31-07-2019

WednesdaY 

DHaKa: July 31, 2019; Shrabon 16, 1426 BS; Zilquad 27,1440 Hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.17; No.187; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

international 

Officials say 57 dead 

in Brazil prison riot; 

16 decapitated 

>Page 7 

art & culture 

Katy Perry copied 

Dark Horse from 

Christian rapper Flame 

>Page 8 

sport 

Tigers eyeing to 

avoid shambolic 

whitewash 

>Page 9 

When will mosquito 

medicine arrive, 

asks HC 

DHAKA : The High Court on Tuesday 

asked the government and Dhaka city 

corporations to inform it how long it 

will take to import effective insecticide 

to kill mosquitoes. They have been 

asked to submit separate reports in the 

form of affidavit by Thursday, reports 

UNB. 

Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice 

Md Shohrowardi's bench issued the 

order after hearing from lawyers about 

effective steps taken by the two city corporations 

to eliminate mosquitoes. 

Earlier in the day, lawyers of the two 

Dhaka city corporations, Barrister 

Taufiq Inam Tipu and Advocate Sayeed 

Ahmed Raja, told the court that the two 

city corporations have taken effective 

steps to control Aedes mosquito. 

The court pointed out that the government 

had said the insecticide used 

by the city corporations was ineffective. 

The court then asked how many days it 

will take to bring effective medicine 

from abroad. On July 25, the two 

Dhaka city corporations informed the 

High Court that they will launch a 

three-day anti-mosquito drive. 

Later, the court fixed July 30 for the 

next hearing and sought details on 

steps taken by the authorities to prevent 

the mosquito menace. 

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease 

that has rapidly spread in all 

regions of WHO in recent years. 

Dengue virus is transmitted by female 

mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes 

aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Aedes 

albopictus. This mosquito also transmits 

chikungunya, yellow fever and 

Zika viruses. More than 13,600 

dengue cases have been reported from 

across Bangladesh since January 1, 

according to the government. 

To increase the awareness about Dengue fever, a human chain was 

formed in front of National Museum yesterday. Photo: Star Mail 

Germany to provide 200m Euro 

to Bangladesh 6 projects 

DHAKA : Germany will provide 200 

million Euro (approximately Taka 

1,846.6 crore) to Bangladesh for implementing 

projects in six different sectors, 

including renewable energy and energy 

efficiency, climate change and water 

resource management. 

Of the total amount, 172 million Euro 

will be provided as financial cooperation 

for implementing projects on 

renewable energy and energy efficiency, 

climate change adaptation, textile and 

education-research, water resource 

management while 28 million Euro will 

Zohr 

04:04 AM 

12:10 PM 

04:43 PM 

06:47 PM 

08:10 PM 

5:26 6:44 

be provided as technical cooperation. 

In this regard, two bilateral agreements 

were signed yesterday between 

Bangladesh and Germany at the 

Economic Relations Division (ERD) in 

the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area. 

ERD Secretary Monowar Ahmed and 

German Ambassador to Bangladesh 

Peter Fahrenholtz signed the agreements 

on behalf of their 

respective governments. 

Out of the 

amount, 156 

million Euro will 

be spent on 

renewable energy 

and energy 

efficiency while 

26 million Euro 

to be provided to 

Climate changeadapted 

development 

programme 

in 

urban areas, 7.5 

million Euro in textile sector, 4.5 million 

Euro in water resources management 

in Dhaka, 4 million Euro for 

Sundarbans mangrove management 

plan and 2 million Euro in study and 

expert fund. 

After signing of the agreements, ERD 

Secretary Monowar Ahmed said the 

German government is providing loan 

and grant assistance in various projects 

under these six important sectors. 

Mentioning these projects as important, 

Peter Fahrenholtz said, "We have 

a lot of investment in the garment sector 

of Bangladesh. This sector needs to 

be taken forward further. Sundarbans, 

one of the world's mangrove forests, 

must also be protected. There is no 

alternative to renewable energy to protect 

the environment and nature of 

Bangladesh." 

Apart from this, the German government 

has always been providing assistance 

to Bangladesh to boost knowledge 

and skills, he added. 

Germany has been providing financial 

and technical assistance to 

Bangladesh since 1972, which amounts 

to a total of over 3 billion Euro, according 

to ERD and German embassy. 

German-Bangladesh Development 

Cooperation has a long-standing history 

in supporting infrastructure, health, 

poverty alleviation, good governance 

and human rights, energy efficiency 

and renewable energy, climate change 

adaptation, and recently also to the 

Rohingya and host communities in 

Cox's Bazar district. These agreements 

mark the continuation of successful 

bilateral cooperation and will contribute 

to achieving the SDGs. 

Rajuk official sent to jail over 

FR Tower design forgery 

DHAKA : A Dhaka court yesterday sent to jail Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha 

(Rajuk) assistant director Sadrul Alam in a case filed over design forgery of FR Tower 

in the capital's Banani. 

Police yesterday produced Alam before court and pleaded to keep him behind bars 

for the sake of proper investigation. His lawyer on the other hand, pleaded for his 

bail. After hearing both the sides, Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judge KM Imrul 

Qayes sent Alam to jail. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday arrested 

Sadrul Alam from capital's Banani area. 

The ACC on June 26 filed two separate cases against 23 including two former 

chairmen of Rajuk for their alleged involvement in developing the FR Tower building 

from initially approved 16-floor to 23rd floor through design forgery. 

A total of 27 people were killed and 70 others were injured as a devastating fire 

ripped through FR Tower on March 28, 2019. While investigating the incident, the 

matter of design forgery came into light. 

Take part in cleanliness drives, 

PM asks AL activists 

DHAKA : Prime Minister and Awami 

League President Sheikh Hasina on 

Tuesday asked her party leaders and 

activists to participate in cleanliness 

drives to prevent mosquito-borne disease 

dengue. 

"The government is working to tackle 

dengue ... the leaders and activists of the 

party should work alongside it," she told 

a special extended meeting of the party 

at its headquarters. Sheikh Hasina, 

now in London, joined the meeting via 

teleconferencing. Awami League 

General Secretary Obaidul Quader 

briefed the media. 

"People should be aware of dengue. 

We've to regularly clean our households," 

she said, urging everyone to 

tackle the situation with patience, 

according to Quader. There has been 

a sharp rise in the number of dengue 

cases this year. 

The disease has now spread to 50 districts. 

The government has confirmed 

more than 13,600 dengue cases 

Complaint 

filed against 

Ibn Sina 

over 'faulty' 

platelet test 

DHAKA : A complaint has been 

filed against the Dhanmondi branch 

of Ibn Sina Hospital over a 'faulty' 

platelet test. Advocate Md Ramjan 

Ali Sarkar lodged the complaint with 

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate 

Court on Tuesday morning, reports 

UNB. 

Judge Md Didar Hossain was 

scheduled to pass his order later in 

the day, said plaintiff's lawyer Tanvir 

Ahmed Sajib. Dr Colonel (retd) Md 

Moniuzzaman, a consultant of 

hematology, Managing Director of 

Ibn Sina Diagnostic and Imaging 

Center, Chairman of Ibn Sina Group 

and Chairman of Ibn Sina Hospital 

were made accused in the complaint. 

As per the complaint, Advocate Md 

Ramjan Ali went to Ibn Sina 

Hospital with fever on July 25 when 

a physician advised him to undergo a 

platelet test. On July 27, his platelet 

count was found to be 784,000 per 

microlitre of blood after he underwent 

the test on July 26. Seeing 

abnormal platelet count, he went 

through another test at Bangladesh 

Hospital on July 27 when his platelet 

count was found 200,000 per 

microlitre of blood. 

between January 1 and Monday. 

The majority of the dengue patients 

are from Dhaka. Earlier this month, the 

WHO said the dengue situation is 

alarming in Bangladesh but it was not 

out of control. Warning against 

Rumour Prime Minister Hasina also 

warned against spreading rumours. 

"Everyone has to be patient and be 

aware of rumour and refrain from taking 

the law into one's hand," she said. 

Rumours of child abduction led to the 

lynching of a number of people across 

the country. 

There have also been rumours of 

human sacrifice for the Padma Bridge 

project. "Everyone has to be especially 

careful about rumours," she said, 

adding that creating panic by spreading 

rumour is tarnishing the country's 

image. 

"Legal actions will be taken against 

those spreading rumours," the Prime 

Minister added. Speaking about the 

situation regarding dairy milk, she 

noted how suddenly a professor made a 

comment. 

"But did anyone think about its real 

results?" she asked, and doubted 

whether the importers had ill-motives. 

Last month, Bangladeshi researchers 

claimed to have found traces of detergent 

and antibiotics in samples of pasteurised 

and unpasteurised milk produced 

by several companies, triggering 

a debate over safety. 

The High court on Sunday instructed 

all the pasteurised milk-producing 

companies, including Aarong, Milk 

Vita, Pran and Fresh, to refrain from 

producing, marketing and selling milk 

for five weeks. 

Awami League Presidium member 

Mohammed Nasim, its joint general 

secretaries Jahangir Kabir Nanak, 

Abdur Rahman, its organising secretaries 

Ahmed Hossain, AFM 

Bahauddin Nasim and AKM Enamul 

Haque Shamim were, among others, 

present at the meeting. 

Netherlands to help implement 

Bangladesh Delta Plan 

The Netherlands has reassured 

Bangladesh of extending its support for 

implementing the Bangladesh Delta 

Plan 2100. 

Director-General International 

Cooperation of the Dutch Minister of 

Foreign Affairs Reina Buijs expressed 

Dutch government's readiness in this 

regard to the visiting high-level delegation 

from Bangladesh to the 

Netherlands led by Dr Shamsul Alam, 

Member GED (Senior Secretary), 

Planning Commission during a meeting 

at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 

The Hague on Monday. 

The Dutch Director-General also 

reassured Bangladesh of continuing 

technical cooperation as well as encouraging 

Dutch private sector's engagements 

in the effective implementation 

of the Delta Plan, particularly in the 

areas of land reclamation, river dredging, 

flood defence, and capacity development. 

Bangladesh Ambassador to the 

Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal 

referred to Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina's invitation to the Dutch Prime 

Minister to visit Bangladesh for the ceremonial 

launching of the Bangladesh 

Delta Plan 2100. 

He said an official visit by the Dutch 

Prime Minister accompanied by a 

water and delta management related 

business delegation would usher in a 

new beginning in bilateral cooperation 

between the two countries, according to 

the Bangladesh Embassy in the Hague. 

The Ambassador also sought Dutch 

support under the broader framework 

of the Delta Plan for mitigating longterm 

flood risks and the adverse 

impacts of climate change through 

basin-wide water management. 

The Dutch Director General hoped 

that a visit by the Dutch Prime Minister 

to Bangladesh accompanied by a business 

delegation would result in tangible 

cooperation between the two countries 

in implementing the Delta Plan. Earlier 

in the day, the delegation held a meeting 

with the Dutch Delta Commissioner 

Peter Glas at his office. Congratulating 

Bangladesh for its visionary Delta Plan, 

the Dutch Delta Commissioner also 

assured of their support for the Delta 

Plan, especially in sharing with 

Bangladesh the Netherlands' 1000 

years of delta management experience. 

A four-member Bangladesh delegation 

comprising Dr Shamsul Alam, 

Member GED (Senior Secretary), 

Planning Commission; Md. Nurul 

Amin, Secretary, Planning Division; 

Saurendra Nath Chakrabhartty, 

Secretary, Statistics and Information 

Division; and Md Anwar Hossain, Joint 

Secretary, Economic Relations Division 

is visiting the Netherlands from July 

28-31 as part of Bangladesh government's 

initiative to frame appropriate 

transition strategy. 

Though some online and print media covered the news and photo of this broken foot over 

bridge at Shahbagh earlier, the authority concerned did not pay any heed in the connection. 

Photo : Star Mail

NEWS 

WEDNESDAY, 

JULY 31, 2019 

2 

The Netherlands has reassured Bangladesh of extending its support for implementing the 

Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100. 

Photo : Courtesy 

Religious diversity is strength, 

not weakness: Dr Rizvi 

DHAKA : Prime minister's 

International Affairs Adviser Dr 

Gowher Rizvi yesterday said religious 

diversity is strength of the country as it 

fosters secularism and noncommunalism. 

"We should keep in mind that we 

are not homogenous. We are living in 

a plural society. There are diversities 

of religions. It is not weakness, rather 

it gives us strength," he told a 

roundtable on "relevance of noncommunal 

values in Muslim majority 

country" at Emmanuelle's New Hall in 

Gulshan here. He said: "If we have 

same faith and express same opinions 

in a society, we will have no interest in 

that society. It will be the most boring 

society in the world." 

State Minister for Information Dr 

Murad Hasan, former Vice- 

Chancellor of Dhaka University 

Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, 

Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya 

Parishad General Secretary Advocate 

Rana Dasgupta, Bangladesh 

Ambassador in Turkey M Allama 

Siddiki, journalist Syed Ishtiaque 

Reza, Jagannath University Film and 

Television Department Chairman 

Professor Zunaid Halim and Dhaka 

Bangladesh IUCN 

nat'l committee 

gets new officebearers 

CAREER OPPORTUNITY 

BEIJING URBAN CONSTRUCTION GROUP CO.,LTD 

Company seeks full time service for the following 

position for this company.Address: ABC House ,7th floor, 

8 Banani C/A, Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Banani, Dhaka- 

1213 ,Bangladesh.Post:1.Country Manager -Position-01, 

2. Vice General Manager - position 01,3.Head of 

operation - position 01,4. Senior Technician- position 12, 

5.Technician - position 15,5.Manager- Operation 

Management-position 01,Candidates having proven 

Technicianor other relevant skill on processing order and 

manage engineering and construction projects, 

mechanical construction, along with education 

qualification should have minimum Graduate &5 years 

technicianor other relevant experience in a established 

Company. Training and develop the total quality team in 

the Office. Good skill able deal with problem shooting 

and follow up preventive action with manufacturer. Only 

experience candidates are requested to submit their C.V 

within fifteen days of this publication who meet the above 

requirements are requested to send their CV's with recent 

02 copies of photo to above address. 

University Sociology Department 

Professor Dr Khairul Chowdhury, 

among others, addressed the 

roundtable. 

Hasumonir Pathshala, a social 

organization, organized the function 

with its president Marufa Akhter Popy 

in the chair. Dr Rizvi said Bangladesh 

is a secular country which does not 

mean that its people will not follow 

religion. 

"Religion is our private affair. State 

will not interfere here. It is not the 

business of state to interfere in your 

religious practice or tell how to 

practice your religion," he added. On 

the other hand, he said, in public 

policy and law, religion is not a factor. 

"If we keep those words in our mind, 

our public discourse will be in a 

different height," he said. 

Mentioning that intolerance is 

increasing in society, Dr Rizvi said this 

problem is not about religion as no 

religion permits carrying out attacks 

on members of other religious faiths. 

"Terrorists and criminals have no 

religion. They are not Muslim or 

Hindu, Christian or Buddhist. Their 

only identity is criminal. Why we are 

giving them religious or political 

Commonwealth wants Bangladesh to lead 

blue charter, climate risk management 

DHAKA : Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia 

Scotland QC has urged Bangladesh to lead the 

Commonwealth Blue Charter and climate risk management 

as she met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in London on 

Monday evening. "Bangladesh should lead the 

Commonwealth Blue Charter and climate risk 

management," PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted 

Patricia as saying at the meeting, reports UNB. 

The Commonwealth Blue Charter is an agreement by all 53 

Commonwealth countries to actively cooperate to solve 

ocean-related problems and meet commitments for 

sustainable ocean development. 

Ihsanul said the Prime Minister agreed with the proposal 

of the Commonwealth secretary general, saying her 

government is working on the issue. He said Sheikh Hasina 

and Patricia discussed the issues of ICT and SDG tracker. The 

Commonwealth secretary general highly lauded 

Bangladesh's tremendous success in the ICT sector and 

progress in the SDG tracker. She said the Commonwealth 

Women Conference will be held this year in Nairobi where 

Bangladesh can play a vital role. 

Patricia also said Commonwealth member countries can 

learn from Bangladesh's improved version of the SDG 

tracker. She said a continental free trade area will be 

introduced among 49 states out of total 53 Commonwealth 

members. The Prime Minister said Father of the Nation 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman initiated disaster 

management programme in Bangladesh and the present 

government is following his steps to manage climate risks. 

She also apprised Patricia of various steps taken by the 

government to this effect. Sheikh Hasina hailed the 

contribution of the Commonwealth secretary general to the 

umbrella organisation of 53 countries. PM's daughter Saima 

Wazed Hossain, PM's Principal Secretary Md Nojibur 

Rahman and Bangladesh High Commissioner in London 

Saida Muna Tasneem were present. 

identity? We need to move away from 

that," he added. 

He underscored the need for putting 

more focus on strengthening the rule 

of law to eliminate all social problems. 

Murad Hasan said 30 lakh people of 

the country, irrespective of religion, 

laid down their lives to free the 

country from the Pakistani 

subjugation in 1971 Liberation War to 

build a secular and non-communal 

Bangladesh. 

Imbued with the spirit of Liberation 

War, Bangladesh is moving fast on the 

highway of development under the 

leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina, he said. He said a vested 

quarter is hatching conspiracy to 

harm the country's communal 

harmony. 

Professor Arefin said after the 

Liberation War, Father of the Nation 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman had given a constitution in 

1972 which had four basic principles 

including secularism. 

"Secularism does not mean having 

no religion rather it means neutrality 

towards all religion. We will have to 

build a secular society to materialize 

the dream of Bangabandhu," he said. 

Two dengue 

patients die 

in Barishal 

BARISHAL : Two people 

died of mosquito-borne 

dengue at a government 

hospital here on Tuesday. 

The deceased were 

identified as Aslam Khan, 

24, son of Nasir Khan in 

Bakerganj upazila, and 

Mohammad Sohel, 18, son 

of Adam Ali of Kawkhali 

upazila in Pirojpur district, 

reports UNB. 

Aslam was admitted to 

Sher-e-Bangla Medical 

College Hospital on Monday 

night with dengue and he 

died there around 3:15am, 

said Dr Bakir Hossain, 

director of the hospital. 

Infected with dengue, Sohel 

was also taken to the 

hospital on Monday. He lost 

his battle to the dengue virus 

around 9am, Dr Bakir said. 

Currently, a total of 24 

patients infected with 

dengue are taking treatment 

at the hospital while 39 

others were discharged after 

treatment, he said. 

Meanwhile, some 1,096 

people suffering from 

dengue fever were 

hospitalised across the 

country in the last 24 hours. 

Dengue Elimination 

Campaign-2019 

inaugurated at BAF 

DHAKA : Bangladesh Air 

Force (BAF) yesterday 

started a campaign "Dengue 

DHAKA : Dr Rashed Al 

Mahmud Titumir, 

chairperson of Unnayan 

Onneshan and professor of 

Dhaka University, was 

elected chairperson of 

Bangladesh National 

Committee 

of 

International Union for 

Conservation of Nature 

(IUCN). 

Dr M Mokhlesur 

Rahman, Executive 

Director of Centre for 

Natural Resource Studies 

(CNRS), was elected vicechairperson 

while 

Sharmeen Soneya 

Murshid, chief executive 

officer of BROTEE, as the 

treasurer. They will be 

serving the IUCN national 

committee from their 

respective positions for two 

years with effect from 

August 1 to July 31, 2021. 

