e_Paper 12-01-2017

SECOND EDITION 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 | Poush 29, 1423, Rabiul Saani 13, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 255 | www.dhakatribune.com | 36 pages | Price: Tk10 

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Inside the Rakhine State insurgency › 2 

Dhaka Tribune’s Adil Sakhawat spoke to some top members of Harakah al-Yaqin (HaY), an insurgent group in 

Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The guerrilla/militant organisation is responsible for a series of attacks on Myanmar 

border posts on the first week of October, which led to hardcore retaliation from the Myanmar security forces on the 

Rohingya people. This is the second part of the exclusive interview, which took place in a clandestine manner 

Prime Minister to 

Myanmar: Take back 

your nationals › 3 

Obama pushes values and 

prods Donald Trump in 

final address › 10 

Acid test in tough 

conditions as Bangladesh 

face Kiwis in first Test › 24

2 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 

DT 

News 

Inside the Rakhine State insurgency 

Dhaka Tribune’s Adil Sakhawat spoke to some top members of Harakah al-Yaqin (HaY), an 

insurgent group in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The guerrilla/militant organisation is responsible for 

a series of attacks on Myanmar border posts on the first week of October, which led to hardcore 

retaliation from the Myanmar security forces on the Rohingya people. This is the second part of 

the exclusive interview, which took place in a clandestine manner 

Harakah al-Yaqin (HaY) was formed 

to revolt against the Myanmar government 

and establish the rights of 

Rohingyas as citizens of the country, 

claimed a top leader of the insurgent 

group. 

And, according to his claim, 

they had full support of the locals 

of northern Rakhine, home to Rohingya 

Muslims. 

HaY’s name popped up shortly 

after a series of attacks on several 

outposts of Myanmar Border Guard 

Police near Bangladesh border on 

October 9, 2016, in which nine policemen 

were killed. 

The leader, who claims to be the 

second-in-command of self-proclaimed 

HaY chief Ata Ullah, 

claimed that this premeditated attack 

was aimed at acquiring arms 

and ammunition for the members 

who had been trained in guerrilla 

war tactics. 

“The senior leaders, including 

Ata Ullah, started speaking with 

villagers [in Rohingya-dominated 

areas] in Rakhine four months before 

the attack and received astonishing 

response,” he told the Dhaka 

Tribune. 

“We had the support of all – 

from school-going children to the 

elderly,” he claimed. 

A number of the members are 

the frustrated students of madrasas 

and employees of mosques which 

were shut down by the Myanmar 

government following the 2012 

riot. They were never reopened. 

The second-in-command said: 

“We attacked Dumci police station 

around midnight; it was the most 

successful attack of the night.” 

In their second attempt, they 

attacked Hawar Bill police outpost 

around 2am. 

The third one was around 4am 

on Naffura police outpost. “That 

one was the least successful.” 

The second-in-command 

claimed that they had managed 

to rob more than 90 firearms that 

night. 

With the newly “acquired” 

weapons, HaY found themselves 

on a stronger ground to face the 

Myanmar authorities. 

But what they had not considered 

was the possibility of an aerial 

attack. 

“They [Myanmar Army] brought 

helicopters to shoot at us,” said the 

second-in-command. “They knew 

they would not be able to overcome 

us on the ground.” 

Unable to defend themselves, 

‘Asia ignores Rohingyas over business interests’ 

• Adil Sakhawat 

A human rights group has condemned 

the inaction of the Asian 

nations on the Rohingya crisis, 

saying these countries have put 

their business interests above basic 

human rights. 

“The persecution of the Rohingya 

community in Myanmar 

is a well documented violation 

of basic human rights of a whole 

community, with elements of ethnic 

cleansing and genocide,” Aegile 

Fernandez, co-director of Malaysia-based 

human rights group, 

Tenaganita, said in a statement. 

“It is a crisis that has lasted 

over half a century with no end 

in sight. 

Screengrab of unidentified militants from a video released on Youtube that calls for the rights of the Rohingya 

“It is shameful for Asian countries 

to ignore the plight of the 

Rohingya community in their 

pursuit of their own business interests 

in Myanmar,” she said. 

Asian countries should 

recognise their responsibility to 

ensure that Myanmar gives full 

recognition to all communities 

in the country including the 

Rohingya population, Aegile 

said. 

Beginning in last October after 

an attack on Myanmar border 

police outposts, the Myanmar 

government has been carrying 

out a massive crackdown on the 

Rohingya community. At least 

65,000 have crossed the border to 

flee the violence and at least 500 

people are dead, according to various 

watchdogs. 

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, 

Rohingya militant group Harakah 

al-Yaqin has claimed responsibility 

for the October attacks. 

“The current uprising among 

the Rohingya is a natural progression 

for any community living in 

conditions of persecution,” Aegile 

said, adding that the failure to resolve 

the crisis would lead to an 

escalation of armed conflict in the 

region with foreign powers using 

the conflict to wage their own 

proxy wars. 

“The arms industry will see 

this situation as another opportunity 

to expand their market,” she 

added. 

The escalation of conflict in 

Myanmar involving the Rohingya 

community will result in a greater 

outflow of refugees into Thailand, 

Malaysia, Indonesia and other 

south East Asian countries, she 

warned. 

“Furthermore, a community 

that is persecuted and disenfranchised 

is a fertile breeding ground 

for terrorist groups with extremist 

ideologies.” 

It was in the best interests 

of the regional and international 

community to work together 

towards a peaceful and just 

resolution of this crisis and 

to recognise the Rohingya as 

full citizens of Myanmar, Aegile 

said. • 

the insurgents retreated. 

By then the army had also 

launched its raid in the Rohingya 

villages that led to mass murders 

and gang rapes of the Rohingyas, 

as told by those who fled to Bangladesh. 

“People saw the army killing 

their family members right in front 

of them. They saw their loved ones 

being raped by the army. Their will 

to fight crumbled and they fled Arakan 

[Rakhine].” 

The fighters witnessed as many 

as 250 Rohingya houses being 

burnt to the ground, he claimed. 

The army attack turned local 

Rohingyas against HaY, whom 

they started to blame for the crackdown. 

In the meantime, fighters of the 

group scattered around to hide, 

waiting for instructions from the 

high command. 

But the instructions never came. 

Many HaY members lost their 

faith in the group’s goal to establish 

their rights. 

Rohingya community also started 

despising the insurgents. 

“The army attack cost us the 

support of Rohingyas,” said the 

second-in-command. 

Having lost followers, territory 

and ammunition, the HaY leaders 

have yet to decide on the next 

course of action. 

“We do not have any plans yet 

to further our movement. The situation 

in Rakhine is too risky for us, 

and some of our fighters were injured 

during the crackdown,” said 

the second-in-command. 

Their leader, Ata Ullah, is currently 

hiding to escape military 

prosecution. When this correspondent 

asked to meet him, the 

second-in-command rejected the 

request instantaneously. 

“It is absolutely impossible. 

Three of our members were recently 

abducted. Since then, Ata Ullah 

has gone deep in hiding.” 

When asked where they were 

keeping their firearms, he said 

most of them were buried underground. 

The leaders have no idea how to 

proceed with their movement, but 

they are still determined to finish 

what they started. 

“We will fight until the end. 

This is a revolution against the oppression 

of Rohingyas by the Myanmar 

government,” said the second-in-command. 

•

PM to Myanmar: Take back your nationals 

• UNB 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday 

renewed her call to Myanmar 

to take back its nationals from 

Bangladesh. 

She made the call when visiting 

Myanmar Minister of State for Foreign 

Affairs U Kyaw Tin met her at 

Ganabhaban in the evening. 

During the meeting, the prime 

minister said the two countries can 

permanently resolve the refugee 

problem through discussions. 

PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul 

Karim briefed reporters after the 

meeting. 

He said Hasina reiterated Bangladesh’s 

zero tolerance policy 

against terrorism, and mentioned 

that Bangladesh will not allow its 

soil to be used for terrorist acts 

against any of its neighbouring 

countries. “Bangladesh does not 

allow any armed group of insurgents 

to use its territory against any 

of its neighbours,” the press secretary 

quoted the prime minister as 

saying. 

Expressing satisfaction over 

the existing ties between the two 

countries, she reiterated that Bangladesh 

values its relations with the 

neighbours. “I will do whatever is 

necessary for further strengthening 

of the ties with Myanmar,” she said. 

Highlighting stunning socioeconomic 

development of Bangladesh, 

the prime minister said Myanmar 

can learn from Bangladesh’s 

experiences in this regard. 

She also invited Myanmar State 

Cousellor and Foreign Minister Aung 

San Suu Kyi to visit Bangladesh. 

During the meeting, U Kyaw 

News 3 


PM Sheikh Hasina met with Myanmar State Minister for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin at Bangabhaban yesterday FOCUS BANGLA 

Tin handed over a letter of the Myanmar’s 

State to Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina, and said Myanmar 

wants to deepen its ties and cooperation 

with Bangladesh. 

The Myanmar state minister 

also laid emphasis on setting up a 

border liaison office, terming this 

very important for both the countries. 

He also stressed the need for exchanging 

information between the 

border forces of the two countries. 

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood 

Ali, Principal Secretary to the Prime 

Minister Dr Kamal Abdul Naser 

Chowdhury, Senior Secretary of 

the PMO Suraiya Begum, Foreign 

DT 

Secretary M Shahidul Haque and 

Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka U 

Myo Myint Than were present on 

the occasion. 

Earlier, the Myanmar minister of 

state had a meeting with the Bangladesh 

foreign minister at the state 

guesthouse Padma in the afternoon. 

The special envoy, who arrived 

here on Tuesday evening to discuss 

bilateral issues with a special focus 

on Rohingya crisis, had working 

lunch and official talks with them 

from 1:30pm to 4:45 pm, said a senior 

official at the Foreign Ministry. 

There will be a press briefing today 

over the meeting, he said. 

Earlier, Bangladesh said around 

50,000 people fled Myanmar and 

entered Bangladesh since October 

9 last year. 

Quoting the UN relief agency, 

the international media on Monday 

reported that at least 65,000 

Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh 

from Myanmar, including some 

22,000 just in last one week since 

the latest army crackdown started 

in October. 

Earlier on December 29, the 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned 

Myanmar Ambassador in 

Dhaka Myo Myint Than and demanded 

early repatriation of all 

Myanmar nationals staying in the 

country. • 

AL favours quick formation of EC law 

• Mohammad Abu Bakar 

Siddique 

The ruling party has said that a law 

should be enacted in line with the 

constitution to guide the appointment 

of the Election Commission as soon as 

possible. 

A 19-member delegation led by party 

President and Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina held a one-and-a-half-hour 

session with President Abdul Hamid 

at his official residence, Bangabhaban, 

starting at 4:05pm yesterday. 

Later in the evening Awami 

League General Secretary and Road 

Transport Minister Obaidul Quader held 

a press briefing at the party’s Dhanmondi 

office. 

He said that the Awami League had 

told the president an appropriate law or 

ordinance can be formulated immediately 

for the appointment of the chief 

election commissioner and the other 

commissioners. 

The Awami League recommended 

that the president appoint the CEC and 

other election commissioners in the 

manner he sees fit, Obaidul said. If time 

is too short, the law should be formulated 

within such time that the next EC can 

be formed under that law. 

Awami League’s main opponent BNP 

does not support the formation of this 

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the dialogue on 

Election Commission reformation yesterday at Bangabhaban FOCUS BANGLA 

law in the current parliament. The party 

has said that because this parliament 

does not have the people’s mandate it 

should not pass such a law. 

The fourth proposal was to introduce 

E-voting in the next general election for 

the interest of ensuring voting rights of 

the people for holding a free, fair and 

unbiased election. 

The party also outlined eight other 

points it thought were crucial in its 

proposal. 

“We have placed our proposal to 

the president, it is entirely up to him to 

decide on this matter,” Obaidul Quader 

said at the press meet. 

He said it was the president’s prerogative 

to consider how appropriate the 

proposals were. 

“Whatever decisions he makes we 

will accept, as we have full confidence in 

him,” he added. 

“The president has had a long political 

career,” the Awami League secretary 

said. “Whatever decision he makes he 

will abide by the constitution.” 

The Awami League was respectful to 

all the laws and the constitution of the 

country, Obaidul said. 

The party did not have anything to 

say about what the BNP may make of its 

proposals, the Awami League secretary 

said. 

“We have to wait to see what 

decisions the president makes to see if 

any of our proposals were considered or 

not,” he added. 

Obaidul said the president had 

followed the proposals the delegation 

made with attention and told them he 

would definitely review these later. 

More proposals are expected to be 

made by the other parties with whom 

the president will sit as part of the ongoing 

dialogue and then he will make the 

final decisions considering all of them, 

he added. 

Replying to a query, Obaidul said it 

was up to the president how he would 

form a search committee, which has 

been practised since the late president 

Zillur Rahman initiated. 

The BNP, on the other hand, made 

several suggestions for the search committee 

when it met the president last 

month, including having a former chief 

justice as the convener. 

When asked if there could be a 

resolution of the ongoing political differences 

with the BNP about the matter, 

Obaidul said: “We are hoping the best.” 

Prime Minister’s Political Adviser 

HT Imam was also present at the press 

conference. • 

Writ filed on 

EC formation 

law 

• Ashif Islam Shaon 

Although the constitution of Bangladesh 

has instructions on forming 

an Election Commission (EC) 

law, it has yet to be formulated 

prompting a supreme court lawyer 

to file a writ petition with the High 

Court seeking it’s directives in the 

matter yesterday. 

Eunus Ali Akond in his petition 

cites article 118 of the constitution 

which has clear directions on how 

to formulate the EC law. 

He prayed the court to issue 

a ruling asking the government 

about it’s inaction to formulate the 

law even though there are clear 

guidelines written in the constitution. 

Because there is no EC law, 

every time an election commissioner’s 

tenure expires political 

parties meet with the president 

to submit their recommendations 

to formulate a temporary EC and 

election commissioner that they 

all find acceptable. 

The cabinet secretary, law secretary, 

chief election commissioner 

and the election commission 

have been made respondents to 

the petition filed. •

4 


DT 

News 

Government uncertainty delays 

offshore seismic survey 

• Aminur Rahman Rasel 

Court: Kalyan to 

be interrogated 

at jail gate 

• Md Sanaul islam Tipu 

A Dhaka court yesterday asked 

police to interrogate actor Kalyan 

Corraya at the jail gate for three 

working days in a case filed over a 

hit-and-run incident that injured a 

photojournalist in the capital. 

Metropolitan Magistrate Md 

Mazharul Haque passed the order 

after Sub-Inspector Omar Faruk 

Khan, also investigation officer of 

the case, produced him before the 

court seeking a three-day remand 

for interrogation. 

Complainant’s counsel Proshanto 

Kumar Karmaker told the court 

that the accused should be quizzed 

under police custody to kinow if 

the accident was planned to murder 

the victim as both of them were 

acquainted with each other. 

He argued the accused switched 

off the light and left the spot hurriedly, 

after hitting down daily Prothom 

Alo’s photojournalist Zia Islam’s motorcycle 

from behind with his speedy 

private car in front of Bashundhara 

City shopping complex in Dhaka’s 

Panthapath area on Monday. Later 

he went to Dhaka Medical College 

Hospital to know the victim’s condition 

which aroused suspicion. 

Opposing the remand petition, 

defence counsel Mohammad Faruk 

submitted bail petition with remand 

rejection prayer for Kalyan. 

After hearing, the court rejected 

both the prayers and asked police 

to interrogate him at the jail gate. 

After Zia was admitted to 

DMCH, Kalyan visited the hospital 

around 1.30am. He told some journalists 

present there that his car hit 

Zia. Then he disappeared.• 

Uncertainty surrounds the implementation 

of an offshore 2D multi-client 

seismic survey, due to 

government indecision regarding 

the project. If approved, the survey 

would aid Bangladesh’s search for 

hydrocarbon deposits in the Bay of 

Bengal. 

The survey, the first of its kind in 

the country’s history, was deemed 

necessary after Bangladesh’s maritime 

boundaries with Myanmar 

and India were settled. 

An official of the Energy and Mineral 

Resources Division (EMRD), requesting 

anonymity, told the Dhaka 

Tribune that although a high-power 

review committee has been formed 

to judge which company would receive 

the project, the report is yet to 

be finalised. 

Once the report has been finalised, 

the committee will appoint an 

international seismic survey firm 

of its choosing to carry out the task. 

The objective of the survey is 

to provide the oil and gas industry 

with seismic data of the offshore 

areas of the country, in order to aid 

basin evaluation, prospect generation 

and robust bid-round participation. 

According to Petrobangla’s plan, 

the successful contractor will get 

two years to complete the survey 

and profits from the sale of the data 

would be shared. 

On August 3, 2016 the Cabinet 

Committee on Economic Affairs 

sent back the relevant proposal to 

the EMRD, for further review of 

its tender processes on selecting a 

firm for the job. 

Earlier, the EMRD had sent a 

summary to the cabinet committee, 

asking it to go ahead with the signing 

of a deal with TGS-NOPEC and 

Schlumberger, a Norway-US joint 

venture, to conduct the survey. 

During the cabinet meeting, although 

most members had initially 

supported the proposal, the decision 

for further review was made 

after a senior cabinet minister expressed 

his resentment as to why a 

UK-based firm, Spec Partners, was 

disqualified at the evaluation stage. 

The cabinet committee formed a 

five-member subcommittee, headed 

by Law Minister Anisul Huq, to 

conduct the review. 

EMRD officials had said that the 

UK-based firm was dropped as they 

failed to fulfill the primary stage 

qualification criteria. 

Petrobangla, on behalf of the 

government, had invited retenders 

for the survey on December 10 last 

year, and received proposals from 

five global geophysical companies 

on January 31, 2016. 

The companies are Norway-US 

joint venture TGS-NOPEC and 

Schlumberger, Chinese company 

BGP, Russian firm Dalmorneftegeophysica, 

the Russian Marine Arctic 

Geological Expedition (MAGE), 

and UK-based Spec Partners Ltd. 

The survey will cover an area of 

around 118,000 square kilometres, 

with water depth ranging from 20 

to more than 2,500 metres. • 

Television personality Kalyan Corraya being taken to a Dhaka court yesterday after the police arrested him on Tuesday in 

connection with the accident of Bangla daily Prothom Alo Photojounalist Zia Islam 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

Probe into mother-children death focuses on family issues 

• Kamrul Hasan and Sanaul 

islam Tipu 

Investigators looking into the suicide 

of a Dhaka housewife on Tuesday 

said they suspect that family 

issues with her husband could have 

been the main reason that caused 

her to take her own life along with 

her children’s. 

The investigators said they are 

primarily focusing on verifying the 

information provided to the police 

by Anika Akhter’s husband Shamim 

Hossain. 

According to Shamim’s statement 

to the police, Anika committed 

suicide after killing their two 

children – Shamima, 3, and Abdullah, 

2, over family issues. 

Also, Darussalam police Inspector 

(investigation) Farukul Alam 

informed the Dhaka Tribune that 

Shamim had said Anika may have 

committed suicide because she 

had been upset since being verbally 

abused by him on Tuesday 

morning. 

‘The children had 

died as their throats 

were cut open’ 

“Shamim said after that he went to 

his shop and later went to join the 

Awami League rally at Suhrawardy 

Udyan,” the inspector added. 

Inspector Farukul said the locals 

have confirmed having seen Shamim 

go to his shop around 9am and 

then boarding a truck to join the AL 

rally around 11am. 

The inspector said the police 

need to further clarify a few things 

and have sent Shamim to Dhaka 

chief metropolitan magistrate’s 

court with two-day remand plea. 

Inspector Farukul said they are 

currently focusing their investigation 

on all family disputes and financial 

issues. 

In the meantime, Metropolitan 

Magistrate Pronab Kumar Hui 

asked the investigators to produce 

case documents on Thursday for a 

hearing, during which a decision 

will be made if a remand will be 

granted or not. 

