No country for underage mothersn Abid Azad

Jhinuk Akter, not her real name, shares a fate similar to thousands of other under-age girls in the country who are forced into marriage before the age of 18.

In 2011, a 15-year-old Jhinuk from Man-ikganj was married o� to a man twice her age. Before she turned the legal age for marriage, she had already given birth.

The child, however, was born with physical impairments, an outcome very common in underage pregnancies.

“Although I was 15, my marriage was registered by showing my age as 18. I knew this was wrong, but I had no choice as this was my family’s decision. Later, since I had no idea about the risks of underage pregnancy, I also had no choice but to become a mother,” Jhinuk told the Dhaka Tribune at the Disabled Rehabilitation and Research Association (DRRA) in Manikganj’s Ghior.

“After the birth of my physically chal-lenged child, I went to Shishu Hospital and the initial treatment cost Tk40,000. Later, I

had to pay over Tk50,000 because my child had some head problems.

“When I brought the child to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the doctors were negligent because they wanted my child to be admitted to their preferred private clin-ic. I went to a homeopathic doctor, but that did not work out either,” the young mother added.

Jhinuk’s desperation is not uncommon. The Dhaka Tribune spoke to several un-derage mothers who have children with

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

SECOND EDITION

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016 | Magh 10, 1422, Rabius Sani 12, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 277 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

130 KILLED AT SHIP-BREAKING YARDS IN 10 YEARS PAGE 5

EKUSHEY BOOK FAIR TO SEE A FEW CHANGES PAGE 32

BTRC: COMPENSATE FOR CALL DROPS PAGE 3

98.7% 79%

of child brides said underage marriage

was wrong

of child brides pregnant or

already mothers

SOURCE: INITIATIVES OF MARRIEDADOLESCENT GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT

12.3% expecting

57.1% mother of one child

9.6% expecting 2nd child

SOURCE: PLAN BANGLADESH AND ICDDRB, 2013

64% of Bangladeshi women between 20 and 24 years of age were married before they turned 18

Maldives to legalise undocumented Bangladeshis n Adil Sakhawat

The detention on Thursday of 20 undocu-mented Bangladeshi migrants in the Mal-dives will not result in deportations by the authorities, the Bangladesh envoy in Male told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

On the contrary, the Maldives government plans to legalise all undocumented Bangla-deshi migrants living in the island republic, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the Mal-dives Rear Admiral Kazi Sarwar Hossain said.

He told the Dhaka Tribune over the tele-phone that the decision had been taken last October during a diplomatic meeting be-tween the two countries on undocumented Bangladeshi migrants.

Maldives is taking the initiative under the Shared Responsibility programme to legalise Bangladeshi migrants who do not have the proper paperwork.

The Shared Responsibility programme was introduced in the Maldives to locate and legalise illegal aliens and give them a chance to work legally.

Under the programme, undocumented migrants will be allowed to work for desig-nated companies and then leave the country when the contract ends.

“The governemnt of the Maldives has ap-pointed nine business organisations to ap-point undocumented migrants under them,” the Bangladesh High Commissioner said.

“This is a great achievement for Bangla-deshis living in the Maldives. This is also a great achievement for the diplomatic rela-tions of the two countries,” Sarwar said.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Residents deceived by slum leadersn Kamrul Hasan

The residents of Kallyanpur slums have al-leged that they were unaware of the eviction drive on Thursday as their leaders, mostly linked to the ruling party, had not informed them about it beforehand.

Although the eviction stopped later fol-lowing a High Court order, they claimed that the drive was conducted in a seemingly planned manner – as their leaders had been instructed by the police and the local Awami League lawmaker on Tuesday to leave the slums within two days.

Several hundred people of Block 7 losing all their belongings passed the night under the open sky amid cold. Some houses of blocks 3 and 4 were also demolished.

Meanwhile, a devastating � re that broke out at Block 8 of the slum yesterday burned down around 70 shanties, amid fear and ru-mour among the residents that a fresh evic-tion drive could be carried out any time.

Many residents left the area and went to other nearby slums, but as of last night there were dozens of families who intended to re-build their shanties at the slum.

The a� ected residents alleged that the red bandana-wearing supporters of local law-maker Aslamul Haque Aslam had set � re to the shanties to evict them from the land.

On Thursday too, some people wearing red bandana had accompanied the eviction team, which was led by a magistrate, in the presence of high o� cials of the Housing and

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

‘No place for us’?n Kamrul Hasan

Ayesha Begum, 45, had lost her house twice in river erosion in her home district Bhola but she did not give up. The mother of four moved to Dhaka in 2004 with her children and husband. They have been living in a room in Block 8 of Kallyanpur slum.

But fate has been cruel to Ayesha. She lost everything once again yesterday af-ter a � re ravaged the slum. Her physically

challenged husband Jamal Miah and two sons, aged between nine and 12, were unharmed as they were not home at that time. Ayesha’s daughters were also mar-ried o� several years ago.

The � re came a day after the High Court ordered the government to halt an evic-tion drive at the slum that houses around 20,000 people. Ayesha and many of her neighbours alleged the ruling party activ-ists were behind the � re.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

A young boy smiles as he nestles on his young mother’s shoulder in a room full of other under-age mothers and their children with disabilities in a rehabilitation centre in Manikganj. The photo was taken recently PHOTO: ABID AZAD

Residents deceived by slum leadersBuilding Research Institute under the Hous-ing and Public Works Ministry.

The residents said that they had no idea about the legal proceedings centring the eviction drive as their leaders used to look after these issues. They are local Jubo League leader Abul Kalam Azad, who is now in jail, and his associates.

Locals said that the ministry o� cials had informed the leaders about the eviction drive about a week ago, but the residents were kept in the dark. When they enquired Azad’s wife Nazma Begum and his brother Kamal about their next step, they were asked not to leave their houses.

A resident of the slum, Al Amin said that they had been following their leaders with-out any question. “We took to the streets whenever they asked us to,” he said, adding that this time they were told that the drive would not happen.

But they were surprised to learn that their so-called leaders – Azahar, Iskander, Nur Is-lam, Firoz Kamal, Kulsum and several others – had left their houses with belongings a day before the eviction drive. The news spread quickly among other residents and they got scared.

Another resident Mohammad Siddique said: “When we contacted the leaders over the phone, they said that no one should leave the slum as it would not bring good results.”

Several residents alleged that these � ve leaders had been detained by the police on

Tuesday and asked to leave the slum before the eviction drive began.

The 11 slums in Kallyanpur area cover some 20 hectares of land and are home to around 22,000 people. Electricity and water supplies have remained disconnected at the slum since Wednesday.

An o� cial of the Housing and Building Research Institute said that they had � led an appeal with the High Court against the three-month stay order and would take further step after getting the court’s order on the matter.

Locals alleged that the High Court had or-dered the government in 2007 to not conduct

any drives until a 2003 ruling was settled. The authorities conducted the drive against the court order and without giving any for-mal notices. Executive Magistrate Nur Alam, who led the drive, claimed that they had duly completed all legal procedures before going into action.

Fire guts 70 housesThe � re that broke out at Block 8 of the Kally-anpur slum around 9:55am originated from the shanty of one Ayesha Begum.

“A group of people wearing red bandana entered my house in the morning. When I asked them about their identities, they pushed me back and set my house on � re,” she said.

When the slum residents were trying to douse the � re, some miscreants set � re to three more houses in Block 10.

On information, two units of Mirpur Fire Service reached the area around 11:15am and put out the � re around 12:15pm.

Fire Service Deputy Director Arif Hossain said the units were obstructed near Bangla College by some people identifying them-selves as slum residents, otherwise they would have reached the slum much earlier.

Locals refuted the allegation and alleged that the supporters of the local lawmaker had barred the � re � ghting units from enter-ing the spot. “They want to evict us from the area by any means,” an elderly woman said seeking anonymity. l

News2DTSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

‘No place for us’?A woman claimed a group of men had barged into her house and set it on � re. “They were donning the same red bandana that workers of Housing and Public Works Ministry, who took part in Thursday’s eviction drive, had,” she al-leged. At least 70 to 80 shanties were burnt in Block 8 of the slum.

“River erosion took away everything from me twice but now the government has made me homeless again. I lost all my savings in the � re,” Ayesha said.

For most, the slum was the only home left. Many had its address in their national ID cards as well.

“Allah will not tolerate this injustice,” said one Hasina, who lost everything in the � re. l

Maldives to legalise undocumented Bangladeshis He said all Bangladeshi migrants will be doc-umented and will be able to join the work-force legally within the next six months.

Currently there are around 85,000 Bangla-deshi expatriates living in the Maldives, a coun-try of 350,000 people, mostly without valid documents, according to uno� cial � gures.

The High Commissioner said that those la-bourers who are not attached to an employer would be appointed employers by the Mal-dives authorities.

Undocumented Bangladeshis arrestedSeveral Bangladeshi workers were arrested on Thursday by Maldivian immigration o� -

cials in the capital, Male.Haveeru Online, citing a Maldivian immi-

gration o� cial, said at least 20 Bangladeshis were taken into custody on Thursday morn-ing.

Bangladesh High Commissioner Kazi Sarwar said the number of Bangladeshis de-tained was higher and added that the High Commission was aware of the situation.

Sarwar said the arrests were part of a crackdown on violations of a prohibition on foreign nationals working as cashiers in the Maldives.

“At present 20 Bangladeshis remain in custody. The others, who had legal docu-

ments, were released after I met with Mo-hamed Anwar, the controller of immigration and emigration,” Sarwar said.

“The crackdown by the Maldives immi-gration department is routine. It is illegal for expatriates to work as a cashiers in shops, cafés and restaurants. The department also � ned the businesses that employed expatri-ates as cashiers,” he said. “This coming Sun-day we will meet to discuss the Bangladeshis still in custody.”

A high ranking High Commission o� cial, asking not to be named, told the Dhaka Trib-une that the remaining detainees would be released following the meeting. l

No country for underage mothersphysical impairments but have no clue about proper treatment.

“When girls under 20 years of age become pregnant, the possibilities are higher that the child will have problems including disabilities, respiratory and heart diseases,” said Dr Saleha Begum Chowdhury, a professor at Bangaband-hu Sheikh Mujib Medical University’s (BSM-MU) obstetrics and gynaecology department.

“This happens because at this age, the pel-vis is not fully formed for childbirth. These girls do not achieve physical maturity and su� cient development. So the delivery can be ham-pered. As a result, sometimes their children die or are born with disabilities,” Dr Saleha said.

Direct medical supervision during early pregnancy could change such outcomes, she added.

Project Manager Nizam Uddin at the DRRA, which provides support to disabled people, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have around 200 patients who receive di� erent

kinds of support and health treatment. “Most are children of under-aged moth-

ers.”

High rate of underage pregnancyAccording to a recent study by Initiatives of Married Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment (IMAGE), an NGO working for the welfare of underage mothers, at least 79% of girls who were forced into underage marriages were currently pregnant or had already given birth at least once.

The study, which was carried out in sev-eral districts, found that 12.3% of underage married girls were pregnant, 57.1% were al-ready the mother of one child, and 9.6% were expecting their second child.

Although 98.7% of the girls covered by the study voiced their opposition to underage mar-riages, they had no say in their own marriages because of pressure from family and society.

Despite being applauded worldwide for

progress in empowering women, Bangladesh still su� ers from the problem of underage marriages.

Lack of awarenessMany of the underage girls who spoke to Dhaka Tribune said they had little knowl-edge about early pregnancy.

Firoza Khatun, not her real name, became a mother at the age of 17. During her pregnan-cy, she only had two ultrasound scans done.

“I did not know anything about pregnancy and post-pregnancy healthcare. If my family did not take me to a hospital, how was I sup-posed to go alone? I had to do my household chores throughout my pregnancy,” Firoza said.

She � rst noticed something was wrong when her daughter could not sit up at eight months of age. Now two-years-old, the child is still unable to sit up unassisted.

Papri, also not her real name, said she had been forced to try for six hours to give birth

at home, before her in-laws � nally agreed to take her to Manikganj Sadar Hospital where doctors performed a caesarean delivery. The child turned out to be physically challenged.

“I feel so sad when I see other children running and playing but my child cannot sit properly unassisted,” Papri said.

How society reacts to a physically im-paired child is also damaging to both mother and infant.

“Because I gave birth to a physically chal-lenged daughter, my in-laws do not take good care of her. Although my husband sup-ports me, I still need to live with my own par-ents to ensure care for my child,” she added.

“Some people blame me, saying it is my fault for giving birth to a physically chal-lenged child. They think it was because prob-lems with my attitude, behaviour and main-taining social and religious rituals. Some say I had sinned, while others say I have evil spir-its,” Papri said. l

Residents of what used to be a part of the newly evicted slum in Dhaka’s Kalayanpur area look through the debris hoping to � nd anything valuable yesterday, right after a � re broke out in the area a day after the eviction drive MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Saleemul: Political goodwill needed for saving earthn Abu Bakar Siddique

Positive will from political leaders is essen-tial in saving planet earth from the future cli-mate hazards as only their decision can im-plement the long-term goal of limiting global temperature rise to only 1.5 degree Celsius, climate expert Dr Saleemul Huq has said.

Praising global political leadership, he also said the Paris Agreement to � x temperature target between 1.5 and 2 degrees could not have been negotiated without political goodwill.

The lack of such political will resulted in global leaders failing to reach a unanimous agreement during the COP15 at Copenhagen in 2009, Saleemul said during a solo lecture on “How we achieved the 1.5 degrees long-term goal in the Paris Agreement.”

The lecture was the second of the Hassan Imam lecture series, organised to commemo-rate former ambassador Hassan Imam, at the city’s Radius Centre yesterday.

Terming the Paris Agreement on climate change “better than nothing,” Saleemul said: “The agreement has given us space to talk on the issue and move forward.”

Now it was the political leaders who would have to lead the charge in reducing global emission to a stage that would save the earth by saving its ecology and biodiversity as well as ensuring food security, said Saleemul, the director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD).

On the possibility of limiting temperature

rise to 1.5 degrees, he said reaching the tar-get would not be possible unless all countries played a positive role.

The climate specialist also termed the In-tended Nationally Determine Contribution (INDC), which the parties submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention just before COP21, as a hope and parameter of emission scenario of individual countries.

By regularly following the review mecha-nism of the INDC, the government can decide to cut the emission level and help achieve the temperature target.

Expressing his optimism, Saleemul said now there are new paradigms of clean energy including solar, wind and biogas which have been getting its popularity among the coun-tries, gradually replacing fossil fuel – the ma-jor culprit for global warming.

Regarding the positive role of climate vul-nerable countries, a platform of around 100 countries, the ICCCAD director said these vulnerable countries including Bangladesh were the leaders of tackling negative impacts of climate change, helping each other by sharing their own experiences.

Saying that Bangladesh’s adaptation ca-pacity was an example others could learn from, the climate expert said the country had experienced large numbers of deaths during cyclones in the distant past. But more recent-ly, the situation has been completely oppo-site because of the improved early warning systems and cyclone shelters. l

BNP: CJ’s remark jolted government’s basen UNB

BNP senior leader Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman yesterday said Chief Justice (CJ) SK Sinha’s recent remark on signing and writing judgements after retirement has shaken the foundation of the current government like a tremor.

“We welcome the chief justice’s comment as he spoke the truth with courage discharg-ing the duty bestowed upon him. His remark has wobbled the government’s foundation like an earthquake,” he said.

Speaking at a discussion, the BNP lead-er further said: “Chief Justice SK Sinha has triggered the tremor within the government with a 6.8-magnitude one that jolted the country a few days back.”

Zia Nagorik Forum, a pro-BNP platform, arranged the programme at the Jatiya Press Club, marking BNP founder Ziaur Rahman’s 80th birth anniversary.

In a message on the occasion of the � rst anniversary of his taking of-� ce as the 21st Chief Justice of the country, Surendra Kumar Sinha said some judges make unusual delays in writing ver-dicts while others continue to write it even long after their retirement, which goes against the law and the constitution.

Referring to the current CJ’s comment, BNP has now re-newed its push that the judge-ment on the 13th constitution-al amendment declaring the caretaker government illegal

was unconstitutional as ex-CJ ABM Khairul Haque wrote and signed it 16 months after he went on retirement.

Mahbub, a BNP standing committee mem-ber, also claimed that the government which standing on the 10th parliamentary polls and the 15th constitutional amendment also turned illegal and void with the chief jus-tice’s remark.

He alleged that the government assuming o� ce through an “unconstitutional” election on January 5 has continued repressive acts to cement its power by suppressing the opposi-tion and those who di� er with it.

Mentioning that the country’s people are now in a deep crisis losing democracy, BNP leader urged political parties to get united to overcome it through a national consensus.

Mahbub said there has been a conspiracy for a long time to split BNP, but no one will be able to break away the party it if its workers follow the ideals of Ziaur Rahman. l

News 3D

TSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

BTRC: Compensate subscribers for call dropsn Ishtiaq Husain

The telecoms regulator directed the mobile phone operators to compensate the subscrib-ers a minute’s talk time for each dropped call.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Reg-ulatory Commission (BTRC) sent the direc-tive to the mobile operators on January 19. The operators yesterday wrote to the BTRC, seeking a meeting with it before implement-ing the decision.

“Zero call drop is not possible on any wire-less connection,” said Nurul Kabir, secretary general of Association of Mobile Telecom op-erators of Bangladesh (AMTOB).

He told the Dhaka Tribune he had written to the BTRC on behalf of the mobile operators.