IUCN Country 

Representative Raquibul 

Amin conducted the 

election as election 

commissioner, said a press 

release issued by IUCN 

Bangladesh Country 

Office. 

Elimination Campaign- 

2019" to create awareness in 

order to prevent Dengue 

virus. 

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief 

Marshal Masihuzzaman 

Serniabat inaugurated the 

campaign at BAF Base 

Bashar here. 

BAF has arranged this 

campaign in line with the 

national drive to prevent 

and cure dengue, said an 

Inter-Services Public 

Relations (ISPR) press 

release. 

"Prevention is the best way 

to control dengue 

and…public awareness is an 

effective way to eliminate 

dengue by destroying Aedes 

mosquitoes," said the 

statement quoting the Chief 

of Air Staff Air Chief 

Marshal. 

He also urged BAF 

personnel to keep their 

offices, residences and the 

surroundings clean to stop 

breeding of Aedes 

mosquitoes. 

He hoped the dengue 

prevention drive would 

boost through this 

campaign. Among others, 

Principal Staff Officers of Air 

Headquarters, senior BAF 

officers, airmen and BAF 

civilians participated in the 

campaign. 

On the same day, 

President of Bangladesh Air 

Force Women Welfare 

Association (BAFWWA) 

Yasmeen Zaman opened 

another campaign. 

More research 

on extracting 

mineral 

resources: 

Nasrul 

DHAKA : State Minister for 

Power, Energy and Mineral 

Resources Nasrul Hamid 

yesterday said the 

government has undertaken 

more initiatives of research 

on extracting mineral 

resources. 

"Within 2023, the 

government will dig seven 

wells for searching mineral 

resources, development of 

14 wells and work over," he 

said this while addressing a 

"Historical Perspective of 

Hydrocarbon Exploration in 

the Eastern Fold Belt of 

Bengal Basin and the 

Challenges " 

seminar as the chief guest 

at Petro Centre in the city 

yesterday. 

The state minister said 

activities of 2 Dimension 

(2D) /3 Dimension (3D) 

surveys are going underway. 

The economic Affairs 

Committee on Cabinet 

approved Draft onshore 

Model PSC 2019 and Draft 

offshore Model PSC 2019 on 

July 24. 

Besides, working foreign 

companies, efforts for 

capacity building to BAPEX 

is underway. Associate 

Professor of Commonwealth 

University in Virginia Arif 

Mohiuddin presented the 

keynote paper. 

Among others, Energy and 

Mineral Resources Division 

Secretary Abu Hena Md 

Rahmatul Muneem, 

Petrobangla chairman 

Ruhul Amin and Dhaka 

University Professor D M 

Aziz Hasan spoke at the 

seminar. 

Secretary of the Local Government Division Helal Uddin Ahmed, LGED Chief 

Engineer Md. Khalilur Rahman and Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific 

Division, IFAD, Nigel Brett attended a start-up workshop of LGED PROVATI 

project at LGED headquarters on Tuesday. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Collective efforts sought to 

combat human trafficking 

DHAKA : The government at all levels, 

development partners, law enforcement 

agencies, civil society members, private 

sector and other relevant actors must make 

concerted efforts to raise awareness of 

modern slavery and take actions to stamp it 

out, speakers said on Tuesday, reports UNB. 

They observed that trafficking is a crime 

which puts migrant workers at risk in terms 

of physical and mental abuse, harassment, 

forced labour, forced and illegal marriages, 

illegal trade and most importantly losing 

lives. Discussants from different sectors 

came up with the observations at the 

opening ceremony of a debate competition 

titled 'I stand against human trafficking' held 

at Dhaka University Business Faculty 

auditorium marking the World Day Against 

Trafficking in Person 2019. 

International Organization for Migration 

(IOM) and Dhaka University Debating 

Society (DUDS) organised the debate 

competition with support from the 

European Union, the US Government and 

the Embassy of Sweden to create better 

awareness among students regarding 

human trafficking. The event also brought 

together policymakers, students, academics, 

media representatives, development 

partners, international organisations, and 

private sectors to highlight the important 

concepts around human trafficking, 

migration and its impact. Head of Migrant 

Protection and Assistance of IOM 

Bangladesh Asma Khatun gave a brief 

overview of human trafficking. She stressed 

that with globalisation in its full force- the 

mobility of people has increased many folds 

with 1 billion people on the move worldwide 

now. An estimated 12 million Bangladeshis 

are currently employed overseas. 

Bangladeshis migrate in huge numbers for a 

3 people die of 

dengue at DMCH 

DHAKA : Three people died after suffering from dengue 

fever at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on 

Monday and Tuesday. 

Nasir Uddin, assistant director of DMCH, said two of 

patients died on Tuesday while another died on Monday. 

The deceased were identified as Farzana Hossain, 42, wife of 

Dr Nurul Amin, deputy secretary of Health Ministry and 

resident of New Easkaton area of Dhaka; Liton Hawladar, 25, 

son of Najib Hawladar of Baufal in Patuakhali; and Upendra 

Chandra Mandal, 65 of Mirzapur in Tangail. 

Farzana got admitted to the hospital on Monday and died 

around 1:45am on Tuesday at the ICU. Liton Hawladar was 

hospitalised on July 27 and. He died around 10:15am. 

Upendra died around 5pm on Monday, hours after he was 

brought to the hospital. "So far, 10 dengue patients have died 

at the hospital among the 600 people who were brought here 

since July 1," said Nasir Uddin. 

Meanwhile, 1,335 dengue cases were reported in 24 hours 

until 8am on Tuesday. The number of people suffering from 

dengue has been rising gradually over the recent weeks as the 

disease spreads across the country. 

Start-up workshop of 

LGED PROVATI 

project held 

The start-up workshop of LGED PROVATI project was held at 

the LGED headquarters on Tuesday which was organized in 

collaboration with International Fund for Agricultural 

Development (IFAD) and with financial support and initiative 

of the Government of Bangladesh, a press release said. 

Secretary of the Local Government Division Helal Uddin 

Ahmed was present as the chief guest at the occasion. At the 

occasion he said that the project would be implemented in 25 

upazilas of four districts affected by the flood. If the project can 

be implemented properly, the fate of the people under project 

area will be improved. The poor people of the area will be 

benefitted from various natural disasters including flood and 

cyclones. Poor people will be able to survive well by getting the 

benefits of the project and livestock will also be protected from 

natural disasters. 

LGED Chief Engineer Md. Khalilur Rahman chaired the 

workshop. In his speech LGED Chief Engineer said that if the 

project is implemented properly, then a large number of poor 

people will be benefited from the existing districts of the 

Brahmaputra and Teesta River. Also, the poorest people 

affected by the premature floods in Brahmaputra and Teesta 

will also be benefitted. The quality of life of the poor people will 

be improved. 

Project Director of PROVATI project Md. Anisul Wahab 

Khan provided the welcome speech at the occasion. Among 

others, Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific Division, IFAD, 

Nigel Brett, Manager Resilience Innovation WFP, 

Bangladesh, Siddiqul Islam Khan and Director of IWFM, 

BUET Prof. Sujit Kumar Bala were also present at the 

occasion. 

variety of economic, social and 

environmental reasons. Prof of Economics, 

Dhaka University Dr MM Akash said as they 

do not have enough job opportunities in 

Bangladesh, so people, especially young 

people, tend to go abroad through the 

irregular process. 

"Those we are trafficked are generally 

poor. The trafficking situation is alarming 

now. We need to reduce our poverty and 

empower our youths to get a good job. We've 

to aware the aspirant migrants so that they 

can do informed migration. Most 

importantly, we should have a multi-country 

policy framework to stop trafficking," he 

said. Prof of Law, University of Dhaka Dr 

Nakib Md Nasrullah said trafficking is a 

transnational crime and the existing laws are 

good enough to prevent trafficking. "But we 

need to implement the laws strictly to bring 

the traffickers under custody. And, raising 

awareness is the key issue where we should 

give intensive emphasis." Deputy Chief of 

Mission- IOM Bangladesh Sharon 

Dimanche said a trafficked person does not 

take much time to calculate his or her future 

financial gains and swallow the offer of 

traffickers due to unemployment problem 

and economic inequality existing in the 

country. "The victims are either abducted 

or lured with promises of a better life by 

providing a lucrative job or marriage offers 

and false proposals to visit holy places. It's 

critical for all stakeholders to join hands and 

work together to combat human trafficking." 

After the opening session, 16 debating clubs 

of Dhaka University joined the debate 

competition. Additional Secretary of the 

Ministry of Home Affairs disturbed prizes 

among the winners at the closing ceremony 

of the event in the afternoon, according to 

the IOM. 

Nirapad Sarak Andolon (NiSA) organised a discussion meeting at Jatiya 

Press Club marking the first anniversary of the movement for safe roads by 

students. 


Govt taking 

all-out 

measures to 

face dengue: 

Nasim 

DHAKA : The government is 

taking all-out measures as 

per the directives of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina to 

control the dengue situation, 

said Awami League 

presidium member and 

spokesperson of central 14- 

party alliance Mohammad 

Nasim. 

"We will overcome the 

situation as our doctors are 

working relentlessly to face 

the dengue. We will be able 

to free the country from 

dengue though it is a timeconsuming 

matter," Nasim 

told journalists after visiting 

Dhaka Shishu Hospital 

yesterday. 

He said doctors and nurses 

are providing treatment 

sincerely to dengue patients 

in all hospitals in the capital 

and other parts of the 

country. He urged the people 

concerned to follow advices 

of doctors and take 

medicines and food properly. 

"There is nothing to be 

panicked . . . follow advices of 

doctors to face the situation," 

said Nasim. 

Former health minister 

AFM Ruhal Haq said Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina is 

monitoring the overall 

situation and the 

government is extending allout 

support and cooperation 

to face the dengue situation. 

Professor Dr Abdul Aziz, 

MP, and Professor Dr Syed 

Safi Ahmed Muaz were also 

present. 

Notice 

FM Ansary was a special 

correspondent of 'The 

Bangladesh Today', but 

lately relation between TBT 

and FM Ansary has ended. 

If anyone is affected or 

harmed by FM Ansary, then 

'The Bangladesh Today' will 

not take that responsibility.

METRO 

WednesdAY, JulY 31, 2019 

3 

Rohingya exodus will pose security 

threat to Asian countries: siddique 

DHAKA : Security Affairs Adviser to the 

Prime Minister Major General (retd) 

Tarique Ahmed Siddique yesterday 

urged the international agencies to work 

zealously in order to ensure safe 

environment in Myanmar for the 

repatriation of Rohingyas from 

Bangladesh. 

GD-1149/19 (10 x 3) 

He rightly pointed out that by 

observing the exodus of over 1.1 million 

Myanmar people to Bangladesh will 

pose security threat not only to 

Bangladesh but also many countries in 

Asia region. 

"Foreign NGOs like UNHCR and IOM 

must ensure that they (Rohingyas) will 

be safe in 

Myanmar, 

otherwise they 

will be too scared 

to go back," he 

said while 

addressing the 

inaugural session 

of a two-day 

security meet in 

the capital. 

Bangladesh 

Institute of 

International and 

Strategic Studies 

(BIISS) arranged 

the 'Second 

Meeting of Track 

1.5 BIMSTEC 

Security Dialogue 

Forum' at its 

auditorium. 

Speaking as the chief guest, Siddique 

said if the Rohingya problem is not 

solved, many nations will be affected 

apart from Bangladesh. 

"We should solve it amicably…we 

should all try to concentrate on how to 

solve their problem (Rohingya crisis). 

And I am hopeful," he added. 

Highlighting various security threats, 

the security affair adviser said in the 

world's present scenario, cooperative 

security is an ideal approach to address 

the regional security. 

"And the concept of cooperative 

security believes that the nations have 

more common interests…and some 

common threats," he added. 

Stating that all the BIMSTEC 

countries consider security challenges 

from terrorism and violent extremism, 

he said the recent terrorist attacks in Sri 

Lanka and India justify the necessity of 

regional cooperation in countering 

extremism and terrorism in the Bay of 

Bengal region. 

Siddique said there are also various 

types of non-traditional security 

concerns like climate change, energy 

crisis, food, security issues, water 

scarcity, forced migration, displacement 

and cyber security. 

He said Bangladesh has 

been successfully curbing the 

menace of terrorism and 

militancy from its territory as 

the present government 

accelerated the efforts by 

initiating a 'zero tolerance' 

policy to terrorism and 

militancy. 

"The policy is implemented 

through the combination of 

the enactments of laws, 

specialised forces and 

community mobilisation, 

which is very important," he 

said adding the counter 

terrorism operation is made 

by a specialised team of law 

enforcing agencies. 

Noting that tracking of 

militant financing is very 

important, the security 

affairs adviser said 

Bangladesh is the first 

country in the South Asia 

that enacted the Money 

Laundering Prevention Act- 

2012. 

"The government recently 

also announced zero 

tolerance to drug to make the 

society free from it." 

He said regional security is 

very important because every 

region has its security 

environment defined by the 

geographical location and 

geopolitical 

and 

socioeconomic situations. 

Recalling that BIMSTEC 

member states share similar 

historical legacy and they are 

interlinked with values, 

ethics and destinies, 

Siddique said the population 

of BIMSTEC countries is one 

fifth of the world's total 

population and this factor 

gives a huge advantage for 

achieving secured technology 

and economic cooperation 

from the blue economy of the 

Bay of Bengal. 

Acting Foreign Secretary 

Kamrul Ahasan and 

BIMSTEC Director General 

Ambassador M Shahidul 

Islam also spoke on the 

occasion with BIISS Director 

General Major General AKM 

Abdur Rahman in the chair. 

du VC elected Council 

Member of ACu 

Dhaka University Vice- 

Chancellor Prof. Dr. Md. 

Akhtaruzzaman was elected 

Council Member of The 

Association 

of 

Commonwealth Universities 

(ACU). UK based ACU made 

this announcement on 

Monday, a press release 

said. 

Five more renowned 

academics of the world were 

also elected Council 

Member of The Association 

of Commonwealth 

Universities. They are Prof. 

Sampath Amaratunge of the 

University of Sri 

Jayewardenepura of Sri 

Lanka, Prof. Amanda 

Broderick of the University 

of East London of UK, and 

Prof. Mamokgethi Phakeng 

of the University of Cape 

Town of South Africa. 

President and Principal of 

King's College London Prof. 

Edward Byrne AC and Vice- 

Chancellor of Durham 

University of UK Prof. Stuart 

Corbridge were elected new 

Chair and Honorary 

Treasurer of the ACU 

respectively. 

Campaign 

on dengue's 

treatment at 

du today 

DHAKA : Dhaka University 

(DU) in collaboration with 

Bangladesh Association of 

Clinical Biochemists (BACB) 

will hold a free diagnosis and 

treatment of dengue 

campaign at the university 

medical centre today. 

DU Vice-Chancellor (VC) 

Prof Dr Akhtaruzzaman will 

inaugurate the day-long 

campaign at 9 am at the 

medical centre where 

measures have been taken to 

render medical support for 

the students suffering from 

dengue fever. 

BACB President Professor 

Dr Imran Kabir, also vice 

chancellor of Cumilla 

University, and DU Pro-VC 

(Admin) Prof Dr 

Muhammad Samad will also 

be present at the 

programme. 

Govt officials ordered to clean 

their workplaces, houses 

DHAKA : The Cabinet Division on Tuesday 

ordered government officials to clean their 

workplaces and houses to prevent the spread 

of mosquito-borne disease dengue. Sheikh 

Mujibur Rahman, acting Secretary 

(coordination and reforms) of the Cabinet 

Division, said this after a meeting with 

concerned secretaries over preventing 

dengue, flood and rumour. Cabinet 

Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam chaired 

the meeting. 

"Letters will be sent to government officers 

and staff in this regard," he said. Dengue 

has now spread across the country with 1,335 

new cases reported in the last 24 hours until 

8am on Tuesday. The government insists 

that only eight people have died of the 

mosquito-borne disease. Meanwhile, the 

Cabinet cancelled Eid holidays of all doctors, 

and concerned health ministry officials. 

"Other government officials have been 

strongly discouraged not to go on Eid 

holidays [this time]," said Mujibur Rahman. 

The education secretary told the meeting 

that teachers and students of all educational 

institutions have been asked to raise 

awareness about dengue, Rahman said. 

Officials were also directed to use effective 

insecticides to exterminate Aedes 

mosquitoes responsible for dengue. 

Divisional commissioners and deputy 

commissioners have been instructed to 

prevent rumour and dengue. Mujibur 

Rahman said the flood situation has been 

improving and the deputy commissioners 

have been instructed to take necessary steps 

for rehabilitation after the water recedes. 

Ku convocation in december 

KHULNA : Khulna University (KU) 

authorities has decided to hold the sixth 

convocation of the university in in the first 

week of December next. The decision was 

taken at a meeting held at the university with 

Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Mohammad 

Faruk in the chair. 

Treasurer of the university Prof. Sadhan 

Ranjan Ghosh, deans, registrar and directors 

were present. According the decision of the 

meeting all students who will get final result 

by September 20, will be eligible for 

registration of the convocation.

EDITORIAL wEdNESdAy 

JUly 31, 2019 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

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

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

wednesday, July 31, 2019 

Imperative is job-oriented 

education 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stressed the 

importance of building capacities for education 

that would cater to the needs of a growing 

economy while inaugurating the campus of a 

college ---sometime ago--devoted to textile engineering. 

The then Education Minister also stated 

later on to the same effect at a workshop on technical 

and vocational education. All these would suggest 

that the incumbent government realizes well 

the fact that appropriate education-- mainly focusing 

on the job market-- can turn the dream of making 

the country a middle-income one by due date. 

Indeed, there is no alternative to job-oriented education 

in the 21st century for boosting the economy. 

But over the years the rhetoric of leaders of successive 

governments have not quite matched the 

real accomplishments in this vital sphere. Even 

common sense indicates that if faster human 

resources development in support of job creation 

was really the objective in Bangladesh , then in the 

public sector at least 30 general universities, 6 

engineering universities, 30 engineering colleges, 

30 agricultural colleges, 6 agricultural universities 

and 64 polytechnic institutes should have been set 

up by now. 

The increase of these institutions by this number 

would be then considered as considerable and 

budgetary resources spent in bringing them into 

existence could be considered as exemplary of 

allocative efficiency. But what is seen in reality ? It 

is noted that when government cannot find funds 

for the establishment of these vital institutions for 

stepped up creation of human resources, it seems 

to have no difficulty in liberally increasing grants 

to religious institutions and satisfying the appetite 

for corruption and inefficiency in the realm of primary, 

secondary and mass education. 

Any objective study would show up that if the 

government had gone for greater spending of 

resources on the specialised educational institutions 

such as for textile engineering, food processing, 

leather technology, agro-technologies, marine 

technology, etc., then the country would be so 

much the better off today to fill positions in the 

private and the public sector that require suitable 

education in vocational, technical, scientific and 

managerial fields. 

The inadequate number of these specialised educational 

institutions in the public sector is giving 

rise to serious ill developments. First of all, increasing 

number of young people with promise are failing 

to pursue job-oriented education . In the past, 

there was a balance of sorts in the number of 

admission seekers to these institutions and the 

seats available. But this balance was snapped long 

ago. In the sphere of technical and vocational education, 

private institutions are few in number but 

potentially good students to these are barred from 

access to them due to high costs of tuition and 

other charges . 