After conducting an autopsy at 

Dhaka Medical College morgue, 

Nahid: Build 

social resistance 

against militancy 

• Anwar Hussain, Chittagong 

Education Minister Nurul Islam 

Nahid has directed teachers to 

build social resistance against militancy 

along with guardians and 

managing committees at the educational 

institutes in the country. 

The minister delivered the directive 

yesterday (Wednesday) 

while addressing as the chief guest 

at a teachers’ gathering that was 

held at Chittagong Government 

Women College in the city. 

Board of Intermediate and 

Secondary Education, Chittagong 

organised the gathering with the 

aim of strengthening congenial 

educational atmosphere and 

raising awareness against militancy 

at the educational institutes in the 

country. 

In his address, the minister said, 

“Militants are carrying out subversive 

activities to impede the pace 

of development of the present 

government. The militants do not 

want a developed country. The students 

should be aware of their evil 

motives.” 

The event was chaired by Professor 

Shaheda Islam, chairman 

of Board of Intermediate and Secondary 

Education, Chittagong. 

Education Secretary Sohrab Hossain, 

Chittagong Divisional Commissioner 

Ruhul Amin, Chittagong 

Deputy Commissioner Shamsul Arefin 

and Chittagong Metropolitan 

Police Additional Commissioner 

Devdas Bhattacharya spoke on the 

occasion among others. 

The minister also stressed on 

teaching students with great care 

and affection. “He or she is the best 

teacher who is popular among students. 

Apart from the teachers, the 

guardians should also be careful 

so that the children do not derail,” 

said Nahid. • 

forensic doctor Pranab Biswas 

said the children had died as their 

throats were cut open. 

He also said their primary findings 

suggest that it is possible that 

Anika committed suicide. However, 

the final reason behind her 

death can only be confirmed after 

receiving the full report, he added. 

Anika had left a suicide note, 

saying she had made the decision 

to end her life and also that of their 

children’s because her husband’s 

behaviour was not tolerable any 

longer. 

In the note, she said she regrets 

killing her children who she had 

brought up with so much love and 

also apologised to her mother for 

the act. Anika ended the note saying 

she blames none for her death.•

News 5 


Stranded Pakistanis demand relocation 

• SM Najmus Sakib 

Urdu-speaking people of Bangladesh 

yesterday submitted a memorandum 

to Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina and the speaker of parliament, 

demanding relocation of 

the community’s people before the 

start of any eviction drive. 

As part of their “Walk towards 

National Parliament” programme, 

the Urdu Speaking Youth Rehabilitation 

Movement (USYRM) yesterday 

brought out a procession 

towards the Jatiya Sangsad around 

noon from the Geneva Camp, popularly 

known as Bihari Camp, at 

Mirpur 11 in Dhaka. 

However, they were barred by 

police at the Mirpur 10 intersection 

where they held a short rally. From 

there, a five-member delegation of 

the stranded Pakistanis escorted by 

police went to the parliament and 

submitted the memorandum to 

representatives of the PM and the 

speaker. 

At the rally, Sadakat Khan Fakka, 

president of USYRM, said: “In 

2014, the prime minister assured 

us of relocation before launching 

any eviction at our camp. 

“But the Ministry of Disaster 

BTRC raises security 

concerns on mobile 

towers at the border 

• Asif Showkat Kallol and 

Ishtiaq Husain 

Bangladesh Telecommunication 

Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is 

concerned about the security of 

Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in 

border areas under Cox’s Bazar because 

of the large influx of Rohingyas 

from Myanmar. 

The regulatory body has decided 

to incorporate the security issues 

in border areas in the draft directive 

for setting up the stations. 

BTS or base station is the name 

for a unit that contains a mobile 

phone tower as well as other equipment 

such as transceivers and amplifiers. 

A BTS provides mobile 

phone coverage to an area. 

BTRC has been formulating a 

directive for BTS installations since 

late last year but the work has been 

stalled on this security issue. 

A BTRC source said there was a 

difference of opinion among several 

intelligence agencies over the 

standards of security measures for 

Starnded Pakistanis hold a rally at Mirpur 10 intersection in Dhaka yesterday protesting Housing Ministry’s eviction attempt 

at Geneva Camp and demanding relocation of community people before launching any eviction drive 

MEHEDI HASAN 

the base stations in border areas. 

Since a government crackdown 

that began in October last year, at 

least 35,000 members of the ethnic 

Rohingya minority have entered 

Bangladesh through the Cox’s Bazar 

border from Myanmar. 

Several Rohingya militant groups 

operate in the border region. 

BTRC recently sought the opinion 

of different government agencies 

including the Home ministry 

and intelligent agencies in a letter 

over this issue. 

The letter, signed by BTRC Spectrum 

Division Director Lt Col (retd) 

Sufi Muhammad Muhiddin revealed 

that ensuring the security of 

BTSs is the primary concern in the 

country’s border areas. The letter 

also expresses concerns about the 

influx of Rohingyas from Myanmar 

across the Cox’s Bazar border. 

BTRC has formed a committee 

to resolve the issue. 

Secretary Sarwar Alam, spokesperson 

of BTRC declined to make 

any comment on this matter. • 

Management and Relief, and the 

Ministry of Housing and Public 

Works have started plot distribution 

ignoring our plea. The Housing 

Ministry started plot distribution 

hiding camp location, luring expatriate 

Bangladeshis to take our shelter 

away driving out our people.” 

Elaborating the sufferings of the 

community, Sadakat said: “Even 

local politicians often kill camp 

residents. They torch our houses 

DT 

locking them from outside, burn us 

to death. There is no accountability 

for killing a Bihari as the torching 

alive of 13 Biharis in Mirpur two 

years back proves.” 

He said more than 100,000 people 

are currently residing at the 

Mirpur Geneva Camp where the 

ministries are distributing plots. “If 

we are evicted without being rehabilitated, 

these people will face untold 

sufferings.” 

He said: “In 1972, Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman allocated 

the area at Mirpur (sections 

10,11,12) under Pallabi thana and 

elsewhere in the capital, under the 

initiative of Red Crescent Society, 

for setting up Geneva Camp for the 

Biharis who were being persecuted 

at the time since the end of Liberation 

War. And since then we have 

been living there. 

“We will launch a tough movement 

if our demand is not met.” 

Supporting the demand of Urdu-speaking 

people, Khalequzzaman, 

secretary of Bangladesh 

Socialist Party, urged the government 

to pay heed to the stranded 

Pakistanis’ sufferings, and to take 

measures to relocate them at any 

possible area in Dhaka. 

Among others, leftist leader Saiful 

Haque, Shahidulla Kaisar, central 

committee member of Nagorik 

Oikya, Fahim Hossain Raju, president 

of Urdu-speaking Student 

Movement, addressed the rally. • 

‘No more benefits for retirees 

encashing 100% pension fund’ 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has 

said that the retired public servants, 

who have already withdrawn 

cent percent of their pension fund, 

will no longer be entitled to any 

post-retirement benefits by the 

government. 

Even, such retirees will be deprived 

of the existing privileges 

the government is providing to the 

ex-civil servants, he said. 

The minister disclosed the information 

while talking to reporters 

after a meeting of the cabinet 

committee on public purchase and 

economic affairs yesterday. 

“We have made a new pension 

provision and will abolish 100% 

encashment of pension money 

by retired government employees 

from July 1,” Muhith said. 

He said: “We will finalise pension 

provision for the private sector 

ahead of next fiscal year.” 

Earlier, the Finance Division of 

Finance Ministry in a circular said 

the retirees will only be allowed to 

encash up to 50% of their pension 

fund while the rest will be provided 

to them in monthly installments. 

The fresh provision of pension 

funds will come into effect from 

July 1 and the pensioners will be 

paid back 5% on the sum of their 

monthly pension money since 

then, the circular added. 

However, the government, in 

late December, assented to provide 

2,600 retired civil servants with 

additional pension funds a decade 

after they had withdrawn their full 

retirement benefits and pension. 

The government decision had 

come after the 2,600 retirees met 

Mihuth, placing a proposal for the 

additional pension money. 

A Finance Ministry official, requesting 

anonymity, then said the 

proposal was given go-ahead by 

the government since the retirees 

had withdrawn 100% of their pension 

fearing BNP-Jamaat coming 

into state power yet again. 

In 1995, the government 

introduced a new provision 

permitting 100% encashment of 

pension money by retired public 

servants at a time.• 

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY 

Dhaka 26 10 Chittagong 25 12 Rajshahi 22 7 Rangpur 23 6 Khulna 24 10 Barisal 26 11 Sylhet 26 9 

Cox’s Bazar 26 15 

DRY WEATHER 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12 

DHAKA 

TODAY 

TOMORROW 

SUN SETS 5:30PM 

SUN RISES 6:44AM 

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 

29.0ºC 

9.4ºC 

Teknaf 

Tetulia 

Source: Accuweather/UNB 

PRAYER 

TIMES 

Fajr: 6:05am | Zohr: 1:15pm 

Asr: 4:15pm | Magrib: 5:40pm 

Esha: 7:30pm 

Source: Islamic Foundation

6 


DT 

News 

Four grassroots politicians missing 

• Tazul Islam Reza, Gaibandha 

The disappearance of four political 

leaders in Gaibandha has spread 

a fresh wave of terror in the aftermath 

of the assassination of MP 

Manjurul Islam Liton. 

Three leaders of Awami 

League-affiliated organisations 

and one leader from a BNP-affiliate 

have been missing for over two 

days in Gaibandha. 

The disappearances took place 

12 days after the murder of MP 

Liton in his home in Sarbananda 

upazila in Gaibandha. 

The missing leaders are 

Monowarul Hasan Jim Mandal, 40, 

senior assistant general secretary 

of Sadullapur Awami Jubo League 

and former Damodarpur UP chairman, 

Sadekul Islam Sadek, 35, 

former president of Damodarpur 

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), 

Maidul Islam Prince, 30, publication 

secretary of Naldanga Awami 

League, and Shafiul Islam Shapla, 

32, assistant secretary general of 

Naldanga BNP. 

Their families and party activists 

are alleging that they have 

been picked up by plainclothes law 

enforcement officials. 

Golam Mostofa Mandal, father 

of Jim Mandal, told the Dhaka Tribune 

that Jim had set out on his TVS 

Apache motorcycle around 9pm in 

Sadullapur town on Monday night. 

He picked up Sadek from Lalbazar 

area around 10pm, and that was 

the last heard from them both. 

He alleged either plainclothes 

law enforcement or Jamaat-Shibir 

men were behind their disappearance. 

He said: “Their phones are 

switched off and there has been no 

word of either of them or of Jim’s 

motorcycle.” 

Lovely Begum, Jim’s wife, filed a 

written complaint with Sadullapur 

police regarding his disappearance. 

Torikul Islam Nayan, brother 

of Prince, and Naldanga UP chairman 

and Awami League general 

secretary, said: “Plainclothes law 

enforcers picked up Prince with his 

motorbike from Naldanga rail gate 

area on Tuesday around 11am. 

“We asked local law agencies 

about him, but they said they know 

nothing. We have lodged a written 

complaint with the police,” he 

added. 

Shapla’s father Aminul Islam 

also alleged that plainclothes law 

enforcement officials picked Shapla 

up from Naldanga’s Kacharibazar 

area around 11am on Tuesday. He 

claimed they showed their ID cards 

and introduced themselves as law 

enforcement.” 

Sadullapur Awami League General 

Secretary Shahariar Khan 

Biplob said: “It is terrifying that 

people are disappearing, more so 

at this time. We have talked to the 

police superintendent and other 

agencies but they claim they know 

nothing about these incidents. 

“We are trying our best to find 

out what happened to them.” 

Sadullapur OC Farhad Imrul 

Kayes confirmed the complaints 

lodged by the four families. 

OC Farhad said the disappearances 

have been reported to the 

district superintendent of police 

and other senior law enforcement 

officials. 

“We have not been able to confirm 

who picked them up. The 

police are working incessantly to 

track them down,” he added. 

Gaibandha Additional SP (A circle) 

Robiul Islam said he was apprised 

of the situation. He claimed 

no police branches had detained any 

of the four leaders but police would 

find out what had happened • 

A human chain was formed in Laldighi area, Chittagong city yesterday, demanding arrest and speedy trial of the killers of Naism Ahmed Sohel, a student of Premier 

University 

RABIN CHOWDHURY 

World’s largest 

practical science 

lesson held in 

Kishoreganj 

• Tribune Desk 

Thousands of science students 

under Kuliarchar upazila in 

Kishoreganj district attended the 

world’s largest practical science 

lesson yesterday. 

“We informed Guinness World 

Record in October last year about 

organising a science lesson with 

3,200 students and broke the 

record,” said Kuliarchar Upazila 

Executive Officer Urmi Binte 

Salam. 

Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, 

assisted by 30 teachers, taught the 

students about magnetism and ICT 

in an outdoor class conducted on 

the grounds of Begum Nurunnahar 

Girls’ Pilot High School from 12pm 

to 2pm. 

Students and staffs were left 

eagerly awaiting a statement from 

Guinness World Records as they 

had successfully beaten the current 

record set by Australia on 12 August 

last year, when 2,900 Queensland 

school students beat the previous 

highest mark by Durban, South Africa. 

Organisers however claimed 

that new world record was not 

their only goal, they also wanted to 

encourage students to learn more 

about science. 

Students from 23 Kuliarchar primary 

schools and five high schools 

attended the class. 

“It was a unique example for 

Bangladesh and a new record was 

set,” Prof Zafar told the Dhaka Tribune. 

Earlier, Bangladesh created the 

world’s largest human national flag 

using 27,117 people at the National 

Parade Ground in the capital on 

Victory Day in 2014. 

The Guinness World Records authorities 

officially certified Bangladesh’s 

human flag as world’s largest 

human national flag on March 

2015. 

Robi Axiata Ltd and Bangladesh 

Army jointly organised the programme. 

• 

Khulna Chest Disease Hospital limping with manifold problems 

• Md Hedait Hossain Molla, Khulna 

Health services at Khulna Chest 

Disease Hospital are being hampered 

due to manifold problems, 

including shortage of doctors and 

nurses, causing immense sufferings 

to thousands of people. 

To ensure proper treatment 

for the chest patients of Southern-Western 

parts of Bangladesh, 

a 100-bed specialised hospital was 

set up in Mirerdanga in Khulna city. 

But the lone chest disease specialist 

hospital in the area is now suffering 

due to acute shortage of doctors, 

nurses and other staff. 

Hospital sources said some 66 

posts out of 184 posts, including 

resident medical officer (RMO), 

pathologists, radiologists, senior 

nurses and others have been remained 

vacant for long. 

Amid shortage of nurses, 19 nurses 

were transferred to Sheikh Abu 

Naser Specialised Hospital of Khulna 

on November 1, 2016, leading the 

hospital to great shortage of nurses. 

Dr Hosne Ara Begum, caretaker 

of the hospital, said: “Health services 

of the hospital are hampering 

due to shortage of doctors, nurses 

and stuffs. We have already requested 

Health Director of Khulna 

to appoint new RMO, nurses and 

other staff.” 

She said: “Some 32 beds out of 

1oo were allocated for multi-drug 

resistant tuberculosis –TB patients. 

This kind of patient needs more 

care than others. But we cannot 

care them properly due to shortage 

of nurses and other staff.” 

She claimed that among the 19 

nurses seven were well trained. 

Nikhil Ranjon Roy, head assistant 

of the hospital, said: “Suddenly 

19 well-trained nurses of our 

hospital were transferred to Sheikh 

Abu Naser Specialised Hospital 

without replacement.” 

Senior Staff Nurse Nargis 

Parveen, electric TB manager, said: 

“We have to face a lot of pressure 

of TB patients as it is the lone 

specialised hospital for TB patient 

in the Southern-Western area.” 

According to hospital sources 

a total of 179 multi-drug resistant 

tuberculosis –TB patients were 

admitted in the hospital where 

35 of them died from January 1, 

2013 to January 8, 2017. Most of 

the patients came from Jessore, 

Bagerhat and Khulna’s industrial 

areas. 

Apart from this, 356 TB patients 

were admitted in the hospital in 

2015 where 55 in 2016, said hospital 

sources. •

News 7 


DT 

Decentralisation 

is imperative 

in dealing with 

climate migration 

• Mahadi Al Hasnat 

One of the most visible aspects 

of the affects of climate change is 

climate migration to the centralised 

city of Dhaka which is unprepared 

and logistically unable to handle 

such a large population growth. 

Bangladesh urgently needs to 

decenterlise Dhaka as the main 

hub of economic activity because 

the large influx of climate migrants 

will stress out the city’s resources 

beyond it’s capacity, said experts 

at the Gobeshona conference 

yesterday. 

Researchers and experts also 

stressed the importance of building 

climate resilient cities. 

According to Intergovernmental 

Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 

some 16-17% of land of Bangladesh 

will be submerged under water 

in the near future including the 

Sundarbans making 112 million 

people climatic refugees in the 

process. 

“Climate resilient cities has the 

ability to recover from impacts of 

climate change and the capacity 

to withstand unexpected weather 

events,” said Md Sarder Shafiqul 

Alam, the coordinator of Urban 

Climate Change. 

A research conducted in May 

last year shows that building 

climate resilient cities can attract 

people to migrate to them instead 

of the capital provided there are 

enough economic opportunities. 

The study conducted by Neaz 

Russel titled ‘Building climate 

resilience to Noapara town: A 

coastal urban center of Bangladesh’ 

was done town called Noapara in 

Jessore district with an ‘A Class’ 

municipality and job opportunities. 

The city is an industrial zone with 

good infrastructure like highways, 

railway and waterways that 

proved to be attractive for climate 

migrants. 

Dr. Saleemul Huq, the director 

of ICCCAD told the Dhaka Tribune: 

“Noapara is a good example of 

a town for climate migration. 

A large number of people from 

neighbouring areas have migrated 

there because of job opportunities. 

People move to the cities to get jobs 

and employments. If we can build 

more climate resilient cities with 

job opportunities, then people 

would be encouraged to go there 

instead of heading towards Dhaka.” 

“We have to do two things- firstly 

creating available employments 

and then upgrading the standard of 

the workers through training and 

other initiatives,” he added. • 

Saber Hossain Chowdhury speaking at the concluding session of the third Gobeshona Conference yesterday at IUB 

Quality research needed to fill gap 

between decision and reality 

• Abu Siddique 

The concluding session of the third 

annual Gobeshona Conference empasised 

good research on development 

and climate change adaptation 

as the bridge between data and 

appropriate government policy on 

these issues, at Independent University 

(IUB) yesterday. 

“Only good research can fill the 

gap between the realities on the 

ground and the policy making process,” 

said Saber Hossain Chowdhury, 

president of Inter-parliamentary 

Union. 

“The importance of quality research 

is crucial for Bangladesh 

since we have been facing the negative 

impacts of global warming and 

as it moves towards becoming a developed 

country it has to keep climate 

change in mind with taking on 

development initiatives,” he added 

when addressing the program as a 

special guest. 

According to the 5 th Assessment 

report of Inter-governmental Panel 

on Climate Change (IPCC), Bangladesh 

is identified as being at a specific 

risk from climate change due 

to its exposure to sea-level rise and 

extreme events like salinity intrusion, 

drought, erratic rainfall and 

tidal surge which will hamper the 

country’s food as well as livelihood 

security. 

Saber Hossain Chowdhury has 

been working with climate change 

related issues for a long time and 

has successfully initiated and promoted 

an amendment in Constitution 

of Bangladesh that now 

ensures protection of the environment 

and biodiversity for posterity. 

“The country needs to develop 

adequate capacity to deal with the 

negative impacts of global warming,” 

the MP said. 

Praising the Gobeshona platform, 

Dr Atiq Rahman, executive 

director of Bangladesh Center for 

Advanced Studies (BCAS) said that 

the research initiated by this conference 

will eventually deliver the 

gaps in research that we currently 

have. 

