n Abu Hayat Mahmud andKailash Sarker

Wholesale fruit traders in Dhaka will keep the shutters of their shops down today until 2pm as a protest against the ongoing anti-formalin drive as they urge the government to put an end to the con-troversial move.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Fruits Im-port-Export and Merchants’ Multiple Co-operative Society yesterday termed the drive a harassment for the traders and questioned the dependability of the de-vice Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 used by the mobile courts to detect formalin.

“We urge the government to stop har-assing traders in the name of the anti-for-malin drive. If the government does not halt the drive, we would be forced to stage a demonstration across the country,” the body’s General Secretary Md Sirajul Is-lam told a press conference at Badamtali Wholesale Fruit Market in the capital.

As part of the protest fruit retailers will also form a human chain in front of the National Press Club today.

Sirajul Islam said: “No trader in Bad-amtali market has ever used formalin

on their goods, but mobile courts of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute, among others, have been destroying our goods based on faulty results produced by de-vices that are incompatible for the task.”

On June 11, the DMP launched an an-ti-formalin drive in the capital, armed with the electronic device Formaldehyde Meter Z-300, which has been reportedly made to test the concentration level of formaldehyde in air.

“The mobile courts have destroyed huge amounts of local fruits, mostly mangos and litchis, and other various types of imported fruits, causing losses in several crores of taka to fruit traders,” Sirajul added.

According to several research insti-tutes in the country, such as the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Re-search Council, and agriculturalists, the Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 is an instru-ment to measure concentration of chem-icals or gases in the air, not in food items, and it is not used on food items in the US where it is manufactured.

Page 2 column 4

8 | PrescriptionVaccination is a very small but important part during pregnancy. Generally, vaccines that contain killed (inactivated) viruses can be given during pregnancy.

11 | Op-EdOn June 11, a math teacher from a Sunamganj school gave 48 used razor blades to her students and ordered them to cut their hands and legs for not doing their homework.

14 | SportLuis Suarez made his case for inclusion inthe debate over the world’s best playerwith both goals in Uruguay’s 2-1 victoryover England as he came back from injuryand instantly punished Roy Hodgson’steam.

***Colombia quali� ed for the last 16 of the World Cup for the � rst time in 24 years after Japan and 10-man Greece played out a dire 0-0 draw in Natal on Thursday.

15 | SportArgentina captain Lionel Messi believes coach Alejandro Sabella has to back his side’s attack-ing capabilities and include him among a front three when they face Iran on Saturday in Belo Horizonte.

***The bomb attack that killed at least 21 people watching a World Cup game in Nigeria has cast a sombre shadow over the African champions’ build-up to Saturday’s date with Bosnia-Herce-govina in Cuiaba.

3 | NewsBangladesh ranked 14th among the top 20 refugee-hosting countries across the globe and the country comes ninth in relation to its national economy, hosting 111 refugees per 1 USD GDP per capita (PPP), said the UN refugee agency.

6 | NationStudents of a primary school in Durgapur of Rajshahi have been attending classes under the open sky for � ve days as a storm left the tin-shed school building completely destroyed.

INSIDE

15

Fruit merchants urge end to drive against formalinDMP urges traders to call o� strike

A group of people in Aphi Nepal Para of Rajshahi’s Poba upazila set up a big screen and projector on bamboo structures in a pond to watch matches at night together. The youths took the initiative with the help of local authorities. The photo was taken on Thursday AZAHAR UDDIN

Goons hired tokill Shamim n Ashif Islam Shaon

Investigators came to know that hired goons had been keeping their eye on for-mer Bangladesh Chhatra League President Enamul Haq Shamim for at least three days before they shot him in a running car in the capital’s Dhanmondi on Thursday.

On that day, the criminals whose tar-get was to kill Shamim, but he escaped with bullet wounds, were waiting on three spots before he went out of his Dh-anmondi residence in the morning. One of the groups was waiting in front of his residence, another near Ibn Sina Hospital on Road 9/A and the third just opposite of intersection near Stamford University.

The criminals waiting near the hospi-tal shot him thrice and � ed through Road 9/A. They were keeping contact with oth-er criminals by cell phone, said a highly placed source at Detective Branch of po-lice yesterday seeking anonymity.

Detectives were checking some cell phone numbers used frequently in the area just before and after the incident,he said.

However, the law enforcers are yet to arrest any of the miscreants or master-minds.

Shamim, a member of Awami League central committee, told reporters that he was in the front seat of his car when three people on a motorbike shot him near his residence. He is now undergoing treat-ment at Combined Military Hospital.

Shamim, one of the few student lead-ers close to Prime Minister and party President Sheikh Hasina, was made a working committee member in 2012. He is known to be close to businessman

Page 2 column 1

Formalin detection method unscienti� cn Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Law enforcers in the country, particular-ly in the capital, are frequently destroy-ing fruits tested positive for formalin but a group of professionals and experts ar-gue that the way fruits are being checked do not conform to scienti� c standards.

The drive to stop formalin-mixed fruits from reaching consumers is praise-worthy but the method, which is not sci-enti� c, is contributing to waste of food

products and is possibly subjecting inno-cent vendors to � nes and prison terms, according to them.

Moreover, as these are being reported in the media, there is a possibility that other countries in the region will receive misleading information about the issue, they say.

Members of the group, including the directors of Institute of Public Health (IPH), Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN), Primary Health Care

(PHC), Food and Agriculture Organisa-tion, and several others, say they are concerned about the panic that exists among people over the presence of for-malin in food.

They attended a meeting on Tuesday at the IPH building to review the present situation and to sort out a way to remove the panic.

O� cials told the Dhaka Tribune that formalin was naturally found in food and

Page 2 column 1

8 | OLIVE OIL IS LOWER IN FAT

16 pages plus 24-page supplement Avenue-T | Price: Tk12SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

Ashar 7, 1421Shaaban 22, 1435Regd. No. DA 6238Vol 2, No 81

AVENUE-T | DON’T MIND THE DJ 9 | THE LIGHT OF ASIA, BORN IN BANGLADESH

EKRAM MURDER

Police to � le charge sheet before arresting key suspects n Mohammad Jamil Khan with Our

Feni Correspondent

Even though one month has already elapsed after the killing of Fulgazi Upazi-la Chairman Ekramul Haq Ekram in broad daylight in Feni, the mastermind and kill-ers have not yet been arrested.

Family members of Ekram and locals alleged that police are now planning to submit the charge sheet of the case with-out arresting the prime suspects.

Abul Kalam Azad, the investigation o� cer of the case and inspector of Feni

Model Police Station, claimed that the investigation of the case had reached its � nal stage.

Asked about the submission of charge sheet without including the names of prime suspects and mastermind, Azad, yesterday said they had already arrested the key suspects and mastermind of the case Jihad Chowdhury.

“Besides, we have arrested around 26 people so far and of them 16 gave confes-sional statement to the court confessing to their involvement in the murder.”

About Jahangir Adel and Jiaul Mister

he said the names came up during the in-vestigation and the e� ort is on to arrest

them but the submission of charge sheet should not be delayed as the mystery be-hind the gruesome murder had become almost clear.

However, Rezaul Haque Jashim, el-der brother of Ekram and plainti� of the case, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had urged the authorities concerned to transfer the investigation of the case to the Criminal Investigation Department but they did not pay heed.

Everyone of Feni has known about who the mastermind was behind the murder but police are yet to take any ac-tion, he said expressing his frustration over the progress of the case.

Earlier on May 20, criminals killed Page 2 column 1

That’s how you steal a show

I was eagerly waiting to see how England skipper Steven Gerrard reacts with his club Liverpool’s talisman, but the day’s

opponent, Luis Suarez. A loss in their respective opening games turned the � x-ture at the Arena de Sao Paulo into a do-or-die situation, and England knew their major threat would be the Uruguayan goal machine Suarez.

Suarez, who netted 31 goals for Liv-erpool in the last season, simply smiled at Gerrard while shaking hands after the national anthems were played. Gerrard in return patted his club’s striker back

Page 2 column 4

from Sao Paulo, Brazil

Rampant France run riot against Swissn Reuters, Salvador

Rampant France sparkled in a 5-2 mauling of neigh-bours Switzerland in World Cup Group E on Friday to move closer to knockout phase four years after one of their darkest days.

France, who beat Honduras 3-0 in their opening game, top the standings with six points and will advance if Ecua-dor and Honduras draw later.

Goals within 66 seconds from Olivier Giroud and Blaise Matuidi put France 2-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes at the Fonte Nova arena and on their way to a comfortable triumph on the anniversary of the Knysna bus strike at the last tour-nament in South Africa.

The diminutive Mathieu Valbuena Page 2 column 1

France’s mid� elder Blaise Matuidi (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Switzerland at the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador early today AFP

Police allegedly arrest innocent people and release them after exchange of money

Jun 21, 201410pm Argentina vs IranJun 22, 20141am Germany vs Ghana4am Nigeria vs Bosnia10pm Belgium vs Russia

WC MATCHES

Jun 23, 20141am Korea Republic vs Algeria4am USA vs Portugal10pm Australia vs Spain10pm Netherlands vs ChileJun 24, 20142am Cameroon vs Brazil2am Croatia vs Mexico10pm Italy vs Uruguay10pm Costa Rica vs England

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 2014

Khaleda to go to Joypurhat todayn Tribune Report

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will vis-it the northern district of Joypurhat today to drum up public support in fa-vour of their longstanding demand of election under a non-partisan interim government and protest recent killings and abductions.

The former premier will start her journey towards Bogra around 3pm from her Gulshan residence and will stay overnight there, said Syrul Kabir Khan, an o� cial of BNP chairperson's press wing.

She will start for Joypurhat on June 22 and address a public rally at Ramdeo Bazla Government High School at 3pm.

Earlier, she visited Joypurhat on March 24 last year, but she did not hold any meeting in the district town. She went there to console family members of those who have been killed in police � ring during recent clashes. l

50km tailback on Dhaka-Ctg highwayThe congestion lasted for 13 hoursn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong and

Adil Sakhawat

The downpour, which continued from the early morning till afternoon, caused a 50-kilometre tailback on both sides of Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazilas of Chittagong yesterday.

Passengers su� ered a lot because of the tra� c congestion.

Syed Zakir Hossain, o� cer-in-charge of Baro Awalia Highway Police Outpost, said the jam stretched from City Gate area to Mirsarai as drivers had to drive slowly because of torrential rain.

“Besides, unrestrained overtaking of vehicles and the under-construction four-lane highway are also responsible for the congestion that lasted for nearly 13 hours,” he said.

Police, however, appeared to be less concerned over e� ective measures for clearing the congestion as they were most-ly seen hitting on the bodies of the vehi-cles with batons and scolding the drivers, putting passengers to inconvenience.

Modhu Mia, driver of a bus of Shy-amoli Paribahan, sustained injuries in his head when a policeman hit the rear-view mirror with stick, said Abu Saleh, a passenger of the bus.

Like Madhu mia, several other driv-ers and helpers were also hit by police, alleged passengers and drivers.

Sub-inspector Dulal said they hit buses as unskilled driving and parking resulted in the tailback.

Besides, many Dhaka-bound ambu-lances were seen waiting on the road and relatives of some patients were also compelled to seek treatment in nearby clinics.

Subrata Das, a university student, said although the prolonged raincreated the tailback, inactivity of police added to the su� erings of the passen-gers.

Refuting the allegation, OC Syed Zakir told the Dhaka Tribune that they strived for clearing the highway.

I did not receive any complaint against policemen assaulting drivers on the highway, he added. l

War crimes accused Akram arrested n Tribune Online Report

The law enforcers have arrested Khan Akram Hossain, accused of committing crimes against humanity during the War of Liberation, from Rajshahi dis-trict on Thursday night, reported BSS.

Akram, 59, alleged Razakar com-mander from village Doiboggohati un-der Morelganj police station in Bager-

hat, was on run since the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) 1 issued arrest warrantagainst him on June 10.

“Akram was the commander of Doi-boggohati Razakar camp and we have found enough evidence against him that indicates his direct involvement in at least two incidents of crimes against humanity in Bagerhat,” Prosecutor Syed Sayedul Haque Sumon said.

According to the prosecution, Akram was directly involved in the Shakharikathi genocide in 1971, in which 42 people were killed and some were forced to convert.

Earlier on June 11, the police ar-rested Abdul Latif Talukder, Akram's alleged accomplice in crime, and the next day he was produced before the court. Latif is now in jail custody. l

Ra� ur Rabbi attackedn Our Correspondent, Narayanganj

Cultural activist Ra� ur Rabbi, also father of murdered Tanvir Mohammad Towki, has been attacked allegedly by the activ-ists of Jatiya Party in Narayanganj.

The incident took place when he was distributing lea� ets citing the call for not to vote for the criminals in Kalir-bazar area around 6:30pm.

Seven activists of Twoki Moncho were also injured in the attack. They were admitted to local clinics.

Indicating at a speci� c “in� uential” family, Ra� ur Rabbi said: “The incident proved that none is safe here from them.”

Sammilito Sangskritik Jote presi-dent Advocate Prodip Ghosh Babu said they were distributing lea� ets in di� er-ent areas in the evening. “Meanwhile, Narayanganj sadar model police station SI Mizan obstructed us and told that we were violating the electoral code of conduct by distributing lea� ets.”

Several leaders and activists of Jati-ya Party were also present along with police at that time. They engaged in altercation with the activists of Twoki Moncho. l

Formalin detection method unscienti� c PAGE 1 COLUMN 5due to natural variation, there was no � xed universal maximum residuelimit.

The permissible daily intake limit for formalin set by the World Health Organisation is 10.5mg, they said.

The IPH and the National Food Safe-ty Laboratory (NFSL) o� cials would brief law enforcement agencies to em-phasise that the formalin-detection kits and instruments should be cali-brated for testing the presence of for-malin only in food and not in the envi-ronment.

While testing fruits, the focus should be on detecting formalin in not the fruits but the water or spray used on fruits, said o� cials, adding that the sale of formalin should be regulat-ed and not be banned outright as it is an essential component in the � eld of medical and science.

The Dhaka Tribune has been learnt that with a view to reducing the panic

among people over formalin, the IPH and NFSL would perform a survey on commodities to generate data on natu-ral level of formalin and would release the data on a regular basis to assure people that formalin indeed occurs naturally in food.

IPHN Director Dr Md Shah Newaz told the Dhaka Tribune: “Wedo not want anybody to mix forma-lin in food but we also do not wantto see anyone subjected to punish-ment without getting the con� rma-tion whether he mixed formalin in a food item or it occurred naturally in that. In that sense, it is not un-true that the ongoing drive against formalin is not based on scienti� cstandards.

“We are trying to � nd a solu-tion which we will present before the Health Ministry. Concerted ef-forts of several ministries are a must to bring an e� ective solution to theproblem.” l

That’s how you steal a show PAGE 1 COLUMN 1and probably wished him good luck.

In his career, Suarez made the head-line on many occasions – may it be bit-ing an opponent in the league, scoring spectacular goals or stopping the ball with his hands at the goal-line in a World Cup quarter� nal against Ghana.

With Liverpool, Suarez was seen crying on the pitch after they lost the English Premier League title on the � -nal matchday. On Friday too he broke down into tears, but this time it was di� erent. It was a burst of emotion borne out of happiness. Happiness of scoring two goals for Uruguay in front of a crowd of over 62,000 and most importantly keeping them alive in the World Cup. The win moved Uruguay to a great position of reaching the knock-outs while for England it remains a far-fetched dream.

After Suarez’s season with Liverpool ended he started to experience pain and discomfort in his knee and opted for knee surgery at the end of May that

kept him out of Uruguay’s � nal quali-� ers, training sessions, and their open-ing-round match against Costa Rica which they lost 3-1.

His presence and movement in the � eld is a constant threat to the oppo-nent and a half-� t Suarez was enough to seal the deal against England, where he has half a dozen of his club mates.

The stadium, packed with support for the South Americans, erupted upon hearing the striker’s name in the line-up who did not disappoint at all. A cleverly taken corner nearly sneaked through the near post in the opening minutes as Joe Hart’s quick re� ex came to the rescue, but Hart was left with no chance when the Uruguayan’s calm header was placed across with perfec-tion a few minutes later.

England did crawl back in the game courtesy of Wayne Rooney’s � rst World Cup strike, but with Suarez on the pitch Uruguay had every chance of restoring the lead. In the end it was the English captain Gerrard culpable again as, not

for the � rst time on the big occasion this season, a mistake in mid� eld has cost his side dear (an attempted header from the English captain which saw the ball brushing his head and fall perfectly onto the path of Suarez) as Suarez showed no mercy in unleashing a powerful and pin-point strike to beat the onrushing Hart.

“This is incredible. I had told my team-mates that I had a dream of scor-ing two goals in this match,” said Su-arez who was visibly emotional after the result. “We had to win this match and we did it playing like Uruguay does in these kind of games. Now we have to think about Italy, another very impor-tant rival.”

“This victory is for all those people who said so many bad things about the team, it’s for them.”

No other Uruguayan player has scored more goals for the national side than Suarez who took his tally to 41 on Friday and only 27 years old now, it can safely be said there are many more to come. l

Police to � le charge sheet before arresting key suspects PAGE 1 COLUMN 4Fulgazi Upazila ruling party-backed Chairman Ekramul Haque on the acad-emy road of Feni.

The role of police came under ques-tion as the murder took place within the close proximity of a petrol team of Feni Model police station.

After the incident, police have so far been able to arrest 26 people but district Awami League Joint Secretary Jahangir Adel and Jubo League leader Jiaul Haque Mister whose names came to the fore after the murder have not yet been arrested.

Family members and some locals said Adel and Mister were still roaming around the city even after their involve-ment was proved in the investigation.

Police have only issued red alert on the bordering areas only to help them � ee into the neighbouring country, they said.

They also said police are not arrest-ing them as Adel and Mister are close aides of ruling party lawmaker Nizam Uddin Hazari, who is also the general secretary of Feni district Awami League.

Meanwhile, police are alleged to be arresting innocent people in the name of arresting suspects in Ekram murder case and releasing them soon after in exchange for money.

If the family fails to ful� ll the de-mands of police the arrestees are then placed on remand and forced to confess to their involvement in the murder.

Fazlul Haque, a local businessper-

son of Feni, told the Dhaka Tribune that police had arrested his two sons Nayan, 16, and Paban, 18.

Both Nayan and Paban completed Secondary School Certi� cate exams from Zia Academy. Fazul claims that police � rst arrested Nayan and as he failed to pay the money police de-manded they arrested Paban without any reason.

However, police have � nally given assurance to us that they would release Nayan and Paban later, said Fazlul.

Paritosh Gosh, superintendent of po-lice of Feni, said that police were doing their duty with full responsibility and honesty. “We have progressed a lot and investigation is underway and no one involved in the murder will be spared. l

Fruit merchants urge end to drive against formalin PAGE 1 COLUMN 2The manufacturer Environmental Sen-sors Company de� nes the device as a hand-held instrument to measure formaldehyde concentration within a range of 0-30ppm (parts per million) and a resolution of 0.01ppm.

After the press conference, Sirajul Islam demonstrated how the device was being used to measure formalin concentration in fruits and how the readings of the device could be mis-leading.

Unveiling the reports of tests con-ducted by the IFST on fruit samples collected from di� erent markets across the capital, he further concluded that the devices used by the mobile courts were incapable of reading formalin concentrations in fruits or other edible items.

Sirajul also noted that all consign-ments coming into cities, mainly Dhaka and Chittagong were regularly checked for chemical adulterations by the trad-ers’ associations.

“We have cautioned suppliers and farmers not to deliver formalin-treat-ed fruits. Any violation in this regard would issue a ban on the supplier, pre-venting them from dealing with the as-sociation and its members,” he added.

“On Monday, leaders from di� erent associations of fruit traders from across the country will come to the capital and sit for a meeting with us to decide on our future actions,” he said.

Chaired by the body’s general secre-tary, the press conference was also at-

tended by its Vice-President Haji Bairat Miah and former general secretary Sadhan Chandra Das, among others.

The Badamtoli fruit market, which started on the bank of the Buriganga River back in 1935, has been a primary source for most kitchen markets and roadside sellers in the capital.

On March 9 last year, the Badamtoli market association and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) took several steps to make the market formalin-free.

On Wednesday, the Dhaka Metropol-itan Fruit Traders Association called an inde� nite strike in the capital protest-

ing the ongoing anti-formalin drive. Mango traders and growers in Chapain-awabganj extended their support to the strike in the capital.

Meanwhile, DMP authorities yes-terday held a meeting with the leaders of fruit traders’ association in a bid to convince them to withdraw the strike.

The meeting, held at the DMP head-quarters, discussed the current situ-ation and the DMP o� cials asked the traders to resume their business.

