Dejected Mush� q apologises to nationn Minhaz Uddin Khan

from Kolkata

Bangladesh’s one-run defeat to hosts India in the Super 10 round of the 2016 World Twenty20 in Banga-

lore last Wednesday has rocked the cricket-crazy nation. It was not the defeat that has taken the country by surprise but rather the way the Tigers gifted the game to the home side and ensured their way out of the � agship event. It is hard to be-lieve that a side with two set bats-

men in the middle, and one waiting in the dugout, can fail to chase two runs in three balls.

All the � ngers are now being pointed at the direction of Mush-� qur Rahim and Mahmudullah. It was Mush� q who � rst went for the glory shot only to be caught at mid-wicket; Bangladesh reeling on 145 for seven in 19.4 overs. The game was still very much in the balance, thanks to the presence of the in-form Mahmudullah on strike. But he too was dismissed in a similar fashion like Mush� q; the

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SECOND EDITION

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016 | Chaitra 11, 1422, Jamadius Sani 15, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 339 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend supplement | Price: Tk10

Arms bought from various sourcesThe government is buying sophisticated weaponry to develop a three-dimensional force. PAGE 3

Chandpur women barred from votingWomen from Chandpur’s Rupsha Dakkhin Union did not cast their votes in Tuesday’s Union Parishad polls following a fatwa by a pir. PAGE 5

INSI

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Sport Page-282nd Round

Made-in-India yaba hits the marketn Mohammad Jamil Khan and

Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The whole “Make in India” idea is on a high – or, rather a low – as In-dia’s drug barons begin pumping il-legal yaba tablets into Bangladesh, giving suppliers in Myanmar a run for their money.

Although regarded as lower grade than their Myanmar coun-terpart, the methamphetamine and ca� eine pills widely enjoyed as a party drug are now being madein India.

India previously enjoyed the no-toriety of being the main source of phensedyl, a codeine syrup banned in Bangladesh and a major contrib-utor to Bangladesh’s drug addic-tion problem.

The Indian yaba menace was prioritised at the � rst meeting of the reconstituted central an-ti-smuggling task force held on February 28. This was the � rst of-� cial acknowledgement that yaba, popular as a sex stimulant, was coming in from India too.

The task force decided to reach out to India’s Directorate of Reve-nue Intelligence (DRI) to stamp out yaba smuggled from that country.

The rise in popularity and avail-ability of yaba in Dhaka and else-where in Bangladesh is a matter of

grave concern for the authorities as well as parents. Deputy Direc-tor of the Department of Narcotics Control Mukul Jyoti Chakma said yaba tablets made up some 33% of the contraband items seized by law enforcers.

According to police sources, over 23.2 million yaba pills, of all places of origin, were recovered in 2015 alone.

Two fronts, tough patronsBut the rise of India’s yaba factories has got Bangladeshi law enforcers � ghting a two-front battle against drug smuggling, adding the west-ern frontier to existing operations on the south-eastern coast along the Myanmar border.

Bangladesh and India’s 4,096-kilometre border is a virtual emporium for smugglers.

Over the last couple of years, the border forces of Bangladesh and India have worked to shut down il-legal phensedyl factories along the Indian border.

Some observers speculate that a recent ban in India on phensedyl may be behind the shift to yaba pro-duction by illicit drugs manufactur-ers. Under increased scrutiny when transporting liquid formulations, Indian smugglers are � nding it eas-ier to move tablets to Bangladesh.

Even legally produced phensedyl was smuggled into Bangladesh for use as a narcotic.

Above-board drug companies that produced phensedyl, such as

Abbot, has been hit hard by the ban and is � ghting it in the courts. The Delhi High Court has granted an interim stay to drugmaker Ab-bott against a government move to

ban phensedyl, India’s Economic Times reported recently.

Despite regular seizures of yaba by the law enforcers, the drug lords have always managed to keep one step ahead of the police.

A ruling party lawmaker and his family are among those sheltering smugglers of the drug from Myan-mar, it has been reported.

In 2014, the Department of Nar-cotics Control (DNC) published a report containing the names of a staggering 1,200 people believed to be involved in the illegal trade, in-cluding Cox’s Bazar Awami League lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi.

The list of those complicit in the trade includes law enforcers, local policemen, government o� cials, lawyers and even journalists.

Moinul Khan, director gener-al of Customs Intelligence and also member secretary of the an-ti-smuggling task force, told the Dhaka Tribune recently that some smugglers were sending contra-band pills originating in Myanmar to India to avoid raids in Bangla-desh. Some of these pills later re-surface on the border.

In addition to supplying local demand, yaba smuggled into the country is often meant for on-ward transport to Middle Eastern

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

University teachers’ demands metA total 25% professors to get � rst-grade salariesn Tribune Report

Following months of tension and protests, the cabinet committee on solving salary discrimination has recommended that 25% professors of public universities be given sal-aries and bene� ts of a � rst-grade public servant – equal to a secretary.

University teachers welcomed the move, saying it was the cul-mination of their year-long move-ment.

The decision came from a meet-ing of the cabinet committee, pre-sided by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, at the Finance Ministry au-

ditorium yesterday. Leaders from Federation of Bangladesh Univer-sity Teachers Association (FBUTA) were present along with cabinet members and top bureaucrats.

“We have reached a consensus on resolving the dispute on promo-tion, post and amount of salaries for professors of public universities – which will applicable for 38 [pub-lic] universities,” said Muhith.

“The government will have to emphasize on the quality of educa-tion at public universities and our committee recommendations will go to the cabinet for approval,” the minister said.

Public university teachers had long been protesting the eighth pay scale, which removed the previous provisions that allowed professors to get � rst-grade salaries through the process of selection grade.

“A total 25% of second-grade public university professors will go to � rst grade when their job dura-tion will be 20 years. Earlier they went to � rst grade in the process of selection grade,” Muhith said.

“We have � xed the criteria of promotion to the � nal stage for public universities teachers. A professor will get promotion from

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Myanmar

To Middle East by air

YABA SMUGGLINGTO AND FROMBANGLADESH

● Enters Bangladesh from India, Myanmar through borders

● Smuggled to Middle East through air courier service

PM distributes Independence AwardPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday distributed Independence Award among 15 individuals and an organisation for their contribution. PAGE 32

News2DTFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Made-in-India yaba hits the marketcountries using courier services, police sources said.

Border Guard Bangladesh chief Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed told the Dha-ka Tribune that they had recov-ered three consignments of yaba pills from along the Indian border. These, he said, were distinct from Myanmar yaba tablets.

“We suspect that someone might have made some fake yaba tablets on the Indian side due to its high price and high de-mand in Bangladesh,” said the BGB chief, also a member of the task force.

He said speci� c information on the movement of Indian yaba smugglers would not be possible unless surveillance along the bor-der is increased.

The Dhaka Tribune made con-tact with drug dealers and users in the northern region of the country to check the current status of yaba smuggling.

Md Kuddus, a drug dealer from Dinajpur, acknowledged that he did not need to bring yaba pills from Dhaka or Cox’s Bazar.

“It has been available in the bor-der areas for the last year. Smug-glers bring yaba tablets along with phensedyl from India,” he said, adding that yaba was safer and cheaper to move than phensedyl or other drugs.

“The pills coming from India, available only in pink, are cheap be-cause of their low quality. It is sold for Tk160 to Tk180 in the border ar-eas. The other varieties – green and white – do not come from India,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Carriers and courier servicesBased on a tip-o� from an interna-tional intelligence agency, the DNC in January recovered a parcel from the courier section of Dhaka air-port’s cargo village. O� cials recov-ered 1,000 yaba pills packed among

jeans and leather footwear.The parcel was sent to the UAE

from Bangladesh, but returned be-cause no one received it in Dubai.

In December, Customs Intelli-gence o� cials arrested Moham-mad Harun and recovered 3,300 yaba tablets and 2kg marijuana from his possession. He was travel-ling to Kuwait from Dhaka.

The Detective Branch of po-lice recovered a shipment of yaba pills from inside a packet of herbal products from Uttara in November. The package was brought from My-anmar but was on its way out of the country, DB sources said.

Through confessions from a number of arrestees, law enforcers have pieced together that Bang-ladesh is fast becoming a major transit point for the smuggling of drugs, especially yaba, using couri-er services, a senior DB o� cial said, asking not to be named as he is not authorised to speak to media.

Syed Tou� q Uddin Ahmed, di-rector (operations) of the DNC, told the Dhaka Tribune that the Dubai airport authorities had detected and sent back thousands of yaba pills discovered in courier parcels. They had been sent from Bangla-desh using the DHL and CEX cou-rier services.

“We have started investigat-ing the courier services’ databas-es in the hope of tracking down the gangs and delivery routes,” he said.

Bangladesh does not have high quality narcotics detection ma-chines making it di� cult for law enforcers to tackle smuggling oper-ations, he said.

Nevertheless, Customs Intel-ligence Director General Moinul said parcels leaving the country are strictly being monitored. “Instruc-tions have been given to the ports to check parcels properly before giving clearance.” l

Dejected Mush� q apologises to nationTigers left to chase two runs from the � nal delivery.

All-rounder Shuvagata Hom was on strike and all he needed to do was connect the ball and attempt a single to at least level the scores. But the right-hander, who came in as the replacement of suspended fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, failed to predict the trajectory of a juicy short ball.

The three batsmen are now the culprits, according to the crick-et-mad fans; let it be on social me-dia or in a tea-table conversation.

For Mahmudullah, this was the second occasion he had failed to take Bangladesh to the destination after the two-run defeat against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup � nal. But given his recent performances, many will overlook what he has done.

As far as Shuvagata is con-cerned, he was never a dependable batsman to start with.

It is Mush� q therefore, who is really feeling the heat. In recent times, the wicketkeeper-batsman

has been struggling for runs and all hell broke loose following his departure against India. In his last eight T20Is, the diminutive right-hander has accumulated only 84 runs and despite being one of the best Tigers batsman, him not being able to score was hurting the team. The team had fully support-ed him during the lean patch but one wonders what he might be fac-ing right now in the dressing room.

Right after the game, the frus-tration displayed by all-rounder Shakib al Hasan at M Chinnas-wamy Stadium was visible for all to see. Shakib was furious, shouting in front of the dressing room as if he was putting blame on individu-als. Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal walked towards Shakib to cool him down only to incur the wrath of the Bangladesh limited-over vice cap-tain.

In the o� cial press conference after the game, captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza had refrained from blaming any individual for the chastening defeat. The veteran

cricketer however, over and over again mentioned that his side had lost the game in the last three balls.

Mashrafe said the batsmen (indi-cating Mush� q and Mahmudullah) failed to hold on to their nerves. “The chase could have been more relaxing if we had gone for singles. All the [Indian] � elders were at the boundary. A single would have meant we needed only a run in two deliveries. I believe these things should have had come into our

minds. But we failed,” Mashrafe explained.

There is no hesitation that Mush� q, the highest-ranked Bang-ladesh batsman in one-day inter-nationals, has presented Bangla-desh many historic wins and great knocks to cherish. However, the recent and distant past seems all too blur now.

Mush� q, the Bangladesh Test captain, realised the blunder and apologised to the nation through his o� cial Facebook account yes-terday morning.

The middle-order batsman quoted, “I know that the defeat [last Wednesday] has hurt all of you but to be honest, all the play-ers in the team play their heart out when in the middle. So the defeat was disheartening for us too.

“I should not have got myself dismissed at that crucial point of the game. The team might have lost because of me for which I am sorry to the nation. I hope to take a lesson from this and in future bring back smiles on your faces.” l

Universitythird grade to second grade if he or she has stayed for four years [in third grade] and published two new research papers in well-known journals.

“Second-grade professors should stay for two years in the same post for promotion to � rst grade on the basis of seniority,” the minister said.

Responding to the decision, FBUTA Secretary General Prof ASM Maksud Kamal said: “We will need a uni� ed criteria of promotion for all public university teachers, which is going to be made by gov-ernment authorities concerned.”

The achievement of getting � rst grade was the result of a year of movement on the status of public university teachers, Kamal said.

The FBUTA would submit its recommendations to the Educa-tion Ministry on the professors who would get � rst grade, he added.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, however, said his ministry would not make the � nal decision on the portion of professors to get � rst grade, but it would go to the prime minister and the cabinet for approval.

Meanwhile, FBUTA President Farid Uddin Ahmed said the cab-inet secretary – in the meeting – mentioned of creating a su-per-grade post, similar to that of a senior secretary in administration, for public university teachers.

The association will now sub-mit a proposal to the University Grants Commission to create a su-per-grade post for public university professors, Farid Uddin said.

“We have also demanded more funds for research and higher edu-cation for public university teach-ers. Only Tk50 lakh is allocated for Dhaka University for research and publication from a budget alloca-tion of Tk400 crore,” he added.

The new pay scale for 2.1 million civil servants came into e� ect from July 1, 2015. Teachers’ salaries were two steps below that of the secre-taries in the scale.

University teachers have long been alleging that the new pay scale ensures more facilities for the secretaries and government o� -cials but less for teachers. l

Nation to remember Black Night of March 25 todayn BSS

The nation will recall the “Black Night of March 25” today in com-memoration of the cowardly attack on Bangalis and genocide in the Dha-ka city perpetrated by the barbarous Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.

On the fateful night, the Paki-stani military junta resorted to gen-ocide in Dhaka, dubbed Operation Searchlight. They killed thousands

of people indiscriminately, torched houses and properties, and looted shops and business establishments throughout East Pakistan.

In the wake of the crackdown, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rah-man declared the independence of Bangladesh through EPR wireless at 12:30am on March 26 from his residence at Road 32 in Dhanmon-di, following which he was arrested and taken to then West Pakistan. l

Hasina 10th among Fortune World’s 50 Greatest Leaders n Tribune Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been named to Fortune’s third annual list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.

Ranked No 10 on the list, she deftly navigated the competing demands of Islamic tradition and women’s rights, the magazine said yesterday.

“As the only female leader among

the Organisation of Islamic Coopera-tion member states, Hasina has deftly navigated the competing demands of Islamic tradition and women’s rights. She has committed Bangladesh, the nation with the world’s fourth-largest Muslim population, to securing legal protections for women and helping them attain more education, � nancial freedom, and political power.

“About 30% of adult women in Bangladesh now have at least a second-ary education – and the nation scores better on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index than any other South Asian country,” Fortune explained.

Chief of Awami League since 1981, Hasina has been in o� ce since January 2009. She previously served as prime minister from 1996 to 2001. l

‘I know that the defeat [last Wednesday] has hurt all of you but to be honest, all the players in the team play their heart out when in the middle’

Govt procures arms from diversi� ed sourcesn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The government is buying sophis-ticated weaponry as part of its in-itiative to develop a three-dimen-sional force.

Last week three war ships – two from China and one from the US – were inducted into the navy. Rus-sian made combat training aircraft YAK 130 and maritime search and rescue helicopters were introduced last December. Three hundred APCs will be included in 2017-18 � scal year.

Bangladesh has bought most of its arms from China in the past but now it is diversifying its procure-ment sources.

According to Stockholm based International Peace Research In-stitute (Sipri), in 2004-09 period the government bought arms from seven countries - China, Italy, Rus-sia, Turkey, the UK, Pakistan and Romania.

But in 2010-15, the number rose to 11 with two – Pakistan and Roma-nia - dropped from the list and six more countries – Czech Republic, France, Germany, Serbia, Ukraine

and the US – included in the arms procurement country list.

A senior government o� cial said China, Russia, Israel, the UK, the US and some European coun-tries were the major suppliers of weapons worldwide.

Bangladesh traditionally buys

bulk amounts of arms from China and there are several reasons be-hind it.

Relations between political and armed forces, prices, conditions related to payment, loan facilities and other factors dominate the buying decision, the o� cial said.

In addition to that, Bangladesh also buys arms from other sources based on the same considerations.

The o� cial said due to the mar-itime verdict, Bangladesh now has sovereign authority over a vast area in the Bay of Bengal and it needs to be protected.

The forces in Bangladesh take part in di� erent UN peacekeeping operations and the government also rents equipment to the United Nations.

According to Sipri, during the last couple of years, Bangladesh bought two war ships and machin-ery from the US, light transport from Serbia and spare parts for hel-icopters and aircrafts from France and Germany.

Another government o� cial said Bangladesh does not buy arms from Israel, which is one of world's leading arms exporters, and at present it is trying to procure arms from European countries.

Chinese Ambassador Ma Min-gqiang at an event last week said two Chinese ships have already been delivered to Bangladesh and three more would be delivered this year.

Asked about the procurement from other countries, he said Bang-ladesh buys arms according to its own needs.

He, however, said Chinese equipment are good in quality and very competitive in price. l

News 3D

TFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

AIRCRAFT750

AIRDEFENSESYSTEM

45

ARMOREDVEHICLES

888

ARTILLERY57

ENGINES59

MISEILES170

NAVALWEAPONS

8

SENSORS83

SHIPS934

ARMS PURCHASE DURING 2000-2015 IN MILLION USDSource: International Peace Research Institute

BNP: EC responsible for Union Parishad polls violencen Tribune Report

The BNP has held the Election Commission responsible for the killing of 22 people in the violence centring the � rst phase of union parishad (UP) polls.

“The Election Commission did not play any role in preventing the violence; rather, it avoided respon-sibility of the incident by making in-

sane comments,” said Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, BNP joint secretary general, at a press brie� ng yesterday at the party's Nayapaltan headquarters.

The BNP leader claimed that 22 people had been killed since the election schedule was announced until the voting day, three among them being election candidates.

“Their [the Election Commission] subservient behaviour is the reason

behind those killings,” he alleged.Rizvi also raised question

about the “psychological state” of Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed.

“Before the election, the CEC said they were not getting the co-operation expected from the ad-ministration... police would have to take the responsibility if any vi-olence or confrontation took place. But after the election, he said it was fair. It seems that he [the CEC] suf-fers from mental delusion.”

According to the constitution, the government is bound to extend its cooperation whenever the Elec-tion Commission seeks to hold a free and fair election, Rizvi said.

“If the government does not fol-low it, it violates the constitution. The Election Commission has the power and it should exercise its power. If the commission is barred from exercising its authority, it should resign from the post and � le a case with court against the government,” he added.

Rizvi claimed that election vi-olence is still prevailing in many parts of the country and a dreadful situation is prevailing in the elec-tion areas as the Awami League musclemen have been continuing with their violent acts. l

Teenager gang-raped in Rajshahin Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

A teenage girl was gang-raped in a city hotel in Rajshahi early yester-day allegedly by her boyfriend and some other people.

The girl, aged around 14, was admitted to the One Stop Crisis Centre of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in the morning in a critical condition.

Police said the girl was brought to the hospital on a three-wheeler around 7am. The police detained the driver of the vehicle, Roni, for questioning.

The victim, who lives in Amnu-ra area of Rajshahi’s Nachol, had an a� air with a carpenter named Khokon, son of Abul Hossain from Rajbari area of the district’s Godagari, police said.

Khokon had lured the girl to the city on Wednesday evening, prom-ising her of marriage.

Quoting the victim, RMCH Po-lice Outpost In-Charge Assistant Sub-Inspector Morshed Alam said that after she reached the city, Khokon checked in Bhai Bhai Res-idential Hotel in the city. Later, she was gang-raped by some men in-

cluding Khokon the whole night, Morshed said.

He suspects that the hotel sta� were also involved in the incident.

Boalia police station O� cer-in-Charge Shahdat Hossain said Khokon registered themselves as husband and wife while booking the hotel room.

