n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Fierce violence broke out in the capital’s Tejgaon yesterday as police and transport workers clashed for around an hour over an eviction drive in the area.

At least seven people, including journal-ists and city corporation employees, were injured during the violence, while several vehicles in the area were also vandalised.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Ann-isul Huq, who was present with the eviction team, had to take shelter inside a workers’ union o� ce during the violence.

Law enforcers and locals said the trans-port workers – although agitated – were ini-tially cooperative when the DNCC authorities started the drive at Tejgaon truck stand in the morning.

But tensions crossed the tipping point af-ter a bulldozer shoved a covered van, which the workers said had been standing there for some time.

Police asked transport workers to remove the covered van, but no one cared. Then the bulldozer hit the covered van. Angered at the incident, workers started throwing bricks at the police, who reportedly retaliated with rubber bullets.

Demonstrating workers said two of the protesters, transport manager Bodruddoza, 55, and truck driver Jasim Uddin, 40, were

hit by bullets shot by the police. Another gar-ment worker named Masum Billah was also hit by a bullet.

Santu Chandro Das, assistant sub-inspec-tor at Dhaka Medical College Hospital police outpost, said Bodruddoza was admitted with

gunshot wounds to his both legs, Jasim was hit on his right ear and arm, and Masum had wounds on his arm and back.

All of the injured men were released after primary treatment, the ASI added.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015 | Agrahayan 16, 1422, Safar 17, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 224 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

NSA ENDS PHONE SURVEILLANCE PAGE 8

US FIRM TO BUILD COUNTRY’S TALLEST BUILDING PAGE 32

103 IP ADDRESSES USED FOR PLANNING ATTACKS PAGE 3

‘ Bangladesh well prepared for climate change negotiations’

Climate change expert Saleemul Huq tells the Dhaka Tribune’s Meer Saiful Islam that Bangladesh has done its homework ahead of the COP21 climate change conference, saying the country’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is a good one

COP21 kickso� in Parisn Meer Saiful Islam, from Paris

The much-talked climate conference, dubbed as COP21, starts here today for two weeks aimed at striking a global deal to reduce green-house gas emissions and face the challenges of the adverse impact of climate change.

The UNFCCC 21st conference of the par-ties (COP21) is scheduled to be opened in presence of over 140 heads of state and gov-ernment during the “Leaders Event” as ex-pected by the host government of France.

While Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ear-lier cancelled her tour, the recent violent attacks in Paris are being considered to have encouraged others to come here – including presidents Barack Obama, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi.

Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju will lead the Bangladesh del-egation in the conference.

Unlike in Copenhagen, the French organis-ers are bringing in the leaders at the beginning

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Truck workers throw stones and brick chips at a Dhaka North City Corporation vehicle as it takes part in an eviction drive at a truck stand in Tejgaon industrial area yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Showdown in Tejgaon EC decides to consider political parties’ requestsn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The Election Commission has decided to consider the requests that the political par-ties have placed in connection with the � rst ever partisan municipality polls slated for December 30.

Yesterday, ruling Awami League request-ed the Election Commission (EC) to allow lawmakers to participate in electioneering.

On the other hand, main political oppo-sition BNP, which does not have any rep-resentation in parliament now, has urged the commission not to allow that.

As per the new code of conduct of the elections, ministers and persons holding equivalent posts, city corporation mayors and members of parliament are not allowed to par-ticipate in election activities and campaigns.

On Saturday, following requests from BNP and ruling alliance partners Workers Party of Bangladesh and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaS-aD) to extend the election deadline, the EC said that it was not possible to consider any requests.

The last date for submission and withdraw-al of nomination papers is December 3. These parties said they needed more time to scruti-nise and award nomination to candidates.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

DT: What do you think about Bangladesh’s greenhouse emissions reduction plan submitted under the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution?Saleemul: I would say Bangladesh’s INDC plan is positive. There are two sides – the LDCs, in-cluding Bangladesh – and the rest of the world.

What the LDCs have achieved this time was not the case in the past. They have initi-ated a national debate. In every country, peo-ple have had discussions about what they are going to do, what their energy future will be,

what the industrial future will be, what level of emissions are acceptable, what should and should not be done.

This debate is also taking place in Bangla-desh. This is a good sign. Of course there will be di� erences of opinion – some will favour coal, others will favour fuel oil.

We are against fossil fuels ... let us have a debate to decide what is best for the coun-try. What INDCs do is align national interests with global interests. We are doing this for our well-being.

India and China are also doing the same. We all want to safeguard our own interests. The good thing is that we have started a de-bate about the future trajectory of Bangla-desh’s industrialisation and development.

There is no doubt China is a big pollut-er and they recognise this. They are now thinking about energy alternatives. In the post-fossil fuel era, China will be a leader.

India is also polluter, but their per capita pollution is very low. India is also debating

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

News2DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

EC decides to considerYesterday, delegations of the Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party went to the EC and placed their proposal.

Main opposition in parliament Jatiya Party has requested the commission to extend the nomi-nation submission deadline by 10 days, while the BNP said it needed at least 15 days more.

Until the government amended the existing municipality elections law, local government elections were necessarily non-partisan, mean-ing political parties could not directly nominate candidates; they could only extend support for certain contestants.

However, this year, only the elections for the mayoral candidates of these municipalities will be partisan; the � ght for the general and re-served female councillor posts will be non-par-tisan as before.

Emerging from a meeting with the chief election commissioner, Awami League delega-tion chief Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif said: “As the MPs have no executive power and they enjoy government bene� ts, they have the constitu-tional right to take part in electioneering.

Meanwhile, after meeting the CEC, BNP said that the government and the Election Commis-sion’s image will be tarnished if lawmakers and ministers take part in campaign and in� uence the polls.

Chief of the BNP delegation, senior leader M Osman Farruk, told reporters that they had re-quested the EC to create a level-playing � eld by

playing a role in releasing all the detained lead-ers, including acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Local government expert Zarina Rahman Khan said: “The elections will be partisan. The lawmakers also belong to political parties. So, the EC should think whether existing laws al-low them to participate in electioneering.”

Yesterday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said: “We have listened to what everyone [political parties] have to say. When registered political parties raise any demands, we have to consider them with due importance. We will make our deci-sions public after discussing the issues with the other commissioners.”

One provision of the new set of rules has been drawing debates o� late – the rule that po-litical parties will not be able to nominate more than one candidate for the mayor of a particular municipality.

Critics are asking what will happen if the nomination of a candidate gets cancelled dur-ing EC scrutiny? The political party that nom-inated the candidate will have no representa-tion in that municipality.

“This is a great opportunity for the Election Commission to rectify past mistakes and show that it can hold free and fair elections. It has the autonomy and the power to do it; the only thing required is will,” said noted political scientist Ataur Rahman. l

Showdown in TejgaonHowever, claims of police shooting were de-nied by Tejgaon zone Deputy Commissioner Bi-plob Kumar Sarkar. He termed the situation an isolated incident and said: “The police did not open � re on transport workers. Some people are distracting them by speaking about police shooting.” The police also did not arrest anyone in connection with the clash, he added.

During the violence, protesters allegedly assaulted The Daily Star photographer Anisur Rahman, bdnews24.com photographer Tanvir Ahmed and two city corporation employees.

Media vehicles belonging to Channel i, Inde-pendent Television, Ekushey Television, two pick-up vans of the city corporation, and DNCC

Mayor Annisul Huq’s SUV were vandalised. The adjoining Tejgaon and Sat Rasta Intersection re-mained closed to tra� c for around three hours, which caused tra� c tailbacks in the nearby areas.

Mayor caught in violenceAs the violence unfolded outside, the mayor, who went to the Tejgaon truck stand around 1pm to oversee the eviction drive, stayed inside the Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Union o� ce there. Railways Minister Md Mazibul Ho-que also went to the scene with Annisul, but left under police protection as violence broke.

“I have been running the Tejgaon bus stand eviction drive in consultation with the railways

minister and local transport leaders for the sake of the city dwellers. I will not retreat from the drive in the face of protest from some grab-bers,” Mayor Annisul told reporters while inside the union o� ce.

“The drive will continue. This mayor is not a coward who will leave amid such chaos. We are clearing government land. The prime minister is with me in this move. I am not scared of an-yone,” he said. Commenting on the injuries, he said: “I have heard that one person was injured. But I have no idea if it is true or a rumour.”

The mayor said some people were instigat-ing others to throw bricks at law enforcers and the DCC o� cials.

Also present there, Truck and Covered Van Owners Association President Rustom Ali ex-pressed his support for the eviction drive. “We have been announcing for the past three or four days to clear the truck stand. We fully support the eviction drive.” He, however, added that some quarters had been trying to prevent the move. “Some grabbers, groups of workers and mechanics who are de-pendent on the truck stand for their livelihoods are instigating others against the eviction.”

Yesterday’s eviction drive follows an earlier ultimatum set by Mayor Annisul, who told truck owners on November 8 to clear illegal infrastruc-ture from Tejgaon to increase parking space and reduce tra� c congestion in the area. l

‘ Bangladesh well prepared for climate change negotiations’energy – they are working on energy e� ciency and renewable energy. What they are saying is that they need development, so they want to go slow as far as reducing carbon emissions is concerned.

DT: What should Bangladesh’s energy path be?Saleemul: If we do not give priority to change, no path will open up. Our economy is still based on fossil fuels and it will not be easy to come out of this arrangement because of world pol-itics and vested interests. The energy e� ciency issue should be given the highest priority. At the moment, we waste energy from the house-hold to the industrial level.

DT: How do you see Bangladesh’s preparations for the crucial negotiations at COP21 in Paris?Saleemul: Bangladesh is well prepared as the prime minister, foreign minister, � nance min-ister, environment minister and senior o� -cials concerned are all well briefed. The world now wants to hear Bangladesh’s views as it is a vulnerable country. We have adopted projects worth $500 million from our own resources.

It should be kept in mind that climate

change is now a diplomatic issue. We will have to coordinate with groups like the LDCs and the Climate Vulnerable Forum.

DT: What do you say about the debate over the conditions of the climate change fund?Saleemul: We don’t want loans, we want grants. We have to make clear that whatever we have done on the home front, we have done with our own resources. We could have achieved thrice as much if the resources were available.

The developed countries pledged to provide LDCs with 0.7% of GNI, but have not followed through. There is no obligation for them to meet their commitment. But climate change funding will fall under an international treaty, making it legally binding for developed coun-tries to � nance climate change projects.

The developed countries have promised to provide � nancing of $100bn annually until 2020 to be mobilised from both the public and private sectors. They are saying that 16% of the fund will go to adaptation projects and the re-maining 84% to mitigation projects.

However, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) board recently took the view that funds should

be equally distributed between adaptation and mitigation measures. The board said the adap-tation fund should come from the public sector.

DT: How do you see Bangladesh’s negotiation preparation for the conference? Saleemul: The Bangladesh delegation and experts are now skilled negotiators. They ex-change views, they share thoughts and they gain from the feedback.

Bangladesh is recognised by other LDCs and G77 countries who support points put forward by Bangladesh during negotiations.

DT: Will Bangladesh’s plan to develop coal power weaken its position in the negotiations?Saleemul: There is no relation between coal-based power plants and the negotiations. Bang-ladesh, as an LDC, can take this course of action for the sake of development. But it is high time for the country to consider alternatives for the sake of its own interest.

DT: Bangladesh has taken a number of energy efficiency, conservation and alternative energy initiatives of its own. How can the country take

advantage of these initiatives?Saleemul: The government aims to improve e� -ciency of old power plants by replacing them with new ones, reducing ine� ciency. Bangladesh has also developed a model for commercial solar home systems, that is well acclaimed abroad.

A programme was also taken to convert diesel-driven irrigation pumps to solar power. Bangladesh deserves GCF funds to implement these programmes.

DT: What should Bangladesh do to make a case for getting grants from the climate fund?Saleemul: We have to design appropriate projects. The Economic Relations Division, which is the national designated authority for the GCF has to ensure that institutions are able to access the GCF and mobilise funds. There are allegations that projects funded by the government lack transparency.

We must make sure that implementation is transparent, be clear about why a project is un-dertaken, how the project will be of bene� t and how much it will cost. There may still be laps-es in implementation and these should be ac-knowledged. l

COP21 kicks o� in Parisof the conference. Around 40,000 people are expected to participate in the event, which runs until December 11.

The French authorities beefed up security measures as they did not allow the climate marches planned yesterday to avert risks.

Pre-COP preparatory meetings of the least developed countries, the small island de-veloping states, the African states and the Group of 77+China were going on at the Une-sco headquarters in Paris.

Over the last few days, there has been a � urry of pre-COP preparatory meetings by all the negotiating groups in preparation for the � nal round of negotiations, said Dr Saleemul Huq, fellow at the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) and director of the International Centre for Cli-mate Change and Development (ICCCAD).

Now in Paris, Saleemul said everyone is anticipating the formal opening with the heads of government coming for the inaugu-ral session.

Bangladesh will be part of the Climate Vulnerable Forum group led by President Aquino of the Philippines who will announce their Manila-Paris Declaration calling for the Long Term Goal of 1.5 Degrees, he added.

In the � rst week, the delegates would hold discussions and try to narrow down the draft text issued at the end of the last session in Bonn, while the second week is for political

negotiation to hammer out eventual disa-greements.

The key issues to be determined in Par-is will be the system to review and scale up emission reductions over time, together with a long-term goal, climate � nance, a loss and damage mechanism and the legal force of the Paris Agreement.

DemonstrationsThousands of environment activists and civil society groups from around the globe formed a human chain in Paris for an hour from 12 noon yesterday.

“We joined hands today [Saturday] against climate change and violence,” said Hoda Bar-aka, global communications manager for 350.org. “… a clear message for world leaders: keep fossil fuels in the ground and � nance a just transition to 100% renewable energy.”

The human chain stretched from the Oberkampf metro stop, where the tragic at-tacks of November 13 took place. As the gath-ering took place in Paris, hundreds of thou-sands of people took part in Global Climate Marches around the world.

After the November 13 attacks, the French authorities banned all demonstrations, in-cluding the planned Paris Climate March.

Members of the Climate Coalition 21, an alli-ance organising the march, pulled together the human chain as a last minute alternative. l

News 3D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Khoka indictedin ACC casen Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday framed charges against BNP Vice-Chairman and former Dhaka City Corporation mayor Sadeque Hossain Kho-ka and three other for embezzlement Tk37 lakh.

Judge M Ataur Rahman of the Dhaka’s Divisional Judge’s Court framed the charges rejecting discharge petitions.

The court also � xed February 15 for starting the trial by recording depositions of prosecution witnesses in the case, said Md Jahangir Hossain, public prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Com-mission. The court earlier issued arrest warrant against Khoka on June 24. Now staying in the USA, Khoka is facing several other cases.

The three other accused were present before the court yesterday. They are Abdul Baten, president of DCC supermarket at Ba-nani; Mahmudul Hassan Azad, the general secretary; and AHM Tareque, manager of the market’s parking lot. l

Recent attacks planned using 103 IP addressesn Mohammad Jamil Khan and

Ishtiaq Husain

The government has claimed to have pin-pointed 103 IP addresses, which, using the now-blocked social media platforms, took part in the planning and execution of the re-cent subversive activities in the country.

Interestingly, these IP addresses were used for carrying out the attacks on law en-forcers, the bombing at Hussaini Dalan Shia precession preparation and the shooting in a Bogra Shia mosque – all of which took part in the last couple of months.

“We have so far got details of the IP [In-ternet Protocol] addresses of 103 people and there is evidence that they had exchanged instruction on the Internet using social com-munication systems,” said Tanvir Hassan Zoha, an IT expert helping the government with cyber-security expertise.

“Using fake names, these IP addresses were used by people to give instruction to subordinates for gathering at certain places

and carry out the attacks,” said Zoha while talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said that these suspicious IP addresses came on the radar when they tried to delete some of their previous communications after the social media platforms had been blocked earlier this month.

This was done by monitoring the interna-tional gateways, through which every online activities from and into Bangladesh must pass.

Zoha, who is the focus person of the Cyber Security Programme under the government’s Information and Communications Technol-ogy Division, also said that based on past experiences, they suspect that those who used these IP addresses either belonged to Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir or banned militant out� t Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Most of these IP addresses are based out-side Dhaka and the law enforcers have been trying to locate them and bring them to book.

According to a source, there is also evi-dence that those who used these IP address-

es also have a connection with SITE Intelli-gence Group, the online militancy watchdog that � rst reported international militant groups’ claims after acts of subversions in Bangladesh.

The source also said that these Internet users could well have hired SITE to spread propaganda and create panic in the country.

IT expert Mustafa Jabbar said that the gov-ernment could not have pinpointed these 103 IP addresses when the social media websites remain open because it does not have the technology to deal with so much data.

The government has managed to do it now because blocking the social media websites has signi� cantly reduced data � ow, he said.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said yesterday that after blocking social me-dia and online communication for a certain period, they had already got sensational in-formation about criminal groups.

“We now information on how they planned, where they hid and they executed the subversive activities,” the minister said. l

Shia community passing days in fearn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Members of the minority Shia Muslim com-munity across the country are su� ering from a great sense of insecurity following the at-tacks on Hussaini Dalan in the capital and Shia Mosque in Bogra.

Most of the community people now do not stay out of their homes unless it is some-thing very important.

The Shia community people are planning to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister and Home Minister to ensure their security.

Meer Jul� qar Ali, president of the Hussaini Welfare Association, yesterday said: “We still believe it was not done by Sunni people.”

It was the doings of some quarters who are trying to create instability in the society, he said.

Asked about security, Jul� qar said: “Law enforcers are now providing security to us but still we are passing days in panic.”

When asked about the security of the Shia community Monirul Islam, joint commis-sioner of the Detective Branch (DB) of police, said law enforcers had already been deployed around the Shia mosques.

Meanwhile, visiting the Lalbagh and Mo-hammadpur Shia mosque area of the capital, this correspondent found gun-toting law en-forcers guarding the gate of the mosque.

This correspondent found the people of the Shia community panic-stricken In Bogra. They hardly talk to any unknown person.

Asked, Muja� ar Hossain, member secre-tary of the Bangladesh Imamia Welfare Asso-ciation, said after such horrendous attacks it is very natural for the community to be scared.

According to locals, there are nearly 130 Shia families in Shibganj of Bogra.

The security measures to protect Shia peo-ple in Khulna district was also beefed up.

Sayed Ibrahim Khalil Rajavi, the principal of the Shia-run Islamic Education Center, said: “Although police had been deployed in our mosques and madrasas we hired two or-ganistations to provide security to the com-munity people.”

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said special instruction had already been giv-en to law enforcers to provide security to Shia community. l

Policeman indicted in Faroque murder case escapesn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A sub-inspector indicted for the murder of sub-contractor Faroque Hossain Kamal in the capital’s Kafrul area escaped while being es-corted to a police van shortly after the hear-ing at a Dhaka court.