In the developed countries , the provision of 

higher education, technical education and vocational 

education that contribute directly to the 

creation of a competent and productive workforce 

, is not left to market forces or the private 

sector. Private sector only has profit motive and 

leaving these forms of education to the private 

sector means that these specialised educational 

institutions would be created by the private sector 

only for the rich. Thus, many truly talented 

and promising students lacking in financial 

strength would be excluded ; they would miss 

out opportunities for such education. 

The main casualty of this would be the goal of 

maximising the creation of human resources in the 

highest economic interest of the country. Thus, the 

developed countries today provide for higher education, 

technical education and vocational education 

at highly subsidised costs or at the state's costs 

particularly with the aim of increasing or promoting 

the supply of technically trained and skilled 

manpower . 

Bangladesh's role model ought to be these developed 

countries. It must channel resources substantially 

toward higher education, technical education 

and vocational education. It should make 

available in much greater quantities these forms of 

education to its citizens at nominal or free of costs 

under state control to realise its objectives of a 

greater supply of skilled and trained manpower for 

attaining a higher level of economic growth. 

P 

Palestinian unity crucial in light of Abbas’ gamble 

resident Mahmoud Abbas detonated 

a political bombshell last 

Thursday, but barely anyone 

noticed. The 84-year-old Palestinian 

leader announced that he was suspending 

all agreements with Israel, adding 

that a committee will be formed to carry 

out that decision. Top Palestinian 

Authority (PA) aides said the decision 

includes everything that came as a result 

of the Oslo Accords, signed in 

Washington some 26 years ago, including 

the highly sensitive security coordination. 

Israel is yet to respond officially 

to Abbas' move. 

Little else has been mentioned about 

the decision. The committee is yet to be 

formed, let alone meet. No one really 

knows what the "halting," "suspending" 

or "freezing" of the agreements really 

entails or what fallout is expected. The 

decision, which was welcomed by various 

Palestinian factions, including 

Hamas in Gaza, was taken in retaliation 

for Israel's demolition last week of scores 

of Palestinian homes and buildings in an 

area close to East Jerusalem that is 

under the PA's administration. The US 

foiled a vote to rebuke the Israeli action 

at the UN Security Council, adding to 

Palestinian frustration. 

So Abbas finally made a decision that 

he has been threatening for months. Last 

year, the Palestine Liberation 

Organization's Central Council decided 

to suspend the Oslo agreement and similar 

motions were adopted by the 

Palestine National Council and Fatah's 

Revolutionary Council. But Abbas hesitated 

before executing these decisions. 

It's often said that everything has a 

price. This beloved heirloom or that 

priceless painting that has been in the 

family for generations? They might well 

end up in an auction. And in an extreme 

situation, if, say, you or someone you love 

needed an organ transplant, you would go 

outside the law and pay. Desperate times 

lead to desperate measures, and often this 

means the exploitation of the powerless. 

But what if the person exploiting you were 

the very person who was supposed to protect 

you? 

"You can buy him for $100," said a man 

I came across near an upscale mall in 

Beirut. Beside him stood a thin, tired-looking 

refugee boy with big, sad eyes. The 

man claimed to be his father. The boy 

looked about nine years old. When I tried 

to speak to him, he ran off as fast as he 

could, with his "father" chasing after him, 

cursing. 

When I called the police, they said there 

were hundreds of such cases, either of parents 

selling their children or children offering 

themselves up for cash. This particular 

incident was more than 10 years ago, but 

the trade in children still goes on openly in 

places in the Middle East inundated with 

refugees. For the non-governmental 

organizations trying to help, the numbers 

of orphans and displaced are simply too 

great to cope with. As for everyone else, 

they have become desensitized to the sight 

of destitute children begging for food, begging 

for shelter, begging to be seen. Over 

the past five years, children have been 

offered for "adoption" on social media in 

It is difficult to ascertain what comes 

next. The PA's very existence is tied to 

the Oslo Accords and its survival as a 

Palestinian entity depends on scores of 

agreements and understandings with 

Israel. In addition to the security coordination, 

Israel collects taxes in areas 

under its control and delivers the money 

to the cash-starved PA. For months now, 

the PA has refused to receive such funds 

because Israel was deducting millions of 

dollars that it says were to be given to the 

families of Palestinian prisoners in 

Israeli jails or those killed by Israel and 

accused of terrorism. Also crucial to the 

survival of the PA, which is the largest 

employer of Palestinians in the West 

Bank and Gaza, is the so-called Paris 

Protocol, which regulates all economic 

ties between the PA and Israel. The sad 

reality is that, after all is said and done, 

the PA stands to lose the most from the 

suspension of agreements with Israel at 

this stage. 

The sad reality is that the PA stands to 

lose the most from the suspension of 

agreements with Israel at this stage. 

OSAmA Al-ShARIf 

It is difficult to ascertain what comes next. The PA's very existence is tied to the 

Oslo Accords and its survival as a Palestinian entity depends on scores of agreements 

and understandings with Israel. In addition to the security coordination, Israel 

collects taxes in areas under its control and delivers the money to the cash-starved 

PA. for months now, the PA has refused to receive such funds because Israel was 

deducting millions of dollars that it says were to be given to the families of Palestinian 

prisoners in Israeli jails or those killed by Israel and accused of terrorism. 

Egypt for as little as 2,000 Egyptian 

pounds (US$120). Newborn babies are 

more expensive, at around $4,000. This 

month, police in Alexandria busted a 

baby-selling ring after officers posed as a 

couple wanting to adopt a girl. Payment 

was due on delivery. And on that very day, 

July 17, the officers went to the hospital to 

collect her. The mother was arrested as she 

handed over the baby, as was the man 

accompanying her (believed to be her 

partner and the father of the child). 

Also arrested was the man who had set 

up the Facebook page advertising the sale. 

He had helped to arrange many such 

transactions before, and as justification 

claimed he was helping both childless couples 

and children who would have been 

abandoned, by bringing them together. 

Experts on this heartless trade usually cite 

"economic reasons" to explain what might 

drive a mother toward the unthinkable. 

One might also add greed and a lack of 

humanity, even for her own flesh and 

blood, as reasons for selling her offspring 

With British Prime Minister Boris 

Johnson entering into his first 

full week in power, the nation is 

facing a potentially gathering storm following 

Iran's recent seizure of a UKflagged 

tanker. This is a key challenge for 

the new UK government, including inexperienced 

Foreign Secretary Dominic 

Raab, not just because it will have to navigate 

the spat with Tehran, but also complex, 

difficult diplomacy with the United 

States and EU at a time when both 

alliances are under strain. 

The timing of this possible crisis is far 

from ideal for London. For it comes not 

just with last Wednesday's change of government, 

which will have a precarious 

hold on power given the tight balances in 

the House of Commons, but also at a time 

when Brexit deadlines are mounting with 

the United Kingdom scheduled to leave 

the Brussels based club in less than 100 

days. Last week, Theresa May's now 

departed administration decided that the 

best next step will be to "put together a 

European-maritime protection mission to 

support safe passage of crew and cargo" in 

the Strait of Hormuz where one fifth's of 

the world's oil, a quarter of liquefied natural 

gas, and half a trillion of trade passes. 

Within this diplomatic-speak lies a potentially 

very important UK decision in 

favour of Europe's continued support for 

the Iran nuclear deal. 

It is therefore quite possible that, in 

coming days, the new Johnson government 

will find ways for the European 

maritime force proposal to be sidelined, 

or potentially joined up, in some way, with 

US assets... 

Inevitably, this has not proved popular 

with Atlanticist supporters of Johnson. 

Take the example of former defence secretary 

Michael Fallon who challenged the 

government to declare that it would make 

sense for Washington to be included in 

the proposed force if it wished to join. 

May's team admitted last week that the 

United States had first requested the 

United Kingdom contribute to a US-led 

maritime protection force on June 24, 

leading to a formal request on June 30. 

And it is therefore quite possible that, in 

coming days, the new Johnson government 

will find ways for the European 

maritime force proposal to be sidelined, 

or potentially joined up, in some way, with 

US assets, and potentially those of other 

forces too, including Nato. 

What this highlights is that, underlying 

Rym TINA GhAzAl 

Abbas needed to think his decision 

through carefully because the suspension 

of the Oslo Accords delivers a fatal 

blow to the PA itself. Short of disbanding 

the PA, declaring the West Bank and 

Gaza as Occupied Territories and 

demanding the implementation of UN 

resolutions, his move will not be taken 

seriously by Israel and the rest of the 

world. It is a heavy price to pay, but after 

years - no, decades - of Israeli disregard 

of its commitments under Oslo, the PA 

has turned into a vassal organ of Israel; 

maintaining occupation if not legitimizing 

it. An early test of Abbas' decision 

will appear soon. The Palestinian leadership 

in Ramallah cannot move without 

Israeli permissions. President Abbas 

himself cannot travel outside the PA's 

area without approval. Far more complicated 

will be the effect of such a move on 

the majority of Palestinians. Almost all 

daily transactions - birth and death certificates, 

the issuing of passports, land 

registration and others - are done in 

coordination with Israel. Halting that 

coordination will deny Palestinians 

the ship's seizure last week by the Islamic 

Revolutionary Guard Corps, there is a 

much bigger, geo-strategic issue in play. 

That is, the fallout of Donald Trump's 

decision last year that he will no longer 

recertify the Iranian nuclear deal, one of 

the biggest foreign policy choices yet of his 

term of office, which Johnson opposed 

when he was foreign secretary from 2016- 

2018. 

Trump's decision was immediately 

countermanded by French President 

what this highlights is that, underlying the ship's seizure last 

week by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, there is a 

much bigger, geo-strategic issue in play. That is, the fallout of 

donald Trump's decision last year that he will no longer recertify 

the Iranian nuclear deal, one of the biggest foreign policy 

choices yet of his term of office, which Johnson opposed when 

he was foreign secretary from 2016-2018. 

Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor 

Angela Merkel, and May, who declared 

their nations will not just remain signatories 

to the nuclear agreement, but will 

work "collectively on a broader framework" 

with Tehran. For instance, Macron 

has indicated multiple times that Paris 

and other willing partners "will work collectively 

on a new deal covering not just 

"nuclear activity, the post-2025 period, 

ballistic activity, and stability in the 

Middle-East, notably Syria, Yemen, and 

access to basic civil services. 

The decision also casts doubts on the 

prospects of holding fresh legislative 

elections and complicates the legal status 

of Abbas himself, as a president whose 

term expired almost a decade ago. And it 

provides no real alternatives to the possible 

collapse of the PA. 

When efforts to restore Palestinian 

unity and reconciliation are bogged 

down, it helps serve Israeli interests at a 

time when Benjamin Netanyahu is battling 

to win a new term as premier while 

threatening to annex parts of the West 

Bank and wage a painful campaign 

against Hamas in Gaza. 

The question now is why did Abbas 

suspend rather than abrogate the agreements 

with Israel? The straight answer is 

that he is not serious about taking such a 

move and he hopes that Israel and the 

US will rush to salvage the ailing accord. 

But, if his gambit backfires, he will find 

himself in a humiliating position: 

Having to restore security coordination 

and seeking ways to save the PA. His 

options do not look good and he may 

have painted himself into a corner. 

The Palestinian president needs to act 

quickly and find ways to restore 

Palestinian unity at any cost. Hamas too 

should realize that it can no longer sustain 

the status quo in Gaza and that, for 

the Palestinian national cause to survive 

this difficult test, both sides must find 

common ground and accept the need to 

compromise. 

Source: Arab news 

Children are priceless - or they should be 

New UK Pm Johnson faces key Iran challenge 

ANdREw hAmmONd 

Over the past five years, children have been offered for "adoption" 

on social media in Egypt for as little as 2,000 Egyptian pounds 

(US$120). Newborn babies are more expensive, at around 

$4,000. This month, police in Alexandria busted a baby-selling 

ring after officers posed as a couple wanting to adopt a girl. 

Payment was due on delivery. And on that very day, July 17, 

the officers went to the hospital to collect her. 

into slavery or forced labor or even to a 

murderer who will kill the child to harvest 

his or her organs. 

According to Anti-Slavery International, 

10 million children worldwide are trafficked 

into some form of bondage - slave 

labor, prostitution, pornography, or 

recruited as child soldiers. According to 

Anti-Slavery International, 10 million children 

worldwide are trafficked into some 

form of bondage - slave labor, prostitution, 

pornography, or recruited as child soldiers. 

Then there are the 152 million children 

aged between five and 17 who are in 

"employment," with 73 million of them - 

almost half - in hazardous jobs. 

There are 72.1 million child laborers in 

Africa, meaning one in five children is 

working. In Asia and the Pacific region, the 

figure is 62.1 million or one child in 14; 

10.7 million or one in 19 in the Americas; 

5.5 million or one in 25 in Europe; and 1.2 

million or one in 35 in the Arab states. Of 

course, those figures do not include the 

many refugee children who are being 

exploited, violated and forced to work in 

appalling conditions. 

Why does it happen? At its core, the 

problem stems from the concept that parents 

"own" their children. Surely nothing 

with a soul can ever be someone's possession? 

We can be the caretakers, in the 

strictest sense of the word, of other beings 

- whether children or pet animals - but not 

owners. Children are not objects to be 

traded; they are living beings entrusted to 

our care, and those who violate that trust 

should be punished harshly. 

Children have rights - a concept that is 

perhaps easier to inculcate in a stable society 

but one that NGOs are working hard to 

establish in developing societies. The 

award-winning Capernaum, a 2018 

Lebanese film directed by Nadine Labaki, 

tackled the issues of abuse and neglect suffered 

by children whose parents cannot 

care for them and of women having multiple 

children they cannot look after. 

"Rizoo maoo min Allah" - meaning 

God will provide - is a saying that some 

poorer Arabs are apt to recite as yet 

another hungry child trails in their wake. 

What a lazy, selfish and irresponsible 

attitude. If you cannot care adequately 

for a child - provide food, clothing, shelter 

and attention - then you simply have 

no business having a child, let alone a 

brood of them. Children may indeed be 

a gift from God, but they are also a 

responsibility - the responsibility of a 

parent. 

Source : Asia times 

Iraq". Moving forward, while European 

allies would welcome the Trump team reengaging 

with Tehran, this appears 

unlikely in the immediate future. Indeed, 

Trump asserted last week that 

Washington may be nearer war than 

negotiations with Tehran and that "we're 

ready for the absolute worst". 

The ball therefore remains in the court 

of the continent's leaders to try to preserve 

the 2015 nuclear deal, or remnants of it. 

One key uncertainty here, however, is 

what exact stance the unpredictable 

Johnson will now take. 

Here the new prime minister is well 

aware that a key, growing challenge for 

Europe is not just Trump's increased stridency 

against Iran, but also that President 

Hassan Rouhani has indicated his own 

weakening commitment to the 2015 

agreement. Rouhani, for instance, has 

said Tehran will not reverse its decision to 

increase uranium enrichment beyond the 

limits set by the accord. 

This shifting sand context makes 

Johnson's decision-making more complicated. 

Moreover, amid his vulnerability in 

the House of Commons, he must also navigate 

the potentially difficult domestic politics 

of this issue; plus the Stena Impero 

seizure; and also the prior issue of the 

UK's decision to apprehend only days earlier 

the Iranian-flagged Grace 1 ship in 

Gibraltar for allegedly evading sanctions. 

Source : Gulf news

ENVIRONMENT 

WEDNESDAY, 

JuLY 31, 2019 

5 

How green is green enough? 

Domestic plastic waste for recycling. 

Jillian Ambrose 

It is a problem bedevilling households 

across the UK: what can we do with the 

mountains of food-spattered plastic 

waste left in our bins? Now a group of 

scientists say they have the answer - by 

using the detritus of domestic life to 

heat homes. 

Researchers at the University of 

Chester have found a way to use dirty 

plastic waste to produce hydrogen, 

which can heat homes and fuel cars 

without producing greenhouse gas 

emissions. The process uses a glass 

kiln, heated to 1,000C, to instantly 

break down unrecyclable plastic to 

release a mix of gases including 

hydrogen. 

The technology will be used 

commercially for the first time at a 

plant near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire 

later this year after a pair of "wasteenergy" 

companies agreed to invest. 

Peele Environmental, the owner of the 

plant, said the project could help keep 

25 million tonnes of "contaminated" 

plastics, which cannot be recycled, 

from ending up in landfills or the 

ocean. Hydrogen could play a key role 

in helping the UK meet its climate 

targets by replacing traditional gas used 

for decades in stoves, radiators and 

boilers. It could also re place petrol and 

diesel in cars, vans and buses. 

"Surely the world must wake up to 

this technology," said Professor Joe 

Howe of the University of Chester. "It 

will make waste plastic valuable with it 

being able to power the world's towns 

and cities, and most importantly it can 

help clean up our oceans of waste 

plastic now." 

However, similar plans have raised 

concern among environmentalists in 

the past. Although hydrogen is not a 

greenhouse gas, the process of creating 

it from plastic releases potent 

greenhouse gases including methane. 

The Cheshire project plans to trap the 

gases and pipe them into a power plant 

to generate electricity. This would not 

be any more polluting than the UK's 

existing gas-fired power plants, and 

Photo: Phil Noble 

How melting plastic waste 

could heat homes 

would avoid the need to extract more 

gas from the ground. 

The university researchers developed 

the project alongside Powerhouse 

Energy, which hopes to take the 

technology to Japan and south-east 

Asia, where hydrogen-fuelled buses are 

already on the roads. 

The developer said that Japan's 

ministry of economy, trade and 

industry had written to the company 

in support of its plans, and believed it 

could offer "many environmental 

advantages". The gas-generated 

electricity could help to wean the 

energy-hungry economies off coalfired 

electricity, which is still 

widespread in Asia and produces 

almost double the carbon emissions 

of a typical gas plant. 

In the UK, the government's climate 

watchdog, the Committee on Climate 

Change, has warned that it will be 

"essential" for hydrogen-makers to trap 

and store any carbon emissions to be 

compatible with the government's 

targets. 

How to buy carbon offsets 

Ronda Kaysen 

When Dove Karn bought a rundown 

old house in Margaretville, N.Y., last 

summer, she saw an opportunity to 

turn a drafty space into an energyefficient 

one. 

For Ms. Karn, a public-school teacher 

who is involved in a regional climate 

educational program, the nearly 120- 

year-old house became an opportunity 

to implement some of what she'd 

learned about energy conservation. "I 

need to live what I'm teaching," she 

said. 

We may point to the cars parked in 

our driveways as good indicators of the 

size of our carbon footprints, but we 

should be looking at our houses, too. 

The average U.S. household consumed 

nearly 90 million British thermal units, 

or BTUs, in 2009, nearly 50 percent 

more energy than the average car uses 

in a year, according to the U.S. 

Department of Energy. Nearly half of 

that energy was used to heat and cool 

our homes; the rest went to lights, 

heating the water, and powering 

appliances and electronics. 

Figuring out how to make a house 

less of an energy hog can feel 

overwhelming. Sure, you can replace 

incandescent bulbs with LEDs, caulk 

your windows and doors, and install a 

smart thermostat like Nest. But once 

you start thinking about larger 

investments in systems like tankless 

water heaters, geothermal heat pumps 

and solar panels, the costs balloon. It's 

hard to know where to put your money, 

and which investments might make the 

most sense for your home. 

