public sufferings and stand beside
flood victims," he added.
Sought reasons why Jatiya Oikyafront is
reluctant to come forward to tackle flood,
Dr Kamal said the alliance was formed with
some political parties ahead of the election
on political consideration.
"But, I think, people's unity, not the
Jatiya Oikyafront, is important to tackle it
(flood)." The unity of not only a few parties,
but also that of all parties and people is
necessary to overcome the situation," he
observed.
Replying to another question about the
existence of Oikyafront, Dr Kamal said the
alliance's main focus is on the election and
they will continue to work to reach their
objectives regarding the national election.
Gonoforum executive president Prof Abu
Sayeed alleged that the government is
staging a farce in the name of relief
distribution among the flood victims.
He said a team of their party, led by its
presidium member AMSA Amin, is
carrying out relief activities in Kurigram
where the government could not send relief
materials, including food, medicines and
pure drinking water, to many remote areas.
Three held over lynching woman in city
DHAKA : Police on Sunday night arrested
three people from Ali Mor area in Uttar
Badda here in connection with the
lynching a woman on Saturday following a
child-lifting rumour, reports UNB.
The arrestees are MdBacchu Mia, 28,
MD Bappi, 21 and MD Shaheen, 31.
Al Imran, duty officerof Badda Police
Station, said police arrested the trio from
the area after reviewing a video clip of the
incident.
On Saturday, Taslima Begum went to
Uttar Badda Govt Primary School to
collect information about her daughter's
admission there.
She was taken to the head teacher of the
GD-1126/19 (6 x 4)
"Around 70.8 percent people in
Kurigram are living under the poverty line.
But the government has allocated Tk 1.12
and 66 gram rice for each of 12 lakh flood
victims in the district over the last one and
a half weeks. It's nothing but a farce in the
name of relief," the Gonoforum leader said.
Sayeed, also a former Awami League
minister, alleged that the government is
reluctant about standing beside the floodhit
people with necessary support to
assuage their sufferings.
He alleged that the flood-affected people
are being forced to pay toll to stay on the
flood-control embankments while their
belongings and cattle are being snatched.
Sayeed placed their party's six-point
demand, including immediately ensuring
safety and shelter, adequate food, pure
water, medicine and treatment for the flood
victims, forming relief committees
involving people for ensuring transparency
and accountability in relief distribution,
taking prompt steps to send relief materials
to char and remote areas, and announcing
the badly affected areas as disaster ones.
Besides, the party said, it is necessary to
take an effective regional initiative by
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and
China to resolve water-related problems,
ensure effective river management and
control flood.
school for interrogation while a rumour
spread outside about a child lifter had been
held. Later she was dragged out of the
school by a mob and then beaten
mercilessly.
On information, police rescued critically
injured Taslima and took her to Dhaka
Medical College Hospital where doctors
declared her dead.
Taslima hailed from Raipur upazila in
Laxmipur and was living with her
daughter and mother in the capital. She
was separated from her husband two years
back. Taslima has an 11-year-old son who
has been living with his father in Badda
area.
DFID releases
£850,000 to support
Bangladesh's flood
victims
DHAKA : The UK Department
for International Development
has released £850,000
for immediate support to the
flood victims of Bangladesh,
reports UNB.
About 65,000 people will
receive unconditional cash
grant and hygiene kits, which
will meet critical need, at least
for a month, according to the
British High Commission in
Dhaka.
"We're closely monitoring
the situation over the coming
days to see if there's further
flooding," said the High
Commission on Monday.
Heavy monsoon rain and
water from upstream sources
have triggered river levels to
rise and cause flooding in
northern and southeastern
parts of Bangladesh, affecting
an estimated 4 million people.
Floods, adverse landslides
and riverbank erosion, have
damaged
road
communications and key
infrastructures, according to
Start Fund Bangladesh, an
emergency pooled fund,
funded by the UK Aid and
managed by 46 international,
national, and local NGOs of
Bangladesh.
On July 16, two Start Fund
Bangladesh alerts were raised
by member organisations to
address the needs of the most
vulnerable populations in
Bandarban, Jamalpur,
Gaibandha and Kurigram.
The alerts (B013 and B014)
were allocated by the
committee on July 17 for a total
of £850,000.
On July 19, MJSKS, GUK,
along with two consortiums led
by Christian Aid (with Dhaka
Ahsania Mission and HelpAge)
and Islamic Relief Bangladesh
(with Care Bangladesh and
Concern Worldwide) were
awarded a total of
£600,000 to reach the
affected communities in
Kurigram, Jamalpur, and
Gaibandha.
Besides, World Vision and
Caritas were awarded with a
total of £250,000 for
their responses in Bandarban.
These awarded agencies will
be providing cash and WASH
support for the most affected
households living in the worst
hit districts, on behalf of Start
Fund Bangladesh.
BTRC cancels 48
IsP licenses
DHAKA : Bangladesh
Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission
(BTRC) cancelled licenses of
48 Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) on renewal grounds.
Of the total, 25 ISPs were
nationwide license holders
while 23 ISPs were central
zone. BTRC yesterday made
the announcement of the
cancellation of the license, and
said as per the licensing
guidelines, ISPs have to apply
to BTRC for renewal before
180 days of the expiry of the
license of five years' duration,
reports BSS.
But, the ISPs did not apply
for licensing renewal and that
is why BTRC has cancelled the
licenses. BTRC also declared
any activities of these ISPs
fully illegal and cautioned that
it would take legal measures as
per the Bangladesh
Telecommunication Act 2001
if these ISPs get engaged in
any activities further.
Besides, the telecom
regulator directed these ISPs
to pay the outstanding dues
within one month of the
announcement, otherwise
legal measures would be
taken under Bangladesh
Telecommunication Act,
2001 and Public Demand
Recovery Act, 1913.
ACC summons Borak
Real estate MD
DHAKA : The Anti-
Corruption Commission
(ACC) on Monday
summoned Managing
Director of Borak Real
Estate (Pvt) Ltd Mohammad
Noor Ali for interrogation
over constructing a 30-
storey building in Banani
DNCC Market area after
taking permission for a 14-
storey one, reports UNB.
Govt. warns of stern action against
lynching spreading rumours
DHAKA : The government yesterday
issued a strong note of warning against
killing of innocent people led by suspicion
or rumour, saying perpetrators of such
barbaric acts would be exposed to stern
punitive actions, amid several recent
incidents of lynching calling the victims
"child lifters".
"Such acts (lynching) are serious
punishable offence," said a government
statement fearing that a vested quarter
was spreading provocative rumours to
expose ordinary innocent people to fatal
mass beating.
The government asked people to inform
police if activities of someone appeared
suspicious instead of taking laws into their
own hands.
"Anyone can take assistance of dialing
999," the handout read.
The statement came while police
headquarters earlier yesterday distributed
an internal circular among all its
subordinate offices including police
stations across the country ordering
stringent security vigil to prevent
recurrence of lynching.
Earlier on July 20, the police
headquarters issued a statement
cautioning people against romours
involving child lifting and describing
killing of anyone based on rumour as a
serious criminal offence.
salt millers demand ban on
sodium sulphate import
DHAKA : Bangladesh Salt
Mill Owner's Association
(BSMOA) on Mondayurged
the government for
restricting the import of
sodium sulphate to save
local salt millers and
cultivators.
They made the call at a
press conference at the
Jatiya Press Club in the
capital.
BSMOA president Nurul
Kabir read out a statement
at the press conference.
"A syndicate is importing
harmful white sodium
sulphate for mixing it with
salt. As a result, local millers and cultivators
are facing huge losses. More than 50 percent
salt mills have been closed due to import
harmful white sodium," he said.
The BSMOA president called upon the
authorities of Bangladesh Small and Cottage
Industries Corporate (BSCIC) to give true
GD-1125/19 (9 x 3)
"Killing of anyone in mass beating based
on child-lifting rumour is a criminal
offence . . . don't take the laws into own
hands," the police statement said.
Indian HC visits Bangladesh
Police Academy
DHAKA : Indian High Commissioner to
BangladeshRiva Ganguly Dasvisited the
Bangladesh Police Academy in Sardah,
Rajshahion Monday, reports UNB.
She also visited the Bangladesh-India
Friendship Building funded by the
government of India which houses the
Cyber-crime and IT-training facilities of the
Academy. The building was inaugurated by
the then Home Ministers of the two
countries in July 2018.
Riva Ganguly also addressed the trainees
of the Academy. She called the trainees as
future custodians of law and order in
Bangladesh and inspired them to serve the
community in a professional manner but
without losing the human touch.
The High Commissioner was accompanied
by Sanjeev Kumar Bhati, Assistant High
Commissioner of India in Rajshahi and
Vishal Jyoti Das, Second Secretary (Visa &
Consular), High Commission of India,
Dhaka.
information about salt production and the
country's demand.
"BSCIC new chairman told the country's
annual salt demand is 4.37 lakh metric
tonnes which is not right information. The
wrong information can affect the slat market
ahead of Eid-Ul-Azha," he also said.

EDITORIAL TUESdAy
JULy 23, 2019
Looted antiquities should be sent home
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
A plan for flood
water management
Floods of varying intensities and the destructions
caused by the same remain a source of constant
anxiety for a part of the year in Bangladesh. But
these conditions are capable of being prevented and
Bangladesh can turn the abundance of water it receives
in the rainy season into a blessing for it round the year,
provided that it adopts and implements an integrated
and comprehensive water management plan.
While there is no water management plan on the one
hand, the other side presents a spectacle of gross neglect
in accountability and oversight activities in whatever
water management related works that are taken up
every year involving big spending from the national
budget. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB)
issued a report recently that highlighted large scale
waste of public resources on water management.
According to the TIB report, some 30 to 50 per cent of
the allocated resources for flood embankment building,
stopping of river erosion, river dredging etc., are simply
misused. The resources are misappropriated by some
contractors and officials and actual works done to good
effect, happen to be negligible.
Apart from the rather fruitless works and waste of
resources in the sector, the other big danger is
unplanned activities. All over the country, unplanned
building of roads through water bodies, whimsical
construction of embankments and related activities,
have led to creation of a dangerous situation for
drainage. The indiscriminate and unplanned works
are done without an eye for their impact on flooding
or flood control and other issues of importance for
the environment. Different agencies of the government
unilaterally and at will take up such projects
that have no need to conform to a countrywide master
plan drawn up to guide such works . For these
reasons also, an integrated and well coordinated
water management plan is indispensable.
The water management plan should seek to immediately
address the short term problems such as corruption
and waste and consequences of unregulated activities.
But it must have medium term objectives in view
such as the building of big reservoirs in different parts
of the country where flood water or rain waters can be
conserved for use in the dry season for irrigation and
other purposes. Under the master plan, regular
dredgingof the rivers must be ensured and adequate
capacities to that end must be built up.
But at the moment Bangladesh has hardly a dredging
fleet worth taking into account for such massive works.
Thus, first of all, priority must be given to raising a big
enough and good enough dredger fleet at the soonest.
The dredgers must be adequate in number and training
of their operators and other service related issues will
have to be taken care of within a short period of time.
Dredging should be made a regular activity--unlike the
casual on and off such activities at the moment-- and
there should be ample funds placed in the annual
national budget to take care of this need. The dredging
programme or works of it, once started, must not stagnate
or degrade into a halting one with long intervals .
Everything will have to be mobilized first to start and
finish the programmee at one go within a stipulated
period.
Then, there has to be prior planning and provisioning
also about what to do with the dredged silt. Practices in
the past showed that the dredged silts were just left in
large heaps on the rivers' banks to be washed back into
the rivers. This is unacceptable nonsense and sheer
waste. Therefore, in the upcoming dredging activities
planning must ensure the proper disposal of the silt.
The same can be carried away and deposited to form
new shoals or elevate existing ones or used for embankment
building. A lot can be also spread on arable lands
to enhance fertility.
The dredging of the rivers in and around Dhaka must
coincide with actions to successfully persuade industries
on river banks to build and operate effluent treatment
plants (ETPs). This task will not be completed
through dictates only. It will involve both keeping the
pressure on for acquiring such facilities by a given date
and also helping the industries to access funds at nominal
rates of interest to spend on the establishment of
these plants.
All throughout the country but specially in Dhaka, the
uprooting of the encroachers on the banks will have to
be quickly followed by taking steps to absolutely prevent
encroachments again. The lands freed from
encroachers will have to be fenced off and guarded on a
regular basis. Paved roads can be built on them along
with other beautification measures such as creating
parks and rolling fields of green that would also serve
the purpose of recreation and help the environment.
For the maintenance of the river banks on a sustainable
basis, a separate body must be formed and its personnel
deployed for the purpose.
An essential part of this plan will have to be river training.
Bangladesh cannot rely entirely on its own expertise
for this. Timely assistance can be taken from
Holland and even some neighbouring countries which
have good experiences in this area.
W
hat is the difference between
antiquities seized by the British
during the heyday of empire and
those taken under cover of the chaos created
by the Taliban and ISIS in Afghanistan
and Iraq in the 21st century? The answer,
according to the semantic dissembling of
the British Museum, is that in the latter case
the objects were looted, while in the former
they were "acquired." It's a distinction bereft
of moral validity. Whether it's obtained at
the point of a gun or the tip of an archeologist's
trowel, loot is loot.
Last week Hartwig Fischer, the director of
the British Museum, went on BBC radio to
talk about his organization's role in the
return of nine 4th-century Buddhist terra
cotta heads, which were looted from
Afghanistan and seized at Heathrow
Airport in 2002. The self-congratulation
was going well when he was suddenly
ambushed. Did the museum, he was asked,
also plan to return those objects in its possession
that many considered to have been
similarly looted, albeit a century or more
earlier? What followed was a curiously
imperious defense of an indefensible position.
In the past, said Fischer, the British
Museum had been "absolutely instrumental"
in discovering the ancient cultures of the
Middle East.
Besides, the museum had made many
discoveries about ancient cultures "at a time
when countries like Iraq, for instance, did
not exist and there was a clear agreement …
that some of the objects would go to British
museums." But clear agreement with
whom? Before World War I, Mesopotamia
was part of the Ottoman Empire, which had
no moral right to give away the heritage of
its Arab subjects. Yet in the 19th century,
Turkey on Thursday launched an air
attack on Iraqi Kurdistan in
response to the killing of a Turkish
diplomat in the region, the country's
defense minister said. (Turkish Air Force)
A heinous attack was carried out against
Turkish consular staff in Erbil, northern
Iraq, on Wednesday. A Turkish consulate
employee and a civilian were killed, while
another was seriously wounded, according
to a statement released by the Turkish
Ministry of Foreign Affairs soon after the
incident.
The shooting took place at the Huqqabaz
restaurant on Airport Road. According to
reports, an attacker, wearing civilian
clothes and carrying two guns, opened fire,
directly targeting the consular staff as they
entered the restaurant. However, the
motives behind the incident are still subject
to speculation and various allegations other
than terrorism are on the agenda. So far, no
group has claimed responsibility for the
attack, but the usual suspect that has come
to mind is the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), against which Turkey is already
waging a fierce offensive in northern Iraq.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has condemned the deadly attack, adding
that Turkey has engaged in efforts with the
Iraqi central and local authorities to ensure
that the perpetrators are quickly found.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has
also said that, if needed, Ankara will send a
delegation to Erbil.
The incident brought to mind the dark
days of the past, in which several Turkish
diplomats were killed by terrorist organizations.
Turkish diplomats have often been
targets of the PKK or other organizations.
European archeologists roamed Syria and
Iraq with impunity, dispatching the treasures
of Assyria and Babylonia to the Louvre
in Paris and the British Museum in London.