The court framed charges yesterday against the policeman, Rezaul Karim Patuari, a former sub-inspector at Kafrul police sta-tion, together with former sub-inspector Md Nuruzzaman and local police informer Md Ratan Babu.

Dhaka Special Court 5 Judge Dr Md Ak-taruzzaman framed the charges in the pres-ence of the three accused, rejecting their lat-est bail petitions.

Sources at the court said after the court in-dicted the trio for the murder that took place three years ago, police were escorting them

to a police van to take them to jail around 4pm, when Rezaul broke free and ran away.

Police are now looking for him, they said. Besides framing charges, the court also

� xed February 19 for the trial to start by re-cording depositions of the prosecution wit-nesses, said Shawkat Alam, special public prosecutor.

The accused had petitioned for bail af-ter being granted bail twice before – � rst by the High Court, and then from Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court, said plainti� ’s lawyer Md Abu Tayeb.

On March 1 this year, Criminal Investi-gation Department Inspector Md Mazharul Hoque submitted the charge sheet before the CMM Court, accusing the trio of murdering Faroque.

After the charge sheet was submitted, the case was transferred to the special court.

According to case statement, Nuruzzam-an, Rezaul and Babu arrested Faroque ille-gally on February 19, 2012 and demanded a ransom of Tk50,000 from his family, threat-ening to implicate him in false cases unless their demand was met.

On February 21, Kafrul police produced him before a court as a murder suspect and sought to place him in remand. The court re-jected the remand plea as it found many inju-ry marks on Faroque’s body.

On February 22, the jail authorities sent Faroque to the jail hospital as he fell severely ill. Later, he was transferred to Dhaka Medi-cal College Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on February 28.

His sister � led a murder case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in this regard on April 18, accusing Nuruzzaman, Rezaul and Babu of killing Faroque. l

A farmer sprays chemicals on his harvest to arti� cially speed up the maturation of tomatoes in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi district yesterday. Instead of letting them ripen naturally, farmers in the district have harvested green tomatoes and have been applying chemicals and pesticides to them to make them ripe. Local agricultural authorities are aware of the practice but have yet to take any action to stop it AZAHAR UDDIN

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015News4D

T

Operation against polythene bag use from todayn Tribune Report

The government is to start a massive opera-tion to stop the use of polythene bags from today, said State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam yesterday.

The Mandatory Jute Packaging Act will also be implemented from Monday, he told reporters at his o� ce.

The ministry earlier extended till today the deadline for implementing the Jute Pack-aging Act in response to repeated requests from the business community, as it sought time to make necessary arrangements for introducing jute bags in place of polythene bags.

To promote the jute sector, the govern-ment in January last year enacted the Man-datory Jute Packaging Act 2010, which says jute has to be used for all kinds of packaging across the country.

According to the law, paddy, rice, wheat, maze, fertiliser and sugar must be packaged

in jute bags. Violators will face a maximum of one-year jail sentence or a � ne of Tk50,000 or both for using non-degradable synthetic materials to package commodities.

But most of the rice mills across the coun-try are still using plastic bags, which are cur-rently prohibited.

“Using polythene bags and acting in breach of the law will lead to penalties,” Mirza Azam said.

He said 10 monitoring cells led by the min-istry’s joint secretaries had been formed to run the operation. “There is adequate supply of jute bags to meet the packaging demand in rice mills for the next two months.”

According to the ministry, around 750 million jute bags will be used annually in the country and 50% of jute will be used locally once the jute packaging act is implemented.

Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation sourc-es said even a 20% enforcement of the jute packaging act could revive the jute sector overnight. l

Khaleda to surrender in Niko graft casen Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will surrender before a Dhaka court today in connection with the Niko corruption case � led during the army-backed caretaker government in 2007.

The three-time former premier would appear before Dhaka’s Ninth Special Judge’s Court of Md Aminul Islam, her lawyers said yesterday.

“She will appear before the court around 11:30am,” defence counsel Md Sanaullah Miah told the Dhaka Tribune.

On June 18, the High Court cleared the way for trial proceedings to resume against Khaleda in the case � led by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007. The

bench of Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice Zafar Ahmed also ordered the BNP chief to surrender before the trial court within two months after its verdict reaches the trial court.

The order was given rejecting Khaleda’s petition that had challenged the legality of the opening and proceedings of the case.

The court also directed the trial court to consider Khaleda’s bail petition, on condition that she did not misuse the bail.

ACC � led the case in December 2007 alleging that then prime minister Khaleda and several others abused power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko between 2001 and 2006. l

Noab: Registration of newspapers’ online version unnecessaryn Tribune Report

The government’s initiative to get the online versions of the country’s print newspapers registered is unnecessary and illogical, said leaders of Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (Noab).

In a press statement issued yesterday, Noab’s Editors’ Council President Golam Sarwar and General Secretary Mahfuz Anam said the print newspapers are already registered under the Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and Registration) Act, 1973 and are being run following the regulations de� ned by the law.

As the newspapers are already being reg-ulated under the law, registering their online versions again is simply unnecessary and will be a hassle for everyone concerned, the statement said. l

SSC exams on Feb 1n Tribune Report

The 2016 Secondary School Certi� cate (SSC) and equivalent examinations will begin around the country on February 1.

The Ministry of Education published the SSC exam schedule on its website yesterday.

The tests will be held from 10am to 1pm in the morning session and from 2pm to 5pm in the afternoon session, according to the sched-ule. The examination will end on March 8.

Eight education boards, a madrasa educa-tion board and a technical education board will conduct the SSC, Dakhil and SSC voca-tional examinations.

The Madrasa Education Board, however, have yet to publish the schedule of Dakhil examinations.

Starting next year, students will be given the multiple-choice questions (MCQ) section of each test � rst, which will be followed by the narrative/creative section after a 10-min-ute break. l

Foreign Ministry embarrassed about anti-US remarksn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The Foreign Ministry is keeping mum about the negative remarks of two ministers against the US.

“We want to improve relationship with all countries. But this type of remark is a hin-drance to development of the relationship,” said a senior o� cial of the Foreign Ministry.

Food Minister Kamrul Islam and Home Min-ister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at a programme on Saturday made some derogatory remarks about the largest trading partner of Bangladesh.

“We do not understand what they would achieve by making such negative remarks against a country,” the o� cial said.

He said both the countries had a successful meeting on Ticfa in Washington last week and at least four ministers visited the US for at-tending di� erent programmes in November.

“In the TICFA meeting, we discussed how we can improve our trade, investment and development cooperation,” he said.

“The Bangladesh delegation also had a breakfast meeting with former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, where she wanted to know more about investment climate in Bangladesh,” he added.

More and more US companies are willing to come to Bangladesh but for that, a congenial en-vironment needs to be created, the o� cial said.

The Bangladesh delegation also had a meet-ing with AFLCIO o� cials, which put forward the motion to scrap GSP facility for Bangladesh.

“It was a very positive meeting where we discussed in details about how to make things better,” the o� cial said.

US is the single largest export destinations of Bangladeshi goods with over $6 billion ex-port last year. l

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015News 5

DT

Cox’s Bazar 29 22Dhaka 30 20 Chittagong 28 21 Rajshahi 30 20 Rangpur 29 17 Khulna 30 18 Barisal 30 18 Sylhet 29 15T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:10PM SUN RISES 6:24AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW31.0ºC 13.3ºCTeknaf SrimangalMONDAY, NOVEMBER 30

DRY WEATHER

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 5:04am | Zohr: 11:47am Asr: 3:50pm | Magrib: 5:11pmEsha: 6:31pm

PRAYERTIMES

Dhaka to host power, real estate exhibitionsn Tribune Report

Dhaka is set to host three-day exhibitions on power, solar, real estate and construction from December 3 at the International Convention City in Bashundhara.

The exhibitions – “15th Power Bangladesh,” “10th Solar Bangladesh,” “18th Con-Expo,” and “16th Real Expo” – will be organised by US-based CEMS Global and CEMS Bangladesh.

“Prime minister’s adviser on pow-er, energy, and mineral resources af-fairs, Taw� q-e-Elahi Chowdhury, will inaugurate the 15th Power Bangladesh

and 10th Solar Bangladesh exhibitions as the chief guest,” Meherun N Islam, president and managing Director of CEMS USA, told journalists at a press conference at the National Press Club yesterday.

“Fifteenth Power Bangladesh 2015 International Expo will provide the exhibitors a not-to-be-missed oppor-tunity to further establish business contacts and get face-to-face and in-teract directly with the visiting trade delegations, industrialists, importers, distributors, agencies,” she said.

The power expo would also give a special emphasis on renewable

energy, solar power with its concurrent exhibitions, to encourage investment in this sector, Meherun added.

Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain will inaugurate the 18th Con-Expo and 16th Real Expo as the chief guest.

Exhibitors from over ten countries – China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, USA and Bangladesh – will participate in the exhibitions, which will remain open for trade and business visitors from 10:30am to 7:30pm. l

HC seeks KCC list of establishments named after Saburn Tribune Report

The High Court has sought a list of all establishments and infra-structures in Khulna City Corporation (KCC) area that are named after Khan-A-Sabur, a Muslim League leader.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman yesterday asked the Khulna mayor to submit the list within 15 days.

The order was given after the court received a report on the implementation of its November 3 order that asked the KCC au-thorities to change the name of Khan-A-Sabur Road back to its original Jessore Road within seven days.

Describing the report, which the KCC mayor submitted yester-day, as not proper, the court ordered him to submit a fresh report within 15 days.

The court said it would hear the matters on December 14.Muslim League leader Sabur was a minister in Pakistan pres-

ident Ayub Khan’s regime, and collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces during the 1971 Liberation War.

His name was on a list of 600 war criminals drawn up shortly after the independence of Bangladesh.

Thousands of people from Bangladesh used Jessore Road to � ee to India when the war began in 1971.

The court yesterday also wanted to know whether Kushtia’s Islamic University authorities had complied with its previous or-der to remove another war criminal and Muslim League leader Shah Azizur Rahman’s name from the institution’s auditorium.

The university authorities were present at the session and re-plied that the order had been implemented.

Azizur was arrested in 1972 and was to be tried for war crimes, but he later became the prime minister during Ziaur Rahman’s regime.

On May 14, 2012, the High Court directed to remove the names of Sabur and Azizur after Dhaka University Professor Muntasir Mamun and journalist Shahriar Kabir � led a writ petition.

“They � led another petition with the court on August 25 this year as the 2012 order was not complied with,” plainti� ’s lawyer AK Rashedul Haq said. l

Delegation to negotiate price of piped diesel from India n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The price formula for diesel imported from India via pipeline is to be negotiated by a four-member team from Bangladesh sched-uled to visit the neighbouring country in De-cember.

The Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline will allow very large scale diesel imports from India when it comes on line, with plans to import up to 1 million metric tonnes per year.

The pipeline will be implemented through a joint venture of the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Numaligarh Re� nery Ltd (NRL), a subsidiary of India’s

state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.A team comprised of three BPC o� cials

and an o� cial of the Energy Division will hold talks to � nalise construction plans and the formulation of a joint venture company for the pipeline.

“The BPC will import 1 million metric tonnes per annum of diesel from the NRL. We hope to � nalise a work plan to construct the pipeline, discuss the formulation of the joint-venture company and � nalise the deal,” Mosleh Uddin, BPC director for operations and planning, told the Dhaka Tribune yester-day.

“Initially, 200,000 metric tonnes of fuel will be imported. The pipeline will have a

lifespan of 20 years,” he said.He added that both sides had agreed to

setting up the joint-venture company’s head-quarters in Dhaka. The company is expected to be formed this year.

O� cials said the cost of diesel imported from India would be less than what current suppliers charge locally.

The 130km green-� eld cross-border ca-pacity product pipeline will connect an NRL terminal in India’s West Bengal town of Silig-uri to a BPC depot in the town of Parbatipur in Dinajpur. It is expected to take two years to install.

Sources estimate the cost of the pipeline to be Tk450 crore, based on a preliminary

survey. A draft feasibility report for the pipe-line has been prepared.

Just seven kilometres of the pipeline will be on the Indian side of the border, with the rest falling on the Bangladeshi side.

A memorandum of understanding was signed on April 22 to import petroleum prod-ucts, especially diesel, via the pipeline. But it retains an option to transport other white oil products in the future.

Bangladesh currently imports petroleum products from around 10 countries.

The country last imported diesel from In-dia in 2007 via riverway, but the amount was very small. The import of petroleum prod-ucts by river has since been discontinued. l

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015News6D

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SC nulli� es ACC commissioners’ accountability to chairmann Tribune Report

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday up-held a High Court verdict that abolished a provision of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) act which held ACC commissioners accountable to the commission’s chairman.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division head-ed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha gave the order in response to a petition � led by ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzam-an seeking a stay order on the High Court verdict.

Bodiuzzaman’s lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said his client would � le a motion for leave to appeal with the apex court challenging the Appel-late Division’s ruling.

On November 19, the High Court ruled section 12(2) of

the ACC Act 2004 invalid and illegal, and abolished the pro-vision of making ACC com-missioners accountable to the chairman.

Section 12(2) of the act says: “The ACC commission-ers shall carry out the duties entrusted to them under the overall supervision and con-trol of the chairman and they shall also be accountable to the chairman”.

Lawyer Khurshid said the High Court ruling would re-main in force until the Su-preme Court gave another or-der on the issue.

The High Court in its ruling said the provision is illegal as it curtailed the independence of the ACC commissioners.

It delivered the verdict on a writ petition � led by Supreme Court lawyer Md Kamal Hos-sain. l

‘Islamisation, militarisation key barriers to CHT accord implementation’n Tribune Report

Islamisation and militarisa-tion are the main obstacles to implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord that was signed between Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and then Awami League gov-ernment in 1997, speakers said at a discussion yesterday.

They said the accord was still far away from full imple-mentation.

The discussion organised by Bangladesh Indigenous People Forum and Kapaeeng Foundation at The Daily Star seminar hall in the capital.

National Human Rights Commission Chairman Dr Mi-zanur Rahman told the dis-cussion that a large-scale Isla-misation process is underway in the CHT area.

“Also, the process of milita-risation should be stopped to establish trust and con� dence among the Bangalees and the indigenous people living in that area.

“The indigenous people were once the majority in the CHT area but now they have become the minority. Busi-nesses in the area are now owned by the non-indigenous communities,” he added.

But the adviser to the prime minister on international af-fairs, Dr Gowher Rizvi, said he has no idea whether Islami-sation is going on in the CHT area. “But as the chairman of National Human Rights Com-mission has said this, I should take it seriously.”

Dr Gowher also said the government would soon an-nounce a roadmap to imple-ment the CHT peace accord.

PCJSS President Jyotirin-dra Bodhipriya Larma, widely known as Santu Larma, said the government might be sincere to implement the accord but something had got in the way.

“Many of us have no idea why the accord will not be ful-ly implemented. To me, there is a group that do not want to see the accord’s implementa-tion.” l

World climate rallies put pressure on Paris summit to actn Reuters, Perth/Paris

Tens of thousands of people joined one of the biggest global days of climate change activism on Sunday, from Sydney to Berlin, to put pressure on world leaders to unite in � ghting global warming at a summit in Paris.

About 20,000 pairs of shoes were laid out in the Place de la Republique in the French capital, from high-heels to boots, to symbol-ise absent marchers after attacks by Islamic State militants killed 130 people on November 13 and led France to ban a protest that was meant to be at the heart of the global action.

Organisers said the Vatican sent a pair of shoes on behalf of Pope Francis. One activ-ist, dressed in white as an angel with large wings, held a sign saying “coal kills”.

More than 2,000 events were being held in cities including Sydney, Berlin, London, Sao Paulo and New York, making it perhaps the biggest day of climate action in history on the eve of the Paris conference which runs from November 30-December 11.

In Sydney, about 45,000 people are esti-mated to have marched through the central business district towards the Opera House. Among them Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who tweeted it was the largest cli-mate march ever held in the harbour city.

Protesters held placards reading: “There is no Planet B,” and “Say no to burning na-tional forests for electricity”.

In Hong Kong, two protesters carried sty-rofoam polar bears holding signs reading “homeless and hungry” and “please help” be-cause of melting Arctic ice. In Seoul, hundreds of protesters banged drums and danced.

Human chainActivists in France scaled back their plans when the government imposed a state of emergency after the Paris attacks and banned the march in Paris on security grounds.

But activists plan to form a human chain, with about 3,400 people joining arms along what had been the original 3km route through central Paris from the Place de la Republique to Place de la Nation.

Many environmental activists want a phase-out of fossil fuels and a shift to 100 percent renewable energies by 2050.

Some marches were held on Friday and Saturday, from Melbourne to Edinburgh. “Don’t be a fossil fool,” one Australian ban-ner said.

In the biggest single march on climate change ever staged, last year organisers es-timated 310,000 people took part in New York.

On Saturday, faith groups delivered a series of petitions signed by 1.8m people urging stronger action, collected on pilgrim-ages to Paris. “The time for talking is long over,” said Yeb Sano of the Philippines, who walked 1,500 km from Rome. l

INSIDE

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NSA ends bulk phone surveillance programmeThe US National Security Agency has ended its daily vacuuming of millions of Ameri-cans’ phone records on Sunday and replace the practice with more tightly targeted surveillance methods. PAGE 8

Scans point to possible Nefertiti burial chamber in King Tut’s tombScans of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings point to a secret chamber, archaeologists said Saturday, possibly heralding the discovery of Queen Nefertiti’s long-sought mummy. PAGE 9

Neither war nor diplomacy seen breaking Syria stalemateThe Syria war is escalating in tandem with intensi� ed diplomacy, but neither growing foreign military intervention nor a revived political track look capable of bringing an end to the four and a half year-old con� ict. PAGE 10

Geopolitical interests that are stalling talks on curbing greenhouse gas emissionsObstacles to a climate deal 21C

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They say:“Industrialised

countriesare historically

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They say:“Developing

countriesare big

pollutersnow”

Wantfinancial aidfirst to help

mitigate climatechange andadapt to it

Reluctantto committo financialobligations

Mitigationeg. minimising

the adverse effectsof climate change

(superstorms, droughts, etc)

eg. shi�ing fromcoal to renewablesources of energy

Industrialised nations

Developing countriesAdaptation

People hold placards and banners as they participate in a march ahead of the Paris World Climate Change Conference, along the main street of Adelaide REUTERS

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SOUTH ASIANepal arrests 38 in strike against Indian ‘border blockade’Police in Nepal arrested 38 protesters Sunday for trying to enforce a strike against neigh-bouring India, which is accused of orches-trating a weeks-long border blockade that has caused crippling fuel shortages. Many shops were closed in the capital Protests at the border over Nepal’s new constitution have led to crippling fuel shortages in the landlocked Himalayan nation. Nepal is heavily dependent on giant India for fuel and other supplies. -AFP

INDIAO� cials con� rm Russia hasn’t dropped India from safe destination listFollowing media reports that Goa and India have been struck o� the “safe destination” list by Russia, the Russian Information Centre based in Goa on Sunday clari� ed that a press statement it had issued earlier was “misinter-preted”. The centre operates from Goa and of-fers a helpline to thousands of Russian tourists who visit the state every year. On Sunday, a section of the media, quoting a Russian media platform, said that India have been dropped from the list of safe destination by Russia. -HT

CHINAChina police bust online gun ring, seize 1,180 gunsPolice in China, where gun possession by ordinary people is illegal, have busted an on-line gun selling operation, seizing 1,180 guns and more than 6m ammunitions, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday. A seven-month investigation that started when police happened across suspected gun parts in a package netted 18 people involved in the sale of guns in China via a website hosted on a US server. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFICJapan to resume whaling in the Antarctic despite IWC rulingJapan has decided to resume whaling in the Antarctic Ocean by the end of March after a hiatus since last year, a move likely to prompt international outrage. The International Court of Justice ruled in March last year that Japan’s decades-old whale hunt in the Antarctic should stop, prompting Tokyo to cancel the bulk of its whaling for the 2014-2015 season. The Japanese Fisheries Agency on Friday no-ti� ed the International Whaling Commission that Japan will resume whaling in the 2015-2016 season under a revised plan. The plan, which calls for cutting annual minke whale catches by two-thirds to 333, is scienti� cally reasonable, the agency said. - REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST4 Egypt policemen killed in attack claimed by ISMasked gunmen on a motorcycle killed four Egyptian policemen south of Cairo Saturday, the interior ministry said, in an attack claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group. The police-men died when the assailants � red on their vehicle in an area between the famed Giza pyr-amids west of Cairo and the Saqarra pyramids to the south, the ministry said. -AFP

Protests in UK, Spain as momentum builds to join Syria strikesn AFP, London

Some 5,000 people protested in London Sat-urday against potential British participation in Syria airstrikes, as political momentum mounted to broaden the � ght against Islam-ic State (IS) jihadists.

