SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015 | Kartik 25, 1422, Moharram 26, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 203 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

WOMAN SET ABLAZE BY HUSBAND PAGE 5

COURTS SEAL DEATH FOR THE KILLERS OF RAJON, RAKIB PAGE 32

SLANDER EARNS TARIQUE ARREST WARRANT PAGE 3

INSIDE THE SMUGGLING SYNDICATE - 2

Myanmar vote count begins on Suu Kyi’s day of destinyn AFP, Yangon

Millions of people voted Sun-day in Myanmar’s landmark election, with a massive turn-out that could catapult Aung San Suu Kyi’s party to power and � nally end decades of mili-tary control.

Voters had queued from be-fore dawn in huge numbers to cast their ballots for the � rst time in a quarter of a century, on a day heavy with history and pregnant with emotion.

As counting got under way, early indications were of an “80%” turnout, according to Union Election Commission deputy director Thant Zin Aung – a � gure the opposition believe favours their bid for a majority.

Thousands of supporters – many decked in the party’s red colour – gathered outside the Yangon headquarters of the Na-tional League for Democracy in the hope of some indication of victory from Suu Kyi.

More than 30 million people were eligible to vote in Myan-mar’s freest election for a gen-eration.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Hasina: No dialogue with killer Khaleda n UNB

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has outright rejected BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s pro-posal for sitting in a national dialogue, say-ing she does not like to sit with a killer like Khaleda.

“The smell of burnt human bodies will come from her [Khaleda] when I sit beside her,” the premier said at a press conference at her o� cial residence Ganabhaban yesterday.

The press conference was held to inform the media about the outcome of her just-con-cluded three-day visit to the Netherlands.

Khaleda Zia in a recent statement called upon the government to create an atmos-phere for a national dialogue to overcome

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

n Syed Samiul Basher Anik and Mohammad Jamil Khan

A Dhaka Tribune investigation into smug-gling syndicates operating in the busy en-trepot of Hili, in Dinajpur district, has found that the “manpower” employed to carry goods across the border actually involves very few men.

If the idea of an equal opportunity den of thieves seems comical, be assured that it is based on entirely matter-of-fact considera-tions of business interest.

Smuggling syndicates working on the In-dia-Bangladesh border have embraced wom-en, transgender people and the disabled in their e� orts to stay one step ahead of the police.

Those being wooed into the smuggling trade as carriers belong to groups that many old-fashioned law enforcers are not likely to suspect – or even notice – increasing their chances of getting the goods delivered with-out hassle.

Even if they are noticed, a lack of women sta� and o� cers trained to deal with women, sexual minorities and di� erently-abled peo-ple means that law enforcers are ill-equipped to stop, search and question suspects.

Sometimes, a culturally de� ned sense of pity or sympathy impels law enforcers to let such smugglers go if they are caught red-handed.

The fact that smuggling syndicates prefer to hire those who are not able-bodied men – and are therefore socially invisible – reveals a patriarchal mindset.

Paradoxically, these very hiring practices are altering the mindset by disillusioning law enforcers, and society at large, of their image of what a criminal looks like.

They are also resulting in a sort of a� rma-tive action in the black market, creating live-lihoods for groups that previously had little economic opportunity.

Breaking the glass ceilingTwo years ago, poverty and hunger were Rahima and her child’s only companions. Everyone else had deserted them.

Abandoned by her husband Rahmat, she tried desperately to scrape together the

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

No longer a man’s job

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015News2DT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Hasina: No dialogue with killer Khaledathe country’s current crisis in the interest of the nation.

“Under the current critical juncture of the country, you [govt] create an environment for initiating a national dialogue to get rid of the crisis, shunning despotic attitude and not blocking the scope for � ourishing democracy for the sake of the nation,” Khaleda said.

Sheikh Hasina, also chief of the ruling Awa-mi League, said the BNP chairperson killed and murdered people in the name of resisting the last general election. “Bangladesh is not in such a political crisis or bankruptcy for which we have to sit with a killer [Khaleda].”

The prime minister asked those who have a soft corner for Khaleda Zia to bring back the lives which were taken away during the anti-election blockade and hartal movement early this year. “Bring back those lives and � x the lives of those who got disabled in their destructive acts. Then I will consider it.”

Hasina said she would consider the dialogue o� er only when Khaleda parted the company of war criminals.. “She will gain the eligibility only when she says that the trial of war crimi-nals should be held in Bangladesh, that they are the enemies of the country’s independence.”

‘Don’t welcome BNP-Jamaat men to AL’ Th prime minister directed her party men

not to welcome anyone from BNP and Jamaat to the ruling party.

“We will not accept anyone from BNP and Jamaat in our party,” she said at the press conference in Ganabhaban.

According to reports, a good number of

leaders and activists from BNP and Jamaat are joining the ruling party across the country.

The prime minister said it is a normal practice in the country to include people from other parties into a particular party in a bid to make it stronger.

But if BNP and Jamaat men joins the Awa-mi League, they would create intra-party con� icts, the Awami League chief said.

“They [BNP-Jamaat men] create intra-party con� icts � rst and then kill the genuine party men,” she said. “From this press conference, I am asking all leaders of our party to refrain from welcoming men from BNP and Jamaat.”

‘Don’t get scared with recent incidents’Hasina also called upon every one not to get scared with the recent unwanted incidents and carry out their everyday activities with courage.

“They could not create any political cri-sis where people would get upset… you will have to continue your activities with forti-tude and courage,” she said without elabo-rating who are those elements.

During the press conference, the prime minister repeatedly urged people to come forward and unite against any sort of terror-ist activities by any vested quarter. “If you have any type of information about any pos-sible terror act, please inform the local law enforcement agencies about that.”

The PM also called on the journalists to come forward with their respective informa-tion. “You [journalists] are aware of everything; a deep-rooted conspiracy is going on.” l

Myanmar voteThe NLD believes a fair vote will power it into government after a decades-long struggle against army dictatorship.

But Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency by the army-scripted consti-tution and the NLD faces an uphill struggle because a quarter of seats are still reserved for the military.

In the capital Naypyidaw, President Thein Sein, a one-time top-ranking junta general, smiled for the cameras and held up his little � nger, stained with purple ink, after voting.

Many voters remain nervous about how the powerful army will react if it loses, with concerns over the fraud that riddled previous elections.

But after casting his vote in the capital, Myanmar’s powerful army chief said his troops would respect the voice of the elec-torate.

“Just as the winner accepts the result, so should the loser,” Min Aung Hlaing told re-porters.

At Suu Kyi’s rural constituency of Ka-whmu, where the opposition leader travelled after casting her ballot, smiling crowds jos-tled for space with the media scrum.

The 70-year-old is not allowed to be presi-dent under a charter that blocks anyone with foreign children from top o� ce – Suu Kyi’s two sons are British.

But on Thursday she declared an NLD win would see her take a position “above the president” – a challenge to the army that has spent 25 years trying to hamper her political ascent. l

Rakib’s family to appeal against Beauty’s acquittaln Our Correspondent, Khulna

A Khulna court’s verdict in the Rakib murder case was welcomed by state prosecutors, but relatives of the 12-year-old say they now fear that Beauty Begum – who was acquitted – might threaten the family after her release.

The defendants, meanwhile, said the ver-dict had been in� uenced by emotion, adding that they would � le an appeal against the death sentences for Md Sharif and Md Mintu Khan.

Lucky Begum, mother of victim Rakib Sarder, claimed that Beauty was the main culprit behind her son’s death. Beauty might threaten the family after being released from prison, Lucky added.

The family said they have already spo-ken to lawyers about � ling an appeal against Beauty, who is Sharif’s mother.

Rakib’s father Nurul Alam said he wanted to see the verdict being executed as soon as possible.

Expressing his concern about the conse-quences that might arise from Beauty Be-gum’s acquittal, he also urged the adminis-tration to take necessary steps.

Public Prosecutor Sultana Rahman Shil-pi said yesterday’s verdict would remain a landmark move in the country’s history as no other case had ever seen such a speedy com-pletion of trial. l

No longer a man’s jobTk800 in rent for the makeshift structure she and her child called home.

Facing down near starvation, Rahima, not her real name, cannot approach her parents for shelter for herself and her two-year-old child. Her now failed marriage was a love match, the price of which has been an endur-ing estrangement from her parents.

Poverty and hunger seemed the only con-stants in Rahima’s home. And hopelessness.

“Things were desperate. I was planning to move from Dinajpur. One of my neighbours noticed that I was falling behind with rent and asked if I wanted to make easy money.

“I said ‘yes’ and the journey began,” Ra-hima told the Dhaka Tribune at her house in Parbatipur, an upazila of Dinajpur.

She was hired as a carrier of smuggled goods being brought in illegally from India through the Hili border crossing.

There are around 200 women in Parbati-pur alone who, like Rahima, work as carriers for smuggling syndicates active at the Hili border in Dinajpur.

These women take a two-hour early morning train journey every day from Par-batipur to Hili. They then walk to the house of an Indian mahajan – or merchant – located close to the border between the two nations.

Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-kilo-metre border, with large stretches unfenced, helping smugglers move contraband goods between the two countries.

Taking advantage of unfenced stretches of the border between the two countries, smug-glers transport high-demand items like spic-es and the addictive codeine-based cough syrup, phensedyl, which is banned in Bang-ladesh but sold legally in India.

Rahima spends up to six hours a day, in-cluding her train commute, on her smuggling runs, netting around Tk500 on average. The amount she makes varies with the size of the consignment she conveys.

“They [the mahajans] prefer women as carriers mainly for two reasons: we can hide anything and we can also provide shelter for the men,” she said.

Syndicate members said women aged be-tween 25 and 35 years were in high demand.

Smuggling in broad daylight has become di� cult for men because of the constant threat of getting shot by India’s Border Secu-rity Force (BSF), they said.

“Ten years ago, the number of women in this trade was small. I saw 40 to 50 girls working as carriers when I � rst came here, but now there are more than 300 of them,” said banana vendor Abul Kalam Miah who has worked at the train station since 2005.

Another reason why women are preferred is that police and border guards do not regu-larly catch female carriers.

“Even if we are caught, we are not sent to jail. But we have to endure abuse and sometimes molestation from the Indian border guards,” said a female carrier, adding that the money was worth the occasional mistreatment.

Hakimpur upazila parishad Chairman M Akram Hossain said most female smugglers come from other areas. “On October 18, on a train ride from Santahar, I saw many wom-en of di� erent ages getting o� at Hili station where they quickly dispersed … I think they were smugglers.”

He said BGB had been informed and were alert to the situation.

Lt Col Akther Hossain of BGB (Dinajpur

region) told the Dhaka Tribune that not just lone females alone but women with children were found smuggling goods.

“Smugglers use women because they know the number of female law enforcement sta� is limited making it di� cult to check suspicious looking travellers,” he said.

Transgendered and trustedMany people in Bangladesh are embarrassed by Hijras, transgender people recognised by law as the third gender.

This variation on homophobia has be-come a unique sales point for the Hijra com-munity who are getting work with smuggling syndicates operating in Dinajpur.

But Hijras are regarded as more trustwor-thy than other groups by smuggling syndi-cate bosses.

“Although they are few in number com-pared to regular carriers, they play a crucial role. Around 30 Hijras from Parbatipur upazi-la work in the trade, while Hijras from Panch-bibi, Joypurhat, Santahar and Akkelpur also come to work for the syndicates,” said A Kud-dus, a drug trader from Parbatipur.

They are hired to convey valuable items including jewellery, medicine and expensive cosmetics because of their trustworthiness.

The famed boisterousness of the Hijra community and enduring stereotypes that cause law enforcers to privilege a sense of embarrassment over a sense of duty has been an e� ective deterrent to conducting body searches, locals said.

A Border Guard Bangladesh o� cial, ask-ing not to be named, said Hijras are often let go if they “scream and make a scene.”

Another trader, seeking anonymity, said:

“They play another role as well – escorting other male and female carriers. If a carrier is caught, the Hijras create a diversion with their rowdiness to allow them to � ee.”

Disability is a job qualificationPhysically disabled people are also in high demand by smugglers because the police and Border Guard Bangladesh o� cials let them go even if they are caught illegally transport-ing smuggled goods.

Although not a very well-paid job, smug-gling enables disabled people to earn money quickly.

“Being disabled is their quali� cation. Peo-ple have sympathy for them, so they can do illegal work easily,” a Railway sta� at Hili sta-tion said.

A legless man weighed down by a heavy load grinned as he made his way through Hili station. Despite the di� culty he was having, he had what one might call a bounce in his step.

When asked what was in the bags, he re-plied: “Household products.” He did not of-fer any more of an explanation.

A nearby BGB Havildar who overheard the exchange o� ered more detail: the bag con-tained mainly Indian spices.

“He is a regular carrier here. He lost his leg in this railway station last year. Now he works as a carrier,” he said, asking not to be identi� ed.

When asked why he was not being arrest-ed, the BGB man said: “This man is making some money. If we arrest him, his family will have to su� er.

“We are law enforcers but we have a heart.” l

News 3D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

A car bearing a ‘Press’ label on its windshield takes the wrong side of the road as the right side is packed with hundreds of vehicles waiting for the tra� c light to turn green. The photo was taken yesterday in the capital’s Banglamotor area SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

ACC probes embezzled Saudi expats' claimsn Adil Sakhawat

The Anti-Corruption Commission is current-ly investigating a complaint against a for-mer Jamaat leader who allegedly embezzled around Tk1.4 crore from 28 Bangladeshi ex-patriates living in Saudi Arabia.

Sirtaz Ahmed, a former rukon of Jamaat’s Saudi Arabia unit, is now living in Bangla-desh and is reportedly active with the ruling Awami League in Sunamganj.

According to a complaint lodged with the ACC in September, Sirtaz collected Tk5 lakh from each of the 28 Bangladeshis two years

ago with promises of double pro� ts.Soon after, Sirtaz came to Bangladesh and

used the money to form a cooperative – Dy-namic Mission Limited – registered under Bangladesh Joint Stock Company. He made himself the chairman of the cooperative and appointed several of his friends as directors.

When the victims of the embezzlement came to Bangladesh on vacation and asked for their promised pro� ts, Sirtaz allegedly threatened them, saying he would use his in� uence to ensure that the expatriates are detained by immigration police and stopped from returning to Saudi Arabia.

According to the complaint, Sirtaz main-tains the bank account of Dynamic Mission Limited with the Sunamganj branch of Islami Bank Limited.

Recently, Sirtaz reportedly took out a loan from that account, using the money to buy cars for a rent-a-car business and to invest in other business ventures.

Seeking anonymity, an ACC o� cial said: “The commission has already summoned documents from the bank and the Dynamic Mission o� ce in Sunamganj. After reviewing those, we will summon Sirtaz for questioning.” l

Bangabandhu slander earns Tarique arrest warrant n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday issued an arrest warrant against BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman for terming Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a “Pakbandhu” – meaning “friend of Pakistan” – and spreading misinformation about the Liberation War.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lutfur Rahman Shishir issued the warrant order after Jewel Rana, assistant commissioner (Paltan Zone) of the Detective Branch (DB) of police and also the investi-gating o� cer of the case, submitted a probe report that found evidence supporting the allegation of sedition against Tarique.

The court issued the arrest warrant upon

a petition � led by complainant Advocate Moshiur Malik and � xed March 5 next year for the submission of the warrant execution report to the police station concerned.

On September 15 this year, the investigat-ing o� cer submitted a probe report before the court after � nding evidence of sedition.

On October 19 last year, Advocate Moshiur Malik, president of the Bangabandhu Foun-dation, � led the case with the Chief Metro-politan Magistrate’s Court.

The case statement states that Tarique Rahman termed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a “Pakbandhu” during a discussion held at York Hall in East London on September 29 last year.

A day later, the petitioner came to know about Tarique’s comments from a report pub-

lished in the daily Kaler Kontho titled ‘‘Bang-ladesher Prothom President Biswaneta Sha-heed Ziaur Rahman: Prekhkhit Bangladesh.”

The petitioner added that Tarique said: “Sheikh Mujib is not Bangabandhu, rather he is Pakbandhu. He cannot be the father of the nation, he is a killer.

The petitioner accused Tarique of engaging in a campaign against Bangladesh’s history, its Liberation War and Bangabandhu’s role.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rah-man has been in London since September 11, 2008, after getting parole in various cases on medical grounds.

He faces 18 charges, of which four, includ-ing the August 21 grenade attack case, are un-der trial and 10 are stayed. l

Two Ansarullah men held n Our Correspondent, Bogra

Detectives in Bogra yesterday arrested two leaders Ansarullah Bangla Team during a raid.

The two are Mehedi Hasan Jihad Kazi, 22, from Bogra Sadar, and Modassir Tanjim, 20, from Kahaloo upazila. Mehedi is the district commander of the out� t and a former Islami Chhatra Shibir leader, while Tanjim is the out-� t’s deputy commander and a Shibir member.

Police said they found a huge number of Jihadi books and � ve sharp weapons in the arrestee's possession. One of their doc-uments showed they had been recruiting members in Bogra since January last year.

They were produced before a Bogra court with 10-day remand petition, police said. l

Saira Mohsin AL candidate in Moulvibazar 3 by-pollsn UNB

The Awami League Parliamentary Board has unanimously nominated Syeda Saira Mo-hsin, wife of late social welfare minister Syed Mohsin Ali, as its candidate for contesting the Moulvibazar 3 by-election.

The decision was taken at a meeting held at the party chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s o� cial residence Ganobhaban yes-terday evening. The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Hasina and attended by the parlia-mentary board members.

After taking interview of the party aspir-ants for the by-polls to Moulvibazar 3 con-stituency (Moulvibazar Sadar and Rajnagar), Saira was unanimously nominated as the party candidate, said meeting sources.

As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the by-election will be held on December 8. l

MP Liton gets bail to attend parliamentn Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

A Gaibandha court has granted interim bail to lawmaker Manjurul Islam Liton, accused of attempted murder of a child, so that he can attend the ongoing parliament session.

Gaibandha Additional Chief Judicial Mag-istrate Mainul Hasan Yusuf passed the order yesterday for the Gaibandha 1 constituen-cy MP from the Awami League. Earlier, the court had denied his bail plea three times.

Soon after the interim bail was granted, MP Liton was released from Gaibandha district jail.

MP Liton’s lawyer Sirajul Islam told the Dha-ka Tribune that the bail would be e� ective just for the duration of the eighth parliament ses-sion, allowing his client to attend the House.

On Wednesday, Liton also secured bail in another case accusing him of vandalising and looting a house.

On October 2, Liton allegedly shot and wounded an eight-year-old boy named Sourav at Sundarganj; the same day, Liton and his supporters allegedly vandalised a house in the upazila.

Sourav’s father � led the attempted mur-der case on October 2, while the victim of the looted house � led the vandalism case against MP Liton and nine others on October 7.

The lawmaker had been behind bars since October 14, when detectives arrested Liton from his sister’s house in the capital’s Uttara. l

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015News4DT

Left: Police escort Kamrul Islam, one of the convicts in the Rajon murder case, to a Sylhet court to hear the verdict yesterday. Right: Md Sharif and Md Mintu Miah, convicts in the Rakib murder case, are taken away by police after being sentenced to death by a Khulna court yesterday. Stories on Page 32 DHAKA TRIBUNE

‘ Harassment of women expatriates is not true’n Tribune Report

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Islam yesterday told parliament that news on repres-sion of women expatriates abroad was not true.

Responding to a query of ruling party lawmaker Kamal Ahmed Ma-jumdar, the minister said there were some stray incidents on repression of women employee abroad.