“The traders at Karwan Bazar have agreed to open their shops from Satur-day morning,” claimed Deputy Com-missioner Masudur Rahman. l

Goons hired to kill Shamim PAGE 1 COLUMN 5Zainul Haque Sikder and has several businesses of his own.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune last evening, the chief of a law enforcement agency said they were surprised to see the promptness of the attackers. “They carried out the gun attack in less than a minute. They � red three gunshots. It seemed that they used to carry out gun attacks,” he said.

He said they had received CCTV camera footage from the Ibn Sina Hos-

pital authority following the attack. From the footage, they were trying to identify the three shooters.

“The surveillance camera captured the video of the attack, but it was not easy to identify the attackers through the video,” he said.

“The shooters were aged between 25 and 35. They did not wear any helmet,” he said. The o� cial claimed that the mystery behind the gun attack would be uncovered soon.

O� cer-in-Charge of Dhanmon-

di police station Abu Bakar Siddique said they are considering three issues for investigation --- enmity over any personal, business or political issues. However, they were giving priority to the political rivalry.

“We made no arrest so far, but we are conducting drives. No case is � led till now,” he said.

Seeking anonymity, a DB o� cial said they came to know that Shamim had political feud with the family of a lawmaker in Shariatpur.

The MP along with his family was preparing and creating grounds to make one of their members an as-pirant for the next parliamentaryelections.

Shamim was also thinking of com-peting in the polls. Moreover, Shamim’s men won the chairman and vice-chair-man posts in the upazila polls.

“But we are yet to be sure if that feud was the reason behind the attack. This is one of the angles we are digging out,” the o� cial said.

He mentioned that Shamim has in-� uence over the BCL as an ex-leader which can fuel feud.

Moreover, he has been involved with a business group and relation with the group had been worsening for the last two years.

There was also a feud over changing the ownership of a bank.

The o� cial, however, did not dis-close the name of the business group or the bank. “I think we will draw a con-clusion soon,” he said. l

Visitors look at di� erent trees displayed at the month-long Tree Fair in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The photo was taken yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Fruit importers leader Sirajul Islam speaks at a press conference yesterday, addressing the issue of the ongoing anti-formalin drive in the capital RAJIB DHAR

LEVEL OF NATURALLY OCCURRINGFORMALDEHYDE IN FOOD

6.3 - 22.3

16.3

26.9

2.3 - 3.7

3.3 - 7.34.6

2.5 - 2.7

Food type Level (mg/kg)

Processed Less than 20.7meat products

Source: Centre for Food Safety, Hong Kong

Rampant France run riot against Swiss PAGE 1 COLUMN 2scored a third � ve minutes before half-time after Karim Benzema’s 32nd-min-ute penalty was saved by Diego Benaglio.

But Benzema kept up a rich vein of recent scoring form as he grabbed France’s fourth in the 67th minute and Moussa Sissoko added the � fth.

Substitute Blerim Dzemaili ham-mered home a low free nine minutes from time and a volley from Granit Xhaka in the 87th minute gave the Swiss a second late consolation goal.

The emphatic win continued France’s World Cup rehabilitation as they seek to bury the ghosts of four years ago when a player revolt left their reputation stained.

Giroud, restored to the starting line-up, rose � rmly after 17 minutes to head home Valbuena’s corner for the � rst goal and from the kicko� , Valon Behra-

mi’s errant pass was picked by Benze-ma who surged forward to set up Matu-idi from the left.

A needless trip on Benzema by Swiss centre back Johan Djourou just past the half-hour mark brought a penalty but Benzema’s spot-kick was saved by Be-naglio and Yohan Cabaye crashed the follow-up against the crossbar.

Giroud ran deep from his own half on a swift-counter attack to set up Val-buena for the third and France were comfortably in command at halftime.

Paul Pogba’s exquisite pass with the outside of his boot allowed Benzema to turn and score the fourth through the goalkeeper’s legs before the striker turned provider for Sissoko. l

Switzerland FranceGoals scored 2 5Total shots 17 22Shots on target 8 16Corners 5 3O� sides 1 2Fouls committed 12 16Yellow cards 0 1Red cards 0 0Ball possession 57% 43%

MATCH STATS

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 2014

Khaleda likely to shake up BNP in Ramadann Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

After the reorganisation process of the BNP ground to a halt due to internal feud the party is now looking forward to the month of Ramadan to use it as a lever to put some life into the organisation.

The party that boycotted the January 5 election is now contemplating reconstitution of its committees, especially Dhaka city unit of the BNP and central committees of the Jubo Dal, Chhatra Dal and Swechchasebak Dal during the month of Ramadan, said party insiders.

A good number of leaders believe that the Awami League will not budge on the dialogue until the BNP can bring it to its knee through a strong street campaign.

They said the party had realised that dependency on the diplomats would not bring any positive result until the party could wage any vigorous street movement.

The party has segmented its movement into two phases – an issue-based movement just after the Eid-ul-Fitr and the oust-government-movement soon after the Eid-ul-Adha, said a number of senior leaders re� ecting the view of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia who shared

her ideas with them in recent times.Khaleda Zia herself also said she

would launch movement after Eid on di� erent occasions. She, however, did not specify exactly when she would do so.

“There is no alternative to strength-ening the party organisationally. We have strong organisational strength outside the capital but weak in the Dhaka city,” said Tariqul Islam, a stand-ing committee member of the party.

“As all the major movements including the upsurge against autocratic Ershad gained pace from the capital we are thinking of reorganising the Dhaka city unit BNP and its other associated bodies very soon,” he said.

The BNP failed miserably to bolster its movement especially in Dhaka during the pre- and post-January 5 election movement.

Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia at that time expressed her anguish and anger at the Dhaka city unit leaders and activists.

Realising the gravity of the situation the former premier took an initiative to reorganise the party but it fell apart midway through due to internal con� ict.

The BNP chief herself held meetings with several district committee leaders

and some district committees were dissolved too but the process suddenly stopped.

A senior leader seeking anonymity said programmes like hartal or blockade would not be announced after Eid-ul-Fitr excepting some issue-based movement programmes.

“We have identi� ed the errors and initiative has been taken to correct those. Though the reorgainsing process is going in snail’s pace it will gain momentum in the month of Ramadan,” he said.

The senior leader also said the BNP is a large political party and it always takes time to take a decision and its implementation. “We cannot take any decision whimsically.”

“Around � fty thousand of our leaders and activists are now behind bars and it will take some more time to get them back in our midst. Before we launch a movement we should also give deep thought to this point too,” he said.

A mid-ranking but in� uential leader said Khaleda Zia might � y to Saudi Arabia in the middle of Ramadan and party’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman is supposed to join her.

“Some important decisions on the reconstitution of the BNP are expected to come from there.” l

New gas reserve found in Rupganjn Aminur Rahman Rasel

New gas reserves have been found in an exploration well at Narayanganj’s Rup-ganj that is being drilled by state-run Petrobangla’s exploration wing Bangla-desh Petroleum Exploration and Pro-duction Company Limited (Bapex)

If commercially viable amount of gas is found for extraction at the site, it will become the 26th discovered gas � eld of the country.

“The drilling work of the well has re-cently been completed. There is gas in two zones (lower and upper) of the well area,” Bapex MD MA Baki said yesterday.

“The well’s drilling ended after 3,615 metres. The ‘login’ and ‘casing’ [meth-ods to determine gas reserve] process has recently ended in the lower zone, where the gas was found between 3,591 and 3,593 meter; while gas was also de-tected between 3,326 and 3,332 meter. Then we con� rmed that possibility of a gas reserve had surfaced during the log-in process,” he said.

“We are now able to explore gas in 4,700 PSIG [pressure per square inch gas] in the lower zone. But exploring gas from the zone will not be commer-cially viable.

“Now, we will conduct ‘drilling steam test’ [DST] at the well to con� rm the gas reserve in the upper zone,” he said, adding: “A drilling steam test is to � nd out how much recoverable gas the reserve has and how much it will pro-duce every day.”

He said the authorities were yet to con� rm how much gas there could be in the reserve.

The DST was said to continue for two more days before any conclusive results were on hand, the Bapex MD said.

“If the reserve is proven to be com-mercially viable, we will be able to add gas from this well every day,” he added.

Once the gas reserve was con� rmed, the authorities plan to set up a 6km-long gas transmission line to feed it to the national grid, Baki said, adding that there were also plans to dig several de-velopment wells at the site.

The cost of digging the experimental well, under the Rupganj Oil/Gas Explo-ration Well Digging Project was estimat-ed at Tk97 crore.l

BNP: Hold talks if CG on agendan Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The BNP standing committee member, Nazrul Islam Khan, yesterday said the party would not back away from its de-mand for an election under a non-par-tisan caretaker government even if a dialogue took place.

“The ruling party has to take initia-tive to resolve the prevailing political crisis, otherwise people of Bangladesh will settle the issue. The BNP is ready to hold talks but the non-partisan inter-im government should be high on the agenda,” he said.

The BNP leader came up with his speech after placing wreath at the par-ty founder Ziaur Rahman’s grave in the capital.

Nazrul said if the government failed to take any steps to resolve the crisis through talks, people would resort to tough movement under the leadership of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Attending a discussion at the Nation-al Press Club, BNP standing committee member Ra� qul Islam Miah said his party came to power three times with a clear mandate from the countrymen.

He maintains that writ petition is not necessary to run democracy in the country, rather people’s mandate is im-perative to ensure democratic system of government.

“The lawmakers got elected just get-ting 5% votes. everybody knows it. So the court order is not necessary,” he said.

The leader reiterated that the BNP would take o� ce again with a clear man-date of people. He said such an opposi-tion party came to the parliament as was always eager to please the government and shirk form making any criticism in fear of losing posts in the cabinet.

Regarding the attack on Chhatra League leader Shamim, Ra� qul said: “AL has to su� er the consequences of sponsoring the terrorists’ godfathers.”

He maintained that both the opposition and the ruling party men were at risk of the evil in� uence of these godfathers. l

UNHCR: Bangladesh 14th among 20 top refugee-hosting countriesn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Bangladesh ranked 14th among the top 20 refugee-hosting countries across the globe and the country comes ninth in relation to its national economy, hosting 111 refugees per 1 USD GDP per capita (PPP), said the UN refugee agency.

The report titled UNHCR Global Trends 2013 said Pakistan is the highest refugee-hosting countries across the world while Bangladesh is the 14th with 2,31,100 refugee people.

Pakistan had also the highest number of refugees in relation to its national economy, hosting 512 refugees per 1 USD GDP (PPP) per capita.

The number of people forced to � ee their homes across the world has exceeded 50 million for the � rst time since the second world war, an exponential rise that is stretching host countries and aid organisations to breaking point, said the UNHCR report released on Friday.

More than 2.5 million persons were forced to abandon their homes and

seek protection outside the borders of their countries, mostly to next-door neighbours.

The year 2013 was marked by a continuation of multiple refugee crises, reaching levels unseen since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. By the end of -2013, some 51.2 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result result of persecution, con� ict, generalized violence, or human rights violations.

The global � gure included 33.3 million internally displaced persons and close to 1.2 million asylum-seekers. If these 51.2 million persons were a nation, they would make up the 26th largest in the world.

Re� ecting a shifting international dynamic, Afghanistan, which in the previous two years was the world’s principal country of origin for asy-lum-seekers, ranked third in terms of new claims behind Syria and the Russian Federation. Among the top-10 countries of origin, six are experi-encing violence or con� ict – Syria, Af-ghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq and Pakistan.

“We are seeing here the immense costs of not ending wars, of failing to resolve or prevent con� ict. Peace is today dangerously in de� cit. Humanitarians can help as a palliative, but political solutions are vitally needed. Without this, the alarming levels of con� ict and the mass su� ering that is re� ected in these � gures will continue,” said Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The UN refugee agency said there was a sharp rise in asylum claims in 44 industrialized countries over the

course of last year, driven primarily by the crisis in Syria.

For 2013, the biggest increase in asylum applicants by region was in the 38 countries of Europe which together received 484,600 claims – an increase of a third from 2012.

Germany was the largest single recipient with 109,600 new asylum claims. France (60,100) and Sweden (54,300) were also major receivers.

Turkey, currently the biggest refugee-hosting country in Europe due to the Syria crisis (a registered Syrian refugee population of 640,889 as of March 18) also saw 44,800 asylum claims lodged last year, mainly from nationals of Iraq and Afghanistan. Italy received 27,800 claims and Greece 8,200.

North America received the second

highest number of asylum claims, amounting to nearly 98,800 in total. Here, however, the main country of origin of applicants was China.Canada, with its recent changes in asylum policies, received some 10,400 claims – half the number seen in 2012 (20,500).

The United States (88,400) has long been a leading country of asylum in industrialized countries, and in 2013 was second only to Germany in the number of applications received.

In East Asia and the Paci� c, both Japan (3,300) and the Republic of Korea (1,600) received higher numbers of claims relative to previous years. Australia (24,300) too saw a signi� cant rise from 2012 levels (15,800), putting it almost on par with levels seen in Italy. l

Minor raped in Sylhet, two held n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Two people were arrested yesterday for kidnapping and raping a nine-year-old girl in a hotel in South Surma of Sylhet.

The two were Humayun Rashid, 23, son of Ataur Rahman from Kuchai vil-lage of Moglabazar thana, and Juned, 24, son of Panki Mia from Ganganagar village.

Alamgir Hossain, manager of the ho-tel, was also arrested for interrogation.

Police rescued the girl, who was ab-ducted from Goainghat two days ago, from Birati Hotel early yesterday, said Sha� qul Islam Khan, sub-inspector of South Surma police outpost. She is the daughter of Nikhil Patra from Pratap-pur Nakshia Punji in Goainghat.

Acting on a tip-o� , a team of police led by Sha� qul conducted a drive at the hotel, and found Humayun and the vic-tim in room 223. Juned was later arrest-ed from North East Hospital area.

Quoting the girl, Sha� qul said the duo picked her up, took her to the hotel and then raped her.

She will undergo forensic test at Os-mani Hospital, he said.

We are also looking into the hotel manager’s involvement in the incident, added Sha� qul. l

Precautionary measures for MERS-CoV patientsn Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Following the detection of the � rst con-� rmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the country, the health directorate has taken an initiative to open an intensive care unit for MERS-CoV patients at the capital’s National Institute of Chest Disease Hospital (NICDH).

Health directorate o� cials have already asked the NICDH, which also set up a specialised ward to treat avian in� uenza patients in 2009, to prepare a needs-assessment and budget for opening a specialised � ve to eight bed ICU. However, no tentative deadline has been set for preparing the facilities at the NICDH.

The con� rmed diagnosis of the country’s � rst MERS-CoV patient was announced on June 15. The patient, who had recently returned to the coun-try from the US via Abu Dhabi, is cur-rently recovering at a private hospital in the city.

Dr Mahmudur Rahman, director of Institute of Epidemiology Disease Con-trol Research (IEDCR), said a techni-cal committee headed by the director general of health services would sit in a meeting next Tuesday to decide how an e� ective and advanced preparation programme would be conducted.

Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of Communicable Disease Control (CDC), told the Dhaka Tribune that authorities had been alert about MERS-CoV since last year, and have already trained lo-cal-level health o� cials about diagnos-ing and treating the patients.

More than one lakh Bangladeshi Muslims are expected to take part in the upcoming hajj, while thousands of expatriates working in the Middle East also face the risk of carrying the MERS-

CoV to the country.If anybody arriving from a Middle

East country becomes sick with high fever, pneumonia or respiratory ail-ments within 15 days of return, they should immediately seek doctors’ at-tention, specialists cautioned.

Before making the pilgrimage, hajis would be advised by doctors on pre-ventative measures against MERS-CoV, while the Saudi government has asked Bangladesh to send physically � t peo-ple to perform hajj this year.

The health directorate has plans to create mass awareness about the dis-ease, with the Ministry of Religious A� airs scheduled to meet on June 23 to discuss about MERS-CoV.

Dr Mahmudur, however, assured that there was no need to worry at the moment as the prevalence of MERS-CoV was now low. The preparations were made as advance precautionary measures, he added.

Globally, there have been 701 labo-ratory-con� rmed cases of MERS-CoV infection, including at least 249 related deaths that have o� cially been report-ed to the World Health Organisation.

WHO adviceBased on the current situation and available information, the WHO en-couraged all its member states to continue their surveillance for acute respiratory infections and to carefully review any unusual patterns.

Until more is understood about MERS-CoV, people with diabetes, re-nal failure, chronic lung disease, and immune-compromised persons are considered to be at high risk of severe disease from MERS�CoV infection. Therefore, these people should avoid close contact with animals, particular-ly camels. l

AmericasAsia and Paci�cEuropeMiddle East and North AfricaSub-Saharan Africa

Lebanon856,500

Turkey609,900

187,600

Germany

Fr ance232,500

Usa263,600

204, 300

BolivarianRep. Of

Venezuela

Source: UNHCR

Chad434,500

Egypt230,100

South Sudan229,600 Ethiopia

433,900

Kenya534,900

220,600

UGANDA

Others2.94

Million

Yemen241, 300

Jordan641,900

Ir aq246, 300

Islamic Rep. Of Ir an

857,400

Pakistan1.6

Million

China301,000

India188,400

231,100

Bangladesh

TOP-20 REFUGEE-HOSTING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD | END-2013(Total = 11.7 million)

Vendors selling � sh and vegetables in an unhygienic place littered with garbage that spilled out of a dustbin container in Maniknagar area of the capital yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Pakistan had also the highest number of refugees in relation to its national economy, hosting 512 refugees per 1 USD GDP (PPP) per capita

4 NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 2014

Transport workers block road in Jessore, commuters su� er n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Several hundred people travelling be-tween Jessore and Benapole su� ered as transport workers blocked the Jes-sore-Benapole road for about an hour in protest of the assault on one of their fellow workers during vehicle check by members of Border Guard Bangladesh yesterday.

The authority concerned closed the responsible BGB member after the in-cident.

Lt Col Matiur Rahman, director of 26 Border Guard Battalion, told the Dhaka Tribune that a BGB man was closed and attached to his battalion as he had re-portedly assaulted a transport worker.

He said the assault happened when the worker did not cooperate during ve-hicle checking on the rout. BGB had in-

formation that Indian goods were being brought into the country, which is why BGB was conducting the vehicle check.

“A BGB team of south-west region, Jessore was conducting the checking around 1:30pm at Natunhat on the Jes-sore-Benapole road,” the BGB o� cial said.

A high-rank o� cial of BGB resolved the situation after reaching the spot, he added.

Shahidul Islam, OC of Kotwali police station, and transport workers told the Dhaka Tribune that a number of vehi-cles remained stranded on both sides of the road as the agitated transport workers blocked the road. The block was withdrawn around 2:30pm.

When contacted, Azizul Alam Mintu, president of Paribahan Sangstha Sra-mik Samity, con� rmed the incident. l

1,500 Bangladeshis in Iraq vulnerable n Rabiul Islam

At least 1,500 Bangladeshi migrant workers living in the trouble-torn Iraqi city of Mosul are at risk, an o� cial con-cerned said.

“There are around 25,000 migrant workers in Iraq and 1,500 of them living in Mosul are at vulnerable,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Sec-retary Khondaker Showkat Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

A good number of Bangladeshis who took refuge in di� erent places, includ-ing hospitals, are in need of food and drinking water, he said.

“It is true that Bangladeshis in Mo-sul face trouble. We have communicat-ed with International Organisation for Migration. We are ready to evacuate them, if necessary.”

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Em-ployment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain on Thursday announced that the government was ready to evacuate Ban-gladeshi workers from Iraq.

Bangladeshis were safe in Karbala, Nazjaf, Kurdistan and South Iraq, he said, adding that no Bangladeshi was

kidnapped or killed in Iraq. The secretary said the Bangladesh

embassy in Iraq had shifted 51 migrants from Mosul to Kurdistan. They were kept in a camp set up by the embassy with the help of Kurdistan govern-ment, but 16 of them had � ed.

“If the situation does not improve, we will bring them back,” he said.

“We are in touch with the Bangla-desh embassy in Iraq. We talk to the ambassador every day.”

After taking control of Mosul, mil-itants had captured a major chunk of mainly Sunni Arab territory stretching towards the capital.

Meanwhile, the government had decided to suspend sending workers to Iraq until a safe and secure environ-ment prevails there.

Several thousand Bangladeshi work-ers were waiting to go to Iraq for jobs, but the government had decided to suspend sending these workers on se-curity grounds.

Bangladesh was closely observing the situation in Iraq and had stayed in touch with the Bangladesh embassy in Baghdad. l

New web portal for climate change research launchedn Tribune Report

A new web portal for climate change research, named Gobeshona, was launched at Brac University in the capi-tal yesterday afternoon.

Ainun Nishat, vice-chancellor of the university, chaired the launching cere-mony.

Gobeshona is a collaborative initiative focused on research on climate change in Bangladesh, says a press release. It aims to make such research more e� ec-tive by encouraging knowledge sharing and enhancing research quality so that reliable information are available to the appropriate channels in order to enable positive responses to climate change.

