PAGE 24LDCs increasingly targeted by tobacco marketing

PAGE 5Five of a family injured in septic tank � re

PAGE 3Fakhrul released from jail on bail

PAGE 32ManU raises £230,000 for Bangladeshi children

PAGE 4Return submission: A poor show for NBR

SECOND EDITION

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015 | Agrahayan 18, 1422, Safar 19, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 226 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

USE OF LEGAL ARMS IN CRIMES A HEADACHE PAGE 32

MORE COP21 COVERAGE ON PAGE 5

BNP PROTESTS PAKISTAN STATEMENT ON 1971 PAGE 3

Awami League, BNP complete nominationsn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Ruling Awami League and main political op-position BNP have � nalised the list of their mayoral candidate nominations for the up-coming polls in 236 municipalities across the country.

The ruling party has already announced that it is going to contest the � rst ever parti-san municipality polls alone, while arch rival BNP said it will run in the elections with its alliance partners.

Until last night, the Awami League has reportedly � nalised its mayoral nominations for all the 236 municipalities which means

these candidates will run with the party’s electoral symbol – boat.

The BNP on the other hand has selected 234 candidate who will be running with the party’s electoral symbol – sheaf of paddy.

Sources said, the party has left the remain-ing two municipalities to its 20-party alliance partners Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Jatiya Party-Zafar.

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif said yesterday that they would start sending the lists to the local committees after Prime Minister and party chief Sheikh Hasina gave her nod in a parlia-mentary committee meeting.

The BNP meanwhile began distributing attested copies of nomination papers to can-didates or their representatives, said Emran Saleh Prince, assistant publicity secretary of the party.

He said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia ap-proved the list last night.

However, the party has yet to make any decision regarding leaving seats to its biggest alliance partner Jamaat-e-Islami, who cur-rently cannot take part in any elections be-cause of a void registration with the Election Commission.

According to a BNP insider, Jamaat has PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Vulnerable countries call forde-carbonised economyn Meer Saiful Islam, from Paris

Leaders of 30 nations have issued a call to de-carbonise the world economy, which they meant for 100% renewable energy by 2050 and zero emissions by mid-century to keep the world on track for below 1.5 degrees of warming.

The joint declaration was made late yes-terday night, linking the hands of the world’s vulnerable countries across continents.

Though not all the heads of state and gov-ernments, many of them raised the issue at the Leaders Event on the opening day that the target of limiting temperature rise should be revised down to 1.5 degrees Celsius from 2 degrees.

The broad coalition of middle income, least developed, including Bangladesh, and small island developing states worldwide opened the prospect of high ambition agree-ments at the COP21 with issuing the strong-est call.

“Individually, we are already survivors; collectively, we are a force towards a fairer, more climate-proactive world,” said Philip-pine President Benigno S. Aquino III, leader of the group.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Rumours hurting probe into Shia mosque attackn Kamrul Hasan

Rumours and speculations among locals have made it hard for law enforcers to piece together how the Shia mosque attackers in Bogra managed to escape after the shooting spree.

Di� erent witnesses have described com-pletely di� erent versions of the post-attack chain of events. The task of apprehending

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Protesters demonstrate during a rally held the day before the start of the Paris Climate Change Summit in Madrid on November 29. The placards read: ‘100% Renewable Energy’ and ‘More Renewable Less CO2’ REUTERS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

News2DTWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

AL, BNP done given a list of potential candidates to Khale-da Zia, who is also chief of the 20-party alli-ance, but she has yet to make any decision in this regard.

BNP Joint Secretary General Mohammad Shahjahan handed over attested nomination forms to several mayoral candidates at the party chairperson’s Gulshan o� ce last night.

“We have taken the challenge of partici-pating in the polls despite there being several other challenges... this challenge also be to restore democracy in the country,” he said.

The former whip also said: “We are not participating in the election against any con-dition. We are taking this as a political chal-lenge and we will remain in the � eld.

“We hope that the Election Commission and the government will not throw us away from the election � eld,” he hoped.

A total of 20 political parties have so far con� rmed the Election Commission about their participation in the polls, slated for De-cember 30.

Fazle Hossain Badsha, general secretary of ruling alliance partner Workers Party of Bangladesh, said they had already � nalised a list and sent it to the respective municipal-ities.

“Workers Party-backed mayoral candi-dates will contest for at least 30 mayoral posts. We have already sent letters to 20 mu-nicipalities,” he said, adding that the rest will be sent by Wednesday.

Mujahidul Islam Selim, president of Com-munist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), said their nomination selection process is going on in full swing and the � nal list of the mayoral candidates will be published soon.

Bikalpadhara Bangladesh is yet to � nalise its candidates’ list as there is still time for � l-ing the papers, leaders said.

Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu, secretary general of main opposition in parliament Jatiya Par-ty, said they had already sent 100 names to the respective municipalities.

Sharif Nurul Ambia, general secretary of another ruling alliance partner Jatiya Sama-jtantrik Dal (JaSaD), said they would not dis-close the number their mayoral candidates. l

Rumours hurting probe into Shia mosque attackthe attackers has been made more di� cult as many of the locals have given misleading information based on hearsay, investigators said.

The absolute lack of authentic information regarding the culprits has come as a surprise, sources at law enforcement agencies told the Dhaka Tribune.

Visiting the Chakkanu village in Shibganj upazila, the Dhaka Tribune found that rumours were rife as villagers continue to spend their days in fear.

Many of the locals who spoke to the Dhaka Tribune could recount details about the attack, but admitted their statements were based on only what they had heard from others.

The handful of witnesses, meanwhile, said they could not get a close look at the attackers. The only substantial description was that the culprits wore dark-coloured dresses and one of them had a Tupi on his head.

On Thursday, three gunmen opened � re

on the devotees at a Shia mosque in Shibganj upazila during the Maghrib prayers, killing the muezzin and injuring three others.

One of their possible escape route might have been through a nearby brick � eld. Local Union Parishad Member Jahurul Islam said witness accounts suggest that the three attackers might have � ed on a motorcycle from there.

From the brick � eld, the attackers might have followed two routes: one through Gopinathpur village to Bogra-Joypurhat road, and the other through Nayapara and Aliarhat villages.

The head of the � ve-member probe team, Arifur Rahman Mandal, also additional superintendent of police in Bogra, said they were investigating the possibility of multiple escape routes.

A source in police said one of the suspects was seen carrying something heavy on his shoulder while another had his arm concealed under his cloth as they escaped towards Aliarhat.

SM Ahsan Habib, o� cer-in-charge of the local police station, said they had been receiving a lot of misleading information from the locals since the incident.

He added that the suspects in remand - 20-year-old madrasa student Jewel and 55-year-old Haripur village resident Anwarul Islam Hossain – have not yet provided any substantial clues. The OC also did not con� rm whether the detainees were JMB members or had been working for any other out� t.

However, a source close to with the probe said Anwar has admitted during remand that he was an inactive member of JMB.

Meanwhile, Shibganj Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Aminur Rahman said the fact that the attackers had brought locks to shut the mosque gate suggested that they had visited the place several times before the crime. So it was surprising that no locals had any speci� c information about the presence of suspicious people in the area, the UNO added. l

Vulnerable countries call for de-carbonised economya body representing countries highly vulnerable to climate change, adopted the Manila-Paris Declaration and a three-year Road Map of Activities aimed at enhancing cooperation among and protection for the world’s vulnerable countries.

“We refuse to be the sacri� ce of the international community in Paris. Anything that takes our survival o� the table here is a red line. All parties have an obligation to act and not doing so is a crime,” said Forest and Environment Minister Anwar Hossain Manju of Bangladesh.

“This Declaration is just the beginning of our e� orts to step up our voice and collaboration,” he added.

Minister of Foreign A� airs of Costa Rica Manuel Gonzalez said emission cuts harming economic growth was a myth.

“A commitment to reduce emissions is most likely a commitment to strengthen

economic growth. This has been Costa Rica’s experience,” he said, adding that keeping warming to a minimum – to below 1.5 degrees – would not simply deliver safety and prosperity, it will also deliver justice.

The Forum’s dedicated track of Ministers of Finance, the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group, also reported on updates from the e� orts of its Working Group since foundation last month in Lima, Peru.

“We are convinced that the V20 has its role to play in helping to unlock the full potential of climate finance as we look to a new international partnership for moving our effort forward,” V20 Chair and Secretary of Finance Cesar V Purisima announced.

He urged all to work in this context to take steps to enable the vulnerable economies to bene� t from $20 billion in new and

additional � nance by 2020, drawing from international, regional and domestic sources, and leveraging maximum degrees of private � nance.

“We are here to cooperate. We are here to share experiences. Even if we contribute the least and su� er the most, we do not sit idle. Ethiopia, for example, communicated in its INDC that it will reduce emissions by 64 percent by 2030,” said Ethiopia State Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kare Chawicha.

Ethiopia was con� rmed as the incoming chair of the CVF for the period 2016-2017.

The third-ever High-Level meeting of the CVF held in Paris yesterday was the culmination of nearly two years of expert, diplomatic and senior o� cial consultations including � ve regional meetings that culminated on November 9-11, 2015 with a global preparatory meeting in Manila. l

BNP: EC spinelessn Tribune Report

The BNP has branded the Election Commis-sion as “incapable,” “spineless” and “sub-servient to the government” for not enter-taining its demand to defer the municipality polls slated for December 30

The same demand was also put forward by even several ruling government allies – Workers Party of Bangladesh, Jatiya Sama-jtantrik Dal (JaSaD) and Jatiya Party – during their meetings with the commission.

But the EC led by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed on Monday decided that it would not defer the polls while it also rejected the ruling Awami League’s demand to allow the parlia-ment members taking part in electioneering. The CEC also said that they had announced the schedule giving as much time as legally possible to let the political parties prepare.

“BNP [on November 28] placed some ob-servations and demands before the Election Commission with a view to contest the mu-nicipality polls. But unfortunately the com-

mission did not take any step to meet those demands,” acting spokesperson Asaduzzam-an Ripon said yesterday.

He thinks that there would not be any problem if the polls were deferred by 15 days or a month, rather some 50,00,000 new vot-ers could exercise their franchise.

The EC is set to publish the updated voter list in January.

Also international a� airs secretary of the par-ty, Ripon told reporters at the Nayapaltan head-quarters that the commission could hold the elections in between the SSC exams in February.

The EC also cited that the Biswa Ijtema would be held in January as a reason behind not deferring the election schedule. Hun-dreds and thousands of devotees join the Ijtema congregation at Tongi every year.

The BNP leader also criticised the govern-ment for arresting their party men including the potential municipal candidates. “The in-cumbent mayor of Mymensingh’s Nandail upazila and the vice-president of Mymensingh unit were arrested on Monday,” Ripon added. l

HC: Seven-murder charge sheet defectiven Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday observed that the charge sheet in Narayanganj seven-murder case was defective, and asked the lawyers concerned to � nd out its faults.

The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Amir Hossain also said the police can submit a supplementary charge sheet of the case to the lower court con-cerned.

The court said this during the hearing on a revision petition � led by Selina Islam, wife of murdered Narayanganj city panel mayor Nazrul Islam, who sought the High Court’s order on the police to conduct further inves-tigation into the case.

The court asked her lawyers – Abdul Baset Majumder and Montu Ghosh – and also the Deputy Attorney General Shaikh AKM Mon-

iruzzaman Kabir to examine whether there was any element in the petition upon which the court could order the police to conduct further probe.

Before adjourning the hearing until De-cember 6, the court also said the culprits might bene� t if the trial proceedings were delayed for a long period.

During yesterday’s hearing, Baset Majum-der prayed to the court for its direction to the police to conduct a further investigation and to take prime accused Nur Hossain on re-mand for interrogation.

Nur Hossain, who had been hiding in In-dia following the murder, was brought back to Bangladesh recently.

The seven people were abducted from the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road on April 27 last year, and their bodies were found � oating in the Shitalakkhya river a few days later. l

News 3D

TWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

BNP protests Pakistan statement on 1971n Tribune Report

The BNP has expressed disagreement with Pa-kistan’s statement that denies its involvement in genocide and atrocities committed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

“The Pakistani forces carried out gen-ocide. They conducted atrocities in Bang-ladesh. It is not possible to hide the truth,” BNP’s acting spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon said yesterday replying to a query on the statement issued on Monday.

Pakistan on Monday denied its involve-ment in the war-time atrocities and sum-moned the acting Bangladesh high commis-sioner in Islamabad to convey its rejection of what it said “baseless and unfounded asser-tions” of Bangladesh against Pakistan.

It came as Bangladesh on November 23 summoned Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka Shuja Alam and formally protested a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement issued after the execution of war criminals Salaud-din Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mo-hammad Mujahid.

The BNP too criticises the war crimes tri-als terming it � awed and for lacking interna-tional standards.

The Pakistan government earlier ex-pressed concerns after the execution of war criminals linked to Jamaat-e-Islami and de-manded to halt the war crimes trials. Mean-while, the Pakistan chapter of Jamaat-e-Is-lami labelled the executed war criminals as “martyrs of Pakistan.”

The incumbent government launched the war crimes trials in 2010 to try the local col-laborators of the Pakistani occupation forces who committed genocide, killings, tortures, arson and loot during the war.

During a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters, the BNP leader yesterday said that the European Parliament and the United Nations had expressed deep concern over the deteriorating human rights condition in Bangladesh.

“We have seen in the newspapers that the government said in response to the EU’s statement over human rights violation said it was very disturbed,” Ripon said. l

Fakhrul releasedfrom jail on bailn UNB

Nearly one month into his arrest, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alam-gir was freed from jail on bail yesterday.

Fakhrul walked out of the part 2 of Kashimpur Central Jail around 7:45pm after the bail order reached the jail authorities, said jail sources.

BNP leaders and activists, including BNP chairperson’s media wing member Sayrul Kabir Khan, BNP-backed Kaliakoir municipal mayor Mujibur Rahman and Fakhrul’s wife Rahat Ara Begum, received the BNP leader at the jail gate.

On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court order granting three months’ bail to Mirza Fakhrul in three arson attack cases.

The government � led the petition with the SC on November 26 challenging the HC order granting three months’ bail to the BNP leader in the three cases.

After primary hearing of the petition, the chamber judge of the Appellate Division Jus-tice Hasan Foez Siddique sent it to the regu-lar bench of the division � xing November 30 for the next hearing. l

Cricketer Shahadat’s wife gets bailn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday granted ad-interim bail to Jesmin Jahan Nitto Shahadat, wife of national cricketer Kazi Shahadat Hossain, in a case � led against them for torturing their domestic help.

Metropolitan Session’s Judge Md Kamrul Hossain Molla passed the order after hearing the bail petition � led by Jesmin’s counsel Kazi Md Najib Ullah Hiru on October 27. After the hearing, the court granted her bail until Janu-ary 17 next year as she is a mother of an infant.

The defense counsel said: “Jesmin has to breastfeed her nine-month-old baby but she has been languishing in jail from October 5. So she should receive bail for the welfare and betterment of the infant.”

Earlier, police arrested Jesmin from Mali-bagh area in the capital on October 4. Later, a Dhaka court sent her to jail rejecting both her bail petition and remand petition.

On September 7, Khandaker Mojammel Hossain, who claimed to be a journalist, � led the case against the couple with Mirpur Model police station under Section 4 (2) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 for torturing their domestic help Happy. l

VC: Extremist outsiders launched attack on IUBATn Tribune Report

Extremist outsiders attacked students of International Uni-versity of Business, Agricul-ture and Technology (IUBAT) and vandalised the campus on Monday, claimed the universi-ty’s Vice-Chancellor Prof M Al-imullah Miyan yesterday.

Around 200 outsiders carry-ing sticks stormed into the uni-versity campus and attacked students, injuring at least 200 of them, the VC said at a press conference on the university campus.

They attacked security guards and teachers and van-dalised the VC’s o� ce, 12 mi-crobuses, 15 university buses and some cars on the campus; and all that happened in front of police, said a press release is-sued by the university’s public relations o� ce.

Police, however, said on Monday that the clash was be-tween two groups of students in the university over dress code.

No arrest was made in this regard as of yesterday.

IUBAT’s Public Relations O� cer Md Abu Hanif claimed that the incident was instigat-ed by a few students who had been expelled from the univer-sity for not following its code of conduct.

“We have speci� c rules and a certain dress code, under which students are not allowed to wear skull caps, panjabis and burqas. But these seven students never adhered to our dress codes and frequently broke rules; they also instigat-ed other students to not follow our dress code.

“Because of their constant disregard of rules, they were expelled from the university a year ago. We think it is them who are behind the attack,” Hanif told the Dhaka Tribune last night.

He further said these stu-dents had been sent to the uni-versity by some organisers of Bishwa Ijtema.

“Some people from the Ijte-ma authorities have been try-ing to persuade us into giving up our campus to them because it is near the Ijtema ground and they claim that they require the space to house their foreign guests. But we have always re-fused to do so.

“I think that is the reason why they sent in those seven students, to radicalise the stu-dents here and take over the campus eventually,” he added.

VC Alimullah also claimed that extremists had been trying to in� ltrate the university since it was established in 1991. l

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015News4DT

Five of a family injured in septic tank � ren Tribune Report

Five members of the same family were in-jured when � re broke out in a septic tank of a residential house in the capital’s Dakkh-inkhan area yesterday morning.

The victims were identi� ed as Rumana Akhtar, 30, her daughter Monika Akhtar, 8, Rumana’s brother Imran Hossain, 28, his wife Jannatul, 20, and their daughter Tasmia, 2.

Dakkhinkhan police station OC Lutfur Rah-man con� rmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune.

Rumana’s husband Mantu Miah said his family and his wife’s brother’s family lived together in a one-storey building in Dakkh-inkhan’s Fayedabad intersection area.

“I was not at home when it happened; I left for work at dawn. The explosion hap-pened around 5:30am and our home caught � re,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Seeing the � re, locals rushed to the house to rescue the people inside the house.