State Minister for Telecommunications Tarana Halim wrote on her Facebook page yesterday that subscribers would be com-pensated for call drops from now on.

The mobile phone operators cite the In-ternational Telecommunications Union to argue that call drop rate in Bangladesh is at a tolerable level.

AMTOB’s Secretary General Kabir said the operators would present data and statistics on call drops in Bangladesh in the upcoming meeting with BTRC. l First day of the weekend sees a huge crowd visiting the stalls at Dhaka International Trade Fair 2016 yesterday RAJIB DHAR

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016News4DT

Bablu: My removal was a conspiracyn Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Jatiya Party leader Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu yesterday claimed that his removal from the position of secretary general was part of a conspiracy.

“But the conspiracy is not going to be suc-cessful. All members of the party, including Ershad and Rowshan Ershad, are united,” he said while talking to reporters at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong.

“We will foil the conspiracy and overcome the existing crisis. We believe the Jatiya Party

will de� nitely emerge as a crucial factor in the country’s politics if all its members stay united.”

The Jatiya Party leader talked to reporters yesterday for the � rst time since his removal as the secretary general on January 19.

Bablu became a lawmaker for Kotwa-li-Bakalia constituency in Chittagong on the Jatiya Party ticket in the last general elections.

Ershad made the announcement of Bab-lu’s removal at an urgent press brie� ng at the party o� ce in the capital’s Banani.

He also announced ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader as the secretary general. l

Science minister: Come up with new scienti� c ideasn Aminur Rahman Rasel

Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Os-man lauded the Science Olympiad for play-ing a signi� cant role in encouraging students to take up science studies.

Speaking at the competition’s prize distri-bution ceremony at the Curzon Hall yester-day, Yeafesh dubbed the Olympiad a nurtur-ing ground for brilliant young minds.

The Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS), vernacular daily ‘Samakal’ and First Security Islami Bank organised the event where 800 school and college students from across Bangladesh participated.

Yeafesh said the declining number of sci-ence students was alarming. “We need to at-tract more students to study science through this kind of Olympiad,” he said, adding that

new inventions would come to light through such initiatives.

“A nation cannot move forward without studying science and without scientists, there can be no inventions. Without inven-tions, we will not be able to achieve success,” he added.

“You are the future of the country. You have to take the mantle of leadership in com-ing days. Enlighten yourself with the light of science,” he told the participants.

Prof Dr Nayeem Chowdhury, former sec-retary of BAS and the coordinator of the Sci-ence Olympiad 2016, said such events gave the students chance to show o� their talents.

BAS president Dr Mesbahuddin Ahmed en-couraged new ideas. “Bring us new scienti� c ideas and we will make sure that you get nec-essary aid to make them happen,” he said.l

10 Indian � shermen held in the Bay for intrusion n UNB

Bangladesh Navy arrested 10 Indian � sher-men and seized their trawler from Fairway Buoy area of the Bay of Bengal in Mongla upazila, Bagerhat on Thursday night for in-truding into the water territory of Bangla-desh.

The arrestees hail from Kakdwip area of Dakkhin 24 Pargana district in India.

Mongla police station OC M Lutfar Rah-man said a patrol team of Navy detained the 10 Indian � shermen while catching � sh in the Bangladesh water territory.

They were handed over to Mongla police station yesterday afternoon.

A case was � led against them with police. Later, the chief judicial magistrate in the

district sent the detainees to prison after police produced them before the court, the OC said. l

CPB for e� ective law to control house rent n UNB

Leaders of the Communist Party of Bangla-desh (CPB) yesterday demanded that an ef-fective law be enacted to control unbridled house rent in order to ease the su� erings of tenants.

While addressing a rally in the capital, they said Dhaka has turned into an unlivable city where the lower-income group and mid-

dle-class people are not able to bear the grow-ing house rent, putting their lives in di� culty.

The CPB organised the rally in front of its Mukti Bhaban o� ce in the capital prior to a procession protesting repression on hawkers and imperialism and militancy.

CPB leaders Sajedul Haque Rubel, Seka-ndar Hayat, Narayan Chakrabartee, Nurul Islam Gazi and Murshiqul Islam, among oth-ers, spoke at the rally. l

Members of Search Skating Club form a human chain in front of National Press Club in the capital demanding e� ective and immediate steps to protect the Sundarbans’ environment and wildlife, especially its most valuable inhabitant, the Bengal Tiger SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

PRAYERTIMES

Cox’s Bazar 24 17Dhaka 25 13 Chittagong 23 13 Rajshahi 24 9 Rangpur 23 10 Khulna 24 10 Barisal 25 13 Sylhet 25 10T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:38PM SUN RISES 6:42AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW26.6ºC 9.8ºCTeknaf Chuadanga

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 5:21am | Zohr: 12:10am Asr: 4:02pm | Magrib: 5:38pmEsha: 7:08pm

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016News 5

DT

CLOUDY

130 killed at ship-breaking yards in 10 yearsn Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Fatalities of workers at ship-breaking yards continue unabated as the employers are re-luctant to train the workers properly for the hazardous job and equip them with necessary safety gears, experts and observers have al-leged.

They also blame the government for lax en-forcement of laws against the yard owners.

In the latest accident, a worker was killed when a heavy plate fell on his head at Asadi Steel Enterprise at Madam Bibir Hat of Sitakun-da on January 19. Injured Akkas Mia, 42, was taken to Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex where the on-duty doctors pronounced him dead. A case was lodged with Sitakunda police.

According to the Young Power in Social Ac-tion (YPSA) – an NGO working to uphold the rights of the ship-breaking workers, at least 130 workers were killed while several hundred others injured at the ship-breaking yards in the last decade.

On September 5 last year, a total of eight workers sustained grievous injuries from a deadly accident. Of them, four succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment at the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

On April 3, 2014, four workers were killed and three others injured from inhaling car-bon dioxide when a gas cylinder exploded at a ship-breaking yard in Sitakunda.

According to the YPSA, the workplace casualty occurs as most of the ship-breaking yards hardly follow the occupational safety standards. Analysing the accidents that took place over the last 10 years, it has been found that the workers in many cases died from ex-plosions or after coming into contact with toxic substances in the ships waiting to be scrapped.

Inhaling toxic substances like carbon diox-ide and falling from vessels (which are up to 70 metres high) with no safety harness on are the major causes of workplace accidents in the ship-breaking industry, the YPSA said, adding that in some cases the workers are crushed un-der falling steel beams and heavy plates in the yards.

The ship-breaking industry boomed in the

country in 1980s. As per the Bangladesh Ship Breakers’ Association data, there are around 40 ship-breaking yards along the 25km strip in Si-takunda coastal area of Chittagong. At present, around 2 million tonne large oil tankers, cargo and passenger vessels are dismantled every year in the ship-breaking yards.

“Most of the workers in the ship-break-ing yards are sourced by the contractors from poverty-stricken areas of the country. Later they become easy prey to exploitation by the yard owners. The accidents take place since the yard owners hardly pay any attention to maintain occupational safety measures,” said Muhammad Ali Shahin, programme o� cer of the YPSA.

Although the government announced ship-breaking as an industry in 2011, the work-

ers are still denied their inalienable rights to form or join trade unions.

“The owners cannot shrug o� their liabili-ties as they are engaging untrained workers in the risky jobs without ensuring adequate safe-ty measures,” added Shahin.

Tapan Datta, convener of Ship-breaking Workers’ Trade Union Forum, also blamed the owners for the recurring accidents at the yards.

Mohammad Mamun, general secretary of Bangladesh Trade Union Sangha, Chittagong, alleged that many yard owners do not abide by the minimum wage structure set by the gov-ernment.

Amzad Hossain Chowdhury, vice-presi-dent of Bangladesh Ship Breakers’ Association, however, claimed that the number of work-place casualties was coming down gradually

as the ship-breakers were complying with all necessary safety measures.

“We have a centre to impart training to the workers. We also provide the workers with Personal Protective Equipment such as safety helmets, eye shields, gloves, boots and overall protective equipments through the contrac-tors,” he said.

“Under the aegis of our association, we have also set up a hospital with a fully-� edged Burn Unit for providing treatment to the workers,” he added.

When contacted, Abdul Hyi Khan, deputy inspector general of the Department of Inspec-tion for Factories and Establishments, said that they would go tough against the ship-breakers who refuse to comply with the stipulated safe-ty standards. l

Nasrul urges people to choose renewable energy n Aminur Rahman Rasel

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has asked everyone to start using renewable energy resources, as a part of the move towards sustainable development.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the � rst-ever solar-powered easy bike charg-ing station in Keraniganj, Dhaka yesterday, he lauded the initiative of using tapped sun-light to recharge easy bikes, the three-wheel-ers that run on batteries.

The charging station is an initiative of the Rural Electri� cation Board of Bangladesh

(REB) realised under the supervision of Dha-ka Palli Bidyut Samity 2.

Nasrul said because of the Padma Bridge, the importance of this particular area – Keraniganj – has increased.

The event was also attended by Food Min-ister Qamrul Islam, who inaugurated the sta-tion as chief guest, and REB Chairman Maj Gen Moin Uddin.

The easy bike charging station in Keran-iganj initially has the provision and capac-ity to provide charging facility to 20-22 easy bikes at a time. Easy bike owners are required to pay Tk50 per charging, said REB o� cials. l

Prof Yunus made member of SDG Advocacy Groupn Tribune Report

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has been made a member of Sustainable De-velopment Goals (SDG) Advocacy Group by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for the promotion and implementation of the Sus-tainable Development Goals

These goals were adopted last September during the UN General Assembly.

The UN chief announced the formation of the advocacy group at Open Forum Davos 2016. The group has been entrusted with the responsibility to advise the secretary-gen-

eral and work with him to make sure SDGs become a household term all over the world.

Ban also announced that the group will be co-chaired by Prime minister of Ghana Mahama and Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg.

After the announcement, Professor Yunus said that the world had to rethink and recre-ate the economic framework and institutions that had created poverty and other social problems. He said that these problems could be resolved permanently, and that it was necessary to involve the youth in order to achieve this. l

With only hard hats as safety gear, these workers at Sitakunda’s ship-breaking yard risk their own lives every day for minimum pay. Another reason why this is such a high-risk job is because the employers hardly provide any training to the labourers DHAKA TRIBUNE

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016News6DT

National conference on Kazi Nazrul opens in Faridpur n BSS

A national conference on Na-tional Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, jointly organised by Nazrul In-stitute in Dhaka and Faridpur district administration, was inaugurated at Ambica Maidan in the town yesterday.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Engineer Khondoker Mosharraf Hossain inaugurat-ed the three-day conference as chief guest.

The inaugural function was chaired by eminent Nazrul exponent Professor Emeritus Dr Ra� qul Islam who gave a brief outlines on the activities of Nazrul Institute, which is working to preserve the crea-tions of the poet and help the research on his work.

The minister said Kazi Naz-rul Islam’s contributions to the Bangla literature is unique and

unparalleled because it was enriched with versatility of the poet.

Mosharraf said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who brought Kazi Nazrul to Bangladesh and honoured him as the country’s national poet, had a similarity with the rebel poet.

Addressing the function, Nazrul’s granddaughter Kh-ilkhil Kazi said: “Our family is very much grateful and indebt-ed to Bangabandhu because by bringing my grandfather in this country, he showed immense honour and respect which would not had been possible elsewhere.”

Poet Habibullah Sirajee, Ex-ecutive Director of Nazrul Insti-tute Ikram Ahmed, Sadar upazila parishad Chairman Mohtesham Hossain Babor, among others, also spoke at the ceremony. l

Chittagong doctors to continue striken FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

Physicians of private clinics and hospitals in Chittagong city observed strike for the third consecutive day yesterday, demanding with-drawal of the two cases � led against three doctors over alleged negligence.

The doctors have also stopped seeing pa-tients privately at their chambers.

Following the start of the inde� nite strike on Wednesday, healthcare system in the port city have collapsed as the few hospitals pro-viding service is struggling to keep up with the increasing in� ux of patients.

Sources at Chittagong Medical College Hospital said the number of patients at the hospital’s emergency unit were increasing each day following the strike. A total of 620 patients were treated in the last 24 hours, a source said adding that it was around 50 more than the previous day.

While visiting some private clinics and doc-tors chambers in the city’s GEC intersection area, this correspondent saw a number people standing outside the chambers, waiting for a doctor. Notices stating information on the strike were also seen hung outside the chambers.

The strike was enforced for an inde� nite pe-riod at all private hospitals, clinics and diag-nostic centres in the city by physicians under the banner of Bangladesh Medical Associa-tion in Chittagong.

When contacted, BMA Chittagong Chap-

ter President Dr Mujibul Haque Khan told the Dhaka Tribune that they will continue the strike until the cases against the doctors were withdrawn. He said the cases have been � led only to harass the doctors.

BMA will hold a press conference at Chit-tagong Press Club today in the evening in favour of the strike and the protesting phy-sicians will also demonstrate in front of their respective chambers and clinics.

On January 19, Khairul Bashar – father of Meherunnesa Rima who died on January 10 for the alleged negligence of doctors after a caesarian surgery –lodged a case with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court in Chittagong, accusing Dr Shameema Siddique and her husband Dr Mahbubul Alam for the death.

In another case lodged by one Jebal Hos-sen, Dr Rana Chowdhury – registrar of CMCH ward 24 – was accused of the same charge with the same court. l

Malaysian university team meets DU VC n UNB

A Malaysian university delegation called on Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr AAMS Are� n Siddique at his o� ce yesterday.

Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Malaya, Dr Johan Samsuddin Bin Dato, led the two-member delegation, said a press release.

The other member of the delegation was Deputy Dean Norbani Binti Mohamed Nazeri.

During the meeting, they discussed var-ious bilateral issues, including possibilities of undertaking joint collaborative academic and research programmes by Dhaka Univer-sity and Malaya University.

Prof Dr Nakib Muhammad Nasrullah of the law department at the DU was present at the meeting as well. l

Appeal for help

n Tribune Report

Md Harun-ur-Rashid, a teacher at Jazira Secondary School in Keraniganj, is in urgent need of help to bear his treatment costs.

Both his kidneys have be-come dysfunctional and he has to undergo dialysis once a week.

Doctors have advised the 37-year-old to transplant at least one kidney on an urgent basis, which is a very expen-sive procedure.

Harun has urged the a� u-ent section of the society to extend � nancial assistance so that he can pay for his treat-ment.

Assistance can be sent to this address: Md Har-un-ur-Rashid, Account no – 020000266816, Agrani Bank Ltd, Jinjira branch, Dhaka, Index no – 1055343, Mobile - 01716917530. l

A total of 620 patients were treated in the last 24 hours, a source said adding that it was around 50 more than the previous day

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016News 7

DT

The Bangladesh Garo Chhatra Sangothon holds a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding constitutional recognition of ethnic minority people SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Karnaphuli Paper Mills without ETP for 62yrsn Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Karnaphuli Paper Mills (KPM), the largest state-owned paper manufacturing factory of the country, is discharging untreated toxic waste without setting up E� uent Treatment Plant (ETP), posing a serious threat to aquatic ecological balance.

The paper mill is running its operation without obtaining any environmental clear-ance certi� cate and installing the ETP.

Karnaphuli Paper Mills (KPM) was estab-lished in 1953 on a � ve-acre of land in Chan-draghona area, Rangamati with a production capacity of 30,000 tonnes of newspaper an-nually. After 1971, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) took over the charge of the factory.

The Department of Environment (DoE) has issued repeated notices to the KPM authori-ties in the last couple of years for taking meas-ures to install the ETP and obtaining environ-

ment clearance certi� cate, but to no avail. In the latest notice served on October 11

last year, the DoE asked to set up ETP and mentioned that the soil, air and water of the Karnaphuli River was being polluted due to the rampant dumping of chemical wastes from the mill.

On June 17, 2013, the DoE served another show-cause notice asking the KPM to explain why, despite previous notices, authorities of the factory did not take steps to stop releas-ing untreated e� uent into adjoining Karna-phuli River.

“The diversity of � ora and fauna of the surrounding areas is now at stake due to dis-charge of untreated waste. We should save the river otherwise Karnaphuli might have to em-brace the fate of the Buriganga,” said Md Mok-bul Hossain, director, DoE, Chittagong region.

“We have inspected the factory on several occasions and later prepared a report on the extent of pollution caused by the paper man-

ufacturing company. Later, on October 29 last year, we penalised the factory with Tk1.8 crore after a hearing held at the DoE o� ce on October 27. However, the factory has not paid the penalty yet,” said Md Bodrul Huda, assis-tant director of the DoE, Chittagong region.

As per the report prepared by the DoE, the factory which is now faced with many crises remains operational 100 days a year. On an average, the factory while manufacturing 2,000-3,000 tonnes of paper per day that produces some 11,400 cubic metre of liquid wastes mixed with di� erent toxic chemicals.

The untreated toxic liquid waste released from the KPM directly � nds its way into Kar-naphuli River through di� erent drains adja-cent to the mill. The solid waste of the fac-tory is also � lling and choking the river, the report pointed out.

Anowar Hossain, general manager (ad-ministration) of Karnaphuli Paper Mills, in-formed that they had decided to set up ETP

at a board meeting held on January 11. Manjurul Kibria, a researcher and associ-

ate professor in Zoology Department of Chit-tagong University said the reproduction and number of � shes had drastically reduced due to the dumping of untreated industrial waste into Karnaphuli.

“We conducted a survey in 2009 to ascer-tain the exact number of � sh species availa-ble in the river and found that 20-25 species of freshwater and 10 species of brackish water have already become extinct while the rest � sh species are also in peril,” said Kibria.