“Whenever the embassy con-cerned receives any news necessary legal steps are taken to rescue them. If any housemaid refuses to work under any employer job is arranged at the will of the housemaid.”

Replying to another query of Habibur Rahman Mollah, the min-ister also said news on repression of women expatriates in Saudi Arabia

is not true. “Action will be taken af-ter investigation if any speci� c alle-gation was found.”

He also said mobile SIM was pro-vided to every woman employee to contact with the embassy if they face any problem.

Responding to another query, the minister said skilled workers have more demand than the un-skilled workers abroad.

That’s why the government has provided training to 150,000 workers through six Institutes of Marine Technology and 47 techni-cal training centres, he said adding that apart from these, construction works of new 17 technical training centres is about to end.

Food Minister Quamrul Islam said news on importing rotten wheat from Brazil is not true. l

Nasim tells BNP to be ready for local pollsn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Health Minister Mohammed Nasim yester-day told the BNP to get ready to take on the challenge of facing the Awami League in the local government polls next month.

Welcoming the BNP’s decision to par-ticipate in the elections, the Awami League Presidium member said: “Come to the � eld of the local government election. We will play... We will see who wins the game. Please do not go away like Cricket Australia before the game even starts. We have no intention to score a goal in open � eld.”

Addressing a discussion at the National Press Club yesterday, Nasim said: “BNP chief Khaleda Zia is always seeking dialogue for a national poll, even though she always criti-cises Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Like her mistakes in the past, the BNP chairperson is repeatedly foiling the atmos-phere for any possibility of a dialogue,” the Awami League leader added. l

Parliament to continue until November 23n Tribune Report

Parliament yesterday unanimously adopted a condolence motion expressing sorrow at the death of former social welfare minister Syed Mohsin Ali.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury moved the condolence motion in the House.

The House o� ered munajat seeking eternal peace of the de-parted souls.

The lawmakers also stood up and observed one-minute sol-emn silence to pay respect to the memories of the deceased. The day’s proceedings began with recitation from the Holy Quran.

Parliament condoled the death of former members of the parliament Anisur Rahman, former lawmaker Monsur Ali and KJ Hamida Khanam.

It expressed deep shock at the death of former speaker of West Bengal Abdul Hamid, Sylhet district Awami League President Abdus Jahir Chowdhury, language movement hero Sarfuddin Ahmed,  Nayeem Gowhar, Jagriti Prokashani publisher Faisal Are� n Dipan.

The condolence motion also includes the names of victims killed in the attack on Tajia procession in Dhaka, those who died in crane accident in Mecca, victims of hajj stampede in Mina, victims of earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Russian plane crash in Egypt.

While speaking on the condolence motion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said: “Syed Mohsin Ali was not only a politician he was also a social worker.”

The premier also said Mohsin Ali did a lot for people and he was given the social welfare ministry as he was a competent person for that ministry.

“Many expressed their annoyance at his (Mohsin) behavior. Many also complained to me about him but I knew him very well; he was open-minded.”

Deputy Leader of the House Syed Sajeda Chowdhury, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sengupta, Chief Whip ASM Firoz, whips Mohammad Shahbuddin, Abu Jahir, Abdus Sahid, JSD leader Mainuddin Khan Badal, Jatiya Party lawmaker Kazi Firoz Rashid, State Minister for Finance MA Mannan, and some other lawmakers also participated in the discussion.

Eights session of the 10th parliament started yesterday at 4.30pm and will continue till 23rd November.

Two ordinances –Local Government (Municipality) (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 and Money Laundering Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 were placed in the parliament. l

Cox’s Bazar 30 23Dhaka 31 19 Chittagong 30 20 Rajshahi 30 17 Rangpur 30 16 Khulna 30 17 Barisal 31 18 Sylhet 31 14T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015News 5

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:15PM SUN RISES 6:10AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW33ºC 17.7ºC

Jessore SrimangalMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9

DRY WEATHER

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 4:50am | Zohr: 11:42am Asr: 3:39pm | Magrib: 5:15pmEsha: 6:45pm

PRAYERTIMES

Policeman hits motorbike rider with ri� e buttn Our Correspondent, Jessore

A young man in Jessore was hospitalised af-ter a police o� cial hit him hard with the butt of a ri� e on Saturday evening for not stop-ping a motorbike that he was riding.

Abu Sayeed, 30, was admitted to Jessore General Hospital and was said to be in a crit-ical condition.

The incident, which took place in Shankarpur, angered locals, who surrounded Constable Rokon and refused to let him leave the scene.

Police later arrived and calmed the mob before rescuing Rokon.

Golam Mostafa, a local Awami League leader, said Sayeed was a pillion passenger of the motorcycle and the vehicle was crossing a police checkpoint near a poultry farm in Shankarpur when a policeman signalled the driver to stop.

“But Constable Rokon hit Sayeed with the butt of his ri� e when the driver de� ed the order to stop. Sayeed fell on the ground and locals took him to hospital,” he said.

Sayeed said he was returning from Jes-sore town after purchasing automotive parts and the policeman hit him before the driver stopped the motorbike.

Liton Hossain, assistant superintendent of police, said the motorcycle driver did not care to stop the vehicle and � ed. “We suspect that he is in possession of � rearms and am-munition.”

He also said Sayeed fell from the motor-bike and sustained injuries.

Jessore Kotwali police station O� cer-in-Charge Shikder Akkas Ali also described it as an accident.

“We will carry out an investigation toknow what really happened. Any police-man, if found guilty, will be disciplined,” headded. l

Woman in critical condition after husband sets her on � ren Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A young woman in Gazipur’s Kaliakair sus-tained serious burn injuries after her hus-band tried to burn her to death over family rows on Saturday night.

Twenty-two-year-old Poly Rani Gupta ali-as Tapati Das was admitted to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital hours af-ter the attack.

Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon of the hospital’s burn unit, said yesterday that the victim had sustained 90% burn and was in a critical condition.

The husband, Sanjay Kumar Das, 26, who works at an RMG factory in Chandra Palli Bidyut area, has been absconding since at-tacking his wife.

Police said Tapati, daughter of Paresh Chandra Gupta of Elanguri village under Kishoreganj’s Itna upazila, was in love with Sanjay, from the same village. They married some six years ago.

The couple lives in a rented � at at Dighir-par of Purba Chandra in Kaliakair upazila where Tapati was attacked. On Saturday night, Sanjay poured kerosene on his wife and set her on � re following some altercation.

Tapati screamed in pain and ran out of the front door where other renters of the house threw water on her and put out the � re.

One of them started for the Kaliakair Upazila Health Complex with her on a rick-shaw, but he came back for some unknown reasons, said Tapati’s relatives.

But Tapati showed tremendous courage to walk some � ve minutes to a relative’s house, who then took her to the health complex. Doctors there, however, advised to take her to DMCH.

Abdul Motaleb, o� cer-in-charge of Kali-akair police station, said a probe had been launched and police were looking for Sanjay. l

With 90% burn injuries, Tapati Das struggles for her life in the red unit of the burn institute at the DMCH. Her husband Sanjay Das set her on � re on Saturday night over a � ght. The photo was taken yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Kosovo seeks Bangladesh’s help for Unesco membershipn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Kosovo, which proclaimed independence in 2008, is trying to become a Unesco member and has sought Bangladesh’s help in this regard.

The US has also requested Bangladesh to support the bid of Kosovo while its arch-rival from the Cold War era, Russia, is lobbying for the opposite.

“We got opposite requests from the US and Russia regarding Kosovo,” said a senior government o� cial.

Asked about the government’s position on Kosovo’s induction into Unesco, he said Bangladesh does not recognise Kosovo.

“Bangladesh will wait till Kosovo and its neighbour Serbia settle their disputes,” he said.

“Senior o� cials of Kosovo wanted to meet the Bangladesh foreign minister at the UN General Assembly in September to lobby for their inclusion in Unesco but he did not meet them,” he added.

Kosovo applied for Unesco membership in September, and also recommended at a Unseco Executive Board meeting in October that the Muslim-dominated European coun-try be admitted during Unesco’s General Conference from November 3 to 18.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be leav-ing for Paris to attend the conference from November 15 to 17.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. 111 countries have so far rec-ognised Kosovo. l

Insurance package likely for public servants next � scaln Asif Showkat Kallol

The government is planning to introduce life and health insurance for 2.1 million civil servants from the next � scal year.

“We have already held a meeting with the stakeholders regarding the introduc-tion of an insurance package for publicservants,” said Banking Secretary M Aslam Alam, who presided over a meeting of the Bank and Financial Institutions Division last week.

It was di� cult to introduce a new system for all civil servants and more time was need-ed to examine the matter properly, he added.

“We hope corruption will reduce when

public servants get a full insurance package,” the banking secretary said.

According to a decision from last week’s meeting, the Insurance Development and Control Authorities, Jiban Bima Corporation, Sadharan Bima Corporation, Bangladesh In-surance Association and Bangladesh Insur-ance Academy will submit proposals regard-ing the insurance package to the Banking Division, which will then � nalise a proposal based on feedback from the Finance Divi-sion.

The meeting also decided that public serv-ant insurance policies being implemented by India and Thailand were suitable models for the new insurance package for Bangladesh. l

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015News6DT

Quader: ADB likely to � nance airport underpassn Tribune Report

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is in-terested in funding the proposed underpass connecting Dhaka airport and Airport rail-way station in the capital, said Road Trans-port and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

The minister made the statement at a press brie� ng after the board meeting of Dha-ka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) in the capital yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, Quader said the un-derpass would be a passage for both pedestri-ans and vehicles.

“We will conduct the feasibility study soon, following which the construction ex-penditure will be calculated.”

The minister further said the alignment of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 1, popular-ly known as metro rail project, is complete. MRT Line 1 will connect Dhaka airport to Ka-malapur.

The board meeting was also attended by Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon, lawmaker Shagufta Yasmeen, Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary MAN Siddique, and Bridge Division Secretary Khandoker Anowarul Islam. l

IMLI recognised as Unesco Category II institute n Tribune Report

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scienti� c and Cultural Organ-isation (Unesco) has granted Dhaka’s Inter-national Mother Language Institute (IMLI) Category II status.

The Paris-based UN agency took the de-cision in response to a proposal put forward by Bangladesh during its 38th General Con-ference on Saturday, Education Ministry of-� cials said.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid is leading the Bangladesh delegation to the on-going conference in Paris.

Ministers and senior o� cials of 195 Unes-co member states, eight associate members and various UN agencies, the media and NGOs are attending the conference.

Unesco has designated 94 international and regional institutes and centres as Cate-gory 2 under the auspices of Unesco.

Although not legally part of the organisa-tion, these institutes and centres are associat-ed with Unesco through formal arrangements approved by the General Conference. They are selected upon proposal by member states, based on the strength of their specialisation in one of Unesco’s � elds of competence.

The Unesco Executive Board members noted that given the linguistic diversity of the Asia-Paci� c region and the institute’s unique emphasis on mother tongue and mul-tilingual education, the IMLI will serve as a hub of knowledge and research.

The establishment of IMLI bears the tes-timony to Bangladesh’s strong commitment to linguistic diversity, multilingualism and the importance of education through mother language.

On February 21, 1952, many students in Bangladesh sacri� ced their lives to uphold the dignity of their mother tongue. The day was proclaimed by Unesco as the International Mother Language Day on November 17, 1999.

Bangladesh will serve as the vice-pres-ident of the Unesco General Conference for the 2015-2017 term. l

MA Mannan gets bailn Tribune Report

The High Court has granted ad interim bail for six months to sacked mayor of Gazipur City Corporation MA Mannan in two violence cases.

Along with the bail order, the High Court bench of Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice KM Kamrul Kader also issued another ruling yes-terday asking the government as to why Man-nan should not get regular bail in the cases.

The government has been asked to re-

spond to the ruling by four weeks.The BNP leader, who was arrested Febru-

ary 11 this year, � led bail petitions in the two cases, � led by police with Tongi and Kaliakair police stations on December 31 last year for his alleged involvement in political violence.

His lawyer M Masud Rana told reporters that Mannan can be released from jail follow-ing the Hight Court order as he has received bail from both the High Court and lower courts in all of the 17 cases � led against him so far. l

US State Dept o� cials in Dhaka n Tribune Report

Two o� cials from the US Department of State are currently in Dhaka, visiting Bang-ladesh as part of their o� cial tour of South Asia.

The o� cials – William E Todd, principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asian A� airs, and Clinton Brown, director of South and Central Asian A� airs for Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh – vis-ited Dhaka on November 4-6 and left for Sri Lanka, before coming back to Bangladesh on Sunday for additional meetings.

While in Dhaka, Todd met with high-level o� cials from the government and discussed Bangladesh’s bilateral relations with the US, the security situation and regional issues, said a US embassy press release.

“Our countries both bene� t when we co-operate, as we do on so many issues,” said Todd. “On pressing global concerns like cli-mate change, women’s empowerment and countering violent extremism, we share a vi-sion and work toward common goals.”

Immediately prior to this assignment, Todd served as the US Ambassador to Cambo-dia, where he focused on the advancement of democracy, human rights, regional stability, counterterrorism and trade and investment.

Before his appointment to Cambodia, he served as the coordinating director of devel-opment and economic a� airs at the US Em-bassy in Kabul.

Todd has held several other senior posi-tions within the US government.

He has been a career member of the Senior Service for more than 15 years. l

Bangladesh will serve as Vice-President of the Unesco General Conference for the2015-2017 term

INSIDE

7D

TWorld

Political Parties contesting Myanmar’s general electionMore than 90 parties took part in elections in Myanmar on November 8 for a national parliament and assemblies in 14 states and regions, billed as the country’s � rst free and fair polls in 25 years.More than 6,000 candidates are competing for 1,171 seats in all assemblies. The national parliament has 664 seats, including 166 reserved for military appointees under a constitution drafted under military rule. It will elect the president who will form a government. PAGE 8

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

EU warns against escalation in South China Sea disputeThe European Union made its strongest call yet for China and other Asian nations to re-solve their dispute over the South China Sea, a position Brussels insists is neutral but that the US is likely to welcome after pressing the bloc to speak up. PAGE 9

‘UK to launch air strikes against IS as soon as House reach consensus’ Britain will escalate its military campaign against the IS militant group in Syria as soon as a consensus can be reached in the parliament, it’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said on Sunday. PAGE 10

FACTBOXCameron’s demands for staying in the EUDavid Cameron’s main demands have been identi� ed, according to excerpts of the letter pre-released on Sunday--Ü An end to the assumption of “ever closer

union” “We would be much more comfortable if

the Treaty … [freed] those who want to go further, faster, to do so, without being held back by the others.”

Ü Protection of non-eurozone members “What we seek are principles …binding

on EU institutions that safeguard the op-eration of the Union for all 28 member states …. That includes the recognition that the EU has more than one currency and we should not discriminate against any business on the basis of the currency of the country in which they reside. The principles must ensure that as the euro-zone chooses to integrate, it does so in a way that does not damage the interests of non-euro members.”

Ü EU jobseekers should “have a job o� er before they come” to the UK

And “if an EU jobseeker has not found work within six months, they will be required to leave.”

Ü Strengthen oversight by national parlia-ments

“It is national parliaments, which are, and will remain, the true source of real demo-cratic legitimacy and accountability in the EU … We need to recognise that in the way the EU does business.”

Source: THE INDEPENDENT

UK to lay cards on table over EU referendumn AFP, London

After months without a breakthrough, Da-vid Cameron will � nally give more details on Tuesday of what reforms he wants for Britain to stay in the European Union before a looming referendum.

Nearly three years after promising a vote before the end of 2017, the British prime minister will deliver his shopping list in a letter to EU president Donald Tusk, which is expected to be made public.

The letter comes ahead of a crunch Eu-ropean summit in Brussels next month and amid hopes that the British referendum on whether to remain an EU member state can be held next year.

Cameron will warn in a speech Tues-day that if Britain’s concerns are met with a “deaf ear,” he will have to “think again about whether this European Union is right for us.”

“I rule nothing out,” he will add, accord-ing to pre-released extracts.

Four key areasIn recent weeks, European partners have put increasing pressure on Cameron to lay out in more detail what kind of reforms he wants.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Ham-mond on Sunday told the BBC that some of the reforms “will require changes to the body of law, to the treaties and secondary legislation,” although the prime minister has accepted that this is highly unlikely be-

fore the referendum is held.Cameron has long identi� ed four broad

areas where he wants to see reforms -- im-proving competitiveness, greater “fairness” between eurozone and non-eurozone na-tions, sovereignty issues including an ex-emption from the aspiration of ever-closer union and making it harder for migrants to claim bene� ts.

When Cameron’s de facto deputy and possible successor, � nance minister George Osborne, gave a speech in Berlin last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel conced-ed that Britain had “justi� ed concerns” and stressed she wanted to help prevent a Brexit.

Experts say there is room for compro-mise in all areas except migration, where Cameron wants to stop EU migrants, in-cluding those in work, from claiming cer-tain state bene� ts for four years after arriv-ing in Britain.

This will be particularly tough to achieve agreement on because of non-discrimina-tion principles in EU legislation.

A failure by Cameron, who has said he will step down as prime minister by 2020, to achieve what he wants over bene� ts would be particularly damaging to him and his centre-right Conservative party.

Hammond warned that a Brexit was a real threat if Britons believed they were be-ing “fobbed o� with a set of cosmetic alter-ations.”

“This is about fundamental change. If we can’t do that, then we can’t win a referen-dum,” he said. l

BIGSTOCK

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015World8DT

SOUTH ASIA Maldives arrests foreigner accused of targeting presidentA Sri Lankan national has been arrested in the Maldives after allegedly conspiring to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen, authorities con� rmed on Saturday. The Maldivian foreign ministry said police had arrested the 27-year-old man two weeks ago, on the same day President Yameen had his then vice president Ahmed Adeeb detained in connection with another alleged assas-sination plot in September. The ministry did not identify the suspect or say who was behind the alleged plot. -AFP

ASIA PACIFICTaiwan opposition says only democracy can decide futureOnly the people of Taiwan can decide its future and will do so in elections in January, the is-land’s opposition leader and presidential front-runner said on Sunday, as China’s top news-paper warned peace was at risk if it opted for independence. A day after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou held historic talks in Singapore, Tsai Ing-wen said the leaders’ meeting had done nothing to make Taiwan’s people feel safer. -REUTERS

MIDDLE EASTIran appoints � rst woman ambassador since revolutionIran has appointed its � rst woman ambassa-dor since the 1979 Islamic revolution, naming foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh A� ham to head its embassy in Malaysia, the foreign minister announced on Sunday. Zarif paid tribute to A� ham, who was also the � rst woman in the Islamic republic to serve as foreign ministry spokeswoman, saying she had carried out her duties for two years with “dignity, bravery and particular insight.” -AFP

INDIAProtestor killed in Kashmir after Modi visitA protester was killed during clashes with government forces Saturday in Indian-ad-ministered Kashmir hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the disputed region, police said. The day was marred with minor clashes; however, the unrest inten-si� ed soon after Modi’s rally was over and restrictions were eased. Separatists opposed to Indian rule of the territory had called for a march to counter Modi’s rally but authorities imposed a near-lockdown to thwart it. -AFP

CHINACarter: US navigation moves in S China Sea will continueThe US will conduct freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea again, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said in a speech on Saturday, although he gave no timeline for any such actions. Carter’s comments, delivered at a defense forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, came at the close of a trip to Asia, where he cruised on a US aircraft carrier operating in the South China Sea and blamed Beijing’s island-building for rising tensions in the region. In October, a US guided-missile destroyer, the USS Lassen, challenged territorial limits around one of China’s man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago with a so-called free-dom-of-navigation patrol. -REUTERS

Ruling BJP concedes defeat in Bihar electionn Reuters, New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi su� ered a heavy defeat on Sunday in an election in Bihar, India’s third most-populous state, signalling the waning power of a leader who until recently had an unrivalled reputation as a vote winner.

