There can be no greater hypocrisyn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Jamaat-e-Islami, some of whose top leaders have been convicted and executed for planning and carrying out the murders of intel-lectuals on the eve of victory in 1971, has urged its members and workers to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day today.

Yesterday, in a very short statement – released on the party’s website – Jamaat asked all its branches to observe the day with “due respect” by arranging discussions and special prayers.

Last month, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, secretary general of the extreme right-wing Islamist party, was executed for inspir-ing, instigating, abetting and facilitating the killing of intellectuals on this day in 1971.

In the statement released yesterday, Jamaat’s acting secretary general Sha� qur Rahman also said that the day is “immensely im-portant” because those who “made the sacri� ces for the country will forever be remembered.”

Currently, Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami’s appeal against his death sentence for killing intellectuals is awaiting verdict at the Supreme Court Appellate Division.

Two other absconding Jamaat leaders – Chowdhury Mueen Ud-din, believed to be in the UK, and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, believed to be in the US – have also been sentenced to death for the Decem-ber 14, 1971 killings.

Yesterday’s statement does not mention any time or venue for PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

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Rebels stick to their guns n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Rebel candidates continue to be a headache for the Awami League and BNP even though over a dozen renegade contenders from both camps withdrew from the race on the last day of nomina-tions yesterday.

Some 40 Awami League rebel candidates have decided to defy party discipline and remain in the race, sources said. It is estimated that the corresponding number for the BNP is around 20 rebel con-tenders. The exact numbers have not yet been de� nitively tallied.

The ruling Awami League announced that it would expel all renegade candidates, after the party’s ultimatum to them to withdraw their candidacy expired yesterday, Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif said.

“We spoke to them in every possible way ... and issued an ul-timatum to be careful of the party’s strong stance on rebels can-didacies. But since they de� ed the party’s decision, we are going to take action against them,” Hanif said at the party president’s Dhanmondi o� ce yesterday.

He said rebels who are taking part in the election in de� ance of the party’s orders will be permanently expelled. At the next meeting of the working committee, the party’s top body, the ex-pulsions will be � nalised, he said.

Earlier, Awami League central leaders issued a 24-hour PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

News2DTMONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

AL to expel all rebel candidatesn Abu Hayat Mahmud

The Awami League has temporarily expelled all its grassroots leaders who are contesting the upcoming municipality polls as rebel candidates.

Earlier, the central command of the ruling party gave the rebel candidates 24 hours to pull out and that ultimatum ended yesterday.

The announcement came at a press con-ference held at Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s political of-� ce in Dhanmondi in the evening.

At the conference, Joint General Secretary Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif said the rebel can-didates, who are taking part in the election defying party order, would be permanently expelled at the next meeting of the central working committee.

“We tried in all possible ways to make them change their decisions and issued the ultimatum to give them an idea about the party’s strong stance. As they de� ed the par-ty’s decision, we are going to take actions against them,” he said.

Asked what the total number of rebel can-didates was, Hanif said the party was collect-ing information to prepare a list of the rebels.

According to party sources, about 50 rebel candidates had not withdrawn their nomina-tion until yesterday.

Earlier, central leaders Obaidul Quader, also communications and bridges minister, and Dipu Moni, former foreign minister, held a meeting with the organising secretaries at the same place to make a decision about the rebels.

Yesterday was the last day of withdrawing nomination papers for the December 30 polls to the 234 municipalities in the country. l

There can be no greater hypocrisyany of the programmes that it asked its mem-bers to organise to commemorate the day.

The party released a similar statement on the eve of Martyred Intellectuals Day last year as well.

Interestingly, although the party issues statements before the day every year, there has never been any report of them doing anything – neither holding discussions nor o� ering special prayers – in public onDecember 14.

The war crimes tribunal has said in many of its verdicts that Jamaat is a criminal organ-isation that committed crimes against hu-manity during the 1971 Liberation War.

In fact, all of the top leaders of the party have either been executed, are serving pris-on terms or are under trial for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.

Jamaat does not have the right to take part in elections in Bangladesh. Two years ago, the Election Commission nulli� ed its regis-tration because it’s charter con� icts with the country’s constitution.

Asif Munier, son of martyred intellectual Prof Munier Choudhury, said: “There is pres-sure from di� erent quarters to ban Jamaat. So they are doing all this to establish that they are a legitimate political party.”

Asif, whose father Prof Munier Choudhury was a leading writer of the country when he was killed, also said: “This is hilarious [Ja-maat asking its men to observe the day]. But there is no reason to think that they will be forgiven if they do things like this.

“We have boycotted them politically and socially because they have failed to prove themselves as a positive political force in the last 44 years.”

For Nuzhat A Chowdhury, daughter of martyred intellectual AFM Alim Chowhdury, this is the biggest example of hypocrisy.

“Jamaat is a party of war criminals. Not only the party but the leaders and those who believe in their ideology are war criminals.

“It is not that only a few people commit-ted crimes against humanity during the Lib-eration War, the entire organisation did those horrible things. Jamaat should keep in mind that they will also be tried as a criminal or-ganisation. It is just a matter of time now,” she told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Leading war crimes trial campaigner, his-torian and writer Prof Muntassir Mamoon said: “After the execution of its leaders for war crimes, Jamaat observing Martyred In-tellectuals Day seems like a mockery of Bang-ladesh’s independence.

“Jamaat will observe Independence Day, Victory Day and many other days. But that does not mean that Jamaat has changed. Rather, Jamaat will remain what it was in 1971. Observing the day is nothing but an evil

attempt,” the professor of history said.On this day in 1971, sensing imminent de-

feat, the Pakistani occupation forces, using the paramilitary Al-Badr force, carried out the planned, cold-blooded slaughter of in-tellectuals by brutally murdering university teachers, writers, thinkers, cultural activists and professionals, who would have had the ability to lead Bangladesh to prosperity had they been alive.

The Al-Badr mainly comprised members of Jamaat’s then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, now known as Islami Chhatra Shibir.

Current Jamaat chief and now death-row war criminal, Nizami, was the chief of Chhatra Sangha during the Liberation War. He admin-istered the formation of the paramilitary force and was in charge of it until October 1971.

Executed war criminal Mujahid, who took over charge of Al-Badr in October 1971, was the chief of the force when the killing of in-tellectuals took place, according to verdicts pronounced by the International Crimes Tri-bunal. l

Rebels stick to their guns ultimatum to rebel candidates to withdraw from the elections or face expulsion from the party. About half a dozen contenders paid heed to the diktat.

BNP leaders said they were urging their party’s mavericks to pull out of the contest, but said the party was open to negotiations until election day.

For the � rst time, municipal polls this year will be held on party lines, with each party allowed just one candidate per municipality.

Awami League president Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina nominated her party’s candi-dates while BNP Joint Secretary General Mo-hammad Shahjahan nominated candidates from his party for the municipal polls.

Threats and tearsThere have been reports that the ruling Awa-mi League has used the apparatus of the state to whip in the rebel candidate of Bhedarganj municipality in Shariatpur district.

It was alleged that the Awami League re-bel candidate there, Abul Bashar, was picked up from his house by law enforcement per-sonnel and taken to the local member of parliament’s house before being taken to the deputy commissioner’s o� ce where he with-drew his candidacy.

When asked about it, a weeping Bashar said he had withdrawn his candidacy.

Bashar’s wife Suraya Sultana said a group of people, introducing themselves as members of the Detective Branch of police,

picked her husband up and took him to local lawmaker Nahim Razzak’s house. She said Bashar was then taken to the DC o� ce in the lawmaker’s car.

Rogue contenders of all camps risked fac-ing the wrath of their respective parties for breaking with discipline.

But Election Commissioner Zabed Ali yesterday said if the Election Commission receives complaints from individual candi-dates about any sort of pressure to withdraw nominations, it would take action.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of the BNP, said: “What action will be taken against rebels will be decided after discus-sions with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. I believe the rebels will show loyalty to the party and withdraw their candidacy.”

There have been a spate of withdrawals from the race leading up to yesterday’s deadline.

Kushtia municipality candidate Golam Mohsin of JaSoD withdrew his candidacy in favour of Awami League candidate Anwar Ali.

In Daulatkhan municipality of Bhola, two Awami League rebel candidates, Alamgir Hossain and Iqbal Hossain Babu, withdrew from the race as well.

On the last day to withdraw nominations, allegations were rife that ruling party lawmak-ers had compelled many rebel candidates to withdraw from the contest using force.

BNP rebel candidates were also alleged to have pulled out of the race under pressure from party high ups.

In Faridganj upazila of Chandpur, one Awami League and two BNP rebel candidates withdrew, but another BNP rebel decided to stay in the race.

Awami League rebel Khalilur Rahman Khan and BNP rebel Kamruzzaman Milon of Betagi upazila in Borguna district also bowed out of the race.

In Patharghata municipality of Borguna, rebel BNP candidate Moniruzzaman Monir withdrew from the elections.

In Daudkandi upazila of Comilla, Awami League rebels Abdus Sattar and Khandakar Shahjahan, and Jatiya Party candidate Ohi-dur Rahman also withdrew from the race.

In Laxmipur, BNP rebel Nazrul Islam Liton of Raipur municipality and Awami League rebel Belal Ahmed of Ramganj upazila also withdrew from the race.

In Kurigram municipality, two rebels of the Awami League, Kaziul Islam and Saidul Hasan Dulal, also withdrew.

In Akhaura municipality, BNP rebel candi-date Zainal Abedin Abdu and Awami League rebel candidate Sheikh Burhanuddin with-drew their nominations.

In Narail municipality, two rebels of the Awami League, Hasanuzzaman and Anju-man Ara, withdrew from the race.

In Bogra’s Dhunat municipality, Awami League rebel candidate Al Amin Tarafdar withdrew his candidacy.

In Sadar municipality of Kishoreganj, BNP rebel candidate Israil Miah withdrew as well.

In Habiganj municipality, BNP rebel can-didate Aminur Rashid Emran withdrew his candidacy.

In Gangni municipality of Meherpur, BNP rebel candidate Asaduzzaman Bablu pulled out of the contest.

Symbols to be allocated todayThe Election Commission will allocate elec-tion symbols to mayoral and councillor candidates in 235 municipalities across the country today.

Since the municipal mayor elections are being held along partisan lines for the � rst time ever, the election symbols of the polit-ical parties registered with the Election Com-mission will be distributed among the may-oral candidates.

The EC will assign the symbols of 19 par-ticipating political parties to some 680 can-didates nominated by the parties for the De-cember 30 election.

The commission will allot election sym-bols to some 400 independent mayoral can-didates and nearly 12,000 councillor contest-ants, including women councillor aspirants for the reserved seats of the municipalities.

Candidates will be allowed to use their re-spective party symbols to campaign from to-day. Although party-backed candidates know their ballot symbols, they were not allowed to use the symbols before the formal allocation.

Election campaigning began on December 9, three weeks before the date of the ballot. l

Martyred Intellectuals Monument in Mirpur, Dhaka SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

News 3D

TMONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

‘Bring back Mueen, Ashraf’n Kamrul Hasan

The family members of martyred intellec-tuals are content with the execution of top war criminal Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, who had masterminded the systematic kill-ing of the noted professionals at the fag end of the 1971 Liberation War.

But they are also frustrated as two other top al-Badr leaders – Chowdhury Mueen Ud-din and Ashrafuzzaman Khan who had ac-tively taken part in carrying out the genocide – are yet to be brought back home to face the death sentences given by the International Crimes Tribunal.

Mueen Uddin is now staying in the UK

while Ashraf in the US.Asif Munir, son of martyred Munier

Chowdhury, said: “The execution of Muja-hid shows that the process for executing the war criminals is ongoing. It gave a new hope to the families of the martyred intellectuals killed in 1971.

“But war criminals Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan are staying abroad. They should be punished too to en-sure justice.”

Mueen and Ashraf were sentenced to death on November 3, 2013 for their involve-ment in the abduction, torture and murder of intellectuals between December 11 and 15 in 1971. Para militia force al-Badr was formed

with members of Islami Chhatra Sangha – then Jamaat’s student wing – under the vigi-lance of the Pakistani occupation forces.

Sumon Jahid, son of journalist and poet Selina Parvin, told the Dhaka Tribune that as there is no extradition treaty with the two countries, the matter should be dealt dip-lomatically to bring the war criminals back home.

“The government should bring them back immediately through the respective embassies. In addition, the Bangladeshi people, residing in those countries, shouldinitiate stronger campaigns and also boycott the two criminals socially to ensure justice,” he added. l

Writ seeks stay on municipal pollsn Tribune Report

A Supreme Court lawyer yesterday � led a writ petition with the High Court seeking a stay order on the allocation of electoral sym-bols and the December 30 municipality elec-tions.

In his petition, SM Zul� qure Ali, a Su-preme Court practitioner, prayed to the court to halt the process.

He argued that there had been several errors in the provisions of the Municipality Election Rules, 2010, amened on November 23 this year.

Due to these errors, the candidates would face problems in choosing election symbols,

the petitioner’s lawyer AKM Ehanur Rahman said.

The chief election commissioner, two of the commission's top o� cials and the sec-retary to the Law, Justice and Parliamentary A� airs Ministry were made respondents in the petition. The High Court may hold a hear-ing on the petition today.

On December 10, Zul� qure served a legal notice on the Election Commission seeking army deployment during the municipality polls to create a level-playing � eld and legal action against the ruling party lawmakers for violating the electoral code of conduct. He � led the writ petition as EC did not respond to the notice. l

Six secretaries transferredn Tribune Report

The government has transferred six secretary-level civil serv-ants to new o� ces in a reshu� e.

Besides, leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) of Mahbub Alam, senior secretary of the Finance Division, has been can-celled and he has got a two-year extension in the same post on contractual terms.

A gazette noti� cation of the transfer and the extension was issued by the Public Administration Ministry yesterday.

The rector of BCS Administration Academy, Md Sohrab Hossain, has been made secretary of the Education Ministry.

He was earlier a personal secretary of Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and is a lifetime member of Bangla Academy.

Land Appeal Board Chairman Dr Md Abdur Rob Howlader has been made a member of the Planning Commission while the secretary of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry, Mesbah-ul Alam, has been transferred to the land ministry as its secretary.

Member of the Planning Commission Md Humayun Khalid has been made secretary of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry.

Director General of the Department of Immigration and Passport NM Zeaul Alam has been made acting cabinet secre-tary (coordination) while Additional Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division Nazimuddin Chowdhury has been made the acting secretary of the same division.

This is the latest reshu� e in the civil administration which will come into e� ect immediately, the noti� cation read.

In a separate order, Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Muhammad Abdullah has been made the rector of BCS Admin-istration Academy. l

Moja losss? admin to be produced before court todayn Kamrul Hasan

The alleged admin of satirical Facebook page Moja losss? will be produced before a court today on completion of two-day remand.

Sub-Inspector of Bhatara police Abdur Rouf, investigating o� cer of the case � led un-der sections 56 and 57 of the ICT Act, said that they could not make any comment on the matter until the investigation was complete.

RAB arrested Refayat from Bashundhara area on Thursday afternoon. RAB claimed Re-fayat was the admin of the page and that he had been involved in propagating against the government and the state. l

With just a little over two weeks to go before municipal polls, a press worker is busy in Dhaka's Fakirapool area printing campaign posters for candidates RAJIB DHAR

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015News4DT

HC questions legality of ICCDRB o� cial’s postn Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday questioned wheth-er the appointment of a high o� cial at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDRB) was legal.

The court issued the ruling after hearing a writ petition � led by two ICDDRB doctors challenging the legality of Human Resource Director Christin Denhi’s appointment.

The petitioners’ lawyer M Monjur Alam said Denhi has been holding the post of HR director since August 28 last year, at the age of 59, when the hospital’s rules states that the age limit for the appointment in the post is 18 to 58 years. l

AL-backed Blue Panel sweeps DUTA elections n DU Correspondent

The Awami League-backed Blue Panel teachers swept the Dhaka University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) elections held yesterday, bagging 14 seats in the 15-member executive committee.

Prof Sharif Ullah Bhuiyan, spokesperson of the polls-administrative body, announced the results at Teachers’ Club in the evening.

The remaining seat was won by a pro-BNP-Jamaat White Panel teacher.

The Left-leaning DUTA members, who have been a part of the Blue Panel for a long time, formed the Pink Panel to participate in the elections this year, aiming to win the eight executive committee posts but failing to win any.

A total of 1,467 teachers out of 1,950 cast their votes from 10am to 2pm at the Dhaka University Teachers’ Club.

Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed of the university’s

department of economics and Prof ASM Maksud Kamal of the department of Earth and environmental science were elected the committee’s president and general secretary, respectively.

Both Prof Farid Uddin and Prof Maksud Kamal have been elected in their respective posts for the third time.

Prof Lutfor Rahaman of the department of statistics, biostatistics and informatics was the sole winner from the White Panel, as an executive committee member.

