n Jebun Nesa Alo from Kurigram

Despite spending 50 years of his life sur-rounded by Bangladeshi culture, exclave resi-dent Khalilur Rahman has decided to move to the Indian mainland because he believes the prospects for earning a living are better there than in Bangladesh.

Khalilur belongs to a minority of Indian ex-clave dwellers who are opting not to remain in Bangladesh, mostly because they already enjoy strong economic ties, mostly through work, to India.

For Khalilur, the decision to opt for the In-dian mainland comes down to a question of economic opportunity. Khalilur believes Indi-an nationality will enable him to have a high-er standard of living then what Bangladesh has to o� er.

Khalilur’s family has lived in Dasiar Chhara

in Kurigram district for generations. As a re-sult of an oddity of the international land boundary between Bangladesh and India, his ancestral home fell within an Indian exclave surrounded by Bangladeshi territory.

After the recently signed Land Boundary Agreement decided to allow each side to ab-sorb the pockets of foreign land into their respective territories, the inhabitants of the exclaves were given the right to choose which country to go with.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Food chain fouled by industrial waste n Abu Bakar Siddique

The high level of toxic elements like cadmi-um, arsenic, mercury and lead in foods avail-able at the capital’s top kitchen markets is the result of severe pollution of soil and water, experts say.

Heavy metallic elements enter the food chain mainly through industrial e� uents, phosphatic fertilisers (especially cadmium) and the burning of fossil fuels (especially lead), says a study titled “Consumption of unsafe foods: Heavy metal, mineral and trace element contamination,” conducted by the Bangladesh Agricultural University.

The research team examined samples of cereals, � sh, meat, vegetables and spices from kitchen markets in Gulshan, Karwan Ba-zar and Hazaribagh, and detected at least one or more heavy metals – cadmium, arsenic, lead, mercury, antimony, nickel, aluminium and lithium – in � ve out of 16 food groups.

Pollutants from industrial sources put pub-lic health and ecology at risk when the toxic elements are discharged into nature. They also a� ect agriculture resulting in the con-tamination of food items.

Prof Ra� qul Islam, who led the study con-ducted in late 2012 and presented the report recently, said the extent of contamination di� ers according to the variation of sources of pollution and the origin of the food products.

He says that the presence of arsenic in rice

varieties is seen due to soil conditions and concentration of arsenic in irrigation water.

Bangladesh’s economy has been rising for the last two decades – thanks to rapid indus-

trial development. But businessmen do not pay any heed to the need to manage industrial e� uents in an environment-friendly and sus-tainable manner.

For instance, dyeing factories have been set up in many corners of the country though they usually discharge massive amounts of liquid waste into nearby canals and rivers without treating them, thus contaminating the water and the soil.

The dyeing industry is considered a major backward linkage industry for the country’s Ready Made Garments sector.

When contacted, Department of Environ-ment Director General Roisul Islam Mondol gave a helpless gesture.

He observed that industrialists never con-sider the condition of the ecology and envi-ronment but narrowly concentrate on pro� ts.

As an example, despite having all kinds of facilities, tanneries are yet to relocate from Hazaribagh to the newly-constructed leather park near Savar, Roisul said.

The study suggests that the authorities should develop rice varieties that accumulate less arsenic and cadmium to minimise the transfer from irrigation water to the grains and from grains to the body. Moreover, the government should ensure that the rice is cul-tivated with arsenic-free water.

Any amount of any type of heavy metal is intolerable for human consumption. Livers and kidneys are the primary victims. “But in the long run, heavy metals damage other or-gans too,” Prof Khaleda Islam of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science said.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

PAGE 5Nasir vows to solve waterlogging

PAGE 4Stronger measures demanded to save children from violence

PAGE 10Syrian army focusing on holding key areas

SECOND EDITION

ATIUR: DEFAULT LOAN STILL A HEADACHE PAGE 15

GOVT CLAMPS DOWN ON DOCTOR ABSENTEEISM PAGE 32

CHHATRA LEAGUE ONCE UPON A TIME PAGE 3

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015 | Shraban 12, 1422, Shawwal 10, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 102 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

Long ignored and neglected, exclave residents are suddenly in the spotlight as they make choices about their livelihoods, identity and future. The second part of this report explores one exclave and the considerations behind some residents’ choices

Why some are opting for India

‘I have worked and lived in India since birth, so I want to be an Indian national’

PAGE 3SC: Stop further distribution of Brazilian wheat

Sohag, Zakir to lead Chhatra Leaguen Arif Ahmed

Saifur Rahman Sohag and Zakir Hossain were elected president and general secretary, re-spectively, of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s central committee at its 28th council yesterday.

A total of 40 candidates ran for the two posts while 213 candidates withdrew nomina-tion papers during the election period.

Sohag, 29, is currently doing his e-MBA at Dhaka University. He completed a Master’s degree in language science. Zakir, 24, is a Master’s student of political science.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the newly elected Chhatra League � ve-mem-ber central committee elected by councillors.

The � ve-member committee consists of President Saifur Rahman Sohag, General

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

PAGE 32‘Climate fund release must not be delayed’

Sohag, Zakir to lead Chhatra LeagueSecretary Zakir Hossain, Senior Vice Presi-dent Ajijul Haq Rana, Joint Secretary Asaduz-zaman Nadim and Organising Secretary Mo-barak Hossain. Mosta� zur Rahman Mustak, the chief election commissioner, con� rmed the poll results to the Dhaka Tribune. The of-� cial announcement was not made last night.

President of the previous committee HM Bodiuzzaman Shohag and former general sec-retary Siddique Nazmul Alam monitored the election that began at 11:30am and continued until 5:30pm at the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh.

Awami League Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Organising Secretary Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, former Chhatra League secretary Nazrul Islam Babu super-vised the event.

Of the 3,138 councillors, a total of 2,819 from

around 105 organisational units cast their votes in a transparent ballot box to choose the presi-dent and the general secretary for the next two years. As many as 319 councillors were absent.

The Sohag-Zakir panel was declared unof-� cially on Saturday night.

Since morning, thousands of Chhatra

League activists started joining the closing day of the council and chanted slogans in fa-vour of Sohag and Zakir. No one was found shouting for other candidates.

PM Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the council of her party’s student body on Saturday and asked the councillors to elect their leaders from among regular and meritorious students.

The outgoing committee was formed through election on July 11, 2011, for two years, as per the organisation’s constitution. Seven candidates contested the post of president while 16 vied for the general secretary position.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, the new-ly-elected BCL president said: “I will follow the path of Bangabandhu.”

On the other hand, Zakir expressed gratitude to the prime minister and vowed to work to im-plement the dreams of PM Sheikh Hasina. l

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PM: Choose quali� ed, honest o� cials for promotion in armyn UNB

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the senior o� cials of Bangladesh Army to select the most quali� ed, e� cient and pa-triotic o� cers for promotion.

Addressing the Army Headquarters Selec-tion Board 2015 at the Army Headquarters in Dhaka Cantonment, the PM advised generals prioritise academic quali� cations, excellence, honesty, trustworthiness and loyalty as well as discipline and leadership capability when choosing candidates for promotion.

She also stressed evaluation of the contri-butions of o� cers to the nation on various important occasions, such as containing mil-itancy, conducting anti-terrorism operation and maintaining constitutional continuity in the country.

Terming the belief on the independence of Bangladesh and the spirit of the Libera-tion War as the fundamental ideology for the armed forces, Hasina said: “Leadership must be bestowed upon the patriotic o� cers.”

“Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman undertook massive steps soon after the independence to develop a modern and time-be� tting army for the coun-try,” she said. l

Food chain fouled by industrialwasteArsenic is the most dangerous element because it may cause cancer in the long-run, she said adding that the government should take proper initiatives to check the situation.

Lead, a metallic element and a non-biodegradable substance, is extremely hard to clean up once the environment is contaminated, while mercury, another metallic element, is a poison.

“The study � ndings hint that traders are not able to deliver safe food to the market … most likely due to the di� culty of recognising and determining which foods are safe for human consumption,” ProfRa� qul said. l

Why some are opting for IndiaThis means that they can elect to remain where they are – taking on the nationality of the coun-try their exclave was within – or retain their de jure identity and move across the new border to the country of which, until the accord was signed, their exclave was a sovereign part.

Khalilur and others in his community who are opting for India also brought up the Felani murder, saying that border killings by Indian soldiers of Bangladeshi nationals undermined their con� dence in the Bangladesh govern-ment’s ability to protect their lives and security.

“Many Bangladeshis are in Indian pris-ons but the Bangladesh government has not made any e� ort to free or transfer them. What will they do for me if I ever fall into danger?” Khalilur asked.

“While many Bangladeshis work illegally in India, no Indian needs to work in Bangladesh. So I think it is better to live under the Indian government,” Khalilur told the Dhaka Tribune.

Khalilur Rahman currently works in a crop � eld in India, crossing the nearest border of the exclave into Indian territory every day.

Maidul Islam, 30, another resident of Da-siar Chhara who works in an Indian crop � eld, hopes to live in India because there is little work available in Bangladesh. “I want to go to India not only for work but also for the future of my child.”

“If we, the people of the exclaves, could not work in India, we would have starved,” he said.

Another exclave resident, Mizanur Rah-

man Mizan, 40, works in India and wants to settle there with his entire family, including his four brothers.

Many people living in Dasiar Chhara work in crop � elds, brick � elds and various Indian companies.

Around 300 of the 10,000 residents of the exclave are opting for India. All of those who want to live in India are already working there.

For a few, the decision was less economic than political.

Monmohon Barman, 60, is opting for India because his forefathers lived there.

“I work in a crop � eld in India and I have lived on Indian land since birth,” said Bar-man. “So, I want to hold Indian nationality.”

A joint survey began in Bangladesh and

India on July 6 to record the choice of nation-ality of 51,584 people in 162 exclaves in each other’s territories ahead of the exclave ex-change on July 31 next.

Just 779 residents of the 111 Indian exclaves in Bangladesh opted to go to India while none of the residents of the Bangladeshi exclaves in India intend to come to Bangladesh, according to the joint Bangladesh-India survey report.

According to the report, there are 44,500 people in the 111 Indian exclaves in Bang-ladesh. There are 14,500 residents in the 51 Bangladeshi exclaves on the Indian side.

Of the 779 residents of the Indian exclaves opting for India, 163 are Muslim, according to Md Habibur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Lalmonirhat. l

Saifur Rahman Shohag Zakir Hossain

Hindu devotees celebrate the traditional Ratha Yatra yesterday by pulling a chariot along the various Dhaka city streets. This photo was taken as the chariot travelled across the Dhaka University campus MEHEDI HASAN

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Chhatra League once upon a timen Nure Alam Durjoy

Country’s oldest student organisation Bang-ladesh Chhatra League had played signi� cant role in the historic Language Movement, Six-Point Movement, Liberation War, anti-Ershad movement and more or less all the progres-sive movements. But those golden days are now only stories to cherish.

The pro-Awami League organisation is now an unpopular name because of its lead-ers and activists getting involved in extortion, violent clashes and other criminal activities.

Former leaders of the student organisation observe that the present leaders have devi-ated from the ideology and values, and are often used by the mother party leaders in dif-ferent activities linked to national politics and personal issues.

Thus, they are encouraged to get involved in misdeeds and have been ruining the image of the organisation.

Political experts say leaders and activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of the BNP, and Islami Chhatra Shibir of Jamaat-e-Is-lami too have lost their due course – working for the betterment of the students and ensur-

ing congenial atmosphere for studies.There have been no signi� cant achieve-

ment or progress done by the student or-ganisations after the fall of military dictator HM Ershad. Observers say they have become sanctuary of committing crimes.

Dhaka Tribune attempted to dig into the history book to � nd examples of achieve-ments through student politics after the ‘90s.

But there is nothing mentionable except for the student movements in 2002, 2007, and the rise of Shahbagh movement in 2013 de-manding capital punishment for the 1971 war criminals.

This reporter yesterday visited the Suhrawardy Udyan where Chhatra League’s 28th council began on Saturday. Several lead-ers of the outgoing committee were asked

about their achievements as well as of stu-dent politics in the recent years.

At this, some of them stopped talking while others said they had taken part in the move-ment demanding trial of the war criminals.

Seeking anonymity, a leader of the previous committee, said: “I do not know actually what we have achieved during the last � ve years.”

Three months after coming to power in

2009, Awami League President Sheikh Hasi-na, also the prime minister, left the post of Chhatra League’s organisational head, appar-ently in the wake of violence perpetrated by student body leaders and activists on cam-puses across the country.

In the last few years, its leaders and ac-tivists faced allegations of murder, rape and sexual harassment, intra-party clashes, ex-

tortion, mugging, tender violence, drug ped-dling and abuse, and in� uencing recruitment and admission processes.

Saikat Mollik, president of Bangladesh Stu-dent Federation, thinks that Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal and some of the religion-based political organisations are not doing what they are supposed to do. “They often take po-sitions against students’ rights and activities.”

Lucky Akter, secretary of Bangladesh Stu-dents’ Union and also a Gonojagoron Moncho activist, said the activities of Chhatra League and Chhatra Dal were to be blamed for the current state of student politics.

“The main problem lies in the stalled elec-tion of student platforms like Ducsu [Dhaka University Central Students' Union]. This soul place of practising democracy has been aban-doned since the fall of Ershad,” she said.

Mujahidul Islam Selim, former Ducsu lead-er and president of the Communist Party ofBangladesh, said: “The country’s social and political degradation has badly a� ected stu-dent politics.

“This will change if mainstream politics fo-cuses on people’s rights and parties practice politics based on ideology.” l

SC: Stop further distribution of Brazilian wheatn Tribune Report

The Supreme Court has directed the govern-ment to stop further distribution of the wheat imported from Brazil to any organisation or department until further notice.

The apex court also stayed a High Court or-der that directed the government to take back the wheat imported from Brazil, if anyone wanted to return it, for two weeks.

The four-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order yesterday morning after hearing a petition moved by the govern-ment seeking a stay on the High Court order.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the court asked the government to � le a regular petition in this regard.

“We will � le the petition after getting the copy of the Supreme Court order,” he said.

The High Court issued an order on July 8 which said the government should take back the imported wheat if any consumer wanted to return it.

The court also issued a ruling that the gov-ernment should not force the consumers to buy or consume said wheat.

The next day, the government appealed with the Supreme Court against the High Court order, and the chamber judge of the Appellate Division stayed the High Court verdict until July 26.

Based on a report of Directorate General of Food, the court observed that the Tk4 billion wheat imported from Brazil was “� t for hu-man consumption.”

On June 30, the High Court asked the au-thorities concerned to clarify whether the wheat was suitable for human consumption.

According to media reports, around 200,000 tonnes of the wheat, imported from Brazil and supplied by Singapore-based contractor Olam International, is of substandard quality. l

ACC requests HC to hear on minister Maya’s appealn Tribune Report

The Anti-Corruption Commission has � led a petition with the High Court requesting it to hear the pending appeals � led by minister Maya and � ve others in separate graft cases.

The six accused are: Relief and Disaster Management Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, former BNP minister Naz-mul Huda and his wife Sigma Huda, former BNP state ministers Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and Amanullah Aman, and Engineer Monjurul Ahsan Munshi.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, who � led the prayer, said yesterday that the HC bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice SM Mozibor Rahman has accepted the appeals.

The prayer was made as the Supreme Court had earlier sent appeals to the HC for re-hear-ing, he said. The HC bench will � x a date later.

The accused were convicted and sen-tenced to various jail terms during the mili-tary-backed caretaker government’s tenure in ACC graft cases. They � led appeals and the HC later acquitted them of the charges.

On June 14, the Appellate Division can-celed the High Court’s acquittal of ruling party lawmaker Maya from a 13-year jail sentence. On the same day, the Appellate Division sent the appeal of Maya to the High Court for fur-ther hearing and disposal.

On June 13 in 2007, the ACC � led the case against Maya with Sutrapur police station, charging him of amassing illegal wealth worth Tk29 lakh and concealing information.

A special court sentenced Maya to 13 years’ imprisonment on February 14, 2008, � ned him Tk5 crore and ordered con� scation of about Tk6 crore of his ill-gotten wealth.

Maya � led an appeal with the HC chal-lenging the special court’s verdict on May 25, 2009. l

12 charged with war crimesn Tribune Report

The prosecution pressed � ve charges against former BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Shakhawat Hossain and 11 others yesterday for their alleged involvement in crimes against humanity during the liberation war in 1971.

The International Crimes Tribunal 1 � xed September 8 to decide whether it will accept the charges, after prosecutor Rezia Sultana Chaman submitted the charges against the alleged war o� enders of Jessore via the tribu-nal’s registrar o� ce yesterday morning.

According to the prosecution, the accused were involved in killing two people, raping one and torturing two others in Keshabpur of Jessore during the war between mid-Septem-ber and mid-October.

Sixty-one-year-old Shakhawat was a cen-

tral committee member of Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student body of Jamaat-e-Isla-mi. He was the commander of Pakistan army’s auxiliary Razakar force at Chingri Bazar camp.

Shakhawat, who is now involved with the politics of Jatiya Party, the main opposition in parliament, was arrested at his residence in Dhaka’s Uttarkhan on November 29, 2014.

The other arrestees are: Billal Hossain Biswas, 75, of Nehalpur village; Akram Hos-sain, 59, of Bhalukghar Mollapara; and Ajihar Morol, 64, of Chingra village.

Seven other absconding accused are: Ibra-him Hossain of Nehalpur, Sheikh Md Mujibur Rahman and Kazi Ohidul Islam of Shekhpu-ra, Aziz Sardar of Mominpur, Aziz Sardar of Boga, Lutfar Morol of Porchakra, Abdul Kha-leq Morol of Altapol and Moshiar Rahman of Chingra. l

A giant billboard falls on the busy road near the Shapla intersection in Motijheel yesterday, hurting one pedestrian (not in the picture) and disrupting tra� c movement for an hour MEHEDI HASAN

'The main problem lies in the stalled election of student platforms like Ducsu. This soul place of practising democracy has been abandoned since the fall of Ershad'

NEWS4DTMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Suicide attempt of APBn man in capital n Kamrul Hasan

A member of Armed Police Battalion (APBn) allegedly attempted to commit suicide during discharging duty in Gulshan area of the capi-tal early yesterday, says police.

Md Monjurul Islam, 23, hails from Narsing-di while the cause of his suicide attempt could not be con� rmed immediately.

Sources said Monjurul set his shotgun un-der his chin at the check post beside Gulshan 1 bridge around 2:33am and � red to commit suicide, leaving him critically injured. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and then to Combined Military Hospital.

Gulhshal police station OC Md Sirajul Islam said CCTv surveillance was installed in the check post and the incident’s footage showed that Manjurul tried to kill himself. l

ActionAid launches Global Platform Bangladeshn Tribune Report

ActionAid Bangladesh launched Global Plat-form Bangladesh, a capacity and skill devel-opment course aimed towards the young peo-ple of the country, at its o� ce in the capital yesterday.

The international NGO aims to inspire the youth through knowledge sharing and re-search under this course, said Leah Ga� ney, manager of the programme.

The launching ceremony was attended by the � rst batch of youths enrolled in the course, senior o� cials of ActionAid and reporters.

Leah Ga� ney said: “We are excited to wel-come the young people to the platform today.

We are excited to create opportunities for learning and collaboration in order to bring positive social changes.”

The � rst course to be held under the plat-form is “Training of Trainers,” which will be attended by 19 young women and men active-ly engaged in community services.

Md Samsuddoha Sadi from Chilahati, Nilphamari, one of the participants of the course said: “Upon completion of the course, I hope I will be able to connect better with my peers to carry out activities to stop child mar-riage in our community.”

Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said ActionAid was youthful in its nature and activities. l

DISCUSSION ON RAJON MURDER

Save the Children for stronger measures for saving children from violence n Tribune Desk

Save the Children has recommended stronger mechanisms to protect children of the coun-try from violence following the brutal killing of 13-year-old Samiul Alam Rajon recently.

To chalk out a lasting solution to the on-going anarchy, Michael McGrath, country di-rector of the international non-government organisation, engaged in a talk with State Minister for Home A� airs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at the latter’s o� ce yesterday.

McGrath said the extreme violence that Rajon experienced was the result of the fail-

ure of the community, local authorities and police to react strongly to the everyday in-cidents of violence experienced by children throughout Bangladesh.