Gobeshona is a knowledge network 

for research on climate change 

in Bangladesh, it aims to make 

research on climate change more 

effective and ready for take-up by 

practitioners. 

Director of International Center 

for Climate Change and Development, 

Dr Saleemul Huq stressed on 

the importance of international research 

collaborations in combating 

climate change at the session saying: 

“The process for collaborative 

research and capacity building network 

with researchers had already 

been started.” 

He said this process was one of 

the commitments adopted at the 

Gobeshona conference. 

“A consortium of 10 universities 

from 10 least developed countries 

MEHEDI HASAN 

on climate change research and capacity 

building will be launched in 

April that will help to build capacity 

of the vulnerable nations,” he said. 

Quoting the Article 11 of Paris 

Agreement which has adopted in 

Conference of Parties 21 in Paris in 

2015, he added: “The global community 

acknowledged the issue of 

capacity building regarding combating 

climate change and they expressed 

their willingness to help the 

developing countries to building 

their necessary capacity.” 

This initiative has been taken in 

line with the Paris Agreement. 

The 4-day long Gobeshona Conference 

was organized by International 

Centre for Climate Change 

and Development (ICCCAD) and 

hosted by Independent University, 

Bangladesh. 

A good number experts and researchers 

from Bangladesh and 

abroad participated in the 4 daylong 

Gobeshona conference. • 

Climate change will cost Bangladesh $121 billion 

• Mahadi Al Hasnat 

Climate experts and researchers 

warn that it may cost the country 

up to USD 121 billion or 5% of the 

national GDP from 2005-2050 as it 

is not capable of dealing with the 

adverse effects of climate change 

through mitigation and adaptation, 

at Gobeshona conference yesterday. 

Climate change is a big threat to 

Bangladesh’s sustainable development 

goals as well, undermining 

possible poverty eradication and 

food security as they country is yet 

to develop an effective mechanism 

of addressing disaster related Loss 

and Damage. 

Dr Saleemul Huq, the director 

DAMAGE AND LOSSES DURING AN AVERAGE SEVERE CYCLONE 

Economic Sector 

Damage and Losses (Constant 2009 Million USD) 

Housing 900 

Agriculture 151 

Water Resource Control 83 

Education Infrastructure 73 

Industry/Commerce/Tourism 56 

Urban and Municipal 27 

Power 15 

Other 28 

Total Damages and Losses 1802 

Share of GDP 2.4% 

SOURCE: ECONOMICS OF ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE, WORLD BANK, 2010 

of International Centre for Climate 

Change & Development (ICCCAD) 

said: “Although people are not 

aware of the relationship between 

their loss and climate change, they 

are indeed interconnected with 

each other while we need more research 

regarding our mechanisms 

for loss and damage.” 

According to experts and researchers, 

the country must developed 

a methodology for assessing 

loss and damage from climate 

change and the government should 

consider setting up a ‘National 

Mechanism on Loss and Damage’ 

with a technical team using the 

current study as a guideline. 

“The country’s SDGs is under 

threat by the impact of climate 

changeas the government is only 

equipped to reduce risk of sudden 

onset disasters but no focus on 

slow onset events such as floods, 

salinity, weather pattern change 

etc,” researcher Naznin Nasir said 

while addressing a session titled 

proposed national mechanism on 

loss and damage at the Gobeshona 

conference. •

DT 

8 

World 


SOUTH ASIA 

Nepal sacks quake 

reconstruction chief 

Nepal on Wednesday sacked the 

chief of its earthquake reconstruction 

body, a move seen by critics as 

politically motivated and likely to 

further delay rebuilding following 

the April 2015 disaster. Sushil 

Gyewali was appointed head of the 

National Reconstruction Authority 

a year ago after months of political 

wrangling over who should lead 

the agency. AFP 

INDIA 

Indian police rescue 6,000 

turtles in largest haul 

Indian police said Wednesday they 

had recovered more than 6,000 

freshwater turtles weighing over 

four tonnes from poachers who 

planned to smuggle them to Southeast 

Asia, in the country’s largest-ever 

wildlife haul. The 6,430 flapshell 

turtles were discovered stuffed into 

140 jute bags in the northern state of 

Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. AFP 

CHINA 

China ship enters strait, 

Taiwan warns against panic 

China’s aircraft carrier has entered 

the Taiwan Strait in a highly symbolic 

show of strength, but Taiwan 

insisted Wednesday there was no 

need for panic even as tensions boil 

over the island’s diplomatic status. 

The Liaoning aircraft carrier has not 

entered Taiwanese waters but has 

gone into an area covered by the 

island’s air defence zone, Taiwan’s 

defence ministry said. AFP 

ASIA PACIFIC 

US names Indonesian 

IS-linked network a terror 

group 

The United States has designated 

the Islamic State-linked Indonesian 

extremist network that carried out 

a deadly attack in Jakarta last year 

as a terrorist organisation. The 

State Department said Tuesday that 

Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) is 

“a terrorist group based in Indonesia 

that was formed in 2015 and 

is composed of almost two dozen 

Indonesian extremist groups” who 

are followers of IS. REUTERS 

MIDDLE EAST 

Syria peace talks in Astana 

set for January 23 

Russia has reportedly confirmed 

talks between the Syrian government 

and the opposition are due to 

take place in Kazakhstan capital, 

Ashtana, on January 23. The truce, 

which does not include the Islamic 

State of Iraq and the Levant, or the 

former al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat 

Fateh al-Sham, has brought calm 

to large parts of the country. AFP 

Amartya Sen: Demonetisation 

Modi’s Napoleon moment 

• Tribune International Desk 

Two months after Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi’s demonetisation 

move, Nobel laureate economist 

Amartya Sen spoke to India Today 

about the aims and achievements 

of the move and its consequences. 

“It is a gigantic mistake, both 

in terms of its objective of dealing 

with corruption as well as the objective 

of one rapid jump of getting 

into a cashless economy,” Sen said 

while talking about note ban Amartya 

Sen. 

The Nobel Prize winner asked 

if it was fair to demonetise 86% of 

all currency to tackle black money. 

“These statistics were known to 

everyone and it must have been 

known to the Prime Minister as 

well. So if there is only 6 to 7% of 

black money in cash, how do you 

expect to have a major victory? It is 

puzzling to me,” said Amartya Sen. 

Policy affected large section of 

people 

The economist feels that the policy 

has affected a large section of people 

in India as it was taken unilaterally 

by the Centre. 

“It was indeed not even the 

whole of the Central government, 

it was a very small group around 

Thousands flee fighting 

on Myanmar’s border 

with China 


More than 3,000 people have 

fled airstrikes and heavy fighting 

in northern Myanmar since the 

weekend as the government tries 

to flush out rebel positions, activists 

said Wednesday. The government 

prevented a UN official 

from visiting the area on Tuesday 

as waves of people crossed the 

border into China to escape the 

turmoil, reports the Associated 

Press. 

The unrest in Kachin state, 

where rebel groups have been 

seeking greater autonomy for 

decades, is just one of the simmering 

conflicts in Myanmar. 

The military is also under fire 

for alleged human rights abuses 

against the Muslim Rohingya minority 

in Rakhine state. 

The government has denied 

the accusations. 

Khon Ja, a Kachin activist, said 

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

the government is trying to wrest 

control of rebel outposts in the 

area using by launching airstrikes. 

Thousands of people fled across 

the border to China, she said. 

Tang San, a rebel Kachin Independence 

Army battalion commander, 

also reported government 

airstrikes. 

UN Special Rapporteur on Human 

Rights Yanghee Lee arrived 

in Myanmar on Sunday for a 12- 

day visit. But the government, 

citing safety concerns, denied 

her request to visit the town 

of Laiza in Kachin state, where 

there are camps for the internally 

displaced as well as the 

headquarters for the Kachin Independence 

Army 

She is scheduled to visit Rakhine 

state on Friday, home to most 

of Myanmar’s estimated 1 million 

Rohingya who face discrimination 

in the overwhelmingly Buddhist 

country. • 

Modi. So the biggest question 

here, with the State Assembly 

elections approaching, is there an 

issue of federalism that needs to 

be addressed?,” Sen asked. 

When asked about why the support 

towards Modi’s continues to 

soar Amartya Sen said, “Modi is a 

very good political leader, there is 

no doubt about it. He can certainly 

convince people so the Modi magic 

is there. But this is Modi’s Napoleon 

moment.” 

‘A Napoleon moment’ 

The 19th century French conqueror 

Napoleon is known for cultivating 

an infallible image through 

his propaganda. He garnered immense 

public support by capitalising 

on his victories. During his 

tenure he floated literature and 

various publications that exaggerated 

his accomplishments. 

“Napoleon after his attempt to 

raid on Russia, on his way back, 

said that actually he did not wanted 

to do anything , just wanted to 

do an excursion into the snowy 

mountains of Russia,” said Sen. 

Sen on RBI 

Further emphasising on the role 

of the Reserve Bank of India, the 

noted economists said that RBI 

was simply following Prime Minister 

Modi’s order. He said that 

while the government failed to 

eliminate black money, it leaped 

towards digitisation from corruption. 

According to him the Modi 

government changed its focus 

midcourse. 

The economist said that corruption 

continues to worry the nation. 

He added that black money creation 

will continue. • 

Malaysia to hold OIC 

meeting on Rohingya crisis 

• AFP, Kuala Lumpur 

REUTERS 

Foreign ministers from the Organisation 

of Islamic Cooperation 

will meet to discuss the Rohingya 

Muslim crisis next week in Kuala 

Lumpur, a Malaysian official said 

Wednesday, as thousands continue 

to flee Myanmar. 

Fifty-six OIC representatives are 

expected to attend the January 19 

meeting which will be led by Malaysian 

Prime Minister Najib Razak, 

who recently called on Myanmar 

to stop the “genocide” of Rohingya 

Muslims. 

Buddhist-majority Myanmar refuses 

to recognise the Rohingya as 

one of the country’s ethnic minorities, 

instead describing them as 

Bengalis or illegal immigrants from 

neighbouring Bangladesh, even 

though many have lived in Myanmar 

for generations. 

There has been a large exodus 

of Rohingya from northern Myanmar’s 

Rakhine state after the army 

launched clearance operations 

while searching for insurgents behind 

deadly raids on police border 

posts three months ago. 

Escapees from the persecuted 

Muslim minority in Bangladesh 

have given harrowing accounts of 

security forces committing mass 

rape, murder and arson. 

The stories have cast a pall over 

the young government of Nobel 

laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, with 

Muslim-majority Malaysia being 

especially critical. 

Myanmar’s government has said 

the claims of abuse are fabricated 

and launched a special commission 

to investigate the allegations. 

In November, Kuala Lumpur 

summoned the Myanmar ambassador 

while around 500 Malaysians 

and Rohingya protested outside the 

embassy. 

A senior Malaysian minister has 

also called on Asean, the ten-country 

Southeast Asia bloc, to review Myanmar’s 

membership, while the foreign 

ministry has accused Myanmar of 

engaging in “ethnic cleansing.” •

World 

UK government expects to lose 

Brexit trigger case 

• Reuters, London 

The British government expects 

to lose its legal battle to start 

the Brexit process without going 

through parliament, and has 

drafted versions of a bill to put to 

lawmakers after the ruling, the 

Guardian newspaper reported on 

Tuesday. 

The Supreme Court is expected 

to rule in the next two weeks 

on whether the government can 

trigger Article 50 of the European 

Union’s Lisbon Treaty, the first formal 

step towards leaving the bloc, 

without first getting parliament’s 

approval. 

Citing unnamed sources, the 

Guardian reported that ministers 

had privately conceded they were 

very likely to lose the case, and 

had drawn up at least two versions 

of a bill to be presented to parliament 

after the ruling. 

The report also said the government 

had asked the court for early 

sight of the ruling before it is made 

public, to allow for contingency 

planning. 

During the Supreme Court hearing 

in December, government lawyer 

James Eadie said that if judges 

ruled parliament had to give its 

assent to the triggering of Article 

50, the solution would be a “oneline” 

bill. 

The Guardian said ministers 

were hoping the ruling would allow 

Prime Minister Theresa May to 

put forward a short bill or motion, 

narrowly focused on Article 50, to 

make it difficult for lawmakers to 

amend. 

Those in favour of a clean break 

with the European Union are concerned 

that parliament, where 

a majority of members were in 

favour of remaining in the bloc, 

could seek to water down ministers’ 

plan in pursuit of a so-called 

“soft Brexit”. 

The government’s opponents 

in the legal battle argued that triggering 

Article 50 would nullify the 

1972 act of parliament that opened 

the way for Britain to join the EU, 

and therefore parliament had to 

give its assent for its act to be undone. 

London’s High Court backed 

that argument, prompting the government 

to appeal to the Supreme 

Court, Britain’s highest judicial 

body, in December. • 

Cocaine gang war drives Brazil prison bloodbaths 

• AFP, Sao Paulo 

When beheaded, disemboweled 

corpses stacked up in Brazilian 

jails, it looked like bloody chaos 

caused by overcrowding. 

But experts see method in last 

week’s madness. 

They say it was part of a war 

between organized drug gangs in 

one of the world’s most important 

cocaine markets and trafficking 

routes. 

Last week’s series of massacres 

left 100 prisoners dead – many of 

them active members of gangs, 

authorities said. The government 

has deployed 200 emergency personnel 

to secure the two prisons 

where the most blood was shed. 

The largest bloodbath appeared 

to be an orchestrated mass killing 

targeting members of Brazil’s biggest 

gang, the First Capital Command 

(PCC). 

It was thought to be a backlash 

by the PCC’s rivals for its violent 

expansion. 

Seizing drug routes 

Authorities say the Sao Paulo-based 

PCC seized control of the 

country’s southern supply routes 

last year by gunning down powerful 

drug trafficker Jorge Rafaat. 

Its expansion has made it an 

outright enemy of the second-biggest 

Brazilian gang, the Red Command 

(CV), based in Rio de Janeiro. 

After the Rafaat killing gave it 

control of a key Paraguayan border 

route, the PCC then turned its attention 

to securing control of the north. 

British Prime Minister Theresa May 

DEADLY PRISON RIOTS 

Principal disturbances in jails around the world in recent years 

Jan 2010 

+23 Durango 

+20 

MEXICO 

Feb 2016 

49 Monterrey 

20 

Aug 2009 

Gomez Palacio 

March 2009 

Ciudad Juarez 

21 

Oct 2008 

Reynosa 

19 

Sept 2008 

Tijuana 

GUATEMALA 

July 2016 

13 Pavon 

Jan 2007 

21 

Apanteos 

EL SALVADOR 

GUYANA 

March 2016 

16 

Georgetown 

VENEZUELA 

+58 

“What it wants is to dominate 

the whole of Brazil,” said Marcio 

Sergio Christino, a public prosecutor 

of organized crime. 

“The Red Command used to use 

southern trafficking routes that are 

now controlled by the PCC,” said 

Christino. 

After the killing, the Red Command 

“had to look for alternative 

routes in the north,” he said. 

There it joined forces with the 

third most-powerful faction in 

Brazil, Family of the North (FDN), 

“to forge an alternative route to 

the one used by the PCC.” 

Authorities said FDN members 

were the ones who beheaded and 

mutilated PCC members in the biggest 

of last week’s massacres, in a 

jail in the northern state of Amazonas 

that left 60 people dead. 

Aug 2012 

+25 San Francisco 

de Yare 

28 

30 

AFP 

Jan 2013 

Uribana 

Highly organised gang 

With an estimated 20,000 members, 

the PCC thrives even with 

its leader Marcos Willians Herbas 

Camacho, known as “Marcola,” behind 

bars since 1999. 

Investigators say that apart 

from its drug-trafficking activities 

it also owns bus companies, minor 

football clubs and an illicit petrol 

refinery. 

“The PCC is a very solid and hierarchical 

organisation,” said Sergio 

Adorno, an expert on violent 

crime at Sao Paulo University. 

Its rival Red Command is considered 

Brazil’s oldest gang, dating 

to the 1970s. 

It thrived on a cocaine boom 

July 2012 

Merida 

June-July 

2011 

El Rodeo 

33 

dead 

BRAZIL 

Jan 6, 2017 

Boa Vista 

Jan 2, 2017 

56 Manaus 

ARGENTINA 

Nov 2007 

+33 Santiago 

del Estero 

SRI LANKA 

Nov 2012 

27 Colombo 

from the 1980s, expanding from 

bank robberies and kidnapping to 

control the drug trade in Rio. 

But its power has declined, said 

Alexander Araujo, a federal prosecutor 

in the city. 

Cocaine to Europe 

Brazil shares thousands of miles of 

porous borders with three of the 

biggest cocaine-producing countries 

in the world: Colombia, Bolivia 

and Peru. 

That makes Brazil a major stepping 

stone for networks trafficking 

the drug via Africa to Europe. 

Experts say Brazilian traffickers 

are aiming to forge ties with Colombian 

gangs to offer them access to 

one of the most important international 

drug routes in the world. • 

9 


DT 

USA 

US senators unveil Russia 

sanctions bill 

Several US senators including Republicans 

critical of Donald Trump’s 

skepticism of alleged Kremlin-ordered 

hacking joined forces Tuesday 

to introduce sanctions against 

Russia. The five Democrats and five 

Republicans laid out expansive new 

punishments including visa bans 

and financial asset freezes against 

those determined to have carried 

out cyberattacks. AFP 

THE AMERICAS 

Venezuela president 

threatens opposition over 

coup 

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro 

threatened Tuesday his opponents 

would face consequences 

for their latest efforts to oust him, 

reviving his claim that he was 

the victim of a “coup” attempt. 

Opposition majority lawmakers on 

Monday passed a motion declaring 

Maduro had effectively “abandoned 

his post” by failing to tackle 

the country’s economic crisis. AFP 

UK 

Labour party vows to 

manage migration 

Britain’s main opposition Labour 

party backs “the reasonable management 

of migration”, its leader 

said on Tuesday in a speech aimed at 

winning back millions of traditional 

supporters who backed Britain’s split 

from the EU. But Jeremy Corbyn 

fudged a planned commitment 

that his pro-EU party was no longer 

“wedded” to the idea of free movement 

- a pillar of the EU that, he said, 

could not be ruled out if it helped 

Britain win trade access. REUTERS 

EUROPE 

Migrant arrivals in Germany 

fell sharply in 2016 

The number of people arriving in 

Germany wanting to seek asylum 

fell dramatically last year, 

figures showed on Wednesday, a 

good news for Chancellor Angela 

Merkel. Some 280,000 migrants 

seeking refuge entered Germany 

in 2016, down from 890,000 the 

previous year. Yet the number of 

people who filed asylum applications 

was about 750,000, 270,000 

more than in 2015. REUTERS 

AFRICA 

Egypt court freezes more 

NGO assets 

An Egyptian court froze the assets 

of two NGOs and their founders 

on Wednesday, in a controversial 

probe into civil society groups 

that has been criticised by the UN. 

The court ordered a freeze on the 

assets of Nazra for Feminist Studies 

and its founder Mozn Hassan, 

and Mohamed Zarea and his Arab 

Penal Reform Organisation. AFP

10 


DT 

World 

Obama pushes values and prods Donald 

Trump in final address 

• Reuters, Chicago 

With a final call of his campaign mantra 

“Yes We Can,” President Barack 

Obama urged Americans on Tuesday 

to stand up for US values and reject 

discrimination as the United States 

transitions to the presidency of Republican 

Donald Trump. 

In an emotional speech in which 

he thanked his family and declared 

his time as president the honor of his 

life, Obama gently prodded the public 

to embrace his vision of progress 

while repudiating some of the policies 

that Trump promoted during his 

campaign for the White House. 

“So just as we, as citizens, must 

remain vigilant against external aggression, 

we must guard against a 

weakening of the values that make 

us who we are,” Obama told a crowd 

of 18,000 in his hometown of Chicago, 

where he celebrated his election 

in 2008 as the first black president 

of the United States. 

