Cricket 'All is not lost'

Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir has said India are confident of overcoming Sri Lanka's spin challenge in the second Test starting here on Thursday.Sri Lankan spinners Muttiah Muralidaran and Ajantha Mendis shared 19 wickets in the opening Test of the three-match series to help their side win by an innings and 239 runs in Colombo on Saturday."The guys have enough talent and they have played enough Tests. Everyone must have analysed his game and learned from mistakes. We are going to put up a much better show and try to win the Test," Gambhir told reporters on Monday."It was just one of those bad Test matches for us. There are two more matches to go and the guys are really positive. What has happened is history. You cannot do anything about it and we need to think we can beat Sri Lanka."With the kind of batting and bowling we have, we can win the series."Gambhir said the batsmen needed to be more positive against the Sri Lankan spin duo, who looked virtually unplayable in Colombo. India managed just 223 in the first innings and 138 in the second."Murali is a legend," said Gambhir, who has scored 774 runs in 15 Tests."Both are quality spinners and we need to bat more patiently. They were hardly giving you loose deliveries. It is a great challenge for us, but as we all know, Indians play spin bowling very well."I think he (Mendis) bowled pretty well, but it's not that he is unplayable. It's about what you want to do rather than what the opposition is doing. We will look to be more positive against Mendis and Murali."Mendis troubled India in the two matches he played so far against them, having taken six wickets in his team's victory in the Asia Cup final in Karachi early this month before his debut Test in Colombo.Gambhir said he was looking forward to playing a long innings after failing to capitalise on starts in the Colombo Test."In Tests, if you get starts you have to make it count. I will try to score big and help the team put pressure on the opposition," he said.Gambhir scored 39 in the first innings and 43 in the second.

Bhuiyan, Shamsul, Engr Mosharraf, Pintu get bail

The High Court (HC) yesterday granted bail to 10 persons including three former ministers and four former lawmakers who had been arrested in the anti-corruption drive of the military backed caretaker government.The ten, who had been accused in separate corruption cases filed by the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) and the government, were granted ad-interim and anticipatory bail.After hearing separate petitions, an HC bench comprising Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice Md Emdadul Haque Azad stayed the proceedings of the cases against the accused.The court also issued separate rules upon the government to explain why the petitioners should not be granted regular bail and why the proceedings against them should not be quashed.The accused, who were granted bail, are former LGRD minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, former land affairs minister M Shamsul Islam, former housing and public works minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, former lawmakers Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, Mohammad Shahjahan, Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee and Ilias Ali, Tahsina Rushdir, wife of Ilias, Yasir Arshad Rajan, son of former lawmaker Fazlur Rahman Patal, and Ismail Hossain Simon, son of late shipping minister Lt Col (retd) Akbar Hossain. ACC lawyer Advocate Anisul Huq told reporters that the commission will soon file appeals with the Supreme Court against the HC orders. Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, M Shamsul Islam, and Ismail Hossain Simon got ad-interim bail for two months in connection with the Gatco graft case. The court also stayed the proceedings against them for two months and issued rules upon the government to explain within two weeks why the proceedings against them should not be quashed. Their lawyers said there is no legal bar on releasing them from jails, since there is no other case against them. Barrister Rafique-ul Huq and Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajal, who appeared for them yesterday, told the court that there is no allegation of corruption against Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, M Shamsul Islam, and Ismail Hossain Simon.Barrister Rafique-ul Huq said charges were brought against his clients in Gatco graft case with mala fide intentions, but the secretaries to the concerned ministries were not charged.He also said investigation reports against his clients were submitted 250 days after the case had been filed, instead of within the stipulated 60 days, so the proceedings against his clients cannot go on. Mosharraf Hossain's counsel Barrister Shafique Ahmed told reporters that his client got ad-interim bail for two months in two graft cases, one had been filed on charges of amassing illegal wealth and for concealing information from ACC, and the other for allotting plots illegally while he had been in charge of the housing and public works ministry during the regime of the last Awami League government. "The High Court also stayed the proceedings of the cases against Mosharraf Hossain for two months and issued a rule upon the government to explain within four weeks why he should not be granted regular bail in the cases. He is not arrested in any other case.If no new case is filed against him, he should be released from jail," he said. Barrister Mahbubuddin Khokon assisted by Advocate AHM Mizanur Rahman moved for Ilias Ali and his wife Tahsina Rushdir, Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, Yasir Arshad Rajan and Mohammad Shahjahan. Barrister Khokon told The Daily Star that his clients yesterday appeared before the HC for anticipatory bail in the cases against them."The High Court granted them anticipatory bail till submissions of police reports against them, and also issued separate rules upon the government to explain within four weeks why they should not be granted regular bail," he said.Shahiduddin Chowdhury, who had been absconding, was present in the court yesterday and was not arrested after getting the bail. Barrister Khokon said his client is free now since he was not arrested in any other case."There is another case against Ilias Ali, in which he is yet to get bail," Barrister Khokon added. Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu got ad-interim bail for two months in the case against him for misappropriating government relief. The court stayed the proceedings against him and also issued a rule upon the government to explain why the proceedings of the case should not be quashed.Advocate MA Malek moved for Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu. Advocate Anisul Huq, Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, and Advocate Abdul Aziz Khan argued for ACC