On information, two units of � re � ghters went to the scene, but locals doused the � re before the � re � ghters reached there, said OC Lutfur. The locals also took the � ve burn victims to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), said Mantu.

Of the victims, Rumana is in the worst condition, with 60% burn injuries, while Monika sustained 20%, Imran 10%, Tasmia 10% and Jannatul 8% burn injuries, said As-sistant Sub-Inspector Sentu Chandra Das at DMCH police outpost.

Asked as to what caused the explosion in the septic tank, police said nothing de� nite could be said yet, but a build-up of septic gas in the tank may have caused the explosion and � re.

Sources at the � re service echoed police when asked the same question.

“We cannot tell what exactly caused the explosion, but a build-up of sewer gas is a likely reason,” said, the duty o� cer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters. l

Tk800cr project okayed for potable water in rural areasn Tribune Report

The government has undertaken a mega project worth Tk800 crore to ensure safe drinking water for the rural people across the country.

The approval was given at the Execu-tive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting with Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the NEC confer-ence room in the city yesterday.

“Once the project is implemented in the rural areas, the coverage of arsenic-free safe rural water supply will be increased to 88% from the existing 74%,” said Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while brie� ng the journalists after the meeting in the capital.

Of the total project cost, over Tk2011 crore will come from the government exchequer while the rest of around Tk25 crore will come from the involved public agencies’ own fund.

Kamal said the government, however, wanted to raise the coverage of this safe drinking water to 100%.

The main project activities include-con-struction of rain water harvesting, setting up of some 7,000 non-deep tube wells, 12,000 Tara non-deep tube wells, some 200 pond excavation schemes and construction of some 300 community-based arsenic iron re-moval units.

The Department of Public Health and En-gineering (DPHE) under the Local Govern-ment Division will implement the project by December 2019 at all the rural areas across the country.

In the early 90s, arsenic was detected in the underground water and with the passage of time arsenic was found at 30% non-deep tube wells across the country, which led the reduction of countrywide safe drinking wa-ter coverage to 74%. As a result, supply of safe drinking water in the rural areas fell un-der threat.

Besides the above project, Ecnec also

approved six projects involving Tk2, 037 crore.

A project titled “Waste Management and Improvement of Public Services Project” got the Ecnec nod.

The project worth around Tk85 crore will be implemented by Dhaka South City Corpo-ration within December 2016.

The project aims at strengthening the lo-cal services of Dhaka South City Corporation through proper maintenance, management, and e� ective machineries, strengthening the e� ciency of the existing plant and machin-eries of Dhaka South City Corporation, en-hancing the e� ciency of waste management and providing qualitative services to the city dwellers.

Quoting the Prime Minister, Kamal said: “Prime Minister in the meeting has asked the LGRD Ministry to form a coordination com-mittee headed by LGRD Minister to e� ec-tively use the expensive and sophisticated machineries of both Dhaka South and North city corporations.’’

The meeting also approved the establish-ment of “Manikganj Medical College and 250-bed Hospital’’ at Manikganj Sadar with over Tk615 crore to be implemented by June 2019.

“The countrywide number of medical colleges is 101 including 71 private medical colleges and 30 public medical colleges. Be-sides, the number of nurses in the country is 25,000 against the demand of some 2,50,000 skilled nurses,” said Kamal.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to conduct a mapping before setting up medical colleges in the country, considering the availability of doctors and students.

The other projects approved in the meet-ing are-BSCIC Plastic Industrial Estate with Tk133 crore and Academic and Physical In-frastructures Development of Chittagong University (2nd revised) with over Tk297 crore. l

Tasmia, 2, and her parents Jannatul and Imran undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital after receiving burn injuries in a septic tank � re in the capital. The photo was taken yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Cox’s Bazar 28 25Dhaka 29 20 Chittagong 28 22 Rajshahi 31 19 Rangpur 28 18 Khulna 28 18 Barisal 29 20 Sylhet 29 15T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:10PM SUN RISES 6:25AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW31.2ºC 15.6ºCJessore SrimangalWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2

DRY WEATHER

Source: IslamicFinder.org

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

PRAYERTIMES

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 20155

DTPARIS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

Money mattersn Sohara Mehroze Shachi, from Paris

Finance has been one of the key issues in the build up to COP 21 – the largest inter-national climate change conference taking place in Paris. And the conference started on a positive note as on the � rst day, when 11 developed countries pledged $248 million in new money for adaptation support to the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), a climate fund hosted by the Global Environ-ment Facility (GEF).

“We have to make it possible for even the poorest countries ... to implement measures to � ght against the most visible and harmful e� ects of climate change,” said French Min-ister of Finance Michel Sapin at the opening of a side event titled Investing in Resilience – Responding to Adaptation Needs of the Most Vulnerable.

The LDCF which is the recipient of the $248m aims to address climate change ad-aptation needs of least developed countries such as Bangladesh, which are the hardest

hit by climate change. The fund focuses on reducing the vulner-

ability of sectors and resources that are cen-tral to human and national development, such as water, agriculture and infrastruc-ture. It also supports the national adapta-tion planning process to reduce vulnera-bility to the impacts of climate change and facilitate the integration of climate change adaptation into relevant policies, programs and activities.

From the LDCF’s inception in 2001 through June 2015, some $931.5m has been approved for such projects.

In the event Monday, developed coun-tries made the following additional contri-butions:l Germany will contribute approximate-

ly $53m.l The US will contribute $51.175m.l The UK will provide a further contribu-

tion of $45.1m.l France will provide a contribution of

$26.5m.

l Canada will contribute $22.4m over the next two years.

In 2016, Denmark will commit $22.1m to the LDCF (subject to parliamentary approv-al). With this pledge, the cumulative Danish contribution to the LDCF amounts to $53m.

In 2016, the Swedish government intends to provide a grant to the LDCF of $11.5m.

Ireland will continue to support the LDCF and will provide, subject to budget approv-al, at least $6.4m by 2020.

Switzerland will increase its annual contri-bution to the LDCF by 75% and will provide in total $6m to the LDCF from 2015 until 2018.

Italy will provide to the LDCF, through its Ministry for the Environment, $2m by the end of 2015. Italy is strongly committed to scale up its support to the fund in the fol-lowing years, including in 2016, subject to budget availability and approval

Finland has supported the LDCF since 2003, the cumulative contribution amounts to about $41m. This includes the contribu-tion given this year $1.8m. l

n Meer Saiful Islam, from Paris

Emissions from coal power plants will be four times higher than the level consistent with a 2 degrees Celsius pathway if all coal plants in the pipeline were to be built by 2030, according to a new analysis released at the Paris climate conference today.

Even with no new constructions, in 2030, emissions from coal-� red power generation would still be more than 150% higher than the 2°C pathway, according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT).

The CAT calculated the e� ect on glob-al emissions from coal-� red power, com-paring the compatibility of projected coal power production with the 2°C and 1.5°C pathways, as well as current policy scenario pathways.

There are 2,440 planned coal plants around the world, totaling 1,428GW, which would emit 16-18% of the total allowed emis-sions in 2030, if all were operational by then.

Bangladesh plans to construct coal-� red power plants having a capacity of 20,000MW by 2030.

Including existing capacity with a service lifetime beyond 2030, total emissions from coal-� red power generation could reach 12 GtCO2 (gigatonnes of carbon dioxide) in 2030.

Despite the need to phase out emissions from coal-� red power generation, many governments – including the EU28 – are still planning to construct signi� cant amounts of coal power capacity.

In many emerging economies, coal ca-pacity is constructed to meet rapidly in-creasing electricity demand, while in the EU28, new coal plants are mainly to replace existing capacity.

Another report published yesterday dur-ing the COP21 said the world is beyond peak coal consumption and that its appetite for thermal coal is waning.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report titled “Eight Signs That Now is the Time to Invest

in the Global Energy Market Transforma-tion” describes opportunities in key trends driving market changes across the global energy economy.

“This trend has gathered remarkable momentum in 2015, as seen in sharp con-sumption declines in key coal markets,” said Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA’s director of � nance.

“Much of this phenomenon is being driv-en by technological innovation and rapidly falling costs across the renewable and ener-gy-e� ciency sectors,” he said. l

Coal power incompatible with 2°C target

8 signs now is time to invest in global energy market transformation l Coal’s share of electricity

generation in key countries is declining

l Demand for seaborne thermal coal is declining, and prices have collapsed

l The price of renewable energy is declining

l Investment capital is moving rapidly from coal into renewables

l The coal-fired sector has been overbuilt

l Coal companies are in deep financial distress

l Structural decline in coal demand is an increasingly consensus call

l Global banks are shifting their focus to renewables

Source: Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

119 15

13.6

10.810.17

6

5.8

5.6

5.5

4.7

4.5

3.9

3.93.3

3.2 32.4

2.21.7

1.4

1.1

1.1

1

1

1

0.8

0.8

0.8

0.8

0.8

0.6

0.40.2

0.2

The top 35 polluters in terms of carbon dioxide and methane* emissions between 1988 -2013Coal: a major contributor to pollution in the world

Sources: Carbon Atlas 2015. Richard Heede, Climate Accountability Institute

ChinaIn billions of tonnes

CO2 equivalent

UkraineRWE Germany

Sasol South Africa

CzechoslovakiaKazakhstan

Chechnya

North Korea

Singareni Collieries India

British Coal Britain

SovietUnion

Arch CoalUSA

BHP BillitonBritain

Rio TintoBritain

Consol Energy USAUSA

RAG Germany

Murray Coal USA

North American CoalUSA

Westmoreland MiningUSA

UK Coal Britain

Luminant USA

ExxonMobil USA

Chevron USA

Cyprus Amax USA

Anadarko USAOccidental USA

BP BritainPrivate entity (national)Private entity (multinational)State-owned producerState economy

Kiewit Mining USA

Glencore Xtrata Switzerland

AngloAmerican Britain

Alpha Natural Resources. USA

Russia

Coal IndiaIndia

Poland

Peabody CoalUSA

*Methane emissionsconverted to C02 equivalent

Negotiation starts on a positive noten Meer Saiful Islam, from Paris

The countries have formally entered the preliminary negotiation segment of COP21 in Paris yesterday, aimed at reducing gaps among parties and set a platform for reach-ing a much-expected climate agreement.

The negotiation is expected to yield a draft of the agreement on Friday, said an of-� cial of the Bangladesh delegation. “The ne-gotiation started on a positive note,” he said.

It will enter the � nal segment next week when ministers will negotiate reducing the remaining di� erences among the parties.

“The organisers are expecting to con-clude the negotiation one day ahead of the conference,” said climate expert Saleemul Huq, who is well connected with the par-ties and the negotiators.

He said the agreement would be ready on the 10th of this month and declared on the last day.

Limiting temperature rise to 1.5 de-grees Celsius is one of the main issues the parties would suggest the leaders for the agreement. At the Leaders Event on Mon-day, many heads of state and government have argued for limiting temperature to 1.5 instead of 2 degrees as agreed earlier.

Another issue would be how often the countries would review the progress of implementation of the commitments as well as the proposed agreement. Earlier it was agreed that the progress would be reviewed every 10 years and now, many countries want it done every � ve years. l

Promotion hopes for block post public servantsn Asif Showkat Kallol

The government is likely to include a process in the upcoming eight pay structure under which employees working in block posts will automatically graduate to the next pay grade.

Public servants who work in block posts are not entitled to promotions. As a result, until now they had to look up to the selection grade and time scale provisions, which have been omitted from the new pay structure.

Examples of block posts include primary school teacher, high school teacher, hospital nurse, pharmacist and radiologist, driver, prison guard, etc.

In the initial proposal for the upcoming new pay scale for public servants, there is a provision for a uniform 5% annual compounding increment for all.

But since these block posts do not allow

for promotions, there was no way that those who work in these posts could have got a signi� cant pay hike by going on to the next pay grade.

If the new provision is incorporated in the pay scale, the block post employees will have a way of getting a good hike without getting promotions.

After a second round of review by the � nance minister, the o� cial order for the pay scale was sent to the Law Ministry last week.

However, Finance Minister AMA Muhith reportedly raised this matter during the weekly cabinet meeting on Monday.

Sources said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was chairing the meeting, gave her consent and the � nance minister had sent the proposal to the implementation wing of his ministry.

According to sources in the Law Ministry, they are trying to give vetting to the pay structure proposal by tomorrow and issue a gazette noti� cation by next week.

The eighth pay scale for public servants got cabinet consent on September 6. It will be made retrospectively e� ective from July 1, 2015 for 2.1 million civil servants. l

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015News6DT

visit our website @

www.dhakatribune.com

The eighth pay scale for public servants got cabinet consent on September 6

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015News 7

DT

Fertiliser dealers enforce strike for inde� nite period n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Fertiliser dealers yesterday enforced a countrywide strike for an inde� nite period protesting the on-going mobile court drive to ensure use of jute sack instead of polythene.

The dealers are now using polypropylene bags instead of jute sack to distribute fertiliser across the country.

The dealers of Chittagong have suspended unloading all types of fertilisers from yesterday morning from two factories of Di-ammonium Phosphate Fertiliser Company Ltd, Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd, Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company and Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation.

Md Nasir Uddin, president of Chittagong chapter, Bangladesh Fertilizer Association told the Dhaka Tribune that they would en-force the strike until the issue was resolved.

“The fertilisers are basic substances and they cannot be car-ried in jute sacks. The jute sacks will get damaged from 10-15 days if fertilisers are carried in jute sacks,” added the leader of the fertliser dealers.

It may be mentioned that the Ministry of Textile and Jute has started a drive from Monday to ensure implementation of the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act, 2010. As per the act, use of jute sacks is mandatory in packaging six essential products-paddy, rice, wheat, maize, fertiliser and sugar. Violators face a maxi-mum of one year in jail or a � ne of Tk50,000 or both for using non-degradable synthetics to package commodities.

The Mandatory Jute Packaging Act was enacted in October 2010 and the rules under the law were framed in June 2013 to facilitate the implementation of the law with a view to boosting domestic use of jute bags instead of synthetic. Consumption of locally produced and environment-friendly jute would be in-creased due to the implementation of the act. l

Full implementation of CHT treaty demanded n Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari

Chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Dr Mi-zanur Rahman said government had failed to ensure rights of hill people as Chittagong Hill Tract accord had not been implement-ed even after 18 years.

He also urged the government to implement the CHT accord in its tenure. Terming CHT land dispute as major problem he also called upon the government to amend CHT land dispute regula-tion act and resolve land disputed.

He made the appeal while addressing a meeting held at the conference hall of Khagrachhari yesterday morning.

Deputy Commissioner of Khagrachhari Muhammad Wahiduz-zaman was present at the meeting.

Earlier, NHRC Chairman inaugurated day long workshop for local journalists in the same venue. l

BR to launch Service Week n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Railway (East Zone) is going to observe Service Week from December 4.

Jobeda Akhter, Deputy Director of Railway, said they had tak-en some steps including to check ticket scalping so that the pas-sengers could get it without hassle.

“We are providing wheelchairs and stairs to the physically challenged and the sick people,” said Jobeda.

The measures taken the BR also include keeping the approach roads of the stations, overbridge and platform, passenger lounge, waiting room, retiring room and toilets clean and updating fare chart and timetable. l

Mongla municipality poll postponed for six months n Our Correspondent, Bagerhat

Election Commission (EC) has postponed elections scheduled for next six months in Mongla port municipality due to a petition in High Court (HC).

The election commission said yesterday the up coming elec-tion had been postponed as the High Court had ruled out a peti-tion, said Election Commissioner Ruhul Amin.

On September 23, Mayor of Mongla Jul� kar Ali asked residents of Baon and Batarbad area to pay tax within December 30, after they were listed as voters, said Ruhul Amin.

Later, Abul Kalam, including three other residents of the town, � led a write petition challenging the order of the mayor.

Meanwhile, a total of 141 candidates collected nomination pa-per forms from district returning o� cer’s o� ce.

Assistant Returning O� cer Dilip Kumar Hawladar said of the 114 aspirant candidates include incumbent mayor of Bagerhat municipality Khan Habibur Rahman who collected nomination paper for Awami League ticket while Mina Hasibul Hasan Shipon collected nomination as an independent candidate.

At Moralganj upazila, four mayoral candidates collected nom-ination papers.

Of them, Professor Shahabuddin Talukdar from Awami League, Abdul Majid Jabar from BNP, Somnath Dey from Jatiya Party and Monirul Haque Talukdar as independent candidate. l

News8DTWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

AL, BNP getting ready for the racen Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon

The root-level activ-ists of both the rul-ing Awami League (AL) and BNP under Thakurgaon Munic-ipality have become active as a partisan polls, � rst of its kind in the country, ap-pears soon.

About 234 municipalities across the coun-try would see the elections on December 30 the � nal date set by the Election Commis-sion.

The activists with a great enthusiasm are preparing themselves to work for their par-ty-backed candidates.

Mayoral aspirants are lobbying to secure

ticket from their respective parties. In line with the public-gathering in secret, they have increased communication with local lawmakers and senior party leaders. They be-lieve that party-backing would increase the chance of their wining by 50% while the gap could be � lled up by their personal image.

Particularly the local AL has become more active to keep their in� uence unchallenged. A total of � ve mayoral aspirants are trying heart and soul to get AL ticket.

On the contrary, struggling BNP activists are trying to make a comeback win through participating in the municipal polls. It was widely discussed that BNP acting gener-al secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s younger brother Mirza Foysal Amin could get party backing for the polls. But Thakurgaon BNP Vice-President Golam Sarwar Chowd-hury Ranju surprisingly remained active in

hidden canvass. Many local leaders apprehended that the

partisan election would create a platform for nomination business as well.

Possible mayoral candidates are immedi-ate-past mayor and former organising sec-retary of district unit AL SMA Moin, district AL Vice-President Advocate Makbul Hossain Babu, Joint General Secretary Golam Faruk Rubel, district Jubo Leage General Secretary Abdul Mazid Apple; BNP’s Foysal Amin and Ranju; JaPa’s district unit General Secretary Rezaur Razi Swapan Chowdhury while the independent candidates are Solaiman Ali Sarkar, Tahmina Akter Mollah.

