SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016 | Falgun 24, 1422, Jamadiul Awal 26, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 321 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

Tigers hapless as India reign supreme

n Rashad Banna

Much like the fading � ame of a burning candle, the Tigers fans’ hopes, dreams and expectations that had slowly built up were pain-fully dashed yesterday as India romped to their sixth Asia Cup title at the home of cricket in Mirpur.

Each and every single run that were garnered by Indian batsmen Shikhar Dhawan (60 o� 44 balls) and Virat Kohli (41* o� 28) slowly but surely reduced Bangladesh’s chances of an historic win while captain MS Dhoni (20* o� six) ham-mered the � nal nail in the co� n with eight wickets and seven deliv-eries to spare.

The early departure of opening batsman and danger-man Rohit Sharma (one) was a distant mem-ory as the second wicket partner-ship of Dhawan and Kohli stitched together a 94-run association. In-dian singles and twos were greeted with groans by the weekday Sher-e-Bangla National stadium crowd while pin-drop silence could be heard following each boundary and six.

The Bangladesh bowlers were desperate to initiate regular break-throughs, and in the process, put behind the heartbreaking mem-ories of their two-run loss in the 2012 Asia Cup � nal at home. But with the exception of young teara-

way Taskin Ahmed (1/14), none of the Tigers bowlers were successful in the wake of some brutal hitting by the Indian second wicket pair.

The visitors will no doubt be ab-solutely delighted following a bril-liant campaign in which they won all � ve matches. As far as the home

side is concerned, they will barely get the time to lick their wounds as they are set to depart for India to-day morning ahead of the impend-ing World T20.

That the grand � nale eventu-ally got underway yesterday was largely down to the brilliant work

of the Mirpur ground sta� , led by Sri Lankan Gamini Silva. Slight drizzle engulfed the SBNS hours before the start of the game and it was followed by heavy rainfall. The sight of lightning over the Mirpur stadium made for grim viewing but thankfully, the match did begin, a

few hours later than schedule. The umpires reduced � ve overs, mak-ing it a 15-overs per side a� air.

A brisk cameo by Mahmudullah and a workmanlike knock by Sab-bir Rahman guided Bangladesh to a challenging total of 120/5.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

India opener Shikhar Dhawan plays a shot against Bangladesh during their Asia Cup T20 � nal match at the Sher-e-Bangla national stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Dae'sh suicide attack kills 60 near Baghdadn Agencies

Militant group Dae'sh claimed re-sponsibility for a suicide attack with an explosive-laden fuel tanker on an Iraqi police checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing at least 60 peo-ple and wounding more than 70, reports Reuters quoting medical and security o� cials.

Responsibility was claimed in a posting on the website of the Amaq news agency, which supports the ultra-hardline Sala� st group.

The explosion took place at Hilla, the capital of Babylon prov-ince, a predominantly Shia region with some Sunni presence.

A provincial hospital o� cial con� rmed the number of casual-ties. Many had su� ered burn inju-ries.

The blast went o� at around 1:00pm (local time), a time of day when vehicles are usually bumper-to-bumper, waiting to be checked by security personnel.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

MP’s drunk son indicted forkilling two peoplen Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday indict-ed Awami League MP Pinu Khan’s son Bakhtiar Alam Rony, who in a drunken stupor opened � re from his SUV that killed two persons on New Eskaton Road of the capital last year.

Judge Shamsunnahar Begum of the Dhaka’s Second Addition-al Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court framed the charges against Rony under section 302 of the Pe-

nal Code. It also set April 11 to start trial in the case, � led by the mother of one of the two victims.

The prosecution read out the charges and asked Rony whether he was guilty or not. Rony, brought to the court on a wheelchair due to spinal cord complications, claimed himself innocent and prayed for justice.

During hearing on the discharge petition, Rony’s counsel Kazi Nozi-bullah Hiru told the court that the accused had been implicated in the

case as part of a conspiracy. He also claimed that Rony had not been present on the car and that the bul-lets found in the victims’ bodies were not shot from Rony’s pistol.

Demanding that the accused be discharged from the case, the counsel said that since Rony was drunk at the time, he should not be charged under section 302 of the Penal Code. Punishment for murder under the section is death penalty.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

News2DTMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Mahbubey: Wait till Quasem’s verdict and seen Tribune Report

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday urged all not to make any comment on the chief justice and the judiciary that could hamper the trial of the war criminals.

In response to questions from reporters, Mahbubey at his o� ce said that such comments were un-constitutional and might a� ect the judiciary. He also requested all to wait for tomorrow’s verdict on con-demned war criminal Mir Quasem Ali’s appeal.

Meanwhile, BNP-Jamaat-dom-inated Supreme Court Bar Asso-ciation (SCBA) yesterday urged the apex court to take legal action against two ministers for their comments about Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

Food Minister Qamrul Islam on Saturday said that Jamaat leader Mir Quasem’s appeal case should be re-heard by a new Appellate Division bench excluding the chief justice.

During hearing in the case, Jus-tice Sinha criticised the prosecution

team and the investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal for their ine� ciency and negligence in dealing with the case as they had failed to prove four charges against Quasem. He also criticised the gov-ernment for not � ling a case against Quasem for appointing lobbyists against the war crimes trial process.

Qamrul thinks the chief justice’s remarks raised questions about his intention. He was the state minis-ter for law when the tribunal was formed in 2010.

At the same event, Liberation War A� airs Minister AKM Mozam-mel Haque made similar observa-

tions. He demanded that the chief justice resign. Other speakers who attended the discussion organised by Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee also criticised the chief justice.

Earlier at a programme in Janu-ary, Chief Justice SK Sinha alleged that the executive part of the state was out to snatch the power of the

judiciary. On February 29, he urged the politicians to refrain from mak-ing derogatory comments about the judiciary saying that it was a part of the state, not the government.

Mahbubey yesterday said that the two ministers’ comments were unexpected and unconstitutional.

Many untrue stories were spread about the chief justice before the Appellate Division’s verdict in the case of war criminal Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, that he might favour the war criminal. “But Sa-lahuddin was sentenced to death,” the attorney general said.

“So, please wait and have faith on the judiciary. Because, the ju-diciary is the principal organ of the sate. It is better not to make it con-troversial,” he said.

Meanwhile, SCBA President Khandker Mahbub Hossain at a press conference yesterday said that the ministers’ comments about the chief justice and on a sub-judice matter was a threat to the judiciary.

“The Supreme Court should take legal action against them in order to uphold the image of the ju-diciary. The Appellate Division can initiate contempt of court proceed-ings against the two ministers if it wants,” said Mahbub, who is the chief counsel of the condemned war criminals. l

Dae’sh suicideA doctor at Hilla hospital said at least 11 of the wounded were in a very serious condition.

A March 2014 suicide bombing at the same checkpoint outside Hilla killed 50 people and wounded more than 150.

Dae’sh group has not had � xed positions south of Baghdad since security forces and allied militias began their � ghtback against the jihadists in late 2014.

When Iraqi forces began their counter-o� ensive against Dae’sh, securing the Shia shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala, south of Bagh-dad, was a priority.

The jihadist group has since been losing territory in Iraq. In the most recent operation, Iraqi forces have been retaking areas west of the city of Samarra and are contin-uing to advance.

In the cities Dae’sh retains con-trol over, internal tension appears to be on the rise and the lack of supplies is taking its toll.

Observers have warned that, as its self-proclaimed “caliphate” shrinks towards extinction, Dae’sh will likely revert to its old guerril-la tactics and ramp up suicide car bomb attacks on civilian targets.

“The Ra� dha (a derogatory term for Shias) must understand that the battle has just begun and that the worst is yet to come,” The militant group said as it claimed Sunday’s bombing.

The attack on Hilla checkpoint was one of the deadliest bombings since a suicide explosion killed nearly 100 people in Diyala prov-ince, north of Baghdad, in July 2015. l

MP’s drunk son indicted for killing two peopleThe ballistic report, however, shows that the bullets were from Rony’s pistol, the licence of which was later revoked by the authori-ties. Police’s Detective Branch in-vestigated the incident that took place on the eve of Pohela Boishakh last year. The charge sheet names Rony as the lone accused.

On the other hand, additional public prosecutor SM Zahid Sarder prayed to the court to frame charg-es against the accused since the al-legations brought against him were preliminarily found to be true.

After the hearing, the court re-jected the discharge petition.

Rony, who was in a drunken stu-por, opened � re from his car indis-criminately near Dilu Road leaving two people — rickshaw-puller Ab-dul Hakim and an auto-rickshaw

driver Yakub — injured around 1:45am on April 14. Hakim suc-cumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on April 15 while Yakub died on April 23.

Hakim’s mother Monowara Be-gum � led the murder case with Ramna police on April 15.

On July 21, DB Sub-Inspector Dipak Kumar Das, also investiga-tion o� cer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the court. The charges were accepted on August 13.

Yakub’s wife Salma Begum, 45, was present at the court during yesterday’s hearing.

After the indictment order, she cried out loud demanding justice for her husband. She told reporters that if she did not get justice, she would commit suicide on the court

premises.Plainti� Monowara was not

present at the court.Rony was arrested on May 30

based on information given by his driver Imran Fakir and placed on police remand for 10 days in three phases.

Rony’s three friends – Kamal Mahmood, Md Jahangir and Tiger Kamal who were inside the SUV at the time of the incident – and driv-er Imran gave judicial statements before the court.

The trio told the court Rony he had been under the in� uence of al-cohol when they were going to Dh-anmondi from Moghbazar around 1:45am. They said that Rony was annoyed with tra� c jam on the road and � red � ve shots from the car. l

Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan dies aged 94n BBC

Former US First Lady Nancy Rea-gan died at home in California yes-terday at the age of 94.

Nancy Reagan, who had been living in Bel Air, Los Angeles, died of congestive heart failure, the Rea-gan library said.

Her 52-year marriage to Ronald Reagan was once described as the US presidency’s greatest love a� air.

From 1981-89 she was one of the most in� uential � rst ladies in US history; initially criticised for an expensive renovation of the White House, but later becoming a much-loved � gure.

She will be buried next to her hus-band, at the Ronald Reagan Presiden-tial Library in Simi Valley, California, the library said in a statement.

Like Ronald, Nancy was a former Hollywood performer who made it all the way to the White House.

As Nancy Davis, she was an ac-tress during the 1940s and 1950s and married Reagan, a prominent � lm actor, in 1952.

She served as � rst lady of Cali-fornia during her husband’s stint as California governor from 1967 to 1975 before moving into the White House after his decisive victory over Democratic President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

As � rst lady, she sought to em-ulate the style of one of her prede-cessors, Jackie Kennedy.

To this end, she extensively re-decorated the White House, and accepted designer dresses worth $1m and a 4,732-piece set of china worth $209,000.

This spending spree provoked a huge outcry from people outraged by what they saw as pro� igacy and waste while millions of Americans were losing their jobs.

Public opinion was also swayed by accusations that Nancy had a frosty personality, often consulted astrologers, and ordered the dis-missal of White House chief of sta� Donald Regan in 1987.

“I see the � rst lady as another means to keep a president from be-coming isolated,” she once said. l

Tigers hapless as India reign supremeThe Tigers were stuttering a bit following the dismissal of captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza (nought) with the scoreboard reading 75/5. But an unbroken 45-run partner-ship for the sixth wicket between Mahmudullah (33 o� 13 balls) and Sabbir (32 o� 29 balls) steered the home side to a � ghting tally.

Mahmudullah provided a much-needed � ourish through his two sixes and as many fours while Sabbir blasted only two boundaries as he was mostly busy taking sin-gles and twos and ticking along the scoreboard.

Earlier, Bangladesh made a solid if unspectacular start with opening batsmen Tamim Iqbal (13 o� 17 balls) and Soumya Sarkar

(14 o� nine balls) posting 27 runs. Soumya was particularly impres-sive as one of his three fours nearly took out his opening partner at the non-striker’s end.

The Tigers though were pegged back slightly through the quick de-partures of their openers. Soumya was dismissed while trying to clear mid o� while Tamim was trapped plumb in front.

Shakib al Hasan appeared to be in � ne touch, striking three crisp boundaries during his 16-ball 21 but was outfoxed by Ravichandran Ashwin while trying to sweep.

Mush� qur Rahim ended the tournament on a sad note as he departed for a � ve-ball four but Mahmudullah and Sabbir ensured

that the Tigers would have a � ght-ing tally to defend.

Bangladesh headed into the clash making two alterations to the playing XI that had played against Pakistan; Mohammad Mithun mak-ing way for Nasir Hossain and Abu Haider Rony replacing Arafat Sunny.

India made three changes to the starting XI that had played against the United Arab Emirates with Ash-win, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashish Nehra replacing Pawan Negi, Har-bhajan Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

The Tigers will now turn their at-tention to the World T20 where they face the Netherlands in their � rst round opener this Wednesday in the picturesque city of Dharamsala. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Please wait and have faith on the judiciary. Because, the judiciary is the principal organ of the sate. It is better not to make it controversial

Nancy Reagan WIKIMEDIA

Maritime VSATs on � oating hospital ships launched

News 3D

TMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Police: ATM scammers withdrew Tk5-6cr or moren Mohammad Jamil Khan

ATM scammers used cloned cards to withdraw around Tk5-6 crore from di� erent banks, investigators are now saying, adding that the � g-ure could grow even higher.

“The forgery gang used to with-draw money by manipulating ser-vices from point of sale terminals, especially using cards of clients who were travelling abroad. For this, it is taking more time to calculate [the damages],” said Monirul Islam, chief of police’s counter-terrorism and transnational crime (CT) unit.

He made the comments after the CT unit and Detective Branch recovered Tk51 lakh from a fashion store in the capital on Saturday, using information gleaned from prime suspect Piotr Szczepan Ma-zurek.

Monirul Islam, also the addi-tional commissioner of Dhaka Met-ropolitan Police, said the recovered money had been withdrawn using a clone card from a newly launched private bank.

However, he did not disclose the names of the private bank or the fashion store.

Meanwhile, the CT unit also used information from Piotr to con-duct a drive in Gulshan area early yesterday and arrest two more sus-pects in the ATM forgery case.

“The arrestees are Humayun Kabir and Saifuzzaman,” said Maruf Hossain Sarder, a DMP dep-uty commissioner (media and pub-lication).

In primary interrogation, Huma-yun reportedly admitted of helping Piotr exchange taka for dollar and send it abroad. Saif, on the oth-

er hand, used to work in a private bank but was � red in 2012 for an ATM card scam.

CT unit chief Monirul said they are now analysing 50 more sus-pects – all bankers, businessmen and hotel owners – to see if they had links to the scam.

“We suspect that more people were involved as many more banks are � lling complaints with us,” he said.

Suspects remandedThe court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Saad Bir Yeasir Ahsan Chowdhury yesterday placed Pi-otr and three detained City Bank o� cials – Moksed Alam Maksud, Rezaul Karim Shahin and Refaz Ahmed Roni – under a fresh four-day remand. This will be the third round of remand for the men.

The same court also granted a three-day remand against Hu-mayun and Saif, after the police sought a � ve-day remand.

Meanwhile, members of the CT unit are also working on sending a list of four suspects to the Interpol.

“Pro� les of Piotr, his friend Far-id Nabir, Romeo and Andy have been readied and will soon be sent to Interpol for their assistance in tracing the criminals and bringing them to justice,” said a senior DB o� cial requesting anonymity.

Piotr’s pro� le would be sent to Interpol because he had been in-volved in similar ATM scams in other countries, the o� cial said, adding that if Piotr’s name was found in other criminal databases, that might help in tracking his oth-er associates in the international forgery gang. l

‘More time needed for Banasree murder investigation’n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Now that Mahfuza Malek Jesmin, mother of the sibling duo who were allegedly su� ocated to death in the capital’s Banasree area last week, has confessed to killing her children, more time is necessary to properly investigate the case, said Monirul Islam, additional commissioner at Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

Addressing a press brie� ng at the DMP’s media centre yesterday, Monirul said: “It is very di� cult for a mother to say that she killed her chil-dren. Her psychological state is a big factor here. We are looking into it.”

But he said Jesmin is not insane. “If necessary, police will seek pro-fessional help to determine the state of her mental health.”

During interrogation, Jesmin said a bout of depression brought on by anxiety about her children’s future drove her to kill them, he said.

“Jesmin is highly educated. She used to teach at a college once, but quit the job ... The � nancial con-dition of her family is not sound. So there may have been cause for some frustration,” he added.

“We are also trying to � nd if someone else is involved ... if she is trying to save someone else.”

Inspector Musta� zur Rahman of Rampura police station said no evidence of Jesmin having an ex-tramarital a� air was found.

“We examined the call list on Jesmin’s mobile phone. There is nothing that indicates that she could had an extramarital a� air,” he said yesterday. l

Sumaiya, too, passes awayn Kamrul Hasan

Sumaiya Akhter, one of the six members of a family injured in a gas explosion at her Uttara � at, passed away yesterday at a hospital ICU.

Sumaiya, 40, succumbed to her burn injuries yesterday around 3:25pm, Dr Rashed Mahmud of the City Hospital said. She had 95% burn injuries. Sumaiya was kept in the ICU and had been unresponsive since the morning, he said.

Sumaiya was shifted to the hos-pital from Dhaka Medical College Hospital on March 1. Her family members said her situation was de-teriorating they shifted her so that she could died keeping her chil-dren in front of her.

She died hours after her only surviving son Zarif bin Newaz was taken home yesterday morning.

An audio statement by Sumaiya was released on social media by her cousin on February 29 and subse-quently in the news media. In it she described how her neighbours stood by as she and her family members ran down the stairs while burning.

Sumaiya’s husband Shah Newaz, 50, a maintenance engi-neer at the US embassy in Dhaka, died on February 27 and their other two children, 14-month-old Zayan and 15-year-old Sharleen, died within 12 hours of the explosion on February 26.

Abu Su� an, a relative, said Su-maiya would be buried beside her husband and children at her home village in Barisal.

Family members have alleged that although Shah Newaz in-formed his landlord as soon as he smelled the gas leakage, the land-lord took no measures to � x the problem. l

n Abid Azad

NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxem-bourg Stock Exchange: SESG, a world-leading satellite operator, and FRIENDSHIP, a non-govern-mental organisation, with tech-nical assistance of Square Infor-matix (Bangladesh) Ltd, launched the � rst state-of-the-art Maritime VSATs on three of FRIENDSHIP’s � oating hospital ships yesterday at Char Dakatia under Dewanganj thana in Jamalpur.