It was the Ottomans, incidentally, who in
the 1800s allowed the British ambassador,
Lord Elgin, to help himself to half the sculptures
at the Parthenon in Athens, an act
condemned even in Elgin's time as vandalism.
Successive Greek governments have
pleaded in vain for their return.
After the war, the League of Nations gave
the three former vilayets, or provinces, of
Mosul, Baghdad and Basra to the British,
who created a monarchy to run the client
state they named Iraq. Their puppet king
ruled from 1921 until Britain granted Iraq
independence in 1932, and it was during
that decade that the archeologist Leonard
Woolley, funded by the British Museum,
excavated the Sumerian city of Ur. Today
the museum holds more than 17,000
objects shipped home by Woolley.
The British Museum has done some good
work in Iraq, where it has helped to train
archeologists as part of the effort to put the
country's heritage sector back on its feet
after the devastation and looting triggered
JOnATHAn GOrnALL
by Western invasions of the country. But
such initiatives, rather like the grandstanding
over Afghanistan's terra cotta heads, are
mere gestures when considered in the context
of the museum's vast collection of more
than 170,000 treasures from Mesopotamia
alone, which were dug up and shipped out
by British archeologists authorized solely by
imperial entitlement.
When in March this year the British government
returned a recently looted 3,000-
year-old cuneiform boundary stone, or
kudurru, to Baghdad, it saluted Iraq's rich
culture and history, which was "at the core
After the war, the League of nations gave the three former vilayets, or
provinces, of mosul, Baghdad and Basra to the British, who created a
monarchy to run the client state they named iraq. Their puppet king
ruled from 1921 until Britain granted iraq independence in 1932, and it
was during that decade that the archeologist Leonard Woolley, funded
by the British museum, excavated the Sumerian city of Ur. Today the
museum holds more than 17,000 objects shipped home by Woolley.
The last one killed on duty was Omer
Haluk Sipahioglu in the Greek capital
Athens in 1994. Particularly from the 1970s
to the 1990s, Turkish diplomats were targeted
by an Armenian terrorist organization
named the Armenian Secret Army for
the Liberation of Armenia. The group was
responsible for a series of terrorist attacks
and the murder of some 42 Turkish diplomats.
Iraq has never been an easy post for
diplomats. In 2014, Daesh kidnapped
Turkish diplomats, including the consul
general and consulate staff and their families,
in a raid on the consulate in the city of
Mosul. The hostages were safely returned
to Turkey after 101 days of captivity.
Iraq has never been an easy post for
diplomats. In 2014, Daesh kidnapped
Turkish diplomats, including the consul
general and consulate staff and their families.
Upon the news of the Erbil attack, some
analysts linked the incident with the recent
development that the Syrian offshoot of the
PKK had formed a new terror outfit comprising
foreign terrorists, including those of
While the UAE joined the Parisbased
Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development's
(OECD) Development Assistance
Committee (DAC) in 2014, it is still considered
a non-DAC donor.
That means that it operates outside of the
OECD country donors and falls under what
is conventionally referred to as "non-traditional"
donors.
The UAE has been contributing and supporting
international development programmes
for decades.
As with several other GCC donors, it has
regularly exceeded the UN target of 0.7 per
cent of its annual GNI (Gross National
Income) allocated as development assistance.
In 2016, the UAE spent Dh15.2 billion
($4.2 billion) in development assistance.
And in 2017, the UAE was ranked the
world's largest donor in development aid
relative to its national income.
Despite oil price fluctuations, Gulf leaders
have stood by their commitment to
some of their poorer southern neighbours
in recognition of their shared history, their
governing principle of tolerance and their
focus on solidarity and charity.
The UAE along with other Khaleeji
donors have increasingly prioritised the socalled
South-South development cooperation
and placed a heavy emphasis on
humanitarian assistance. Gulf aid has over
the years largely shifted from supporting
large-scale projects to economic infrastructure
programmes that focus on energy and
transport. The GCC countries have also
been increasingly using their foreign aid
within the Middle East and Asia as a catalyst
for promoting private sector investment.
The underlying goal is to strengthen
local economies so as to stabilise these
respective countries, politically and economically.
By strengthening an ally economically,
the hope is that political stability
will follow suit and that in the long run the
respective relationship will be mutually
beneficial. Another basic feature of the
UAE foreign aid is that the country frequently
offers 'untied aid' as opposed to
tied aid to recipient countries.
SinEm CEnGiz
Armenian descent, in the areas it occupies
within Syrian territory. It is no secret that
there has always been active cooperation
between Armenian and Kurdish terrorists
when the common enemy is Turkey. One
long-lasting claim in Turkey is that there
are many Armenian-origin fighters in the
PKK, while another argues the group was
founded by Armenians who took on
Kurdish identity. There were even reports
that the PKK had sent 400 terrorists as military
support to Armenia in its ongoing
clashes with Azerbaijani troops.
Although, at the time of writing, there
had been no statement regarding the
attackers, who they were actually targeting
or why, one thing is clear: That the PKK has
been made uncomfortable by Turkey's
moves against it. Ankara launched
"Operation Claw II" against PKK militants
in northern Iraq on July 13. This was the
second wave of Turkish operations in the
mountains of this region, where Ankara
says it is trying to destroy PKK bases and
infrastructure.
Weeks before this operation, Erdogan
met with Nechirvan Barzani, the newly
Gulf aid has over the years largely shifted from supporting
large-scale projects to economic infrastructure
programmes that focus on energy and transport.
The GCC countries have also been increasingly using
their foreign aid within the middle East and Asia as a
catalyst for promoting private sector investment.
Tied aid is the practice of giving aid to a
country with the stipulation that it has to be
used to purchase goods and services from
the donor country.
Tying aid is less efficient as the recipient
country receives less value for their money
since resources cannot be used to attract a
competitive tender. Gulf states have historically
also been hesitant about channelling
their aid contributions through international
organisations and other multilateral
agencies that tie their aid ?ows to political
performance. However, the UAE in particular
has often relied on the Red Crescent
societies as a platform to disburse its
humanitarian assistance. While the UAE
has established a reputation of being an
efficient and responsible aid donor, this
cannot be said about the global concept of
foreign aid, in general. The verdict on
of its contemporary national identity." The
repatriation was "just one example of the
UK's ongoing commitment to helping Iraq
create for itself a prosperous and secure
future."
This is hypocrisy. Iraq, home to some of
the greatest archeological sites on Earth,
could benefit hugely from a blossoming of
tourism based on that remarkable heritage,
but most of the artifacts associated with it
are to be found in Western capitals. What
countries throughout the region need in
order to be able to recognize, honor and
benefit from their heritage is not an occasional
and patronizing helping hand from
the people who stole it, but the return of that
heritage.
Take the newly opened Basra Museum,
which has about 100 looted and returned
artifacts. What it doesn't have is any of the
tens of thousands of objects looted in earlier
times and now scattered among the museums
of the world. These include part of the
astonishing 2,500-year-old Ishtar Gate
taken from the ruins of Babylon by German
archeologists in the early 20th century and
now gracing Berlin's Pergamon Museum.
The British Museum, which styles itself "a
museum of the world, for the world," argues
that it is best to concentrate the treasures of
that world where many people will be able
to see them. One obvious flaw with this is
that the majority of the people whose heritage
is on show will never be able to afford
to travel to London to see it.
The unspoken reason Western museums
are reluctant to part with their ill-gotten
gains is that the treasures of antiquity
are a real money-spinner. Collections
such as those in the British Museum and
the Louvre help to generate substantial
tourist income for their countries -
income that by rights should be benefiting
countries such as Iraq.
Change is possible. Last year President
Emmanuel Macron pledged to return
African artifacts taken by France during the
colonial era. In December, the British
Museum finally yielded to 60 years of pressure
from Nigeria and agreed to send back
an astonishing collection of bronze plaques
from the 16th-century Kingdom of Benin,
looted by British soldiers in 1897.
Source : Asia times
Shooting of diplomat likely to strain Ankara-Erbil ties
The incident brought to mind the dark days of the past, in which
several Turkish diplomats were killed by terrorist organizations.
Turkish diplomats have often been targets of the PKK or other organizations.
The last one killed on duty was Omer Haluk Sipahioglu in the
Greek capital Athens in 1994. Particularly from the 1970s to the 1990s,
Turkish diplomats were targeted by an Armenian terrorist organization
named the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia.
UAE’s foreign aid always exceeds Un target
KriSTiAn ALExAndEr
elected president of Iraq's Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG), in Istanbul's
Dolmabahce Palace, which is on the
European shores of the Bosphorus. The
two leaders talked behind closed doors for
hour-and-a-half about a variety of issues.
Barzani was elected on May 28 after he had
previously served as prime minister for two
terms. Turkey was his first overseas visit
following his inauguration on June 10.
In his remarks to the Turkish stateowned
Anadolu Agency, Barzani underlined
that a new phase of relations between
Turkey and the KRG would start. Ankara's
relations with the KRG had previously
soured after the latter decided to hold an
independence referendum in September
2017.
Needless to say, the PKK is not happy
with the rapprochement between Ankara
and Erbil because the warming of these ties
has security implications, as well as political
and economic ones. The attack not only
raised eyebrows in Ankara, but also in the
KRG leadership because, for many years,
Erbil was considered an area of stability
and enjoyed special status as an economic
hub. It is no secret that the KRG leadership
was making serious efforts to turn Erbil
into a regional destination. Kurds often say,
"Even if all hell breaks loose in the mountains,
a leaf wouldn't shake in Erbil,"
explaining that the city remains safe even
while it is surrounded by fire.
Such attacks against diplomats are rare
in Erbil and in the coming days it should
become clear who carried it out and what
their intentions were.
Source : Arab news
whether foreign aid in general has been
efficient and successful is mixed.
Foreign Aid has not always promoted
economic growth and socioeconomic
development in the less developed countries.
There are several reasons why that is
the case. For one, specific donor countries
have repeatedly employed a single 'grand
strategy' of imposing development in
underdeveloped countries, instead of tailoring
aid programmes to ensure that feedback
is generated on whether the aid is
working.
Second, providing aid to potentially corrupt
developing country governments
greatly reduces the effectiveness of aid.
A significant level of corruption in various
cases has led to foreign aid being wasted
or eaten up by certain regimes siphoning
off some of the money for personal use or to
support elite groups. In the context of weak
institutions and low paid civil servants,
everyday bribes can become endemic,
increasing inefficiency while undermining
the trust in public institutions.
Third, the number of official donors and
agencies worldwide is approaching the
300+ mark. It is often the case that many
donors operate in the same country, many
providing identical skills and services.
Source : Gulf news

DEVELOPMENT
TUESDAy,
JULy 23, 2019
5
The world is off-track on several
SDG goals
Development Desk
The world is off-track to meet most of
the Sustainable Development Goal
(SDG) targets linked to hunger, food
security and nutrition, according to a
FAO report released today. Being offtrack
when it comes to reaching core
pillars of the SDGs unquestionably puts
at risk the achievement of the entire
2030 Agenda, and makes our
overarching goal of ensuring an
economically, socially and
environmentally sustainable future for
our planet and for present and future
generations less attainable," said FAO
Deputy Director-General for Climate
and Natural Resources Maria Helena
Semedo.
In the first report of its kind, FAO
analysed, in a visual way, major global
trends and data from up to 234
countries and territories on 18
indicators of four SDGs (2, 6, 14 and 15)
under the UN agency's custodianship.
More than 820 million people are still
hungry today. The number of hungry
people in the world has been on the rise
for three years in a row, and is back to
levels seen in 2010-2011. In parallel, the
percentage of hungry people out of the
total population has slightly increased,
from 10.6 percent in 2015 to 10.8
percent in 2018.
Small-scale food producers - who
represent the majority of all farmers in
many developing countries - face
disproportionate challenges in
accessing inputs and services, and as a
result, their incomes and productivity
are systematically lower compared to
larger food producers.
Differences in the productivity of
small-scale food producers compared to
larger food producers are also
noticeable, though less pronounced
than with regard to incomes. During
2016-2017, food price anomalies
affected over a third of Land-Locked
Developing Countries (LLDCs), one in
four countries in Africa and Western
Asia, and one in five countries in Central
and Southern Asia. Moderate increases
in general food prices, on the other
hand, affected all regions.
On average, 60 percent of local
livestock breeds are at risk of extinction
in the 70 countries that had risk status
information. Specifically, across the
world, out of 7155 local livestock breeds
(i.e. breeds occurring in only one
country), 1940 are considered to be at
risk of extinction. Examples include the
Fogera cattle from Ethiopia or the
Small-scale food producers' earnings are about half that of larger
food producers.
Photo : Collected
Delray Beach, in South Florida, United States.
Gembrong goat of Bali.
However, this could be even higher as
for two thirds of the local livestock
breeds, especially in the Middle and
Near East, Africa and Asia, there is no
data on the animals' risk status. The
conservation of plant genetic material is
faring somewhat better.
At the end of 2018, global holdings of
plant genetic materials conserved in
gene banks in 99 countries and 17
regional and international centers
totalled 5.3 million samples - a nearly
three percent increase over the previous
year. This is mainly due, however, to the
transfer of existing materials to better,
indicator-compliant storage facilities,
rather than a reflection of newly added
diversity collected from the field.
Efforts to secure crop diversity
continues to be insufficient, cautions the
report, particularly for crop wild
relatives, wild food plants and neglected
and underutilized crop species.
Moreover, some 30 percent of countries
still have a low or medium
implementation record of the key
international instruments combatting
illegal, unreported, and unregulated
fishing, and some 20 percent of
countries have a low or medium
implementation record of the key
instruments to promote access of smallscale
fishers to productive resources,
services and markets.
Water stress affects countries in every
continent. The majority of countries
that have registered high water stress
since 2000, however, are concentrated
in Northern Africa, Western Asia and
Central and Southern Asia.
Between 2000 and 2015, the world
lost an area of forest the size of
Madagascar, due mainly to the
conversion of forestland for agricultural
use. Most of this loss is recorded in the
tropics of Latin America, Sub-Saharan
Africa and South-East Asia.
However, the rate of forest loss has
slowed down globally in the period
2010-15 and this loss was partly
compensated by the increase of forest
area in Asia, North America and
Europe. The report puts forward a
number of recommendations aimed at
reversing these worsening trends.
First, many of the problems
mentioned above would probably be
less acute if there was sufficient
investment in the agricultural sector
(including fishery and forestry).
However, the report finds that public
expenditure in agriculture has been
declining with respect to its
contribution to the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). In particular, the Sub-
Saharan African region and Oceania
(excluding Australia and New Zealand)
registered the lowest relative values of
public investment in agriculture.
Price anomalies contributed to
undermining people's access to food
and nutritional status in many
developing countries. These could be
addressed by improving information on
prices and on food supply and demand
of basic food stuffs, allowing markets to
function more efficiently.
Photo: Brian Cousin
The explosive bloom of seaweed is
affecting marine life in the Caribbean
Lorena Guzmán Hormazábal
A vast mass of seaweed, weighing 20
million tonnes and stretching from
West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, shows
no sign of shifting, according to NASA,
which is observing it via satellite
imagery. Now leaders across Central
America and the Caribbean have
pledged to take joint action to manage
the adverse effects of the unprecedented
belt of sargassum on the coastline, as
ecologists warn of worrying
consequences for the environment.
Sargassum is a macroalgae that floats
in patches in the ocean. In moderate
quantities it is beneficial for the ocean's
health, providing habitat for turtles,
crabs, fish and birds, and producing
oxygen for photosynthesis.
