The Bangladesh Today (16-02-2018)

fRIday 

Dhaka : February 16, 2018; Falgun 4, 1424 BS; Jamadi-ul-awal 29, 1439 hijri 

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www. tbtbangla.com 

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.16; No.59; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00 

InTeRnaTIOnal 

Nepal's communist 

party leader named 

next prime minister 

>Page 7 

aRT & CulTuRe 

Brit Awards 2018: 

Stars to wear white 

rose pins on red carpet 

>Page 8 

SPORT 

Cristiano Ronaldo 

levels from the penalty 

spot at the Bernabeu 

>Page 9 

Myanmar 

Home Minister 

Swe in city 

DHAKA : Myanmar's Home 

Minister Lt Gen Kyaw Swe arrived 

here on Thursday afternoon on a 

three-day visitwhen Bangladesh is 

expected to press for restoration of 

peace and stability in Rakhine State 

for sustainable return of Rohingyas, 

reports UNB. 

He landed at Hazrat Shahjalal 

International Airport by a Thai 

Airlines flight around 12:48pm, an 

official told UNB. 

The Myanmar Minister will meet 

President Abdul Hamid on 

Thursday evening. 

Swe will hold a meeting with his 

Bangladesh counterpart Asaduzzaman 

Khan on Friday. 

Apart from the Rohingya crisis, the 

two sides will discuss halting smuggling 

of arms and drugs and full 

implementation of border agreement, 

officials said. 

Bangladesh is likely to ask 

Myanmar to take effective measures 

to stop narcotics production and 

smuggling and end drug trafficking 

across the border. 

Govt to introduce 

new method of 

public exam : 

Edu Secy 

DHAKA : The government is planning 

to introduce a new methodof 

public examinations from the next 

year aiming to prevent the 

widespread question leakage across 

the country, said Secondary and 

Higher Education Division Secretary 

Sohrab Hossain on Thursday, reports 

UNB. 

Talking to reporters at the secretariat, 

Sohrab said, "The public exams 

will be held in a new method from the 

next year. We're trying to formulate 

such a method when there'll be no 

possibility of question paper leak." 

He further said, "The fresh method 

will be introduced in consultation 

with eminent people and taking the 

advice of scholars into consideration." 

"Around 27,000 to 28,000 people 

are involved in the process of printing 

question papers and reaching those 

to the examination centers. In this 

process, no one can ensure that question 

papers won't be leaked," he 

added. 

Replying to a query of reporters 

about a High Court rule that 

sought explanation from the government 

over its failure and inaction 

to prevent the leakage of question 

papers, Sohrab Hossain said: 

"We've not received the court 

directive yet, but we'll obey its 

order once we receive it." 

The High Court on Thursday ordered 

a judicial probe into the allegations of 

question paper leakage in the ongoing 

Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and 

its equivalent examinations and issued 

a rule asking the authorities concerned 

to explain as to why their failure and 

inaction to prevent the leakage of question 

papers should not be declared illegal 

and unlawful. 

Juma 

05:17 AM 

12:17 PM 

04:17 PM 

05:58 PM 

07:12 PM 

6:30 5:55 

British govt urged to take 

legal action against BD 

mission attackers 

'BNP trying to shift blames 

on High Commission' 

DHAKA : Bangladesh High Commission 

in London has urged the British government 

to take necessary legal steps 

against the persons who defamed the 

portrait of Father of the Nation 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

and attacked on the High Commission 

including those who ordered the attack, 

reports UNB. 

The High Commission in a statement 

on Thursday condemned the evil efforts 

made by BNP men to make the High 

Commission responsible for the incident. 

"It's very regrettable and condemnable." 

The High Commission said no staff 

or official from the Mission did 

behave indecorously with the demonstrators 

rather they showed patience 

despite attacking remarks from the 

demonstrators. 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), 

UK, issued a statement on Wednesday 

signed by its President and General 

Secretary regretting the incident. 

The BNP, UK, in its statement 

described the attack carried out on 

February 7 as an "isolated, unexpected 

and unintended" incident and 

regretted it. 

But they, in the statement, claimed 

that the extreme uncourteous behavior 

of the High Commissioner and refusal 

to accept the memorandum generated 

dissatisfaction and anger among the 

demonstrators. 

The High Commission said they 

noticed the BNP statement and dubbed 

it as an attempt to shift responsibility to 

HC orders judicial probe into 

SSC question paper leakage 

DHAKA : The High Court on Thursday 

ordered a judicial probe into the allegations 

of question paper leakage in the 

ongoing Secondary School Certificate 

(SSC) and its equivalent examinations, 

reports UNB. 

Following a writ petition, an HC bench 

comprising Justice Zubayer Rahman 

Chowdhury and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir 

also directed the authorities concerned 

to form an administrative investigation 

body to look into the allegations, said 

Supreme Court lawyer Ainunnahar 

Siddiqa, one of the writ petitioners. 

The court issued a rule asking the 

authorities concerned to explain as to 

why their failure and inaction to prevent 

the leakage of question papers should 

not be declared illegal and unlawful, she 

the High Commission through untrue 

statement. 

The High Commission said they 

issued the statement from the mission 

to avoid confusion among common 

people about the incident. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs here 

shared the statement issued by the 

Bangladesh High Commission in 

London on Thursday. 

Leaders and activists of BNP have 

attacked the staff of Bangladesh High 

Commission in London and ransacked 

its furniture which the government 

termed tantamount to an attack on 

Bangladesh. 

The High Commission came under 

sudden attack ahead of verdict in the 

graft case against Khaleda Zia on 

February 7. 

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, also a 

former prime minister, was jailed here 

for five years on Thursday after she was 

found guilty in the Zia Orphanage Trust 

corruption case. 

"Police have arrested one of the 

attackers. Video footage has been given 

to police. Police were there and the 

attack took place in presence of police," 

said Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali 

on February 7. 

The BNP activists and members of its 

wings forcibly entered the High 

Commission in the pretext of submitting 

a memorandum, said the High 

Commission. 

They attacked the High Commission 

staff and vandalised assets of the mission, 

said the High Commission. 

said. Twenty government officials, 

including education, law and home secretaries, 

and chairmen of the education 

boards, were made respondents to the 

rule which is returnable in three weeks, 

the lawyer added. 

The court asked the authorities concerned 

to submit the probe reports 

before it within 30 days. 

Three lawyers, including 

Ainunnahar, filed the writ petition with 

the High Court on Wednesday seeking 

its order for a judicial probe into the 

question paper leakage and taking the 

SSC exams freshly cancelling those 

have already been held. Ainunnahar 

said the SSC examinations for nine out 

of 10 subjects were held amid the leakage 

of question papers. 

Perera, who smashed nine fours and a six, was out in the penultimate over hoisting a catch to Soumya 

Sarkar at mid-off off Taskin Ahmed but Seekkuge Prasanna (22 not out) and Thisara Perera ( four not) 

ended the game in the same over. 

Photo: Internet 

RFP for highspeed 

train on 

Dhaka-Ctg 

SANGSAD BHABAN : 

Process underway for evaluation 

of Request for 

Proposal (RFP) to launch 

the high-speed train from 

Dhaka to Chittagong via 

Comilla/Laksham. 

"The government sought 

Expression of Interest 

(EOI) proposal on June 21, 

2017 to appoint consultant 

for the high-speed train," 

Railways Minister Mazibul 

Haque said this, while 

replying to a starred question 

brought by treasury 

bench member Begum 

Shirin Naeem in the House 

yesterday, reports BSS. 

He said the government 

prepared a short list with 

six organizations after 

evaluation of the EOI submitted 

and issued RFP on 

November 27, 2017. 

The study project titled 

'Probability Survey and 

Detailed Design for 

Construction of High- 

Speed Railway Line on 

Dhaka-Chittagong Via 

Comilla/Laksam' was 

undertaken, the minister 

added. 

Mazibul informed the 

House that the proposed 

railway would enter 

Comilla through 

Daudkandi and the current 

distance of Dhaka- 

Chittagong railway will 

reduce from 321 kilometers 

to 90 kilometers. 

Dhaka to become world's 6th 

largest megacity in 2030 

DHAKA : Dhaka South City Corporation 

(DSCC) and Unicef Bangladesh on 

Thursday signed a Memorandum of 

Understanding (MoU) and a joint work 

plan, reports UNB. 

The MoU and the annual work plan 

were jointly signed by Chief Executive 

Officer (CEO) of DSCC Khan 

Mohammad Bilal and Representative, 

Unicef Bangladesh Edouard 

Beigbeder on behalf of their respective 

organisations. 

These are aimed at improving basic 

service delivery for children in urban 

poor communities to improve their 

overall wellbeing and reduce service 

gaps. Under the initiative, basic services 

like health, nutrition, education, 

child protection, water, sanitation to 

100,000 children between the age of 

0-18 years and their families living in 

urban poor communities will be 

enhanced. 

Unicef Bangladesh Representative 

Edouard Beigbeder said Unicef has 

already initiated support to the government 

of Bangladesh in advancing 

urban development and services to 

achieve sustainable changes in the 

lives of urban children. 

He said the programmes have already 

been piloted in poor communities of five 

city corporations-Dhaka North, 

Gazipur, Barisal, Sylhet and Khulnacovering 

over 300,000 left out urban 

children. "Partnership with Dhaka 

South City Corporation is the sixth one." 

At the initial stage of the partnership, 

Zone-4 of DSCC will pilot social 

services package and implementation 

strategies for urban poor communities. 

This will develop a sustainable 

model for city corporations towards 

realisation of rights of children and 

their families by increasing their 

access to basic services. Globally, and 

even more in Bangladesh, the proportion 

of population living in urban 

areas is growing. 

According to the World Population 

Prospect (2014), Dhaka will be the 

6th largest megacity in the world in 

2030 and urban population in 

Bangladesh, which is now 53 million, 

will grow to 112 million in 2050. 

The growing number of urban poor 

without access to basic services provides 

a compelling case for Unicef to 

strategically engage in urban programming, 

according to Unicef. 

First T201 

Tigers score their everhighest 

193/5 in T201 

Cricket against SL 

Dhaka : Youthful Bangladesh team scored 

their ever-highest in T20I cricket making 193 

for 5 in 20 overs against Sri Lanka in the first 

match of the two-match T201 series at the 

Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in 

Mirpur on Thursday, featuring two half centuries 

by Mushfiqur Rahim (66) and Soumya 

Sarkar (51). 

The previous highest score of Bangladesh 

was 190 for 5 against Ireland in Belfast on 

July 18 in 2012. 

After the dismissal three top order batsmen 

for 100 runs in 10.3 overs, Tigers 

Captain Mahmudullah pairing with former 

Test Captain Mushfiqur Rahim guided the 

team toward a challenging total contributing 

73 runs in the 4th wicket stand. 

Mushfiqur Rahim hammered an unconquered 

66 runs off just 44 balls featuring 

seven fours and one six while Mahmudullah 

scored a polished 43 runs in 31-ball with two 

four and two sixes, before he was caught by 

Akila Dananjaya off a Isuru Udana delivery, 

leaving the team total 173 for 4 in 18.2 overs. 

Sabbir Rahman scored two-ball one run 

before he was bowled by Thisara Perera 

while debutant Ariful Haque remained not 

out on one run. 

Tigers made a flying start scoring 100 for 1 

in 10 overs losing the wicket of debutant 

opener Zakir Hasan for 49 runs in four overs. 

But they lost two quick wickets of national 

opener Soumya Sarker and debutant allrounder 

Afif Hossain in span of only two 

balls without adding any run. 

Lankan leg break bowler Jeevan Mendis 

made the major damage in Bangladesh 

innings grabbing the wicket of set batsman 

Soumya Sarkar in the first ball of eleven over 

and he again dismissed Afif Hossain in the 

3rd ball of the same over to restrict 

Bangladesh to 100 for 3 from 100 for 1. 

Opener Soumya Sarkar fell victim of lbw 

scoring 51 runs off 32 balls featuring six fours 

and two sixes leaving team total 100/2 in 10.1 

overs while Afif Hossain went back to the 

pavilion with duck playing two balls with 

scorecard showing 100 for 3 in 10.3 overs. 

But, Left arm off break bowler Danushka 

Gunathilaka made the first breakthrough in 

Bangladesh innings bowling out debutant 

Zakir Hasan for 49 runs in in four overs. 

Zakir scored 10 runs off nine balls with a 

boundary. 

Mendis grabbed two wickets for 21 runs 

while Gunathilaka, Perera and Udana took 

one wicket each conceding 16, 36 and 45 runs 

respectively. 

Earlier Bangladesh stand-in captain 

Mahmudullah opted to bat first after winning 

the toss against the Islanders recruiting 

four debutants cricketers - all rounders Ariful 

Haque and Afif Hossain, batsman cum wicket 

keeper Zakir Hasan and left arm spinner 

Nazmul Islam. 

Former Test captain cum wicket-keeper 

Mushfiqur Rahim, who was suffering from 

light injury, was included in the day's squad 

while injury grabbed reliable opening batsman 

Tamim Iqbal excluded from the day's 

final line-up in absence of regular captain 

Sakib Al Hasan. 

Dadushanka makes his T20I debut for Sri 

Lanka in the day's match. 

Bangladesh Squad- Zakir Hasan, Soumya 

Sarkar, Afif Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 

Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah (Captain), 

Mohammad Saifuddin, Ariful Haque, 

Nazmul Islam Apu, Mustafizur Rahman and 

Rubel Hossain 

Sri Lankan team: Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 

Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal (capt), 

Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Danushka 

Gunathilaka, Thisara Perera, Dasun 

Shanaka, Akila Dananjaya, S Maudhshanka 

and Isuru Udana.

NEWS 

FRIDAY, 

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 

2 

Chalo works on 

block chain 

DHAKA : Ride sharing application Chalo 

will introduce block chain technologies in 

its service strengthening data protection, 

reports UNB. 

Blockchain involves a shared electronic 

ledger that allows all parties to track 

information through a secure network, 

removing the need for third-party 

verification. 

USA-based firm Aphaea Capital will 

provide technical support to the 

Bangladeshi ride sharing service. 

Chalo Chief Executive Officer Dewan 

Shuvo announced their initiative on block 

chain at a seminar at Bangladesh 

Association of Software and Information 

Services (BASIS) in Dhaka recently, said a 

press release on Thursday. 

USA-based technology expert Paul Bryzek 

and Aphaea Capital founder Mir Haque 

were, among others, present on the 

occasion. 

Organisers informed that block chain 

technology will enable digital economic 

Afghan officials: 

Attacks kill 3 

policemen, 2 

children 

KABUL : Afghan officials say 

attacks in the country's north 

and west have killed three 

members of the security 

forces and two children, 

reports UNB. 

The spokesman for the chief 

of police in northern Faryab 

province, Karim Yuresh, says 

a Taliban attack there killed 

three policemen in Qaysar 

district on Wednesday. 

He says 10 Taliban 

insurgents were also killed in 

the ensuing gunbattle. 

On Thursday, in western 

Herat province, a roadside 

mine exploded, killing two 

children. Abdul Ahad 

Walizada, spokesman of the 

provincial chief police, 

blamed the Taliban. 

He says the victims in the 

explosion were the children of 

a local Taliban figure but did 

not provide more details. 

The Taliban have not 

claimed responsibility for 

either of the two attacks. 

identity, transform healthcare, 

transportation, payment micro lending, 

remittance and many others industries 

according to a news release. 

USA-based technology expert Paul Bryzek 

said Blockchain technology can bring huge 

changes in the digital sector in the country. 

The application of this technology has 

already been seen in Estonia and Dubai. 

According to a research, the international 

market of the sector is around 380 billion 

US dollars. 

Chalo CEO Dewan Shuvo said the new 

trend of technology will reduce cost. The 

driver and the passengers will benefit by 

applying this method. 

Aphaea Capital founder Mir Haque 

termed block chain as a new type of 

Internet, which can change the world, 

reduce poverty, reduce unemployment, and 

even mobile banking can be safe. 

Haque also appreciated Block chainbased 

services with local entrepreneurs and 

talented students in Bangladesh. 

Youth held with pistol, 

ammo in Cox’s Bazar 

COX'S BAZAR : Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in 

a drive arrested an alleged arms trader along with a pistol, 

two bullets and 12 magazines from Balukhalichhara area in 

Ukhia upazila on Wednesday night, reports UNB. 

The arrestee was identified as Md Abu Bakkar Siddque, 32, 

son of late Amin Ullah of Kutupalong in the upazila. 

Acting on a tip-off, an elite force team, led by Major Md 

Ruhul Amin, conducted the drive in the area around 11:45pm 

and arrested Bakkar along with the pistol and ammunition, 

said a Rab press release. The arrestee confessed to his 

involvement in trading arms for long, Rab claimed. 

79 jailed by Jhalakati 

mobile courts in January 

JHALAKATI : Mobile courts here in January sentenced 79 

people to different jail terms and realised around Tk 1.37 lakh 

in fine on different charges, reports UNB. 

Besides, 77 cases were filed during 50 mobile court drives 

conducted in the last month, said Manik Rahman, additional 

district magistrate, while addressing a meeting on the law 

and order at the conference room of the deputy 

commissioner's office recently. 

Of the convicts, two were sentenced to six months' 

imprisonment each while another faced a 17-day jail term, he 

said. Several bricks kilns were fined Tk 10,000 while 

different organisations Tk 34,450 under the Consumer 

Rights Protection Act and some others Tk 7,700 under the 

Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act. 

Four mobile court drives jailed nine people and realised Tk 

50,000 in fine under the Protection and Conservation of Fish 

Act. 

Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal staged hunger strike program demanding release of BNP Chairperson 

Begum Khaleda Zia at Muradnagar upazilla under Comilla district yesterday. 

Photo: TBT 

Vatican tries to defuse scandal, 

says pope meets victims 

VATICAN CITY : The Vatican is confirming that Pope Francis 

frequently meets with victims of sex abuse, seeking to defuse a 

mounting scandal over his unbridled support for a Chilean bishop 

accused by victims of witnessing and ignoring their abuse, reports UNB. 

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Thursday that several times a 

month, Francis meets in private with victims individually or in groups 

to listen to their stories "and help them to heal their serious wounds." 

Francis is facing one of the gravest crises of his papacy after he 

dismissed victims' complaints that Chilean Bishop Juan Barros 

covered-up their abuse. Francis called their accusations slander and 

said he was certain of Barros' innocence. 

After his comments sparked outrage, Francis was forced to do an 

about-face and send in a Vatican investigator to look into Barros. 

Turkish group to press charges 

against German nationalist 

BERLIN : The head of a leading Turkish immigrant group in Germany 

says he's pressing charges against a politician from Germany's 

nationalist party for insulting Turks as "camel drivers" and immigrants 

with dual passports as a "homeless mob we no longer want to have 

here." 

Gokay Sofuoglu told The Associated Press Thursday that the Turkish 

Community in Germany is preparing charges based on discrimination 

and incitement. Sofuoglu said: "It's high time Germans realize the 

danger coming from the far-right." 

Andre Poggenburg,a regional leader of the anti-Muslim Alternative 

for Germany party, or AfD, made the comments in a speech Wednesday 

in Nentmannsdorf in Saxony. Supporters shouted "deportation, 

deportation" as Poggenburg used vulgar expressions about Germany's 

four-million-strong Turkish immigrant community, reports UNB. 

CCCI President Mahbubul Alam (sitting 6th from right) attended ICC Bangladesh Workshop on Documentary Credits and 

Guarantees for Specialists as Chief Guest and distributed certificates to the participants in Chittagong recently. ICCB Secretary 

General Ataur Rahman (sitting 7th from right) & Workshop Resource Person K. M. Lutfor Rahman (sitting 5th from right) are 

also seen in the picture. 

Photo : Courtesy 

1 killed, 2 hurt 

in Sunamganj 

clash 

SUNAMGANJ : An elderly 

man was killed and two 

people sustained injuries in 

a clash between two groups 

of villagers over occupying a 

water body in Dirai upazila 

on Thursday, reports UNB. 

The deceased was 

identified as Majnu Miah, 

60, son of late Alam Ulalh of 

Tetoiya village in the upazila. 

Mostafa Kamal, officer-incharge 

of Dirai Police Station, 

said there is a longstanding 

dispute between Dunel of 

Kulanj village and UP 

member Abdul Ali of Tetoiya 

village over grabbing Tangni 

water body. As a sequel of the 

dispute, residents of two 

villages locked into a clash 

around 11:40am. 

A chase and counter-chase 

took place during the melee 

that left Manju dead on the 

spot and two people injured. 

Informed, police rushed to 

the spot and brought the 

situation under control. The 

injured were taken to the 

Upazila Health Complex. 

ICE lawyer in Seattle 

charged with stealing 

immigrant IDs 

SEATTLE : The chief counsel for U.S. Immigration 

and Customs Enforcement in Seattle has been 

charged with stealing immigrants' identities, reports 

UNB. 

Raphael A. Sanchez, who resigned from the 

agency effective Monday, faces one count of 

aggravated identity theft and another of wire fraud 

in a charging document filed Monday in U.S. District 

Court. 

Prosecutors with the Justice Department's Public 

Integrity Section allege that Sanchez stole the 

identities of seven people "in various stages of 

immigration proceedings" to defraud credit card 

companies including American Express, Bank of 

America and Capital One. Neither Sanchez nor his 

lawyer, Cassandra Stamm, immediately returned 

emails seeking comment Tuesday. 