The ships are Emirates Friend-ship Hospital, Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital and Rongdhonu Friend-ship Hospital.

Emirates is now in Jamalpur while Lifebuoy in Bogra’s Sariakan-di and Rongdhonu in Kutubdia.

Each ship will provide health service in two to three upazilas.

“Our three ships and 437 satel-lite clinics including 555 Friendship Community Members will reach around 250,000 people in our pro-ject areas,” said Enamul Haque, team leader of health and commu-nication of FRIENDSHIP.

“We provide reproductive health services, maternity health care, child health, eye care, dental care including operation services, X-ray, ECG and other pathological services.

“Under the operation service, we will provide burn surgery, or-thopedic surgery, harnia operation, hydrocil operation, tumour oper-ation, cataract surgery and family planning,” he added.

“This is a great initiative in the country that our char people are

now able to get a bet-ter quality treatment through the satellite e-health programme,” said chief guest at the inauguration Nasrul Hamid Bipu, state minister for power, energy and mineral re-sources.

“Despite huge re-sources in the health sector, we have man-agement problems. However, such a pro-ject will play an impor-tant role in promoting our health sector, and will add more e� cien-cy and support.”

Runa Khan, found-er and executive di-rector of FRIENDSHIP, described the project as a great illustration of a true partnership between govern-ments, the private sec-

tor and NGOs. “Mutual trust and

collaboration can lead to greater bene� ts that directly impact the bene� ciaries.

“The project gives us a tool with which we are able to bring in specialised services of e-learning, special-ised back o� ce re-sources and training,” she said.

“After implement-ing SATMED platform tools and services, the ship hospitals will be able to support and facilitate work in the areas of e-care, e-sur-veillance, e-health management and digital imaging,” said Gerhard Bethschei-der, managing direc-tor of SES TechCom Services. l

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016News4DT

Khaleda, Tarique elected uncontested n Mohammad Al-Masum

Molla

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and the party’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rah-man have been re-elected for their posts in the party as no one challenged them.

As the withdrawal dead-line for nomination paper ex-pired yesterday, both mother and son were elected for their respective posts for the next three years.

If anyone � led nomination papers for the posts, then an election would have been held in the party’s sixth na-

tional council scheduled to be held on March 19.

Nazrul Islam Khan, returning o� cer for the council election, said Khaleda and her son Tarique were elected to the posts as their nomination papers were valid and no one else challenged them for the top two seats of the party.

Khaleda Zia has been the party’s chairperson since 1984, while the BNPcreated the senior vice-chair-man position in its2009 council and Tarique Rahman was appointed in that post. l

Speakers: No body to monitor women’s inclusion in party committeesn Kamrul Hasan

Although the Election Com-mission’s registration rules for political parties stipulate that they will have 33% fe-male members in their com-mittees by 2020, the author-ities concerned did not form a body to monitor the matter, said speakers at a roundtable yesterday.

They expressed doubt over whether the goal could be achieved, saying that the major political parties do not have a signi� cant number of women but have female party chiefs.

Forty parties registered with the EC brought changes to their constitutions in line with the EC rules in 2008.

Speakers said it was im-possible to achieve success in this regard without any moni-toring cell in a country where laws have to be enacted to implement gender equalities inside parties.

EC Joint Secretary Jesmin Tuli said a monitoring body was yet to be formed to keep the political parties under ob-servation.

Addressing the discussion held at Cirdap auditorium in the capital, Shushashon-er Janney Nagarik General Secretary Badiul Alam Ma-jumdar said: “Due to the ex-isting election system, the re-served-seat women members

of parliament have no speci� c constituency where they can initiate development work.”

“Moreover, till now, it is seen that these lawmakers are selected only from the ruling party. As they do not engage in any work in constituencies, they have no accountability either,” he added.

Speakers suggested that women members of the par-liament be elected through direct polls.

Badiul said: “To achieve the goal of including 33% fe-male members in the com-mittees of political parties, the government can intro-duce rotational election sys-tem so that women candi-dates can � ght directly for one-third of the seats. If the system rotates, the oppor-tunity for female candidates to � ght against males will be strengthened.”

Awami League’s Publicity and Publications Secretary Hasan Mahmud urged all po-litical parties to stay united for the greater interest of the country.

The speakers also talked about issues such as quality female education, and reasons why female students are reluc-tant to build carrier in politics.

At the roundtable, leaders of three leading political par-ties agreed to work together to ensure women empowerment in politics. l

A round table discussion on women’s political empowerment in Bangladesh underway at Cirdap auditorium in the city ahead of International Women’s Day, organised by USAID, UKAID and Democracy International RAJIB DHAR

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016News 5

DT

PRAYERTIMES

Cox’s Bazar 32 23Dhaka 37 24 Chittagong 32 23 Rajshahi 36 21 Rangpur 35 19 Khulna 35 23 Barisal 36 24 Sylhet 35 18T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:05PM SUN RISES 6:14AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW36.0ºC 18.8ºCJessore SrimangalMONDAY, MARCH 7

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 4:57am | Zohr: 12:09amAsr: 3:32pm | Magrib: 6:07pmEsha: 7:33pm

DRY WEATHER

Project helps youth explore place in democracyn Abu Sayeed Asiful Islam

It is a duty to speak truth to pow-er, the great and the good were reminded yesterday by a young man from Satkhira who introduced himself simply as Rashed.

A participant in the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) and Saf-erworld-Bangladesh project on youth and democratic participa-tion, Rashed said learning how to participate in the democratic pro-cess had given him con� dence and a political voice.

“I have learned how to speak up and always to speak the truth,” the Satkhira native told the audience at a workshop that included the prime minister’s adviser on for-eign a� airs, EU Ambassador Pierre

Mayaudon and several top Bangla-deshi diplomats.

The national workshop titled “The Role of Youth in Promoting Democracy, Justice and Human Rights” sponsored by the BEI and Safeworld-Bangladesh was held at a restaurant in the capital’s Gul-shan neighbourhood.

The chief guest at the pro-gramme, the Prime Minister’s For-eign A� airs Adviser Gowher Rizvi, said: “Today much of the emphasis with democracy is on the process, but this is not su� cient ... without instilling ethics, democracy is a concept without a spirit.”

BEI President Ambassador Fa-rooq Sobhan presided over the workshop that included several spirited exchanges between the

participants and the panellists. The project, an 11-month e� ort

to impart an understanding of de-mocracy, justice and human rights to young people, took place in two

upazilas in Satkhira district be-tween April 2015 and March 2016.

One of the results of the project has been the creation of Democ-racy and Justice Forum Centres

which are meant to support “a space for fair play” in society.

BEI Vice President Ambassador Humayun Kabir said Satkhira had been chosen as the site for the pro-ject because of recent violence in the district and because of the dis-trict’s history of extreme politics - whether of the right or the left.

The district has had a long history of volatility linked to a narrative of dispossession that goes back to partition in 1947, theaudience heard.

Today’s angst, in common with youth unrest elsewhere in the world, is largely the result of a lack of employment opportunities and a lack of bureaucratic accountabil-ity, participants and panellists said.

Ambassador Humayun said

youth participants in the project were excited about exercising their democratic rights and had used what they had learned to success-fully confront local bribe-takers.

“When the youth stands up it sends a strong and visible message to a larger segment of society,”he said.

The Satkhira participants who attended the workshop spoke pas-sionately in favour of extending the project’s duration and of keep-ing the Democracy and Justice Fo-rum Centres in operation.

They also advocated mobile telephone-based citizen journal-ism. Indeed, one major � nding of the project was that the media acts as a “source multiplier on behalfof youth.” l

HABIGANJ 4 CHILDREN MURDERSub-Inspector suspendedn Our Correspondent, Habiganj

A probe committee looking into the allegations of police negligence in the investigation of four children’s murder in Bahubal upazila, Habiganj has recommended suspension of a sub-inspector and action against the o� cer-in-charge of investigation in Bahubal police station.

The three-member committee submitted the report to Habiganj Su-perintendent of Police (SP) Joydeb Kumar Bhadra yesterday afternoon, said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shahidul Islam who headed the probe committee.

Following the submission, the sub-inspector, Ziaur Rahman Zia,

was suspended from duty by the SP.The report also recommended

the police authorities to take action against Bahubal investigation OC Abdur Rahman.

Talking to reporters, the ASP said the probe committee was formed on February 24 after family members of the four slain children accused police of neglecting their duties in investigating the case.

The submission of the report was postponed twice before it was � nally submitted yesterday.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted Bahubal police station OC Moshar-raf Hossain, who said he had heard about the report but refused to make further comment. l

Housemaid’s body recovered in capitaln Tribune Report

A young maid was found dead be-side NAM Garden in the capital’s Kafrul yesterday.

Jonia, 15, worked at the house of Ahsan Habib, chairman and direc-tor of the National Freedom Fight-ers’ Council, said Kafrul police sta-tion Sub-Inspector Kamruzzaman.

He said Jonia’s sandals were found on the roof of the house.

“Her death is mysterious. She ei-ther fell o� the roof accidentally or someone pushed her. We detained the security guard and the lift oper-ator of the house for questioning,” said SI Kamruzzaman.

In the inquest report, police men-tioned that there was blood in Jonia’s right hand and nose, and black spots on the knees and under the breasts.

Police sent the body for autopsy at Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.

Jonia’s employer Habib said po-lice would investigate how she died.

Jonia hailed from Kishoreganj and her father, Osman Gani, is a rick-shaw-puller. Among � ve sisters and one brother, Jonia was the second.

Her uncle Sohel said he went to the hospital after he was informed of her death.

“I have no idea how she died,” he added. l

BRT Act reaches cabinet todayn Asif Showkat Kallol and

Shohel Mamum

The draft of the Bus Rapid Tran-sit (BRT) Act 2016 is expected be placed in front of the cabinet today.

The law will regulate the BRT sys-tem designed to reduce tra� c jam in Dhaka and adjacent areas through an dedicated bus route with the ca-pacity to transport 40,000 passen-gers per hour on the Gazipur - Air-port - Jhilmil route.

Road Transport and Highways Di-vision Secretary MAN Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We have already sent the draft BRT Act 2016 to the cabinet division but we do not know when it will be rati� ed.”

“This is the � rst ever Bus Rapid

Transit route in the country. So it re-quires a proper law for its construc-tion and operation,” he said.

The draft act stipulates special pro-visions for land acquisition, construc-tion of the metro rail and compulsory licences for metro rail operation.

It also stipulates the formation of an authority to � x bus fares on the route, inspection and monitoring of the BRT system, insurance coverage of metro rail and passengers, quality control and punishment for violations.

Initially, the law will be e� ective in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Gazipur and Narsingdi districts. The government will include other districts in the list by issuing ga-zette noti� cations.

The draft proposes a � ne and im-

prisonment for operating the BRT without a license or for illegally hand-ing over a licence, creating obstruc-tions on the route. Commuters with-out valid tickets may also be � ned or imprisoned.

According to the law, a public limited company named Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company Limited (DBRTCL) will be formed to operate the BRT system. DBRTCL will be su-pervised by the Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Authority (DTCA).

The project began in late 2012. The February 2015 deadline for complet-ing detailed design of the bus lanes from Airport to Gazipur has not been met. However, the project authority has � oated a tender for the BRT Gazi-pur depot recently. l

Visitors at the Jute Goods Fair 2016 examine everyday products made from jute from a stall yesterday. The three-day fair kicked o� yesterday at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center RAJIB DHAR

When the youth stands up it sends a strong and visible message to a larger segment of society

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016News6DT

Action soon against those spreading propaganda against biometric SIM registrationn Tribune Report

The government will take puni-tive action against those who are spreading negative propaganda against biometric SIM registration, State Minister for Posts and Tele-communications Tarana Halim has said.

The junior minister made the statement after a meeting on biom-etric SIM registration at the secre-

tariat yesterday.A Supreme Court lawyer recent-

ly served a legal notice urging the government to halt biometric reg-istration for SIM cards, claiming that it violates the privacy of users.

Foyzur Rahman Chowdhury, secretary of posts and telecommu-nications division, said the people who are involved in negative prop-aganda against biometric SIM reg-istration would be identi� ed soon.

Mobile operators are not pre-serving � nger print in any level as they have no technology to do so.

CIP Police Super Rezaul Haider said � nger print is a binary digital code that cannot be used in any criminal activities; it’s only possi-ble in movies.

The junior minister said if this biometric SIM registration goes in vain the mobile operators would be happy as their SIM sale has come

down drastically. A vested quarter is campaigning

against it to foil this initiative. If our project is successful extortion, criminal activities and illegal VoIP would be totally stopped.

TIM Nurul Kabir said mobile op-erators have invested crores of taka to complete this task in greater in-terest of the country. They cannot be involved in such propaganda.

The government launched the

mandatory biometric SIM/RIUM registration on December 16, 2015.

All biometric SIM registration processes must be completed by March, or else, mobile operators have to face a US$50 penalty against each unveri� ed SIM, an o� cial of BTRC told the Dhaka Tribune.

According to the latest BTRC statistics, there are 13.19 crore ac-tive mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh. l

9 tenders submitted for Sirajganj solar power plantn Aminur Rahman Rasel

Nine companies submitted tender documents to set up a 7.6MW solar power plant in Sirajganj by next year.

On December 17, 2015, the state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL) invited ten-ders for the project.

“We have received tenders from nine companies includ-ing two locals,” NWPGCL Managing Director AM Khur-shedul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The companies include Beijing Dynamic Power Com-pany Ltd, Power Construction Corporation of China Ltd, Ra-himafrooz Renewable Ener-gy Ltd and Energypac Power Generation Ltd.

The Sirajganj plant will be set up on 23.75 acres of land that would cost around $15 million.

“We are going to install the plant as part of our renewable

energy programme,” he said. With increased aware-

ness of the adverse e� ects of global warming due to green-house gas emission, e� orts have been made all over the world to curb emission by increasing energy generation from renewable energy re-sources, he added.

The government earlier awarded contracts to set up two solar-based plants in Dhorola and Sharishabari. Contractors of the projects – ETERN-HAREON Consortium and IFE-CPC-JEL Consortium – will implement the projects having the capacity of 30MW and 3MW.

On October 1 last year, the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase approved a proposal for setting up a 200MW solar park, the largest in the coun-try, in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar on a build-own-operate basis.

It will be implemented by SunEdision Energy Holding (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

The government has set a target of 3,490MW that will be implemented by NWPGCL under the master plan. Out of 3,490 MW, 100MW will be based on renewable energy source.

Considering that opportu-nity, NWPGCL has planned to install the 7.6MW solar plant.

The country’s current re-newable power generation capacity is 411MW while the government has planned to generate 1,740MW from solar plants by 2021.

The government is cur-rently working to install solar panel-based power projects having 152MW production capacity and connect those to the national grid.

The projects are Dhorola 30MW Solar Park in Kurigram, Rangunia 60MW in Chit-tagong, Sarishabari 3MW in Jamalpur, Ishwardi 2MW in Pabna, Aricha 1.5MW in Mani-kganj, Sirajganj 1MW and Gan-gachhara 55MW in Rangpur. l

Students of criminology at Dhaka University hold a protest at the campus demanding punishment for the killing of fellow student Shariful Islam in a tra� c accident MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016News 7

DT

THREE YEARS INTO KILLING OF TWOKI

Sluggish progress of case frustrates family, killers yet to be indictedn Tanveer Hossain,

Narayanganj

Family members as well as people of Narayanganj have become frus-trated over getting justice into the killing of Twoki as police yet to press charge sheet in connection with the killing in three years.

Yesterday was the third death anniversary of Twoki who has been killed allegedly by local hoodlums.

On the occasion, family mem-bers and members of di� erent so-cio-cultural organisation placed wreath to the graveyard of Twoki. Doa and Milad mah� l were ar-ranged seeking salvation of the de-parted soul.

Ra� ur Rabbi, father of the A-Level student Twoki, alleged that as the ruling party Awami League did not want justice for Twoki, law enforcement agencies

were not showing any interest to proceed the case.

“Three years have already passed, but they [investigators] are not � ling the charge sheet although the main accused is moving about freely. What can we do now?” said Twoki’s father Ra� ur Rabbi, the con-vener of Santras Nirmul Twoki Man-cha – an anti-crime platform found-ed to honour the memory of Twoki.

He also alleged that the charge sheet had become uncertain as the accused were members of the Os-man family.

He said: “It was revealed dur-ing investigation that my son was killed in the torture cell of Ajmeri Osman, son of Nasim Osman. Two members of Osman family are now Members of Parliament. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already said that she is with Osman family. So, How can we get justice?”

On March 6, 2013, Twoki went missing in Narayanganj, and his body was found two days after on the banks of the Shitalakkhya Riv-er. On March 8, Ra� ur Rabbi � led a murder case against unidenti� ed criminals.

On March 18, Rabbi in a letter to the then police super requested him to include the name of Shamim Osman, his son Oyan Osman, Jubo League leader Johirul Islam Bhu-iyan Parvez, district unit Chhatra League president Rajib Das, Gen-eral Secretary Mijanur Rahman and Saleh Rahman Simanta and Rifat Bin Osman as accused of the case.

After � ling of the case, police started investigation of the case. Later, the case was handed over to the Rapid Action Battalion on June 20, 2013 upon a rule of the High Court.

Then, police arrested Yusuf

Hossain Liton, Sultan Shawkat Bhromor, Yayeb Uddin Jaki and Saleh Rahman Simanta in con-nection with the killing. Of them, Yusuf and Liton confessed to kill-ing Twoki.

Since the beginning of the case, local Awami Leaders including, Ka-bori Sarowar and Helina Hayat Ivy – have been blaming Osman fami-ly for the killing, but now many of them are reluctant to say anything about the issue.

Colonnel Anwar Khan Latif, captain of RAB 11, told the Dhaka Tribune that Twoki killing case was a sensitive issue. That’s why RAB was dealing the case considering all aspects.

“We are trying to submit an ac-ceptable charge sheet. So, it is quite impossible for us to set any time frame for pressing charge sheet.” he said. l

3 JMB men held with bombs in Rajshahin Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Rapid Action Battalion detained three members of Jama’atul Mu-jahideen Bangladesh (JMB) with bombs from Shopuna para area, Bagmara upazila, Rajshahi.

The detainees are Aminur Rah-man, 35, Abu Sayed Manik, 28, and PM Shahen Shah, 30.

RAB members claimed that the detainees were planning a terror attack ahead of March 7. The coun-try will mark the 45th anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic Race Course ad-dress on the day.