However, in larger quantities it can
smother corals, trap sealife and wash up
on beaches, releasing a foul-smelling
gas. And the vast mass of Sargassum
currently afflicting the Caribbean Basin
is having a huge impact on coastal
populations, tourism and ecosystems.
From a couple of tonnes of sargassum
detected in 2011, when it started
unexpectedly to emerge in the Central
Atlantic, the mass grew to 20 million
tonnes in June 2018, according to a
study published in Science magazine
(July 4), which analysed satellite
images.
In a high-level meeting held late
June in Cancun, Mexico,
representatives from 13 countries in
the region, including Mexico,
Guatemala, Jamaica and Honduras,
agreed 26 actions to address the
problem. One of those is the creation
of the website
internationalsargassumsystem.com,
which will gather research and
monitoring data on the seaweed.
Esteban Amaro, technical director of
the Sargassum Monitoring Network in
Cancun, told SciDev.Net that
sargassum is a "relatively new
problem," and more research is needed,
with only limited information currently
available.
One of the effects observed by
scientists to date is the impact on coral,
said Amaro, adding: "In field work we
have seen a very high coral mortality,
because of white syndrome (a disease
which kills coral tissue)".
It is believed that the disease is caused
by a bacteria linked to a high presence of
sargassum, although it has not been
scientifically proven. Fish and sea
turtles may also be dying as a result,
though again scientific evidence is
lacking.
The study in Science showed that not
only are millions of tonnes of sargassum
emerging in the Central Atlantic, their
bloom patterns are also changing. In
Latin America, the seaweed is even
reaching the mouth of the Amazon.
Let's redefine public spaces.
Photo: Collected
Can we bring back urban forests?
Ranjan Panda
The unprecedented heatwave condition
and water scarcity situation that Indian
cities faced this year has put planners on
an emergency action mode. Looking at
statements of politicians and government
officials, one could guess that everyone
wants to do something on a war-footing
basis to solve the water and heat crises.
That climate change is real and we are in
a climate emergency is perhaps being
realised by the planners and people alike.
There is an opportunity in the crisis and
while it is good that planners and others
are now interested to talk more about
solutions, I would like to flag one
cautionary note for all of them. Solutions
to the problems, which we have created
for centuries, are not going to come
overnight.
We certainly need some knee-jerk
measures to tackle heatwave or watercrisis
type of problems. We can plan to
bring water to Chennai by trains from
several hundred kilometres away, we
may extend the school shut down period
in Delhi or other cities for more number
of days due to extended period of
heatwave conditions, we can ask
employees of IT firms to work from home
as the office space does not want to take
responsibility of providing water while
the entire city is struggling for fetching a
few litres, and many such adaptation
measures. However, the fact remains,
these are immediate responses, not
permanent solutions to the problems. To
me there are two important ways in
which we can bring in lasting change in
the way cities develop: forestry and
conservation of water bodies. The more
these resources we have in our cities, the
more will be our ability to make the cities
grow sustainably while fighting with the
impacts of climate change.
Cities have become the modern day's
symbol of aspirations. They are growing
at the cost of India's villages, forests and
water bodies. Globally, 2.5 billion people
are projected to migrate to urban areas by
2050 and almost 90 percent of this is
happening in Asia and Africa.
What does this mean? In simple terms,
they destroy soil, forests, rivers and water
bodies of the rural people and turn into a
cramped conglomeration of grey
infrastructure which not only produces
more than 60 percent of all carbon
emissions but also put their own
inhabitants to severe risks and hazards -
caused by development and climate
change. This needs to change. Cities need
to decongest, they need to create more
green public spaces.
Many modern-day architects and
planners suggest cities to adopt green and
blue infrastructure. For some, green
infrastructure means plantation on
roadsides, pavements, remaining open
areas, vertical gardens on the high-risers
&boundary walls, so on and so forth. All
these are good. However, the long-lasting
solution to making the cities really green
that can fight impacts of climate change
such as heatwaves and water scarcity
requires protection of the remaining
forests within the city limits and regrowing
forests in open areas available;
and if needed, by reclaiming some areas
from the grey infrastructure.
Aid exit and sustainability
in development projects
Jindra Cekan
There is an amazing breadth of local,
ongoing resources, skills & capacities,
linkages, motivation (thanks to Tufts
FHI360's work for USAID's Food For
Peace) that we can explore and learn
from. There are local innovations and
an array of unplanned collaborations
(e.g., funding for health staff (Niger),
training in small enterprise from the
national government (Bangladesh), or
private sector markets (Ethiopia) that
can be accessed when partnerships are
transparent and created one or more
years pre-exit to collaborate on postexit.
Ideally, we design and implement for
exit from the onset. When we jointly set
the timeframe and jointly assess risks
to sustainability and adaptively manage
exit, rather than exit based on pre-set
timeframes, all sides win, with partners
and participants able to foster
sustainability. As USAID/ GIIN wrote
about Responsible Exits for Impact
Investors (2018), "the foundations for a
responsible exit are laid even before an
investment is made. To increase the
likelihood of continued impact after
exit, investors often select investees
based on whether impact is embedded
in their business model or inextricably
linked to financial success. They also
seek to understand the likely growth
trajectory of the business, which has
implications for which exit paths and
options will become available." They
also note that a "growth strategy' is
needed throughout and at (investment)
exit is "a company's continued access to
the right resources, networks, and
knowledge" for sustained impact.
The need for a thoughtful approach
to sustainability is shown by Hiller,
Guthrie, and Jones in "Overcoming Ex-
Post Development Stagnation" (2016).
The authors cite "limited evidence of
program efficacies coupled with
government and agency preference for
planning, approval, and
implementation processes rather than
sustainment of outputs, outcomes, and
impacts means that ex-post
performance, scaling, and
sustainability is not well understood or
well pursued…. [There is a] lack of
willingness to commit time and
resources to rigorous evaluation of
post-project effectiveness". This affects
a vast number of projects. For instance,
they found 63,000 projects in 2003
alone, and "relative to the number of
development projects undertaken, expost
project [evaluations] are not
commonly carried out, meaning that
rates of success are often unknown and
the complexity of causalities and expost
dynamics of interactions and
processes are not well understood."
This limits our learning from what has
(not) worked and what to do more (or
less) of, including those that could not
be sustained with only local resources.
We make sustainability assumptions
are participants long for them, as
Valuing Voices also found. Hiller et al.
state that "whilst project
documentation commonly conveys an
expectation that some process of
spread will occur ex-post, it rarely does,
despite strong ex-post case-study
evidence of stakeholder requests for
further development opportunities."
This cautionary feedback could mean
some project activities could be so
resource-intensive that they could not
feasibly be sustained or spread without
long-term support, and retaining
results may be limited to less costly
activities. Valuing Voices found that
other activities could be remunerative
enough (financially, in health or
education outcomes, for instance), as to
be locally demanded and continued to
be pursued. We have found in our
Rarely do funders return to evaluate what lasts after aid projects end, but when they do, we can find
myriad pleasures.
Photo: Valuing Voices

NATIONAL
TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2019
6
Country moving forward due to advancement
of science: Habibun Nahar
AL Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak as the chief guest distributed relief materials among
flood affected victims in Chilmari upazila of Kurigram on Monday.
Photo: Golam Mahbub
Not a single person will be homeless: Nanak
goLaM Mahbub, ChiLMari Correspondent:
aL joint general secretary jahangir
Kabir nanak said that awami League is
such a party that the party is dutybound
for the people. aL is working
with utmost sincerity for the people.
we have come to your side in your
worst circumstances. before leaving the
country, prime Minister has said to all
that a flood is coming and all the people
have to face the flood situation bravely.
he said this during the distribution of
relief materials among the flood victims
in Chilmari of Kurigram on Monday as
the chief guest. he also urged the flood
victims of the flood not to lose courage
and assured to build houses for the
homeless and said that not a single
person will be homeless.
upazila parishad Chairman shawkat
ali sarker birbikram chaired the
ceremony at the Lsd godown premises
of the upazila where aL joint general
secretary jahangir Kabir nanak was
present as the chief guest and
organizing secretary bM Mozammel
haque was present as the special as
special guest. among others, state
Minister for primary and Mass
education Mohammad Zakir hossain,
aL health and public affairs secretary
dr rokeya sultana, Kurigram district
Council Chairman Zafar ali, Kurigram
deputy Commissioner Mst. sultana
parveen, superintendent of police
Mohammad Mohibul islam, Chilmari
upazila nirbahi officer shah Md.
shamsuzzoha, women Vice Chairman
asma begum, Zila parishad Member
rezaul Karim Lichu and thanarhat up
Chairman abdur razzak Milon were
also present at the occasion.
at the occasion jahangir Kabir
nanak distributed 1000 packages of
relief materials among the flood
affected victims.
titash ChaKraborthey,
KhuLna Correspondent:
the country is moving
forward due to advancement
of science. our scientists are
discovering many things that
no other country can do. and
there is no substitute for a
laboratory for new
discoveries.
deputy Minister, Ministry
of environment, Forest and
Climate Change, habibun
nahar, attended the
inauguration program of
science lab supported by
biFpCL at dighraj degree
College, Mongla on 20 july
(saturday) 2019 as chief
guest.
in her speech as chief guest,
habibun nahar said that
bangladesh-india Friendship
power Company (pvt.)
Limited (biFpCL) has been
working for the advancement
of science at Mongla as part of
its community development
initiative in the adjacent areas
of project site at rampal,
bagerhat.
she also underscored the
need of studying science and
research on it to take the
country forward by the young
scientists. she told that
bangladeshi youths are
extremely potentials and they
are interested in learning and
researching on scientific
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
Habibun Nahar as the chief guest addressed the inauguration program of
science lab supported by BIFPCL at Dighraj Degree College in Mongla
recently.
Photo: Titash Chakraborthey
issues. but they need supports
to undergo their studies
through proper science
equipments in laboratories of
the educational institutions.
she appreciated biFpCL as it
has come forward to support
the future scientists of this
region through donating
science equipments to the
college laboratory.
the function was presided
over by principal of dighraj
degree College tuser Kumar
gain while project director
sC pandey and deputy
project director Md. rezaul
Karim of Maitree super
thermal power project,
rampal attended the
program as special guests.
president of Khulna tV
reporters Forum Mallick
sudhangshu, dgM (hr),
sidhartha Mondal, deputy
Manager (hr) g.M. tariqul
islam and deputy Manager
(admin and security) Md.
oliullah,(admin and
security) Md. oliullah,
Mongla upazila Chairman
abu taher howlader were
also present the occasion as
invited guests along with
teachers and students of the
college.
Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) in a drive seized 1.48 crore meter of large size current
nets used illegally for fishing from Panchashar area of Sadar upazila in Munshiganj on
Monday.
Photo: Courtesy
Meghna erosion makes many
homeless in Charmadhua
Moshiur rahMan seLiM,
speCiaL Correspondent:
erosion along the banks
of the Meghna river has
taken an alarming turn
with the onset of the
monsoon season, causing
existence threat to
Charmadhua union of
raipura upazila.
erosion caused by the
Meghna has taken a
devastating turn recently
and the damage caused
has been immense, locals
said.
nearly 50 houses of two
villages have been gobbled
up by the river in the last
several days, rendering
over 100 families
homeless.
some locals have
managed to move their
houses but many still fear
that the river might reach
their homes in the near
future.
the residents of the
unions demanded the
construction of a dam to
protect their villages, but
no initiative has been
taken by the government
to build a dam for over a
decade. the affected
families have not received
any relief materials or
have been officially taken
into rehabilitation.
it is learnt that unrest
and panic prevails among
Nearly 50 houses of two villages of Charmadhua union of Raipura upazila of
the district have been gobbled up by Meghna River in the last several days,
rendering over 100 families homeless. Photo: Moshiur Rahman Selim
the families of the unions
affected by the erosion.
Many families of villagers
in bhangnecharmadhua
and darihati villages in
Meghna have been found
to have taken shelter
under the open sky, losing
their houses. Many
families took shelter at
their relative's house in a
nearby village. talking to
some affected families in
this regard, they said that
every day, their houses
and crop lands ware being
dissolved in the erosion of
the Meghna river.
when contacted with
the chairman of
Charmadhua union
parishad abdul abdullah
salam sikder, he said that
water development board
officials have visited the
river erosion areas. i have
also organized a human
chain along with the locals
demanding the
construction of the dam.
but it did not work at all.
he has demanded the
water development board
and the government's
authority to construct the
dam.
Meanwhile, narsingdi
district
water
development board
deputy assistant
engineer Md. sahab
uddin ahmed and
Chairman of raipura
upazila parishad and
general secretary of the
upazila aL abdus sadek
visited the area affected by
the river erosion.
at that time, engineer
sahab uddin ahmed said
that i have informed the
senior authorities to take
necessary measures to
prevent river erosion.
work will be initiated only
after approval for dam
construction.
Coast Guard
seize current
nets worth
Tk 39.62 crore
bangladesh Coast guard
(bCg) members in a special
drive seized 1.48 crore meter
of large size current nets used
illegally for fishing from
panchashar area of sadar
upazila in Munshiganj on
Monday, a press release said.
according to bCg sources,
on a tip-off, a team of bCg
conducted a raid in unique
panchashar area under sadar
upazila. after a long search,
Coast guard members
recovered 1.48 crore meter of
quality contraband current
nets worth of about tk 39.62
crore from three factories of
the area.
Later, through a mobile
court, 3 people were fined tk
70,000 and the nets were
burnt under the presence of
executive magistrate.
Taraganj
upazila AL
holds
triennial
conference
bipLob hossain opu, taraganj
Correspondent:
the triennial conference of
taraganj upazila awami
League was held on sunday.
at the occasion atiar rahman
was re-elected as president
uncontested while harun-orrashid
babul was elected as
general secretary through
voting.
according to party sources,
a meeting was held at the
auditorium hall room of
upazila aL on the occasion of
the upazila awami League
conference. the meeting was
addressed among others by
aL joint general secretary
jahangir Kabir nanak,
organizing secretary bM
Mozammel haque, rangpur
district awami League
president adv Momtaz uddin
ahmed and general secretary
rezaul Karim razu.
after the meeting atiar
rahman was re-elected as
president uncontested. two
candidates dr. nazrul islam
and harun-or-rashid babul
contested for the general
secretary post. Later, out of
the total 232 votes, the party
members casted 217 votes.
harun-or-rashid babul was
as elected general secretary by
bagging 144 votes. his nearest
candidate, dr. nazrul islam
got 73 votes. at that time,
political leaders, chairman
and members of local
administration were also
present.
Bahubal Upazila Awami League organized a protest meeting against defamation of
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina at Bahubal uapzila on Sunday. Photo: Md Mamun Chowdhury
Bahubal upazila AL holds protest
meeting against defamation of
Bangabandhu and PM
Md MaMun Chowdhury, habiganj Correspondent:
a meeting was organized at the initiative of
bahubal upazila awami League protesting
against defamation of Father of the nation
bangabandhu sheikh Mujibur rahman and
prime Minister sheikh hasina. the meeting
was held in front of the house of general
secretary of the upazila awami League and
former upazila chairman Md abdul hai on
sunday.
upazila awami League president abdur
nur Manik chaired the meeting while
upazila aL general secretary and former
upazila chairman Md. abdul hai conducted
the meeting. among others, upazila awami
League vice-president askar ali, joint
secretary abdul Miah, organizing secretary
sohel ahmed Kuti, abdul Kuddus, Vice
Chairman yakut Mia, women Vice
Chairman and upazila Mohila awami
League president nilufar yasmin, awami
League leader Farid Mia talukder and
upazila Chhatra dal president junaid
ahmed were also present at the occasion.
it was decided in the meeting that notice
will be sent to 5 leaders and activists of
awami League and its associate bodies to
reply within 5 days, as they were present at
the ceremony of the founding anniversary.
it is to be noted that on the occasion of the
anniversary of a national daily on july 15,
banners were hanged over the photo of
Father of the nation bangabandhu sheikh
Mujibur rahman and prime Minister
sheikh hasina at the office of bahubal
upazila nirbahi officer. Later the photo was
posted on Facebook and a wave of protests
broke out among awami League leaders.
in this connection, the administration
appointed an investigation committee
headed by upazila assistant Commissioner
(Land) rafiqul islam. the upazila awami
League has been defamation of
bangabandhu and pM from the beginning.