He has been absconding since the incident.

SI Nazma Khatun of the One Stop Crisis Centre told the Dhaka Tribune last night that the girl had undergone a surgery but was yet to gain consciousness. l

Family members meet war criminal Nizami at jailn Our Correspondent, Gazipur

The family members of death-row convict war criminal Motiur Rah-man Nizami met him at the Kashim-pur jail in Gazipur yesterday, only a couple of days before the deadline for � ling a review petition expires.

Nizami’s wife Begum Shamsun-nahar Nizami, sons Nazib Momen alias Nazibur Rahman and Naimur Rahman, and daughters-in-law Saleya and Raiyan went to the jail around noon and stayed there for around 45 minutes.

They talked about family matters and regarding � ling of the review

petition, Jailer Nasir Ahmed said.The death penalty of Ja-

maat-e-Islami chief Nizami, one of the top collaborators of the Paki-stani occupation forces in 1971, was upheld by the apex court on Janu-ary 6 on charges of masterminding the killing of intellectuals and for his involvement in two incidents of mass killings of over 500 people in Pabna in 1971.

The court published the full text of the verdict on March 15, and the same day the International Crimes Tribunal issued the death warrant for Nizami. According to the rules, the convict gets 15 days from re-

ceiving a copy of the full verdict to � le the review petition.

If the petition is rejected, the war criminal would be able to seek the president’s mercy admitting his crimes, or the jail authorities would execute the convict as per the tribu-nal’s verdict.

Earlier, Nazib Momen and two lawyers of Nizami met him at the jail on March 16.

A former minister during the 2001-06 tenure, Nizami has nev-er repented for the cold-blooded atrocities Jamaat and Islami Chha-tra Sangha had committed during the Liberation War. l'Before the election,

the CEC said they were not getting the cooperation expected from the administration'

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016News4DT

Border Guard Bangladesh chief Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed inaugurates mobile phone-based teleconsultation service yesterday to provide medical support to BGB members and their families

BGB chief defends shooting during UP pollsn Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Major Gen Aziz Ahmed yesterday said his men were forced to open � re to contain the situa-tion in Pirojpur and Cox’s Ba-zar during Tuesday’s Union Parishad elections.

“The incidents were un-expected. The people were not cooperating with us, compelling us to use lethal force to bring the situation under control,” he told a pro-gramme at the BGB Head-quarters in Dhaka.

He said the BGB troopers had followed the law.

At least eight people were reportedly killed in violence

centring the � rst phase of the polls of 712 Union Parishads.

The BGB shot dead � ve men who were attempted to snatch ballot boxes after the end of polling in Pirojpur’s Mathbaria.

About the incident, Aziz said: “The presiding o� cer in Mathbaria had rejected some fake ballots but the people were forcing him to count them. They con� ned the of-� cer when he refused to do so.

“The magistrate and BGB o� cials went to the spot to rein in the situation. They [BGB] � rst � red shots in the air with the magistrate’s per-mission but were later forced to open � re as the situation spiralled out of control.”

Mathbaria police station Sub-Inspector Sanowar Hos-sain Khan � led a case against 1,200-1,300 unnamed per-sons on Wednesday night for vandalising vehicles, snatch-ing ballot papers, and barring lawmen from their duty.

As for the Cox’s Bazar’s incident, he said the clash erupted when the people con� ned the presiding o� cer in Teknaf and tried to take over the polling centre.

A gun� ght between sup-porters of the Awami League candidate and the rival as-pirant left one Sha� k Alam,25, dead in Majherparapolling station at Shahfarid Dwip under Teknaf’s Shap-aran union. l

17th IUB convocation heldn Tribune Report

The 17th Convocation of the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) was held yesterday at its Bashundhara campus.

Degrees were awarded to 1,388 students at the convoca-tion. Of them, 954 were under-graduates and 434 graduates.

Business School’s Mahtab Fahim was the valedictorian this year, and also received the Chancellor’s Gold Medal.

Four students received the Award for Excellence for out-standing performance in var-ious � elds - Mahtab Fahim for academic excellence, Saqui-ba Bintay Ali for culture, Sal-man Ahmed for community service and Hisham Rahman for Sports. Saquiba Bintay Ali was awarded the “All round-er” award.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid conferred the degrees on the graduating students. Prime Minister’s

Adviser Taw� q-e-Elahi was the convocation speaker, and Chairman of University Grants Commission of Bang-ladesh Prof Abdul Mannan was the special guest.

Elahi said: “You are about to morph into many new identities as you journey ahead. Take this journey with a sense of discovery and an open mind; avoid doctri-nal ‘isms.’ Only then will you move forward, individually and collectively.” l

‘Lack of technical knowledge preventing industrial growth’n Shadma Malik

The lack of technical knowl-edge and job-speci� c skills, and also institutional weak-ness in technical and voca-tional education and train-ing (TVET) are preventing growth in the country’s in-dustrial sector, said speakers at a seminar yesterday.

They said the country’s in-dustrial sector is expanding and thus human resource de-velopment is key for achieving national goals in this sector.

The seminar organised by IC Net Limited was held at the Directorate of Technical Edu-cation (DTE) in the capital.

Findings from a survey were presented at the semi-nar, and one of the key � nd-ings was that skilled foreign workers have a dominance

in the country’s industrial sector.

The survey, jointly con-ducted by DTE, Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB) and IC Net, showed that the level of satisfaction with graduates was moder-ately high but weaknesses were also observed. Lack of technical knowledge among graduates was found to be 14.2%, and lack of job-specif-ic skills 9.8%.

Of the surveyed organi-sations, 32.8% said they had hired foreign workers for 58.2% of the high-level and 26.9% of the mid-level mana-gerial posts.

The survey was carried out among 322 manufactur-ing companies in Dhaka and Chittagong from January 12 to February 11 this year. Lec-

turers of polytechnic insti-tutes joined as interviewers and consultants contributed to the technical aspects of the survey.

The � ndings of the survey showed that competitive-ness, integrated knowledge and skills, practical experi-ence to complete an entire project, problem solving capacities, creativity and critical thinking skills are de-manded by employers.

“Because of the lack of quali� ed human resource in the local market, companies are recruiting foreigners, espe-cially for mid- and high-level managerial posts. Graduates from the TVET institutions can � ll such positions,” said Dr Takujiro Ito, senior consultant at IC Net Limited who present-ed the survey � ndings.l

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016News 5

DT

PRAYERTIMES

Cox’s Bazar 33 22Dhaka 38 20 Chittagong 34 22 Rajshahi 37 23 Rangpur 36 21 Khulna 36 20 Barisal 37 22 Sylhet 37 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 6:12PM SUN RISES 5:57AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW35.7ºC 15.4ºC

Faridpur ChuadangaFRIDAY, MARCH 25Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 4:39am | Jumma: 12:04amAsr: 3:31pm | Magrib: 6:15pmEsha: 7:42pm

DRY WEATHER

Fatwa prevents women from voting in Chandpurn Ibrahim Rony, Chandpur

Parul Rani, 60, Lakshmi Rani, 50, and Rupa Rani, 22, live in Charpata village under the Rupsha Dakkh-in Union of Chandpur’s Faridganj upazila. Like other women in the locality, they did not exercise their franchise in Tuesday’s Union Pari-shad polls.

There are about 9,000 women voters in the union who have been staying away from polls following a fatwa by a pir.

Locals said an Indian pir moved in there just after independence. Soon, an epidemic broke out dur-ing a local election. The pir issued a fatwa ordering women not to go out of house without properly cov-ering themselves.

Since then, women of all reli-gion have stayed away from voting despite joining men in other social spheres.

When asked why she did not vote, Lakshmi Rani said: “We do not go to polling stations as the Jainpur

Huzur [the pir] said women of Un-ion no 16 would not need to vote.”

Parul Rani told the Bangla Trib-une: “I have never cast vote as no woman from the area goes to poll-ing centres. But the new generation wants to exercise its franchise.”

Rupa Rani told the Dhaka Trib-une that a Muslim cleric had asked them not to vote. “That is why I did not vote. But none from the gov-ernment approached us.”

Primary school teacher Emily Begum rued the situation. “We can-

not vote even though we want to, as our mothers and grandmothers stayed away from polls,” she said.

Faridganj Majidia Kamil Madra-sa Principal AKM Mahbubur Rah-man said women had every right to vote. UP chairman Billal Khan said many women stayed away from voting believing in a superstition while many were victims of dirty political practices.

Faridganj Upazila Nirbahi Of-� cer Joynal Abedin said he had been raising awareness for a long

time. “Women said they would go to vote but did not show up on the election day. The people are very religious. They stay away from polls to abide by an order of a pir.”

District Election O� cer Ataur Rahman said 14 unions in Farid-ganj would go to polls in the third phase. “Women voters in Rupsha Union had been uninterested. The EC has told the returning o� cer and upazila election o� cer to bring women voters to polling stations with help from local imams.” l

Geological Survey to explore marine resourcesn Aminur Rahman Rasel

The state-owned Geological Sur-vey of Bangladesh has planned to initiate a project on geo-charac-terisation of the o� shore areas of Bangladesh in the context of ma-rine resources exploration and haz-ards assessment.

The � ve-year project to be im-plemented by the GSB at a cost of Tk536.7 crore starts this July.

“We have planned to implement a project for marine resources ex-ploration and hazards assessment.

Amicable solution of Bangladesh maritime boundaries with India and Myanmar has created the op-portunity to explore our marine territory in order to collect detailed geo-scienti� c and engineering ge-ological data of the coasts and the sea beds,” GSB Director General Md Nehal Uddin told the Dhaka Trib-une yesterday.

Nehal said that all these data would be helpful for its geo-char-acterisation, mineral resources identi� cation, exploration of gas hydrates, construction of sea port

and deep sea port, oil and gas plat-forms construction, sub-sea gas or oil pipe line construction and sub-marine cable layout etc.

He said that the prime objective of this project was to build up a ba-sic geo-scienti� c data bank on the coast and sea of Bangladesh terri-tory in order to support sustainable exploration and exploration activ-ities of the marine resources and infrastructures development.

Under the project, the GSB would acquire a modern dynamic position survey vessel and conduct

step-wise geological, geomorpho-logical, geo-technical and geo-haz-ards reconnaissance mapping of coastal and estuaries areas, terri-torial sea up to 12 nautical miles (22.22km), exclusive economic zone up to 200 nmi (370.4km) and onwards up to 350 nmi (648.2km) to develop a preliminary geo-sci-enti� c data base of the maritimeareas and to identify the areas of interest for future detail research activities.

They would identify and assess economic mineral deposit, assess

sediment distribution pattern and dispositional characteristics in the coast and the territorial sea.

Bangladesh won more than 1,18,813 sq-km of waters altogeth-er comprising territorial sea and an exclusive economic zone ex-tending out to 200 nautical miles (370km).

It also has undeniable sovereign rights in the seabed extending as far as 354 nautical miles (around 656km) from Chittagong coast in the Bay of Bengal with all living and non-living resources. l

Man remanded over maid’s deathn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday granted two days’ remand for one Md Kha-lequr Rahman Arko in connection with the death of his family’s maid.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Nuru Miah approved the remand after Sub-Inspector Sushil Chandra Bar-man of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police produced Khalequr, 34, before the court with a 5-day remand petition.

In his petition, SI Sushil said Khalequr needed to be questioned in remand because he had so far given varying information regard-ing the death of the girl.

Defence counsel Md Bashir Ud-din � led a bail petition for Khalequr.

Jannat Akter Shilpi, 16, the do-mestic help, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in Khalequr’s residence at Mollapara of Taltala at about 4:30pm on Wednesday.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police lat-er detained Khalequr, husband of popular singer Krishnakoli, from his residence. He was shown ar-rested under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and was sent to court. l The Moghbazar-Tejgaon � yover in the capital is ready to be inaugurated on March 30. The photo was taken at Tejgaon yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016News6DT

BGB launches tele-health programme n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

A mobile tele-consultation treatment programme was of-� cially launched yesterday at � ve Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB)-operated hospitals in the country.

BGB Director General Ma-jor General Aziz Ahmed in-augurated the programme at the force’s headquarters in the capital’s Pilkhana in the morning.

The � ve hospitals where this service can be availed are located in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khagrachhari, Chuadanga, and Thakurgaon.

Maj Gen Aziz said the

tele-consultation treatment programme was launched for providing medical services over the phone for BGB mem-bers and their families who might fall ill in remote or rural areas where hospital treat-ment is unavailable.

“In such situations, they can seek immediate medical advice by calling on-duty doc-tors at the � ve BGB-run hos-pitals. Until the patient gets a local doctor in the area where he called from, our doctors will give further instructions,”

He also said the BGB had opened the door for new med-ical services through the tele-health programme. l

Chittagong Jamaat ameer freed on bail n Anwar Hussain,

Chittagong

Jamaat-e-Islami Chittagong city unit Ameer ANM Shamsul Islam was freed on bail yester-day morning after serving two years behind bars.

Police arrested Shamsul, also a former lawmaker, on May 12, 2014 in the party o� ce in Chittagong’s Dewan Bazar area.

He was later shown arrest-ed in at least � ve cases � led

over di� erent charges includ-ing subversion.

Jahedul Alam, deputy jail-er at Chittagong Central Jail, said the Jamaat leader was re-leased as he had obtained bail by the High Court in all cases.

Prison sources said Sham-sul was freed from jail at least three times in the past but was again detained from jail gate.

But this time, he was al-lowed to walk out of jail with-out facing detention. l

SC stays Minar’s bail again n Tribune Report

The Supreme Court has ex-tended its stay order on the bail given to BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Minar in the Ekramul Haque murder case for two weeks.

Following a hearing yester-day the court also ordered the Birdem Hospital authorities to release him and the law en-forcement agencies to get him admitted to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical Univer-sity (BSMMU).

The BSMMU authorities will form a board to examine Minar’s health condition and report it to the court by two weeks.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division head-ed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order

following a petition � led by the state.

The bail was granted to Minar by the High Court on March 16 for six weeks on health grounds. He has been undergoing treatment at Bird-em hospital in the capital.

When the state moved against the bail order, the chamber judge of the Appellate Division on March 20 stayed the bail and sent the petition to the regular bench of the Appel-late Division for hearing.

The appeals court will is-sue further orders after the BSMMU authorities submit the health report.

Ekram was the president of Feni’s Fulgazi upazila unit of Awami League and the upazi-la chairman when he was shot and burnt to death in his car in Feni town on May 20, 2014. l

Outrage across the country continues as public demands justice for Sohagi30,000 students of Comilla Victoria Government College stage demon Tribune Report

Hundreds of people across the country took to the street yester-day protesting the killing of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a second-year student of history department.

Some 30,000 students of Comil-la Victoria Government College staged demonstration yesterday, the third consecutive days, pro-testing the killing and demanding punishment of the killers.

They demonstrated at Kandir-par Pubali Chattar, located at the heart of the city, from 10am to 12:30pm.

Students of di� erent education-al institutions and cultural activists joined the protest that disrupted tra� c in the city.

The protesters later submitted memorandum to the deputy com-missioner and the superintendent of police.

Imtiaz Ahmed, additional su-perintendent of police, and o� cer-in-charge of Kotwali Model police station, Abdur Rob addressed the demonstration, and assured that the criminals would be identi� ed soon.

Al-amin, former president of the college’s theatre group, said Sohagi was a member of the group and pro-tests would continue until the per-petrators were brought to justice.

Meanwhile, teachers and stu-dents of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) organised a protest rally on the campus. They also demanded ar-rest and capital punishment to the killers.

A demonstration was also held in protest at Sohagi’s killing in Bar-guna yesterday.

Barguna district committee of

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad and Samajik Protirodh Committee formed a human chain on Barguna Press Club premises at noon.

Samajik Protirodh Committee President Sukhranganj Shil, Gener-al Secretary Monir Hossain Kamal, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad’s Bar-guna committee President Nazma Begum and General Secretary ad-vocate Selina Akhter addressed the

human chain. Sohagi, who was returning

home after her part-time work as a private tutor on Sunday evening, was assaulted and killed inside Comilla cantonment. Her body was found in a bush hours later.

On Monday, Sohagi’s father Yaar Hossain � led a case with Kotwali police station accusing unnamed people. None was arrested in this

connection as of yesterday.Gonojagoron Mancha will hold

a rally in the city today protesting the killing of Comilla Victoria Col-lege student Sohagi Jahan Tonu af-ter rape, says press release.

Spokesperson of Gonojagoron Mancha Imran H Sarker in a state-ment if needed, blockade will be put up across the country, but this type of killing and rape must be

stopped.Meanwhile, Bangladesh On-

line Activists Forum will organise a human chain demanding arrest and trial of the culprits involved in the incident in front of Jatiya Press Club.

Apart from this, a human chain was held at Kacharipara in Ne-trakona with a call to ensure justice for Tonu. l

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016News 7

DT

Students of Comilla Victoria Government College stage a demonstration yesterday, the third consecutive day, protesting the rape and killing of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, and demanding punishment of the killers DHAKA TRIBUNE

Woman’s head shaved o� , tortured over extramarital a� airn Our Correspondent,

Lakshmipur

A woman was tortured and her head was shaved o� by some peo-ple on charge of extramarital a� airs at Ramganj upazila, Lakshmipur.

Although police arrested a per-son in connection with the incident, but the victim is still living with in-security as the o� enders are in� u-ential people in the locality and two of them are yet to be arrested.

One Hasina Begum, wife of Mona Miah, called upon her at her (Hasi-

na) residence on Tuesday afternoon and accused her of making extra marital a� air with her husband.

As the victim denied the allega-tion, � ve people, including Hasina’s brother Aziz and son Faruk, tied her with a tree and tortured her.

At one stage, they perpetrators shove o� her hair with a blade and put a shoe garland around her neck.

Later, local people took her to Ramganj Upzila Health Complex in critical state. Later, the victim � led a case against the trio with Ramganj police station accusing � ve people.

Meanwhile, locals staged demonstrations yesterday de-manding the arrest and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators.

O� cer-in-charge of the police station Solaiman Hossain said they had already arrested Hasina Begum in connection with incident while a drive was going on to arrest others.

General Secretary of NGO Forum Asaduzzam told the Dhaka Tribune that the in� uential quarters had tor-tured the innocent women who was left by her husband. He threatened that they would wage movement. l

Thakurgaon student assault video goes viraln Our Correspondent,

Thakurgaon

A video of several students of Thakurgaon Polytechnic Institute beating up another student has gone viral on social media, trigger-ing widespread criticism.

The � ve and half minute vid-eo showed the victim – Shamim – being beaten up in a classroom of the institute by other students – including several who were lat-er identi� ed as Mehedi, Liton and Durjoy.

The video was originally up-loaded to Youtube and was later shared widely across Facebook and other social networking sites.

The video showed Shamim beg-ging to be spared from the assault, as his attackers slapped and kicked and used sticks to hit him repeat-edly. It could not be known why Shamim was assaulted.

Superintendent of police in Thakurgaon, Farhad Ahmed, told the Dhaka Tribune that law enforc-ers will take action against the per-petrators. l

News8DTFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

A procession is brought out in Rangamati district town yesterday demanding immediate recovery of illegal weapons

High Court: Demolish shrine near Shaheed Minarn Ashif Islam Shaon

The High Court has ordered au-thorities to demolish illegal struc-tures built around a grave near the Central Shaheed Minar within 72 hours.