RAB 5 ASP Alok Biswas said: “The were detained in a drive con-ducted around 4:45am Sunday with 16 bombs, seven petrol bombs and jihadi books.

“They were preparing terror at-tacks on the programmes planned on March 7.” l

3 die in launch collisionn UNB

Three members of a family were killed in a collision between two launches in the Meghna River in Mehendiganj upazila of Barisal yesterday morning.

The victims were Taslima Be-gum, 45, wife of Nizam Uddin, her son Hir, 20, and daughter Zan-nati,7, of Bain Someroto village of Sadar upazila in the district.

Dhaka-bound launch ‘MV Samrat’ collided with Patuakha-li-bound launch ‘MV Zahid’ near Miar Char in the river around 1 am, leaving the three passengers of ‘MV Samrat’ dead on the spot, police said.

The relatives of the victims re-ceived the bodies after the launch reached Sadarghat terminal in Dha-ka on Sunday morning. l

‘Religious harmony a must for non-communal society’ n Tribune Report

The speakers at an inter-religious meeting said we were human be-ings and that should be our great-est identity.

Chittagong region chapter of Caritas, a charitable organisation organised the meeting titled “We Do Works of Mercy, We Become Merciful’ at Caritas regional train-ing centre in the city yesterday.

Theologians from four leading re-ligions, including Islam, Hinduism,

Buddhism and Christianity, deliv-ered their speeches at the meeting.

While addressing as the chief guest at the meeting, Abdul Jalil, Chittagong additional deputy com-missioner (general), said Bangladesh was a model of communal harmony.

“All citizens can practise their re-spective religions freely and peace-fully, a right guaranteed by the Con-stitution of Bangladesh. This type of inter-religious dialogue should be held in a large scale,” said Jalil.

“Every religion of the world

tried to answer three fundamental questions- Who am I? From where did I come? Where I shall go when I die,” said Jalil.

The meeting was addressed by Moses Costa, Bishop of Chittagong Diocese, Parish Priest Leonard C Reberio, Alim Ullah, Khatib of Kha-ja Abu Bakar Siddique Jame Masjid, Chittagong, Prof Dr Dipangkar Srig-yan Barua of Chittagong University and Swami Shakti Nathanandaji Maharaja, principal, Chittagong Ramkrishna Sevashrama and

James Gomes, regional director of Chittagong Caritas, among others.

“Every religion put emphasis on the love and mercy and Islam is not an exception to this. We will have to answer to Allah for our deeds on the Day of Judgment. We should keep in mind that Allah will not forgive if we deprive anybody of his or her rights,” said Alim Ullah.

“Before becoming merciful to-wards others we should practise righteousness. Gautama Buddha advised us to practise mercy,” said

Prof Dr Dipangkar Srigyan Barua. Referring to the quote of Swa-

mi Vivekananda, Swami Shakti Nathanandaji Maharaja said ex-pansion meant life while contrac-tion meant death.

“We should donate with humil-ity and donate the best things,” said Maharaja. “Religious diversity enriches Bangladesh. The religion is not to blame if any individual belonging to any religion does an-ything which is con� ict with reli-gion,” said Moses Costa. l

Female members of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police join hundreds of others in a human chain formed yesterday in the city’s Shaheb Bazar area to mark International Women’s Day tomorrow. The human chain was jointly organised by the O� ce of Women’s A� airs under Rajshahi district administration and Human Resource Development Training Centre AZAHAR UDDIN

News8DTMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Deed writers on work abstentionn Bipul Sarker Sunny, Dinajpur

People at Bochaganj in the district have to su� er a lot as the deed writers have been observing work abstention since February 1, de-manding removal of the upazila land o� cer for his alleged involve-ment with corruption.

Sources said Sub Registered Golam Murtoza joined the upazila land o� ce on August 3, 2015.

Locals alleged that Murtoza had not attended the o� ce regular af-ter he joined it.

Though he was supposed to at-tend the o� ce six days in a week, he attended it only three days.

The clients are bound to o� er bribe to him before signing the

documents as he does not sign it without taking money.

On February 1, the deed writers protested the heinous activities of the o� cer and started work absten-tion.

They also brought more allegation against him. The allegations are-not to hang necessary papers on the no-tice board, misbehavior with the deed writers, giving threat to them and dis-honor the profession.

On Wednesday, they brought out a procession in front of the of-� ce demanding withdrawn of the o� cer.

Locals alleged the activities of the land o� ce had been postponed due to the strike and they had to face di� culties as they could not

do many important works related to the land.

Abdul Hai of Mursidhat area, said: “I have decided to arrange the marriage of my daughter last month by selling a portion of my land.”

But I could not do it as the deed writers have been observing work abstention for a long time, he added.

Amzad Hossain, a farmer in the area, said he had already � nished the processing of selling his land. But Mur-toza demanded Tk5,000 from him as bribe before signing the papers.

Amzad cancelled the proposal and his papers had not been signed.

The o� cer demanded Tk10,000 to Bhupen Singh for selling 40 dec-imal land.

Deed writer Bidhan Chandra said he had to face starving as he had no work.

Hori Chandar Roy, general sec-retary of the Deed Writers’ Associ-ation, said: “A total 52 deed writers have been working in the o� ce. Now they are passing subhuman life with their family members as they have no work.”

The association president Miza-nur Rahman said they would con-tinue their programme until the authority met up their demand.

When contacted, Murtoza said: “Maximum deed writers are in-volved with unethical activities in-cluding taking extra fees.”

“I cannot surrender to their ille-gal demands,” he said. l

Bakery � nedin Chittagongn Tribune Report

A mobile court yesterday fined an errant bakery with Tk1,00,000 in Chittagong city’s Panchlaish area on charge of producing foods in unhygienic environment.

Chittagong District Admin-istration’s Assistant Commis-sioner also Executive Magis-trate Ruhul Amin led the drive at Probashi Bakery located in city’s Panchlaish area around 12:30pm.

Ruhul Amin said during the drive the mobile court found that the staffs manufactured the food items in dirt environment using substandard oil and butter. l

Run-down Naogaon-Atrai road causing su� eringsn Our Correspondent,

Naogaon

Residents of at least 12 vil-lages in Naogaon’s Raninagar upazila have been su� ering for long as the only paved road to reach Atrai upazila lies in a very poor condition.

Around 10 kilometres of the road connecting the two upazilas via Sahagola and Mirzapur are full of small and large potholes, causing mis-haps and fatal accidents. The potholes are 1-2ft deep.

People living in Chawk-balaram, Akna, Jhina and several other villages have termed the road a death trap as it has not been repaired for

long. They say they are forced to make risky journeys on the road every day.

The condition of the road worsens during the rainy sea-son when the potholes are � lled with rainwater. At the time, a 20-minute journey on the road takes around two hours.

Also, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles trans-porting goods often overturn because of the potholes.

Majibar, who lives in Sa-hagola village, said there is no other road to travel to Atrai, which has aggravated the problem.

“We had � oods last year and the road was badly dam-

aged, but the local authorities did not repair it. The mon-soon is ahead and we are go-ing to be in big troubles if the road is not repaired before that,” he said.

Other villagers also called on the local authorities to take immediate steps for � x-ing the road.

AKM Badshah Miah, ex-ecutive engineer of the Local Government Engineering De-partment o� ce in Naogaon, said a letter requesting funds for repairing the road had been sent to the authorities concerned.

“We will initiate repair work once funds are allocat-ed,” he added. l

Two die after inhaling toxic gasn Tribune Report

Two workers died and another fell sick after inhaling toxic gas in a septic tank at BSCIC Industrial area in Sadar upazila on Sunday.

Local sources said three workers were working in the under-construction building.

At one stage, Shahin slipped into a broken septic tank around 12:30 pm and went miss-ing. Later, Ashiq and Mithun entered the sep-tic tank to rescue Shahin and went missing.

Fire-� ghters rescued the trio and rushed them to Kushtia General Hospital where doctors declared Ashiq and Shahin dead. l

A frustrated mother is seen sitting with her burn injured child at Khulna Medical College Hospital yesterday. The child remains without treatment as a strike is going on at the hospital DHAKA TRIBUNE

Education 9D

T

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

n Maisha Aniqa

When you are sitting for your big exam, pick up your pen, the rest will be assured if you maintain these simple mantras.

Eyes closed, take a deep breathIt’s really important to focus on the task at hand instead of concentrating on how aggressively people are writing around you. Whenever you start feeling intimidated, just close your eyes and breathe deeply for 60 seconds. Remember, it is the quality of your answers that matter, not the quantity or how quickly you finish.

Move onIt’s very likely that a question will appear which will have you pull all your hair out. Don’t be stuck in one question, it’s evident at this point that you are experiencing a mental block. Just skip ahead to the ones you know you can answer well and score higher. You can come back to the skipped ones later.

Confidence is keyThe fact is, no matter what it is that you’re doing, confidence is necessary to succeed in it. Especially when it comes to exams that concentrate on your English language and communication skills, you must tell yourself, “I can do this.” This will also prevent any possible nervous breakdowns or panic attacks.

OrganiseDo not worry or start stressing out when it comes to answering lengthy questions like essays. Make your work seem smaller by breaking it down into small parts. Firstly, underline the key words in the question and read

it again and again till you’ve completely understood the question. Secondly, brainstorm and jot down the points you want to include in your argument. Then decide which points go into the introduction part, body paragraphs and finally and the

conclusion. Now, you’re good to go! You might think this is a waste of time, but in reality, this is actually very efficient as it is saving you a lot of time that you would normally spent procrastinating.

Remember your previous lessonsIf you’ve attended the revision classes before your exam, which you most likely have, try and think about what your teacher or your other classmates might have said regarding the question you’re having a hard time answering. l

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

Memory on steroids

WRITING TASK 1You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.The graphs below give information about computer ownership as a percentage of the population between 2002 and 2010, and by level of education for the years 2002 and 2010.Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.Write at least 150 words.

Courtesy: British Council

OatsThe main ingredient in oats is soluble oat � bre that does not allow the creation of cholesterol. These � bres are linked to cholesterol and assist in its ejection from the body.

Research has shown that if you want to reduce your cholesterol level by almost 20%, you only need to eat 1.5 to 2.5 cups of cooked oats per day.

Cranberry JuiceDrink three cups of juice each week, and you will successfully

unclog arteries. This juice increases the ability of cells to absorb fats and produce energy, and does not allow the fat to accumulate in the blood vessels.

PomegranatePomegranate is a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent hardening of the arteries, because it reduces damage to the blood vessels and prevents the progression of the disease.

SpinachSpinach is rich in folic acid and

potassium that helps hinder hypertension. It frees the arteries by preventing the formation of cholesterol and heart attacks at the same time. Lutein, another component of spinach, acts as a good protector against muscular degeneration associated with ageing.

GrapesFlavonoids, resveratrol and quercetin are the most useful ingredients of grapes. They are good in preventing the oxidation of cholesterol that leads to the formation of plaque on artery walls. Grapes help reduce the risk of developing blood clots that lead to heart disease.

FishUniversity of Southampton conducted a study related to � sh and its role in preventing clogged arteries. Their results showed that � sh, especially tuna and salmon, rich in omega-3 oils, prevent accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries. The fatty acids found in � sh prevent oxidation of cholesterol and formation of a clot.

Kiwi and melonOne cup of cantaloupe and kiwi a day unclogs arteries. This is due to

the high content of antioxidants, and their power to reduce bad cholesterol.

GarlicGarlic is generally used to treat various diseases like high blood pressure and heart disease. It has

also been found and established that garlic is incredibly e� ective in preventing coronary artery calci� cation.

Olive oilResearch has shown that olive oil is great for preventing cholesterol.

Health10DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Source: www.healthycareway.com/health/10-foods-that-unclogs-arteries-in-a-totally-natural-way

10 foods that unclog arteries naturally

It oxidises and sticks to the artery. The most essential ingredient in olive oil is monounsaturated fats that eliminate bad cholesterol.

TomatoesKorean researchers found a compound in tomatoes that helps prevent hardening of the arteries. It’s called lycopene, that is responsile for its colour. Moreover, they found that women with high levels of lycopene in the blood have fewer problems with the arteries. l

INSIDE

The seventh Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue has concluded with positive reports from both sides.

Speaking about the draft treaty on sharing waters from the Teesta river, the prime minister’s international a� airs adviser said no more negotiations

are necessary as both countries have already agreed the terms and that it is now just a matter of arranging a time for signing.

The session chair, MJ Akbar, a spokesperson of India’s ruling BJP, said that since last year’s historic Land Boundary Agreement, what was once unachievable and unthinkable in Bangladesh-India relations has now become achievable.

This is re� ected by the healthy progress being made on building connectivity and energy links and increasing co-operation in improving security and combating terrorism.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary is right to highight the importance of building better bilateral relations as a pre-requiste for ensuring regional stability and growth.

The BBIN motor vehicle agreement is a good example of the foundations being laid to improve connectivity that can grow mutual trade and build people-to-people links for all countries in our region.

A timely signing of the Teesta treaty is important to help cement the good progress that is being achieved in improving bilateral relations.

The water sharing treaty is essential to help reduce some of the detrimental impacts on Bangladesh caused by the Gajoldoba barrage and India’s diversion of water � ows.

As with the LBA, overcoming the obstacles which have delayed the implementaion of treaties on water-sharing, can only bene� t both our nations.

It will not only encourage more goodwill but help open the way for further improvements in bilateral relations.

A timely signing of the Teesta treaty is important can only bene� t both Bangladesh and India

We are all Bangladesh

Bangladesh on four wheelsSince there is no o� cial automotive industry in the country, we have to import cars from abroad by paying hefty amounts in taxes. The situation could have been radically di� erent if we could claim to possess an automobile industry of any strength

PAGE 13

PAGE 12

PAGE 14

Yes to patriotism,no to jingoismIt is moments like this when we celebrate our Tigers – and, in fact, Bangladesh -- that we realise we have more in common bringing us together than what appears to tear us apart

A revolution has taken place in the sport -- the � ery spirit of the tiger has spread all over and this sense of purpose makes us want to take on the world, not only in cricket but in all areas

Teesta treaty heralds new era of co-operation

11D

TEditorialMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207

Send us your Op-Ed articles:opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune.

The views expressed in Opinion articles are those of the authors

alone. They do not purport to be the o� cial view of Dhaka

Tribune or its publisher.

n Towheed Feroze

I was never a major cricket fan. That is, until 1997, when Bangladesh won the ICC trophy, beating Kenya. 19

years later, cricket has become the “lifeblood” here in Bangladesh, but more than that, the sport and our ever-improving performance on the � eld have intertwined with the success of the country in textiles, meeting MDGs, and maintaining a stable economic growth.

An image of Bangladesh abroad includes a Nobel winner � ghting poverty, a cricket team that has made a tiger’s stamp in the sport, a textile industry which is ever-expanding, and women who now break social shackles to conquer ice-capped mountains, win gold in weight-lifting, football, swimming, and earn accolades within the expat community for extreme sports like kick-boxing.

There is plenty more -- achievements are everywhere, some local, others international, but all of them coalesce with the united expression coming out in one big roar on the cricket � eld.

Whether Bangladesh won or lost yesterday will hardly dampen the spirit. If we had won, it would’ve been history, if we had lost, there would always have been another day because the age of regular head bowed despair at a post-match conference is behind us.

What is signi� cant is that the whole nation was, and is, behind the team, with belief and conviction.

Political divides are left aside, the eternal AL-BNP schism is relegated; today, at the tea stalls, the topic will not be about whose leader is better and who deserves what in politics.

From the working-man on the streets to the successful

entrepreneur, the talk of the country will be cricket.

However, in this united e� ort, already manifested in social media with pictures merged with the logo of the cricket board, one sees a country shaking o� the burden of post-colonial subservience and an identity crisis.

Sorry to say, that feeling of not being able to compete with the best was implanted in us during the colonial times and the

insidious impact remained way into the 90s.

“Bangladesh ki korbe?” (what will Bangladesh achieve?) was uttered disparagingly not only by others but also by our own people, because, subconsciously, they felt there was a limit to what we could achieve.

This idea gave birth to the commonly held understanding of the 70s and 80s -- “made in foreign” is always the best, local items are second class.

If the cricket team can prove that we are no less competent, then that indomitable spirit has, slowly, almost imperceptibly, seeped into the general psyche of the people.

Well, if they can do it on the � eld, we can in our respective areas!

But one cannot forget the tempestuous past of cricket in Bangladesh because, as someone from the 1971 generation, there can be striking similarities between the initial days of Bangladesh cricket and the turbulent � rst 20 years of the country after liberation.

Just like the baby steps in the game � lled with long sighs and never-ending disappointments, the country, in the early 70s, was roiled by political upheavals, assassinations, Machiavellian power struggles which bred deep-seated concerns about the future.

The 70s is possibly the blood-iest decade in the history of the nation, with politically-motivated killings happening at regular inter-vals. For the common people, the post-independence period meant

survival among the turmoil.And if I remember correctly, the

usage of the terms “bottomless basket,” “a poverty stricken nation,” “unstable and unreliable” hardly helped to raise our collective self-esteem.

But Bangladesh has proved detractors wrong. In fact, we can be a solid example as to how progress can still be made despite corruption and nepotism.

Don’t get me wrong, not

endorsing the vices, but if one makes neutral observation, we still have venality as one of the major hindrances.

Yet, the country has moved forward, it has made sparkling contributions to world peace by being the largest supplier of peacekeepers for the UN; maternal and child health have seen laudable advancements, with mobile banking now bringing remote communities within a fast all-encompassing transaction system.

Problems remain, but problems are present everywhere -- in the US, gun-toting fanatics attack schools to kill; in India, class division persists with religious bigotry getting political patronisation; in the UK, many expat communities feel they are not given the chance for better employment as a glass ceiling exists. One can go on and on.

Just a week ago, I had the chance to visit a remote village in North Bengal, which is still outside the coverage of the national grid and, therefore, uses solar-based lights after dark.

It was amazing to � nd that, even in that part, in a rural school, the games section had the latest cricket equipment, including helmets, guards, and gloves.

A revolution has taken place in the sport -- the � ery spirit of the tiger has spread all over and this sense of purpose makes us want to take on the world, not only in cricket but in all areas.