In his farewell speech, he made 

clear his positions had not changed 

and he said his efforts to end the use 

of torture and close the US prison in 

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were part of 

a broader move to uphold US values. 

He said bold action was needed 

to fight global warming and said 

“science and reason” mattered. 

“If anyone can put together a plan 

that is demonstrably better than the 

improvements we’ve made to our 

healthcare system, that covers as 

many people at less cost, I will publicly 

support it,” he said in another 

prodding challenge to his successor. 

Race and nostalgia 

Obama, who came to office amid 

high expectations that his election 

would heal historic racial divides, 

acknowledged that was an impossible 

goal. 

“After my election, there was 

talk of a post-racial America,” 

he said. “Such a vision, however 

well-intended, was never realistic. 

Race remains a potent and often divisive 

force in our society.” 

However, Obama said he remained 

hopeful about the work that 

a younger generation would do. “Yes 

we can,” he said. “Yes we did.” 

In an indirect reference to the 

political work the Democratic Party 

will have to do to recover after Clinton’s 

loss, Obama urged racial minorities 

to seek justice not only for 

themselves but also for “the middle-aged 

white man who from the 

outside may seem like he’s got advantages, 

but who’s seen his world 

upended by economic, cultural, 

and technological change.” • 

THE OBAMA YEARS 

Iran 

Nuclear agreement 

FOREIGN POLICY 

Cuba 

Diplomatic relations 

re-established after a freeze 

of more than 50 years 

Russia 

Deteriorating relations 

Syria 

Criticised for his 

lack of decisive 

action to help 

end the fighting 

Jan 20, 2009 

Inauguration 

The first black 

US president. 

Huge expectations 

Oct 9 

Nobel Peace Prize 

Surprised 

and humbled 

Nov 3, 2010 

Democrats lose control 

of House of Representatives 

A shellacking 

May 1, 2011 

Osama bin Laden is killed 

by US special forces in Pakistan 

Justice has 

been 

done 

ECONOMY 

Nov 6, 2012 

Obama 

is re-elected 

Four 

more 

years 

Nov 5, 2014 

Republicans 

gain control 

of both 

houses 

of Congress 

STYLE 

RACIAL TENSIONS 

Cool and elegant 

Dad, husband and 

44 th President of 

the United States 

(Twitter bio) 

Black people killed 

by police officers, security 

personnel 

Trayvon Martin could have 

been me 35 years ago 

The US bounces back after the worst crisis since 1929. 

Unemployment falls but inequality increases 

Obamacare 

Millions of Americans are granted healthcare cover 

July 5, 2016 

We are 

going to 

carry Hillary 

to victory 

Sept 3 Dec 23 

US ratifiesUS abstention 

Paris enables UN to 

climate condemn Jewish 

accord settlements 

Trump’s China trademarks risk constitutional crisis 

• AFP, Beijing 

US President-elect Donald Trump 

has at least 45 trademark applications 

pending in China, each of 

which could potentially violate the 

American constitution, underlining 

possible conflicts of interest in his 

relations with the Asian giant. 

Since his election, Trump has 

angered Beijing by reaching out to 

Taiwan, appointing China sceptics 

and threatening punitive tariffs on 

the country’s exports. But that has 

not stopped him from quietly working 

to secure the rights to his name 

in the world’s second largest economy, 

filing trademark applications as 

recently as June. 

The businessman turned politician 

already holds at least 72 marks 

in China, part of an extensive, international 

portfolio that forms a central 

pillar of his enormous wealth. 

He filed for an additional 42 in 

April, almost a year after declaring 

his presidential run, Chinese 

government data shows, and three 

more around two months later, 

having effectively clinched the Republican 

nomination. 

All were filed in his own name 

and registered at his Trump Tower 

address in New York. 

The approval process typically 

takes 12 to 18 months, so Chinese 

authorities will only make their decision 

long after he takes office later 

this month. 

Experts from across the US political 

spectrum said the applications 

could put Trump on a collision 

course with the US constitution: 

article 1, section 9, clause 8 forbids 

federal officials from receiving a gift 

or “emolument” - a salary, fee or 

profit - from a foreign government. 

The constitution has no “specified 

remedy” for a breach, added 

Jay Wexler, a constitutional law 

scholar at Boston University. However, 

he said “in my view, impeachment 

would be the proper remedy 

for a serious violation”. 

Trademark Ivana 

During his White House bid, Trump 

frequently excoriated China, accusing 

it of “raping” the US with unfair 

trade and fiscal policies. But that 

has not stopped the president-elect, 

known for his hardball negotiating 

tactics, quietly pursuing business 

deals in the country, including with 

This photo taken on January 10 shows past advertisements for a magazine 

showing various cover stories, including ones featuring US President-elect Donald 

Trump, at a newsstand in Shanghai 

AFP 

its government. 

Trump has claimed his intellectual 

property (IP) is worth $3.3bn, 

accounting for roughly a third of 

the $10bn-plus fortune he reported 

in a July 2015 statement. 

He also holds at least five Chinese 

trademarks on the name of his 

ex-wife Ivana, the first of them registered 

in 2005, more than a decade 

after their divorce. 

The new applications claim the 

right to the words “Trump” and 

“Donald Trump” in a variety of 

businesses, as well as several variations 

of his name in Chinese. 

IP enforcement in China is generally 

considered weak, and the 

system has left companies from 

New Balance to Apple unable to 

fend off speculators. 

But the CEO of Trump’s hotel 

business, Eric Danziger, has said 

it is seeking between 20-30 hotel 

deals there, and AFP previously 

reported its negotiations with the 

country’s largest state-owned enterprise, 

State Grid. 

Government trademark databases 

elsewhere in Asia show Trump 

personally owns trademarks in 

Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as 

India and Indonesia, where he has 

major licensing deals. • 

Trump blasts 

intel agencies 

over report on 

Russia ties 


Hours before his first news conference 

as president-elect, Donald 

Trump on Wednesday blasted US intelligence 

agencies, blaming them for 

leaking unsubstantiated reports on 

his relationship with Russia and demanding, 

“Are we living in Nazi Germany?,’’ 

reports the Associated Press. 

Media outlets reported on the 

document late Tuesday, and Trump 

quickly took to Twitter to denounce 

it as “fake news.” He suggested that 

he’s being persecuted for defeating 

other GOP presidential hopefuls 

and Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 

election. 

“I win an election easily, a great 

‘movement’ is verified, and crooked 

opponents try to belittle our victory 

with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state!” he 

tweeted early Wednesday. “Intelligence 

agencies should never have 

allowed this fake news to ‘leak’ into 

the public. One last shot at me. Are 

we living in Nazi Germany?” •

Advertisement 

11 


DT

DT 

12 

Business 


CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: WEDNESDAY 

DSE Broad Index 5,333.9 1.1% ▲ Index 1,245.9 0.4% ▲ 30 Index 1,908.4 0.7% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 17,045.6 0.4% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 513.1 53.6% ▲ 

CSE All Share Index 16,403.1 1.0% ▲ 30 Index 14,291.6 0.9% ▲ Selected Index 9,926.5 0.9% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 969.5 -11.0% ▼ Turnover in Mn Vol 38.4 7.0% ▲ 

Mobile phone 

banking limit 

of transaction 

lowered 

• Asif Showkat Kallol 

Bangladesh Bank has lowered the 

limit of cash withdrawal in mobile 

phone transaction system. 

The step has been taken on the 

backdrop of the sytem being used 

by a group to gain benefits “illegally,” 

said Bangladesh Bank officials. 

According to a circular issued by 

the central bank on Wednesday, the 

maximum cash of Tk 10,000 can be 

withdrawn per day. 

The maximum cash out per day 

will be Tk 10,000. In the mobile 

banking, a client can have only 

one account. 

One person can withdraw Tk 

10,000 per day at the maximum and 

maximum two takes for cash out. 

The maximum withdrawal will 

be Tk50,000 at a maximum of 10 

takes. Earlier, the cash-out limit 

from agent was Tk25,000 at three 

takes and Tk 1.50 lakh per month in 

10 takes. 

For ATM encashment, the 

amount was Tk20,000 maximum 

per day. The cash receipt can be 

transferred and withdrawn not more 

than Tk 5,000 in the first 24 hours . 

For withdrawing cash of 

Tk5,000 and for proper verification, 

photocopy of national identity 

card needs to be shown to the 

mobile banking agent before withdrawal. 

• 

Aftab new BB 

director 

• Tribune Business Desk 

The government 

has appointed 

leading 

business 

person Aftab 

ul Islam as the 

new director 

of Bangladesh 

Bank for a 

three-year term. 

Bank and Financial Institutions 

Division of the Finance Ministry 

recently issued a notification in 

this regard. 

Aftab ul Islam has been appointed 

as a director the central bank as per 

provision of the Bangladesh Bank 

Order 1972, reads the notification. 

With 36 years of field experience 

in the private sector, he also led 

several trade bodies including the 

American Chamber of Commerce 

(AmCham) in Bangladesh. • 

Visitors watch opetaion of a handloom at the Development Fair 2017 at Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka. The fair was held across the country on January 9-11 marking the 

Home Coming Day of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN 

Fair ends with new promises 

• Afrose Jahan Chaity 

Biman wins Malaysian award 


Biman Bangladesh Airlines 

has won the prestigious 

Foreign Airline of the year 

2015 award from Kuala 

Lumpur International Airport 

(KLIA) authorities, 

Biman said in a statement 

yesterday. 

The award is given by 

The three-day long Development 

Fair 2017 held across Bangladesh 

concluded yesterday. 

Industries Minister Amir Hossain 

Amu attended the closing 

ceremony as the chief guest at the 

Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 

inaugurated the fair on January 

9, which featured the achievements 

of various government and 

non-government organisations 

and also promoted the government’s 

long-term initiatives titled 

Vision 2021 and Vision 2041. 

It also laid emphasis on furthering 

the progress of Sustainable Development 

Goals (SDGs). The fair 

was held in all 64 districts and 490 

upazilas across the country. 

District Administration of Dhaka 

organised the fair in Dhaka with 

79 stalls. 

In his address at the closing ceremony 

of the fair, Industries Minister 

Amir Hossain Amu said: “It is 

not about the economic development 

alone, it is also about ensuring 

educational and social development 

in the country.” 

The minister also highlighted 

the key steps taken by the government 

over the last eight years that 

aimed to strengthen the country’s 

the KLIA management, 

Malaysia based on the 

highest numbers of passengers 

carried between 

Kuala Lumpur and Southeast 

Asian regions, said 

Shakil Meraj, general manager 

(PR) of Biman. 

Biman Country Manager 

for Malaysia Mohammed 

Salahuddin received 

the award recently from 

YB Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong 

Lai, minister of transport, 

Malaysia, at a grand award 

ceremony held in Kuala 

Lumpur. 

KLIA is one of the 

busiest airports in the 

world. It handled 49m 

passengers and over 

3,54,000 in 2015. • 

development. 

“I am not trying to present a political 

rhetoric, but simply illustrating 

the actual developments of our 

country,” the minister added. 

Emphasising the safety of citizens, 

the minister said: “Stalls from 

defense and law enforcement agencies 

at the fair should give the public 

confidence about the increased 

measures of national security.” 

The minister also urged 

non-governmental organisations 

to stay firmly committed to development 

goals. 

Dhaka North City Corporation 

Mayor Annisul Huq was also present 

at the event. He said: “The progress 

that our country has made 

over the last 40 years is simply outstanding.” 

In his speech, Huq stressed 

that among other achievements, 

the empowerment of Bangladeshi 

women is a significant one. 

“The increases in national 

budget clearly demonstrates the 

degree of improvement over the 

past few years,” he added. 

Senior Commerce Secretary 

Hedayet Ullah Al Mamun, Director 

General of Prime Minister’s Office 

Kabir Bin Anwar and Police Super 

Shah Mizan Shafiur Rahman, 

among others, also spoke at the 

concluding ceremony. •

Business 13 

DT 


DSE crosses 5,300 

mark with record 

transaction 


The broader price index 

of Dhaka Stock Exchange 

(DSE) yesterday crossed the 

5,300-point mark with surging 

the daily transaction to a new 

high, reports BSS. 

DSEX, the major price index 

of DSE, added 56.48 points 

at close to finish the day at 

5,333.88 which was the highest 

after October 12, 2014 when it 

was closed 5,334.04 which was 

the highest after introducing 

the DSEX on 27 January, 2013. 

The DSES for Shariah-based 

companies and DS30 for the 

blue-chip scrips finished the 

day marginally up at 1245.85 

and 1908.37 respectively. 

The daily transaction volume 

reached 57.95 crore 

shares, which was the highest 

in any previous transaction of 

the DSE. 

The transaction value also 

surged to Tk1,704.56 crore, the 

highest after Tk1,804.74 crore 

traded on July 28, 2011. Out 

of the day’s 326 traded issues, 

194 gained against 117 losing 

securities. 

The large-cap securities 

were on the top of the upward 

trend with 165 securities of this 

cap category closing higher. 

The day’s major gainers 

were Premier Bank, Northern 

Insurance, IFIC Bank, Central 

Insurance and First Prime Finance 

Mutual Fund. 

The major losers included 

Aramit Cement, Miracle Industry, 

RSRM Steel, Fareast 

Knitting and Anlima Yearn. 

Beximco Limited topped 

the turnover leaders followed 

by Ifad Autos, Aman Feeds, 

Desco Limited and RSRM Steel. 

Chittagong Stock Exchange 

(CSE) also followed the same 

trend with its CASPI index 

ending 155.47 points up at 

16,403.09. 

The daily trade value rose 

to Tk96.95 crore. Out of the 

day’s 271 issues traded, 164 

closed up against 97 lagging 

securities. • 

New Huawei service centre at Bashundhara 


Smartphone manufacturer Huawei 

has opened a new service centre the 

Bashundhara City Shopping Complex 

in Dhaka. 

The service centre will offer free 

service for Huawei products with warranty, 

but customers will also get service 

for out-of-warranty products at 

an affordable cost, said a press release. 

Huawei Director of Device Business 

for Bangladesh Ingmar Wang and other 

top brass of the company were present 

during the opening ceremony of 

the centre. 

“We are very happy to have this new 

service center open at a key shopping 

complex for the convenience of our 

customers,” Ingmar said in his address. 

Huawei has quickly won the trust 

of Bangladeshi consumers through 

selling powerful smartphones and 

providing smooth after-sale services, 

he added. 

The company high-up hopes that 

the service centre will help the brand 

ensure necessary and instant services 

to its rapidly increasing customer 

base. • 

Bangladesh Tea Expo 

begins today 


The first-ever Bangladesh Tea 

Expo 2017 begins today with an 

aim to promote local tea on local 

and international markets. 

During the three-day exposition, 

the history, culture and 

heritage of Bangladeshi tea 

industry as well as its relation 

with tourism sector would be 

showcased. 

Finance Minister Abul Maal 

Abdul Muhith is expected to 

open the expo at the International 

Convention Center Bashundhara 

in Dhaka as the chief guest. 

Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) is 

organising the event. 

Commerce Minister Tofail 

Ahmed and State Minister 

for Finance and Planning MA 

Mannan will be present as special 

guests. 

The expo will help to promote 

diversification of tea and 

tea products, explore the culture 

of tea gardens, expansion 

and publicity of the country’s 

tea and tourism industry, the 

organiser said. 

There will be seminars and 

workshops on tea and the local 

popular singers will perform 

every evening. 

In Bangladesh, domestic 

tea consumption has been rising 

by more than 3% annually, 

in line with economic growth 

while the country exports a 

small quantity of tea, mainly to 

United Arab Emirates and Saudi 

Arabia markets where many 

Bangladeshi expatriates live. 

Bangladesh Tea Sangshad, 

City Group, Duncan Brothers, 

Finley Tea, HRC, Ispahani and 

Seylon Tea are the co-sponsoring 

the expo. 

G-TV, The Daily Star, Radio 

Foorti and Bangla Tribune are 

the promotional partners of 

the expo. 

The fair will remain open 

from 10:00am to 10:00pm 

every day. Anyone can visit 

the expo through registration 

at ticketchai.com, which is 

free of cost. 

Tea production in this year 

has increased by record quantity, 

as tea production has exceeded 

80m kg. Bangladesh 

produced 68m kg of tea last 

year against the domestic demand 

of 68m kg. The time-befitting 

measures taken by the 

government were helpful in 

meeting the local demand, 

said the people concerned. •

14 


DT 

Business 

World Bank sees higher 2017 global growth, 

uncertainty over US policy 

• Reuters 

The World Bank said global growth 

would accelerate slightly as recovering 

oil and commodity prices 

ease pressures on emerging-market 

commodity exporters and painful 

recessions in Brazil and Russia 

come to an end. 

In its latest Global Economic 

Prospects report, the multilateral 

lender said it expected 2017 real 

gross domestic product growth to 

rebound to 2.7% from a post-financial 

crisis low of 2.3% last year. 

Growth in advanced economies 

is expected to edge up to 1.8% in 

2017 from 1.6% in 2016, the World 

Bank said, while emerging and 

developing economies will see 

growth accelerate to 4.2% this year 

from 3.4% last year. 

“After years of disappointing 

global growth, we are encouraged 

to see stronger economic prospects 

on the horizon,” World Bank Group 

President Jim Yong Kim said in a 

statement. “Now is the time to take 

advantage of this momentum and 

increase investments in infrastructure 

and people.” 

US President-elect Donald Trump tours a Carrier factory with Vice President-elect Mike Pence in Indianapolis 

However, there was considerable 

uncertainty surrounding the 

forecasts, which did not incorporate 

the effects of various policy 

proposals from US President-elect 

Donald Trump, which are expected 

to include increased fiscal stimulus 

from tax cuts and infrastructure 

REUTERS 

spending, and a more protectionist 

trade stance. 

The World Bank forecasts 2017 

US growth at 2.2% versus 1.6% in 

2016, but the increase could be 

considerably larger - and have effects 

far beyond US shores. 

“A surge in US growth - whether 

due to expansionary fiscal policies 

or other reasons - could provide 

a significant boost to the global 

economy,” the bank said. 

However, this could lead to 

higher interest rates and tighter financial 

conditions that would have 

adverse effects on some emerging 

market countries that depend 

heavily on external financing. 

It added that lingering uncertainty 

over the course of US economic 

policy could weigh on global 

growth by keeping investment 

money on the sidelines until there 

is more policy clarity. 

The World Bank said China’s 

growth would continue to slow, 

easing to 6.2% in 2017 from 6.7% in 

2016, but growth would edge higher 

in some Southeast Asian economies, 

including Indonesia and Thailand. 

India’s strong growth is expected 

to accelerate, rising to 7.6% in 

2017 from 7% in 2016 as reforms 

ease domestic supply bottlenecks 

and increase productivity. •

Business 15 

DT 


WEF: Economic 

inequality top 

global risk 

• AFP, Geneva 

Rising income inequality is 

seen as the top risk for the 

global economy in 2017, with 

reforms to market capitalism 

increasingly viewed as necessary 

to ward off a populist 

backlash, the World Economic 

Forum said yesterday . 

A survey for the WEF’s Global 

Risks Report, published a 

week before the group’s annual 

gathering of the world’s business 

and political elites in the 

luxury Swiss ski resort of Davos, 

said experts believe rising income 

and wealth disparity will 

be the most important trend 

in determining global developments 

over the next 10 years. 

“This points to the need 

for reviving economic growth, 

but the growing mood of anti-establishment 

populism 

suggests we may have passed 

the stage where this alone 

CORPORATE NEWS 

would remedy fractures in society: 

reforming market capitalism 

must also be added to 

the agenda,” said the report. 

WEF experts viewed with 

particular concern the weak 

recovery from the global economic 

crisis a decade ago that 

has left more people unemployed 

or underemployed. 

Noting the electoral surprises 

of 2016 and emergence 

into the mainstream of parties 

stressing national sovereignty 

and traditional values across 

Europe and beyond, survey 

respondents also ranked increasing 

polarisation and intensifying 

national sentiment 

among the top five risks to the 

global economy. 

