TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016 | Boishakh 27, 1423, Shaban 2, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 18 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

SECOND EDITION

MAYORALPLEDGES

D H A K A C I T Y C O R P O R A T I O N S

A city of � oods and droughtsn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Residents of metropolitan Dhaka continue to face acute shortage of drinking water in the summer and street � ooding and standing water during monsoon every year, de-spite Dhaka Water Supply and Sew-erage Authority’s (Wasa) claims that it is able to meet the citizens’ needs.

Dhaka north Mayor Annisul Huq and south Mayor Mohammad Say-

eed Khokon say they have been in constant communication with Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan, urging him to take preemp-tive measures before the dry sea-son and the monsoon season to prevent problems.

The three o� cials have also vis-ited the localities in Dhaka that are prone to water crisis and � ooding.

Mayors Annisul Huq and Sayeed Khokon told the Dhaka Tribune

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Poor maintenance behind gas crisis n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The natural gas crisis at Dhaka city households has been a long-stand-ing problem due to several issues regarding gas supply, pipeline maintenance and connections.

Talking to government o� cials and Dhaka-dwellers, as well as consulting several other sources, the Dhaka Tribune identi� ed � ve major problems that aid the gas cri-sis – out-of-date narrow pipelines,

illegal connections, ban on new connections, inadequate supply to the national grid, and frequent ac-cidents at source gas � elds, house-holds and other places.

In the heart of all these problems is the state-run Titas Gas Transmis-sion and Distribution Company Ltd, the sole gas distributor in the capital and its surrounding areas.

It covers Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Narsingdi, Manikganj,

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

DHAKA MAYORS: YEAR ONE

Water, gas crises plague the cityDhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq and Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon have completed their � rst year in o� ce, facing various challenges and initiating many short- and long-term schemes to turn Dhaka into a clean, green, and liveable city. The Dhaka Tribune explores the miseries the city people are su� ering from in the third part of a multi-part series

Sayeed Khokon Annisul Huq

A city of � oods and droughts

that the city dwellers have faced very little water crisis this summer and they would also feel more com-fort during this monsoon because of the initiatives taken to reduce � ood-ing and standing water in the city.

Wasa MD Tasqem A Khan’s promise that there will be no water shortage during summer this year has fallen woefully short.

The Dhaka Tribune spoke to residents of Merul Badda, Jamtala Rampura, Banasree, Bepari Goli in

Boro Moghbazar and Mirpur, who said they have had no water supply this summer, or the supply was so little it barely ful� lled their basic everyday needs.

In Merul Badda and Bepari Goli, residents have held protests de-manding water.

Taqsem Khan, however, denied that these were chronic problems in the city’s water supply. He told the Dhaka Tribune that these were “pockets of crisis,” where water

supply had been disrupted tempo-rarily for any of several reasons.

Wasa says it has the capacity to supply 2.25 billion litres of water a day in against a demand of 2.2 billion litres. Of Wasa’s water sup-ply, 87% comes from groundwater while the rest comes from its treat-ment plants.

Wasa, DNCC and DSCC o� cials have all claimed that there will be no street � ooding in the upcoming monsoon season. They pointed to

the fact that the city corporations had carried out signi� cant devel-opment works on the storm wa-ter drainage systems and surface drains in Dhaka. On the other hand Wasa o� cials said they had under-taken development works on its sewerage systems at the � ooding prone areas across the capital.

However, Wasa o� cials said the agency was able to provide only 30% of the sewerage facilities it would like to provide to the city dwellers, and the main reason be-hind this was a lack of funding.

The major part of its drainage system consists of canals, rivers and lakes that help reroute extra water out of Dhaka. It also uses a storm drainage network of around 261.39 square kilometres around the city.

The major canal systems in and around the capital are the Degun – Ibrahimur - Kallyanpur canal that drains out to the Turag River, the Dhanmondi – Paribagh – Gulshan – Banani – Mohakhali - Begunbari ca-nal that drains out to the Balu River and the Segunbagicha – Gerani - Dholaikhal canal that drains out to the Balu and Buriganga rivers.

There were originally 65 ca-nals, but over the course of time, the number came down to 43. Of these, 20 canals have already died out, many of them � lled up with garbage. Land grabbers are gradu-ally encroaching on the rest.

Dhaka’s administration has failed to recover occupied portions of the water bodies in and around the city.

DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq has urged concerned govern-ment authorities to hand over the city’s canals and lakes to the two city corporations for the sake of proper planning of drainage sys-tems. l

News2DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Poor maintenance behind gas crisisGazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Sherpur, Jamalpur and Kishoreganj districts.

According to sources at Titas, a majority of the pipelines installed in Dhaka are out-of-date by dec-ades – some are as many as 40 years old. These old pipelines are as narrow as 1.5-2 inches in diam-eter. No initiative to upgrade them has been taken till date.

If the pipes had been replaced with broader pipes, many house-holds would be spared from the cri-sis, said a top Titas o� cial, seeking anonymity.

Moreover, lack of proper main-tenance has caused natural-gas condensate to accumulate inside the pipes over time, which also ob-structs the normal gas � ow.

Natural-gas condensate is gase-ous hydrocarbon components that are present in natural gas extracted from the gas � elds.

Another big problem related to pipeline maintenance is the num-ber of leakages that have been re-

ported in recent years.Accidents due to unexpected

gas explosions have been on the rise increasing in a dramatic man-ner in recent times. According to the data provided by both Titas and Fire Service and Civil Defense, the number of such incidents have been several hundreds in the past few years. In 2014-2015 � scal year alone, the number of leakages re-ported in Dhaka and surrounding areas were 5,123, and the number of � re caused by such leakages were 282.

The most recent example of such incident is the horri� c � re ex-plosion in an Uttara � at earlier this year, which killed four members of the same family.

This situation indicates an im-mediate need for an awareness campaign among people about safety measures required to tackle situations like this, but more im-portantly, proper maintenance of the distribution pipelines and con-nections must be maintained by

the authorities concerned so that these accidents do not occur in the � rst place.

Illegal lines, lack of supplyAccording to Titas sources, around 300km of illegal gas distribution pipelines and 300,000 illegal con-nections have been detected so far in its jurisdiction. Most of these illegal pipelines were found in Dhaka, while some were found in Narayanganj, Narsingdi and Gazi-pur districts.

These illegal connections con-sume at least 250mmcfd (million cu-bic feet per day) of gas, causing the government a loss of several hun-dred crores of taka on a daily basis.

This problem may stem from the semi-o� cial ban that the gov-ernment imposed on the instal-lation of new gas pipelines a few years ago, Titas o� cials said.

What makes the situation worse is the lack of adequate supply to the national grid, said the o� cials.

Supply to household remains in-

adequate because Petrobangla, the state-owned oil and gas company, has been unable to supply the re-quired amount of gas to meet the ev-er-climbing demand, they claimed.

Titas has around 1.55 million residential clients and distributes around 1,700mmcfd of gas against a daily demand of 2,200mmcfd, they said.

“We have been facing these problems for a long time,” said Mir Moshiur Rahman, managing direc-tor of Titas.

“However, we are considering a few projects to alleviate the prob-lem of gas supply,” he told the Dha-ka Tribune.

He also said drives were under-way to � nd the illegal connections and disconnect them immediately when found.

Power interruptions equally problematicBesides gas crisis, Dhaka has been facing its share of power interrup-tions too.

Sources at two power distribu-tion companies in Dhaka – Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (De-sco) and Dhaka Power Distribu-tion Company Ltd (DPDC) – said frequent interruptions in the cap-ital’s power supply was caused by mainly overload in transformers and substations as well as worn-out power lines.

Development work, short cir-cuits, daily maintenance, work on installing new lines or re-installing old ones, excess demand on the consumers’ end and other prob-lems are also reasons behind the frequent interruptions, the said.

Several hundred kilometres of Desco’s 3,500km power lines are in dilapidated state, resulting in fre-quent interruptions in the power � ow, Desco o� cials told the Dhaka Tribune.

According to sources at the Pow-er Division, at least 382 of Desco’s 5,332 transformers were overload-ed, while 1,090 of the DPDC’s 9,348 transformers are overloaded. l

The � le photo taken in Dhaka's Jurain area shows containers put by low-income people in a queue to collect pure drinking water. Severe water crisis generally hits the area at this time of the year. The water is collected from a house whose owner supplies fresh water to poor people free of cost as an act of generosity MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Khaleda faces partymen’s anger over UP polls nominationsn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yester-day faced an odd situation when the party’s standing committee mem-bers asked her to investigate into the allegations that nominations from the party for UP chairman candidate posts were being sold.

The allegation was brought during a meeting at BNP chairperson’s Gul-shan o� ce to discuss the latest politi-cal situation and work out the party’s next course of action. At the meeting which started around 9:15pm, the questions were raised by almost all standing committee members.

Party insiders said the policy making leaders also urged the party leader to investigate media reports that said the party’s executive committee posts were being given to leaders in exchange for money and dedicated leaders were being dropped from the committee.

A standing committee member, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that Khaleda in reply to the allegations said they were all false and baseless and it was a govern-ment propaganda to weaken BNP.

The BNP chief also assured the party’s senior leaders that the ex-ecutive and other committees will be announced in time.

There were widespread rumours going around within the party cen-tring the UP elections. It was being alleged that dedicated BNP candi-dates were being deprived as a sec-tion of top level leaders are involved in the nomination selling process. l

News 3D

TTUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

The Supreme Court verdict rejecting war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami’s review petition being taken to Dhaka Central Jail yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Bangladesh conveys strong protest to Islamabadn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned Pakistan High Commis-sioner Shuja Alam and handed over a formal note protesting strongly the press release of Pakistan For-eign A� airs about Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Motiur Rahman Nizami.

Secretary (Bilateral) of the For-eign Ministry Mizanur Rahman summoned the high commissioner and handed over the note verbale.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Friday issued a press release expressing concern on dismissal of the review petition against the Su-preme Court verdict of the death sentence of Motiur Rahman Nizami, a convict of crimes against humani-ty and genocide in Bangladesh.

In the Note verbale, it was stated that by repeatedly taking the side of those Bangladesh nationals who are convicted of crimes against hu-manity and genocide, Pakistan had

once again acknowledged its direct involvement and complicity with the mass atrocity committed during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.

It is a matter of great regret that Pakistan continues to comment in the misguided defence of this con-victed criminal.

These uncalled reactions amount to direct interference in the internal a� airs of a sovereign country, which is totally unaccept-able, the note added.

The government of Bangladesh reiterated that the verdicts against the convicted individual Motiur Rahman Nizami had been handed down through an independent, sound, fair, impartial, open and transparent judicial process, and without any political interference.

The trials took solely into con-sideration the crimes committed by Nizami during 1971 and had noth-ing to do with his political identity or a� liation, the note stated.

The note refuted Pakistan’s labe-ling of the proceedings of the Bang-ladesh International Crimes Tribunal as “controversial trials” and a� rmed that Pakistan should no way make biased, � awed and unfounded com-ments about the independent judici-ary of a sovereign country.

The high commissioner was re-minded that Pakistan continues to present a misleading, limited and partial interpretation of the un-derlying premise of the Tripartite Agreement of April 1974.

The essential spirit of the agree-ment was to create an environ-ment of good neighbourliness and peaceful co-existence.

The agreement never implied that the masterminds and perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide would continue to en-joy impunity and eschew the course of justice, the note reiterated.

Rather Pakistan has systemati-cally failed in its obligation to bring

to justice those of its nationals identi� ed and held responsible for committing mass atrocity crimes in 1971, the note also pointed out.

It was Bangladesh which has consistently advocated for regional peace, harmony, reconciliation and integration.

The government of Bangladesh, in the note, deeply regretted that de-spite Bangladesh’s repeated overtures, the malicious campaign by Pakistan against the trials of the crimes against humanity and genocide in Bangla-desh was continuing which was an impediment to the bilateral relations.

The high commissioner was told to take serious note of the points raised by Bangladesh and bring those to the attention of the com-petent authorities in Pakistan.

The government of Bangladesh expected that the quarters/authori-ties in Pakistan would act responsi-bly and would refrain from continu-ing such uncalled for statements. l

Final verdict read out to Nizami n Mohammad Jamil Khan and

Ashif Islam Shaon

The full verdict of the apex court against war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami has been read out to him.

Jahangir Kabir, senior jail su-per of Dhaka Central Jail, told the Dhaka Tribune that the verdict was read out to the death row Jamaat leader at 8:45pm yesterday.

Kabir did not make any com-ment over Nizami’s reaction after hearing the verdict.

Kabir, police’s Deputy Inspector General Golam Haider and jailer Ne-sar Alam were present in Nizami’s condemned cell at that time.

Jail doctors Biplob Kanti Biswas and Ahsan Habib examined Nizami’s health at the cell. Accord-ing to sources he is in good health.

Jail authorities will ask now Nizami whether he will seek pres-idential clemency. If not, they will execute Nizami upon the govern-ment decision.

Sources said the o� cials had not asked Nizami any further ques-tions after reading out the verdict.

Quoting family members, Nizami’s lawyer Tajul Islam told the Bangla Tribune that Nizami will not seek mercy to anyone but Allah.

The full text of the Supreme Court’s judgment on war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami scrapping his review petition against his death penalty reached the Dhaka Central Jail yesterday evening.

Supreme Court released the ver-dict in the afternoon, four days af-ter it rejected the review petitions � led by the war criminal. It was signed by four Appellate Division judges who delivered the verdict,

High Court division’s Additional Registrar Sabbir Faiz said.

The copy of the verdict was then sent to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and was received by the o� cials at around 5:10pm. The ICT forwarded it to district magis-trate and jail authorities and noti-� ed the Home and Law Ministries to continue with the execution.

Jail sources said the gallows had been prepared for an execution and a trial was held on Sunday night. All relevant preparations for carry-ing out a death sentence had been taken, the sources said.

Nizami now has the chance to seek presidential pardon. If he does not receive it or opts to not seek clemency, the government will car-ry out the death sentence.

“Government can execute him anytime if presidential clemency is not sought or rejected. All legal procedure to execute the death sentence is already over,” Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said.

Nizami has been moved from Gazipur jail to Dhaka Central Jail where executions of war criminals have been carried out in past.

Previously, Jamaat leader Mo-

hammad Kamaruzzaman was exe-cuted � ve days after the dismissal of his review plea while Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ah-san Mohammad Mojaheed were hanged after three days.

Nizami � led the petition on March 29 seeking acquittal from the charges. The International Crimes Tribunal issued his death warrant on March 15 after the Ap-pellate Division of the Supreme Court released its full verdict in the appeal case.

The war criminal was convicted in October 2014 by the tribunal for

the atrocities he had committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

He was given the capital pun-ishment for genocide, murder and rape in Pabna and Dhaka. At that time, he led Jamaat’s student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, members of which formed the al-Badr militia force to collaborate with the Paki-stani occupation forces.

Former minister Nizami was also sentenced to death in the sen-sational 10-truck arms haul case.

“We � nd no merit in this petition. It is, accordingly, dismissed,” the ap-peals court said in its review verdict.

Although the Appellate Division upheld Nizami’s conviction in � ve counts against the tribunal verdict, the war criminal sought review in respect of three counts which earned him death penalties.

About Nizami’s last attempt at evading death and not the other convictions including life in pris-on, the court said, “We would like to observe here that the petitioner has not taken any exception as re-gards his conviction and sentence with respect to charges number 7 and 8, in which he was also found guilty for his direct participation in the killing of Sohrab of Brishalikha village and also instigating to kill Bodi, Rumi, Jewel and Azad at old MP Hostel, Nakhalpara.”

“Therefore, the petitioner’s in-volvement and complicity in the perpetration of o� ences of crimes against humanity and genocide have been impliedly admitted by the accused. More so, in view of the sub-mission of the learned Counsel to commute the sentence, the petition-er cannot dispute his involvement in those o� ences,” the court said. l

2 more indicted for war crimesn Ashif Islam Shaon

Two persons have been indicted by the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka yesterday for their alleged involvement in crimes against hu-manity during the country’s libera-tion war in 1971.

The ICT indicted Brahmanbaria’s Syed Md Hossain and Kishoreganj’s Md Moslem Pradhan with six charg-es including murder, arson and loot-ing and � xed June 5 to hear the pros-ecution’s opening statement.

Prosecutor Turin Afroz said, of them Syed Md Hossain is on the run while Moslem was present in the court room during the hearing.

He was arrested from Kamarhati village under Kishoreganj’s Nikli on July 7, 2015, following an arrest order issued by the tribunal against the duo.

Hossain is the younger broth-er of absconding death-row war crimes convict Hasan Ali. l

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016News4D

T

Fakhrul gets bail in arson casen Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A court yesterday granted bail to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in a case � led against him on charges of vandalism, arson and obstructing police from performing duties.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Nur Nabi passed the order after Fakhrul surrendered before the court in the morning and the defense counsel Md Sanaullah Miah sought bail.

On June 18 last year, the High Court had granted him bail until the charge sheets in the case were submitted.

On May 3, Sub-Inspector To-bibur Rahman, also investiga-tion o� cer of the case, submit-ted the two charge sheets – one under the Penal Code and the other under the explosive sub-

stances act – to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

According to case details, miscreants set � re to a Public Administration Ministry sta� bus at Purana Paltan intersec-tion on December 28, 2014.

Paltan police then � led a case accusing 43 BNP leaders and activists including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Bar-rister Ra� qul Islam Miah and Aman Ullah Aman with Paltan police station.

BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, Amanullah Aman and Mirza Abbas are now on bail along with eight others while Bar-rister Ra� qul Islam Miah, Bar-katullah Bulu, Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel and Meer Sharafat Ali Shafu are among the 31 who are absconding in the case. l

EC orders cases against 4 polling o� cialsn UNB

The Election Commission yes-terday ordered the returning o� cers concerned to � le cases against four polling o� cials and suspended a policeman in connection with voting irregu-larities in Comilla.

The four o� cials of three polling stations were allegedly involved in irregularities while the policeman was negligent in preventing anomalies during the 4th phase of Union Parish-ad election held on Saturday.

The EC’s directives in this regard were sent to the return-ing o� cers concerned, said EC Deputy Secretary Farhad Ahammad Khan.

