e_Paper 29-04-2017

SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017 | Boishakh 16, 1424, Shaban 2, 1438 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 361 | www.dhakatribune.com | 24 pages plus 8-page Sports supplement | Price: Tk10
Rainbow fleet
to save Dhaka
commuters › 2
NEWS ANALYSIS
Will govt
bow down
to them? › 3
Experts: Flash
floods may
grow and
dykes are not
the solution › 4
Immigrants
plan May Day
rallies buoyed
by Trump
opposition › 8
SPORTS SUPPLEMENT
EPL basement battle
hots up › 3
Top 10 Messi goals
for Barcelona › 5
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
Sharapova wins
on return from
doping ban › 6

2
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
News
Rainbow fleet to save Dhaka commuters
• Shohel Mamun
The Dhaka North mayor’s
long-cherished plan to fix Dhaka’s
broken public transport system appears
to be close to fruition.
After long negotiations with
Dhaka’s transport owners, research
and planning, Mayor Annisul Huq
says a proposal is ready to be handed
over to the prime minister.
The Dhaka Tribune looked into
the findings of Dhaka North City
Corporation’s (DNCC) research and
the plan, popularly known as the
colour-coded bus plan, to see what
benefits this would bring to Dhaka’s
suffering citizens.
A consultant team under the supervision
of the DNCC carried out a
study of the existing public transport
system and the corporation is
almost done drawing up a proposal
for how to introduce the new franchising
bus service system.
The study recommends operating
4,000 buses of six different colours
on six basic routes instead of
the existing 194 routes. Six companies
will operate the service among
the routes in place of the existing
137 small companies. The proposed
franchising system can carry more
passengers in a day than the existing
system, the study suggests.
“The proposal for the detailed
project plan will be disclosed
through a seminar next month and
a public discussion will be held.
Then the prime minister will decide
how the plan will be executed,” Annisul
Huq said during the Dhaka
Transport Coordination Authority
(DTCA) board meeting last week.
3,100 fresh buses
The DNCC started the planning of
colour-coded buses by carrying out
the study in March last year.
The study found that 6,116 buses
and minibuses are registered in
Dhaka city; of them 3,212 are buses
and 2,904 minibuses.
In reality, around 4,500 buses
run every day while the rest are
non-functioning.
There are over 200 owners running buses in Dhaka ciy, leading to predatory competition and indiscipline. Mayor Annisul’s six routes plan may just be able to resolve
some of the major problems with the capital’s public transport
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
The study recommends that buses
older than five years be removed
from the city during the renovation
process. The number of such dated
buses and minibuses are around
3,600. That means there are 900
newer buses operating in the city.
These buses will be kept and 3,100
new buses will be obtained to make
a total of 4,000 buses.
According to a study of the civil
engineering department at Bangladesh
University of Engineering and
Technology (Buet), three million passengers
commute in buses in Dhaka
city every day, which means each bus
carries about 700 passengers a day.
The Indian city of Mumbai has
only 3,600 buses which carry an average
of 4.8 million passengers in a
day. That means a bus can carry 1,333
passengers. This difference in capacity
comes from the fact that the bus
routes in Mumbai operate under the
franchising system, says the study.
Prof Moazzem Hossain of Buet
who was the team leader of the
study, said: “Mumbai, Singapore
The franchising system can remove overcrowding at the bus
stops ... if the franchising system starts in Dhaka, it will bring
discipline in the transport system
or Kuala Lampur cities have a
planned transport system. A route
is operated by a single bus company
as a franchising system. So, they
can carry more passengers than the
buses in Dhaka.
“The franchising system can
remove overcrowding at the bus
stops.
“I think if the franchising system
starts in Dhaka, it will bring
discipline in the transport system.”
The bus owners have placed
20-point demand to the Dhaka
north mayor against this plan.
Their demands include the government
purchase the buses that
will be scraped. They have also
asked for government loans to purchase
new buses.
“By selling the old ones we will
be able to buy new buses. Our other
demand is that the interest rate
for loans must be fixed below 6%
instead of existing 20%,” said Nasir
Uddin Khokan, managing director
of Bihanga Paribahan Ltd, also
organising secretary of the Dhaka
Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity, the
transport owners association.
Annisul Huq said: “We sat down
with transport owners about 12
times. We have been able to meet
most of their demands. Now we
will sit in the beginning of May to
finalise the whole plan.”
Consolidated ownership to bring
discipline
At the core of Annisul’s plan is
PROPOSALS FOR 6 COLOUR-CODED BUSES
6 basic routes as opposed to 194 routes
6 holding companies against 200 owners
4,000 new buses instead of 6,116 buses
to consolidate bus owners into a
handful of entities, in the hopes
that this will cut predatory competition
on the streets and bring discipline
to the industry.
The DNCC study recommends
that the six proposed routes will be
operated under six companies.
The companies will be holding
companies. Generally holding
companies allow the reduction of
risk for the owners and can allow
the ownership and control of a
number of different companies.
There are about 200 bus owners
operating in Dhaka, and they will all
be brought under these companies.
The bus owners will be able to get
a fixed revenue even if their buses
do not carry any passengers in a trip.
The companies will be made to
strictly follow traffic rules such as
picking up and dropping off passengers
only at designated bus stops.
The Dhaka South and North city
corporations are already taking the
initiative to build bus-bays and six
new bus depots in the city where
the buses will be parked.
The study recommends that the
fare be prepaid following the government
rates to ensure hassle-free
journey for commuters.
The government has also
planned to introduce a smart card
system for passengers which will allow
passengers to pay without cash.
“We have already completed the
piloting of the smart card project.
Hopefully, the project will implemented
by December 2018,” Road
Transport and Highways Division
Secretary MAN Siddique said.
The majority of the capital’s
citizens commute daily in public
transport, namely buses.
Public transport in Dhaka is
a chaotic scene where few rules
are followed. In the morning
and evening rush hours, massive
crowds of passengers throng the
bus stops chasing after buses.
Commuters are often hanging off
the doors of crowded buses, and
even standing on the bumpers in
desperate times.
There are 12 different bus companies
operating on the Mirpur-Gulistan
route. The buses often jam
the bus stops competing with each
other to collect passengers, resulting
in gridlocks. •

News 3
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
Will government bow down to them?
DT
NEWS ANALYSIS
• Chiraranjan Sarker
The government suspended its
drive to stop so-called seating or
gate-lock bus services in Dhaka for
15 days only three days after it had
started.
The suspension came in the face
of vehement pressure from transport
owners, even if Bangladesh
Road Transport Authority (BRTA)
apparently cited public sufferings
as a reason for backtracking on the
move.
Vehicle owners’ association announced
to stop the “service” early
this month, with the people voicing
objections against the fleecing of
commuters in the name of seating
service. And, mobile courts started
the drive on April 16 accordingly.
Contrary to public perception,
the situation, however, turned
even more chaotic as soon as the
drive started since those who previously
ran such services are still
charging passengers the seating
service fares even though they
apparently discontinued it. Also,
in a bid to “teach” passengers, the
transport owners created an artificial
crisis by reducing the number
of vehicles on roads, forcing them
to ride in overcrowded vehicles and
endure long waits amid sweltering
heat of the summer. In some cases,
complaining passengers were seen
falling prey to assaults by transport
workers. These all have resulted in
an unprecedented impasse in the
public transport system, making
children, women and elderly people
the worst sufferers.
The resultant public nuisance,
scuffles over fares and grievances
have seemingly driven the government
on April 19 to announce the
suspension, signifying a de facto
authorisation to run the service, on
the one hand, and a moral defeat
on the government side, on the
other. Also, it was a bid of the owners
and workers to hoodwink the
masses into agreeing to whatever
they want and a demonstration of
blatant disregard for the government’s
moves.
They do not even bother to comply
with fare rates stipulated by the
BRTA. Though there have long been
objections against their notorious
capriciousness, stern actions have
hardly been taken to prevent them
from doing so as they are “well organised”
and constitute a vital component
of the ruling Awami League
while there is none to stand by the
passengers as they are not organised
under a common umbrella.
Sometimes the authorities take
some steps that end up resulting
in nothing but failure. Following a
High Court order, the government,
for instance, on August 5 last year
Passengers made to squeeze into an overcrowded bus while two others waiting in the open amid sweltering heat of the summer, with transport owners reducing the
number of buses in Dhaka to dodge mobile court drives against their so-called seating service. The photo was taken in Asad Gate area on April 16 MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
The government lacks care for the people and public supports as
required to deal with the vested quarters. It does not have the
courage to admit this either
launched a drive against unfit, unlicensed
vehicles plying the streets.
This, too, went in vein as many
such vehicles temporarily stopped
running to dodge mobile courts, inflicting
immense sufferings on the
people. Hence, the transport system
is virtually stuck in the cycle of
anarchy-crackdown-anarchy.
Road Transport and Bridges
Minister Obaidul Quader has been
assigned to the transport sector,
who seems to have no control over
it. The minister is often heard promising
actions against the bunch of
crooks, but every time he fails to
bring a perceptible difference to
these chaotic circumstances.
Obaidul Quader said: “…Transport
owners do not respond to [our]
calls. They are so powerful that you
cannot take a hard line on them …
they are too many in number. So,
when it comes to reality, taking actions
against them is not so easy.”
Such words from him imply that
he is not a minister but patron of
the vehicle owners and workers.
Also, it raises a question as to who
is more powerful: the government
or the transport owners. Does
the government have any moral
ground to stay in power if it cannot
take actions against the offenders?
In fact, what he did or could not
say is his government is unable to
go against vested quarters.
The government lacks care for
the people and public supports as
required to deal with the vested
quarters. It does not have the courage
to admit this either.
Gangsters backed by the ruling
party are holding sway over the
sector. Khandaker Enayet Ullah,
vice-president of Dhaka south unit
Awami League, heads the transport
owners’ association Bangladesh
Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity,
while Shipping Minister Shajahan
Khan is controlling the whole sector.
Shajahan, an influential leader
of transport workers, is serving as a
minister, on the one hand, and he
is the executive president of Bangladesh
Sarak Paribahan Sramik
Federation, on the other.
Ruling party leaders are controlling
not only the two bodies,
but also all such associations. Even,
those who are involved in extortion
and foul play in the transport
sector are either activists or leaders
of the Awami League. This is because
the authorities fail to bring
any qualitative change.
To the government, interest of
certain quarters always gets priority
over public interest, which is
why the drive to stop so-called illegal
seating or gate-lock services
lost to them.
Again, it does beg the question
of whether the government is actually
sincere about purging the
sector of these drawbacks. Is the
government not accountable to the
people it pledged services? Does
the people’s plight not stir their
conscience? Have they lost their
capacity? If not, then why are they
unable to tackle such an anarchic
situation? Has it become completely
impossible for the government
to bridle the errant transport
owners? Will the government bow
down to them? •

