14-11-2019
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thursday<br />
DHaka: November <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong>; kartik 29, <strong>14</strong>26 BS; Rabi-ul awal 16,<strong>14</strong>41 Hijri<br />
www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net<br />
Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.17; No.283; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00<br />
international<br />
Impeachment<br />
hearings go live on<br />
TV with first witnesses<br />
>Page 7<br />
art & culture<br />
'Friends' Reunion<br />
Special in the Works<br />
at HBO Max<br />
>Page 8<br />
sport<br />
Spanish star<br />
striker Villa retires<br />
from football<br />
>Page 9<br />
100pc electricity coverage<br />
within 'Mujib Year': PM<br />
Dhaka ranks<br />
4th worst in<br />
Air Quality<br />
Index<br />
DHAKA : Bangladesh's capital<br />
city was ranked fourth worst in<br />
the Air Quality Index (AQI) on<br />
Wednesday morning, reports<br />
UNB.<br />
Dhaka had a score of 195 at<br />
10am, indicating that the air<br />
quality was unhealthy.<br />
India's Delhi, Pakistan's<br />
Lahore and Vietnam's Hanoi<br />
occupied the first, second and<br />
third spots respectively.<br />
When the AQI value is<br />
between 151 and 200, every city<br />
dweller may begin to experience<br />
health effects. Members of sensitive<br />
groups may experience<br />
more serious health effects in<br />
this situation.<br />
The air quality is categorised<br />
as good when the AQI score<br />
remains between 0-50 while the<br />
air is moderate when score is 51-<br />
100. When the number is<br />
between 101 and 150, the air is<br />
classified as unhealthy for sensitive<br />
groups.<br />
The AQI, an index for reporting<br />
daily air quality, tells people<br />
how clean or polluted the air of a<br />
certain city is, and what associated<br />
health effects might be a<br />
concern for them.<br />
Bangladesh's overcrowded<br />
capital has been grappling with<br />
air pollution for a long time. The<br />
quality usually improves during<br />
monsoon.<br />
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina<br />
on Wednesday said the government will<br />
be able to provide electricity to every<br />
house during the 'Mujib Year', which will<br />
be celebrated from March 2020 to<br />
March 2021, reports UNB.<br />
"God willing, we'll be able to ensure<br />
cent percent electricity coverage within<br />
the Mujib Year. No-one will be left in the<br />
dark," she said.<br />
The Prime Minister said this while<br />
inaugurating newly-constructed power<br />
plants and launching cent percent power<br />
coverage in 23 upazilas under 10 districts<br />
through video conferencing from her<br />
official residence Ganobhaban.<br />
The power plants are: Anwara<br />
300MW Power Plant, Rangpur <strong>11</strong>3MW<br />
capacity Power Plant, Karnaphuli<br />
<strong>11</strong>0MW Power Plant, Shikalbaha<br />
105MW capacity Power Plant, Patia<br />
54MW Power Plant, Tetulia 8MW Solar<br />
Power Plant and Gazipur 100MW<br />
Power Plant.<br />
The 23 upazilas which came under<br />
cent percent power coverage are:<br />
Gabtali, Sherpur and Shibganj in Bogura<br />
district, Lohagara in Chattogram,<br />
Madhukhali, Nagarkanda and Saltha in<br />
Faridpur district, Fulchhari, Gaibandha<br />
Sadar and Palashbari in Gaibandha district,<br />
and Madhappur and Nabiganj in<br />
Habiganj district.<br />
Besides, Kaliganj and Maheshpur in<br />
Jhenaidah district, Karimganj under<br />
Kishoreganj, Baraigram, Lalpur and<br />
Singra under Natore district, Barhatta<br />
and Mahonganj in Netrakona district,<br />
Bhandaria, Kaukhali and Indurkani<br />
under Pirojpur district are also coming<br />
under cent percent electricity coverage<br />
from Wednesday.<br />
Sheikh Hasina said that apart from<br />
electricity production, the transmission<br />
and distribution are also important and<br />
the government is implementing various<br />
projects in this regard.<br />
She requested the people to maintain<br />
austerity in using electricity as the government<br />
provides huge subsidy in this<br />
sector to give people electricity at cheaper<br />
price.<br />
Sheikh Hasina said 234 upazilas have<br />
so far come under cent percent electricity<br />
coverage. She hoped that it would be<br />
possible to bring rest of the upazilas<br />
under cent percent coverage during the<br />
Mujib Year.<br />
The Prime Minister said that after<br />
coming to power in 1996, the Awami<br />
League-led government took initiatives<br />
to involve the private sector in generating<br />
power and meeting the growing<br />
demand.<br />
"As a result, power generation capacity<br />
was increased to 4,300MW in 2001<br />
from 1,600MW," she said, adding that<br />
the government has also implemented<br />
massive programmes from 2009,<br />
increasing the generation capacity to<br />
22,562 MW.<br />
The Prime Minister said the government<br />
adopts all of its plans to provide the<br />
fruits of development programmes to<br />
the grassroots people.<br />
"We're implementing all our programmes<br />
keeping an eye on that matter.<br />
That means we don't want to keep our<br />
development in urban areas or capital<br />
city, we want to change the fate of the<br />
people living in the rural areas," she said.<br />
She said the government wants to<br />
develop the socioeconomic status of<br />
the people of the rural areas, provide<br />
employment and ensure all kind of<br />
facilities including healthcare and<br />
education.<br />
"We've given highest priority in ensuring<br />
food security, and we've ensured<br />
that. Now, we're trying to make the people<br />
aware of food nutrition and have<br />
taken various programmes in this<br />
regard," she said.<br />
Khaleda's condition still<br />
unchanged: Selima<br />
DHAKA : BNP Chairperson Khaleda<br />
Zia's sister Selima Islam on Wednesday<br />
said the former prime minister will go<br />
abroad for better treatment if she is<br />
freed on bail as her condition is 'not'<br />
improving.<br />
Talking to reporters after meeting her<br />
sister at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib<br />
Medical University (BSMMU), Selima<br />
said, "She (Khaleda) will go abroad if she<br />
gets bail, and we also want to send her<br />
abroad as her condition is not improving."<br />
She said the fingers of Khaleda's<br />
hands and legs are getting bent and she is<br />
suffering from acute pains. "She neither<br />
can stand up nor can sit up straight.<br />
Under the circumstances, she needs<br />
advanced treatment."<br />
Selima said doctors are regularly visiting<br />
the BNP chairperson, but there is<br />
no sign of improvement in her falling<br />
physical condition. "She can't move,<br />
and lift her hand to eat."<br />
Five family members, including<br />
Selima, her younger brother Shamim<br />
Eskandar, his wife Kaniz Fatema and son<br />
Ovik Eskandar, went to meet Khaleda<br />
around 3:30pm and had over an hourlong<br />
meeting, said BNP chairperson's<br />
media wing member Shamsuddin Didar.<br />
Khaleda has been in jail since she was<br />
convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust<br />
corruption case on February 8, 2018.<br />
She was found guilty in another corruption<br />
case later the same year, though<br />
her party claims both cases are politically<br />
motivated. The BNP chief has been<br />
receiving treatment at the BSMMU<br />
since April 1 this year.<br />
Charge sheet filed in Buet<br />
student Abrar murder case<br />
DHAKA : The Detective Branch (DB) of<br />
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on<br />
Wednesday submitted charge sheet<br />
before the Chief Metropolitan<br />
Magistrate's Court accusing 25 people<br />
in Buet student Abrar Fahad killing<br />
case, reports UNB.<br />
Investigation Officer of the case, DB<br />
Inspector Waheduzzaman, submitted<br />
the charge sheet, Additional<br />
Commissioner and chief of CTTC unit<br />
Monirul Islam told reporters at a briefing<br />
at the DMP Media centre.<br />
Abrar Fahad, 21, a second-year student<br />
of electrical and electronic engineering of<br />
Buet, was beaten to death reportedly by<br />
Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders at<br />
Sher-e-Bangla Hall of the university.<br />
Laborers grinding stones in machine while others are busy to unload those from boats at Volaganj of Sylhet.<br />
A large portion of those stones are supplied in capital city.<br />
Photo : PBA<br />
No war criminals<br />
at Victory Day<br />
programmes:<br />
Minister<br />
DHAKA : Home Minister Asaduzzaman<br />
Khan on Wednesday said war criminals<br />
and people with controversial<br />
roles in the Liberation War will not<br />
be allowed to attend Victory Day programmes<br />
across the country, reports<br />
UNB.<br />
"Directives have been given to the<br />
local administration to take necessary<br />
steps in this regard," he said<br />
while talking to reporters after a<br />
meeting on law and order situation at<br />
the Secretariat.<br />
He said all government and private<br />
organisations should follow the rule<br />
while hoisting the national flag.<br />
The minister said additional security<br />
measures will be taken for the<br />
President, Prime Minister and<br />
Cabinet members in the National<br />
Mausoleum area.<br />
Special security will be arranged for<br />
foreigners and surveillance cameras<br />
will be installed on the Dhaka-Savar<br />
road to prevent any act of sabotage.<br />
Special meals will be served in prisons,<br />
hospitals, orphanage and old<br />
homes on the occasion of the Victory<br />
Day. Fire Service men will remain<br />
alert at 4<strong>11</strong> spots while medical teams<br />
and ambulances will be kept standby<br />
in some important places of the city<br />
as well as Savar.<br />
The Minister urged all to refrain<br />
from decorating any organisation or<br />
establishment with lights on Dec <strong>14</strong><br />
to pay tribute to the martyred intellectuals.<br />
Better logistics can<br />
help Bangladesh<br />
boost exports:WB<br />
Nusrat sexual harassment case<br />
Deposition now to<br />
begin Jan 29<br />
DHAKA : Bangladesh needs to improve<br />
its transport and logistics systems to<br />
meet the needs of its growing economy<br />
and boost export growth, said a new<br />
World Bank report launched on<br />
Wednesday.<br />
The report - Moving Forward:<br />
Connectivity and Logistics to Sustain<br />
Bangladesh's Success - was launched at<br />
a hotel in the capital, reports UNB.<br />
It points out that by making logistics<br />
more efficient, Bangladesh can significantly<br />
boost export growth, maintain its<br />
position as a leading ready-made garments<br />
and textile producer, and create<br />
more jobs.<br />
The report notes that congestion on<br />
roads and seaports, high logistics cost,<br />
inadequate infrastructure, distorted<br />
logistics service markets and fragmented<br />
governance hamper manufacturing<br />
and freight, further eroding<br />
Bangladesh's competitive edge and<br />
putting its robust growth path at risk.<br />
"Bangladesh's congested transportation<br />
and often unsophisticated logistics<br />
systems impose high costs to the economy,"<br />
said Mercy Tembon, World Bank<br />
Country Director for Bangladesh and<br />
Bhutan.<br />
"By making its logistics more efficient,<br />
Bangladesh can significantly optimise<br />
its connectivity, business environment,<br />
and competitiveness, putting the country<br />
on the right path to become a<br />
dynamic upper middIe-income country,"<br />
she added.<br />
The report argues that efficient logistics<br />
has become one of the main drivers<br />
for global trade competitiveness and<br />
export growth and diversification. For<br />
Bangladesh, improving its logistics performance<br />
provides an opportunity to<br />
increase its world market share in garments<br />
and textiles, which account for 84<br />
percent of its total exports, expand into<br />
new markets, and diversify its manufacturing<br />
and agriculture into high-value<br />
products.<br />
It notes that improving<br />
Bangladesh's logistics requires a system-wide<br />
approach based on greater<br />
coordination among all public institutions<br />
involved in logistics and with<br />
the private sector, increasing the<br />
effective capacity of core infrastructure,<br />
and removing distortions in<br />
logistics service markets to reduce<br />
costs and improve quality.<br />
At a regional level, harmonising its<br />
logistics systems and aligning its customs<br />
with that of its neighbours could<br />
turn Bangladesh into an important<br />
node for regional freight flows and further<br />
boost its trade.<br />
"There's no doubt that reforms and<br />
investments for better transport and<br />
logistics will yield Bangladesh substantial<br />
economic benefits and strengthen<br />
its competitive advantage," said Matias<br />
Herrera Dappe, Senior Economist at the<br />
World Bank and author of the report.<br />
04:55 AM<br />
Zohr<br />
<strong>11</strong>:45 PM<br />
03:40 PM<br />
05:18 PM<br />
06:45 PM<br />
6:<strong>11</strong> 5:<strong>14</strong><br />
Passengers of a trapped launch in Meghna river on Tuesday night, were rescued after 8 hours<br />
of the incident and sent to Dhaka later.<br />
Photo : Star Mail<br />
FENI : The formal trial in a case filed<br />
over sexual harassment of madrasa<br />
girl Nusrat Jahan Rafi, who was later<br />
burned to death, against her<br />
madrasa principal SM Sirajuddoula<br />
will now begin on January 29 next.<br />
Judge of the Women and Children<br />
Repression Prevention Tribunal<br />
Mamunur Rashid passed the order<br />
as Shirin Akhter, mother of Nusrat<br />
and plaintiff of the case, could not<br />
appear before the court on<br />
Wednesday for testimony, reports<br />
UNB.<br />
The court framed charges against<br />
the former principal of Sonagazi<br />
Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa on July<br />
17 under the Women and Children<br />
Repression Prevention Act.<br />
According to the case statement,<br />
Sirajuddoula sexually harassed<br />
Nusrat in his office on March 27 last<br />
and the following day her mother<br />
filed the case against the principal.<br />
Nusrat was set on fire on April 6 on<br />
the roof of a madrasah she attended,<br />
allegedly by people loyal to its principal<br />
Sirajuddoula whom she had<br />
accused of sexually harassing her.<br />
She succumbed to her injuries four<br />
days later at Dhaka Medical College<br />
Hospital.<br />
A tribunal on August 24 last sentenced<br />
all the 16 accused, including<br />
Sirajuddoula, to death for their roles<br />
in killing Nusrat.
NEWS ThURSDAY,<br />
2<br />
NoveMBeR <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Wednesday delivering<br />
his speech at a workshop jointly organized University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Computer<br />
Council (BCC).<br />
Photo : Courtesy<br />
Sundarbans: The physical<br />
buffer that needs a rest<br />
BAGERHAT : The Forest Department<br />
is planning to give the Sundarbans,<br />
which minimised the intensity of<br />
cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' as well as the<br />
extent of damages acting as a shield, a<br />
breathing space to heal its wounds by<br />
restricting the tourist flow into the<br />
world's largest mangrove forest,<br />
reports UNB.<br />
Md Mahmudul Hasan, divisional<br />
forest officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans<br />
East Zone, said the cyclone wreaked<br />
havoc on the forest before entering the<br />
localities losing its strength. "So, the<br />
ecosystem of the Sundarbans should<br />
be given a rest. For this, the entry of<br />
tourists to it was restricted from<br />
Tuesday."<br />
He also said the tourism activities in<br />
the Sundarbans will fully remain<br />
suspended for three days from<br />
November 25 to ascertain the damage<br />
caused by the cyclone.<br />
Moin Uddin Khan, a forest<br />
conservator of Khulna Zone, said the<br />
authorities have decided to restrict the<br />
tourist flow into the forest. "To give the<br />
forest a breathing space, it has been<br />
decided that package tours will remain<br />
suspended on November 25-27."<br />
The Sundarbans have been<br />
protecting the people of the coastal belt<br />
from different disasters, including<br />
cyclone, for ages acting as a natural<br />
shield, sometimes costing its flora and<br />
fauna. There is no exception in the case<br />
of cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' which lashed<br />
the coastal districts on Sunday.<br />
2 killed in Cumilla<br />
road crash<br />
CUMILLA : Two people<br />
were killed after a pick-up<br />
van plunged into a roadside<br />
ditch on Dhaka-Chattogram<br />
Highway at Korpai in<br />
Burichang upazila early<br />
Wednesday, reports UNB.<br />
One of the deceased was<br />
identified as Syed Hossain,<br />
30, hailing from Cox's Bazar<br />
while the identity of the<br />
other victim could not be<br />
ascertained immediately.<br />
It was because of the Sundarbans<br />
that the intensity of the cyclone as well<br />
as the extent of damages were<br />
minimised as it hit the forest first and<br />
then entered the localities losing<br />
strength.<br />
The Sundarbans, a rich ecosystem in<br />
the world with a biodiversity and a<br />
home to numerous plants and animals,<br />
including Royal Bengal Tiger, spreads<br />
on an area of 6,017 square kilometres.<br />
It was declared as a reserve forest in<br />
1978.<br />
Recently, the government has<br />
declared over half of the forest as<br />
sanctuaries in a bid to protect it.<br />
It was divided into two zones with<br />
the administrative activities of the East<br />
Zone running from Bagerhat and that<br />
of West Zone from Khulna.<br />
The very severe cyclone 'Bulbul'<br />
weakened into a severe one after<br />
crossing the forest Sunday and thus the<br />
damage was less, said meteorologists.<br />
They said there would have been<br />
greater number of casualties had the<br />
Sundarbans not been there to take the<br />
first strike of the cyclone.<br />
Similarly, the Sundarbans<br />
minimised the extent of damages when<br />
super cyclone Sidr had battered the<br />
coastal districts on November 15.<br />
The Sidr first lashed the mangrove<br />
forest and then entered the localities<br />
with reduced ferocity.<br />
Meanwhile, the Forest Department<br />
is yet to ascertain the damages caused<br />
by cyclone 'Bulbul' to the flora and<br />
SYLHET : Residents of 10<br />
villages of Lamakazi Union<br />
under Biswanath upazila are<br />
dependent on a single bamboo<br />
footbridge over the Kessha<br />
River for road<br />
communication, reports UNB.<br />
Crossing the rickety<br />
footbridge is not only<br />
dangerous but also hazardous<br />
for the people of Ishabpur,<br />
Noagaon, Munshirgaon,<br />
Bharmanjhuli, Pathonchak,<br />
Amtoil Gazir Mokam, Sonali<br />
Banglabazar<br />
and<br />
Boiragirbazar areas.<br />
Communication becomes<br />
more difficult during the rainy<br />
season when the river rises.<br />
People, especially school goers<br />
and the elderly, are the worst<br />
sufferers.<br />
Locals said they asked the<br />
authorities concerned to build<br />
a concrete bridge over the<br />
river but their appeals fell on<br />
deaf ears, forcing them to raise<br />
funds for a bamboo footbridge<br />
fauna of the Sundarbans.<br />
DFO Mahmudul Hasan said two<br />
forest officers of Chandpai and<br />
Sharankhola ranges were assigned to<br />
ascertain the damages to different<br />
species of trees, including Sundari, and<br />
animals under the zone.<br />
He said the two officials visited<br />
different parts of the forest on Monday<br />
and will submit their reports after<br />
more inspections. The DFO, however,<br />
said six residential buildings, 17 nonresidential<br />
buildings, 19 other<br />
establishments and three trawlers and<br />
speedboats were partially damaged by<br />
'Bulbul' while10 jetties were damaged<br />
completely.<br />
Some 180 raintrees were affected in<br />
Baidyamari area of the forest, he said.<br />
A number of local and foreign<br />
tourists were seen visiting the<br />
Sundarbans at Katka on Monday.<br />
Talking to UNB, Spanish tourist<br />
Estnr Baselona said she is impressed<br />
seeing the beauty of the largest<br />
mangrove forest and called it as a 'land<br />
of amazing beauty'.<br />
Nur Alam, a member of Bangladesh<br />
Paribesh Andolon, said the<br />
Sundarbans has been protecting the<br />
coastal people with motherly affection<br />
for ages.<br />
Alam, who visited different spots of<br />
the forest immediately after the storm,<br />
said the vast areas were battered by<br />
cyclone Bulbul, urging the authorities<br />
concerned to take initiatives to protect<br />
the forest.<br />
Where a rickety bamboo<br />
footbridge is the only hope<br />
over the river themselves.<br />
Kamal Uddin and Babul<br />
Mia, both farmers from the<br />
area, said the upazila sadar is<br />
about 10 kilometres from<br />
Lamakazi but the lack of a<br />
proper bridge over the river<br />
makes road communication<br />
hard.<br />
"Only a bridge is holding us<br />
back," Babul said. "The area<br />
has hardly been developed<br />
since independence."<br />
Kabir Hossain Dhala Mia,<br />
chairman of Lamakazi union<br />
parishad, said the residents of<br />
the area are deprived of<br />
development.<br />
CAREER OPPORTUNITY<br />
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8 days. E-mail: od@ocl-bd.com<br />
CAREER OPPORTUNITY<br />
s.Oliver, one of the largest and fast-growing fashion companies of<br />
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Candidate should be Fashion Design graduate from a reputed<br />
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of which at least 3-4 years should be with a leading European<br />
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Company offers a challenging work environment and an attractive<br />
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Ltd, 10th Floor, Uday Tower, 57 & 57A Gulshan Avenue Circle 1,<br />
Dhaka 1212. E-mail: hr@bd.soliver.com<br />
'Robber' killed in<br />
B'baria 'gunfight'<br />
BRAHMANBARIA : A<br />
suspected robber was killed<br />
in a reported gunfight with<br />
police at Jatrapur<br />
Chaporbari in Ashuganj<br />
upaizla early Wednesday,<br />
reports UNB.<br />
The deceased was<br />
identified as Saddam<br />
Hossain, 26, son of Kangal<br />
Mia of Sarail upazila.<br />
Jabed Mahmud, officerin-charge<br />
of Ashuganj Police<br />
Station, said they raided the<br />
area around 1:15am acting<br />
on a tip-off that a gang of<br />
robbers was there.<br />
The criminals opened fire<br />
as soon as police reached the<br />
spot, triggering a skirmish.<br />
At one stage, Saddam was<br />
caught in the line of fire<br />
while trying to flee the scene<br />
and died on the spot.<br />
Four policemen were also<br />
injured in the gunfight.<br />
Police arrested three<br />
people - Akash Mia, 27,<br />
Hridoy Mia, 25, and<br />
Ashraful Islam, 25 - from the<br />
spot. A pistol, an autorickshaw<br />
and a motorbike<br />
were seized from the spot.<br />
Man held with<br />
8 gold bars in<br />
Benapole<br />
BENAPOLE : Members of<br />
Border Guard Bangladesh<br />
(BGB) arrested a man along<br />
with eight gold bars from<br />
Amrakhali check-post here<br />
on Wednesday, reports UNB.<br />
The arrestee was identified<br />
as Rabiul Islam Jamil, 35.<br />
Tipped off, a team of BGB<br />
stopped a human hauler<br />
from Navaron and frisked<br />
Rabiul around 9am, said<br />
Amrakhali BGB in-charge<br />
Shafiqul Islam.<br />
Later, they recovered eight<br />
gold bars from him.<br />
He was handed over to<br />
Benapole Port Police Station.<br />
5 admission seekers<br />
held for cheating at<br />
SUST<br />
SHAHJALAL UNIVERSITY<br />
(SYLHET) : The Shahjalal<br />
University of Science and<br />
Technology (SUST) arrested<br />
five people from the campus<br />
on Tuesday for cheating in<br />
the admission process,<br />
reports UNB.<br />
The arrestees were<br />
identified as Sakidul Islam<br />
Shakil, Abir Morshed, Arif<br />
Khan Rafi, Zahid Hasan<br />
Tamim, Riadul Jannat<br />
Riyad. They hailed from<br />
Bogura and Rangpur.<br />
Prof Zahir Uddin, proctor<br />
of SUST, said the proctorial<br />
body caught them when they<br />
came to the campus for<br />
admission purpose in the<br />
evening.<br />
During interrogation, they<br />
told the university<br />
authorities that they had<br />
adopted unfair means in the<br />
admission test. They said<br />
they gave Tk 5 to 8 lakh to a<br />
syndicate for getting<br />
enrolled at the university.<br />