The policeman is Nayek Abu Sayeed who was on election duty at Jugirhat Hossainia Ha� zia Madrasa polling centre at Mun-

shirhat of Chauddagram upazila.The commission ordered

the suspension of Sayeed as he did not prevent miscreants from the anomalies.

Among the four o� cials, Mo-barak Hossain and Tajul Islam, respectively the presiding of-� cer and assistant presiding of-� cer of the centre, were alleged-ly involved in the ballot-stu� ng on the eve of the election.

The EC also asked to � le a case against known and un-known miscreants in connection with the illegal ballot stu� ng.

Two other o� cials are Ha-bibur Rahman, the presiding o� cer of Amtoli Government Primary School polling centre at Maishatoa union of Manohar-ganj and Humayun Kabir, the presiding o� cer of Noyakano Dakhil Madrasa polling centre of Joyag union of Chandina. l

Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman sent to jail as second remand endsn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday sent Mahmudur Rahman, acting editor of Bangla daily Amar Desh, to jail on completion of his second re-mand.

Mahmudur was arrested on charges plotting to abduct and kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy,

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Maruf Hossain passed the order when DB Assistant Commissioner of Police Hasan Arafat, also investi-gating o� cer of the case, produced him before the court.

On May 4, Mahmudur was placed on 5-day fresh remand for further interrogation.

On April 18, the Detective Branch appealed to a Dhaka court

to show Mahmudur Rahman ar-rested in the case. The investiga-tion o� cer, Hassan Arafat, also sought a 10-day remand for inter-rogating him. Following the pleas, the court � xed April 25 for hearing on the petitions.

The Amar Desh acting editor, also a pro-BNP journalist and a former energy adviser, has been in jail in connection with other

cases, since he was arrested from his Karwan Bazar o� ce on April 11, 2013.

On April 16, in the same case, DB police arrested senior journalist Sha� k Rehman, former editor of Bangla daily Jaijaidin from his Es-katon house in connection with the case. He is now on a 5-day remand in DB’s custody.

On August 3 last year, DB

Inspector Fazlur Rahman � led a case with Paltan police station against Mohammad Ullah Mamun, vice-president of JASAS, for his alleged involvement in the “conspiracy to abduct and kill Joy.” The case was � led after conducting an investigation into a general dairy � led with Ramna police station on May 31, 2015 in this regard. l

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016News 5

DT

PRAYERTIMES

Cox’s Bazar 34 27Dhaka 37 27 Chittagong 35 27 Rajshahi 39 27 Rangpur 37 25 Khulna 38 27 Barisal 38 26 Sylhet 36 25T 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 6:31PM SUN RISES 5:18AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW37.2ºC 21.4ºC

Sitakunda BograTUESDAY, MAY 10Source: Islamic Foundation

Fajr: 4:55am | Zohr: 1:15pmAsr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:34pmEsha: 8:30pm

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Australia relaxes cargo bann Ishtiaq Husain

Australia has relaxed the ban it im-posed on direct air cargo shipment from Bangladesh, Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon said yesterday.

“The ban on direct cargo ship-ment is still valid. But cargo � ights can land in Australia after rescreen-ing through any third country,” he told reporters.

Menon said Australia informed its high commission in Dhaka on May 5 that it was satis� ed with the security improvement report of Shahjalal airport.

Australia imposed the ban in December last year citing security concerns.

Dhaka airport’s cargo village on May 5 received European Aviation security validated regulated agent (RA3) status mandatory to send cargo to European countries by air.

Minister Menon said national

� ag carrier Biman would be able to export its cargo through Etihad and Lufthansa airlines by proper screening as the UK is yet to with-draw its ban on direct cargo � ight from Dhaka to London.

“An inspection team that visited Shahjalal recently will submit a re-port to UK’s Department for Trans-port. Only a satisfactory report can help get the ban withdrawn,” he said.

Initially, the Civil Aviation Au-thority, Bangladesh (CAAB) hired 31 o� cials of UK-based Redline Assured Security to train Shahjalal airport sta� following UK’s ban.

Menon said Redline had al-ready trained 100 CAAB employees for improving overall security at the country’s main airport. Red-line handed over responsibility of boarding gate-1 on April 24 to CAAB team.

He assured that the other two international airports in Chittagong

and Sylhet would be brought under advanced security to ensure safety of the passengers.

The UK on March 8 imposed a temporary ban on direct cargo � ights from Dhaka citing securi-ty. On March 21, Dhaka appoint-ed Redline to implement UK’s suggested sustainable actionplan.

London also warned that direct Biman � ights on Dhaka-London route will be banned unless there is visible improvement in security situation by March 31.

Biman carries cargo directly to London with its four weekly pas-senger � ights. Each � ight carries an average of 25 tonnes of cargo, mostly apparels, vegetables and agricultural products.

The total export and import volume of Bangladesh with UK in 2014-15 period was $3,205.45 mil-lion and $330.72 million respec-tively. l

Communicable Disease Act 2016 gets cabinet nodn Shohel Mamun

The cabinet yesterday approved in principle the draft of the Preven-tion, Control and Elimination of Communicable Diseases Act 2016.

Its aim is to prevent communi-cable diseases to cope with emerg-ing threats of diseases like Zika and to create public awareness.

The cabinet also approved the draft of Cadet College Act 2016

with a provision to form central council headed by the defence sec-retary. The council will monitor the 12 cadet colleges with separate management councils.

Monday’s regular cabinet meet-ing headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave the approval.

Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Sha� ul Alam said the draft of the law was prepared in line with the Bangladesh Malaria Eradication

(Repeal) Ordinance 1977 and The Prevention of Malaria (Special Pro-visions) Ordinance 1978.

“The draft act will replace these ordinances,” he said.

The proposed law will cover diseases like malaria, dengue, � lariasis, kala zar (Visceral leishmaniasis or black fever), all types of in� uenzas, nipah, HIV, viral hepatitis, typhoid, and meningitis. l

AUST teacherFerdous expelledn Probir K Sarker

Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology authorities yester-day expelled EEE associate professor Mahfujur Rashid Ferdous who is fac-ing a case and allegations of sexual harassment of his female students.

The expulsion order, came after a series of meetings yesterday af-ternoon amid agitations, would be in e� ect from April 4, AUST Regis-trar Muhammad Abdul Gafur told the Dhaka Tribune.

On that day, Kalabagan police ar-rested Ferdous in connection with a case � led under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

The accused confessed to his the crimes before the Dhaka Metropol-itan Magistrate Court on Saturday.

The students of di� erent de-partments, who have been staging demonstrations on the university campus at Dhaka’s Tejgaon since late last month, declared class boy-cott programmes from yesterday demanding his dismissal.

Ferdous, was also serving as an assistant proctor, was suspended on April 30 after the students submit-ted documentary evidence of sexu-al harassment to the authorities.

The university authorities have launched an inquiry into the alle-gations. The allegations say that Ferdous had abused his position

over the years to make indecent proposals to the female students over the phone and on Facebook or WhatsApp, as well as physically harassing them at the department and his Panthapath residence.

The agitating students said the victims could not � le any written complaint against the accused out of fear since he is very in� uential in the university. They alleged that Ferdous used to threaten the victims with giving poor marks in the exam.

A former student of the univer-sity, Ferdous joined the electrical and electronics engineering depart-ment as a lecturer on May 19, 2001.

University’s alumnus and broth-er of a victim Asafudoullah Sayem � led a case against him on May 3 with Kalabagan police. He was ar-rested the following day from Es-katon Garden area at Ramna and placed before a court.

On May 5, � ve more students who fell victim to sexual harass-ment by the teacher testi� ed be-fore di� erent courts.

Alongside police, Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Associ-ation is also looking into the case.

Sub-Inspector of police’s Wom-en Support and Investigation Divi-sion Afroz Irin Koli is investigating the case. If convicted, the accused will have to serve three to ten years in jail and pay � nes. l

Dhaka to double in sizen Shohel Mamun

The government yesterday decid-ed to add 16 union councils under Dhaka district to the city corpora-tions and thereby, more than dou-bling the capital’s area.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reform (NICAR) presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Sha� ul Alam disclosed the information to reporters.

He said: “With the inclusion of 16 unions, the area of the city cor-porations will increase from 129 sq km to 270 sq km.”

Asked about the unions’ popu-lation, he said a 2011 government survey had put the number of res-idents at around one million. “But this � gure has likely changed.”

Eight unions each will be added to the two city corpora-

tions. Unions to be included in the north are Badda, Vatara, Be-raid, Satarkul, Harirampur, Ut-tarkhan, DhakkhinKhan andDumni.

Besides, Shyampur, Dania, Matuail, Demra, Manda, Sarulia, Dhakhingaon and Nasirabad union councils will be added to the Dhaka South City Corporation.

Residential areas like Basund-hara, DIT, Aftabnagar will now be included under the city corpora-tions.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said: “Union council areas have been upgraded into city corpo-ration area. All kind of taxes in-cluding holding tax will increase. So, the total revenue will rise and people in these areas will get better services.”

NICAR also decided to upgrade Karnaphuli, which is under Chit-tagong’s Patia upazila, to Bangla-desh’s 490th upazila, the cabinet secretary added. l

A RAB mobile court seizes ingredients at Zanc juice factory at Baganbari area in Dhaka’s Jatrabari for using toxic colour in producing juice yesterday. The factory was also � ned Tk5 lakh MEHEDI HASAN

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016Advertisement6D

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TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016News 7

DT

Human tra� ckers at large in Cox’s Bazarn Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar

Human tra� ckers in Cox’s Bazar have been roaming freely in the district – some out on bail and oth-ers evading police’s eyes, the Dha-ka Tribune has learned.

Some of the top human tra� ck-ers of Teknaf who were spotted in the area recently are: Khuilya Mia Majhi, Md Firoz, Abu Taher, Helal Uddin, Syed Ullah, Md Ismail, Abdul Hamid, Abul Kalam, Nazir Ahmed, Lomba Selim, Md Delwar, Sayeed Kamal and Ziabul.

In Cox’s Bazar, sources told the Dhaka Tribune that known tra� ck-ers such as Abdul Amin Malaysia and Md Hashim alias Poya Majhi were also present there.

Meanwhile in Ukhia, top traf-

� ckers such as Syed Alam, Moham-mad Syed, Akhtar Mia, Madu, Sagar Ali were also seen roaming in their respective localities. A leading tra� cker named Rustom Ali was reportedly arrested for a brief time before being released by the Inani outpost police.

All of the suspects have around � ve to ten human tra� cking cases � led against them.

Asked how so many human traf-� ckers were able to secure bail, An-ti-Corruption Commission’s Pub-lic Prosecutor Abdur Rahim said many of the suspects gave false information and used tricks to get out on bail.

He, however, added that the ACC has already started a drive to con-� scate the wealth illegally amassed

by these human smugglers.O� cer-in-charge of Teknaf po-

lice station, Md Abdul Majid, told the Dhaka Tribune that they did not have any information about any warranted suspect being pres-ent in the area. However, he admit-ted that some alleged tra� ckers were currently out on bail.

Lt Ashikur Rahman, the in-charge of Cox’s Bazar RAB 7, also said it was unlikely that any human tra� ckers were still in the area. However, any information suggest-ing their presence would be inves-tigated, the RAB o� cial said.

Sources told the Dhaka Tribune that many of the human tra� ckers were recently spotted in Ukhia upazi-la’s Kotbazar, Lomboripara, Sonaich-hari, Sonarpara and Monkhali.

Many of them have arrived in the area for the upcoming union parishad election and were reg-ularly gathering during night at Jaliyapalong union’s Sonaichhari Badamtoli, Sonarpara Bazar and Kotbazar, the sources added.

The Dhaka Tribune tried to get the comment of Ukhia police OC Md Ha-bibur Rahman for two days straight; but he did not pick up his phone.

However, Additional Superin-tendent of Police Md Ferdous Ali Chowdhury admitted to the Dhaka Tribune that it was possible that some human tra� ckers might have returned centring the UP elections.

But he added that the police were alert on this issue, and were keeping an eye on those who were out on bail.

Human tra� cking from Cox’s Bazar to Malaysia through Teknaf point began in 2010 and grew expo-nentially over the next few years.

There are seven major human tra� cking syndicates active in Cox’s Bazar, with over 2,000 opera-tives spread throughout the district.

Authorities managed to put a leash on the human tra� cking business in the district after the dis-covery of mass graves of migrants in Thailand and Malaysia last year triggered an international outcry. However, many of the criminals have never been brought to justice.

According to the United Na-tions, around 1.6 million people from Bangladesh and Myanmar were tra� cked to Malaysia be-tween 2010 and 2015. l

The Water Development Board cleans up a canal full of garbage near Zia Sarani Road in Dhaka’s Matuail ahead of the rainy season. The photo was taken yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Political activities banned at Kushtia Universityn Kudrote Khuda Sobuj, Kushtia

The authorities of Kushtia Islamic University has banned all types of political activities on the campus until further notice.

Following an order of the uni-versity’s vice-chancellor, its Regis-trar SM Abdul Latif issued the no-tice yesterday, said Prof Mahbubur Rahman, proctor of the university.

There had been an unrest be-tween two groups of teachers on the campus over the last several days. The two groups of teach-ers of Banghabandu Parishad also arranged separate programmes yesterday morning. The universi-ty authorities took the decision to keep congenial atmosphere on the campus. l

Witness of 7 murders collapses seeing Tareque Sayeedn Tanveer Hossen, Naraynganj

A witness of sensational seven mur-der case in Narayanganj, lost his sense after seeing Tareque Sayeed, the former commanding o� cer of RAB and one of the main accused of the murder, while he was depos-ing before the court yesterday with other witnesses in presence of the 23 arrested suspects.

District and Sessions Judge Syed Enayet Hossain recorded deposi-tions of Archana Sarker, wife of slain Chandan Sarker, Madhab

Kumar Dev, Additional Superin-tendent of Police Azim-ul Hasan, constable Abdul Latif, slain Tazul’s father Abul Khaer, slain Sirajul Is-lam Liton’s elder brother Syful Is-lam, Dr Jalil Ahmed, Dr Asaduzzam-an, Dr Sheikh Farhad, Dr Mynuddin and Akter Hossain in the morning.

Advocate Shakhawat Hossain, the lawyer of the complaint, said Latif was asked to recognise Tareque Sayeed while he was deposing. But he lost his sense and fell on the deck when he found Tareque before the court.

Latif got back his sense after the

lawyers at the court took care of him.Public Prosecutor Wazed Ali

Khokon said the court had � xed May 16 for next hearing.

Earlier in the day, 23 accused in the cases, including prime sus-pect Nur Hossain and three former RAB o� cials, were brought to the Narayanganj court from Kashim-pur jail under tight security.

On April 27, 2014, people were found dead from the Shitalakkhya and Dhaleshwari rivers. On Feb-ruary 8 this year, a court framed charges against 35 people. l

Security guard hacked to death in Rangpurn Liakat Ali Badal, Rangpur

A security guard of Pubali Bank, Lalbagh branch in Rangpur was hacked to death by some unidenti-� ed miscreants.

Police said unidenti� ed assail-ants hacked Atul Chandra indiscrim-inately near BDC o� ce in Lalbagh area while he was going to his rela-tive house around 10am on Sunday.

He was rushed to Rangpur Med-ical College Hospital where on duty doctor declared him dead.

But reason behind the killing

could not be known immediately. O� cer-in-Charge of Kotwali po-

lice station Jahidul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that Tapon Chan-dra, son of Atul Chandra, had � led a case in this connection.

Police detained two people – Jony Mia and Sumon Mia – for interrogation. The OC said the detained were involved in many snatching incidents that took place in the area previously.

The body was handed over to family members after a post-mortem examination yesterday morning. l

News8DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Two more killed in post-polls violence

n Tribune Desk

Two people who were injured in post-polls violence died at hospi-tals yesterday. With the two, death toll has reached 10 in the post-polls violence.

In Rajshahi, a man, who re-ceived bullet injuries during clash-es among the supporters of two chairman candidates of Hatgango union parishad, Baghmara upazila, died at a hospital early yesterday.

Managing Director of CDM Hos-pital Koyel Hossain told the Dha-ka Tribune that Jahidul Islam, an activist of UP unit Awami League, died around 5am and the body was

handed over to family members. Earlier on Saturday, two people

were killed and at least 30 others, including � ve policemen, were in-jured in the clash.

Meanwhile, a man, who received injuries in a post-polls violence in Poranganj union parishad (UP) of Mymensingh sadar upazila on Sun-day, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) early yesterday.

The deceased was identi� ed as Enamul Haque, a resident of the union. Kamrul Islam, o� cer-in-charge of Kotowali police station, said supporters of a defeated member candidate Jamsed attacked a num-ber of houses of supporters of winner member Babul on Sunday afternoon. Eight people, including Enamul, re-ceived injuries in the attack.

The injured were admitted at Mymensingh Medical College Hos-pital. Later, he was re� ered to the

DMCH as his condition deteriorated. DMCH sources said he succumbed to his injuries at about 4am.

At least 76 people had died in violence during and around the � rst three phases of Union Parish-ad elections that were held in four phases across the country.

Besides, supporters of a de-feated candidates laid siege to the o� ce of Delduar upazila nir-bahi o� cer yesterday demanding re-counting of votes. The agitators vandalised three motorcycles dur-ing the demonstration.

On information, police rushed to the spot and dispersed protesters charging batons on them that left 10 people injured. The injured were tak-en to Delduar upzila health complex, reports our Tangail correspondent.

In Savar, two rival groups ex-changed � re over submitting nomi-nation papers. l

A Sampan rally was taken out in the Karnafuli River in Chittagong yesterday with a call to make the river free from pollution and illegal occupations DHAKA TRIBUNE

AL leader evicts Hindu businessmann Mohammed Afzal Hossain,

Tangail

The chief of ruling Awami League’s Tangail unit has been accused of forcefully evicting a Hindu busi-nessman using political muscle and looting his shop.

Nobokumar Chokroborty, the purported victim, raised the allega-tion at a media brie� ng on Sunday afternoon in the town.

In a prepared speech, he said his father ran a shop at Panchani ba-zaar on a small plot, a vested prop-erty taken on lease from the district administration.

He took over after his father’s death.

On April 19, the additional dep-uty commissioner (revenue) allot-ted the plot to the district Awami League chief Fazlur Rahman, also a zilla parishad administrator, he said.