The High Court bench of Justice Kazi Rezaul Haque and Justice Abu Taher M Saifur Rahman gave the order yesterday following the � -nal hearing on a rule issued by the bench in 2012 over the matter.

The court also ordered the au-thorities to keep the grave un-harmed.

The 72 hour time frame will start when the authorities get a copy of the verdict in hand.

Lawyer Manzill Murshid said that historian Prof Muntasir Ma-mun � led a writ petition with the High Court on February 22, 2012 at-

taching news cutting from a Bangla language daily published on Febru-ary 20.

The news item said a so-called shrine had been erected on an or-dinary grave of an unidenti� ed

person near the Shaheed Minar. The ‘shrine’ had become a source of income for some people, his pe-tition said.

The historian told the court there was no evidence any Su� saint had been laid to rest in that grave.

Holding a primary hearing into the petition, the High Court on that day issued a rule asking the author-ities as to why they will not be or-dered to protect the Shaheed Minar from the illegal encroachment.

The court also asked to demol-ish all structures which had been built in the name of the shrine ex-cept the grave, within 48 hours.

Within three days public works department demolished some structures. A building built atop the grave was also padlocked.

Manzill Murshid said, following the � nal order, the Dhaka Universi-ty vice chancellor, Executive Engi-neer (Civil Division), Dhaka’s deputy commissioner and the Shahbagh po-ice station o� cer-in-charge will take the initiative to demolish the rest of the illegal structure from the place while keeping the grave intact. l

Hundreds injured, homes vandalised in post-poll violencen Tribune Report

Hundreds of people across the country were injured in post-poll violence yesterday.

Our Bagerhat correspondent said at least 100 people were injured in several clashes at Moralganj upazi-la. The injured were taken to Moral-ganj upazila health complex.

Police Super Nizamul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune that they were ready to tackle the post-poll violence.

According to our Panchagarh correspondent, supporters of a defeated chairman candidate van-dalised the Tetulia upazila council o� ce in the afternoon, leaving six people injured.

The agitating supporters of Awa-mi League-backed candidate Tah-

mid Milton gathered in front of the o� ce and demanded a re-election.

At one stage, they went berserk and started vandalising the o� ce. To bring the situation under con-trol, police � red blank shots.

BNP-nominated candidate Md Ra� qul Islam had won the chair-man post in the March 22 union parishad election.

In Sirajganj, supporters of a newly-elected member at Raiganj union parishad vandalised the home of the defeated candidate, leaving 10 people injured.

Police arrested three people in connection with the attack.

Defeated candidate Shariful Is-lam told the Dhaka Tribune that sup-porters of Mosarraf Hossain, carry-ing local-made weapons, ransacked his house and looted valuables from

there. They also kidnapped one of his supporters from the spot.

In Habiganj, at least 15 people were injured in post-poll violence at Ajmiganj upazila.

A total of 20 people were in-jured in post-poll violence at Koira upazila in Khulna.

President of Koira upazila unit Awami League GM Mohsin Reza told the Dhaka Tribune that after winning the union parishad elec-tion, supporters of opposition can-didate Sha� qul Islam created may-hem in the locality.

“They are assaulting my sup-porters and vandalising their hous-es,” he said.

Sha� qul Islam, however, said none of his supporters are involved in the violence which has taken place in the upazila.

On March 22, a total of 11 people were killed and hundreds injured in poll-related violence.

In Pirojpur, at least � ve were killed when Border Guard Bang-ladesh members opened � re on a group of people trying to snatch ballot boxes in the district’s Math-baria upazila.

In Sirajganj, a woman was killed in a clash between supporters of two UP candidates at Dhangara UP. She was the mother-in-law of Nawab Ali, who won the poll.

In Jhalakathi, a clash between rival candidates at the Sadar upazila’s Nabagram UP killed Abul Kashem Sikdar, 60, the brother of member candidate Chunnu Sikdar.

In Bogra, Awami League Jabed Ali Bhuiyan and 10 others were crit-ically injured when supporters of

BNP-backed candidate Abdul Majid attacked supporters of the AL-nom-inated candidate Golam Mustafa Tuku. Abdul Majid won the poll.

Jabed was taken to Jamalpur Sadar Hospital from where he was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

In Teknaf, three people were killed in a gun� ght between support-ers of the Awami League candidate and the rival aspirant over counting ballot papers at Shahfarid Dwip un-der Teknaf’s Shaparan union.

The chairman elections will see the direct participation of political parties for the � rst time this year. The � rst phase of the election was held on March 22.

The election of other phases will be held on March 31, April 23, May 7, May 28 and June 4. l

Quader: Tough actions against rebel candidatesn Our Correspondent,

Narayanganj

Road Transport and Bridges Min-ister Obaidul Quader has issued a warning against the rebel candi-dates of the Awami League who are contesting the union parishad (UP) polls, saying tough actions would be taken against them.

“A list of the Awami League leaders and lawmakers who sup-ported and helped the rebels is being prepared as well,” said the minister, also a presidium member

of the ruling party. “Strict actions will be taken against those who are rebelling against the party, or who are instigating such actions. The rebels will lose any chance of getting party nomination for future elections.”

The minister issued the warn-ing during a visit to a mobile court of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) working on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in Fat-ullah, Narayanganj yesterday after-noon.

He said the � rst phase of the UP

polls, which was held on Tuesday, March 22, went smoothly with spo-radic events of violence. He said the government would monitor the polls more carefully in the future to prevent such violence acts.

Referring to the BNP and its re-cently held national council, Quad-er said: “The BNP is a weak party. It has been � ve days since its national council was held, yet they have not been able to form a full committee. They are still waiting for directions from London to elect their secre-tary general.”

Earlier, while observing the mobile court’s proceedings, he di-rected tra� c police to take appro-priate action against drivers and transports which did not have legal documents or were carrying pas-sengers beyond capacity.

The minister was accompanied by BRTA Dhaka Divisional Deputy Director Masud Rahman, Deputy Director (Enforcement) Tapan Ku-mar Sarkar and Narayanganj Su-perintendent of Police Dr Khanda-kar Mahid Uddin during the visit, among others. l

3 killed in Tangail road accidentn Our Correspondent, Tangail

Three people were killed and an-other has been injured in a collision between a truck and a human hau-iler at Ganggair, Tangail yesterday.

The deceased are Jamal Ud-din, 55, son of late Fotik Uddin of Mashajaan area, Samia, 8, daughter of Sohel Mia, and Raiz Uddin, 60.

Modhupur OC Sho� qul Islam said: “Samia died on the spot in the accident that occurred around 12:45am Thursday. l

The court also asked to demolish all structures within48 hours

n Saudia Afrin

Without really realising the e� ect of a name, his parents named him after a bird. His name was Tota Miya. Forty years down the line, it seems like the name couldn’t have

been more apt. In English, “Tota” means parrot. Tota Miya is a man who has been single handedly taking care of over a thousand shalik birds, all because he has a deep sense of love and adoration for them.

A resident of Jhikargacha, one of the borderline upazilas of Jessore, he owns a tea stall at Baisha inside the upazila. To reach there one has to go beyond massive mustard � elds, making their way through a dirt road. To the left there are large brick � elds, to the right a tiny hut. It’s in this tiny hut that Tota Miya has his tea stall, spending time gossiping with customers and feeding his pet birds from time to time.

When you look beyond the dirt road, there are massive � elds that extend beyond the horizon. Busy farmers can be seen working on the � elds, but they aren’t alone. They are accompanied by several tiny, black and white feathered shaliks.

Not only are the � elds strewn with shaliks, but the road, the branches of trees that line the street

and the surrounding shops all have bits of black and white that glisten in the sun. The little shaliks sit around, some resting, some singing and some waiting for the call of their beloved friend Tota Miya.

The shaliks can sense the hour of feeding, and the moment it approaches, their numbers multiply. They are fed four times a day by their forty year old friend. Tota Miya only sets up his stall after feeding them in the morning. Beyond bearing the cost of his simple, rural life, he also shoulders all the costs incurred to feed his bird friends. Everyday he needs 2kgs of rice to feed them. That’s approximately 25kgs of rice a year.

“Aai..aai.. aai,” he calls them, tossing the rice across the � elds. Instantly � ocks of shaliks begin to gather around. Interestingly, they only respond to Tota Miya’s call.

Except him, no one else can feed them. He says, “No matter when I call, they answer by � ying to me. It pleases me very much and feeds my love and warmth for them.” As his loyal friend, their fondness for him even makes them step into his shop from time to time, but only when there’s no one else nearby. “As they are dwellers of the forest, they fear humans. They only come inside when no one is around.”

Quite recently, a doyel built its home inside the tea stall. However, the interesting thing is, it enters the shop regardless of the presence of people.

During Tota Miya’s childhood, he had a pet ghugu bird. Everyday, when he’d close shop, he’d spread the leftover fried food to feed the surrounding birds. Soon after, the number of birds that began to rely on him grew and that’s how his bonding with the shaliks began. Initially, there weren’t more than � ve birds. Today, there are over a thousand that come to his stall.

Tota Miya dreams of one day returning the love he feels for these birds. Planting a Bot Gaachh (Bengal � g) behind his stall, he hopes it can turn into a shelter for the shaliks. “When the tree will grow, I want to hang small baskets on each branch so that these birds know they can � nally call some place home.”

Everyday, visitors across the country visit Baisha to witness the sweet, innocent relationship between Tota Miya and his thousand shaliks. l

Feature 9D

T

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

PHOTOS: SAUDIA AFRIN

Our own Birdman Our own Birdman

10DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016Writing

An open letter to a teacher that changed my life

n Karishma Fatiha

My favourite teacher just said that he’d be leaving soon. “Great,” I said in the most sarcastic tone I could’ve ever managed to whisper.

This isn’t a story where you’d � nd twists and turns of a movie. In fact, this isn’t a story, anyway. This is an excerpt from a day of a teacher’s life and of how brilliantly he chooses to motivate his students. This is exactly what distinguished him as a mentor - he motivated his students not because he needed to, he motivated his students because he chose to. He chose to, day after day. Months after months. And isn’t that how we can de� ne our short lives? By the choices we make? Aren’t choices the phenomenon that distinguishes a good person from a greater one?

“There is nothing in between,” con� rmed the teacher. “You either realise your responsibilities, or you don’t at all.” The room e� usively echoed with a su� ocating type of scrutinising silence. While some students frowned in an attempt to pretend they heard him attentively, there were a few students simply hanging on the edge of the chairs, idly listening to what he was saying with so much passion but yet with so much ease. The entire class had done horrendously in their second mid-

term exams. How disheartened wasn’t the teacher; how worn-out didn’t he feel! “I came into this profession, thinking I would be able to shape lives,” said the � ve-feet-ten-ish feet tall teacher, “But lately I’ve realised, I expected too much out of this profession.” And that is exactly when the silent room felt more silent; when the ticking of the clock grew louder. Students dismissively shu� ed their feet in an attempt to bear with the uncalled situation; they looked down at their wrist to mark the time on their wristwatch. But I; I was busy contemplating my favourite teacher.

So you see, this gentleman, who was the � rst teacher of my � rst class of my � rst day of my undergraduate life at the university I’m currently enrolled in, was in his late twenties by the time he joined as a lecturer. Full of life, and full of enthusiasm, he would make sure the students felt at home. He made sarcastic punches at the pettiest jokes and

encouraged mistakes after the most trivial failures.

I was not appreciated throughout my life so far, honestly. I was looking for a tiny glimpse of success in just anything, for my life back in freshman year already felt tattered, splintered and beaten with exhaustion and disappointment. I remember the time I got my � rst midterm’s answer script checked by him. In the corner of the script, something was jotted down: “You have the ability to do everything you want to do in your life.” They weren’t words that came out of a Shakespearean story; they weren’t words that could make news. Those words were like an ointment to a deep-rooted infection. His words were the tiny glimpse of success that I needed to see. They were the kind of words that somehow hit the right chord inside at the right time with the right e� ect, something that resonated a determination within.

I never told him how happy

he made me that day, but I still wonder till date whether he had noticed me sneaking out my Nokia 210 phone and stealthily clicking a photo of the scribbled words he had written down.

In the meantime, during the semesters when I had no courses with him, I often saw him gently gelling with students and curiously chit-chatting with his colleagues. Rumours had it that everyone’s favourite teacher was already furious and frustrated with a lot of issues in his professional life. I wondered how could a person who’s always motivating students not motivate himself out of problems, like a train that automatically swivels its route anywhere, any time it needs to. But life takes ugly stoppages, he mentioned once.He confessed that things weren’t going right and that he is certainly uncertain whether he’d resume being a teacher over here. My jaw dropped.

All throughout the class, I had snippets of memories where my teacher bragged about always having wanted to be a teacher, and now he thought it had no point. Didn’t he know what great changes teachers could bring? Doesn’t he know how a real-life mentor like him inspired people? “You still have the time to do well; it’s never too late,” his words echoed

throughout the hollow class. This time, I noticed a clear indi� erence in his expressions. Something that was apparent, but something that had been going unnoticed. Somewhere his lips might’ve happened to stumble across the right sentences but he left them unsaid because this time, there was a resignation in his look. A � nality in his gaze. He simply stared at all of us. And just like a dispirited sculptor � nally drop his chisel and mallet, giving up on a refractory block of a sculpture that hadn’t taken the shape he’d had pictured, the teacher looked across at the projector and began with the lecture of the day.

I was once asked by a friend why I don’t write about people who motivated me. So here it is. I want the favourite teacher of so many students out there to know that, dear sir, I understand that you’ve been going through a phase of life where every day you might feel like the mat before a doorstep or the straw in a glass: people either walk over you or simply sip the life out of you with their viciousness, but didn’t you, yourself, tell us that life wasn’t fair any day, anyway? Just because you value people doesn’t mean people would value you back. Harsh, but this is true. But it’s actually not our ethics that set us apart, sir, but always the values we choose to tread upon. So don’t change, sir. Don’t.

While you feel your attempt to motivate your students everyday has been going in vain, little do you know that somewhere out in one corner of the class, a living breathing sloth stirred up to your words. Somebody else who only � ipped through books, now for the � rst time opened one to actually go through it. And someone who thought he was already doing great with his life began to have second thoughts to do much better because of you.

So thank YOU. Thank you for showing students an entire pathway when they struggled to even � nd a way out. Therefore, don’t you worry, sir. Some of your students may not change now but they will, drastically, in the future. Because remember, when spring comes, it doesn’t melt the snow all together at once. It melts the snow one � ake at a time. l

Content provided by SteamPug Writers. A pack of experienced writers and editors well-versed in producing dynamic content.

“You have the ability to do everything you want to do in your life”

INSIDE

Investigations into the theft of foreign currency reserves should not be used as an excuse to undermine Bangladesh Bank’s independence.

While experience varies, there is a broad consensus that independent central banks have been more e� ective than those subject to direct political

interference in achieving long-term economic goals.Government interference has more often than not led to at best temporary gains

that turn out to prove unsustainable.Although it is clear Bangladesh Bank needs reform to improve its security

procedures and operations, the Finance Ministry should take care not to use this crisis to justify clawing back more day to day in� uence over its operations.

Bangladesh Bank’s freedom and ability to pursue prudent long-term macro-economic management should not be compromised by bringing in more day to day political involvement.

The record shows that government in� uence and actions to subsidise state-owned banks have hampered Bangladesh Bank from taking e� ective action to reform the institutionalised poor management and corruption that causes huge losses in the state banking sector.

Even when political and economic policy goals are closely aligned, such as e� orts to improve � nancial exclusion and encourage corporate social responsibility, government interference has been unhelpful. Ministerial directives have diverted central bank attention away from the core task of ensuring responsible management of � nancial institutions to initiatives to mandate and micro-manage philanthropic donations by banks.

It is of course vital the government helps the new Bangladesh Bank governor ensure full accountability and all necessary security reforms in the light of February’s enormous digital theft.

However, it also needs to bear in mind the desirability and importance of ensuring central bank independence as the best way to provide and sustain prudent long-term macro-economic management.

Bangladesh Bank’s freedom and ability to pursue prudent long-term macro-economic management should not be compromised by bringing in more day to day political involvement

Stopping self-mutilation

Project of mass destructionIn order to protect the lives and livelihood of millions of people, and the world’s largest mangrove forest, we have no other way but to resist any project that is disastrous to the Sundarbans

PAGE 13

PAGE 12

PAGE 14

Who really captains Bangladesh?What made Mahmudullah hit a full toss ball into the sky instead of along the ground, which he has done thousands of times in his career, in domestic and international matches?

Even unfairly handicapped, we pack quite the punch. We need to go out of our way to love our heroes every time they lose, because that’s proof of our class, our � ghting mind-set

Central bank independence matters

11D

TEditorialFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 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:

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The views expressed in Opinion articles are those of the authors

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Tribune or its publisher.

BIGSTOCK

n Matthew Islam

The world has taken notice of our young Tigers, and this country as a result of it.

The sole credit for that amazing feat goes to our budding cricketers and the team behind them.

Consistently, the Tigers have provided Bangladesh with positive PR on the world stage that we so desperately need.

They deserve much more than the on and o� love a� air that we provide them with.

A supporter is not meant to have an open relation with his or her team. It’s a commitment that requires you to be un� inchingly supportive and monogamous. 

Your love for the Tigers is deserved when they win, but it is truly needed more when they lose, especially when they do so in a close fought match. Losses can scar a soul.

If it pains the supporters to watch, it hurts in� nitely more to be playing the way we did and then losing out.

It’s a game. We win some and

we lose some. Overcoming your own pain to make your team feel better is the kind of love our team deserves.

Leave the � nger-pointing to the experts, the coaches, the detractors. It’s not your job as a supporter to fan those � ames. 

Cricketing personalities, giants of the game, hall of famers have been vocally supporting the Tigers in the recent past. They keep saying how Bangladesh is the new cricketing force to be reckoned with. This has been the case for many months now.

Many of us already know this.

We keep putting up a � ght with the best and we are getting better at overcoming our weaknesses at a very fast pace for such a young team at this level of cricket.

With the low median age of the players in the team, the future is truly bright. 

We need to stop acting like spoilt brats when the results don’t go our way.

This self-mutilation is unbecoming of our team, and counter-productive to the strides that we have made over the years.

It’s also very crass. We are right up there with

everyone else. We need to act like it.

Be able to clap for our team and the other team when they win even knowing fully well that sometimes mysteriously, the decisive machinery in the cricketing world unfairly puts obstacles in our path to victory.

It’s ok. That will change too. That we love our team is not a

matter of doubt. Let’s act like it. That we can win against anyone often is not in doubt, so why fret?

That we always � ght when the chips are down, should no longer be in doubt. Even unfairly

handicapped, we pack quite the punch.

We need to go out of our way to love our heroes every time they lose because that’s proof of our class, our � ghting mind-set.

We are the supernova of the snoozy darkness that’s descended over cricket in recent years. We excite. We never give up. We are the Tigers! l

Matthew Islam is a writer, entrepreneur, barrister-at-law, and a Dhaka Tribune columnist. He can be contacted on twitter via @matthewislam or www.facebook.com/thematthewislam.

Opinion12DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

We need to love our heroes REUTERS

Even unfairly handicapped, we pack quite the punch. We need to go out of our way to love our heroes every time they lose, because that’s proof of our class, our � ghting mind-set. We are the supernova of the snoozy darkness that’s descended over cricket in recent years. We excite. We never give up. We are the Tigers!