Homeowners may soon have to start 

thinking more seriously about reducing 

their footprint. In New York State, 

legislators passed a sweeping climate 

bill last month that will require the 

state to cut its emissions to 85 percent 

below 1990 levels by 2050 and offset 

what remains by 15 percent. To meet 

the new standards, homeowners will 

likely have to make big changes, like 

trading gas-fired furnaces for electric 

ones and adding solar panels to their 

rooftops. 

To start to figure out how much of 

a polluter I am, I plugged my 

information into an Environmental 

Protection Agency carbon footprint 

calculator and discovered that my 

household of four with one car 

emits 33,110 pounds of carbon a 

year - about 30 percent less than the 

average household. If I made some 

modest improvements, like buying 

a new refrigerator, washing all my 

laundry with cold water and turning 

my thermostat down a few notches 

in the winter, I could shave off 

another 3,000 pounds a year. The 

suggestions seemed doable, but 

hardly heroic, and left me 

wondering what my emissions goal 

should actually be. 

Casius Pealer, the director of Tulane 

University's Master of Sustainable Real 

Estate Development program, said that 

the answer to that question varies 

depending on things like geography, 

the size and age of your house, and 

whether your energy was produced 

from cleaner sources. "Energy 

efficiency is a bit like personal health," 

Mr. Pealer told me. "You have to decide 

what is healthy enough for you, and 

then set a realistic plan to achieve that 

goal, and then maintain it over time." 

Mr. Pealer suggested we start by 

studying our homes. A high-efficiency 

HVAC system may eventually be a 

great investment, but it shouldn't be 

your first. Your first step should be to 

figure out where your heated or cooled 

air is escaping from your house and 

then take steps to stop it from escaping. 

"Limit the waste and then figure out 

efficient ways to produce what you do 

need," he said. Start by actually reading 

your utility bill, and not just the total at 

the bottom. Pull up the last 12 months 

to get a better sense of how and when 

you use energy. Next, get an energy 

audit of your home, a process in which 

a technician pinpoints where a home is 

wasting energy and then suggests ways 

to reduce the waste. 

Bringing water to and from your 

house uses energy too, so reduce 

water waste. You could, for 

example, install a smart monitor 

like Flo by Moen, which detects 

leaks and allows you to remotely 

shut off the water to your house 

from your smartphone. 

Small changes can have a substantial 

impact. Consider Ann Jacobs and Brad 

Brunson. The couple was living in an 

1897 Victorian house in Milwaukee that 

was so drafty in the winter they had to 

use space heaters in the living room to 

stay warm. "It was horribly cold," Ms. 

Jacobs, a lawyer, said of the time in the 

early 2000s. And the heating bills were 

out of control. "They were just 

hundreds upon hundreds of dollars," 

she said. "It was just beyond belief." 

Friends suggested they replace all 

their windows, an expensive project for 

a house with 16 windows on the front 

alone, many of them made with leaded 

glass, which provided character and 

matched the architectural style of the 

home. First they got an energy audit, 

with the auditor testing how air moved 

through the house and where it 

escaped. 

They learned that the walls had no 

insulation and heat was escaping 

through the attic and basement. So they 

insulated the walls and attic, and 

replaced only the basement windows, a 

project that cost substantially less than 

You too can reduce your carbon footprint, one light bulb at a time. 

Photo: Trisha Krauss 

what it would have cost to replace all 

the windows in the house. "All of a 

sudden we had a house we could live 

in," Ms. Jacobs said. "People 

underestimate that little changes make 

a huge difference." 

The easiest time to go green is when 

you're renovating, like when Ms. Karn 

renovated her Margaretville home. In a 

project that took 10 months and cost 

around $130,000, she took the house 

down to the studs. 

Without walls in the way, she could 

better insulate it with spray-foam 

insulation. A $4,000 grant from the 

New York State Energy Research and 

Development Authority helped take the 

sting out of the $22,000 insulation bill. 

She replaced the single-pane windows 

with double-pane, double-hung ones, 

and bought an energy-efficient boiler 

that also heated the water. She uses 

LED bulbs and buys her electricity from 

a solar farm nearby. 

Reduction in air travel is likely to decrease toll on climate emergency. 

Jillian Mock 

Air travel, especially long trips, is one of 

the worst things an individual can do 

for the climate. For many, though, 

swearing off flying isn't a viable option. 

That's where carbon offsets can come 

in. But how do you actually buy and use 

these offsets? 

Carbon offsets compensate for your 

emissions by canceling out greenhouse 

gas emissions somewhere else in the 

world. The money you pay to buy 

offsets supports programs designed to 

reduce emissions. Those might include 

projects to develop renewable energy, 

capture methane from landfills or 

livestock, or distribute cleaner cooking 

stoves. If you decide to buy offsets, you 

have a lot of choices. Some airlines give 

you the option to buy them through 

their sustainability programs. Many 

online companies and nonprofits also 

offer them. To make sure your money 

ultimately goes to worthwhile projects, 

look for certifications by rigorous thirdparty 

auditors like The Gold Standard 

or Green-e. Companies and 

organizations that deal in carbon 

offsets will list these certifications on 

their websites if they have them. Some 

auditors also have databases of verified 

projects. 

There is no fixed price on carbon, and 

the cost of an offset varies from project 

to project, depending on how expensive 

it is to run a given program, said Sarah 

Leugers, director of communications at 

The Gold Standard. In general, though, 

carbon offsets probably cost less than 

you think. 

Consider a trip from New York to Los 

Angeles. Flying 2,500 miles in 

economy class will burn about 0.29 

metric tons of carbon per passenger, 

according to the International Civil 

Aviation Organization's carbon 

emissions calculator. And it will cost 

about $3.26 to offset the approximately 

six hour, one-way flight using the travel 

Photo: Tyler Varsell 

offset calculator by Cool Effect, a 

nonprofit organization. If you round up 

to a full ton of carbon, you'd still only 

spend $3.30 to $13.18 on the Cool 

Effect website, depending on the 

project. 

Not all carbon offset programs are 

created equal, as made evident in a 

recent investigation of forestry projects 

by ProPublica. To shop smarter, check 

to see how much money goes to the 

organization's overhead rather than to 

the project you want to support. And, 

keep an eye out for projects with 

collateral benefits, like contributing to 

sustainable development, improving 

air quality, or strengthening 

biodiversity. 

If you're really worried about the 

carbon impact of your travel, the most 

effective thing to do is avoid flying as 

much as possible. But, when that's not 

realistic for you, carbon offsets can be a 

relatively inexpensive way to mitigate 

the damage. 

Heat waves in the age of 

climate change 

Kendra Pierre-Louis 

Two-thirds of the United States is 

expected to bake under what could be 

record high temperatures heading into 

the weekend. As a result, government 

agencies have issued warnings that can 

feel ominous. 

An "oppressive and dangerous heat," 

warned the National Weather Service. 

"Excessive heat, a 'silent killer'," echoed 

a news release by the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration. 

"Extreme heat is hazardous," tweeted 

the NYC Emergency Management 

Department. 

But people with health issues, older 

people and young children are 

especially susceptible to the effects of 

extreme heat. It's a threat that grows as 

climate change continues. 

An activist at a rally on New York. 

To understand how climate change 

increases the frequency of heat waves, 

it helps to think of the Earth's 

temperature as a bell curve said 

Michael Mann, the director of the Penn 

State Earth System Science Center. 

Climate change is shifting that bell 

curve toward the hotter part of the 

temperature scale. Even a tiny shift in 

the center means that more of the curve 

touches the extreme part of the 

temperature scale. 

"So you know, a warming of 1 degree 

Celsius, which is what we've seen thus 

far, can lead to a 10-fold increase in the 

frequency of 100 degree days in New 

York City for example," said Dr. Mann. 

According to the U.S. Global Change 

Research Program, since the 1960s the 

average number of heat waves - defined 

as two or more consecutive days where 

Photo: Desiree Rios 

daily lows exceeded historical July and 

August temperatures - in 50 major 

American cities has tripled. 

The program used historic lows 

because the most serious impacts of 

extreme heat tend to come when 

nighttime temperatures don't cool 

off. By the 2010s, the average number 

of heat waves had risen from an 

average of two per year in the 1960s 

to the current average of nearly six 

per year. 

There's another way that climate 

change worsens heat waves: by 

changing the jet stream. Those air 

currents in the atmosphere help move 

weather systems around and are driven 

by temperature differences, which are 

shrinking. So when heat waves arrive, 

they stay in place longer. 

"We're warming up the Arctic faster 

than the rest of the northern 

hemisphere," said Dr. Mann. "So 

that's decreasing that temperature 

contrast from the subtropics to the 

pole, and it's that temperature 

contrast that drives the jet stream in 

the first place." At the same time, 

under certain circumstances the jet 

stream can get "stuck" between an 

atmospheric wall in the subtropics, 

and at the Arctic, trapping weather 

systems in place. 

"That's when you get these record 

breaking weather events," said Dr. 

Mann, "either the unprecedented heat 

wave and drought, to wildfires and 

floods." This accounts for last summer's 

European heat wave, as well as the 

recent European heat wave, he says, 

and is behind the current North 

American heat wave. Nationwide, the 

time period in which heat waves might 

be expected to occur is 45 days longer 

than it was in the 1960s, according to 

the U.S. Global Change Research 

Program.

NATIONAL 

WEDNESDAY, JUlY 31, 2019 

6 

Seminar on 'Causes, prevention and awareness 

of dengue disease' held in PUST 

Acting BU VC Dr AKM Mahbub Hasan and Deputy Police Commissioner (Sadar) of Barishal Metropolitan 

Police Mohammad Habibur Rahman attended a public awareness seminar at Barishal University (BU) on 

Tuesday. 


Public awareness seminar held at BU 

a public awareness seminar was held 

at Barishal university (Bu) on 

Tuesday. The meeting was organized at 

the university's Jibanananda das 

Conference Complex as part of "public 

awareness week-2019" at the initiative 

of the Barishal Metropolitan police, a 

press release said. 

deputy police Commissioner (Sadar) 

of Barishal Metropolitan police 

Mohammad habibur Rahman was 

present as the keynote speaker at the 

occasion. The keynote speaker in his 

speech called on all to work together to 

stop the rumors and urged the 

teachers, students, officers and 

employees to come forward to stop the 

rumors regarding child lifting and 

rumor seeking human heads for padma 

Bridge. he also added that it is possible 

to build a beautiful society with the 

concerted efforts of all. 

acting Bu VC dr aKM Mahbub 

hasan was also present at the seminar. 

in his speech Bu VC said that whatever 

we do has to have a scientific basis, it is 

not realistic to do something based on 

the idea of unrealistic and imaginative 

thinking. The rumor issue in recent 

times is completely baseless and 

factual. and so we all have to stand up 

to stop these rumors and propaganda 

from our own point of view. 

among others, dean of arts and 

humanities professor dr. Md. Mohsin 

uddin, proctor Subrata Kumar das, 

divisional head of various departments, 

assistant proctor, teachers, students 

and assistant deputy police 

commissioner of Barishal Metropolitan 

police were also present at the 

occasion. 

In observance of the week-long mosquito elimination and cleanliness drive, an awareness rally was 

brought out in Nakla upazila on Tuesday. 

Photo: Shahajada Swapan 

REDI distributes 

relief among flood 

victims in Bakshiganj 

GM faTiul hafiZ BaBu, BaK- 

ShiGanJ CoRReSpondenT: 

Relief materials were 

distributed in flood-hit areas in 

Bakshiganj in Jamalpur. Relief 

materials were distributed 

among two hundred poor 

families at Kamalerbarti Sesip 

Model high School in 

Sadhurpara union of the 

upazila on Monday at the 

initiative of Rural energy and 

development initiative 

(Redi). 

Chairman of Sadhurpara 

union parishad Mahmudul 

alam Babu chaired the 

occasion while upazila project 

implementation officer hasan 

Mahbub Khan, area Manager 

of Redi ainul islam and 

awami league leader Manik 

Mia were also present at the 

occasion. distribution of the 

relief goods was started among 

the floods victims of different 

villages of Sadhurpara union. 

Rural Energy and Development Initiative (REDI) organized a relief distribution 

programme among the flood victims in Sadhurpara union of Bakshiganj upazila 

recently. 

Photo: GM Fatiul Hafiz Babu 

Youth Society, Jashore recently organized a human chain in front of Jashore Press Clubfor creating 

awareness on dengue. 

Photo: Shahid Joy 

aBdul haMid Khan, paBna 

CoRReSpondenT: 

a seminar titled 'Causes, 

prevention and awareness of 

dengue disease' organized by 

proctor office of pabna 

university of Science and 

Technology (puST) on 

Tuesday. 

Vice-Chancellor of the 

puST professor dr. Md 

anawarul islam chaired the 

occasion while pabna deputy 

Commissioner Mahmud 

Kabir, 

additional 

Superintendent of police 

Gautam Kumar Biswas and 

Medical officer of Civil 

Surgeon's office dr. Khairul 

Kabir were present as special 

guests at the occasion. 

Veteran scientist and 

university treasurer professor 

dr. Md. anwar Khasru 

parvez, as the keynote 

speaker presented various 

information about dengue 

through the projector. 

Md anwar Khasru parvez 

said in his speech said that 

dengue was first reported in 

our country in 1996. after 

1999, its outbreak spread 

alarmingly. dengue is 

increasing every year. 

dengue disease is available at 

100 countries in the world. 

The disease causes 22,000 

deaths every year. one 

Rally marking 

mosquito 

elimination drive 

held in Nakla 

ShahaJada Swapan, naKla 


a week-long mosquito 

elimination and cleanliness 

drive began in nakla upazila 

with a view to killing 

mosquito and to check the 

outbreak of mosquito 

related-diseases. Marking 

the occasion nakla upazila 

administration and nakla 

municipality organized a 

rally, cleanliness drive and 

mosquito elimination spray 

activities on Tuesday. 

an awareness rally was 

brought out nakla upazila 

parishad complex which 

paraded the main streets of 

the town. later a mosquito 

elimination spray activity 

and cleanliness campaign 

were conducted across 

important areas of the 

upazila. The rally was 

attended by upazila 

Chairman Mahbubul alam 

Sohag, upazila nirbai 

officer Zahidur Rahman, 

upazila awami league 

general secretary freedom 

fighter Shafiqul islam 

Jinnah, Municipal mayor 

hafizur Rahman liton, 

officer-in-charge alamgir 

hossain Shah, upazila scout 

secretary and head teacher 

umar faruk and assistant 

commissioner of the upazila 

scout and superintendent 

Muhammad hazrat ali. 

Human chain held for 

creating awareness on 

dengue held in Jashore 

Shahid Joy, JaShoRe 


a human chain for creating 

awareness on dengue was 

held in front of Jashore press 

Club on Monday under the 

banner 'our demand is for 

peaceful world, lets not spread 

rumors and be aware of 

dengue'. youth Society, 

Jashore organized the human 

chain. 

eminent researcher and 

senior scientist Benjin Khan 

spoke during the human 

chain. among others, 

secretary of the organization 

Masud Rana, member Zahid 

akash, ibrahim Khalil, Jalal 

uddin and naeem Reza were 

also present at the occasion. 

Speakers on the human 

chain said that Bangladesh 

has become a country 

dependent on rumors. if we 

are aware of dengue, the 

disease could not have spread 

in the country today. So we all 

need to be aware regarding 

the matter. 

Vice-Chancellor of the PUST Professor Dr. Md Anawarul Islam addressed a seminar 

titled 'Causes, prevention and awareness of dengue disease' at Pabna University of 

Science and Technology (PUST) on Tuesday. 

Photo: Abdul Hamid Khan 

person may be infected with 

dengue four times in life. The 

first time is not terrifying, but 

if someone is suffering from 

dengue the second time, it is a 

matter of great concern. he 

further added that due to lack 

of awareness among the 

people, unplanned 

constructions dhaka city, 

increasing number of 

buildings are the main reason 

for the rise of dengue dhaka. 

he said it would run until 

September. he answered 

various questions of students 

including journalists. 

pabna 

Commissioner 

deputy 

Kabir 

Mahmud in his speech said 

that dengue cannot be 

prevented without personal 

initiative. Students like the 

past will come forward to 

prevent dengue like various 

disasters in the country. he 

urged the students to 

participate in the cleanliness 

drive. he said cleanliness 

operations have started in the 

district since July 25. 

additional Superintendent 

of police Gautam Kumar 

Biswas in his speech said that 

dengue will have to be 

prevented by involving 

people through integrated 

representation. 

Medical officer of Civil 

Surgeon's office Khairul 

Kabir in his speech said 

that said that free dengue 

treatment is being 

provided at the 

government hospital. 

among others, proctor 

pritam Kumar das, president 

of Teachers association 

omar farooq, officers 

association president Rafiqul 

islam, Chhatra league 

president Mahmud 

Chowdhury asif and general 

secretary of employees 

association Shahriar pavel 

were also present at the 

occasion. 

Mayor of the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) AJM Nasir Uddin 

announced a budget of Taka 2485.51 crore for 2019-2020 at Theater Institute 

Auditorium of CCC on Tuesday. 

Photo: SM Aksah 

Mayor Nasir places Tk 2485.91 crore CCC budget for 2019-20 

SM aKaSh, ChaTToGRaM CoRReSpondenT: 

Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) on 

Tuesday announced a budget of Taka 

2485.51 crore for 2019-2020 fiscal with a 

special emphasis on infrastructural 

development of the port city. 

announcing the budget in presence of CCC 

ward councilors, officials and journalists at 

Theater institute auditorium of CCC, Mayor 

a J M nasir uddin said no new tax has been 

imposed in the budget. 

"it is a development-oriented one aiming 

at providing better civic amenities to the city 

dwellers," he added. 

The mayor in his speech said the proposed 

budget has given special emphasis on 

infrastructural developments, education and 

health sectors. 

he announced that CCC has taken up 

various development projects, including 

building of the port city as clean and green, 

reducing of water-logging, digging up of 

cannels according to the master plan of 1995. 

in reply to a question, city Mayor said the 

proposed budget is practical but not an 

ambitious one. 

The mayor also announced Taka 2045.51 

crore 98 thousand revised budget for the 

2018-19 fiscal. 

In observance of the 4th anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

Science and Technology University Journalists Association (BSMRSTUJA), an 

award giving ceremony was held at the university on Tuesday. Photo TBT 

BSMRSTUJA arranges award giving ceremony 

Shafiul KayeS, BSMRSTu CoRReSpondenT: 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

Science and Technology university 

Journalists association (BSMRSTuJa) 

arranged an award giving ceremony of "open 

handwriting competition" on Tuesday. The 

event took place at BSMRSTuJa office 

room. The association arranged this 

ceremony for the purpose of celebrating 

their 4th anniversary. abu Zahid, president 

of BSMRSTuJa presided over the ceremony 

while the others members of journalists 

association including Rauhanul islam 

Shaikat, the vice-president of BSMRSTuJa; 

Saiful islam, the general secretary of 

BSMRSTuJa; Jahidul islam, the organizing 

secretary of BSMRSTuJa were also present. 

Sumaiya Sultana, a first year student of 

history department occupied the 1st 

position in that competition; Rasel Molla, a 

second year student of Mathematics 

department occupied the 2nd position and 

nion Molla, a second year student of Civil 

engineering department occupied the 3rd 

position. 

abu Zahid along with the members of 

BSMRSTuJa handover crests and books as 

winning award among the winners. 

abu Zahid the president of BSMRSTuJa 

said, 'we arranged this program for finding 

out the young writers of our university and 

giving their encouragement" 

Sumaiya Sultana, the 1st position holder of 

the competition thanked the BSMRSTuJa 

for arranging such type of competition and 

said, "i am very happy to get the opportunity 

to attend this competition."

