News3 The government project for supplying laptops at low prices has nosedived recently with sales falling drastically and production completely halted.The Awami League government, which came to power in 2009, launched the Doel Laptop project in 2011 as part of its Vision 2021 Digital Bangladesh plan.

4 Most Bangladeshi migrant workers are unaware of the services provided by the Probashi Kallyan Bank due to lack of publicity about its activities as the management of the specialised bank has not taken any initiative to publicise the institution since it was established in 2011.

International9 One of India’s most-wanted men, alleged militant Yasin Bhatkal, appeared in a New Delhi court, following his arrest over a string of attacks that have killed hundreds.

Sport13 The question of whether injured team captain Mamunul Islam would be included in the playing eleven for the Bangladesh’s � rst game against hosts Nepal was a vexing and still undecided by the team management.

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TK6.07BN STOLEN THROUGH VOIP

Delay helps BTCL o� cials escape trialn Syed Samiul Basher Anik

A number of former BTCL o� cials ac-cused of embezzling Tk6.07bn through illegal VoIP business have left the coun-try before the Anti-Corruption Com-mission (ACC) approved � ling cases against them.

ACC o� cials said some of the heav-yweights lobbied for the delay in the ACC investigation and approval, which gave accused o� cials of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limit-ed (BTCL) enough time to prepare for � eeing. At least two out of the 23 ac-cused have already � own abroad.

Another accused former o� cial of BTCL is now getting ready to � y to USA selling most his properties, an ACC of-� cial, who was involved with the graft probe, told the Dhaka Tribune.

On Thursday, ACC � led four cases against 23 persons, including the in-cumbent managing director (MD) of BTCL, SOM Kalim Ullah and four for-mer MDs in connection with embez-zling over Tk6bn through illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business.

Among the accused, BTCL’s former divisional engineer Habibur Rahman Pramanik � ew to Malaysia while for-

mer divisional engineer Ronel Chakma went to Canada, con� rmed the ACC of-� cial.

The o� cial said: “Former member (maintenance and operation) Moham-mad Taw� q is selling his assets in Dha-ka and trying to go to America.”

It took a long time to complete in-vestigations and for approval from the commission to � le the cases, which allowed the accused BTCL o� cials to leave the country and avoid facing the charges, said ACC o� cials.

An ACC inquiry team took almost a year and a half to complete the inves-tigation. It � led primary probe report in February suggesting � ling cases against the accused. Then in June, the probe team submitted another report after further investigation and said 23 were involved with the scam.

The commission then took two more months and gave its approval on August 25 for � ling cases against the 23 accused, including o� cials of BTCL and Ericsson Bangladesh Ltd.

“The primary probe recommended � ling cases against some o� cials of BTCL. If the recommendations were implemented without delay the cor-rupt BTCL o� cials could have been

prevented from � eeing the country,” said an ACC o� cial.

Since the probe found high-o� cials of BTCL were involved in the call detail record manipulation, the o� cials had lobbied the ACC not to � le the cases against them to buy them enough time to escape, said the ACC o� cial.

“The accused will not return to the country. If the approval of � ling cases came earlier, they could have been ar-rested,” he said.

Regarding the delay, the ACC’s Chairman M Bodiuzzaman told the Dhaka Tribune Wednesday that com-mission had conducted the inquiry in “its own way and investigating a cor-ruption or irregularity takes time.”

“It was not an ordinary case,” the chairman said.

“... the court will conduct inquiry; and there will be more investigation. It could � nd new names or some names might be even excluded from the charges.”

When asked about those who had already � ed the country he said: “... charge sheet will be issued against them; they cannot avoid charges.”

A group of BTCL o� cials collud-ed with o� cials of the multinational PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Savar and Ashulia police stations: most prone to corruption?n Kailash Sarkar

No other police o� cials have perhaps consumed so much of airtime and col-umn space than those stationed at the Savar and Ashulia police stations on the outskirts of Dhaka, in the past few years – albeit for wrong reasons most of the time.

Are these two stations the most cor-ruption-prone of all? The question is making rounds in certain circles after all the 23 duty o� cers at the Aminbazar camp under Savar police station were “closed” (withdrawn) in an unprece-dented move on Monday.

The o� cials were withdrawn, and quickly replaced, for their alleged in-volvement in extortion of money and merchandise from local traders – who blocked o� the Dhaka-Aricha highway to demand their withdrawal earlier, in the day.

However, this is the not the � rst time that such allegations were raised against police o� cials or local people demonstrated on the street protesting police excesses.

Allegations of involvement in crim-inal o� ences such as extortion, extra-

judicial killing, abuse of power, and breaching of operational terms, such as taking part in plainclothes operation, have often put Savar and Ashulia police o� cials under media spotlights. According to an informed source at the police administration, disciplinary ac-

tions were taken against at least 50 po-licemen of the two stations in the last six months alone.

11 of them were incarcerated, � ve were dismissed from service, and four others’ salaries reduced. The rest of the o� cials are facing departmental inquiries at the moment, sources said.

Prior to the Monday incident, in June, nine o� cials stationed at the Harindhara outpost in Savar were with-drawn after they abducted and tortured a businessman to death. 11 other o� -cials from Savar and Ashulia stations were also arrested in this connection.

All o� cials were later found guilty of “complicity” in the murder in an inves-

tigation headed by Additional Deputy Inspector General Mizanur Rahman.

In its report submitted to the depu-ty inspector general of Dhaka division, the probe committee mentioned that accused o� cials abducted and tor-tured businessman Shamim Sarkar on the night of June 5, which caused his death the following day.

The report also blamed negligence and lack of supervision of the higher police o� cials.

Earlier on March 17, a team of Savar police allegedly let a vehicle carrying arms and ammunitions pass through security, in exchange for bribes, instead of arresting the perpetrators.

But when a sub-inspector named Razzab Ali protested the incident, the accused o� cials turned up the heat on him and accused him of corruption instead. Soon he was transferred from the station.

Police in April had initiated a high-ly-compromised investigation into the allegation of freeing the arms-carrying vehicle against six o� cials, including one SI Emdadul Huq. But nothing came of it.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

InternationalMyanmar activist jailed for copper mine protest

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Mourning rally gets polls � avourParty activists join rally carrying festoons displaying AL’s election symbol boatn Ashif Islam Shaon

The Awami League’s mourning day rally at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan yesterday literarily turned into the par-ty’s polls campaign.

Almost all the leaders in their speech sought vote for the party in the next polls, criticised the opposition’s activities and illustrated a comparative picture of the incumbent grand alliance government and the previous BNP-Ja-maat-led coalition.

They also highlighted the present government’s development projects and initiatives while also commemo-rated the memories of the Father of the Nation.

Awami President Sheikh Hasina, also the prime minister, however, did not announce the much-expected start of electioneering from the rally, organ-ised by the party’s city unit.

Leaders and activists started thronging the venue since noon. Soon it turned huge compared to the party’s recent rallies in the capital. The crowd was in a festive and pre-polls mood.

A good number of party supporters

joined the rally carrying festoons, ban-ner, and placard displaying the party’s election symbol “boat.” In most of the displays, the main agenda of the rally – commemorating 38 years of August 15, the day when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been killed in 1975 – was missing.

Many small- and medium-sized sculptures of the election symbol were also seen at the rally venue. Local units of the Awami League and its front or-ganisations illustrated the units’ names on those boats.

Leaders and activists coming from di� erent constituencies of the city were also seen carrying photographs of their areas’ MPs and aspirants for the next elections.

All the entrances to the venue were decorated with posters where local leaders, incumbent MPs and their sup-porters were seen seeking votes.

With time, the number of the peo-ple in the venue increased, though, a good number of people waiting for the premier left the venue before she had reached there.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

PM seeks vote for boat to � nish un� nished workn Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina yesterday sought people’s mandate for her par-ty’s election symbol “boat” once again so she could � nish all ongoing develop-ment activities.

“I seek your votes for ‘boat’ for one more time to end the development activities taken up by the incumbent government,” she said, pledging to free Bangladesh from poverty and hunger within 2021.

Hasina was speaking at a rally organ-ised by the Dhaka city unit of her party

at the Suhrawardy Udyan to mark the National Mourning Day.

The mourning day rally eventual-ly turned into a pre-election one as the speeches of all party leaders were polls-centred. The venue also featured posters and banners of ministers, MPs and nomination-seekers while lea� ets were distributed.

Although a number of party lead-ers had earlier said Hasina would an-nounce at the rally an election cam-paign to start from September 1, the Awami League chief did not make any such announcement.

In her address, the premier recalled her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mu-jibur Rahman’s memories and vowed to sacri� ce her life like her father for the welfare of the country’s people. “I have nothing to gain or lose. My father sacri-� ced his life for the people, if required I am also ready to sacri� ce mine for the sake of people’s welfare,” she said.

Hasina claimed that her government had the only goal to ensure people’s fundamental rights, saying her party wanted to build a Bangladesh free from militancy, hunger and corruption.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

At least 50 o� cials faced disciplinary actions in the last six months alone

Nato will not take part in Syria strike: Alliance headn AFP, Copenhagen

The suspected use of chemical weap-ons in Syria demands an international response but Nato will not take part, alliance head Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Danish media on Friday.

“I see no Nato role in an interna-tional reaction to the Syrian regime,” Rasmussen told reporters in the Danish town of Vejle, daily Politiken reported.

He said the alleged use of chemical weapons was “a terrifying and horri-ble act. Chemical attacks are a clear violation of international standards -- a crime that can’t be ignored.”

“It demands an international re-sponse, so it doesn’t happen again,” Rasmussen said.

The Nato secretary general has in the past insisted on the need for a po-litical solution to the Syrian con� ict.

UN inspectors have visited the scene of the August 21 suspected gas attack near the Syrian capital.

The opposition says more than 1,300 people died when toxic gases were unleashed on Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyet al-Sham. Doctors Without PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

18kg gold bars seizedn Kailash Sarkar

Customs intelligence yesterday seized 155 bars of gold, weighing 18kg, at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The customs o� cials recovered the gold bars at around 9:30am from a bus belonging to United Airways, which was carrying passengers from a United Air-ways � ight. The driver of the bus, identi-� ed as Kabir Falan, 32, was also arrested.

The exact value of the gold bars has been estimated to be Tk90m.

Zakiya Sultana, commissioner of customs at the airport, told the Dhaka Tribune that acting on a tip-o� Customs intelligence personnel seized the gold bars wrapped in a packet, which was hidden inside the seat of the bus driver.

“The bus was headed to the termi-nal, carrying passengers who arrived at Dhaka on the United Airways � ight 4-H-582 that landed at the airport at around 9:15am,” said the Customs Commissioner.

Customs o� cials suspect that the gold bars were smuggled in from Du-bai by any one of the passengers of the � ight, while the bars were later being moved by the detained bus driver.

It is widely known that many rings are involved in the smuggling of gold, currencies, various precious met-

als, stones and materials through the airport, in cahoots with a section of o� cials and employees of di� erent government and non-government agencies deployed at the airport.

In the last eight months, more than 100 hauls of gold, weighing in around 300kg, and other precious items have been seized at the airport.

From January 1 this year, the Cus-toms alone seized more than 200kg of gold, and currencies from di� erent countries, worth Tk70m.

On July 24, customs o� cials seized the biggest ever haul of 1065 bars of gold, weighing in at 124kg.

According to the airport authorities, more than 3,600 people have been ar-rested in the last three years for their involvement in smuggling, with the ar-restees including airline crew members, o� cials and employees of the civil avia-tion, customs, immigration, National Se-curity Intelligence and Ansar members.

There are around 30,000 jewellery shops and manufacturing houses in the country, including 1,500 in Dhaka, and their yearly demand of gold is 16 to 30 tonnes. But the business of gold is almost fully dependent on smuggled gold, as the existing laws do not permit the commercial import of gold from the international market. l

Awami League activists carrying the party’s symbol boat join mourning rally at Suhrawardy Udyan yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

Saarc ministerial meet begins in Sri Lankan Tribune Desk

The sixth meeting of the � nance minis-ters from the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) coun-tries began in Colombo yesterday.

Finance ministers from Bangla-desh Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan jointly inaugurated the meeting.

On Wednesday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith left for Sri Lanka to attend the meeting. He is accompanied by Fi-nance Secretary Fazle Kabir and Depu-ty Secretary of Finance Division Hasan Khaled Foisal.

Muhith will present Bangladesh’s position on the issue of common or parallel currency for Saarc countries at the meeting, reports UNB.

He will also attend the governing

body meeting of Saarc Development Fund on the sidelines of the meet.

On the opening day, International Monitoring Assistance and Finance and Planning Deputy Minister of the host country Sri Lanka, Dr Sarath Amunugama, stressed the need of unity among the Saarc members to strengthen the existing mutual rela-tions, international media reports.

Saarc Secretary General Ahmed Sal-eem argued that the Saarc members should review the � nancial activities of the respective countries in view of changes in the global economy.

The meeting is expected to seek ways for promoting long term � nancial capital investment in the South Asia. Similarly, the meeting shall � nalise the draft related to investment promotion and security.

Besides, the meeting will focus on the discussions about how to keep South Asia safe from the global eco-nomic crisis.

Meanwhile, the � nance ministers from all the eight Saarc countries met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapak-sa today.

The Sri Lankan President empha-sised the common voice of the Saarc countries at international forums.

The Saarc future course of action should focus on uplifting the living standards of the people of the region, he said. l

Customs intelligence yesterday seized 155 bars of gold, weighing 18kg, at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Story on P1 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Jamaat uses mosques for anti-govt campaignn Manik Miazee

Just after the Jumma prayers yesterday, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami activists distributed anti-government lea� ets at di� erent mosques in the capital and its outskirts.

The lea� ets, titled “unite to prevent the government conspiracy to eliminate Jamaat,” were distributed among the people of all ages coming out of the mosques.

A key ally of BNP-led opposition alliance, Jamaat said: “By using state power, the government is trying to prevent the voice of Islam through conspiracy.”

It said the government with the help of court cancelled the registration of Jamaat since it had “Allah is Almighty” in its party charter. “By following Islamic values and fundamental beliefs,

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is working on to establish an oppression-free country.”

Criticising the role of International Crimes Tribunal, Jamaat said: “To ban the party, the tribunal has started investigation into the role of Jamaat during the Liberation War.”

It alleged that the government had arranged the trial on a “resolved issue” only to gain politically. The cases � led against the top Jamaat leaders were “false.”

The party, allegedly responsible for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, in the lea� et claimed that 243 leaders and activists of Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir were killed from February 28 to March 7 as they protested the verdict in the “false case” against Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee. l

OC, SI sued in Noakhali on extortion chargen Tribune Desk

A case was � led against o� cer-in- charge and a sub-inspector of Sonaimuri Police Station on Thursday on charge of extor-tion.

Hazera Khatun, wife of Shukmiah of Hirapur village in Sonaimuri upazi-la, � led the case with a Noakhali court against OC Abdus Samad and SI Ariful Amin accusing them of extorting money from her, reports UNB.

The court took the case into cogni-sance and � xed Sunday to give necessary directives.

In the case statement, Hazera Kha-tun alleged that both Abdus Salam and Ariful Amin detained her son Abu Taher Sujon alias Zahid, 13, from Hazi Hazi bari road at Muradpur while he was returning home from Sonaimuri bazar at 8 pm on August 24. When Hazera came to know the matter, she along with her daughter Taznaher, turned up at the police sta-tion on the same night and asked Abdus Salam to release her innocent son.

But, the OC demanded Tk 50,000 to release the boy and threatened to im-plicate him in an arm case unless the amount is given. l

No arrest in ex-policeman murder case n Mohammad Jamil Khan

No arrest has been made after one day of the murder of former police o� cer Fa-zlul Karim.

Fazlul Karim, 65, who retired six years ago as an additional superintendent of police from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), was shot dead in his apartment by a group of unidenti� ed men at Rampura on Thursday.

Barrister Mukim Uddin Khan, son-in-law of the deceased, � led a case in this connection with the Rampura police sta-tion yesterday evening.

“We have already started our inves-tigation and we are trying to unearth the mystery behind the murder, Delaw-er Hossain Khan,” o� cer-in-charge of Rampura Police Station told the Dhaka Tribune.

Members of Rab along with Detective Branch of Police and CID o� cials are working together to � nd clues as to the reason behind the murder, he added.

In this regard, Touhid Kashem, broth-er-in-law of the victim, said they were yet to � le a case as all family members went to their village home Munshiganj to join the burial ceremony of Fazlul Karim.

They would be back in the capital on Friday night and then cases would be � led, he added.

Family sources said Fazlul Karim was buried at his family graveyard in village of Ramkrisnadi in Munshiganj.

Meanwhile, a police o� cial said they had already detained a number of people from Rampura and launched a massive hunt for the culprit in Munshiganj, the home town of the slain police o� cer as the family members suspected Fazlul might have been killed over a land dis-pute there.

A source from police said Fazlul Karim, before he was killed, he obstructed sales of narcotics in Rampura area and got in-volved in an altercation with some locals.

The source said they were also sus-pecting that the murder might have been the sequel to the protest against the drug sales. Motijheel Deputy Com-missioner Ashrafuzzaman said several teams are working on it. “We hope that we would able to unearth the mystery behind the murder shortly.” l

Delay helps BTCL o� cials escape trial PAGE 1 COLUMN 4company Ericsson Bangladesh Ltd to embezzle money by erasing incoming international call minutes from call detail record of ITX-5 and ITX-7 at the capital’s Mohakhali.

According to reports, the number of international incoming calls per day has declined by 15m from the 45m re-corded in early 2010. The decline is said to be causing daily revenue losses worth Tk100m. l

Savar and Ashulia police stations PAGE 1 COLUMN 5The then o� cer-in-charge of Savar po-lice station Asaduzzaman sided with ac-cused Emdadul, calling him a “sincere” and “honest” o� cer and complainant Rajjab as “insincere” and “un� t.”

Then in July, a police constable named Ekramul of the Ashulia police station faced the wrath of local people who physically assaulted him for his al-leged attempt at extortion at the Baipail area.

In 2012, a total of 44 departmental

cases of corruption were � led against 44 police o� cials in these two police stations, sources said.

Of them, seven o� cials were dis-missed from service, the salaries of 23 were reduced, and varying degrees of punitive measures were taken against the rest.

Admitting allegations of corruption, Superintendent of Police (Dhaka district) Habibur Rahman said, “Savar and Ashulia are two of the most crime-prone areas inhabited mostly by

low-income people, such as garment workers. O� cials working there to maintain security have sometimes became involved in criminal activities themselves.”

“But this is not to say that if anyone is found guilty of committing a criminal o� ence, he or she can get o� scot-free,” he added.

Replying to a query, he admitted that some policemen were still taking part in plainclothes operation, although they were prohibited from doing so. l

Nato will not take part in Syria strike: Alliance head PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Borders said 355 people died of “neuro-toxic” symptoms in the a� ected areas. Rasmussen said he � rmly believed the Syrian regime was behind the attack.

“I have no doubt that the regime carried out a chemical attack,” he said, adding: “When you look at who has the chemical stocks and the means to use them in an attack, you have to say that it is the regime.”

“There’s not much to suggest that the opposition would be in a position to carry out such an attack.” l

PM seeks vote for boat to � nish un� nished work PAGE 1 COLUMN 2“The Awami League always ful� ls what it pledges to the nation. People got their own language, independence, the right to voting, and the constitu-tion from the Awami League. No one feels deprived after casting votes for the Awami League,” Hasina said.

She enumerated the development ac-tivities taken up by her government and pledged to complete all un� nished activ-ities if her party retained to power again.

Hasina blasted opposition leader and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for her adamant stance to oust the govern-ment through a movement, saying the opposition leader was now trying to protect the war criminals.

“Those who patronise killers, mili-tants and war criminals cannot ensure any welfare for the people. They can only cater corruption, terrorism and killings,” Hasina said, alleging that the BNP was killing innocent people, members of Border Guard Bangladesh and army in the name of movement.

“Whenever the BNP assumes o� ce, it vandalises temples, carries out bomb attacks on religious establishments and sets pagoda on � re…It is their character to patron killers.”

Hasina criticised Khaleda for ob-serving her birthday on August 15, saying the BNP chief did it to hurt her. “She started observing her fake birth-day in 1996. Even those who were born

on August 15 do not celebrate their birthdays.”

Regarding the war crimes trial, the PM said her party had vowed to start the trial and it had been started and people were now getting verdicts in those trials. “All war criminals will be brought to book and the verdicts will be executed,” she said.

Dhaka city unit Awami League act-ing president MA Aziz presided over the rally. Party leaders Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, To-fail Ahmed, Sahara Khatun, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Quamrul Islam, AKM Rahamatullah, Dr Mostofa Jalal Mohiuddin, among others, spoke at the rally. l Mourning rally gets polls � avour

PAGE 1 COLUMN 2Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, a ward-level leader of Pallabi Awami League unit Mamunur Rashid who came to attend the rally with a procession of over 250 men said: “The tra� c jam is severe today. If we do not leave now, it will be too late to reach home.”

Chaired by Dhaka city unit Awami League President MA Aziz, the rally started around 3pm. A 60-feet long and 30-feet wide stage facing west was made near the arti� cial lake.

The party chief reached the venue around 5pm and began delivering her

speech around 5:40pm.

Tailback stops PM’s motorcadeBecause of the rally-bound processions of party supporters, the city roads faced huge tra� c congestion yesterday. People on Shahbagh, Farmgate, Gulistan and Mirpur roads su� ered the most.

According to several media reports, the prime minister’s motorcade was also stuck at Banglamotor intersection around 4:30pm. Law enforcers tried hard to make passage for her. But it took almost 20 minutes. l

Jatiya Party split over polls policy n Manik Miazee

Jatiya Party is reeling from internecine feud over the selection of candidates and question of how to take part in the next general election.

The presidium, the highest policy-making body of the JP, is apparently split over those two issues.

The faction led by Ershad’s wife Begum Rowshan Ershad, Presidium Member Kazi Zafar Ahmed and Secretary General ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader wants to switch to the electoral alliance of BNP.

Another faction led by JP presidium members Anisul Islam Mahmud and Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu wants the party to join the poll race with the 14-party alliance.

When asked Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu said many things happen in politics. “We will decide on the issue at the right time.”

JP Secretary General ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader said all leaders and activists of the party belongs to the JP. He, however, said: “Di� erence of opinion in a party is a good practice.”

About the stance of Ershad on the intra-party disagreement, a central leader said the party chief does not want any breach in the party and he wants to see JP in power.

Meanwhile, the presidium is split into two over the selection of candidates for the next general

election. While talking to the Dhaka Tribune,

several presidium members and leaders said Ershad picks candidates at his will creating misunderstanding among the party leaders.

The leaders of the party also alleged that a section of leaders always misguides and in� uences the party chief.

Last year the party announced the names of about 230 leaders who were asked to prepare for the next parliamentary election.

But after six months the party chief announced the names of potential candidates again creating confusion among the party rank and � le.

After that, the last presidium meeting held on August 18 decided that the party Chairman H M Ershad could no longer be entrusted with the responsibility of choosing candidates for the next parliamentary election.

The meeting also decided that the party parliamentary board would take decisions nomination candidates for the next General Election.

At the meeting Begum Rowshan Ershad told the party chairman only to approve the decision taken by the board.

About disagreement and feud in the party Ruhul Amin Howlader told Dhaka Tribune: “JP is a big party and some misunderstanding inside the party is very usual.” l

Oishee’s age shrouded in mysteryn Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Mystery surrounding the age of Oishee Rahman deepened further after a Dha-ka court sent the girl, an alleged mur-derer of her parents, to jail on Thurs-day.

The court ordered her transfer from Gazipur Juvenile Development Cen-tre to Dhaka Central Jail based on the documents provided by the case in-vestigation o� cer and social welfare department that claimed the teenage girl is 18 years of age and belongs to adult prison.