A municipality dweller named Tuku Miah from Hazipara said the partisan polls compelled them to consider all things anew while they were not accustomed to the practice while remained limited in only

national election. Another inhabitant Bidhu Babo from Kali-

bari said protection of the local minority could play a key factor for the candidates to win the polls.

Sadar upazila Chairman and also district unit BNP General Secretary Toimur Rahman said: “Our activists are very much eager to participate in the race as this is a partisan election. We want to make BNP’s root-lev-el politics vibrant by using the eagerness. Through vying the polls BNP will ensure toughest competition for the ruling party men.”

Thakurgaon unit AL General Secretary Mohammad Sadek Kuraisi said: “There will have no ballot rigging due to partisan elec-tions. The partisan election will become ac-tive our root-level activists and our party will gain more ground.” l

MUNICIPALITYPOLLS 2015

Missing aspirant UP chairman found dead n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

An UP chairman candidate of Rangpur district, who went missing on Saturday from his village home in Gaibandha, found dead in a paddy � eld hanging from a tree yesterday.

The victim was Rabiul islam,38, son of Abul Kashem of Farid-pur union council under Sadullapur upazila in Gaibandha.

Sources said Rabiul had been living at his grandmother’s house in Ramnathpur union under Pirganj upazila of Rangpur. Recently his men have pasted poster in the union as he was a chairman candidate for up coming UP polls.

Rina Begum, wife of the victim, said her husband went out at night from home and had not returned. His mobile phone was also switched o� .

Sub-Inspector Rezaul Karim of Dhaperhat police station said locals found the body in the morning and informed police.

The police recovered the body and sent it to Gaibandha Sadar Hospital morgue. Farhad Imrul Kayes, o� cer-in-charge of Sadul-lapur police station, said miscreants might have killed him any-where and later dumped the body in the area. l

Feature 9D

T

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

The wonderlandn Syeda Shagufe Hossain and Tahmina

Akter

To someone who has never been here before, I suppose it can feel a little like being Alice in Wonderland. The winding staircase, with very little sunlight

seeping in through narrow windows, a faint mossy odour, and slippery steps, resembled the rabbit hole that Alice went down. And much like Alice, we didn’t quite know what would be at the end of the tunnel. We were conducting � eldwork for a study that was to be exploratory, with no hypothesis, inductive in its approach, where we wanted to surrender the story to those who played parts in it. Except unlike Alice, we were going up the tunnel, instead of down, as was our research, taking a bottom-up approach.

It turned out that journey through the tunnel became more like a journey on a train with two stops. The � rst stop we made was at the teachers’ lounge. Like all exciting journeys we made a wrong turn and entered the male teacher’s lounge � rst. Here, where the walls of culture that divided men and women were higher than the Great Wall of China, for two young women to walk into the male teacher’s lounge was an almost dangerous mistake to make. This was a madrasah.

This particular institution was established in 1961, ten years before the birth of the nation. It is one of the 9,300 Aliya madrasahs in Bangladesh that follow the curriculum of the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board (BMEB), among which only 6% are in Dhaka. What is interesting about this

particular one is that it started out as an all girls madrasah to house orphan girls who had nowhere to go. Much of its work started after the Liberation War in 1971, with many children left homeless, with no access to bare necessities of food, clothing and shelter. Some of the teachers we spoke to had been serving at the madrasah since it’s very inception. To them, concepts such as creativity were far from familiar. So their introduction to creative curriculum for Bangla, Social Science and Islamic History for grade nine (Alim level) was fairly recent, and fairly ba� ing.

When asked about their thoughts on the creative curriculum introduced by the government, they shared confusion. General thoughts were admission of the fact that they had little understanding of what it meant for curriculum to be creative. The books had been updated. The patterns of questions changed. But how were they to teach students to think creatively? And how were they to grade their students? How does one measure creativity? Can creativity be measured? A Harvard business review article published in March 2013 claims that we have had the technology to measure creativity since the latter half of the last century when the � rst framework for creative thinking was established by psychologists Joy Paul Guildford and E Paul Torrance. Unfortunately, few people, teachers or otherwise know of the measurement tools at their disposal, let alone use them. The creative curriculum has been introduced by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board as well as the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board. And while this was a

huge step forward, the step has not been followed up with training the teachers on what it means to have a creative curriculum or to be creative in a classroom. While the Bangladesh Madrasah Teachers’ Training Institute o� ered subject based training for Dakhil, Alim and Kamil level teachers, the courses o� ered include only Communicative Arabic and Biology. As a result, unfortunately, much of the bene� t of this beautiful endeavour has been lost.

But there is more to creativity than curriculum or teachers. In fact, Torrance listed eight factors that a� ect the development and/or expression of creative thinking; education level, di� erential treatment of boys and girls, premature attempts to eliminate fantasy, restrictions on manipulation and curiosity, conditions resulting in fear and timidity in both authority and peer relations, misplaced emphasis on certain verbal skills, especially on mechanics, overemphasis on prevention and on “success,” lack of resources for working out ideas. While teachers have much to do with many of the above listed factors, some of it is a result of the institutional culture and environment. In fact, according to theorist, Eleni Mellou, young children’s creativity in educational institutions is in� uenced by creative environment, creative programmes alongside creative teachers and ways of teaching.

In order to explore the � rst two factors in nurturing creativity suggested by Mellou, we made the second stop in our journey, in one of the classrooms in the residential madrasah, which also served as the dining room and the bedroom for the girls residing

there. It was after school so only about twenty girls huddled together in corners of the room, sitting with their knees folded, some of them shrinking themselves. We asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. One of them wanted to be an engineer. We asked them what they understood of the creative curriculum, if they understood creativity, if they were comfortable with it. Interestingly, the girls reported � nding the new pattern of questions easier to answer. However, they said they still got better marks if they produced memorised answers.

We spent some more time with the girls and as the day passed and they opened up some more, they began to share about their hobbies. Some of them kept journals, some sang, some danced, some painted, and some told jokes. Each child was di� erent, creative in her own way, despite the repressive environment fostering fear and timidity, despite the lack of resources for ideation, despite emphasis on rote learning and memorisation and despite the little scope to fantasise. These children were warriors who fought to let their creativity survive, against all odds.

There wasn’t much opportunity to create in these classrooms. Their daily diet of rice and daal that was as devoid of creativity as were their teachers. There were no storybooks they could read, no access to television, or the internet where they could learn about the world. Yet, they created.

As we walked out through the doors, we realised that the end of the tunnel, a conclusion to the research we were conducting on creativity of madrasah students, had yet to be seen. But the two stops we had made had surprised us. There was much left to be explored but this much was certain. If these children were able to create despite all of their constraints, imagine what their creativity would be if they were placed in environments surrounded by teachers who understood and applauded creativity. Imagine if they were given physically and metaphysically open spaces where they could be left to discover. Who knows what they could create? l

The writers are students of Masters in Development Studies at BRAC University.

There wasn’t much opportunity to create in these classrooms. Their daily diet of rice and daal that was as devoid of creativity as were their teachers. There were no storybooks they could read, no access to television, or the Internet where they could learn about the world. Yet, they created

Photo: Bigstock

Exploring creative thinking in Madrasahs

Feature10DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

A review of Yours Etc

Embrace the cycleBusiness models initiated for sexual and menstrual health access for garment workers

n Saad Z Hossain

Ikhtisad Ahmed is primarily known as a poet, and he writes his short stories like one, wrapping in a lyrical haze, pulling us into dreamlike worlds where peculiar things are happening.

These are surreal works, but the running theme is the wielding of power in pocket dystopias, the fist of oppression, the ridiculous demands of the authority on people, the erosion of tolerance and good sense. The tales flit from Bangladesh to the UK, through a number of nameless places and cities, everything vaguely familiar, particularly apt for us wherever we live, under the ever tightening noose of authoritarianism. The thing is, we can always recognise an erosion of personal freedom, whatever the circumstance, we can always sympathise as the characters are forced to choose between terrible options.

In the title story, Yours Etc, a journalist in a neutered paper investigates a tailor, and finds the curious case of street children wearing forbidden silk. He discovers this

man to be the tailor to the king, freely giving away the royal fabric, eventually found to be dead, a clear case of “self murder.” This story sets the tone for the collection: funny, strange, and oppressive at the same time.

The First Date, is also a likeable story, of an immigrant getting set up on a date in England, pulled again through the lens of state surveillance and overwhelming paranoia, where the world is broken into terrorists and informants.

Giving the Trade Name is another great story, of a man facing imminent homelessness, and � nding an ingenious solution.

The stories are set in England because of the air of oppression Ikhti conveys, which carries a conversation throughout the collection about what it means to be an immigrant now, when colour, religion, poverty are all against you to such a heightened degree. This is not an explicit conversation, but it meanders through the stories, unspoken, and makes you wonder where can we really belong, when the whole world is polarised across so many axes?

n Syeda Samira Sadeque

The SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, in collaboration with local service providers and private organisations, has initiated multiple business models through which it will help garment factory owners provide sexual and menstrual health services to their workers.

About 95% of female garment workers live in grave health conditions regarding their menstrual health, which eventually cost the Bangladeshi economy $22.5m per year.

Often, female workers contract illnesses due to the lack of hygienic facilities available during their menstrual cycle, and have to miss work, which in turn a� ects the work in the industry since majority of the workers are women.

These revelations of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) of garment workers were found in a study conducted in 2013 by Kaizen CRS, a local market research � rm, and were discussed extensively during a roundtable held on Monday, jointly initiated by The Daily Star and SNV Bangladesh at The Daily Star Centre.

“The Dutch Government is seeking to help Bangladesh reach the sustainable development goals,” Ella de Voogd, � rst secretary, SRHR, Education, and Gender, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said during the discussion.

“I believe that the business models under Working with Women Project can truly bring

remarkable and sustainable changes” she said.

Participants at the roundtable discussed the importance and rights of garment

workers to have these accesses to such facilities, especially given the taboo that exists around menstrual and sexual health of women in the society.

“Garment workers themselves aren’t aware of the need for these health practices and need to be made aware in the � rst place,” Tahmina Rahman, general secretary, Bangladesh Apparels Workers Federation, said during the discussion.

With the funding support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, SNV has started the Inclusive Business (IB) Models, with some NGO service providers and some members from the private sector, the model will ensure SRHR of garment workers.

The IB models would ensure rights to quality, range and accessibility of SRHR services for improving condition of the women factory workers and contribute to overall making the industry friendly, healthy and accessible for such health purposes for women.

Various members from the government, NGOs, the garments industry, the health sector, and the media were present during the talk.

Tahmina, along with Dr Nazneen Akhter, faculty, MPH, North South University, and Dr Julia Ahmed, Freelance Consultant on SRHR were active participants in the discussion.

Among others, Mr Nur Hossain Talukdar director general of DGFP, Mr Syed Ahmed, inspector general (additional secretary) of Department for Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) were also present at the event. l

Wrapped in a lyrical haze

Now, as we face a collision of forces inimical to each other, this is a timely collection, a reminder that the world is rapidly disintegrating into dichotomies: poor or rich, rational or religious, coloured or white, but behind it all, it is the one true partition, privileged, or not

The same conversation is carried on in the stories set (at least implicitly) in Bangladesh, where power structures are even more naked and lawless, the retributions even more hideous, and we are forced to conclude that there is no place safe for those who cannot conform.

Now, as we face a collision of forces inimical to each other, this is a timely collection, a reminder that the world is rapidly disintegrating into dichotomies: poor or rich, rational or religious, coloured or white, but behind it all, it is the one true partition, privileged, or not. l

About 95% of female garment workers live in grave health conditions regarding their menstrual health, which eventually cost the Bangladeshi economy $22.5m per year

Photo: Bigstock

INSIDE

The COP21 talks which began on Monday are the most important multilateral opportunity for the world to unite in responding to climate change.

In opening the fortnight-long conference, the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon has rightly hailed COP21 as a political moment that “may not come

again.”His remarks point to the gravity of the climate crisis facing the world. For Bangladesh, like other low-lying nations, climate change and the sea level rises it

threatens, is the most important challenge we face for our future.Unless � rm measures are agreed on soon, even the watered down Copenhagen target

of taming greenhouse emissions so global average temperatures rise no more than 2 degrees Celsius, may become impossible to implement and attain.

Without a worldwide approach to taxing carbon emissions so large emitting companies and countries are incentivised to make the changes and investments needed, the best available scenarios will look increasingly grim for rich and poor countries alike.

We believe it is very important for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend this conference in order to bolster the important arguments being put forward by Bangladesh’s o� cial delegation and civil society attendees.

Although it is perfectly understandable why following the terrorist attacks in Paris, she canceled her plan to attend the Leaders Summit, there is still time for her to go in person to COP21 to make her presence felt.

Sheikh Hasina has gained invaluable attention for the global importance of � ghting climate change at previous summits, by articulating the compelling case for richer, more industrialised countries to reduce carbon emissions, and to support states like Bangladesh in adapting to climate change.

Through its strong in� uence in the group of 43 most climate vulnerable nations calling for tougher targets, and by pressing moral arguments for grants, not loans, Bangladesh plays a vital role in presenting the case for the countries which need action the most.

We believe it is vital that the prime minister should make arrangements to attend to provide an important � llip to the arguments being put forward by climate vulnerable nations.

As many sessions still remain over the next 10 days to discuss important details of � nance and investment, we believe her presence will be much called for and widely appreciated.

Sheikh Hasina’s attendance will provide an important � llip to the arguments being put forward by climate vulnerable nations

Sorry, not sorry

Wading through the dirty capitalPeople don’t think twice before disposing their garbage. They throw their kitchen waste, dirty dish-water frothy with soap and grime, right from the verandah adjoining the kitchen -- scant respect about where the missiles are headed

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com

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

com www.dhakatribune.com

Join our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

PAGE 13

PAGE 12

PAGE 14

Expectations from ParisUnless humanitarian considerations, transparency, and accountability of the highest carbon emitting countries are ensured in the proposed Paris Accord, the actual loss due to climate change may be far worse than anticipated

An apology is not enough, especially when interest accumulates as a result of its conspicuous absence. It is a good starting point, but it is the beginning of a yellow brick road no proud oppressor has any intention of ever constructing

PM should go to Paris to present Bangladesh’s case at COP21

11D

TEditorialWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

REUTERS

n Ikhtisad Ahmed

“Sorry” is the hardest word to say. This di� culty is the chief antagonist in human development, for the

individual and the race. Denial is easier. It gives the perception of treading that half-true � ne line of obfuscation between lying by omission and lying intentionally.

Apologies require taking responsibility, being honest with oneself as well as the wider world, and impliedly or expressly promising to rectify past mistakes and remedy oneself. The mature act of apologies cleanse, but they also demand a measure of vulnerability, which people too easily mistake for weakness.

Climate change-deniers embrace ignorance and invite the world to do so too. It has an allure that few can refuse.

It is easy, in light of the events at and surrounding the Conference of the Parties 21, to be lulled into believing that every man and his dog has denounced the deniers, establishing climate change as the de� ning cause of these times.

Real change is unlikely to happen because, contrary to this misperception, the vast majority of the world neither knows enough nor cares enough about the subject.

If that was not the case, steps to tackle and eradicate the e� ects of global warming and its fur-shedding friends would already have been underway. Denial trumps holding oneself accountable, apologising sincerely, and moving forward shaped by said apology.

Native Americans, recently asked by the 21st century voice of the Republican Party to return to Nativia -- read: “go back to the backwaters you came from” -- are still awaiting an unreserved apology for the crimes committed against them to build the land of the free. The fallout from the Reformation never saw the word “sorry” uttered, which caused frictions as recently as the 1990s in Britain and Ireland.

Slavery never prompted any apology. Muslims did not receive one either for the Christian virtue that expelled them from Europe, nor did they issue one for their own sectarianism and the violence it has caused.

The greatest crime of them all, the one that makes “sorry” seem too insigni� cant to stand a chance of being remotely su� cient, thereby allowing the very same tendencies to continue to dictate world politics, is imperialism. It has never been, will never be, apologised for.

Bangladesh wants an apology from Pakistan. The list for seeking this justi� able apology is long. Some of the highlights: 1971 -- a number that sums it up neatly, and that speaks more than any combination of words ever can; before that, 1952 -- the Language Movement forced the government to revoke its thoughtless policy two years later, but the oppressive measures adopted up to that point and beyond were justi� ed instead of being atoned; Pakistan’s insistence on denying the Liberation War, everything that caused it -- even a stubborn dunce can see Pakistan’s culpability, nationalism-tinted

glasses be damned -- and everything that has happened since; war crimes -- where there is war, there is crime, and any piece of paper saying otherwise does so under duress, but does not change cold, hard facts; Pakistan’s overt and subversive attempts to interfere with and manipulate the sovereign a� airs of Bangladesh -- a charge that can be laid at the doors of other regional and global imperial powers as well; Pakistan’s unwillingness to foster friendly relations with Bangladesh, which render every word spoken to that e� ect -- refuted by the evidence of actions and reactions -- an unconscionable lie.

Bangladesh wants an apology, and it deserves a long, heartfelt one, complete with closure and reparations. It is a sad indictment of the Bangladeshi people that not enough demand it. Indi� erence may come from believing it will never happen, thinking that asking for one is an exercise in futility.

It is a miracle that such an attitude was not prevalent in 1952 and in 1971, since if apathy had been the order of the day, India would still be surrounding East Pakistan, and East Pakistan could have descended into another Kashmir.

For its part in the pantomime, Pakistan does not want to apologise. Politically, it has never made any sense for it to repent. It is the same school of thought that led the once-prince of liberalism, Imran Khan, astray.

The belief in Bangladesh is that demanding an apology of this immoveable crumbling country is a politically bene� cial act, although parties other than Awami League have rarely relied on this gambit.