INTERNATIONAL 

WEDNESDAY, jUlY 31, 2019 

7 

Officials say 57 dead in Brazil 

prison riot; 16 decapitated 

At least 57 prisoners were killed by 

other inmates during clashes 

between organized crime groups in 

the Altamira prison in northern 

Brazil Monday with 16 of the victims 

being decapitated, according to 

prison officials. Para state prison 

authorities said a fight erupted 

around 7 a.m. between the Rio de 

Janeiro-based Comando Vermelho 

and a local criminal group known as 

Comando Classe A. "Leaders of the 

(Comando Classe A) set fire to a cell 

belonging to one of the prison's 

pavilions, where members of the 

(Comando Vermelho) were located," 

the statement read. State prisons 

chief Jarbas Vasconcelos said the 

fire had spread rapidly with inmates 

held in old container units that had 

been adapted for the prison while 

another building is under construction. 

The fire prevented police forces 

from entering the building for several 

hours, he told a news conference. 

Two prison staff members were held 

hostage, but eventually released, 

reports UNB. 

"It was a targeted attack. The aim 

was to show that it was a settling of 

accounts between the two groups, 

not a protest or rebellion against the 

prison system," Vasconcelos said. 

Authorities have not found any 

firearms following the riot, only 

makeshift knives. Prison authorities 

said 46 inmates will be transferred 

to other prisons, 10 of which will go 

to stricter federal facilities. President 

Jair Bolsonaro was elected on 

the promise of curbing widespread 

violence in Brazil, including in the 

country's often overcrowded, out-ofcontrol 

prisons. 

The Associated Press obtained a 

July 2019 report from the National 

Justice Council that it says was filed 

by a local judge in charge of the facility, 

showing that the prison had 343 

detainees for a maximum capacity of 

163. Yet Vasconcelos said the situation 

did not meet the official requirements 

to be considered overcrowded. 

"It is not a unit that has a prison 

overcrowding, we consider overcrowding 

when it exceeds 210%," 

Vasconcelos said during the press 

conference. The judge who filed the 

report described the overall state of 

the prison in the city of Altamira as 

"terrible." In many of Brazil's prisons, 

badly outnumbered guards 

struggle to retain power over an 

ever-growing population of inmates 

who are able to run criminal activities 

from behind bars. The killings 

echoed those of 55 inmates who died 

in a series of riots in May in several 

prisons in the neighboring state of 

Amazonas. In early 2017, more than 

120 inmates died in prisons across 

several northern states when rival 

gangs clashed over control of drugtrafficking 

routes in the region. The 

violence lasted several weeks, 

spreading to various states. Para 

state authorities spent the afternoon 

in Altamira, drafting a security plan 

to avoid possible retaliations in the 

region. Police forces from the nearby 

municipality of Santerem were sent 

as reinforcement in the coming 

weeks. State prisons chief Jarbas 

Vasconcelos said the fire had spread 

rapidly with inmates held in old container 

units that had been adapted 

for the prison while another building 

is under construction. 

Prison authorities said they had 

not received any prior intelligence 

reports of an upcoming attack. The 

prison is run directly by the state, 

not a third-party private operator as 

in the Manaus prisons where the 

riots took place in May. Last year, 

inmates had already set fire to 

another wing inside the same prison 

unit, according to the state prosecutors' 

office. 

At least 57 prisoners were killed by other inmates during clashes between organized crime groups in 

the Altamira prison in northern Brazil Monday with 16 of the victims being decapitated, according 

to prison officials. 

Photo : Internet 

Sudanese activists 

say 5 killed at student 

protest 

Sudanese security forces 

fired on student demonstrators 

in a central province on 

Monday, killing at least five 

people, protest organizers 

said, reports UNB. The 

Sudanese Doctors Central 

Committee said the demonstration 

in Obeid, in North 

Kordofan province, was 

organized by high school 

students to protest military 

rule. It said several people 

were wounded, some critically. 

The committee is part 

of the Sudanese Professionals' 

Association, which 

spearheaded months of 

protests leading to the military 

overthrow of President 

Omar al-Bashir in April. The 

protesters have continued to 

take to the streets, demanding 

a swift transition to civilian 

rule. The SPA posted a 

video showing hundreds of 

students, many wearing 

backpacks, protesting in 

Obeid as gunshots echo in 

the background. The group 

called for Sudanese to take 

part in demonstrations in 

the capital, Khartoum, and 

elsewhere to condemn the 

violence. Mustafa 

Mohammed, a doctor at the 

main Obeid hospital, said it 

had received five bodies and 

was treating dozens of 

wounded students. "Most of 

the wounded have been shot 

in the legs, head and stomach," 

he said. 

Local authorities suspended 

classes in all schools 

across North Kordofan and 

declared a nightly curfew in 

parts of the province "until 

further notice." 

Capital One target of 

massive data breach 

A hacker gained access to personal information 

from more than 100 million Capital One 

credit applications, the bank said Monday as 

federal authorities arrested a suspect in the 

case . Paige A. Thompson - who also goes by 

the handle "erratic" - was charged with a single 

count of computer fraud and abuse in 

U.S. District Court in Seattle, reports UNB. 

Thompson made an initial appearance in 

court and was ordered to remain in custody 

pending a detention hearing Thursday. The 

hacker got information including credit 

scores and balances plus the Social Security 

numbers of about 140,000 customers, the 

bank said. It will offer free credit monitoring 

services to those affected. The FBI raided 

Thompson's residence Monday and seized 

digital devices. An initial search turned up 

files that referenced Capital One and "other 

entities that may have been targets of 

attempted or actual network intrusions." A 

public defender appointed to represent 

Thompson did not immediately return an 

email seeking comment. Capital One, based 

in McLean, Virginia, said Monday it found 

out about the vulnerability in its system July 

19 and immediately sought help from law 

enforcement to catch the perpetrator. 

According to the FBI complaint, someone 

emailed the bank two days before that notifying 

it that leaked data had appeared on the 

code-hosting site GitHub, which is owned by 

Microsoft. And a month before that, the FBI 

said, a Twitter user who went by "erratic" 

sent Capital One direct messages warning 

about distributing the bank's data, including 

names, birthdates and Social Security numbers. 

"Ive basically strapped myself with a 

bomb vest, (expletive) dropping capitol ones 

dox and admitting it," one said. "I wanna distribute 

those buckets i think first." 

Capital One said it believes it is unlikely 

that the information was used for fraud, but 

it will continue to investigate. The data 

breach affected about 100 million people in 

the U.S. and 6 million in Canada. The bank 

said the bulk of the hacked data consisted of 

information supplied by consumers and 

small businesses who applied for credit cards 

between 2005 and early 2019. In addition to 

data such as phone numbers, email addresses, 

dates of birth and self-reported income, 

the hacker was also able to access credit 

scores, credit limits and balances, as well as 

fragments of transaction information from a 

total of 23 days in 2016, 2017 and 2018. 

"While I am grateful that the perpetrator has 

been caught, I am deeply sorry for what has 

happened," said Capital One CEO Richard D. 

Fairbank. "I sincerely apologize for the 

understandable worry this incident must be 

causing those affected and I am committed 

to making it right." Capital One Financial 

Corp., the nation's seventh-largest commercial 

bank with $373.6 billion in assets as of 

June 30, is the latest U.S. company to suffer 

a major data breach in recent years. In 2017, 

a data breach at Equifax, one of the major 

credit reporting companies, exposed the 

Social Security numbers and other sensitive 

information of roughly half of the U.S. population. 

Last week, Equifax agreed to pay at 

least $700 million to settle lawsuits over the 

breach in a settlement with federal authorities 

and states. The agreement includes up to 

$425 million in monetary relief to consumers. 

Many major banks have sought to 

stem the risk of data breaches in recent 

years. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America 

and Citibank began replacing customers' 

debit cards several years ago with more 

secure chip-based cards. While the cards 

with chips are common these days, many 

merchants still rely on the older, less secure 

card-swiping equipment. Credit card companies 

have also beefed up fraud monitoring in 

the wake of high-profile data breaches that 

hit retailers such as Target and Home Depot. 

An initial search turned up files that referenced 

Capital One and "other entities that 

may have been targets of attempted or actual 

network intrusions." A public defender 

appointed to represent Thompson did not 

immediately return an email seeking comment. 

Capital One, based in McLean, Virginia, 

said Monday it found out about the 

vulnerability in its system July 19 and immediately 

sought help from law enforcement to 

catch the perpetrator. The average cost of a 

data breach in the U.S. last year was just 

under $8 million, according to a study by 

IBM Security and Ponemon Institute. 

Pakistan army soldier stands guard the site of a plane crash in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. 

A Pakistani military plane on a training 

flight crashed into homes near the garrison 

city of Rawalpindi before dawn on 

Tuesday, killing at least 18 people, most 

of them on the ground. Fires, damaged 

homes and debris were visible in Mora 

Kalu village on the outskirts of 

Rawalpindi after daybreak. After rescue 

efforts ended, troops and police cordoned 

off the residential area to search 

for plane debris and investigate the 

crash site. Rescue officials said there 

were no survivors on the plane and that 

13 civilians were killed on the ground, 

reports UNB. 

The army said in a statement that 

five crew members, including two 

pilots, died in the crash. Farooq Butt, 

an official at the state-run emergency 

service, said 15 people were also injured 

in the crash. There were concerns the 

death toll could rise further since some 

of those injured were in critical condition. 

"We have moved all the bodies 

and injured persons to hospitals," Butt 

told The Associated Press. "Most of the 

victims received burn injuries." He 

added that there were children among 

the dead. Residents said they woke up 

when they heard an explosion and saw 

debris of a burning plane near their 

homes. Army helicopters were seen 

hovering over the crash site later. 

"My sister, her husband and their 

three children were killed when the 

plane crashed into their home," said 

Mohammad Mustafa, as he sobbed 

near his sister's badly damaged home. 

He said rescuers and troops quickly 

reached the area after the crash. Several 

men and women who lost their relatives 

in the crash were seen wailing and 

crying as rescuers put charred bodies of 

the victims into ambulances. Footage 

on social media showed the plane was 

flying very low before it quickly went 

down. Abdul Rehman, a medical doctor, 

said at least three homes were badly 

damaged and the pilots' bodies had 

been retrieved. "According to our latest 

information, a total of 18 people were 

killed in the plane crash. They include 

Photo : AP 

Pakistani army plane crashes into 

homes, killing at least 18 

UN: Afghan forces, 

NATO killed most 

civilians in 2019 

More Afghan civilians were killed by Afghan 

and NATO forces than by the Taliban and other 

militants in the first half of 2019, the U.N. 

mission said in a report released Tuesday. 

Most of the civilian casualties were apparently 

inflicted during Afghan and NATO operations 

against insurgents, such as airstrikes and 

night raids on militant hideouts. Insurgents 

often hide among civilians, reports UNB. 

The report by the U.N. mission in 

Afghanistan said 403 civilians were killed by 

Afghan forces in the first six months of the 

year and another 314 by international forces, a 

total of 717. That's compared to 531 killed by 

the Taliban, an Islamic State affiliate and other 

militants during the same period. It said 

300 of those killed by militants were directly 

targeted. The Taliban have been carrying out 

near-daily attacks, mainly targeting security 

forces. The Taliban have rejected calls for a 

cease-fire as they hold talks with the United 

States aimed at ending the 18-year war. An 

Islamic State affiliate has meanwhile launched 

attacks targeting security forces as well as 

minority Shiites. There was no immediate 

comment from the Kabul government, the 

Afghan military of the international coalition 

forces on the U.N. report. The U.S. formally 

ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in 

2014 but still provides extensive air and other 

support to local forces battling both groups. 

"Parties to the conflict may give differing 

explanations for recent trends, each designed 

to justify their own military tactics," said 

Richard Bennett, the human rights chief of the 

U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, 

which released the report. He said the situation 

for ordinary Afghans would be improved 

"not just by abiding by international humanitarian 

law but also by reducing the intensity of 

the fighting." The report said civilian deaths 

and injuries were down by a quarter from January 

to June 2019 compared with the same 

time last year, when casualties were at an alltime 

high. Civilian casualties attributed to 

insurgents dropped by 43%. 

The report said one in three casualties was 

caused by ground combat and a fifth were 

caused by roadside bombs. Aerial operations 

accounted for around 14% of the casualties. 

Meanwhile, there has been no claim 

of responsibility for an attack Sunday night 

that apparently targeted the office of the 

Afghan president's running mate and former 

chief of the intelligence service. The VP 

candidate, Amrullah Saleh, was safely evacuated 

from the scene of the attack, which 

left at least 20 people dead and about 50 

wounded. Saleh is known for his fierce anti- 

Taliban stance. 

More Afghan civilians were killed by Afghan and NATO forces than by the 

Taliban and other militants in the first half of 2019, the U.N. mission said 

in a report released Tuesday. 

Photo : AP 

five crew members and 13 civilians who 

were killed when the plane crashed into 

homes and quickly caught fire," he said. 

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi and 

Prime Minister Imran Khan in separate 

statements expressed their condolences. 

The military said the army aircraft 

was on a routine training flight 

when it crashed, but had no information 

on the possible cause. An investigation 

was underway. 

Pakistan's military has been on high 

alert since February, when India 

launched an airstrike inside Pakistan to 

target Pakistan-based militants behind 

the suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian 

troops in Indian-administered 

Kashmir. Pakistan at the time retaliated 

and said it shot down two Indian air 

force planes. One Indian pilot was captured 

and later released amid signs of 

easing tensions. In 2010, a Pakistani 

passenger jet crashed into the hills surrounding 

the capital, Islamabad, in 

poor weather, killing all 152 people on 

board. 

5 dead, 2 injured in 

residential shootings 

in Wisconsin 

A shooter killed three family 

members at a home in a 

small Wisconsin town, then 

went to a residence in a 

nearby community and 

opened fire on more people, 

sheriff's officials said Monday. 

The shootings some 9 

miles (14.5 kilometers) apart 

in northwestern Wisconsin 

left a total of five people 

dead, including the suspect, 

and two others wounded, 

authorities said, reports 

UNB. Authorities found the 

shooter and another person 

dead while responding to a 

911 call in Lake Hallie in 

about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, 

Sheriff James Kowalczyk 

told WQOW-TV. Authorities 

said the dead were a man 

and a woman, but Kowalczyk 

didn't say which one 

was the shooter or how 

authorities were able to 

determine who the shooter 

was. Two other adults at the 

home in Lake Hallie were 

rushed to the hospital with 

gunshot wounds. There was 

no immediate word on their 

conditions. Authorities 

looking to notify the shooter's 

relatives then went to a 

home in the Town of 

Lafayette around 2:30 a.m. 

Monday and discovered 

three more bodies, Kowalczyk 

said. "We went to the 

door, received no answer, 

attempted to make a call, 

again no answer. 

We finally forced our way 

in and found three other victims 

of a homicide," Kowalczyk 

said. The dead there 

were a man, a woman and a 

boy. The names of the victims 

and the shooter have 

not been released. Kowalczyk 

told WQOW that 

authorities were still trying 

to determine a motive. The 

sheriff didn't immediately 

return a phone message left 

by The Associated Press. 

Hannah Larson, who lived 

in the same four-unit complex 

in Lafayette, told the 

Minneapolis Star Tribune an 

8-year-old boy lived there 

along with his father and 

grandmother.

ART & CULTURE 

WeDneSDAy, 

jUly 31, 2019 

8 

Katy Perry copied Dark Horse 

from Christian rapper Flame 

Katy Perry copied her 2013 song Dark Horse from a 

Christian rap song, a US court has ruled.Katy gave evidence 

in the week-long trial, denying she had ever heard the 2009 

song Joyful Noise by Flame before recording her track. 

She even offered to perform Dark 

Horse for the court room when her 

lawyers were unable to play the song 

for jurors because of a broken speaker 

system. 

But despite the joke, the jury ruled 

against Katy on Monday. 

During the trial, Katy's team 

described the beat of both songs as 

"commonplace", arguing that because 

of that, Flame could not claim copyright. 

"They're trying to own basic building 

blocks of music, the alphabet of music 

that should be available to everyone," 

said Katy's lawyer Christine Lepera 

during her closing arguments in court 

last week. 

But lawyers representing Flame 

claimed that Katy and her team had 

"copied an important part" of his song, 

at the conclusion of legal proceedings 

that started in 2014. 

"They're trying to shove Mr Gray into 

some gospel music alleyway that no 

one ever visits," said Gray's lawyer 

Michael A. Kahn. 

He also mentioned the fact that Katy 

started her career as a Christian artist. 

Despite the trial focusing on the production of the song - it 

was produced by Dr Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut - the court 

found that the six songwriters of Dark Horse were also liable. 

This includes Katy Perry, and rapper Juicy J, who contributed 

a verse to the song.Katy and Juicy J at the 2014 

MTV Video Music Awards, where Dark Horse won best 

female video Today (Tuesday 30 July) the court will start 

work on deciding how much in damages Gray may be owed. 

Dark Horse was released in 2013 on Katy's fourth album 

Prism and is one of her biggest hits. 

It has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide and the 

video for the song was the first ever by a female artist to reach 

a billion views on both YouTube and Vevo. 

In total, the video has been watched more than 2.6 billion 

times since its release in 2014. 

- BBC 

jimmy Kimmel jokingly 

suggests trump has 

‘dementia’ 

the Giver 

In a seemingly perfect community, 

without war, pain, suffering, differences 

or choice, a young boy is chosen 

to learn from an elderly man 

about the true pain and pleasure of 

the "real" world. 

Genre : Drama, Romance, 

Sci-Fi 

Director : Phillip Noyce 

Writers : Michael Mitnick 

(screenplay), Robert 

B. Weide (screen 

play), Lois Lowry 

(book) 

Cast : Jeff Bridges, Meryl 

Streep, Brenton 

Thwaites 

Runtime : 97 minutes 

Release Date : 15 August, 2014 

Hindi remake of 

Kaththi to go on 

floors soon 

Storyline : 

Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) was raised to 

believe that conformity is the key to contentment. 

The society Jonas lives in is a 

peaceful one, in large part because their 

collective memories have been entrusted 

to the Giver (Jeff Bridges). A mysterious 

yet seemingly benevolent figure, the Giver 

is the sole guardian of the community's 

dark and hidden history. When that history 

is revealed to Jonas over the course of 

his illuminating sessions with the Giver, 

the young man learns that the wisdom he 

now holds could dictate the fate of the 

entire society. Later, as the weight of that 

responsibility becomes too great a burden 

for Jonas to bear, he realizes that his only 

hope of saving the ones he loves most is to 

flee. Unfortunately for Jonas and perhaps 

his entire world, every previous attempt to 

escape has ended in failure.. 

-IMDb 

Akshay Kumar will step into the role of 

actor Vijay in the Hindi remake of 

Kaththi. 

After Mission Mangal, Akshay 

Kumar and director Jagan Shakti will 

once again join hands for the Hindi 

remake of AR Murugadoss' action 

drama Kaththi. Though the film titled 

Ikka was announced a couple of years 

ago, the project went into cold storage. 

But now the director has confirmed 

to Mumbai Mirror that the remake of 

the superhit Tamil action-drama has 

not been shelved and will go on floors 

soon. Revealing that his team is currently 

reworking the 

script, Shakti said, "It 

(Ikka) will resonate 

with the underprivileged 

section of the 

society. With my second 

directorial, I want 

to explore action which is presented in 

a sleek way." 