He proposed that the government clear-ly declare zero tolerance against any kind of violence against children. He recommended that a policeman specialised over women and children a� airs be stationed at every police station, a practice found in Indonesia.

McGrath proposed to provide technical as-sistance to the law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh to sensitise law enforcers to pro-tect child rights.

Save the Children has extensive expe-rience over training law enforcers on child rights in many countries of the world, includ-ing Shanghai police force in China, he said.

The minister acknowledged that such train-ing was indeed required and assured that he would consider Save the Children’s proposal.

McGrath handed over a memorandum to the minister proposing actions that can be taken to prevent violence against children. He thanked the minister for visiting Rajon’s parents recent-ly and for taking steps to probe Rajon’s death and the alleged reluctance of local police to bring the perpetrators to justice. l

Dhaka puts it usual look back yesterday with long queues of vehicles on the roads after a week of recess for the Eid vacations. Photo taken at Karwan Bazar SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

50,000 yaba pills found inside busn Kamrul Hasan

RAB yesterday found 50,000 yaba tablets worth Tk2 crore after searching a passenger bus in the capital’s Ashulia.

The tablets were found inside one the speaker boxes.

RAB also arrested two persons in this con-nection and seized a microbus used earlier for carrying the tablets.

The arrestees are microbus driver Abdul Alim Sheikh, 45, of Chapainawabganj. Infor-mation obtained from him led to the arrest of 36-year-old Shajahan Ali, helper of Shyamoli Paribahan.

RAB 1 Operation O� cer ASP Muhit Kabir Serniabat said the yaba pills were supposed to be transported from Chittagong to Chapa-inawabganj.

“Alim was arrested from Uttara sector 5 on Saturday night in this connection. He said during interrogation that he had involved Shajahan in the crime to avoid arrest,” he said.

RAB set up a check post at Baipail area of Ashulia and stopped the bus to search it.

“The yaba tablets were found inside the speaker box around 4am,” said ASP Muhit.

He said both the arrestees had been in-volved in drug peddling for many years.

“The yaba pills were to be handed over to two local drug peddlers in Chapainawabganj - Nuru, 45, and Akhter, 43.

“Alim and Shajahan will be handed over to police,” added the RAB o� cial. l

Novera’s 9th death anniversary todayn Tribune Report

Today is the 9th death anniversary of Novera Deepita, a journalist of The Daily Star and gold medalist student of the University of Dhaka.

The Novera Deepita Memorial Trust has or-ganised several programmes to mark the day, says a press release. The programmes include o� ering prayers at her grave, a milad mah� l at an orphanage and the handing over of the

“Novera Deepita Memorial Scholarship.” The student who secured the highest marks in the BA (Hons) examinations under the Department of Mass Communications and Journalism of DU will receive the scholarship amounting Tk25,OOO, along with a certi� cate.

The trust has also completed all prepara-tions for publishing a book on Novera, who passed away on this day in 2006. l

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TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Nasir vows to solve waterloggingn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Chittagong City Corporation Mayor designate AJM Nasir Uddin, after o� cially taking on his responsibilities yesterday, said his top-most priority was to address the perennial water-logging problem.

He also said he would focus on bringing back chain of command at the city corpora-tion.

“I am taking charge of the city corporation at a time when waterlogging is prevalent in the city. I have already taken some pragmat-ic measures for addressing the problem, and I can challenge that now it is not as acute as it was in the past,” Nasir, also the general secre-tary of Awami League’s Chittagong city unit, told reporters after taking o� ce.

He said the city corporation had a debt of Tk2,952,693,174 but Tk608,797,709 had been paid till July 16. “The remaining debt will be repaid gradually.”

The mayor said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had assured him of providing assis-tance for the city’s development projects and a number of projects were being processed at the inter-ministerial level.

“I will introduce revised plans for the city’s drainage system and canals will be dugas part of the steps to remove waterlogging,” he said.

Nasir also mentioned some other problems in the city corporation and in the port city,

and stressed that he would work to resolve all those. “I will keep my political identity beyond my duties and will not give in to any in� uence.”

The newly elected ward councillors, for-mer councillors and top o� cials of the city corporation were at the conference room of Nagar Bhaban when Nasir formally succeeded the acting mayor, Mohammad Hossain.

The 41 ward councillors and 14 women reserved-seat councillors of the city corpora-tion also took over yesterday, with the tenure of the previous mayor and councillors ending on Saturday.

Nasir defeated the former mayor, M Man-jur Alam, in the April 28 polls and took oath on May 6 along with the two other mayors of Dhaka’s two city corporations. l

Moncho continues demo at Shahbaghn Tribune Report

A faction of the Gonojagoron Moncho continued its sit-in pro-gramme at Shahbagh for the third day yesterday demanding that the apex court upholds war criminal Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury’s death sentence.

Citing a foreign media report, their spokesperson Imran H Sarker said in a press release that a mem-ber of SQ Chowdhury’s family had met the chief justice of Bangladesh.

He hoped that the Appellate Division will uphold the death penalty handed over to theBNP leader by the war crimes tri-bunal. l

Several days of torrential rain has resulted in static waterlogging in Chittagong City, forcing pedestrians and commuters to resort to alternative transportation yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

HSC, equivalent results on August 9n Tribune Desk

The results of this year’s Higher Secondary Certi� cate and its equivalent examinations would be published on August 9, says the ed-ucation minister.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid made the announcement during a discussion with reporters at the Secretariat yesterday af-ternoon.

Education minister along with the chair-men of all education boards will hand over a copy of the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her o� ce on the day.

The results will be available in the colleges and boards even on cell phones through SMS. Besides, the HSC candidates can � nd their re-sults on www.educationboardresults.gov.bd.

A total of 1,073,884 students from 8,305 educational institutions under 10 boards, in-cluding one madrasa and another technical board, were enrolled to appear the examina-tions this year.

Some 10,196 students skipped the exam on the � rst day. Besides, about 700 candidates were expelled for adopting unfair means in the examinations. Of them, 570,993 students are boys and 502,891 are girls.

The examinations were held at 2,419 cen-tres across the country.

However, the number of examinees has seen a decline of 67,490 than 1,141,374 of last year. l

Suspect in Rajon killing case sent to jail after remandn Our Correspondent, Sylhet

A local court here has directed to sent Ru-hul Amin alias Ruhel, a suspect in minor boy Rajon murder case, to jail after ending a sev-en-day remand of him.

A court of Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate 3 Anwarul Hoque gave the order yesterday noon as Sylhet Metropolitan DB police pro-duced him before the court after ending the questioning.

When contacted, Jalalabad police station Assistant Sub-Inspector Farid Uddin con-� rmed it.

Ruhul Amin, a resident from Jalalabad area of the district, is brother-in-law of Ali Haider who is main accused in 13-year-old boy Md Sa-miul Alam Rajon killing case.

Being infuriated by the action, local people on July 18 caught Ruhul Amin and handed down him to police. On the following day, po-lice produced him before a court of the magis-

trate seeking a ten-day remand.However, the court sanctioned the sev-

en-day remand to local DB police for ques-tioning him in the heinous incident.

On July 8, some unruly people named Kamrul, Muhith and some others brutal-ly beaten to death Rajon after tying hishands and legs to a pole. They also hurled abusive words against him during the inhu-man torture.

One of them also � lmed the heinous inci-

dent and uploaded it to Facebook.Later, its video went into viral in di� erent

social media like Facebook, Tweeter and You-tube creating huge criticism among people from all walks of life.

On the face of sheer criticism, the au-thorities closed an inspector and suspendedtwo sub-inspectors of Jalalabad policestation as their negligence in arrestingRajon killers appeared in a probe report in this regard. l

NEWS6DTMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Schoolboy found dead after boat capsizedn Our Correspondent, Mymensingh

The body of a schoolboy was recovered from the Brahmaputra River in the district yester-day who went missing with another two per-sons in a boat capsize on Saturday.

According to sources, an engine boat cap-sized in Charalgi area of the river while it was going to Galakata boat ghat with 30 passen-gers.

The passengers on the board managed to reach the bank by swim while three went missing.

Later, locals found the body of Moniruz-zaman,15, Class VII student of Shankhachur High School.

On information, police recovered the body. However, the other two missing kids could

not be rescued yet. l

Blockade on Dhaka-Barisal Highwayn Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

A group of battery-run easy bike drivers has put a barricade on Baroitali area of the Dhaka-Ba-risal highway demanding a halt to repeated harassment of local bus helpers to them.

The stalemate continued for about two hours starting from 8am yesterday and police brought the situation under control, said Sin-diaghat police outpost ASI Abdul Barek.

Due to the barricade, long tailback ap-peared on both sides of the busy highway cre-ating immense su� ering to the commuters.

Sources said there was a ban on the plying of easy bikes from Batikamari to Baroitali and local bus workers on Saturday prevented some of those seeing the violation of restriction.

The easy bike drivers imposed the barri-cade suddenly in the morning through leaving their six vehicles sporadically on the highway.

Muksudpur-Baroitola Bus Minibus Own-ers’ Samity General Secretary Abul Kalam Azad acknowledged the incident, saying a meeting was called in the upazila parishad building in the evening to solve the problem, where the UNO, local politicians and they were supposed to attend. l

Khagrachhari mayor accused of grabbing Buddhist temple landn Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari

Allegations have surfaced against Khagrach-hari municipality Mayor Mohammad Ra� qul Alam for trying to grab land of Tri Ratna Bud-dhist temple at Araimail area of the town.

Temple committee and locals on Thursday said the mayor had the ill motive to displace the temple that had been built 20-25 years ago beside the Agriculture Research Institute.

According to temple committee, Kong-chairi Marma donated some of his land to build the temple. He, along with local people, had been looking after the temple before he moved to Pankhaiya Para area with his family.

At one point, the Roads and Highways De-partment built a shanty on a part of the land for

the workers. Even after the works were done, two Santhal families continued to live there.

When Kongchairi Marma moved to other parts of the town, he sold the land, except for the portion of the temple, to mayor Ra� qul Is-lam. The mayor later planted trees on the land and proceeded to grab the rest but was resist-ed by the local people.

Finding no other alternative, Ra� qul Islam tried to convince the Santhal family to move away by giving them an insigni� cant compensation. He made a pact with Ruposhi, the only surviving member of the family, to give the land to him.

However, it has not been settled yet wheth-er Ruposhi should get the compensation or the temple committee, since the land techni-cally belongs to the temple.

It should be mentioned that the Araimail Tri Ratna Buddhist temple is registered by Bangladesh Buddhist Welfare Trust as an en-tity with the Ministry of Religious A� airs. The Santhal family was allowed to live there on humanitarian ground. So if the family moves, the land should belong to the temple.

Temple committee member Mongbuli Mar-ma said: “Since the temple is registered, there is no chance for anyone to grab its land. It is our religious institution and we will protect it.”

When contacted, Mayor Ra� qul Alam said the allegation of grabbing the temple land against him was false. “I bought the land from its original owner and I am not trying to evict the temple. I just want what is rightfully mine,” he said. l

One to die for killingco-worker in Gazipurn Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A Gazipur court yesterday convicted a man and sentenced him to death for killing his co-worker in 2011.

The condemned convict was Abdul Hal-im Mia, son of Masum Mondal, hailing from Sonarpatol village in Sonatala upazila of Bogra district. The court also � ned him Tk10,000.

According to the prosecution, Masud Mia, a worker of Hanif Spinning Mills, was strangu-lated to death by his co-worker Abdul Halim Mia on March 16, 2011 at Mouchak in Kaliakoir upazila of the district.

Shah Alam, father of the deceased, � led a case with Kaliakoir police station against Ab-dul Halim Mia and police arrested Halim on the same day. l

Five killed in road accidentsn Tribune Report

Four people were killed in separate road acci-dents in Gazipur and Jamalpur yesterday.

Two people were killed and � ve others in-jured as a bus rammed a CNG-run auto-rick-shaw at Suryanarayanpur in

Kapasia upazila yesterday.The deceased were identi� ed as Kabir Hos-

sain, driver of the autorickshaw and its pas-senger Rashida Begum.

Ahsan Ullah, o� cer-in-charge of Kapasia Police Station, said the Dhaka-bound bus of ‘Ananya Paribahan’ from Kishoreganj hit the CNG run auto-rickshaw coming from the op-posite direction, leaving the duo dead on the spot and � ve others injured. The injured were rushed to Kapasia Upazila Health Complex.

Police seized the bus but could not arrest

its drive as he managed to � ee the scene. In Jamalpur, two motorcyclists, includ-

ing an army man, were killed when a truck crushed into their vehicle at Badechandi on the Jamalpur-Mymensingh Highway in Sadar upazila.

The deceased were identi� ed as Shahinur Islam,25, son of Mobarak Hossain, and Shahin Alam,24, son of Mohammad Ali, both resi-dents of Rangamati village of the upazila.

Shahin Alam had posting at Mymensingh Cantonment as a soldier.

O� cer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station Abdul Awal said a speeding truck ran over the motorcycle carrying the duo from behind in the area at about 9:30 pm while they were re-tuning home from Nandina

Bazar, leaving Shahinur dead on the spot and his co-rider Shahin seriously injured.

Shahin was rushed to Jamalpur General Hospital where on-duty doctors declared him dead.

Informed, police recovered the bodies and sent those to the hospital morgue for autopsy.

A case was � led in this connection.In Tangail, a woman was killed and her

husband injured in a road accident in Suvol-la area on the Dhaka-Tangail highway under Mirzapur upazila of the district today.

The deceased was Marjia Begum, 32, wife of Mizanur Rahman a resident of Salanga area under Kaliakoir upazila in Gazipur district.

O� cer-in-Charge of Gorai Highway police Humayan Kabir said the accident occurred when a bus hit a motorcycle from behind in the area at about 4pm, leaving motorcycle co-rider Marjia dead on the spot and her hus-band Mizanur injured. l

Two buses, heavily packed with passengers, compete with each other to be the � rst one to leave the Rajshahi-Dhaka Bus Stand in order to grab more passengers on the way yesterday. People compromise to travel on the rooftops of buses at a cheaper rate, in a rush to get back to their work destinations with the end of Eid holidays AZAHAR UDDIN

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:44PM SUN RISES 5:26AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

36.1ºC 23.4ºC

Dinajpur Hatiya

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 30 26

Chittagong 29 26

Rajshahi 31 26

Rangpur 32 25

Khulna 28 25

Barisal 30 26

Sylhet 29 24

Cox’s Bazar 28 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:58am

Sunrise 5:24amZohr 12:05am

Asr 4:44pmMagrib 6:45pm

Esha 8:15pm

WEATHER

MONDAY, JULY 27

Low-lying areas inundated due to heavy rainfall in ChittagongSignal no 3 at seaportsn Tribune Report

The residents of di� erent areas of port city are su� ering as low lying areas of Chittagong city were submerged in knee-to-waist deep water yesterday due to continuous shower.

Authorities concerned are seen making ef-forts to solve the water-logging problem, but in most cases they fail mainly because of poor and faulty drainage system.

The showers started from last Thursday night and continued till yesterday evening giving some intervals, said Chittagong Di-visional Met O� ce sources, adding that the weather might stay till today evening.

The met o� ce recorded 300 millimetres of rainfall in last 24 hours till 6pm yesterday, said the met o� ce.

The low-lying areas of the port city, par-ticularly Bakalia, Nasirabad, Patenga, Dew-anbazar, Chawkbazar, Agrabad, Halishahar, Kapasgola, Chandgaon, Shulakbahar, Enayet Bazar, Boropol, Muradpur, Sholoshahar, Ba-haddarhat and Probartak intersection, went under water due to the heavy rain causing misery to the people living in those areas. Mo-tor vehicles were hardly seen in those areas while rickshaws and vans were seen plying on the city roads.

Commuters, greatly outnumbering the rickshaws, had to su� er through � lthy water from over� owing roadside drains to reach their destination.

They said the number of transport was thin for last couple of days which su� ered them a lot to go their respective destinations. O� ces and di� erent educational institutions bound people faced water logging problem mostly.  

The loading and uploading of the goods at Chittagong Port jetties were continued like others days but port activities were hampered at outer anchorage area of the port, said port sources.

Over 50,000 marooned in Bandarban inundationMore than 50,000 people in Bandarban re-main marooned as incessant rains over the last four days inundated the district’s low-ly-ing areas, our Bandarban correspondent re-ports.

Hundreds of houses in Lama, Thanchi and Alikadam were submerged as heavy rains since Thursday caused water in the Sangu

River and the Matamuhuri River to � ow above the danger level.

Road communications from Rangamati, Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar to Bandarban remain disrupted since Saturday evening as roads have gone under water, putting holiday-makers in serious trouble.

A bridge in Pulpara Road also went under water, heightening the woes of people. Road communications among seven upazilas of the district were also cut due to inundation.

The downpour also disrupted life in Bandarban, with local businesses facing a slowdown. People are not going out except for urgent a� airs while attendances at public and private institutions have been low.

Travelling to Tindu and Remakri, two of the popular tourist attractions in the district, by water has become a risky journey because of the rise in the water level of the Sangu River.

The local authorities in seven upazilas have urged people living in riverbank are-as and foothills to move elsewhere as heavy rains increase the risk of landslides.

Seven shelters have been opened in Bandarban municipal area while Bandarban Sadar Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Sha� qul Islam said those who moved to � ood shelters had received relief goods.

Bandarban municipal Mayor Md Javed Reza said many had already moved to shelters.

Water transport remains closed in souther districtsBIWTA authorities stopped operation of small

water vehicles from yesterday noon in Baisal due to gusty weather.

The order came after weather department asked inland river-port authorities to hoist cautionary weather signal No 2 in the morn-ing, said Abul Bashar Majumdar, deputy di-rector (marine safety and tra� c management) of BIWTA.

Authority earlier ordered to stop plying of ML size of launch with less than 65 feet length.

Due to gusty weather and high tide, the BIWTA stopped operation of small and mid-sized water transports till further order.

Signal no 3 at seaportsThe maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox’s Ba-zar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal no 3 as the low over the north Bay and adjoining Bangladesh coast rapidly concentrated into a monsoon depression over the same area.

It was centred at 12 noon about 115 kms west-southwest of Chittagong port, 140 kms west-southwest of Cox’s Bazar port, 140 kms southeast of Mongla port and 55 kms east of Payra port, said a Met O� ce special bulletin. It is likely to intensify further, said the bulletin.

Maximum sustained wind speed within 44 kms of the depression centre is about 40 kph rising to 50 kph in gusts/squalls. Sea will remain moderate near the depression centre.

All � shing boats and trawlers over the North Bay have been advised to come close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice. l

Yaba trader killed in RAB shootout n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

An alleged yaba smuggler was shot dead dur-ing a gun� ght with Rapid Action Battalion on the Patenga Sea Beach Road in Chittagong yesterday.

The dead, Mohammed Zafar Ahmed, 30, hailed from Badalpura village under Anwara upazila of Chittagong.

Sources in RAB 7 said he was involved with yaba smuggling through the sea route.

Zafar was the main accused in the case that

was lodged over seizure of Tk5 lakh worth yaba pills from an engine-run � shing boat, MT Hena-01, at the Chittagong port outer anchor-age on May 13.

RAB 7 Commanding O� cer Lt Colonel Miftah Uddin Ahmed said a patrol team of RAB tried to stop two motorbikes on the road seeing their suspicious movement. The two motorbikes did not stop, rather the rid-ers � red several gunshots aiming at the elite force. In retaliation, the RAB o� cials � red 12 rounds of bullets, however, the motorbikes

speeded away.Later, the RAB members recovered Zafar’s

bullet ridden body from the road, lying 250 yards away from the west gate of Naval Acad-emy around 1:15am, he said.

They seized 10,000 pieces of yaba, a lighter gun, a foreign pistol, three rounds ofbullets and two rounds of cartridges from the spot.

The body was sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy, said the commanding o� cer. l

Two persons wade through knee-deep water as low-lying areas have been inundated due to heavy downpour. The photo was taken from Bandarban district town yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Garments factory shut down amid unrestn Our Correspondent, Savar

A garments factory was announced closed in-de� nitely at Ashulia in Savar outskirts of Dha-ka due to worker-unrest yesterday.

Sources said the owner of Greenlife Cloth-ing Ltd in Jamgara area, ordered its o� cers to transfer 200 workers of the factory to another factory owned by him in Tongibari.

The workers held a sit-in inside the factory protesting the decision.