However, the result of the medical tests conducted eight days back, which was supposed to ascertain Oishee’s bi-ological age, is yet to be revealed.

Earlier on August 22, Oishee was taken to Radiology and Imaging De-partment of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for X-ray test of her teeth and bone as contrasting evidences were unearthed about her actual age.

According to her birth certi� cate Oishee is an adult while relatives and her school records say she is below 18.

Police said Oishee, daughter of Spe-cial Branch of police inspector Mah-fuzur Rahman and Swapna Rahman,

allegedly killed her parents in their Chamelibagh � at recently.

Meanwhile, e� orts from law enforc-ers and social welfare department to prove Oishee as an adult in the court without producing medical certi� cates regarding her age have given rise to many questions.

Rumours are a� oat that hundreds of thousands of taka have been prom-ised by di� erent groups should she be proved adult or even minor.

A turf war between the o� cials of the two departments of the hospital – Forensic Medicine Department and Radiology and Imaging Department – was learnt to have been ensued over the rumoured money.

Allegation was also made that a doctor of Radiology and Imaging Department was trying to cover up Oishee’s actual age. The doctor, who earlier served at Forensic Medicine Department, allegedly took hefty sum of money in exchange for providing wrong medical certi� cate.

Fingers were pointed at him as he had some previous records to change test reports after taking bribe from oth-ers, sources said.

A doctor of Forensic Medicine De-

partment, wishing anonymity, said since everybody was worried about the process of determining Oishee’s age they were thinking about re-check-ing the report from a reputed private diagnostic centre once the report were handed to them.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune on Friday noon, head of the Radiology and Imaging Department Prof Dr Mah-bubur Rahman said the delay in sub-mitting the � nal report over Oishee’s age was caused by some procedural problems.

“Law enforcers need to follow cer-tain procedures needed to prepare the � nal report but since they did not fol-low those procedures we are unable to come up with the report for now,” he said.

Police were made aware of the issue and they told us that they would fol-low the process required, he said.

When contacted about the report of Oishee’s age determination test, Fo-rensic Medicine department head Dr Habibuzzaman Chowdhury said even though they had attempted several times X-ray and Imaging department didn’t give any response yet.

The doctor, however, refused to

speak further about the report citing the sensitivity of the issue as reason.

According to Radiology and Imag-ing Department source, doctors of the department did not collect Oishee’s � ngerprint on August 22, the day when she was brought to the hospital.

They, however, sent a letter to the head of Forensic Medicine Department requesting him to take steps to bring Oishee to Radiology Department once again to facilitate taking her � nger-prints.

The detective branch earlier had ap-plied to Forensic Medicine Department in accordance with the rules seeking to determine Oishee’s age.

The department, after conducting necessary physical examinations, had sent her to the Radiology Department to conduct X-rays on her.

Some top o� cials of Forensic Med-icine Department while speaking to the Dhaka Tribune said they had col-lected her � ngerprint and attested it in the presence of two witnesses prior to sending her to Radiology Department for X-ray.

So, the reason of not having her � n-gerprints for delay in submitting test reports was not true, they said. l

Muhith will present Bangladesh’s position on the issue of common or parallel currency for Saarc countries at the meeting

News 3DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

Government’s laptop project crash landsUsers’ lack of interest result from low con� guration and no after sale service

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The government project for supplying laptops at low prices has nosedived re-cently with sales falling drastically and production completely halted.

The Awami League government, which came to power in 2009, launched the Doel Laptop project in 2011 as part of its Vision 2021 Digital Bangladesh plan that was featured in its electoral manifesto.

Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina un-veiled a Doel laptop on October 11, 2011, in Dhaka.

However, statistics have shown that state-owned Telephone Shilpa Sangstha Ltd (TSS), the company in charge of producing and distributing the laptops, has managed to sell only 204 laptops in June and July. The total proceeds from the sale of these laptops has been less than Tk9m.

High-ranked o� cials of the produc-tion plant have informed that there is not much chance of any increased sale because production has been stopped. They also said fund constraint has se-verely crippled the project with TSS failing to inject any money to save it.

Sources said, in the last two years, TSS has managed to sell only 98 laptops of the Tk10,000 “Primary Model 2102,” the cheapest of the Doel brands.

One of the major pledges of the Awa-

mi League government was to supply laptops at Tk10,000 to people living in every corner of the country.

“Thousands of pieces spare parts have been imported without any de-mand calculation. This has created a lot of problems. We are trying to sell the laptops already in stock. If we get any work order from any of the govern-ment o� ces, then we will import more accessories and assemble fresh lap-tops,” Md Husnul Mahmud Khan, man-aging director of TSS, told the Dhaka Tribune. “At least ten thousand laptop spare parts, imported in 2011, are lying idle in our stocks,” Husnul added.

Some users said quality was one of the main reasons why people had shown very little interest in buying Doel laptops and netbooks, named af-

ter the country’s national bird. No after sale services was another big reason for the lack of interest, they said.

In the recently held 214th board meeting of the laptop plant, o� cials in a presentation remarked: “The remain-ing laptops cannot be sold because there is no after sale service.”

Figures released in the board meet-ing working paper showed that TSS had imported spare parts worth Tk1.38bn for assembling 42,195 laptops, of which they had so far managed to assemble 37,059, and sold only 28,622 units. Of the total sales � gure, the education ministry bought 17,815 laptops – near-ly two thirds of the actual sales � g-ure. The army headquarters had also bought a few.

Although the working paper showed

� gures for June and July, plant sources claimed that production had been at a standstill for at least six months.

Sources also said TFT Display (M) SDN BHN, the Malaysian project part-ner, withdrew from the project soon af-ter it had been launched. Now the Ma-laysian company is reportedly claiming back the money that it has invested in the project.

TSS MD Husnul Mahmud said: “Cur-rently our priority is to sell out the re-maining laptops in our stock. Import-ing spare parts and assembling new laptops are our second priority.”

“The management planned to im-port accessories without actually hav-ing conceived any plan for selling and marketing. That is why millions of taka has been wasted,” he said.

TSS is also charged with selling im-ported digital Public Switched Tele-phone Network (PSTN) land phone sets and PABX units, and locally assembled digital energy meters.

According to the working paper pre-sented at the 214th meeting, TSS has managed to sell only two PABX units, two thousand PSTN phone sets and just three meters in June and July. Hus-nul informed that a total of 40,000 im-ported PSTN sets are lying idle in gov-ernment stocks and there had been no production of digital meters over the period. l

Model Imported Assemble Sold

Advanced-1612i3 21,985 17,934 17,815

Advanced-1612E 2,000 2,000 183

Advanced-1612 5,000 4,943 4,286

Standard-2603 5,000 4,105 684

Basic Model-0703 6,200 6,067 5,556

Primary Model-2102 2,010 2,010 98

Total 42,195 37,059 28,622

Status of Doel Laptops

Dhaka and Baghdad MoU signing Saturdayn Rabiul Islam

An eight-member Iraqi delegation, led by the country’s Labour Minister Nas-sar al-Rubayie, arrived in Dhaka yester-day morning to hold bilateral talks on hiring workers.

Assistant Director of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Zahidul Islam said Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain received the delegation at Hazrat Shah-jalal International Airport.

Expat Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan and BMET Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar, were present among others. O� cials said the expatriates’ welfare minister and the Iraqi labour minister will hold bilateral-talks at the ministry on Saturday.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed between Dhaka and Baghdad, on labour migra-tion to Iraq.

The BMET director general said Iraq would mainly recruit in the construction sector for post-war reconstruction and infrastructure development process.

The BMET DG said there are around 63,000 Bangladeshis currently working in Iraq. During the Iraq war, 55,000 ex-patriate Bangladeshis returned home. l

BNP celebrates founding anniversary tomorrown Tribune Desk

Opposition BNP will hold a discussion in the city today to celebrate the par-ty’s 35th founding anniversary.

The discussion will be held at the Institute of Engineers Bangladesh in the afternoon which will be followed by a cultural function arranged by Jati-yatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas).

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will attend the programme as the chief guest, said a party release.

On August 21, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press brie� ng at the party’s Nayapal-tan central o� ce announced a two-day programme, including the discussion,

to mark the founding anniversary of the party that falls on Sunday.

Besides, party and national � ags will be hoisted atop all o� ces of the BNP across the country in the early morning on Sunday.

Khaleda along with the party lead-ers and activists will place wreaths and o� er fateha at the mazar of its founder late president Ziaur Rahman at 10am on the day.

On September 1 in 1978, late pres-ident Ziaur Rahman formed the BNP with a 19-point programme to build a self-reliant Bangladesh.

The BNP ruled Bangladesh for sev-eral terms. Khaleda became the coun-try’s � rst female prime minister after winning the 1991 general elections. l

Government conspires to cling to power n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed yesterday alleged that the government was conspiring to cling to power through amendment to the constitution once again.

The government was in discom-fort after making the 15th amendment to the constitution, added the lead-er. He said the amendment would be scrapped if BNP was voted to power.

In the amended constitution, the election should be held 90 days before the parliament was dissolved, he said, adding that the government would have to amend the constitution once again to hold the next election.

Addressing a discussion organised by

Jatiyatabadi Somobay Dal at the National Press Club in the capital, Moudud warned the government that if it tried to amend the constitution to stay in power forever, tough resistance would be launched.

“We want to say clearly, we will ex-tend our support if the government takes initiative to add a non-partisan in-terim government provision to the con-stitution,” he said.

A former law minister, Moudud also alleged that the government had tak-en away people’s su� rage through the 15th amendment.

“In the constitution, it was inserted that none can amend the � rst, second and third parts of the constitution and such provision is rare in the world,” he said. l

SHIBIR IN HIGH GEAR TO REIN IN CU

Leaders � exing their muscles to gain control over dormsn FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, has shifted into high gear in their e� orts to establish supremacy at Chittagong Uni-versity (CU) campus.

The activists are � exing their political muscles, regrouping in an e� ort to gain control of the university dormitories.

Despite a ban on politics on the cam-pus, the Shibir men- with the permis-sion of the CU Vice-Chancellor Prof An-warul Azim- on Monday held a meeting at the university’s central mosque in the name of an “Eid reunion”.

Progressive teachers and student leaders reacted angrily to the CU au-thorities’ decision to permit Shibir to hold the programme at the university’s central mosque.

CU acting-Proctor Prof Khan Tawhid Osman con� rmed to the Dhaka Tri-bune that the vice-chancellor allowed Shibir to hold the meeting.

Two central leaders of Islami Chha-tra Shibir addressed the meeting which had around 2,000 activists in atten-dance.

The two leaders were the social welfare secretary Saidul Syed, and

manpower and development a� airs secretary Bodiul Alam, said Musta� zur Rahman, CU unit Shibir general secre-tary.

Earlier, the Shibir leaders met with the CU vice-chancellor on August 21 and sought permission to hold the pro-gramme.

Requesting anonymity, a Shibir lead-er from CU’s AF Rahman hall told the Dhaka Tribune the organisation had suspended its university unit leaders’ Eid vacations to carry out their plan.

Shibir had been observing the politi-cal situation in the university dormito-ries, including AF Rahman Hall, Abdur Rab Hall, Suhrawardi Hall and Shahja-lal Hall.

In the dormitories, they have been gearing up for a move to maintain their dominance.

Four hundred committees were formed- including eight faculty and 46 departmental committees- under which there were 228 committees based on academic batches.

There are seven dormitory commit-tees comprising of the block 48 unit and � oor 68 unit committees. Further-more, there are 30 cottage unit com-mittees on the campus, nine college

units and � ve school unit committees comprising of at least 2000 activists.

A total of 14 central leaders are at the helm with six deputy leaders carrying out the directions of the higher ranks.

The Shibir activists regularly post updates on facebook as well as main-taining good lines of communication among the group through the social networking site.

Intelligence sources said Shibir moved into top gear to rein in political power in the university.

The BCL leaders alleged that the uni-veristy VC had joined hands with Shibir in order to stay in his position at CU.

But the VC denied this allegation against him outright.

He said he was not informed about the presence of the Shibir central lead-ers who addressed the programme.

CU Chhatra League Organising Sec-retary Diyaz Irfan Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune that the fundamentalist force, Shibri, had been conspiring to create political turbulence on the cam-pus with the help of CU authorities.

He vowed that Bangladesh Chha-tra League leaders and activists were ready to combat all evils committed by Shibir at any cost. l

Bangladesh Photojournalists’ Unity forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding punishment to the violators of an Indian female photojournalist MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Japanese rights group concerned over Adilurn Tribune Report

A Japanese migrant rights group ex-pressed its concern over the arrest of Odhikar chief Adilur Rahman Khan thorough a statement sent to Prime minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.

In the statement, the “Solidarity Net-work with Migrants Japan”said they had come to know about the “arbitrary ar-rest and detention of Adilur” as Odhikar is a partner organisation of the network.

“The arbitrary arrest and harass-ment of Adilur is a serious attack on human rights defenders in Bangladesh and around the world. We are very much concerned for his security,” the statement said.

Human rights organisation Odhikar’s General Secretary Adilur was arrested earlier this month allegedly for distort-ing information regarding the death toll in a Hefazat-e-Islam rally in Motijheel on May 5-6.

In the statement, the group urged the government to release Adilur im-mediately and end all forms of harass-ment against him and his organisation Odhikar and to ensure physical and psychological integrity of Adilur.

It also called upon the government to conform provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which was adopted on gen-eral assembly on December 9, 1998. l

Global survey on violence against female journalists launchedn Tribune Desk

The International News Safety Institute (INSI) has launched a global survey on violence against women journalists in collaboration with the Unesco as part of promotion of the safety of journal-ists and the issue of impunity.

All news media workers, particu-larly women journalists, are invited to participate in the survey, which will run till September 20.

The survey is supported by the Aus-trian Federal Ministry for European and International A� airs and was cre-ated together with the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), said a Unesco media release.

“In many parts of the world, wom-en are threatened and attacked for the work they do – work which, in some cultures and countries, challenges gen-der stereotypes,” said Hannah Storm, Director of INSI.

According to her, these attacks take the form in sexual assaults, rapes, cyber-bullying, emotional harassment and threats against their loved ones.

The survey itself will contribute to the “UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.” l

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

City High LowDhaka 33.0 26.6Chittagong 30.6 25.6Rajshahi 33.6 26.6Rangpur 32.0 26.5Khulna 32.8 26.2Barisal 30.0 25.8Sylhet 33.2 26.2Cox’s Bazar 32.0 25.4

PRAYER TIMESFajar 4:23am

Sunrise 5:39amZohr 11:59pm

Asr 4:30pmMagrib 6:18pm

Esha 7:35pmSource: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

No possible change in temperaturen UNB

Light to moderate rain or thunder-showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Sylhet divisions until 6pm today.

Moderately heavy falls are also like-ly at a few places over Chittagong divi-sion, Met O� ce said.

Day and night temperature may re-main nearly unchanged over the coun-try. The sun sets in the capital at 6:17pm today and rises at 5:41am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 34.2 degree Celsius was recorded yesterday at Chuadanga and lowest 23.4 degrees at Hatiya.

Highest and lowest temperature re-corded in some major cities yesterday were:

Probashi Kallyan Bank fails to deliver Migrant workers unaware of specialised services n Rabiul Islam

Most Bangladeshi migrant workers are unaware of the services provided by the Probashi Kallyan Bank due to lack of publicity about its activities.

The management of the specialised bank has not taken any initiative to publicise the institution since it was established in 2011 to bene� t overseas wage earners, o� cial sources said.

The bank is meant to facilitate expa-triate Bangladeshis to remit money at low cost or invest in the country, and provide low-interest loans to workers who are aspiring to go abroad or have returned home.

A bank o� cial, who asked not to be named, observed that being a govern-ment-owned bank, the management could use state-run BTV and Bangladesh Radio to advertise the bank’s facilities.

So far, about 2,500 job seekers have borrowed money from the bank to go abroad, while at least 100 returning mi-grant workers have received loans for rehabilitation.

One such returnee, Al-Amin, has been unemployed since returning home from Libya during the 2011 civil war.

Al-Amin, from Netrokona, worked as a construction worker in the North

African country for nearly two years. He now wants to run a small business at home, but has been unable to do as he has no capital.

“I didn’t know that the Probashi Kal-lyan Bank provides loans at low inter-est,” he said, while talking to the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

“How much money does the bank provide for small enterprises?” Al-Amin enquired, adding that he needed at least Tk200,000 to start a business.

Monirul Islam, from Khulna, plans to go abroad to work as an electrician through a private recruiting agency. He said he was afraid as he does not know how will he manage the migration cost.

When this correspondent informed him that he could get a soft loan at only 9% interest from the expatriates’ wel-fare bank, he said he had never heard about it.

“It is necessary to publicise the ac-tivities of the bank, but bureaucrats manage the bank,” Tasneem Siddiqui, a director of the bank, said over phone yesterday.

Tasneem, who is also the founding chair of Refugee and Migratory Move-ments Research Unit, suggested that people trained in banking should man-age the bank. l

Political instability hurts tourism: Faruk Khan n Tribune Desk

The tourism sector, which has im-mense prospect to play an important role in boosting the economy, could perform better if political stability could be ensured in the country, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Faruk Khan said yesterday.

He said political confrontation on the streets and violence unleashed by the opposition BNP and Jamaat have been the major obstacles to � ourishing the country’s tourism industry as the tour-ists are discouraged with such activities.

“Violent activities cast a negative impact on tourists. Our opposition should understand that for the sake of the economy and the country’s image,” Faruk Khan told UNB.

The minister said tourists from home and abroad had to su� er a lot as they got stuck in Cox’s Bazar during Eid holidays due to a recent hartal, and the government had to arrange special � ights for bringing them back from the beach town.

Referring to his conversations with

tourists from various countries, the minister said they are happy with ev-erything, especially the natural beauty, but they expressed their disappoint-ment over political instability.

He said the government has taken various steps to increase facilities for the tourists which are already visible.

Domestic airports have been reno-vated to attract increased number of tourists, both from home and abroad, to the tourist hubs. Besides, steps have been taken to connect Cox’s Bazar with Chittagong and expressed his hope that it will be implemented soon.

Faruk Khan said infrastructure devel-opment and ensuring better facilities for the tourists are important. “The govern-ment has concentrated on these issues.”

He said Bangladesh is giving maxi-mum number of countries on-arrival visa facility, which is also giving a boost to the tourism sector, adding, steps have been taken to set up an exclu-sive zone, protected swimming zone with net and sports zone at Cox’s Bazar beach to facilitate tourists from home and abroad. l

Social safety net eludes ‘poorest of the poor’: Studyn Tribune Desk

Although the government is conduct-ing the Social Safety Net Programmes (SSNPs) in the country aiming to re-duce poverty, most of the ‘poorest of the poor’ are not receiving the bene� t for lack of proper selection of bene� -ciaries, according to a recent study.

On average, 14.2  % of non-eligible households are receiving SSNP bene� t while 26.4  % eligible households are denied the facility, it said.

During the survey, about 89  % of re-spondents believed the poor are receiv-ing the SSNP bene� t, but majority of the FGD (focus group discussion) respon-dents said most of the ‘poorest of the poor’ are denied the facility, reports UNB.

Principal investigator Prof Dr Abul Barkat and co-investigators Prof Dr Subhash Kumar Sengupta, Prof Dr Ma-tiur Rahman, Faisal Mohammad Aha-med and Abdullah Al Hussain of Manob

Shakti Unnayan Kendro (MSUK) con-ducted the study, titled ‘Improving the Targeting E� ectiveness of Social Safety Nets in Bangladesh’.

The study was carried out under the Na-tional Food Policy Capacity Strengthen-ing Programme (NFPCSP) being imple-mented by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Food with � nancial support from the European Union and USAID.

The survey was conducted in 14 dis-tricts from all 7 divisions in Bangladesh with 14 selected upazilas.

Of all the surveyed 3,594 house-holds, 32.6  % were poor-bene� ciary households, 26.4  % poor non-bene� -

ciary households 14.2 % non-poor, ben-e� ciary households and 26.8  % non-poor, non-bene� ciary households.

Among the 15,977 individuals sur-veyed, 2,182 were found to be ben-e� ciaries of 14 di� erent types of safety net programmes. About 20 % individu-als were found eligible, but did not re-ceive any SSNP bene� t.

Considering the poverty status of the individual bene� ciaries ’ inclusion error’ was calculated. Analysing the � eld data, it was found that the ‘inclu-sion error’ was highest in stipend for secondary and higher secondary stu-dents with 58.8  %, followed by allow-ance for � nancially insolvent disabled (42.9 %) and old age allowance (30.5 %).

The ‘inclusion error’ was lowest in 100 days ES/EG programme for hardcore poor with 7.4  %, followed by non-cash Gratuitous Relief (13 %) and Vulnerable Group Development-VGD (14.6 %).

The study recommended formulating

a database on extreme poor for e� ective targeting of social safety net programmes and identifying the extreme poor house-holds using poverty indicators.

“To reduce political and personal nepotism, bribery and improper pri-oritisations, local government repre-sentatives involved in selection of ben-e� ciaries should also be under strong supervision. The existing supervision mechanism is less e� ective. Commit-tees at di� erent levels should be made accountable if targeting errors are found,” the study says.

The government’s spending on social safety net programmes in � scal 2012-13 was around Tk227,505m, being 11.87 % of the total budget and 2.18 % of the GDP.

One of the key challenges of imple-menting social safety net programmes is targeting of bene� ciaries along with coverage issues, leakages, and dispar-ity in regional distribution. l

Pry school head teachers may be upgradedn Mushfi que Wadud

The government is considering upgrad-ing the status of head teachers of pri-mary schools from class III to class II government o� cers.

The plan was put into motion fol-lowing an ultimatum issued by a plat-form of primary teachers, called the Bangladesh Primary Teachers’ Associa-tion, to enforce the non-stop strike in all government primary schools from September 15 if their demand of up-grading job statuses is not met.

The organisation had scheduled a rally on August 28 but was denied the permission by law enforcement agen-cies. Later in the evening they issued the ultimatum to enforce a strike from September 15 if their demands were not met.

Ministry o� cials said as teach-ers have a role in conducting the election, the government wanted to keep them in its con� dence byupgrading their status. The decision might be announced in the middle of next month.

Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education, Shyamal Kanti Ghosh earlier told the Dhaka Tribune that the primary and mass education ministry has sent a proposal to minis-try of public administration to upgrade the job statuses of the headmasters of primary schools.

Teachers have long been on the movement to have their status upgrad-ed from class III to class II government employees. The reasons they cite for this demand include the improvement of their social status.

Experts working on the � eld of edu-cation also advocate for upgrading pri-mary teachers’ status as the talented do not want to come to the teaching pro-fession due to its low social status. l

Robber leader killed, � ve police hurt in gun� ght n Our Correspondent, Noakhali

A leader of a robber’s gang was killed in a gun� ght with police at Hatiya upazila in Noakhali early yesterday.

Police said the deceased Yunus was shot dead around 1am, while � ve police were injured in the gun� ght.

Noakhali Police Super Anisur Raman said in order to catch the robbers, police raided the Kalam char at Hatiya around 1am, but sensing the presence of police, the robber group opened � re at police.

Then the police � red back and Yu-nus died on the spot after receiving bullets. During the gun� ght, Kalam Chowdhury, leader of a robber gang in Bhola, and Emran Asraf, leader of a pi-

rates’ gang of Hatiya, were with Yunus. After the incident, the police recov-

ered a ri� e and 12 round cartridges, while they arrested Yunus’s wife Asma Begum, 23, and a member of Yunus’s robbery team Ismail Hossain, 22, from the spot, while other members of the gang ran away.

Khorshed Alam, o� cer-in-charge of Hatiya police station, said there were sev-eral cases against Yunus, including rob-bery, extortion, murder and kidnapping.