Our national cricket team deserves more than our on and o� love a� air

Stopping self-mutilation

Opinion 13D

TFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

n Anu Muhammad

After carefully analysing the environment impact assessment, Kallol Mustafa correctly

concluded that “although the EIA report has tried to justify the Rampal coal power plant near the Sundarbans by using wrong emission standards, underestimating various adverse impacts, not specifying impact in many cases, using words such as ‘unlikely,’ ‘hardly,’ ‘very little,’ ‘may,’ ‘may not,’ etc, the impacts of construction and operation of the coal-based power plants on the Sundarbans’ eco-system documented in the EIA are enough to call o� the project immediately.”

Process of deceptionThirdly, from their work map, the very intention of the governments of both countries can be questioned.

Years before the EIA was done, 1,834 acres of land, which were mostly agricultural and shrimp aquaculture pond, had been acquired for the proposed 1,320MW power plant project. That was done by the government without the consent of the people, and with force by the police and local thugs.

Moreover, if we look at the chronology of events, it would be clear that the EIA process was merely an eyewash, used as an instrument to rationalise a pre-determined project. The events took place as follows.

Land acquisition order for this power plant was issued on December 27, 2010 -- more than two years before the EIA was completed.

Before the EIA was approved, the joint venture agreement to set up the power plant was signed between Indian company NTPC and Bangladeshi company PDB on January 29, 2012.

The EIA was published on January 2013 in the PDB website for public opinion. Experts and some concerned organisations submitted their opinion in due time. They rejected the EIA. A public consultation was arranged by PDB on April 12, 2013.

The experts present there identi� ed serious problems with the EIA; they categorically rejected the EIA, and asked the government to stop all activities before another independent EIA was completed.

A week later, two government

representatives signed the � nal agreement (on April 20, 2013) -- the Implementation Agreement (IA) and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Moreover, Bangladesh government made the special decision to allow the Indian side to get a tax waiver on its share of pro� t from the proposed plant. Bangladesh will purchase “NTPC’s stakes at a price evaluated by an independent Indian � rm.

“Earlier, the PDB had relaxed the Liquidated Damage (LD) and Performance Guarantee (PG) clauses, along with Corporate Guarantee, for implementing the Rampal power project.”

Therefore, whatever happens to the Sundarbans, the Indian company’s huge pro� t is ensured.

India is violating its own lawThe spokespersons of the governments of Bangladesh and India have been asserting on the point that no damage will be done to the Sundarbans since super critical technology will be used in

this project. The question remains, why

couldn’t the use of technology justify the coal-based power plants in India, eg in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa, which were cancelled due to environmental concern?

According to the EIA, the distance of the proposed Rampal coal-based power plant from the Sundarbans mangrove forest is 14km, which they claim as a safe distance.

But the EIA guideline manual for coal-based thermal power plants prepared by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forest in August 2010 clearly states that the “locations of thermal power stations are avoided within 25km of the outer periphery of the following: Metropolitan

cities, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, ecologically sensitive areas like tropical forests, biosphere reserves, important lakes, and coastal areas rich in coral formation.”

That means the Indian state-owned NTPC is pursuing the Rampal project by violating its own principle and legal restrictions.

Nevertheless, the Indian government is pushing for that. No company, including the NTPC, will be allowed to implement similar or much less disastrous projects in India.

The government’s claim about the distance of the proposed plant, 14km from the forest, has also been contested by the experts.

For instance, geographer AKM Wahiduzzaman and Mohammad Tawsif Salam gathered their � ndings through geographical information system (GIS) software and exhibited that this distance is between 9km and 13km, which they elaborately explained in “Rampal Electricity Plant and our

Environmental Consciousness.”The more worrying fact is that if

we consider a bu� er zone, crucial for preservation of forest life, this distance goes down further to 4km.

People against grabbing and mass destructionIn the larger Sundarbans area, several corporate houses already built billboards declaring their new pro� t-making ventures. New projects on shipyard, ship-breaking, � ve-star hotels, and aggressive tourism are in the air.

It is also heard that gas explo-ration and security installations are also in the planning process by relevant authorities. So, an all-out attack on the Sundarbans and the country has been in the making for a while now.

While visiting Bangladesh a few months back, the president of India urged that both India and Bangladesh should work unitedly to protect the Sundarbans.

In reality, the governments of both the countries are working for the very opposite.

The huge and vital forest is spread over into both India and Bangladesh. Therefore, people of the two countries should be united to resist the Rampal coal-� red power plant to save the Sundarbans.

In order to protect the lives and livelihood of millions of people, and the world’s largest mangrove forest -- a natural defence system against natural disasters, extremely important bio-diversity -- we have no other way but to resist any project that is disastrous

to the Sundarbans.Concerned people express

their main argument regarding the Rampal power plant in one sentence: “There are many alternatives for power generation, but there is no alternative for the Sundarbans.”

People of Bangladesh are gathering to save the Sundarbans. Indians and the world should join them to save this World Heritage Site. l

A version of this article previously appeared on anumuhammad.net and bdnews24.com.

Anu Muhammad is Member-Secretary, National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Port. He is also a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.

A region in peril DHAKA TRIBUNE

In order to protect the lives and livelihood of millions of people, and the world’s largest mangrove forest, we have no other way but to resist any project that is disastrous to the Sundarbans

There are other power sources, but there is no alternative to the Sundarbans. This is the concluding part of yesterday’s long form, and the last article on a series about the Rampal power plant

Project of mass destruction

n Moazzem Hossain

Just a few days before our 45th Independence Day, the nation went into a great shock after losing to India by

only one run in the T20 version of the game of cricket.

I know, in Australia, when the Australian team plays against England or New Zealand, with any version of the game, the streets become almost deserted.

Why? All the three teams have been � erce rivals for a long, long time.

Some say that if these countries had had common borders, by this time, there would have been war over cricket.

I have seen in Dhaka, during the three matches Bangladesh played against Pakistan, Australia, and India, suddenly, Dhaka city stops.

There is no tra� c jam; only a few empty rickshaws can be seen.

The hundreds and thousands of villages of this nation of more than 160 million do not go dark early, because the villagers become glued to the TV sets, irrespective of age and gender.

Bangladesh cricket, indeed, has changed the psyche of the nation.

Imagine, if one could not see it, one would not realise how sports, particularly cricket, has changed everything, from top to bottom, from the prime minster to a farmer, a garments worker, and millions more.

Surprisingly, after so many unsuccessful attempts in the world cricket arena by the team, unlike India and Pakistan, players never faced any unwarranted behaviour from the fans.

Why? The fans know well that the team has been improving at a very fast pace.

However, it strikes me, after watching the three recent matches against Pakistan, Australia, and India, that the batting order of the Bangladesh team has raised a few eyebrows.

Mahmudullah’s place in the T20 version seems to be creating controversy amongst the national and international media. Everyone knows Mahmudullah is cool as a cucumber. As a batsman, he keeps going on despite all sorts of uncertainties in the game.

But, he certainly lacks the skill to convert the closer matches, which players like Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and Chris Gayle did not.

The fans have been getting annoyed at seeing him coming to bat at six or even seven down.

Unfortunately, it seems, he just

cannot convert. The right person to talk to for a solution perhaps is the team psychologist, and not the media men or the international commentators.

After the match against Australia in Bengaluru, our media at home, in quoting the international commentators, grilled Mashrafe as to why he was indi� erent in the game, particularly when he bowled only one over against Australia and had no chance to bat because of the batting order.

According to them, a captain has to put 100% in the game.

Indeed, that’s what Mashrafe has done in the game against India.

It looked like he listened to the media and he bowled all four overs and came to bat well ahead of the order.

The fans ask: Why was Mahmudullah not sent instead?

It looks like Mahmudullah’s potential was underused in the match against India and other matches. Such a world-class player

needs extra care. What made Mahmudullah hit

a full toss ball into the sky instead of along the ground, which he has done thousands of times in his career, in domestic and international matches?

I am convinced the answer will be available to the coach and the psychologist of the team. Why psychologist?

Because he or she knows how devastating it is for the players and fans to lose a very close match by only one or two runs.

Mashrafe, as captain, is very successful. It would be wise to keep a successful captain at an

arm’s length from the media. The game against India made the boys proud.

The whole world now knows that the Bangladesh team has come a long way with the support of its experienced and promising players and not because of commentators and the media.

Nowadays, almost all commentators are former cricket players. It does not mean that they are correct all the time. Three cheers to our boys! l

Moazzem Hossain is an Associate Professor in the Business School at Gri� th University, Australia.

Opinion14DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Did Mashrafe make decisions under media pressure? AFP

What made Mahmudullah hit a full toss ball into the sky instead of along the ground, which he has done thousands of times in his career, in domestic and international matches?

Sometimes, the fans change the game

Who really captains Bangladesh?

15D

TBusinessFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Capital market snapshot: ThursdayDSE Broad Index 4,370.5 -0.2% ▼

Index 1,059.7 -0.1% ▼

30 Index 1,655.5 -0.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 3,297.2 -20.4% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol 99.5 -22.2% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 13,474.2 -0.0% ▼

30 Index 12,108.5 -0.2% ▼

Selected Index 8,182.1 -0.0% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 209.9 -26.1% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol 8.0 -36.0% ▼

Learning to trade: Myanmar investors swot up for new bourseInside the graceful halls of Myan-mar’s � rst modern bourse a huddle of business leaders crowds into a crash course on sharetrading, as the former junta-run country takes another leap towards economic re-vitalisation. PAGE 18

Asia sentiment brightens with turnaround in China viewSentiment at some of the biggest companies across Asia brightened in the � rst quarter of 2016, rising from a four-year low registered three months prior, as executives bet on economic improvement in China, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed. PAGE 17

Dutch shows interest in Paira port project The Netherlands has expressed its interest in Paira port project in line with the government initiative to build a deep seaport at Paira in Pat-uakhali. PAGE 16

INSIDE

New governor visits forex departments n Tribune Report

Newly appointed Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir has suddenly visited two departments of foreign exchange management after joining the central bank.

He made his maiden visit at 3.30pm yesterday to the Account-ing and Budgeting Department and Foreign Exchange Reserve and Treasury Management De-partment of Bangladesh Bank.

He visited the o� ce of the dealing room, which is highly re-stricted and deals with the foreign transactions through SWIFT code.

He got an idea on how foreign transactions take place and what technical function is used, said a senior executive of a respective department.

During his half an hour visit, he talked to the o� cers of the two departments.

The governor will hold a meet-ing with all the general managers and senior o� cers on Sunday next.

He is trying to remove the ex-isting panic among the o� cers to create a comfortable working at-mosphere, said a top manager of Bangladesh Bank.

He said: “The governor has made some internal changes in work and responsibilities of public relation department.”

Although the new governor was advised by the Finance Minis-

try to cancel job contract of some o� cers, who were close to former governor Atiur Rahman, he did not pay heed to the suggestion on humanitarian ground.

Rather, instead of canceling the job agreement, he changed the job responsibilities of said o� cials by issuing departmental order on Wednesday, according to the source.

FazleKabir joined with Bangla-desh Bank on March 20 and held series of meeting with high o� -cials giving the � rst priority on re-covery-stolen reserve in his work agenda.

Earlier on March 15, Atiur re-signed from the post of gover-nor in the wake of recent digital heist of US$101m from the central bank’s reserve account with Fed-eral Reserve Bank of New York. l

Applications for BB DG posts to be invited on Sunday n Tribune Report

The committee to search deputy governors for Bangladesh Bank will invite applications for the post on Sunday next, with a dead-line for submission by April 13.

The decision was taken at the � rst meeting of the committee held at the central bank head-quarters yesterday, chief of the � ve-member body Qazi Kholiquz-zaman Ahmad told journalists af-ter the meeting.

“We have discussed over the application requirements,” he said.

On March 15, the government had sacked two deputy gover-

nors – Naznin Sultana and Abul Kashem soon after the resignation of Atiur Rahman over the cyber heist.

On the following day, the search committee was formed to � nd two DGs for the central bank.

Some incumbent and retired executive directors of Bangladesh Bank and managing directors of the commercial banks are expect-ed to apply for the position, a sen-ior central banker said.

After � ring, Finance Minis-ter AMA Muhith said two deputy governors were relieved of their responsibilities and fresh appoint-ments would be made in these two posts shortly. l

BTRC asks Go Broadband to answer ISPAB complaint n Ishtiaq Husain

BTRC has asked Go Broadband to reply to the complaint of Internet Service Provider Association that Go is o� ering optical � bre connec-tion, violating the Wi-Max policy guidelines of the regulatory body.

Go is a joint venture of Agni system Ltd., Grameenphone and ADN Telecom. They are supposed to provide Wi-Max services only.

On February 29, Internet Ser-vice Provider Association of Bang-ladesh (ISPAB) submitted the complaint.

ISPAB requested BTRC to in-vestigate the issue and take prop-er action to maintain fair compe-tition amongst all internet service providers.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs), also known as Internet Access Pro-viders, is a business organisation that o� ers users access to Internet and related services.

They provide services such as internet access, internet transit, name registration and hosting, di-

al-up access and leased line access. “We have received numerous

complaints from ISPAB that Go Broadband is providing � bre optic connections. We have learnt that they signed an agreement with Sonali Bank where they o� er such services,” it said.

This is a clear violation of BTRC guidelines on Wi-Max. They have no right to provide only wireless connectivity based on Wi-Max technology. If they continue such illegal activities, all other ISPs will su� er a huge loss.

Asif Mahmood, managing di-rector of ADN Technologies Ltd, said there is no confusion about ADN business.

He said according to ISPAB complaint, it submitted an ob-

jection against mainly Grameen-phone.

“As far I know, GP has already given its explanation for the com-plaint.”

ISPAB president MA Hakim told the Dhaka Tribune that as an internet service provider, “We cannot let this irregularity hap-pen. We hope that the regulatory body will take stern action based on its own investigation to save our business.”

Syed Talat Kamal, head of external communication of Grameenphone, told the Dhaka Tribune that GP is doing its busi-ness abiding by the country’s rules and regulations and provid-ing customers with its highest ser-vices. l

‘We hope that the regulatory body will take stern action based on its own investigation to save our business’

BB Governor Fazle Kabir

Business16DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Dutch shows interest in Paira port project n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The Netherlands has expressed its interest in Paira port project in line with the government initiative to build a deep seaport at Paira in Pat-uakhali.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sheikh Mohammad Belal, recently told the Dhaka Tribune that the issue had been discussed when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the Hague last year.

“The prime minister [Hasina] noted the Dutch interest in deep

seaport projects and assured the Dutch side of her government’s due consideration for the port pro-ject propositions,” he said.

The ambassador said the Dutch companies have considerable in-terests in di� erent sectors of Bang-ladesh including water resources management, i.e. waste water treatment, dredging, etc, port de-velopment, agriculture, textiles and leather, ICT, mobile telecom-munication and energy.

Dutch companies like Unilever, Philips, Organon, Shell, Vimpel-com, and other � rms were active in

Bangladesh from very early years of its independence.

“From Dutch perspective, they are well aware of our potential as a gateway to the coming Asian cen-

tury and substantial size of our own domestic market,” he said.

The cumulative Dutch private investment to Bangladesh stands at around US$ 684 million as of June 2015, he added.

About export to the Nether-lands, he said the export is steadily increasing and Bangladesh export-ed goods worth $840.34 million to the Netherlands and imported goods worth $ 147.10 million in the last � scal.

Major export items from Bang-ladesh include woven garments, knitwear, bi-cycle, jute manufac-

ture, jute yarn and twine, home textile, leather products, shrimps while major import items are veg-etable products, live animals, animal or vegetable fats and oil, prepared food stu� and mineral products.

The embassy is working to or-ganise business seminars focusing on trade potentials between the two countries.

The Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industry is also going to organise a Single Country Trade Fair in Amsterdam in mid-April this year, added Belal. l

Boeing 737-800 aircraft added to Regent � eet n Tribune Report, Chittagong

Regent Airways has added Boeing 737-800 aircraft to its � eet.

The aircraft arrived at the Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday from Jakarta, Indonesia.

The airlines said the aircraft was procured from the USA-based com-pany Jekes UK on a six-year lease.

With the new one, the total number of aircraft has stood at 5 in the Regent � eet, including three Boeing and two dash-8 aircraft.

Initially, the aircraft will � y in the newly introduced Muscat route from next month. l

DSEX falls to 10-month lown Tribune Report

Stocks fell yesterday extending their losses for the third consecu-tive session with benchmark index DSEX falling to over 10-month low.

The DSEX fell 10 points or 0.3% to close at 4,370—its lowest since May 17 last year when it was 4,315.

The Shariah index DSES inched 1 point down to 1,059.

The blue chip comprising index DS30 was down over 2 points to 1,655.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX set-tled at 8,182, dropping 2 points.

Trading activities took a jolt as the DSE total turnover stood at Tk329 crore, sharply down more than 20%

over the previous session’s value. The market’s bellwether bank-

ing sector lost its solid ground de-clining nearly 1%, driven by Trust Bank that slumped 11.6% as inves-tors reacted negatively to its corpo-rate declaration.

Most other sectors, including pharmaceuticals, telecommunica-tion, food and allied, and cement su� ered losses.

On the other hand, power sector was the largest gainer, rising almost 1%, followed by non-banking � nan-cial institutions that rose 0.8%.

Engineering was the most fa-vourite sector that accounted for 19.5% of the total turnover, led by BSRM Limited, which topped the day’s turnover chart.

Hype on Dragon Sweater and Spinning Limited subdued in its second trading day as it fell about 6% to Tk17.7 after rising Tk18.8 on its o� er value of Tk10 a share in the previous day.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the market was unable to hold the modest early gain and � nished mixed, but mostly lower, with pressure stemming from lack of market triggers, hefty sell-o� on large cap and possible hit to the economy after the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves scam in Federal Reserve, USA.

After BSRM, other most traded stocks were Keya Cosmetics, Emer-ald Oil, AFC Agro, Square Pharma-ceuticals and Dragon Sweater. l

World’s biggest startup? Samsung Electronics to reform corporate culturen Reuters, Seoul

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world’s biggest maker of smart-phones and memory chips, an-nounced yesterday that it plans to adopt a corporate culture akin to a startup, seeking to become more nimble as growth slows.

Samsung’s executives will sign a pledge to move away from a top-down culture and towards a work-ing environment that fosters open dialogue.

The � agship � rm of South Ko-rea’s dominant conglomerate will also reduce the number of levels in its sta� hierarchy and hold more frequent online discussions be-tween business division heads and employees.

“We aim to reform our inter-nal culture, execute as quickly as a startup company and push to-wards open communication and continuously innovate,” it said in a statement.

The pronouncement is the lat-est among sweeping changes at-tempted at a time of crisis by the conglomerate and carries echoes of a 1993 exhortation by Samsung Group patriarch Lee Kun-hee to ex-ecutives to “change everything but your wife and children”.

Hurt by a rapid decline in smart-phone pro� ts and the absence of new businesses to drive growth, Samsung has been under pressure to reform its military-style working culture to foster innovation.

Some current and former em-ployees say it will be di� cult for a company like Samsung, which has global headcount of more than 300,000, to transform itself. Analysts also say there is the risk of Samsung losing its edge as a fast-execution hardware company by attempting to change its ways. l

Visitors at the Insurance Fair yesterday at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Dhaka DHAKA TRIBUNE

From Dutch perspective, they are well aware of our potentials

Business 17D

TFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Asia sentiment brightens with turnaround in China viewn Reuters, Hong Kong

Sentiment at some of the biggest companies across Asia brightened in the � rst quarter of 2016, rising from a four-year low registered three months prior, as executives bet on economic improvement in China, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.