Later, they brought out a procession after they found a notice at the factory gate in con-nection with the transference.

On information, police went to the spot and dispersed the procession.

In the morning, the management shut down the factory inde� nitely citing security concerns.

Mostofa Kamal, o� cer-in-charge of Ashu-lia model police station , con� rmed the inci-dent.

Additional police forces were deployed in the area to avoid untoward situation, he said. l

NEWS 7D

T

WORLD8DTMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Clashes rock Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosquen AFP, Jerusalem

Israeli police yesterday entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, as they clashed with Palestinians angered by Jews’ access to the compound on an annual day of Jewish mourning.

Palestinians threw stones and � reworks while police � red stun grenades after security forces entered the Al-Aqsa compound, which is also revered by Jews, before brie� y going inside the mosque itself.

Police said they went a few metres (yards) into the mosque to shut the doors in a bid to re-store calm and lock in rioters who were inside.

About 300 security personnel had en-tered the compound when the clash-es began with about 200 Palestinians, an

AFP photographer reported.The Palestinian foreign ministry con-

demned Israeli authorities for allowing what they described as “provocative” visits by hardline Jews.

It was the � rst time Israeli security forc-es had entered the mosque since November, when clashes with worshippers also erupted.

There were multiple arrests linked to the latest clashes, which came as Jews sought to access the mosque compound to mark Tisha B’av, a day commemorating the destruction in ancient times of the � rst and second temples.

Palestinians were angered by what they con-sidered intrusions by Jews. Visits are allowed, but Jewish prayer at the site is prohibited.

The hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, one of the biggest � ashpoints in the Mid-

dle East, is the most sacred site in Judaism and Islam’s third holiest, after Mecca and Medina. Jews refer to the site as the Temple Mount.

Police reinforcements had deployed in the Old City overnight for fear of unrest as thou-sands of observant Jews � ocked to the West-ern Wall, located below the mosque complex, for the annual prayer ceremony.

The police said that after their brief foray into the mosque, they withdrew and the area was quiet. Access to the site was later restricted.

Protests broke out in the lanes and alley-ways of the Old City around the mosque, with demonstrators confronting police and chant-ing “Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)” and po-lice � ring stun grenades.

Some vowed to protect Al-Aqsa, with one man saying the holy site “is in our blood.” l

At least six in Mogadishu hotel car-bombingn AFP, Mogadishu

Somalia’s Shebab insurgents killed at least six people yesterday when they detonated a huge car bomb at a heavily guarded hotel in the capital Mogadishu housing diplomatic missions, o� cials and witnesses said.

The suicide attack, the latest in a string of bomb blasts and killings in Somalia, came as US President Barack Obama left neighbouring Kenya and headed to Ethiopia, both key na-tions contributing troops to the African Union force battling the Al-Qaeda-a� liated group.

In a statement quoted by jihadist websites, the Shebab said they attacked the Jazeera Palace hotel, which is also home to the diplo-matic missions of China, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and is popular among Somali government o� cials and foreign visitors.

“We have seen around six people killed, most of them hotel security guards,” said government security o� cer Mohamed Jama, adding that the toll might rise.

The Shebab said the suicide bomber had attacked the hotel “in retaliation for the kill-ing of dozens of innocent civilians” they claimed had died during attacks this week by Ethiopian forces against Shebab bases in southern Somalia. l

Trump surge among Republican voters shows no sign of abatingn AFP, Washington

Donald Trump’s wild ride to the front of the Republican presidential � eld showed no signs of abating yesterday, with a new poll showing him with a big lead in a key early primary state.

The NBC/Marist poll had the trash-talking billionaire with a seven point lead in New Hampshire and just two points behind the leader in Iowa, another closely watched early primary state.

A CNN/ORC poll, meanwhile, found that most Republicans voters want to see him stay in the race and 22 percent thought he would be their party’s eventual nominee, ahead of every other candidate except Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor whose brother and

father were presidents.The CNN poll put Trump at the front of

16-candidate Republican pack with 18 per-cent, and Bush in second with 15 percent.

“I’m not that surprised, because I see the kind of a crowd we’re getting,” Trump said in a telephone interview with CNN’s State of Union. “We’re getting the biggest crowds and we’re getting by far the biggest ovations.”

It was the � rst poll conducted entirely after Trump drew the wrath of other Republican candidates for belittling the Vietnam record of former prisoner of war John McCain, who headed the Republican presidential ticket in 2008 against President Barack Obama.

The controversy surrounding Trump’s “not a war hero” remarks about McCain and

earlier in� ammatory comments branding Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists appear to have helped the real estate tycoon among the Republican base.

Those who want Trump to stay in the race include 58 percent of white evangelicals, 58 percent of conservatives and 57 percent of “Tea Party” supporters, the CNN poll found.

When Republican voters were asked to say who they would most like to see on the de-bate stage, regardless of who they intended to vote for, 18 percent said Trump, compared to 14 percent for Bush and less than 10 percent each for the rest of the crowded � eld.

The NBC poll, meanwhile, suggested that Trump at this early stage of the race is mak-ing a big splash in the � rst two primary states,

which tend to winnow the � eld.It showed him polling 21 percent among

Republican voters in New Hampshire, in � rst placed although losing some ground to sec-ond place Bush, up to 14 percent. In Iowa, Trump trailed Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, by only two points at 17 to 19 percent.

Trump had surged to the lead in national polls before his remarks about McCain, but the NBC polls show strong standings at the state level as well despite a barrage of attacks by his Republican rivals. Trump’s negatives remain far higher than other candidates, however. The NBC poll found that 44 percent of Republican voters in Iowa and 53 percent of those in New Hampshire had unfavorable opinions about the real estate magnate and reality TV star. l

A member of the Israeli security forces scu� es with a Palestinian woman during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police after authorities limited access for Muslim worshipers to the � ashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem yesterday AFP

11 arrested in suspected human sacri� ce in Nepaln AFP, Kathmandu

Police have arrested 11 villagers on charges of murdering a 10-year-old boy in southwestern Nepal, an o� cial said yesterday, in what vil-lagers described as a case of human sacri� ce.

Local media reports said the father of a sick teenager had last Tuesday lured away the 10-year-old, Jeevan Kohar, with a packet of bis-cuits and the promise of 50 rupees (50 cents).

The suspect then reportedly slit the child's throat on the advice of a shaman who said his own son's health would improve if he com-mitted the crime.

"We have arrested 11 people, including four women, for murdering a ten-year-old boy," said Nal Prasad Upadhyaya, police superin-tendent of Nawalparasi district. l

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Iran launches charm o� ensive among wary Gulf Arabsn Reuters, Kuwait

Iran’s foreign minister called yesterday for a united front among all Middle Eastern na-tions to � ght militancy, in his � rst regional trip after reaching a nuclear deal with world powers that raised concerns among Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbors.

“Any threat to one country is a threat to all ... No country can solve regional problems without the help of others,” Mohammad Ja-vad Zarif said at a news conference hosted by the Iranian embassy in Kuwait.

Zarif earlier met Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah, who was not present at the press conference.

Zarif began the one-day, three-country tour by visiting Kuwait. He was due to go on to Qatar and then Iraq.

Most Gulf Arab states are worried that Iran’s July 14 accord will hasten detente be-tween Tehran and Washington, emboldening Tehran to increase backing for Middle Eastern allies at odds with Gulf Arab countries.

“Iran stands behind the people in the region to � ght against the threat of extremism, terror-ism and sectarianism ... Our message to the re-gional countries is that we should � ght togeth-er against this shared challenge,” Zarif added.

Most Sunni Muslim-ruled Gulf Arab states have long accused Tehran of interference in Arab a� airs, alleging � nancial or armed sup-port for political movements in countries in-cluding Bahrain, Yemen and Lebanon.

Shi’ite power Iran denies interference but says the nuclear deal will not change its poli-cies in the region.

‘Oppressed nations’Aahead of his Gulf visit, Zarif said in a state-ment posted on his ministry’s website late on

Friday that Tehran would continue support-ing its allies in Syria and Iraq to � ght against militant group Islamic State.

Echoing that message in a speech earlier yesterday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on a visit to Iran’s Kurdistan Province: “The Iranian nation supports all oppressed nations.”

“If it wasn’t for Iran, Erbil and Baghdad would have also fallen to the terrorists (of Islamic State) ... Just as we defended Dahuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah (in Iraqi Kurdistan), if any country in the whole region is a victim of aggression, the Iranian nation will defend the oppressed,” Rouhani added.

Bahrain said on Saturday it had foiled an arms smuggling plot by two Bahrainis with ties to Iran and announced the re-call of the Gulf island kingdom’s ambas-sador to Tehran for consultations after what it said were repeated hostile Iranian statements.

Commenting on the allegation, Iranian deputy foreign minister Hassan Ghashghavi noted Bahrain’s government disagreed with Iran’s “support of oppressed people in their country.”

“However we will continue doing so and we insist that the oppressed people of Bah-rain need attention,” he said. l

Ma� a and multinationals milk Italy’s green energy boomn AFP, Narbolia

Thousands of solar panels glint in the sun, but the prized farmland beneath lies barren. While the Ital-ian island of Sardinia revels in a renewable energy boom, the long arm of organised crime risks sullying its clean power ambitions.

Famed for its lush plains and emerald waters but racked by poverty and unemployment, Sardinia has jumped at the chance to boost the economy by con-verting its long months of sunshine into green energy.

And it is not alone: cities and towns across Ita-ly are embracing hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, wind farms, solar panels, steam generators and biomass plants, due largely to generous state subsidies.

In Sardinia’s northwest, the crop from purple and golden � elds of thistles and sun� owers is used to generate biomass energy, while on the rolling hills in the island’s centre, towering white turbines spin gently in the breeze at Italy’s second largest wind farm.

With youth joblessness in the region at over 50%, many hoped the state’s green incentives would not only breathe life into struggling family

communities, but attract companies from oth-er parts of Italy and foreign multinationals which would create jobs.

The problem, according to countryside cam-paign groups, is that while the subsidies come out of taxpayer pockets, so far the region has seen little of the pro� ts made by the energy � rms - many of which are accused of making fraudulent claims for funds.

‘Money leaves the country’ Sardinian prosecutor Mauro Mura warned last year of ma� a in� ltration in the sector, � agging up instances of renewable energy plants which had pro� ted hugely from subsidies open exclusively to farmers, while “not producing any agricultural goods at all.”

“The incentives were meant for real farmers, it was a helping hand from the state. They were supposed to be able to install a few panels on their land for their own consumption, and sell any leftover energy on,” said 63-year-old campaigner Pietro Porcedda.

On the outskirts of Narbolia near the island’s western coast, one such plant sprawls across the town’s most fertile � elds: over 107,000 solar panels sit atop the roofs of some 1,600 greenhouses, in

which the owners had promised to grow aloe plants.But with the sunlight shut out by the panels,

nothing grows there but weeds. The Chinese com-pany which runs the plant, meanwhile, is pocketing pro� ts from 20 years of subsidies and the sale of its energy to Italian giant Enel, Porcedda said.

“Instead the money leaves the country, it’s not reinvested here. And the 60 jobs we were prom-ised? Four people are employed here,” he added, blaming not the multinational but the Italian au-thorities for turning a blind eye to the situation.

The potential for investment – and corruption - is great. The European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol � agged up concerns in 2013 that “the Italian ma� a is investing more and more in re-newable energy.”

And the sector has grown since then. In solar in particular, Italy has become a world leader, generat-ing more of its energy from the sun than any other state, with over 7.5% of national consumption com-ing from photovoltaic production.

‘Threats won’t stop us’ In spite of the success, the Italian government was forced to reduce subsidies last year in the hope of

slashing electricity prices, after households found themselves paying 94 euros ($100) a year on top of their bills to support green energies.

Incentives for photovoltaic plants, for example, were slashed by between 6 and 25%, depending largely on plant capacity.

But while the roll back may curb the interest of future investors, it will do little to challenge the problems already in the system.

“The � rst subsidies were very big, it made the multinationals hungry and they came here to in-vest,” said Rosetta Fanari, 47, whose farm makes creamy ricotta cheese based on an age-old Sardin-ian recipe in vats powered by an ultra-modern solar steam generator.

Some locals have taken it upon themselves to block controversial projects. Biologist Manuela Pin-tus was elected mayor of nearby Arborea this year on a platform to prevent the drilling of an explora-tory well for natural gas next to a reserve for pro-tected pelicans.

“Our supporters received threats from those who wanted the well, who said ‘We’ll destroy everything you have if you vote for Manuela,’” she said. l

Merkel urges Turkish PM to stick with Kurdish peace processn AFP, Berlin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday urged Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davu-toglu to stick with the Kurdish peace process despite escalating violence, her o� ce said.

Merkel assured Davutoglu of the “solidari-ty and support of Germany in the � ght against terrorism” but also recalled “the principle of proportionality in the implementation of nec-essary measures.”

The chancellor appealed to the Turkish premier “not to give up the peace process with the Kurds but to continue it despite all the di� culties,” Merkel’s spokesman Georg Streiter said in a statement.

Turkey has launched a two-pronged cross-border o� ensive against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants after a wave of violence in the country, pounding their positions with air strikes and artillery.

The Turkish army yesterday blamed PKK militants for a deadly car bomb attack that killed two of its soldiers in the Kurdish-domi-nated southeast.

Merkel’s o� ce said Davutoglu had in-formed her of “the actions of the Turkish government in the � ght against terrorism fol-lowing the attack in Suruc and other terrorist attacks against Turkish security forces.”

Last Monday a suicide bombing blamed on IS killed 32 people in the predominantly Kurd-ish town of Suruc, just across the border from Kobane, Syria, the scene of � erce battles be-tween Kurdish � ghters and jihadists in recent months.

Merkel and Davutoglu also agreed on a close cooperation between their foreign and defence ministries in the battle against jihad-ists, and between their interior ministers on handling the refugee crisis sparked by con� ict in Syria and Iraq, Streiter said. l

A handout photo released by the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA yesterday, shows Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah receiving Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Kuwait City upon his arrival for a Gulf tour AFP

WORLD 9D

T

WORLD10DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Britain may vote on EU membership in 2016n AFP, London

British Prime Minister David Cameron intends to hold a referendum on the country’s mem-bership of the European Union around June of 2016, the Independent yesterday reported.

“The Independent yesterday has learned that Mr Cameron has decided to pencil in June of next year,” the newspaper reported, citing an anonymous source.

A spokeswoman for Cameron’s Downing Street o� ce declined to comment on the re-port, which said the prime minister would an-nounce the timing of the referendum during the annual conference of his Conservative par-

ty in October. A comment from the Conserva-tive party was not immediately available.

Cameron has promised to re-negotiate the terms of Britain’s membership of the 28-member block before holding a referen-dum by the end of 2017.

The report comes just days after US Pres-ident Barack Obama urged Britain to stay in the European Union, cautioning during a BBC interview that remaining in the bloc was nec-essary to help preserve the nation’s global in-� uence.

It also came as Finance Minister George Osborne began a trip to Paris to seek support for reforms to the European Union. l

Syrian army focusing on holding key areasn Reuters, Beirut

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said yester-day the army had been forced to give up areas in order to hold onto more important ones in its � ght with insurgents, and the scale of the war meant the military faced a manpower shortage.

In a remarkably frank assessment of the strains a� icting the Syrian military after more than four years of con� ict, Assad said the type of war confronting Syria meant the army could not � ght everywhere for risk of losing vital ground.

“Sometimes, in some circumstances, we are forced to give up areas to move those forces to the areas that we want to hold onto,” Assad said in a televised speech. “We must de� ne the important regions that the armed forces hold onto so it doesn’t allow the col-lapse of the rest of the areas.”

Assad has absorbed a series of battle� eld defeats since March. He lost most of the north-western province of Idlib to an insurgent al-liance including the al Qaeda-backed Nusra Front, and important areas of the southern region along the border with Jordan to main-stream groups of the “Southern Front.”

In addition, ultra-hardline Islamic State insurgents seized the central city of Palmyra from the Syrian military in May.

The Syrian government’s territorial con-trol stands at no more than 25% of the coun-try, with the rest divided among an array of armed groups including Islamic State, other rebel groups and a well-organized Kurdish militia, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war. But the state-held area is home to the majority of the population.

Assad said increased support from states backing the rebels – including Turkey – was the reason for recent setbacks that had creat-ed “a state of despair” among Syrians. Syria is in a war funded by the richest and most pow-erful states, he said.

But Assad struck a de� ant tone, saying there would be no compromise solutions, and he dismissed the view that Syria was heading toward partition into areas run separately by the Damascus government and armed groups � ghting him.

“Everything is available (for the army), but there is a shortfall in human capacity,” Assad said. “Despite that, I am not presenting a dark picture.”

Military reversals for Assad have ever more reduced his control beyond the main population centers of western Syria that com-

prise the cities of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and the coastal region forming the heartland of his Alawite sect. l

At least 15 dead after blast at market in Nigerian Reuters, Damaturu

A blast set o� by a female suicide bomber tore through a crowded market in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Damaturu yesterday, killing at least 15 people, a police spokesman said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, which witnesses said occurred at around 9.30 am (0830 GMT), but it is the lat-est in a series of attacks in the last few weeks that bear the hallmarks of militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

“Fifteen people have been con� rmed dead so far and more dead bodies are being brought to the hospital,” said police spokesman Toyin Gbadegasin. Witnesses said around 50 people had been injured.

The explosion in the center of Yobe state’s capital came six days after a suicide bomber killed three policemen at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city.

And earlier this month at least nine peo-ple were killed in the city by a female suicide bomber as worshippers gathered to mark the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.

Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land around the size of Belgium at the end of last year, but were pushed out of most of that territory by Nigerian troops in the last few months, with military help from neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

But the militants have since carried out attacks in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries as part of a resurgence. l

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad attends Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at al-Hamad mosque in Damascus, Syria, in this handout released by Syria’s national news agency SANA on July 17 REUTERS

11D

TEDITORIALMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

INSIDE

We welcome Sheikh Hasina’s speech to the Bangladesh Chhatra League conference urging members to elect regular and talented students as the next leaders of the organisation.

It is encouraging that she is demonstrating her accountability as leader of the political party which BCL represents, to put her weight behind e� orts to make BCL a more transparent, democratic institution.

By using her position and stature to support democratic student politics, the prime minister shows she is responsive to public concerns about BCL.

Lawless behaviour by student political activists has been a deeply damaging aspect of our society, under successive governments, across all parties. The widespread prevalence of such lawlessness among student activists points to a belief that they can act with impunity.

As BCL members have been involved in a long series of recent criminal incidents, the government has a special responsibility to combat this scourge.

We hope the newly elected BCL leaders will pay heed to the prime minister’s words by expelling all and any members found involved in criminal and thuggish behaviour.

Reforming student political organisations is a vital and much-needed step which the country requires to help make democracy function properly. In this regard, we applaud the warm welcome which the BNP spokesperson gave to the BCL’s invitation to its Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal to attend the BCL national council. It is a sign that student politicians and future leaders can rise above past cycles of destructive politics.

Everyone will bene� t if the BCL makes a fresh start and all student political organisations become more genuinely representative of ordinary hardworking students.

Everyone will bene� t if student organisations become more genuinely representative

BCL should take opportunity for a fresh start

Say hello to the Bhai culture

Invest in the futureIf the actors in the education process are rewarded extrinsically or intrinsically for producing better student performance, this will improve performance

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PAGE 12

PAGE 14

Manners maketh manIs it so wrong to hold a door for a lady? Surely, we are aware that anyone is more than capable of opening their own door?

This Bhai is quite di� erent from the usual bhais which we use in everyday life. This Bhai means saviour, protector, leader, and a man of curious contradictions

OPINION12DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

n S A Chowdhury

In 1995 Gary Becker wrote: “During this century, education, skills, and knowl-edge have become crucial determinants of a person’s and a nation’s productivity.

One can even call the 20th century the Age of Human Capital in the sense that the primary determinant of a country’s standard of living is how well it succeeds in developing and utilising the skills, health, and habits of its population.”

There are at least three mechanisms through which education a� ects econom-ic growth. First, education increases the human capital inherent in the labour force, which enhances labour productivity, leading towards a higher level of output; second, education increases the innovative capacity of the economy and fosters new knowledge, technologies, products, and processes that promote growth; third, education facilitates the di� usion and transmission of knowledge needed to understand and process new infor-mation and to implement new technologies that promote economic growth.