Prime Minister David Cameron on Thurs-day laid out the case for British jets, already bombing IS targets in Iraq, to join France, the US and others in targeting IS strongholds in neighbouring Syria.

In an echo of that protest, thousands gathered in the British capital carrying plac-ards reading “Don’t bomb Syria”, “Drop Cameron, not bombs”, and “Don’t add fuel to the � re”.

Speaking in Malta on Saturday, Cameron

reiterated his view that IS is a threat to Brit-ain and conducting airstrikes in Syria would be the “right thing for Britain to do”.

Spain warySome 5,000 people also protested in Madrid against military action, with many wary of Spain becoming a target for militants again after al-Qaeda-inspired bombers blew up commuter trains in the Spanish capital in 2004, killing 191 people.

Many Spaniards believe the attack was in retaliation for their country’s involvement in the Iraq war.

With December 20 polls fast approach-ing, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s con-servative government has held o� on any decision.

Britain dividedBritain’s potential participation in Syria airstrikes has proven deeply divisive, with Cameron having lost a parliamentary bal-lot on military action against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in 2013, leading to a humili-ating climbdown.

He now insists he will not hold a vote un-til he is sure he has enough support.

The main opposition Labour party is torn, with the vote threatening to fracture the party and undermine leader Jeremy Cor-byn.

Long-time anti-war campaigner Corbyn is opposed to airstrikes, but several mem-bers of the party have signalled they will rebel amid talk that some could resign over the issue. l

NSA ends bulk phone surveillance programmen Reuters, Washington, DC

The US National Security Agency has ended its daily vacuuming of millions of Ameri-cans’ phone records on Sunday and replace the practice with more tightly targeted sur-veillance methods.

As required by law, the NSA shut down its wide-ranging surveillance programme at 11:59PM (EST) Saturday and replaced it with the new, scaled-back system, the White House said.

The transition is a long-awaited victory for privacy advocates and tech companies wary of broad government surveillance at a time when national security concerns are heightened in the wake of the Paris attacks earlier this month.

It comes two and a half years after the controversial programme was exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The move, mandated by a law passed six months ago, represents the greatest reduc-tion of US spying capabilities since they ex-panded dramatically after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Under the Freedom Act, the NSA and law enforcement agencies can no longer col-lect telephone calling records in bulk in an e� ort to sni� out suspicious activity. Such records, known as “metadata,” reveal which numbers Americans are calling and what time they place those calls, but not the con-tent of the conversations.

Instead analysts must now get a court order to ask telecommunications compa-nies like Verizon Communications to enable monitoring of call records of speci� c people or groups for up to six months.

Some Republican lawmakers want to preserve bulk collection until 2017, citing the November 13 Paris attacks in which 130 people died. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killings.

But any new surveillance measures are unlikely to become law ahead of the Novem-ber 2016 presidential elections.

A presidential review committee con-

cluded the surveillance regime did not lead to a single clear counter-terrorism break-through that could be directly attributed to the programme.

Metadata collected by the NSA over the past � ve years will be preserved for “data in-tegrity purposes” through February 29, the White House said. l

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015World 9

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USAColorado shooting suspect said ‘no more baby parts’The man accused of opening � re at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado and killing three people said “no more baby parts” while he was being arrested, NBC News and other me-dia reported, citing unidenti� ed law enforce-ment sources. The utterance from suspect Robert Lewis Dear, 57, apparently referenced the organisation’s health services, which in-clude abortion, and its role in delivering fetal tissue to researchers. It could hint at a possible motive for the rampage on Friday. -REUTERS

THE AMERICAS3 kids among six dead in new Honduras massacreAttackers armed with guns and machetes killed at least six people -- three of them children -- on Saturday in Honduras in the third massacre in a week, police said. The assailants burst into a home in the village of Nueva Frontera in the northwest of the country, police spokesman Le-onel Sauceda said, with two others left wound-ed in the brutal attack. Honduras is rated one of the world’s most violent countries. -AFP

UKBritish minister resigns amid bullying allegationsA British government minister resigned on Saturday over allegations that bullying by a party activist he appointed was a key factor in the suicide of another young activist. Grant Shapps, international development minister and a former Conservative party chairman, had in 2014 appointed Mark Clarke as a youth campaign organiser. Elliott Johnson, a 21-year-old former writer for a Conservative party blog, alleged he had been bullied by Clarke in a suicide note found after he had killed himself by laying in front of a train in September. Clarke, who has been expelled from the party, denies any wrongdoing. Shapps has been replaced by Nick Hurd as international development minister. -AFP

EUROPEPoll: 3-way tie ahead of Spanish general electionSpain’s ruling conservatives are locked in a virtual tie with the main opposition Social-ists and new centre-right party Ciudadanos, three weeks ahead of a general election, a poll showed Sunday. Prime Minister Mari-ano Rajoy’s Popular Party has 22.7% sup-port, Ciudadanos has 22.6% and the Social-ists have 22.5% , meaning no party would be able to secure a parliamentary majority, the poll published in the centre-left daily El Pais showed. New anti-austerity party Po-demos had 17.1% support, according to the Metroscopia survey of 1,200 eligible voters carried out November 23-25. -AFP

AFRICA5 killed by female suicide bombers in CameroonFive people were killed on Saturday in a double suicide attack by two women in the restive far north of Cameroon, the governor of the region said. The initial death toll is seven dead, including the two suicide bomb-ers. Two soldiers who had been stationed to � ght the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram were also seriously wounded. -AFP

Scans point to possible Nefertiti burial chamber in King Tut’s tombn AFP, Luxor

Scans of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings point to a se-cret chamber, archaeologists said Satur-day, possibly heralding the discovery of Queen Nefertiti’s long-sought mummy.

Using hi-tech infrared and radar tech-nology, researchers are trying to unravel the mystery over the legendary monarch’s resting place.

A wife of Tutankhamun’s father Akhen-aten, Nefertiti played a major political and religious role in the 14th century BC, and the discovery of her tomb would be a ma-jor prize for Egyptologists.

Experts are now “approximately 90%” sure there is a hidden chamber in Tut-ankhamun’s tomb, Egypt’s Antiquities Minister Mamduh al-Damati told a news conference.

The scans were spurred by a study by renowned British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves that said Nefertiti’s lost tomb may be hidden in an adjoining chamber.

Cult of sun godDamati emphasised that the � ndings were “preliminary” results, and a Japanese expert working with the archaeologists needed a month to analyse the scans.

Experts carried out a preliminary scan of the tomb earlier this month using in-fra-red thermography to map out the tem-perature of its walls.

Damati said at that time that the anal-ysis showed “di� erences in the tempera-tures registered on di� erent parts of the northern wall” of the tomb.

But the minister and Reeves had di� ered

on whose mummy they expected to � nd.According to Reeves, professor of ar-

chaeology at the University of Arizona, Tutankhamun, who died unexpectedly, was buried hurriedly in an underground chamber probably not intended for him.

Reeves’s theory is that priests would have been forced to reopen Nefertiti’s tomb 10 years after her death because the

young pharaoh’s own mausoleum had not yet been built.

But Damati believes that such a cham-ber, if found adjoining Tutankhamun’s tomb, may contain Kiya, another of Akhen-aten’s wives since Nefertiti, along with her husband Akhenaten, practiced monothe-ism (the cult sun god Aton) for years to earn the wreath of the priests of the kingdom. l

Russia slaps economic sanctions on Turkey over jet downingn AFP, Moscow

Moscow on Saturday slapped economic sanctions on Turkey in the latest tit-for-tat move over the downing of a Russian war-plane, as Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Er-dogan said he was “saddened” by the jet incident.

With the row showing no sign of abating, the Kremlin released the text of a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that announced an end to charter � ights be-tween the two countries, a ban on Russian businesses hiring any new Turkish nationals and import restrictions on certain Turkish goods.

It also asked Russian tour operators to re-frain from selling trips to Turkey, normally a top holiday destination for Russian tourists.

The new measures come into e� ect from January 1, 2016. The list of Turkish goods subject to “bans or limitations” has not yet been made public.

The Kremlin announcement came just

hours after Erdogan made his most concil-iatory comments to date over the shooting down of the jet, saying he wished Tuesday’s incident had never happened.

Turkey claims the Su-24 warplane strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warn-ings to change course, but Russia has insists it did not cross the border from Syria.

The incident is thought to be the � rst downing of a Russian plane by a Nato mem-ber in more than half a century.

He also renewed a call to Putin for a face-to-face meeting in Paris on the sidelines of a UN climate summit on Monday.

But the Turkish leader stopped short of apologising for the incident, as a furious Pu-tin had earlier demanded.

“Russia is important for Turkey as much as Turkey is important for Russia. Both countries cannot a� ord to give up on each other,” Erdogan said.

A day earlier the Turkish leader had struck a more combative tone, warning Moscow not to “play with � re” as Russia

announced it was halting visa-free travel for Turkish visitors, also from January 1.

Turkey’s foreign ministry on Saturday warned its citizens against non-essential travel to Russia “until the situation becomes clear.”

One of the Russian pilots aboard the downed plane was shot dead in Syria af-ter parachuting from the burning aircraft, while the second was found safe and sound. One Russian soldier was killed in a rescue operation.

Moscow has ruled out any military re-sponse, but has pledged broad measures tar-geting entire sectors of the Turkish economy including tourism, agriculture and possibly key energy projects.The two countries have established signi� cant trade ties in recent years and Russia is already energy-poor Tur-key’s biggest oil and gas supplier. But they are on opposing sides in the Syrian con� ict, with Ankara backing rebels � ghting to topple Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad while Moscow is one of his last remaining allies. l

Queen Nefertiti (1370-1330 BC) on � ve Piastres Banknote in Egypt BIGSTOCK

World10DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

ANALYSIS

Neither war nor diplomacy seen breaking Syria stalematen Reuters, Beirut

The Syria war is escalating in tandem with intensi� ed diplomacy, but neither growing foreign military intervention nor a revived political track look capable of bringing an end to the four and a half year-old con� ict.

The risk is a more ferocious proxy war be-tween President Bashar al-Assad’s main allies - Russia and Iran - and Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States - which back rebels � ghting to topple him.

The downing of a Russian warplane over Syr-ia by Turkey has raised tensions, complicating the UN-backed political process just launched in Vienna that already faced big challenges.

Militarily, nearly two months of Russian air strikes twinned with army ground o� ensives backed by Iranian forces and Lebanon’s Hez-bollah have shored up Assad in western Syria. The Russian-backed ground o� ensives have made gains in Latakia province near the Turk-ish border, and in southern Aleppo. But they have not tipped the war decisively Assad’s way.

Assad’s enemies in the rebellion, pum-melled by Russian bombers, have meanwhile received new foreign military support of their own, notably more US-made TOW anti-tank missiles from Saudi Arabia that helped them stave o� assaults in some areas.

Rebels were shown using one of these mis-siles to destroy a Russian helicopter grounded on a rescue mission to try to help pilots from the downed warplane, capturing the interna-tional dimensions of the war. A Syrian military source told Reuters the weapons are being used extensively and are having an impact.

The rebel cause could receive a political boost if a Saudi-led e� ort succeeds in uni� ng scattered opposition ranks next month: the idea is to forge an opposition that re� ects the weight of groups � ghting on the ground.

Meanwhile, attacks by Islamic State (IS) in Paris and its shooting downing of a Rus-sian civilian airliner over Sinai have brought new focus to the other war raging in Syria: that against the jihadist group that controls swathes of the east.

Facing French and intensifed Russian air strikes in response, Islamic State is on the backfoot. It has recently lost ground to US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces, the Syrian army, and other rebels who are � ghting both Assad and Islamic State.

The prospects of Assad’s foreign friends and enemies joining forces in the � ght against Islamic State in Syria appear dim, however. US President Barack Obama said on Tues-day Russia was welcome to join the alliance against IS, but must redirect its air strikes away from rebels towards the jihadists. Rus-sia says publicly it is attacking IS targets.

The fundamental divergence over wheth-er Assad should be removed between the US and Saudi Arabia on one hand, and Iran and Russia on the other, may well undo the Vien-na process launched on October 30. Its aims include a cease-� re and talks between the government and opposition leading to a new constitution and elections.

“The political impact of the Russian es-calation thus far is more signi� cant than the actually military impact,” said Noah Bon-sey, senior analyst with International Crisis Group, in reference to the Vienna meeting.

“There isn’t much reason to be optimistic about (Vienna’s) potential to really make ma-jor headway towards resolving the con� ict, but at least it has got everyone talking again. Most importantly it has given the opposi-tion and its backers a reason to try to ... sort out the opposition’s own internal equation, which is long overdue.”

The con� ict which spiralled out of an up-rising against Assad’s rule will soon enter its sixth year having killed about 250,000 peo-ple and driven more than half of Syrians from their homes. Refugees from the war have caused a crisis in Europe.

Militarily, the Russian-backed o� ensives have focused primarily in areas of western Syria crucial to Assad’s survival and where Islamic State has little or no presence.

The most notable progress by the army and its allies against anti-Assad rebels has been in the northwestern province of Latakia and to the south of Aleppo, though rebels this week launched a counter-attack there. The army and its allies are trying to capture the main Damascus-Aleppo highway from rebels.

The government side has also recorded gains against Islamic State forces to the east of Aleppo, where it recaptured an air base, and in Homs province, where they have driv-en jihadists from villages seized recently by the group.

But in Hama, rebels equipped with plenti-ful supplies of TOW missiles have advanced at the government’s expense, capturing a town on the north-south highway and man-aging to halt an attack in the strategically vi-tal Ghab Plain.

The Syrian military source said the re-sults of the o� ensives to date included the destruction of rebel command and control structures and logistics. The pace of advanc-es was not as important as securing captured territory, he said.

Yet rebels, working more closely together in response to the o� ensives, are striking a de� ant and con� dent tone, buoyed by their success in Hama province. They view As-sad’s dependence on foreign allies as a sign of weakness.

“Everyone has the right to dream, and Pu-tin dreams of eliminating the Syrian revolu-tion. This is only a dream,” said Jamil Saleh, head of a Free Syrian Army rebel group.

“The Russian intervention, while leav-ing more destruction, has raised morale and brought more unity in (rebel) ranks and this is positive,” said Idris Raad, a senior � gure in Failaq al-Sham, an Islamist insurgent group.

International Crisis Group’s Bonsey said: “In terms of the regime’s � rst priority - the war against the anti-IS opposition groups - it continues to be a mixed bag from the regime’s perspective ... there’s nothing we would characterise as fundamentally shifting the balance of power.” l

INSIDE

Like other low-lying nations, Bangladesh is already experiencing the adverse consequences of climate change.

Dhaka Tribune’s report on the plight of farmers in Satkhira chronicles the worrying extent to which crop-lands are already being lost to salinity

caused by rising sea levels.Bangladesh simply can’t a� ord to lose large amounts of agricultural land to

sea water inundation and increased salinity. The problem will become much more severe if the Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP21), starting in Paris today, fails to bring about long term reductions in greenhouse emissions to help stem the threat posed by rising sea levels.

If entire districts become unsuitable for agriculture, and food production plummets, millions more families will be forced to abandon their � elds and move to cities like Dhaka for work. It is conceivable that Dhaka itself, which is only 3 metres above sea level, could eventually have to be abandoned.

We must act now to prevent these dire scenarios.Bangladesh should push for an international agreement to tax fossil fuel

consumption. Taxing fossil fuels will motivate households and industries to conserve energy and invest in renewable energy. The revenue raised from taxing fossil fuels will also allow governments to reduce other taxes on consumption like VAT and import duties. If fossil fuel taxes are implemented in conjunction with cuts in other taxes, the world’s consumption of fossil fuels can be radically reduced without causing economic hardship.

As a nation on the frontline, Bangladesh should take a lead in supporting proposals for globally co-ordinated taxes on the use of fossil fuels.

The world needs to provide � nancial and political backing for a global clean energy revolution to reduce per capita greenhouse emissions and to provide more sustainable sources for economic growth. If COP fails to make progress, our ability to adapt and improve resilience to climate change will be severely compromised.

The world must act now to give � nancial and political backing for a clean energy revolution

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The true test of COP21 is how it helps countries like Bangladesh

11D

TEditorialMONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

BIGSTOCK

Disaster capitalism in Bangladesh

The Burmese twinUnlike their sisters in arms, Benazir Bhutto and Aung San Suu Kyi had to su� er years of unconscionable imprisonment. Both survived debilitating years in exile. Both, nourished over the years by the droplets of continuous support from their followers, gradually crystallised into fragile stalagmites of democracy

PAGE 13

PAGE 12

PAGE 14

Double O wealthIf someone asks me to describe Spectre, the new � lm in one line, then I will say: Placement, product placement. The whole movie appeared more like a catalogue on high living

The overall Shia population in Bangladesh is so microscopic that tensions with them are not even possible. Thursday’s shooting inside the Shia mosque, as well as the earlier Hosaini Dalan bombing, borrows directly from the Pakistan script

n Khokon Kamali

The logic of the “war on terror” script continues to wreak havoc across the Third World. On the one hand, the screams of pitiless war by drone and

proxy armies and clash of civilisations are played out on the bodies of Muslim citizens of Europe and America.