It features publications, ongoing research, events and opportunities for researchers. It also enables interaction between the researchers and other in-terested individuals and institutions.

The web portal can be found at www.gobeshona.net. l

Su� a Kamal’s birth anniversary observedn Mohammad Abu Bakar Siddique

Poet Su� a Kamal launched a relentless struggle against communal hatred, and her role in women’s progress in Bangla-desh was unforgettable, said speakers while commemorating this iconic � g-ure’s contributions on her 103rd birth anniversary.

Organised by Mahila Parishad, the celebration of Su� a Kamal’s birth an-niversary took place in Abdul Karim Shahitya Bisharad Auditorum at Bang-la Academy in the capital around 4pm yesterday.

The event’s theme was “Anti-com-munalism movement, democracy and Su� a Kamal.” Shamsuzzaman Khan, director of Bangla Academy, presented the keynote paper.

He said Su� a Kamal had been a � ghter in all the democratic and pro-gressive movements of Bangalis, dedi-cating her life in establishing humanity and spreading humanistic values.

He also mentioned her role in teach-ing children about patriotism.

Ayesha Khanam, president of Mah-

ila Parishad, presided over the event, while Maleka Banu, general secretary, read the welcome note. Rakhidash Purakayastha, joint secretary, also ad-dressed the event.

Ayesha Khanam said despite coming from a conservative background, Su� a spread the light of progressive struggle throughout the nation and she would remain an inspiration for the struggle in the future.

At the event, Justice Debesh Chan-dra Bhattacharya was posthumously awarded for his contributions by Mahi-la Parishad. His son Dr Debapriya Bhat-tacharya received the award.

While receiving his father’s award, Dr Bhattacharya said the reasons be-hind Su� a’s struggles were still preva-lent in many ways.

He said Bangladesh had yet to be successful in establishing a competi-tive democratic system and come out of communal hatred, which could still be seen in the incidents like the recent attack on Biharis.

The discussion session was followed by a cultural programme. l

Palanquine carrying bride was once a part of Bangalee culture which is a rare sight in the 21st century. The picture of palanquine bearers carrying a bride to the rythm of traditional wedding song was taken yesterday from Comilla city DHAKA TRIBUNE

Members of Mohila Parishad yesterday place � oral wreaths at the portrait of poet Su� a Kamal to mark her 103rd birth anniversary at the Bangla Academy NASHIRUL ISLAM

Bangladesh Embassy in Iraq ready to help repatriate workers n UNB

The Bangladesh Embassy in Baghdad is ready to help repatriate Bangladeshis if they are willing to return home as the overall situation in troubled Iraq has remained unchanged, said the Bangla-desh Ambassador to Iraq yesterday.

“There has been no improvement yet. So far, as we know, Bangladeshis are safe, and the Embassy will help if anybody wants to go back home,” Ban-gladesh envoy Maj Gen Rezanur Rah-man Khan said.

He requested all the Bangladeshis to contact only the Embassy o� cials for any help to avert frauds as some dis-honest people might take advantage of the crisis in the name of assistance that might put the Bangladeshi workers even in double trouble.

“We can send them back home only if they want to,” said Rezanur Rahman advising Bangladeshi workers even not

to seek support from any Bangladeshi fellow when it comes to repatriation.

He said the Embassy has opened 24-hour helpline (00946-7816601805, 00964-7814238351) for the Bangladesh-is living in Iraq. “Even my cell phone number is open for 24 hours.”

Responding to a question, the en-voy said the passports of workers were usually kept in owners’ custody in Iraq. “Even though, we can arrange sending them back home if anybody doesn’t have passport.”

Describing the situation, Rezanur Rahman said they were all in danger in-deed. “We request Bangladeshis in Iraq not to go outside their homes unless there is any emergency need.”

He also urged the media people to convey the message to Bangladeshis who are in touch with the media.

Belal, hailing from Habiganj, said there were 27 Bangladeshis in a group and they were living in an under-construction

building while six others live close to them. “Save us. If we were not taken back home, we would have to die here.”

Kawser Ul Haque, another Bangla-deshi hailed from Faridpur, said they had almost run out of their food stocks. “We have started taking one meal a day instead of three. We cannot go out. Ev-erything is closed.”

Sheikh Sabina Rahman, wife of Be-lal, said they were trying to reach gov-ernment o� cials through locals for bringing back her husband safely.

Bangladeshis from Bogra, Madar-ipur, Shariyatpur, Comilla, Jamalpur and Brahmanbaria are also there in the group who want to come back home.

Earlier this month, Sunni insurgents took control of Tikrit, Mosul and some other provinces in the Middle Eastern country. The troubled Bangladeshis said almost all Iraqis left the area as the rebels are dominating Tikrit, some 160 km away from the capital Baghdad. l

Teachers yet to catch on to creative question systemn Mushfi que Wadud

Teachers are yet to catch on to the cre-ative question system, which has been introduced in the Secondary School Certi� cate examinations since 2010, not to mention of students.

Suggestion books with the tag line “Question Bank Under Creative Ques-tion System are selling in the book markets, which means students are go-ing for these books when to get to the creative question system.

On the other hand, the system was introduced to lead the students to cre-ative thinking, cutting their dependen-cy on the notebooks and guidebooks.

But, even in the last four years, teach-ers are yet to cope with the system, which

is why students are being compelled to go for memorising answer sheets and swallowing in the examinations.

Visiting some book stalls at City’s Nilkhet Book Market yesterday morn-ing, Dhaka Tribune found many sugges-tion books with the tag line “Question Bank Under Creative Question System.”

These suggestions are comprised of possible questions in Secondary School Certi� cate examinations.

Salespeople at the book stalls said most book stalls in city were selling this type of suggestion books.

“There are also guides and note books stating that these are guide books under creative question system,” said a sale person named Sohel Rana.

Creative question system was intro-

duced in 2010. Students faced creative question system on 21 subjects in this year’s SSC examination.

Under the system, students are to write answers on their own but they are still memorising note books and guidebooks as teachers are making same question papers again and again, without showing any creativity.

Speaking to teachers and students, Dhaka Tribune found that a good amount of teachers have not yet been able to understand and adopt the system even after � ve years of its introduction.

“My teachers do not understand to answer in the creative question system and so I have got myself admitted into a coaching centre,” said Abdullah Rai-han, a class nine student of city’s Mir-

pur Shahid Smrity High School. Students and teachers said the con-

dition in the rural areas is even worse. According to the government data, a

good number of teachers cannot make question under creative question system.

The Education Ministry sent a let-ter to the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education on May 6 saying that 42 percent of the teachers cannot make question papers under the system.

Teachers also admitted that they do not understand creative question sys-tem.

Jatish Chandra Ray, a school teach-er from Lalmonirhat, wrote on June 15 on the Education Ministry-run blog for teachers “Shikkhok Batayon” that teachers were facing problems in mak-

ing question papers under the creative question system and requested some suggestions on the blog. Five teachers came up with some suggestions.

Abul Ahsan, a professor at Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research, said that if the creative ques-tion system had failed to cut student’s dependency on guide books, sugges-tions, this was meaningless.

“When there are guidebooks and suggestions, this is certainly not the creative question system,” he said.

He said teachers should be given intensive training on the creative ques-tion system.

Abul Ahsan also said sometimes teachers’ lack of sincerity is responsi-ble for not being able to make question

papers under the creative system. “Teachers prefer ready-made ques-

tions to save their time because it re-quires a good amount of time to make question papers under the creative sys-tem,” he said. “Strict instructions should be given to teachers to make question papers under the creative system.”

Director General of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Fa-hima Khatun said the directorate had given strict instructions to teachers so that questions were made as per the creative system.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Na-hid while speaking at a programme at a city hotel last week said some � ve lakh teachers were given training on the cre-ative system. l

Culture a� airs secretary injured in road accident n Tribune Report

Cultural A� airs Secretary Ranjit Kumar Biswas has been critically injured in a road accident in Boraigram upazila of Natore yesterday afternoon.

Ranjit’s bodyguard Ra� qul Islam and car driver Din Mohammad were also injured in the accident.

They were � rst admitted to a local clinic and later were shifted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital as their condi-tion deteriorated.

“Ranjit Kumar was � own to Dhaka by air ambulance around 6pm after an operation at the RMCH,” said Professor BK Dam, head of the RMCH orthopae-dic surgery department.

He said Ranjit received severe inju-ries on his head.

Fuwad Ruhani, o� cer-in-charge of Banpara highway police camp, said the cultural a� airs secretary Ranjit Kumar was returning to Dhaka from Rajshahi.

“Ranjit’s vehicle collided head-on with a goods-laden truck at the bypass crossing of Banpara-Hattikumrul highway around 2pm,” the OC Fuwad added. l

WEATHER

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 2014

PRAYER TIMES Fajar 3:43am Sunrise 5:10am Zohr 12:00am Asr 4:40pm Magrib 6:48pm Esha 8:16pm

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:49PM SUN RISES 5:12AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW32.8ºC 24.5ºC

Dinajpur Chandpur

SATURDAY, JUNE 21

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 31° 27°Chittagong 29° 26°Rajshahi 31° 27°Rangpur 31° 26°Khulna 29° 26°Barisal 28° 26°Sylhet 28° 25°Cox’s Bazar 30° 27°

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Heavy downpour cripples life in port cityDwellers face di� culties as low-lying areas go under watern Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The low lying areas of Chittagong city submerged in waist-deep water fol-lowing a heavy downpour yesterday, causing immense su� erings to city dwellers.

The showers began at around Thurs-day night and later turned into heavy rainfall and continued till the half of Friday, where Chittagong Divisional Met O� ce sources recorded 326.2 mil-limetres of rainfall in the last 24 hours till 9:00am yesterday.

Bishwajit Chowdhury, a meteoro-logical forecast o� cial for Chittagong city’s Patenga area, said rainfall may continue for the next few days due to low pressure in the Bay of Bengal and because of monsoon.

Most low-lying areas of the port city, particularly Bakalia, Chawkbazar, Agrabad, Halishahar, Kapasgola, Chan-dgaon, Shulakbahar, Enayet Bazar, Boropol, Muradpur, Sholoshahar, Ba-haddarhat and Probartak intersection, have been water-logged following the rainfall.

Motor vehicles were hardly seen in those areas while rickshaws were seen plying on the city roads. Commuters, greatly outnumbering the rickshaws, had to face immense trouble to travel through water-logged areas to reach their destinations.

Being a holiday, o� ces and di� er-ent educational institutions remained closed.  

AKM Saiful Islam, a resident at the city’s Halishahar area, told the Dhaka Tribune that water � ooded the ground � oor of his four-storey building.

He also blamed the poor sewerage and drainage system of the city for the water logging.

Abdur Rahim, public relation o� cer of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), said some areas went under water but the city corporation was working to solve the problem.

When asked over phone, CCC Mayor M Manjur Alam avoided the matter and hung up saying he would brief over the issue at his o� ce today.

Meanwhile, loading and unload-ing of merchant vessels in the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port re-mained halted till � ling this report due to the unexpected weather conditions, said Mohibul Hoque, director (admin-istration) of Chittagong Port Authority.

He also said other activities at the port jetties and yards had seized in the morn-ing due to the downpour, but the situation returned to normalcy at around noon.

A special weather bulletin of the Bangladesh Meteorological Depart-ment yesterday said under the mon-soon’s in� uence, the low-lying areas of the coastal districts of Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Laxmipur,  Feni, Chandpur, Borguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barisal,  Pirozpur, Jhalakathi, Bagh-erhat, Khulna, Satkhira and their o� -shore islands and chars are likely to be inundated by 1-2 feet height above nor-mal astronomical tides.

Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla and Payra had been ad-vised to keep hoisted  local cautionary signal number three. All � shing boats and trawlers over North Bay were ad-vised to remain close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice.

Fearing a possibility of a landside in the port city, the district administra-tion yesterday urged hill-side dwellers to take shelter in nearby school build-ings and cyclone centres.

Mezbah Uddin, deputy commis-sioner (DC) of Chittagong district, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had been informing hill-side people to evacuate the hills as there are risks of landslides.

“In the afternoon, a team from the district administration, led by Addi-tional Deputy Commissioner (Reve-nue) Abdul Quader, evacuated 200 families from the city’s Motijharna

area, a risky hill slope, and sent them to nearby school buildings,” said Dipak Jyoti Khisha, assistant commissioner of Panchlaish circle in Chittagong Metro-politan Police. l

30,000 yaba pills worth Tk1cr seized, two held n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Detective Branch (DB) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) yester-day morning nabbed two people with 30,000 pieces of yaba pills from a mo-tor parts store in Fisherighat area of Chittagong.

The arrestees were Md Akhter Hos-sain, 42, from Chandpur district, and Mohammad Azam, 50, from Chittagong district, said a DB press release.

A special DB team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Chittagong port zone Md Anwar Hossain, carried out a drive at Azam Mechanics on Iqbal Road at Fisherighat around 7am and detained the duo, said Babul Akhter, additional deputy commissioner of DB in CMP.

“We seized 150 plastic packets, each containing 200 pieces of yaba pills,

from them,” he said, adding that the pills were worth Tk1 crore.

The arrestees were handed over to the Kotwali police station and a case was lodged with the police station in this connection.

During primary interrogation, the arrestees said on June 14, Alam board-ed FV Sagar, a � shing trawler he owns, and travelled to deep sea while some people on another boat met him at a place far from Teknaf on the bay on June 16 around 10pm. They went away after giving Alam the packets, saying it contained motor parts.

Yesterday around 6am, Akhter handed the packets, which he had col-lected from Alam, to Azam, said the DB additional deputy commissioner.

Babul said they were looking for Alam. l

Upazila chairman among three Jamaat men held in Gaibandhan Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Police arrested three Jamaat-e-Islami men, including an upazila vice chair-man, in Gaibandha on Thursday.

Palashbari police station O� -cer-in-Charge Gopal Chandra said they had arrested Palashbarhi Upazila Vice Chairman Abu Taleb from the upazila premises in the afternoon.

Taleb, amir of Sadar Union Parishad Jamaat had been accused of obstruct-ing government activities and carrying out terrorist activities in many cases, he said.

Sundarganj police station Officer-in-Charge Mozammel Haq said they had arrested Jamaat activists Anwar Hossain, 46, and Md Abdul Bari, 28, from their houses at Panchgasi Shantiram village early in the morning.

Anwar, son of Ismail Hossain, and Bari, son of Khalil Akanda, had been accused of carrying out sabotage activ-ities in some cases, he said. l

2 die from electrocutionn CU Correspondent

Two persons were electrocuted yester-day in separate incidents in Chittagong city’s Rowfabad area under Baizid po-lice station and Patiya upazila in the district.

The victims, Md Nazrul Islam, 20, son of Sher Ahmed hails from Kel-ishahar area in Patiya upazila and Md Abu Siddique, 16, son of Jalal Uddin of Moheskhali in Cox’s Bazar, said police sources.

Nayek Abul Basar of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) police outpost said Nazrul was

electrocuted at Kelishahar Sadhon Market when he tried to switch on the generator of the market around 11am yesterday.

He was rushed to the CMCH where the on duty doctors pronounced him dead, said Nayek Bashar.

Meanwhile, A live electric wire came down upon Siddique in a � eld near his residence at Are� n Nagor under Baizid police station around 12:30pm, leaving him critically injured.

The youth was whisked off to CMCH where the on duty doctors pronounced him dead, added Nayek Bashar. l

Garment workers stage demo n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Workers of Cherry Towels Ltd at Mir-zapur in Gazipur staged demonstration in front of the factory yesterday follow-ing a remour that a worker died at the factory.

Following the vandalism and pro-test, the factory authority closed the factory.

Humayun Kabir, sub-inspector of industrial police, told the Dhaka Tribue that a labourer of the factory had fall-en sick in the afternoon. Later, factory authority took him to a nearby hospital from where a remour spread that the worker had died.

As soon as the news of his death spread, employees of the factory took to the street and staged demonstration as well as vandalised a portion of front side of the factory.

On receiving information, police rushed to the spot and brought the sit-uation under control. l

Looted goods recovered in Jhenaidah villagesn Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

In several drives, police recovered a huge lot of looted goods from di� erent villages in Jhenaidah Sadar upazila on Thursday night.

The goods were reportedly robbed from a number of villages following a murder in Maroli village in the same upazila.

Shallow machine, furniture, uten-sils, tube wells, ceiling fans, water

pumps and other domestic belongings were found in the recovered goods, among other things.

Jhenaidah Police Sub-Inspector Ziarul Islam said some followers of rul-ing party leader Advocate Abdul Malek robbed the household items for houses in around eight villages when an Awa-mi League activist named Serajul Islam Rintu Munshi was gunned down in Dighirpar village on June 10. An asso-ciate of Rintu Munshi was also shot at

that time.The items were seized from the

houses of ruling party activists Babar Ali, Lokman Hossain, Alimuddin Mem-ber, Moka Biswas, Jamal Uddin, Sa-hidul Islam, Nayeb Ali, Abdul Kuddus, Abdul Mazid and Selim Gazi. All are fol-lowers of Advocate Abdul Malek.

Police said � ve separate cases had been � led with the Jhenaidah Sadar po-lice station in this regard, and 47 peo-ple had been arrested so far. l

A brief spell of rain submerges a road in the port city's Muradpur area yesterday, causing tremendous su� erings to city residents DHAKA TRIBUNE

RMG factory � re leaves 20 workers injured in Ashulian Kailash Sarkar

A devastating � re broke out at a ready-made garment factory located at cap-ital’s outskirt Ashulia leaving at least 20 persons, most of them are workers, injured yesterday evening.

The � re was originated around 6:30pm at the ground � oor of ZA Ap-parels located at Saturia in Ashulia.

O� cials at the Fire Service and Civ-il Defence (FSCD) headquarters said six units of the � re � ghters from the Ashulia, Savar and Dhamrai stations of the FSCD, along with the workers of the factory, put out the blaze with their joint e� orts for over one and a half hours.

According to the FSCD o� cials, the police and witnesses, most of the

workers sustained injuries while they had been coming out of the four-storey factory in a hurry. The others sustained wounds during the process of dousing the � re.

Witnesses and FSCD o� cials said the � re was originated from a short cir-cuit on the ground � oor and it spread around in moments after it came in contact with a warehouse full of cotton and threads there.

“As soon as the � re broke out, it en-gulfed the entire building in moments amid heavy heat, thick dark smokes and � reballs leaving the workers into a frenzy,” said Shahjahan, one of the workers, and added: “Then we came down from the factory running.”

He said the � re gutted almost all the machineries and fabrics, cottons and threads of the factory. Mosta� zur Rahman, director of Ashulia Industrial police unit, said many of the workers sustained injuries as they had been running out of the factory amid panic. The injured workers were admitted to di� erent local hospitals and clinics.

“Usually 1,500 employees work in the factory everyday, but since it was Friday, there were around 150 workers on duties,” he added. l

Child theatre festival beginsn Our Correspondent, Barisal

A three-day children theatre festival started in Barisal city yesterday night.

Shabdaboli Group Theatre (SGT) or-ganised the festival at Ashwini Kumar Hall.

Syed Dulal, president the SGT, pre-sided over the inaugural ceremony while Sahan Ara Begum, convener of the festival and cultural organiser of the SGT, inaugurated the event.

The inaugural session was addressed among others by Abdus Sobhan Shikdar, principal secretary at the o� ce of the prime minister, Shohidul Alam, deputy commissioner, Barisal and Faruk Hossain, secretary of the SGT.

On the � rst day of the festival, “Kaljatra” by Barisal Shishu Theatre, “Upanok Samachar” by Bhor Holo Shi-shu Theatre of Bhola were staged and dances were performed by “Nrityan-gan”, Barisal. l

The photo taken yesterday shows that city dwellers throng a water pump of Wasa as crisis of drinking water deepens at Mugdha in the capital MEHEDI HASAN

The � re gutted almost all the machineries and fabrics, cottons and threads of the factory

Canal grabbing troubles thousandsn Our Correspondent, Pirojpur

Thousands of people are su� ering from water crisis as an in� uential Juba League man has grabbed and dammed a canal connecting the Boleshwar river for increasing the size of his brick-making business at Mothbaria upazila in Pirojpur.

Local people have also protested against it but Md Sohel Laskar, an Upa-zila Juba League member, does not seem to be moved at all by it because he con-tinues to keep the dam over the canal as before.

Tushkhali Union Awami League organising Secretary Md Harun or Rashid said Sohel had built a brick � eld around 400 yards away from Chhoto-machua canal a few years ago and six months back, he had built a dam over the mouth of the canal connecting the Boleshwar river and � lled a part of the river with sand at that place.

Fisherman Shahin Howlader said their four trawlers had become ex-tremely damaged because they had failed to shift them elsewhere due to the dam over the canal built by Sohel unbeknown to them.