The report also pointed to 

rapid changes in social attitudes 

that meant many voters 

were feeling left behind in their 

own countries, undermining 

social and political cohesion. • 

Dhaka Bank Limited 

recently promoted Emranul 

Huq as the bank’s additional 

managing director, said a 

press release. Huq started 

his career in 1986 

Transcom Beverages Ltd has recently held its annual conference, said a 

press release. The company’s chairperson, Latifur Rahman was present 

at the conference 

Green Delta Insurance has recently settled a crop insurance claim in 

Khulna, said a press release. The company’s AMD, Syed Moinuddin 

Ahmed was present on the occasion 

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Dhaka Tribune

16 


DT 

Feature 

Things to do when you’re stuck in 

traffic and have nowhere to escape 

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK 

• Nowsheen Nowar Ahmed 

If you’re lucky like me and any 

of the other 6.7 million people 

living in Dhaka, you may have 

spent the majority of your life in 

traffic. It can get pretty depressing/ 

maddening/homicidal-inducing, 

so you need to distract yourself 

to get through it. No one loves 

sitting in the car, stagnant behind 

the wheel. Nothing is going to 

make the wait time anything 

less than mind-numbing, but 

you might as well try to squeeze 

some productivity from those idle 

hours. Don’t look at your stalled 

commute as time spent in a steel 

trap with no hope of escape. Think 

of it as time away from the stresses 

of the outside world, your heated 

and/or air conditioned sanctuary. 

This can be a time for selfimprovement 

and reflection. 

Here’s what to do when you’re 

stuck in traffic. 

How’s life? Ask yourself 

I know this is probably the worst 

time to think how life’s going on, 

because of course, you’re stuck 

in a four-wheeled box and there’s 

no way out. But why not? Ease 

yourself a little and think. There 

are a lot of help gurus out there 

who are going to tell you this is 

a bad idea. What do they know? 

Look, you have to consider your 

shortcomings at some point. It’s 

only human. Why not do so while 

you have nothing else going on, 

instead of at 7:30am, when you are 

trying to grab those last precious 

few hours of sleep before you have 

to go back to that soul-sucking job 

that provides nothing meaningful 

to society? We aren’t trying to 

force you into despair, we’re just 

suggesting you schedule your 

despair a little better. 

Plan your meals for the day 

“Nobody panics when things 

go according to plan,” says the 

one and only “Joker” from Dark 

Knight. So while you just started 

off after having breakfast, plan 

ahead your meals for the day, so 

you don’t reach your workplace 

or elsewhere, with a cranky mood 

and empty stomach, bashing out 

on everyone. 

Think of it as time away from the stresses 

of the outside world, your heated and/or air 

conditioned sanctuary. This can be a time for 

self-improvement and reflection 

Meditate 

We’re not talking about taking 

a nap. In the fast-paced grind 

that we all subject ourselves to 

these days, it is important to 

find a little space to breathe. The 

technological advancements of the 

last few years have made it so that 

we have precious few excuses left 

for not immediately responding 

to phone calls and emails. The 

last great excuse we have is “I 

was driving.” Use this to your 

advantage and shut down for a few 

minutes while waiting for traffic to 

pick back up. If you do fall asleep, 

don’t worry – angry car horns and 

furious strings of obscenities will 

drag you back to Earth, shattering 

the inner-peace you have found, 

injecting you back into the rat race. 

Become your own DJ 

While you have to foresight with 

that iPhone connected to your 

car speakers, it’s time for you 

to become your own Armin Van 

Burren. Yes by that, I mean, play 

anything and everything that goes 

with your mood, because it’s a “no 

judgement” zone. It will help you 

hang on to your sanity that much 

longer. 

Read a book 

That’s right. We are talking about 

a book – not a list of funny videos 

on 9GAG, not a blog post about 

how Leonardo Di Caprio’s Oscar 

speech impacted the lifetime ecofriendly 

enviroment or African 

animals, not tweets from the cast 

of La La Land – an actual book. 

So much information is flung 

at us from an endless parade of 

shiny screens every day that it is 

easy to go weeks without reading 

something of substance. With the 

Google Glass on the way, you’ll 

never be without an excuse to read 

superficial blog content instead of 

finally getting around to Tolstoy. 

Take the initiative and kill 

your bad habits 

Food, cigarettes, alcohol – 

whatever your vice, this is the 

perfect time to start kicking it. 

This is one time that you can’t 

cheat on your commitments 

by grabbing that Twinkie you 

stowed in the sock drawer or that 

fifth of whiskey you keep taped 

underneath your shoe rack. Sure, 

you can cheat and keep a pack of 

menthols in the glove, but all you 

have to do to test your resolve is 

to strip your car of your demons 

when you wake up in the morning. 

Before you employ this strategy, 

be honest with yourself about your 

stress levels. It would be great 

to make it a few hours without 

taking a drink, but not if it is going 

to push you toward vehicular 

manslaughter.•

Feature 

17 


DT 

On the future of 3D printing 

• Features Desk 

3D printing, also known as additive 

manufacturing (AM), has attracted 

global attention since the concept 

started becoming news in early 

2010, even though the technology 

has been around since the 1980s. 

Today, the use of 3D printing 

is slowly but surely gaining 

popularity, not only for recreation 

or educational purposes, but 

also for large scale industrial 

manufacturing. 

How exactly has it impacted 

global trends? Is it good enough to 

bring about significant disruptive 

changes in production? If so, to 

what extent? DHL, the global 

market leader in the logistics 

industry, decided to look for 

definitive answers to these 

questions, which has resulted in 

the recent launch of the Trend 

Report titled ‘3D Printing and the 

Future of Supply Chains.’ 

The report addresses important 

current aspects of 3D printing, 

including the present state and 

application of the technology, 

competitive advantages that can be 

gained by adopting the technology, 

crucial success factors for the 

widespread adoption of 3D printing, 

and opportunities for 3D printing 

in future supply chains. Most 

importantly, the report finds an 

answer to whether the development 

of 3D printing would eventually 

replace traditional manufacturing 

methods entirely, bringing about 

a major disruptive change across 

industries worldwide. 

Consultancy firm McKinsey 

estimates that the 3D printing 

market will grow between 

US$180 billion and US$490 

billion by 2025, indicating a 

potentially widespread adoption 

of the technology by industries 

worldwide. The report, however, 

has concluded that 3D printing 

is more likely to complement 

rather than entirely substitute 

traditional manufacturing 

methods. This is because while 3D 

printing can be used to produce 

highly sophisticated and complex 

products, not all products can 

be manufactured using the 

technology. The conclusion is 

supported by a recent survey 

which revealed that 38% of 

companies anticipate using 3D 

printing in their serial production 

within five years but not 

necessarily to completely replace 

traditional manufacturing. 

This does not take away 

from 3D printing’s potential to 

cause substantial disruption in 

production methods. Aviation, 

automotive, and medical and 

healthcare industries have already 

embraced the technology. Due 

to its precision in production, 3D 

printing is being used to produce 

a variety of components and parts 

of different equipment pertinent 

to these industries which often 

require components that are 

sophisticated and sensitive to 

inaccuracies in measurements of 

production. 3D printing allows for 

greater customisation, produces 

lesser waste, and enables more 

localised manufacturing and 

delivery. This has encouraged 

companies from various industries 

to assess the scope of using the 

technology for manufacturing and 

a potential source of new business 

models. 

However, certain challenges 

remain. Production costs can 

be prohibitively high while 

quality can be compromised 

in case of creating a single 

object using multiple materials. 

Current printers can handle 

up to three materials at a time. 

Moreover, greater processing 

speed compared to traditional 

methods, warranty and liability 

issues, intellectual property 

challenges, and high cost of 3D 

printers, materials, and scanning 

are still inherent challenges that 

the technology faces. Continuous 

innovation is addressing and 

mitigating these challenges by 

enhancing the capabilities of this 

technology, while simultaneously 

lowering cost of production and 

ensuring greater quality of output. 

For instance, the average price of 

3D printers dropped by around 

30% between 2010 and 2016. 

Further drops are expected at an 

annual rate of 6% till 2019. 

On an individual level, 3D 

printing has started proving its 

usefulness. The technology can 

be used to produce essential 

products ranging from children’s 

toys to earphones. What truly 

sets 3D printing apart is how 

much freedom it allows the maker 

to design and print their own 

products instead of purchasing 

ready-made products. 

Nooruddin Chowdhury, 

Country Manager of DHL Global 

Forwarding Bangladesh said, 

“With time, we are discovering 

new usage for 3D printing. 

Globally, the range of applications 

for the technology is expanding 

everyday across industries 

and individual consumers. As 

the technology is still in its 

adolescence, its immense benefits 

and potential are still accompanied 

by a few challenges. However, 

continuing innovation ensures 

PHOTOS: COURTESY 

that the technology is growing 

in use every day. The time isn’t 

far when the technology will be 

adopted by industries around the 

world, including Bangladesh.” 

The DHL Trend Report focuses 

on these aspects in detail, using 

examples of corporations across 

industries that are utilising the 

applications of 3D printing to 

introduce greater efficiency in 

production. This global trend 

gives industries in Bangladesh a 

sign to embrace the technology 

and upgrade their production 

methods. University students are 

being taught about the various 

benefits of the technology, as 

well as being trained on how to 

use the technology at a basic 

level. Bangladesh has been 

experiencing a healthy economic 

growth rate over the years, and is 

poised as the next big investment 

destination. Local enterprises 

are also flourishing from a 

growing market and favourable 

government policies. The rise of 

the middle class means greater 

purchasing power and hence 

greater demand. It may not be 

long that innovative technologies 

like 3D printing may become an 

integral part of not only industrial 

production, but also citizens at 

large in the country. •

18 


DT 

Education 

British Council reveals impacts of INSPIRE project 

In a celebration program held on 

January 9, at their premises on 

Fuller Road, The British Council 

revealed the impacts of their 

INSPIRE Project. A joint project 

of the British Council and the 

University Grants Commission 

(UGC) Bangladesh, INSPIRE 

stands for International Strategic 

Partnerships in Research and 

Education. 

INSPIRE is a British Council 

project designed to grow highlevel 

strategic relationships 

between UK and Bangladeshi 

higher education institutions 

which began in 2009 in a number 

of strategically selected countries, 

one of which was Bangladesh. 

The INSPIRE project, launched 

in 2009 in Bangladesh with 

nine projects, is closing to 

end with sustainable strategic 

partnerships that have worked 

in the following priority subject 

areas: Biotechnology and Genetic 

Engineering, English Language 

with a focus on Teaching 

Methodology, Renewable and 

Alternative Energy, Environment 

and Climate Change, Theatre and 

Fashion and Fine Arts. In total, 

INSPIRE has provided support 

to 23 projects involving 20 

universities in Bangladesh and 23 

universities in the UK. The last of 

the INSPIRE projects are due to be 

completed in 2018. 

Minister for Education Nurul 

Islam Nahid MP was present at 

the program as chief guest, along 

with special guest Professor Abdul 

Mannan, Chairman of the UGC. 

In addition, Barbara Wickham, 

Country Director, British Council, 

project leads of INSPIRE, external 

consultants and British Council 

officials were present at the 

program. 

Barbara Wickham, Country 

Director, British Council said “We 

are overwhelmed by the impact of 

INSPIRE on individuals, insitutions, 

higher education sector and the 

society more generally. In addition, 

it created an excellent platform 

to build further collaboration 

towards strengthening the society. 

It also fosterted technology 

transfer, policy development, and 

innovation.” 

Education Minister Nurul 

Islam Nahid said “The projects 

played a key role in developing 

the higher education sector 

through a sustainable partnership 

between Bangladesh and UK. The 

impact of the projects is vast in 

magnitude, and when seen from a 

macro perspective the impact will 

culminate in sustainable social 

development.” 

The objective of the impact 

revelation program was to 

share the results of the impact 

assessment with the sponsors and 

the implementers. In addition, 

the result will help the British 

Council reflect on and learn 

from the outcomes to determine 

appropriate follow up action in 

light of all the achievements. 

A review was conducted by 

PHOTO: COURTESY 

the British Council (and led by a 

UK consultant) showed that the 

strategic partnership is an effective 

initiative, both in terms of its scale 

and the impact created in both the 

participating countries. 

In 2016 an external consultant 

conducted an impact assessment 

of the program with the help of 

the project managers in both 

Bangladesh and UK. • 

Agami Education Foundation holds first teachers training session in Dhaka 

Agami Education Foundation 

(AEF) have successfully completed 

its first “Teachers’ Training on 

Teaching Science by Hands- 

On Practice”, in a five day long 

program spanning from 17 to 21 

December, 2016. The coordinator 

of the Teachers’ Training Program 

was Nafisa Khanam, executive 

director, Agami Education 

Foundation. She also acted as a 

resource person, accompanied by 

Alamgir Hossain from Viqarunnisa 

Noon School and College and 

Roseline Sara Gomes from Holy 

Cross School. 

In 2012, in order to keep up 

the standard of education, the 

National Curriculum and Textbook 

Board, Bangladesh changed the 

textbooks and the curriculum, 

which has often proved to be 

difficult for the teachers to 

cope up with. Therefore, the 

Government of Bangladesh took a 

few initiatives in 2016 to train the 

teachers nationwide, and on the 

non-governmental side, Agami 

Education Foundation is the first 

and only organisation to provide 

such an opportunity. 

Ten trainee teachers attended 

the program. The teachers teach 

science to students of class six, 

therefore they received training on 

various aspects of class six science 

curriculum. All of them presented 

their skills of teaching science 

by means of using practical 

instruments in a simulation class. 

Modern-day classrooms 

require teachers who do not limit 

themselves, but rather would 

engage and cooperate with the 

students while making the whole 


process of learning attractive 

and enjoyable. The simulations 

worked as an excellent grooming 

session for that, where a teacher 

would give his/her demo and 

all the other teachers would act 

as students, whence after each 

teacher’s simulation class, other 

teachers would evaluate him/her. 

It was greatly helpful in finding 

out and enhancing the potentials 

of the teachers, as well as spotting 

where they falter and making 

them better. 

The program concluded with 

the hope that the dissemination 

of training and instruments would 

be helpful in not only enhancing 

the students’ interests for science, 

but also in enhancing the quality 

of education in the schools 

concerned, resonating a key 

theme of Agami – ensuring quality 

education for all. •

Biz Info 

19 


DT 

| partnership | 

Access to Information (a2i) Programme, Bishwo Shahitto Kendro 

and Children’s Film Society Bangladesh sign MOU 

The Access to Information (a2i) 

Programme of Prime Minister’s 

office has taken an initiative to 

enhance students’ creativity, 

to nourish their talent and to 

ensure healthy environment for 

entertainment. This initiative 

will contribute as a helpful 

content to enhance the capacity 

of textbooks. On January 9, 2017, 

two separate Memorandum of 

Understanding (MoU) were signed 

with Bishwo Sahitto Kendro 

(BSK) and Children’s Film Society 

(CFS), Bangladesh at SSF Briefing 

Room, Prime Minister’s Office. 


Kabir Bin Anwar, director general 

(administration) and project 

director of a2i Program, Prime 

Minister’s Office; Prof Abdullah 

Abu Sayeed, chairman and chief 

executive of BSK, and Munira 

Morshed Munni, general secretary 

of CFS, Bangladesh signed the 

MoU on be half of their respective 

organisations. 

In order to implement the 

vision 2021, a2i Programme, 

with technical support of 

the Computer Science and 

Engineering (CSE) department of 

Shahjalal University of Science 

and Technolgy (SUST), has taken 

this initiative of developing 

a web based platform named 

“Kishore Connect” (Domain: 

Konnect.bangla) to support 

quality education, learning 

content and textbooks under 

the guidance and support of 

popular writer and educationist 

Professor Muhammed Zafar Iqbal. 

In continuation to that, BSK and 

CFS have decided to share their 

creative contents in this portal. 

At present, due to the 

availability of ICT and the 

expansion of the internet; 

students are engaged in 

unnecessary internet based 

activity and for that, a lot of time 

is wasted. But, due to the lack of 

adequate educational materials 

and platforms in Bengali language, 

many are prone to the misuse 

of ICT and are facing different 

types of social problems in their 

lives. However, teachers from 

different parts of the country 

can share digital content using 

teachers’ portal even though there 

is scarcity of such platforms for 

students in the country. In this 

regard, BSK and CFS, Bangladesh 

will provide support sharing 

books, educational magazines, 

ebook library, educational films, 

and multimedia content, etc, 

following specific guidelines in 

order to create a national online 

platform for students. 

It is worth mentioning that a2i 

Programme, with the technical 

help of UNDP and USAID, is going 

to inaugurate the konnect.bangla 

platform for students in February, 

the month of language, which 

is extensively significant for the 

sacrifice of our language martyrs. 

Anir Chowdhury, policy adviser, 

a2i Programme; Naimuzzaman 

Mukta, local development 

specialist, a2i Programme; senior 

officials from Bishwo Shahitto 

Kendro and Children Film Society 

Bangladesh; and journalists from 

different media outlets were 

present at the ceremony. • 

| anniversary | 

Colours FM 101.6 celebrates its 3rd birthday 

The 10th of January, has always 

been a special date for the 

ColoursFM family. One of the 

most popular FM radio stations 

in the country, ColoursFM 101.6 

celebrated their third anniversary 

with their advisers, colleagues, 

guests, and listeners on that day. 

Tune Bangladesh Limited 

launched its radio station, 

ColoursFM 101.6 on January 10, 

2014 at 6pm. It has been three 

colourful years since the station 

went on air. ColoursFM 101.6 

offers a wide variety of programs 

that can be related by diverse 

listeners, especially focusing to 


promote women empowerment 

in every sector of the society. 

ColoursFM has seen great 

response from their well-wishers, 

and gathered healthy popularity 

from the listeners in the past 

three years. 

Colours FM 101.6 cut their cake 

on their anniversary, at 6pm this 

year to mark the 

ocassion. Raquib Md Fakhrul – 

Managing Director of ColoursFM, 

Head of Operation –Tasnuva 

Ahmed, media personality Abdun 

Noor Tushar, Sandipan, Shahed, 

fashion designer Lipi Khandakar, 

beautician Afroza Parvin, 

listeners, participants of different 

shows, guests, hosts, performers, 

musicians, well-wishers, and the 

entire ColoursFM family were 

also present to celebrate at the 

station. 

In 2016, ColoursFM 101.6 won 

the “FM Radio Station of the 

year.” This prestigious award is 

conferred by the World 

Marketing Congress in 

conjunction with CMO Asia. They 

won the award for their efforts in 

promoting gender equality and 

women’s rights, as their mission 

is to promote equal opportunity 

and participation of women in 

socio-economic spheres of the 

country. 

ColoursFM 101.6 also hosted 

an in-house party to celebrate 

the ocassion. The party started 

at 4pm and continued till 9pm, 

featuring special programs with 

the participation of listeners, 

well-wishers, advisors, and guest 

RJs. The day was celebrated 

with a lot of fun events, live 

performances, and of course, 

a lot of colours! The theme of 

the party this year, was “Get 

Coloured with 101.6.”• 

| food | 

Order amazing cakes from 

Banee’s Creation 

Baking has become an 

increasingly popular activity 

among the women of Dhaka 

city over the last decade, 

in pace with an increased 

demand for baked desserts. 

The advent of the internet 

has given many access to 

pursuing this hobby. This led 

to more and more women 

turning their hobbies into 

very successful businesses 

of baking and selling 

customised baked goods, 

to meet the needs of an 

enthusiastic urban populace. 

Banee’s Creation started 

out small with a Facebook 

page, and is now serving 

thousands of sweet toothed 

customers across the city. 

“Most times the customers come 

to me with an idea, and it is my 

job to make that idea come true. 

As I am a perfectionist, every cake 

I make has to be perfect in every 

way,” says Tahmina Ahmed Banee, 

the owner. 