According to court rules, the type of charging 

document filed in Sanchez's case - called an 

information - can be filed only when a defendant has 

agreed to waive his or her right to be indicted by a 

grand jury; it's typically an indication that a plea 

agreement is in the works. The court's calendar 

showed that Sanchez is due to enter a plea Thursday. 

The charging document contained few specifics 

about the allegations, but did give one example: It 

said that in April 2016, Sanchez sent an email from 

his government account to his Yahoo account that 

included personal information pertaining to a 

Chinese national identified only as R.H. 

2 held with 3,195 Yaba tablets 

in Rajshahi, C’nawabganj 

DHAKA : Members of Rapid Action 

Battalion (Rab) have arrested two alleged 

drug traders along with some 3,195 Yaba 

tablets in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj 

districts, reports UNB. 

In Rajshahi, an alleged drug peddler was 

held along with 3,000 contraband tablets 

from Cityhat Bypass area under Shah 

Makhdum Police Station in the city on 

Wednesday morning. 

The arrestee was identified as Abdul 

Hamed, 40, son of late Irfan Ali of 

Shuknapara village in Chapainawabganj 

Sadar upazila, said a Rab press release. 

Acting on a tip-off, an elite force team 

from Mollahpara camp conducted a drive 

in the area around 9:30am and arrested 

Speaker to 

visit Pirganj 

today 

RANGPUR : Speaker of 

the Jatiya Sangsad Dr 

Shirin 

Sharmin 

Chaudhury is expected to 

come to her constituency 

Rangpur-6 (Pirganj) on a 

two-day visit today, 

officials and local Awami 

League (AL) leaders said. 

The Speaker will arrive 

at Pirganj by road at noon 

from the capital and will 

take part in a number of 

programmes on Friday 

and Saturday before 

leaving Pirganj for Dhaka 

on Saturday afternoon. 

On Friday, she will 

attend a doa mahfil 

followed by discussion, 

organised by Dr Wazed 

Foundation at village 

Laldighee Fatehpur in 

observance of the 76th 

birth anniversary of 

renowned nuclear scientist 

and Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina's husband Dr M A 

Wazed Miah at 2:30 pm. 

In the afternoon, the 

Speaker will attend a 

function organised by 

Pirganj College authority 

on the college premises, to 

accord reception to 

brilliant students and 

distribute prizes among 

them, as the chief guest. 

The Speaker will attend 

a function of Rangpur 

District Ainjibi Samity in 

Rangpur city on Friday 

night. 

On Saturday, the 

Speaker will attend a 

discussion to be organised 

by the district 

administration in 

observance of the death 

anniversary of Kobi Heyat 

Mamud at his birthplace 

Jharbishla village in 

Pirganj upazila at 11 am. 

Later, she will attend a 

mothers' rally at Chatra 

Model Girls' High School 

ground under Pirganj 

upazila as the chief guest 

at noon before leaving for 

Syedpur airport. 

General Secretary of 

Pirganj upazila AL and 

Mayor of Pirganj 

municipality Tazimul 

Islam Shamim and 

Upazila Nirbahi Officer 

Kamal Kumar Ghosh said 

all preparations have been 

completed to make the 

Speaker's visit to Pirganj 

successful. 

Hamed along with the Yaba pills. 

In Chapainawabganj, the crime-busting 

force arrested a young man along with 195 

Yaba tablets from Dhakkamara of the 

district town on Wednesday noon. 

The arrestee is Mohammad Raju, 35, 

son of Obayedur Rahman of Masjidpara in 

the town. 

Being tipped that the contraband pills 

were being sold at Dhakkamara, a Rab-13 

team, led by its commanding officer M 

Motahar Hossain, conducted a drive 

there. 

During the drive, the elite force arrested 

Raju along with the Yaba tablets, said 

assistant police super Sudarshan Roy. 

Separate cases were filed. 

Youth to die for killing 

Sherpur housewife 

SHERPUR : A court here on Wednesday awarded death 

sentence to a young man for killing a housewife after failing 

to violate her in Nalitabari upazila in 2011, reports UNB. 

The condemned convict is Ashraf Ali, 32, son of Kubbad Ali 

of Moakura village in the upazila. The court also fined him Tk 

10,000. 

Ashraf became unconscious in the dock when the judge 

announced the judgment. 

According to the prosecution, Ashraf stormed into the 

house of his neighbour Hazera Khatun of the village at the 

dead of night on May 7, 2011 while she was asleep with her 

18-month-old son and attempted to rape her. 

After failing to violate the housewife, Ashraf stabbed her 

indiscriminately, leaving her dead. However, she mentioned 

Ashraf's name before succumbing to her injuries. 

Later, locals caught the killer and handed him over to 

police and victim's father filed a case in this regard. 

On August 13, 2011, Detective Branch of police submitted a 

charge-sheet in the case. 

After examining all the records and witnesses, Judge Md 

Mosleh Uddin of District and Session's Judge Court handed 

down the verdict. 

2 housewives ‘commit’ 

suicide in Jessore 

JESSORE : In separate incidents, two housewives allegedly 

committed suicide in Manirampur upazila of the district on 

Wednesday, reports UNB. 

The deceased were identified as Rabeya Khatun, 35, wife of 

van-puller Nazrul Islam of Biprokona village, and Jesmin, 

30, wife of Selim Hossain, a tea seller, of Mohonpur village. 

Police said Rabeya who had long been suffering from the 

heart disease took poison around 12:45 pm as his husband 

was unable to arrange treatment for her. 

Sensing the matter, relatives took her to the Upazila Health 

Complex where the on-duty doctor declared her dead, said 

Sub-inspector of Manirampur Police Station Torab Ali. 

On information, police recovered the body and sent it to 

hospital morgue for autopsy. 

Nazrul is a poor man and runs his family by pulling a van. 

His wife had been a patient of heart disease and their 

daughter Shanta is also sick. He could not earn enough to buy 

them medicine. 

On the other hand, Jesmin took her life by hanging herself 

in the evening, said local ward councillor Quamruzzaman. 

However, SI Rukshana of Manirampur Police Station said 

they knew nothing about the incident. 

Kenyan judge revokes 

orders to deport 

opposition leader 

NAIROBI : A Kenyan judge has rescinded the orders used to 

deport to Canada an opposition politician over his alleged 

role in a mock inauguration by opposition leader Raila 

Odinga, reports UNB. 

Judge Luka Kimaru also orders Kenya's government to 

return the passport confiscated from Miguna Miguna when 

he was deported. 

Miguna was at Odinga's side when he took an oath as the 

"people's president" last month in a protest against President 

Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election. 

The government responded by arresting opposition 

politicians and shutting down TV stations broadcasting the 

event. 

Odinga claims that results in last year's August election 

were manipulated in Kenyatta's favor, and he boycotted a 

fresh vote in October after the Supreme Court nullified the 

first one, saying electoral reforms had not been made. 

2 Coast Guard 

men hurt in 

Rohingya 

attack 

COX'S BAZAR : Two 

members of Bangladesh Coast 

Guard suffered injuries in an 

attack by Rohingya men at 

Noyapara Rohingya camp in 

Teknaf upazila on Wednesday 

evening, reports UNB. 

The injured were 

identified as Md Faruk, 30, 

and Md Joynal, 28. 

Tipped off that Yaba tablets 

were being sold, a team of 

plainclothes Coast Guard 

went to the room of Sadek at 

block-H of the camp to arrest 

the drug traders, said Lt 

Commander Faizul Islam, 

commanding officer of Coast 

Guard's Teknaf station. 

Noticing their presence, 

the Rohingya men swooped 

on the Coast Guard men and 

stabbed them, leaving two of 

them injured. 

The injured were first 

taken to the Upazila Health 

Complex and later shifted to 

Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital. 

A deep injury mark was 

found in the chest of one of 

the injured while one ear of 

the other was almost 

severed, said duty doctor 

Shovan Das at the hospital. 

Journalist killed 

over land dispute 

in Laxmipur 

LAXMIPUR : A journalist 

was killed in a clash over 

land dispute in Khilbaicha 

village of Sadar upazila on 

Thursday morning, reports 

UNB. 

The deceased was identified 

as Shah Monir Palash, district 

correspondent of Bengali 

daily 'Dainik Rupbani', and 

son of Monir Hossain of the 

village. The victim sustained 

injuries on the head and 

chest when his cousins-Abu 

Yusuf and Abu Sayeed-hit 

him with a piece of rod on 

Wednesday morning during 

a quarrel over a land, said 

Md Lokman Hossain, 

officer-in-charge of 

Laxmipur Sadar Police 

Station, quoting locals. 

Palash was rescued and 

taken to Laxmipur Sadar 

Hospital in critical 

condition. Later, he was sent 

to Noakhali General 

Hospital for better 

treatment. But, as his 

condition deteriorated, he 

was shifted to Dhaka 

Medical College Hospital 

where he succumbed to his 

injuries on Thursday 

morning, police said. 

US Mission in 

BD to remain 

closed Feb 18, 21 

DHAKA : The US Embassy in 

Dhaka including its consular 

sectionwill remain closed on 

February 18 and February 

21to celebrate President's 

Day, a US national day, and in 

observance of International 

Mother Language Day, a 

Bangladeshi national day, 

reports UNB. 

The American Center with 

the Archer K. Blood American 

Center Library and the 

Education USA Student 

Advising Center will also 

remain closed, said a press 

release.

METRO 

FriDAY, FeBrUArY 16, 2018 

3 

Jatiya Ganatantrik League formed a human chain in front of National Press Club yesterday on the 

occasion of 48th death anniversary of Shaheed Sergeant Johurul Haque. 

Photo : TBT 

President offers 

ziarat at shrines of 

Hazrat Shahjalal, 

Shahparan in 

Sylhet 

SYLHET : President Md 

Abdul Hamid offered ziarat 

at the shrines of Hazrat 

Shahjalal ® and Hazrat 

Shahparan ®in the city on 

Thursday afternoon, reports 

UNB. 

President Hamid, who 

arrived here by a Biman 

Bangladesh Airlines flight to 

attend the convocation of 

Sylhet Agricultural 

University, first went to the 

mazar of Hazrat Shahjalal ® 

and offered Fateha and 

munajat. 

Later, the President visited 

the mazar of Hazrat 

Shahparan ® on the 

outskirts of the city and 

offered Fateha and munajat 

there. 

President's wife Rashida 

Khanamaccompanied him. 

Education Minister Nurul 

Islam Nahid, secretaries 

concerned to the 

Presidentand senior military 

and civil high officials were 

present. 

A meet the press on study findings of Government budget focusing violence against children was 

held at National Press Club yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

GD-260/18 (6 x 3) 

Dr Wazed’s 76th birth 

anniversary today 

DHAKA : The 76th birth anniversary of 

internationally reputed nuclear scientist 

and Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina's 

husband Dr MA Wazed Miah will be 

celebrated today. 

On February 16 in 1942, Wazed Miah 

affectionately called 'Sudha Miah' was born 

in a respectable Muslim family of Laldighi 

Fatehpur village under Pirganj upazila in 

Rangpur district. 

He breathed his last in Dhaka on May 9 in 

2009 and was buried at family graveyard in 

his native village at Pirganj. 

Different political and socio-cultural 

organizations have chalked out 

programmes in the capital city and Rangpur 

in observance of his birthday. 

The programmes include placing of 

wreaths at the grave of Dr Wazed Miah, 

offering Fateha, milad mehfils and special 

munajats, distribution of food among the 

poor and distressed people and memorial 

discussions. 

On this occasion, Dr MA Wazed Miah 

Memorial foundation will organize a 

discussion at the Jatiya Press Club in the city 

at 3 pm today. 

Dr Wazed Smriti Sangshad (DWSS), 

Pirganj Upazila Awami League and front 

organizations and allies of the Awami 

League will hold discussion meetings, offer 

fateha at the grave of Wazed Miah and 

distribute food among the poor marking the 

day. 

The DWSS has chalked out two-day 

programmes, including different 

competitions for the children and 

discussion meeting, to celebrate the 76th 

birth anniversary of Dr Wazed in Rangpur 

district. 

The two-day programmes include 

drawing, hand writing, poem recitation and 

patriotic song competitions for the children. 

The organization will place wreaths at the 

grave of Dr Wazed Miah, offer Ziarat and 

Fateha in his birthplace village of Laldighee 

Fatehpur under Pirganj upazila in Rangpur 

district at 8 am today. 

A discussion on the life and works of 

nuclear scientist Dr Wazed will be held 

today at Town Hall auditorium and prizes, 

crests and certificates will be distributed 

among the winners of different 

competitions there. 

Vice-chancellor of Begum Rokeya 

University Professor Dr Nazmul Ahsan 

Kalimullah will attend the discussion as the 

chief guest with President of DWSS 

Professor Dr Hamidul Haque Khondker in 

the chair. 

Deputy Commissioner Muhammad 

Wahiduzzaman, politicians, public 

representatives, 

educationists, 

professionals, intellectuals, civil society 

members and elite will take part in the 

discussion. 

BAF observes 

death anniversary 

of Shaheed 

Sergeant Zahurul 

Haque 

CHITTAGONG : Bangladesh 

Air Force (BAF) yesterday 

observed the 49th death 

anniversary of Shaheed 

Sergeant Zahurul Haque 

with due solemnity, reports 

BSS. 

On this day in 1969, 

Sergeant Zahurul Haque was 

shot by the Pakistani Army 

when he was detained in the 

Dhaka Cantonment in 

connection with the Agartala 

conspiracy case, an ISPR 

release said. 

On the occasion, a milad 

mahfil was arranged at the 

central mosque of 

Bangladesh Air Force Base 

Zahurul Haque after Zohr 

prayers seeking the divine 

blessing for the departed soul 

and also for the continued 

peace and prosperity of the 

country. 

Assistant Chief of Air Staff 

(operations) Air Vice Marshal 

Masihuzzaman Serniabat, 

Air Officer Commanding of 

the base Air Commodore 

Murshed Hasan Siddiqui, 

senior officers, airmen and 

other members of the base 

attended the milad mahfil. 

Five local, 

multinational 

laboratories get 

accreditation 

certificates 

DHAKA : Bangladesh 

Accreditation Board (BAB) 

has given certificates to five 

local and multi-national 

laboratories for boosting the 

country's exports in the 

international market, 

reports BSS. 

The five laboratories are 

SGS Bangladesh Limited, 

ITS Labtest Bangladesh 

Limited, ACI Sourcing, 

Material 

Testing 

Laboratories BMTI and 

United Hospital Medical 

Testing Laboratory. 

Industries Minister 

Mohammad Abdullah 

handed over the certificates 

to the laboratories at a 

function at Industries 

Ministry in the city, said a 

press release. 

Among others, Additional 

Secretary of the Industries 

Ministry Shahidul Islam 

attended the function with 

BAB Director General M 

Monwarul Islam in the 

chair. 

DHAKA : Planning Minister AHM Mustafa 

Kamal yesterday said the government plans 

to enhance the coverage of various social 

safety net programmes in the coming days to 

increase the number of beneficiaries to one 

crore, reports BSS. 

"Already around 67 lakh people in the 

country are getting the benefits of various 

social safety net programmes. Our 

government has a plan to raise this number 

of beneficiaries to one crore," he said. 

The minister was speaking at a "Meet the 

Press" held at the NEC conference room in 

the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area 

yesterday. Planning Commission members 

and secretaries concerned were present. 

Mustafa Kamal also hinted that there 

would be something in the budget for the 

national fiscal year to incorporate the 

additional number of beneficiaries under 

various social safety net programmes. 

He noted that the people in the haor areas 

are still lagging behind and the eligible 

people there would be brought under various 

social safety net programmes for which their 

coverage would be further enhanced. 

Mentioning that the last 12 months have 

fared better for Bangladesh in terms of jobs 

creation, Kamal said that a total of 37 lakh 

jobs were created for the Bangladeshis both 

at home and abroad during that period. 

Referring to the inclusive development 

A discussion meeting titled `Shariatpur in Language Movement' was held at National Press Club yesterday. 

Photo : TBT 

JU Alumni Day today 

SAVAR : The Alumni Day of Jahangirnagar University (JU) 

will be observed today on the campus amid festive mood. 

Marking the day, the authority has organised a reunion 

programme on the campus with daylong events. JU 

Registrar Abu Bakar Siddique told BSS . 

Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Farzana Islam will 

inaugurate the daylong programme as the chief guest at JU 

Business Studies Faculty at 9.00 am, he said. "We have 

completed our registration process already. This is the third 

central reunion of the alumni association," he added. 

The day's programme features a colorful rally, reception to 

3rd batch students of the university, award handover, quiz 

competition for the children, reminisce, raffle draw and 

cultural programme at Selim Al Deen Muktamancha. 

PM set to 

return 

home on 

Saturday 

DHAKA : Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina, who 

reached Abu Dhabi 

yesterday morning from 

Rome concluding her fourday 

official visit to Italy 

and Vatican City, is set to 

return home on Saturday 

after making a stopover in 

the United Arab Emirates 

(UAE) capital. 

"Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina will return home 

on Saturday evening after 

making a stopover in the 

UAE capital of Abu 

Dhabi," PM's Press 

Secretary Ihsanul Karim 

told BSS by phone from 

there. 

An Etihad Airways flight 

carrying the premier and 

her entourage landed at 

Abu Dhabi International 

Airport yesterday morning 

when Bangladesh 

Ambassador to UAE 

Mohammad Imran and 

senior officials received 

her at the airport. 

The premier departed 

Leonardo da-Vinci 

Fiumicino Airport in 

Rome for Abu Dhabi at 10 

am local time on 

Wednesady (3 am BST 

Thursday) winding up her 

four-day official visit to 

Italy and Vatican City. 

She attended the annual 

governing council meeting 

of the International Fund 

for 

Agricultural 

Development (IFAD) in 

Rome and held meetings 

with Pope Francis and 

Secretary State of Vatican 

City Cardinal Pietro 

Paroline at the Vatican 

City. 

Govt plans to expand 

social safety net: Kamal 

GD-262/18 (4 x 3) 

AvBGmwcAvi/wewea/2018/2066 

15/02/2018 

GD-264/18 (4 x 3) 

index released in the last World Economic 

Forum meeting in Davos, he said 

Bangladesh topped the list among the South 

Asian countries with the ranking of 34, much 

ahead of Pakistan (47) and India (60). 

He said the country also witnessed 

progress in terms of reducing economic 

dependency ratio as it is now 54 percent 

which was earlier 80 percent. 

About the major macroeconomic situation, 

the Planning Minister said the major 

macroeconomic indicators are performing 

better with a rise in the real estate sector 

while the inward remittance inflow would 

reach $15 billion at the end of the current 

year. 

Besides, he hoped that the goods and 

services export would total $42 billion at the 

end of current fiscal year. 

Criticizing those who often say that the 

growth in Bangladesh is not inclusive, Kamal 

said, "Our growth is inclusive, it's sustainable 

and for everybody," 

Asked about major macroeconomic 

challenges, Kamal said the existing 

education system should be changed in a 

wholesale manner as with the existing 

system, it may not be possible to achieve the 

target of 2041 by the government. 

The minister also underscored the need for 

bringing reforms in the bank and financial 

sector. 

Job Opportunity 

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Job Title: Chemical Technician. 

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EDITORIAL 

FRIDAY, 

FEBRUARY 16, 2018 

4 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam 

Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103 

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com 

Friday, February 16, 2018 

Many aspects to achieving 

higher economic growth 

Studies getting shaved off 

by donor agencies from time to time have repeated 

the point of how economic growth in Bangladesh is 

as a consequence of corruption. 

According to such studies, the country could probably add 

another 1to 2 per cent to its economic growth, annually, from 

significantly reducing its corruption or reach a growth level of 

7 or 8 per cent from the present 6 percent plus. 

This outlook of the donor bodies is a debatable one. But even 

if one accepts it, what great benefits can accrue from increasing 

the growth rate by 1 or 2 per cent through wiping clean 

corruption only when by successfully addressing other 

transparently responsible factors for underdevelopment such 

as insufficient energy supply, inconsistent policy supports, etc., 

the growth can be raised well into the double digits like 10 or 

12 per cent and also on a sustainable basis ? 

So, let us not be obsessed by such observations that all 

efforts on the part of those who govern the economy or run the 

country, should be essentially concentrated on limiting 

corruption. 

Corruption can be only one component among many others 

and scoring well in all of these other components are probably 

more crucial than frustrating corruption. For the other 

components of growth, if the conditions for fulfilling them are 

reached, the same would likely create conditions for economic 

growth to soar. It is be no overstatement to say that 

Bangladesh has the potentials of attaining annual economic 

growth in the double digits provided these other components 

of growth are well addressed through proper plans and their 

executions and the establishment and retention of a growth 

facilitating environment. 

These other components which are discussed here range 

from human resources formation to abilities and resolve of 

leadership at various levels to even overcoming cultural or 

religious barriers. The point is this writer looks at achieving of 

a much increased growth rate in the context of Bangladesh for 

rapid alleviation of poverty and improved standard of living, 

as having many facets to it . In sum, what is suggested here is 

that the planners should come out of their traditional thinking 

on growth and look at it much more innovatively and 

dynamically. 