They were later handed<br />
over to police.<br />
Besides, the SUST<br />
authorities also arrested<br />
Samiul Islam Koushik, a<br />
first-year student of Food<br />
Engineering and Tea<br />
Technology for his<br />
suspected involvement in<br />
the syndicate.<br />
Develop curriculum with technological<br />
advancement: Palak<br />
State Minister for Information and<br />
Communication Technology (ICT) Division<br />
Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Wednesday urged<br />
the academicians to prepare curriculum to<br />
keep pace with rapid technological<br />
advancement.<br />
"It's a difficult task to update curriculum<br />
every year. In this case, universities can<br />
initiate top up training programmes to<br />
address the global needs," he said while<br />
addressing a workshop entitled 'Skills<br />
Development of ICT Engineers on IT<br />
Engineers Examination (ITEE) Targeting<br />
Japanese Market' at UGC. He also said<br />
Japan is an important market for us. "A<br />
significant number of jobs will be created in<br />
IT sector through this initiative."<br />
University Grants Commission (UGC) of<br />
Bangladesh and Bangladesh Computer<br />
Council (BCC) jointly organized the<br />
workshop to raise awareness and facilitate<br />
the IT Engineers Examination so that the<br />
Bangladeshi IT graduates can enhance<br />
their knowledge and skills, a press release<br />
said.<br />
The State Minister emphasized to adopt<br />
4IR (4th Industrial Revolution)<br />
programmes replacing labor oriented jobs<br />
to get developed nation status by 2041. "We<br />
are working to create a pool of quality<br />
manpower, enhance graduates'<br />
employability and meet objectives of Digital<br />
Bangladesh. Academicians need to carry<br />
out research on 4IR. ICT ministry in<br />
association with UGC will set up research<br />
and incubation centres, specialized labs in<br />
every university," he added.<br />
In his presidential speech UGC Chairman<br />
Professor Dr. Kazi Shaidullah said that last<br />
decades, skill requirements of jobs have<br />
changed enormously with the<br />
advancement of technology. "We need to<br />
take steps to prepare our youth force for the<br />
global markets," he said adding our<br />
graduates needs to be trained well with the<br />
updated knowledge and skills. He also said<br />
Japan has opened up market for our IT<br />
graduates. "We have to take full advantage<br />
of the opportunity," he said.<br />
UGC Member and convener of the<br />
workshop committee Professor Dr. Md.<br />
Sazzad Hossain, in his welcome address,<br />
said that knowledge and technology will be<br />
exchanged through ITEE and it will also<br />
help to transform our graduates into<br />
human recourses."<br />
The programme was addressed, among<br />
others, by NM Zeaul Alam, Senior<br />
Secretary, ICT Division, Hiroyuki Yamaya,<br />
Minister, Embassy of Japan, Parthapratim<br />
Deb, Executive Director, BCC, and Yuji<br />
Ando, Country Representative, Japan<br />
External Trade Organisation spoke at the<br />
workshop. UGC Members, Vice<br />
Chancellors from different public and<br />
private universities, faculty members of<br />
engineering departments, IT industrialists,<br />
were also present.<br />
3 arrested for rape<br />
in three districts<br />
DHAKA : Police arrested three persons from<br />
Barguna, Bogura and Jashore between<br />
Monday night and Tuesday for rape, reports<br />
UNB.<br />
In Jashore, police arrested one Muzibul<br />
Haq on Tuesday noon for murdering a<br />
teenage girl after rape at Bhangura village in<br />
Bagharpara upazila.<br />
He has confessed to rape and murder<br />
before the court, Additional Superintendent<br />
of Jashore police Touhidul Islam told the<br />
media.<br />
Police said Muzibul had a love affair with<br />
the 13-year-old sister-in-law of his<br />
neighbour. On November 3, Muzibul called<br />
the girl to the village, where he raped and<br />
killed her.<br />
Ziaur, the victim's father, filed a case with<br />
Bagarpara Police Station.<br />
In Barguna, police arrested a man from<br />
Langolkata village in Sadar upazila on<br />
Monday night for raping his own daughter.<br />
The arrestee was identified as Nizam Mir,<br />
a resident of the village.<br />
GD-1547/19 (4 x 3)<br />
GD-1549/19 (5 x 3)<br />
Abir Mohammad, officer-in-charge of<br />
Barguna Police Station, said Nizam raped his<br />
minor daughter on November 7 when his<br />
wife went to bring water at noon.<br />
After the incident, he attempted to rape the<br />
fourth-grader several times.<br />
Nizam confessed to his crimes during<br />
initial interrogation. The girl filed the case<br />
with police, the OC added.<br />
In Bogura, police arrested a teenager for<br />
allegedly raping a four-year-old girl at<br />
Baniajan village in Dhunat upazila in the<br />
morning. The arrestee was identified as<br />
Borhan Uddin Shyamal, <strong>14</strong>, son of Jahangir<br />
Alam of the village.<br />
Locals said Shyamal called the girl to his<br />
room and raped her around 10am.<br />
On information, police arrested Shyamal<br />
and sent the girl to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman<br />
Medical College Hospital for treatment, said<br />
Ismail Hossain, officer-in-charge of Dhunat<br />
Police Station.<br />
A case was filed with the police station in<br />
this connection, the OC added.
METRO<br />
ThursDAY,<br />
3<br />
November <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
regional Director of the World university rankings mr. ritin malhotra called on Dhaka university (Du)<br />
vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. md. Akhtaruzzaman yesterday at the latter's office of the university. Director of<br />
ICT Cell of Du Prof. Dr. mohammad Asif hossain Khan was present on this occasion. Photo : Courtesy<br />
bangladesh with 'happy<br />
Nepal, Prosperous Nepal'<br />
prog: President<br />
KATHMANDU : President Abdul<br />
Hamid on Wednesday said<br />
Bangladesh will provide all sorts of<br />
assistance to Nepal in implementing<br />
its 'Happy, Prosperous Nepal'<br />
programme, reports UNB.<br />
President Abdul Hamid said this<br />
while attending a meeting at a<br />
Kathmandu hotel with former prime<br />
minister of Nepal and co-chair of the<br />
Nepal Communist Party Pushpa<br />
Kamal Dahal.<br />
President's Press Secretary Joynal<br />
Abedin said the relation between the<br />
two countries is excellent, and hailed<br />
Nepal's journey towards democracy.<br />
Assuring Bangladesh's overall<br />
cooperation in implementing a<br />
'Happy, Prosperous Nepal'<br />
programme, Hamid said<br />
Bangladesh has also adopted Vision-<br />
2021 and 2041. From here, both<br />
countries can benefit from mutual<br />
cooperation.<br />
Hamid said Bangladesh and Nepal<br />
hold common opinions on different<br />
international issues and support<br />
each other. The relationship will<br />
remain stable in the future, he<br />
hoped.<br />
Dahal said the existing<br />
relationship between two counties is<br />
excellent. There are ample<br />
opportunities to further develop this<br />
bilateral relationship at multilateral<br />
level.<br />
He also emphasised increasing<br />
connectivity between the two<br />
countries by road, rail and sky, said<br />
Press Secretary Joynal Abedin.<br />
Chairman of National Assembly<br />
(upper house) Ganesh Prasad<br />
Timilsina also met President Hamid<br />
at the same place.<br />
During the meeting, the President<br />
said the support provided by the<br />
people of Nepal, especially their<br />
intelligentsia, had a positive impact<br />
on Bangladesh's Liberation War.<br />
He expressed his gratitude to the<br />
government of Nepal in this regard.<br />
He said Bangladesh is a big market<br />
of 170 million people and it wants to<br />
help Nepal bring trade balance as<br />
the bilateral trade has a potential to<br />
grow through duty-free access.<br />
Timilsina said Nepal's relations<br />
with Bangladesh are old and cordial.<br />
There is a similarity between the two<br />
countries' culture.<br />
He said both countries are facing<br />
the adverse effects of climate change<br />
but neither of them is responsible<br />
for that. The countries can work<br />
together to address the issue and<br />
play a vital role in various<br />
international forums.<br />
Parliament Whip Md Atiur<br />
Rahman Atik, Member of<br />
Parliament ABM Fazle Karim<br />
Chowdhury, Foreign Secretary<br />
Shahidul Haque, Bangladesh<br />
Ambassador to Nepal Mashfi Binte<br />
Shams, Secretary of the President's<br />
Office Sampad Barua, Military<br />
Secretary Major General SM<br />
Shamim-Uz-Zaman were present at<br />
the meeting.<br />
GD-1550/19 (7 x 4)<br />
GD-1546/19 (9 x 4)<br />
GD-1543/19 (12 x 4)
EDITORIAL<br />
ThUrSdAY,<br />
noVeMber <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
4<br />
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam<br />
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com<br />
Thursday, November <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
Significance of<br />
increasing revenue<br />
collection<br />
The Finance Minister in a recent workshop<br />
drew attention to the need to<br />
strengthen the revenue administration.<br />
The reason for this should be obvious. The<br />
Finance Minister unfurled the budget for fiscal<br />
year 2018-19 some six months ago. The size<br />
of the budget was 4,64,573 crore It wasthe<br />
biggest ever budget in size in the country's history.<br />
Some analysts described the budget as ambitious<br />
and difficult to achieve. But other experts<br />
think that the revenue collection targets are<br />
not incapable of reaching if the government<br />
works with real determination to that end and<br />
the country's conditions remain reasonably<br />
conducive for greater revenue collection.<br />
But steady and sustainable improvement in<br />
revenue collection will have to depend essentially<br />
on strengthening the revenue administration<br />
appropriately and adequately, plus<br />
netting the tax dodgers and other offenders. Of<br />
course, there should be also maintained various<br />
persuasive campaigns to make eligible tax<br />
payers aware about their patriotic duty to pay<br />
taxes. In the long run, this psychological component<br />
can prove to be more fruitful in garnering<br />
the expected amount of revenues.<br />
The need of planned moves to improve revenue<br />
collection has become all the more<br />
important in the backdrop of the international<br />
aid climate. The developed countries are now<br />
saying that aid levels will not be allowed to<br />
drop substantially. But there cannot be so<br />
much reliance on such assurance. Thus,<br />
Bangladesh needs to adjust to the new situation<br />
by mobilizing its internal resources to fill<br />
the gap to be created from any unexpected<br />
slowdown in foreign aid.<br />
There is potential for Bangladesh to boost its<br />
revenue earnings substantially even under its<br />
present conditions with chances of fresh political<br />
volatility arising. Studies conducted by the<br />
National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the<br />
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) showed<br />
that some 10 million persons in Bangladesh<br />
earn more than the tax exemption limit. But<br />
income tax returns are submitted by less than<br />
one million of them which suggests that there<br />
is the prospect of realizing income tax from a<br />
vast number. Customs duties, so far, have been<br />
the greatest source of revenues. But earnings<br />
from this source is noted to be declining in the<br />
relative sense. This points to the urgent need of<br />
undertaking greater activities in the areas of<br />
income tax and value added tax (VAT) collection.<br />
A planned policy exercise will have to be conducted<br />
to increase collection of income tax by<br />
identifying new income tax payers and obliging<br />
them to settle their dues. A similar hard push<br />
will have to made and sustained to ensure the<br />
scrupulous payment of VAT by the existing<br />
VAT payers and expand the number of businesses<br />
who would pay this tax. VAT offices<br />
must be opened in each of the country's 64 districts.<br />
Many are still without VAT offices.<br />
Manpower and other facilities will have to<br />
raised and deployed swiftly in support of a<br />
revamped tax administration.<br />
Traditionally, an elected and political governmentis<br />
seen to be prone to be lenient in<br />
respect of revenue collection to keep pleased<br />
their supporters and vested interests as it<br />
nears the end of its tenure. But this will no<br />
more be possible in the changed circumstances<br />
of the country when the need for<br />
developmental or public financing has shot up<br />
a great deal. The government will be expected<br />
to go for vigorously increasing tax collection<br />
where the opportunities for the same exist<br />
explaining it to voters how crucial or patriotic<br />
it is for them to pay taxes well to prevent the<br />
economy from encountering serious stresses<br />
and strains in the future.<br />
world diabetes day on nov <strong>14</strong> : Concerted action<br />
needed to confront diabetes<br />
It may be his trickiest mission yet. US<br />
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark<br />
Milley is a dangerous-looking hunk of<br />
bone and gristle. Sternness marks his<br />
craggy mug; Special Forces and Ranger<br />
tabs decorate his uniformed shoulders;<br />
and under his bemedaled chest beats, no<br />
doubt, the heart of a boot-wearing, steakeating<br />
badass.<br />
But it will not be martial skills that<br />
Milley needs on his visit to South Korea.<br />
After a flying visit to Japan, he arrived in<br />
South Korea on Wednesday, and will be<br />
joined on Thursday by US Secretary of<br />
Defense Mark Esper.<br />
It's a safe bet that their visit will be<br />
marked by hand-holding photo-ops and<br />
predictable blather ("The alliance has<br />
never been stronger," etc, etc). But behind<br />
closed doors, it is to be hoped that both<br />
men packed their diplomatic A-games.<br />
The mechanics of the transfer of<br />
wartime operational control from US to<br />
South Korean command, expected<br />
around 2022, will hover in the background.<br />
In the foreground, the<br />
Americans want Seoul to cough up more<br />
for the 28,500 US troops stationed in<br />
South Korea.<br />
Above all they want Seoul to reverse its<br />
decision to nix an intelligence-sharing<br />
arrangement with Japan that Seoul has<br />
made clear will expire on November 23.<br />
Seoul, however, has recently stated that it<br />
will not do a U-turn.<br />
The pact, the GSOMIA (General<br />
Sharing of Military Information<br />
Agreement), is the only bilateral, securityrelated<br />
agreement linking two nations<br />
that are often - wrongly - dubbed "allies."<br />
True, both nations boast bilateral<br />
alliances with the US. True, they are both<br />
democracies that share related values and<br />
cultures. True, they are economically<br />
closely interlinked. And true, they both<br />
face off against a rising China and a dangerous<br />
North Korea.<br />
But they are convulsed by historical and<br />
historiographical disputes that - in South<br />
Korea at least - may trump all considerations<br />
listed prior. Korea's national gut is<br />
deeply roiled by anti-Japanese sentiment,<br />
dating back to 1910-45, when Japan colonized<br />
the Korean Peninsula.<br />
There is no question that it was an<br />
exploitative and often brutal rule. Japan<br />
invested in its colony for its own economic<br />
benefits. In the twilight years of that<br />
era, it suppressed native culture. It also<br />
mobilized countless Koreans into military<br />
service, forced labor and, most infamously,<br />
military brothels. Today, Koreans<br />
rightly accuse Japanese school textbooks<br />
of whitewashing history, and point fingers<br />
at revisionist figures in the political<br />
Prof. dr. GobindA ChAndrA dAS<br />
On November <strong>14</strong> this year, people<br />
around the world will unite to<br />
mark the World Diabetes Day,<br />
the global awareness campaign of the<br />
diabetes community led by<br />
International Diabetes Federation<br />
(IDF). Diabetes is one of the major<br />
health and development challenges of<br />
the 21st century. No country, rich or<br />
poor, is immune to the epidemic.<br />
According to the IDF, diabetes is a leading<br />
cause of blindness, amputation,<br />
heart disease, kidney failure and early<br />
death. Simple action can reduce the<br />
risk.<br />
Created in 1991 by IDF and the World<br />
Health Organization (WHO) in<br />
response to growing concerns about the<br />
escalating health threat posed by diabetes,<br />
the World Diabetes Day became<br />
an official United Nations Day in 2006.<br />
It is marked every year on Nov <strong>14</strong>, the<br />
birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who<br />
co-discovered insulin along with<br />
Charles Best in 1922.<br />
The theme for World Diabetes Day<br />
<strong>2019</strong> is 'Family and Diabetes'. In 2018,<br />
IDF selected the same as World<br />
Diabetes Day theme. It indicates that<br />
the family is important regarding the<br />
disease.<br />
IDF says it is raising awareness of the<br />
impact that diabetes has on the family<br />
and support network of those affected,<br />
and promoting the role of the family in<br />
the management, care, prevention and<br />
education of diabetes.<br />
The issues of management, care and<br />
prevention of diabetes and the role of<br />
family regarding education on this has<br />
been emphasized again in campaign on<br />
diabetes. It is very expensive for a family<br />
to buy insulin and monitor the disease<br />
every day. So, now it is being<br />
regarded as an urgent issue for a family<br />
to acquire knowledge for preventing<br />
diabetes for family members.<br />
It may be mentioned here that though<br />
Nov <strong>14</strong> is observed as the World<br />
Diabetes Day every year, WHO selected<br />
'diabetes' as the theme of World Health<br />
Day three years back. It indicates how<br />
much importance is given to the issue of<br />
diabetes disease.<br />
There are three reasons behind placing<br />
emphasis on diabetes marking the<br />
World Health Day. Firstly, it is to raise<br />
awareness on increasing trend and<br />
health burden of diabetes and its consequences<br />
in lower and middle income<br />
countrirs.<br />
Secondly, it is to determine specific,<br />
effective amd cost-saving strategies for<br />
facing diabetes, which will be helpful in<br />
prevention, diagnosis, treatment and<br />
cure of diabetes.<br />
Thirdly, it is to place the first global<br />
report on diabetes, inorming us about<br />
the burden condition of the disease and<br />
its consequsnces. It would ensure monitoring<br />
for developing health style,<br />
improve preventive capacity of the disease<br />
and build an effective management<br />
of diabetes. According to a survey of<br />
IDF, the number of people with diabetes<br />
reached over 42 crore across the<br />
world at the momemnt. It is important<br />
to identify the disease. Risk increases<br />
manifold if it is undetected.<br />
In Bangladesh, the number of diabetes-affected<br />
people is about one crore.<br />
Every year 1 lakh patients is being<br />
added to this number. If effective measures<br />
are not taken to prevent diabetes,<br />
the number of diabetes affected people<br />
will cross 55 crore by the year 2030,<br />
apprehended experts. If a patient leads<br />
a disciplined life, he/she will be able to<br />
control diabetes, they said.<br />
At present, Bangladesh is in 10th position<br />
in the world in terms of number of<br />
diabetes patient. People of all ages are<br />
being affected by the disease mainly due<br />
to lack of awareness.<br />
It is not sufficient to control sugar<br />
level as part of treatment of the disease.<br />
It is possible to be saved from future<br />
complications if the problems caused<br />
due to increase in sugar level are<br />
brought under control. Changing food<br />
habit and regular physical labour can<br />
play an important role in this regard.<br />
It is necessary to mention here that<br />
intake of medicine is not sufficient to<br />
cure the disease. The matter of physical<br />
exercise is very important.<br />
Excess stress has a direct role in inviting<br />
diabetes. According to research,<br />
stress is a major risk factor of diabetes.<br />
So, join chatting with friends, listn to<br />
music, do meditation and neurobic gym<br />
and make visits in order to reduce<br />
stress. It is needed to refrain from<br />
The issues of management, care and prevention<br />
of diabetes and the role of family regarding<br />
education on this has been emphasized again in<br />
campaign on diabetes. it is very expensive for a<br />
family to buy insulin and monitor the disease<br />
every day. So, now it is being regarded as an<br />
urgent issue for a family to acquire knowledge<br />
for preventing diabetes for family members.<br />
class who play down Japanese aggression<br />
or - as per the narrative at the infamous<br />
Yasukuni Shrine Museum - paint Japan<br />
as a victim. They also accuse Japan of not<br />
apologizing sincerely, of undercutting its<br />
own apologies, and of not being as fulsome<br />
with its apologia as Germany.<br />
Still, Germany committed genocide. It<br />
is difficult to point to a former metropole<br />
on the global scene that has said sorry<br />
more, or offered more compensation to a<br />
former colony, than Japan has to South<br />
Korea.<br />
Japanese officials - from emperors,<br />
prime ministers and cabinet secretaries<br />
on down - have apologized scores of<br />
times. Tokyo has granted hundreds of<br />
millions of dollars in compensation packages.<br />
And in the public domain (if not<br />
textbooks), there is plentiful information,<br />
and debate, about Pacific War-era atrocities.<br />
Most problematically - and perhaps<br />
puzzlingly - for Washington, South<br />
Korean sensitivities look lopsided given<br />
the lack of fury aimed over the<br />
Demilitarized Zone.<br />
Japan's 35-year rule was less destructive<br />
(in terms of both life and property)<br />
than the 1950-53 Korean War initiated by<br />
Pyongyang. North Korea today is an isolated,<br />
family-run, nuclear-armed dictatorship<br />
that suppresses millions of<br />
Koreans; Japan is an open democracy<br />
with constitutionally trammeled armed<br />
forces that oppresses nobody.<br />
But though the dictatorship in<br />
Pyongyang has proved longer-lived than<br />
Japanese colonialism, and North Korea<br />
has neither apologized for nor compensated<br />
for the war, South Koreans despise<br />
Japan more than their brother nation up<br />
North.<br />
A poll for a state-run think-tank last<br />
week discovered that, were war to break<br />
out between Pyongyang and Tokyo,<br />
45.5% of South Koreans would help<br />
North Korea, and only 15.1% Japan.<br />
In sync with these sentiments, the leftleaning<br />
Moon Jae-in administration has<br />
focused on trying to upgrade ties with<br />
North Korea while firing relentless salvos<br />
smoking and drinking wine.<br />
We can do exercise and go out for regular<br />
walk for reducing the risk of diabetes.<br />
Research finding says, exercise<br />
increases the number of insulin receptor<br />
in body cell. Human body is excited<br />
when stress increases. Slight relaxation<br />
exercise and other strategies for facing<br />
stress can control blood sugar level.<br />
From a research in Yale University,<br />
USA it has been found that those who<br />
sleep regularly less than six hours at<br />
night are in the risk of diabetes 2 times<br />
more than those who sleep 8 hours. For<br />
sound sleep you should stop tea, coffee<br />
and chocolate after afternoon. Leave<br />
your work at office. Don't bring office<br />
work at home. Don't watch TV at late<br />
night. Keep your mobile off when you<br />
sleep.<br />
For controlling diabetes, the matter of<br />
maintining healthy life style has been<br />
against Japan. Last year, the South<br />
Korean state unilaterally undercut two<br />
bilateral deals (both packaged with related<br />
compensation): a 2015 agreement on<br />
"comfort women" and a 1965 agreement<br />
on forced labor.<br />
In response, in July this year, Tokyo<br />
introduced trade curbs on exports to<br />
South Korea - slowing, but not halting,<br />
the flow of key materials.<br />
That infuriated South Korea. Citizens<br />
reacted with consumer boycotts, while<br />
Seoul retaliated with its own trade curbs.<br />