The survey in which 97 � rms rated their six-month outlook re-sulted in a Thomson Reuters/IN-SEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index of 65 for March from 58 in December. A reading over 50 indi-cates a positive view.

The companies ranked a decline in Chinese demand as the primary risk to their outlooks, followed by excessive foreign exchange vol-atility and falling oil prices. Yet readings across the region revealed the biggest increase in con� dence among � rms in China itself and chief trading partners such as Sin-gapore.

“The index is not an amazingly great number but it tells us there is certainly less pessimism now than in previous surveys,” said Singa-pore-based economics professor Antonio Fatas at global business school INSEAD.

“People are digesting the eco-nomic slowdown in China and are

being more optimistic and looking for opportunities rather than being alarmist, and that shows up in the numbers around the region, par-ticularly Singapore,” he said.

The Southeast Asian city-state registered the quarter’s steepest

rise in sentiment at 29 points, re-sulting in a neutral subindex at 50 after two deeply pessimistic quar-ters. In its top trading partner Chi-na, sentiment rose 21 points to 71.

Latest government data showed improving economic conditions in

China, with � xed-asset investment increasing and capital out� ows moderating, top o� cials said. The government also said it is aiming for economic growth of as much as 7% in 2016, after 6.9% in 2015 - the slowest rate in 25 years.

Too soon to cheerChina’s outlook is crucial in a re-gion where every economy counts China among its top three trading partners. But while economic im-provement helped overall senti-ment rebound, subindexes were still below the 50 mark in Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia.

Sentiment fell the most in In-donesia, by 23 points to 42, in a quarter when the central bank of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy lowered interest rates three times to stimulate growth.

Stimulus measures by central banks elsewhere, from Japan to Europe, encouraged investment in the more risky assets during the survey’s polling. But, on the whole, corporate executives remained wary about the broader health of the global economy.

“I think it is still too soon to say the world economy has turned a corner as the United States is still not raising interest rates despite an ongoing recovery - which tells me how fragile sentiment is,” said Ed-ward Yip, corporate a� airs general manager at Malaysian survey re-spondent Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, which makes medical gloves.

“We need to see two sustained quarters of rebound before draw-ing that conclusion.” l

An employee works on an assembly line producing automobiles at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China REUTERS

Reuters poll: Japan � rms could stash cash in safes if rates go negativen Reuters, Tokyo

Some Japanese � rms, facing the possibility of negative interest rates on their deposits, would consider stu� ng their cash in a safe rather than pay to keep it in the bank, a Reu-ters poll found, in what would be an unintend-ed and unwelcome side-e� ect to the country’s new monetary policy.

While the bulk of companies in the Reuters Corporate Survey said they would keep their money in bank accounts if their lender fol-lowed the Bank of Japan in cutting rates below zero, 15% said they would withdraw funds.

“We would store cash in our company safe,” wrote a manager at a services company.

Safes or safe-deposit boxes were the most popular alternative to bank accounts cited by respondents. A popular series of company safes from Secom Co Ltd can be crammed with some 150 million yen to 1.6bn yen ($1.3mn-$14mn) in Japan’s biggest-denomination bills.

The central bank shocked investors in Jan-uary by cutting a benchmark interest rate to below zero, seeking to put an end to two dec-ades of de� ation and encourage loan and in-vestment demand.

But the willingness of a noticeable chunk of corporate Japan to squirrel cash away rather than

leave it on deposit highlights the di� culty Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is having in getting compa-nies to do their part in supporting his policies, which have also included pleas to raise wages and invest more. The survey, conducted March 3-17, also showed that 62% of � rms disapproved of the central bank’s new policy, believing it will hurt business and consumer sentiment.

Just over 500 large and mid-size companies were polled, with managers responding anon-ymously. Of those, 240 replied to a question on what they would do if their own deposit rates went negative.

Banks insist they won’t pass on negative rates to their small-account holders, but some lend-ers have left open the possibility of raising fees on big deposits, meaning a net charge to cus-tomers. Big companies tend to park their cash in current accounts - akin to checking accounts in the West - which already yield zero interest.

To be sure, even those companies ponder-ing withdrawals could decide the cost, risk and bother of holding cash outweighs the loss from negative rates. The companies in the survey did not indicate how much they might consider taking out of the bank.

The concerns at the companies mirror those of many of Japan’s legions of savers, especially older people on � xed incomes. l

Business18DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Eyeing future sales, luxury carmakers innovate to woo millennialsn AFP, New York

British carmaker Jaguar has developed a tool to win over seen-it-all millennials who view a conventional test drive as passe.

Seeking to tap into young-er customers’ desire for a few moments of cinematic glory, Jaguar � lms the prospective customers behind the wheel as they navigate the vehicle through several precarious driving challenges, channe-ling their inner speed demon.

Moments later, they are emailed a slickly edited two-minute � lm, which can conveniently be uploaded to Facebook and social media sites.

“It all takes literally min-utes,” said Jaguar spokesman Stuart Schorr. “By the time you’re done, you’ve taken a test drive, but you’ve also got an as-set that’s shareable and fun.”

The clever tactic is part of the 94-year-old brand’s ef-fort to boost its US sales as it broadens its o� erings in 2016 with the introduction of new models, including the F-PACE, Jaguar’s � rst sports utility ve-hicle.

But all the automakers at this week’s New York Inter-national Auto Show have the new generation in their sights.

“Generation Y will dictate who wins and who loses in the marketplace,” said John Hum-phrey of JD Power’s global au-tomotive practice. “It is by far the biggest generation we’ve had in the US.”

BMW, also eyeing millen-nials, has trained a cadre of some 1,000 showroom “ge-niuses” -- like the sta� at an Apple Store “Genius Bar” - to show drivers how they can customize the car’s myriad gadgets and driving tools.

They are distinct from the salesforce and are not sup-posed to seal deals, said Lud-wig Willisch, president and chief executive of BMW North America.

Millennials “don’t like sales pressure,” Willisch told the JD Power auto forum Tuesday, as opposed to their parents, the baby boomers, who rely more on test drives and mul-tiple visits before making a purchase.

With millennials, he said,

“You only get one shot.”“If we get this right, and we

will, we have the opportunity to create lifelong BMW drivers.”

Pocketbook challengeIt is a crucial point for luxury cars, which account for about half of the auto industry’s pro� ts. A long-term worry for auto companies is that with the surge of rideshare pro-grams like Uber and optimism about self-driving cars, young-er Americans will drive less than earlier generations did.

Humphrey said automak-ers face particular pressure because the overall US auto market is expected to cool signi� cantly following several boom years.

“We’re coming up on the end of the current cycle,” said Humphrey, who warned that the industry could slip back towards overcapacity and a reliance on rebates and cheap prices to move inventory.

Those practices are less a problem for brands like Jag-uar and BMW, which cater to a more select group of buyers less in� uenced by price, Hum-phrey said.

But luxury brands face other di� culties with millen-nials, a generation renowned for carrying hefty student loans and without the means to spend $50,000 or $60,000 on a car.

Compact and midsized cars accounted for the highest shares of the millennial mar-ket in 2015, with a combined 32.6%. Premium vehicles in total accounted for less than 10%, according to JD Power data.

For that reason, luxury au-tomakers are taking the long-term view in their marketing campaigns.

Few of the 6,000 consum-ers who have participated in the Jaguar events have or-dered one of their cars, Schorr said. But about 60% have shared their personal action videos on Facebook. That cre-ates additional exposure and buzz, enhancing the brand’s prospects.

“The whole subtext is to re-introduce the Jaguar brand to a younger group of customers, and that’s an investment you look to pay o� over a number of years,” he said. l

Learning to trade: Myanmar investors swot up for new boursen AFP, Yangon

Inside the graceful halls of Myan-mar’s � rst modern bourse a huddle of business leaders crowds into a crash course on sharetrading, as the former junta-run country takes another leap towards economic revitalisation.

Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) is due to debut its � rst listed company on Friday, just days before a new ci-vilian government overseen by Aung San Suu Kyi comes to power in a na-tion fast opening up after decades of military rule.

The start of trading, long after the bourse was � rst envisaged, is a vivid illustration of Myanmar’s economic handicap - a country that still has no credit rating and where business has long been hamstrung by ingrained corruption.

But it also encapsulates the excite-ment and optimism that has gripped both local and foreign investors alike.

Dozens of people every week have attended the YSX classes for those un-familiar with sharetrading, which in-clude lessons on investment risks and rewards as well as multimedia guides to stock purchasing.

“It is great for Myanmar people to learn about the stock market. It will bring new hope for our business sec-tor,” business consultant Nwe Ni Soe told AFP at a recent training day.

Under the military, Myanmar was plunged into poverty and pummelled by banking crises, international sanc-tions and arbitrary economic policies that destroyed the once vibrant econ-omy and saw ordinary people hoard savings in assets like gold.

The tide began turning under the outgoing reformist quasi-civilian gov-ernment which took power in 2011.

A handful of foreign banks have slowly crept into the country, while a raft of new business and � nance laws have begun to untangle a messy legal landscape.

The World Bank says the country could grow by as much as eight percent a year for the next � ve years, but says � rms are struggling with access to � nance.

Myanmar’s incoming government is faced with a raft of challenges as it looks to encourage investment and create jobs. In the way is a weak kyat currency, decrepit infrastructure, patchy electrici-ty and an urgent need to improve skills in a nation whose education system with-ered with neglect under the junta.

Solo traderThe YSX will initially launch with just a single � rm, First Myanmar Investment run by Myanmar tycoon Serge Pun, and be open only to domestic investors.

Tun Tun, FMI’s executive direc-tor and chief � nance o� cer, said he hoped the bourse would provide a “healthy capital market for the bene-

� ts of both investors and businesses”, urging authorities to accelerate plans to allow foreign investment.

With its sister � rm Yoma Strategic Holdings listed in Singapore and around 6,800 shareholders through an in-house system, FMI already has experience of stocktrading, a rarity in Myanmar.

Several other � rms that have been approved to list, including the Ja-pan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone, have yet to � nalise their prepa-rations.

Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Paci� c chief econ-omist, IHS Global Insight, said it would take time for YSX to overcome an array of hurdles, like building up enough stocks to trade, creating liquidity and putting in place strong governance standards.

“Relatively new stock exchanges need to build con� dence among in-vestors about the transparency of list-ed companies in their stock exchange � lings, as well as setting tough regu-latory standards to prevent acts such as insider trading or market manipula-tion,” he said. l

Media representatives gather for the opening ceremony of the Yangon Stock Exchange, on December 9, 2015 AFP

Biz Info 19D

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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

| powerw |

| comic |

| environment|

| screening|

Shobuj Dhaka Green Campaign at BRAC University

Happy Rain screened at BRACU

Mampower Ltd at BIID Expo 2016M ampower Ltd. Co-sponsored and participated in the Bangladesh International GREEN Summit- 2016 and International Innovation and Development (BIID) Expo 2016, that took place between March 11 to 13. At the summit, Mampower Ltd. showcased its existing products and also their new products innovated to promote a smarter and greener Bangladesh.

Mampower has been proudly manufacturing and distributing e� cient, loss-cutting power distribution equipment for the last 37 years. Mampower is one of the leaders in the local transformer and switchgear industry. The company also provides Building Management Solution System (BMS) which is required for LEED Certi� cation.

Rezwanul Ahsan, Deputy

Managing Director of Mampower, gave a presentation and speech on sustainable green environment at the inaugural ceremony of the Expo.

Mampower is committed towards building a green and eco-friendly mindset among its employees and the extended stake holder community. l

Every year BRAC University Earth and Environment Forum (BUEEF) organise seminars emphasising on di� erent environmental issues and their possible solutions, on account of the increasing concern about the present status of our environment. Recently the club arranged a seminar along with “Shobuj Dhaka Campus Campaign” on February 23, Wednesday at BRAC University auditorium. The � ve speakers present were Professor Zia Uddin Ahmed, chairperson of Mathematics and Natural Science Department, Md Hamidur Rahman, director of Krishi Shomprosharon Odhidoptor,

Shafaat Bari Ivan, director of o� ce of co-curricular activities and Priti Chokrabarti, chairman of Universal Medical College and Hospital Limited. The chief guest was Brigadier General Doctor S M M Saleh Bhuiyan.

The � rst speaker of the event was Professor Zia Uddin Ahmed. He concluded by saying that the young generation has to avoid littering. Md Hamidur Rahman stated that if we cut down one tree, then we have to plant two trees which will be prove to be bene� cial for the environment. The seminar came to an end with plants being distributed to each student present. l

BRAC University with the a� liation of BRAC University Film Club screened Happy Rain by Dr. Isabelle Antunés on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 2pm at the BRACU auditorium. Happy Rain (2015) – Isabelle Antunés’ latest documentary � lm is based in Bangladesh and was previously screened at the UN COP 21 Conference on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015.

The vice chancellor of BRAC University Dr Syed Saad Andaleeb and the dean of BRAC Business School Rahim Baksh Talukdar were present during the screening among other faculty members, students, and university sta� .

Happy Rain (2015) focuses on the resilience of Bangladesh and shows that the country has considerable potential to uplift itself. Happy Rain is about the development of � sh farming in low � ooded lands in what used to be rice paddy � elds of Daudkandi during other seasons. Every year, rivers and streams descending from China, Nepal, Bhutan, and

India converge and over� ow, � ooding and nourishing the Bangladeshi soil through the long monsoon months. This enriching process opens up opportunities for the local people in the region.

Dr Isabelle Antunés was present at BRAC University on this occasion. Following the screening, there was a question and answer session between the director Isabelle Antunés and the audience. l

Downtime20DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 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 3 represents V so � ll V every time the � gure 3 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 Ran away (4)5 Tribe (4)10 Augury (4)11 Consumed (3)12 Happen (5)13 Solemn promise (3) 14 Mohammedanism (5)16 Refer (6)18 Moral principles (6) 21 Summit (5)23 Snow runner (3) 24 Acquire knowledge (5) 26 Vigour (3)27 Niggardly (4)28 Region (4)29 Sketched (4)

DOWN 2 Con� ned to an area (5) 3 Flightless bird (3)4 Mocks (7)6 Molten rock (4) 7 Of atoms (6)8 Fresh (3)9 Roman garment (4) 15 Established (7)17 Storage (6)19 Silly (5)20 Transgressions (4) 22 Mature (4)23 Heated pool (3) 25 Corn spike (3)

SUDOKU

POINTS TAKEN

The web of Paris, Brussels attackersMore than 30 people have been iden-ti� ed as being involved in a network behind the Paris attacks on November 13, with links now established to this week’s bombings in Brussels.

This is what we know so far about the attackers and their support net-work.

Paris attacksA 10-man team of suicide bombers and gunmen launched attacks on the Bata-clan concert hall, the Stade de France national stadium and a string of bars and restaurants around eastern Paris on the night of November 13, 2015. Seven of the attackers died on the night, and two more were killed the following week. The last member of the team, Sa-lah Abdeslam, was arrested in Brussels on Friday after four months on the run. The coordinated assaults claimed by the Dae’sh group killed 130 people and wounded another 350.

Stadium bombersThe attacks began when three men blew themselves up outside the Stade de France where President Francois Hollande was watching a match be-tween France and Germany. Only one of that trio has been identi� ed: Bilal Had� , a 20-year-old French national who was living in Belgium and who had travelled to Syria. The other two were carrying fake Syrian passports they ap-parently used to enter Greece in Octo-ber, posing as refugees. Dae’sh said in a video they were Iraqi.

Bars/restaurants gunmen Three gunmen, including alleged ring-leader Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Salah Abdeslam’s brother Brahim, sprayed cafes and restaurants with bullets, kill-ing 39 people. Brahim blew himself up outside a bar, wounding one person. Abaaoud, a notorious Belgian jihadist of Moroccan origin, escaped unharmed but was killed in a massive police op-eration in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on November 18. The third, Belgian-Moroccan Chakib Akrouh, 25, blew himself up during the Saint-Denis operation.

Bataclan attackersThe worst bloodshed took place at the Bataclan concert hall, when three French gunmen -- all of whom had spent time in Syria -- stormed a con-cert by American rock band Eagles of Death Metal, killing 90. Foued Mo-hamed-Aggad, 23, was part of a group of 10 that left Strasbourg for Syria in 2013. The other two attackers were 28-year-old former bus driver Samy Amimour and Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29. Both were from the Paris area and were known radicals. Two of them blew themselves up and the third was shot by police.

Brussels airport, metro attacksFour people carried out coordinated attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station on March 22 that left 31 dead and wounded 300. Two brothers, Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui were identi� ed as suicide bombers -- one at Zaventem airport and one at Maalbeek metro station. Najim Laachraoui, 24, was identi� ed as the second airport bomber and is believed to have made bombs for the November rampage in the French capital. A third person seen on airport surveillance footage wearing a white jacket is the subject of a police manhunt after he � ed the scene when his explosive-packed suitcases did not detonate.

Salah Abdeslam Brussels had already been on alert as the home and hideaway of several of the Paris attack suspects. The last surviving member of the cell directly involved in the Paris assaults, Salah Ab-deslam, was arrested in Brussels four days before the twin airport and metro assault. Abdeslam, 26, said he was plan-ning further attacks in Brussels, and links have emerged between him and the suspected Brussels assailants. He is believed to have played a key logistical role in the Paris attack, renting cars and an apartment-hotel used by the jihad-ists. Abdeslam has told investigators he had planned to blow himself up outside the Stade de France on the evening of the Paris attacks but changed his mind.