It would be impossible to describe in details the numerous 

ways and means of achieving growth within the limited space 

provided here. But describing a few should help in the 

clarification of the views expressed here. 

For example, the country's biggest export-oriented 

readymade garments (RMG) sector can contribute to growth 

by increasing productivity of its workers through selective and 

sustained training programmes. The RMG sector can expand 

in size from investing in the establishment of new units 

creating, thus, more employment and more wealth that would 

be contributory to the country's economic growth in a major 

way . It can make its production and other processes leaner 

and fitter to increase its productivity and earnings. It can 

adopt total quality management (TQM) that puts each worker 

and every phase in the production process in the position of 

quality controllers that would make maintenance of large 

quality control departments or operations--redundant-- 

leading to big saving of costs. 

In fact, TQM can be extended to progressively cover all or 

nearly all industries in Bangladesh that would be a plus factor 

to the viable running of these enterprises from costs savings as 

well as better quality control. The same would, then, add to 

economic growth. 

Some countries , including very prosperous ones like Japan, 

have no scope to swiftly increase output from different sectors 

by only applying labour and capital to them. This is because 

they lack in large physical endowments. Japan, for example, 

has very little natural resources of its own. It cannot add to 

growth like a physically big and well endowed country such as 

Brazil by bringing more lands under the plough or harnessing 

for the first time untapped natural resources. 

Bangladesh is relatively a rich country with many virgin and 

unexploited fields. It can, for instance, take steps to utilize its 

vast discovered resources of coal and other minerals. It can 

extend diverse forms of agriculture into considerable fallow 

lands. It can aim to exploit its sea resources on a large scale in 

the long run. Substantial investments on a large scale are 

possible in Bangladesh in the tourism sector. Continuing 

investments into these and other prospective areas through a 

really dedicated business leadership helped by a similarly 

dedicated, efficient and visionary national or governmental 

leadership, indicate the possibilities of creating a faster pace 

of overall economic growth for the country. 

Government itself can be a big promoter of growth by 

introducing and running policies to that end. Government 

can really try hard to overhaul the country's archaic 

educational system which is largely a burden than asset. It can 

create facilities for scientific, technical and vocational 

education on a far larger scale than what are on offer at 

present. It can particularly expand in a big way the 

opportunities for skill training programmes. The net of these 

efforts will be the formation of a large enough workforce 

supportive of much stepped up investment activities leading 

to higher economic growth. Government on its own or in 

partnership with the private sector, should encourage rapid 

growth of all sorts of infrastructures to facilitate cost-efficient 

business operations. Government can try and be more 

successful in preventing smuggling operations that would 

stimulate local enterprises to fill up the void from non 

availability of smuggled goods. 

Government needs to also more and more improve and fine 

tune fiscal and monetary policies that would inspire and 

encourage entrepreneurship locally. Government can also 

more and more raise awareness of people about 

empowerment needs of half of the population of the country 

who are females by drawing them into gainful economic 

activities outside the confines of their homes. 

Religious and cultural barriers will have to be overcome to 

this end. But doing of it, successfully, will allow the economy 

to be the gainer from receiving more and direct output from 

female workers in the different formal sectors. This will also 

aid the economic growth process. 

So, from the above, it may be realized that there are so many 

aspects to increasing economic growth than putting too much 

into one basket like steps to get rid of corruption only. 

Greater investments in the economy helped by enabling 

infrastructures, efficient utilities and consumption of 

adequate energies, plus helpful fiscal and monetary policies , 

much greater cost-efficient operation by the entrepreneurs 

themselves, these are the keys really to attaining record 

economic growth by Bangladesh to realize its dreams of a 

better existence of its people. 

THE Financial Action Task Force 

(FATF) is all set to take up the 

question of whether Pakistan is 

complying with international 

commitments to prevent its financial 

system from being used by groups that 

have been designated by the United 

Nations as terrorist entities, and early 

indications are that it is going to be a 

bumpy ride. This is a long running story, 

going back at least eight years and the 

country has been scraping past the 

successive reviews by offering up one 

'action plan' after another, but failing to 

deliver on its commitments. 

For more background, I can point 

readers to my piece in February last year, 

titled 'To ban or not to ban'. Back then the 

government had placed Hafiz Saeed, one 

of the main characters in the story since 

his name is on the United Nations list of 

designated terrorists along with his 

deputy and the Lashkar-e-Taiba that he 

founded, the Falah-i-Insaniyat (FiF), and 

the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) that he now 

heads, which are listed as "an alias of the 

LeT", under house arrest. 

The move was widely seen as an attempt 

to come into partial compliance with the 

requirements of FATF. The actual 

requirements go much further, requiring 

an asset freeze and a ban on all 

organisations headed by those who are 

listed by the UN as terrorists, but any 

attempts to ban the JuD and the FiF 

meets with stiff resistance within the 

country, because they are engaged in 

charity work. 

The country went through a compliance 

review in June 2017 and committed to 

At a recent US Senate hearing, 

Christopher Wray, director of the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

was asked how China conducts spying in 

the United States. "With non-traditional 

collectors," he said. 

Lest anyone think Wray had discovered 

something new and novel, he hadn't. His 

answer draws from a history of 

institutional racial bias against Chinese- 

Americans in the FBI since the inception 

of the agency founded by J Edgar Hoover. 

During the hysteria in the late 1990s 

when Dr Wen Ho Lee, a scientist at the 

Los Alamos National Laboratory, was 

accused of spying for China, so-called FBI 

sinologists - meaning they were supposed 

to be experts on China - explained to the 

American public that China did not spy 

by traditional means. "They spy by grains 

of sand." 

At the FBI, "grains of sand" was 

shorthand for all ethnic Chinese living in 

the US. The alleged conflicted loyalty 

between the motherland and adopted 

homeland leads each grain to collect and 

send every conceivable tidbit of useful 

information back to Beijing. 

The speculation was that some superduper 

computer in the basement of some 

ministry programmed with powerful 

artificial intelligence would crunch these 

random submissions, and out would 

come the designs for America's latest topsecret 

weaponry. 

Grains of sand now non-traditional 

collectors. This is patently ludicrous, of 

course. But this deeply rooted bias within 

Banning terror groups 

taking sterner action to enforce 

international obligations in order to 

safeguard its financial system from the 

possibility of being used by designated 

individuals and entities. The risks 

associated with this were made clear the 

next month after the review. 

A long story may be drawing to some 

sort of close at last. The ordinance just 

passed will now need parliamentary 

ratification. 

In August, the country's largest bank 

was slapped with a hefty fine of $225 

million by regulators in the US, for 

allegedly having handled funds belonging 

to terrorists. There was no link between 

that action by the state regulator and the 

ongoing discussions with FATF, but it was 

a clear sign of the stakes involved. The fine 

was not large enough to do serious 

damage to the bank, but future actions 

could be. In November 2017, a plenary 

the FBI gives cover for racial profiling of 

Chinese-Americans. Wray, with a smirk, 

wink and a nod, had simply upgraded 

"grains of sand" as "non-traditional 

collectors." Wray's testimony came out of 

the US Senate Intelligence Committee 

open hearing on global threats and 

national security. Six heads of agencies in 

charge of protecting national security 

were summoned to testify - the most 

familiar being the Central Intelligence 

Agency and the FBI. 

Unlike their counterparts in the House 

of Representatives, this Senate 

committee and its hearing were class acts. 

Members of the committee were civil, 

courteous and respectful to one another 

and to the witnesses. 

But despite a collegial air of nonpartisanship, 

the class act was defiled by 

the xenophobia of Republican Senator 

KhURRAM hUSAIn 

session of FATF was held in Buenos Aires, 

Argentina. Pakistan was asked to submit a 

compliance report, detailing what actions 

had been taken to deliver on its 

commitments. About two weeks later, in a 

meeting of the National Security 

Committee (NSC) chaired by the prime 

minister and attended by all senior 

ministers of the cabinet, as well as the 

army chief and the chiefs of all the other 

forces and the chairman of the joint chiefs 

of staff committee, among other "senior 

In August, the country's largest bank was 

slapped with a hefty fine of $225 million by 

regulators in the US, for allegedly having 

handled funds belonging to terrorists. 

There was no link between that action by 

the state regulator and the ongoing 

discussions with FATF, but it was a clear 

sign of the stakes involved. The fine was 

not large enough to do serious damage to 

the bank, but future actions could be. 

AMBER SInhA 

civil and military officials", the matter of 

complying with FATF regulations again 

came up but further action was apparently 

shot down. 

"While reviewing the progress made 

with respect to Pakistan's commitment 

under the Financial Action Task Force 

(FATF) framework, the Committee 

observed that Pakistan needed to convey 

its position and achievements 

Marco Rubio. When it was his turn to 

question the panel, he began with a 

diatribe that China represented the 

biggest threat to the US. 

Marco Rubio's xenophobia 

Then he asked Wray how the FBI 

monitors the many Chinese students 

studying in the US. Wray's verbatim 

response was as follows. "The use of nontraditional 

collectors, especially in the 

academic setting - whether it's professors, 

scientists, students - we see in almost 

every field office that the FBI has around 

the country. 

"It's not just in major cities. It's in small 

ones as well, it's across basically every 

discipline. And I think the level of naiveté 

on the part of the academic sector about 

this creates its own issues." 

In Wray's view, the problem is 

pervasive, and he suggested that the 

comprehensively and clearly to the FATF" 

said a press release following the meeting. 

The language used in the release is vague 

and does not tell us whether or not a 

decision was made to follow through on 

proscribing all organisations that have 

been designated by the UN as terrorist 

groups. 

A week later, the Lahore High Court 

ordered the release of Hafiz Saeed from 

house arrest, turning down a petition 

from the Punjab government to extend his 

detention. The government was simply 

taking one extension after another 

without bringing any charges, or 

supplying concrete reasons for the 

detention. Almost immediately, the 

United States formally asked Pakistan to 

rearrest Saeed, whose release made 

headlines around the world. 

Shortly after that, news was leaked to 

Reuters that the government was 

planning to earnestly proscribe the 

designated organisations, and seize all 

their assets. Then on Feb 2, in another 

meeting of the NSC, the matter of 

proscribing organisations designated by 

the UN was discussed again. 

"The committee expressed satisfaction 

over the objectives achieved so far and 

directed the ministries concerned to 

complete the few outstanding actions at 

the earliest", the statement released 

following the meeting read. It pointed out 

that some countries were working to use 

FATF to pressure Pakistan, and 

"expressed its hope that the FATF will not 

be politicised by a few countries". 

Source : Dawn 

India’s data protection law needs graded enforcement mechanism 

One of my favourite films growing 

up was The Pagemaster. The story 

is about a reclusive 10-year-old 

boy, Richard Tyler, who hardly uses his 

imagination and avoids new experiences 

at any cost. One day, Richard's father asks 

him to get a supply of nails for the new 

treehouse he is building for his son. 

However, Richard finds himself in the 

middle of a fierce storm and takes cover 

in a public library. Unbeknownst to him, 

the library comes to life and snatches 

Richard into its fictional world. Aided by 

three books as companions, he embarks 

on a journey resembling fictional events 

in which he has to overcome challenges in 

order to exit the library. Ultimately, 

Richard learns that reading books can 

take him to places in life he has never 

imagined once before. 

Two years ago, the UAE government 

announced its 10-year reading strategy as 

the first step towards creating a 

generation of book lovers. In 2016, a 

national reading survey was published, 

claiming that people in the UAE read only 

1.5 books annually, highlighting that 78 

per cent of Emirati adults are not active 

readers and that the average Emirati 

household had only 20 books, compared 

to 203 books in the United Kingdom. 73 

per cent of parents do not read routinely, 

which is why students in the UAE read 

only four books annually, compared to 

the 40 books read by students in South 

Korea. 

Of the countless initiatives that were 

announced to remedy this gap, I am most 

exhilarated about the opening of the new 

Mohammad Bin Rashid Library. 

Throughout civilisation, libraries held 

At the FBI, "grains of sand" was shorthand for all ethnic 

Chinese living in the US. The alleged conflicted loyalty 

between the motherland and adopted homeland leads each 

grain to collect and send every conceivable tidbit of useful 

information back to Beijing. The speculation was that some 

super-duper computer in the basement of some ministry 

programmed with powerful artificial intelligence would 

crunch these random submissions, and out would come the 

designs for America's latest top-secret weaponry. 

repositories of knowledge and so have 

played an important role in transforming 

lives and strengthening nations' 

competitiveness. Libraries are special in 

that they are treasure vaults, giving equal 

access to citizens who want to educate 

themselves with valuable knowledge that 

could later translate into economic and 

social benefits. In today's world, however, 

more is expected of us than to just read 

and write. As global citizens, we must 

endeavour to understand, think, 

articulate, invent, innovate, and imagine. 

That is why libraries must reinvent 

themselves as more than just stocks of 

books, but rather they must create a 

community space for people to revel in 

the written word in all its forms. As with 

any other community space, it must 

compete on its service offerings to 

visitors. Modern libraries around the 

world have managed to win over visitors 

through savvy and diverse marketing 

strategies; such as designing 

architecturally unique buildings, 

providing easy access to digital 

collections, organising author visits and 

themed book clubs, offering play areas for 

children, holding art exhibitions and 

theatre productions of literary works, and 

housing trendy cafes. 

Singapore has done exactly so. The 

National Library Board is a government 

agency that was established in 1995 to 

achieve this mission: "make knowledge 

come alive, spark imagination and create 

possibilities". For a population of 5.6 

million, it manages a network of 27 welllocated 

public libraries, boasting 2.4 

million library members (around 42 per 

cent of the population!). The National 

Reading Movement, launched in 2016, is 

a five-year campaign to get residents to 

read regularly, beyond their usual 

preferred genres, and to read together 

with family and friends. Libraries are also 

designed for the various audiences, such 

as children, teens, adults, and seniors. In 

fact, the Teens Library at the Jurong 

Regional Library was designed by teens 

solution required a societal response, 

which I interpret to mean that every 

American has a duty to keep an eye out 

for the Chinese in the US. 

A few years after the Wen Ho Lee 

fiasco - Dr Lee was put in solitary 

confinement without charge for 10 

months and then released with an 

apology from the embarrassed presiding 

judge - the British Broadcasting Corp 

asked the special agent in charge of the 

FBI's Silicon Valley field office about 

Chinese espionage. He said something to 

the effect that he had to watch some 

hundred thousand Chinese 

professionals running around the valley, 

and they were all potential spies. 

More recently, the FBI broke a door 

down early one morning and charged 

into the home of Professor Xi Xiaoxin 

and arrested him for spying for China. 

Much to the embarrassment of the FBI, 

the head of the physics department at 

Temple University in Philadelphia, 

Pennsylvania, who is a US citizen, had 

been "caught" exercising normal 

international academic exchanges of 

information belonging in the public 

domain. 

The FBI simply did not have the 

knowhow to judge the technical content 

of the e-mails they were spying on. But if 

their suspect was Chinese - US citizen or 

not - then presumption of guilt without 

due process was justified. 

Source : Asia Times 

Reimagining libraries in the digital era 

SARA Al MUllA 

Two years ago, the UAE government announced 

its 10-year reading strategy as the first step 

towards creating a generation of book lovers. In 

2016, a national reading survey was published, 

claiming that people in the UAE read only 1.5 

books annually, highlighting that 78 per cent of 

Emirati adults are not active readers and that the 

average Emirati household had only 20 books, 

compared to 203 books in the United Kingdom. 

and features young adult and comic 

books, a graffiti wall, bean bags, an open 

mike area for performances, and book 

clubs to discuss popular topics. 

The libraries also offer a rich 

programme of events, such as parentchild 

story hours, summer reading clubs 

for school-aged children, drama groups, 

poetry reading, and creative writing 

seminars. 

Many commercial bookshops have 

modernised their operations in order to 

lure customers and public libraries have 

many lessons to extract from their 

experiences. A gorgeous example of this is 

the Waterstone's bookstore in Piccadilly, 

London. Housed in an elegant art deco 

building, the store is Europe's largest 

bookshop, occupying six floors full of 

books on every genre under the sun; 

fiction, children's books, travel, history, 

business - you name it and they have 

something to delight you. 

The place is always brimming with 

energy as it redesigns the shop floors to go 

with seasonal or thematic occasions, such 

as celebrating spring, Roald Dahl's 100th 

birthday, Paddington film and book tieins, 

or holidays like Easter and Christmas. 

Add to that the friendly staff who are 

themselves voracious readers, the 

exciting events programme (author talks 

and signings), and the cozy cafe upstairs 

with a marvellous view of the hustling 

streets below. I love the story of Andrew 

Carnegie, the Scottish-American business 

tycoon and philanthropist who 

transformed his life through books. 

Source: Gulf News

STRATEGIC ISSUES 

FRidAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 

5 

How China advancing its Ai agenda 

ELSA kAniA 

Are China's ambitions to "lead the world" in artificial 

intelligence (AI) by 2030 credible? China's rapid 

emergence as an AI powerhouse is often hyped and 

sensationalized, variously provoking alarm and 

enthusiasm that can sometimes overshadow the reality of 

real progress. At the same time, critical challenges remain 

in China's quest to become "the world's premier AI 

innovation center" and build up an AI industry of 1 trillion 

RMB (about $150 billion) in the process. 

In China's "rise" in AI, the active efforts of private 

enterprises have predated more recent policy support. 

However, since the State Council released the New 

Generation AI Development Plan in July 2017, there have 

been a number of indicators that its implementation is 

advancing throughout all levels of government. Although 

the future trajectory of its AI revolution remains to be 

seen, China is rapidly building momentum to harness the 

power of state support and the dynamism of private 

enterprises in a new model of innovation. 

AI has only recently become a clear priority for Chinese 

leaders under the aegis of an agenda to transform China 

into a "nation of innovation." For the 13th Five-Year Plan 

timeframe (2016-2020), China's ambitions to transform 

itself into a superpower in science and technology are 

clear. In August 2016, the 13th Five-Year National Science 

and Technology Innovation Plan called for China to seize 

the "high ground" in international scientific development, 

launching a series of 15 "Science and Technology 

Innovation 2030 Megaprojects" that included both big 

data and intelligent manufacturing and robotics. At that 

point, AI was not explicitly included as a priority at that 

level, despite being mentioned in that and included in 

prior plans, such as the "Internet Plus" Artificial 

Intelligence Three-Year Action Implementation Plan, 

released in May 2016. Not until May 2017 did the Ministry 

of Science and Technology announce the decision to add 

"AI 2.0" to that initial lineup as a 16th megaproject. 

The initial impetus for the development of a national AI 

strategy may very well have come from the private sector, 

which has pioneered China's AI revolution to date. Baidu, 

in particular, has actively pursued an "AI first" agenda 

since launching the Institute for Deep Learning in 2013 

and then establishing the Silicon Valley AI Lab in 2014. 

Perhaps of note, in 2015, Robin Li (Li Yanhong), Baidu's 

CEO, in his capacity as a delegate to the Chinese People's 

Political Consultative Conference, proposed the creation of 

a "China Brain" Plan that would devote extensive state 

investment to AI, even welcoming military funding for 

such an initiative. In particular, Li called for the 

government to "support capable companies in building an 

open platform offering AI-related basic resources and 

Chinese students work on a humanoid bipedal robot displayed during the World Robot 

Conference in Beijing. 

Photo: SCMP 

public services." Coincidentally (or perhaps not), the plan 

that has since emerged does resemble his initial proposal, 

and major tech companies like Baidu, Alibaba, and 

Tencent ("BAT") may have been quite actively involved in 

advising its formulation. 

The decision to develop this AI plan appears to have 

been catalyzed in part by AlphaGo's triumph over Go 

world champion Lee Sedol in March 2016, which has been 

characterized as a "Sputnik moment" for China. This feat 

occurred at least a decade earlier than experts had 

anticipated AI could master Go, given the game's 

complexity. Such a notable advance highlighted the 

sophistication of U.S. and Western AI, whereas by contrast 

Chinese AI had achieved fewer cutting-edge advances at 

that. Against the backdrop of the U.S. AI plans and 

strategies released in mid- and late- 2016 under the 

Obama administration, AlphaGo was seen as another 

indication of the U.S. advancement disruptive 

technologies that could place China at a disadvantage. The 

cultural resonance of the game of Go may also account for 

the intense interest and attention that this event seems to 

have received from Chinese leaders. As of July 2016, 

central authorities had formally approved the drafting of a 

new AI plan, building upon prior research on AI strategy 

led by Chinese Academy of Engineering academician and 

AI expert Pan Yunhe. The plan has acted as an impetus for 

new energy and motion across China's science and 

technology bureaucracies over the six or so months since 

its release. For instance, in August 2017, the National 

Natural Science Foundation of China released Guidelines 

on AI Basic Research Urgent Management Projects, 

identifying a series of research priorities to receive millions 

in new funding, including new brain-inspired computing 

architectures and methods and man-machine cooperative 

hybrid intelligence. In October 2017, the National 

Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has 

announced a parallel AI Innovation and Development 

Megaproject, highlighting priorities that included 

advances in deep learning AI chips and highly reliable 

intelligent unmanned systems and service robots. In 

particular, the NDRC will fund a series of new AI projects, 

with a focus on AI chips, cloud services, and open-source 

platforms, among others. 