Seoul then punted the dispute from the<br />
historical, diplomatic and economic<br />
spheres into the security space, announcing<br />
it was ending GSOMIA.<br />
The surprise move prompted<br />
Washington to aim some undiplomatic<br />
language against Seoul. But Seoul was<br />
still not finished with Tokyo.<br />
It complained to the International<br />
Olympic Committee that Tokyo would<br />
not ban the "Rising Sun" flag at the 2020<br />
Olympics, while a new lawsuit brought by<br />
comfort women against Tokyo kicked off<br />
on Wednesday in a Seoul court.<br />
The ever-widening rift between the capitals<br />
represents a major headache for the<br />
United States, which seeks to forge a united<br />
front in Northeast Asia.<br />
Yet however much Seoul's bottomless<br />
fount of anti-Japaneseism exasperates<br />
them, Milley and Esper would be well<br />
advised to restrain their voices and not<br />
hammer too loudly upon the negotiating<br />
table. First, South Korea is, geo-strategically,<br />
part of a critical perimeter for the<br />
United States - the frontline of a deeply<br />
echeloned Pacific defense that is layered<br />
back through Japan, Guam and Hawaii<br />
before reaching the continental US itself.<br />
At the epicenter of Northeast Asia,<br />
South Korea is also well sited as a launch<br />
pad to interdict the assets of regional<br />
American competitors such as China,<br />
North Korea and Russia.<br />
And the Moon administration has kept<br />
faith with its overthrown predecessor, the<br />
Park Geun-hye administration, and<br />
maintained the US Terminal High<br />
emphasized across the world.<br />
Maintaining healthy life means intake<br />
of healthy foods, exercise and keeping<br />
mind healthy. Putting pressure on mind<br />
should be avoided if we want healthy<br />
mind.<br />
Holistic system of treatment, the<br />
combination of modern technology and<br />
ancient natural method, has now<br />
become poupular for prevention and<br />
control of diabetes across the world.<br />
There are two main key factors of this<br />
treatment: one is taking healthy diet<br />
and the other is physical exercise.<br />
Daily food taking depends on<br />
patient's age, state of disease and<br />
his/her present situation. And the matter<br />
about taking physical exercise is<br />
miscellaneous. Before all these, meditation<br />
in a proper method is needed to<br />
control mind.<br />
Mental stress is the main cause of illness<br />
and unhappiness. To lessen the<br />
mental pressure it is very much important.<br />
It has also been stated to collect the<br />
ray or life power from the cosmic<br />
power. To gain all these is not an easy<br />
task at all.<br />
By playing a leading role for the past<br />
one decade in holistic treatment<br />
(known as natural system of treatment),<br />
Holistic Health Care Centre has<br />
brought good news for thousands of<br />
patients with diabetes and coronary<br />
artery disease. As a result, the risk of<br />
diabetes is reducing. And those who are<br />
suffering over a long time with diabetes<br />
are now leading a happy life.<br />
Many patients have been able to<br />
reduce the level of taking insulin and<br />
many others have completely stopped<br />
taking insulin. In Bangladesh, holistic<br />
treatment is working as a helpful friend<br />
for the patients of diabetes and coronary<br />
blockage.<br />
Recently, workshops on method of<br />
fully controlling diabetes within 72<br />
hours have been held successfully in the<br />
country. Many patients, who took part<br />
in the events, got a unique experience of<br />
facing diabetes by fully leaving insulin.<br />
The author is Director, Holistic<br />
Health Care Centre 43R/5C West<br />
Panthapath, Dhaka<br />
US brass parachutes into Japan-Korea conflagration<br />
Andrew SAlMon<br />
Today, Koreans rightly accuse Japanese school textbooks of<br />
whitewashing history, and point fingers at revisionist figures in<br />
the political class who play down Japanese aggression or - as<br />
per the narrative at the infamous Yasukuni Shrine Museum -<br />
paint Japan as a victim. They also accuse Japan of not apologizing<br />
sincerely, of undercutting its own apologies, and of not<br />
being as fulsome with its apologia as Germany.<br />
Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile<br />
system on Korean soil. That decision<br />
has come at massive national cost.<br />
A furious China, which asserts that<br />
THAAD radars can snoop on its own territory,<br />
has banned K-pop concerts and<br />
refuses to permit Korean online games.<br />
Korean corporations, notably Lotte<br />
Group, have taken a drubbing in the market.<br />
Looking back, South Korean soldiers<br />
have done what Japanese troops never<br />
have: Shed blood alongside GIs. After its<br />
joint effort with Washington in the<br />
Korean War, Seoul dispatched the largest<br />
national contingent to fight for South<br />
Vietnam. It subsequently deployed a<br />
major contingent to northern Iraq.<br />
Most recently, South Korea has built,<br />
mostly at its own cost, the massive US<br />
bastion in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul -<br />
America's largest overseas base.<br />
Alliance management is no easy task.<br />
South Korea's peculiarities, perhaps,<br />
make it a trickier ally than most. But its<br />
strategic value remains.<br />
If the US top brass strong-arm Seoul<br />
into emptying its coffers to cover joint<br />
defense costs, while also demanding a<br />
humiliating about-face on GSOMIA, they<br />
run significant risks.<br />
Currently, South Korea is one of the<br />
few nations on Earth where both the<br />
right - who admire his conservative<br />
stance - and the left - who admire his<br />
engagement with North Korean leader<br />
Kim Jong Un - respect US President<br />
Donald Trump. Meanwhile, nationalist<br />
furies are deployed in full cry against<br />
Japan.<br />
But if currently quiescent anti-<br />
Americanism - which exploded in 2002,<br />
after the gruesome death of two schoolgirls<br />
in a road accident with US troops -<br />
reignites alongside anti-Japaneseism,<br />
Washington is in uncharted waters. That<br />
so-far-unrealized double whammy could<br />
seriously endanger long-term US strategic<br />
interests in Northeast Asia.<br />
Korean conservatives already fear that<br />
South Korea could be leveraged away<br />
from maritime, democratic Northeast<br />
Asia - Japan and Taiwan - toward continental,<br />
authoritarian powers - China,<br />
North Korea and Russia.<br />
That fear is bolstered by two issues.<br />
Economically, China has long replaced<br />
the United States as South Korea's main<br />
trade partner. Strategically, there are<br />
worries that an isolationist America could<br />
turn its back on the region, leaving the<br />
field to a rising China.<br />
Source : Asia times
HEALTH<br />
THURSDAY, novemBeR <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
5<br />
The sunny winter morning is here so shake off your stress and focus on staying positive.<br />
Photo: Alamy<br />
How neuroscience can help educators<br />
from being less stressed<br />
Judy Willis<br />
Weeks into the winter holiday, many of<br />
us may be experiencing the stressful<br />
fallout of last term. For some, this is the<br />
exhaustion of burnout. For others, worries<br />
about the upcoming school year are<br />
already on the horizon. But there are<br />
simple steps you can take to build a<br />
positive mindset, strengthen your<br />
stamina and approach the new year<br />
with less anxiety and greater expectations<br />
of success.<br />
The approaches I offer here come<br />
from my background as a neurologist<br />
and teacher. The methods I suggest<br />
have been helpful for my own students<br />
in overcoming exam and work stress,<br />
and they are useful for teachers who<br />
face similar challenges.<br />
Teachers often hold themselves<br />
responsible for problematic student<br />
behaviour, failure to cover every<br />
required topic in depth or not adapting<br />
instruction to suit the needs of individual<br />
students. If you feel this way, know<br />
that you are not alone but part of a<br />
growing number of dedicated and<br />
resourceful educators who feel<br />
oppressed by increasing pressure and<br />
dwindling resources. Teachers who<br />
question their ability to fulfil excessive<br />
demands are often those who hold<br />
themselves to the highest standards.<br />
But when circumstances limit one's<br />
ability to be in control, self-doubt<br />
builds, confidence drops and burnout<br />
can emerge. Start rebooting your positive<br />
mindset by recognising that these<br />
concerns are not a reflection of your<br />
teaching skill.<br />
The brain has a system that strengthens<br />
the memories and emotions that<br />
are most frequently used or experienced.<br />
The term for this, neuroplasticity,<br />
refers to the brain's ability to change<br />
or adapt in response to thoughts and<br />
experiences. A little background on<br />
neuroplasticity: all memory is held in<br />
the brain's neurons and each neuron<br />
only holds a tiny bit of a memory. But<br />
when connections form among neurons<br />
holding the information, it<br />
becomes a brain circuit holding a<br />
retrievable idea. Neuroplastic construction<br />
is the brain's response to its own<br />
electrical activity. As neurons communicate<br />
through their connections<br />
(axons and dendrites) the information<br />
travels as electrical impulses. The more<br />
a circuit is activated, the greater the<br />
neuroplastic response of constructing<br />
We've barely any idea how AI will predict someone's death.<br />
thicker, stronger and faster connections.<br />
Thus the expressions "neurons<br />
that fire together wire together" and<br />
"practice makes permanent."<br />
It is this neuroplastic response that<br />
builds skills when learning is practised<br />
and applied. However, neuroplastic<br />
strengthening also takes place when<br />
emotional circuits are activated. When<br />
stress is frequent, the circuit producing<br />
that response becomes stronger - which<br />
means that after repeated frustrations<br />
and unachieved goals, your brain<br />
becomes more efficient at dropping<br />
into its stress response mode.<br />
If you've repeatedly experienced failure<br />
in your classroom, your brain will<br />
have built up a strong stress response<br />
circuit. But you can reboot your brain<br />
by strengthening the circuits needed to<br />
activate motivation and effort. Your<br />
weapon of mass reconstruction comes<br />
from one of your brain's own chemicals<br />
- dopamine. The satisfaction you feel<br />
when you persevere through a challenge<br />
or achieve a goal is a response to<br />
an increased level of dopamine, which<br />
brings feelings of pleasure and heightened<br />
motivation. You can build a more<br />
positive mindset circuit simply by setting<br />
yourself achievable challenges.<br />
Photo: Burger<br />
AI can predict if someone<br />
will die soon<br />
Donna Lu<br />
Artificial intelligence can predict a<br />
person's chances of dying within a<br />
year by looking at heart test results<br />
- even when they look normal to<br />
doctors. How it does so is a mystery.<br />
Brandon Fornwalt at healthcare<br />
provider Geisinger in Pennsylvania,<br />
US and colleagues tasked an AI<br />
with examining 1.77 million electrocardiogram<br />
(ECG) results from<br />
nearly 400,000 people to predict<br />
who was at a higher risk of dying<br />
within the next year.<br />
An ECG records the electrical<br />
activity of the heart. Its pattern<br />
changes in cardiac conditions<br />
including heart attacks and atrial<br />
fibrillation. The team trained two<br />
versions of the AI: in one, the algorithm<br />
was only given the raw ECG<br />
data, which measures voltage over<br />
time. In the other, it was fed ECG<br />
data in combination with patient<br />
age and sex. They measured the<br />
AI's performance using a metric<br />
known as AUC, which measures<br />
how well a model distinguishes<br />
between two groups of people - in<br />
this case, patients who died within a<br />
year and those who survived. The<br />
AI consistently scored above 0.85,<br />
where a perfect score is 1 and a<br />
score of 0.5 indicates no distinction<br />
between the two groups.<br />
The AUCs for risk scoring models<br />
currently used by doctors range<br />
between 0.65 and 0.8, says Fornwalt.<br />
For comparison, the<br />
researchers also created an algorithm<br />
based on ECG features that<br />
doctors currently measure, such as<br />
certain patterns from the recordings.<br />
"No matter what, the voltagebased<br />
model was always better than<br />
any model you could build out of<br />
things that we already measure<br />
from an ECG," says Fornwalt.<br />
The AI accurately predicted risk<br />
of death even in people deemed by<br />
cardiologists to have a normal ECG.<br />
Three cardiologists who separately<br />
reviewed normal-looking ECGs<br />
weren't able to pick up the risk patterns<br />
that the AI detected.<br />
"That finding suggests that the<br />
model is seeing things that humans<br />
probably can't see, or at least that<br />
we just ignore and think are normal,"<br />
says Fornwalt. AI can potentially<br />
teach us things that we've<br />
been maybe misinterpreting for<br />
decades," he says.<br />
It's still unclear what patterns<br />
the AI is picking up, which makes<br />
some physicians reluctant to use<br />
such algorithms. This research<br />
was based on historical data, and<br />
it will be important to demonstrate<br />
in clinical studies that such<br />
an algorithm improves patient<br />
outcomes, says collaborator<br />
Christopher Haggerty. The<br />
research will be presented at the<br />
American Heart Association's Scientific<br />
Sessions in Dallas on<br />
November 16.<br />
Healthy step-parents relationship<br />
are a precursor to happy family<br />
Lizzie Cernik<br />
Tales of wicked stepmothers may be<br />
common in storybooks, but they are<br />
often a far cry from reality. Despite the<br />
potential challenges with step-parenting,<br />
many children develop close bonds<br />
with their mum or dad's new partner.<br />
The actor Dakota Johnson, now 30, is<br />
still on great terms with her stepfather,<br />
Antonio Banderas, who divorced her<br />
mother, Melanie Griffith, in 20<strong>14</strong>. At<br />
the Hollywood Film awards this<br />
month, the Spanish actor revealed just<br />
how close they still are. "She calls me<br />
Papi, and I love that, you have no idea."<br />
The Fifty Shades of Grey star described<br />
her childhood growing up with him as<br />
"the most fun a kid could have".<br />
They may present a contrast to the<br />
evil step-parent stereotype we see<br />
depicted in movies, but they certainly<br />
aren't alone. Since divorcing her husband<br />
six years ago, Frances Rose has<br />
maintained a close friendship with his<br />
daughter, Louise. "I first met her in<br />
2003 when she and her siblings were<br />
very young," she says. "Her mum handled<br />
the breakup extremely well with a<br />
lot of maturity, which made it easier to<br />
get to know her children."<br />
Aged five at the time, Louise didn't<br />
realise there was anything unusual<br />
about her situation. "We would go to<br />
Frances's house with Dad and it felt<br />
normal to me. I grew up having two<br />
houses, two support systems and a<br />
more varied upbringing." She quickly<br />
formed a strong relationship with her<br />
new stepmother, and the family was<br />
close.<br />
When Frances's marriage broke<br />
down 10 years later, she was devastated<br />
at the prospect of losing the connection<br />
with her stepchildren. "You're not biologically<br />
related, so you don't have any<br />
rights," she says. "I couldn't have my<br />
own children, and they really felt like<br />
my family. After we split up, I had no<br />
idea what was going to happen."<br />
She needn't have worried because<br />
maintaining that relationship was<br />
equally important for Louise. "I think<br />
it's good for any couple splitting up to<br />
put children first. Dad was supportive<br />
of my decision to stay in touch with<br />
Frances, which made the divorce easier.<br />
Knowing I could see her whenever I<br />
wanted without anyone being upset<br />
was great."<br />
After the breakup, Louise's mother<br />
regularly took her to see Frances before<br />
she got her driving licence. "She knew<br />
how important she was to me. I am<br />
very close to my mum and feel really<br />
lucky to have two incredibly strong<br />
female influences in my life." In the<br />
past few years, she has been on regular<br />
trips to festivals and galleries with her<br />
former stepmother, where they bond<br />
over their shared love of music and<br />
fashion. For her 18th birthday three<br />
years ago, Louise was treated to a trip to<br />
Thailand with her mum, followed by a<br />
break to New York with Frances. "Ever<br />
since I was young, both sides of the<br />
family have made an effort to do things<br />
with us. It's almost like my family time<br />
gets doubled." Frances also stays in<br />
touch with Louise's younger brother<br />
and sister, but says she never wants to<br />
force a bond with her stepchildren. "I'm<br />
always here and available for them if<br />
they want me." It's something that resonates<br />
with Andy, who split up with his<br />
wife in 2003 after a 10-year relationship.<br />
Although Andy was close to his<br />
stepdaughter Helen (not their real<br />
names), he was reluctant to push their<br />
relationship too hard after the divorce.<br />
"When my ex-partner and I got together,<br />
Helen was 16 and quite grown up,"<br />
he says. "She's a wonderful person, so<br />
laid-back and respectful. We got on<br />
very well."<br />
The couple had been living in South<br />
Africa, but Helen was based in the UK<br />
when they separated. "I was really disappointed<br />
at the thought of not being<br />
able to spend time with her again, but I<br />
didn't want to risk coming between her<br />
and her mum or damaging that relationship."<br />
However, Helen was keen to<br />
reach out to her stepfather.<br />
A few years after the split, she visited<br />
Durban to see him. "She made a point<br />
of coming to see me, which was wonderful,"<br />
he says. "I was so happy to<br />
spend time with her and properly<br />
reconnect."<br />
The visit wasn't long after the death of<br />
Helen's father, who Andy had been<br />
friends with throughout his marriage.<br />
"Years earlier, I had lent her dad some<br />
money. After he died, Helen not only<br />
reimbursed me, but also gave me some<br />
extra money from her inheritance. She<br />
didn't have to give me anything and it<br />
wasn't something I was ever expecting."<br />
They now chat regularly on WhatsApp,<br />
and Helen goes to visit Andy<br />
whenever she is in South Africa. "She is<br />
just a fantastic person to be around," he<br />
says. For stepfamilies, making the<br />
choice to stay in contact after a breakup<br />
is important. "Even though I don't<br />
speak to my ex-husband, Louise and I<br />
have formed a better friendship on our<br />
own terms since we split up," says<br />
Frances. "She is such a go-getter, and<br />
really career focused. We may not be<br />
related but I see parts of myself in her."<br />
While they were always close, Louise<br />
believes that the lack of pressure to<br />
spend time together has helped their<br />
relationship. "I don't think we would be<br />
as close as we are now if she hadn't split<br />
up with my dad. I am grateful to her for<br />
supporting me and making me feel like<br />
I can be independent and strong."<br />
When Frances remarried in 2017, all<br />
three of her former stepchildren joined<br />
the celebrations. "It was really nice to<br />
have them there with me. I've now got<br />
two adult stepchildren with my new<br />
partner and I get on well with them,<br />
too."<br />
Like Frances, Amanda Kane loves<br />
spending time with her stepson Daniel,<br />
despite splitting up with his father in<br />
20<strong>11</strong>. "The first time I met Dan, he travelled<br />
with us from his home in Ipswich<br />
to his dad's house in Preston. He was<br />
only six at the time, so it must have<br />
been a bit daunting." As soon as they<br />
were introduced, she invested time in<br />
their relationship, taking him on walks<br />
and trips to the cinema.<br />
"I remember being really excited to<br />
go up north," he says. "When I first got<br />
Dakota Johnson being carried by her stepfather Antonio<br />
Banderas in 1998.<br />
Photo: Ron Galella<br />
to know Amanda, we did lots of fun<br />
activities together. I really appreciate<br />
the effort she made with me while I was<br />
growing up because it benefited me so<br />
much."<br />
As Daniel got older, the couple<br />
moved to Norwich so they could spend<br />
more time with him. Over the years,<br />
their bond continued to develop, and<br />
he became closer to Amanda than his<br />
biological dad. By the time the couple<br />
split up, Daniel was in his early 20s.<br />
"There was never any doubt that I<br />
would carry on seeing Amanda. It's like<br />
I've grown up with two mums, and I am<br />
really close to them both. My mum<br />
offers me lots of emotional support and<br />
Amanda has always helped to drive me<br />
to succeed in what I do."<br />
Although she was initially worried<br />
about not seeing Daniel and his grandparents,<br />
Amanda has kept in touch.<br />
Since the divorce, she has enjoyed plenty<br />
of nights out with her stepson, and<br />
even took him to his first Download festival.<br />
Eight years on, Daniel has a child<br />
of his own, and she and her new partner<br />
regularly go for meals with his family.<br />
"We treat him and his partner to<br />
dinner and go to see his son. I am really<br />
proud of him. He's such a lovely dad."<br />
Many people who form close bonds<br />
with their stepchildren say that amicable<br />
relationships with their biological<br />
parents are important.<br />
Avoid sleeping in your make up<br />
Amy Fleming<br />
"A lot of my acne patients think that,<br />
because they have oily skin, they can't<br />
use a moisturiser," says Bav Shergill, a<br />
consultant dermatologist based in Sussex.<br />
But if you scrub the oils off your<br />
skin, it will end up producing more to<br />
compensate. "Moisturise your skin so<br />
that it is well hydrated and that will<br />
turn off your oil production more effectively<br />
than trying to scrub away the oil."<br />
"The usual suspects are sunscreens,"<br />
says Erica MacCallum of facialists Eve<br />
Lom in New York. So if you use one daily,<br />
look for one labelled non-comedogenic<br />
(non-clogging) or oil-free. "And<br />
never sleep in your makeup."<br />
Sandy Skotnicki, a dermatologist<br />
based in Toronto, says that even hair<br />
products - "in particular argan and<br />
coconut oils" - can contribute to facial<br />
acne, so "it is important to wash them<br />
out before you sleep".<br />
Washing your face will help to get rid of spots.<br />
Photo: Chakrapong Worathat<br />
Exfoliation will help to keep pores<br />
clear and Shergill recommends skin<br />
products with 2% salicylic acid "and a<br />
little more glycolic acid, which can help<br />
exfoliate dead skin cells that could<br />
cause blockages".<br />
"People think acne is an infection, but<br />
it's not," says Shergill. "It is inflammation<br />
of the skin that allows an overgrowth<br />
of bacteria. The body tries to kill<br />
the bugs and causes the big red reaction,<br />
which is the spot." If one lasts for<br />
longer than 10 days, it can scar. "We<br />
need to get on and treat spots when<br />
they come up," says Shergill. "We often<br />
use drugs such as benzoyl peroxide. If<br />
you prefer an alternative treatment,<br />
tea-tree oil can be effective." As well as<br />
killing germs, tea tree has anti-inflammatory<br />
properties. To avoid irritation,<br />
Shergill recommends diluting it to 5%.<br />
"Never squeeze a spot," says Shergill.<br />
"The spots will express themselves<br />
when you wash your face." And squeezing<br />
"blind spots", where skin has grown<br />
over the top, is futile and can lead to<br />
scarring.<br />
When you eat cake, or other high-glycaemic-index<br />
(GI) foods, you are likely<br />
to produce extra insulin. There is evidence,<br />
says Shergill, that high-GI diets<br />
and insulin spikes "correlate with facial<br />
serum excretion - you make more oil.<br />
Whereas a low-glycaemic-load diet significantly<br />
reduces lesion counts. So a<br />
low-glycaemic-index diet is apparently<br />
very effective."