Win or lose, our cricketers have taught us that the rise to the top

does not happen in a day!Once, beating another ICC

nation sparked wild jubilation on the streets. Today, we aspire to beat the best -- beyond the game, the message is clear: Don’t make fun of us, we will stumble, fall, get up, fall again and again and then, one day, we will get up and run like the wind. l

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

Opinion12DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

The whole nation stood united behind our team MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

A revolution has taken place in the sport -- the � ery spirit of the tiger has spread all over and this sense of purpose makes us want to take on the world, not only in cricket but in all areas. Win or lose, our cricketers have taught us that the rise to the top does not happen in a day

The Tigers can now aspire to beat the best

We are all Bangladesh

Opinion 13D

TMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

n Mehrab Masayeed Habib

Bangladesh is a small country in South Asia. “A country of huge possibilities” is

a sentiment shared by many regarding Bangladesh. Many foreign investors have deemed Bangladesh a country of safe investment. Which is why it’s somewhat surprising that the biggest void we currently have is the lack of an automobile industry.

The automobile industry is currently one of the most important in the world. Though the industry was birthed in the US and Germany, Japan and China are now the countries which are home to the world’s largest automotive industries, with many other nations pitching in with their own unique contributions.

The demand for automobiles in Bangladesh is rising with each passing day. Since there is no o� cial automotive industry in the country, we have to import cars from abroad by paying hefty amounts in taxes. The situation could have been radically di� erent if we could claim to possess an automobile industry of any strength. The middle class Bangladeshi could buy cars at reasonable prices, it could generate signi� cant levels of employment, not to mention the good it would do to our economy.

Despite the lack of any local car manufacturers, a state-run company named Pragoti Industries Limited has been manufacturing vehicles for Japanese company Mitsubishi at a low rate. Also worth noting is the budding motorbike manufacturing industry that’s taking shape in Bangladesh. Since two-stroke engine vehicles were banned in the country, the demand for motorbikes has seen a sizeable spike.

More than 80% of all cars in Bangladesh are coming in from Japan. To keep the situation in check, the government has barred the import of cars which are older than four years from the manufacturing date and also surcharged the taxes on import of new cars to discourage the importing of reconditioned cars.

To date, the automotive market in our country has been dominated by Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, and Indian companies. Now, if an automotive industry were to be made space for here in Bangladesh, the possibilities for development would be endless.

Despite the lack of a formal industry, there are a few

individuals who have been working in the automobile making sector. There’s Leepu Nizamuddin Awlia, whom I came to know about all the way back in 1998. He’s always had a dream of making cars, and in 2002, he made a limousine all by himself using local material. Leepu is still making cars by himself today. The Discovery Channel also broadcasted a TV show on him called Bangla Bangers, which showed how a man can turn a wrecked, abandoned car into a supercar.

Then there is Amir Hossain in Bogra, yet another man of automotive magic. The people of Bogra address him as “gari bananor bi� yani” (the scientist of making cars). He made a car which runs on an electric turbine. A fully electricity-run car made by a Bangladeshi. Yes, you read that right. According to Amir, such a car can be manufactured for as little as Tk1.5 lakh.

Amir has also made cars which run on an air turbine system,

another which runs on CNG, or even cow dung! Amir Hossain is a true national talent. Using Amir Hossain’s methods, many countries such as Sweden, Italy, and KSA have shown interest in manufacturing cars in similar fashion.

Apart from these names, there are many other hobbyists and enthusiasts with a penchant for building cars. But the sad thing

is, despite being home to such talented folk like Amir Hossain and Leepu, we lack any semblance of one day having a thriving automotive industry. But the obstacles standing in our way are rather apparent.

Due to the near perpetual political unrest of our country, investors are rightfully hesitant in placing any faith on the automotive � eld in Bangladesh.

Moreover, there are no proper facilities for those savvy folk who are interested in setting up an automotive industry in Bangladesh. If we can overcome these obstacles, and numerous others, Bangladesh can also be home to a thriving automotive industry. l

Mehrab Masayeed Habib is Founder, Bangla Automibile School.

Building cars is not just for well-o� nations BIGSTOCK

Since there is no o� cial automotive industry in the country, we have to import cars from abroad by paying hefty amounts in taxes. The situation could have been radically di� erent if we could claim to possess an automobile industry of any strength. The middle class Bangladeshi could buy cars at reasonable prices, it could generate signi� cant levels of employment, not to mention the good it would do to our economy

Our nation has a need -- a need for an automotive industry

Bangladesh on four wheels

n Ifti Rashid

My Facebook timeline has been taken over by the brilliant red-and-green pro� le picture

revolution for the last few days. How wonderful to wake up and see our patriotic colours celebrating the Tigers and Bangladesh ahead of the Asia Cup Final.

This spontaneity of nationalism is one of the best things about Bengalis and Bangladesh. Our emotions, passion, and love for the country drive us towards national success.

There is something very ardent about it all: After all, Bangladesh is the outcome of a long-standing dream for a Bengali homeland that will be a Sonar Bangla or Golden Bengal.

We often speak about the emergence of Bangladesh only in terms of economic emancipation.

While economic aspirations were no doubt intertwined, we must not forget there was a deeper, perhaps even intrinsic, goal for a homeland we can call our own.

We were not the product of post-colonial reconstruction but that of a struggle for nationhood.

The same spirit that led to 1971 is behind our natural outpouring of love for the � ag and everything it stands for.

I dare say this patriotism evident from social media is as much about cricket as it is for our dreams about Bangladesh.

It may seem to be all about our heroic batsmen, bowlers, and their runs and wickets, but there is also a more innate quest behind this cricket nationalism to see Bangladesh rise and stand tall in every � eld across the world.

Bangladesh’s extraordinary cricket success in recent years comes at a time when our country has shown phenomenal development in every single socio-economic indicator.

We are marching forward to become a higher middle-income country by 2021 and developed economy by 2031.

We are a “model” country for poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, and counter terrorism, amongst others.

Our diaspora is breaking new grounds every day while leading

global innovations. All this has given a new level of con� dence to us that includes, but goes beyond, cricket.

It is true that we may seem increasingly divided and polarised as a nation, but it is moments

like this when we celebrate our Tigers -- and, in fact, Bangladesh -- that we realise we have more in common bringing us together than what appears to tear us apart.

It is this love for our country, recognition of our long-standing struggle for self-determination, our founding values enshrined in the spirit of 1971, pride of our achievements so far, and hope for an even better future that can bring us together.

As we celebrate our Tigers and Bangladesh, let us come together

and rejoice, standing together for Bangladesh irrespective of our di� erences.

We must not forget that our country was born out of a dream for nationhood that upholds equality, human dignity, and social

justice. This makes our cricket successes not an isolated source of pride but part of a much wider struggle and ambition.

On another note, let us celebrate red-and-green in full fervour but at the same time maintain the highest level of respect for the Indian team both in the stadium and online.

I hope we will not see any o� ensive comments, communal or otherwise, from both sides.

Some of the social media posts, including provocative memes, are

most disappointing, coming from the new generation.

This call for civility to our cricketing competitors is especially in the case for matches against India but applicable for other countries too.

Let us not forget that India and Bangladesh enjoy close bilateral relations as trusted friends, neighbours, and partners in the region.

Our people have strong political, cultural, social, economic, and historical ties that span centuries.

Cricket matches are meant to bring our two countries, as well as the whole region, together, not spread hostility towards the other.

We must avoid o� ensive slogans at all costs that undermine our friendly relations.

Most importantly, we must not mistake patriotism and nationalism with jingoism, undermining or belittling the competing team as we celebrate our Tigers.

It is not desirable to hear the “mauka” slogan, but let us practice what we preach and reject the unnecessary “bamboo” rhetoric too.

In doing so, can we make our successes more about ourselves than the other side so that Bangladesh stands even taller? l

Ifti Rashid is a political and security analyst, currently a PhD Candidate in the National Centre for South Asian Studies, Monash University.

Opinion14DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Both our nation and our cricket team have come a long way DHAKA TRIBUNE

It is moments like this when we celebrate our Tigers -- and, in fact, Bangladesh -- that we realise we have more in common bringing us together than what appears to tear us apart. It is this love for our country, recognition of our long-standing struggle for self-determination, our founding values enshrined in the spirit of 1971, pride of our achievements so far, and hope for an even better future that can bring us together

Our cricketing successes are part of a much larger struggle and ambition

Yes to patriotism, no to jingoism

15D

TBusinessMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

ECB set to increase dose of monetary medicineThe European Central Bank will almost certainly announce new stimulus measures at its policy meeting next week, analysts said, as eurozone in� ation turned neg-ative and the economic outlook continues to cloud over. PAGE 17

Capital market snapshot: SundayDSE

Broad Index 4,435.5 -0.8% ▼

Index 1,078.9 -0.7% ▼

30 Index 1,703.8 -0.9% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 3,002.0 -10.9% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol 82.9 -10.6% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 13,693.4 -0.6% ▼

30 Index 12,407.7 -0.7% ▼

Selected Index 8,320.6 -0.6% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 332.7 47.6% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol 10.4 39.9% ▲

INSIDE

UN report: Economic gains from migration remain ignoredn Kayes Sohel

Migrants from countries like Bang-ladesh play a key role in driving up the economic growth in their coun-tries of origin and destination, but the bene� ts of migration remain under-acknowledged, according to a new United Nations report.

The Asia-Paci� c Migration Re-port 2015 released last week shows that many migrant workers not only bene� t from their migration, but they also contribute to the de-velopment of their countries of or-igin and destination through their work and the remittances they send home.

In contrast, they (migrants) also face hardships and abuses, so action needs to be taken to max-imise these bene� ts by ensuring that migration is orderly, safe, reg-ular and responsible.

Drawing on evidence gathered from across the region, the report says worldwide, over 95 million migrants came from countries in the Asia Paci� c region; a rise of almost 50% over the past two dec-ades. The report indicated that the trend is set to continue.

In 2013, there were more than 213 million migrants worldwide with over 59 million living in the Asia Paci� c region, marking a growing trend since 1990.

Hongjoo Hahm, deputy ex-ecutive secretary of the UN Eco-nomic and Social Commission for Asia and the Paci� c (UNESCAP),

said the scale of migration is only likely to increase in Asia and the Paci� c, but that the outcome of the trend is in the hands of the re-gion’s countries.

“Business-as-usual risks heightening inequality, holding back advances in productivity and facilitating human rights abuses,” he said.

Each year, some two million Filipinos depart for work over-seas. More than half a million workers leave Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Pakistan annually.

Key destination countries for many include Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, the Russian Federation, Singapore and Thailand.

But restrictions imposed on migrant workers in some host

countries impact migrant rights and limit their access to social pro-tections. The UN report says such restrictions are often economical-ly unjusti� ed and are harmful to human rights.

Some restrictions lead to irregu-lar migration and informal employ-ment, where the rights of migrant workers can easily be violated.

When national workers � nd themselves in competition with these migrant workers who are often exploited by unscrupulous employers who pay less than legal minimum wages, and force them to work longer hours in unsafe conditions, a race to the bottom in terms of wages and labour stand-ards ensues.

Under this scenario migrants contribute to overall economic

development, but their bene� t to the economy is reduced, and distributed unequally while the migrants themselves are put at unnecessary risk.

UNESCAP’s Hongjoo said is-sues such as migrants’ direct im-pact on local wages and inequality was also found to be quite small.

“What we do � nd on the oth-er hand is the impact on wages, on inequality and employment is mostly predominantly deter-mined and is a function of govern-ment policies – not on migrants,” stated Hongjoo.

“When you provide migrants with decent work, when you treat migrants as your own, assimilate them into your economy and treat them as national labor – it really bene� ts your national economy.” l

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

14,165,774

10,835,088

9,334,914

7,757,662

5,682,673

5,481,683

5,108,886

3,787,623

3,108,971

2,942,338Indonesia

Source: UN

Turkey

Kazakhstan

Afghanistan

Philippines

Pakistan

Bangladesh

China

Russian Federation

India

NUMBER OF MIGRANTS OF TOP TEN ORIGIN COUNTRIES IN ASIA-PACIFIC, 2013

DSE trading through mobile phone from Wednesday Dhaka Stock Exchange will start using mobile phone platform for buying and selling shares from Wednesday this week.. PAGE 16

Business16DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Two-day forum begins on better working condition in garment industry n Tribune Report

Better Work Bangladesh, an initia-tive to improve working conditions and promote competitiveness in garment industry, began its � rst stakeholders and buyers forum in Dhaka yesterday.

The two-day meet on 6 and 7 March would discuss progress made so far and the next course of action towards the goal.

A dialogue was held between the programme o� cials and its part-ners on the inaugural day taking stock on achievements and chal-lenges in the pursuit of improved working conditions and competi-tiveness in the local RMG sector.

As many as 200 members of government, development part-ners, industry, unions and buyers are participating in the event.

“RMG sector is the driving force of the Bangladesh economy. We welcome Better Work’s approach of seeking to boost industry’s com-petitiveness and to improve the lives of workers,” Mujibul Haque, state minister for labour and em-ployment, told the opening ses-sion.

The Better Work programme is a partnership between the Inter-national Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Cor-poration (IFC) that currently oper-ates in eight countries.

The objective of Better Work is to improve working conditions and

promote competitiveness in the global garment industry.

It does so by promoting com-pliance with international labour standards and national law in global supply chains as a basis for building socially responsible ex-port strategies, and by enhancing enterprise-level economic and so-cial performance, said an ILO press release.

Srinivas Reddy, ILO country di-rector, praised government, work-ers and employers to lend “excel-lent support” to the programme in just a short time.

He added: “It is now working closely with almost 100 factories and we look forward to deepening and widening this engagement in years to come.”

Wendy Jo Werner, IFC country director said: “This (Better Work) will contribute to greater resilience to global economic trends as well as increasing demands from buyers and customers.”

Better Work commenced its operations in Bangladesh in 2014, becoming fully operational in 2015.

It currently works with 96 fac-tories which employ over 183,000

workers with a plan to expand to 200 factories by the end of 2016.

Better Work activities in Bangla-

desh include assessments and ad-visory visits conducted to develop compliance improvement plans.

Training is taking place on su-pervisory skills, � nancial literacy, industrial relations and workplace cooperation, according to the press release.

Canada, the Netherlands and the UK fund the programme in Bangladesh while the US and Swit-zerland support it globally. l

Four services to PPP projects get VAT waivern Tribune Report

National Board of Revenue has waived value added tax on four types of services being used by the projects taken under public private partnership initiative.

Signed by NBR Chairman No-jibur Rahman, the VAT wing re-cently published a special order, o� ering the facility to construction � rms, consultancy and superviso-ry � rms, suppliers of construction materials (except petroleum prod-ucts) and legal consultants.

The decision was taken in line with proposals made by Public Pri-vate Partnership Authority (PPPA), o� cials said. The authority is run under the Prime Minister’s O� ce.

O� cials said the VAT waiver on the services would facilitate devel-opment of the public sector infra-structure and services vital for the country.

The government has taken up PPP projects to reduce government expenditure and ensure cent per-cent public services to the people through PPP projects.

However, the NBR has tagged few conditions for suppliers to get the VAT exemption.

The investors will have to get certi� cation from a nominated of-� cial of PPPA for receiving the tax bene� t, according to the order.

The certi� cate should have clear mentioning of the investing � rm’s name, address, VAT registration number, name of approved PPP project, work and duration of the project and if the services involved with the project are under the PPP or not.

A copy of the certi� cation has to be sent to the NBR directly from PPPA to help suppliers get the ben-e� t.

The government in 2009 � rst introduced the PPP initiatives as it would not alone be able to con-struct educational institutions, specialised hospitals, highways, railways and large bridges without private sector cooperation.

In September 2015, the PPP law was enacted to draw more foreign and private investment in the ser-vice-oriented sector.

This � scal year, the government has allocated Tk2,000 crore for the PPP projects.

The PPPA has so far undertaken 44 projects from di� erent sectors. Of them, the projects including Dhaka Elevated Expressway, hae-modialysis centres at Chittagong Medical College Hospital and at National Institute of Kidney Dis-eases and Urology in Dhaka are in progress, according to the PPPA website. l

Discussants at the Better Work Bangladesh stakeholders’ forum yesterday, organised by International Labor Organisation

DSE trading through mobile phone from Wednesday n Tribune Report

Dhaka Stock Exchange will start using mobile phone platform for buying and selling shares from Wednesday this week.

The platform that is said user friendly envisages widening the equity trading activities from any place of the country particularly where brokers are not present.

DSE Managing Director Swapan Kumar Bala said the mobile appli-cation was developed by Nasdaq, Flextrade and other partners in line with all regulations related to share trading.

“From coming March 9, every-one would be able to trade using mobile phone initially,” Bala said while brie� ng the press on the mo-bile trading platform yesterday.

He said the buyers and sellers will not be charged initially, but the usual charge of stock transaction imposed by the DSE will be applied

sometime later.To take part in trading, investors

� rst need to register with the bro-ker and then install the app named “DSE-Mobile” from any browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE etc.

Since existing regulation does not allow brokers to open new branch, investors in remote plac-es where brokers are not present will be able to trade, said Bala who hoped that the mobile trading plat-form will attract more investors.

At present, there is a low partic-ipation in the market as recent DSE turnover in value is hovering be-tween Tk300-Tk500 crore, which is considered poor compared to the market depth.

According to the DSE, under the initiative, investors can buy and sell shares or any future listed in-struments without physically visit-ing stock brokers.

In addition, the app will provide some featured information, includ-

ing buy or sell alerts, noti� cations and portfolio status to the inves-tors, which are not easily available on the website or via brokers’ ser-vices.

The mobile app is a mobile ver-sion directly linked with the DSE trading system which provides real-time awareness to investors with mobility.

The app has two versions—the � rst one called “DSE-Mobile VIP”, which is a non-trading version, and the second one called “DSE-Mobile Trader”, which is a trading version of the mobility product.

DSE-Mobile VIP is a web-based desktop app that will o� er all fea-tures of “DSE-Mobile Trader”, which can be accessed from any browser.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Ab-dul Muhith is expected to formally launch the app at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the city. l

Stocks slip back n Tribune Report

Stocks were back in red yesterday after a marginal rise in previous session.

The benchmark index DSEX lost 37 points or 0.8% to close at 4,435.

The Shariah index DSES was marginally down 7 points or 0.6% to 1,078. The blue chip comprising index DS30 shed 15 points or 0.9% to 1,703. The Chittagong Stock Ex-change Selective Category Index CSCX ended at 8,320, dropping about 49 points.

The DSE total turnover stood at Tk300 crore, which is down 11% over the previous session’s value.

Most investors were con� ned to engineering sector, which made up 24.7% of the day’s total turnover.

Heavy sell-o� in large caps like BSRM Limited, Orion Pharmaceu-ticals and Summit Power signi� -cantly contributed to the fall of the market.