4
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
News
Experts: Flash floods
may grow and dykes
are not the solution
RECOMMENDATIONS BY EXPERTS
FOR CONTROLLING FLASH FLOOD
‘We are working
with BWDB and
BMD to develop
a flash flood
forecasting and
early warning
system under
a project called
Flash Flood Early
Warning System’
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• Kamrul Hasan
Starting in March 27, the
northeast parts of the country
experienced severe flash
floods that caused devastation
to standing crops, infrastructure
damage and human
sufferings.
Experts working on development
in the Haor wetland
areas in the northeast say
battling flash floods using
permanent structures are
likely to be less fruitful than
effective temporary measures
along with a long-term
action plan.
A recent study by the
Bangladesh University of Engineering
Technology (Buet)
shows that pre-monsoon
rainfall and its intensity is like
to increase in the near future.
On Thursday, the Planning
Commission’s General
Economics Division (GED)
released a workshop output
report that emphasised on
long-term action plans to protect
the Haor environment.
Prof AKM Saiful Islam,
who is with Buet’s Institute of
Water and Flood Management
(IWFM), said: “The early flash
flood that happened this year
is unprecedented and such
floods can cause greater damage.
It will not be very wise to
try to prevent them using permanent
structures.”
Although the role of climate
change on flash floods
is yet to be established,
changes in weather phenomenon
and increase in extreme
weather events have already
been observed all over the
world that are connected to
global warming.
The probability of the
occurrence of flash flood
before its natural time would
likely be higher in the future
due to climate change, the
professor said.
Asked if there were any
early warning systems in the
country for such flash floods,
he said there are a few existing
warning systems but their
usability is still questionable.
“We are working with
Bangladesh Water Development
Board and Bangladesh
Meteorological Department
to develop a flash flood forecasting
and early warning
system under a project called
Flash Flood Early Warning
Construction of rubber dams depending on the topography
and sediment load of the river in the area to save Boro crops
Dredging of rivers and canals before monsoon to improve
their water carrying capacity
Introducing crop insurance to reduce the flash flood related
risks in Haor areas
Introducing short cycle varieties of rice there
Inclusion of economic importance of Haor areas in national
curriculum
Building eco-tourism in Haor areas
Engaging community-based organisations to push local economy
around Haor
Leasing water bodies to social organisations instead of individuals
by revising the water body regulations
Building better coordination among government agencies for
safeguarding natural habitat
Survey on Haor areas to assess economic valuation of Haor
resources
Initiating new programmes to diversify agricultural products
System,” Prof Saiful said.
They are hoping to complete
development of the tool
before the flash flood season
next year. This system would
be able to forecast with a lead
time of three days, he added.
Planning Commission’s
UNDP-backed project titled
“Support to Sustainable and
Inclusive Planning” (SSIP)
held the workshop on Thursday
that recommended longterm
action plan along with
better coordination among
government agencies, engagement
of private sector for development
in Haor areas, and
efforts to be taken to preserve
and conserve Haor biodiversity
and ecosystems better.
Some 52 local environment
activists and national
stakeholders took part in the
workshop.
Speakers said the issue
needed to be included in national
curriculum, particularly
for the students of that
region so that the new generation
would understand their
agro-climatic, economic and
environmental significance
and work for the development
of the area effectively.
Better coordination would
help avoid duplication of efforts
and waste of public resources.
They suggested a comprehensive
survey on Haor areas
to assess economic valuation
of Haor resources and rolling
out new programmes to diversify
agricultural products
and improve life and livelihood
of the people there.
Fakrul Ahsan, project
manager of SSIP, said ownership
of local people is vital
for maintaining biodiversity
and ecological balance of
Haor areas.
Professor Shamsul Alam,
member of GED, urged the
authorities concerned to
conduct benchmark surveys
and research on different
agro-climatic and social aspects
of Haors. •

Militants planned to ship
bombs on cargo vessels
Three members of Sarwar-Tamim’s New JMB held
• Arifur Rahman Rabbi,
Nadim Hossain, Savar
Three militants including
a close associate of Tamim
Ahmed Chowdhury were arrested
by RAB on Thursday
night from Savar.
RAB found firearms and
bomb-making materials in
their possession and said they
are members of a new faction
of the banned militant
outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen
Bangladesh, New JMB’s Sarwar-Tamim
group.
The three men have been
identified as Tamim Dwari alias
Abdullah Al Hasan alias Azizur
Rahman alias Abdullah Al
Jafri alias Amir Hamza alias Al
Huzaifa alias Sri Gowrango Kumar
Mandol, 32, Kamrul Hasan
alias Kajol alias Nur Uddin, 26,
and Md Mostofa Mozumder
alias Shihab alias Hamza, 32.
RAB Legal and Media Wing
Director Mufti Mahmud Khan
confirmed their arrest yesterday
during a press conference,
saying: “Acting on a tip-off we
searched a bus at Rajfulbaria
bus stand coming from Paturia
launch terminal where we apprehended
the three members
of Sarwar-Tamim group
around 10pm on Thursday.
“We found one foreign-made
pistol, five rounds
of bullets, 1.15kg of plastic
explosives made with the
help of a bomb expert, a lot of
bomb-making materials, three
folding knives, one machete,
laptops and foreign currencies
Hamid Mir to return his father’s
award to Bangladesh
• Tribune Desk
Prominent Pakistani journalist
Hamid Mir has announced
to return the award conferred
on his late father by
the Bangladeshi government
in 2013.
Mir’s father Waris Mir
was awarded the “Foreign
Friends of Bangladesh
Award” in 2013 for raising his
voice against the East Pakistan
operation in 1971.
in their possession.”
RAB said the three came to
Dhaka to carry out subversive
activities.
The close associate of
Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury,
the mastermind behind the
Gulshan terror attack, is
Tamim Dwari, a Hindu convert
and a marine engineer,
who was devising a plan to
transport bomb-making materials
and other weapons on
shipping boats with Tamin
Ahmed Chowdhury, said RAB.
RAB also said they were recruiting
trustworthy members
of the group to help transport
these bombs with fake passports
and visas.
Tamim and Tamim: Brothers
in arms
Tamim Dwari was radicalised
sometime in 2003, according
to RAB, after making friends
with a man called Tanvir Kabir
and attending the Tabligh Jamaat
with him. After studying
at Shahjalal University of Science
and Technology in 2005,
he transferred to the Chittagong
Marine Academy and
finished his degree in 2007.
In 2013, while working as a
marine engineer on the cargo
ship Banglar Kakoli, Tamim
Dwari found a former university
friend Abu Baker on a voyage
to Pakistan. Their conversations
circled around global
prosecution of Muslims and
what they could do about that
to which Abu Baker suggested
jihad was the only way.
During his show Capital
Talk yesterday, Hamid said
he will return the award to
Bangladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina for deteriorating
the country’s relation
with Pakistan, reported Geo
TV and the Daily Pakistan.
Hamid said Pakistanis
were “deceived” by such
awards, and therefore should
be returned.
Hamid said at the time of
receiving the award, he did
In December 2013, Abu
Bakar introduced Tamim
Dwari to Tamim Ahmed
Chowdhury as the man who
had come from abroad to fight
jihad in Bangladesh.
RAB’s Mufti Mahmud said
this initial meeting had a deep
impact on Tamim Dwari who
invited Tamim to visit him in
Chittagong.
In January 2014, they
met at Patenga, Chittagong
where Dwari showed Tamim
Ahmed Chowdhury around
the cargo ship Banglar Doot
where they discussed at
length the ways in which
they would transport bombs
and bomb-making materials
along with recruitments of
trustworthy militants and
how they could acquire fake
passports and visas for them.
In mid-2014, they met again
in Dhaka in a flat in Mirpur
DOHS along with Mir Farhad,
Ashraf, Himel, Abdullah, Abu
Bakar and three other unknown
militants to plan militant
attacks across the country.
RAB’s Mufti Mahmud said
in July 2015 Tamim Dwari was
admitted to the International
Maritime Training Academy
but dropped out and joined
the general cargo ship Bashundhara-4
in August 2016 to hide
his deep involvement with
militancy.
In November 2016, he was
most likely fired and he said
to have left home for hizrat
(leaving home for jihad) in
January 2017. •
not think the Bangladeshi
prime minister would “destroy
the relation between
the two countries.”
The Foreign Friends of
Bangladesh Award was conferred
on five Pakistanis
at a ceremony in Dhaka in
2013.
The recipients of awards
from Pakistan were mainly
those whose fathers had
opposed army action in the
then East Pakistan. •
News 5
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
PM urges judges, lawyers to be
more humane toward litigants
• Tribune Desk
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged
judges and lawyers around the country to
be more humane toward litigants in order to
reduce their sufferings while seeking justice.
Addressing the inauguration programme
of National Legal Aid Day at Osmani Memorial
Hall in Dhaka yesterday morning, the
premier said: “People’s sufferings cannot be
lessened only by framing laws and developing
the infrastructure of the judicial system.
Our judges and lawyers have to be more caring
and have the drive to serve the litigants.”
Saying legal aid is every citizen’s right, she
said her government was working for an independent,
neutral and modern judicial system.
“To pave the way to justice for helpless,
poor and disadvantageous people, the government
enacted the Legal Aid Services Act
2000, which is playing a pioneering role in
DT
reducing social discrimination in getting
justice,” Hasina said.
She said the three organs of a state –
legislative, executive and judiciary – must
work together with consensus. She said all
three state organs are equally powerful.
“We formulate the laws and judiciary
executes the laws with the support of the
executive. None of the three can function
independently.”
She urged all to help expanding the public
legal aid system at grassroots level to give
it an institutional shape.
“There is no alternative to independent judiciary
to establish the rule of law. The Awami
league government is always sincere to establish
an independent judiciary,” she added.
The prime minister said a total of 1,693
cases were disposed of through the National
Legal Aid Services Organisation in the last
eight years. •
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka 36 25 Chittagong 31 24 Rajshahi 39 26 Rangpur 32 22 Khulna 39 25 Barisal 37 26 Sylhet 32 22
Cox’s Bazar 32 25
DRY WEATHER LIKELY
SATURDAY, APRIL 29
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 6:26PM
SUN RISES 5:25AM
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW
37.9ºC
20.0ºC
Rajshahi
Gopalganj
Source: Accuweather/UNB
PRAYER
TIMES
Fajr: 4:55am | Zohr: 1:15pm
Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:34pm
Esha: 8:30pm
Source: Islamic Foundation

6
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
News
Gopalganj
farmers face
Tk5cr loss
due to rain
• Monoj Shah, Gopalganj
Famers of Gopalganj district have
incurred loss of around Tk5 crore
as the early rain and storm damaged
the fields of Boro paddy and
other crops.
Somir Kumar Goswami, deputy
director of the district Department
of Agricultural Extension
(DAE), said that some 323 hectares
of land where farmers were
cultivating Boro paddy, watermelon
and jute worth Tk5 crore
were washed away in the last
couple of days.
“We have already sent a list of
affected farmers to the higher authorities,”
he said yesterday.
According to DAE data, Gopalganj
farmers cultivated watermelon
on 1,150 hectares of land,
Boro on 73,500 hectares and jute
on 1,249 hectares this year.
Maikal Ojha, chairman of Kalabari
Union Parishad of Kotalipara,
said: “Pre-monsoon rain and
storms have damaged all the watermelons
in my union. We have
to count Tk2 crore as losses for
the damage.” •
Husband
arrested for
torturing wife
in Barisal
• Anisur Rahman Swapan,
Barisal
A man was arrested on Thursday
night for abusing and torturing
his wife in order to get her to
coerce her family into paying
dowry.
On Wednesday, Badal Mridha,
38, and his family had chained
Taslima up and then severely tortured
her, demanding dowry.
Taslima Begum, 35, a mother
of two, was rescued by her paternal
relatives and admitted to
the Barisal Sher E Bangla Medical
College Hospital’s burn unit.
On Thursday afternoon, Taslima’s
mother Jahanara Begum
had lodged a case against Badal
Mridha and Lal Mia Mridha with
the Gournadi police station.
According to Gournadi police
station Officer-in-Charge Firoj
Kabir, police were also conducting
a drive to capture and arrest
Badal’s brother Lal Mia Mridha.
The Barisal Deputy Commissioner
Dr Gazi Md Saifuzzaman
visited Taslima at the Barisal
SBMCH yesterday and gave her
Tk10,000 as financial support toward
her treatment. •