NATIONAL<br />
THURSDAY, NOvEMBER <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
6<br />
Joypurhat Sadar Upazail Nirbahi Officer Milton Chandra Roy as the chief guest addressed a discussion<br />
marking the 49th founding anniversary of the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh<br />
(IDEB) and Mass Engineering Day in Joypurhat on Wednesday.<br />
Photo: Masrakul Alom<br />
Joypurhat IDEB holds rally,<br />
discussion meeting<br />
Masrakul Alom, Joypurhat Correspondent: The 49th<br />
founding anniversary of the Institution of Diploma<br />
Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) and Mass Engineering Day<br />
were held in Joypurhat on Wednesday. Marking the occasion<br />
a grand rally and a discussion meeting organized by<br />
Joypurhat Institution of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh<br />
(IDEB) were held.<br />
The rally was brought out from town hall (Zila Parishad<br />
auditorium) which paraded the main streets of the town.<br />
Earlier a discussion meeting was held at town hall which<br />
Fire Service and<br />
Civil Defense Week<br />
ends in Gaibandha<br />
GAIBANDHA: Fire<br />
Service and Civil Defense<br />
(FSCD) Week-<strong>2019</strong> ended in<br />
the district on Tuesday with<br />
a call to create mass<br />
awareness to prevent fire<br />
incidents and other<br />
disasters, reports BSS.<br />
Marking the week, FSCD<br />
office here chalked out<br />
elaborate programmes<br />
included leaflet distribution,<br />
pasting posters, discussion<br />
meeting, vehicle rally in the<br />
district town, inspection of<br />
fire extinguishing equipment,<br />
volunteers gathering,<br />
certificate distribution, mock<br />
drill display and arrangement<br />
of cultural function.<br />
On Tuesday afternoon, a<br />
concluding ceremony was<br />
also held on the office<br />
premises of the town here<br />
with station officer Bakhtiar<br />
Uddin in the chair while<br />
deputy assistant director<br />
Amirul Islam Sarker<br />
addressed the function as the<br />
chief guest. Station officer of<br />
Palashbair upazila FSCD<br />
office and team leader Abu<br />
Taher spoke at the function,<br />
among others. Earlier,<br />
deputy commissioner Abdul<br />
Matin formally inaugurated<br />
the FSCD Week-<strong>2019</strong> on<br />
Wednesday last as the chief<br />
guest and police super<br />
Towhidul Islam was present<br />
at the event as the special<br />
guest.<br />
was chaired by Joypurhat IDEB president engineer<br />
Rezaul Alam Siddique while Joypurhat Sadar Upazail<br />
Nirbahi Officer Milton Chandra Roy was present as the<br />
chief guest at the occasion. Among others, Principal of<br />
Joypurhat Govt. Technical College engineer Shariful<br />
Islam, vice president of IDEB district committee engineer<br />
Nadim Hossain, finance secretary engineer Mostafizur<br />
Rahman, organizing secretary Bipul Kumar Saha and<br />
research and IT secretary engineer Haider Ali were also<br />
present at the occasion.<br />
Jubo League celebrates 47th founding<br />
anniversary in Moulvibazar<br />
Moulvibazar Correspondent: Jubo League, youth wing of ruling Awami League,<br />
celebrated its 47th founding anniversary in a befitting manner in Moulvibazar on Wednesday.<br />
Marking the occasion, various programmes including a grand rally was brought out.<br />
Marking the occasion, Moulvibazar District Jubo League brought out a rally from the<br />
premises of Shaheed Minar which paraded the main streets of the town. Later Awami League<br />
General Secretary Mishbauer Rahman cut a cake at a temporary stage. During the time,<br />
District Awami League Vice-President Ajmal Hossain, Joint Secretary and Upazila Chairman<br />
Md Kamal Hossain, Joint Secretary and Municipal Mayor Md. Fazlur Rahman, Organizing<br />
Secretary Ajay Sen, District Jubo League President Nahid Ahmed and General Secretary Syed<br />
Rezaul Rahman Suman Rezaur Rali, Tanti League general secretary Liaquat Ali, former<br />
general secretary of Chhatra League Saifur Rahman Roni, Chhatra League President Amir<br />
Hossain Chowdhury and General Secretary Mahbub Alam were among others also present at<br />
the occasion.<br />
In observance of the 47th founding anniversary of Jubo League, a grand<br />
rally was brought out in Moulvibazar on Wednesday. Photo: TBT<br />
Experts for promoting education<br />
on reproductive health<br />
42 taxpayers<br />
accorded<br />
reception in<br />
Rajshahi<br />
RAJSHAHI: National<br />
Board of Revenue (NBR)<br />
has accorded a reception<br />
to 42 highest taxpayers in<br />
seven categories here<br />
yesterday as recognition to<br />
their contribution to boost<br />
the national revenue,<br />
reports BSS.<br />
On the occasion,<br />
Commissioner's Office of<br />
Rajshahi Income Tax Zone<br />
hosted a divisional level<br />
reception and crest-giving<br />
function at Shaheed AHM<br />
Kamaruzzaman Zila<br />
Parishad Auditorium with<br />
the main thrust of<br />
inspiring the taxpayers to<br />
pay more tax and boosting<br />
the number of taxpayers.<br />
A large number of<br />
taxpayers including<br />
members of the civil<br />
society, professional<br />
leaders and tax lawyers<br />
were present at the<br />
function.<br />
Commissioner of<br />
Rajshahi division<br />
Humayun Kabir<br />
Khondokar and Customs,<br />
Excise and VAT<br />
Commissioner Lutfor<br />
Rahman addressed the<br />
ceremony as chief and<br />
special guests respectively<br />
with Dr Khandakar<br />
Ferdous<br />
Alam,<br />
Commissioner of Income<br />
Taxes, in the chair.<br />
Tax<br />
Appellate<br />
Commissioner Md Masud,<br />
Joint Commissioner<br />
Ashique Rana, President<br />
of Rajshahi Chamber of<br />
Commerce and Industries<br />
Md Muniruzzaman and<br />
President of Income tax<br />
Lawyers Association<br />
Mozaharul Haque also<br />
spoke.<br />
Humayun Kabir<br />
underscored the need for<br />
creating mass awareness<br />
about more income tax<br />
collection in the greater<br />
interest of making the<br />
country economically selfreliant.<br />
He said many of the<br />
affordable people of the<br />
society are still afraid of<br />
income tax payment due<br />
to misconception and<br />
wrong counseling by<br />
frauds.<br />
Many people earn higher<br />
incomes in urban and semi<br />
urban areas and other<br />
places, but they do not pay<br />
taxes due to lack of<br />
awareness, he added.<br />
"We have no alternative<br />
to enhance tax collection<br />
for<br />
successful<br />
implementation of the<br />
need-based development<br />
programs for overall<br />
development of the<br />
nation," he opined.<br />
In his remarks, Income<br />
Tax Commissioner Dr<br />
Ferdous Alam gave an<br />
outline of the tax<br />
collection in the region<br />
and attributed that the<br />
number of taxpayers are<br />
being increased gradually,<br />
which is a good sign for the<br />
nation.<br />
BCG detains 1 with Myanmar<br />
currencies, hemp<br />
Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard East Zone detained a drug peddler Md. Rubel, 27, along<br />
with 50 grams of hemp, 50,000 kyat (currency of Myanmar), 2 mobile phones and 1<br />
Myanmar sim card on Wednesday. Bangladesh Coast Guard arrested the drug dealer for<br />
allegedly selling drugs from east side of St. Martin's, a press release said.<br />
The detained drug peddler has long been involved in drug trade in various areas of St.<br />
Martin. The arrested drug dealer, Rubel, 27, is the son of the deceased Abdur Rashid, from<br />
Hajirpara area of Ramganj under Lakshipur district. It is to be noted that Coast Guard East<br />
Zone media officer Lt. Shah Zia confirmed the incident, saying that during investigation the<br />
drug dealer confessed that the hemps were for selling. The detained drug peddler and seized<br />
goods are in the process of being transferred to the Teknaf police station for further<br />
investigation.<br />
Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard East Zone detained a drug peddler<br />
along hemps and Myanmar currencies from St. Martin's on Wednesday.<br />
Photo: Courtesy<br />
BGB detains 3 gold smugglers along<br />
with 16 gold bars in Benapole<br />
Jahirul Islam Ripon, Benapole Correspondent: Border guard Bangladesh (BGB)<br />
arrested three gold smugglers along with 3.5 KG (16 pieces) gold bars in separate drives in<br />
Amrakhali, Daulotpur and Ghiba Bordering area of Benapole Port police station on yesterday<br />
(Wednesday) noon while smuggling to India.<br />
The arrestees were identified as Rabiul Islam 36, son of Monir Uddin of RN Road area of<br />
Jessore, Dilip Kumar,30, son of late Gahor Kumar of Ghiba village and Minara Khatun, 25,<br />
wife of Ramzan Ali, a local resident of Barachara village. They were smuggling gold to India<br />
for money for a long time, the BGB said.<br />
49 BGB deputy commanding officer Major Nazrul Islam said that from a reliable source<br />
three BGB patrols team conducted a drive in Amrakhali area and arrested Rabiul Islam along<br />
with 8 pieces (785 grams) gold bars Dilip Kumer arrested with 2 pieces (2 Kgs) gold bars from<br />
Ghiba border and Monira Khatun was held with 6 pieces (700 grams) gold bar from<br />
Daulatpur border.<br />
The value of the gold is TK. 1 crore 75 lakh BGB added.<br />
The detainees were handed over to Benapole Port Police Station after the investigation.<br />
Three cases were filed with Benapoel Port police station.<br />
Members of Border guard Bangladesh (BGB) in a drive arrested a gold<br />
smuggler along with 8 pieces of gold bars from Amrakhali area on<br />
Benapole.<br />
Photo: Jahirul Islam Ripon<br />
RANGPUR: Health experts at a<br />
meeting here yesterday said lifeoriented<br />
and health education are<br />
crucial for adolescents for proper<br />
grooming up that eventually would<br />
help build a healthy nation, reports<br />
BSS.<br />
They expressed the view at the<br />
orientation meeting on 'Adolescent<br />
Reproductive Health and Life Skill'<br />
organised by the Maternal and Child<br />
Health (MCH) Services Unit of the<br />
Directorate General of Family<br />
Planning (DGFP) at a local hotel.<br />
The Civil Surgeons, Upazila Health<br />
and Family Planning Officers,<br />
Medical Officers, executives of<br />
Organisation of Gynecological Society<br />
of Bangladesh (OGSB), Bangladesh<br />
Medical Association (BMA) and<br />
NGOs, Heads of different secondary<br />
level educational institutions,<br />
religious leaders, adolescents and<br />
officials of different departments of<br />
Rangpur and Kurigram participated.<br />
Divisional Director (Health) Dr.<br />
Mostafa Khaled Ahmed attended the<br />
meeting as chief guest with Deputy<br />
Director of the Department of Family<br />
Planning (DFP) for Rangpur Dr.<br />
Sheikh Md. Saidul Islam in the chair.<br />
Regional Consultant of Family<br />
Planning Clinical Supervision and<br />
Quality Improvement Team of the<br />
DFP for Rangpur Dr. Ahmed Munaf<br />
Chowdhury narrated objectives of the<br />
event.<br />
Program Manager (Adolescent<br />
Reproductive Health) of the MCH<br />
Services Unit of DGFP Dr. Md. Joynal<br />
Haque discussed on "Present status of<br />
adolescents in Bangladesh and steps<br />
taken by the government for<br />
providing adolescent health services"<br />
in the meeting.<br />
President of Rangpur BMA Dr.<br />
Delwar Hossain, Deputy Director of<br />
the DFP for Kurigram Dr. Md. Nazrul<br />
Islam, Civil Surgeon for Rangpur Dr.<br />
Hirombo Kumar Roy, President of<br />
Rangpur unit of OGSB Professor Dr.<br />
Ferdousi Sultana addressed.<br />
The speakers discussed the<br />
importance of proper learning about<br />
reproductive health by adolescents<br />
since beginning of their physical and<br />
mental changes and creating<br />
awareness among parents to stand<br />
beside their children during puberty.<br />
They said adolescents' face<br />
challenges like - sexual, reproductive<br />
and mental health, violence and<br />
nutrition - due to lack of knowledge<br />
about using hygienic sanitary napkins<br />
which causes sexually transmitted<br />
diseases.<br />
They laid emphasis on inclusive<br />
GO-NGO efforts involving all<br />
stakeholders for proper<br />
implementation of the National<br />
Strategy for Adolescent Health 2017-<br />
2030 to ensure adolescent-friendly<br />
health services for normal growth of<br />
adolescents.<br />
The chief guest stressed the need for<br />
ensuring life skills-based education<br />
on reproductive health for<br />
adolescents to assist them in taking<br />
realistic decisions at tougher<br />
moments in life and inspire others in<br />
following their footsteps.<br />
The speakers discussed the<br />
importance of proper learning about<br />
reproductive health by adolescents<br />
since beginning of their physical and<br />
mental changes and creating<br />
awareness among parents to stand<br />
beside their children during puberty.<br />
"Parents should be aware of<br />
behavioral changes of adolescents<br />
and save them from addiction to<br />
playing games using electronic<br />
devices and educate on reproductive<br />
health, food habits, hygiene,<br />
sanitation and social values for<br />
making better citizens," he said.<br />
On the occasion of Eid-e-Miladunnabi a three-day programme was organized by Shingergari<br />
ZohuriaDarbar Sharif of in various areas of Nilphamari and Rangpur district recently. Marking the<br />
occasion, a grand rally, discussion meeting, seminar and doa mahfil were held. Photo: Courtesy
INTERNATIONAL<br />
THURSDAY, NoVemBeR <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
7<br />
A photographer sets a white balance in the hearing room where the House will begin public<br />
impeachment inquiry hearings Wednesday, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 12,<br />
<strong>2019</strong>. With the bang of a gavel, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff will open the<br />
hearings into President Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe<br />
Biden's family.<br />
Photo : AP<br />
Impeachment hearings go live<br />
on TV with first witnesses<br />
The closed doors of the Trump<br />
impeachment investigation are swinging<br />
wide open.<br />
When the gavel strikes at the start of<br />
the House hearing Wednesday morning,<br />
America and the rest of the world<br />
will have the chance to see and hear for<br />
themselves for the first time about<br />
President Donald Trump's actions<br />
toward Ukraine and consider whether<br />
they are, in fact, impeachable offenses,<br />
reports UNB.<br />
It's a remarkable moment, even for a<br />
White House full of them.<br />
All on TV, committee leaders will set<br />
the stage, then comes the main feature:<br />
Two seasoned diplomats, William Taylor,<br />
the graying former infantry officer<br />
now charge d'affaires in Ukraine, and<br />
George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary<br />
in Washington, telling the striking,<br />
if sometimes complicated story of a<br />
president allegedly using foreign policy<br />
for personal and political gain ahead of<br />
the 2020 election.<br />
So far, the narrative is splitting Americans,<br />
mostly along the same lines as<br />
Trump's unusual presidency. The Constitution<br />
sets a dramatic, but vague, bar<br />
for impeachment, and there's no consensus<br />
yet that Trump's actions at the<br />
heart of the inquiry meet the threshold<br />
of "high crimes and misdemeanors."<br />
Whether Wednesday's proceedings<br />
begin to end a presidency or help<br />
secure Trump's position, it's certain<br />
Israeli strikes kill<br />
2 Gaza militants;<br />
death toll now at 12<br />
Israeli airstrikes killed two<br />
Islamic Jihad militants in<br />
Gaza on Wednesday as rocket<br />
fire toward Israel resumed<br />
after a brief overnight lull,<br />
raising the death toll in Gaza<br />
to 12 Palestinians in the<br />
heaviest round of fighting in<br />
months, reports UNB.<br />
The Israeli military said<br />
more than 250 rockets have<br />
been fired at Israeli communities<br />
since the violence<br />
erupted after an Israeli<br />
airstrike killed a senior<br />
Islamic Jihad commander<br />
accused of being the mastermind<br />
of recent attacks.<br />
Schools remained closed<br />
in Israeli communities near<br />
the Gaza border as rockets<br />
continued to rain down,<br />
albeit in lesser ferocity that<br />
during the relentless barrage<br />
the previous day.<br />
But in a sign that the current<br />
round could be brief,<br />
Gaza's Hamas rulers have<br />
yet to enter the fray.<br />
Although larger and more<br />
powerful than the Iranianbacked<br />
Islamic Jihad,<br />
Hamas is also more pragmatic.<br />
With Gaza's economy<br />
in tatters, it appears to have<br />
little desire for another<br />
round of fighting with Israel.<br />
Egypt, which frequently<br />
mediates between Israel and<br />
Gaza militants, has been<br />
working to de-escalate tensions,<br />
according to officials<br />
in Cairo.<br />
Seeking to keep the outburst<br />
under control, the<br />
Israeli military has restricted<br />
its operations to Islamic<br />
Jihad, and nearly all the<br />
casualties so far are members<br />
of the militant group.<br />
that his chaotic term has finally arrived<br />
at a place he cannot control and a force,<br />
the constitutional system of checks and<br />
balances, that he cannot ignore.<br />
The country has been here just three<br />
times before, and never against the<br />
backdrop of social media and real-time<br />
commentary, including from the president<br />
himself.<br />
"These hearings will address subjects<br />
of profound consequence for the<br />
Nation and the functioning of our government<br />
under the Constitution," said<br />
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California,<br />
the chairman of the Intelligence<br />
Committee leading the inquiry, in a<br />
memo to lawmakers.<br />
Schiff called it a "solemn undertaking,"<br />
and counseled colleagues to<br />
"approach these proceedings with the<br />
seriousness of purpose and love of<br />
country that they demand."<br />
"Total impeachment scam," tweeted<br />
the president, as he does virtually every<br />
day.<br />
Impeachments are rare, historians<br />
say, because they amount to nothing<br />
short of the nullification of an election.<br />
Starting down this road poses risks for<br />
both Democrats and Republicans as<br />
proceedings push into the 2020 campaign.<br />
Unlike the Watergate hearings and<br />
Richard Nixon, there is not yet a "cancer<br />
on the presidency" moment galvanizing<br />
public opinion. Nor is there the<br />
national shrug, as happened when Bill<br />
Clinton's impeachment ultimately didn't<br />
result in his removal from office. It's<br />
perhaps most like the partisanshipinfused<br />
impeachment of Andrew Johnson<br />
after the Civil War.<br />
Trump calls the whole thing a "witch<br />
hunt," a retort that echoes Nixon's own<br />
defense. Republicans say Democrats<br />
have been trying to get rid of this president<br />
since he first took office, starting<br />
with former special counsel Robert<br />
Mueller's investigation into Russian<br />
interference to help Trump in the 2016<br />
election.<br />
Democratic House Speaker Nancy<br />
Pelosi was initially reluctant to launch a<br />
formal impeachment inquiry. As<br />
Democrats took control of the House in<br />
January, Pelosi said impeachment<br />
would be "too divisive" for the country.<br />
Trump, she said, was simply "not worth<br />
it."<br />
After Mueller's appearance on Capitol<br />
Hill in July for the end of the Russia<br />
probe, the door to impeachment proceedings<br />
seemed closed.<br />
But the next day Trump got on the<br />
phone.<br />
For the past month, witness after witness<br />
has testified under oath about his<br />
July 25 phone call with Ukraine's newly<br />
elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy,<br />
and the alarms it set off in U.S.<br />
diplomatic and national security<br />
circles.<br />
Delhi’s air “severely”<br />
polluted<br />
Air quality in Delhi and surrounding areas<br />
once again turned to "severe" category on<br />
Wednesday morning, even as the overall Air<br />
Quality Index (AQI) hovered around 500.<br />
According to the "System of Air Quality<br />
Weather Forecasting and Research<br />
(SAFAR)", an AQI between 0-50 is<br />
termed as "Good," 50-100 as "Satisfactory,"<br />
100-200 is considered as "Moderate,"<br />
200-300 as "Poor," 300-400 as<br />
"Very Poor," and 400-500 is described<br />
as "Severe," and above 500 is categorised<br />
as "Emergency."<br />
Some areas near Delhi like Gurugram in<br />
neighbouring state of Haryana witnessed an<br />
AQI above 500, posing an "Emergency" situation,<br />
reports UNB. Noida, a city in neighbouring<br />
state of Uttar Pradesh also recorded<br />
an AQI of above 500.<br />
According to media reports, the prevailing<br />
air quality conditions in and around the Indian<br />
capital may lead to serious health problems<br />
like respiratory diseases and even heart<br />
ailments. The main reason attributed to the<br />
deteriorated air quality is the burning of<br />
crops residues by farmers in northern state<br />
of Punjab and Haryana.<br />
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal<br />
tweeted on Monday "We should stop stubble<br />
burning. People are suffering immensely.<br />
The Supreme Court has also directed. Pollution<br />
has again started increasing in Delhi due<br />
to stubble burning after some respite last<br />
week."<br />
Air quality in Delhi and surrounding areas once again turned to "severe"<br />
category on Wednesday morning, even as the overall Air Quality Index<br />
(AQI) hovered around 500.<br />
Photo : AP<br />
Police raise<br />
security around<br />
Hong Kong after<br />
night clashes<br />
Police increased security<br />
around Hong Kong and its<br />
university campuses<br />
Wednesday as they braced<br />
for more violence after sharp<br />
clashes overnight with antigovernment<br />
protesters,<br />
reports UNB.<br />
Many subway and rail stations<br />
were closed after the<br />
protesters blocked commutes<br />
and vandalized trains.<br />
Classes were suspended at<br />
universities, and parents of<br />
school students advised they<br />
could keep their children<br />
home.<br />
Police and protesters battled<br />
on multiple fronts<br />
overnight at the Chinese<br />
University of Hong Kong.<br />
Gasoline bombs and fires lit<br />
the nighttime scene, and the<br />
situation remained tense in<br />
the morning and early afternoon.<br />
A police official warned<br />
protesters were carrying out<br />
"insane acts" and Hong<br />
Kong was on the brink of a<br />
total breakdown after more<br />
than five months of protests.<br />
"Our society has been<br />
pushed to the brink of a total<br />
breakdown," Senior Police<br />
Superintendent Kong Wingheung<br />
said late Tuesday.<br />
He said Hong Kong's mass<br />
transit system and subway,<br />
known as MRT, was under<br />
stress from acts of violence<br />
and vandalism.<br />
"Masked rioters have lost<br />
control and committed<br />
insane acts like throwing<br />
trash, bicycles and large<br />
objects onto MTR tracks,<br />
hanging trash on overhead<br />
power lines," he added.<br />
Groups of riot police were<br />
deployed around central<br />
Hong Kong and its outlying<br />
territories to try and contain<br />
new violence, even as students<br />
at the Chinese University<br />
- located in the outskirts<br />
of the sprawling metropolis -<br />
prepared for new clashes<br />
with police. Many were<br />
armed with gasoline bombs<br />
while some carried bows<br />
and arrows.<br />
Crowd gathers in central<br />
Hong Kong, university<br />
campus tense<br />
Police increased security around Hong Kong<br />
and its university campuses Wednesday as<br />
they braced for more violence after sharp<br />
clashes overnight with anti-government protesters,<br />
reports UNB.<br />
Many subway and rail stations were closed<br />
for the morning commute as protesters<br />
blocked train doors from closing and vandalized<br />
train cars. Classes were suspended at<br />
universities, and parents of school students<br />