The loss in Bihar will also hamper Modi’s push to pass economic reforms, because he needs to win most state elections in the next three years to gain full control of parliament.

In the most signi� cant vote since he won power 18 months ago, Modi’s Bharatiya Ja-

nata Party (BJP) lost in Bihar after running a campaign that sought to polarise voters along caste and religious lines.

It was the most expensive state election ever fought by the BJP, with more than 90 top party � gures addressing 600 rallies over the last six weeks, party o� cials said.

An anti-Modi alliance led by Chief Min-ister Nitish Kumar was ahead in 179 seats in the 243-seat regional assembly, an over-whelming majority, tallies compiled by the election commission showed. BJP-led alli-ance was ahead in 58 seats.

Analysts said an Indian prime minister

has never before invested so much time in a state election.

The slaughter of cows, an animal revered by the majority Hindu population, became a major topic. Members of Modi’s party also expressed concern about the rising Muslim population.

Bihar is one of its biggest electoral prizes and the most pressing challenges of India prevail there, including widespread pov-erty, corruption and poor infrastructure. If independent, its 104m people would be the world’s 13th-largest nation, more populous than Germany. l

FACTBOX

Political Parties contesting Myanmar’s general electionMore than 90 parties took part in elections in My-anmar on November 8 for a national parliament and assemblies in 14 states and regions, billed as the country’s � rst free and fair polls in 25 years.More than 6,000 candidates are competing for 1,171 seats in all assemblies. The national parlia-ment has 664 seats, including 166 reserved for military appointees under a constitution drafted under military rule. It will elect the president who will form a government.

Below are some details of the parties � elding the most candidates--

Union Solidarity & Development Party (USDP)Set up under military rule, the USDP is packed with former junta members and powerful ty-coons keen on maintaining close ties with a new government which is likely to press ahead with privatisation.

National League for Democracy (NLD)Myanmar’s largest opposition party won a 1990 election but was denied power by the military. It boycotted the 2010 vote, but after Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest, it took part in by-elec-tions in 2012, winning all but two seats. The party is expected to do well thanks to Suu Kyi’s popu-larity, but it is the parliament-appointed presi-dent who will form the government. Whether the NLD will have enough seats to elect its candidate president is not clear. Suu Kyi is banned from be-coming president by the constitution because her two children are British.

National Unity Party (NUP)NUP leaders are former generals and it is � elding 763 candidates, the third-largest number. The NUP has made pledges to prevent cronyism and help poor farmers.

National Development Party (NDP)The NDP is led by a former adviser to President Thein Sein, Nay Zin Latt, and is seen as close to the administration. It has put up 354 candidates, the fourth-highest number. Most of its members are technocrats.

National Democratic Force (NDF)The NDF is led by renegade members of the NLD, who split after Suu Kyi boycotted the 2010 elec-tion, when the NDF portrayed itself as the only opposition to the junta. The party won 16 seats

in 2010 and has registered 274 candidates this time, making it the � fth-biggest party by number of candidates.

Ethnic Shan partiesPerhaps the most in� uential of various eth-nic minority parties, Shan parties are pushing for amendment of the constitution and more autonomy for their state. Shan people are the second-biggest ethnic group after majority Bur-mans, The parties are � elding candidates outside Shan State, including in constituencies in the cit-ies of Yangon and Mandalay.

Arakan National Party (ANP)Two parties in Rakhine State merged to set up the ANP in 2014, tapping anti-Muslim sentiment after sectarian violence in 2012. The hardline Buddhist party has campaigned to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Rohingya voters and lobbied to exclude Rohingya candidates from the election. The party has 77 candidates, including 63 in Rakhine State, and looks to win all those seats, which would make it a major force in the state and one of the most powerful minority par-ties in the national assembly. l

Source: REUTERS

Source: Myanmar Information Management Unit/Myanmar Union Report

Myanmar

THAILAND

LAOS

CHINA

INDIA

M Y A N M A R

Central Tibeto-BurmanIn and around MyanmarMain language groups

Country of diverse ethnic groups goes to the polls on November 8

Population: 51.49 million

Urban population: 30%

Literacy: 89.5%

Communication

Television 49.535.532.9

6.24.8

30.3

RadioMobile phone

Internet at homeLandline phone

None of the above

% with acccess

Yangon

Sittwe

Myitkyina

Mandalay

MawlamyinePathein

Western Tibeto-Burman,BodishTibeto-Burman, Sal, Jingpho-Luish

Map based ondata of self-identifedlanguage namescollected locally

Tibeto-Burman, Ngwi-Burmese

Myanmar’s parliament

Tibeto-Burman, Sal

Tibeto-Burman, Sal-Kuki-Chin

Tibeto-Burman, Karenic

Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Tai-Kadai Family

Austro-Asiatic Family

Austronesian Family

Hmong-Mien Family

Indo-European Family

NAYPYIDAW

150 km

Lower house

Lower

Upper

Upper

Elected seats

Army seats

323

110 56

168

491

166

Only 2% Britons know Indian Muslim soldiers took part in WWI n Adil Mahmood

A new research has unveiled that only 2% of the British people know the fact that approximately 400,000 Muslim soldiers from pre-partion India fought actively for the British army during WWI.

The research, conducted by ICM, has also shown that only 22% somewhat heard about this, but ignorant of the scale of the Indian Muslim soldiers’ participation in the � rst great war.

Britian and some of it’s former colonies, especially which actively took part in World War I, observed the Remembrance Day on Sunday, marking the date and time when armies stopped � ghting World War I. on November 11th at 11am in 1918 (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month). Remembrance Sunday services are

being held across the UK to pay respects to the country’s war dead, with the Queen and political leaders laying wreaths at the Ceno-taph in London on Sunday.

However, another research by the Survation British Future projected some solace regarding the new generation of Britons. The poll � nds that nearly three-quarters (72%) of people think “Brit-ain’s tradition of Remembrance Day brings people together of all faiths and ethnic-ities.” Just 13% say it can “divide and cause friction between people of di� erent faiths and ethnicities.”

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of ethnic mi-norities in Britain, including a majority of British Muslims, agree that remembrance brings people from di� erent communities together.

More than half of people from ethnic

minorities in Britain say they will wear a poppy.

At least 400,000 Muslim soldiers fought for Britain in 1914-18 as part of the 1.5m-strong army from pre-partition In-dia. A new initiative from British Future launched in October to help promote inte-gration and community cohesion by rais-ing awareness of this shared history, called An unknown and untold story – the Mus-lim contribution to the First World War.

On the wall of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst’s India Room hangs a portrait of Khudadad Khan, the � rst Muslim sol-dier to be awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry. On October 31, 1914, Khan, a machine-gunner � ghting on the Western Front, held o� the enemy long enough for reinforcements to arrive, despite being in-jured and under heavy � re. l

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015World 9

DT

USACarson vows scrutiny will not derail White House bidRepublican presidential hopeful Ben Carson vowed Sunday to forge ahead with his cam-paign despite intense questions over discrepan-cies about the personal narrative he has made central to his White House bid. The Wall Street Journal challenged coursework Carson says he took at Yale University, and said it could not corroborate claims he sheltered white students during a riot over Martin Luther King’s assassi-nation while he was in high school. -AFP

THE AMERICAS2 dead, 28 missing in mud� ow caused by bursting Brazil damsBrazilian authorities early on Sunday con-� rmed a second death caused by a massive mud� ow and � ooding that swamped towns near an iron ore mine in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. As many as 28 people are still missing after the disaster on Thursday, prompting a rescue and salvage operation involving about 500 people, many of whom are still searching, with the help of dogs and special equipment, for victims along the � ood-plain downstream from the dams. -REUTERS

UKCorbyn accuses defence chief of political biasThe head of Britain’s Labour party on Sunday accused the country’s armed forces chief of an unconstitutional political intervention af-ter the military boss said he would be “wor-ried” by the opposition leader’s anti-nuclear stance. Party leader Jeremy Corbyn issued a statement expressing “serious concern” over the comments made by General Nicholas Houghton earlier Sunday. -AFP

EUROPEPope deplores Vatican leaks, vows to continue reformsPope Francis on Sunday pledged to follow up reforms in the Church, despite what he called “deplorable” leaks revealing his fury over un-controlled spending by the Vatican. “I want to assure you that this sad fact will not prevent me from the reforms which will proceed with my collaborators and the backing of you all,” he said after Angelus prayers. The pope was speaking for the � rst time since the arrest last weekend of an Italian PR expert and a Spanish priest on suspicion of stealing and leaking classi� ed documents to the media. -AFP

AFRICARussia, Britain ramp up e� orts to return stuck Egypt touristsMoscow and London ramped up e� orts Sunday to bring home thousands of tourists stranded in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh resort following the crash of a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula. Britain and the US, as well as international investigators, suspect a bomb exploded on board the Russian Airbus last Saturday en route to St Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board. The Islamic State group’s branch in the Sinai has claimed responsibil-ity, but Egyptian o� cials insist there is no evidence yet of an attack on the plane. -AFP

EU warns against escalation in South China Sea disputen Reuters, Luxembourg

The European Union made its strongest call yet for China and other Asian nations to resolve their dispute over the South China Sea, a position Brussels insists is neutral but that the US is likely to welcome after press-ing the bloc to speak up.

At a summit of EU and Asian foreign ministers, Beijing escaped any public ad-monishment over its construction and mil-itarisation of islands in the South China Sea but the EU’s foreign policy chief took a � rm line in the bloc’s � rst public comments since Washington patrolled the area this month.

“We are committed to a maritime order based on the principles of international law,” Federica Mogherini told a news conference when asked about the dispute. “We oppose any attempt to assert territorial or maritime claims through the use of intimidation, co-

ercion, force or any unilateral actions which would cause further friction,” she said.

The US has been urging the European Union to speak more forcefully about what Washington worries is Beijing’s predatory approach to a waterway where Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philip-pines have rival claims.

But the EU, despite its deep ties with the US, has been reluctant to publicly criticise Beijing at a time when it is seeking up to $10bn of Chinese investment in its new EU infrastructure fund to help revitalise the bloc’s weak economy.

A week after Washington sent a US naval destroyer to underscore its freedom of navi-gation and challenge China’s claim to almost all the South China Sea, the European Union also faced the task of ensuring that the gath-ering of 50 Asian and European envoys was not completely overshadowed by the dispute.

The issue is so sensitive for Beijing that the EU-chaired summit could only produce a � nal summit statement that made no men-tion of the South China Sea, despite pre-paratory talks between Asian o� cials that diplomats described as very tense.

Placed on paragraph 22 of the 9-page statement, the 53 delegations agreed on the importance “of resolving maritime disputes through peaceful means.”

Continuing the modest language: “Minis-ters rea� rmed their commitment to main-taining peace, promoting maritime security and stability, safety and cooperation, free-dom of navigation and over� ight and unim-peded lawful commerce,” the statement said.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5tn in global trade passes every year, but Vietnam, Ma-laysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. l

World10DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

‘UK to launch air strikes against IS as soon as House reach consensus’ n Tribune Desk

Britain will escalate its military campaign against the IS militant group in Syria as soon as a consensus can be reached in the parlia-ment, it’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said on Sunday.

It was reported early last week that David Cameron had scrapped plans for air strikes in Syria after an in� uential To-ry-controlled Commons committee described his approach to the issue as “incoherent.”

But it has since emerged that a terrorist bomb was the most likely cause of the Russian plane crash in Sinai – and asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show if air strikes were now o� the table, Philip Hammond said “no, not at all.”

“When we think it is the right thing to do and we are con� dent we have a consensus in the House of Commons to get a majority we will go back to Parliament,” he said.

However, against the backdrop of a hardline anti-war Jeremy Corbyn is now leading the main opposition Labour Party, the for-eign secretary said the Labour party was “a di� erent organisa-tion to that which we faced before the summer,” and said even its leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared yet to have made up his mind on Syria.

“There’s an exploration process here, whether or not a majori-ty of Labour MPs would in fact back this action,” he said.

Speaking about the Metrojet crash in Egypt itself, Hammond reiterated that “based on all the information available to us, we think it is more likely than not that it was caused by an explosive device.”

“We’re now seeing others taking similar action to us – most importantly the Russians, who are right at the heart of the inves-tigation into the crash of their plane,” he said. l

Human excrement can fuel developing world!n AFP, Washington, DC

Gas produced by decaying human waste is a potentially major source of energy, providing electricity for millions of homes while improving sanitary condi-tions in developing countries, says a UN report released Tuesday.

Biogas -- about 60% methane -- can be produced by having bacteria break down human feces. And it would be worth the equivalent of $9.5bn in non-renewable natural gas, the UN Institute for Water, Environment and Health said.

Residues from treated waste could yield two million tonnes a year of “sol-id” fuel worldwide that could reduce charcoal use and the number of trees being felled, which would help in glob-al warming reduction e� orts, the re-port added.

Almost a billion people around the world do not have access to toilets, about 60% of them in India, and have to relieve themselves outdoors.

If their excrement were collected, it could potentially be used to create more than $200m a year worth of bio-gas, and eventually rise to $376m, the

researchers said.This volume of energy would be

enough to power 18m in developing nations, the report added.

Bringing toilets to so many areas also will improve hygiene and public health in these countries. Poor sanitation is to blame for 10% of illnesses in developing countries, the researchers said.

“Challenges are many, but clearly there is a compelling, multi-dimen-sional � nancial case to be made for de-riving energy from waste,” said Chris Metcalfe, one of the authors of the study. l

INSIDE

Large parts of the country are in the grip of a severe gas crisis.While illegal connections have been highlighted by Titas Gas as the major

reason for current demand-supply imbalances, the roots of unreliability in the nation’s gas supplies go far deeper and need wider ranging reforms.

According to Petrobangla, the current demand of gas in the country is 3,300mmcfd, while production stands at 2,700mmcfd. Lack of investment in new pipes and equipment to clear distribution problems limiting the � ow of gas are also major contributing factors to the ongoing problems in restoring stable gas supplies.

Huge inconvenience is being caused to households in Dhaka by low pressure in pipes, and transmission and distribution problems are also starting to hit CNG stations. Many residents in a� ected areas are not getting even one-fourth of the normal supply of gas through the day.

This points to the failure of past policies to ensure adequate long-term investment to develop and improve gas supplies.

Spending tax-payer money on costly and unnecessary subsidies for fossil fuels has encouraged a culture of wasteful use of scarce resources. This has not only held back our ability to reduce greenhouse gas emission, but has reduced the funds available to invest in improving production and distribution.

Eliminating harmful subsidies and getting pricing right is imperative to increase the incentive for supply companies to act quicker against illegal connections and to bring in a rational policy of charging customers for actual gas use. It is also the best way to encourage investment in the new energy supplies, particularly renewables, which the country needs to ensure sustainable energy security.

The government must speed up action against illegal connections to end the free for all manner in which people have been allowed to get away with stealing precious resources and undermining stable gas supplies,.

However, it also needs to end subsides and reform pricing structures to maximise the incentives to invest in improving energy supply and distribution networks.

Reform and new investment to ensure stable energy supplies is vital to keep the economy growing.

Maximise incentives to invest in improving energy supply and distribution networks to keep the economy growing

The evolution of cheating

Enough is enoughTheir business is of publishing these write-ups in black and white. How can that be a crime? Will it be a crime to publish books on our war of independence? Or a book on our great leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman if it disagreed with him?

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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PAGE 12

PAGE 13

PAGE 14

The fog of opinion pollsIt is the job of the opposition to oppose, but there is always a measure. The response must be reasonable, and proportionate. Under Rahul Gandhi, Congress has developed expertise in creating mountains out of molehills

I am quite certain that the Lalmonirhat guy will be seen as an icon by many. We are living in an age when � lm heroes are either goons or ma� a gang-lords

Reforms needed for stable gas supplies

11D

TEditorialMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

BIGSTOCK

n Nadeem Qadir

I am in tears. I am saddened and angry. I have lost a friend and Bangladesh has lost one of its most free-thinking, progressive and liberal sons through of

no fault of his, but because of the ugly face of our peaceful religion, assuming the claim of Al-Qaeda in South Asia is true (AQSA).

Faisal Are� n Dipan, the man behind Jagriti Prokashoni, was hacked to death in his quiet o� ce in Dhaka’s Aziz Super Market book hub by unidenti� ed assailants, but all indications point to the same people who were behind the killings of various free-thinking bloggers.

There is an argument that these bloggers hurt the religious sentiments of some and that they should not do so. The law of Bangladesh also bans such coments against any religion.

But for Dipan and other publishers, their business is of publishing these write-ups in black and white. How can that be a crime? Will it be a crime to publish books on our war of independence? Or a book on our great leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

if it disagreed with him?Islam, the religion of love and peace, does

not sponsor murders, especially not in the way Dipan and others have lost their lives.

The circumstances of the incident are clear -- it was a planned killing, and, God-willing, three survived with injuries, while Dipan was not so lucky.

I remember meeting Dipan in his o� ce in Aziz Super Market in mid-2014. My friend and colleague, TV news producer Ra� qul Islam Rowly, introduced us. Dipan said he was very eager to publish a book on how I found my father’s grave after 36 years of searching, his state burial, and of course, my father’s hitherto unknown work for the country’s independence.

I was delighted. I admitted to him that I was very lazy, not very adept in the Bangla language as he was and de� nitely not a writer, but only a reporter. The very elegant and decent man, softly told me: “Nadeem bhai, give me your notes. The book is for posterity and if you do not write then an unknown episode of the war will be lost.”

Then, to reassure his status as a publisher, he gave me some of his published books and a list of what was coming in the Bangla Academy Ekushey Book Fair in 2015.

I agreed. But what I gave him was not a book, but a narration from my notes with some pictures. He went through it and asked for some elaboration on some points. That included a quick interview with retired Major Ra� qul Islam, an MP and former home minister.

I had gotten that interview when Major Ra� que gave me some time despite his busy schedule. I also took a picture with him and Mrs Islam at their Gulshan apartment.

Dipan edited the book and did its layout, and � nally named it “Muktijuddho: Ajana Oddhya” and was very happy with its performance at the book fair.

I told him it was totally to his credit. Intersetingly, he treated me to lunch at a restaurant in the market, instead of me treating him. He simply would not allow it. He halways said he had great respect and fondness for me.

In September 2015, we discussed his trip to London to coincide with a book fair and also about the second and elaborated edition of my book -- which incidentally is my � rst major work in Bangla. I promised to do my best to meet the 2016 deadline, but also told him it would most likely be in 2017 when the second edition will be with the readers.

A while back, he posted photographs of his newly renovated o� ce and show-room. I was delighted, but always mentioned to him how he had no sta� inside his o� ce as it was so quiet and dimly lit. I never got an answer.

But today I feel had there been a few more of his sta� inside the o� ce, these thugs could not have killed him. Many may ask me: Do we need to have personal security? Yes, when you are in a business which makes enemies, you need to, and, on top of that, also ask the state to provide you with protection. However, that is not important at this stage. What I wanted to share were my various meetings with him.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina believes in the rule of law and justice. She ensured the Bangabahdu killing case was done in normal courts instead of special tribunals, and did the same for the war crimes trial. London-based Amnesty International may cry foul, but we know right from wrong.

But now, enough is enough. We need to set up special summary tribunals for such killings -- general or militancy-related -- and provide swift justice.