Low cap engineering sector was the worst performer tumbling more than 2%, led by BSRM that moved down sharply 18% due to its dividend adjustment. l

Business 17D

TMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

ECB set to increase dose of monetary medicine n AFP, Frankfurt

The European Central Bank will almost certainly an-nounce new stimulus meas-ures at its policy meeting next week, analysts said, as euro-zone in� ation turned negative and the economic outlook continues to cloud over.

After disappointing � nancial markets with what were widely to perceived as half-hearted measures in December, ECB chief Mario Draghi will an-nounce bolder policy moves this time round, central bank watchers predicted.

These were most likely to include a further cut in interest rates, an increase in the volume of bonds it buys each month under its so-called quantitative easing or QE programme and a further extension of that meas-ure beyond its current time-frame of March 2017.

“The ECB has signalled a further loosening of mone-tary policy at its forthcoming meeting,” said Capital Eco-nomics economist Jonathan Loynes.

“And while December’s un-der-deliverance highlights the risk of another disappointment, the deteriorating economic outlook should persuade the governing council to be bolder this time,” the expert said.

With area-wide in� ation back in negative territory - it fell to minus 0.2% in February for the � rst time in � ve months

- and eurozone growth not expected to pick up any time soon, the case for further stim-ulus measures is clear, said Berenberg Bank economist Holger Schmieding.

‘Needs to do more’ “Amid heightened uncertain-ty about the world economy, rising political risks in Europe and renewed concerns about the health of the European banking system, � nancial volatility will likely impair the transmission of the ECB’s current monetary stimulus to the real economy for a while,” Schmieding said.

“To bring the economy back to trend growth none-theless, the ECB needs to do more.”

Capital Economics’ Loynes predicted a cut in the key de-posit rate from minus 0.3% to minus 0.5% and an increase in the monthly QE purchases from 60bn euros ($66bn ) to 80bn euros.

The deposit rate is the in-terest the ECB usually pays banks for the excess liquidity they park with it overnight.

But it has been negative since June 2014, meaning the ECB e� ectively charges the banks for using the facility in the hope that they will instead lend it out to businesses and companies to get the econo-my moving.

However, banks complain the currently ultra-low inter-est rate environment is erod-ing pro� ts and pushing the deposit further into negative territory could harm them further still.

Commerzbank economist Michael Schubert suggested the ECB might therefore in-troduce a tiered interest rate scheme to ease the burden on banks, whereby lenders would pay a lower or no pen-alty rate at all up to a speci� ed amount of excess liquidity. l

Why is eurozone in� ation so persistently low? n AFP, Frankfurt

Despite a raft of di� erent measures by the European Central Bank to kickstart sluggish consumer pric-es in the eurozone, in� ation in the single currency bloc turned nega-tive in February for the � rst time in � ve months.

The ECB estimates that consumer prices need to rise at an annual rate of close to but just below 2% to foster healthy economic growth. But area-wide in� ation stood at minus 0.2% in February, due to the combination of a number of di� erent factors, experts say.

Oil “The low level of in� ation and the drop in February are largely attrib-utable to energy price develop-ments,” Oxford Economics econo-mist Ben May told AFP.

Oil prices have been falling sharply for the past two years, weighed down by over-abundant

global supply. For households and business-

es, this may be positive, as it cuts energy bills, reduces heating costs and expenditure on petrol. But giv-en the heavy weighting of energy prices in the overall basket of goods that are used to calculate consumer prices, they are keeping a lid on the

headline rate of in� ation, May said. The oil market, which hit its

lowest level since 2003 at the be-ginning of this year before tenta-tively picking up at the start of Feb-ruary, has seen strong � uctuations in recent weeks amid speculation supplier countries may throttle production. l

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi attends the monthly ECB news conference in Frankfurt REUTERS

Business18DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

CORPORATE NEWS

Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh has recently signed an agreement on supply chain � nance programme with Marico Bangladesh Ltd, under which dealers of Marico will get � nancing facility from the bank with easier terms to purchase goods from Marico. The bank’s CEO, Abrar A Anwar and Aditya Shome, managing director of Marico Bangladesh Ltd signed the agreement, said a press release

Low oil prices put strains on Gulf currency pegs n AFP, Kuwait City

Weak oil prices pose a threat to Gulf Arab states’ currency pegs against the dollar, but the energy-rich re-gion is unlikely to abandon the pol-icy yet, analysts say.

Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emir-ates all keep the values of their cur-rencies � xed against the greenback, while Kuwait has a link to a basket of currencies including the dollar. But doubts are growing about whether the policy still makes sense.

The slide in oil prices has bat-tered the economies of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states at a time when an improving American economy and prospects of higher US interest rates are lifting the dollar.

To maintain the currency pegs, all GCC members except Qatar raised their interest rates in De-cember, tracking the US Federal Reserve, even though their econo-mies needed exactly the opposite.

The Gulf states now face a di-lemma of whether to keep the pegs or opt for a � exible exchange rate regime, allowing their currencies to fall against the greenback.

“Maintaining a peg is a costly a� air. The central bank has to be willing to buy or sell its currency in the open market to maintain the peg, which could deplete forex re-serves,” said M.R. Raghu, head of research at Kuwait Financial Centre.

“Oil exports, which account for about 80% of (GCC) government revenues, have fallen by 70% since mid-2014, thus making the curren-cy peg vulnerable as it reduces the foreign exchange reserves,” Raghu

told AFP. For now GCC states, with the ex-

ceptions of Bahrain and Oman, have huge reserves to defend their pegs.

But some speculators are bet-ting that the Gulf states, particu-larly Saudi Arabia, will be unable to maintain the currency links indef-initely.

Jan Randolph, director of Sov-ereign Risk Analysis at IHS Global Insight, believes the contrasting performances of the US and Gulf economies will increase pressure on the pegs.

Monetary policies are also ex-pected to diverge - “stimulating in the GCC and gradual tightening in the United States,” Randolph told AFP.

GCC states need weak curren-cies and low interest rates to boost their waning economies, especially

to develop non-oil export sectors, Randolph said.

The longer the economic diver-gence continues, “the more sense it makes to move to a more � exible exchange rate regime,” he said.

Maintaining the dollar pegs brings � nancial stability and cer-tainty to GCC economies amid re-gional geopolitical tensions.

It also helps contain in� ation and boost con� dence for foreign investment.

Falling living standards Oil producers like Russia, Kazakh-stan, Azerbaijan, and Nigeria have already devalued their currencies, raising oil revenues in local curren-cy terms which helped to curb their current account and budget de� cits.

But there is a cost. Devaluation “typically causes

higher in� ation and often results in falling living standards, which can undermine social stability,” Stand-ard and Poor’s said in a recent report.

Analysts say that if GCC states de-peg from the dollar, some cur-rencies risk falling by 20% or more.

That would boost oil revenues and the value of GCC � scal reserves in their sovereign wealth funds in terms of local currencies, said Se-bastian Henin, head of asset man-agement at Abu Dhabi-based The National Investor.

The hospitality sector of the Gulf emirate of Dubai would also bene� t as it becomes a more af-fordable tourist destination and more attractive to non-oil busi-nesses, Henin told AFP.

That is why some analysts and speculators anticipate that the United Arab Emirates could be the � rst to end its dollar link.

Another risk of abandoning the dollar peg is a capital � ight from the Gulf, Raghu said.

“Capital out� ows would be ex-acerbated as investors would like to move their assets to other mar-kets. This would increase volatility and � nancial uncertainty in the re-gion,” he said.

Raghu thinks an end to the peg would happen “only as an extreme measure”.

Mohamed Zidan, chief market strategist at ThinkForex, a Du-bai-based brokerage � rm, said the peg regime “is costly and hurting the economy”.

“GCC states are defending it now for stability, but if the low oil price continues, they will opt for a managed � oating regime within � ve years.” l

A trader changes US dollars with Nigerian naira at a currency exchange store in Lagos REUTERS

‘China’s economy will absolutely not experience hard landing ‘ n Reuters, Beijing

China’s economy isn’t headed for a hard landing and isn’t dragging on the global economy, China’s top economic planner said yesterday, but uncertainty and instability in the global economy do pose a risk to the country’s growth.

China on Saturday acknowledged it faced tough challenges but said it would keep its economy expanding at least 6.5 percent on average over the next � ve years while pushing hard to create more jobs and re-structure state-owned enterprises.

“China will absolutely not expe-rience a hard landing,” Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC),

told reporters at a brie� ng. “These predictions of a hard landing are destined to come to nothing.”

China’s economy grew 6.9% in 2015. While that rate was the slow-est in a quarter of a century, the pace was still relatively fast among major economies, Beijing says. Chi-na has set a growth target of 6.5% to 7% for this year.

The state of the world’s sec-ond-biggest economy and Beijing’s ability to manage it were key talk-ing points at a Group of 20 � nance ministers and central bankers in Shanghai last month.

Premier Li Keqiang says China has the con� dence to handle the com-plexities both at home and abroad while pressing ahead with reforms. l

New World Bank country director for Bangladeshn Tribune Report

Qimiao Fan will take o� ce to-morrow as the World Bank’s new country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

In his � rst visit to Bangladesh, Fan will accompany Annette Dixon, World Bank vice-president for South Asia, who will introduce the new country director to the government of Bangladesh.

Dixon and Fan will also meet the � nance minister and other senior government o� cials.

Fan brings a wide range of de-velopment experience to the job. A Chinese national, Fan joined the World Bank in 1991 and has held leadership positions in di� erent countries and regions of the world.

Prior to taking his current assignment, Fan served the WB as the country director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. From 1998 to 2002, he took leave from the World Bank to work for private sectors in various senior executive positions in China.

After returning to the World Bank, Fan worked as a program leader for Investment Climate Pro-gram in the World Bank Institute, and later as the country manager for Cambodia. l

Qimiao Fan

Biz Info 19D

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MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Three exceptional women received Radhuni Kirtimoti Shommanona 2015

Three exceptional women have been awarded the Radhuni Kirtimoti Shommanona award for 2015 for their outstanding contributions in their individual � elds of work. The award ceremony took place on March 4, just before International Women’s Day. The ceremony was held at the Grand Ballroom of Dhaka’s Le Meridien Hotel. Square Food and Beverage Limited have been awarding women in the � elds

of journalism, social welfare and entrepreneurship through Radhuni Kirtimoti Shommanona for over a decade.

The United Nations announced that this year’s theme for the International Women’s Day is “Pledge for Parity.” Based on that message, honourable vice chairperson of Square Group, Ratna Patra delivered a welcome speech at the beginning of the ceremony. She expressed

hope that the achievements of today’s three winners will inspire many other capable women in future. The special guests at the ceremony, editor of The Daily Samakal Golam Sarwar, executive director of NGO “Banchte Shekha” Angela Gomes and managing director of Mohammadi Group Rubana Huq also delivered thought-provoking speeches.l

| award | | event |

Designers at Ohtshirt.com

| discussion |

Ohtshirt.com is a unique online T-shirt store, featuring creative designs from renowned designers from all over the country. It provides its customers with the freedom of either choosing from the available designs or to custom make their own. On March 5,

Ohtshirt organised an event called “Designers Meet” at their Banani office which marked the presence of designers from all over the country. Several key issues were discussed eg how designers can be benefited through their creativity and become self-sufficient by using

the platform. This was followed by designers visiting Ohtshirts’ design studio. Their managing director Sabina Yeasmin, director Bindu Jamal attended the event through a video conference, along with CEO ABM Mahbubur Rahman who was also present at the event. l

Apollo Hospitals signs Issue Management Services Agreement

| agreement |

Apollo Hospitals Dhaka is the pioneering and � agship venture of STS Holdings Limited. STS Holdings Limited (Apollo Hospitals Dhaka) has signed an Issue Management Services Agreement with ICB Capital Management Limited and AFC Capital Limited for the prospective Initial Public

O� ering (IPO) under book-building method for the expansion of business. LankaBangla Investments Limited has been appointed as the Registrar to the Issue. The Agreement Signing Ceremony was held on March 1 at the Board Room of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB).l

Embracing the International Women’s Day on March 8, Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden salutes all women for their contribution by leaps and bounds to society as a whole. The international � ve star hotel will shower gifts galore by pampering female guests with complimentary services and slashed o� rates on numerous deals to make them feel as special as they are. The occasion will be themed in the royal shade of purple, representing stability and � erce energy, both associated with the essence of

womanhood.“Gender perception has

evolved greatly over the years and the long-standing misconception of men being superior to women has faded away. It � lls me with immense delight to see women in Bangladesh going from strength to strength with men in almost every sector of the country today,” said Christoph Voegeli, general manager.

For more information, please visit facebook.com/RadissonBluDhaka/ or call at +88 02 9834555. l

Radisson Blu pays tribute to women

Downtime20DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 18 represents G so � ll G every time the � gure 18 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Eternal city (4) 5 Presentation (5)8 Hostility (6)9 Female swans (4) 10 Fish eggs (3)12 Hid (6)13 Daunt (6)15 O� er (6)18 Thrown (6)20 High mountain (3)21 Caution (4)23 Made up for (6)24 Register (5)25 Short sleeps (4)

DOWN 1 Swift (5)2 United (3)3 Diminished by (4) 4 Printer’s measures (3) 5 Examined by trial (7)6 Land measure (4)7 Song for two (4)11 Single occasion (4) 12 Of the side (7)14 Worshipped image (4) 16 Goddess of hunting (5)17 Tears (5)18 Docile (4)19 Goading device (4) 21 Was victorious (3)22 Corded fabric (3)

SUDOKU

INSIDE

21D

TWorldMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Two Syrians get 4-year prison time over Aylan Kurdi’s deathTwo Syrian men were sentenced to more than four years in prison for the death of a young Syrian toddler whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in September, reports New York Times. PAGE 22

Dae’sh in competition with Taliban, al-Qaeda for recruits in PakistanTrying to lure him into the Dae’sh group, the would-be recruiter told Pakistani journalist Hasan Abdullah, “Brother, you could be such an asset to the Ummah”- the Islamic community. Abdullah re-plied that he was enjoying life and had no plans to join the jihadis.

PAGE 24

China to improve intel mechanism with increased defence spendingChina said on Saturday it will raise military spending by 7.6 percent this year, its lowest increase in six years, but vowed to protect its maritime rights amid disputes in the East and South China Seas and improve intelligence gathering. PAGE 23

US primaries: Cruz, Trump split 4 states while Sanders gains 2, Hillary 1n Reuters, Washington, DC

Republican presidential hope-ful Ted Cruz split victories in four nominating contests with front-runner Donald Trump on Saturday, bolstering Cruz’s argu-ment that he represents the par-ty’s best chance to stop the brash New York billionaire.

The results were a repudiation of a Republican establishment that has bristled at the prospect of either Cruz or Trump winning the party’s nomination and has largely lined up behind US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who was shut out in all four contests.

In the Democratic race, front-runner Hillary Clinton won in Louisiana, and her rival Bernie Sanders, a US senator from Ver-mont, won in Kansas and Ne-braska, in results that did not substantially change Clinton’s big delegate lead.

Cruz won Kansas and Maine on Saturday, while Trump won the bigger states of Louisiana and Ken-tucky, holding onto his lead in the race for the Republican nomination for the November 8 presidential election, even though Cruz cap-tured more delegates on Saturday.

The next big contest, and a cru-cial one, will be Tuesday’s primary in the industrial state of Michigan. Republicans in three other states, Mississippi, Idaho and Hawaii, also will vote on Tuesday. Puerto Rico Republicans will vote on Sunday.

Mainstream Republicans have blanched at Trump’s calls to build a wall on the border with Mexico, round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and temporarily bar all Muslims from entering the United States.

But the party’s establishment has not been much happier with Cruz, who has alienated many party leaders in Washington.

A spokesman for Rubio, who spent the past week launching harsh personal attacks on Trump, said the senator would push on with an eye on the March 15 con-test in Florida.

Cruz, a � rst-term US senator from Texas who has promoted himself as more of a true conserv-ative than Trump, said the results showed he was gaining momen-tum in the race to catch the real estate mogul.

Cruz has run as an outsider bent on shaking up the Republican estab-lishment in Washington. A favourite of evangelicals, he has called for the US to “carpet bomb” the Dae’sh militant group and has pledged to

eliminate the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service and four cabinet agencies and to enact a balanced budget amendment.

Trump has a substantial lead in the delegates needed to secure the nomination at the Republican National Convention, but since winning seven of the 11 contests on Super Tuesday he has come under withering � re from a Re-publican establishment worried he will lead the party to defeat in November’s election.

But endorsements from estab-lishment Republicans have failed to sway voters. Rubio won the backing of Kansas Governor Sam Brown-back but still came in third there.

The four Republican contests on Saturday together accounted for just 155 delegates. Cruz won 64 delegates on Saturday, while Trump took 49.

The anti-Trump forces have a short window to stop the caustic businessman, who ahead of Sat-urday had accumulated 319 of the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination at July’s Republican national convention, outpacing Cruz, who had 226 delegates.

On March 15, the delegate-rich states of Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and North Carolina will vote. Both Florida and Ohio use the winner-take-all method to allocate Republican delegates, making the stakes in those states particularly high. All of the Re-publican contests on Saturday, and through March 14, award del-egates proportionate to the popu-lar vote, although some states set minimum thresholds to qualify for any delegates.

If Trump takes both Florida and Ohio he would be nearly im-

possible to stop. There are a total of 358 delegates at stake in the � ve states voting March 15, including 99 in Florida and 66 in Ohio.

On the Democratic side, Clin-ton has opened up a big delegate lead and Sanders might have a tough time making up the di� er-ence. All states in the Democratic race award their delegates pro-portionally, meaning Clinton can keep piling up delegates even in states she loses.

The three states holding Dem-ocratic contests on Saturday had a total of 109 delegates at stake. The early estimates were that Clinton, who appeared headed to a smash-ing nearly 50-point win in Louisi-ana, had won at least 48 delegates on Tuesday and Sanders 37.