As of November 2017, the Ministry of Science and 

Technology (MoST) convened a high-level meeting that 

marked the official launch of the plan, standing up the 

New Generation AI Development Plan Promotion Office. 

This will be a whole-of-government endeavor involving no 

fewer than 15 different entities, with MoST, NDRC, and 

the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology 

(MIIT) taking the lead. In addition, the official 

involvement of the the Central Military-Civil Fusion 

Development Commission Office, the Central Military 

Commission (CMC) Science and Technology Commission, 

and the CMC Equipment Development Department 

confirms the inclusion of a focus on military applications 

of AI within this broader national agenda. In support of 

the plan, the New Generation AI Strategic Advisory 

Commission was also created at that time, convening 

senior academicians and experts from prominent private 

sector players, including Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, iFlytek, 

and Horizon Robotics. 

In December 2017, the MIIT released the Three-Year 

Action Plan to Promote the Development of New- 

Generation Artificial Intelligence Industry (2018-2020). 

This new plan calls for China to achieve "major 

breakthroughs in a series of landmark AI products" and 

"establish international competitive advantage" by 2020. 

In particular, it builds upon the prior plan to concentrate 

with greater specificity on objectives that will support the 

development of a world-leading AI industry. In the 

process, China intends to enhance such "core 

competencies" as the production of intelligent sensors and 

neural network chips. The new plan recognizes the 

importance of an AI industry "support system" to include 

a data resource base with standard test data sets, cloudbased 

training frameworks, and initial test and evaluation 

systems. (In this context, the availability of massive 

amounts of data, a natural feature of China's information 

ecosystem, could be an advantage bolstered through 

policy, yet not necessarily decisive, particularly as more 

advanced algorithms become less dependent on big data.) 

In addition, MIIT's plan reaffirms China's commitment to 

accelerating the development of 5G networks that can 

enable China's national "intelligentization." In its entirety, 

this latest policy framework thus highlights the basic 

foundations of an ecosystem that could create favorable 

environment for AI development, bolstered through high 

levels of funding and a focus on cultivating an AI talent 

pool. 

In parallel to these efforts at the national level, cities 

throughout China have started to develop and release their 

own plans and policies for AI, including Beijing, Shanghai, 

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and Tianjin to date. Notably, Beijing 

plans to build a 13.8 billion RMB ($2.12 billion) AI 

development park that could host up to 400 AI 

enterprises. Zhongguancun Development Group, 

responsible for the project's advancement, also intends to 

create a "national-level" AI laboratory within the new 

park. It is clear that Beijing is actively seeking to emerge as 

a national and global leader in AI. 

the Vietnam War’s Great Lie 

LUkE HUnt 

In the years that followed 

the Tet Offensive, one of the 

Vietnam War's largest 

military campaigns, which 

saw its 50th anniversary 

commemorated in late 

January, Americans would 

torture themselves. How 

could they have got it so 

wrong? A Communist 

uprising across South 

Vietnam claimed thousands 

of lives, and their perceived 

success had turned public 

opinion against the war by 

the middle of 1968, an abject 

lesson in propaganda and its 

latter day manifestation, 

"fake news." 

There were many key 

people involved in the 

planning. Among them was 

Pham Xuan An, the foreign 

correspondent who had 

joined the Communists 

during World War II and 

risen within its ranks to 

become one of Ho Chi 

Minh's greatest spies. 

His track record - a secret 

that would remain hidden 

for decades to come - was 

already formidable. In 1962, 

while working for the British 

news agency Reuters, he 

mapped out information of a 

pending strike by U.S.-led 

South Vietnamese troops 

near a hamlet in the Mekong 

Delta, southwest of Saigon, 

called Ap Bac. 

Hopes for victory were 

dashed as the Viet Cong 

were well armed, well 

entrenched, and fought 

back, culminating in one of 

the biggest U.S. defeats of 

the Vietnam War, and in 

hindsight a devastating case 

study of what was to come. 

Ho Chi Minh awarded two 

Liberation Exploit medals, a 

high honor indeed, following 

that battle. One went to the 

Viet Cong battlefield 

commander, the other to An. 

He would receive another 

three years later for his 

reports outlining the 

American landing of troops 

at Danang. At about the 

same time, he began 

working on his outline for a 

massive Communist 

offensive to be launched 

during the Vietnamese New 

Year. Truces would be 

broken, and the 

Communists would hold the 

element of surprise by 

launching the offensive 

under the cover of the 

millions of firecrackers that 

are traditionally lit to 

welcome in the new year. 

The idea of unleashing a 

sprawling campaign to 

achieve "decisive victory" by 

overwhelming the 

perpetually tottering 

government in Saigon was 

not new to planners in 

Hanoi. But the actual 

military plan, shepherded 

through the opposition of 

more cautious elements 

within the Politburo by Party 

General Secretary Le Duan 

and the military chief of 

staff, Van Tien Dung, was 

only finalized late in 1967. 

Yet many in Hanoi feared 

overreach. Among the 

ambivalent, who were 

sidelined and ultimately 

overruled in the debate over 

strategy, were the ailing Ho 

Chi Minh and as well as 

General Vo Nguyen Giap, 

famed architect of the 

victory at Dien Bien Phu 

against the French in 1954. 

Far from the intrigue 

roiling Hanoi, however, the 

southern Communists - the 

Viet Cong - were key players 

and charged with finetuning 

the operational 

details and leading the 

attacks, including leaders 

like General Tran Van Tra 

and the ruthless political 

commissar Tran Bach Dang. 

While the southern 

guerrillas absorbed the 

brunt of the urban combat, 

they were backed by the 

military heft of the regular 

North Vietnamese Army 

(NVA), and it was main force 

NVA units who would 

launch and maintain the 

four-month siege of the 

isolated U.S. Marine outpost 

at Khe Sanh, intended 

initially as a feint to pull U.S. 

resources away from South 

Vietnamese cities and 

towns. 

But while ideologues like 

Dang believed that an 

overwhelming show of 

military force was necessary 

to shatter the U.S.-backed 

Saigon government and 

their "puppet army," their 

primary objective was 

political: to create the 

conditions necessary to 

spark a spontaneous 

insurrection among the 

southern populace, an 

uprising against their 

government and in support 

of the revolution. 

Measuring the overall 

success of what the 

Communists called their 

"general offensive-general 

uprising" strategy is a 

subject of endless debate. 

But as for the anticipated 

rebellion - the South 

South Vietnam's ARVn Rangers defend Saigon 

during the tet Offensive in 1968. 

Photo: US military personnel 

Vietnamese every-person 

instinctively throwing off the 

shackles of U.S. 

neocolonialism - Dang and 

his compatriots were clearly 

very wrong. 

The southern populace 

didn't rise up, but still, it was 

quite a fight. When the Tet 

Offensive launched on 

January 30, more than 100 

cities across South Vietnam - 

including Saigon - and 

military outposts came 

under attack. The worst of 

the fighting was in Hue, 

where 150 Marines died and 

around 5,000 North 

Vietnamese soldiers were 

killed, mainly in airstrikes. 

During the brief 

occupation of the ancient 

capital, the Communists 

proved how nasty they could 

be.The bodies of more than 

2,800 people were 

discovered, and another 

3,000 residents of Hue were 

missing. They also set about 

razing Hue's treasured 

heritage; palaces, temples, 

and monuments from the 

distant past were leveled. 

But the counteroffensives 

were as vicious as they were 

successful. As the attacks 

subsided, the U.S. 

intensified its Phoenix 

Program, designed by the 

CIA to neutralize the 

infrastructure of the Viet 

Cong and its political wing, 

the National Liberation 

Front of South Vietnam, 

through "infiltration, 

capture, counterterrorism, 

interrogation, and 

assassination." 

It proved highly 

successful, neutralizing 

81,740 suspected Viet Cong 

operatives, informants, and 

supporters. Of them, 

somewhere between 26,000 

and 41,000 were killed 

between 1965 and 1972, 

many after Tet. The initial 

Tet attacks were followed by 

two other waves, in May and 

August, and because of this 

Communist forces stayed 

entrenched close to the cities 

during the interlude 

between these rolling 

campaigns. 

This tactic, driven by 

decisionmaking in Hanoi, 

proved lethal for Viet Cong 

survivors because it allowed 

South Vietnamese and U.S. 

troops to leapfrog over 

Communist positions and 

attack their main forces that 

were dug in from the rear. 

The Communist ranks 

were devastated, especially 

the southern fighters. 1969 

and 1970 were dark years, 

during which resentment of 

Hanoi burbled among 

southern leaders who felt 

they had been cannon 

fodder for Hanoi's quixotic 

plans. 

But public opinion in the 

United States of what the Tet 

Offensive meant reflected a 

different perspective of a 

complicated reality. 

indian Prime Minister narendra Modi meets the deputy Prime Minister of Oman, Fahd bin 

Mahmood Al Said. 

Photo: MEA 

the geopolitical importance 

of Oman’s duqm Port 

Ankit PAndA 

As a result of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent 

trip to Oman - part of a broader Middle Eastern tour - New 

Delhi and Muscat finalized an agreement that will see India 

gain access to the strategically located port of Duqm, on 

Oman's southern coast. The port sits on the northwestern 

edge of the Indian Ocean and also provides easy access 

onward into the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden. 

Per initial reports, the contours of the Indo-Omani 

agreement over Duqm are generous for New Delhi. The 

Indian Navy will be able to use the port for logistics and 

support, allowing it to sustain long-term operations in the 

western Indian Ocean, a hotspot for piracy in the area. 

According to the Indian Express, a dry dock will be available 

to the Indian Navy at Duqm as well, allowing for 

maintenance without returning vessels to India-based 

shipyards. Most significantly, India's access to Duqm will 

shape up to be an important factor in the now long-running 

contest for influence in the Indian Ocean against China. 

Indian strategists have long concerned themselves with 

Beijing's so-called "string of pearls"; the phrase, common 

among Indian strategic elites, borrows from a mid-2000s 

report by U.S. consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and 

refers to a network of strategically located coastal facilities. 

For readers of The Diplomat, many of these names will be 

familiar. China's two most prominent "pearls" are its first 

overseas military base in Djibouti and the port facility at 

Gwadar in Pakistan, the southern terminal of the China- 

Pakistan Economic Corridor. Beijing has additionally made 

investments in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and 

Bangladesh in a range of facilities. 

Outside of Djibouti, China has no overt military facilities, 

but Indian strategists concern themselves with so-called 

dual-use port facilities. Geopolitically, analysts have long 

pointed to the ease with which China could hedge its overreliance 

on sea lanes transiting the Strait of Malacca by 

setting up a network of accessible facilities in the Indian 

Ocean. 

Littoral facilities like Gwadar and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar 

would allow for land-based transit of goods while sea-based 

nodes, like the Maldives and Sri Lanka-based ports, would 

allow proximity to East Asia-bound sea lanes. In recent years, 

Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road 

Initiative, and its accompanying capital outlays, have made 

the Indian Ocean a priority too. 

India gaining access to Duqm isn't a game-changer, but it 

does significantly enhance New Delhi's geopolitical 

positioning. In particular, with renewed interest in the 

Quadrilateral Initiative and the Japanese-led "free and open 

Indo-Pacific" concept gaining support among like-minded 

democratic states in the region, the stage is being set for a 

sustainable security network in the Indian Ocean. Duqm - 

and other facilities - are just a part of this, and much of this 

will likely show few results for at least a couple decades. 

Between India, the United States, the United Kingdom, 

Australia, and, to a lesser extent, Japan, there now exists a 

well-distributed network of sites, allowing these countries' 

navies to patrol the wider Indian Ocean region. With Duqm 

in Oman, Chabahar in Iran, Assumption Island in the 

Seychelles, Agalega in Mauritius, and the Andaman and 

Nicobar Islands, India will soon have access to sustain 

modestly expeditionary deployments for its navy. 

The United States Navy, meanwhile, has a support facility 

at Diego Garcia, a British possession. India's conclusion of 

the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement with the 

United States in 2016 also opens up reciprocal access for both 

countries at each others' facilities and at sea. Australia, 

finally, is planning on improving the Cocos Islands, in the 

southeastern Indian Ocean, to support P-8 Poseidon 

operations. The western Indian Ocean is also where U.S. 

Pacific Command's area of responsibility ends and U.S. 

Central Command takes over, bringing U.S. facilities in 

Djibouti and Bahrain into the picture as well.

NATIONAL 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 

6 

Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister, Engineer Khandker 

Mosharraf Hossain speaking 150 years founding anniversary of Jamalpur municipality yesterdat 

in the district. 

Photo: S M Sultan. 

150 years founding anniversary 

of Jamalpur municipality held 

M Sultan alaM, JaMalPuR: 

local Government, Rural 

Development and Co-operatives 

Minister, Engineer Khandker 

Mosharraf Hossain today said under 

the leadership of Sheikh Hasina huge 

development works have been carried 

out in the country. 

He said it is being possible to 

construct mega structure like Padma 

bridge only for the initiative of Sheikh 

Hasina. He said during the last 9 years 

per capita income rose to 1610 Dollar. 

the Minister said while speaking as 

chief guest at a discussion meeting in 

observance of 150 years founding 

anniversary of Jamalpur municipality 

at Government ashek Mahmud College 

Field on thursday noon. 

the Minister said Bangaldesh is a 

populated country but we able to feed 

16 core people because of attaining food 

autarky due to implementation various 

works in agriculture sector. 

He called upon the people to 

strengthen the hands of Sheikh Hasina 

to continue the huge development in 

the country. Mayor Jamalpur 

Municipality, Mirza Sakhawatul alam 

Moni presided over the meeting. 

State Minister for textile and Jute, 

Mirza azam, MP, Chairman, 

Parliamentary Standing Committee on 

land, Rezaul Karim Hira,MP, Faridul 

Haque Khan Dulal, MP, Chief Cocoordinator, 

SDG, Office of Prime 

Minister, Md abul Kalam azad, Deputy 

Commissioner, ahmed Kabir, 

Chairman, District Council, Faruk 

ahmmed Chowdhury, Superintendent 

of Police, Md Delwar Hossain, 

President, District awami league, 

advocate Mohammad Baki Billa, 

President, Jamalpur town awami 

league, Masum Reza Rahim and 

Secretary Jamalpur town awami 

league, Bijan Kumar Chanda spoke 

among others at the meeting. 

the meeting was followed by a 

cultural function. 

'Amar Ekushe 

Book Fair-2018' 

kicks off at RU 

Ru CORRESPOnDEnt: 

a seven day's long 'amar 

Ekushe Book Fair-2018' 

started on the Rajshahi 

university (Ru) campus 

yesterday with festivity and 

enthusiasm. 

'Sopno', a voluntary 

organization by the 

Psychology department 

students of the university, 

arranged the fair that will 

continue till 21 February. 

the fair will remain open 

for visitors 9am to 8pm on 

every business day, except 

for holidays. 

the lawmaker of Rajshahi 

Fazle Hossain Badsha 

inaugurated the fair as chief 

guest with releasing 

balloons, festoons around 

12pm in front of Second 

Science building of the 

campus. 

among others, former 

Pro-VC Prof. Muhammad 

nurullah, Chairman of 

Psychology dept. Prof. Dr. 

nazma afroz spoke at the 

program as special guests 

while the Convener of the 

fair committee tanvirul 

alam conducted it. 

Professor of Psychology of 

national university Dr. 

Shamsuddin Ilius presented 

the keynote speech. 

addressing the inaugural 

ceremony, Fazle Hasan 

Badsha said, "Our language 

martyrs gave their lives for 

Bengali language--It is our 

responsibility to hold the 

tradition of Bengali 

language; and we believe 

that only it can be possible 

through reading Bengali 

books". 

2.18-lakh children 

getting nutritious 

biscuits in Nilphamari 

nIlPHaMaRI: two lakh 

18 thousand and 534 

students of 982 primary 

level educational institutions 

are getting nutritious 

biscuits daily during the 

school period under the 

School Feeding Programme 

(SFP) in the district, reports 

BSS. 

the information was 

disclosed at an orientation 

meeting on 'Implementation 

of the SFP in poverty-prone 

areas' arranged by the 

upazila Primary Education 

Office at Dimla upazila 

parisahd auditorium on 

Wednesday afternoon, a 

press release said today. 

the Directorate of 

Primary Education is 

implementing the SFP with 

financial support of the 

Government of Bangladesh 

and technical assistance of 

united nations' World Food 

Programme (WFP) in 

poverty-prone areas through 

local partner organisations. 

With acting Dimla 

upazila Primary Education 

Officer Sajjadur Rahman in 

the chair, assistant upazila 

Primary Education Officer 

Kajol Chandra Roy delivered 

welcome speech narrating 

goals of the event. 

Project Coordinator 

anondo Kumar Paul of the 

School Feeding Programme 

of RDRS Bangladesh, 

project implementing 

partner organisation, 

conducted the orientation as 

main resource person. 

He discussed objectives of 

the ongoing SFP, importance 

of community mobilisations 

and nutritional aspects of the 

programme being 

implemented for bringing all 

children under primary 

education programme. 

Kajol Chandra Roy said 

the SFP is being 

implemented in Sadar, 

Domar, Dimla, Kishoreganj 

and Jaldhaka upazilas of the 

district since 2012 to reduce 

drop-out rate and improve 

learning capacity of students 

by removing micronutrient 

deficiency of children. 

"Currently, two lakh 18 

thousand and 534 students 

of 965 primary schools, 13 

ebtedayee madrashas and 

four Shishu Kallyan trustrun 

schools in the district are 

getting 75 gram of high 

energetic biscuits each at 

first period of school time 

except the holidays," he said. 

Sajjadur Rahman said the 

SFP is increasing enrollment 

rate of students to 

successfully implement of 

the government's education 

policy of universal primary 

education by ensuring 

access to basic education of 

children from poor 

households. 

FFs graves to be built 

with same design: 

Mozammel 

ManIKGanJ: aKM Mozammel Huque, minister for 

liberation war affairs, today said the graves of freedom 

fighters would be built with same identical design so that the 

next generation can identify the grave of the greatest sons of 

the nation, reports BSS. 

"the liberation War affairs Ministry is also planning to 

construct monument for freedom fighters in each area across 

the country with same identical design from this year," the 

minister said this while talking to freedom fighters here on 

his way to nagarpur of tangail district. 

Huque said the government under the leadership of Prime 

Minister Sheikh has already ensured all the rights to freedom 

fighters by providing them with various facilities and it will 

increase in the days to come. 

aKM nurul Huque, commander of Saturia upazila 

Freedom Fighters Command Council, among others, talked 

to the minister during the stopover. 

Dighalia Union Parisad 

chairman of Lohagara 

Upazila under Narail 

district, Latifur 

Rahman Palash was 

shot to death by unidentified 

miscreants in the 

distrct around 12:00 pm 

yesterday. 

UP chairman 

chopped to 

death in 

Narail 

naRaIl: a union parishad 

chairman was chopped to 

death in an attack by some 

miscreants in lohagara 

upazila parishad premises 

yesterday, reports BSS. 

the victim was identified as 

Sheikh latifur Rahman 

Polash, chairman of Dighlia 

union parishad of the upazila. 

Officer-in-charge lohagara 

police station Monirul Islam 

said the miscreants attacked 

Polash at noon and chopped 

and shot him to death. 

"Police are looking onto the 

matter", the OC said. 

Caretaker govt. dead 

issue: Nasim 

RaJSHaHI: awami 

league Presidium Member 

and Health and Family 

Welfare Minister 

Muhammad nasim has said 

the next general elections 

will be a vote of protecting 

the spirit of Great War of 

liberation, reports BSS. 

the al presidium 

member also described as a 

dead issue the demand for 

holding the next national 

elections under a caretaker 

government. 

the minister called upon 

the people for making 

awami league victorious in 

the polls again for the sake of 

development in the country. 

He was addressing a 

public meeting organized by 

Godagari upazila awami 

league on Godagari Mohila 

Degree College playground 

in the district on Wednesday 

afternoon as the chief guest. 

the public meeting was 

organized as part of the 

party's preparation for 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina's scheduled visit to 

the district on February 22. 

Chaired by upazila awami 

league President 

Badiuzzaman, the meeting 

was addressed, among 

others, by former mayor of 

Rajshahi City Corporation 

aHM Khairuzzaman liton, 

Omor Faruque Chowdhury, 

MP, abdul Wadud Dara, 

MP, and akhter Jahan, MP. 

Muhammad nasim said 

the development 

accomplished by Sheikh 

Hasina couldn't be avoided 

rather it has to be taken 

forward. He said, "We 

believe the public in general 

will elect awami league 

again to uphold the 

development trend." 

He urged the party leaders 

and workers to work 

unitedly to elect the party in 

the next general elections. 

nasim said the next general 

elections will be held under 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina as per the 

constitution. 

He said the main theme of 

democracy is election which 

will be held in the county by 

this yearend. "We will accept 

the people's verdict in the 

election," he added. 

nasim said Begum 

Khaleda Zia plundered 

orphans' money and she has 

been convicted by the trial 

court. So, none is 

responsible for her 

conviction. 