Accusing Emran Asraf and Kalam Chowdhury, the police lodged a case in Hatiya police station, while the law enforcers sent the deceased’s body to Noakhali General Hospital for post mortem. l

Poor navigability disrupts ferry movement in Padman Our correspondent, Rajbari

Ferry passengers on the Daulatdia-Pa-turia route are facing ceaseless woes, as Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) authorities are struggling to ensure uninterrupted ferry communication at the start of the dry season.

The vessels are regularly getting stuck on shoals because of poor navi-gability, while shortage of ferries and heavy currents in Padma River are also hampering ferry movement on the route.

A drastic fall in water levels at the start of the dry season caused the loss of navigability in Padma River at the entrance point of the river channel at Daulatdia ferry ghat.

In the last three days alone, authori-ties were forced to shut down ferry transport at least seven times. Only two out of 13 small ferries are now op-erating on the Daulatdia-Paturia river channel.

Sources said innumerable shoals have emerged in the river, making it di� cult for the vehicle-laden vessels

to reach Daulatdia from Paturia ferry ghat. The lack of proper dredging in the main channel of Padma River has cre-ated the crisis, sources added.

On the other hand, heavy currents and a rapid fall in water levels are dis-allowing ferries to move with their full load capacity and speed. As a result, hundreds of bus passengers and trucks – traveling to and from the southern districts – are made to wait and su� er for hours on both ghats.

The Dhaka-Khulna highway at Daulatdia has seen � ve to seven kilo-meter long queues being formed in the past few days.

Md Zillur Rahman, the Assistant General Manager of BIWTC for Daulat-dia-Paturia ferry sector, informed that two ferries - Keramot Ali and Enay-etpuri – became stranded with many passengers and vehicles on board, at shoals near the river channel on Thurs-day night. Shamsur Rahman, the ferry master of the vessel Shah Ali, said a Daulatdia-bound small ferry carrying less than ten vehicles also got stuck on a shoal on Thursday night.

Kefayet Ullah, the ferry master of

the vessel Khanjahan Ali, said water depth of at least 9 to 14 feet is needed for smooth ferry movement; but water depth is now below nine feet at dif-ferent points, including the entrance point at Daulatdia ghat, Paturia ghat and adjacent areas. There is also no marker to indicate the water level at various points, he added.

On Friday morning, ferry authori-ties directed all RO-RO ferries (large ferries) to stop operating on the route from 6am, because of poor navigabil-ity at the entrance point of the channel. Local businessman Abu Bakar said fer-ries regularly get stuck as ferry masters cannot estimate the changing water levels every day.

Md Tareque Rahman, Executive Engineer of Dredging at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, said the drastic fall in water levels has made it di� cult to maintain a smooth ferry communication. Authorities are trying their best to create an alternative river channel from Daulatdia to Paturia for tackling emergencies, but it is not pos-sible to achieve the goal in a short pe-riod, he added. l

2 people shot in cityn Tribune Report

Two people were shot in two separate incidents in the city on Thursday.

A gang of armed hijackers hit a driv-er by a bullet in the capital’s Dhanmon-di area and another gang of muggers shot a youth in Wari.

The two injured were Khorshed Alam, driver of a car and Bappi. Khor-shed got a bullet hit in his leg while Bap-pi in his chest. Both of them were admit-ted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Khorshed said he was shot by an armed gang of hijackers when he re-sisted the criminals from their attempt of hijacking his car around 11pm on Road-18 in Dhanmondi. As he cried for help, local people came forward. One of the criminals � red at his leg and they all ran away, he added.

Another injured, Bappi said a gang of muggers intercepted him and tried to snatch his moneybag while he was passing through the Hare Street around 11:30pm. As he grabbed one of the mug-gers, another criminal shot him on his chest. Later, when the locals came to res-cue him, one of the muggers was caught and handed over to the police and the others � ed the scene.

Sub-Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman of Wari police station said the detained mugger was Iqbal Hossain and he was produced before the court seeking a remand to know about the other mem-bers of the gang. l

Ferry movement at the Daulatdia ferry ghat came to a halt for seven hours yesterday, after the ferry, Keramot Ali, got stuck on a char (shoal) DHAKA TRIBUNE

The government’s spending on social safety net programmes in � scal 2012-13 was around Tk227,505m

Bangladesh Garment Sramik Oikya Parishad forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, protesting the inclusion of a new section in the amended labour law that goes against the labourers’ interests, and demanding its recti� cation in the next parliament session MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Papaya leaf juice: The cure for dengue fevern Dr Sajol Ashfaq

We all know that the papaya fruit is a great source of vitamins A and C, but surprisingly its leaves hold the pos-sible answer to treating dengue fever.

According to a re-search article published in 2013, a group of Malaysian researchers have found that juice extracted from papaya leaves helps increase the platelet count in patients with dengue fever.

A person su� ering from dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever will only be treated with either � uids or blood transfusions to manage the symptoms of the disease. Unfortu-nately, this type of treatment does not always work.

Chief of the researchers Dr Soobitha Subenthran from the Institute for Med-ical Research in Kuala Lumpur said, they found that the “carica papaya” leaf juice helps increase platelet count in patients with dengue fever. Their results were published in March, in an Egyptian-based medical journal called “Evidence-Based Complementary and

Alternative Medicine” published by Hindawi Publishing Corporation. The � rst ever study of carica papaya leaf extracts in patients su� ering from den-gue fever by Dr Hettige was reported in the Sri Lanka in 2008.

Carica papaya is a fancy name for the typical papaya tree. Researchers tested the juice to make sure that it is safe for human consumption. In this research, half of the patients received 50 grams of fresh papaya leaf juice for three consec-utive days while the rest received stan-dard treatment. While the treatment was administered, the team studied the patients’ blood count for two days.

They found that the platelets in the blood of the patients that received the juice had increased signi� cantly. It is reported that the genes, ALOX 12 and PTAFR were highly expressed among those on the juice and inhibits the growth of dengue virus and has maximum activ-ity against DENV-2 replication. Dengue fever by DENV-2 is said to be common in our country. It also deals with mutations of the virus.

The researchers concluded that the administration of carica papaya leaf juice in dengue fever is safe and does induce the rapid increase in platelet count. l

Bene� t from bilberryBlackberry is very popular and avail-able in our country. Though, there is no new good news about blackberry,its family member, bilberry, has ar-rived with some. Studies found that bilberry may improve night vision.During World War II, � ghter pilots re-ported better night vision after eating bilberry jam. Take 25 to 50 milligrams of bilberry extract; expect best results within the � rst few hours.

Prescription 5DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

QUICK TIPS

FOOD THERAPY

Get a good pair of sneakers

| Compiled by: Shirsho Sikder

| Compiled by:

Dr Fuad Shaheed

HEALTHNEWS

Dealing with dengueLike other viral illnesses, dealing with dengue is quite complicated and requires special precautions. As the patient goes through a substantial amount of agony, the physicians have to be more dedicated to overcome the tenure of this illnessn Dr Mohammad Sayem

There is an ancient Greek saying: “Rain opens the window of Poets and door of Doctors.” There is ample evidence of the latter but discussion about the former is beyond the context of this ar-ticle. During rainy season, many infec-tious diseases become more prevalent in our community and it is worth men-tioning that dengue fever is one of the most feared and common infection. Fortunately, it is now well managed in expert hands.

Dengue, a viral fever but...Dengue (pronounced DENgee) fever is usually a self-limiting viral disease, more speci� cally a type of viral hem-orrhagic (can induce bleeding) fever. It is of importance to distinguish dengue fever from other viral fevers as it may lead to severe implications, though most cases are self-limiting.

Distinguishing features are severe bodyache, pain behind the eyes, pain in joints, rash that appears between fourth to seventh day of fever with a decreased platelet count.

Dengue fever is caused by dengue virus and it has been the most common arthropod-borne disease in our country for last decade. It is transmitted by Ae-des  mosquito. Dengue virus has four serotypes (subtype) DEN 1-4,of which DEN-2 and DEN-3 are more prevalent in Bangladesh. Among the South-East Asian countries, on epidemiological ground, Bangladesh lies on category-B of dengue prevalent areas. Infection with one type usually gives lifelong im-munity or protection to that type, but only short-term immunity to the others.

In our country dengue usually sur-faces during heavy monsoon (August-October), when breeding of the vector mosquito  Aedes aegypti is abundant. These mosquitoes breed in fresh stag-nant water, which is commonly found in � ower tubs, pots, bottles. It even grows in stagnant accumulated water from air-conditioners, refrigerators. Hot and humid environment favours its transmission. Dengue mosquito usually bites during daytime.

Dengue symptomsManifestations of dengue fever occur within 3-10 days of mosquito bite and may induce classical dengue fever, den-

gue hemorrhagic fever without shock, dengue hemorrhagic fever with shock (circulatory shutdown). Even dengue infections can be asymptomatic too. All ages and both sexes are susceptible to dengue fever. Typical symptoms include sudden onset of high fever, intense headache, severe muscle and joint pain (hence the term “break bone fever”), retro-orbital pain (pain behind the eye, more on eye movement), ex-treme weakness, depression. The fever is usually, but not inevitably followed by, a remission of a few hours to two days. Rash appears in 80% of the cases during remissions (fever free period) or during second febrile phase. If dengue

hemorrhagic fever occurs there is bleed-ing manifestations which may involve skin, intestine, or can cause nasal and gum bleeding, depending on the bleed-ing manifestations and circulatory sta-tus (latter is assessed by blood pressure, pulse, urine output).

Dengue diagnosisInvestigations also play an important role in diagnosing dengue fever. Typi-cal � ndings include: thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), increased hemato-crit concentrations (concentrated red blood cell as � uid part of blood escapes vessel) and sometimes decreased white blood cell as well. Dengue antibody assay can be done eight days onward. Both thrombocytopenia and dengue antibody assay are useful in second week of disease. A new test, Dengue ns-1 Ag test, can detect dengue at the early stages but availability is limited.

Treat cautiouslyRegarding management Dr Ahmedul Kabir, Associate Professor, Medicine Department of Dhaka Medical College said: “Management of dengue fever is

supportive, consisting of � uid manage-ment and monitoring of platelet count and hematocrit. There is no proven bene� t from antibiotic and steroid. Platelet transfusion is only needed if platelet count is less than 10,000mcl (normal count: 1,50,000-3,00,000mcl) or when   there is active bleeding. Use of aspirin and intramuscular injections are strictly discouraged and are harm-ful. With this supportive treatment most of the cases are usually well-managed. The afebrile phase demands more attention than the febrile phase in case of dengue.”

It is always uttered that preven-tion is better than cure. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine available; we can minimise the risk by ensuring that our house and premises are not the breed-ing place of mosquitos and by putting up mosquito net while sleeping, spe-cially at daytime. Otherwise a single mosquito during monsoon can make us feel the bone-breaking pain. l

The writer is working as a post graduate trainee at Medicine Department ofDhaka Medical College

A New York-based Bangladeshi recently on a visit to Dhaka, stricken by the deadly dengue, is seen here admitted in a reputed hospital in the capital DHAKA TRIBUNE

Dengue fever is caused by dengue virus and it has been the most common arthropod-borne disease in our country for last decade. It usually surfaces during heavy monsoon (August-October), when breeding of the vector mosquito Aedes aegypti is abundant

Is your energy lagging? Though it may be the last thing you feel like do-ing when you’re tired, exercise – even a brisk walk can be more e� ectivethan a nap or cup of co� ee at � ghting fatigue. l

Rub your templesTame tension headaches by rubbing peppermint oil, Tiger Balm, or white � ower oil into your temples. All three remedies contain menthol, which has analgesic properties. l

Sni� rosemary

According to some research, catching a whi� of this aromatic herb may in-crease alertness and improve memory. To stay sharp, try smelling fresh rose-mary or inhaling the scent of rosemary essential oil before a test or meeting. l

Hydrate yourselfIf you are su� ering from an acute migraine, drink a full glass of wa-ter because dehydration can trigger headaches. Even if you need to take a medication for the pain, try wrapping your head with an Ace bandage so that it covers your eyes, then lie down and breathe deeply. This often helps the pain pass more quickly.

Watch your carbsTrying to reduce belly fat? Pay atten-tion to your carbohydrate intake and avoid arti� cial sweeteners. Sugary snacks and other re� ned carbs spike blood sugar and cause pounds to settle in your midsection of the body. Choose whole grains, beans, and vegetables in-stead and take a cup of yogurt at night.

Drink cranberry juiceCranberries contain a substance that appears to keep bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract and has been shown to help prevent UTIs. Because cranberry cocktail is high in sugar, drink unsweetened juice diluted with water or take capsules of pow-dered cranberry extract. But cranber-ries can only be found in superstores in our country and they are a bit costly.

Aspirin, ca� eine and banana can be remedies for longevityn Prescription Desk

Bananacin – a banana � avoured Aspirin and ca� eine tablet – might be the elixir for longevity. The com-bination of aspirin and ca� eine is be-

ing widely used in USA to getrelief from pain. The combination of

aspirin and ca� eine is available as a tablet called Anacin. Recently scien-tists are going to produce Banana � a-voured Anacin.

The idea was inspired by a 112 year old Grand Island, New York citizen by the name of Salusto “Shorty” Sanchez. According to the Guiness Book of re-cords he is the oldest living man in the world.

He claims that the key to his long life

is simply a daily dosage of six Anacin tablets and a banana. This triggered the curiosity of Insight Pharmaceuticals, who is the maker of this famous Ameri-can pain reliever drug. Anacin was � rst introduced in 1930s and it is considered one of the oldest analgesic products that is still widely used today.

Its unique formula contains two im-portant ingredients – aspirin and caf-feine – to deliver fast pain relief from headaches.

It is also used for relieving pains from di� erent muscular aches, sore throat, arthritis and menstrual cramps. But who knew that combining six of these with a banana on a daily basis could be the key to longer life-span?

Insight Pharmaceuticals are making banana-shaped Anacin products.

So as long as the pharmaceutical company works on bringing out the special elixir of life, people can still at-tempt on giving Salusto’s medical diet a shot and see if it helps them in any manner. l

Walk out of diabetesn Gazi Kashif Yousuf

Researchers have found that individu-als who walk to their jobs are at about 40% less risk of having diabetes than those who commute by

driving, and 17% less likely to develop high blood pressure than those who drive.

If they choose to cycle the bene� ts are even greater, halving their risk of getting diabetes. It means people could easily slash the chance of de-veloping such health conditions by walking or cycling to work instead of

using the car, bus or a taxi, according to the study.

High blood pressure, diabetes, and being overweight are all major risk factors for the heart and circulatory diseases and thus it is required that the general population act fast in or-der to increase their daily physical activities.

Active commuters are less likely to be overweight or obese, but only for walkers who walk two miles or more to work. That half hour of walking twice a day would help them achieve the mini-mum daily activity recommendations without additional workouts. It also matches the walking amount recom-mended to lose weight. l

LIFESTYLE

MEDITECH

BIG

STO

CK

3 held with phensidyl in PanchagarhPolice arrested three youths with 20 bottles of phensidyl at the Khoprabandi Loharbridge area in Panchagarh. The trio was identi� ed as Saheen, 25, Moatakimur Rahman, 25 and Kamal Sarkar, 26. Police in-tercepted the motorbike that was carrying them and recovered the bottles from their possession. A case was � led against them under the narcotics control act. – UNB

BSF returns body of Bangla-deshi manThe body of a Bangladeshi man, who died from electrocution on Indian territory on

August 24, was returned to Bangladesh on Wednesday night. 38 Border Guard Bangla-desh Operation O� cer Major Majhar said Indian Border Security Force handed over the body of Babu Miah, 30, to his family members at around 11:45pm. Babu Miah, son of Abdul Majid fom Assasuni upazila, was allegedly electrocuted in Koijuri area of India opposite to Boikari border, under Sadar upazila, while returning home from India on Sunday morn-ing. A � ag meeting was held on August 25 when the BGB authorities informed that the body would be returned after autopsy. – UNB

7 cops hurt in Magura Jamaat-Shibir attack

Seven policemen were injured in an attack perpetrated by Jamaat-e-Islami activists and Islami Chhatra Shibir at the Shalikha upazila of Magura on Thursday night. Acting on a tip-o� , a police patrol team led by Sub-inspector Iqbal Hossain raided the Sandra Mosque in the area where a group of Jamaat-Shibir men were holding a “clan-destine” meeting at around 11am. Sensing their presence, police said, the Jamat-Shibir men attacked them with “sharp weapons” and hurled bombs in their direction, leaving seven policemen injured. Police � red 10 rounds of bullets to bring the situation un-der control. Jihadul Kabir, superintendent of police of Magura, said police initiated a

drive to track down the attackers. – UNB

Jamaat activist arrested in police killing case in JhenaidahA Jamaat-e-Islami activist was arrested yes-terday morning for his alleged involvement in killing a policeman in the district. The ar-restee, Rahaj Uddin, hails from Harinakunda upazila. Mahibul Islam, o� cer-in-charge (OC) of Harinakundu police station, said Ra-haj was accused of murdering a constable named Omar Farooque during a violence at the upazila parishad complex in last March.– Our Correspondent

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

500 families marooned in Jessoren UNB, Jessore

Heavy downpour with tidal surges from Kopotaksho river inundated � ve villages in Keshabpurupazila, maroon-ing over 500 families.

The inundated villages are Sagard-hari, Sheikhpura, Awalgati, Nehalpur and Mohadebpur.

Though the a� ected people are lead-ing inhuman life for want of food, they are yet to get any relief from the gov-ernment.

KM Khalilur Rahman, chairman of Bidyanandakati union, expressed his concerns that 10 villages may go under water if the incessant rain continues.

He said diarrhoea has already bro-ken out in Awalgati and Nehalpur vil-lage for want of pure drinking water.

Farmer Tuhin Miah of Awalgati vil-lage said Sheikpara area of the village went under waist-deep water, causing su� erings to the local people.

KHURUSHKUL-CHOUFOLDONDI BRIDGE

Approach road in shambles before inauguration of bridge n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

The approach road to the Khurushkul-Choufoldondi Bridge has become un� t for use even before it has been formally inaugurated.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is ex-pected to formally open the bridge on September 3.

The construction of the bridge cost Tk300m but it seems people may not be able to use it at all if authorities do not take measures to repair the approach road, which cost an additional Tk20m to build.

Due to the dilapidated condition of the road, communication between Cox’s Bazar town and eight unions has been suspended for nearly a week.

Locals are demanding the govern-ment take initiatives immediately to re-pair the road.

A resident of Khurushkul union Gias

Uddin said in addition to the approach road, the damaged � ood protection dam nearby also need to be repaired.

He said: “Fixing the approach road alone will not solve the problem. If the dam is not renovated, the Khurushkul-Choufoldondi Bridge will be of little use to the community.”

Khurushkul union Chairman Abdur Rahim said the bridge reduces the dis-tance between the district town and the unions by 15km.

In 2004, the project was undertaken to build a bridge connecting the eight un-ions – Choufoldondi, Khurushkul, Varu-akhali, Pokkhali, Islamabad, Eidgaon, Islampur and Jalalabad – of Cox’s Bazar sadar upazila with Cox’s Bazar town.

Construction of a bridge has been de-manded by residents for some time now as it would make communication with the district town easier.

As far back as 1996, in� uential local residents with incumbent administrator of the district council Mostaq Ahmed Chowd-hury applied to the local government and the minister at the time about a bridge.

The local government ministry realis-ing the project would be expensive for-warded the application to the Ministry of Communication, after a feasibility study the ministry took the initiative to build the bridge.

In 2004, former state minister for communications Salahuddin Ahmed laid the foundation stone.

However, soon after the main pil-lars were built the contractor Idris Ali stopped work on the bridge for unknown reason. When the Awami League took o� ce, the government allocated an addi-tional Tk80m for construction to resume.

A contractor called Manjoor Alam started work earlier this year. l

GARAI DREDGING

Tk4.75bn set to go down the drain for mismanagement n Tribune Desk

The mega project to dredge the Garai River in Kushtia seems to be heading towards an utter failure for mismanage-ment.

Unplanned dredging of the river and unabated sand lifting from it have creat-ed apprehension about the failure of the scheme letting its investment of Tk475 crore go to waste without coming to the actual bene� t.

After lifting the sand from the river, the workers put it along the riverside, which being washed away by rain and strong current again falls into the river, creating piles of slit in the riverbed.

Specialists think that the sand piles may interrupt the river � ow in the dry season.

The dredging work in the Garai was started in 1996 during the tenure of the then Awami League government to re-store navigability of the river, involving Tk4.2bn.

But due to lack of proper management the work remained incomplete.

Later the second phase of the project work was started by the present Awami League-led 14-party alliance government in 2011 at a cost of Tk9.5bn.

Chinese company, Chaina Harbour, got the work order to do the dredging work in 30 kilometre area from Talbaria to Khoksha upazila of Kushtia.

TK1.3bn crore was spent in the � scal 2010-11 for the project.

About 7.8m cubic meters of sand was

lifted during the period.Tk750m was shown as expenditure

for the � scal 2011-12 and about 5.4m cubic meters of sand was lifted while Tk170m shown as expenditure for 13 kilo-metre dredging work in the current � scal

(2013-14).According to the Water Development

Board (WDB), a total of 1.6m lakhcubic meters of sand has been lifted in the three � scal years, which cost an estimat-ed Tk2.22bn.

An o� cial concerned of the WDB said the total project expenditure, including that for purchase of two dredger machines, stands at Tk4.75bn.

Coming to know about the irregulari-ties in the project work, Deputy Commis-sioner Sayed Belal Hossain visited the spot.

He also sent a letter in this regard to the senior secretary of the Water Re-sources Ministry on January 31 this year.

Some o� cials of the WDB said un-planned dredging work of the Garai has become a threat to the inhabitants of the Mangalbaria area in the town as a crack has developed in a groin dam. l

Snails slayed for lime productionn Tribune Report

Signi� cant number of snails are being killed every day in order to produce lime in Bagerhat, posing serious threat to the environment as well as driving the eco-friendly species to extinction.

While the � esh of snails is served as food in the shrimp enclosures across the district, the shells are burnt in a furnace using � rewood to produce lime.

The process creates an adverse impact on the ecology, as the invertebrate creature plays a vital role in maintaining ecological balance by eating dirt and decaying plants.

The snail traders of the district have long been collecting snails from large water bodies of three neighbouring districts where they are found in abundance.

They collect the snails mostly from swamplands of Gopalganj, Kalkini upazila and Gouranadi upazila under Madaripur and Barishal district respectively, and bring those to the shrimp enclosures located inside the districts, sources said.

According to the Bagerhat Fisheries o� ce, the district is a home to about 82,000 shrimp enclosures, of which 36,000 are ‘Bagda’ (saltwater shrimp) and 46,000 are ‘Golda’ (freshwater prawn).

At Durgapur area under Chitolmari upazila, thousands of mounds of snail shells are burnt every night using � rewood.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Chitolmari upazila shrimp farmer Rezaul Khan said more than 50 trucks and trawlers loaded with snails arrive at di� erent warehouses of Chitolmari,

Fakirhaat and Mollahaat every day. A factory named ‘Shobita Chun Ghor’

had been set up just two-and-a-half km away from Chitolmari Upazila Sadar where a large furnace had been set up for producing lime, he said.

Schoolteacher Md Shafayet Hossain resident of village nearby the factory said a huge plume of smoke covers the surrounding areas once the furnace is lit.

People living within two-kilometer radius often � nd it di� cult to sleep at night because of the acrid odor of the burnt shells, he said.

When contacted, owner of Shobita Chun Ghor Shomvu Sutradhor said he purchases shells of snails and wood from traders to run his business.

“I light the furnace at night as it does not cause much harm to people,” he said.

Shomvu said he hired people when he faced problems to run business all by himself. Chitolmari Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Lulu Bilkis Banu said she had been posted to the town very recently and was not yet aware of any such issues.