But Sanders made it clear he was not planning to end his White House quest anytime soon. l

STATES DEMOCRATS REPUBLICANS

Hillary Clinton

Bernie Sanders

Donald Trump

Ted Cruz

Marco Rubio

John Kasich

BenCarson*

Iowa 23 21 7 8 7 1 3

New Hampshire 9 15 11 3 2 4 0

South Carolina 39 14 50 0 0 0 0

Nevada 19 15 14 6 7 1 2

Alabama 44 9 36 13 1 0 0

Alaska - - 11 12 5 0 0

Arkansas 22 10 16 14 9 0 0

Colorado 28 38 - - - - 0

Georgia 72 28 40 18 14 0 0

Massachusetts 46 45 22 4 8 8 0

Minnesota 29 46 8 13 17 0 0

Oklahoma 17 21 13 15 12 0 0

Tennessee 42 22 31 15 9 0 0

Texas 145 74 47 102 3 0 0

Vermont 0 16 6 0 0 6 0

Virginia 61 33 17 8 16 5 3

Louisiana 35 10 15 14 0 0 0

Nebraska 10 14 - - - - 0

Kansas 10 23 9 24 6 1 0

Kentucky - - 16 14 7 6 0

Maine - - 9 12 0 2 0

Total 651 454 378 295 123 34 8

* Ben Carson quits race Source: REAL POLITICS PLEDGED DELEGATE COUNT

WorldMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

22DT

Two Syrians get 4-year prison time over Aylan Kurdi’s deathn Tribune Desk

Two Syrian men were sentenced to more than four years in prison for the death of a young Syrian toddler whose body washed up on a Turk-ish beach in September, reports New York Times.

The death of the boy, Aylan Kur-

di, and the gripping photo of his body lying facedown in the sand and surf of the beach focused the world’s attention on the plight of migrants risking their lives to � ee war and deprivation.

The Turkish news agency Dogan identi� ed the two men as Muwafa-ka Alabash, 36, and Asem Alfrhad,

35. A court in the coastal resort town of Bodrum, in southwestern Turkey, convicted them of smug-gling refugees, � ve of whom died, including Aylan, 2, his 5-year-old brother, Galip, and their mother, Rihan. They all drowned when the 15-foot rubber raft they were riding to Greece � ipped in high waves.

The court acquitted the men on charges of causing the deaths through deliberate negligence, and reduced their initial sentence of � ve years in prison to four years and two months because of good behaviour.

The judgment on Friday prompted immediate reactions on social media, where observers

appeared to � nd the punishment — they had faced a maximum of 35 years — too lenient.

Trials in Turkey usually take months - even years - to conclude, but the verdict appeared to be an e� ort by the country to show that it is cracking down on human traf-� ckers. l

WorldMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

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SOUTH ASIASri Lanka backtracks on website registration demandsSri Lanka rowed back on a decision to force all websites to register with the government on Thursday, a day after the announcement triggered claims of a return to me-dia censorship. Sri Lankan media reacted angrily to the move, saying it appeared aimed at intimidating anti-government sites by forcing them to disclose details of news contributors. -REUTERS

INDIAGujarat on alert amid reports of militants enteringThe western Indian state of Gujarat was placed on high alert Sunday after o� cials said they received intelligence reports that around 10 suspected militants from Paki-stan had entered the state. Some � shing boats have been found abandoned near the coast over the past few days, raising suspicions that militants from Pakistan had entered Gujarat by sea. -AP

CHINAChina warns Hong Kong not to politicise issuesChina’s Communist Party leader Zhang Dejiang said Hong Kong shouldn’t politicise everything and should instead focus on integrating its economy with China’s. A day after Premier Li Keqiang pledged greater economic support for Hong Kong at the opening of annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing, Zhang said that while a recent riot in Hong Kong was a concern, it was one the city’s government could handle. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFICNorth Korea steps up army recruitment ahead of US military exercise North Korea has stepped up army recruitment and called on former soldiers to re-enlist to bolster its ground forces ahead of the traditional joint military exercise between South Korea and the US, according to sources inside the country Washington and Seoul are scheduled to begin their biggest ever military manoeuvres across the border on 7 March, involving 15,000 US troops. -THE GUARDIAN

MIDDLE EASTSaudi executes 70th convict this yearSaudi Arabia executed a citizen convicted of murder on Sunday, bringing to 70 the number of people it has put to death this year. Most people sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded with a sword. In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people. Amnesty says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for two decades. -AFP

INSIGHT

China to improve intel mechanism with increased defence spendingn Reuters, Beijing

China said on Saturday it will raise military spending by 7.6 percent this year, its lowest increase in six years, but vowed to protect its maritime rights amid disputes in the East and South China Seas and improve intelligence gathering.

The RMB954.35bn � gure is only around a quarter of the US Defence Department budget for 2016 of $573bn, but comes at a time of rising concern over China’s intentions in territorial disputes.

The increase is the � rst sin-gle-digit rise since 2010, following a nearly unbroken two-decade run of double-digit jumps, and comes as China’s economy slows.

It was announced on Saturday at the start of the annual meet-ing of parliament, but had been � agged by an o� cial who gave a rough � gure the previous day.

President Xi Jinping is seek-ing to drag the People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest armed forces, into the modern age, cutting 300,000 jobs and revamping its Cold War-era command structure.

However, the reforms have run into opposition from soldiers and o� cers worried about job securi-ty and few details have been re-leased as to what will happen to those laid o� .

Premier Li Keqiang told the opening of China’s largely rub-ber-stamp parliament that the country will “strengthen in a coor-dinated way military preparedness

on all fronts and for all scenarios”.“We will work to make the mil-

itary more revolutionary, modern and well-structured in every re-spect, and remain committed to safeguarding national security,” he said.

“We will make steady progress in reforming military leadership and command structures and launch reform of the military’s size and structure as well as its policies and institutions.”

‘Economic headwinds’The o� cial Xinhua news agency attributed the slowdown in the pace of defence spending to “ris-ing economic headwinds and last year’s massive drawdown of ser-vice people”.

China’s Defence Ministry, in a commentary on its website, de-scribed the slower pace as “appro-priate”.

“It certainly doesn’t mean the Chinese people’s dreams of a strong country and military will be impacted upon,” it added.

Beijing is feeling public pres-sure to show it can protect its claims to the South China Sea af-ter the United States began con-ducting “freedom of navigation” operations near islands where China has been carrying out con-troversial reclamation work and stationing advanced weapons.

A draft of the � ve-year plan, a blueprint for the country’s aspi-rations from this year through to 2020, said China would strength-

en its capabilities in maritime law enforcement and “appropriately handle” infringements of its mar-itime rights, though it gave no de-tails.

The Global Times, a widely read tabloid published by the rul-ing Communist Party’s People’s Daily, said that for many Chinese the smaller increase “was a bit of a disappointment”, but called for understanding.

“There is no need to spend hugely to catch up with the US, which seeks to keep its global mili-tary presence. China’s regional mil-itary deterrence aimed at national defence has been taking shape.”

The � ve-year plan also said Chi-na would improve its national se-curity “technology and equipment construction” and raise the coun-try’s intelligence gathering abilities.

China, the world’s second-larg-

est economy, is increasingly ex-posed to international crises like the Middle East but has little ex-perience at dealing with them, un-like established powers like the US and Russia.

Underscoring the sensitivity of China’s defence spending, about a dozen senior o� cers approached by Reuters on the sidelines of par-liament declined to comment on the matter.

In a government-arranged in-terview the previous evening, Chen Zhou, a researcher at the Academy of Military Science, said a more modern army needed bet-ter training and this is where de-fence funds should be spent.

“Investment in troop training needs to increase, as only this way can we allow our military to walk down a path of military profes-sionalism.” l

INSIGHT

Turkey, Iran seek to manage di� erences over Syrian Reuters, Istanbul/Dubai

Turkey and Iran, two countries on opposite sides of Syria’s civil war, agreed they must cooperate to end sectarian strife, including support for a fragile cease� re, in the region after their leaders met in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran, along with Russia, has stood by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the � ve-year war, pro-viding him with military and � -nancial support, while Turkey is his most outspoken critic and has backed opposition forces.

“We may have di� erent views but we cannot change our history or our geography,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. “It is extremely important for Turkey and Iran to develop some common perspectives in order

to end our region’s � ght among brothers, to stop the ethnic and sectarian con� icts.”

Iranian President Hassan Rou-hani echoed the sentiment.

“We believe regional issues should only be resolved by the re-gional countries and nations. Iran and Turkey’s cooperation would be constructive in bringing lasting peace to the region,” he was quot-ed as saying by state news agency IRNA.

Sunni-majority Turkey is close to Saudi Arabia, which has cut its diplomatic ties with Shia Iran and is concerned about Tehran’s growing clout in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

“We have our di� erences on some regional issues, but we are determined to manage the dif-ferences to reach stability in the region ... Iran and Turkey would

both bene� t from regional secu-rity and stability,” said Iranian Vice-President Eshagh Jahangiri, standing alongside Davutoglu in comments carried live by Turkey’s NTV and Iran’s Press TV.

The meeting, days before the planned resumption of Syrian peace talks in Geneva, also fo-cused on a cease� re that is large-ly holding in Turkey’s war-torn neighbour.

Trade potentialReaping trade bene� ts from the easing of international sanctions against Iran in January was also discussed.

The removal of the sanctions means the two neighbours can easily exceed their previous trade target of $30bn annually, Davuto-glu said.

“The main obstacle that pre-vented us from reaching our goal were the sanctions. Being free of those, means we can easily sur-pass our goal of $30bn,” Davutoglu said, adding he hoped to encour-age mutual direct investment.

Trade between the two nations was $9.7bn in 2015, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Turkey has trailed other Euro-pean countries eager to tap into Iran’s $400bn economy after world powers, led by the United States, reached an agreement with Tehran last year that seeks to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Turkey mainly sells machinery, vehicles and iron and steel prod-ucts to Iran. Oil and natural gas make up 90% of Iranian exports to Turkey, the Turkish Foreign Min-istry said. l

ANALYSIS

Little to show for in Boko Haram-Dae’sh partnershipn AFP, Lagos

When Boko Haram pledged alle-giance to the Dae’sh group in Iraq and Syria last year, there were fears the deadly insurgency in northeast Nigeria would take on an international dimension.

The world’s deadliest designat-ed terrorist organisations -- notori-ous for the indiscriminate slaugh-ter of tens of thousands of people -- were now o� cially linked.

Speculation and concern mounted about a potential in� ux of foreign � ghters to the countries surrounding Lake Chad and an es-calation of a previously localised con� ict.

But 12 months on that hasn’t happened. If anything, Boko Har-am appears a considerably weaker force and apparently in disarray after a year-long military coun-ter-o� ensive.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has only been heard from twice since his audio message pub-lished in March last year pledging an oath to his Dae’sh counterpart

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.Nigeria’s army has since then

increasingly claimed crushing blows against the militants and their strongholds plus the liber-ation of thousands living under Boko Haram control.

This week, dozens of rebels re-portedly surrendered because of hunger. Nigeria now wants many of the two million people inter-nally displaced by the con� ict to return home.

‘Marketing label’Many analysts have long viewed the announced tie-up as propa-ganda for both sides. Boko Haram was at the time struggling against regional forces and Dae’sh su� er-ing setbacks to its territorial am-bitions.

A Nigerian security source said Dae’sh was “only a marketing la-bel which Boko Haram wants to use to deceptively project itself as a formidable terrorist group”.

Shekau’s declaration and the subsequent re-branding of Boko Haram as “Islamic State West Af-

rica Province” or ISWAP caused a reported rift in the Boko Haram hierarchy.

Few, if any, wanted to go against his word but dissenters have reportedly explored closer ties with other jihadi groups in the wider Sahel region.

Active threatSome security consultants predict Boko Haram in Nigeria could this year be reduced to a largely crimi-nal, regional threat along the lines of the Lord’s Resistance Army in central Africa.

But with the US this week in-cluding Nigeria on its updated “Worldwide Caution” list, West-ern governments clearly still view

Boko Haram as a serious threat.US military drones recently

began operating from a base in northern Cameroon while the Pentagon is considering sending military trainers to northeast Ni-geria.

The US Department of State Services said it had also arrest-ed an Dae’sh recruiter, two “ISIS (a popular acronym of Dae’sh) agents operating in Nigeria and the West African sub-region” plus four others heading to join Dae’sh.

Six of those detained were said to be heading or preparing to go to Libya, where Nigerians are said to be in the Dae’sh ranks in territory it controls. l

WorldMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

24DT

USAGerman vice chancellor: Trump poses threat to peace and prosperityGerman Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has criticised Donald Trump as a right-wing populist whose po-litical views pose a threat to peace and prosperity. The comments by Gabriel, economy minister and leader of the Social Democrats, are the clearest sign yet that ruling politicians in Europe are increasing-ly worried about the outcome of the US presidential elections. -REUTERS

THE AMERICASBrazil’s corruption scandal anger spills onto streetSupporters of Brazil’s former presi-dent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rallied in their hundreds outside his Sao Paulo house Saturday a day after his dramatic detention in a corruption probe. The show of resolve was the latest sign a mounting political crisis in Brazil. -AFP

UKLondon mayor slams crushing of Brexit supporterThe battle for Britain to leave or remain within the European Union stepped up a gear on Sunday as London mayor Boris Johnson ac-cused the establishment of crush-ing a business leader for publicly supporting a Brexit. Johnson, the leading advocate of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU in a June referendum, said it was absolutely scandalous that John Longworth had been suspended as head of the British Chambers of Commerce. -AFP

EUROPEGermany’s � nance minister: Brexit would be economic poisonA British vote to leave the EU would damage the British, European and global economies, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with the BBC. Schae-uble said that while Britain would still be able to trade with the EU after leaving, it could not have the advantage of access to the bloc’s sin-gle market without accepting free movement of EU citizens. -REUTERS

AFRICAArmed men kill 12 in Central African RepublicArmed men killed 12 people in villages in Central African Republic, local o� cials said on Sunday, in the � rst violence since Faustin-Arch-ange Touadera was con� rmed as president last Tuesday after an elec-tion many hoped would help end attacks. The attacks took place near the central town of Bambari and were likely linked to an inter-eth-nic dispute involving the Peuhl, or Fulani, ethnic group. -REUTERS

Dae’sh in competition with Taliban, al-Qaeda for recruits in Pakistann Tribune Desk

Trying to lure him into the Dae’sh group, the would-be recruiter told Pakistani journalist Hasan Abdullah, “Brother, you could be such an asset to the Ummah”- the Islamic community. Abdullah replied that he was enjoying life and had no plans to join the ji-hadis.

“The enjoyment of this life is short-lived. You should work for the Akhira” - the Afterlife, the re-cruiter pressed.

Dae’sh had its eye on Abdul-lah not because he adheres to any extremist ideology but be-cause, as a journalist, the group believed he could be a boon to its propaganda machine, Abdullah in an interview with Associat-ed Pres, recounting his meeting with the recruiter.

His encounter was a sign of how Dae’sh group is looking for sophisticated skills as it builds its foothold in new territory: Paki-stan. It is courting university stu-dents, doctors, lawyers, journal-ists and businessmen, and using women’s groups for fund-rais-ing. It is also wading into � erce competition with the country’s numerous other militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-continent, the new branch creat-

ed by the veteran terror network.Dae’sh loyalists have set up

their strongest foothold in Kara-chi, carrying out multiple attacks in the past year and setting up networks.

The port city of some 20m people on the Arabian Sea has always been a favourite for mil-itants to operate. Wealthy dis-tricts running on the city’s pro� t-able commerce hold potential for fund-raising, while the crowded, cramped poorer districts that have spread around the city pro-vide recruits and places to hide. It also gives recruiters links to other parts of the country, since its population is full of people who have migrated from tribal regions or Afghanistan, looking for work.

The Karachi police’s top coun-ter-terrorism o� cial, Raja Umer Khitab, warns that Dae’sh has great potential to grow in Paki-stan, not only because of its large reservoir of Sunni extremists but also because of the virulent anti-Shia sentiment among their ranks. Hatred of Shias and at-tacks against them are a keystone of Dae’sh group’s ideology and one source of its appeal among some hard-line Sunnis as it set up its self-declared “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.

Dae’sh � rst announced its

presence in Pakistan with a bloody attack in May in Karachi in which gunmen boarded a bus carrying Shias, ordered them to bow their heads, then opened � re, killing 45. The gunmen left behind a tattered piece of paper proclaiming, “Beware ... We have entered the battle� eld for retri-bution and the implementation of Shariah.”

Since then, it has killed more than 35 policemen in targeted at-tacks, attacked two schools and killed rights activist Sabeen Me-hmud, who was gunned down in her car with her mother at her side.

Dae’sh was able to expand into two tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan - Bajour and Orakzai - when Taliban lead-ers there switched allegiance to the Iraq-Syria-based group. The Dae’sh branch in neighbouring Afghanistan is also aggressively trying to expand its presence, putting it in direct competition with the Taliban.

The number of Dae’sh loyal-ists in Pakistan is not known. Government o� cials only re-cently admitted that they have a presence and insist loyalists here have no known operational links to the Dae’sh leadership in Iraq and Syria. Still, in one of the � rst warnings by an o� cial about

Dae’sh, intelligence chief Aftab Sultan told a Senate committee earlier this month that hundreds of Pakistanis have gone to � ght in Syria, and some are now coming home to Pakistan to recruit.

Dae’sh recruiters have been stalking university campus-es. For example, the suspected mastermind in the bus attack, Saad Aziz, was a graduate of the US-funded Institute of Business Administration in Karachi.

An intelligence o� cial said se-curity o� cials have interrogated several university professors sus-pected of supporting Dae’sh and trying to recruit students.

Professionals can hold lead-ership posts or be involved in the group’s proli� c and powerful propaganda machine, which in-cludes sophisticated videos pro-duced with the latest technology and vigorous use of social media.