Critics may cry foul about such tribunals and the breach of human rights, but if you can criticise then you must have the heart and mind to accept such punishments.

The UK, EU, or Amnesty International must support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina if she does set up the tribunals, because you cannot ask for justice and also tell us how to do it. Those who killed Dipan are not bothered about human rights, then so why should we care about theirs?

BNP’s founder General Ziaur Rahman hanged freedom � ghter Colonel Abu Taher unjustly in a summary military court. Where was the question of human rights then?

Colonel Taher was injured in the leg in the 1971 war and law forbids the hanging of a disbaled person, but a warrior fell victim to his rival. May his soul rest in peace.

To my friend Dipan, may you rest in peace. The � rst edition of my book was dedicated to Sheikh Hasina. The next edition will be dedicated to you, I promise. l

Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism. He is Press Minister of the Bangladesh High Commission in London.

Enough is enough

Their business is of publishing these write-ups in black and white. How can that be a crime? Will it be a crime to publish books on our war of independence? Or a book on our great leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman if it disagreed with him?

Dipan’s killers need to face the hammer of justice BIGSTOCK

In the recent killings, Bangladesh has lost one of its most valuable sons

Opinion12DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Opinion

n Towheed Feroze

Reportedly, an undergraduate student at Lalmonirhat College was caught by the police while employing a sophisticated, digital-

age cheating method -- strapping a mobile to his arm covered by his shirt-sleeve and an earphone carefully inserted into his ear, with the wire pasted on his scalp underneath his hair.

Full marks for ingenuity; this is Mission Impossible material right here!

But zero for academic integrity. Hence, 15 days behind bars. Question is: Will the apprehension, the public exposure, plus the brief incarceration teach him any sort of lesson?

Truth is, cheating will always be here, with evolved systems making old ways obsolete. In the 70s and 80s, the standard way to write chotha or notes for exam halls was in mini alphabets on the back-side of a ruler or inside a geometry box -- just a little exam hall memory cell resuscitation.

Then, some enterprising types thought of another brilliant idea: Writing on the pajamas hidden by the kameez. This was near perfect for girls, who could raise a hullabaloo if someone asked her to lift her salwar to check the pajamas. “Sir has asked me to show my thighs” -- imagine what that could have led to.

Faced with the conundrum, the number of female examination inspectors was raised. The boys could not use the pajama trick so they improvised the rolled shirt-sleeve trick.

The writing was on the shirt-sleeve which was casually rolled up during entry to the hall. Once the exam was underway, with the

invigilators taking a tea break, they could be unfolded to check the answers.

Of course, there have been times when the examinee was out of luck, because the questions did not match the answers they had brought. In such cases, lamentations after the exam were hard to miss: “What bad luck … did not get the common question.”

These days, the necessity of cheating has dwindled, because, why take so much trouble when you can get access to the leaked exam question papers beforehand?

Maybe in Lalmonirhat the questions did not come out before, and hence the usage of the ingenious trick. There was also a

time when cheating was not permitted, as something better existed.

With blessings from the teachers, students could openly write from text books brought within the exam hall. There was only one point of caution: When the district administrator comes for a visit, everyone would have to hide their books. What an inconvenience!

In several cases, the district o� cial found absolute order in the halls, except for the toilets stacked with notebooks and written material.

For some time, the common practice was to hide a book in the toilet and then take a peek during a washroom break. I remember one of my friends, who had resorted to this tactic, came back to the exam hall with a crestfallen look. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

He had hidden the book inside the water tank of the toilet but, somehow, the book failed to stay in place and fell into the water, making it irretrievable.

On another occasion, books concealed in the toilet could not be opened because all of them were doused with urine. Someone had come and relieved on them, making the books more than a little smelly.

In the 80s, it was ultimate abomination to be caught while cheating, known in Bangla as “nokol korte giye dhora.” Shame that it led many to leave home or do something desperate.

Nowadays, it’s more like fame. It depends on which technique was employed. I am quite certain that the Lalmonirhat guy will be seen as an icon by many. We are living in an age when � lm heroes are either goons or ma� a gang-lords and are fast in pulling the trigger and even faster in indulging in the

pleasures of the forbidden kind.A few years ago, I met a prospective

BCS candidate who looked somewhat despondent. He said: “I am frustrated because all my e� orts to � nd a way to get hold of the questions beforehand failed.”

Aghast, I said: “Is this the way to expect to pass BCS and serve the country?” Finding that I did not share his diluted sense of morality, he swiftly changed his tone.

About a decade ago, a cheating incident caught my attention. Somewhere in a rural town, a college peon (doptori) was found to be complicit in a cheating operation.

This person used to place cut-out notes

on the lower portion of the exam hall desks on a false platform, and students who passed all body searches would then go inside and then cautiously bring out the pages. I shall be a hypocrite if I say that I have never done anything immoral, so here’s the real life story.

Back in 1990, during HSC, there was an optional fourth subject in college which no one took seriously, and my one was short-hand.

For optional subjects, students did not have to go to any other (external) exam outlets, but could sit for it in their own institution. The marks were also given by an

internal teacher.So, the deal was this: Go to the teacher

regularly as his private student for a few months, pay the monthly fee, give him the roll number before the exam, and relax.

On the day of the test, it was an open house. No, we didn’t copy from books or take notes inside, but could freely look at some-one else’s sheets.

Not that the subject would matter in later life, but I received an 85. It seems there’s a bit of a cheat in all of us. l

Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

The evolution of cheating

I am quite certain that the Lalmonirhat guy will be seen as an icon by many. We are living in an age when � lm heroes are either goons or ma� a gang-lords and are fast in pulling the trigger and even faster in indulging in the pleasures of the forbidden kind

Cheating is only a short-term answer to a long-term question BIGSTOCK

Students are exhibiting more creativity in the way they cheat than in the way they acquire knowledge

13D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Opinion14DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

n MJ Akbar

May I make a fervent plea to the Election Commission of India for some immediate electoral reform? This prayer is

placed before the Commission rather than parliament because it is within their remit to make this change.

Could the Commission kindly ensure that results are never declared on a Sunday? This makes life terribly di� cult for the crowded and varied group of columnists and pundits who enjoy making an appearance, clothed in wisdom, in the Sunday papers. You see, they are used to being wise after the event. Please do not force them to be wise before the results, on Saturday, when they need to do the writing.

This intrudes heavily on their already stretched resources of knowledge, interpretation, analysis. The strain is di� cult to bear. They are human. They hate the thought of eggs on our faces.

When exit polls for the Bihar election swing as widely as they have this week, their insecurity becomes that much more intense. Both sides can read the predictions that suit them; the una� liated grope in confusion, with a shrug as their only consolation until the big bell rings and the referee begins the countdown.

Being a member of a political party, and hence partisan, it is but obvious that I � nd Chanakya’s prediction of 155 seats for NDA the most palatable.

I take comfort in his past success, noting that, even if sometimes he did not get the � gure right, he always correctly spotted the trend that the vote was taking. This estimate,

in my view, re� ects the enthusiasm shown by the massive crowds which came to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies, and the electric response of the young.

But here is a suggestion for all companies in the prediction business. I hope they check their estimates with the most realistic entry and exit polls in the fray: Bookies. Their methodology is not vastly di� erent, actually.

Moreover, bookies investigate every single constituency before notching up their numbers. Opinion poll companies can a� ord to make mistakes, because they pick up their cheque in advance. Bookies can’t. Each mistake costs them serious money.

Some election results were declared on Saturday. They were not on a Bihar scale. They did not consume the lung space or national attention given to Bihar. But they o� ered signi� cant signals for the future. The results of local elections in Kerala told a very interesting story. The Left Front was ahead

of the Congress-led UDF, which means that the weather has changed and the Left could be back in power in Kerala after next year’s Assembly elections.

The message that is emerging from across the country, whether Ladakh or Assam or Kerala, is that, irrespective of who wins, the Congress has lost the con� dence of the elec-torate. In Kerala, the UDF has been weighed

down by the burden of carrying Congress. But that is not the only message.

According to trends available at the time of writing, Congress has lost the corporation elections in Thiruvananthapuram, a celebrity seat that Congress held in 2014. Remarkably, BJP has made impressive gains in a number of district towns and a few rural regions, becoming the largest single party in Palakkad, ahead of UDF and the Left.

Perhaps Congress leaders think that things cannot get any worse after the nadir of 2014. Maybe they should think again. The reason

is clear. Congress’s political tactics this year have � oated out of the range of common sense. The people will not support obduracy and hysteria.

It is the job of the opposition to oppose, but there is always a measure. The response must be reasonable, and proportionate. Under Rahul Gandhi, Congress has developed expertise in creating mountains out of molehills.

Since these mountains are full of air, they get punctured. Voters can hardly be expected to endorse thoughtless obstruction of governance and development.

The Indian Election Commission is certainly not thoughtless, nor does it seek to disrupt governance; it does a � ne job with impressive integrity. But there is still room for a second plea -- this time, a serious one. Do elections in one state have to stretch into months?

It surely cannot be the case that their authorities do not possess the resources for conducting more than an average of 50 MLA seats on each polling day, which was the Bihar average.

An obese election may provide some excellent theatre for all of us, but it e� ectively interrupts governance. One is not talking of a pause only in Bihar, but also diversion of national attention and time.

A stand-alone Bihar election can be easily wrapped up in two days. Trust me, the longest “thank you” notes will come from politicians, with only slightly shorter ones by voters. l

MJ Akbar is an Indian journalist. He is the founder of The Sunday Guardian. This article was � rst published in The Sunday Guardian.

The fog of opinion pollsPredicting the elections in India is tricky business

It is the job of the opposition to oppose, but there is always a measure. The response must be reasonable, and proportionate. Under Rahul Gandhi, Congress has developed expertise in creating mountains out of molehills

Why are the Bihar elections stretching into months? REUTERS

15D

TBusinessMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Muhith: No problem with soft loan from green fundFinance Minister AMA Muhith said the government has no problem with soft-term loan from the green climate fund although there is an agreement among the developed nations to provide the fund as grants. PAGE 16

Will Lagarde face BRICS challenge as IMF term nears end?As International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde’s mandate enters the � nal stretch, emerging-market powers seem hesitant about teaming up to try to wrest the job away from Europeans. PAGE 18

US central banker: Fed rate hike ‘makes sense’Now that the United States is closing in on full employment and in� ation is likely to rise to target levels, the “next step” should be to start gradually increasing rates, a top US central banker said on Saturday. PAGE 17

Capital market snapshot: SundayDSE

Broad Index 4,443.1 -1.3% ▼

Index 1,071.8 -1.2% ▼

30 Index 1,689.5 -1.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 3,147.2 -6.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 82.9 -3.0% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 13,602.0 -1.1% ▼

30 Index 12,050.4 -1.1% ▼

Selected Index 8,275.1 -1.1% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 211.5 -5.5% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 7.3 13.0% ▲

INSIDE

Annual growth of domestic market 11.37% Expected to reach $2bn in next few years

Export earnings $73m in FY15

Annual growth 5%Over 30 companies export to 107 countries

Manufacturing units in operation 164Meet local demand 97%White-collar jobs 1,15,000

BANGLADESH PHARMA INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE

90%10%

LOCALCompanies

MULTINATIONALS

Total domestic market $1.4bn

Patent waiver a boon for pharmaThe facility expected to make the sector 2nd biggest export earner n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector will be the second largest export earner following the RMG within the next three years, thanks to drug patent waiver for 17 years for LDCs, industry people said yesterday.

They said this at a press conference ar-ranged to brief the media about the ben-e� ts of the decision of WTO’s Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Prop-erty Rights (TRIPS).

The council extended the drug patent exemption for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) including Bangladesh till 2032.

Over the last two years, around 1,200 pharmaceutical products got registration for export earning that will see a massive jump within the next three years, Bangla-desh Aushad Shilpa Samity President Naz-mul Hassan told reporters at the brie� ng.

The country would emerge as the second largest export earner from the pharmaceuti-cal sector after the apparel, he added.

According to the Export Promotion Bu-reau (EPB) data, Bangladesh exported med-icines worth $72.64m in last � scal year.

“The extension was beyond our imagi-nation. It will have a positive impact on the people of the country,” he said, adding that the government is working to implement the Active Pharma Ingredients (API) since this is very important to reduce import cost.

Commenting on the graduation of the country into a middle-income status, Naz-mul said Bangladesh has at least six years in hand and it is necessary to build capacity for manufacturing patent products.

Nazmul maintained that Bangladesh is in the front line to tap the waiver opportunity because it has technological facilities, plus ca-

pacity among LDCs to manufacture medicine.In his address, Commerce Minister Tofail

Ahmed said: “The waiver of patent will have a huge positive impact on the poor people of the country and the pharmaceutical sector.”

Bangladesh as coordinator of LDCs played the leading role in the entire long ne-gotiations that ultimately brought a desired decision of a 17-year extension, he said.

At present, some 250 Bangladeshi phar-maceutical companies are now meeting 97% of domestic demands while 30 companies are exporting to 107 countries, especially LDCs.

“Using the opportunity, Bangladesh will be able to accumulate data and the country will produce patent products before other countries,” said Abdul Muktadir, managing director of Incepta Pharmaceuticals.

For this waiver, an opportunity would be created to convert 30-40 companies into

multinational status, he added. “We are getting enormous orders from

even developed countries and Bangladesh can be the leading manufacturer of generic medicine,” he hoped.

“The investors were not eager to invest in the pharma sector because of the uncer-tainty of patent waiver. The waiver will now encourage foreign, local and joint invest-ment as they have got a message about the future direction of the sector,” Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research direc-tor, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told the Dhaka tribune.

If Bangladesh graduates into a middle-in-come country status from LDCs, it will not be able to utilise the opportunity, he said, adding that the government has to imple-ment API so that manufacturers can get raw materials from the domestic source. l

BANGABANDHU SATELLITE-1

Tk2,967cr deal with France to be signed Wednesdayn Tribune Business Desk

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regu-latory Commission (BTRC) is scheduled to sign a Tk2,967 crore agreement with French company Thales Alenia Space on Wednes-day for developing and launching the coun-try’s � rst-ever satellite Bangabandhu-1.

The contract signing ceremony will be held at a city hotel in presence of Tarana Halim, state minister for telecommunica-tion, Jean-Loïc Galle, chairman of Thales Alenia space France.

Earlier, on October 20, the Cabinet pur-chase committee approved the tender pro-posal in favour of Thales for the satellite which will be used for telecommunication and broadcast purposes, as all other partic-ipants became non-responsive during the bidding process.

Once the satellite is launched into or-bit, it will eventually help the country save US$14m annually. The government can also earn by renting the satellite.

Thales Alenia Space, a France aerospace manufacturer and work order winner of Bangabandhu satellite implementation pro-ject, will have to accomplish the task within two years as per government requirement.

If the country’s � rst-ever Bangabandhu satellite project missed its installation dead-line, Thales will have to pay compensation as per a hefty provision.

Bangladesh has already signed a deal with Rus-sia-based Intersputnik for taking lease of an orbital slot worth US$28m.

In June, four internation-al companies–Great Wall In-dustry Corporation of China, MDA Corporation, Thales Alenia Space, and Orbital ATK from USA – participat-ed in the tender process of the installation and post-in-stallation support services for launching the country’s

� rst-ever satellite. Though MDA Corporation of Canada had

the lowest bid of $222.75m, it could not win the tender because of some inconsistencies in the price quoted in its tender.

Considering all facts, the committee re-portedly selected Thales Alenia Space, the second-lowest bidder worth $248m. l

Business16DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Muhith: No problem with soft loan from green fundn Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the gov-ernment has no problem with soft-term loan from the green climate fund although there is an agreement among the developed na-tions to provide the fund as grants.

“I don’t have any objection if it’s a soft-term loan,” he said at a workshop yesterday, adding “With my experience in public ser-vice for nearly 60 years, I know 50% of this loan is spent on � nancing and planning.”

Muhith said it would be quite enough for the country if it got $100m even as soft loan for adaptation to the climate change e� ects.

He said despite the fact that Bangladesh is hardly responsible for carbon emissions, it’s one of the worst victims of the climate change. He said, “Bangladesh su� ers most because of others’ activities.”

Muhith alleged, “Funds have been created since the Copenhagen climate summit, but access to those funds is extremely di� cult and cumbersome… we should � nd out ways and gain capacity to be able to have access to the funds.”

The workshop titled “Accessing green cli-mate fund: opportunities, options and chal-lenges for private sector and civil society or-ganizations” was organised by the Economic Relations Division.

O� cials said the workshop was a part of the e� orts preparing Bangladesh to have ac-cess to the green climate fund (GCF).

A multi-billion dollar fund set up by the United Nations in 2010 to help poor countries tackle climate change on November 6 ap-

proved $168m for funding di� erent projects in developing countries ahead of a global cli-mate summit starting on Nov 30 in Paris.

The GCF will be one of the main channels for donor countries to mobilise over $100bn a year in aid for developing nations by 2020 from public and private sources.

Muhith expected the countries a� ected by climate change might have agreements in Paris which would be legally binding.

“We should have some legally binding agreements in Paris that will be the basics for survival of the world, not for the survival of a few countries as the warming of the Earth has gone to a very dangerous level.”

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu

said developing countries which are already facing bad e� ects of climate change cannot realise their due shares from the GCF for lack of institutional capacity.

“If we can improve our institutional ca-pacity, it won’t be a problem to get enough grants or loans from the climate funds.”

Amu said Bangladesh can use money from climate fund in the SME sector by enhancing its institutional capacity and making the sec-tor environment-friendly.

He said the government is bearing 78% of the cost to implement di� erent projects in the country to mitigate the climate change risks, while the development partners are providing only the remaining 22%. l

Bangladesh, India sit today to � x credit terms n Tribune Report

Bangladesh and India will hold talks today in Dhaka to resolve the unsettled issues before striking a new deal for Indian US $2bn line of credit (LoC).

India o� ered new LoC in early June during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day state visit to Bangladesh.

Since then, negotiation continues be-tween the two countries, but both sides are yet to reach any consensus about procure-ment of goods and services from both the countries, consultant appointment, seller selection, tax, VAT and procurement guide-lines to execute 13 projects under the LoC.

On the use of goods and services, Bangla-desh decided to propose reducing procure-ment of Indian goods and services to 65% or below it for civil works-related projects and more reduction for other projects.

Under the LoC, India primarily said a mini-mum of 75% goods and services need to be In-dian origin and must be procured from India.

In response to it in July, Bangladesh pro-posed India that 60% goods and services will be procured from India while the rest 40% from Bangladesh, and 50% construction ma-terials like brick, sand and cement will be pro-cured from India and 50% from Bangladesh.

On this proposal, India replied that for all the projects, it would not be possible to cut the proposed procurement share but terms and conditions could be project-based like � rst LoC.

LoC is a promise to provide loans at subsi-dised rates from agencies such as Exim Bank of India. These are normally conditional on the recipient, using the loan amount to buy equipment and services from Indian entities.

Both countries, however, agreed on form-ing a joint venture company for taking rec-ommendation services. But in this case, Indi-an Consultant Company will play a lead role.

On the point of project management con-sultant (PMC), the meeting decided to nego-tiate further.

Earlier, in response to Bangladesh’s pro-posal to make it optional, and if needed, Bangladesh could appoint own-� nanced PMC from anywhere in the world.

In response to it, India replied that it is im-portant to appoint PMC in a critical project-re-lated civil works under LoC. So, appointment of PMC should not be made optional.

On the re-payment date, Bangladesh agreed on India’s proposal on � xing re-pay-ment date after � rst installment of the loan.