The triennial conference of Taraganj upazila Awami League was held in
Taraganj on Sunday.
Photo: Biplob Hossain Opu

INTERNATIONAL
TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2019
7
South Korea detains 6 for illegally
entering Japan consulate
Police on Monday detained six South
Koreans for allegedly illegally entering
a Japanese diplomatic facility in South
Korea and staging an anti-Tokyo
demonstration there, reports UNB.
The incident came amid growing
anti-Japanese sentiments in South
Korea as the two countries are locked in
trade and political disputes. On Friday,
a 78-year-old South Korean man died
after setting himself on fire near the
Japanese Embassy in Seoul.
The six men and women were given
temporary passes to enter the Japanese
Consulate in the southeastern city of
Busan earlier Monday after they told
staff there they would visit a library
inside the building, according to Busan
police officers.
They initially stayed at the library.
But they later abruptly dashed out to a
consulate yard, holding a placard that
Death toll in India’s floods rises to
169, army sets up medical camps
The death toll in India's flood-hit states
has risen to 169, including 102 deaths
in Bihar and 67 in Assam over the past
eight days, official data provided by the
two states showed on Sunday, reports
UNB.
Among the Bihar's 12 flood-affected
districts, the maximum of 27 deaths
have been reported from Sitamarhi district
alone, while 23 deaths reported
from Madhubani, 12 from Arariya, 10
each from Darbhanga and Seohar, and
nine deaths from Purnia district.
As per the latest updates, lives of a
total of 7.27 million people have been
directly affected, as nearly 115,000 people
who lost all their belongings in the
floods have been rehabilitated in
around 133 relief camps set up across
the flood-affected districts.
The number of those taking refuge in
relief camps has come down as some of
them left for their homes since water
level receded at their place of residence.
Situation is equally grim in northeastern
state of Assam, where five people
died in the past 24 hours, taking the
total death toll to 67, out of which two
died in landslides triggered by floods. A
total of 3.83 million people have been
affected across 18 districts.
Water level of Brahmaputra river,
which flows through the state, continues
to be at the danger mark.
Meanwhile, considering the evolving
situation due to floods in Assam,
the Indian Army has set up three
medical camps in the flood-affected
Barpeta, Moigaon and Sonitpur districts,
and two veterinary camps in
the flood-affected districts of Dhubri
and Nalbari.
"The medical camps have been set
with intent to address issues pertaining
to waterborne infectious diseases and
epidemic threat, both to live stock and
human. The said camps are also providing
Mobile Detachments of an effective
outreach to neighbouring villages
which are still inundated," said a statement
issued by the Indian Army.
The death toll in India's flood-hit states has risen to 169, including 102 deaths in Bihar and 67 in Assam
over the past eight days, official data provided by the two states showed on Sunday.
Photo : AP
9 killed, 12 injured in
road accident in
India's Uttar Pradesh
At least nine people were
killed and 12 others injured,
some of them critically, after
a speeding vehicle hit a pickup
van in the northern Indian
state of Uttar Pradesh,
police said Monday.
The accident took place
late Sunday night near
Hafizpur village in Hapur
district, about 536 km
northwest of Lucknow city,
the capital of Uttar Pradesh,
reports UNB.
"Late last night in a tragic
road accident an unknown
vehicle hit a pickup van,
killing nine people and
injuring 12 others," a senior
police official posted in
Hapur said. "The deceased
include some children."
According to police, the
victims in the pickup van
were returning from a wedding
function when it was
hit.
"The injured were hospitalised
in district hospital
Hapur and few seriously
injured were referred to
Meerut hospital," the police
said.
Police have registered a
case and ordered investigations
to ascertain the actual
reason behind the accident.
The state's Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath has
expressed grief over the loss
of lives in the accident.
read "Abe must apologize," referring to
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
They also shouted slogans criticizing
Japan's recent decision to tighten its
export controls of some high-tech
materials, the police officers said.
No major violence or clashes were
reported. But police detained the six
people for trespassing because they
were admitted to the building to visit
the library, not stage a rally, the officers
said, requesting anonymity because
they were not authorized to speak to
the media on the matter.
While the six were being detained,
activists were holding anti-Japanese
rallies outside the consulate. Later
Monday, about 30 people rallied in
front of a Busan police station, calling
for the release of the six people, according
to police.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency
Putin says Russia to help safeguard
Syria's sovereignty
Russia will continue to help
Syria protect its sovereignty
and territorial integrity,
Russian President
Vladimir Putin said Sunday
in a congratulatory
message to Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad on
the 75th anniversary of
diplomatic relations
between the two countries,
reports UNB.
"I would like to confirm
that Russia will continue to
support Syria's government
and people in their
efforts to protect the country's
sovereignty and territorial
integrity, as well as to
ensure national security
and post-war reconstruction,"
Putin said in the
reported that the six people are university
students belonging to a newly
launched anti-Japanese organization in
Busan. Police said they couldn't immediately
confirm the Yonhap report.
South Korea and Japan are both
key U.S. allies in Asia that are closely
linked to each other economically
and culturally. But they have often
been embroiled in historical and territory
disputes stemming from the
Japanese colonial occupation from
1910-45.
South Korean officials say the
Japanese trade controls are retaliation
for local court rulings ordering
Japanese firms to pay compensation
to former Korean forced laborers
during the colonial period. Japan
denies that, saying the strengthened
export controls were taken out of
national security concerns.
message.
Putin added that through
joint efforts, "terrorist
forces on Syrian soil" will
be defeated.
Putin also pledged to
promote Russia-Syria relations,
adding that it is in
the "common interest" of
the two countries to boost
Russian-Syrian ties.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) met with Russian President Vladimir
Putin (R) in Russia's city of Sochi on May 17.
Photo : Syrian presidential media office
AP Archive of Stena Impero, The Tanker Seized by Iran.
Syrian activists say airstrike
killed 16 in rebel-held town
An airstrike struck a busy market in a
rebel-held town in northwestern Syria
on Monday, killing at least 16 people,
according to opposition activists and a
war monitoring group, reports UNB.
The airstrike took place in the town of
Maaret al-Numan and also wounded
more than 30 people, according to the
reports from the region which has witnessed
intensive airstrikes and bombardment
on daily basis as Syrian
troops, backed by Russian air cover, try
to push their way into the enclave near
the Turkish border.
Idlib province, in the northwestern
corner of Syria, is the last major rebel
stronghold in the country outside the
control of Syrian President Bashar
Assad. Syrian government forces
launched their offensive in Idlib
province in late April and fighting has
killed more than 2,000 people and displaced
hundreds of thousands.
But the troops have made little
progress since the push started.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights, which monitors
the fighting on the ground in Syria
through a network of activists, said the
number of casualties from Monday's
airstrike was likely to rise due to the
large number of wounded. The Thiqa
news agency, an activist collective in
northern Syria, gave a higher death toll,
saying the strike killed 20 people.
On Sunday, government bombing in
Photo : AP
Britain’s May to chair emergency
session on seized tanker
British Prime Minister Theresa May
will chair an emergency security session
on Monday to discuss how to
respond to Iran's seizure of a Britishflagged
tanker in the Strait of Hormuz,
reports UNB.
The meeting of security ministers and
officials will discuss how to secure shipping
in the sensitive region, which is
vital to the world's oil supply.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is
also expected to brief Parliament on the
Friday seizure of the Stena Impero
tanker, now in a heavily guarded Iranian
port.
Britain is considering a number of
options to raise the economic and
diplomatic pressure on Iran but officials
say military operations are not
being considered at the moment.
Britain is also seeking support from key
European allies in an effort to keep the
Strait of Hormuz open to shipping.
The tanker crisis is unfolding in the
final days of May's leadership. The
Conservative Party plans to name her
successor Tuesday, and the new prime
minister - either front-runner Boris
Johnson or Hunt - is expected to take
office Wednesday.
Friday's seizure came amid heightened
tensions between the U.S. and
Iran stemming from President Donald
Trump's decision last year to pull the
U.S. from Iran's nuclear accord with
world powers and reinstate sweeping
sanctions on Iran.
Steps have been taken to prevent further
incidents in the coming days while
longer range options are discussed.
Maritime industry publication Lloyd's
List said there are currently no U.K.-
flagged ships heading to the Persian
Gulf and eight U.K.-flagged vessels
anchored there after a government
advisory to such vessels to avoid the
Strait of Hormuz.
Restoring the free flow of traffic
through the Strait of Hormuz is of
critical importance to the world's
energy supplies because one-fifth of
all global crude exports pass through
the narrow waterway between Iran
and Oman.
Iranian officials say the seizure of the
British oil tanker was a justified
response to Britain's role in impounding
an Iranian supertanker two weeks
earlier off the coast of Gibraltar, a
British overseas territory located on the
Israeli crews demolish Palestinian
homes in east Jerusalem
Israeli work crews on Monday began demolishing
dozens of Palestinian homes in an east
Jerusalem neighborhood, in one of the largest
operations of its kind in years, reports UNB.
The demolitions capped a years-long legal
battle over the buildings, built along the invisible
line straddling the city and the occupied
West Bank. Israel says the buildings were
erected too close to its West Bank separation
barrier. Residents say the buildings are on
West Bank land, and the Palestinian Authority
gave them construction permits.
In the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision
clearing the way for the demolitions,
Israeli work crews moved into the neighborhood
overnight. Massive construction vehicles
smashed through the roofs of several buildings,
and large excavators were digging
through the rubble. Gilad Erdan, Israel's minister
of public security, said the Supreme
Court ruled the illegal construction "constitutes
a severe security threat and can provide
cover to suicide bombers and other terrorists
hiding among civilian population."
He said that those who built houses along
the separation barrier "took the law into their
own hands."According to the United Nations,
some 20 people already living in the buildings
were being displaced, while 350 owners of
properties that were under construction or not
yet inhabited were also affected. Hussein al-
Sheikh, head of the civil affairs department of
the Palestinians Authority, called Monday's
demolition a "crime" and demanded international
intervention. In Gaza, the territory's
Hamas rulers called for intensifying "resistance"
to the "the Zionist settlement project."
"The increase in the occupation's crimes
against the residents of the holy city is a result
of total American support," said Hazem
Qassem, a spokesman for the militant group.
Israel captured east Jerusalem and the West
Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The international
community considers both areas to be
occupied territory, and the Palestinians seek
them as parts of a future independent state.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem and considers
it part of its capital - a step that is not internationally
recognized. But the competing
claims to the territory have created myriad
legal complexities. Israel built its separation
barrier in the early 2000s in a step that it says
was needed to prevent Palestinian suicide
bombers from reaching Israel from the West
Bank. The Palestinians say the structure is an
illegal land grab because it juts into the West
Bank in many places.
Sur Baher is one of those places. In
negotiations with residents, Israel built
the route of the structure in Sur Baher
inside the West Bank to prevent dividing
the village and disrupting life, according
to court documents.
However, residents, claiming it is impossible
to get Israeli building permits in east
Jerusalem, began building the apartment
buildings in the West Bank part of the village
with permission from the Palestinian Authority.
Early this decade, the Israeli military
ordered the construction to stop, saying it
could not permit high-rise buildings so close
to the separation barrier.
southern tip of Spain. Britain says the
two incidents cannot be compared,
asserting that Britain acted lawfully off
the Gibraltar coast to prevent illegal oil
shipments to Syria that would have violated
European Union sanctions while
Iran broke international maritime law
by forcing the Stena Impero to change
course and go to Iran.
Britain says the tanker was in Omani
waters at the time, which Iran disputes.
As the nuclear deal between Tehran
and world powers unravels, the U.S.
has expanded its military presence in
the region, while Iran has begun openly
exceeding the uranium enrichment
levels set in the accord to try to pressure
Europe into alleviating the pain caused
by the sanctions.
European nations, which are trying to
save the nuclear deal and keep Iran
from isolation, have tried to come up
with ways to keep trading with Iran but
have run smack Trump's sanctions
Britain is adding to its military profile
in the region but it does not have the
naval resources that would be needed
to protect all of its shipping interests.
The seizure of the British-flagged
tanker has proved popular inside Iran.
Chinese aluminum
giant revenue hits
fresh high in H1
China's largest aluminum
producer, Aluminum Corporation
of China (Chinalco),
saw its half-year revenue
reach a record high of over
170 billion yuan (around
24.7 billion U.S. dollars) in
the first half of 2019, reports
UNB.
The reading was up 26.5
percent year on year, while
the company achieved a
year-on-year increase of 31.8
percent in its H1 profits, with
net profit up over 40 percent
from a year ago, Chinalco
reported at its mid-year
work conference.
Facing shrinking profit
margins and downward
pressure of the industry, the
world-leading nonferrous
enterprise remained profitable,
reporting growth in
all of its major business segments,
the company said.
The state-owned enterprise
attributed the gains to
bold reforms in improving
its growth quality, and opening
a new market via the
development of high valueadded
products. Chinalcoowned
Aluminum Corporation
of China Limited saw its
half-year sales of high purity
aluminum.
Idlib killed at least 11 civilians according
to the Observatory and first responders.
Despite the heavy bombardment,
Assad's troops have been unable to
make any significant advances
against the rebels or the al-Qaidalinked
militants and other jihadi
groups who dominate Idlib province.
Militant groups have hit back hard,
killing an verage of more than a dozen
soldiers and allied militiamen a day
in recent weeks.
The struggling campaign underscores
the limits of Syria's and Russia's
airpower and inability to achieve a
definitive victory in the country's longrunning
civil war, now in its ninth year.

ART & CULTURE
tUESdAy,
jULy 23, 2019
8
Avengers: Endgame overtakes Avatar
as top box office movie of all time
On Sunday, Marvel's Avengers: Endgame
crossed $2.7902bn (£2.23bn) at the box
office, pushing it over the $2.7897bn
earned by James Cameron's sci-fi epic.
Marvel chief Kevin Feige hailed the
achievement at Comic-Con in San Diego
this weekend, although it was still officially
$500,000 short at the time.
In the UK, however, the film can only
claim fifth place on the all-time box office
chart. Star Wars; The Force Awakens is
still the country's top-earning movie, after
taking £123.2m at the box office in 2015.
It is followed by two Bond movies,
Skyfall and Spectre, and Avatar, which is
£3m ahead of Endgame's current tally of
£91m. The Force Awakens is also the box
office champion in North America, meaning
Endgame's record-breaking haul was
down to a strong international showing.
The film, which starred Robert Downey Jr
as Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Black
Widow and Chris Hemsworth as Thor,
collected $629m in China, $105m in
South Korea and $85m in Brazil. Disney
boss Alan Horn said fans had taken the
film to "historic heights".
Avengers: Endgame has not just been
a success at the box office - it has also
drawn widespread critical acclaim.