While these political games are enacted, the � imsy social fabric of both are torn apart and patched together to display the partisan lines and make a case for lies becoming truths. Pakistan and Bangladesh have never made their peace with the deplorable chapter of East Pakistan, and leaders in both

countries through the decades have looked to make personal and political gains from it rather than having the integrity to resolve the issue.

However � awed the attempt is on part of the current Bangladesh government -- and they should be held accountable for the � aws -- it is an attempt nonetheless.

That Pakistan still does not see sense, and that certain Bangladeshi leaders and citizens echo Pakistan’s nonsense, is indicative of a greater malaise.

An apology is not enough, especially when interest accumulates as a result of its conspicuous absence.

It is a good starting point, but it is the beginning of a yellow brick road no proud oppressor has any intention of ever con-structing. What is paved from that one word makes the one uttering it re-evaluate one’s worldview, philosophy, and life.

That is not something the audacious arrogance of once, reigning, and would-be oppressors can ever allow, which is precisely why apologies should relentlessly be sought from them. l

Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and an erstwhile lawyer. He can be contacted on Twitter via @Ikhtisad.

Sorry, not sorry

An apology is not enough, especially when interest accumulates as a result of its conspicuous absence. It is a good starting point, but it is the beginning of a yellow brick road no proud oppressor has any intention of ever constructing

An apology from Pakistan might go a long way towards better relations REUTERS

It isn’t always easy to apologise

Opinion12DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

Opinion 13D

T

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

n SM Shahrukh

The � y has been roaming all around my tiny room since early in the morning. It goes round and round, all over, settles on a surface for a

brief stint and then � ies o� again -- resilient, persistent, relentless. From whence does it get so much verve? A bottomless tank of evil energy. It’s such a tiny creature after all, defying logic.

Like an unmanned military drone, it circles my small breakfast table, as if contemplating a bombing mission.

My breakfast plate has a paratha and some bhaji, very simple, not the alleged “terrorists” of a frontier town.

But it moves perniciously about that plate, checking for elements contrary, in case, to what its master may approve of.

Sorties continue, it inspects greedily the contents of the plate, wants to put venom in the mix, the venom of the “overlord.” I need an old newspaper.

As I look for an old newspaper, my mind drifts to thinking about the � y. In which dump was this malevolent creature born? There is plenty of garbage strewn all around the place where I live; the whole city is a gigantic garbage dump.

People don’t think twice before disposing their garbage.

They throw their kitchen waste, dirty dish-water frothy with soap and grime, right from the verandah adjoining the kitchen -- scant respect about where the missiles are headed or on whose head the cucumber peel would land or whose clean o� ce-going attire would the dirty water sully. Not their problem, apparently!

This is already a city of bricks, sand, stone, and concrete; greens are mostly only in its people’s memories. Construction of more

concrete blocks go on everyday -- burgeoning population, people getting wealthier, the middle class wants its own “trees” in the jungle.

And walking along these construction sites, one would see piles after piles of various construction material just by the roadside.

Sidewalks made for pedestrians have been appropriated, they are storage spaces now. Even the rubbish from such sites are piled in mile-high heaps.

And on these garbage heaps are dumped banana peels, the stinky skin of a jackfruit,

empty cans of soft drinks, broken bottles, and the edges of the glass bottles staring menacingly at the passers-by. Plastic wrappers of various colours adorn the mountains of trash, thrown at the whim of the users. And the mountains grow every day.

Nobody wants to clean up, no one bothers to take the trash away, not with any haste at least.

Drains over� ow onto the streets, a grimy yellow-green-black liquid spreads on the streets, remnants of that toxic liquid people take home stuck to their trouser legs or the falling lengths of the saris.

A hellish atmosphere of putrefaction. Was the � y born in such rotting refuse of the city?

In today’s world of online media, it is often di� cult to � nd an old newspaper. Oh, there is one! I fold it and make it like a policeman’s baton, ready to pounce. But where has that blasted � y gone?

I go around the room, checking the nooks and crannies, looking for the � y, and my mind ventures into speculations. Maybe it has � own away from my room and is now resting on the wall of a government o� ce. A � y on the wall -- the irony is not lost on me. Maybe it is looking at the clerk and checking out the thickness of the envelope going into his secret drawer.

A few hours later, when the clerk, after � nishing his ablutions and subsequent mid-day prayers, sits with his ti� n carrier and arranges his lunch of rice-daal-bhaji-meat or � sh on the table and gets ready for a sumptuous meal, maybe the � y will come down from the wall and settle on his food.

Give it a further dose of its toxicity! And that added venom will give him toxic dreams full of colours, blackish red, like congealed blood.

Maybe the � y will then go on venturing

into new places, maybe the den of criminals where they think of looting, pillaging, snatching, raping, and having a drink before wreaking havoc.

The � y circles the rim of their glasses with colourful liquids, making sure they are in tune with the hell that they would create.

It is easier to snatch away the last plot of land from the weak than paying for it! This seems to be the zeitgeist of our times.

In my mind’s eye, I see the � y trying to en-ter the nostrils of a streetwalker as she tries to sleep in the daylight hours, circling around the ears of an addict in half sleep, a morose

demeanour, buzzing into him the news of his impending death, disturbing the sleep of a snatcher trying to snooze, stopping his con-science from talking any sense into him.

I see the � y resting on the table where a man who had stolen a mountain of money from the bank settles for a lavish meal, goading him on for bigger loots.

I come back from my daydreams and � nd the creature circling the rim of my plate … crash! I bring down my baton and I miss the � y but not the plate.

The plate, now more than one piece of ceramic, lies on the � oor; the glass after trying to settle on the table, wobbles a bit before crashing into the bhaji mixed with broken pieces of the plate, creating a dirty concoction of “vegetable soup.” I see the � y swimming in that soup.

I sit down on a chair, resigned. The rest of the day doesn’t bode well, the rest of life, well, nobody knows. l

SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

Wading through the dirty capital

People don’t think twice before disposing their garbage. They throw their kitchen waste, dirty dish-water frothy with soap and grime, right from the verandah adjoining the kitchen -- scant respect about where the missiles are headed

There are too many � ies in the city, both the literal and metaphorical kind

Our capital city is dirty, and might remain so forever SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Long Form14DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

n M Zakir Hossain Khan

The signi� cance of transparency and integrity in climate � nance lie in a few factors that need to be prioritised and addressed at COP21.

Amalgamation of climate funds with official development assistanceAlthough Japan committed to provide $15bn in the First Start Fund for 2010-12, in reality it has provided only $3.8 billion in terms of “new” or “additional” of ODA (the climate “� scal cli� ,” Oxfam, November 25, 2012).

Compensation-based climate finance questionedIndustrialised countries committed to provide $60bn (0.1% of the Gross National Income) by 2016 for climate � nance at a meeting in Paris on September 6 and 7. However, it is not clear whether the proposed fund will be grant as compensation or a loan.

It is a matter of grave concern that in seeing the practice of recognising loans as a source of funding from the Green Climate Fund-a� ected (GCF) countries, allowing and including international � nancial institutions (such as ADB, KfW) in the decision-making of the GCF, the a� ected countries are being inspired, and even forced, to take loan from the GCF.

In reality, more funds are required for implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and tackling climate change.

A climate change related goal (Goal 13) has been identi� ed as part of the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda for the period 2016 to 2030 in the 70th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 70) held from September 25 to 27.

Although industrialised countries and countries of emerging economy have given a commitment to reduce production of coal-based electricity in recognition of the fact that massive carbon emission is a major impediment to sustainable development.

In reality, OECD and countries of emerging economies, especially Japan, China, India, Russia, and Australia have invested more than $73bn in coal-based industries during

2007 and 2014. The decision of Bangladesh to establish a coal-� red power station near the Sundarbans, a natural climate protection shield for Bangladesh from all natural disasters, raises questions regarding its commitment to give priority to sustainable development and tackling climate change.

Transparency, accountability, and integrity in the upcoming Paris AgreementThere is no clear guidance to ensure transparency, accountability, and participation of citizens, especially a� ected people in the approval of climate projects and implementation related decision-making process, monitoring and evaluation of projects, although the participation of all stakeholders, particularly women and indigenous people, in preparing local adaptation strategies, planning and priority setting is explicitly mentioned in Article 35 of the draft Agreement of COP21.

According to the Fifth Assessment Report of IPCC, Bangladesh will experience a net increase in poverty of 15% by 2030 in a low crop productivity scenario, although the poverty rate of Bangladesh has reduced at around 26%. However, TIB analyses show that the most vulnerable areas in Bangladesh have not received priority in fund allocation during project approval from the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund.

It is equally important to point out that only 86 government projects out of 236 (36%) approved by Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund have been completed in the last six years.

The goal of poverty eradication in Bangladesh may become unattainable if

sustainable development process is not integrated with e� orts to address climate change.

The concerned authority did not take adequate initiative although TIB, through di� erent research, reminded of the importance of ensuring transparency, accountability, � duciary as well as environmental standard and participation of citizens in climate fund allocation, and their usage since 2011. Consequently, Bangladesh has been deprived of direct access to the fund from the GCF at the � rst stage of funding.

Responsibilities of BangladeshThe prime minister was awarded the “Champions of the Earth” prize by UNEP in recognition of the e� orts of the Bangladesh government as the � rst developing country to frame a climate change strategy and action plan and also for allocating own resources to establish climate funds and other initiatives.

This puts Bangladesh in a more responsible position to defend the rights of millions of climate victims in Bangladesh and worldwide by strongly advocating for a legally-binding global agreement in Paris.

In this respect, Bangladesh delegation should raise voice and provide e� orts so that

a) a legally binding agreement is to be implemented by the industrialised countries and countries of emerging economy to limit the global temperature rise to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius from that which prevailed in the pre-industrial era;

b) The “Polluters Pay Compensation Principle” should be incorporated in Paris Agreement and a de� nition of climate � nance should be determined unanimously that

recognises only grants as “additional” and “new” but not loans for adaptation purpose in LDCs as well as Small Island states;

c) A long-term, equitable, and need-based road map for climate � nance from 2016 to 2030 should be formulated by industrialised countries for a� ected countries;

d) Speci� c steps to ensure desired pro-active disclosure of all types of reports on � nancial transactions by both fund providing and receiving parties in providing climate funds from the GCF and other sources by industrialised countries and countries of emerging economy should be included in the Paris Agreement;

e) The Paris Agreement should have clear clauses on the approval, use, project implementation, monitoring, veri� cation, and evaluation of adaptation fund;

f) The Agreement should also ensure equi-ty, transparency, e� ciency, and accountabil-ity in fund management including e� ective participation of a� ected communities and civil society in these processes.

Moreover, participation of all vulnerable communities especially women, marginalised, and indigenous people should be ensured in all activities addressing climate change, and is key to expected climate resilience.

Climate change induced displaced people should be recognised as universal “natural persons” as provided in Mode 4 of the World Trade Agreement and policies should be formulated in the light of the Cancun Agreement 2010 for their rehabilitation, welfare, and economic prosperity.

Last but not the least, delegates from a� ected countries including Bangladesh have to maintain a strong stand against treating debts as climate funds as opposed to grants. Unless humanitarian considerations, transparency, and accountability of the highest carbon-emitting countries are ensured in the proposed Paris Accord, the actual loss due to climate change may be far worse than anticipated. l

M Zakir Hossain Khan works for Transparency International, Bangladesh on climate � nance governance.

Expectations from ParisBangladesh has a lot at stake in COP21. This is the concluding part of yesterday’s long form

Unless humanitarian considerations, transparency, and accountability of the highest carbon emitting countries are ensured in the proposed Paris Accord, the actual loss due to climate change may be far worse than anticipated

Will Paris lead us along the right path? SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

15D

TBusinessWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

World’s biggest pension fund loses $64bn in 3Q 2015Japan’s public pension fund - the world’s big-gest - lost a whopping $64bn in the July-Sep-tember quarter, according to a new report, as global equity markets plunged this summer on fears over China’s economy. PAGE 19

China factory activity hits 3-year lowManufacturing activity in China hit a three-year low in November, an industry survey showed yesterday, supporting the case for more accommodative policies as authorities seek to prop up growth in the world’s second largest economy. PAGE 18

Bangladesh moves up four places in global ICT index since 2010Bangladesh has improved four places in global ICT development index since 2010, according to a International Telecommunication Union report. The country is now ranked 144 out of 167 countries. In 2010 the ranking was 148. Asia-Paci� c is the most diverse region in terms of ICT development, re� ecting stark di� erences in levels of economic development, said the report released on Monday. PAGE 18

Capital market snapshot: TuesdayDSE

Broad Index 4,621.7 0.9% ▲

Index 1,115.8 1.2% ▲

30 Index 1,754.8 1.2% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 4,784.7 5.0% ▲

Turnover in Mn Volume 119.6 -0.6% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 14,125.2 0.9% ▲

30 Index 12,414.4 1.0% ▲

Selected Index 8,596.9 0.9% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 289.5 -8.9% ▼

Turnover in Mn Volume 8.5 -2.8% ▼

INSIDE

DCCI: Cost of doing business to fall 16.5% if trade facilitation ensuredn Tribune Report

Trade facilitation implementation is ex-pected to lowering cost of doing business by 16.5%, said Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries President Hossain Khaled at a seminar yesterday.

He said it would also help achieve $4bn additional annual export earnings, see for-eign direct investment at 3% of GDP and above all 8% growth by the year 2021.

He came up with this statistics at a sem-inar on “Trade Facilitation Challenges and Issues for Sustainable Growth” organised by the DCCI at its auditorium yesterday.

Khaled said Bangladesh is yet to make any signi� cant achievement as only three out of 38 criteria in trade facilitation have been ful� lled.

Trade plays the fundamental role in in-dustrialisation, product diversi� cation, building productive capacity and inclusive development in Bangladesh, he said.

Khaled said trade volume of Bangla-desh stood at $70bn in 2015 with an annual growth 3.8% on average since 2000.

Presenting the keynote paper at the event, Central for Policy Dialogue’s addi-tional research director Khondaker Golam Moazzem identi� ed some barriers to imple-menting trade facilitation.

These include lack of policy or regulato-

ry framework, operational bottlenecks, lack of coordination among the state-run de-partments and ignorance of stakeholders.

For trade facilitation, he suggested gov-ernment formulating an action plan. “Bang-ladesh is going to be linked with the region through BBIN, BCIM, Asian Silk Road etc. We have to be prepared for that.”

Speaking as the chief guest, Adviser to Prime Minister on Economic A� airs Mashi-ur Rahman said trade facilitation measures should be pro-industry and pro-investment instead of revenue-oriented.

He urged the government bureaucrats to be more e� cient and technically sound

to keep pace with the development goals of the government.

NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman said NBR was working hard to facilitate trade in the country after WTO negotiation in Bali back in 2013. “Now Chittagong port takes only 8 hours to release imported goods,” he said.

Director General (Additional Secretary), WTO Cell, Amitav Chakrabarty Amitav Chakrabarty said the main challenge of trade facilitation was the proper coordina-tion among the government agencies. He again called for forming a high-level Trade Facilitation Committee to properly monitor development activities. l

DCCI President Hossain Khaled (second from left) speaks at a seminar on trade facilitation yesterday while PM economic a� airs adviser Mashiur Rahman (second from right) was also present COURTESY

Return submission: A poor show for NBRn Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The deadline for submission of income tax returns expired on Monday with a poor show as the National Board of Revenue wit-nessed a decline in the number of income tax returns in comparison with that in the last � scal year.

The board observed that there were around 18,000 returns not � led this year com-pared to the same period in the previous year.

The tax authorities received a total of 8,15,900 returns till November 30 against 8,33,900 submitted till the same period last year, NBR data shows.

The tax o� cials, however, expected that the number of returns might cross the total � gure of last year if time petition � led by tax-payers is considered.

This year, a total of 2.76 lakh taxpayers petitioned for additional time to deputy com-missioner for � ling their returns. Altogether, the number of returns may stand at 10.92 lakh this year. In the same period of the last � scal year, the total number of taxpayers stood at 10.27 lakh including 1.94 lakh time petitions.

The NBR earlier extended the deadline till November 30 from the original September 30 to help taxpayers submit their returns. On Monday, the last day of return submission, the board of revenue kept its � eld o� ces open till 10pm to facilitate � ling returns.

Many taxpayers, however, were appre-hending that the deadline might be extended

further, and therefore, failed to � le their re-turns, o� cials said.

According to the income tax ordinance, NBR can � ne Tk1,000 at a time and Tk50 for each day if any TIN holders fail to submit their returns within the deadline.

The ordinance, however, allows taxpay-ers to seek extension on valid grounds. The deputy commissioner of taxes can give maxi-mum two months to respective taxpayers.

The new e-Tin holders will be penalised with the highest Tk5,000 if they fail to � le their returns by the deadline, according to a new section incorporated in the Finance Bill 2015. Increase in the number of returns re-mains a challenge

Despite recent initiatives and improve-ments, raising the number of taxpayers con-tinues to be a major concern for the govern-ment, with less than 1% of the population properly pay-ing tax in the country.

According to the income tax act, taxpayers having income above Tk2.50 lakh have to pay tax.

Despite the series of ef-forts made by the authori-ties, development was not re� ected in the number of income tax returns � led, o� cials said. They held the taxmen responsible for not enforcing law and laid blame

on the lack of compliance culture and tax eva-sion culture in the country for the situation.

Although at least 70 lakh people earn enough to pay taxes in Bangladesh, only around 17.52 lakh have TIN. The government now has a plan to increase the number of tax-payers to 30 lakh by FY19.

In Vietnam, of its total 65 million people, 30 million pay tax, while in Bangladesh, the number of taxpayers is only 1.6 million out of 160 million population, NBR Chairman No-jibur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We are trying to expand the tax base and therefore the number of taxpayers is increas-ing in Bangladesh gradually. Middle-income people have the tendency to pay tax. If the high-income group maintains their respon-sibility properly, it will help develop the Tax-GDP ratio in the country,” he added. l

Business18DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

A factory of Shanshui Cement is seen in production in Liaocheng, Shandong province REUTERS

Bangladesh moves up four places in global ICT index since 2010n Tribune Report

Bangladesh has improved four places in glob-al ICT development index since 2010, accord-ing to a International Telecommunication Union report.