On the other hand, in the third world, power groups who in the past have latched on to whatever force was useful, have now fastened onto a so-called “Islamist” identity as a way to gain money, arms, and supplies.

From whom do they gain their orders and support? Are the controllers only here, inside, or far away as well? Is it too conspiratorial to suggest that the same forces that claim to be � ghting these forces are also in some ways responsible for their birth?

No, there doesn’t have to be a direct link from the � rst to the Third World, from bank to pocket.

It can be simpler: When you make the war on terror a lucrative business, you are inaugurating the age of what Naomi Klein dubbed “disaster capitalism.”

And such a form of capitalism has enthusiasm on both the side of demand (state power, overseas and here) and supply (de-territorialised forms of power, under whatever “� ag” is useful).

It is endlessly documented that the age of WOT has allowed war pro� teers, both Western and local partners (client state and its disciplinarians) in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, to reap millions in the shadows of the endless war.

War is big business, and the WOT is the

most pro� table business in the history of modern warfare. On one side are states that requisition funds for this war and take away rights from citizens, and on the other a shadowy “transnational force” de� ned by the state. All the hallmarks of cabal capitalism and price-� xing.

A pro� table business like McDonald’s has to expand and open new franchises. It also needs new customers. And capitalism’s genius is that customers appear from thin air; they make themselves appear. Even if they don’t exist, if you speak their name enough times, they will exist.

Each group of victims of recent Islamist attacks is a non-entity in Bangladesh with no long history of any tension (or even engage-ment) with any so-called Islamist force.

The most nonsensical category of all is “blogger.” Blog is a technology; if it was a de� ner of a community or ideology, then the larger communities of Bangladesh would be

Facebookistan, Whatsappiliya, and SMSdesh. As for “atheist blogger,” this is a � ction.

The number of vocal atheists could always be counted on one hand, and their elevation to importance was only because someone decided to kill four of them (and then call them atheists posthumously) in order to � re the � rst salvo in this new franchise war.

Imagine the frustration of Western jour-nalists when they arrive pell-mell to Bangla-desh and can’t � nd any “atheist bloggers” or even any “bloggers” to interview.

This is because there was never any particular a� nity with this identity, and whoever had any with the second group has realised that participating in interviews only fans the � ames.

“Foreigners” were targeted next so as to widen the circle, and so non-ideological was this process that the second victim was a Japanese small agricultural businessman who had converted to Islam.

Speaking of “foreigners,” a Japanese couple was attacked in a robbery two weeks ago, and this week a Japanese woman was killed in what smells like a robbery by people close to her. But because neither of these � ts the drama of the “Islamist” hit, they became non-news instantly. Because violence is non-news.

Contract killing is a business now in Bangladesh, which has no ideology. Only in a few dramatic cases like the seven � oating bodies of Narayanganj did the chain of investigation lead somewhere (leading to the same RAB that is to be our saviour against “terrorism”).

The Sagar-Runi double-murder (with brutality that rivals any of the so-called “Islamist” killings) is unsolved and will remain so forever.

The shooting of a political mastan captured on CCTV in Dhaka, unsolved. Murders happen all the time, as both state and citizen vie with each other for the tools of violence.

And in a porous nation, there are no boundaries, the chain (and weapons) of violence runs through everything.

Bogra is known for yogurt. It is not known for a Shia population. The overall Shia population in Bangladesh is so microscopic (less than a digit in the census) that tensions with them are not even possible.

Thursday’s shooting inside the Shia mosque, as well as the earlier Hosaini Dalan bombing, borrows directly from the Pakistan script, itself an unimaginative borrowing from elsewhere.

But borrowed and unimaginative as it may be, it works to destabilise the country. And after some time, the reality that does not exist will become real.

Carry out enough false attacks on minority communities, and they will � ee the country -- they won’t care about what master game is going on (I imagine asylum applications to Europe and America by self-proclaimed “atheists” are on the rise, and Shias will be next).

After Bogra, Prof Ali Riaz wrote a note on Facebook where he says that if either the gov-ernment or opposition attempts to gain polit-ical mileage from these events (as has already happened with the mutual blame-passing), the price will be paid by the citizens.

He means the citizens of a destabilised and ruined country, as has already happened with Pakistan.

And he probably knows (though he does not say) that if a total breakdown comes, most of the members of government and opposition probably have a safe route out of the country.

It will be we, the citizens, with nowhere else to go (or who do not wish to go), who will be left holding the burning map.

Prof Ali Riaz, in his writing, seems to be carrying an almost utopian wish that facing this dangerous new turn, for the � rst time since 1990, all political forces may unite to face this danger together. Will they listen, or will they let things fall further apart? l

Khokon Kamali is a writer and businessman.

Disaster capitalism in Bangladesh

The overall Shia population in Bangladesh is so microscopic (less than a digit in the census) that tensions with them are not even possible. Thursday’s shooting inside the Shia mosque, as well as the earlier Hosaini Dalan bombing, borrows directly from the Pakistan script, itself an unimaginative borrowing from elsewhere

War and capitalism go hand in hand BIGSTOCK

Warfare can be big business

Opinion12DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Opinion 13D

T

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

n FS Aijazuddin

Anyone who believes in the transmigration of souls might be forgiven for thinking that the spirit of the late Benazir Bhutto has been

reincarnated in another Daughter of the East: Aung San Suu Kyi. No two female leaders in this region share such telling similarities. Not the Sri Lankan Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike nor her o� spring daughter Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga, not India’s Mrs Indira Gandhi, nor her daughter-in-law Mrs Sonia Gandhi, not the Bangladeshi Sheikh Hasina nor her nemesis Khaleda Zia.

Most of them were either widows or daughters of martyrs. Each of them has had to pay that cruel admission fee to enter a political arena in which the gladiators are men. Unlike their sisters in arms, Benazir

Bhutto and Aung San Suu Kyi (the Burmese call her Daw Suu) had to su� er years of unconscionable imprisonment. Both survived debilitating years in exile (Benazir Bhutto outside Pakistan, Aung San Suu Kyi within Myanmar).

Both, nourished over the years by the droplets of continuous support from their followers, gradually crystallised into fragile stalagmites of democracy.

And, � nally, when allowed by generals to contest in a general election, both campaigned tirelessly, won with commanding majorities, but then found power denied them by a military junta. To gain what was rightfully theirs, they had to agree on an unworkable compromise which left them sandwiched between a khaki-minded president above and a khaki-uniformed army chief below. 

It must be galling for Daw Suu as it was for Ms Bhutto to be conjoined to the military, to be treated as a weak supplicant, just as it cannot be easy for any democratically elected leader to accept that the ballot paper, in dexterous hands, can be folded like some malleable origami into a bullet.

There is not much critics of Ms Bhutto’s widower Mr Asif Zardari are prepared to forgive him. They would, however, willingly join his admirers in lauding the award he made in 2012 of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Award of Democracy to Aung San Suu Kyi. It shares a back place on her mantelpiece, overshadowed by the more prestigious

Nobel Peace Prize she gained in 1990, and the US Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

To be honoured thus, even before winning an election, places the recipient on such a high pinnacle of expectation that the only way down would appear to be along the slopes of failure and disappointment. Benazir Bhutto learned this to her cost; Daw Suu has yet to.

Both Pakistan and Myanmar (then Burma) have seen decades of military rule since they achieved independence in 1947-48. At the time, they thought they had quit the British Empire.

Instead, each is haunted by the ghost of the earlier relationship between the Mughal court and the East India Company. The emperor may have reigned from Delhi, but the East India Company ruled from Calcutta (now Kolkata). Stretch that analogy a little further and one can detect in the present civil-military equation a � ligree of parallel courts, parallel justice, parallel economies, parallel commercial interests, parallel policies, and parallel governance.

Is there a constitutional way that the Pakistan Army (not its Naval and Air Forces, which like the BB award on Daw Suu’s mantelpiece are accorded second place) can share power with democratically elected civilian governments? Is there a way of dividing authority without diluting accountability? Or will each continue to approach the National Action Plan from separate sides of a common imperative?   

One security analyst has argued that while civilian governments have the authority, the military machine has the expertise. That is why in the last resort, an American president in any serious emergency calls out the National Guard, and why in the � rst resort a beleaguered civilian government in Pakistan always calls on the military to rescue the public from its own mishaps.    

Pakistan is less a democracy than a laboratory for civil-military relations. If there had been a Nobel Prize for Shadow Governance, Pakistan would have been its � rst recipient. Myanmar quali� es for next year’s award.

Meanwhile, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi as the e� ective head of an NLD-led government would be well-advised to send a team of her advisors to Pakistan to learn from our experiments. They will soon distinguish, as our elected prime minister is being taught to do by the army chief, between what is possible but impractical, and what is practical but impossible.

Who knows? Our leaders may themselves learn something from her. Her doctors fret that she is seriously underweight. She weighs only 48kg. That is light even for a small-limbed Burmese. Perhaps Ms Benazir Bhutto’s successor as prime minister and his weighty cabinet colleagues might learn from the example of her Burmese twin how to limit their appetites to her body weight. l

FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main English-language newspaper. This article was � rst published in Dawn. 

The Burmese twin

Unlike their sisters in arms, Benazir Bhutto and Aung San Suu Kyi had to su� er years of unconscionable imprisonment. Both survived debilitating years in exile. Both, nourished over the years by the droplets of continuous support from their followers, gradually crystallised into fragile stalagmites of democracy

The late Benazir Bhutto has found a spiritual successor in Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi

What would they say to each other? REUTERS

Opinion14DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

n Towheed Feroze

By this time, almost all of you have seen the new Bond � lm. Some may have even attended the black tie premier at the cineplex.

Just imagine Spectre releasing simultaneously with theatres in the UK and the US.

Ah, well, some people may call it a � lm, I prefer to term it a lengthy advert with some essential thrills thrown in. A movie should have twists which Spectre certainly does not have.

We all knew from the trailer released months ago that the “dark secret” from Bond’s past would be some relative emerging as a villain. So, no one in the cinema hall gasped when the baddie turned out to be a foster brother.

In fact, people seemed more interested in the Nehru jacket the villain was wearing.

Hmm, nice cut, must get one.Who cares as long as we get the

quintessential Bond items: Achingly attractive cars, stunning women with a penchant for dangerous liaisons, witty lines that we would want to use later on in real life (without much success of course), exotic locations and, naturally, top-class clothing.

Add to that all other small lifestyle issues aimed at the masses. This means, if Bond is seen taking a swig from a Heineken beer can, then all other lagers are put in the obsolete list.

Yes, Corona included!For four decades, 007 has been the arbiter

of the ultimate male and female fashion with a little bit of male chauvinism thrown in.

I mean, come on, however hard Bond tries, he can never be the person who looks at a beautiful woman and thinks “well let’s take her and tackle a global crisis,” instead, he says to himself: “Great, with such a compan-ion, dealing with megalomaniacs bent on world domination will be thrilling and when we are done, a bottle of Bollinger, a cozy bed, and some wild uninhibited love-making will compensate for the hardships faced.”

Stands to reason, if you save mankind, you can demand certain privileges.

Anyway, if someone asks me to describe Spectre, the new � lm in one line, then I will say: Placement, product placement.

The whole movie appeared more like a catalogue on high living. Despite such hullabaloo about making movie scripts appear non-o� ensive to women, our super spy has his own formula.

Though, in recent years, the wanton sex of 007 has come down radically.

 In the past, especially in the 60s and 70s, every other woman who came in touch with 007 in the � lms had to go through Bond’s -- what can be termed as -- the Thunderball bedroom experience.

Nowadays, only a few head for the master bedroom while others get the quantum of solace treatment.

They say the current 007 is emotionally vulnerable; he wants to love the old fashioned way. Really! Well, there has to be a genuine poll to � nd out if fans want a lover-

boy hero or a mean, heartless one.Would the viewers want a Mrs Bond or

a permanent girl appearing in all the future � lms? I doubt it! That will scare the living daylights out of them.

Anyway, the main idea for 007 in this new age is not about the � lm or the plot, it’s about promoting high-end fashion and lifestyle items.

Just imagine where Aston Martin would have ended up if the spy didn’t drive it or showcase it in most � lms, propelling it to cult status.

Just say that you drive an Aston Martin, and feel the adrenaline. Of course, it doesn’t sound banal, the air of sophistication in the line will linger for eternity.

Interestingly, 007’s commercial campaign is now aimed more at Asian markets where the money is ever rising, supported by a general desire to look the best.

I won’t go anywhere else but focus on Dhaka. One of my colleagues (like many others) is obsessed with Tom Ford sunglasses worn by Craig in the � lm; he also wants to get a replica of the Aston Martin DB5, the car featured in Gold� nger and used now and then to top up 007’s pizazz.

My colleague is possibly not rich enough to get an Aston but there are plenty of people in Bangladesh who can buy one. If Tk3 to 4 crore can be handed out for a Jaguar, Aston is not out of reach.

Someday, not far away from now, we shall see the Bond car on Dhaka roads, zooming past, with some successful high-� ier behind the wheels.

Well, the leitmotif of the movie seems to be this: Work hard, make money, live like Bond, think of dying some other day. I see from the newspapers that the latest Omega watch worn by Daniel Craig is already in Dhaka.

The wedding season is upon us and an advice to would be mothers-in-law: If you want a son-in-law who will be a slave to all your (and your daughter’s) desires, you know which watch to get!

With so many a� uent people in Dhaka, one won’t be surprised, if, for New Year’s, some rich guy decides to get Bollinger champagne by the crates.

Now what can the middle class guy do to

get that “007” feeling? A local attire brand, Ecstasy, is promoting a 007 dinner jacket set.

Beluga caviar may be out of bounds but strawberries smothered with cream washed down with some Prosecco won’t be a strain.

All this sounds decadent, right? I agree, but deep down, in all of us, there is admiration for the Bond lifestyle. Perhaps one side of us would love to taste it.

After all, nobody does it better than 007!     The license is to kill but not literally; it

aims to � nish you with merchandise.It’s double O money making all the way for

the fashion and lifestyle companies.In return, the consumer gets that

incomparable feeling when a voice within them whispers: Bond … James Bond. l

Towheed Feroze is a journalist working in the development sector.

Double O wealthThe Bond franchise has become about promoting a certain lifestyle

If someone asks me to describe Spectre, the new � lm in one line, then I will say: Placement, product placement. The whole movie appeared more like a catalogue on high living

Product placements, such as the Aston Martin, feature prominently in Bond � lms BIGSTOCK

15D

TBusinessMONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Analysts: Gulf unwilling to tighten oil taps aloneSaudi-led Gulf OPEC members will reject pressure to shoulder the cost of cutting oil production alone despite warnings that prices risk sliding further, o� cials and analysts say. PAGE 17

Fossil fuel divestment drive gathers momentumThe campaign to sell o� investments in fossil fuel projects, particularly those involving coal, is no longer a fringe movement as big players like banks and investment funds get on board. PAGE 18

Move to invite unused spectrum before Robi-Airtel merger The government is taking preparation to invite unused 1800MHz and 2100 MHz band spectrum auction soon before completion of the much talk merger between Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh, sources said. PAGE 16

Capital market snapshot: SundayDSE

Broad Index 4,580.8 0.2% ▲

Index 1,100.3 -0.1% ▼

30 Index 1,730.8 0.1% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 4,050.2 16.3% ▲

Turnover in Mn Volume 122.5 19.6% ▲

CSEAll Share Index 13,985.8 0.1% ▲

30 Index 12,289.6 0.0% ▲

Selected Index 8,510.2 0.0% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 291.4 -8.6% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 9.6 -6.1% ▼

INSIDE

0.39%5.86%

5.82%

28.13%

3.82%

Source: BB

58.98%

NRB banks

Foreign banks

Financial Institutions

State owned banks

Specialized banks

Private commercial banks

PERCENTAGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT COMPLAINTS

Embezzlement complaints against banks on the rise n Jebun Nesa Alo

Piles of embezzlement complaints lodged against commercial banks are on the rise.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) published an annual report on such complaints from a large num-ber of clients at its headquarters yesterday.

Around 56% of total complaints of for-geries were received against commercial banks by the Financial Integrity and Cus-tomer Services Department of BB, accord-ing to the report.

The report brought to light the incidents of fraudulence in banks where most cases were related to loans and advances.

Moinul Islam, proprietor of Sylhet Op-ulance, applied for a loan of Tk7 crore to a private commercial bank to construct a res-idential hotel in his own property.

Though the loans were sanctioned by the bank in two phases, Moinul failed to with-draw the sum of money as some o� cials of the respective bank pocketed Tk3 crore.

He � led the complaint with the Bangla-desh Bank in this regard.

Moinul’s fund was stolen using his signed blank cheques that were kept in the

bank as collateral of the loan. BB Sylhet o� ce conducted a special in-

spection about the forgery and found the complaint true. The central bank settled the dispute, however.

Like Moinul, Alim Uddin faced the same fate. Alim is a UK expatriate who � led a complaint that reads his Tk40 lakh savings in a private commercial bank were stolen.

In his complaint, Alim said he pur-chased an Mudraba Term Deposit Receipt of Tk40 lakh in the year 2011 from Kanaighat Branch, Sylhet, of a private bank.

After some days, he came back from UK and went to the branch to look for his de-

posit. The branch manager informed him that he had no money in his account.

Later, BB found that the money was em-bezzled by forging a false account in the name of Alim Uddin.

The central bank instructed the respec-tive bank to return the deposit with pro� t to Alim and take punitive action against the o� cers involved in the fraudulence.

The top 10 banks from which the highest number of complaints received during the � scal year 2014-15 were Sonali Bank, BRAC Bank, Rupali Bank, Agrani Bank, Islami Bank, Janata Bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank and National Bank.

The complaint over mobile banking also increased in the last � scal year. Of the total complaints, 3.75% against mobile banking were received over telephone and 1.53% written, according to the annual report.

Of the total 3,930 complaints received in the last � scal year, 56% were against private commercial banks, 28.13% against state-owned banks, 5.86% against foreign banks, 3.82% against specialised banks and 5.82% against others. l

Tax return deadline expires todayn Tribune Report

The taxpayers, who are yet to sub-mit their income tax returns, will have to submit it by today with the expiry of the extended deadline.

Although the original deadline for submitting income tax return is September 30, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) had earlier extended the deadline till November 30 to help

the taxpayers submit their returns.The NBR made the decision fol-

lowing poor response from the tax-payers and requests from Bangla-desh’s apex trade body FBCCI, other trade bodies, professional organisa-tions, lawyers and individuals.