The other winners are: Prof Md Imdadul Hoque of the department of botany as the vice-president, Prof Shibli Rubayatul Islam of the department of banking and insurance as the treasurer, Associate Prof Neelima Akhter of the department of English as joint general secretary, and Prof Md Aftab Ali Sheikh of the department of chemistry, Prof Abu Jafar Md Sha� ul Alam Bhuiyan of the department of television and � lm studies, Faculty of Arts Dean Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman, criminology department Chairman Prof Md Ziaur Rahman, Prof Md Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, Prof Md Rahmat Ullah of the department of law, Prof Sabita Rezwana Rahman of the department of microbiology, Associate Prof Chandra Nath Podder of the department of mathematics, and Associate Prof La� fa Jamal of the department of computer science and engineering as executive committee members. l

A total of 1,467 teachers out of 1,950 cast their votes from 10am to 2pm at the Dhaka University Teachers’ Club

‘New technology hindered by lack of info in rural areas’ n Shadma Malik

Lack of information is a key challenge faced by the developing countries when adopting modern technologies, said Dr Mush� q Mobar-ak, professor of economics at Yale University.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune following a seminar on development economics in the capital yesterday, the economics expert talked about the potential challenges in be-havioural changes among the rural popula-tion when adopting new technologies.

He mentioned traditional cooking stoves that are still used in the rural areas as an example.

“Indoor air pollution is caused by these traditional stoves which need biomass as fuel, and the pollution lead to respiratory infection. But not many people know that,” Prof Mobarak told the Dhaka Tribune. “The smoke created from burning biomass car-ries � ne particles, and when you breathe the smoke in, those particles get into your lungs and cause irritation.”

Prof Mobarak said he is currently running research projects in Bangladesh, India, Mala-wi, Kenya, Brazil, Nepal and Uganda aiming to achieve improved welfare with increased and correct use of technologies in rural

households as well as the agriculture sector.“There is no penetration of improve

stoves in rural Bangladesh. The best option is, of course, gas stoves, and but there are hardly any gas lines in the rural areas here. Gas canisters are available, but those are ex-pensive.”

He said lack of money is also a challenge in adopting any technology. “When you are looking to promote a technology, you are competing with a traditional practice which may be free. However, the cheaper and tra-ditional alternative is likely to have worse e� ects on health which will cause more ex-

pense in the long run.” Social learning is the best way to adopt

new technologies, especially in rural areas, he said. “Peer sources are most e� ective in disseminating information on new technolo-gies. In my experience in � eld experiments, the better approach is to identify peer farm-ers, get them to use the new technologies and give them the responsibility to teach others. Providing performance-based incen-tives to adopt technology works too.”

The seminar was jointly organised by Brac Institute of Governance and Development and the International Growth Centre. l

The government recognised the transgender people as the third gender two years ago, but little has been done to ensure employment, leaving them with no options but to create nuisance, often in public places, to earn a living. In this photograph, taken at Dhaka’ Bijoy Sarani yesterday, three transgender people block the way of a wedding car to extort SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Cox’s Bazar 29 22Dhaka 28 18 Chittagong 28 19 Rajshahi 26 15 Rangpur 25 11 Khulna 27 16 Barisal 28 19 Sylhet 27 11T 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 5:14PM SUN RISES 6:33AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW30.5ºC 14.6ºC

Patuakhali DimlaMONDAY, DECEMBER 14

DRY WEATHER

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 5:12am | Zohr: 11:53am Asr: 3:37pm | Magrib: 5:14pmEsha: 6:34pm

PRAYERTIMES

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015News 5

DT

Special security for Christians in Lalmonirhatn Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat

Police in the northern district of Lalmonirhat have made special security arrangements for the local Christians after the priest of a church received death threat, allegedly from the Islamic State.

Reverend Tapan Barman, priest of the Lalmonirhat Church of God, � led a general diary (GD) with the Sadar police station on late Saturday night seeking protection.

The handwritten letter in Bangla reads: “Fathers, priests, eat whatever food you want to by December 20. And do not forget to say goodbye to your wives. The commander of Syria IS has sent a letter to us seeking you severed head. Soon we will send him your head as gift.

“We have been given the instruction to shoot and kill those who have been preach-ing Christianity in Lalmonirhat district. They will be killed as soon as possible. We have exploded bombs at the Kantaji temple. When time comes, we will make everyone under-stand whether we have the power.”

The credit line of the letter reads: “Com-mander IS, Bangladesh wing-Dinajpur.”

Reverend Tapan becomes the 12th Christi-anity preacher in several districts in the north of Bangladesh to have received death threats in the last couple of months. Over the same period, there have been attempts on the lives of several Christian priests in these districts.

Tapan told the Dhaka Tribune: “After re-ceiving the hand-written letter with IS’s name,

we have had discussions among ourselves and informed the local police station about it.”

AHM Mahfuzur Rahman, OC of the Lalmonirhat police station, said: “Reverend Tapan Barman has � led a GD with us seeking legal help and protection. We are now investigating the matter. In addition, we have also made special security

arrangements for the people belonging to the Christian community.”

When contacted, Lalmonirhat district police chief Mojahidul Islam said: “We are not ruling out the chances [that IS could be involved]. But we are keeping things under strict observation to know if the matter is believable. Investigation is also going on.” l

November 2610 priests receivedeath threats in

handwritten letters

RANGPURNovember 26

One killed inattack on

Shia mosque

RANGPURNovember 30Gun attack onIskcon leader

Birendra Nath Roy

DINAJPURDecember 4Bomb blasts

at Kantaji temple

DINAJPURDecember 10

Bomb andgun attack atIskcon temple

DINAJPURDecember 12

Priest TapanBarman receives

threat letter

LALMONIRHAT

October 5Murder attempt

on priestLuke Sarker

PABNANovember 8

Attack onBahai centre

director Ruhul Amin

RANGPURNovember 10

Caretaker ofshrine killed

RANGPURNovember 12

Attack onShia community

member

NILPHAMARINovember 18Italian doctor

and priestPiero shot

DINAJPURNovember 24Catholic priestFather Carlos

threatened over phone

DINAJPUR

EXTREMISTS' ATTACKS AND THREATS IN NORTHERN DISTRICTS 2015

US supports connectivityin South Asian Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

US State Department Under-secretary desig-nate Tom Shannon has said Bangladesh can be a leading economy in South Asia, serving as a manufacturing powerhouse and hub for the movement of goods and people in South and South East Asia.

“United States is an enthusiastic support-er of implementing the vision which we are helping to realise through our Indo-Paci� c Economic Initiative,” he said.

Shannon was speaking at a seminar on Bangladesh-US relationship at the Bangla-desh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) yesterday.

He said that in recent months Bangladesh and India signed merchant shipping agree-ment which would reduce shipment time and cost while the BBIN initiative would help the countries in moving people and goods without any hindrance.

“We are committed to economic connec-tivity because it is a key to regional prosper-ity, stability and opportunity for the Ameri-can economy,” he said.

Many economists predict that by the year 2050, Asia will contribute 50% of the global GDP, he said.

“It is clear that we are at the beginning of Indo-Paci� c century and US as a Paci� c na-tion will play its part in the story.”

He said the United States would continue to drive Bangladesh’s economic growth as it is one of Bangladesh’s largest foreign inves-tors and the two-way trade has grown steadi-ly to more than $6bn. l

Writ seeks Tk30 lakh for Nirob’s familyn Tribune Report

A lawyer � led a writ petition with the High Court yesterday seeking Tk30 lakh in com-pensation for the family of Ismail Hossain Nirob, who died after falling in a manhole in the capital’s Shyampur on December 8.

Chairman of Children Charity Foundation Abdul Halim � led the petition and the court is likely to hear it today or tomorrow.

Five-year-old Nirob fell in the manhole in the afternoon and his body was found more than four hours later at Shyampur Bazar sluice gate.

The petitioner pleaded with the court to issue a ruling as to why the victim’s family would not be given the compensation.

The petitioner also urged the court to ask o� cials for submitting a list of uncovered manholes, and unmaintained wells, pipes,

sewerage lines within a month.The court was also requested to order po-

lice to identify the owner of the place where the uncovered manhole is located in Shyam-pur and also the authority that is supposed to look after its maintenance.

A total of 13 people, including the home secretary, Dhaka Wasa chairman and Dhaka North City Corporation mayor, were made respondents in the writ petition. l

Wearing bandanas and holding the national � ag, children join a three-day Victory Day celebration organised by the Shammilito Shanskritik Jote at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015News6DT

BREB director passes awayn Tribune Report

AFM Fazlul Kadir, director of Bangladesh Rural Electri-� cation Board (BREB), died at the National Heart Foun-dation in the capital’s Mirpur on Saturday night. He was 58.

He left behind his mother, wife, a son, sev-

en siblings and a host of admirers to mourn his death.

Fazlul Kadir accomplished his post-grad-uation in public administration from Dhaka University.

He started his career at the BREB as an assistant director for administration in 1985.

Fazlul Kadir was laid to rest at the family graveyard. l

Prime accused of Tapos Sarker murder yetto be arrestedn FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

Investigation into the murder of Chittagong University’s � rst year student and Chhatra League activist Tapos Sarker is at the � nal stage, but the police are yet to arrest the prime accused though one year has passed since the killing.

Eight of the 30 accused were arrested by Hathazari police while the Police Bureau of In-vestigation o� cials arrested another recently. PIB took the charge of the case in August.

“The investigation is nearly complete. We have sent the Memo of Evidence report to the Police Headquarters seeking permission to press charges in the case,” Chittagong PBI Inspector Mia Jahid Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune.

Key accused Ashrafuzzaman Asha, the former deputy cultural a� air secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s CU unit, is still on the run.

Inspector Jahid said that they were con-ducting operations to arrest Asha, “but he is changing location frequently. He has recent-ly gone to the capital from Jessore.”

Police said Asha had shot the bullet that killed Tapos during a clash on the campus be-tween two groups of Chhatra League ensued over placing wreaths on the occasion of Mar-tyred Intellectuals Day on December 14 last year. He was a � rst year student of Sangskrit department.

The rival groups, backed by Chittagong

Awami League leaders, engaged in clashes at least seven times within three months. Ta-pos, an activist of shuttle train-based group Choose Friend with Care, was killed in the last incident of violence.

According to the autopsy report, Tapos was killed in a bullet that hit his chest. It was � red from a 0.32 bore pistol.

Following the clash, police had raided Shahjalal Hall and recovered one light gun and four rounds of pistol bullets, and arrest-ed 30 Chhatra League members.

Later police � led an arms case mentioning the names of � ve Chhatra League men while a classmate of Tapos � led the murder case accusing 30 leaders and activists of the rival group including Asha on December 16.

Family members of the victim are frus-trated over the pace of investigation. His el-der brother Ashish Sarker demanded capital punishment of the killers.

On the other hand, the university author-ities are yet to disclose the � ndings of an in-vestigation report prepared by a � ve-mem-ber probe body formed after the murder.

Prof Khan Tawhid Osman, head of probe committee, told Dhaka Tribune that they had submitted the report to then vice-chancellor Prof Anwarul Azim Arif in May this year.

The submission contains video clips, TV reports and interviews, newspaper clippings, and a number of recommendations to avert student violence. l

60 BGB members to be awardedn Tribune Report

Some 60 members of the Border Guard Bang-ladesh (BGB) will be accorded with special awards this year in recognition of their brav-ery in line of duty.

These o� cials will be awarded the Bor-der Guard Bangladesh Medal (BGBM) and the President Border Guard Medal (PBGM)

as well as monetary rewards as a monthly instalment as per their contributions in ser-vice, said a circular issued by the Ministry of Home A� airs yesterday.

According to the circular, 10 BGB o� cials will receive the BGBM, 20 o� cials will re-ceive the PBGM, 10 will receive the BGB (ser-vice) Medal and 20 others will get the PBG (service) Medal. l

Kaler Kantho ex-deputy editor killed in road accidentn Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Former deputy editor of Bangla daily Kaler Kantho Abdullah Al-Faruk died in a road accident in the capital’s Kakrail area ear-ly yesterday.

Sub-Inspector of Ram-na police station Md Mo-

hiuddin told the Dhaka Tribune a truck hit Faruk when he was crossing a road in front of Hotel Razmoni Ishakha around 1am.

“The victim was � rst taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and then to Square Hospitals where he succumbed to injuries around 5am,” he said, adding that the trucker

was yet to be detained.“We will check if any CCTV camera was

installed near the site of the accident. If we � nd any, we will collect the footage to � nd the trucker. Faruk’s family has not yet � led any case,” said SI Mohiuddin.

Faruk, who hailed from Santhia in Pabna district, lived in the capital’s Mohammadpur with his family members that include his wife Parvin Akhter, ninth-grader daughter Adita Faruk, and second-grader son Samin Adib.

His namaz-e-janaza was held three times – at the National Press Club, Dhaka Reporters Unity and his Mohammadpur residence in Tajmahal Road. He was laid to rest at Azim-pur graveyard at 7pm. l

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015News 7

DT

MUNICIPALIT Y POLLS 2015

MUNICIPALIT YPOLLS 2015

M U N I C I P A L I T Y P O L L S 2 0 1 5

M U N I C I P A L I T Y P O L L S 2 0 1 5EC: Action if contestants are coerced into quitting racen Abid Azad

Election Commissioner Zabed Ali yesterday said the Election Commission would take action if any municipal polls candidate com-plained that he or she had been pressured into withdrawing nomination.

But he did not clarify what type of action would be taken.

Zabed was addressing a press brie� ng at the commission o� ce at 5pm, which was the deadline for withdrawing nominations. There was a crowd of rebel candidates at the o� ce who went to withdraw their candidacies.

Both the Awami League and the BNP ear-lier asked rebel candidates to withdraw their nominations. Zabed said the commission treats all candidates equally, and will take ac-tion if any candidate lodges complaint.

“It is important that candidates lodge written complaints if they want the commis-sion to take action. They will be given all nec-essary support as per the rules.

“We have not yet received any complaint from any candidate,” he said.

The commissioner said the commission would work for all parties. “Each candidate, irrespective of his or her party, will get the

same preference.”Zabed said the commission would seri-

ously look into any complaint of violation of law or electoral code of conduct.

“Violators, whoever they are, will face legal action. Everyone should be mindful of whether or not he can join campaigns.

“Executive magistrates and judicial mag-istrates will discharge their duties from to-morrow. Executive magistrates will slap vio-lators with jail sentence and � ne on the spot.

“But we do hope that no candidate will vi-olate the rules. Then it will be helpful for us all,” added Zabed. l

Bobita Nandi, councillor aspirant in reserved seat at Ward 2 of Kakonhat municipality, is seen seeking votes from women yesterday. The photo was taken at Kakonhat Para AZAHAR UDDIN

BNP men come under attackduring campaignin Munshiganj,10 injuredn Our Correspondent, Munshiganj

Some BNP leaders were come under attack allegedly by Awami League and Jubo League men in Munshiganj district town yesterday afternoon.

The ruling party men allegedly attacked the BNP men while they were conducting campaign in Kachari Mosjid area of the dis-trict town around 12:30pm that left 10 peo-ple, including district unit BNP President and ex-member of the parliament Abdul Hye and president of Munshiganj town unit BNP and mayoral candidate AKM Iradat Manu, injured.

Later, at a press conference, BNP leader Abdul Hye said,”The attackers led by Ray-han Uzzaman Russel, Awami League leader and councilor candidate and Sazzad Hossain, general secretary of Munshiganj town unit Bangladesh Chhatra League beat our people indiscriminately while they the exchanging greetings with voters and seeking votes.”

He also said: “We have informed district administration and local election commis-sion aboout the matter. We will also submit a written complain about the matter to the chief election commissioner soon.”

Mayoral candidate AKM Iradat Manu, said: “We will also � le a case with local police station.”

O� cer-in-Charge of Munshiganj Sadar police station Md Yunus Ali said: “Some BNP leaders were attacked by some miscreants when they were exchanging greetings with voters.”

“Though no case has yet been � led, police will look into the matter,” the OC said.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, Munshiganj district unit Awami League president, declined to say anything over the matter.

Jamal Hossain, organising secretary of district unit Awami League, said: “It is a con-spiracy against us. Local BNP wants to tar-nish the image of Awami League to get bene-� t in the upcoming municipality election.” l

Voters to examine candidates’ past success recordsn Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Voters in Gazipur’s Sreepur municipality area say they will choose who to vote for in the upcoming elections by evaluating whether candidates delivered on their past promises.

They say they want to elect contestants who have worked for the betterment of the residents in the past.

Md Sha� qul Islam, a betel vendor in Maw-na, said he is interested in predicting what a contestant can do after the elections by eval-uating what that person did in the past.

“To me, this is a requirement to choose the best candidate,” he told the DhakaTribune.

Residents of the municipality said it is important to consider whether a candidate would, after winning, initiate development projects before voting for him.

This is because we are riddled with lack of amenities and we now want development, they said.

Md Taijuddin, who pulls a rickshaw to make a living, said the condition of many

roads is very poor and the problem has not been addressed for long.

“There are roads where it is a tough job to pull rickshaws. I do not want to know whether a candidate is a good or bad person. I just want to vote for the one who will concentrate on de-

velopment after winning the elections,” he said.Van driver Abdul Karim said he voted for

the party-backed candidate in the last polls but was left with frustrations as the candi-date did not work for development. “This time, I will be very cautious when I vote.”

Ali Hossain, who drives a human haulier, said people have become more conscious when it come to choosing a good candidate in the elections.