2014 film Kaththi featured Vijay in 

dual roles along with Samantha Ruth 

Prabhu, Neil Nitin Mukesh and others. 

The film is a story of lookalikes 

Kathiresan and Jeevanantham and 

focuses on the issue of farmers committing 

suicide due to corporate 

encroachment. 

Last week, Akshay Kumar had 

released the poster of his film 

Bachchan Pandey. The film, scheduled 

for a 2020 release, marks the 10th collaboration 

of filmmaker Sajid 

Nadiadwala and Kumar. 

Trump hits Baltimore over violent crime rate, critics call 

the president's tweets racist; reaction and analysis from the 

'Special Report' All-Stars. 

Liberal comedian Jimmy Kimmel jokingly suggested on 

Monday night that President Trump is showing signs of 

"dementia." During his monologue, Kimmel blasted the 

"rodent" president for his tweets attacking Rep. Elijah 

Cummings, D-Md., and his "disgusting, rat and rodent 

infested mess" in Baltimore. "What a thing to say about a city 

in America- the man who tells us 'love it or leave it' has now 

attacked more cities than Godzilla," Kimmel quipped. 

The "Jimmy Kimmel Live" host shared his "theory" that 

Trump's "opinion of Baltimore" completely stems from the 

HBO series "The Wire." 

"What do all white men over the age of 50 have? A shelf full 

of DVDs... and on every one of those shelves of DVDs is the 

box set of 'The Wire,'" Kimmel 

explained. "I guarantee you Eric 

or Don Jr. bought him that set 

for Christmas. He assumed it 

was a documentary and 

watched it and was like 'Oh my 

God!'" 

He offered a remedy to undo 

Trump's thinking of Baltimore 

by showing him "the musical 

about the stuff he starts every 

morning with: 'Hairspray.'" 

Kimmel then pivoted to the 

president blaming the Obama 

administration last week for the 

new White House air conditioning 

system they installed, which 

he insisted it's "either freezing or 

hot." "It seems to me the president 

may be having trouble regulating 

his body temperature, 

which I looked it up and there 

may be medical reason for that; 

'Drop in Body Temperature 

Linked to Dementia,' Kimmel 

read the headline from a 2016 

Alzheimers.net artcile, adding 

"I'm sure it's a coincidence 

though." 

- Fox News 

Palme d’or Winner ‘Parasite’ 

Pulled From China Festival 

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's 

"Parasite," this year's Palme d'Or winner, 

was canceled from screening Sunday as 

the closing film for China's FIRST Film 

Festival for "technical reasons," making it 

the fifth festival film to run into trouble 

with Chinese censors this year. 

"Parasite" is a violent, dark comedy 

about class conflict and greed that tells 

the story of a destitute family's growing 

involvement with a very wealthy one. 

The first title from South Korea to nab 

the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, it 

had been scheduled as the closing film 

for the 10-day festival in Xining, Qinghai 

province, which seeks to support new talent 

by focusing on Chinese directors' first 

and second films. 

Festival organizers put out a statement 

on their official social media account the 

night before, saying: "The closing screening 

of 'Parasite' originally scheduled for 

July 28 has been canceled for technical 

reasons." They offered their "sincere 

apologies for the inconvenience" without 

providing further details. China has had 

tense diplomatic relations with South 

Korea for the past couple of years, since 

the Korean government agreed to the 

installation of a U.S.-owned anti-missile 

system. That was followed by a de facto 

ban on the import of Korean film and TV 

shows. No Korean films have had a theatrical 

release in China for two years, and 

most Chinese film festivals have avoided 

selecting Korean titles. 

The phrase "technical reasons" has 

become a widely recognized euphemism 

for censorship problems, particularly 

over the last six months. The spate of 

recent last-minute cancellations began at 

the Berlin Film Festival. 

H o r o S C o P e 

ArieS 

(March 21 - April 20) : Things should go 

extremely well for you today, Aries, so 

don't shy away from any part of it. In fact, 

take this opportunity to shine as brightly 

as you can. Crank up the power and project yourself out 

to the world. Bring out your radiant smile as often as 

possible - it's contagious. There is tremendous power 

behind your self-confidence, so tackle everything with 

energy and enthusiasm. 

tAUrUS 

(April 21 - May 21) : Come out of serious 

mode for a day and let yourself laugh, 

Taurus. Hold a game night at your home 

and invite some good friends over to play cards and nibble 

on snacks until all hours. This is a day to have fun, 

so let loose and freely express yourself in the best way 

you see fit. Realize how much power you have in your 

jovial nature. Spread it generously. 

GeMini 

(May 22 - June 21) : You have an 

incredibly strong influence on others 

today, Gemini, just because yours is a 

fun-loving, peaceful, and harmonious nature. Your 

charm will take you any place you want to go, so 

use it at your will. Accentuate the positive and walk 

on the sunny side of the street. Smile and bring 

good cheer to the people you meet. 

CAnCer 

(June 22 - July 23) : Put your 

aggressions away today, Cancer. 

Laugh a little! Transform your 

energy from intense, hard, and caustic to 

lighthearted, fun, and loving. This will take 

you a long way. Little things may crop up 

that could disrupt your daily routine, but a 

warm smile is all you need to defuse any 

frustration or negativity. 

leo 

(July 24 - Aug. 23) : It's a terrific day 

for you, Leo. Your jovial approach to 

every situation is just what the doctor 

ordered. Spend time with children and enjoy their 

magical world. Freely spread your love and affection 

to the people around you. Make sure that the 

corners of people's mouths are turning up instead 

of down. A friendly attitude will take you far. 

VirGo 

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23) : Take a time-out 

today and relax a little, Virgo. Let 

your romantic nature have some fun. 

Don't feel guilty about not being as 

serious as you think you should be. The day's winner 

is the one who can smile the most. Enter this 

contest with the intention of winning. The 

rewards will last a long time. The people you 

encounter won't be able to help but smile back. 

liBrA 

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) : You might find 

that others have a "me first" attitude 

that doesn't sit quite right with you, 

Libra. You may need to wake them up and say, 

"Hey, what about everybody else?" Try not to 

whine as you deliver this message. Desperation or 

complaining will get you nowhere. Be friendly and 

jovial in your approach and you will have the 

world at your feet. 

SCorPio 

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) : Bask in today's warm, 

loving energy, Scorpio. Adopt an attitude 

of gratitude and look to see the beauty in 

everything around you. This is a day to appreciate what 

you have, especially the people who love you. 

Compliment others and let them know how much they 

mean to you. These words and deeds will have a ripple 

effect that will bring you a great deal of good fortune. 

SAGittAriUS 

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21) : It's time for you 

to come out of hibernation, 

Sagittarius. Shake off the blues and 

come into the light. Today is a day to 

play and have fun. The mood of the day is lighthearted 

and jovial, so be the first with a joke or 

silly story. Do what you can to make others laugh. 

Let the fire within you burn at its brightest. 

CAPriCorn 

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20) : Other people's 

stubborn attitudes may hinder your 

progress today, Capricorn, so take 

this as a hint that you might need to loosen your 

grip on a certain viewpoint you're fiercely clinging 

to. There's a great deal of power behind your emotions, 

and you need to express it. Jump onstage 

and take the podium. Speak your mind even if you 

don't always agree with the group. 

AQUAriUS 

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : The doldrums are 

over and it's time to pick up the pace, 

Aquarius. Come out of your house in 

full regalia today. Be proud of what you have to offer 

to the world. Be courageous in your dealings with 

others. Take the time to express yourself fully in a 

creative manner. The bigger the smile you wear, the 

further you will go in just about every situation. 

PiSCeS 

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : People are going 

to appreciate extra long hugs today, 

Pisces, so give them out like candy to 

everyone you meet. A kind gesture and warm word 

won't be forgotten. Let your generous and kind spirit 

shine through. Open your arms wide to spread 

love to the world around you. It's the perfect day for 

laughter and affection, so do your part.

SPORTS 

WEDNESDAy, 

JULy 31, 2019 

9 

Bangladesh is currently ranked at No. 7 and Sri Lanka is No.8, with 11 rating points separating them. 

Photo: AP 

Tigers eyeing to avoid shambolic 

whitewash 

Sports Desk: With pride at stake, 

Bangladesh is eying to come all guns 

blazing to avoid a shameful whitewash 

as they take on rejuvenated Sri Lanka 

in the third and last match of the ODI 

series at R Premadasa Stadium in 

Colombo on Wednesday, reports BSS. 

The match starts at 3 PM 

(Bangladesh Standard Time), turned 

out to be a dead-rubber after Sri Lanka 

won the first two matches in quite comfortable 

fashion to clinch the series 

already. 

A defeat in third match would make it 

five straight ODI losses for Bangladesh 

with two other came in the World Cup 

against India and Pakistan. 

Coming off the series as absolute 

favourite and higher ranked side than 

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh indeed surrendered 

in meek fashion in first two 

matches, paying the price of their wayward 

batting, listless bowling and shoddy 

fielding. 

Bangladesh is currently ranked at No. 

7 and Sri Lanka is No.8, with 11 rating 

points separating them [Bangladesh 

90, Sri Lanka 79]. 

The outcome of the series regardless 

of the result won't affect Bangladesh's 

rankings but the rating points would be 

significantly declined to give the 

Lankans a chance to breathe on them 

heavily. So the third match is not only 

their mission to avoid the whitewash, 

but also a mission to keep a safe distance 

from Sri Lanka as far as rating 

points are concerned. 

In case of 2-1 result, Bangladesh's 

point would be 88, while Sri Lanka's 

80. But 3-0 result will leave Bangladesh 

at rating points with 86 in contrasts of 

Sri Lanka's 82. It clearly suggested how 

high the stake is for Bangladesh and Sri 

Lanka even in a dead-rubber. 

But Bangladesh definitely shouldn't 

be satisfied in case of avoiding a whitewash 

which looked highly unlikely given 

their performance in the first two 

matches. 

They came here to prove a point that 

they are better team than Sri Lanka and 

could have defeated them in World Cup 

too if the match wasn't washed out. 

The mission was also to heal the pain 

of disappointing World Cup by winning 

the series at Lankans den for the first 

time in history. Their rankings and outcome 

of the last two series here in 2013 

and 2017 which they settled for a draw 

against a Sri Lankan side boasted with 

the great likes Mahela Jayawardene, 

Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah 

Muralitharan gave them the confidence 

that they can do it this time around. 

Bangladesh was though without the 

service of their four key players-Shakib 

Al Hasan, Liton Das, Mashrafe Bin 

Mortaza and Mohammad Saifuddinthey 

were still confident. The first two 

players were granted leave for personal 

affairs while latter two were ruled out 

due to injury. 

Bangladesh didn't admit but they 

were looked completely fatigued as 

some players are believed to play with 

injury and niggles. Chief selector Minhajul 

Abedin Nannu claimed the players 

were included in the squad based on 

the positive report from physio. 

The Tigers conceded at least 60-70 

runs in ground fielding in first two 

matches, clearly indicating their 

fatigued state. In addition they missed 

some crucial catches, a thing that also 

cost them some matches in World Cup. 

At the same time apart from Mushfiqur 

Rahim, the off-form of senior 

batsman like Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah 

Riyad came as curse for 

Bangladesh. Tamim, also the captain of 

the side in absence of Mashrafe was 

most disappointing figure with scores 

of 0 and 19 in two matches. Mahmudullah, 

alleged to play hiding the 

injury, scored 3 and 6 runs. 

The bowling was equally wayward 

with no one can contain the Lankans 

young players. With so many things in 

their disfavour, Bangladesh still dared 

to dream of avoiding whitewash. In fact 

Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar 

said they have the opportunity still to 

prove that they are better team than Sri 

Lanka. 

Vandeweghe makes 

winning return to 

WTA Tour 

Sports Desk: American 

Coco Vandeweghe made a 

winning return to the WTA 

tour Monday, beating Marie 

Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4 in the first 

round in San Jose, reports 

BSS. 

It was her first match in 10 

months. 

Vandeweghe, once ranked 

as high as ninth in the world, 

hadn't played a WTA singles 

match since falling in the 

first round of the China 

Open last September, having 

been slowed for much of 

2018 by a nagging ankle 

injury that was followed by a 

foot injury. 

"To think that five months 

ago I wasn't even walking, 

I'm just full of tons of emotions," 

the 27-year-old said 

after wrapping up the victory 

with an ace on match 

point in one hour and 23 

minutes. 

She hadn't won a singles 

match since June of 2018, 

and in her extended absence 

has dropped to 636th in the 

world. 

"First and foremost, I was 

thinking of having fun," she 

said of her mindset coming 

into the tournament, for 

which she received a wild 

card. 

Brazil police end Neymar rape 

probe over lack of evidence 

Sports Desk: Police in Brazil probing rape 

allegations against football superstar Neymar 

have closed the case due to a lack of evidence, 

the Sao Paulo attorney general's office 

said Monday, reports BSS. 

The police decision will be sent to prosecutors 

on Tuesday, who will have 15 days to 

evaluate the case, a spokeswoman for the 

attorney general's office told AFP. 

A final ruling on the case will be made by a 

judge.A spokesman for Neymar said he was 

not able to comment on the police decision. 

Sao Paulo police are due to hold a news conference 

on Tuesday. 

Neymar has vehemently denied allegations 

he raped a Brazilian woman in a Paris 

hotel in May. The ugly affair, which has dominated 

headlines and conversations in the 

soccer-mad country for weeks, overshadowed 

Brazil's preparations for the Copa 

America. 

Hosts Brazil went on to win South America's 

showcase tournament earlier this month 

without their biggest player, who was injured 

in a warm-up friendly before the opening 

match. 

The scandal blew up on June 2 when Neymar 

published a seven-minute video on 

Instagram, where he had first been in contact 

with Najila Trindade, revealing that he 

had been accused of rape. 

In an attempt to defend himself against the 

allegations, Neymar's video was accompanied 

by WhatsApp messages and images of 

his encounter with Trindade - without her 

consent, possibly breaking Brazilian law. 

The drama quickly snowballed. Extracts of 

a televised interview with Trindade, in which 

she accused Neymar of "aggression together 

with rape," aired just one hour before he was 

about to enter the pitch for the pre-Copa 

game between Brazil and Qatar. 

Neymar tore his right ankle ligament in the 

20th minute, ruling him out of the tournament. 

In the following weeks, Neymar was questioned 

by police over the WhatsApp messages. 

He also appeared before police in Sao 

Paulo, where Trindade had filed her complaint 

at the end of May. 

As the case dragged on, police filed a 

defamation suit against Trindade - who was 

dropped by multiple lawyers - after she 

insinuated the force was corrupt. 

"The police are bought, aren't they? Or am 

I crazy?" she told television channel SBT last 

month in response to questions over the 

police investigation of an alleged theft of a 

tablet device from her home that contained a 

short video she claims has conclusive evidence 

she was assaulted. 

Despite the seriousness of the allegations, 

polls have shown that most Brazilians 

believe Neymar is innocent. 

Controversy has followed the Paris Saint- 

Germain player, who flew back to France 

earlier this month. Neymar, who joined PSG 

in 2017, has made clear he wants to return to 

Barcelona. 

He has yet to feature during PSG's pre-season 

tour in Asia and French media reported 

he will miss Tuesday's game against Sydney 

in China. 

Sarri to return against 

Parma, Conte against 

Lecce 

Sports Desk: The new 

coaches of Juventus and 

Inter Milan have relatively 

easy starts to their return to 

Serie A, but there are potentially 

crucial matches during 

the second weekend of the 

new Italian league season. 

The 2019-20 Serie A fixtures 

were announced on Monday. 

Juventus starts its bid 

for a record-extending ninth 

straight league title at Parma 

and then faces new coach 

Maurizio Sarri's former club 

Napoli in Turin in the second 

round, reports UNB. 

Now coached by Antonio 

Conte, Inter kicks off its season 

at home to newly promoted 

Lecce. That also 

marks Conte's return to the 

Italian League. Conte led 

Juventus to three straight 

league titles before becoming 

Italy coach in 2014 for 

two years. The Italian also 

had a spell in charge of 

Chelsea from 2016-18, leading 

the English club to a Premier 

League crown and the 

FA Cup title. Conte will face 

former club Juventus for the 

first time in the Derby d'Italia 

the weekend of Oct. 6, 

in week 7 in Milan. The 

Serie A season starts on Aug. 

25. The first weekend also 

sees Napoli, which finished 

runner-up last season, visit 

Fiorentina. Roma hosts 

Genoa and AC Milan visits 

Udinese. 

The first Milan derby will 

be in the weekend of Sept. 

22, in week 4. The season 

finishes the weekend of May 

24, with Juventus hosting 

Roma, Inter away at Atalanta 

and Napoli at home to 

Lazio. The winter break will 

run from Dec. 23 to Jan. 5 as 

last season's experiment of 

following the Premier 

League and running through 

the Christmas holidays has 

been abandoned. 

Pattison and Cummins to lead Australia’s 

pace attack in Ashes opener 

Sports Desk: Australian coach Justin Langer 

has confirmed that Pat Cummins and James 

Pattinson will form Australia's lead pace pair in 

Birmingham with one of Mitchell Starc, Josh 

Hazlewood and Peter Siddle to fill up the third 

slot. He also revealed that Usman Khawaja had 

passed his fitness tests and was a sure starter 

for the opening Test that starts at Edgbaston 

on Thursday (August 1), reports Cricbuzz. 

"We'll talk to the boys in the next day or so 

and try and solidify the 12 anyway, so everyone's 

really clear where we're at. There's probably 

three to be fair, Starcy, Peter Siddle and 

Josh Hazlewood for one spot. Three pretty 

good players to try to find a spot for, I reckon," 

he said. 

There's been a significant buzz around Pattinson 

ever since he returned to full fitness and 

was inevitably back taking wickets in shield 

cricket. And it looked rather obvious that the 

Victorian pacer would get the nod while Cummins 

has been, by far, Australia's best Test pacer 

over the last 18 months. And with the 

amount of experience Siddle has in English 

conditions - he has taken 71 wickets at an average 

of less than 20 across two seasons for Essex 

- he could come through ahead of Starc and 

Hazlewood, who've been Australia's new-ball 

pair for nearly four years now. Siddle also outbowled 

the pair during the warm-up game in 

Southampton with Hazlewood still feeling his 

way back in after a lengthy injury layoff and 

Starc still finding his Test bowling rhythm after 

a remarkable World Cup campaign with the 

ball. Langer though was quick to quash suggestions 

that the fast bowlers would be "rotated" 

during the Ashes and insisted that the "best 

three" would be picked for each match based 

on conditions. 

"They won't be rotated as such, like in the 

World Cup we'll pick the best three or four for 

every game we play. Lord's is very different to 

here, Old Trafford's going to be different, so 

that's how," he said. "We won't rotate them per 

se, but we'll just pick the best three, probably 

not four, but three for every game. It won't be 

different opposition, certainly different conditions." 

The only other major decision that 

Langer and the selectors need to take with 

regards to the playing XI would be at the top of 

the order as to who opens with the returning 

David Warner. 

Marcus Harris could be the front-runner, 

having opened in the last six Tests that Australia 

played, all at home, and having stood 

up to the very incisive Indian pace attack. 

But then there's Cameron Bancroft who was 

by far the most successful batsman in Shield 

cricket during the Dukes ball part of the season 

- at the start of this year - and also looked 

the most at ease on the torrid pitch at 

Southampton. 