Brussels-Paris linksThe Bakraoui brothers had been sought

by police for links to Abdeslam prior to the Brussels attacks. Belgian television said Khalid had rented an apartment in Brussels last week under a false name where Abdeslam’s � ngerprints were found after a bloody police raid. He is also linked to another apartment in southern Belgium that Abdeslam and other jihadists used before the Paris at-tacks. DNA from the second airport sui-cide bomber Laachraoui, 24, was found at an apartment in Brussels where bomb-making equipment and one of Abdeslam’s � ngerprints had been found

in December. His DNA was also found on explosives used in the Paris attacks. Prosecutors have said Laachraoui “trav-elled to Syria in February 2013,” and was registered under a false name at the border between Austria and Hungary last September. He was travelling with Abdeslam and Mohamed Belkaid, who was killed in a Brussels raid three days before Abdeslam was captured. Belkaid is believed to have provided logistical support to the Paris attackers. l

Source: AFP

INSIDE

21D

TWorldFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

India SC questions Muslim triple-talaq system’s validityThe age-old debate of whether the triple-talaq system in Indian Muslim personal law provides any safeguard for women in arbitrary divorce reached a new height recently as the Indian Supreme Court issued a suo moto ruling to test the legal validity of the system. PAGE 22

Karadzic guilty of Bosnia genocide, jailed for 40 yearsFormer Bosnian Serb leader Ra-dovan Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in jail by UN judges who found him guilty of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and of nine other war crimes charges. PAGE 23

From Russia with love: Why the Kremlin backs Donald TrumpDonald Trump is a brave pro-Pu-tin political maverick who would end US foreign wars and perhaps lift sanctions on Moscow. Hillary Clinton, however, is a warmonger beholden to the military-industrial complex, the Kremlin believes. PAGE 23

The Brussels bombers and suspects

Source: Belgian authorities

Petty criminal turnedjihadist, suspectedof involvementin the Paris attacks

Age 29

Brotherof Ibrahim

Mohamed Abrini

27

Ibrahim El Bakraoui

Khalid El Bakraoui

Suspected organiserof Paris attacks, mayalso have been bombmaker

Not identi ed*

Not identi ed

On the run Attacker dead

3rd suspectedattacker: on therun

* From surveillance camera

Najim Laachraoui*

Brussels metro

Brussels airport

Rented a �at for theParis commandoServed jail time forarmed robbery

2nd suspect seenon surveillancecameras withKhalid

Deported fromTurkey in 2015Served jail time forarmed robbery

31

24

Sources: Belgian police, courts, media

The Paris attackers

Stade de France

Questioned in Greece Oct 3,travelling with migrants

BilalHad�

French national, livedin Belgium

20

Bataclan concert venue

Unidenti�ed

FouedMohamedAggad

From Drancy, FranceFomer bus driver

The Saint-Denis raid

28

Bars, restaurants

SamyAmimour

Born in Essonne, FranceLived in Chartres

29

Omar IsmailMostefai

Associateof Jawad Bendaoud

Providedthe �atin St-Denis

JawadBendaoud

In France

Mohammed S

In Belgium

2 guns and blood foundin his car

Lazez Abraimi

Mohammed Amri /Hamza Attou: GotS Abdeslam out of Paris

In contact withHasna Aitboulahcen

Adboullah C

Algerian, 35Killed in Brussels (15/3)

Mohammed Belkaid

Close to the Abdeslambrothers

Logistics role

Abdeilah Chouaa

Mohamed BakkaIi

Zakaria JClose to Abaaoud

Ali OulkadiMoved S. Abdeslamaround Brussels

25

Had planned to blowhimself up at La DefenseParis, Nov 18 or 19

A Cousin ofAbaaoud

26

HasnaAitboulahcen

Chakib Akrouh

Belgian/Moroccan

DeadCharged and/or in custody

Blew himself up

Wanted

23

From Strasbourg, France

Spent several monthsin Syria, end of 2013

Elite police unit raidedapartment November 18

One of the organisersof the attacks

On the run

28

AbdelhamidAbaaoud

Seen with Salah AbdeslamNov 11

30

Photos: AFP/Belgian police/BFM TV

Mohamed Abrini

In Syria

French37

Claimed responsibility forattack in audio recording

FabienClain

In Turkey In Algeria

26

AhmadDahmani

Gelel Attar

Zouhir Mehdaoui

Belgian

Belgian/Moroccanorigin

29

Associate of AbaaoudSuspected of havingscouted attack targets

Linked to attackers

Brother of Brahim26

Salah Abdeslam

Handled logisticsfor the attacks

French national who livedin Belgium

31

BrahimAbdeslam

‘Mounir Ahmed Alaaj’/ ‘Amine Choukri’ bothnames could be aliases

Arrested March 18, 2016at Molenbeek, Brussels

Abid A membersof the familywho sheltered SalahDjemila M

Sihane A

NajimLaachraoui24, alias‘Sou�aneKayal’

Questioned Sept 9 onthe border between Austria and Hungary. Inthe car with S Abdelslamand M Belkaid

In Morocco

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 201622D

T Advertisement

WorldFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

23D

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SOUTH ASIANepal agrees fuel deal with China to curb reliance on IndiaNepal has secured a deal for China to supply it with fuel, as the energy-starved Himalayan nation seeks to deepen ties with Beijing and reduce its reliance on India. The agreement was signed during a visit by Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to Beijing, following months of frosty relations with New Delhi, traditionally the sole supplier of fuel to landlocked Nepal. -AFP

INDIAIndian journalist arrested over social media postAn Indian newspaper journalist has been arrested after allegedly posting an in� ammatory message on social media, police said Thurs-day. Prabhat Singh had criticised police in a WhatsApp post about the situation in Bastar region of eastern Chhattisgarh state, where rights groups say journalists are facing o� cial harassment from security forces. -AFP

CHINAChina to push Obama next week on North Korea talksChinese President Xi Jinping will push President Barack Obama next week to resume talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, a senior Chines diplomat said on Thursday, a meet-ing that could also touch on hacking and the South China Sea. US Presi-dent Barack Obama will host Chinese President Xi Jinping on March 31 for a bilateral meeting alongside the Nuclear Security Summit. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFICVietnam slams illegal Taiwan Spratlys tourVietnam on Thursday hit back at Taiwan for taking international media on a tour of a disputed island in the South China Sea, saying the illegal and worthless trip had further raised tensions in the hotly con-tested waters. Taiwanese o� cials on Wednesday took journalists to Taiping, the largest island in the Spratlys chain, which it controls and views as part of its territory. -AFP

MIDDLE EASTSyrian government forces enter Dae’sh-held PalmyraSyrian government forces fought their way into Palmyra on Thurs-day as the army backed by Russian air cover sought to recapture the historic city from Dae’sh insur-gents, Syrian state TV and a moni-toring group said. The Syrian army earlier this month launched a con-certed o� ensive to retake Palmyra, which the ultra-hardline militants seized in May 2015, to open a road to the mostly Dae’sh-held eastern province of Deir al-Zor. -REUTERS

CHRONICLE

A year of con� ict in YemenA Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen a year ago after Iran-backed Huthi rebels overran the capital Sa-naa in September 2014 and later ad-vanced to seize most of the country.

Here are some key dates-

Saudi interventionMarch 26, 2015 Saudi Arabia begins Operation Deci-sive Storm with air strikes on the rebels after forging a coalition of nine coun-tries to defend embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in Riyadh. Iran opposes the intervention.April 17, 2015 UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls for an im-mediate cease� re in Yemen, two days after world powers impose an arms embargo on Yemeni rebels and de-mand they relinquish territory seized in a sweeping o� ensive.

Fruitless peace talksMid-June 2015 Yemen’s warring factions come to-gether for the � rst time in Geneva in

a bid to resolve the con� ict. The talks are followed in December by a fruit-less session with several cease� res that are not respected.February 18, 2016 UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed tells the UN Security Council that “deep divisions persist that prevent me from calling for the next round of talks”.

Humanitarian emergencyJuly 1, 2015 The UN declares Yemen a level-3 hu-manitarian emergency, the highest on its scale. At least 2.5m people have been internally displaced with 14.5m -- more than half of the population -- facing food shortages, it says.October 27, 2015 UN chief Ban condemns strikes on a hospital at Saada, operated by inter-national charity MSF.September 28, 2015 A suspected coalition air strike kills at least 131 civilians at a wedding near the Red Sea city of Mokha. The coalition denies involvement.

February 2016 New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch accuses the coalition of using US-supplied cluster bombs.March 15, 2016 Saudi-led air strikes on a market kill at least 119 people -- including 106 civilians of which 24 children -- in the northern rebel-held province of Hajja.

Reclaiming territory July 17, 2015 Yemen’s exiled Prime Minister Khaled Bahah announces the liberation of the southern province of Aden. It is the � rst success of pro-governmental forces backed by the coalition.February 18, 2016 Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir says the coalition has helped the government reclaim more than three-quarters of Yemeni territory from the rebels and their allies.

Coalition losses and jihadistsSeptember 4, 2015The Saudi-led coalition has su� ered

losses, notably during a rebel missile strike that killed more than 60 Gulf soldiers. The United Arab Emirates says that it has lost more than 70 sol-diers since the beginning of the inter-vention.March 4, 2016The authorities blame Dae’sh for an attack on March 4 in Aden on a mis-sionary hospice, in which 16 are killed, including four nuns, while an Indian priest is kidnapped.March 12, 2016 For the � rst time, the coalition con-ducts air strikes on jihadists in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Dae’sh group are exploiting a lack of security in the south to broaden their in� uence there.

New hopes for peaceMarch 23, 2016 UN envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed an-nounces a cease� re to be observed across Yemen on April 10, followed by peace talks on April 18. l

Source: AFP

India Supreme Court questions Muslim triple-talaq system’s validityn Tribune Desk

The age-old debate of whether the triple-talaq system in Indian Muslim personal law provides any safeguard for women in arbitrary divorce reached a new height recently as the Indian Supreme Court issued a suo moto ruling to test the legal validity of the sys-tem, resulted in mixed reactions from di� erent quarters of the country’s Muslim community.

The most frustrated reaction came from All India Muslim Per-sonal Law Board (AIMPLB), the su-preme authority of protecting and overseeing continued applicability of Muslim personal law in India.

Resisting the ruling, the AIM-PLB has said that the country’s top court has no jurisdiction to under-take the exercise as the commu-nity’s personal law was based on the Qur’an and not on a law enact-ed by Indian parliament, reports Times of India.

“Mohammedan law (common term for Muslim Personal Law Ap-plication Act of 1937) is founded on the Holy Qur’an and Ahadith of the Prophet of Islam and this cannot fall within the purview of the expression ‘laws in force’, as mentioned in Article 13 of the Constitution.”

The provisions under Article

13 ensure protection of the fun-damental rights and consider any law “inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights” as void.

“The personal law of Muslims has not been passed or made by a legislation,” it said.

“Muslim personal law is a cul-tural issue, it is inextricably inter-woven with the religion of Islam. Thus, it is the issue of freedom of conscience guaranteed under Ar-ticles 25 and 26 read with Article 29 of the Constitution,” it said in an a� davit � led in court, quoting a series of the supreme court judg-ments which apparently ruled that provisions of personal law could not be challenged for viola-tion of fundamental rights.

The board also challenged the utility of a uniform civil code which, it said, was no guarantee of national integrity and solidari-ty, arguing that a shared faith did not prevent Christian nations en-gaging in two World Wars.

In a similar vein, the AIMPLB said the Hindu Code Bill had failed to eradicate caste discrimination.

Drawing a line between a law enacted by the legislature and social norms dictated by religion, the board’s counsel Ejaz Maqbool told the Supreme Court.

The 43-year-old organisation

said there were periodic noises by a section of society demanding an uniform civil code. “If the SC lays down special rules for Muslim women it will amount to judicial legislation,” it said.

“Is uniform civil code imper-ative to national unity, integrity and solidarity?” it asked and said if that been so, there would not have been two world wars be-tween armies belonging to the same Christian religion.

Countering the idea of uni-form civil code, AIMPLB said the Hindu Code Bill, which was passed in 1956 to bring uniform-ity in personal law among di� er-ent sects of Hindus, has failed to achieve integration among dif-ferent sects of Hindus. l

New Zealand rejects �ag changeRetained �ag

Losing design

Preliminary results of referendum Thursday

About 3m ballot papers distributed for the vote, conducted only by post

43.16% of votes

56.61% of votes

Source: New Zealand electoral commission

BIG

STO

CK

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 201624D

T WorldUSAUS Navy ship missing for 95 years foundA US Navy ship that went missing 95 years ago with 56 aboard has been found near about 50km west of San Francisco, ending one of the biggest mysteries in US naval history. The USS Conestoga tug boat, which disappeared on March 25, 1921 on its way to Pearl Harbor, was the last US Navy ship to be lost in peacetime. -AFP

THE AMERICAS US to declassify military record on Argentina’s Dirty War President Barack Obama will move to declassify US military and intelligence records related to Argentina’s “Dirty War,” the White House said Thursday, aiming to bring closure to questions of US in-volvement in a notorious chapter in Argentina’s history. The US has previously released 4,000 State Department documents related to that period, but those documents tell only part of the story. -AP

UKUK formally rebuts UN panel’s Assange opinionThe British government on Thurs-day issued a vehement rebuttal of a UN panel’s � ndings that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been arbitrarily detained. Pub-lished last month, the UN working group’s non-binding legal opinion was instantly dismissed as ridic-ulous by London, which has now submitted its formal response, inviting the panel to reconsider its conclusions. -AFP

EUROPEParis suspect Abdeslam seeks extradition to FranceParis attacks suspect Salah Ab-deslam wants to be extradited to France as soon as possible to face charges following his arrest in Brussels, his lawyer said Thurs-day. Asked if his client had prior knowledge about Tuesday’s sui-cide bombings at Brussels airport and on a metro train, lawyer Sven Mary said in English: “He didn’t know it.” -REUTERS

AFRICABoko Haram’s chief reappears in new videoBoko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared on video for the � rst time in more than a year on Thursday, rejecting rumours about his death but appearing to signal his time in charge of the Nigerian jihad-ist group may be coming to an end. Nigeria has claimed several times that Shekau has been killed. The military believes several lookalikes have since stood in for him. -AFP

INSIGHT

From Russia with love: Why the Kremlin backs Donald Trumpn Reuters, Moscow

Donald Trump is a brave pro-Putin political maver-ick who would end US foreign wars and per-haps lift sanc-

tions on Moscow. Hillary Clinton, however, is a warmonger beholden to the military-industrial complex.

Russian state TV, which hews closely to the Kremlin’s world view, leaves little doubt about who Moscow supports in Novem-ber’s US presidential election: “The Donald.”

Vladimir Putin’s spokesman took brief exception this month to a Trump attack video which showed Putin laughing at the prospect of Clinton defending America. But o� cials and analysts say the Kremlin still sees Trump as the best candidate by a mile.

Putin has hailed Trump as “very talented”. The head of the Russian parliament’s foreign af-fairs committee said he’d be a worthy winner of the 2015 “man of the year” title in the US.

And Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia’s main weekly TV news show “Vesti Nedeli,” claimed this month that the GOP elite had struck a secret deal with the Dem-ocrats to derail Trump, in part be-cause of his sympathy for Russia.

“Trump doesn’t suit the Re-publican party,” Kiselyov told viewers. “They usually divide up the state budget (among them-selves) by frightening people about Russia. But Trump is ready to � nd a common language with Putin. That’s why they don’t need Trump and even regard him as dangerous.”

Kiselyov has been one of the chief proponents of state tele-vision’s strongly anti-American tone, once saying Moscow could turn the US into radioactive ash.

Some experts say Trump ap-peals to Moscow because Putin believes a Trump presidency would be isolationist and leave Russia with a free hand.

“The Kremlin can’t believe its luck,” said Konstantin von Eggert, an independent Moscow-based political analyst who believes the Obama administration has not been forceful in countering Russia.

“President Obama and (Sec-retary of State) John Kerry were a dream team for them, but now

they have an even better option; someone who thinks that Ameri-ca should have nothing to do with the rest of the world.”

RT, the Kremlin’s English-lan-guage TV channel formerly known as Russia Today, says it does not back any US candidates. But it has described Trump as “idiosyn-cratic and raw,” and suggested he represents the popular will of US voters, which a sinister US estab-lishment is trying to subvert.

“Can America’s elections be tru-ly called democratic if the political establishment aligns itself against the popular will?” lamented Peter Lavelle, the American host of RT’s � agship talk “CrossTalk” show. “As things stand now millions of voters could be disenfranchised.”

‘Thank God for Trump’Trump has won friends in Mos-cow with statements praising Pu-tin as a strong leader that he could probably get along with. His sup-port for Russian air strikes in Syria was welcomed.

In January, after a British judge ruled that Putin had “probably” authorised the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London, Trump said he saw “no evidence” that Putin was guilty.

“First of all, he says he didn’t do it. Many people say it wasn’t him. So who knows who did it?” Trump said.

This week, Trump said the US should reduce funding for Nato. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokes-man said his comments showed the alliance was in crisis.

“They (Trump and Putin) are both open-minded, pragmatic, and say what they think,” Victoria Zhuravleva, a Moscow-based ex-pert on US-Russia relations, said.

Hillary Clinton, who is well known to the Kremlin because of her 2009-2013 stint as US Secre-tary of State, is clearly not to Mos-cow’s taste.

“We really don’t want Hillary,” said one Russian o� cial, who spoke anonymously because of the subject’s sensitivity. “She’s no friend of Russia’s.”

State media coverage has fo-cused on what it has cast as her wacky promise to declassify UFO � les and on the pressure she has faced for using her personal email account for government business and over her response to the fatal 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi. l

Vladimir Putin Donald Trump REUTERS

Karadzic guilty of Bosnia genocide, jailed for 40 yearsn Reuters, The Hague

Former Bosnian Serb leader Ra-dovan Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in jail by UN judges who found him guilty of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and of nine other war crimes charges.

Karadzic, 70, the most senior political � gure to be convicted by the International Criminal Tribu-nal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, was found guilty of 10 out of 11 war charges. He was ac-quitted of a second count of gen-ocide in various towns across Bos-nia during the war of the 1990s.

The judges said Karadzic was criminally responsible for the siege of Sarajevo and had commit-ted crimes against humanity in Bosnian towns. They said he had intended to eliminate the Bosnian Muslim males in the town of Sre-brenica, where 8,000 Muslims died in Europe’s worst war crime since World War II.

Presiding judge O-Gon Kwon

said the three-year Sarajevo siege, during which the city was shelled and sniped at by besieging Bosnian Serb forces, could not have hap-pened without Karadzic’s support.

His sentence will be reduced by slightly more than 7 years for time already spent in detention. It will be served in an as yet undeter-mined state prison. He is expect-ed to appeal, a process that could take several more years.

Karadzic was arrested in 2008 after 11 years on the run, follow-ing a war in which 100,000 people were killed as rival armies carved Bosnia up along ethnic lines that largely survive today.

He headed the self-styled Bos-nian Serb Republic and was Su-preme Commander of its armed forces.

The only more senior o� cial to face justice before the Tribunal was the late Serbian President Slo-bodan Milosevic, who died in cus-tody a decade ago.

Ratko Mladic, the general who

commanded Bosnian Serb forces, was the last suspect to be detained over the Srebrenica slaughter and is also in a UN cell awaiting judgment.

The Srebrenica massacre and the years-long Serb siege of Sa-rajevo were events that turned world opinion against the Serbs and prompted Nato air strikes that helped bring the war to an end.

Opponents of the ICTY say its prosecutors have disproportion-ately targeted Serbs as 94 of 161 suspects charged were from the

Serbian side, while 29 were Croat and nine Bosnian Muslim. Prose-cutors have been criticised for not bringing charges against two other leaders of that era who have since died - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic.

Many Serbs, both in Bosnia and Serbia, regard the court as a pro-Western instrument, say Karadzic is innocent and believe his conviction would be an injus-tice for all Serbs. l

Names of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre are enscribed on a wall at a cemetery in Potocari, Bosnia and Herzegovina in this 2007 � le photo REUTERS

25D

TSportINSIDE

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Pakistan to give it their all for AfridiPakistan batsman Shoaib Malik vowed his team will do all it takes to pull o� a win against Australia and give skipper Shahid Afridi a winning send-o� at the World T20. Afridi has hinted at an imminent retirement from the game after being criticised for his side’s show in the T20 tournament. PAGE 27

Aussie Watson to retire after WT20Australian all-rounder Shane Watson announced he would retire from international cricket after the World T20 in India, bringing to an end a sterling career spanning 14 years. Watson, 34, shared his deci-sion to call it quits with teammates in Mohali. PAGE 26

From Arsenal to Spurs, � nally AbahaniAnthony Rohan Ricketts is in Dhaka. If you haven’t heard the name before, google it. There are plenty of images of Ricketts in di� erent football club jerseys; be it Arsenal, Tottenham or the England U21s. PAGE 28

Benteke bemused by silent treatmentLiverpool striker Christian Benteke had admitted he � nds it di� cult to understand why club manager Juergen Klopp is ignoring him. He has started just � ve of the last 16 games, having fallen behind Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino. PAGE 29

n AFP, Barcelona

Johan Cruy� , one of the greatest footballers in history, died on yesterday at the age of 68 after losing his battle with cancer, leaving an astonishingly rich legacy behind him.