Banee’s Creation has a wide 

array of sweet delicacies, starting 


from various flavours of cakes 

to cupcakes. Their specialities 

are the delicious red velvet 

cheesecakes, birthday/ wedding 

cakes, mud cakes, and chocolate 

Oreo cheesecakes. They are based 

in Kalabagan. 

Contact- 01911-667844 

FB link- https://www.facebook. 

com/BaneesCreation/ •

DT 

20 

Editorial 


TODAY 

A tale of two trains 

Make the rail network work for 

Bangladeshis properly, and added 

economic growth and FDI will follow 

PAGE 21 

Something got lost 

along the way 

It is no more a village where we seek 

refuge from the artifice of the heartless 

city life. It has lost its character of love, 

simplicity, and innocence 

PAGE 22 

BIGSTOCK 

Is Putin trying to 

make Libya 

a Russian satellite? 

Putin has benefitted immensely from 

the way in which the wave of refugees 

from Syria into Europe has destabilised 

the political edifice of the European 

Union, and the internal politics of many 

European member states 

PAGE 23 

Be heard 

Write to Dhaka Tribune 

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The views expressed in opinion 

articles are those of the authors 

alone and they are not the 

official view of Dhaka Tribune 

or its publisher. 

In it together 

With the four-day long Gobeshona Conference coming to a close 

yesterday, it is more important than ever that Bangladesh decides 

to focus on the detrimental effects of climate change. 

The Gobeshona Conference, a network for research on climate 

change specific to Bangladesh, can play a crucial role in making research on 

climate change more effective. 

The negative effects of climate change are plain and clear -- and no more so 

than in Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable nations when it comes to these 

changes. 

The damage caused by climate change is extensive and far-reaching. It 

affects the livelihoods of people, hinders economic progress, and costs the 

world almost $2 trillion dollars in lost revenue. 

Additionally, climate change leads to forced migration, eroding arable land, 

taking away land mass away from an already overpopulated country. 

It is crucial that conferences such as the Gobeshona Conference are allowed 

to take place, and the issues discussed are brought to light. There is constant 

research and progress in the long-standing fight against climate change, and it 

is up to the Bangladeshi government to recognise these elements and embrace 

them. 

In terms of policy, Bangladesh already lags behind, with a recent report 

showing that the air in Dhaka has dangerous levels of carcinogenic pollutants. 

Our water bodies continue to be a disgraceful sight, having become a common 

deposit for waste. To say nothing of the way we have treated the Sundarbans. 

The government has taken certain initiatives when it comes to fighting 

climate change, but these small steps are not enough. We need to take long 

strides in this matter, and ensure that Bangladesh does not fall victim to its 

own economic progress. 

All sectors of the government should set aside petty squabbles and come 

together to tackle climate change. We are all in this together. 

All sectors of the 

government should set 

aside petty squabbles and 

come together to tackle 

climate change

A tale of two trains 

Vision is the missing ingredient in Bangladesh’s rail links 

Opinion 21 

DT 


Railway projects of the 21st century need not be the domain of superpowers 

BIGSTOCK 

• Niaz Alam 

The first day of 2017 saw 

a 34-carriage train set 

off from Yiwu railway 

station in China’s Zhejiang 

province, bound for a container 

terminal at Barking on the eastern 

fringe of London. 

Estimated time to travel 

between a third and half an 

equator’s worth of track? 

Around two weeks. 

No one doubts this new route, 

the first of its type between 

China and the UK, will see its first 

shipment arrive on time within 18 

days. China Railway already runs 

a host of services overcoming the 

differing gauges of Kazakhstan, 

Russia, Belarus, and Poland into 

the heartlands of Western Europe. 

London will merely be the 15th 

European city to join the new Silk 

Routes being promoted by the 

Chinese government, thanks to the 

pre-existing Channel Tunnel. 

It is both literally and 

metaphorically a world away from 

what Bangladesh has to show in 

terms of international rail links. 

Sadly last Sunday’s fatal 

collision between a train and 

car in Gazipur which killed five 

people has brought the Dhaka- 

Kolkata Maitree Express route into 

the headlines for all the wrong 

reasons. 

But safety issues alone can 

and must be quickly addressed 

and fixed. After all, the current 

government has acknowledged 

the need to reverse decades of 

underinvestment in Bangladesh 

Railway and is, for example, 

pledged to work with the ADB to 

build a new line to Cox’s Bazar. 

What is more important in the 

long run, however, is the wider 

global picture. 

It is the paucity of ambition 

and vision inherent in the 

Dhaka-Kolkata “service” which 

passengers should be getting angry 

about. 

Make the rail network work for Bangladeshis properly, and added 

economic growth and FDI will follow. Make the system modern and 

comfortable enough to attract international praise, and in future it 

may even be India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand wanting to plug into 

Bangladesh’s transport networks 

Compare and contrast. Thanks to 

the Chinese state rail company, 

the east London freight terminal 

will attract plenty of customers 

wanting to ship goods across 

Eurasia in less than half the time 

taken by sea, for less than half the 

price of air freight. 

Not to mention its Western 

capitalist counterpart, German 

railway giant DB (Deutsche Bahn), 

which runs the actual London hub, 

and while structured as a private 

profit-making company itself, 

remains a wholly state-owned 

enterprise. 

For China and Germany then, 

the Zhejiang-London rail link 

represents a highly symbolic yet 

concrete vote of confidence in the 

business of globalisation during 

the age of impending Brexit and 

Trump. 

Meanwhile in South Asia, the 

Maitree Express route, eight years 

old but still not running seven 

days a week, continues to make a 

mockery of its name. 10 scheduled 

hours to traverse the flat 390km 

route between Dhaka Cantonment 

and Kolkata, speaks for itself. 

The mind boggles further at the 

opportunity cost of running so few 

and so slow trains between two 

cities containing so many millions 

of people. 

As for the roughly two-hour 

journey time on offer over a dozen 

times a day between London 

and Paris, (a roughly comparable 

distance), is there even any point 

in noting that contrast? 

Well yes. Of course there is, in 

this day and age, it is not easy to 

gloss over what world class looks 

like. And the Maitree Express 

is anything but. Don’t get me 

wrong, I’ve seen the requisite BBC 

documentary and still desperately 

want a ride. (Provided it’s sold as 

a heritage service -- 1970s state 

socialist cassette player experience 

edition). 

But there’s no getting away 

from the fact that India, given 

its mighty railway capacity and 

know-how, has rather dropped the 

ball on what its newspapers and 

government hail as a milestone 

in connectivity. Whilst China is 

actively competing with Japan for 

tenders to take some of the bullet 

train technologies they use at 

home to parts of Indonesia and 

Singapore, the supposedly prestige 

Maitree express route languishes 

amid bureaucratic inertia and 

outdated track. 

It’s not as if Indian Railways 

lacks engineers or technology. And 

it clearly copes well with demand 

unlike Bangladesh Railways; 

while the whole of BR struggles 

to transport 200,000 passengers 

on any given day, the Mumbai 

commuter railroad alone daily 

handles over 7.5 million people. 

Obviously, amid the behemoth 

of conflicting priorities faced by 

India’s railway system, the Maitree 

route is not going to pace up the 

agenda any time soon. 

Unless and until, that is, 

Bangladesh starts to take its own 

railway infrastructure far more 

seriously. 

Fortunately, and this is the good 

news for once, Bangladesh’s 

geography gives it huge potential 

to quickly benefit from updating 

its railway network. 

Bangladesh will not need 

Elon Musk’s mooted hyperloop 

to bring all corners of the nation 

within a few hours of each 

other. Electrification and new 

track will do the trick for most 

of the nation’s relatively short 

distances and small land area. Flat 

landscapes and high population 

density equals a uniquely valuable 

opportunity at the crossroads of 

South and Southeast Asia. 

The economic and environmental 

benefits from having faster, 

safer, more reliable railways are 

well-proven around the world. 

Be it speeding up commerce and 

development, encouraging decentralisation, 

or reducing the need 

for lorries on congested roads, first 

and foremost, the biggest benefits 

from investing in railways will 

be gained by Bangladesh’s own 

people and economy. 

Make the rail network work for 

Bangladeshis properly, and added 

economic growth and FDI will 

follow. Make the system modern 

and comfortable enough to attract 

international praise, and in future 

it may even be India, Myanmar, 

Nepal, and Thailand wanting to 

plug into Bangladesh’s transport 

networks and ports, rather than 

the other way round. 

Vision is of course the missing 

ingredient. 

But the potential public benefit 

and profit is such that it is worth 

planners starting anew with 

their maps of Bangladesh. After 

making adjustments for rivers, and 

getting up to date economic and 

population projections, it should 

be easy enough to work out the 

optimum angle for planting a big 

X across the nation centred on 

Dhaka. 

Add a smaller O in the middle 

around the capital and then you 

can make the resulting circle and 

four corridors the priority routes 

for Bangladesh Railways to speed 

up train times. 

Invest accordingly in modern 

train lines raising funds as needed. 

(Also, use the map to plan land 

swaps, sales, and profit sharing 

development agreements to 

ensure long-term gains for the 

railways as landowner/developer.) 

You get the idea. 

Of course, so long as people 

accept low expectations and 

limited aspirations for the nation, 

it will be easy for naysayers to 

suggest that 21st century railway 

projects are or should only 

be the preserve of economic 

superpowers. 

To which the only necessary 

and accurate response is take a 

proper look around the world. 

Morocco, for instance, which 

already has a French built 20th 

century rail network between its 

major cities, is investing some 

3 billion dollars on upgrades 

between Casablanca–Marrakech 

and Tangier. Its current projects 

promise TGV style top operating 

speeds of 320km an hour. 

Bangladesh should get a move 

on. • 

Niaz Alam is a member of the Editorial 

Board of Dhaka Tribune. A qualified 

lawyer, he has worked on corporate 

responsibility and ethical business 

issues since 1992. He sat on the Board 

of the London Pensions Fund Authority 

between 2001-2010 and is a former 

vice-chair of War on Want.

22 


DT 

Opinion 

Something got lost along the way 

70 years on, the simplicity and warmth of villages have disappeared 

Development has improved village life in many ways, but we’ve also lost something 

DHAKA TRIBUNE 

It is no more a village where we seek refuge 

from the artifice of the heartless city life. It 

has lost its character of love, simplicity, and 

innocence 

• Abdul Hannan 

Rural Bangladesh has 

experienced remarkable 

changes in its physical 

landscape, thanks to 

interventions by the government, 

NGOs, and so on. 

But ironically, perhaps the 

development process has taken 

away the peace, happiness, and 

harmony of village life that existed 

in the past. 

This was evident in a recent 

visit to my village in Sayedabad, 

Brahmanbaria, at the insistence 

of my friends who wanted to see a 

typical village. 

It took only 20 minutes to reach 

the doorstep of my village home 

from Brahmanbaria town, while 

in the past, it took me half a day to 

reach home by train to Gangasagar 

railway station and walk 5 miles 

over narrow edges of paddy fields. 

The village now had a new 

look, a new landscape beyond 

recognition, mostly with brick 

homes, with electricity and TV 

antennae instead of thatched huts 

and narrow dusty footpaths of the 

past. All thanks to the remittance 

sent by migrant workers of the 

village. 

We drove our transport right 

to the doorstep of our home. My 

cousin, Sharif, asked us to wash 

up before tea. The bathroom 

had modern toilet facilities. 

The change was stark and 

unmistakable. As a child, I used to 

go to the jute field to answer the 

call of nature. 

We were chatting in the veranda 

when Sharif’s wife came with 

tea and Haque biscuits. Sharif 

informed us that she was teaching 

in a kindergarten school. Soon, 

my other cousins and their sons 

showed up, all wearing shirts and 

jeans and shoes -- a sharp contrast 

to my childhood memories of my 

grandfather and uncles, clad in 

lungi, gamchha, and genji. 

After lunch -- which was no 

different from ours in the city 

-- Sharif’s son was watching TV 

and changing channels. Sharif 

brought out a dish of firni from the 

refrigerator to serve us dessert. 

When it was time for our 

departure, my cousins and their 

families gathered together for 

a group photo with us on their 

mobile phones. With darkness 

gradually descending, I left the 

village with a long lingering look 

behind. A sense of sadness gripped 

me. 

There was silence in the car. 

My friend Jamil broke the silence 

when he asked me why I had a 

pensive look on my face. I said: 

“It is because I failed to keep my 

promise to show you a typical 

village.” 

He was surprised at my 

disappointment. He said: 

“It is alright. Yours is a very 

modern village with all signs of 

development. We thoroughly 

enjoyed the visit. We missed 

nothing.” 

I looked at him with some 

disbelief and said: “It is true ours 

is a modern village with all signs of 

development. 

“It is true, modernity has given 

speed and convenience, shine and 

dazzle to the village life, but I have 

a feeling, I cannot fully explain 

why, that it has taken away its 

innate and eternal charm.” 

It is no more a village where 

we seek refuge from the artifice of 

the heartless city life. It has lost its 

character of love, simplicity, and 

innocence. 

The distinct dividing line 

between the village and town is 

now blurred. Development has 

snatched away the pristine beauty 

of the village life. 

I am sad, as I miss my village of 

childhood. 

I miss the chattering of 

sparrows and chirping of doves, 

parrots, and pigeons on the 

banyan tree at the entrance of our 

home, now gone. 

The old mango tree at the 

centre of our home which 

provided me shelter from the 

sweltering summer heat had now 

disappeared. Here was plenty of 

God’s splendoured nature. 

I miss the tender love and 

affection of grandmother 

entertaining me with pithas in an 

earthen pot, not Haque biscuits. 

And how can I forget my village 

where Shelley, my beloved wife, is 

lying in everlasting sleep? 

While today’s development and 

progress in the village is welcome, 

I can’t help but remember how 

sincere and warm, how loving 

and intimate was the village of my 

childhood. 

How serene and breathtaking I 

remember the pastoral beauty of 

the lost arcadia of my childhood, 

70 years hence. • 

Abdul Hannan is a columnist and former 

diplomat.

Opinion 23 

Is Putin trying to make Libya 

a Russian satellite? 

The momentum in Syria might carry through to Libya as well 

DT 


• Azeem Ibrahim 

The Syrian civil war is all 

but concluded. And the 

result must be described 

as a complete success for 

Vladimir Putin. 

No other party in the conflict 

can claim to have gained as much 

from the conflict as Putin has. Not 

even President Assad himself. 

And President Putin has every 

intention to capitalise on this 

success. 

By all accounts, it seems he now 

intends to use the momentum 

gained in Syria to win the civil 

war in Libya as well. In many 

ways, Libya is a similar conflict 

to the one in Syria: There is an 

ongoing conflict between a faction 

feebly supported by the West, 

one intransigent faction that can 

rely on steadfast Russian backing, 

and the IS in the middle, trying 

to expand into yet another failed 

state. 

But there are also significant 

differences to Syria. While the 

Western-backed west of the 

country is governed by the de jure 

government, the Russian-backed 

East holds most of the advantages: 

A better organised “government” 

under Marshal Khalifa Haftar, 

a better-equipped and bettertrained 

army, control over most 

of the country’s oil fields, and 

consequently, a much healthier 

fiscal position, in no small part 

due to Russian help in capitalising 

the oil assets and assistance 

in organising a rival monetary 

system. 

In Syria, Russia had to do all the 

heavy-lifting to bring the Assad 

government back from the brink 

of collapse. They did that, and 

Assad is now all but unassailable. 

In Libya, however, a much smaller 

Russian contribution should be 

enough to resolve the conflict 

swiftly, as the Russian-backed side 

is already holding the upper hand. 

Redeployment? 

What is more, this will likely 

happen now because two other 

circumstances have aligned in 

Haftar’s favour. First, Putin now 

has leeway to redeploy forces from 

Syria as the conflict there winds 

down. And, indeed, troops can be 

very conveniently deployed from 

Russia’s greatest prize in Syria, the 

port of Tartus. 

And secondly, the main pillar 

Putin now has the leeway to redeploy his forces 

of support for the government 

in the West, the support of our 

countries, has all but evaporated. 

In the United States, an extremely 

Russia-friendly Donald Trump is 

about to take over the Oval Office 

later this month. 

In the UK, Prime Minister 

David Cameron, who was one of 

the leaders of the intervention 

which brought down Gaddafi, has 

since lost his office in the wake of 

the Brexit Referendum, while his 

successor, Theresa May, has little 

scope for any interventions in 

foreign affairs beyond the Brexit 

negotiations. 

And in France, the other 

leader of the intervention, 

Francois Hollande, is due to 

leave presidency by May, as he is 

not standing in the presidential 

election this spring, while whoever 

succeeds him will also likely be 

too busy with Europe to have time 

to worry about Libya. All in all, it 

seems there is little in the way of 

Libya becoming a Russian satellite 

for the foreseeable future. 

The oil fields 

Indeed, the only ways in which 

the conflict in Libya might endure 

longer than this year is either if 

Putin has benefitted immensely from the way in which the wave of 

refugees from Syria into Europe has destabilised the political edifice 

of the European Union, and the internal politics of many European 

member states 

the Pentagon manages to wrest 

some operational independence 

from President Trump and decides 

that it is worth preventing Russia 

from claiming the prize of Libyan 

oil fields -- a scenario that is 

really quite remote, or, if Putin 

decides that maintaining a state of 

instability in that region is more 

beneficial to Russian interests than 

a swift resolution of the conflict. 

And this last scenario is the 

one to watch. Putin has benefitted 

immensely from the way in which 

the wave of refugees from Syria 

into Europe has destabilised the 

political edifice of the European 

Union, and the internal politics of 

many European member states. 

That flow of refugees has 

been, to a large degree, already 

stemmed. But the other major 

route of refugee flows into Europe 

has been through Libya, and if the 

conflict there is finally resolved, 

the new authorities will likely 

want to stop the movement 

through their country of so many 

migrants from countries farther 

to the south. The security of their 

country will depend on it. 

But Russia would likely not 

be too keen to see this refugee 

route also close down. Putin may 

calculate that the benefits of 

continued refugee pressures on 

Europe outweigh the benefits of 

a stable and reliable ally in the 

Maghreb. • 

Dr Azeem Ibrahim is Research Professor 

at the Strategic Studies Institute US 

Army War College and International 

Security Lecturer at the University 

of Chicago. This article previously 

appeared in Al Arabiya News. 

REUTERS

DT 

24 

Sport 


TOP STORIES 

Bangladesh women 

face S Africa today 

Bangladesh women’s team will 

lock horns with visiting South 

Africa in the first of five ODIs in 

the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar 

today. The match begins at 

9:30pm local time at Sheikh Kamal 

International Stadium. PAGE 25 

Griezmann sees 

Atletico into QFs 

Antoine Griezmann struck for the 

third time in as many games in 

2017 as Atletico Madrid secured 

their place in the quarter-finals of 

the Copa del Rey 4-3 on aggregate 

despite losing 3-2 at home to Las 

Palmas on Tuesday. PAGE 26 

Everton agree fee for 

Schneiderlin 

Manchester United have agreed 

to sell 27-year-old France 

international and midfielder 

Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton 

for a fee of 22 million pounds 

($26.76 million), British media 

reported on Tuesday. PAGE 28 

Mourinho tells fans, 

players to step up 

Manchester United manager Jose 

Mourinho said he, his players and 

even the club’s supporters will 

need to raise their game when arch 

rivals Liverpool visit Old Trafford 

this weekend. United won 2-0 win 

against Hull City in Tuesday. PAGE 28 

Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim attempts a catch during training in Wellington, New Zealand yesterday 

Acid test in tough conditions as 

Bangladesh face Kiwis in first Test 

• Tribune Report 

Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed bowls during training in Wellington, New 

Zealand yesterday 

BCB 

BCB 

An acid Test awaits the visiting 

Bangladesh team who will be 

playing their first overseas Test 

series since September 2014 when 

Mushfiqur Rahim and Co take on 

New Zealand in the first of two 

Test matches, beginning today at 

Basin Reserve in Wellington. 