“Once River Karnaphuli was abound with a total of 140 � sh species which include 66 species of freshwater, 59 species of brackish water and 15 species of migratory � sh,” add-ed Kibria.

Kibria also cautioned that many more � sh species in River Karnaphuli might go extinct if the industries do not comply with the man-datory rules of installing the ETP. l

People su� er as Nurundi station closed withoutprior noticen Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

People who used to avail train from Nurundi railway station to go to di� erent destinations yesterday su� ered a lot as the Bangladesh Railway authorities declared closure of the station on Thursday without prior notice.

Being irritated by the decision, local peo-ple put up barricaded on the Dhaka-Tangail rail track in the area yesterday for four hours that halted rail communication between the capital and Jamalpur, causing su� erings for passengers who boarded on trains from other stations of the district.

During the blockade, Dhaka-bound Teesta Express at Jamalpur station and Dhaleswari Express at Biddyaganj rail station got stuck for several hours. Passengers of Teesta Express – Tota Mia, Joinal Abedin and Abul Kalam, around 5pm told the Dhaka Tribune that they got stuck after the train reached Jamalpur railway station.

A local resident Mokhlesur Rahman de-manded reopening of the station as soon as possible to ease su� ering of locals.

Station Master of Jamalpur Railway sta-tion told the Dhaka Tribune that the author-ities concerned had declared closure of the station due to manpower shortage. l

Spice farming getting pro� table in northern districtsn Tribune Report

Asma Begum, a farmer of Fulgachha village, Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, has pocketed a good pro� t after cultivating di� erent types of spices.

She had cultivated black-pepper and car-damom last year. Now, she is now trying to cultivate spices in commercial basis because she earned a good pro� t in the last few years.

This year, she is cultivating cinnamon, curry leaf, cumin, nigella seed, fenugreek leaf, fennel seed, black cumin in her nursery.

She will get the production of the spice next year, she hoped.

“I am getting production of spice items citron, mint, bell-pepper, red-chili, corian-der, fresh coriander, turmeric, garlic, onion and bay leaf from my nursery. I have earned expected pro� t from the spices,” Asma said.

Asma Begum, wife Fakar Islam, started spices farming four years back after getting an easy loan facility of Tk60,000 from a lo-cal NGO. She established a wonderful spice nursery at her homestead with the help of her husband and four children.

Asma Begum makes pro� t from her nurs-ery. Many nurserymen, local people, town dwellers come to her nursery every day for buying spice items’ plants. The NGO Mus-lim Aid Bangladesh also involved with her for making a market facility of her produced spices.

Asma’s husband Fakar Islam said: “I and our children are helping Asma for extending the nursery for farming spice items in com-mercial basis. But she faces setback due to lack of fund.”

Kutub Miah, Asma’s co-villager, said: “Lo-

cal people are also getting interested in spice farming after observing bright success of Asma Begum.”

Lalmonirhat Branch Manager of the NGO Muslim Aid Bangladesh Zahedul Islam said the organistaion would support Asma Begum for farming spice items as she brings bright success on spice farming that will encourage the local farmers also.

Ifat Kibria Al-Naim, a scienti� c o� cer of Spices Research Sub-Centre in Lalmonirhat, said soil of the district was very suitable for farming spices. l

Advertisement8DTSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Learn English 9D

T

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Want to find more learning activities? Visit www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish © British Council 2016

Paint a bright future with a higher education in the UKA surging number of Bangladeshi students are opting for a higher education in the United Kingdom. As a popular destination for higher education, UK’s fame is not unwarranted. Harboring some of the most renowned universities in the world, the region, with one percent of the world’s population, is also responsible for as much as eight percent of global scientific publications.

The history of institutional edification in the UK dates back to the sixth century. Currently, a highly sophisticated system of module-based education has established it as a premier destination of higher education for students worldwide.

“They stress on a lot of research-based assignments,” says Tausif Rahman, an alumni of Nottingham Trent University. “This compelled us to develop a practice of continuous research and to remain updated about current affairs.” Aquatic Ecologist Dr Haseeb Md Irfanullah, who obtained a PhD from University of Liverpool says, “What attracted me to an education in the UK is the legacy it has created. A certificate from a UK institution is highly valued worldwide.”

However, education is only one of the many factors that make a man. It is how he sees and understands the world, how he can adapt to his surroundings, and how well he connects to others. The UK harbours students from many countries. These people bring with them their own cultures and values to the land. Coming-of-age students find unique opportunities to interact with a diverse range of people, which enables them to widen their spectrum of perspectives, enabling them to communicate, and accept miscellaneous views in order to grow as a person.

“There were students from 29 different nationalities in my class of 102 students,” says Salman Kabir, who completed his MSc. In Marketing and Strategic Management from the University of Warwick. “This enabled me to understand different people and cultures, which helped me to mature as a person. This diversity has caused/triggered in the people of the UK to embrace fellow humans from any corner of the world.” “Life as a student in the UK makes you become practical and realistic. When you live and work on your own and have to make your own decisions, you

grow in yourself an ability to be your own person,” Tausif says. Salman also shares this view.

“It is very important to remain focused on your purpose. When in the UK, you are essentially an ambassador of your country. It is important not to get distracted, and remain focused on the wealth of knowledge that is on offer,” Dr Haseeb stressed.

All three of them now are established professionals. Owing to his passion for taking on new challenges, Tausif is currently handling a new project as project manager at Humac Lab, after working as operations manager and project manager at Amar Phonebook Limited, and as senior corporate marketing executive at Toshiba in Bangladesh. He also ran his own business for a year in the UK after his graduation. Salman is currently working as assistant director of Marketing and Public Relations at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. Dr Haseeb is working as program coordinator at International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh. They are thankful to have gained an education experience in the UK for their current success, as it not only made them accomplished human beings,

but also enabled them to work in their preferred fields and remain ahead of the competition.

To get an undergraduate education in the UK, students should first consider completing their Higher Secondary Education as well as obtaining an acceptable IELTS score by their desired university. Universities in the UK also offer foundation and diploma courses for students who may have certain gaps in their education.

Social media and a flurry of agencies sometimes make it difficult for aspiring undergraduate and graduate candidates in the UK to choose the right university for them. To get the most unbiased, updated, pertinent and most comprehensive information on education in UK, students should visit the British Council in Dhaka. Operating in Bangladesh since 1951, it is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations, working to help aspiring students to take informed decisions.

British Council is holding Education UK Exhibition 2016 from January 28-29 at Pan pacific Sonargoan hotel. There will be 25 UK institutions participating at the

exhibition. The exhibition will be open for visitors on January 28 2016 from 12pm to 6pm and on January 29 from 11am to 6pm. Entry fee is Tk50. Entry ticket will be available in the event venue on event day. Registration link for Dhaka: http://bit.ly/exhibitiondhk2016

Education UK Exhibition 2016 in Chittagong: Education UK Exhibition will be held at The Peninsula Chittagong. The exhibition will be open for visitors from 12pm to 6pm. 9 UK institutions will be participating this year in the exhibition. Entry fee is Tk50. Entry ticket will be available in the event venue on event day. Registration link for Chittagong: http://bit.ly/exhibitionctg2016

Education UK Exhibition 2016 in Sylhet:Education UK Exhibition will be held at Rose View Hotel Sylhet. The exhibition will be open for visitors from 12pm to 6pm. 7 UK institutions will be participating this year in the exhibition. Entry fee is Tk50. Entry ticket will be available in the event venue on event day. Registration link for Sylhet: http://bit.ly/exhibitionsyl2016

Please bring your academic certificate with you. l

BIGSTOCK

Biz info10DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

BRAC University hosts Professors from University of California, BerkeleyThree distinguished academics, all experts in their respective fields spent five days with Brac University (BU) senior faculty, researchers and graduate students to explore faculty and student exchanges and areas of collaborative research. The emphasis of this important visit funded by the Chowdhury Center of the South Asian institute of University of California, Berkeley (UCB), was placed on the need for joint research initiatives leading to joint publications.

The visitors were Lawrence Cohen, professor of Anthropology and chair of India studies, UCB. Professor Cohen ran a very engaging workshop program on “Rethinking Medical Anthropology and its methodology,” hosted by the JPG School of public Health.

This included the following sub-themes: The body in modernization theory, The split between interpretive and critical medical anthropology, Integration and eclecticism in method and theory, Integration of theories into participants’ research projects.

Professor Cohen also conducted an interactive session for faculty members, teaching sensitive topics (race, gender, sexuality) on the final day of the five-day program.

Raka Ray, professor of sociology at UCB, is an expert on gender and feminist theory, inequality and emerging middle classes. Her substantive workshop was conducted under the heading “Searching for the middle-classes.”

She raises the question whether the middle class is an economical category or a cultural one and what are the politics of class and gender within the emerging middle classes in South Asia?

Poulomi Saha, assistant professor of English at UCB conducted a workshop on “Theory of Methodology” in which she looked at the application of critical theory to disciplines like English and Anthropology that are engaged in analysing culture through texts. She also focused on the concept of interdisciplinary and the need for going across disciplines in pursuit of research objectives.

The five day workshops emphasised the need for a robust, long term inter institutional unity, which will facilitate joint work between our scholars at both BRAC University and UCB.

Professor Andaleeb, vice chancellor of BRAC University prioritising research said: “To the esteemed faculty from UCB I shall submit that BU faculty would gain substantially from being exposed to the ‘methods’ of identifying, understanding and analysing issues of importance to society.”

Kumar Murshid, director of International Programs at BRAC University said: “I was impressed by the devotion of the visiting scholars from UCB to their craft and to the South Asia region. We have laid through this visit the foundation for robust collaborations and exchanges through which both institutions will gain in the future. There is mutual recognition

of the fact that the overwhelming dominance of the global North in research on development does not do justice to

the global South, which needs to be more influential in determining and gaining ownership of development research.” l

The UK education fair kicks o� next weekThe 18th annual Education UK Exhibition is opening its doors next week to individuals who want to � nd out how UK education will prepare them for an exciting career and give them a competitive edge in the global market. The exhibition will take place at the Pan Paci� c Sonargaon Hotel on January 28 and 29.

Organised by the British Council, the Education UK Exhibition will provide prospective students and their parents, teachers, HR professionals and training managers with an opportunity to meet representative delegates from 27 renowned UK higher education institutions.

“An education experience in the UK prepares students to adapt to the fast changing world and acquire a competitive edge by becoming e� ective, creative and independent thinkers. The unique research-based modular curricula of the UK education system is continuously enriched through innovative additions. Moreover, the students get the opportunity to interact with peers throughout the world, enabling them to become intellectually enhanced global citizens. The Education UK Exhibitions will showcase the range of study options available throughout the UK, across a vast range of disciplines with both

an academic and vocational focus, and at all levels. We encourage everyone to come and explore the options and take those important � rst steps in the journey towards a high quality education,” commented M Jahir Uddin, project manager, SIEM (Services for International Education Marketing), British Council Bangladesh.

Visitors will have the opportunity to seek advice on undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, scholarship opportunities

and to � nd out what it is like to live and study in the UK. Information will also be available about the UK visa application process as well as other opportunities o� ered by British Council to learn English and complete internationally recognised quali� cations from the UK.

It is to be noted that the UK, with only one percent of the world’s population, is responsible for as much as eight percent of global scienti� c publications. l

The exhibition schedule in Dhaka:Thursday, January 28 from 12pm to 6pm and Friday, January 29 from 11am to 6pm at Grand Ballroom, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.

The exhibition schedule in Chittagong:Sunday, January 31 from 12pm to 6pm at Zinnia Hall, The Peninsula Chittagong.

The exhibition schedule in Sylhet:Wednesday, February 3 from 12pm to 6pm at Rose View Hotel.

Students are encouraged to pre-register for the exhibitions. Registration link: http://bit.ly/exhibitiondhk2016 Entry fee for the event is Tk 50.

For further information please contact:Arshia Aziz, Head of Marketing and Communications, British Council.Email: Arshia.Aziz@bd.britishcouncil.org

INSIDE

Dhaka North’s Mayor Annisul Huq is right to ask for Wasa and Rajuk to hand over control of the capital’s canals to the two city corporations to improve management and reduce water-logging.

It has long been clear that the city corporations are constrained in taking e� ective steps to prevent water-logging and improve sewage management because of responsibility being split between Wasa and Rajuk.

This situation increases the scope for buck-passing and � nger-pointing among di� erent authorities. This only exacerbates problems and lengthens delays.

Lack of authority by publicly elected o� cials and split responsibilities between multiple ministries and government departments reduces public accountability.

The public interest would be better served by giving city corporations and mayors the authority and resources to take over responsibility and to control day-to-day management.

Not only would this increase accountability, as elected city authorities have to be answerable to the public, it would also bene� t public � nances by improving administrative e� ciency and cutting waste.

Increased accountability is imperative to increase the likelihood of improvements being delivered.

A similar picture is also applicable to the capital’s chronic tra� c congestion problems. The ability of the city corporations and mayors to tackle transport issues is hampered by the lack of a unitary authority answerable to the public that can take a strategic approach to improving public transport and enforcing road regulations.

It makes sense to empower locally-elected leaders with the authority and resources needed to deliver the improvements in civic services and infrastructure that the public wants.

Bangladesh needs more accountable and e� ective local government to make the long-term improvements our nation needs.

Giving locally-elected leaders more authority is imperative to end costly � nger-pointing and improve accountability

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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Public accountability needs mayors to have real authority

11D

TEditorialSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Climate changePAGE 14

Literary dynasties engage in Dhaka

PAGE 19

What should the world do about North Korea?

PAGE 13

Theocracies on a di� erent trajectory

PAGE 12

n Esam Sohail

It’s not exactly a common occurrence for me to nod in agreement with the sentiments expressed by one of the many members of the current cabinet.

Frankly, as a principled believer in freely elected governments, there is precious little I � nd to admire about those who rule in Bangladesh today.

Yet, it’s heartening to hear the doubts expressed by the public administration minister about the wisdom of getting entangled in the Saudi Arabia-led mysterious alliance of Muslim-majority countries which pointedly excludes Iran and, likely, considers the Persian nation as the nemesis.

The wisdom is all the more stark considering the incredible rise in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. There are those who would dismiss such concerns under the guise of “well, what’s the di� erence?” Well, there is a di� erence and, fundamentally, it is about how the future is likely to shape for these two Middle Eastern neighbours.

Despite the narrative often found in the mainstream Western press, Saudi Arabia and Iran are not exactly alike. Sure, both have ruling systems that rely heavily on ancient scriptures to make laws, administer justice, and order society. Beyond that, the divergence between the two entities is almost stunning.

Iran is actually a real country with a history, culture, and civilisation which go back more than two millennia; Saudi Arabia is, on the other hand, a classic embodiment of what the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser called “tribes with a � ag,” being the only country of the world named after a particular family.

Nobody in his right mind will confuse either one of the countries with a pluralist, representative democracy where freedom abounds. Yet, thanks to her incredibly rich culture, tradition of scholarship, separate public institutions, and a � edgling civil society, Iran has a far greater likelihood of moving into the column of freedom someday in the next generation.

The epic upheavals of conquests by Arabs, the English, the Russians, and homegrown theocrats have failed to extinguish a culture that boasts the likes of Ha� z and Saadi.

Despite the terror unleashed by kangaroo courts, regime sponsored “Basij” thugs, and a criminal justice system that doles out the death penalty for erroneous thoughts, Iranians have still managed to get together to make quality cinema, write novels, and clandestinely debate ideas on university campuses.

As the aftermath of two stolen elections showed, the youth of Iran have not given up on the idea of someday getting back the right to rule themselves and breathe free. And when that someday comes, a vibrant multi-dimensional commercial sector, some

good universities, and a trained cadre of brave journalists and lawyers (remember Shireen Ebadi?) will be there to help Iran reach the promise of a society where pluralism and individual liberty thrive again.

Underneath the jackboots of the revolutionary tribunals of turbaned terror, there is an Iran as an idea, an entity, a society that is bruised and bloodied but not broken.

The same isn’t the case for Saudi Arabia which, literally as the name suggests, is more a family � efdom than a country. Unlike Iran, there are no discernible public institutions, no written constitution, no penal code, and no civil society. Even the theoretical premise of basic equality of

men and women is sco� ed upon in Saudi Arabia where, in 2016, it remains illegal for women to drive a motor vehicle or go to co-educational classrooms for learning.

The rudimentary idea of courts of law with lawyers and quali� ed jurists is simply alien to the Saudi mindset as is the concept of public assemblies and rallies; those who test these mores by means of writing Facebook posts or getting together in a town square to protest pretty much guarantee themselves a swift trip to eternal abodes.

With the absence of any native culture that is girded in scholarship, literature, or the � ne arts, essentially little other than royal largesse, religious fervour, and abject fear keep the façade of a “society” alive in

the desert kingdom by the Red Sea. While Iran’s global terror outreach has been almost exclusively orchestrated by its ruling theocratic oligarchy, terrorists coming out of Saudi Arabia are almost entirely from the “private sector” where little other than mischief is left to occupy the minds of the pampered, well-o� , and frustrated youth.

In the absence of debating societies, cinema, novels, poetry, or even the opportunity to see the faces of the opposite sex, it is not particularly surprising that the appeal of phony martyrdom has a certain cache amongst so many young people in Saudi Arabia.