One of the most exciting and gifted players ever to take the pitch, winning almost everything at club level in a glorious career not only as a player but also as a coach with Ajax and Barcelona.

The Dutchman was also the lynchpin of the Holland side, the driving force at the heart of his nation’s push to the World Cup � nal in 1974 where they lost a nar-

row and hard fought match 2-1 to West Germany.

What the Dutch did win was a great deal of admiration for their idea of “total football”, which � rst attracted attention at that time along with Johan Neeskens and Ruud Krol.

It was to be his only appear-ance at a World Cup.

After that run to the 1974 � nal he won the third of his three Bal-lon d’Or titles as he towered above the European game, having led Ajax to the European Cup three times in 1971, 1972 and 1973.

Cruy� had it all - vision, speed, passing ability and the knack of getting into attacking positions, a genius that resulted in 33 goals in

48 games at national level.He once said that he some-

times preferred to hit the post than score, so much did he love the sound, and always said he was in the sport for its beauty, rather than merely to win.

He turned professional at 17 and quickly made the number 14 shirt one to be feared as he progressed through the ranks of Ajax, becoming the leading scorer in Holland in only his third season with 33 goals.

Ajax’s success in Europe made Cruy� a household name, and when his compatriot Rinus Michels held the reins at Barce-lona, he tempted Cruy� to try his luck in Spain. l

Johan Cruy� , the total footballer

Name: Johan Hendrikus Cruij� Born: 25 april 1947 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)Position: Forward, Attacking Mid� elderCaps: 48 (33 goals)Clubs: Ajax, FC Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante, FeyenoordAs a manager Johan Cruy� was active for Ajax and BarcelonaTROPHIESAJAX1 Intercontinental Cup (1972)3 European Cup (1971, 1972, 1973)2 European Super Cup (1972, 1973)8 Dutch Championship (1966, ‘67, ‘68, ‘70, ‘72, ‘73, ‘82, ‘83)4 Dutch Cup (1967, 1971, 1972, 1983)BARCELONA1 Spanish Championship (1974), 1 Spanish Cup (1978)FEYENOORD1 Dutch Championship (1984), 1 Dutch Cup (1984)

As a manager Johan Cruy� won the European Cup (1992), the Euro-pean Cup Winners Cup (1989), four Spanish Championships (1991, ‘92, ‘93, ‘94), and the Spanish Cup (1992) with Barcelona, and the Europe-an Cup Winners Cup (1987) and two Dutch Cups (1986, 1987) with AjaxHONOURS 3 time European Footballer of the Year (1971, 1973, 1974)1 time IFFHS European Player of the Century

Cruy� began playing on the streets of Amsterdam and started his career with local side Ajax.

Lithe, wiry and strong he made his international debut in September 1966, scoring in a 2-2 European quali� er against Hungary.

Moved to Barcelona in 1973 for what was then a world record transfer fee of around $2 million.

He won the second of his three Ballon d’Or awards in 1973 and in 1974 helped Barcelona win their � rst league title in nearly 15 years. He also endeared himself to locals by choosing a Catalan name for his son Jordi (born 1974).

Cruy� led the Dutch national team, the masters of "Total Football", to the 1974 World Cup � nal.

They lost 2-1 to hosts West Germany after taking a 1-0 lead but he was named player of the tournament, famed for close control and dazzling trickery with the ball including the famous "Cruy� Turn".

He retired from international football in 1977, the year before the Dutch again reached and lost the World Cup � nal in Argentina to the hosts. He had scored 33 goals in 48 matches.

Cruy� then entered management, coaching Ajax to European Cup Winners’ Cup success in 1987.

He returned to Barcelona as manager in 1988.

In 1999 he was voted European Player of the Century.

CRUYFF QUOTES Simplicity“Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is”.

Juggling“Technique is not about being able to juggle a ball 1,000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is about passing the ball with one touch, at the right speed, onto the right foot of your team mate.”

Football wealth“Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a bag of mon-ey score a goal.”

Time � ies“When you play a match, it is statis-tically proven that players actually have the ball three minutes on av-erage. So, the most important thing is what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines weth-er you’re a good player or not.”

26DT Sport

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Jordan 8-0 BangladeshAl Dardour 7, 23, 40, Deeb 29-P, Al Rawashdeh 32, Faisal 63, Al Naber 82, Samir 90+2-P

RESULT

Aussie Watson to retire after World T20n AFP, Mohali

Australian all-rounder Shane Wat-son announced Thursday he would retire from international cricket af-ter the ongoing World Twenty20 in India, bringing to an end a sterling career spanning 14 years.

Watson, 34, shared his decision to call it quits with teammates in Mohali, where Australia take on Pa-kistan in a World T20 group match on Friday, Cricket Australia said.

“It’s been over the last week that it’s really become clear that now re-ally is the right time to retire from all international cricket,” Watson said in a statement issued by the national cricket body.

Watson had retired from Test cricket at the end of last year’s Ashes tour of England and has not played one-day internationals since September.

Watson, who is also retiring from � rst-class cricket, would how-

ever remain available for lucrative T20 leagues around the world.

Other players such as the West Indies’ Chris Gayle have also stopped playing Tests in order to earn big bucks in tournaments like Australia’s Big Bash or the Indian Premier League.

An opening batsman and a relia-ble pacer, Watson scored 5,757 runs from 190 ODIs.

He also took 168 ODI wickets and holds the Australian record for

the highest ODI score, an unbeaten 185 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2011.

Always a dangerous player in the shortest format, he has scored 1,400 runs from 56 T20 internation-als so far while taking 46 wickets.

Watson was the last surviving player of the Australian golden era, having played along with the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist.l

Bengal Tigers end WC quali� ers with 8-0 lossn Tribune Report

Bangladesh concluded their 2018 Fifa World Cup second round qual-i� ers with a comprehensive 8-0 defeat against Jordan at Amman International Stadium yesterday.

It was the Bengal Tigers’ biggest loss in the quali� ers. The men in red and green � nished their quali-fying campaign with only a single point from eight matches.

In the day’s other Group B en-counter, Asian champions Austral-ia thrashed Tajikistan 7-0 at home. The Socceroos remained at the top of the group with 18 points, two more than second-placed Jordan. Australia and Jordan will face each other in a couple of days’ time to determine which of the two sides � nish as the group champions.

Bangladesh’s temporary head coach, Spaniard Gonzalo Sanchez Moreno � elded an unusual starting XI with only Atiqur Rahman Me-shu, Ariful Islam, Shakil Ahmed, Shahedul Islam Shahed, Jamal Bhuiyan and Rayhan Hasan the regular faces in the line-up.

Hamza al Dardour netted a hat-trick for the home side while Ab-dallah Deeb, Yusef al Rawashdeh, Baha Faisal, Yousef al Naber and Ahmed Samir adding one apiece. l

Bando, Rayon Tex win big in BGMEA Cup Footballn Tribune Report

Bando Design Ltd, Rayon Tex Group and Torque Fashions Ltd earned full points from their respec-tive matches in the BGMEA

Cup football tournament yesterday.The evening at the Interna-

tional Turkish Hope School began with a tight game between Com� t Composite Knit Ltd and Versatile Group. Tanin opened the scoring for Com� t before Jonny equalised in the dying moments as both set-tled for a point each.

Bando rode on a brace from Mridul, and one each from Imran and Mamun, as they handed Ster-ling Group a comfortable 4-0 defeat.

Later in the night, Rayon Tex hammered six goals past Tamanna Apparels Group as they won 6-2.

Man of the Match Sayem scored one while Tomal added two goals for the winners alongside one each from Kufu, Rashedul and Zakir. Ra-sel and Jashim netted the consola-tion goal for Tamanna Apparels.

Meanwhile, Torque Fashions rode on a solitary goal from Rana to beat Epyllion Group 1-0.

BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman, vice presidents Moham-mad Nasir and Ferdous Parvez Bivon, former vice president Riaz bin Mahmud, ex-president Ab-dus Salam Murshedy and director Monsurul Haq Monju were pres-ent among other dignitaries and presented the Man of the Match awards on the day. l

Bando’s Mridul receives the Man of the Match award from BGMEA senior vice president Faruq Hasan (L) at ITHS ground yesterday COURTESY

Com� t 1-1 Versatile

Bando 4-0 Sterling

Epyllion 0-1 Torque

Rayon Tex 6-2 Tamanna

RESULTS

2016CUP

Lata Mondal sends one in the air during Women’s World T20 Group B match between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Delhi yesterday INTERNET

WHAT JAHANARA ALAM SAID

BRIEF SCORESBangladesh Women 113/9 (20 ov)Fargana 36, Sharmin 19; Anam 2/12

Pakistan Women 114/1 (16.3 ov)Sidra 53, Bismah 43; Salma 1/15

Pakistan women won by 9 wickets

This tournament, we are the youngest team here. We didn’t win any game, but it was part of cricket. We gathered experience, and hopefully it will help us in the next tournament. We need to do better physically and mentally. We have lack of experience. We haven’t played too many international matches.

Sport 27D

T

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Taskin returns home todayBangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, who was recently suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate e� ect, returns home today from Bangalore. Despite being banned by the International Cricket Council due to an illegal bowling action a few days ago, the right-arm tearaway stayed back with the side in India. Taskin’s bowling action came into question following the Tigers’ � rst round clash of the ongoing 2016 World Twenty20 against the Netherlands. He underwent a bowling action test at an ICC-accredited laboratory in Chennai following which it was declared that some of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree tolerance level permitted under the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Actions.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

BFF election on April 30The upcoming Bangladesh Football Federation election will take place on April 30 this year, con� rmed the country’s football governing body following a meeting of its executive committee at BFF House yesterday. The last election was held on the exact same date four years ago when current BFF president Kazi Salahuddin was re-elected for a second term without opposition. Much like the previous instance, Mezbahuddin Ahmed will perform his duties as the chief election commissioner and returning o� cer. Mahfuzur Rahman Siddique and Atikur Rahman Khan, meanwhile, will be the election commissioners. The executive committee also lifted the ban on Farashganj SC and Cox’s City Club following their appeals. Farashganj, who were suspended in the middle of the league campaign last year, will be allowed to play in the top-tier from next season onwards.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

Johnson jailed for 6 yrs for child sex crimeFormer England international soccer player Adam Johnson was jailed for six years yesterday after being found guilty of sex o� ences involving an under-age, 15-year-old girl. Johnson was convicted earlier this month of sexual activity with a child, having already admitted kissing and grooming the teenager. “Adam Johnson exploited a young star-struck fan, actively grooming her over a number of months in single-minded pursuit of his own sexual grati� cation,” said Gerry Wareham.

–REUTERS

QUICK BYTES

Pakistan's captain Shahid Afridi bats during a training session at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali yesterday ahead of their World T20 match against Australia today AFP

Gayle back to open against Proteas as Windies eye semisn AFP, Nagpur

Chris Gayle is set to return to the top of the batting order as the West Indies seek to clinch a World Twenty20 semi-� nals spot today against a South African side who can ill a� ord to lose.

The Windies big-hitting opener tweaked a hamstring while � elding against Sri Lanka on Sunday night and was dropped down to number six, much to the disappointment of the Bangalore crowd.

Gayle’s services weren’t required as replacement opener Andre Fletcher hit 84 not out to power the Windies to a seven-wicket victory.

It was the West Indies’ second win of the tournament after a Gay-le century, which included 11 sixes, inspired them to a six-wicket tri-umph over England in their opening match. They sit top of Group One on four points and a defeat of South Africa in Nagpur would see them become the second team to qualify for the last four, after New Zealand.

Gayle and Fletcher are expected to open the Windies’ with Johnson Charles moving down.

“I’ve opened the batting with him on many occasions so I know

what sort of a player he is, he is very dangerous and he’s capable of getting big scores as well,” Gayle said of Fletcher.

South Africa desperately need a victory after picking up one win from two games as they bid to show the world that they have what it takes to clinch a � rst inter-national trophy.

They are yet to get up to full-steam after a stunning opening defeat to a record 230-run chase by England was followed by a win over minnows Afghanistan, leaving them precariously placed in third spot, two points behind England.

If South Africa fail to beat the Windies then England would be in pole position to qualify from the group going into the last round-robin game.

The Proteas’ preparations were dealt a blow after all-rounder JP Duminy was ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury he picked up in the 37-run win over Afghani-stan on Sunday.

The right-arm spinner, who bats left-handed, has been in � ne form, making scores of 54 and 29 without being dismissed.

“JP is a big player for us. Not hav-

ing him is a big blow and does up-set the balance of the side,” South Africa coach Russell Domingo said in quotes carried by Cricinfo.

The absence of Duminy how-ever means the tournament debut of Aaron Phangiso’s new bowling action. The left-arm slow bowler was cleared to play just days be-fore South Africa left for India af-ter it was earlier announced that he had been banned from bowling in domestic cricket. Domingo said spin was going to be important in Nagpur and that he was con� dent Phangiso would get “game time”.

TEAMSSouth Africa (from): Faf du Ples-sis (captain), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Imran Ta-hir, Chris Morris, David Miller, Aar-on Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.West Indies (from): Darren Sammy (captain), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Carlos Braithwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Hold-er, Ashley Nurse, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Je-rome Taylor, Evin Lewis.l

Pakistan to give it their all for Afridi at WT20, says Malikn AFP, Mohali

Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik yesterday vowed his team will do all it takes to pull o� a win against Australia and give skipper Shahid Afridi a winning send-o� at the World Twenty20.

Afridi, who no longer plays Test and one-day cricket, has hinted at an imminent retirement from the game after being criticised for his side’s disappointing show in the marquee tournament.

Pakistan have lost two of their three group matches and another defeat against Australia in Mohali today will throw them out of the competition.

“This is going to be Afridi’s last World Cup. I respect him a lot, he is like an elder brother to me,” Malik said at the pre-match press confer-ence.

“Nobody will be happier than me if we can win this World Cup for Afridi.

“Every player is trying to give 100 percent. Winning or losing is not in our hands, but each one of us is taking responsibility and try-ing to give our best,” he said.

Veteran Afridi has played 97 T20 internationals and scored 1,391 runs while taking 97 wickets.

Malik, 34, said the team was looking at plugging the loopholes and come out � ring against Aus-tralia, who have one win and a loss from two outings so far.

“Our � rst goal is to win tomor-row. We missed out on scoring singles in our last game. Nobody is perfect. We are trying to improve our skills,” he said.

A win against Australia is the minimum Pakistan need to keep their tournament hopes alive.

Malik also sought to dismiss talk of friction in the Pakistani dressing room, blaming the team’s poor per-formance for the speculation.

“Nobody talked about a rift in our camp in 2009 when we won the World T20. Six of us were not talking to each other, we still won. When you lose games, all the talk starts.”l

3:30PM, Group 2, ChandigarhAustralia v Pakistan

8:00PM, Group 1, NagpurSouth Africa v West Indies

TODAY'S MATCHES

Maasranga TV, Gazi TV, Star Sports 1

28DT Sport

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

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01: Who scored the �rst T20I century for Bangladesh?Ans: Tamim Mashrafe Taskin

02:Who won the �rst World T20 in 2007?Ans: India Zimbabwe Afghanistan

03:In which year did Bangladesh host the World T20?Ans: 2014 2004 2015

BFF vice president Kazi Nabil Ahmed (L) gestures during the draw ceremony of the season-opening KFC Independence Cup at the BFF House yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Rohan Ricketts, from Arsenal to Spurs, and � nally Abahani

Expectations in BangladeshI try not to expect too much. I try to see how things are, learn about how they (Bangladesh footballers) live and play. Then I try to inspire them from my experience of playing for some big teams of the world. I don’t have expectations. I just want to be a part of the group and help lift the level. I’m looking forward to a new journey, new destination.

What do you prefer? Individual brilliance or team performance?Football is a team game. It’s not like tennis or any other individual game.

If [Andres] Iniesta and my friend Jermaine Defoe come to play here, it is not going to be so easy. To my understanding, it’s a team game and you got to have good relationship with the team. Then it’s easy for everybody.

Favourite clubI was in Arsenal for many years. I learned a lot from Arsene Wenger. Many years in Tottenham as well, there were good friends like Robbie Keane. But, I had a baby when I was in MLS (USA’s Major League Soccer) so maybe it was a special time.

William Gallas, David Jenkins, Laurie Brown and Jimmy Brain; you were one among very few players who moved from Arsenal to Spurs, the bitter north London rivals.....

Now, it’s a big thing but that time it wasn’t too big. They spoke about it in the news but for me, I love football. So, it’s no problem. I had to change but I’m proud because I think I’m only the [� fth] player to switch from Arsenal to Spurs.

Iconic players played with or againstCristiano Ronaldo. I played against

him twice when he was in Manchester United; in Old Tra� ord and in White Hart Lane (home ground of Tottenham). Paul Scholes, who is one of my favourite players. Most of the Manchester United team. Then Dennis Bergkamp. I played a game with Zidane. Zidane had a big game. I was playing in the MLS and I was on my way to England when Zidane’s agency called me to play (charity) games with his friends. I played two games with Zidane. Those were special.

Football, as it is in South Asia and

the rest of the worldI see the big changes are the climate and the weather. Like, in South Asia the game is played at a slower tempo and then the next thing is the pitch level. It is not the same as premier league level. When Bangladesh played against Australia [in Perth], you saw that the ball moves quickly. This is how football is played in top-level. So the pitches are the big di� erences. I played in front of 70,000 fans in Old Tra� ord and I played in India for a big team in Dempo but there were around 100 fans only.

English players coming to South AsiaMany English players don’t even think of coming over here. I spoke to some of my friends in England [Wednesday]. They said, “Hey, where are you?” When I replied Bangladesh, they said, “Huh? Bangladesh?” They don’t understand. When I went to India their reaction was the same. But now they want to go to India because the ISL (Indian Super League) football is big. –SHISHIR HOQUE

Anthony Rohan Ricketts, better known as Rohan Ricketts, is in Dhaka. If you haven’t heard the name before, google it. There are plenty of images of Ricketts in di� erent football club jerseys; be it Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur or the England Under-21s. It doesn’t end there. He played against a young Cristiano Ronaldo and went on to face legendary footballers like Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Dennis Bergkamp et al. He also shared the pitch with French football icon Zinedine Zidane, who paid a social visit in Bangladesh a decade ago. However, Ricketts is not in Dhaka for social activities. The 33-year old attacking mid� elder is here for a trial with four-time professional league champions Abahani Limited. Ricketts has featured in 11 di� erent domestic leagues – England, Canada, USA, Hungary, Moldova, Germany, Ireland, India, Ecuador, Thailand and Hong Kong – and underwent his � rst practice session in the capital’s Abahani � eld yesterday afternoon, donning the jersey number 28. The Clapham lad, who once played in front of a crowd of 68,000 fans at the Theatre of Dreams in Old Tra� ord, Manchester, talked with the local media before training. Here are some excerpts:

KFC Independence Cup sans Sheikh Jamal DCn Tribune Report

The opening tournament of this season’s professional football, the KFC Independence Cup, is all set to kick o� this Wednesday without the participation of Bangladesh Premier League champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi and Arambagh KC.

The draw ceremony was held at the Bangladesh Football Fed-eration House yesterday where Abahani Limited, the four-time professional league champions, and former treble winners Sheikh Russel KC were placed in Group B. Team BJMC, Feni Soccer Club and Rahmatganj MFS are the other

sides of the group.Reigning champions Mohammed-

an SC were pitted in Group A along with Ctg Abahani, Muktijoddha SKC, Brothers Union and newly-promoted Uttar Baridhara Club. It was earlier announced that 12 top-� ight teams will partake in the curtain-raiser but Sheikh Jamal and Arambagh decided not to enrol their names.