Reviews when it was released
spawned descriptions such as "glorious",
"irresistible", "intensely satisfying" and
"masterful". vIts score on reviews aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes is over 90%.
Disney bought Marvel Studios in 2009
and recently completed its acquisition of
Fox, which owned the rights to Avatar.
That means the "House of Mouse" is
now home to seven of the top 10 highestgrossing
films of all time - including all
four Avengers films. Marvel announced
its next 10 superhero movies, with seven
due in 2021 alone, at Comic Con in San
Diego this weekend. Avengers:
Endgame has set numerous box office
records already - including the biggest
global opening of all time at $1.22bn
when it was released in April, breaking
the record of 2018's Avengers: Infinity
War.
An Avengers: Endgame re-release
with added footage at the end of June,
and the recent release of Spider-Man:
Far from Home, helped give Endgame a
box-office boost. It finally surpassed the
$2.9bn mark on Sunday - but box-office
figures are not adjusted for inflation and
Avatar would still be ahead if they were.
Even then, though, James Cameron's
ecological allegory wouldn't be the top
dog. Film historians estimate that Gone
With the Wind still has a case for being
the most successful film of all time.
According to the Guinness Book of
Records, its inflation-adjusted box office
takings would be $3.44 billion (£2.7bn).
Endgame is the 22nd offering in the
Marvel Studios superhero franchise and
the fourth in the blockbuster Avengers
series. Media captionWatch the Avengers:
Endgame trailer Film experts say fans
embracing the Avengers characters has
helped create a worldwide phenomenon.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe
(MCU) franchise began with Iron Man
in 2008. Most of the storylines in the
Marvel movies since then have had
objects called Infinity Stones playing a
significant role. He admitted it would be
"a matter of days" before Endgame
became "the biggest film in history" and
that "if you adjust for inflation, [James
Cameron] still holds the title".
But he added to a large ovation: "But
for right now today in Hall H, thanks to
you, Avengers: Endgame is the biggest
film of all time."
-BBC
'Big Little Lies' Season 2 Finale Brings
Closure After Explosive Shodown
With no news about a third
season, the final episode
brought an end to the Nicole
Kidman and Meryl Streep
saga and left the overall story
on an unambiguous note.
The promised faceoff
between Meryl Streep's Mary
Louise and Nicole Kidman's
Celeste in the Big Little Lies
season two finale was just as
explosive as promised, with
Celeste throwing her motherin-law
off guard by bringing up
the car accident that killed
Perry's brother when they were
children.
"You're a liar," Mary Louise
said, when Celeste asked her
about things Perry had told her
- that she'd blamed Perry for the
accident, and beat him - but
Celeste played a video of Perry
beating her up that the boys had
filmed. While Celeste wasn't
sure how the judge would rule,
because the testimony only
proved Perry's evil and not her
fitness as a mother, everything
ultimately turned out in her
favor and the judge ruled not to
give the boys more trauma by
pulling them from their home.
'Big Little Lies' Season 2 Star
Goes Inside "Electric" Battle
Between Nicole Kidman and
Meryl Streep
In a heart-to-heart the night
before the verdict, Madeline
(Reese Witherspoon) and
Celeste had a discussion about
the lie the Monterey Five had
been keeping. Madeline regretted
suggesting they lie in the
first place, and was sad the
secret was tearing them all
apart. But Celeste told her that
"the lie is the friendship" for the
Monterey Five. The lie did not
eventually tear them apart,
however. It did devastate
Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz), who told
her husband, Nathan (James
Tupper), that she wasn't in love
with him, and whose mother
eventually died from her stroke.
Renata (Laura Dern) finally
lashed out against her selfish
husband, Madeline renewed
her vows with her husband Ed
(Adam Scott), and Jane
(Shailene Woodley) finally
opened up to her new
boyfriend. But they all met at
the police station and walked in
together - seemingly to turn
themselves in - as Mary Louise
drove out of town. The ending,
then, seemed quite final - and
HBO boss Casey Bloys has said
that a third season is unlikely.
He told The Hollywood
Reporter after season two was
announced that "it's hard to
imagine aligning everybody's
schedule again. The fact that we
were able to get season two
together is a small miracle."
Book author Liane Moriarty,
who wrote a "novella" plotting
out season two, told THR at the
second season premiere that
she was done. And although she
said the same thing after season
one, she really means it this
time. "I know I did," she said of
her echoing statement. "But I do
feel like that for me, that season
two will be the end."
Moriarty, who is now at work
on new stories, also said she has
no plans to publish the novella as
a sequel because it diverts from
the Big Little Lies book, telling
THR at the time: "The reason I
wouldn't [publish] is because I
followed from the series and not
from the book. So I changed
Bonnie's backstory from the
book to suit the series." In the
book, it is revealed that the
Bonnie character was abused by
her father and not her the mother,
the way it is portrayed on season
two.
-The Hollywood Reporter
rust Creek
An overachieving college student gets
lost on her way to a job interview. A
wrong turn leaves her stranded deep
in the Kentucky forest.
Genre
Director
Writer
Cast
Actress Koena Mitra, the
original 'Saki Saki' girl,
has landed in major trouble.
The actress has been
in convicted by a metropolitan
court and is
ordered six months' jail in
cheque bouncing case. As
per reports, the actress
was asked to pay Rs 4.64
lakh, including interest of
Rs 1.64 lakh to model,
Poonam Sethi who is also
the complainant.
Poonam Sethi, in 2013,
had filed a cheque
bounced case against
Koena Mitra for "want for
funds". While Mitra has
denied the allegations, the
actress plans to challenge
the judgement.
Magistrate Ketaki Chavan
: Drama, Horror,
Thriller
: Jen McGowan
: Julie Lipson
: Hermione Corfield,
Jay Paulson, Sean
O'Bryan, Micah
Hauptman
: 108 minutes
Runtime
Release Date : 4 January, 2019
Studio : IFC Films
Koena Mitra gets six months'
jail in cheque bouncing case
Marvel is rebooting
the "Blade" series, and
has cast Mahershala
Ali to star.
Marvel Studios chief
Kevin Feige announced
the news at Comic-Con
as the panel's big ending
surprise. Ali also took
the stage at the
announcement to massive
applause, donning
the Blade baseball cap.
Wesley Snipes previously
played the halfvampire
superhero in
1998's "Blade" and its
two sequels, "Blade II"
and "Blade: Trinity."
Coincidentally, Feige
was a co-producer on
"Trinity." The series
focuses on the titular
vigilante, a human who
possesses vampire
strengths and protect
humans from vampires.
Ali has been on a hot
streak as of late. He won
his first Oscar, for best
supporting actor, in
2016 for "Moonlight,"
of Andheri Metropolitan
Court rejected the arguments
made by Koena
Mitra. The actress stated
that model Poonam Sethi
did not have enough
financial capacity to lend
her Rs 22 lakh and that
she stole her cheques. The
magistrate did not accept
any of her defenses. The
court observed that both
contentions were mutually
contradictory.
Koena Mitra said that
she was framed and that
the case was false. Her
lawyer could not be present
during the final argument
and she claimed
that her side was not
heard and the order was
passed without her hearing.
She said that she
would be challenging the
judgement in the higher
court and that her lawyers
are in the process of
appealing.
The case dates back to
2013. The complainant
stated that over a period of
time, Koena Mitra had borrowed
Rs 22 lakh from her.
During the repayment of
this loan, her cheque of Rs
and won the same prize
this year for his portrayal
of Don Shirley in
StoryLinE :
An ordinary woman must
summon extraordinary courage
to survive a nightmare odyssey in
this harrowing survival thriller.
Sawyer (Hermione Corfield) is
an ambitious, overachieving college
senior with a seemingly
bright future. While on her way
to a job interview, a wrong turn
leaves her stranded deep in the
frozen Kentucky woods.
Suddenly, the young woman
with everything to live for finds
herself facing her own mortality
as she's punished by the elements
and pursued by a band of
ruthless outlaws. With nowhere
left to run, she is forced into an
uneasy alliance with Lowell (Jay
Paulson), an enigmatic loner
with shadowy intentions.
Though she's not sure she can
trust him, Sawyer must take a
chance if she hopes to escape
Rust Creek alive.
-Rotten Tomatoes
3 lakh bounced. Poonam
Sethi, then, sent a legal
notice to Mitra on July 19,
2013, but the actress failed
to repay again. Then, on
October 10, 2013, Sethi
filed a complaint in court.
Koena Mitra started her
career in Bollywood in
2002. Last she appeared in
an Indian Bangla film on
2015.
-Bollywood Hungama
Mahershala Ali to Star in Marvel's 'Blade' reboot
"Green Book." He most
recently starred in the
third season of HBO's
drama series "True
Detective" and appeared
in "Alita: Battle Angel."
It's not Ali's first foray
in the superhero world.
Last year, he voiced the
Prowler in the animated
hit "Spider-Man: Into
the Spider-Verse," and
also played the villain
Cornell "Cottonmouth"
Stokes in the first season
of the Netflix/Marvel
series "Luke Cage."
"Blade" was only one
of several big announcements
made at Comic-
Con. Among other big
news: the full cast of
"The Eternals" was
revealed, "Shang-Chi"
found its lead in Simu
Liu and Natalie Portman
is rejoining the Thor
franchise.
-Variety
H o r o S C o p E
AriES
(March 21 - April 20) : Jump back
on stage and say what you have to
say, Aries. Your participation in
the conversation is critical to maintaining a
healthy energy flow. The things you say will
have a profound effect on others, so chose
your words carefully. Enjoy a physical activity
that involves a group.
tAUrUS
(April 21 - May 21) : Your solid
grounding may become a bit
unstable today, Taurus, but
don't worry about it. Be a little
more flexible and release your tight grip on
the situation. Infuse laughter and playfulness
into the picture. The exchange of
ideas is critical.
GEMini
(May 22 - June 21) : There's no
excuse for laziness today,
Gemini. Get out of bed before
noon. The more active you are,
the happier you will be. Come out of your
cave and express your thoughts to others.
Get out in the open air and listen to
what the wind has to say. Be active and
flexible.
CAnCEr
(June 22 - July 23) : Don't let
things stagnate, Cancer. It's time to
take action. See how far rather
than deep you can go in everything you do
today. Cover a wide range of topics and pick up
a magazine or two. Take a break from your
usual emotional intensity and enjoy the sunshine
and the light conversation.
LEo
(July 24 - Aug. 23) : Yesterday's trajectory
may run into trouble today, Leo.
Your intrinsically dreamy nature is
dragging down the action you initiated. This conflict
could create tension that will be difficult to
resolve. Your emotions may deceive you, so try not
to get pulled off course by a passing whim. Try to
keep your feelings grounded.
VirGo
(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23) : Try to align
your mind with your emotions
today, Virgo. It's possible that a
powerful yet subtle force is slowly
pulling you off track. If so, you should think
about taking a break and doing some fast-paced
physical activity to get your heart rate up and
blood pumping. Jogging will help clear your
head and enable you to think more rationally
about decisions you need to make.
LiBrA
(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) : Pay attention
to the news today, Libra, and not
just the mainstream news but the
offbeat, smaller publications, too. Question
what you hear and read. Take an active role
to increase your knowledge of the world.
Take responsibility for your citizenship by
keeping an eye on what's going on.
SCorpio
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) : Today is a great
day to jump out of bed and get things
done, Scorpio. You may feel indecisive,
but don't sweat it. You don't have to make any
great commitments. You will do fine jumping
around from task to task. Get out into the open and
say what's on your mind. Engage in some sort of
physical activity that gets you breathing deeply.
SAGittAriUS
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) : The name of the
game today is action, Sagittarius.
The air has cleared, and it feels
like a weight has been lifted off
your shoulders. You might experience a sudden
burst of physical energy, pushing you to
get out and walk or go for a long bike ride.
Enjoy the wind in your hair. Release your
pent-up emotions in the open air.
CApriCorn
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20) : Take some of
that knowledge you've gathered and
processed over the past few weeks
and begin to spread it around, Capricorn. It's time
to put your communication skills to work. Your
emotions are strongly tied to your actions, and
things will take on a much lighter tone than they
have had in the past couple of days.
AQUAriUS
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : Your physical
stamina is apt to be strong today,
Aquarius. You should consider going
to the gym to release some of that pentup
energy. Engage in team sports or something that
involves strategy and good coordination. Pick up a
tennis racquet or join a basketball game. Your high
energy will be the key to coming out on top.
piSCES
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : Take a break
from the seriousness that has prevailed
over the past couple days,
Pisces. Upbeat conversations are the way to
navigate through today's waters. You might
notice that others are more actively communicating
and that words are especially effective.
You talk and people listen. Do your share
of listening, too.

SPORTS
TUESDAy,
JULy 23, 2019
9
Taijul joined Bangladesh team in Sri Lanka straight from Bangalore where he was playing Dr
(capt.)K. Thimmappiah Memorial Tournament for BCB XI.
Photo: BCB
Taijul eying to fill the void of Shakib
Former Australian
tennis star Peter
McNamara dies
Sports Desk: Former Australian
Davis Cup tennis star
and Wimbledon doubles
champion Peter McNamara
has died aged 64, officials
said Monday, prompting a
flood of tributes, reports
BSS.
McNamara, a popular figure
on the men's and
women's tours, reportedly
succumbed to prostate cancer.
"We are all so sad to hear
of the passing of Peter
McNamara, a much-loved
and respected member of
our tennis family," Tennis
Australia said.
"His contribution to the
sport as a player, coach and
mentor will never be forgotten.
Our thoughts are with
his family and friends."
McNamara reached a
career-high world number
seven in singles, winning
five titles, but was perhaps
best known for his doubles
partnership alongside fellow
Australian Paul McNamee.
The duo twice won Wimbledon,
in 1980 and 1982, as
well as the 1979 Australian
Open.
"Hard to believe that after
50 years of friendship Macca
is gone," McNamee tweeted.
"You lived life to the full
mate and will be missed by
your loved ones and many
more…a toast to the great
times mate," he said.
After his retirement from
playing, McNamara moved
into coaching, mentoring
Mark Philippoussis and
Grigor Dimitrov, before
working with China's Wang
Qiang.
Serena Williams' coach
Patrick Mouratoglou called
him "very charismatic, totally
passionate about his job".
"He did an incredible job
with Grigor Dimitrov helping
his transitions to the
pros," he added.
Boris Becker said "R.I.P.
Peter McNamara! One of the
good guys in tennis!", while
Simona Halep's former
coach Darren Cahill called
him "a great player, great
coach that improved every
player he worked with".
Sports Desk: Bangladesh left-arm
spinner Taijul Islam insisted that he
can't never be a replacement of Shakib
Al Hasan but he leaves no stone
unturned to fill the void, created by the
absence of the ace all-rounder in the
upcoming three-match ODI series
against Sri Lanka, reports BSS.
Taijul joined Bangladesh team in Sri
Lanka straight from Bangalore where
he playing Dr (capt.)K. Thimmappiah
Memorial Tournament for BCB XI. He
bowled brilliantly in two four-dayer
match to claim 14 wickets.
Bangladesh opted to pick him after
ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan was
granted leave by BCB on personal reasons
as they were looking for a left-arm
spinner to come in their bowling attack
in place of one of the leading spinners
of the world-Shakib.
"I don't agree with the phrase as a
replacement of Shakib Al Hassan," Taijul
told reporters during their opening
day training session at the Premadasa
Stadium on Sunday.
"I cannot replace Shakib as he holds
the number one position as an allrounder
in world ranking. I will try my
best if I play in place of him and bring
good results," he said.