I have no crystal ball to predict what the future holds for these two countries. If I had to bet, however, I would wager that 25 years from now Iran’s culture and resilient society will overcome its theocratic masters and rejoin the modern world as inheritors of a great ancient civilisation; its big Arab neighbour across the Gulf will probably go back to what it was before it struck oil.

In doubting the wisdom of the Saudi-led alliance that leaves Iran out, the public administration minister may have a point worth pondering. l

Esam Sohail is an educational research analyst and college lecturer of social sciences. He writes from Kansas, USA.

Opinion12DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Iran and Saudi Arabia may look similar on paper, but the former has an incredibly rich culture that can move into the column of freedom

Underneath the jackboots of the revolutionary tribunals of turbaned terror, there is an Iran as an idea, an entity, a society that is bruised and bloodied but not broken

Iran’s theocracy hasn’t succeeded in extinguishing its cultural roots REUTERS

Theocracies on a di� erent trajectory

Opinion 13D

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

n Ataur Rahman

On January 6, North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test which it claimed was the � rst hydrogen bomb detonation

with “perfect success.” Although there has been no independent con� rmation of the success, the test sparked o� swift international condemnation underlining the world powers’ dilemma in dealing with the maverick state’s long-running but escalating nuclear program.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, called the test “deeply troubling” and “profoundly destabilising for regional security.” “This test,” he asserted, “once again violates numerous Security Council resolutions despite the united call by the international community to cease such activities.” In fact, North Korea’s apparent aim is to build an arsenal of thermonuclear weapons that could eventually be delivered on long-range missiles sparked o� serious concerns to neighboring countries, especially Japan and South Korea.

Despite being North Korea’s only ally, China expressed its “� rm opposition” adding that North Korea should “stop taking any actions that would make the situation worse.” It is indeed regrettable, as one non-proliferation expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies remarked that, “both the nuclear and the missile program of North Korea are continuing without any signi� cant control by the international community.”

ImplicationsWhat implications could be of such an act of nuclear proliferation by North Korea for its neighbours and global governance? It is noteworthy that in the past 60 years, East Asia has risen from a backwater devastated by war to become the economic and political centre of the world in early 21st century. Its dominant powers -- China, Japan, South Korea, and, because of its presence and interests in the area, the United States -- lead the world in economic growth, technological

innovation, and military strength. North Korea stands apart from the rest

of East Asia. In a region known for robust economic growth, integration, and long-term planning -- North Korea is the only country in East Asia that is poor, isolated, and appears to have little grasp of thinking in terms of long term future.

North Korea’s authoritarian leader Kim Jong-Un is focused exclusively on the tactical challenges of short-term survival and perpetuation in power. North Korea continued to pursue nuclear tests in addition to serious violations of human rights undermining international norms and institutions, including the United Nations.

Neighbouring countries and global powers issued stern statements against North Korea following January 6 detonation and called an urgent UN meeting. While it is almost certain that that move will prompt UN imposing further economic sanctions, the measures will not have major repercussions unless the US decides to introduce comprehensive � nancial sanctions that will essentially ban all global banking institutions dealing with North Korea.

The test is also expected to worsen North Korea’s relations with China which has been frustrated by nuclear programs of this troublesome neighbour, a recipient of Chinese aid and investment. North Korea risks losing yet more goodwill from its main patron and nominal ally. China may not abandon North Korea at the UN when it

comes to human rights issues, but there will be more pressure within Chinese society and the political-economic � eld to turn the screws on this immature state for its nuclear ambitions.

Denuclearisation The United Nations Security Council adopted four major resolutions since 2006 that imposed and strengthened sanctions on North Korea for continuing to develop its nuclear weapons program and called on Pyongyang for denuclearisation -- to dismantle its nuclear program “in a complete, veri� able, and irreversible manner.”

All four resolutions were passed unanimously by the Security Council under Chapter VII, Article 41 of the United Nations Charter. While legally binding, states are prohibited from using force to carry out the obligations of the resolutions. The resolutions called upon North Korea to

rejoin the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which it acceded to in 1985 but withdrew in 2003 after US allegations that the country was pursuing an illegal uranium enrichment program.In fact, North Korea’s e� orts to develop nuclear weapons’ capabilities continued unchecked, and complicated both military and diplomatic options for pursuing denuclearisation by the United Nations and major powers. Most analysts recommend pursuance of a “combination strategy” that employs deterrence, pressure, and dialogue to bring North Korea to denuclearise.

Unfortunately, the US policy that contains all these elements so far has not been su� cient to make progress. UN secretary general insists on denuclearisation and North Korea’s neighbours should also come to a consensus on the bene� ts that should rightfully accrue from such a process.

The three relevant countries have diverging priorities, with the United States and South Korea emphasising denuclearisation and China emphasising peace and stability on the peninsula. Harmonising these priorities is a fundamental requisite for adopting a common approach to the North Korean problem, including achieving a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

China’s deepening economic engagement with North Korea is frustrating to US and, similarly, South Korean attempts to isolate and pressurise the Kim Jong-Un regime have not been very e� ective.

As China’s engagement continues, it is becoming increasingly di� cult to sanction North Korea without impinging on commercial and economic interests of the former. Therefore, the US and South Korea should explore ways to persuade China to join initiatives to curb North Korean provocations and nuclear development in return for clearer assurances about allied intentions on the Korean peninsula over the longer run.

Prospects Is it possible to denuclearise North Korea -- an immature state that continues to violate international norms and human rights? 12 years ago, in 2003, North Korea joined negotiations on the denuclearisation of the Korea peninsula in the framework of six-party talks that included US, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea.

The negotiations stalled in 2009 after North Korea withdrew from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refused to take part in further discussions. Today, North Korea is more emboldened by its hydrogen bomb detonation and seems to have very few possibilities to dismantle its nuclear program as it considers nuclear weapons as a security guarantee to protect its sovereignty from a possible invasion from the US.

China has vehemently reacted to North Korea’s recent H-Bomb Test and urged the resumption of the six-party talks to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. The position of China concerning peace-keeping and stability in the Korean peninsula is consistent and clear. China supports denuclearisation and settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula by means of peace talks and dialogue.

China consistently speaks up for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, the protection of the peace and stability, and that the relevant issues are resolved through dialogue. The most critical element is, therefore, the US-ROK-China strategic triangle, which has become the salient mechanism for managing regional crises and shaping a future security structure over the long term. Enhanced co-operation and co-ordination among these three nations can lead to a more e� ective diplomatic approach to negotiating the denuclearisation of North Korea.

The United States, South Korea, and China should now turn the current crisis into an opportunity to improve tri-lateral security co-ordination and co-operation through enhanced Con� dence Building Measures (CBM) and other risk-reduction process.

The best option is, therefore, to engage with China in deterring North Korean provocations and weapons of mass destruction and pursue vigorous diplomatic e� orts under the UN auspices to denuclearise North Korea on urgent basis. l

Ataur Rahman, MA, PhD (Chicago) is former Professor of Dhaka University, President of Bangladesh Political Science Association and currently on special assignment in Northeast Asian security and human rights.

China may not abandon North Korea at the UN when it comes to human rights issues, but there will be more pressure within Chinese society and the political-economic � eld to turn the screws on this immature state for its nuclear ambitions

Celebrations following the H-bomb test may be short-lived REUTERS

The US, China, and South Korea all need to turn this crisis into opportunity

What should the world do about North Korea?

n Anwar Zahid

With the combined e� orts of government agencies and NGOs, though signi� cant progress has been achieved for

fresh and safe water supply in Bangladesh, about 15% of the country’s population have yet to receive this service.

The su� erers are obviously the poor people in the community. The detection of arsenic in shallow groundwater is still a big threat to groundwater-based water supply in Bangladesh. Seawater encroachment in coastal aquifers (sand formation in the sub-surface from where water can be withdrawn) is another major problem.

On the other hand, surface water source is not suitable for drinking purposes and harvesting rainwater is mainly seasonal and available during the monsoon.

Therefore, use of deep groundwater is becoming an important issue in the country, mainly in areas of high arsenic and salinity, but installation of deep tubewells (200-250m deep) for household use is expensive and out of the reach of low-income families.

As a consequence, coastal people su� er from acute storages of safe water supply. Still, to expand and improve the water supply services in order to satisfy the basic needs in these areas is a necessity.

In the southern coastal Delta, multi-layered aquifer conditions exist, with arsenic contamination at shallow depth and high iron and brackish groundwater occurring mainly in the deeper layers, that forms a constraint to groundwater use in the area.

The occurrence of brackish and saline water in the coastal aquifers does not follow any regular pattern spatially or vertically. Various studies and investigations show that all the di� erent depth-levels of aquifer units down to the investigated depths of

350m have been a� ected by salinity in many areas. The change from potable water to very saline water is sharp and occurs over a relatively short distance.

A recent study by the Bangladesh Water Development Board in 19 coastal districts shows that in the shallow groundwater fresh water is noticed in areas of Patuakhali, Barishal, Satkhira, Jessore, and Narail districts, while brackish water was found at Shariatpur, Chandpur, and Gopalganj areas.

In shallow groundwater, the salinity is extremely variable, overlain by very shallow fresh water pockets in many areas recharged

from recent rainfall.However, to some extent, salinity

increases with time during the dry period and over short distances. Studies show that, in many areas like Paikgacha and Tala, very shallow groundwater has salinity levels within the drinkable limit of 600mg/l of chloride, both in wet and dry seasons.

The arsenic concentration of this very shallow groundwater is also within the allowable limit of 10g/l for drinking water. Deeper water shows higher salinity and arsenic values.

The design of a� ordable, low-cost

recharge technologies such as recharge tanks has been proposed for the poor to augment the storage of fresh rainwater to shallow sub-surface, in order to increase fresh water discharge by reducing salinity level of nearby very shallow hand tubewell.

This is a feasible and a� ordable option for low-income families. Where a signi� cant aquitard, ie clay layer, exist in the surface, the very shallow groundwater is less vulnerable to surface contamination such as the movement of bacteria from the surface or nearby pit-latrine.

A recharge tank will have a cover that can be closed when there is no rain, and will not allow any debris or pollution. From rooftop, rainwater, through pipes, can be poured directly in the recharge tank.

In many areas, local inhabitants are already using very shallow hand-tubewells, but without knowing the concentration levels of arsenic and salinity.

In all cases, care must be taken to avoid any surface contamination including bacterial pollution, salinity intrusion due to shrimp cultivation and storm surges, and to monitor arsenic contamination level.

It needs to maintain a periodic maintenance of arti� cial recharge structures to avoid rapid reduction of in� ltration capacity due to clogging, silting, chemical

precipitation, and accumulation of organic matter.

As the rain water will be used directly for recharge, the possibility of clogging will be less and maintenance will be easier.

This small scale, very shallow tubewell, combined with a recharge tank, is a good idea in areas where the thickness of the surface clay is within the excavated range, groundwater salinity level is low, and depth to groundwater table is also very shallow and remains within 5-8m from the ground surface. l

Anwar Zahid is a groundwater researcher working in Bangladesh Water Development Board and is involved as a part-time teacher in the Department of Geology and Department of Disaster Science and Management, University of Dhaka.

Climate Change

This page has been developed in collaboration with the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) and its partners, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). This page represents the views and experiences of the authors and does not necessarily re� ect the views of Dhaka Tribune or ICCCAD or its partners.

14DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

As safe as water

COURTESY

In the southern coastal Delta, multi-layered aquifer conditions exist, with arsenic contamination at shallow depth and high iron and brackish groundwater occurring mainly in the deeper layers, that forms a constraint to groundwater use in the area

Arts & Letters 15D

TSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

SA Residence, Gulshan, Dhaka, 2005 – 2011

Architect Ra� q Azam’s work focuses mainly on collective housing or individual residences and explores the dialogue between architecture, geography and the natural elements surrounding their environment. This work is part of the Dhaka Art Summit. See pages 16-17 for more information.

The third edition of the Dhaka Art Summit introduces architecture as one of the art forms it will showcase. Aurelien Lemonier, Curator of

Architecture at The Centre Pompidou in Paris, has been visiting Bangladesh for the past two years studying Bangladeshi architecture and those who have taken charge of building for the country. This particular exhibit he has put together pays tribute to the late Muzharul Islam (1923-2012).

Muzharul, an architect and a prominent cultural � gure, pursued a “humanist modernity” from the 1950s and was responsible for inviting Louis Kahn to create Bangladesh’s parliament building. He had a great in� ucence on other architects of the nation.

“Architecture is not only about corporate or commercial buildings. Muzharul Islam was able to bring about the notion of self-critique to the role of the architect,” said Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Bangladeshi architect, urbanist,

critic, and current director-general of Bengal Institute of Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements in Dhaka.

“From Independence, Muzharul Islam single-handedly innovated a modernist language in his buildings. He tried to establish … a norm for a modern culture in architecture, which is about discourse and investigation, rational practices, and � nally being aware of the contribution of architects in society,” Khaleed said.

Muzharul’s achievements go beyond

enabling the construction of Kahn’s modern masterpiece and producing world-class public structures. A group of intellectuals, called Chetana Society, emerged in the 1980s, out of the need of a few architects to communicate with Muzharul to learn from him, and start a kind of study cycle.

“Initially, he was reluctant, but afterwards he agreed and we started to have two meetings a week and a lecture program to talk about the process of doing architecture,” remembers Dhaka-based architect Saif Ul

Haque.The exhibition will shed light on

challenges Islam faced throughout the decades, such as globalisation and climate change, in relation to those of the architects working to rede� ne the terms of contemporaneity according to recent circumstances.

The featured 19 architects are: Bashirul Haq, Shamsul Wares, Raziul Ahsan, Saif Ul Haque, Jalal Ahmed, Uttam Kumar Saha, Nahas Khalil, Chetana, Ra� que Azam, Ehsan Nurur Rahman Khan, Mustapha Khalid Palash, Enamul Karim Nirjhar, Kashef Chowdhury, Urbana, Marina Tabassum, Salauddin Potash, and Stephane Paumier.

Chaired by Farrokh Derakhshani, Director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, a panel discussion will be a part of the exhibition at the Shilpakala Academy Auditorium on February 7 at 4:30pm.

Dhaka Tribune is a media partner for the Dhaka Art Summit. l

Arts & Letters16DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Building dreamsArchitecture in Bangladesh (1947-2017) -- the legacy of Muzharul Islam

The exhibition will shed light on challenges Islam faced throughout the decades, such as globalisation andclimate change

}Muzharul Islam, Institute of Fine arts, Dhaka, 1953 - 1955 MUZHARUL ISLAM ARCHIVE / NURUR RHAMAN KHAN

Friendship Centre, Gaibandha, 2008 – 2011

“How can we live in a modern condition without moving to cities? In my own experience, it was always very important to be and practice in a rural landscape as an architect, where you can � nd space, openings, water, and at the end, public common spaces. The rural situation is very interesting in a sense to try to understand how society can move very slowly, very carefully and be transformed in a kind of settlement which is neither rural nor urban … what I would like to call a new ruralism.”KASHEF MAHBOOB CHOWDHURY

Nishorgo Oirabot Nature Interpretation Centre, Teknaf, 2008

“To be sustainable you have to think about the whole process and at the same time to think local. You can think globally to understand global issues, but when you are acting, you are acting locally, wherever you are. You can be a modern man, but you have to be a regional person.” EHSAN KHAN

Arts & Letters 17D

TSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Preliminary study for a mosque, 2015, architect archive

“Saha credits Rabindranath Tagore especially for having sown a sense of beauty and truth in him. “My search, in architecture, content, simple/complex, nature/built environment, humane/monumental, contemporary/traditional, urban/rural, dream/reality, folk/classical, is explored through my designs.” UTTAM KUMAR SAHA

Baitur Rauf Jame Mosque, 2010

“The fact that I decided to base my practice in Bangladesh and not anywhere else was important from the very beginning to � nd a language for architecture. I’m talking about the need to carry a common language on di� erent projects, even if each project is, in a sense, unique … I strongly believe that architecture has to grow from the site, like a piece of land.” MARINA TABASSUM

Sketchbook, 2003,architect archive

“Architecture came later in my life. I started to study paintings … watercolour has this quality: You put one colour on top of the other, and still you see the based layer, even the paper. My drawings are about the understanding of the surroundings, the environment, the people, the movement, the landscape ... the question of architecture starts in the joinery. How do you connect with the land, with the wind, the sunlight.” RAFIQ AZAM

For the uninitiated, performance art can seem like a strange experience, and that is often the goal. An artist might venture into performance art as a way to explore

di� erent forms of expression, to reach out to people, and tread into a completely new territory, using their bodies as a crucial instrument to get their particular message across.

Performance art is a non-traditional artform that combines visual art with dramatic per-formance, poetry, music, dance, or painting. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated, spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned, with or without audience participation.

“Shifting Sands, Sifting Hands,” curated by Nikhil Chopra, Madhavi Gore, and Jana Prepe-luh, is a continuously running exhibition at the Performance Pavilion of the Dhaka Art Summit. It relates to the idea of everything being in a state of becoming or � ux, especially the human body, where movement and change are with us from the moment of birth to death. This exhibition aims to re-approach the current critiques surrounding performance art within both the institution and in an object orientated art world.

Stop by and engage all � ve senses at the pavil-lion, which will be open to all everyday, Feb 5-8, from 10am-9pm, at the Dhaka Art Summit on the 2nd � oor of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Ali Asgar (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Inside the Zone, Outside your ConscienceAli will create an interactive “non-gender biased area /gender free zone” wherein audiences can transform the artist’s appearance using the installed gender-objecti� ed props or by sending him instant text messages with performance recommendations. His objective is to help people understand their assumptions of gender stereo-typing based on social codes of dress and attire.