Further discussion will be on seller se-lection, as earlier Bangladesh proposed that

Bangladesh usually accomplishes all civil procurements in line with the internationally recognised rules in response to India’s seek-ing explanation on omission of two words – transparent and fair – from the deal.

On payment of customs duty, VAT and tax, Bangladesh also decided to discuss further and said Indian must pay all personal and corporate taxes as per the country’s rules.

Earlier, India requested Bangladesh to re-think about not giving tax and VAT waiver for its individuals and companies.

Both sides agreed to handle the letter of credit issue, borrower’s liability, immunity for the borrower, legal proceeding by court, spec-imen signature and amortization schedule.

India o� ered the new LoC at 1% interest and 0.5% commitment fee (on undisbursed amount). The loan will have to be repaid in 20 years with a � ve-year grace period.

In August 2010, Bangladesh signed the � rst $1bn credit deal with India to support Bangladesh’s development works. Of which, $800m has so far been released.

Among the proposed 13 projects for fresh LoC are setting up of double railway tracks in Khulna-Darshana line, converting the Par-batipur-Kauniametre-auge (MG) line to a du-al-gauge track, upgrading the Syedpur railway workshop. l

Man accused of illegal placement share trade acquitted n Tribune Report

The special tribunal for stock market yester-day acquitted Shattaruzzaman Shamim ac-cused of illegal private placement share trade.

In 2010, Bangladesh Securities and Ex-change Commission had � led a case against Shamim, alleging that he was making money by selling private placement share illegally to general investors.

“Shamim was found not guilty,” said the tribunal judge Humayun Kabir while giving the verdict. In the case, the tribunal dropped the name of prime accused Nabiullah Nabi, alias Sha� ul Alam Nabi, who died in a train accident in 2013.

Nabi was the chairman of Green Bangla Group which ran forged private placement business during the market debacle in 2010-11.

During the period, Nabi took money from hundreds of general investors, promising that they would invest the money on pre-IPO placement and share the pro� t.

Pre-IPO placement, commonly known as private placement, is the share allocating process of a � oating which is meant for insti-tutional investors.

After probing the allegation, the secu-rities regulator � led a case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, which was later shifted to the special tribunal for stock market after its formation. This is the fourth verdict of the tribunal that deals with stock market-related cases after formation in June.

On August 31 this year, the tribunal sen-tenced the managing director and a director of Chic Textiles to imprisonment for four years in its third verdict in a 1996 stock mar-ket scam case. l

Finance Minister AMA Muhith FILE PHOTO

Mobile counters to be set for students to collect savingsn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank asked all the banks to set up mobile counter in the educational institu-tions at least once a month to collect savings from the students.

Banks will take initiative to set up mobile counter on educational institution premises where the students will deposit their sav-ings, said a circular Bangladesh Bank issued yesterday.

Banks will set an annual target of opening school banking accounts and a table of de-� ned target will be sent to the central bank by December of next year.

All the branches of schedule banks will arrange a � nancial education programme at least once a year in educational institutions situated in their working area, said the circular.

Banks will accelerate their � nancial activities among the students by providing mobile � nancial facilities, according to the circular. l

Business 17D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Fed rate hike ‘makes sense’n Reuters, Tempe

Now that the United States is closing in on full employment and in� ation is likely to rise to target levels, the “next step” should be to start gradually increasing rates, a top US cen-tral banker said on Saturday.

“I do think it makes sense to gradually remove the policy of accommodation that helped get the economy to where we are,” San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank Presi-dent John Williams told the Arizona Council on Economic Education.The comments suggest that Williams, a cen-trist policymaker who was Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s chief researcher when she had his job before moving to Washington, is leaning toward support of a December rate hike.

Asked afterward by a reporter whether that is so, Williams declined to say, adding

that he expects “a lot of data” between now and then. “I am going to wait and see on that,” he said.

The Fed has kept interest rates near zero for almost seven years, and the central bank last month said it would consider a rate increase at its Dec. 15-16 meeting, the last of the year.

The explicit nod to the Fed’s next meet-ing sent traders scrambling to boost bets on a December move, bets that only got bigger after a government report on Friday showed the economy added many more jobs than ex-pected in October.

A Reuters poll of top bond dealers also showed a growing number expected borrow-ing costs to go up next month, with 15 of 17 looking for an increase.

In� ation has languished below the Fed’s goal for years, prompting a few Fed poli-cymakers to still favor waiting on a rate in-

crease until there is better evidence that pric-es are indeed � rming.

On Saturday, Williams said he believes that factors holding in� ation down, includ-ing weak oil prices and a strong dollar, should soon ebb and allow in� ation to bounce back.

Beginning rate hikes sooner than later would allow a “smoother, more gradual pro-cess of policy normalization,” Williams said. The Fed will likely need to raise rates more slowly than the last time it tightened policy in 2004-2006, because of persistent head-winds holding back growth, he told reporters afterward.

Asked how slowly, Williams said investors could draw inferences from the Fed’s quar-terly economic projections.

Raising rates will send a positive signal about the economy and could spur some homebuying that had been deferred, he said. l

Record China trade surplus highlights struggle to boost demandn AFP, Beijing

China recorded its highest trade surplus on record last month, o� cial data showed yesterday, as plunging imports highlighted the country’s continued strug-gle to boost domestic demand and prop up sagging growth.

The disappointing � gures show how Beijing is strug-gling to keep the world’s sec-ond-largest economy on the rails and add to mounting evi-dence China could be heading for a hard landing.

As the planet’s biggest trad-er in goods and a key driver of already subdued world growth, the � gures will also add to signs

the global economy is facing its toughest year since the height of the � nancial crisis.

Imports fell 18.8% compared to a year ago to $130.77bn, the 12th consecutive monthly drop in imports, following a 20.4% decrease in September, accord-ing to customs � gures.

Exports, too, continued their losing streak from July, drop-ping by 6.9% year-on-year in Oc-tober to $192.41bn as foreign de-mand languished. That set the trade surplus at $61.64bn, a 36% increase compared to the same period in 2014 and the highest such � gure since at least 1995, the earliest data held on record by Bloomberg News. l

Traders work on the � oor of the New York Stock Exchange REUTERS

DSEX falls below 4,500-markn Tribune Report

Stocks declined for the third straight ses-sion yesterday, with benchmark index DSEX breaching through the psychological barrier of 4,500-mark on panic selling triggered by the latest development in the political front.

The market, however, opened on optimistic tone in the morning, but the enthusiasm fad-ed away as the sell-o� accelerated when index broke the psychological barrier, brokers say.

The DSEX lost 60 points or 1.4% to settle at 4,443, its lowest since May 18 this year.

The Shariah index DSES was down over 12 points or 1% to 1,071. The blue chip com-prising index DS30 closed at 1,689, slipping almost 22 points or 1.3%.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX ended at 8,275, drop-ping 93 points.

The market remained under pressure for many reasons, including development in the political � eld, security concern, weak macro-economic news over the last one month.

“But some unnerved investors joined the selling spree after index slipped below 4,500-mark,” said a broker.

An analyst said the steep decline in the index re� ects that it is progressively losing its grip on the psychological barrier of 4,500-mark.

IDLC Investments said extended downbeat resumed in the maiden session of the week, taking toll on the market, as capital protection motive instigated by panic from uncertainty dominated throughout the session.

Trading activities also struggled as DSE turnover stood at Tk314 crore, down 6.2% over the previous session’s value.

Big losers were led by cement that went down by 2.4%, followed by banks 1.6%, non-banking � nancial institutions 1.5% and power 1%.

Pharmaceuticals went down by 0.7% de-spite the news that WTO members extended the drug patent exemption for the poorest countries by another 17 years in a landmark decision that will bene� t the Bangladesh Pharma industry. l

Business18DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

City Bank has recently signed an agreement with Gulshan Club to provide its club members the facility to pay membership fee and other dues through Citytouch Internet Banking services. The bank’s chief information o� cer, Kazi Azizur Rahman and secretary of Gulshan Club, Lt Col (retd) ASM Ziauddin Khan signed the agreement

Social Islami Bank Limited held its 353rd board meeting yesterday. The bank’s chairperson, Major Dr Md Rezaul Haque (retd) presided over the meeting

Will Lagarde face BRICS challenge as IMF term nears end?n AFP, Washington

As International Monetary Fund chief Chris-tine Lagarde’s mandate enters the � nal stretch, emerging-market powers seem hes-itant about teaming up to try to wrest the job away from Europeans.

The IMF managing director has said she is “open” to seeking another term when her time is up in July 2016, while the so-called BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - seem divided about a power bid.

Questioned by AFP, Moscow and Brasilia refused to comment. But Pretoria seems to be already gearing up to contest the Europe-an leadership of the 70-year-old IMF, part of the tacit agreement with the United States that has kept an American as head of sibling institution the World Bank.

“Developing countries have insisted on a merit-based selection process, not the current arrangement where the Fund managing direc-tor is always a European,” said a spokeswom-an for South Africa’s treasury department.

Though the complaint is not new, it has failed so far to produce change.

In 2011, the BRICS were unable to agree on a single candidate who would convey undeniable symbolic clout, leaving Mexico’s Agustin Carstens to pursue a losing battle against Lagarde.

It is an open question whether that would be di� erent today.

“It’s too early to say. Let the situation be-come clear, which other candidates are in the race,” said an o� cial at the Indian � nance ministry.

“India may look to discuss with other na-tions like the BRICS,” the o� cial said, speak-ing on condition of anonymity.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, was circumspect. “China has been in a good, sound, coopera-tive relationship with the IMF,” she said.

Since 2011, however, the situation has changed.

The � ve big emerging-market economies have strengthened their cooperation with

a constant goal in mind: to challenge the West’s grip on the Bretton Woods sibling in-stitutions by creating their own monetary fund and development bank.

They chafe at their underrepresentation at the IMF, where the voting rights of China,

the world’s second-largest economy, are not even a quarter of the United States.

An IMF reform that would slightly correct the imbalance has been languishing for three years.

Cracks have appeared within the 188-na-tion IMF itself. In July, the institution’s num-ber-two o� cial, David Lipton, told the BBC that it was “much more likely the next time around than it has ever been” that the next IMF chief will be a non-European.

Credible candidateThe prospect of a common BRICS candidate, however, faces a number of obstacles, ac-cording to experts interviewed by AFP.

The choice of a candidate, for starters. A former IMF chief economist who currently

heads India’s central bank, Raghuram Rajan, has the ideal pro� le but he himself has torpe-doed speculation.

“It’s not a job I have applied for,” Rajan told Indian broadcaster NDTV in an inter-view aired in September. “It’s not a job I am running for.”

Beyond the question of candidates, it would be tough to challenge Lagarde if she seeks another term because she has strong backing among the institution’s members, including the emerging-market economies.

“Ms Lagarde has broad support among the IMF’s membership,” said economist Es-war Prasad, former head of the IMF’s China division.

“She has taken a number of steps to make the IMF more sensitive to emerging markets’ concerns and sought to increase their rep-resentation at senior levels of the IMF’s man-agement and sta� .”

According to Shi Yinhong, a professor at Renmin University of China, the battle seems to have a foregone conclusion because of the composition of the IMF executive board, which names the managing director and which remains dominated by Europeans and Americans.

“Given Western countries’ funding, their share of voting rights and their ability in and experience of managing international � nan-cial organizations, I believe the managing director candidate will still come from a de-veloped country,” he said.

Two factors, however, could change the situation, according to Prasad: If the IMF decides to not include the Chinese currency, the yuan or renminbi, in its elite currencies basket and if the IMF governance reform re-mains blocked in the coming months.

“This could generate a more aggressive push by the BRICS to change the structure of the IMF’s management as well as its govern-ance,” he said.

The IMF insists it has one wish, that the selection process remain “open” as it had been during the designations of previous managers general. l

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde talks at a news conference REUTERS

‘Developing countries have insisted on a merit-based selection process, not the current arrangement where the Fund managing director is always a European’

News 19D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Quacks deceiving patients in port cityn Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

The prescription of ‘Dr’ Sujon Debnath Apan clearly states that he has secured Diagnos-tic Medical Sonography (DMS) degree from Dhaka. It is written in his visiting card as well as in signboard that he is also an expert in ne-onatal sector.

However, he confessed to a mobile court that he studied only upto � fth grade and with this little knowledge he has been treating pa-tients and prescribing medicines for the last two months in the city’s Sagarika area.  

On November 7, a mobile court managed to catch the fake physician and � ned him Tk1 lakh.

Like Sujon Debnath Apan, Sirajullah Chowdhury who really does not have any de-

gree was also treating patients. On November 2, when the mobile court

raided chamber of the fake physician locat-ed in C&B area under Chandgaon police sta-tion, Siraujullah confessed that he studied upto Secondary School Certi� cate level. The quack also informed the mobile court that he had received training from various com-panies on healthcare. Later, the mobile court � ned the imposter Tk30,000.  

On the same day, a mobile court � ned Basudeb Dutt Tk20,00 after raiding his drug-store in Bangla Bazar area. But later, he man-aged to � ee from the scene.

Putting numerous strange degrees on signboards, quacks are deceiving patients, thanks to lax monitoring of regulatory au-

thorities like the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) and Directorate Gen-eral of Health Services (DGHS).

According to Chittagong district admin-istration, six fake physicians were nabbed from di� erent places of the port city from October 29 to November 7.

Talking to Dhaka Tribune, Executive Mag-istrate Ruhul Amin, said: “The fake physi-cians usually choose densely populated areas where they can betray people of low-income group such as apparel workers, day labourers and rickshaw pullers.”

“All the nabbed fake physicians at least had a drugstore of his own from where they deliver services to patients. They also force patients to buy medicines from their drugstores at higher

prices,” the executive magistrate said. SM Nazer Hossain, president of Chittagong

Division of Consumers’ Association of Bangla-desh, said: “We have to go for a remedial meas-ure instead of a temporary one. Conducting mo-bile court’s drive against quacks is tantamount to only healing disease for the time being.”  

Referring to the BMDC act, he called for accommodating provision of awarding ex-emplary punishment to the errant physicians in the particular law since the act is too leni-ent to curb the malpractice.

Dr Mohammad Azizur Rahman Siddique, civil surgeon of Chittagong, said: “I have asked all my o� cials to launch mobile courts on a massive scale under the leadership of upazila nirbahi o� cers at every upazila.” l

CU BCL demands fair probe into police attackn FM Mizanur Rahaman

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) Chit-tagong University (CU) unit yesterday de-manded fair probe into the attack on police.

In a press release, signed by CU BCL’s pres-ident Alamgir Tipu and general secretary HM Fazle Rabbi Sujon demanded fair probe.

In the press release they said to cover up the university’s vice-chancellor and proctor’s failure, police had carried out brutal attack on general students and vandalised and ran-sacked hall rooms on November 2 entering dormitories.

Criticising the role of CU VC Professor Dr Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury and CU Proctor Ali Azgar Chowhdury two BCL leaders al-leged that the VC categorically instigated the police force to harass the BCL men by giving cases after brutally tortured on them while

his past role before taking charge as VC of CU was fully specious.

The leaders claimed that on the police at-tacked general students entering the two halls.

At least 30 people, including four police personnel, were injured in a � erce clash be-tween two groups of BCL men on the campus on Monday.

On Tuesday, police registered three cas-es accusing 235 persons in connection with assaulting on duty police personnel and re-covery of arms from two Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL)-dominated dormitories.

Hathazari police station’s Sub-Inspector (SI) Manjur Ahmed � led the case in connec-tion with police assault mentioning 55 BCL men’s names and 100 to 120 unnamed while SI Swapan Kuman Sarkar and SI Habibur Rahman � led two arms cases naming 5 per-sons each and 50 unnamed respectively. l

Aspirant held over forgery at CUn CU Correspondent

An admission seeker was detained with an electrical device during written admission test of B unit of Chittagong University (CU) from Hathazari College yesterday morning.

The detainee was identi� ed as Bhupen Roy, hailing from Mongla upazila of Bagher-hat, said CU Proctor Ali Azgar Chowdhury.

Azgar Chowdhury the aspirant was � lling the OMR sheet at room NO 202 of Hathazari College centre during the B unit’s test under Arts and Humanities faculty with the help of communication device which looks like an ATM card. Then, on duty teachers held him red handed and handed him over to the police.

During primary interrogation, he con-fessed to the police that he had made a deal of Tk2 lakh with a person who provided the hi-tech communication device and send the correct answers of MCQ question from out-side, added the CU Proctor.

O� cer-in-Charge of Hathazari police station Md Ismail of said legislative process against de-tainee was underway in this regards. l

Alleged robber killed in mob beating n Our Correspondent, Jaipurhat

An alleged robber was killed in a mass beat-ing at Kocnapur village, Jaipurhat Sadar upazila in the early hours of yesterday.

Police said Anwar Hossain, 45, along with his accomplices entered the house of one Ashraf Ali breaking wall of the house for committing dacoity at about 2:30am.

Sensing the presence of robbers, Ashraf and his family members raised voice for help. Hearing their screams, local people came in aid and caught Anwar red handed. But his other cohorts manged to � ee from the scene.

Then, local people gave him a good beat-ing in which Anwar was injured critically.

On receiving information, police rushed to the spot and rescued Anwar.

He was taken Jaipurhat Sadar Hospital where he scummed to his injuries.

O� cer-in-Charge of Jaipur Sadar police station Farid Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that Anwar was a member of inter-district rob-ber rang. He was accused in several robbery cases. A case was � led in this connection. l

Students form a human chain in Noakhali town yesterday with a call to make the district a division DHAKA TRIBUNE

News20DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Bagerhat passport o� ce infested with brokers, corrupt o� cialsn Our Correspondent, Bagerhat

Dominance of brokers and public su� ering have been prevalent at Bagerhat regional passport o� ce for long as its some corrupt o� cials ply a pivotal role behind the irregularities.

Consequently, the malpractices turn as usual matter and the passport seekers have been forced to bear the excess cost, thanks to the corrupt o� cials.

Many a� ected passport seekers alleged that the o� cials have developed an illegal cartel for the misdeed and its Deputy Assis-tant Director Jakir Hossain is controlling the network.

While visiting the correspondent received the aforesaid com-plaints from some a� ected people.

Sources said the government set up the passport o� ce as part of launching 33 regional o� ces across the country to lessen the su� ering of abroad goers in getting passport timely. General pass-port seekers, who evade brokers, face repeated hurdles in every steps of the process, even the emergency passport seekers used to count additional days than usual to get their passport.

Surprisingly, those who make application through brokers get their passport timely. The government � xed charges of Tk3,450 and Tk6,900 for general and emergency passports respectively.

The general passport seekers have to bear an excess amount of Tk1,500-3,500 there while the � gure of the emergency passport seekers is Tk3,000-4,000.

The passport o� ce often receive 60 applications daily and of them, around 50 applications, identi� ed as channel � le, were made through brokers.

In course of time, the transaction of bribe there has reached about Tk10 lakh monthly.

Local sources said the syndicate include Senior O� ce Assis-tant Rabiul Islam, Data Entry Operator Kabir Hossain, Project Manager Rezaul Hoque, Computer Operators Panna and Tareque, and lower grade o� cials Jalal Ahmed and Mosta� z.

Of them, Kabir used to introduce himself close aide of the dep-uty assistant director to the passport seekers and engaged in tak-ing bribe desperately.

Denying all raised allegations Bagerhat Deputy Assistant Di-rector Jakir Hossain said: “There is no irregularities inside the passport o� ce and I am not aware of the brokers outside the premise.”l

Schoolgirl hacked to deathn Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

Miscreants hacked a schoolgirl to death at Melandah upazila in the dis-trict yesterday.