Nobokumar moved the Joint District Judge’s court which or-

dered the Tangail deputy commis-sioner, additional deputy com-missioner, sadar upazila assistant commissioner (land) and Faruk to respond within 10 days to a show-cause notice.

According to the victim, Faruk did not respond.

“On Saturday, the Awami League leader and his henchmen forced me out of my shop and threatened to kill me. They looted and ransacked my clothes shop, destroying my only source of in-come,” the he said, seeking govern-ment interference to get back on his foot.

Faruk rejected the allegations. He said he had taken the place on lease maintaining all rules and had paid the lease money.

“The organisation of busi-nessmen handed over the plotwhen I applied,” he claimed. “There was no tussle with anyone, nor was anyone forced out of any-where.” l

3 workers die while working on septic tankn Our Correspondent,

Narayanganj

At least three workers died after inhaling toxic fumes while clean-ing a septic tank at Molla Super Salt Industry in Fatulla of the district yesterday. The deceased were Sa-habuddin, 40, Almas Talukder, 30, and Ibrahim, 35.

Local sources said the workers started to clean the tank around 8am. Later, eight of them became ill and they were sent to Narayn-ganj Sadar Hospital. Of them the tree died in the hospital.

The six others were sent to Dha-ka Medical College and Hospital after their condition deteriorated.

Kamal Uddin, o� cer-in-charge of Fatulla Model police station con-� rmed the incident. l

Yet another teacher of Rajshahi University gets death threatn Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Barely two weeks into the grue-some murder of professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee murder, another teacher of Rajshahi Uni-versity (RU) received death threat yesterday.

Mahbub Alam Pradip, an as-sistant professor at RU Public Ad-ministration department, said he received a call from +8177479 num-ber over his mobile phone around

3pm when the caller threatened to kill him very soon.

He said the anonymous caller told him: “You’re � nished. You’re doing excesses…wait.”

Proctor Muzibul Haque Azad said he had suggested the teacher to � le a General Diary (GD) with Motihar police station.

Humaayun Kabir, o� cer-in-charge of the police station said the teacher had � led a GD in the evening.

An investigation had been initiat-

ed based on the general diary, he said.In February, Hasibul Alam

Pradhan, a professor of Law depart-ment who authored the book “Bang-abandhu Muktijuddho Bangladesh”, � led a general diary with the police station seeking security after receiv-ing an anonymous death threat.

In the diary, he mentioned that someone called him at his home num-ber on the night of January 24 but his housemaid received the call as he was outside the country at the time.

The caller told the house help that he would � nd Professor Ha-sibul and kill him even if the teach-er was hiding underground.

Hasibul said he had received threatening phone calls a number of times in the past.

“My family members and I were abroad from January 18 to 30 for trav-el purposes. This is why I could not � le the general diary earlier,” he said.

Hasibul was an advisory mem-ber of the previous committee of

Awami League’s Rajshahi city unit.On April 23, Prof Rezaul Karim,

58, of the RU English department, was killed by miscreants in the city’s Shalbagan area.

Besides, on May 2, militant out-� t Islami Liberation Front (ILF) sent a letter to Natore Press Club threatening to kill 10 noted per-sonalities of Rajshahi division, in-cluding the Vice Chancellor of RU, Member of Parliament, political leader and journalists. l

UPPOLLS

9D

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TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016Tech

n Mahmood Hossain

You can read this to a delight, while Amy Winehouse plays in the background to bring some truth to the rumours. Sony is set to release a new Sony PlayStation, but it’s not what you think. It’s not the PS5, it’s the PS4.5. The “.5” is to suggest that the company is working on releasing a superhero version of the current PS4.

What we do know is that Sony is to make available to the public the new PlayStation VR, taking players into that virtual reality arena. While the VR is set to be released in October of this year, the new upgraded PS4 could be coming out around the same time. Word has it, the new version will be a gaming beast that caters to 4K graphics for those expensive 4K TVs most of us still can’t a� ord.

What’s pushing the 4K content through this new machine? There was a spec list published by Giant Bomb (an online gaming magazine), that seem very impressive. It will seem to include eight 2.1GHz AMD Jaguar CPU cores and 8GB of GDDR5. The Wall Street Journal added to the rumours, suggesting that the new PS4 will be fully backwards compatible. This means it’ll be able to play the current gen games on the PS4, but will enhance the graphics (in higher resolution) on the new model.

That leaves us to how much this new model will cost. Even though it’s not a next-gen console, it will posses quite punch with its processor speed quadrupling. This might mean it’ll be a little costlier than the current gen PlayStation. We can only wait until Sony makes it o� cial. l

Tech rumour roundupSony to unveil a new PlayStation?

n Mahmood Hossain

Here at DT, there is no discrimination. We’ve got all walks of life. People who use iPhones, those who use Android and a select few who are comfortable with Windows Phone. And we’re pretty sure you keep the same company. We’re featuring some useful apps for your smartphone.

Who’s Down (Android, iOS)There are so many chat apps out there it’s di� cult to keep track of each conversation. It gets even harder when you’re trying to plan things with your friends and family. No matter if you’re walking out of the o� ce or out of class, Who’s Down could make things a little easier for everyone. The concept of this app is ridiculously simple.

To avoid random conversations that can last for weeks, Who’s Down lets users add their friends who they’d like to hangout with. After you’ve sent a request, to ask them if they are “down,” to hangout, they can easily accept or decline. It’s like a very quick, Facebook group invitation request for your smartphone. The option to accept and decline is as easy as sliding from left to right. For now, the app is ‘invite only’ but you can easily head to their main

website (www.whosdown.com) to ask for a request from the developers.

Kicknotes (Windows Phone)Yes, there are countless note-taking apps out there but this one sets itself apart from the rest because of its extra features. One of the biggest di� erences is the app’s voice to text convertor. There, of course, are the basics as well: type, draw or voice record. Kicknotes also lets you passcode protect your notes. This is a huge

plus for those of us who tend to type in sensitive information, like bank account numbers, important passwords, etc.

There is, however, one major drawback in this app. Unfortunately, this app won’t sync with other Windows gadgets. But don’t let that throw you o� because this app is still worth the download. It’s colourful, simple to use and more importantly, it’s absolutely free.

IceCream (iOS)Leave it up to a MIT grad to � x a problem for the rest of us that he had himself. IceCream is an app that conveniently frees up storage space the next time you might need it at a given time. In other words, if you are running out of room in your storage, and need

to take new photos, IceCream is the perfect app for it. To sort out more space, the app will back up smaller � les in your media library. Instead of sending the � les up to the iCloud all at once, this app takes the smaller portions and sets them aside.

The app even tells you how many photos you can actually take based on the free space. It’s a quick � x for your storage problems that is free to try. And if you do end up liking it, and want more of the service later on, you can try out the paid version. l

Apps in focusWe take a look at some fun apps of the week

n Features Desk

On May 6, 2016, a group of 30 children walked into one of the exhibition rooms at Drik Gallery and could hardly contain their excitement at what they saw – their very own artwork and crafts projects being displayed for the world to see. For a bunch of kids who are ignored at best and ostracised and harassed at worst by the rest of society, being allowed to express themselves and being appreciated for doing so, was a dream come true.

This exhibition was aptly titled “Tell Me Your Dreams,” and was organised by the team of Project Pothchola. Project Pothchola was launched by Bandhu Foundation in July, 2014 with a vision to improve the lives for underprivileged children of our society. The project is run in collaboration with Miss Hazera from Shishuder Jonno Amra, who cares for a group of 30 underprivileged children of sex workers who are unable to look after themselves for various reasons. As a result of their parent’s profession, these children are often completely ignored by the rest of society and left to fend for themselves.

However, Miss Hazera has taken them under her supervision at Adabor, Mohammadpur, Dhaka and ensure they are provided a proper education at the local school. Project Pothchola organises a team of dedicated volunteers from di� erent universities and educational institutions to work with these children and encourage them to

engage in interactive learning and arts and crafts. These activities were showcased at the exhibition on May 6 and 7, 2016.

The main purpose of Project Pothchola is to encourage the mental growth of these children, and support them so that they can integrate into mainstream society. The Project Pothchola team organises eight regular sessions every month, which involves visual aids for learning, craft making, puzzle solving, storytelling, drawing and other motivational activities.

According to Project Director Atkia Sadia Rahman, “our role is not to judge these children or teach them societal values that have such rigid barriers and codes about what is right or wrong. We just want them to know that there is a great, big wonderful world out there, and they are an important part of it, regardless of what others might tell them.”

In the exhibition, the activities of these children were showcased in front of everyone. This included funny faces made on plastic plates, little turtles made from recycled plastic bottles, paintings of Bangladesh and the world map and many more.

“My favourite is the tree we made. We drew the tree trunk, but then used old buttons instead of drawing leaves on it”, said 12 year old Md Polash. “I’m really happy that people are being able to see our artwork, it makes me feel very proud,” he added.

Students from around 40 schools and universities participated in this exhibition and human rights activist and executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra, Advocate Sultana Kamal was also present at the opening. The exhibition was sponsored by City Bank Limited and supported by Beatnik Design, with Radio Shadhin as radio partner. l

10DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016Feature

PHOTOS: COURTESY

“My favourite is the tree we made. We drew the tree trunk, but then used old buttons instead of drawing leaves on it”

Tell Me Your DreamsA Drik Gallery Exhibition by children of sex workers

INSIDE

The Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh is right to urge the government to withdraw the 5% duty imposed on imports of newsprint paper.

Publishers of newspapers and books are unfairly burdened by taxes on ink and paper.

Imports of ink incur 62% tax and duty and there is 35% duty and VAT on the import of printing chemicals. Newspaper publishers are also unable to get adjustments and refunds for VAT paid during the import of newsprint.

The government should move to swiftly reform the taxation framework to free publishers from unnecessary costs and restraints to give a boost to newspaper and book production.

It is clearly in the public interest to introduce a zero-tari� policy for the import of newsprint as an essential raw material which is not produced locally in su� cient quality and quantity. Countries such as Sri Lanka, which still impose similar duties, do so at lower rates and it is common practice for many countries such as India and the US to have a zero-tari� policy.

In addition, courts in the US uphold First Amendment rights to make owners of newspapers immune from “ordinary forms of taxation used for support of the government.”

The NBR should scrap the duty on imported newsprint and look at ways of cutting other levies to help Bangladeshi newspapers � ourish.

As well as raising costs for publishers and readers and deterring investment, the existing framework is unnecessarily complex in its operation. For instance, it requires publishers to take clearance from both the information ministry and industry ministry to import newsprint.

It is high time for the government to bring down such unnecessary obstacles. In an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy, it is more important than ever for the tax system to create more incentives for publishers of newspapers and books.

Free publishers from unnecessary costs and restraints to boost newspaper and book industries

Silent partner

An election in London, an assassination in KarachiDespite immense bloodshed and enormous loss of life in the past four decades, Pakistan is yet to break this vicious cycle. Khurram Zaki’s name has been added to a long list of those who lost their lives

PAGE 13

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When Aleppo fallsIn reality, Aleppo is targeted because it is Syria’s biggest city and its economic capital -- not Damascus. It is also one of the oldest cities in the world with a history and symbolic importance that rivals Damascus in every respect

We have been striving for vastly di� erent goals. We have grown apart. Maybe one day you’ll realise the errors of your ways and come back to me

Cut taxes to support press freedom

11D

TEditorialTUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

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

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

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

The views expressed in Opinion articles are those of the authors

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

Tribune or its publisher.

BIGSTOCK

n SN Rasul

Let’s have a conversation, you and I. It has been so long since we’ve talked, with our hearts open, our

minds at peace, unafraid of what we’ll lose. Well, I think I’ve talked, and you’ve barely listened. And when you do speak, you don’t really say anything at all.

Sometimes you talk so sweet, with hopes of change and development, like this relationship we have, it’s headed somewhere beautiful, like there’s some sort of light at the end of this tunnel, but then, you shrivel up, become distant. You become so silent.

Growing up, I didn’t think much of you. You were just another wounded nation with wounded people running you to the ground. I pitied you as I compared you to other countries who were just as old and had the same resources.

I knew how painful your childhood had been and I understood that it is di� cult to recover. And a lot of us merely gave up, kind of let you be. At least, we were together.

But then, things started to change. Your economy boomed, other players on the world stage started to notice your potential.

Money came in, you � ourished in various sectors. You were nowhere near the top, but people suddenly knew your name. You had something to o� er the world, in a way very few other countries could.

As you lifted yourself up, with our help no less, I thought you would take all of us with you. And in many ways, you perhaps did. Some of us, our lives improved. Our pockets and bank balances swelled.

You had more things to o� er, things we couldn’t have dreamt of even a few years back: Faster and better technology, foreign goods, � yovers. It seemed like we were headed somewhere, you and I, somewhere we could never have imagined.

But maybe we were fooling ourselves. Or maybe I was, though outside, I was as much of a sceptic

as the rest. I pretended like you would never go anywhere, but I really, really wanted to believe in you.

Honestly, I did, I felt anything was possible as I lay distracted with my eyes on the Tigers

winning their fourth ODI home series win in a row.

So, even with lowered expectations, even as I tried to keep myself safe, the city I lived in started to implode. The streets began to � ll up with more and more of us, rules and regulations forgotten and erased like our history together.

By the time I arrived at now, neither of us could remember what it had once been like.

A building collapsed in your most prized sector. People lay screaming under the concrete as the world watched. Your response to it, initially, was apology and

regret, and a drive to change the way we functioned. But, as soon as we stopped watching you, you went back to your old ways.

And, on the streets, your least prized possessions, all of whom were your citizens nonetheless, started to die. One by one, a foreign force invaded you and started to take over. You denied that it existed at all. You denied that you were sick, that there was a virus lurking inside you, with continued empty promises that these were lone incidents, and I was safe with you.

But your rhetoric changed. You started to say things I never thought you’d say. You said that there was no protection, that these things were meant to happen if one is not careful, if one says the wrong things.

It broke my heart, really, as you, � nally, went back on years of progress only to arrive at the doorstep of your bloodied past. As you stared straight into my eyes and told me that there were some things you couldn’t quite promise.

And I wanted to say so many things to you right then. I wanted to tell you how I really felt about how you’d changed. But the more I spoke, the less you listened. The more I tried to change you back,

the more you resisted.I wanted us to keep moving

forward, you see, towards a brighter future, because, for once, I had seen a bright and shining future for both of us, as much as I hadn’t wanted to, and now, I can’t unsee it.

I really wanted us to have a proper heart-to-heart, a conversation of openness and transparency, where nothing was hidden. But it’s not safe anymore. I can only tell you what you want to hear.

I must give in because I realise that, though I see you every day, though we are, in some ways, still together, in spirit and in work, we have been striving for vastly di� erent goals. We have grown apart.

Maybe one day you’ll realise the errors of your ways and come back to me, asking for forgiveness and a fresh start. But it’s hard to trust a nation that has betrayed you so deeply, and so to the core. For now, my words bounce o� of you like rubber bullets on a metal tank.

And your silence, in response, conquers me, and tells me that I should do the same. l

SN Rasul is a Sub-Editor at the Dhaka Tribune. Follow him @snrasul.

Opinion12DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Bangladesh, you broke my heart BIGSTOCK

We have been striving for vastly di� erent goals. We have grown apart. Maybe one day you’ll realise the errors of your ways and come back to me

It’s hard to trust a nation that has betrayed you so deeply

Silent partner

Opinion 13D

TTUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

n Ali Riaz

The Pakistani human rights worker and online activist Khurram Zaki has been killed in Karachi. Zaki and

his friend Khalid Rao were gunned down by assailants at a café on Saturday evening. It was a pre-planned strike.

A few hours before his

assassination, Zaki posted a scathing critique of Pakistanis for their euphoric reaction to the election of Sadiq Khan as the mayor of London.

He said that he viewed Sadiq’s victory as an achievement of “Western secular democracy.” He wrote: “Sadiq Khan is not Pakistani. He is British.”

He went on to say “Pakistan and

Islam have played no role in his meteoric rise.” He asked: “Can we in Pakistan ever elect an Ahmadi or Hindu or Christian PM?

Forget that, we have deprived all legal powers and discretions of a democratically elected mayor of the third largest city in the world (Karachi) on the basis of his ethnicity.”

Zaki, a former television

journalist, was also known as an Islamic scholar.

He was a member of the editorial board of the blog/website and the Facebook page, Let Us Build Pakistan.

The objective of the blog was to “spread liberal religious views and condemned extremism in all forms.” Recently, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority blocked the blog in Pakistan.

For the past few years, Khurram Zaki has been campaigning against extremist religious groups in Pakistan.

Recently, he and his friend Jibran Nasir attempted to � le a complaint against Maulana Abdul Aziz of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad. They

alleged that Aziz was inciting hatred against Shia Muslims.

They cited a video message of the cleric. Local police declined to � le an FIR.

Zaki’s attempt to compel the police to � le an FIR through the court’s intervention didn’t succeed: A session’s court dismissed the application, saying that the complainant had no locus standi.

He and his friends then approached the Islamabad High Court, which too dismissed their application on the same ground on March 29.

Maulana Aziz, on the other hand, had � led a complaint against Zaki and his friends, saying that they were spreading false and fabricated information against the maulana and the mosque.

On December 16, 2015, the � rst anniversary of the Peshawar Amy Public School massacre, Zaki staged a demonstration in front of the Lal Masjid despite obstructions from the government.

Zaki, his wife, and their 16-year-old daughter were arrested.

Khurram Zaki’s website not only criticised Pakistani religious extremists but also the country’s liberal intellectuals.

His death has once again reminded us of how perilous it is to � ght against extremism and for human rights in that country.

Pakistan is an example of the consequences of spreading state-supported extremism.

Pakistan shows what happens when the state displays its penchant -- either explicitly or implicitly -- to violence and extremism, when extremism and violence are used for political gains, and when violent groups are not brought to justice.

Despite immense bloodshed and enormous loss of life in the past four decades, Pakistan is yet to break this vicious cycle.

Khurram Zaki’s name has been added to a long list of those who lost their lives. He was only 40 years old. l

Ali Riaz is a political scientist of Bangladeshi origin, currently chair of the Department of Politics and Government, Illinois State University in the USA. His books include God Willing: The Politics of Islamism in Bangladesh (2004) and Faithful Education: Madrassahs in South Asia (2012). This article previously appeared on thewire.in.