Sanad Kumar Biswas (Dhaka, Bangladesh), me & MEEncased in a plastic bag, Biswas will use his own breath to survive. Using the translucent walls of the ballooned bag as a surface, he will make notations and records using a marker to write/draw his visceral experience of being/existing in the bag. “This is an un-deciphered endless poem ... made of taste, smell, touch, and feelings,” said Sanad. “I am seeking another me, who is gradually metamorphosing in endless ways.”

Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Dialogue NegotiationIn the persona of a sportsman, Chisty will play tennis with his re� ection in the mirror. He uses the sport and the idea of playing with his own re� ec-tion as a metaphor for the alienation postmodern technologies have created. “Technology cannot

exist without the biological body, why then are we competing with our virtual body?”

Manmeet Devgun (New Delhi, India) TIME HAS A START AND AN END-DO I BELIEVE THAT NOTION?Devgun will use matchsticks to construct words and words to construct sentences, which will snake through the various spaces of the Dhaka Art Summit. “I will devise a note on ‘time’… to understand time/duration/memories with certain situations and incidents in my life,” Devgun says. Her work has consistently questioned the role imposed on women in a predominantly patriarchal world.

Sajan Mani (Kochi, India), #MakeinIndia Mani will perform an “act of resistance through a black Dalit body to draw attention to historical and current injustice.” He will carry the bodies of Dalit grandfathers who were used as cows/beasts of burden in the � elds and killed. The performance is part of a larger body of work where Mani is looking at the cow and its relationship to food, religion, and politics.

Yasmin Jahan Nupur (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Another Crazy Thing I can Do; Dance!Nupur will move in “dance,” ie in non-dance mo-tions and movements imitating dance. In doing so,

she will deal with the body, mind, and the various emotional states that she will pass through during her performance. Nupur says the focus of her work is “the joy of creating, and not being afraid of creating, the willingness to do something, having an idea, and doing it, without being overly analytical.”

Venuri Perera (Colombo, Sri Lanka), Entry/No Entry 1.2Di� erent types of passports have varying degrees of power. “The inequality and undigni� ed pro-cesses and rituals many have to face before and during entering another country are addressed in this durational performance installation consisting of a series of short, individual, intimate encoun-ters,” says Venuri, a dancer known for challenging political and social issues.

Atish Saha (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Memories of my Mother’s WombAtish will spend 53 hours con� ned to an 8x8ft box. For the entire duration, “I will wait and wait in di� erent corners of the box; I will be sitting, lying, staring at the ceiling” said Saha, a maker of images, working between photography and performance.

Dhaka Tribune is a media partner of the Dhaka Art Summit. l

Arts & Letters18DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Class acts at the DASShifting Sands, Sifting Hands: Performance artists take the stage

Bodywork, Nikhil Chopra, Bangladesh COURTESY: SAMDANI ART FOUNDATION

n Tim Steel

It is fascinating to consider that ever since the early 19th century, at latest, with young servants of the East India Company “sowing their wild oats,”

in that ancient euphemism, some may, even in today’s proli� c gene pool in Dhaka, have genes of common descent with the “immortal bard,” William Shakespear.

A successor of that one, great, literary dynasty, arguably, the greatest, and the progenitor of another, consummated their personal friendship, one that was to endure through generations in Dhaka around 1771.

John Shakespear, it is said, � rst met William Makepeace Thackeray, later known as “Sylhet Thackeray,” to distinguish him from his more famous grandson, sharing an o� ce in Calcutta.

Both arrived around 1768 to take up positions as writers, in the o� ce of Robert Clive’s successor as governor of the Bengal Presidency, Harry Verelst, and became friends. Their friendship, it is recorded, was renewed and consummated in the Dhaka o� ces of the East India Company.

It was, also, a friendship that was to endure through at least three generations of intermarriage; generations, indeed, of both litterateurs and East India Company, and later, Raj, servants.

William Makepeace Thackeray, grandfather of the great Victorian novelist, was born in 1749, the son of the headmaster of one of England’s most famous schools, Harrow. He was born therefore, certainly, into a world of very useful contacts.

John Shakespear was, it is believed, a descendant of a forebear of the famous William Shakespear. He, too, was born, the son of a City of London Alderman, and grandson of a Member of Parliament into another similar world of privilege and useful connections. And, at the time, the most useful contacts for establishing a successful career in building wealth were, for sure, contacts in the, “Honourable Company” -- the East India Company.

The history of the two families illustrates, in so many ways, the hazards and the opportunities, for East India Company employees in Bengal, already considered as the most pro� table of the Company Presidencies. Through over half-a-century they and their descendants, might be regarded as exemplars, or poster people, for the British, who e� ectively ruled the great tristate complex of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa at the time.

Thackeray, no doubt through his father’s in� uential contacts, began working with the Company at the age of 15 in India House on Leadenhall Street in the City of London.

A year or so later, at the age of 16, he sailed in February 1766 on the Company vessel, The Lord Camden, appointed as assistant to the president of the Board of Trade in Calcutta.

John Shakespear also sailed to India, immediately following his marriage to Mary Talbot Davenport of Lacock Abbey, in about 1767. In 1771, Thackeray was appointed to the Company Council in Dhaka, then the

chief seat of the Company in East Bengal, and it appears that Shakespear was also appointed to the Dhaka o� ce at about the same time. We may reasonably assume it was at this time that he and Shakespear became closer friends.

Thackeray, still a bachelor, had been accompanied to Dhaka by his sister, Jane, where she met and married another distinguished Company employee, the cartographer, James Rennel, whose map of the Company territories of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa was published in 1776.

Thackeray was appointed as the Collector of Sylhet in 1772; a considerable, “o� ce of pro� t,” although he remained there for only two years -- su� cient to enrich himself, although, he had to sue the Company for payment for elephants collected for them from Assam.

Amongst the many Shakespears on

record, it is not clear how John’s career developed, but he may well have become, later, the Professor of Oriental languages at Addiscombe College of the East India Company and author of de� nitive works on Indian languages.

John Talbot Shakespear, a son, married Amelia Thackeray, and went on to become Superintendent of Police, at a young age, for the entire tristate of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, before eventually becoming a judge.

The Calcutta Gazette of 1807, records him at the age of 26, together with another young man destined to become a great � gure of the Company administration, Mountstuart Elphinstone. When, shortly afterwards, he sold his possessions in Calcutta to take up o� ce in “Lower Bengal,” the catalogue of the sale included high class horse, a sumptuous European built carriage, valuable paintings, mirrors, and statues, together with a � ne saloon organ.

He, however, died in 1824, surviving his wife by only six months, paying the price of both climate and lifestyle -- a price regularly paid by Company servants.

Richmond Thackeray, his name borrowed from his mother’s family, in fact married outside the clan, marrying a great beauty of the infamous “Fishing Fleet,” Anne Becher.

Whilst at a young age, he became a holder of another of the great opportunities for pro� t under the Company, as a Collector, and also became famous for his glamorous social life.

As it turned out, the drama of his marriage, a drama that saw him die in his early 30s, after a short, but brilliant and successful career, at the age of 33, could well have come from the pen of their only child, the boy, William Makepeace, who was to become, with his greatest novel, Vanity Fair, such a great litterateur.

His wife, Anne, before being, presumably,

despatched by her family to seek a wealthy and successful husband in Calcutta, had been courted in England, by a Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers. Her grandmother, disapproving of what was, undoubtedly, a love match, disapproved of the young suitor because he was only the younger son of a London physician.

Impounding the young man’s letters, she eventually informed the “heart broken” Anne that he had died of fever, and sent her and her sister to Calcutta.

The novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray, was to be the only child of the marriage. Two years after the marriage, at a grand reception given by her husband, Anne encountered her earlier suitor, who she had been informed was dead. It appears that this encounter wrecked a promising career -- Richmond dying, evidently broken-hearted, only three years later. Anne rapidly married her earlier suitor!

Richmond Thackeray is being rowed back to the ghat; his son, William Makepeace Thackeray, the future author of the famous, Vanity Fair, aged 5 will not see his father again. It is not hard to imagine the scene of parting.

With him, aboard the ship, are Augusta Shakespear, aged 9, George Shakespear, aged 5, and Richmond Shakespear, aged 4. Already, the intertwining of the families is very evident, and traceable through succeeding generations.

A family entanglement that would last throughout much of the 19th century.

A literary saga so rich in the history of both England and Bengal, that really only began in Dhaka, shines a bright light on both Company and Raj and the lives of those who were a part of it. l

Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

19D

TSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Heritage

A literary saga so rich in the history of both England and Bengal, that really only began in Dhaka, shines a bright light on both Company and Raj and the lives of those who were a part of it

Dhaka has close ties with many Western literary prodigies

Literary dynasties engage in Dhaka

The ancestral connections of novelist Thackeray are not widely known

Downtime20DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

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 2 represents L so � ll L every time the � gure 2 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

Across1 Song for two (4)6 Vigour (3)7 Airtight grain store (4)9 Jester (4)10 Grinding tooth (5)11 Within the law (5)12 Speed an engine (3)14 Strength (5)17 Slender supports (5)20 Land measure (3)21 Keen (5)23 Banquet (5)25 Narcotic (4)26 Part of the eye (4)27 Length of life (3)28 Extremities (4)

Down 1 Postpones (6)2 Develop gradually (6)3 Roo� ng item (4)4 Lubricant (3)5 In favour of (3)7 Alone (4)8 Light beer (5)10 Atlas item (3)13 Anaesthetic (5)15 Rabbits’ burrow (6)16 Is monarch (6)18 Unitdy state (4)19 Used a chair (3)22 Border (4)23 In good health (3)24 Melody (3)

SUDOKU

INSIDE

21D

TWorldSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Pakistan top court overturns ban on hunting rare birdPakistan’s Supreme Court Friday overturned its decision to ban the hunting of the hou-bara bustard, a rare desert bird whose meat is prized among Arab sheikhs as an aphrodisiac.

PAGE 22

Saudi-Iran dispute jeopardises Yemen peace talks Worsening enmity between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran is jeopardising peace prospects in Yemen where a nine-month-old war has given militants a foothold in Riyadh’s backyard.

PAGE 23

Myanmar releases political prisoners before power transfer Myanmar began releasing the � rst of about 100 prisoners on Friday, many of them po-litical detainees, days before a parliament dominated by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi’s party sits for the � rst time after an election win in November.

PAGE 24

ANALYSIS

Modi may bet on both old and new faces to regain winning ways n Reuters, New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may look to press the reset button on his leader-ship this spring to reinvigorate stalled eco-nomic reforms and appease critics, eyeing a mix of tried and tested allies and fresh blood, senior government sources said.

The government has overseen rapid eco-nomic growth but failed on tax and land reforms, and the euphoria that met Modi’s 2014 election triumph has given way to in-vestor disillusionment; Indian stocks have erased all of their gains since he won power.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces a crucial election test in the most pop-ulous state of Uttar Pradesh in 2017 that it probably needs to win if it wants to hold on to power nationally in 2019.

“Modi needs to identify new talent and bring changes in his government. It will be too late if he fails to do it now,” said veteran newspaper editor and commentator Shek-har Gupta.

With an eye on Uttar Pradesh, Modi looks set to keep Amit Shah on as BJP president, the sources said, extending his closest aide and election campaign manager’s tenure by three years when it expires at the weekend.

But Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, re-sponsible for delivering the Modi message to international investors, may move to de-fence after he delivers his annual budget in late February, sources said.

Jaitley, 63, has failed to push through a major tax reform and critics have faulted his stewardship over India’s $2tn economy,

which is growing fast but not creating enough jobs to employ an expanding workforce.

Moving Jaitley to defence, a post he also held in the early months of the Modi gov-ernment, could better suit the veteran cor-porate lawyer and keep the strategically im-portant portfolio in trusted hands.

It would also open the way for power and coal minister Piyush Goyal to take the � -nance portfolio, while under-performers in other minor posts may be weeded out.

A federal minister and two BJP o� cials said Goyal, 51, was being groomed for his next big role, and a white paper on banking was recently shared with him to seek his in-puts. A Goyal aide denied all knowledge of an impending promotion.

Goyal is a good communicator and has often travelled abroad with Modi, but lacks political and electoral experience.

The ex-investment banker has turned around state-run Coal India, tackled chron-ic power shortages and backed renewable sources of energy.

Those are key wins for Modi, whose pro-vision of 24/7 electricity as chief minister of Gujarat state helped him become prime minister.

Balancing actModi, who has relentlessly centralised pow-er in the prime minister’s o� ce, has held his cards close to his chest and would have the last word on recruiting new talent from a pool of candidates that is short on experience.

Shah, Modi’s right-hand man in Gujarat and the architect of his general election tri-

umph, lost his winning touch last year with a heavy defeat to an upstart party in Delhi and a crashing loss in Bihar.

That has tested the patience of the ideo-logical parent of the BJP, the Hindu nation-alist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). But, apart from a brief rebellion by party elders, Modi has managed to fend o� chal-lenges to his authority.

At a meeting between BJP and RSS lead-ers earlier this month in New Delhi, Modi made his support for Shah clear. No chal-lenger has applied for the post, meaning that Shah’s term that expires this weekend will be extended by three years.

While party workers praise Shah as a tough and e� ective administrator, many want him to promote new faces instead of, as he has done, focusing his campaign strat-egy exclusively on Modi.

Even though Modi addressed more than 30 rallies on the campaign trail, the BJP fell in Bihar in November to an alliance of region-al parties. Realising its fate was sealed, it did not even � eld a candidate for chief minister.

The party’s fortunes will depend on � ve state polls in 2016 that will build up to next year’s crunch vote in Uttar Pradesh. The outcome of that ballot will set the tone for the 2019 general election.

Shah helped Modi win the biggest general election mandate in three decades by sweep-ing 71 of 80 seats in the northern state, whose 200 million population is as big as Brazil’s.

“If Shah wins Uttar Pradesh, then no one can stop Modi from becoming the prime min-ister again,” said one senior BJP leader. l

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he addresses a gathering during a conference in New Delhi on January 16 REUTERS

WorldSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

22DT

Pakistan top court overturns ban on hunting rare bird n AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan’s Supreme Court Friday overturned its decision to ban the hunting of the hou-bara bustard, a rare desert bird whose meat is prized among Arab sheikhs as an aphrodisiac.

Wealthy hunting parties from the Gulf

travel to Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province every winter to kill the houbara bustard using hunting falcons.

A provincial High Court in Balochistan in November 2014 cancelled all permits for hunting in the province, but the federal gov-ernment continued to issue licenses.

Last year the Supreme Court banned hunt-ing of the bird entirely, in a decision welcomed by wildlife campaigners. The International Un-ion for Conservation of Nature includes the bird on its “red list” of threatened species, estimat-ing there are fewer than 97,000 left globally.

But the federal and provincial govern-

ments asked the court to review the decision, claiming that controlled hunting was a tool for preservation and should be allowed.

In a judgement issued Friday, the court said it had set aside its original decision to ban hunting of the bird and that petitions on the issue would be listed for fresh hearings. l

WorldSOUTH ASIAPakistan Taliban commander vows more school attacks in videoA senior Pakistani Taliban commander released video footage on Friday of four � ghters he said carried out Wednesday’s deadly assault on a university in Pakistan’s northwest and vowed more attacks on schools in future. “Now we will not kill the soldier in his cantonment, the lawyer in the court or the politician in parliament but in the places where they are prepared, the schools, the universities, the colleges that lay their foundation,” the Commander Umar Mansoor said in the video. -REUTERS

INDIAMaharashtra to give surrogacy mothers maternity bene� tsIndia’s Maharashtra has become the � rst state to extend full maternity bene� ts to women who have babies using a surrogate mother, a state o� cial said. All women in government jobs who have a baby using a surrogate mother can now take 180 days of maternity leave, putting them on an equal footing with women who conceive natural-ly, the o� cial said. The leave can only be taken once. -THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION

CHINAChina jails rights activist on spying chargesA Chinese court has jailed a well-known rights activist for 19 years on state security charges, including supplying intelligence abroad. Zhang Haitao, a rights activist based in the troubled western region of Xinjiang who wrote online postings critical of the ruling Communist Party, was jailed for inciting subversion of state power and illegally supplying intelligence abroad, said his lawyer. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFICIAEA: Japan’s rigid atomic inspections need freedomJapan should free up its “complex and rigid” reactor inspection regime, a global nuclear watchdog said Thursday, as the country restarts more atomic plants � ve years after the disaster at Fukushima. A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tokyo must boost the number of trained nuclear o� cials and foster “dis-tance” between them and the utilities they regulate. The Japanese government argues that nuclear power is a necessity for the resource-poor country. -AFP

MIDDLE EASTIsrael evicts settlers from disputed W Bank homesIsraeli security forces evicted dozens of Jewish settlers from two homes in the heart of the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, a day after they had moved in. Dozens of settlers left the house on Friday morning, carrying their possessions and accompanied by Israeli border police. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld con� rmed 80 people had been removed from the homes, with the evacuation occurring without incident. -AFP

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 201623

DT

ANALYSIS

Saudi-Iran dispute jeopardises Yemen peace talks n Reuters, Dubai/Cairo

Worsening enmity between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran is jeopardising peace prospects in Yemen where a nine-month-old war has given militants a foothold in Riyadh’s backyard.