The deceased was Surja Begum, a student of class IV of Baluhata Govt Primary School and daughter of Kud-dus Ali, a day labourer.

Sources said the miscreants entered the house of Kuddus after he went to work. They hacked Surja while she was sleeping.

Hearing screaming, Hanufa Begum, mother of the girl reached the spot and found her lying in blood. She rushed her to Jamalpur Hospital where doc-tors on duty declared her dead.

Abdul Halim, o� cer-in-charge of Melandah police station, said police ar-rested a youth named Ashraf in connec-tion with the murder. A case was � led.

The police said the cause behind the murder could not be known.

Hanufa said some miscreants in the area used to disturb her daughter while she went to school. l

3 die in Cox’s Bazar road crashn Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

Three people were killed as a bus knocked down a trolley in Napitkhali area in Cox’s Bazar yesterday.

The deceased Saiful Islam, Nurul Islam and Md Jashim Uddin. Witness said a bus of Hanif Paribahan knocked down a

wood-laden trolley around 9:30am, killing one on the spot and injuring two others.

Later, the other two died when admitted to Dulahajara Malumghat Memorial Cristian Hospital in Chakria.

Eidgaon police investigation centre SI said the locals seized the bus but the driver and helper � ed the scene. l

Robbery at ex-minister’s homen Our Correspondent, Satkhira

A robbery was committed at the house of former state minister Syed Didar Bakht at Tala upazila in the district yesterday.

Sources said a gang of robbers entered the house at night and looted Tk3 lakh and gold ornaments at gunpoint.

Rezaul Karim, o� cer-in-charge of Tala police station, said po-lice were trying to arrest the culprits.

High o� cials visited the spot. l

Education 21D

T

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Exam results are not the end of the world

Read the above sentence. Double read it, read it till you feel it to be true, because it is something that will need to be there for you to build on.

IELTSPractice with us to step up your IELTS game.

Here’s a sample of the IELTS General Training Writing.

Read the instructions for each task carefully.

Write at least 250 words.

You have 40 minutes.

Venue: Bashundhara, Baridhara

Test date: December 5Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: November 23

Test date: December 5Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: November 23

Test date: December 12Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: November 30

Test date: December 12Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: November 30

Venue: Banani

Test date: November 21Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: November 12

Test date: November 21Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: November 12

Test date: December 5Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: November 23

Test date: December 5Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: November 23

Venue: Dhanmondi

Test date: December 5Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: November 23

Test date: December 5Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: November 23

Test date: December 12Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: November 30

Test date: December 12Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: November 30

IELTSdates and locations

Every year, thousands of examinees take part in the public exams, all with the same target of being the best, with the belief that this is the

only way to prove their worth to the world. This, however, is only partially true. This is because everyone in the world is unique, and likewise, everyone’s talents are unique. So while these exams are designed to test skills that should be common among everyone, it might not be the perfect way to show o� everyone’s talents.

For example, when you think about birds - you might picture � ying. So it stands to reason that a test of � ight skills would rank which bird is the most talented, but you would be only partially correct. Take into example three birds with unique skills; penguins, they swim better than many � shes; ostriches, they are the marathon runners of the bird kingdom and the road runner, the sprinter. What they have in common is - being lousy at � ying, and in two cases, no � ight at all.

So the point is, you may not achieve the greatest grades, and that is okay. You should try to discover your place in the world, not in the education system. May be you are a talented artist, a singer, even an actor/actress. Maybe you have the potential to be a professional athlete, or have a passion for skilled works such as metal forging or typesetting.

The world is full of diversity, with people who make it all work.

That being said, it does not mean you give up on the grades. Get your papers re-evaluated. Re-take an exam that you were upset the day of. Or maybe completely change the subjects you were attending - arts, music and even government and politics are subjects you can attend your exams in too.

It is very possible that peer pressure, family and society has made you feel unwanted, ashamed, un� t. But remember, those are parts of your life - not your whole life. They do not represent you, and you may refuse to act on their terms. Just make sure anything you choose, leads to a stable happy you.

Finally, you may wish to change your pace altogether. There is always the scenic route into higher education - GED, foundation courses that many universities o� er. You can always sign up right here and get deeper evaluation of your options from our GradCoaches and GradMentors.

Overall, life has knocked you down once. Don’t let it be a blackout for you.

Write about the following topic:

The � rst car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads.

Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

Writing Task

GradConnect is a premiere international education consultancy � rm based in Dhaka. For more information on international education and GradConnect, check out their website at www.grad-connect.com or simply drop a message on their facebook page.

News22DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

The 10th convocation of BRAC University was held on November 5, 2015 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) Dhaka. Chancellor of BRAC University, President Abdul Hamid, presided over the convocation ceremony.

Addressing the students, the President underscored the need for teaching the students the spirit of a decade-old communal harmony, religious tolerance and patriotism for building a prosperous Bangladesh as a safe abode for all. Congratulating the graduates, the president urged them to apply their knowledge, talents and creativity towards greater welfare of the nation. Greeting the graduates, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, chairperson of the Board of Trustees of BRAC University, said a new horizon

had opened up before students. He asked them to leave a mark of highest e� ciency in whatever profession they choose.

BRAC University vice-chancellor, Syed Saad Andaleeb, also spoke at the convocation while Prothom-Alo editor, Matiur Rahman, delivered the convocation speech, and advised the graduates to take inspiration from whatever they � nd good and creative in the world and from their life. “Today’s Bangladesh is the youth’s Bangladesh. The youth are capable of showing that everything is possible,” he said.

A total of 959 students were conferred degrees in the convocation, of them, Mashiat Nawar Chowdhury and Faisal Bin Rashed were given gold medals for outstanding academic achievements.l

The Edward M Kennedy Center (EMK) for public service and the arts is pleased to launch the � rst ever MakerLab in Bangladesh. MakerLab will provide hands-on, creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, build and invent as they deeply engage in science, engineering and tinkering, outside of what they would � nd in their traditional classroom.

David Meale, deputy chief of mission (DCM), US Embassy Dhaka, has o� cially launched the MakerLab at EMK Center on November 7.

The initiative is bringing together the latest cutting-edge technology under one roof which will include a 3D printing machine, robotics equipment, television production equipment, audio/visual editing software and a host of other applications as well.

The goal of the EMK MakerLab is to empower youth with the knowledge and skills to be competitive during a time of rapid technological development. They will facilitate the access to high-tech resources, like-minded peers, business connections, and inspiring mentors. Moreover, they will be illustrating the youth to use digital tools to explore entrepreneurship, learn English, connect art and design with social change, and learn digital artifact creation.

“People are so resilient, they can come up with ideas to solve a lot of problems in Bangladesh.”

Referring president Obama, the DCM said: “Makers of things are not just consumers of things, it’s not just about passing out information but also about giving them tools and letting them make things.”

“Why this place is important is for the

cultural opportunity to connect people and make things,” said Gary Whitehill, entrepreneurship legend who has connected thousands of entrepreneurs globally.

Calvin Hayes, cultural a� airs o� cer of the US Embassy, Dhaka, said: “It is often easy to come up with ideas, but it is hard to execute the ideas in reality. MakerLab is a place where the Bangladeshi youth would be able to give their ideas a tangible form. Ideas will be become innovation in such a place like Makerlab.”

EMK Center director MK Aaref, calling the Makerlab an “imagination lab,” welcomed everyone to enroll and explore the new hub of innovation in Dhaka. Any EMK Center member can book a two-hour time slot and use the space and facility for free.

The EMK Center MakerLab will be a collaborative innovation hub for social entrepreneurs, software developers, and musicians to collaborate, invent and produce original music and animation content. It is bringing together the latest cutting-edge technology under one roof which will include a 3D printing machine, robotics equipment, television production equipment, audio/visual editing software and a host of other applications. l

Millennium Companies (MC) are the sole distributors of Nissan, Hyundai, Ssangyong, Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in Bangladesh. MC has donated one police patrol van to the Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station. Shareq Fahim Haque, managing director of MC handed over the vehicle to Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, o� cer in-charge, Tejgaon I/A Police Station, DMP on Thursday, November 5.

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman thanked and appreciated Shareq Fahim Haque

for this ongoing CSR activity towards the society which will strengthen the security support further in the Tejgaon I/A. He also added this will help the petrol police force to reach rapidly to the crime spots.

This is also to be mentioned that MC have donated two patrol vans to Gulshan police station and installed police check-posts in di� erent areas within Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Tajgaon areas to strengthen the security support. l

The Lux Bridal Show is coming up with an episode on the attractive party sarees. From holuds to weddings and receptions, saree is an integral part of every occasion. There is also a special segment about the groom’s sherwani. Furthermore, hosted by Sharmin

Lucky, there are segments about earrings and wedding henna.

To catch the Lux Bridal Show, directed by Shahriar Islam, keep your eyes only on RTV, this Monday at 9:50pm. l

BRAC University’s 10th convocation EMK launches MakerLab

Millennium Companies donate police patrol van

LuxBridal Show

Health 23D

T

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

nFeature Desk

Wouldn’t it be extremely convenient if all your blood tests were done at home and reports were delivered to

you? For the � rst time ever in Bangladesh, Thyrocare Bangladesh Limited has brought this service to you.

In the � eld of preventive health care and pathological diagnostic lab, Thyrocare is a renowned laboratory in the world. Based in Mumbai, India, Thyrocare has been founded by Dr A Velumani in 1996. Thyrocare India is successfully providing services in more than 14 countries across two continents completing � ve and a half million tests a year. Thyrocare’s services are recognised by many international accredited institutions such as ISO: 9001, NABL and CAP (College of American Pathologist), which ensures the global acceptance of the reports. The results of each test done by Thyrocare is accepted by medical institutions inside as well as outside the country such as India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and many others. Thyrocare conducts their tests with

the latest bio-technology and information-technology using fully automated and centrally controlled laboratory system, which is why the test results are accurate and error free. Each test has its own unique barcode, allowing them to be carried out separately and accurately managed by the same network.

Thyrocare Bangladesh Limited has started its journey in 2014 maintaining the same standard as Thyrocare. Thyrocare Bangladesh has a completely automated and centrally controlled laboratory which has a total space of 10,000 sft; situated at Con� dence Center, Shahzadpur (Gulshan) near American Embassy, Dhaka.

Today, Thyrocare Bangladesh is operating successfully and e� ciently with over 30 booths inside and outside Dhaka city. In Dhaka, They provide medical services at the citizens’ doorsteps through “Booths and Home Service.”

For home service our trained phlebotomists collect the blood sample from client’s home and bring it to our laboratory for testing. People can also visit our booths for blood tests. Our � eld o� cers collect

these tests and bring it to our laboratory. The reports are delivered to the respective client and send them to our booths as well.

Many doctors, clinics, hospitals, laboratories, as well as various health care providers are affiliated with this noble endeavor of this institution. Additionally, Thyrocare has brought preventive health care checkup pathological packages named Aarogyam 1.1, Aarogyam 1.2 and Aarogyam 1.3 through which respectively 29, 59 and 62 tests can be done at an affordable price. Aarogyam packages contain blood related tests for the entire human body such as lipid profile, renal (kidney) profile, thyroid profile, liver profile, diabetes screening tests and more. These packages allow a person to get to know the condition of the entire body functions before any major disease or malfunction occurs. With the combination of skilled and trained specialists, lab technicians, efficient marketing team and above all, experienced and capable leadership of management, Thyrocare Bangladesh Limited is bringing quality health care services to your doorstep. l

Thyrocare Bangladesh Limited (Healthcare Laboratory)

About• Thyrocare Bangladesh Limited is an

international health care diagnostic laboratory

• Fully automated test process using latest Siemens diagnostic machinery

• Serving in two continents• Bringing laboratory to your homes

through our “Home Service”• Delivery of reports via email and

hard copy through our � eld o� cers and 32 collection points

• CAP (College of American Pathologists), ISO:9001 and NABL Certi� ed

• Combination of biotechnology and information technology

• Latest hi-tech machines like ADVIA Centure XP, ADVIA 1800, SYSMEX and Biorad Turbo

• Internationally accepted test methods like: CLIA, ELISA, HPLC etc

• Maintaining cold chain using imported chiller box to protect the sample quality

• Quality assurance through quality instruments, best European reagents, CAP (College of American Pathologists) standard procedure, skilled technical and supervisory manpower

• National and international Accreditation agency approved internal and external quality program integration

• Combination of biotechnology information technology ensures error free report generation

• Cold chamber for sample preservation and reagents storage

• De-ionised water plant• Server and back-up ups system

Healthcare Package“Aarogyam”There is a special Preventive Healthcare Package named “Aarogyam.” Regarding sample collection for Aarogyam, it will provide free sample collection and report delivery at your home. (All Aarogyam test packages are subject to 10 to 12 hour fasting)

Aarogyam 1.1 pro� le:Includes 29 tests which cover total lipid pro� le, liver pro� le, renal (kidney) pro� le, iron de� ciency, thyroid pro� le.

Aarogyam 1.2 pro� le:Includes 59 tests which covers total thyroid pro� le, diabetic screening, iron de� ciency, liver pro� le, lipid pro� le, renal (kidney) pro� le, complete hemogram.

Aarogyam 1.3 pro� le:Includes 62 tests that cover total vitamin D & B12, hormones pro� le, diabetic screening, iron de� ciency pro� le, renal (kidney) pro� le, liver pro� le, lipid pro� le, and complete hemogram.

Call Center: 09666737373 (9:00 am -8:00 pm)Website: www.thyrocarebd.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/thyrocarebd

Photos: Bigstock

Fitness24DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Taking a glance at Ashtanga yoganAnika Rabbani

In this lifetime, I have been blessed to practice a form of yoga known

as Ashtanga. The practice combines physical postures with breath, speci� c gazing

points and engagement of energetic locks in the body to bring about a secession of the senses. The yogi retreats into an inner world as though they were in deep meditation. Ashtanga is also sometimes referred to as moving meditation.

Ashtanga burns its way through the six poisons that cripple mankind – namely kama/desire, krodha/anger, moha/delusion, lobha/greed, matsarya/envy, and mada/laziness. The breath is the main guiding force of yoga and when one starts to practice, for they become aware of the subtle play of energy within the body and also around them and how the whole universe is in a sort of uni� ed dance where things work in harmony. Yoga cannot be talked about, but can only be experienced and once someone tries it, the yoga pulls you in and shows you a world of in� nite possibilities.

The � rst word when attempting to describe Ashtanga would be discipline. The second word would be di� cult – note that I did not say impossible. Pattabhi Jois would say: “Anyone can do yoga – the old, in� rmed, weak, � t, un� t – all but lazy people.” He also used to say: “The body is not sti� , the mind is.” Indeed it is that resistance and in� exibility that stems from the mind. Is

down via a lineage of gurus, which can be tracked originally to the sage Vamana Rishi and currently to the family of Shri K Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India.

A steady Ashtanga practice will reward you with a sense of in� nite calm and freedom. One cannot write and express what practicing yoga feels like – only when they get on a mat and start moving and breathing can yoga be understood. As Pattabhi Jois is famous for having said: “Yoga is 99% practice and only 1% theory.” The � ow of movement and breath brings about a state of being that feels like existing in another dimension altogether, one of absolute presence and absorption.

Diseases are cured and people can experience a range of reactions in the form of headaches, boils and skin eruptions, rapid weight loss etc. The dreadful stench of an Ashtanga classroom can leave the senses unrivaled as people release years and years of accumulated toxins. The practitioner builds strength and becomes more con� dent. The general recommendation in case of injury is to modify but continue the practice. I once tore the cruciate ligament in my knee and was surprised as my teacher scolded me for missing class the next day. I did not know I would have healed if I had kept on going instead of spending the next six months hobbling about. Although I think I now know

better, the truth is I am still learning and have a feeling I will spend the rest of my life doing just that.

What do you need to start? Fierce dedication and zero ego. Its normal to fail a hundred times before one can even hope to begin. The discipline of Ashtanga yoga can change your life; the backbends open the heart chakra and makes you fearless. The spine stays perpetually � exible – making you young and strong. One learns to let go of pain, anger and sadness and arrive at a place of balance where you hate less and love more. It balances. Where there is less or more of something the practice increases or decreases accordingly. While the physical symptoms are soon noticeable, the mental puri� cation is far subtler, however just as potent. The meditative aspects of practice causes one calms down and begin to observe their own actions. It directs us to areas where the ego has been causing us pain, encouraging transformation by working on a subconscious level. l

Ashtanga, then, the best form of yoga for you? Depends on who you are.

The practice begins with an invocation to the sage Patanjali following which come a string of poses called Surya Namaskara A and B (or sun salutations), which � re up the body and cause it to sweat. The blood is then said to “boil” in the traditional texts; alchemically healing, moving out diseases, injuries and a deep detoxifying the body. The sun salutations are followed by a knit sequence of standing, seated, forward bends, back-bends and inversions. The series ends with a cool down and a closing prayer for peace.

The Ashtanga primary seriesMovement combined with breath in between each posture is known as vinyasa. For example, in Surya Namaskara A there

are nine vinyasas. Each asana (posture) is done either on an inhalation or an exhalation. The teacher counts throughout a practice or a student has to know the count of the breath while practicing. Nothing is left to chance; it’s all been carefully crafted for the learning. The primary series of Ashtanga yoga, is also called Yoga Chikitsa in Sanskrit. Ashtanga has six series in total and primary is just the beginning of this magni� cent practice.

There are speci� c poses and stringent rules on how the practice is to be done. In Ashtanga, one does not ever deviate from the set sequence. Practice is recommended six days a week with one day o� for rest. There is no practice on full or new moon days or if one is menstruating. The Ashtanga practice is a long-standing traditional one, handed

In conclusion, here is a bit of wisdom from one of the greatest gurus modern yoga (and the teacher of Shri K Pattabhi Jois), Tirumalai Krishnamacharya:

“Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.”

Anika Rabbani is a certi� ed yoga teacher who teaches at Studio107 on Road 107, House 14, Gulshan 2, Dhaka.

You can � nd her Facebook Page – Anika’s Yoga or group YOGANIKA. Twitter @yoganika

The late Shri K Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Jois (current lineage holder) in 1992

Krishnamacharya teaching his students at Yogashala in Mysore Palace, India, in 1934

25D

TSportINSIDE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Injured Siddikur second in Panasonic OpenSiddikur Rahman � nished tied runner-up in the Panasonic Open India after carding an equal-par 72 in the fourth and last round with a back injury at the Delhi Golf Club yesterday. The last-year’s lower back injury haunted the Bangladeshi golfer on the second hole as he was forced to battle through the pain. PAGE 26

Socceroos con� rm arrival on Nov 14There are no security concerns over the arrival of the Australia football team later this month. The Socceroos will tour Bangladesh in the scheduled time to take on Bangladesh in their 2018 Fifa World Cup quali� er. A delegation team from Australia security o� cials sat in a meeting with the Ministry of Home A� airs yesterday. PAGE 27

Electric crowds cheer All-Stars game in NYNew York cricket fans turned out in their thousands to watch greats of the game face o� against each other on Saturday - in a baseball stadium. Australian spin king Shane Warne and Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar captained two star-studded teams in a T20 match. PAGE 28

Mourinho in suspense after Stoke loss, City held Jose Mourinho enters the international break with his future as Chelsea manager under closer scrutiny than ever before following his team’s 1-0 defeat at Stoke City. The outspoken Portuguese was not even present at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday as he served a one-match stadium ban. PAGE 29

Tamim Iqbal charges down the wicket during a brief batting session at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium nets yesterday ahead of the second ODI against Zimbabwe today MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Focus only on series win: Tamimn Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh displayed a commendable performance last Saturday at Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium when they thrashed hapless Zimbabwe by a whopping 145 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-ODI series.