Pre-monsoon
erosion hits
Kurigram villages
News 7
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
• Ariful Islam, Kurigram
Erosion of the Brahmaputra
River has rendered homeless
several hundred families in
Razibpur Upazila of Kurigram.
The river usually turns virulent
and starts to erode the
riverbanks in the district in
post-monsoon, but this time
the erosion is taking effect
much before the inception of
the monsoon.
Locals as well as officials
of Water Development Board
(WDB) have been pointing to
the loss of navigability of the
river as the major reason for
this untimely erosion.
This correspondent visited
the erosion-affected areas recently
and found the impact
to be severe along several kilometre
stretch of the riverbank
in Mohonganj Union and the
surrounding areas.
Several hundred homes and
hundreds of acres of farmland
have already been eroded in
Mohonganj Bazar, Nayarchar,
Newazi, Shankarpur, Hajipara,
Fakirpara and Beparipara areas
of the union over the last 30
days, according to locals.
As the erosion line approached
their household plot
in Mohonganj village, Johora
Begum and her family had to
dismantle and move her house
25 days ago. They took shelter
in another house in the neighbourhood.
“We are yet to rebuild the
house. Have no money. Members
and chairmen [of the Union
Parishad] are not giving
us any money. And we are not
being able to have three meals
a day,” she said.
Mohonganj Union Parishad
Chairman Anwar Hossain
told the Dhaka Tribune that he
had by this time requested the
upazila chairman and the government’s
department concerned
to take the measures to
stop river erosion.
“No step has been taken.
They only give us assurance
that steps will be taken after the
allocations are made,” he said.
WDB’s Kurigram office Executive
Engineer Md Shafiqul
Islam said that they had taken
up a project to protect
about 7.5km riverbank in erosion-prone
Razibpur and Roumari
upazilas.
Another project to dredge
about 20km of the Brahmaputra
River and for the protection
of the riverbank is currently
under process.
“This year, allocations have
been made for about 330-metre
riverbank protection and the
works will begin very soon,” he
added. •
Khagrachhari women activists
demand end to persecution
• Tribune Desk
Justice had never been ensured
for any of the killings or
rapes of the indigenous people
committed in the Chittagong
Hill Tracts, hill women activists
told a protest programme
yesterday.
From a rally held in Khagrachhari
town protesting
the death of Romel Chakma,
the speakers particularly demanded
that the authorities
concerned must give proper
investigation report in all the
rape cases.
Several women rights organisations
including Hill
Women’s Federation took part
in the rally held in front of the
Khagrachhari office of United
Peoples’ Democratic Front
(UPDF) in Swanirbhar area,
our correspondent reported.
Hill Women’s Federation
President Nirupa Chakma,
Nari Sangha General Secretary
Kajali Tripura, and Pahari
Chhatra Parishad Vice-President
Bipul Chakma, among
others, addressed the rally.
The activists brought out a
procession after the rally. They
marched towards the Chengi
Square before ending the procession
in front of the UPDF
office again.
HSC examinee Romel, general
secretary of Naniarchar
Upazila unit PCP in Rangamati,
was picked up by the army
personnel of Naniarchar camp
on April 5, and handed over to
the police in critical condition.
Police on April 6 admitted
him to Chittagong Medical
College Hospital, where he
died on April 19.
UPDF and PCP have enforced
blockade in the district
demanding arrest of the army
personnel involved in the torture
of Romel, who was also
visually impaired, and an independent
judicial inquiry. •

DT
8
World
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
SOUTH ASIA
Nepal to deploy army
for May polls
Nepal government Friday got the approval
from the president to deploy
the army for the smooth conduct of
local-level polls on May 14 amid a
stiff resistance by the Madhes-centric
parties. President Bidya Devi
Bhandari has granted her approval
to mobilise Nepal Army personnel
during the elections under the Constitution,
said a statement issued by
her office. INDIAN EXPRESS
INDIA
Delhi cancels holidays on
birth, death anniversaries
of personalities
Following in the footsteps of Uttar
Pradesh, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia Friday announced
that the national capital will also not
have holidays on birth or death anniversaries
of eminent personalities.
He said he supported the decision of
the UP government and has instructed
the chief secretary regarding the
same. INDIAN EXPRESS
CHINA
Chinese court sentences
rights lawyer in secret trial
China sentenced a prominent
human rights lawyer to a three-year
suspended sentence Friday following
a secret trial, raising concerns
the country is moving to further
reduce transparency in high-profile,
politically sensitive cases. Li Heping
was found guilty of “subverting
state power,” the Tianjin Second
Intermediate Court said in a post on
its verified microblog. AFP
ASIA PACIFIC
Rights group: Detainees
found in secret cell in
Philippines
A dozen people have been found
stuffed inside a closet-sized cell
hidden behind a book shelf in a
Philippine police station, triggering
further alarm about abuse under
President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly
war on drugs. Members of the government’s
human rights commission
found the men and women in
an unannounced visit to the station
in the heart of Manila’s slum area
on Thursday evening. AFP
MIDDLE EAST
Iran protests to Pakistan
over deadly rebel raid
Tehran protested to Islamabad on
Friday over a cross-border raid by
armed rebels who killed 10 Iranian
guards in the restive southeast.
“We expect those responsible for
this terrorist attack to be arrested
and prosecuted,” President Hassan
Rouhani said in a letter to Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif. AFP
Immigrants plan May Day rallies
buoyed by Trump opposition
• Tribune Desk
Immigrant groups and their allies
have joined forces to carry out
marches, rallies and protests in cities
nationwide next week to mark
May Day, saying there’s renewed
momentum to fight back against
Trump administration policies.
Activists in major cities including
New York, Chicago and Los
Angeles expect tens of thousands
of people to participate in Monday
demonstrations, starting with
morning neighbourhood protests
and culminating in rush hour events
downtown. Activists also plan an
overnight vigil in Phoenix, a farm
workers demonstration outside
Miami and a White House rally. In
Seattle, pro-immigrant events are
expected to give way to rowdier, anti-capitalist
marches led by protesters
who said they plan to shut down
Afghan Taliban announce
start of ‘spring offensive’
• AFP, Kabul
The Afghan Taliban launched
their “spring offensive” Friday,
heralding fresh fighting in the
drawn-out conflict as embattled
security forces struggle to recover
from a devastating attack on a military
base one week ago.
Operation Mansouri, named
after the group’s former leader,
killed in a US drone strike in 2016,
will target foreign forces with
“conventional attacks, guerilla
warfare, complex martyrdom attacks,
insider attacks”, an insurgent
statement said. “The enemy
will be targeted, harassed, killed
or captured until they abandon
their last posts,” it continued.
The annual spring offensive
normally marks the start of the
“fighting season”, though this
winter the Taliban continued to
a major freeway through the city.
Around the world, union members
have traditionally marched
on May 1 for workers’ rights. In
the US, the event became a rallying
point for immigrants in 2006
Afghan refugee familes gather next to their belongings at the UNHCR
repatriation centre on the outskirts of Peshawar on April 27
AFP
In this April 24, 2017 photo, Pastor Don Taylor, of a suburban Chicago organising
group, speaks to immigrant rights advocates in downtown Chicago
AP
battle government forces, most
successfully in last week’s attack
on the military base outside the
northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The massacre last Friday saw
insurgents armed with guns and
suicide bombs slaughter at least
135 young recruits, according to
the official toll, though multiple
sources have claimed it is much
higher.
Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry
shrugged off the Taliban threats
Friday, saying the offensive was
“not something new”. “We will
target, kill, defeat and suppress
the Taliban... all across the country,”
acting ministry spokesman
Najib Danish said.
The Taliban statement said they
would focus on state-building and
“establishing mechanisms for social
justice and development” in
the areas under their control. •
when more than 1 million people
marched against a proposed immigration
enforcement bill.
While the current climate surrounding
immigration may be
similar to 2006 amid President
Internet shutdowns rob
Kashmiri activists of lifeline
• Reuters, Mumbai
Indian activists who rely on social
media to share information
in times of tension are being
frustrated by a wave of internet
shutdowns, with 22 sites closed in
Kashmir this week alone.
The clampdown in India, only
Iraq closes as many sites each year,
has hit doctors who treat rural patients
via WhatsApp, and silenced
journalists covering street protests.
“It impacts crisis response and
fuels rumours that can trigger further
violence,” said Ramanjit Singh
Chima at Access Now, an advocacy
group that is backing a global
#KeepitOn campaign against the
wave of internet shutdowns.
Human shield
This week, the northern state of
Kashmir ordered the shutdown
Donald Trump’s hard-line approach
to the issue, the immigrant
rights movement has changed
dramatically since then.
However, activists expect a
surge in participation this year,
in part because immigrant rights
groups have worked with Women’s
March participants, Black Lives
Matter and Muslim civil rights
groups who are united by their opposition
to Donald Trump. Also,
businesses with immigrant ties are
closing or allowing employees to
take the day off without penalty.
Immigrant groups acknowledged
there is some fear among
people in the country illegally
who are skittish about drawing
attention to themselves in visible
marches. But organisers are reminding
them that it’s an important
cause and there’s safety in
numbers. •
An Indian policeman stands guard during a protest in Srinagar, against
yesterday’s civilian killing in Panzgam, in Kashmir on April 28
REUTERS
of 22 social media sites, mobile
phone message applications and
video sites following street protests
against alleged abuses by
Indian forces. The ban includes
Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp,
Skype, Reddit and YouTube.
The home ministry says shutdowns
help check violence.
“Messages and images that are
spread through social media platforms
during communal tension
and ethnic conflicts can lead to
such situations spiralling out of
control. There is no option but to
suspend the internet,” an official
said.
Street protests have flared in
recent weeks as thousands of
Kashmiris vent anger against alleged
abuses by Indian forces after
a video emerged of a local man
tied to the front of an army jeep
and used as a human shield. •