And further, international evidence suggests that, rather than counting how long students have sat in school, it seems crucial to focus on how much students have learnt while in school when estimating the e� ect of education on economic growth.

A study conducted by the Asian Devel-opment Bank demonstrated a clear causal relationship between investment policies in education and health and the high perform-ing Asian economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. These countries consistently pursued a policy of high invest-ment and expenditures in the education and health sectors that paid o� in the form of high performing economies.

Moreover, after the late 1990s, the quick overcoming of the Asian economic and � nancial crisis was attributed to the presence of highly skilled and adaptive labour force that these countries had created. Currently, both Vietnam and Malaysia are spending over 6% of GDP on education, aimed at enhancing their national and regional competitiveness.

The average education expenditure in OECD countries is above 6% of GDP. Bangladesh has achieved steady GDP growth from 1994 to 2014, averaging 5.62%, but has kept the amount of GDP allocated to education stagnated at around only 2.2%, which is far lower than countries with a similar GDP per capita.

The proposed budget allocation of Tk31,605cr for FY 2015/16 appears to be the highest allocation in recent years, but it falls short by international standards. More needs to be done to implement the new educa-tion policy of the incumbent government. Furthermore, the Bangladeshi education chronically su� ers from poor quality and low e� ciency at all levels which signi� cantly reduce the value of money spent.

The 1974 Education Commission Report, among others, made four signi� cant policy recommendations for the modernisation and restructuring of the education system of the newly independent country: Extending primary education to eight years by 1983, devolving primary education to the local au-

thority, professionalising education admin-istration and management at all levels, and spending 5% of GDP for education increasing progressively to 7% of GDP.

Unfortunately, none of these recommendations was implemented by the successive governments that ruled the country -- be they autocratically or democratically elected. 36 years later, the National Education Policy 2010 virtually made the same recommendations of extending primary education to eight years by 2018 (further delay of 35 years, if at all implemented), spending 6% of GDP, and decentralising/devolving education. Had the 1974 Education Commission recommendations been implemented, perhaps Bangladesh would have achieved a higher-level socio-economic pro� le similar

to SE Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

These countries consistently spent an average of 5-6% of their GDP over the past several decades. In Bangladesh, the distribution of resources is also highly iniquitous. According to a World Bank bene� t incidence analysis, the poorer households in Bangladesh are receiving more public education spending at the lower education levels (as the better-o� households send their children more and more to better quality private schools), but the higher education spending is directed more toward the richer population.

Most countries, whose students are among the best performers in international assessments of learning achievement (viz PISA), have provided a high degree of

autonomy to their local authorities and schools, especially their teachers and parents, in deciding what courses to teach and how to use funds at the school. This having been said, there are some clear general policies which are important.

Foremost among these is that the performance of a system is a� ected by the incentives that various actors face. That is, if the actors in the education process are rewarded extrinsically or intrinsically for producing better student performance, and if they are penalised for not producing high performance, this will improve performance. The incentives to produce high-quality education, in turn, are created by the institutions of the education system -- all the rules and regulations that set rewards and penalties for the people involved in the education process.

Therefore, one might expect that insti-tutional features have important impacts on student learning. International evidence suggests three institutional features that are part of a successful system for providing students with cognitive skills: Choice and competition, decentralisation and autonomy of schools, and accountability. l

SA Chowdhury is former Principal Social Sector Specialist at the Asian Development Bank, Manila and is currently working with European Union-funded SHARE Education Program Bangladesh.

Invest in the future

If the actors in the education process are rewarded extrinsically or intrinsically for producing better student performance, and if they are penalised for not producing high performance, this will improve performance

Investing in education is key for economic prosperity BIGSTOCK

OPINION 13D

TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

n Mahmood Hossain

“It is by politeness, etiquette, and charity that society is saved from falling into a heap of savagery.” -- William of Wykeham

There’s this absurd notion that chivalry is dead. Living in a time of chaos and super� cial schedules has led people to believe that the

breed of gentlemen is dying. This foolish assumption can only be made by the numerous accounts of ill-behaviour all over the world. The acts of kindness and

compassion are buried deep, as deep as the labyrinth of roots beneath the great Hyperion -- the tallest living tree in the world. And as our opinions and judgements spread through the branches of our minds, we can no longer carry on pretending that the population of gentlemen has withered.

Exposure. This fast-paced, social media-driven world we live in has unceremoniously strangled and su� ocated the acts of good men. They haven’t been eradicated; they’ve been drowned in the sea of endless exposure to the unjust. We take these far and few good acts as if they are miracles, when in reality they are true and consistent blessings.

This is because the good deeds and the gentlemanly way of living is being overshadowed by the cynical attitudes of the current generation. Political trails aside -- and God forbid we � nd ourselves tip-toeing around egg shells to be politically correct -- we must shed light on the truth. It’s simple: The race of gentlemen are not a dying breed. It is, in fact, utter nonsense.

Just like the eternal battle between good against evil, gentlemen have existed alongside those men who would in� ict harm upon others. And as LL Cool J once rapped, “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.” It’s a centuries-old story that never

really went away. Somehow, the good have been sideswiped by the anti-heroes of the day, leaving little room for hope.

And let’s not forget to mention the empowering of women, rightfully so, to explore their independence. But are those social issues a stumbling block for gentlemen?

Is it so wrong to hold a door for a lady? Surely, we are aware that anyone is more than capable of opening their own door? And therein lies the problem. A kind gesture is exactly that. People wonder why a person would genuinely assist them without requiring anything in return. Why can’t we leave it there as is and simply say thank you?

A gentleman, by de� nition, is a man regarded as having qualities of re� nement associated with a good family. A man who is cultured, courteous, and well-educated. He is the practitioner of integrity, treating others with the utmost respect. Well, at least towards those who deserve it. Meaning, no matter the sex or race of an individual, he will do no harm to others, mentally or physically.

In the society we live in today, blurring the lines of culture and religion, there is a dire need of assurance that men who have good intentions exist in large numbers. Gentlemen come in all colours, shapes, and sizes. There are those that are highly privileged, and those that are settled in humility in an honest day’s work. Or even the “average Joe” you say hi to but can never remember the name of.

And don’t delude yourself into thinking that one of the greatest libertines the world has ever seen, one Giacomo Casanova, was not a gentlemen. Doesn’t matter if one may strictly � nd security in his faith, or disregard the guidelines and rules of society, a man can be raised properly anywhere. Hell, even the con-artist Christophe Rocancourt was a � ne example. Minus the thievery, of course.

We are very much aware of the injustice towards a particular part of society and the inequality of the sexes. That is why we put on our best bespoke suits -- modern-day version of the shining armour -- or humble garbs and live up to our responsibilities as a real man. To the ladies, gentlemen have gone nowhere. It would be against their inherent duty to be absent or disappear from the land in which we were raised in. Well, maybe if we were o� on holiday, but then the surrounding people would welcome our excellence in manners with opened arms.

As for the men who strive to be better than yesterday, it’s within all of you to practice the old ways fused with the new. So go forth with your mental coat of arms intact, and reward those lacking the proper education of good will. A man of integrity, who is well-disciplined and con� dent, is a necessity to ensure a more stable environment. Bestow this onto your sons with the same values and principles, and let it always be known that the gentleman is here to stay. As Confucius would say, “A gentlemen would be ashamed should his deeds not match his words.” l

Mahmood Hossain is the Assistant Editor for Avenue T at Dhaka Tribune.

Manners maketh man

Is it so wrong to hold a door for a lady? Surely, we are aware that anyone is more than capable of opening their own door? And therein lies the problem. A kind gesture is exactly that. People wonder why a person would genuinely assist them without requiring anything in return

A gentleman always gets it right BIGSTOCK

OPINION14DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

n Towheed Feroze

Stepping out of a silver coloured SUV, young Sukhbir adjusts his sunglasses and then greets the people waiting for him with a deferential look. The

waiting crowd admires the car. The attire of the young man -- a white kurta over which there is a shawl -- also elicits some awe-� lled exclamations.

Sukhbir asks politely but � rmly: “Everything alright here?” To which the people respond in unison: “Bhai, when you are in charge how can something go wrong?” There is emphasis on the word “bhai.”

Sukhbur is delighted. He nonchalant-ly waves his hand to which another man swiftly steps out of the car to stand by him with a reverential look: “Oi! Slaughter three goats today; there will be a feast here for all those who could not have enough meat for Eid,” Sukhbir commands. There is a roll of ap-plause; an echo of “Bhai, Bhai, Bhai ...”

This “Bhai” is quite di� erent from the usual bhais which we use in everyday life. This “Bhai” means saviour, protector, leader,

and a man of curious contradictions. Thanks to the Hindi � lm gang culture plus the local movie scene which is almost 90% dominated by ma� a-don-like villains shown to have an inexplicable blend of softness and cruelty, the Bhai term has entered our real life with much fervour.

In fact, many youths now aspire to be one. It’s the ultimate wish ful� llment when a young man is deemed the Bhai by a bunch of people. Of course, to be a Bhai one needs money or a � rm � nancial background before all else. A family farm or a large village home provides the ideal setting. Even better if the upazilla police chief comes to pay his re-spects. If the DC knows the name of the Bhai, then our man is next to God!

One can also be the Big Brother without a country home. In that case, one needs to be a leader in some public education institute. I know such a person, in fact, he is close to me. Let’s call him Jamal. He is around 15 years junior, but since he has already graduated from university, he commands an awe-inspiring following. Jamal is the campus Bhai lionised by current students.

Once upon a time, he was also a student leader, so his claim to the Bhai epithet has links to politics. Once more, the car is essential here because one cannot be a Bhai without four wheels. Jamal is my junior, so he also calls me brother too, though, that is totally di� erent. I am Toto bhai (my nickname) but certainly not Bhai! Jamal settles student disputes, advises on various issues, from education to a� airs of the heart, playing pivotal roles in aiding jilted lovers � nd a way for reconciliation. His stern advice to some girl, “please make up and give it another shot,” is hardly repudiated. After all, Bhai has asked it.

In the meantime, this exalted role is not without certain bene� ts, because Bhais have access to the right political plus administra-tive o� ces. O� cers of government depart-ments also treat them with respect. This two-sided veneration is astutely exploited to broker deals encapsulating all conceiv-able contexts. Think recovery of occupied land to having a deadlocked loan request passed against a contentious piece of land. The brokering brings more honour, � lling up

the co� ers too -- the Bhai business is good; lucrative to say the least.

Benevolence is also integral to projecting the right image. Throwing lavish banquets for all in the area is a must, so is arranging special milad meh� ls to invoke divine blessings for some project. Catchy dialogues are needed to boost the image and circulate the cult surrounding the man.

Some common lines that have come my way, “Bhai er ekta haashi maney � le pass hobey aaji” (if Bhai gives a smile, no one can stop the passing of your [clogged] � le), “Bhai bolse hotei hobey, dourer upor thak shobey” (Bhai has said, it will be done. Detractors, stay on the run).

Weapons only add to the mystique! At a time when ordinary people are given mind-boggling rules to obtain a gun license, a legal weapon-carrying Bhai sends the message that he is the brother but not like the tea stall-wallah whom we embrace in a fraternal way.

What about the female factor in the lives of these cinema-in� uenced heroes? Well, the women have to be stunningly beautiful, though the Bhai may have one earlobe missing (blown away while making molotovs in his early days), some feminine companions have religious head-coverings, even though the entire dress is noticeably slinky near the buttocks.

Some Bhais drink alcohol, preferring to hang out at � ve star hotels. They also have selected singers or dancers in such places who are showered with Tk500 notes while performing. Obviously, ordinary punters nev-er dare talk to such women! While slumped in a drunken stupor, their bar girl-friends tell them in mock anger: “Ai, please ar drink koro naaaaa” with their bodyguards, adding, “Bhai, aijka ar khaen na” (Bhai, enough for today).

The Bhai likes such a� ectionate attention which turns him to ask philosophically: “What is life, fame, and wealth?” While leaving the bar, he will possibly hand over wads of cash to guards, doormen, and others. There will be an echo of “Bhai, Bhai, Bhai” all around. In the bar, others will drink easily now, or even take a furtive glance at the luscious dancer, because, Bhai has left the building. l

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

Say hello to the Bhai culture

This Bhai is quite di� erent from the usual bhais which we use in everyday life. This Bhai means saviour, protector, leader, and a man of curious contradictions

We all know a few everyday monarchs BIGSTOCK

15D

TBusiness MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

No growth burst on the horizon yet for world economy

17Corporate earnings fail to satisfy investors

19China slowdown? Depends on where you look

16All Public services are now at � ngertips

20

Source: Department of O� Site Supervision; Calculation: Financial Stability Department

TOP 5 AND TOP 10 BANKS BASED ON ASSET SIZE

Top 5 banks32.8%

Other banks67.2%

Top 10 banks46.9%

Other banks53.1%

Atiur: Default loan still a headache n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday asked banks to bring down default loans to a tolerable level as it still remained a headache to the central bank.

“Default loan in the banking sector is still a matter of concern. We need to exert our relent-less e� ort in reducing the rate of the defaulted loan,” he said, calling the banks to become care-ful so that no fresh loan was turned default.

“Give loan to them who are good in pay-ment but be careful about them who are al-ready defaulter,” said the governor while un-veiling Financial Stability Report 2014 at the Bangladesh Bank. Senior executives of Bang-ladesh Bank and chief executives of banks and non-bank � nancial institutions were present.

Sounding a cautious note, he said: “In no way irregularities will be tolerated.”

According to the report, non-performing loans (NPLs) have risen in recent years due to a combination of factors, such as, a deterioration in intrinsic asset quality and stringent problem loan identi� cation. The NPL of the banking sec-tor rose to 9.7% in 2014 from 8.9% a year ago.

On falling bank’s pro� tability, he said, though the net pro� t in the banking system had declined due to the provision require-ments, the resilience of the system increased manifold. “As a regulator, Bangladesh Bank attaches equal importance on stability of � -nancial sector along with its main goal.”

Atiur said capital base of banks has im-proved in last � ve years due to transferring of a major portion of banks’ pro� t into capital. “Re-capitalisation and decline in provision shortfall have strengthened the base of � nan-cial sector,” he said, pointing out that banks might face the challenges in adopting new

business model in the coming years. He said various advanced tools have been

introduced in identifying risks and vulnera-bilities in the banking sector, which will con-tribute to maintain stability in the � nancial sector.

The governor advised the banks and the � nancial institutions to be more transparent and alert in their operations to gain people’s con� dence and trust.

“This is very important for developing a healthy banking and � nancial sectors. We should remember that the banks would be required to take the challenges of the fast changing business model besides the big chal-lenges of achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”

He also suggested the banks to take prepa-ration for tackling the spillover impact of global economic volatility as the future bank-ing would have more integration with the global � nancial activities.

“Banks and � nancial institutions in the country did not face any systematic risk even

during the global recession because the exter-nal economic activities still remained limited and under careful management. But, there was no scope of self-satisfaction,” he said.

Giving lists of the central bank steps, in-cluding updated rules, regulations, technol-ogy and streamlining the monitoring system to establish discipline and ensure stability in the banking sector, the governor said: “As a result, the capital base of the banking sector increased and strengthened signi� cantly in the past � ve years.”

He also highlighted the recent develop-ment initiatives taken by BB aiming at safe-guarding � nancial stability outlining the purpose of the stability report. He pointed out that the banking sector had temporarily moved to safe liquid investments.

The governor stated that the � nancial system of Bangladesh was stable and shock resilient in calendar year 2014 on an overall basis. “Our � nancial sector was able to stand on strong base despite di� erent obstacles and achieved 6.1% GDP growth on an average.” l

State banks asked to boost e� orts in default loan casesn Asif Showkat Kallol

Bank and Financial Institution Division has expressed concerns over the huge volume of pending cases of state-owned banks and � -nancial institutions.

Ine� ciency of lawyers was blamed for the long-time unresolved cases involving the banks’ recovery of Tk45,135 crore from defaulters.

“Pending cases of Tk45,135 crore lie in the high court, which is de� nitely recoverable if e� cient lawyers are appointed,” Bank Divi-sion Secretary M Aslam Alam told Dhaka Trib-une yesterday.

Earlier on the day, he expressed his con-cern at a monthly coordination meeting with managing directors and chairmen of the banks at the � nance division auditorium.

An aggregate amount of Tk45,135 crore of the state-owned banks and � nancial insti-tutions are now stuck in 4,250 money suits pending before high court for writ petition in last four years, the statistics show.

Secretary said most of big defaulters � led writ petition against the cases.

“The law department of the banks needs to be strengthened further. I asked the banks’ management to appoint more e� cient law-yers so that the verdicts come to their favour,” secretary said.

He said the lawyers of the country’s insur-ance regulatory authority were yet to reply to the court notice in 36 cases. “The notices have remained unanswered for a very long time, which is matter of grave concern.”

He said a large portion of pending cases in high court, lower court and Artha Rin Adalat belong to big state-owned commercial banks like Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali.

“All cases of the banks will be resolved if the lawyers work e� ciently,” Aslam Alam em-phasised. l

Tk100bn required to develop energy sectorn Tribune Report

The country needs nearly Tk100 billion to de-velop the power and energy sector over the next � ve years.

And for the transport sector development during the period, it needs to mobilise around Tk1,487bn.

This was revealed at a consultative meet-ing on ‘Chapter 5: Infrastructure Develop-ment Strategy’ under the 7th Five-Year Plan held at the NEC conference room yesterday.

The implementation of plan will begin from next year and will go on till 2020.

General Economics Division (GED) mem-ber of Planning Commission and Architect of the plan Prof Shamsul Alam made a pow-er-point presentation on the chapter.

Under the draft plan, around Tk1315.3bn

would be required as ADP allocations for the transport sector while Tk846.5bn for the pow-er and energy sector, according to the paper.

The draft plan laid the importance on timely completion of all ongoing roads and bridges projects especially related to intercity highways.

Besides, a top priority would be on fast tracking of a number of transformational in-frastructure investments, including Padma Bridge, Deep Seaport, MRT-6 project, LNG terminal and the Paira Port Projects, it said.

Under the targets for the power sector, the total electricity generation during the � ve years will be increased by 12,853MW includ-ing around 60% to be generated by the public sector and 40% by the private sector.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the

government has targeted to increase power generation by 1200MW-1500MW every year and it is in line with achieving such target.

Some 13 power plants would come into generation by next year, he said, adding that a plan is underway to phase out the captive power plants in future since those are ine� cient.

Energy expert M Tamim advised that the government should go for setting up coal-based instead of gas-based power plants.

“It is inevitable to attract foreign direct investment in the energy sector as about $50bn investment is required in this sector by 2021. l

BUSINESS16DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited has recently organised a daylong workshop on account opening procedures and documentation for its o� cials. The bank’s MD, KS Tabrez inaugurated the workshop as chief guest

Jamuna Bank Limited has recently held its business review meeting of Sylhet Zone. The bank’s chairperson, Md Sirajul Islam Varosha inaugurated the ceremony as chief guest while its MD and CEO, Sha� qul Alam presided over the meeting

China slowdown depends on where you lookn Reuters, New York

Many US consumer companies are brushing aside worries that China’s weakening econo-my and sputtering stock market will dramat-ically damage their bottom lines even with early trouble signs in recent earnings reports.

Most notably, companies dependent on Chinese infrastructure growth, such as Unit-ed Technologies Corp and Caterpillar Inc, are claiming soft second-quarter earnings and a downgraded outlook based on weakened Chi-nese demand.

Consumer companies like United Conti-nental Holdings Inc, Apple Inc and Gener-al Motors Co, on the other hand, continue to paint a rosy picture based on continued strong demand by the Chinese consumer.

The Chinese economy has faced di� cul-ties this year as decelerating growth in factory output, retail sales and domestic investment has been compounded by a slowing property market.

China’s economy is expected to expand 7% this year, with growth slowing to 6.7% in 2016, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Thursday.

“We have been worried about it,” Steve Weeple, head of global equities at global asset manager Standard Life Investments in Bos-ton, told Reuters. “We would certainly not be surprised to see some of the big consum-er packaged goods companies, some of the industrials, reporting that China activity is probably a little below headline growth rates.”

Furthermore, a 30% early summer sello� in the Chinese stock market could hit compa-nies more broadly in the third quarter.