“If the incident is true, we would take steps in this regard very soon,” she said.

Inspector of Khulna Divisional Environment Department Md Ra� qul Islam a permit from the environment department is needed prior to produce lime.

Besides, it is illegal to cut down trees to use them as � rewood, he added.

When asked if Shomvu had obtained a permit yet, deputy director of Bagerhat district environment department Sukumar Saha told he was not sure at that moment.

“Legal actions would be taken against Shomvu if he had violated the rules,” Sukumar said. l

Woman gang raped in Lalmonirhatn Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat

A woman was gang raped in Dakhkhin Balapara village of Aditmari upazila under the district yesterday.

The victim was rescued in an unconscious condition and admitted to Aditmari Upazila Health Complex.

A gang of people broke into the house of the victim Friday dawn when her husband was out and took the full advantage of the situation.

Local and family sources said the gang broke open the house door and violated the woman in the absence of her husband who was a local rice trader.

Residential Medical O� cer Dr Mahfuzur Rahman of the upazila health complex said the woman regained her conscious but was not out of danger. l

NEWS IN BRIEF

Hapless Mahir Uddin sitting on the bank of the Teesta River yesterday. His homestead has been devoured recently DHAKA TRIBUNE

Number of TB patients on the rise in Fenin Our Correspondent, Feni

An increasing number of people are be-ing diagnosed with tuberculosis in the coastal district of Feni each year.

Many of the patients have died over the last few years because of their re-luctance to comply with a long-term treatment regimen, according to the district health department.

In the � rst six months of 2013, over a thousand people have already been di-agnosed with tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, while 1,399 patients were identi� ed in 2011 and 1,491 patients in 2010.

The information was announced by health department o� cials at a work-shop, jointly organized by the depart-ment and Brac.

Organizers of the workshop, how-ever, did not disclose the number of fatalities caused by the disease.

Brac o� cials said patients su� ering

from TB died because of their unwill-ingness to receive long-term treatment.

A good number of people in Feni are permanent residents of the coastal areas, which remain moist most of the year, sources at the district civil sur-geon o� ce said, adding that “cold en-vironment provides congenial environ-ment for the breakout of the disease.”

The district has 174 centres where cough is collected and 11 peripheral laboratories where the cough is tested to diagnose the disease. Besides, a total of 81 Brac workers are providing treat-ment to 877 TB patients at present.

Feni district civil surgeon Dr Jakir Hossain said, although the treatment of TB is a long-term process, the dis-ease can be cured if patients take their medicine timely and properly.

Tuberculosis is a contagious disease, spreading through air from one person to another. TB germs spread when in-fected people cough, sneeze or spit. l

A boat rally was held in the Shitalakshya River yesterday, demanding exemplary punishment for killers of Twoki FOCUS BANGLA

The dredging work in the Garai was started in 1996 during the tenure of the then Awami League government to restore navigability of the river, involving Tk4.2bn. But due to lack of proper management the work remained incomplete

Metro 7DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

Firewood traders occupy walkwaysn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Pavements along a busy road of Mo-hammadpur remains occupied for over a year now, with makeshift houses il-legally built by a group of labours and small traders.

Although the pavement along Ga-jnabi Road in Mohammadpur falls un-der the authority of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), no permission was sought before allocating the make-shift houses on the pavement.

Labours involved in roads and sew-erage line repairing work in the area, built the houses over a year ago. The conductors instructed them to go for makeshift arrangements on the pave-ment for staying near the construction sites, told some of the labours.

Mohammad Selim, a local shop owner said: “The labours built the houses a long time ago.

The contractors told that they would evacuate the pavements once the con-

struction work was over. Although the construction work was over six months ago, they are yet to shift from the pave-ment.”

“These establishments have created huge inconvenience for the pedestri-ans as they have to walk on the roads

risking lives. It also causes tra� c con-gestion in the adjoining areas, “he said.

Residents of the area alleged that they cannot move on the pavements as one side is occupied by the labours while the other is occupied by � rewood

traders.Seeking anonymity, another resi-

dent of the same area said: “The con-tractors are very powerful, as they are leaders of di� erent associate organisa-tions of the ruling party.”

“Police came to the spot to demolish the illegal structures but could not take any action due to obstacle from the contractors,” he said.

Some � rewood and coal traders are running their businesses by occupying the walkway on the other side of the road and giving rents to the contrac-tors, some locals alleged

While visiting the area, this corre-spondent found some illegal establish-ments on the walkway opposite to Ge-neva Bihari Camp in the area.

Moreover, construction of same kind of establishment was going on at another spot at a little distance from the existing once.

Md Belal Hossain, a labour who re-sides in one of the makeshift houses,

said: “I came here just four days ago. The contractor told me to stay here. I don’t know anything else about the es-tablishments.”

Besides labours of the construction sites, some outsiders including � re-wood traders also reside in the make-shift houses on the pavement.

Babul Mollah, a � rewood trader said, “The establishment was built more than a year ago so I also started living with them and have been run-ning business.”

When asked about the contractor’s identity, both Belal and Babul said they did not know the name of the contrac-tor.

BM Enamul Haque, chief executive o� cer of Dhaka North City Corpora-tion (DNCC) told the Dhaka Tribune: “We were not informed about the al-leged encroachments in the area. We will penalize the contractors if found encroachment of the footpaths, after inspection.” l

Suspected mugger killed in Tongin Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A suspected mugger was lynched by a mob on the Dhaka-Mymensingh high-way in Khalpara, Tongi early yesterday.

The deceased was identi� ed as Khan Babu, 30, of Tongi Bazar.

O� cer in charge (OC) of Tongi police station Abul Kalam Azad said Babu was a professional mugger. He tried to rob someone around 1am on the highway but locals alerted by his cries for help caught Babu and beat him unconscious.

The OC said a duty doctor at Tongi Hospital declared Babu dead and the body was sent to Gazipur Sadar Hospi-tal for post mortem. l

Dhaka-Barisal bus service suspended in Gabtolin Our Correspondent, Barisal

Barisal  Bus  Owners  Association sus-pended the service of passenger buses from Barisal region to Gabtoli terminal of Dhaka from Thursday night.

Dipak  Chandra  Das, vice presi-dent  of the bus  owners  association, said the owners stopped bus operation after local people ransacked a bus of Eagle  Paribahon  following  death of a motorcyclist on Thursday.

The accident occurred when the mo-torcycle had a collision with a minibus of Eagle Paribahon which was provided by the company to take passengers into the city. Aftab Hossain, president of the own-ers association, said after the incident, the owners association directed to stop plying of buses in Gabtoli terminal inde� nitely.

Meanwhile, cancelling bus trips from Barisal region, without any prior notice, created su� erings of Dhaka  bound pas-sengers and increased rush to  Sayedabad bus terminal and water transports. l

Dacoit leader held in Buriganga Rivern BSS, Dhaka

Police yesterday caught red-handed the leader of a gang of dacoits while committing robbery at sand-laden ves-sels in Kholmora area in the Buriganga River, police said.

The gang leader was identi� ed as Md Abdul Mannan, 32, an accused in eight criminal cases, o� cer-in-charge (OC) of Keraniganj model police station Shahjahan said. l

RCC councilor arrested in vandalism case n Tribune Desk

Police detained a councilor of of Ra-jshahi City Corporation (RCC) from Noboganga area under Rajpara police station in the city Thursday night.

The arrested Monsur Ali is the coun-cilor of Ward No 1 of the city corporation.

Alamgir Hossain, o� cer-in-charge of Detective Branch (DB) of RMP, said a DB police team arrested him in con-nection with a case of attacking and vandalizing of a businessman’s private chamber in Guripara area.

He added that some local miscre-ants attacked Rajab Ali’s private cham-ber and damaged it on Tuesday. Subse-quently, a case was recorded with the police station implicating Monsur Ali. As sequel to the attack, the miscreants group had again launched an armed-at-tack on Shahen Alam alias Shahen Shah, younger brother of Rajab Ali, at the same area on the following day.

Later on, Shahen Shah succumbed to his injuries at Rajshahi Medical Col-lege Hospital, OC Alamgir added. l

Three-day holiday for Durga Puja demandedn BSS, Chittagong

The members of the Hindu community in the port city demanded three-day gov-ernment holiday on the occasion of their largest religious festival Durga Puja.

They also put forward di� erent demands including reservation of 60 seats in the parliament, introduction of separate electoral system and estab-lishment of a ministry for the minority communities.

The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance came up with the de-mands at a human chain held at Chit-tagong Press Club premises in the morning.

The speakers in the human chain alleged that the members of the Hindu community in the country are deprived of equal rights and facilities as ensured in the constitution for the members of all religions.

The speakers also warned of tough-er programmes from the grand rally in Dhaka in October next and demanded for introduction of a ministry for the minority communities and induction of a full-� edged minister into the cab-inet from the communities. l

Seashores to get tourist police n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) is going to form a separate police unit that will be charged with maintaining law and order and protecting biodiversity on the two seashores of the port city.

A proposal in this regard was sent to the police headquarters in March and is currently “under consideration,” sources familiar with the process said.

The proposal stated that Patenga and Parki beaches, despite being two popular tourist destinations, have no separate law enforcing agency to en-sure security for the tourists, protect marine biodiversity and check environ-mental pollution.

The combined length of the two beaches is around 27 kilometres – Pat-enga with a 17-km stretch of beach and Parki with a 10-km stretch. In addition, there are two approach roads, about 15 kilometres long, connecting the beaches.

For such large areas of land and the gigantic tasks that are involved, there

are only 114 o� cials who belong to the nearby Patenga and Karnaphuli police stations, said sources.

In the proposal report, it was said that tourists cannot stay on the beaches

after a certain time of the day because of safety concerns emanating from lack of security personnel.

It also mentioned that the number of visitors would increase “manifold” if the proposed Karnaphuli tunnel – which would also connect the beaches – is constructed, requiring further at-tention to security.

To meet all these challenges, CMP proposed appointing 537 security per-

sonnel, including 150 female, under the tourist police unit and other sup-port sta� for the beaches, said sources.

The proposed unit would be led by a deputy commissioner and be divided into three subzones, each headed by an assistant commissioner.

Also, 12 police outposts would be set up under the jurisdiction of Patenga and Karnaphuli police stations.

“It is necessary to form a special po-lice unit for expansion of our beach-cen-tric tourism industry and better con-servation of biodiversity,” said Banaj Kumar Majumdar, an additional com-missioner for crime at the CMP.

“The proposed unit would be espe-cially trained for the purposes,” said Banaj, who helped form a similar unit in Cox’s Bazar during his tenure as the district’s superintendent of police.

Besides, the tourist police can be made use of in providing information regarding tourist facilities and helping coastal people in the event of any natu-ral disaster, he added. l

Dredging stressed for restoring navigability in riversn BSS, Dhaka

Hydrologists and o� cials have stressed the need for carrying out dredging to remove silts and sediments on the river beds for restoring navigability.

Every year huge amount of sed-iment deposits on the river-beds in Bangladesh. The siltation thus caused, hinders navigation, experts told a workshop at the BRAC Centre Inn in the city recently.

Centre for Environmental and Geo-graphic Information Services (CEGIS) organised the workshop on “CEGIS ex-pertise to face the Challenges in Main-taining the Navigability in the Complex River and Estuary Systems of Bangla-desh”.

Shipping Secretary Syed Monjurul Islam, Chairman of Mongla Port Au-thority commodore HR Bhuiyan, Ex-ecutive Director of CEGIS Engineer Md

Waji Ullah and deputy executive direc-tor Dr Maminul Haque Sarker, among others, addressed the workshop.

Monjurul underscored the need for taking comprehensive study on river morphology for better sediment man-agement.

Maminul said dredging is notthe only solution to maintain nav-igability. Other adaptive measuresshould be taken to solve the problem, he added.

Other speakers said the country had 24,000 km long waterways in the past, but siltation on the river-beds ham-pered navigability of the water ways.

At present, the country has 5,968 km navigable waterways during the monsoon while 3,865 km during dry season.

To maintain the navigability in the rivers, massive dredging o peration is required on yearly basis, they said. l

Strong local government a must for � ourishing democracy n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Strengthening capacities and trans-forming local government institutions is necessary for them to play an instru-mental role as functional, democratic and transparent entities, said speakers at a workshop.

Stressing the need for drastic re-forms of existing local government structures, speakers urged the govern-ment to amend related laws so elected representatives are able to work e� ec-tively and independently.

The observations were made at an Up-azila Governance Project (UZGP) work-shop titled “Service and Policies of Local Government Institutions” held in Barisal.

Participants said the government must take credible steps to strengthen lo-cal governance and it is crucial for citizens to be empowered so they can demand

quality service delivery in a transparent, accountable and inclusive manner.

The programme organised by the Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Develop-ment and Cooperatives, is part of the project for which the European Union (EU), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) are providing � nancial and technical assistance.

Presided over by Barisal Divisional Commissioner Nurul Amin, over 200 participants attended, comprising of local o� cials and general citizens, rep-resentatives of non-government organ-isations and civil society.

Participants came up with a set of rec-ommendations to remove overlapping functions in government departments

and local government institutions. These included changing the exist-

ing system where chairmen and may-ors dominate a proto-type presidential system, into a parliamentary model, and curtailing MPs’ power over local bodies.

Participants suggested improved service-orientation, especially in ar-eas related to health, education, agri-culture, � sheries, livestock, poverty alleviation and gender development, instead of focussing on physical infra-structure development.

The keynote paper was presented by UZGP’s national technical advisor Dr Tofail Ahmed. While Md Shah Ka-mal, additional secretary (admin) and Shaila Khan, assistant country director and head of Local Governance Cluster, UNDP Bangladesh were present as spe-cial guests at the workshop. l

More schemes needed to eradicate urban poverty in Rajshahin Tribune Desk

In the wake of gradual rising of slum, poor and extreme poor people, more schemes needed to eradicate urban poverty in the city alongside eliminat-ing other poverty linked social crimes especially addiction of drugs and its tra� cking, speakers at a meeting said.

They also viewed the activities of Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduc-tion Project (UPPRP) should be more meaningful and e� ective so that its bene� ciaries particularly women can derive its total bene� ts.

Local Government Engineering De-partment has been implementing the project in the metropolis in association with UNDP and � nancial and technical supports from UKaid and UNHabitat. l

Makeshift houses on pavements compelling pedestrians to take the streets at capital’s Mohammadpur area NASHIRUL ISLAM

Children taking part in a painting competition at the National Museum in the city yesterday, marking the 38th death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman FOCUS BANGLA

‘The proposed unit would be especially trained for the purposes,’ said Banaj, who helped form a similar unit in Cox’s Bazar during his tenure as the district’s superintendent of police

Labours involved in roads and sewerage line repairing work in the area, built the houses over a year ago. The conductors instructed them to go for makeshift arrangements on the pavement for staying near the construction sites, told some of the labours

China’s ‘smiling face’ official on trial for graftA Chinese o� cial with a penchant for luxury watches who sparked outrage after he was pictured smiling at the scene of a fatal accident went on trial on Friday for corruption, reports said. Yang Dacai was dubbed “Brother Watch” by Chinese Internet users after images of him wearing various luxury brand watches were tracked down and circu-lated online.He came under scrutiny from furious netizens after he was pictured grinning broadly as he assessed the twisted wreckage of a bus and a methanol tanker following an accident which left 36 people dead last year.

Mexico detains cartel operator tied to 350 murdersPolice have detained a drug cartel op-erator in northern Mexico suspected of being responsible for the killing of more than 350 people found in 23 clandes-tine graves, authorities said Thursday. Mario Nunez Meza, 39, was captured on Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez, which borders Texas, without a shot being � red, federal security spokesman Eduardo Sanchez told a news confer-ence. Sanchez said Nunez is a “close collaborator” of Mexico’s most wanted man, Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Nunez played a key role in the wave of violence that has plagued the northern states of Chihua-hua and Durango in recent years.

Thai village under siege from marauding monkeysAround 150 households in the shrimp farming community in Chachoengsao province on the east coast, 80 kilome-tres from Bangkok, have su� ered raids by so-called “sea monkeys” – long-tailed

macaques – for about a decade. An increasing number of shrimp farms, coupled with the associated deforesta-tion, is thought to be behind a surge in monkeys venturing into built-up areas. “They creep into my house when they see me sleeping, they go into the kitch-en and take cooking oil, sugar and even the medicines that I hide in a cabinet,” said Chaluay Khamkajit.

25,000 fail Liberia college entrance examSome 25,000 students have failed in the entrance examination of University of this year. Some of the applicants are accusing the university of fraud, and are organising a march Friday to demand a refund of their exam fees — nearly $30 per student. In previous years, candidates had been graded on a curve. Around 300 met the math requirement, but no students met the requirements in English, said S Momolu Getaweh, the university’s public relations chief. O� cials declined to provide copies of the test, which was a multiple-choice exam.

Dozens hurt as Thai airliner hits turbulenceMore than 50 passengers and crew were injured Friday when a Thai Airways A380 superjumbo hit severe turbulence during a � ight from Bangkok to Hong Kong, the carrier said. One stewardess su� ered a broken collarbone, while the other injuries were minor such as bruises, a Thai Airways o� cial who did not want to be named told AFP. About 500 passengers were on board the plane at the time of the incident, which happened as it was preparing to land at Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport shortly after midday.

WORLD WATCH

Saturday, August 31, 20138 DHAKA TRIBUNE International

Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Iraq bombingsn Reuters, Baghdad

An al Qaeda a� liate claimed responsi-bility for a series of bombings in Bagh-dad and other areas of Iraq  in retalia-tion for the execution of Sunni Muslim prisoners, according to an Internet statement on Friday.

Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks across Iraq in recent weeks in the worst wave of sectarian bloodshed in the country for at least � ve years. Just last week, car bombs, roadside bombs and shootings have killed at least 100 people.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) said in a statement it had acted in response to the prisoner kill-ings, an apparent reference to the exe-cution of 17 people in Iraq this month, most convicted on terrorism charges.

“We will avenge the blood of our brothers,” said the statement, posted on a website used by Islamist militants.

An insurgency by Sunni Islamist mil-

itants, including the local branch of al Qaeda, against Iraq’s Shi’ite-led govern-ment, has been gaining momentum 18 months after the last US troops withdrew.

The Islamic State of Iraq has signi� -cantly increased its attacks this year. More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the  United Nations.

More than two years of civil war in neighbouring  Syria  have aggravated deep-rooted sectarian divisions and shaken Iraq’s fragile coalition of Shi’ite, Kurdish and Sunni factions.

The renewed violence has sparked fears of a return to the large-scale sec-tarian slaughter in 2006 and 2007. l

Sri Lanka relieves o� cers over killing of villagersn AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s army on Friday reprimand-ed senior o� cers accused of leading a deadly crackdown earlier this month on villagers who were demonstrating against contaminated water, the mili-tary said.

Four o� cers were stripped of their command pending the outcome of a judicial inquiry into the incident in which troops opened � re and allegedly later beat up villagers demanding clean drinking water.

“The commander of the army has or-dered to relieve four senior o� cers... from their duties with immediate ef-fect,” the military said in a statement, which coincided with this week’s visit by the United Nations human rights chief.

Three villagers were killed in the shooting on August 1 just outside the capital, which sparked international concern.

Military o� cials said the four o� -cers would retain their pay and remain

within their units, until the outcome of the inquiry.

The archbishop of Colombo was among those who condemned the mil-itary-led attacks that also wounded more than 50 residents of the village of Weliweriya.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said at the time that troops had also violated the sanctity of a local church by beating up people who rushed there to escape the army shooting.

The army has said it was forced to respond after coming under attack.

Witnesses told a Sri Lankan judge heading an inquiry on Thursday that soldiers stormed the church, and or-dered some of the people – including children – to kneel down, before beat-ing them with sticks.

Troops were also accused of open-ing � re inside the church compound, the inquiry heard on Thursday.

The army’s statement comes as United Nations rights chief Navi Pillay was expected to wind down her week-long fact-� nding mission to the island to probe alleged war crimes.

Pillay was set to meet with Pres-ident Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday evening before leaving the island on Saturday after holding a news confer-ence.

She is visiting Sri Lanka in con-nection with allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 civilians in the final stages of the war against Tamil rebels in 2009. Sri Lanka has denied that its troops were responsible for killing civilians or committing any war crimes. l

France still willing to strike Syria despite ‘no-go’ by UK parliament n AP, Paris

French President Francois Hollande expressed willingness Friday to push ahead with plans to strike Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons de-spite the British parliament’s rejection of military action. “The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpun-ished,” Hollande said in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, pub-lished Friday, as UN experts in Damas-cus began what is expected to be the last day of their probe into the alleged attack.

The French president reiterated that France wants “proportional and � rm action.” When asked about the type of intervention, however, he said “all op-tions are on the table.”

Hollande suggested that action could even come ahead of Wednes-day’s extraordinary session of the French Parliament, called to discuss the Syria situation; lawmakers’ approv-al is not needed for Hollande to order military action.

“I will not take a decision before having all the elements that would justify it,” he told Le Monde. However, noting that he had convened parlia-ment, he added: “And if I have already committed France, the government will inform lawmakers of the means and objectives.”

The British parliament voted late Thursday against military action in Syria, whittling down the core of the planned coalition to the United States and France.

The British ‘no’ vote raised ques-

tions about France’s participation - and ratcheted up pressure on US President Barack Obama, who is also facing do-mestic skepticism about military inter-vention in Syria.

Obama appeared undeterred by the di� culties forming an international coalition, and advisers said he would be willing to retaliate against Syria on his own.

France has more intimate ties to Syria, having once ruled the country; it also has warplanes and strategic in-terest in the region. Paris has embraced the Syrian opposition and urged a � rm response against Assad over the pur-ported August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus. But Hollande appears to be facing increasing politi-cal and public resistance against mov-ing against Syria quickly.

Hollande said France is among the few nations capable of “in� icting a sanction by the appropriate means” and “it is ready.” But a decision will be made in close coordination with allies, he added.

French military analysts say France’s most likely role would be from the air, including use of Scalp cruise missiles that have a range of about 500 kilome-tres, � red from Mirage and Rafale � ght-er jets. French � ghters could likely � y directly from mainland France.

France also has six Rafale jets at Al Dhafra air base, near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf, and 7 Mirage-2000 jets at an air base in Djibouti, on the Red Sea.

Hollande reiterated that any action is aimed at punishing the regime of Bashar Assad, not toppling him. l

US discusses ‘facts’ on Syria with allies n AP, Manila

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday the Obama administration was consulting with allies to “further devel-op the facts” about last week’s alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, and options for a response.

Speaking at a news conference in Manila, Hagel said the administration also would continue to seek input from members of Congress on how the US should respond to the deadly attack.

Hagel said Thursday’s consultation by high-level Obama administration of-� cials with congressional leaders was “not to convince anyone of anything.” He said it was intended as an update and a chance to solicit lawmakers’ views on possible US military or other action.

“As we continue to consult with our

allies, we’ll further develop the facts and intelligence on what happened,” he said.

President Barack Obama on Thurs-day prepared for the possibility of launching unilateral American military action against Syria within days. Asked what Syrian President Bashar Assad could do now to avoid a US strike, Ha-gel said, “I have not been informed of any change in the Assad regime’s posi-tion on any issue.”

When asked about the UK parlia-ment’s decision, he said: “We’ll con-tinue to work with Britain and consult with Britain as we are with all our al-lies. As to international e� ort and col-laboration, it is the goal of President Obama and our government that what-ever decision is taken that it be an in-ternational collaboration and e� ort.”

Myanmar activist jailed for copper mine protestn AFP, Yangon

Myanmar has jailed an activist for two years in connection with protests over a controversial mine project, her law-yer said Friday, despite the regime’s pledge to free all political prisoners.

Naw Ohn Hla, 49, was convicted for public order o� ences in the town of Monywa, where the Chinese-backed Letpadaung mine has triggered � erce opposition from local villagers.