The country is now ranked 144 out of 167 countries. In 2010 the ranking was 148.

Asia-Paci� c is the most diverse region in terms of ICT development, re� ecting stark di� erences in levels of economic develop-ment, said the report released on Monday.

Six economies in the region – including the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong (China) and Japan – have IDI rankings in the top 20 of the global distribution, it said.

However, the region also includes 10 of the Index’s least connected countries, in-cluding India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Af-ghanistan.

The report said the countries throughout the region, and particularly middle-income nations, have however shown considerable improvements in their IDI values between 2010 and 2015.

The most dynamic improvements in IDI rankings in the region were achieved by Thailand, Mongolia and Bhutan, which rose by 18, 13 and 9 places, respectively, in the

global rankings during the period. The aver-age growth in value for the region was 0.85 points, just below the global average.

The report said a number of 3.2bn people are now online around the world, represent-ing 43.4% of the global population, while mobile-cellular subscriptions have reached almost 7.1bn worldwide, with over 95% of the global population now covered by a mo-bile-cellular signal.

Mobile-network coverage: reaching the last half billion

Over 95% of the global population is now covered by mobile-cellular services, meaning that there are still an estimated 350m people worldwide who live in places which are still out of reach of a mobile network – a � gure that has dropped from 450m a year ago. But while 89% of the world’s urban population is now covered by a 3G network, only 29% of the world’s 3.4bn people living in rural areas bene� t from 3G coverage.

More people online than ever before; but growth slows

By the end of this year, 46% of households globally will have Internet access at home, up from 44% last year and just 30% � ve years ago, in 2010. In the developed world, 81.3% of households now have home Internet ac-

cess, compared to 34.1% in the developing world, and just 6.7% in the 48 UN-designated Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

ICT Development Index country rankings: widening gaps

In 2015, the Republic of Korea is ranked at the top of the index while Republic of Korea is closely followed by Denmark and Iceland, in second and third place.

The IDI top 30 ranking includes countries from Europe and high-income nations from other regions including Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Macao (China), New Zealand, Singapore and the United States. Almost all countries sur-veyed improved their IDI ranking this year.

Predictions up to 2020In 2014, the ITU membership adopted the Connect 2020 Agenda, which sets out a se-ries of goals and targets for improvements in the growth and inclusiveness of ICTs, their sustainability, and the contribution of in-novation and partnerships. The Measuring the Information Society report, for the � rst time, takes stock of where the world stands today in terms of these goals and targets, and makes estimates for their achievement by the year 2020. l

Bangladesh, Bhutan for Indian consent on power import n Tribune Report

Both Bangladesh and Bhutan are now eagerly waiting for getting a positive nod form Indian side to allow its territory for importing elec-tricity from Bhutan.

As the Indian authority had earlier also made the same request for importing power from Bhutan, Delhi is yet to agree on a Bang-ladesh proposal to import electricity from Bhutan through Indian territory.

This was disclosed at a two-day Com-merce Secretary-level joint meeting between Bangladesh and Bhutan, which began in the capital yesterday.

Senior Secretary of the Bangladesh Com-merce Ministry Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and Economic A� airs Secretary of Bhutan Dasho Yeshi Wangdi are leading their respec-tive delegations at the meeting being held at Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute at Kar-wan Bazar. At the joint meeting, both the two countries discussed the regional connectiv-ity, transit, tari� and non-tari� barriers and hydro-electricity issues.

Bangladesh and Bhutan will jointly take initiative to get Indian consent for electricity import from Bhutan, according to a meeting source. During the meeting, Bangladesh Pow-er Division and Bhutanese authority will sign two MoUs for the import of the electricity. l

Stocks move higher after three consecutive � at sessionsn Tribune Report

Stocks closed higher yesterday, breaking their three-day � at session with extreme volatility.

The market opened higher with buoyancy that continued till the end of the session, as investors bet mainly on heavyweight stocks.

The benchmark index DSEX gained 40 points or almost 1% to 4,621. This is its best single-day rise after more than two weeks.

The Shariah index DSES rose over 13 points or 1% to 1,115. The blue chip compris-ing index DS30 closed at 1,754, surging over 20 points or 1%. The Chittagong Stock Ex-change Selective Category Index CSCX was up 74 points to settle at 8,596.

The telecommunication sector soared 3.4%, extending its gaining streak for the third straight session, led by Grameenphone that moved up 1.7%. l

Novoair launches Dhaka-Yangon � ightsn Tribune Report

Novoair, a private airliner of the country, yesterday launched its maiden international � ight on Dhaka-Yangon-Dhaka route.

Civil Aviation Secretary Khorshed Alam Chowdhury formally inaugurated the opera-tion. Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka Myo Myint Than and Novoair Managing Director Mofizur Rahman, among other high offi-cials were present. Initially, the airliner will operate three � ights a week on Sunday, Tues-day and Friday. l

China factory activity hits 3-year lown Reuters, Beijing

Manufacturing activity in China hit a three-year low in November, an industry survey showed yesterday, supporting the case for more accom-modative policies as authorities seek to prop up growth in the world’s second largest economy.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics’ o� -cial Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) hit 49.6 in November, its lowest reading since August 2012 and down from the previous month’s reading of 49.8. This was below a Reuters poll forecast of 49.8 and marked the fourth straight month of contraction in the sector.

A reading below 50 points suggests a de-cline in activity on a monthly basis while a reading above signi� es an expansion.

“With soft growth momentum and de� a-tion pressures creeping up, we expect the authorities to further ease monetary policy and continue to implement an expansionary � scal policy in order to prevent further slow-down of the economy in 2016,” Li-Gang Liu and Louis Lam, ANZ economists said in a re-search note released after the data.

Separately, the Caixin/Market China Man-ufacturing PMI edged up to 48.6 in Novem-ber, beating market expectations of 48.3, which would have been unchanged from the previous month. The index has shown con-traction for nine straight months.

The private sector Caixin survey focus-es more on small-to-medium-sized private � rms, which are showing more stress from

the prolonged economic slowdown and high � nancing costs, while the o� cial versions look more at larger, state-owned � rms.

The o� cial PMI’s sub-indexes showed widespread weakness in manufacturing with new orders - a proxy for domestic and foreign demand - down 0.5 points to 49.8 and ex-ports contracting to 46.4 for the 14th straight month. Input prices declined 3.3 points to 41.1.

ANZ economists said this points to per-sistent de� ation in upstream prices, which would add pressure to factory gate prices and industrial pro� ts.

Service sector activity, which has helped o� set the wider e� ects of weakness in manu-facturing, improved with the o� cial non-man-ufacturing PMI up half an index point to 53.6. l

World’s biggest pension fund loses $64bn in 3Q 2015n AFP, Tokyo

Japan’s public pension fund - the world’s big-gest - lost a whopping $64bn in the July-Sep-tember quarter, according to a new report, as global equity markets plunged this summer on fears over China’s economy.

The drop in the 135tn yen ($1.1tn) Govern-ment Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) - the worst quarterly fall since 2008 - came after it decided last year to double the amount of eq-uities in its bond-heavy portfolio to generate higher returns.

The move was aimed at dealing with Ja-pan’s soaring number of retirees who depend on the mammoth pension, but the quarterly loss highlights the risks of that strategy.

In a report on Monday, the pension fund said its total value declined by 5.6%, or 7.89tn yen in the three months to September, as Japanese and overseas share prices plunged due to fears over a sharp slowdown in China.

Beijing shocked equity markets world-wide in August with a devaluation of its cur-rency, the yuan, setting o� a precipitous drop on bourses across the globe.

The pension fund said its Japanese equity

investments dropped 13% in the last quarter, while its international stock holdings fell 11% in value.

Last year, the fund announced it would move to double its stock holdings from 24%

to 50%.The fund previously had over 70% of its

assets invested in lower-yielding domestic government and foreign bonds.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga,

the Japanese government’s top spokesman, on Monday waved o� concerns about the drop, noting that shares prices have rallied since the summer.

“They (fund o� cials) will see some criti-cism for this,” Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, told Bloomberg News.

But “the liabilities of public pensions have an extremely long duration, so it’s best not to carve it up into three-month periods. Howev-er, from a long-term perspective, it’s neces-sary to continue monitoring whether the tim-ing of last year’s allocation was good or not”.

Japan’s pension fund, equivalent to a quarter of the entire economy, towers over its nearest competitor - Norway’s $700bn pension plan.

Unlike some other more adventurous ve-hicles, it has long kept the majority of its cash in super-safe and super-low return Japanese government bonds.

But with a growing number of retirees and shrinking workforce straining government � nances - and Tokyo struggling to boost the world’s number three economy - Japan’s pension fund managers are looking for ways to improve their returns. l

Business 19D

TWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

A stock quotation board in Tokyo REUTERS

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited and Bank Al-Jazira, Saudi Arabia have recently signed an agreement on providing foreign remittance related services. MD & CEO of Islami Bank, Mohammad Abdul Manan and Syed Ahmed Ziauddin, head of � nancial institutions at Bank Al-Jazira were present at the singing ceremony in Dhaka

NRBC Bank has recently received ‘Award of Excellence’ at the concluding ceremony of Banking Fair organised by Bangladesh Bank. President of the Finance Ministry’s steering committee, Dr Md Abdur Razzak handed over a crest to Kazi Md Safayet Kabir, senior vice president of NRBC Bank

Pubali Bank Limited has recently opened its 436th branch at Gunabati Bazar in Comilla. The bank’s managing director, Md Abdul Halim Chowdhury inaugurated the branch

CORPORATE NEWS

Downtime20DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 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 10 represents P so � ll P every time the � gure 10 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 Take into custody (6)4 Central (3)7 Sky coloured (5)8 Arachnid (6)11 Wrongdoing (3)12 Irish republic (4)13 Fish traps (4)15 Swarms (5)16 Scottish musician (5) 20 Truth (4)23 Rescue (4)24 Prohibit (3)25 Dwellings (6)26 Coral isle (5)27 Beverage (3)28 Cricket team (6)

DOWN 1 Useful thing (5)2 Peculiar to a locality (7) 3 Mountain lake (4)4 New wine (4)5 Part of the eye (4)6 Lair (3)9 Filled pastry (3) 10 Choler (3)14 Serial part (7)17 Cushion (3)18 First woman (3)19 Plant secretion (5)20 Destiny (4)21 Dwarf bu� alo (4) 22 Story (4)24 Sporting item (3)

SUDOKU

INSIDE

21D

TWorldWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

Faulty component, crew response contributed to AirAsia crashChronic problems with a faulty rudder sys-tem and the way pilots tried to respond were major factors in the crash of an Indonesian AirAsia jet last year that killed all 162 people on board, investigators said on Tuesday. PAGE 23

Putin accuses Turkey of protecting IS oil trade, Turkey rubbishes claim Tension between friends-turned-enemies Russia and Turkey further escalated on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ankara of shooting down a Russian warplane to protect supplies of oil from the Islamic State group to Turkey, which Putin’s counterpart Recep Tayyip Er-dogan outrightly rejected saying he will quit o� ce if the allegations were proven. PAGE 23

LDCs increasingly targeted by tobacco marketingFaced with falling sales in richer nations, the tobacco industry has increasingly market-ed their product in the developing world, where restrictions on promoting smoking are more relaxed, a new study said Tuesday. PAGE 24

FACTBOX

The bene� ts of solar powerCompetitive costs Over the past 20 years, the price of solar power has fallen dramatically and is expected to con-tinue to fall to levels competitive with other sources of electricity. Current systems provide power at approximately $.10 per kWh by 2010.Cleaner air Solar power does not pollute the air or water. It replaces electricity generated from facilities powered by coal, natural gas and other non-re-newable fuels, eliminating threats to public health such as carbon monoxide, particulate, and toxic chemical emissions from those facili-ties. Additionally, when a solar power replaces electricity from a coal-� red power plant it also eliminates a potential source of sulfur emissions - a major component of acid rain.Reducing global warmingSolar power does not produce CO2 or any other greenhouse gases, thus helping to reduce the risk of climate change.ReliabilitySolar panels do not have any moving parts and require very little maintenance. They can be in-stalled to augment a building’s existing connection to the local electricity grid or, with proper sizing and the addition of batteries or other power stor-age device, to allow a building to be independent of the grid. In both cases, if demand surpasses the output of the solar panels, for instance overnight or during an unlikely malfunction, they will still provide a reliable supply of electricity. l

Source: NEWSWIRES

Warm countries launch solar energy alliancen AFP, Le Bourget

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched in Paris an alliance of 121 sun-drenched countries, rich and poor, to dra-matically boost the use of solar power.

The alliance issued a declaration vowing to mobilise more than $1tn in investment by 2030 for the “massive deployment” of a� ordable solar power.

Modi, speaking on the sidelines of a 195-nation UN climate summit in Paris, said the Sun could help move the world to a saf-er path.

“We want to bring solar energy into our lives and homes by making it cheaper, more reliable and easier to connect to grid,” Modi told the world leaders on Monday.

Modi has also argued that rich nations have no right to stop the poor from using fossil fuels such as coal and oil, which are blamed for warming the planet, to power their economic development.

“We still need conventional energy -- we need to make it clean, not impose an end to its use,” the Indian leader told the summit.

Solar paradoxBut sharing a stage with French President Francois Hollande at the solar alliance launch, the Indian leader said Sun’s energy was a way not only to bring electricity to

more people in poor areas, but also to ena-ble “growth with a lighter carbon footprint.”

France and India are members of the new group, which includes African, Asian, Middle eastern, American, European and island countries which lie between the trop-ics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Hollande said the alliance would enable a transfer of funds and technology from rich members to poorer ones “to reduce in-equalities and ensure development”.

“We can no longer accept this paradox ... that countries with the biggest solar ener-gy potential represent only a small part of global solar electricity production. These countries house the majority of the global population, and it is in these same countries that there is limited access to electricity.”

Analysts said the scheme was a sign of India’s determination to harness the Sun’s power.

“This partnership is another example of Prime Minister Modi continuing to show his strong commitment to expand renew-able energy in India and will undoubtedly complement India’s e� orts to build 100 gi-gawatts of solar energy by 2022, said Rhys Gerholdt, climate spokesman at the World Resources Institute.

India will host the alliance secretariat and fund its operations for � ve years until 2021, said Modi. l

A bank of solar panel are seen at the Assateague Island National Seashore near Berlin, Maryland AFP

Advertisement22DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

WorldSOUTH ASIA2 soldiers killed in Karachi attackGunmen killed two Pakistani soldiers in the southern city of Karachi on Tuesday, the military said, a rare attack on the powerful army that could indicate the beginning of a push-back against a tightening crackdown on violence. The two were shot on a busy road in the centre of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and � nancial hub. The killings follow an attack that killed four soldiers last month. -REUTERS

INDIABJP MPs asked to hold tongues on ‘intolerance’ issue The Indian ruling party BJP on Tuesday asked its lawmakers not to make provocative state-ments amid a debate on rising intolerance in the country in Lok Sabha where controversial comments by some party leaders, including ministers, have aided the opposition in its attack on the government. The opposition on Monday raised the issue of rising intolerance in the country and Lok Sabha saw uproars and repeated adjournments over a remark made by CPI(M) leader Mohammad Salim who attributed ‘Hindu leader’ comments to Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Singh denied having made the comment. -HT

CHINAChina’s Xi in Zimbabwe to sign power, infrastructure dealsChinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Zim-babwe on Tuesday, the � rst visit by a Chinese leader since 1996, amid expectations that he would sign deals to fund infrastructure, electricity generation and other projects. Zimbabwe has increasingly turned to China for investment to help an economy desperate for new infrastructure like roads, power and water. Zimbabwe and China’s Import and Export Bank is expected to loan Harare more than $1bn to fund the 600MW expansion of a coal power station, o� cials said. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFICMalaysia plans to raise drinking ageMalaysia plans to raise the minimum age for alcohol consumption from 18 to 21, it said in a � ling to the World Trade Organisation on Tuesday. It did not say when the change would take place, but said it was part of a strategy aiming to prevent underage drinking and limit the accessibility of alcohol to high risk groups. Malaysia also plans additional labelling re-quirements for alcohol products to warn about their e� ect on health, it said. -REUTERS

MIDDLE EASTAmnesty: Qatar shamed by inaction on labour reformQatar has done “almost nothing” to end labour abuse in the � ve years since being awarded football’s 2022 World Cup despite huge global pressure to reform, Amnesty International said Tuesday. In a statement released on the eve of the � fth anniversary of the controversial decision to allow Qatar to host world sport’s biggest tournament, Amnesty said the lack of substantive change “shames” the gas-rich Gulf state and Fifa, football’s governing body. It urged Fifa o� -cials and the World Cup’s major sponsors to press for change. -AFP

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 201523

DT

Faulty component, crew response contributed to AirAsia crashn Reuters, Jakarta

Chronic problems with a faulty rudder sys-tem and the way pilots tried to respond were major factors in the crash of an Indonesian AirAsia jet last year that killed all 162 people on board, investigators said on Tuesday.

The Airbus A320 crashed into the Java Sea on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour � ight from Indonesia’s sec-ond-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore.

In their � rst public report, Indonesian in-vestigators did not pinpoint a single under-lying reason why � ight QZ8501 disappeared from the radar, but set out a sequence spot-lighting the faulty component, maintenance lapses and crew actions.

Bad weather did not play a role.The Indonesian National Transportation

Safety Committee (NTSC) said a system controlling rudder movement on the plane had cracked soldering that had malfunc-tioned repeatedly, including four times during the � ight and 23 times over the previous year.

O� cials told reporters there were indi-cations from the black box data recorder that crew had tried to shut o� power to the computer that controls the rudder system by resetting a circuit breaker, something not usually done during � ight.

They cautioned there was no proof of this but said they had recommended to Indone-sia AirAsia and Airbus that they take steps to prevent pilots from “improvising” when faced with problems.