He said the national 

election is a continuous 

process. "We will not 

tolerate if anyone tries to foil 

the election with an ulterior 

motive to hinder 

development process," he 

added. 

the health minister said 

the leaders and workers of 

awami league-led 14-party 

alliance will face electionfoiling 

elements unitedly. 

terming the demand for 

caretaker government a 

dead issue, nasim said the 

system will never come 

back. the election will be 

held as per the constitution, 

he added. 

Drug trader gets 

life imprisonment 

in Comilla 

COMIlla: a court here 

today sentenced a drug trader 

to life-term imprisonment 

and fined him tk 50,000, 

reports BSS. 

District and Sessions Judge 

Md Ismael handed down the 

verdict to abu naser 

Chowdhury, a resident of 

Shuvopur area in Sadar 

upazila. 

according to the 

prosecution, members of the 

Rapid action Battalion 

arrested abu naser with 397 

bottles of phensidyl at his 

house at the night of 

December 7, 2013. a case was 

filed under narcotics Control 

act the next day. 

Liberation War Affairs Minister A K M Mozammel Haque inagurated "Muktijoddha Complex 

Bhaban" yesterday at Nagarpur under Tangail district. 

Photo: Shahidul Haque 

ACC's public hearing 

held in Gaibandha 

GaIBanDHa: a public 

hearing of the anti- 

Corruption Commission 

(aCC) on public services was 

held on the premises of 

Independent Square of the 

town here yesterday aiming to 

raise mass awareness against 

corruption, reports BSS. 

aCC's Coordinated District 

Office, Rangpur, and the 

World Bank jointly arranged 

the function with support 

from the district 

administration. 

aCC commissioner aFM 

aminul Islam, its director 

(Rajshahi divisional office) 

abdul aziz Bhuyan, 

superintendent of police (SP) 

Mashruqur Rahman Khaled, 

mayor of Gaibandha 

Municipality Shah Masud 

Zahangir Kabir Milon and 

Sadar unO Rafiqul Islam, 

among others, spoke at the 

public hearing with deputy 

commissioner Gautam 

Chandra Pal in the chair. 

Earlier, president of aCC's 

District Corruption 

Prevention Committee Prof 

Moklesur Rahman delivered 

welcome speech. 

the speakers said the public 

hearing will undoubtedly play 

an effective role to change the 

mindset of all the government 

officials and the employees to 

ensure transparency and 

accountability in performing 

their duties. 

aCC commissioner aFM 

aminul Islam said people are 

being deprived of getting 

public services due to 

corruption and negligence of 

some dishonest and 

unscrupulous government 

officials, which is ultimately 

hampering the country's 

development. 

Due to the active 

participation of common 

people alongside the officials 

concerned, the public 

hearings have become an 

effective tool in checking graft 

in public sector, he said. 

aminul warned that the 

national anti-graft body will 

not hesitate to take harsher 

action against corrupt 

government officials in the 

coming days if they do not 

change their mindset. 

Three held 

with firearms 

in Tangail 

tanGaIl: the Rapid 

action Battalion arrested 

three people with two 

foreign-made pistols, two 

magazines and six rounds of 

bullet from Gorbari area 

under Sadar upazila 

yesterday morning, reports 

BSS. 

the detainees are 

identified as Siddiqur 

Rahman, 29, tareque 

Hossain, 44, and Walid 

Hossain, 44. 

Company Commander 

Rabiul Islam said acting on a 

tip-off, a team of RaB-12 

conducted a raid in the 

aforesaid area in the early 

morning and arrested the 

trio with the firearms and 

ammunition. a case was 

filed with tangail Model 

thana in this regard. 

Corruption Prevention Committe, Juri Upazila based voluntry organization held a anti corruption 

discussion meeting and cultural programme yesterday in Molvibazar district. Photo: Saiful Islam 

Speaker to visit Pirganj Friday 

RanGPuR: Speaker of the Jatiya 

Sangsad Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury 

is expected to come to her constituency 

Rangpur-6 (Pirganj) on a two-day visit 

tomorrow (Friday), officials and local 

awami league (al) leaders said, 

reports BSS. 

the Speaker will arrive at Pirganj by 

road at noon from the capital and will 

take part in a number of programmes on 

Friday and Saturday before leaving 

Pirganj for Dhaka on Saturday 

afternoon. 

On Friday, she will attend a doa mahfil 

followed by discussion, organised by Dr 

Wazed Foundation at village laldighee 

Fatehpur in observance of the 76th birth 

anniversary of renowned nuclear 

scientist and Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina's husband Dr M a Wazed Miah 

at 2:30 pm. 

In the afternoon, the Speaker will 

attend a function organised by Pirganj 

College authority on the college 

premises, to accord reception to brilliant 

students and distribute prizes among 

them, as the chief guest. 

the Speaker will attend a function of 

Rangpur District ainjibi Samity in 

Rangpur city on Friday night. 

On Saturday, the Speaker will attend a 

discussion to be organised by the district 

administration in observance of the 

death anniversary of Kobi Heyat 

Mamud at his birthplace Jharbishla 

village in Pirganj upazila at 11 am. 

later, she will attend a mothers' rally 

at Chatra Model Girls' High School 

ground under Pirganj upazila as the 

chief guest at noon before leaving for 

Syedpur airport. 

General Secretary of Pirganj upazila 

al and Mayor of Pirganj municipality 

tazimul Islam Shamim and upazila 

nirbahi Officer Kamal Kumar Ghosh 

said all preparations have been 

completed to make the Speaker's visit to 

Pirganj successful.

INTERNATIONAL 

FRIDAy, FeBRUARy 16, 2018 

7 

Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, right, gets off a car as he arrives to announce his 

resignation in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. Deuba, whose Nepali Congress party lost 

parliamentary elections, resigns paving way for a new government to take over power. Photo : AP 

Nepal’s communist party leader 

named next prime minister 

KATHMANDU : The leader of Nepal's 

communist party was named the 

Himalayan nation's new prime minister 

Thursday, a day after the results of 

parliamentary elections were finalized, 

reports UNB. 

Khadga Prasad Oli, who also served 

as prime minister in 2015, was to take 

the oath of office later Thursday, a 

spokesman for the president's office 

said. Oli will be leading a coalition government 

made up of his Communist 

Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) 

and the Communist Party of Nepal 

(Maoist Center), which took the most 

seats in the November and December 

2017 elections. 

The poll results were made official 

Wednesday night, leading Prime Minister 

Sher Bahadur Deuba to resign earlier 

Thursday after eight months in 

office. 

Oli's biggest challenge as prime minister 

will be balancing Nepal's relationship 

with its giant neighbors India and 

Israel’s 

Netanyahu is 

no stranger to 

scandals 

JERUSALEM : Prime Minister 

Benjamin Netanyahu, 

fighting for his political life 

after being accused of taking 

bribes from billionaire 

supporters, is no stranger to 

scandal, reports UNB. 

Over a three-decade political 

career, Netanyahu has 

been accused of everything 

from accepting improper 

gifts to spending too much 

public money on ice cream 

to wasting tens of thousands 

of dollars on a custom-fitted 

bed for a fivehour 

flight to London. Close 

confidants and even family 

members have also come 

under suspicion. 

With cat-like deftness, 

Netanyahu has always 

managed to escape prosecution. 

But the latest scandal 

may be the most serious 

threat yet to his lengthy 

rule. 

Police announced late 

Tuesday that there was sufficient 

evidence to indict 

Netanyahu for bribery, 

fraud and breach of trust in 

a pair of cases. In the first, 

he is suspected of accepting 

nearly $300,000 in gifts, 

including champagne and 

fancy cigars, from Hollywood 

mogul Arnon 

Milchan and Australian billionaire 

James Packer. In 

exchange, Netanyahu 

allegedly lobbied U.S. officials 

on Milchan's behalf in 

a visa matter and helped 

promote his business affairs 

in Israel. 

In the second case, he is 

suspected of offering preferential 

treatment to a 

newspaper publisher in 

exchange for favorable coverage. 

Netanyahu has angrily 

rejected the accusations 

and denounced what he 

describes as an overzealous 

police investigation. In a 

televised address Tuesday 

night, he said he had faced 

15 investigations over the 

years, all of which, he 

claimed, amounted to 

"nothing." He similarly predicted 

the latest uproar 

would pass. 

China, as well as managing lingering 

internal strife stemming from the country's 

new constitution and transition 

from a monarchy. 

The 2015 charter divided the nation 

into seven provinces that are now governed 

as a federal republic but sparked 

violent ethnic protests in southern 

Nepal that left more than 50 people 

dead and shut down the entire region 

for months. 

The Madhesi ethnic group was 

unhappy with the constitution, believing 

they deserved more territory than 

assigned for their province. India supported 

the Madhesi and choked the 

supply of oil, medicine and other supplies 

to Nepal, resulting in severe shortages 

and making Oli's first turn as 

prime minister a difficult one. 

Landlocked Nepal is surrounded by 

India on three sides and imports all of 

its oil and most supplies from India. It 

also shares a border with China. The 

protests eventually fizzled out, but relations 

between India and Nepal hit a low 

point. 

India appears to be seeking a better 

relationship with Oli this time around. 

It sent Foreign Minister Sushma 

Swaraj to Nepal earlier this month in an 

apparent move to woo the incoming 

alliance government. 

Oli, 65, was born in a village in east 

Nepal and has been involved in politics 

since he was young. 

He worked up the ranks of the communist 

party and was jailed a total of 14 

years for opposing the autocratic rule of 

Nepal's monarchs. The monarchs 

banned political parties until 1990, 

when street protests forced then King 

Birendra to allow political parties to 

contest elections and turned him into a 

constitutional monarch. 

The monarchy was formally abolished 

in 2008. 

Oli has a kidney illness and has made 

regular trips to Thailand for medical 

treatment. 

Florida high school shooting 

plunges city into mourning 

PARKLAND : Just before the shooting broke 

out, some students at Marjory Stoneman 

Douglas High School thought they were 

having another fire drill, reports UNB. 

Such an exercise had forced them to leave 

their classrooms hours earlier. So when the 

alarm went off Wednesday afternoon shortly 

before they were to be dismissed, they once 

again filed out into the hallways. 

That's when police say 19-year-old Nikolas 

Cruz, equipped with a gas mask, smoke 

grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition, 

opened fire with a semi-automatic 

weapon, killing 17 people and sending hundreds 

of students fleeing into the streets. It 

was the nation's deadliest school shooting 

since a gunman attacked an elementary 

school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than 

five years ago. 

"Our district is in a tremendous state of 

grief and sorrow," said Robert Runcie, 

superintendent of the school district in Parkland, 

about an hour's drive north of Miami. 

"It is a horrible day for us." 

Authorities offered no immediate details 

about Cruz or his possible motive, except to 

say that he had been kicked out of the high 

school, which has about 3,000 students. Students 

who knew him described a volatile 

teenager whose strange behavior had caused 

others to end friendships with him. 

Cruz's mother Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia 

on Nov. 1 neighbors, friends and family 

members said, according to the Sun Sentinel 

. Cruz and her husband, who died of a 

heart attack several years ago, adopted Nikolas 

and his biological brother, Zachary, after 

the couple moved from Long Island in New 

York to Broward County. The boys were left 

in the care of a family friend after their mother 

died, family member Barbara Kumbatovich, 

of Long Island, said. Unhappy there, 

Nikolas Cruz asked to move in with a friend's 

family in northwest Broward. The family 

agreed and Cruz moved in around Thanksgiving. 

According to the family's lawyer, who 

did not identify them, they knew that Cruz 

owned the AR-15 but made him keep it 

locked up in a cabinet. He did have the key, 

however. 

Jim Lewis said the family is devastated and 

didn't see this coming. They are cooperating 

with authorities, he said. Victoria Olvera, a 

17-year-old junior at the school, said Cruz 

was expelled last school year because he got 

into a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new 

boyfriend. She said he had been abusive to 

his girlfriend. "I think everyone had in their 

minds if anybody was going to do it, it was 

going to be him," she said. 

Cruz was taken into custody without a fight 

about an hour after the shooting in a residential 

neighborhood about a mile away. He had 

multiple magazines of ammunition, authorities 

said. "It's catastrophic. There really are 

no words," said Broward County Sheriff 

Scott Israel. Frantic parents rushed to the 

school to find SWAT team members and 

ambulances surrounding the huge campus 

and emergency workers who appeared to be 

treating the wounded on sidewalks. Students 

who hadn't run began leaving in a single-file 

line with their hands over their heads as officers 

urged them to evacuate quickly. 

Students released from a lockdown embrace following following a shooting at 

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 

14, 2018. Photo : AP 

Indonesian police 

defend award to 

Philippine police 

chief 

JAKARTA : Indonesian 

police on Thursday defended 

bestowing their highest honor 

on the Philippine police 

chief, who has been criticized 

for spearheading the war on 

drugs that has left thousands 

of suspects dead, reports 

UNB. 

Ronald dela Rosa was 

among five neighboring 

police chiefs who were presented 

with the award by 

Indonesian police chief Gen. 

Tito Karnavian on Wednesday. 

New York-based 

Human Rights Watch said 

the Indonesian government 

debased the rule of law by 

awarding dela Rosa its highest 

honor. 

"That's a perverse 

assessment of a Philippine 

government official implicated 

in possible crimes 

against humanity for inciting 

and instigating killings 

linked to the government's 

'war on drugs,'" said Phelim 

Kine, deputy Asia 

director at Human Rights 

Watch. 

He cited data from reliable 

NGOs and the Catholic Bishops' 

Conference of the Philippines 

that the crackdown on 

illegal drugs has killed more 

than 12,000 people since 

June 2016, with most victims, 

including a number of 

children, being urban slum 

dwellers. 

Karnavian reportedly 

praised dela Rosa for his 

"rock star-like inspiration to 

the Indonesian national 

police and the Indonesian 

people on how to fight the 

war on drugs." 

National police spokesman 

Setyo Wasisto said the award 

was based on good relations 

and cooperation between the 

countries' police institutions 

and has nothing to do with 

human rights. "We did not 

see his record," Wasisto told 

The Associated Press. 

"Whether he violated human 

rights or not is his own 

responsibility." 

Government says American 

detainee worked for IS in Syria 

WASHINGTON : An American detained by 

U.S. forces was carrying thumb drives containing 

files on how to make bombs plus 

administrative spreadsheets describing work 

he did for the Islamic State group at the time 

he surrendered in Syria last year, according to 

documents the U.S. government filed in federal 

court, reports UNB. 

The government's justification for holding 

the detainee without charge, contained in 

more than 150 pages filed late Wednesday, is 

loaded with details about the still-unidentified 

man, who is married and has a 3-year-old 

daughter. Yet it raises more questions about 

why he was in Syria. He has told U.S. authorities 

that he was kidnapped and imprisoned 

by IS and had press credentials to do freelance 

writing about the conflict. 

The case has sparked debate about the government's 

legal right to hold enemy combatants 

linked with IS under congressionally 

approved war powers written after the Sept. 

11 attacks as well as the constitutional rights 

afforded every American citizen. 

The government's court filing provides a 

detailed itinerary of the detainee's travels 

across the world, including Saudi Arabia, 

Bahrain, Turkey and Syria - and the United 

States where he went to college in Louisiana. 

The FBI interviewed someone who met the 

detainee in New Orleans in July 2005 when 

he was a college student. The associate 

described the detainee's behavior at the time 

as "wild and typical of a college student" and 

that he engaged in drinking, partying, gambling 

and marijuana use. The associate said 

the detainee did not work but received "a sizable 

amount of money from the Saudi Arabian 

government each month" and that his 

"mother was very wealthy." 

The associate also said that in about 2005 

or 2006, the detainee lived briefly in Covington, 

Louisiana, where he also went to casinos 

and strip clubs. After an argument with 

friends about not repaying money he used to 

gamble, the detainee left Louisiana and 

returned to Saudi Arabia - he has dual citizenship 

there. 

According to the government, the detainee 

signed up to be an IS fighter in 2014 during a 

visit to Syria, attended one of the militant's 

training camps and later worked various jobs, 

including distributing vehicles to members of 

IS and guarding an oil field under IS control. 

The detainee was captured around Sept. 11, 

2017, by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic 

Forces at a checkpoint. He said he had been 

walking for two days. The SDF said all the 

land within two days' walk of the screening 

checkpoint was controlled by IS. 

The detainee identified himself as "daesh," 

which is another name for IS, and told the 

SDF "that he wanted to turn himself in and 

speak to the Americans," the court filing said. 

The SDF took him into custody and handed 

him over to U.S. forces. 

An American detained by U.S. forces was carrying thumb drives containing 

files on how to make bombs plus administrative spreadsheets. 

Photo : Internet 

UN: Afghan civilian 

casualties decreased 

9 percent in 2017 

KABUL : The number of civilians killed 

and wounded in the war in Afghanistan 

declined last year, but the number of 

deaths from airstrikes was on the rise, 

according to a new United Nations 

report released on Thursday, reports 

UNB. 

The total number of civilian casualties 

decreased by 9 percent in 2017, 

compared to 2016, the U.N. mission 

said in its annual report on the subject. 

"The chilling statistics in this report 

provide credible data about the war's 

impact, but the figures alone cannot 

capture the appalling human suffering 

inflicted on ordinary people, especially 

women and children," said Tadamichi 

Yamamoto, the U.N. special representative 

for Afghanistan. 

The 2017 Annual Report on the Protection 

of Civilians in Armed Conflict in 

Afghanistan found that between Jan. 1 

and Dec. 31, 2017, there were 10,453 

civilian casualties - 3,438 deaths and 

7,015 wounded. 

That compares to a total 11,434 casualties 

for the same period in 2016, when 

there were 3,510 deaths and 7,924 

wounded. 

But the decline in total deaths was 

tempered by the report's finding that 

the number of airstrikes conducted by 

international military forces and 

Afghan air forces increased significantly 

- and with it the number of airstrikerelated 

deaths. 

The United Nations Assistance Mission 

in Afghanistan documented 631 

civilian casualties - 295 deaths and 336 

wounded - from aerial operations conducted 

by pro-government forces. 

That's a 7 percent increase from 2016, 

and the highest number from airstrikes 

in a single year since 2009. Aerial operations 

accounted for 6 percent of all 

civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 

2017. 

Danielle Bell, a U.N. official for 

human rights in Afghanistan, said the 

reduction "is an important step" but 

cautioned that 2017 was the "fourth 

consecutive year, where the emission 

recorded more than 10,000 civilian 

causalities." 

Afghanistan has been mired in conflict 

since 2001 when the United States 

invaded after 9/11. The U.S. and NATO 

forces formally concluded their combat 

mission at the end of 2014 and shifted 

to a training role, but a resurgent Taliban 

stepped up their attacks and an 

affiliate of the Islamic State group has 

also emerged. Between Jan. 1, 2009, 

and Dec. 31, 2017, the conflict in 

Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 

28,291 civilians and wounded 52,366 

others, according to the report. 

Suicide and complex attacks - when 

assailants combine two or more modes 

of attack on one target at the same time 

- caused 22 percent of all civilian casualties 

in Afghanistan in 2017, with 16 

percent of all civilian casualties occurring 

from such attacks in the capital of 

Kabul. 

The report attributes close to two 

thirds of all casualties to militant 

groups fighting the government, mainly 

the Taliban, but also IS and other, 

undetermined anti-government elements. 

Less than 5 percent of the civilian 

casualties were caused by Afghan government 

forces and their allies, the 

international troops, while 11 percent of 

the casualties were caused by unattributed 

cross-fire during fighting between 

Afghan forces and anti-government 

elements, the report said. 

Yamamoto, who also heads UNAMA, 

expressed deep concern at the 

increased harm to civilians caused by 

suicide attacks. 

"I am particularly appalled by the 

continued indiscriminate and unlawful 

use of (improvised explosive devices) 

such as suicide bombs and pressureplate 

devices in civilian populated 

areas," he said. "This is shameful." 

UNAMA also documented an 

increase in attacks against places of 

worship, religious leaders and worshippers, 

recording 499 civilian casualties 

with 202 deaths and 297 injured, during 

38 such attacks in 2017. This 

amounted to three times as many 

attacks as in 2016, double the number 

of deaths and 30 percent more total 

civilian casualties. 

In 2017, women continued to suffer 

at levels comparable to 2016. Contrary 

to the overall decrease in civilian casualties, 

women casualties increased by 

less than one percent, and women 

deaths increased by 5 percent. Ground 

engagements remained the leading 

cause of harm to women, though UNA- 

MA documented a decrease of 11 percent 

in women casualties from ground 

fighting. The next leading cause, suicide 

bombings and complex attacks, 

caused more than double the number 

of women casualties in 2017 than in 

2016. 

US secretary of 

state in Lebanon as 

part of Mideast trip 

BEIRUT : U.S. Secretary of State Rex 

Tillerson has arrived in Lebanon, the 

most senior official from the Trump 

administration to visit the small 

Mediterranean country, reports UNB. 

Tillerson is expected to meet with the 

country's top leaders Thursday - 

including President Michel Aoun, a 

key ally of the militant Hezbollah 

group - and discuss Lebanon's gas and 

border dispute with Israel. 

Israel has recently escalated its 

threats over Lebanon's invitation for 

offshore gas exploration bids along the 

countries' maritime border. 

Israel claims that Lebanon will be 

drilling in areas owned by Israel. 

Lebanese officials contest those claims, 

saying the area where it plans to drill 

belongs to Lebanon. 