Mohammedan will take on Uttar Baridhara in the tournament open-er. All the matches will be held at Bangabandhu National Stadium.

BFF senior vice president Abdus Salam Murshedy and vice presi-dent Kazi Nabil Ahmed were pres-ent in the draw ceremony. l

Sport 29D

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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

DAY’S WATCHCRICKET

STAR SPORTS 23:30 PM

ICC World T20 2016Pakistan v Australia

7:30 PMSouth Africa v West Indies

FOOTBALL SONY ESPN

8:30 AMFIFA World Cup Quali� ers

Peru v Venezuela 7:00 AM (Saturday)

Brazil v Uruguay

TEN HD2:40 PM

A-League 2015/16Melbourne v Western Sydney

1:45 AMSky Bet Championship

Peterborough v Coventry City

TEN ACTION11:30 PM

Sky Bet ChampionshipSwindon Town v Wigan Athletic

BASKETBALL SONY SIX6:00 AM

NBA season 2015/16Oklahoma City v Utah LA Clippers v Portland

TENNIS SONY SIX HD

9:00 PMATP 1000 Masters 2016

Miami Open Day 3

Afghanistan's goalkeeper Ovays Azizi

punch the ball beside Japanese

forward Shinji Okazaki during the � rst half of

their World Cup Asian Group E qualifying

match in Saitama yesterday. Japan

won 5-0AFP

Benteke bemused by silent treatment from Reds boss Kloppn Reuters

Liverpool striker Christian Benteke had admitted he � nds it di� cult to understand why club manager Juer-gen Klopp is ignoring him.

The Belgian has started just � ve of the last 16 games, having fallen behind Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino in the pecking order eight months after he was signed for 32.5 million pounds ($45.78 million) from Aston Villa.

“Some team mates said that I was lucky with the arriv-al of Klopp because I certainly would play,” Benteke told Belgium’s Sport/Voetbalmagazine.

“When your coach says he wanted to take you to Dort-mund and a little later you sit at the same club and he ig-nores you, it is hard to understand. In January, I didn’t want to leave and it’s still my desire to succeed at Liverpool,” Benteke added. “We’ll see at the end of the season.”l

Champions League set for two groups, 16 teams n AFP, London

The Champions League could face a radical makeover with two groups of just eight teams each in what media reports claimed Wednesday represents a step closer to a Euro-pean Super League.

The plans are aimed at pleasing the contintent’s major clubs from the likes of Germany, Italy, Spain and England who fear that the current Champions League, which features eight groups of four, does not attract su� cient commercial returns.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper claimed Wednesday that the chang-es would see the top clubs guar-anteed at least 14 money-spinning

games against other leading sides. The report also said that the revamp is being driven by the concerns of continental clubs they are being left behind by huge revenues generated by England’s Premier League.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph pointed to the draw for this sea-son’s tournament as highlighting a � xture list that the major clubs want to avoid - pot four for the event included BATE Borisov from Belarus, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ka-zakhstan’s Astana.

However, as the Champions League is in the � rst term of a three-year rights contract it would be di� cult for any change until af-ter the 2017-18 edition.l

Man City’s Sterling ruled out for up to eight weeksn Reuters, London

Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling could be out of action for up to eight weeks due to a groin injury, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old, signed from Liverpool for a British record 49 million pounds ($69.2 million) last year, was hurt during the Manchester derby defeat by United on Sunday.

He will miss City’s Champions League quarter-� nal against Paris St Germain and will need to prove his � t-ness to play for England in the European Championship starting in June.l

During her interview session, a common question was thrown her way - if she was to name any one actor other than Amitabh Bachchan that she’d like to work with, who would that be? She laughed and replied, “Well, in Bollywood everyone dreams to work with Big B and you got me there too! But yes, after him, I really want to work with the Khan’s. Aamir, Salman and of course King Shah Rukh Khan. I have a secret crush on Hrithik, he is my dream hero, so if I got a chance I will never miss working with him!” Upon hearing this, she was asked if she would try her luck with Hrithik if he was single, she responded with a � at “no,” a small smile playing on her lips.

Finally, she was asked about her crown and she revealed some interesting info. She won her Miss India crown when she was only 17 years old. However, there was a small glitch that may have led to her losing her crown and her certi� cates. She said, “Oh, that was a scary memory! According to the rule, contestants have to be 17 years old by February 1. My birthday is on February 24. So technically, I was not 17 when the � nale took place! I was about to loose everything I earned from my hard work. Then former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen stood up for me and gave me her support. I dedicated my crown to her because if she was not there, I wouldn’t be able to � ght alone.”

Ever since, she never looked back. In 2013 she acted in her

� rst Bollywood movie Singh Saab The Great with Sunny Deol. However, she rose to fame with Yo Yo Honey Singh’s music video, “Love Dose”. Urvashi was asked if doing her � rst � lm was a wrong choice for her,

to which she took a few minutes before

responding. “No, I don’t want to judge. I was too young to

take any decision. Day by day I will mature and will be able to take good decisions as well as make better choices. I don’t want to get lost in the past. I just want to think about the future,” she explained.

Bhaag Johnny (2015) and Sanam Re (2016) are two of her recent releases, making her eye candy in Bollywood. Currently she’s working in a new movie, Great Grand Masti the sequel of Grand Masti. She said, “After Sanam Re I got positive response from my audience. Now I am really waiting for the release of Great Grand Masti. This may just be my turning point because I am playing the lead.” The movie is set to release this June.

Urvashi Rautela is now hoping for the best. She is waiting for another crown from Bollywood as she believes she’s getting used to it! She won the title of Miss Asian Supermodel 2011 in South Korea. Later, she competed in the Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International and won the title. In 2015 she was crowned Miss Diva 2015 and represented India at Miss Universe 2015 pageant. Once her interview session came to a close, she became the centre of attraction for sel� e hunters, with cameras � ashing away. l

Showtime30DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

Urvashi, Urvashi, take it easy Urvashi

Runa Laila with stars in Mumbai

n Ashfaq Nafi

Popular singer Runa Laila is currently in Mumbai to attend a press conference as the judge of the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards. Sparing time out of her schedule, the Bangladeshi singer has been chatting and dining with her Mumbai-mates

Posting pictures with Lata Mangeshkar, Runa wrote on her o� cial Facebook page, “Honoured to meet the living legend and to have dinner with her and her illustrious family !!!”

Runa also had a great chit-chat and dining experience with Pakistani singer Adnan Sami who is presently an Indian citizen. With pictures of her visit to Adnan Sami’s residence in West Andheri, Lokhandwala, Runa wrote on her o� cial Facebook page “Had dinner with the multi-talented Adnan Sami ji and his lovely wife Roya ji at their home.”

Runa also met superstar Salman Khan and his father and renowned scriptwriter Salim Khan during her visit to Mumbai. l

Boishakhi Mou

n Showtime Desk

Sadia Islam Mou may not work in TV productions or TV commercials as often as she used to, but when called for shoots for Bishwo Rang, a famous fashion house of Bangladesh, she never says no. It has become routine for her. Mou was found

busy yesterday in a shoot for their Boishakhi collection in Narayanganj. Designer Biplob Saha was directing the shoot while photographer Shafawat Khan Shafu was capturing the new designs of Bishwo Rang in his frame. Along with Mou, Swagata, Shoshee, Moutushi Biswas and Faria also worked in the shoot. l

PHOTO: BISHWO RANG

“Oh, that was a scary memory! According to the rule, contestants have to be 17 years old by February 1. My birthday is on February 24”

n Parthe Sarker

Woke up this morning to � nd out Urvashi Rautela missed her � ight to Dhaka. Worried she’d miss her appearance at the BMW’s launching event for their new series, I worried that the anxious crowds would have to go without getting a glimpse of Love Dose girl Urvashi Rautela. Luckily, Urvashi caught the next � ight to Dhaka and made it to the event. Although the event was all about the launch, the audience couldn’t help but inquire about Miss India 2012’s Bollywood life.

Showtime 31D

TFRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

WHAT TO WATCH

Scream 4Star Movies 11:47pm Ten years have passed, and Sidney Prescott, who has put herself back together thanks in part to her writing, is visited by the Ghostface Killer. Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Lucy Hale, Roger Jackson

The Spiderwick ChroniclesHBO 7:34pmUpon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, � nd themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures. Cast: Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Sarah Bolger, Andrew McCarthy

The CourierZee Studio 5:30pmA specialist carrier is hired to deliver a mysterious case to the underworld’s most dangerous hitman. The courier’s attempts to � nd Sivle only lead to killings.Cast: Je� rey Dean Morgan, Josie Ho, Til Schweiger, Miguel Ferrer, Lili Taylor

AnacondaMovies Now 7:45pmA “National Geographic” � lm crew is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who takes them along on his quest to capture the world’s largest - and deadliest - snake. Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight

The Dark Knight RisesWarner Bros 9:30pmEight years after the Joker’s reign of anarchy, the Dark Knight, with the help of the enigmatic Selina, is forced from his imposed exile to save Gotham City, now on the edge of total annihilation, from the brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane. Cast: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway

World TV premiere of Ekattorer Khudiramn Showtime Desk

A children’s � lm based on the Liberation War, Ekattorer Khudiram, is all set to have it’s world TV premiere tomorrow on Channel i at 2:40pm. Written and directed by playwright Mannan Hira, the � lm depicts the story of the Liberation War and it revolves around a chain of events that occurred at a district town in the country in March, 1971. There was a school named Sonamukhi High School that stages a play on its premises every year. Like the previous years, the school was to stage a play titled Shahid Khudiram. Khokan Banerjee, a teacher of the school, instructs the play while students of the school play roles.

The rehearsal for the play is going on in full swing as the time for the play’s launch is

drawing near. Khokan excites the students by narrating the stories behind the preparations taken before the Liberation War, during the rehearsal of the play. Thus, the cast and crew gradually gets involved with the cause of the war. This is how the story of the � lm goes forward.

The government grant � lm casts a group of popular actors such as Mamunur Rashid, Fazlur Rahman Babu, Dr Enamul Haq, Momena Chowdhury, Munsi Mojnu, Chanchal, Chitra Chobi, Feroz Al Mamun, Sazzad Saju and others. The � lm also casts a group of child artistes – Sachcha, Rudra, Shakil, Antara, Modhumoni, Munna and Jewel Miji, among others. Mahfuzur Rahman is the cinematographer of the � lm, while Sujay Sham is behind the � lm’s music direction. l

n Showtime Desk

Bangladeshi short � lms Colourkite and Dream Lithe have been invited at the second session of the

International Youth Film Festival of Langesund (IYFFL). The festival will be held this year from July 7-11 at the beautiful coastal town of Langesund in Southern Norway.

Both � lms, made by young Bangladeshi � lmmaker Zayed Siddiki, were produced under the banner of Homo Re� ector Productions. The short � lms

portray the harsh socio-economic reality of the disadvantaged street children of urban ghettos in Bangladesh. Major casts in Colourkite include prominent and talented actors Shely Ahsan and Habib Arinda while the two debutants Oishi and Kazi Bappa played the major roles in Dream Lithe. Before this Colourkite were invited and screened in seven international � lm festivals and grabbed three awards. Besides, Dream Lithe has also received invitation from three international � lm festivals so far. To express his feelings director of the � lms Zayed Siddiki said, “Short � lms are not that popular in our country but in western countries and in the far East, it’s very popular. So, receiving an invitation from Norway is an honour for the whole team behind the � lms.” He also said, if we can increase the facilities of screening short � lms in our country the medium will be very popular and we will get a lot of � lm activists. l

n Showtime Desk

There’s not much time left before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theatres, but the audience can have a sneak peek at Wonder Woman’s famous armored bracelets to look at while they are waiting.

On Friday, actress Gal Gadot tweeted a new image of herself as Wonder Woman from the � lm, her wrists crossed in defensive mode wearing her bracelets.

“It’s almost here!,” Gadot tweeted. “One more week!! Can’t wait to � nally share this with you all!! #WonderWoman #WhoWillWin #BV”

Not only were fans excited to see this new reveal but so was comic book artist Adam Hughes,

who noticed the similarities between the live action photo and the Wonder Woman cover he drew for DC Comics.

This new image is also getting fans excited for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie starring Gadot, irected by Patty Jankins. The upcoming DC Comics origin � lm tells the story of Amazon princess Diana and how she became the legendary superhero.Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theatres on March 24 in Australia and on March 25 in the UK, US and Bangladesh as well. While the audience can all see Gadot in action as Wonder Woman next week, the Wonder Woman origin � lm doesn’t debut in theatres until June 2017.Source: CNET l

Here comes Wonder Woman

Colourkite and Dream Lithe at Film Festival in Norway

Back Page32DT

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016

BTRC TO GO BROADBAND: ANSWER ISPAB COMPLAINT PAGE 15

WATSON TO RETIRE AFTER WT20 PAGE 26

HERE COMES WONDER WOMAN PAGE 31

PM distributes Swadhinata Padakn BSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yes-terday said that Bangladesh would surely go ahead conquering all barriers and hurdles in the coming days to make its position amidst world comity as a victorious nation.

“I have � rm con� dence that we will be able to make the country a prosperous one, and none will be able to suppress us. I believe, we will be able to overcome all barriers and make a prosperous country to pay the debt of the millions of martyrs,” she said at a programme arranged to distribute the Swadhinata Padak, the highest state award, among 15 individuals and an organisation at Osmani Memorial Hall.

She also urged everybody to work together to materialise the cherished goal of independence.

This year 15 eminent persons and Bangladesh Navy were given the award in recognition to their outstanding contribution to dif-ferent levels of the society. The premier formally handed over the award to the recipients and rela-tives of the awardees who got the award posthumously.

Each awardee received a gold medal, a certi� cate of honour and a sum of Tk3 lakh this year.

In the category of “Independ-ence and Liberation War,” the award was given to Finance Min-ister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Mohammad Imaj Uddin Pramanik, Moulavi Achmat Ali Khan (posthu-mously), Squadron Leader (retd) Badrul Alam Bir Uttam, Shahid M Abdul Ali, AKM Abdur Rouf (post-humously), KM Shihabuddin (post-

humously) and Syed Hasan Imam.Abdus Salam and late Ra� qul

Islam, who played role in earning the Unesco recognition to Ekushey February as International Mother Language Day, were given the Swa-dhinata Padak in Mother Language category.

In science and technology cat-egory, late Professor Dr Maqsudul Alam and in medical science cate-gory Dr MR Khan received the Swa-dhinata Padak.

In the area of literature, noted poet Nirmalendu Goon and in the area of culture, celebrated singer Rezwana Chowdhury Bonya were given the Swadhinata Padak this year.

Bangladesh Navy was given the award in recognition to the force’s contribution to the Liberation War, stride in protecting country’s in-dependence and sovereignty in maritime areas and public service activities.

Cabinet Secretary Sha� ul Alam read out the citation on the award

recipients and conducted the func-tion, organised by the Cabinet Di-vision. Noted artiste Hasan Imam also spoke on the occasion on be-half of the award recipients.

Cabinet members, PM’s advis-

ers, deputy speaker, parliament members, chiefs of three services, high civil and military o� cials, diplomats and relatives of the award recipients were present at the programme. l

Johan Cruy� dies at 68 after cancer battlen AFP

Johan Cruy� , one of the greatest footballers in history, died on Thursday at the age of 68 from lung cancer, his family announced.

The Dutchman “died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard-fought battle with cancer,” said a statement on Cruy� ’s o� cial website.

Cruy� won three European Cups as a player with Ajax Amsterdam and Ballon d’Or titles in 1971 with Ajax and 1973 and 1974 with Barcelona, where he starred from 1973 to 1978.Cruy� was also named Europe’s player of the century in 1999. l

He was the incarnation of Total Football that took the Dutch team to the World Cup � nal in 1974. As a coach, Cruy� led Barcelona to their � rst European Cup title in 1992.

“He was the best player of all time,” French legend Michel Platini told AFP.

“The ‘14’ will never be the same. RIP Johan Cruy� ,” said Spanish Xabi Alonso on Twitter in a tribute refer-ring to Cruy� ’s number 14 shirt. l

Dhaka’s dream of drinkable tap watern Abu Hayat Mahmud

Despite di� erent projects by the Dhaka Wasa, residents of the capi-tal are getting foul-odoured water as they head into summer months.

As part of one its ongoing mega projects, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) is replacing water pipelines across the city. Once the project is com-pleted by the end of this year, the city’s residents are supposed to get drinkable water straight out of the tap, according to Wasa o� cials.

But such promises seem far-fetched to residents of Dhaka, a city of over 17 million, who more

than often su� er from disrupted water supply and develop water-borne diseases.

Several Dhaka Wasa o� cials told the Dhaka Tribune that sup-plying drinkable water is a colossal challenge because of unplanned development, unapproved set-tlements and lack of awareness among landlords in the city.

But the Wasa chief insisted that the supplied water has always been safe to drink.

“Wasa’s supplied water is always pure and safe to drink. Some might be getting dirty water for pipe leak-age that occurred during road dig-ging or other reasons,” said Wasa

Managing Director Taqsem A Khan.He also blamed landlords for not

cleaning reserve water tanks in the basements of their buildings.

Taqsem said there would be no need to boil tap water once all supply pipelines are replaced by December.

However, as of March, many ar-eas in the city continue to receive dubious-smelling water.

The Dhaka Tribune spoke to residents from the city’s Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Ka-zipara, Farmgate, Rajabazar, Kala-bagan, Shajahanpur, Shantinagar, Badda – and they all complained about getting dirty water coming through their taps for the past cou-

ple of months.“Every year we see a water cri-

sis in this area, and often we � nd waste and insect coming through Wasa pipelines,” said Farid Ahmed, a resident of Tejkunipara.

Taslima Akhter, who lives in Kazipara, said they cannot use tap water for even household works as it has a horrible smell.

“Because of drinking smelly and dirty water, children are su� ering from stomach and skin diseases. So last month, we spent a lot of mon-ey to buy and drink water from jars and bottles,” she said.

Waterborne diseases are com-mon throughout the city. According

to ICDDRB, an average of 700 peo-ple received treatment for diarrhoea every day between the months of April and August in 2014 and 2015.

A 2014 study by the Internation-al Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases and Research Bangladesh (ICD-DRB) also found the presence of E Coli bacteria in 63% of the water supplied by Dhaka Wasa.

The summer months are arriving with increased risks of waterborne diseases, with Wasa o� cials warn-ing that the quality of water at Wasa treatment plants are unlikely to im-prove before monsoon because of the highly polluted waters of rivers Buriganga and Shitalakkhya. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with the winners of Swadhinata Padak at Osmani Memorial Auditorium yesterday BSS

Awardees CategoriesAbul Maal Abdul Muhith

Independence andLiberation War

Mohammad Imaj Uddin PramanikMoulavi Achmat Ali Khan (posthumously)Squadron Leader (retd) Badrul Alam Bir UttamShahid M Abdul AliAKM Abdur Rouf (posthumously)KM Shihabuddin (posthumously)Syed Hasan ImamAbdus Salam

Mother LanguageRa� qul Islam (posthumously)Professor Dr Maqsudul Alam (posthumously) Science and TechnologyDr MR Khan Medical Science Nirmalendu Goon LiteratureRezwana Choudhury Bannya Culture

Bangladesh Navy Liberation War andpublic service activities

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com