Earlier on yesterday, the FBCCI requested the NBR to extend the deadline by another month till De-cember 31. l

The complaint against mobile banking also increased. Of the total complaints, 3.75% against mobile banking were received over telephone and 1.53% written

Business16DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Robi faces 3% revenue fall on Facebook blockade n Tribune Report

The on-going Facebook blockade caused 3% revenue loss of Robi since the government shut the social media, said Supun Weerasing-he, CEO of Robi Axiata Limited.

He came up with the disclosure while announcing its � nancial report for the third quarters at a press conference held at its of-� ce in the capital.

“As a key service for consumers, almost 30% data consumption of Robi has been re-duced. If we compare it with our total rev-enue, the loss will be around 2 to 3%,” said Supun who termed the data business a pro-spective one.

“Security can’t be compromised consid-ering public safety. To achieve anything you will have to sacri� ce little things,” said Supun.

“After announcement of Robi-Airtel merg-er in Bangladesh, we are getting lots of re-sponse from subscriber’s end. You will see lot of progress in the next three months as the BTRC is very much comfortable on our merg-er plan,” said Supun in response to a query.

He also said, “Our main objective is to en-sure seamless connectivity for our customers after completion of our merger plan.”

Yap Wai Yip, chief � nancial o� cer of Robi said the company’s revenue grew 3.5% in this quarter, pro� tability also improved while investment continued. Net pro� t grew by 20.4%.

Robi customer base reached 28.4 million with Year on Year (YoY) growth of 13.6%.

Revenue grew 6.7% YoY whilst recording a 3.5% growth Qo Q. Investments in network expansion up 23.5% to reach Tk1,780 core in � rst nine months of 2015

During the � rst nine months of 2015, Robi added 31 lakh new subscribers to reach 28.4 million, which represents 21.6% subscriber market share. l

FBCCI: No let-up in harassments by � eld-level tax collection o� cialsn Tribune Report

FBCCI members urged the NBR authorities again to check harassment by � eld-level tax o� cials in the name of tax collection.

They alleged that despite NBR chairman’s recent promise to adopt zero-tolerance policy against tax o� cials’ alleged malpractices, the situation has not improved, rather worsened.

They were speaking at the “NBR-FBCCI Partnership Dialogue” at Institution of Diplo-ma Engineers Bangladesh (IDEB) auditorium in the capital yesterday.

Such dialogue was also held on Nov 9 at the FBCCI o� ce where tax collection harass-ment complaints were placed befor the NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman. The NBR chief promised to stop it, if any.

At the dialogue yesterday, FBCCI Presi-dent Abdul Matlub Ahmad said the business-es want to pay taxes, but they do not want to pay Tk3 for Tk1 revenue.

“A number of business leaders have per-sonally met me in my o� ce after the � rst di-alogue. They alleged that the harrassments have rather increased,” Matlub Ahmad said.

He recommended the revenue dialogues should also held in the � eld-level, where the harassments are taking place.

Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity President SA Quader Kiron said harassment by tax o� -cials has increased after � rst partnership dia-logue. “We cannot pay bribe to tax o� cials.”

FBCCI director Abu Ahmed Motaleb sug-gested launching drives against those who are not paying VAT.

National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh President Mirza Nurul Gani Shovon said a coordination com-mittee should be formed which will act in

the central level and will also work in district levels to reduce harassment and help NBR to increase its tax base.

FBCCI adviser Manzur Ahmed stressed the need to form strong partnership to achieve the revenue target of Tk176,370 crore.

In response, NBR chairman said the NBR was having discussions with the businesses, entrepreneurs and the innovators.

“The time is very much crucial for achieving the revenue target. We have to collect Tk483 crore revenue everyday and Tk20 crore reve-nue every hour to achieve the target,” he said.

He said the revenue dialogue will also or-ganised in district levels to foster friendly re-lations between taxmen and businesses.

NBR senior member Farid Uddin said the tax-GDP ratio is lowest in Bangladesh in South Asia.

“The government wants to increase size of the budget at Tk500,000 crore in next few years, but the investment is very low. We have to increase the revenue earning to boost investment,” he said.

“The amount of tax collection is very low in Bangladesh given its potentiality and there are a huge tax gap.”

NBR member Jahangir Hossain said the alleged harassment will disappear once everything goes online with the enforcement of new VAT law. l

Erik Aas returns as new CEO of Banglalink n Tribune Report

Erik Aas, former chief executive o� cer of Grameenphone, yesterday took the charge of Banglalink as the new CEO, replacing Ziad Shatara.

Following his appointment, Erik met Tara-na Halim, state minister for the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, on the same day at the latter secretariat in the capital.

The Norwegian served GP from October 2004 to October 2007.

In January 2013, Ziad joined the second largest mobile operator, Banglalink, as CEO.

He will leave Bangladesh today for taking charge as the CEO of a mobile operator in Jordan. l

Stocks open � at in a topsy-turvy riden Tribune Report

Stocks were mostly mixed with continued volatile trade yesterday, extending their � at move for the second straight session.

The market moved between red and green several times during the entire trading ses-sion, as investors played both sides of fence.

The benchmark index DSEX was margin-ally up 7 points or 0.2% to 4,580.

The Shariah index DSES witnessed a frac-tional loss of 0.8 points to 1,100. The blue chip comprising index DS30 closed at 1,730, gaining over 1 point.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX was slightly down 0.5 points to settle at 8,506.

All the major sectors including bank, pow-er, food and allied, telecommunication, phar-maceutical and life insurance edged higher.

Non-banking � nancial institutions contin-ued to su� er, declining more than 1%.

Trading activities, however, improved as the DSE turnover stood at Tk405 crore, up from Tk348 crore in the previous session.

Linde Bangladesh, an engineering com-pany, soared 5.3% on the news that the com-pany will set up Tk123 crore plant to boost production.

Lanka Bangla Securities said stocks traded mixed for the second straight session, mark-ing yet another � at day with a positive bias, as caution prevailed among the investors ahead of the adjustment in stock positions at the closing of the month.

It said the market was caught by the cen-tral bank’s move on the interest rate for sec-ond half of the current � scal year.

Investors were closely watching the Bang-ladesh Bank’s decision to hold o� on interest rate cut in 2015-16 to curb the volatility in in-� ation, it said.

IDLC Investments said the presence of equally powerful buyers and sellers forced the market into the sideways trend, where investors were seen to trade on quick gains.

It said at the same time, portfolio re-bal-ancing tactics were apparent, as some stocks that gained, faced correction, and turnover allocation in di� erent sectors changed. l

Move to invite unused spectrum before Robi-Airtel merger n Ishtiaq Husain

The government is taking preparation to in-vite unused 1800MHz and 2100 MHz band spectrum auction soon before completion of the much talk merger between Robi Axiata and Airtel Bangladesh, sources said.

The Posts and Telecommunications divi-sion has taken the decision recently.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulato-ry Commission (BTRC) deferred the unused spectrum auction twice in April and May.

Requesting anonymity, a top o� cial of Robi told the Dhaka Tribune that it will be tough to invite bid for the unused spectrum before Robi-Airtel merger as lot of issues are yet setllted.

The government should not hurry for ar-ranging the spectrum auction as the issue is very important, he said.

Besides, Malaysian company Robi Axiata is yet to submit the Voluntary Retirement

Scheme (VRS) for employees to the BTRC as a major component on merger process, said sources in the Post and Telecommunication Division.

The BTRC is now conducting analysis on impact on social aspect, spectrum manage-ment, customer services and job market on allowing merger process taking experts from the Business Studies faculty of Dhaka Uni-versity and the Engineering faculty of Amer-

ican International University of Bangladesh. Employees of both Robi and Airtel are

worried over their jobs as the procedure of merger of the two leading mobile operators is under progress. They are also feared over the bene� ts that the probable job losers might be o� ered under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS).

Robi Axiata Limited and Airtel Bangladesh Ltd had been asked to submit nine types of documents like spectrum merger scheme and detailed voluntary retirement scheme etc. But, they are yet to submit it.

The commission asked to resubmit spec-trum merger and numbering amalgamation schemes, it added.

It also asked to produce the services merger scheme and the speci� c plan of each company for protection of jobs of all the employees with the VRS of Airtel for all the employees who are not interested to join the proposed merger. l

‘The government should not hurry for arranging the spectrum auction as the issue is very important’

‘Despite NBR chairman’s assurance, the situation has not improved, rather worsened’

Business 17D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Analysts: Gulf unwilling to tighten oil taps alone n AFP, Kuwait City

Saudi-led Gulf OPEC members will reject pressure to shoulder the cost of cutting oil production alone despite warnings that prices risk sliding fur-ther, o� cials and analysts say.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which pump more than half of OPEC’s 32 million barrels of daily output, want a solid commitment from all other producers, especially non-OPEC member Russia, to agree to pro-duction cuts across the board.

“Gulf states will not undertake a unilateral output cut. They need strong cooperation from other produc-ers, mainly Russia, to cut,” Kuwaiti oil analyst Kamel al-Harami told AFP.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is to hold a cru-cial meeting on December 4 to study prices, which have fallen around 60% since mid-2014.

An informal meeting to be attended by some non-OPEC producers will be held the day before.

“Gulf producers are not inclined to change their policy of defending market share rather than price despite heavy income losses,” Saudi econo-mist Abdulwahab Abu-Dahesh said.

“They realise they will be asked to bear the bulk of any cuts,” as none of the other OPEC members are � nan-cially in a position to do so and non-OPEC Russia has so far said it will not, Abu-Dahesh told AFP.

A senior Gulf oil o� cial said noth-ing has changed to alter Gulf states’ oil policy.

“No indicators or changes have hap-pened to convince Gulf states to change their policy and cut output,” the o� cial told AFP, requesting anonymity.

But another Gulf o� cial hinted at some � exibility in case of cooperation.

“It’s too early to say if OPEC would maintain its production policy,” said the o� cial, who also wished to remain anonymous.

OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia said last week it was ready to cooper-ate with other producers to stabilise the oil market and support prices.

The OPEC meeting comes at a time of a massive production glut, with oversupply continuing and inventories at almost record levels of more than 3 billion barrels, triple the normal rate.

OPEC member Venezuela and some international economic reports have warned that the oil price could slide to the range of $20-$30 a barrel from around $42 now if output is not trimmed.

Abu-Dahesh said Gulf states are bet-ting on developments indicating a bal-

anced oil market next year after OPEC’s strategy knocked out some high-cost production, such as some US shale oil.

OPEC secretary general Abdullah el-Badri said in October he was con� -dent the oil market will pick up in 2016 due to a growth in demand and a drop in non-OPEC output.

He said the glut was caused by a six million bpd increase from non-OPEC members over the past � ve years and that this has started to contract.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told an energy conference in Bahrain on November 19 that, despite oversupply, the world still needs 5 million bpd of new output, four million of that due to natural decline.

Bassam Fattouh, director of the Ox-ford Institute for Energy Studies, told the same conference the market re-balancing process has started but the e� ect on prices will be slow. l

Analysts: Rate cut, more stimulus in store at ECB meet n AFP, Berlin

The ECB will roll out its big guns at its monetary policy meeting this week, ramping up its trillion-euro asset purchases and cut-ting key rates to hike weak in� ation, analysts said.

Fed up with an in� ation rate that is stubbornly far below the target of close to 2%, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has in recent weeks multiplied pledges to “do what we must” to lift consumer prices in the 19-member eurozone.

In what was viewed as an attempt to lay out his case for more stimulus, Draghi also presented a morose state of the economy at a banking conference earlier this month.

“We cannot yet say with con� dence that the process of eco-nomic repair in the euro area is complete,” he said, noting that global growth is expected to be the weakest since 2009, while the rebound in the eurozone is the lowest since 1998.

For Jonathan Loynes, an analyst at Capital Economics: “The question is not whether the ECB’s governing council will loosen monetary policy at its meeting on December 3rd, but rather whether it will do so decisively enough to meet the very strong expectations stoked up by its own dovish signals.”

“Anything less than a marked acceleration in the pace of its monthly asset purchases and a signi� cant cut in its deposit rate would now come as a severe disappointment,” he said.

The ECB launched in March a 1.1tn euro ($1.2tn) scheme to help lift consumer prices.

The quantitative easing programme to buy sovereign bonds at a rate of 60bn euros a month runs until at least September 2016, but in� ation came in at zero in October.

At the ECB board’s last meeting on October 22, the question of whether to cut interest rates again surfaced as a potential tool to boost consumer prices.

The ECB had cut the rate on its deposit facility - that is, for funds placed by banks at the central bank, to negative 0.2% in June 2014.

That means banks have to actually pay the central bank to hold their cash, thus encouraging them to lend. The rate has re-mained at that level since.

Dissenters shrugged offDraghi’s expansionist stance is not without detractors, with Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann warning against hastily boosting stimulus rather than letting the current package do its work.

But the dissenters “appear to have had little in� uence on their colleagues,” said Loynes.

Berenberg analyst Holger Schmieding also said that “experi-ence tells us that the ECB council usually follows Draghi’s lead in such contentious discussions”.

“With no in� ation risks whatsoever, a further stimulus would certainly do no damage even if the bene� ts may not be very pro-nounced either,” he said.

The current bout of weak in� ation is underpinned by persis-tently low petrol prices.

Central bankers of the 19-member eurozone are keen to � ght falling prices because they can be poisonous for the economy, creating a vicious circle of falling demand and fewer jobs.

While falling prices might appear to be good for consumers, de� ation can become entrenched if consumers delay purchases in the hope of lower prices later, which in turn prompts compa-nies to hold o� investment.

For Commerzbank’s chief economist Joerg Kraemer, the ECB may simply “make a decision in principle... and defer the clari� -cation of further details to a later meeting”.

“The ECB’s main objective is probably to achieve the strong-est possible e� ect on the markets. To do so, the markets must be convinced that the ECB is doing all it can to achieve its in� ation objective,” said Kraemer.

The bank is therefore likely to meet market expectations of more stimulus, as well as “announce further steps in the case that its objectives run the risk of not being achieved”. l

An oil� eld worker walks past the Statoil oil sands facility near Conklin, Alberta REUTERS

Business18DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Fossil fuel divestment drive gathers momentum n AFP, Paris

The campaign to sell o� investments in fossil fuel projects, particularly those involving coal, is no longer a fringe movement as big players like banks and investment funds get on board.

The divestment campaign has come a long way from its beginnings in the United States, where students began pressuring their uni-versity investment funds in 2008 to pull their money out of companies connected with fos-sil fuels.

Norway decided in June to pull its sover-eign wealth fund - the world’s biggest - out of coal and many advanced nations agreed ear-lier this month to restrict subsidies that help companies export coal-� red power plants.

Financial institutions have also joined up, to varying degrees, such as insurers Axa and Alli-anz, as well as banks like Bank of America Mer-rill Lynch, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

“The world of � nance has begun to move on climate,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who presides over the Paris confer-ence on climate warming that opens on Mon-day, told AFP in an interview earlier this year.

Even Standard and Poor’s has begun to take account of climate change risks in its credit ratings.

“You can clearly see that it is beginning to get a bit worrying for banks to not take it into account,” said Pierre Forestier, who heads the climate change section at AFD, France’s development agency.

He says that for the past two to three years “there has been a real trend and it is no longer just greenwashing”, or a marketing e� ort de-signed to give an impression a company is concerned about the environment.

$50bn divestedAnd divestment doesn’t mean losing money, according to an analysis by activist groups Cor-porate Knights, 350.org and South Pole Group.

Their examination of 14 major funds with a collective $1tn in assets found they would have earned $22bn more if they had shifted out of fossil fuels into clean energy stocks three years ago.

“Contrary to the conventional wisdom, divesting from fossil fuels in favour of clean energy has been a huge money-maker,” Cor-porate Knights said on its website.

According to the “Go Fossil Free” cam-paign launched by 350.org, $50 billion has been divested from fossil fuels worldwide.

A study by consultancy Arabella Advisors released in September found that 436 institu-tions and 2,040 people worth a total of $2.6tn

had pledged to get out of fossil fuels, either entirely or in certain sectors such as coal.

Novethic, a research out� t dedicated to responsible investment that is a subsidiary of France’s state investment bank, the Caisse des Depots, said that more and more of the com-panies that it surveys have decided to divest.

The number rose by a third between July and October, with just over half now plan-ning to exit fossil fuels.

However Novethic’s director Anne-Cathe-rine Husson-Traore noted that “there are ge-ographical areas where it is easier to get out of coal than others.”

Forestier agreed. Divestment is just “the � rst step”, he said.

“The question isn’t just about getting out of coal, but also bringing about a complete change and ending our total dependence on fossil fuels.” l

Divestment campaigns are demanding that the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, the biggest local authority pension fund in the country, stops investing in fossil fuels, with over 1bn pounds invested in companies like Shell and BP

IMF poised to put Chinese yuan in elite currency basket n AFP, Washington

The International Monetary Fund is expected to approve inclusion of China’s yuan in its SDR basket of elite curren-cies on Monday, rewarding Beijing’s strong pursuit of the global status.

The IMF executive board is scheduled to meet Monday to decide on the recommen-dation by sta� experts earlier in November to include the yuan, also known as the ren-minbi, alongside the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound in the grouping.

While not a freely traded currency, the SDR (special drawing right) is important as an international reserve asset, and because the IMF issues its

crisis loans - crucial to strug-gling economies like Greece - valued in SDRs.

China, now the world’s sec-ond-largest economy, asked last year for the yuan to be added to the grouping of world reserve currencies, but until recently it was considered too tightly controlled to qualify.

It is extremely rare that the executive board, which represents the IMF’s 188 member nations, opposes the recommendation of its own experts. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in mid-November that she supported the experts’ � nding that the yuan had met the requirements to be a ‘freely usable’ currency” - a key hurdle for SDR status. l

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News 19D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

PM to inaugurate main construction works on Padma Bridge n Our Correspondent, Shariatpur

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the main construc-tion work on Padma Bridge on December 12.

The minister made the comment while visiting construction site of the bridge.

Later, a preparatory meeting was held at

Naodoba ahead of the Prime Minister’s vis-it to the district for the inauguration of the bridge work.

Quader said law enforcers were working sincerely for ensuring the security of all, in-cluding foreigners, involved in the bridge construction work.

“No one working here is concerned about security,” said the minister.

He said the Padma Bridge building work was going on smoothly with the country’s own � nancing. The minister said he was con-� dent that they would be able to open the country’s largest bridge to tra� c by 2018 on completion of its construction work.

China Major Bridge Engineering Compa-ny Limited is given the responsibility for the construction of the main portion of the Pad-

ma Bridge while Sino Hydro for river training.Lawmakers, Shawkat Ali, BM Mojammel

Haque, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, secretary of bridge department Khandakar Anwarul Azim, Project Director of Padma Bridge Md Sha� qul Islam, Deputy Commissioner of the district Ram Chandra Das and Police Super of Shariatpur Saifullah Al Mamun were present at the meeting. l

Drugstore owners enforce strike demanding release of fellowsn Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Drugstore owners of the port city yesterday enforced a strike keeping their businesses shut demanding release of their fellows.