“We are aware of candidates who sweet-talk during electioneering but forget everything after the vote is over. We will not choose such candidates this time.”

Garment worker Nazrul Islam, who lives in Ward 7, said he had voted both for the Awami League and the BNP candidates in several previous elections but none worked for development.

“This time, I will not think much. I may

even refrain from voting if I think there is no suitable candidate,” he said.

Ariful Islam Arif, a schoolteacher in Ward 2, said he was not very interested in the up-coming elections as the municipality resi-dents are still deprived of many basic servic-es and facilities.

Dulal Miah, a trader, said there are many problems that people living in the municipal-ity area have been facing for years.

“The roads lie in a bad condition and there is no sewage disposal system. I will vote for the candidate who will be addressing these problems,” he added.

Four candidates – Md Anisur Rahman Anis of Awami League, Md Shahidullah Shahid of BNP, Abul Kashem of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and independent candidate Md Ahsan Ullah – will be contesting for the post of mayor in the December 30 elections. l

‘This time, I will not think much. I may even refrain from voting if I think there is no suitable candidate’

News8DTMONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Man commits suicide after killing wifen Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A person reportedly committed suicide after killing his wife in Sho� pur Purbopara area, Kaliakoir upazila, Gazipur yesterday.

The deceased are Raihan Ali, 38, and his wife Halima Begum, 30. Raihan was a rick-shaw puller and Halima worked at a gar-

ments factory Mahmud Denims.Raihan is the son of Altaf Ali of Dinajpur

and Halima is the daughter of Aminul Islam of the same district.

Sub-Inspector of Mowchak police out-post Saiful Alam said: “The couple have been living in a rented house Sho� pur Pur-bopara area. The couple had some disputes

over family matters. Like previous days, they locked into an altercation over family after Halima returned home from work around 10:30pm on Saturday. At one stage of the ar-gument, Raihan repeatedly stabbed his wife with a knife.

“Hearing her scream, locals went to their house and noticed Raihan with the knife in

his hand. Later, sensing presence of locals, he stabbed himself with his knife.”

The SI said locals took Raihan to Sa� pur General Hospital where on-duty doctor de-clared him dead.

Later, police sent the bodies to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College morgue for autopsy. l

Education 9D

T

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

nChisty Rahim

Having a hard time pronouncing words correctly? English might come easily to you but the accent does play a vital role in its use. Here’s how to develop it.

Pick oneWith so many types of accents being spoken around the world, it might be confusing to know which one is correct and which isn’t. The easiest of accents to adapt to is the American accent. It’s simple and comprehensible and sounds more impressive than it reads. Whereas British and Australian accents are pronounced with missing vowels and letters, and are harder to get used to.

Think in EnglishThis sets you back by miles, for if you wish to adapt a consistent accent, you must talk to yourself in it, mentally. If you think in English it will come to you easily than when you instantaneously try to translate it from your native language, think again. Make your inner voice American, and it will speak it naturally. Train your earsIn order to pronounce a word correctly, you need to know how it sounds � rst. After you’re done picking the accent you like or � nd easy to follow, watch American (or British/Australian/Canadian, etc) movies and listen to their songs as well. Try to focus on their pronunciations and practice it. With time and enough practice, it will be done and dusted in no time.

Work on your vocabularyVocabulary is very important when it comes to learning an accent. So work on that � rst. The way to do so is by keeping a list and a dictionary. Dictionaries usually have pronunciations broken down for every word. Follow that and try to practice the accent of your particular choice with it. This will help smooth your � ow of words as you apply it. l

Hard to pronounceAccents are often tongue-twisting and confusing, and if you don’t have one, you might as well start working on it

IELTSPractice with us to step up your IELTS game.

Here’s a sample of the IELTS General Training Writing.

Read the instructions for each task carefully.

Write at least 150 words.

You have 40 minutes.

IELTSdates and locations

Write about the following topic:

You live in a room in college which you share with another student. However, there are many problems with this arrangement and you � nd it very di� cult to work.Write a letter to the accommodation o� cer at the college. In the letter,• describe the situation• explain your problems and why it is

di� cult to work• say what kind of accommodation you

would prefer

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Writing Task

Venue: Bashundhara, Baridhara

Test date: January 9, 2016Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: January 2, 2016

Test date: January 9, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: January 2, 2016

Test date: January 23, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: January 16, 2016

Test date: January 23, 2016Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: January 16, 2016

Venue: Banani

Test date: January 30, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: January 23, 2016

Test date: February 13, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 6, 2016

Test date: February 20, 2016Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: February 13, 2016

Test date: February 20, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 13, 2016

Venue: Dhanmondi

Test date: January 9, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: January 2, 2016

Test date: January 9, 2016Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: January 2, 2016Test date: January 23, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: January 16, 2016

Test date: January 23, 2016Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: January 16, 2016 l

This sets you back by miles, for if you wish to adapt a consistent accent, you must talk to yourself in it, mentally. If you think in English it will come to you easily than when you instantaneously try to translate it from your native language, think again

PHO

TO: B

IGST

OCK

n Promit Ananyo Chakraborty

Nothing can be more depressing for a man than being bro-zoned, but as long as being insecure is considered, being wait-zoned subsumes it by miles, and can therefore compete for the most “dreadful” title.

For those who have waved their youth goodbye a long time ago, or for any reason unclear about the two terms in the heading, the former refers to the dichotomised situation where you are unsure as to whether or not your loved one’s feeling is mutual. The latter denotes the agonised situation when a girl � nally expresses that she adores you as a “bro” and not as a prospective signi� cant other.

Not everyone gets bro-zoned from the beginning. A scenario must play itself out, where the guy asks the girl out and gets either of the two replies. The � rst one being along the lines of, “I am already in a relationship” and the second being similar to, “I have never seen you as anything more than a brother.” Any one of these two replies, by default, places the guy into the universally detested “bro-zone.”

However, there is a good part of being in the bro-zone (although it almost sounds similar to “the positive aspects of consuming

poison”). It provides you with clarity, for you to know that you have absolutely no chance so you can move on, or take the high road of asking your potential-sweetheart-turned-sister to hook you up with someone else. On this regard, your new-found sandbox, termed as the wait-zone, puts you in such a dilemma that you remain ambivalent until some de� nite situation wipes out your hopes that something positive is waiting at the end of the tunnel.

Now how do you know that you’ve been wait-zoned? The initial de� nitive sign is the extra concise replies to your chat box, which progresses into replies between 30 minute intervals to � nally a conclusively stagnant silence. The other common signal is to digress whenever the conversation even remotely tends to loiter around topics on what one thinks about the other. To give a subtle but convincing example, giving replies to Facebook comments where words are inserted with the highest caution so no one can even raise a question regarding whether there’s something � shy going on between the two.

The feeling of getting bro-zoned is caustic, but that of being wait-zoned cripples you with sheer uncertainty, and thus, makes you unsure about what the next step should be.

Seasoning the agony with indecisiveness makes a deadly combination, with e� ects far damaging than just to make you search for songs with lyrics portraying your feelings on YouTube.

Now I know many people can relate to this, since I spoke their mind, and they would be tempted to contact me by the little details they’ll get behind this article about the author. But, unfortunately, I don’t know the way out. Had I known it, you wouldn’t be reading my piece here, and I would have already opened a multi-million dollar company to suggest and comfort the “anything-zoned,” and preferably, had my own reality show signed with the Bravo TV network.

You may enjoy the wait-zoning process in its totality; with the uncertainty and surprise of turning it towards a more hopeful bond with constant confusion and unpredictability. You never know, any day, at any time and at any given moment, the zones can be replaced by a stronger bond of love with complementary explanations like “I was really not sure you liked me, so I was afraid to speak up. And it’s the only reason I had to (wait-zone you and) make you wait.”

But to those who get wait-zoned or is in the “wonderful” process of becoming, isn’t life too short for any of it? l

Feature10DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Wait-zonedWhy getting bro-zoned is still better

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

Now how do you know that you’ve been wait-zoned? The initial de� nitive sign is the extra concise replies to your chat box, which progresses into replies between 30 minute intervals to � nally a conclusively stagnant silence

The recent statements from Islamabad claiming that the Pakistan government and its allies and auxiliaries were not guilty of war crimes and atrocities in 1971 serve as a grim reminder of the need to keep the memory of December 14, 1971 alive forever.

Our liberation war is long past and we have been living as a proud, free, and independent nation for more than four decades. It is right that we face the future, not the past, and focus more on what is to come than what has been.

But we can never forget the sacri� ces of the martyrs that won our freedom, nor the pain that we had to incur as a nation and a people to wrest our independence from the bloody hand of our oppressors.

We can live in peace and amity with all nations of the world, even with Pakistan, and we are perfectly willing as a nation to move on from 1971 and try to forge strong bonds of friendship with anyone who extends the hand of friendship to us.

In an e� ort to move forward, in the spirit of magnanimity, we can even forgive the wrongs that were done to us in 1971, and do our best to put the past behind us.

But to do so we must � rst demand, at the very least, honesty and openness about the atrocities that were committed. Without an honest and truly remorseful admission of guilt, there can be no forgiveness.

And for certain wrongs, such as the killing of the intellectuals on December 14, 1971, for the genuinely remorseful, forgiveness should never even be sought, much less granted.

As we honour our martyred intellectuals, this does not mean that we must nurture bitterness in our breast nor hatred in our heart.

That we can move forward and look to a glittering future instead of always looking to the past and the bloodiness of our birth speaks well for the nation and for our prospects.

But even as we look ahead, there are some things which can never be forgiven, much less forgotten.

The killing of the intellectuals on December 14, 1971 was one such incident.It must therefore live on in the nation’s collective conscience, and we must forevermore be

nurtured by the memory of the sacri� ces that made our freedom possible.

We can never forget the sacri� ces of the martyrs that won our freedom, nor the pain that we had to incur as a nation and a people to wrest our independence from the bloody hand of our oppressors

Never forgive, never forget

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015Editorial

DT11

n Rahela Banu

In 1971, I was 22 years old -- a � nal year student of the Department of English in Dhaka University. On the March 25, 1971, I was living in our paternal house in

Dhanmondi. I used to live with my mother, two married brothers, and a sister-in-law. Munier Bhai used to live in his university � at in the campus.

After the Pakistan army crackdown on March 25, Munier Bhai left his university � at and started living with us, with his wife, and three sons, Bhashon, Mishuk, and Tonmoy. I am not sure of the exact date; it was either March 26 or 27. Throughout the nine months from March to December 14, 1971, Munier Bhai and his family lived with us in Central Road.

His son Bhashon had joined the Mukti Bahini. Bhashon and many others had repeatedly advised my brother to leave the Central Road house, but Munier Bhai refused

to go. He used to say: “My whole family is here. If they really want to kill me, is there any place that is really safe?” That is what he thought, and he paid for it with his life.

Munier Bhai always had a wonderful sense of humour; he was a great raconteur. We were 14 brothers and sisters in all. He was the second child, and I was the last of 14. If anybody asked him about the di� erence in age between the two of us, he would say there are 11 other brothers and sisters between us -- he would never specify how much older he was. I remember that sometimes I would make parathas for him and others, and he would compliment me on my culinary skills by referring to the hardness of the parathas: “These are very strong parathas indeed,” he would say.

Even after all these years, we all remember him and miss him terribly. He had this great ability of giving joy to others, a great sense of the sheer joy of living. The al-Badrs took away the best of my brothers,

the most talented. Every time he wrote a new play, he had to read it out loud in our � rst-� oor balcony to his � rst eager audience: Ferdousi, Banu, and I.

Munier Bhai had this special ability of making everyone feel special. I was the youngest, and I used to think that I was his favourite sister, that I was somehow special. But my eldest brother or my eldest sister would think the same; for that matter, every single brother or sister thought he or she was special. He had this terri� c capacity for loving others.

He was particularly close to his students, for whom he had very special a� ection. He not only encouraged his students in academic matters, but was often closely involved in helping and advising them in personal matters as well.

Even today, 44 years after his disappearance, a now retired professor of Sanskrit, a student of Munier Bhai, remembers the day when she was pregnant and was having problems opening her o� ce door because of all the papers and � les she had in her hands. She recalls: “He helped me carry the books and opened the door for me. I’ll never forget that kindness.”

Some students remember that he would sometimes invite them home and fry omelettes for them. In those days, in the 60s and 70s, not too many professors had cars.

Munier Bhai had one, and it was a pleasure for him to pick up people from the streets, colleagues, students, his son‘s friend, and drop them wherever they wanted to go.

Every Friday, he would pick up my father and drive him to the mosque, wait till the prayers were over, and then drive him back home again.

He did this for years. Ordinary people, many his subordinates, loved him. He was a favourite of o� ce sta� and peons, darwans and dhopas. He would help them with money, listen to their troubles, and would always smile at them -- they were all his friends.

He absolutely believed that Bangladesh would be liberated one day. He was not sure whether he would be alive or not, but he hoped that his children, his younger brothers, and sisters would be around to enjoy it. “You are young, you are just starting your lives now,” he would say.

Munier Bhai was an unstoppable prankster. He loved pranking his siblings, all in good humour. One day, I was standing on the ground � oor verandah, and he was up on the balcony above, pouring water on my head.

“Why are you pouring water on my head?” I asked him. “Oh, it’s not me. It’s someone doing something from that MIG up above us,” he replied. In the last days of the

Bangladesh was liberated two days later on the 16th.The nation was free, but my brother never came back

Martyred Intellectuals Day12DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

The day they took my brother away Professor Munier Chowdhury’s younger sister remembers one among many who made the ultimate sacri� ce

war, MIG aircrafts were a common sight in the skies of Dhaka. Despite our big di� erence in age, we were like close friends. In fact, all my brothers and sisters were very close. Munier Bhai, though, stood apart in his special ability to love and be loved by all. The al-Badrs killed the best of my brothers.

I will never forget December 14, 1971It was around 11:30am. Some young men who looked like students came to our house. They said: “We are students of Munier sir. We have come to interview him. Of course, they were really members of al-Badr.

Munier Bhai had taken a bath, and was coming out of the bathroom. He was wearing a lungi and was putting on a punjabi. He said: “Okay, let’s go.” My mother was laying out the dishes for Munier Bhai’s lunch. I told my mother that some students had come to take Munier Bhai out for an interview, and that he would be back very soon.

My brother walked out with the young men. I stood behind a window and saw one of the young men sticking a gun to my brother’s back and nudging him into a jeep.

I was absolutely terri� ed, and I started calling out to my mother. I remember Munier Bhai telling me: “Move away from the window.”

I moved away from the window in fear. Now, I regret having moved away -- I could have seen him for two more minutes if I had stayed there.

They then took him away in the jeep, and we never saw him again. Bangladesh was liberated two days later on the 16th. The nation was free, but my brother never came back. My brothers and others desperately looked for his body in Rayer Bazaar and Mirpur, where the bodies of intellectuals were found, but there was no trace of Munier Bhai or his clothes.

Torn pieces of a lungi and a ring were shown to me, because I was the last to see him, but I could not identify them with any certainty. One of my brothers searched for Munier Bhai for days in all possible places, but there was absolutely no trace of him.

Days of anxietyDuring the nine months that Munier Bhai stayed with us, we would see cars parked in front of our house, sometimes patrolling military vehicles. We would be scared to look outside.

My sister Ferdousi and her husband Ramendu lived with us in the same house for a few weeks after March 25. We were scared for our Hindu brother-in-law living with us.

Eventually, they left Bangladesh, stayed a few weeks in Kolkata, and then went to Delhi on a fellowship.

They somehow survived on a meagre stipend. They came back home soon after Bangladesh was liberated.

All in the familyAlthough my father was a very religious man, we grew up with liberal values: Di� erences in race, colour, religion, or language did not concern us much.

Two of my brothers married Pakistani women, one from Punjab and another from Jodhpur. One of my sisters-in-law lived with us during those nine months.

I could sense the helplessness of my Pakistani bhabi, and the agony she felt when her own brother-in-law (Munier Chowdhury) was picked up at the orders of the Pakistani army. Two of my brothers were in the army,

and one of them used to live in Pakistan at the time. Soon after the crackdown in March, one resigned from the army, studied geopolitics, and took up a career in teaching.

Another brother spent months in a military camp in Pakistan, and was eventually repatriated to Bangladesh.

How my mother copedMy mother died in 2000. She did not see her son when al-Badr took him away. She waited for him every day, for many years, hoping against hope that her son would come home one day. He never did. My mother would say: “Your father was lucky, he did not have to go through the pain of losing a son.”

My father had died just the year before, in 1970. My mother was a God-fearing woman; she was very pious. She had absolute faith in the will of Allah, and that was how she consoled herself for almost three decades after Munier Bhai was killed.

She would say: “I have lost only one son. The lady in the house across the street has lost three. How does she live?” This is how she gained the strength to go on living. From time to time, she would sigh deeply and say: “Allah, this is all your will. I do not have the arrogance to question your wish. I only ask you to grant me the strength to bear my pain.”

She would sigh and tears would roll down her cheeks. I never saw her crying out loud. Today, I am the mother of two sons. When I think of my mother’s face, I � nd it di� cult not to cry.