Names that have a reliance on infrastruc-ture growth in China have been hit the hard-est so far this quarter. United Technologies fell 7% on Tuesday, its worst drop in nearly 4 years, after cutting its full-year pro� t outlook, in part due to slowness in its elevators busi-ness in China as the nation’s housing market cools.

Caterpillar shares had their worst perfor-mance in six months on Thursday after the construction and mining equipment maker reported lower quarterly pro� t and sales, cit-ing slower construction in China.

Even smaller names, generally thought to be more insulated to global economic pres-sures as a greater portion of their revenue is

derived from within the US, have noted soft-ness within China’s infrastructure.

“We’re seeing real industry pressure in construction, in agriculture, in truck and bus inside China – there’s been industry contrac-tion in construction (business) year-on-year,” Rich Lavin, CEO of Commercial Vehicle Group Inc which supplies cab-related products for trucks, bus, farming and other types of vehi-cles, told Reuters in mid-June before entering its quiet period ahead of earnings.

Gm, united, apple more upbeatBut consumer-facing companies are telling a brighter tale.

Harley-Davidson Inc saw a 5% pop in its shares on Tuesday, its biggest percentage

gain since October, after its quarterly results showed a 16.6% jump in Asia-Paci� c sales, which the company attributed to strong de-mand for its street motorcycles in China and India.

“You have to look company by compa-ny and product line by product line because there are some things for which there is no substitute,” said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst, Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. “It’s the cool factor for Harley Da-vidson.”

United Continental, which � ies more to China than any of its US rivals, says the region remains a good investment. “The demand is still growing,” said Chief Revenue O� cer Jim Compton.

Despite � at June auto sales in China, Gen-eral Motors Co also cited continued strength in China in its earnings report on Thursday, and said it expects to maintain strong prof-itability there. Shares of the automaker ad-vanced 4% to $31.50.

The same brand name appeal mentioned by Forrest may be bolstering Apple’s China sales. Though the company’s shares tumbled nearly 7% after its forward-looking guidance missed estimates, it reported a 112% sales increase in China over last year and said it plans to open 40 stores in China in the next 12 months.

“China was simply spectacular for us,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief � nancial o� cer. “We feel it is a long runway for us in China.” l

An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Nanjing, Jiangsu province REUTERS

BUSINESS 17D

TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

No growth burst on the horizon yet for world economyn Reuters, London

With little sign of accelerating growth or in-� ation, most central banks are still looking to ease monetary policy, in stark contrast to the US Federal Reserve which is on the brink of its � rst rate hike in nearly a decade.

That bias toward easing, from China to Canada, comes at a time when the world economy, with a few exceptions like the Unit-ed States, appears weak despite historical-ly-low oil prices and bond yields along with soaring stock and property prices.

Reuters polls of around 500 economists across Asia, Europe and the Americas reveal modest downgrades, or at best no change to growth forecasts compared with previous months, as well as incrementally tamer in� a-tion views across most countries.

With the exception of nascent signs of wage in� ation in the United States and Brit-ain where jobless rates are near where they tend to be toward the peak of the economic cycle, the only evidence of in� ation pressure remains speci� c to a few countries that are generating it, but not exporting it.

“Overall, there are few signs that the world economy is poised for lift-o� : progress made in one region appears only to be matched by retreat elsewhere, a likely consequence of currency wars,” noted Stephen King, chief global economist at HSBC.

“As such, the world economy remains in a fragile state, ill-prepared to cope with future negative shocks.”

There has been a striking change in tone from central banks worldwide over the past year or so, from Scandinavia to core Europe to China and even the United States, referring to optimal exchange rates either directly or indi-rectly when setting policy.

That has led to nearly every economy rush-ing for a weaker currency in the hope of some-how bettering exports to their neighbours.

However, if everyone does the same thing, the result of one central bank’s interest rate cut won’t be very di� erent from another. It also won’t do much to spark in� ation, now fundamentally a global force.

With rates close to, at or in some cases be-low zero across much of the developed world, central banks from emerging powerhouses China and India are expected to cut rates fur-ther after several moves already this year.

Canada’s central bank shocked markets again last week with a rate cut to 0.50 percent and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand sliced

rates again earlier on Thursday. That may put pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia to do the same. What the rush by nearly 40 central banks to ease policy this year also has done is boost the US dollar.

While the U.S. economy has managed to weather this rise, it is clear a strong dollar has already dented U.S. corporate pro� ts and has tamped down in� ation pressures there through relatively cheaper imports from the rest of the world.

So far, that has not been enough to throw the Fed o� track from its intent to hike.

But the strong dollar contributed to sur-prise weakness in the � rst quarter, and the expected � rst move already has been delayed to September from June, with more expecting a delay beyond September than in a poll con-ducted just last month.

Concern about a US relapse remains real. A signi� cant number of nearly 200 economists polled by Reuters who answered an addition-al question cited that as their top risk in com-ing months. The majority cited a slowdown in China.

Even in Britain, where the Bank of England has been on deck for a rate rise for much of the past year, only to keep delaying its � rst hike since the � nancial crisis, the outlook is far from certain.

BoE o� cials, including Governor Mark Carney, have been warning repeatedly that

rates will have to rise soon.But a surprise fall in UK retail sales in an

economy so reliant on consumer spending is a reminder that Europe’s fastest-growing major economy may be doing better than the euro zone, but is still not yet in perfect health.

In Latin America, it is a far more clear cut story. With only a few exceptions like Mexico, the economic outlook on the whole is poor -- and worse than it was a few months ago.

Brazil, for a long while the growth engine of South America and the envy of its neighbours for its economic miracle, is struggling to tamp down in� ation nearing double-digit rates while its economy crashes into recession.

The central bank there has been on a pun-ishing campaign of rate rises, taking them to 13.75 percent, among the highest in the world. Only in recent weeks has it begun to make noises suggesting it’s done enough. But the damage has been done.

If China can draw a line under its recent stock market rout and engineer a recovery in the property market which also has been in retreat for most of this year, there may be rea-son to hope that brighter days are ahead for the world economy.

But without a burst of pent-up demand on the horizon from any emerging economy, or even the United States, the latest round of global polls suggests that much of the opti-mism is built on hope, not hard evidence. l

A crane lifts a cargo container onto a truck at a port in Tokyo REUTERS

Dollar hits new multi-year highs against emerging market unitsn AFP, Tokyo

The dollar hit fresh multi-year highs against some emerging market currencies Friday as investors increasingly bet on a US rate hike this year, while the euro lost early gains driv-en by easing fears over the Greek debt crisis.

In Tokyo, the greenback surged to a new 17-year high against the Indonesian currency at 13,465 rupiah from 13,416 rupiah on Thurs-day and a six-year high of 34.90 Thai baht

from 34.85 baht. The greenback got a lift as initial claims for

US unemployment insurance bene� ts fell to their lowest level in nearly 42 years last week, in another sign of tightening in the country’s jobs market and reinforcing expectations for a rate hike before 2016.

“Dollar buying has been advancing on ex-pectations of a Fed rate hike,” Shinji Kureda, head of forex trading at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, told Bloomberg News.

In other trading, the US unit bought 123.93 yen, slightly up from 123.90 yen, while the euro weakened to $1.0946 and 135.66 yen, from $1.0985 and 136.10 yen in New York.

The euro had edged up in morning trade as Greece’s creditors prepared to head to Athens Friday for talks on a new bailout. Greek law-makers approved this week a second round of austerity measures demanded to unlock 86 billion euros in much-needed support.

The dollar strengthened against other

Asia-Paci� c currencies. It rose to a � ve-year high against the Philip-

pine unit at 45.51 Philippine pesos from 45.29 pesos and a two-year-high of 1,167.87 South Korean won from 1,162.80 won.

The unit also gained to 63.91 Indian ru-pees from 63.65 rupees, to Sg$1.3725 from Sg$1.3670, and Tw$31.42 against Tw$31.23.

The Australian dollar dropped to 72.95 US cents, down from 73.81 cents, while the Chi-nese yuan rose to 19.96 yen from 19.94 yen. l

AirAsia announces 20% discount on fare n Tribune Report

Malaysia-based low-cost airlines AirAsia has announced a special 20% discount base fares on all seats and all � ights in a one-week ex-clusive o� er as the countdown for the 300m passenger begins.

Sadi Abdullah, managing director of To-tal Air services Limited (TAS), came up with the announcement while speaking at a press conference at a restaurant in Dhaka yesterday. TAS is the general sales agent (GSA) in Bangla-desh of the airlines.

After discount, promotional fare from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur would be Tk20,938 (including tax). AirAsia operates daily � ight in Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route.

The airlines resumed its Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur � ights from this 11 July to further en-hance its connectivity between Bangladesh and Malaysia.

TAS Chairman KM Mozibul Hoque, Vice Chairman Sheikh Mamun and Director Mor-shedul Alam Chaklader, director of TAS also attended the press conference.

This o� cial o� er is made available in an-ticipation of the 300m passenger � own mile-stone and will be available for booking from 27 July to 2 August 2015 for immediate travel from 28 July to 30 November 2015.

Apart from the website, the promotion is also applicable for bookings made via AirA-sia’s mobile app on iPhone and Android de-vices as well as the mobile site mobile.airasia.com.

AirAsiaGo, the holiday division of the world’s best low cost airline, will also be o� er-ing special deal for AirAsia’s passengers dur-ing this o� er period with great savings from as low as Tk29,500 per person for 4 days/3 nights with hotel accommodation.

For more information and to book, visit website at AirAsiago.com. The same booking period and travel period applies.

Asia had earlier launched Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur � ight in 2010, which was suspended after one year of operation.

AirAsia operates scheduled domestic and international � ights to 129 destinations span-ning 22 countries.

The company was established in 1994. l

AirAsia operates scheduled domestic and international � ights to 129 destinations spanning 22 countries

BUSINESS18DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

Sector DSE CSE TotalMillion Taka % change Million Taka % change Million Taka % change

Bank 441.68 5.85 22.70 4.22 464.37 5.74NBFI 292.40 3.87 12.86 2.39 305.26 3.78Investment 80.50 1.07 2.49 0.46 82.98 1.03Engineering 1051.89 13.93 114.53 21.32 1166.43 14.42Food & Allied 128.45 1.70 7.24 1.35 135.69 1.68Fuel & Power 1404.44 18.60 86.39 16.08 1490.83 18.44Jute 2.63 0.03 0.00 2.63 0.03Textile 779.99 10.33 55.44 10.32 835.43 10.33Pharma & Chemical 1379.65 18.28 75.55 14.06 1455.20 18.00Paper & Packaging 20.83 0.28 1.93 0.36 22.76 0.28Service 126.45 1.68 8.08 1.50 134.52 1.66Leather 23.00 0.30 2.17 0.40 25.17 0.31Ceramic 156.27 2.07 4.73 0.88 161.00 1.99Cement 808.02 10.70 57.90 10.78 865.92 10.71Information Technology 42.44 0.56 2.68 0.50 45.12 0.56General Insurance 44.20 0.59 0.62 0.12 44.82 0.55Life Insurance 74.56 0.99 3.22 0.60 77.79 0.96Telecom 264.99 3.51 32.43 6.04 297.42 3.68Travel & Leisure 148.08 1.96 15.89 2.96 163.97 2.03Miscellaneous 278.30 3.69 30.33 5.65 308.63 3.82Debenture 0.21 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.21 0.00

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

News, analysis and recent disclosuresLINDEBD: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors has approved 200% interim cash dividend for the year ending 31 December 2015. Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 03.08.2015.LINDEBD: (H/Y Un-audited): Net Pro� t after tax from Jan-15 to June-15 was Tk. 243.48 million with EPS of Tk. 16.00 as against Tk. 294.95 million and Tk. 19.38 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Net Pro� t after tax from April-15 to June-15 was Tk. 95.01 million with EPS of Tk. 6.24 as against Tk. 157.29 million and Tk. 10.34 respectively for the same period of the previous year.ISLAMIBANK: (H/Y Un-audit-ed): Consolidated Net Pro� t after tax (excluding non-con-trolling interests) from Jan-15 to June-15 was Tk. 3,395.24 m. with consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.11 as against Tk. 974.06 m. and Tk. 0.61 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas consolidated Net Pro� t after tax (excluding non-con-trolling interests) from April-15 to June-15 was Tk. 2,994.46 m. with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.86 as against Tk. 590.01 m. and Tk. 0.37 respectively for the same period of the previous year.HEIDELBCEM: (H/Y Un-audit-ed): Pro� t after tax from Jan-15 to June-15 was Tk. 846.13 million with EPS of Tk. 14.97 as against Tk. 817.07 million and Tk. 14.46 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Pro� t after tax from April-15 to June-15 was Tk. 353.93 million with EPS of Tk. 6.26 as against

Tk. 412.54 million and Tk. 7.30 respectively for the same period of the previous year.CITYGENINS: (H/Y Un-audited): Net Pro� t after tax from Jan-15 to June-15 was Tk. 55.89 million with EPS of Tk. 0.99 as against Tk. 52.27 million and Tk. 0.93 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Net Pro� t after tax from April-15 to June-15 was Tk. 31.87 million with EPS of Tk. 0.57 as against Tk. 28.77 million and Tk. 0.51 respectively for the same period of the previous year.BXPHARMA: (H/Y Un-audited): Pro� t after tax from Jan-15 to June-15 was Tk. 1,009.16 million with EPS of Tk. 2.61 as against Tk. 724.27 million and Tk. 1.88 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Pro� t after tax from April-15 to June-15 was Tk. 602.45 million with EPS of Tk. 1.56 as against Tk. 394.49 million and Tk. 1.02 respectively for the same period of the previous year.PRIMEBANK: (H/Y Un-audit-ed): Consolidated Net Pro� t after tax (excluding non-con-trolling interests) from Jan-15 to June-15 was Tk. 2,169.99 m. with consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.11 as against Tk. 1,011.99 m. and Tk. 0.98 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas consolidated Net Pro� t/(loss) after tax (exclud-ing non-controlling interests) from April-15 to June-15 was Tk. 1,387.87 m. with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.35 as against Tk. (276.69) m. and Tk. (0.27) respectively for the same period of the previous year.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

BD Fixed Income MF-A 10.00 10.19 8.76 8.80 8.80 8.50 0.037 0.51 17.2Bangladesh Lamps -A 9.96 9.93 124.70 124.70 124.70 124.70 0.084 4.32 28.9 Prime Bank-A 9.88 10.03 18.76 18.90 18.90 17.00 0.589 4.22 4.4Olympic Accessories -N 9.86 8.24 62.15 63.50 63.50 59.00 47.688 1.41 44.1Zaheen Spinning -N 9.80 3.14 21.35 22.40 22.40 20.90 6.144 1.18 18.1EXIM Bank 1 MF-A 9.38 9.38 7.00 7.00 7.00 7.00 0.000 0.56 12.5Bangladesh Welding -B 9.05 7.97 21.54 21.70 21.80 19.80 4.103 -0.40 -veICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A 8.54 4.76 8.59 8.90 9.00 8.00 0.007 0.87 9.9Sa� o Spinning-A 6.47 4.02 17.85 18.10 18.20 17.50 1.837 0.60 29.8FAR Chemical-N 5.58 5.13 50.64 51.10 52.40 49.10 11.674 3.23 15.7

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Bangladesh Welding -B 10.00 7.27 21.53 22.00 22.00 19.70 53.288 -0.40 -veBangladesh Lamps -A 9.95 10.43 135.54 135.90 135.90 125.00 26.857 4.32 31.4Olympic Accessories -N 9.86 7.82 61.80 63.50 63.50 58.80 192.543 1.41 43.8 Prime Bank-A 9.71 9.84 18.98 19.20 19.20 17.50 49.977 4.22 4.5Zaheen Spinning -N 9.71 6.78 22.21 22.60 22.60 21.00 36.918 1.18 18.8BD Fixed Income MF-A 7.35 5.58 7.19 7.30 7.40 6.90 0.188 0.51 14.1Sa� o Spinning-A 7.06 3.79 17.80 18.20 18.30 17.30 21.814 0.60 29.7Saiham Cotton-A 6.90 6.53 21.85 21.70 22.30 20.50 12.273 1.43 15.3FAR Chemical-N 5.58 5.78 50.88 51.10 52.20 49.10 187.365 3.23 15.8MeghnaCement -A 5.21 3.82 127.85 127.30 131.70 119.00 24.367 8.52 15.0

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Fareast Islami Life -A -18.01 -12.98 68.50 65.10 71.90 65.10 0.458 4.60 14.9Samata LeatheR -Z -9.30 -9.40 27.28 27.30 27.30 27.20 0.014 -0.05 -veWata Chemicals -A -9.13 -8.19 160.22 160.20 160.30 160.20 0.080 3.80 42.2Eastern Cables-A -8.38 -8.42 119.05 119.10 119.10 119.00 0.012 1.12 106.3Prime Islami Life -A -7.07 -6.91 38.10 38.10 38.10 38.10 0.000 4.95 7.7Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A -6.84 -2.37 17.72 17.70 19.00 17.50 0.002 1.76 10.1Imam Button -Z -6.54 -5.32 10.15 10.00 10.40 10.00 0.015 -1.21 -veRepublic Insu.-A -6.43 -5.83 16.00 16.00 16.00 16.00 0.008 1.55 10.3ISN Ltd. -Z -5.94 -6.65 9.41 9.50 10.00 9.30 0.021 0.16 58.8Kohinoor Chem -A -5.69 -5.69 330.10 330.10 330.20 330.10 0.033 8.25 40.0

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Fareast Islami Life -A -17.95 -16.30 65.62 64.90 69.00 64.80 7.803 4.60 14.3Linde (BD) Ltd. -A -11.02 -7.32 1253.72 1207.70 1310.00 1200.00 56.554 32.00 39.2Imam Button -Z -8.41 -7.34 9.98 9.80 10.50 9.70 0.356 -1.21 -veShampur Sugar -Z -7.46 -7.46 6.20 6.20 6.20 6.20 0.001 -69.41 -veMeghna Con. Milk -B -6.49 -5.24 7.23 7.20 7.40 7.20 0.201 -4.49 -veHeidelbergCement -A -5.16 -5.26 638.08 637.70 660.10 622.00 134.069 29.94 21.3Bata Shoe Ltd. -A -4.94 -0.15 1365.59 1347.00 1432.00 1330.00 5.349 42.84 31.9Republic Insu.-A -4.73 -2.14 16.45 16.10 17.30 15.80 1.085 1.55 10.6Green Delta M.F.-A -4.55 -2.55 4.21 4.20 4.30 4.10 0.797 -0.12 -veBSRM Ltd. -A -4.52 2.57 90.49 88.80 95.00 88.40 128.656 2.16 41.9

DSE key features July 26, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

7,548.97

Turnover (Volume)

177,159,726

Number of Contract

154,531

Traded Issues 320

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

144

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

171

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,711.00

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.86

CSE key features July 26, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

537.18

Turnover (Volume)

13,481,080

Number of Contract

20,448

Traded Issues 244

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

109

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

131

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,609.03

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.62

BUSINESS 19D

TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Corporate earnings fail to satisfy investorsPro� t booking ends 9-day DSEX rally

n Tribune Report

Stocks declined with vola-tility yesterday, breaking a nine-day-long gaining streak of the benchmark index, DSEX, on pro� t booking.

The market moved be-tween positive and negative initially, but pro� t book-ing sell-o� started from mid-session when some poor earning news of some multinational companies hit the market, dragged it down.

The intra-day volatility was around 46 points.

The benchmark of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, lost nearly 92 points or 0.5% to close at 4,786, scaling back from its previous session’s � ve months high.

The Shariah index, DSES, fell over 8 points or 0.8% to 1,186. The blue chip com-prising index, DS30, moved down 11 points or 0.7% to 1,876.

The Chittagong Stock Ex-change was down 33 points to settle at 8,931.

Half-yearly declarations of some heavyweights like Linde Bangladesh, Heidel-berg Cement and Islami Bank have failed to satisfy investors as they were down

11%, 5.2% and 2.6% respec-tively.

But Prime Bank surged 9.7% as its earning declara-tion has ignited investors sentiment.

However, the overall sentiment turned negative on large cap multinational companies that witnessed continuous rally over the last several weeks on bet-ter-than-expected earning deceleration.

The volume of trade on Dhaka Stock Exchange dropped 7% to about Tk755 crore compared to the previ-ous session.

Among the major sectors, banking stocks saw a large trading volume in reaction to the earning news.