The businessmen under the banner of the Bangladesh Chemists and Druggists Associa-tion enforced the strike from morning to 12 noon.

A mobile court led by Executive Magis-trate Ruhul Amin came under an attack on KC Dey Road adjacent to Hazari Lane under Kotwali police station on November 24.

The mobile court also � ned two errant drugstores with Tk10,000 and seized two cartons of medicines meant for physician samples during the drive. 

Infuriated by the mobile court, several hundred traders all on a sudden started hurl-ing brickbats targeting the mobile court. A chase and counter-chase took place between traders and Ansar members of the mobile

court. On information, a team of the police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control after charging baton on trad-ers. 

Following the attack, the police arrested 12 people on charge of attacking police per-sonnel. A case was lodged against 212 people with Kotwali police station on November 25.

Later, a Chittagong court sent 12 traders to jail.

SK Shikder, president of Chittagong chap-ter of Bangladesh Chemists and Druggists Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that they did not have any objection over mobile court’s drive against errant drugstore owners.

“However, the administration is harass-ing drug traders in the name of conducting mobile courts. The Ansar members of the mobile court on that day seized some legal medicines along with illegal ones. We are en-forcing the strike protesting arrest of our 12 men,” he added. l

Courier service being used for smuggling yaba pills100,000 pieces of yaba tablets seizedfrom SA Paribahan’s parcel n Anwar Hossain, Chittagong

Taking advantage of absence of proper mon-itoring on the activities of courier service providers, drug peddlers are using parcel and courier services to carry illegal drugs such as yaba pills to di� erent parts across the coun-try.

Rapid Action Battalion on Saturday night seized 100,000 pieces of yaba tablets from Dhaniala branch of SA Paribahan, a parcel and courier service provider, in the port city.

The seized yaba pills worth around Tk4 crore which were concealed in a parcel of furniture was destined for Dhaka.

The elite force also detained two sta� s of SA Paribahan identi� ed as MA Mobin, 44, and Md Shamsuddin Sabuz, 26.

MA Mobin is the manager while Shamsud-din Sabuz is the parcel assistant of Dhaniala Branch of SA Paribahan.

Shaheda Sultana, assistant director (Me-dia) of RAB 7 said they had conducted a drive acting on a tip-o� that the contraband pills were being smuggled through the branch of SA Paribahan.

“The yaba pills were concealed in a parcel

of furniture. We also detained two sta� s of the branch for their suspected involvement with smuggling,” added Shaheda.

“The smugglers have now resorted to courier service to distribute the contraband pills all over the country. At the same time, a portion of the payment is being sent and received through courier service. The yaba smugglers transacted Tk82 lakh in total in October and November through the branch of SA Paribahan,” said RAB 7 Commanding O� cer Lieutenant Colonel Miftah Udin Ahmed.

“The courier service providers do not have any metal detector, X-Ray machine to conduct checking over the consignment. A person does need to show his or her No National ID or any other document and can easily send or receive goods or cash money through a courier service by only using a mo-bile phone number. T he yaba smugglers are taking advantage of the absence of proper regulation by the service providers,” said the commanding o� cer, adding that they could not disclose the identity of the sender and re-ceiver of the yaba consignment for the sake investigation. l

News20DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Fear of musclemen attack grips farmers n Our Correspondent, Bhola

Fear of musclemen’s attack has griped over 5,000 farmers in char areas of Bhola as har-vest of aman approaching fast.

Proshanto Kumar Saha, deputy director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said “The aman paddy has been cultivated on 87,000 hectares of land this year with a production target 80,000 tonnes.”

Local sources said the production of the paddy was satisfactory as weather was � ne as well as farmers got saplings and fertiliser in time.

But farmers of Charanada, Ilisha Char, Baghmara, Char Chatkimara, Char Hossain, Majherchar and Pata Bheduria in Sadar upazila, Char Samiruddin, Char Samsuddin and Patar Char in Lalmohon upazila, Dhalchar, Char Kalmi and Mujibnagar Sikdarer Char in Charfassion upazila and

charpeople of Monpura upazila have become afraid as the hoodlums are roaming around their areas under the shelter of ruling party leaders.

The farmers of Mujibnagar union under Charfassion upazila has a longstanding dis-pute with the farmers of Patuakhali due to demarcation problem.

UNO Rezaul Karim said: “We have already taken steps to resist the attack of the goons.”

“Demarcation problem with Patuakhli district of the union council will be solved soon,” he said.

Abdul Mannan, owner of a land in Bhed-uria Char area, said: “Last year, the goons, led by ruling party men had looted the paddy of my land.”

“I informed the incident to the authority. But no action has been taken,” said Mannan.

Though police camps were set up inseveral areas, the criminals looted the

paddy with the help of the police.Kamaluddin Chowdhury, managing di-

rector of Manpura Dempire Agriculture and Dairy Farm, said ruling party men had looted the paddy of poor farmers with the help of the police at Dhalchar camp.

The picture of maximum areas in the charland was the same, he said.

“When media men come to cover the news, the people do not dare to speak due to the attack of the musclemen,” he said.

Farmer Shantu Chowdhury said the hood-lums had looted my paddy cultivated on 12 acres of land.

When contacted, Superintendent of Police Moniruzzaman said:“I have been noticed the incident. We have a plan to set up more po-lice camps in risky areas.”

Deputy Commissioner Md Selim Reza said he had already ordered the administration to take action immediately. l

83 held in special drive in Ctgn Tribune Report

Police arrested 83 persons from di� erent parts in Chittagong district by conducting overnight drives in connection with di� erent charges yesterday.

During the drive, police recovered a single barrel ri� e, two cartridges, four gold bars, 90 liters of local made liquor and 1,800 pieces of contraband yaba tablet, said police.

Chittagong District Police’s Additional Superintendent of Police (special branch) Md Abdul Awal told the Dhaka Tribune that police had arrested 83 persons, including 66 warrant accused and 16 other accused in regular cases, lodged with di� erent police station”.

Apart from that police also arrested a man along with the � re arm and ammunition from Banskhali upazila in Chittagong, said the Ad-ditional SP. l

4 UPDF men held for attacking police n Our Correspondent,

Khagrachhari

Four activists of the United Peoples democratic Front (UPDF) were arrested yester-day afternoon for their alleged involvement in attack on duty police and security personnel.

They arrested were identi-� ed as Nirupa Chakma, Ditiya Chakma, Bidinka Dewan and Joyshis Chakma.

O� cer-in-charge of Kha-grachhari Sadar police station Md Shamsuddin Bhuiyan said the UPDF men attacked on duty police and security per-sonnel, including army, and

hurled brickbats on vehicles. A case will be lodged

against them as early as possi-ble, he added.

President of the Pahari Chattra Parishad Ratan Smrity Chakma said they had staged protest against the remarks of Pakistan regarding war crim-inals.

But, suddenly police at-tacked on them and arrested their four activists.

He threatened that if ad-ministration did not release their activists they would im-pose day-long road blockade within a shortest possible time. l

Nasim: People do not believe BNPn Tribune Report

Awami League Presidium Member and Health and Fam-ily Welfare Minister Moham-mad Nasim yesterday said the people of the country do not believe BNP.

He said this while speak-ing as the chief guest at a memorial meeting on late Awami League leader Rashed Musharraf at Jatiya Press Club.

Bangladesh Krishak League organised the discussion on the occasion of the 4th death anniversary of its former pres-ident Rashed Mosharraf with its president Motahar Hossain Mollah in the chair.

The programme was also addressed, among others, by

railways minister M Mazibul Haque, state minister for tex-tile and jute Mirza Azam and Awami League’s agriculture a� airs secretary Dr Abdur Razzak, reports BSS.

Nasim said the people know that ‘Dhaner Shish’ means arson attacks, violence and compromise with Ja-maat-Shibir, adding, “People will not cast their votes for BNP or Dhaner Shish.”

The senior Awami League leader said the BNP has not yet discarded the path of con-spiracy.

He urged the BNP to join the polls and accept the peo-ple’s mandate. “The elections will be held in a free and fair manner,” the minister said. l

Education 21D

T

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Soaring to success

n Features desk

This week, Rouham Manzoor answers questions from students who are looking for higher education opportunities abroad.

There are lots of good Universities in Bangladesh? Why should a student from Bangladesh pursue a degree overseas?

There are many di� erent reasons why a student should consider studying overseas. • Shortage of seats: The number of

university seats available in Bangladesh is much lower than the number of students passing secondary education.

• Availability of world class facilities: While there are many great quality educational institutions in Bangladesh, a lot of times these institutions fall behind in terms of resources available to them. This makes it less likely for our researchers to do world class research.

• Independence: While studying abroad, a student has to pay his own bills, go to classes on time and do their homework, as well as part-time jobs. There are often no parents or relatives to assist them. This makes them more independent and con� dent - skills which are very important for becoming successful.

• Exposure: In today’s global world, studying in multi-cultural environments can provide a greater outlook of the world for students making them better equipped.

What are the main things to look out for when pursuing a foreign degree or choosing a university or a country to go to?

• Reputation: Usually the rankings/league tables are a good tool for measuring a university’s reputation.

• Costs: Costs may widely vary from country to country. It may also depend on the quality of education and the ranking of the university. The costs to attend universities may be as low as $5,000 to $60,000 per year.

UK: GBP 8,000 – GBP 17,000 USA: USD 12,000 – USD 60,000Malaysia: USD 5,000 – USD 12,000 Canada: CAD 15,000 – CAD 30,000Japan: USD 10,000 to 12,000Australia: AUD 15,000 to 35,000

• Scholarships: While the above are the absolute tuition fees, some universities o� er a lot of scholarships to students making it substantially more a� ordable.

• Location: Taking the location into consideration is very important as well. Each location comes with a set of pros and cons, so one needs to research thoroughly before deciding where to apply.

Could you elaborate a little more on why location in an important factor in choosing a university?

There are several reasons why location is important.• Post study work: Education abroad is

a big investment. Whenever there is the question of investment the returns become important. A lot of times the expectation is that after completing their studies a student will be able to work in the country for a couple of years to gain

some experience and also earn some of the funds they spent while studying. Destinations like USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and some other European countries o� er students opportunities to stay back and seek employment within the country. A lot of times this leads to immigration opportunities if the student wants to migrate.

• Costs: As mentioned before some locations are more expensive than others. Studying in London can be more expensive than studying in Coventry, which is only 70 minutes away.

• Weather: While this does not seem like much, weather can be a major issue when settling in a new country. Some countries have beautiful sunny weather and some countries can be cold, while others can be unpredictable. If a student does not like the cold, studying in Northern Canada can be quite depressing. Similarly if someone doesn’t like the rain, London may not be the best destination for them. Having said that, every country or location will be di� erent from your own; A little time is all it takes to get adjusted.

• Big city vs small town: Each of us are di� erent and therefore each of us have a preferred location. A big city like New York or London can o� er lots in terms of social life, amenities, and luxuries. At the same time it might be more expensive and it is possible to become lonely in a busy environment. A small town will give students the opportunity to study peacefully in a serene environment and can be much cheaper than its big city counterparts, however some students may � nd it a bit boring and quiet.

How can students prepare themselves before applying to universities?

Destinations like USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and some other European countries o� er students opportunities to stay back and seek employment within the country. A lot of times this leads to immigration opportunities if the student wants to migrate.

• Good Results• English pro� ciency: This can be done

by reading (especially newspapers) and watching news.

• Personal statement• Extra curricular activities: It is becoming

more and more competitive out there. In order to stand out just academics is not enough. Besides excellent academics, one needs to develop hobbies and passions. Take up photography, join the student parliament or the model UN, do some volunteering, etc. They look very impressive to admission o� cers.

Which education programmes and � elds are in demand at the moment?

Professions like IT, Engineering, Law, Business are always in demand. However we don’t believe that a student should choose a profession based on demand. Everyone is di� erent and they have di� erent skill sets. Students should try to � nd out about themselves to � gure out what kind of personality they have and what they enjoy. Based on that they should determine what kind of profession would be ideal for them. Personality tests like Myers & Briggs can help a lot.

Life is too short to pursue a career one is not suited for. If one can pursue their passion, they will be happier and will also be more successful in that � eld. It is possible to � nd success in almost any profession provided one has the passion for it.

Why should a student go to an agency to apply to universities?

This is a very good question and one that requires re� ection. It is not necessary at all to go to an agency to apply to universities. It is possible to select universities by oneself and all information is available online. Having said that, there are a few bene� ts of taking an agency’s assistance.• An agency which deals with a lot of

universities will have their entire information in one place. If a student identi� es their choice of subject, preferred country, a� ordability, academic background, it is possible to narrow down their choice of universities to a handful making the decision-making process incredibly easy.

• A good agency is experienced with the application process, entry requirements and visa requirements. The student can just provide their documents and the agency can take care of the rest.

• Visa support: Visa is a big concern for students. Each country has its own philosophy behind granting entry clearance and visas, and this may be very confusing. A good agency will be able to guide students in this regard from the beginning. Questions like how much money to show, medical requirements, source of funds, etc, will be tackled earlier.

• Be aware of agencies that help you in procuring fake documentation or promise too much. All information should be independently veri� ed online so that one can avoid being cheated. l

A breakdown of the application process

Rouham Manzoor is the managing partner of MACES, one of the leading education consultancy � rms in Bangladesh. More information can be found by visitingwww.macesbd.com.

Photo: Bigstock

Feature22DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

n Chisty Rahim

This November, the United Nations Youth and Students Association of Bangladesh (UNYSAB) collaborated with the Ministry of

Foreign A� airs of Bangladesh to organise the most anticipated event of the year - the International Model United Nations (BIMUN) 2015. The four day long event started on November 21 at Hotel Pan Paci� c.

BIMUN is an academic simulation of United Nations general assembly that aims to enlighten the participants about

the art of negotiation, critical thinking and multilateral diplomacy. Since 2002, UNYSAB has been hosting and organising an array of notable events such as BANMUN, Dhaka+20, Brainwiz MUN 2013, UNYSAB MUN 2014 and BIMUN 2012. These events are hosted to engage in extensive discussions on pressing global issues. The � rst MUN conference titled “BANMUN 2002” focused on combating terrorism. This year, the topic of discussion was “Climate Change and Sustainable Development.” More than 200 foreign delegates graced the event with their presence.

In 2012, UNYSAB and United Nations Information Center (UNIC) jointly organised the � rst session at BIMUN in association with University of Dhaka and Ministry of Foreign A� airs, Bangladesh. It served as a platform for the youth of Bangladesh to generate ideas for solving issues of global importance. The theme was “End Violence against Women” which collaborated with the United Nation’s agenda on violence against women. National and International delegates from diverse regions engaged in intense debate sessions over the course of four days. The conference was held from

‘Yours, etcetera’On December 2, Bengal Lights Books is organising a book reading event of “Yours, etcetera,” a short story collection by Ikhtisad Ahmed. The event will be held from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at the EMK Center, Midas Center Building (9th � oor), House 5, Road 27 (old), Dhanmondi, Dhaka. RSVP 01712832585.

This year’s BIMUN featuring climate change, evolving society and more

‘Climate Change and Sustainable Development’November 28 to December 1, 2012 at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

During the discussions this year, some of the keynote speakers addressed the changing nature of the society. They clari� ed that before, when a woman was harassed, if one person stood up for her, 10 more would join in. But people don’t display the same kind of compassion anymore. During one of the sessions Sayed Saikh Imtiaz PhD, founder and chairperson, Trustee Board shed light on the matter. “It’s time to be a change maker. Voice your opinions on social media,” he said. A delegate then asked, “Why just social media?” emphasising on the need to take a proactive approach in our actions as well. To which Saikh Imtiaz replied, “because every little step counts. Start small, and more shall follow.”

Among 0ther topics discussed at the event this year, UNYSAB primarily wanted to address three issues highlighted by Saikh Imtiaz. First, “to choose the right leader, for they are rare in a nation where leaders are in abundance.” Next, “improve your power of negotiation, for anyone who can raise their voice can make a di� erence.” Finally, “� x the problem now, and don’t wait for the problem to cause the need for a solution.” l

news

Photo: Bigstock

Sayed Saikh Imtiaz

Feature 23D

T

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

n Habib Torikul and Munirul Islam

Bikash Ranjan Chakrobarty has started harvesting pumpkins not so long ago. Successful cultivation of pumpkins in the wetland has

changed his fortune, enabling him to lead a better life.

“Life is not so easy in the swamp,” says Chakrobarty, describing his past cultivation experience. “Food insecurity and seasonal � ooding make us vulnerable all throughout the year. In most areas, only rice is harvested. Every year, our lands are under water for almost six to eight months because of � ash and regular � oods,” he adds. Since the past couple of years, he tried to cultivate pumpkins but lack of knowledge and technology made it almost impossible for him to succeed.

In terms of ecosystem, crop production practices in the wetlands are quite di� erent compared to other parts of the country. According to the National Food Policy Capacity Strengthening Programme (NFPCSP), 18.1% households are listed under the hardcore poverty line and 40.2% households under the absolute poverty line. The study also revealed that about 19% experience severe food insecurity for six to seven months of the year. Whereas agriculture is one of the major means to make a living in our country, the net cultivable land for agriculture is gradually diminishing due to � oods and other environmental hazards. People are forced to give up cultivation, which is their traditional and oldest profession; they are struggling to � nd new employment.

To help control the situation, Islamic Relief Bangladesh are assisting farmers with ideas and technology. Funded by UKAID and Islamic Relief UK, in close collaboration with di� erent research institutes, Department of Agricultural Extension and Community Producer Group, a project titled “Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster

Resilience in Bangladesh” is aiding farmers in wetlands.

Bikash says, “Islamic Relief Bangladesh provided me seeds, fertiliser and pesticide, as well as training to mobilise local resources and support entrepreneurial initiatives.

He says that the estimated selling price of a pumpkin is currently Tk150, but in lean seasons, value of pumpkins will drastically increase.

Bikash is also helping his neighbours and peers who come to him for suggestions on pumpkin cultivation.

Samir Kanti Das, Nobolal Das and Nirmol Bapary of Sulla union have also enjoyed similar bene� ts of pumpkin cultivation like Bikash. They all narrated their success stories in pumpkin cultivation, expressing their excitement after a bumper pumpkin output this year. They are hopeful about making a good pro� t.

Samir Kanti Das (67), a poor farmer of Hohibpur Union of Sulla Sub district is expecting to make a good pro� t this year. “I

had already earned Tk50,000 by selling over 2,200 pieces of sweet pumpkins last year. This year, I have cultivated the crop on a larger scale hoping to get bigger yields.”