Did my mother ever really think that her son would come back one day? As long

as I live, I will treasure the thousands of memories that I have of Munier Bhai, the memories that all my brothers and sisters have of him. As I have said before, the al-Badrs took away the best of the lot; they knew that the future of the new Bangladesh depended on people like him.

Recently, we have seen trials of war criminals -- trials of people who were responsible for the rape, torture, and murder of so many Bangladeshis. This trial should have taken place much earlier. The people responsible for such unspeakable crimes need to be brought to book. As for the ones we have lost -- they will never come back again. But justice for 1971 must happen. There is no other way to move forward. l

A version of this piece was published in the book The Land of Two Partitions and Beyond.

Rahela Banu is a professor at the Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka, and the younger sister of martyred intellectual Munier Chowdhury.

Martyred Intellectuals Day 13D

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

My brothers and others desperately looked for his body in Rayer Bazaar and Mirpur, where the bodies of intellectuals were found, but there was no trace of Munier Bhaior his clothes

Lest We Forget14DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Munier Choudhury•

GC Dev•

Mu� azzal Hyder Chowdhury

•Anwar Pasa

•Jyotimay Guhathakurta

•Abdul Muqtadir

•SM Rashidul Hasan

•ANM Faizul Mahi

•Fazlur Rahman Khan

•ANM Maniruzzaman

•Serajul Haque Khan

•Shahadat Ali

•MA Khair

•AR Khan Kadim

•Muhammad Sadeque

•Sharafat Ali

•Ghiasuddin Ahamed

•Ananda Payan

•Qayyum

•Habubur Rahman

•Shree Sukha

Ranjan Samadder•

Mashiur Rahman•

Amjad Hossain•

Aminuddin•

Nazmul Haque Sarker•

Abdul Haque

Syed Anwar Ali•

AK Sarder•

Sirajuddin Hossain•

Shahidulla Kaiser•

Khondakar Abu Taleb•

Nizamuddin Ahmed•

ANM Golam Mustofa•

Shahid Saber•

Abdul Mannan (Ladu)•

Nazmul Haque•

M Akhter•

Abul Basar•

Chisty Helalur Rahman

•Shibsadan Chakravarty

•Selina Akhter

•Md Fazle Rabbi

•Abdul Alim Chowdhury

•Shamsuddin Ahmed

•Azharul Haque

•Humayun Kabir

•Sulaiman Khan

•Kaiser Uddin

•Mansur Ali

•Ghulam Murtaza

•Hafez Uddin

Khan Jahangir•

Abdul Jabbar

SK Lal•

Hem Chandra Basak•

Kazi Obaidul Haq•

Ayesaha Bedoura Chowdhury

•Al-Haj Mamotazuddin

•Hashimoy Hazra

•Naren Ghose

•Zikrul Haq

•Shamsul Haq

•M Rahman

•A Gafur

•Mansur Ali

•SK Sen

•Ma� zuddin

•Amulya Kumar Chakravarty

•Atiqur Rahman

•Ghulam Sarwar

•RC Das

•Mihir Kumar Sen

•Saleh Ahmed

•Anil Kumar Sinha

•Sunil Chandra Sharma

•AKM Ghulam Mustafa

•Maqbul Ahmed

•Enamul Haq

•Danbir Ranada

Prasad Saha

Mansur (Kanu)•

Ashraf Ali Talukdar•

Ziaur Rahman•

Jahangir•

Badul Alam Hai•

Rezaur Rahman•

Nazmul Islam•

Asadul Haq•

Nazir Uddin•

Nurul Islam•

Kazal Bhadra•

Mansur Uddin•

Zahir Raihan•

Purnendu Dastidar•

Ferdous Dowla•

Indu Saha•

Meherunnessa•

Altaf Mahmud•

Jogesh Chandra Ghose•

Dhirendra Nath Dutta•

Shamsuzzaman•

Mahbub Ahmed•

Khurshid Alam•

Nazrul Islam•

Muzammel Haq Chowdhury•

Mohsin Ali•

Mujibul Haq

On this day, 44 years ago, the Pakistan army and its collaborators systematically killed o� some of the brightest minds in the country. The martyred intellectuals included academics, journalists, doctors, lawyers, writers, artists, scientists, and other intellectuals. The names below do not account for each and every person who was killed that day, but serve as a

reminder of the extent of the atrocities committed in 1971, and of the price we had to pay for our freedom.

15D

TBusinessMONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

ADB urges Bangladesh to develop capital market to spur economyThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) en-couraged Bangladesh on Saturday to use the more than $553m it has provided so far in loans to develop a capital market and attract private investors. PAGE 17

Cash calls leave issuers with un� nished businessRights issues leave companies with cash, but sometimes also un� nished business. Lon-don-listed miner Lonmin and emerging mar-ket lender Standard Chartered raised a com-bined $5.5bn on Dec 11. The response should be relief, but shares in both have lagged where they ought to be. Lonmin got a cold shoulder from more investors, but StanChart faces bigger questions. PAGE 18

Jica to lend over Tk8,000 crore for six projects Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will give Bangladesh a loan package of ¥133.3bn (equivalent to over Tk8,660 crore) for six big projects in power, transport, health, tackling earth-quake and good governance. PAGE 16

Capital market snapshot: SundayDSE

Broad Index 4,542.7 -0.9% ▼

Index 1,096.2 -0.8% ▼

30 Index 1,726.3 -0.9% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 2,741.6 -26.8% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 70.8 -23.5% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 13,882.7 -0.7% ▼

30 Index 12,296.0 -0.5% ▼

Selected Index 8,448.9 -0.7% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk 184.3 -28.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 5.9 -29.4% ▼

INSIDE

World Bank chief economist: Business governance key to economic growth n Tribune Report

World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu yesterday said Bangladesh needs to ensure governance in business for building better entrepreneurship that will lead to job crea-tion, which is much needed for sustainable economic growth.

“Fostering ethos and ensuing good gov-ernance in business are essentials for bet-ter entrepreneurship. This will, eventually, give impetus to growth,” he said while de-livering a public lecture in Dhaka yesterday.

Basu who is in the city at the invitation of the Bangladesh Bank said the government should create good business atmosphere for � ourishing private sector, which is critical for generating employment.

In reply to a question on the government target of achieving 8% economic growth by 2020 in line with its seventh � ve-year plan, Basu said, “Bangladesh can achieve the tar-geted growth within a few years if invest-ment growth is raised from existing 33% to 35%.”

“The countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong have achieved 6% to 9% growth by increasing 35% to 40% in-vestment growth,” he said.

He said Bangladesh is going to add young people to its labour force over the next 10 years. “This is an asset that needs to be uti-lised by creating employment opportunities.”

Putting importance on quality educa-tion, the Cornell University professor of economics said: “Better education breeds

better entrepreneurship.”He appreciated that Bangladesh has done

well in education and agriculture sectors so far. “But what is needed is to improve qual-ity of education for the betterment of cre-ating good entrepreneurs and sustainable development as well.”

Expressing grave concern over rising in-equality across the globe, he said the gap between the rich and the poor is widening not only in Bangladesh but also all over the world. To reduce this inequity, he recom-mended boosting tax collection and making e� orts in diverting the money from the rich to the poor.

“Developing human capital is another important area which the country needs to take into account,” he said.

He added that Bangladesh received a lot of prescriptions from the World Bank, IMF, USA and England. “But there are some countries that do not have a very high human capital faced problems to decide whether to take those prescriptions. In this case, Bangladesh is very fortunate to choose best advices as it has well-educated and professionally skilled people.”

The chief economist suggested launching common currency in the region as it o� ers many advantages and bene� ts in trade. l

World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu speaks at a public lecture in the city MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Unsafe RMG units to face the music n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

The government is likely to take action against those RMG factories that made little progress on safety issues as per the review panel recommendations to ensure work-place safety.

In the December 6 letter addressed to Syed Ahmed, inspector general, Depart-ment of Inspection for Factories and Estab-lishment (DIFE), the Alliance for Bangla-desh Worker Safety said the progress made by some 11 RMG factories on implementa-tion of the review panel recommendations is not satisfactory.

The Alliance also sought cooperation from DIFE to facilitate quick implementation.

According to the letter, some factory owners failed to make any signi� cant pro-gress over the past two years.

Of the 11 factories, seven got 412-642 days to implement the review committee recommendations, said the Alliance.

The recommendations include demolish-ing communication tower, removing water tank, columns, partition walls and toilets from rooftop and doing detailed engineer-ing assessment to ensure safety standard.

“We are reviewing the progress as per the recommendations,” Syed Ahmed told

the Dhaka Tribune. “In answer to the Alliance call, DIFE has

set a four-day time frame to review the pro-gress and I am hopeful that we will get the report within a week and action will be tak-en based on the � ndings.”

The factories found non-compliant with the recommendations would face closure and no facto-ry will run without having safety standard, added the inspector general.

The Alliance Managing Director M Rabin told the Dhaka Tribune, “We com-municated with the factory owners to know about the implementation progress, but they were reluctant to inform us of the issue.”

But Salimur Razi, commercial manager of HKTG Garments Limited, said they failed to comply with the recommendations of the review panel due to fund crunch.

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safe-ty has completed assessment of 837 factories.

The outcry over safety issues began after the Rana Plaza factory disaster that killed over 1,135 workers and injured over 2,500 people on April 24, 2013.

After the factory disaster, the Alliance made a commitment to provide � nancial and technical support to improve � re and building safety standard of RMG factories from which they source products. l

Of the 11 factories, seven got 412-642 days to implement the review committee recommendations

Business16DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Rural internet facility to be developed with SOF money n Tribune Report

The government will work to improve and expand Internet connectivity infrastructure in remote rural areas taking money from So-cial Obligatory Fund which was formed in 2012 by the BTRC with contributions of mo-bile phone operators.

A meeting of the SOF Management Commit-tee made the decision yesterday. The plan also includes introducing WiFi service to the public buses, o� cials present at the meeting said.

The decision will be sent to the Prime Min-ister’s O� ce for � nal approval this month.

State Minister for Post and Telecommuni-cations Tarana Halim, BTRC Chairman Shah-jahan Mahmood and other high o� cials of the regulatory body attended the meeting.

“The initiative has been taken to ensure high-speed Internet facility for the rural peo-ple still out of network,” said an o� cial pres-ent at the meeting.

In 2012 Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) formed the SOF requiring all mobile phone operators to contribute 1% of their total annual incomes. The Fund has now stood at TK725.49 crore.

Under the 2G licence renewal policy, the operators have to make contribution to the SOF estimated to receive a total of Tk150 crore annually.

BTRC says the Fund is intended to be used in expansion and development of the coun-try’s telecommunications industry.

As of now, Grameenphone has contribut-ed TK321.83 crore, Banglalink TK140.16 crore, Robi TK137.86 crore and Airtel TK40.93 crore.

The state-owned Teletalk, however, made no contribution at all while Citycell gave TK1.29 crore. The Fund has got TK83.44 crore as bank interest. l

Idcol partner organisations exempted from Vatn Tribune Report

The National Board of Revenue issued an of-� cial order withdrawing value added tax on producing and supplying batteries up to 60 ampere to the Idcol-registered solar panel manufacturers.

In the FY2015-16 budget, the government announced the exemption.

A major portion of the solar systems are being sold by Idcol partner organisations. The government is providing the facility as policy support to the environment-friendly solar energy system.

The o� cial order was issued on December 1, signed by its Chairman Nojibur Rahman, with immediate e� ect.

Since 2003, Idcol has been implementing Solar Home System (SHS) programme to en-sure access to clean electricity for the ener gy starved o� -grid rural areas of Bangladesh.

Idcol has a target to � nance 6m SHS by 2017, with an estimated generation capacity of 220 megawatt of electricity, o� cials said.

More than 65,000 SHSs are now being in-stalled every month under the programme with average year-to-year installation growth of 58%. l

ADB, Bangladesh ink more $45m loan deal for water project n Tribune Report

Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Bang-ladesh yesterday signed $45 million loan agreement to expand a water resources man-agement project in the Southwest area of Bangladesh for improving agriculture and � sheries production and livelihoods of resi-dents, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

The Netherlands government will provide a grant of $7 million for the project to be ad-ministered by the ADB.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) Sen-ior Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and ADB Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi signed the agreements on behalf of their re-spective organisations at a ceremony at ERD.

The additional assistance will increase the scope of the Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project that has sharply increased agriculture production and bene� ted over 1,91,000 people, including landless farmers and women.

ADB and the Netherlands had provided $20 million and $12.5 million for the original project respectively, which were approved in 2005, and renovated dilapidated infrastruc-ture and established participatory water management planning and management sys-

tem with livelihood improvement supports. The expanded project is expected to be

completed in June 2022.“We have already seen considerable ben-

e� ts in the pilot project areas of Narail and Chenchuri Beel, with rice production nearly doubling and � sh production rising 30%,” says Higuchi.

“This new � nancing will allow replication of the success of the project across nine near-by sub-project areas, covering 84,000 hec-tares, and extending bene� ts to additional 470,000 people.”

In each of the new sub-project areas, sup-port will be given to enrol farmers into wa-ter management organisations to help them better operate and maintain the water in-frastructure, and develop integrated water management plans.

The expanded project will also support the development of skills for members of wa-ter management organisations to help them increase the productivity of their agriculture and � shing activities, and to enhance their livelihood opportunities.

On the infrastructure side, funds will be used to renovate or build gated water reten-tion structures and � ood embankments, and to re-excavate clogged drainage and irriga-tion canals. l

Jica to lend over Tk8,000cr for six development projects n Tribune Report

Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will give Bangladesh a loan package of ¥133.3bn (equivalent to over Tk8,660 crore) for six big projects in power, transport, health, tackling earth-quake and good gov-ernance.

ERD Senior Secretary Mohammad Mejba-huddin and Japanese Ambassador to Bangla-desh Masato Watanabe signed the exchange of notes while Mejbahuddin inked the loan agreements with Jica Chief Representative

Mikio Hataeda at a ceremony at the ERD yes-terday.

“This is the biggest loan in Yen Japan is giving to Bangladesh. It is part of the $6 bil-lion assistance which was promised during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Tokyo visit,” said Ambassador Watanabe.

As per the agreement, the Japanese gov-ernment will provide Tk1,029 crore for the Foreign Direct Investment Promotion Project and Tk2,844 crore for the Dhaka-Chittagong Main Power Grid Strengthening Project.

Bangladesh will also get Tk1,907 crore for

the Western Bangladesh Bridge Improve-ment Project. The other project which will get Japanese loan of Tk138 crore is Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health and Health Sys-tem Improvement Project.

Japan will also give Tk785 crore for the Ur-ban Building Safety Project which will cover Dhaka, Chittagong, Gazipur and Narayanganj districts and Tk957 crore for the Upazila Gov-ernance and Development Project.

The annual interest rate of the loan is 0.01% with a 40-year repayment and a 10-year grace period. l

Jobs critical for Bangladesh’s developmentn Tribune Report

World Bank senior Vice-President and chief economist Kaushik Basu has said creating more higher-skilled jobs was a top priority for Bangladesh.

He said this while meeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.

Basu praised Bangladesh’s e� orts to create more and better jobs, a prerequisite for reduc-ing poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

Since 2003, the country was able to create 14 million higher-value jobs and bring more women into workforce, which lifted millions of people out of poverty. Some 75% of the new jobs created were in the manufacturing and service sector.

Basu also added: “But, there is no time for complacency. Bangladesh needs to cre-ate 21 million jobs in the next 10 years for the new entrants in the job market. The country needs to address infrastructure bottlenecks, improve business and investment climate and enhance the quality of education and vocational training to create adequate jobs for its youths.”

Basu will meet with senior government of-� cials, including the � nance minister and the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, among others.

He also met with the private sector leaders and development partners.

“I am happy to be back in Bangladesh. The resilience of its people, the innovation and progress in this country has been impres-

sive,” said Basu. “Bangladesh has made great strides in

promoting � nancial inclusion, and rais-ing agricultural productivity. Indeed, other countries can learn from Bangladesh’s rich experience of reducing poverty and advanc-ing the development agenda. With the right policies and a few timely actions, it is pos-sible for Bangladesh to emerge as the next Asian Tiger. That today we can think along these terms is testimony to how far Bangla-desh has come.”

Basu came to Dhaka at the invitation of the Bangladesh Bank to join the Internation-al Workshop on Macro Economic Stability, Private Sector Development and Economic Growth. l

Stocks open week on back-foot n Tribune Report

Stocks continued to fall with low volume of trade yesterday, extending their losing streak for the � fth straight session.

The sell-o� mainly on food and allied, power and � nancial institutions has sent the market to the negative territory.

The benchmark index DSEX declined 40 points or almost 1% to 4,542. The Shariah in-dex DSES lost 9 points or almost 1% to 1,096. The blue chip comprising index DS30 settled at 1,726, dropping 15 points or 1%.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX dropped 56 points to 8,448. Amid high volatility, investors pre-ferred to stay on the sidelines. The DSE turn-over stood at Tk270 crore, which was almost 27% over the previous session.

Almost all large caps su� ered losses with food and allied leading the way losing 2.7%.

