Sharapova can play again in April after ban reduced

Maria Sharapova of Russia speaks during a news conference at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia January 1, 2013. Reuters file photo

Reuters, Geneva

Maria Sharapova today said she could not wait to return to tennis next April after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the former world number one's two-year drugs ban by nine months.
Hailing one of the happiest days of her career, the Russian said she had learned a lesson from the "tough months" behind her and hoped the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and anti-doping authorities had also.
"In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back," the 29-year-old five-times grand slam champion said in a message to fans on her facebook page.
"Tennis is my passion and I have missed it. I am counting the days until I can return to the court."
Sharapova was handed the original ban, backdated to start on Jan. 26, 2016, by the ITF following her positive test for the drug meldonium.
The arbitration panel ruled on Tuesday that she had committed an anti-doping rule violation for which "she bore some degree of fault".
It added that the decision to reduce the ban concerned solely "the degree of fault that can be imputed to the player for her failure to make sure that the substance contained in a product that she had been taking over a long period remained in compliance with the anti-doping rules."

Sharapova had called the ITF's original ruling "unfairly harsh" as an independent tribunal had found that she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules.
She admitted taking meldonium during the season's opening grand slam in Melbourne but said she had been unaware that it had been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Meldonium was added to WADA's list of banned substances at the start of the year after mounting evidence that it boosted blood flow and enhanced athletic performance.
"I have learned from this, and I hope the ITF has as well," said Sharapova, adding that she had always taken responsibility for not knowing the over-the-counter supplement she had taken for 10 years was no longer allowed.
The player said other federations had been much better at notifying their athletes of the rule change, especially in Eastern Europe where meldonium, or mildronate, was taken by millions of people.
"Now that this process is over, I hope the ITF and other relevant tennis anti-doping authorities will study what these other Federations did, so that no other tennis player will have to go through what I went through," she added.
Shamil Tarpishev, president of the Russian tennis federation, welcomed the reduced ban.
"It's good, they reduced the ban", he told Russia's TASS news agency. "We want her to play for the national team and win the next Olympics for us."
Sponsor Head said justice had been served.
"We eagerly await her return to competitive tennis in April 2017 and we are very proud to have stood by Maria for the right reasons throughout these difficult and testing times," CEO Johan Eliasch said in a statement.

Hacked student of Sylhet college in critical state

Khadija Akter Nargis is in critical condition, hospital sources say. Star file photo

Star Online Report

--Victim in a critical state
--Case filed against attacker Badrul
--Attacker to be brought to justice: Home minister
-- Protest pouring
The Sylhet Government Women’s College student, who was waylaid and hacked brutally under broad daylight by a Chhatra League leader yesterday, is now in a “critical state”.
Khadija Akter Nargis is undergoing treatment at neurosurgical intensive care unit at Square Hospital of Dhaka.
“Several injury marks were found in the victim’s head, skull and brain. She is in a critical condition,” Mirza Nazimuddin, director of the hospital, told reporters.
She also sustained severe stab injuries in her hands, he added.
Khadija was waylaid and hacked on her way to home from college by Badrul Alam, 30, who is assistant secretary of the ruling party’s student front unit at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).
The injured was initially admitted in Sylhet Osmani Medical College where she had undergone the first surgery. Later she was transferred to Square Hospital last night.

Hearing screams of the victim, locals rescued Khadija and caught Badrul from the spot and handed him over to police after giving him a good thrashing.

Case filed over stabbing

A case was filed with Shah Paran Police Station showing Badrul as lone accused, said Zedan Al Musa, additional deputy commissioner of police in Sylhet.
Victim’s uncle Abdul Quddus filed the case around 2:30pm, the police official told our local correspondent.
“We will interrogate him (Badrul) and produce him before a court soon,” he said.

Home minister’s remark

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal firmly stated that the attacker will be brought to justice, no matter what his political association is.
The minister made the comment while talking to reporters at the secretariat.

Protest pouring

Meanwhile, several hundred students of the college today blockaded the Sylhet-Tamabil highway demanding exemplary punishment of the attacker.
The agitating students thronged the highway at Tilaghar area around 10:00am, halting traffic movement on the highway for around four hours.
They withdrew their protest around 2:00pm following an assurance from the police authorities to meet their demand.

How to get smart NID card?

An Election Commission staff scanning the iris of a voter at a temporary camp set up at Siddheswari Girls' College in the capital. Photo: Prabir Das and Amran Hossain

Pankag Karmakar

The newly introduced smart national identity (NID) card will put an end to forgery as it has 25 security features.
The machine-readable card will have 32 types of basic information of a citizen embedded in its microchip, said Election Commission officials.
Currently, NID cards are required for availing at least 22 types of services, including passport, banking, driving licence, trade licence and share trading. In future, it would be required for getting many more services.
EC Secretary Sirazul Islam said, “Many perpetrators of crimes forged the existing NID cards and we could not prevent it. But forging the smart NID cards would be almost impossible.”
Anyone will be able to verify some basic information of a smart card by using the cardholder's fingerprint through a desktop or laptop computer after installing software which would soon be available via www.nidw.gov.bd.

Some jubilant voters showing their smart national ID cards outside the camp. Distribution of the cards with biometric details began yesterday. Photo: Prabir Das and Amran Hossain

The smart NID cards were produced in France and later data were stored in the cards in Bangladesh, said Brig Gen Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin, director general at the EC's NID Registration Wing. 
According to EC officials, the smart cards would first be distributed to citizens in the capital, followed by in city corporations, district headquarters and upazilas.

For getting a smart NID card, a citizen will have to appear in person at an EC-designated distribution centre.
The EC officials would collect the citizen's biometric details, impressions from 10 fingers and a photo of iris which would be embedded in the card's microchip.
After completion of the procedure, the officials would hand over the smart card to the citizen, but only after taking back his/her exiting NID card.
The schedules and names of card distribution centres will be announced through newspaper advertisements and community-based campaigns, like announcements in mosques.
Besides, anyone can get information about the schedule and distribution centres by logging on to www.nidw.gov.bd or calling at 105 or sending an SMS to 105 from any mobile phone.
For sending an SMS to 105, one has to go to the message option of his phone, type “SC”, leave a space, type “NID”, again leave a space and type the 17-digit NID card number.
Those who have 13-digit number will have to add their year of birth before the number to make it a 17-digit one.
Voters, who are yet to have an NID card, will have to go to the distribution centres with their voter registration slip.
Those who have lost their existing cards will have to contact their respective upazila or thana election offices with the main copy of a general diary which was filed with the police station concerned.
Although it costs the EC around $1.6 to produce a smart NID card, it would be delivered to citizens free of cost. Initially, the cards will be valid for 10 years, said Saleh Uddin.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the distribution of smart NID cards in the capital on Sunday. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad started distribution of the cards in Kurigram yesterday.
Cards were distributed in a village in Phulbari upazila of Kurigram and two wards in the capital -- one under Ramna Police Station and another under Uttara Police Station.
Currently, there are over 10 crore voters in Bangladesh. Of them, nine crore will get smart cards by the next year under an ongoing project. The rest of the voters would get cards under a new project which would be launched soon.
EC officials said citizens' data are safe from unauthorised access as the database servers are “fully protected”.