Bangladeshi workers held in Kuwait

Kuwaiti Police yesterday arrested some Bangladeshi workers after they went on a rampage while protesting low wages, poor working conditions and other exploitations over the last couple of days. According to the Arab Times, about 2,000 Bangladeshi workers, employed by Al-Jawhara Company for Stevedoring and Cleaning in Hassawi in Kuwait, destroyed six vehicles and injured five camp officials on Sunday.The protesting workers also attacked the company office in Jleeb Al-Shyoukh on Saturday evening.Police finally brought the situation under control, clubbing the demonstrating workers, reported AFP.Shahriar Kader Siddiky, labour counsellor of Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait told The Daily Star yesterday, "I have received reports that special forces of Kuwaiti police have made some arrests. " He was not able to say how many had been arrested.Thousands of cleaning workers employed by some 15 to 20 companies and assigned jobs under various government projects in Kuwait have been protesting for the last few days. The protests turned violent Sunday with a few groups of workers turning violent.Siddiky said, "Officials of Kuwait's labour ministry have agreed to most of the demands by the workers, including fixing the minimum wage at 40 Kuwait Dinars (KD) per month. Some workers are now demanding that the company owners give this in writing," Siddiky said.It has been reported lately that the ministry would send inspectors to labour camps to take stock of workers' living conditions and address their grievances.Meanwhile Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday met with the Kuwaiti envoy to Dhaka Abdullatif Ali Al-Mawash and discussed the issue of the protesting Bangladeshi workers.Iftekhar later told the press that Bangladesh and Kuwait are friendly countries and should be able to address issues of mutual interest amicably.The workers have been complaining against poor wages, poor working conditions, overtime without pay, lack of sick leave and vacations, etc. The workers also claim that employers force workers to pay extra for health and residency -- costs they say should be borne by the companies.According to the Arab Times, workers reportedly damaged furniture, computers, printers and other office equipment. Jleeb Al-Shyoukh is home to thousands of Bangladeshi cleaners, who live in squalid camps and most get paid as low as KD 18 a month (1 dinar = Tk 258).A worker told the Arab Times that anger among the workers has been simmering for a long a time now. The workers had earlier warned the five supervisors working against their interests.The scuffle occurred when some workers confronted the supervisors as to why certain deductions were being made from their already low wages. The supervisors reportedly threatened the cleaners.Another worker said that they had taken their problems and demands to the company but it had all fallen on deaf ears. “We know it is wrong to take the law in our hands but our situation is worsening by the day,” he said.Al-Jawhara company's operations manager K John said that the government is partly to be blamed for the low wage situation, Arab Times reported. “The workers demand health insurance, which is KD 50 per person, while it is only KD 10 for domestic maids. This makes it difficult for companies to provide it," John said.“The municipality itself pays around KD 23 per cleaner, and the government can't expect us to pay more than that. Our workers receive anywhere between KD 20 and KD 70.”John said that work tender is another complication where small players make abysmally low quotes to win the tenders which messes up the quality of this sector, which also complicates the situation. Other Bangladeshi workers employed in Kuwait have also been in the news recently for protesting low wages and poor working conditions.