Khurram Zaki’s death is an immense blow to Pakistan’s future REUTERS

Despite immense bloodshed and enormous loss of life in the past four decades, Pakistan is yet to break this vicious cycle. Khurram Zaki’s name has been added to a long list of those who lost their lives

An election in London,an assassination in KarachiKhurram Zaki’s murder shows the consequences of state-supported extremism

Opinion14DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

n Azeem Ibrahim

The most remarkable thing about the current “cease� re” in Syria, as it is teetering on the edge

of collapse, is the fact that the city of Aleppo was only included in the cease� re agreement in the last minute. The Russians have not stopped bombing it for one day in the two months of “cease� re.” Why is that?

Ostensibly, it is because Aleppo is controlled by terrorists: Russian-speak for anyone who is not with their ally, Assad. And since Russia, as a matter of policy, makes no distinction between ISIS and the non-ISIS opposition, they present this as the same battle against global jihadism that the US and the West are waging, even as they are targeting groups who are, or have been in the past, supported by the

Western allies.And groups who themselves

are bitterly opposed not only to President Assad, but also to ISIS.

In reality, Aleppo is targeted because it is Syria’s biggest city and its economic capital -- not Damascus.

It is also one of the oldest cities in the world with a history and symbolic importance that rivals Damascus in every respect. So long as it is held by the rebels, the opposition can claim a power base every bit as signi� cant as the Syrian capital in Damascus.

So long as it stands, the rebels will keep � ghting. And, the Russians and President Assad believe that, if they capture it, then that will be the decisive turning point in the con� ict with the non-ISIS opposition.

Of course, simply recapturing the city will not spell automatic

victory. But it will strengthen Assad’s position signi� cantly, both strategically and psychologically. Standing as it does, 50 kilometres from the Turkish border and the main rebel supply route, Aleppo is the key hub of logistics for the rebel operations in the north of the country.

Currently, it is being attacked from the south, the west, and the east, with only a narrow northern corridor still open to supply the rebels.

Assad’s forces and the Russians are also mounting an increasing o� ensive to capture even this northern corridor, looking to complete the siege of the city and force the local � ghters (and the local civilian population) into submission, as they have done with hunger sieges in many of the other rebel-held areas in the country.

Best case scenarioAnd what will happen when the city � nally capitulates? In the past week and a half, over 250 people have been killed in the city.

Will the bloodshed end? Or at least, will the situation get better? In the best case scenario, the violence would be slowly brought under control but only if the rest

of the rebellion also folds. If the rebellion continues in other parts of the country despite the fall of Aleppo, Assad, and Russia have already demonstrated that they are not above revenge massacres of civilians.

The problem for Aleppo is that it is not enough for it to fall. In the strategic calculation of Assad, and especially of the Russians who are still keen to resolve this quickly and with minimal investment, it is also necessary that the city should not be capable to re-emerge as a threat to the authority of the regime. In other words, surrender will not be enough. The city needs to be dismantled.

Whether this will be done through carpet bombing prior to a takeover, as things stand at the moment, or whether it will be done by “bringing terrorist elements to justice” after a takeover and the imposition of government rule, for the people of Aleppo, � ghters and civilians alike, the worst may be yet to come. l

Azeem Ibrahim is a Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College and an International Security Lecturer at the University of Chicago. This article � rst appeared in Al Arabiya.

In Aleppo, the worst may be yet to come REUTERS

In reality, Aleppo is targeted because it is Syria’s biggest city and its economic capital -- not Damascus. It is also one of the oldest cities in the world with a history and symbolic importance that rivals Damascus in every respect

The Russians know the strategic importance of capturing the Syrian city of Aleppo

When Aleppo falls

15D

TBusinessTUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Capital market snapshot: MondayDSE

Broad Index 4,329.4 -0.2% ▼

Index 1,064.0 -0.5% ▼

30 Index 1,679.1 -0.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 4,939.6 24.4% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol 101.6 6.8% ▲

CSEAll Share Index 13,303.2 -0.3% ▼

30 Index 12,356.1 -0.2% ▼

Selected Index 8,089.5 -0.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 299.9 28.1% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol 10.5 23.1% ▲

Top China paper warns of crisis risk over debtChina must turn o� the taps of credit-driven growth to avoid a � -nancial system crisis in the face of rising bad loans and other risks, the Communist Party’s o� cial mouth-piece newspaper said yesterday, citing an unnamed “authoritative” source. PAGE 17

Regent COO: High surcharge a bane for aviation industry HG Aviation Ltd (Regent Airways) Chief Operating O� cer said local pri-vate airlines have been badly a� ect-ed by the high interest on airfare sur-charge and parking charge. PAGE 16

‘Japan ready to intervene if yen moves too volatile’Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said yesterday that Tokyo is ready to intervene in the currency market if yen moves are volatile enough to hurt the country’s trade and economy. PAGE 18

INSIDE

ECR to be linked with NBR server n Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The revenue authority has tak-en up a plan to connect its server system with the Electronic Cash Register (ECR) to get the actual amount of Value Added Tax col-lected by business entities from their customers.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will introduce the plan to get the real time transaction re-cords of ECR. The system will pre-vent VAT evasion.

The systemization will come into e� ect in July this year in line with the implementation of new Value Added Tax and Supplemen-tary Duty Act, o� cials said.

According to the plan, NBR will install a chip in each ECR which will be connected with the IVAS server. Thus the NBR o� cials will be able to cross check the transac-tion records any time they want.

By doing so, the revenue au-thority is expected to get the actu-

al amount of VAT as no traders will be able to alter the records due to that system.

In July 2009, NBR made it man-datory for 11 types of business to in-stall and use ECR and POS software to boost VAT collection. The busi-ness entities include hotels, restau-rants, sweetmeat shops, furniture outlets, beauty parlours, commu-nity centres, all shops located at mega malls in the metropolis, de-partmental stores, general stores, big and medium-size wholesalers and retailers and jewellers.

The technology was introduced to prevent VAT evasion collected from the consumers by the shop-keepers as the manual system of accounting used at the outlets leaves room for tax dodging.

It is, however, widely reported that a large number of business-men skip the ECR use while many do not use it for transactions, lay-ing a blame on the machine.

Once the linkage is made be-

tween the server and the Elec-tronic Cash Registr, VAT o� cials will be able to mobilise potential amount of VAT, thus boosting rev-enue collection, said the sources.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith recently said the use of ECR in shops and other business units will be mandatory from the next � scal year under the new value added tax law.

During the recent drives, VAT

audit, intelligence and investiga-tion directorate of the NBR found that businessmen are not depos-iting VAT to the government ex-chequer though they had collect-ed it from customers.

According to an NBR estimate, there are now 11,005 shops under the categories. Of them, a number of 8,559 were selected for ECR in-stallation, but only 2,970 had the mechanism so far. l

Apparel export to US sees 4.30% rise Bangladesh earned $1.45 billion, exporting clothing products to the US market n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Bangladesh’s apparel export to the US market has seen a 4.30% rise to $1.45 billion in the � rst quarter of current calendar year, despite the declining trend of overall apparel import by the United States from across the world.

The overall apparel export to US from other countries has de-clined by 2.14% to $19.30 billion, which was $19.72 billion in the same period a year ago.

According to the January-March data of the O� ce of Textiles and Apparel (otexa), US Department of Commerce, Bangladesh earned $1.45 billion, exporting clothing products to the US market, which is 4.30% higher compared to $1.40 billion a year ago.

The volume, however, posted an 8.38% growth to 517.63 million square meters equivalent (SME) to the same period that indicates the unit prices of apparel products made in Bangladesh have seen a fall.

In the same period last year, the volume was 477.62 million SME.

Meanwhile, the overall RMG import by the US increased by 4.14% to $5.60 billion with an 11.93% rise compared to $5 billion in the same period a year ago.

“Bangladesh’s export earnings show growth because of some high-er value and fancy products. But the concern is the buyers are de-creasing prices of basic products,”

BGMEA Vice-President Moham-mad Nasir told the Dhaka Tribune.

If the situation continues, it would hit the business of basic product producers.

In every meeting, the buyers are talking over the compliance issues, which already have seen a remarkable progress, but they did not increase the prices of products, said Nasir. The positive things are that the buyers’ con� dence has been restored, he added.

After the suspension of GSP or Generalized System of Prefer-ences, it was feared that export to the US market, the single larg-est export destination of Bangla-deshi products, especially apparel items, will see a sharp decline.

“The growth gap between val-ue and volume means that per unit price of RMG products fall further. The positive sign is that Bangladesh’s growth gap with the other competitors has reduced,” Khondaker Golam Moazzem, ad-ditional research director of Cen-tre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told the Dhaka Tribune.

On the other hand, the total apparel import of the US has seen downtrend, which shows that the demands for the products among the consumers have declined. At this point, Bangladesh should fo-cus on other countries to remain in safe zone, suggested Moazzem.

Among the major exporters to the US market, India posted a pos-

itive growth by 4.30% to $1.07bil-lion while Vietnam 5.73% growth, the highest among the major share holders. China’s export to US has fallen by 5.94% to $6.1 billion fol-lowed by Cambodia 8.41% to $552 million, Pakistan by 9.68% to 307 million and Indonesia by 0.53% to $1.25 billion

In 2015, Bangladesh, the third largest exporter of clothing prod-ucts to US, earned $5.40 billion with an 11.74% rise, which was $4.83 billion in the previous year.

The United States imported clothing products worth $85.16 billion from across the globe, of which Bangladesh’s share is 6.34% while China’s 35.86% and Viet-nam’s 12.40% in terms of value. l

Workers at a garment factory in Dhaka MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Business16DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Regent COO: High surcharge a bane for aviation industry

n Ishtiaq Husain

HG Aviation Ltd (Regent Air-ways) Chief Operating O� cer said local private airlines have been badly a� ected by the high interest on air-fare surcharge and parking charge. The 76% interest on surcharge is “horrible”, said Ashish R Choudhury dur-ing an interview with Dhaka Tribune recently, while shar-ing the airline’s expansion plan and pro� tability under the present circumstances.

Launched in November, 2010 the Regent Airways, owned by Chittagong-based Habib Group, focuses on in-ternational � ights rather than domestic operation. Howev-er, it opened its international wing in 2013 with � ights to Malaysian capital Kuala Lum-pur. Now it � ies to four other global destinations- Bang-kok, Singapore, Kathmandu, Kolkata and Muscat.

Dhaka Tribune: Regent operates more international but less domestic flights than any other private Bangladeshi airliners. It operates flights to five international destinations from both Dhaka and Chittagong. Any expansion plan? Ashish: Yes. We recently launched � ights to Muscat and now have plan to include Kathmandu in our route map soon. We are waiting for some facility improvement at the Kathmandu airport, which is yet to complete. Regent also plans to introduce � ights to Colombo and Guangzhou (China) this year, and to Jed-dah and Doha.

What do you do to make your airlines economically viable organisation? Is the Regent in right direction in terms of business plan? To make a company pro� t-able, there is no other alter-native to initiating a plan. We believe that the company is on the right track in its plan-ning and choosing pathways of going forward.

Can you utilise all the aircraft in fleet to the maximum? Even the state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines cannot make the maximum use of its aircraft although it has the highest number of aircraft of all airlines in Bangladesh. Biman brought two Boeing 777-200 ER from Egypt, but has to keep them unutilised. But Regent is utilising almost all its aircraft maintaining a proper roster. As far as I know only one aircraft is not being used. However, we plan to use it launching Colombo � ights. Proper utilisation of the � eet help the company reduce cost.

How do you assess the present situation in the country’s aviation industry? Is it okay for the industry’s proper growth? Airlines are paying 76% inter-est on airfare surcharge, that is horrible. The actual debt of the GMG airlines (now closed) was Tk40 crore, but the interest totalled Tk70 crore. Due to this high inter-est rate, many airliners would be forced to shut down the business. Parking charge is also an impediment.

How do you evaluate foreigners’ appointment in top position by different Bangladeshi airlines including Biman? Though Biman appointed foreigner as CEO, there was no positive impact. The CEOs will need to understand the country and local passengers’ mindset. Foreign managers were unable to understand these things. The appoint-ment of foreigners failed to bring any positive changes to the airlines.

For example? Private GMG airlines was pro� table until appointment of a foreigner as CEO. After appointment of a foreigner, the management leased a Jambojet aircraft. At that time jet fuel price increased three times. But the management couldn’t predict the surge in fuel price. Many airlines in Europe and America shut down due to higher fuel price. However, I think foreigners can be appointed in technical side of the airlines where we still lack skilled manpower. The appointments could also be made in quality control and revenue management sectors of the companies.

You were also with the GMG airlines? When I was with the GMG, eighty percent of the pilots were foreign recruits. Later I downscaled it to less than 40%. The same situation was in the Regent, and it was later decreased to 30%.

How are you preparing new pilots? I tried my best to give more chances to young boys and girls to be cockpit crew as many young pilots are un-employed. I have told former Biman chairman not to over-charge the students at the Bi-man training institute.

Though we have only one Dash 8, in last four months, Regent trained 16 pilots. It still had 7 pilots in the pipe-line to be appointed.

However, Biman later hired them. Ultimately, we su� ered. As national � ag carrier, Biman should take the responsibility of training more pilots. l

Ashish R Choudhury

Business 17D

TTUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Top China paper warns of crisis risk over debtn AFP, Beijing

China must turn o� the taps of credit-driven growth to avoid a � -nancial system crisis in the face of rising bad loans and other risks, the Communist Party’s o� cial mouth-piece newspaper said yesterday, citing an unnamed “authoritative” source.

The prominent article, in ques-tion-and-answer format, started on the front of the broadsheet paper and took up the entirety of page two.

China’s Communist authorities are trying to retool the economy away from the investment- and ex-port-led growth of the past to one more led by consumer demand, and reform lumbering, loss-mak-ing state-owned enterprises to make the sector more e� cient.

But the transition is proving bumpy, raising fears of a hard land-ing, and global markets have been alarmed by slowing expansion in the world’s second-largest economy.

Attempts to address the slow-down in the � rst quarter of this year - when growth slid to 6.7% - were largely driven by invest-ment, the People’s Daily quoted the source as saying, putting more

� nancial pressure on some local governments.

Analysts said the comments could be a signal that Beijing is to rein in monetary stimulus e� orts.

“A tree cannot grow in the air,” said the source, arguing against raising debt further.

“Further leverage must not be added to push up growth, nor does it need to be,” the interviewee add-ed, warning of a possible crisis as high debts “will de� nitely bring about high risks”.

“A system � nancial crisis could be triggered if no good controls are implemented, leading the econo-my to contract and even household savings to evaporate.”

It is the third time in less than a year that the People’s Daily has cit-ed “an authoritative person” to dis-cuss top-level economic policies.

Chinese news portal Sina has previously said that such an “au-thoritative source” in similar People’s Daily articles could be a high-ranking government o� cial, such as the head of the top eco-nomic planning agency the Na-tional Development and Reform Commission, or a respected scholar who participated in major econom-ic policymaking. l

Workers stand on a steel frame which they are welding for an advertising board in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province REUTERS

REHAB reelects Alamgir Shamsul Alamin as president n Tribune Business Desk

Real Estate and Housing Asso-ciation of Bangladesh (REHAB) re-elected Alamgir Shamsul Alamin as its president for 2016 to 2018.

Nuran Nabi Chowdhury has been elected senior vice-presi-dent while Liakat Ali Bhuiyan � rst vice-president and Abul Fatah M Ahkam Ullah Iman Khan second vice-president, according to BSS.

REHAB Election Board an-nounced the committee today, said a release.

Engineer Sardar M Amin has been elected vice-president (Ad-min) while Engineer Muhammad Sohel Rana vice-president (Finance) and M Abdul Kayam Chowdhury vice-president from Chittagong.

In the new committee, a total of 29 directors have been elected, of which only three are from Chit-tagong.

FBCCI Director Mohammad Amin Helali was the chairman of three-member election board. l

BD-Nepal set for crucial talksn Tribune Business Desk

Commerce secretaries of Bangla-desh and Nepal are set for their third meeting here tomorrow on crucial pending issues of connectiv-ity aiming to boost bilateral trade.

According to a commerce minis-try statement, Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Hedayetullah Al Mamoon will lead an 18-mem-ber Bangladeshi delegation with his counterpart Naindra Pras-ad Upadhaya, who would lead a 9-member delegation of his coun-try, said BSS.

It said Bangladeshi investment in hydropower in Nepal for mutual

bene� t was one of the issues of the third talks between the top com-merce ministry o� cials of the two neighbours.

The other issues, it said, includ-ed transit cargo transportation, mutual duty facilities for imports, rail connectivity, harmonisation of sanitary and phytosanitary stand-

ards (SPS) to eliminate technical barriers for trade, visa simpli� ca-tion for businessmen, visa on arriv-al for Nepalese citizens.

Landlocked Nepal earlier ex-pressed its keenness to use Bang-ladesh’s port to import goods through rail and road transits.

Meanwhile, on June 15 last year, Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal signed BBIN Motor Vehicle Agree-ment (MVA) to increase regional trade.

In � scal year 2014-15, Bang-ladesh exported goods to Nepal worth $25.05 million while it im-ported the volume worth $11.50 million. l

Summer Laptop Fair 2016 to begin on Friday n Ishtiaq Husain

A three-day Summer Laptop Fair 2016 will kick o� at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital on Friday.

This is the 17th edition of Laptop Expo where local and international technology product manufacturers and franchises will showcase and sell their latest technology prod-ucts in one mega pavilion, four pa-vilions, seven mini-pavilions and 47 stalls.

Expo Maker Head of Opera-tions Nahid Hasnain Siddique, also convenor of Summer Laptop Fair, came up with the disclosure at a press conference held at Pan Pa-ci� c Sonargaon hotel in the capital yesterday.

Global Brand Chairman Abdul Fattah, Acer Country Represent-ative Sakib Hasan, Dell Country Marketing Manager Protap Saha, HP Retail Account Manager Salaud-

din Mohammad Addel were pres-ent at the press conference.

A wide range of products includ-ing Laptop, Tablet, Internet Securi-ty products and other accessories and gadgets related to laptop will be available at the expo.

The customer will get Tk1,000-Tk1500 discount on the purchase of laptop.

They will also get an o� er – “Buy One, “Get One Free” – for selective models.

Some companies will o� er smartphones of selective models with their laptop brands.