Power sector was down 1.6%, followed by non-banking � nancial institutions 1%, ce-ment 0.9%, telecommunications 0.6%, phar-maceuticals 0.5% and banks 0.4%.

IDLC Investments said intensifying the last week negative vibe, the session saw an-other drop due to continuous selling frenzy.

“Panic gripped the investors in the face of prolonged depression in the market, instigat-ing them to liquidate their positions in scrips to avoid any future loss.” l

Business 17D

TMONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

ADB urges Bangladesh to develop capital market to spur economy n Reuters, Dhaka

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) encouraged Bangladesh on Saturday to use the more than $553m it has provided so far in loans to develop a capital market and attract private in-vestors.

Bangladesh aims to become a mid-dle income country (MIC) by 2021.

“A well-functioning capital market can catalyse private sector investment in infrastructure and other sectors creating employment and economic growth,” Kazuhiko Higuchi, the ADB’s country director in Bangladesh, told Reuters in an interview.

The ADB has been supporting government e� orts to develop the capital market in Bangladesh for more than two decades and has recently signed agreements with the government for the third such programme, he said, meaning funding is likely to continue.

This will support policy actions to strengthen the capital market regu-lator, boost institutional investor de-mand, broaden the supply of � nancial instruments, and promote a more liq-uid government bond market, Higuchi said, supporting the drive for mid-dle-income status.

Last month 28 representatives of Bangladesh’s development partners, meeting in Dhaka, said the govern-ment should raise spending on infra-structure to $12bn annually, particu-larly for energy, transport and ports, and aim to attract private sector inves-tors rather than depending on aid.

During this meeting the ADB prom-ised $5bn in loans to Bangladesh from 2016 to 2018, mainly to improve infra-structure.

“A strong and well-functioning cap-

ital market can help to boost the funds dedicated for the infrastructure devel-opment sector,” Higuchi said

The government has outlined measures to improve the transparen-cy and e� ciency of the capital market and encourage private sector � nanc-ing in a � ve-year plan to June 2020.

Higuchi said Bangladesh has made some progress in developing its cap-ital market but needs to do more to strengthen its regulation.

“The market participants need to adopt information and communica-tion technology for enhanced e� ec-tiveness, e� ciency and transparency,” he said.

He suggested ways to broaden and deepen the capital market, including

bringing in international strategic in-vestors as shareholders, which would help to improve governance and tech-nology, and more institutional inves-tors, such as insurance companies. It could also tap into demand for Islamic � nancial instruments.

“The capital market lacks the de-sired depth and breadth because of an absence of alternative � nancial instruments, such as derivatives and sukuks, a Sharia-compliant bond,” Hi-guchi said.

He said demand for securities is also hampered by unreliable account-ing and auditing of listed companies, and the ADB has been working closely with the government to raise reporting standards. l

A stock trader observes the movement of DSE index that took upturn recently with the turnover moving up simultaneously RAJIB DHAR

Bank Asia Limited recently donated 25,000 pieces of blankets to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The bank’s executive committee chairperson, Rumee A Hossain and chairperson of the bank’s risk management committee, AM Nurul Islam handed over a sample blanket to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a function held at Gonobhaban

Trust Bank has recently donated blankets to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The bank’s vice chairperson, Maj Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman handed over a sample blanket to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a programme held at Gonobhaban

Dhaka Bank Limited has recently donated Tk 1 crore to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for cold a� ected underprivileged people of the country. The bank’s chairperson, Reshadur Rahman handed over a cheque to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in this regard

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has recently held a board meeting. The bank’s chairperson, Engr Mustafa Anwar presided over the meeting

CORPORATE NEWS

Business18DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Cash calls leave issuers with un� nished business n John Foley

Rights issues leave companies with cash, but sometimes also un� nished business. Lon-don-listed miner Lonmin and emerging mar-ket lender Standard Chartered raised a com-bined $5.5bn on Dec 11. The response should be relief, but shares in both have lagged where they ought to be. Lonmin got a cold shoulder from more investors, but StanChart faces bigger questions.

Lonmin’s cash call was smaller at $409m but more urgent. Its 46-for-one share issue re� ects the dire straits in which its platinum business has ended up. According to the ex-rights price – or where the shares would no-tionally settle once the right to take up the of-fer price elapsed on Nov 20 – Lonmin’s shares should have traded at 1.3 pence per share. Instead they fell 4% below it on Nov 20 and by Dec 11 that gap widened to 28%.

The market hasn’t been kind to Lonmin. Platinum is down over 10% since its new

shares were priced. South Africa, where its business mostly resides, is in political turmoil, and the currency is sliding. There’s another, downward force. Only 70% of Lonmin’s rights

were taken up by investors, le aving around 28% of its newly enlarged stock in the hands of underwriters. That creates a big overhang.

StanChart also has su� ered because of

poor peer-market conditions since it priced its shares. But investors, even though they took up almost all of their rights, are also giving a vote of diminished con� dence. After StanChart old shares were shorn of the right to buy new shares on Nov 23, the stock fell to 15% below its theoretical settling price. And the 9.8% further fall since then is worse than the decline in the Euro Stoxx Banks index.

That’s perhaps not surprising. StanChart, under new boss Bill Winters, is years from earning a return above its cost of equity. Since the new money will mostly go to bol-stering the balance sheet rather than pro-moting productive lending, the return on the new money may be even lower. That might explain why, while Lonmin seemingly faces graver challenges, it’s StanChart to whom the market has blown a bigger raspberry. l

John Foley is Reuters Breakingviews’ editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The article was initially published at Reuters.

People walk through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain REUTERS

ILO, BGMEA sign deal to boost RMG workers’ skills n Tribune Report

International Labour Organization and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association yesterday signed an agreement to greatly upscale the activities of Centre of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry (CEBAI) designed to improve the RMG workers skills.

BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman and ILO RMG Programme Manager Tuomo Pouti-ainen signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations yesterday.

“Since opening in early 2015, CEBAI has provided training on basic sewing for RMG workers in line with promoting training within the enterprises. This agreement will pave the way for more comprehensive oper-ations aimed at boosting skills at many levels throughout the RMG sector,” Tuomo said.

“By focusing on skills, productivity and research, key to RMG industry, CEBAI will play an important role in promoting the sector, and will greatly bene� t those working out there,” said BGMEA President

Siddiqur Rahman. The new series of activities will continue

till the end of 2016 including the training and assessment of 3,500 workers and 110 Indus-try Trainers/Assessors as per the national technical and vocational quali� cation frame-work for the RMG sector.

The new demand-driven training pack-ages will be developed and launched along with the supervisors’ training and that on cutting and design, the ILO statement said, adding that CEBAI will also upscale its Enter-prise-Based Training programmes.

An additional 10 companies will be hired under the EBT scheme while the existing companies incorporated into the EBT pro-gramme supported.

Established in 2014 and funded by the Swedish Government and Swedish retailer H&M, CEBAI aims at implementing certi� ed training within the National Skills Develop-ment Policy of Bangladesh to improve the quality of work and productivity in RMG fac-tories and enable workers to have their skills formally recognised. l

New realtor INTEREALTY launched n Tribune Report

INTEREALTY, a newly formed company, has announced the launch of its business opera-tion in the country’s real estate sector, said the company in a statement yesterday.

It said the company’s prime goal is to pro-vide international standard real estate ser-vice and solutions to its clients.

Although, there are many realtors in the country, INTEREALTY intends to o� er more, introducing the cutting-edge sophisticated software for clients, vendors and companies to deliver service in a unique and e� cient manner, bringing global standard corporate real estate methods and developing infra-structure for the domestic market in the form of property management systems, it added.

“The country has many real estate � rms, but we think there is a need for a new type of developer for people who are looking for something special and varied,” said Benja-min Crabb, general manager of the company.

He said: “The country’s real estate sector is on the verge of going through dramatic changes and we are already witnessing a huge inward investment from large multinational conglomerates. INTEREALTY will work to at-tract more investment in the sector.”

INTEREALTY, a concern of Sikder Group, believes in upping the real estate game and changing the way the real estate sector is perceived in Bangladesh. REHAB President Alamgir Shamsul Alamin, INTEREALTY Direc-tor Salahuddin and other company o� cials also attended at the launching ceremony. l

Biz Info 19D

T

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Ecstasy is one of the country’s largest fashion and lifestyle

brands. Ecstasy o� ers clothing, accessories, shoes, bags,

perfumes, and other lifestyle essentials under

one single roof. The store houses Ecstasy’s

top-of the-line brand “Tanjim” for men and “ZarZain” for

women along with other international brands.

From December, Ecstasy is also introducing a line of formal and casual winter apparel and essentials. In addition, a 20 % discount on their products can be availed at its Elephant Road branch. l

The Queen’s Young Leader Award recognises and celebrates exceptional people aged 18-29 from across the commonwealth, who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives.

This year, Osama Bin Noor has been selected from Bangladesh for coming up with the idea of Youth Opportunities, which is an online platform that advertises scholarships, internships and conferences. Osama came up with the idea after realising that many young people miss out on life-changing opportunities simply because they are not aware of them. The team now highlights prospects from NGOs, businesses and universities from around the world and the platform is used by 50,000 young people. Osama is also the resource coordinator of Volunteer for Bangladesh Dhaka District, which o� ers young people the chance to take part in community service programmes.

He is also one of the hosts of Teen Tekka, a popular radio show dedicated to the teenagers in Bangladesh.

Winners of this award will receive a unique package of training, mentoring, and networking, including a one-week residential programme in the UK during which they will collect their award from the Queen of England. l

The 4th International Congress of Bengal Studies (ICBS) was inaugurated on Saturday at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies at its Auditorium by Professor Masayuki Usuda, president of the ICBS. About 200 scholars of Bengal Studies from Bangladesh, India, Japan, China and United States participated in the inaugural session. The session was addressed amongst others by Professor Dong Youchen of China, Emeritus Professor Anisuzzaman from Bangladesh, Professor Pabitra Sarkar from India, Professor Hirotaka Tateishi, president of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Professor Abdul Mannan, chairman of the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. Concurrent sessions on themes such as History of Ancient and Medieval Bengal, Society and Politics, Dynamics of Religion in Modern Bengal, Arts and Culture, Language and Linguistics and Development Studies

relating to Bangladesh and West Bengal were held where scholarly papers were presented by researchers. Jointly sponsored by the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Embassy of Bangladesh in Japan, the Kajima Foundation, Bengali Association of Tokyo, Rissho Kosei-Kai Kosei, Tokyo Club and Uttara University, the congress concluded with a cultural programme organised by the students of the Bengali Departments of the University. Besides speaking in the opening session, Professor Mannan also presided over two other academic sessions.

The 5th Congress is expected to be held at the Jahangir Nagar University, Bangladesh in 2017. 50 participants represented Bangladesh in the Congress. l

DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, recently conducted a development workshop in Dhaka as part of an annual programme to enhance employees’ leadership potential and empowerment. Implemented under the DHL Women’s Network initiative, the theme for this year is “Womentum: Engage and Grow.”

Over 70 DHL employees including both men and women in Bangladesh, attended the programme led by Saood Bin Masood, renowned Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) practitioner and leading innovator in transformational learning in Bangladesh. Facilitated by Shahela Haroon, national human resource manager of DHL Express Bangladesh, the programme gave

participants an opportunity for self-re� ection and to nurture their skills at work.

Desmond Quiah, country manager of DHL Express Bangladesh said: “DHL Bangladesh strongly believes in nurturing women leadership. We strive to create an inclusive culture at work that results in a positive change of attitude and also equip our female employees with the tools, training and support to help them achieve higher levels within the organisation. I believe DHL Women’s Network is a powerful platform, which will help our female employees learn from each other and their male co-workers, and also encourage conversations that open doors to further development in their career.l

20% o� at Ecstasy

The exceptional, awarded

4th International Congress of Bengal Studies

DHL network initiative for women

Downtime20DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 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 6 represents D so � ll D every time the � gure 6 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

Across1 Extinct bird (3) 3 Weapon (6)8 Burden (4)9 Beverage (3)10 Marine chelonian (6)11 Gloomy (6)14 Examines (5)17 Ink spots (5)20 Worshipped (6)24 Esculent (6)26 Transgression (3)27 Soon (4)28 Uses money (6)29 Obscure (3)

Down 1 Honey drink (4)2 Gift for the needy (4)3 Facts given (4)4 Mature person (5)5 Entrances (5)6 Old cloth measure (3)7 Staggers (5)12 Unwell (3)13 Floor covering (3)15 Self (3)16 Golf mound (3)17 Consecrate (5)18 Sheepishlike (5)19 Cold dish (5)21 Lairs (4)22 S African currency unit (4)23 Percussion instrument (4)25 Immerse (3)

SUDOKU

INSIDE

21D

TWorldMONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

India to get Japan’s high-speed train, deepens defence and nuke tiesJapan will provide $12bn of soft loans to build India’s � rst bullet train, the two na-tions announced during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that also yielded deeper defence ties and a plan for civil nu-clear cooperation. PAGE 23

Limelight-hungry Islamic State ups the ante with violenceAs the Islamic State jihadist group comes un-der growing military pressure, its prodigious propaganda output has slowed somewhat but turned increasingly gruesome in a bid to keep in the headlines. PAGE 23

A la carte action on climate changeAt the end of bargaining, when the last bracketed di� erences in diplomatic lan-guage were [glossed over], the global climate accord that emerged from two weeks of talks in Paris proved to be a very a la carte deal. PAGE 24

Tehran

Iran

Iraq

KuwaitPersian Gulf

Qatar Gulf of Oman

Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline (TAPI)

Miles

BaluchistanKarachi

IndiaNew Delhi

FazilkaMultanQuettaKandahar

Herat

Galkynysh gas �eld

Turkmenistan

OmanUAESaudi Arabia

Pakistan

Islamabad

China

TAPI PIPELINE

Arabian Sea

500 M Razon/ Dhaka Tribune0

FACTBOX

The ambitious TAPI projectÜ The 1,735km-long TAPI pipeline will

run from gas � elds in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. The pipeline will start from the Galkynysh gas � eld, the second larg-est natural gas � eld in the world.

Ü The pipeline will be constructed along-side the Kandahar–Herat Highway in western Afghanistan, and then via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The � nal destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, near the border

between Pakistan and India.

Ü The project’s estimated cost is $10bn - about $4bn investment and $6bn debt.

Ü Oil giants such as Chevron, Exxon , BP and Total have expressed an interest in the proposed pipeline, but the re-gion’s complex geopolitics and con-tract disagreements meant none ever fully committed.

Ü TurkmenGaz, Turkmenistan’s nation-

al gas company, is n charge of the con-struction and operation of the pipe-line and also owns a 51% stake in the consortium.

Ü The four-country consortium has yet to con� rm any major foreign � nanc-ing partner. But TurkmenGaz has been seeking funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The credi-tor has played a leading role in coordi-nating and facilitating the TAPI nego-tiation process. l

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India launch major pipeline through Turkmenistan n Tribune Desk

Leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pa-kistan and India during a ceremony in the Turkmen desert broke ground Sunday on a major pipeline to ease energy de� cits in the developing South Asian nations.

Presidents Gurbanguly Berdymukhame-dov of Turkmenistan and Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan were on hand for the ceremony outside the city of Mary in the Karakum De-sert, marking the beginning of work on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) link.

They were joined by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

“Today we were participants and wit-nesses of a historic event. Today marks the start of a project of great scale -- the TAPI pipeline,” said Berdymukhamedov at the ceremony, held in a pavilion imitating a tra-ditional Turkmen nomadic dwelling.

“TAPI is designed to become a new e� ec-tive step towards the formation of the mod-ern architecture of global energy security, a powerful driver of economic and social sta-bility in the Asian region,” he added.

Turkmenistan has earlier said it expects the gas link with an annual capacity of 33bn m� (cubic metre) to be fully operational by the end of 2018.

However uncertainty hangs over the pro-ject, whose cost is estimated at $10bn.

Aside from the risks associated with a link traversing war-torn Afghanistan, the four-country consortium has yet to con-� rm the participation of a major foreign commercial partner willing to help � nance TAPI.

Berdymukhamedov noted that Sun-day also marked the beginning of the third phase of development of the Galkynysh gas � eld which will provide the resource base for the TAPI project.

The next phase of development at Galk-ynysh -- the second largest natural gas � eld in the world -- will be overseen by a consor-tium of Japanese and Turkish companies in addition to Turkmenistan, Berdymukhame-dov said. l

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 201522D

T Advertisement

India to get Japan’s high-speed train, deepens defence and nuke tiesn Reuters, New Delhi

Japan will provide $12bn of soft loans to build India’s � rst bullet train, the two na-tions announced during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that also yielded deeper defence ties and a plan for civil nu-clear cooperation.

Relations have strengthened between Asia’s second and third largest economies as Abe and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi seek to balance China’s rise as the dominant Asian power.

The deal to build a high-speed train line between the � nancial hub of Mumbai and the city of Ahmedabad gives Japan an early lead over China, which is conduct-ing feasibility studies for high speed trains on other parts of India’s dilapidated rail network.

“This enterprise will launch a revolution in Indian railways and speed up India’s jour-ney into the future. It will become an engine of economic transformation in India,” Modi said in a speech.