Yemen’s principal warring factions -- � ghters loyal to the ousted Saudi-backed Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who are battling the Iran-allied Houthi militia and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh -- held talks last month in Switzerland to try to end a war that has killed some 6,000 people.

They were due to meet again on Janu-ary 14 in a bid to seal a lasting peace. But the Riyadh government cut diplomatic ties with Iran in a row sparked by Saudi Arabia’s execution of Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on January 2.

Shortly after the row in which the Sau-di embassy in Tehran was stormed, the UN-brokered talks between the two oppos-ing sides were postponed, with no clear date set to resume.

While Yemen’s government has long been mired in con� ict with militants, secession-ists and tribal � ghters, its war coincides with unprecedented turmoil in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen marks the � rst time it has openly confronted what it sees as Iranian regional expansionism.

As long as the war rages in Yemen, there is more space for militants to gain territory as they exploit the security vacuum. Dae’sh and al-Qaeda have both emerged in Yeme-ni regions where they had not previously been present before Saudi Arabia entered the con� ict and a Saudi-led coalition began bombing the Houthis in March 2015.

Existential necessity for SaudiOn the battle� eld in Yemen the struggle is deadlocked.

Coinciding with Saudi Arabia’s cutting ties with Iran, the Saudi-led coalition inten-si� ed air strikes on Houthi positions. Days after the break-o� , Tehran accused Saudi Arabia of bombing its embassy in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa, an accusation vigorously denied by Riyadh. Eyewitnesses and resi-dents on the ground also said there was no damage to the embassy.

Pro-Saudi commentators suspected Iran aired the accusation to divert attention from the attack on Riyadh’s embassy in Tehran by protesters.

The clash showed just how quickly rhet-oric from the marbled o� ces in Tehran and Riyadh plays out on the ground in Yemen,

sti� ening positions among proxies and halt-ing progress in ending a war that has dis-placed tens of thousands.

Low priority for IranIran’s strategic stake in Yemen is less than in Syria where it is President Bashar al-Assad’s only regional supporter and in Iraq, where it maintains close ideological ties to the Shia-led government.

Unlike the con� icts in Syria, where Iran has sent � ghters from its elite Islamic Revolution-ary Guard Corps (IRGC), and in Iraq, where IRGC advisers work alongside Shia Iraqi mili-tias � ghting Dae’sh, the extent and robustness of Iran’s support to the Houthis is more murky.

Some speculate that the Yemen war may one day turn into a pawn to be traded in the region’s larger struggle for power. l

A view of a sports hall destroyed by Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa REUTERS

INSIGHT

Secret Syria network saves lives with air raid warnings n AFP, Beirut

In Syria’s coastal Latakia province, Abu Mo-hammad sends a warning from his phone to a secret network of colleagues: “Caution: A Russian plane just took o� in your direction.”

Moments later, activists in a rebel-held area in northwestern Syria sound warning sirens that prompt civilians to take cover before incoming air raids.

The message, sent via the mobile applica-tion WhatsApp, is part of an e� ort by a net-work of civilian and rebel coordinators across Syria who call themselves “the monitors”.

From positions near government-held military airports, they use messaging ser-vices or walkie-talkies -- depending on In-ternet coverage -- to warn activists, medics, and rebels about incoming aerial attacks.

They track � ight paths and try to deci-pher communication codes to warn them that Syrian or Russian military aircraft are headed their way.

Fearing retribution from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, “the

monitors” will not divulge their names or locations.

But Abu Mohammad agreed to speak us-ing a pseudonym.

He says he is based near a Syrian army position in the regime stronghold of La-takia, and describes dodging artillery and Russian reconnaissance drones to keep an eye on outgoing warplanes.

His job has become even more compli-cated since September 30, when long-time regime ally Russia began an air campaign in support of the government Russia operates military aircraft from Latakia’s seaside mili-tary airport of Hmeimim, where thousands of its troops are also based.

“I know when the plane takes o� , and as soon as it does, I tell people that a plane is coming towards them,” he said.

Walkie-talkies in minaretsAnother monitor in Latakia, Abu Omro, says he and his colleagues are loosely organised into units and the network is not a� liated with a speci� c rebel group.

“The idea is to protect people, and rebels, from the planes and the shelling... These monitors are really necessary,” he said over WhatsApp.

The monitors operate like a chain: when a Russian plane takes o� from Hmeimim, the spotter warns counterparts in the prov-inces where the plane is heading, who in turn contact activists and rebels there.

In the central province of Homs, activist Hassaan Abu Nuh is on alert for messages about warplanes headed to his town of Tal-bisseh, which is regularly bombarded by Russian and Syrian government planes.

Even before the Russian campaign be-gan, activists had begun trying to � nd ways to minimise casualties in air strikes.

In the northern province of Aleppo, resi-dents and civil service volunteers use three walkie-talkie channels to communicate about air strikes, media activist Adel Bakhso says.

Russia’s role in the Syrian con� ict has added a new challenge for the monitors, who say they have been able to decode in-tercepted messages in Russian. l

WorldSATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

24DT

USAMassive snowstorm heads towards East CoastAn expanding storm blasted Arkansas, Tennes-see and Kentucky with snow, sleet and freezing rain on Friday while taking aim at the DC area., and much of the East Coast, where blizzard conditions could drop up to 76cm of snow. The National Weather Service described the storm as “potentially crippling” for a swath of the Northeast, with up to 61cm of snow due to hit the Baltimore and Washington metro areas starting on Friday evening. -REUTERS

THE AMERICASVenezuela lawmakers set to reject economic crisis planVenezuelan opposition lawmakers vowed to reject on Friday President Nicolas Maduro’s bid to decree a state of economic emer-gency, deepening a political crisis in the oil-rich nation. Friday is the deadline for the National Assembly to vote on Maduro’s decree. The decree would have allowed the administration to commandeer private com-panies’ resources, impose currency controls and take “other social, economic or political measures deemed � tting.” -AFP

UKOscar-winner certain Britain should leave EUOscar-winning actor Michael Caine on Fri-day said Britain should leave the European Union if it does not manage to negotiate “ex-tremely signi� cant changes”, as the country prepares for a historic membership referen-dum. “Unless there are some extremely sig-ni� cant changes, we should get out,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, adding: .“You cannot be dictated to by thousands of faceless civil servants who make these (EU legislations) rules,” he said. -AFP

EUROPEFrench PM con� rms state of emergency to be prolongedFrench Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Friday that a state of emergency declared af-ter 130 people were killed in attacks in Paris in November would be prolonged as long as necessary, the BBC quoted him as saying. O� cials had said it was likely to be extended but Valls went a step further. Asked how long he envisaged the state of emergency remaining, Valls said: “The time necessary ... As long as the threat is there, we must use all the means.” -REUTERS

AFRICATunisia imposes curfew after worst post-revolt unrestTunisia on Friday declared a nighttime curfew across the country after a wave of protests and clashes that constitute the most seri-ous outbreak of social unrest since its 2011 revolution. Five years after the overthrow of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, street demonstrations against unemployment and poverty are again shaking the North African nation. Anger erupted over the death last Saturday of an unemployed young man who was electrocuted when he climbed an electricity pole while demonstrating in central Tunisia. The unrest has spread around the country including to Tunis where shops were burnt and looted in one suburb. -AFP

ANALYSIS

Poland clouds Nato’s nuanced Russia plan n Reuters, Brussels/Warsaw

Poland is putting its own spin on a nuanced Nato plan to deter Moscow in eastern Eu-rope without stationing permanent troops on Russia’s borders, prompting disquiet from allies including Britain, which needs Warsaw’s help in EU reform negotiations.

Poland’s defence minister on Thursday seized on Britain’s announcement that it is sending troops for exercises in the coun-try, telling local radio that London would station 1,000 military personnel in Poland from next year.

Britain’s defence ministry declined to comment, but alliance diplomats say there are no such plans. Britain is providing near-ly 1,000 troops for two Nato exercises later this year, as well as 1,000 personnel in four years’ time, when Poland will lead the new Nato rapid-reaction spearhead force.

But the subtlety of the language used to promote the new Nato deterrent policy in the east is an opportunity for Poland’s new conservative government. Warsaw, which is hosting the Nato summit in July, has called for a permanent Nato troop presence in the past and the new government has intensi-� ed those demands.

Nato’s current compromise aims to have a

“persistent” - rather than “permanent” - mil-itary in the east, based on a new network of eight small Nato outposts, more war games, and, if needed, a rapid response force, in-cluding air, maritime and special operations components of up to 40,000 personnel.

The idea is to reassure the ex-Soviet countries in Nato that they are protected from the kind of annexation Russia orches-trated in February in 2014 in Crimea, while avoiding a return to the Cold War, when the US had some 300,000 service personnel sta-tioned in Europe.

Nato also wants to keep a 1997 promise to Moscow not to permanently station forc-es on the Russian border, thereby avoiding antagonising a newly-assertive Russia and reach a peace settlement in eastern Ukraine, where Nato says Russia supports the rebels with weapons and troops.

Russia responded on Friday by saying it will form four new military divisions this year to strengthen its western and central regions because of the stepped-up exercis-es, which Nato set out in a calendar pub-lished on Thursday.

That is exactly the kind of reaction NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wants to avoid, saying last year that he will not be “dragged into an arms race”.

Brexit linkPublicising Nato’s message is a sensitive task, because eastern and Baltic Nato allies hope that a persistent Nato military pres-ence in the east may one day become per-manent, whereas Nato wants to avoid giv-ing that impression.

Poland and the Baltic states prepared a joint position in May last year to lobby Nato for the permanent stationing of a brigade. All three former Soviet republics have Rus-sian minorities and fear Kremlin moves to in� ame tensions there after the pro-Russian insurrection in eastern Ukraine.

Nato allies such as Germany and Britain are against stationing forces permanently in the east. But Britain is also wary of publicly criti-cising the Polish government as London seeks its support in negotiations aimed at keeping Britain in the European Union ahead of a ref-erendum on “Brexit” expected in June.

Poland is understood to be open to com-promise over British demands to limit the rights of EU migrants if London helps build up Nato’s presence in central Europe. Na-to’s main focus is on a 5,000-strong “spear-head” force, part of which can move within 48 hours.

But Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that was not enough. l

Myanmar releases political prisoners before power transfer n Reuters, Yangon

Myanmar began releasing the � rst of about 100 prisoners on Friday, many of them po-litical detainees, days before a parliament dominated by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi’s party sits for the � rst time af-ter an election win in November.

The freeing of some political prisoners by the outgoing administration of President Thein Sein comes after US Assistant Secre-tary of State Antony Blinken urged Myan-mar to free all political prisoners during a visit on Monday.

The amnesty gives a last-minute boost to the legacy of Thein Sein, whose semi-civil-ian government in 2011 replaced a junta that had run Myanmar for 49 years, ushering in a series of political and economic reforms.

“There were 52 political prisoners among those released today,” said Bo Kyi, joint secre-tary of political prisoner watchdog Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

According to Bo Kyi, this leaves 77 political prisoners behind bars and 408 awaiting trial.

Zaw Htay, a director at the president’s o� ce, said on his Facebook page that 102 prisoners would be freed. It was unclear how many had already been freed and whether all of them were political prisoners. Zaw Htay also said that 77 death sentences would be reduced to life imprisonments.

Phillip Blackwood, a New Zealand citizen jailed in Yangon’s notorious Insein prison in March for two and a half years for insulting religion, was also due to be freed, according to his family.

He had used a psychedelic image of Bud-dha wearing headphones to promote a party at a Yangon bar in a case that threw a spotlight on the country’s hardline Buddhist national-ists who championed the harsh sentencing.

“We’ve been told he will be released within the next few days or it could be up to a week,” said Angela Blackwood, the prison-er’s mother, when contacted by phone.

It was unclear whether two Myanmar cit-izens jailed along with Blackwood would be released.

Myanmar’s incarceration of more than 2,000 journalists, activists, politicians and even comedians during decades of military

rule was a key factor behind Western sanctions.

“While we recognise this as an important step, we remain concerned that there are still many individuals who remain jailed or on trial for simply exercising their right to freely express themselves,” the U.S. Embas-sy in Yangon said in a statement, calling for their release.

As others were walking free on Friday, NGO worker Patrick Khum Jaa Lee, arrested in October for a Facebook post deemed insulting to the military, was sentenced to six months in jail at a court in Yangon. With time served, he will be eligible for release in April. l

Recently released political prisoners and a supporter Wai Lu, centre, who was also a former political prisoner, hug each other in front of Insein prison after their release in Yangon on Friday REUTERS

25D

TSportINSIDE

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Nepal brush aside Bahrain to lift titleA clinical Nepal � nally ended a 23-year trophy drought yesterday when they emerged as the champions in the fourth edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup af-ter thumping Bahrain Under-23 3-0 in the grand � nale at the Bangabandhu National stadium. Youngster Bimal Gharti Magar was the star of the � nal. PAGE 26

United’s nascent title hopes face Saints testManchester United will be looking to improve on their recent home record against Southampton today to give further credence to their unlikely challenge for the Premier League title. Since Southampton’s return to the top � ight in 2012, United have beaten them only once in three attempts at Old Tra� ord. PAGE 27

Anderson powers Kiwis huge win over PakistanCorey Anderson whacked a career-best 82 not out and followed up with two wickets as New Zealand demolished Pakistan by 95 runs in their deciding T20 in Wellington yesterday. Kiwis wrapped up the series 2-1 after being sent into bat and making an imposing 196. PAGE 28

Mascherano escapes prison for tax fraudJavier Mascherano accepted a one-year suspended prison sentence and a � ne of 816,000 euros before a judge on Thursday for committing tax fraud of £1.5m. The plea agreed between Mascherano’s lawyers and the public prosecutor in December, was formally processed in a hearing that lasted barely 10 minutes. PAGE 29

ZIMBABWE R BV Sibanda c Shakib b Mortaza 4 5H Masakadza not out 93 58R Mutumbami b Hider 32 25M Waller b Taskin 36 18S Raza st Nurul b Shakib 2 5E Chigumbura not out 5 9Extras (b2, w6) 8 Total (for four wickets, 20 overs) 180

BowlingMortaza 4-0-40-1, Hider 4-0-33-1 (w3), Sunny 3-0-27-0, Taskin 4-0-31-1(w1), Shakib 4-0-35-1 (w2), Sabbir 1-0-11-0BANGLADESH R BTamim Iqbal b Madziva 1 2Soumya c Mutumbami b Madziva 11 7Sabbir c Sub (W Masakdza) b Chisoro 1 4Imrul Kayes c Jongwe b Raza 18 14Shakib Al Hasan b Chisoro 4 3Mahmudullah b Chisoro 54 41Nurul Hasan c Chigumbura b Raza 15 15Mashrafe c Sibanda b Jongwe 22 12Abu Hider c Masakadza b Madziva 14 10Arafat Sunny b Madziva 10 5Taskin Ahmed not out 1 1Extras (lb 2 w9) 11Total (all out; 19 overs) 162

BowlingChisoro 4-0-17-3, Madziva 4-0-34-4(w1), Jongwe 3-0-35-1 (w1), 3-0-31-2 (w6), Cremer 4-0-27-0 (w1), Chigumbura 1-0-16-0Result: Zimbabwe won by 18 runsSeries result: Series drawn 2-2

SCORECARD, 4TH T20I

A dejected Mahmudullah trudges back to the dressing room after being cleaned up by Tendai Chisoro (not in picture) during the fourth Twenty20 international between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in Khulna yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Masakadza, Madziva level series for Zimn AFP, Khulna

A record-breaking innings by Hamilton Masakadza led Zimbabwe to an 18-run vic-tory over Bangladesh yesterday as the tour-ists clinched a series draw in the fourth and � nal Twenty20 international in Khulna.

Masakadza hit 93 o� 58 balls, the highest innings by a Zimbabwean in a T20I, as the southern Africans reached 180-4.

His heroics were then followed by Nev-ille Madziva who grabbed 4-34 as the hosts were dismissed for 162 in 19 overs.

Mahmudullah top-scored for Bangla-desh with 54 o� 41 balls, but Zimbabwe were always in control after Madziva and Tendai Chisoro both claimed two wickets in their opening spells to reduce the home side to 17-4.

Mahumudllah and Imrul Kayes (18) steadied the innings before Nurul Hasan (15) and Mashrafe Mortaza (22) gave Bang-ladesh a faint glimmer of hope.

But Madziva sealed the victory with two wickets in his � nal spell, giving the visitors a signi� cant con� dence boost in the build-up to the World Twenty20 which begins in India in early March.

Masakadza, who had equalled his own record of 79 in the opening match of the series, struck eight fours and � ve sixes in an unbeaten knock that ensured Zimbabwe compiled an imposing total.

After opting to bat � rst, Zimbabwe be-gan aggressively, shrugging o� the early dismissal of opener Vusi Sibanda who was caught at cover by Shakib Al Hasan o� the bowling of Mashrafe Mortaza after making just four.

Much of the damage came during a second-wicket partnership of 80 between Masakadza and Richard Mutumbami.

Rookie paceman Abu Hider bowled Mu-tumbami for 32 with a brilliant yorker be-fore Taskin Ahmed took the wicket of Mal-colm Waller for 36.

Waller, man of the match in Zimbabwe’s 31-run victory during Wednesday’s third contest, had again looked dangerous in an 18-ball innings before he was bowled.