were advised they could keep their children<br />
home.<br />
Police subdued a few protesters as a<br />
crowd gathered for a third straight day in a<br />
central business and high-end retail district,<br />
public broadcaster RTHK reported.<br />
Both protesters and police remained in the<br />
area, and office workers watched from the<br />
sidewalks.<br />
Farther afield, students and others at the<br />
Chinese University of Hong Kong hunkered<br />
down for another possible clash with<br />
police. Gasoline bombs and fires lit up<br />
parts of the campus the previous night, as<br />
police battled back with tear gas and rubber<br />
bullets.<br />
Security Secretary John Lee said the use of<br />
force was needed to gain control of a bridge<br />
from which protesters were dropping objects<br />
onto a roadway below.<br />
"The police have a duty to ensure public<br />
safety is maintained," he told reporters.<br />
"That's why we had to take charge of the<br />
bridge formerly controlled by the protesters."<br />
Before the evening violence, a police official<br />
warned protesters were carrying out<br />
"insane acts" and Hong Kong was on the<br />
brink of a total breakdown after more than<br />
five months of protests.<br />
"Our society has been pushed to the brink<br />
of a total breakdown," Senior Police Superintendent<br />
Kong Wing-heung said late Tuesday.<br />
He said Hong Kong's mass transit system<br />
and subway, known as MRT, was strained by<br />
violence and vandalism.<br />
"Masked rioters have lost control and committed<br />
insane acts like throwing trash, bicycles<br />
and large objects onto MTR tracks,<br />
hanging trash on overhead power lines," he<br />
added.<br />
Groups of riot police were deployed<br />
around central Hong Kong and its outlying<br />
territories to try and contain new violence.<br />
Many students at CUHK, in the outskirts of<br />
the sprawling metropolis, were armed with<br />
gasoline bombs while some carried bows and<br />
arrows.<br />
Police increased security around Hong Kong and its university campuses<br />
Wednesday as they braced for more violence after sharp clashes overnight<br />
with anti-government protesters.<br />
Photo : AP<br />
As Hong Kong descends into<br />
chaos, China mulls its options<br />
A sharp escalation of violence in Hong<br />
Kong is once again raising the question<br />
of how China's central government will<br />
respond: Will it intervene, or allow the<br />
chaos to persist?<br />
The Liaison Office, which represents<br />
mainland authorities in Hong Kong,<br />
said Wednesday that actions in the<br />
semi-autonomous territory were "slipping<br />
into the abyss of terrorism." It<br />
pointed out that a man was set on fire<br />
Monday during an argument with<br />
demonstrators, leaving him in critical<br />
condition, reports UNB.<br />
On the same day, a police officer shot<br />
a protester who was then taken to a<br />
hospital, also in critical condition.<br />
The unabating tumult, now in its<br />
sixth month, may give China's ruling<br />
Communist Party the justification it<br />
needs to take more direct action, analysts<br />
said.<br />
"Beijing is hoping that the Hong<br />
Kong community will start blaming the<br />
protesters and support the restoration<br />
of order," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a<br />
political science professor at Hong<br />
Kong Baptist University.<br />
The central government must wait<br />
for the right moment to step in,<br />
Cabestan said, adding that if China acts<br />
before public opinion is fully on its side,<br />
it could exacerbate existing discontent.<br />
While the movement began peacefully<br />
in June to oppose a now-withdrawn<br />
extradition bill, it has been increasingly<br />
defined by smaller groups of hard-core<br />
demonstrators bent on sowing chaos.<br />
Their actions, which have included setting<br />
cars on fire and smashing storefronts,<br />
have alienated many residents.<br />
The Liaison Office described the act<br />
of setting the man on fire as "flagrant<br />
terrorism," and pledged support for<br />
Hong Kong authorities taking measures<br />
to curb "various illegal acts of violence<br />
and acts of terrorism."<br />
Whereas Chinese authorities previously<br />
called the demonstrators "rioters"<br />
with behavior "close to terrorism," they<br />
are now calling them "murderers" and<br />
tying them more explicitly to terrorism.<br />
This label may presage more severe<br />
enforcement measures and impact how<br />
demonstrators are ultimately prosecuted.<br />
A former British colony, Hong Kong<br />
was returned to China in 1997 under<br />
the framework of "one country, two<br />
systems," a policy that promises Hong<br />
Kong certain democratic rights not<br />
granted to the mainland. But the<br />
arrests of pro-democracy activists and<br />
booksellers in recent years have raised<br />
fears among Hong Kong residents that<br />
Beijing is encroaching on the city's freedoms.<br />
During a key meeting of the party's<br />
Central Committee at the end of<br />
October, Chinese leaders proposed<br />
establishing and strengthening the<br />
"legal system and enforcement mechanism<br />
for safeguarding national security"<br />
in special administrative regions<br />
like Hong Kong and Macao.<br />
A meeting summary from China's<br />
official Xinhua news agency did not<br />
elaborate on what this would entail, but<br />
Chinese officials have variously pointed<br />
to Article <strong>14</strong>, Article 18 and Article 23 of<br />
the Basic Law, Hong Kong's de facto<br />
constitution.<br />
Sri Lankan journalists fear situation<br />
may worsen after polls<br />
Forced to flee their country a<br />
decade ago to escape<br />
allegedly state-sponsored<br />
killer squads, Sri Lankan<br />
journalists living in exile<br />
doubt they'll be able to<br />
return home soon or see justice<br />
served to their tormentors<br />
- whose alleged ringleader<br />
could come to power<br />
in this weekend's presidential<br />
election, reports UNB.<br />
Exiled journalists and<br />
media rights groups are<br />
expressing disappointment<br />
over the current government's<br />
failure in punishing<br />
those responsible for crimes<br />
committed against media<br />
members during President<br />
Mahinda Rajapaksa's tenure<br />
from 2005 to 2015.<br />
And with Rajapaksa's<br />
younger brother Gotabaya<br />
Rajapaksa - the former<br />
defense chief suspected of<br />
being behind the attacks -<br />
favored to win Saturday's<br />
election, they do not believe<br />
the situation will change<br />
anytime soon.<br />
The current government<br />
led by President Maithripala<br />
Sirisena came to power in<br />
2015 and promised to end<br />
impunity on crimes against<br />
journalists and media<br />
organizations. But more<br />
than four years later, police<br />
investigations still have not<br />
led to any convictions on<br />
media attacks. "We are not<br />
satisfied with the measures<br />
taken by this government in<br />
probing the attacks on<br />
media," said Duminda Sampath,<br />
president of the Sri<br />
Lanka Working Journalists<br />
Association, the largest<br />
media organization in the<br />
country, adding that "none<br />
of the culprits accused of<br />
attacks on media have so far<br />
been exposed or punished."<br />
During Mahinda Rajapaksa's<br />
time as president, several<br />
journalists were assassinated<br />
by unidentified killers,<br />
while others were abducted<br />
in mysterious white vans<br />
and tortured before being<br />
either killed or released. The<br />
abductions and killings took<br />
place during the final years<br />
of Sri Lanka's long civil war,<br />
which ended in 2009. While<br />
there are no proper records<br />
to show how many were<br />
abducted or killed, Sampath<br />
said around 60 journalists<br />
fled the country during this<br />
period out of fear for their<br />
lives.<br />
The abductions of journalists<br />
and critics of the government<br />
in the white vans was a<br />
symbol of oppression during<br />
the presidency of Mahinda<br />
Rajapaksa, who is credited<br />
with ending the quarter century-long<br />
civil war. The war<br />
ended with the military<br />
crushing the Tamil Tiger<br />
rebels.
ART & CULTURE<br />
THURSDAY,<br />
NOVeMBeR <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
8<br />
'Friends' Reunion Special in<br />
the Works at HBO Max<br />
Charlie's Angels (<strong>2019</strong>)<br />
When a young systems engineer blows the whistle on a<br />
dangerous technology, Charlie's Angels are called into<br />
action, putting their lives on the line to protect us all.<br />
Director : Elizabeth Banks<br />
Writers : Elizabeth Banks (screenplay), Evan<br />
Spiliotopoulos<br />
Stars : Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott,<br />
Ella Balinska<br />
Release : 15 November, <strong>2019</strong> (USA)<br />
The still from 'Friends'<br />
Sources tell The Hollywood<br />
Reporter that a deal is far from<br />
done but the full cast and<br />
creators would participate.<br />
As mega-hit Friends continues<br />
to celebrate its 25th anniversary,<br />
sources tell The Hollywood<br />
Reporter that the six core stars<br />
and the creators of the NBC<br />
comedy from Warner Bros. TV are<br />
in talks to reunite on HBO Max.<br />
Talks are currently underway for<br />
an unscripted reunion special that<br />
would feature Jennifer Aniston,<br />
Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt<br />
LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and<br />
David Schwimmer, as well as<br />
series creators David Crane and<br />
Marta Kauffman. Sources caution<br />
that a deal is far from done and<br />
agreements with cast and creatives<br />
still need to be hammered out.<br />
When and if deals are completed,<br />
the challenge then becomes<br />
sorting out everyone's schedules.<br />
Of course, the talks could fizzle and<br />
the whole concept could fall apart.<br />
HBO Max and producers<br />
WBTV declined comment.<br />
News of a reunion special<br />
arrives as Friends has found new<br />
audiences at its streaming home<br />
on Netflix. The series is officially<br />
leaving the streamer at year's end<br />
and will make its debut on<br />
WarnerMedia-backed HBO Max<br />
when that $15 monthly<br />
Styled by Shaleena Nathani,<br />
the red puff sleeve dress was<br />
rounded out with matching<br />
lipstick, filled-in eyebrows and a<br />
hint of glitter on the eyelids.<br />
Deepika Padukone has a<br />
chosen set of colours she almost<br />
always falls back upon. One of the<br />
colours is white, and the other is<br />
red. So it comes as no surprise<br />
that the Piku actor was recently<br />
spotted in a red dress from the<br />
label Rosie Assoulin. Styled by<br />
Shaleena Nathani, the coldshouldered<br />
puff sleeve dress was<br />
rounded out with matching<br />
lipstick, filled-in eyebrows and a<br />
hint of glitter on the eyelids.<br />
The actor’s fondness for the<br />
outfit (and of course the colour!)<br />
was revealed as she shared on<br />
Instagram, “RED- is the colour<br />
subscription platform launches at<br />
a date to be determined. Sources<br />
say WarnerMedia paid $85<br />
million per year for five years<br />
($425 million) to reclaim<br />
streaming rights to Friends for its<br />
own platform. (Netflix, for its part,<br />
paid $80 million to $100 million<br />
to keep Friends on its service for<br />
<strong>2019</strong> and was ultimately outbid by<br />
Warner Media.)<br />
Sources note that<br />
WarnerMedia Entertainment and<br />
direct-to-consumer chairman Bob<br />
Greenblatt has been the driving<br />
force pushing for the Friends<br />
reunion, which would pair well<br />
with HBO Max's debut and the<br />
comedy's new streaming home.<br />
Sources say that the cast is willing<br />
to do it is an accomplishment in<br />
and of itself.<br />
The cast and creators, for their<br />
part, have remained steadfast over<br />
the years since the series wrapped its<br />
10-season run that they would not<br />
do any sort of scripted revival. NBC<br />
staged a mini-Friends reunion in<br />
2016 as part of a special honoring<br />
legendary director and producer<br />
James Burrows. Five of the six stars<br />
— save for Perry — participated in<br />
the look back that also featured the<br />
casts of Will & Grace, Cheers and<br />
The Big Bang Theory.<br />
For her part, Aniston on Oct. 27<br />
shot down word of a Friends<br />
reboot (with a flat-out "no") but<br />
did tell daytime host Ellen<br />
DeGeneres, "We would love for<br />
there to be something, but we<br />
don't know what that something<br />
is. So we're just trying. We're<br />
working on something."<br />
Aniston returned to television<br />
with the Nov. 1 premiere of Apple<br />
TV+'s The Morning Show. The<br />
drama marks her first TV series<br />
regular role since she wrapped<br />
Friends. (On The Morning Show,<br />
Aniston stars opposite her Friends<br />
onscreen sister, Reese<br />
Witherspoon.) The actress also<br />
recently joined Instagram by<br />
posting a recent photo of her<br />
reuniting with her Friends co-stars.<br />
Friends producer Warner Bros.<br />
TV has been busy with a series of<br />
events to celebrate the show's<br />
25th anniversary this year, with<br />
replica couches placed at<br />
landmarks across the globe, popups<br />
of Central Perk, special<br />
theatrical screenings of beloved<br />
episodes and more.<br />
A Friends reunion would<br />
immediately provide the kind of<br />
must-see TV that an upstart<br />
streaming service like HBO Max<br />
would want. Disney, for example,<br />
on Tuesday launched its<br />
streaming service with its highly<br />
anticipated Star Wars scripted<br />
drama The Mandalorian.<br />
Source : hollywoodreporter.com<br />
Deepika says red increases heart<br />
rate, Ranveer Singh and we agree<br />
that makes people hungry. Red<br />
also instantly attracts attention,<br />
makes people excited, energetic<br />
and increases heart rate! All of<br />
the things I’m going for today!”<br />
Her husband, Ranveer Singh<br />
commented, “My spirit colour”<br />
and we cannot agree more.<br />
Prior to this, the actor was in<br />
Bengaluru to attend her friend’s<br />
wedding, and looked lovely in a<br />
Sabyasachi Mukherjee creation.<br />
She was seen in the designer’s<br />
quintessential ensemble —<br />
marked by floral designs and<br />
intricate detailed embroidery —<br />
that was carefully layered. The<br />
look was accessorised with<br />
statement choker and earrings,<br />
and rounded out with smokey<br />
eyes and hair tied in a neat bun.<br />
Source : indianexpress.com<br />
Storyline :<br />
Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska are working<br />
for the mysterious Charles Townsend, whose security and<br />
investigative agency has expanded internationally. With the<br />
world's smartest, bravest, and most highly trained women all<br />
over the globe, there are now teams of Angels guided by<br />
multiple Bosleys taking on the toughest jobs everywhere.<br />
|Source: IMDb]<br />
Kristen Stewart opens<br />
up on her journey<br />
in the spotlight<br />
Actress Kristen Stewart feels "so lucky"<br />
to be living in this particular time in<br />
history. Stewart has reflected on her<br />
journey in the spotlight and her "struggle"<br />
to come to terms with her identity, reports<br />
eonline.com.<br />
"I think I'm so lucky to live in this<br />
particular time of history," Stewart said.<br />
"I just think...if you were to look at kids<br />
right now, even just five years, seven to 10<br />
years younger than me, they would find<br />
my sort of struggle to come to terms with<br />
like identity and communication kind of<br />
silly."<br />
"And I feed off them, even though I<br />
think that I might've had something to do<br />
with feeding that, a little bit, because it was<br />
like...not the hardest thing to get to know<br />
myself it was just...it takes a few years to<br />
actually articulate who you are," she<br />
added.<br />
"And now that I'm living in a time where<br />
that's fully allowed, in a way that is<br />
expressed and honest...that wasn't that<br />
way five to seven years ago."<br />
On what makes her feel "strong",<br />
Stewart said she is so "lucky" to know for a<br />
fact that she is telling the right story that<br />
"defines" her.<br />
Source : glamsham.com<br />
Motichoor Chaknachoor<br />
actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui:<br />
I had to struggle to find love<br />
Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui on<br />
upcoming romantic comedy Motichoor<br />
Chaknachoor, the struggle to get everything<br />
in life and the global recognition he received<br />
for Sacred Games and McMafia. The film<br />
releases on November 15.<br />
In this interview with indianexpress.com,<br />
the versatile actor talks about how he has to<br />
struggle to get everything in life, and the<br />
global recognition he received with two<br />
International Emmy award nominations this<br />
year for Sacred Games and McMafia.<br />
Excerpts from the conversation:<br />
Photograph and now Motichoor<br />
Chaknachoor, you have been playing<br />
characters of the quintessential Indian man<br />
who struggles to find love in life.<br />
Yes, I always struggle to find love. This was<br />
the struggle in real life too. In fact, I have had<br />
to struggle for everything in life. I think it is<br />
because of my face that I had to struggle,<br />
especially to find love. I haven’t got anything<br />
easily. Nothing.<br />
There is a Nawazuddin Siddiqui genre<br />
now. People expect you to do something outof-the-box<br />
with every new project. Also, we<br />
have the new crop of actors who are inspired<br />
by your work and want to become like you.<br />
How does that make you feel?<br />
Motichoor Chaknachoor hits screens on on November 15.<br />
If someone is inspired by my work, it is a<br />
good thing. It gives me a sense of<br />
responsibility to keep doing work with the<br />
same passion and honesty with which I have<br />
done till now. It is also like a challenge that<br />
you have to surpass your own work.<br />
When we talk about the kind of films that I<br />
do, I don’t have a set genre attached to my<br />
name. I wish that never happens to me.<br />
In my initial days, I have done dark films<br />
which had characters with dark shades. I<br />
actually enjoy that kind of stuff personally.<br />
But an actor needs to expand according to the<br />
market as well. So, I make sure I also do films<br />
according to the trends that are working. And<br />
now, I think the trend is films about marriage<br />
and weddings, so I am doing Motichoor<br />
Chaknachoor. An actor needs to do all kinds<br />
of films. Experimentation is very important in<br />
our profession.<br />
From the very beginning of my career, I<br />
wanted to do romantic films, but I was never<br />
offered one. Maybe because they didn’t like<br />
the way I looked. Maybe I didn’t have a face to<br />
pull off a romantic role according to them. So,<br />
now when people have finally started offering<br />
me romantic films, I feel thankful, and I want<br />
to grab them all.<br />
Source : indianexpress.com<br />
H O R O S C O p e<br />
ARIeS<br />
(March 21 - April 20): You like to<br />
recycle in your home and your<br />
workplace. Be a part of the solution<br />
instead of the problem by picking up after yourself<br />
and making sure that you aren't leaving a mess<br />
wherever you go. The state of the environment is<br />
more of a concern every day. It's up to each<br />
individual to make a difference.<br />
TAURUS<br />
(April 21 - May 21): The source of<br />
your frustration may be people who<br />
seem to be sensitive and honest yet<br />
act abrasively and speak aggressively. Try not to<br />
be fooled by those who continuously offer one<br />
image while delivering another. Keep your guard<br />
up. Don't waste your time giving people more<br />
chances than they deserve.<br />
GeMINI<br />
(May 22 - June 21): Love and<br />
romance are most certainly in the<br />
cards today. Play the hand you're<br />
dealt and you should come away from the<br />
table victorious. There's some transformation<br />
that may take place regarding issues of the<br />
heart. Don't compromise yourself in any way.<br />
Settle for nothing but the best. This is a day to<br />
shine.<br />
CANCeR<br />
(June 22 - July 23): Issues regarding<br />
romance could be a big part of the<br />
picture today. The scales could tip<br />
either way in terms of your success at this game.<br />
The decision is up to you. You're probably better<br />
off keeping things light and entertaining. Reveal<br />
the scope of your passionate and powerful<br />
emotions on another day.<br />
LeO<br />
(July 24 - Aug. 23): Matters of the<br />
heart are in your favor today. You<br />
should prepare for a day full of social<br />
activities and good conversation. Your creative<br />
spirit may also be heightened. You can't go wrong<br />
picking the right item in a clothing store or flea<br />
market. Your taste for the elegant is impeccable, so<br />
feel free to indulge.<br />
VIRGO<br />
(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): You might<br />
focus on romance today, but it's<br />
possible that you're having<br />
problems figuring out a way to express your<br />
feelings. There's power influencing the scene,<br />
and certainly no shortage of passion. You<br />
might find that there's a bit of superficiality to<br />
the situation that makes it hard to commit with<br />
all of your energy.<br />
LIBRA<br />
(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): When it comes to<br />
issues regarding romance, don't hold<br />
back today. Things are working in your<br />
favor. You shouldn't hesitate to act forcefully and<br />
confidently. Show others that you're serious. Don't back<br />
down as things heat up even more. This is a sign that<br />
things are progressing in your favor and you shouldn't<br />
mistake this intensity for anything but true passion.<br />
SCORpIO<br />
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): The center of your<br />
power might find it difficult to commit<br />
to anything today. Issues regarding<br />
love and romance could arise, and you may feel the<br />
need to start something moving in this department.<br />
You may be indecisive about which way to go.<br />
Spruce up and get out in the social arena. You can<br />
let someone else take the lead from there.<br />
SAGITTARIUS<br />
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): In matters<br />
involving love and romance,<br />
things might get a little sticky<br />
today. You might want to charge<br />
ahead with a plan, while a close partner wants<br />
to sit, discuss, and work things out together.<br />
Tempers might flare. You'd do well to be<br />
ready to compromise. A hotheaded approach<br />
will do more harm than good.<br />
CApRICORN<br />
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): Love will probably<br />
be on your mind most of today, so<br />
give your heart your full attention.<br />
You're having trouble communicating with a loved<br />
one now, so try to be patient. He moves left and<br />
you move right. You move left and she moves<br />
right. Each time you bump into each other. Let the<br />
other person make the first move.<br />
AQUARIUS<br />
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): Issues regarding<br />
love and romance are in your favor.<br />
There's a strong force spurring you<br />
to take action. Heed this helpful<br />
energy. Feel free to display yourself openly in<br />
the social arena. Talk among friends could be<br />
rewarding for you now. All sorts of connections<br />
are favored for you today.<br />
pISCeS<br />
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): Tension in the<br />
romance department may arise for<br />
you. You want to get things started<br />
in a relationship that's important to you, yet<br />
something always seems to stand in the way of<br />
the plan. Instead of trying to sidestep your way<br />
into the picture, take a direct approach. If you<br />
don't try, you're just as bad off as if you'd tried<br />
and failed. Go for it.