World
France’s Le Pen struggles with
fear of far-right
• AFP, Nice
France’s far-right leader Marine
Le Pen faces the biggest test yet of
her six-year drive to improve the
image of her party as she seeks to
entice new voters needed to make
her president. Her task was underlined
on Friday when her National
Front (FN) party removed its interim
leader Jean-Francois Jalkh
after reported comments about a
Holocaust denier.
To stand a chance of winning,
Le Pen will need to convince people
like pensioner Jacques Villain
and student Marina Campana
ahead of the final round of the
presidential election on May 7.
Both of them backed defeated
candidates in the first round last
weekend and now face a choice
between Le Pen and pro-European
centrist Macron in the run-off.
Anti-racism
protesters
crash UKIP
election launch
• Reuters, London
The election campaign launch of
Britain’s eurosceptic UK Independence
Party got off to a troubled
start on Friday, when protesters
accused its leader Paul Nuttall of
promoting racist propaganda after
he promised to ban full face veils.
UKIP, whose former leader
Nigel Farage helped drive support
for Brexit before last year’s
referendum, was once seen as a
threat to the ruling Conservative
Party. But since Britain voted to
leave the EU, its poll ratings have
almost halved from the 12.6%
votes it won at the 2015 election.
Earlier this week, the party
came under fire, including from
several of its own senior members
and former major donor Arron
Banks, over a plan to ban full face
veils as part of its pitch to voters
ahead of the June 8 election.
Television footage showed a
man shouting that the party was
putting forward “racist propaganda”,
while another man was shown
being ushered out by security as he
accused UKIP of ejecting a woman
in a hijab from the event in London.
After the delay, Nuttall promised
“a bold and radical manifesto”, repeating
the pledge to ban face coverings,
alongside other policies including
reducing immigration and
cutting the foreign aid budget.
Asked if the protesters were
right that the party was racist, Nuttall
said: “No they are not right.” •
Picture shows campaign poster of French presidential election candidate for the
far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen on April 28 in Cessales AFP
‘Bad memories’
Villain, out for a walk on the famed
waterfront promenade in Nice
Beijing gloats over Trump Taiwan snub
• AFP, Beijing
China on Friday praised US president
Donald Trump’s snub of Taiwan, noting
that observers had called his decision
not to take a second call from the
island’s president a “slap in the face”.
Trump rattled China in December
after taking a congratulatory call
from the self-ruling island’s new
Beijing-sceptic president Tsai Ing-wen
after his election, smashing decades
of diplomatic precedent.
But after Tsai suggested another
call could take place in an interview
with Reuters Thursday, Trump said
EU to back post-Brexit membership for
‘united Ireland’
• AFP, Brussels
he did not want to risk his new-found
“personal relationship” with China’s
president Xi Jinping.
“I think he’s doing an amazing job
as a leader and I wouldn’t want to
do anything that comes in the way
of that. So I would certainly want to
speak to him first,” Trump told Reuters
in a separate interview.
China “has noted the US reaction,”
foreign ministry spokesman Geng
Shuang told reporters during a regular
press briefing, adding that online
commenters “believe it’s a slap in the
face for Tsai Ing-wen”. “China always
opposes that those with whom we’ve
EU leaders are expected at a summit
this weekend to back automatic
membership for Northern Ireland
after Brexit if it ever reunifies with
Ireland, sources said on Friday.
Ireland will ask the 27 EU leaders
to endorse a text on the issue
when they meet on Saturday without
Britain to adopt guidelines for
Brexit negotiations.
While the move could rile
London, European sources said
it would only “state the obvious”
and compared it to integration of
the former East Germany into the
EU after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
A draft of the summit minutes
seen by the reporters says the 1998
Good Friday peace accord “expressly
provides for an agreed mechanism
whereby a united Ireland may
be brought about through peaceful
and democratic means”.
“In this regard, the EU Council
acknowledges that, in accordance
with international law, the entire territory
of such a united Ireland would
that was the scene of a deadly Islamist-inspired
truck rampage last
July, said he would vote for Macron
out of duty, not conviction.
“The National Front is not a normal
party,” he said. “It brings back
bad memories” of France’s past.
Campana said ahead of a campaign
rally by Le Pen in Nice on
Thursday: “There are things she
says on immigration and security
and I just don’t agree.”
Their views are far from universal,
some voters encountered
in the traditionally right-wing city
said they would switch to Le Pen,
but there remains wariness among
a large part of the electorate.
This explains in part why polls
show Le Pen would lose the second
round by a large margin, 40% to 60%
for Macron, if it were held today.
One in four Fillon supporters
and fewer than one in five Melenchon
voters currently plan to vote
for her, according to an Ifop poll
released Thursday. •
established diplomatic relations develop
any formal or official exchanges
with the Taiwanese side,” he added.
Ties between Trump and Xi seem
to have warmed recently after they
met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in
Florida earlier this month.
Since then, Trump has praised
China for helping pressure North
Korea over its nuclear and missile
programmes.
The two leaders have been “in
constant touch” Geng told reporters.
Taiwan’s presidential office
stepped back from the idea of a call
after Trump’s comments. •
Members of the anit-brexit campaign group outside Parliament Buildings, on
the Stormont Estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 29
AFP
thus be part of the EU,” it says.
Brexit has raised a host of sensitive
issues about the future of
Northern Ireland, with the EU insisting
in the summit guidelines
on the need to avoid a “hard border”
with Ireland. •
9
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
USA
Trump complains Saudis
not paying fair share for
defense
US President Donald Trump
complained on Thursday that ally
Saudi Arabia was not treating the
US fairly and Washington was
losing a “tremendous amount of
money” defending the kingdom.
Trump confirmed his administration
was in talks about possible
visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel in
the second half of May. REUTERS
THE AMERICAS
Anti-austerity strike snarls
cities across Brazil
Major transport networks, schools
and banks partially shut down
across much of Brazil on Friday in
what protesters called a general
strike against austerity reforms in
Latin America’s biggest country.
Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous
city and financial powerhouse,
was worst hit. Police used tear
gas to clear highways of protesters.
But bus services, the metro
and trains all stopped working,
bringing the city temporarily to a
standstill. AFP
UK
Gibraltar warns UK against
disappointing ‘the Rock’
The British people will harshly
judge any prime minister who lets
down Gibraltar at the last moment
in Britain’s negotiations to leave the
EU, the chief minister of “the Rock”
has said. Gibraltar voters “chose to
remain in the EU and should not
become the first or last victim of
Brexit,” Chief Minister Fabian Picardo
warned in an interview. REUTERS
EUROPE
Hungary completes
second anti-migrant fence
Hungary said Friday it has completed
a second anti-migrant fence on
the Serbian border, a “smart” barrier
with night cameras, heat and movement
sensors and speakers blaring
warnings in five languages. “Hungary
is defending its border, and the
Schengen zone at the same time,”
Karoly Kontrat, an interior ministry
state secretary, told a press conference
in Roszke beside the fence on
Hungary’s southern frontier. AFP
AFRICA
Ethiopia drought creates
food crisis for 7.7m
DT
The number of people in need of
food aid in Ethiopia’s drought-hit
regions has surged to 7.7m, over
two million more than an estimate
earlier this year, state media reported
Friday. The National Disaster
Risk Management Commission said
in January that failed rains would
leave 5.6m people in need of emergency
food this year in three of the
country’s nine regions. AFP

DT
10
Editorial
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
TODAY
How will it
all play out?
Our nation is soon going to see the
opposition parties drumming up as
many populist ideas as possible
PAGE 11
Mystify, mislead,
and surprise
Trump himself egged on Russia’s
hacking. He praised President Vladimir
Putin while Putin was making war on
the American political system
PAGE 12
IQBAL HOSSAIN
ICT for equality
A marriage made in
the boardroom
Both Robi and Airtel management teams
can anticipate a rough path ahead
PAGE 13
Be heard
Write to Dhaka Tribune
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or its publisher.
It is wonderful news that more and more women are
pursuing careers in the technology sector.
As such, it is imperative that the government take note.
Though Bangladesh is already well on its way to ensure
that the ICT sector flourishes, this should cement any doubt
that investment in tech is what we should be focusing on.
There is no denying that women face discrimination
against in the work force, with many being pushed to the
sidelines and into less important roles.
Countless women do not get the opportunity to work, be it
due to archaic societal attitudes or financial troubles.
This is a great opportunity to both propel Bangladesh
towards the digital age, and tap into the potential of 50% of
our workforce.
For too long, it has been a crying shame that women in
Bangladesh have been neglected for so long in their role
as industry leaders and key drivers of the information
technology economy.
A major reason ICT is the way to go is because it affords
workers the flexibility to work from home, and set up their
own schedule.
The technology sector has great potential for breaking the
social barriers which bind women to their respective spaces,
and can be a crucial tool in the fight against breaking gender
roles, and providing women with the opportunity to become
independent.
Not only the citizens, but the entire nation would benefit
from having more women in the workforce.
Let us work towards making that a reality.
The technology sector
has great potential for
breaking social barriers
which bind women to
their respective spaces

How will it all play out?
It’s time to pander to the public
Opinion 11
DT
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
Since early 2017, the opposition
has found some space in joining
politics again, by taking part in
various elections at the local level.
The most recent city council
election win in Comilla is often
cited as a return to relatively
violence-free election.
On the Bangla New Year’s Eve
1424, the appearance of top brass
of Hefazat at the PM’s residence
in Dhaka, indicated, once again, a
sharp turn in our politics.
How will the voters be won?
Our nation is soon going to see the opposition
parties drumming up as many populist ideas
as possible
• Moazzem Hossain
All are in agreement that,
after so many years of
stalemate, the nation
has found momentum
in achieving development led by
sustaining growth.
It has also been recognised,
beyond the four corners of
Bangladesh, that this nation is set
to achieve the status of the “next
Asian tiger” soon.
The last few months’
development in two fronts
-- politics and terrorism -- has
made the country nervous. While
terrorism is a global phenomenon,
Bangladeshi politics is certainly
home to certain native characters
with strong religious fervour.
History that does not bear
repeating
The nation does not want to go
through atrocities and political
unrest, like the sort witnessed in
the post-2014 general election,
again.
While credit goes to the
government’s steadfast
commitment and our law
enforcement putting maximum
efforts to control the inhumane
arson attacks, fingers have been
pointed to the opposition and
to the extreme right elements
(Jamaat-Shibir) of politics as
perpetrators, while many of their
leaders and workers have been
behind bars or have gone hiding to
escape arrest.
Over the last two years, there
has been some semblance of
peace restored, which has helped
advance our GDP close to 7%, -- a
magic number globally.
Having said this, it has been
argued in the past if there is any
trade-off between a sustainable
growth-led development and
restoring democratic rights.
Certainly, after the 2001 general
election in which BNP was elected
to the government, together with
its major alliance partner Jamaate-Islam,
the nation experienced a
complete new game in politics.
Millions were opposed to
bringing Jamaat as a part of the
BNP-led government due to the
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
organisation’s storied opposition
to our Liberation War and the
atrocities they committed during
which.
Between 2001 and now, in
native politics, a strong Islamic
orientation has been observed.
Particularly, the Chittagongbased
Hefazat-e-Islam has become
vocal and has found an alternative
space in the native politics in
recent years.
One must not forget that the
progressive force Janatar Mancha
also found momentum in the past,
but was short lived.
Flower power struggle
Hefazat’s showdown in the
Shapla Chattar against the sitting
government, with the support
of the BNP and its other 19-party
alliance, was unprecedented.
The incumbent government
acted with a heavy hand and
all, but forced the protestors to
evacuate Shapla Chattar.
It was indeed an unprecedented
example of confrontational
politics between opposition and a
sitting government in our national
politics.
But, at the end of the day, the
government survived, and thrived,
by keeping the momentum of
growth-led development going.
Mixed messages
First, the PM has cleared two
controversies to her audience
at Gono Bhaban: The top tier of
the Qawmi Madrasa education,
after all these years, has been
recognised by the government as
something legitimate.
Second, the PM made it clear
that she personally supports the
Hefazat’s demand for removing
the newly established sculpture
of the Lady of Justice from the
grounds of the Supreme Court, to
avoid any potential harm being
done to the people in the form of
religious unrest.
These two incidents bear
conflicting messages. There are
some immediate reactions from
the leaders and subordinates at
AL, but nothing seems alarming
at this stage for this vast political
organisation.
What do they mean?
Certainly the next general
election is in the offing, and, as
such, can be seen as pandering to a
potential vote bank.
Of course, there is no denying
the fact that our leader has made
her personal opinion known to the
political arena with a purpose.
The purpose, perhaps, is to
embrace the so-called “populism”
in politics which seems to be a
global trend.
But, one may ask: How
sustainable is that kind of politics?
The Brexit referendum had a
populist outcome. It remains to be
seen how successful this move is
in terms of economic benefit and
territorial integrity of Britain in the
medium-to-long term.
Our nation is soon going to see
the opposition parties drumming
up as many populist ideas as
possible, with the next general
election being a battle of who gets
to be more populist.
In doing so, one hopes that
the baby is not thrown out with
bathwater. Too much politicking
certainly risks our country’s
promising economic prospects. •
Moazzem Hossain is a freelance
contributor based in Brisbane, Australia.