Union Parishad member Afzal Hos-sain said: “Over 1000 families, includ-ing those of � shermen and farmers, depend on the canal and considering this, I requested Sohel not to build the dam but he did not keep my request.”

Chhoto Machhua villager Sogir Far-

azi’s wife Asma Begum said: “We are su� ering from water crisis because we cannot do our daily chores and even take bath in the canal properly due to lack of water in it.”

“We even formed a human chain protesting this situation [created by So-hel] but it has not yet borne any fruits.”

Tushkhali Union Tahsildar (land of-� cer) Gobinda Samaddar said: “The ca-nal and the river that Sohel has grabbed falls under Khas Khatian No 1 (govern-ment land ledger). I will write to the upa-zila nirbahi o� cer about this very soon.”

Tushkhali Union Parishad Chair-man Md Shahjahan Hawlader said:

“Grabbing the canal and the river are not the � rst allegations against Sohel. There are many other land grabbing al-legations against him.

He has been doing such illegal ac-tivities by using his party’s in� uence in the locality. I will raise this issue before the meeting of the upazila de-velopment coordination committee.”

Mothbaria Upazila Awami League President Ra� uddin Ahmed said: “So-hel is a Juba League member of the Upazila Juba League committee. The party will not take any liability for whatever land grabbing business he remains involved in.” l

Attending classes under the open skyn Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Students of Nandigram Government Primary School in Durgapur of Rajsha-hi have been attending classes under the open sky for � ve days as a storm left the tin-shed school building com-pletely destroyed.

The teachers are forced to teach al-most 200 students beneath a Krishna-chura tree in the school’s playground, or in the adjoining bamboo planta-tion as no e� ective measure from the government has yet been taken. No government o� cial visited the school either.

On June 14, a storm wreaked havoc on the school, destroying three class-rooms and the o� ce. As it was a gov-ernment holiday on the day because of Shab-e-barat, none was hurt.

Because of the monsoon, there are frequent rains in the area, compelling students to take shelter in nearby hous-es. They, along with teachers, also have to use the toilets of the adjacent homes.

The school was founded in 2008 with assistance from locals and teach-ers. It was nationalised on July 1 last year but the teachers are yet to receive salaries. The school also takes a leading position every year in terms of results of the students.

Meanwhile, guardians are reluctant to send their children to the school amid such a situation.

Fatematuzzohra, headmistress of the school, said teaching activities at the school was being seriously ham-pered and teachers were � nding it hard to continue delivering lectures.

“We are yet to receive any govern-

ment assistance. I call on the authori-ties to take measures in order to reha-bilitate the school soon,” she said.

Durgapur Upazila Education O� cer Gofran Halim said he was aware of the school’s sorry state and Assistant Edu-

cation O� cer Masud Rana visited it on his behalf.

“Higher authorities have been in-formed of this. The decision they will take will be implemented rapidly,” he added. l

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 2014

A Jubo League leader allegedly put fence along the bank of Baleshwar River in a bid to grab the river. The photo was taken on Thursday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Train stop in Jhenaidahn Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

An intercity train stop was inaugurated at the Kaliganj railway station in Jhe-naidah yesterday afternoon.

Lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar of Jhenaidah 4 constituency inaugurated the stop as the chief guest. Kaliganj Upazila Parishad Chairman Jahangir Alam Thandu, Kaliganj Municipality Mayor Mosta� zur Rahman Biju were

present, among others, during the in-augural session.

Motabbar Ali, the station master of Mobarakganj railway station, said there had been no railway stop of any intercity train services in Jhenaidah, although the trains from and to Khulna, Dhaka, Ra-jshai and some other important stations used to pass through the Kaliganj railway station. A long-awaited demand of the people of Jhenaidah l

Mirza Azam: Tough action against educational institutes for supporting militancyn Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

State Minister for Jute and Textile Mirza Azam yesterday said the govern-ment would take stern actions against those educational institutions which were patronising militancy behind ed-ucational activities.

He said after failing to get govern-ment permission, these so called edu-cational institutions had been set un-der the partonisation of those people, who have connection with militancy.

Later, the educational institutions register their students from approved schools from where they take part in public examinations.

These types of institutions pro-vide militant training to its students, he said, adding it is high time to take measures against the institutions.

The minister made the remarks while addressing a teachers gathering as the chief guest in Jamalpur district town.

At the programme, the minister urged teachers to dedicate themselves to nurture children as worthy citizens through providing them with time-be-� ting education.

He said the government had achieved nearly hundred percent stu-dent enrollment and dropout rate has reduced remarkably.

With AKM Fazlul Haque, deputy director of Secondary and Higher Sec-ondary Mymensingh region in the chair, the programme was addressed among others by Deputy Commis-sioner MD Sahabuddin and Principal of Government Ashek Mahmud College Sha� ul Islam Akando.

Acting president of Jamalpur district unit Awami League Advocate Baki Bil-lah and its vice-president Akiqur Rah-man Chana were present at the event.

The programme was moderated by Nasima Akter, headmaster of Jamalpur District School. l

Students of Sheikhpara Government Primary School take a class under open sky as their classrooms have been damaged by a storm a few days ago DHAKA TRIBUNE

Child dies after taking keroseneA two-year-old child who had drunk kerosene mistaking it for water died at Gaibandha sadar upazila on Thursday. Ontora, daughter of Ratan Chandra Sarker of Chapadah village, soon fell sick and was rushed to Gaibandha Adhunik Sadar Hospital, his family said. She however died soon afterwords, they said. Medical experts said that if anybody consumes kerosene in excess, it can cause his or her death, a� ecting the respiratory system. – Our Correspondent

Yaba haul seized in Cox's Bazar Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized 30,000 pieces of yaba tab-lets in an abandoned state at Teknaf upazila in Cox's Bazar yesterday. Teknaf BGB Battal-ion 42 Captain Abujar Al Jahid put up the value of the yaba tablets at Tk90 lakh. He said they had ran a drive on the bank of the Naf river at the upazila's Jaliapara early in the morning, when six to seven people ran away, leaving the yaba tablets there. – Our Correspondent

Listed criminal slaughteredA criminal who was wanted in at least seven cases was found slaughtered at a jute � eld in Meherpur's Damurhuda upazila yes-terday. Damurhuda police station O� cer-in-Charge Mashiur Rahman said they had on information recovered the body of Lijon,32, son of Yadul Islam alias Haba Faqir of Gopalpur village under Mujibnagar upazila at midday. He said Lijon might have been killed by his rivals following an internal con� ict. – Our Correspondent

2,970 bottles of phensidyl recoveredDetective Branch (DB) of police recovered about 3000 bottles of Indian contraband phensidyl syrup from a privet car in Kalihati upazila under Tangail yesterday. Tangail DB police O� cer-in-Charge (OC) Ghulam Ma� zur Rahman said they had signaled a private car to stop near Bangabandhu Bridge, but it did not go by and hurtled away. – Our Correspondent

NEWS IN BRIEF

Guardians are reluctant to send their children to the school amid such a situation

7Saturday, June 21, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World

China sends four oil rigs to South China Sea amid regional tensionsn Reuters, Beijing/Hong Kong

China has sent four more oil rigs into the South China Sea in a sign that Bei-jing is stepping up its exploration for oil and gas in the tense region, less than two months after it positioned a giant drilling platform in waters claimed by Vietnam.

The announcement comes at a time when many countries in Asia are ner-vous at Beijing’s increasing assertive-ness in the potentially energy-rich wa-ters, where sovereignty over countless islands and reefs is in dispute.

Coordinates posted on the website of China’s Maritime Safety Adminis-tration showed the Nanhai number 2 and 5 rigs had been deployed roughly between China’s southern Guangdong province and the Pratas Islands, which are occupied by Taiwan. The Nanhai 4 rig was towed to waters close to the Chinese coast.

Earlier this week, the maritime body gave coordinates for a fourth rig, the Nanhai 9, which would be positioned just outside Vietnam’s exclusive eco-nomic zone by Friday.

Wang Ching-hsiu, deputy director of Taiwan’s Land Administration Depart-ment, said Taipei claimed an exclusive economic zone around the Pratas Is-lands, but declined to comment on the rig deployments. l

Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi to slam governments Hindi pushn Agencies

Language has always remained an emotional issue, especially in a state which has seen violent anti-Hindi agi-tations in the 70s.

Now, the Modi government’s direc-tive to o� cials on use of Hindi on social media platforms has kicked up a simi-lar row with political parties across the spectrum opposing it.

If DMK patriarch Karunanidhi saw a sinister design in imposing the lan-guage on non-Hindi speaking states, AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa argued with facts and cited rules and regula-tions to demand modi� cation of the home ministry order to ensure use of English language as well.

Referring to the o� ce memoranda issued by the ministry of home a� airs, Jayalalithaa said it directed o� cials to compulsorily use Hindi, or both Hindi

and English, with Hindi being written above or � rst.

“This makes the use of Hindi man-datory and English optional,” Jayala-lithaa said taking serious objection to this.

Quoting from the O� cial Languag-es Rules 1976, the Tamil Nadu chief minister said communications from a Central government o� ce to a state or Union Territory in region ‘C’ or to any o� ce (not being a Central government o� ce) or person in such state shall be in English.

“In this context, while the o� ce memoranda have been primarily made applicable to government of India o� -cers and o� ces located in “Region A,” social media by their very nature are not only accessible to all persons on the internet but meant to be a means of communication to persons living in all parts of India including those in Region C,” she said. l

IHS: India nuke enrichment plant expansion operational in 2015n Reuters, New Delhi

India is expanding a covert uranium enrichment plant that could potentially support the development of thermo-nuclear weapons, a defence research group said on Friday, raising the stakes in an arms race with China and Pakistan.

The revelation highlights a lack of nuclear safeguards on India under new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while sanctions-bound Iran faces minute scrutiny in talks with world powers over its own nuclear programme.

New units at the Indian Rare Metals Plant would boost India’s ability to pro-duce weapons-grade uranium to twice the amount needed for its planned nuclear-powered submarine � eet, IHS Jane’s said.

The facility, located near Mysore in

southern India, could be operational by mid-2015, the research group said, bas-ing its � ndings on analysis of satellite imagery and public statements by Indi-an o� cials.

“Taking into account all the en-riched uranium likely to be needed by the Indian nuclear submarine � eet, there is likely to be a signi� cant excess,” Matthew Clements, editor of IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review, told Reuters.

“One potential use of this would be for the development of thermonuclear weapons.” No comment was available from the Indian government press of-� ce or the foreign ministry. Pakistan re-acted with consternation, with a senior aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying the news underscored India’s “established hegemony.”

“This is something that India has

been trying to develop for a long time,” said Tariq Azeem. “We don’t want any nuclear race. That doesn’t bode well for either country.”

Unlike Iran, India is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Trea-ty. New Delhi tested its � rst nuclear weapon in 1974, provoking internation-al sanctions that barred it from import-ing nuclear technology and materials.

It conducted tests again in 1998 that drew a quick response from Pakistan, triggering an arms race between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947. A civil nuclear cooperation deal with the United States, sealed in 2008, gave In-dia access to know-how and fuel in re-turn for a pledge - so far unful� lled - to bring in US � rms to expand India’s nu-clear power generation capacity. l

Ukraine to call for bu� er zone on Russia bordern Reuters, Kiev

President Petro Poroshenko will call for the creation of a 10-km (6.25-mile) bu� er zone on the border with Russia under a 14-point plan to bring peace to east Ukraine, according to an uno� cial copy published by media on Friday.

Ukraine says � ghters from Rus-sia and supplies of guns and oth-er military equipment have been coming into the country to sup-port pro-Russian separatists, and tightening control of the 1,900-km (1,190-mile) border is Ukraine’s main security headache.

Details of the proposal to create a 10-km bu� er zone, contained in a photo-graphed copy of the 14-point plan and carried in Ukrainian media, were not spelled out.

It was not clear if the whole of the proposed demilitarized no-man’s land would be on Ukraine’s side of the border or part of it on the Russian side. It was also not clear what the status of people living in border areas would be.

Acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval told parliament on Friday that government forces were now back in control of the border and there was now no possibility of military equip-ment being ferried in to the rebels from Russia.

Poroshenko, installed in o� ce on June 7, is under pressure to secure sup-port from Russia, as well as his backers in the West, for a plan to end the re-bellions in the Russian-speaking east and stabilise the country after seven months of upheaval. l

50 million and countingn Reuters, Geneva

More than 50 million people were forc-ibly uprooted worldwide at the end of last year, the highest level since after World War Two, as people � ed crises from Syria to South Sudan, the UN ref-ugee agency said on Friday.

Half are children, many of them caught up in con� icts or persecution that world powers have been unable to prevent or end, UNHCR said in its an-nual Global Trends report.

“We are really facing a quantum leap, an enormous increase of forced displacement in our world,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told a news brie� ng.

The overall � gure of 51.2 million displaced people soared by six million from a year earlier. They included 16.7 million refugees and 33.3 million dis-placed within their homelands, and 1.2 million asylum seekers whose applica-tions were pending.

Syrians � eeing the escalating con-� ict accounted for most of the world’s 2.5 million new refugees last year, UN-HCR said.

In all, nearly 3 million Syrians have crossed into neighbouring Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, while anoth-er 6.5 million remain displaced within Syria’s borders.

“We are seeing here the immense costs of not ending war, of failing to resolve or prevent con� ict,” Guterres said. “We see the Security Council par-alysed in many crucial crises around the world.”

New and old crisesCon� icts that erupted this year in Cen-tral African Republic, Ukraine and Iraq are driving more families from their homes, he said, raising fears of a mass exodus of Iraqi refugees.

“A multiplication of new crises, and at the same time old crises that seem never to die,” he added.

Afghan, Syrian and Somali nationals accounted for 53 percent of the 11.7 mil-lion refugees under UNHCR’s respon-sibility. Five million Palestinians are looked after by a sister agency UNRWA.

Most refugees have found shelter in developing countries, contrary to the myth fuelled by some populist politi-cians in the West that their states were being � ooded, Guterres said.

“Usually in the debate in the devel-oped world, there is this idea that ref-ugees are all � eeing north and that the objective is not exactly to � nd protec-tion but to � nd a better life.

“The truth is that 86 percent of the world’s refugees live in the developing world,” he said.

Desperate refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa have drowned after taking rickety boats in North Africa to cross the Mediterra-nean to reach Europe, mainly viaItaly.

Italy has a mission, known as Mare Nostrum or “Our Sea,” which has res-cued about 50,000 migrants already this year. Italy will ask the European Union next week to take over respon-sibility for rescuing migrants, a task that is costing its navy 9 million euros ($12.25 million) a month.

“It is important to have a European commitment there and to make sure that such an operation can be sustain-able,” said Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal.

The EU bloc has harmonised its asy-lum system, but the 27 member states still di� er in how they process refugees and in their approval rates for asylum applications, he said.

A record 25,300 unaccompanied children lodged asylum applications in 77 countries last year, according to UN-HCR. “We see a growing number of un-accompanied minors on all routes. We see them in the Mediterranean routes, we see them in the Caribbean route, through Mexico to the United States, we see them in the Afghan route into Iran, into Turkey, into Europe,” Guterres said. “We see them everywhere.” l

Tens of thousands vote as Hong Kong democracy ‘referendum’ kicks o� n Reuters, Hong Kong

Tens of thousands of people voted for full democracy in Hong Kong within the � rst hour of an uno� cial online referendum, a civil campaign that has sparked warnings fromChina’s Com-munist Party leaders.

Social tensions have steadily risen in the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 - with pro-de-mocracy activists threatening to block-ade part of the city’s � nancial district if China doesn’t allow opposition candi-dates to run in a 2017 election.

While Beijing says Hong Kong can go ahead with a city-wide vote in 2017 for the city’s top leader, the most far-reaching experiment in de-mocracy in China since the Commu-nist takeover in 1949, senior Chinese o� cials have ruled out allowing the

public to nominate candidates.Instead, Beijing insists a small com-

mittee of largely pro-Beijing loyalists choose who gets on the ballot, which would e� ectively render the ability to vote meaningless.

Even with the ‘PopeVote’ website functioning only intermittently after a cyber-attack earlier in the week, more than 50,000 votes were cast within an hour and a half of opening, said pro-de-mocracy activists who organised the ballot. Most of the votes were cast through a smartphone app.

Some 37,000 pre-registered to vote in the days beforehand.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong government said internet vote had “no legal e� ect” and there was no provision under Hong Kong laws for such a vote.

Around 200 supporters marched peacefully in the rain to Hong Kong

government headquarters, singing, waving banners and urging more peo-ple to participate in the symbolic call for full democracy at a critical juncture for the city.

Government and police sources have warned of the risk of other rad-ical groups joining or ‘hijacking’ the so-called Occupy Central movement, with police on Friday bolstering secu-rity around the legislature after a small band of demonstrators tried ramming their way into the building last week.

Pro-Beijing newspapers, Chinese of-� cials and Hong Kong business tycoons have strongly criticised the Occupy Cen-tral campaign, which plans mass pro-tests in the Central business district this summer, saying it will harm Hong Kong.

Activists say it is a ‘peaceful move-ment’ demanding a ‘genuine choice’ for Hong Kong’s 5 million eligible voters. l

UN warns Britain over child voodoo victims, sex touristsn AFP, Geneva

Hundreds of children are believed to have been kidnapped in Africa and brought to Britain for brutal voodoo rituals, a UN watchdog said, urg-ing London to do more to combat the scourge.

“We’re concerned about reports that hundreds of children have been abducted from their families in Afri-ca and tra� cked to the UK, especially London, for religious rituals,” said Kris-ten Sandberg, head of the United Na-tions Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

“They are used in so-called voo-doo rituals, and are also raped and sexually abused. The number of con-victions is extremely low,” the for-mer Norwegian supreme court judge said Thursday.

British police are reported to have recorded scores of cases over the past decade of children who have faced torture and abuse as part of witchcraft rituals.

The case of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie – born in Ivory Coast – brought the issue into the public eye in 2000 when she was killed by relatives who said she was a witch.

A year later, police found the dis-membered corpse of a Nigerian boy in London’s River Thames, believed to have been used in a ritual.

And in 2010, 15-year-old Kristy Bamu died after being tortured by his sister and her partner, both originally from the Democratic Republic of Con-go, who claimed he was cursed. l

Israel kills Palestinian teen in escalating West Bank arrest raidsn Reuters, Hebron West Bank

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian teen-ager in the occupied West Bank on Fri-day and arrested 25 people, pursuing a weeklong crackdown against Islamist militants and house-to-house search-es for three Israeli teenagers who went missing eight days ago.

Palestinian medics said Mohammed Dudin, 15, was killed in the village of Dura, near the city of Hebron in the West Bank. The Israeli military said troops had � red live ammunition when rocks and � rebombs were thrown at them during an arrest raid.

Israel said it arrested 25 people overnight in some 200 towns, refugee camps and cities in the West Bank, to-talling 330 arrests including 240 from

Hamas, the Islamist group Israel accus-es of kidnapping three Israeli teenagers who went missing near a Jewish settle-ment on June 13.

Dudin was the second Palestinian killed since these raids began.

Palestinians threw a hand grenade wounding a soldier lightly elsewhere in the West Bank, the military said.

Some 1,150 sites in the territory have thus far been searched, the mili-tary said, in its mission to deal a blow to Hamas while in pursuit of Gil-Ad Shaer and US-Israeli national Naftali Fraenkel, aged 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19.

Israel has also struck out at wel-fare organisations it accuses of aiding Hamas, a group that opposes Israel’s existence. Soldiers raided 30 such in-stitution on Thursday. l

A January 16 � le photo shows Syrian refugees walking among tents at Karkamis’ refugee camp near the town of Gaziantep, Turkey. The number of people driven from their homes by con� ict and crisis has topped 50 million for the � rst time since World War II, with Syrians hardest hit, the UN refugee agency (UNCHR) said on June 20, in an annual report released on World Refugee Day AFP

A Palestinian uses a slingshot to throw stones during clashes with Israeli security forces following a weekly protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near Nablus yesterday AFP

By increasing my protein intakeI will build huge musclesAdequate protein is essential for muscle repair and maintenance. However, every gram of dietary protein is not converted to a gram of muscle.

Consuming more protein than your body requirescan result in the excess being stored as fat if your overall kilo joule intake exceeds energy expenditure. Without the appropriate strength training regime your body will not automatically convert the protein to muscle. So if you want to increase your muscle mass, combine a well-balanced diet with an appropriate strength training program.

Bananas are loaded with fatBananas are high in energy-giving carbohydrates and low

in fat. They are a good source of � bre, potassium and vitamin C. Some people believe they are high in fat because ofthe creamy texture and sweet taste of the perfectlyripened banana. However, once

you dip banana in batter, deep fry it and call it a banana fritter – well that’s a di� erent story! l

Vaccination during pregnancy

n Dr Meherun Nessa, Gynaecologist

Vaccination is a very small but important part during pregnan-cy. Generally, vaccines that contain killed (inactivated) viruses can be given during pregnancy. Vaccines

that contain live viruses aren’t recom-

mended for pregnant women.