Australia's coach Justin Langer has declared James Pattinson certain 

starter for the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston. 

Photo: AP 

Police in Brazil probing rape allegations against football superstar Neymar have closed the case due 

to a lack of evidence. 

Photo: AP 

Schweinsteiger aims to show ‘best 

of MLS’ against Atletico 

Sports Desk: Bastian Schweinsteiger 

hopes Atletico Madrid's final game of 

their US tour won't descend into a flurry 

of mayhem and red cards when the 

MLS All-Stars take on Diego Simeone's 

team on Wednesday, reports BSS. 

Atletico's 7-3 win over Real Madrid in 

New Jersey on Friday saw both La Liga 

clubs reduced to 10 men in an unusually 

highly charged pre-season 

encounter. 

Atleti continue their preparations for 

the forthcoming La Liga season when 

they take on the best of Major League 

Soccer in Orlando, with a near sell-out 

crowd of 25,000 expected at Exploria 

Stadium. German World Cup winner 

Schweinsteiger, who plays in MLS for 

Chicago Fire, believes Simeone's side 

were fired by the presence of Los Blancos 

and is adamant his team-mates, 

coached by Orlando City's James 

O'Connor, can prosper without kicking 

lumps out of the opposition. 

"Intense games are always good but 

the other night I am sure the rivalry 

between the teams also played a part," 

Schweinsteiger, the former Bayern 

Munich and Manchester United midfielder, 

told AFP. 

"I think this will be different - we 

don't want to hurt anyone, we just want 

to play our way and we want to show 

what is the best of MLS." 

The All-Star game in MLS, like those 

in the NBA and Major League Baseball, 

is designed as a mid-season exhibition 

respite. 

Although with Simeone preparing for 

a strong challenge in La Liga and the 

Champions League, the Spaniards - 

who have spent upwards of 219 million 

euros ($240 million) this summer following 

the departures of Antoine Griezmann, 

Lucas Hernandez and Rodri - 

will be very competitive. 

"I like this All-Star concept a lot, you 

play with the best players in the league, 

have a different coach - this one is Irish 

- and we are playing against a top team 

from Europe so will be a good test," 

Schweinsteiger said."They have invested 

a lot of money in new players, they 

are very strong, very tough and they 

have a very good coach. It won't be easy 

but if we show our quality we can definitely 

compete. "Their approach is dictated 

by Simeone. He's done an amazing 

job over the last five years and they 

have become one the top teams in 

Europe. That's why it will be interesting." 

Atletico, who take their tour to Mexico 

at the weekend, remain angry with 

Barcelona over the sale of French star 

Antoine Griezmann, whose 120 million 

euro ($135 million transfer was contested 

by Atleti. 

Discussions between the two Spanish 

giants are on-going, but Simeone 

refused to be drawn into a war of words 

with his recently departed striker. 

"I value the performance from him," 

the Argentine told AFP. "He has 

answered everything on the field and 

wish him nothing but the best at 

Barcelona. And that is it." 

With Griezmann gone, the focus now 

is on Portuguese wonderkid Joao Felix 

who was signed earlier this summer 

from Benfica for 126 million euros 

($142 million). Compatriot Nani, who 

will play for the MLS All-Stars at his 

home ground on Wednesday, predicts 

a bright future for the 19 year-old midfielder 

who impressed in the previous 

match against Real. 

De Rossi eager to run out at 

Boca’s iconic Bombonera 

Sports Desk: World Cup winning Italian veteran Daniele 

De Rossi said he cannot wait to play in the iconic Bombonera 

stadium as he was unveiled by new club Boca Juniors on 

Monday, reports BSS. 

The 36-year-old midfielder has signed a one-year contract 

with the Argentine giants after bringing down the curtain on 

his 18-year Roma career at the end of last season. 

He was cheered wildly when presented to fans at the Bombonera 

stadium and given the number 16 shirt - the same as 

he wore at Roma. 

"If you love football, if you like great stadiums full of passion, 

no-one should deny themselves an experience like this," 

he said when asked if he had a message for footballers in 

Europe. Boca are one of the most successful sides not just in 

Argentina but the whole of South America. 

They have been Argentine champions 33 times, bettered 

only by historic rivals River Plate with 36, and won the Copa 

Libertadores - the continental equivalent of the Champions 

League - six times, just once less than fellow-Argentines 

Independiente who lead with seven. 

"My aim is the same as Boca's … to win the Libertadores, 

win the league. From what I've heard it's to win everything," 

said De Rossi, who helped Italy claim the 2006 World Cup 

during a 117-cap career. 

While many former Boca players - such as Diego 

Maradona, Walter Samuel and Carlos Tevez - have gone on 

to enjoy successful careers in Italy, De Rossi is the first major 

Italian star to play for the Buenos Aires outfit.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

10 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 

A Rouf Chowdhury, Chairman of Bank Asia Ltd. awarded the certificates among 51 officers from different 

levels in the concluding ceremony of 51st Foundation Training Course as the chief guest. Md. 

Abdul Matin, Training & Development Consultant (BAITD K.S. Nazmul Hasan, Head of PMD 

(HRD), Krisna Saha, Head of Lalmatia Branch and Sujit Kumer Sen, AVP (BAITD) were present in 

the program which was held at Bank Asia Institute for Training & Development (BAITD) in Lalmatia, 

Dhaka, on 30 August 2019. 


Asia markets down 

as US-China trade 

talks loom 

Asia markets were 

mostly down Monday, 

with investors cautious 

ahead of US-China talks 

in Shanghai this week and 

amid more civil unrest in 

Hong Kong, reports BSS. 

Two-day discussions 

begin on Tuesday with a 

Washington delegation 

led by White House Trade 

Representative Robert 

Lighthizer. 

But analysts are 

pessimistic about a 

resolution to the yearlong 

trade dispute 

between the world's top 

two economies that has 

seen $360 billion in tariffs 

imposed on bilateral 

trade. 

"Hoping for the best but 

preparing for the worst 

best describes my view," 

said Vanguard Markets 

managing partner 

Stephen Innes. "We are 

not overly optimistic 

about a positive Shanghai 

surprise." 

Hong Kong was among 

the biggest downward 

movers on Tuesday with 

the Hang Seng Index 

falling 1.2 percent, after a 

fresh round of violent 

protests in the financial 

hub. 

P r o - d e m o c r a c y 

protesters in the financial 

hub fought a second 

consecutive day of 

running battles with 

police on Sunday evening 

in a well-heeled 

residential district, a day 

after clashes at a banned 

rally in a town near the 

border with mainland 

China. 

China's top policy body 

on Hong Kong affairs was 

set to hold an extremely 

rare press briefing on 

Monday afternoon on the 

crisis engulfing the 

financial hub. 

The weekend protests 

were "factoring quite 

negatively into the overall 

risk equation, Innes said, 

with traders concerned 

that Washington may 

speak in support of the 

demonstrators. 

"If they do, it would not 

only throw this week's 

trade discussion into 

disarray but could 

jeopardise bilateral trade 

negotiations going 

forward," he added. 

Seoul was down 1.9 

percent amid an ongoing 

trade spat with Tokyo, 

which restricted export of 

materials key to South 

Korean tech firms earlier 

this month. 

Elsewhere the Nikkei 

was down 0.6 percent at 

the lunch break while 

Shanghai was 0.2 percent 

lower. 

Oil benchmarks were 

slightly down Monday 

after ending last week 

higher on strong US 

growth figures, and amid 

continuing tensions over 

Britain's seizure of an 

Iranian oil tanker earlier 

this month. 

Expectations of a Fed 

rate cut have been priced 

into the market and could 

see downward pressure 

on the gold price, said 

OANDA senior market 

analyst Alfonso Esparza. 

"A 25 basis points cut by 

the Fed following a more 

cautious approach could 

lead to downward 

pressure for the yellow 

metal, with the $1,400 

level under threat," he 

added. 

Telenor Health, the healthcare platform of Telenor, has recently signed an agreement with icddr,b 

Laboratories at the icddr,b office in Mohakhali, Dhaka. The two organizations joined hands to work 

together to make quality healthcare services more accessible and affordable for the people. The 

agreement was signed by Mohammad Mobydur Rahaman, Head of B2B, Partnerships & Loyalty of 

Telenor Health and Syed Monjurul Islam, Acting Executive Director of icddr,b. The ceremony took 

place in presence of Andrew Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, Telenor Health and Professor Niyaz 

Ahmed, Senior Director, icddr,b, while Tauhidul Alam, Head - Sales, Brand & PR, Dr. Khaled Hasan, 

Head of Clinical Operations, Tawfiq Hasan, Manager - Loyalty & Partnerships, Parvez Ahmad, 

Corporate Business Lead were present from Telenor Health along with Shahriar Bin Elahi, Senior 

Manager, Business Intelligence and Analytics from icddr,b with other officials. Photo: Courtesy 

Sensex, Nifty cautious amid 

foreign fund outflows 

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex and 

NSE Nifty were trading on a cautious 

note in the morning trade on Monday 

following weak cues from Asian peers 

amid sustained foreign fund outflow, 

reports BSS. 

The 30-share index was trading 

33.48 points or 0.09 per cent higher at 

37,916.27 in the morning trade; while 

the broader Nifty was slightly lower at 

11,279.35, showing a marginal fall of 

4.95 points or 0.04 per cent. 

In the previous session, the 30- 

share index closed at 37,882.79, 

registering a gain of 51.81 points or 

0.14 per cent, and the broader NSE 

Nifty rose 32.15 points or 0.29 per 

cent to settle at 11,284.30. In early 

trade, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, TechM, 

TCS, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Kotak 

Bank HUL and Axis Bank were among 

the top gainers, rising up to 2.77 per 

cent. 

On the other hand, M&M, Tata 

Motors, SBI, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, 

Asian Paints, ITC, Maruti, 

HeroMotoCorp, and Bajaj Auto fell up 

to 3.84 per cent. 

On a net basis, foreign institutional 

investors sold equities worth Rs 

1,503.26 crore Friday, while domestic 

institutional investors purchased 

shares to the tune of Rs 1,917.52 crore, 

provisional data available with stock 

exchanges showed. 

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai 

Composite Index, Hang Seng, Nikkei 

and Kospi were trading in the red in 

their respective early sessions. 

However, equities on Wall Street 

ended on a positive note on Friday. 

On the currency front, the rupee fell 

4 paise to 68.93 against the US dollar 

in morning trade on Monday. 

The global oil benchmark Brent 

crude futures were trading 0.32 per 

Write-downs a 

bitter treatment 

for Sanofi 

shareholders 

French pharmaceutical 

giant Sanofi said Monday it 

suffered a loss in the second 

quarter after it booked nearly 

three billion euros in writedowns 

of the value of its 

assets, but said it remained 

confident net profits would 

rise for the year, reports BSS. 

The net loss of 87 million 

euros ($97 million) came 

despite a 5.5 percent increase 

in net sales to 8.6 billion 

euros, which was slightly 

higher than the analyst 

consensus compiled by 

financial data firm Factset. 

The company pointed to a 

more than 20 percent jump in 

sales at Sanofi Genzyme, its 

bio-tech specialty care firm 

that it created following its 

2011 acquisition of Genzyme 

for 15 billion euros, thanks to a 

strong launch of Dupixent, a 

treatment for atopic 

dermatitis and asthma. 

Gross profits rose by 7.6 

percent in the first half to 12.3 

billion euros, but write-downs 

to the value of its assets and 

restructuring charges 

weighed in at over 3.7 billion 

euros. 

Included in that was a 1.8- 

billion-euro charge against 

hemophilia treatment 

Eloctate due to disappointing 

sales in the United States, 

which fell by 11 percent on a 

comparative basis. 

cent lower at 63.26 per barrel. 

Chinese yuan weakens 

to 6.8821 against USD 

Monday 

The central parity rate of the Chinese 

currency renminbi, or the yuan, 

weakened 25 basis points to 6.8821 

against the U.S. dollar Monday, 

according to the China Foreign 

Exchange Trade System, reports BSS. 

In China's spot foreign exchange 

market, the yuan is allowed to rise or 

fall by 2 percent from the central parity 

rate each trading day. 

The central parity rate of the yuan 

against the U.S. dollar is based on a 

weighted average of prices offered by 

market makers before the opening of 

the interbank market each business 

day. 

US 'pressure' tactic on WTO 

will fail: China state media 

A US threat to pull recognition of 

China's "developing nation" status 

at the World Trade Organisation is a 

pressure tactic ahead of this week's 

trade talks and is bound to fail, a 

commentary in state media said 

Monday, reports BSS. 

The reaction followed a memo 

issued on Friday by President 

Donald Trump to US Trade 

Representative Robert Lighthizer. 

It said the WTO, which operates a 

global system of trade rules and 

settles disputes, uses "an outdated 

dichotomy between developed and 

developing countries that has 

allowed some WTO members to 

gain unfair advantages." 

Without "substantial progress" to 

reform WTO rules within 90 days, 

Washington will no longer treat as a 

developing country any WTO 

member "improperly declaring 

itself a developing country and 

inappropriately seeking the benefit 

of flexibilities in WTO rules and 

negotiations," said the statement, 

Standard Bank inaugurated its 26th Agent Outlet at Shabania, Barhatta, Netrokona recently. MP of 

reserved seats (Mymensing -Netrokona) for women Ms Habiba Rahman Khan Shefaly formally inaugurated 

the Agent Outlet as Chief Guest. Deputy Managing Director of the Bank Md. Motaleb 

Hossain was present at the ceremony. UNO of Barhatta Upazilla Forida Yeasmin, VP & Head of 

Retail, ARCD & Agent Banking Division of SBL Hossain-Al-Safeer Chowdhury, Banking Agent M. 

M. Abdul Hai, SBL Mymensing Branch Manager Md. Kaykobad, other officials of SBL, local businessmen, 

customers and well wishers were present on the occasion. 


Rupee slips 6 paise 

to 68.95 vs USD in 

early trade 

The rupee opened on a 

weak note and fell 6 paise to 

68.95 against the US dollar 

in early trade on Monday 

amid foreign fund outflows 

and cautious opening in 

domestic equities, reports 

BSS. 

At the Interbank Foreign 

Exchange, the rupee opened 

weak at 68.92 then fell to 

68.95 against the US dollar, 

showing a decline of 6 paise 

over its previous closing. 

The Indian rupee on 

Friday had closed at 68.89 

against the US dollar. 

Forex traders said the 

rupee is trading in a narrow 

range as market 

participants are awaiting 

which focused mostly on China. 

The memo came ahead of 

meetings in Shanghai on Tuesday 

and Wednesday between US and 

Chinese negotiators aiming to 

resolve a trade dispute that has led 

to tariffs on more than $360 billion 

worth of two-way trade involving 

the world's two largest economies. 

Washington "obviously timed the 

memo to serve as a new bargaining 

chip" in the trade talks, the 

commentary from state-run Xinhua 

news agency said of the WTO threat. 

"But the tactic of imposing 

pressure is nothing new to China 

and has never worked," it said. 

Xinhua added that the US 

government's "latest hegemonic 

attempt" to coerce the WTO "is 

destined to hit a wall of opposition." 

Developing country status in the 

WTO allows governments longer 

timelines for implementing free 

trade commitments, as well as the 

ability to protect some domestic 

industry and maintain subsidies. 

cues from the Federal Open 

Market Committee (FOMC) 

meeting on July 31. 

Besides, market 

participants are also looking 

forward to the US and China 

trade talks, which can 

impact rupee movement. 

The US and Chinese 

officials are restarting 

negotiations in Shanghai on 

Tuesday in an effort to 

resolve the year-long trade 

dispute. 

Traders said cautious 

opening in domestic 

equities and foreign fund 

inflows weighed on the local 

unit, while weakening of the 

greenback vis-a-vis other 

currencies overseas and 

easing crude oil prices 

added support to the local 

unit. 

Meanwhile, brent crude 

futures, the global oil 

benchmark, fell 0.33 per 

cent to USD 63.25 per 

barrel. 

Foreign institutional 

investors (FIIs) remained 

net sellers in the capital 

markets, pulling out Rs 

1,503.26 crore on Friday, as 

per provisional data. 

Domestic bourses opened 

on a cautious note on 

Monday with benchmark 

indices Sensex trading 71.38 

points down at 37,811.41 

and Nifty lower by 29.55 

points at 11,254.75. 

But Jennifer Hillman, a former 

top US trade official who served at 

the WTO, has said the benefits 

granted to countries with the special 

status in most cases has long 

passed. 

The Trump administration has 

long complained that WTO rules are 

unfair to the United States, and has 

nearly throttled significant WTO 

proceedings by refusing to name 

new members of the appellate body 

for the dispute settlement system, 

which will cease to function later 

this year. 

Despite Trump's criticisms 

Washington has, in fact, won the 

majority of complaints it has filed 

with the WTO. 

Xinhua's commentary said that 

"messing with" basic principles of 

the WTO "will beget nothing but 

failure." 

"It will bring controversy and 

chaos, putting new obstacles in the 

way of WTO reforms," the 

commentary said. 

Ride-hailing giant Grab to invest $2b 

in Indonesia with SoftBank funds 

Ride-hailing giant Grab is investing 

$2 billion in Indonesia over the next 

five years, using funds from Japan's 

SoftBank Group to boost its presence in 

Southeast Asia's biggest economy, the 

firms said Monday, reports BSS. 

The Singapore-based firm has seen 

its business grow rapidly since it 

bought US-based rival Uber's regional 

ride-hailing and food business in 

March last year in exchange for a 27.5 

percent stake in Grab. 

Its Indonesian investment will focus 

on building a next-generation electric 

vehicle transport network and rolling 

out e-healthcare services to improve 

access to doctors and medical services 

across the archipelago. 

The announcement came after 

SoftBank last week said it would 

partner with tech firms including Apple 

and Microsoft in a new $108-billion 

investment fund. It is the long-mooted 

successor to its mammoth Vision Fund, 

which took stakes in leading tech startups 

from Uber to WeWork. 

"Indonesia's technology sector has 

huge potential," SoftBank chairman 

Masayoshi Son said in a statement. 

"I'm very happy to be investing US$2 

billion into the future of Indonesia 

through Grab." 

The Japanese firm has also invested 

in Grab, which competes with 

Indonesian ride-hailing giant GoJek, 

Shanghai 

crude oil 

futures 

close 

lower 

Crude oil futures closed 

lower Monday in daytime 

trading on the Shanghai 

International Energy 

Exchange, reports BSS. 

The most active crude oil 

contract for September 

delivery was down 3.3 yuan 

(about 48 U.S. cents) to 

close at 439.2 yuan a 

barrel. 

The total trading volume 

for six listed crude oil 

futures contracts on the 

exchange was 228,526 lots, 

with a turnover of about 

100.9 billion yuan. 

China launched the 

crude oil futures trading, 

which is open to overseas 

investment, on March 26 

in 2018. 

and offers a host of services, including 

food delivery and bill payments. 

On Monday, Grab also announced 

plans to build a second headquarters in 

Indonesia that will house a research 

and design centre. 

Tokyo stocks open lower with 

eyes on earnings, trade 

Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday, shrugging off rallies on Wall Street as 

investors remained cautious amid corporate earnings season and ahead of US- 

China trade talks, reports BSS. 

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.13 percent, or 28.04 points, to 

21,630.11 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.09 percent, or 

1.40 points, at 1,570.12. 

"A wait-and-see attitude may spread ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy board 

meeting and the US FOMC meeting, as well as resumption of the US-China trade 

talks" this week, Mizuho Securities said in a commentary. 