The activist, who has been arrested a number of times in the past for her activ-ities, was detained on August 13 after her request to stage a protest was denied, her lawyer Robert San Aung said.

Rights campaigners have expressed concern at the continuing arrest of ac-tivists opposed to the mine in recent months, despite a pledge by reformist

President Thein Sein to free all political detainees by the end of this year.

A botched raid on a protest at the copper mine last November sparked an outpouring of anger after police used phosphorus against demonstrators, in the harshest crackdown since the end of military rule.

In July this year o� cials said the terms of the mine deal with Chinese � rm Wanbao had been revised, in an apparent attempt to assuage public an-ger by giving the nation a share of the pro� ts.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is normally venerated around the country, was heckled by villagers ear-lier this year after she recommended that the mine be allowed to go ahead, despite concerns over its environmen-tal impact and land-grabbing. l

Saudi passes � rst domestic abuse lawn Reuters, Dubai

Saudi Arabia has passed landmark leg-islation aimed at protecting women, children and domestic workers against domestic abuse.The “Protection from Abuse” law is the � rst of its kind in the ultra-conser-vative country, which has often faced international criticism for lacking laws that protect women against abuse. The law was approved during a cabinet meeting on August 26.

Under the 17-article bill, those found guilty of committing psycholog-ical or physical abuse could face prison sentences of up to one year and up to $13,300 in � nes.

“This is a good law that serves major segments of the society in the kingdom, including women, children, domestic workers and non-domestic workers,” Khaled al-Fakher, secretary general of the National Society for Human Rights, a government-licensed body, said.

Previously, domestic violence

against women, children or domestic workers was treated under a general penal code based on Islamic sharia law.

Judges were left to decide according to their understanding of sharia codes, which were seen as permitting mild application of violence against “dis-obedient” wives and generally treated

domestic violence as a private matter.“We are always in favour of an explicit

law that does not need interpretations or personal judgment,” said Fakher, whose organisation helped draft the law.

The Supreme Judicial Council in 2007 condemned a 19-year-old wom-an to 200 lashes and six months in jail

on a charge of having been with a man she was not related to after she was attacked and gang-raped. She was par-doned by King Abdullah.

Fakher said one reason domestic violence was rampant in Saudi Arabia was because tribal traditions prevent-ed women from reporting abuse for fear of social stigma.

“Women think what the community would say about her if she � led a com-plaint,” he said.

The law gives those who report abuse the right to remain anonymous, as well as immunity from litigation should abuse fail to be proven in a court. It also urges witnesses to report abuse without having to disclose their identity, which Fakher said is a signif-icant part of the law. Rights activist Waleed Abu al-Khair said the new law gives women some independence.

“Women were required to bring in a male relative if they showed up at a police station,” Abu al-Khair said. “this will not now be necessary.” l

Russia has a hand in Syrian chemical arsenal: Polandn AFP, Warsaw

Poland’s foreign minister on Friday said Russia was responsible for Syr-ia’s Soviet-era chemical weapons and could use its clout to impact the course of the country’s con� ict.

“Russia keeps stressing that it is against the use of chemical weapons, but we know the Syrian arsenal dates back to the days of the USSR. It’s Soviet technology,” Foreign Minister Rado-slaw Sikorski told reporters in Warsaw. “I think that if Russia were to say that it will assure control over Syria’s arsenal

of chemical weapons, it could have an e� ect on how the situation develops.”

The United States and allies such as France are in favour of a military in-tervention against the Syrian regime, which they accuse of using chemical weapons in attacks outside Damascus that activists say killed hundreds of people last week.

Russia for its part said military ac-tion without UN approval would deal a major blow to the existing world order and was unlikely to bring stability and calm to its ally Syria and the Middle East as a whole. l

Witnesses told a Sri Lankan judge heading an inquiry on Thursday that soldiers stormed the church, and ordered some of the people – including children – to kneel down, before beating them with sticks

Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks across Iraq in recent weeks in the worst wave of sectarian bloodshed in the country Saudi women have previously had no recourse to � rm legal action after abuse AFP

Frenh Navy frigate Chevalier Paul at sea in the Mediterranean. The French military is ready to commit forces to an operation in Syria AP

Activists pray at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, on the ninth month anniversary of a crackdown at Letpadaung copper mine AP

Indonesian minister calls for Miss World to be cancelledn AFP, Jakarta

Indonesia’s religious a� airs minister has called for the Miss World beauty pageant to be cancelled, as opposi-tion in the Muslim-majority country mounts the week before the contest opens in Bali.

Suryadharma Ali said that the or-ganisers should follow the advice of the nation’s top Islamic clerical body, which last week called for the contest to be scrapped even after organisers agreed to axe the bikini round.

“The Indonesian Ulema Council has expressed strong opposition to Miss World because it doesn’t � t with Islam-ic teachings that say Muslim women should cover immodest parts of their bodies,” the minister said in a state-ment late Thursday.

The minister is the � rst government o� cial to publicly voice opposition to the pageant, dealing a fresh blow to the Britain-based organisers.

His statement came the same day a commissioner from the country’s Na-

tional Human Rights Commission said he opposed an event that “put wom-en’s bodies on display.”

The local organisers were not fazed by the minister’s comments however, saying the issue was not his domain and that “the show must go on.”

“This is not an Islamic country and this event is an issue of culture, not reli-gion,” Adjie S. Soeratmadjie, corporate secretary of broadcaster and local or-ganiser RCTI, told AFP, adding several other ministers supported Miss World.

While Indonesia is a Muslim-majori-

ty nation, its constitution is not Islamic and recognises several religions.

The organisers revealed in June that the famed bikini round was being axed for the pageant in Indonesia in a bid to avoid causing o� ence, and contestants would instead wear Balinese sarongs.

Nevertheless, hardline group Islam-ic Defenders Front has not been ap-peased and still plans to hold protests on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, where the pageant’s � nal will be held on September 28.

The competition opens on Septem-ber 8 in Bali, a Hindu-majority island known for its many beaches where fe-male tourists from around the world sunbathe in skimpy bikinis with few problems.

Hardline groups in Indonesia have forced the cancellation of events deemed “un-Islamic” in the past.

Last year pop star Lady Gaga pulled out of the Indonesian leg of her tour af-ter hardliners threatened to burn down the venue and criticised her for wear-ing only “a bra and panties.” l

InternationalDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013 9

Nobel Literature laureate Seamus Heaney diesn AFP, Dublin

Irish writer Seamus Heaney, who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, has died at the age of 74 on Friday.

Heaney was awarded the prize “for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.” His family is ex-pected to issue a statement later.

Northern Ireland-born Heaney pub-lished his � rst collection of poems, “Death of a Naturalist,” in 1966 and went on to become one of the English language’s leading poets.

Heaney was the professor of poetry at Oxford University between 1989 and 1994. l

Five rebels killed in Indian Kashmir, policen AFP, Srinagar

Indian police and troops killed � ve sus-pected rebels in an overnight gun bat-tle Friday in a forested area of northern Kashmir, triggering anti-India protests by local residents, police said.

Police and an army contingent be-gan a joint operation around midnight near the Najwan forests, 35 kilometres (20 miles) north of Srinagar, the sum-mer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

“The group of militants was leaving one forest area for another when we intercepted and challenged them. All the � ve were killed in the ensuing � re-� ght,” superintendent of police Shahid Meraj told AFP.

He said all � ve rebels had come from Pakistan-administered Kashmir around a year earlier and belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest Kash-miri militant group � ghting Indian forces in the region.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan by a heavily militarised line of control (LoC) since the two countries won independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the disputed Himalayan territory in full.

About a dozen rebel groups have been � ghting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or merger of the ter-ritory with Pakistan. The � ghting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

Militants are threatening an “un-precedented” surge in attacks on Indi-an targets as battle-hardened � ghters from Afghanistan prepare to target the region, according to rebel leaders on the Pakistan side.

During the last two months, the In-dian army claims to have killed 28 reb-els in various gun battles near the for-ested areas of northern Kashmir.

Hundreds of residents gathered in the area after Friday’s deaths chanting “We want freedom” after the bodies of the � ve men were handed over to them for burial.

In a separate incident Friday night, the army claimed to have thwarted a bid by an unknown number of rebels to in� ltrate from across the LoC in Akhnoor, 340 kilometres southwest of Srinagar.

According to the Indian army at-tempts by rebels to in� ltrate into In-dian Kashmir this summer have more than doubled compared to the same period last year. l

Afghanistan suicide attack kills Kunduz district governor, civiliansn Reuters, Kunduz, Afghanistan

A suicide attack in Afghanistan’s north-ern Kunduz province killed a district gov-ernor, one of his bodyguards and 10 civil-ians at a memorial service at a mosque on Friday, government o� cials said.

It was the latest in a string of attacks this week across Afghanistan, where insurgents are seeking to destabilize the government ahead of the with-drawal of most international troops by the end of 2014.

The group in Kunduz was attending a ceremony for a tribal elder who had died the day before, the o� cials said. The dis-trict governor, Sheikh Sadruddin, had been in his position since 2002 and been active in the � ght against the Taliban.

“O� cials ... were attending prayers in a mosque when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives,” said Enayat-ullah Khaliq, a spokesman for the Kun-duz governor.

Twenty people were also wounded in the morning blast, police said.

Government o� cials and aid groups working with government ministries

and Afghan security forces have been targeted in reprisal killings this week in provinces previously regarded as rela-tively stable. Six men who worked for a development program were executed in western Herat, one of Afghanistan’s more stable provinces with a prosper-ous private sector that is helping to drive the national economy.

The toll on security forces this week has also been high. An ambush in west-

ern Farah killed 15 policemen and an-other four were killed in Ghazni in the east in a Taliban attack on an interna-tional military base. Several soldiers were also killed in Helmand, a Taliban stronghold in the south.

Civilians however continue to bear the brunt of the war, with about 20 killed in attacks during the week, and more than 50 wounded in the Ghazni attack alone. l

Australia investigates elite troops over Taliban corpse mutilationn Reuters, Canberra

Australia’s military is investigating a unit of special forces soldiers accused of mutilating the corpses of one or more insurgents killed during opera-tions in Afghanistan, Australian state television reported on Friday.

The incident, in which the hands were allegedly cut from the body of at least one of four militants killed, took place during an operation involving Afghan forces and elite Australian sol-diers in the southeastern province of Zabul on April 28.

The hands were taken back to the main Australian base at Tirin Kot, in nearby Uruzgan province, for identi� -

cation and � ngerprinting, the ABC said.An investigator from the Austra-

lian military had previously lectured a group of special forces soldiers and told them it did not matter how � nger-prints were taken, and that they could cut o� the hands of the dead for � nger-printing, the ABC said.

Australia’s military declined to con-� rm details of the incident, but said in a statement sent to Reuters that an investigation was underway into “an incident of potential misconduct” in-volving special forces soldiers.

“Following the mission, an incident of potential misconduct was raised through the Australian Defense Force’s internal command chain,” the military

said statement said. “The ADF takes any potential occurrence of misconduct by Australian personnel very seriously.”

The mutilation of insurgent corpses by members of the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan has previously trig-gered complaints and unrest and in the con� ict-racked nation, although often news of incidents takes days to trigger protests.

British troops were investigated in 2011 over accusations a soldier cut the � ngers from a dead insurgent and kept them as trophies, while US paratroops belonging to the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division were in 2012 accused of posing for photos with the dismembered bod-ies of insurgent bombers. l

Malaysia’s opposition signals willingness to work with governmentn Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia’s opposition indicated on Fri-day it was softening its stand towards the government for the � rst time since a dis-puted May election, saying it was willing to help tackle a range of problems.

The opposition led by former � -nance minister Anwar Ibrahim has re-fused to accept the election victory of the ruling coalition, which extended its 56-year rule but saw its parliamentary majority reduced.

Anwar said in an Independence Day message that the opposition main-tained its “strong protests about the validity” of the vote, but, for the � rst time, he indicated willingness to heal divisions the election brought.

“We are prepared to put aside our di� erences for the sake of the nation’s wellbeing and future,” Anwar said.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s coali-tion lost the popular vote in the election,

although it still won the most seats, and the opposition maintains it was cheated out of victory by widespread fraud. It has yet to concede defeat.

Anwar listed problems facing the country including � agging public � -nances, slowing economic growth,

surging rates of crime and corruption. He also referred to an increasing num-

ber of media reports of “race baiting.” “Not only is there a lack of leader-

ship in ameliorating the situation but it appears that the government is encour-aging this phenomenon to worsen,” Anwar said.

Relations between majority ethnic Malays and ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indian minorities are a sensitive issue.

Ethnic Malays tend to support the ruling coalition while many members of the economically important ethnic Chinese minority rallied to the opposi-tion in the last polls.

“We believe that it is imperative for the prime minister to convene without the slightest delay a round-table meet-ing between the ... government and Pakatan Rakyat in order to deliberate on the issues raised and formulate a comprehensive solution,” Anwar said, referring to the alliance he heads. l

One of India’s most-wanted militants in police custodyn AFP, New Delhi

One of India’s most-wanted men, al-leged militant Yasin Bhatkal, appeared in a New Delhi court on Friday, follow-ing his arrest over a string of attacks that have killed hundreds.

Bhatkal, one of the alleged co-founders of militant group the In-dian Mujahideen, was remanded in police custody for 12 days, allowing investigators time to question him over a series of bomb blasts in recent years.

Wearing a black hood over his head and surrounded by armed police, Bhatkal, said to be in his 30s, did not say anything to waiting media as he was escorted in handcu� s into Patiala House court.

His alleged associate, Asadullah Akhtar, who was arrested along with Bhatkal on the porous India-Nepal bor-der on Wednesday night, also appeared in court.

The pair were earlier Friday � own on a special plane from eastern Bihar state, following their arrest over at-tacks including in the Indian cities of

Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Pune.

Bhatkal, who eluded police for years, apparently gave himself away after sending money home during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as

well as speaking to his wife in tapped phone calls earlier this month, NDTV said.

India’s federal police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), told the Delhi court they needed time to inter-rogate Bhatkal, and his accomplice, including taking him back to previous crime scenes in several Indian cities, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

“These accused persons are re-quired for custodial interrogation in the case to unearth the larger con-spiracy to e� ect the recoveries and getting leads for the arrest of other absconding co-accused persons,” the NIA said in its application to the court for remand.

Bhatkal has been named as a co-con-spirator over a bomb attack on the Ger-man Bakery restaurant in the western city of Pune in 2010 which killed 17 people including � ve foreigners.

His arrest is another success for the Indian security forces following the detention earlier this month of alleged top militant Abdul Karim Tunda.

A top police o� cer in Bihar state

said Bhatkal and Akhtar were arrest-ed following a covert operation that included putting them under surveil-lance for the last several months as they moved back and forth across the border.

“Bhatkal and Akhtar were arrested following a tip-o� from central intelli-gence agencies,” Ravinder Kumar said.

Bhatkal, from the southern state of Karnataka, was arrested in 2008 in the city of Kolkata but was able to � ee after being granted bail by o� cers who were unaware of his identity, the Times of India reported.

The most recent deadly attack be-lieved to have been mounted by the Indian Mujahideen came in February when twin bombs strapped to bicycles exploded in the city of Hyderabad, kill-ing 16 people and wounding more than 100.

It was also linked to bomb attacks on July 7 at Bodh Gaya, one of Buddhism’s holiest places and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The blasts were suspect-ed to have been staged in retaliation for violence against Muslims in Bud-dhist-majority Myanmar. l

India's NIA personnel escort a hooded suspect believed to be Yasin Bhatkal, the alleged founder of Indian Mujahideen AFP

Vania Larissa, Miss Indonesia 2013 (L) poses with a friend. Indonesia’s religious a� airs minister has expressed concerns about beauty pageants AFP

Kashmiri villagers carry the body of a suspected rebel for burial AP

“The Indonesian Ulema Council has expressed strong opposition to Miss World because it doesn’t � t with Islamic teachings that say Muslim women should cover immodest parts of their bodies,” the minister said in a statement late Thursday

The group of militants was leaving one forest area for another when we intercepted and challenged them. All the � ve were killed in the ensuing � re� ght

An Afghan man, who was injured in a suicide attack, lies in a hospital REUTERS

Anwar Ibrahim

Humans as resourceIn an encouraging development, the share of remittances coming from skilled labour is increasing. Further, in Libya, we have found a new market for our manpower.

A lot has been said in the past about how properly training the massive population of this country can turn them into our greatest assets. These recent events are good signs of improvement and proactivity from the government.

That being said, the share of remittances coming from skilled labour is still only 10% of the total in� ow. We could increase this by many times if more e� ort was put into it.

The gulf countries have started employing more Bangladeshis in “white-collar” positions while traditionally almost all employed in the region before were labourers. Since skilled jobs pay more than manual labour, this is a scope we need to capitalise on.

Africa is a market that has largely not been penetrated by Bangladeshi workers. This can also be a good prospect that we need to explore.

The Bureau for Manpower, Employment and Training should intensify the good work they have done thus far. But, there is still huge room for improvement in this regard. A lot of people can still be turned into resources.

The future of manpower export looks bright indeed.

Foreign students a boon to universitiesA recent report by the University Grants Commission states that an increasing number of foreign students have come to Bangladesh to pursue higher studies. This is wonderful news for us, and indicative of a welcome trend that we would like to see continue.

The usual trend is of Bangladeshi students going overseas to study, with only a few international students studying in Bangladesh, but this is slowly changing.

In fact, there are more than 1600 international students enrolled in our universities, with 28 out of 71 private universities boasting foreign students. This seems to be a re� ection of the attractive and perhaps improving quality of education in our country that is drawing students to our shores.

According to the report, the institutions have come up with market-oriented strategies, more practical courses and advanced learning tools for an overall better studying experience.

Having foreign students in our universities will open up opportunities for all students to learn � rsthand from each other about di� erent cultures and ways of life and will undoubtedly enhance the educational experience.

Our universities should be centres of excellence, and indeed, other universities should take a page out of their books to develop their own facilities and programmes, thereby o� ering the best education possible to all of their students.

To the ‘sister of the nation’August 27

As the daughter of the father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is the “sister of the nation.” We know that sisters are naturally very a� ectionate, caring, and do not hesitate to sacri� ce for the welfare of their siblings.

Presently, 16 crore people of the country, who are her brothers and sisters, pass their days in fear, anxiety and hopelessness, not knowing what awaits them in the coming days. She can allay all the negative feelings and create a peaceful situation if she wants it; she is in absolute control of everything.

We hope that she will use her power in a constructive way and save the country from being torn apart.

Nur JahanChittagong

Editorial10

www.dhakatribune.com

DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

LETTER OF THE DAY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

Letters to the Editor

Boycotts, burgers and illegal settlements August 25

“Israel’s ability to resist economic pressure and to impose its military might on neighbours remains unparalleled.” Not so. The Israeli economy and the Zionist project in Palestine are dangerously over-reliant on a single luxury fashion commodity - diamonds. Diamonds account for 30% of Israel’s manufacturing exports, worth $22bn gross and $11bn net in 2011. The diamond industry in Israel generates about $1bn annually for the Israeli military/security industry - a military which stands accused of war crimes by the UNHRC, AI, HRW and B’tselem. Diamonds that fund war crimes are blood diamonds.

Growing public awareness of the fact that the global diamond market is heavily contaminated with Israeli blood diamonds is increasing pressure on jewelers worldwide who deceitfully claim that diamonds processed in Israel are con� ict-free.

In 2012 the Israeli diamond industry was

severely damaged by a fraud scandal that resulted in a 23% drop in diamond exports. This had a signi� cant impact on the Israeli economy. In June, trade unions and leading civil society organisations in South Africa called for Israel’s expulsion from the Kimberley Process and an end to the export of South African diamonds to Israel.

As more and more people begin to associate diamonds with Israeli war crimes, the diamond industry will be forced to act, just as they had to act when human rights organisations exposed the links between diamonds and human rights violations in Africa in the 90s.

Wardiamonds

The Palestinian people, who su� er under the brutal occupation, have called on the international community to enforce boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law so it ill-behooves anyone to try to undermine and discredit their non-violent, peaceful strategy to resist Israeli hegemony.

Furthermore, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are not “disputed territories” – they are occupied land on which Israel has transferred over 500,000 illegal occupiers – a war crime under the Geneva Convention. The apartheid wall in Palestinian is not a “security fence”; it has been deemed illegal by the international court of justice – a land grab by Israel to seize more Palestinian territory and water resources. BDS is having an impact and all people of conscience should support the call from Palestinian civil society.

Bradley

Having foreign students in our universities will open up opportunities for all students to learn � rsthand from each other and undoubtedly enhance the educational experience

The BMET should intensify the good work they have done thus far. But, there is still huge room for improvement

Ananta Jalil is the new brand ambassador of GPAugust 25

Irtiza Rahman The top marketing o� cials at GP are being paid from outside sources to bring GP down. LOL

String of rubbish ads and now this.

Ershad Khandker Ditto Irteza. Shocking.

Shamuna Mizan This is probably the best thing that has ever happened to GP! Great idea guys!

Ershad Khandker Shamuna: No one is more ridiculed in Bangladesh than he. May I request a kind synopsis on why you think it is a good idea or are you being ironic?

Nishadul Haque Nihal Such an awesome marketing move this is! GP would ride on Ananto and his new film’s “buzz.” The timing is perfect. They should air the TVC while people are still talking about him.

Zaker Chowdhury It’s great that Grameen has found an ambassador that is just like its network. The GP network is as good as Jolonto Jolil.

Tauqir Ahmed “Gameen Pone.” :-D

Rahfat Salman Abir The marketing team of GP needs some real help!! :-p

Honestly, good step guys, for the greater good of the country!! :-)

Rashik AminGP doing the impossible.

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CROSSWORD CODE-CRACKER YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS1 Explosion (5)4 Out� t (3)6 Eastern ruler (4)8 Constellation (5)9 Fissure (4)11 Egyptian goddess (4)12 Pays attention (5)15 Lustre (5)18 Sagacious (4)20 High mountains (4)21 Greek letter (5)22 Norwegian capital (4)23 Pithy saying (3)24 Tracks (5)

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11Op-Ed Saturday, August 31, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE

INDIA’S BANGLADESH POLICY

Felani trial for whom?n Mohammad Ali Sattar

We don’t know whether to be happy or content with this news: the Indian authorities

have taken up the issue of the Felani murder by the trigger-happy high-jinks of the Indian border guards.

More assuring has been the TV grabs depicting the actions of Felani’s relatives and BGB o� cials on their way to Koch Bihar to have their say in the proceedings.

Felani is not the � rst case of the Indian border forces’ premeditated and perverted actions, nor will it be the last. Following Felani’s gruesome murder at the hands of an over-eager member of the Indian border security force, there have been more killings of Bangladeshis along the fence.

Let’s take a closer look. After the death of a Bangladeshi at the hands of BSF men, the Indian authorities, in meetings with their Bangladeshi counterparts, assured us that there would be no more of such atrocious, criminal acts.

Even before such meets are over,

news of yet another such brutality by BSF gunners reaches our collective ears.

Lately the Indian authorities have begun compensating the families of individuals who fell prey to the BSF’s itchy trigger � ngers, with the Felani murder trial in progress in an Indian court now. To our unreserved consternation, we have learnt that the assassin/soldier had no qualms in committing such an odious act.

The world has witnessed with shock and awe as the innocent Felani hung against barbed wire fencing. Her corpse was handed to her parents the very next day. It was a pathetic image of the feeble young girl, with her hands and feet tied up to a sta� .

This unpleasant incident moved most souls in Bangladesh, but the Indians showed little empathy. Rather they gave a cold shoulder to this heartbreaking incident.

Bangladesh could not convince their bigger neighbour that their border guards have been murdering her people on the plea of them being cattle-lifters or smugglers or criminals of sorts.