The expo will remain open from morning 10am to 8pm every day.

The entrance fee is Tk30. The school students with uniform or identity card and people physically challenged would be able to enter without ticket. Smartphone users would be able to get entrance per-mit by downloading Techshohor Apps. l

Stocks fall on pro� t booking n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Stocks prices at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended in the red yesterday, snapping the gaining streak over the past two consecutive sessions as investors went on pro� t booking.

DSEX, the key index of the premier bourse, went up by 0.25% or 11 points, closing the ses-sion at 4,329 points.

The blue chip index DS30 lost 0.21% or 4 points to close at 1,676 points while the sha-riah index DSES declined by 0.51% or 5 points ending at 1,064 points.

The market opened with a negative note and showed some volatility during the trading session as investors played both sides of fence.

The single-day turnover stood at Tk494

crore, which was 24.43% higher than the pre-vious day’s Tk 397 crore.

Of 317 issues traded, 178 showed down-trend, 87 ended in the black and 52 remained unchanged.

“The market fell slightly amid higher the volume backed up by large-cap issues like BSRM Steels, United Power, BSRM and Mobil Jamuna Lubricant Bangladesh,” said Lanka-Bangla Securities in its market commentary.

“The market closed in the negative territo-ry due to pro� t booking in micro-cap and mid-cap stocks,” siad IDLC Investments.

The large-cap sectors showed mixed per-formances. Among the major sectors, bank, cement and fuel and power decreased by 0.80%, 0.62% and 0.38% respectively. l

Nepal earlier expressed its keenness to use Bangladesh’s portto import goods

Business18DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

CORPORATE NEWS

American Dairy Limited has been established an arti� cial insemination training center at Sreepur in Gazipur, said a press release. State Minister at Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Narayan Chandra Chanda was present at the inauguration ceremony as chief guest along with the company’s managing director, Dr Hasanul A Hasan

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently distributed scholarships among 20 � nancially challenged students of Dhaka University’s Faculty of Business Studies, said a press release. The bank’s chairperson, Major Dr Md Rezaul Haque (retired) and Speaker of the Parliament, Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury handed over scholarship letters among the students

Sonali Bank has recently held a conference on cyber security and distribution of loans in Sylhet. The bank’s chief information o� cer, Md Mofazzal Hossain was present at the conference, said a press release

NRB Global Bank Limited has recently arranged a town hall meeting to review business performance of its branches in Chittagong region, said a press release. The bank’s chairperson, Nizam Chowdhury was present at the meeting as chief guest

‘Japan ready to intervene if yen moves too volatile’n Reuters, Tokyo

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said yesterday that Tokyo is ready to intervene in the currency market if yen moves are volatile enough to hurt the country’s trade and economy.

Aso also said he did not think the

United States considered Japan’s currency policy to be inappropri-ate, but acknowledged the two countries di� ered in their views on what would be deemed excessive yen rises that justify intervention.

“For Japan, excessive volatility in yen moves that a� ect Japan’s trade, economic and � scal poli-

cies - be it yen rises or yen falls - is undesirable. If such moves occur, Japan is ready to intervene in the market,” Aso told parliament.

Sadayuki Sakakibara, head of Ja-pan’s biggest business lobby Keidan-ren, said it was “natural” for Japanese authorities to act against recent yen rises that were speculative and out

of line with economic fundamentals, according to Kyodo news agency.

“The business sector would o� er its support” if Japanese authorities were to intervene in the currency market, Sakakibara was quoted as saying at a news conference yes-terday. The dollar hit an 18-month low of 105.55 yen last week after the

United States added Japan to a list of countries it was monitoring over foreign exchange policies.

Some investors interpreted the move as a warning to Tokyo against conducting yen-selling market in-tervention. The dollar regained some ground to hover above 107 yen in Asia yesterday. l

19D

T

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016Biz Info

Assaduzzaman Noor MP, honourable minister, Ministry of Cultural A� airs left the country yesterday, to inaugurate the Bangladesh Gallery at the International Buddhist Museum located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The neighbouring country’s Ministry

of Internal A� airs, Wayamba Development and Culture A� airs sent the invitation through the Bangladesh High-commission in Sri Lanka. The cultural minister is also scheduled to attend multiple cultural events, both in Colombo and Kandy. l

On Saturday, May 7, 2016 Grace 21 Hotel authority entered into a memorandum of understanding with Magpie Group for providing a central VRF system and interior equipments.

Through impeccable collaboration between the parties, Grace 21 Hotel aspires to provide an immersive experience to the guests, as it shortly becomes fully operational. Grace 21 is an upcoming four star boutique hotel complete with upscale restaurant and relevant amenities, striving to provide � ve star facilities to the boarders.

The MOU was signed between the Managing Director of Grace 21 Hotel and representative of Magpie Electronics Ltd at the Grace 21 Hotel premise, located

in the vicinity of Le Méridien Hotel at Nikunja 2.

By signing the memorandams, parties expressed their inclination towards the successful functioning of Grace

21 Hotel, along with readiness for cooperation following the principles of mutual understanding and respect throughout the establishment and maintenance of Grace 21 Hotel. l

Situated at the heart of Gulshan, Za� ran is placed in an intimate and cozy setting. Book your tables now and render your senses with their breathtaking ambiance and spectacular Indian and Pakistani cuisines.House 1/B, Road 5Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212Email:  za� ranltd@gmail.comHotline: 01618010104 l

Noted Bangladeshi artist Laila Sharmeen will put up her recent works in mixed media on paper at the nine-day 3rd World Art Games to be held in di� erent cities of Montenegro, which began on May 4, 2016. The exhibition of games will open at the oldest art institutions of the country Gallery of Association of Visual Artists of Montenegro. The show will then travel to other major cities of Montenegro including Sutomore and Kotor.

Laila Sharmeen has 11 solos and over 60 international shows to her credit. She has showcased her works in major international art fairs and biennales, including Tokyo International Art Fair,

Oxford International Art Fair, Barcelona Art Fair, Art Shopping (Carrousel Du Louvre, Paris), Art Expo New York, Izmir Biennale (Turkey), and E� etto Biennale (Merida, Mexico). She was awarded a Purchase Prize at the 16th Space International Print Biennial, Seoul in 2011. l

Cultural minister visits Sri Lanka Mou signing to ensure better service

Try Indian and Pakistani food at Za� ran!

Laila to attend 3rd World Art Games in Montenegro

| tour | | agreement |

| food |

| dining |

| exhibition |

Gourmet Pizzasat CilantroThe wait is � nally over! Cilantro proudly introduces its new line of rectangular gourmet pizzas. Try their original Italian pesto pizza with chunks of succulent chicken and gooey combo of melted cheddar and mozzarella at every bite! That is guaranteed satisfaction!Pesto Pizza is priced at Tk795 l

From Right: ATM Zahid Hossain (Zafor), chairman of Grace 21 Hotel; Md Tarikul Islam, managing director of Grace 21 Hotel; Hasanuzzam Siddiki, managing director of Magpie Electronics Ltd

Downtime20DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 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 20 represents L so � ll L every time the � gure 20 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

ACROSS 1 Heathen (5) 4 Assist (4)7 Nullify (6)8 Enrich with a gift (5) 10 Morse element (4)11 Result from (5)12 Flow back (3)14 Halt (4)17 Rodents (4)19 United (3)20 Drunkard (5)23 Conceal (4)25 Lines of soldiers (5) 26 Swelling waves (6)27 What time? (4)28 Long for (5)

DOWN 1 Like better (6) 2 Soon (4)3 Tidings (4)4 Abode of the dead (5) 5 Greek letter (3)6 Injury (6)9 Amount owing (4) 13 Condemn to exile (6) 15 Rent (4)16 Individual (6) 18 Harsh (5)21 Hunted animal (4) 22 Comfort (4)24 Owing (3)

SUDOKU

1st scienti� c evidence of sea-level rise claiming 5 whole Paci� c islands n Tribune International Desk

A group of Australian environment scientists have recently found ground-breaking evidences of how sea-level rises have claimed � ve remote islands in the Paci� c.

During a recent expedition, the scientists have discovered that at least � ve reef islands in the remote Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and a further six islands have been severely eroded.

The scientists are-- Simon Albert; senior research fellow at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland, Alistair Grinham, sen-ior research fellow at University of Queensland, Badin Gibbes;

senior lecturer at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland, Javier Leon; lectur-er, at University of the Sunshine Coast and John Church, CSIRO fel-low, CSIRO.

According to the scientists, these islands lost to the sea range in size from one to � ve hectares. They supported dense tropical veg-etation that was at least 300 years old. Nuatambu Island, home to 25 families, has lost more than half of its habitable area, with 11 houses washed into the sea since 2011.

This is the � rst scienti� c evi-dence, published in Environmen-tal Research Letters, that con� rms the numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Paci� c of the dra-matic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people.

A warning for the worldPrevious studies examining the risk of coastal inundation in the Paci� c region have found that islands can actually keep pace with sea-level rise and sometimes even expand.

However, these studies have been conducted in areas of the Pa-ci� c with rates of sea level rise of 3-5mm/year – broadly in line with the global average of 3mm/year.

For the past 20 years, the Solo-mon Islands have been a hotspot for sea-level rise. Here the sea has risen at almost three times the global average, around 7-10mm/year since 1993. This higher local rate is partly the result of natural climate variability.

The scientists say these higher rates are in line with previous pro-jection of sea-level rise of the Pa-ci� c in the second half of this cen-tury as a result of human-induced sea-level rise. The scientists also fear many areas will experience long-term rates of sea-level rise similar to that already experienced

in Solomon Islands in all but the very lowest-emission scenarios.

Natural variations and geo-logical movements will be super-imposed on these higher rates of global average sea level rise, resulting in periods when local rates of rise will be substantially larger than that recently observed in Solomon Islands. We can there-fore see the current conditions in Solomon Islands as an insight into the future impacts of accelerated sea-level rise.

The scientists also studied the coastlines of 33 reef islands using aerial, satellite imagery from 1947-2015. This information was integrat-ed with local traditional knowledge, radiocarbon dating of trees, sea-lev-el records, and wave models.

Waves add to damageWave energy appears to play an important role in the dramatic coastal erosion observed in Solo-mon Islands. Islands exposed to higher wave energy in addition to sea-level rise experienced greatly accelerated loss compared with more sheltered islands.

The scientists had studied 12 islands in a low wave energy area of Solomon Islands and observed little noticeable change in shore-lines despite being exposed to similar sea-level rise. However, the claim that of the 21 islands exposed to higher wave energy,

� ve completely disappeared and a further six islands eroded sub-stantially.

The human storyAccording to the scientists, these rapid changes to shorelines ob-served in Solomon Islands have led to the relocation of several coastal communities that have inhabited these areas for generations. These are not planned relocations led by governments or supported by in-ternational climate funds, but are ad hoc relocations using their own limited resources.

The customary land tenure (native title) system in Solomon Islands has provided a safety net for these displaced communities. In fact, in some cases entire com-munities have left coastal villages that were established in the early 1900s by missionaries, and re-traced their ancestral movements to resettle old inland village sites used by their forefathers.

In other cases, relocations have been more ad hoc, with indivdu-al families resettling small inland hamlets over which they have customary ownership.

In these cases, communities of 100-200 people have fragmented into handfuls of tiny family hamlets.

In addition to these village re-locations, Taro, the capital of Cho-iseul Province, is set to become the � rst provincial capital in the

world to relocate residents and services in response to the impact of sea-level rise.

The global effortInteractions between sea-level rise, waves, and the large range of responses observed in Solomon Islands – from total island loss to relative stability – shows the im-portance of integrating local as-sessments with traditional knowl-edge when planning for sea-level rise and climate change.

Linking this rich knowledge and inherent resilience in the peo-ple with technical assessments and climate funding is critical to guiding adaptation e� orts.

Melchior Mataki who chairs the Solomon Islands’ National Disas-ter Council, said: “This ultimately calls for support from develop-ment partners and international � nancial mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund. This support should include nationally driven scienti� c studies to inform ad-aptation planning to address the impacts of climate change in Sol-omon Islands.”

Last month, the Solomon Is-lands government joined 11 oth-er small Paci� c Island nations in signing the Paris climate agree-ment in New York. There is a sense of optimism among these nations that this signi� es a turning point in global e� orts.

However, it remains to be seen how the hundreds of billions of dollars promised through global funding models such as the Green Climate Fund can support those most at need in remote commu-nities, like those in Solomon Is-lands. l

[This article was published under Creative Commons Attribution No

Derivatives licence. The original article was published by Theconservation.

com, which can be found at http://bit.ly/1s1mCTA]

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Why are world powers unable to stop Boko Haram?Two years ago, the world watched in horror as 276 girls were abducted from their school in Chibok, Nigeria, by the group known as Boko Haram, a militant group that swears alle-giance to the Islamic State. PAGE 22

Trump reverses stance on taxesUS Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Sunday he was open to raising tax-es on the rich, backing o� his prior proposal to reduce taxes on all Americans and breaking with one of his party’s core policies dating back to the 1990s. PAGE 24

NZ prime place for LatAm rich people to hide moneyWealthy Latin Americans are using secretive, tax-free New Zealand shelf companies and trusts to help channel funds around the world, according to a report on Monday based on leaks of the so-called Panama Papers. PAGE 23

All that remains of one of the completely eroded islands SIMON ALBERT

Many homes are close to sea level on the Solomons SIMON ALBERT

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Why are world powers unable to stop Boko Haram?n Tribune International Desk

Two years ago, the world watched in horror as 276 girls were abduct-ed from their school in Chibok, Nigeria, by the group known as Boko Haram, a militant group that swears allegiance to the Islamic State.

Fifty-seven of the girls later escaped, but most have not - and the situation has only gotten worse. The kidnappings prompted a global campaign, #BringBackOurGirls, but experts say violence in the region has impeded the girls’ rescue and the world’s atten-tion has shifted to other crises.

To show how dire the situation has become, the UN children’s agency, Unicef, released a report last month showing that the number of children involved in suicide bombing has risen ten-fold in the last year in the Lake Chad region, which includes Ni-geria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

One in every � ve suicide bombings is perpetrated by a child. Three-quarters of them are girls as young as eight years old. They are victims, the UN says, of slavery and rape. The report, “Beyond Chibok,” says 2.3m people have been forced out of their homes in the last three years. And the other � ndings are equally grim.

“Boys are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty to Boko Haram, while girls are exposed to severe abuse including sexual violence and forced marriage to � ghters,” the report states. “Some are also used to carry or detonate bombs.”

Laurent Duvillier, spokesperson for Unicef in West & Central Africa, said the world was shocked by the 2014 abduction. “But what did not get so much attention is what happened after this: over 2,000 women and girls have been abducted since then in about four countries, not just Nigeria.”

Duvillier continued, “What we see today is that the humanitar-ian situation has seriously deteriorated. One year ago, on the � rst anniversary of Chibok, there were 800,000 people displaced; to-day, 1.3m children alone are displaced, an increase of 60%.”

Duvillier and other experts on the ground say that military forces in all four countries have make gains, liberating areas and people, but the abductions continue and, as areas are liberated, the humanitarian need is even greater.

The report details the stigma associated with children who have been freed, some ostracised, others killed, out of fear that they might turn against their communities.

There is also a chronic nutrition crisis. Toby Lanzer, the as-sistant secretary-general of Regional Humanitarian Coordination for the Sahel of O� ce for the Coordination of Humanitarian Af-fairs (OCHA), told reporters at UN Headquarters on April that the world should take note, because a migration crisis may follow when the “poorest of the poor” are subject to such extreme vi-olence, abuse, the e� ects of climate change, and malnutrition.

“The su� ering of some 30,000 people in Bama was as acute as I have seen,” Lanzer said. Deputy US State Department spokes-man Mark Toner said couple of days later that the US is delivering over $240m in development and humanitarian assistance to the Lake Chad region.

“The United States continues to assist the Nigerian govern-ment’s e� orts to locate and bring home all those who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram with intelligence and advisory sup-port,” Toner said.

“Boys and girls a� ected by Boko Haram violence are faced with an extremely di� cult situation, but I would not qualify the situation as intractable; there are many actors, including the United Nations, engaged in trying to improve the protection of children in Nigeria and neighboring countries,” Leila Zerrougui, the Special Represent-ative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Con� ict, said.

“The con� ict’s impact on education is extremely concerning,” Zerrougi said. “Hundreds of thousands of children are missing out on their education. Recovering from personal trauma, from the trauma of con� ict, is key to help the next generation build the peace they deserve.” l

[This is an excerpt of a CBSNews article, which can be found at http://cbsn.ws/1Vl1WRL]

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SOUTH ASIAMother of Pakistan’s Oscar double winner named in #PanamaPapersThe mother of Sharmeen Obaid-Chi-noy, two time Oscar winner for woman-focused documentaries, has been named in the latest batch of Panama Papers revelation. Howev-er, in a statement issued Monday, she denied being a bene� ciary of any o� -shore enterprise, and clar-i� ed that her mother’s ownership is compliant with the applicable Pakistani laws. -NEWS INT’L

INDIAModi’s education record made public to halt rowIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party on Monday made public his university degree certi� cates, in a bid to disprove allegations by a political opponent that he had fabri-cated his quali� cations. Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal last week accused the premier of lying about graduating from Delhi University with a BA and obtaining a Masters in Political Sci-ence from Gujarat University. -REUTERS

CHINAPanama Papers law � rm apologises to Chinese bank The law � rm at the centre of the Panama Papers o� shore tax haven controversy has written an apology to a Chinese banking client as it seeks to shore up its Asian business following a massive leak of � nancial data last month. The letter was written by Mossack Fonseca in re-sponse to queries from the Chinese bank about compliance with global � nancial standards. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC10 dead in Philippine election day violenceAt least 10 people died across the Philippines in election day vio-lence on Monday, as gunmen at-tacked polling stations, ambushed vehicles and stole vote counting machines, police said. However authorities described the violence as isolated incidents and that the overall conduct of the elections was peaceful. In the worst attack, 7 people were shot dead in an ambush before dawn in Rosario, a town just outside of Manila. -AFP

MIDDLE EASTHezbollah, allies claim victory in east Lebanon voteLebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and its allies won a vast majority of seats in areas where they ran in local elections in eastern Lebanon, the group’s deputy leader said Monday, a day after the vote took place. Meanwhile, the head of a local coalition of di� erent political groups said it will most likely win the Beirut municipality. -AP

#PANAMAPAPERS REVELATIONS

NZ prime place for LatAm rich people to hide moneyn Reuters, Wellington

Wealthy Latin Americans are using secre-tive, tax-free New Zealand

shelf companies and trusts to help channel funds around the world, according to a report on Monday based on leaks of the so-called Pan-ama Papers.

Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister John Key to take action after local media analysed more than 61,000 documents relating to New Zealand that are part of the massive leak of data from Mos-sack Fonseca, a Panama-based law � rm. The papers have shone spotlight on how the world’s rich take advantage of o� shore tax re-gimes.

Mossack Fonseca actively pro-moted New Zealand as a good place to do business due to its tax-free status, high levels of con� denti-ality and legal security, accord-ing to a joint report by Radio New Zealand, TVNZ and investigative

journalist Nicky Hager.The government was asking the

Ministry of Justice to move quickly on rules already under consider-ation to tighten anti-money laun-dering requirements for lawyers, real estates and accountants, he added.

Opposition Labour Party Leader Andrew Little said the government must act to “preserve New Zea-land’s reputation by shutting down the system that sees our country implicated in a massive global net-work of tax avoidance.”

The New Zealand government said last month it would begin a review of its foreign trust laws af-ter the Panama Papers highlighted vulnerabilities in its legal frame-work that made it a possible link in international tax avoidance struc-tures because its foreign trusts are not subject to tax.

Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said that review doesn’t go far enough. He called on Key to “stop defending the tax avoid-ance industry” and demanded a full inquiry. l

Q&AThe Oceania nation’s emergence as tax heaven So New Zealand’s a tax haven?New Zealand is referenced more than 61,000 times in the papers, and shows Mossack Fonseca ac-tively promoted New Zealand to its clients, particularly those from Lat-in America, as a place to park their money. It highlighted New Zea-land’s tax-free status to foreigners setting up o� shore trusts or com-panies and limited disclosure rules, backed by New Zealand’s stable political system, and independent and established legal and � nancial systems. A number of New Zea-land key foreign trust players also show up time and time again, in-cluding Bentleys New Zealand and its co-founder Roger Thompson, which acted as Mossack Fonseca’s agent here.

How is it done?The Panama Papers show it’s rela-tively easy to do for those with the means to do so. Potential custom-ers, or their lawyer or accountant, would contact Mossack Fonseca. Typical clients include Ecudorian bankers, Colombian car dealers, wealthy Mexican celebrities and Brazilian lawyers. Mossack Fonseca passed on their clients information

to Auckland law � rm Bentleys and its co-founder, Roger Thompson, who would organise the paperwork to set up the trust here.Thompson’s tasks would also often include being the sole New Zealand director of the trusts, alongside two Panamanian directors. A further Bentleys compa-ny, Orion Trust, is also used over and over as a nominee o� ce holder in foreign trusts and companies. Both hid the real owners from view. Nev-ertheless, Bentley’s Roger Thomp-son says con� dentiality is allowed, and the system guarantees it.

Who keeps an eye on the trusts in New Zealand?Inland Revenue (IRD) has oversight of the trusts, which are required to be registered. The trusts are not re-quired to � le an annual return, but if asked by IRD they must give details on their make up and transactions. The papers indicate that IRD rarely queried or checked any trusts, its owners or its bene� ciaries. Bent-ley’s Roger Thompson says his � rm has received a small number of requests from IRD in the past and have always complied. l

Source: RADIO NEW ZEALAND

Hundreds of cows and bulls walked the ramp in a Haryana town in India on Saturday in a bovine beauty pageant aimed at promoting domestic cattle breeds and raising awareness about animal health. As farmers led their animals, the panel of experts judged the beasts for their size and overall looks, the length of their horns and, for the cows, their milk-yielding capacities. The judges selected 18 winners in various categories, choosing the healthiest and best-looking cows and bulls from more than 630 animals in the contest, held in the farming town of Rohtak.

THE GREAT INDIAN BOVINE BEAUTY PAGEANT

A pair of bulls wait for their turn to walk the ramp during the bovine beauty pageant in Rohtak on Saturday. Hundreds of cows and bulls walked the ramp in the pageant aimed at promoting domestic cattle breeds AP

An Indian man leads a bull on a ramp during the bovine beauty pageant in Rohtak on Saturday AP

An Indian man waits for signal to lead a cow on a ramp during the bovine beauty pageant in Rohtak on Saturday AP

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USAN Carolina sues US over controversial LGBT lawNorth Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s administration sued the federal government Monday in a � ght for a state law that limits protections for lesbian, gay, bisex-ual and trans-gender people. The lawsuit seeks to keep in place the law, which the US Justice Depart-ment said last week violated the civil rights of trans-gender people against sex discrimination on the job and in education. -AP

THE AMERICASBrazil lower house annuls Rousse� impeachment vote The acting speaker of the lower house of Brazil’s Congress has annulled last month’s vote on im-peachment, delaying the process against embattled President Dilma Rousse� . A Senate vote on wheth-er to accept the impeachment process had been scheduled for Wednesday. But Monday’s request by Waldir Maranhao means the matter goes back to the Chamber of Deputies. The decision is a huge victory for Rousse� . -AP

UKPoll: 46% of Britons would vote for BrexitThe campaign for Britain to leave the European Union saw its lead grow slightly over the rival ‘In’ campaign, according to a poll published by ICM on Monday. The poll found 46% would vote ‘Out’, up one percentage point from the previous ICM poll on May 3, while 44% would support staying in the bloc, unchanged from the previous survey. -REUTERS

EUROPEAustrian chancellor quits after far-right triumphAustrian Chancellor Werner Faymann quit Monday, bowing to intense pressure two weeks after the opposition anti-immigration far-right dealt his coalition a historic defeat in the � rst round of presidential elec-tions. The centre-left Faymann, 56, chancellor for the past eight years, said in a statement that he no longer had strong backing in his party, the Social Democrats. -AFP

AFRICALandslides kill nearly 50 in RwandaAt least 49 people were killed this weekend in landslides caused by torrential rains in rural Rwanda, the government said on Monday. Author-ities had previously given a death toll of 20, many of them children, as downpours drenched the densely populated country of steep hills and deep valleys. The worst a� ected dis-trict was Gakenke in the north, where 34 people were killed. -AFP

Trump reverses stance on taxesn Reuters, Washington, DC

US Republican presidential can-didate Donald Trump said on Sunday he was open to raising

taxes on the rich, backing o� his prior proposal to reduce taxes on all Americans and breaking with one of his party’s core policies dating back to the 1990s.

“I am willing to pay more, and you know what, the wealthy are willing to pay more,” Trump told ABC’s “This Week.”

After e� ectively sealing the Re-publican nomination for the No-vember 8 presidential election last week, Trump has used speeches and interviews to o� er more de-tails on his policy positions.

The billionaire real estate ty-coon has said he would like to see an increase in the minimum wage, although he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday he would prefer to see states take the lead on that front instead of the federal government.

“I don’t know how people make it on $7.25 an hour,” Trump said of the current federal mini-mum wage. “I would like to see an increase of some magnitude. But I’d rather leave it to the states. Let the states decide.”

Trump’s call for higher taxes on the wealthy is a break with Re-

publican presidential nominees who have staunchly opposed tax hikes for almost three decades. Tax hikes have been anathema to many in the party since former President George H W Bush infuri-ated fellow Republicans by aban-doning a pledge not to raise taxes and agreeing to an increase in a 1990 budget deal.

Democrats, including presiden-tial front-runner Hillary Clinton, have pressed for increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans for years.

Trump released a tax propos-al last September that included broad tax breaks for businesses and households. He proposed reducing the highest income tax rate to 25% from the current 39.6% rate.

Pressed on the contradiction be-tween his latest comments on taxes and the September tax plan, Trump said he viewed his original proposal as “a concept” and that he expect-ed it would be changed following negotiations with Congress.

“By the time it gets negotiated, it’s going to be a di� erent plan,” Trump told ABC. He emphasised in separate interviews with ABC and NBC that his priorities were lowering taxes on the middle class and businesses.

“The middle class has to be protected,” Trump told NBC. The rich are “probably going to end up paying more,” he said.

The Clinton campaign said Trump was trying to pander to voters beyond those who support-ed him in the Republican nomi-nating contests and that he had no intention of raising the taxes of wealthy people.

“Don’t believe Donald Trump’s weak attempts at a general elec-tion ‘makeover’ for even a sec-ond,” Christina Reynolds, a Clin-ton campaign spokeswoman, said in a statement. “Trump’s econom-ic plans take direct aim at working Americans - his proposal to cut trillions in taxes for the top one percent would almost certainly come at the expense of working- and middle-class families.”

When asked on NBC whether he would release his own tax re-turns before the election, Trump

said once again that it depended on the completion of an audit.

“Sure. If the auditors � nish. I’ll do it as fast as the auditors � nish,” he said.

Meanwhile, Republicans re-main deeply divided over Trump’s candidacy, although he has pledged to try to unite the party ahead of its convention in July. Prominent party leaders such as Paul Ryan, the top elected US Re-publican, have distanced them-selves from Trump over his pro-posal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Ryan, who has been a leading voice for the Republican Party on budget issues for years and is the House of Representatives Speaker, has proposed a series of budgets that would cut taxes across the board. l

Mocked by colleagues, Cameron argues UK safer in EUn Reuters, London

Britain needs the European Union to help � ght Islamic State and rebu� a

“newly belligerent” Russia, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday, making a “patriotic case” for membership that was immedi-ately mocked by a one-time ally.

With just over six weeks to go before a referendum, both sides of the debate are sharpening their arguments, with Conservative for-mer London mayor, Boris Johnson, attacking the prime minister for scaremongering by suggesting that Britain could trigger World War Three if it left the 28-member bloc.

Cameron, setting out the secu-rity argument for Britain to vote to remain in the EU on June 23, drew on military history, invok-ing the memory of wartime leader Winston Churchill to bolster his case that “isolationism has never served this country well”.

But it was his words that the EU had helped secure peace for 70 years that were seized upon by “Out” campaigners, who ques-tioned whether he could seriously believe that a British exit, or Brex-

it, could see troops on the move in Europe again.

“I want to show that if you love this country, if you want to keep it strong in the world and keep our people safe, our membership of the EU is one of the tools that helps us to do these things,” Cameron told diplomats and campaigners.

“I’m not arguing that the EU alone has kept the peace in Eu-rope these last 70 seventy years, of course not, Nato has played an absolutely key role ... (but) it’s pretty extraordinary that coun-tries that were � ghting and killing each other are now � nding a way to work together.”

He warned Britain that it could be exposed to greater threats if

voters decided to leave the EU, underlining the role of security cooperation after dozens were killed in attacks by Islamic State in Brussels and Paris.

“We see a newly belligerent Rus-sia, the rise of the Dae’sh (Islamic State) network to our east and to our south the migration crisis - dealing with these requires unity of purpose in the West,” he said.

Brexit, he said, would “make cooperation more legally complex and make our access to vital infor-mation much slower”.

Johnson attacksJohnson, whom the prime minis-ter had once hoped to recruit to his “In” campaign, said the argu-

ment was “wholly bogus”.“I don’t think the prime min-

ister can seriously believe that leaving the EU would trigger war on the European continent, given that he was prepared only a few months ago to urge that people should vote leave if they failed to get a substantially reformed Euro-pean Union,” Johnson told cam-paigners and journalists.

He said Britain should pull out now to regain its sovereignty and democratic rights, leaving a fail-ing organisation.

The former mayor, who is seen as a possible replacement for Cameron, called on Britons to demand answers from “In” cam-paigners, including over how high levels of immigration could be curbed when the country had no control of its borders.

Both campaigns are trying to � nd the arguments that resonate with British voters, who, accord-ing to opinion polls, are evenly split over which way to vote.

The “In” campaign, backed by Cameron, has so far mainly stuck to economic arguments, trying to deepen rifts in the “Out” cam-paign over what Britain would look like after Brexit. l

British Prime Minister David Cameron delivers a speech on the European Union at the British Museum in central London on Monday AFP

US federal income tax return form, commonly known as 1040 form BIGSTOCK

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TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Milestone for CR7 but Pichichi unlikelyCristiano Ronaldo achieved another milestone in his Real Madrid career when he scored his 200th goal at the Bernabeu on Sunday but he looks like failing in his bid to become La Liga’s top scorer for the third season in a row. PAGE 29

Abahani clinch Club Cup Hockey in style Abahani Limited clinched the title of the Club Cup Hockey Tournament as they came from behind to humiliate Usha Krira Chakra with a 5-1 defeat in the � nal at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday. PAGE 26

Djokovic targets Rome after triumphNovak Djokovic heads for Rome this week crediting an unscheduled pause in his claycourt season with helping him clinch a record 29th Masters title. The world number one defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. PAGE 27

Ibra crowned as France’s bestParis Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was voted France’s Ligue 1 player of the year for a record third time on Sunday. Ibrahimovic won the award, voted for by his peers after scoring 35 goals in the capital club’s romp. PAGE 28

Abahani hit by solid Soumyan Tribune Report

Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Mithun carried Legends of Rupganj to a � ghting 21-run in their rain-in-terrupted Dhaka Premier League match against Abahani Limited at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

Rain and thunder stopped play with 3.2 overs left to play, and Rup-ganj needing eleven more runs to win. The umpires held discussions with both sides before walking o� amid a drizzle. Soon, the an-nouncement came that Rupganj had picked up their third win, while Abahani lost for the second time, on both ocassions in Mirpur.

Soumya had made 10, 1, 20 and 21 in the four innings prior to this game, so his 84 was a welcome re-turn to form. After the win, he said that he was looking for a big one, and it came at the right time.

“I wasn’t getting the big knock. I was getting out in the twenties. To-day [Monday] I was waiting for the right sort of ball to go for my shots. I was looking for such a day when I could make a big one,” Soumya said.

“I had been planning to do well against Abahani, one of the major teams in the competition. I missed out on the century because of my own mistake. A century would have been quite nice but I was get-ting a bit nervous seeing everyone else score and myself missing out in the last four games,” he added.

Rupganj were jolted early in their chase when Junaid Siddique edged Taskin Ahmed in the sixth over. Soumya and Mithun added

127 runs for the second wicket. Mithun made a run-a-ball 75 with six fours and three sixes.

Soumya made his � rst � fty in the competition but fell for 84 with 76 runs reamining to win. He struck two sixes – over long-on and midwicket - and nine fours in his 89-ball knock.

Abahani came back into the game when they removed Asif Ahmed in the 41st over but Rupganj’s nerves were eased through the 38-run � fth wicket stand between captain Mos-harraf Hossain and Nahidul Islam, both making 25 each.

For Abahani, left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib took two wickets while there was one each for Naz-mul Hossain Shanto, Taskin and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat.

Earlier it was Shanto and Saikat, the two most exciting young talent in the country, who added 125 runs for the fourth wicket after Abaha-ni lost their way following a good start. Shanto top scored with 72 o� 82 balls that had six sweetly-timed fours and a six while Saikat was un-beaten on 67 o� 75 balls with four boundaries and a six. But the pair couldn’t up the ante towards the end, as Abahani got only 77 runs in the last ten overs despite having seven wickets in hand in the 40th over.

They came together after Tamim struck his third � fty in the compe-tition, reaching the landmark with a beautifully struck six over cover. But after hitting Taijul Islam for a cover drive, he was clean bowled next ball by the left-arm spinner for 54 o� 64 balls with seven fours and a six. l

Salahuddin's potion that helped Shakibn Mazhar Uddin

Shakib Al Hasan’s � rst IPL � fty in two years left everyone breath-less on Sunday night. His 66 o� 49 balls against the Gujarat Lions kept the Kolkata Knight Riders in the hunt after they had slipped to 24 for 4 in the sixth over, but ul-timately they went on to lose the game by � ve wickets.

But on Monday in Mirpur, everyone was congratulating the Gazi Group Cricketers’ head coach Mohammad Salahuddin for Shakib’s return to form. His play-ers and even journalists wished him. He also revealed that he got a large number of friend requests on his Facebook page.

While he received each con-gratulatory message with a shy smile, there was a practical rea-son why he was lauded. Over the weekend, Shakib had secretly re-turned to Dhaka for a batting ses-sion under Salahuddin’s watch. Among the few coaches Shakib considers his closest, Salahuddin is one of them so having scored just 20 runs in three IPL innings this season, Shakib needed to feel comfortable with his batting.

“I observed that during his IPL stint, he was unable to middle the ball which he should have been doing. Fortunately he had a small break ahead of his next game where he came to meet his family. At the same time, he asked me to

work with his batting and we had a training session,” Salahuddin told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“He (Shakib) was trying to play more on the midwicket region but I told him to play according to the ball and more importantly middle the ball which he did in the next game. He struck sixes over extra cover region and straight down the wicket and his batting looked � awless and I think it will get bet-ter gradually,” he added.

Salahuddin, who also coached the Comilla Victorians to the BPL title this season, informed that Shakib has the ability to adapt very quickly and it’s his eagerness to learn that always helped him to overcome tough periods.

“Shakib is a very quick learner and he can adapt quickly and implement that on the � eld even after one or two training sessions in the net. And this ability makes him one of the best player in the world as he knows what to do in certain situation,” he added.

It is also a testament of Shakib’s trust in Salahuddin’s ability and quality as a coach that he came to him, rather than the army of coaches in the Knight Riders’ set-up. They include the head coach, Jacques Kallis, mentor Wasim Akram and the assistant coach Si-mon Katich.

What else could a coach want from his best student? l

Legends of Rupganj opener Soumya Sarkar pulls a ball during their Dhaka Premier League match against Abahani Limited at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

BRIEF SCOREABAHANI LIMITED 255/6 (Shanto 72, Saikat 67) lost to LEGENDS OF

RUPGANJ 245/5 (Soumya 84, Mithun 75) by 22 runs (D/L method)

26DT Sport

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

MAHBUB HARUNAbahani coach

It is our strategy that won us the game. Even when we were trailing by a goal I still had belief that we would win the game if we continue to play according to our plan and tactics. We conceded the only goal because of our failure to

mark properly. Still I didn’t expect such big victory.

MAMUN UR RASHIDUsha coach

We couldn’t implement our plan properly because of their aggressive strategy. It was totally Abahani’s day. They played really well and deserved the title. Our foreign recruits failed to

perform as per as the expectation.