Investors are also closely watching earnings reports, it said. 

The dollar fetched 108.58 yen in early Asian trade, against 108.66 yen in New 

York late Friday. 

In Tokyo, blue-chip exporters were broadly lower, with Toyota slipping 0.23 

percent to 7,134 yen and chip-making equipment producer Tokyo Electron trading 

down 1.33 percent at 18,055 yen. 

Hitachi was off 2.56 percent at 3,832 yen, industrial robot maker Fanuc was 

down 0.89 percent at 19,410 yen and construction machine maker Komatsu was 

1.30 percent lower at 2,428 yen ahead of their earnings reports after the close of the 

market Monday.

MISCELLANEOUS 

WednesdAY, JulY 31, 2019 

11 

Prime Minister's security Affairs Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed siddique on Tuesday the 

"second Meeting of Track 1.5 Bimstec security dialogue Forum" as the chief guest at Bangladesh 

Institute of International and strategic studies (BIIss) auditorium. 


Gunman posted online minutes 

before killing 3 at festival 

GD-1148/19 (6 x 3) 

GD-1150/19 (4 x 3) 

Before a 19-year-old gunman opened 

fire on a famed garlic festival in his 

California hometown, he urged his 

Instagram followers to read a 19th 

century book popular with white 

supremacists on extremist websites, 

but his motives for killing two children 

and another young man were still a 

mystery Monday. Santino William 

Legan posted the caption about the 

book "Might is Right," which claims 

race determines behavior. It appeared 

with a photo of Smokey the Bear in 

front of a "fire danger" sign and also 

complained about overcrowding towns 

and paving open space to make room 

for "hordes" of Latinos and Silicon 

Valley whites. 

In his last Instagram post Sunday, 

Legan sent a photo from the Gilroy 

Garlic Festival. Minutes later, he shot 

into the crowd with an AK-47 style 

weapon, killing a 6-year-old boy, a 13- 

year-old girl and a man in his mid-20s. 

Under it, he wrote: "Ayyy garlic festival 

time" and "Come get wasted on 

overpriced" items. Legan's sincedeleted 

Instagram account says he is 

Italian and Iranian. The postings are 

among the first details that have 

emerged about Legan since authorities 

say he appeared to fire at random, 

sending people running and diving 

under tables. Police patrolling the event 

responded within a minute and killed 

Legan as he turned the weapon on 

them. He legally purchased the semiautomatic 

assault rifle this month in 

Nevada, where his last address is listed. 

He would have been barred from 

buying it in California, which restricts 

firearms purchases to people over 21. 

In Nevada, the age limit is 18. Legan 

grew up less than a mile from the park 

where the city known as the "Garlic 

Capital of the World" has held its threeday 

festival for four decades, attracting 

more than 100,000 people with music, 

food booths and cooking classes. 

Authorities were looking for clues, 

including on social media, as to what 

caused the son of a prominent local 

family to go on a rampage. His father 

was a competitive runner and coach, a 

brother was an accomplished young 

boxer and his grandfather had been a 

supervisor in Santa Clara County. 

Police said they don't know if people 

were targeted, but at this point, but it 

appears he shot indiscriminately. 

Twelve people were injured. Police 

searched Legan's vehicle and the twostory 

Legan family home, leaving with 

paper bags. Authorities also searched 

an apartment they believed Legan used 

this month in remote northern Nevada. 

Officials didn't say what they found. 

Big Mikes Gun and Ammo, which 

appears to be a home-based internet 

gun shop in Fallon, Nevada, said on its 

Facebook page that Legan ordered the 

rifle off its website and "was acting 

happy and showed no reasons for 

concern" when the store owner met 

him. The post said it was "heartbroken 

this could ever happen." In California, 

police had training in how to respond to 

an active shooter. 

While they prepared for the worst, 

they never expected to use those skills 

in Gilroy, a city of about 50,000 about 

80 miles (176 kilometers) 

southeast of San Francisco 

known for the pungent 

smell of its prize flowering 

crop grown in the 

surrounding fields - garlic. 

The city had security in 

place for one of the largest 

food fairs in the U.S. It 

required people to pass 

through metal detectors and 

have their bags searched. 

Police, paramedics and 

firefighters were stationed 

throughout the festival. But 

Legan didn't go through the 

front entrance. He cut 

through a fence bordering a 

parking lot next to a creek, 

Gilroy Police Chief Scot 

Smithee said. Some 

witnesses reported a second 

suspect, and authorities 

were trying to determine if 

he had any help. Police 

arrested a 20-year-old man 

who claimed involvement 

online, but investigators 

determined he was just 

trying to get attention. The 

police chief praised officers 

for stopping Legan with 

handguns without injuring 

anyone else. "It could've 

gotten so much worse, so 

fast," Smithee said. The 

gunfire sent people in 

sunhats and flip-flops 

running away screaming. 

Some dove for cover under 

the decorated food booth 

tables. Others crawled 

under a concert stage, where 

a band had started playing 

its last song. 

The youngest victim, 

Stephen Romero, described 

by his grandmother as a 

kind, happy and playful kid, 

had just celebrated his sixth 

birthday in June at Legoland 

in Southern California. "My 

son had his whole life to live 

and he was only 6," his 

father, Alberto Romero, told 

San Francisco Bay Area 

news station KNTV after the 

shooting. Also killed was 13- 

year-old Keyla Salazar from 

San Jose, seen dressed in 

pink, wearing a tiara of 

flowers and smiling as she 

poses with relatives in 

photos posted on her aunt's 

Facebook page. "I have no 

words to describe this pain 

I'm feeling," Katiuska 

Pimentel Vargas wrote. The 

oldest victim killed was 

Trevor Irby, 27, a biology 

major who graduated in 

2017 from Keuka College in 

upstate New York. 

GD-1147/19 (20 x 4)

WeDNeSDAy, DHAKA, JUly 31, 2019, SRABON 16, 1426 BS, JIlqUAD 27, 1440 HIJRI 

On Tuesday, the number of ticket aspirants were more than 1st day of advance ticket selling at 

Kamalapur Railway Station. 

Photo:Star Mail 

Need for extensive 

institutional, legal 

reforms challenge for 

Bangladesh: Anisul 

DHAKA : Law, Justice and Parliamentary 

Affairs Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said need 

for extensive institutional and legal reforms is 

one of the challenges for Bangladesh for implementing 

United Nations Convention against 

Torture, an official release said. 

"No country is immune to difficulties and limitations 

while implementing the Convention 

against Torture. Bangladesh is not an exception. 

In our stride to ensure implementation of the 

Convention, the Challenges Bangladesh face 

are-use of digital tools in for strengthening criminal 

justice mechanism, use of latest technology 

for ensuring accountability of Law enforcement 

officials, need for extensive institutional and 

legal reforms and raising awareness among citizens 

and public officials, specially the law 

enforcement and members of judiciary," he said 

at the Initial State Party Report of Bangladesh to 

the UN Committee against Torture in Geneva. 

The law minister in his report said since 2009, 

Bangladesh has devoted its energy towards creating 

an appropriate environment for the full 

enjoyment of all human rights by its people. 

"We fully acknowledge that we have not yet 

been able to fulfill all our aspirations and the 

dream of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to create a Sonar 

Bangla free of exploitation, deprivation and 

poverty. We have a long way to go, given the 

enormity of challenges that we face. 

BNP demands farm 

loan waiver for 

flood-hit farmers 

DHAKA : BNP senior leader 

Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury 

on Tuesday demanded the government 

waive agricultural loan of the 

flood-affected farmers and take 

steps for their rehabilitation. "We 

visited the northern region to distribute 

relief where we saw little 

amount of relief materials sent 

from the government. Only an 

amount of Tk 27 lakh was given for 

5 lakh flood victims," he said, 

reports UNB. 

Speaking at a discussion, the 

BNP leader further said, "Bank 

loan is now a big concern for the 

farmers whose seeds and paddy 

plants were washed away. So, it's 

not possible to repay the agricultural 

loan by them. So, their loan 

must be waived fully." He said it 

is justified to waive the loan of the 

poor and flood-hit farmers when 

the government has written off the 

unpaid loan of Tk 30,000 crore of 

the businessmen. Khosru, a BNP 

standing committee member, said 

their party during its rule waived 

Tk 4,000 crore of farmers. He 

said the government should also 

take necessary steps for the rehabilitation 

of the flood-hit farmers 

alongside waiving their loan. 

Nagorik Odhikar Andolon 

Forum arranged the programme at 

Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU), 

demanding the release of BNP 

chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail 

and her proper treatment. The 

BNP leader alleged that the government 

is trying to downplay the 

dengue outbreak and growing 

crimes branding them as rumours 

to hide its failure. "Is it a rumour 

that dengue has turned epidemic? 

Is it a rumour that women are 

being raped regularly and children 

are being tortured? Around Tk 

27,000 crore was plundered from 

the share market in a week while 

the banks are facing liquidity crisis 

due to widespread plundering. Are 

these rumours? They (govt) are 

trashing everything as rumours as 

they've failed to deliver on all 

fronts," he added. Khosru said the 

release of Khaleda Zia from jail has 

become a mass demand, but the 

government will not free her without 

facing a strong movement. 

Want to resolve 

Rohingya crisis 

through talks: PM 

DHAKA : Mentioning that hosting 

over 1.1 million Rohingyas is a 

big burden for Bangladesh, Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina has said it 

wants to resolve the Rohingya crisis 

through discussions with 

Myanmar, reports UNB. 

"Giving shelter to such a large 

number of Rohingyas is a big burden 

for us ... we want to resolve the 

issue through discussions," she 

said during a meeting with Lord 

Ahmad of Wimbledon in London 

on Monday evening (London 

time). PM's Press Secretary 

Ihsanul Karim told UNB over 

phone from London that Lord 

Ahmad assured all possible support 

over the Rohingya issue, saying 

new British Prime Minister 

Boris Johnson is aware of it. 

About combating terrorism, both 

the Prime Minister and Lord 

Ahmad said Islam is a religion of 

peace and it does not support terrorism. 

Sheikh Hasina said her 

government has created mass 

awareness involving the cross section 

of people to fight terrorism. 

She also talked about the existing 

communal harmony in 

Bangladesh, saying people of all 

faiths are exercising their respective 

religions freely. She informed 

Lord Ahmad that the government 

is establishing Islamic research 

centres across the country to 

uphold the true spirit of Islam. 

The Prime Minister and Lord 

Ahmad also shed light on the 

Brexit issue. Lord Ahmad highly 

praised women empowerment in 

Bangladesh under the dynamic 

leadership of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina. 

Sheikh Hasina said only education 

can ensure women empowerment. 

Describing various initiatives 

of the government for ensuring 

women empowerment, she 

said the government recruits 60 

percent of teachers at primary level 

from women. Expressing satisfaction 

over the existing wonderful 

relations between Bangladesh and 

the UK, they hoped that the ties will 

be strengthened further in the days 

to come Lord Ahmad was accompanied 

by his spouse Siddiqa 

Ahmed while PM's Principal 

Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman and 

Bangladesh High Commissioner to 

the UK Saida Muna Tasneem were 

present at the meeting. 

Titash's death 

Writ seeks actions 

against joint secy, 

ferryghat manager 

DHAKA : A writ petition was filed with the 

High Court on Tuesday seeking its directives to 

take action against a joint secretary and the ferryghat 

manager over the death of a teenage boy 

in an ambulance on a ferry after its departure 

was reportedly delayed by three hours for the 

secretary. 

Supreme Court lawyer Zahir Uddin Limon 

who filed the writ said the HC bench of Justice 

FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul 

Quader is likely to hear it on Wednesday. The 

writ also sought formation of a probe body to 

look into the death and Tk 3 crore compensation 

for the victim's family. Besides, court's directive 

was sought to ensure movement of ambulances 

on ferries on a priority basis. The authorities 

concerned, including the home and law secretaries, 

have been made respondents to the writ. 

According to reports published in different 

national dailies, Titash Ghosh, who was in an 

ambulance on a ferry, died of haemorrhage on 

July 25 as the authorities allegedly delayed the 

departure of a ferry at Kathalbari jetty-1 in 

Madaripur by three hours for joint secretary 

Abdus Sabur Mondol. 

Titash, 11, a Class-VI student hailing from 

Kalia municipality in Narail, suffered fatal 

injuries in a road accident. He was first taken to 

a Khulna hospital where doctors referred him to 

Dhaka. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Shipping on 

Monday formed a committee to investigate the 

death of the teenage boy. The probe body, headed 

by Joint Secretary Shahnewaz Dilruba Khan, 

was asked to submit the investigation report 

within seven working days, said an official 

release. 

Australia’s Mouse 

Plagues 

INTERESTING NEWS 

Rats and mice are big problems in 

Australia, especially around the graingrowing 

regions in the south and in the 

east. Every few years, mouse population 

reaches gigantic proportions ravaging 

crops and gardens, and invading homes, 

hotels and restaurants. Even urban areas, 

such as Sydney, harbor a huge rodent 

population—between 500 million to a billion, 

according to one estimate. That’s 

one hundred rats for every resident at the 

lower end of the scale. 

One of the largest infestations, or 

mouse plagues, occurred in 1917 when 

parts of Queensland and Victoria were literally 

overrun with mice. They damaged 

wheat, chewed boots, shoes, table-cloths, 

carpets, curtains, bed clothes and books. 

They bit babies in cradles, chewed 

through telephone and telegraph wires, 

nibbled at rubber stamps and parcels in 

railway stations. Mice leaped out every 

time drawers and cupboards were 

opened, startling the womenfolk of the 

house. Housewives routinely found dead 

mice floating in milk jugs, and even loaves 

of bread had to sliced warily as wellbaked 

specimens were sometimes hidden 

in the interior. 

Some mice managed to get inside the 

zoo and frightened the lions, while elephants 

screamed and trumpeted. 

“The old order of things has been 

reversed and now the mice not only play 

when the cats are away, but actually play 

with the cats,” reported The Richmond 

River Herald and Northern Districts 

Advertiser. “[They] play all over them and 

around them, chew their little ears, and 

playfully nibble the tender tips of their 

tails. And the unfortunate cats have 

become so scared and disgusted that they 

27 brick kiln 

owners jailed 

for showing 

fake HC order 

DINAJPUR : A court here 

on Monday sent the owners 

of 27 brick kilns to jail for 

operating with fake High 

Court permits. The owners 

include district BNP convener 

and HB Bricks owner 

AZM Rezwanul Haque and 

Phulbari upazila chairman 

and Rahman Bricks owner 

Ataur Rahman Milton. 

District and Session Judge 

Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan delivered 

the order at noon, 

reports UNB. 

According to the case 

statement, Maisa Mowara, a 

class-II student of 

Hoybatpur Government 

Primary School in 

Parbatipur upazila wrote a 

letter to the deputy commissioner 

to close brick kilns, 

mentioning various health 

issues including asthma. 

The picture of the letter 

went viral on Facebook and 

then local administration 

found the unlicensed brick 

kilns had been operating 

with fake HC permits, 

where the signatures of the 

concerned judges had been 

forged. 

An HC bench of Justice 

Md Ashraful Islam and 

Justice Mohammad Ali had 

taken an initiative to finalise 

the hearing of a separate 

writ mentioning the concerns 

of the young student 

Maisa. 

The 7-hundred kilometers roads have been completely dilapidated by the flood at 

Baliyadaha village of Islampur Upazilla. 

Photo: Star Mail 

Prolonged Rohingya crisis to pose 

hybrid security threat: PM's adviser 

DHAKA : Prime Minister's Security Affairs 

Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed 

Siddique on Tuesday feared that there could be 

a hybrid security threat having its far-reaching 

impacts all around, including Bangladesh's 

neighbours and beyond, if the Rohingya problem 

remains unresolved for long. "We never 

know who's going to take advantage out of it - 

external force or internal force. You never 

know," he said seeking effective efforts from all 

countries to help resolve the problem peacefully. 

Tarique was responding to questions after 

delivering his remarks at the "Second Meeting 

of Track 1.5 Bimstec Security Dialogue Forum" 

as the chief guest at Bangladesh Institute of 

International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) 

auditorium, reports UNB. 

Secretary General of the Bay of Bengal 

Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and 

Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) Ambassador 

M Shahidul Islam and acting Foreign Secretary 

Kamrul Ahsan also spoke at the inaugural session 

chaired by BIISS Director General AKM 

Abdur Rahman. Bangladesh is hosting over 

1.1 million Rohingyas and most of them 

entered the country since August 25, 2017 as 

they were forced to leave Rakhine State, their 

place of origin. The security adviser said they 

are getting into a "vicious cycle" and from 

where it will be very difficult to come out if any 

effective mechanism is not taken to deal with 

the issue. "It's a vicious cycle we're getting 

into....if it becomes hot, it'll be very difficult to 

cool down," he said adding that he is seeing 

danger in future. 

Tarique said all should go above egoism and 

look into the practicality and solve the situation. 

"We should solve it amicably." The 

adviser said his signal is that if something happens 

here it may be a big blast but it will have 

effects all around, including Bangladesh's 

neighbours and beyond, as it is a globalised 

world. He said Bangladesh is now in a position 

to talk to its neighbour Myanmar amid 

tremendous international support from various 

countries which are putting a lot of pressure 

to find a peaceful solution to the Rohingya 

crisis. 

"I feel something effective has to be done." 

The PM's security adviser urged the international 

organisations working on the Rohingya 

issue to work more on the other part of the border 

- Rakhine State - instead of only focusing 

on inside Bangladesh to help boost confidence 

among Rohingyas to return to their place of 

origin. He said NGOs are mainly trying to 

make their (Rohingyas) stay here comfortable 

but not doing anything to create a required 

environment. "I always say, please do something 

on the other side. Otherwise, these people 

won't dare to go back because they'll find 

themselves again in an awkward position." 

Regional Cooperation Tarique, while addressing 

the inaugural session of the event, said the 

recent terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in April 

and Pulwama attack in India in February in 

DSA's shortcomings to 

be resolved through 

'trial and error' 

DHAKA :The sections of 

the Digital Security Act that 

attract criticism and create 

obstacles to the right to freedom 

of expression will be 

resolved, Justice and 

Parliamentary Affairs 

Minister Anisul Huq said 

Monday, reports UNB. 

He came up with the 

assurance while attending a 

bilateral meeting with the 

United Nations High 

Commissioner for Human 

Rights Michelle Bachelet in 

Geneva, Switzerland. The 

minister said Digital 

Security Act is formulated to 

control cybercrime, not to 

create obstacles for rights to 

freedom of speech and freedom 

of the press. "We discussed 

the sections with the 

representatives of civil society 

and print and electronic 

media while formulating 

the act but some sections of 

stakeholders put up objections. 

It will be figured out 

through trial and error 

method," law minister said. 

A delegation led by the law 

minster is in Geneva to 

attend the review meeting 

of the United Nations' 

Convention against Torture 

on July 30 and 31. 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Advisory Editor: Advocate Molla Mohammad Abu Kawser, Managing, Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka. 

Editorial and News Office: K.K Bhaban (Level-04) 69/K, Green Road, Panthapath, Dhaka-1205. Tel : +8802-9611884, Cell : 01832166882; Email: Editor : editor@thebangladeshtoday.com, Advertisement: ads@thebangladeshtoday.com, News: newsbangla@thebangladeshtoday.com, contact@thebangladeshtoday.com, website: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

31-07-2019

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?