12
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Opinion
Mystify, mislead, and surprise
How will this epic spy story end?
• Tim Weiner
Admit nothing. “You’re
the puppet!” Deny
everything. “Trump
Russia story is a hoax!”
Make counter-accusations. “How
low has President Obama gone
to tapp (sic) my phones during
the very sacred election process.”
That’s Donald Trump reacting
to the Kremlin’s malevolent
meddling in the 2016 election.
The net effect of these
comments can be summarised
by one word: Stonewalling, the
tactic of the Confederate Civil War
General Stonewall Jackson, whose
motto was “mystify, mislead, and
surprise.”
Jackson died after he was shot
accidentally by his own troops
by Russian spies, who used it
“to release data of US victims …
obtained through cyber operations
against the Democratic National
Committee,” Trump’s CIA director,
Mike Pompeo, said on April 13.
He added: “Russia’s primary
propaganda outlet, RT, has
actively collaborated with
WikiLeaks.” Love WikiLeaks or
hate it, Russia used it to great
effect, injecting poison pills into
the American mainstream.
Was Trump’s campaign allied in
any way with this warfare? Trump
himself egged on Russia’s hacking.
He praised President Vladimir
Putin while Putin was making war
on the American political system.
His first campaign manager,
Paul Manafort, lost his job for
longstanding ties to Russian-
Trump himself egged on Russia’s hacking. He
praised President Vladimir Putin while Putin
was making war on the American political
system
What strange thing will happen next in the Trump administration?
REUTERS
-- and Trump needs to watch his
right flank in days to come.
His allies in Congress have tried
to defuse the explosive Russia
affair, and to confuse the citizenry
with wild charges. That tactic
isn’t working. Some Republicans
now want a hearing in the Senate.
The congressional intelligence
committees cannot stay silent. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation
will not retreat.
The stone wall surrounding the
White House may not stand.
Russian ties
Whether Americans conspired
with Russian spies to disrupt
democracy is one of the thorniest
questions the FBI has ever
confronted. Its investigation will
hover over the White House for
many months.
Two weeks before Trump was
inaugurated, the leaders of every
major US intelligence service told
him they had concluded that his
election had been supported by
the Kremlin.
Russia worked to damage
Hillary Clinton and help Trump
-- in part by purloining Democratic
party emails and weaponising
them through WikiLeaks, a
publisher of stolen secrets.
“I love WikiLeaks!” candidate
Trump had proclaimed when
his opponent was wounded.
But WikiLeaks was a “hostile
intelligence service” abetted
aligned oligarchs; these included
a political consultancy intended
to “greatly benefit the Putin
government.”
His first national security
adviser, Michael T Flynn, served
as a paid mouthpiece for RT, then
was fired for lying to his superiors
about his conversations with the
Russian ambassador.
The FBI is following a trail in
cyberspace. It will seek evidence
of ties -- personal, political,
financial -- between members of
Team Putin and Team Trump.
Farther down that path, the FBI
may reach a crossroads.
Will its counter-intelligence
case, the pursuit of spies, evolve
into a criminal case, with charges
presented for prosecution? Will
Trump himself become a subject
of the investigation?
The co-conspirator
A sitting president cannot be
indicted, but he can, as Richard
M Nixon was, be named as an
unindicted co-conspirator by a
federal grand jury.
He can also, in the Nixon
tradition, cloud the political
landscape with lies and
inventions. “President Obama was
tapping my phones in October,
just prior to Election!” Trump
proclaimed in an early-morning
tweetstorm last month.
“This is Nixon/Watergate.” It
was, but only in the sense that the
president was blowing smoke in
the eyes of the American people.
This particular falsehood set
the Republican chairman of the
House Intelligence Committee,
Devin Nunes of California,
careening down a blind alley. He
cancelled scheduled committee
hearings while setting off in futile
search of evidence to support the
president’s lie.
He made a dead-of-night trip
to obtain secret documents from
two National Security Council
staffers (one his former aide,
the other Flynn’s hand-picked
intelligence officer).
He proclaimed they showed
that Team Trump was wrongly
targeted by Obama’s spies -- a
charge as baseless as Trump’s
tweet. This bizarre charade forced
him to recuse himself from the
investigation of the case.
He is now nder investigation by
the House Ethics Committee for
his conduct. Nunes cancelled
House Intelligence Committee
hearings and knocked his
committee out of business for five
weeks. On May 2, it restarts -- in
a closed-door hearing -- to learn
more from FBI Director James
Comey, who gave reticent but
resonant testimony on camera in
March, when he confirmed that
the FBI was on the case.
The Senate Intelligence
Committee has been seemingly
somnolent since shortly after
Trump’s inauguration. Behind
closed doors, its unusually small
staff is reviewing top-secret
documents that led the American
intelligence establishment
to conclude that Russia was
disrupting democracy. The
American public knows next to
nothing about these records.
The committee clearly intends
to summon Flynn. But Flynn’s
failure to disclose payments from
RT has left him in legal jeopardy,
and he wants immunity from
prosecution in exchange for his
testimony.
Whether the Senate committee
can compel his appearance is
dubious. So is its immediate
future: It has issued no subpoenas,
scheduled no public hearings, and
set no scope for its inquiry.
But the secrecy of the
intelligence committees soon
will be pierced. News broke
Tuesday that the Senate Judiciary
Committee will hold a public
hearing, entitled “Russian
Interference in the 2016 United
States Election,” on May 8.
Two crucial figures will appear.
Both were set to testify at the
House hearings before Nunes went
off the reservation.
They are the former National
Intelligence Director James
Clapper -- the top American
spymaster under Obama -- and the
former Acting Attorney General
Sally Yates.
Remember Sally Yates?
She was running the Justice
Department when Trump fired
her in January. She had warned
the Trump White House that Mike
Flynn’s deceptions about his talks
with Putin’s ambassador made him
vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
Her successor, Attorney General
Jeff Sessions, has recused himself
from the Russia affair due to
his own undisclosed chats with
Moscow’s envoy.
Someone at the Justice
Department has to oversee the FBI
investigation -- but exactly who
is an open question. Someone in
congress has to carry out public
hearings -- but the will to do so has
wavered in past weeks.
Polls show that an
overwhelming majority of the
American people want someone
to get to the bottom of this mess.
Public trust in government being
what it is, those same polls show a
desire for a politically independent
inquiry.
Expect a social media
groundswell to erupt next month:
Sally Yates for special prosecutor.
Stranger things have happened in
this epic spy story. •
Tim Weiner is a Pulitzer Prize-winning
reporter. His books include Legacy of
Ashes: The History of the CIA and One
Man Against the World: The Tragedy
of Richard Nixon. This article originally
appeared in Reuters.

Opinion
13
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
A marriage made in the boardroom
Like most unions, mergers and acquisitions require a lot of work and compromise
• SM Musa
Despite 60-90% failure
rate of mergers and
acquisitions (M&A),
it is still the most
popular method of organisational
development and growth among
leaders of corporations.
In today’s hyper-competitive
market, this popularity has taken
a new dimension. A wave of M&A
has also touched the growing
market of Bangladesh. We are
witnessing Robi-Airtel merger,
which also happens to be the
largest M&A in our country’s
telecom industry.
With the final approval from
the PMO, all the legal and formal
issues are settled, and finally
the two firms are ready for the
long-awaited marriage. Like in
any marriage, the real challenges
in M&A show up after the deal is
done.
Literature indicates that most
M&As fail due to post-merger
integration difficulties. Both Robi
and Airtel management teams can
anticipate a rough path ahead. To
make this marriage a success, they
must not make the same mistakes
made by most management teams
in the post-merger stage.
As both firms are from the
same industry, overcapacity and
expected cost-cutting synergy
might have been the main
motivations for this merger.
Achieving cost-cutting synergy
will depend on task integration
and human integration.
Again, task and human
integration will largely depend
on the level of strategic fit and
cultural fit between the firms.
Strategic fit is assessed based
on similarities of the two firms’
customers, competition, cost
economy and level, and context of
the capabilities.
As much as it is seen from
outside, both Robi and Airtel
strategically fit with each other,
which suggests that, theoretically,
task integration wouldn’t be a big
challenge. However, practically
implementing task integration is
always challenging. In this regard,
the HP-Compaq merger could be a
reference point. HP-Compaq, both
from the same industry, presents
some very good examples of a
smooth task integration.
By activating clean teams,
tasks forces, committees, and
other programs, such as adoptand-go,
launch-and-learn,
launch-the-moose, HP-Compaq
could complete task integration
successfully within a stipulated
time.
Robi and Airtel could change the game forever
Both Robi and Airtel management teams can anticipate a rough path
ahead. To make this marriage a success, they must not make the same
mistakes made by most management teams in the post-merger stage
Due to corporate cultural
differences, human integration is
more challenging. For Robi-Airtel,
there are no national cultural
differences which is a big plus.
But, differences in
organisational culture, HR
practices, reward systems, values,
and decision-making may make
human integration challenging
and even impossible.
We have seen how difficult
it is in the case of the infamous
merger of Daimler (Mercedes)
andChrysler (Jeep), two giant car
manufacturers from Germany and
US respectively. Differences in
both national and organisational
culture made it impossible to
complete human integration and
ultimately, the whole merger
failed, resulting in Chrysler’s near
death.
In contrast, the HP-Compaq
merger set some good examples
on how to carry out human
integration, managing all cultural
differences. Through cultural
integration teams, buddy
systems, and other programs, top
management was able to bring
people from both firms close to
each other.
Successful integration of two
companies is vital in keeping
a merger alive. Unfortunately,
successful integration alone does
not guarantee the success of a
merger. HP and Compaq did not
create the expected synergy, but,
at the same time, did not face any
problems.
However, there is a twist: The
HP-Compaq merger failed to
achieve the objectives for which
the deal was sealed. As reported
in the media, by buying Compaq,
HP CEO Carly Fiorina created a
giant with tremendous scale and
economies that came with it.
But she couldn’t fundamentally
change HP’s ability to compete
with Dell in the low-end of
computing or match IBM’s
sophistication in enterprise
solutions.
In consequence, HP has come
short against both of them.
To compete with GP, Robi
must create the best possible
cost synergies from this merger
and also look forward to any
possible ways to create revenueenhancing
synergies by leveraging
the new scale and bringing more
innovation.
If Robi could successfully do
so, it might be able to rewrite the
rules of the game in the country’s
telecom industry, or maybe even
could change the game forever. •
SM Musa is doing research on Strategy,
Innovation and Start-up Ecosystem. He
writes from the Netherlands.
BIGSTOCK

14
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Kids
colour it

Kids
15
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
BOOK REVIEW
Five, Six, Seven, Nate!
Author: Tim Federle
Genre: Coming of Age
FUN SCIENCE
Story
A star ready to shine, Nate Foster can’t wait to act in ET: The
Musical and make his Broadway dreams come true. But when the
glittery image of Broadway begins to fade away and Nate’s road to
success gets barred with hostility and awkwardness, can he fight
the hardships and still make it to the top? Or will he crumble under
the pressure and remain a star unborn?
Any good?
A charming sequel to the much loved Better Nate Than Ever,
Five,Six,Seven,Nate! is a wonderful read, with strong messages on
perseverance, dedication and the need for hard work. For all the
rising stars and starry-eyed dreamers out there, and also the ones
who shy away, this book is a must read. •
Plastic
milktastic
BIRD FACTS
Pelican power
Pelicans are famous for the elastic pouches
on their throats. They travel in groups and
sate their carnivorous appetite by hunting
fish.
When they find their prey, pelicans
scoop the fish into the elastic sacks
underneath their bills and swallow them
at one go. Before swallowing, they squeeze
the water out the side of their bills and gulp
the fish down.
There are eight living species of pelicans
in the world. They have wingspans as large
as 10ft and can fly to heights of 10,000 feet
on thermals.
Their bills and pouches can change
colour - from normal to bright pink, yellow
or blue. •
Have you ever heard of plastic
milk? You might think this
sounds totally crazy, but it is a
fact that we can actually make
plastic milk, and that’s exactly
what we will learn today.
You will need
• One cup of milk
• 4 teaspoons of vinegar
• a bowl
• a strainer
Instructions
With the help of an adult, heat
some milk on a stove. When
warm, pour the hot milk onto a
bowl (carefully with guidance).
Add the vinegar into the bowl
and after stirring for a minute,
strain the milk into the sink
and watch how some lumpy
blobs of milk are left behind
in the strainer. Cool the blobs
and press them into different
shapes. Keep them away to rest
for about a day and watch how
plastic blobs of milk arise!
How it works
When the protein in the milk
reacts with acid in the vinegar,
casein is formed. This casein
reacts to form milk blobs which
harden after a few days to form
plastic milk.•
DIY
Wear
your
own
art
Looking for new clothes to wear?
Why not make some on your own?
These sandpaper tees are super
simple to make and you can go
wild with your own designs!
You will need
• Sandpaper
• Colourful crayons
• Plain tee shirt
• Iron
Instructions
Grab some crayons and draw
different designs on a piece of
sandpaper. Turn the sand paper
upside down and iron onto the
t-shirt. Your sandpaper tees are
now ready to wear. It really is that
simple! •

16
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Downtime
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Reduced intensity (6)
4 Female bird (3)
7 Nimble (5)
8 Exerted influence (6)
11 Uncooked (3)
12 Heavy substance (4)
13 Prayer ending (4)
15 Finished (5)
16 Tumbles (5)
20 Skin eruption (4)
23 Close up (4)
24 Cricket score (3)
25 Assert without proof
(6)
26 Sacrificial table (5)
27 Acceptance (3)
28 Autocrat (6)
DOWN
1 Like a weak old woman
(5)
2 Merchants (7)
3 Facts given (4)
4 Employ (4)
5 Dash (4)
6 Fresh (3)
9 The human race (3)
10 Cushion (3)
14 Rubeola (7)
17 Sheltered side (3)
18 Convict (3)
19 Frozen shower (5)
20 Govern (4)
21 Insects (3)
22 Difficult to do (4)
24 Narrow beam (3)
CODE-CRACKER
How to solve: Each number in our
CODE-CRACKER grid represents a
different letter of the alphabet. For
example, today 18 represents B so fill B
every time the figure 18 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