Japan has o� ered a “highly concession-al loan” at an interest rate of 0.1% rate with repayment over 50 years and a moratorium for 15 years, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jais-hankar told a news conference.

India will be buying a Japanese high-

speed train system, e� ectively with an ex-port credit of $12bn.

Under defence deals announced on Sat-urday, the two sides will share technolo-gy, equipment and military information, but the long-awaited sale of Japanese air-craft in a deal worth about $1.1bn was not concluded.

Similarly, while they agreed to work to-wards cooperation in civil-nuclear technol-ogy, they stopped short of signing an agree-ment, citing outstanding technical and legal di� erences.

Jaishankar did not cite a timeline for

signing the � nal agreement with Japan.Japan, the only country to have suf-

fered a nuclear attack, has been demand-ing additional non-proliferation guaran-tees from India before it exports nuclear reactors.

India and Japan have been negotiating a nuclear energy deal since Japan’s ally, the US, opened the way for nuclear com-merce with India despite its atomic bomb programme and shunning of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

A � nal deal with Japan would also ben-e� t US � rms. India has already given land for nuclear plants to GE-Hitachi - which is an alliance between the US and Japanese � rms - and to Toshiba’s Westinghouse Elec-tric Company.

New Delhi and Tokyo, both of which have territorial disputes with Beijing, worry about China’s growing military reach into South China Sea lanes through which much of Japan’s shipborne trade passes. Abe and Modi called for freedom of navigation in in-ternational waters.

India and Japan have been holding talks for two years on the purchase by India of US-2 amphibious aircraft made by Shin-Maywa Industries, which would be one of Japan’s � rst arms sales since Abe lifted a 50-year ban on weapon exports. l

WorldSOUTH ASIA23 killed in Pakistan market bombingA bomb hidden in a bag ripped through a crowded bazaar in a mainly Shia area of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region Sunday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 30, o� cials said. The death toll was expected to rise after the explosion at the Ei-dgah used-clothes market in Parachinar city, the capital of Kurram tribal district on the border with Afghanistan. No one immediate-ly claimed responsibility for the attack. -AFP

INDIASeven-year-old girl gangraped in DelhiDelhi Police on Sunday morning arrested one of the three men accused of gangraping a seven-year-old girl on Friday evening. One of the suspects is reported to be a juvenile and a neighbour of the girl’s family. The mi-nor has been admitted to the trauma center at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Doctors have said the girl has undergone surgeries for her injury and is likely to stay in hospital for the next � ve days. -TOI

CHINAChina probe concerns billionaire Fosun founder’s ‘personal a� airs’Guo Guangchang, one of China’s best-known entrepreneurs, is helping police with an in-vestigation that mostly concerns his personal a� airs, the president of Guo’s investment con-glomerate Fosun International said on Sunday. Fosun had con� rmed on Friday that Guo was assisting authorities with a probe, a day after local media said the group had lost contact with its billionaire founder. CEO Liang Xinjun said Guo was helping Shanghai police with an investigation and not the subject of it. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFICStrong tropical storm threatens PhilippinesA strong tropical storm barreled toward the Philippines Sunday, threatening the disas-ter-prone nation’s east coast with giant waves, � ooding and landslides, civil defence o� cials warned. Forecasters said Tropical Storm Melor could strengthen into a full-� edged typhoon by Monday afternoon when it is expected to strike the central island of Samar. Typhoon Koppu, the last deadly storm to hit the country, killed 54 people and forced tens of thousands of others to � ee their homes in the northern Philippines in October. -AFP

MIDDLE EASTYemen rivals set for Swiss talks on deadly con� ictYemeni government and rebel represent-atives meet in Switzerland Tuesday for UN-brokered peace talks, likely to be ac-companied by a cease� re. More than a year after Iran-backed Shia Huthi rebels swept into Yemen’s capital Sanaa in the � rst sparks of civil war, none of the � ghting factions has emerged victorious. And Arab states which intervened militarily in March to back President Hadi’s government have found themselves drawn further into a quagmire in the deeply tribal country, home to to be al-Qaeda’s deadliest branch, experts say. -AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 201523

DT

BULLET TRAIN PROJECT IN INDIA

200km/hrMaximum speed estimated

India planning high speed train networks along Ahmedabad Mumbai, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh,Mys-ore-Bangalore-Chennai, Mumbai-Goa and Hyderabad-Secunderabad routes

Each train to cost

$894mM Razon/ DT

INSIGHT

Limelight-hungry Islamic State ups the ante with violencen AFP, Beirut

As the Islamic State jihadist group comes un-der growing military pressure, its prodigious propaganda output has slowed somewhat but turned increasingly gruesome in a bid to keep in the headlines.

Since it announced a self-styled caliphate across Iraq and Syria last year, IS has become notorious for broadcasting its macabre tactics.

The group’s online network has taken ad-vantage of social media’s instant publishing power to circulate footage of mass killings and beheadings.

IS shot to global infamy in particular last year following the release of a series of Eng-lish-language videos depicting the grisly exe-cutions of several Western hostages.

In order to maintain the media frenzy, IS has resorted to increasingly morbid and elab-orate methods of killing.

Some of IS’s more grisly ways of killing captives include � ring rockets at them or ty-ing them to ancient artefacts that the jihad-ists then blew up -- as happened in the his-toric Syrian town of Palmyra.

In a recent video from Iraq, it eschewed its usual before-and-after images of beheadings in favour of grisly footage showing the entire execution process.

‘Unparallelled’ brutalityIndeed, in one recent video, IS child soldiers weave their way through a crumbling for-tress to � nd and kill captives, in a scenario

eerily similar to a video game.The use of children in the propaganda is

also a way of upping the stakes in terms of shock value.

Whereas mass beheadings or shootings were “a rarity” last year, new incidents no longer spark the same global outcry.

IS reduces media opsThe increasingly gruesome nature of IS’ prop-aganda may also re� ect the growing military pressure it has faced in Iraq and Syria, and a desire to continue projecting an image of power and relevance even as its output slows.

Its media output this year peaked in the summer months, as the group scored victo-ries in Syria’s Palmyra and the western Iraqi city of Ramadi.

Output related to Syria peaked at 3,762 releases during the three-month period be-tween June and August, but it fell to 2,750 releases in September-November, as Russia joined the fray with air raids in support of the Damascus government, he said.

Analysts say the drop could also be tied to the deaths of several prominent IS media op-eratives, including Junaid Hussain and Mo-hammed Emwazi, who were killed in US-led coalition air strikes in August and November respectively.

Hussain was a high-pro� le IS � gure on Twitter, while Emwazi -- known as ‘Jihadi John’ -- was the executioner who featured prominently in the group’s videos of Western hostages. l

First women elected to Saudi local councilsn Reuters, Riyadh

Saudi Arabians voted 17 women into pub-lic o� ce in municipal elections in the con-servative Islamic kingdom on Saturday, the � rst to allow female participation.

The election was the � rst in which women could vote and run as candidates.

However, the election was for only two thirds of seats in municipal councils that have no lawmaking or national powers, and follows men-only polls in 2005 and 2011.

Huda al-Jeraisy, who as the daughter of a former head of the chamber of com-merce, won a seat in Riyadh. Salma bint Hazab al-Otaibi won a seat in the Madri-ka district of Mecca. Lama bint Abdulaziz al-Sulaiman, Rasha Hafza, Sana Abdulatif Abdulwahab al-Hamam and Massoumeh al-Reda won seats in Jeddah.

In northern Saudi Arabia, Hanouf bint Mufreh bin Ayad al-Hazimi won a seat in al-Jawf, Mina Salman Saeed al-Omairi and Fadhila Afnan Muslim al-Attawi both won seats in the Northern Borders province.

Two unnamed women won seats in al-Ahsa in Eastern Province. Elsewhere in the province, Khadra al-Mubarak won a seat in Qatif district. In the southern Jazan province, Aisha bint Hamoud Ali Bakri won a seat.

In Qassim, traditionally the most con-servative part of the country, two women were elected but their names were not im-mediately released. Another was elected in al-Babtain district. l

WorldUSAFive US states spared from mass shooting bloodbaths in 2015Five US states were immune to the bloody, per-petual series of mass shootings in the United States this year, which has seen more of them than the number of days gone by. Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming alone were spared such macabre fate. As of December 2, 353 mass shootings have killed 462 people in 220 cities, according to the shootingtracker.com website. -AFP

THE AMERICASBrazilians protest to demand Rousse� ’s impeachmentThousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday to demand President Dilma Rousse� ’s ouster in the � rst nationwide protests since formal impeachment pro-ceedings began against the leftist leader. A congressional committee is considering her impeachment for allegedly violating budget laws to increase spending during her 2014 re-election campaign. Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha opened impeachment pro-ceedings on December 2. However, the Su-preme Court has suspended impeachment proceedings until it rules on the validity of a secret ballot vote that selected the members of the house committee. -REUTERS

UKIS draws up hit-list of British MPsBritain’s MPs have been told to increase secu-rity in their homes and constituencies amid fears they and their sta� could be singled out for an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants. IS has a political assassination unit aimed at government o� cials and the Syrian bombing campaign has moved the spotlight on to the UK now, according to Sunday Express. With 300 suspected jihadists returning to the UK and now free on the streets, security chiefs have warned of a direct threat. -SUNDAY EXPRESS

EUROPERussian destroyer shoots Turkish � shing boat to ‘avoid collision’ A Russian destroyer in the Aegean Sea on Sunday used small arms � re to prevent a collision with a Turkish vessel, Moscow said, adding it had summoned Ankara’s military attache over the incident. The Russian war-ship, which was at anchor, spotted a Turkish � shing boat some 1,000 metres away, the defence ministry said, adding the boat had been approaching it from the right. -AFP

AFRICATwo killed, 20 hurt in CAR referendum violenceAt least two people died and around 20 were hurt in heavy � ghting in the Central African Republic capital, Bangui, on Sunday between supporters and opponents of a constitutional referendum.The twp bodies were seen lying in a mosque in the PK5 Muslim district where the clashes took place. Hospital sources said around 20 people were hurt in � ghting that broke out during a vote aimed at ending almost three years of bloody sectarian strife. -AFP

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 201524D

T

From2020

New objectivescalculated in 2025

Aid for developing countries to fight the effects of climate change

Mitigation (lower greenhouse gas emssions)

Mitigation and adaptation

Adaptation (Reduce vulnerabilityto global warming)

Developed countriesmust significantlyincrease adaptationfinance

100 billion dollars per year to fight climate change

Source: OECD

100

ComparisonsIn billions of $ per year

billion $

581

147

60

76.2

5,300

US militarydefencespending

Sales ofI-phonesin one year

World video gamesmarket

Bill Gates’total fortune

Worldsubsidiesfor fossilfuels*

*IMF

In billions of dollars per year

Mitigation versus adaptationFinance destined for programmes(2013-2014), in %

0 20 40 60 80 100

“Floor” of 100 billion

2014 61.8

2013 52.2

Average2013-2014 57

BilateralMultilateral publicPrivate finance Export credits

77%

167

ANALYSIS

A la carte action on climate changen Reuters, Paris

At the end of bargaining, when the last bracketed di� erences in diplomatic lan-guage were [glossed over], the global cli-mate accord that emerged from two weeks of talks in Paris proved to be a very a la carte deal.

The intentional � exibility of the Par-is agreement was constructed not only to accommodate the diversity of 195 nation-al interests. It had to compensate for its limited legal authority with enough as-pirational language to send governments away con� dent that a global turn from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources was inevitable.

Most countries in Paris accept that they face a wicked problem in trying to stop ris-ing global temperatures. With some excep-tions, there is a willingness to get o� dirty energy sources, though many will still need to burn a lot of coal for quite a while. All know it will take billions of dollars to get there.

What no one wanted to accept was an onerous collection of international rules dictating how they do it.

The � nal accord therefore repeatedly “invites,” “urges,” “requests” and “further requests” countries to take action. The most ambitious goals - such as holding the increase in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels - are aspiration-al, requiring belief that technologies yet to be invented will o� er a realistic route to achieving them.

A shift underwayWith some passionate exceptions, civil so-ciety groups also appeared energised by the Paris deal. Many chose to see a half-full version of the text, vowing to seize the spirit of Paris to step up a global movement to get investors to divest their holdings from fossil

fuel companies.Still, countries face distinct hurdles in

driving energy changes at home.The Obama administration has come

close to exhausting the use of executive au-thority to push new regulations that would cut carbon emissions.

Meanwhile in India, Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi is determined to electrify rural India, a gargantuan feat only possible at the moment by producing and burning vast amounts of cheap coal. Modi sees electri� -

cation as the route to improving the lives of millions of Indians, as well as a way to en-trench the political appeal of his Bharatiya Janata Party with voters in rural areas.

How to square those demands for social and economic justice with the promises made in Paris is the calibration politicians and business leaders will now have to make. Those choices will determine whether the architects of Paris showed foresight with their creative � exibility, or just let everyone o� the hook. l

Temperatures Finance Emissions objectives

Review mechanism

Aim for greenhouse gasesemissions to peak “as soonas possible”

From 2050: rapid reductions to achieve a balance between emissions from human activity and the amount that can be captured by “sinks”

A review every �ve yearsFirst world review: 2023

Each review will informcountries in “updating and enhancing” their pledges

Keep warming “well below2 degrees Celsius”.Continue all e�orts to limitthe rise in temperaturesto 1.5 degrees Celsius”

Rich countries mustprovide 100 billion dollars from 2020,as a “�oor”

Amount to be updatedby 2025

Burden-sharing

Developed countries must provide �nancial resources to help developing countries

Other countries are invited to provide support on a voluntary basis

Climate damage

Vulnerable countries have wonrecognition of the need for“averting, minimisingand addressing” losses su�ereddue to climate change

The Paris climate agreement: Key pointsThe historic pact, approved by 195 countries, will take e�ect from 2020

Di�erenciation

Developed countries must continue to “take the lead”in the reduction of greenhouse gases

Developing nations areencouraged to “enhancetheir e�orts” and move over time to cuts

2100 2020-2025 2050

2023

25D

TSportINSIDE

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Gayle departs on the eve of Barisal’s BPL quali� erThere was a huge shock among the cricket fans when the news broke out of Chris Gayle not being named in the Barisal Bulls playing XI for the Quali� er 2 at SBNS yesterday. Although sources con� rmed that the Caribbean Calypso left Dhaka to join his Big Bash League side Melbourne Renegades. PAGE 26

McCullum equals Test sixes recordBrendon McCullum equalled Adam Gilchrist’s record of most sixes in Test cricket yesterday when he belted Rangana Herath down the ground in Dunedin. McCullum came to the crease during the � rst session on day four of the � rst Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at University Oval. PAGE 27

LVG calls for ‘belief’ after loss at BournemouthManchester United manager Louis van Gaal invoked the belief of the club’s players and supporters after their season took another downward turn with a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth. Former United trainee Josh King scored a 54th-minute winner. PAGE 28

Paulinho earns Guangzhou dream Barca tieFormer Spurs mid� elder Paulinho snatched an injury-time winner as China’s Guangzhou Evergrande stunned Mexico’s Club America 2-1 yesterday to set up a Club World Cup semi-� nal against Barcelona in Japan. Japanese champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima upset Congolese side Mazembe 3-0 in the second QF. PAGE 29

RANGPUR RIDERS INNINGS R BLMP Simmons b Mohammad Sami 73 57Abdullah Al Mamun b Prasanna 20 23Soumya Sarkar c Md Sami b Cooper 6 8Shakib Al Hasan† b Al-Amin Hossain 13 10NLTC Perera c & b Cooper 5 5DJG Sammy c Taijul Islam b Cooper 23 10Mohammad Nabi c Emrit b Cooper 8 6Md Mithun* run out (Taijul /†Rony ) 1 1Arafat Sunny not out 0 0Saqlain Sajib run out (†Rony ) 1 1Extras (lb 2, w 7, nb 1) 10Total (9 wickets; 20 overs; 107 mins) 160

Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-70, 3-114, 4-125, 5-127, 6-152, 7-158, 8-159, 9-160

BowlingMohammad Sami 4-0-31-1, Al-Amin Hossain 4-0-30-1, KK Cooper 4-0-39-4, Taijul Islam 1-0-14-0, S Prasanna 3-0-20-1, RR Emrit 4-0-24-0BARISAL BULLS INNINGS R BRony Talukdar† c Perera b Arafat Sunny 2 6S Prasanna lbw b Shakib Al Hasan 7 9Sabbir Rahman c Sammy b Perera 79 49Shahriar Nafees run out (Simmons) 44 40Mahmudullah* c Perera b Sammy 5 6RR Emrit not out 7 4KK Cooper not out 10 3Extras (lb 6, w 3) 9Total (5 wickets; 19.3 overs) 163

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-10, 3-134, 4-141, 5-147

BowlingShakib Al Hasan 4-0-29-1, Arafat Sunny 3-0-18-1, Mohammad Nabi 3-0-24-0, DJG Sammy 4-0-36-1, Abu Jayed 1-0-9-0, NLTC Perera 2.3-0-25-1, Saqlain Sajib 2-0-16-0Result: Barisal Bulls win by 5 wicketsPlayer of the match: Sabbir Rahman

RR v BB

Player of the match Sabbir Rahman reacts during his second-best T20 score as he pulled Barisal Bulls out of trouble and carried them past Rangpur Riders to the BPL 2015 � nal at SBNS yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sabbir special sends Barisal into � naln Minhaz Uddin Khan

It needed a special innings from Sabbir Rah-man to carry Barisal Bulls to the � nal in the Bangladesh Premier League 2015 as they beat Rangpur Riders by � ve wickets in Quali� er 2 yesterday. With Chris Gayle � ying back for Big Bash League commitments, Barisal were considered as the weaker opponent against Shakib al Hasan’s Rangpur but Shahriar Na-fees and Sabbir dictated terms with their 124-run third wicket stand which propelled the Bulls to 163 with three balls to spare.