The long-standing dispute resurfaced 

recently as Lebanon invited companies 

to sign exploration deals. U.S. 

officials have previously tried to mediate 

the dispute.

ART & CULTURE 

fRIDAy, 

feBRuARy 16, 2018 

8 

Natir Puja revisits 

Dhaka with message 

of love, tolerance 

DHAKA : 'Natir Puja' (The Court 

Dancer), the only film directed by 

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath 

Tagore, has revisited Dhaka with its 

strong universal message of love, 

hope, tolerance and religious 

harmony, reports UNB. 

A pre-screening of the 

documentary film was held at 

Baridhara residence of Dhaka 

Courier and UNB Editor-in-Chief 

Enayetullah Khan on Tuesday night 

that entranced both the foreign and 

local audience. 

Prof Karl Bardosh directed the 

new version of Natir Puja while 

Enayetullah Khan was its Executive 

Producer. 

Environment and Forests 

Minister Barrister Anisul Islam 

Mahmud,Bangladesh Investment 

Development Authority (BIDA) 

Executive Chairman Kazi M Aminul 

Islam, Department of International 

Relations, Dhaka University Prof CR 

Abrar, UNB Chairman Amanullah 

Khan, UNB Director Nahar Khan, 

diplomats, artists and film lovers 

were present. 

Enayetullah Khan said Natir Puja, 

in today's circumstances, carries a 

very special message - message of 

peace. "It's so important that we are 

tolerant to each other's views." 

Khan said they will produce a 

book on Natir Puja when there will 

be a formal launching of the 

documentary film. 

"The only reason I got involved in 

this film is that it has such a universal 

message!" he said thanking Prof Karl 

Bardosh for inviting him to join 

hands. 

Earlier, UNB Director Nahar Khan 

briefly talked about the film saying it 

carries the message of religious 

tolerance. The audience highly 

appreciated the efforts made by the 

Brit Awards 2018 

Stars to wear white rose 

pins on red carpet 

Every star attending next week's Brit Awards 

will be given a white rose pin in support of the 

#TimesUp campaign, reports BBC. 

The show's organisers wrote to the head of 

every UK record label on Wednesday to 

inform them of the plan. The letter says 

performers, presenters and guests will be 

given a pin "as a symbol of solidarity, which 

we invite them to wear, if they so choose". 

Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and 

Paloma Faith are among the artists expected to 

lend their support. The Time's Up movement 

works to combat sexual assault and harassment 

in the entertainment industry. 

Performers first adopted the white rose as a 

symbol of solidarity with victims of abuse at 

this month's Grammy Awards. 

The demonstration was organised by record 

company executives Meg Harkins and Karen 

Rait, after they realised the US ceremony had 

no plans to show support for the movement. 

They assembled a group of 12 other women 

in music, calling themselves Voices in 

Entertainment, and chose the white rose 

because of its association with the suffragette 

movement. 

On the night of the Grammys, stars 

including Camila Cabello, Pink, Lana Del Rey, 

Elton John, Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Miley 

Cyrus all added the rose to their outfits. 

"It's incredible how the world is pivoting in 

a new direction," said British star Rita Ora on 

the red carpet. "The more voices that come 

together, the more powerful everything gets." 

persons behind the documentary 

film saying the message of the film is 

still very much relevant. 

QR code: 

They also appreciated the very 

high sound quality, music and songs 

that made them captivated their 

senses. The songAmar Sokol Dukher 

Prodipthat is part of theoriginal 

score for the film proved a particular 

favourite. 

The story ofNatir Puja, a landmark 

drama in social history, is rooted in 

an ancient Buddhist legend, the 

premise being that art, especially 

dance, as it relates to the script, 

overrides notions such as nationality 

and has the power to be universal. It 

is a great equalizer. 

The film, through the beautiful 

story, conveys the timeless message 

that in times when prejudices run 

amok, tolerance is our species' most 

important trait. 

The original prints of the film 

Tagore made were destroyed in a 

studio fire only a year after its 

launching. After much perseverance 

and efforts, Prof Bardosh was able to 

bring alive the film to provide a 

fascinating insight into Tagore's 

making of the film. 

With Enayetullah Khan as the 

film's Executive Producer, it was 

unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival 

in 2016. 

Karisma Kapoor's heartfelt 

birthday wish for dad 

Randhir Kapoor 

Bollywood film legend 

Randhir Kapoor turns a 

year older today. 

Wishing him on the 

happy occasion was 

daughter Karisma 

Kapoor, who shared a 

happy family picture of 

herself with the birthday 

boy, mom Babita, sister 

Kareena Kapoor Khan 

and brother-in-law Saif 

Ali Khan, reports 

Times of India. 

Spreading birthday 

cheer, she wished him 

saying, "Happy birthday 

papa #weloveyou 

#birthdaywishes 

#ourpapa #familylove." 

Seemingly taken on 

Taimur Ali Khan's 

birthday in Pataudi, 

there is, however, no 

sign of the little Nawab 

in this otherwise perfect 

family portrait. 

ChIRKut 

gets 

nominations 

for Indian 

awards 

DHAKA : Chirkut, a Bangladeshi musical band, got 

nominations in the best lyrics, best music director and best 

playback female singer categories in the Jio Filmfare 

Awards (East) in India, reports UNB. 

Sharmin Sultana Sumi from Chirkut was nominated best 

female singer for the song 'Ahare Jibon' (Doob) while the 

song was nominated for the best lyrics category as well. 

The Jio Filmfare Awards (East) 2018 which celebrates the 

best of Bengali cinema in India will be held on Saturday 

(February 17). 

Chirkut Band wrote in its Facebook page that "It is a 

matter of great honour to receive nominations in 3 

prestigious categories together in India's most respected 'Jio 

Filmfare Award (East)'. We have got nominations for lyrics, 

female singers and background scores of our song 'Ahare 

Jibon' in the film "Doob" directed by Mostafa Sarwar 

Farooqi." 

They also said "The award is not just India's most popular 

but also the oldest award ceremony. It is both the matter of 

pride for us and country. There is no regret if we do not get 

the award. It recognizes the good work that will encourage 

us to continue the effort for good work in the future." 

Tollywood superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee got the best 

actor in leading role (male) award for border-themed 

"Sankhachil", while "Cinemawala" was adjudged the best 

film at the Jio Filmfare awards East 2017. 

"Cinemawala" director Kaushik Ganguly got the award for 

the best director and also best original story 

Filmfare Awards East is the East Indian segment of the 

annual Filmfare Awards, presented by The Times Group to 

honour the artistic and cinematic excellence in Bengali film 

industry, Assamese film industry and Odia film industry. 

The first segment of the awards was held for Bengali, 

Assamese and Odia films on March 29, 2014, while the 

award ceremony was discontinued for 2015 and 2016, then 

again continued from 2017. 

The full list of nominations will be found on 

https://www.filmfare.com/ features/nominations-for-thejio-filmfare-awards-east-2018_ 

-26583.html 

Wes Anderson 

premiere 

'Isle of Dogs' 

opens Berlin 

filmfest 

BERLIN : Acclaimed US director Wes 

Anderson's new animated feature "Isle of 

Dogs" will on Thursday kick off the Berlin 

film festival, which is set to be rocked by 

aftershocks of the #MeToo movement. 

With the global cinema industry in 

turmoil over allegations of rampant 

sexual misconduct, the 11-day event will 

be seeking a delicate balance between 

Hollywood glamour and frank debate in 

the wake of powerful producer Harvey 

Weinstein's downfall. 

Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Oscarnominee 

Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum 

and Liev Schreiber, who voice the pack of 

pooches in Anderson's movie, are 

expected on the Berlinale red carpet for 

the world premiere, with stars including 

Robert Pattinson, Rosamund Pike, 

Joaquin Phoenix and Isabelle Huppert 

also set to present new movies. 

But even before the opening, 

controversy erupted over the inclusion of 

award-winning South Korean director 

Kim Ki-duk, who was fined in December 

for assaulting an actress on set. 

The actress, who has refused to be 

publicly identified, has accused the 

festival-traditionally a strong champion of 

Asian cinema-of "hypocrisy" for inviting 

Kim to present his latest picture, 

"Human, Space, Time and Human". 

Festival director Dieter Kosslick said he 

had excluded a handful of films because of 

credible sexual abuse allegations against 

their directors, screenwriters or stars. 

But he told AFP he did not bar Kim 

because sexual harassment allegations by 

the same actress against him had been 

dismissed for lack of evidence, adding that 

he was seeking more information about 

an appeal in the case. 

"Obviously the Berlinale condemns and 

opposes any form of violence or sexual 

misconduct," Kosslick said. 

Anderson last opened the Berlinale, 

which ranks with Cannes and Venice 

among Europe's top three cinema 

showcases, in 2014 with the world 

premiere of "The Grand Budapest Hotel", 

a box office hit which went on to scoop 

dozens of awards and an Oscar 

nomination for best picture. 

It will be Anderson's fourth turn in 

competition for the Berlinale's Golden 

and Silver Bear top prizes following "The 

Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Life 

Aquatic with Steve Zissou". 

Tom Tykwer, one of the German 

directors behind the blockbuster 

miniseries "Babylon Berlin" now 

appearing on Netflix, will lead a genderbalanced 

jury including Belgian actress 

Cecile de France ("The Young Pope"), 

"Moonlight" producer Adele Romanski, 

Time magazine critic Stephanie 

Zacharek, Japanese composer Ryuichi 

Sakamoto and Spanish film historian 

Chema Prado. 

h o R o S C o P e 

ARIeS 

(March 21 - April 20): If others go out of 

their way to pick holes in your 

arguments today just ignore them. 

Having said that, it could be there is 

something you have overlooked and at least one 

kind person will try to warn you, so don't be too 

eager to be rude. 

tAuRuS 

(April 21 - May 21): Your main task 

today is to resist the temptation to look 

at the world as if everything that 

happens is a disaster or a tragedy. Focus 

only on good news today - there is still plenty of it if 

you care to look. It's about attitude, not events. 

GeMINI 

(May 22 - June 21): Check the small 

print carefully before putting pen to 

paper today because you could have 

been misled into thinking that you 

have got the best of a deal when, in fact, others will 

profit a lot more than you do. Details are always 

important. 

CANCeR 

(June 22 - July 23): The more others 

want you to do something you don't 

think is in your best interests the more 

you must resist. Your arguments for 

giving it a miss may not sound convincing but what 

matters is that you stick to your guns. They can't 

force you. 

Leo 

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Cosmic activity in 

your fellow fire sign of Aries has filled 

your head with no end of big ideas but 

not all of them are practical, so don't get 

carried away. You are under no obligation to hurry, 

so bide your time and think things through. 

VIRGo 

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Someone who 

usually has only nice things to say 

about you will go right the other way 

and say something hurtful today, but 

you must not let it get to you. Sometimes you can 

be too sensitive for your own good. Don't take 

yourself so seriously. 

LIBRA 

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): You have 

nothing to prove and lots to gain and 

everything to look forward to. That is 

the message of the stars today and 

even if you don't quite believe it what happens 

over the next few days will bring a smile to your 

face. It's about time! 

SCoRPIo 

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): If someone you 

don't know very well tells you what a 

great guy you are it's a sure sign they are 

after something. That something is 

most likely to be your money, so act cool and don't 

give them a thing, no matter how nicely they ask. 

SAGIttARIuS 

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Your current run 

of good fortune is sure to come to an 

end eventually but there is no reason 

to suppose it will be any time soon. 

The planets indicate there are plenty of good 

things still to look forward to, the first of which 

will arrive today. 

CAPRICoRN 

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): For some strange 

reason you can see enemies in every 

direction at the moment but most if 

not all of them exist only in your 

imagination, so get a grip on yourself and get 

things done. Your only real enemy is your lack of 

self-belief. 

AQuARIuS 

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): You tend to believe in 

yourself to such a degree that you think 

nothing is beyond you, and that's good, 

but even an Aquarius has limits and you 

may need to remind yourself what those limits are. A 

little bit of realism will go a long way. 

PISCeS 

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): Yes, you should 

let other people have the last word. 

Yes, you should let other people lead 

the way. You may not entirely 

approve of what they say, still less of what they 

do, but so long as you don't get the blame why 

should you worry?

SPORTS 

FRIDAy, FEBRUARy 16, 2018 

9 

Bangladesh opt to bat; Ariful, Afif among four debutants. 

Olympic champ 

Marin eyes All 

England kickstart 

to 'crazy' year 

NEW DELHI: As she gears 

up for a "crazy" year of 

competition, Carolina Marin 

is looking to regain the form 

that won her Olympic 

badminton gold in time for 

next month's coveted All 

England Championships, 

reports BSS. 

The 24-year-old Spaniard, 

who took the sport by storm 

to become its first non-Asian 

Olympic women's champion 

in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, 

has fallen from number one 

to five in the world because 

of injuries and poor form. 

She has failed to reach a 

final this year, crashing out 

of the India Open quarterfinal 

this month, but is keen 

to make her mark at the All 

England starting March 14 

in Birmingham. 

"It's very busy. My first call 

will be All England. Now my 

performance is not 100 

percent, but I am sure that 

for All England I would be 

100 percent," Marin, who 

won the event in 2015, told 

AFP on the sidelines of 

training in New Delhi. 

"The most important thing 

for me is to keep improving 

my game," she added. 

Marin's gold medal 

triumph at the Rio Games 

made her one of the most 

famous sports people in 

Spain, but injuries started 

dragging her down soon 

after. She has not reached a 

tournament final since 

winning the Japan Open last 

September. 

Marin lost in the Malaysia 

Masters semi-final last 

month to world number one 

Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan. 

She then crashed out of 

the Indonesia Open quarterfinals 

before suffering 

another defeat in India. 

"In 2017 it was hard 

because of injuries after Rio 

and I needed a break. 

But I have a good team 

who help me prepare for big 

tournaments," said Marin. 

For 2018, the Badminton 

World Federation (BWF) 

replaced the former 

SuperSeries 

and 

SuperSeries Premier 

calendar with a new World 

Tour. The governing body 

made it compulsory for the 

top 15 singles players and 

top 10 doubles pairs to play 

at least 12 tournaments. 

Ashes 2023: Edgbaston, Headingley, The Oval, Lord's and Old Trafford to host Tests. 

Photo: Internet. 

South Korea’s Ko 

leads Australian 

Open by two shots 

ADELAIDE, Australia: South Korea's Ko 

Jin-young fired a nine-birdie opening round 

of 65 to lead the women's Australian Open by 

two shots at Kooyonga in Adelaide on 

Thursday, reports BSS. 

Ko, 22, the world number 20 and a winner of 

10 tournaments on the Korean tour, reached 

the turn at three-under and rolled in six 

more birdies on the back nine to gather in a 

cluster of players who had held the lead at 

four-under. 

Ko joined the lead with a birdie at the 16th, 

birdied again to lead outright at the 17th 

before repeating the performance at the 18th 

to lead by two strokes at seven under. 

She had nine birdies for the day, two bogeys 

and shredded the more difficult back nine in 

31 shots, with five birdies in the last six holes. 

Among those on four-under was former 

world number one Lydia Ko, who has been 

under fire for making another series of 

changes to her team in the off-season, but 

played brilliantly for a bogey-free round. 

Ko Jin-young leads 2013 Open champion 

and compatriot Jiyai Shin, who followed up 

her win in Canberra last week with a fiveunder 

par 67. 

Two other major winners -- American Mo 

Martin and Korean Yoo Sun-young -- as well 

as 17-year-old Japanese amateur Suzuka 

Yamaguchi, a recent Australian Amateur 

champion, are in the group at four-under 

par. 

Ko, the 20-year-old New Zealander, has 

again switched to another coach and caddie 

and has had 11 caddies since turning pro five 

years ago. 

"I'm trying to make the decisions where I 

think it's the best for me in my career," Ko 

told reporters after her opening round. 

"Sometimes, I think 'hey, maybe I shouldn't 

have done that'. But I feel like I made the 

right decisions. 

"All I can do ... is do what I think is best for 

me and, sometimes, not everybody is going 

to agree." 

Ko last year lost her world number one 

ranking amid her first winless LPGA season 

since 2012. 

Ko is now working under Ted Oh and added: 

"Hopefully, this one does go a long way." 

She birdied four of her initial 10 holes to be 

among a group of 10 golfers on four under 

68. 

Zidane expects Real to ‘suffer’ 

in Paris after first-leg win 

MADRID: Zinedine Zidane warned his Real 

Madrid players that they can expect to suffer 

in the return leg of their Champions League 

tie with Paris Saint-Germain despite seeing 

Cristiano Ronaldo inspire a 3-1 comeback 

victory on Wednesday, reports BSS. 

The reigning European champions 

stunned the PSG of Neymar in the last 16, 

first-leg showdown with two goals in the 

final seven minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu 

from Ronaldo and Marcelo. 

Ronaldo had earlier drawn Madrid level 

with his 100th Champions League goal for 

the club from the penalty spot on the stroke 

of half-time, cancelling out Adrien Rabiot's 

opener for the French side. 

"We can afford to have a bit of euphoria 

tonight. We have to be satisfied, and enjoy 

this," said Zidane. 

"But there is a second leg to come where 

we will need to play with a lot of intensity. 

We know we are going to suffer." 

Real had already suffered for large spells of 

Wednesday's match, before PSG collapsed 

defensively in the closing stages, unable to 

adjust after Zidane sent on Marco Asensio. 

Striker Asensio set up the two late goals, 

and Zidane will take plenty of credit for the 

impact his substitutions had on the game 

just when it looked as though PSG would 

leave the Spanish capital with the edge in the 

tie. 

Zidane, under pressure because of Real's 

indifferent domestic form, again saw the 

Champions League bring the best out of his 

team and Ronaldo. 

"With Ronaldo it's difficult to always say 

the same thing. He has shown once again 

that he always turns up in the big games," 

said Zidane, after the Portuguese became the 

first player to score 100 Champions League 

goals for the same club. 

He has scored 11 this season in Europe in 

just seven matches, and he won the battle of 

the superstars at the Bernabeu with PSG's 

Neymar. "Real Madrid love the Champions 

League and as players we can feel that on the 

pitch," Ronaldo said after collecting his man 

of the match prize. 

"Today things worked out for me, scoring 

two goals and helping the team win, but we 

know the tie is not finished yet." 

While Real are looking to win the 

European Cup for the third year running -- 

something no club has done since Bayern 

Munich in 1976 -- and the 13th time overall, 

PSG risk seeing their wait for a first 

Champions League crown go on. A year after 

they fell apart in historic fashion to lose 6-1 in 

Barcelona. 

Photo: BBC. 

‘World’s weirdest sport’ - but doubles 

luge no laughing matter 

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea: It 

is a niche sport in which two men 

lie, one on top of the other, in skintight 

uniforms and hurtle feet-first 

down an ice chute on a tiny sled, 

reports BSS. 

No wonder the doubles luge 

turned heads at the Pyeongchang 

Winter Games. 

Twitter was inundated with 

comments when the competition 

took place late on Wednesday at the 

Pyeongchang Games, with many 

wondering why anyone would want 

to do it. 

Matthew Pinsent, the retired 

British rower who won four 

Olympic golds, was amazed by what 

he was seeing -- even though the 

luge is one of the oldest winter 

sports. 

"Even as man who has spent most 

of my Olympic career stuffed into a 

small vehicle getting sweaty with 

big blokes in lycra -- men's double 

luge is still a thing of wonder," he 

tweeted. 

Many appeared to agree. 

"My brain is trying so hard to 

process this," said one typical post 

on Twitter. 

"World's weirdest sport," chimed 

another, and one person tweeted: 

"Luge is if you want to kill yourself 

while lying on your best friend." 

"Saw a couple laying on one beach 

lounger. I thought it looked 

uncomfortable but then realised 

they must be practising for the 

double luge," said another post. 

- Deadly consequences - 

But despite the reaction, this is 

top-level Olympic sport and 

livelihoods 

-- and lives -- are at stake. 

So what is the luge? The first 

international race was held in 

Davos, Switzerland in 1883. 

Unlike bobsleigh, competitors do 

not have a barrier on their sled to 

protect them. Nor do they have 

brakes as they negotiate a race track 

of 1,000m to 1,500m travelling as 

fast as a car on a motorway. 

It can be done in singles, doubles 

or team relay. In the doubles, the 

larger of the two team members lies 

on top for better aerodynamics. 

There is no women's doubles 

event at these Olympics -- 

something that did not go 

unnoticed by those watching the 

Cristiano Ronaldo levels from the penalty spot at the Bernabeu. 

Delight for 

Ronaldo after 

match-winning 

display against 

PSG 

MADRID: Cristiano 

Ronaldo was delighted at 

the manner in which Real 

Madrid kept going to beat 

Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 

with two late goals in 

Wednesday's Champions 

League showdown, reports 

BSS. 

"It was a very important 

victory. We started the 

match well but then 

conceded the goal. But 

this is the Champions 

League and Real Madrid 

know from experience 

that games last 90 

minutes and here at home 

we wanted a good result," 

the Portuguese superstar 

told UEFA.com after 

picking up his man of the 

match award for scoring a 

brace. 

Ronaldo's first was a 

penalty that took him to 

100 Champions League 

goals as a Real player, 

cancelling out Adrien 

Rabiot's opener for PSG. 