The ability to handle pressure 

in different conditions away from 

home will be the biggest challenge 

for the Tigers. 

And ahead of the first Test, the 

green-tinged pitch has already 

attracted all the attention in both 

the camps. 

Despite coming from their historic 

Test victory against England 

at home, the tourists have gone 

through a tough time after being 

whitewashed in both the ODI and 

Twenty20 international series. 

They will now have to regroup for 

the longest format in which the 

Tigers need to improve drastically, 

especially away from home. 

Once again the senior members 

in the form of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib 

al Hasan, Mahmudullah and skipper 

Mushfiq, who just recovered 

from a hamstring injury, have to 

lead from the front and guide the 

side in difficult conditions. 

It will a test of nerves and patience 

for younger members like 

Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, 

Mehedi Hasan Miraz, who enjoyed 

a dream Test debut against 

England, and fast bowler Taskin 

Ahmed, who is all set to make his 

maiden five-day appearance. 

In contrast, the home side will 

stay true to their strengths, especially 

the fast bowling department. 

It will be Trent Boult and 

Tim Southee who will spearhead 

the attack and the Tigers will need 

to be on their guard against the 

fearsome duo. 

Boult will return to the Test 

side after recovering from a knee 

injury. He missed the second Test 

against Pakistan last year due to 

injury while Southee has no such 

problems. 

Skipper Kane Williamson has 

been in fine touch in the limited-over 

series and once again will 

play a big role in the batting department, 

along with the returning 

Ross Taylor. 

Whatever be the condition of 

the pitch, all eyes will be on the 

Tigers and their approach to fiveday 

cricket. Having passed a great 

time in the limited-over formats 

in the last two years, it will be 

interesting to note the Tigers' improvement 

in the longer version, 

that too away from home. •

Sport 25 

DT 


BJMC seal third 

consecutive 

handball title 


Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation 

clinched the National Women's 

Handball Championship title for 

the third time in a row after beating 

Bangladesh Ansar and VDP comfortably 

by 27-9 in the grand finale 

at Shaheed M Mansur Ali National 

Handball Stadium yesterday. 

BJMC dominated the game from 

the very beginning and led the first 

half by 12-4 to set up the foundation 

for their successful defence of 

the crown. Sumi Begum and Falguni 

Biswas netted six goals each 

for BJMC while Shilpi Begum added 

five. Shilpi was later adjudged 

player of the final. Moyna netted 

three for Ansar. 

Meanwhile in the third-place 

deciding match, Bangladesh Police 

defeated Dhaka by 30-11. Sabina 

and Saeeda scored 14 and 10 goals 

respectively for the victors. 

In the last seven years, BJMC and 

Ansar have always contested the 

final. It was BJMC's 10th national 

women's handball title while Ansar 

have won it 14 times. Ansar dominated 

the women's handball scenario 

in the country in the 1980s and 

90s. BJMC first won the women's 

handball title in 1999 but their domination 

actually began from 2002. • 

Bangladesh women’s team head coach David Capel and his charges during training at Sheikh Kamal International Stadium in Cox’s Bazar yesterday 

Bangladesh women face South Africa today 

MD MANIK 

Shilpi Begum 

• Reuters, Buenos Aires 

COURTESY 


Bangladesh women’s team will 

lock horns with visiting South Africa 

in the first of five ODIs in the 

coastal town of Cox’s Bazar today. 

The match begins at 9:30pm local 

time at Sheikh Kamal International 

Stadium. 

Both Bangladesh and South 

Africa are treating the series as an 

important part of their preparation 

for the Women’s World Cup 

Qualifiers, scheduled to be held in 

A statue of Lionel Messi in Argentina's 

capital has been broken in half, 

with the player's upper body, arms 

and head removed. 

The statue on the Paseo de la 

Gloria walkway overlooking the 

River Plate was severed at the waist 

leaving only the lower body and a 

ball. 

City Hall said they do not know 

who was responsible or the motive 

for the damage. 

"It was the victim of an act of 

vandalism," the city's culture secretariat 

said on Tuesday. "The city 

government is already working on 

repairs." 

The statue was unveiled in June 

shortly after Argentina lost the final 

of the Copa America Centenario 

to Chile on penalties, a defeat that 

prompted Messi to say he was quitting 

the national team. 

The Barcelona forward, who 

returned to international duty for 

World Cup qualifiers in September, 

is widely loved in his homeland. 

He does, however, have his detractors, 

notably those who are 

critical of his performances for Argentina, 

who have lost three major 

finals in two years, including at the 

2014 World Cup. 

The walkway has statues of Argentine 

sports greats including 

racing driver Juan Manuel Fangio, 

NBA basketball star Manu Ginobili, 

golfer Roberto de Vicenzo and 

tennis players Guillermo Vilas and 

Gabriela Sabatini. • 

Sri Lanka next month. 

The tour is part of a bilateral 

agreement between Cricket South 

Africa and the Bangladesh Cricket 

Board, meaning Bangladesh would 

tour South Africa in February, 

2018. Last year, CSA postponed its 

women’s tour of the country citing 

security concerns. 

The last time Bangladesh met 

South Africa was in 2013 when the 

former visited the African nation. 

In the three-match ODI series, 

Bangladesh were whitewashed by 

the hosts. 

And as far as their last ODI is 

concerned, Bangladesh faced 

Ireland at their own backyard 

last year in September. Among 

the three matches in the series, 

Bangladesh had won the last 

game while the first match got 

abandoned and the second ended 

without a result. 

Meanwhile, the BCB yesterday 

announced Walton as the title 

sponsor of the five-match series. 

In a press conference held in 

Messi statue in Buenos Aires broken in two 

A combo of 

pictures show 

the statue of 

Argentina’s 

football player 

Lionel Messi when 

it was unveiled 

on June 28, 2016 

and after it was 

vandalized in 

Buenos Aires, 

Argentina on 

Tuesday 

REUTERS 

Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National 

Stadium, BCB director and women’s 

wing chairman MA Awal 

Chowdhury named Walton as the 

sponsor. SM Zahir Hasan, Walton 

executive director (Policy, HRM 

and Admin) and Uday Hakim, creative 

director (Creative and Publication) 

were also present on the 

occasion. 

The other four matches of the 

series will be held at the same venue 

on January 14, 16, 18 and 20 respectively. 

• 

'King Kazu' set to 

play on into his 50s 

• Reuters 

Japanese striker Kazuyoshi Miura will extend 

one of soccer's longest professional careers 

by 12 months after the 49-year-old agreed a 

new deal with second division Yokohama FC 

yesterday. 

Miura, who scored 55 goals in 89 appearances 

for Japan prior to his international retirement 

in 2000, is set for his 32nd season as 

a professional. 

"I hope to keep fighting with all my might 

together with people involved with the club, 

my team mates and supporters who have always 

given me support," said Miura, who turns 

50 on Feb. 26. Fondly dubbed “King Kazu”, 

Miura not only broke his own record as the 

oldest scorer in Japanese professional football 

in June but also the record of the oldest player 

to appear in the Emperor's Cup tournament. •

26 


DT 

Griezmann sees 

Atletico into quarters 

• AFP, Madrid 

Antoine Griezmann struck for the 

third time in as many games in 

2017 as Atletico Madrid secured 

their place in the quarter-finals of 

the Copa del Rey 4-3 on aggregate 

despite losing 3-2 at home to Las 

Palmas on Tuesday. 

COPA DEL REY 

Atletico Madrid 2-3 Las Palmas 

Griezmann 49, Livaja 57, 89, 

Correa 61 Mateo Garcia 90+2 

Atletico Madrid win 4-3 on aggregate 

Griezmann shrugged off the 

disappointment of finishing third 

behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel 

Messi for world's best player 

at the inaugural Best FIFA Football 

Awards on Monday to force home 

the opener four minutes into the 

second half. A fine individual effort 

from Marko Livaja gave Las Palmas 

a brief lifeline, but Angel Correa 

looked to have killed the tie off just 

after the hour mark. 

However, the hosts were made 

to sweat in the final seconds of 

stoppage time as two goals in three 

minutes from Livaja and Mateo 

Garcia gave Las Palmas victory on 

the night. 

"These type of things always 

happen in the Copa del Rey," Atletico 

boss Diego Simeone told BeIN 

Sports Spain. 

"They finished the few chances 

they had well which meant, despite 

us having the game under control, 

Monaco avoid 

Sochaux upset 

in League Cup 

• AFP, Paris 

Joao Moutinho struck a late equaliser 

for Monaco as the Ligue 1 title 

challengers overcame second-tier 

Sochaux 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 

draw to reach the French League 

Cup semi-finals. 

Faneva Andriatsima struck on 

the quarter hour as hosts Sochaux, 

who dumped Marseille out in the 

previous round, grabbed the lead 

at the Stade Bonal. 

But Moutinho levelled with just 

seven minutes remaining and a 

shootout was needed to separate 

the sides. Later Moussa Sao blazed 

scores to send Monaco through to 

the last four. • 

RESULTS 

QUARTER-FINALS 

Nantes 0-2 Nancy 

Dale 31, Cuffaut 45+3 

Sochaux 1-1 Monaco 

Andriatsima 17 Moutinho 83 

Monaco won 4-3 on penalties 

they take away the victory." 

Griezmann was included despite 

making the trip to Zurich to 

attend FIFA's gala just 24 hours 

earlier and had the first big chance 

when he fired straight at Raul Lizoain 

on 23 minutes. 

Las Palmas had chances to get 

back into the tie as Miguel Angel 

Moya produced a great save to 

deny Livaja's header at the near 

post before Tana blasted over when 

well-placed inside the area. 

Griezmann scored for the first 

time in La Liga for three months 

in a 2-0 win at Eibar on Saturday, 

but the Frenchman is now on his 

best scoring run of the season as he 

tapped home Nicolas Gaitan's cross 

at the start of the second half to 

give Atletico extra breathing space. 

Livaja took advantage of some 

uncharacteristically lax defending 

from Diego Godin and Jose Maria 

Gimenez to drive through the heart 

of the Atletico defence and smash 

the ball into the far corner. 

However, just four minutes later 

Correa controlled a long ball from 

Koke and shrugged off his marker 

before finishing from a narrow angle 

to put Atletico back in front. 

The game appeared to be petering 

out when a great touch and cross 

from Garcia teed up Livaja for a second 

equaliser a minute from time. 

And Garcia then volleyed home 

himself from Jonathan Viera's freekick 

deep into stoppage time, but 

Atletico held out to progress. 

Sport 

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann vies with Las Palmas defender Aythami Artiles during their Spanish Copa del Rey 

(King’s Cup) round of 16 second leg match at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on Tuesday 

AFP 

Zaha has no England regrets 

• Reuters 

Wilfried Zaha has no regrets about 

turning his back on England in order 

to play for the Ivory Coast at 

the African Nations Cup, the Crystal 

Palace winger said on Tuesday. 

Zaha switched his international 

allegiance late last year to compete 

for the Ivorians, who are bidding to 

retain their Nations Cup crown at 

this year's finals in Gabon, which 

start on Saturday. 

He was born in Abidjan, but 

brought up in London from the age 

of four, joining Palace when he was 

12 and going on to win two caps for 

England. 

"I left for England and I did 

not return to the country (Ivory 

Coast). So I did all my schooling 

in my adopted country and it was 

most normal that I played for the 

England youth teams," Zaha in an 

interview, published in French on 

the Ivorian Football Federation's 

website. 

"For the past four years, I have 

had ample time to analyse my situation 

and to take into account the 

solicitations of the Ivorian Football 

Association. 

"Now I have made my choice. 

Now I want to play with the Ivory 

Coast. It has been rewarding, firstly 

because I am proud to play for my 

country, then because the Ivorian 

selection has quality players and 

has always been a reservoir of talent. 

So I made the right choice and 

I do not regret it." 

The winger made his debut in a 

friendly on Sunday, coming on in 

the second half to set up the winner 

as the Ivorians beat Sweden 2-1 

in Abu Dhabi. 

He will likely win a second cap 

on Wednesday when they complete 

their preparations with 

another friendly in Abu Dhabi, 

against fellow finalists Uganda. 

"I want to be able to give the best 

of myself to the team and contribute 

with my team mates to winning 

more titles. I want to be able to offer 

the country a third Nations Cup, 

make Ivorians happy. That is my 

ambition in the short term. Then 

we need to qualify for the 2018 

World Cup," Zaha said. 

Zaha successfully applied to 

FIFA to change his international 

status despite playing for England 

in friendlies against Sweden in November 

2012 and against Scotland 

in August 2013. 

The Ivorians play in Group C and 

begin their campaign on Monday in 

Oyem against Togo. They will also 

meet the Democratic Republic of 

Congo and Morocco in the group 

stage. • 

Inter loan Jovetic 

to Sevilla 

• AFP, Madrid 

Former Manchester City forward 

Stevan Jovetic has joined La Liga 

high-flyers Sevilla on a six-month 

loan deal from Inter Milan, the two 

clubs confirmed on Tuesday. 

Montenegran Jovetic, who spent 

two seasons in the Premier League, 

has fallen out of favour at Inter and 

flew to Spain on Tuesday morning 

hoping to revive his career. 

The deal includes an option for 

Sevilla to purchase Jovetic outright 

at the end of the season, with Spanish 

media reporting the required fee 

is 14 million euros ($14.75 million). 

“I accepted to come because 

it is a big club, they are playing in 

the Champions League, they have 

a great coach and they are fighting 

at the top of La Liga,” said Jovetic. 

Currently second behind Real 

Madrid in the Spanish league under 

the inspirational Argentine 

coach Jorge Sampaoli, Sevilla also 

face Leicester City in the Champions 

League last 16 in February with 

high hopes of making the quarter-finals. 

•

Sport 27 

DT 


Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 

is taught by Australian 

legendary leg-spinner 

Shane Warne how 

to bowl during a 

promotional event for 

the upcoming Australian 

Open tennis tournament 

at Melbourne Park, 

yesterday 

REUTERS 

Giaccherini helps fire 

Napoli into Cup quarters 

• AFP, Milan 

A superb second-half volley 

from Emanuele Giaccherini 

set Napoli up for an impressive 

3-1 win over La Spezia that secured 

a place in the Italian Cup 

quarter-finals on Tuesday. 

RESULT 

LAST 16 

Napoli 3-1 La Spezia 

Zielinski 3, Piccolo 35 

Giaccherini 55, Gabbiadini 57 

Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri 

and makeshift striker Dries 

Mertens were notable absences 

at the San Paolo due to both 

serving one-match suspensions 

and watched from the 

comfort of the executive boxes. 

By the end of a dominant 

first half for the Serie A title 

challengers, Sarri had his head 

in his hands in frustration after 

Antonio Piccolo's deflected 

35th-minute strike levelled Piotr 

CRICKET 

STAR SPORTS 2 

2:28 PM 

KFC T20 Big Bash League 

2016/17 

Melbourne Renegades v Hobart 

Hurricanes 

STAR SPORTS 4 

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TEN 1 HD 

2:00 PM 

Sri Lanka Tour of South Africa 

2016/17 

3rd Test Day 1 

FOOTBALL 

TEN 1 

DAY’S WATCH 

Zielinski's well-taken third-minute 

opener for the hosts. 

Spezia had eliminated Serie 

A strugglers Palermo in 

the previous round, but any 

hopes of causing an upset were 

quickly extinguished. 

Zielinski exposed the visitors 

barely three minutes in 

after collecting possession 

on the left, cutting in unchallenged 

and beating Leandro 

Chichizola in the Spezia net 

with a superb curling strike at 

the keeper's far post. 

Napoli should have doubled 

their lead, but were wasteful 

every time. Manolo Gabbiadini 

had stepped in to replace 

Mertens and tested Chichizola 

with a fierce long-range strike 

on 24 minutes. Lorenzo Insigne 

then hit the post with the softest 

of touches from Giaccherini's 

cut-back, and from the corner 

Zielinski forced Chichizola 

into a desperate one-handed 

tip over the crossbar. • 

2:50 PM 

A-League 2016/17 

Adelaide United v Melbourne City 

FC 

2:00 AM 

Sky Bet EFL 2016/17 

Reading v QPR 

NEO PRIME 

2:00 AM 

Coppa Italia TIM Cup 2017 

Milan v Torino 

TENNIS 

SONY ESPN 

6:30 AM 

ATP World Tour 250 2017 

Sydney Open Quarter Finals 

1:30 PM 

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Sydney Open Quarter Finals

28 


DT 

Sport 

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera shoots against Hull City during their EFL Cup semi-final first leg match at Old Trafford on Tuesday 

Mourinho tells fans and players to step up 

• AFP, Manchester 

Manchester United manager Jose 

Mourinho said he, his players and 

even the club's supporters will 

need to raise their game when arch 

rivals Liverpool visit Old Trafford 

this weekend. 

United ground out a 2-0 win 

against Hull City in Tuesday's 

League Cup semi-final first leg and 

it took an 87th-minute header by 

substitute Marouane Fellaini to 

make the game safe. 

United have now won nine 

games in succession, but with Liverpool 

five points above them in 

second place in the Premier League 

table, Mourinho wants everyone to 

be at their very best on Sunday. 

"I was a bit disappointed with 

the first half," he said. "They were 

well organised defensively. It wasn't 

easy for us, but we were a bit sloppy. 

We complicated things; always one 

more touch, delaying the decision, 

giving them time to regroup. It was 

not our best first half. 

"I think in the first half the players 

have to do better, I have to do 

better, the fans they also can do 

better. In the second half we all improved 

a little bit, just a little bit. I 

think now about Sunday. And Sunday 

I need to do better, the players 

LEAGUE CUP 

SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG 

Man United 2-0 Hull City 

Mata 56, Fellaini 87 

Wenger hopes he has found a gem 

• Reuters, London 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger 

has spoken out for the minor 

leagues after signing 20-year-old 

left-back Cohen Bramall, a former 

car factory worker, from unheralded 

Hednesford Town. 

Hednesford play in the Northern 

League Premier Division, six tiers 

below the Premier League. 

Wenger told the Arsenal website 

on Tuesday that players who came 

from such depths had shown they 

had the mental strength and hunger 

to succeed. 

"It's a mental test - do you love 

football enough?," he said. 

"Are you ready enough to fight 

(to show) that you are above this 

level and that you absolutely want 

to come back? Players like Giroud 

and Koscielny have had that test. 

They are similar to that. Once they 

get up, they really mean it." 

Arsenal's French international 

Olivier Giroud started out in French 

lower league football. Compatriot 

Laurent Koscielny also spent time 

in the French second and third tiers 

early in his career. 

Arsenal last year tried to sign 

England striker Jamie Vardy, who 

has entered soccer lore with his 

rise to glory at champions Leicester 

City from non-league Stocksbridge 

Park Steels and FC Halifax 

via Fleetwood Town. 

Wenger described Bramall, who 

will join the club's under-23 squad, 

as a player with "tremendous pace, 

a good left foot, a great desire to do 

well. Overall, he's a very exciting 

prospect." 

The youngster was working in a 

Bentley car factory in Crewe until 

last month, when he heard he was 

being made redundant. 

"When they told me I was thinking 

I needed to sort something else 

quick, I needed more money coming 

in," he told Sky Sports television. 

"But the next day I got a phone 

call saying Arsenal wanted me to 

come down for a trial." • 

they need to do better and the stadium 

they need to do better." 

United captain Wayne Rooney 

went into the game against Hull 

needing one goal to set a new club 

scoring record, having equalled Bobby 

Charlton's tally of 249 in Saturday's 

4-0 FA Cup win over Reading. 

His moment appeared to have 

arrived six minutes into the second 

half when he was picked out 

by Paul Pogba's glorious pass, but 

he rattled his shot wide of the lefthand 

upright. 

Juan Mata broke the deadlock 

five minutes later, ghosting in to 

volley home from close range after 

Henrikh Mkhitaryan had headed 

Antonio Valencia's cross from the 

right back across goal. 