The start in pursuit of 161 was, howev-er, a scary one as Barisal found themselves two down with only 10 runs on the score-card. Nafees and Sabbir took their time and stitched the sixth hundred-run stand of the edition, and the highest century partner-ship for the third wicket in BPL’s history, as the duo slowly pushed Rangpur to the edge before landing the killer blow.

Right-handed Sabbir had come into runs only in the previous game but never looked out of touch during his 79 that included sev-en boundaries and four sixes o� 49 deliver-ies. Nafees also carried the supporting role in style scoring 44 with four fours.

“We needed a good start, and the wicket played a lot better tonight, so we knew we had the batting to get there. The bowlers did well to pull back their total. And then of course, the way Nafees and Sabbir batted was incredible.

“We know what Sabbir is capable of, and he proved everyone right today. He is a big match player. We’ve been playing good cricket as a team. One more game to come, and hopefully we’ll step up there. We’re happy as a team, but it will be nicer to win in the � nal,” said the winning captain Mahmudullah.

However, after posting 160, Rangpur’s decision to bat � rst was regarded as a correct decision. Lendl Simmons scored his highest in BPL, 73, to help set a perfect platform for the Riders.

Right-arm pacer Kevon Cooper led the Barisal attack with four scalps as a � urry of wickets at the end of Rangpur’s innings eventually cost them.

World’s leading all-rounder Shakib said, “I think we put on a decent total, even thought I thought we were 10 short. Dew played a part in the game, I thought. Cred-it to Sabbir and Barisal for taking the game away from us. Everyone did their part, we gave it our 100%, it wasn’t our day.” l

Gayle spoke to the team this morning. He said we’ve won without him, so tonight

shouldn’t be too di� erent. - Rayad Emrit

26DT BPL 2015

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

TRENDSETTER

Safety � rst as umpire wears helmet in India

The 39-year-old Pashchim Pathak walked in to o� ciate in the Vijay Hazare Trophy match on Thursday between Kerala and Haryana wearing a helmet, a practice he followed the next day as well during Railways � xture against Kerala. “Everybody was positive and happy that a trend has been set. Many umpires said they would try in local matches. Hopefully, more umpires will start using helmets,” he said. Pathak is the � rst umpire to wear a protective gear, much like baseball umpires do. Pathak was the other umpire on the � eld last month when Australian umpire John Ward was struck by a sti� shot during Tamil Nadu’s match. “That’s when I strongly felt we should wear a helmet. I had made up my mind that I would do it in my next assignment.” l

Bangladesh U12 win Plate in Super Mokh Cup n Tribune Report

Bangladesh U12 national football team emerged champions in the plate round of the Super Mokh Cup 2015 by crushing Malaysian side CIMB-YFA 3-0 in the � nal at May Bank Academy � eld in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

However, the immediate seniors, the U13s, su� ered a 1-3 defeat to Thai side Buriram United on the same day to � nish as plate runners-up in their respective category at National Sports Council Center.

The U13 kids, who tasted success against Brazilian club Corinthians and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb on their way to the � nal, � nished their Mokh Cup campaign at sixth place out of 20 teams. The U12 side was ranked ninth.

Topu put the Bangladesh U12s ahead in the opening half before Arafat and Mehedi added one apiece in the second half to seal the victory. On the other hand, it was U13’s Zihan who initially handed the advantage to his side but the Thais came back strongly and snatched the game after the breather.

The jubilant kids will return home today. l Bangladesh Under-12 players pose after winning the Plate � nal in Malaysia yesterday BFF

Comilla’s Zaidi demands apology for ‘racist behaviour’ n Agencies

Comilla Victorians all-rounder and former Sussex player Ashar Zaidi has demanded an apology from Craig Overton after it emerged the promising English seamer had told him “go back to your own fucking country” dur-ing a county match last season.

34-year-old Zaidi has been an integral of the Victorians in the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 2015. He has scored 199 runs and took 16 wickets from 10 matches as Comilla will take the � eld for the BPL � -nal tomorrow at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

As � rst revealed by the Guardian, Over-ton, who came close to selection for Eng-land’s winter Test tour to South Africa, was reported to have made the remark to the Pakistan-born batsman by both the umpire Alex Wharf and the non-striking batsman Michael Yardy during Somerset’s four-day Division One match at Sussex in September.

Describing the incident, Zaidi, who did not hear the remark at the time, told the Tel-egraph: “When I heard what had happened [afterwards] I was fuming especially as that guy didn’t have the decency to come and apologise. At the next day’s play he didn’t look me in the eye and didn’t warm up with the rest of his team. He owes me an apology. I’ve played all over England and never ex-perienced such racist behaviour. I’m not in a position to say if he was treated leniently, but I was very surprised. What he said was too much. It was surprising also as he played alongside Abdur Rehman at Somerset.”

Yorkshire’s head coach, Jason Gillespie, told the Guardian: “As a club we are not commenting but speaking personally, I would be surprised if the ECB didn’t look into

this a bit further.”Acting on the evidence from Yardy and

Wharf, the ECB’s independent disciplinary panel controversially decided on a level one punishment for abusive language – rather than a level three for abuse related to “race or national origin”. Overton incurred an au-tomatic two-match ban because of two pre-vious minor o� ences on his record. l

Gayle departs on the eve of BPL quali� ern Minhaz Uddin Khan

There was a huge shock among the cricket fans when the news broke out of Chris Gay-le not being named in the Barisal Bulls play-ing XI for the Quali� er 2 at SBNS yesterday. Although sources con� rmed that the Carib-bean Calypso left Dhaka to join his Big Bash League side Melbourne Renegades, Barisal franchise owner Rizwan Bin Faruk said Gay-le’s back pain is the reason behind his early departure.

“He was not � t to play the game today (yes-terday) and chances are slim for him to play the � nal game (if we make it to that stage). So he left,” Faruk told Dhaka Tribune.

Back troubles had kept the 36-year-old out of action from July and Gayle returned to the � eld with Barisal’s match against Sylhet Su-per Stars last week.

Earlier, the Bulls had informed that Gay-le would be available for � ve matches in the BPL 2015. After a scintillating 92 against Chit-tagong Vikings, the left-handed was rested for the dead-rubber against Dhaka Dyna-mites prior the Eliminator.

As per the Big Bash conditions, a player must report to their respective side a week before the tournament starts. The Twenty20 tournament will begin on December 17. Gayle took a � ight to Melbourne yesterday evening.

Meanwhile, BPL � nalists Comilla Victori-ans will also miss the service of their West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell who left for similar reason. l

Gayle congratulated Barisal Bulls on winning against Rangpur Riders

in his absence

Sport 27D

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Ronaldo and Ancelotti to link up at United?Cristiano Ronaldo would like to work under Carlo Ancelotti again and the pair could link up at Manchester United. The Portuguese forward has been tipped to rejoin the Old Tra� ord club this summer and Ancelotti, who was sacked as Real Madrid manager in May, has also been linked with the club. But it all hinges on whether or not manager Louis van Gaal is replaced as United manager. This week the Dutchman could not prevent his side from crashing out of the Champions League.

AGENCIES

Pietersen’s South Africa campaign ends in defeatKevin Pietersen’s South African Twenty20 foray ended in failure on Saturday when his Dolphins franchise team were beaten by the home side, the Titans, in the � nal of South Africa’s franchise competition. The former En-gland batsman made only 10 o� 11 balls before hitting a steepling catch to deep midwicket in a Dolphins total of 159 for � ve.

AFP

Button considered leaving F1 after nightmare seasonJenson Button considered leaving Formula One this year as McLaren endured their worst season but said he decided to continue after talks with boss Ron Dennis and other key people at the team. McLaren, the second most successful team after Ferrari in Formula One in terms of race wins, � nished ninth of 10 this season.

–REUTERS

England to decide No.3 spot after warm-up tiesEngland’s warm-up matches for England before the � rst test against South Africa will go a long way to determining who bats in the No. 3 spot, coach Trevor Bayliss said on Saturday. “Probably in my mind, I’ve got a little thought who it might be but we’ve got two very im-portant practice matches before the � rst test which could go a long way to us � nalising that position,” he said.

–REUTERS

Neville doesn’t envisage managing Man UnitedValencia boss Gary Neville has categorically denied he is positioning himself to one day take charge of Manchester United, where he enjoyed a hugely successful 19-year playing career. Neville was handed a surprise � rst man-agerial role at the Mestalla until the end of the season by Singaporean business partner and Valencia owner Peter Lim earlier this month.

–AFP

Pattinson ditches new action to destroy WindiesPaceman James Pattinson said Sunday he did away with his remodelled bowling action and returned to his old approach to spearhead Australia to an emphatic innings victory over the West Indies in Hobart.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

Doug Bracewell (L) of New Zealand bowls to Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka during day four of the � rst Test at University Oval in Dunedin yesterday AFP

NEW ZEALAND 1ST INNINGS431 (M. Guptill 156, K. Williamson 88, B. McCul-lum 75; Pradeep 4-112) SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS294 (D. Karunaratne 84, D. Chandimal 83; Southee 3-71, Wagner 3-87) NEW ZEALAND 2ND INNINGS R B(overnight 171-1) T. Latham not out 109 180K. Williamson b Chameera 71 115R. Taylor b Herath 15 16B. McCullum not out 17 6Extras (b3, lb1, nb5) 9Total (3 wickets dec, 65.4 overs) 267

Fall of wickets1-79 (Guptill), 2-220 (Williamson), 3-247 (Taylor)

BowlingLakmal 13-0-40-0, Mathews 4-1-4-0, Chameera 14-0-61-1 (3nb), Pradeep 13-1-52-0 (2nb), Herath 11.4-1-62-2, Siriwardana 8-0-32-0, Jayasundera 2-0-12-0SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS R BD. Karunaratne c Watling b Southee 29 72K. Mendis c Watling b Southee 46 150U. Jayasundera c Watling b Wagner 3 15D. Chandimal not out 31 64Extras 0 Total (3 wickets, 50.1 overs) 109

Fall of wickets1-54 (Karunaratne), 2-64 (Jayasundera), 3-109 (Mendis)

BowingBoult 7-2-18-0 Southee 10.1-3-16-2, Bracewell 12-5-21-0, Santner 12-2-26-0, Wagner 9-2-28-1

NZ v SL, DAY 4

New Zealand sni� victoryn Reuters

Wicketkeeper BJ Watling took a record-equal-ling ninth catch as New Zealand inched their way to a probable victory over Sri Lanka in the � rst test as they reduced the visitors to 109 for three at the close of the fourth day’s play yesterday.

Dinesh Chandimal was on 31 at University Oval, which had weathered heavy, but brief, rain and hail showers that forced the players from the � eld three times.

The last shower forced them o� the ground with 20 overs remaining and umpires abandoned play at 1745 (0445 GMT) with captain Angelo Mathews scheduled as the next man in. He will join Chandimal today, when they have almost 98 overs to score an additional 296 runs.

“If we can get a good partnership in the morning session, the game is on,” left-arm spinner Rangana Herath told reporters.

“We need to play our brand of cricket and I’m sure Angie and Chandimal will do that.” l

McCullum equals Test sixes recordn Agencies

Brendon McCullum equalled Adam Gilchrist’s record of most sixes in Test crick-et yesterday when he belted Rangana Herath down the ground in Dunedin.

McCullum came to the crease during the � rst session on day four of the � rst Test be-tween New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Uni-versity Oval with the home side looking for quick runs and a prompt declaration.

The right-hander wasted no time, dancing down the track to his � rst ball and whacking left-arm spinner Herath for a straight six.l

Player Innings 6s

Adam Gilchrist(AUS) 137 100

Brendon McCullum(NZ) 170 100

Chris Gayle(WI) 182 98

Jacques Kallis(SA) 280 97

Virender Sehwag(IND) 180 91

Brian Lara(WI) 232 88

Chris Cairns(NZ) 104 87

Viv Richards(WI) 182 84

Andrew Flinto� (ENG) 130 82

Matthew Hayden(AUS) 184 82

Marsh or Khawaja could open: Lehmannn AFP, Hobart

Shaun Marsh or the returning Usman Khawa-ja are in the frame to open Australia’s innings in the Boxing Day Test against the West In-dies, coach Darren Lehmann said yesterday.

Khawaja, who scored 174 and 121 batting three against New Zealand before he injured a hamstring, has been included in a 13-man squad for the second Test starting in Mel-bourne on December 26.

Khawaja’s replacement, Marsh, has made a strong case for his retention with his high-est Test score of 182 in Australia’s innings and 212-run win over the West Indies in Hobart.

While the expectation is that either Marsh or Khawaja will miss out in Melbourne, coach Lehmann raised the prospect of one of them playing as opener, possibly at the expense of

Joe Burns.“I would be comfortable with Khawaja

opening the batting, but the captain (Steve Smith) might not want that, so we have to work that out,” Lehmann told reporters.

“Shaun’s probably more comfortable (bat-ting at � ve) but if we need him to play and we need an opener then he can do that job as well.

“It gets down to the make-up of the side, what we go with. If he’s in that and he has to open then you’d rather that than not playing.”

Marsh played a crucial second innings knock of 49 in di� cult conditions to help Australia beat New Zealand in the Adelaide day-night Test and then he shared in record fourth-wicket game-changing partnership of 449 runs with Adam Voges in Hobart.

“That’s what we have to work out in two

weeks. We have to wait to see if Usman is � t � rst, then we have the dilemma,” Lehmann said. “If he’s � t, then he’s made two hun-dreds in his previous two Test matches so you’d think he’d been in form to play.

“We certainly need him playing and with the hamstring we don’t want him playing Test match cricket if he’s not fully � t.

“He will have to be sharp in those Big Bash League T20 games he’s playing and get through those then we’ll make a decision from there.

“But if he comes back in then someone’s going to miss out and we just have to work out who that is.” Burns scored 71 and 129 in the � rst Test against the Kiwis in Brisbane, but has since struggled. Lehmann said bowl-ing all-rounder Mitch Marsh would not be making way for Khawaja in Melbourne. l

28DT Sport

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

TALKING POINT

KEY STATS

Louis van Gaal doesn’t know what he’s doing. He cannot organise the defence anymore, nor can he get an attack full of fast players and Juan Mata to play incisively. That the best chances came from long balls to Marouane Fellaini demonstrated the poverty of his thinking and inspiration. The sooner he leaves, the better it will be for a United side still in with a chance of winning the league.

Junior Stanislas (not pictured) scores the � rst goal for Bournemouth direct from a corner kick against Manchester United during their Barclays Premier League match at Vitality Stadium on Saturday REUTERS

MU’s starting XI was their sixth youngest in PL history (24y 131d) and their youngest since May 2014 v Hull (24y 82d).

Junior Stanislas has scored three goals in his last two home games and been involved in four goals in his last four PL appearances (three goals, one assist).

Stanislas’ opening goal was the third fastest goal this season (1:40) – the fastest goal was scored by Bournemouth’s Matt Ritchie against Spurs after 49 seconds.

It was the fastest goal conceded by MU in the PL since March 2014.

Marouane Fellaini netted his � rst PL goal since May and had gone nine league appearances without a goal.

MU conceded two goals from corner situations in a single game for the � rst time since January 2014 v Chelsea.

It was MU’s 13th defeat against a newly promot-ed side in the PL, their � rst since losing 5-3 to Leicester last season.

Bournemouth are only the second team to beat Chelsea and MU in consecutive PL games (Everton also in February 2010).

The Red Devils have lost back-to-back games (all comps) for the � rst time since May.

LVG calls for ‘belief’ after loss at Bournemouthn AFP, Bournemouth

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal in-voked the belief of the club’s players and sup-porters after their season took another down-ward turn with a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth.

Former United trainee Josh King scored a 54th-minute winner to prevent United from bouncing back from their mid-week Champi-ons League exit at Wolfsburg and keep them three points o� the pace in the Premier League.

A return of three wins from 12 games in all competitions, coupled with some turgid foot-ball, has seen Van Gaal come in for heavy crit-icism from fans and pundits, but he said his shoulders were broad enough to deal with it.

“It is always like that. It is not new. It is a matter of belief,” the Dutchman told Sky Sports at Dean Court.

“Believe in the manager or not. That is the most important thing. Last year the fans all showed their belief and that is the most im-portant thing.

“But for me the most important thing is the commitment of my players to perform as we have agreed and I can only tell you they want to do that.”