Two vaccines are routinely recommended during pregnancy:l Flu (in� uenza) shot:  The � u shot is

recommended for women who are pregnant during � u season – typical-ly November through March. The � u shot is made from an inactivated vi-rus, so it’s safe for both you and your baby. Avoid the nasal spray vaccine, which is made from a live virus.

l Tetanus toxoid, reduced diphthe-ria toxoid and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine:  One dose of Tdap vaccine is recommended during each pregnancy to protect your newborn from whooping cough (pertussis), regardless of when you had your last Tdap or tetanus-diph-theria (Td) vaccination. Ideally, the vaccine should be given between 27 and 36 weeks of pregnancy.

Getting the � u shot and the Tdap vaccine during pregnancy can protect you from infection and can also help protect your baby after birth before he or she can be vaccinated. This is important because � u and whooping cough can be particularly dangerous for infants.

If you’re traveling abroad or you’re at increased risk of certain infections, your health care provider might also recommend other vaccines during pregnancy – such as hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines.

Certain vaccines should generally be avoided during pregnancy, including: Varicella (chickenpox) Human papillomavirus Measles, mumps and rubella ZosterIf you’re planning a pregnancy, talk to your health care provider about any vaccines you might need beforehand. Live vaccines should be given at least a month before conception. l

‘Growing pain’ nothing to worry, easy to handleGrowing pain is often described as an ache or throb in the legs – mostly in the front of the thighs, the calves, or behind the knees. Growing pain is common in pre-school and school-going children. Growing pain tends to a� ect both legs, and occurs at night, and may even wake a child up n Dr Israt Shormy

Although this pain is called growing pain, there’s no evidence that growth hurts. Growing pain may be linked to a low pain threshold. It usually

a� ects pre-school and school-age chil-dren.

It is slightly more common in girls than in boys. Researchers thought run-ning, climbing, or jumping during the

day might increase the risk of leg pain at night. Moving the legs does not make the pain any better or worse.There is no pain in the joints.

How it presentsGrowing pain usually causes aching or throbbing feeling in the legs. This of-ten occurs in the front of the thighs, the calves, or behind the knees. Usually both legs hurt. This pain is known as “grow-

ing pain,” and it a� ects about one in 10 children. The pain doesn’t occur every day. It comes and goes. Growing pain of-ten strikes in the late afternoon or early evening, and disappears by the morning. Pain worsens through the night, especial-ly at bedtime. Sometimes the pain awak-ens a child in the middle of the night.

Growing pain does not cause chil-dren to limp, nor makes it hard for them to run or play normally. If your child is limping, complaining of pain during the day, feels ill, or if his leg is sore, then you should consult your pe-diatrician, as your child may be injured or have an infection.

Cause is unknownThough the exact cause of growth pain is unknown, it may be linked to several things, including tiredness in the mus-cles, poor posture, or stress, but each of these suspected causes is not present in every child who su� ers from grow-ing pain. Growing pains are not caused by bone growth, and will normally end by the teen years. There’s no evidence that a child’s growth is painful. And growing pains don’t usually happen where growth is occurring or during times of rapid growth.

No specific treatmentThere’s no speci� c treatment for grow-ing pain. You can make your child more comfortable by putting a warm heating pad on the sore muscles, and massage

them. Growing pain does not cause other problems, and it does not a� ect growth. Growing pain often gets bet-ter on their own within a year or two. And if it does not go away completely in a year or so, it often becomes less painful. In the meantime, you can help ease your child’s discomfort with self-care measures, such as massaging your child’s legs. Some things that may help to decrease the pain include:

Massage the area. Reassure the child that the pain

will be gone by morning. Stretch the muscles in the legs or

the arms. Place a heating pad or warm, wet

towel on the area. Give your child a warm bath. Give ibuprofen or acetamino-

phen. Don’t tell your child that the pain

is caused by playing or growing, as the child may become afraid of both.

 See your doctor if

Intense pain. Pain that lasts through the morn-

ing. Swelling or redness in one par-

ticular area or in a joint. Pain associated with an injury. Pain associated with fever. Limping or limited movement of

the limb. Any rash with weakness of limbs l

Prescription8 DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 2014

| Compiled by: Shirsho Saaeadat

| Dr Kazi Mahbuba

QUICK TIPS FOR WC

WOMEN’SHEALTH

U� ! Toothache

Tooth decay is the primary cause of toothaches for most children and adults. Bacteria that live in your mouth thrive on the sugars and starches in the food you eat. These bacteria form a sticky plaque on the surface of your teeth. Acids produced by the bacteria in plaque can eat white coated hard part your teeth (enamel), create a cav-ity. The � rst sign of decay may be a sen-sation of pain when you eat something sweet, very cold or very hot. A tooth-ache often indicates that your dentist will need to work on your teeth. Until you can see your dentist, try these self-care tips for a toothache: Rinse your mouth with warm water. Use den-tal � oss to remove any food particles wedged between your teeth. Take an over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever to dull the ache. Apply an OTC anti-septic containing benzocaine directly to the irritated tooth and gum to tem-porarily relieve pain. Don’t use benzo-caine in children younger than age 2 without supervision from a health- care professional. Direct application of oil of cloves (eugenol) also may help. Don’t place aspirin or another painkiller di-rectly against your gums, as it may burn your gum tissue.

Motion sickness

Any type of transportation can cause motion sickness. It can strike sud-denly, progressing from a feeling of uneasiness to a cold sweat, dizziness and then vomiting. Motion sickness usually quiets down as soon as the mo-tion stops. The more you travel, the more easily you’ll adjust to being in mo-tion. You may escape motion sickness by planning ahead. If you’re traveling, reserve seats where motion is felt least: By train: take a seat near the front and next to a window. Face forward. By automobile:   drive or sit in the front passenger’s seat. If you’re suscep-tible to motion sickness: Focus on the horizon  or on a distant, stationary object. Don’t read. Keep your head still,  while resting against a seat back. Don’t smoke or sit near smokers. Avoid spicy and greasy foods.  Don’t overeat. Take an over-the-counter antihistamine, such as meclizine or one containing dimenhydrinate , at least 30 to 60 minutes before you travel. Ex-pect drowsiness as a side e� ect.

One of the biggest dilemmas for dieters is sorting fact from � ction when it comes to nutrition claims. So, get ready to set � ve of those urban, nutrition myths straight.

‘Lite’ means a product is low in fatSeeing the word “lite” on a product may automatically trigger a response to purchase that product. More often than not people are buying these prod-ucts because they believe that “lite” products are low in fat. This word can be quite deceiving considering it can have other meanings. For example, ‘lite’ oil means light in colour and ‘lite’ dry biscuits can mean light in salt. The fat and kilojoule content of these prod-ucts is usually the same as the regular product.

Olive oil is lower in fat than other oilsOlive oil contains the same amount of fat as other oils. The type of fat found in oils varies – olive oil contains predominantly monounsaturated fat.

These healthy fats can help control cholesterol levels if they replace saturated fats in the diet. Olive oilalso supplies bene� cial anti-oxidants. But if you are watching your weight, the amount of all fat in your diet should be controlled, including the use of oils.

BIG

STO

CK

CHILD HEALTH

There’s no evidence that a child’s growth is painful. And growing pains don’t usually happen where growth is occurring or during times of rapid growth

BIG

STO

CK

BIGSTOCK

BIGSTOCK

BIGSTOCK

BIG

STO

CK5 TIPS

5 diet and nutrition myths

9Heritage Saturday, June 21, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Tim Steel

To the, estimated, 350 mil-lion devotees of the teach-ings of Prince Gautama of Nepal, the “Enlightened One,” Bangladeshi born

Chandragarbha, is one of the most signi� cant teachers in the history of their belief traditions. After his death, inTibet, in 1053, amongst other iden-ti� cations, he has been widely known as, “The Second Buddha.”

He � rst saw the light of day, it is believed, in Vikrampur, modern Mun-shiganj, born into the family of one of the, “kings,” or local chierftains, who held land under the Pala rulers, in 980 CE.

The government of China has recog-nised what is believed to be the exact location of his birthplace, by building a Pagoda, and an assembly hall there. The millions of Buddhists in China are happy to acknowledge the birthplace of a man who they believe contributed so much to the social development of China, especially the province of Tibet.

Bangladesh, today, is very rich in the heritage of that Pala dynasty, which ruled extensive lands of north India, from the middle of the eighth century to the middle of the 12th. With an estimated 400 ruined Vihara, monasteries cum schools and univer-sities, the greatest concentration, it is believed, of the contemporary world, in the lands that are now Bangladesh, alone, the impact of those rulers was enormous, in, especially, learning, commerce and trade.

They also left behind such extraordinary sites as that as Bhit-agarh, in Rangpur Division, close to Punchagarh, which, being slowly excavated, is proving to originate in the sixth century, pre-Pala, the largest forti� ed city in North India.

Like Prince Gautama, Chandragar-

bha’s early upbringing was “royal,” and peaceful; like Gautama, he was well educated, although his education certainly owed much to the rich tradi-tion of Buddhism, for which there is evidence in Bangladesh reaching back to at least the fourth century BCE.

At the age of 18, he renounced his family ties, and sought to become a pupil of the distinguished teacher of Tantra, called Jetari. In an age in which parental in� uence and control is known to blight many promising

careers, it is worth noting that the tradition of self management of young people, in fact, reaches a long way back in the cultural history of Bangla-desh.

Ordained a monk at 19 years of age, and completing his education eleven years later, he travelled to Java and Sumatra in the company of gem mer-chants, to continue his studies. That he accompanied gem merchants, of course, re� ects light on the continuing strength of trading internationally through the Ganges Delta.

In fact, there is little doubt that the heritage of international trade, that was focussed on the Ganges Delta, and the lands that are now Bangladesh, through which the three great Asian rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna � ow, continued to � ourish for many centuries more.

That Buddhist philosophy and study spread internationally through

the Delta, and up the rivers into Central Asia, there is also little doubt, perhaps even from as early as the fourth century BCE. Even copies of the great, and unusual, seventh century, cruciform Vihara at Paharpur are to be found in Cambodia and Sumatra.

At the age of 44, Atish Depanker Srijnan, as he had come to be known, travelled back to the Indian subconti-nent, via Sri Lanka, where he became, it is said, Principal of the famous “Uni-versity” of Vikramshila, in Bihar, one of the famous � ve such places of that age, in India. Two of those � ve we can easily identify as lying in the lands of Bangladesh, Paharpur, and Jaggadala.

However, others believe that, in fact, he became Principal of the large, recently rediscovered Vihara in Vikrampur, close to the site of his birth.

Contemporary writings describe his Vihara, whether in Bihar or Vikrampur, as having 8,000 students, from across the known world, and 108 Professors. It is not hard to imagine that in� uence from modern India may account for some of this confusion, or the bene� ts that India feels it might gain from such identi� cation!

Whatever the truth of that, the Bangladeshi born man, who was to be-come known, variously, as, “The Eye of Asia,” “The Light of Asia,” and “The Second Buddha,” widely admired and respected, not only for his learning and teaching, but also his practice of that learning, was invited, at about the

age of 60, to travel to the Tibetan Em-pire, to help to restore the declining practice of Buddhist traditions.

The Tibetan Empire � ourished, not only across today’s Tibet, but far across the Himalayas, and into Central Asia, and may even have held, in the early years, some hegemony over what was to become the Pala Empire. By the 11th century, it was slowly declining,

with what is known as “The Era of Fragmentation” advancing. Through-out its history, Buddhism had been a guiding principal of Imperial rule, but, by the time of Atish, much of that tradition was lost.

Despite grave misgivings, Depanker agreed to head to Tibet for three years, to assist in the restoration work.

He never returned to his homeland, earning enormous distinction and re-spect, not least through the assistance of his disciple and assistant, Brom-ston-pa-rgyal-bar-byun-gna.

The 13th century arrival of the Pathan invaders in North India, � eeing just the depredations in� icted by the Mongol hordes that also � nally overthrew the Tibetan Empire, the coming of Islam saw the, quite literal, completion of the destruction of much of the Buddhist tradition of the lands of Bangladesh that was commenced by the Hindu Sunga Dynasty.

It was, doubtless, in the Pathan invasion, followed by that of the largely Muslim Mughals, that both the Buddhist tradition in Bangladesh, and the heritage of Buddhist learning, such as the immense contribution made by Depanker, was lost.

The same Mongol invasion was doubtless responsible for the loss of his heritage in Tibet.

It was only as the result of research in Tibet, especially that carried out by Sarat Chandra Das, another Bangla-deshi born scholar, traveller ... and spy(!) ... of the late 19th and early 20th century, that Depanker’s importance, in the history of Buddhism, came to light.

Kings and princes come and go, as do politicians, but very few leave a lasting mark on the history of the world, and, few more, on the history of a people.

That Atish Depanker, born Chan-dragarbha, should have been ex-punged from the history of his birth country may well be considered a pity. A remarkable man of enduring strength, intelligence, and evident integrity, it seems that he might well, otherwise, have been a great example of personal achievement, and endur-ing fame, to a new generation of this young nation, Bangladesh. l

Tim Steel is a communications, marketing, and tourism consultant.

The light of asia, born in Bangladesh

Buddhist temple in Ramu DRIKNEWS

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

Ordained a monk at 19 years of age, and completing his education eleven years later, he travelled to Java and Sumatra to continue his studies

Contemporary writings describe his Vihara as having 8,000 students, from across the known world, and 108 Professors

Editorial10 DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

ACROSS1 Moisture free (3)3 Smart and fashionable (4)6 Subtle emanation (4)7 Flightless bird (3)9 Insect (4)10 Barrel (3)11 African river (4)13 Backbone (5)16 Speak (5)18 Gratis (4)19 Tree (3)20 Masculine (4)21 Plunder (3)23 Girdle (4)24 Book of the Bible (4)25 No score (3)

DOWN1 Useless remains (5)2 Male sheep (3)4 Whetstone (4)5 Incision (3)6 Joint (5)8 Combine (5)9 Merriment (4)12 Bury (5)14 Chaste (4)15 Heavenly body (5)17 Insurgent (5)18 Level (4)20 Spoil (3)22 Kimono sash (3)

CROSSWORD

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.

SUDOKU

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 3 represents M so � ll M every time the � gure 3 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appro-priate 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.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

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We are all BangladeshisJune 16

Syed KamalI thank Dhaka Tribune for taking a factual and civi-lised position. By engaging in such acts, perpetrators bring Bangladesh into disrepute. If you want Bang-ladesh to be known as a progressive and civilised country, then you have to behave accordingly.

ImzyThe acts of violence are wrong, however to say they are Bangladeshi is wrong, they are stranded Paki-stanis, and Pakistan simply shows once again how they behave, and Bengalis and Bangladesh are their slaves, by refusing to take their people back.

RonnieI completely endorse DT’s unequivocal and principled stand on this issue. This kind of bigoted bestiality targeting a particular minority people in this country must not be tolerated by either the government or by average, fair-minded Bangladesh-is. Alas, I reckon it might be asking too much of the incumbent government to properly investigate the facts of this latest atrocity and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Sammy Ronnie: Right on again, mate! The Baksal regime is largely built on this chauvinistic, uber-cultural ethos, and, as we are � nding out, their own MP was alleged-

ly involved in this. I am just waiting for a minister to claim this was done by Khaleda Zia and Tareque, lol.

Ronnie Sammy: All of what you said is obviously true, no question. The rampant criminality and savagery in our society today is both pervasive and unprece-dented. And we didn’t get to where we are today, in a day, week, or month. It’s the culmination of the conscious cultivation of just such a malfunctioning culture that has today spiraled out of control. It’s a frightening crisis.

What I � nd especially outrageous, though, is this government’s serially abject abdication of its duty to uphold law, order and justice, and its total capitula-tion to, indeed its apparent protection of, all types of killers and criminals, many of whom, unsurprisingly, are AL homeboys. The ruling party is clearly hostage to the will of the various hoodlums and “godfathers” who had helped it to retain power through means we’re all aware of. Brutalising a bunch of people of the Bihari minority, (albeit, Bangladeshis, neverthe-less) with all the motives behind it, cannot seem too risky for the perpetrators in the current climate of impunity and government apathy.

Ekram KabirMy heartfelt thanks to DT for writing this editorial. You sound humane.

Stand togetherJune 15

TJA government is judged by examining how they treat the minorities of the country. Thus the government needs to be more careful when they are handling issues like violating the rights of the Khasis by trying to grab their land where they have been living for decades.

Evil people politics TJ: I doubt it’s the sole parameter through which a government is judged, but I see where you were going with that.

What are they there for?June 15

Ekram KabirStill asking questions?

Breadbitten By this point they (statutory bodies) might as well be furniture. The kind that just sits there, forever, collecting dust.

Switzerland 2- 1 EcuadorJune 16

WaliSo, the Swiss are the � rst European team to beat a Latin American team in this WC14!? Bravo Switzerland!

No question as to legitimacyWe are glad that the court has con� rmed that the MPs elected

in uncontested seats in the January 5 elections were nonetheless constitutionally elected, and that there is thus

no legal barrier to the legitimacy of the 10th parliament. It has always been this newspaper’s position that, despite their

shortcomings, the national polls were legal and constitutional, and to have this con� rmed by the court was a salutary step.

Although the provision allowing for such a large number of uncontested seats in the elections may or may not be a wise or desirable one, it is still the law as it stands. Revisiting the provision to make adjustments for future polls is an option, but the MPs elected thus far are not only entitled to, but legally obligated to, partake in deliberation and passage of laws.

The opposition is perfectly within its rights to call for fresh elections and to argue that the current government lacks moral legitimacy. Indeed, we too have expressed our qualms about the non-representative nature of the government and also urged fresh elections within a reasonable period of time. 

However, the current government is a legitimate one as far as the law of our land is concerned, and political arguments as to its illegitimacy or illegality are potentially destabilising and dangerous.

Let the legality of the parliament including the members elected unopposed not be called into further question. Let us accept the legality of the current government as a premise for the political dialogue and even agitation to come.

No excuse for thuggery

Shakib al Hasan is a national hero, looked up to by millions. However, no matter who he is, he must still abide by the same tenets of common decency, and indeed common law, that the

rest of us do. Indeed, as a public � gure, his responsibility is even greater.

There can thus be no excuse for Shakib beating up a young man for allegedly harassing his wife, no matter what the provocation. The beating of the young man followed by his arrest and incarceration strikes us as a textbook example of abuse of power and privilege that is absolutely shocking.

Placing oneself above the law, as Shakib did in this instance, is unacceptable. Compounding his sins, under the rules of the game, he should never have even left the players’ enclosure for any reason, much less to administer street justice to a hapless spectator.

Even more concerning is that this is reportedly not the � rst time he has acted in this way, nor is there any evidence that he is at all apologetic or regretful for his actions. Had there been some contrition or acknowledgement on his part, that would have gone some way to ameliorating his actions, but as it is, it seems clear that he does not understand how or why he was beyond the pale.

Shakib’s actions have been shameful. He is lucky to avoid legal liability for his outburst, but there can be no question that he deserves, at the very least, serious disciplinary action as a rebuke for his behavior. To do otherwise would be to send the message that stars are above the law.

Shakib must abide by the same tenets of common decency and common law that the rest of us do

The MPs elected thus far are legally obligated to partake in deliberation and passage of laws

Flag euphoria hides the pain withinJune 16

RonnieI was never the � ag-waving type of fan (or person) anyway. I just don’t like it. I don’t wave our national � ag during cricket tournaments at home, much less � aunt the German � ag during World Cups in all the years (since Mexico ‘86) that I have been a fervent fan of the Mannschaft. That said, I do not endorse any faux-nationalistic decree by the government banning the � ying of foreign � ags by local fans during the ongoing World Cup tournament.

It’s entirely unnecessary and downright silly. I haven’t heard anything yet discouraging the donning of team jerseys by fans. That would be an even worse over-reach.

But it’s equally silly to argue, as the author does, that depriving fans the freedom of freely � ying the � ags of their loved national teams amounts to “robbing them of their right to enjoy a sporting event.” This is � at-out childish and sappy. I honestly don’t personally know any ardent football fan whose enjoyment of the game is so � akily reliant on � ying chosen � ag that he’d su� er grief over being denied that liberty. It’s complete clap trap and I hope the author knows it, too.

TJA very interesting point of view that we get hyper-excited about Brazil, Argentina, or other football teams during the World Cup because our team could be as successful as we hoped for. The FIFA World Cup is a time for celebration worldwide. There is no harm enjoying the games, but being extremely enthusiastic about supporting these teams seems a bit absurd to me.