What’s on
17
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
EVENTS AROUND TOWN TODAY
EDUCATION
MOVIE
WORKSHOP
STAR CINEPLEX
Where Bashundhara City, Dhaka
What Movie showtime (April 29)
SPOT ASSESSMENT
When 11:30am-2:30pm
Where New Way Consultancy, House 5, Block A, PC Culture
Housing, Ring Road, Shyamoli, Dhaka
What Consultancy on admission at The University of Law in
the UK.
BD BRIDAL MAKEOVER AND PERMANENT HAIR
CURLING WORKSHOP
When 10am-3pm
Where Las Vegas Cafe and Convention Centre, Jigatola,
Dhanmondi, Dhaka
What Bridal makeup tutorial by instructor with 23 years of
experience. Certificate will be given. For more information:
01622263736.
MUSIC
INTELLECTUAL
ARISTOCRACY: POST
PARTITION
When 4-6pm
Where Bangladesh
National Museum,
Shahbag, Dhaka
What Public lecture
organised by the
Reading Club.
Smurfs: The Lost Village (3D):
10:50am, 12:45pm, 5:30pm
Dhat Teri Ki (2D): 4:20pm, 7:20pm
Ghost in the Shell (3D): 1pm,
7:20pm
Incarnate (2D): 11am, 3:15pm,
5:15pm
Fast & Furious 8 (3D): 10:50am,
1:40pm, 2:45pm, 4:30pm, 6:40pm,
7:20pm, 7:30pm
Fast & Furious 8 (2D): 10:50am,
1:30pm
Lion (2D): 11:10am, 1:40pm
The Boss Baby (3D): 11:20am,
4:10pm
Beauty and the Beast (3D): 1:50pm,
4:30pm, 7:10pm
DAY-LONG 3D PRINTING AND MODELING
WORKSHOP
When 10am-4pm
Where EMK Center, Midas Center Building, House 5, Road 16
(old 27), Dhanmondi, Dhaka
What A comprehensive daylong Workshop highlighting the
key feature of 3d printing.
BLOCKBUSTER CINEMAS
Where Jamuna Future Park, Dhaka
What Movie showtime (April 29)
BECOME AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTER
When 9:30am-12:30pm
Where Bdjobs Training, BDBL Building, 19th Floor, 12 Karwan
Bazar, Dhaka
What Workshop on presentation skills and techniques
through interactive lecture, power point presentation,
question and answer session etc.
EMK HAPPY HOUR PRESENTS - BOB DYLAN
FOREVER YOUNG
When 7-9pm
Where EMK Center, Midas Center Building, House 5, Road 16
(old 27), Dhanmondi, Dhaka
What Live music by Stone Free, who will be paying tribute to
the lyrics and music of Bob Dylan.
CELEBRATION
AN EVENING
OF SONGS BY
MANJUSHA AND
SITAR RECITAL BY
DHRUBAJYOTI
When 6:30-8pm
Where Bangladesh
National Museum,
Shahbag, Dhaka,
Dhaka
What Live classical
music organised by
Indira Gandhi Culture Centre.
Rings (2D): 2:50pm
La La Land (2D): 4:50pm
The Shack (2D): 12:10pm, 7:35pm
Swatta (2D): 1pm, 4pm, 7pm
Power Rangers (2D): 11:40am,
2:15pm, 5pm, 7:30pm
Fast and Furious 8 (3D): 11:30am,
11:35am, 2:15pm, 2:20pm, 5pm,
5:05pm, 7:45pm, 7:50pm
WORLD VETERINARY DAY-2017
When 11:30am-2:30pm
Where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural
University, Salna, Gazipur, Dhaka
What Celebration of the World Veterinary Day-2017 by
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine & Animal Science.

DT
18
Sports
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
Big guns face off
in DPL today
• Tribune Report
The fifth round of the Dhaka Premier
Division Cricket League 2016-
17 season hits the field today with
the blockbuster clash between
holder Dhaka Abahani Limited and
table-topper Gazi Group Cricketers
at the BKSP-3 ground.
In the other heavyweight match
of the day, Legends of Rupganj lock
horns with the undefeated Prime
Bank Cricket Club at the BKSP-4
ground while Prime Doleshwar
Sporting Club will take on Kalabagan
Krira Chakra at Khan Shaheb
Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.
From this round onwards, the
Bangladesh national players will be
unavailable in the league.
With that said, this round will be
crucial for all the teams concerned.
Abahani lost their first game in
four matches against Sheikh Jamal
Dhanmondi Club in the previous
round so the Sky Blues will have to
bounce back hard against a strong
Gazi.
Gazi will miss their in-form performer
Nasir Hossain, who flew to
the UK with the national side. In
his absence, Mominul Haque, who
struck a blistering hundred against
Doleshwar in the last game, will
once again have to play a vital role
with the bat.
FIXTURES
Abahani v Gazi, BKSP 3
Rupganj v Prime, BKSP 4
Doleshwar v Kalabagan, Fatullah
Prime Bank skipper Mehedi
Maruf smashed a brilliant century
in the previous game to clinch an
easy win against Victoria Sporting
Club. The bank outfit remained
joint top in the points table, alongside
Gazi, and will look to continue
their winning run against Rupganj,
who won three out of four matches
this season.
Kalabagan, who have won just
once in four games, will have to
work hard to earn some much
needed points against Doleshwar,
who have won twice from the same
number of matches.
Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim bats during training in Sussex, UK yesterday
Australia to tour Bangladesh for two Test
matches in August, says BCB chief
BCB boss unconcerned with PCB’s decision to cancel tour
COURTESY
• Tribune Report
Cricket Australia has confirmed
that it would tour Bangladesh this
August for two Test matches. BCB
president Nazmul Hasan said this
to the media yesterday.
The BCB boss, who returned
yesterday after attending the ICC
meeting in Dubai, informed that
the CA supremo has assured him of
the tour following the meeting on
Wednesday.
The dates however, are yet to be
confirmed.
“Australia series has been finalised.
I am saying it because the
president of their board told me
on the last day of the meeting –
Wednesday - that he and his wife
are coming to watch the first Test.
That was the first time he said anything
about the series during the
meeting,” said Nazmul.
“The first Test is in August. They
didn’t want to stay here for the fiveday
Eid break. We will work from
the third day of Eid for the second
and final Test,” he added.
Earlier in October, 2015, Australia
postponed their scheduled
tour of Bangladesh citing security
concerns.
Meanwhile, Nazmul also informed
that the BCB is not concerned
regarding Pakistan’s decision
to cancel the tour.
With that said, he said it was
surprising as PCB previously confirmed
that they would tour Bangladesh.
“We haven’t spoken to Pakistan
officially, that is the biggest thing.
The important thing is that we were
always confirmed that they would
come to Bangladesh. In 2015, we
came to the decision where they had
said they would come here till 2017.
And after that we would talk about
touring Pakistan,” said Nazmul.
“Following the board meeting,
the PCB chairman told us that this
is becoming a problem for them to
come here. And he wants to sit with
me. Because he said to the press
that they won’t come or don’t want
to come. We will officially send
them our schedule. And after that,
we will get an official response.
“They (Pakistan) haven’t told
us about any financial matter.
And, we are not that worried. We
are surprised but we are not that
concerned. When Australia said
they won’t come, we didn’t said
anything. And we are really happy
that they are coming. But that
doesn’t mean that the FTP (Future
Tours Programme) that we have is
very tight and we won't be able to
give the boys rest. We want to play
cricket. Whoever comes here, we
will play against them. We want to
keep the commitment. If someone
doesn’t want to come, we want to
know officially,” he explained.
The BCB chief also spoke on the
ICC's recent voting over financial
Australia series has been finalised. I am saying
it because the president of their board told me
on the last day of the meeting – Wednesday
- that he and his wife are coming to watch
the first Test. That was the first time he said
anything about the series during the meeting
and governance issues as BCCI lost
both comprehensively.
“India had concerns only with
the financial aspect. We supported
India in everything. I went to India
and supported them all the time.
But if Bangladesh are to get more
money, I can’t say no to this. But
the biggest thing I feel personally is
that India or BCCI, they didn’t have
any problem with us getting more
money,” said Nazmul.
“They are trying to come up
with a new formula, there is still
time till June, but still, if they can
give us a proposal that is agreeable
till June, we'll agree. We used
to get $76m. Now, we are going to
get $132m, $16.5m per year. This is
a big thing for Bangladesh.
“There is no reason for us to
move from this. But if they can
increase their money then we will
agree to that. And I feel India will
do that. They will come up with
a new formula so that we can all
agree to this,” he added.
Meanwhile, there were questions
raised with regards to poor
umpiring in the second division
league where a bowler gave away
92 runs in four balls in a protest
over biased officiating. According
to Nazmul, the board will take
strict action against the guilty party
and informed that the BCB will
not tolerate such things. •

Sports
19
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Rooney
hopeful of
future despite
poor season
• Reuters
Manchester United captain Wayne
Rooney is confident he can play on
at the highest level for another two
to three years despite spending a
significant part of the current campaign
either on the bench or out
injured.
Rooney has made 31 appearances
for United this season, most of
which as a substitute, with manager
Jose Mourinho relying more on
top goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Asked if he could continue playing
for another two to three years,
Rooney told SkySports, "Yes. Even
longer I think. Everyone mentions
that age, I'm 31, not an old person.
Of course, I've played a lot of
game. I feel I can contribute quality,
composure, experience, and
know-how, how to get over the
line, whether it's to win the league
or finish top four or get to the final.
That's a lot of experience I can contribute
to the team," he said. •
Mourinho sets sights on Liverpool and Arsenal
• AFP, Manchester
Jose Mourinho identified Liverpool
and Arsenal as Manchester
United's chief rival for Champions
League qualification following his
side's 0-0 draw at fellow top-four
contender Manchester City.
Thursday's stalemate at the Etihad
Stadium left United just a point
below local foe City, who occupy the
Premier League's fourth and final
Champions League qualifying berth.
But Mourinho believes Liverpool,
two points above United in
third having played a game more,
and Arsenal, four points below
them having played a game less,
are now their principal rival.
"I think Man City is going to finish
top four," the United manager
said.
"The matches they have to play,
Manchester City’s Yaya Toure rides the challenge of Manchester United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan during their English Premier League match at Etihad Stadium in Manchester,
north west England, on Thursday. The match ended 0-0
AFP
I see them doing that. I think it's between
us, Arsenal and Liverpool."
While United's run-in features
successive trips to Arsenal and
second-place Tottenham Hotspur,
City's is more benign, a home game
with eighth-place West Bromwich
Albion their most arduous test.
United are also besieged by injuries
and will now be without
midfielder Marouane Fellaini for
three games after he was shown an
84th-minute red card for headbutting
Sergio Aguero.
Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Marcos
Rojo, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata
and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are all sidelined
and Timothy Fosu-Mensah
picked up an injury after coming
on in place of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
With a two-legged Europa
League semi-final against Celta
Vigo also looming on United's horizon,
Mourinho admitted his squad
is being stretched to its limits.
"We have played 18 more matches
than Liverpool," said the Portuguese,
who side equalled the club
record of 24 successive top-flight
games without defeat.
"Eighteen more matches is like
half of a Premier League, almost.
Eighteen matches are many miles
in the players' legs. So if you can
say that, it's an unfair fight.
"But we are going for that. We
have the semi-final on Thursday.
We have a match (at home to Swansea
City) [tomorrow], 12 o'clock.
"We lost two more players today,
Fellaini and Timo Mensah, because
he has also an important injury in
the last action of the game. I don't
think we (will) recover any of the
others. But we go for it, we fight.
"Twenty-four matches in the
Premier League is a lot. The guys
have an amazing spirit and here we
go again, [tomorrow]."
Mourinho suggested Aguero's
exaggerated reaction to Fellaini's
lowered forehead had influenced
referee Martin Atkinson's decision
to send him off.
"I saw Aguero in the tunnel and
no broken nose, no broken head,"
Mourinho said.
"His face is nice as always. If Sergio
doesn't go to the floor, for sure
it's not a red card."
City manager Pep Guardiola refused
to be drawn on the incident,
saying: "Next question. I don't
want to talk about the decisions of
the referee."
City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is
due to undergo tests yesterday after
being stretchered off with a calf
injury late in the second half. •
POINTS TABLE
Team P W D L GD Pts
Chelsea 33 25 3 5 40 78
Tottenham 33 22 8 3 47 74
Liverpool 34 19 9 6 28 66
Man City 33 19 8 6 48 65
Man Utd 33 17 13 3 26 64
Arsenal 32 18 6 8 24 60
Everton 34 16 10 8 23 58
West Brom 33 12 8 13 -3 44
Southampton 32 11 7 14 -5 40
Watford 33 11 7 15 -17` 40
Stoke 34 10 9 15 -13 39
Crystal Palace 34 11 5 18 -8 38
Bournemouth 34 10 8 16 -14 38
West Ham 34 10 8 16 -15 38
Leicester 33 10 7 16 -13 37
Burnley 34 10 6 18 -16 36
Hull 34 9 6 19 -31 33
Swansea 34 9 4 21 -29 31
Middlesbrough 34 5 12 16 -19 27
Sunderland 33 5 6 22 -33 21
National Junior
Boxing begins
• Tribune Report
A total of 166 young boxers from 70 teams
across the country are taking part in the
National Junior Boxing Championship 2017
that got underway in BKSP yesterday.
This is the 22nd edition of the championship
and only the fourth edition of the National
Junior Girls’ Championship. Among
the 166 boxers, 97 are boys while 69 are girls.
The boys’ event features seven weight
categories while the girls’ tournament
comprises five. The semi-finals and final
will be held tomorrow. • Action from the 2017 National Junior Boxing in BKSP yesterday COURTESY
Chittagong, Sylhet reach U-18
National Football semis
• Tribune Report
Chittagong and Sylhet team
reached the semi-finals of the Walton
U-18 National Football Championship
2017 after winning their
respective quarter-finals at Bangabandhu
National Stadium yesterday.
Chittagong came from behind
to beat Barisal 2-1 in the first match
of the day. Badshah put Barisal
ahead in the 33rd minute before
Atiqur Rahman Ziko cancelled out
the lead eight minutes into the second
half. Mohammad Jamir Uddin
scored the winner for the port city
outfit in the 69th minute.
Sylhet also made a late comeback
to snatch a 1-1 draw against
Satkhira to book a place in the last
four. Satkhira went ahead in the
29th minute through Habibur Rahman
before Abu Bakor equalised
from the penalty spot in the 86th
minute. •