Why did it take more than two years for the Indian authorities to take up the trial? Is it yet another trick that they have up their sleeves? It is hard to trust their motives as there is more to this than we are aware of.

A sensible portion of the general society believes that this move is borne out of pure political consid-

eration. It is not for the Indians to bene� t, rather the government of In-dia would like to � ne-tune the “India policy” of Bangladesh.

Post 1971 has been di� erent for New Delhi; it has found a more comfortable plane in the sub-conti-nent following the disintegration of Pakistan.

People, the government, and polit-ical parties in Bangladesh have found the changing moods of India often unfriendly, di� cult to cope with. Throughout the entire scenario, from trade to civil relations, Bangladesh has been on the receiving end.

What goes on in the Indian political minds is not very hard to surmise; the rapport is still far from mutually bene� cial. India holds the upper hand and a “strategy of imposition” is in place. India is doing little to gain the con� dence of a large majority here. In the heat of things, New Delhi and re-gional leaders (BJP, TMC and the like) forget the importance of a healthy and happy neighbour.

See the contrasting picture in the western front. India has more thoughtful and cautious policies in Pakistan, and Pakistan has never been easy to handle!

Since very little has been done to favour the present Awami League government regarding its India policy, New Delhi might be considering this trial as a measure to help repair the fractured re� ection of the AL regime.

For India has been unkind to

Bangladesh on many counts. Even the so-called friendly parties (AL in Bangladesh and Congress in India) at power could do little to bring about respectable solutions to the problems faced by Bangladesh. The Test issue and land boundary agreement are major concerns while many smaller ones still remain.

Compensating the family of the victim killed by the BSF and the Felani trail could be an eye-wash move. How far this will go at pacifying the people is an entirely di� erent question.

If India thinks that these two acts would be immense favours from her and be counted as an achievement on the present government’s part, or even the people of Bangladesh, they are still wrong. Neither will help the AL government in taking credit for its India policy, nor will it be of any con-sequence to the people of Bangladesh.

India’s Bangladesh policy needs some considerable revision, pragmatic thinking and a digni� ed approach. l

Mohammad Ali Sattar is a freelance contributor.

T H E O T H E R S I D E

War for peacen Matthew Islam

As I write this, a poignant bit of text is coming to mind. It’s the preamble to the United Nations charter, written right after

the end of World War II. It began by stating: “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind …”

It is really that simple. War, con� ict only results in people’s lives being ruined. It’s a scourge in every sense of the word.

Why am I saying this? We all know the demerits of war. Having witnessed deadly con� icts on news channels for much of the last decade, we are now aware that there is no end to a con� ict, except when all parties in it decide to stop violently engaging each other.

We are all battle weary, as re� ected in most of the public opinion polls around the world. We are also aware that interventions in con� icts, no matter how much they’re called for, generally do not end well and are rare-ly e� ective in sending any long term message of dissuasion.

Syria is a mess. It’s been so for quite some time now. The con� ict there is very complex. The fallout from the con-� ict has repercussions in all of the Mid-dle East. Countries around the world are backing di� erent sides in the con� ict and are invested in the outcome.

Amidst all this, there is one glaring reality: an untold number of people, including women and children, have been killed, maimed, and continue to be a� ected in this greatly � awed but once peaceful state.It’s a shame that instead of everyone banding for peace in trying to resolve the situation, a few world powers have worked only to escalate the tension in the region. There are many who have used the devastating chemical attacks in Syria as a pretext to ramp up the need for the use of military action against the Assad regime, which has repeatedly contended it had no role to play in the matter.

For most observers of international con� icts, the situation is slightly more black and white. People are dying in Syria. Many as results of bombs, bul-lets, heavy artillery, and now, many have been killer by deadly chemicals.

The result is the same. Dropping bombs on Syria, no matter how surgical or limited in scope, is going to result in further collateral loss of lives. This does not even account for the destabili-sation of politics in the entire region.

It may be fashionable in some circles, especially diplomatic ones, to suggest that one needs to go to war for peace. But after Iraq and Afghanistan, there are very few who will buy into that claim.

So, while there must be investiga-tions and protests in the strongest terms against the use of chemicals in any con� ict, being trigger happy and going to war will actually be a cheap response.Super powers like the United States must return to be parts of the global voice that works hard and consistently

advocates the ceasing of hostilities by all sides unequivocally.

The international community must urge and create pressure for peace using all available means and continue to do so equally to all sides lest it wants to fruitlessly continue to support rebel � ghters who eat the

hearts of the opponents, raw, after having dismembered their bodies, or regimes who � nd it acceptable that infants die in the embrace of their mothers from bombs they drop on their own people.

The message must be: the untold number of deaths are unacceptable, no matter what the circumstances.

In recent times, sense has rarely prevailed when states begin drum-ming the need for a war under which-

ever pretext. This seemed to be the case this time around when surgical strikes were expected to be undertak-en by Thursday evening.

It’s Saturday now and the beat for war is all but a distant, mu� ed noise. Therefore, it’s a welcome change that the UN clearly came out to state that there were other options on the table and the US must not be hasty in its response – in the strongest of terms I have seen them do in many years – fur-ther insisting that any action bypassing

the security council would be against international law, especially when there wasn’t even a context of self-de-fence to justify unilateral action.

As a result, it was heartening to see the British parliament voting against military intervention in Syria despite being led by a prime minister who kept demanding nothing less than a military response.

The UN has once again proven its relevance in such scenarios, and the need for a global response when battling such situations.

If now, the US chose to strike unilaterally, it would risk being further labelled as a warmongering state whose actions are meant only to satiate itself or to make a few western powers feel as if they did something about the situation.

It’s important that the voices for peace are given a chance. Let the investi-gators � nish their reports. Let the world order come to a judgement on what is to be done next. There are better ways to secure peace than drop a bomb. l

Matthew Islam, @matthewislam, is a barrister-at-law and a columnist at the Dhaka Tribune.

US’s ‘limited’ anti-Assad strike?n Ian Bremmer

After Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech about Syria’s chemical warfare on Monday,

it’s clear that the US is going to attack Syria. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says US forces are “ready to go.” Envoys are telling rebels that West-ern forces “could attack Syria within days,” per Reuters.

But even as the United States prepares to strike, Syria is not really

the heart of the issue. As Kerry said in his speech: “The meaning of [Assad’s chemical weapon] attack goes beyond the con� ict in Syria itself.” The goal will not be to tilt the scales in Syria’s civil war or to put an end to the vio-lence; rather, the US wants to retaliate against an a� ront to its credibility, and the unambiguous breaching of an international norm.

But there is danger. What begins as a limited military strike to punish Assad could quickly devolve into deeper en-gagement in Syria, or it could scuttle America’s top regional priorities like its nuclear discussions with Iran.

Months ago President Obama made clear that he would not permit any chemical weapons abuses in Syria, calling it his “red line.” But despite

evidence of small batches of chemical weapons being deployed on Syrians, Obama sat idle for months. It’s only now, after chemical attacks last week that left hundreds dead and more traumatised, that the US is moving to action.

The chemical warfare became too large – and calls from the United States’ allies too loud – for the United States to remain a spectator any longer. So after two years of idling on Syria, it’s clear that what the US is really defending is not Syrians, but the international prohibition of chemical weapons, and, most of all, its own credibility.

Assad has to be punished because he clearly and publicly crossed Obama’s one explicit red line – however arbitrary hundreds of chemical weapons-in-duced deaths may seem in comparison to the 100,000-plus Syrians who have perished in the civil war.

As I explained a few months back, the United States had two options that weren’t quite as bad as the status-quo of slowly slipping into the con� ict: it could go big – establish a no-� y zone and do what is necessary to stem the violence – or go home and � rmly stay on the sidelines.

The Obama administration opted for the latter – that’s why it dragged its feet responding to chemical weapons charges the � rst time around. The White House believes the best way to stay the course is to apply the mini-mum amount of force that will satisfy the mounting pressure for action without becoming further entangled: “The options we are considering are not about regime change,” the White House said on Tuesday. Afterwards, it can return to its back-seat role.

But it has only become more di� cult to pull that o� . If there were limited military actions that had no risk of dragging the US deeper into the Syrian con� ict, Obama would have opted for them in response to the � rst wave of chemical attacks. The irony is that the bar for what the international community will deem an acceptable response to Assad’s chemical weapon use has risen substantially since that � rst instance a few months back.

If this had been an Israeli red line that was breached, we would have seen an immediate, limited and sur-gical strike in response. The US dith-ered, a much bigger atrocity occurred, and now the US will need to engage in a broader response to maintain its credibility and satisfy its allies –just the sort of response that carries a higher risk of pulling the US further into the quagmire.

So what will be deemed su� cient action? It’s hard to say. But it seems clear that a cruise missile or two aimed at speci� c weapons sites in Damascus will likely no longer be su� cient. The situation demands bellicose words from America’s top diplomats, and ac-tions that can back them up – certainly a broader set of military targets, per-

haps sustained aerial strikes as well. It demands just the sort of actions that always carry the potential to exceed their limited scope.

The other issue is that many mem-bers of the coalition calling for action want di� erent outcomes, and would welcome deeper American involve-ment.

When the United States responds to the chemical attack, allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey – the chief outside powers supporting the rebels – are likely to try and cast the intervention as a turning point in the war e� ort and interpret the United States’ action as tacit support for the rebels in their bid to oust Assad.

Taking action could also cause prob-lems for America in its diplomatic ne-gotiations with Assad’s allies. Unlike in Libya, where the US last helped lead an international strike, the Syrian gov-ernment has real support from foreign actors. Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah are all � rmly in the Assad camp.

Washington’s Iran policy is an overlooked and vital consideration in the Syria equation. The top American priority in the region is its upcoming nuclear discussions with Iran; expect this issue to drive headlines in the last few months of this year.

If the United States’ response to Assad’s chemical weapons use is too bold, it could roil Iran and trigger tit-for-tat escalatory actions that leave the two countries unwilling or polit-ically unable to engage in productive negotiations. If the United States’ response is too meek or too muddled, it could undermine its credibility – and make the US’s red lines on Iran’s nuclear progress that much blurrier and di� cult to uphold.

When Kerry said Assad’s actions go “beyond the con� ict in Syria itself,” he was speaking from a moral perspec-tive. But if you read between the lines, it’s about American credibility.

It’s about upholding the US’s regional priorities. And it’s about distancing the US’s imminent military response from the Syrian civil war itself.

The US is right to act in Syria. Defending the international boycott on chemical weapons and backing up its red line are worth military action, within limits. Let’s just hope its ac-tions can stay limited. l

This article was � rst published by Reuters.

Is it yet another trick that they have up their sleeves? It is hard to trust their motives as there is more to this than we are aware of

People, the government, and political parties in Bangladesh have found the changing moods of India often unfriendly, di� cult to cope with

When Kerry said Assad’s actions go ‘beyond the con� ict in Syria itself,’ he was speaking from a moral perspective. But if you read between the lines, it’s about American credibility

A cruise missile or two aimed at speci� c weapons sites in Damascus will likely no longer be su� cient

It was heartening to see the British parliament voting against military intervention in Syria despite being led by a prime minister who kept demanding nothing less than a military response

The US is being gung-ho, but is that what Syria needs? AFP

EntertainmentDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 201312

ONTV

MOVIES

TALKSHOW

COMEDY

DRAMA

NEWS

MISC

4:00pm Zee StudioBack To The Future Part 24:37pm WBThe Clique5:25pm Fox Movies PremiumBrave6:30pm Star MoviesGladiator6:30pm Zee StudioBack To The Future Part 37:00pm Fox Movies PremiumWreck-It Ralph 7:00pm HBOCharlie And The Chocolate Factory9:30pmStar MoviesRuby Sparks9:30pm WBGhost Ship9:30pm HBOMission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

9:30am FXThe Simpsons11:30am ColorsMrs Pammi Pyarelal1:30pm Comedy CentralGo On4:00pm Big CBS LoveThe Game5:30pm Z CafeJust For Laughs7:30pm Sony SABTaarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma8:30pm Star World2 Broke Girls10:00pm FXEpisodes

2:30pm Star WorldRevenge3:30pm ColorsMadhubala4:00pm Zee TvJodha Akbar6:30pm Star PlusIss Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doo7:40pm Channel Nine Grontikgon Kohe7:50pm Channel iNurjahan8:30pm SonyAdaalat9:05pm RTVOloshpur9:30pm SATVChup kotha11:30pm Baishakhi TvPathorer Konna

10:00am DigantaDiganta Shongbad2:00pm Desh TvShongbad Shomoi5:00pm BanglavisionShongbad6:45pm RTVShondhar Shongbad9:00pm Independent TVRaater 9tai Bangladesh10:00pm MaasrangaPrimetime news

7:30am SATV Shokaler Diary 7:45am ETV Ekushey Shokaal8:30am Channel Ekattor Ekattor Moncho 10:30am ATN Bangla Onno Dristi 12:30pm ATN Bangla Proshongo 4:10pm NTV Hello America 5:00pm Independent TV Ashar Bangladesh 6:25pm Banglavision Front Line 7:30pm ATN News Shat Rong

9:30am Travel XPGreat World Hotels11:30am National GeographicAmazing Moments1:30pm MTVHit It3:30pm AXNTop Chef5:30pm Fox TravellerTwist Of Taste7:30pm NDTV Good TimesGadget Guru8:30pm TLCProject Runway10:30pm Vh1Bloc Party

Bannya performs today at IGCC

n Afrose Jahan Chaity

Rezwana Choudhury Bannya is a leg-endary exponent of Rabindra Sangeet in Bangladesh. She has achieved great popularity, respect and fame, both in Bangladesh and worldwide, for her outstanding contribution to music. Bannya will perform today evening 6:30pm at the Indira Gandhi Cultur-al Centre. Recently, Dhaka Tribune caught up with the talented singer:

What songs are you performing tonight?The songs I will perform today are from the major parts of “Gitabitan” (Garden of songs written by Tagore). I will sing songs from “Puja” (worship), “Prem” (love), “Prakriti” (nature), “Swadesh” (patrio-tism), and “Aanushthanik” (celebration). I will also perform requests from my au-dience. It’s all about passion for singing and entertaining music lovers.

Tell us about your new album:Few days ago, I have released my latest album, it was well received by my fans. Like always, I have tried to give my best in the album, it is not too di� cult for me, as I love singing. I am thinking of releasing my next album featuring Tag-ore’s songs very soon. Most of the work

of album is done.

What are you occupied with currently?I am busy with per-forming onstage and currently I am well oc-cupied with numerous shows.

Trained under late Kanika Bandyopad-hyay, Bannya has mas-tered Tagore’s songs in their full � avor. The sweetness in the ton-al quality of her voice combined with the e� ortless control of the tune and perfect pronunciation of each word makes her Rabin-dra Sangeet a distinct and divine experience for the connoisseurs.

Bannya, born in Rangpur, Bangladesh is attracted to and pas-sionate about music since her childhood

when she commenced her musical training under her uncle Abdul Ali.

Subsequently, she trained under Sanjida Khatun and Atiqul Islam in Chayanaut and at the Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts in Dhaka. Her love and pas-sion for Rabindra Sangeet intensi� ed and � ourished at Shantiniketan where she went to continue her music train-ing under ICCR scholarship.

In Shantiniketan, she received training from stalwarts like Neelima Sen, Shudish Bandopadhyay, Asesh Bandyopadhyay, Shoilajaranjan Ma-zumdar, Shantidev Ghosh, Gora Sar-badhikary and Manju Bandopadhyay. She enjoyed a very close and special re-lationship with Late Kanika Bandopad-hyay in particular that transcended the traditional Guru-Shishya parampara-(tradition).

Bannya considers Kanika Ban-dopadhyay as her friend, philosopher and guide. It was with her inspiration that Bannya established “Shurer Dha-ra,” a music school in Dhaka in 1992. She has extensively travelled to almost all parts of the globe presenting Rabin-dra Sangeet to the global audience. She has released innumerable CDs and al-bums that have attained immense pop-ularity and recognition. l

Pop Culture Expo calls oncomic lovers to dress as their favourite charactersn Entertainment Desk

“Dhaka Pop Culture Expo” (called ‘Dhaka Pop Expo’ for short) is a convention for fans of comic books, � lm, TV, anime, and video games to gather and celebrate the things they love. The event is taking place at the DOHS Baridhara Convention Center from 10am to 8:30pm, and today is the last day of the two days occasion. The entry fee is a mere Tk 100.

The occasion calls onto the comic lovers and diehard fans of the entertainment industry to dress up as their favourite character, be it from comics, � lm, TV, anime, or video games. The main aim of the convention is for people to enjoy and see fans dress up as their loved characters to bring them to life.

The event has many perks for visitors, as they have various items, such as Artist Corner, where one can get illustrations drawn to-order by the amazing artists of “We Draw Stu� .” Attractive merchandise will be on sale at stalls for collectors and fans.

Also, winners of several competitions organised by the host will be announced and the prize giving ceremony will also take place.

Between 30th June and 15th August, fans submitted en-tries for the following competitions: Fan Art, Action Figure Photography, Film, Best Group Street Dance and Best Solo Dance. The fan art and action � gure photography entries will be shown on screen. The � nalists of the dance competi-tion will perform live on stage for the entertainment of the

gathering crowd. Dhaka Tribune caught up with popular standup come-

dian and video blogger, Solaiman Shukhon, who will speak today at the event, to learn more about the occasion: “I am really looking forward to facing the crowd. I love to make people laugh and to get genuine animated reaction out peo-ple is not an easy feat. This is something totally new to the citizens of Dhaka, it provides an active ground for the urban dwellers to physically participate in something. I am glad that these kind of events that are popular everywhere else is making a place in our country as well.” l

Bangladesh Nazrul Abritti Parishad pays tribute to National Poetn Afrose Jahan Chaity

On the occasion of the 37th death anni-versary of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh Nazrul Abritti Parishad (BNAP) is organising a poetry recital at the National Music and Dance Theatre of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, today at 5pm onwards.

The programme will feature poetry recitation of Nazrul’s poetry. In addition, the programme will also present music, drama and discussion on Kazi Nazrul Is-lam’s philosophy and poetry. Noted poet Al Mahmud will be present as the chief guest of the event.

The programme will start with a group recitation on “Ek Allah Jindabad.” After that, discussion on the National Poet and his life’s venture by noted poet Al Mahmud, Barrister Mohammad Abdul Rouf and poet

Abdul Hai Shikder will take place. The pro-gramme will be chaired by the president of Bangladesh Nazrul Abritti Parishad Nasim Ahmed and conducted by the Vice –prece-dent of BNAP Professor Shaila Ahmed.

A total of 30 participants will recite the exciting and rebellious poetry of Nazrul, among them 12 will be children. Shaila Ahmed, Shanto Islam, Mohammad Iusuf, Bodiuzzaman Day, Na� s Ahmed, Jannatun Naima, Sha� qul Islam Bahar, Shamima Chowdhury, Ahmad Basir, Dolon and Atondrila Ahmed will recite poetry such as, “Kuli Mojur,” “Jhor,” “Shammyobad,” “Ji-bon-Bondona,” “Shebok” and “Kobir Mukti” written by Kazi Nazrul Islam. Three chorus recitations will be presented by child re-cites. Also, a children’s drama named “Jago Shundor Chiro Kishor,” will be presented, written by the National Poet.

While talking about the programme, President of the Bangladesh Nazrul Abritti Parishad (BNAP) Nasim Ahmed shares with the Dhaka Tribune: “Our National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam seems to be one of those rare creators who stimulated their moments in every possible way.

He wrote the desired lines that por-trayed the essence of the life he once lived, along with suggestions of rectifying or purifying life-pattern in a desired manner. His progressive thinking and ideologies encouraged me to make di� cult decisions with bold determination.

Nazrul evokes the rebellious spirit of an individual with the use of simple words arranged to shake the most timid of personalities. So, we are trying to highlight his philosophies through our recitation programme.” l

Birangona: Brave Woman narrates the untold horrors of 1971n Shadma Malik

A theatre production “Birangona: Brave Woman” was premiered at the Liberation War Museum on August 29. The play is based on the untold tragedy of the brave women who were brutally raped and tortured by the Pakistani Army in the 1971 Ban-gladesh War of Independence. The theatre troupe has created a “Research and Development” the-atrical piece, based on real stories of Birangona women’s � rst-hand accounts. A following perfor-mance will take place on September 1 at the EMK Center, Dhanmondi, at 7:00 pm.

The show began by screening a documentary story based on the real incidents of Birangonas by Komola Collective, a London-based theatre and arts company.

The protagonist played a number of heart-rend-ing characters that represent di� erent Birango-nas. Each incident portrayed brilliantly through attention grabbing storytelling technique and the audience could connect to the pain and heart-break felt by the victims.

The dialogues of the stories are immensely powerful, which conveyed to the audience in a loud and clear manner, their horri� c state and ex-ploitation. When the performer mentioned “We lost our honour,” it explains how they were treat-ed like a lifeless leaf and their existence were not counted for, by the Pak armies.

They were shamed at every turn not only by rape, but also with prude name calling such as “kutta,” which means dog. The sadist pitiless Pak armies seemed to gain unholy pleasure out of the screams and pain of the poor souls and rule over them.

The lights on stage are used as medium of language. When a Birangona emerge in the “red colour” at the stage, it is well depicted that blood-shed of the Birangona occurred, showing their distress and loss of dignity.

The passage of forty-two years did not deem their memory of the abuse and violence they faced. Yet, the unnerving stories are not being brought out in the open, around 200,000 wom-en and girls were raped and still their sacri� ce is not identi� ed yet.The show aims to give them the proper honour with the label of “Freedom Figters,” as their sacri� ce was equal to that of oth-er freedom � ghters.

History tells that in war, the women are the most vulnerable, as their dignity has been com-promised, time and again. It was same in the case of 1971 Liberation War, the women were exploit-ed and considered less of a human being. Rather than portraying them as victims, the play is a bril-

liant initiative to depict these women as the spirit of the country, which the Pakistani army wanted to destroy. The women were fragile but their de-termination to live is a cause worthy of admira-tion and should be applauded.

Komola Collective is a company dedicated to telling the stories that often go untold - stories from women’s perspective. Performed by Leesa Gazi, written by Samina Luthfa and directed by Filiz Ozcan, the theatre troupe came up with this

outstanding and praiseworthy production through extensive research to challenge social taboos.

The show will be screened in UK in November 2013 and March-April 2014 to highlight these un-sung war heroines. l

Scenes from Birangona: Brave Woman, a theatre show by Komola Collective at the Liberation War Museum SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

14

13DHAKA TRIBUNESaturday, August 31, 2013

SportDid you know?

14 15 ‘Lions of Khorasan’ attract all 

At 120 miles per hour, a Formula One

car generates so much downforce that it can drive

upside down on the roof of a tunnel

Big names fall by wayside

Boateng leaves Milan for Schalke

Pakistan captain Samara Ishaq, Sri Lankan captain Chatura, Maldivesskipper Ali Ashfaq, Bangladesh captain Mamunul Islam, Nepalese captain Sagar Thapa,Bhutan captain Basnet and Afghan standby skipper Ahmed Aarsh pose for a photograph with the Sa� Trophy at the Hanuman Dhoka, Darbar Square, Kathmandu, Nepal yesterday. Indian skipper Sunil Chettri did not attend the ceremony due to practice MUMIT M/FROM KATHMANDU

Bangladesh and Nepal ready to raise curtainn RaihanMahmood,

from Kathmandu

Bangladesh will take on hosts Nepal in the opening match of the 8th Sa� Championship at the Dashrath Stadi-um at 6:45pm today.

Recent history favours Bangladesh, who took the Sa� title in 2003, over Nepal. In the last two encounters be-tween the sides, Bangladesh came out 2-0 winners in the AFC Challenge Cup quali� ers last March, while a friendly match was drawn 1-1, but the stakes are much higher now.