He then struck the 

second in the 83rd minute 

before a Marcelo strike 

gave the reigning 

European champions a 

two-goal advantage ahead 

of the return leg of their 

last-16 tie on March 6. 

Ronaldo admitted that 

the penalty that allowed 

his side to draw level just 

on the stroke of half-time 

was crucial. 

"We knew Paris were a very 

dangerous side, especially up 

front with the three strikers 

they have, but we knew we 

had to press them," he added. 

"I think we sat back a bit 

more in the second half, but 

we played better, had more 

chances and scored two more 

goals. 

action in South Korea. 

It is not a sport for the fainthearted. 

Competitors lie on their backs on 

a tiny sled and slide feet-first at 

speeds of about 140 kilometres (90 

miles) per hour. 

Underlining the danger involved, 

the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was 

marred by the death of Georgian 

luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during 

a fateful training run. 

Earlier this week at the 

Pyeongchang Olympics, American 

luger Emily Sweeney suffered a 

frightening crash that saw her 

bounce around the track. 

She escaped serious injury, but it 

was a reminder of the perils that 

lugers face in the pursuit of gold -- 

and for the entertainment of those 

safely at home on their sofas. 

It can be done in singles, doubles 

or team relay. In the doubles, the 

larger of the two team members lies 

on top for better aerodynamics. 

"When Emily crashed that was 

really hard," said team-mate 

Summer Britcher. "I've never been 

so relieved as when I saw her get up 

and walking." 

Photo: BBC. 

Olympic ‘hugs and 

smiles’ on ice for 

US and N. Koreans 

GANGNEUNG, South Korea: Despite the 

freeze in ties between the United States and 

North Korea, a handful of skaters from both 

sides are breaking the Olympic ice with a 

budding friendship, reports BSS. 

Tensions remain high between the North 

and the United States. But on the ice 

language is the main barrier between 

friends. 

"I do what I can and we smile and hug each 

other every day," said American Marissa 

Brandt, who players for the unified Korean 

squad along with 22 North Koreans. 

"They are very friendly and sweet," added 

Brandt, who was adopted from South Korea 

at four-months-old by her American 

parents. Her sister plays in the American 

hockey squad at the Olympics. 

The situation came about because South 

Korea co-opted the Americans with Korean 

heritage ahead of the Games. Then the North 

Koreans showed up two weeks before the 

start on a wave of inter-Korean 

reconciliation. 

It was an awkward start for the established 

South Korean skaters when they welcomed 

the new teammates from the North with 

bouquets of flowers and tight-lipped smiles. 

After several meals and sharing a few good 

jokes, the tension eased and the newcomers 

were accepted. 

"When we sit in the dining hall and we 

have conversations, it's pretty much every 

day stuff like talking about food or who has a 

boyfriend," said forward Randi Griffin, 

another American of Korean heritage. 

"They are just people, they are young 

women, they are hockey players just like us." 

Language is an issue, with the North 

Koreans unfamiliar with most hockey 

terminology which South Korean players 

have adopted from English. 

But the Northerners have made efforts to 

fit in, Griffin said. 

"Even today some of the North Korean 

players were talking to me on the bench and 

I heard them saying things like 'line change' 

and 'face off'," Griffin said after Wednesday's 

match against Japan, which the Koreans lost 

1-4. 

Still, the North Koreans remain under tight 

control and surveillance, always trailed by 

minders and kept in separate apartments 

and buses from their foreign teammates. 

- Arm's length - 

Griffin scored the lone Olympic goal for the 

Koreans in the defeat to Japan on 

Wednesday. They lost their previous two 

games 8-0 each to Switzerland and Sweden 

and have only one more game to play before 

making their Olympic bow. 

South Korea has only 319 registered female 

hockey players of its own, according to an 

International Ice Hockey Federation survey 

last year. 

So the Americans were brought over to 

try out for South Korea's team a few years 

ago as the country scoured through colleges 

across North America, looking for ethnic 

Korean players as it scrambled to assemble 

a team good enough to avoid humiliation at 

the Olympics. 

Then following a late agreement by North 

Korea to take part in the Olympics, the 22 

players from across the border were sent to 

join the squad only two weeks before the 

Olympics. 

"When we sit in the dining hall and we 

have conversations, it's pretty much every 

day stuff like talking about food or who has 

a boyfriend," said forward Randi Griffin, 

another American of Korean heritage. 

"They are just people, they are young 

women, they are hockey players just like 

us." 

Language is an issue, with the North 

Koreans unfamiliar with most hockey 

terminology which South Korean players 

have adopted from English. 

And despite the speedy Olympic-driven 

rapprochement between the Koreas, the US 

has kept reconciliation at arms length, 

insisting there will be no olive branch until 

Pyongyang takes concrete steps towards 

denuclearisation. 

US Vice President Mike Pence, who led 

the US delegation to the Olympics, did not 

engage with the North Korean 

representatives just a few seats away at the 

opening ceremony in Pyeongchang. Nor 

did he get up to cheer when athletes from 

the host nation and its neighbour entered 

the arena together behind a unification flag.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS 

WEDNESDAy, 

THE 

BANGLADESHTODAY 

FEBRUARy 14, 2018 

10 

Confidence Batteries Ltd. extends support to Solar 

Power Tricycle Project of Dhaka University 

Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, 

Energy Adviser to the Prime Minister, 

has inaugurated the Pilot Project of Solar 

Power Tricycle of Institute of Energy, 

Dhaka University, a press release said. 

The project was inaugurated during 

the '18th National Renewable Energy 

and Green Expo 2018' organized by the 

Institute of Energy of the university and 

Bangladesh Solar Energy Society (BSES) 

on February 13, 2018 at Nabab Nawab 

Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban. 

Under this project, the Institute of 

Energy has conducted an experimental 

research on solar run tricycle, which will 

provide shuttle service to the faculty 

members around the university campus. 

This project is supported by Confidence 

Batteries Limited, a sister concern of 

Confidence Group. Salman Karim, 

Managing Director of Confidence 

Infrastructure and Confidence Batteries 

Limited; Professor Dr. Saiful Huque, 

Director, Institute of Energy; 

Mohammed Tariqul Islam, Head of 

Group HR & Corporate 

Communications of Confidence Group; 

Dr. S. M. Nasif Shams, Assistant 

Professor, Institute of Energy, Dhaka 

University and other officials of Institute 

of Energy and Confidence Batteries 

Limited were present at the inaugural 

ceremony. 

Jewellery 

stocks take 

a hit after 

PNB fraud 

Shares of Gitanjali Gems 

today plunged up to 19 per 

cent in morning trade after 

the company came under 

scanner of various 

investigating agencies 

following the Punjab National 

Bank's declaration of nearly 

Rs 11,400-crore fraud. 

The stock today opened on a 

bearish note at Rs 48, then 

lost further ground to touch a 

low of Rs 47.50, down 18.94 

per cent over its previous 

closing price. 

Similar movement was seen 

on the NSE as well, where the 

stock tanked 18.73 per cent to 

a low of Rs 47.50. 

Meanwhile, some of other 

jewellery stocks also 

witnessed similar fate with PC 

Jeweller slumping 19.50 per 

cent to Rs 303.00, 

Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri 

(TBZ) 4.32 per cent to Rs 

110.60, and Thangamayil 

Jewellery 2 per cent to 558.55 

on BSE. Rajesh Exports fell 

1.34 per cent to a low of Rs 

808.70 on BSE. 

Punjab National Bank 

(PNB) yesterday disclosed 

that it has detected some 

fraudulent transactions with 

financial implication of USD 

1.77 billion (about Rs 11,346 

crore) and the matter has 

been referred to law 

enforcement agencies for the 

recovery. 

Asian markets extend rebound after 

Wall St brushes off inflation 

Hong Kong stocks ended 

the Year of the Rooster 

leading a rally across Asian 

markets Thursday and 

extending a rebound from last 

week's turmoil, as investors 

tracked a strong lead from 

Wall Street. 

A key US inflation reading 

showed prices shot up in 

January, sending Treasury 

yields rising and fanning 

expectations the Federal 

Reserve will hike interest rates 

at a sharper pace then 

expected a few months ago. 

However, while the news 

initially sent US equities 

tumbling, they soon recovered 

and all three main indexes on 

Wall Street finished at least 

one percent higher, with 

dealers soothed by a 

surprisingly heavy drop in 

retail sales that eased inflation 

fears. Global markets went 

into a tailspin last week on 

rising T-Bill rates and the 

prospect of higher borrowing 

costs caused by a resurgent 

US economy and improving 

wages. But this week has seen 

a recovery, though there 

remains an element of caution 

as analysts warn of further 

turmoil after a stellar 2018 

and January that saw several 

record and multi-year highs 

hit. 

As traders headed into the 

Chinese New Year break, 

Hong Kong ended two 

percent higher. The index rose 

5.6 percent over the past three 

days, helping it bite into last 

week's drop of more than nine 

percent. 

Tokyo ended 1.5 percent 

higher, despite a surge in the 

yen against the dollar, which 

tends to hurt exporters. 

Sydney and Singapore each 

rose 1.2 percent, while 

Wellington added 0.1 percent. 

Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and 

Jakarta were also up. 

Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei were 

closed for the Lunar New Year. 

Stephen Innes, head of Asia- 

Pacific trading at OANDA, 

said: "In seemingly absurd 

fashion, US equity investors 

ignored the inflationary 

signals and focused on 

weaker-than-expected US 

retail sales report. 

"There is an increasing 

possibility that (incoming Fed 

boss Jerome) Powell may 

blink and the Fed will be more 

hesitant to guide monetary 

policy given the waning 

growth narrative." 

On currency markets the 

dollar is taking a hit across the 

board, with the yen at fresh 

15-month highs, while the 

euro built on Wednesday's 

gains that came after figures 

showed solid German 

economic growth. 

The greenback is coming 

under the cosh despite the 

strong inflation print. 

"I'm not going to pretend I 

have a clue this morning," said 

Greg McKenna, chief market 

strategist at AxiTrader. 

"Stocks have surged and the 

US dollar has been poleaxed. 

That's even though the market 

expectations of a March hike 

increased." 

The dollar was also sharply 

down against most highyielding 

units, including the 

Australian dollar, South 

Korean won, Indonesian 

rupiah and Thai baht. 

The South African rand is 

around a three-year high after 

Jacob Zuma resigned as 

president, as the ruling ANC 

party finally turned against 

him after nine years of 

corruption scandals, 

economic slowdown and 

falling popularity. 

Commodities were buoyed 

by the weakening dollar as it 

makes them cheaper for 

holders of other currencies. 

Both main oil contracts 

extended Wednesday's surge, 

with help also coming from 

suggestions by Saudi Arabia's 

energy minister that key 

producers in OPEC and 

Russia would maintain caps 

on output. 

Prodhania 

New MD 

Of BKB 

Md. Ali Hossain 

Prodhania joined 

Bangladesh Krishi bank 

(BKB) as Managing Director 

(MD) on 14.02.2018. Prior 

to his joining, he was the 

Deputy Managing Director 

of Agrani Bank Ltd. He 

started his banking career in 

Agrani Bank as 

Probationary Officer in 

1986. Mr. Prodhania 

graduated with honours in 

Finance from Dhaka 

University and masters from 

the same university . In his 

chequered banking career, 

he 

performed 

responsibilities as branch 

manager, head of different 

important departments of 

head office in Agrani Bank. 

He had been the Head of 

Treasury, Head of ID, Circle 

General Manager,CAMLCO 

and DMD Principal Branch. 

He played a vital role in 

increasing the flow of 

foreign remittance while he 

was the CEO of Agrani 

Exchange House in 

Singapore from 2008 to 

2014. He is the Chairman of 

Technical Committee of 

Bangladesh Foreign 

Exchange Dealers' 

Association (BAFEDA). He 

took part in various 

trainings and seminars at 

home and abroad. He comes 

of a respectable Muslim 

family of Chandpur district. 

Nestle opens door 

to L'Oreal sale as 

2017 disappoints 

Swiss food giant Nestle on 

Thursday appeared to open 

the door to selling its stake 

in French cosmetics group 

L'Oreal after it said that its 

own business performance 

in 2017 fell short of 

expectations. 

Nestle, which has come 

under pressure from an 

activist investor, US hedge 

fund Third Point, to sell its 

stake in L'Oreal, insisted in 

a statement that it was 

keeping all options open 

regarding the 23-percent 

holding. 

"Our shareholding 

continues to be an 

important investment for 

us and we remain 

committed to the company 

that has given us very good 

returns over the years," 

Nestle said. 

And it said it had "full 

confidence in L'Oreal's 

management and strategic 

direction." 

Nevertheless, Nestle had 

decided not to renew a 

shareholders agreement 

between Nestle and the 

L'Oreal's 

family 

shareholders, the 

Bettencourt family, under 

which neither side is 

permitted to increase their 

holdings. 

The agreement is 

scheduled to expire on 

March 21, six months after 

the death of matriarch 

Liliane Bettencourt. 

Nestle made it clear, 

however, that it had no 

plans to increase its stake. 

"In order to maintain all 

available options for the 

benefit of Nestle's 

shareholders, the board of 

directors has decided not to 

renew this agreement. We 

do not intend to increase 

our stake in L'Oreal and are 

committed to maintaining 

our constructive 

relationship with the 

Bettencourt family," the 

statement said. 

Turning to its 2017 

results, Nestle said profits 

took a hit from its skin 

health business last year 

and sales fell short of target. 

Net profit fell by 15.8 

percent to 7.2 billion Swiss 

francs (6.2 billion euros, 

$7.7 billion). 

"This was mainly due to 

an impairment of goodwill 

related to Nestle Skin 

Health, which was taken 

to reflect the current 

prospects of the business," 

the statement said. 

Revenues, for their part, 

edged up by 0.4 percent to 

89.8 billion Swiss francs. 

But so-called "organic" 

growth, which is adjusted 

for exchange rate 

developments and 

divestments 

or 

acquisitions, stood at 2.4 

percent. 

"Organic growth... was at 

the low end of our 

expectations," said chief 

executive Ulf Mark 

Schneider, who took over in 

January 2017. 

Looking ahead, Schneider 

said Nestle was pencilling 

in organic sales growth of 

between two and four 

percent in 2018. 

Nestle's shares fell 2.3 

percent in morning trading, 

while Switzerland's main 

stock index up 0.3 percent. 

China's yuan funds for 

foreign exchange rise 

in January 

China's yuan funds outstanding for foreign exchange 

rebounded last month. The funds stood at 21.48 trillion yuan 

(3.39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of January, up by 4.48 

billion yuan from the previous month, according to the 

People's Bank of China. The reading dropped 36.32 billion 

yuan month-on-month in December. 

As the Chinese currency is not freely convertible under the 

capital account, the central bank has to purchase foreign 

currency generated by China's trade surplus and foreign 

investment in the country, adding funds to the money 

market. 

Such funds are an important indicator of cross-border 

foreign capital flows and domestic yuan liquidity. An increase 

in the funds usually signals eased capital flight pressure, 

while a decrease often means higher capital flight pressure. 

The rise of the funds was in line with the upward trend of 

foreign exchange reserves, which rose for the 12th straight 

month to reach 3.1615 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of 

January. 

Standard Bank Ltd opened its 123rd branch at A. Samad Market, Chowrasta More, Thana Road, 

Kashiani, Gopalgonj on 15 February 2018. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Chairman of the Bank formally 

inaugurated the Branch as Chief Guest while Mr Mamun-Ur-Rashid, Managing Director & CEO of 

SBL presided over the ceremony. 

Photo: Courtesy 

The Executive Committee of 'National Dairy Development Forum' (NDDF) has met Narayon Chandra 

Chanda MP, Honorable Minister of Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, Led by Advocate 

UmmeKulsumSrity MP, a 12 members team has conducted a courtesy meeting with honorable minister 

at his office recently. During the meeting, the forum members are introduced with the honourable 

minister, and greet and congratulate him for taking the full responsibility of the Ministry of 

Fisheries and Livestock. Knowing the objectives and goal of the 'National Dairy Development Forum' 

(NDDF), the honourable minister has acknowledged the initiatives of the forum and committed to 

uplift his supports to strengthen the forum. He also wants to find the forum highly instrumental to 

the persistent growth of the dairy sector in Bangladesh. 

Photo: Courtesy 

Recently Annual Branch Manager's Conference 2018 of Union Insurance Company was held in the 

capital. The Conference was presided over by the Hon'ble Chief Executive Officer Talukder Md. 

Zakaria Hossain. Company Secretary Md. Iqbal Rashidi, All Branch In-charges and senior officials 

of Head Office were also present in the meeting. Achievement of business for the year 2017 and business 

planning for 2018 was discussed in the Meeting. 

NEB Helps to Reduce UREA Usage 

Nitrogen Efficiency for Bioavailability 

(NEB) is now applied to maximize its 

uptake and decrease environmental 

impact by decreasing usage of urea 

fertilizer. It is a blend of natural ROOT 

EXUDATES, which helps to increase 

microbial activities in the soil. By the use 

of NEB, plants get more of the N for 

longer period of time which helps to give 

significant growth advantages of plants. 

Nowadays potato is grown in 4.96 lac 

hectre land in Bangladesh. On an 

average 20.77 MT potato is grown per 

hectre. Nitrogen is used as the main 

nutrient for cultivating potato. Urea is 

used as the source of Nitrogen. So due to 

the increasing trend of demand of Urea, 

every year Bangladesh imports 1-1.5 Mio 

MT Urea fertilizer from abroad. 

However, farmers are concerned 

about their high spending on Urea. So 

they are using NEB which is a type of 

root extract which contains 17% Fulvic 

acid that helps to increase the number of 

soil microorganisms to save up to 50% 

Urea or Nitrogen. NEB activates the 

beneficial microorganisms and fungi of 

plants' risosphere. Microorganisms 

preserve nitrogen in their body through 

immobilization process. When these 

microorganisms die, the organic 

nitrogen turns to acceptable form of 

plant through mineralization process. 

Plants take that nitrogen gradually. 

Bangladesh Agricultural Research 

Institute, Munshiganj has reported that 

they have found an average production 

of 32.1 MT potato per hecrte of land 

where NEB has been used. On the 

contrary the average production of 

potato is 30.3 MT per hectre of land 

where NEB is not used with Urea. 

Already many farmers of Munshiganj 

are using NEB. Some farmers have said 

that they have saved Tk. 1500 per hectre 

by using NEB. They also have mentioned 

that now they are using 190 KGs of Urea 

per hectre instead of 380 KGs. 

Incidentally, from market visit it is 

found that NEB is an American product 

and ACI Fertilizer is distributing this 

product in Bangladesh. Mr. Bashir 

Ahmed, Business Director of ACI 

fertilizer expressed that "NEB not only 

saves 50% usage of Urea but also 

decreases the demand of Urea". "ACI 

Fertilizer works to provide farmers 

easily available farming technologies 

and fertilizers at a lower price", he 

added.

MISCELLANEOUS 

11 

frIDAY, febrUArY 16, 2018 

As Gaza deteriorates, 

Israel turns to world 

for help 

GAZA CITY : Four years ago, Israel 

inflicted heavy damage on Gaza's 

infrastructure during a bruising 50-day 

war with Hamas militants. Now, fearing a 

humanitarian disaster on its doorstep, it's 

appealing to the world to fund a series of 

big-ticket development projects in the 

war-battered strip, reports UNB. 

In a windfall, the wealthy Gulf Arab 

state of Qatar, a key donor, has become an 

unlikely partner in Israel's quest, and has 

urged other nations to follow suit. 

But it remains unclear whether the rest 

of the international community is in a 

giving mood. 

Donors say that while there have been 

some successes with reconstruction since 

the 2014 war, Israeli bureaucracy and 

security reviews are still too slow and 

Israel's ongoing blockade of Hamas-ruled 

Gaza is stifling the broader goal of 

developing the territory's devastated 

economy. 

"Israel now realizes the growing 

humanitarian crisis in Gaza and its 

impact on the population," said the World 

Bank, which has helped oversee 

international reconstruction efforts. 

"Donors will be more encouraged to 

invest if the right conditions on the 

ground are put in place to allow 

sustainable growth." 

Gaza, a tiny strip of land sandwiched 

between Israel and Egypt, has seen 

conditions steadily deteriorate since 

Hamas overran the territory in 2007 and 

took control from the internationally 

backed Palestinian Authority. 

Israel and Egypt clamped a blockade in 

an attempt to weaken Hamas, and Israel 

and Hamas have fought three wars. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, 

hoping to regain control, has stepped up 

pressure on Hamas by cutting salaries of 

civil servants and limiting electricity 

deliveries. 

The last war, in 2014, was especially 

devastating. Nearly 20,000 homes were 

destroyed, and over 150,000 others were 

damaged, according to U.N. figures. 

Hospitals, schools and infrastructure 

were also damaged. 

Following the war, international donors 

gathered in Cairo and came up with a $3.5 

billion reconstruction plan. But only 53 

percent of the promised money has been 

delivered, according to the World Bank, 

and Gaza's economy is in shambles. 

Unemployment is over 40 percent, tap 

water is undrinkable and Gazans receive 

only a few hours of electricity a day. 