20
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Sports
Sevilla close in
on Champions
League return
• AFP, Madrid
Wissam Ben Yedder struck a
79th-minute winner as Sevilla defeated
10-man Celta Vigo 2-1 on
Thursday to move eight points
clear in La Liga's fourth and final
Champions League spot.
Joaquin Correa rounded off a
superb run with a tidy top-corner
finish to give Sevilla the lead shortly
after half-time at the Sanchez
Pizjuan.
Iago Aspas replied with a penalty
on 53 minutes, but Celta soon
found themselves a man down after
Pablo Hernandez was dismissed
for a second yellow card.
Ben Yedder then stabbed in
a cross from fellow Frenchman
Samir Nasri 11 minutes from time
to send Sevilla level on points with
Atletico Madrid with four games of
the season remaining.
Earlier, Eibar's flickering European
hopes looked to be finally
extinguished after a 0-0 draw with
mid-table Alaves left them seven
points adrift of sixth-placed Real
Sociedad. •
Celta Vigo's Pablo Hernandez (L) vies with Sevilla's Pablo Sarabia during their Spanish league match at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan
Stadium in Sevilla on Thursday
AFP
Murray stays perfect, Nadal hits 50 in Barcelona
• AFP, Barcelona
Andy Murray made it 11 wins in
11 meetings with Feliciano Lopez
while Rafael Nadal racked up a
50th win in Barcelona as the two
Grand Slam heavyweights reached
the last eight Thursday.
World number one Murray,
playing his first match of the week
after Australia's Bernard Tomic
scratched from their scheduled
opener with injury, downed Lopez
6-4, 6-4.
His win in one hour and 49 minutes
extended his perfect record
over the left-handed Lopez to 11-0,
a run which now includes two wins
on clay.
Murray will next face 10th seed
Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the player
who shocked him in the Monte Carlo
Masters third round last week.
Ramos-Vinolas defeated sixth
seeded compatriot Roberto Bautista
Agut 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
“I was happy to play today. It
was nice to get through and have
another match [yesterday],” said
Murray.
“I didn’t feel so good at the start,
but I played good tennis in some of
the moments [Thursday].”
Nadal moved closer to a 10th
Barcelona title when he cruised
past South Africa's Kevin Anderson
6-3, 6-4 for a 50th victory in the
Spanish city.
"It wasn’t a day where I took a
lot of free points because the court
was very heavy. But I was serving
well, at a good speed and changing
'Solid' Sharapova wins second
match on comeback
• AFP, Stuttgart
Maria Sharapova picked up a second
win in as many days on her
comeback from a 15-month doping
ban on Thursday, beating fellow
Russian Ekaterina Makarova at the
Stuttgart WTA tournament.
The 30-year-old five-time Grand
Slam winner dominated Makarova,
ranked 43 in the world, for a 7-5, 6-1
win in just one hour, 20 minutes, in
the second-round tie.
"I'm happy. I executed my game
plan and I was solid," said a relieved
Sharapova, whose comeback is
deeply controversial and has a wild
card to play in the event where she
has been a champion three times.
Yesterday she will face Estonian
qualifier Anett Kontaveit, who beat
French Open champion and fifthseed
Garbine Muguruza of Spain in
the second round, for a place in the
semi-finals.
"I haven’t played her, she is one
of the few girls on the tour I haven’t
faced yet," said Sharapova.
"She has been playing some
great tennis here and this is a great
opportunity for both of us."
There was none of the rust
or nerves Sharapova showed in
beating Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-3 in
Wednesday's first round - the first
day she was eligible to play after
testing positive for meldonium at
the 2016 Australian Open.
This was a far more polished,
confident display from Sharapova,
who hit nine aces and 29 winners
against Makarova. But there is still
work to do before facing Kontaveit
as Sharapova also had seven double
faults and made 19 unforced errors.
"Practice and playing are so different
and you can only prepare the
best you can, so it’s good to finally
play," said the former number one.
"The reaction and anticipation
you need are so hard to replicate in
training and these are the things I
need." Makarova, who has now lost
all of her seven matches against
Sharapova, put up a fight as the
first set followed serve, but was
broken in the final game. •
Goetze to miss
Confed Cup
• AFP, Berlin
Germany's head coach Joachim
Loew confirmed Thursday that
World Cup winner Mario Goetze
will not play at June's Confederations
Cup in Russia as he recovers
from a metabolism disorder.
"Mario won't be with us at the
Confed Cup," said Loew at an event
in Hamburg.
"He should take the time, which
he needs, to be fit and well again
for pre-season training for next
season."
Loew revealed Goetze is "responding
well" to treatment: "one
thing is certain, he will make a full
recovery and will be able to play
again."
Goetze scored the winning goal
for Germany in the 2014 World Cup
final, but has been sidelined since
February after his club Dortmund
revealed he has an unspecified metabolism
disorder.
Loew said it was a relief for the
player to know there is a medical
reason behind his poor performances
this season after returning
to Dortmund following an unhappy
three-year spell at Bayern. •
directions well," said Nadal, playing
on a court named after him.
"I had the chance to hit my forehand
after my serve and take control
of the rallies, so I’m very happy
with how I played."
Third seed Nadal, fresh from a
10th Monte Carlo triumph at the
weekend, next faces South Korean
qualifier Chung Hyeon who stunned
German eighth seed Alexander
Zverev 6-1, 6-4. The 20-year-old
Chung, who has yet to drop a set this
week, is through to his first quarter-final
since Houston in April 2016.
Japanese lucky loser Yuichi Sugita
reached the last eight with a 6-3,
6-3 win over seventh seed Pablo
Carreno Busta of Spain.
Having already earned the biggest
victory of his career on Tuesday
by defeating France's world
number 23 Richard Gasquet, Sugita
scored a new career-best by breaking
the Spaniard three times. Sugita
next faces Austrian fourth seed
Dominic Thiem, a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2
winner over Dan Evans of Britain. •
Russia's Maria
Sharapova returns
to Estonia's Anett
Kontaveit during
their quarter-final
at the WTA Porsche
Tennis Grand
Prix in Stuttgart,
southwestern
Germany yesterday
AFP

Bayern sign
Coman on
permanent deal,
extend Thiago
contract
• Reuters
Bayern Munich activated a clause
to make winger Kingsley Coman's
transfer from Juventus permanent
at the end of the season and extended
midfielder Thiago Alcantara's
contract to 2021, the German
club said yesterday.
The 20-year-old France international,
who joined Bayern on a
two-year loan deal in 2015, will sign
a contract until 2020.
"He is a player with huge potential,"
Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
said. "We're convinced that
he will be of great help to us in the
coming years. He is a very young
player who already plays regularly
for the French national team and
who has gathered experience at the
European Championship."
Coman, a former Paris St Germain
player, has scored eight goals
in 58 games for Bayern.
Rummenigge also heaped praise
on 26-year-old Thiago, who signed
a two-year extension that will keep
him in Munich until 2021 and has
arguably played his best football at
Bayern this season. The Spain international
is the latest stalwart to
sign up to 2021 following - among
others - Jerome Boateng, Mats
Hummels, Thomas Mueller, Robert
Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer as
Bayern look to retain key players. •
Sports
Xavi: Pochettino 'not my enemy’
• AFP, Doha
Barcelona great Xavi Hernandez
insisted Thursday that Mauricio
Pochettino was not his "enemy"
and said he could even imagine the
Tottenham boss one day becoming
coach of the Catalan giant.
Xavi was speaking after an
apparent spat between the pair,
fuelled by comments attributed to
the midfielder in an interview the
Spaniard vehemently insists he did
not give.
Earlier this week, British newspaper
The Sun quoted Xavi as saying
that his friend and former coach
Pep Guardiola wanted to sign Spurs
star Dele Alli for Manchester City.
This in turn prompted a response
from Pochettino in which
he labelled Xavi as his "enemy", because
of the pair's rivalry when the
Argentinian played and managed
Barca's city rivals Espanyol.
Xavi though said the whole incident
was "unbelievable".
"I feel bad - because the interview
of The Sun was a fake - and
it's the reason of Pochettino's response,"
Xavi told AFP in Doha,
where he now plays his football.
"I don't...(have) enemies in my
life, even in football.
"Pochettino's not my enemy,
he's not my enemy."
He continued: "Before he was
the coach of Espanyol and we fight
between Espanyol and Barcelona.
"I respect him a lot.
"He's doing really well at Tottenham.
I like Tottenham's style. I like
the Pochettino style."
Asked if Pochettino was good
enough to become a future Barcelona
coach, despite his Espanyol
past, Xavi replied: "Why not?
I think it's not a problem. A lot of
players and former coaches of Espanyol
go to Barcelona."
He added: "I think he can, he's
now one of the best coaches, in
the Premier League. He could be a
good possibility."
The "fake" row has now come
full circle after Guardiola insisted
that he was not interested in signing
Alli, the 21-year-old who has
just been named England's Young
Player of the Year for the second
season running.
Tottenham currently lie second
in the English Premier League, four
points behind leaders Chelsea.
Xavi also said he was convinced
that Guardiola would succeed in
England, despite the fact the Manchester
City coach will end the season
without a trophy for the first
time in his career.
"People only look at the results,
but for me...City is doing well," said
Xavi. "I am convinced that next season
for sure will be really good.
"It's not easy because it is another
culture, it's another religion
in the Premier League." •
21
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Players reject
Cricket Australia
pay offer
• Reuters, Sydney
Australia's professional cricketers
rejected a pay offer from the sport's
governing body yesterday, saying
the proposal was "a win for cricket
administrators but a loss for cricket".
The already protracted and
sometimes rancorous negotiations
between the players' union and
Cricket Australia precede the expiry
of the current five-year deal,
which runs out at the end of June.
CA released their proposal last
month, offering large salary increases,
particularly for women, but
breaking with the 20-year model of
a fixed percentage of revenue from
the game going to the cricketers.
That break and a number of other
factors proved unacceptable to
the players’ body Australian Cricketers
Association, who laid out a
counter-proposal in a statement
yesterday.
"The ACA on behalf of Australia's
cricketers has [yesterday] rejected
CA’s pay and conditions proposal,"
read a statement.
"The ACA also expresses frustration
that what should be a relatively
simple and good faith negotiation
has not proceeded in this way.
"The fact that CA has, despite
various attempts to do so, produced
no logical reason to break
the successful partnership model
and longstanding relationship with
players, leaves the players unclear
as to CA's objectives." •
DAY’S WATCH
CRICKET
SONY SIX
4:30 PM
Indian Premier League 2017
Pune v Bangalore
8:30 PM
Gujarat v Mumbai
FOOTBALL
STAR SPORTS HD 2
7:50 PM
Premier League 2016/17
Sunderland v AFC Bournemouth
10:16 PM
Bundesliga 2016/17
VfL Wolfsburg v FC Bayern Munich
TEN 1
10:25 PM
La Liga Santander 2016/17
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid
12:40 AM
Espanyol v FC Barcelona
TEN 2
12:40 AM
Serie A TIM 2016/17
Torino v Sampdoria
TEN 3
8:20 PM
La Liga Santander 2016/17
Real Madrid v Valencia
11:50 PM
French Ligue 1 2016/17
Guingamp v Saint- Etienne
HOCKEY
STAR SPORTS 2
2:00 PM
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2017
Great Britain v India
4:00 PM
New Zealand v Australia
6:30 PM
Malaysia v Japan
TENNIS
TEN 1 HD
5:30 PM
ATP World Tour 500 2017
Barcelona Open BancSabadell SFs
FORMULA ONE
STAR SPORTS HD 1
FIA F1 World Championship 2017
Qualifying