Investigators con� rmed that to reach the circuit breaker, the captain would have had to leave his seat. In February, the NTSC said

there was no evidence that the captain had left his seat or that the power was reset.

The temporary loss of power to the com-puter would have cancelled the autopilot and removed automated protections against an in-� ight upset, handing manual control to the crew.

“Subsequent � ight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft,” the NTSC said in a statement.

Flown by the French co-pilot, the plane reared higher and entered a stall, a state in which the aircraft loses lift.

The captain was heard shouting “Pull Down,” a command that investigators called “confusing” as a clearer instruction to point

the nose lower and avoid a stall would be “Push Down”.

Instructors and automated avoidance systems use “Pull Up” to mean pulling the stick back, which can cause or deepen a stall.

During this time, the rebooted computer was coming back to life and waiting for new instructions.

The plane reached an altitude of 38,000 feet before falling at a maximum speed of 20,000 feet per minute. There were “about � ve minutes” from the time it stalled to the moment of impact.

In Europe, Airbus declined immediate comment. l

Sources: AirAsia, Flightradar24/Indonesia transport ministry/Malaysia ministry of defence/Basarnas/NTSC

162 people killed when the plane crashed

2014 AirAsia crash

Surabaya

250 km

SINGAPORE

MALAYSIA

INDIANOCEAN

JAKARTA

KALIMANTAN

BORNEO

INDONESIA

Scheduled arrival

0830 am

Approximatescheduled route

JAVASEA

Final report published Dec 1

Fault in rudder control system a major factor

Cracked soldering causedmalfunction

This turned off the autopilot

Pilots lost control of plane

The rudder system had suffered23 problems in the last 12 months

A�er repeated warning messagespilots pulled circuit-breakers toremove power from faulty systemin bid to reset

0618 am Disappeared from radar

4

Flight QZ8501 departedat 0535 am local time,Dec 28, 2014

Putin accuses Turkey of protecting IS oil trade, Turkey rubbishes claim n AFP, Le Bourget

Tension between friends-turned-enemies Russia and Turkey further escalated on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ankara of shooting down a Russian warplane to protect supplies of oil from the Islamic State group to Turkey, which Putin’s counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan outrightly rejected saying he will quit o� ce if the allegations were proven.

The Kremlin strongman � red the latest salvo in the furious war of words over the downing of the Russian jet on the Syrian border last week as the body of a pilot killed in the incident was returned home.

Turkish authorities meanwhile again pledged not to apologise over the incident, as Moscow rolled out its sanctions aimed at exacting economic revenge.

After rejecting Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s o� er of face-to-face talks on the sidelines of a UN climate summit out-side Paris on Monday, Putin accused Anka-ra of seeking to protect IS oil exports -- an important source of funds for the jihadist group.

“We have every reason to think that the de-cision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory, right to the ports where it is loaded onto tankers,” Putin said during a news conference on the fringes of the cli-mate talks, echoing similar accusations he made last week -- which Turkey vehemently denies.

“We have received additional informa-tion which unfortunately con� rms that this oil, produced in areas controlled by the Islamic State and other terrorist organisa-tions, is transported on an industrial scale to Turkey.”

In reply, Erdogan said: “I will say some-

thing very strong here. If such a thing is proven, the nobility of our nation would re-quire that I would not stay in o� ce,” he was quoted by the state-run Anatolia news agen-cy as saying on the sidelines of the talks.

The downing of the Russian jet on the Turkey-Syria border -- the � rst time a Nato member has shot down a Russian plane since 1952 -- has hammered ties between the two rival players in the Syria con� ict.

Russia on Monday laid out more details of retaliatory economic sanctions aimed at denting Turkey’s key tourism and agricul-tural sectors.

Moscow announced it will halt fruit and vegetable imports from Turkey after Putin signed a decree over the weekend banning charter � ights and the sale of package hol-idays, and scrapping Russia’s visa-free re-gime with the country.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the moves a “� rst step” as Moscow also said it would limit Turkish transport � rms and tighten controls on construction contracts.

The authorities however stopped short of targeting Russia’s major joint energy pro-jects with Turkey. l

Moscow announced it will halt fruit and vegetable imports from Turkey after Putin signed a decree over the weekend banning charter � ights

WorldUSA‘Specialised US troops to � ght IS in Iraq’The US is deploying “specialised” troops in Iraq to � ght the Islamic State group, including by leading raids against the jihadists over the border in Syria, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday. Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee, the Pentagon chief said that a “specialised expeditionary targeting force” was being deployed in Iraq to help Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces battle IS. -AFP

THE AMERICASHonduras court orders hearing for detained SyriansA Honduran judge Sunday ordered a hear-ing on � ve Syrians who made it here after a � ve-country odyssey, as a slice of the refugee crisis unfolds in far-� ung Central America. Honduras say the men were arrested on No-vember 17 with stolen Greek passports. Their original stated destination was the US. After leaving Syria, they made stops in Lebanon, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina and Costa Rica. -AFP

UKUK Labour launches campaign to stay in EUThe Labour party on Tuesday launched its campaign for Britain to remain in the Euro-pean Union, saying that the Paris terror at-tacks showed the need to “stand shoulder to shoulder” with European partners. Former interior minister Alan Johnson launched his party’s campaign to stay in the 28-mem-ber bloc in Birmingham, central England, arguing that Britain would be less safe on its own. Labour has been a solid supporter of the EU since the premiership of Tony Blair, but that was thrown into doubt with the election of veteran leftist Jeremy Corbyn as party leader in September. -AFP

EUROPEGerman cabinet backs military campaign against ISChancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet ap-proved plans on Tuesday for Germany to join the military campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria, a big step for the country, which had long resisted a direct role in the con� ict. In response to an appeal from France after the November 13 attacks in Paris, Merkel’s government agreed to send Tornado reconnaissance jets, refuel-ling aircraft, a frigate to protect a French aircraft carrier, and up to 1,200 soldiers to the region. However, Germany will not join France, the US and Russia in conducting air strikes in Syria, but the move is signi� cant given the country’s post-war history of avoiding foreign military entanglements and voter misgivings about getting involved in the con� ict in the Middle East. -REUTERS

AFRICABoko Haram militants kill 8 in Niger Militants from the jihadist group Boko Haram killed eight people in an attack on a village in the southeast of Niger, a private local radio station, Anfani, con� rmed on Tuesday. Fur-ther details of the latest Boko Haram attack in the Di� a region late on Monday were not immediately available. About 50 villagers’ homes were set ablaze in the attack. -REUTERS

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 201524D

T

Clinton: Deploying US troops to � ght IS a ‘nonstarter’n Reuters, Washington, DC

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton rejected the idea of sending thou-sands of ground troops to � ght Islamic State in the Middle East, saying the move would only hand the militant group a re-cruitment tool that could boost its ranks.

“In terms of thousands of combat troops, like some on the Republican side are recommending, I think that should be a non-starter,” she told CBS News in an interview that aired on Tuesday. Clin-ton is seeking the Democratic nomination for the presidential election in November 2016.

“I don’t think it’s the smartest way to go after ISIS. I think it gives ISIS a new recruitment tool,” Clinton said, using an acronym for the militant group that has taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq and pledged to form an Islamic caliphate.

“You have to � ght them in the air, you have to � ght them on the ground and you have to � ght them in cyberspace.”

She also said it was no longer possi-ble to militarily remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, telling CBS: “We need to get over the false choice between either going after Assad or going after ISIS.”

To do both, Clinton said, she would seek Russia’s cooperation in the � ght, if not their “active help” then at least their “acquiescence in what we’re going to do to go after ISIS,” although she said she would welcome an active role from Moscow. l

LDCs increasingly targeted by tobacco marketingn AFP, Geneva, Switzerland

Faced with falling sales in richer nations, the tobacco industry has increasingly mar-keted their product in the developing world, where restrictions on promoting smoking are more relaxed, a new study said Tuesday.

The study, which looked at tobacco mar-keting in 462 communities spread across 16 countries, was published by the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, a journal created by the UN agency, but the contents of which do not re� ect WHO’s views.

Data on cigarette promotion was collect-ed since 2005, when a global convention on tobacco controls, including marketing bans, came into force for nations that had signed on.

The study found that “people living in poor countries are exposed to more intense and aggressive tobacco marketing than those living in a� uent countries”.

Report contributor Anna Gilmore, direc-tor of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, said the tobacco industry’s marketing is designed to drive up smoking among children and adolescents.

The tobacco industry’s “sales are falling in high-income countries and so its future pro� tability depends on getting young peo-ple hooked on smoking in low-income coun-tries,” she said in a statement.

Those � ndings were based in part on in-terviews with 12,000 people over multiple years who were asked if they had seen any tobacco marketing in any media over the

last six months. Researchers “found that tobacco adver-

tising was at its most intense in the low-in-come countries studied (India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe), where they observed 81 times more tobacco advertisements per study community than in the high-income coun-tries (Canada, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates),” the statement said.

Tobacco also proved much easier to buy in poorer nations, which had two-and-a-half times the number of outlets selling cigarettes compared to the richer countries

surveyed. The report called for stronger enforce-

ment of the restrictions which came into force in 2005 -- known as WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control-- especially in the developing world.

“There has been substantial progress in the past decade, but we must now recom-mit ourselves to our global tobacco control e� orts so that everyone, all over the world, is protected from the tobacco epidemic,” said Dr Armando Peruga, programme man-ager of the tobacco free initiative at WHO. l

UK cabinet unanimous on Syria strikes, opposition still dividedn Reuters, London

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday his government had unanimous-ly agreed a motion on air strikes against mil-itants in Syria, portraying the ruling party as united on an issue that has split the Labour opposition.

Cameron wants to launch the strikes as soon as possible against Islamic State in Syr-ia, convinced Britain can no longer “sub-con-tract” its security to other countries after the group said it was behind last month’s Paris attacks.

But his push to win approval for the ac-tion in the House of Commons on Wednes-day, avoiding a repeat of a damaging defeat in 2013 on a motion to strike Syria, has deep-ened divisions in the Labour Party.

New Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ac-cused Cameron of rushing to war, and ap-pealed to those Labour lawmakers who fa-vour the motion to “think again ... and please cast your vote against supporting this gov-ernment’s military endeavours in Syria”.

Cameron said his cabinet had agreed the motion on extending air strikes to Syria from Iraq, where British warplanes have been bombing targets since Sept. 30 last year.

“That motion talked about, yes, the ne-cessity of taking military action against ISIL

(Islamic State) in Syria as well as in Iraq but it is part of a broader strategy,” he said in a televised statement, adding that the debate in parliament would be thorough and would last 10-1/2 hours.

Asked about the prospects for securing a majority, he said: “Let’s wait and see.”

Cameron is all but assured of winning parliamentary approval after Corbyn said he would allow his lawmakers to vote according to their conscience on Wednesday -- break-ing with a tradition for leaders to instruct lawmakers how to vote on big decisions.

Media reports say about 50 Labour mem-bers of parliament (MPs) will vote with the government, although their leader, a veteran anti-war campaigner, hoped he could still persuade them to change their minds.

Corbyn argued that Cameron’s case did not meet his party’s demands. “I am saying to every MP, you’ve got to make up your own mind ... on whether we should commit Brit-ish troops into yet another war in the Middle East with no endgame in sight,” he told BBC Radio Two.

Many Britons are wary of entering into more costly military action in the Middle East after Western intervention in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan failed to bring stability and, some believe, led to the rise of militants such as Islamic State. l

Source: WHO/Bulletin of WHO

"People living in poor countries are exposed to more intense and aggressive tobacco marketing than those living in a�luent countries" : WHO study

Smoking push in poor countries

Communities in lower income countries have moretobacco sellingoutlets on average

People in lower income countries experience a lot more tobacco advertising

Average seen per 1 km audit walk

Based on interviews with11,842 people, 2012 - 2012

Opportunity

80.98

1

PersuasionStudy of 462 communities in 16 countries,in four income groups

High Upper-middle

Lower-middle

Low

1

4.58

3.96

2.52

2.58

1.29

25D

TSportINSIDE

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

I tried not to leave early, says SoumyaIt was a treat to watch Soumya Sarkar bat during his return-to-form unbeaten 58 at the ZACS yesterday. The national top-order batsman, who excites the crowd with his � urry of strokes, was going through a rough patch as he ended with scores of 20, 17, 18, seven and � ve in the last � ve BPL matches. PAGE 26

Bangladesh women reach quali� ers semisBangladesh quali� ed for the semi-� nals of the 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Quali� ers after thrashing Papua New Guinea by 41 runs in their third and � nal group-stage match in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday. In the process, the Bangladesh women � nished top of Group A with maximum six points. PAGE 27

Messi voted La Liga’s top striker for 2014-2015Barcelona star Lionel Messi was on Monday voted the top striker in the Spanish league last season ahead of Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo. It is the sixth time that the Argentinian has won the title in seven editions of the trophy given by the Spanish league. PAGE 28

England’s T20 progress ‘exciting’: MorganEngland T20 captain Eoin Morgan yesterday described his team’s progress in the shortest form of the game as “pretty exciting” but refused to get carried away despite sweeping Pakistan 3-0. England won the third and � nal match in a thrilling Super Over � nish after the regulation match was tied in Sharjah on Monday. PAGE 29

DHAKA DYNAMITES INNINGS R BShykat Ali c Rony b Cooper 15 16KC Sangakkara c Mehedi b Cooper 60 47Thirimanne st Rony b Mahmudullah 5 5Nasir c Mahmudullah b Prasanna 5 6Abul Hasan st Rony b Prasanna 8 9RN ten Doeschate not out 45 32MN Waller not out 10 5Extras (lb 1, w 9) 10 Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 158FoW: 1-27, 2-48, 3-64, 4-73,5-132Bowling Sami 4-0-29-0, Al-Amin 4-0-40-0, Cooper 4-0-30-2, Mahmudullah 3-0-23-1, Prasanna 4-0-23-2, Taijul 1-0-12-0BARISAL BULLS INNINGS R BRony Talukdar c Thirimanne b Abul 38 34Evin Lewis not out 101 65Mehedi Maruf not out 15 14Extras (w 4, nb 1) 5 Total (1 wicket; 18.4 overs) 159FoW: 1-127 BowlingNasir 4-0-15-0, Farhad 3.4-0-28-0, Abul 2-0-22-1, Musta� zur 4-0-28-0, Mosharraf 1-0-11-0, Nabil 2-0-17-0, ten Doeschate2-0-38-0

Barisal Bulls won by 9 wicketsMoM: Evin Lewis (Barisal)

DD v BB

Barisal Bulls’ West Indian opener Evin Lewis heaves one towards the straight boundary during their 2015 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tie against Dhaka Dynamites at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong

The third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 witnessed its � rst centu-ry, courtesy West Indian batsman Evin Lew-is, as Barisal Bulls crushed Dhaka Dynamites by nine wickets at Zahur Ahmed Chowd-hury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.

The Bulls reached their target with eight balls to spare with Lewis remaining un-beaten on 101 from 65 balls, featuring half a dozen sixes and seven fours after the Dyna-mites posted 158/5 in 20 overs.

Rony Talukdar and Lewis added a mag-ni� cent 127-run stand for the opening wick-et before the former was dismissed after scoring 38 o� 34 balls with the help of three fours and a six.

Lewis however, continued to reign su-preme as he smashed 27 runs o� one Ryan ten Doeschate over, studded with three six-es and two fours.

Earlier, Dhaka posted 158/5, riding on a half-century from Kumar Sangakkara and later Ten Doeschate smashed a quick-� re 45 at the end but was unable to avoid their second defeat in � ve matches.

Dhaka were in a spot of bother, losing a

few quick wickets upfront as opener Saykat Ali (15), Lahiru Thirimanne (� ve), Nasir Hossain (� ve) and Abul Hasan (eight) were all dismissed cheaply.

But Ten Doeschate and Sangakkara added 59 runs for the � fth wicket and by the time Sangakkara was dismissed after making 60 o� 47 balls, Dhaka were in a good position.

Dutchman Doeschate remained unbeat-en on 45 o� 32 balls as Dhaka managed to score 55 runs in their last � ve overs.

West Indian pace-bowling all-rounder Kevon Cooper and Lankan leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna picked up two wickets each.l

Ton-up Lewis inspires massive Barisal win

POINTS TABLETeams Mat Won Lost PtsBarisal 5 4 1 8Rangpur 6 4 2 8Comilla 5 3 2 6Dhaka 5 3 2 6Sylhet 5 1 4 2Chittagong 6 1 5 2

BPL 201526DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

Shakib continues to outfox opponentsA miser with the ball in hand, Shakib al Hasan continued to make his performance talk in the BPL. Shakib, who has both the BPL Player of the Tournament awards in his bag, is a prime candidate for the category once again. However, more than the bat the left-arm spinner has been more e� ective with the ball this time around. He travelled back to Bangladesh, after visiting his wife and new-born baby daughter in the US, and immediately took the � eld for the opening game in the edition. He put on a lousy performance on that day and it was justi� ed given the travelling he went through. However, since then world’s leading all-rounder has been in terri� c form. His two-wicket haul yesterday tied Chit-tagong’s hopes and took his tally to 12 wickets from just � ve matches. His economy rate is just below six runs an over while he strikes in every nine runs. Prior to the match Shakib had taken 3/31, 4/16 and 3/23.

Chittagong pushed back to the wallTamim Iqbal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Amir, Je-evan Mendis; these are enough names in one single team to weave a big dream. However, reality has not been equally delightful for the side. In Dhaka, Chittagong were involved in three close matches but won only one. Since their last-ball win against

Sylhet Super Stars, they are yet to add a point to their tally. After yesterday’s defeat to Rangpur, they are now at the bottom of the six-team table with just two points. They start well with the bat, they start well with the ball – but it’s the � nishing touch that has caused all the trouble. Each and every dropped catch came back to haunt Chittagong and the team-morale can easily be said to have hit the lowest note. With four games remaining, only a miracle-run like the Bangladesh team can squeeze them into the eliminator.