RUMMAN SARKAR(Abahani), Best player of the

tournamentI didn’t expect myself to play every

match and perform like this but I always tried and worked hard for the

development of my own game. I believe I can perform better than this.

WHAT THEY SAID

Abahani clinch Club Cup Hockey title in style n Shishir Hoque

Abahani Limited clinched the ti-tle of the Club Cup Hockey Tour-nament after eight long years as they came from behind to humil-iate Usha Krira Chakra with a 5-1 defeat in the � nal at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Abahani made a brilliant come-back through goals from their all four Pakistani recruits Toushique Arshad, Md Irfan, Shakeel Abbasi and Shafqat Rasool after the Malayasian forward Faizal Bin Saari put Usha ahead.

It was Abahani’s third Club Cup titile and last time the tradition-al Sky Blues won the title was in 2007. Their � rst title came in 2004. Meanwhile, Usha are the champi-ons in the last two editions of the meet.

Abahani coach Mahbub Harun once again proved to stay top among the local coaches. The former na-tional coach’s tactic and game-plan was vital in his side’s dominating display. They began the game with slow pace but with the game rolling forward they became more organ-ised, sharp and organised.

It was Usha who went ahead with just seven minutes into the clock through when Faizal found

the back of the net following a hit by Ismail Bin Saari.

Abahani earned two penalty

corners three minutes later but failed to convert any. They � nally equalised the margin at the half-hour mark when drag-� ick special-ist Toushique converted their � fth penalty corner.

Abahani went close again four minutes later when Pakistan na-tional captain Irfan saw his reverse hit went inches wide. Faizal also squandered an opportunity in the 25th minute from striking circle for Usha.

Md Irfan took the lead for the Sky Blues in the 28th minute when the mid� elder scored a � eld goal after a

� ne work of Biplob and Shafqat.Abahani piled more pressure

after the resumption and Shakil Abbasi extended the lead in the 41st  minute after collecting the ball from Shafqat inside the cir-cle. Shafqat scored again in the 49th minute to make it 4-1.

Usha earned only two penalty corners throughout the game and both came in the second half but failed to convert any of them. Aba-hani earned four in the � rst half and three in the second half. Toushique completed the rout in the 56th min-ute to get his second. l

Abahani players and o� cial celebrate winning the Club Cup Hockey title at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Fizz could spark Big Bash interestn Cricket Australia

Bangladesh’s Musta� zur Rahman could well ignite a bidding war be-tween several KFC Big Bash League clubs as the T20 magician’s stock continues to soar.

Musta� zur is one of the hottest T20 bowlers in the world right now, dominating the Indian Premier League at the Sunrisers Hyderabad with lively left-arm pace, deceptive slower balls and a hostile yorker.

Seven BBL clubs have at least one overseas vacancy for BBL|06 – only the Melbourne Stars have already � lled their quota with Eng-lish pair Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen signed on – and the Mel-bourne Renegades may have got an early jump on their rivals in the race for Musta� zur.

The Bangladeshi’s IPL coach

Tom Moody is a director at the Ren-egades, who currently have two overseas spots available on their list, although one is expected to be taken by the return of West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo.

Moody’s close connection with Musta� zur could be a deal-break-er for the Renegades should they want to sign the 20-year-old, as they aim to add to their lone semi-� nals appearance in BBL|02.

Coach David Saker recently ex-pressed a desire to boost his side’s bowling stocks after a disappoint-ing campaign last summer, which saw them miss the � nals for the third consecutive season.

“To be fair, we probably need an overseas bowler,” Saker told The Age.

“We’re looking at whether to go down that track or to recruit a bowler from inside Australia.”

Recently described as a “little genius” by Sydney Sixers captain and Sunrisers teammate Moises Henriques, Musta� zur could also be swayed to the SCG with the Six-ers having room for two interna-tional signings.

Sydney Thunder’s former cap-tain and new list manager Mike Hus-sey has also had a � rst-hand look at the youngster in his role as an IPL commentator. Musat� zur could be an option to replace legendary all-rounder Jacques Kallis at the reign-ing champions, who are expected to re-sign thrilling allrounder Andre Russell in the o� -season.

Perth Scorchers also have both of their overseas spots vacant, while Hobart, Adelaide and Bris-bane can sign one more interna-tional each.

If Musta� zur does � nd a home

in the BBL next summer he would be the second Bangladeshi to play in Australia after Shakib Al Hasan, who turned out for the Strikers and Renegades in BBL|02 and BBL|04 respectively.

Relatively unknown two months ago, Musta� zur burst onto the ra-dar after a stunning display in the IPL and the preceding World T20.

The 20-year-old claimed nine wickets in three matches for Bang-ladesh in the showpiece T20 tour-nament in India in March, including a haul of 5-22 against semi-� nalists and world No.1 ranked T20 team New Zealand.

In nine matches for Hyderabad under the captaincy of Australia’s David Warner, Musta� zur has cap-tured 13 wickets, one behind com-petition leader Mitchell McClena-ghan of the Mumbai Indians. l

2016 Abahani 2014 Usha2012 Usha2010 Mohammedan 2008 Abahani

ROLL OF HONOUR

Sport 27D

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TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Fahad earns win at Asian Junior ChessBangladesh’s youngest Fide Master Mohammad Fahad Rahman yester-day defeated Shailesh Dravid of India in the 6th round of the Asian Junior (Under-20) Chess Tournament which is being held in New Delhi, India. The national sub-junior champion earned 3.5 points after the end of the 6th round. National Junior Champion Avik Sarkar is also taking part in the meet who earned only two points.

TRIBUNE REPORT

BKSP pip Gulshan Youth in low scorerBKSP registered a two-wicket win over Gulshan Youth Club in the Dhaka Premier Women’s Cricket League at the BKSP-4 ground yesterday. Gulshan Youth’s decision to bat � rst went horribly worng as they were bowled out for just 99 runs. Aka Mollik made 24 o� 46 balls as the top scorer. The BKSP bowler Jannatul Ferdous took four wickets in eight over. Later, BKSP chased the target in 35.2 overs losing eight wickets. Opener Mor-sheda Happy scored 26 while Shirin Akther led the Gulshan bowlers with three wickets.

TRIBUNE REPORT

Vlaar signs on for two years at AZ AlkmaarNetherlands international defender Ron Vlaar has extended his stay at boyhood club AZ Alkmaar by two years until 2018, the Dutch team said on Monday. Vlaar went back to AZ in October after recovering from knee surgery following a decision not to extend his contract with Aston Villa at the end of last season. He has been a regular for the club who � nished fourth in the Dutch league on Sunday to book a place in the Europa League.

REUTERS

Mauresmo and Murray announce coaching splitAndy Murray and Amelie Maures-mo announced Monday that they had mutually agreed to end the Frenchwoman’s two-year stint as coach of the two-time major cham-pion. Under Mauresmo’s tutelage, Briton Murray won seven titles, including his � rst two on clay, and reached the � nal of the Australian Open in 2015 and 2016. “Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience for me,” said Mauresmo in a joint statement with Murray on her Facebook page. Dedicating enough time along with the travel has been a challenge for me. I wish him and team well and I hope he goes on to win many more titles.”

AFP

QUICK BYTES

Federation Cup likely to start next week n Tribune Report

The Federation Cup football tournament is like-ly to kick o� on May 15, informed Bangladesh Football Federation after a professional league committee meeting at the BFF House yesterday.

It was also decided that the training camp of national football team will begin on Wednesday ahead of Bangladesh’s AFC Asian Cup Quali� ers Play-o� matches against Tajik-istan on June 2 and 7.

Since the introduction of B-League, this will be the � rst time both Federation Cup and Inde-pendence Cup are to be held before the start of Bangladesh Premier League, whose 9th edition is scheduled to kick o� on June 10.

After around three-hour long meeting of the league committee with the representatives of all the premier league clubs except Sheikh Ja-mal Dhanmondi, Mohammedan and Abahani, the clubs wanted the next professional tourna-ment begin as soon as possible.

“The clubs didn’t want to sit idle for one more month before the league as they have to pay the players and their accommodation. So we decided to hold the Federation Cup before the league.”

As the national team training camp start-ing tomorrow, the clubs will get their national players a day before the match day and after the game players will return to the camp.

The federation is also determined to add more venues outside the capital for the next premier league. It was decided in principle that, along with Dhaka and Chittagong, Ra-jshahi, Sylhet and Mymensingh/Jamalpur are likely to be new venues for the league. If the clubs can’t a� ord, BFF may bear the expense of transport and accomodation of the clubs to play on those venues.

Meanwhile, the arrival date of Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif has not con� rmed yet who will take the temporary responsibility of the team for a month. l

AFC CUP 2016

Sheikh Jamal face Ceres todayn Tribune Report

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club will take on Ceres La Salle in their last group-stage match of AFC Cup 2016 at the Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium, Bacolod City in Philippines today at 5pm BST.

The Bangladesh Premier League champions are already eliminated from the tournament where they are participating for the � rst time. At the end of last month, they earned their � rst victory as well as point in their last game against Tampined Rovers in Dhaka.

Sheikh Jamal left here for Philippines on Sunday and had only a day for the preparation. They lost 2-0 when they hosted the Philippine champions on March 8.

Ceres were the � rst team from Group E to qualify for the knock-out stage. They are currently at the top of table with nine points, one more than Selangor FA, who will play away at Tampines Rovers today. Sheikh Jamal stayed at the bottom with three points. l

Mominul ton too much for Doleshwarn Minhaz Uddin Khan

Table-toppers Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club tasted their � rst de-feat in the Dhaka Premier League when Victoria Sporting Club beat them by 59 runs in Fatullah yes-terday. In the other game, Broth-ers Union defeated Prime Bank Cricket Club by seven runs (via the D/L method) after rain interrupted their game at the BKSP.

Victoria v Prime DoleshwarMominul Haque’s run-a-ball 104 and Chanturnga de Silva’s � ve-for

backed Victoria’s third win. Batting � rst, Victoria lost open-

er Fazle Mahmud early but set-tled down with an 162-run second wicket partnership between Abdul Mazid and Mominul.

Pacer Al Amin Hossain dis-missed Mominul, who had ham-mered 12 boundaries and two sixes, to break the partnership in the 37th over. But that never stopped Victo-ria from putting up more runs on the board as they were propelled by Mazid’s 94 and an unbeaten 51 by Al Amin. They posted 270/3 in 50 overs.

Later, the Sri Lankan left-arm spinner de Silva took � ve wickets as Doleshwar were bowled out for 211 runs in 43.4 overs. Raqibul Hasan’s 73 o� 90 balls was their top score.

Prime Bank v Brothers UnionShehan Jayasuriya’s 63 and some decent contributions had Prime Bank post 249 runs batting � rst in 49.3 overs.

Brothers made their way to 193 in 42.5 overs when rain stopped the game for the second time. The match was called o� at 3.58pm with Brothers seven runs ahead of

the D/L par score.Opener Shahriar Nafees led the

Brothers innings with an unbeaten 84 that had eight boundaries and a six. l

BRIEF SCORESPRIME BANK CC 249 (Shehan 63, Nur Alam 3/25) lost to BROTHERS UNION

193/3 (Shahriar 84*, Shehan 2/25) by seven runs (D/L method)

VICTORIA SC 270/3 (Mominul 104, Mazid 94, Al Amin 3/57) won against PRIME DOLESHWAR 211 (Raqibul 73, Imtiaz 43, Chaturanga 5/36) by 59 runs

Djokovic targets Rome after record triumphn AFP, Rome

Novak Djokovic heads for Rome this week crediting an unsched-uled pause in his claycourt season with helping him clinch a record 29th Masters title.

The world number one defeated long-time rival Andy Murray 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Ma-drid Masters for a second time.

The world number one cap-tured his � fth trophy of 2016 as he defeated defending champion Murray for the 12th time in their last last 13 matches to stand at an overwhelming 23-9 in their career head-to-head.

In Rome, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have been drawn in the same half. Djokovic, the 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2015 champion, and seven-time winner Nadal have shared the last 11 Rome titles between them. l

Novak Djokovic of Serbia (L) and Andy Murray of Britain talk during the trophy ceremony of Madrid Masters tournament in Madrid, Spain on Sunday REUTERS

28DT Sport

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

EPL P W D L GD Pts

Leicester 37 23 11 3 32 80

Tottenham 37 19 13 5 38 70

Arsenal 37 19 11 7 25 68

Man City 37 19 8 10 30 65

Man Utd 36 18 9 9 13 63

Southampton 37 17 9 11 15 60

West Ham 36 15 14 7 14 59

Liverpool 36 16 10 10 13 58

Chelsea 36 12 12 12 6 48

Stoke 37 13 9 15 -15 48

Swansea 37 12 10 15 -10 46

Everton 36 10 14 12 4 44

Watford 36 12 8 16 -8 44

Palace 37 11 9 17 -9 42

West Brom 37 10 12 15 -14 42

Bournemouth 37 11 9 17 -20 42

Sunderland 36 8 11 17 -17 35

Newcastle 37 8 10 19 -25 34

Norwich 36 8 7 21 -33 31

Aston Villa 37 3 8 26 -42 17Empty seats are seen as Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini and players walk around the pitch during a lap of honour after their game again Arsenal at Etihad stadium on Sunday

Ibrahimovic crowned France’s player of yearn AFP, Paris

Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was voted France’s Ligue 1 player of the year for a re-cord third time on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic won the award, voted for by his peers, ahead of PSG team-mate Di Maria, Nice forward Hatem Ben Arfa and Marseille mid-� elder Lassana Diarra after scoring 35 goals in the capital club’s romp to a fourth straight French title.

PSG are on course to repeat last year’s domestic treble, having won the League Cup last month, with the � nal of the French Cup on May 21 against bitter rivals Marseille.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc claimed the Ligue 1 coach of the year prize for the second straight season, while 18-year-old Rennes striker Ousmane Dembele was named France’s young player of the year after netting 12 goals. l

Pellegrini’s home farewell falls � atn Reuters

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said a fond Etihad Sta-dium farewell to the supporters on Sunday but it was hardly the feel-good, celebratory goodbye that he or the fans craved.

After being held to a 2-2 draw by Arsenal, a result that ended a bad week for City, most of the disheart-ened home faithful had departed by the time Pellegrini took to the microphone after his � nal home game in charge.

“Not winning this game is not the way we wanted to � nish the season. We want to qualify for next year’s Champions League,” the Chilean told them, although that now looks increasingly unlikely.

The draw still leaves City in fourth place but it has opened the door for Manchester United who, if they win their � nal two games, will pinch the fourth and � nal Cham-pions League spot. After being knocked out in the semi-� nals of the Champions League by Real Ma-drid in midweek, it seems unthink-

able that incoming manager Pep Guardiola could be left in charge of a Europa League team next season.

Perhaps it was that dispiriting thought which prompted those City supporters with short memo-ries not to bother hanging around to pay a � nal tribute to the Chil-ean who took them to a Premier League and two League Cup wins in his three years in charge.= The stands had largely emptied when Pellegrini told the supporters: “For me it’s been three wonderful, un-forgettable years. Thanks to the

fans for all, I will never forget you.“Don’t change because this

team needs you and I’m sure next year you will do well in all competi-tions. Thank you all.”

It was the sort of digni� ed ad-dress that was expected from Pel-legrini but nothing could conceal his dismay at another performance which tended to sum up his 2016 team, brilliant in patches before � zzling out like a spent � rework.

While a season that promised so much for City seemed to be dying on its feet, Pellegrini took the opportu-

nity to remind people about some of the scintillating football his side have produced under his stewardship.

“In my time here we have im-proved a lot in the Champions League. Also, for me, it’s been about our style of play. There have been a lot of positive things,” he told the BBC.

This was echoed by City’s chair-man Khaldoon Al Mubarak who used the notes in the match pro-gramme to praise the manager for more than just the trophies he brought to the Etihad.l

Platini loses appeal, will quit Uefa presidencyn AFP, Lausanne

Michel Platini will quit as the head of European football after a sports tribunal on Monday rejected his � nal appeal against his ban from football over a suspect $2.0 million payment he received from FIFA.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where Platini appea-led against his sanction, reduced his suspension from six years to four, saying the penalty initially imposed by FIFA’s ethics commit-tee was “too severe”.

But the court said it was “not con-vinced” that the $2.0 million (1.8 mil-lion euros) payment Platini received from FIFA in 2011 was legitimate.

FIFA’s tough punishment of the French football legend was “justi-� ed in view of the superior functi-ons carried out by Mr. Platini... the absence of any repentance and the impact that this matter has had on FIFA’s reputation”.

The payment was ordered by world football’s disgraced ex-pre-

sident Sepp Blatter, who was also brought down over the infamous transaction.

The pair are the highest-pro� le casualties in an unprecedented set of corruption scandals within wor-ld football, which has seen dozens of long-serving FIFA executives

arrested and charged with corrup-tion.

Platini, once the front-runner to succeed Blatter as the most po-werful man in the sport, said in a statement that following the ruling he had no choice but to resign from UEFA.

“As agreed with the national as-sociations, I resign as president of UEFA to pursue my � ght before the Swiss courts to prove my probity in this case,” he said.

He called the CAS ruling “a pro-found injustice”.

UEFA’s executive committee is to meet in Basel on May 18, befo-re the Europa League � nal, when it will set a date for an election to replace Platini.

In a statement noting the CAS ruling, UEFA said it will not appo-int an interim president.

The head of the Dutch football as-sociation Michael van Praag, a possi-ble contender to replace Platini, de-clined to comment on the ruling but called on Europe “to show unity”, the ANP news agency said.

The ruling means Platini will be barred from presiding over the Euro 2016 that opens in his native France on June 10, a tournament which he helped organise until he was provisionally suspended by FIFA in December. l

Sport 29D

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Simeone proud of Atletico’s La Liga campaignn Reuters, Madrid

Far from despondent after his team’s La Liga title hopes ended with a surprise defeat at relegat-ed Levante, Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is taking only pos-itives from what he believes could be the most important year in the club’s history.

Atletico, days after eliminating Bayern Munich to reach the Cham-pions League � nal, lost 2-1 on Sun-day at Levante where they have not won since 2007.

That left the Rojiblancos three points adrift of league leaders Barcelona with one game remain-ing and unable to overtake them because Barca have a better head-to-head record should both teams � nish level on points.