Among the major sectors, bank, mutual fund, tele-communication and textile closed higher while cement, fuel and power, non-bank-ing � nancial institutions and pharmaceuticals declined.

Lanka Bangla Securi-ties said stocks came under pressure over the course of trading day after initially showing a lack of direction amid mixed performance declared by the banks, phar-maceuticals and construc-tion material stocks. l

Stocks came under pressure over the course of trading day after initially showing a lack of direction amid mixed performance declared by the banks, pharmaceuticals and construction material stocks

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 12127.20300 (-) 0.46% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1876.90223 (-) 0.63% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 14663.81220 (-) 0.38% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 12127.20300 (-) 0.97% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8931.78840 (-) 0.37% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change % ClosingY DHIGH DLOW AvgPrice

LafargeS Cement-A 417,254 52.94 9.85 125.00 -0.32 125.40 129.70 124.50 126.87Olympic Accessories -N 767,362 47.69 8.88 63.50 9.86 57.80 63.50 59.00 62.15Beximco Pharma -A 340,387 22.76 4.24 66.00 1.54 65.00 68.00 65.80 66.86BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 645,588 21.83 4.06 33.60 0.90 33.30 34.40 33.40 33.81Grameenphone-A 63,625 21.58 4.02 339.60 0.44 338.10 342.00 337.30 339.20BSRM Ltd. -A 220,196 19.90 3.70 88.80 -4.00 92.50 93.00 88.00 90.37Khulna Power-A 203,962 16.20 3.02 78.90 0.64 78.40 80.30 78.50 79.44Shahjibazar Power-N 78,587 15.41 2.87 191.40 -4.49 200.40 204.00 190.00 196.11United Power-N 93,998 14.93 2.78 157.80 -1.68 160.50 163.00 157.30 158.88UNITED AIR-A 1,375,498 14.61 2.72 10.60 0.00 10.60 10.80 10.50 10.62MJL BD Ltd.-A 128,223 14.44 2.69 111.00 -2.37 113.70 114.20 110.60 112.61Square Pharma -A 45,348 12.03 2.24 264.90 -0.34 265.80 266.40 263.80 265.30FAR Chemical-N 230,534 11.67 2.17 51.10 5.58 48.40 52.40 49.10 50.64BD Submarine Cable-A 77,787 10.85 2.02 137.30 -1.36 139.20 145.00 137.00 139.46Islami Bank BD - A 353,968 8.33 1.55 22.80 -0.44 22.90 25.10 22.20 23.53

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

LafargeS Cement-A 4,793,459 611.00 8.09 125.90 0.40 125.40 130.00 125.50 127.46Khulna Power-A 3,909,171 310.46 4.11 78.90 0.77 78.30 80.50 78.10 79.42ACI Limited- A 452,331 263.97 3.50 580.10 -0.14 580.90 596.00 579.00 583.58Shahjibazar Power-N 1,322,273 261.26 3.46 191.80 -3.91 199.60 204.40 190.00 197.58Grameenphone-A 631,992 214.00 2.83 338.60 0.21 337.90 340.40 336.00 338.62Shasha Denims -N 4,702,168 202.26 2.68 43.50 4.32 41.70 44.30 41.90 43.01Renata Ltd. -A 151,496 199.43 2.64 1285.40 1.16 1270.60 1350.00 1240.10 1316.40Olympic Accessories -N 3,115,479 192.54 2.55 63.50 9.86 57.80 63.50 58.80 61.80FAR Chemical-N 3,682,170 187.37 2.48 51.10 5.58 48.40 52.20 49.10 50.88BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 5,292,944 179.59 2.38 33.70 1.20 33.30 34.60 33.30 33.93DESCO Ltd. -A 2,390,662 176.97 2.34 74.40 3.33 72.00 75.00 71.00 74.02Beximco Pharma -A 2,636,103 176.54 2.34 66.30 1.84 65.10 68.00 66.00 66.97Square Pharma -A 624,533 165.82 2.20 266.00 -0.30 266.80 268.70 263.50 265.51RAK Ceramics-A 1,827,848 147.15 1.95 79.60 -1.97 81.20 82.80 79.20 80.50HeidelbergCement -A 210,114 134.07 1.78 637.70 -5.16 672.40 660.10 622.00 638.08

BUSINESS20DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

ICT DIVISION UNVEILS 500 APPS

All public services now at � ngertipsn Tribune Report

The ICT Division yesterday revealed 500 mo-bile applications as its continual attempt to facilitate public services.

Sajeeb Wajed Joy, ICT advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, formally unveiled the applications at a function held at the ICT auditorium in the capital yesterday.

The government services are now seem-ingly at � ngertips with the blessings of tech-nological advancement of the ICT Division.

With the help of apps, anyone will now be able to verify BSTI products or check their utility bill from Dhaka Electric Supply Com-pany, Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Au-thority and Power Development Board bill.

Even it is possible to know the schedules of railways and Biman Bangladesh Airlines, sta-tus of Investment Board, joint stock company registration, list of non-VAT products.

The ICT has also made apps for Bangab-haban, Prime Minister’s O� ce, Election Com-mission, di� erent ministries, Rajuk, Public Service Commission and Hi-Tech Park.

Of the total mobile applications, 300 will be developed for di� erent ministries and the remaining 200 will incorporate new innova-tive ideas.

Ethics Advanced Technology Limited (EATL) provided technical assistance in developing the apps. State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak, ICT Division Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose, Pro-ject Director Fakhruddin Ahmed Chowdhury, among others, spoke at the function.

Under the mobile apps trainer and devel-opment of creative apps programme, the uni-versity students across the country will be trained for three months on developing mo-bile applications.

Following the unveiling of apps, Sajeeb Wajed Joy said the government will set up IT vocational institutes in seven divisional head-

quarters within its tenure in order to take the IT education to an advanced level.

“I believe economic condition will be de-veloped through IT vocational institute which will expedite implementation of digitalised Bangladesh.”

The ICT advisor said: “We just started our work. For the development of the country we have lots of plans and dreams.”

Joy said the ICT sector could have easily

built the applications, inviting tender, but the government made those apps by training the youth. Over the last 18 months, the sec-tor people did a lot of hard works which were beyond imagination under the leadership of Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

While replying to the critics of the govern-ment, Joy said some people think the country is on the move without the government e� orts.

All the development works are being car-

ried out by every public servant, ministers and the Awami league leaders.

In his address, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed said development projects are being implemented one after another. The dream of high-tech park has come to reality now.

ECNEC has already approved the rail sta-tion project worth Tk60 crore for high-tech park to give the mode of transportation of a boost. l

ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wajed Joy inaugurates the apps unveiling programme in ICT Division auditorium in the city yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

26.528

30.533.2 33.5

FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16

TREND OF EXPORT TARGETS (US$BN)

Export target set at $33.5bn for FY2015-16n Tribune Report

The government has set the current � scal year export target at $33.5bn with a 7.83% growth, taking the global economic situation and do-mestic issues into an account.

In the just-concluded � scal year, Bang-ladesh earned $31.19bn, posting a 3.35% growth, the lowest in last 13 years. It set the export target at $33.20bn last year.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yester-day made the announcement at a meeting with the stakeholders at Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in the city yesterday.

Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon was present at the meeting.

“The export target of $33.5bn for the FY2015-16 will be ful� lled as the government set a pragmatic target, considering global eco-nomic scenario and domestic issues,” Tofail said.

He added that the government will provide cash incentives and policy support for phar-maceuticals, ship building, leather, jute and furniture sectors to reach the export target.

The country’s exporters had been able to

register positive export growth in last � scal year amid destructive political programmes, said the minister.

The export earnings could exceed the tar-get if there was no political unrest and deval-

uation of foreign exchange rate in the global market, he added.

The dream of earning $50bn through ex-port by 2021 will come true as the government has put emphasis on product and market di-

versi� cation in its sixth � fth-year plan, Tofail hoped.

The export target has been set based on month-wise export earnings of last � scal year, said EPB Vice-Chairman Shubhashish Bose.

“In setting the target, we took into account the post-recession recovery in the US econ-omy, falling commodity prices on the global market, slow recovery of EU economy, deval-uation of Euro and Ruble against US dollar and also relocation of tanneries,” he said.

In FY2015-16, the government has set the target to earn $13.26bn from knitwear prod-ucts, which is 6.75% higher than $12.42bn of the previous � scal year while it planned to fetch $14.10bn with a nearly 8% growth by exporting woven products.

The government has set the export target of leather and leather products at $1.21bn with a growth of 7.28% and agricultural prod-ucts at $595mn with 1.53% growth.

The earning target from jute and jute goods has been set at $947mn with a 9% growth.

The government also plans to earn $578mn from frozen food sector and $521mn from en-gineering products. l

21D

TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015T

-JUN

CT

ION

22school survivalDangerously schooled

23beautyMane-tenance

24healthAllergies: the very basics

INSIDE

Gearing up for gorgeousPhoto: Bigstock

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Dangerously schooled

T-JUNCTION Schoologistics22DT

school survival

n Rad Sharar Bin Kamal

No there isn’t a class on the following, but an indirect assumption which is eventually nailed, subconsciously, after prolonged exposure on it. 12 years to be exact. At times, the conventional paths are imposed on children and teenagers in such a way, that they forget to be creative with their lives. Here are a few mindset shaping assumptions made by children at school, which may change how they perceive the world entirely.

1. The answers are held by the people in chargeThe teachers know all the answers to all our questions, and that is why they are teachers. To a child used to relatively less interactive classes, this menial thought may turn into subliminal submission to any superior in charge, for you know, they know best.

2. When class is over, the learning is tooClass is torture and when the bell rings, it’s absolute bliss. Reading story books and studying where each country is on the map is useless and “uncool.” We would rather just watch TV or surf YouTube. This eventually lowers the urge to learn.

3. Those who are the best are those who follow the rulesThe class monitor or prefect is set as the best example, because they abide by the rules. Accordingly, you shall be rewarded if you comply by the rules of your deemed superiors, who of course, make their own rules. Subordination keeps you out of trouble. Ponder on how that thought process may create an impact.

4. Books are always trueTo put this simply, playing by the book has its limits. Theory only comes into play for an understanding of the world, but practice and

Things taught in school which cannot be untaught

implementation makes all that knowledge into something solid. Moreover, creativity is given little chance to explore once this belief starts to kick in.

5. The way to be successful is crystal clearStudy hard. That part’s eternal. Get good grades. Yes, that helps. Only then you’ll get a good job and be successful? Not necessarily. If you have never been among the genius group who can solve senior advanced algebra problems, you were probably led to believe that you will never be successful. That, is completely untrue.

6. Behaving right is as vital as getting an AQuestioning the rules and the status quo, and thinking freely are not allowed. You must

stay quiet and get back in line. If you don’t, refer to point number 5.

7. Same, standard tests to calculate valueIn this case, value is referred to as strictly the earning potential, as made to believe by numerous parents and teachers. Is that the only value to calculate?

8. Staying out of school is more fun than staying inFrom a very young age, children develop the idea that life is more fun outside school than in. For many of us, that is not the case, yet we force the mindset as it is, habitually acceptable. Otherwise, you might be questioned about the existence of a “life” where you love to go to school. l

Photos: Bigstock

Tempt T-JUNCTION 23D

T

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Mane-tenance

Cats Eye launches new “Cats Eye Kids” line

beauty

The five commandments of hair care

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

You can cut, colour and style your hair all you want, but ultimately, the secret to luscious locks lies in having good hair habits. Here are the � ve absolutes.

Thou shalt drink a lot of waterThis one isn’t just limited to great hair; being properly hydrated is essential to good health overall. So drink up, and watch your hair shine with life.

Thou shalt eat nutritious foodThis is also a no-brainer. Great hair is nourished from within. Fish oil, leafy veggies, yoghurt, iron-enriched cereals, and lean meat are some hair-friendly foods you should be including in your diet.

Thou shalt wash your hair with cool waterHot water can strip your hair of essential moisture, making it dull and brittle. When showering, opt for cool (but not cold)

water. Your locks and your scalp will both be grateful.

Thou shalt use hair serumBy acting as saran wrap for your hair, hair serum protects your mane from UV rays, pollution, and humidity, all three of which are part and parcel of a busy city lifestyle, so invest in a good one. Apply to damp hair, avoiding the scalp, let dry, and comb out.

Thou shalt say yes to leave-in conditionerLeave-in conditioners are designed to boost whatever conditioning your hair has already received. Depending on many factors, when you rinse out your regular conditioner after washing your hair, and more so when you’re using a 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, you may lose some elasticity. Using a leave in conditioner will help your hair hold on to the bounce. Given the dust and grit of the city, it doesn’t hurt to build in some moisture as well. l

The new label by Cats Eye is directed towards creating festive casual and formal out� ts for the little ones of the family. The summer collection boasts a variety of fabrics and designs to battle the summer heat, exactly what parents are looking for their children during this season. Apart from trendy summer wear, the line also o� ers traditional out� ts to make the kids look adorable in various festivities. Skirts, tops, frocks and tunics, along with shirts, pants and gowns are also o� ered in eight showrooms of Cat’s Eye in both Dhaka and Chittagong. They can also be purchased online at www.catseye.com.bd l

news

Photo: Bigstock

Photos: Cats Eye

T-JUNCTION Take Care24DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

health health

What, why and how to avoid Time doesn’t heal everything

Allergies: the very basics Heal heelsn Adila Hoque

During spring and fall, pollen become airborne and can cause sneezing, a runny nose, and itchiness in your throat, skin and eyes. Now, even though many of us are familiar with the concept of hay fever, we don’t really know how it’s incurred. Hay fever is nothing but a seasonal allergy, and allergies are of several types caused by a myriad of allergens that include pollen, dust, medication, food (peanut, milk, shell� sh, kiwi, prawn, etc.) insect bites, and even pets.

Symptoms usually include sneezing, itchiness, rash, hives, runny nose, sore

throat, tightness in the chest, and swelling of the tongue, lips, etc.

Sometimes we think we might be allergic to a speci� c food, when it might not be the case. If we misdiagnose, we could end up cutting out a very important type of nutrient from our diet, and that only has negative e� ects on our bodies. Make sure to see a doctor before you assume that you’re allergic to something. Keep an account of what you eat, the extremity of your symptoms, and the length of time for which the symptoms persist after eating certain food.

Many a time we don’t take allergies seriously, when in fact it could act as a stepping stone to a greater health crisis. After you’ve consulted a physician to make sure you’re allergic to something, try to avoid it as much as possible. If it’s an essential part of your diet, gradually bring it back to your diet with time with help from a nutritionist. Read the label on store-bought soup and sauces to make sure they don’t consist of the allergen. Have your pillow cases and bed

sheets changed regularly, and wash your hair before bed. Change the � lters in your air-conditioner as often as you can.

In spite of your e� orts, sometimes you just catch an allergy, and if you’ve ever caught one, you probably know just how irritating it gets. Fortunately, there are some over-the-counter � xes for pacifying those symptoms.

Eye drops Eye drops e� ectively take care of itching and swelling of your eyes. Use arti� cial tears to � ush out allergens.Steroid nasal sprays

Sprays are usually the � rst choice to treat allergic rhinitis, but if your allergies leave your nose feeling dry, try the saline sprays.

Antihistamine pills These work like a charm when it comes to treating allergies. They take care of itchy watery eyes, runny noses, and sneezing almost instantaneously. They provide powerful relief from these symptoms by blocking a substance called histamine which is produced in the body in response to the allergens present in the body. Check with your pharmacist for dosage instructions, and know that some of the recent ones actually cause more drowsiness than the older ones.

Skin creamsFor topical allergic reactions, keep a small tube of hydrocortisone and moisturiser in your bag at all times. The moisturiser will soothe the dryness on your skin while the hydrocortisone cream will ease the in� ammation.l

n Farhana Shahnaz

20% Eid discount. This must be your lucky day! For one, your cheapskate boyfriend � nally decided to take you shopping this Eid. Two, there’s a discount at your favorite shoe outlet. Oh joy! You gallop towards the store but skitter away a moment later after a grim realisation- you don’t want your boyfriend to see the wound you have been keeping concealed from him till this day, tucked away in a dark corner. It’s not the heartbreak from your previous relationships that you never told him about. It’s something worse- your cracked heels. Yeah, time doesn’t heel everything and this estrangement from a gorgeous pair of shoes will haunt you forever, every step of the way, literally. All melodrama aside, read ahead for gorgeous smooth heels.

The sure-� re way of healing those ghastly heels is a good ol’ soak.

Wash your feet Soak them in some soapy lukewarm water. You can add salt or lime juice to naturally loosen the dead skins. Don’t use very hot water as that can cause your feet to dry out.

Scrape away dead skin using a pumice stone and a brush and wash your feet afterward. You can also trim and bu� er your nails while you are at it.Apply olive oil or foot cream liberally on your soles and heels and massage gently.Put on a pair of clean socks and leave them overnight. Your heels should feel noticeably softer the next day. Repeat this for a few days and breakup with cracked heels forever.

Liven up your heels with all natural remedies, a much more e� ective way to spruce up your life:

Glycerin and RosewaterGlycerin and rosewater are a match made in beauty heaven. Glycerin is a quintessential

moisturiser and coupled with rosewater, the duo will give you smooth feet instantly. Add the mixture to your hot water soak or you can make a thick paste of glycerin and rosewater and apply to your feet directly and leave overnight. Whichever method you follow, you are guaranteed to get supple feet! As an added bonus, the rosewater will make your feet smell fresh because what’s worse than a cracked heel is smelly feet.

LemonWhen life gives you lemon, don’t make lemonade. Instead apply some of them to your feet! We are not kidding. Lemon is an excellent exfoliator and bleaching agent, which is not surprising as it is the key ingredient in most face-washes. The acetic acid in lemon helps slough o� dead skin and soften heels. Cut a fresh lemon in half and massage your feet, squeezing the lemon as you go to release the juices. Follow by a coat of moisturiser. You can also mix it with some petroleum jelly and slather all over your feet. To take the moisture quotient a notch higher, make a paste with some mashed papaya and apply. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and discover the magic!

Rice � our scrubFor more stubborn and deeper cracks you will need to amp up your artillery. A rice � our scrub should do the job for you. Mix coarse rice � our powder with honey and apple cider vinegar to make a thick paste. You can add olive oil or almond oil to the mixture for more critical crack condition. Apply the mixture to your feet after the soak and scrub gently. This scrub works so well you will never want to go back to your cosmetic scrub again.

Milk and HoneyWho doesn’t know about the wonders of milk and honey? The natural antibacterial properties of honey packed with their combined moisturising prowess will heal heels as rough as the back of a hedgehog. Mix honey and milk in a 1:2 ratio and soak your feet. Gently massage your feet to loosen and remove dead skin. For best results follow the procedure at night before you go to sleep. If you haven’t had a proper shut eye for a few days, drink a glass of milk with a teaspoon of honey. Milk’s sedative properties will lull you in no time as well as those cracks in your feet. A lifesaver, isn’t it? l

Photo: Bigstock

25D

TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

DILSHAN COMPLETES 10,000 ODI RUNS

THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA

26 2927

Real Madrid turned down a sensational £85m Paris Saint-

Germain bid for Cristiano Ronaldo, according to the lead story in

Spanish newspaper AS

BID REJECTED

SportONE BAD EGG SPOILS THE WHOLE BASKET

Mohammedan Sporting Club’s Cameroonian mid� elder Belinga Amabara (35) in action during their Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League match against Feni Soccer Club at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday BFF

Tigers, Proteas arrive in Dhakan Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh and South Africa arrived in Dhaka yesterday afternoon ahead of the second and � nal Test at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, slated to get underway this Thursday. The teams touched down in the capital city fol-lowing a disappointing conclusion to the � rst Test in Chittagong which was marred by rain.

The players of both the sides departed straight for their hotel from the airport as there was no training scheduled for yester-day. Both the hosts and the tourists will begin training today.

Even though the Chittagong Test ended in a draw due to persistent rainfall, it turned out to be an eventful outing for the Tigers. The home side displayed some brilliant cricket to skittle out the visitors for 248, the Proteas’ second lowest total against the Tigers. In reply, the Ti-gers managed a 78-run lead, the � rst instance in a Bangladesh-South Africa Test match.

Pace sensation Musta� zur Rahman im-pressed yet again with his control and o� -cut-ters on way to a four-wicket haul on debut. He became the only cricketer in the history of � ve-day cricket to bag the man-of-the-match award on both ODI and Test debut.