Bangladesh reached Sri Lanka on
Saturday eying to erase the World Cup
disappointment, by winning the theematch
ODI series. The first match of
the series will be held on July 26, while
the rest of the two ODIs are scheduled
on July 28 and 31. All of the matches
will be taken place in Colombo.
Tamim Iqbal leads the side after
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was ruled out
due to fresh hamstring injury.
Alongside him all-rounder Mohammad
Saifuddin was also sidelined following
a lower back pain Pace bowler
Taskin Ahmed and all-rounder Farhad
Reza replaced Mashrafe and Saifuddin
in the team at the last moment.
Selectors earlier called up Taijul
Islam and Anamul Haque Bijoy in the
place of Shakib and Liton.
The series was thrown into doubt following
the April 21 Easter Sunday
attacks in Sri Lanka churches and
hotels that killed more than 250 people.
Due to promises of providing highest
level of security to Tigers by Sri Lanka,
the series has found steam and finally is
rolled out and it seemed SLC is determined
to keep their words by providing
highest level of security.
Despite all the injury concern Taijul
believes they can give the host a run for
their money.
"Currently our team is in a good position.
It cannot be said that we are
behind of Sri Lanka. The team who will
play better in the tournament they will
get the good results. So we will all try
our best to play good cricket," said Taijul
"When talking about the environment
surrounding the team, we always
try to help each other and still it
remains like before. So I expect that
something good will happen and everyone
shares that felling," he said.
While the first crop of cricketers led
by skipper Tamim Iqbal reached
Colombo on Saturday the other crop of
cricketers will reach Sri Lanka tomorrow,
who are preparing the series by
taking part in the opening two games
against Afghanistan A in the five-match
series.
Dhoni asked not to retire
while team groom Pant :
BCCI official
Sports Desk: Chief selectors MSK Prasad
started Sunday's press conference with great
gusto after picking the Indian squads for the
Windies tour. Not only did he say that he
would clear all doubts about the strange
replacement pattern during the ICC Cricket
World Cup 2019, but also added that he
would clear the air over MS Dhoni's position,
reports Cricketcountry.
While he started on the lines that Rishabh
Pant is being groomed with an eye on the
2020 World T20, what he did not reveal was
how the team management has requested
Dhoni not to retire at the moment.
Sources in the know of developments said
that while Pant is being readied with an eye
on the 2020 World T20, the team management
doesn't wish for Dhoni to hang his
boots as that could create a sudden vacuum
in the set-up which will be hard to fill if Pant
suffers an injury by any chance going into the
next showpiece event.
"Dhoni knows what his role and position
is. All these talks about his retirement and
when he will call it quits makes no sense as
he is a team player. He will never react to any
controversy and I am sure you all know this
much about the man and his ethics.
"While the team management is grooming
Pant with an eye on the next T20 World Cup
and beyond, they want Dhoni as a mentor
and back-up if he is needed going into the
tournament. They want him to stick around
a bit longer. "Take a look around and tell me
who are your options if Pant suffers an
injury? To be honest, all the names on the
other side don't match-up to be half as good
as Dhoni still is. Yes, there is no denying the
fact that Pant is the future and he will be
looked at across all formats, but Dhoni's
guidance as well as presence is still needed,"
the source explained.
Prasad on his part said that the team was
looking at Pant across all formats and that it
was on Dhoni to decide when he wishes to
retire. "Retirement is purely individual. A
legendary cricketer like Dhoni…he knows
when to retire. But as far as the future
roadmap is considered, that is in the hands
of the selectors. He (Dhoni) is unavailable for
this series. Having said that, we had certain
roadmaps till the World Cup. Subsequently,
post the World Cup, we have laid down few
more plans.
"We thought of giving as many opportunities
to Rishabh Pant to see he is groomed.
That's our plan right now. Pant hasn't done
anything wrong for his non-inclusion in the
playing XI. Pant will be playing all the three
formats so we will have to look about his
workload management," he said.
When asked why Prasad made such a comment
if it was indeed a team management
decision to ask Dhoni to hang around a little
longer, the source declined to get into that
but said that there seems to be more than
what meets the eye when it comes to his handling
of questions on Dhoni.
"Even earlier he had made a public statement
about Dhoni that was different from
what he had stated in private on the day of a
selection meeting.
Prasad on his part said that the team was looking at Pant across all formats
and that it was on Dhoni to decide when he wishes to retire. Photo: AP
Atlanta United blank
D.C. United 2-0
Sports Desk: Pity Martinez
scored the eventual
winner and Brad Guzan
earned his 10th shutout as
Atlanta United FC beat the
Wayne Rooney-less D.C.
United 2-0 on Sunday,
reports BSS.
Pity Martinez scored in the
89th minute and Josef Martinez
added the insurance
goal in stoppage time as second
place Atlanta improved
to 11-8-3 on the MLS season.
Guzan stopped three shots
for the shutout over D.C.
United, who missed Rooney
as they rely heavily on him
for much of their scoring.
Guzan now has a leagueleading
10 shutouts.
D.C.'s loss dropped them
to third place in the Eastern
Conference with a 9-6-8
record, one point back from
Atlanta.
Rooney was left off the
roster of the key regular season
contest after coach Ben
Olsen allowed him to take
some time off due to some
"niggling" injuries, about
which he refused to go into
detail. As a result the 33-
year-old Rooney missed his
first match because of
injuries since joining the
MLS team last year.
"There are some signs of
wear and tear, some little
niggling things," Olsen said.
Liverpool fall 2-1 to Sevilla
in Fenway friendly
Sports Desk: Alejandro Pozo delivered the
late dagger in 10-man Sevilla's 2-1 friendly
win over Liverpool in Boston Sunday, a
defeat made worse for the European champions
when they saw Yasser Larouci
stretchered off, reports BSS.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was furious
at Joris Gagnon's outrageous kick at an
on-rushing Larouci in the 76th minute.
Gnagnon was shown a straight red card after
sweeping one of the Frenchman's legs out
from underneath him, toppling him to the
pitch where his head bounced hard on the
ground.
"(It's) much too early in the season to create
headlines with saying the things I think
about the situation," Klopp said at his postmatch
press conference, where he added that
it appeared that the 18-year-old Larouci was
"lucky" in terms of avoiding serious injury.
"But of course, how it always is with these
things we have to wait a little bit. I don't
know 100 percent. It looks like he was lucky
but I only spoke quickly to the Doc and that's
what he said, but we have to see."
Even with the La Liga outfit reduced to 10
men, Liverpool were unable find a way
ahead, and Pozo sealed it in the 90th minute
as he smoothly collected a pass from Munir
El Haddadi, rounded Liverpool keeper
Simon Mignolet and knocked the winner
into an unguarded net.
Sevilla had enjoyed by far the majority of
scoring chances on a sweltering evening at
Fenway Park - home of the World Series
Champion Boston Red Sox. Both Liverpool
and the Red Sox are owned by groups led by
John W. Henry.
Players were granted water breaks in the
hot, humid conditions, and even the pitch
created on the baseball diamond received
extra water during the match.
The pro-Liverpool crowd weren't treated
to many of the club's stars as Brazilian internationals
Roberto Firmino and Alisson were
both absent for the Reds following their
Copa America campaign along with
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, both missing
due to the African Cup of Nations.
As in a 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund
on Friday in Indiana, there was some shaky
defending from Liverpool.
Nolito's powerful shot in the 37th minute
past Liverpool starting goalkeeper Andy
Lonergan - who was at Middlesbrough last
season - was Sevilla's reward after a halfhour
of pressure.
It needed a sprawling save from Lonergan
in the 13th minute to deny Luuk de Jong
after Liverpool lost possession in their own
territory and de Jong was just wide with a
header in the 23rd.
Liverpool's equalizer came off a scrappy set
piece as Trent Alexander-Arnold's corner
was kept alive by Nat Phillips, the ball falling
to an unmarked Divock Origi who swept in
from close range in the 44th.
Both teams made wholesale changes at
halftime, but even a match that was just one
more step in both team's pre-season preparations
there was nothing laid back about
Sevilla.
Sevilla's Alejandro Pozo Pozo celebrates scoring the go ahead goal during the match against
Liverpool at Fenway Park.
Photo: AP
Swimmers ‘don’t trust’ Sun
as doping row boils over
Sports Desk: World championship
swimmers slammed China's Sun Yang
over lurid doping allegations and said
competitors were firmly behind Australia's
Mack Horton, who snubbed the
Olympic star on the podium, reports
BSS.
America's Matt Grevers said many
competitors "don't trust" Sun, while
world record-holder Lilly King said athletes
"erupted in applause" after Horton
refused to join his rival on the podium
for photos after the 400 metres
freestyle medals ceremony.
Triple Olympic champion Sun is facing
allegations, outlined in a leaked
FINA doping panel report, that he
smashed vials of blood with a hammer
when testers visited him last year.
FINA cleared Sun to compete but the
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
has appealed the decision at the Lausanne-based
Court of Arbitration for
Sport (CAS), putting the swimmer's
career on the line.
If Sun is found guilty of a doping violation,
he could face a lifetime ban after
serving a three-month suspension in
2014 for taking a banned stimulant he
claimed was for a heart problem.
Grevers, along with King and several
other swimmers, praised Australian
Mack Horton for his "risky" protest on
Sunday after finishing second behind
Sun in the 400m freestyle final in
Gwangju, South Korea.
"We don't know if there's going to be
penalties or sanctions against him
(Horton) but I think he knew there
were risks and felt strongly enough to
still do it," said the American backstroker.
"It's obviously something he feels
passionate about. I don't feel like it really
hurt Sun Yang. It's just to let him
know that it was a weird incident and
until it gets uncovered, we don't really
trust you."
Australian Mitch Larkin also backed
the stand of his team-mate Horton,
who called Sun a "drug cheat" before
beating him at the 2016 Rio Olympics -
two years after his Chinese rival tested
positive for the banned stimulant.
"I'm super-proud of Mack," said
Larkin after the morning's 100m backstroke
heats. "The whole Aussie team
backs him 100 percent," added the former
world champion. "I think 99 percent
of athletes around the pool deck
back him, so he's not really standing
alone. What he did was certainly brave
and gutsy and I have a lot of respect for
him for doing that."
Asked if he felt confident he would be
competing in clean races in South
Korea this week, Larkin shrugged: "You
can never be confident - I know I'm a
clean athlete and do everything I can,
so I just have to trust that's enough."
Herman holds on to win Barbasol
Championship
Sports Desk: Jim Herman finally earned that elusive second
PGA title of his career, winning the Barbasol Championship
by one stroke over Kelly Kraft who stumbled to the
finish with two bogeys down the stretch, reports BSS.
Herman's only other win on the PGA Tour came three
years ago when he captured the Houston Open by one shot
over Henrik Stenson of Sweden.
"The last couple of years have been a little lean. A lot of
missed cuts. I never lost hope. I always wanted to win a second
one. I didn't want to just have Houston," said Herman,
who shot a final round two-under 70.
He rolled in three birdies and had one bogey on Sunday to
finish with a 26-under 262 total on the Keene Trace Golf Club
course in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
Kraft was in contention on the back nine until he made
back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17 which left Herman needing
just a par on the par-four 18 to take the title.
Herman cooly landed his approach on the green then two
putted for the victory. "If you are not making birdies you are
going to be chasing," Herman said. "We just held off everyone
else. It was just the two of us coming down stretch he
made a couple of mistakes."Kraft shot a 70 while Austria's
Sepp Straka made a late charge but finished two shots back
in sole third place after a six-under 66.
Australia's Matt Jones fired a 63 to finish in a tie for fourth
with Austin Cook who had a 70.
The 41-year-old Herman is a former assistant pro at one of
President Donald Trump's golf courses in New Jersey. He
says he played a round recently with the President and got
some putting advice which he put to good use.
"He gets me going in the right direction with golf," said
Herman. "I took his advice and put a new putter in play."
Some might find it odd that a PGA Tour player would be
taking advice from Trump, who has been accused of inflating
his golf accomplishments and his claims to have won 18 club
championships have also been widely challenged by a number
of golf experts.
But Herman said his former employer inspires him.
"He motivates me and puts me in a good spot," Herman
said.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS
10
TUESDAy, JULy 23, 2019
Bikroy and Minister Launches BiratHaat on this Eid
Bikroy presents a huge collection of farm animals
Bank Asia Ltd. and Truvalu. enterprises Ltd. signed anMoU to ensure equity, working capital and other development
supports for the agro-based SME entrepreneurs to accelerate their business activities. Md. Arfan Ali,
President and Managing Director of Bank Asia Ltd. and Ms. Sharawwat Islam, Managing Director of Truvalu.
enterprisesLtd. are seen exchanging the MoUin a signing ceremony at the Bank's Corporate
Officerecently.Senior officials from both the organizations were present at the program. Photo: Courtesy
Xiaomi becomes the youngest company
on Fortune Global 500 list
"Ranks 468th on the Global 500 list
for 2019
"And 7th in the Internet Services and
Retailing category
"The youngest company among this
year's Global 500
Xiaomi Corporation ("Xiaomi" or
the "Group"; Stock Code: 1810: Hong
Kong) announced today that the
company has for the first time made the
Fortune Global 500 list, nine years after
its iteration, a press release said.
The Beijing-based global technology
leader is the youngest company on the
Fortune Global 500 list for 2019,
ranking 468th, with a revenue of
US$26,443.50 million and a net profit
of US$2,049.10 million in the previous
fiscal year. The company also ranks 7th
in the Internet Services and Retailing
category.
"It took Xiaomi only nine years to
make the Fortune Global 500 list, a
milestone that we owe a big thank you
to all our Mi Fans and users for their
unwavering support. We are also the
youngest company on this year's list, a
proud record that we will keep in mind
and bring to another level in the global
expansion journey," said Lei Jun,
Founder, Chairman and CEO of
Xiaomi.
"Over the past year, we have made
significant improvements and
adjustments in our core strategies,
management structures, technology
research and development systems,
product lineups, brand developments,
and much more. These moves have
empowered Xiaomi to continuously
shine, even in the face of fierce
competition from domestic and
international peers. This honor does
not mark the end of our pursuit, but
simply a new beginning. We remain
committed to making amazing and
highly innovative products at honest
prices, as our philosophy states, in an
effort to let our Mi Fans, users and
investors enjoy a better life," Lei Jun
added.
As an internet company with
smartphones and smart hardware
connected by an Internet of Things
(IoT) platform at its core founded in
April 2010, Xiaomi was also named to
Fortune's China 500 list for the first
time in June, ranking 53rd.
The company reached RMB10,000
million (approx. US$1,453.72 million)
threshold in sales revenue in 2012, and
RMB100,000 million (approx.
US$14,537.21 million) in 2017.
Xiaomi continues to demonstrate its
healthy consumer brand equity and
strong growth potential, thanks to the
company's unique and powerful
"triathlon" business model, and the
results of its dual-core strategy of
"Smartphone + AIoT".
According to international market
research organization IDC, as of March
2019, Xiaomi had become the world's
4th smartphone brand in terms of
shipment sales volume, registering a
year-on-year growth of 32.2 percent.
The company has also incubated and
invested in over 200 ecosystem
companies, many of which are
specialized in developing smart
hardware, and thus built the world's
largest consumer IoT platform with
approximately 171 million connected
IoT devices, excluding smartphones
and laptops, by late March 2019.
Bikroy.com, the largest
marketplace in Bangladesh
and the most popular online
platform for buying and
selling of farm animals,
along with Minister Hi-Tech
Park Limited, have launched
the "BikroyBiratHaat
Powered by Minister"
campaign on the occasion of
this Eid-ul-Adha for the
third time. The campaign,
announced on 22nd July
2019 at the Head Office of
Bikroy located in Dhaka,
started from today and will
be live until the night before
Eid, a press release said.