Increase income tax slab-limitsJune 17

Md Ashraf Hossain The � nance minister declared proposed budget for

2014-15 � nancial year on June 5 in the Jatia Sang-sad. He did not, however, propose an increase of the

free income tax limit from the existing Tk220,000. The other slabs also will not be increased. That is,

income tax is levied at 10% on the next Tk300,000, 15% for the next Tk400,000. Indeed, in the present

proposal, 20% income tax will be levied on the next Tk500,000 and 25% for the next Tk3 million

and 30% on the next full amount. Unfortunately, the proposed rate of income tax will encourage tax

evasion, and those in the limited income group, especially service holders, will su� er much.

In rural areas, hundreds of businesspersons do not pay income tax at all, even earned taxable in-

come. But service holders in urban as well as rural areas cannot evade taxes, as their employers show

the salaries in exact � gures to show high expendi-tures in their business. The real income of service

holders in Bangladesh have fallen signi� cantly in the last couple of years because of high in� ation.

The business communities shift the burden of price increases to buyers by increasing the prices of

their products and services, taking it as an opportuni-ty to earn more pro� ts. In fact, in� ation brings more

money to businesspersons. The service holders then are helpless. They bear the whole burden of in� ation,

as their salaries do not rise instantly with the rising prices. Consequently, they have to reduce the quan-

tity of goods purchased and services they need.The free taxable limit should be raised to

Tk300,000 and income tax may be imposed at the rate of 5% on the next Tk500,000, 10% for

the next Tk500,000, 15% on the next Tk500,000, 20% for the next Tk500,000, and 25% on the rest

for the 2014-15 � nancial year.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

n M Abdul Latif Mondal

For over a month, newspapers around the country have been publishing reports of widespread

adulteration of food. On May 26, the Dhaka Tribune carried a report saying that � ndings from tests at the Public Health Laboratory (PHL) over the past two years had shown that over 46% of the food items that were available in the market were adulterated, and around 80-99% of other popular items in the market, including ghee, juice, honey, sweets, candy, soybean oil, and powdered milk were found to have been contaminated with harmful chemicals.

Quoting an FAO-sponsored test carried out at a government laboratory – the National Food Safety Laboratory – The Daily Star reported on April 28 that 40% of the 82 food samples tested in the lab contained banned pesticides and toxic substances beyond permis-sible limits. The banned pesticides included DDT, Aldrin, Chlordane, and Heptachlor – substances extremely harmful to the human body.

Carrots, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, capsicum, bananas, apples, pineap-ples, and mangoes were contaminated with these highly toxic pesticides. Food adulteration has reached new heights. Hardly any category of food is available unadulterated. This may give rise to the question of whether we have any laws towards checking the adulteration of food items to begin with.

The answer is that there is no dearth of laws in the country which deals with the food adulteration menace. The most relevant laws are: Special Powers Act 1974, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution Ordinance (BSTI) 1985, The Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009, and Pure Food Act 2013. Of all these laws, the Pure Food Act (PFA) 2013, which re-places the Pure Food Ordinance (PFO) 1959, amended up to 2005, is the latest and most comprehensive one. It gives an elaborate de� nition of food and prohibits the mixing of chemicals such as formalin, calcium carbide, sodi-um cyclamate, and other substances which are harmful to human health.

It prescribes the responsibilities of the businessmen dealing with food. It has a provision for the set-up of a uni� ed authority, the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA), to � ght food adulteration and take care of other food-related concerns of consumers. It also provides for the formation of a National Pure Food Management Advi-sory Council, headed by the food min-ister and comprised of members from various ministries and government,

private, and academic organisations.PFA 2013 calls for either a sentence

of seven years’ imprisonment or a � ne of Tk1m, or both, for including life-threatening chemicals in foods. It also describes that for repeat o� end-ers, the punishment would double. It provides for the formation of as many food courts as deemed necessary to prosecute adulterators. The Special Powers Act of 1974 asks for the death penalty as the maximum punishment for the o� ence.

BSTI Ordinance 1985 and its rules re-late to the testing and quality control of certain industrial and commercial prod-ucts, including food and drinks. The Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 prescribes punishment of a maximum of either three years’ imprisonment, or a maximum � ne of Tk200,000, or both, for adulterating foods.

Additionally, the higher courts have ordered relevant government departments and agencies to check for adulteration of di� erent varieties of food more than once, and take action against the adulterators. In 2010 and 2012, the High Court (HC) ordered the police to � le cases against food adul-terators under the Special Powers Act 1974. In 2012, on a writ petition � led by the FBCCI, the HC also ordered the government to stop the import of food items contaminated with formalin and calcium carbide.

On April 29, the HC ordered authori-ties concerned to inform it within 20 days from the date of receipt of the order about the measures taken to stop the use of hazardous chemicals

and preservatives in food items by a section of unscrupulous businessmen and farmers.

The question may now be raised as to why the markets continue to be � ooded with adulterated food items in spite of the existence of the aforesaid food laws and the directives issued by the HC. The answers are not that far to seek out.

First, the lack of strong political will has been the biggest hurdle in the implementation of food laws. Adulter-ators are very powerful individuals. Many of them are members of big political parties, ones which have been ruling the country for the last two decades or so. Others maintain liaison with the party in power. Political consideration has thus dissuaded successive party governments from taking tough actions against the bigger adulterators.

Second, a number of ministries and agencies have so far been responsi-ble for the production, supply, and marketing of pure foods for human consumption. The lack of coordination among these ministries and agencies has been an important factor for the food laws not being implemented. Although the PFA 2013 has a provision for establishing a uni� ed authority – the BFSA – to � ght food adulteration and take care of other food related concerns of consumers, it has yet to come into e� ect even 8 months after the enactment of the act.

Third, the lack of well-equipped laboratories, both in terms of equip-ment and trained manpower, has

stood in the way of the implementa-tion of food laws.

Fourth, the mobile court approach has largely failed to deliver the desired results. This is because the mobile courts su� er from a shortage of necessary specialists and equipment to deal with the adulterators’ newer techniques of avoiding detection and accountability.

Fifth, the government has failed to establish food courts as per provision of the amended PFO. The amendment made to the PFO in 2005 provided for the establishment of food court in each district and metropolitan area. The PFA that replaces the PFO has also a provi-sion for the formation of as many food courts as deemed necessary to prosecute food adulterators. But the government has yet to become serious on this issue.

Sixth, a lack of public awareness about the hazardous e� ects of con-suming adulterated foods, and their willingness to buy di� erent varieties of adulterated food and foodstu� , have encouraged unscrupulous traders to market adulterated food items.

Adulteration of food a� ects people of all strata in our society. It does not discriminate between rich and poor, or between the high-ups in the government and common people. It is a national threat. Implementation of food laws and compliance with the HC directives will help ensure people’s access to safe food to a considerable extent. l

M Abdul Latif Mondal is a former government secretary.

11Op-Ed Saturday, June 21, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Ekram Kabir

I’ve just been struck by a mind-boggling piece of news in a vernacular daily. The incident sounded like the trailer for a horror movie. On June 11, a math

teacher from a Sunamganj school gave 48 used razor blades to her students and ordered them to cut their hands and legs. The reason for this gruesome order was that the students didn’t do their homework. No student had completed their 30 sums. The school administration had said they would investigate into the incident and take proper action.

This incident leads me to point out the state of punishment in schools across Bangladesh. Our teachers usu-ally punish their students with slaps, blows, caning with sticks and dusters, making the students hold their ears and touch their noses to the ground, imposing too much homework, and detaining students for long times in a separate room. Sometimes, teach-ers tell their students to stick their tongues out, chew torn pages from their copies, kneel down like a turtle, walk like a horse, etc.

We’ve also seen how madrasa students in our country are beaten up by their teachers to become “disci-plined.” There have been thousands of instances of teachers punishing students in our country. When I was in grade two, one of our teachers rushed into the classroom and struck me with the broken handle of a chair, which had a nail sticking out. I tried to block the strike by raising my hand, but the

nail pierced through one of my � ngers. Apparently, our teacher was angered by the noise coming in from our class-room, but I was not the instigator.

That was in 1972. The recent Suna-mganj incident suggests that nothing has changed in this country since I was a child. Students across the country continue to be punished and victim-ised by their teachers, which is a seri-ous detriment to a proper education and the normal growth of children. The government has of course banned eleven kinds of punishments in Bangladeshi educational institutions, but the horrifying ways students are punished continues with grim impacts on the children’s psychological devel-opment.

They (teachers) believe they are doing a great service to their students by punishing them like this. They think they are helping their students become disciplined, responsible, and better students. There are of course some parents who also think along the same lines as these teachers. They think punishment will make their children better human beings in the future. I

don’t understand how our teachers (and some parents) got this idea of making better humans by punishing small children.

There’s another type of punishment currently going on in schools, which is the process of victimising a particular student. When a teacher happens to develop some sort of disliking for a certain student, that student’s life is doomed. The student is demonised as a black sheep of the class, or even the school, and all possible future de-velopment for this particular student is blocked. The student loses interest in everything and becomes branded as a bad person. The teachers bene� t from the school authorities by making a devil out of that student. This is an

atrocious practice which our teachers are engaged in.

There are many reasons for this. The � rst one that pops up in my mind is that there’s absolutely no training for teachers in Bangladesh, either that or the way they are trained in grossly � awed. Secondly, the recruitment process for teachers is quite defective, as no assessment of teachers’ psychol-

ogies or family background is ever conducted. Finally, school authorities are quite immature in dealing with the development of small children.

I was in a semi-military school at the age of 12. We had a system of stern punishment and physical training. We had endured it all as we were told at the very beginning that punishment and hardship were part of the training, in order to prepare us for the military. We accepted them and were never upset about it. In six months, we had become hardened enough to endure all sorts of physical tests of endurance.

We had fantastic teachers who never complained about any of us. They never made villains out of any of us. They used to deal with us through punishment and counseling, and we still remember those teachers with fondness. But I could never forgive my second grade math teacher for making me bleed.

Having said that, simply punishing and victimising students cannot bene-� t the education of the country. I think the teachers have to become educated � rst, otherwise they should choose another profession for themselves.

I feel like reminding our teachers the infamous lines from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” – “We don’t need no education/ We don’t need no thought control/ No dark sar-casm in the classroom/ Teacher, leave them kids alone/ Hey, teacher, leave the kids alone.” l

Ekram Kabir is a Dhaka Tribune columnist and the Executive Editor of Natunbarta.com.

We don’t need no educationL A R G E R T H A N L I F E

n Anika Tasneem

In every part of Dhaka there are schools, hospitals, shopping malls, beauty parlors, and numerous es-

tablishments and organisations. Dha-ka, during the rush hours, appears like a chaotic mega city. In fact, it is a city of crowds, bustling all the time.

This has happened because most of the people think that Dhaka is the only place with better opportunities, which are not available in other towns and the rural areas. This myth has inspired thousands of them to come to Dhaka, in many cases with their entire fam-ilies. The impact of this huge in� ux of people can be felt at every level. During summer, people face the reality when the crisis of water and electricity becomes more apparent.

Moreover, Dhaka is expanding in an unplanned way, which cannot yield any positive outcome. Dhaka has be-come un� t for living. Current trends of rapid urban growth are making people vulnerable to disasters. But, the fact is that urbanisation is here and it is here to stay. So, we should better consider the challenges associated with it.

Every single day, more and more people are coming to the city in search of jobs and better living condi-tions. The � rst challenge is to ful� ll the growing demand. People are deprived of the basic facilities. Dhaka city dwell-ers, for instance, su� er from acute water crisis in every dry season, name-ly from March to June. People living in areas like Niketon, Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Shyamoli, Farmgate etc have to buy water from Dhaka Wasa.

However, the water that they get is not enough to cater to their normal household needs. The government steps have been proved ine� ective so far. Also, excessive dependence on groundwater is a threat as the ground-water layer is dropping. However, the authority is not very concerned about it. It is not possible to use surface

water either because it is equally polluted.        

With more and more people moving into the capital city, there is a dire need for land. Land is so scarce that people have � lled in the rivers around the city to make space for new housing. Mass evictions are on the rise as landowners clear out slums to make way for more pro� table building projects.

Housing developers are more interest-ed in making the maximum pro� ts by building high-rises. As a result, wher-ever you look, you will see modern structures and buildings. Besides, the city is expanding in all directions with-out any proper planning. Thus, the city is losing its greenery and the land is now used for commercial purposes.

Because of lack of commitment and political will, the present government, just like the past ones, has failed to bring about any real improvement. The reason behind every crisis in the capi-tal is that everything is done on an ad-hoc basis. Every government blames the lack of coordination between the utility agencies. 

Certainly, if things are left as they are now, Dhaka will soon turn into the worst kind of concrete jungle, and therefore will become totally unlivable. Still, we dream of a Dhaka which may be a healthy city some day, where all the city dwellers have access to basic utilities.  l

Anika Tasneem is a freelance contributor.

The concrete jungle

Students across the country continue to be punished and victimised by their teachers, a serious detriment to a proper education

Adulteration of food a� ects people of all strata in our society. It does not discriminate between rich and poor, between high-ups and common people

We dream of a Dhaka which may be a healthy city some day, where all city dwellers have access to basic utilities

Cracking down on bad food

AM

IRU

L R

AJI

V

BIGSTOCK

Artistic Musingsof the Greats

World premiere of Shongram in London n Entertainment Desk

Bangladeshi-British � lmmaker Mun-sur Ali’s debut � lm “Shongram” will see its world premiere in London In-dian Film Festival on July 14. The � lm will be screened again on July 16 at the Cineworld Shaftesbury Ave in Lon-don.

For the � rst time a Bangladeshi � lm is participating in the London Indian Film Festival which was established in 2010 to showcase independent � lm

from the subcontinent.Fashion model and aspiring actor

Dilruba Yasmeen Ruhee pairs with tal-ented young actor Amaan Reza for the � lm. The international cast includes Bollywood’s Anupam Kher and Hol-lywood/European star Asia Argento. Other Bangladeshi artistes in the � lm are Armaan Parvez Murad, Shubrotho and Ananta Hira.

“Shongram” is a romantic drama which is set against the backdrop of the Liberation War of 1971, a � ashback

story told forty-three years later in London by a British-Bangladeshi free-dom � ghter Karim. He shares his ex-perience with a reporter. He tells the tale of falling in love during a di� cult time. Karim played by Amaan Reza falls in love with a jovial rural girl Asha played by Ruhee. What further com-plicates the situation is the fact that they were of di� erent religion. Karim is Muslim while Asha is from a Hindu family - this single aspect becomes the cause for a rollercoaster journey. l

EntertainmentDHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 21, 201412

FilmX-Men: Days of Future PastThe Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D)Pompeii 300 Rise of an EmpireTarkataTime: 10am – 10pmStar Cineplex, Level 8, Bashundhara City

Theatre Godor Protikhhai Time: 7pm – 9pmNational Theatre HallBangladesh Shilpakala Academy Exhibition Artistic Musings of Great Collector Nasir Ali MamunTime: 12pm – 8pmBengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Road No 16, Dhanmondi

TODAY IN DHAKA

n Shadma Malik

A collection of artworks titled “ Artis-tic Musings of the Greats” by Nasir Ali Mamun is on display at the Ben-gal Gallery of Fine Arts. The exhibi-tion is a � esta for the art enthusiasts of the country as it is a collection of artworks by famous artists Quamrul Hassan, SM Sultan, Shamsur Rah-man, Aminul Islam, Qayyum Chow-dhury, Anisuzzaman and Monirul Islam.

Dhaka Tribune caught up with the collector to learn about his interest of archiving:

“Since I was nine years old, I was fascinated with photos published in newspapers. I use to cut and collect them. Taking pictures and collecting autographs of renowned people was always my aspiration,” said Nasir.

“While taking photographs of notable personalities, I would carry scrap papers, notepads and pencils, and request them to give their auto-graphs. Some artists drew and some wrote two lines of poetry for me. I collected autographs of Syed Sham-sul Haq, Nirmalendu Goon; both

drew portraits of women along with their signatures.”

“Haq called me ‘Camerar Kobi’ (The Poet with the Camera) which was an immense honour for me.”

Asked about any interesting inci-dent that happened while taking au-tographs, Nasir said: “In 1981, when Mother Teresa came to Bangladesh, I took her photo and asked for an auto-graph; she wrote ‘Shanti Shobar Jon-no’ (Peace for everyone). S M Sultan drew my portrait and named it ‘Por-trait of my friend.’”

In 1972, Nasir Ali Mamun intro-duced portrait photography in Ban-gladesh. The photographer took pic-tures of many international literary celebrities and creative personalities including those from the South Asian subcontinent. Till date he has had more than 40 solo photography exhi-bitions. Nasir would like to publish a photo catalogue of these icons from the ongoing exhibition. In addition, as part of his archiving process, the collector wants to open a museum ti-tled “Photosium” in Savar.

The exhibition will remain open until July 5. l

Happy Hour at EMK

n Syeda Samira Sadeque

The EMK Happy Hour hosted the group called “Music Lab” on Thursday evening. The lineup included Musarrat Jabeen Rah-man (Flute), Sha� at Ahmed Dipto (lead gui-tar), Nahyan Imam (acoustic guitar), Imran Rabbani (Bass) and Sudipta Bardhan Shubho (drums). The group presented a di� erent type of performance—the � ute mostly sustained dhuns based on select raags and the lead guitar improvised freely based on those raag dhuns. The bass and acoustic guitars provid-ed soothing harmonic support in the back-drop, while the percussion held everything together by imitating the style of tabla based percussion, changing the mood from rougher playing during guitar solos, to softer, more

contained playing during the � ute solos. All the pieces started with � ute aalaps,

with lead guitar support. Two of the pieces followed melodic phrases and improvisations on moderate tempo, and then surprise swi-tchovers to melodies on faster tempos. One of the pieces followed mostly an open ended jam pattern, with some question answer ses-sions among the lead guitar and � ute. There was also some question answer sessions be-tween the � ute and percussion.

The chief guest audience included Olivier Litvine, Director Alliance Française de Dha-ka, and Abaji, a multi-talented French Leba-nese instrumentalist from Paris.

The EMK Happy Hour is an initiative to support established individuals or groups in arts, culture and entrepreneurship. l

Brihonnola gets uncut censorn Entertainment Desk

Ferdous’ � lm “Brihonnola” got uncut censor certi� -cate last Monday. Directed by Murad Parvez, the � lm is made with the support of a government grant. “We have no urge to release the � lm immediately, rather we have planned for an Eid release,” said the director.

Along with Ferdous and Sohana Saba in the lead roles, Dilara Zaman, Dr Enamul Hque, Azad Abul Ka-lam, Intekhab Dinar, SM Mohsin, Jhuna Chowdhury and others form the cast of the � lm. Music of “Brihon-nola” is directed by Emon Saha. This is Murad Parvez’s second � lm and the shooting ended in October. l

In the worldof animalsn Entertainment Desk

Get plunged into the world of animals through the TV show “Be the Creature” which will be aired on the Ani-mal Planet today at 7:30pm.

The show follows the Kratt brothers Chris and Martin as they place themselves in the thick of the animal world, sometimes in high-intensity or dangerous situations. The series also features some graphic footage in an e� ort to portray life in the wild truthfully. “Be the Creature” is directed and written by Martin and Chris Kratt. l

Tanvir Mokammel to attend � lm festival in Kolkatan Entertainment Desk

Veteran � lmmaker Tanvir Mokammel is � ying out to Kolkata today to take part in the inauguration ceremony of the International Short and Documen-tary Film Festival of Eastern India as a special guest. Sandip Ray, son of the legendary � lmmaker Satyajit Ray will also be present at the programme.

The festival will start at the Nandan cinema hall of Kolkata on June 23 and continue until June 27. Tanvir Mokam-mel’s hour length documentary “Kar-naphulir Kanna” will be screend at the event. At the time of its release in 2005, the documentary was banned by the government of Bangladesh and after a

High Court writ petition, the documen-tary was released from court.

“Karnaphulir Kanna” is about the Chittagong Hill Tracts, an area situated in the south-west of Bangladesh bor-dering Myanmar and India, comprised of three districts, and home to twelve predominantly Buddhist ethnic groups who are collectively known as the “Jumma” nation. The � rst disruption of the peace in Chittagong took place from 1959-1962, when a dam was construct-ed on the Karnaphuli river, submerging 54,000 acres of arable land and making refugees of 100,000 people in the pro-cess. It is referred to by locals as “The Great Exodus.” These hill people suf-fered a second crisis in 1979 when the government brought plain land Ban-galees from various districts and set-tled them in the region in an arti� cial and intrusive manner, propelling inci-dents of gross human rights violations. Although a peace accord was signed in 1997 between the government and the Political Organization of the Hill People (PCJSS), the area remains one of the most unstable and impoverished in the nation. The � lm explores the agonies of the Chittagong inhabitants and is an example of what happens to a region and its people when they are kept out of the major national sphere.