22
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Showtime
Dhallywood
sci-fi flick Porobashinee
to be released
• Showtime Desk
Pioneering Dhallywood science
fiction film Porobashinee is all
set to be released on May 5. The
anticipated film, which has been
in the works for the last five
years, will have a global release,
including a few screens in USA,
Canada and UAE.
Swapan Ahmed, the director
of the film, has confirmed the
news in a press briefing on April
28 at Gulshan. Sophie Aubert,
Ambassador of the Embassy of
the Republic of France, Faridur
Reza Sagar, Managing Director
of Channel i, and AKM Zamal
Uddin, Managing director of
Reggae Entertainment, were
present at the conference, along
with some of the cast members of
the film.
According to writer and film
producer Faridur Reza Sagar,
“Swapan always puts the best
effort into his works, which is
why it sometimes takes a longer
time span. I believe the audience
will see something new in the
film, and I wish the maker the
very best in all his efforts.”
While thanking everyone
for their collaboration with
Porobashinee, director Swapan
Ahmed said, “This fim is the
result of a five year long struggle,
which is why I would like to
request everyone to come to
the theatres and enjoy what we
created.”
Produced by Reggae
Entertainment, the shooting of
Porobashinee took place in more
than 12 countries, including
France and Italy, and was
overseen by an international
crew. The post-production of the
film involved 3-D conversion and
the application of visual effects.
Other than Emon in the lead
character, the film features Rith
Majumdar, June Malia, Urvashi
Rautela, Sohel Khan, Apsara Aali
and Chashi Alam. •
M Night Shyamalan annouces double
sequel with star-studded cast
• Showtime Desk
The Sixth Sense director M Night
Shyamalan has announced that
his new film will be a sequel to
both Split, a multiple-personality
thriller starring James McAvoy,
and Unbreakable, a superhero film
starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L
Jackson from 2000.
super hero drama, until the actor
made a surprise cameo appearance
at the end of the director’s latest
flick Split - revealing the two films
as being part of the same universe.
Shyamalan disclosed the cast of
Glass in a tweet, “ The iconic Bruce
Willis returns as David Dunn. The
incomparable Samuel L. Jackson
will return as Elijah Price/Mr.
CMV releases its
first ever joint venture music video
• Showtime Desk
Production House CMV is known for its different
styles in video making, which often involves stories
with the accompanying track. This tim,e CMV has
taken its efforts a step further and released the first
ever joint venture video on
April 27.
Titled as
“Icchegulo”, the
music video
features Azhar
Saini, a rising
model from
Mumbai,
and Tasnuva
Tisha from
Bangladesh,
while famous
pop singer Kona
from Bangladesh
and Akash Sen from
India sang in the romantic track. Mushfique Litu
composed the song with Sharif Al Din’s lyrics and
Nazir Mahmud’s melody.
“The song is really beautiful. I am grateful to Nazir
bhai and Mushfique bhai. I was mesmerised to see
Azhar Saini’s first work for
Bangladesh, while Tisha
was explosive as
usual. This music
video has made
my Eid a little
earlier!” said
Dilshad Nahar
Kona, the diva.
The music
video of
“Icchegulo” has
been directed by
AK Parag with the
help of Motion Rock
Entertainment. •
Lead actors from both the films,
Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson
and James McAvoy, will team up
to act in the new film, titled Glass.
Shyamalan revealed the news in a
series of tweets.
He tweeted, “My
new film is the sequel
to #Unbreakable AND #Split. It
was always my dream to have both
films collide in this third film.”
For seventeen years, fans
have been waiting for a sequel
to Unbreakable, the Bruce Willis
Glass. The virtuoso James McAvoy
returns as Kevin Wendell Crumb,
Patricia, Dennis, Hedwig, Barry,
Jade, Orwell, The Beast, Heinrich,
Norma, Pol. And the prodigy, Anya
Taylor—Joy will return as Casey
Cooke.”
In another tweet, Shyamalan
teased that he has already
wrapped up writing of the film -
“Okay. Here we go. Finished the
new script.”
The film is rumoured to be
coming out in January, 2019. •

Showtime
23
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
Mahi’s defamation
case gets rejected
• Showtime Desk
The Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal
has approved the final report by
the police that relieved Shariar
Islam Shawon from a defamation
suit filed by famous Dhallywood
actress, Mahiya Mahi.
“The judge of the tribunal,
Saiful Islam, accepted the
recommendation of acquittal
by the police in a final report on
Monday and ordered thereof,”
confirmed Nazrul Islam Shamim,
prosecutor’s counsel at the
tribunal.
Sharmin Akter Nipa, who
is more commonly known as
Mahiya Mahi, filed the case with
the Uttara West Police Station
against her alleged friend Shawon
on May 27, two days after Mahi’s
marriage with Parvez Ahmed
Opu, a businessman from Sylhet.
The actress alleged that some of
her intimate photos with Shawon
were published on certain online
news portals and Facebook in a
bid to “defame her and ruin her
marriage.” She said the defamatory
photos were with Shawon. She
also accused Shawon’s friends
Hasan, Al Amin, Khademul and
cousin Rezwan in her petition.
Dhaka metropolitan magistrate
Sajjadur Rahman signed the final
report acquitting Shawon and
forwarded it to the tribunal.
The final report by the police
states that Mahi and Shariar
Islam Shawon were married and
lived together for a few days.
According to the report the
actress did not have any evidence
to support her claim.
Mahiya Mahia started her
career in Dhallywood back in
2012 with her debut superhit
Bhalobashar Rong. •
Album review: Ed Sheer an’s Divide
• Touseef Adnan
Back in 2015, Ed Sheeran
announced that he was taking
a break from social media. The
British singer-songwriter wanted
to travel the world, explore what
he might have missed all these
years. In 2017, Sheeran came back
in style with his third solo album
Divide, which has 16 tracks on the
deluxe edition. The album is full
of experiments but sounds great.
First up, “Shape of you” and
“Castle on the hill” are the two
lead singles of this album which
were initially released online.
Since then, “Shape of you” has
managed to break all the records
by being on the top charts and
moved on to become the most
popular song in Ed’s career yet.
The song was initially written
by Ed for Rihanna but he later
decided to use it for his album.
The groovy composition and
catchy lyrics makes you want to
play the song on repeat. “Castle on
the hill,” on the other hand, is all
about Ed’s childhood memories.
The lyrics are really beautiful and
almost everyone can relate and
recall their childhood memories
with this song.
“Eraser” also reflects Ed’s
journey so far and how he has
evolved as a human being and a
musician.
Another song, “Save myself”,
is a dark piano driven track
reflecting the broken heart of
Sheeran. Ed sings, “Before I save
someone else/I’ve got to save
myself.” The lyrics speak about
how Ed is now more mature than
ever; not only in his professional
life but also in his personal life.
“ Galway girl” is a rap track
which is certainly one of the
coolest songs in the album.
The sound of the fiddle gives
this track an Irish flavor which
is hard to not love. “Perfect” is
another song that every couple
would like as their wedding song
to dance to. The song has the
distinct Ed Sheeran vibe in it and
is incredibly melodious, romantic
and accompanied by great lyrics.
On the other hand, “Happier” is
ironically a sad number about
lost love where the pain in Ed’s
voice seems to reflect back on a
regret from his past.
If you’re looking for campfire
songs, “Hearts don’t break”
should make the list. The song is
about finding the special one in
someone’s life and being grateful
about it.
“How would you feel” is yet
another sweet ballad filled with
romance which was written by
Ed for his girlfriend. John Mayer
played the guitar solo for this
track.
The track, “Super flower
market” has been written from
Ed’s mother’s perspective and
what she had to go through
when Ed’s grandmother passed
away during the recording of
the album. The song serves as a
tribute to Ed’s grandmother.
In “New man” Sheeran
talks about one of his ex’s new
boyfriend and is absolutely
hilarious. “Barcelona” can be a
great party song while “Dive” is
a raspy gem exploring longing
and frustration. “Bibia be ye ye,”
“What do I know” and “Nancy
Mulligan” are also great in their
own merits and can do wonders
in fixing your mood.
All in all, Divide is an album
that has everything the music
lovers are looking for. Check it
out. •
Katrina Kaif posts risqué
photo on Insta-debut
• Showtime Desk
Ravishing B-town
hottie, Katrina
Kaif joined
social media
platform
Instagram
on Thursday
and set the
temperatures
soaring with a
racy picture in a
towel.
She took to
Instagram and wrote,
“Thank you @mariotestino for the
wonderful experience of shooting
for the legendary #TowelSeries
… You must come see us again
soon.” This picture serves as a new
feather to add to Katrina’s cap. The
actor is now the first Bollywood
star to be featured in famous
Peruvian photographer Mario
Testino’s “Towel Series.”
Mario has shot several
international celebs like Britney
Spears, Blake Lively, Kristen
Stewart, Selena Gomez, Kendall
Jenner
and Cindy Crawford for
the series. Katrina posted
a picture with Mario on
Facebook last January when
he came to attend the Vogue India
party.
The picture has already
garnered over 80,000 likes and
endless comments in which the
fans simply cannot get over how
hot the actress looks in the photo.
In just a day, the leading lady
has been followed by a recordbreaking
900,000 fans, which
clearly states that she can be titled
as the next social media queen. On
the work front, Katrina is prepping
for two big films this year, Tiger
Zinda Hai and Jagga Jasoos. •

24
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2017
DT
MILITANTS PLANNED TO SHIP
BOMBS ON CARGO VESSELS › 5
Back Page
BIG GUNS FACE OFF
IN DPL TODAY › 18
MAHI’S DEFAMATION
CASE GETS REJECTED › 23
Bangladeshi girl
with three legs
can walk again
after rare surgery
• AFP, Sydney
Three-year-old Choity Khatun was
given little prospect of survival until
she was brought to Melbourne
last year by Australian charity Children
First Foundation.
Born with three legs, because
body parts of a twin had grown inside
her, she need to undergo complex
and rare surgery in Australia.
Her doctor said surgery had been
successful and she returned home
yesterday.
“A twin had grown out of her
pelvis but the twin was only part
of a twin … The problem is there’s
no rulebook for this because she’s
a very unique individual so you
have to try and work out what was
where,” Chris Kimber, the paediatric
surgery head at Monash Children’s
Hospital, said.
Choity’s condition meant that
body parts from a twin developed
in her perineum, the area between
the anus and the vulva.
Working in consultation with
experts from Europe and the US,
a team of surgeons spent several
months mapping out a procedure
to reconstruct her anatomy and remove
the remains of the third leg,
part of which had been cut off earlier
in Bangladesh.
‘She’s pretty good’
The surgery, which Kimber said
was “extremely rare”, was finally
carried out in November and involved
eight doctors who specialise
in genital and pelvic reconstructions
working on the girl for eight
hours.
“We spent three or four months
mapping it out and then based on
lots of world opinion, we were able
to come up with something that
clearly works,” he said.
The little girl is also partially
blind, but an ophthalmologist’s examination
at the hospital found her
sight could not be improved. •
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Dhaka Tribune
Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower,
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