The convincing win - 11th in 16 ODIs this year – might have continued the Tigers' im-pressive run of form but opening batsman Tamim Iqbal is not reading too much into the stats.

According to Tamim, today's second and penultimate ODI between the two teams will be a whole new ball-game altogether and the Tigers will once again need to bring out their “A-game” if they are to clinch the series.

“This year has been quite positive for us. But, we do not think or talk about such things. We only focus on the next match and right now, we want to win [today's] match and con� rm the series win. Our plan is to stick to the process,” Tamim informed the media in Mirpur yesterday during their op-tional training session.

“The � rst match is always important be-cause players are usually unsure and a bit nervous. Con� dence usually goes up with the team that wins the � rst time. We have to work hard in the next two games but we will have the con� dence. We have to start well [today], with both bat and ball,” he said.

Tamim crafted a patient start to his in-nings last Saturday, making 40 o� 68 balls, before he threw away the initiative when he danced down the track o� the bowling of

Sikandar Raza only to present a straightfor-ward opportunity to Luke Jongwe.

The 26-year old expressed disappoint-ment with the manner of his dismissal and mentioned that he will be eager to right the wrongs today when the Tigers would be targeting their fourth ODI series victory this year.

“My dismissal was not great. I was set. I should have batted longer. My application, in that delivery, was not correct. I was trying to hit the ball over cover but I ended up play-ing that way. It was a mistake,” said Tamim before adding, “I have to start from zero in the next match. I was on 40 [Saturday] so in that regard, it was a big miss. I was not scor-ing freely at the time of my dismissal but I could have covered it later. I will try to play a bigger innings [today].” l

Sport26DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Indian man arrested on suspicion of match-� xingn Minhaz Uddin Khan

An Indian individual was arrested last Saturday night during the � rst one-day international between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption and security unit arrested one Sourav Santosh Chowdhury, 24, suspecting him to be involved with match-� xing. The ACSU captured the Indian individual and duly handed him over to the Mirpur Model Thana Police.

“The ACSU has handed over Indian citizen Sourav Santosh Chowd-hury to the police. They caught him during the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe match at the Mirpur stadium last Saturday night,” Mirpur Police o� cer-in-charge Bhuiyan Mahbub Hossain informed the media yesterday.

The o� cer-in-charge also said remand is being sought to interro-gate the individual. l

SABBIR RAHMAN (Bangladesh)Batting: Right-hand batBowling: LegbreakThe 23-year old batting all-rounder last Saturday proved he is very much in touch, courtesy his � ashy 57, which was also his per-

sonal best in ODIs. Sabbir punished the Zimba-bwe bowlers, thrashing them all over the park during his partnership with Mush� qur. In his 21 ODIs, Sabbir has only been able to exhibit glimpses of his ability, given that he bats at No 6. The Tigers’ top-order rarely lets the team down but if it does falter today, Sabbir is more than capable of standing up to the occasion.

LUKE JONGWE (Zimbabwe)

Batting: Right-hand batBowling: Right-arm mediumJongwe would have been forgiven if he was experiencing butter� ies in his stomach last Saturday as it was his maiden ODI

appearance in Bangladesh. The 20-year old youngster however, posted a � ne all-round performance. With the leather, the seamer picked up one wicket, that of Bangladesh opening batsman Liton Kumar Das, while with the willow, Jongwe made 39 o� 51 balls with the help of four boundaries and a six. –MINHAZ UDDIN KHAN

Mild outburst costs Raza 15 percent match-fee n Tribune Desk

Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza has been � ned 15 percent of his match-fee for breaching the ICC code of conduct during the � rst ODI against Bangladesh last Saturday.

Raza was � ned after he was found guilty of breaching the Level 1 code by Javagal Srinath, member of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees.

The Pakistan-born Zimbabwean cricketer showed dissent at an um-pire’s decision during an international match. After being given out caught behind o� the bowling of Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Raza delayed leaving the wicket, shook his head and ut-tered some words that were contrary to the spirit of the game.

The charge was levelled by on-� eld umpires Aleem Dar and Shar-fuddoula, third umpire Enamul Haque and fourth umpire Anisur Rahman. l

Shakib � ies back to Shishir as Anamul called in n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Shakib al Hasan was relieved from national duty by the Bangladesh Cricket Board yester-day as the leading all-rounder will � y back to be beside his pregnant wife in America. This opened the doors for right-handed top-order batsman Anamul Haque who returned to the Bangladesh ODI side after eight months.

Shakib, who registered his maiden ODI � ve-wicket haul to help Bangladesh stroll to a 1-0 lead on Saturday, � ew back yesterday night as his wife Umme Ahmed Shishir is ex-pected to give birth to their � rst child soon.

Earlier, upon joining the camp for the three-match home series against Zimbabwe Shakib had said he will only return in case of any emergency.

“The BCB understands the need for his leave. He is an important member of the team but it is more important for him to be beside his wife at the moment. He had taken a leave earlier but came back from America for the Zimbabwe series. He had kept the board informed that he will have to leave in case of emergency,” said BCB chief executive o� cer Nizamuddin Chowdhury yesterday.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Anamul joined the

Tigers camp last night. This is the � rst call-up for the 22-year-old batsman ever since he lost his place following a shoulder injury during the World Cup group stage match against Scotland earlier this year.

Although it is unlikely for Anamul to play in the second ODI today, he is excited to get back in the national dressing room and is rar-ing to have a go.

This is the second replacement for Bang-ladesh in the short series. Another open-ing batsman, Imrul Kayes earlier replaced Soumya Sarkar, who picked up a side-strain during a practice session prior to the series.l

Injured Siddikur second in Panasonic Openn Tribune Report

Siddikur Rahman � nished tied runner-up in the Panasonic Open India after carding an equal-par 72 in the fourth and last round with a back injury at the Delhi Golf Club yesterday.

The last-year’s lower back injury haunted the Bangladeshi golfer on the second hole as he was forced to battle through the pain bar-rier before settling for his second runner-up � nish in the US $400,000 Asian Tour event.

Overnight leader Chiragh Kumar emerged as the champions with three-shot lead after a decent two-under-par 70. The home favour-ite scored a total 13-under-par 275 to clinch his maiden Asian Tour title.

Other Bangladeshi Zamal Hossain stum-bled badly in the ultimate round to come up with a below-average � ve-over-par 77 and � n-ished jointly at 23rd along with three others.

After a bogey-free round the previous day, the back injury didn’t allow Siddikur uphold

the same run as he carved four bogeys yester-day to eventually score a total 10-under-par 278. Veteran Thai golfer Thaworn Wiratchant rose from � fth spot to join Siddikur after � r-ing three-under-par 69 .

Despite carding four bogeys, the 31-year-old two-time Asian Tour winning golfer of-fered strong challenge to the Indian oppo-nent and they were even tied for the lead at the turn.

Chiragh holed a birdie on 11 to restore or-der but it was a huge 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole which gave him the edge. Sid-dikur fought back with a birdie on 15 but two costly bogeys on 17 and 18 dashed his title hopes.

Siddikur felt pain in his lower back on the second hole and thoughts of retiring � ashed through his mind. He received treatment from the physiotherapist on the fourth tee box which eased the pain for the remainder of the round.

“I thought I wasn’t able to play because I was hurt but the physiotherapist gave me some treatment on the fourth tee box and I felt better. I’m happy that I � nished my round. I didn’t put any pressure on myself to do well or win because I could feel the pain in my back. The win didn’t come but it is okay,” said Siddikur.

The Delhi Gold Club has been Siddikur’s favourite golf course for a while and one of his two Asian Tour title came at this venue in the Hero Indian Open in 2013, the biggest achievement in his career. Siddikur � nished jointly at � fth place in the last edition of Panasonic Open which was his � rst event af-ter returning from back injury. l

LEADERBOARD, DAY 4Name R1 R2 R3 R4 AGG

1 Chiragh (IND) 67 66 72 70 275

2 Thaworn (THA) 68 72 69 69 278

2 Siddikur (BAN) 68 70 68 72 278

4 Namchok (THA) 71 71 71 66 279

4 Jyoti (IND) 69 72 71 67 279

4 Shubhankar (IND) 70 73 67 69 279

4 Mithun (SRI) 66 70 73 70 279

23 Zamal (BAN) 71 67 70 77 285Siddikur Rahman tees o� in the last round of the Panasonic Open India at Delhi Golf Club yesterday

PLAYERS TO WATCHBAN v ZIM, 2ND ODI

ASIAN TOURORDER OF MERIT

Player Played Earnings

1 Anirban Lahiri (IND) 9 $1,139,084

2 Scott Hend (AUS) 9 $491,631

3 Andrew Dodt (AUS) 7 $427,723

4 S.S.P Chawrasia (IND) 9 $297,538

5 Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 7 $268,820

16 Siddikur Rahman (BAN) 14 $143,936

147 Zamal Hossain (BAN) 2 $3,940

Sport 27D

T

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Bayern thrash Stuttgart, Wolfsburg loseChampions Bayern Munich demolished VfB Stuttgart 4-0 on Saturday with all the goals coming in the � rst half as they increased their lead to eight points and stayed on course for a record fourth consecutive title on a day of red cards in the Bundesliga. Bayern, who drew 0-0 last week at Eintracht Frankfurt after a league record 10 successive wins since the start of the season, hit top form once more and Arjen Robben and Douglas Costa put them 2-0 ahead after 17 minutes.

–REUTERS

Guardiola to hold Bayern talks after winter breakBayern Munich and coach Pep Guardiola will discuss a possible extension of his three-year deal, which runs to the end of this season, after the start of the winter break next month, club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Saturday. Guardiola joined in 2013 and has won back-to-back German league titles as well as the German Cup.

–REUTERS

Ibrahimovic double blast inspires � ve-goal PSGZlatan Ibrahimovic struck twice as Paris St Germain made up for their midweek Champi-ons League defeat by crushing Toulouse 5-0 to stretch their Ligue 1 lead to 13 points on Saturday. The capital side went down 1-0 at Real Madrid on Tuesday but against lesser op-position they turned their chances into goals and now have 35 points from 13 games.

–REUTERS

Milan held by Atalanta, Bologna win at VeronaAC Milan’s winning streak ended as they were held 0-0 at home by Atalanta in Serie A on Saturday while Bologna beat struggling Hellas Verona 2-0 away to move out of the relegation zone. Following a mixed start to the season, Milan have found consistency under Sinisa Mi-hajlovic but their three-game run of victories is over after they were frustrated by Atalanta.

–REUTERS

Nepal footballers charged with treason over � xingNepal’s former national football captain and goalkeeper are among � ve players charged with treason over alleged match-� xing in World Cup quali� ers in 2011, an o� cial said yesterday. “The government has charged the � ve footballers arrested last month with treason and has sought a life sentence as pun-ishment,” Bhadrakali Pokharel, Registrar at the Special Court in Kathmandu, which is hearing the case, told AFP.

–AFP

Parcel mishap rules Andreasen out of playo� sDenmark mid� elder Leon Andreasen will miss their Euro 2016 playo� games against Sweden after su� ering a deep cut while opening a parcel. The Danish FA announced his withdrawal yesterday. –REUTERS

QUICK BYTES Socceroos con� rm arrival on Nov 14n Shishir Hoque

There are no security concerns over the ar-rival of the Australia football team later this month. The Socceroos will tour Bangladesh in the scheduled time to take on Bangladesh in their 2018 Fifa World Cup quali� er.

A delegation team from Australia secu-rity o� cials sat in a “fruitful” meeting with the Ministry of Home A� airs yesterday and con� rmed that Australia will tour as per the existing schedule. The Asian champions will set foot in Dhaka on November 14 for their second-leg encounter against Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on No-vember 17.

Mark John Saliba, head of security of the Football Federation Australia, and Liam James Ryan, executive of security wing, reached Dhaka last Saturday night. They met the Home Ministry, chaired by Home Minis-ter Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal along with the other high o� cials from Bangladesh Police, security agencies and the Bangladesh Foot-ball Federation.

“It was a fruitful meeting with the Aus-tralia security o� cials at the Home Ministry. They told us that the Australia team will arrive on November 14 as per the current schedule. They will visit the match venue and practice venue [today],” said BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday. Shohag was present in the crucial meeting alongside BFF vice-president Badal Roy and development committee member Abdul Ga� ar. l

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson bowls during their � rst Test against New Zealand in Brisbane yesterday REUTERS

Kiwi hold hopes for a miracle winn AFP, Brisbane

New Zealand’s hopes of stonewalling an Aus-tralian victory took a massive blow with the contentious dismissal of leading batsman Kane Williamson on a rain-hit fourth day in the � rst Gabba Test yesterday.

The accomplished Williamson took up where he left o� after his 140 in the � rst innings to reach his 50 o� 55 balls but fell to a marginal

leg before wicket decision nearing tea.The Black Caps were 142 for three o� 53

overs chasing an improbable 504 runs for victory with Ross Taylor on 20 and skipper Brendan McCullum not out four when a com-bination of bad light and rain prevented any play after tea.

English umpire Richard Illingworth gave Williamson out after he was struck high on the back leg from spinner Nathan Lyon and the Kiwi batsman called for a review. Replays showed the ball clipping the very top of the bails and the umpire’s decision stood.

Williamson had looked up to the task and e� ciently dissected the Australian � eld with his crisp strokeplay. The Australian bowlers were unable to get him to play a false stroke up until his dismissal.

Rain twice intervened on the fourth day with no play after tea and there will be an earlier start to today’s play.

Much will hinge on McCullum and for-mer captain Taylor to keep the Kiwis in the contest, but the Black Caps are still holding hopes of pulling o� an astonishing victory.

New Zealand have scored the highest los-ing total in the fourth innings of a Test with 451 when chasing 550 against England at Christchurch in 2002. New Zealand’s highest successful run chase was 324 against Pakistan in Christchurch in 1994. The West Indies hold the Test record for a successful run chase of 418 against Australia in Antigua in 2003. l

BRIEF SCOREWest Indies

206 for 9 in 36 overs (Samuels 110*, Chameera 2-39, Lakmal 2-40)

Sri Lanka180 for 5 in 32.5 overs

(Perera 50, Holder 2-44) Sri Lanka win by 19 runs (D/L method)

and win the series 3-0

AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS 556-4 Dec & 2ND INNINGS 264-4 Dec (Burns 129)

NEW ZEALAND 1ST INNINGS317 (K. Williamson 140; M. Starc 4-57)NEW ZEALAND 2ND INNINGS R BT. Latham lbw b Starc 29 71M. Guptill c Smith b Lyon 23 133K. Williamson lbw b Lyon 59 24R. Taylor not out 20 B. McCullum not out 4 5Extras (b3, lb3, w1) 7Total (3 wickets; 53 overs) 142

Fall of wickets1-44 (Latham), 2-98 (Guptill), 3-136 (Williamson)BowlingStarc 13-4-24-1, Johnson 13-5-42-0, Hazlewood 10-3-24-0, Marsh 6-3-13-0, Lyon 11-0-33-2

SCORECARD

SL sweep West Indies ODI series 3-0 n AP, Pallekele

Sri Lanka overcame an unbeaten 110 by Mar-lon Samuels to beat the West Indies by 19 runs in the rain-interrupted third one-day international and sweep the series 3-0 on Saturday.

Asked to bat � rst, the West Indies made 206-9 in a rain-shortened innings of 36 overs. Samuels faced 95 deliveries, hit a six and 15 boundaries.

Sri Lanka was set 190 to win on the Duck-worth/Lewis method, and when rain ended the game, it reached 180-5 in 32.3 overs, 19 runs ahead of the par score.

Kusal Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with 50, his second half-century of the series, while captain Angelo Mathews was 27 not out.

Captain Jason Holder returned the best bowling � gures of 2-44 for the West Indies. Lahiru Thirimanne added 21 before being caught by Samuels o� Holder. l

28DT Sport

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

SACHIN’S BLASTERS INNINGS R B(20 overs maximum)V Sehwag b Vettori 55 22 SR Tendulkar* c Kallis b Warne 26 27VVS Laxman st †Sangakkara b Warne 8 9BC Lara lbw b Warne 1 8Jayawardene c sub b Symonds 18 15CL Hooper lbw b Symonds 11 19SM Pollock c Kallis b Donald 11 9Moin Khan† c Kallis b Symonds 1 2CEL Ambrose not out 1 7M Muralitharan not out 2 2Extras (lb 4, w 2) 6Total (8 wickets; 20 overs) 140

Fall of wickets1-85 (Tendulkar, 7.6 ov), 2-85 (Sehwag, 8.1 ov), 3-88 (Lara, 9.5 ov), 4-97 (Laxman, 11.4 ov), 5-118 (Jayawardene, 15.3 ov), 6-127 (Hooper, 17.3 ov), 7-130 (Moin Khan, 17.6 ov), 8-137 (Pollock, 19.2 ov)BowlingWasim Akram 4-0-16-0, AA Donald 3-0-23-1, CA Walsh 2-0-30-0, JH Kallis 1-0-19-0 19.00, SK Warne 4-0-20-3, DL Vettori 4-0-13-1, A Symonds 2-0-15-3WARNE’S WARRIORS INNINGS R B(target: 141 runs from 20 overs)JH Kallis run out (Muralitharan) 13 12ML Hayden c †Moin b Shoaib 4 4RT Ponting not out 48 38 Sangakkara† c Jayawardene b Shoaib 41 29A Symonds lbw b Muralitharan 1 7JN Rhodes not out 20 14Extras (b 2, lb 2, w 10) 14Total (4 wickets; 17.2 overs) 141

Fall of wickets1-20 (Hayden, 2.4 ov), 2-22 (Kallis, 2.5 ov), 3-102 (Sangakkara, 12.3 ov), 4-104 (Symonds, 13.5 ov)BowlingShoaib Akhtar 4-0-26-2, SM Pollock 3-0-30-0, CEL Ambrose 3-0-36-0, M Muralitharan 4-1-18-1 CL Hooper 3-0-20-0, SR Tendulkar 0.2-0-7-0Warne’s Warriors lead the 3-match series 1-0

SCORECARD

Electric crowds cheer All-Stars game in NYn AFP, New York

Amid a sea of Indian shirts, � uttering Pa-kistan � ags and deafening roars, New York cricket fans turned out in their thousands to watch greats of the game face o� against each other on Saturday - in a baseball stadium.

Australian spin king Shane Warne and In-dian legend Sachin Tendulkar captained two star-studded teams in a T20 match designed to introduce Americans to what organisers billed as the world’s second most popular sport.

Warne’s Warriors beat Sachin’s Blasters, with Warne man of the match after claiming Tendulkar’s wicket.

But it was the Indian star whom most of the overwhelming South Asian expatriate crowd had come to see.

“Sachin, Sachin, Sachin,” screamed the stadium in unison, hundreds wearing blue Indian shirts, many with the record-breaking batsman’s name emblazoned on the back.

“Sachin for President,” read one banner.Snacking on hot dogs and nachos, chewing

on pretzels and qua� ng beer, for many it was the � rst time in years they had watched live cricket in America, long starved of the sport.

The three-hour match will be followed by games in Houston and Los Angeles.

Warne told reporters 36,000 people had

packed into the Citi Field - home of the New York Mets baseball team - for the game.

“I thought it was fantastic, the atmos-phere was amazing,” he said.

At the end, the players lapped the pitch, waving and applauding the crowd, which Tendulkar compared to the home crowd at the Mets’ World Series.

“The whole idea of Cricket All Stars is that, to try to get as many nations together to celebrate this,” Tendulkar said. “It was electrifying.”