Asked if he believed that he was capable of revitalising United’s season, Van Gaal re-plied: “I’m having always that con� dence. When the players want to perform in this way, I have always con� dence.”l

Aaron Ramsey shoots to score the second goal for Arsenal against Aston Villa during their Barclays Premier League match at Villa Park yesterday REUTERS

Arsenal back on top as Villa capitulate againn Reuters, London

Arsenal enjoyed an easy 2-0 victory at Aston Villa yesterday to soar to the summit of the Premier League and leave their hapless opponents rooted at rock bottom.

A landmark 50th Premier League goal from Olivier Giroud, a penalty converted four days after his Champions League hat-trick against Olympiakos Piraeus, swiftly brought more gloom to Villa Park after eight minutes.

Mesut Ozil then produced his 13th assist of the season to allow Aaron Ramsey to slot home a second goal in the 38th minute and enable Arsenal to move on to 33 points, one point clear of Manchester City and Leicester City.

Leicester have the chance to regain the leadership when they entertain Chelsea on Monday.

Villa improved in the second half as Ar-senal took their foot o� the gas but manager Remi Garde, who as a player was once signed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, could only hear the grumbles of discontent as his side went a club-record 15th league game without a win.

The defeat left Villa stranded at the foot of the table on six points from 16 games, six adrift of 19th-placed Sunderland. l

Sport 29D

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

DAY’S WATCH

Star Sports 11:50 AMBarclays Premier LeagueLeicester City v Chelsea Star Sports 46:00 PMInternational Premier Tennis LeagueIndian Aces v Japan Warriors 9:30 PMPhilippine Mavericks v UAE Royals Ten HD1:45 AMSky Bet ChampionshipBlackburn Rovers v Nottingham Forest Ten Action5:00 PMUEFA Champions League Draw: Round of 16 6:00 PMUEFA Europa LeagueDraw: Round of 16 Sony Six6:00 AMNBA season 2015/16Oklahoma City v Utah 1:30 AMSerie ALazio v Sampdoria

Paulinho earns Guangzhou dream Barca tien AFP, Osaka

Former Spurs mid� elder Paulinho snatched an injury-time winner as China’s Guangzhou Evergrande stunned Mexico’s Club Ameri-ca 2-1 yesterday to set up a Club World Cup semi-� nal against Barcelona in Japan.

Japanese champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima upset Congolese side Mazembe 3-0 in the second quarter-� nal in Osaka, sending the local favourites through to face Argentina’s Libertadores Cup holders River Plate.

Paulinho climbed to head in a corner with virtually the last touch of the game, completing an improbable comeback for Asian champions Guangzhou and leaving dazed America players sobbing on the turf at the � nal whistle.

“I play the game for moments like that,” Paulinho told reporters. “You never know

what will happen in football so it’s better not to talk too much before the match.”

Veteran striker Oribe Peralta had ended Guangzhou’s resistance with a diving header � ve minutes after the break, only for substi-

tute Zheng Long to equalise against the run of play for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side 10 min-utes from time. Paulinho, the architect for Zheng’s classic sucker punch after a swift counter-attack, then sent Chinese fans wild as he put Evergrande through to a dream tie

with European champions Barcelona in Yo-kohama on Thursday.

It was all too much for the fanatical Amer-ica fans who braved the cold, many of them bare-chested and wearing colourful Mexican “lucha libre”-style wrestling masks. Numbed by the abrupt turnaround, they stared in si-lence as the Chinese celebrated.

However, luck deserted the African cham-pions, who dominated for long periods against Hiroshima but lacked a killer touch.

Defender Tsukasa Shiotani, who scored in the 2-0 win over Auckland City on Thursday, poked home a Yusuke Chajima corner to give Hiroshima the lead just before halftime.

Centre-back Kazuhiko Chiba headed a second 11 minutes after the break to put the newly crowned J-League champions � rmly in control before substitute Takuma Asano added a third. l

Paulinho (3rd R) of China’s Guangzhou Evergrande heads the ball to score against Mexico’s Club America during their Club World Cup quarter-� nal in Osaka, western Japan, yesterday. Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande scored twice in the last 10 minutes to win REUTERS

Mazembe 0-3 Hiroshima Shiotani 44, Chiba 56, Asano 78

America 1-2 GuangzhouPeralta 55 Zheng 80, Paulinho 90+3

QUARTERFINALS

Write stu� ! Guardiola note sees Bayern seal victoryn AFP, Berlin

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola proved his love for the written word with a note to captain Philipp Lahm on Saturday which led to their 2-0 win over Ingolstadt.

Guardiola, who has been known to attend poetry readings in Munich during his Bayern tenure, took the unusual step of giving his team written tactical instructions for the � rst time. He pressed a note into Lahm’s hand at Munich’s Allianz Arena on 58 minutes with the scores goalless.

After reading the instructions, Lahm moved up into the mid� eld, winger Kingsley Coman moved from the right to the left and mid� elder Javi Martinez dropped back into defence in the German league match.

The tactical switch saw Bayern take the lead on 65 minutes when Poland striker Rob-ert Lewandowski claimed his 15th goal of the season after running onto a Jerome Boateng pass, rounding the goalkeeper and � ring home from a tight angle. l

Mourinho’s Chelsea faith faces Leicester testn AFP, Leicester

Jose Mourinho’s claim that Chelsea’s season is � nally heading in the right direction will face a stern test when the Premier League champions visit unexpected pace-setters Leicester City today.

Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester will go into the game having been dislodged from the head of the table by Manchester City, who moved top on goal di� erence following Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Swansea City.

But their form this season has been in stark contrast to that of Mourinho’s Chelsea, whose last league outing ended in a shock home defeat by Bournemouth.

That result left the Blues manager stunned and appeared to have undone the progress made by the Stamford Bridge out� t since the last international break.

Fortunately for Mourinho - who succeeded Ranieri as Chelsea manager when he � rst took charge of the club in 2004 - the latest emerging crisis was stalled by the mid-week Champions League defeat of FC Porto, which ensured that Chelsea advanced to the last 16 as winners of their group.

The expectation ever since the opening weeks of the season was that Chelsea would soon turn things around and resume their challenge for a top-four � nish.

But with 14 points separating them from the Champions League quali� cation places, the manager’s belief that his side are back on track must be justi� ed soon if they are to launch a charge up the table.l

Conte hints Balotelli will watch Euro 2016 on televisionn Reuters, Milan

Italy forward Mario Balotelli has said that he cannot not wait for Euro 2016, prompting coach Antonio Conte to ask sarcastically the maverick striker would be playing or watch-ing on television.

Balotelli reacted enthusiastically to Italy’s draw against Belgium, Ireland and Sweden, posting their names on Instagram along with the words “I can’t wait.”

In reply, Conte said: “(He) can’t wait for what.....to play in the European champion-ship or to watch on television?”

“It’s up to him to show he can be included, just as it is with the others,” Conte told Ital-ian reporters. “But he has got so, so much to prove. Anyone who wants to come in has got to show me an awful lot.” l

Bayern coach Guardiola gives a note to skipper Lahm during their Bundesliga match on Saturday

n Showtime Desk

Rose Siggins, the actress who played the character Legless Suzi in American Horror Story: Freak Show, passed away in Denver on Saturday. Tribute was paid to 43-year-old Rose Siggins on Facebook by the FX Network, saying she was “beloved by everyone in the AHS family.” TMZ reported she died after contracting an infection following kidney stone surgery. “She was a kind person, a loving mother and a very talented actor. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends at this time,” said the post.

The actress was also paid tribute by the fans, who remembered her as “an amazing woman full of strength and determination.”

“Rose you were an inspiration to so many,”

posted Danny Ray Seagraves, “you showed that a disability could not get you down. Your character was one of my favourites in AHS. May you rest in peace.”

Siggins was born with rare genetic disorder named Sacral Agenesis, with her legs severely deformed. They were amputated when she was two and she had prosthetic legs until she was a teenager, when she refused to wear them and went to school on a skateboard. She was the � rst person with her condition to give birth and have two children.

When her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she also took care of her brother, who she described as “mentally challenged,” and her father, who was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. l

Showtime30DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Aparna to return to the stage

Legless Suzi from AHS passes

Jatrangon to celebrate victory across Dhaka

Life of PiStar Movies HD 2:02pmPi Patel is visited by a Canadian story teller who is curious to know his story. Pi greets him and shares his adventures. Watch the movie to � nd out what it was. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irfan Khan

DriveHBO De� ned 6:25pmGarage mechanic, a Hollywood stuntman and a getaway driver: which is he? A mysterious man seems to be trying to escape his shady past as he falls for his neighbor- watch more to � nd out.Cast: Ryan Gosling, Cary Mulligan, Bryan Cranston

Edge of TomorrowHBO 2:18pmTom Cruise, playing the lead role, is thrown into a deadly war zone in spite of having no battle experience. Forced into a suicidal situation like that he does what he has to: � ght. Watch the movie to � nd out if he survives the impossible or dies the obvious death. Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton

Harry Potter and the Goblet of � reWarner Bros 10:30pmHarry is selected by the Goblet of Fire to participate in a dangerous tournament in Hogwarts during his fourth year there. The mystery lies in who nominated him to play

as he would be under-aged for the games. However he decides to play, putting his, life on the line. Watch the movie to � nd out what fate has in store for the wizard, and more. Cast: Daniel Radcli� e, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Captain America: The Winter SoldierStar Movies 9:30pmThe winter soldier against Captain America: a dangerous battle between an ancient hero and a modern day villain. Watch the movie to � nd out, how Steve Rogers takes up the role of Captain America and unfreezes into the modern world.Cast: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan

WHAT TO WATCH

n Showtime Desk

After a hiatus of nearly two years, Aparna Ghosh has decided to return to the stage. She will be seen performing again in a theatre festival which will be held in Chittagong from December 24 to 27.

Nandikar, a troupe based in Chittagong, has taken the initiative to arrange the theatre festival featuring six plays, which will be held at the Chittagong Theatre Institute.

Ghosh has con� rmed to perform two characters in two di� erent plays, in Gorai Golod and Court Martial. For the portrayal of these characters, the national award winning actress will travel to her hometown and will will be working with her childhood troupe. “I have planned to go to Chittagong at the end

of this month after wrapping up all my work, and have to take part in the rehearsals as well,” she said.

To the question of why she has been stayed away from the stage, she said, “I had become busy with TV dramas and � lms after taking part in the beauty pageant, Lux-Channel i Superstars. I couldn’t make time for visit my hometown any more. Hence it turned out that way.”

She got involved with theatre acting when she was just in ninth grade and feels a di� erent kind of kinship to that medium. In her words, “Usually, theatre is very special place to any actor who comes from that arena. So no matter what I go through, I feel the urge to work in theatre. I honestly never imagined cutting o� relations with it.” l

n Showtime Desk

On the occasion of Victory Day 2015, Bangladesh Jatrashilpo Unnayan Parishad (association for develop-ment of opera) are preparing to hold cultural programmes at di� erent points of Dhaka.

On the occasion, the artists of the association will reach di� erent are-as using trucks and perform patri-otic songs, plays, and recitals. The slogan this year is set to be: “Banish the war criminals, free the beloved motherland from disgrace.”

The troupe is scheduled to start from the National Press Club and hit areas including Asad Gate, TSC, Shahbagh, Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Banani, Mirpur, Khilgaon, Jatrabari, and Uttara.

A � ve-member victory celebra-tion committee has been formed on that regard. l

Showtime 31D

TMONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

n Mosabber Rahman

In great � lms, the amino acids of abstract ideas are rearranged to create essential proteins that enable us to understand each other better and become more empathic. A good � lm can be a sparkling marble in the overall mosaic of the human condition. The European Film Festival 2015 had may, and here are a few favourites, along with their brief reviews.

Attila Marcel (France, 2013)Best Film, Best Director, Best ActorThis amazing � lm tasted like pistachio ice-cream over a slice of red-velvet cake. Everything is just blissful; from the camerawork, photography, production design, sets, over-the-top acting, and music. Our greatest treasure in life is our memories which can signi� cantly change our future. Here, the past is depicted in light red as the present is pale green, but Paul is depressed in blue. Paul does not talk, but he plays the piano quite well, and must learn to grow up or forever remain a child.

A Gun In Each Hand (Spain, 2012)Best ScreenplayThis collection of � ve conversations, on the theme of love-and-relationship, is a textbook for dialogue-writing. Here John Wayne becomes the mascot of machismo. “I bet he never felt nausea,” they said. Ironically, John Wayne died of stomach cancer.

Atmen (Austria, 2011)Jury AwardAtmen means breathing. Our main purpose in life is to stay alive, to keep breathing which is both a voluntary and involuntary mechanism. It is important to understand - hope and despair, love and hate, life and death – shall always coexist side-by-side. We just have to keep breathing long enough to witness that.

Ra� ki (Norway, 2009)Audience AwardThis is a gem of a � nd. At times you would � nd it di� cult to control the urge to stand up and jump on the chair and just cheer for little Julia as she tries to help her best friend.

Hour Of The Lynx (Denmark, 2013)Best ActressWhen a clergywoman meets a mindless murderer, she is not able to comprehend his actions or the complex psychology behind it, but she sticks by her motto to always treat human beings like human beings. l

Best of the Fest: European Film Festival 2015 Here is our ranking of all the � lms screened at the festival.

1. Attila Marcel (France)2. Atmen (Austria)3. Agreement (Denmark)4. A Gun in Each Hand

(Spain)5. Simshar (Malta)6. Hour Of The Lynx

(Denmark)7. Ra� ki (Norway)8. 100-Year-Old Man

(Sweden)9. Paddington (UK)10. Lessons of a Dream

(Germany)11. Before Flying Back To

Earth (Lithuania)12. Win Win (Switzerland)

Twitter, Skype, Imo blocked

n Ishtiaq Husain

Microblogging site Twitter and online messag-ing and calling services Skype and Imo have been blocked in the country, reportedly due to a Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) directive sent to internet service providers.

Summan Ahmed Sabir, chief strategy o� cer at Fiber@Home, an international internet gate-way, con� rmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune last night.

He said the BTRC issued a directive to block the social networking services in an email. “The BTRC instructed us to block Skype, Imo and

Twitter alongside Viber and other apps in our network with immediate e� ect until further instruction.”

The telecom regulatory body also requested frequent monitoring and taking necessary meas-ures if the services change their IP address, port address and application signatures, he added.

The Dhaka Tribune could not independently verify the matter with BTRC authorities at the time the story went to press.

The decision comes just four days after the government lifted a block on popular social media site Facebook.

On November 18, Facebook, WhatsApp and Viber were blocked on security grounds. l

Back Page32DT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015

Paris talks ‘a fraud,’ says father of climate change awareness

n Tribune Desk

James Hansen, the father of climate change awareness, has called the Paris talks “a fraud.”

Speaking to the UK’s Guardian newspaper, the former Nasa scientist criticised the talks as “no action, just promises.”

“It’s a fraud really, a fake,” he says. “It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little bet-ter every � ve years.’ As long as fossil fuels ap-pear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.”

According to Hansen, without greenhouse gas emissions taxed across the board, the cli-mate deal is worthless.

Hansen, 74, attended the Paris meeting where he called for a price to be placed on each tonne of carbon from major emitters – $15 a tonne that would rise $10 a year. There weren’t many takers, he told the Guardian, even among “big green” as Hansen labels en-vironment groups.

Hansen shot to prominence in the sum-mer of 1988 when he told a US congressional committee that something called the “green-house e� ect” where heat-trapped gases re-leased into the atmosphere was causing glob-al warming with a 99% certainty.

He says things got a little di� cult after that. Hansen claims the White House altered subsequent testimony, given in 1989, and that Nasa appointed a media overseer who vetted what he said to the press.

The adjunct professor at Columbia Uni-versity continues to publish research into climate change.

One paper released in July said an up to

� ve metre sea level rise could occur by the lat-ter part of this century, unless greenhouse gas emissions are radically slashed. This would inundate many of the world’s cities, includ-ing London, New York, Miami and Shanghai.

The scientist-turned-activist is largely unimpressed with the political response to climate science.

“We all foolishly had such high hopes for Obama, to articulate things, to be like Roo-sevelt and have � reside chats to explain to the public why we need to have a rising fee on carbon in order to move to clean energy,” he says. “But he’s not particularly good at that.”

Hansen is scathing of leading Republicans who have embraced climate science denialism.

Leading presidential candidates Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Ben Carson have all derided evidence that the world is warm-ing due to human activity. Ted Cruz, another contender, has taken time out from his cam-paign to sit on an inquiry into climate science that has heard testimony from a right-wing radio host who has no scienti� c background.

“It’s all embarrassing really,” Hansen says. l

The adjunct professor at Columbia University calls for a price to be placedon carbon emissions

BPL 2015, 2ND QUALIFIER

FINAL COMILLA VICTORIANS v BARISAL BULLS (6:30PM, TUESDAY, MIRPUR)

VBarisal Bulls won by 5 wickets

Rangpur RidersSimmons 73, Sammy 23, Al Mamun 20,

Cooper 4/39, Prasanna 1/20

160/920 overs

Barisal BullsSabbir 79, Nafees 44, Cooper 10,

Sunny 1-18, Perera 1/25

163/519.3 overs

WIKIMEDIA

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