The past stereotype of a mil-itant as a tribesman from the mountains in traditional garb with bandoliers of ammo slung over his shoulder has been re-placed. But the new generation comes from well-educated, cos-mopolitan, university educated Pakistanis from middle-class backgrounds who can navigate our globalised space whether vir-tually or physically with facility and con� dence. l

25D

TSportINSIDE

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Good experiences to start the tour Rome was not built in a day. The same can be said about the Bangladesh cricket team’s recent successes. The Tigers in the last 15 months or so have been living in dreamland.  They won several series and made a mark in the international cricket arena. PAGE 26

Record-breaking Aussies win thrillerA record partnership between David Warne r and Glenn Maxwell spurred Australia to a last-ball victory in the second one-day international against South Africa at the Wander-ers Stadium on Sunday. Australia’s win by � ve wickets levelled the three-match series. PAGE 27

10-man Utd lose, Benteke saves KopsJuan Mata was sent o� as Manches-ter United’s hopes of Champions League quali� cation were dealt a serious setback in a 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. The Spaniard received two quick-� re bookings mid-way through the � rst half. PAGE 28

McFall brings 30 years reign to closeRonnie McFall, the longest-serving manager in European football, resigned as head coach of Northern Irish side Portadown after almost 30 years at the helm on Saturday. Appointed in December 1986 McFall went on to out-last the legendary Scot. PAGE 29

BANGLADESH R BTamim lbw b Bumrah 13 17 Soumya c Pandya b Nehra 14 9 Sabbir not out 32 29 Shakib c Bumrah b Ashwin 21 16 Mush� q run out 4 5 Mashrafe c Kohli b Jadeja 0 1 Mahmudullah not out 33 13 Extras (w3) 3

Total (� ve wickets; 15 overs) 120 Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-30, 3-64, 4-75, 5-75 Bowling: Ashwin 3-0-14-1 (w1), Nehra 3-0-33-1 (w1), Bumrah 3-0-13-1, Jadeja 3-0-25-0, Pandya 3-0-35-0 (w1)

INDIA R BSharma c Soumya b Al-Amin 1 5 Dhawan c Soumya b Taskin 60 44 Kohli not out 41 28 Dhoni not out 20 6 Extras 0

Total (two wickets; 13.5 overs) 122 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-99Bowling: Taskin 3-0-14-1, Al-Amin 2.5-0-30-1, Hider 1-0-14-0, Shakib 2-0-26-0, Mashrafe 2-0-16-0, Nasir 3-0-22-0 Result: India won by eight wicketsMan of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan (India)Player of the Series: Sabbir Rahman (Ban)

BANvINDIA

Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah goes big during their Asia Cup T20 � nal match against India at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

We were 20 runs short, says Mashrafen Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh limited-over captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza said his side was clearly 20 runs short in the Asia Cup Twenty20 � nal against India at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

Mashrafe also added that heavy rainfall prior to the start of the grand � nale took the momen-tum away from the home side.

India displayed clinical crick-et to register a comfortable eight wicket win with seven deliveries remaining and bag the continen-tal title for a record sixth time.

“I think we cannot blame any-one as the wicket was pretty good

to bat on in the second half. Ob-viously losing the toss was one of the key factors as I felt the pitch was more of a 135-140 wicket in the latter part. I think we were clearly 20 runs short on this wick-et and if we could have done that, things would have been di� er-ent,” Mashrafe informed the me-dia during the post-match press conference.

Mashrafe however, refused to read too much into the defeat, es-pecially with the upcoming World T20 knocking at the door. The Ti-gers face the Netherlands in their � rst round opener this Wednes-day in Dharamsala.

“Obviously, we will take a lot

from this tournament. Playing the � nal is a big achievement for us and the boys have done really well. We can take the positives to the World [T20] as we have to play the quali� er � rst. We can’t think much of the loss as we are � y-ing (today morning). So we have to prepare mentally. Hopefully this defeat will not bother us and playing against India is always tough, especially in T20s,” said Mashrafe.

The “Narail Express” conclud-ed by thanking the fans for their relentless support throughout the competition and urged them to keep their faith as something good is coming in the future. l

26DT Sport

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

VIRAT KOHLIIt was a tricky situation, Rohit getting out early, credit to Shikhar for the way he

batted, delivering when the team needed the most. The 94 stand was the game changer. I back myself to � nd boundaries and hit the gaps, I don't try to hit too many sixes ... I enjoy the crowd being against me, it pumps me up, the more they boo me

the more it motivates me.

RAVI SHASTRIJust told them it's a � nal, enjoy it. Remember the celebrations Bangladesh did when they beat us, so just get the bloody job done. We have a good all-round side, packed with power hitters ... any of them can � re. If any area we have to tighten up, it is the

bowling department. Tremendous self-belief, the tour of Australia was extremely important, bouncing back to win four matches after losing the � rst four. I was not

surprised one bit when they chased this down.

MS DHONIThanks to the top-order batsmen, they have done the bulk of the job, the lower order

batsmen just go and do what is needed after that. It's looking very good now, we are on track for the World T20. Jasprit, the beauty is that he can bowl yorkers, if you

don;t have the yorker you have to try a lot of other deliveries, his slightly di� erent action also helps him a bit. Hardik can bowl a few overs for us, so if he can give us four

in T20s ... with his batting and � elding he is a great package ... looking at this team it is tough to give Yuvi the no.4 slot, but he has adjusted ... 13-14 players they are all

match-winners, that is the beauty of the side, everyone is taking responsibility to � nishing the game.

WHAT THEY SAIDMemorable experiences to start the tourn Minhaz Uddin Khan

from Dharamsala

Rome was not built in a day. The same can be said about the Bangladesh cricket team’s recent successes. The Tigers in the last 15 months or so have been living in dreamland.  They won several series against the established orders and made a mark in the international cricket arena.

On the way, the cricket-mad Bangladesh fans have earned a lot of respect from all around the globe for the level of support they put for their team. The possessiveness of these fans is unmatchable. 

This correspondent has been rather unfortunate. Bangladesh for only the second time in history have gone through to the � nal of a major event and played against India in Mirpur in the Asia Cup Twenty20. The travel plan had back� red and has brought this writer along with a few others from Bangladesh around two days before the Tigers reached Dharamsala for the ICC World T20.

But this has also opened up a great opportunity to feel the vibe from the other side of the boundary. The Bangladesh-India cricket rivalry has been on the rise since 2007 when the Tigers had defeated their neighbours to throw them out of the World Cup. The animosity had hit the top gear following a couple of controversies

in the 2015 World Cup. Bangladesh fans believe because of some controversial decisions by the on-� eld umpire, the Tigers’ dreams of defeating India and moving to the semi-� nal of the tournament were shattered. 

Since then, on every occasion the two teams met, the Bangladesh fans had great satisfaction considering India as their arch-rival. 

Flying into India on the day when the two sides met in the Asia Cup � nal in Dhaka, there was a certain vibe of the game here too. But what came in as a surprise was the respect the Indians had showed to the Tigers.

The immigration o� cer at the Kolkata airport literally jumped o� his chair when he saw the passports and learned that the journalists belong to Bangladesh and are in his country to cover the World T20. 

“What are you doing here [Saturday]? You have a big game in Dhaka?” the immigration o� cer queried.

Following a few conversations, the o� cer surprisingly said, “I want Bangladesh to win. They have played really well to put o� Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the tournament. They are working hard and winning the Asia Cup will be a great reward.” A similar thing had happened in the Kolkata-based hotel where the journalists had to pass the night in order to catch the early morning � ight to Dharamsala

via Delhi but the best was yet to come. 

One getting into Dharamsala city coming from the Kangra airport will have to come across a police check-post. A serious looking o� cer with his subordinates searched all the vehicles passing by. They were about to do the same but upon learning that the six people in the Toyota car are from Bangladesh and are related to cricket, the police duty had vanished.

“Your team doing really great. They are fantastic. They are playing India and I want them to do well but India should end winning,” said the police o� cer. 

“They (Bangladesh team) are coming  [today]. Good, we will be able to see some matches. The venue in Dharamsala is fantastic. We (India) were also a small team. But we won the World Cup in [1983] and things started changing. I can see that change in Bangladesh too,” the gentleman in his 40s added.

There have been at least half a dozen more individuals met on the day with the same vibe towards Bangladesh. The experience might involve only a few individuals but it made one thing very clear; the supporters from the other side of the border are also excited with the Bangladesh-India rivalry.

Probably no other experience could have been more overwhelming to start around a month-long tour. l

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan (C) attends a program where North South University gives a reception to the National Under-19 cricket team for their superb e� ort in the recently concluded ICC U-19 World Cup during their 24 Years of Glory event at the university auditorium yesterday COURTESY

India team celebrates with the trophy after winning the Asia Cup Twenty20 � nal against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla national stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sport 27D

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MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Jhinaidah win women hockey titleJhinaidah emerged as the champions of the Walton 3rd Women’s Hockey Championship after beating reigning champions Narail 1-0 in the � nal at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday. Ananya Biswas netted the all-important goal for the champions in the 48th minute to beat the last two-time title holders and earn her side the maiden title. Narail’s Sadia Khatun was the top scorer of the tournament with 11 goals while best goalkeeper, defender, mid� elder and forward award went to Joyi Khatun, Tania, Kimi Karmakar and Borsha Khatun.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

NAT'L WOMEN’S FOOTBALL BJMC, Mymensingh enter last-four BJMC swept into the semi� nals of the KFC National Women’s Football Championship as Group A champions beating Mymensingh 2-1 at the Kamalapur stadium yesterday. Mymensingh also moved to the last-four as group runners-up despite the loss riding on their victories in the � rst two matches. BJMC earned nine points winning all their games. National star striker Sabina Khatun and Lipi scored one apiece for BJMC while Sheuli netted the consolation goal for Mymensingh. Meanwhile in the other match, Rangpur thrashed Rajbari 9-3 following four goals from Laboni.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

FIFA approve testing of video technologyThe International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs the rules of the game, has approved testing of video technology to aid match o� cials, it was announced on Saturday. Experiments will be carried out over a two-year period starting no later than the 2017/18 season before a � nal decision is taken on whether to adopt the technology permanently.

–AFP

McIlroy grabs WGC Doral leadFour-time major champion Rory McIlroy � red a four-under par 68 Saturday to seize a three-stroke lead after the third round of the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship at Doral. The 26-year-old Northern Irishman stood on 12-under 204 after 54 holes at the Blue Monster.

–AFP

QUICK BYTESSOUTH AFRICA R Bde Villiers b Hastings 13 9de Kock b Faulkner 44 28du Plessis c Maxwell b Hastings 79 41Duminy c Smith b Marsh 14 12Miller c Maxwell b Agar 33 18Behardien c Agar b Faulkner 3 5Morris c Warner b Faulkner 3 5Wiese not out 10 3Rabada not out 0 0Extras (lb1, nb1, w3) 5

Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 204Fall of wickets: 1-15 (De Villiers), 2-77 (De Kock), 3-103 (Duminy), 4-142 (Miller), 5-151 (Behardien), 6-165 (Morris), 7-198 (Du Plessis)Bowling: Hazlewood 4-0-50-0 (2w), Hastings 4-0-42-2, Marsh 2-0-28-1 (1nb), Maxwell 4-0-30-0, Faulkner 4-0-28-3 (1w), Agar 2-0-25-1

AUSTRALIA R BFinch b Rabada 2 4Watson c Duminy b Steyn 9 15Smith c Rabada b Steyn 19 15Warner b Rabada 77 40Maxwell c De Villiers b Morris 75 43Marsh not out 2 1Faulkner not out 7 4Extras (lb4, nb2, w8) 14

Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 205Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Finch), 2-28 (Smith), 3-32 (Watson), 4-193 (Maxwell), 5-194 (Warner)Bowling: Rabada 4-0-25-2 (3w), Morris 4-0-39-1 (1nb, 3w), Steyn 4-0-32-2 (1nb), Wiese 4-0-58-0 (1w), Imran Tahir 4-0-47-0 (1w)Result: Australia won by � ve wicketsSeries: The three-match series is tied at 1-1

SAvAUS, 2ND T20

Djokovic beaten as Murray brothers double up for victoryn AFP, Paris

Novak Djokovic su� ered his � rst Davis Cup defeat in � ve years on Saturday as Serbia slipped 2-1 down to Kazakhstan while Andy and Jamie Murray gave defending champions Great Britain a 2-1 lead over Japan.

World number one Djokovic and 39-year-old Nenad Zimonjic lost their doubles rubber to Kazakh-stan’s Andrey Golubev and Alek-sandr Nedovyesov in Belgrade in the � rst round tie.

The 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 scoreline gave Kazakhstan a 2-1 lead ahead of the reverse singles on Sunday where the winner will go on to face either Britain or Japan in July’s quarter-� nals.

In Birmingham, the Murray brothers edged Britain closer to the

At Birmingham (indoor, hard)

Great Britain 2-1 JapanAndy Murray/Jamie Murray (GBR) bt Yoshihito Nishioka/Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

At Belgrade (indoor, hard)

Serbia 1-2 KazakhstanAleksandr Nedovyesov/Andrey Golubev (KAZ) bt Nenad Zimonjic/Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5

At Pesaro (indoor, clay)

Italy 3-0 SwitzerlandSimone Bolelli/Andreas Seppi (ITA) v Marco Chiudinelli/Henri Laaksonen (SUI) 6-3, 6-1, 6-3

At Gdansk (indoor, hard)

Poland 1-2 ArgentinaMartin Matkowski/Lukasz Kubot (POL) bt Carlos Berlocq/Renzo Olivo (ARG) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

At Guadeloupe (outdoor, clay)

France 3-0 CanadaRichard Gasquet/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) bt Vasek Pospisil/Philip Bester (CAN) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 7-6 (7/4)

At Hanover (indoor, hard)

Germany 1-2 Czech RepulicTomas Berdcyh/Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber/Philipp Petzschner (GER) 7-6 (9/7), 7-5, 6-4

At Melbourne (outdoor, grass)

Australia 1-2 United StatesBob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) bt Lleyton Hewitt/John Peers (AUS) 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3

At Liege (indoor, clay)

Belgium 1-2 CroatiaIvan Dodig/Kranko Skugor (CRO) bt Ruben Be-melmans/David Go� n (BEL) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-1

RESULTS

Australia batsman Glenn Maxwell plays a shot against South Africa bowler David Wiese, during their second T20 match at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg yesterday AP

Record-breaking Aussies win last ball thrillern AFP, Johannesburg

A record partnership between Da-vid Warner and Glenn Maxwell spurred Australia to a last-ball vic-tory in the second one-day interna-tional against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.

Australia’s win by � ve wickets levelled the three-match series to set up a decider in Cape Town on

Wednesday.Set a daunting 205 to win, Aus-

tralia were in deep trouble at 32 for three after 5.4 overs.

But Warner (77) and Maxwell (75) thrashed the bowlers in a world record fourth wicket stand of 161 o� 87 balls.

“They batted with great compo-sure and played some great cricket shots,” said Australian captain Ste-

ve Smith. South African captain Faf du

Plessis admitted: “That partner-ship blew us away.”

Du Plessis added: “There are small margins when two teams are playing good cricket. There were one or two things in the � eld that we could have done better. Two full tosses towards the end cost us.”

Both full tosses, by Chris Morris

and Dale Steyn, were called no-balls, giving the batsmen free hits.

There was a twist in the tail, though, as Maxwell was caught o� the � fth ball of the 19th over and Warner was yorked by Kagiso Rabada o� the � rst ball of the � nal over. James Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh got their side home to set up a series decider in Cape Town on Wednesday. l

Juve hold lead as Bu� on sets clean sheet recordn AFP, Rome

Juventus maintained their three point lead at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 win at Atalanta on Sunday as Gianluigi Bu� on made a new clean sheet record in the league’s three-points-for-a-win era.

Andrea Barzagli’s 24th minute tap-in and a wonderful individ-ual goal from Mario Lemina four minutes from the end was enough for the reigning champions, who move up to 64 points and hold sec-ond-placed Napoli at bay after they brie� y drew level with Saturday’s convincing 3-1 win over Chievo.

Juve equal their club record of nine matches without conceding a goal, and Bu� on, who now hasn’t conceded in 836 minutes, is edging closer to the all-time Serie A record of 929 minutes established by AC Milan stopper Rossi in 1993/94. l

28DT Sport

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool Ledley 48 Firmino 72, Benteke 90+6-pen

West Brom 1-0 Manchester United(Rondon 66)

ON SATURDAY

Chelsea 1-1 StokeTraore 39 Diouf 85

Everton 2-3 West HamLukaku 13, Antonio 78, Lennon 56 Sakho 81, Payet 90

Newcastle 1-3 BournemouthPerez 80 Taylor 28-og, King 70, Daniels 90

Man City 4-0 Aston VillaToure 48, Sterling 66Aguero 50, 60,

Southampton 1-1 SunderlandVan Dijk 90 Defoe 85

Swansea 1-0 NorwichSigurdsson 61

Tottenham 2-2 ArsenalAlderweireld 60, Ramsey 39, Kane 62 Sanchez 76

Watford 0-1 Leicester Mahrez 56

EPL RESULTS

Real Betis 2-0 GranadaN’Diaye 85, Ruben Castro 90+5

Eibar 0-4 Barcelona El Haddadi 8, Messi 41, 75-pen, Suarez 84

ON SATURDAY

Real Madrid 7-1 Celta VigoPepe 40, Aspas 61Ronaldo 49, 57, 64, 75, Jese 77, Bale 80

Villarreal 0-1 Las Palmas Garcia 29

Getafe 1-1 SevillaVelazquez 86 Banega 79

Deportivo 3-3 MalagaBorges 43, Charles 29, Cartabia 69, Camacho 63, Perez 80 Arribas 89-og

LA LIGA RESULTS

10-man Man United lose, Benteke saves Liverpooln AFP, London

Juan Mata was sent o� as Manches-ter United’s hopes of Champions League quali� cation were dealt a serious setback in a 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

The Spaniard received two quick-� re bookings mid-way through the � rst half, for blocking a free-kick and then taking a swipe

at Darren Fletcher, and West Brom made their numerical advantage count in the 66th minute when Salomon Rondon netted his fourth goal in six Premier League games.

It ended United’s recent revival of four straight wins and left Louis van Gaal’s side in sixth place, three points below the Champions League berths having played a game more than fourth-place Manchester City.

Earlier, substitute Chris-tian Benteke won and scored a 96th-minute penalty as 10-man Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at Palace.

Joe Ledley’s 48th-minute strike and Liverpool mid� elder James Milner’s second-half dismissal for two bookable o� ences looked to have set Palace on course for a � rst win in 12 league matches.

But a slip by Palace goalkeep-er Alex McCarthy gifted Roberto Firmino a 72nd-minute equaliser, before Damien Delaney’s rash chal-lenge on Benteke enabled the Bel-gium striker to net the winner from the spot.

Liverpool climbed two places to seventh after recording a third suc-cessive league win for the � rst time in a year. l

Messi double keeps Barca record rollingn AFP, Madrid

A Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona tightened their grip on the La Liga title race with a comprehensive 4-0 win at Eibar on Sunday top open up an 11-point lead at the top.

Messi doubled his tally from the penalty spot before Suarez lashed home the fourth six minutes from time. Barca’s 11th consecutive league win also stretches their re-cord unbeaten run to 36 games.