EshitaSharmin, Head of
Marketing, Ad Sales and
Jobs of Bikroy; Naz Hussain,
Head of Sales & Service &
Marketplace of Birkoy and
K.M.G. Kibria, Head of
Brand & Communication of
Minister Hi-Tech Park
Limited were present among
others at the press
conference.
This Eid-ul-Adha, Bikroy
will again cater to its
customers with a vast range
of farm animals like every
year. More than 1000
Qurbani cattle ads have
already been listed on
Bikroy's site. This year,
Bikroy has arranged the
BiratHaat contest for both
their buyers and members.
Participants can take part in
this online contest and win
exciting home and
electronics appliances worth
a total of BDT 6 Lacs, at the
courtesy of Minister.
In order to participate in
the Buyer campaign, willing
customers will have to share
the ad link of their favorite
Qurbani cattle from Bikroy
on their Facebook timeline
with the hashtag
#BiratHaatin the caption.13
lucky winners with the most
likes, comments and shared
posts will receive amazing
prizes like a Refrigerator,
Smart LED TV, Microwave
and many more items from
Minister. For the seller
contest, 3 lucky winners will
be selected among members
with the most number of
cattle ads on their shop or
with most viewed cattle
advertisements.
EshitaSharmin, Head of
Marketing, Ad Sales and
Jobs of Bikroy said, "Bikroy
is a pioneer in online buying
and selling of Qurbani cattle.
For the fifth time, Bikroy has
been arranging for a wide
array of Qurbani animals. In
previous years, we have
received amazing responses
from our customers during
Eid-ul-Adha. This year,
interested buyers will again
have thousands of Qurbani
animals to choose from on
Bikroy. With each passing
year, user demand increases
and we try to upgrade our
service accordingly to match
their needs. Besides,
thousands of sellers benefit
from this platform. We
believe our BiratHaat
contest will double their Eid
joy".
Naz Hussain, Head of
Sales & Service and
Marketplace of Bikroy said,
"During Eid, there are all
sorts of hassles, and almost
always a lot of time and
energy is wasted in moving
around and trying to find the
right cattle. Many people
benefited from this great
campaign previously and I
believe it will be the same
this year. Last year,
approximately 70 farm
owners registered and
joined us as members. We
hope that this year at least
150 farm owners will take
our membership service".
ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman (6th from left); ICC Malaysia Chairman Chew Phye Keat
(6th from right); ICC Bangladesh Secretary General Ataur Rhman (5th from right) and Director and Chief
of ICC- Commercial Crime Services P. Mukundan (7th from left) are seen with Bankers from 10
Commercial Banks of Bangladesh, who attended the International Financial Crime Forum 2019, -The
Changing Face of Financial Crime, held in Kuala Lumpur on 17-18 July 2019.
Photo: Courtesy
Customers likely to get Tk 1 lakh worth
cash vouchers on Walton AC purchase
Centering the upcoming
Eid-ul-Azha, the local
electronics giant 'Walton' has
declared some benefits for the
customers of its air
conditioner (AC) under the
nationwide ongoing digital
campaign season 4, says a
press release.
These benefits are included:
cash vouchers or cash
discounts up to Tk 1 lakh, free
installation, one year
electricity bill free.
Engineer Ishaque Rony,
chief operating officer of
Walton AC, said that any
customer of Walton AC is
likely to get different values
cash discounts or cash
vouchers up to Tk 1 lakh
through registering the
purchased AC from any Plaza,
distributor showroom or E-
plaza across the country.
Besides, customers may get
free installation or one
electricity bill free such as Tk
14,600 for purchasing 1-ton
AC, Tk 18,000 for 1.5-ton and
Tk 21,600 for 2-ton.
Customers will enjoy these
benefits from July 11 to till the
Eid-ul-Azha, he added.
Apart from these benefits,
Walton is offering some other
benefits like cash discounts,
free home delivery,
instalment facility up to 36
months and Tk 500 cash
back.
Mofizur Rahman, deputy
operative director of IT
Department of Walton,
informed that the online
customers are offered 10
percent cash discounts, along
with free home delivery, on
the purchase of Walton AC
from E-plaza using debit or
credit cards of various banks.
He also noted that
customers would get Tk 500
instant cashback through
setting Walton AC's caller
tune in their mobile phone
and uploading selfie with the
newly purchased Walton AC
on their Facebook page.
Under the nationwide
ongoing 'AC Exchange Offer',
customers can purchase
Walton brand's new ACs at 25
percent discounts of the
regular price through
submitting their used or old
ACs of any brand to any Plaza
or distributor outlet.
Md Tanvir Rahman, chief
executive officer of Walton
AC, said, one of the customers
of Walton AC at Ramganj in
Noakhali has already awarded
Tk 1 worth cash voucher for
registering his air conditioner
just after the purchase.
In addition, thousands of
customers of Walton AC have
received one year electricity
bill as free, he added.
Walton is now
manufacturing and marketing
various models of 1 ton, 1.5
ton and 2 ton split air
conditioner in the local
market. Prices of these ACs
are between Tk 35,900 and Tk
76,400. Walton is also
producing 4 ton and 5 ton
cassette and ceiling type ACs.
Every air conditioner of
Walton is released in the
market after obtaining quality
control certification from
international standard testing
lab NUSDAT-UTS. Walton is
delivering swift and best post
sales services through more
than 70 service centers across
the country under ISO
standard service management
system. More than 2500
service experts are dedicated
in providing after sales
services.
Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Ltd (LUMPL), a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim Bangladesh Limitedhas won
the "Outstanding Achievement Award" given by the Indian Bureau of Mines. LUMPL extracts limestone
in its sites in Meghalaya and supplies the LHBL cement plant at Chhatak, Sunamganj by 17 KM long belt
conveyor. It is the third consecutive year that LUMPL has won the award. The coveted recognition was
given at the conclusion of the 10thMines Environment and Mineral Conservation Week (MEMCW) 2018-
19 held in Guwahati Region, Government of India. A Total 14 mines from the north-eastern region of India
participated in the competition, including leading companies like Star Cement, Dalmia Bharat cement,
Topcem Cement and others.
Photo: Courtesy
Weekly oil prices
drop over 6 pct amid
geopolitical tensions
Oil prices decreased for the week ending July 19, with the
price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery
down 7.61 percent and Brent crude oil for September delivery
down 6.37 percent, reports BSS.
WTI closed the week at 55.63 U.S. dollars a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude finished
the week at 62.47 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures
Exchange. WTI and Brent crude have increased 22.51
percent and 16.12 percent, respectively, so far this year.
During the week, WTI and Brent moved in the same
directions with a momentum of downtrend. The prices of
crude oil rose on global exchanges Friday as geopolitics
intruded on daily deals, with traders troubled by Middle East
military tensions. However, compared with the losses in the
previous sessions, the gains were modest.
Oil prices fell on Monday, as investors digested news that
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country would be
ready to hold negotiations with the United States if
Washington lifted sanctions against Tehran. Oil prices
declined significantly on Tuesday after reports that U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran was ready to
negotiate on its missiles.
Meanwhile, oil prices lost certain support as oil firms in the
Gulf of Mexico began restoring some of their production that
was shut down due to Hurricane Barry over the weekend.
The WTI decreased 0.63 dollar and 1.96 dollars to 59.58
dollars a barrel and 57.62 dollars a barrel, respectively, on
Monday and Tuesday, while Brent crude lost 0.24 dollar and
2.13 dollars to 66.48 dollars a barrel and 64.35 dollars a
barrel, respectively.
On Wednesday, oil prices extended losses after data
showed U.S. crude oil inventories decreased. According to
the Weekly Petroleum Status Report released by the U.S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday,
U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 3.11 million barrels in
the week ending July 12 to 455.9 million barrels, which was
more than the expected drop of 2.69 million barrels,
implying weaker demand and bearish for crude prices.
Oil prices also lost some support amid signs of potential
progress toward negotiations between Washington and
Tehran. The WTI fell 0.84 dollar to settle at 56.78 dollars a
barrel, while Brent crude dropped 0.69 dollar to close at
63.66 dollars a barrel.
Three Mistakes in
the History Book
Released from BB
NAzRUL ISLAM BASHIR
The new edition of
Bangladesh bank history book
named `Bangladesh Banker
Itihash' was published in
March 2019. Three
photographs of Father of the
nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman included in
the new edition. But, it
appeared three major
mistakes at a caption of a rare
photo of Bangabandhu in the
page of 127 of the history book
released from Bangladesh
Bank.
In the year of 1972, on that
day no currency notes not was
handed over to Bangabandhu
at Ganobhaban. The first
currency notes handing over
ceremony was held on
September 13, 1973,
Thursday. Major spelling
mistakes in the caption
mentioned the name of first
Governor. The correct spelling
is A. N. Hamid Ullah, but it
mentioned A. N. M.
Hamidullah. The bank notes
that printed below the photo
were also not the first bank
notes of Bangladesh. The first
currency notes printed with
portrait of Bangabandhu and
map of Bangladesh in the
front side.
Not only that, but a
revolutionary banking
message of Bangabandhu and
remarkable banking progress
of the government of
Bangabandhu also not
included in the book.

MISCELLANEOUS
TueSDAY, JulY 23, 2019
11
Sirajganj Police Super Tutul Chakrabarty distributed relief materials among flood affected victims
in Ranigram and Kazipur thana of the district on Monday.
Photo: Badrul Alam Dulal
China lashes out at Hong Kong
protest targeting its office
China on Monday harshly criticized a
weekend demonstration in which
eggs were thrown at its office in Hong
Kong, accusing the demonstrators of
violence without mentioning a violent
attack against protesters and civilians
the same night, reports UNB.
A group of protesters targeted
China's liaison office on Sunday night
after more than 100,000 people
marched through the city to demand
democracy and an investigation into
the use of force by police to disperse
crowds at earlier protests. The official
People's Daily newspaper, in a frontpage
commentary headlined "Central
Authority Cannot Be Challenged,"
called the protesters' actions
"intolerable."
Later Sunday, protesters trying to
return home were attacked inside a
subway station by assailants who
appeared to be targeting prodemocracy
demonstrators. At least
45 people were injured, of whom 22
remained hospitalized Monday
morning, including one man in
critical condition, the Hospital
Authority said. Hong Kong leader
Carrie Lam said allegations that
police colluded with the assailants
China helps
rest of world
as it develops
itself: expert
China is a very important
country in the world as it has
not only been developing
itself, but also helping
develop the rest of the world,
a Fijian expert told Xinhua
on Sunday, reports UNB.
were "unfounded."
Another 14 people were injured as
police used tear gas to clear protesters
in central Hong Kong. Police said on
their official social media accounts
that protesters threw bricks and
petrol bombs at them and attacked
the police headquarters.
The attack on the liaison office
touched a raw nerve in China. China's
national emblem, which hangs on the
front of the building, was splattered
with black ink. It was replaced by a
new one within hours.
"These acts openly challenged the
authority of the central government
and touched the bottom line of the
'one country, two systems' principle,"
the government's Hong Kong and
Macao Affairs Office said in a
statement Sunday.
Lam repeated the same statement
to reporters Monday, adding that the
vandalism "hurt the nation's
feelings."
The "one country, two systems"
framework, under which the former
British colony was returned to China
in 1997, allows Hong Kong to
maintain a fair degree of autonomy in
local affairs. Demonstrators fear the
S.Korea's Hyundai Motor
posts double-digit growth
in Q2 operating profit
South Korea's biggest
automaker Hyundai Motor
posted double-digit growth
in the second-quarter
operating profit on demand
for sport utility vehicle
(SUV), the company said
Monday, reports UNB.
Operating profit advanced
30.2 percent from a year
earlier to 1.24 trillion won
(1.05 billion U.S. dollars) in
the April-June quarter,
recording the highest in two
years since the second
quarter of 2017.
It surpassed market
expectations of about 1.1
trillion won (930 million
U.S. dollars) on solid
demand for SUVs and newly
launched vehicles.
The local currency's
depreciation to the dollar
also made a positive
contribution to the earnings.
Revenue gained 9.1
percent over the year to
26.97 trillion won (22.9
billion U.S. dollars) in the
pro-Beijing government in Hong
Kong is chipping away at their rights
and freedoms.
A group of pro-China lawmakers
held a news conference Monday
appealing for a halt to the violence,
saying it was a blow to Hong Kong's
reputation and is scaring away
tourists and investors.
They also urged police to tighten
enforcement against the protesters,
whom Regina Ip, a former security
secretary, labeled as "rebels."
"The violent attack on the Liaison
Office ... is a direct affront to the
sovereignty of our country," Ip said.
She said the police were
"overstretched" when asked why it
took at least a half-hour for police to
arrive at the suburban train station
where protesters were attacked.
"The police have been under
extreme pressure," she said.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia
Mo said there was "more than
apparent" involvement from the
triad, a branch of organized crime in
Hong Kong.
"What happened last night doesn't
seem accidental in any way," Mo said.
"It's all organized."
second quarter, and net
income jumped 23.3
percent to 999.3 billion won
(848.3 million U.S. dollars).
In the global market,
Hyundai sold a total of
1,104,916 vehicles in the
June quarter, down 7.3
percent from a year earlier.
It was attributed to weak
demand from major
markets, including China
and the United States.
For the first six months of
this year, Hyundai's
revenue grew 8.1 percent to
50.95 trillion won (43.3
billion U.S. dollars)
compared with the same
period of last year.
Operating profit jumped
26.4 percent to 2.06 trillion
won (1.75 billion U.S.
dollars) in the January-June
period.
NYC recovers
power supply to
some after heat
wave outage
The utility company Con
Edison has restored the
power supply to about
13,000 people in southeast
Brooklyn in New York City
(NYC), according to a
statement released Monday,
reports UNB.
Meanwhile, 40,000
people in the city are still
without electricity, about
20,000 of whom are
customers in Brooklyn, NYC
Mayor Bill De Blasio has
said.
"It's still hot and people
have a right to be
frustrated," De Blasio
tweeted. "We're pushing
Con Ed to get power back as
fast as possible."
Sirajganj SP
distributes relief
materials among
flood victims
Badrul Alam Dulal,
Sirajganj Correspondent:
Sirajganj district police
organized a relief
distribution programme to
more than 3,000 helpless
flood affected families in
Sirajganj Sadar and Kazipur
on Monday. Police Super
Tutul Chakrabarty handed
over the relief materials to
the flood victims in
Ranigram and Kazipur
thana of the district.
At the occasion, each
person were given 5 kg of
rice, 5 kg of pulse, 3 liter of
oil, 5 kg of potato, saline,
water purification tablets,
candles and matches.
During the time, Sirajganj
Municipality panel Mayor-2
Golam Mostafa, Inspector of
District Special Branch
Rezaul Karim, DB Police OC
Wahiduzzaman, Sadar
Police Station OC
Mohammad Daud, Kazipur
Police Station Officer-in-
Charge AKM Lutfur
Rahman and Kazipur UP
Chairman TM Atikur
Rahman Rahman Nannu
were also present at the
occasion.
India successfully launches
its Moon Mission-2
India on Monday
successfully launched its
Moon Mission-2, or
Chandrayaan-2, which was
aborted on July 15 due to a
technical snag, reports UNB.
The rocket GSLV-Mk-III
carrying the Orbiter, Lander
Vikram and Rover Pragyaan
took off at 14:43 (Indian
Standard Time) from the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre
in Sriharikota, off the Bay of
Bengal coast located in
India's southern state of
Andhra Pradesh.