Tanvir will also be attending a spe-cial � lm retrospective arranged in his honour by the Salt lake Film Society on July 5 and 6. Four of his � lms, “Lalon,” “Lalsalu,” “Rabeya” and “Jibondhuli” will be screened at the event. l

Book reading of Mrityukshudha at IGCC today n Entertainment Desk

Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) is organising a book reading session by “ The Reading Circle” of the book “Mr-ityukshudha” of Kazi Nazrul Islam at 6:30pm today at IGCC, Gulshan 1.

In 1926, Kazi Nazrul Islam moved to Krishnanagar with his family. His stay there inspired him to write his second novel “Mrityukshudha.” The novel describes the dire poverty of the downtrodden and the struggles of a few individuals to better their lot and that of others. The novel also intro-duces the character of a revolutionary, who attempts to convey to the poor and the exploited an awareness of their rights. Like Nazrul’s other nov-els, there is a love triangle in this novel as well. Despite the starkness of the scenes of poverty in the story, there is a surprising amount of humour in it.

Members of “The Reading Circle” will discuss “ Mrityukshudha” in a literary discussion at IGCC. Professor Ra� qul Islam, Professsor Emeritus, ULAB and a renowned Nazrul scholar will also speak on the occasion.

“The Reading Circle” formed eight years ago reads both Bangla and En-glish books. In 2012, members of the group translated Kazi Nazrul Islam’s novel “Bandhon Hara” into English under the title “Unfettered.” l

Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman, Qayyum Chowdhury, Nasir Ali Mamun, Monirul Islam at the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition

Subachan to stage Rupoboti n Entertainment Desk

Subachan Natya Sangsad’s 49th staging of the play “Rupoboti” will take place at 7pm today at the Ex-perimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA). Scripted by Nasreen Jahan and directed by the late Khaled Khan, this is the � rst time the play will be staged since the death of the theatre activist last December. “Rupoboti” is the last play directed by Khaled Khan.

The plot revolves around a � autist and his wife. The story opens with the � autist who becomes

obsessed with the murder of his beautiful wife Rupoboti. As an artiste, he was struggling to keep his family a� oat and his meagre earning was not enough to satisfy the hunger of his loved ones.

Rupoboti gets overpowered by a wicked ma-gician who teaches her to overcome her hunger. When she is brutally killed, the � autist becomes desperate in his grief to avenge her death and sets out to � nd her killer. Sonia Hasan will play the lead role while Sohel Khan, Ansar Ali, Saiful Imam and many others will appear in various roles of the production. l

Won’t work with Bipasha Basu in future: Vasu Bhagnani

n Entertainment Desk

Producer Vashu Bhagnani is upset with Bipasha Basu, one of the female leads in his just released “Hum-shakals.” He has decided not to work with her again.

Directed by Sajid Khan, “Humshakals,” which also features Riteish Deshmukh, Saif Ali Khan, Ram Ka-poor, Esha Gupta and Tammannaah Bhatia, hit the theatres of India yesterday. “I will not work with Bi-pasha in future. I should not give such statement, but I would try not to work with her,” Bhagnani said re-cently at the screening of the � lm.

The dusky beauty, who has been missing from all the promotional events of the � lm stated that she was dissatis� ed with the end result of her role in the � lm. Bhagnani says that he never misled her about her role.

“I myself asked Sajid to cast Bipasha. She is a love-ly lady. But I don’t know what her problem is. After watching the � lm, she can’t say that her role is small-er. At the time of signing the � lm, I only gave her the remuneration. It’s not like we told her something else and have done otherwise,” he said. l

SADIA MARIUM

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Opportunity lostfor luckless Tigers

The just-concluded three-match ODI series at home against a second-string Indian side was seen as the perfect op-portunity for the Bangladesh cricket team to regain some much needed con-� dence following a string of seven con-secutive losses in the 50-over format in the past few months.

The short � ve-day series against India was also the � rst assignment for new head coach of the Tigers, former Sri Lankan cricketer Chandika Ha-thurusingha, and the newly-recruited bowling coach, Zimbabwean Heath Streak, after former coach Shane Jur-gensen resigned from his post a couple of months ago. With a new coaching set-up appointed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board coupled with an un-der-strength Indian side, the series was viewed as an opportunity for the Tigers to start afresh.

With the Indian team missing cap-tain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, run-ma-chine Virat Kohli along with six other regular cricketers, Bangladesh skipper Mush� qur Rahim expressed his dis-appointment prior to the beginning of the series over the visitors’ squad stating that the opposition were taking them lightly by sending a second-string side before going on to declare that the home side were con� dent about clinch-ing the series.

However, the three-match ODI se-ries against India that ended in a 2-0 beating for the hosts with the third game washed out to rain was yet an-other toothless display by Bangladesh. Besides the series defeat, the Tigers added another disastrous record to their name as they were bundled out for their joint-lowest total of 58 in the second ODI after they had managed to restrict India to 105.

The rot started for Bangladesh at the very top through their most ex-perienced opener, Tamim Iqbal. The southpaw has been struggling with

the bat for some time and continued his miserable form as he departed for a painstaking 11-ball duck in the � rst ODI which Bangladesh lost by seven wickets despite posting 272 for the loss of nine wickets. Although the 25-year old left-hander was a tad unlucky with his dismissal in the � rst ODI, he has only himself to blame in the second ODI after dancing down the track to Mohit Sharma and presenting a catch to wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha in the second ball of the innings. One can ask why Tamim played such a shot in a situation where the Tigers needed less than three runs per over.

Chasing the paltry target of 106 in 41 overs, the Bangladesh batsmen were once again caught by the ghosts of the past as their last seven wickets were sent crashing for just eight runs and the match was eventually gifted to their opponents as one batsman after anoth-er threw away their wickets.

The fall of wickets at regular inter-vals is an alarming sign for Bangladesh which is refusing to go away. With the 50-over World Cup less than eight months away, the batsmen have to play with more responsibility if they are to stand any chance of succeeding in Aus-tralia and New Zealand.

However, there were some positives for the Tigers as the bowling front was solid and fared commendably, espe-cially the pacemen who utilised the pitch and overcast conditions perfect-ly. In the face of some disciplined bowl-ing by the Bangladesh pacers, the Indi-an batting line-up folded for just 105 in the second ODI before going on to lose nine wickets in the third ODI for the ad-dition of 119 runs.

Overall, the Bangladesh seamers took 14 out of the 22 Indian wickets to fall in the three ODIs with youngster Taskin Ahmed bagging a � ve-for on his debut alongside impressive performances from veteran pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza and Al Amin Hossain.l

Fans of Mohammad Ashraful hold placards at National Press Club yesterday protesting the eight-year ban received by the disgraced cricketer for role in match-� xing MEHEDI HASAN

‘Clueless’ Broad takes his second Test hat-trick

Stuart Broad admitted he had no idea he had become the � rst England bowl-er to take two Test hat-tricks and just the fourth in all after he struck with three succesive balls against Sri Lanka at Headingley on Friday.

The seamer, who had previously performed the feat against India at Trent Bridge in 2011, struck with the � -nal ball of his 12th over to have Kumar Sangakkara well caught for 79 by Ian Bell in the gully.

The � rst ball of his next over saw Broad have Dinesh Chadimal caught at � rst slip by England captain Alastair Cook for 45. Next ball saw Shaminda Eranga caught behind by wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

But because the hat-trick had been split across two overs neither Broad nor his England team-mates realised what he had achieved until the public ad-dress announcer informed the crowd.

Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for 257 on the � rst day of the second Test on Friday after losing the toss. l

THE WORLD CUP GOAL-E FESTIVAL

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is being celebrated throughout the world, especially in Bangladesh where each and every single street is � lled with � ags of several participating countries. Koltabazar, Old Dhaka though will be a bit di� erent than all the other streets as it will be decorated and painted with colourful gra� ti and � ags not just by the residents of the area but artists from all over the capital city in the upcoming days. The initiative was taken by Janala and One Degree Initiative MUMIT M

In Iran, WC fun is a closed-doors a� air

When Iran quali� ed for the World Cup last year it prompted dancing on the streets of Tehran, with millions of men and women gathering to celebrate a rare sporting achievement.

It was an even rarer sight in the Is-lamic republic to see both sexes mix to-gether so freely. Put bluntly, the police had a dilemma: act and spoil the par-ty, or let the fun � ow wildly for a few hours. They did nothing.

Now that the Iranian team is com-peting in Brazil, the authorities in Tehran don’t want the same thing to happen again. The message is simple: stay at home. Cafes and restaurants in the capital have been told to not show the games, which start in the evening because of the time di� erence and can

end in the small hours.Saturday’s match against Argentina,

one of the tournament favourites, is set to be the highlight for Iran, who are appearing in the � nals for the � rst time since 2006 and the fourth time overall.

There could have been expectations of some sense of occasion regardless of the result, but the prospect of large public gatherings such as the street parties of last year’s quali� cation ap-pear too much to contemplate.

Having been warned by police, trade associations for cinemas, restaurants and other public venues, have told their members to fall into line. It is not a popular move.

“I cannot understand why we are not allowed to watch the games in pub-lic. In all other countries, people come together and stand united in support-

ing their team,” said Shiva, a 26-year-old accountant, asking to be identi� ed by her � rst name only.

“Why are we deprived of this simple right? What is wrong with showing soli-darity with our boys? It is very frustrat-ing,” she added.

Hezar Destan, a traditional Persian restaurant near Val-i-Asr, Tehran’s lon-gest street, has a large television on which Iran’s qualifying matches were screened and supporters, many smok-ing Shisha pipes, watched from the re-laxed comfort of Persian carpets.

But it is one of many such establish-ments forced to follow the guidance.

A cafe owner in a� uent north Teh-ran who did a roaring trade during pervious matches has taken the same step, telling AFP he did not want to risk problems with the authorities. l

Gayle steers West Indies to big win

Chris Gayle blasted one of the fastest half-centuries in test cricket history to steer West Indies to an emphatic 10-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second test in Trinidad on Friday.

Set 93 to win after New Zealand made 331 in their second innings, West Indies raced to their victory target o� just 13.2 overs before tea on the � fth and � nal day at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. Gayle smashed seven fours and six sixes to � nish unbeaten on 80 o� only 46 balls as West Indies levelled the three-match series at 1-1.

Fellow opener Kraigg Brathwaite ended on 14 not out and was named man of the match after scoring his maid-en test hundred in the � rst innings. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE 13Sport

DHAKA TRIBUNE14 Sp rt

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Balotelli wants kiss from Queen if helps England

Italy striker Mario Balotelli may have put the kiss of death on England with his winning goal at their World Cup opener, but now he wants royal recom-pense if he becomes their saviour.

England’s second loss in Group D, to Uruguay on Thursday, left them on the brink of elimination. But there is a glimmer of hope for Roy Hodgson’s men if Italy beat Costa Rica on Friday.

If Italy were to then defeat Uruguay, and England were to also beat Costa Rica, in the � nal group games on Tues-day, Wayne Rooney and co may slip through on goal di� erence.

“If we beat Costa Rica I want a kiss, ob-viously on the cheek, from the UK Queen,” the ever-cheeky Balotelli, 23, Tweeted af-ter England’s defeat in Sao Paulo.

Well known to the English from his days - and antics - at Manchester City, it was Balotelli’s cool header that gave Italy a 2-1 win over them in Manaus. l

Chances are ‘unbelievably slim’, says Hodgson

England have an “unbelievably slim” chance of reaching the knock-out stage of the World Cup after Thursday’s 2-1 defeat to Uruguay, England coach Roy Hodgson said.

Two goals from Luiz Suarez sunk England in a hard-fought match in Sao Paulo, � ve days after they lost their opening match in Group D, going down 2-1 to Italy.

England must now beat Costa Rica in their � nal match and hope the re-maining results go their way.

“Our chances are unbelievably slim,” Hodgson said. “We depend on Italy winning their next two matches and us beating Costa Rica by the requi-site number of goals.”

“To continue, we needed a result to-day. We needed a victory and we didn’t get it.”

Hodgson said Suarez, who under-went a knee operation last month and was not � t to play in Uruguay’s opening match loss to Costa Rica, was quiet for most of the match but produced two moments of ruthlessness to separate the teams.

“I thought we controlled Suarez well in general play, he did very well to get away to the back post for the � rst goal but frankly for long periods of the game

we kept him quiet.“We are normally used to seeing him

more active in and around the penalty area.

“The second goal was an unfortu-nate � ick o� Steven Gerrard’s head and when he gets free with the goalkeeper he doesn’t miss.”

Downcast and laconic, Hodgson would not be drawn on what happens now for England.

“I think that in both games we’ve shown some elements of playing some good football and we’ve shown we are a team making progress,” he said. “But results decide everything and both re-sults have been negative.”

Italy play Costa Rica on Friday be-fore the � nal matches in Group D on Tuesday. l

Pekerman heaps praise on defensive rock Yepes

Colombia’s 38-year-old defender Mario Yepes earned special praise from coach Jose Pekerman after helping his side hold on for a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast on Thursday.

“He was playing against the elite of Europe, Gervinho, Wilfried Bony, Salo-mon Kalou, all physically strong with great technique,” said Pekerman, refer-ring to Ivory Coast’s European-based continent.

“Yepes has a great mentality. He has been very strong and he is a reference point for his team mates, it was a top-lev-el performance,” added the Argentine.

Pekerman also waxed lyrical about playmaker James Rodriguez, who scored the � rst goal with a rare header.

“He has reached the very highest standards among players with his char-acteristics,” he told reporters.

“He is mature, he has commitment, he can � nish, he has vision, he can

shoot and today he scored with a head-er to add something else to his techni-cal qualities.”

“We have had two wins with players who are taking part at their � rst World Cup

which is very positive for us, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” said Pekerman.

“After many years of frustration, we have given satisfaction to the public, who have great passion for football. It’s been very painful missing out on this event.”l

Why so many goals at the World Cup?1 The legacy of ‘tiki-taka’

Spain’s tournament may have been ended by Chile on Wednesday, but the defending champions’ six-year reign as the world’s pre-eminent national team has had a profound impact on the way that teams play. The ‘tiki-taka’ passing style pioneered by Spain and Barcelona has been copied around the world, with proactive, attacking football and aggressive pressing now wide-spread. The example set by players such as Xavi and Andres Iniesta means that players have become accustomed to taking more risks in possession, which leads to more turnovers, and in turn, more goals.

2 Warm weatherCompared to the cold weather of South

Africa, where the 2010 World Cup took place, games in tropical and sub-tropical Brazil have in the main taken place amid warm conditions. The heat and humidity means that players tire more quickly and when players get tired, they make more mistakes. “Certainly (the conditions) are

playing a part,” said Australia coach Ange Postecoglou, quoted by the Daily Tele-graph. “It’s contributed to the openness of the competition, because games get spread in warmer climates. That’s why you’ve seen some pretty open games.”

3 Early goalsIt took Brazil defender Marcelo only 11

minutes to put the ball into his own net in the tournament’s opening game, the hosts’ 3-1 win over Croatia, and early goals have become a recurring theme. There were 25 � rst-half strikes in the tournament’s � rst 20 matches, and nothing opens a game up like an early goal. Already, seven teams have come from behind to win matches. Only four managed the feat at the 2010 tournament.

4 Innovative tacticsWhile the 4-2-3-1 formation was the

dominant playing system at the last World Cup, teams have enjoyed success in Brazil with more idiosyncratic tactical con� gu-rations. Holland’s 5-3-2 system enabled them to crush Spain 5-1 as it gave Louis van Gaal’s side numerical parity in mid� eld whilst allowing forwards Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie to remain high up the pitch. “The fact that our defence plays very deep frees up a lot of space for Robin and me,” explains Robben. “We have the whole pitch for leading counter-attacks.” After a seemingly ineluctable slide towards single-striker systems in recent years, more and more teams are playing with two central forwards, and more forwards often means more goals.

5 Substandard goalkeepingFans in Brazil have already witnessed

some exquisite goals – Van Persie’s looping header against Spain; Tim Cahill’s jaw-drop-ping volley against Holland; Lionel Messi’s solo special against Bosnia-Hercegovina – but standards of goalkeeping have been less impressive. Spain’s Iker Casillas made two woeful errors against Holland, while Russia’s Igor Akinfeev and Mathew Ryan of Australia have also committed high-pro� le blunders. Several leading nations have problems in the goalkeeping department – Brazil’s Julio Cesar and Argentina’s Sergio Romero are both short of match practice.

6 The snowball effectThe early-tournament goal spree is

encouraging teams to throw caution to the wind, creating a climate where risk-taking is applauded and defensive play derided. “I’m surprised how open it’s been,” admits Daniel Sturridge. “It’s been quite open and, for the neutrals. I’m enjoying it, enjoying the occasion – watching games as well as playing.” l

Colombia into last 16 after Japan fail to crack 10-man Greece

Colombia quali� ed for the last 16 of the World Cup for the � rst time in 24 years after Japan and 10-man Greece played out a dire 0-0 draw in Natal on Thursday.

Japan failed to take advantage of the Greeks being reduced to 10 men from the 38th minute when captain Kon-stantinos Katsouranis was sent o� for a second bookable o� ence.

Both sides picked up their � rst point and can still qualify from Group C, although they must win their � nal matches to do so.

Greece play Ivory Coast, who are on three points, in their � nal match while Japan tackle Colombia, who have a per-fect six points.

Japan winger Shinji Kagawa’s terri-ble year continued as after a miserable season with Manchester United Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni dropped him to the bench after a poor showing

against Ivory Coast.Japan controlled a� airs in the � rst-

half thanks to the surging runs of left-back Yuto Nagatomo and the tight,

short passing of a potent mid� eld be-ing marshalled superbly by Keisuke Honda.

Greece’s chances of taking some-thing from the game lessened dramat-ically during a disastrous � ve minutes in the � rst-half.

First leading striker Kostas Mitro-glou’s injury nightmare, which saw him barely play a game for Fulham af-ter a multi-million pound move in Jan-uary, continued as he hobbled o� in the 35th minute.

Three minutes later he was followed by his Katsouranis, though for a less commendable reason as he was sent for an early shower after being booked for a second time in the game.

Greece coach Fernando Santos react-ed to Katsouranis’s red card by turning to the experience of substitute Geor-gios Karagounis, Greece’s most capped player of all time, and sacri� cing Genoa mid� elder Ioannis Fetfatzidis.

Greece, though, have shown that they are never more dangerous than when their backs are against the wall and soon after they produced their best chance of the half, Vasili-os Torosidis stinging the palms of Eiji Kawashima with a � erce drive from the right of the area. l

SUAREZ SHOWS WHY HE DESERVES ‘WORLD CLASS’ LABEL

Luis Suarez made his case for inclusion in the debate over the world’s best player with both goals in Uruguay’s 2-1 victory over En-gland as he came back from injury and in-stantly punished Roy Hodgson’s team.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi can cite better all-round skill and trick-ery but when it comes to the games most valuable quality of all - putting the ball in the back of the net - Suarez is certainly in their company.

Strangely, before the game, Hodgson had challenged Suarez to prove that he deserved to be placed in that ‘world class’ category.

“I think he will only be at that lev-el when he shows it on this particular stage,” said the England manager.

It was also a particularly odd view giv-en that Suarez had been instrumental in Uruguay’s run to the semi-� nals in South Africa four years ago, scoring three times in the tournament. But mere statistics do not do justice to Suarez’s contribution to his teams nor to his qualities.

The Uruguayan is not a mere penalty area predator - although he � lls that role better than anyone - but he can score from long-range, with power or preci-sion, with his feet or with his head - and always with a measured composure and con� dence.

He is the focal point of attacks for his club and country but the former Ajax forward is far more than a classic ‘tar-get man’, being adept in wide positions, playing o� the last defender or attacking from deep.

“Suarez has evolved the role of the modern centre-forward,” former England and Liverpool striker Michael Owen wrote this week.

“He is ensuring the top sides want far more from their forwards than a tradi-tional ‘poacher’ or target man. You have to be far more � exible to thrive at the highest level. He scores every type of goal from any distance.

“Piece all this together and what you are left with is the most complete cen-tre-forward in the world. There is no one at this World Cup better than Suárez in his position,” added Owen in his column for the Telegraph.