SPORTS<br />
THURSDAY, noVEMBER <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
9<br />
Bangladesh begins their World Test Championship journey and it can't be tougher than anything<br />
else in the cricket world at this moment.<br />
Photo: AP<br />
Tigers hope amid despair as<br />
Indore Test begins today<br />
Resurgent<br />
Dutch on cusp<br />
of Euro 2020<br />
and return to<br />
big time<br />
Sports Desk: A thrilling<br />
crop of young players has<br />
Euro 2020 in its sights as the<br />
Netherlands prepare for a<br />
return to the big stage, while<br />
Teemu Pukki's Finland are<br />
on the brink of their first<br />
ever major tournament,<br />
reports BSS.<br />
Ronald Koeman's side<br />
need just a draw at Northern<br />
Ireland on Saturday to guarantee<br />
a spot at their first<br />
international tournament<br />
since coming third at the<br />
20<strong>14</strong> World Cup.<br />
The Dutch had been in the<br />
doldrums since then until<br />
the arrival early in 2018 of<br />
Koeman, with the once<br />
mighty Oranje missing out<br />
on the previous European<br />
Championship and last<br />
year's World Cup in Russia.<br />
The 56-year-old has revitalised<br />
his country's dormant<br />
national team with the<br />
help of a crop of young players<br />
who are putting a famous<br />
footballing nation back on<br />
the map.<br />
Rising stars including<br />
Frenkie de Jong, Donny van<br />
de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt<br />
have joined more experienced<br />
campaigners Virgil<br />
van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum,<br />
Daley Blind and Ryan<br />
Babel to go top of Group.<br />
Sports Desk: Bangladesh hopes<br />
against the hopes to push India vehemently,<br />
which many team had of late<br />
found incredibly tougher on Indian<br />
soil, as they take on the hosts in the first<br />
Test at Holkar Stadium in Indore<br />
today, reports BSS.<br />
With the Test, which starts at 10 am<br />
BST, Bangladesh begins their World<br />
Test Championship journey and it can't<br />
be tougher than anything else in the<br />
cricket world at this moment.<br />
Playing India against their home is<br />
always the toughest job and in recent<br />
years, the rise of Indian pacers made<br />
the whole situation more unbearable<br />
for the tourists.<br />
Bangladesh though did exceedingly<br />
well in the three-match T20 series, winning<br />
one match at Delhi, which was<br />
beyond imagination. That much needed<br />
victory came on the back of a tumultuous<br />
period of country cricket.<br />
Before the start of the tour,<br />
Bangladesh lost their best player and<br />
regular captain Shakib Al Hasan due to<br />
the ICC ban and beforehand he led a<br />
successful players' strike against BCB,<br />
leaving the country's cricket in an<br />
uncomfortable state. The T20 victory<br />
came as a relief. Even though they lost<br />
the series by 2-1 after coming agonizingly<br />
close to win the series deciding<br />
third game, Bangladesh at least could<br />
console them that they didn't India to<br />
make it a cakewalk.<br />
Test cricket however is all together a<br />
different proposition. Bangladesh,<br />
which turns to 19 in cricket's elite format<br />
on last November 10, so far played<br />
<strong>11</strong>5 Tests and lost a staggering number<br />
of 86 matches.<br />
They won just 13, drew 16 and most<br />
of the draw came thanks to the rain<br />
blessings. Against India, Bangladesh<br />
played 9 Test and lost 7. The two<br />
matches they drew against India, largely<br />
courtesy for the rain.<br />
The stat itself suggested how vulnerable<br />
they are in Test cricket. Bangladesh<br />
even lost their last Test to Test cricket's<br />
newest nation Afghanistan by 224 runs<br />
and that too at their own den.If their<br />
last match is taken into consideration,<br />
even a diehard Bangladeshi fan would<br />
not see any chance of Bangladesh's<br />
honorable defeat against India, let<br />
alone the victory.<br />
That India whitewashed South Africa<br />
in three-match series recently with<br />
winning the last two Tests by innings<br />
margin, is the stat that made any team<br />
shivering down the spine. In the past<br />
when overseas teams were scared of<br />
India's spinners, of late they found<br />
India pacers tougher than the spinners.<br />
When one would judge the players'<br />
performance of both team, they would<br />
also see a gulf off difference.<br />
Compare that to India's premier willow<br />
wielders - Virat Kohli (26 hundreds),<br />
Ajinkya Rahane (<strong>11</strong>), Cheteshwar<br />
Pujara (18), Bangladesh's newly<br />
appointed Test skipper Mominul<br />
Haque has highest century for the side<br />
with 8 although Mushfiqur Rahim and<br />
Mahmudullah are committed cricketers,<br />
but in the longest format, they<br />
aren't exactly formidable names.<br />
India's bowling unit is with 800-plus<br />
scalps, while Mustafizur Rahman is the<br />
most experienced Bangladeshi bowler<br />
with 13 Tests. Bangladesh's recent Test<br />
form and traditional vulnerability coupled<br />
with India's form suggested that<br />
the match is going to be mismatch. But<br />
one thing is in Bangladesh's favourtheir<br />
unpredictability-when no one<br />
gives Bangladesh any chance, the<br />
Tigers used to alter this thing by pulling<br />
off massive surprise. The Delhi T20 victory<br />
was the burning example of that.<br />
"If we look back, no one gave it a<br />
thought that we would win a T20<br />
match, that too on India soil. But we<br />
have the belief on our ability. Whatever<br />
the situation is, every time we get down<br />
the field, we try to win the match.<br />
Sometimes it happens, sometimes it<br />
doesn't happen," Bangladesh middle<br />
order batsman Mohammad Mithun<br />
summed up the team's character.<br />
Bangladesh made it clear that they<br />
would try to play session by session and<br />
would try create pressure, knowing that<br />
even the best batting line up of the<br />
world could crumble under sustained<br />
pressure. India, who remained unbeaten<br />
so far and led the World Test Championship<br />
point table with 240 points,<br />
revealed they won't take Bangladesh<br />
lightly specially when all the points are<br />
very important.<br />
However, while Bangladesh's most of<br />
the big victories at home came in the<br />
designer pitch, which was slow and low,<br />
they would get a sporting wicket here in<br />
Indore. The Indore curator Samandar<br />
Singh Chouhan revealed the pitch<br />
would carry even bounce and both the<br />
pacers and spinners would get even<br />
advantage. It's the type of pitch in<br />
which Bangladesh always feel themselves<br />
vulnerable. But still they hope for<br />
the best.<br />
Squad: Bangladesh: Shadman Islam,<br />
Saif Hassan, Imrul Kayes, Mominul<br />
Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad<br />
Mithun, Mahmudullah Riyad, Liton<br />
Das, Nayeem Hasan, Mehidy Hasan<br />
Miraj, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed Rahi,<br />
Ebadat Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman,<br />
Al-Amin Hossain.<br />
India: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal,<br />
Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli,<br />
Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Bihari,<br />
Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin,<br />
Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed<br />
Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav,<br />
Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Rishab<br />
Pant.<br />
Spanish star striker Villa<br />
retires from football<br />
Sports Desk: Star striker David Villa, Spain's top goal scorer, announced on Wednesday he<br />
was quitting professional football at the end of the season, reports BSS.<br />
The 37-year-old is currently playing for Vissel Kobe in Japan after a glittering career at<br />
international and club level that has included stints at Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia.<br />
"I'm holding (this press conference) to announce that I have decided to end my professional<br />
career and that I have decided to retire," Villa told reporters in Kobe, his voice occasionally<br />
breaking with emotion.<br />
"I've been thinking about this for a long time. This is the result of discussions I had with my<br />
family and people around me… I wanted to retire from football, not be forced to retire from<br />
football," added the striker. Villa played in three World Cups and was a member of the Spanish<br />
side that lifted the trophy in 2010, and won the European Championships in 2008. He<br />
netted 59 times for Spain, a national record. His silverware also includes a Champions League<br />
title with Barcelona, as well as two La Liga wins and a World Club Cup medal. At Vissel Kobe,<br />
he played alongside fellow Spanish legend Andres Iniesta and German striker Lukas Podolski<br />
but the presence of the foreign stars has done little to bring success to the ambitious Japanese<br />
club. Vissel Kobe are currently languishing 10th in the J-League after 31 games - the same<br />
position they finished last year.<br />
Villa played in three World Cups and was a member of the Spanish side<br />
that lifted the trophy in 2010.<br />
Photo: AP<br />
French cycling's<br />
eternal runner-up<br />
Poulidor dies at 83<br />
Sports Desk: French<br />
cyclist Raymond Poulidor,<br />
who gained huge affection as<br />
an eternal runner-up in the<br />
Tour de France, has died at<br />
the age of 83, his wife told<br />
AFP on Wednesday, reports<br />
BSS.<br />
Poulidor had been hospitalised<br />
since early October<br />
and "he left us this morning,"<br />
his wife Gisele told AFP<br />
from their home in western<br />
France.<br />
His astonishing career<br />
spanned 25 years but he will<br />
always be remembered for<br />
the races he failed to win.<br />
From 1964 to 1976 Poulidor<br />
finished second in the<br />
Tour de France on three<br />
occasions and was third five<br />
times in an era dominated<br />
by Eddy Merckx.<br />
So famous was his repeated<br />
failure to clinch the Tour<br />
that the phrase "to do a<br />
Poulidor" passed into the<br />
French language, synonymous<br />
with coming an<br />
unlucky second.<br />
Despite his Tour de France<br />
disappointments, Poulidor<br />
is forever ranked among<br />
France's cycling greats and<br />
at the same time is seen as a<br />
humble hard worker loved<br />
by the people who earned<br />
every one of his many triumphs.<br />
His long-time rival Merckx<br />
told AFP "a great friend has<br />
left us".<br />
"I am very sad. During my<br />
career we were rivals but<br />
afterwards we often spent<br />
time together. We holidayed<br />
together. It's a big loss."<br />
Among current riders,<br />
Romain Bardet, second in<br />
the Tour de France in 2016<br />
and third the following year,<br />
said: "He was an emblematic<br />
character, adored by the<br />
public."<br />
Pooran banned for<br />
four T20 matches<br />
for ball tampering<br />
Sports Desk: West Indies batsman<br />
Nicholas Pooran has been banned for four<br />
T20 internationals for tampering with the<br />
ball in a one-day match against Afghanistan,<br />
cricket's world body announced Wednesday,<br />
reports BSS.<br />
Pooran admitted to "changing the condition<br />
of the ball" after video footage showed<br />
him scratching the surface of the white ball<br />
with his thumbnail in Lucknow on Monday.<br />
"He will now miss the next four T20I<br />
games for the West Indies and will have five<br />
demerit points added to his record," said an<br />
International Cricket Council statement.<br />
Pooran said that he wanted to "issue a sincere<br />
apology to my teammates, supporters<br />
and the Afghanistan team for what transpired<br />
on the field of play on Monday in Lucknow".<br />
"I recognise that I made an extreme error<br />
in judgement and I fully accept the ICC<br />
penalty," he added.<br />
"I want to assure everyone that this is an<br />
isolated incident and it will not be repeated.<br />
I promise to learn from this and come back<br />
stronger and wiser."<br />
The 24-year-old will be forced to sit out the<br />
team's three T20 matches against<br />
Afghanistan and the first game of their subsequent<br />
three-match series against India.<br />
Pooran, who made 21 in a successful West<br />
Indies chase of 250 that led to a sweep of the<br />
three-match ODI series, is a left-handed<br />
wicketkeeper batsman.<br />
He was the man of the match in the second<br />
ODI for smashing 67 off 50 balls.<br />
Born in Trinidad, Pooran has played 16<br />
ODI matches since his 50-over debut earlier<br />
this year. He has represented West Indies in<br />
<strong>14</strong> T20 games.<br />
Pooran admitted to "changing the condition of the ball" after video footage<br />
showed him scratching the surface of the white ball with his thumbnail in<br />
Lucknow on Monday.<br />
Photo: AP<br />
India counts Mustafiz when<br />
his spot is under threat<br />
Sports Desk: When India captain Virat Kohli rated left-arm<br />
fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman as their threat, Bangladesh<br />
looked in dilemma whether to include him in the first XI for<br />
the first Test, starting tomorrow in Indore's Holkar Stadium,<br />
reports BSS.<br />
Mustafizur was the weakest link of Bangladesh's bowling in<br />
the three-match T20 series as he leaked runs in abundance<br />
when the other fast bowlers kept the things right.<br />
Known as 'Cutter Master' for his ability to con the batsmen<br />
with mysterious slower cutter, slower, leg-cutter and slower<br />
bouncer, Mustafizur now is the bowler looking like out-ofsort<br />
and jaded. He has no performance to speak for him in<br />
the last two years as he struggles to keep him fit amid numerous<br />
injuries.<br />
But Kohli rates Mustafizur for the reason that they often<br />
don't get the chance to play the left arm fast bowler in the<br />
practice match or net.<br />
"He [Mustafizur] is a very good bowler. We've played<br />
against him quite a bit. But red ball…I think any left-arm<br />
seamer is a very different kind of bowler that we're used to<br />
playing a lot," Kohli said.<br />
"So yeah, it just requires extra focus because you don't play<br />
left-arm seamers that regularly when you don't have them in<br />
your team. So it's a challenge, but we must look forward to<br />
those challenges. Not that we get bundled out against leftarm<br />
seam, but we've found it more difficult purely because<br />
we don't play them on a regular basis. So he's going to be a<br />
threat, he's going to be a key player for Bangladesh," he<br />
added.<br />
"He's an experienced bowler and he's been around for a<br />
while, and he knows the Indian batsmen as well, having<br />
played the IPL and so on. But we've played against him a lot<br />
as well. So I think it will be about keeping focus and concentration<br />
against a good bowler and try to come out on top."<br />
When Kohli has something to say about Mustafizur,<br />
Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque couldn't give any guarantee<br />
of the fast bowler's place in the team. But there was a<br />
time when Mustafizur's place was certain.<br />
"I can't say what will be the squad. We are yet to discuss on<br />
it. Let's see whether he plays or not," Mominul said.<br />
Sterling sanction casts shadow as England<br />
aim to seal place at Euro 2020<br />
Sports Desk: England's plan to celebrate<br />
their 1,000th international by<br />
qualifying for Euro 2020 in serene style<br />
against Montenegro at Wembley on<br />
Thursday has been ripped up by Gareth<br />
Southgate's decision to drop Raheem<br />
Sterling, reports BSS.<br />
The Manchester City winger was<br />
involved in a physical confrontation<br />
with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez at<br />
England's training base on Monday as<br />
emotions spilled over from the highlyanticipated<br />
Premier League clash<br />
between the two clubs on Sunday.<br />
Sterling has been the star of a qualifying<br />
campaign dominated by off-field<br />
issues where the Three Lions have<br />
largely let their football do the talking<br />
on it.<br />
Bar a shock defeat to the Czech<br />
Republic last month, the World Cup<br />
semi-finalists have shown why they will<br />
be among the favourites to win a first<br />
major tournament in 54 years next<br />
summer.<br />
Sterling has scored eight of his side's<br />
26 goals in six games as he has blossomed<br />
into one of the world's best players<br />
for club and country since failing to<br />
find his best form at the World Cup 18<br />
months ago.<br />
He has also been a leading figure as<br />
England have stood up to the racist<br />
abuse suffered by a number of players<br />
in Montenegro and Bulgaria.<br />
One of Southgate's strengths since<br />
taking charge three years ago has been<br />
to foster a unity in the camp, far<br />
removed from the club-aligned cliques<br />
that hampered the chances of talented<br />
England sides of the past.<br />
That now faces its biggest test as the<br />
bubbling rivalry between Liverpool and<br />
City threatens to spill over.<br />
Southgate's first instinct was reportedly<br />
to send Sterling home, but the<br />
intervention of senior players, principally<br />
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson,<br />
helped ease the feud and the 24-<br />
year-old has remained with the squad<br />
to train.<br />
"I always have to find the right solution<br />
for the group and that's a very difficult<br />
line," said Southgate on Tuesday.<br />
"We have a very good understanding<br />
of the way that we have worked over the<br />
last couple of years, which has brought<br />
us a lot of togetherness that is still<br />
there. "We are a united group. Now we<br />
have to turn our focus onto the football.<br />
We have a hugely important qualifier to<br />
reach a European Championship."<br />
Sterling has since apologised to<br />
Gomez and the rest of the squad.<br />
"I am man enough to admit when<br />
emotions got the better of me," he said<br />
in an Instagram post.<br />
"Me and Joe Gomez are good, we<br />
both understand it was a five to 10-second<br />
thing… it's done, we move forward<br />
and not make this bigger than it is."<br />
Sterling could even return to action<br />
as soon as Sunday when Southgate's<br />
men travel to Kosovo.<br />
England will hope there is nothing<br />
riding on that match for them as a point<br />
against the side ranked 61st in the<br />
world on Thursday will be enough to<br />
guarantee qualification.<br />
Even in Sterling's absence, Southgate<br />
is blessed with an array of attacking talent<br />
including Harry Kane, Jadon Sancho<br />
and Marcus Rashford that should<br />
continue England's free-scoring form.<br />
But Southgate's action has been criticised<br />
by some for bringing a private<br />
incident into the public eye and putting<br />
Sterling under more scrutiny as a<br />
result.<br />
"Why this couldn't be handled internally?"<br />
said former England defender<br />
Rio Ferdinand.<br />
"Now Raheem is left to defend himself<br />
from all of the haters that had had<br />
their keyboards turned off due to him<br />
becoming a very worthy ambassador<br />
for the English game."<br />
If England's long wait to win a major<br />
tournament is to come to an end,<br />
Southgate needs to continue getting the<br />
best out of Sterling.<br />
The question remains what lasting<br />
impact the developments of the last two<br />
days will have on their relationship<br />
going forward.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS<br />
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
10<br />
Chinese consumers smash<br />
'Singles' Day' shopping record<br />
Khulna Zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited organized a get together and fair of Rural Development<br />
Scheme customers at Daulatpur branch premises in Khulna recently. Abu Reza Md. Yeahia, Deputy<br />
Managing Director of the Bank inaugurated the fair as chief guest. Md. Maksudur Rahman, Head of<br />
Khulna Zone presided over the program while Zubair Azam Helali, Head of Rural Development Scheme,<br />
Sheikh Syed Ali, Chairman, Bangladesh Jute Association and Sheikh Maruful Islam, Chairman, Dighalia<br />
Upazila Parishad addressed as special guests. Sheikh Mamtaz Shirin, Vice Chairman of Dighalia Upazila<br />
Parishad and Sheikh Mohammad Ali, ward councilor of Khulna City Corporation also addressed the program<br />
among others.<br />
Photo: Courtesy<br />
Social Islami Bank ltd arranged a 02- day long workshop on "Investment Classification and Provision" in<br />
its Training Institute at the Head Office recently. Quazi Osman Ali, Managing Director & CEO of the Bank<br />
inaugurated the program. Officials working at the concerned desk of different Branches attended the<br />
workshop.<br />
Photo: Courtesy<br />
Hong Kong officials fine UBS<br />
for overcharging clients<br />
Swiss banking titan UBS has been fined $51<br />
million by Hong Kong authorities for<br />
overcharging global customers for almost a<br />
decade, saying it had failed to "act in its<br />
clients' best interests" , reports BSS.<br />
The city's Securities and Futures<br />
Commission (SFC) said the company<br />
manipulated the price of trades for bonds<br />
and structured products from 2008 to 2015<br />
and also applied excessive fees for some<br />
clients between 2008 and 2017.<br />
SFC chief executive Ashley Alder said in a<br />
statement: "Although each overcharge<br />
represented a fraction of each trade, UBS's<br />
misconduct involved deception and a<br />
pervasive abuse of trust resulting in<br />
significant additional revenue for UBS to<br />
which it was not entitled."<br />
Officials said that UBS was found to have<br />
falsified account statements by misreporting<br />
the spread amounts for the trades.<br />
"The SFC considers that UBS not only<br />
failed to observe the fundamental and<br />
overarching duty to act in its clients' best<br />
interests but also abused the trust of<br />
unsuspecting clients by failing to disclose<br />
conflicts of interest and overcharging them<br />
in opaque trades," it said in the statement<br />
released Monday.<br />
It added that the overcharge practices<br />
affected about 5,000 Hong Kong-managed<br />
client accounts in about 28,700<br />
transactions.<br />
UBS was fined HK$400 million ($51<br />
million) and the SFC said the bank would<br />
repay the full value of the overcharged<br />
amount together with interest, which would<br />
amount to about HK$200 million.<br />
The bank was among a number of lenders<br />
that were told in March to pay a combined<br />
HK$787 to settle cases linked to their work<br />
on initial public offerings in the city.<br />