Although the batting performance was not fully up to the mark, still, the home side were able to take a substantial lead, courtesy � ghting half-centuries from Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and youngster Liton Kumar Das.

The series-decider however, is once again expected to be interrupted by rain as weather forecasts suggest showers throughout the � ve days of the Test match. l

MSC, Sk Russel graft hard for 2-1 winsn Shishir Hoque

A late header by Ismael Bangoura helped Moham-medan Sporting Club to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Feni Soccer Club in the Manyavar Bangladesh

Premier League at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra on the oth-er hand returned to winning ways with the same margin of victory against Team BJMC in the second match of the day at the same ven-ue, thanks to second-half strikes by foreign forwards Jean Jules Ikanga and Damir Ibric.

An early goal by Cameroonian mid� elder Be-linga Amabara put the Black and Whites ahead before substitute forward Sohel Miah cancelled

out the lead in the early minutes of the second half but Guinean striker Bangoura netted the winner in the dying stages of the game.

Mohammedan, who remain at second place, closed the gap with league leaders Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to eight points and now have 34 points from 17 outings while Feni stayed seventh with 15 points from the same number of matches.

It took the Black and Whites only 11 min-utes to open their scoring when Belinga bagged his � rst goal in the top-� ight this sea-son. Feni keeper Ahsan Habib Bipu blocked a powerful Bangoura shot and Belinga made no mistake poking home on the rebound.

Sohel came o� the bench to equalise the margin six minutes into the second half. The young forward chipped the ball over Moham-medan goalkeeper Ashraful Haq Rana to � nd

the back of the net following a corner from Gambian mid� elder Jatta Mustapha. It was Sohel’s third goal in as many games.

Feni were then reduced to 10 men in the 82nd minute when mid� elder Sharan Haw-lader received his marching orders.

Bangoura scored his 15th top-tier goal this season to seal the victory in the 84th minute, heading home a Jewel Rana cross from the right-� ank.

Meanwhile, after losing against Abahani and Sheikh Jamal in the last two matches having conceded a total of nine goals, Sheikh Russel had to wait more than an hour to open the scor-ing against a struggling Team BJMC yesterday.

Ikanga rescued Sheikh Russel by taking the lead from the spot in the 71st minute after BJMC keeper Himel fouled Russel’s Nigerian striker Kingsley Chigozie inside the box.

Ibric scored a fantastic goal four minutes later, curling home a powerful strike from the left corner of the box.

Substitute forward Mehedi Hasan Tapu re-duced the margin in the 85th minute, smash-ing home from the edge of the six-yard box after being set up by Jibon. Sheikh Russel climbed to third place with 32 points from 16 matches, one more than Abahani, while Team BJMC remained at ninth with only 12 points. l

Mohammedan 2-1 Feni Soccer ClubBelinga Amabara 11 Sohel Miah 51Ismael Bangoura 84

Sheikh Russel 2-1 Team BJMCJean Jules Ikanga – 71 (P) Mehedi Hasan Tapu 85Damir Ibric 75

Sport26DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

One bad egg spoils the whole basket

n Rashad Banna

Not a single person were sitting. Just about everyone present at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium stood up in unison when Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar recorded his 100th international hundred, against Bangla-desh on March 16 in the 2012 Asia Cup. The 25,000-strong Mirpur crowd clapped away for several minutes to show their apprecia-tion for one of India’s greatest sons. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful sights in the gentleman’s game of cricket: the home crowd acknowledging any feat by an opposi-tion player.

But not every sports fan exudes respect. There will always be rowdy personalities like Richard Barklie, Josh Parsons, Jordan Munday and William Simpson. This quartet, fans of English Premier League champions Chelsea, racially abused Souleymane Sylla, a French citizen of African origin, at a train station in Paris and denied him from travel-ling in the Metro. The incident took place last February when French champions Paris Saint Germain were scheduled to entertain Chel-sea in the Round of 16 of the Uefa Champions League and the quartet were duly punished later by a district judge for their act of racism and unruly behaviour.

While the Bangladesh cricket fans are fa-mous worldwide for their hospitality, there will always be people like Barklie and Par-sons, whose actions damage the reputation of the majority. The majority of the Bangladesh fans are a cricket-loving people with a lot of emotions. In a politically-divided country, cricket is the only thing that unites the whole nation. The sport brings all the people togeth-er and helps breed sportsmanship, not only among the cricketers, but also the fans.

However, without the bad there would be no good and there has been a few disorder-ly spectators along the way who were almost successful in blemishing Bangladesh’s repute as charitable hosts.

Here, we take a look-back at � ve infamous occurrences that nearly left indelible marks on Bangladesh cricket (most recent � rst):

Steyn abused (Bangladesh v SA, 1st Test, Chittagong, 2015)South Africa tearaway Dale Steyn incurred the wrath of the Bangladesh fans when he said a few months ago that he was eyeing some rest

against the Tigers in the ongoing series in order to prolong his career. This did not go down well with the Bangladesh cricket faith-ful and possibly why two young kids hurled expletives at the fast bowler during the � rst of two Test matches at Zahur Ahmed Chow-dhury Stadium. A pebble was also thrown towards his direction while one of his black team mates was the victim of racial abuse. No action was taken due to the relatively young age of the spectators.

Shishir harassed, Shakib retaliates (Bangladesh v India, 1st ODI, Mirpur, 2014)Rahid, son of businessman Bazlur Rahman, and his disrespectful friends bore the brunt

of Shakib al Hasan’s anger when they pes-tered the maverick all-rounder’s wife, Umme Ahmed Shishir, during the three-ODI series against India last year in June. Shakib, a bit of a hot-head himself, not only returned the favour but it was alleged that he, alongside some sta� of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, beat up Rahid and his mates. The matter was later settled with the intervention of BCB president Nazmul Hassan.

West Indian team bus stoned (Bangladesh v WI, 2011 ICC World Cup, Mirpur)The Bangladesh fans were distraught after witnessing their beloved team capitulate to 58-allout against the West Indies in the 2011

ICC World Cup. Some lawless spectators how-ever, took one step too far when they mistak-enly pelted the West Indian team bus with stones, thinking it was the Bangladesh one. When the demand of the time was construc-tive criticism, some fans instead resorted to anarchic behaviour. The Windies were un-scathed but Chris Gayle was a bit apprehen-sive as he tweeted his worries inside the bus right after the incident.

Bottles thrown during Zimbabwe ODI (Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, 1st ODI, Mirpur, 2009)Upon realising that Bangladesh were losing against Zimbabwe in the � rst of � ve ODIs in Mirpur six years ago, some undisciplined fans took the matter in their own hands. Just when Zimbabwe were coasting towards a facile win, the fans intervened with their act, throwing countless bottles on the � eld, hoping to disrupt the match. Thankfully, no one was injured and cricket’s regulatory body in the country duly beefed up their security measures.

‘Rubbish’ Ashraful (Practice session in Mirpur, March, 2008)Mohammad Ashraful had a poor ODI series at home against South Africa in 2008, scor-ing only 17 runs in three matches, and one particular fan did not take it kindly. During a practice session a few days after the South Africa ODIs, a spectator, standing on the side-lines, called Ashraful “rubbish” along with a few other slang expressions. Then the post-er boy of Bangladesh cricket, Ashraful could not control his temper and slapped the fan then and there. Ashraful was � ned 25 percent of his salary for that month and had to later apologise for the incident. l

Frustrated fans empty the stands after Bangladesh su� ered a humiliating nine-wicket defeat against West Indies in the 2011 World Cup in Dhaka INTERNET

Often for a minor irresponsible group of supporters, the passionate cricket lovers come under the scanner

Sport 27D

T

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Masud’s � rst death anniversary todayToday is the � rst death anniversary of former Bangladesh paceman Ziaul Islam Masud. Masud played for the national team in the inaugural ICC Trophy in 1979 and was also a member of the triumphant Bangladesh team in the 1988 South Asian Cricket Championship. A fearsome fast bowler in his heydays, Masud featured for Dhaka Wanderers, Mohammedan and Azad Boys’ Club. A milad mah� l has been arranged at his residence in Pabna and the family mem-bers of the deceased have requested all the well-wishers to pray for his departed soul.

–TRIBUNE DESK

Int’l physically challenged cricket tournament in SeptBangladesh will be hosting a � ve-nation cricket tournament for the physically challenged cricketers from September 2-10. Under the supervision of the Bangladesh Cricket Board the International Committee of the Red Cross Dhaka are arranging the tournament for the � rst time. Apart from the hosts, England, Paki-stan, Afghanistan and India will participate in the event. The 16-team ICC Under-19 World Cup will also be hosted in Bangladesh on February next year. A meeting was held at the inter-min-istry for youth and sports under the secretariat Noor Mohammad yesterday where the security along with other arrangements were discussed.

–TRIBUNE DESK

City yet to bid De BruyneWolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking says his club have yet to receive a formal o� er from Manchester City for Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne. De Bruyne starred as Wolfsburg � nished second in the Bundesliga and won the German Cup last season.

–AFP

Di Maria set for PSG moveThe stage appeared to be set Sunday for Man-chester United mid� elder Angel Di Maria to join Paris Saint Germain after spending just the one season at Old Tra� ord. The future of unsettled Argentine star was thrown into further doubt af-ter it emerged that he had failed to join up with the club’s US tour as scheduled in California.

–AFP

Pakistan put series on holdPakistan and Zimbabwe have decided to put on hold their limited-overs series that was to be played from August 17 to September 17 in Zimbabwe. Although no de� nite reason has been identi� ed for the postponement of the series, a likely one is that Pakistan did not want to jeopardise their quali� cation for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

–CRICINFO

Sting when you’re winning A swarm of bees attacked an English pre-sea-son football friendly on Saturday, with a bee-keeper having to be called to clear the hive. The incident happened at Oldham’s ground in north-west England where the home side were to face Blackburn Rovers with photographs showing the bees had built a hive around the goalposts at one end. –AFP

QUICK BYTES The dawn of a new eran Tahrima Huq

Doubtlessly, the Tigers are now a force to be reckoned with. But when did Bangladesh sud-denly become so dominant? How does a team go from losing to Afghanistan and Hong Kong to making an appearance in the 2015 ICC World Cup quarter-� nals and qualifying for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy?

Many would, of course, cite the split of cap-taincy as the major reason. Mashrafe bin Mor-taza has brought unprecedented success for the team in the ODI format. But that is not to say the uphill journey began only after he took charge. In fact, the “hunger for victory” was brought into the spotlight long ago.

Be it the victory against England in the 2011 ICC World Cup or the one against the West In-dies in the lone Twenty20 international in the same year, it was always apparent that Bang-ladesh were capable of bringing pride to their loyal legion of fans.

However, the fact was that such wins were always rare, and that is exactly what has changed recently.

The most amazing, and perhaps most unex-pected, milestone was reaching the 2012 Asia Cup � nal under Mush� qur Rahim’s leadership, and almost winning it. The message was clear: Bangladesh were underdogs no longer. As though to cement this message, an emphatic 3-2 series win against the West Indies, whitewash-ing New Zealand for the second time and draw-ing a series against Sri Lanka followed, which were all achievements in their own rights.

But the winning habit that the team had seemed to get into gradually faded, starting with a series defeat against Zimbabwe in 2013 and the disastrous losing streak in 2014. It was a depress-ing and devastating period for the Tigers.

But then, the comeback period started once Mashrafe took over. One of the biggest advan-tages that the current team enjoy is a stable head coach - this position had changed three times between 2011 and 2014, shifting from Stuart Law to Richard Pybus to Shane Jur-gensen. After Law stepped down right after the end of the Asia Cup, Tamim Iqbal had perhaps spoken aloud what everyone was thinking - “Every time we do something good, something bad happens to us.” The fact that the team does not need to keep readjusting to new coaches

now that they have found a coach who not only seems to be perfect, but also long-term, in Chandika Hathurusingha is a huge advantage. Not only does he understand the sub-conti-nental conditions, he also seems to understand each player on the side.

Furthermore, Mashrafe has introduced what is hailed as a “fearless” brand of cricket. This aggressive approach has so far proven to be quite invincible. His � eld settings and changes in bowling attack all work like magic. A huge setback used to be the lack of perma-nence in the team line-up itself - the selec-tors struggled to � nd an opening partner for Tamim, going through a number of opening pairs in a short time, ranging from Imrul Kayes to Jahurul Islam to Shamsur Rahman to Na-zimuddin, before settling on Anamul Haque. As if that was not bad enough, the team then suddenly lost Mohammad Ashraful, an asset in the line-up. As a result, the top-order never seemed to click. However, all that has changed. With Anamul and Soumya Sarkar becoming sensational rising stars in world cricket, and Imrul and Mominul Haque to rely upon in Test matches, the top-order simply sparkles.

Most of all, it is the mindset of the players that has made the biggest di� erence. Both the bats-men and the bowlers seem to have a clear un-derstanding of their role in the team. There was a time when the Tigers used to rely heavily on two or three individual players - if for instance, Shakib al Hasan or Tamim did not have a good day on the � eld, it used to follow that the whole team would simply crumble. But those days are long gone, as the team have used its past failures as a learning curve. They have learnt the art of teamwork, as opposed to su� ering from a dom-ino-e� ect every time they lost a wicket, or de-pending on only one or two bowlers to take the majority of the wickets. As each player knows what work is cut out for them, they � t together to work like a well-oiled machine.

Batting-wise, the Tigers seem to have be-come more responsible. Players like Tamim who were well-known for playing rash shots at the wrong moments, are � nding the balance

between aggression and control. When even openers make an e� ort to stay on till the end of the innings, it is quite obvious that the team have matured. More experienced players like Tamim, Shakib, Mush� q and Mahmudullah have been shouldering the responsibility that is expected of them, lessening the pressure on newcomers and youngsters like Soumya, Musta� zur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and even Nasir Hossain, thus allowing them to explore their potential and thrive.

Other than that, the lack of consistent pacers used to be quite alarming. The likes of Nazmul Hossain, Robiul Islam, Sha� ul Islam, Al Amin Hossain, Abul Hasan and even Rubel Hossain all came and went as they were each attacked by injuries. But with Mashrafe returning to the side, Rubel gradually becoming a threat for any batsman and Taskin and Musta� z coming into the spotlight, pace has suddenly become our strong suite.

Mohammad Shahid’s e� orts in the Test are-na are also praiseworthy. Fast bowling coach Heath Streak’s intention of reducing depend-ency on spin and preparing fresh talent for the national team has clearly been realised. Once again, teamwork has proven to be the key. In-stead of looking only to spinners, or to one par-ticular bowler, the burden of both taking wick-ets and reducing run-rates has been beautifully shared among them. This clearly reduces the stress on bowlers and gives the team more op-tions to rely on instead of having a single player bowl around 33 overs in one match, as was the case against Zimbabwe in 2013.

Even in the Test arena, Bangladesh now have seven wins, compared to three in 2011. The Tigers faced a real chance, though it was washed out by the rain, of defeating the Pro-teas in a Test match - a feat which was unthink-able only last year. And of course, the giant leaps made by the Tigers in the ODI format cannot be overstated.

Not only has the team’s con� dence been boosted, but they have also gained enough momentum to thrive upon for a long time to come. However, it is every fan’s sincerest hope that that this generation of cricketers do not be-come complacent, because if this set of players continue to play the level of cricket they have been delivering recently, the Tigers can surely roar even louder in the foreseeable future. l

Sport28DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

CONCACAF QUALIFYING DRAWGroup AMexico, Honduras, winner of Curacao v El Salva-dor, winner of Canada v BelizeGroup BCosta Rica, Panama, winner of Grenada v Haiti, winner of Jamaica v NicaraguaGroup C United States, Trinidad-Tobago, winner of St Vincent and Grenadines v Aruba, winner of Anti-gua-Barbuda v GuatemalaThe top two from each group go into the � fth round qualifying group from November 2016 to October 2017. The top three from the group qualify for the � nals, the fourth team goes into a playo� with Asian opponent.

OCEANIA QUALIFYING DRAWAmerican Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga contest a group stage with winners only progress-ing to second round.Group stageGroup AWinner of 1st rd, Papua New Guinea, New Cale-donia, TahitiGroup BNew Zealand, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon IslandsTop three from each group progress to third round and drawn into two groups of three. The top two in each group then play each other in two-legged tie with the winner then involved in a play-o� with an opponent from another conti-nent. The winner of that quali� es for the � nals.

EUROPE QUALIFYING DRAWGroup ANetherlands, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus, LuxembourgGroup BPortugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Faroe Islands, Latvia, AndorraGroup CGermany, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan, San MarinoGroup DWales, Austria, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Moldova, Georgia

Group ERomania, Denmark, Poland, Montenegro, Armenia, KazakhstanGroup FEngland, Slovakia, Scot-land, Malta, Lithuania, SloveniaGroup GSpain, Italy, Albania, Israel, Macedonia, LiechtensteinGroup HBelgium, Bosnia-Herce-govina, Greece, Estonia, CyprusGroup ICroatia, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland

SOUTH AMERICA QUALIFYING FOR 2018 WC

South America � nal qualifying group(teams play others in group home and away between October 2015 and October 2016)Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, UruguayOpening gamesChile v Brazil, Bolivia v Uruguay, Argentina v Ecuador, Colombia v Peru, Venezuela v Paraguay

Blatter tells Putin Fifa supports World Cup in Russian Reuters, St Petersburg

FIFA has passed a resolution o� ering full sup-port for holding the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FIFA President Blatter said on Saturday at a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

“I would like to inform you that the exec-utive committee has recently adopted a new resolution in which FIFA assures the Russian Federation of its full support in carrying out the World Cup in Russia in 2018,” Blatter said at the meeting in St Petersburg ahead of the preliminary draw.

Blatter announced that he was quitting in June after a major bribery scandal being inves-tigated by U.S., Swiss and other law enforce-ment agencies that plunged soccer’s governing body into the worst crisis in its 111-year histo-ry. The scandal has cast a cloud over the forth-coming World Cups in Russia and Qatar, but Russian o� cials have dismissed any sugges-

tion Russia could be stripped of the contest.Putin alluded to the crisis at FIFA but his

comments were relatively cautious compared with his previous staunch defence of Blatter and his organisation.

“We see what is happening around foot-ball, but I know how you regard this and we are grateful that you are concentrating your attention primarily on sport,” Putin said.

In May, when the scandal broke, Putin harshly criticised the U.S. investigation into FIFA as meddling in matters that were out-side its jurisdiction.

On Saturday Putin also pledged to host a World Cup where both domestic and foreign players and fans would feel at home, promising “a grandiose international sporting festival”.

An economic crisis in Russia has forced cut-backs in World Cup preparations, but Pu-tin said this will not a� ect Russia’s ability to host the championship. l

South America the toughest group: Pekermann Reuters, St Petersburg

South America is still the most di� cult continent to qualify for the World Cup from, Colombia coach Jose Pekerman said after draw on Saturday.

Teams face long journeys and must play in heat, cold and high altitude during the marathon 18-match, two-year campaign but Pekerman said it was also the quality of the opposition which made qualifying from South America such a challenge.

“It’s always been (the most di� cult) and now, it’s even more so,” he told Reuters.

“If you analyse the last World Cup, six out of the 10 South American teams were present, � ve of them got into the last 16 and four of them knocked each other out

when any of those could have reached the � nal,” he said.

Pekerman, who led his side to the quarter-� nals in 2014, added that traditionally moderate teams like Ecuador, Paraguay and

Venezuela had improved signi� cantly.Saturday’s draw, while not sorting the

teams into groups, established the order of matches and landed crisis-torn Brazil with a tough start at Copa America champions Chile.

Argentina will host Ecuador while Uruguay must travel to La Paz to face Bolivia at 3,600 metres above sea level.

Brazil will always be missing Neymar as he completes a four-match suspension imposed at the Copa America.

“It’s always nice at the draw, the problems start when you start playing,” Brazil coach Dunga told reporters.

“Neymar will be us for the rest of the quali� ers, so we have to think about the whole competition and not just the � rst two games. l

FIFA President Sepp Blatter shakes hands with Russia President Vladimir Putin (R) during the preliminary draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday REUTERS

REACTION TO THE DRAWGERMANY“An interesting group with good opponents. We are naturally satis� ed with the draw,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew.