Soumya gets in to the grooveFollowing scores of 20, 17, 18, seven and � ve, it was high time for Soumya Sarkar to score something meaningful. The stage was perfectly set for Soumya to buy some time in the middle and get some runs under his belt. Chasing a mere 114 to win, Soumya carried his bat through the win for a 56-ball 58 as he took a while to settle in before driving Naeem Islam exquisitely through the covers for his � rst boundary. A pull o� Amir in the fourth and a well-executed reverse sweep o� Dilshan in the � fth over, both reaching the ropes, was just the con� -dence-booster the southpaw probably needed. He eventually clobbered eight glorious fours and a huge six into the mid-wicket stand. –REAZUR RAHMAN ROHAN

TALKING POINTS (CHVvRR)

Vikings coach Atapattu feels the heatn Reazur Rahman Rohan from Chittagong

Chittagong Vikings head coach Marvan Ata-pattu backed his players after su� ering their � fth defeat in six outings, but also hinted a lack of urgency from his charges. With four matches remaining, the former Sri Lankan cricketer believes they still have a chance of qualifying for the latter stages and for that, the players must ensure giving their full ef-fort on the � eld.

Vikings started off the BPL with strong team spirit. Where is it going wrong?It doesn’t (add) up until now, especially after the � rst three games when we thought we were more than competing. But things hav-en’t gone the way we would have all liked in the dressing-room.

Umar Akmal was involved in a long series for Pakistan against England until last night. It was a crucial match for the Vikings. Was he the best option to go for among the foreign players?We knew every match is crucial. I know it would not have been easy for him after a four-hour � ight and the helicopter ride from Dhaka. We thought he will come good. It wasn’t his day. If you had raised this question at the start of this game, I would have really appreciated it. But when somebody doesn’t score it is so much easier to point a � nger and say, probably shouldn’t go that way.

Do you still think the Vikings will make it into the top half?I think we still have a chance. But we need to play extremely, extremely well from here. We need to have good run-rates. T20 is a very funny game. Things can happen very quickly. There have been turnarounds in IPL (Indian Premier League) and CPL (Caribbean Premier League) where discarded teams bounced back and we hope we can do the same. l

‘I tried not to leave early’n Reazur Rahman Rohan from Chittagong

It was a treat to watch Soumya Sarkar bat during his return-to-form unbeaten 58 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium yester-day. The national top-order batsman, who excites the crowd with his � urry of strokes, was going through a rough patch as he ended with scores of 20, 17, 18, seven and � ve in the last � ve BPL matches.

Hailing from Satkhira, a natural run-scorer and dominating batsman by character, Soumya did not let his well-wishers, and most impor-tantly himself, down as he re-established his presence at the top of Rangpur’s line-up.

The platform was laid for him to get some con� dence back as the left-hander carried his bat through the innings to anchor Rang-pur’s nine-wicket victory over Chittagong Vikings chasing 112.

“I had a bit of pressure, not from the team but from my own self. Because I was not able to perform to my abilities (earlier). I am still not satis� ed. I think I could have done much better had I made the most of my last few in-ning,” said the 22-year-old.

He continued, “In the last few matches I did not manage to play more than 10 balls in any one of them. So (yesterday) I tried not to leave early, stay on the wicket for a while. I tried to play as many balls as possible.”

However, the hectic schedule combined with the business end of the BPL means more pressure for the top-half teams. Simul-taneously, the national cricketers are also ex-pected to riase the bar as Soumya said, “I am not relieved. There are more matches ahead. I do not think there is any such thing as relief for the players. There is a lot more pressure in the upcoming matches.”

“The target is always the same, to score more runs. And for everyone, for the nation-al players too. I do not think there is anyone who is set for the T20 national team. Every-one has to perform and prove themselves.”

When queried as to what he was doing to rectify his mistakes, Soumya compared his 56-ball knock to his ODI start where he strug-gled to play big innings’ initially. “I think the problem is similar to my early stages of the

ODIs. I used to get out in 20s and30s and faced similar questions. I think I was just hurrying a bit too much because this is T20 cricket. If I can get out of that mood (mind-set) it will be better.” l

Chittagong Vikings’ Pakistan recruit Umar Akmal (C) arrives in the port city from Dhaka in a helicopter on the eve of their 2015 BPL Twenty20 clash against Rangpur Riders yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Rangpur Riders opening batsman Soumya Sarkar is about to unleash a delightful reverse sweep against Chittagong Vikings in the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sport 27D

T

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

Channel I clinch Media Cup Football titleChannel I emerged as the unbeaten cham-pions of the Kool-BSJA Media Cup Football Tournament after beating Jamuna TV 3-0 in the � nal at the BFF arti� cial turf yesterday. Arif Hossain Hridoy netted twice for the victors while Debashish Roy added the other to seal victory as well as the title. Arif was adjudged the man-of-the-� nal for his brace. Earlier, Channel I outplayed ATN News 7-0 in the semi-� nals while Jamuna beat Gazi TV 2-0 in the other last-four clash.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

Agrani Bank SC post maiden winAgrani Bank Limited Sporting Club regis-tered their � rst victory in the Minister Fridge Bangladesh Championship League when they defeated Fakirerpool Young Men’s Club 4-1 at the Bangabandhu National stadium yesterday. Zul� ker scored twice in the 31st minute and injury time while Ripon and Arif added one apiece in the ninth and 42nd minutes respec-tively. Salim scored the consolation goal for the losing side in the 70th minute from a penalty.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

Local shuttlers disappoint in Challenge CupBangladesh shuttlers put up a below-par display in the opening day of the Yonex-Sun-rise Bangladesh Open International Badmin-ton Challenge Cup yesterday. Except one, all the host participants crashed out of the tournament in the � rst day of the event. Only Moazzem Hossain made it into the next round after getting a walk-over against Angkit Malik of India. Bangladesh participants Arif Hossain, Rana Biswas, Tushar Roy, Enamul Haq, Chand Lal, Moazzem Wahidul, Saifuddin and Aiman Ibne Zaman lost their respective matches at the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor stadium to crash out of the event.

–TRIBUNE REPORT

NZ Cricket says no winners in Cairns trialNew Zealand Cricket chairman Stuart Heal ex-pressed relief yesterday that the Chris Cairns match-� xing perjury trial was over, saying there were no winners in the “unpleasant and incredibly di� cult” case. A London court on Monday cleared Cairns of perjury and pervert-ing the course of justice after a nine-week trial which included testimony from Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum that his ex-team-mate had pitched a match-� xing proposal.

–AFP

Third umpire made wrong call in Adelaide Test: ICCThird umpire Nigel Llong made an incorrect call after using video technology to review an appeal during the day-night test between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide, the ICC said yesterday. Australia’s Nathan Lyon was given not out by the on-� eld umpire when the ball was caught at slip after he attempted to sweep spinner Mitchell Santner. New Zealand reviewed the decision.

–REUTERS

QUICK BYTES

Bangladesh women reach quali� ers semisn Tribune Desk

Bangladesh quali� ed for the semi-� nals of the 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Quali� ers after thrashing Papua New Guin-ea by 41 runs in their third and � nal group-stage match at Asian Institute of Technology Ground in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.

In the process, the Bangladesh women � nished top of Group A with maximum six points, two ahead of Scotland and four more than their yesterday’s opponents. The hosts, meanwhile, concluded their campaign at the

bottom with three losses in as many games.Asked to bat � rst, the women in red and

green did lose wickets at regular intervals but cameos from Farjana Haque, Nigar Sultana, Ritu Moni and captain Jahanara Alam ensured they would eventually reach the 100-run mark.

In reply, Papua New Guinea were never re-ally in the running for victory as o� -spinner and player of the match Khadija-tul Kubra and leg-spinner Rumana Ahmed worked their magic over the opposition. Seamers Jahanara and Lata Mondal were also among the wickets as Bangladesh con� rmed a last-four date with

Zimbabwe, who � nished as the Group B run-ners-up, tomorrow. A win against the Zimba-bweans will ensure Bangladesh’s progression to the main event, scheduled to be hosted by India from March 11-April 3.l

Bangladesh Women100/7 in 20 overs (Farjana 28, Nigar 14,

Ritu 13*, Jahanara 10*, Seura 2/2)Papua New Guinea Women

59 in 19.5 overs (Frank 13*, Kubra 5/11, Rumana 3/13, Lata 1/10, Jahanara 1/10)

Bangladesh Women won by 41 runs

Rangpur Riders opening batsman Jahurul Islam (top) takes a run as Chittagong Vikings spinner Naeem Islam looks on during their 2015 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tie at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

CHITTAGONG VIKINGS INNINGS R B(20 overs maximum)Tamim Iqbal* c Perera b Md Nabi 36 43TM Dilshan c Jahurul b Arafat Sunny 18 19Kamran Akmal† b Arafat Sunny 12 7Anamul c Sammy b Saqlain Sajib 14 11Umar Akmal c †Md Mithun b Shakib 1 8Ziaur Rahman c Jahurul Islam b Perera 3 7Naeem Islam not out 16 16Mohammad Amir c Sammy b Shakib 2 3Sha� ul run out (†Md Mithun/Perera) 6 6Extras (w 3) 3Total (8 wickets; 20 overs; 84 mins) 111

Fall of wickets1-39 (Dilshan, 6.5 ov), 2-56 (Kamran Akmal, 8.5 ov), 3-80 (Anamul Haque, 12.3 ov), 4-83 (Tamim Iqbal, 13.2 ov), 5-84 (Umar Akmal, 14.6 ov), 6-92 (Ziaur Rahman, 17.2 ov), 7-96 (Mohammad Amir, 18.1 ov), 8-111 (Sha� ul Islam, 19.6 ov)BowlingDJG Sammy 2-0-11-0, Mohammad Nabi 4-0-18-1, Shakib Al Hasan 4-1-16-2, Arafat Sunny 4-0-27-2, Muktar Ali 2-0-10-0, NLTC Perera 3-0-19-1, Saqlain Sajib 1-0-10-1RANGPUR RIDERS INNINGS R B(target: 112 runs from 20 overs)Jahurul Islam c Tamim b Sha� ul Islam 47 44Soumya Sarkar not out 58 56Shakib Al Hasan* not out 1 2Extras (lb 4, w 3) 7Total (1 wicket; 17 overs; 80 mins) 113

Fall of wickets1-102 (Jahurul Islam, 15.3 ov)BowlingNaeem Islam 4-0-24-0, Mohammad Amir 2-0-7-0, TM Dilshan 3-0-20-0, Asif Hasan 3-0-19-0, Taskin Ahmed 3-0-17-0, Sha� ul Islam 2-0-22-1

Rangpur Riders won by nine wickets

CHV v RR

Vikings’ miseries deepen with Rangpur lossn Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong

Despite � ying in their foreign recruit Umar Akmal, who only completed his national commitment last Monday in the United Arab Emirates, all the way from Dhaka to the port city by helicopter, Tamim Iqbal’s Chittagong Vikings’ luck remained unchanged as they su� ered their � fth loss in six attempts in the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 yesterday.

And yet again, batting has been a big let-down for Chittagong as they were beaten comprehensively by nine wickets against ta-ble-toppers Rangpur Riders at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.

In pursuit of a lowly 112 for victory, the Riders were oozing with con� dence follow-ing the return of their talismanic captain

Shakib al Hasan, who served the one-match suspension in their previous game against Comilla Victorians and immediately got into the groove by taking 2/16 from his quota of four overs.

Chasing 112, Rangpur openers Soumya Sarkar and Jahurul Islam registered the � rst hundred-run stand of the third edition. Jahurul was dismissed after scoring 47 o� 44 balls with the help of four boundaries and a six.

From the other end, player-of-the-match Soumya exuded con� dence on way to returning to form, remaining unbeaten on 58 from 56, featuring eight sweetly-timed fours and a six, while Shakib was not out on one as the Riders clinched their fourth win in six outings.

Earlier, with the exception of Tamim, none of the Vikings batsmen were able to

make a mark with the bat, losing wickets at regular intervals. Sri Lankan opener Tilla-karatne Dilshan departed after making 18 while Kamran Akmal (12) and Anamul Haque (14) were also dismissed cheaply.

Tamim looked in good touch but did not receive any support from the other end and was eventually dismissed after scoring the highest 36 o� 43 balls.

Chittagong were depending heavily on Pa-kistan batsman Umar Akmal but he too failed with bat, making only one from eight deliver-ies and his departure made things worse for the home side.

Naeem Islam remained unbeaten on 16 as Chittagong only added 27 runs in their last � ve overs. Shakib and left-arm spinner Ara-fat Sunny picked up two wickets each for the bowling side. l

28DT Sport

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

Ballon d’OrCristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, NeymarWomen’s World player of the year

Carli Lloyd, Aya Miyama, Celia SasicPuskas award

Alessandro Florenzi, Wendell Lira, Lionel MessiMen’s World coach of the year

Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola, Jorge SampaoliWomen’s World coach of the year

Jill Ellis, Mark Sampson, Norio Sasaki

SPANISH KING’S CUP Barcelona v CF Villanovense (III) Barakaldo Club (III) v Valencia Rayo Vallecano v Getafe Real Betis v Sporting Gijon Almeria (II) v Celta Vigo UD Logrones (III) v Sevilla UE Llagostera (II) v Deportivo Coruna Cadiz (III) v Real Madrid

Sassuolo 1-1 FiorentinaFloccari 42 Valero 5

Napoli 2-1 Inter MilanHiguain 2, 62 Ljajic 67

RESULTS

Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain (R) shoots to score during their Italian Serie A match against Inter Milan at the San Paolo stadium on Monday AFP

Higuain at the double as Napoli go topn AFP, Milan

Gonzalo Higuain struck in either half as Na-poli toppled 10-man Inter Milan 2-1 in a spec-tacular clash at the San Paolo to go top of the Serie A table on Monday.

Inter travelled south for the � rst big away test of what they hope will be a title-winning campaign, but with just a two-point cushion on a Napoli side whose last defeat came on the opening day of the season.

Inter were shell-shocked by the lightning start of Napoli and their hopes of staying top su� ered a blow when Yuto Nagatomo saw red a minute before the interval. Higuain and Napoli’s players milked the applause at an ap-preciative San Paolo and the Argentina striker dedicated taking his league-leading tally for the season to 12 goals to the city and the fans.l

Messi voted La Liga’s top striker for 2014-2015n AFP, Madrid

Barcelona star Lionel Messi, the favourite to win FIFA’s prestigious Ballon d’Or title, was on Monday voted the top striker in the Span-ish league last season ahead of Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is the sixth time that the Argentinian has won the title in seven editions of the trophy given by the Spanish football league, with the prize presented during a gala ceremony in Barcelona on Monday night.

Messi, who scored 43 goals and was the catalyst for Barcelona’s run to three titles last season - the Champions League, La Liga and the Spanish Cup - was selected following a computer analysis of the players’ statistics in the championship.

“I’m proud to receive this award ahead of so many important players in La Liga,” said Messi.

“This award in particular I want to dedi-cate to my son Thiago (aged 3) even if he still doesn’t understand very well. Every time I leave the house he gets angry and asks me: ‘Papa, are you going again to score goals?’ This award is for him.”

Messi also won the vote for the best strik-er following a poll of the captains of each of Spain’s top � ight sides.

Barcelona’s Claudio Bravo was voted the best goalkeeper and Luis Enrique top coach while Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez were named best defender and mid� elder respectively.

Valencia’s Algerian mid� elder So� ane Feghouli was voted the top African player and Barcelona’s Brazilian striker Neymar, the best player from the American continent.

Real Madrid’s Portuguese star Ronaldo, who scored the most La Liga goals last season with 48, won the publics’ choice award. l

Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar are Ballon d’Or nomineesn Reuters, London

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will go head-to-head once again for the title of world’s best footballer after being short-list-ed along with Neymar on Monday for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or.

For the seventh time in eight years, the dy-namic duo of Barcelona’s Messi and Real Ma-drid’s Ronaldo are expected to � ll the top two places on the podium in Zurich in January for the coveted accolade of being the year’s lead-ing player. Ronaldo, too, has 48 to his name for club and country in 2015 but Real’s fortunes have slumped and his protests on the chat show beat that he is still the number one have held just a little less conviction than usual.

Yet on his present scintillating form, Bra-zilian Neymar, Messi’s partner in destruction along with Luis Suarez at Barca, has a claim on being the equal of either of them.

The Ballon d’Or vote has been made by na-tional team coaches and captains and lead-ing journalists, with the winner being an-nounced at a ceremony in Zurich on Jan. 11.

Luis Enrique, who coaches Messi and Neymar at Barcelona, heads the shortlist for the coach of year award, along with Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola and Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli.l

Villanovense eyeing Cup upset at Barcan Reuters, Barcelona

Villanovense celebrated like they had won the Champions League when they were drawn against holders Barcelona in the last 32 of the King’s Cup and the third-tier side are still in with a chance of pulling o� an up-set after a goalless � rst leg.

Barca coach Luis Enrique � elded a sec-ond-string team for October’s � rst encounter in the small town of Villanueva de la Serena in Spain’s Extremadura region - birthplace of New York Knicks point guard Jose Manuel Calderon - and Villanovense held the Spanish and European champions.

If they can grab an away goal in today’s return at the Nou Camp, they may just be able to hold on and become the latest side to down one of La Liga’s big beasts in the do-mestic Cup competition.

Luis Enrique is again likely to rest most of his � rst-choice players, including prolif-ic attacking trio Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, but may hold some of them in reserve in case Barca struggle.

The draw in the � rst leg prompted suggestions they lack quality among their reserve players, with forward Munir el Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez coming in for particular criticism.