Real Madrid remain 12 points adrift of Barca in third despite Cris-tiano Ronaldo’s four-goal show in a 7-1 demolition of Celta Vigo on Saturday. l

West Brom striker Salomon Rondon shoots to score the winning goal against Manchester United during their Barclays Premier League match at The Hawthorns yesterday REUTERS

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MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

PSG 0-0 Montpellier

Angers 0-0 Saint-Etienne

Lille 2-0 ReimsLopes 63, Eder 90+3

Bordeaux 1-1 Gazelec AjaccioDiabate 38-P Larbi 89

Nice 2-1 TroyesGermain 12, Traore 72 Jean 26

Bastia 0-0 Lorient

RESULTS

Wolfsburg 2-1 M'gladbachDraxler 15, Ra� ael 23Kruse 17

VfB Stuttgart 5-1 Ho� enheimNiedermeier 6, 51, Kramaric 73Rupp 42, Kostic 78, Werner 83

Augsburg 3-3 LeverkusenKoo 5, 44, 57 Bellarabi 60, Verhaegh 80-og, Calhanoglu 90+3-P

Werder Bremen 4-1 Hanover 96Bartels 18, Pizarro 26, Karaman 45Gebre Selassie 56, Junuzovic 67

Frankfurt 1-1 IngolstadtRuss 69 Hartmann 8

Cologne 1-3 SchalkeBittencourt 33 Huntelaar 3-P, Meyer 24, Di Santo 76

Dortmund 0-0 Bayern Munich

RESULTS

DAY’S WATCHFOOTBALL

SONY ESPN1:30AM

Spanish La Liga Espanyol v Rayo Vallecano

Dortmund's Julian Weigl, left, and Bayern's Thomas Mueller challenge for the ball during their Bundesliga match in Dortmund on Saturday AP

Bayern stay well clear after holding Dortmundn Reuters, Dortmund

Bayern Munich kept their � ve-point lead at the top of the table on Saturday, drawing 0-0 at sec-ond-placed Borussia Dortmund to stay on track for a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title.

The game, broadcast to 208 countries, lived up to its big billing. It was an entertaining encounter played at a frantic pace and a goal was the only thing missing as Bay-ern, especially, went close on sev-eral occasions.

“We had our chances to win this game,” said visiting coach Pep Guardiola. “The second half was good. Now every game is a � nal for

us. It was a good game for the fans and German football.”

Bayern wasted a golden chance early on when Thomas Mueller’s e� ort went narrowly wide and Arturo Vidal followed suit a little later. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then missed a good opportunity for Dortmund as he was denied by keeper Manuel Neuer.

The best scoring chance fell to Bayern’s Douglas Costa who raced clear with only keeper Roman Buerki to beat but the Swiss stood his ground to deny the winger.

Bayern, chasing three trophies this season, kept up the pressure in the second half as Dortmund lost some of their early momentum.

SAVE OF GAMEBuerki made the save of the

game on the hour, tipping a thun-derous Vidal shot on to the bar.

The result lifted the Bavarians, who lost 2-1 to Mainz 05 in mid-week, to 63 points from 25 games with Dortmund on 58.

“We had an outstanding � rst 30 minutes and a good � rst half,” said Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel.

“It was important to remain sol-id in defence. You have to keep de-fending (against Bayern) at a very high level. I am sure we will keep going, no matter what the distance to Bayern. It’s about delivering in every match.”

Substitute Franco Di Santo

sealed Schalke 04’s 3-1 victory at Cologne to help the Gelsenkirchen side move into the top four, boost-ing their hopes of a return to the Champions League next season.

Bayer Leverkusen fought back from 3-0 down to snatch a 3-3 draw at Augsburg with three goals in the last half hour.

Hakan Calhanoglu’s stop-page-time penalty completed their revival after Koo Ja-Cheol had scored a hat-trick for the hosts.

Rejuvenated Claudio Pizarro was on target again, three days af-ter his midweek hat-trick, as Werd-er Bremen crushed bottom club Hanover 96 4-1 to climb further away from the relegation zone. l

Coquelin’s rush of blood cost us victory: Wengern Reuters, London

Francis Coquelin’s needless red card cost Arsenal victory against Premier League title rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, manager Arsene Wenger said after an absorbing North London derby ended 2-2.

The game changed when French mid� elder Coquelin, who has already been yellow-carded for handball, rashly scythed down Harry Kane when the Spurs striker was posing no threat to goal.

“I’m happy and proud of our attitude, we refused to lose the game,” Wenger said.

“But we have big regrets because I couldn’t see when it was 11 versus 11 how we would drop points today. We made a big mistake at 1-0. (Co-quelin) knows he made a mistake.

“We warned him at halftime as well. It was a mistake. He wanted to do well and mistimed his tackle and got sent o� . We can’t complain about it. He has to learn quickly from that. You have to be 100 (percent) committed in a controlled way.”l

McFall brings 30-year Portadown reign to closen AFP, Belfast

Ronnie McFall, the longest-serving manager in European football, re-signed as head coach of Northern Irish side Portadown after almost 30 years at the helm on Saturday.

Appointed in December 1986, a month after Alex Ferguson took over at Manchester United, McFall went on to out-last the legendary Scot.

Portadown are down in seventh in the Northern Irish league and shortly after a shock cup defeat to Lurgan Celtic, McFall stepped down, ending a reign which had brought 20 trophies, including four league titles. l

PSG keep powder dry before Chelsea tie n AFP, Paris

With numerous stars rested, Paris Saint-Germain settled for an un-inspiring goalless draw at home to Montpellier on Saturday ahead of their crucial Champions League re-turn clash with Chelsea.

PSG’s enormous lead at the top of Ligue 1 and determination to progress in Europe meant this game was never the priority for coach Laurent Blanc, although things could have been very di� er-ent had Edinson Cavani found the net rather than the bar early on.

The draw allowed the defending champions to restore their 23-point lead at the top over second-placed Monaco, who drew 2-2 at Caen on Friday, and means they could still.

Blanc rested a host of key players and Ibrahimovic was on the bench alongside David Luiz and Thiago Motta while captain Thiago Silva was not involved at all while Marco Ver-ratti and Blaise Matuidi were not � t.l

Montpellier defender Ramy Bensebaini (R) vies with Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their French L1 match on Saturday AFP

Showtime30DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Stars in splitsvillen Showtime Desk

When you take a look at the stock of Bollywood heroes who moved away from the women who were originally their “� rst choice” as wives, live-in partners or long-standing girlfriends, you will realise that many of these women got the short end of the stick. They were with them when they started o� ; they were by their side through thick and thin. But when it was time for them to sit back and enjoy being Mrs so-and-so, they were left standing alone. Here’s a quick look at some major Bollywood marriages that did not make it.

Saif Ali Khan was a � edgling when he settled down with the much older and far more successful Amrita Singh. Several years down the line, Saif grew apart from the woman who stood by him at the start of his career and is also the mother of his children, Sara and Ibrahim. For those who don’t know, Saif and Amrita had a quiet runaway marriage, much to the surprise and disapproval of his parents. Their marriage lasted 13 years, which were fraught with several challenges, to be expected for people who married so young

and impulsively. However, it seemed that Amrita bore the brunt of things. She reminisced in a Stardust interview, about tribulations of her relationship. There were many trials, and Saif’s roving eye didn’t help. She noted on one occasion, they were giving a lift to an aspiring actress in their car, she stepped out to buy something, and she came back to � nd them discussing a lot more than just a movie. The � nal nail in the co� n was Saif’s a� air with Rosa, an italian dancer who was on a tour.

Saif Ali khan and Amrita Singh

Aamir Khan and Rina Dutt

Hritik Roshan and Sussanne KhanJust a week before his 13th wedding anniversary, Hrithik Roshan made an announcement that stunned his fans everywhere. The golden couple of Bollywood, Hrithik and Sussanne, decided to end their 17-year long relationship (which includes four years of their courtship). Within minutes of their statements, the media was rife with speculations. While some alleged that Hrithik’s rumoured a� airs with his co-stars was the reason, others claimed that it was a cheap publicity stunt. Sussanne, who has been avoiding the media and stopped

making public appearances with Hrithik, also issued a statement. She said; “We are two individuals who respect and care for each other and have made our own individual choices. We are parents to two wonderful kids and our responsibility remains to protect and take care of them. Nothing can change that. Would appreciate if we are given our privacy in such a time. Thank you for your warmth and concern for both of us and the family.’’ Reports say, a secret a� air between Kangana and Hrithik was also a reason behind the divorce. l

Farhan Akhter and AdhunaFarhan and Adhuna met on the sets of Dil Chahta Hai. It also marked Adhuna’s debut in Bollywood as a hairstylist. Adhuna is six years older than Farhan. They dated for three years and later got hitched. The couple have two children named Shakya and Akira. The reason for their separation is not clear yet. Reports say that Farhan states it is just a matter of growing apart over the years. This is shocking news after B-town couple Hrithik Roshan and

Sussanne Khan’s divorce. Things became clearer when Adhuna was absent from Hrithik’s grand birthday bash. Gossip mills are abuzz with rumours of Farhan’s closeness to his Wazir co-star, Aditi Rao Hydari. Earlier it was said Farhan’s Rock On 2 co-star Shraddha Kapoor was the reason behind the divorce. Nowadays, the rumour tends to be around his Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara co-star, Kalki Koechlin.

Bollywood’s “Mr Perfectionist,” Aamir Khan married Reena Dutt in 1986, but the couple separated in 2002. Aamir later married Kiran Rao. In the film Papa Kehte Hain, while Aamir was singing and dancing, playing the guitar, Reena was seen cheering him along with the other girls. Both of them were very young then. They married against the wishes of their families. Reena became very close to Aamir’s family and they led a happy married life for about 16 years, bearing two children Junaid and Ira. According to Aamir, although their relationship has undergone a change and though they are legally divorced, the bond that he shares with Reena will never die. He still has a lot of love and respect for his ex-wife. Reena will always remain an important part of Aamir’s life. Aamir is still in touch with his ex-wife and involves her in almost all his family functions. One of Aamir Khan’s sisters is married to Reena Dutt’s brother. They live in New Jersey.

Showtime 31D

TMONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

n Showtime Desk

The Centre for Research and Information (CRI), the secretariat of Young Bangla, is going to bring the youth centred Joy Bangla Concert back today. The concert will be held at Dhaka Army Stadium between 4:00pm and 11:00pm, with astonishing performances of seven leading bands: Warfaze, Shironamhin, Arbovirus, Lalon, Cryptic Fate, Nemesis and Shunno.

Recently, Showtime caught up with Shironamhin’s frontman, Ziaur Rahman Zia for a sneak peek into the nation’s biggest concert.

How important is it for you to be performing at Joy Bangla Concert?

The band members of Shironamhin are really proud to to be given the opportunity to perform at the concert that marks the speech delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 7, 1971.

This concert is very special to us. I think, among all the other concerts that take place in the country, this one is the biggest in terms of presentation, staging, venue and intrinsic value. Young Bangla always does a fantastic job organising and presenting Joy Bangla concerts exquisitely. The way the concert gets broadcasted and its innovative promotional

activities are the things that make it so special.

Is the band working on any new track for the concert?

We were asked to perform two songs that are not our own; one of which is the Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra and another is a patriotic Tagore song. We wil be performing our originals depending on time and slot.

Would you like to share any

special experience from last year’s concert?

Joy Bangla Concert is not only con� ned to live music and performances. Last year’s laser and LED graphics presentation in the background with Bangabandhu’s speech was incredibly done. It was thrilling to experience such a presentation that not only left the audience speechless but also infused

a sense of independence and patriotism within us.

Let’s cross our � ngers and hope that this year’s performances along with the presentation will be even better.

The band’s current line-up is: Ziaur Rahman Zia on bass, Tanzir C Tuhin on vocal, Kazi Sha� n Ahmad on drums, Diat Khan on guitar and Rashel Kabir on keyboards. l

n Showtime desk

After his stellar performance at the Grammys, Kendrick Lamar is back with his new album untitled unmastered. The album reveals a more instinctive side of Lamar who still seems to ponder about the world’s ills in his tracks.

The rapper released the album last Friday which includes songs Lamar has performed in recent months along with the ones that are fresh from the recording studio.

WHAT TO WATCH

Mission: ImpossibleHBO 6:29pmUnder false suspicion of disloyalty, an American agent must � nd and uncover the real spy without the help of his organisation.Cast: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart

Kung Fu Panda 2Zee Studio 9:30pmPo must come to terms with his past, and with his friends � ght a new peacock villain who has a deadly weapon and wants to conquer China.Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan

Get CarterWB 7:27pmJack Carter returns to his home town from Las Vegas, to attend the funeral of his brother Richard, who supposedly died in a car accident. But various circumstances lead him to suspect that perhaps his brother was murdered.Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Rachael Leigh Cook, Miranda Richardson

Life of PiStar Movies 11:00pmPi is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure, after surviving a shipwreck. And his journey constitutes of only a wild fearsome Bengal Tiger as his companion.Cast: Shuraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain

TransformersSony PIX 8:00pmTwo races of alien robots, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, come to earth looking for the All Spark, an ultimate power source.Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel

Shironamhin at Joy Bangla Concert

Kendrick Lamar’s untitled unmasteredIn this album, the rapper

re� ects on the troubles of fame and advises a society that seems to be experiencing a “spiritual crisis.”

NBA star LeBron James was credited as the “force” behind the album, since he tweeted Anthony Ti� th, Top Dawg Entertainment CEO, urging him to release the tracks last week. The tweet read, “Yo @dangerookipawaa after that @kendricklamar Grammy performance, you have to release those untitled tracks asap!!! What’s up? Talk to me.”

LeBron and Lamar’s fans were delighted when Lamar tweeted a link to the recordings after the album art was released on Spotify last Friday. l

Back Page32DT

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

STARS IN SPLITSVILLE PAGE 30

FOUR-GOAL RONALDO SILENCES CRITICS PAGE 28

UN REPORT: MIGRATION’S ECONOMIC GAINS IGNORED PAGE 15

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The small plastic plaque attached to the microphone barely regis-ters as the de� ant index � nger jabs at the air with the rise and fall of Sheikh Mujib’s thundering bari-tone.

Millions of Bangladeshis have seen the historic March 7 speech played over and over and therefore have seen those two words thou-sands of times.

Picked up almost subliminally, the double-barrel trade name has been etched into our collective psy-che, like the horn-rimmed glasses, brushed back hair, salt-and-pepper moustache and unbuttoned band collar peeking out from behind the lectern.

Call-Ready, the microphone company, has been carrying the voice of political leaders for more than seven decades now.

A � xture in the story of Bang-ladesh, the name’s ubiquity in old photographs of the major events of the 1950s and ‘60s is truly aston-ishing.

Quite literally, this institution has carried the stirring words and speeches that galvanised people into action and brought docile men out on to the streets for rowdy pro-tests.

Dayal Ghosh and Haripada

Ghosh, sons of Debendra Chandra Ghosh of Bikrampur, started the business of mike service before the 1947 Partition at Hrishikesh Lane in Old Dhaka – and it still runs from there. The duo were in their mid-30s then.

The company was � rst named Arzo Light House, but was rebrand-ed to Call-Ready only a year later.

The concept of mike service was still new when this business took o� . Yet, the Ghosh brothers took the risk to serve people, and in do-ing so became a part of this coun-try’s history. As it was the only mi-crophone company around at that time, Call-Ready provided service in all major events in the then East Pakistan from 1947 to 1971.

After the death of Haripada Ghosh, his four sons Bishwanath Ghosh, Shibnath Ghosh, Trinath Ghosh Sagar and Shambhunath Ghosh now run the family busi-ness.

When asked about the historic speech by Bangabandhu on March 7, 1971, Trinath Ghosh said his fa-ther and uncle, along with some 30 people, worked for two days to set up the mikes on the stage at the Race Course Maidan in Dhaka.

“Bangabandhu called my fa-ther to his Dhanmondi residence on March 4 and asked him to set up the mikes for the March 7 pro-

gramme,” he said. More than 150 mikes were set up.

Asked how much area the mike service covered, he said the land-scape was di� erent back then. “We covered the entire maidan as well as the Motijheel and New Market areas.”

Trinath further said eight mouthpieces were set up on the mike stand for Bangabandhu on March 7. “My father and uncle had preserved all those mikes, but when the war started, Pakistani forces burnt down our o� ce and houses and looted everything. Luckily, we were able to save three or four of the mouthpieces and am-pli� ers from that event.”

He said the mouthpieces – Ger-man-made, Indian-assembled mikes from Green Bullet and Sure Company – do not work today, but the government can preserve them as historic symbols.

What was the cost of hiring Call-Ready’s service back in the day? According to Trinath, noth-ing signi� cant. “It was less about the business and more about pat-riotism then,” he said. “As far as I know, only the cost of setting up the mikes was charged.”

The business hit a bump when Bangabandhu was killed along with most of his family in 1975. “It almost shut down, because my

father was closely associated with the Awami League,” Trinath said.

But things started looking up again when Sheikh Hasina re-turned to Bangladesh in 1981. Since then, Call-Ready has been covering all Awami League events.

“We are providing mike services on March 7 this year too,” Trinath said.

Evidence of the close connec-tion between Call-Ready and the Awami League adorns the compa-ny’s o� ce – a photograph of Sheikh Hasina visiting Haripada Ghosh in hospital.

Asked if his father wrote an-ything about the experience of March 7 or his close connection with Bangabandhu and the Awami League, Trinath said he had not. “My father never left any writings on that.”

Despite being such a remarkable part of Bangladesh’s history, Call-Ready does not get the recognition it deserves, according to Trinath.

“Everyone got recognition for their parts in the Liberation War. In fact, many fake people got freedom � ghter’s certi� cate. But my father and uncle were never recognised for their contribution,” he said. “We want that recognition for Call-Ready, and the attention and help to preserve the equipment which has such historic signi� cance.” l

History ampli� ed: The Call-Ready storyMARCH 7 ANNIVERSARY

PM to address rally todayn Tribune Report

Awami League chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will chair the rally to be held this afternoon at Suhrawardy Udyan to mark the 45th anniversary of the historic speech of her father and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman given in 1971.

Senior leaders of the party in-cluding its General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam would also speak at the event that starts at 3pm.

The central programmes of the ruling Awami League on the day in-clude hoisting of the national and party � ags at 6:30am and placing of wreaths at the portrait of Sheikh Mujib at the Bangabandhu Memo-rial Museum at Dhanmondi 32 at 7am, said a press release yesterday.

The party, its associate and a� l-iated bodies will hold di� erent pro-grammes across the country.

On this day in 1971, Bangaband-hu delivered the speech at the Race Course Maidan where he fervently called people: “The struggle this time is for our emancipation, the struggle this time is for our independence.” l

One of the microphones used for Bangabandhu’s historic speech on March 7, 1971 at Suhrawardy Udyan, preserved at Call Ready Company’s o� ce in Laxmibazar, Dhaka RAJIB DHAR/COURTESY

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