The Lander and the Rover
are expected to touch down
near the Lunar South Pole in
early September, becoming
the first ever spacecraft to
land in that region. If
successfully carried out,
India would become the
fourth country, following the
U.S., Russia and China, to
achieve this feat.
Earlier on Monday,
scientists of the Indian
Space
Research
Organisation (ISRO) offered
prayers at temples near the
base and said there would be
no repeat of last week's
problem.
Car bomb blasts
Somalia's capital
near airport; 10
killed
A Somali police officer says a
car bomb in the capital has
killed at least 10 people.
Capt. Mohamed Hussein
said at least 15 others were
injured when the car packed
with explosives and parked
near a busy security
checkpoint by the city's
airport was detonated by
remote control on Monday
morning, reports UNB.
The powerful explosion
which rocked Mogadishu
occurred in the morning when
many people were on the road
going to work and others were
travelling to attend the Hajj
pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia's
Mecca.
There was no immediate
claim of responsibility for the
blast but Somalia's
homegrown Islamic extremist
rebels, al-Shabab, often carry
out such attacks. Al-Shabab is
allied to al-Qaida.
Hamas delegation
visits Iran, meets
supreme leader
Iran's state TV says a
delegation from the
Palestinian militant group
Hamas that is visiting Iran
has met with the country's
supreme leader, reports
UNB.
The TV report on Monday
says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
held talks with Hamas'
deputy chief, Saleh al-
Arouri, who is heading the
delegation.
Kenya's top treasury chiefs to be
charged over dams scandal
Kenya's chief prosecutor on Monday directed
the police to arrest and charge Treasury
cabinet secretary Henry Rotich and his
principal secretary Kamau Thugge over a
scandal in dam projects in the country, reports
UNB.
Noordin Hajji, Director of Public
Prosecution said Rotich, Thugge and 25 other
government officials flouted procurement
rules and committed illegalities in the Arror
and Kimwarer dams scandal. Haji told a news
conference in Nairobi that the persons to be
prosecuted flouted many procurement rules
and circumvented to ensure Italian firm, CMC
di Ravenna got the project.
"The officials who should have pointed this
out failed to do so and went ahead to award the
contracts to CMC De Ravenna of Italy to run
concurrently while aware that the firm was, at
the time of award, straining and getting into
voluntary liquidation back in Italy," Haji told
journalists in Nairobi.
"We also note that the same firm had been
awarded three other mega dam projects that
are either incomplete or are yet to commence,"
he added. Rotich has since been arrested.
The chief prosecutor said the offences
committed by those implicated include
conspiracy to defraud, willful failure to comply
with applicable procedures and guidelines
relating to procurement and engaging in a
project without prior planning.
GD-1127/19 (7 x 3)
GD-1128/19 (7 x 3)
Haji said whereas the alleged commercial
contract signed between Kerio Valley
Development Authority and CMC Di
Ravenna/Itinera JV clearly states that
Kimwarer Dam would cost 204 million U.S.
dollars while Arror Dam would cost 252.19
million dollars totaling to 456.21 million
dollars, the National Treasury negotiated a
commercial facility increasing the amount to
about 630 million dollars which is about 170
million dollars more than necessary or
required payable on a timely basis without
regard to performance or works.
He said the Italian company submitted draft
technical designs in February four years
behind schedule.
Haji also ordered the arrest of CMC di
Ravenna top directors. "We borrowed, the
loan had an interest, borrowed more money to
pay for the interest, this is massive loss of
public finance," he said.
He said the loan for the two dams had
matured and that the government was
required to start serving it without a project
on-site.
"Being cognizant that corruption always
fights back and that there may be elements
who may seek to exploit these indictments to
instigate social unrest we have put in place
mechanisms to monitor any such attempts,
which will be countered with whole of
government response," Haji said.

TUESDAy, DHAkA, JUly 23, 2019, SRABoN 8, 1426 BS, JilqUAD 19, 1440 HiJRi
The flood water of Brahmaputra and Ghagot has been started in decreasing from Friday at
Gaibandha.
Photo: Star Mail
Gaibandha mother's struggle to survive
as flood turns lives upside-down
Major rivers cross danger
level at 20 more points
across country
Major rivers cross danger
level at 20 more points
across country
DHAKA : Major rivers
crossed danger marks at
20 more points across the
country as all the four of
the country's major basins
continued to rise due to
incessant downpours and
onrush of water from
upstream, according to a
bulletin of Flood
Forecasting and Warning
Centre (FFWC) issued on
Monday.
Water levels at 34 river
stations monitored by
Flood Forecasting and
Warning Centre (FFWC)
have marked rise while 56
stations recorded fall.
All the major rivers of the
country are in falling trend
except the
Surma-Kushiyara and
the rivers around the
Dhaka city, it said adding
Teesta
River at Dalia point and
Dharala River at Kurigram
point may rise abruptly
and exceed danger level in
the next 24 hours
Among the 93 monitored
stations, water level at
three river stations have
been registered steady
while water levels at 20
river stations are flowing
above danger level, the bulletin
added.
The Surma at Kanaighat
and Sunamganj, the
Kushiyara at Amalshi,
Sheola and at Sherpur-
Sylhet, the Titas at B.Baria,
the Meghna at Chandpur,
the Ghagot at Gaibandha,
the Brahmaputra at
Chilmari, the Jamuna at
Fulchari, Bahadurabad,
Sariakandi, Kazipur,
Serajganj and Aricha, the
Atrai at Baghabari, the
Dhaleswari at Elasin, the
Old Brahmaputra at
Jamalpur, the Padma at
Goalundo and Bhagyakul
are flowing above danger
level 20cm, 14cm, 6cm,
6cm, 25cm, 23cm, 12cm,
36cm, 32cm, 68cm, 32cm,
71cm, 55cm, 55cm, 51cm,
27cm, 75cm, 86cm, 6cm
58cm and 26 respectively.
Affiliation of 7 colleges
DU students lock academic,
administrative buildings
DHAKA : A group of students
of Dhaka University
put the academic and the
administrative buildings
under lock and key on
Monday morning demanding
an end to the university's
affiliation with seven colleges,
reports UNB.
The students continued
class boycott for the second
consecutive day and locked
the main entrances of
Registrar building, Arts
building, Curzon Hall,
Mokarram Bhaban, Law
faculty, Business faculty,
Institute of Modern
Languages, Institute of
Education and Research,
and Social Science buildings
at 8 am.
"We want an end to the
affiliation as the university
doesn't have the capability
to bear the burden of the
seven colleges," said Shakil
Mia, one of leaders of the
demonstrators.
He said the protests will
continue until their
demands are met.
The demonstrating students
on Sunday announced
continuation of their movement
demanding cancellation
of the affiliation as the
university authorities didn't
assure scrapping its ties with
the colleges.
Earlier on July 17, about
300 students, under the
banner of general students,
took to the streets at
Shahabagh on the same
demand.
The affiliated colleges are
Dhaka College, Eden Mohila
College, Government
Shaheed Suhrawardy
College, Kabi Nazrul
Government College,
Begum Badrunnesa
Government Women's
College,
Mirpur
Government Bangla College,
and Government Titumir
College.
Meanwhile, Pro-vicechancellor
(administration)
Prof Muhammad Samad on
Sunday said they have no
right to cancel the affiliation
of seven colleges as the decision
was taken by the government.
He came up with the
remarks at a press briefing
at the vice-chancellor's
lounge.
GAIBANDHA : It was a building of
Jubilee Government Primary School in
Sadar upazila, where around 450 people
had taken shelter by Saturday as their
homes got submerged. As evening fell,
Hamida Bibi, an elderly woman of floodaffected
Baniyarjan village, appeared at
the shelter centre-cum-school and sought
shelter in the building which was already
overcrowded, leaving hardly any room
for newcomers, reports UNB.
People who were already there had
their minds made up: room after room,
they refused to welcome her, citing lack of
space. No, not even for just one more
frail, elderly woman who had just lost
everything.
In the last classroom-cum-bunker that
she tried, a strapping youth named
Sumon turned her away, saying, "A total
of 46 people of 15 families are staying in
this room. Where will you stay?"
That was the last straw for Hamida.
Spent, she became speechless as she collapsed
outside the room, with nowhere
else to go. And that is where she would
The Rotating Solariums of
Jean Saidman
INTERESTING NEWS
The importance of sunlight to human
health is well understood, and that understanding
developed in the late 19th century
when it was discovered that sunbathing
aided the production of vitamin D which
helped prevent rickets. Soon, heliotherapy—treating
patients by exposing them to
sunlight—became a well-established remedy
for treating various conditions of the
skin, cancer, tuberculosis of the bones,
among other things. Exposure to sunlight
is also known to have a positive effect on a
person's mental health.
Dr. Jean Saidman, who ran the Institute
of Actinology in Paris, recognized these
benefits. Saidman was born in Romania in
1897, but emigrated to France as a teenager.
He studied medicine and became an
early expert in the field of actinology, a
branch of science that studies the chemical
spend the entire night, hoping against
hope that they would take her in. That of
course wasn't to be.
And so it is also where journalists visiting
the facility the next morning would
find her, slumped out of weakness and
fear, almost abandoned.
"Please bury me in a grave. They didn't
provide me a little space to sleep, though
lots of people have taken shelter there. I
spent the whole night sitting in front of
the door. All the people inside got eggs
and rice but I didn't get any food. I
starved the whole night here," she rolled
off in a miserable monotone.
"It seems that torture in hell is better
than my current situation," she continued
to admonish. And yet there she was, living
and breathing and feeling, surviving.
Even as she looked like death, Hamida
embodied instinct for survival. Her whole
life had been a story of fighting for survival.
Mokhles Mia, the husband with
whom she had four children, died during
the Liberation War. Like so many of the
war widows, the end of the war in 1971
effects of high-energy light. In 1929, he
designed and patented a “rotating solarium”
to better aid ultraviolet light treatment.
The first rotating solarium went up in
1930 on the French community of Aix-les-
Bains located in the Savoy Alps. Designed
by architect Andre Farde, the building consisted
of a base where the waiting and
examination rooms are located, and a
short tower with a steeply pitched conical
roof inside of which was an elevator and a
spiral staircase. At the top of the tower was
a horizontal metal wing that could rotate
following the sun to keep the cabins illuminated
throughout the day. There was a
monitoring and control room at the center
of the wing. This was flanked on either side
by glass-fronted treatment cabins for the
patients. The movable platform was 25
meters long and 6 meters wide and
weighed 80 tons.
was only the beginning of a new war for
them - this one to raise her children in a
fledgling new state where everything was
asunder and to do so without a man by
her side. Like so many of those mothers,
Hamida took stock and she got on with
the job, for the sake of her children.
Because that's what mothers do.
Till the floods came along this year, she
had been leading a happy-enough life
with her three sons and their families, all
three pulling vans to deliver goods for a
living. The only daughter was married off
to a family in nearby Nuniyagari. On their
plot of land, Hamida herself was rearing a
good number of cattle. If not opulence,
she did have something resembling contentment.
But that all came to an end this summer,
as the Alai River - despite being one
of the smaller rivers in a district through
which the Teesta, Brahmaputra, all flow -
kept rising, exceeding the danger mark at
one point, then another, till all along and
Gaibandha slowly started going under
water.
Minority
communities
demand trial
of Priya Saha
DHAKA : Leaders of religious
welfare trusts of the
Hindu, Buddhist and Christian
communities yesterday strongly
condemned and protested
against Priya Saha's false complaints
to US President Donald
Trump about disappearance of
minorities and demanded her
trial.
"Priya Saha's complaints
about disappearance of 37
million members of Hindu,
Buddhist and Christian communities
are false, fabricated
and purposeful," Hindu
Religious Welfare Trust Vice-
Chairman Subrata Paul told a
press conference. The religious
welfare trusts of the
three communities jointly
arranged the press conference
at Jatiya Press Club here.
Buddhist Religious Welfare
Trust vice-chairman Supta
Voshon Barua, Christian
Religious Welfare Trust's
trustee and secretary Nirmol
Rozario, trustees of the religious
trusts Advocate Ujjal
Prashad Kanu, Poritosh Kanti
Saha, Shyamal Bhattacharya,
Doyal Kumar Barua, Dalim
Kumar Barua and JM
Subrata Hajra were present in
the press conference.
Subrata Paul said making
complaints to other countries
on the country's internal
issues cannot be acceptable.
"We are jointly protesting
against Priya Saha's remarks
and demanding proper investigation
on the issue to
unmask her ulterior motive,"
Paul said
A demonstrator puncturing the car wheel of BTRC chairman as part of their demonstration for
their due salary.
Photo: Star Mail
Rohingya Crisis
Dhaka seeks NAM, ASEAN
member states' role
DHAKA : Permanent Representative of
Bangladesh to the United Nations in New
YorkAmbassador Masud Bin Momen
hasurged the NAM member states including
the ASEAN neighbours of Myanmar to
remain engaged and put in more efforts so
that Myanmar authorities do not fail in taking
the Rohingyas back, reports UNB.
While referring to the oppression against
the Palestinian people and violations of
international law and international human
rights law in the occupied Palestinian territory,
he cautioned that mere expression of concerns
for the misdeeds in Palestine and other
places in the world did not stop these from
recurring again.
"Therefore, we must ensure that nations
respect international law, and the international
community should take necessary
measures to hold accountable the perpetrators
responsible for crimes against humanity
such as those took place against the
Rohingyas in Rakhaine State of Myanmar,"
he said.
Ambassador Masud said was delivering
the national statement at the debate of the
Ministerial Meeting of the NAM
Coordinating Bureau in Caracas, Venezuela
on Sunday, said a media release on Monday.
The theme of the debate was, "Promotion
and consolidation of peace through respect
for international law."
Stating that misunderstanding and cross
cultural ignorance are among the root causes
of conflicts that they see today, he said
international law which is an essential tool
for the protection, maintenance and consolidation
of peace draws upon the principles of
peace expressed by great scholars and
thinkers of the past.
"Leaders of our past generation placed
them in the social and political context of
today to dissipate the clouds of prejudice,
ignorance and vested interests that stand in
the way of world peace and harmony. It is
thus a very precious possession of all human
beings, which must be carefully protected
and nurtured."
He recalled the decision taken by the
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman to join NAM in 1973 and
mentioned that inspired by his legacy,
Bangladesh still finds the activities of Nonaligned
Movement relevant even the world is
facing many new and critical challenges
including weaponization, securitization of
frontier technologies, climate change, protectionism,
clashes among cultures etc.
Habiganj Civil
Surgeon dies of
'dengue virus'
HABIGANJ : Civil Surgeon
of Habiganj died at Shaheed
Suhrawardy Medical College
& Hospital (SBMCH) in the
capital on Sunday night
reportedly after being affected
by dengue virus.
Confirming the death,
Shah Alam, administrative
officer of Civil Surgeon
Office, said Civil Surgeon Dr
Shahadat, 53, joined the
office with fever on July 20
on completion of his leave
and attended the District
Development Advocacy
Meeting on Sunday, reports
UNB.
Dr Shahadat, hailing from
Pirojpur, was admitted to
Habiganj Sadar Hospital
with high fever and then
shifted to SBMCH on
Sunday afternoon where he
died.
Dr Shahadat joined as civil
surgeon after promotion
from the post Jhalakati
Upazila Health and Family
Planning Officer on July 9.
His family members live in
Dhaka, Alam said.
Dr Shahadat has a son,
who is currently a 3rd-year
medical student.
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