“I’m happy that we are not playing against Italy and France. We can be satis� ed about that,” said Germany team manager Oliver Bierho� WALES“We’re looking forward to it. Some good teams in there. It’s never easy going to places like Moldova and Georgia and we know about the quality of Austria, Republic of Ireland and Ser-bia,” Wales coach Chris Coleman told the BBC.

“But we’ve really improved in the last three years. We fancy ourselves against anyone. You look at other groups - it could have been easier or tougher. There’s a lot of football to go in the Euro 2016 quali� ers before this.IRELAND“Wales are going very well in the European Championship (quali� ers); they’re almost already there and it’s obviously; I think them having jumped from � fth seeds I think to � rst seeds I think they’ll be pretty pleased,” said Ireland manager Martin O’Neill.

“But, you know, we’ve got a chance. We know the Welsh players inside out and Austria are going strongly themselves but it’s a group I think a lot of teams would be pleased to be in, including Wales and Austria.”SCOTLAND“Its a draw that has made a lot of people hap-py.” said Scotland coach Gordon Strachan.

“The coaching sta� are happy because we’ve got a lot of teams we haven’t faced recently. And for the fans there are a lot of delirious fans here and you can see why because it is a fantas-tic � xture and I think the whole of Scotland and England will be looking forward to it.”ENGLAND“I’m pleased to come away with a good group and if England want me to lead the team I will be delighted to do so. If we can come through Euro 2016 without too many tears being shed I believe we have a good chance of qualifying for 2018,” England manager Roy Hodgson said on BBC radio.

“It is positive, so many other groups would have been more problematic, not least for fans travelling, some are not such easy countries to get to, but we’ve been drawn not only nice places but easy to get to as well.”ITALY“Facing an opponent as good as Spain should be great motivation for the national team and for the whole of Italian football,” said Italy coach Antonio Conte.

“Honestly, as long as Italy is there I’m happy,” former Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro told FIFA.com. “For us it is very important to be a part of this competition and we will do what-ever it takes to be there. All the rest counts for very little.”BELGIUM“My reaction is that we avoid Italy and France,” said Belgium coach Marc Wilmots.

“We also avoided Serbia in pot 3 that for me is a very strong team. We are in a group of � ve so it is going to stretch the calendar and on the top of that there are two teams that we know and we are playing against at the moment which are Bosnia an Cyprus. I think we are in the role of favourites and we are going to assume that.” l

Sport 29D

T

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Star Sports 28:20 PMPro Kabaddi League Delhi v Bengaluru 9:30 PMJaipur v Hyderabad Star Sports 45:20 AMInternational Champions Cup NY Red Bulls v S.L.Ben� ca5:50 PMInter Milan v Real Madrid Ten HD3:30 PMATP World Tour 500 Bet At Home Day 1

DAY’S WATCH

Wayne Rooney (2L) of Manchester United gets caught in coverage against Adriano (L) of FC Barcelona in the � rst half during their International Champions Cup at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Saturday AFP

Courtois shines as Chelsea top PSG in penaltiesn AFP, Charlotte

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made the di� erence Saturday, making two shoot-out saves and � ring home the winner as the Blues downed Paris Saint Germain on pen-alties in an International Champions Cup friendly.

Ninety minutes of action saw the teams lev-el at 1-1 after a goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the � rst half and Victor Moses in the second.

Courtois saved the day for the Premier League champions, denying spot-kicks from Jean-Christophe Bahebeck and Thiago Silva before blasting the winner into the top cor-ner for the 6-5 shoot-out triumph against the French champions.

The match between two clubs that clashed in the late stages of the Champions League the past two seasons got o� to a tense start before a crowd of 61,224 at Bank of America Stadium - home of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.l

Lingard, Januzaj on target against Barcelona n Reuters

Manchester United kept up the positive mo-mentum of their pre-season tour with a 3-1

victory over Barcelona in the International Champions Cup on Saturday in Santa Clara, California.

Wayne Rooney put the English club on top

early by heading home a goal in the 10th min-ute before Jesse Lingard and Adnan Januzaj each added second-half goals.

Barcelona, playing without standouts Li-onel Messi and Neymar, along with Claudio Bravo, Javier Mascherano and Dani Alves, made it an exciting match but failed to cash in on a few prime scoring chances.

Luis Suarez twice hit the post on � rst-half shots for Barcelona and had another goal overturned by an o� side call in the second half. Barcelona struck back in the 89th min-ute with a goal by Ra� nha, but United an-swered with their third moments later, cour-tesy of Jacuzzi.l

Ruthless Arsenal hit Lyon for sixn Reuters, London

Arsenal thrashed Olympique Lyonnais 6-0 as they continued preparations for the new Premier League season with a stylish demo-lition of their French opponents in the Emir-ates Cup on Saturday. Olivier Giroud, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex Iwobi and Aaron Ramsey scored within a nine-minute spell in the � rst half before Mesut Ozil and Santi Ca-zorla netted after the break.l

RESULTBarcelona 1-3 Manchester UnitedRa� nha 90 Rooney 7, Lingard 65, Januzaj 90

Dilshan reaches landmarkn AFP, Hambantota

Tillakaratne Dilshan Sunday became the 11th batsman and the fourth Sri Lankan to compile 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, achieving the feat against Pakistan in Hambantota.

The � amboyant 38-year-old reached the landmark in his 319th match when he took a single o� Shoaib Malik to move to 55, before being run out on 62.

Dilshan now has 10,007 runs, joining com-patriots Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuri-ya and Mahela Jayawardene in a coveted list headed by Indian great Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 18,426 ODI runs.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka piled up their high-est one-day total against Pakistan of 368-4 af-ter electing to bat in the � fth and � nal match in Hambantota on Sunday.l

THE 10,000-RUN CLUB IN ONE-DAY CRICKET

Name (country) Matches Runs CenturiesTendulkar (IND) 463 18,426 49Sangakkara (SRI) 404 14,234 25Ponting (AUS) 375 13,704 30Jayasuriya (SRI) 445 13,430 28Jayawardene (SRI) 448 12,650 19Inzamam (PAK) 378 11,739 10Kallis (RSA) 328 11,579 17Ganguly (IND) 311 11,363 22Dravid (IND) 344 10,889 12Lara (WIS) 299 10,405 19Dilshan (SRI) 319 10,007 22

Sri Lanka opening batsman Dilshan plays a shot during the � fth and � nal ODI against Pakistan in Hambantota yesterday AFP

‘I hope De Gea stays’n AFP, Santa Clara

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal heaped praise on unsettled goalkeeper David De Gea after the Spaniard returned from inju-ry to thwart Barcelona here Saturday.

De Gea missed the � rst two matches of United’s US tour with an undisclosed injury that fuelled speculation about his possible transfer to Real Madrid, who want him to re-place Iker Casillas.

“In spite of his injury, he doesn’t train for one week, he showed his quality in this game,” van Gaal said. Van Gaal admitted he was keen to keep De Gea but said ultimately the decision may be out of his hands.

“Yes of course I do hope De Gea shall stay, but in this world of football you never know,” he said. l

RESULTParis St Germain 1-1 ChelseaIbrahimovic 25 Moses 65

(Chelsea win 6-5 on penalties)

RESULTArsenal 6-0 Olympique LyonGiroud 29, Oxlade-Chamberlain 34, Iwobi 35, Ramsey 38, Ozil 62, Cazorla 84

DOWNTIME30DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 19 represents C so � ll C every time the � gure 19 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Disturbance of the peace (4)5 Send money (5)8 Electrical unit (6)9 Full extent (4)10 Corded fabric (3)12 Steal cattle (6)13 Method (6)15 Tentacle (6)18 Goes by (6)20 Limb (3)21 Soft feathers (4)23 E� aced (6)24 Tenth part (5)25 Insects (4)

DOWN1 Coarse � les (5)2 Little devil (3)3 Gems (5)4 Perfect score (3)5 Begins again (7)6 Place of trade (4)7 Kind (4)11 Otherwise (4)12 Arbitrator (7)14 Period of time (4)16 Unbound (5)17 Tears (5)18 Agreement (4)19 Sooty matter (4)21 Expert (3)22 Tiny (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TMONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

TED@Laughbookthat feeling when your pillows are perfect and comfortable makes life worth living

Chitrangda Singh@IChitrangdaIt’s unlikely these days to � nd cour-age that’s innocent ..dnt we all learn to become too clever for it ..

Salman Khan@BeingSal-manKhanHut

n Mithul Roy

There seems to be plenty of bad blood between the divas of the music industry so lets trace back to what led to the catastrophic meltdown of their seemingly perfect camaraderie. It � rst started with America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. Though neither party has mentioned the other by name, the snipes they have been taking at each other have certainly been hard evidence of a budding war. The two have been friends since 2008, when they clicked together at the VMAs and the following year’s Grammy’s. They kept tweeting each other with gushing praises and there was even talk of a possible collaboration and even wishing each other on birthdays. Taylor then started dating John Mayer and the brief relationship lasted till early 2010. The same year, Perry performed with her at a concert in LA and the duo was clicked together at award shows. The plot soon thickened when Perry started dating John Mayer with whom she has had an on-and-o� relationship which was rumoured to be “on” at that time. In March 2012, three dancers who had been part of Perry’s California Dreams tour auditioned and signed up for Taylor’s Red Tour.

Two months into her tour, Taylor tweeted at Perry to never change, presumably because Katy tweeted, “I knew you were tru� e when you walked in #dinnertime,” a

snide comment at her song I knew you were trouble when you walked in.

Six months into Taylor’s tour, the three aforementioned dancers were asked to join Katy again for her upcoming Prismatic World Tour. They all agreed and were hired out from under Taylor and one of them even said, “It was a great experience and Taylor’s a great person to work with, but then Katy contacted us. Obviously we were

with Katy for two and a half years, she’s like family to us, so we were, like, ‘Absolutely.’ We weren’t really dancing in Taylor’s tour anyway so I had got a little bored and I really wanted to do a promo tour.’’ So, they left.

Then in the infamous Rolling Stone interview Taylor talked about her new song Bad Blood and where the inspiration came from: “For years I was never sure if we were friends or not. She would come up to me at award shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, ‘Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?’ Then last year she did something so horrible. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just straight-up enemies.’ And it wasn’t even about a guy! It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me. And I’m surprisingly non-confrontational — you would not believe how much I hate con� ict. So now I have to avoid her. It’s awkward, and I don’t like it.”

Shortly after Taylor’s interview hit the web, Katy tweeted to be aware of a “Regina George” in sheep’s clothing, referring to the iconic villain of Mean Girls. Katy addressed the whole thing in an interview with Billboard Magazine, before her half-time performance at the Super Bowl. “If somebody is trying to defame my character,” her quote says, “you’re going to hear about it.” And the world did. Her backup dancers wore an out� t that was a clear rip-o� of Taylor’s out� t.

After this year’s VMAs, Nicki called out issues of racial bias within the music industry when her Anaconda music video didn’t make the nominations for best video. “If I was a di� erent ‘kind’ of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreography and video of the year as well,” Minaj tweeted. “When the ‘other’ girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture, they get that nomination. If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for the video of the year,” she added later.

Taylor took Nicki’s comments personally as she was the only white artist to be nominated for video of the year which showcases an ensemble of the industry’s stars looking like supermodels in two rival groups. So she tweeted to the rapper, “I’ve done nothing but love and support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other.” Nicki quickly replied to clarify her comments, telling Taylor it wasn’t about her. Katy Perry weighed in on the conversation, making a pretty clear reference to Taylor’s tweet and her bad blood video when she said, “Finding it ironic to parade the pit against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalises on the take-down of a woman...”

Meanwhile, Perry o� ered praises to Rihanna, whose B**** Better Have My Money was also noticeably absent from the VMA nominations.

“The real travesty is where is the shine for #BBHMMVideo when VMA eligibility period was 7/7/14-7/1/15 & that gem dropped 7/1... @MTV— KATY PERRY (@katyperry)”

Taylor Swift is also reportedly not happy with Miley Cyrus who shared a photoshopped picture of Taylor and Justin Bieber captioning it “If you face swap Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, they look like a cute lesbian couple,” This could cause bad blood between the two pop-stars as Swift is reportedly not on good terms with the Baby singer after he split with her best friend, Selena Gomez.

If this feud gets any bigger it could drag down Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and all the other artists featured in the Bad Blood video. l

Bad Blood in music paradise

HellboyWB 4:00 pmA demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness. Cast: Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, Karel Roden

Thor 2: The Dark WorldStar Movies 6:30 pmWhen Dr Jane Foster gets cursed with a powerful object, Thor must protect it before an army as its ruthless leader try to get her hands on it to take over the remains of Earth.Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Stellan Skarsgard

Into the StormHBO 8:59 pmContinuing the storyline of The Gathering Storm, Churchill at War is a look at the former British prime minister’s life and career at the end of WWII.Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Janet McTeer, James D’Arcy, Patrick Malahide, Robert Pugh, Len Cariou

WHAT TO WATCH

Musical soiree Major Lazer releases new videon Showtime Desk

Marking the 74th death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, Bengal Foundation has arranged a musical soiree “Praner Khela” at the Bengal Shilpalaya tomorrow.

Scheduled to start from 6:30 in the evening, the musical soiree has been exclusively designed with Tagore songs that were speci� cally penned in the month of Srabon, the month of the Bengali calendar in which Tagore breathed his last.

Bulbul Islam and Shreyoshi Roy, two renowned Tagore singers will be there rendering some of the great songs of Tagore.

“Praner Khela,” is a frequent musical programme arranged by Bengal Foundation, and is open for all. l

n Showtime Desk

Major Lazer have unveiled the music video for their new single, Powerful, featuring Ellie Goulding and reggae singer Tarrus Riley. The James Slater directed video is the latest

of their album, Peace is the Mission. "This is one of the songs I'm most proud of writing, specially working with such awesome people," Diplo tweeted after the video premiered.

Telekinesis is the theme as Goulding and Riley are seen using their superpowers for innocuous purposes like making co� ee cups spin and bending spoons inside a lousy diner in the video. Eventually though, the duo cause major chaos in the restaurant by disrupting everyone's meals, swirling plates and making a waitress levitate. Diplo, with current members Jillionaire and Walshy Fire only appear in a � eeting cameo appearance on the diner's television set. l

BACK PAGE32DT

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

MSC, SK RUSSEL GRAFT HARD FOR 2-1 WINS PAGE 25

BAD BLOOD IN MUSIC PARADISE PAGE 31

ALL PUBLIC SERVICES ARE NOW AT FINGERTIPS PAGE 20

Govt clamps down on doctor absenteeism‘Hello Doctor’ to monitor negligence of duties at public hospitals and health complexesn Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The government has launched an initiative named Hello Doctor to ensure doctors’ at-tendance in the state-run hospitals and other healthcare facilities around the country.

Sources at the Ministry of Health and Fam-ily A� airs said with this initiative, the govern-ment aims to end the trend of negligence of duty among a large number of doctors, espe-cially in remote areas.

The initiative will also look into taking pu-nitive measures against doctors who take un-authorised leaves, they said.

The ministry recently formed a 66-mem-ber committee, headed by an additional sec-retary, to run the initiative. A circular in this regard was sent to all hospitals and upazila health complexes last week as well.

According to the circular, all the doctors and healthcare o� cials must report to duty on time , stay in o� ce until the end of their duty and provide good service. Directors, supervisors, civil surgeons, upazila health o� cials and family welfare o� cials all come under the initiative as well.

The supervising o� cials in the state-run hos-pitals and health complexes have been assigned to monitor the attendance of healthcare sta� .

In addition, all hospitals and health com-plexes have been instructed to install biom-etric machines to keep electronic record of attendance, as well as ensure good mainte-nance of the machines.

O� cials have also been assigned to make sudden calls to the supervising o� cials in the healthcare facilities at least twice a month to inquire about the doctors’ attendance.

The supervising o� cials may also have to send attendance records to the committee if required.

In case of any doctor’s absence in duty

stations, the supervisors have to mention information about the duration of absence, reasons behind the absence and actions taken against unauthorised leaves.

However, former Bangladesh Medical As-sociation president Professor Rashid-e-Mah-bub said digitisation alone would not be able to plug loopholes to ensure proper attend-ance, and the government should � rst identi-fy the reasons behind doctors’ absence in the hospitals, which has been a common practice for years.

“The new initiative may work to change doctors mentality as they will be monitored, but I am not sure whether the government can ensure their attendance with this initia-tive only. To ensure their presence at work, the government should reform the healthcare model through joint initiatives with medical professionals and organisations,” he said.

An acute and persisting problemIn meeting its commitment to ensure healthcare services to all, as mentioned in National Health Policy 2011, the government found doctors’ ab-sence in hospitals to be a critical challenge.

The majority of healthcare seekers at state-run hospitals and health complexes are poor and ultra poor people, who are a major part of the country’s population and live mostly in the rural areas.

The incumbent government has appointed around 10,000 doctors during its tenure. These new doctors were appointed with the condition that they would be stationed in remote and ru-ral areas for the � rst two years of service.

However, it is widely alleged that many of them are frequently absent in duty, and among those who are present at their sta-tions, most do not maintain schedule and remain busy with their personal practices,

which makes healthcare services even more inaccessible to people in those areas.

The situation is similar in the capital. This correspondent visited National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilita-tion at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital yesterday, where Fazlul Haque, an accident patient, complained that the doctors did not make their rounds regularly and patients had to rely on nurses for treatment.

It was also found many doctors at the hos-pital had yet to return to work from Eid vaca-tion, which o� cially ended last week.

Requesting anonymity, o� cials at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital said it falls on the interns to make up for the lack of service that is the responsibility of the absent doctors.

Still, the situation seems a little better in the capital, whereas the crisis remains acute in the rest of the country, ministry o� cials said. l

700kg piranha, shrimp seized in capitaln Kamrul Hasan

RAB in the capital’s Karwan Bazar yester-day seized and destroyed some 500kg of jel-ly-mixed shrimp and 200kg piranha, which were to be sold as pomfret, popularly known as rupchanda in Bangladesh.

The force also arrested � ve traders, four of whom were later released upon paying Tk1.20 lakh in � nes. They are Bashir Ahmed, 44, Debashis Mondol, 26, Saidur Rahman, and Sha� qul Islam, 22.

Another Md Mahabub, 35, was sentenced to a month in prison on charges of obstruct-ing the RAB team. They were held during the drive in the morning conducted jointly by RAB 2 and the Department of Fisheries, and led by RAB Magistrate Helal Uddin. l

‘Climate fund release must not be delayed’n Abu Bakar Siddique

Polluters must stop delaying the settlement of carbon emission cut and climate � nance dis-bursement for vulnerable nations in the name of negotiation, a discussion was told yesterday.

“The negotiations between the polluters – mostly industrialised countries – and the vulnerable countries has been happening for years. Yet, there are no speci� c road map that will ensure that the polluters will reduce their carbon emission in a binding time period,” said Dr Atiq Rahman, executive director of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies.

In addition, most of the developed nations have yet to disburse their verbally committed money to the Green Climate Fund which is considered a major funding mechanism for reducing the climate change impacts, he said.

The speakers emphasised that a legal-ly-binding agreement must be formulated in this regard at the UN conference on climate change, set to take place in Paris later this year.

The discussion, named Climate Risk and Popular Perceptions, was organised by the French Embassy in Bangladesh at the ambas-sador’s residence.

Pierre Mayaudon, head of European Union delegation to Bangladesh, said Bangladesh has been su� ering in three areas – people’s su� ering, destruction of nature and problems in economic progress – due to the negative impacts of climate change.

According to the Fifth Assessment Re-port of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Bangladesh is at speci� c risk of cli-mate change e� ects due to its exposure to sea-level rise and extreme events such as sa-

linity intrusion, drought, erratic rainfall and tidal surge, which will hamper the country’s food and livelihood security.

Phillippe Zeller, French ambassador at large for climate negotiations for Asia and Oceania, said the COP 21 is crucial as it would make a legally binding agreement among the countries regarding emission cut and con-crete fund pledges.

The developed nations have to come to a conclusion to disburse their committed mon-ey in the Green Climate Fund in this year’s conference, otherwise the Green Climate Fund will not be e� ective as a funding solu-tion, he said.

The discussion was also attended by So-phie Aubert, France ambassador to Bangla-desh, and climate expert Dr Saleemul Huq among others. l

Patients at RMCH have no choice but to su� er as doctors have yet to come out of the Eid holiday mood and return to work AZHAR UDDIN

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