Quarter of German<br />
firms in China planning<br />
to leave: survey<br />
Economic<br />
growth in<br />
Venezuela to<br />
begin in 2020:<br />
president<br />
Venezuelan President<br />
Nicolas Maduro vowed that<br />
the economic growth in the<br />
country would begin next<br />
year, reports BSS.<br />
"All data points to the fact<br />
that 2020 will become the<br />
year of the country's<br />
economic growth," Maduro<br />
said in a speech aired by the<br />
state TV. According to the<br />
president, "hyperinflation,<br />
caused by the economic war,<br />
is expected to slow down<br />
next year."<br />
Venezuela has been going<br />
through an acute socialeconomic<br />
crisis in the last<br />
several years, accompanied<br />
by hyperinflation and<br />
currency devaluation.<br />
This year the situation has<br />
been further complicated by<br />
the escalation of the<br />
confrontation between the<br />
government and the<br />
opposition.<br />
Chinese shoppers set new records for<br />
spending during the annual "Singles'<br />
Day" buying spree despite an economic<br />
slowdown and worries over the US<br />
trade war, with state media calling it a<br />
sign of China's rising economic<br />
strength, reports BSS.<br />
E-commerce giant Alibaba said<br />
consumers spent $38.3 billion on its<br />
platforms on Monday during the<br />
world's biggest 24-hour shopping<br />
event, up 26 percent from the previous<br />
all-time high mark set last year.<br />
The growth rate slowed slightly,<br />
however, from the 27 percent increase<br />
last year and 39 percent in 2017.<br />
Alibaba's main domestic competitor<br />
JD.com, which holds an <strong>11</strong>-day<br />
promotion ending at midnight on<br />
November <strong>11</strong>, said early Tuesday it had<br />
handled sales over that stretch totalling<br />
$29.2 billion, which was up 30 percent.<br />
US President Donald Trump has<br />
repeatedly said his tariffs on Chinese<br />
goods have put the country's economy<br />
on the ropes.<br />
But state-run Xinhua news agency<br />
said the "Singles' Day" performance<br />
UK economy avoids recession<br />
with 0.3% quarterly growth<br />
Britain's Brexit-facing economy avoided entering recession in<br />
the third quarter with growth of 0.3 percent, official data showed<br />
on Monday, reports BSS.<br />
Gross domestic product rebounded in the July-September<br />
period after a 0.2-percent contraction in the second quarter, the<br />
Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in an initial estimate.<br />
The technical definition of a recession is two straight quarters<br />
of negative growth. Economic activity was propelled largely by<br />
the construction and services sectors, while the production<br />
sector was flat.<br />
"GDP grew steadily in the third quarter, mainly thanks to a<br />
strong July," said an ONS spokesman. "Services again led the<br />
way with construction also performing well. "Manufacturing<br />
failed to grow as falls in most industries were offset by car<br />
production bouncing back," he added.<br />
The third-quarter performance however fell short of market<br />
expectations and the Bank of England's growth forecast - which<br />
had both stood at 0.4 percent. And despite rebounding growth,<br />
the ONS pointed to "signs" of a slowdown, as Britain readies to<br />
leave the European Union on January 31.<br />
bKash, FHI 360 ink deal for<br />
strengthening 2400 mothers<br />
Recently, bKash signed an agreement<br />
with Family Health International (FHI<br />
360), a US-based non-profit human<br />
development organization to disburse<br />
funds to 2400 lactating mothers under<br />
USAID's Strengthening Multisectoral<br />
Nutrition Programming through<br />
Implementation Science Activity, a<br />
press release said.<br />
Mizanur Rashid, Chief Commercial<br />
Officer of bKash and Jennifer Crum,<br />
Chief of Party, FHI 360, exchanged the<br />
proved China, once known as the<br />
"world's factory" for its reliance on<br />
manufacturing for export, had evolved<br />
into a globally powerful consumer<br />
market of its own.<br />
"Where there is a market, that is<br />
where the future lies," it said in a report.<br />
"From the 'world's factory' to the<br />
'world's market', a China that is<br />
continually moving towards highquality<br />
development will unleash<br />
greater consumption potential in the<br />
future, allowing China's dividends to<br />
benefit the whole world."<br />
Singles' Day, also called "<strong>11</strong>.<strong>11</strong>" for the<br />
November <strong>11</strong> date, was originally set as<br />
an unofficial day for unmarried<br />
Chinese.<br />
But Alibaba - which accounts for<br />
more than half of China's e-commerce -<br />
commandeered it as a discount sales<br />
event akin to the late-November US<br />
"Black Friday", which "Singles' Day"<br />
now handily surpasses.<br />
A range of other e-tailers and retailers<br />
also have jumped in.<br />
Alibaba's one-day promotion on its<br />
Taobao and Tmall platforms began at<br />
agreement on behalf of their respective<br />
organizations. Masrur Chowdhury,<br />
Head of Govt. Project & Business Sales;<br />
A.T.M. Mahbub Alam, GM, Business<br />
Sales; Mehmud Ashique Iqbal, DGM,<br />
Key Accounts; Md. Somel Reza Khan,<br />
Relationship Manager, Commercial<br />
from bKash and Khandaker Irshad<br />
Mahmud, Finance and Operation<br />
Director, Nazmus Sadat, Monitoring,<br />
Evaluation and Learning Advisor, and<br />
Dr. Ayan Shankar Seal, Technical<br />
midnight Sunday following a flashy<br />
stage show in Shanghai headlined by<br />
Grammy-winning US pop star Taylor<br />
Swift.<br />
China's economy is in an extended<br />
slowdown exacerbated by the US trade<br />
war, and the Singles' Day fire sale is<br />
viewed as a snapshot of consumer<br />
sentiment in the world's second-biggest<br />
economy.<br />
Consumers gave little indication of<br />
worry, charging out of the gate with $1<br />
billion spent via Alibaba platforms in<br />
the first 68 seconds.<br />
US-listed Alibaba earlier this month<br />
said revenue growth in its most recent<br />
financial quarter slowed to 40 percent,<br />
from 54 percent in the same quarter<br />
last year.<br />
Analysts however, note that it would<br />
be difficult for Alibaba to maintain past<br />
growth rates forever, and that<br />
consumption should remain solid in<br />
the future, facilitated by factors<br />
including technology and the<br />
government's push to encourage<br />
domestic consumption as an economic<br />
driver.<br />
Bank of France forecasts<br />
weaker Q4 growth<br />
The French economy is<br />
tipped to grow by 0.2 percent<br />
in the fourth quarter, a slight<br />
easing seen also across the<br />
wider eurozone, Bank of<br />
France data showed Tuesday,<br />
reports BSS.<br />
The bank's preliminary<br />
forecast put business activity<br />
in the second biggest<br />
eurozone country at a weaker<br />
pace than the 0.3 percent rate<br />
of expansion notched up<br />
since January.<br />
On Thursday, the European<br />
Union cited uncertainty<br />
related to trade conflicts,<br />
heightened geopolitical<br />
tensions, persistent weakness<br />
in the manufacturing sector<br />
and Brexit as it slashed its<br />
<strong>2019</strong> growth forecast for the<br />
entire 19-member eurozone<br />
to just 1.1 percent.<br />
In July, the EU had forecast<br />
a slightly higher growth rate<br />
of 1.2 percent.<br />
Based on a monthly survey<br />
of business leaders, the<br />
French slowdown is likely to<br />
result from weaker activity in<br />
the construction and<br />
industrial sectors, a central<br />
bank statement said.<br />
For the entire year, the<br />
central bank and the national<br />
statistics institute INSEE<br />
forecast growth of 1.3 percent,<br />
down from the 2018 figure of<br />
1.7 percent.<br />
Advisor from FHI 360 were also<br />
present at the signing ceremony.<br />
FHI 360 has worked in Bangladesh<br />
for the last 40 years and has conducted<br />
more than 100 projects in family health<br />
& nutrition segment. Besides providing<br />
wide range of human development<br />
assistance, FHI 360 has also been at the<br />
forefront of helping Bangladesh move<br />
toward the digitization of payments<br />
and financial services, says a press<br />
release.<br />
Nearly a quarter of<br />
German companies<br />
operating in China are<br />
planning to relocate all or<br />
part of their business out<br />
of the country, according<br />
to a study released<br />
Tuesday with many<br />
blaming rising costs,<br />
reports BSS.<br />
The German Chamber of<br />
Commerce's annual<br />
survey of 526 member<br />
firms in China found that<br />
23 percent have either<br />
already decided to<br />
withdraw production<br />
capacity in the country or<br />
are considering it.<br />
One-third of those<br />
companies have planned<br />
to leave China entirely.<br />
The rest will transfer<br />
part of their business and<br />
production overseas,<br />
largely to lower-cost<br />
countries like India or in<br />
Southeast Asia.Operating<br />
costs in China have been<br />
rising as the country seeks<br />
to rebalance its economy<br />
from an export and<br />
investment-led model to<br />
one driven by consumer<br />
spending.<br />
Of the 104 companies<br />
that have decided to leave<br />
or are considering to, 71<br />
percent cite the rise in<br />
production costs -<br />
particularly for labour.<br />
A third blamed an<br />
unfavourable public policy<br />
environment and one in<br />
four said the China-US<br />
trade war is having an<br />
impact.<br />
"Business expectations<br />
have dropped to their<br />
lowest level in years," the<br />
study warned, with only a<br />
quarter of companies<br />
surveyed expecting to<br />
meet or exceed their goals<br />
this year.<br />
And more than a third<br />
said Beijing's efforts to<br />
"level the playing field" for<br />
foreign companies are<br />
"insufficient".<br />
"Competition has to be<br />
fair," said German<br />
Ambassador Clemens von<br />
Goetze at the launch of the<br />
study Tuesday.<br />
"Foreign companies,<br />
including German<br />
companies, and Chinese<br />
companies should play on<br />
a level field."<br />
The ambassador also<br />
said German companies<br />
had been "not so well<br />
informed" about China's<br />
huge Belt and Road<br />
Initiative - a $1 trillion<br />
global investment drive -<br />
and said they had not been<br />
able to benefit from the<br />
economic potential of the<br />
project.<br />
Recently ONE Bank Ltd and mBill Systems Limited signed a strategic Agreement for bill payment middleware services. Under the<br />
Agreement OK Wallet and Agent Banking customers will be able to pay various utility bills instantly. Rozina Aliya Ahmed, ADMD &<br />
Head of Liability Marketing of ONE Bank Limited and Md. Zahidur Rahman, Managing Director of mBill Systems Limited signed the<br />
agreement on behalf of their respective Organizations. Gazi Yar Mohammed, Head of MFS & Agent Banking of ONE Bank Limited<br />
and Anjuman Parvin, Director & CHRO of mBill Systems Limited along with other high officials of both organizations were also present<br />
in the ceremony.<br />
Photo: Courtesy
MISCELLANEOUS<br />
THUrSDAY,<br />
<strong>11</strong><br />
NoveMBer <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
Caption: Annual sports competition and cultural event-<strong>2019</strong> are being held at Milestone School and<br />
College in Uttara Model Town in the capital.<br />
Photo: Courtesy<br />
Neglected heartland seen as key<br />
to Brexit-dominated election<br />
In Hartlepool, a tough, proud English<br />
port town whipped by bitter North Sea<br />
winds, people have long felt ignored<br />
by politicians in far-off London. But<br />
not anymore, reports UNB.<br />
Political parties in Britain's Brexitdominated<br />
December election are<br />
battling fiercely to win Hartlepool and<br />
places like it: working-class former<br />
industrial towns with voters who<br />
could hold the key to the prime<br />
minister's office at 10 Downing Street.<br />
Hartlepool has elected lawmakers<br />
from the left-of-center Labour Party<br />
for more than half a century. But in<br />
2016, almost 70% of voters here<br />
backed leaving the European Union.<br />
More than three years later, the U.K. is<br />
still an EU member, and loyalty to<br />
Labour has been eroded by frustration<br />
at the political gridlock.<br />
"l've always been a Labour voter,"<br />
said Diane Jordan, a hypnotherapist<br />
enjoying an evening of music and<br />
bingo at the Hartlepool Working<br />
Men's Club. "My parents were always<br />
Labour. My grandparents were always<br />
Labour.<br />
"I've never been on the Conservative<br />
side, but to me that's looking the best<br />
option at the moment, because they're<br />
the ones that are wanting to put Brexit<br />
through."<br />
That's good news for Conservative<br />
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who<br />
pushed for the Dec. 12 election, more<br />
than two years early, in hope of<br />
breaking Britain's parliamentary<br />
deadlock over Brexit. He withdrew his<br />
EU divorce deal from Parliament last<br />
wewmAvBwm- 208, Zvs-13/<strong>11</strong>/19<br />
GD-1544/19 (6 x 3)<br />
month after lawmakers demanded<br />
more time to scrutinize it. If he gets a<br />
majority of the 650 House of<br />
Commons seats, he will be able to<br />
ratify the package and take Britain out<br />
of the bloc as scheduled on Jan. 31.<br />
Johnson's Conservatives are ahead<br />
in most opinion polls, but analysts say<br />
this election is particularly hard to<br />
predict because Brexit cuts across<br />
traditional party divides. The 2016<br />
referendum on Britain's EU<br />
membership split the country into two<br />
camps: leavers and remainers.<br />
Leavers, who are concentrated in<br />
small towns and post-industrial cities<br />
across England, are eager to cut<br />
Brussels red tape, reassert British<br />
sovereignty and take control of<br />
immigration. Remainers, who most<br />
often live in big cities and university<br />
towns, would rather stay in an alliance<br />
that has eased the flow of goods,<br />
services and people across 28 nations<br />
with half a billion inhabitants.<br />
Hartlepool, a former shipbuilding<br />
center 250 miles (400 kms) north of<br />
London where unemployment is<br />
more than double the national<br />
average, is a town full of leavers.<br />
Tom O'Grady, a lecturer in political<br />
science at University College London,<br />
said Conservatives need to win seats<br />
like Hartlepool to compensate for the<br />
likely loss of pro-EU areas in southern<br />
England and Scotland.<br />
"They're going to have to gain seats<br />
in the north of England and the<br />
Midlands from Labour if they're going<br />
to win a big majority," he said.<br />
But the Conservatives' challenge is<br />
complicated by the insurgent Brexit<br />
Party, led by veteran euroskeptic Nigel<br />
Farage. He rejects Johnson's deal with<br />
the EU because it would keep the U.K.<br />
bound to the bloc's rules until the end<br />
of 2020, and possibly longer.<br />
He'd rather leave the EU without an<br />
agreement, which would free Britain<br />
to strike new trade deals around the<br />
world. It would also, according to<br />
most economists, leave the country<br />
poorer, by imposing barriers to<br />
business with the EU, Britain's biggest<br />
trading partner.<br />
Farage accuses both Conservatives<br />
and Labour of watering down and<br />
delaying Brexit. Hartlepool, where the<br />
Brexit Party controls the town<br />
council, is the party's top target in the<br />
election.<br />
Richard Tice, the Brexit Party's<br />
chairman and its Hartlepool<br />
candidate, argues that backing the<br />
Conservatives here is "a wasted vote."<br />
Israeli strikes kill 2<br />
Gaza militants; death<br />
toll now at 12<br />
Israeli airstrikes killed two Islamic<br />
Jihad militants in Gaza on Wednesday<br />
as rocket fire toward Israel resumed<br />
after a brief overnight lull, raising the<br />
death toll in Gaza to 12 Palestinians in<br />
the heaviest round of fighting in<br />
months, reports UNB.<br />
The Israeli military said<br />
more than 250 rockets have<br />
been fired at Israeli<br />
communities since the<br />
violence erupted after an<br />
Israeli airstrike killed a<br />
senior Islamic Jihad<br />
commander accused of<br />
being the mastermind of<br />
recent attacks.<br />
Schools remained closed in<br />
Israeli communities near the<br />
Gaza border as rockets<br />
continued to rain down,<br />
albeit in lesser ferocity that<br />
during the relentless barrage<br />
the previous day.<br />
But in a sign that the<br />
current round could be brief,<br />
Gaza's Hamas rulers have<br />
yet to enter the fray.<br />
Although larger and more<br />
powerful than the Iranianbacked<br />
Islamic Jihad,<br />
Hamas is also more<br />
pragmatic. With Gaza's<br />
economy in tatters, it<br />
appears to have little desire<br />
for another round of fighting<br />
with Israel.<br />
Egypt, which frequently<br />
mediates between Israel and<br />
Gaza militants, has been<br />
working to de-escalate<br />
tensions, according to<br />
officials in Cairo.<br />
Seeking to keep the<br />
outburst under control, the<br />
Israeli military has restricted<br />
its operations to Islamic<br />
Jihad, and nearly all the<br />
casualties so far are<br />
members of the militant<br />
group.<br />
Annual Sports<br />
Competition being<br />
held at Milestone<br />
School and College<br />
As part of co-educational<br />
activities, Annual sports<br />
competition and cultural<br />
events-<strong>2019</strong> are being held<br />
at Milestone School and<br />
College in Uttara Model<br />
Town in the capital. This<br />
fascinating event for<br />
students is being held at<br />
Milestone School and<br />
College Diabari campus, a<br />
press release said.<br />
The Annual sports<br />
competitions and cultural<br />
events began on 2 November<br />
<strong>2019</strong> and will continue till 19<br />
November <strong>2019</strong>. Students of<br />
the Bangla medium junior<br />
and senior section and<br />
sudents of the English<br />
medium junior and senior<br />
section are participating in<br />
this colorful annual<br />
program. Students are trying<br />
to express their talents by<br />
participating in various<br />
events. On 12 November<br />
<strong>2019</strong> was the final phase of<br />
the participating students<br />
from the Bangla Medium<br />
Junior section studying on<br />
the Diabari campus.<br />
Manager of the<br />
administration and<br />
education affairs of<br />
Milestone School and<br />
College Rifat Alam was<br />
present in the impressive<br />
final ceremony as chief<br />
guest. The chief guest Rifat<br />
Alam distributed crests and<br />
prizes among the winners in<br />
the prize giving ceremony<br />
phase.<br />
Man killed<br />
in Satkhira<br />
road crash<br />
SATKHIRA : A man was<br />
killed in a collision between a<br />
three-wheeler and a<br />
motorcycle at Patkelghata<br />
Bazar on Wednesday<br />
morning, reports UNB.<br />
The deceased was<br />
identified as Amit Debnath,<br />
52, son of Jogendra Nath of<br />
Khalishkhali village in Tala<br />
upazila of Satkhira.<br />
The accident took place as<br />
the three-wheeler hit the<br />
motorcycle from behind<br />
around 10am, leaving Amit<br />
critically injured, said Kazi<br />
Waheed Morshed, officer-incharge<br />
of Petkelghata Police<br />
Station. Later, he was taken<br />
to Sadar Hospital where<br />
doctors pronounced him<br />
dead, the OC added.<br />
Iqvmv- R: Z: 426/<strong>2019</strong><br />
GD-1545/19 (8 x 4)<br />
Bangladesh a country<br />
of opportunity: HBS<br />
DHAKA : Harvard Business School (HBS)<br />
Alumni have lauded the socio-economic<br />
development of Bangladesh achieved over<br />
the last decade - lifting millions out of<br />
poverty and accelerating economic growth<br />
and human development, reports UNB.<br />
The delegation of the HBS which visited<br />
Bangladesh recently described Bangladesh<br />
as a country of opportunity, said a press<br />
release on Wednesday.<br />
The visit was organised by Munir M<br />
Merali, member of HBS's Regional Advisory<br />
Board and AKDN's Resident Diplomatic<br />
Representative.<br />
The programme was developed in<br />
collaboration with HBS's Research Regional<br />
Centre in Mumbai, Harvard Club of India<br />
and Harvard Alumni Association.<br />
During their stay, the alumni held<br />
meetings and met Prime Minister's<br />
International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher<br />
Rizvi, Ambassador Farooq Shoban and<br />
Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Policy<br />
Dialogue (CPD) Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.<br />
BGMEA President Rubana Haq,<br />
Chairperson, Association of Bankers,<br />
Bangladesh Syed Mahbubur Rahman and<br />
founder of Friendship NGO Runa Khan<br />
interacted and briefed them on the<br />
respective areas of expertise.<br />
Alumni were warmly welcomed at the<br />
Ministry of Foreign Affairs as they met<br />
Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque. They<br />
also met Indian High Commissioner to<br />
Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das at her<br />
residence.<br />
During the visit, the alumni visited the<br />
GD-1548/19 (5 x 3)<br />
Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and<br />
Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) where its President<br />
Nihad Kabir and fellow members welcomed<br />
and hosted a lunch reception.<br />
At the Harvard Alumni Networking<br />
evening, the concluding session of the<br />
visiting regional HBS alumni, a number of<br />
local and visiting alumni shared their<br />
distinctive business and personal<br />
experiences - making this an interactive and<br />
educational evening for all.<br />
Group Director of Rahimafrooz Munawar<br />
Misbah Moin, founding Managing Director<br />
of Shohoz.com Maliha Quadir, founder,<br />
Chairman and CEO of PRAAVA Health<br />
Sylvana Q. Sinha,Rubayat Khan of JEEON,<br />
and CEO of Nirapon Moushumi Marufi<br />
Khan were present.<br />
Members from the delegation who spoke<br />
included Anjali Raina, Executive Director<br />
and Vinita Bajoria of Harvard Business<br />
School India Research Centre India,<br />
Maneesh Yadav, CEO of Ask Financial<br />
Holdings and Gaurav Swarup, Managing<br />
Director of Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd.<br />
Faridpur road crash<br />
death toll rises to 4<br />
FARIDPUR : Two people, injured in a road<br />
accident in Faridpur on Tuesday, succumbed<br />
to their injuries on Wednesday, reports<br />
UNB.<br />
With them, four members of the same<br />
family have been killed in the accident.