But Masakadza continued to blaze away and was joined at the climax of the innings by Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura, who made an unbeaten � ve on his return after taking a break in the previous two matches. l

26DT BPL 2015

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

TALKING POINTSBANvZIM, 4TH T20I

4TH BCL, ROUND 2, DAY 4Central Zone v South Zone, Rajshahi

Central 381 & 45/1 in 21 oversSouth 246 allout in 81.3 overs

Mithun 78, Farhad 45, Sharifullah 4/27, Shahidul 3/37, Shuvagata 3/77

Match drawnNorth Zone v East Zone, Bogra

East 214, North 59/3 Match drawn

Weather has � nal say in BCL round twon Tribune Report

Inclement weather had its � nal say in the Bang-ladesh Cricket League longer-version as the second-round matches ended in draws follow-ing the fourth and � nal day’s play yesterday.

Both the Central Zone-South Zone and North Zone-East Zone ties were a� ected by drizzle, foggy condition and a wet out� eld.

And just like the � rst three days, there were very little play yesterday as not a single ball was bowled in the North-East encounter at the Shaheed Chandu stadium in Bogra.

While in the Central-South clash at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman stadium in Rajsha-hi, 74.3 were bowled with the former batting on 45/1 in their second innings at stumps. Earlier, South were skittled out for 246 in their � rst innings after resuming yesterday on 81/3, thus handing Central a � rst-innings lead of 135 runs. l

BANGABANDHU GOLD CUP

Nepal brush aside Bahrain to lift titlen Shishir Hoque

A clinical Nepal � nally ended a 23-year tro-phy drought yesterday when they emerged as the champions in the fourth edition of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup after thumping Bah-rain Under-23 3-0 in the grand � nale at the Bangabandhu National stadium.

Youngster Bimal Gharti Magar was the star of the � nal, scoring one and assisting one, while Bishal Rai sealed the win by bagging his side’s second goal in the dying stages. Semi-� nal hero Nawayug Shreshtha, in the meantime, continued his stellar run in the tournament by completing the rout in injury time.

Dhaka is a lucky destination for Nepal. It was back in 1993 in the 6th South Asian Games, hosted by the capital city, when the Himalayan nation last won an international title, beating India in the � nal.

Overall, it was Nepal’s third international success which includes their inaugural SAF Games crown in 1984.

The Gorkhalis started just from where they had left o� in their 4-1 last-four thrash-ing over Maldives. They dominated the en-tire � nal while goalkeeper Bikesh Kuthu, who shipped only one goal in � ve matches, was in terri� c touch, making two superb saves to ensure a clean sheet. Along with Nawayug, Bikesh was one of the stars of the tournament.

Bimal gave Nepal the breakthrough with just � ve minutes into the clock. Skipper Biraj

Mahajan provided a cross from the right � ank for Anjan Bista, whose header was saved bril-liantly by Bahrain custodian Mahboob Aldos-eri. The resulting rebounder fell kindly at the feet of Bimal and the young striker made no mistake placing home.

The � nal suddenly hotted up in the 82nd minute when Bahrain mid� elder Ahmed Althuani and Nepal forward Suman Lama received their marching orders for clashing

with each other. A few minutes later, Bishal made it 2-0

when he sidefooted home following some lovely work by Anjan on the right � ank.

Bahrain were desperate to reduce the arrears and in pursuit of it, they rushed for-ward in numbers, leaving empty spaces be-hind. And Nawayug duly took advantage of the situation, heading home a � ne Bimal cross from the left � ank.

Bahrain were reduced to nine men right be-fore the � nal whistle when captain Abdulaziz Alshaikh was shown his second yellow card.

Bimal was adjudged the player of the � nal while Nawayug, who slammed a hat-trick against Maldives in the last four, received the award for the top goalscorer.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina distrib-uted the prizes among the winners as the chief guest. l

MARVELLOUS MASAKADZA Hamilton Masakadza has been phenomenal right throughout the four-match Twenty20 international series between hosts Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. And it is largely thanks to him that the visitors were able to overcome the 2-0 de� cit on their way to a series-levelling win yesterday. The right-hand-ed opening batsman once again provided his side a blistering start to their innings, eventually blasting an unbeaten 93 o� just 58 balls with the help of � ves maximums and eight fours as the Zimbabweans posted 180/4 after tak-ing � rst guard. The burly Harare lad smashed 222 runs in four matches at a whopping average of 74, courtesy his undefeated knock yesterday. It was no surprise therefore when he was adjudged the player of the match and series.

TIGERS PACERS FAIL TO DELIVERThe Bangladesh fast bowling department, led by skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza and also comprising youngsters Abu Haider Rony and Taskin Ahmed, were expensive yesterday, giving away 105 runs in 12 overs. Although Mashrafe picked up the early wicket of opener Vusi Sibanda for four, the veteran pace-man conceded 40 runs from his four overs. Rony and Taskin also took a wick-et apiece but gave away 33 and 32 runs from their respective four over quotas.

TOP-ORDER COLLAPSESIn pursuit of a hefty target of 181, the early departures of Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman and Shakib al Hasan hardly helped. At one stage, Bangladesh were struggling on 53/5 so the lower order faced a tall task in or-der to rescue the chase. The likes of Mahmudullah, Mashrafe, Arafat Sunny and Rony gave brief hope to the Tigers with their respective cameos but 181 proved to be too big a target at the end.

ZIMBABWE’S BRILLIANT COMEBACK Despite losing the � rst two T20Is quite convincingly, the visitors showed plenty of character to level the series. The southern African nation exhibited total teamwork to ensure a clinical victory yesterday and will no doubt head into the forthcoming ICC World T20 in India with plenty of con� dence.

–MAZHAR UDDIN

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura and Bangladesh limited-over skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza pose with the Twenty20 series tro-phy following the fourth and � nal match at Khulna’s Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

The triumphant Nepal football team are all smiles alongside Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following the grand � nale of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MD SAZZAD HOSSAIN

Sport 27D

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Former Sri Lanka pacer Vaas to assist IrelandFormer Sri Lanka bowler Chaminda Vaas is to help Ireland prepare for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in India as a consultant bowling coach, Cricket Ireland announced on Thursday. The 41-year-old will link up with Ireland next month and remain with the squad until the end of the tournament, which runs from March 8 to April 3. “I’m very excited to be joining the backroom sta� of the Ireland team,” Vaas said in a Cricket Ireland press release. “There’s a lot of talent and experience in the squad which I’m con� dent I can add to.”

–AFP

Facebook gets in game with new sports hubFacebook announced a drive Thursday to be a place for sports with a new online hub for news and sharing on sporting events. The “Facebook Sports Stadium” will o� er live updates of scores, posts from friends and commentators as well as information on where to watch games live.

–AFP

Jose backs conservative presidential candidateSacked Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has joined the Portuguese presidential campaign trail, backing conservative candidate Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in a video posted on You-Tube. The 52-year-old Mourinho, who parted company with Premier League champions Chelsea last month, called Rebelo de Sousa a “charismatic winner” in the video message.

–AFP

Bale cost world record 100 million euros: reportWelsh star Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid in 2013 for a world record fee in excess of 100 million euros, a leaked report reveals. Whistleblowing website Football Leaks posted a copy of the agreement between Madrid and Tottenham online on Wednesday. 

–AFP

Fiorentina sign Zarate from West HamArgentine forward Mauro Zarate has joined Serie A club Fiorentina from West Ham, the Premier League side announced on Thursday. Zarate signed for the Hammers from Velez Sars� eld in 2014, but struggled to hold down a regular � rst-team place following the arrival of new boss Slaven Bilic last year.

–AFP

No joy for Neville as Valencia’s Cup hopes hitGary Neville’s di� cult start to life as Valen-cia coach continued as Los Che could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Las Palmas in the � rst leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-� nal on Thursday. The Cup has been Neville’s safe haven so far, winning all three of his previous games in the competition whilst simultaneously failing to deliver a win in six attempts in La Liga.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

United’s nascent title hopes face Saints testn AFP, Manchester

Manchester United will be looking to im-prove on their recent home record against Southampton today to give further credence to their unlikely challenge for the Premier League title.

Since Southampton's return to the top � ight in 2012, United have beaten them only once in three attempts at Old Tra� ord, a 2-1 win three years ago this month.

Wayne Rooney scored both of United's goals that day and his current form has re-vitalised United's season, taken the heat o� manager Louis van Gaal and kept the team in touch with the league pace-setters.

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri is relaxed about the apparent loss of form to key players

Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez as his team's in-credible season reaches a pivotal point.

The unfancied Foxes have won only once in their last seven league and cup games, with England striker Vardy having failed to score in six starts and Algeria winger Mahrez

without a goal in � ve games. After today's home meeting with Stoke,

Ranieri's team face consecutive games against Liverpool and title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal following a break for the FA Cup fourth round weekend.

Meanwhile, Manuel Pellegrini expects an-other di� cult test of Manchester City's ability to win a "di� erent" Premier League title race when they face top-six challengers West Ham.

The Hammers were unbeaten in eight league games before losing at Newcastle last week and are sixth in the table.

Slaven Bilic's side have been something of a surprise package in a season which has seen the traditional heavyweights struggle to impose themselves on the title race, with Leicester currently behind leaders Arsenal. l

EPL FIXTURES Crystal Palace v Tottenham Leicester v Stoke Manchester United v Southampton Norwich v Liverpool Sunderland v Bournemouth Watford v Newcastle West Brom v Aston Villa West Ham v Manchester City

Juve reject Barca’s 80m bid for Dybala: reportn AFP, Milan

Juventus have rejected an o� er from Barce-lona for star striker Paulo Dybala that is re-ported to be in excess of 80m euros ($86.7m), a report claimed Friday.

Dybala, signed last summer from Palermo for £40m, has quickly become a fans’ favourite in Turin as the champions continue their � ghtback following a disastrous start to the campaign.

In 19 league appearances, the Argentinian has struck 11 goals including some spectacu-lar e� orts that have attracted the attention of La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.

A report in Turin-based newspaper Tutto-sport claims Juventus president Beppe Ma-rotta rejected an o� er of 80m euros for the player when Barcelona sporting director Arie-do Braida knocked on the door in December.

It added that Barcelona returned with an improved o� er in recent days, which the Ital-ian champions also knocked back.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the top European clubs reportedly eyeing the 22-year-old, who is known for his creative skills, dribbling and keen eye for goal.

If the report is con� rmed, it would put Dybala among Barcelona’s most highly-rated players, alongside Brazil striker Neymar, who it is estimated cost the club at least 83.4m euros in 2013. Uruguayan Luis Suarez cost the European champions around 95m euros when he joined from Liverpool in 2014.

It would also underline Juve’s intention to hold on to a player they made great e� orts to acquire, securing his signature on a � ve-year deal shortly after Dybala hit 10 league goals for Palermo prior to Christmas last season. l

South Africa batsman Hashim Amla raises his bat after scoring a century on the � rst day of their fourth Test against England at Centurion Park in Pretoria yesterday AP

Stylish Amla leads strong start for SAn Reuters, Pretoria

Hashim Amla scored an unbeaten centu-ry and Stephen Cook was 91 not out to lead South Africa to 224 for one at tea on the � rst day of the � nal Test against England as the hosts bid to salvage pride in a lost series.

Amla’s 25th Test century came o� 131 balls in a con� dent display which brought him 18 fours while Cook was nine runs short of a de-but Test century at Centurion Park on Friday.

Amla, who gave up the captaincy after the second Test to concentrate on his batting, looked e� ortless as he raced to three � gures to cheers South Africa who lost two of the � rst three Tests and the series. He was 102 not out at the interval.

Cook, handed his debut at the age of 33 in one of � ve South Africa changes after defeat in Johannesburg last week, o� ered a straightforward chance after lunch when he got a healthy edge to a Stuart Broad deliv-ery but was dropped by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow on 47.

There was another more di� cult oppor-tunity for Bairstow down the leg side when Cook was on 76. l

BD U23 squad named for 12th SA Gamesn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday announced the 23-member squad for the up-coming 12th South Asian Games, scheduled to be held in India from February 5-16.

Defensive mid� elder Jamal Bhuiyan, young striker Nabib Newaj Jibon and defend-er Rezaul Karim were included as the three senior (23 years old or more) players while national team regulars Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Sohel Rana, Yeasin Khan, Rayhan Hasan and Topu Barman were also named.

The residential training camp ahead of the Games will get underway at BKSP, Savar to-morrow.

Squad: Liton, Anisur, Razib, Topu, Rayhan, Yeasin, Reza, Shakil, Badshah, Sifat, Jamal, Rabbi, Joni, Babu, Shahed, Sohel, Hemanta, Fahad, Jewel, Sojib, Rubel, Jiban, Toklis l

28DT Sport

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Corey Anderson of New Zealand plays a shot during their third T20I against Pakistan at Westpac Stadium in Wellington yesterday AFP

Anderson blast gives Kiwis huge win over Pakistann AFP, Wellington

Corey Anderson whacked a career-best 82 not out and followed up with two wickets as New Zealand demolished Pakistan by 95 runs in their deciding Twenty20 in Wellington yesterday.

New Zealand wrapped up the series 2-1 after being sent into bat and making an im-posing 196 before rolling Pakistan for 101 in the 17th over. 

The comprehensive victory marked the return of burly all-rounder Anderson to his best after he missed the � rst half of the New Zealand summer because of injury. 

His man-of-the match 82 o� 42 deliveries was backed by Grant Elliott taking three for seven, Adam Milne three for eight and his own two for 17 as Pakistan imploded. 

Anderson’s lack of cricket was evident in a rocky start to his innings when he went to the crease with Kiwis at 62-2 after seven overs. 

He had 15 o� 10 at the end of the 11th over when New Zealand lost their two senior bats-men in quick succession with Kane Williamson out for 33 and Ross Taylor retired hurt for six. 

By the end of the 15th over, when New Zealand were 129-3 Anderson decided he had played himself at 36 o� 23 balls and lashed out. 

In the last � ve overs he faced 19 deliveries and bludgeoned 46 runs with his innings in-cluding four sixes and six fours. l

Australia eye 5-0 whitewash of Indian AFP, Sydney

Australia are looking for a one-day series whitewash over India in today’s � nal game, after being handed an unlikely win in the fourth tie when the tourists imploded with victory in sight.

Coach Darren Lehmann admitted he didn’t think skipper Steve Smith’s men would get “across the line” at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on Wednesday when India were 277 for one chasing 348.

But after a spectacular Indian batting col-lapse - in which the last nine wickets fell for just 46 runs - Australia won by 25 runs to lead the series 4-0.

“The challenge now is to � nish � ve-zip,” said Lehmann.

The coach added that despite the wins in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra, Saturday’s Sydney Cricket Ground match would still be hard-fought.

“Every game is important, whether it’s � ve-nil, or 4-1, or 3-2 it doesn’t matter when you are playing cricket for Australia, you ac-tually want to win every game you play,” he said.

“We’ve got a job to do and entertain the crowd along the way. For us it’s a chance to show our skills o� .”

Smith said ending the one-day campaign 5-0 was “absolutely” the goal after Test se-ries wins against New Zealand and the West Indies this season.

“It will be a � tting � nish for the summer if we can � nish with � ve-nil,” the skipper said.l

BRIEF SCORE, 3RD T20INew Zealand

196 for 5 (Anderson 82*, Guptill 42) Pakistan

101 all out (Sarfraz 41, Elliott 3-7, Milne 3-8)NZ won by 95 runs

Serena, Djokovic soar into fourth roundn AFP, Melbourne

Novak Djokovic under-lined his supremacy in men’s tennis yesterday as he marched unstoppably into the Australian Open fourth round - along with Serena Williams, who

raced through in just 44 minutes.As Roger Federer reached a landmark

300th Grand Slam win, Djokovic still looked like the man to beat as he weathered a strong

challenge from Andreas Seppi to reach the � rst weekend without dropping a set.

The top seed and defending champion saved two third-set points against Seppi be-fore reeling o� the next four points to clinch it 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), his 33rd straight victory over Italian opposition.

It was a moment that once again demon-strated the mental strength of the Serbian 10-time Grand Slam winner - against an awk-ward opponent who beat Federer at the same stage last year.

Maria Sharapova also weathered a � ght-

back when she beat pint-sized American Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, helped by a strategic break and change of dress, for her 600th career win.

Sharapova left the court after she lost the second-set tiebreak but after she came back refreshed and revitalised, she raced to victo-ry to set up a clash with Switzerland’s Belin-da Bencic.

Williams had no such problems as she crushed overawed Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-1 in 44 minutes, the shortest match of the tournament so far. l

300 Grand Slam winsRoger Federer swept aside Grigor Dimitrov yesterday to become the � rst man to reach 300 Grand Slam wins. Federer, 34, dropped the second set against ‘Baby Fed’, who has a similar game to the 17-time Grand Slam champion, before he got himself together and scorched into the � rst weekend.