Signs of distress are visible throughout 

Gaza's potholed streets. Young men sit 

idly in groups on sidewalks, shopkeepers 

kill time on their smartphones as they 

mind their empty shops and the smell of 

sewage from the Mediterranean often 

wafts through the air. 

Israel blames Hamas, a militant group 

sworn to its destruction, for the 

conditions. It says it has no choice but to 

maintain the blockade, which restricts 

imports and exports, because the group 

continues to plot ways to attack Israel. 

But fearing a humanitarian disaster that 

could spill over into violence, Israel has 

begun to soften its line, echoing warnings 

by international officials. 

"We are well beyond a humanitarian 

crisis, but on the verge of a total system 

failure in Gaza, with a full collapse of the 

economy and social services with 

political, humanitarian and security 

implications to match," U.N. Mideast 

envoy Nickolay Mladenov said. 

Looking forward, Israel and the 

international community have different 

visions for how to fix the situation. 

On Jan. 31, Israeli Cabinet Minister 

Tzachi Hanegbi and Maj. Gen. Yoav 

Mordechai, who oversees Israeli civilian 

policies for Gaza, appealed to an 

emergency gathering of donor nations 

in Brussels to deliver hundreds of 

millions of dollars for long-delayed 

projects sought by the international 

community. 

According to a document obtained by 

The Associated Press, the Israeli list 

included a power line, natural gas line, 

desalination plant, industrial zone and 

sewage treatment facility. 

"Israel is ready to provide its 

technological skills and infrastructure to 

prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, 

on the condition that the funds come 

from the international community and 

that we know that they will not go to 

strengthen Hamas," Hanegbi told the 

Ynet news site. 

In a rare interview, Mohammed Al- 

Emadi, the head of Qatar's Gaza 

reconstruction committee, urged other 

nations to support the effort. 

"We have to fund as soon as possible," 

he told the AP. "When you want to do 

work in Gaza, you have to go through the 

Israelis." 

Myanmar government 

under Suu Kyi cracks 

down on journalists 

BANGKOK : When five 

Myanmar journalists were 

sentenced to decade-long 

prison terms for reporting 

the alleged existence of a 

military-run chemical 

weapons factory in 

Myanmar a few years ago, 

Aung San Suu Kyi - then an 

opposition lawmaker - 

condemned the harsh 

punishments as "very 

excessive." 

The journalists, from the 

now-defunct Unity 

publication, had been 

convicted for violating the 

nation's Official Secrets Act - 

the same colonial-era law 

now being leveled against a 

pair of Reuters reporters 

who are facing a staggering 

14 years behind bars each, 

reports UNB. 

"It's not that I don't accept 

a concern over national 

security," Suu Kyi told 

supporters during a July 

2014 rally, according to an 

article published at the time 

in the Irrawaddy, a local 

media outlet. "But in a 

democratic system, security 

should be in balance with 

freedom." 

When "the rights of 

journalists (to report) are 

being controlled," Suu Kyi 

said, the very notion of 

democratic reform in 

Myanmar is "questionable." 

Three and a half years on, 

the thinking of Suu Kyi, who 

now heads the government, 

has apparently changed 

dramatically. Rather than 

champion the press, she has 

presided over an 

administration whose courts 

have aggressively pursued 

legal charges against dozens 

of journalists, along with 

other attempts to suppress 

and discredit the media. 

Police arrested Reuters 

reporters Wa Lone and 

Kyaw Soe Oo on Dec. 12 

while they were 

investigating the massacre 

of 10 ethnic Rohingya 

Muslims. But when former 

U.N. ambassador Bill 

Richardson met the Nobel 

Peace prize laureate this 

month and brought up the 

case against the Reuters 

reporters, it "brought almost 

an explosion on her part," 

Richardson said. 

Suu Kyi's spokesman, Zaw 

Htay, has said that 

Richardson exceeded his 

mandate by bringing up the 

issue. Richardson had been 

invited to the country to 

participate in an advisory 

panel on the Rohingya crisis; 

he withdrew, calling it a 

"whitewash." 

Htay did not answer his 

cell phone when AP 

attempted to reach him 

several times Wednesday for 

comment. 

Hostility against the 

media, particularly 

international news agencies 

covering Myanmar, has 

risen markedly since a brutal 

army "clearance" operation 

began in August 

immediately after Rohingya 

insurgents staged an 

unprecedented wave of 

attacks. More than 700,000 

Rohingya, a persecuted 

minority widely despised by 

the nation's Buddhist 

majority, have been driven 

into Bangladesh since. 

Reporters and human 

rights groups covering the 

crisis have documented 

grave atrocities, including 

mass rape, several 

massacres and widespread 

arson attacks that left 

hundreds of Rohingya 

villages burned to the 

ground. Earlier this month, 

The Associated Press 

reported the existence of at 

least five mass graves at Gu 

Dar Pyin village in Rakhine 

state. 

Suu Kyi's government has 

routinely denied atrocities 

and staunchly defended the 

military's actions, portraying 

critical media reports as 

"fake news" in what analysts 

say is an effort to discredit 

independent media reports 

and limit reporting. 

They're "doing everything 

in their power to block the 

flow of news, to ensure that 

no damaging information 

comes to light," said Shawn 

Crispin, Southeast Asia 

representative for the New 

York-based Committee to 

Protect Journalists. 

"They're using legal 

threats, they're blocking 

access to areas where alleged 

abuses occurred, they're 

making it harder for 

foreigners to get visas," he 

said. "They've created a 

climate of fear among local 

reporters, too, and the 

message is clear. If you 

report critically, you risk 

going to jail." 

As the antagonism against 

foreign media has grown, 

some agencies pulled 

reporters from the country. 

AP correspondent Esther 

Htusan left Myanmar in late 

November after threats were 

made against her life on 

social media and 

unidentified men followed 

her to her Yangon home. 

Not so long ago, the mood 

in the Southeast Asian 

nation was very different. 

When the military, which 

ruled for half a century, 

ceded some power to a 

nominally civilian 

government in 2011 amid 

what was widely lauded as a 

long-awaited transition to 

democracy, journalists were 

bursting with optimism. The 

government abolished 

censorship in 2012, allowing 

local media outlets to 

flourish for the first time in 

decades. Foreign 

correspondents were 

granted visas, enabling them 

to report on what had been 

one of the most closed 

nations in the world. 

The Associated Press was 

among those allowed in. The 

news cooperative 

maintained a presence in 

Myanmar and covered the 

nation for decades through 

local correspondents. But in 

2013 AP became the first 

international news agency to 

officially open a bureau since 

the transition from military 

rule began. 

cvwb-446/2017-2018 

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US secretary of state meets key 

Hezbollah allies in Lebanon 

BEIRUT : U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with key 

allies of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group on Thursday, 

during a brief stopover in Beirut as part of a regional trip, 

reports UNB. 

The visit comes amid a growing dispute between Lebanon 

and its southern neighbor, Israel, over oil and gas reserves, 

and Israel's construction of a border wall that Lebanon says 

encroaches on its territory. 

Tillerson was expected to discuss the heightened tensions 

in his talks with the country's top officials, including 

President Michel Aoun, Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil and 

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - who all maintain close 

relations with the militant Hezbollah group. He is also 

scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. 

Tillerson, who arrived in Beirut from neighboring Jordan, 

is the most senior official from the Trump administration to 

visit Lebanon and the first by a U.S. secretary of state in four 

years. 

Israel has recently escalated its threats over Lebanon's 

invitation for offshore gas exploration bids along the 

countries' maritime border claiming that Lebanon will be 

drilling in areas owned by Israel. Lebanese officials deny the 

Israeli statements, saying the area where the country plans to 

drill belongs to Lebanon. 

The long-standing dispute resurfaced recently as Lebanon 

signed a deal with an international consortium to start 

exploratory offshore drilling next year. 

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the 

exploration tender as " provocative" and suggested that 

Lebanon had put out invitations for bids from international 

groups for a gas field "which is by all accounts ours." 

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FRIDay, DhaKa, FeBRuaRy 16, 2018, FaLGuN 4, 1424 BS, JaMaDI-uL-awaL 29, 1439 hIJRI 

BNP leaders and activists seen at a meeting at the Gulshan office yesterday. 

Priest Holes: Secret Chambers 

That Hid Mediaeval Priests 

INTERESTING NEWS 

In mediaeval England, when feuds were 

violent and justice swift and brutal, it was 

common for castles and mansions of the 

powerful and the wealthy to have secret 

chambers or hidden passageways that 

allowed the owners to hide or escape from 

pursuers in the event of a surprise attack. 

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the 

number of such secret chambers and hiding-places 

increased sharply, especially in 

the houses of the old Catholic families. 

The 16th century was a time of strong 

religious tension. Europe was torn 

between the Roman Catholic Church and 

the gaining Protestant movement that 

eventually led to the separation of the 

Church of England from Rome under 

Henry VIII. The English Reformation 

continued under the rule of his son, 

Edward VI, who—during his short 

DHAKA : Bangladesh 

Bank governor Fazle Kabir 

has said remittance inflow 

through proper banking 

channel has increased as 

the central bank has taken 

initiatives to discourage it 

through non-banking 

channels, reports UNB. 

The central bank chief 

made the remark when the 

Board of Directors of 

Dhaka Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry 

(DCCI) led by its President 

Abul Kasem Khan met him 

at his office on Thursday. 

He echoed the proposal 

of the DCCI President and 

said that for long-term 

financing for large mega 

infrastructure projects, 

they should have bond system 

in capital market as the 

banks are not financing for 

long tenure. 

The governor said they 

need to create profitable 

large projects and if that 

could be done then financing 

will not be a problem. 

He informed that the 

existing liquidity crisis is a 

very temporary matter and 

very soon there will be no 

liquidity crisis in the money 

market. He requested the 

businessmen of 

Bangladesh to invest their 

money in Bangladesh to 

create more jobs. 

Fazle Kabir said there are 

many incentives for nonresident 

Bangladeshis if 

they invest in Bangladesh. 

To develop the rural 

economy, the governor 

said, the Bangladesh Bank 

has given directives to commercial 

banks to increase 

their lending, especially the 

SMEs of rural areas of 

Bangladesh. 

Change Management 

Adviser of Bangladesh 

Bank Allah Malik Kazemi, 

Banking Reform Adviser of 

Bangladesh Bank SK Sur 

Chowdhury, Chief 

Economist of Bangladesh 

reign—introduced new forms of worship 

and more radical reformation. But 

Edward’s successor, Queen Mary, had 

strong opposing views and she dragged 

England kicking and screaming back 

under the authority of the Catholic 

Church. Those who refused to give up 

their Protestant beliefs were burned at 

the stake, earning Mary the nickname 

‘Bloody Mary’. Mary was succeeded by 

her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I who 

wanted a strong, independent England 

with its own religion, trade and foreign 

policy. She restored the Church of 

England which was moderately 

Reformed in doctrine, but also emphasizing 

continuity with the Catholic and 

Apostolic traditions of the Church 

Fathers. During her time, anti-Catholic 

sentiments reached such fever pitch that 

the Pope declared Elizabeth a heretic and 

called for her removal from the throne. 

Photo : TBT 

Steps taken against remittance inflow 

thru' non-banking channels: BB 

DCCI for creating bond in capital market for large project financing 

Bank Dr Faisal Ahmed 

were also present. 

DCCI President Abul 

Kasem Khan said cooperation 

and coordination 

among the Bangladesh 

Bank, Bangladesh 

Securities & Exchange 

Commission, Dhaka Stock 

Exchange, Chittagong 

Stock Exchange and 

Insurance Development 

Authority are needed to 

develop capital market. 

Private sector credit 

growth aimed at being 16.8 

percent in the current monetary 

policy compared to 

16.3 percent in the last 

monetary policy. 

The cost of credit must be 

maintained at single digit 

to achieve this target, said 

the DCCI President. 

He also proposed to give 

special focus on SME and 

provide collateral free single 

digit interest loans to 

SMEs for empowering 

SMEs businesses improving 

access to market and 

finance. 

DCCI Senior Vice 

President Kamrul Islam, 

FCA, Vice President Riyadh 

Hossain, Directors Engr. 

Akber Hakim, Hossain A 

Sikder, Humayun Rashid, 

KMN Monjurul Hoque, 

Nuher L. Khan, Salim 

Akhter Khan, Waqar 

Ahmad Chowdhury and 

Secretary General AHM 

rezaul Kabir were present, 

said a press release. 

SSC Chemistry exam 

13 held in Natore 

over question 

paper leak 

NATORE : Members of 

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) 

detained 13 people, including 

10 students, for their alleged 

involvement in leaking out 

Chemistry question paper of 

Secondary School Certificate 

(SSC) examination in Lalpur 

upazila on Thursday, reports 

UNB. 

All of them were picked up 

from Chandpur High School 

exam centre in the upazila 

around 9am, said Rab-5 

sources. 

Rab officials said tipped off, 

a team of Rab-5 went to the 

school and searched mobile 

phones of the examinees. As 

the question paper received 

through mobile phones was 

found to be similar of original 

question paper, they arrested 

13 people, including 10 students 

and one teacher, from 

the centre. 

The detainees were taken to 

Lalpur upazila parishad for 

interrogation, the sources 

said. 

5 laboratories 

get accreditation 

certificates 

DHAKA : Five national and 

multinational laboratories on 

Thursday received accreditation 

certificate from 

Bangladesh Accreditation 

Board (BAB) as part of the 

organization's process to 

strengthen the country's position 

in export business, 

reports UNB. 

The five laboratories are- 

SGS Bangladesh Ltd, ITS 

Labtest Bangladesh Ltd, 

national textile laboratory ACI 

Sourcing, material testing laboratory 

BMTI and United 

Hospital Medical Testing 

Laboratory, said a press 

release. 

Industries Secretary 

Muhammad Abdullah officially 

handed over the certificates 

to the representatives of the 

laboratories at a programme 

organized by BAB in the city. 

BNP announces 

fresh programmes 

seeking Khaleda's 

release 

DHAKA : BNP on Thursday 

announced another round of 

peaceful countrywide programmes 

demanding the 

release of its chairperson 

Khaleda Zia from jail, reports 

UNB. 

The programmes include 

collecting signatures from 

mass people across the country 

on Saturday, submitting 

memorandums to all the 

deputy commissioner offices 

on Sunday and staging 

demonstrations in all the district 

towns and metropolitan 

cities, except Dhaka, on 

Tuesday. 

BNP Secretary General 

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir 

announced the programmes 

at a press conference at the 

party's Nayapaltan central 

office. 

"We want peace, not any 

violence. We also want to create 

a peaceful atmosphere in 

the country so that people can 

freely exercise their voting 

right. With this goal in mind, 

we're announcing peaceful 

programmes demanding our 

leader's (Khaleda's) unconditional 

release," he said. 

Fakhrul said they also want 

to hold a public rally at 

Suhrawardy Udyan in the city 

and soon seek permission for 

it after fixing a particular date. 

Dust brings abnormality for capital dwellers. The picture was taken from Banasree area yesterday. 

Photo : Star Mail 

Shamim Osman accuses media 

of assassinating MPs' characters 

SANGSAD BHABAN : Awami League 

lawmakers Shamim Osman on Thursday 

told the Jatiya Sangsad that some particular 

newspapers restarted assassinating 

character of Members of Parliament afresh 

in the country, reports UNB. 

Taking floor on point of order in the 

House, he said a year ago he submitted a 

notice before the Parliamentary Standing 

Committee of Privileges seeking the protection 

of the House as some newspapers 

hampered his privileges as an MP, assassinating 

his character. 

"I did not get any result though one year 

has elapsed after I submitted a notice," said 

the MP elected from Narayanganj-4 constituency. 

"The newspapers who wrote against us, 

particularly the newspaper or the group of 

newspapers that tried to create the oneeleven... 

they now started afresh assassinating 

character of MPs again," he added. 

Shamim Osman said 99 percent of the 

country's journalists are honest, while the 

remaining one percent of journalists is dishonest. 

The dishonest journalists who took journalism 

to serve ill-purposes, they are now 

indirectly trying to create instability in the 

country, he said. 

The ruling party MP sought to know 

about the fate of his notice. 

In reply, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin 

Chaudhury, who was in the chair at that 

time, said his notice along with several 

other notices from different MPs is now 

Bangladeshi books 

steal spotlight at 

Kolkata fair 

DHAKA : While the Amar 

Ekushey Book Fair 2018 is 

drawing greater number of 

crowd with each passing day, 

books authored by 

Bangladeshi writers also 

attracted many people at the 

42nd edition of the 

International Kolkata Book 

Fair, reports UNB. 

A Bangladesh pavilion 

received notable responses 

from the visitors at the just 

concluded Kolkata Book 

Fair. 

With its Indo-Saracenic 

Revival architectural style, 

the pavilion boasting 42 

stalls of rich Bangladeshi 

books drew attention of 

Kolkata book lovers throughout 

the fair duration - from 

January 30 to February 11at 

Salt Lake City in Kolkata. 

This year, the Bangladesh 

pavilion was designed replicating 

one of the country's 

historic sites - Ahsan Manzil, 

one time official residential 

palace and the seat of the 

Dhaka Nawab situated on 

the bank of Buriganga at old 

part of Dhaka. 

Of the 42 stalls, eight were 

of government organisations 

while 34 others showcased 

books published by private 

publishers. 

Anup Datta, owner of 

Mowla Brothers' stall, told 

UNB that, the pavilion got 

huge response from the visitors 

from the very first day. 

Almost 40 percent books 

were sold in the first two days 

of the fair, he claimed adding 

that the popularity of 

Bangladeshi writers especially 

Humayun Ahmed is commendable. 

Ranju Prasad Mondol, a 

visitor of the fair from 

Kalyani said that, the pavilion 

is a great opportunity for 

those who want to buy original 

copies from the 

Bangladeshi publishers all in 

one place. 

Bangladeshi books are in 

good demand among the 

readers here, said Md 

Saifuddin from the Bangla 

Academy stall. 

People visited the pavilion 

with much enthusiasm and 

bought books of their choices, 

he said adding that 

Bangladesh is participating 

in this book fair for over past 

two decades. 

Every year, the pavilion is 

gaining more responses from 

pending with the privilege committee and 

it will take decisions over the notices. 

"Your notice was accepted and notices 

from several MPs have been accepted as 

well. The notices are now pending with the 

privilege committee. We'll take measures 

over the notices," she said. 

Railway implementing 

12 projects under first 

Indian LoC 

DHAKA : Bangladesh Railway (BR) is 

implementing 12 projects under the first 

Indian Line of Credit (LoC). 

Three other projects will be implemented 

under the second LoC of Indian soft loan 

while two more projects under the third 

LoC, according an official release issued 

yesterday. 

An evaluation meeting on the progress of 

the projects undertaken by the Bangladesh 

Railway under the Indian soft loan LoC 

was held at the Railway Bhaban yesterday, 

the release said. 

Railways Minister Mujibul Haque 

chaired the meeting that was attended by 

Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Adviser 

Dr Moshiur Rahman, among others. 

According to the release, detailed discussions 

on the projects being implemented 

under Indian finance, particularly under 

the first LoC, were held in the meeting. 

the visitors, he said. 

Ahnaf Tahmid Ratul from 

Dhaka, who visited the fair 

during his visit to Kolkata, 

told UNB that, it's a good 

experience to explore such a 

huge pavilion of own country 

in the ground of such a large 

international book fair. 

"Undoubtedly Amar 

Ekushey Boi Mela is the 

biggest event for every 

Bangladeshi book lovers, yet 

those who are visiting 

Kolkata can also pay a visit to 

this international book fair 

and find books from countries 

all over the world 

including Russia, Spain, 

Australia, France, USA and 

many more and of course 

from Bangladesh", Ratul said 

when the Kolkata Book Fair 

was still in progress. 

According to the organizers, 

the increased participation 

of Bangladesh in Kolkata 

Book Fair 2018 is a part of 

strengthening diplomatic 

relations between the two 

neighbouring countries. 

In the Kolkata Book Fair, 

January 3 was observed as 

Bangladesh Day with the 

arrangement of a seminar on 

Liberation War. 

Shimul Biswas 

put on fresh 

remand 

DHAKA : A court here on 

Thursday put BNP chairperson 

Khaleda Zia's special 

assistant Samsur Rahman 

alias Shimul Biswas on a 5-day 

fresh remand in a case filed 

over attacking cops in a prison 

van in front of High Court 

area, reports UNB. 

Dhaka Metropolitan 

Magistrate Judge Sharafuddin 

Ansari passed the order after 

the investigation officer of the 

case filed a petition seeking a 

10-day remand for him. 

Earlier on February 9, 

Shimul was remanded for 

another five days in another 

case filed under the Special 

Powers Act with Shahbagh 

Police Station. 

He was arrested on January 

30 during demonstrations in 

the High Court Mazar gate 

area. 

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Advisory Editor: Advocate Molla Mohammad Abu Kawser, Managing, Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka. 

Editorial and News Office: K.K Bhaban (Level-04) 69/K, Green Road, Panthapath, Dhaka-1205. Tel : +8802-9611884-85, Cell : 01832166882; Email: Editor : editor@thebangladeshtoday.com, Advertisement: ads@thebangladeshtoday.com, News: newsbangla@thebangladeshtoday.com, contact@thebangladeshtoday.com, website: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

The Bangladesh Today (16-02-2018)

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