Agricultural lands are gradually losing their top soil fertility in � ghting adversity of climate variability. Pumpkin production through technical strategies demonstrated by Islamic Relief Bangladesh has shown a way of sustaining food security with

diversi� cation in this crucial time of climate changes. The poor people of the wetlands are getting � nancial and nutritional support for cultivating sweet pumpkins and it is gradually gaining more popularity. l

The writers Habib Torikul and Munirul Islam work with Islamic Relief, Bangladesh and can be reached at habib.torikul@islamicrelief-bd.org and munirul.islam@islamicrelief-bd.org.

Adaptive crop farming practices in the wetlands of Bangladesh

Harvesting pumpkins

Samir Kanti Das, Nobolal Das and Nirmol Bapary of Sulla union have also enjoyed similar bene� ts of pumpkin cultivation like Bikash. They all narrated their success stories in pumpkin cultivation, expressing their excitement after a bumper pumpkin output this year. They are hopeful about making a good pro� t

Photos: Habib Torikul/Islamic Relief

Downtime24DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

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

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

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

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Tracking system (5)4 Diplomacy (4)7 Spanish dance (6) 8 Ship of the desert (5)10 Nidus (4)11 Articles (5)12 Liable (3)14 Paradise (4)17 Welsh national emblem (4)19 Greek letter (3)20 Musical drama (5)23 Cat’s contented sound (4)25 Cajolery (5)26 Flew upwards (6) 27 Eager (4)28 Allude (5)

DOWN 1 Of race (6)2 Encourage in crime (4) 3 Part played (4)4 Time in grammar (5)5 Land measure (3)6 Pamper (6)9 Small child (4)13 Read attentively (6) 15 Business transaction (4)16 Former Egyptian leader (6)18 Mohammedan scriptures (5)21 Water pitcher (4)22 Be carried (4)24 Fish eggs (3)

SUDOKU

25D

TSportINSIDE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Narine banned by ICC, ousted from BPL 3ICC yesterday banned West Indies spinner Sunil Narine from bowling after an independent assessment found his action to be illegal. The assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree mark. Narine therefore, will not be able to play any form of international cricket. PAGE 26

Bangladesh women sweep aside ScotsBangladesh women are just a step away from topping their group after they thrashed Scotland by a convincing margin of eight wickets in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 Quali� ers at Asian Institute of Technology Ground in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday. Asked to bat � rst, Scotland were skittled out for just 53. PAGE 27

Costa dropped but Chelsea still toothlessJose Mourinho dropped his main striker Diego Costa for Chelsea’s Premier League visit to Tottenham Hotspur yesterday but the champions still proved toothless up front as they ground out an undistinguished goalless draw at White Hart Lane. PAGE 28

Fury becomes new heavyweight championBritain’s Tyson Fury was crowned the new world heavyweight champion on Saturday after a unanimous points win over Wladimir Klitschko, who su� ered his � rst defeat in eleven years. Fury was awarded the � ght in Duesseldorf 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111 by the judges to take Klitschko’s WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO belts. PAGE 29

I always wanted to bat like Tamim, says Yasirn Reazur Rahman Rohan

A Bangladesh Under-19 graduate, Yasir Ali Rabbi is one of the true emerging players from the Bangladesh Premier League. He was born 11 days before Sri Lanka lifted the ICC World Cup in 1996 and unlike many, he didn’t watch cricketers like Wasim Akram or Steve Waugh growing up. He was a toddler when Bangladesh played their � rst World Cup in 1999.

While speaking to Dhaka Tribune yes-terday, the 19-year-old said he is glad to be playing alongside his childhood idol Tamim Iqbal. Captain of the Chittagong Vikings, Tamim made a strong impression on the lad from his starting days as Rabbi says, “I always wanted to bat like him.”

Rabbi’s interest in cricket is mainly due to his father who used to take him to the � eld near their house to play with a tennis ball. “When I was four (years old), my dad used to take me to the Parade ground beside the Chittagong College to play with a tennis ball..slowly I started playing.

“Later, when I used to go to the � eld for practice, I watched Tamim bhai batting in the nets, and a hard-hitting batsman at that, and I always wanted to bat like him.”

He continued, “I watched him play in

the U19s, and then he entered the national team. To be honest I always wanted to bat like him from childhood. I wanted to score runs quickly like him.”

What could be better for the teenag-er who made his Twenty20 debut under the guidance of his idol and to top that, he scored 63 and was involved in a 79-run partnership with Tamim. With 14 � rst-class and 13 List A matches in the bag, the Vikings are a new horizon for Rabbi who had nev-er played a T20 before. Rabbi, who made 22 and 14 in the other two matches he played in the BPL so far, is also a good � elder, despite his heavy build.

Rabbi’s talent however, was spotted long ago by the Chittagong division when they handed him a � rst-class debut through the National Cricket League when he was 16. Playing with the big boys in the longer ver-sion meant Rabbi was more than capable of representing the age-level team as he soon became a regular member of the U-17, fol-lowed by the U-19 team.

However, � tness became an issue for Rab-bi but the stocky kid worked hard and came back strongly. “Following the U19 series in Sri Lanka in 2013, I was left out for the England series due to � tness reasons. I was overweight and faced problems in � nishing the � tness

tasks. But thanks to the Almighty, I was able to get back my place in September the same year for the series against the West Indies.

“Since that time, my head coach (of that time) Richard McInnes, trainer Tushar and Stuart Karppinen never complained with re-gards to my � tness and I successfully played in the 2014 World Cup later.”

After scoring four � fties for Chittagong in the NCL earlier this year, Rabbi credited Tamim and Akram Khan for making him re-alise his prospect and including him in the Vikings squad.

“I cannot compare BPL with the domestic leagues. In BPL we get so many international players to play with, the atmosphere, the en-vironment, the coverage..everything is bet-ter compared to the domestic leagues. For instance, we have Saeed Ajmal, Kamran Ak-mal while there is Brendan Taylor in another team, this does not happen in the leagues.”

He was honest in admitting that he was very nervous before the � rst match as he is not used to playing in front of a big crowd. “People will talk about my game, they will see me, I was nervous how would I do in the middle. I was scared to be frank.

“Teammates, coaching sta� s, manage-ment support me a lot. They told me not to worry about all this and always guide me.” l

Chittagong Vikings middle-order batsman Yasir Ali goes big during the � rst phase of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 FILE PHOTO

Vikings desperate to win against Bullsn Reazur Rahman Rohan from Chittagong

Chittagong Vikings are desperate to return to winning ways as they face Barisal Bulls to resume the Bangladesh Premier League. After an eventful � rst week in Dhaka, the money-spinning league has shifted to Chit-tagong as a full-house has been con� rmed by the authorities for the 2pm start at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.

The Vikings are the most balanced side but fate has deprived them on three occasions where they could have � nished on top. With only one win from four matches, Vikings skipper Tamim said, “We lost a few close matches in the � rst round, we should have won those. However, that’s in the past now and we are looking for a win [today].”

Meanwhile, with two wins from three matches, Barisal are a con� dent side, but their nerves will be tested on a solid wicket. Rony Talukdar and Shahriar Nafees have been poor up front and the duo should look for runs under their belts in order to save their skin because come tomorrow, the West Indian Chris Gayle will be joining the Bulls.

Chittagong are more than capable of post-ing a huge total on a good track and to ensure that does not happen if they bat � rst, Al Amin Hossain and Kevon Cooper must be at their best once again. l

PREVIEW

BPL 201526DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Narine banned by ICC, ousted from BPL 3n Tribune Desk

The International Cricket Council yesterday banned West Indies spinner Sunil Narine from bowling after an independent assess-ment found his action to be illegal.

The assessment revealed that all varia-tions of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree mark. Narine therefore, will not be able to play any form of international cricket. The � nger spinner will only be allowed to play in domestic competitions that are organised by the West Indian Cricket Board. Narine was reported following the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Pallekele earlier this month.

Bangladesh Cricket Board’s media com-mittee chairman Jalal Younus in his prompt reaction to the media yesterday said, “From [today] onward, Narine will not be allowed to play. Before the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 got underway, we had strictly informed the franchises that whichev-er cricketer is barred from bowling by the ICC, he will not be allowed to play in the BPL.” l

Rubel eager to change Sylhet fortunesn Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong

Bangladesh fast bowler Rubel Hossain will be looking to transform the fortunes of the Sylhet Super Stars when he makes his much-awaited return from injury today against Comilla Victorians.

Rubel su� ered a side-strain injury back in September this year and subsequently missed the recent home series against Zimbabwe. And in his absence, the Super Stars have struggled badly, losing all of their four matches.

The Super Stars therefore, will be count-ing on Rubel for inspiration as the open-ing match of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20’s second phase takes place today at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowd-hury Stadium.

“I am feeling much better at the moment. I have bowled [yesterday] and the day before that and I was able to give my hundred per-cent without any discomfort. There has been a gap but I will be playing [today],” Rubel told the media yesterday following their training session.

Mush� qur Rahim’s Sylhet came agonising-ly close to winning three of their four match-es but lost them by an aggregate margin of only eight runs. Rubel however, believes they are more than capable of making a comeback and posting their maiden win of BPL 3.

“I think it’s part of the game. We already lost four games but still we have six more matches left. If we can give our best we will be able to make a comeback in the tourna-ment. Obviously it feels bad when you lose matches and it was a di� cult time for us,” said the right-arm fast bowler.

Rubel added that the wickets in the port city of Chittagong will be slightly better compared to the ones in Dhaka. The opening phase saw a lot of runs at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium but eventually, the tracks turned into a heaven for the bowlers, thus paving the way for some below-par totals.

“Yes, obviously, we have played many games in Chittagong before and I think the pitches will be better in comparison to Dha-ka. I think we can start di� erently [today]. There is no extra pressure on me but � rst, we need to win matches as we have already lost four games. I think a win will change the sce-nario,” said Rubel.l

Taylor looking to make things rightn Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong

Although Barisal Bulls have won two of their three matches in the � rst phase of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20, the side’s wicketkeeper-batsman Brendan Taylor has been disappointing to say the least.

The former Zimbabwe captain has man-aged only 10 runs in three matches and ahead of their today’s second phase match against Chittagong Vikings, Taylor said he is desperate to right the wrongs from the previ-ous matches.

“Three chances and no contribution. More importantly, the team has found a way to win through poor batting performances. There’s

room for improvement. I think we have started well, two wins out of [three] games. I am hop-ing to make it right because there’s still lots of cricket to come,” Taylor told the media on the eve of their clash against the Vikings at Chit-tagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

“The preparation has been really good, and I am satis� ed with the way I have been batting in the nets. We have a new game [to-day] and we will try to focus on getting a big win and the rest of the tournament will take care of itself,” he said.

The right-hander added that he is looking to transform himself into a T20 specialist when the media asked about his immediate future plans. l

Caribbean-less Comilla face hungry Sylhetn Reazur Rahman Rohan from Chittagong

Comilla Victorians can be termed as the home team when they take on the ill-fated Sylhet Super Stars today. News are that a group of approximately 3,500 fans have al-ready bought tickets and will be on their way to the ZACS for the evening game today.

Sitting comfortable at the top of the stand-ings with six points from maximum eight, Comilla’s title charge however, received a huge setback after their West Indian recruit Sunil Narine was banned from bowling by

the ICC yesterday following a test result of his action that he gave prior to visiting Bang-ladesh. It is needless to say the franchise led by Mashrafe bin Mortaza will also � nd it dif-� cult to replace the other Caribbean Marlon Samuels who left for international duty.

Ahmed Shehzad and Shoaib Malik’s arrival is still uncertain as the Victorians will look up to Pakistan opening batsman Muktar Ali for the encounter. The bowling however, looks

solid with the presence of Nuwan Kulaseka-ra, Abu Haider and the skipper himself.

For Sylhet, it’s a new beginning and their body language and mentality will make the di� erence. Mush� qur Rahim is pleased to have his spearhead Rubel Hossain back for the game as they look to register their � rst win in the tournament. With Owais Shah re-turning home, much will be expected from Ravi Bopara who hasn’t played a cameo yet. It goes beyond saying that a defeat today will all but end the Super Stars’ dream of making it to the top four. l

Sylhet Super Stars’ West Indian cricketer Fidel Edwards (R) shows his smartphone to national paceman Rubel Hossain in Chittagong yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Barisal Bulls wicket-keeper Brendan Taylor addresses the media in Chittagong yesterday MI MANIK

PREVIEW

Sport 27D

T

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

U19s lose tri-series � nalBangladesh Under-19 cricket team ended their tour of India on a disappointing note as they lost the tri-series � nal against the formidable hosts by a comprehensive margin of seven wickets at Jadavpur University Complex in Kolkata yesterday. Batting � rst, the visitors were dismissed for just 116 in 36.5 overs with only three batsmen reaching double � gures – Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Joyraj Sheikh and wicketkeeper-batsman Jaker Ali. Mayank Dagar, Mahipal Lomror and Shubham Mavi shared sev-en wickets between themselves. In pursuit of a below-par target, the home side romped home in just 13.3 overs for the loss of three wickets. Sarfaraz Khan was unbeaten on 59 from just 27 balls while Ricky Bhui was not out on 20. Saeed Sarkar, captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Saleh Ahmed Shawon all picked up a wicket apiece but 117 proved to be too small a target.

Bangladesh U19116 in 36.5 overs (Nazmul 45, Joyraj 28, Jaker

24, Dagar 3/32, Lomror 2/11)India U19

117/3 in 13.3 overs (Sarfaraz 59*, Pant 26, Bhui 20*, Saeed 1/23, Mehedi 1/27)

India U19 won by seven wickets–TRIBUNE DESK

Pellegrini plays down Aguero injuryManchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said that striker Sergio Aguero had been taken o� purely as “a precaution” during his side’s 3-1 win over Southampton on Saturday. Aguero recently spent six weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury and City’s fans feared the worst when the Argentina star was withdrawn in the 64th minute at the Etihad Stadium.

–AFP

Russian clubs banned from signing TurkishRussian sports clubs will be banned from signing Turkish players during the upcoming winter break, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said yesterday. “I think that if anyone wants during the upcoming transfer window in the winter break, there will not be such a pos-sibility,” Mutko told the R-Sport news agency.

–REUTERS

Tiago breaks legVeteran Atletico Madrid mid� elder Tiago broke his right leg during Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Espanyol in La Liga. “He su� ered a non-displaced fracture to the middle third of the tibia,” second-placed Atletico said in a statement. Tiago, 34, was carried o� in the � rst half after attempting to tackle Espanyol’s Marco Asensio and taken straight to hospital.

–REUTERS

PSG storm 15 points clearParis St Germain cruised to a 4-1 victory over bottom club Troyes at the Parc des Princes on Saturday to extend their Ligue 1 lead to 15 points. Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Layvin Kurzawa and Jean-Kevin Augustin scored as Laurent Blanc’s side made it nine consecutive league wins.

–REUTERS

QUICK BYTES

On Saturday, a local TV channel showed a footage of the Tamim Iqbal-Azizul Islam incident on November 23 which indicated the former as the main o� ender. However,

despite knowing the truth it was customary to ask Tamim for his comment on the video.

He said, “If I am mentally unstable, only then will I just stand up and start using slang

expressions. I am not that crazy that I will just get up from my sit and say something

randomly. Whatever I said in the press conference before, I did not exaggerate it by a word more or a word less. Everyone

there saw it, the security, the media. They probably have the full video too, since they sent it they should have sent the full video.”

Bangladesh women sweep aside Scotsn Tribune Desk

Bangladesh women are just a step away from topping their group after they thrashed Scot-land by a convincing margin of eight wickets in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 Quali� ers at Asian Institute of Technology Ground in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.

Asked to bat � rst, Scotland were skittled out for just 53 with only middle-order bat-ter Kathryn Bryce reaching double digits. Leg-spinner and player of the match Ruma-na Ahmed was the wrecker in chief, taking three wickets for nine runs, while o� -spinner Khadija-tul Kubra picked up two wickets.

In reply, Bangladesh cantered home in just 12.4 overs for the loss of two wickets. Opening batters Sharmin Akhter and Ayesha Rahman scored 26 and 24 respectively as Bangladesh completed their second win in as many quali� ers.

The women in red and green will be con� -dent about their prospects of � nishing as the champions of Group A when they face Papua New Guinea at the same venue tomorrow. l

Bangladesh leg-spinner Rumana Ahmed (R) � elds o� her own bowling during their 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Quali� er against Scotland in Bangkok yesterday

TIDBIT

Scotland Women53 in 19.1 overs (Rumana 3/9, Kubra 2/13)

Bangladesh Women54/2 in 12.4 overs (Sharmin 26, Ayesha 24)

Bangladesh Women won by 8 wickets

Rosberg ends F1 season on treble highn Reuters, Abu Dhabi

Nico Rosberg ended the Formula One season on a winning high in Abu Dhabi yesterday with team mate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton following him home in a record 12th one-two � nish for dominant Mercedes.

The German’s third win in a row, from a sixth successive pole position, dashed Ham-ilton’s hopes of a 44th career victory in car 44 on the 44th anniversary of the founding of the United Arab Emirates.

The Briton � nished 8.2 seconds behind Rosberg after an attempt at a di� erent strate-gy failed to produce the desired result.

Hamilton had asked over the team radio with 15 laps to go whether he could go to the end having made only one pitstop to Ros-berg’s two but was left in no doubt that such a move would not work. l

Murray beats Go� n to seal Davis Cup for Britainn Reuters, Ghent

Andy Murray beat Belgium’s David Go� n 6-3 7-5 6-3 to seal Britain’s � rst Davis Cup triumph for 79 years yesterday in the Flan-ders Expo in Ghent. The 28-year-old world number two, unbeaten in 11 rubbers during Britain’s run, put Britain 3-1 ahead in the � nal with his third point of the weekend.

Murray ended with an 8-0 singles record in Davis Cup in 2015. He is the � rst player ever to win eight “live” singles rubbers in a Davis Cup year. McEnroe (1982) and Mats Wilander (1983) also won eight singles, but not all were live rubbers. Murray has won 27 of his last 28 singles matches in the Davis Cup, his only loss since 2005 coming against Italian Fabio

Fognini in last year’s quarter-� nal in Naples.Britain have now won the 115-year-

old event 10 times but it is their � rst title since 1936. l

On Sunday Andy Murray (Britain) beat David Go� n (Belgium)

6-3 7-5 6-3 On Saturday

Andy Murray/Jamie Murray (Britain) beat Steve Darcis/David Go� n (Belgium) 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-2

On Friday Andy Murray (Britain) beat Ruben Bemelmans

(Belgium) 6-3 6-2 7-5 David Go� n (Belgium) beat Kyle Edmund (Britain)

3-6 1-6 6-2 6-1 6-0

28DT Sport

29 August: Bournemouth 1-1 LeicesterVardy was fouled and picked himself up to smash in a penalty.

13 September: Leicester 3-2 Aston VillaLeicester made a stunning second-half comeback from 2-0 down to beat Villa, with Vardy netting the equaliser in the 82nd minute.

19 September: Stoke 2-2 LeicesterLeicester came from behind to get something out of a game. Could Vardy do it on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Stoke? You bet he could.