“The music, crowd, atmosphere - it was nothing not to like. How could you not enjoy that experience today? It was fantastic,” said Warne. l

Sport 29D

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Gazi TV1:00 PMZimbabwe Tour of Bangladesh2nd ODITen Cricket7:20 PM West Indies Tour of Sri Lanka1st T20I

August 16: Manchester City 3-0 ChelseaIn their second game, the champions are dealt a dispiriting defeat by title rivals City. City’s fans goad Mourinho for sidelining team doctor Eva Carneiro and physiotherapist Jon Fearn after they ran onto the pitch to treat Eden Hazard during a 2-2 draw at home to Swansea City on the season’s opening day.

August 29: Chelsea 1-2 Crystal PalaceJoel Ward’s late header condemns Mourinho to only the second defeat of his 100 home league games in charge of Chelsea. Substitute Radamel Falcao cancels out Bakary Sako’s opener with his � rst Chelsea goal in the 79th minute, only for Ward to notch the winner two minutes later.

September 12: Everton 3-1 ChelseaSteven Naismith scores a hat-trick as Chelsea fall to a third defeat in their opening � ve games. Nemanja Matic brie� y gives Chelsea hope with a � ne long-range goal in the 36th minute that makes it 2-1, but Naismith’s third goal eight minutes from time seals the visitors’ fate.

October 3: Chelsea 1-3 SouthamptonWillian’s free-kick puts Chelsea ahead in the 10th minute, but goals from Steven Davis, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle earn Southamp-ton a deserved win that sees Chelsea slump to 16th place in the table. Aggrieved at seeing Falcao booked for diving, Mourinho accuses referee Robert Madley of being “afraid” to give his team decisions during a seven-minute monologue in a televised post-match interview.

October 24: West Ham United 2-1 ChelseaA turbulent London derby sees West Ham prevail thanks to a 79th-minute header by substitute Andy Carroll. Matic is sent o� before half-time for two bookable o� ences and after assailing referee Jon Moss with expletives during the interval, Mourinho watches the second half from the stands, surrounded by mocking Hammers fans.

October 31: Chelsea 1-3 LiverpoolLiverpool give Mourinho a Halloween night-mare as Philippe Coutinho scores twice and Christian Benteke strikes late on to earn Jur-gen Klopp his � rst league win since succeeding Brendan Rodgers as manager. Mourinho is treated to chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” from the visiting fans.

November 7: Stoke City 1-0 ChelseaWith Mourinho serving his stadium ban and watching from the team hotel, Chelsea are beaten by a 53rd-minute volley from Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic. Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic says: “We are behind the manager.”

DAY’S WATCH

SEVEN SINS - CHELSEA’S LEAGUE DEFEATS

Mourinho in suspense after Stoke setback n AFP, Stoke-on-Trent

Jose Mourinho enters the international break with his future as Chelsea manager under closer scrutiny than ever before following his team’s 1-0 defeat at Stoke City.

The outspoken Portuguese was not even present at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday as he served a one-match stadium ban for his verbal onslaught on match o� cials during the recent defeat at West Ham United.

But as he watched Chelsea’s attempts to � nd an equaliser � zzle out on television at the team hotel, he will have known that two weeks of intense speculation and analysis now await him.

It is the � rst time in 16 years that Chelsea have lost three consecutive league games and billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has never seen such a sequence in his time as owner of the London club.

The three coaches who stood in for Mour-inho - Steve Holland, Silvino Louro and Rui Faria - declined to speak to the media after the game, which left the champions in 16th place after seven defeats in 12 games.

But goalkeeper Asmir Begovic insisted that the club’s players remain � rmly behind the 52-year-old Portuguese, as do the sup-porters who chanted his name throughout the game.

“That is out of our hands. We are behind the manager. You can see that from our per-formances,” said Begovic when asked about the manager’s future.

“We think he is the right man and some-one we work hard for.

“Jose did the pre-match talk at the hotel

and that was it. We wanted to get a result for him. His spirit and his presence is always there.”

Mourinho’s opposite number Mark Hughes, whose team knocked Chelsea out of the League Cup in a penalty shoot-out last week, admitted that overseeing a game against a dug-out without a manager was a � rst for him.

“It’s di� cult to say whether it made a di� er-ence,” said Hughes. “But it’s a rare occurrence when the opposition manager isn’t standing there. I’ve not experienced it before.”

He added: “Most of your work is done at half-time. Sometimes you can a� ect it in the correct manner. It’s dependent on the man-ager. A manager like Jose, yes, they would have missed him, giving him credit for his standing.

“They’re going through a surprising period for them, but not for anybody else. I read words from Jose this week saying maybe the top teams will lose more games this season.

“The middle group of teams in the Pre-mier League are a challenge for the top teams this year and I have to agree.”

Hughes also praised Chelsea substitute Loic Remy who chose not to go down in search of a penalty despite Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland hurling himself at his feet. l

Manchester City’s English goalkeeper Joe Hart (2R) thwarts an Aston Villa attack during their Barclays EPL match at Villa Park yesterday. The match ended in a goalless draw REUTERS

Leicester’s Vardy has Van Nistelrooy record in sightn Reuters

Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy has his sights on Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 10 consecutive Premier League matches after closing in on the landmark by netting for a ninth straight match on Saturday.

The England striker was again the toast of the King Power Stadium as he converted a second-half penalty in the 2-1 home win against Watford in front of his adoring fans.

It gives him the chance of equalling Van Nistelrooy’s mark in his next match at New-castle United and opens up the possibility of him breaking the record against the Dutch-man’s former club Manchester United at the end of the month. Vardy’s feat, which helped his unsung side join Manchester City and Arse-nal on 25 points at the top of the table, has led to plenty of plaudits for the all-action striker.

“What a run he’s on - magni� cent, isn’t it?” former England striker Alan Shearer en-thused on BBC radio. l

RESULTSStoke 1-0 ChelseaArnautovic 53

Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester city

Downtime30DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 18 represents K so � ll K every time the � gure 18 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Domestic animals (4)5 First public appear-ance (5) 8 Narcotic (6)9 Curve (4)10 Perform (3) 12 Washes lightly (6) 13 Astounded (6)15 Tentacle (6)18 Thrown (6)20 United (3)21 Hindu garment (4) 23 American inventor (6)24 Healing ointment (5)25 Tidings (4)

DOWN 1 Hooded snake (5)2 Monkey (3)3 Skin disease (5)4 Sorrowful (3)5 Mocked (7)6 Prejudice (4)7 Makes lace (4) 11 Yield (4)12 Arbitrator (7) 14 Satellite (4)16 Letting contract (5) 17 Checks (5)18 Digits (4)19 Close up (4) 21 Transgression (3)22 Argument (3)

SUDOKU

Showtime 31D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Guardians of the Galaxy Star Movies 4:30pm A group of intergalactic criminals are forced to work together to stop a fanatical warrior from taking control of the universe.Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoë Saldaña, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace.

Escape plan HBO 3:18pmWhen a structural-security authority � nds himself set up and incarcerated in the world’s most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside.Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel.

The Matrix Reloaded WB 5.00pmNeo and the rebel leaders estimate that they have 72 hours until 250,000 probes discover Zion and destroy it and its inhabitants. During this, Neo must decide how he can save Trinity from a dark fate in his dreams.Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss.

Modern Family Star World 8:30pmThree di� erent, but related families face trials and tribulations in their own uniquely comedic ways.Cast: Ed O’Neill, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell.

The Da Vinci Code Sony Pix 8:30pmA murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years -- which could shake the foundations of Christianity.Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Sir Ian McKellen, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno.

WHAT TO WATCH

Tanjib Sarowar started to play music as a hobby. His hobby quickly became a passion and soon he started his journey into the music industry. A classically trained musician, Tanjib recorded many commercially successful songs and garnered millions of views on YouTube via his music videos. He is featured this week on Radio Shadhin presents Bongo Open Mic in association with Dhaka Tribune, where you can hear some of his new songs from his upcoming album along with his older hits.l

n Mahmood Hossain

Spectre has all the elements of a 007 � lm, ex-cept the huge disconnection from the rest of the Daniel Craig starring Bond adventures. For the average viewer, it’s everything you would want in a spy, action thriller. It’s James Bond doing what he does best. The one of a kind Aston Martin, the ever predictable soiree with stunning foreign women, run-ins with count-less henchmen and the license to kill. It’s a full and tempting package for any moviegoer. The only problem is, Spectre felt incomplete.Unexpectedly, Skyfall had the same e� ect on Spectre, as Casino Royale had with Quantum of Solace. By no means is this a poor display by either Sam Mendes (the director) or Daniel Craig. Unfortunately, the issue lies within the script. But there’s no need to dive into plot holes, or even trying to � nd one. By the end of the � lm, some audiences won’t want to � gure out what might have gone wrong. It’s actually quite clear. Spectre was all about setting up the rest of Bond storyline from the 1962 � lm Dr. No, arguably one of the best Bond � lms in the franchise, if not the best.There was less human interaction and char-acter chemistry in this � lm compared to the others. From Casino Royale to Skyfall (yes, even Quantum of Solace), there was a sense of tension; the characters actually made you feel and dragged the audience through a roll-er coaster of emotions. Spectre, on the other hand, was simply a delightful throwback to vintage action sequences, requiring no e� ort in alluring the audience for possibly an

007’s latest outing

Tanjib Sarowar on open mic

Moushumi and Peya go bare faced in real-life � lm

anti-climatic ending. Okay, maybe too much blood has been spilt today. But that shouldn’t cloud a Bond fan’s judgement in any way, shape or form.This is clearly a di� erent � lm from the pre-vious three. However, Sam Mendes seemed to focus more on the aesthetic appeal, and rightfully so. After all, Spectre is the most expensive Bond � lm ever made. Daniel Craig might even go down as the best actor to play the MI6 assassin. As for the Bond girls? Monica Bellucci was more eye-candy than anything else, spending less than 10 minutes of insigni� cant screen time. Lea Seydoux, on the other end, took a back seat with only � ashes of brilliance throughout the second half of the � lm. There was no challenge from

either Bond girl. Naomi Harris (Moneypen-ny), sadly, was even less prominent in this � lm than in Skyfall. As for our villain played by Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz, well, he was good. But not great. In fact, that pretty much sums up the entire � lm.

We get to � gure out some unsurprising facts about Bond’s past through Oberhauser (Waltz) and his Spectre organisation. And that’s the conclusion we can arrive at. No real surprises, no engaging characters, no gut-wrenching scenarios and the rest is left to be desired. Worth the visit to the nearest theatre? De� nitely, it’s a � lm best watched on the big screen. Hoping it to be better than its predecessor? Don’t count on it.l

n Showtime Desk

The vast enclaves between the Bangladesh and Indian border were always been a hard place to live. Depicting of woes and misfortunes faced by the peoples living there will be focal point of a real-life drama, to be directed by HR Habib.

Moushumi Hamid and Jannatul Ferdoush Peya donned the female lead in the � lm titled Shesh Prahar, while they will appear without make-up to do justice to the � lm’s plot.

Shimul Khan, portraying as the male lead

alongside the beauty duo, will go without make-up as well, while Don con� rmed to play as a supporting character.

In the � lm, Moushumi will be seen as the wife of Noren Badei (played by Shimul Khan), who is a destitute street hawker selling seasonal fruits to a local market. Peya will be seen as the widow sister of Noren.

The � lm went on the � oor last Friday at an enclave in the Panchagarh district. After returning from the venue with a straight six-day shooting, the cast and crew will wrap up the � lm at di� erent enclaves next January. l

PHO

TO: S

AZZ

AD

HO

SSA

IN

Back Page32DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015

007’S LATEST OUTING PAGE 31

MUHITH: NO PROBLEM WITH SOFT LOAN FROM GREEN FUND PAGE 16

TAMIM: FOCUS ONLY ON SERIES WIN PAGE 25

Upbeat Tigers look to land killer blown Mazhar Uddin

The Tigers will be eager to register their ninth series win, and fourth this year, over Zimbabwe when the two sides lock horns with each other in the second and penultimate ODI today at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The match will begin at 1 in the afternoon and BTV and Gazi TV will telecast it live.

There is however, some contrasting news for the Tigers as maverick all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, who bagged his maiden � ve-wicket haul in ODIs last Saturday, � ew back to the United States yesterday to be beside his expecting wife.

Shakib is expected to miss the rest of the se-ries, also comprising two Twenty20 internationals. Opening batsman Anamul Haque was named as his replacement.

The selectors though hinted on the eve of today’s clash that Anamul has very little chances of making it into the starting XI. Uncapped young-ster Kamrul Islam Rabbi, in contrast, has a better chance of making his international bow.

Among those who did feature in the � rst ODI, Liton Kumar Das and Mahmudullah disappointed with the willow and will be desperate to come good.

As far as the Tigers bowlers are concerned, captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza and left-arm spinner

were a bit under-bowled in the � rst ODI, thanks in no small part to Shakib’s match-winning spell. Sunny will have to marshal the spin department in the absence of Shakib.

The pitch is expected to be similar like the one used in the � rst ODI with the track o� ering help to the slow bowlers. The batsmen will have to be patient with their stroke-making and the best example is perhaps Mush� qur Rahim, who paced his knock perfectly en route to an impressive 107 o� 109 balls.

Youngster Sabbir Rahman, who posted his personal best in ODIs two days ago, will be oozing with con� dence and the Bangladesh fans will no

doubt be anticipating more � reworks from the Rajshahi cricketer.

The Zimbabweans, on the other hand, have a mighty task in their hands as they bid to make a comeback in the series. In order for that to happen, the visitors’ batsmen will have to exercise patience after their below-par showing in the previous match when they were skittled out for a meagre 128 with 13.5 overs of their innings still remaining.

There will be a sure change in the Zimbabwe line-up today with the injured Richmond Mutum-bami making way for stumper-batsman Regis Chakabva. l

Four to die forRajon murdern Mohammad Serajul Islam, Sylhet

In one of the quickest murder trials in the country’s history, a Sylhet court has sen-tenced four people including prime accused Kamrul to death for killing Rajon.

The verdict comes exactly four months af-ter the teenager was beaten to death near a market in the outskirts of Sylhet city and the killers recorded a long video of the incident.

Akbar Hossain Mridha of the Sylhet Met-ropolitan Sessions Judge’s court yesterday delivered the verdict in the presence of 11 out of 13 accused inside a jam-packed courtroom.

The death row convicts are: Kamrul Islam, 24, Sadiq Ahmad alias Moyna, 45, Taj Uddin Badal, 28, and Zakir Hossain alias Pavel, 24.

Noor Mia alias Noor Ahmed, 20, got seven years in jail for recording the video; Kamrul’s brothers Muhid Alam alias Muhith, 32, local Jubo League leader Ali Haider alias Ali, 34, and Shamim Ahmed, 26, also got seven years.

Dulal Ahmed, 30, and Ayaz Ali, 45, got one year each while Firoz Mia, 50, Asmat Ali, 42, and Ruhul Amin, 25, were acquitted.

Of them, Shamim and Zakir have been ab-sconding since the day of the incident.

On July 8, in Kumargaon of Sylhet, 13-year-old Rajon was tied to a pole and bru-tally beaten to death in broad daylight. The killers also took a video, which got viral after being uploaded to social media, prompting the authorities to take action.

The 28-minute video shows that Kamrul, an expatriate living in Saudi Arabia, brutally beating the teenager by tying him to a pole. After the incident, Kamrul, with help from some local police stu� , � ed to Saudi Arabia.

Later, other expatriate Bangladeshis caught and handed him over to Saudi police. After completion of all formalities, Kamrul was brought back through Interpol on Octo-ber 15 and produced before the court for the � rst time three days later.

In a rare example in the history of the

country’s judiciary, recording of deposition of a total of 36 witnesses and argument in the murder case took just 13 days – between Oc-tober 1 and 27.

On September 7, the case was transferred from the court of Sylhet’s chief metropoli-tan magistrate’s court to the sessions judges court. The � rst hearing was held on Septem-ber 16 and charges were framed against the 13 accused six days later.

After the incident, three o� cers of the local Jalalabad police station were suspended upon allegation that they had tried to save the killers and cover up the killing. This was prompted by a strong demonstration by local residents.

Allegedly, Sub-Inspector (SI) Aminul Is-lam, one of the three suspended o� cers, hastily � led a case in connection with Rajon’s death and recorded Rajon’s father’s state-ment as an additional information.

The case � led by the SI accused Rajon of stealing a rickshaw-van, but probe by Sylhet Metropolitan Police’s detective o� cer Suran-jit Talukdar later proved that this was false.

Additional Public Prosecutor of the court Mofur Ali said: “This verdict will establish justice. This verdict will remembered in the history of Sylhet.”

Defence attorney Habibur Rahman Habib however did not want to make any com-ments until getting copies of the full verdict.

Rajon’s father Sheikh Azizur Rahman and mother Lubna Begum thanked the govern-ment and the media in particular. “We are happy with the verdict. Only a quick execu-tion can now give solace to Rajon’s soul.”

Hundreds of anticipating people started gathering on the court premises since ear-ly in the morning. When the accused were brought to the court from the jail, the crowd chanted slogans demanding capital punish-ment for them.

When the court � nished reading the � nal verdict around 12:45pm, Kamrul and the oth-er accused broke into tears on the dock. l

Death for Rakib’s killersn Hedait Hossain, Khulna

In a little over three months after the murder of teenage labourer Rakib, a court in Khulna yesterday sentenced the two killers to death.

Dilruba Sultana, acting head of the Khulna Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s court, deliv-ered the verdict in the afternoon.

Those to walk the gallows for killing 12-year-old Rakib are: Md Sharif, owner of the motor workshop where the boy was tor-tured, and Md Mintu Khan, his distant uncle. Sharif’s mother Beauty Begum, the other ac-cused, was acquitted of all charges.

While reading out the 59-page verdict, the court said the sentences will have to be exe-cuted upon approval by the Supreme Court.

Rakib’s father Nurul Alam, mother Lucky Begum and younger sister Rimi were pres-ent at the court. The accused were brought around 12:15pm and soon the courtroom got jam-packed with lawyers. Family members of the accused also took position in front of the courtroom. As soon as the verdict was pronounced, the family and relatives of the convicts broke into tears.

Rakib, 12, died on the night of August 3 af-ter Sharif and Mintu tortured the boy earlier in the day by pumping air through his rectum inside Sharif’s workshop on the Tutpara Ka-

barkhana Road in Khulna. They tortured the boy because he had taken a job elsewhere.

After news spread that the boy had died, an angry mob gave Sharif a good beating. Police later rescued Sharif, who was badly wounded, and arrested Mintu and Beauty.

Rakib’s father � led a murder case the next day. Over the next few days, all the accused gave confessional statements. The charge sheet was given on August 25 and the case was transferred to the sessions judge’s court.

Hearing began on September 22, charges framed on October 5 and witnesses deposition began six days later. Over just six more work-ing days until October 25, the court recorded statements of 38 witnesses, following which, arguments were complete on November 1.

A minor boy named Fahim Hasan, one of the 38 witnesses in the case to give deposi-tion, described how Sharif and Mintu took Rakib inside the workshop, partially pulled down the shutter and tortured him.

Public Prosecutor Sultana Rahman Shilpi fought from the state side while Mazharul Alam Milon and Touhidur Rahman Chowd-hury Tushar fought for the defence.

Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights and the Mahila Ainjibi Sam-ity (association of female lawyers) assisted the state side in conducting the case. l

Rajon’s father Azizur Rahman breaks into tears after a Sylhet court sentences his son’s killers to death yesterday afternoon DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com