Nepal, who reached the semi-� nals in the last Sa� , has never won the ti-tle and are particular keen to do so at home this time round. In a bid to fur-ther motivate its team, the All Nepal Football Association has o� ered each player an apartment and a 10,000 ru-pees lifetime pension.

Bangladesh are apparently no less determined to succeed and captain Mamunul Islam said, “We are not look-ing incentives. We are here to play foot-ball for our country. We know if we win the title, there will be awards, but we are just focusing on winning the title with our best e� orts,” he said.

Bangladesh has won seven of the last 13 matches against Nepal, while

losing four and drawing the other two, but Nepal’s desire to come out ahead has never been higher. Last March when Nepal lost 2-0, the match had to be stopped for a few minutes as a Nokia 3200 set was thrown from the stand at a Bangladeshi player.

Bangladesh’s coach, Dutchman Lodewijk de Kruif, was aware of the incident and said, “The players would

have to go through a stern test in front of the hostile crowd. They have to bein the best possible conditions, physi-cally and mentally when they play Ne-pal in the Dashrath Stadium. They have to be in their best.”

He went on to remain both positive and realistic at the same time in his as-sessment of his team’s prospects. “In our group Bangladesh are outsiders.

The group has defending champions India and hosts Nepal but that doesn’t mean Bangladesh don’t have the � re to win the title.

We have gone through a tough and hard preparation process and the play-ers are good - they are raring to go,” said de Kruif.

He went on, “Bangladesh � n-ished 7th in the last edition of Sa� Championship and there arehigher ranked teams than Bangladesh. It is not ideal to dub Bangladesh as the favourites after just two years.”

Bangladesh’s captain, Mamunul Is-lam may not play in the match as the medical sta� for the team was set to make a decision on the matter as late as possible ahead of the game. Nepal meanwhile remained free of injury troubles, and coach Jack Stefanowski said the match would be the most im-portant one of for his team in the entire tournament.

Nepalese captain Sagar Thapa was quick to warn his opponents of a tough match – despite recent head-to-head records. “Revenge is not in our mind but we will focus not to repeat the mis-takes we made in the match. The � rst match is very important for us and we want to win it to take a big step towards the semis,” he said. l

Mamunul uncertain for openern Raihan Mahmood,

from Kathmandu

The question of whether injured team captain Mamunul Islam would be in-cluded in the playing eleven for the Bangladesh’s � rst game against hosts Nepal was a vexing and still undecided one all the way into the late night for the team management yesterday.

In the afternoon, Mamunul himself said it all depended on the team management, while failing to clarify whether he was fully � t or not. Later in the night, the team management had a

lengthy discussion on the matter and head coach Lodewijk de Kruif spoke with Mamunul in depth about the matter.

It would be a big blow for Bangla-desh if Mamunul were unable to take the � eld in what might be the most important group match for the team. An opening game win against the hosts would be a huge boost to the team’s chances of making it past the “group of death”, putting pressure on their oppo-nents and increasing their chances of � nding a place in the semi-� nals. l

Shakib in CPL best 11n Mazhar Uddin

Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who played for Barbados Tridents in the inaugural Caribbean Premier League (CPL), has been named in the CPL team of the tournament, as selected by an experts panel.

Shakib’s Barbados Tridents reached the semi-� nal of the tournament and the Bangladeshi picked up 11 wickets in eight matches – including � gures of 6-6 against the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel on August 3, which is the second best bowling � gures in T20 history. The all-rounder’s batting, however, proved to be disappointing and he only scored 22 runs in the tournament – which was won by Chris Gayle’s Jamaica Talla-wahs.

Gayle, Shoaib Malik and Marlon Samuels were also included in the 11 along with Shakib, but Bangladeshi

Tamim Iqbal did not make the list. Ta-mim, who played for the Saint Lucia Zouks managed to score 162 runs in the tournament, although his side failed to reach the last four.

The team was selected by Mike Procter, Je� rey  Dujon, Mike Haysman, Craig Cozier, Billy Bowden, Nigel Duguid, Joel Wilson and Danesh Ramdhani. l

Contenders con� dent of success at Sa� n Raihan Mahmood,

from Kathmandu

Bangladesh will play hosts Nepal in the opening match of the “most competitive” game in the South Asian Football Fed-eration Champion-ship to date at the Dashrath Stadium,

Kathmandu, Nepal at 6:45 pm today.Why is the match the “the most

competitive” of the tournament? The o� cial press brie� ng at the Hotel Everest yesterday indicated as much. With the exception of Bhutan and Sri Lanka, the other six teams in the meet expressed con� dence in lifting the trophy. Defending champions India, last editions runner-up and the high-est ranked team in the tournament Af-ghanistan, hosts Nepal – who are trying to keep a low pro� le despite their am-bitions - and former champions Ban-gladesh, were clearly looking for noth-ing less than the ultimate prize.

India’s Dutch coach Win Koever-mans, the most high-pro� le name in his category at the tournament, was cautious in his assessment. “We are here to defend the title but for that, we have to play � ve � nals. In our group, I respect every team. Though we have only 20 days of practice, we won the Nehru Cup and after that, the players

were in the pre-season training. We want to go steady and against Pakistan, it would be one of the � ve matches,” said Koevermans.

Yousef Karagar, the Afghanistan coach, was also brimming with con� dence. “We see we are dubbed as the favourites but we don’t think like that.

We want to show our character in the � eld. We admit that the prepa-rations of the team is not that good but the players are professional andwe want win the title this time, as we failed to take it home two years ago.”

Jack Stefanowski, the Polish born American who coaches the Nepal team, said, “The crowds are there, the players are ready, the ex-pectations of Nepalese fans arevery high and the footballers are ready to win the title.”

Lodewijk de Kruif, Bangladesh’s Dutch coach, was cautious in express-ing his expectations. “As a profes-sional, I am focused to win the title but I don’t want to term Bangladesh as fa-vourites. We are outsiders but we want to win the title.”

With four serious contenders and Maldives – a former winner also rar-ing to go - the 8th edition of the Sa� Championship looks like it might be a thrilling spectacle in which anyone of a number of sides may emerge trium-phant, and the on-� eld play promises to be of an exciting brand. l

Bangladesh skipper Mamunul Islam (R) and Nepalese captain Sagar Thapa exchange greetings at Kathmandu yesterday MUMIT M

Akram Khan looks to champion Chittagongn Minhaz Uddin Khan

National cricket selector Akram Khan has a dream of bringing Chittagong’s glory days in the sport back and has thus decided to run in the upcoming Bangladesh Cricket Board election. The port city was once known for pro-ducing quality cricketers on a regular basis, but since opener Tamim Iqbal came onto the scene, there has been a noticeable lack of players coming out of the area.

“There was a time when there were many star cricketers coming up from Chittagong but nowadays you hardly have anyone. I don’t remember any star cricketer after Tamim to come out of the region. I want to work on the grass roots and generate cricketers like it used to before,” the former national skipper told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“I have always said that I would run in the BCB election if I get the chance. I look forward to becoming a board member because I want to serve crick-et in Chittagong. I still remember the promise that I made to people about doing something for my division’s cricket and I look forward to keeping that,” he added.

Certain quarters have put forward the opinion that Akram was a good na-tional team captain because he under-stood the game well, but his decision to seek a place on the board was dubious. However, Akram, remained steadfast in running in the polls.

“As a national selector, everyone knows that I have limitations and that I can’t serve my mission. But as a direc-tor of the board, I will be able to work for the cricket of Chittagong and also for the country. There are a good num-ber of people from Chittagong who

want me to represent them in the BCB, so I am trying to ful� ll that. The date for the election hasn’t been con� rmed yet, but yes I am looking forward to running.

“There is no chance of me not par-ticipating in the poll. I had to sacri� ce a lot to come to the position that I am in today and to become a director, I will have to sacri� ce my post as a selector. You know that it is a very important post and one that is � nancially bene� -cial, but I have decided to quit it and become a director - which is another big sacri� ce. I took the decision for the good of cricket in Chittagong and Ban-gladesh,” said the current chief of the national selection panel.

Recently, Akram was criticised for joining the “View Exchanging Pro-gram” of BCB ad-hoc president and contender for the BCB presidency post Nazmul Hasan. In the program, Nazmul

invited divisional sports organisers to discuss the upcoming election. Akram was condemned for his participation since he was still the chief selector.

“I have always believed that one cannot have everything happen per-fectly, so I am not too worried about the criticism. There are always ups and downs on a journey. I am doing what I have decided. The meeting took place at the Mirpur stadium, which is also my o� ce and I joined the meeting because I have a course set for the election and I will be running for his (Nazmul Hasan’s) panel. But I didn’t give any speeches at the meeting. I just sat there and listened,” explained Akram.

Akram had earlier stated that would resign as chief selector after the Eid vacation, but has changed his plan and is holding onto the position until he gains the nomination for a councilor position. l

CPL best 11Andre Fletcher (St. Lucia Zouks),  Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs,), Lendl Simmons (Guyana Amazon War-riors),  Shoaib Malik (Barbados Tridents),James Franklin (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Andre Russell (Jamai-ca Tallawahs),Marlon Samuels(Antigua Hawksbills), Shakib Al Hasan (Barba-dos Tridents), Rayad Emrit (Barbados Tridents), Krishmar Santokie (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

Team management had a lengthy discussion on the matter and coach de Kruif spoke with Mamunul in depth

Fixtures Man City v Hull City Cardi� City v Everton Newcastle v Fulham Norwich v Southampton West Ham v Stoke City Crystal Palace v Sunderland

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 201314

Tottenham Hotspur's English striker Jermain Defoe (2nd L) shoots past Dinamo Tbilisi's Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Loria (R) during their Uefa Europa League play-o� second leg football match at White Hart Lane in north London on Thursday AFP

Big names fall by waysiden AFP, Paris

Several clubs hoping to � g-ure prominently in this sea-son’s Europa League will not even feature in yesterday’s group-stage draw after suf-

fering shock play-o� round defeats on Thursday.

Heading the list of victims on Thurs-day were Italian side Udinese, who failed to overturn a 3-1 � rst-leg de� cit against Slovan Liberec, drawing 1-1 in the Czech Republic, despite � elding a strong team, to bow out of Europe be-fore the end of August.

Elsewhere, Bundesliga club Stutt-gart - who last weekend sacked coach Bruno Labbadia and replaced him with youth coach Thomas Schneider - drew 2-2 at hone to Rijeka of Croatia to exit the competition 4-3 on aggregate.

The Germans conceded the decisive goal in the fourth minute of injury time.

Former European champions Feye-noord were eliminated by Kuban Kras-nodar, while Spartak Moscow were sur-prisingly ousted by modest Swiss club St Gallen, and it was a shocking night for French clubs as Saint-Etienne and

Nice were knocked out by Esbjerg of Denmark and Apollon Limassol of Cy-prus respectively.

That completed a miserable week for French sides in general after Lyon lost to Real Sociedad of Spain in the Cham-pions League play-o� s on Wednesday.

In contrast, Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City

had few problems coming through their ties and take their place in Fri-day’s group-stage draw in Monaco.

Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas � elded a fringe team that remained more than strong enough to beat Georgia’s Dina-mo Tbilisi 3-0 on the night and 8-0 on aggregate. Jermain Defoe scored twice at White Hart Lane, while Lewis Holtby

was also on target. Swansea, mean-while, lost to 2-1 to Petrolul in Roma-nia, but had already done the hard part by winning 5-1 in the � rst leg in Wales.

Roland Lamah scored Swan-sea’s goal, while Michael Laudrup’s team had captain Leon Britton sent-o� late on.

Other leading names to progress on Thursday were Spain’s Sevilla and their city neighbours Betis, Eintracht Frank-furt and Dynamo Kiev. Fiorentina of Italy also advanced, although only on away goals after losing 1-0 at home to Grasshoppers Zurich.

Thursday’s winners will be joined in the group-stage draw by the losers from the Champions League play-o� s and the seven clubs to qualify auto-matically, including English FA Cup holders Wigan Athletic, Coppa Ita-lia winners Lazio, Valencia of Spain, Freiburg of Germany and French Cup holders Bordeaux.

The � nal place - left open following Fenerbahce’s two-year ban from Euro-pean competition - will be taken by one of the play-o� round losers, with UEFA pulling one of the lucky losers out of a hat on Friday morning. l

Boateng leaves Milan for Schalken AFP, Berlin

AC Milan mid� elder Kevin-Prince Boateng has joined Schalke 04 on a three-year deal, the Bundesliga club’s chairman Clemens Toennies told Ger-man daily Bild yesterday.

“Everything is clear between us and we are delighted that this transfer has been completed. He is exactly what we needed,” Toennies was quoted as saying.

Sport Bild reported that Boateng had already passed a medical and would move for a fee of 12 million eu-ros ($15.9m) on a three-year deal that carries an option for a fourth season.

The 26-year-old German-born Gha-naian international started his career

in the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin, his hometown team, in 2005.

The half-brother of Bayern Munich and Germany defender Jerome Boateng, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur for 7.9 million euros in 2007 and returned brie� y to Germany with Schalke’s bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund before joining Portsmouth and then Milan. l

Transfer system is robbery, says Platinin Reuters, Monte Carlo

Uefa president Michel Platini called for a sweeping reform of the transfer sys-tem yesterday, describing the current system to a form of robbery and saying the transfer window was too long.

Platini said there were too many people vying to take a slice of commis-sion from players’ transfers and also said players were to blame for not re-specting contracts.

His comments came amid the on-going saga of Gareth Bale’s possible move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid for 100 million euros ($132.25 million) and at the end of a European transfer window which critics say has dragged on for too long.

“I think transfers are robbery,” the former France captain told a media conference.

“Today, the player is more a product than a player and that irks me because there is a whole lot of people trying to make this player make money in order to earn commissions, we should think about that and try to � nd something more healthy. l

Fenerbahce, Beskitas replaced by Apoel, Tromson AFP, Monaco

Cypriot side Apoel FC will replace Turkish club Fenerbahce in the Europa League group stage draw to take place in Monaco yesterday, according to Uefa.

Apoel were drawn from all the teams eliminated in the play-o� round of the Europa League to replace Fener-bahce, whose appeal against exclusion was rejected Wednesday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Another Turkish club, Besiktas, were also ruled out of the competition after CAS also rejected their appeal against exclusion. Their place will now be taken by Norway’s Tromso, who had lost to Beskitas in the play-o� round. l

Higuain back for Napoli, Lazio look for Juve revengen AFP, Milan

Napoli head north to Chievo today on the back of a convincing opening day win over Bologna, thanking their lucky stars new signing Gonzalo Higuain will be available.

The former Real Madrid striker suf-fered a freak accident during the week on a day out on the picturesque island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples.

Higuain, signed for last year’s run-ners-up in the close season for 40m euros ($53.5m) after Italy’s top scorer, Uruguayan Edinson Cavani, left to join Paris Saint Germain.

But after making his debut at home to

Bologna, the Argentine striker gave the club a fright after falling on to rocks and needing 10 stitches in facial injuries.

Outspoken Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis hit out at the treatment Higuain receive at hospital, bizarrely declaring he would try to sue the region of Campania and Capri for 100m euros - and then give the money to charity.

Although initially reported to be unavailable for several weeks, Higuain has trained and will be available for the trip to Chievo, who opened their season last week with a scoreless draw away to Parma.

Despite Higuain being “teased for a couple of days”, Swiss teammate

Blerim Dzemaili said the Argentine was pivotal to their front line this season.

Coach Antonio Conte led Juventus to their second consecutive scudetto last season and last week’s 1-0 win away to Sampdoria, courtesy of Carlos Tevez’s maiden Serie A goal, suggested they will be the team to beat again this season.

However their � rst big test of the season comes in Saturday’s late game when they host Lazio, who are still hurting from a 4-0 rout in the Italian Super Cup a fortnight ago.

Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini admit-ted the champions would have preferred for the dust to have settled before meet-ing Vldaimir Petkovic’s men again. l

Kaka wants out of Madrid before deadline dayn AFP, Madrid

Real Madrid mid� elder Kaka has said he is looking to agree a move away from the Spanish giants before the transfer win-dow closes on September 2.

The Brazilian has failed to make much of an impression in the Spanish capital since his 68 million euro ($89 million, £56 million) move from AC Milan in June 2009 in what was then a world transfer record.

It had been hoped that the appoint-ment of his former boss at Milan, Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabeu may have been able to inspire him to rekindle his old form, but the signing of Isco and the imminent arrival of Gareth Bale has instead seen him slip further down the pecking order.

“I want to leave,” he told reporters after scoring twice in Real’s 4-0 friendly win over Deportivo la Coruna on Thurs-day. “I think it is the right moment for me and for the club to leave in an ami-cable fashion.

“Things are now di� cult for me to get into the team and the club know what I want." l

Lescott motivated by City contract � uxn AFP, Manchester

Manchester City centre-back Joleon Lescott says his current contract situ-ation will not a� ect his mindset when called upon by manager Manuel Pel-legrini this season.

The England international is in the last year of his current deal and is keen to remain at the Etihad Stadium, although he has yet to be o� ered new terms by the club.

City are expected to bring in defensive reinforcements before the transfer win-dow closes on Monday, with a deal for Atletico Madrid’s Argentina international Martin Demichelis reported to be close.

But ahead of City’s Premier League � xture at home to Hull City on Satur-

day, 31-year-old Lescott says he will cope with the pressure of � ghting to win over Pellegrini and retain his place in the starting line-up.

City are currently without captain

Vincent Kompany, who has been ruled out until at least mid-September with a hamstring injury, and his in� uence was missed in the 3-2 defeat at Cardi� City last weekend.

It has left Lescott as the club’s only recognised senior centre-back, although Serbia international Matija Nastasic has returned to training.

Lescott wants the rest of the squad to show their own leadership qualities against Hull while Belgium international Kompany continues his rehabilitation.

“Vincent is a loss to any team and is a massive player for us,” the former Ever-ton player added. l

Europa League group-stage drawGroup AValencia (ESP)Swansea City (ENG)Krasnodar (RUS)St Gallen (SUI)Group BPSV (NED)Zagreb (CRO)Odesa (UKR)Razgrad (BUL)Group CS Liege (BEL)Salzburg (AUT)Elfsborg (SWE)Esbjerg (DEN)

Group DRubin Kazan (RUS)Wigan (ENG)Maribor (SLO)Z Waregem (BEL)Group EFiorentina (ITA)Dnipro (UKR)P Ferreira (POR)Pandurii (ROM)Group FBordeaux (FRA)APOEL (CYP)Frankfurt (GER)Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR)

Group GDynamo Kiev (UKR)Genk (BEL)Rapid Vienna (AUT)Thun (SUI)Group HSevilla (ESP)Freiburg (GER)Estoril (POR)S Liberec (CZE)Group ILyon (FRA)Betis (ESP)V Guimaraes (POR)Rijeka (CRO)

Group JLazio (ITA)Trabzonspor (TUR)Legia Warsaw (POL)A Limassol (CYP)Group KTottenham (ENG)Anji (RUS)Tiraspol (MDA)Tromso (NOR)Group LAZ Alkmaar (NED)PAOK (GRE)Maccabi Haifa (ISR)Karagandy (KAZ)

NB: Teams play each other home and away, � rst round of games to be played on Sep 20.

Monaco's Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho (R) holds up the name of Rapid Vienna during the draw for the Uefa Europa League football group stage 2013/14 in Monaco yesterday AFP

Sport 15DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

Five share lead in chess tournamentFide Masters Sk Nasir Ahmed, Debaraj Chatterjee, Mehedi Hasan Parag, Mohammad Javed, Mohammad Ha� zul Islam Chapal were in joint � rst position at the end of the 4th round of the Bishal Trade & Rupahali Sarees 39th National ‘B’ Chess Championship yesterday. All � ve players registered victories at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall room yesterday and have four point to their name. Six players - Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar, Aminul Islam, Sha� q Ahmed, Far-hadur Imam, Abdullah Al-Saif and junior champion Ikramul Haq Siam – were in second position with 3.5 points.

- SH

Juve’s Matri set for o� cial Milan signingJuventus striker Alessandro Matri is set to o� cially sign for AC Milan on Friday after a successful meeting with club o� -cials. Matri, who failed to cement a regu-lar starting place in Antonio Conte’s side, is now deemed surplus to Juve’s require-ments following the signing of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente. However with Milan striker Giampaolo Pazzini still recovering from knee surgery and the Rossoneri now quali� ed for the group stages of the Champions League, coach Massimiliano Allegri stepped up his bid to bring an extra striker on board. For Matri, it is something of a homecoming. He came through Milan’s youth academy but was loaned out to several sides early in his career before being sold to Cagliari in 2007 for 2.3m euros. A statement on Milan’s website, www.acmilan.com, on Friday said Matri had met with Allegri, club CEO Adriano Galliani and president Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday evening and was expected at the club’s Via Turati headquarters later in the day.

– AFP

Pellegrini con� dent of taking City out of CL groupNew manager Manuel Pellegrini is con� dent of taking Manchester City to the knock-out phase of the Champions League for the � rst time. City have failed to get out of the group phase in the past two seasons. But they have been drawn with Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow and Czech side Viktoria Plzen in this year’s group phase. Pellegrini took unfancied Malaga through to the knock-out phase last season and feels that means there is no possibility of complacency. The City manager, whose side face Hull in the Premier League on Saturday, said: “I think that all are di� cult groups. “Maybe one (team) has more history in the Champions League than other clubs but I’m sure last year when Milan knew that Malaga were in their group they were happy. “We have a di� cult group, we have chances if we play well because we have weaker teams.

– AFP

Disgraced Johnson becomes unlikely anti-drugs campaigner Disgraced drugs cheat Ben Johnson has resurfaced as the unlikely face of a new anti-doping campaign aimed at helping athletes stay clear of risking banned substances. The Jamaica-born Canadian was sensationally stripped of his 100m gold in the 1988 Seoul Olympics after testing positive for stanozolol, a banned anabolic steroid. But Johnson is now heading up the #ChooseTheRightTrack campaign, which aims to radically improve a system that athletes are still breaching today. “Winning a gold medal and being the best in the world, it cost me my reputation, my life,” Johnson said. Johnson said that in the early 1980s, doping was rife and the temptation of glory had proved too much for him.

– AFP

Quick Bytes

AustraliaD Warner c Buttler b Broad 1A Finch b Dernbach 156S Marsh c Lumb b Briggs 28S Watson b Dernbach 37G Maxwell b Dernbach 1G Bailey lbw b Finn 1M Wade not out 15J Faulkner not out 5Extras (lb2, w2) 4Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 248

BowlingFinn 4-0-45-1 (1w); Broad 4-0-47-1; Dern-bach 4-0-34-3; Briggs 4-0-51-1 (1w); Bopara 1-0-15-0; Root 1-0-27-0; Wright 2-0-27-0

EnglandM Lumb lbw b Johnson 22A Hales c Wade b Hazlewood 8L Wright c Wade b Hazlewood 4E Morgan c Maxwell b Johnson 0J Root not out 90R Bopara c Warner b Watson 45J Buttler b Faulkner 27S Broad not out 4Extras (b1, w6, nb2) 9Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 209

BowlingJohnson 4-1-41-2; Hazlewood 4-0-43-2; Ahmed 4-0-43-0; Watson 4-0-42-1; Faulkner 4-0-39-1Result: Australia won by 39 runsAustralia lead two-match series 1-0

Score Card

Ten Sports

5:30pm MotoGP World Championship 2013 LIVEQualifying: Hertz British Grand Prix9:00pm US Open 2013 LIVEMen’s & Women’s 3rd RoundStar Sports2013/14 Barclays Premier League LIVE5:35pm Manchester City v Hull City7:50pmCardi� City v Everton12:40am2013/14 Italian Serie A LIVEJuventus v Lazio Star Cricket

7:30pm 2013 Australia Tour of England LIVE2nd T20

Day’s Watch

Thursday’s Key ResultsMen’s singles, 2nd roundR Gasquet bt S Robert 6-3, 7-5, 7-5Tipsarevic bt Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-4, 6-1Ferrer bt R Bautista 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2Federer bt Berlocq 6-3, 6-2, 6-1Nadal bt Dutra Silva 6-2, 6-1, 6-0Women’s singles, 2nd roundSerena bt Voskoboeva 6-3, 6-0Jankovic bt Kleybanova 6-3, 6-2Wozniacki bt Scheepers 6-1, 6-2Pennetta bt Errani 6-3, 6-1Kvitova bt Jovanovski 6-2, 6-4Ivanovic bt Dulgheru 6-2, 6-1Azarenka bt Wozniak 6-3, 6-1

‘Lions of Khorasan’ attract all n Raihan Mahmood,

from Kathmandu

The Afghanistan football team – popu-larly known as the “Lions of Khorasan” - attracted the media’s attention by way of the variety of appearances its members put on show at the o� cial presser of the Sa� Championship at the Hotel Everest yesterday.