THURSDAy, DHAKA, NOVeMBeR <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong>, KARTiK 29, <strong>14</strong>26 BS, RABi-UL-AWAL 16, <strong>14</strong>41 HiJRi<br />
People to give reply<br />
to Ranga's despotic<br />
attitude : Dr Kamal<br />
DHAkA : strongly denouncing<br />
Jatiya Party secretary<br />
general Mashiur rahman<br />
ranga's derogatory comment<br />
on 'national hero'<br />
noor Hossain, gonoforum<br />
President Dr kamal Hossain<br />
on wednesday warned that<br />
people will give a fitting reply<br />
to his such autocratic attitude,<br />
reports UnB.<br />
In a statement, he said,<br />
"such an assertion about<br />
noor Hossain by ranga, a<br />
follower of dictator ershad<br />
and an MP of the current<br />
illegal parliament formed<br />
through a voter-less election,<br />
is not unusual."<br />
Dr kamal further said,<br />
"People will give a reply to<br />
such despotic attitude and<br />
activities unitedly in the<br />
days to come."<br />
Jatiya Party secretary<br />
general Mashiur rahman<br />
ranga at a discussion on<br />
sunday said, "who was noor<br />
Hossain? An addict... a Yaba<br />
abuser, a Phensedyl abuser!<br />
two democratic parties-<br />
Awami League and BnP-are<br />
overenthusiastic about him.<br />
this day is observed as noor<br />
Hossain Day!"<br />
On november 10, 1987<br />
noor Hossain, a leader of<br />
Awami Juba League, was<br />
killed in police firing when he<br />
had staged protest against<br />
the autocratic rule of then Lt<br />
gen HM ershad at the capital's<br />
zero point near gulistan<br />
by painting the historic slogan<br />
'gonotantra Mukti Pak,<br />
swairachar nipat Jak' (Let<br />
democracy be freed, down<br />
with autocracy) on his back<br />
and chest.<br />
On tuesday, both the ruling<br />
and opposition MPs harshly<br />
criticised ranga in parliament<br />
for his offensive<br />
remarks against shaheed<br />
noor Hossain asking him to<br />
apologise before the nation.<br />
BnP secretary general Mirza<br />
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on<br />
wednesday accused ranga of<br />
insulting the democratic movement<br />
and the pro-democratic<br />
people with his comments<br />
against noor Hossain, and<br />
asked him to apologise publicly.<br />
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday dressing Uttariyo to the<br />
President of Bangladesh Abul Hamid at a hotel of Nepal yesterday. Photo : Star Mail<br />
Drive to continue until<br />
eradication of crimes: PM<br />
sAngsAD BHABAn : Prime Minister sheikh<br />
Hasina on wednesday said the ongoing drive<br />
against casinos and all sorts of corruption,<br />
including bribery, will continue until the elimination<br />
of crimes from all spheres of the state and<br />
society, reports UnB.<br />
"the drive by law enforcement and other<br />
agencies concerned will continue until the elimination<br />
of crimes from all spheres of the state<br />
and society," she said replying to a starred question<br />
from Jatiya Party (JP) MP rowshan Ara<br />
Mannan during her question-answer session in<br />
Parliament. the Prime Minister said laws are<br />
being strictly enforced against all the criminals<br />
irrespective of their political identity and views.<br />
In reply to another question from JP MP<br />
Mujibul Haque, she said the Anti-Corruption<br />
Commission (ACC) has been working to bring<br />
the corrupt elements to book. "During the antigraft<br />
drive, legal actions are being taken against<br />
those found guilty, including government<br />
Alexander Mitchell: The Blind Engineer<br />
Who Gave Sight to Seafarers<br />
InterestIng news Desk<br />
sandbanks are a hazard to marine traffic.<br />
Often found near coastlines, near the<br />
mouth of a river and around ports, these<br />
shallow, submerged beds of sand keep<br />
changing their shape and position posing<br />
great navigation risk to ships. Because<br />
the sand tends to drift with the tides, it is<br />
difficult to anchor a warning lightship on<br />
a sandbank, much less get a firm foundation<br />
for a permanent lighthouse.<br />
the problem of erecting a lighthouse<br />
on sandbanks and shoals greatly disturbed<br />
Alexander Mitchell (1780 –<br />
1868), an Irish brick-maker who ran a<br />
successful brick-making business near<br />
Belfast. Belfast has a strong seafaring tradition,<br />
and Mitchell had no doubt heard<br />
many tragic tales of lives lost at sea and<br />
ships grounded on the mudflats. Mitchell<br />
decided to do something about it despite<br />
having no formal training in engineering,<br />
or lighthouse building. remarkably,<br />
Alexander Mitchell was also blind.<br />
Alexander Mitchell was born in 1780 in<br />
Dublin, the son of an Inspector-general<br />
of Army Barracks in Ireland, a duty that<br />
took him all over the country. At the age<br />
of seven, Alexander’s family moved to<br />
Pine Hill, near Belfast, where he got<br />
admission at the prestigious Belfast<br />
Academy. while learning arithmetic,<br />
geometry, and trigonometry at school,<br />
Alexander discovered his love for mathematics<br />
and he excelled at it.<br />
Alexander’s eyesight had always been<br />
poor, but it became progressively worse<br />
as he became older. At age sixteen, he<br />
could no longer read. His family helped<br />
him in his studies as young Alexander’s<br />
world slowly spiraled into eternal darkness.<br />
At twenty-two, he went completely<br />
blind. By some accounts, Alexander’s loss<br />
of eyesight was due to a childhood infection<br />
of smallpox.<br />
employees and politicians," she added.<br />
the national anti-graft body has already<br />
urged the singapore government to provide it<br />
information related to the Bangladeshis who are<br />
involved in gambling in casinos there, sheikh<br />
Hasina said.<br />
responding to a question from JP MP<br />
rustum Ali Faraji, she said the government has<br />
adopted a 'zero-tolerance' policy against all<br />
social criminal activities, including corruption,<br />
terrorism, drug abuse and gambling. "the drive<br />
of the law enforcement agencies will continue<br />
until the eradication of terrorism," she said.<br />
strict surveillance by law enforcement agencies<br />
continues so that no one can conduct illegal casino<br />
activities in the future, the Prime Minister<br />
said. "the ongoing drive against all sorts of<br />
criminal activities, including corruption, drugs,<br />
terrorism and gambling, will continue covering<br />
all the sectors and places-district, upazila and<br />
municipality," she said.<br />
Defaulted<br />
loans see no<br />
rise, claims<br />
minister<br />
sAngsAD BHABAn : Finance<br />
Minister AHM Mustafa kamal<br />
on wednesday claimed that<br />
the amount of defaulted loans<br />
has not increased in the country<br />
compared to that in 1991.<br />
He made the statement<br />
while responding to a supplementary<br />
question in<br />
Parliament.<br />
the minister said the<br />
amount of defaulted loans in<br />
1991 was tk 5,039 crore out of<br />
total disbursed amount of tk<br />
19,278 crore, which is 26.<strong>14</strong><br />
percent.<br />
He also mentioned that currently<br />
the disbursed loan<br />
amount is tk 962,277 crore<br />
while the amount of defaulted<br />
loan is tk <strong>11</strong>2,425 crore, which<br />
is <strong>11</strong>.69 percent. "that means<br />
the amount of defaulted loans<br />
has not increased," he said.<br />
Mustafa kamal, however,<br />
said there should not be any<br />
defaulted loan. "It would have<br />
been better if we could bring<br />
down the percentage of the<br />
defaulted loans to single digit.<br />
we'll take step as far as we can<br />
to this end," he said.<br />
He said some defaulted<br />
loans were created due to some<br />
system problems. "the interest<br />
rate of banks is higher due to<br />
the compound rate instead of<br />
simple one," he said.<br />
the minister said the<br />
Financial Institutions Division<br />
of the Finance Ministry has<br />
asked all the scheduled banks<br />
to form a monitoring cell to<br />
ensure close monitoring on<br />
classified loans worth tk 100<br />
crore and above.<br />
Protest continues<br />
at JU demanding<br />
VC's removal<br />
JAHAngIrnAgAr UnI-<br />
VersItY : A group of teachers<br />
and students continued<br />
demonstration defying a ban<br />
on wednesday seeking the<br />
removal of Vice-Chancellor<br />
Professor Farzana Islam,<br />
reports UnB.<br />
United under 'Jahangirnagar<br />
Against Corruption', the protesters<br />
took out a procession<br />
from the Murad Chattar<br />
around 1:30pm and marched<br />
through the campus before<br />
holding a brief rally in front of<br />
the old administrative building.<br />
Chhatra Union leader<br />
Oliur rahman said their<br />
"peaceful and logical demonstration"<br />
has been attacked<br />
but it could not be stopped<br />
even after the administration<br />
closed the halls.<br />
"the VC should step down<br />
not only for corruption but<br />
also for the current stalemate,"<br />
he said.<br />
Prof kamrul Ahsan of philosophy<br />
department said<br />
the movement aimed at<br />
"saving the university".<br />
"But the VC and the<br />
administration don't want<br />
it. they've closed the university<br />
out of fear but protests<br />
will resume when the university<br />
will open," he said.<br />
"the government should<br />
investigate (charges of corruption)<br />
and help the university<br />
run smoothly."<br />
Prof rayhan rhyne, coordinator<br />
of the protest, said<br />
they had filed information<br />
and evidence of corruption.<br />
"But no probe body has<br />
been formed yet, demonstrating<br />
a lack of goodwill of<br />
the government," he said.<br />
Current situation 'suitable<br />
for AL leaders to join<br />
BNP': Fakhrul<br />
DHAkA : In a counter-attack on<br />
Information Minister Dr Hasan<br />
Mahmud, BnP secretary general<br />
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on<br />
wednesday said a situation has been<br />
created for Awami League leaders to<br />
join BnP.<br />
"the Information Minister is<br />
demonstrating his creativity by crafting<br />
new stories. the current situation<br />
is not conducive to joining Awami<br />
League from BnP. But an atmosphere<br />
has been created for Awami League<br />
leaders to join BnP," he said.<br />
Fakhrul came up with the comments<br />
while talking to reporters after placing<br />
wreaths at BnP founder Ziaur<br />
rahman's grave along with leaders<br />
and activists of the party's<br />
narayanganj city unit.<br />
On tuesday, the Information<br />
Minister told journalists at the<br />
secretariat that many BnP leaders are<br />
thinking of quitting the party and contacting<br />
Awami League leaders at different<br />
levels.<br />
Fakhrul said Awami League has<br />
proved through its activities that it has<br />
now become bankrupt as a political<br />
party. "they snatched people's rights,<br />
including voting one, and destroyed all<br />
the democratic institutions. they're<br />
now working to turn Bangladesh into a<br />
failed state."<br />
the BnP leader regretted that<br />
though once BnP and Awami League<br />
struggled against late HM ershad's autocratic<br />
rule, the party formed the government<br />
along with that autocrat and<br />
took it to parliament through 'vote rigging'.<br />
"their secretary general (Moshiur<br />
rahman ranga) a few days back badly<br />
attacked democracy. what he said<br />
against our beloved noor Hossain, a<br />
symbol of the anti-autocratic movement,<br />
is completely devoid of political<br />
etiquette," he said.<br />
Fakhrul also observed that ranga insulted<br />
the democratic movement and<br />
the pro-democratic people with his<br />
comments. "we strongly condemn his<br />
comments. we think he should apologise<br />
publicly and in Parliament."<br />
Jatiya Party secretary general<br />
Mashiur rahman ranga at a discussion<br />
on sunday said, "who was noor<br />
Hossain? An addict... a Yaba abuser, a<br />
Phensedyl abuser! two democratic<br />
parties-Awami League and BnP-are<br />
overenthusiastic about him. this day<br />
is observed as noor Hossain Day!"<br />
About the ruling party leaders' comment<br />
that BnP is facing intra-party<br />
conflict, Fakhrul said Awami Leaders<br />
are making such remarks as they<br />
themselves are being failed to handle<br />
their own party.<br />
"their party men are engaging in<br />
fight with each other and vandalism at<br />
the councils of their Jubo League and<br />
swechchasebak League. so, they're<br />
unnecessarily resorting to such lies to<br />
hide their imminent fall," he said.<br />
the BnP leader said they will intensify<br />
their movement for having<br />
their chairperson khaleda Zia freed<br />
from jail.<br />
Bachchu who is earning his livelihood by selling Khulshun (fishing trap) at Naldanga upazila of<br />
Natore.<br />
Photo : Star Mail<br />
Dhaka favours fair competition<br />
DHAkA : Foreign Minister Dr Ak Abdul<br />
Momen on wednesday said the wealth<br />
creation in the region must be for all<br />
with "fair distribution" with "fair competition"<br />
instead of geo-strategic or political<br />
rivals. "we need to have fair competition<br />
but not geo-strategic or political rivals,"<br />
he said adding that they must<br />
guard against the tendency to look at this<br />
region in respect of trade or security issues<br />
only, reports UnB.<br />
the Foreign Minister was addressing<br />
the closing session of 'Dhaka global<br />
Dialogue <strong>2019</strong>' at a city hotel.<br />
state Minister for Foreign Affairs Md<br />
shahriar Alam and Chairman, Observer<br />
research Foundation sunjoy Joshi also<br />
spoke at the session titled 'Convergence<br />
of regional initiatives for Optimising<br />
Common Benefits.'<br />
Member of Parliamentary standing<br />
Committee on the Ministry of Foreign<br />
Affairs, Bangladesh nahim razzaq moderated<br />
the session.<br />
the Foreign Minister said peace and<br />
stability are very critical for sustainable<br />
growth and development saying a simple<br />
thing in any part of the globalised<br />
world can create problem and thus hurt<br />
the growth goals.<br />
"Peace and stability are the essence of<br />
development. If there is no peace, there<br />
cannot be development," he said while<br />
responding to a question at the interactive<br />
closing session.<br />
the Foreign Minister cited examples<br />
across the world and said they have been<br />
suffering where there is no peace. "to<br />
maintain the sustainable development<br />
it's essential to have peace and stability."<br />
Dr Momen shared a few things for the<br />
common peace and prosperity of the region.<br />
First, he said, they need to create an<br />
environment of peace-harmony-stability<br />
of all countries, and they have to focus<br />
on the entire menu of sustainable development.<br />
next, Dr Momen said, they have to engage<br />
among themselves based on mutual<br />
trust and mutual respect for mutual<br />
benefit. the Foreign Minister said this<br />
kind of dialogue and think thanks must<br />
promote one thing and it is the mindset<br />
of respect for each other.<br />
He said they often look just in terms of<br />
the capacity of a few large economies or<br />
their needs but they must get the narrative<br />
right: addressing the key concerns of<br />
smaller communities or relatively weaker<br />
economies is a must in 'our' collective<br />
journey, for any sustainable world.<br />
"Countries should be engaged based<br />
on mutual trust and mutual respect, for<br />
mutual benefit," said the Foreign<br />
Minister.<br />
Dr Momen said in south Asia, through<br />
sAFtA, regional trade in goods and<br />
services is expected to rise robustly over<br />
the next few years.<br />
In south-east Asia, by the next year,<br />
AseAn would emerge as a seamless economic<br />
space up to Myanmar, he said.<br />
Under esCAP, Asia-Pacific regional<br />
economic integration is moving to the<br />
next level and BCIM is shaping up with a<br />
promise to unlock production-distribution-transportation<br />
opportunities.<br />
Dr Momen said Chinese ambitious<br />
Belt and road Initiative (BrI) is already<br />
in place to connect Asia with Africa and<br />
europe through land and maritime networks.<br />
"the Indo-Pacific strategy is also<br />
in progress."<br />
In today's globalised world, he said, no<br />
single country can prosper alone and<br />
what they need is to work closely - by<br />
drawing on each other's strength, capabilities<br />
and endowments.<br />
the Foreign Minister said many of the<br />
challenges that the region faces today,<br />
can best be addressed through collective<br />
efforts. He said Bangladesh is open to<br />
any global and regional initiatives which<br />
are economic in nature and help economic<br />
development.<br />
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, 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.<br />
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