Neither the � rst half header nor the late strike past Joe Hart will be remem-bered as spectacular goals but both showed Suarez has mastered the art of scoring in any fashion in a way few else in the modern game have. l

England captain Steven Gerrard (L) is consoled by Uruguay forward Luis Suarez after defeat in their Group D match at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo on Thursday AFP

MATCH STATS Uruguay England Goals scored 2 1 Total shots 10 13 Shots on target 6 8 Corners 7 6 O� sides 3 1 Fouls committed 17 12 Yellow cards 1 1 Red cards 0 0 Ball possession 38% 62%

MATCH STATS Japan Greece Goals scored 0 0 Total shots 16 9 Shots on target 11 5 Corners 5 7 O� sides 1 3 Fouls committed 23 18 Yellow cards 1 4 Red cards 0 1 Ball possession 68% 32%

MATCH STATS Colombia Ivory C Goals scored 2 1 Total shots 11 15 Shots on target 8 11 Corners 5 5 O� sides 3 2 Fouls committed 11 14 Yellow cards 0 2 Red cards 0 0 Ball possession 45% 55%

A week into the competition, the average number of goals scored per game is just under 2.9, leaving the tournament on course to become the most high-scoring World Cup since the 1958 event in Sweden (3.6). Here, AFP

Sports identi� es six factors behind the unexpected goal explosion:

Referee Joel Aguilar of El Salvador sends Greece’s Kostas Katsouranis (R) o� with his second yellow card of the match against Japan in Natal on Thursday REUTERS

DHAKA TRIBUNE15Sp rt

BTV, Gazi TV, Maasranga TV2014 FIFA World Cup10:00PM Argentina v Iran 1:00AMGermany v Ghana4:00AM Nigeria v Bosnia Star Sports 14:00PM Sri Lanka Tour of England 2nd Test, Day 2

DAY’S WATCH

Saturday, June 21, 2014

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Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)Probable teams

Argentina1-Sergio Romero; 4-Pablo Zabaleta; 2-Ezequiel Garay; 16-Marcos Rojo; 17-Federico Fernandez; 5-Fernando Gago; 7-Angel Di Maria; 14-Javier Mascherano; 9-Gonzalo Higuain; 10-Lionel Messi; 20-Sergio Aguero.Iran12-Alireza Haghighi; 15-Pejman Montazeri; 4-Jalal Hosseini; 5-Amir Sadeghi; 23-Mehrdad Pooladi; 3-Ehsan Hajsa� ; 6-Javad Nekounam; 14-Andranik Teymourian; 21-Ashkan Dejagah; 16-Reza Ghoochannejhad; 2-Khosro Heydari.Key stats:

The pair’s only past meeting, a draw in 1977, came during a four-team friendly tournament to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of Real Madrid.

Exactly 16 years before Saturday’s match on 21 June, 1998, Iran achieved their � rst World Cup victory by beating the United States 2-1 in France.

Argentina have earned three victories in as many meetings with Asian opponents in the World Cup, overcoming South Korea twice (3-1 in 1986, 4-1 in 2010) and Japan once (1-0 in 1998)

Previous meetingsThe teams have played once, drawing.Last meetingMarch 22, 1977, Madrid, Spain (friendly) - Iran 1 Argentina 1

FACT BOXMessi wants more o� ensive Argentina

Argentina captain Lionel Messi be-lieves coach Alejandro Sabella has to back his side’s attacking capabilities and include him among a front three when they face Iran on Saturday in Belo Horizonte.

Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain is expected to return to Sabella’s starting line-up as the two-time winners look to seal their place in the second round of the World Cup with a victory over Iran.

Higuain came on as a substitute to set up Messi to score just his second ever World Cup goal as Argentina got their campaign o� to a winning start against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Rio on Sunday.

And Messi said he feels more com-fortable playing with both Higuain and Sergio Aguero in attack.

“We are Argentina and I think we need to concentrate on ourselves with-out � xating on who we are playing,” said the four-time World Player of the Year.

“We feel more comfortable with two up front and me behind because it makes it easier to counter-attack and, because we have more people in attack,

we have more possibilities.”Messi eased some of the pressure

on his shoulders to � nally deliver his best form at a major tournament for his country with his stunning e� ort in the 2-1 win over Bosnia.

However, his underwhelming � rst-half performance was still criticised by some and he admitted he needs to play closer to the opposition’s goal.

“In the � rst-half I found it di� cult to get a hold of the ball and when I did I was very far from goal.

“The truth is when I did have the ball I lost it a number of times and at other times I was playing it backwards. I was annoyed at not being able to play the game I had planned.”

Along with Higuain, Fernando Gago could return in mid� eld at the expense of Maxi Rodriguez as he too made a positive impression as a second-half substitute against Bosnia.

Javier Mascherano is also expected to win his 100th cap in mid� eld and in-sisted he is as hungry for success as he was on his international debut.

“I am not one of those players that makes the di� erence on the pitch, but more a player that sacri� ces myself for the team. What is my secret? I live for this.”

Iran made an encouraging start to their campaign too as they held African champions Nigeria to a 0-0 draw in Cu-ritiba on Monday. Coach Carlos Queiroz � ercely defended his side’s tactics in that match given their lack of facilities and poor preparation in comparison to their more illustrious opponents in Group F. l

Sombre Nigeria looking for Bosnia boost

The bomb attack that killed at least 21 people watching a World Cup game in Nigeria has cast a sombre shadow over the African champions’ build-up to Sat-urday’s date with Bosnia-Hercegovina in Cuiaba.

Tuesday night’s bomb exploded in the midst of a crowd watching Brazil play Mexico on a giant screen in Da-mataru, capital of Yobe state.

Stephan Keshi’s men observed one minute’s silence at training on Wednes-day as team media o� cer Ben Alaiya predicted the atrocity would add fur-ther motivation for a strong perfor-

mance at the Arena Pantanal.Not that any extra incentive is need-

ed as a win would push them onto four points and in a solid enough position to se-cure a ticket to the knockout stages as run-ners-up to likely table toppers Argentina.

They will have a clearer idea of what’s required before kick-o� with Iran tack-ling Argentina earlier in the day.

Nigeria stand on one point, the re-ward for their part in the much-ma-ligned goalless stalemate with Iran which left them without a World Cup win in nine matches.

One certitude about Saturday’s game is that defeat for Bosnia would mean an early trip back to Sarajevo af-ter their concluding � rst round � xture, against Iran, next week.

Bosnia were stumped by Lionel Mes-si who set up the opening goal and then conjured up a superb second in Argen-tina’s 2-1 win. Coach Safet Susic has vowed that his men will step up a gear after a tactical move not to go all out against the South American giants.l

Brothers put love on hold again

Kevin-Prince Boateng and half-broth-er Jerome grew up in the tough Berlin district of Wedding, learning about the subtleties of soccer and the inequal-ities of life in tiny caged-in cement playgrounds the size of an inner city basketball court.

The Boateng boys have come a long way from that under-privileged, run-down high-rise section of Berlin and will once again be applying those life lessons learned on the biggest stage at the World Cup on Saturday.

Kevin-Prince and his Ghana team square o� against Jerome and Germany in the Group G showdown, a rematch for the brothers of their 2010 battle in South Africa which Germany won 1-0. The Boatengs made World Cup history - the � rst time two brothers had played against each other in the tournament.

Although the Boatengs both live in Germany and regularly play against each other in the Bundesliga, Kev-in-Prince switched allegiance to his father’s homeland of Ghana in 2009

because he felt he was not getting the chance he deserved with Germany.

A charismatic and natural leader on and o� the pitch, Kevin-Prince has rarely shied away from expressing his opinion.

The muscular mid� elder recently made headlines for saying Germany does not have any “Typen” (“tough-guy”) leaders who step up and take charge when the chips are down - criti-cism that made waves.

“In really tight matches for Germany there was never anyone who stepped

up to take charge,” said Kevin-Prince, 27, ahead of the Germany match. “It’s a fundamental truth.”

The unspoken subtext of his com-ment is that he is exactly that kind of “Typ” that Germany sorely needs: a con� dent, courageous, bold, loud, and opinionated leader that Germany has not had since Michael Ballack retired - or especially since Stefan E� enberg’s era ended over a decade ago.

By contrast, Jerome is a natural born follower and admits he has always looked up to his older brother, who once led his AC Milan team o� the � eld after being racially abused by fans.

Jerome, 25, followed Kevin-Prince into the Hertha Berlin youth programme at a young age after his older brother was discovered by a Hertha scout.

He later followed Kevin-Prince to England - Kevin-Prince played for Tot-tenham Hotspur and Jerome played for Manchester City. Jerome later moved to Bayern Munich and has been a stalwart defender for the team that won the 2013 Champions League and back-to-back domestic doubles in 2013 and 2014.l

VARGENTINA IRAN

Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte 21 JUN 2014 - 13:00 Local (10:00PM BST)

VGERMANY GHANA

Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza 21 JUN 2014 - 16:00 Local (1:00AM BST)

VNIGERIA BOSNIA

Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba 21 JUN 2014 - 18:00 Local (4:00AM BST)

Referee: Sandro Ricci (Brazil)Probable teams

Germany1-Manuel Neuer, 20-Jerome Boateng, 5-Mats Hummels, 17-Per Mertesacker, 4-Benedikt Hoewedes; 6-Sami Khedira, 16-Philip Lahm; 18-Toni Kroos, 8-Mesut Ozil, 19-Mario Goetze; 13-Thomas MuellerGhana12-Adam Kwarasey; 4-Daniel Opare, Kwado Asamoah, 21-John Boye, 19-Jonathan Mensah; 5-Michael Essien, 11-Sulley Muntari, 10-Dede Aywe; 20-Kwadwo Asamoah, 7-Christian Atsu, 11-Sulley Muntari; 9-Kevin-Prince Boateng, 3-Asamoah Gyan.Key Stats:

Germany defender Per Mertesacker will be playing in his 100th inter-national if he starts, the 13th player to reach that milestone. Germany’s all-time leader is Lothar Matthaeus with 150 caps between 1980 and 2000. Miroslav Klose is second with 132 since 2001.

Klose is looking for his 15th World Cup goal, which would draw him level with Ronaldo of Brazil as the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer. Klose is currently in a tie for second with West Germany striker Gerd Mueller with 14 goals.

Previous meetingsThe two have played twice with Germany winning both matches. Germany beat Ghana 1-0 in the � nal Group D match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Their only previous meeting was a friendly in Bochum, Germany in 1993 which the hosts won 6-1Last meetingJune 23, 2010, World Cup Group D match, Johannesburg, South Africa. Germany 1 Ghana 0

FACT BOX

Yaya, Kolo Toure mourn death of brother

Ivory Coast World Cup stars Yaya and Kolo Toure were mourning the death of their brother Ibrahim on Friday af-ter the 28-year-old was found dead in Manchester, the country’s football fed-eration announced.

Ibrahim, who was also a footballer plying his trade with the Al Safa club in

Lebanon, passed away just hours after Ivory Coast had lost 2-1 to Colombia at the World Cup in Brazil.

“A tough day for the Toure brothers. Just hours after the match Colombia v Cote d’Ivoire (2-1), Kolo and Yaya learned of the death of their younger brother Toure Oyala Ibrahim,” said a statement from the Ivorian Football Federation (IFF).

“The death of Ibrahim Toure

occurred on Thursday June 19 in Manchester.

“In these painful circumstances, the players of the national team of Cote d’Ivoire as well as the entire Ivo-rian delegation present in Brazil at the 2014 World Cup are to demonstrate their compassion for the Toure broth-ers, members of the Elephants and the great Toure family.” l

Argentina’s Fernando Gago (L) and Lionel Messi warm up at a training session in Vespasiano, near Belo Horizonte, Brazil on Wednesday AP

Monday, June 16, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Sport

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Costa Rica send England packing n AFP, Recife

Costa Rica upset Italy 1-0 on Friday to seal England’s exit from the World Cup and reach the second round of the tour-nament for the � rst time since 1990.

Fulham striker Bryan Ruiz scored the Group D game’s decisive goal as Costa Rica clinched a famous win which left Italy’s World Cup hopes � ne-ly balanced.

England, who su� ered their second defeat of the tournament with a 2-1 defeat against Uruguay on Thursday, needed Italy to beat the Costa Ricans to retain faint hopes of quali� cation.

But a lacklustre Azzurri struggled to impose themselves in the afternoon heat of Recife’s Pernambuco Arena. Costa Rica followed up their 3-1 win over Uruguay with a deserved three points.

Ruiz rose to head a cross from Junior Diaz in o� the crossbar. The goal came just moments after Costa Rica had been denied a clear penalty by referee Enrique Osses when Joel Campbell was bundled over by GiorgioChiellini.

Costa Rica’s victory means they need only draw against England in their � nal � rst round match next Tues-day to top the group.

Italy face a nervous � nal match against Uruguay. A draw will be enough for the Italians but a Uruguay win would see them knocked out.

England’s exit is their earliest since 1958. However the English Football Association swiftly backed under-� re coach Roy Hodgson on Friday, saying

he would remain in the job until 2016.“We are supportive of Roy Hodgson

and would like him to stay as manager,” FA chairman Greg Dyke said in com-ments reported by British media.

“We do not see any value in chang-ing. We think Roy has done a good job and it is an approach over four years and we hope to do better in the Euro-pean Championships.”

While England licked their wounds, France and Switzerland headed into a pivotal battle in Group E.

Elsewhere, controversy mounted over FIFA rules regarding players who su� er head injuries following an inci-dent involving Uruguay’s Alvaro Perei-ra in the England match.

Pereira collapsed to the ground and lay motionless after appearing to be knocked out after Raheem Sterling’s knee accidentally knocked his head in the 61st minute of the match.

Even though Pereira insisted on staying on, FIFPro said players need-ed to be prevented from endangering themselves. l

Italy Costa Goals scored 0 1Total shots 10 10Shots on target 6 6Corners 4 5O� sides 11 3Fouls committed 10 24Yellow cards 1 1Red cards 0 0Ball possession 58% 42%

MATCH STATS

Saturday, June 21, 2014

13 1514 Messi wants more o� ensive Argentina

Suarez deserves ‘world class’ label

The World CupGoal-e Festival

Costa Rica’s Bryan Ruiz (R) scores the all-important goal against Italy’s Gianluigi Bu� on (2R) during their 2014 World Cup match at the Pernambuco arena in Recife yesterday REUTERS

“I’m bitterly disappointed, of course, but I don’t feel I need to resign.”

England manager Roy Hodgson after the 2-1 defeat to Uruguay.

“For everything that was said, the doubts, this was a way to demon-strate everything I wanted to prove.”

Luis Suarez hits back at his critics after scoring the two goals against England.

“If we beat Costa Rica I want a kiss, obviously on the cheek, from the UK Queen.”

Italy striker Mario Balotelli jokes on Twitter over what he expects if helps England by scoring the winner against Costa Rica.

“I’m a very emotional person. My life has always been di� cult. I thought about my father who died in 2004, and I also thought about my tough life.”

Ivory Coast mid� elder Serey Die who sobbed uncontrollably during the national anthems before the game with Colombia.

WHO’S SAYING WHAT AT THE WORLD CUP ON FRIDAYRooney’s brief moment of glory

The strong English crowd roared in unison when they saw a familiar � gure enter the Arena de Sao Paulo pitch on Thursday night and set the blocks up himself. While the line-ups of England and Uruguay were being announced before the commencement of a cru-cial Group D encounter, all the English players’ names were cheered by the

fans but the loudest exhilaration was perhaps reserved for Wayne Rooney, the long-serving international from Manchester United. The 28-year old was motivated to put up his best dis-play on the day and his intentions were clear – he wanted his team to get the best of Uruguay.

An unwanted tag hovered around the neck of the lad from Liverpool prior to the start of the 20th edition of the World Cup – entering his third global tournament without a single goal to his name in nine matches. Rooney though � nally delivered in the greatest show on earth, grabbing his � rst World Cup goal for the Three Lions in 11 attempts. However, his joy proved to be shortlived as England’s night ended in disappointment via a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat.

The much longed-for World Cup goal arrived against the Celeste, a tap-in from a Glen Johnson defence-thread-ing pass in the 75th minute and the strike was his 40th international goal in 94 games, joint-fourth alongside Michael Owen and behind all-time English goalscorers Sir Bobby Charl-

ton, Gary Linekar and Jimmy Greaves. Rooney has scored for England in the Euros but the goal against Uruguay was probably his most important and one which erases the “failure” tag from his CV. Just imagine, Rooney hanging up his boots and despite a decorated ca-reer in club football, he has no goals to show for in the greatest show on earth! Rooney will now feel that a heavy

load has been removed from his broad shoulders.

It was learned that he took extra workload upon himself to remain in the good books of his coach Roy Hodg-son and was dead serious in the prac-tice session ahead of the high-voltage match. But Rooney was a dejected man at the end. He did not talk with the press in the mixed zone as he brushed

away the requests of the media by only saying, “No, sorry.”

Rooney’s equaliser in the 75th min-ute gave England renewed hope and it would have turned into a goal of para-mount importance if the match ended in a draw, however, it was not to be.

Luck was simply not on Rooney’s side as he could have put his name on the scoresheet in the � rst half when he leapt several feet in the air and out-jumped Uruguay defender Martin Ca-ceres from a Steven Gerrard free-kick in the 31st minute but his header ago-nisingly hit the post. Before that e� ort, he also got another opportunity in the 10th minute but once again he was un-lucky as he blazed a free-kick over the top corner and inches wide from being that much-coveted goal.

Right after scoring the goal past Uru-guay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, he pointed to the sky, blew kisses to the crowd and ran to the corner in a wild celebration and embraced Johnson before being joined by others. His joy however did not last long as England embraced defeat and were on the brink of elimination. l

from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Portugal reject long term fears over Ronaldo n AFP, Campinas

Portugal’s Helder Postiga shot down fears over Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-term � tness on Thursday as the inju-ry-a� ected star trained for the vital World Cup match against USA.

Speculation has been rife over the world player of the year, who is su� er-ing from tendonitis and has repeatedly needed ice treatment during training sessions in Brazil.

On Friday, Portugal’s captain had his left knee taped as he took part in light drills at the team’s training camp near Sao Paulo, raising expectations he will play Sunday’s game in Manaus.

Some reports have questioned wheth-er the Real Madrid forward was risking aggravating his condition by playing at the World Cup. But Postiga said Ronaldo was able to train unimpeded.

“I don’t think that’s a question to be raised at the moment because he’s

training with us, he’s practising with us and he’s doing all the exercises,” Posti-ga told reporters.

“I’m not a doctor but I don’t think that’s in question.”

Ronaldo, 29, caused further concern over his � tness on Wednesday when he stopped training early and had ice ap-plied to his knee at a public session.

On Friday, the Real Madrid forward showed no signs of discomfort as he took part in a warm-up passing exercise with team-mates Nani, Miguel Veloso, Helder Postiga and Ruben Amorim.

Watching media were ushered away after 15 minutes but Ronaldo’s appearance raises the likelihood he will play Sunday’s game, which has great signi� cance after Portugal’s 4-0 loss to Germany.

Reports have been circulating ques-tioning the � tness of Ronaldo, who is considered critical to Portugal’s chanc-es of success at the World Cup. l

I am convinced that when God parted ways with His favorite angel, He left Satan with powers over footballing destiny. This is the only way I can explain the insanely cruel things that happen in the sport. Take for instance the horrible turns of fate that have accosted Steven Gerrard, the greatest footballer ever.

For those who don’t know, and I shud-der to contemplate the existence of such ignorance, Gerrard is the proud captain of the greatest football club ever, and also skippers the English football team. I must

stress that the latter isn’t quite as good as the former but mentioning that is probably a little unfair for nothing can ever be as great as Liverpool. But the record must be set straight.

Back to Gerrard and why life sucks. Over the last two months Gerrard, who for many many years has gloriously served Liverpool and England with the skill and passion only seen in places like Valhalla, was visited by the worst kinds of freak incidents in most important kinds of matches.

One was the infamous slip against Chelsea, which led to Chelsea’s � rst goal, the most heinous instance of bus parking in history, and the title slipping away from Liv-erpool’s grasp. The title would have been the � rst in Gerrard’s career. He has had nu-merous opportunities to leave Merseyside and go for greater glory and fortune, but like all men of greater steel has always cho-sen not to. Sticking with the club through

times of great trials and Hodgson. That he should commit the error that led to the disappearance of his � nest chance at glory was beyond tragic. It was quite possibly the worst thing to happen to a good person this side of Mandela’s imprisonment.

The second incident happened yester-day, or day before yesterday by Tribune reckoning. Gerrard mistakenly headed the ball the way of Luis Suarez, a mighty � ne gentleman and a great servant of Liverpool himself. Only in this instance fate had squared the two against each other in unholy white and blue.

Suarez is the kind of player who will not let go of a freebie even if it means humil-iating his bigger brother, and that is what makes him the best striker in the world. And he duly scored bringing heartache to Stevie the brave, and leaving England’s greatest citizen responsible for the coun-try’s exit from the World Cup.

The fact that a player of Gerrard’s impeccability should commit such ghastly errors in the two most important matches of his life is proof not of his fallibility but of Satan’s omnipresence in football. One just needs to look at Gerrard’s 93% pass com-pletion against Italy (not one of his better games mind you) to be convinced that he is not a man prone to making silly mistakes. The “slip” and “head” were actually a nudge and kiss from the big evil.

For just like Manchester United can do no good, Stevie G can do no wrong.

In parting I should probably also men-tion that England seriously needs to reeval-uate its football policy in its entirety if they are to ever be as good as we the English football fans believe they are. But more on the later. Today I � ght for my brother and my captain’s honor and nothing else.

Remember children. The Big E (big evil) and not Stevie G! l

Satan’s greatest triumphA Pudlian’s lament