26 September: Leicester 2-5 ArsenalVardy managed to grab both his side’s goals.

3 October: Norwich 1-2 LeicesterVardy struck a penalty as Leicester got back to winning ways, de-spite Ranieri revealing he was playing with two broken bones.

17 October: Southampton 2-2 LeicesterTwo goals down? No problem when you have Vardy in your side.

24 October: Leicester 1-0 Crystal PalaceVardy is known for his all-action style of play, but has he got the technical ability in his game? Of course, he has.

31 October: West Brom 2-3 LeicesterVardy’s run almost came to an end against the Baggies but after treatment he returned to the pitch and netted his side’s third goal.

7 November: Leicester 2-1 WatfordNothing was going to stop Vardy on his mission and the lad can hold his nerve. Another from the spot, another win for Leicester

21 November: Newcastle 0-3 LeicesterVardy joined Ruud van Nistelrooy by scoring in 10 straight games after netting just before half-time.

28 November: Leicester 1-1 Manchester UnitedHe’s done it!! Vardy becomes a record-breaker.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Vardy set for next fairytale chaptern Reuters, London

Jamie Vardy wrote a new chapter in his fairytale rise from the wilderness of non-League football to playing for England, when he became the � rst player to score in 11 consecutive Pre-mier League matches on Saturday.

The Leicester City striker’s 24th minute goal against Manchester Unit-ed at the King Power Stadium eclipsed the record established across two sea-

sons in 2003 by United’s former Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and took Vardy closer to an even older record, set almost 84 years ago.

If Vardy scores against Swansea City next week, the player described by his manager Claudio Ranieri as “this fan-tastic man” will equal the all-time top � ight scoring record of 12 consecutive matches established by She� eld Unit-ed’s Irish forward Jimmy Dunne in the old Division One in 1931-32.

Vardy, 28, born in She� eld and a boyhood She� eld Wednesday fan,

has scored 13 in his 11-match streak and 14 for the season, making him the League’s top scorer and an early con-tender for the Footballer of the Year award, which has never been won by a Leicester player. But right now, the speedy striker, who has broken into the England squad this year and has four caps, is � rmly focused on win-ning matches � rst.

“I am obviously delighted,” he told Sky Sports. “But the main thing was the performance and I think we put in a very good shift today.

Vardy’s goal came on a counter-at-tack from a United corner and he add-ed: “We have a lot of pace in the team and counter-attacking is a big advan-tage for us.”

It certainly proved that way against United. A clearance from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel went to Christian Fuchs who ran 50 metres with the ball before feeding it to Vardy.

He timed his run to perfection, cutting through the United defence before sending his angled shot � zzing past United keeper David de Gea.

Vardy has come a long way since being convicted of assault, and placed under police curfew. l

Costa dropped but Chelsea still toothlessn Reuters, London

Jose Mourinho dropped his main striker Diego Costa for Chelsea’s Premier League visit to Totten-ham Hotspur yesterday but the champions still proved toothless up front as they ground out an undistinguished goalless draw at White Hart Lane.

Mourinho said before the game that his out-of-sorts Span-ish striker was lacking con� dence but having left him on the bench all afternoon, a Chelsea team with Eden Hazard as an unlikely target man o� ered only intermit-tent threats in an unusually tepid London derby.

Spurs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and chances and forced some decent work in the � rst half from Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic as they went a 13th straight league game without defeat, their best run since a 14-match streak in 1984-1985.

Hazard was at the centre of Chelsea’s best opportunities, heading over the bar from a pin-point Oscar cross in the 20th min-ute and volleying to force a tre-mendous save from Hugo Lloris in the 68th. l

Sport 29D

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Channel 9Bangladesh Premier League 20152:00PMChittagong Vikings v Barisal Bulls6:30PMComilla Victorians v Sylhet Super StarsStar Sports 17:00 PMMen’s FIH Hockey World League FinalNetherlands v India Ten HD2:00 AMSky Bet ChampionshipBolton Wanderers v Brentford Ten Cricket10:00 PMEngland Tour of Pakistan (UAE)3rd T20I Sony Six6:30 AMNBA season 2015/16New York v Houston 9:00 AMLA Lakers v Indiana 12:00 AMSerie ASassuolo v Fiorentina 2:00 AMNapoli v Inter Milan Sony Six HD7:00 PMChampions Tennis LeagueHyderabad v Chennai

DAY’S WATCH

NEW ZEALAND 1ST INNINGS202 (Latham 50; Starc 3-24, Hazlewood 3-66) AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS224 (P. Nevill 66, S. Smith 53; D. Bracewell 3-18)NEW ZEALAND 2ND INNINGS R B(overnight 116 for 5)M. Santner st Nevill b Lyon 45 88B.J. Watling c Smith b Hazlewood 7 35M. Craig c Nevill b Hazlewood 15 25D. Bracewell not out 27 40T. Southee c Lyon b M. Marsh 13 16T. Boult b Hazlewood 5 12Extras (b6, lb2) 8 Total (all out; 62.5 overs) 208

BowlingHazlewood 24.5-5-70-6, Siddle 14-6-35-0, M.Marsh 14-2-59-3, Lyon 10-1-36-1 AUSTRALIA 2ND INNINGS R BD. Warner c Southee b Bracewell 35 37J. Butns lbw b Boult 11 14S. Smith lbw b Boult 14 24A. Voges c Southee b Boult 28 45 S. Marsh c Taylor b Boult 49 117M. Marsh c Williamson b Santner 28 29P. Nevill c Watling b Boult 10 27P. Siddle not out 9 12M. Starc not out 0 1Extras (lb2, w1) 3Total (7 wickets; 51 overs) 187

BowlingSouthee 16-1-58-0, Boult 16-3-60-5 (1w), Brace-well 11-2-37-1, Craig 6-0-22-0, Santner 2-0-8-1

Australia won by 3 wickets, take series 2-0Man of the match: Josh Hazlewood (AUS)Man of the series: David Warner (AUS)

AUS v NZ, DAY 3

Australia’s team members pose with the winning trophy after defeating New Zealand in the � rst day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval yesterday AFP

Australia win historic day-night Testn AFP, Adelaide

Australia yesterday claimed a thrilling three-wicket victory over New Zealand in-side three days at the Adelaide Oval in the � rst-ever day-night Test match.

Shaun Marsh anchored Australia to the cusp of victory before losing his wicket on 49, and the battling Kiwis set up a tense � n-ish under the � oodlights by also dismissing Peter Nevill to leave the home side seven wickets down.

Much to the crowd’s relief Peter Siddle, whose ailing grandmother passed away over-night, cracked the winning runs with a hobbling Mitchell Starc as his batting partner, to clinch a 2-0 series victory over the gallant Black Caps.

Australia won the � rst Brisbane Test by 208 runs and the second Perth Test was drawn.

The match was redemption for Marsh, who has struggled to hold down a place in the Australian team with inconsistent batting performances over his four years at Test level.

“It was fantastic for Shaun to get an op-portunity,” said skipper Steve Smith. “He’s been batting extremely well and the way he played under pressure with his brother to put a partnership together was really crucial for us at that stage.”

The pink ball developed for day-night Tests triumphed over the bat in a fast-paced Test which attracted a total attendance of 123,736. The aim of the experiment is to bring the crowds back to the long form of the game.

“The bowlers have dominated this game and it’s great for cricket,” Smith said.

It was the � rst three-day Test match at the Adelaide Oval in 64 years - since the West In-dies beat Australia by six wickets.

“I thought it was an outstanding Test match. It was closely fought. We’d dearly have loved an extra few runs today, but it wasn’t to be,” said Kiwi captain Brendon Mc-Cullum.

“It’s pretty hard to separate the two teams over the last two Test matches.”

Shaun Marsh had been dropped during the Ashes series in England in August and only came into the Adelaide Test as a re-placement for injured number three Usman Khawaja.l

Fury becomes new heavyweight championn AFP, Berlin

Britain’s Tyson Fury was crowned the new world heavyweight champion on Saturday after a unanimous points win over Wladimir Klitschko, who su� ered his � rst defeat in eleven years.

The 27-year-old Fury was awarded the � ght in Duesseldorf 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111 by the judges to take Klitschko’s WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO belts as the Ukrainian suf-fered his � rst defeat since 2004.

“I want to thank my lord and saviour Je-sus Christ for giving me this victory,” said a tearful Fury who has now won all 25 of his professional � ghts.lTyson Fury in action against Wladimir Klitschko during their � ght in Germany on Saturday REUTERS

n Promiti Prova Chowdhury

With tracks such as Ali more angana, Ab ke sawan and Pyaar ke geet, Shubha Mudgal is popular among listeners from di� erent backgrounds both in India and Bangladesh. The well-known face of Hindustani classical music, Khayal, Thumri, Dadra, and Indian Pop music performed at the Bengal Classical Music Festival in Dhaka today. Dhaka Trib-une takes this opportunity to converse with the Padma Shri award winner to learn about her journey.

Is it your � rst visit to Bangladesh?Yes, it is.

What is your expectation from the Bengal Classical Music Festival 2015?I am actually quite amazed to see so many people attend and listen to classical music and stay through the night. There are many traditional festivals in India, for example, the ones in Jalandhar, where thousands of people join the crowd, however, the number

of audience here, exceed that of any other place. Also, I often hear that not many people attend such events but this festival proves all of them wrong. The festival takes place in such an enormous and well organised man-ner that I am delighted to be here and also

very nervous to perform in front of so many people. Hope it goes well.

What inspired you to experiment with folk and contemporary Indian pop music?There may be people in the world who do not like the kind of music that I have com-posed. And there are some who are not very fond of the popular music I have performed. I was fortunate to have met with musicians who are working with other disciplines. I met some eminent people at studios and during formal introduction we had the chance of sharing what we were working on. One of them approached me and asked me to record a piece. I told them that I had no experience in such music. Yet, I approached the project with nervousness because I was unfamiliar with the genre. However, it gained popularity, by chance I’m guessing (chuckles).

There are many projects that happened and were forgotten. The reason it became popular was due to the debate of whether fusion should take place or that singers

from classical music background should be involved with other genres. In this case, I believe that you should do what you enjoy doing the most. There are many musicians today who feel ful� lled by being associated with only classical music, which is wonderful too!

How wise is it to take classical singing as a profession?I believe that, doing any kind of artistic activ-ity professionally is risky. It’s an adventure that makes you feel very pleasant at times and quite the opposite at other times. For any artist who makes a full-time commitment to any kind of music, be it popular, folk or classical, I think it is still a very di� cult task. It requires a certain commitment which is to say: “I shall continue this work through whatever di� culty may come my way.” One needs to be extremely dedicated knowing that only a little or no support may be avail-able. So I think that commitment to music or any kind of artistic activity is required to accomplish something. l

Showtime30DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Shubha Mudgal shares her melodious adventure

Bengal Classical Music Festival 2015 in photos Day 2

Music maestro Pandit Ajay Chakrabarty sweeping the audience o� their feet with his versatility PHOTOS: DHAKA TRIBUNE Pandit Uday Bhawalkar

Shubhayu Sen Majumdar Jayanthi KumareshPandit Ronu Majumdar

Showtime 31D

TMONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Blood DiamondHBO 10:54pmSoloman Vandy, a South African resident, works in a diamond � eld where he discovers an extraordinary rock. He manages to hide it in the ground but somehow the word gets out about his possession. Soon afterward he faces challenge. Watch the movie to � nd out how he uses the diamond to rescue his wife and children. Cast: Leonardo Di Caprio, Jennifer Connely, Djimon Hounsou

Step-up 2: The StreetsHBO De� ned 6:25pmWhat happens when a rebellious street dancer lands himself in a pretogious institution of Arts. Dazed and amazed by the new opportunities he is provided with, he carefully observes his options and does what he needs to. A lot more to know about the whos, hows and whats in the movie.Cast: Channing Tatum, Briana Evigan

TransporterStar Movies 7:00pmFrank, a retired special forces operator, lands a second career as a courier for underworld a� airs. He gets into dangerous missions one after the other, but never breaks the strict set of rules he has. No questions asked, no names and never � nd out what he is carrying. Till this one job he did that got him into a whole lot of mess. He � nds out that the package he is carrying is a woman namesd Lai. Cast: Jason Stathom, Shu Qi,

PAINTINGEXHIBITION

Raja Reddy and Radha ReddyTwo renowned exponents of the Carnatic Indian dance form of Kuchipudi, who are credited for adding a new dimension to the art without compromising its

traditional virtues, have taken it to a higher plane of performance.The couple has performed at venues all across the globe and has been awarded with the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.

Ganesh Rajagopalan and Kumaresh RajagopalanThe Indian duo who are part of the Carnatic music fraternity are

recognised as notable violinists. The brothers are best known for their contributions to classical music, bringing forward refreshingly original content and style for the instrument.

The brothers began performing on stage from a very early age. They were the youngest violinists to be listed as A-top ranking artistes by the All India Radio.

Shivkumar SharmaShivkumar Sharma was born in 1938 at Jammu Kashmir. The name Pandit Shivkumar Sharma is often considered to be synonymous with the santoor by many

a� cionados of classical music. He is credited for incorporating santoor from the realm of Kashmiri folk music into that of the Indian Classical concert platform, while

facing resistance from the most conservative quarters.

The journey began when his father asked him to pursue the development of the Kashmiri santoor. His persistence, repeated experiments and recon� gurations with the instrument gave it a new life and eventually paved the way for a new genre of music and tremendous success.

Tejendra Narayan MajumdarThe sarod maestro is one of the foremost icons of Indian classical music. He began his early training under the guidance of his grandfather, Bibhuti

Ranjan Majumdar.Majumdar is known to combine the intellectual density and technical virtuosity of his gharana, while infusing elements from the Dhrupad, Tantrakari, as well as Gayaki styles of music.

Ulhas KashalkarKashalkar was born into a family of

musicians. His father, N D Kashalkar, a musician in his own right, initiated him to train in vocal music. Besides being the recipient of several awards,

including the prestigious Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Academy Award, he has been a Guru at the ITC-Sangeet Research Academy for nearly 20 years. Presently, he is serving as the principle and Guru of the Bengal Parampara Sangeetalaya in Dhaka.

Zakir HussainZakir Hussain is a world renowned Indian tabla player. He was a child prodigy and started touring by the age of 12. However,

Hussain began his career as an international musician after moving to the United States during the 1970s. He was the founder of many celebrated collaboration which included Shakti – with John McLaughlin and L Shankar, the Diga Rhythm Band, Making Music, and Planet Drum – with Mickey Hart. He has also performed with other noted musicians such as George Harrison, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Jack Bruce, Tito Puente, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham, the Hong Kong Symphony and the New Orleans Symphony. Zakir Hussain is the youngest percussionist to be awarded with the Padma Shri. l

Performing tonight at the Bengal Classical Music Festival 2015

Back Page32DT

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015

MELODIOUS ADVENTURES OF SHUBHA MUDGAL PAGE 30

EMBEZZLEMENT CLAIMS ON THE RISE AGAINST BANKS PAGE 15

YASIR: I ALWAYS WANTED TO BAT LIKE TAMIM PAGE 25

US � rm to build country’s tallest building n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has decided to allow US-based The KPC Group to construct a 130-storey convention centre at Purbachal within two years.

The proposed tallest-ever struc-ture in the country will house a med-ical school, and there will be a golf court to attract visitors.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has asked Dr Kali Pradip Chaudhuri, chairman of the company, to com-

plete the soil test of the site. The decision to construct the

mega structure in Purbachal was made at a meeting at the Finance Di-vision’s auditorium on Saturday, with the � nance minister in the chair.

Dr Kali Pradip Chaudhuri, a Bang-ladeshi-origin American business-man, was also present at the meeting.

The KPC Group earlier chose a site in Keraniganj but had to change the plan as experts said the sandy soil of the site was not suitable for the con-

struction of such a skyscraper. Sources said the Housing Ministry

has agreed to give a 60-acre land in Purbachal for the project.

The KPC Group runs numerous businesses in di� erent countries around the world in a range of sectors such as healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, education, real estate, infrastructure development, agricul-ture, architecture, alternative energy, waste management, travel services and information technology. l

RURAL RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT

Poor quality grains fail to generate cashn Asif Showkat Kallol

Having failed to raise enough money by selling low quali-ty food grains from two social safety net programmes, the Ministry of Disaster Manage-ment and Relief has requested the Finance Ministry to convert the grains into cash for setting up solar and biogas plants in ru-ral areas.

On Thursday, Disaster Man-agement and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya wrote a letter to Finance Minister AMA Muhith with the request.

In the letter, of which the Dhaka Tribune has obtained a copy, minister Maya referred to a decision made by the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO) in Octo-ber 2014 to raise cash by selling half of the food grains – rice and wheat – from the Test Relief (TR) and Food for Work programmes.

However, district deputy commissioners, who are imple-menting the solar and biogas project, informed the Disaster Management Ministry that the grains are of very low quality and hence not selling even at half the prices at which they had been procured.

For example, the govern-ment-� xed price of every tonne of rice is Tk36,385 and each tonne of wheat is Tk29,178. But, at the � eld level, this rice and wheat are selling for a maxi-mum of Tk15,000 and Tk14,000 respectively.

As a result, they had not been able to maintain the de-sired standard in procuring and installing the solar and biogas plants, the minister said.

He also said that this might also lead to audit objections if they have to purchase the plants at prices lower than the cost price of the food grains.

The letter reads that the Dis-aster Management Ministry is supposed to convert a total of 400,000 tonnes of food grains

from the two social safety net programmes.

So, if the Finance Ministry accepts the request, it will have to give the Disaster Manage-ment Ministry over Tk1,191.94 crore instead of the food grains.

Dhirendra Debnath Sham-bu, chairman of the Parliamen-tary Standing Committee on the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Setting up solar and bio-gas plants in the rural are-as is a good decision because it will generate job and income in those areas.

“But I have doubts wheth-er the renewable energy pro-grammes could be started dur-ing this � scal year as the prices of rice and wheat will have to re� xed,” he added.

On Thursday, a inter-minis-terial meeting was held at the Finance Division. Top o� cials of the two ministries and eight deputy commissioners attend-ed the meeting to re� x the price of the low quality rice and wheat.

But Finance Division failed to re� x the rices because the � eld-level prices that the deputy commissioners gave varied over a wide range – from Tk18,000 per tonne to Tk36,000.

In the 2015-16 � scal year, a total 400,000 tonnes of wheat was allocate for the Test Relief programme. Another 400,000 – including 160,000 tonnes of wheat and 40,000 tonnes of rice – went to the Food for Work programme.

According to the PMO pro-posal, half of these food grains were to be sold and the cash was to be used for setting up re-newable energy plants for rural households.

According to the World Bank, only 40% of the rural households in Bangladesh have access to grid electricity. Even those connected to the grid face frequent power cuts due to lack of generation capacity. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com