Pogba left the post quivering 

with a free-kick before Fellaini netted 

a potentially pivotal goal with 

REUTERS 

a header from Matteo Darmian's 

in-swinging cross. 

United were missing 18-goal top 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to illness, 

but Mourinho said he expected the 

Swedish striker to be fit to face Liverpool. 

Fellaini's goal was a body 

blow for Hull, who welcome United 

to the KCOM Stadium in the second 

leg on January 26. 

Hull manager Marco Silva was 

only able to name six substitutes 

due to injuries and saw both Markus 

Henriksen and Josh Tymon 

hobble off during the course of the 

game. • 

Everton agree fee for 

United's Schneiderlin 

• Reuters 

Manchester United have agreed to 

sell midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin 

to Everton for a fee of 22 million 

pounds ($26.76 million), British 

media reported on Tuesday. 

The 27-year-old France international 

was signed from Southampton 

for 25 million pounds in 2015, 

but has become a peripheral figure 

under United manager Jose Mourinho, 

making only eight appearances 

this season. 

Sky Sports reported that the fee 

could rise to 24 million pounds 

with add-ons. 

After United's 2-0 League Cup 

semi-final, first leg win over Hull 

City at old Trafford, manager Jose 

Mourinho told Sky Sports: "Before 

the match I was informed by Mr 

(Ed) Woodward (the club's executive 

vice-chairman) that the situation 

is to close, so Morgan is more 

than probably going to Everton. 

"I am sad and happy, sad because 

I like him and he could be an 

option for us, happy because this is 

what he wants, to play every game 

and be important in the team." 

The news comes days after Everton 

manager Ronald Koeman urged 

the club's board to back him in the 

transfer market after Saturday's FA 

Cup exit at home to Leicester City. •

Downtime 

29 


DT 

CROSSWORD 

CODE-CRACKER 

ACROSS 

1 Association (4) 

5 Reduce to carbon (4) 

10 Love god (4) 

11 Mineral (3) 

12 Intended (5) 

13 Strange (3) 

14 Hackneyed (5) 

16 Unmarried (6) 

18 Happenings (6) 

21 Stanza (5) 

23 Uncooked (3) 

24 Make merry (5) 

26 Lyric poem (3) 

27 Festivity (4) 

28 Teaching period (4) 

29 Hindu garment (4) 

DOWN 

2 Acquire knowledge (5) 

3 Container for ashes (3) 

4 Liquid holders (7) 

6 Owl's cry (4) 

7 Passionate (6) 

8 Colour (3) 

9 Little devils (4) 

15 Venerates (7) 

17 Enter as enemy (6) 

19 At no time (5) 

20 Preservative (4) 

22 Water pitcher (4) 

23 Decay (3) 

25 Greek letter (3) 

How to solve: Each number in our 

CODE-CRACKER grid represents a 

different letter of the alphabet. For 

example, today 11 represents P so fill P 

every time the figure 11 appears. 

You have two letters in the control 

grid to start you off. 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, fill in the other 

squares with the same number in the 

main grid, and the control grid. Check 

off the list of alphabetical letters as you 

identify them. 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 

CALVIN AND HOBBES 

SUDOKU 

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. 

PEANUTS 

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS 

CODE-CRACKER 

CROSSWORD 

DILBERT 

SUDOKU

30 


DT 

Showtime 

Mim and Sazzad at the first look of 

Bhalobasha Emoni Hoy 

• Showtime Desk 

Set to release on January 27, 

Bhalobasha Emoni Hoy (That’s 

How Love Is) is the directorial 

debut from celebrity actress Tania 

Ahmed. Sazzad and Bidya Sinha 

Mim played the main characters 

in it. 

Produced by Impress Telefilm 

Ltd, the film was shot entirely 

in London. On Monday evening, 

a “Poyla darshan” (first look) 

program was held at the Chetona 

Chattar, at the Channel i office. 

The actors, director, and producers 

were all present at the event. 

“I had to take a lot of 

preparations for the film. I made a 

big change in my hair style. I was 

really worried when the release 

was deferred. I constantly took 

updates of when it might get 

released. Finally it is happening 

and I am thrilled,” said Mim. 

Other than Mim and Sazzad, 

Mishu Sabbir, Tanzika Amin, Robert 

Young, Sohail Khan, Tariq Anam, 

among others acted in the film. 

The story and dialogues are 

written by Raihan Khan. Tania 

Ahmed wrote the screenplay and 

choreographed the dances, in 

addition to directing the film. • 

PHOTOS: COURTESY 

Five lesser known facts about Vin Deisel 


Vin is making news every day with 

his upcoming movie xXx: Return 

of Xander Cage which is also the 

Hollywood debut of Bollywood 

bombshell Deepika Padukone. 

However, there are a few lesser 

known facts that audiences do not 

know about Vin Deisel. Read on to 

find out more. 

PHOTO: FACEBOOK 

Vin and his twin brother 

Vin Diesel has one brother, Paul 

Vincent, who is also his twin. 

The two are fraternal twins, not 

identical twins – and although 

we can see the similarities, they 

look quite different. For one 

thing, Diesel’s brother Paul has a 

whole lot of hair! The two were 

close growing up in Greenwich 

Village, and Paul also helped Vin 

on his first short film project, 

Mutli-Facial. Paul has appeared 

on Diesel’s Facebook page in the 

past, most notably in the photo 

seen above with Diesel’s Fast 

and Furious co-star, the late Paul 

Walker. Diesel has also spoken 

about his twin from time to time 

in interviews, although when he 

does, it’s usually just to confirm 

that he does have a twin brother, 

and to laugh about the time that 

a magazine published a photo of 

a total stranger, claiming that he 

was Paul. 

It’s not his actual name 

Vin Diesel isn’t actually the name 

the actor was given at birth. Diesel 

was actually born Mark Sinclair, a 

far cry from his uber-cool action 

hero name. “Vin” comes from 

his adoptive father’s surname, 

Vincent, which is a simple enough 

nickname. The surname “Diesel” 

is from his days as a club bouncer 

in New York at the tender age 

of 17. Even as a teen, Diesel was 

apparently intimidating enough 

to work the door at a club called 

“The Tunnel” where he worked 

part time while he was at 

Hunter College. He 

allegedly gained 

the nickname 

“diesel” because 

he always had so 

much energy 

on the job – he 

was always 

“fuelled” up. 

The name 

stuck, and Mark 

Sinclair Vincent 

became Vin Diesel 

– a name that suits 

his acting so perfectly, it’s almost 

as if he planned it! 

Writer- Director- Producer 

After studying English in college, 

the star first attempted to 

pursue the traditional route to 

Hollywood success, heading to 

LA and going in for auditions. 

However, he struggled to make an 

impression, and returned home 

to New York, where he decided 

to give filmmaking a shot. His 

first film (Multi-Facial) was a 

semi-autobiographical short film 

about the issues faced by a multiracial 

actor. Shot in only a few 

days and with a budget of $3000, 

Diesel wrote the script, wrote and 

performed the score, directed, 

produced and starred in the film. 

A voice artist 

Diesel is increasingly becoming 

famous in recent years for his 

voice work on Guardians of the 

Galaxy as Groot, an enormous 

tree-creature who says only five 

words throughout the entire film. 

The voice of the animated alien 

robot was one of Diesel’s first 

ever roles, and he joined a 

surprisingly starstudded 

cast that included 

Jennifer Aniston (as Annie 

Hughes) and Harry Connick Jr (as 

Dean McCoppin). 

Dancer Vin 

Before Diesel became a 

professional actor, he 

tried his hand at some 

other creative pursuits, 

including some 

cringeworthy rapping 

and incredibly ‘80s 

breakdancing. His 

moves are much 

better than his 

rhymes, which 

include such stunning 

lyrics as “Ha ha! Ho ho! 

Party people! It’s time 

to get stupid!”, “I’m the 

man of steel,” and 

he later boasts 

about his silkysmooth 

skin. 

Lucky for us, the 

Internet has all 

the evidence you 

need. • 

PHOTO: REUTERS

Showtime 

International Children’s Film 

Festival to commence this month 

31 


WHAT TO WATCH 

DT 


With the slogan –- “frame-e 

frame-e aagamir shwapno,” the 

International Children’s Film 

Festival will continue the annual 

extravaganza of exhibiting 

exceptional films made for 

children. Organised by Children’s 

Film Society Bangladesh, the 

10th edition of the festival is 

set to commence from January 

24 simultaneously running at 

several venues across the capital 

and two other cities, Rajshahi 

and Rangpur. The festival will 

also travel to the port city of 

Chittagong on February 3 and 4. 

Mohammad Abir Ferdous, 

the director of the festival, 


The Emma Stone and Ryan 

Gosling starring Hollywood 

musical La La Land leads this 

year’s British Academy Film 

(Bafta) Awards nominations with 

11 nominations. The blockbuster 

musical --which scooped a recordbreaking 

seven Golden Globes out 

of seven nominations this week, is 

now up for the coveted Best Film 

prizes, while its director Chazelle 

and stars Ryan Gosling and Emma 

Stone are in the running for 

directing and acting honours. 

The film will compete against 

I, Daniel Blake, a Ken Loach 

drama which scooped the 

prestigious Palme d’Or at last 

year’s Cannes Film Festival, Amy 

Adams starring science fiction 

Arrival, a black queer drama 

Moonlight and American drama 

Manchester by the Sea for the Best 

Film accolade. 

revealed the event details in 

a press conference held in the 

capital on January 10. Filmmaker 

Morshedul Islam and Munira 

Morshed Munni, among others, 

were present on the occasion. 

This time, more than 200 

films from 54 countries will be 

screened at 11 venues throughout 

the country. One of the festival’s 

salient features is the competition 

section where films made 

by Bangladeshi children will 

compete. In this section, 21 films 

out of 60 submissions have been 

selected while the best film award 

will be presented to five entries. 

Interestingly, the jury is also made 

of children who are to select the 

best films in the category. 

After La La Land, two films 

Arrival and Nocturnal Animals 

garnered the most number 

of nominations, (each have 

nine) while both the films star 

nomination magnet Amy Adams. 

In the Leading Actor category, 

Ryan faces competition from 

Child filmmakers, whose films 

are selected in the competition 

section, are invited to attend 

the festival. The organisers also 

informed that they will invite 

underprivileged and physically 

challenged children to attend the 

event while making sure that entry 

to the event is free for any child. 

In the Young Bangladeshi 

Talent section, films made by 

young filmmakers, aged between 

19 to 25, will be showcased while 

in the Social Film section, films 

focussing on climate change 

and other social issues will be 

showcased. 

In the International 

Competition section, a total of 

20 films from around the world 

Andrew Garfield, Casey Affleck, 

Jake Gyllenhaal and Viggo 

Mortensen, while Amy Adams 

- who is nominated for her 

performance in Arrival, but not 

Nocturnal Animals, Emily Blunt, 

Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman 

will face off against Emma for the 

will be screened along with local 

entries to compete for the best 

prize. The jury of International 

Competition section comprises 

of Sekhar Mukherjee, a faculty 

of National Institute of Design, 

India, filmmaker Amitabh 

Reza Chowdhury and Sabrina 

Sultana, a faculty member 

of the Department of Mass 

Communication and Journalism, 

University of Dhaka. 

A total of 15 famous film 

personalities from around the 

world will attend the festival 

while it will also include 

interactive sessions in which 

children will get the opportunity 

to talk to various people who are 

experts in their field. • 

La La Land leads Bafta with 11 nominations 

Leading Actress accolade. 

Meanwhile, a handful of media 

outlets have criticised a lack of 

diversity, a defining headline 

from 2016’s #OscarsSoWhite 

furor. Denzel Washington, a 

two-time Oscar winner and fourtime 

Oscar nominee, has still 

never been even nominated for a 

BAFTA award – a blatant omission 

for such a revered American 

actor who garnered plaudits for 

his 2016 drama Fences. Another 

omission is Barry Jenkins, 

Moonlight’s writer-director, who 

is nominated in Best Film and 

Best Original Screenplay but not 

for the Best Director award. 

Winners are chosen by 

BAFTA’s 6,500 members, except 

for the EE Rising Star Award 

which is voted for by the public. 

The 2017 BAFTA awards, hosted 

by Stephen Fry, will take place at 

the Royal Albert Hall in London 

on February 12. • 

Blood Diamond 

Movies Now, 9:30pm 

Solomon Vandy works in 

the South African diamond 

fields when he discovers an 

extraordinary rough stone 

of immeasurable value. He 

hides the diamond in the 

most unlikely place, ensuring 

that no one would come 

across it. Danny Archer is 

a mercenary who deals in 

blood diamonds that are 

used to finance terrorist 

organisations. The duo set 

out to retrieve the diamond 

and are joined by Maddy 

Bowen, a reporter who wants 

to get to the bottom of the 

illicit diamond trade. 

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, 

Jennifer Connelly, Djimon 

Hounsou 

Due Date 

WB, 9:30pm 

An expectant father stuck 

with a slacker on a hilarious 

cross-country road trip as he 

rushes home for the birth of 

his baby. 

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, 

Zach Galifianakis, Michelle 

Monaghan 

Enemy at the Gates 

HBO, 11:45pm 

In World War II, the USSR 

depended fully on the 

strength of Stalingrad. The 

Russians and Germans fight 

over every block in the city, 

leaving ruins behind them. 

The Russian sniper Vassili 

Zaitsev stalks the Germans, 

taking them out one by one, 

bringing down the morale 

of the German troops. 

Commisar Danilov leads 

him on, making an issue 

every time Vassili succeeds, 

thus hoping to raise his 

countrymen’s hopes. This 

goes on till Vassili realises 

that too much is expected of 

him. 

Cast: Jude Law, Ed Harris, 

Rachel Weisz

32 


DT 

Back Page 

AMARTYA SEN: DEMONETISATION 

MODI’S NAPOLEON MOMENT PAGE 8 

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL 

TO COMMENCE THIS MONTH PAGE 31 

Teenage gangs of Uttara under police scanner 

ADNAN MURDER CASE 

• Tarek Mahmud 

Until a few days back, the term 

“gang war” might have referred to 

clashes of crime syndicates or drug 

lords who usually remain hidden 

from the face of the society. 

But the January 6 incident, 

where a teenager named Adnan 

Kabir was killed by juvenile delinquents 

affiliated with a futile 

superficial gang, brought about a 

whole new perspective for the term 

among many Bangladeshis. 

The incident now has driven law 

enforcement agencies to start scanning 

different areas of Dhaka for 

hoodlum teenage gangs, formed 

with an aim to establish supremacy 

over an area through violence 

and vandalism just to show off its 

strength and dominance. 

However, in press a briefing yesterday, 

officials of Dhaka Metropolitan 

Police urged parents, teachers 

and social groups to advocate 

decorum among teenagers of the 

generation. They also stressed the 

need of discipline and moral principles 

to subdue violent aggression 

of the hoodlum teenage gangs, 

who supposedly think they own an 

area. 

DMP Deputy Commissioner 

(media) Masudur Rahman said: 

“Families and social bodies have 

to play the key role in controlling 

such violence and aggression of 

teenagers. 

“Moreover, family principles 

Clinics appoint brokers to 

lure patients from Nitor 

and morals should be strengthened 

and teachers of educational institutions 

should work on counselling 

students to reduce their violent fictional 

fantasies and curiosities.” 

When asked if the general teenagers 

who often socialise in groups 

on streets will face any harassment, 

the deputy commissioner 

ensured that action would only be 

taken against the groups who create 

nuisance in society and are involved 

in violent activities. 

On the issue, RAB 1 Deputy 

Commanding Officer Lt Commander 

Quazi Mohammad Shoaib said: 

“We have information about some 

violent teenage gangs within our 

jurisdiction. 

“We will take legal action against 

these gangs and increase our patrol 

in Uttara and surrounding areas.” 

On January 6, Adnan Kabir, a 

ninth-grader of Trust School and 

College, was beaten to death in 

Uttara Sector 13 by gang members 

belonging to “Disco Boys of Uttara” 

when they could not find the leaders 

of “Nine Star Gang” – Abrar and 

Ashfaq. 

Adnan was involved with the activities 

of “Nine Star Gang,” according 

to the police and they believe 

that dominance over Uttara area 

was the reason behind the brutal 

killing. 

Uttara police sources said the 

two groups – Nine Star and Disco 

Boys – had four previous clashes 

before the January 6 incident 

and four separate cases were filed 

against them. 

But after talking to police and 

family members, this reporter 

found that they neither did take 

these clashes seriously, nor did 

they care to attend to the matter. 

Uttara (West) police station Inspector 

Abdur Razzak said: “Three 

of the accused in Adnan murder 

case were arrested so far. Police are 

conducting drives to arrest the other 

accused in the case. 

“We are also trying to trace out 

other hoodlum teenage groups 

who disturb people and create nuisance 

in neighbourhoods, often 

teasing passing girls and extorting 

from shops through violence.” 

While investigating, law enforcement 

agencies found that 

the groups in question have shut 

down their social media pages and 

some of the members have closed 

their Facebook profiles after Adnan 

murder. 

According to investigators, most 

of the gang members are school 

or college dropouts. Members are 

known to showcase motorbike 

stunts, display unruly behaviour 

on the streets, harass girls in front 

of schools and vandalise public 

property on a regular basis. 

The groups, each containing 

15-30 members, allegedly formed 

through social media and apps sites 

like Facebook, WeChat, WhatsApp 

and Viber. 

Local sources said patrolling 

and raids of law enforcers have increased 

after Adnan’s murder but 

the kingpins of the teenage gangs 

have hid themselves. • 

• Kamrul Hasan 

Some private clinics and diagnostic 

centres, especially those adjacent 

to the National Institute of Traumatology 

and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation 

(Nitor) in Dhaka’s Sher-e- 

Bangla Nagar, allgedly appointed 

brokers to lure patients from the 

government hospital. 

But, the allegation was proven 

true yesterday when Rapid Action 

Battalion (RAB) conducted a mobile 

court led by Executive Magistrate 

Sarowar Alam at the hospital, 

also prominently known as Pangu 

Hospital. 

The raid revealed that the brokers 

offer patients admitted at the 

hospital and their attendants far 

better treatment at lower costs and 

other facilities at the private clinics 

and pathology labs. 

During the raid, 22 brokers appointed 

by the clinics and diagnostic 

labs as “marketing officers 

(MO),” and two employees of Nitor 

were detained, who were later sentenced 

to different jail terms starting 

from 15 days to four months. 

The two Nitor employees, Humayun 

Kabir and Masuma Begum, 

who too were found guilty 

of cheating patients and their relatives, 

were jailed for three months 

and 15 days repetitively. 

The identity cards belonging to 

nine of the brokers – six of whom 

were employed by Satrata Clinic, two 

others by Makka Diagnostic Centre 

and the ninth one by Munni Diagnostic 

Centre – clearly mentioned 

that they were working as MOs. 

Magistrate Sarwar said they 

found one of the brokers trying 

to lure patients to a nearby clinic 

which he was working for. 

According to RAB, a broker is 

paid Tk1,000 for taking a patient 

to any of the private clinic that appointed 

him or her, and gets Tk170 

for each digital X-ray test at a corresponding 

diagnostic centre. 

In a previous RAB nine brokers 

were booked from Nitor premises 

on December 9. 

The brokers were being organised 

ever since taking advantage 

of the ‘silence’ of the hospital authorities, 

and many complained to 

RAB about that matter, leading to 

yesterday’s raid. 

However, RAB said it will keep 

monitoring the country’s biggest 

orthopaedic hospital to stop such 

illegal activities. • 

No, this is not a canal flowing on the side of a Dhaka city road. A large section of the footpath in Malibagh area has been dug up 

apparently for road development work, as per a signboard of DSCC. Commuters on this part of the city often faces frightening 

traffic congestion because of the ongoing construction of a flyover and now this road work adds to the misery of pedestrians 

as there is almost no space left for them to walk 

MEHEDI HASAN 

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 

8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

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