“It is a little, from time to time,” conceded Federer. “I try to play like I wouldn’t want it and I play the wrong way sometimes.” l

Sport 29D

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

DAY’S WATCHFOOTBALL STAR SPORTS 2

9:00PMEnglish Premier League

Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur 11:15PM

German Bundesliga Monchengladbach v Borussia Dortmund

STAR SPORTS 4English Premier League

6:35PMNorwich City v Liverpool

9:00PMManchester United v Southampton

11:30PMEnglish Premier League

West Ham United v Manchester City

TEN SPORTSSky Bet Championship 2015/16

6:30PMQPR v Wolverhampton Wanderers

9:30PMFulham v Hull City

TEN ACTION2:30PM

A-League 2015/16Central Coast Mariners v Sydney Wanderers

4:30PMI-League 2016

Mohun Bagan v King� sher East Bengal French Ligue 1 2015/16

10:00PMParis Saint-Germain v Angers

1:00AMNantes v Bordeaux

SONY SIXItalian Serie A

11:00PMFrosinone v Atalanta

1:30AMEmpoli v AC Milan

SONY ESPNSpanish La Liga

9:00PMMalaga v Barcelona

11:30PMDeportivo La Coruna v Valencia

1:30AMGranada v Getafe

3:30AMRayo Vallecano v Celta Vigo

CRICKET STAR SPORTS 1

9:20AMIndia Tour of Australia

5th ODI

TEN CRICKET2:30PM

England Tour of South Africa 4th Test, Day 2

TENNIS SONY ESPN

6:00AM & 2:00PMAustralian Open 2016

Day 6: Morning & Evening Session

Mascherano escapes prison for tax fraudn AFP, Barcelona

Barcelona and Argentina’s Javier Mascherano accepted a one-year suspended prison sen-tence and a � ne of 816,000 euros ($891,000) before a judge on Thursday for committing tax fraud of 1.5 million euros.

The plea agreed between the former Liver-pool mid� elder’s lawyers and the public pros-ecutor in December, was formally processed in a hearing that lasted barely 10 minutes.

In Spain sentences less than two years are normally suspended unless the guilty party has previous convictions.

The prosecution alleged Mascherano failed to declare over 1.5 million euros in earnings between 2011 and 2013 by ceding his image rights to companies he owns in Portu-gal and the United States.

Mascherano admitted to the two counts of tax fraud against him in October and depos-ited nearly 1.75 million euros with the tax au-thorities in September to repay the amount owed plus interest.

“I’m very relieved to know I am back in line,” Mascherano said in a statement pub-lished on his o� cial Twitter account. l

Messi � t for Barca return in Malagan AFP, Madrid

Lionel Messi is expected to be � t as Barcelona make the tricky trip to Malaga today looking to move back to the top of La Liga.

Messi missed Wednesday’s 2-1 Copa del Rey win at Athletic Bilbao due to a hamstring problem that forced him o� at half-time in a 6-0 rout of the same opponents last week-end, but returned to training on Thursday.

Barca will also have Luis Suarez back after he completed a two-game Cup ban in mid-week as they look to exact revenge on the only side that stopped the European champions from scoring in their two meetings last season.

Malaga took four points from a possible six against Barca in La Liga last season and were only defeated 1-0 thanks to Thomas Vermaelen’s late strike when the two sides

met at the Camp Nou earlier this campaign.“We need to rest well because against Mal-

aga we have had di� cult games,” said Barca mid� elder Ivan Rakitic. “We need to have a lot of respect for them.”

Malaga have already aided Barca’s title chal-lenge this year by holding Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu back in Septem-ber and beating Atletico Madrid 1-0 last month.

“We have played great games against those high in the table this year and last sea-

son,” Malaga mid� elder Ignacio Camacho told the club’s website.

“We need to play a very complete game to take any points.”

The hosts will be without Nordin Amra-bat, though, after the Moroccan international completed his move to Watford on Monday.

Barca will be debilitated by the absence of defenders Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba through suspension and injury respectively.

Zinedine Zidane faces his toughest test yet as Real Madrid boss when his side travel to Real Betis tomorrow but Los Blancos are still heavy favourites to deliver another convincing win.

Madrid have scored � ve times in disposing of Deportivo la Coruna and Sporting Gijon at home in Zidane’s two games in charge since replacing Rafael Benitez earlier this month.l

‘I will win a clean FIFA vote’n AFP, Wellington

FIFA presidential contender Prince Ali bin al Hussein said yesterday he was “fully con-� dent” of winning the corruption-plagued organisation’s leadership ballot next month, provided the vote is clean.

The Jordanian crown prince, one of � ve candidates seeking to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter, said the February 26 election represented FIFA’s one chance to restore football’s tarnished reputation.

He called for a more transparent world governing body, reiterating his crit-icism of a development deal between the Asian and African confederations that he sees as creating a voting bloc for one of his rivals.

“It’s very obvious with the timing that, for whatever reason, it’s wrong to be mak-ing these sorts of deals,” he told reporters in Auckland.

However, Prince Ali said his campaign was still gaining momentum as he criss-crosses the globe shoring up support.

He secured votes from 73 of FIFA’s 209 member associations during a failed attempt to topple Blatter last year and said his num-bers had since improved.

“I can tell you from my side that I’m fully con� dent I will win this if things are conduct-ed properly,” he said.

“I think around the (footballing) world that a weight has been taken o� people’s shoulders, they want to be proud of being part of this organisation again.

“Without going into speci� cs, I’m building on what I had the last time around.”

Blatter and FIFA vice-president Michel Platini were suspended for eight years last month over irregular payments, while a US inquiry which has left 39 individuals and two companies facing charges over bribes for football deals. l

FC Barcelona’s Argentine defender Javier Mascherano leaves the court after answering questions in a tax fraud case in Barcelona, Spain on Thursday AP

LA LIGA FIXTURES Malaga v Barcelona Espanyol v Villarreal Granada v Getafe Rayo Vallecano v Celta Vigo

Showtime30DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

J.Lo kicks o� Vegas stint in a series of dazzling out� tsnShowtime Desk

The 46-year-old songbird kicked off her Las Vegas tour with All I Have at AXIS, Planet Hollywood on Wednesday, January 20, and if her ensembles during the show were any indication, her performances were tantalising. The If You had My Love singer wowed a celeb-packed audience with eight jaw-dropping looks during her first night on stage, swapping between risque gem-encrusted bodysuits and slinky gowns.

First up, Jenny from the block strutted out on stage in a diamond-encrusted bodysuit which featured a large choker with a pendant, a bralette-like top, and a Brazilian bikini-like bottom with sparkling

tassels around her waist. The look almost seemed like an homage to Follies, which has been a Las Vegas staple for the last 49 years.

Lopez also opted for a couple more covered up looks, both with equal amounts of sparkle. One dazzling dress had a geometric colour pattern and a black fringed bottom. She also paid homage to “the Bronx block” in a street-like style of bright pink sweatpants, a bedazzled top and a sparkling pink New York Yankees hat.The kick-off show was also packed with plenty of Jen’s famous celebrity fans: Ne-Yo, Ja Rule, Hoda Kotb, Wilmer Valderrama, Camilla Belle, TI, Derek Hough, Nicole Scherzinger and many more stars of Hollywood showed up to support her. l

Downton Abbey crowned best drama

nShowtime Desk

The final series of ITV’s Downton Abbey has won best drama for the fourth time in five years at the 2016 National Television Awards. Star Hugh Bonneville thanked the drama’s creator, Julian Fellowes, for giving them wonderful lines to say.

BBC drama Doctor Foster collected two awards – best new drama and best drama performance for its star Suranne Jones. The pregnant actress joked she was missing an antenatal class to attend the ceremony.

Meanwhile, EastEnders beat rival Coronation Street and landed the prize for best serial drama.

American actor Dustin Hoffman flew in from the US to present comedian Billy Connolly with his special recognition award.

Hoffman paid a moving tribute to Connolly, known affectionately in Scotland as the Big Yin. “I’m delighted to be here to pay tribute to a man whose work I’ve always admired and whose company I always enjoy,” Hoffman said. He said that the essence of Connolly was “the unique capacity to reflect human behaviour and stand it on his head.” l

National Television award winners• Comedy: Peter Kay’s Car Share• Drama: Downton Abbey• New drama: Doctor Foster• Entertainment programme: I’m a

Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!• Talent show: Strictly Come Dancing• Daytime: The Chase• Challenge show: The Great British

Bake Off• Live magazine show: This Morning• Serial drama: EastEnders• Serial drama performance: Danny

Dyer• Factual entertainment: Gogglebox• Newcomer: Shayne Ward• TV presenter: Ant and Dec• Drama performance: Suranne Jones• International: The Big Bang Theory• Special recognition: Billy Connolly• TV moment of the year: Aidan

Turner

Showtime 31D

TSATURDAY , JANUARY 23, 2016

Hridoy Khan beats from Sri Lanaka

n Showtime Desk

Hridoy Khan is coming up with his latest song Phire to pabo na, his � rst track this year. The romantic song is tuned and composed by Srilankan musician Raj Thillaiyampalam. Moreover, as a surprise for his fans, Hridoy Khan is accompanied by Srilankan model Maria Yusefovna in the video of the song.Thillaiyampalam has launched a musical project to do a rendition of several songs by replacing its words with Bangla lyrics. Hridoy Khan’s Phire to pabo na is part of this venture. Hridoy Khan travelled to Srilanka on January 12, to shoot for the video of Phire to pabo na.

The shooting for the song took place at di� erent locations in Sri Lanka with one of

its famous models Maria Yusefovna. After wrapping up the � lming for the music

video, Hridoy Khan has returned to Dhaka last Saturday while The Song is

set to release on YouTube soon. l

WHAT TO WATCH

Mission: Impossible - Ghost protocolZee Studio 11:30pmBlamed for the terrorist bombing of the Kremlin, IMF operative Ethan Hunt is disavowed along with the rest of the agency when the President initiates “Ghost Protocol”. Left without any resources or backup, Ethan must � nd a way to clear his agency’s name and prevent another attack. To complicate matters further, Ethan is forced to embark on this mission with a team of fellow IMF fugitives whose personal motives he does not fully know.Cast: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg

Clash of the TitansHBO 11:44pmPerseus is the mortal son of the Olympian god Zeus and the leader of a band of heroes who embark on a new adventure destined to be told for ages as the unforgettable mythology of the ancients.

Cast: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes

Need for SpeedStar Movies 2:00pmFresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.Cast: Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, Imogen Poots

BattleshipStar Movies Action 4:39pmBased on the classic Hasbro naval combat game, Battleship is the story of an international � eet of ships who come across an alien armada while on Naval war games exercise. An intense battle is fought on sea, land and air.Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker

n Showtime Desk

Under the SAFTA agreement, Bangladeshi � lm Chuye Dile Mon in exchange of the Indian � lm Bela Sheshe will be released theatrically on February 26, in West Bengal and Bangladesh respectively. Both the � lms have received the censorship certi� cation from the respective country and con� rmed the same-day-release.

Piyali Films in association with Girona Entertainment are the formal distributors of the Bangladeshi � ick in India, a debut directorial venture of Shihab Shaheen. Produced by Asiatic Dhonichitra and Monforing, with music by Habib Wahid and Sajid Sarkar, the � lm features Are� n Shuvo and Zakia Bari Momo in lead roles.Bela Sheshe, a Tollywood family drama depicts the intricacies of married life and of life-long companionship. The � lm is jointly directed by Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee. The production of MK Media and Windows Productions is expected to be released here

by local distributors Asiatic Dhonichitra and Girona Entertainment aimed at winning over Bangladeshi audiences. With music by Anupam Roy and Anindya Chatterjee,

the � lm features Soumitra Chatterjee, Swatilekha Sengupta, Rituparna Sengupta, Kharaj Mukherjee, Monami Ghosh and Aparajita Auddy.

Meanwhile, the news of the � lms being released across borders on the same day has triggered huge response in all involved � elds. Film lovers from both countries are waiting with great anticipation for the day of the exchange to experience a feat of exchange of language, culture and heritage between the neighbouring countries. The move serves as an opportunity to reconstruct the economic structure of � lm industries in both countries. l

Chuye Dile Mon and Bela Sheshe meet exchanging release

Miley and Liam are engaged, again

n Showtime Desk

The wedding bells are indeed louder this time around for Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth. The couple called o� their engagement back in September 2013 after dating since early 2009.

It was never news that Miley has never gotten over Liam and stopped hoping that they’d get back together. The two haven’t exactly gone public with their reconciliation, however, they were spotted together at festivals and events, subtly con� rming that they are de� nitely back together.

The couple seemed tremendously happy after spending their holiday with Liam’s family. Miley never seize to � aunt her gorgeous rock that the couple co-designed back in 2012, however, she did choose to keep the news low pro� le. l

Saudi fatwa banning chess stirs online outcryn AFP, Dubai

A fatwa issued by Saudi Arabia’s top cleric prohibiting chess in Islam and equating it with gambling has caused a stir on social media.

In a video of a television programme posted online, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh appears categorical when asked about the board game in Islam.

“Chess is prohibited. It is gambling,” said Sheikh, insisting that it was a “waste of time and money and a cause for animosity between players”.

The video was originally recorded about a month ago but has resurfaced online, generat-ing strong reactions on social media in recent days.

Among those who have condemned the fatwa is Russian former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

“Saudi Arabia trying to ban chess is stupid, but we should be more concerned about their bans on human rights and democracy,” Kaspar-ov wrote on his Twitter account.

But many tweets were also supportive of the cleric’s decision to issue the fatwa. l

Back Page32DT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

HRIDOY KHAN BEATS FROM SRI LANAKA PAGE 31

AS SAFE AS WATER PAGE 14

MASAKADZA, MADZIVA LEVEL SERIES FOR ZIM PAGE 25

UK misspells ‘language’ in language test announcement! n AFP, London

Britain’s Home O� ce was left red-faced yes-terday after unveiling new English tests for migrants – but misspelling the word “lan-guage” in its announcement.

Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday launched a £20m language fund to help Mus-lim women, who arrive in Britain after getting married but struggle to speak English. He said women from non-EU countries who fail to pass an English language test after two and a half years in the country could face deporta-tion, drawing criticism from various quarters.

A Home O� ce press release giving details of the move Thursday spoke of a “new Eng-lish langauge test” and had to be corrected.

Asked if Cameron was disappointed by the mistake, his o� cial spokeswoman told report-ers: “All of us are open to mistakes at times.

“The prime minister is pretty con� dent that his team speak English competently.”

The error drew ridicule on Twitter – broad-caster Anita Anand wrote it was “beyond par-ody”, while user @DaveGoddard 1971 joked: “Makes you proud to be British”.

Bangladeshis among four ejected from US � ightn Tribune Report

A � ight attendant kicked four men, including two Bangladeshi nationals, o� a recent Toron-to-New York � ight for looking “too Muslim.”

The four – Faimul Alam and another � ier, whose identity could not be con� rmed, are Bangladeshi Muslims, one is an Arab Muslim and Shah Anand a Sikh from India – were all or-dered o� the � ight. However, the other two had been identi� ed by their initials as WH and MK.

According to a new $9m federal lawsuit, the appearance of the four Brooklyn men made the captain uneasy.

The four � iers from Brighton Beach were among six long-time pals who spent sever-al days in Toronto this December, New York Daily News reported on January 18.

The report said the four had booked dif-ferent � ights home but they later decided to return on the same American Airlines � ight which was scheduled to � y around 2pm.

After boarding, Shah Anand and Faimul switched seats with strangers so they could sit next to each other.

Later, a female � ight attendant asked WH to

get o� the plane, said the lawsuit which was to be � led Monday in a Brooklyn Federal Court.

“I thought it was an evacuation or some-thing, so I didn’t think nothing of it, but then she told me to take my bags, and when I went back into the plane I saw I was the only one standing,” WH, a fashion designer, told the Daily News in an exclusive interview.

The � ight attendant then asked MK, who works as a construction worker, to leave.

Passengers surrounding Shah Anand and Faimul made racist comments and clutching their children “as if something was going to happen,” the suit charges.

“Then we were asked to get our belong-ings to get o� the aircraft,” said Faimul Alam, a general contractor who runs his own con-struction company.

“They were told to ‘just be peaceful,’ mak-ing it seem like they were a threat, making other passengers uncomfortable and wanting to get o� the � ight,” said Tahanie Aboushi, who represents them.

When they got o� the plane, a jittery agent from American Airlines told them they made the crew uncomfortable. l

Ekushey Book Fair to see a few changesn Nure Alam Durjoy

Ekushey Boi Mela, the most prestigious book fair in the country, will see a few changes in the layout of stalls and other areas this year, aiming to be more accommodating to the vis-itors.

“The fair will see a fair bit of changes this year. We have decided to bring the changes to ensure the book lovers’ comfort in browsing the stalls. It will be bigger and more vibrant fair this year,” said Dr Jalal Ahmed, secretary of the book fair committee, yesterday.

Scheduled to begin on February 1, this year’s fair marks a special occasion as the 60th founding anniversary of Bangla Acad-emy, which was on December 3, will be ob-served at the fair as well, sources said.

The daily visiting time will be slightly changed this year; the fair will be open half an hour earlier, at 2:30pm, and will be open for visitors until 8:30pm.

The layout of the stalls and pavilions will be di� erent as well. The Children’s Corner, which used to be near the Botomul area in Bangla Academy, will be moved to Suhrawardy Udyan.

All the publishing houses will also be placed on the Suhrawardy Udyan side of the fair, Jalal told the Dhaka Tribune.

For the � rst time, the Mukto Moncho in the Udyan will be included in the fair perime-ter where cultural programmes will be staged throughout the month-long fair.

“We are also planning to hold an interna-tional poetry festival this year,” Jalal said.

Around 800 publication houses and insti-tutions have applied for allocations of stalls and pavilions in the fair this year.

This year, 364 stalls and pavilions have been allotted to publishers as well as other organisations, ie media and NGOs. Last year, the number of stalls and pavilions was 351.

The placements were allocated through a lot-

tery at Bangla Academy on Tuesday, Jalal said.Last year’s Ekushey book fair saw a record

number of new books – around 3,700 – pub-lished, with sales estimated at around Tk22 crore. l

Construction of stalls and pavilions is in full swing at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital in preparation for Ekushey Boi Mela, which is due to begin on February 1. The photo was taken on Thursday RAJIB DHAR

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