Stuttering Real, who returned to winning ways with a 2-0 La Liga victory at Eibar on Sunday, play at third-tier Cadiz today. l

La Liga season 2014-15’s best striker Lionel Messi (C) poses alongside the other winners

Sport 29D

T

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

Channel 92:00PMBangladesh Premier LeagueComilla Victorians v Dhaka Dynamites6:30PMChittagong Vikings v Sylhet Super Stars Sony Six7:00 PMChampions Tennis LeagueRaipur v Punjab 10:30 PMRAM Slam T20 ChallengeWarriors v Nashua Cape Cobras

Star Sports 41:00 PMInternational Premier Tennis League Singapore Slammers v UAE Royals 4:30 PMIndian Aces v Japan WarriorsTen Sports 12:00 AMFrench Ligue 1AS Monaco v SM Caen 2:00 AMLOSC Lille SA v AS Saint-Etienne Ten HD1:50 AMCapital One CupSouthampton v Liverpool

DAY’S WATCH

England players pose with the trophy after their third T20I against Pakistan at the Sharjah Cricket stadium in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on Monday AP

Australia turn to Coulter-Nile, Pattinson for Windies openern AFP, Adelaide

Australia yesterday turned to James Pattin-son and Nathan Coulter-Nile to replenish their diminishing fast bowling ranks for next week’s opening Test against the West Indies.

Selectors named the pace duo in a 12-man squad for the December 10-14 Hobart Test following a stress fracture foot injury to Mitchell Starc on top of the recent retirement of Mitchell Johnson.

Pattinson, 25, played the last of his 13

Tests against South Africa in March 2014 with his career stalled by chronic back and hamstring issues.

Coulter-Nile, 28, has been included de-spite not playing any domestic She� eld Shield matches so far this summer because of a shoulder injury.Australia - David Warner, Joe Burns, Steve Smith (C), Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, Peter Nevill, Peter Siddle, Josh Ha-zlewood, James Pattinson, Nathan Lyon, Na-than Coulter-Nile. l

England’s T20 progress ‘exciting’: Morgann AFP, Sharjah

England Twenty20 captain Eoin Morgan yes-terday described his team’s progress in the shortest form of the game as “pretty excit-ing” but refused to get carried away despite sweeping Pakistan 3-0.

England won the third and � nal match in a thrilling Super Over � nish after the regula-tion match was tied in Sharjah on Monday.

The victory lifted England from a pre-se-ries eighth position to fourth in the world Twenty20 rankings.

“I think we’re still in the development stage,” said Morgan. “But it’s pretty exciting, the acceleration of our learning curve is hap-pening quite quickly because we’re winning, we’re growing in con� dence, building mo-mentum.

“We’re learning as much as we can from each other as opposed to back-tracking and learning from opposition the whole time.”

England had a miserable World Twenty20 competition in 2014 - losing three of their four games - and were also ousted in the � rst round of the 50-over World Cup this year.

But since then there have been signs of a transformation, said Morgan, who is also England’s one-day international captain.

“Not to get too carried away, I think this

is the start of something. We’ve built a great base to start on, guys are contributing to per-formances all the time and it’s not easy to do when you’ve such a young side,” he said.

“When we started at the beginning of the summer, I reckon we had � ve guys who’d played less than 10 games. Hopefully this time next year they’ll have played 30.

“It’s important we keep these 17-20 play-ers together and get as much experience to-gether as we can.”

Morgan said his team would stand a good chance in next year’s World Twenty20 in In-dia if they do well on their tour of South Afri-ca starting later this month.

“If we can take this form into South Africa and on from there, who knows? We’re in the best position we could be at the moment. l

BRIEF SCOREPakistan

154 for 7 (Malik 75, Afridi 29; Willey 3-36)England

154 for 8 (Vince 46, Woakes 37; Afridi 2-19) Super Over

England 4 for 0; Pakistan 3 for 1England won in Super Over and

swept the series 3-0

n Showtime Desk

Universal’s Straight Outta Compton was such a huge success, Hollywood seeks to do the same with one of the greatest rappers in hip-hop history. Morgan Creek’s Tupac Shakur movie now has a new director in the driver’s seat.

It’s reported that Benny Boom is in to replace Carl Franklin. This is a very intriguing choice, as Benny Boom is known for directing numerous music videos and commercials. The company has worked for years now, trying to bring the late rapper’s life to the big screen. There’s more drama behind the scenes though. If the company doesn’t begin production by the end of this year, they’ll run into a snag with over the Tupac’s music rights. The rights will revert back to Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur.

They had chosen John Singleton to take the director’s chair initially. However, Singleton dropped out of the project back in April, while trashing the company for disrespect. Singelton went on Instagram to state, “The people involved aren’t really respectful of the legacy of Tupac.”

No one can really blame the established director as there has been more drama trying to bring this � lm into play. In late October, the producers had � led a $10 million lawsuit against Morgan Creek, claiming they had breached the co-production agreement by selecting a lead actor and setting a budget and production schedule without their approval. Things kept getting messier as the studio went on to sue Afeni Shakur over music rights to the � lm.

There seems to be no end to this drama, as artist’s integrity battles big studio cash grabbers. l

Showtime30DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

European � lm fest to kick-o� tomorrow

Driving seat of Tupac biopic

n Showtime Desk

A European � lm festival, featuring a total of 15 cinemas from European countries, will kick-o� tomorrow at the Star Cineplex, Basundhara City. The inaugural of the nine-day festival will take place today. However, screenings for general audience will commence from tomorrow. This is the third of its kind arranged by Star Cineplex.

The festival will open with Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan starring 2011 comedy-drama Win Win. Directed by Thomas McCarthy the � lm chronicles a struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach’s chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he has double-crossed comes into his life. Mesbah Uddin, spokesperson of the Star Cineplex shared details of the event.

Pierre Mayaudon, Ambassador of the European Union in Dhaka, Asaduzzaman Noor, Minister of Cultural A� airs and Mahboob Rahman, Managing Director of Star Cineplex will be present at the inaugural ceremony.

Rest of the � lms inclueds A Gun in Each Hand (Spain), Paddington (UK), Attila Marcel (France), Breathing (Austria), The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Sweden), Finn (Netherlands), The Agreement (Denmark), Lessons of a Dream (Germany), Vesna (Slovenia), The Legend of the Flying Cyprian (Slovakia), Before Flying Back to Earth (Lithuania), Bestevenner (Norway), The Hours of the Lynx (Denmark) and Simshar (Malta). All the � lms are contemporary releases, came out after 2009, except Frantisek Cáp’s Vesna, a 1953 � lm which is considered amongst the most watched Slovene � lms.

The event will conclude with the romantic comedy Vesna. Festival schedule is available at Star Cineplex’s web-page.l

Showtime 31D

TWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

HancockSony PIX 11:45 pmJohn Hancock (Will Smith) is a superhero who has fallen out of favour with the public. The clumsy Hancock saves lives but destroys buildings while doing so. This does not auger well for his reputation. When he saves Ray (Jason Bateman) from a train, the PR executive feels so much gratitude that he decides to revamp Hancock’s image. He takes him home to dinner and introduces Hancock to his son Aaron (Jae Head) and his wife Mary (Charlize Theron). Mary is very clear that she does not want Hancock in her life.Cast : Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman

How to Train Your Dragon Zee Studio 9:30 pmSet in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, the action comedy tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn’t exactly � t in with his tribe’s longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. His macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast, will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can’t bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the species.Cast: Jay Baruchel (Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III), Gerard Butler (Stoick the Vast), Craig Ferguson (Gobber the Belch)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireWB 3:20 pmHarry Potter (Daniel Radcli� e), his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) return to the Hogwarts School of Magic for their fourth year. This year the Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only students above the age of 17 can enter the tournament. But someone has entered Harry’s name for it. Will he survive the dangers that are to be faced during the event?Cast: Daniel Radcli� e, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

WHAT TO WATCH

n Showtime Desk

Amidst the presence of music a� cionados and cultural enthusiasts at the Army Stadium, the curtain rose on the 4th night at the 4th Bengal Classical Music Festival. The evening began with the director general of Bengal Foundation, Luva Nahid Choudhury, paying a special homage to the memory of the renowned artist Qayyum Chowdhury. The artist breathed his last on the stage of the Bengal Classical Music Festival 2014 when he suddenly collapsed while giving his speech. Luva Nahid Choudhury said that his death had stalled the art movement in Bangladesh and created a vacuum in the realm of culture, which was impossible to � ll. An eight-minute documentary, re� ecting upon the life and works of the late artist Nishorger Akiye made by Bengal Foundation, was screened.

The � rst performance of the evening was Kuchipudi dance by Guru Radha and Raja Reddy. The team also consisted of Bhavana Reddy, Kaushalya and Yamini Reddy. They performed Ganpati Vandana, Shivatandab, Krishnakalingam Nartanam and Natavar Tarani Taranga. The accompanists were Kiran Kumar on � ute, Lavanya Sundram on Carnatic vocal and Baanna Bhasker Rao with Mridangam. The festival memento was handed over to him by Enam Ahmed Chowdhury.

Following the dance number was a lecture on music and spirituality by Alimur

Rahman Khan. The second performance of the night

was by Ganesh and Kumaresh Rajagopalan (Carnatic Violin duet). They performed Raaga Mayamalavagowla, Suda Mridangam Talam Sriranjini Raagam, Raagam Talam Pallavi and Succharitra Raagam. R Sankaranarayanan accompanied the duo on Mridangam and S Krishnaswamy was on Ghatam and Utpol Roy on Tanpura. Artist Manirul Islam handed over the festival memento to the duo.

In the next performer of the night was by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, who enthralled the audience with Santoor. He performed Jog Kauns, Alap, Jor Alap Jhala and composition of Ruupak and Teen Taal. Yogesh Shamsi accompanied him on Tabla and Dilip Kale on Tanpuri. Professor Rehman Sobhan handed over the festival memento to Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

The next performance was by Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar. He performed Alap and Jor Alap, Jhala in Raaga Hemant. He also performed Thumri in Raaga Majh Khamaz. Subhankar Banerjee accompanied him in the performance.

Former chief justice Tafazzol Islam handed over the festival memento to Pandit Tejendra Narayan majumdar.

Ustad Zakir Hussain performed Teen Taal on tabla. His performances on Tabla mimicked di� erent kinds of sounds like that of Damru, Lahoree Gawt, conversation between two friends, rains, thunderstorms, etc. Sabir Khan accompanied him on the

Sarengi. The festival mementos to Ustad Zakir Hussain and Sabir Khan were handed over to them by Asaduzzaman Noor, the cultural a� airs minister and Abul Khair, chairman of Bengal Foundation.

The � nal performance of the night was by Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, who rendered Khayal. He performed Komal Rishabh Ashabori, Vairab Bahar and Thumri in Raaga Vairabi. Accompanying the artiste were Pandit Suresh Talwalkar on Tabla, Sudhir Nayek on Harmonium and Talha Bin Shams and Sameehan Kashalkar on Tanpura. The festival memento was handed over to him by Dr Shafquat Hussain Khundkar.

The � fth and last day’s performances will start at 7pm on December 1. It includes Dhamar by Geetobitan Bangladesh: Animesh Bijoy Chowdhury and troupe; Bharatnatyam by Vidushi Alarmel Valli; Surbahar by Irshad Khan; Khayal by Sameehan Kashalkar; Sitar by Ustad Shujaat Khan; Khayal by Ustad Rashid Khan; Flute by Hariprasad Chaurasia.

The audience can enjoy quality food and beverages at the festival from various stalls. There are stalls o� ering ICE Media magazines and books published by Bengal Publications, Daily Star Books and Prothoma. Aranya, Bengal Cafe, the Bengal Film Development Forum and BRAC Bank ATMs are also present at the festival grounds. There is a Wi-Fi zone just for the journalists.

The festival is organised by Bengal Foundation and presented by Square group, supported by BRAC Bank Ltd, powered by Robi Axiata Ltd. ICE Today, ICE Business Times, Bengal Barota as media partners, and Maasranga TV (Bangladesh) as broadcast partner. Also, Le Meridien Dhaka is the hospitality partner; Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay and Bengal Digital are associating the event. Overall support is provided by Perfect Harmony Production Singapore along with Blues Communications who are in charge of event management.

For the last three years, the Bengal Classical Music Festival has been the largest classical music event in the subcontinent showcasing performances from over two hundred classically trained singers and dancers. With the goal to popularise and perpetuate the practice of classical music, this festival will go on till December 2. l

The 4th night of the BCMF 2015 ends on mesmerising notes

PHOTOS: BENGAL FOUNDATION

Back Page32DT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

EUROPEAN FILM FEST STARTS TOMORROW PAGE 30

‘COST OF DOING BUSINESS TO FALL 16.5%’ PAGE 15

CHITTAGONG’S MISERIES DEEPEN IN BPL PAGE 25

Use of licensed arms in crime now a headachen Mohammad Jamil Khan

In the absence of proper monitoring, use of legally licensed � rearms in criminal activ-ities, such as mugging, robbery and even murders, has become a headache for the au-thorities.

There are also reports that some of these legal � rearms are being given out on rent by their owners.

According to Home Ministry sources, there are nearly 217,000 legal � rearms of various types in the country right now, all li-censed under the Arms Act 1878. In the last � ve years, the government has awarded 10 � rearm licenses of various types.

Alarmingly, the ministry does not have any comprehensive database of these � re-arms and hence there has been very little monitoring activities.

Even other law enforcement agencies like RAB and district administration o� ces have very little information on these � rearms.

A classi� ed statistic shows that the Home Ministry has received more than 3,500 com-plaints in the last � ve years in connection with the use of legal � rearms in carrying out criminal activities. During the same period, law enforcers have � led more than 500 cases in the same connection.

In addition, over this � ve years, a total of 156 licences have been cancelled and there have been recommendations from various law enforcement agencies to revoke the li-cences of 318 other � rearms.

InstancesIn October, ruling party lawmaker Manzurul Islam Liton shot a child with his licensed � re-arm during a programme at Gaibandha.

In April, Roni, son of another ruling party MP Pinu Khan, shot a rickshawpuller dead in Dhaka. He did that with his licensed � rearm.

Two years ago, the investigators of Milki murder case found out that the prime accused had a licensed � rearm. Interestingly, the fam-ily members of both the victim and the ac-cused had six � rearm licences among them.

Requesting anonymity, a high o� cial of an intelligence agency said: “The biggest ex-ample is Narayanganj seven murder. Prime accused Nur Hossain and his associates had nine licensed � rearms among them,” he said.

RulesExisting rules suggest that anybody with police clearance and above a certain age can posses licensed � rearms by agreeing to pay an annual tax starting Tk2 lakh.

For legally having a shotgun, the applicant

must be at least 25 years old. The � oor age for having revolvers, pistols and ri� es is 30.

Another criteria allows a person to own a shotgun and pistol at a time, but not a shot-gun and a ri� e. There are also restrictions de-pending on the calibre of � rearms.

However, the alarming thing is that the authorities often show negligence while awarding � rearms licences.

Nasir Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Arms Traders Association, said: “In many cases we have seen authorities ignore law in awarding � rearm licences. For example, sometimes licences are given without prop-erly checking tax certi� cation.”

Recently, with the municipality polls due in a few days, police headquarters and the Home Ministry have directed district-lev-el law enforcers to recover illegal arms and check the statuses of legal arms. l

ManU raises £230,000 for Bangladeshi childrenn Tribune Report

Manchester United has raised a record-break-ing £230,000 to help Unicef save Bangladeshi children from drowning, according to the re-port of club’s website.

Louis van Gaal, his Manchester United � rst-team squad and coaching sta� attended the 16th annual United for Unicef Gala Din-ner on Sunday night.

Hosted by television personality and Unit-ed fan Angus Deayton, the black-tie event is the highlight of the club’s social calendar.

UK band The South, featuring ex-members of popular ‘90s group The Beautiful South, performed following a successful fundrais-ing auction.

“Money raised from Sunday night’s event will help Unicef to save children’s lives in Bangladesh,” said the report.

It adds that in this disaster-prone country, a child dies from drowning every 29 minutes; that’s 50 children per day, 18,000 per year – making it the leading cause of death amongst youngchildren. l

Facebook, Bangladesh to meet for cyber security dealn Tribune Report

Facebook authorities have agreed to meet with Bangladesh government to discuss a deal that would ensure better cyber security measures in the country.

“On Monday, I sent a letter to Facebook showing our interest to sign a deal that will help them ensure cyber security, especially in stopping violence against women. Today [Tuesday] they responded positively and showed their interest to sit with us,” Tarana Halim, state minister for post and telecommu-

nications, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.Facebook’s public policy director for In-

dia and South Asia, Akhi Das, replied to the state minister’s email, agreeing to sit with the Bangladesh government.

Akhi Das would be invited to Dhaka, State Minister Tarana said, adding that the meet-ing might take place on December 6 or 7.

The move comes at a time when services of Facebook, which has nearly 18 million us-ers in Bangladesh, is suspended in the coun-try based on security grounds, along with Whatsapp and Viber. l

Cars of a friendly motorcade on the BBIN route get ready to leave for the next leg of the journey from the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday. The motorcade started from India on November 15 and passed through Nepal, Bhutan and India before entering Bangladesh on November 28 through Feni’s Bilonia border point. The cars left Dhaka for Kolkata, where it is due to arrive today morning SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

BPL 2015

FIXTURES2PM, MIRPUR

Comilla Victorians (COV) v Dhaka Dynamites (DD)

6:30PM, MIRPURSylhet Super Stars (SSS) v Chittagong Vikings (CHV)

MATCH-1 MATCH-2

VChittagong Vikings

Tamim 36, Dilshan 18, Naeem 16*, Shakib 2/16, Arafat 2/27

Rangpur RidersSoumya 58*, Jahurul 47, Shakib 1*,

Sha� ul 1/22, Amir 0/7

Rangpur Riders won by nine wickets

111/820 overs

113/117 overs V

Dhaka DynamitesSangakkara 60, ten Doeschate 45*,

Saykat 15, Prasanna 2/23, Cooper 2/30

Barisal BullsLewis 101*, Rony 38, Mehedi 15*, Abul

1/22, Mosharraf 0/11

Barisal Bulls won by nine wickets

158/520 overs

159/118.4 overs

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com