“There is no type of excuse re-garding our previous game,” Sime-one told the club’s website.

“We are � nishing what has been a fantastic and enormous cam-paign. We were one game away from competing with Barcelona and Real Madrid,” he added.

“Other years we were further away and this year we came closer. This is what makes me happy. Of course, we lacked something."

“I’ve told my players that I’m proud of them and that they have had a great season up to now. Now is the time to recover our strength to end the campaign in the best possible way.” l

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

LA LIGA TOP 10 P W D L GD Pts

Barcelon 37 28 4 5 80 88

Real Madrid 37 27 6 4 74 87

At Madrid 37 27 4 6 43 85

Villarreal 37 18 10 9 11 64

Celta Vigo 37 17 9 11 -6 60

At Bilbao 37 17 8 12 11 59

Sevilla 37 14 10 13 3 52

Malaga 37 11 12 14 0 45

Real Sociedad 37 12 9 16 -4 45

Las Palmas 37 12 8 17 -5 44

Panenka and win over Juve on Toni’s farewelln AFP, Milan

Verona striker Luca Toni says he will cherish memories of his � -nal Serie A game “forever” after a fairytale swansong saw him score a cheeky ‘Panenka’ spot-kick in 2-1 win over champions Juventus on Sunday.

“It will be a match I remember forever. It was my last, but it came at the right time,” Toni told Media-set after being given a rousing ova-tion by a � red-up Bentegodi stadi-um crowd.

Toni, a former World Cup win-ner with Italy who once � nished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer with Bayern Munich, announced last week that playing Juventus would be the � nal challenge of a 22-year career.

The 38-year-old was given the chance to score when the referee awarded an arguably soft penalty two minutes before the interval after Juve defender Alex Sandro’s collision with Eros Pisano.

Toni stepped up to beat sec-ond-choice Juve keeper Norberto Neto with a cheeky, Panenka-style

spot-kick that stopped his Serie A career tally at 157 goals in 344 games.

It turned out to be the cherry on the cake of a win that saw Juve striker Paulo Dybala reduce arrears from the spot after Federico Viviani had given the hosts a 2-0 lead on 55 minutes.

But Toni, known for his pecu-liar habit of shaking his hand near his temple to celebrate his goals, admitted he had no clue where to strike the ball.

“I didn’t know whether to shoot it right or left, so I opted for the ‘scavino’ (chip),” he added.

“All goals are great, but there are too many. Tonight’s is maybe the best because it wrapped up my ca-reer in a very emotional way.”

Toni, who won the World Cup in 2006, has scored Serie A goals for eight di� erent clubs through-out a career that also saw him star for Bayern and top the Bundesliga scoring charts in the 2007-2008 season.

Last season Toni, at 38 years old, became the oldest player to win Serie A’s top scorer

(Capocannoniere) award -- an accolade he shared with Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi when both � nished on 22 goals.

But at the tail end of a “terrible” season that has seen Verona rele-gated, he � nally decided to hang up his boots.

Toni admitted in midweek he was going through a rollercoaster of emotions as his � nal game ap-proached, saying: “It’s an intense experience.”

He was given a rousing ovation when replaced � ve minutes from time and had to � ght back the tears as he admitted: “This farewell is one of the most beautiful moments for me, but it’s also one of the most sad because giving up football is not easy.”

After several months’ rest, Toni said he is now hoping to take up some kind of backroom role in football, because coaching would make him age too quickly.

He added: “I don’t want to be a coach because I’ve seen all the other players who have done that. In just one season, you age � ve years.” l

Roma 3-0 ChievoNainggolan 18, Rudiger 39, Pjanic 85

Atalanta 1-1 UdineseBellini 19-pen Zapata 10

Carpi 1-3 LazioMBakogu 84 Bisevac 23, Candreva 32, Klose 73

Fiorentina 0-0 Palermo

Frosinone 0-1 Sassuolo Politano 85

Sampdoria 0-3 Genoa Pavoletti 3, Suso 26, 74

Verona 2-1 JuventusToni 43-pen, Viviani 55 Dybala 90+4-pen

Torino 1-2 NapoliPeres 66 Higuain 12, Callejon 20

RESULTS

SERIE A TOP 5 P W D L GD Pts

Juventus 37 28 4 5 50 88

Napoli 37 24 7 6 44 79

Roma 37 22 11 4 40 77

Inter Milan 37 20 7 10 14 67

Fiorentina 37 17 10 10 16 61

DAY’S WATCHFOOTBALL

TEN 23:30PM

Federation Cup 2016Aizawl FC v Sporting Clube De Goa

STAR SPORTS 112:35AM

English Premier League West Ham v Manchester United

SONY SIX8:30PM

Indian Premier League Pune v Hyderabad

Luca Toni (L) of Hellas Verona shhots to score from the spot during their Serie A match against Juventus at Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi in Verona on Sunday

Milestone for CR7 but Pichichi unlikelyn Reuters, Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo achieved anoth-er milestone in his Real Madrid ca-reer when he scored his 200th goal at the Bernabeu on Sunday but he looks like failing in his bid to be-come La Liga’s top scorer for the third season in a row.

The proli� c Portuguese struck twice in Real’s 3-2 win over Valencia to move on to 33 league goals this season, four behind Barcelona’s Luis Suarez with one

match left.“Knowing him, he’ll keep � ght-

ing until the end,” Real coach Zine-

dine Zidane told the club’s website on Monday.

“Not for the Pichichi (leading scorers’ trophy), but because he wants to score in every game, to score more and more,” the French-man added.

“As always, it’s the team that reaps the bene� ts of this.”

Ronaldo has been proli� c at Re-al’s home stadium, averaging 1.16 goals a game since joining the Ma-drid side from Manchester United in 2009. l

37: Suárez (Barcelona)33: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)26: Messi (Barcelona)24: Benzema (Real Madrid), Neymar (Barcelona)21: Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

LA LIGA TOP SCORERS

30DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Yet another B-town split!

Showtime

n Showtime Desk

Two children’s � lms based on the story and poems of Rabindranath Tagore premiered at the National Art Gallery Auditorium of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Sunday evening. The short-length � lms are Tokon Thakur’s Rajputtur and Sumona Siddique’s Madho.

Tokon Thakur’s fantasy � lm Rajputtur is based largely on Rabindranath Tagore’s novel Shey. The 55-minutes-� lm borrows its story from chapters 13 and 14 of the Tagore novel, which he wrote to satisfy his nine-year-old granddaughter’s incessant demand for stories.

Sumona Siddique’s Madho, on the other hand, highlights how children have to endure restrictive conditions as they grow up. Madho is an adaptation of Tagore’s poem of the same title.

Marking the 155th birth anniversary of the Nobel Laureate poet, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy organised the premieres of the � lms. Cultural a� airs minister, Asaduzzaman Noor graced the premiere as the chief guest while Aktari Momtaz, secretary of Ministry of Cultural A� airs, Tagore exponent, Ahmed Ra� q and � lmmaker Morshedul Islam were present as well. Liaqat Ali Lucky, the director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, presided the programme while Sara Ara Mahmud, director of the Department of Drama and Film of the academy, gave the opening speech.

Prior to the screenings, Tokon Thakur and Sumona Siddique welcomed the guests. Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has produced both the � lms while the Ministry of Cultural A� airs � nanced them. l

n Showtime Desk

After appearing as “love professors” for a reality show, Upen Patel and Karishma Tanna are now in need of love solutions for their own relationship! After dating for a period of two years, the couple has recently decided to split.

As shocking as it may sound, the news has been con� rmed by Upen’s post on Twitter, which read, “Me and Karishma have both agreed to part ways. Thank you for all your love.”

He also posted, “too much has come to light & shown its true colours. Love is never easy and when a certain foundation is broken it’s impossible to move forward.”

Karishma and Upen met on the sets of television reality show Bi� Boss 8 and have been dating since then. Upen had famously proposed to Karishma while they were both co-contestants on the show.

After Bi� Boss, Karishma and Upen participated in a couple dance reality show Nach Baliye, where again, Upen asked Karishma to marry him.

Upen Patel was last seen in Shankar’s 2015 � lm, I, co-starring Vikram and Amy Jackson. Karishma’s � lm Tina and Lolo with Sunny Leone is slated to release later this year. l

Rajputtur and Madho premiered

Guardians of the GalaxyStar Movies 9:30pm A group of intergalactic criminals are forced to work together to stop a fanatical warrior from taking control of the universe.Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s EndZee Studio 3:45pmCaptain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann must sail

o� the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, � nd Jack Sparrow, and make their � nal alliances for one last decisive battle.Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Chow Yun-Fat, Geo� rey Rush

GodzillaHBO 11:13pmThe world is beset by the appearance of monstrous creatures, but one of them may be the only one who can save humanity.Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston

The IslandWB 5:28pmLincoln Six Echo is just like everyone else - he’s waiting to go to the Island, the only place left in the world to actually live a life. Thousands of people stay at a facility waiting to go to the Island. It all sounds like paradise, but Lincoln Six Echo soon discovers that there’s actually a sinister purpose going on at that facility and that he must escape.Cast: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean, Djimon Hounsou, Steve Buscemi l

WHAT TO WATCH

Star Cineplex celebrated this year’s Mother’s Day with 35 winners and their mothers who gained the most “likes” by putting up a picture of their favourite moment with their mothers on Cineplex’s Facebook page. Star Cineplex presented the winners with free movie tickets, lunch and gift-hampers which made this Mother’s Day, one the winners will cherish for a long time.

Sabila Nur and Salman Muqtadir are not married just yet! The announcement came through a Facebook post of Sabila around 10:30pm on Sunday reading: “Brothers and sisters, I have not gotten married.”

The post was made after being bombarded with numerous questions throughout the day regarding her marriage, says the actress. The discussion over the duo’s marriage � ooded social media after Salman posted some pictures which depicts snapshots of their wedding ceremony.

Since then, the two received a number of phone calls and messages but ignored the matter. At night,

Sabila posted the status to clarify the situation. On his YouTube channel Salman:

The Brown Fish, Salman uploaded an eight-minute video titled “Mom, I got married.” In the video, Salman and Sabila are seen married. They return to Salman’s home, leaving Salman’s mother � abbergasted.

Sabila said: “The video was made with the help of some friends just to surprise Salman’s mother on Mother’s Day. It was just for fun.” Earlier, Salman, jokingly, proposed to Sabila during a program in public. Sabila and Salman regularly act on the

small screen. Salman regularly uploads funny videos on his two channels on YouTube. l

Popular director Adnan Al Rajeev is surprised to see Shakib Khan recently. He posted on his social media pro� le with a recent picture of Shakib. The picture was basically a teaser for Shakib’s up coming � lm Shikari, which also stars Tollywood beauty Srabonti. In the picture, Shakib is looking absolutely fresh and dashing. Adnan posted, “Best look of Shakib Khan till date.

He looks a bit like Salman Khan here. Well groomed, whoever did it.”

Not only Adnan Al Rajeev, the picture has been shared by a huge number of people who were surprised to see the � rst look of Shakib Khan as Shikari. This is a good sign, as audiences have become more hopeful about the upcoming � lm. l

A new song of Bappa Mazumder was released yesterday. It was released

directly through YouTube. Just after releasing the video, it has crossed 40,000

of views. Bappa Mazumder and team are also promoting this song through the o� cial page of Bappa and from his personal pages as well. The song “Janalar Glass” has been written by popular lyricist Shahan Kabandha. The music video stars Lux beauty Prosun Azad and has been directed by Imran Kabir Himel. It was a much awaited song by Bappa Mazumder for qiute a long time. Bappa said this will pull the heart strings of the audience for sure. “I am glad that audience is loving my new song. It feels really great when people love any work that an artist loves,” said Bappa Mazumder. l

31D

TTUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

Showtime

Sabila: ‘I did not get married’

Shakib looks like Salman: Adnan

New releases on YouTube

Russell Brand to be a � rst time father

Hrithik’s “panga” with SRK!

n Showtime Desk

Russell Brand is reportedly set to become a father for the � rst time, as his girlfriend Laura Gallacher is said to be � ve months pregnant.

The 40-year-old comedian and

actor has gained something of a reputation as a womaniser, but news of his impending fatherhood raises prospects he may be ready to settle down at last.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall star Russell and Laura, the younger sister of British television presenter Kirsty Gallacher, have been dating on and o� for the past few years. They � rst split-up in 2007 before they were seen together again in 2009, before another break-up and reconciliation last year when they enjoyed a romantic weekend in Rome, Italy.

Now that they are to become parents, the couple is apparently determined to make their relationship work for the sake of the baby.

The pair are now said to be planning to put a nursery in the £1 million house they share by the river near Henley-on-Thames, England.l

n Showtime Desk

It is clear that the King of Bollywood should start planning his � lms’ releasing dates with a bit more care. Last Christmas, SRK’s Dilwale battled with Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone’s Bajirao Mastani at the box o� ce where Dilwale was at the receiving end of an epic failure. His latest, Fan however, got a free Friday since The Jungle Book decided to release a week earlier. While Mowgli is still having fun at the box o� ce, SRK’s Fan was declared as a � op.

His next, Raees was poised to take on Salman Khan’s Sultan, but it seems like a smart move for the producers to shift the date to

January 26, next year.One would think that SRK was

� nally set to get a blockbuster next to his name, it seems like the gods of cinema want to further test his integrity. The new release date of Raees means that it will have to battle it out with Hrithik Roshan’s Kaabil.

When trade expert Amul Mohan was asked to comment on it, he said, “I think it’s far too early to predict anything. We haven’t seen anything about the � lms like in terms of promo or what the marketing strategy is going to be. When two � lms with prominent stars in it come out together, there is always something to worry about. There is never one winner anymore. There will always be one movie which will clearly do

better. That was the case with Bajirao Mastani and Dilwale last year. Both the movies were not exactly commercial. Kaabil is a revenge thriller while Raees is a biopic on a bootlegger. We don’t know what kind of commercial aspirations they have.”

Clearly, the next few months will be crucial in deciding

whether or not the two � lms will a� ect

each other’s performances at the box o� ce. l

Source: The Indian Times

Celebs on social media

n Showtime Desk

Back Page32DT

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016

APPAREL EXPORT TO US SEES 4.30% RISE PAGE 15

ABAHANI HIT BY SOLID SOUMYA PAGE 25

RUSSELL BRAND TO BE A FIRST TIME FATHER PAGE 30

She survived a brutal stabbing long enough to recognise her killersn Tanveer Hossain,

Narayanganj

Early in the morning on Sunday, when Meghla Akhter went to the house of a co-worker to take her to work, she did not know this was going to be her last day on earth.

Four youths, who were lurking in the stairs, attacked her as soon as she entered the building. They forcefully took her to a room on the third � oor where they attempted to rape her.

Then they stabbed her and � ed as she could recognise them all.

Meghla was bleeding after the brutal assault and ran to her home. After she told the family members what had happened, they hurriedly took her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where she succumbed to injuries.

Family remembers a brave girlThe bereaved family members of Meghla, a Narayanganj garment worker, say the death of the girl is still unacceptable to them.

They told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they were still mourning the death of the 14-year-old girl, who they described as a calm and quiet person.

Meghla lived with her father Rashid Islam Bachchu Miah, mother Aleya Begum Jharna, brother Md Akash and his wife at a rented house in Kanchpur’s Senpara where the family moved in from Manikganj three years ago after facing � nancial problems. She worked at Nowab Ali Industries Spinning Mill in Rupganj’s Jatramura area, not far from Kanchpur.

Akash told the Dhaka Tribune

that Meghla was loved by all as she was the youngest member of the family.

“She was not very outgoing and would stay at home on days when she did not have to go to work,” he said.

Meghla was laid to rest at Kanch-pur graveyard in Sonargaon upazila yesterday morning after an autop-sy was performed on her body. She was supposed to be buried at her hometown in Manikganj’s Parulia village but the family changed the decision on Sunday night.

Poverty forced her to workBoth Akash and his father Rashid do temporary jobs at di� erent fac-tories, and the � nancial condition of the family is not quite good.

Akash said the family allowed underage Meghla to work in order

to bring in additional money as he and his father were not earning enough to bear all the household expenses.

“We pay Tk3,700 in house rent and Meghla was earning Tk4,500 a month. So the money she was mak-ing helped us a lot.

“Honestly speaking, we wanted her to study and were not very sup-portive of the idea that she would work at such a tender age. But we had nothing to do in the face of poverty,” said the brother.

Attacker confessesOne of the three people, who were detained on Sunday night after Meghla’s mother lodged a case over her daughter’s death, yester-day confessed to the crime, saying that the girl was killed so that she could not reveal the names of the

attackers. The confession of Aminul Islam

Kakon was recorded under Section 164 in the court of Narayanganj Ju-dicial Magistrate Ashek Imam.

Kakon is a tenant on the third � oor of the building where Meghla was attacked.

“The girl was attacked with a knife in her throat and other parts of the body,” Kakon told the court.

The two other detainees – Tuhin and Shariful – were still facing po-lice interrogation.

Inspector (investigation) of Sonargaon police station Har-un-ur-Rashid said investigation was still on.

Police sources said some youths would often pester Meghla and they might have killed the girl af-ter failing to develop a relationship with her. l

Sexually harassed girl kills herself n Dulal Abdullah, Rajshahi

Unable to bear the sexual harass-ment she had been subjected to for some time, schoolgirl Amena Khatun ended her life yesterday morning.

The 14-year-old hanged herself with a scarf in her room at her fam-ily home in Rajshahi city. She was a student of Shyampur High School.

After being informed by the family, police found her body in her room and sent it to Rajshahi Medical College for an autopsy.

According to Amena’s mother Negar Banu, a local youth named Rezaul Karim had been making in-decent proposals to her daughter for some time. She said Rezaul used to harass Amena frequently on her way to school and on the streets.

On Sunday, Rezaul went to their house and proposed to Amena for marriage, Negar said.

“After Amena informed me of the incident, I complained about Rezaul to the locals and to his family. A meeting with the local arbiter was supposed to be held in the evening regarding the issue,” she said.

Motihar police station OC Hu-mayun Kabir said they would ar-rest Rezaul if his involvement in this incident was proven. l

Relatives of a schoolgirl, who committed suicide after a local goon had sexually harassed her, are seen wailing at their residence in Shyampur area in Rajshahi city yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

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