Afghanistan’s footballing history is interesting. The country became af-� liated to FIFA in 1946 and  six years, later became a founding member of the Asian Football Confederation.  De-spite this early start, the team did not play an international match until a 1941 draw with Iran. A mixture of wars and internal regimes discouraged foot-ball from 1984 to 2001, during which time the team was completely inactive. 

Later, the Taliban e� ectively banned the sport from 1996 to 2001 but since the millennium, Afghanistan has improved drastically in competitive matches and surprised one-and-all by reaching the � nal of the last Sa� Cham-pionship, where they were defeated by India.

Despite the momentum of the people’s enthusiasm, football remains a small part in the life of a country still trying to recover from the ravaging’s of war.

Before arriving to Nepal, Afghani-

stan beat Pakistan 3-0 in Kabul and were invited to Hamid Karzai’s palace afterwards. Even the then, the team failed to gain large scale support.

“Yes, with only high pro� le practice match before arriving in Nepal maybe is not enough, but we have to share the circumstances and I have the

belief that the players will be in their best for the country,” said national coach Kargar.

The national coach was not afraid to express the frustration he felt about the lack of � nancial support for foot-ball from the government and busi-ness communities of the country. “The

team has been participating in the Sa� for over two years, but due to the lack of � nancial support, we have not won the title. This year we could not attend any training camp outside the country because the government and business community failed to provide any sup-port,” he said.

Attacking mid� elder Ahmed Aarsh spoke to the press in lieu of regular captain Harun Fakhruddin - who plays for Mumbai FC, and is expected to join the squad tomorrow. Aarsh plays in the US 2nd division for Oakland Ambas-sadors and was con� dent of putting a good show. “We are here to win the title. Last time we came near but did not win it but this time we want to take the trophy home,” he said.

Afghanistan are not short on players with experience of playing in Europe. In addition to Aarsh, Mustafa Azadzoy is based in Germany and was the best player against Pakistan. Sanjar Ah-madi, The 21-year-old Germany-based forward, scored the opener against Pakistan and is a clinical � nisher. Twenty-seven year old Ali Ahmad Yarzada captained the defending Af-ghanistan domestic champions Toofan Harirood and is expected to be a key � gure in the team. With a harmonious blend of perfect foreign based and local players, Afghanistan are solid contend-ers for lifting this year’s Sa� trophy. l

Australia to trial day nighters as Test prelude n AFP, Sydney

Australia took a step closer to hosting day-night Tests as cricket chiefs an-nounced Friday they will stage twilight � rst-class games during the coming season.

Cricket Australia will trial day-night games during February’s round nine of the She� eld Shield competition in Ad-elaide, Brisbane and Melbourne using pink balls.

If it proves successful, Australia could hold a day-night Test against New Zealand in late 2015.

CA said it would consider schedul-ing more twilight � rst-class matches in the 2014-15 season to further test out playing conditions and equipment.

“There is a lot of work to be done and nothing is guaranteed but this summer’s trials are our � rst serious e� ort to make day-night Test cricket a reality,” CA chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement.

“We’ve also had some discussions with New Zealand Cricket to gauge their interest in the concept over the past few weeks given they are due to tour Australia in late 2015.

“This is all about the fans. Cricket can’t a� ord to sit on its hands and must keep working hard to ensure Tests re-main the most popular form of the game.”

He said the International Cricket Council was � exible on proposed changes that would allow such trials to proceed.

Sutherland said another key issue related to playing cricket at night was the consistency of the ball used.

“We acknowledge that one of the critical aspects is how the ball wears, behaves and is seen over the course of an innings,” he said.

“There are also some concerns about dew on the ground at night. There may need to be some � exibility and com-promise to get to the outcome.” l

Record-breaker Finch stars as Australia win at lastn AFP, Southampton

Aaron Finch’s record-breaking innings saw Australia to a � rst competitive international win in 200 days as they beat England by 39 runs in the � rst Twenty20 international at Southamp-ton on Thursday.

Man-of-the-match Finch’s stunning 156, the highest individual score in all Twenty20 internationals, was the cor-nerstone of Australia’s 248 for six, it-self the second-highest team score at this level.

England, who wrapped up a 3-0 Ash-es series win with a draw at The Oval on Sunday, unsurprisingly lost early wickets when faced with such a colossal chase and � nished on 209 for six in this day/night � xture.

Victory saw Australia go 1-0 up in a two-match series that concludes in Dur-ham on Saturday.

Australia hadn’t won a major interna-tional match since a 17-run one-day in-ternational victory over the West Indies at Melbourne on February 10.

Finch’s runs came from just 63 balls and the 26-year-old Victorian opener, playing just his seventh match at this level, comfortably surpassed the previ-ous Twenty20 world record of 123 set by New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum against Bangladesh at Pallekele in Sep-tember last year.

“I have been with the Australia A side all summer, so I brought a bit of form into the game,” said Finch at the presen-tation ceremony.

“The wicket was � at and it was one of those days. There was no seam or spin so it was nice to get a few early boundar-ies and I took it on from there.”

Australia Twenty20 captain George Bailey said the only innings to compare with Finch’s was West Indies star Chris Gayle who in April scored the fastest century in all professional cricket, o�

30 balls, during his 175 not out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Pune Warriors in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League.

“It was a pretty extraordinary knock and the only innings that came close was Chris Gayle’s in the IPL,” said Bailey.

“We knew it was going to be a good wicket and history says it is tough to defend on this pitch but given it’s been so long since we had a win we’ll take it,” he added of a match where the teams’ combined 457 runs was also a Twenty20 international record.

Finch got o� the mark, reached his � fty, hundred and 150 with sixes. l

Nadal, Federer nearer to face-o� n AFP, New York

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer moved closer to a � rst-ever US Open meeting with second-round triumphs on Thurs-

day while women’s top seeds Serena Williams and Victoria Azaranka also advanced.

Spanish second seed Nadal, a 12-time Grand Slam winner who has nine titles since ending a seven-month injury lay-o� in February, beat Brazilian quali� er Rogerio Dutra Silva, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in 92 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Swiss 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer, who at the seventh seed is in his lowest spot at the US Open since 2002, � red 37 winners in beating Ar-gentina’s 48th-ranked Carlos Berlocq, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 after 95 minutes.

Federer, who swept the New York hardcourt crowns from 2004-2008, and Nadal, whose 2010 US Open title completed a career Grand Slam, could meet for the � rst time at the US Open

in the quarter-� nals.On the women’s side, defending

champion Williams downed 77th-ranked Galina Voskoboeva 6-3, 6-0, and Belarus second seed Azarenka beat Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3, 6-1.

But Italian fourth seed Sara Errani made a tearful exit, the 2012 US Open semi-� nalist and French Open runner-

up falling to friend and compatriot Fla-via Pennetta 6-3, 6-1.

After being eliminated in the second round last month at Wimbledon in his earliest Grand Slam exit since the 2003 French Open, Federer is going for more than a simple showdown with Nadal in the Flushing Meadows fortnight.

Eight-time French Open champion Nadal, 27, will next risk his career-best 17-match hardcourt win streak against Croatian Ivan Dodig, who is 1-1 all-time against Nadal and upset him in their most recent meeting in the second round at Montreal in 2011 by winning a third-set tie-breaker.

World number one Williams, who would become the oldest US Open women’s champion at 31 if she repeats, advanced her quest for a 17th Grand Slam title and � fth Open crown with ease. She faces Russian-born Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova next.

Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka, who beat Williams earlier this month in the � nal at Cincinnati, booked a match against French 26th seed Alize Cornet for a spot in the last 16. l

Afghan standby captain Ahmed Aarsh and coach Yuosef Kargar talk with the press yesterday MUMIT M

Favourites move to semisn Reazur Rahman Rohan

Favourites Beximco Pharma, Bando De-sign and IIDFC moved into the cup semi-� nals along with new comers Dhaka Tri-bune in the 8Th Ascent 5-A-Side Soccer Cup at STM Hall, Scholastica yesterday.

Defending champions Beximco were given a run for their money after they found themselves 2-1 down against a mediocre Chevron side. Beximco opened the scoring early before Chev-ron surprised them by taking the lead with two quick goals. However, with two goals each from Mukul and Adil Beximco eventually won the game 5-2.

Bando Design rode on a hat-trick from Mubarak as they cruised past Wes-tin in their respective quarter� nal of the day. Bando will meet Beximco in the � rst semi� nal today.

In another crunch match of the day IIDFC cashed in from Arman’s goal to knock out last year runners-up Gemcon 1-0. The goal from Arman came in the � rst half after which IIDFC changed their strategy and went defensive. Gemcon squandered several scoring opportunities which eventually cost them the match.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Tribune contin-ued their fairy tale run in the tourna-ment when they beat HSBC 7-3. Tribune were cruising along with a three goal lead in the opening half, before the bankers showed great determination to stay in the game. Kabir helped HSBC lev-el the score with two goals, but Tribune kept their cool to comeback in the game. Shahinur Rahman struck his second hat-trick of the tournament as he alone netted four goals while Imran, Moon and Shakib scored one each for Dhaka Tribune. Tribune will face IIDFC in the second semi today.

In the bowl, Texmart beat Incepta 4-2 in penalties after regula time ended 2-2, Concito PR beat Aarong 4-2, Beximco Textile defeated General Electric 4-0 and Pepsi beat Grey Dhaka 8-1. Dell, Rahimafrooz REL and Metlife received walkovers from their respective opponents. l

Bangladesh face Chinese Taipei todayn Shishir Hoque

The Bangladesh national hockey team � nd themselves in an unenviable posi-tion. After setting a target of � nishing in the top six in the Asia Cup Hockey be-fore leaving Dhaka, the men in red and green are now just looking to avoid the wooden spoon when they take on Chi-nese Taipei today after being beaten by Japan 0-3 in Ipoh, Malaysia yesterday.

In the classi� cation games yesterday, Japan defeated Bangladesh and Oman beat Chinese Taipei in a penalty shoot-out to � x the � fth to eighth places in the ninth Asia Cup hockey tournament.

Morally down and lacking con� -dence, Bangladesh were barely able to o� er any resistance to Japan, who scored two goals in the � rst half. Toshiro Tachibana opened the scoring in the 9th minute and skipper Koji Kayukawa dou-bled the lead in the 26th minute. After the interval, Japan extended the lead to 3-0 when Tachibana netted his second goal of the day through a � eld e� ort in the dying moments of the match.

Bangladesh will lock horns with Chi-nese Taipei in an attempt to avoid last place, while Oman face Japan in the � fth-sixth place play-o� match today. Bangladesh defeated Chinese Taipei 3-1 in the practice match on August 23. l

Centuries in T20IPlayer Runs Balls OppA Finch (AUS) 156 63 v Eng

B McCullum (NZ) 123 58 v Ban

R Levi (SA) 117* 51 v NZ

C Gayle (WI) 117 57 v SA

B McCullum (NZ) 116* 56 vAus

TM Dilshan (SL) 104* 57 v Aus

M Guptill (NZ) 101* 69 v SA

S Raina (IND) 101 60 v SA

Jayawardene (SL) 100 64 v Zim

Berrington (SCO) 100 58 v Ban

Australia's Aaron Finch celebrates after reaching his century from a six during the � rst T20I against England at the Rose Bowl cricket ground, Southampton on Thursday REUTERS

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, August 31, 2013

Proposed e-waste management rules stalledn Abu Bakar Siddique

The proposed electronic waste or e-waste management rules have been stalled after the Ministry of Law sug-gested incorporating them into a sepa-rate act, separate from the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 2010.

The ministry has asked theDepart-ment of Environment to formulate a new act to manage waste of all kinds, including solid, hospital and e-wastes. The ministry also thinks the Bangla-desh Environment Conservation Act needs to be amended if e-waste man-agement rules are to be incorporated, because it does not de� ne clearly what

e-waste means. Consequently, the law ministry has

asked the Department of Environment (DoE) to include a detailed de� nition of e-waste in the proposed new policy.

“We have returned the proposal of the Department of Environment as it was not appropriate,” said a law minis-try o� cial seeking anonymity.

However, the DoE is of the opinion all rules and policies concerning the environment should be incorporated under one act, namely the Bangladesh Environment Conservation act.

“We do not see any problem in ap-proving the proposed rules, in the same way the Hazardous Waste and

Ship Breaking Waste Management Pol-icy 2011 was incorporated,” said Md Zi-aul Haque, a DoE deputy director.

Last year, the DoE took the initiative to formulate a separate rule on e-waste management to deal with the rising volume of electronic waste in Bangla-desh, and set guidelines for hazardous e-waste management.

Currently, environment protection activities are carried out under provi-sions in the existing Bangladesh Envi-ronment Conservation Act 2010.

The proposed new –e-waste policy will control all business related to elec-tronic waste, including production, ex-port, and recycling.

All electronic products that contain substances hazardous for the environ-ment and public health will be consid-ered and treated as e-waste.

The proposed e-waste rules divide electronic wastes into four categories, namely household appliances such as electric heaters, vacuum cleaners, toast-ers, etc; monitoring and control instru-ments, such as thermostats, air-condi-tioners, etc; automatic dispensers such as beverage dispensers and automated teller machines; and telecommunica-tion gadgets such as computers, mobile phones, telephones, fax machines, etc.

The DoE has already formulated � ve separate rules and policies incorporat-

ed into the existing environment act, which is one of the law ministry’s main reasons for objecting to the initiative.

The incorporated policies and rules are the Chemical Substance Depleting Ozone Layer (Control) Policy 2004, Sound Pollution Policy 2006, Bangla-desh Environment Conservation Policy 2010, Hazardous Waste and Ship Break-ing Waste Management Policy 2011 and Bangladesh Bio-safety Rules 2012.

However, nuclear waste is not con-sidered under the rules because Ban-gladesh has a separate policy for han-dling such hazardous substances under the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Con-trol Act 1993. l

Oil prices fall below $108 as Syria fears easen Tribune Desk

The price of oil fell below $108 a barrel yes-terday after British lawmakers refused to approve military action against Syria, eas-ing concerns about international interven-tion in the country’s civil war.

Benchmark oil for October delivery was down $1.13 to $107.67 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The con-tract fell $1.30 to close at $108.80 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday, reports AP.

Britain’s parliament on Thursday re-fused to go along with Prime Minister Da-vid Cameron’s plan to intervene in Syria, whose government is suspected of a chem-ical weapons attack earlier this month that killed more than 300 civilians.

Another hurdle in forming an interna-tional coalition to undertake a military strike against Syria took place at the U.N.,

when Russia blocked British e� orts to force a resolution approving action. Dropping oil prices re� ected the relief traders felt.

“We might see oil come o� a little bit,” said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in Melbourne, Australia. “But if the situation escalates over the weekend, that might be a di� erent story.”

Syria is not a major oil producer but a widening con� ict there could a� ect major producers in the region or disrupt supply routes.

Brent crude, the benchmark for interna-tional crudes, fell 65 cents $114.50 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:l Heating oil lost 1 cent to $3.178 per gallon.l Natural gas rose 2.2 cents to $3.64 per

1,000 cubic feet.l Wholesale gasoline was down 1.4 cents

at $2.916 per gallon. l

Railway modernisation still in dreamsTrade body’s partnership proposal has gone unheeded

n Tribune Desk

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry (DCCI) has made a set of recom-mendation for the revival of the coun-try’s railway sector when then Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta took over charge. But the trade body is now dis-appointed as most of the recommenda-tions remained unaddressed.

“The government had a good inten-tion behind creating a separate minis-try for the railway. But all hopes have diminished in frustration. We’re now planning to press both the major par-ties to include our recommendations in their election manifesto,” DCCI Pres-ident M Sabur Khan told UNB.

Because, he said, the ministers lis-ten to them but forget everything later. “So, we’ll do it before the election be-cause the railway has huge potentials and it’s the only transport sector on which people have the con� dence.”

Sabur Khan said train compartments should be built in tourist-friendly fash-ion, and the � ow of tourists will start increasing once the railway network is linked with tourist hubs.

On January 26, the then DCCI Presi-dent Asif Ibrahim placed a 15-point rec-ommendation to the government for the revival of the country’s railway sec-tor, which is the most popular means of communication worldwide.

The proposals include enhancing in-vestment in railway sector under Pub-lic-Private Partnership (PPP), proper project plan consisting with ‘transport master plan,’ repair, modernisation, expansion of railway tracks and rail-way connectivity with India, China and Myanmar.

Referring to a study, the DCCI said approximately 40 percent business working hours are being wasted each year due to tra� c congestion in the country causing a loss of Tk200 billion and with the money a project like Pad-ma Bridge could be built.

Already popular among travellers, the country’s railway could be made a vibrant sector through a well-devel-oped network of tracks establishing links with tourist hubs and boarder ar-eas, experts say.

They think it is high time to shift fo-cus from the road-based transport and communication strategy to the railway, and link the railway network with neigh-bouring countries, including Myanmar, to carry goods apart from passengers.

Talking to this correspondent, Chairman of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Chittagong Chapter Engineer

Mohammad Ali Ashraf said, “I don’t see any challenge to make the railway sec-tor vibrant, but it needs good e� orts.”

“We’ll enter the heaven if we can be linked with Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) that would connect the country’s rail-way system to an 81,000-km network stretching from Europe to East and South-East Asia,” he added.

Starting from Turkey, the TAR would link Bangladesh with six coun-tries of East Asia including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore, and also with Europe through Turkey.

Engineer Ashraf, also former chair-man of the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh, Chittagong chapter said it has become important to develop the railway network through Dohazari-Ra-mu-Cox’s Bazar-Sonadia Island for the country’s economic development.

If it happens, goods transportation cost will reduce drastically apart from ensuring comfortable journeys for pas-sengers.

“Policymakers need to play an ac-tive, innovative role.”

Engineer Ali Ashraf also suggested improvement of railway network in Chittagong-Feni, Sitakunda, Fatickch-hari-Nazirhat and linking with Akhaw-ra-Tripura-North Bengal land ports. “We can link Indian border through Nazirhat, Chittagong.”

“If a proper plan is taken, the railway sector can be more pro-people, ser-vice-oriented and environment-friend-ly transport sector. But, we can’t attract tourists with the current policy,” for-mer State Minister for Communica-tions Salahuddin Ahmed.

It will give a big boost to the econ-omy if Myanmar is connected with the railway network for importing raw-ma-terials like cement clinker and lime-stone and other goods in bulk volumes, he said.

“The railway will be the best option to utilise if f a deep seaport near Sonad-ia Island in Cox’s Bazar is built. I think, it’ll be built one day. We’ll have to con-centrate both on freight and passenger trains,” Salahuddin Ahmed said.

He appreciated the government initiatives for creating a separate min-istry for railways, but, he said, mas-sive irregularities in procurement and recruitment in the railway sector have frustrated people.

Responding to a question, Salahuddin said the number of tourists will signi� -cantly increase if the railway network is expanded in a planned way as people prefer train as a safer mode of transport. l

Two children raped in one Narsingdi villagen Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

Two small girls from Alokbali village in Narsingdi sadar upazila have been � ghting for their lives in a hospital as they were raped by a teacher and a se-curity guard within a week.

The incidents have incited panic in the area as police are yet to arrest any of the rapists stating that they have went into hiding. In the � rst incident that took place on Thursday, August 22, police lodged a case against Sadirul Haque, alias Mangal Master, a retired teacher of Alokbali Primary School. The case was � led under Women and Children Repression Prevention Act with the Sadar police station.

The victim’s family alleges that they were under pressure from in� uential individuals to not sue the teacher. Po-lice also refused to � le a case following the incident. Later, police conducted an investigation and found proof of rape.

The 12-year-old girl, a class V stu-dent of the same school, was raped on

August 22. According to her relatives, the girl was playing on the premises of the teacher’s house, adjacent to hers, in the afternoon. The rapist then lured her into his house and raped her.

The victim later went to her grand-mother’s house and told her about the incident. She was admitted to Narsing-di Sadar Hospital. Doctors said her con-dition was very critical.

Meanwhile, a nine-year-old girl of the same village is undergoing treat-ment at the same hospital after she had been raped by a night guard on August 29. The victim is a class III student of Alokbali Primary School with the rapist being the school’s security guard.

Police, witnesses and hospital sources said the girl was playing near the school compound in the afternoon, during which, night guard Rahamat Ali lured the girl to help him in the kitchen and raped her. Later the locals rescued her and sent her to the hospital.

A case was � led with Narsingdi sa-dar police station. l

Rise of ‘dope gangs’ n Tribune Report

An army o� cer and an unidenti� ed man were killed by “dope gangs” in the capital on Thursday.

These gangs drug their victims using sedatives or poisonous material.

More than 150 people have beenadmitted to Dhaka Medical Col-lege Hospital (DMCH) in the last twomonths after falling victim to these gangs.

Corporal Tajul Islam, 35, from Co-milla Cantonment was found uncon-scious under the Khilkhet � yover in Dhaka around 11:30pm on Thursday by another soldier and rushed to the Com-bined Millitary Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

O� cer in charge (OC) of Khilkhet po-lice station Shamim Hossain said Cor-poral Tajul came to the Transit Camp in Dhaka Cantonment, from where he went out in the evening.

The OC said he was fed a poisonous mixture and bore marks of injury on his left leg.

His brother Md Sumon � led a case in

this connection. Tajul Islam was mar-ried with two daughters.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Benjir Ahmed of Cantonment police station said they were waiting for the autopsy report to � nd out if the corporal was drugged or killed in a planned way.

In a di� erent incident, earlier in the morning, police recovered the body of an unidenti� ed man near North Badda bazaar.

SI Nur-e-Alam of Badda police sta-tion said they found a man wearing a lungi and a white T-shirt lying on the footpath at 11am and rushed him to Badda General Hospital, but as his con-dition deteriorated, he was shifted to DMCH, where he died.

Six others, including a Singa-pore-bound passenger, were admitted to DMCH after they were found uncon-scious at various places of the capital; � ve others were admitted to the hospi-tal on August 27.

Hospital sources said more than 150 people have been admitted in the last two months after they were drugged and robbed. l

Nasimons, locally made improvised vehicles run by light engines, are parked at a stand in Sonargaon. Nasimons, which run on the outskirts of the capital as well as elsewhere in the country, do not have protective body and are slow which is very risky on highways SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

India PM reassures on rupeen AFP, New Delhi

India’s prime minister warned the na-tion yesterday to brace for higher prices because of the rupee’s plunge to record lows, but he forecast the economy would pick up in the second half of the year.

Manmohan Singh said actions by his left-leaning Congress-led government to reduce “the unsustainably large” cur-rent account de� cit, which has under-mined the currency, would bear fruit.

“We are no doubt faced with impor-tant challenges but we have the capac-ity to address them -- it is at times like these that a nation shows what is truly capable of,” he told lawmakers. l

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